JR SportBrief Hour 3

It is the JR Sportbrief Show here on CBS Sports Radio. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Super producer and host Ryan Hickey is joining, coming to us live from New York City.

Thank you to everybody listening all over North America. Getting ready for the weekend. You just left your job, sick of your boss. You're gonna go have a drink at happy hour. You're gonna go on a date.

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Free Odyssey app. Hey Ryan, how long have I been here? New spot. Is this is this week number two or week number three? I don't know. Wrapping up week number three. How, man?

Just everything flies. Anyway, we're wrapping up week number three of the show in a new time spot to new time slot spot. There are new listeners, there are old listeners who've come over. There's whoever you are, however you're listening.

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That's 855-212-4CBS. Been hanging out for two hours already. We get started weeknights 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific.

Thank you. Oh, so much to Jonah Schaefer for joining us from the Baltimore banner. He came through and we talked some Ravens me. I am choosing and selecting the Baltimore Ravens to go out there and beat the Houston Texans. We talked about Patrick Mahomes hitting the road for the first time in his career in a playoff game. Buffalo Bills will be hosting the Kansas City Chiefs. I am picking the Kansas City Chiefs. It's a close one. I might change my mind, but I got the Chiefs.

I'm picking experience. And who knows, maybe the Bills will finally get over the hump and beat them in the postseason. Quite possibly anything could happen. We talked about Kirk Cousins right before we went to break. We heard from him. He's just like, oh, yeah, man, it'd be cool to play, you know, with Bill Belichick. I'm like, oh, here we go.

What do we got a package deal now? Bill Belichick comes to Atlanta. Kirk Cousins has to come with him. Kirk Cousins has a career playoff record of one and four.

At least Lamar Jackson, who has a career playoff record of one and three, at least Lamar will have an opportunity to add a W to his tomorrow. Kirk Cousins is still trying to come back from a blown out Achilles. Oh, yeah, this, too. And I know quarterbacks are now playing into their 40s. It's the new cool thing. Kirk Cousins is going to be 36 years old in August coming off a bum Achilles. I don't know. Maybe both he and Aaron Rodgers can sit down and have a support group. Possibly.

It's quite possible. Anyway, eight five five two one two four CBS. You know, I got to I got to mention this in 15 minutes or so. We're going to be joined by Ian Williams. He was a defensive tackle for the 49ers. We'll go deeper in to what's going to happen between the Packers and the 49ers.

But let me go back a second. Kirk Cousins. You know this. He used to play for Washington. Kirk Cousins used to back up RG three.

And I know Ryan Hickey. We discussed this. You know, we we played a drop from Mark Sanchez.

And I said, what the hell is he doing? And you told me accurately that Mark Sanchez is now a broadcast talent for Fox Sports. And good for him.

That's that's a beautiful thing. Someone else who's a broadcaster is RG three. RG three has been a successful broadcaster over the past few seasons on ESPN. RG three has also done an excellent job on social media.

He's very blunt. He puts up funny photos and he has himself a career, even though we know RG three has stayed very active when it comes down to training, et cetera. If he should get a call back to the NFL, I don't think it's going to happen. But RG three career, all things considered, is done.

And so here we are in the year twenty twenty four. We have RG three on X, on Twitter, on whatever the hell you want to call it. Beefing with the former coach of Washington, Jay Gruden. You cannot make these things up. Jay Gruden. You would think that somebody coaching, coaching assistant, coaching consultant wouldn't be on social media, kind of just running his mouth. But Jay Gruden did. This past week, Jay Gruden went on social media while Jalen Hurts was getting a snot knocked out of him. And he decided to put up a post. He said, if I ever put a quarterback through what Philly is putting Jalen through, I apologize. Jay Gruden said, pick up a blitz. Less than half hour later, 30 minutes later, RG three put up a post. He just said, say what?

Looking through glasses. Things then escalated. Gruden responded by saying if he didn't prepare him for past rushes, then, hey, that's not my fault. Robert Griffin said, hey, you told me you didn't know how to coach a quarterback who could throw and run like me.

And so it looks like you were not prepared. Jay Gruden and Jay Gruden continued on. Put in his own words, said, you're right, we didn't have a good enough staff.

Sorry, I hope all is well with you. But then that that that wasn't it. Robert Griffin kept on going. Robert Griffin posted a message on social media, on YouTube, and basically threw more fire, more flame, more gasoline, more everything to light it up. RG three said this.

And the truth of the matter is there is a moment in D.C. that is vividly remembered. Jay Gruden went to a press conference and he undressed me at that press conference in a way that a coach should never undress his starting quarterback. It was after a game. And I said in the press conference that the best players in the NFL have the guys around them play at an extremely high level.

No one is out there doing it on their own. Now, the the media pundits and everyone took that and said RG three threw his teammates under the bus. And I had to eat that for a long time because Jay didn't back me in the media the next day. He doubled down on it and actually picked me apart in the media. But what people don't know is that the only reason I went to that press conference and said what I said to challenge my teammates through that press conference was because Jay Gruden asked me to do that. What hurt me about that was the fact that after I did that in the press conference, not only did Jay Gruden not have my back, but he actually burned me with it.

He came out the next day and burned me in the media. Man, what I can't recall, like something this deep from folks who are so removed from what took place, and this is wild to think about RG three played for Jake Gruden in 2014 after Jake Gruden took over for Mike Shanahan. And that's when I think of RG three's career as a Washington quarterback started off not all that good, but ended pretty good because they went into the postseason.

RG three was a second overall pick in the 2012 draft. I forget that first season where he went out there and they threw him out with that bum knee. He injured his knee late in the season, missed the game. They put him out there in the wild card round. He got ripped to shreds. People were looking at Mike Shanahan.

Why the hell do you got RG three out there? He needed surgery. He came back the next year.

Benched for Kirk Cousins. And then by the time he got to 2014, he dislocated his ankle and then he missed Tom again. And in 2014 is when he played for Jake Gruden.

And so obviously they got a whole lot of beef. Jake Gruden decided to respond on social media. He said, you want to play this game? He then told him to go race a pigeon, made a joke about RG three racing a Falcon. And then Jake Gruden came through with what I guess he thought would be a kill shot.

Let's keep in mind. This is someone who was a coach in the NFL and is still a consultant. He told RG three you weren't good enough. Kirk Cousins was better. Cleveland didn't want you. Baltimore didn't either.

Quit blaming me. Jake Gruden then said that he would talk about this on his podcast. And then, oh yeah, by the way, the tweet that he put out where he said RG three wasn't good enough and Kirk was better.

Jake Gruden deleted the tweet. Now, I can't remember anything like this. These are two grown men arguing like people holding cats in their basement. This is like two schoolgirls yelling at each other and mean girls. These are like, I don't know, two dudes yelling over call of duty. But these are grown men arguing on social media like they got nothing better to do. Like RG three go call a game and Jake Gruden like you still getting checks from NFL teams to help out as a consultant.

This is the world that we live in. I think it's one thing to have players and former players throw barbs at each other. You know, we've seen Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard just kind of go back and forth. Been there, done that, you know, we'll see media members go after each other. Man, you suck. I hate you. We see all of that. I can't recall a coach and a player beefing with each other to this level on social media. This is just this is twenty twenty four.

The world that we live in. And is it is it done? Are they finished?

Is it is it over yet? You know, RG three, to his credit, you know, he hasn't come back with some, you know, massive insult. RG three hasn't really, you know, gone deep and abusing or getting into this. He did share some retweets of people saying, what does Jake Gruden talk about? RG three is the guy. Robert Griffin nine hours ago said, trust God to fight your battles.

But when he tells you the time is right to speak the truth, say it with your chest. Wow. Ryan, what say you about all of this, man? This is wild stuff.

Can I be honest, JR? Like, I don't really care. Jay Gruden, not a very good head coach. Robert Griffin, the third, never lived up to what we thought he could be in the NFL from what he showed at Baylor.

And we're talking about, like you mentioned, this is a decade ago. We both saw with our eyes what happened, why Gruden flamed out and why RG three did not last too long in league. I to be honest, I don't really care how we got there. Whose fault was it? Who screwed who? Who was not good?

Who threw down through the other end of the bus? This does feel just like high school, like drama. It's like two two losers getting together and trying to figure out why they sucked. And for RG three, like, I don't want to hear you trying to blame someone else while your career didn't work out. I don't think he was trying to blame him.

I think he was just throwing a bar back. I mean, if you want to think about this, RG three is the one who started it. He didn't. Jay Gruden didn't come out and say anything about RG three. Just and maybe it was so veiled that only RG three would notice it because he's the one who experienced it. He wasn't asked. Jay Gruden didn't say anything to RG three. RG three responded to him just like, oh, you didn't put me in the crossfire. And then the war of words just kind of a spiral from there.

I would be interested to see, you know, if this continues, how far it goes, because it's to a certain degree unprecedented in like the social media era. I'm trying to think of of what would be an equivalent. And I don't I can't think of one. What is James? Not that RG three is LeBron, you know, but is LeBron going to go on social media and and talk crap about Spolstra? I don't I don't know.

It's just it's wild stuff. It's like between the two of them grow up, the RG three included in Jay Gruden, take away his phone. I mean, if he's anything like his brother. Hopefully, Jay Gruden doesn't use email.

I'm just saying this hopefully doesn't use email. It's the JR sport re-show here with you on CBS Sports Radio eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. We are going to take a break. And when we come back, we're going to get into some more football action on the field. The San Francisco 49ers are getting ready to host the Green Bay Packers in about exactly 24 hours from now. We're going to talk to a former San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle.

Ian Williams is going to join us. It's the JR sport re-show on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR sport brief on CBS Sports Radio. It's the JR sport re-show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We got a full weekend of more NFL playoff action this time and the divisional round.

We're going to get kicked off with Houston taking on Baltimore and then to end tomorrow night. We got Green Bay led by that new quarterback, or at least he's brand spanking new to a lot of the country. We got Jordan Love taking on the San Francisco 49ers out in the Bay Area to talk about it all and also get into some of the other football news that has started to populate the airwaves and online. Joining us right now is a former 49er, used to hold it down on the defensive line, also someone who played for the Fighting Irish. He's now an NFL analyst as well.

It is Ian Williams. Ian, thank you for taking the time to hop on, man. JR, man, I appreciate you having me, man. It's an exciting weekend. I can't wait. I'm excited.

We got a busy weekend. Before we get into some of the football there, what are your thoughts on the news that we got a few hours ago that it looks like Antonio Pierce is going to stick around with the Raiders as their head coach? I mean, that's huge for that program and that franchise to be able to retain a coach like that and to be able to retain somebody who's grown throughout the franchise the past couple years being a position coach and then moving his way up.

And then, you know, with the unfortunate way that the season started, you know, it kind of blossomed to where, you know, they were able to rip off some layers and they found some of the heart that truly is the team, which is, you know, Crosby and Antonio Pierce to be able to hold and keep those guys is huge. So I know they're excited over there in Vegas. Ian, do you think we are finally in store for some stability out in Vegas? You know, Mark Davis is always switching and changing things up. Is this different or is Mark Davis still there is going to be the same old, same old?

I don't think it's going to be the same old. I feel like you saw this team the second half of the season and you saw the Raiders, you know, play at a different pace at a different level than you would expect them to play. You know how they played earlier in the season under a different head coach and I feel like they had the same players. They just have a different mentality under Pierce and they kind of took under that same mentality he had when he played for the Giants when he was a great player. So that same mentality that he took from the Giants. I feel like the Raiders are taking on that and if they can make some right acquisitions and free agency and also in the draft.

I feel like this could be a team that they let Pierce grow and build the type of coaching staff and team that he's looking to aspire to be. He could do something similar to what the Houston Texans going on with D'Amico Ryan. Former 49ers defensive tackle Ian Williams is here with us on CBS Sports Radio. I want to talk about one more coaching vacancy and opportunity before we get on to some of the action on the field. We've heard over the past couple of days that Bill Belichick is having his second interview with the Falcons. We've now also learned that Jim Harbaugh is having a second interview with the Falcons. We know the Falcons also need a quarterback. We've heard Kirk Cousins say, oh, yeah, I'd love to play for Belichick.

Let's say we get to July and August. What is best case scenario for the Falcons? I feel like for the Falcons, obviously, to be able to bring in one of those two coaches, whoever it is, whether it be Belichick or Coach Harbaugh, you know, they're going to win that transition right there. And then if you get those minds to be able to bring in their philosophies from New England or Michigan, Flash, San Francisco, Stanford, you bring that mentality over to Atlanta and they got some playmakers Robinson and the wide receiver. You know, they can really put some things together and, you know, make some things happen. They got a defense. They got some players on offense.

They need to draft well and be able to make the right decision that had coach going on this offseason. Well, you're familiar with Jim Harbaugh. What are your thoughts and what does he specifically bring to a program? Well, I know he's excited to be able to have this opportunity to, you know, have the NFL open up to him. Where as when he did leave, he went to college and he did his thing at Michigan.

You know, obviously it wasn't pretty at first, but he got to build. He got his guys in there. He got his philosophy understood by the type of recruits that he was getting in there. He got the coaching staff around.

Same thing that he did in San Francisco. It's about the coaching staff and the mentality of the players that you're bringing in there. So, you know, he's obviously been one of the greatest coaches I've been a part of to really see what he does on a daily basis from Monday to Saturday that people don't see. All they see is the finished product on Sunday where, you know, this man has, you know, the inner workings and his fingers on everything that went on in that locker room, in the stadium, in the practice field, you know, from, you know, for seven days. And, you know, you get to see the finished product on Sunday. So I think whatever team, you know, either retained him at Michigan or signed him in the NFL is going to be excited to have him. Ian Williams is joining us.

Former 49ers defensive tackle is the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. Man, we're all going to be tuning in tomorrow. See what Green Bay can do against these 49ers. Obviously, the 49ers based on the experience, their history. They're going to be favored. When you take a look at Green Bay, what has impressed you the most, even outside of, let's say, Jordan Love? Well, obviously, you have to look at this past game where you go down to Dallas and you're the heavy under favorite of, you know, going down wild card games.

You fought to be able to get into this moment. And you're going on the road to a team that, you know, they're hitting on all cylinders. They have playmakers on offense and defense, arguably one of the best offensive lines, you know, one of the best defensive players and Michael Parsons and a couple of pro bowlers on the back end. And, you know, you're expected to kind of go out there and fight, but everybody thought Dallas was going to win. So, you know, you're looking at a team that went down on the road, handled business, ran the football over 100 yards, three touchdowns for Jones. I feel like he was a little juiced up because he's from the area. You know, he had a couple of dozen of his family members in town, you know, so he spent a lot on tickets, so I know he was juiced up to be able to go out there in front. And you saw that he was running really hard. And I feel like, you know, the gaps in the Dallas Cowboys defense, you know, they were able to pick and prod and do exactly what they wanted to.

And then Jordan Love just complimented everything that Aaron Jones was doing on the ground. And then I feel like the playmakers on the outside, Dobbs, you know, they're going to come into San Francisco with the same mentality that, you know, they're the underdog and they're going to try to prove that they can hang and they're going to try to take away the crowd early in the game. Same thing they did in Dallas. I saw Dallas Cowboys fans leaving in the first quarter.

No, I know those tickets are $200, $300, $400, $500 in tickets. And you saw some of these fans leaving early in the first quarter because they had dubbed them early after the pitch. These fans were leaving. They're going to try to do the same thing in San Francisco. So, you know, 49ers are going to have to weather the storm and, you know, play against a very good team that is traveling again on the road to try to take your cookies. Well, Ian, we know that the 49ers being the top seed that they've had a bye, that their starters haven't necessarily been in action, a little bit more rest.

than they typically have gotten. How do you think this game is going to play out tomorrow? And then I want to ask you specifically about Brock Purdy. Well, the rest is going to be crucial. You know, after a long season, 17 games, preseason games, injuries, in and out of, you know, battles here and there every other week. You know, that extra week, it really does help for guys to be able to recover. Trent Williams to be able to get over any type of lower body injuries. Deebo Samu to be able to recover a little bit more from his shoulder injury that he had earlier in the season. And then, you know, on the defensive line, Eric Armstead, who's missed the past few games, and you've seen that where there's been some leakage on that defense line front where there have been some gaps where the teams have been able to hit them because normally Eric Armstead is in there, you know, commanding those gaps where he hasn't been in there the past few games.

He's been practicing and he's going to be full goal tomorrow. So, you know, having him back and, you know, having this extra week has definitely helped him. You know, if he had to go out to Dallas or Green Bay on the road and have to play last week, I'm not sure if he would have been able to play last week or if he would have been able to play to the standard of what he's normally playing. So, you know, those are the type of things that are going on right now, especially with the extra bye weeks of getting these guys healthy. Ian Williams is joining us, NFL analyst, former 49er. We've had this conversation and gotten a lot of calls on this just over the past several months as it relates to Brock Purdy.

This is without a shadow of a doubt. He is surrounded by some excellent offensive weapons, some of the best in the entire NFL. I don't think by happenstance you put up the numbers that he's done. He's contributed as well. What are your thoughts on Brock Purdy and then what he might be able to do here in this postseason? We know he went down with the injury last year.

I just don't know why he gets so much slander, JR. This young man, last pick in the draft, has really come out here and commanded the team, hasn't tried to take over and try to make the plays himself. He's really tried to mesh his way into and integrate his way into making this team and making this offense so great. So obviously during the season you've seen his ups and downs where when he has some pressure or he's having to do certain things, he has some difficulties.

But at the same time, those difficulties are very minimal. You're not going to be perfect in the NFL. If you can trigger and bring those mistakes down, you're going to be able to trigger a lot faster and be able to play a lot faster. That's what you've seen. He's been able to make plays. Also, it's great to have a great offensive line and playmakers around you and a coach that understands, I want to get the ball in their hands, in Deebo Samuel's hands. He's a matchup nightmare for these DBs and linebackers having to come up in the hole. They have to try to tackle him, especially on these debt sweeps and these outside runs where he's a low out there. So I feel like the scheme has really helped Brock Purdy grow where he hasn't had to take on the whole thing and pretty much run the offense like Josh Allen or another quarterback, Lamar Jackson, where they pretty much are the focal point of the offense.

He's not that. The other playmakers are. So I feel like going into tomorrow, he's going to try to do the same thing he's done all season long and just try to play the shadow of these other guys that he's going to be playing around and get the ball into their hands and not make any mistakes because whenever he doesn't make any mistakes, this team plays very well and they win a lot of football games.

So I know he's excited to go out there and rekindle what he was doing last year and try to make it back to Vegas in February. Well, Ian, we know the 49ers season, it could end tomorrow, which would be terrible for fans out in the Bay, or it could continue on all the way to Vegas, as you mentioned. What do you think is going to happen tomorrow and potentially with the rest of the year for the 49ers? Well, I think the 49ers are going to win.

I'll come out front and I'll say that. I feel like they're the better team. You have some injuries going on with Green Bay where he has Jair Alexander at cornerback where he had a heel injury, and you saw this past week in the Cowboys game where he had some difficulties and had to come out of the game a few times. He made a great play early in the game, but you could tell that heel was bothering him. He's going to have to tackle Debo Shama on some of these jet sweeps and some of these reverses. You think he wants to get out there and do that in the third and fourth quarter after Chris McCaffrey has 100 yards and has been dicing these guys up in between the tackles?

Those types of things I'm taking into account. And also, Chase Young, he's getting his start because Cleveland Ferrell, he's going to be out this week at defensive end, and Cleveland is kind of the guy who starts opposite of Nick Bosa on first and second down, and then usually Chase Young comes in on third and passing down. So now it's going to be Chase Young and Nick Bosa. So I know how they're going to be excited and happy to see that. It's going to be reminiscing like the end of the last decade.

Those two guys out there in Buckeye Helmets, now they're going to be wearing red and gold helmets out there trying to get after Jordan Love. So it's going to be exciting, but I think at the end of the day, Jordan Love is going to do his thing. I don't think Aaron Jones is going to have the same game that he had last week. Eric Armstead, Javon Harvay have a much better interior tackle than what the Dallas Cowboys have, and it's going to be a much condensed game. I think the 49ers win by a couple of touchdowns, but at the end of the game, you're still going to look back at it and be like, oh, well, Green Bay was still into it into the fourth quarter, but the 49ers had made so many plays towards the end of the game. Yeah, that Ian Williams, former tackle for the 49ers, current NFL analyst for CBS Orlando joining us here on CBS Sports Radio. Anything else that you're looking forward to here over the divisional round of the postseason? Anything else that you would really like to see between now and Las Vegas? I'm excited to see the Texans tomorrow.

D'Amico Ryan, I've followed him the past few seasons when he's been in San Francisco coaching up that defense and that linebacker corps, and I've watched his progress, and then for him to be able to go to Houston and change that franchise around from where they were last year to an early first-round pick to now you're knocking on the door of the best team in the NFL and the Ravens. You've got to go on the road and have to weather the storm, but you have the offensive firepower to weather the storm and make Lamar Jackson have to press and make some plays. So that's going to be an interesting game right there. I think the Lions end up beating the Bucks, and I think it's the Lions and 49ers in the NFC championship. It's going to be a good old-school battle. And I think the Chiefs, Bills, I think at the end of the day, I think Mahomes wins this on the road.

I don't know how he does, but somehow in some ways Mahomes wins on the road. That's what I got for you with my playoff picture for this weekend. Hey, thank you so much, Ian, for joining us.

Tell all of the listeners where they can follow and keep up with you and your work. Y'all can hit me up anywhere on social media, but at the end of the day, I just want to give a shout-out to Jim Harbaugh, and at the end of the day, who's got it better than us? Nobody. Bang, bang, not again. We winning tomorrow.

I'm out. Thank you so much, Ian Williams, for joining us here at the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. It feels good to feel that I'm aligned, at least with the same predictions as a professional and somebody who went out there and played. God knows I wasn't out there on the offensive line blocking Ian Williams, and God knows I would not want to. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We just heard Ian mention the Detroit Lions, and yesterday we talked about the ticket prices and then we heard from Baker Mayfield.

Let's talk some Lions and Bucks. Let's get to some of your calls. That's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Thank you so much to CBS, NFL Orlando analyst, former defensive tackle for the 49ers, Ian Williams.

Thank you so much, Ian, for joining us in our last break. He also has the San Francisco 49ers beating the Green Bay Packers, does not think it will be easy by any stretch of the imagination, and we're in the same boat. I think that the 49ers will come out on top, and then in the other NFC game, I'm looking forward to this as well, we got the Detroit Lions. They are hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

We'll talk about that game momentarily. I do want to let you know that this portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial. Are you stuck in a timeshare and want out?

You can contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at WesleyFinancialGroup.com. 855-212-4CBS, that's 855-212-4CBS. I'm going to go ahead and pick up the phone lines. I want to talk about Lions Bucks. I want to go through a quick recap of all the action we have this upcoming weekend, and then next hour, I do want to mention to you, unfortunately, we've basically had a death here in the sports media world by a media company.

I'll explain. Let's go ahead and talk to Josh. He's calling up from Boise, Idaho. Hey, Josh, you're on CBS Sports Radio. What's going on?

Hey, man, appreciate you taking my call. I started listening on the after work as you were talking on Jay Gruden and RJ3, and while at no level should this ever be taking place on social media, especially with two supposed professionals, I'm just looking at this from somebody who heard about it while it worked that RJ3 had an injury, and the very next week he was playing my Seahawks, and we took advantage of that injury, moved on to the next round, but that was a time and place that player safety was not the conversation. RJ3 went out because his coach said you need to go out and wrenched his knee even worse, and he never came back from that. He never had the explosiveness.

He had never had anything, and had he taken that week off in the playoffs, he would have been creamed in the media and by any fan because his true knee history wouldn't have come out. That's what I got. Enjoy your show.

Thank you. Thank you so much, Josh, for calling up from Boise. Yeah, he got a raw deal, and we do live in a different time and a different era with the NFL. You can watch a game today, and it's not just the team doctors who are out there employed by the squad to, you know, shoot the players up and get them back out onto the field. There are independent neurologists who are making sure the players are not concussed, that they don't injure themselves further. We see action get started, and then we see the whistle blow, and everybody runs out onto the field and says, no, no, no, we can't do this.

We have to go ahead and put things to a stop. I mean, it was earlier this season. Jamal Adams, who unfortunately, I know, Josh, you were a fan of the Seattle Seahawks. Jamal Adams went down, and he got into it with the independent doctor who said, no, you can't play.

We're not putting you out there. And Josh, Jamal Adams got fined for his interaction with the doctor. And so I know there are a lot of cases, especially today, and this will probably exist forever because it's such a money-making machine. People are always going to criticize the NFL because the NFL, quite frankly, they're always running the players in and out of the league. One guy goes down, there will be another dude ready to go out there and play. And so, yeah, it is a conveyor belt. If one dude falls off, then you go ahead and plug another one in. It's like an assembly line for cars. This is defective?

Get another one on in. And we also know the NFL has been sued for its handling of injuries. And so this is never going to change, and RG3 did get a raw deal. And to be honest, 10 years later, more than 10 years later, I should say when it comes down to that initial knee injury, I don't know if he'd be treated any different. What, would RG3 go out into the blue medical tent and then he wouldn't come back out?

I'm not so sure. What his career was going to look like, I was eager to see. But he was certainly done too soon.

I mean, to even see him dress up during that COVID year with the Baltimore Ravens, even that was a hell of a shock. To be honest, if I got to get to real brass tacks, the NFL is not all that concerned with injuries. Do they want to keep players healthy? Yes.

But does everybody involved know that this is a meat grinder? Yeah, it is. But as long as the NFL can print money, they're going to do so. The NFL isn't just changing around rules to make this flag football or to make it less entertaining. They're not eliminating kickoff for this reason.

It's all because of money. They want to make sure the game, which is inherently violent, is here for generations to come. And so, yes, they're going to keep moving kickoffs.

And ultimately, I think to a certain degree, they'll eliminate it completely. The rules to protect the QB is that we got guys who are you can't hit the guy in the leg. You can't hit him high.

You hit him here. You get a penalty like this isn't going anywhere. And it's not so much about the NFL caring about, you know, linebacker Bobby or Bobby's wife at home. The NFL is just like, well, we gonna make another billion next year. Can we add another bill onto the 20 that we got now? Can we interest the fans in Brazil with this?

Can we make Germany have some bloodlust for the NFL? Like, this is where we're at. And so I really don't know if 2024 would have made too much of addition of excuse me, a difference for RG3. If there is a player that he was most similar to, it would be Lamar Jackson. And even this day and age, we've seen Lamar go down to injury. And I don't want to say it's a miracle.

That would be a little too far. But it's nice to see that Lamar has gone through a season healthy. And hopefully over the next couple of days or weeks, starting tomorrow, he could be healthy. Ryan, do you think RG3's career would have been different if it would have started like a decade later?

I'm not so sure. I agree because we're seeing it even now in this era where a lot of mobile quarterbacks are getting hurt. Like maybe one of the closest comps is Lamar Jackson in terms of frequency of running.

And we saw before this season, the last two years, Lamar get hurt and not finish the year. So while player safety, especially quarterback safety is obviously more of a focal point now than even a decade ago, it's still a violent game. And once the quarterback starts running, they're treated like a runner and there's not much you can do. Maybe the knee injury would have a little bit more detail and maybe he wouldn't be, we'll say forced on the field when he shouldn't be. But otherwise, I don't think there's much of a difference at this point.

Yeah, it's not. You got Justin Fields who has to miss time and his injury this season was because he couldn't grip the football. We've seen Lamar Jackson go down to leg injuries. We've had Kirk Cousins and these are these are two individuals you wouldn't necessarily say are mobile. Kirk Cousins, you know, blowing out his Achilles. The first game of the season, we saw Aaron Rodgers go down to a blown out Achilles. We saw and seen more QBs go down. Anthony Richardson goes down multiple times and is ultimately put out for good due to a shoulder issue. Same thing for Deshaun Watson.

So, yeah, RG3, different time, different era. But nowadays, man, especially this past year, there was not a thing saving any of these QBs. I hope that we can go through the rest of the postseason without an injury. I know Brock Purdy hopes so. We saw him tear the UCL in his elbow. Season came to a close. And then Lamar Jackson, man, I feel like the last time we saw him in a playoff game, he had the exit with a concussion.

I hope that's not the case. Let's keep all the quarterbacks healthy and get the best games that we can, especially as we approach four good ones here on this divisional round. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We are going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about the other NFC matchup. We're going to wrap up all of the weekend's playoff action. You are listening to the J.R. Sportbree show on CBS Sports Radio.