8.1.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 1

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No proof of purchase necessary. Clothes waders and careless carriers, your match has been met. Visit briggs-riley.com for Briggs & Riley luggage. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. It is the JR Sport Brief show here on CBS Sports Radio. I am coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America on the free Odyssey app, on your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate, on Sirius XM channel 158, on a smart speaker, on all of that stuff.

I'm just happy that you're here. Shout outs to super producer and host Dave Sheppard. He's joining us holding it down live from New York City. The major league baseball trade deadline. It has come.

It has gone. Verlander no longer a met. Back to the Astros. Texas Rangers. Well, they already got Scherzer. Relievers are moving around. We got the Marlins going for bats. We got old dudes moving from the Pirates to Sandy. We've had a lot of movement.

Okay. I ain't going to talk about all these traits because let's be real. The majority of America, including myself, I don't know all these obscure pitchers, these dudes coming out of the bullpens. I am intrigued by the American league West. I mean, you got the angels.

What are they competing for? Shohei Ohtani, not a world series. All of a sudden you got Verlander and Scherzer opposing each other with the Rangers and also the Astros. New York Mets basically telling their fans, well, screw you guys.

You got to wait a few years. Looks like the New York Mets told the fans publicly one thing and told Max Scherzer another thing. We're going to get into that. Everything going on with this major league baseball trade deadline.

No doubt about it. The NFL changing up some rules when it comes to, let's just say sexual assault. You can probably blame Deshaun Watson. Speaking of Deshaun Watson, neither he or Aaron Rodgers will be participating in the Hall of Fame game this Thursday night. Don't expect to see them on the field. The New York Jets continue to respond to the Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton. Not minding his business, but the man who was at the center of the attack, Nathaniel Hackett, has finally responded.

So you heard from Rob Salah, you heard from Aaron Rodgers and now Nathaniel Hackett hits back. Last night after I got off air, the US women's national team, they decided to play a soccer match and they stunk. They tied with Portugal.

Nothing to nothing. Yeah, real exciting matchup. Matter of fact, they almost lost at the end of the game and a lot of folks not all that fond of the US women's national team playing on the other side of the globe. One of their old teammates is pretty much destroying them in the media right now. So we'll talk about that.

Nickelodeon is going to broadcast a Super Bowl. We have a college player who decided to bet on his own college team. We'll talk about that.

Mike Breen, now with Mark Jackson gone and Jeff Van Gundy gone, Mike Breen is on record as being sad and disappointed that his buddies, he called them his brothers, are now gone. So we got a busy night. We got a combination. We're talking MLB trade deadline. We're talking NFL.

Patrick Mahomes said he's following the Tom Brady model. We even got some golf news as Tiger Woods is trying to help the PGA in this whole live merger or whatever the hell you want to call it. We still don't have full details on it. So we got a lot to talk about. If you follow me on social media at JR Sport Brief, you already know these things. Okay. I wrote it already. It's on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook.

You know this already. And if you want to call us here at CBS Sports Radio, the phone number is as follows. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Shep, how you doing? You good? Doing well, JR. I appreciate you asking, man. How about you?

I'm good, man. No doubt about it. Let's not waste any time. Let's get into what has occupied the minds of many baseball fans all over the country. It's the trade deadline. This is not like the NFL where the trade deadline comes and goes and you just go, okay, really almost nothing happened. This is not the NBA trade deadline, which year after year can be hit or miss. You might get a four team trade.

You might get nothing. During the major league baseball trade deadline, it feels like half the damn league moves around. You got relievers moving from here or there. You have superstars who might move from here or there. You got guys at the end of their contract where teams are just saying, well, we ain't winning anything.

Goodbye. So it's a little bit different. You know, NFL teams, they don't change all that much. NBA teams, yeah, they could change. Major league baseball, this today could really be the difference as to whether or not a team goes to the playoffs or maybe even competes four world series title. And if you feel you're not competing for a world series, if you feel you're not going to the playoffs, you're going to be dumping some folks. And there's no more of a prime example of this than the New York Mets, because just over the past few days, we have seen their best reliever depart, David Robertson. We have seen two future hall of fame pitchers depart the New York Mets. We're talking Verlander, who is now a member again of the Houston Astros. We have Scherzer, who's a member of the Texas Rangers.

And for the life of me, we saw this last week before the deadline. Lucas Giolito goes from the Sox, and now he's a member of the Angels. And the only reason the Angels are doing this is to look good to Shohei Ohtani, because they ain't winning a damn thing. You got the Marlins going out and getting Jake Berger from the White Sox, the Padres, who have been disappointing, almost like the Mets out west. They get old man Rich Hill and G-Man Choi, the Orioles trying to work out their rotation at the top of the AL East, getting Jack Flaherty from the Cardinals. People are just moving the hell all over the place.

And let's be real, this is like a crapshoot. What team is favored to win the World Series? Probably the Braves. All of their bats, they better hope all of their pitching can get it together and be healthy by the end of the season. But the team that they share a division with, the National League East, the Mets are the biggest story, man. Why are the Mets the biggest story? Because they opened up the season with the biggest payroll in Major League Baseball history. $344 million. $344 million. And in the process, they've now taken two of the highest paid dudes in the game, Verlander and Scherzer, who were making $43 million each.

They said goodbye. Because the New York Mets for that damn payroll, entering into tonight, were and are a pathetic 50-55. The New York Mets are in action right now against the Kansas City Royals.

And hey, Shep, guess what they're doing right now? I would guess they're not winning and they're not tied. Yeah, the New York Mets are currently losing to the Royals 3-1. What a shock there for a team that's been disappointing all season long.

And so their owner, Daddy Warbucks, Steve Cohen, their general manager Billy Eppler, they decided to pull the plug. And the New York Mets fans aren't necessarily happy about this, given the fact that the Mets basically quit. The New York Mets basically gave up. And so you get Verlander out of the building and then getting back in return, you pick up prospects. Guys that are prospects that you've probably never seen play, you can only read about them.

Drew Gilbert, Ryan Clifford. And so Billy Eppler, he sat down and had his post-trade deadline press conference. And he told everybody, listen, I tried to do my best to replenish the farm system. Listen to this guy. We're just trying to restock and reload a farm system. And so you have to kind of go through a little bit of pain to get where we want to go.

But, you know, I feel that the organization is making strides towards a better future. Pain? You got to go through some pain. Who likes pain? Nobody likes pain. It's part of life, but nobody wants it. Some people do. Some people pay for pain.

That's a different thing. Look, the New York Mets didn't sign up for this. The Mets fans didn't sign up for this. You don't pay two 40 something year old pitchers $43 million, the highest salaries that anybody's ever been paid in baseball to just pull the plug. New York Mets and their fans have learned a whole lot about Steve Cohen. He got a lot of money.

He ain't afraid to burn it either. For Justin Verlander to send him back to the Astros. They sent money. The Astros are getting $35 million to finish up his contract here, which is this season and next season. The New York Mets are also going to be sending $17.5 million if Justin Verlander's contract kicks in for 2025. And Steve Cohen basically did the same thing with Scherzer. He's signing dudes to massive contracts, and then he's not afraid to say, hey, listen, it didn't work.

Take a hike. We'll pay you not to play. Smet's team is nuts for this season.

Think about this. This season, the New York Mets are paying $151 million for players who have been traded, released, or bought out. They are teams in Major League Baseball who have active payrolls that don't scratch $151 million. And the New York Mets are paying $151 million for guys who ain't even on the team anymore. They're paying just about the same amount of money for guys who are still here. The New York Mets are absolutely nuts.

Think about this. Oakland. Oh yeah, we know how bad they are. That team quit on purpose a long time ago to move to Vegas. Payroll is $33 million. Pittsburgh, $35 million. You have the Baltimore Orioles who are actually trying to compete for a championship.

$47 million. The New York Mets, they are paying guys who are not on the team more than half the Major League average when it comes down to salary, just for guys to not play. The New York Mets are nuts.

They got FU money. Billy Epler, the general manager, he continued on. He told everybody, he said, listen, are we going to be favorites to win the World Series next year? Is Vegas going to look at us and expect us to compete? And he said, yeah, don't expect it, but we're still going to be competitive. We're still going to try to win games.

Listen to this guy. Going into 2024, we don't see ourselves having the same odds that we did in 2022, 2023, but we will field a competitive team in 2024. And so now is a time where we start to think about what opportunities can exist in the wintertime, what kind of resources that we'll have at our disposal and put our best foot forward. Oh, come on, man. What did he say there? A whole lot of nothing.

That's basically what he just said, a whole lot of nothing. New York Mets fans are supposed to believe this, like we're going to be competitive with who? With what pitchers? And wait until, I mean, we're going to talk about this later on the show.

Oh my goodness. Max Scherzer left the building. He basically told everybody the Mets state.

They told me they're going to stink for a few years. A matter of fact, Max Scherzer, he spoke at his introductory press conference. Max Scherzer did not mince words as to what the Mets and their owner told him on the way out the door.

Listen to Max Scherzer. Team is now kind of shifting vision and that they're looking to compete now for 2025 and 2026. And that 2024, it was not going to be a reload situation in New York and that it was going to be more of a transition in 2024.

And that they're, you know, we're looking to, you know, make decisions for, to compete outside my contract window. I said, okay, you know, that's a, you know, brand new, brand news to me. Different than what I'd ever heard out of Steve's mouth.

I was like, all right, I got to hear this directly from Steve. So I had a phone call with Steve and he basically articulated the same vantage point that that was the new vision for the Mets. That was the new timeline that they were identifying and that, you know, players that were under contract were looking for next year, that they could be potentially sold off at the deadline right now. And that the team could be really flipped around at the deadline, you know, as we speak. And so once it became, you know, official, that's the vision for the Mets.

Then I said, yes, I will weigh my, no trade clauses underneath those, underneath those pretenses. Wow. Way to throw the, the team under the bus on the way out. Max Scherzer, the gift that, that keeps on giving. Wow.

Hey, how about this? Another New York team. It must be nice for the New York teams to stink for a while. The Yankees, they just lost. The Yankees out here losing as well.

Tampa just beat them five to two. And the Yankees big move for the trade deadline. They're going to be a reliever from the White Sox.

Keenan Middleton. Yeah, this is the Yankees. Who the hell was available for them to get? But Yankee fans expect for them to trade for the world, right?

Oh, well, we'll get this guy and this guy and this guy. And the Yankees offense is so pathetic. New York must be a, Hey, Shep, New York is a miserable place right now. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. New York must be a, Hey, Shep, New York is a miserable place right now. It's been better.

I wouldn't say miserable. In terms of Mets and Yankees, yes. Oh, that, well, that's the hell all I'm talking about.

Yes, yes, it is. That's all we talk about right now. Yankees and Mets, they're miserable. And so Brian Cashman, he had to talk to all his miserable Yankee fans, the ones that hate his guts. And he had to let everybody know, Hey, I would have made a deal if there was worth one for me to do. Listen to this.

We were open-minded to a lot of different things and we stayed engaged to, you know, every step of the way. But, you know, it felt when the dust settled, no one was able to pry anything away from us that we felt was more valuable than where we're sitting in the standings at three and a half games out still and having a chance to find a way to get it together and take a shot. Oh man, the Yankee fans can't stand that guy. You would think Brian Cashman is just like snatching up kids, you know, putting them in the Hansel and Gretel's oven or something. This man, people can't stand his guts. He's just running the New York Yankees, winning 90 to a hundred games every year.

What do you want from the dude? Well, he didn't make a big enough trade. And so the Yankees aren't World Series favorites. Oh, what a cold, terrible world it is. New York must be, yeah, must suck me in a Yankees and a Mets fan. Too bad.

Everybody's spoiled. Think about some of the moves that did take place. Brad Hand is now a member of the Braves helping out their bullpen. Paul DeJong, he's now a member of the Blue Jays.

Bachete went down. Rich Hill is the oldest dude in baseball right now. He and G-Man Choi go to San Diego, Verland, I told you. Back to Houston, the future hall of famer. Jake Berger trying to add home run power to the Marlins. Tommy Phan, another former New York Met. He goes to the Diamondbacks. Jack Flaherty, no longer member of the Cardinals. He's now with the Orioles. Oh yeah, Jordan Montgomery as well, no longer a member of the Cardinals. Jordan Montgomery, he also gets shipped out of the door. Jordan Montgomery now playing for the Texas Rangers.

What a world we live in folks. Rangers are trying to win a championship. Astros are trying to win another one. The Angels are just trying to continue looking like complete trash.

Sorry, Shohei ain't staying. And meanwhile, I still like the Braves. I think they got too many bats and I think, hey, if the pitching can get it together, I got the Braves winning the World Series. Congratulations to the New York Mets and I guess the New York Yankees for being the biggest losers here at the MLB trade deadline.

Hey, Yankee fans are spoiled and Met fans are used to being miserable anyway, so what else is new? It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We are just getting started. If you want to talk to me, it's 855-212 for CBS.

It's 855-212 for CBS. What are your thoughts on the trade deadline? Did any team really jump out at you? I think it's the Mets and it's not for good reasons. We'll talk more about them as the show continues. Mets were going for a championship and now they're not.

The phone lines are open on the other side of the break. I'm going to tell you about an NFL quarterback. He's trying to go for another championship and he's going to leave money on the table? No, I'm not talking about Aaron Rogers. I'll tell you who it is. It's the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio.

Don't you move. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. JR wants to hear from you. Call him now at 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4227. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, Justin Verlander. Welcome back to the Houston Astros, man.

He goes back to the Astros and guess what happens? Framber Valdez minutes ago, he just threw the third no-hitter for this Major League Baseball season. The Houston Astros minutes ago, they just beat the Guardians 2-0 down in Houston out at Minute Maid Park. It's the Astros fifth no-hitter since the 2019 season.

Tells you how good they are. It's the 16th in team history. 16 no-hitters.

It's the most for any MLB expansion franchise that was added after 1961. Valdez, of course, pitching this no-hitter, went all nine innings, zero runs, zero hits, zero anything. Seven strikeouts, his only blemish, a lead-off walk in the fifth inning.

He was one walk away from perfection. He retired the first 12 batters. Yeah, Framber Valdez welcoming Justin Verlander back, pitching a no-hitter. Got the final call on the Astros TV if you want to hear it, JR. Yeah, let's take a listen to it. Looper, Pena, no-hitter for Framber Valdez. The first lefty in franchise history to throw a no-hitter.

Yeah, that's as you heard from Shep. That was from the Astros TV network. Look, man, the Houston Astros just and that got Verlander back again. Hey Shep, they just gonna go out there and win another World Series again, another one.

I like your neck of the woods, that team, man. I like their eyes better than the Astros. But I wouldn't be shocked if it's the Astros and the Braves again. I would certainly hope that the Braves can walk away with another one. But with this no-hitter here, the Astros are certainly feeling themselves.

It's real. I don't want to call it confusing, but the expectations from the beginning of the season for a lot of MLB teams versus where they ended up is just, you got to scratch your head. The New York Mets go out and spend all this money and they quit.

All right, fine. The Houston Astros lose Justin Verlander and they're in a battle right now with the Texas Rangers for tops in the National League, or excuse me, the American League West. And then you got the Angels who are trying to compete in the American League West. You got Seattle who was just kind of right there on the line last year.

They've also given up on this season. This baseball year is wacky. And then, oh yeah, by the way, if you want to know, I told you this was the third no-hitter of the year so far. Domingo Hermon, who's now getting smacked around since he threw that perfect game about a month ago, that was the first no-hitter or the second no-hitter. And earlier this season, three Detroit Tigers went out there and threw the first combined no-hitter in their team's history. So hey, this is baseball right now. You want to talk about how it's either hit or miss?

Here is another example. As Franberg Valdez, he throws the season's third no-hitter and the Astros beat the Guardians two to nothing tonight in Houston. These Astros, they improved their record to 61 and 47. 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 4 CBS.

That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 4 CBS. I did mention to you before the break, we talked about going for championships. Obviously the Astros trying to go for another championship. Justin Verlander going back to Houston trying to win another championship.

And I wanted to mention this to you. I said that there is an NFL player. He's also trying to go for championships and he's leaving money on the table. We all know about Aaron Rodgers leaving about $35 million on the table so the New York Jets could be competitive here through not just the rest of this offseason, but potentially through the NFL's trade deadline. And how about this dude, Patrick Mahomes leaving money on the table. We know about his 10-year $450 million deal. Patrick Mahomes recently spoke to Sports Illustrated and said that he is following Tom Brady's philosophy when it comes down to making money, but then leaving enough money available for his squad to be competitive. That's what he said. I've looked at Tom's model and how he did it.

That's it. You want to make money for yourself and for your family. You want to keep pushing the market forward for other quarterbacks. You don't want to be someone that they use against for other players. But at the same time, I want these other guys to get paid. I want Chris Jones to be in training camp. I want Travis Kelce to always be making money. I want everybody on the team here. I have a great offensive line.

It's everything around me. Okay, fine. And I'm pretty sure we're going to hear about this for the next million years. Yeah, he's currently making 45 a year. He ranks seventh among QBs. When Joe Burrow gets his deal, probably more money than anybody, Joe Burrow will probably push Patrick Mahomes into, you know, eighth most valuable contract per year. And you got to be the best to do this. I'm sorry. I know there's always people calling saying, oh, well, you have to go and leave money for your other teammates.

Man, only people doing that are the best. And that's Tom Brady and now Patrick Mahomes. Don't expect some of these middle of the road quarterbacks who haven't won anything to just leave money on the table. Go out there and take all the money you can. Patrick Mahomes is playing for legacy, all that damn money. It's going to be coming his way either way. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. We're going to continue to talk some money and some cash. There's an NFL player who hasn't been earning his money because he hasn't played. And then one of the richest athletes on earth. He's moving into a board member seat to fight against, or at least help out against Saudi Arabia. I'll tell you who it is.

You probably know it already. It's the JR sport re-show on CBS sports radio. You are listening to the JR sport brief on CBS sports radio. Best sports show in the country, my friend JR.

Always a pleasure to talk to you, brother. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It is the JR sport re-show on CBS sports radio. Oh yeah, I hear that Monday night football music. And I'm like, damn it. Some, that's some football coming, huh?

We're going to talk about it. Hall of Fame game is going down on Thursday. I can't believe it. Don't expect to see Deshaun Watson playing. Don't expect to see Aaron Rodgers playing. Expect to see all the third stringers playing. And then, hey, this weekend Hall of Fame.

It's going to be fun. We going to talk about it. We're going to get into Deshaun Watson. He's in the news for some other reasons.

And no, it's not that he did anything bad, but his behavior over the past several years has caused the NFL to change some rules. So we'll talk about that. I do want to discuss with you Michael Thomas. I want to talk about Tiger Woods and his new involvement with the PGA.

We're going to get into all of that as the show continues on. Obviously, some big news with the Major League Baseball trade deadline. Justin Verlander going back to the Houston Astros. And just minutes ago, Frambra Valdez just threw a no-hitter for the Houston Astros.

Must be real nice being an Astros fan right now. 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. Let's go to Houston.

How about this? Let's talk to Pat. Pat, you're on CBS Sports Radio. JR, good to talk to you. I listen every night and I have called in before but sometimes it's hard to hang on long enough. But anyway, I'm calling about the Verlander trade and you may be one of the only situations where I was interviewed tonight by the local CBS Network TV station.

And that may be on TV later. Good. But whatever.

I just wanted to let you know. What do you think about the Verlander trade? I'm all for it. I think that he can stabilize the rest of the pitching staff and obviously it's helped a little bit tonight with Frambra throwing a no-hitter. And it's just good to have an experienced guy who's lost so many pitchers this year to arm problems or whatever. And it's just good to have him back.

Yeah, no doubt about that. We know Justin Verlander just won a World Series with these Astros and we know his next stop whenever he decides to quit is going to be the Hall of Fame. Thank you so much, Pat, for calling from Houston. 855-2124 CBS. That's 855-2124 CBS. Let's go to Chicago and talk to Patrick. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Go ahead, Patrick. Hey, JR.

Incredible show you have. I just want to hear your thoughts on Justin Fields and how the Bears are going to do. Okay.

Well, this is the answer. What do I think? I'm not going to sit here and give you a prediction. I would think and expect that he's going to improve.

And thank you, Patrick, for calling from Chicago. I would think Justin Fields is going to improve. His own general manager, Ryan Polz, has pretty much said, hey, listen, we all know what he can do with his feet. I can see what he does with his feet.

Shep can see what he does with his feet. They want to know whether or not this man can throw the football enough and not just enough. Can he throw the football consistently where he's going to be one of the top quarterbacks in the entire game? Question for you, JR.

Yes. So, look, we know about we know about the rookie slump. Peyton Manning had it. One of the greatest or I would say the greatest regular season quarterback in the history of the sport. But when you go five and 20 over the course of two years, how much of that blame pie does Justin Fields deserve?

No. There's no blame pie. He was drafted into a crap situation that was already deteriorating. So was Trevor Lawrence. Well, Trevor Lawrence is just now turning things around, man. Every situation is not exactly the same. I mean, he just went from a disaster with that idiot, Urban Meyer, and then he went to a Super Bowl-winning coach. That's fair. You can't look at one squad or look at the other.

It's not all the same. And Trevor Lawrence, all things considered, was looked upon even from being a kid. He's from right here in Georgia, Cartersville, I believe. He was expected to be someone who slings the rock around. Justin Fields is looked upon as being one of these dudes who can do a little bit of both. And so for a Chicago Bears team that hasn't had a quarterback even throw for 4,000 yards, Justin Fields says he wants to be that guy. And when you look at the talent that they were able to bring in, just from the wide receiver position, dating back to last season, OK, they traded for Claypool.

Now they got DJ Moore, Cole Komet. I think they just paid this dude. This is going to be his season where they go, hey, man, you either going to do it or you're not. And so we're going to know, I would say, about halfway through the season what he's looking like, what people expect from him. And if Justin Fields has a crap season, they're going to be looking to move on from the dude because they didn't draft him, they didn't pull him in, but they're going to be ready to get him the hell up on out of there if things don't work out. So this is going to be his first season, I would say. It's like, OK, we've seen the progression.

What are you going to do in season number three? And if the Bears don't improve, then he's going to be the one that catches the blank. I think the excuses, if any, were pretty much gone now at this point.

855-212-4CBS, that's 855-212-4CBS. You know, speaking of excuses, this is a season this is a sad story in and of itself. I know we got a lot of Saints fans who tuned into the show. Shout outs to everybody locked in on WWL.

And things are going to be different, right? You got Derek Carr, he's coming in first year with the Saints. You can look at Alvin Kamara, he's trying to kiss some ass, trying to see how many games he gets on a suspension. And then this is a big name too, except for we haven't seen him a lot over the past few seasons because of ankle injuries and foot injuries and foot issues.

It's Michael Thomas. Yeah, Michael Thomas is supposed to be playing football. You may not have seen him a lot because even last year he only played three games. The year before that, he didn't play at all with a high ankle sprain. The year before that, he had to deal with the same ankle. The year before that, he had almost 150 receptions. He's a freak. People call him the slant king. Run down the field, run a slant route, wait for Drew Brees to get you the ball and you'd be straight.

And so now he's trying to recreate that with Derek Carr. And so with everything going on with the Saints and the question marks about Michael Thomas, who is now 30 years old, who's now missed for the better part the last three seasons. He spoke to the media today and he was asked a very simple question. And I'm not so sure whether or not Michael Thomas gave everybody a very simple answer. Hey, Michael Thomas, man, are you finally 100%?

I don't really know what you guys weigh, which are 100%. I'm always chasing perfection and trying to win every rep. I'm a competitor. I don't prepare to lose. I prepare to execute and make the play. So it's a process. It's a learning process. But the good thing about the Saints, we have a lot of great competition on the other side of the ball.

So I feel like it won't take long. What, huh? I don't know what your 100, I thought 100% is 100% any and everywhere.

Like, what are we doing here? I don't know what your 100% is. Do you feel good? Are you healthy? Do you still hurt?

Are you going to need surgery again? How's your ankle? Are you sore?

Are you extra sore? And sure, he's not going to give these answers away. Not going to tell everybody his ankle hurts. He has to put extra ice on it at the end of practice. So you know, when he's, he's back home, he's not going to talk about that.

But can you, can you be a little bit more forthright than just, I don't know what your 100% is. We haven't seen you play football for the better part of three years, man. Now you're 30. He's in the midst of a five-year contract, $96 million. That takes him to 2025 and he has been MIA. And so Derek Carr is going to be looking for him out there on the field if he's healthy enough to be there.

And then God bless him. They were able to pick up and draft Chris Olave. And so Michael Thomas and Chris Olave, two dudes from Ohio State, I think one of them might be jumping in front of the other when it comes down to the depth chart. And that is Olave over Thomas. Hey, good luck to the Saints.

All my friends here in Atlanta, they pretty much expecting the Falcons to jump clear over the Saints. 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. Shane, he's calling from Bulgaria. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Shane? Hey, you got to love the Odyssey app, first of all. I love your show, by the way.

Fantastic show. Number one, look, Justin Fields, you're right. I thought he was overdraft when he got into and when he was, I thought he was overrated when he came in the league. Just like every Ohio State quarterback, actually. Look at all the whole state quarterback coming out of that program.

You know, it's not, I wouldn't, I hope JJ Stroud changes that because I'm pulling for him as a good kid, but no. But what I want to talk about is the commanders. I've been at, been hurting, my buddy's been at the training camp and they said that right now, that front four is legit and Chase Young is looking pretty good out there. So I'm a commander's fan, obviously, and I'm, I can't wait for this new regime to come in and we know what we feel about Snyder in this town. And you know, I think the Harris group is going to come back and I think actually the surprise team in the NFL this year, and not because I'm biased, I'm going to be the commanders.

I think that defense is going to be, do some of the historic things this year. I really do. Okay. Well, thank you, Shane. You out there in Bulgaria in the service?

No, sir. I'm out here for just a pleasure. So I'm my partners from this area.

So my girl, so my son's mother. So we, I travel all the time, but I build data centers. So I travel all the world, man. And, and it's early. What the hell are you doing up in the morning in Bulgaria? Why are you up at six? It's about 6.00 AM here because the, regardless, my friend, you got to get it in the gym. I used to be an ex-athlete myself, college football, and it's just that memory missile.

You got to get to the gym every day. Okay. I'm I look, I'm like you calling from Bulgaria. You up here. Okay. All right, Shane. We'll get it in. Thank you for calling up. Okay. Yes, sir.

All right. Shout out to Shane for calling from Bulgaria. I tell you people listen all over the world on the free odyssey app and yet, uh, chase young and the Washington commanders. Yeah. This is what they expected a few years ago, but chase young, man. He is good luck with him staying on a field, right? I think most dudes typically stay healthy when it's time to get that bread young pain, Allen sweat.

Oh yeah. Nobody trying to see them at all. It's the JR sport free show here with you on CBS sports radio. Speaking of who you will not see hall of fame game is coming up Thursday. I'll tell you who you will not see.

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We turn to the all access world of the rich and powerful. Don't miss new episodes of Billions streaming August 4th on the Paramount Plus with Showtime plan. I'm here to tell you about a new show that's going to make you uncomfortable. It's going to make you laugh. You will feel pangs of recognition. It's all about class and it's hosted by me, former working class kid, Jonathan Manivar. The show is called Classy and it's full of people talking about all the awkward, embarrassing, and strangely intimate things that class tension makes us do. Available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.