It is! The J.R. Sport Brief Show here with you, coast to coast, on the Infiniti Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you so much to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America.
I hope you're safe. I hope you're well. I hope you're amazing. Happy Friday to you. This is when the show gets started.
Every weekday six PM Eastern three Pacific I hope you had a great week I hope you all set and ready for the weekend. It is and has been august fifteenth, Or Day long, and we got a lot to get into. We got more preseason football tonight. We got more preseason football over the weekend. We got baseball.
Man, if you're a fan of Michigan You got a punishment. We're going to talk about that punishment in a minute. A matter of fact, Bill Bender. From the sporting news is going to come through next hour and break it all down. down.
How about this on a Friday? Denzel Washington? Yes, one of the most accomplished actors of all time. He's. He's mad at talking heads Is that me?
Do I count?
Well, we'll get into that. Apparently, John Gruden wants to get back into coaching. He wants to go the Belichick route. He wants to coach in college. We're going to get into that.
Travis Hunter is hurt. Already? That man needs to gain some weight. He needs to put on some muscle. It's going to take some time.
No surprise that he's hurt. Pat Riley. We found out he's getting a statue. Not in Miami, but in Los Angeles. Of course, at the end of the show, we'll talk about a few things that took place this day in sports history.
The Browns are trying to figure out their quarterback situation. What else is new? And we got a lot to get into, okay? Thank you for listening on the free Odyssey app. When you're a local Infiniti Sports Network affiliate, if you have SiriusXM, it's channel 375, if you have a smart speaker, ask the speaker to play the Infiniti Sports Network.
Network You want to be a part of the show? You can do that too. 888-710-4ISN is the number. That's 888-710-487. Four.
I S N. You can find me. on the Internet. I am everywhere. I am at JR Sport Brief.
I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you so much to our producer, Holding Things Down in New York City. Ryan. Botcher. Bacha, we made it to Friday.
We made it to more football. This is a good weekend, it's going to be right.
Well, are we talking good football or just good weekend? 'Cause I'm excited for the weekend, not really excited for the football.
Well, we got some good storylines when it comes to the football. Like Justin Herbert is going to play preseason for the first time ever. Yeah, that doesn't move me. Oh no, ouch. Um Here in Atlanta, Georgia, we have our first preseason game.
We're going to see Pennix Junior. That's cool. That's that's 'cause they fought each other, to speak. That's the only reason why I care.
Well, yeah, well, you like a good fight, don't you, huh? In preseason, yes. Any other time besides, I don't know, maybe the Super Bowl? No. Oh, okay.
Um just like waffle house fights. You like a good waffle house fight? Who does it? Those are if you're not actively involved in the fight. It's cool.
I agree. I agree. As long as you're not the one getting your behind kicked. I I agree with that. And speaking of getting behinds kicked We had to wait.
And we knew it was coming yesterday because it was announced that it would come today. The punishment is out. for the Michigan Wolverines The punishment is here. Jim Harbaugh Well, he's coaching the Chargers, and he still got punished. Kinda sorta.
Just a little bit. A matter of fact, take a listen to this news from earlier today, courtesy of CBS Sports HQ. Continue to follow breaking news from college football with more updates in the Michigan sign stealing case. The NCAA will fine Michigan more than $20 million and impose another game suspension for head coach Sharon Moore. Moore already had been suspended for two games this upcoming season and scheduled to come for weeks three and four.
The penalties come in the wake of the school's sign stealing scheme on former coach Jim Harbaugh's watch, with former assistant Connor Stallions accused of running the operation. Harbaugh's going to receive a show clause, show cause, excuse me, of 10 years, while Stallions is going to get one of eight years, according to Yahoo Sports.
So here's really. the big things that you need to know about this. It's a four-year probationary period. We have that 14 weeks of prohibition coming up. But the big one there, that $50,000 fine and 10% of the program's budget.
Yeah. Yeah. That could amount to anywhere from 20 to thirty Million Dollars. That's a big old punishment. You think about Sharon Moore now missing that first game against New Mexico in addition to the two games that were already self imposed.
You think about the fact that we can go to a coach who's Not even in college anymore. Jim Harbaugh has been hit with a show cause order. For 10 years, which basically means it's going to be difficult to hire this guy. Whatever team wants him is going to have to go through the ringer, and he's probably still going to be suspended. This is a 10-year situation.
Connor Stallions, eight years. He's basically banned from college football. Probably will never get a look ever again. This is bad news. for the Michigan Wolverines.
Or you could say This is good news. There are a lot of people that are not happy with the punishment. There are people who look at what took place and go, wait a minute. Only twenty million dollars? Only upwards of a thirty million dollar fine?
You mean to tell me that some rich fill in the blank at Michigan can't just wake up and Pay the penalty? Of course they could. But this is no longer just college athletics. This might as well be the prose. What do you want to happen to Michigan?
What do you think was going to happen? Sharon Moore knew he was gonna miss another game. I think missing one more game at the start of the season is not the worst thing. We heard from him two days ago. Let's listen again.
Sharron Moore is just like uh I ain't worried about no suspension, I'm just worried about to day. Today not tomorrow. That's all I'm worried about. I'm worried about our players right now and The man upstairs has blessed me with the ability to be here, so I'm just worried about today. That's it.
Mm-hmm. Just to follow up, I know you said you can't talk about the NCA, but obviously a resolution has to be coming fairly soon. Is that something that you say you don't think about it, but do you think over the program it lingers and will it be relief when it's over, however it ends? Today, not tomorrow. Yeah.
Oh. Wow. Yeah, well m nothing much to do about nothing, right? There's even bigger p there is an even bigger punishment that could have took place. They could have made them vacate victories.
They could have made them give up, and vacate the national championship that they won, Just last year. I'm sure if you're a fan of The Ohio State University, you'd be like, oh, yeah, get them the heliporn out of here. Take away their win. What was that going to do? By the way, I've always found that to be one of the most ridiculous things ever in college athletics.
Let's just act like the championship never happened. What are we doing here? You don't have to look any further than USC. You don't have to look any further. Go ahead and hit up Reggie Bush.
Who just got his Heisman back after like 20 damn years? We all sit down and we watch the games. And I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people in college football, just like life and just like sports, who are nothing but a bunch of big old cheaters. Michigan just got caught. The Wolverines are the ones that Well?
They got caught. is sending a guy out To steal signs. A guy who sends other people to go out. Then steal signs. Michigan got caught.
Not a big deal. and in Jim Harbaugh.
Well, we knew that he wasn't going to be punished. How could he possibly be punished by a place where he is no longer under their jurisdiction? The best that they can do is come through and just Ban him And he's not going back to college to do what? He won a championship in Michigan. There's no other place that he could go back to.
Where he would just be. Hailed And why would you want to? If there's one thing that Jim Harbaugh wants to do, it's to keep his name in a good space. If there's one more thing that Jim Harbaugh wants to do, it's to win a Super Bowl he got close with the Forty Niners. That's why he's back.
With the Chargers in Los Angeles. not a bad place to live. Not a bad place to coach. He is not going back to Michigan. unless it's for a ceremony.
He wants to keep his upstanding name all high an' mighty. It's what Jim Harbaugh had to say last year when he was already with the Chargers. Yeah, I do have a comment on that. Never lie. Never cheat.
Never steal. I was raised. with that lesson. I have raised my family on that lesson. I have preached that lesson to the teams that I've coached.
No one's perfect. If you stumble, You apologize. And you make it right. Today I do not apologize. I did not participate.
Was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations.
So for me, It's back to work and attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. Wow, enthusiasm unknown to mankind. What type of drugs is he taking? Huh, w what type of drugs is he on if he has the enthusiasm more than more enthusiasm than anybody? On earth.
He just might. You said he's taking horse pills, bachelor? What'd you say? Eloquist for his heart. What thinning?
Oh my god.
So ex you tell me, educate me. Blood thinners make his heart do what now? It just helps with clots and whatnot. Is that why he has more enthusiasm? Maybe.
I don't know.
Well, he did just have the heart issue, right?
So. Yeah, maybe he's maybe he's just excited to be outside of cheating. Oh. Well, well, well, he's the one who doesn't have to be punished. I got no problem with the punishment.
This is a new day, a new age, a new era. Like the the the biggest thing that you can do is hit somebody. and the wallet. And in essence they've banned a lot of their coaches. I w are you okay with the the punishment or do you think they should have got punched more?
I think The fine itself could have been bumped up a little bit and maybe. If I feel like if Jim Harbaugh was there Everyone would have reacted That the punishment was not good at all. Because I think if Harbaugh was still the coach. you would have wanted at least a full game s suspension and or eight games. Right.
Well, I mean, think about this. He was suspended already when he was there. Remember that? Yeah, that's true for a different situation too.
So this would have been a second offense. Or he's suspended.
So it probably would have increased the number even more. But I think they just waited so long for this that since Harbaugh left, Stallions is gone, Sharon Moore steps in, they really can't. Put all of the blame on Sharon Moore in the end. And they can't do anything but the damn the team, find the school, so. I got no problem with it.
Is I don't think what what else are they gonna do? 888-710-4ISN is the number. That's 888-710-4ISN. We've learned Michigan's punishment, and it is mostly. Financial.
Upwards of $20 to $30 million. It depends on the revenue that's coming into the school. They're going to tax them on that money. We got a whole bunch of other people that have basically been banned with these show cause orders. Connor Stallions, eight-year show cause order.
You got Jim Harbaugh, who's gone, 10-year showcaze order. What does it matter? He's coaching in the NFL right now. Big Whoopty do. 888-710-4ISN.
What do you think about Michigan's? Punishment. Should the NCAA Come down harder. With the hammer. Let's hit the phone lines.
Mike is calling from Abilene, Texas. You on the J.R. Sport Reef Show. What's up, Mike? Hello, gentlemen.
Thanks for taking my call. Um I'll be honest, man, right off the jump, I am a Buc Us fan. Let me tell you my issues with everything. And I am the most um I'm level headed, man. I don't think my team or my organization is Is perfect and has never done anything wrong.
But let's pay attention to the words that he said. And this is what really gets me. The arrogance with which he is conducting himself, and Michigan is conducting himself, literally solidifies the theory that the NCAA or someone with that power was involved. And so was Tom Brady. Are we forgetting that Tom Brady got caught being the guy behind this?
But no, you're exactly right. We're not going to punish them. We're not going to vacate wins because you know what? They set it up so well beforehand. Everybody knew their job.
Everybody knew their assignment. Everybody knew what they were going to do before everything came out. Honor Stallions got another job. Jim Harbaugh left. Pull the peat carol on everybody.
No, it is not okay. And so the NCAA, after all they've done over the years, all the boneheaded things the NCAA has done, for them to literally get bullied by a man and an organization who had to cheat on a level that we've never seen before.
Okay? We've never seen this before. It's different when you think you know what they're going to run, as opposed to, hey, I not only know the name of the play, I know what hole the gap's going to be in, I know where the fullback's going to be, I know what snap count it is. That is different. And you want to know how we know that we're doing it?
Let's go back to that CFP game against TCU. What happened there, Jimmy? Oh, Ohio State found out what you were doing and said, you know what? I'm going to call TCU and let them know. TCU changed their playbook, and look what they did to Michigan, wrecked them.
Not one single person wants to talk about his record before he cheated. Could not beat Ohio State. not make the playoff. not make the Big Ten championship. But now, because the plan was executed perfectly and he gets out before it's too late, now we can't talk about the legend because he won the game.
We can't punish him. No, we actually could. We could get up and make a statement that this type of behavior and action is absolutely detrimental to our game that we love so much. And I'll tell you this: if I found out my Buckeyes were doing it, I would feel the exact same thing. Same way.
There's so much crap that goes on in sports that it should not be allowed. And here we go.
Sorry for ranting, getting upset. Appreciate y'all taking my call, man. Blessings. All right. Thank you, Mike, for calling from Texas.
Mike lost me when he said Tom Brady was involved. I was just like, what? And then after that, I said, let me just, whatever was in his heart, whatever was in his system. I was gonna let him get it out. Was he inspired?
Was Michigan inspired by Brady with Spygate? I don't know.
Is that where the... What did Tom Brady have to do with this? Nothing? Is it because he's an alum? Is that like.
It makes no sense. You're actually thinking about it?
Well, no, because I haven't heard Brady's name in any of this. That's where I'm talking about. Which is why I'm like, you're actually lending credence to what he just said. I'm not even giving it a thought.
Well. He had a point, though. The TCU game where they switched the plays and Ohio State knew something was up. That could be something.
Well, but everything else is now. Yeah, that that well, because that's something that actually happened. anything involving Tom Brady is Is some 10-foil-year-old dude sitting in front of a microwave? Like, what are we doing here? We know they cheated, okay?
That's why they just got punished.
So, I don't know what his whole rant was. If you think the punishment should have been more severe, then so be it. It sounded more to be he was looking for a punishment. For Harbaugh. How you going to punish a guy who left town?
Here's a better example. Not exactly the same thing. Very, very different. But I I just feel like bringing it up. Antonio Brown has a warrant out for his arrest.
for attempted murder, for trying to shoot and kill a guy. Antonio Brown is nowhere to be found. As far as we understand, he is in Europe, he's in the Middle East somewhere, he's in Saudi Arabia, he's in Qatar, he is somewhere not in the United States of America. to not get caught. Unless he is thrown back on a plane, and lands on US soil, He's not gonna get punished.
They'd have to drag him back.
Okay? Jim Harbaugh is gone. From Michigan. He's coaching in the NFL. He's their head coach, of the Los Angeles Chargers.
You cannot drag him back to college. To be punished You can only beat up on the guys who are still there. You're punishing the university, you're hitting them in the wallet. Yes, it's a lot of money. By the way, 20 to 30 million is a lot of money, and to some people it's not, but it's still a lot of money.
And then you're in essence banning a lot of people associated. with the scandals, both of them both of them excuse me. the sign stealing, and the improper recruiting. Harbaugh's gone Get over it. You can't punish him.
He won a championship. Yeah, they won it before they were cheating, okay? And they was still good and they won. Get over it. You want to take away the title?
What's that going to do? Is magically somebody else going to end up with the national championship? No, nobody wants no runner-up second place. What are we going to do? Run it back?
That's not happening either. I'm fine with the punishment for Michigan. We've seen worse things happen. Let the world move on, okay? It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network.
888-710-4ISN. That's 888-710-47. 4ISN.
Next hour, we're going to have a conversation with Bill Bender. from the sporting news will get his thoughts on whether or not Michigan Did they receive the right punishment? Was it too light? Should it have been tougher? We'll have that conversation next hour.
We're going to get into some NFL games that are going to take place starting today and over the weekend as we got more preseason on the way. We got Travis Hunter already dealing with an injury. We have Denzel Washington mad at the Sports World. We got a lot to get into. Congratulations, it's early.
It's the JR Sport Brief Show, the Infinity Sports Network. Don't move. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief show here with you coast to coast on the Infiniti Sports. Network.
888-710-4ISN is the number. That's 888-710-4. For ISN. Hey, we know Jim Harbar is long gone from Michigan. This man is not being punished.
good for him. It must be nice to uh face a punishment and be able to Well, go somewhere else and make more money and not be punished. Good for him. I want to tell you about somebody. Not being punished.
He's twenty three years old. As a matter of fact, he's not being punished. He's coming back. He's on his way back. Major League Baseball pitching phenom Jacob Mizorowski.
Yeah, the the Brewers young guy, the guy that came up and had like seven starts and they were just like, Well, we need an all-star and they threw him in the All-Star game, even though he just showed up.
Well, he's been gone. coming off the fifteen day injured list a couple of weeks ago, After he caught A ball off of his leg, and so he had a bruise. He had a bruised leg on his shin, and they're like, you know what. We don't need a bruise. turning into fracture, turning into pain, meaning that he'll miss the season.
And then at the same time, keep in mind, the Milwaukee Brewers tonight against the Cincinnati Reds, they have an opportunity. to tie a franchise record with thirteen straight victories. The Brewers They're on a roll. And the man who's going to be back on the mound to them, mound for them tonight, is Jacob. Mazorowski.
He's back. He's back to strike people out. He's back to inspire. I mean, damn it, you already got the entire state. Of Wisconsin.
They've already got free hamburgers. I think it comes next week, I think. Bacha, did they give the did the give the free hamburgers away already? I think it was the day after the win streak, which is why some people were freaking out 'cause they were trying to get it the same day. Right.
Didn't they have some type of police issue with the hamburgers? A guy called the police. and complained about not getting a free hamburger, yet the game wasn't over. Oh my gosh. They were up, I don't know, how what?
Twelve, thirteen to two rivers and the pirates? How fat is that guy? Right? Am I allowed to say that? How fat is that guy?
I think he's uh just a little bit over Moving too fast with the process. Just a little bit. Yeah, listen, there's nothing wrong with being a Being thick, I like her. A little thickness. But this guy is so damn fat.
He called before the game is up. to demand his free hamburger. What a world. that we live in. What is he gonna do?
I don't think there's no more free hamburgers here after today, if they get to win number 13 in a row. What does he do if Mizorowski comes back and let's say he pitches a complete game? Not going to happen, by the way. They will not let this man throw that many pitches. He'd have to have an immaculate inning every inning.
What is he going to do if Mizorowski just. Lights em up. Let's see what the Reds go out there and do. The Reds were just beating up on the. The Dodgers, let's see what happens.
Misorowski, recently, he was on Brewers Unfiltered. And he just showed up to the big leagues. This is what he had to say about taking on some of the stars. When I was younger, yeah. And then I tried to tone it down in the minor leagues, not upset anyone.
And then all of a sudden, I get up here and I just struck out so-and-so. Like, hell yeah, I'm excited. I'm sorry, but yeah. I'm so excited to be facing those guys to actually perform the way I wanted to. I'm not meaning in like a bad way towards those guys.
I think it's more of a compliment to them. I think it's a crazy accomplishment. I just struck you out or got you out, let alone, you know. When Shohei hit the nuke off me, like. That's what it's supposed to be.
Like, it's Shohei. And then all of a sudden, you come back the next step bat and you strike him out. Yeah, I'm excited. Like, the dude just hit a nuke off me, and now I struck him out.
So it's like, I'm not trying to show the guy up, but like, at the same time, I'm excited. I'm trying to. hype my team up to get a you know to get a win. Yeah, and he's one of the guys in Major League Baseball that people are excited To see. Like, I'm going to tune into.
I'm going to tune in to see what he does tonight. I don't think he'll go out there and throw more than, I don't know, five or so innings. But he's exciting, Jacob Mizurowski. is back And he's joining a team that happens to be the hottest and all of baseball right now. A matter of fact, oh my god.
Oh, no. Botcher, I will not be watching the game. You wanna know why? Wh is it a late start? No.
This game between the Brewers In the Reds? The first pit is in ten minutes. On Apple. T V. Ugh.
Yeah. That just ruins the whole vibe. Yeah, not on extra innings or whatever the hell the thing is that I pay for. It's on Apple TV, the thing that I canceled because why do I want to watch the crap? that for the most part comes on Apple T V.
Oh my god.
You can't make this up. This is why this is why baseball has an issue. Here you have your phenom who comes back. Here we have the Milwaukee Brewers who are trying to win thirteen straight games, and instead of being nationally televised or streamed in an easy way where even a caveman could do it, In order to see Mizorowski in his return, in order to see whether or not the Brewers get to 13 straight victories. You gotta subscribe.
To Apple TV Plus. I don't know if there's a difference between Apple TV and Apple TV Plus. It doesn't matter to me. I'm Not. Getting it.
Pathetic. Marco Belletti, are you paying for this stuff? Apple TV Plus? Like, are you getting this? I have Apple TV.
Does that mean I have Apple TV Plus? I don't know.
Neither do I. Ugh, man. I don't know.
I gotta look into that. Apparently, I have a few minutes to do that. Also, I'm at work, so it's a little different. But I think we may have Apple TV here at the Come on, no. No, no, no, no, no.
I think we might because we have in Apple TV. No, no, no. Apple TV. We've had it when the Yankees have been on in the New York, because our studios are in New York. I've seen the Yankees on Apple TV in our studios.
So, what happened?
Somebody uploaded their subscription. They signed in? Yeah, that's possible.
So, I don't know if we have that for tonight. Necessarily, but I guess when I get off from this update, I'll inform you at 7:30 and see Eastern if we have the game here. What are the odds that our company paid for the subscription itself? And and uh somebody expensed it. What are the odds?
Hmm. That's something we need though, so I think they actually did. Oh, botch. Oh god, how naive you are, my boy. No, but uh to be fair.
I was gonna put it in the negative numbers, never And they provide 5%. I'm also looking for the NFL network, and right now our NFL network is news.
So, I can't watch any of the preseason games.
So, it's blacked out. We stop paying for it? No, so engineering changes our channels without telling us?
So, you put on the NFL channel for NFL Network, and it's just a random thing. No, I actually see, you know what? Are you beefing with engineering over the years? I'm going to pull the curtain. Botch, when you put it on channel 37, it goes to this other story channel.
You got to hit channel up, and then all of a sudden an NFL network pops up. No, I'm on 37, it says NFL.
So I will hit the thing right now. Yeah, you gotta hit channel up, all of a sudden it pops up. Story is actually different. From There's multiple stories. America.
This is how difficult it is to watch sports in 2025. Do you hear this? At a sports, I mean, this is what we do. We do New York and national sports here. You would not believe how convoluted our TV system is to be able to get the 16 channels that we have that were living in 1986 to begin with.
And everything is backwards. They tell you to put on four. It's again, like the old days: four is actually six, six is actually 14. It's the dumbest thing ever. That's how I feel trying to watch Miserowski in 10 minutes, so much so that I'm not.
Which is I'm concerned that we actually have Apple, that the Yankees are not on it. I'm concerned.
Okay. All right. Well. I wanted to see Jacob Mazurowski. Rob Manfred, I ain't paying for Apple T V, okay?
I deleted my account. I'm not paying nothing else. Keep your stupid baseball wherever you want. I ain't following you everywhere, okay? Not a severance guy?
No, I'm not. I don't that's a T. I know it's a T V show. I don't know what's it about firing somebody or killing people? Uh yeah.
Kind of neither. Kind of severance. Multiple personality disorder. I hope you say that, but it's like it's like Look, I don't watch a lot of TV. That show is awesome.
I don't watch a lot of T V. That show is awesome. Well, I ain't paying for that either.
So. Whatever. I get separate. I go, somebody just got fired. He's out for revenge.
Severance. Package. No, I guess not, Marco. I'll Google it, Marco. You want me to explain it?
Severance is basically: you severed your brain so that when you go to work, you don't know your work life and your home life are completely severed. You don't know, they're two different people. Oh. Okay. Which is actually not a bad idea.
I'll wait for it to come on Netflix. I ain't paying Apple T V for it, okay? Good luck. I don't know if that I don't have Netflix, so you and I would work well together.
Okay, all right.
Well, we can swap. You want to exchange passwords? That's the problem. Netflix took it away. That's why I don't have Netflix no more.
They don't like share. They don't like sharing. They're not like kids. No, you can have Marco, we'll work it out. I put you on the account.
We'll work it out, Marco. Don't worry about it, okay? Oh, okay. So you got the inside scoop. I should have known JR's got the inside scoop.
We'll find out when I no longer have Netflix and you do, okay? Yeah. Ha ha ha. We'll figure that one out. It's the JR Sport Re Show here with you, Coast to Coastal, the Infinity Sports Network.
I'm going to figure out something to watch. Maybe I'll watch the other Falcons. They're playing right down the block for me. You know what?
Something that is going to take place. Justin Herbert is going to play in his first preseason game ever. Yeah, shocking, right? He's never done it before. We'll talk about that on the other side of the break.
It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you, coast to coast, on the Infinity Sports Network. And right now, it's Tom Ford Newsflash. You just heard him. He has Apple TV. It's Marco Belletti.
You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. Oh, thanks. Giving me much more credit than I probably deserve. I I appreciate that. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network.
I need you to think. Think O'Reilly Auto Parts For all of your car care needs, get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly. Auto parts Before we went to break, Well I was kinda sad about the fact that I cannot I will not not that I can't I will not watch. Jacob Miserowski pitched tonight. He's coming back to pitch for the Brewers.
This rookie sensation is trying to help the Brew crew win their thirteenth straight game against the Cincinnati Reds, and unfortunately It's on Apple T V. I am not paying for Apple TV. I'm not going to do it. Not happening, okay?
Now I will tell you something that I I plan on seeing, that I plan on watching, Man, we got we got NFL preseason. We got games tonight. We got games tomorrow over the weekend. In a few minutes, we got the Titans taking on the Falcons just a couple of blocks from me. I could jog there.
Titans and Falcons have had some joint practices. They've been punching each other in the mouth, which is fun. And then later on tonight, we're going to have the Kansas City Chiefs and the Seahawks.
So, you know, and it's preseason. I don't want to say that we got a bunch of nobodies that are out there because that is certainly not the case. But one matchup that I that I am going to pay a chance into. We can call it the Battle of L A. These two teams don't have to go anywhere.
We have the Los Angeles Chargers. and we have the Los Angeles Rams. two separate stories here. When it comes down to the LA Rams, Matthew Stafford, they are hoping. And not in the game, obviously, not in the game.
They are hoping that Matthew Stafford, who got an upper dural shot in the back. Can get and resume throwing tomorrow without an issue to his back. That is the hope. Of the Los Angeles Rams and Sean McVay. And meanwhile, Here you have the Los Angeles Chargers.
We're going to see something. for the first time ever. Justin Herbert is going to play. In the preseason. And now, why is this something out of the ordinary?
because this man who was drafted in the year twenty twenty. has never played in a preseason game. for a variety of reasons. Think about this. If you're Justin Herbert.
You were drafted. in the pandemic.
Okay, let's get that out the way. Justin Herbert. Was drafted in the pandemic. There was no preseason.
Okay? The years after that, There had coached Brandon Staley. He didn't want Justin Herbert out there. Because he thought that he was going to get hurt. And so he didn't play.
And then last season. When he was under Jim Harbaugh? You might recall, maybe you don't. Justin Herbert had a busted up foot, He was in and out of training camp and then he didn't Playing the preseason, he had a bad foot. And so this year.
Justin Herbert is going. And I mean, if you remember that last game where we actually saw him in a real football game. Oof. Houston Texans kicked his ass, okay? This man threw four interceptions.
You gonna tell me it was because he was injured? Oh, I don't know about all that. And injury don't make you throw four interceptions. And so Justin Herbert spoke to the media and talked about why he wants to play. In the preseason, huh?
Yeah, I think it's important to be able to see a pass rush and get a feel for getting the ball out and just seeing a game before you actually play in a game. Oh, well, I mean, yeah, nothing wrong with it. You gotta actually do something to be prepared for it. You can't run from football. You cannot run from physicality.
In a lot of cases, that's how you actually get. Hurt. I mean, in an even different scenario. We learned that the Cincinnati Bengals They're deploying their offense. They're sending out their starters to get some reps in.
Because when it came to the actual football on the field the past couple of seasons, the Bengals have started Oh and three And I wonder why hum Maybe if, I don't know, Joe Burrow threw the chase and and guys got into a cadence, maybe I don't know, maybe even the defence would be better. And so for the Los Angeles Chargers, It's kind of cool. Keenan Allen is back with the Chargers, which is nice, even though he's older. Quentin Johnston. I don't know.
Maybe catching a few preseason passes from Justin Herbert will help him actually catch the ball and not drop it in the regular season. Quentin Johnston gets on my nerves. with the drops, okay? Be cool to see O'Marion Hampton out there again with Justin Herbert this time in a real game. Why not?
Okay, and now that harbar is here. And now also that Justin Herbert isn't dealing with a busted foot. Hey, Justin Herbert. Did the team make you play, or did you decide to play? Come on, be honest.
It was actually me going to him and saying, hey, would it be okay if I went in and played? Because I think in years past the plan was to rest and see those reps. But I wanted to go out there and see a pass rush because in practice as a quarterback you don't always get the true feeling of a pass rush.
So I thought it'd be helpful to go out there and he was understanding and we kind of worked together on talking to plan. Yeah, you can't can't hit the guy in practice, right? You hit the quarterback in practice.
Somebody is going to hit you. We just saw, what, yesterday, two days ago, somebody well, not somebody, Shamar Stewart. The rookie end on the Bengals? accidentally hit Joe Burrow, and then a couple of plays later they were they were scrapping not Joe Burrow, but they were hitting him around. Like you can't hit the guy that's supposed to help us win.
Thank God Joe Burrow got up. Could you imagine if he didn't? The guy would have to forget the The locker room that the Bengals have. They make him change, I don't know, out by the trash. Come on now.
What a situation. And so we'll see Justin Herbert. And I'm sure we'll also see Trey Lance. Trying to show that he can play in the NFL. And we'll see Taylor Heineke.
I know. I'm almost certain of that. Head coach Jim Harbaugh, the man that avoided the punishment at Michigan, Jim Harbaugh, This is what he had to say. about the starters actually wanting to play. Yeah, guys, uh I guys wanna play and um They want the The first series of the season.
About to be the first series of the season.
Well It's good.
Well, good for the Chargers. The Chargers have probably likely, maybe, possibly be another wild carteen. I don't think that they're in a space as of yet to knock off the Kansas City Chiefs to. Dominate the ARC West. I I don't think we're there yet.
They're a wild card team. I think we can expect the same old, same old. The Chargers will be battling it out. with the Broncos in the AFC West. And then we got the Raiders.
Yeah, Ashton Genty is cool, and Brock Bowers is cool. Gino throwing him the ball is going to be cool. The Raiders are just Raider's gonna raid her. What can I say? And the charges will be average.
And then we discussed this yesterday. Let's also keep in mind their star-left tackle: the man making more money. than any tackle in the NFL at twenty eight million dollars. Or Sean Slater is gone. He's out for the season, and we learned that on Monday with that knee injury.
And so things are not going to be all that great in Chargers land. Might as well send them out there now to try and build some type of rapport. Botcher, you high or low on the Chargers this upcoming season? I'm Is it a option to be neutral because I think they're gonna stay the same as they were last year. Maybe if Slater doesn't get hurt, I'd be more positive on them because I like Hampton as a running back and I like them bringing back Allen.
I just can't be happy about a team that just lost their star left tackle. Yeah. They are they are good but average. I mean, surprisingly, they were eleven and six last year. And it's just Well, when you play in the same division as the Chiefs, They won 15 games.
It's hard to get lost. But nobody takes the Chargers seriously. At some point over the next couple of years, I absolutely believe that they're going to break through. I like Justin Herbert. I believe in the talent.
I believe in the talent that they're building around him. And let's be clear: as much as people want to yell and scream about Jim Harbaugh being a cheater. This man is a winner. He knows how to coach. He is a great football coach.
He is a winner. There's going to come a point in time where the Chargers are going to be competitive, and I'd never be shocked if it if it happened this upcoming season. I don't expect it, but I think before it's all said and done. Without a shadow of a doubt, Jim Harbaugh. Farther or going past the wild card round.
And I don't think Herbert is some guy to throw four interceptions every single playoff game. No, I don't think so. He's had an interesting playoff career, some interesting games he's been a part of, even at that Jacksonville. Choke game, okay?
So, good luck to the Chargers in the process. And let's see if Justin Herbert comes out of this game unscathed. Because if he gets hurt in a preseason game, they're going to go, see, this is why we don't play him. Come on, man, it's the NFL. Guys are gonna get hurt.
Any damn way. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infiniti Sports Network. We are going to take a break. When we come back on the other side, you know what? Let's talk about some other games that are taking place this weekend.
Oh, and how about this? Bill Bender is going to join us as well from the Sporting News to talk about Michigan and its punishment. You're locked in. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief Show Coast to Coast on the Infinity Sports Network.
