11.2.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 3

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It is the J.R. Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to our super producer and host, Dave Sheppard. He's holding it down for us in New York.

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Hopefully you're not doing something illegal. Thank you for listening anyway. I'm going to be rolling with you for the next two hours, OK?

This is when I get well, this is not when I get started. I'm halfway through the damn show. I get started at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 Pacific every single week night. Interesting night. We had an interesting Thursday night football game. Pretty boring up until the end.

The Pittsburgh Steelers come from behind to beat the Tennessee Titans 20 to 16. This game had a little bit of a back and forth at the end. It also had a scary, scary moment. Treylon Burks having to be carted off the field with an apparent neck, head, spinal injury. Unfortunately, or fortunately, excuse me, he did give a thumbs up while he was being carted off the field. And then we also learned that he did have feeling in his extremities. One of the worst things that you can sit down and watch as a football fan, as the man lie motionless on the ground, unable to move.

So hopefully there is a full recovery and that he can, you know, get home and get back to normal, whatever normal will be. So we'll talk about this game in a few seconds. Meanwhile, on the NBA side, there's a cool game going on right now, and it appears to be Phoenix, Arizona.

I just kind of popped it on and started to pay attention. The San Antonio Spurs are taking on the Phoenix Suns. They currently lead 106 to 96. Victor Winbenyama, through three quarters of this game, already had 28 points. Victor Winbenyama is just, yeah, I'm not expecting him to drop 30 points every single game, but he is showing why he was selected number one overall. And anyone who had any questions as to what he was going to do or what his capabilities were, yes, it's still early. But we have seen every flash of what he is capable of doing, and it is going to be a scary world if and when he can put it together on a consistent basis. 28 points, eight rebounds, two assists, a steal, only two blocks.

He's also knocked down two of five three pointers, as he just realistically tonight has outplayed some guy named Kevin Durant, who has at this point 22 points. Devin Booker back in action with 26, and I guess the world will never see, hey, Shupp, what's that guy they traded for again? What's his name for Washington? Which guy? The one that doesn't play? What's his name again? Bradley who? What? Oh, funny. I was like, I was like, I think you know this guy, the guy who has not played all season, Bradley Beal, yes.

OK, yeah. He was good. He was good at one time. What, when he played? When's the last time he really played?

Three, four years ago? I mean, he was leading the league in scoring. Yeah, 30 per, yeah. I mean, Booker's not playing either these days, so. Oh, he playing tonight, so. Yeah, for once. I mean, he missed the last two, so.

Yeah, I guess he, look, whatever, it's the Phoenix Suns. We'll talk about this game when it concludes. I hope Victor Winbenyama scores another 10 points and maybe he dunks on somebody. That'll be fun.

855-212-4 CBS is the number. Let's talk about someone else who has just this week had an impressive showing and that is Will Levis. He got the opportunity to start this past Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. He lit the Falcons up. Four touchdown passes right out of the damn gate, sends the Falcons packing, tying Frank Tarkenton and Marcus Mariota, the only dudes to make their debut and throw four touchdowns.

And tonight, I'm not going to say he wanted to go out there and have an encore against the Steelers, but he certainly wanted to kind of continue and pick up the steam from where he left off. It didn't happen. The team lost.

The Tennessee Titans lost to the Steelers in Pittsburgh 20 to 16. This was a boring game to start. I got to be honest. I got to be real. This was nothing fun to watch.

Not at all. But then we did get down to the fourth quarter and things got rather interesting. But let's actually go through some of the scoring plays here. Things got going right out of the gate early on. Najee Harris had a 10-yard touchdown run to put the Steelers up 7 to nothing in the first quarter. This is courtesy of the Steelers radio network. First and goal at the 10. Pickett stays in the gun.

Four-man rush. Hands it off. Cuts it back. And into the end zone comes Najee Harris for a 10-yard rushing touchdown, his second of the season. Normally you get a little thunder, then you get the lightning.

Now you got the lightning first and in comes the thunder. My goodness. Najee Harris, what a great job of following Isaac Swimalo up into the off-tackle hole and did a great job of just running through arm tackles. That was as good a run as I've seen Najee Harris pulling out in the last month. Great job, Najee.

Well, that's nice. I learned about the proper sequence of thunder and lightning. You didn't know you'd learn something here on CBS Sports Radio tonight.

Hopefully you did. Following that Najee Harris touchdown, Tennessee Titans got on the board with a Nick Folk field goal, making the game 7 to 3, Pittsburgh over Tennessee. And then one of my favorite players in the NFL, the man is built like a defensive end and he runs like, I don't know, somebody will run you the hell over. It's Derrick Henry. Derrick Henry in the second quarter gave the Tennessee Titans a 10-7 lead with this run-in. Listen to this with the Titans Radio Network. Levis motions, Simmons give, Henry on the left side, Henry diving forward, stretches the ball. Touchdown Titans!

Derrick Henry was stopped, but he had the presence of mind to lean that football, to break the plane, and to give the Titans the lead in Pittsburgh. Oh, I feel like I'm listening to an action movie. I like it.

It's nice. Well, that was just about it for the action in the first half. Tennessee Titans kicked another field goal, so did the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tennessee led 13-10 moving into halftime, and then we saw more field goals. They were tied up 13-0 in the third quarter, Nick Falk hit another field goal, Tennessee led 16-13, and at this point, yeah, I'm on the radio watching the game, but I want to take a nap.

I don't know if it's possible for me to take a nap from the game and still do my job here on the radio, but damn it, I tried. Then the Steelers got the ball, and the Steelers made things rather interesting, because being down 16-13, the Steelers were able to score a touchdown. Yes that's right, Kenny Pickett, the man who came into the game nursing those sore ribs, Kenny Pickett, he connected with Deontay Johnson for a 3 yard touchdown to put the Steelers up 20-16, listen to this. Scoreboard asking the fans for quiet so the Steelers can operate this goal line offense efficiently, after the defensive hold is called on the Titans, first and goal at the 3, Pickett in the shotgun, gets the snap, looks right, Deontay Johnson wide open, touchdown Pittsburgh, the Steelers march at 92 yards to take the lead. It's Deontay Johnson's first touchdown in what, a couple seasons, yes, 20 games, 20 games are you kidding me, way to go Deontay, you saved the best for when the Steelers needed it most. Yep, 20-16, and it was a couple of close calls, but the Steelers were ultimately able to put the ball into the end zone and take this 20-16 lead. I told you about the unfortunate injury to Traylon Burks, he did go down, he was carted off of the field, and on that same series, Tennessee Titans, they had to turn the ball over on downs, Pittsburgh Steelers got the ball back, they weren't able to do anything with the ball, and then Tennessee got one more chance, no timeouts, they had about a minute and 40 seconds left in the game, and somehow, someway, Will Levis was able to take them down the field, 66 yards, with an opportunity and a shot to win the game on a touchdown, but it didn't happen that way.

I want you to take a listen to the final play of the game that ultimately won it for the Steelers, this is from the Steelers Radio Network. Wide side to his left, slot that way on third and five at the 19 with 11 seconds to go, here's a snap, four-man rush, he looks, he fires for the, intercepted, and that is Kwon Alexander, his first of the season in this game is over, how about that, Kwon Alexander dropping deep in the middle of the field, and he launches himself upwards and stretches and catches that rock, as it's coming in, what a great grab by Kwon Alexander, you gotta love that, that's the way to finish it, it's a drop the mic moment, take that pigskin, take it home, put it on your mantle, cause by golly you deserve it Kwon, great job. Stretches and catches, yeah that's the end of the game, that was the end of the game, the Pittsburgh Steelers win 20-16, a come from behind victory, Will Levis with a damn good showing in the process, though even though he had that interception, he completed 22 of 39 passes for 262 yards in that interception, he was sacked four times, Derrick Henry rushed 17 times for 75 yards to go along with the touchdown, Kyle Phillips the leading receiver for the Tennessee Titans tonight, four receptions to go along with 68 yards, and Kenny Pickett, yes he did play in this game, Kenny Pickett did have some busted up ribs that he injured against Jacksonville, he only passed for 160 yards, and he did throw that game winning touchdown, what was the game winning touchdown to Deontay Johnson, good for Kenny Pickett, he was not sacked tonight, not once, not once, the defense, I told you they got Will Levis four times, Alex Highsmith, getting into his face twice, TJ Watt, hitting him once, a highlight sack if you want to consider it, he had no helmet on, and he still decided to blow this dude up, Will Levis, welcome to the NFL, a matter of fact, TJ Watt spoke after the game to the good old folks at Amazon, still sounds weird to say, used to saying Fox or CBS or ESPN, but yes, he spoke to Amazon, and TJ Watt, he had some kind words for Will Levis, listen to this, a lot of toughness, a guy that's going to hang in there, take the hits and deliver some really good passes, and he held on to it a little bit tonight, but he was able to escape with his feet a little bit and extend some plays, and I think he's going to have a good career, I saw in that first half, you came around there and you gave him a little, he's like, welcome to my house, do we have that, you got flack for that one though, but I don't know, just sending a little message to him? Yeah, anytime you have a young quarterback, you're trying to just get around him as early as possible and try to rattle him, if we're not able to do it in the back end, at least try to do it up front. Yeah, look, Will Levis is impressive, okay, I did see what he did against the Falcons this week, being here in Georgia, I saw what he did, and watching him play tonight, he plays free, he's just out there throwing the rock around, and he does make some bombs for passes, he throws bombs, he's lofting the ball over folks, and he looks like he's built like a linebacker, Will Levis has not missed a day in the gym, and it's going to be fun to see how he continues to progress, he has a little bit of schoolyard in him, schoolyard in strength, so he's a fun player to watch, and Ryan Tannehill, with his busted up ankle and his contract, which is coming to an end, I mean, dammit, let's be real here, Ryan Tannehill was no longer going to be the future, I think his days were pretty much numbered and over when he was in the playoffs throwing an interception at every chance and opportunity that he got. Also Kenny Pickett, speaking of an opportunity, Kenny Pickett threw a touchdown today, can you believe it, Pittsburgh Steelers which have one of the worst offenses in the entire NFL, they were able to get a touchdown when it mattered the most, the game winner, and so Kenny Pickett, he spoke to Amazon after the game, had a conversation with Kaylee Harden, and they talked about this W. What credit do you want to give your defense for the stand they took on that last drive? Yeah, they always show up, you know, love having those guys on our team and competing against those guys in practice, they make us better, they make us a better team, can't say enough great things about the guys on all three levels there, they're incredible. How are your ribs feeling right now, you told us earlier this week that Sunday you'd never experienced pain before, like you did in that moment.

Yeah, I mean, they feel great after a win, so I'm going to enjoy these next couple of days, just kind of rest my body and get ready to go for this back up stretch. You guys came out of the gate hot, scored on that first drive, but couldn't get in the end zone again until your last possession. What did it take in that moment to get it done? Consistency in drives, I missed too many throws early, you know, pissed off at myself, sorry, excuse my language, but I think we picked it up, the consistency in the drives, we were moving the ball really well, you know, had a lot of red zone opportunities, had the one down here we wish we hit on, but you know, we'll keep getting better, you know, most important thing is we got the W. Did I just hear professional athletes say, excuse my language?

That has to be a first. Well, not only did he say that, but it was excused my language for saying the word pissed off, which according to every FCC regulation and every TV television distribution, right, you can say very cleanly without having to get bleeped. That's class personified, JR. Yeah, LeBron, what was LeBron saying last week? Oh God, I mean, I can- We don't give a bleep bleep what people think about Anthony Davis.

I mean, give me 30 seconds, I can find this out. It's incredible what LeBron thinks he can get away with as opposed to Kenny Pickett, but if Kenny Pickett can do what LeBron can do in year 21, then Kenny Pickett can sound however he wants in terms of cursing too. Well, thank you, Kenny Pickett, man. We got too many people who want to throw around profanities like it's nothing, and I throw around ass here. Well, now I don't throw my ass around, so just don't be confused, but I say how I feel, I express myself, but yeah, we got a lot of athletes, come on, chef, we played this last week as well, Becky Hammon at the Las Vegas Aces parade, Becky Hammon decided to let everybody know that she's just an old ass, you know what? And so thank you so much, Will Leviss, just saying, hey, I'm pissed off.

Well, we were pissed off, and that was a dirty word for him. And also a great line of questioning from Kaylee Harden, hey man, I heard your ribs were garbage this week. You told me that you were in excruciating pain. Some of the worst pain in your life. After you have now played 60 minutes of football, only three days later, how do your ribs feel? What was Kenny Pickett supposed to say? Well, by the way, I'm sorry, Kaylee, I don't feel my ribs at all because they gave me a shot. He's not supposed to say that on TV.

But what do I know? It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio, 855-212-4CBS. I am excited for Will Leviss. It's unfortunate that the Tennessee Titans are in this place. I think Derrick Henry is pretty much towards the end of his prime. He's not the dude that he was a few seasons ago, but who the hell is? But I am excited to see what Will Leviss can do. He is exciting to watch. He is not your typical pocket passer. He's moving around. He's throwing passes. He's big as a house. And I want to see what he can do for the Tennessee Titans moving on into the future. What do you think about Will Leviss? Are you just excited?

Are you encouraged by what he's been able to do? He didn't come out and throw another four touchdowns, but he did help them stay in the game. I'm not expecting four touchdowns or three every game out. The phone lines are open.

That's 855-212-4CBS on the other side of the break. We're going to hear from the winning head coach. Mike Tomlin spoke to the media, and even though they walked away with a victory, Mike Tomlin is not happy.

I'll explain. As a matter of fact, you'll hear it from Mike Tomlin. It's the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. JR, it should be called the genius sports brief show.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Man, Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Tennessee Titans tonight 20 to 16. Come from behind victory, Kenny Pickett actually throwing a touchdown.

His only touchdown of the game, finding Deontay Johnson to come ahead from the lead or come down from 13 to 16. They scored 20 points and they win. Meanwhile, right now in Phoenix, Arizona, Victor Winbenyama, it's tough to say he's having the game of his life, but he is certainly letting everybody know what he is capable of doing.

The Spurs currently lead the Suns 128 to 117. It's about a minute left in a game. Victor Winbenyama's stat line so far tonight already a ridiculous 38 points, 10 rebounds.

He is three of six from downtown. He has two assists to go along with two block shots. Victor Winbenyama in what I believe is only his third or fourth game of the year. This is game number four for Victor Winbenyama, game number five actually already scoring a career high 38 points and he's not done yet.

Up until now his season high is 21 and he might put another shot back up on the board. It's just crazy to see Victor Winbenyama being defended by Kevin Durant. This is fun stuff that we'll be able to see throughout the course of the season. I did tell you that Mike Tomlin just finished speaking to the media as his Pittsburgh Steelers had to struggle to another victory even though they came out on top. They finished today or tonight with 10 penalties which accumulated for about 80 yards and so Mike Tomlin spoke to the media and he was not happy, not thrilled with this team's performance despite the victory. Man, really excited about the win, obviously it could have been cleaner first and foremost from a penalty perspective. Part of being a tough team to beat first is not kicking your own butt, man, and we kind of been doing that some and we got to own that. And so we will, we'll review it, we'll learn from it, we'll look at it, we'll bring some officials into our practice setting in an effort to be cleaner because that was catastrophic really in a lot of instances to our efforts tonight. I'm appreciative of the fight. We needed this one and it's good to get it, get it on a short week and be in the clubhouse man on a Thursday night with the necessary victory for the week and so excited for them. We'll rest up, man, take advantage of the long weekend and begin our next process.

We'll see what that next process entails. Obviously it involves, I don't know, maybe scoring a touchdown, maybe not being boring, maybe not putting people to sleep. Look the Steelers, they're fun to watch just if you like grinded out football but the offense is pretty sad right now. They entered tonight 30th overall in scoring and so the Pittsburgh Steelers, they're going to go ahead and take on the Green Bay Packers on November 12th. Meanwhile these Tennessee Titans, they're on a three game road trip currently, they got Tampa Bay on the 12th. Will Levis is speaking to the media, it'll be interesting to see what he has to say as they move forward and it's also being reported, I told you Tralon Burks of the Tennessee Titans had to be carted off of the field, was taken to a medical facility, it's being reported by Terron Davenport who covers the Titans, he says Tralon Burks, he walked out of the locker room on his own, stopped and talked to one of the coaches, then walked to the bus. Knock on wood, it did not look good when he initially went down but to hear that he's walking and moving around is certainly amazing.

855-212-4CBS, Robert is calling from Colorado. Hey, how are you doing? I'm okay. How are you?

What's on your mind? I was thinking about Lutz, he's a good man, I think. I think they're going to make the playoffs, I don't know why but they're going to make it. The Tennessee Titans?

Yes sir. I don't know what their record is but I've been out of them for a while so, what do you think? Their record is 3-5 so I don't know if that's going to help them at all, okay? Well they're 17 games.

You know what I mean? I heard but that's quite of a hole to dig out of where a quarterback was only starting two games. That's only 8 games, it's only half the season so far. But they're not competing just against themselves to get into the postseason. They will later.

I mean come on now, I know there's 17 games, they have to factor in the fact that, let's be real, they're not going to win the AFC South, that belongs to the Jacksonville Jaguars and then if you have to take into account all of the other winning teams that actually already have winning records in the AFC, it is a ridiculous uphill climb for the Tennessee Titans to go ahead and just go and make the postseason. I don't think so. We got a final score in Phoenix, Arizona.

The San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns 132-121. In normal circumstances, this would not happen. This makes no sense, oh my God. Watching Victor Wenbanyama give Kevin Durant a hug makes no sense.

It is hella, it's a sight. There aren't too many humans that I've ever seen stand next to Kevin Durant and Kevin Durant looks like a child. He's looking up. By about a head. It is Victor Wenbanyama makes no sense. Durant's a legit, I mean JR, Durant's a legit 6'11", legit, like standing without sneakers 6'11". Yeah, the man is seven feet tall and Victor Wenbanyama made Kevin Durant look like a kid. Victor Wenbanyama's numbers tonight, he's why they won and he took every shot. 38 points for Victor Wenbanyama, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, he was 3 of 6 from downtown, he was 15 of 26 from the field, Victor Wenbanyama showed up and showed out. No reason in a normal sense that you would say, oh yeah, the San Antonio Spurs are going to beat the Suns with Durant and Booker, but he did and tonight he was the best guy on the floor.

Kevin Durant had 28 points, Devin Booker had 31 and it's a whole lot to say when you are a rookie and you outplay Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, that's what Victor Wenbanyama did. I'm sure we'll hear from Victor Wenbanyama before the night is over, just a hell of an accomplishment there. 855-212-4CBS, we got John from Toronto, you're on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, how you doing? Amazing, how you feeling?

No complaints, a little chilly up here, but hey, that's Canada for you. I've heard. No, I want to talk to you, you brought up a couple nights ago about the little ratings in the World Series, I'm wondering if they actually had old school, like Joe Buck calling that World Series, if it would have made a difference, like Joe Buck, Bob Costas, those guys can call a game. I don't think people show up to listen to somebody call a game, I think the audiences show up to see the teams play.

Fair enough, fair enough, but I'm not an avid baseball player, I watch the Jays, but hearing Joe Buck call a game, man, that guy is on fire, he just brings you more into the game, you know what I mean? Well, that's like asking me, hey, do you want to go to a restaurant because the facade is nice on the outside but the food is trash on the inside, my answer is no. Yeah, I guess you're right, you're right. You like eating trash food? You like garbage food? No, man, I'm Italian, I love Italian food. Well, listen, man, I can't serve you a spaghetti and meatballs in a tin can and you're going to be like, what are you doing, right?

Yeah, fair enough, I guess you're right. All right. Well, listen, John, what did you eat for dinner tonight? Spaghetti and meatballs. You did?

You really did? Oh, heck yeah, man. What, with tomato sauce or is it cheese sauce, white sauce? No, man, homemade sauce, homemade. You didn't eat it out of a can, did you?

No, heck no, that's like sacrilege in my household. Okay, no Spaghetti-Os for John. John, thank you for calling from Toronto.

Thanks, man, have a good night. John, lie, he ate Spaghetti-Os tonight, okay? John was eating those Spaghetti-Os.

855-212-4CBS. Hey, Marco Belletti, how many kids you got in the house? Three. When was the last time you had some Spaghetti-Os? Never. You got no Spaghetti-Os in the house?

Sorry, I can't do that. No, actually, as a kid, we kept asking my parents, who were born and raised in Italy, about Spaghetti-Os and all that, and they would yell at us in Italian and laugh at us. And then as we got older, we realized why. When we looked at the can, we were like, nah, I'm not eating that.

You can't have Spaghetti-Os. So I've never had it. I wanted it as a kid, and I wasn't allowed, and then you get old enough to have it, and you're like, I'm not eating that. Hey, listen, when you see them dancing noodles on the screen, it's hypnotizing as a child, man.

Well, yeah, we were young and dumb. What can I tell you? Yeah, a bunch of dancing Spaghetti-Os on a spoon.

You gotta go for it. Me? I had me some Spaghetti-Os. Now, I think it's been a couple of decades, but I've had me some Spaghetti-Os.

I'm doing better now. Only the finest of establishments. Yeah, well, at least you didn't get yelled at in Italian. Well, I think I might have been yelled at by some Italian people for doing some other things, but that's a conversation for another day. Well, let's say this. You probably heard my parents from the Bronx, they were yelling in Jersey, so that's about right.

Yeah, there's a good possibility there. I heard the sound travels over the bridge pretty well. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Rob Manfred reminds me of my buddy in college that when the professor says you got 20 days to do this essay, he'll wait till the last possible minute and stay up till 6 a.m. trying to get this essay done in half-asses. The fact, and I was about to say that point till you brought it up, the fact that he could get up there on the dark, one of the darkest days in his sport and laugh and smirk and crack jokes and practice his golf swing is sickening.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. Remember a day or opportunity and you'll have to talk about how terrible that guy is. Speaking of terrible, yes, tonight, and this is an interesting stat, an interesting number, the Steelers beat the Tennessee Titans 20-16. The Pittsburgh Steelers, in every single game that they have played here, have been outgained in regards to yardage. And they won the game tonight. Tennessee, the Titans had 340 yards, the Pittsburgh Steelers had 326. Matt Canada typically would be hanging out upstairs in the coach's booth tonight. He was on the sidelines hoping to provide a little bit of a jolt to the offense. It didn't matter too much. The Pittsburgh Steelers are still pretty pathetic and they are still 1, 2, or 3 in the bottom when it comes down to scoring points.

They can't do it. Not even by accident. I mean, Deontay Johnson, this was his first touchdown pass since Ben Roethlisberger's last game. That's been a while. Ben Roethlisberger must have 50 episodes of his podcast by now.

50 episodes too many? Oh no. You don't listen to Ben Roethlisberger's podcast?

If I want to watch Ben Roethlisberger do anything, it'd be throw a football to Heinz Ward. He's not meant for the podcast world. Oh, ouch. Is that a little harsh? I don't know. How do you know if you don't listen? Do you listen? No, listen, I do listen. You know why I listen? Because you listen to everything. I know we get that. You and I get that sound for the show, so I have to listen. I don't listen to the whole thing. I know how to find the good stuff.

Yeah, you do. The good stuff finds me, man. 855-212-4CBS. We got Mike. He's calling from Houston, Texas.

You're on the JR Sport Reef show. I just don't understand why the Steelers have kept Matt Canada for so long. Being a friend or not, Mike Tomlin needs to get rid of him. He needs to get a new offensive coordinator, somebody who's going to do something right. I know they say we got this guy from LSU. It's not showing any production from LSU to us.

There's a big difference. NFL from college. Everybody's saying maybe it's Kenny Pickett.

I don't understand. I count my blessings that we're 5-3. And thank God that we're 5-3. If we can figure out some way to get that offense to wake up and do something, get a new coordinator somewhere, there should be some great coordinators out there that are available for us to pick up and replace Canada with quickness. I don't think it's going to happen during the course of the season. I think that's a move to make in the offseason, all things considered. For Kenny Pickett, you asked if Kenny Pickett is part of the problem or the problem.

He's part of it. I mean, Kenny Pickett ain't no game changer out there by himself. And yeah, if you want to develop him, maybe somebody else coming in at offensive coordinator would do so. But I think to go ahead and give him the boot right now would probably stunt any type of development in Kenny Pickett.

And we all know, just he as an individual, he needs any type of boots that he can get. But why not try to get the offensive coordinator that he had at Pitt? Wasn't that guy doing pretty good for helping Kenny Pickett? Well, I mean, yeah, if you want to look at what he did in college. But what's to say that he's going to go ahead and do that in the NFL ranks? I mean, you just said the same thing for Matt Canada coming over for LSU.

What difference do it make? Yeah, I guess so. And it's just I've been looking at Matt Canada when he was with Roethlisberger and they know we he's done the same thing with Roethlisberger and Kenny Pickett just Roethlisberger had a better arm. That was basically it.

Wait, wait, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, let's go back here. Maybe maybe I didn't hear you correctly. Did you just say that the only difference between Kenny Pickett and Ben Roethlisberger is that Ben Roethlisberger had a better arm? No, I mean, he was better all the way around.

Six, five, I mean, 250, this guy, he was athletic. He helped the Steelers win those two Super Bowls, even though he wasn't the main in the first one. But he did. OK.

He did contribute a lot. All right. Well, thank you, Mike. Appreciate you for calling from Houston. All right. OK, thanks. Yeah, I have to think about whether I want to I wanted to pick up a bottle. Shep, did he really say that, you know, I might have blocked out or zoned out.

Did he really make any type of comparison? So full disclosure, J.R., I was screening like three calls. So I'm never going to lie to you and pretend like I heard it if I did. Thank you. Of course. Thank you. I appreciate.

Of course, man. I was just like, I know that man didn't just say Ben Roethlisberger just had a better arm than Kenny Pickett. I know there wasn't any cursing because that my ear goes really percolating, too. Oh, no, he didn't say nothing. Exactly. I mean, I like Kenny Pickett curse tonight, too.

He said, well, pissed off if we're really being honest for a second. Yes. Kenny Pickett had a significantly better rookie year than what Big Ben had in 2004. Kenny Pickett has regressed where Big Ben in his second year got significantly better.

How about I save us some time and just say they're not in the same stratosphere. Let's save us some time. Yeah. Kenny Pickett ain't it now?

Let's listen. But JR, can you make that evaluation after 16 or 17 NFL starts? Is that fair? I think so. Yes. Okay. I think so. Yes. I mean, you got guys who have it. He don't have it. I think there's a point in time where coaching can help you develop and get you over the hump or can move you to another level.

But I think there's a baseline where you start off at. Did you say that about Eli? Say what about Eli Manning? Eli Manning looked like crap when he first started. Even his brother looked like crap when he first started.

Right out of the gate. But I don't think that's fair to compare. Peyton Manning looked like crap because he was out there turning the ball over.

Correct. But that didn't take away from what you saw, the glimpses of what he was able to do, which is still deliver the ball into the end zone. Eli Manning might have been smashed to pieces in his first game by Ray Lewis, but at least you saw that there was going to be some ups and downs and at minimum he was going to be an average QB.

And he was going to be reliable to be there. It's called it. It's the part that's not measurable.

But in the NFL you can measure it. It's called winning. And Kenny Pickett, regardless of who the offensive coordinator is or regardless of who the head coach is, how you feel about Matt Canada or how you feel about Mike Tomlin, Kenny Pickett ain't scaring anybody to move the ball into the end zone when he's out there. I understand. Yep.

I'm sorry. Ain't nobody scared of him taking off and yes, he can move and run, but ain't nobody scared of him, you know, darting off and picking up yards and touchdowns by himself. Nobody is afraid of him throwing darts down the field to move the chains. And all of it is not just the play calling.

It's who and what he is too. Like I can't tell you, hey, come to math class and figure this out. Kenny Pickett needs three calculators to get the job done.

When you got other dudes who can just walk in and do the equation by hand. But JR, I know you watch every game. I mean seven game winning drives in just 20 career starts. Like if that's not it, I don't know what is. I'm not saying he's the Justin Herbert prototype. I give you that. But he does have the it factor when the games come, you know, close and they come down to the wire.

That's not fair to say. You don't think he has that it factor of being able to be that big time gamer that most quarterbacks can't elevate to? I don't give a rat's ass about no it factor. He wouldn't have to have it or come back if he was able to consistently go out there and win games.

Okay. We don't need to be walking no tightrope. There's no taking away from his game winning drives. But how about you actually go out there and help win the game so you don't have to pull it in close. It's the NFL. You gonna win some, you gonna lose some.

Games are gonna be close. But when I have to look at quarterbacks all up and down the NFL and their skill sets and what they do, what they're physically capable of doing, there ain't nothing that excites me about Kenny Pickett. Listen, I was in Pittsburgh right before the man got drafted and people asking me about him and being at Pitt and little did I know of course now we see this he'd be drafted by the Steelers but I wasn't excited by him. Man he'd have to be in a better system I give you credit. I'm not saying that he's peaked.

I'm not saying that he's ass. But I'll tell you this. When you look at some of the quarterbacks he doesn't have it and when I talk about it do you go out into a game and do you scare the living daylights out of the opposition? The answer is no. That's how, that's my it. When you're throwing the ball and when you walk out onto the field does the other team say this quarterback is gonna kick our ass, we gotta stop him. The answer is no.

And until he has that, for me, he don't got nothing. I'm sorry. Sorry to stealer fans too.

This is the JR Sport Reef Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio 855-212 for CBS. We're gonna take a break. We come back.

We'll get to your calls. Talk about this night from this Victor Wibanyama dude, 38 points. He was the best player on the court and he was playing against Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. And then we'll hear from a loser. This guy, his name is James Harden, actually sat down in front of the media and talked about how he is not a system player. But I, James Harden, am the system. Sounds like a broken one to me.

We got a lot to do. It's the JR Sport Reef Show. CBS Sports Radio. You can do a lot of things with your phone and with Blue Link Plus, you can even access your Hyundai Tucson Limited remotely. Doors unlocked, temperature set, lost car found.

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