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Hi, this is Jill Schlesinger, CBS News business analyst, certified financial planner, and the host of the Jill on Money Podcast. This is the show where your money is not scary. It's a show that's all about you. It's your questions that make it possible for me to provide unconventional and entertaining insights on your money and more importantly, on your life. Listen and follow Jill on Money on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infiniti Sports Network. Yeah, we talked about a lot of quarterbacks that We won't see. Joe Flacco will be sitting on the bench. Looks like Lamar Jackson might be benched as well with that Hammy issue. And then tomorrow we got Thursday night football.
Hey, Brock Purdy, he looks like he won't be playing with that toe issue. And the Rams, well, they're looking good. The Rams are 3-1. Matthew Stafford is looking good. Man, it looks like they might be on a Super Bowl run, maybe to maybe Really knock off the Eagles this go-round?
Joining us right now is someone who covers all sports in southern Los Angeles, especially with those Rams. Talk about with the Rams, what we've seen so far, what we can expect the rest of the way. Here with us right now from the Associated Press is Greg. Beetram. Gregg, how are you, man?
I'm good, JR. How are you, man? I'm very well. I appreciate you taking the time and joining us. Uh we heard so much in the offseason about Matthew Stafford and his back.
No back issues now.
So far so good, huh? He's looking pretty good. Yeah, I mean, it's like he said at the start of camp. They were arresting him to keep him as healthy as possible for the season. And anybody who's ever had a bad back knows it's fine until it's not.
And he's been in pretty good condition the whole season. He's been sacked, I think, eight times, but nothing really serious. He hasn't taken a lot of damage. He's got a decent offensive line in front of him. And he's dealing, man.
I mean, you look at Puka's numbers, you look at Devontae's numbers, you can tell this is a quarterback who's doing really well at the peak of his powers and getting it done. Yeah, he is not playing any games whatsoever. And then, when you got a guy like Puk Nakua who happens to be out there, he basically leads the NFL in everything having to do with a wide receiver. How is he able to do this year after year after year? Especially, well, we know he's had the injuries here and there, but when he's on the field, he's a brute.
He's got magic powers. That guy is an incredible football player to watch. It's a real pleasure for Rams fans and for NFL fans in general. Just to see the way he approaches this game. And the way he approaches it is as a very physical receiver who will run two contact.
will even initiate contact. and not just sit back and wait to get hit. He's not the best at avoiding, you know, Damage and the things that shorten a guy's career, and he'd be the first to tell you that because he loves that part of tackle football. He loves getting into it, he loves grinding for extra yards, he loves trying to break tackles. And he just brings this mentality that not only affects him, but it affects the offense, it affects the entire team, really, when they see who.
Who can make that extra effort when he gets open, does the things necessary to move the chains? Score touchdowns and even to block for his teammates. I mean, that's the one hallmark of Rams receivers from the start of Sean McBay's career. From Robert Woods all the way down to Puka now, is that they block. They block really hard.
And Puka is the avatar of that. And he's done a really great job this year. The numbers are jaw-dropping. Part of that's because he's got Devontae Adams on the other side who draws a lot of attention from other teams' defenses. Frees him up just that little bit, which is all you need for a star receiver to do the kind of stuff that he's doing through the first four games.
Greg Beetram is joining us here from the Associated Press out in southern Los Angeles. You mentioned Devontae Adams. We know he's always used to being. The number one. He knew what this situation was going in.
He's having a good year to start so far. How great is this for Matthew Stafford? They're both big wide receivers, they're different. In regards to their style and their play, but how has Devonta overall fit in in Los Angeles with the Rams? He's fit in great.
I think this has drawn up exactly how General Manager Les Sneed hoped it would. Like you said, they provide a good physical talented counterpart to each other. They have different games, but the thing they have in common is they're open a lot. They're really precise with their techniques. They know defenses inside and out, and they know how to get open.
And Matthew Stafford is a quarterback who. You know. is not at his physical peak. but he's still extremely good at what he does, and he's smarter than he's ever been. He's seen more than he's ever been.
When we talk to him during the week, we'll ask him about a particular route. He'll say, I don't think I've thrown that since I got here on a play. And he can remember pretty much every play That he's run in the last five years with the Rams. And just the fact that he knows everything that's going to come towards him, every defense. that that you can possibly throw at him.
And then have two guys who are an elite probo level catch and passes from him. They've had that before with Cooper Cup. Cooper had a lot of injuries in the last three years, ever since his Super Bowl MVP year. Devontae Adams is a guy who doesn't really get injured. and uh for any significant amount of time and puka's had some injuries but he's 100% right now, just roaring down the field.
So it's a great combo for the Rams, and it's worked out really well for them so far. But Greg, you mentioned that Super Bowl year. I remember if we go back, we think about that defense and all the names that they had on the defense. We know those guys are long gone. They have reset the defense.
We got guys like Jared Verse, and now they're moving him all over the line of scrimmage. You got Byron Young, who already has five sacks on the year. How well have they retooled on defense with all of these youngsters? I mean, they were going all in and screw the picks, but they've been able to kind of take some picks and rebuild here. That is really the most impressive part of this rebuild, don't you think?
I just'm amazed by how quickly they were able to get a defense together after getting down to the point where they. They were down to the studs more or less. They traded Jalen Ramsey. They were starting over at a lot of positions. And then Aaron Donnell walks away before last season.
So it's a complete rebuild. Like you said, the roster looks completely different now. But what they did was they built around the defensive line. They had two straight drafts where they drafted four above-average front-seven players. They got.
They got Kobe Turner and Byron Young, and then the next year they got Jared Vurse and Braden Fisk. All four of those guys are playing a ton of minutes for them. They don't really care about inside linebackers. They hire whoever they got. They got Nate Landman as a free agent.
He's done really well for them so far, but that's not really where they focus their attention. And then they've got two really good safeties, which I think gets overlooked sometimes on this defense. They've got Quentin Lake, who's a kind of a do-it-all, you know, he'll guard a guy. He'll play the back. He'll step up and tackle in the run game.
Then they got Cam Curl, who got the show out last weekend with two interceptions, but in general, just a really good down-to-down, hard-hitting safety. Their defensive backs, their quarterbacks are not the most impressive group on the team, probably the least impressive group on the team. But they've made it work together overall. The fact that they've been able to put up the numbers that they have with a completely new roster, completely new defensive coordinator, Chris Sheila's in his second year. The last two years have been very impressive and I Hi, this is Jill Schlesinger, CBS News business analyst, certified financial planner, and the host of the Jill on Money podcast.
This is the show where your money is not scary. It's a show that's all about you. It's your questions that make it possible for me to provide unconventional and entertaining insights on your money, and more importantly, on your life. Listen and follow Jill on Money on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Botox Cosmetic, Autobotulinum Toxin A, FDA approved for over 20 years.
So, talk to your specialist to see if Botox Cosmetic is right for you. For full prescribing information, including boxed warning, visit BotoxCosmetic.com or call 877-351-0300. Remember to ask for Botox Cosmetic by name. To see for yourself and learn more, visit BotoxCosmetic.com. That's BotoxCosmetic.com.
I don't I don't know what else to say about it except wow. Greg Beechram is here with us from the Associated Press. There's so much positivity surrounding Of the Rams. We saw them push the Eagles last year in the postseason. Let's just get to tomorrow first.
The 49ers are seemingly going in the opposite direction. They are dealing with injuries. They are in a similar reset, moving on from a lot of their veterans trying to go younger. Purdy is not going to play tomorrow. Should we expect an annihilation?
Yeah. Having watched this series the entire careers of Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, you cannot expect an annihilation. You can't even expect a win for the Rams really, even though they've won 300, just because Kyle owned his little brother Sean for so long at this rivalry. Nine out of 10, the only win was that coin flip NFC championship game for four straight years. I mean, I guess five straight years, honestly.
Wow.
So they won three in a row now, but one of those games was all backups. It was the final game of the previous season. And then last year, the Niners have had injuries. They had a bad year last year, and a lot of guys were hurt. They're so hurt now that I don't know how it would be, you know.
How you could look at it in a vacuum and just say they can compete. I mean, you're down your quarterback, you're down two-star receivers, you're down your tight end, and you're down your best defensive player. That's ridiculous. I mean, that's. NFL teams are not built to withstand that kind of attrition.
Having said that, you know, Kyle Shanahan has always game planned very well against Sean McBay's team. And Sean McVay. Will say it's just another game. He'll say he has nothing but great love and affection for Kyle. You know, inside of him that he really wants to win this game because that's a guy that he admires, the guy that he worked with, that's a guy that they're still friends with.
And that he's a Sean's a competitor. He wants to win.
So I'm going to go. I can't expect an annihilation. I also think the Rams just have the numbers on them this time, particularly on a short week. In terms of the health, they're largely healthy. They might be down their right tackle.
We're not sure. But other than that, the Rams have all the pieces they need to be successful, whereas the Niners don't appear to. Sure as hell, it doesn't seem that way. When you think about the the big picture. Outside of just tomorrow it is Do you expect these Rams to overall win this division and maybe sit down in the NFC Championship game?
I think they've earned the right to be the favorite. By the way, they won the division last year, coming from behind and rallying past the other three teams after their awful start to the season. I think Seattle has a very impressive team and it looks like they're finally getting it together there. They've added Sam Darnold, which is a great addition, in my opinion, as a guy who also covers USC football and knows that Sam Darnold is a good quarterback. Uh but you know you it's it's too hard to tell what's going to break down, um what wa what injuries are going to come up, all that kind of stuff.
But I think the Rams have to be the favorite just because they're the defending division champions and they're looking really good so far. I mean, they were a block kick away from beating Philly. You know, they had to come back late to beat Indy last week. But this is a team that can contend on both sides of the ball with the best teams in the league. They've got a tough schedule.
They've already played a tough schedule against some really tough running backs, some really tough Defenses so far, and they've come out of it three and one with a chance to go four and one on a short week.
So I I think they're the favorites, whether that comes down, you know, whether that plays out over the next three months or whether they stay healthy enough to remain the favorites is what remains to be seen. But yeah, I mean, I think they've earned it. Greg Beetram is here with us, covers all things sports in southern Los Angeles. For the Associated Press.
Now, having given us a preview for the Rams and the rest of the season, I'd be remiss not to ask you about the Los Angeles Lakers. They just had their media day. I mean, LeBron is telling us the same thing over and over again. LeBron, we know you're closer to the end. Then you are to the beginning.
Aren't we all? Yeah. Do you think He's gonna well, not this year. I expect him to continue playing past this year. But do you think he's going to hang up his his his sneakers, his kicks as a member of the Lakers, or is he just utilizing whatever leverage he thinks he might have?
Listen, we're all guessing at this point. And I do think that he's very happy living in Los Angeles. I think his wife and his daughter are very happy living here. I think it comes down to whether the Lakers are a contending team, which is basically what Rich Paul told everybody in July, you know, when he when he when LeBron picked up his option. If the Lakers remain competitive, if Lucas stays healthy, then they will remain competitive, obviously.
I think he's happy to be here. I don't know that he needs to uproot his life. and make the change that it would be to to go Chase a ring somewhere. That really seems kind of beneath LeBron. Having said that, if the Lakers fall apart, if guys get hurt, if Luca gets hurt for some reason, I don't see why anyone would object to LeBron going back to Cleveland, going to New York, wherever the situation was right for him to chase a ring.
I don't think. I don't think this is his last season. I think he'll play another one. We don't know for sure. He may not even know for sure, but he's playing so well, it would be a shame to walk away, you know, if he's still at the height of his game.
But in terms of like staying with the Lakers, I think he's here until The situation becomes unfeasible. And I don't have any reason to think it will. I mean, they could be really good. Luca is in phenomenal shape, as you've undoubtedly seen. They've got a better roster this year than they do last year.
And last year, they won 50 games, and they won the Pacific Division. If they hadn't run into a really hot Timberwolves team, who knows what might have happened. I think he's here and I think he's happy. And just if things stay the way they are with the Lakers, I think he will retire here. But all this is TBD in it.
subject to Luca's health, I think. We'll see how things certainly run. Oh, things are always busy in Los Angeles. Gregg, we appreciate the time. Tell everybody how they can follow you and all your work with the AP.
I'm on social media at Greg Beacham, or you could go to apnews.com/slash sports, and all the stories are there. And I've got a lot coming up, a lot going on out here. As you said, back-to-back, everything, baseball playoffs. Lakers, everything overlapped this time of year, Jare. Hey, keep him busy.
It's a great time of the year. Hey, Greg, we'll catch you down the line. We appreciate the time. Thanks. Take care.
Hi, this is Jill Schlesinger, CBS News business analyst, certified financial planner, and the host of the Jill on Money Podcast. This is the show where your money is not scary. It's a show that's all about you. It's your questions that make it possible for me to provide unconventional and entertaining insights on your money and more importantly, on your life. Listen and follow Jill on Money on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Botox Cosmetic, Autobotulinum Toxin A, FDA approved for over 20 years.
So, talk to your specialist to see if Botox Cosmetic is right for you. For full prescribing information, including boxed warning, visit BotoxCosmetic.com or call 877-351-0300. Remember to ask for Botox Cosmetic by name. To see for yourself and learn more, visit BotoxCosmetic.com. That's BotoxCosmetic.com.
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