JR SportBrief Hour 1

I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

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So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

That's right. This is CBS Sports Radio and you are listening to the J.R. Sport Brief show. It is my pleasure. It is a joy. I am just enthusiastic beyond belief to be hanging out here with you for the next four hours.

I'm being joined by super producer and host Dave Shepherd. And I'm even thrilled, even more thrilled to be here with you. It's an honor to be here with you. Do you know how many people would love to be sitting here, national radio show talking to everybody?

I'm actually grateful to be here. And so I'm going to do my best damn job over the next four hours, OK? This is when I get started, 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Pacific. If you want to talk to me, it's simple. I'm at J.R.

Sport Brief on all social media. If you follow me, you'll already know what we're going to discuss here over the next four hours. You can also call, call in show. This is an audio show, right? Whether you're on the free Odyssey app, A.U.D.A.C.Y., or you're listening on your local affiliate, or you're on Sirius XM Channel 158, or whether you're listening on a smart speaker, you can always call me with this number. It's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Told you we're going to have a busy show. We've had a busy day. Lamar Jackson had to tell the Ravens fans, I'm not healthy enough to play. Can y'all relax? Derek Carr opened up the day by telling all the Raider fans goodbye.

How about this? We just had a basketball game. The Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets in Brooklyn. We've got LeBron James getting ready to continue his annihilation of the record books. New York Jets are getting ready coaches, not the head coach, assistant coaches, offensive coordinators. We found out that if we have an AFC championship game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, that it's going to take place right here with me in Atlanta, Georgia, right down the road from me.

I hope that's the game because then I'll go. We'll talk about Dana White. Because now that Damar Hamlin is out of the massive limelight for good reasons, I'm glad that he is in improved health, there's starting to be more conversations around Dana White. He just had a press conference, I believe, yesterday for his upcoming UFC event. And people are asking him about his punishment, if he should be punished.

And he's like, oh, my shame is punishment enough. Whoa. So we got a lot to do here. Before I do anything, let's say hello to super producer and host Dave Sheppard. What's up, Shep? What's up, Jaro? It's good to be with you, man. How are you feeling on this Thursday, my guy?

Uh, Thursday? You know, I feel good. Yeah? Yeah, I knew that I would now. Oh, you got a good TNT matchup tonight, man. I know you're hosting a show, but.

What is it? Oh, you got the Mavericks and the Lakers. Is that a good matchup?

Well, it's star power, you know, times 10. Oh, what, Luka Doncic and LeBron James? Because LeBron's playing, and he doesn't always play these days, so.

Yeah, I got the game on in the studio. Oh, wow. Uh, well, he's better than Anthony Davis. Oh, everyone's better than Anthony Davis. I think, wasn't LeBron James, LeBron James was just, what is he, sick or had an ankle the other day?

I think it was more maintenance, but that sounds about right, too. And you're 20. He's entitled to have ankle maintenance, so.

Just have a day here or there. Yeah. And he is 434 points away, I think, from, uh, Kareem. Yeah.

So at this point, I guess he'll get there at the beginning of February, if he stays healthy and plays all of the games. So good for LeBron James. You know what? Let's, let's keep up with this game as it progresses, and let's talk about LeBron James at the end of the show. Deal?

It's a deal, man. You can't ever go wrong talking about the king. And he is a king. Yeah, he is. He did that, that, uh, interview on ESPN with Dave, uh, what is it? McMenamin? McMenamin, you are correct, sir. Yeah, Dave. That's a lot of McMins and Mics and Minimins and M's and N's in his name. Another guy in LeBron's pocketbook.

I didn't say that. Oh. Why can't he just have a simple name like JR? Or Shep?

That works for me. But you, you and I both know Dave is LeBron's guy, man. You're not gonna interview LeBron unless you're one of his guys. Dave McMenamin? Yes.

Windhorst. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was in, Dave McMenamin was in, uh, didn't he follow him in Cleveland? Uh, he did. He absolutely did.

Yeah, so he was watching his old Hummer in, in high school, I guess. He might be right. Him and Wendy. Wendy who? Uh, Brian Windhorst. Oh, Brian Windhorst.

He likes to call himself, uh, Wendy. Oh, Brian Windhorst. Yes.

Is Brian Windhorst the, uh, the, the larger gentleman? Uh, you're being kind, yes. Okay. No, I'm not. You're being, which one's being a jerk? Me or you?

Sorry, I apologize. Uh, he's, he's, he's large and in charge and he's got a good heart. Oh, that's what they say.

Large and in charge and, and they say other things, but. That heart's gotta work for him. Excuse me? That heart's gotta work for him.

Well, let's, let's hope that, uh, it keeps going. He's, I thought they eat good. I thought they eat healthy in Los Angeles. Isn't he based out there?

No, no. So I'm, I'm, I mean, headquarters are in Bristol for ESPN. Um, you would think you're on like a fellow diet or something like that in LA, but let me just put it this way.

Uh, he does not, um, he does not miss meals. Those are the ESPN. Oh, they, they, they, they got the, but you got to pay for that food up there. Yeah, but it's, but it's a Connecticut price though. In Bristol? So it's like upstate Hartford price. So basically you're paying like $3 for dinner. Oh my God. The lunch is three bucks.

Yep. When I've been up there, I've, I haven't, I don't know. I don't pay to eat. Yeah, you shouldn't. Yeah, I don't pay to, I'm not paying to eat. Somebody else pays for it. I'm not paying to eat nothing. Anyway, speaking of not paying, there's no segue here. Don't pay to go see the Brooklyn Nets. There's the segue. At least not right now, at least not until Kevin Durant comes back and we don't know whether that'll be a week.

We don't know if it'll be two weeks. Here's the deal. We'll get to LeBron James and Luca later on in the show when the game finishes up. But we actually just had a game finish up in Brooklyn at the Barclays center as the Boston Celtics just beat the Nets 109 to 98 and the Boston Celtics, I believe they have now improved their record to 31 and 12 and the Brooklyn Nets now fall to 27 and 14. Heading into tonight's game, the Brooklyn Nets have been absolutely on fire.

Like the old video game NBA Jam that Shep doesn't like. But the Brooklyn Nets don't have Kevin Durant now. Like I just said, we don't know if he'll be gone for two weeks or three weeks or a month. He might come back right before the All-Star break. He might come back directly after the All-Star break and the Brooklyn Nets got their work cut out for him. They're going to rely on Kyrie Irving, who's been lighting it up, averaging 26 points, five rebounds and five assists. When he's actually healthy and plays basketball, we already know this Kyrie Irving is one of the best point guards, he's one of the best scorers, he's one of the best players flat and period.

And it's so crazy how everything has suddenly changed in Brooklyn. And are we going to lay all of the change at the feet of Jacques Vaughn? I told you last night he was on our top six list, coaches who absolutely deserve love. And I guess he is a major factor. And while the Brooklyn Nets are playing the way they do, it's like the players, I would say Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, believe in the guy. You know, I'm watching the game on TNT before I come on air and they're talking about how Kyrie and Durant, they're allowing him to coach them. And if they can be coached, then everybody else has to quote unquote fall in line. And Kyrie Irving, we talked about it last night. He was showing a lot of love to Jacques Vaughn.

I want you to take a listen to this. He gives you an ease. You know, when you come into the locker room, nothing's forced.

You know, he's not too high or too low. He's just holding himself to a high standard and exemplifying, you know, what a leader should look like. You know, so as our head coach, as our leader, I think I've been able to learn some things from him. And that's just being able to have relationships with everybody and being able to get the best out of everybody. And, you know, that's been the lesson for me. I felt like this year is just learning how to get the best out of everybody instead of, you know, trying to do it all yourself or trying to overthink the game.

You know, when you've got good pieces in that locker room, good coaching staff, I mean, it's the level of play should raise and it should get easier. Oh my God, that is, that is, I want to say almost comical, but I won't, I won't even say almost. That is comical. If you remember what Kyrie Irving said when Steve Nash was hired, it is the exact opposite about what he just said about Jacques Vaughn. Kyrie Irving came out of his mouth when Steve Nash was hired on Kevin Durant's podcast on the Exeterus podcast. And he basically said, yeah, we don't need a coach. We can all share the responsibilities of coaching.

Do you remember this? We don't need somebody to come in and put their coaching philosophy on everything that we're doing and change up the wheel and yo, you guys need to start doing this. And we start running on the first day of practice and just like, no, I don't really see us having a head coach.

You know what I mean? Like I, Katie could be a head coach. I could be a head coach.

Jacques Vaughn could do it one day. It could be, it could be, it's a collaborative effort, I think on our part. Oh, a little bit of foreshadowing there, huh? What were they doing? They shut, were they smoking when they, when they did that two years ago, they, they might have been, and it was, it would not have been the first time Kyrie Irving said something on a public platform and was smoking.

Oh yeah. Like, Oh, you know, we might not need a coach. And then a couple of days ago, well look, Kyrie Irving is on his best behavior right now. The man is going to be a free agent at the end of the year. He already missed out on one of those gigantic 200, 230, $250 million deals. And he might be able to make that money up, but not in one off season. He's going to have to go out there and try to hustle somebody for, I don't know, a couple of one and two year deals until he retires. And I don't think Kyrie Irving based on his, his injury history and his size, he ain't the type of guy I see lasting when he's like 40, I really don't.

I don't think he's going to be Chris Paul out there, but maybe he will be if he just plays basketball. And I said this on WFAN in New York city about a month ago, right before the Brooklyn Nets went on the stretch, right before they got TJ Warren in the fold. And I said, the Nets don't have heart.

I basically said that this is a, a ship that's in the process of sinking and it's only going to be a matter of time and I got to give them credit. I mean, at least for the past month and change where they've just gone out there and, and just annihilated everybody, I have been wrong. And one of the only other things that could have tore them up is injuries. And that's already what has happened and what's taken place here with Kevin Durant, a sprained knee. I told you, we may not see him for about a month at this point in time, but I'll tell you this, if they are relatively healthy, not relatively, if they are healthy by the time playoff time comes, the Brooklyn Nets can go to the Eastern conference finals. And at that point, you can't necessarily say, Oh my God, they can't win. They have one of the best basketball players of all time and Kevin Durant, and they have another good guy who ain't too shabby himself in Kyrie Irving.

And so I, I'd be hard pressed. I don't care if it's against the Milwaukee Bucks. I don't care if it's against the Cleveland Cavaliers. I don't care if it's against the Celtics. This is going to be a squad.

The Brooklyn Nets, if they are healthy, that they're going to compete for championship, they'll have an opportunity to go, whether or not they'll be healthy enough to do so is a different conversation. If Durant is healthy, if Kyrie is healthy, they'll be perfectly fine. That's just asking for a lot.

Durant already done with a knee, Shep, you think Kyrie will make it through this whole season? I do. Just for the money, right? Yeah. I mean, JR, he has done a 180 and he deserves a lot of credit for it. And I don't know how you feel about this, but to me, the noise is a lot louder when he Fs up as opposed to when he is in line and doing right. Ah, well, I mean, some of his state, let's put it this way. Some of the statements and stances have been outside of the world of basketball. And so that's why it's louder. You know, whether he wants to talk about, you know, vaccination policy or whether he wants to, you know, talk about faith and Jewish folks, like those, that's not basketball.

Like you start getting everybody in their mother who has an opinion and who has a microphone, you know, everybody gets involved in a conversation at that point. And I really think Kyrie Irving will be an All-Star. I think he'll make the All-Star team this year. And I believe the next time we really hear about him as if he's healthy enough for the playoffs, he's just, he's known for saying wild things. And even before COVID, even before he tweeted out that movie that I don't remember, which I'm glad I don't remember, there's the same dude who was talking about the shape of the earth, the same dude who's quit on his teammates and thrown teammates under the bus.

This is the same dude who wanted to run away from LeBron James and then apologize for how he did it and what he said. This is the same dude who was injured at Duke. He was injured when he got into the league. He was injured repeatedly the whole course of his career.

He didn't win anything of substance or championship until LeBron James decided to go back to Cleveland. Like Kyrie Irving is, and this is dude, what is he, 30 right now? 30, 31? No, he's 30.

Yeah. Nobody wants to hear this anymore. This is why the only thing that's going to get him a new contract and you're correct is if he plays, which he is not going to go balls to the wall to go out there and be injured. And he wants to put up a good showing in the playoffs so he can get a new contract from somebody. Is it going to be a year with an option and going to be two years and ain't nobody come into this guy long-term because the next thing you know, you're going to go out there and regret it.

You're going to have a more difficult time getting a long-term contract than Carlos Correa when he tried to get one in baseball. And so the Brooklyn Nets, yeah, you have to give them credit right now. They lose tonight to the Celtics in Brooklyn, 109 to 98.

Life does not get easier. I don't care who you are, ask the Warriors when you don't have Kevin Durant on your team but the Nets, all things considered, if they are healthy come playoff time, they are a threat to go to the finals without a shadow of a doubt. It's the JR Sport Reap Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We are just getting started. Unfortunately, speaking of Kevin Durant's knee injury, we have a star quarterback in the NFL who had to go on Twitter and let everyone know about his own injury and that we won't see him play. We talked about him last night. I want to read you his statement about his current status when we come back on the other side of the break. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio.

We're just getting started. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. JR wants to hear from you. Call him now at 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4227. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Right before the break, we talked about Kevin Durant and his MCL sprain in his right knee. He's probably going to be gone for, I'd say, I don't know, three weeks, four weeks. He'll be gone. He'll be back around All-Star break, I assume. I hope this guy is, he came back from an Achilles and he's looked better than ever. He looks like he's at his MVP level. He could have been the MVP prior to going down and who knows, maybe he comes back and scores, I don't know, 40 points per game and people don't care about the games that he's missed. But Kevin Durant has a few months before we get into the NBA playoffs.

The NFL playoffs start this Saturday. And last night, we had an entire conversation surrounding Lamar Jackson and Tua Tonga Veloa. And if you have to take a look at these two individuals, which quarterback concerns you the most when it comes down to injuries?

And we had a lot of people calling up and talking about Tua Tonga Veloa and with good reason. This man's head has been treated like a pinata. That's not good. Legitimate concerns about his future as a quarterback and just as an NFL player.

And I hope he's smooth later on down the line in life. He's only 24. But we got an update on Lamar Jackson. We heard yesterday that he was unlikely to play in this weekend's game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati. And Lamar Jackson, four hours ago, he went on Twitter himself and he gave an update. And it's not positive because we will not see him play.

This is what Lamar Jackson posted on his Twitter. Pay attention. A lot of doctor, doctor speaking, doctor talking here, OK? Thank you everyone for your support and concerns regarding my injuries. I want to give you all an update as I am in the recovery process. I've suffered a PCL grade two sprain on the borderline of a strain three. There is still inflammation surrounding my knee and my knee remains unstable. I'm in good spirits as I continue with treatments on the road to recovery. I wish I could be out there with my guys more than anything, but I can't give a 100 percent of myself to my guys and fans. I'm still hopeful we still have a chance.

We will not see Lamar Jackson play. And I wonder who wrote that for the guy. If you read his tweets, there's not a damn thing that reads anything close to that.

But anyway, it's unfortunate. It's confirmed. We're going to go another season and this is this is given that the the Ravens don't upset the Bengals. I can't see that happening. I'm expecting the Baltimore Ravens to go to Cincinnati and get their asses kicked. They just lost in the regular season, 27 to 16. I'm supposed to feel something different about the playoffs. The Bengals, the team that just went to the Super Bowl, it would be a gigantic upset.

If the Ravens beat the Bengals, gigantic upset. We don't even know if Tyler Huntley, the normal backup, is going to play because he's dealing with a busted up shoulder and wrist. We supposed to watch Anthony Brown go out there and start? We're supposed to feel confident about that?

It sounds like a disaster. And so Lamar Jackson, he can be hopeful that they still have a chance. What? So they can play next week and get annihilated? So Lamar Jackson can come back with an unstable leg and and get destroyed?

It's just sad. Offensive coordinator of the Ravens, Greg Roman, who a lot of Ravens fans have wanted fired. He talked today about Lamar Jackson and his mindset. Listen to what Greg Roman had to say. He's just working hard rehab rehabbing, you know, we're we're up to you know, we're really focused in on the guys that are in this game plan and whatnot.

And you know, so I think he's his his full effort motivation right now is to get himself back to full strength. Yeah, he ain't say a damn thing about football, did he? This is the same Greg Roman. When they stunk a few weeks ago, about a month ago, the fans went to the practice facility. They were leaving flyers outside of the facility saying that they should this man should be fired. Like you really got to go out of your way to go to an NFL team's headquarters, which is heavily secured and print out flyers asking for the guy to be fired.

That's going the extra mile. Typically, I would think it would stop at the stadium M&T Bank, but no. They went to the practice facility and they want him gone. It's going to be difficult saying, hey, goodbye, Greg Roman, when the starting quarterback is never healthy.

Well, let me rephrase when the starting quarterback has not been healthy or end of the season healthy in the past three years. And I love Lamar Jackson. I'd love for him to continue to prove some of the people who think he is only a running back wrong. I'd love to see him develop with decent wide receivers. I'd love to see him win another MVP and ultimately go out there and win a Super Bowl, something that he told all of the Ravens fans the second he was drafted and interviewed on ESPN after sitting in the draft room for an entire first round. I want to see him have success. I just hope what we've seen so far from Lamar Jackson is not Lamar Jackson peaking in 2019. That big contract, it ain't coming this season. He's ended another year with an injury.

It sucks. 855-212-4CBS, that's 855-212-4CBS. Manny is here from Flushing, New York. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. What's up, J.R.? How you doing, my brother? I'm good, Manny. What's up? I'm good, man.

Man. Look, if I were Lamar Jackson, I mean, look, I hope, listen, I'm raising his good brother. I hope he gets his money, but I would have not played that playoff game because the Ravens, I don't think the Ravens doesn't believe in him. They built their whole team around him.

Don't they have no choice but to believe in him? How come he didn't get his money? They didn't want to guarantee all of it and he has his own, he's his own agent. Yeah. I mean, I hope he gets his money.

That's the sticking point. I think they would have had a deal if he was willing to sign on for a $230 million deal, but knowing that only, I don't know, 170, 180, 200 of it was guaranteed. He looked at Deshaun Watson and he said, that's the contract, that's the deal that I want and we know that there isn't an NFL owner who wants to dole out another deal like that.

Yeah. Yeah, and Deshaun needs to remind himself like, prior to Lamar Jackson, they stink. I mean, after we had a Super Bowl I in, I think 2012, 2013, they made the playoffs, I mean, in free Lamar Jackson, they actually made the playoffs one time and won a playoff game, 2013 to 2017.

You know, they're kind of attached at the hip right now. I think they're going to have to have no choice. I understand, we've heard a lot of conversations around, well, we'll trade Lamar, well, it's time to trade Lamar. I actually believe they will franchise tag him and this is going to give them flexibility because the reality is, who are you bringing into this team right now with the way it's currently constructed and how you've put the team together?

Who are you bringing in that's going to give you a better chance to win than Lamar Jackson? And I don't, I don't see a quarterback out there. I really don't. So I think they're stuck with each other.

Yeah, it's unfortunate, but I mean, I hope, yeah, hopefully you get, I mean, listen, I think it's, I hope the brothers stays healthy and also one last thing, rest in peace, Alisa Marie Presley. Oh yeah. I did see that. Good point. Well, thank you, Manny.

I appreciate you. No doubt. Yeah. Yeah. At least some, yeah, at least some Marie Presley is gone.

Yeah. Daughter of Elvis. I think didn't she date, she dated Michael Jackson, right? They had that famous kiss at the VMAs, I believe on MTV.

She died about an hour, hour and a half ago. Yeah. I don't know about no kiss, but I just know she dated him. Yeah. Well there was that very awkward kiss, unfortunately. And it made like news for the next six months and kiss somebody in public.

I go Jackson. Yeah. It's very sad, she was just at the Golden Globes two days ago too.

Yeah. I heard about that. Look, I haven't heard about this woman in 25 years. You know what I know about her?

Elvis daughter dated Michael Jackson and that's it. That's all I need to know. Right? Yeah. I think so. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. I'm going to get some more of your calls on the other side of the break. I think we have some people who have some thoughts on Lamar Jackson. I'm going to talk to you about this AFC title game. I don't think the Ravens are going to be in it.

I don't think an Atlanta team will be in it, but the AFC title game will still take place it looks like maybe, possibly, potentially right here in Atlanta, Georgia. I'll give you an update on the Broncos and their coaching search. We got a lot to do. It's the JR Sport Reef Show, CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. I want to just thank you for all you do to the nation.

I've been very analytical, and just looking at you, I can always say one thing. When you say, I don't disagree with what you're saying, I think that's the biggest compliment that you give to people, and your marketing edge is that you're doing it on the radio, which is like the telephone versus being in front of the camera, and you know your stuff, man. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio.

If you want to talk to me, 855-212-4CBS, it's 855-212-4CBS. At the top of the hour, I want to discuss something that we brought up last week. It's kind of been kicked around a little bit. It's gained steam.

It hasn't gained steam. We're going to talk about Dana White. Dana White, his public apology to TMZ after putting his hands on his wife in public on New Year's, and then yesterday having a press conference for one of his UFC events, and then kind of explaining to everyone what his additional apology might be.

And it is quite odd. So we'll talk about that at the top of the hour. Let's go ahead and pick up the phone lines. We've been talking about, unfortunately, Lamar Jackson and his statement a few hours ago letting everyone know that he will not be able to participate in this weekend's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Dealing with a knee injury, he says his knee is still not stable and he is hoping that they can still go out there and pull out a victory.

Highly unlikely. We also talked about Kevin Durant and his own MCL sprain. Let's get to the phone lines. Gary is here from Jacksonville. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, Jay.

A couple of subjects, if you don't mind. The first, you know, being Lamar, I'm kind of reminded of what Steve Young used to say. There are no such things as older scrambling quarterbacks in the NFL, but they're kind of in between a rock and a hard place, Jayar. You can't really trade for Jimmy Garoppolo. He's injury-prone. Derek Carr is so up and down, so inconsistent. They're not high enough positioned in the draft to get one of the better starting quarterbacks, even though I'm not a Ravens fan, they're in a big predicament. Yeah, they're stuck with them. They built their whole team around.

It's stuck. And I don't know if I want to prescribe to the notion of there's no such thing as an old scrambling quarterback. I think we're at the beginning of a new generation and a new era. And as the game continues to open up offensively, yeah, we're going to have dudes, I think, in their thirties who are running around and picking up yardage. Are they going to last to Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady age? Probably not, but I still believe we'll have quarterbacks who utilize their legs, I should say, that can last a little longer. Russell Wilson isn't an example because I think his body type isn't predicated to running around and scrambling as he's gotten older.

But more athletic, taller, leaner guys, your Fields or your Lamar Jacksons, I think they will. And those injury concerns are definitely a problem. Yeah. In fairness to them, also, they haven't done very well in the skill position to help the guy out either.

Correct. The other thing, if I don't mind, Jay, I'd like to talk about San Francisco for a moment. You know, I've seen a lot of athletes in all different sports. They have great regular seasons, but you know, in the playoffs, everything's turned up an extra notch. You know, struggles with certain basketball players come postseason time, like James Harden has had in the postseason compared to regular season.

I want to see what Brock Purdy does when everything's picked up, when it gets that much faster. Because you know as well as I do, the players are different animals. Just because you're successful in the regular season, that doesn't necessarily translate to the postseason.

Sure. And it's going to be difficult. And I think everybody knows this, not just for the 49ers, who Kyle Shanahan has taken a little bit of a beating when it comes to the postseason, not getting over the hump even though he's going to a Super Bowl.

And it's going to be a different animal for Brock Purdy. This is a good litmus test taking on Seattle. It's a team, obviously, that the 49ers are familiar with playing in the same division, the NFC West. And they'll have an opportunity to play this game at home.

And even with Geno Smith and a revitalization of the Seahawks and the surprise that they had, I think this will be a good starting point for the 49ers to get off on a good foot. Now if they lose, then we've got a hell of a topic to discuss come Monday. Let's see what they can do. OK, Gary? Appreciate it, J.R. Thank you, Gary, for calling from Jacksonville. Good luck to those Jags. I think that they'll have a good showing against the Chargers. I'm picking them.

They'll barely hold them off. Rob is here from Toronto. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Rob is listening to the radio and not listening to me. It sucks for him. Anyway, hey, good luck to Lamar Jackson.

It's sad. We're not going to see Tua Tonga Veloa. It's official. We will not see Lamar Jackson.

I want to switch gears here for a second. I just mentioned the Jacksonville Jaguars, and we talked about the 49ers and the Seahawks. It was revealed to everyone earlier today. And we knew this from last week.

Because of, unfortunately, DeMar Hamlin's injury and what took place, I guess, last week. Shep, it feels like so long ago. It was still only last week. It was last week Monday. I feel like this has been a month-long saga. It was last week.

Damn. Because of what happened to DeMar Hamlin last week, we know that the Bengals and the Bills game was canceled. And because of that, they altered some of the rules to try to create some fairness because we don't know what would have happened in the last game of the season for all involved teams this past Sunday, whether it's the Chiefs, the Bills, the Bengals, the Ravens. And so it was decided that if we get an AFC Championship game that would go ahead and feature, potentially at the time, depending on what took place this past Sunday, the Bengals, the Chiefs, or some combination of also the Bills, that the game would take place on a neutral site.

Now after the season, we've gotten some clarity here. It's the Bills and the Chiefs. If they happen to kind of match up in the AFC title game, that matchup will take place here in Atlanta at Mercedes Benz Stadium. And there are a lot of people, including myself, who are excited about that. It's almost like having, I want to say two Super Bowls.

I spoke to a lot of people today. I spoke to a Chiefs fan. People are very excited. People are hopeful that we can get the AFC title game here. Because first of all, this is NFC territory. The Falcons playing the NFC, to have the Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills here, it's like, it's not an exhibition, but I would go to the game. I would go check out the AFC title game and I would be thrilled out of my mind to see it.

It's not a lifetime thing. It's like, this isn't my favorite team, neither one are, but we have a precursor to the Super Bowl right here that everybody can go ahead and check out. And so the NFL kind of put that seed out there for us today. There's no guarantee that we see the Buffalo Bills and the Chiefs. There are a lot of Bengals fans who, you know, want to kind of put their own input in there. But that's a matchup that I'm certainly rooting for and hoping for.

A lot of people excited for that. 855-2124 CBS, Ken is here from Baltimore. What's up, Ken? Hey, Jay. How you doing, man?

I'm very well. Just want to tell you, in Baltimore, I mean, it's, the whole Lamar thing has got the city almost split down the middle. I mean, everyone wants to talk about that the shoddy, you know, everybody wants to call it a business when it comes to, well, it's a business, but shoddy, how can he pay that money, how can he pay that kind of money to Lamar? But then when it comes down to Lamar, you know, certain segments want to say that, well, you know, he should be out there, he should play for his team, he should play for the other guys, instead of it being Lamar has to handle his business, too. And after Deshaun Watson got his money, you know, why can't Lamar write down that number on the paper, too? You know, do you think Joe Barrow coming up next is not going to write down that same figure and saying that he deserves that, that guaranteed money as well? It's going to happen. And I can't think of anyone else other, you know, at the time that Lamar should get it as well.

It is a business. And now the whole team is built around Lamar. And if he doesn't want to sign that franchise tag, he doesn't have to. He just doesn't have to. And then where does that leave the Baltimore Ravens? Well, if he wants to play the stalemate game, I believe it's going to make him look bad.

That's what always happens. It doesn't matter if it's Lamar Jackson or XYZ player on another team, it's not prudent to do so. People will, so we can look at other quarterbacks in other situations, and then we can look at reality. When you bring up or talk about Deshaun Watson, that was certainly something that I think Lamar was certainly justified in trying to see if he could get his hands on. Deshaun Watson's situation is certainly one that is, I would say, extraordinary.

I would also say it's something that is out of the ordinary. I wouldn't expect it for anyone else. If you bring up Joe Burrow, Joe Burrow isn't necessarily going to look for, I believe, or receive a fully guaranteed deal.

I would be shocked and surprised, especially with the Brown family paying and owning that franchise. But I do know this for sure. When it comes down to the contracts of Joe Burrow and then also Chargers quarterback, what's his name? It escapes me right now. What's his name? Tall, giant kid. Justin Herbert?

Yeah, Justin Herbert. Those guys are going to make upwards of $50-plus million. And so it's not necessarily going to come down to, OK, well, this is guaranteed. So Lamar is also in between a rock and a hard place. It would be a bad decision for him to not sign a franchise tag and decide to just sit out. It's not going to work for him in the long term, especially given how he's ended the last few seasons. And it's not going to work out for the Ravens.

It's a lose-lose for everybody. He does, like you just said, he does have to look out for him. But I think anyone who expects him to go limping out there onto the field is a jackass. Oh, yeah, most definitely.

Most definitely. He's heard. He should not be out there. Yeah, one thing that we can't do, and it's even as fans, look, we got a lot of dudes who run away from injuries and don't want to play and sit on their ass. But when you want to question the integrity of someone, especially when they play as hard as he does, like just who are you to tell somebody, oh, you need to go out there and play for your team? Look, I've had some bum knees in my life. I know what it feels like to walk down the block and just your knee randomly give out. I don't want to know what that has to feel like for a professional athlete trying to run, juke, and move when you feel like you take a step and you just might crumple to the ground.

And so anyone who wants to look at Lamar and say, oh, well, he needs to go out there and play for his team. Shut the hell up. It's the JR sport reshow here on CBS Sports Radio. I'll get some more of your calls. And then I'm a really tell you about someone who should shut the hell up and maybe go away here on CBS Sports Radio.

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