Botox Cosmetic, Atabotulinum 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.
Hey friends, I'm Sharon McMahon, host of Here's Where It Gets Interesting, where you'll learn about American history, current events, and so much more. Follow and listen to me on Here's Where It Gets Interesting on the Free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. It is. The JR Sport Brief Show here with you, coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia.
Shout outs to everybody tuned in here in the South. Shoutouts to everybody tuned in all over North America. You could be here in the South with me. You could be in the Northeast with our producer Ryan Bacher. You could be in the Pacific Northwest with the Mariners.
Mariners currently lead Toronto one to nothing in Game Five of the American League Championship Series. You could be in Southern California. Maybe you're in San Diego. Maybe you are in Montreal. Maybe you're in Miami, wherever you are, Thank you for tuning in.
I'll be with you for the next three hours. The show gets started every weekday, 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific.
Okay, you can also listen well, you can listen. on the free Odyssey app. your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate? You got SiriusXM, it's channel three hundred seventy five, and if you got a smart speaker, ask the speaker to play the Infinity Sports Network. Yeah, we've talked baseball, Mariners over Toronto right now, one to nothing.
Whoever wins game five will take a 3-2 series lead. We talked about the icy hot bowl from last night. Joe Flacco getting the best or better of Aaron Rodgers. We got into Alvin Kamara. He's like, Listen, if the Saints want to trade me, I might quit.
I might retire. And I'm like, yeah, sure. You'll leave $6 million on the table for this year, the rest of the season. You'll leave $12 million on the table for next year. You're just going to walk away from $18 million.
At the age of thirty?
Okay, sure. Yeah, go ahead, retire. Let me know how it goes. Michael Parsons not happy with the refs. He's like, man, I hate the refs.
I hate the holding calls. They don't call on me. I hate the tush-push. He just hates everything. I don't know, maybe he needs to get sent back to Dallas.
Apparently he hated that too. Anyway. Eight eight eight seven ten four I S N is the number. That's 888-710-4ISN. In 20 minutes, we're going to have a chat with Will Graves.
Will Graves covers all things Pittsburgh. I'm going to get his thoughts on last night's game. I'm gonna get his thoughts on the Steelers and the icy hot bowl, and Aaron Rogers, who's been on his best behavior. Even last night when he yelled at his teammates, he was on his best behaviour. I guess Aaron Rogers has been around long enough he just Yell at anybody.
You know, I'm just really waiting for the moment it may never come this season. I'm waiting on the moment. When he either, I'm not gonna say gets into it with Mike Tomlin. But is there going to be a point in time? where maybe he's giving Mike Tomlin a death stare?
As he walks off of the field, Is he Mike Tomlin going and giving him a a stare back and maybe looking past him, Like I'm waiting for that moment. That'll be cool. Hey, Botcha, do you think we'll get one of those before the season is up? I really doubt it, to be fair. If nothing's if nothing's happened yet, With him and Tomlin, I don't think we'll get one the rest of the year.
He might flip at a teammate. Because I don't know, uh Broderick Jones might be on the last of his patience. Like, he's gonna say something. He's gonna, besides, he pushed him. But, like, it's getting bad.
with him. He yeah, but I mean, okay, forget the players. We know he's gonna yell at his teammates. They've had success so far, and I know they lost last night. You don't think there's going to be one play.
What have they got? What w what, ten more games left? Yeah, ten games.
So 11. Yeah, they played six games.
Okay, they got 11 more games left. You mean to tell me they're not going to hit a skid one time? where Aaron Rodgers is just gonna ice grill him off the field. I don't think so. I think.
I think Tomlin can maintain his personality. And that's crazy to say. Yeah. I just they're playing Not the best teams in the league. They'll probably stay above 500 or in a comfortable wildcard position.
So I'm not going to expect Rodgers to. go crazy over this. Oh boy. That's just me. I mean, we've had our share over the years, so I mean I guess he can behave like a normal person this year.
Anyway. We had one game.
Well, that was the game last night, the one that the Steelers lost to the Bengals that opened up week seven. of the NFL season. Good. Congratulations.
Well, as we continue on. We got so many more games because on Sunday we got a full slate. got some interesting match ups. And I mean even to open up the day on Sunday morning out in London, The United Kingdom, we got a game that will open things up between the Jacksonville Jaguars. And the Los Angeles Rams.
I believe the Rams aren't even going to leave, like, they're going to arrive tomorrow morning. Like they're gonna wake up, show up. Which means that they're probably going to leave today. They might be in the air right now. But they're going to arrive in London in the morning.
They're going to treat it like a regular day. They're going to play the game on Sunday and they're going to turn the hell back around. And I mean why the hell not? I mean they've even they've they've stayed on the East Coast after they beat Baltimore. And because you can't practice at MNT Field, like they practiced at Camden Yards, something that has never been done ever before.
Matthew Stafford was like, oh, yeah, this is pretty cool. You know, when I'm. Defense is up, or special teams is going to take a peek around. It's pretty cool. It's really cool for us to be able to use, you know, really the dugout and clubhouse, all that kind of stuff.
Yeah, so they're basically leaving Baltimore, getting on a plane, and going to London to take on Jacksonville.
So the Rams had it easy. They beat up on Baltimore with no Lamar Jackson. They did that 17-3. Must be nice taking on Cooper Rush. And in Jacksonville, they just lost to Seattle.
After they had that big fancy win against Kansas City in prime time. And so one of the key themes for the Jacksonville Jaguars, especially as they head out to London, It's to go out there and get Travis Hunter. The ball more on offense. Like he's been inconsistent, or even their usage in getting him the ball. Has been inconsistent.
I don't think he's had a game yet. Where he has hauled in more than, I think, 64 yards passing. And so they're trying to get him going. Take a listen to Liam Cohen because he says that you know what we need. we need Travis Hunter.
We need a plan to get him rolling. It's been the scheduling all the way from the beginning till on the plane ride out here Monday night, we were sitting on the plane going over any tweaks to the schedule we may be making this week.
Well, make a tweak. Tell Trevor. Just put him out there on offense and see how things roll. Come on Trevor Lawrence loves him. He's like the guy's a genius.
unique personality and just the energy he brings to the team. Just trying to you know As far as like his mind set and his attitude, I think he doesn't need much much help. Oh, that's a good thing. If you ask Travis Hunter how he's feeling, he'll tell you. I'm still getting the hang of this.
I just, I wanted to get that ball completed. We messed it up a couple times. We got overthrows. We got short. I didn't get my depth sometimes.
So I just wanted to make sure it was perfect before I left. He's talking about his route running. Yeah, I mean, I don't think just rolling over and heading to London is going to fix his route running, but uh. Yeah, good for him. Good for him.
This would be a good matchup. I'm going to take the Los Angeles Rams in this one.
Okay, I'm going to expect Devontae Adams to step up. And unfortunately, Pooka is still out. But that ankle injury. Sean McVay, always looking at the positive and not the negative. He's like, come on, man.
We got other guys like Tutu Atwell. I believe in him. Whatever he's asked, you know, I think, and I've mentioned this previously, you know, when he's gotten opportunities to take on bigger roles, whether it was a couple years ago when Cooper's been on IR or missed extended periods of time, he's really answered the bell.
Okay, I mean, let's be real though, it ain't Puka. Puka looks like he was made to play football, okay? If Puka Nakul was not playing football, he would be, I don't know. He be movin' boulders and rocks somewhere, I don't Bach, if he wasn't playing football, what would that man be doing? Uh, LeBron Ryder, kinda like Brian Windhorst.
What? Like Pukanu you know Pukunaku is like the biggest LeBron fan in the NFL? Oh, I know I saw him at the Lakers game. Yeah, he's like a die-hard. He's like a die-hard LeBron fan.
They asked him, Would you rather win a Super Bowl or stay a week with LeBron? 24-7 and he I think he chose LeBron. Oh my god. Apparently, LeBron James, he knows about this, right? I hope so.
But I hope he doesn't know how obsessive Bukonakua is. Ouch. Does LeBron need a restraining order from an NFL player? Nah, I think they're true.
Okay. I mean, they're both in LA, so uh I I assume he's met 'em, right? I think they had a like a jersey swap once, I think his rookie year. But other than that, I don't think I've seen a ton.
So what is Puka? He put LeBron's jersey under his pillow at night or something? He might. Yeah. Loves LeBron.
Oh, yuck Yuck, yuck, yuck. Anyway, I'm going with the Rams to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. That'll be the early game. How about this one? We got the Eagles playing football again.
Could you imagine if they lose again, this time they're going to take on the Minnesota Vikings? If they lose to the Vikings, that'll be three losses in a row. And then everybody in Philadelphia is absolutely going to lose their damn minds. It's kind of wild what's going on out there. They lose to the New York Giants after losing to the Denver Broncos.
One is a good team. One is trying to figure out who the hell they are. And meanwhile, you got AJ Brown trying to figure out if he wants to get the football out there. It's uh it it's wild. It's an interesting situation.
Jalen Hurts is like: man, I ain't thinking about my room. We got to go beat the Vikings. Really good team, very well coached, great players, great front seven. And then in the back end, they fly around to the ball, and they play what they play very well. And so got a lot of respect for this group.
Well they do.
Meanwhile, unfortunately, JJ McCarthy is still not back. Man, it sucks. This guy blew out his knee last year.
Now he got a high ankle sprain. Like, we really haven't seen him. I mean, outside of that first game, where it's just like, oh, this is the guy that we won after they would lose, and he sucked for three quarters. He came back, and it was all good. It was all amazing.
Now we got we got Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz is going to be back out there. Ah. Holly, highly. Unfortunate.
Oof. Yuck. Anyway, Justin Jefferson He wants to beat he wants to go out there and and and and beat Philly. It's definitely been tough the last couple times. We played them at their house.
So, you know, first time for them to come in our home.
So, we definitely got to give them, you know, a sense of what it feels like to be in our stadium with our fan base, our crowd noise.
Alright, looking. The only thing interesting about that game is whether or not the Eagles lose. That's what I'll be paying attention to. Did y'all lose? And then I'll look to see if A.J.
Brown had how many catches, or how many catches he had, how many rushing yards and attempts Saquon had. and then I'll draw a conclusion as to whether or not AJ Brown is going to be ticked off After the game. Speaking of ticked off, this is a good game. Looking forward to this one a whole hell of a lot. Not really.
The Patriots Are going to take on the Tennessee Titans. Mike Vrabel, the former head coach of the Tennessee Titans, is going to be back in Nashville. This dumbass team, the Titans, that decided to fire one of the best coaches in the NFL because. They're stupid. They're dumb.
They're dumb. Okay, I mean, they just fired his replacement, Brian Callahan. That lasted all of a year and seven months.
Okay, a year and eight months, excuse me. I don't even want to give him.
Well I guess I could give him nine. Yeah, he lasted a year and nine months. Couldn't even get to through two full seasons. The Titans are trash. Mike Vrabel.
Do you care about going back to Tennessee? It'll be nice to see some people that I haven't seen in a few years that helped us win, players and staff. But we've got a huge job here to do as we prepare for them. Yeah, that ain't what he's telling in the locker room. You know what he's not even hyping them up.
They're hyping themselves up, going, Man, we back down here with our coach These dumb asses they want him. We know how good he is. We gotta whoop on these Tennessee Titans just because they're stupid to support our coach.
Some things don't need To be said. And the unfortunate recipient of a lot of the beat down? It's gonna be Cam Ward.
Okay, Cam Ward is is left with the the scraps. Callahan is gone. Mike McCoy has taken over as the new head coach the interim. And Cam Ward is like, Yeah, I got a new head coach. What you want from me?
This organization stinks. I think it's going to be great for us. I think it's going to be great for us as an offense. And just at the end of the day, we're going to rally behind him and try to get some wins.
Okay. Alright. They're gonna rally behind him? Yeah, whatever. Everybody knows you about to get fired.
Ain't nobody's thinking about that. A wild situation here, man. Botcher, outside of saying the score is going to be a lot to a little, you got any insights on that one? I personally am interested to see. Just How they come out, like if they come out flat.
I'm really worried for Cam Ward, but if there's like a small piece of energy on that defense, maybe they have a good touchdown drive. that's good for the development of Kim Ward, but It's not a great look for that team. No, it's not. Nothing is good looks. Speaking of not good looks, how about this?
We got an NFC divisional matchup. We got the Washington Commanders. We got them Cowboys. Jerry Jones did not want to speak to anybody following Cowboys' loss against the Carolina Panthers this week. And then we saw what the Commanders did on Monday night football.
They lost.
Okay, they went out there and lost. To the Chicago Bears on a last-second field goal.
So we know that they're itching to just get a victory back, to bounce back. This is what Jaden Daniels had to say about. Losing last week against the Bears and trying to come back this week. respond and they'll go out there and play art. And we've got to execute because it's a tough team that we're playing, Division Rival.
So we're looking to get a win, and I know they are too. Yeah, George Pickens is short on words. Uh he's trying to hold things down while C. Dee Lamb is still out. By the way, George Pickens said ain't no guarantee I'm sticking around with the Cowboys past this season.
Listen to what George Pickens had to say about being numero uno with no C De Lamb. Super excited. I don't even think the words can explain fully him and possibly Turk.
So super excited. Yeah, he could be as super excited as he wants to be. Listen, man, he wants to get as many targets as he can.
So he can up whatever his bottom line is going to be. Into the future. He ain't missing nobody. And don't let him go out there and fool you. Those are just a few of the games that I'm really looking forward to.
We'll talk some more NFL matchups as the evening, as this afternoon continues on. What we're going to do is take a break. And when we come back on the other side, we're going to talk about a grumpy old man. Oh, he was pretty grumpy last night. Offensive lineman is tackling him in celebration.
We got running backs who are flea-flicking him when he was not prepared to flea-flick. We're going to talk about a guy who's been quiet, relatively quiet. for the majority of the season. We're going to talk about Aaron Rodgers, the Steelers, Mike Tomlin, the defense, the offense. Why that defense sucked so bad last night.
We're going to chat with Will Graves, who covers all things Steelers, for the Associated Press. We'll have that chat on the other side of the break. You are listening to the JR Sport Reef Show, Coast to Coast, on the Infinity Sports Network. Hey friends, I'm Sharon McMahon, host of Here's Where It Gets Interesting, where you'll learn about American history, current events, and so much more. Follow and listen to me on Here's Where It Gets Interesting on the Free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Mm. 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.
You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you, Coast to Coast on the Infinity Sports Network. And I need to let you know that this portion of the show. Is brought to you by Ethos Life. The easy way to get life insurance in 10 minutes, up to $2 million in coverage with no medical exam, just a few health questions.
Get your free quote. At checkethos.com. Not available in all states. Hey, we talked about the football games that are upcoming this Sunday. We talked about the baseball game that's going on right now.
The Seattle Mariners currently lead Toronto 1-0 in the fourth inning. But we opened up the show. by giving you a recap on what was deemed the icy hot bowl.
Okay, we saw 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers, we saw 40-year-old Joe Flacco. They actually lit it up last night. It was a rather entertaining game. And so the Steelers continue to move on here in the season. Aaron Rodgers is not happy about a few things that took place in the game outside of being tackled by one of his own linemen and then also a flea flicker where the flea was not flicked.
Joining us right now to talk about the Steelers so far, what we've seen is someone based in Pittsburgh doing all things NFL Sports for the Associated Press. Welcome to the show, Will Graves. Will, thank you for the time. Thanks, Sam. Thanks for having me.
No doubt about it. I guess one of my first questions, and I thought about this in watching the game yesterday: the Steelers, this was their first prime time game. I said to myself. Their defensive backs cannot be this damn bad. I get it that the Bengals have one of the best combos, if not the best wide receiver combo in the game.
What's up with that secondary? The irony of all this is the Steelers were very explicit in the offseason And the moves they made to revamp the secondary that it was designed specifically to try to handle the bangle. Like they were very. Mike Tomlin was very candid about that. You know, they got they brought in Jalen Ramsey.
They brought in Darius Flay, you know, and the idea was: well, you know, Jalen's got the size to kind of. match up with both T Higgins again with uh Um with with Jamar Chase and And look, they've been good at times this season. They were really good on Sunday against the Browns.
Now it was the Browns with a rookie quarterback, but a rookie quarterback that also threw the ball fifty two times. and had little success, right? Um but man it looked like Uh it looked like a seven on seven out there. And it like varsity versus JV, uh, when the when the Bengals were on the field. Like, it just uh.
I I was surprised at how easy it was for Flacco. I didn't I expected him to be competent, but I was not I was stunned at how easy I mean, he's been in town five minutes. And you could not tell. I mean, it was a It was impressive. And look, you mentioned it was on prime time.
I think this was people's first chance to really look at the Steelers this year and figure out. Is this team like are they are they ready to take a step forward after being that ten and seven out in the first round team for basically the last seven, eight years? And it's it's hard to make an argument that they look any different Just based on kind of what we saw last night. Look, I've seen it, like I've covered them, right?
So I've seen them through six games, but This was a chance to make at least a little bit of a statement. A win would have been a statement, and instead it was like, Can't do you trust them in a big spot? Maybe not yet. Yeah, well, whoa, I can tell you one thing that has been different, and this is the fact that we do not get weekly interviews, reports, and viral clips. From Aaron Rodgers on Pat McAfee's show.
How quiet have people? And thank God for that, by the way. Thank God for that.
Well, who are you telling? But how quiet have things actually been? I mean, from a national standpoint, it's been very quiet, but from a local perspective, has it just been like surprisingly quiet? Yeah, I think we're all sort of surprised. I didn't know.
in Pittsburgh for fourteen years. And a lot of big personalities have come through that room in the time that I've been you know, covering the team and you know, he All of the outside stuff Um, you know, sort of it's it's kind of just about football. With this guy, and at least at this point in his career, I think he's really sort of leaning into the idea that this is his last. This is his last year and he kind of wants it to be of more of a sort of a pure experience. I'm very I mean, I think all of us on the beat were terrified that he's going to go on McAfee on Tuesdays and then when he meets with us on Wednesday and Thursdays, we're going to spend half of our time with him at saying Well, you said on McAfee X, Y, and Z, right?
And he has not done that. He hasn't ex he hasn't explained his reasoning. He just Yeah. He just isn't doing it. Um And and it's and it's it's sort of refreshing.
And when you He's more approachable than I think we were led to believe. And look, I spent, I wrote a big piece before the season started. on just watch I literally was like a fly on the wall for like two weeks just during the locker room access that we have. literally not interviewing anybody, just watching him. And so it was kind of like kinda creepy, right?
But that's I was trying to get a feel for what he was and who he is. And to be honest with you, This is a guy who likes being around football players and it doesn't matter the the pedigree. There's no heirs with him. Um he is just as happy talking to YA Black is their first or their fourth-round pick defensive tackle out of Iowa, as he is talking to DK Metcalf, as he is talking to TJ Watt. Um you know, he will mess with anybody and everybody.
Um, you know, and I think to be honest with you, like the temperature in the room has been very mellow, and I think that. He's got a lot to do with that. You know, like like for and I'll give you just a quick example.
So Pat Fryerman last year was their leading receiver. They signed him to a extension before last season. to make him a top ten highest paid uh tight end in the league, right? This This year through through Sunday, he was sixth on the team in receptions. And I found him in the locker room after the Browns game.
And we chatted for a few minutes. He's like, look, man, my time will come. It's not a big deal. Darnell Washington had a big game against the Browns. And he's like, uh and it was fun to see Darnell kind of, you know, Yeah.
Get some shine, and I'll get mine when I'm ready, or when the time comes. And obviously, look, you had a big game last night. Put that in contrast to what I've lived with in that locker room for the last most of the time I've been here, from Antonio Brown.
Okay. to obviously to Deontay Johnson. George Pickens. I mean, like, the list of guys who want the ball and are cranky when they don't get it is long, right? And it is not that way with this group.
And I think that Aaron Rodgers has a lot to do with that.
Now, Will Graves is here with us, covers all things Steelers for the Associated Press in Pittsburgh. You mentioned Fryermuth, and we saw Darnell Washington with some big catches yesterday. John Lew Smith, obviously, out there. You talk about DK Metcalf. What are your thoughts on this offense overall?
I mean, do they still need a little bit more balance, not necessarily with the tight ends, but at the wide receiver position?
Well, you know, there's been a I talked for a while about a number two. It was it was that way last year. after Deontay Deontay Johnson got traded Uh before last season. And it was like, does George Pickens need a number two? And He probably did, although I always considered Fryermuth sort of the number de facto number two in that system.
I mean, I think When you look at the way the Rogers is spreading the ball around, I don't think they. Every time a receiver looks like they want to trade, like when Terry McLaurin. You know, was doing his, what was largely a performative holdout in Washington. Everybody's here talking about, oh, he needs to come here. I'm like, he wants to be a number one.
They just paid DK Metcalf for $150 million. He's not coming here, right? Uh I don't know if there's a guy out there that sort of fits. I think they can sort of make it work with what they have, to be honest with you. They had four touchdowns.
Aaron Rodgers had four touchdown passes last night. And four all four went to tight end. That is pretty unusual. Last, you know, against the Browns, he threw two touchdown passes, both to tight ends. Or I'm sorry, one did DK and then one did to the other tight end that didn't catch one last night, Connor Hayward.
Arthur Smith's doing a pretty good job calling this offense, to be honest with you. Jalen Warren, we saw at a breakout game last night. He got paid to be. a couple of months ago to be sort of the number one, at least for now. And he looks like it, right?
I mean, I think the question about him was, can he be an every down back? And he certainly, when he's healthy, looks the part.
So I don't know if they need to go out and get it somebody a a a a a veteran receiver maybe that is a career fifty to seventy catch guy to sort of complement DK. I think they're sort of fine with what they have. I think they need the defense to not play like it played last night. and look a little more like the group we saw against Cleveland and against Minnesota. and against New England that creates turnovers and might give up yards sometimes, but get corrects that with splash plays.
And look, they didn't get a turnover against the Browns, they didn't get a turnover last night. And I think if they even get one turn turnover last night, the game probably changed.
So all things considered, given what's been of course they're not winning every single game. They have a record of four and two. Things have been quiet. They look like a good football team. Even with the addition of Aaron Rodgers, do you expect this team to just be the kind of same old, same old that we got?
They get into the wild card and maybe the division around and then they just go home?
Well, look, I mean, you know, the talk here is that look, they haven't won a playoff game since the divisional round in 2016, right? That's a pretty long that's literally the longest stretch between playoff victories for the Steelers since the immaculate reception.
Okay, like they they didn't win for basically the first 30, 40 years of their Of the franchise's existence, and then basically, since the Macley reception, all they've done is won.
So, yeah, Gonvius Franco, he's not even here anymore. Right. To go eight plus years, let a playoff win and look at it and have the same head coach That at the end of every season, that topic comes up. And when Mike Tomlin can't break through with this group anymore, his message is stale, whatever. Look, I think the division is there for the taking, right?
I mean, if you look at the quarterback issues, You know With the injury issues with Lamar, you know, the Bre the Ravens defense. disaster. Uh last night was a chance to really get Some breathing room. Um I still think that the class of the division now, but the schedule gets much harder. I mean, look, they got two games.
They got the Packers on Sunday night next week, and then they got the Colts at home. a game that looks a lot different than it looked when the schedule came out, right? And then later in the season, they'll have a divisional play. They'll see the Ravens they'll see the Ravens twice, and who knows, maybe Lawrence back and the Ravens kind of get together by then. They've got some other high profile teams on the schedule.
So It's going to be a challenge. I think that if they can get a home playoff game, I like their chances.
So that means they have to win that means that they have to win the division. And I think, look, they The idea that Flacco is going to be able to replicate what he did last night enough to offset how bad that Bengals defense is is kind of hard for me. He's a pro, but y we saw it in Cleveland a couple of years ago when he got him in the playoffs. We saw a little bit last year with a cold. That he was effective in in small doses, but like I think over an extended period of time, I don't think he's going to be able to kind of.
He's not going to throw it for 342. every week. That's just not going to happen.
So I think that you know like the the the division it if everybody's and the Steelers have have also been really lucky that they haven't had any major health issues yet too, right?
So I mean like everything is sort of setting up for them to This year 10 and 7 You know, it's probably going to be good enough to win the division where the last couple years when they finished it with that record, they've been on the road in the playoffs, right? As sort of the last group in. I think it sets up if they could get Who knows what that wild card's going to be? I mean, it's probably going to be, I mean, if they finished with the top, you know, the worst record of the division winners, which seems possible. you know, they're gonna get probably whoever the runner up in the West is and that, you know That could be the Chargers, that could be who they play in a few weeks.
Um that that could be the it could be the Chiefs, it could be the Broncos. That would be a pretty tough ask. But I think if they're home, I like their chances. But if they have to go on the road, I mean, look, they've they played a bunch of road games, playoff games the last six, seven years, and they all sort of end the same. The phases change, the results do not, they lose by two scores or more.
Oh boy. Well, Will, you talk about the health of this team. I mean, did anybody ask Aaron Rodgers about Broderick Jones falling on him, tackling him in celebration? Did anybody ask Aaron Rodgers about that?
Well, I mean, like, the thing is, look, Broderick, everybody loves Broderick. He is and I I mean this affectionately and he He's sort of like a big toddler, and I mean that simply from there is an innocent joy to him. when he plays football. And Aaron even said it the other day. He said it on Sunday.
I asked him specifically about Brockers play because they play Sace Miles Garrett. And that was his first time sort of at left tackle going one-on-one with Mild, and he held his own. Miles did have a sack in the game. And he said, Look, I love Roderick's energy.
Sometimes he gets a little too rambunctious, and obviously, but he always is one of the first ones to celebrate. with me after we score and that was literally what happened on last night. But I mean, look, the thing about Aaron is: look, you know, I was here for 10 years of Ben Rothusberger. And then was, you know, big And for a reason. And Aaron, look, I'm 51 years old, right?
I'm I Aaron was standing next to me. He's certainly he's he's more uh he's in better shape than I am, although I'm not in bad shape. I'm going to give myself a little crazier. But, like, he looks like a normal human being, right? And you cannot, like, if Roderick is not a normal human being, he's 6'6 to 320 pounds.
Like, You can't be hitting old men like that.
So It is it's so I think it was just sort of a it was funny because like he and lo Aaron had talked about it a couple of days before, but If I had to guess, that's going to be the last time anybody kind of runs into Aaron Rodgers after. any play, uh, the rest of the season. Yeah, leave that old guy alone. He's uh he's kinda fragile. Hey, last question for you quickly, Will.
We're up against the break here. Uh what is the succession plan? Are they absolutely just gonna draft a quarterback regardless of what happens uh this season or not? I mean, they're they're definitely going to draft a quarterback. It's just it's I mean, Rogers, look, I'll I'll be honest with you, you know, that passing through at the end of the game I've watched him in practice.
70 yards. He's had trouble getting the ball down the field.
Now, in the plays, I've seen him do that. He hasn't done the full. like roll left, wind up and throw it as far as you can. He hasn't done that. I was stunned that it got to the end zone.
Um maybe there's a scenario where he You know, he has a great season and he thinks they're close and comes back for one more. But look, the plan for a while has been: let's get our guy in the draft. But you look, the class that looked awesome on paper. two months ago, you know Maybe not now, right? Yeah.
They like Will Howard, the guy that got from Ohio State. He hurt his hand, he's on IR. Um you know, maybe there's a chance that he develops into something. But I would just imagine, look, the draft is here in Pittsburgh, and I believe that Omar Khan and Indy Widel as Assistant GM will do everything they can. To trade up to whatever spot they need to trade up to to get the guy that they want and so that they can issue you know, draft some here in Pittsburgh and hopefully have a do a little bit better than the last time they drafted a guy in the first round, a guy named Kim Pickett, and that was what, three years and fourteens ago.
Yeah, well, Kenny Pickett is carrying bags right about now. Hey, Will. Thank you so much for the time, lending your expertise. Tell everybody where they can follow you and all your work with the AP. You can please go to APnews.com and go to our supports section.
You'll find me there. And you can also find me on Twitter at Will GravesAP. Hey, well, great conversation. We'll catch you soon, okay? All right, appreciate it.
Thank you. No doubt about it. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Thank God Roderick Jones didn't injure. Aaron Rodgers last night.
That would have been a catastrophe. We're going to take a break, talk about some of the unfortunate injuries that are going on in the NFL that you need to pay attention to this upcoming Sunday. But right now, what's going on in the world of sports? It's a news flash with Rich Ackerman. Botox Cosmetic, Atobotulinum Toxin A, FDA approved for over 20 years.
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Hey friends, I'm Sharon McMahon, host of Here's Where It Gets Interesting. Each week I speak with authors, experts, and thought leaders on everything from American history and democracy to how to be a better person on the internet. And don't miss my extremely popular docu series, which educate you on things you never learned in history class. Follow and listen to Here's Where It Gets Interesting on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief.
It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I need you to thank 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. Hey, thank you so much to Will Graves for joining us. Covers all things stealers.
I guess things are as good as they seem in uh Pittsburgh right now. Like Bocci, he it He just confirmed it. Like, Aaron Rodgers is acting like a normal human being for now. He actually said it was better than acting like a normal human being. He's mellowing out the locker room.
Which is something I never thought I'd hear her say. You know, but I don't think it's so much. Even when Aaron Rodgers was was in New York, his teammates raved about him. I know after his departure, you know, the teammates, guys like Garrett Wilson, said, Yeah, I haven't heard a word from him. You never heard a crossword about him in Green Bay.
It's just. It's just him in public. In dealing with the media, dealing with the press, where he's been Just been been kinda gruff. And I think A good portion of that is his his own doing. Um for now so far so good.
Well, let's see if it stays that way the entire season. I know I'd be upset too if I were Aaron Rodgers, Broderick Jones. Kind of falling all over him. I mean, this is a dude who blew out his Achilles. Could you uh botcher?
Could you imagine if he injured Aaron Rodgers doing that yesterday? He would be I would say like chased out of the s the town like Frankenstein's monster. like torches and pitchforks. Brown. That would be one of the biggest injuries in sports history.
Okay? Especially if it was serious. I you know what? It could be if Aaron Rodgers went down for one game or or if it was one game or the especially the rest of the season, just throw it out the window. If he would have gotten hurt, That would have been one of the more memorable.
That'd be up there. With uh you got Alex Smith's Alex Smith's leg that got blown to smithereens. God bless that dude. He had like, what, almost 20 surgeries to fix his leg. And then you have uh Grammatica.
I think it was Martine who pulled his leg with that kick, following the kick, his celebration. I don't know if we want to count this one.
Well, that Joel Diseman also broke his leg. Ronnie Lott said, Hey, chop off my finger and then he kept playing Um we we've had some some injuries, but uh Injuring your quarterback in celebration. Yeah, one of the Hall of Fame quarterbacks, one of the greatest of all time. Yeah, that would certainly make the list. But God bless him.
He was able to get up and he was uh Not happy. Speaking of injuries, let's talk about a few of them. I told you we got this game in London. Puka Nakua is not going to be available. That really sucks.
He's dealing with an ankle injury that's going to keep him out. That really, really sucks. I can tell you about somebody who is on his way back. George Kittle. We got Sunday night football.
We got the Falcons, whose defense looked absolutely amazing against the Buffalo Bills. They're going to take on San Francisco. And apparently the Brock Purdy? We don't know his status, but we know that Kittle was We'll be back. Listen to what Christian McCaffrey had to say about having his buddy back in the building.
It'd be great. I think his presence is felt in every aspect of the game. His energy is so great.
So it'll be great to have him back out there.
Well, what does the head coach feel about this? Hey, Kyle Shanahan, what about having Kittle back in the building? Just having another good blocker always helps. I thought the other tight ends have blocked well, though, and just having them back in the past game, I think, is huge. Just have an explosive athlete out there who can run away from people and.
But both, just having them on the field on every offensive play helps. But it really sucks that uh well, you still got Mac Jones. Mac Jones is out there. I mean, as we saw last week, you can have the bad version of Mac Jones, but you can certainly go out there and have the good version. That really stinks.
So we'll see what happens. I I I think Atlanta's gonna win in San Francisco. I mean, unless they're really smelling themselves and they go out there and lay an egg and panics and everybody thinks they're the you know what all of a sudden. Michael Pennix, I mean Just playing against the Buffalo Bills, he's like, Hey, by the way, we could have scored more points The thing that stood out to me was that I feel like we left a lot on the table. I feel like um we definitely had a lot of opportunities to to uh run away with that game.
and not make it as close.
Okay, all right, well look. Save some points. for San Francisco.
Okay? Save some points for San Francisco. Here we go. as somebody who's expected to come back. C D Lamb.
Back with George Pickens. We heard from George Pickens. He's like, Oh, my guy is coming back. I don't know if he's really happy about all the attention, all the targets that won't be coming his way now. A CD Lamb getting ready to take on Washington.
He talked about how long it's going to take him to be back to Numero Uno. I don't think it'll be long at all. I feel like I'm out there moving around, running around, BB. happy as can be obviously and just believe it in my ankle obviously. I feel like it's it's back to where I needed it to be and Pretty good.
Could you have gone last week and y'all being cautious? Yeah, I could have gone last week. Oh, yeah, I could have gone last.
Well, now he's back. They're being cautious. I can tell you what, wide receiver is not going to play. Terry McLaurin still dealing with that leg injury. What is this going to be like?
The fourth straight game that he's not going to be available for Jaden Daniels and the head coach of the Washington Commanders, Dan Quinn. He's like, yeah, we got to beat the Cowboys without Terry. Yeah, this is taking a long time. Yeah, and I think the easy question was like why not IR? Two ways, like you don't want to go there if he's earlier, and then like all of a sudden you're like, after you know, two or three, you're like, man, that's there.
So it's like that fine balance when you're right in the space, and so. I think that's what. You know, they're not just as easy as, hey, this is no matter what, two weeks or four weeks or that. When it's really a longer one, that makes. Those decisions easier.
But for a player with his speed, that's the part. And He hadn't been injured a lot, thank goodness. And so. you know, learning how to go where it is, what it feels like, but for a speed, like... It's just different.
Yeah, listen man, I know this sounds crazy, I think the Dallas Cowboys are gonna outscore 'em. I think the Dallas Cowboys are gonna win. Bosch, are you going with the Cowboys or you going with the Commanders? Go with the Cowboys. I just think fully healthy Cowboys offense versus the commanders who are struggling, especially Debo, might not play too.
So. Yeah, I'm going with the Cowboys. Cowboys, if they know how to do one thing, it's just go out there and put up. Points. Speaking of putting up points, this team, I don't know how many points they're gonna put up.
We got Green Bay, we heard from Michael Parsons, we have Arizona, head coach Jonathan Gannon of the Arizona Cardinals. He has to tell everybody about Kyler Murray and how he still has the busted up foot. But Kyler Murray will not be playing. And then you got Marvin Harrison, who's been dealing with a concussion from the last game. Not a good look.
Listen to what Jonathan Gannon had to say about Marvin Harrison's son. How's uh Marv doing? Good. working through the protocol. Will he be a contact participant today?
Whatever the protocol says, that's what he'll do. Oh my god. Ah. Damn. Bach, I don't want to hope for anybody to get fired, but he's so miserable, man.
Damn. Can they hire like a spokesperson for him? Or like They relay questions and then he Hire someone to speak for him? They they did they asked him about Kyler Murray too, didn't they? Right?
They did. Let let's hear that. How's kind of progressed throughout this Credit's doing well. What are you looking for with these next forty eight hours? What did Whoa!
Did somebody kick his dog off a bridge? Like, whoa Yeah, I Oof.
Well, they are going to lose.
Okay, you got Jacoby Brissett out there. You know, throwing the ball to the tight end and Big Broad, and that'll be about it, man. They're gonna suck.
Well, that's gonna be an ugly game, okay? Get well soon, Colin Murray. Get well soon, Marvin Harrison. Come save your coach. He's asking to get fired.
It's crazy. Speaking of asking and getting fired, We're gonna take a break. We come back. We're going to talk about Bill Belichick. Seems like he's going through unusual measures to find some money.
It's the JR Sport reshow of the Infinity Sports Network. Hey friends, I'm Sharon McBahn, host of Here's Where It Gets Interesting, where you'll learn about American history, current events, and so much more. Follow and listen to me on Here's Where It Gets Interesting on the Free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Botox Cosmetic, Atobotulinum 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.
Mm-hmm.
