JR SportBrief Hour 2

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It is the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. I hope you're having a tremendous Tuesday. I'm tremendous.

Just feeling tremendous. I'm going to be hanging out here with you for the next three hours. It's a four hour show. I've been here for an hour already. If you missed it, you can hit rewind on the free Odyssey app.

If you don't have the free Odyssey app, what's your problem? I get going. 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 Pacific. We talked about the NFL combine. We talked about these GMs. They say a whole lot of nothing. We talked about Taylor Lewan, formerly of the Tennessee Titans. He said he got cut and they just dropped his stuff off in trash bags on his doorstep.

He's like, yeah, what are they supposed to do? Drop my stuff off in golden suitcases? It's a hard knock life in the NFL.

Here today, gone tomorrow. You just got to take your paycheck and be happy with it. I will sign up to make $15 million just to have my former employer drop my athletic wear, drop off some damn cleats, you know, on a front doorstep in a trash bag. Please insult me some more. What do I care? I can buy fancy trash bags and more stupid NFL cleats with $15 million.

Congratulations, Taylor Lewan. Now you're a free agent. I don't know if you need more surgeries on your knees.

But there are worse problems. And so we opened up the show talking about the NFL combine. There are a lot of players who won't participate.

And, you know, later on in the show, I want to discuss whether or not the combine is even worth it. Like the NFL takes no days off. The NFL takes no time off.

Should we just stick to pro days? We'll get into that conversation. We talked about Derek Carr. He was wined and donned by the New York Jets.

Sure, they told him some lies, too. Hey, man, you come play here, you could potentially go to the Hall of Fame. We talked about Aaron Rodgers. Brian Guttenkunst is like, man, I'm ready. I'm ready for Jordan Love. A matter of fact, I want you to hear Brian Guttenkunst right now. He was speaking at the combine earlier today and he's just like, yeah, Jordan Love is ready to play.

Listen to this. He's ready to play. I think he's ready to be an NFL starting quarterback. He's worked really hard. He's done a lot of progression. I know he's really eager to have that.

And I think that's the next step in his progression is to play. OK. Aaron Rodgers had another drink. Had a little bit of that ayahuasca.

Hey, Shep, think fast. Spell ayahuasca. Oh, man. A-I-O-W-A.

Well, let's try to do it together. No Googling. Oh, damn.

I was going to Google. OK. No. A-Y. No. A-H-Y? A? It doesn't, it doesn't start with an I? No, ayahuasca. No, it has to start with an A. Oh, it does? A-Y-A-I-A, ayahuasca. H-U-E-S-C-A.

What do you think it's, what do you, how do you think it's spelled? Well, if I didn't have U as a thesaurus, I would say Iowa, I-O-W-A, I-O-Y. As in like the state? As in the state, yes.

No. And then, and then A-S-K-A. No, there is like, there is an A, a Y, an H, a U. Let's see how this crap is spelled. I, oh my God. Listen, if your ass is driving right now, listening to us, don't you dare Google.

Keep your eyes on the road. A-H-wa-ska, oh my God, I can't even, I don't even get a Google suggestion on this crap. What I'm seeing is... Ah, I spelled it right. Congratulations. I did.

What does that say about you? A-Y-A, I was maybe a letter off, but yeah, A-Y-A-H-U-A-S-C-A. Yeah, but it's very deceiving because it's spelled nothing like its pronunciation. So that's even more, maybe you should be on one of those ESPN spelling bees soon.

ESPN spelling, like Akilah and the Bee? That was a great movie. Kiki Palmer?

Yes, look at you. I didn't see it. Well done, and Laurence Fishbourne? Yeah, I know she, she didn't like him as an actor.

Well, she didn't like him as a co-worker because he was a jerk. No, he's just a method actor, so he comes off as very serious and intense. It might rub some people the wrong way, especially young people. Laurence Fishbourne thinks he's important? Well, Laurence Fishbourne thinks he's important because he is important. I mean, he had a pivotal role in Boys in the Hood, and that changed cinema. The Boys in the Hood, The Matrix. The Matrix, right, absolutely. Ricky, yeah, I like Boys in the Hood.

That Boys in the Hood I've seen. The Matrix I've seen. Right. Akilah and the Bee, no thank you.

Got it. I thought I could do better than that, Shep. Spelling Bee, I thought you were going to tell me I could do Jeopardy.

Well, you could do that too. You could do a lot better than a host they had a little while ago that's too busy thinking about what he's doing outside of football. Aaron Rodgers? That guy, yeah. How the hell, now that I think about this in hindsight, how the hell did they let Aaron Rodgers do that? I don't understand. Well, I guess when you're a four-time regular season NFL MVP, you can do whatever you want.

You call the shots. They didn't realize how nutty he was. Yeah, they figured that out fast and went with the girl from Blossom. Yeah, he ain't coming back. If I see Aaron Rodgers hosting Jeopardy, I'm going to, well, I don't have one of these chairs to sit down and watch television.

I got a couch and I'm getting a chair, but I fall out my chair watching it. There's only one Ryan Clark. Oh, Ryan Clark as in, from LS, like football player Ryan Clark? What I mean by that is, now we know about Michael Strahan and there's others like that, but Michael Strahan may be at the top. Dave Burlinson. Dave Burlinson's a wonderful example, but during their playing career, I remember Ryan Clark doing a lot of media work and he was able to make that work. I don't think a lot of guys can do that, but Ryan's just a natural. Aaron Rodgers doesn't have that.

No. Hey, can't wait for Aaron Rodgers to retire to watch him on Fox on NFL Sunday. Can't wait for that one. Anyway, right before we went to break, this is, this is maddening. This is maddening. The Los Angeles Lakers just lost a basketball game.

Okay. What a shock, right? There's no LeBron James. The Memphis Grizzlies beat them 121 to 109. I said last night, Anthony Davis is going to have to play out of his mind.

He's going to have to destroy everybody. And to a certain degree tonight he did. Leading the way for the Lakers, 28 points, 19 rebounds, five blocks. He went to the free throw line 13 times. He knocked down 10.

He was a beast tonight. And they still lost. The second highest scorer, Lonnie Walker, had 21 points. And the Lakers now dropped another game below 500.

29 and 33. They're in 12th place. They got to get to stupid 10th place to get into the play in.

And it's, they're in a precarious situation right now. And unfortunately for Anthony Davis, he played amazing on the offensive side of the ball. Until Jaron Jackson kind of dunked right the hell over him for a putback. Yes, Anthony Davis had a whole man crawl over or jump over his back. Hung his leg over his back. And yeah, Anthony Davis, well take a listen.

This was on TNT. Lob into the lane for Davis. Intercepted by Jackson.

Here comes the Grizz. Jones ahead for Conchar. Conchar into the paint.

Running floater no good. Oh, Jaron Jackson just posterized Anthony Davis with a follow left hand jam. Oh, that was, you heard the excitement.

That was actually the Grizzlies radio network. Why not? I'd be excited too if I could dunk. More so if I could dunk over Anthony Davis. There was a point in time where I was real close to dunking too. Them days I haven't tried. Hey, Shupp, you ever tried to dunk?

Of course. What happened? I couldn't touch rim.

Oh. It went for naught. But I could dunk on 9 feet though. Did you, did you just convert it into a layup on the way or did you just quit? No, I kept trying and, you know, eventually I realized that enough, I can do all the plyometrics and the, wait a minute, I buried the lead here. I apologize.

JR, you can dunk? No, I didn't say that. Oh. That I said there was a point in time where I could almost dunk.

Wow. Like almost. So you were, you were easily grabbing rim then at one point on 10 feet. No, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't grab rim. You know, what do you call that?

I was a couple of inches away. What do you call that, that, that box? You know, the, the box right underneath the, the actual rim?

Uh, yeah, just the box. Well, not, not the box, not the shooting box above the rim to aim at, not that. The box that, the, the piece that holds the rim onto the backboard. The stanchion? No, not the stanchion. So the actual rim, maybe you wouldn't know cause you never hit it. The actual, you have the basketball rim, right?

It's connected to the backboard. You're not following me, come on. This is terrible. Anyway, Shep, I could, I could get right underneath the rim. It's okay, Shep. Anyway, yes, at one point I could almost dunk. The ring, is it called the, is it called the ring?

I don't know, man. It's, there's rim. The square, the square, I'm sorry. No, there's rim and there's backboard. I know, I know, I know exactly what you're talking about, yes. The part underneath the rim that connects it to the backboard. So I can easily jump and tap the backboard, like the bottom of it. But then there's that, that, that metal piece connected to the rim, like right above it. Right, it's like, it's, it's the, so it's the orange part too, right?

Yes, yes. If I actually did some work and practice and actually played basketball and actually went for it, I could have probably dunked. It's lost, who cares?

Doesn't matter too much. Anyway, Anthony Davis was embarrassed tonight. The Lakers were embarrassed. This sucks. And even after getting, well not destroyed, but just beat again, Darvin Ham, he's looking at the bright side of things.

Listen to this. Guys are just trying to play the right way. You know, we have to make quicker decisions in terms of, you know, on catch. It's got to be a quicker decision that we make in terms of, you know, the options that are available in that type of scenario or situation. You either got to shoot it, quick drive downhill, or swing it to the next guy quickly.

What? They held it, I felt like, for too many extra seconds, too many extra dribbles. It throws off the rhythm in time and allows their defense to catch up. And they're a tough physical ball club, you know. There's a reason why they are who they are. And, you know, they all play physical.

They all take pride in their defense. Taylor's doing a hell of a job. But I just felt like it was times where our timing was off. And, you know, we got some new pieces. We got some guys out of the lineup. We don't have the lineup.

We don't got to listen to that crap. Hey, we got new pieces. We got some guys out of the — who's not in the lineup? Is he 6'9"? Is he going into the Hall of Fame? Is he one of the best basketball players ever? It's that guy or are we talking about D'Angelo Russell? Yeah, he's definitely talking about D'Angelo Russell. Definitely.

He would help. He ain't LeBron James. At this point of the NBA season, can we hit the fast-forward button? The NFL is finding something newsworthy every day, every part of the week. The NBA just came back from its All-Star break, which gives everybody about 20 games left on their schedule.

And I kind of have an idea of what's going to take place. Are the Nuggets going to go to the playoffs? And can Jokic actually help put them over the edge? Is one of his teammates Porter or Murray, are you going to help them get over the hump?

The Grizzlies will be there. What's the guy's name from Canada that swears he's like new Dennis Rodman? What's that guy's name on the Grizzlies?

He was cursing at Shannon Sharpe. He's a clown. Are you talking about Dylan Brooks? Dylan Brooks, yeah. He showed up to the game tonight like he was going to the discotheque.

I don't know. JR, there is no one including Mr. and Ms. Brooks that thinks Dylan is anywhere comparable to Dennis Rodman. Wow. Did he really say that? No, he's behaving like he's Dennis Rodman. He's got to be a multiple-time defensive player of the year in order for him to behave like Dennis Rodman. He's showing up like he's going to prom.

He's being a pain in the ass. Dylan Brooks, in the most polite basketball way ever, he needs to get punched in the mouth. And so the Grizzlies have him.

Somebody will punch him in the mouth or he'll instigate a fight. The Kings, they'll go to the playoffs and be eliminated. The Suns, we have to hope for health.

The Clippers have all of these veterans and we don't know if they're going to be healthy. The Dallas Mavericks, you put in stock in Luca and Kyrie. They lost again. JR, they lost again in the fourth quarter when they had the game in the palm of their hands.

Yeah, wow. If this was a two-on-two game for the NBA championship, I'd pick the Mavs, but it ain't. Golden State Warriors, Steph Curry waiting on him to come back.

And then we got a bunch of teams that ain't doing nothing. Jazz, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Zion don't even play basketball, Trail Blazers. Man, Damian Lillard is just, he's like the biggest fish of a small pond. Like, who are his teammates?

Did they draft them out of the crowd? Like, who is Damian Lillard playing with? He's a shame. He's got some good, I think the Blazers get him. There's one guy he has, name him. What's his name? Cam Reddish can play. Cam Reddish hasn't proven to play anything, keep going.

Okay. There's one guy, they just gave him a contract from Detroit. What's his name? Oh, Jeremy Grant. Yeah, that's it.

Yeah. Who else? Well, Matisse Fievel can play. Oh, Simons? Anthony Simons can play as well. That's it, bro.

Shannon Sharpe's nephew, I know it's not really his nephew, Shaden Sharpe is good too. Bruh, no. They have some good players. No.

No, sorry. No. It's not Damian Lillard and Sister of the Porlo JR. No, those guys, the rest of the dudes on the team, outside of Damian Lillard, Jeremy Grant, and Anthony Simons who's still trying to understand how to be a player.

Come on, man, these guys, there ain't nothing exciting about, there's nothing. Damian Lillard, they might as well draft people out of the crowd. Can I give you an unpopular opinion?

Go ahead, so I can tell you it's terrible. Damian Lillard is one of the most gifted offensive players of our lifetime. There is no denying that you can make a legitimate point that he is very much the lethal shooter that Steph Curry is, has a comparable handle, and even has more athleticism. The problem with Dame is, he was so focused on one aspect of the court, he never invested defensively. And so when they got to the Western Conference Finals, even without Kevin Durant being on the floor, they got swept because Damian Lillard couldn't stop a cold. And that is why the Blazers never got to the mountaintop the way that Steph and Klay and Draymond were able to because Steph bought into both sides of the floor, Damian Lillard didn't. It's not just the, Damian Lillard, it's not just the offensive greatness that has held him back, defensively, he has not been a superstar the way that we saw from other guards who have played this game. I'm going to try to answer with as few words as possible to save some breath.

Okay. His teams have sucked. Who cares about his defense? His teams have sucked, man. That's it.

There's nothing else to put there. The reason why Damian Lillard has not been successful doesn't have squat to do with his defense to teams around him. I just told you about four lampposts that are playing basketball with Damian Lillard. What is he supposed to do with Nasia Little? What is he supposed to do with Cam Reddish? Cam Reddish has been moved around more than your next door neighbors. I can't say that. That's inappropriate. But this man has been passed around quite a bit.

There's a reason. So there were a lot of guys and then they find the right fit and they realize that, you know what, it was more the team and the system and the infrastructure than it was the player. Look at individuals like Chauncey Billups. Chauncey Billups was moved around three different times before he found a home in Detroit. You can start talking about players that get moved around.

Do you see Cam Reddish help take a team to a championship the way Chauncey Billups did? Well, that's an uncertainty. Ninety percent? Forget ninety percent. Ninety-five percent of the NBA gets moved around.

Right. Superstars get moved around. Cam Reddish is a young dude who was just drafted in 2019. I met him when he was drafted. He was drafted here in Atlanta in 2019.

I met him. He was supposed to be the next guy. He was the next year pick that came along that the Hawks got for Luka Doncic. What is he doing?

He ain't that. And so what did he do? He went from the Hawks.

I'm losing track now. Was it the Hawks? The Knicks. The Knicks. Coach Thibodeau didn't want his ass. They said, nah, give me Josh Hart. And now they moved him to Portland and now he can run up and down the court and watch Damian Lillard shoot threes.

Good for him. My ultimate point here is, we got a bunch of teams like the Trailblazers going nowhere. I am ready for the NBA season to be done because outside of, is this guy healthy? Is he going to come back? Like, what are we waiting on? LeBron James, we got the update on this man's foot. It ain't too clear. LeBron James will be reevaluated in two weeks. The man sat on national TV. He was on his back yelling out, I heard it pop. He wasn't eating cereal.

This man was grabbing at his foot. Lakers are cooked. The Bucks are on a 15 game winning streak. The Celtics need to stay healthy.

That should be fun. Maybe the Sixers can make some noise. The Cavaliers are young. The Knicks are young. At least the Knicks look good right now. They should win, at minimum, a playoff round. Maybe the Heat can do something and then there's everybody else. We thinking Quinn Snyder just sends the Hawks to the top of the East?

Hey, good luck to all of these dudes. Everybody is, and this is what happens every season. Who's healthy?

Who's available? I'm ready for the NBA season to be done. Half of these dudes are going to sit out anyway. And after Anthony Davis got dunked on tonight, I'm waiting on him to wake up tomorrow and sit out with a bruised ego. NBA season is peculiar. Chop the season down. Give me 72 games instead.

These dudes don't play anyway. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio, 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS. I'm going to come back on the other side. No load management for me. Don't move. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You be safe out there on the road, okay? Okay. Thank you, Robin. You do such great work, and I love to get your takes on everything.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. Yep, that's what I'm here for. I'm here just to show up and give my takes on everything.

Most things. Anyway, right before we went to break, I told you that I'm pretty much done with the NBA season. It's not exciting. We're going to blink. We're going to roll into March Madness. Congratulations to Duke today. Ironically, I walked around in a North Carolina State t-shirt all day.

I guess I'm bad luck. Shout-outs to all my folks at NC State. Great stop on the media for the Movement Tour. Hello. Anyway, why am I going to be excited about the NBA right now?

Just to see the seedings? LeBron James said it popped. Talk about his foot.

Well, we don't know what popped. We ain't going to know too much more for two weeks, and then the season will be basically almost over. Zion Williamson, does he play basketball or is he just a big dude on the bench? You got an exciting player like Damian Lillard. By the way, the Blazers are beating the Warriors right now, about 70 to 52. Damian Lillard has 19 points. The other night he had 71.

I watched that live. Damian Lillard may not even make the postseason. Steph Curry's been in and out. Warriors might go on a run who'd be surprised, right? But let's just get to the playoffs already.

I'm ready for it. 8-5-5-2-1-2 for CBS. It's 8-5-5-2-1-2 for CBS. Paul is here from Sacramento, California. Okay.

Hey, Paul, you're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up? Good evening, JR. How you doing?

I'm very well. What's on your mind? I just wanted to see your intake, your input, how you feel the Sacramento Kings are doing now. I called you about a few weeks ago. Things are rolling right now with De'Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings.

Mike Brown, he's one hell of a coach. I think we're going to go deep into the playoffs. What are you thinking? Deep?

No, I don't know about deep. I don't know what I told you a few weeks ago, but I'm sure this is going to be the same thing. It's not going to change between now and the postseason. The Kings are good. They're a growing team. They've gotten better. De'Aaron Fox has gotten better. He's more efficient. You got Sabonis.

That's it. They play fast. They score. I love Kevin Huerter. I think one of the big reasons that the Atlanta Hawks here in Georgia haven't had so much success.

Nobody talks about it. Kevin Huerter did an excellent job. And so I think the Kings are on the path towards respectability.

It's going to be nice that they can. I really like your rookie, though. I know you don't follow the rookie and then Keegan Murray, but this kid, tonight he had a double-double.

Since last... Okay, so J.R., since I want to say the last three weeks, Keegan has been stepping up like no tomorrow. He's been rebounding better, shooting better, going to the hole, making plays, playing good defense, getting deals.

This young kid is really, really good, too. I feel like we're the sleeper. I feel like we're going to do something in the West that no one's ever... I believe that we match up well with the Nuggets.

You might disagree, and that's totally fine. But I really believe we match up well with them because it's a bonus. And I really feel like in the West, I mean, our road record is 18-13 now.

So our record is one of the best road records in the NBA. Paul, Paul, Paul. At one point in time, I believed in the tooth fairy.

There's a lot of things that I believed in that I don't believe in anymore. It's one thing to do all of this in the regular season. It's another thing to go ahead and do this in the playoffs. I don't care what Keegan Murray is doing right now. And congratulations, he's representing Iowa. We talked about Iowa Oscar earlier, but I don't care. If the Sacramento Kings go on a miraculous run, good for them. I can't do anything but sit here and say, damn, I was wrong.

If I am, I'm going to say it. Don't make me lose no sleep. I just don't see it happening. They don't have postseason experience. The Sacramento Kings as a whole haven't been to the playoffs.

I think the only professional sports franchise, well, the Seattle Mariners just went in. They got to be the last now, right? The last team to hit the playoffs? I'm pretty sure. Definitely the last NBA team to have not made it in 2006.

Let me double check on that. The Mariners were the longest team before 2023, right? I think all of our professional sports here in North America, they got to have the longest streak now at the Mariners, after the Mariners. Kings, you should be happy to go to the damn playoffs, man.

How about that? I'm not going to tell you the Kings are going to go and get waxed. They're going to get swept.

That would be ridiculous. So, JR, so Jets in the NFL, yep, it is the Kings. You're right. It's the Kings, yeah. Jets in the NFL 2010, Sabres in the NHL, yep.

Yeah, 2010 season, top of 2011, yeah. Correct. Come on. Can they win a playoff game first before we talk about how the Kings are just going to go on a run that we've never seen before? Good.

I'd be shocked if it happens. Give it time. Time. 855-212-4CBS. Greg is calling from Michigan. What's up, Greg? Hey, JR. Thanks for taking my call, Mr.

Positive. Hey, I just got to say, I am so devastated with LeBron and the Lakers. They were coming around. They really were jelling. But more specifically, about the combine. You know, it's always been thrown out that to be a good athlete, you do what you are proficient at in the sport that you're getting into. For instance, MMA fighting. It's great that you lift weights.

It's great that you run. But someone told me, getting into the ring and fighting is what it's all about, and that's how you learn and become better. And why is it, out of the four major sports, you have only the NFL doing the combine, where baseball, basketball, and baseball, they don't have any such thing.

And I do understand the nature of explosion, strength, and speed. But learn the position, and I think that becomes not important. For instance, Michael Jordan couldn't bench press 225 pounds five times, where LeBron probably could do a 20.

So I mean, is there something, am I missing something? Well, the NBA started to institute its own combine a few years ago, but I understand. Most of what we see take place is workouts. Players get scouted, they work out, and the NFL combine is, it's a money maker. That's what it boils down to. We've seen this over the years, where the NFL has taken the combine, they've thrown it on television, and now it's a property.

If they weren't making money off of it, I think they would maybe not fight as much to keep it on. Well, I'll tell you this, Greg, and thank you for calling from Michigan, we're going to talk about this at the top of the hour. So if you can wait approximately 30 minutes, we're going to talk about the combine, because everybody has descended or decided to land in Indianapolis. The coaches, the GMs, this is like a convention. You have broadcasters who are out there at the combine, listening to coaches say a whole lot of nothing. And then in a couple of days, the players are going to start showing up, some of them, and the NFL Players Association has already taken the stance of, why are we doing this? Like if you're going to come to the combine just to have a couple of meetings, and you're not going to throw the football, or you're not going to show how much you're going to bench press, or how fast you're going to run, if you're going to do that at your college anyway, then what are we doing? That's a legitimate question. We'll talk about the NFL Combine at the top of the hour.

The phone lines are open, that's 855-212-4CBS, that's 855-212-4CBS. When we come back, you know, I just mentioned Kevin Hurter playing for the Sacramento Kings. He used to play for the Hawks.

Quinn Snyder coached his first game for the Atlanta Hawks tonight. It didn't end up good for him, and it was a guy who played quarterback here in Atlanta. I don't know where he's going to play quarterback next, it'll likely be a backup. Marcus Mariota also got the boot. We're going to hear from the man who fired Marcus Mariota, we're going to hear from the man who lost his Hawks debut, and then we're going to get into the combine.

Plus your calls. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Your show is informative and thought-provoking, and I love that about it. I listen every chance I get.

Man, keep it up. It's one of the best shows anywhere. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. At the top of the hour, we're going to talk about the NFL Combine, if it's even necessary. I mean, we get some funny quotes, and coaches show up, and they don't want to speak, and I think it's a record this year. Almost half the NFL's coaches aren't speaking at the NFL Combine. Meanwhile, typically there was only one who pretty much didn't speak, and his name was Belichick, but we'll talk about the Combine at the top of the hour.

I do want to touch on just one guy. I don't know. He's not running around the Combine looking for a job, but he's going to need one sooner than later. That is Marcus Mariota, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons. He started the majority of the games last season as the Falcons finished at 7 and 10.

A lot of close games, a lot of competitive games, but this was Marcus Mariota. When it was apparent that they weren't going anywhere, they decided to give Desmond Ritter a look and an opportunity to go out there and play, and he did okay. I didn't see a whole lot to go, he's garbage. I didn't see a whole lot to go, he's the next coming.

I mean, I've had people call me up or ask me here in Georgia, what do you think about him? What do you think? Nothing. We're going to find out sooner than later. As a matter of fact, Terry Fontenot, the GM here for the Falcons, he spoke to CBS Sports HQ, and he gave his thoughts on Marcus Mariota, he gave his thoughts on Desmond Ritter, and he feels optimistic about, at least the fact that he's working hard.

Listen to this. First of all, with Marcus, great man, did some really good things for us when he was here. We really appreciate everything he did. We wish him the best moving forward. We love Desmond, and we're not going to crown anybody or anoint anyone right now.

We're not in the business of doing that, but we really appreciate Desmond, appreciate the things that he's done thus far. Down the stretch, last four games in the season, had some ups and downs, but did some really good things. He handled adversity. He performed in critical moments, so we've seen some really good things, and I know he's somewhere training right now, getting better. Yeah, he's training somewhere.

He's getting better. They selected him in the third round. He costs nothing. If they want to dump him tomorrow, it'll cost nothing. If they want to see what he got, they ain't on the hook like he's some first round pick. He might as well see what he has for a dude who played decent in the four games that he started. You don't think the Falcons would love to have a discount?

So let's see what takes place. And for Marcus Mariota, man, them days as a starter, they done. I know he also had a knee surgery at the end of the year as well. Good luck to Marcus Mariota figuring out his future. I think the current QB in Tennessee will probably have to think about the same thing.

That's Ryan Tannehill. I think he's going to get one more year, and he's going to be next out the door. So Marcus Mariota, done. No longer in Atlanta Falcon.

No shock, no surprise. They're saving some cap space by dumping him. Meanwhile, Marcus Mariota is out. Quinn Snyder, former head coach of the Utah Jazz, he's in. He's the new coach of the Atlanta Hawks. He made his debut tonight at State Farm Arena. A couple minutes down the road from me here in Georgia, and unfortunately for Quinn Snyder, the Hawks lost.

This is something that they've been used to. It fell right back down to 531 and 31, and they essentially got smashed or beat by Bradley Beal. Bradley Beal had 37 points. He started to light the Hawks up at the end of the game.

Chris Staps Porzingis, all 7 foot 3 inches of his ass was sitting on the bench. He didn't play, and Bradley Beal went to work. Meanwhile, Trae Young, at the end of the game, he went ice cold.

He was one of eight late. He was missing three pointers to win the game. He was turning the ball over. He was getting his shot blocked like there was no tomorrow. He didn't necessarily get too much help either.

De'Jaunte Murray only finished with 15 points. And so for Quinn Snyder, welcome to Atlanta, man. Somehow, someway, Quinn Snyder is still looking at the bright side.

He really don't have no damn choice. Quinn Snyder says there's some positives here. Take a listen. Yeah, it felt good. You know, there's situational things for me that, you know, they'll start coming back. And, you know, it's part of what I've said, getting to know, you know, this group of guys and where I can, you know, hopefully help them even more. I felt like I could help them more.

And, you know, I'll look at and figure out how I can do that too. Oh, yeah. Why would he accept the job and start in October or the summertime, I should say?

Like, who wants to do that? And so he jumped feet first in the Atlanta Hawks. He learned tonight of what the hell they're doing at the end of games. And they're going to have to develop more of a well-rounded offense. And I look at their depth. The Hawks are going to hawk. They're going to look good sometimes. And in other times, they're going to just be maddening. They're going to be frustrating.

And so congratulations to Quinn Snyder for getting the job. The Hawks should make the playoffs. What they do when they get there?

They probably get smacked right out of it. Hey, Shep, what do you see? I got to look at these guys all the time. I was going to go to the arena today, but I didn't have the time.

What do you see when you see this group? Well, JR, I mean, John Collins has had a really good rookie year, had an even better second year, proved to be a max guy. But he hasn't lived up to the contract. Trae Young is a very skilled guard, but he's limited in what he can do, especially on the other side of the floor defensively. I mean, I was talking about Damian Lillard and his inability to stop people on defense. You know, Trae Young makes Damian Lillard look like Sidney Moncrief.

And those are your two best players, whether it's Lloyd Pierce, whether it's Nate McMillan. And there was another guy in there for one or two games as well. So this is Trae Young's fourth head coach. The issue right now is Trae Young had his best season in year two, and he peaked. And he has not gotten any better. He's actually regressed. John Collins has regressed. And so to me, that's a problem, JR. Well, for John Collins, I wouldn't say this falls on.

I wouldn't put him in the same category of culpability. John Collins is still capable of doing... He gets paid a lot.

Say again? He gets paid a lot. Yeah, he does get paid a lot. And they gave him the deal.

It's not necessarily about the money and now the expectations were supposed to grow. John Collins is who he is. He's a rim runner. He grabs rebounds. He can do a little bit of work in the post, and he's going to knock down a shot. John Collins is and has not ever been a consistent shot creator, which is kind of maddening. They gave him the deal because they needed his talent, knowing that eventually if they could ever get a better deal by shipping him off, they would. And that's why he's always been at the front and center of trade conversations. John Collins probably would have been a Phoenix son if Kevin Durant didn't find his way to Phoenix.

Sure. And so it's not so much about John Collins. It is so much more so to do about Trae Young. If DeJounte Murray... Hasn't lived up to it. Hasn't lived up to his potential.

You and I both agree on that, JR. Who? DeJounte Murray. He was not the one-two combo we thought we were getting with those two guys early in the season.

Nah, I don't think so. DeJounte Murray has played well. Tonight he had a bad game. He's played well. Everybody's trying to figure out how to play with now three dudes who can command or shoot or handle the ball. Because this is what I said about Kevin Hurter.

Kevin Hurter didn't need the rock to score. DeJounte Murray moves the ball up the court. Trae Young moves the ball up the court. They both move around, and then one guy watches the other guy. John Collins, who's used to being the recipient, now he's in the background. And so I don't blame John Collins for his lack of production or falling production.

They have pieces that they have no idea how they fit and what to do with them. And it shows out there on the court, unfortunately. They'll go to the playoffs probably and get beat up. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here on CBS Sports Radio. When we come back, am I going to beat up on the combine?

I'll tell you on the other side, here on CBS Sports Radio. John Singleton's Visionary Series comes to an epic conclusion. FX's Snowfall, the final season. All new Wednesdays on FX.

Stream on Hulu. Kevin Matt talks with Matt Hardy. There's nothing like a wrestling fan, you know, for better or for worse. How do you handle that, though? We're talking about people talking about your family, what they don't know about your family or your brother or you. How does one handle that from a day to day basis? Something I joke about with the Young Bucks all the time. I said if you would Vanity Search Matt Hardy on Twitter, I said after you got through 100 replies, you'd want to quit the business and never never be seen again. It's just you just learn to deal with it. You know what I mean?