JR SportBrief Hour 1

Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again? With Knorr Sides and Bullion as your not-so-secret ingredient, you can skip the drive-thru and do dinner at home. Knorr Taste Combos provide a menu of delicious, affordable, and well-balanced meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less. Visit knorr.com to get quick and easy recipe ideas for your home-cooked weeknight dinners. It's not fast food, but it's so good.

Christy Pierce-Rampone here, former member of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, three-time gold medalist, two-time World Cup champion, and part of the 99 team that won the Women's World Cup, igniting passion for soccer everywhere. I'm mom to two teenage girls, and quality time together is prime time. We love to cook, and I have an obsession, a healthy one of course, with cooking utensils.

Where do I turn? Amazon Prime, to get them fast. And when they arrive, where do I turn? To Prime, to stream the best cooking shows.

And then, for dessert, what do we do? The Rampone team streams! Each of us gets to be the captain and pick the show. Right now, we're all over British TV, part of our Prime subscription.

I think a trip to the UK is in the future, and of course, we'll get all we need for that trip. From workout clothes to raincoats, from plaids to luggage, from travel guides to umbrellas, from streaming to shopping, it's on Prime. Visit amazon.com slash prime to get more out of whatever you're into.

That's amazon.com slash prime. Listen as Selenia tells us why she chose to vaccinate her daughter. I definitely felt like the pros far outweighed the cons, the diseases that I am protecting my child against. They're still here, and at the end of the day, it's my job as a mother to keep my child safe.

Talk to your child's doctor and learn more at yvaccines.com. Brought to you by Merck. It is the JR Sportbrief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Much love and many thanks to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. I don't care where you're at.

I don't care what you're doing. I'm just glad that you're here. This is where I'll be for the next four hours.

This is when the show gets started. 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. Much love and many thanks to you for listening on the free Odyssey app, your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate, Sirius XM Channel 158, and a smart speaker if you got one. If you got one, ask it to play the Infinity Sports Network. I might be in Atlanta, Georgia. Our super producer and host, Ryan Hickey.

Ryan Hickey, he's in New York City holding it down on the boards. If you want to hold it down and be a part of the show, it's real simple. We got a phone number. You can call up, holler at us, say something intelligent, say something ridiculous for me to laugh at. You can do what you want. I don't judge.

Sometimes. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. If you use the internet, you can find me there as well. I am at JR Sport Brief. Every place where a reasonable human would be on the internet.

Reasonable human. We got some guests coming through. How about this? In about 20 minutes, we're going to be joined by Andrew Kramer from the Star Tribune, Minneapolis St. Paul. Why? The Minnesota Vikings have a quarterback problem. Oh, you didn't hear? JJ McCarthy torn meniscus.

Or damaged meniscus. We'll figure out what the hell they have to do with it. We'll certainly talk to Andrew about it in about 20 minutes. Also, in a few hours from now, the Chargers are in the news, right? Well, at least Jim Harbaugh's in the news.

The quarterback's in a boot. Got rid of a lot of their main offensive weapons, guys like Eckler and Williams. So what the hell are they doing in a rebuilding year with a new head coach who's still getting punished by college teams?

Well, the NCAA, I should say. Fernando Ramirez is going to come through and join us. Fernando Ramirez, he covers the Chargers for the Sporting Tribute.

So we got a lot to get into, a lot to discuss. Brandon Iuch, his situation hasn't changed. He's still a member of the 49ers. We even got news today that they have a framework, or the 49ers have a framework on a deal to send him out to Pittsburgh.

If he wants it, they also have an opportunity for him to sign a long-term contract. And so basically the options and plans and what happens next is in the hands of Brandon Iuch. Aaron Rodgers gives his thoughts on the preseason as well as Hassan Reddick and what may happen with the Jets. Jaron Mayo, he has some thoughts about stopping the Patriots from fighting, right?

I don't know how you do that. Jaron Moore, he has some thoughts on a signed stealing and what this might mean for him. Pretty funny. The Dallas Cowboys are worth a lot of money. What a shock. Matt Lafleur is sick of talking about his wide-receiving group. And there's even an NFL quarterback, I guess a former NFL quarterback, who still wants to be an NFL quarterback.

His name is Colin Kaepernick. Yes, that name hasn't been uttered here I think in, I don't know, maybe once over the past seven months. This might be the last time we utter that name in quite some time. So we have a lot to discuss, a lot to get into. Ryan Hickey, how are you on this Tuesday afternoon in August?

I am good. I thought you were going to say for a second a Tuesday in August that sort of somewhat feels a little fallish. I don't know if you're getting that feel down in Atlanta.

Oh, fallish, what? It's not that hot today. It's here in New York City.

It will be in the 90s and the 80s here until, I don't know, early November. Lucky you. Not too late to move. You can move.

That's true. Hey, that'd be fun. We could do the show together in person every day.

Yeah, you could. The food is good here. Sweating out. What are you, nope, you don't got to sweat. There's air conditioning, man. What you got to sweat for? Well, I hate when the air conditioning's too cold.

I don't know how you feel about that. What do you set it on? What's in the studio, like 65? Below 70, that much I know. All right. That's too cold for me.

I'll stay up here. Too cold? Get a sweater. It is 72 right now in our studio. That's too hot. I'd be burning up in there right now. I think the last time I was up there, maybe I was burning up. So that explains a lot. Thank you very much for letting me know.

Hey, got you. Anyway, the news is burning up. I mean, well, this is not news that you necessarily want if you're a fan of the Minnesota Vikings. Sam Darnold is likely going to start week one for the Minnesota Vikings when they open up their season against the New York Giants. This is going to be the fourth team this man has played for since he was drafted third overall by the Jets in 2018. In other words, Sam Darnold is not the guy that you want starting for your team. He's not. Sam Darnold is a turnover machine. Sam Darnold, if he was so damn good out of USC, I think he would have still been with the New York Jets. And so basically, he's a holdover. Well, not even. This is wrong term because he just signed a one year contract with the Minnesota Vikings.

They gave him 10 million dollars. Why? Because even though they drafted and selected J.J. McCarthy, a champion out of Michigan. What's the rush, right?

There needs to be a transition period. J.J. McCarthy was taken 10th overall by the Minnesota Vikings. If we know one thing about Michigan or a Jim Harbaugh offense, he's going to run the ball. Justin Herbert is going to learn this and Justin Herbert is going to go, man, I used to throw the ball 80 times a game and now he's only asking me to throw it 15. Yeah.

Welcome to the new world. And so J.J. McCarthy is the opposite. This man is going to have to throw the football to Justin Jefferson a million times. And is he ready? Is he ready for the transition?

I guess not. The preseason over the weekend, J.J. McCarthy had a good game right out of the gate pretty early on. He threw an interception against backups and he threw two touchdowns against bums.

Not too shabby, not too bad. And he complained of knee soreness. And then we found out, well. The meniscus in his knee is busted up and so he's going to have surgery and we don't know if this is going to be a surgery that knocks him out for a few weeks or is this going to be a surgery that knocks him out for a few months? We have no idea. The head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Kevin O'Connell, he spoke to the media today and he gave this update on J.J. McCarthy.

Take a listen. It has been determined that J.J. does have a tear in his meniscus, you know, in his right knee. You know, he will need to undergo a procedure that, you know, obviously. That will hopefully take place, you know, in the near future here. I don't have a timeline on that, but as far as the timeline of the injury, that will be something determined during the procedure based upon, you know, whether it can just be a cleanup or potentially a repair that won't be able to be determined until that procedure takes place. So I really, you know, would just be speculating on a timeline for a return at this point.

OK, more you got to have more optimism. He makes it sound like he's talking about Joel Embiid. You know, we don't know if he needs to cut the meniscus or shave it down.

We don't. This is a this is a young man here. Not this is not a mummy like Joel Embiid. I have a feeling that things will be OK. And here's here's a newsflash to all the Viking fans out there. I got to tell you. When it comes down to this season specifically. This ain't making all that big a difference. Come on. This is a lost season for the Minnesota Vikings. This is a developmental season for the Minnesota Vikings. And so it sucks that J.J. McCarthy isn't out there to just take the job right now.

Today, they may have to wait on it. And if he's out for months, that that really would suck because he needs reps. But if you're thinking about the season, you know, you weren't winning anything. So let's get that out the way. This stinks because his development is going to be stunted.

This year was all about learning. And if he was able to tackle in a few more weeks or a few more months to that development, that would be great. And now we won't know until they go in and cut him open. And for Sam Darnold, I don't know.

Maybe in the short term, this would be good for somebody like Justin Jefferson. He'll get his stats, he'll get his numbers. And I guess he'll also be ticked off when Sam Darnold can't find him or overthrows him or throws the ball to the wrong damn guy. Because last season, Sam Darnold, he was living the good life. Well, he was backing up Brock Purdy. He only played one game at the end of the year. The net gain was basically a let's sit down Brock Purdy so he doesn't get hurt for the postseason. Sam Darnold is insurance and he's going to earn that 10 million dollars. And he's also going to give Viking fans a heart attack. Kevin O'Connell, former quarterback, current head coach. He says he has a lot of faith in Sam Darnold to not suck. You know, Sam's had a really good camp in my confidence level and Sam is very, very high at this point and looking forward to seeing him continue his progression that we've had for him throughout the early part of camp into that first preseason game.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No confidence. None.

None. If Sam Darnold wakes up and has like a career resurgence, then good for him. If Sam Darnold wakes up in this upcoming season, he grabs the bull by the horns and he throws, I don't know, 25 touchdowns to 12 interceptions.

And I'd be impressed. I don't expect it. Either way, the Minnesota Vikings, they didn't draft JJ McCarthy a 10th overall. Just have him sitting down if JJ McCarthy is able to come back in weeks or a couple of months, if he has command of the offense, if he's ready to practice, if he shows that he can run things. It's going to be his job. Sam Darnold is going to be backing him up until he sucks.

They got some weapons here. I know Jordan Addison has had his own issues outside of the building. Hopefully he's good.

Don't drive a car, don't drink. Justin Jefferson just got paid. He's getting 35 mil, so he has to pipe down just a little bit. And TJ Hockinson coming off of his own injury. Good luck to the Minnesota Vikings. This is going to be a cooked season. And the only thing that's worth a damn is if JJ McCarthy comes back and he's healthy.

And we'll find that out sooner than later. Picky, this is big deal or small deal? What do you think? No deal.

I would say medium deal. You're right. This year, you know, the Vikings, I thought were going to finish in last place. So you're not changing the outlook of this season. And the good news, too, I guess, of the Vikings is in JJ McCarthy, experienced quarterback of Michigan by playing in a pro style system. So it's not like he's Anthony Richardson where he didn't play a lot. And it's like a raw talent. You need him to really kind of refine his skills by playing in games.

He is pretty polished. So even if he misses the entire year, the learning curve for him still shouldn't be too steep. Where if you have, you know, assuming you stay healthy the next two years, it's still enough time to judge what kind of quarterback he is and then make a decision.

Ultimately, is he a franchise guy? You have to start over that timeline, right, of basically trying to figure out if he's the guy or not doesn't change too much. Which I think if you're a Vikings fan, well, the news today stinks. At least there is optimism moving forward. Yeah, this this could be a push back on to the fact of the matter is he is a whole deal. Next year, October, what's next year, 2025, right?

Yes, sir. That's when people want to see something, but you want to see something from him this year. You want to know, is he going to be worth a damn? Is he looking good?

Is he looking bad? And we don't know. Does this mean that we'll see JJ McCarthy in, I don't know, December and November? Will we not see him at all this year?

I don't know. That's the part that sucks. And that's the part that kind of puts everybody in the great unknown with him being gone. Because having a war and who knows, maybe Sam Donald has that that Geno Smith in him from a couple of years ago.

You get a chance, you get an opportunity. And all of a sudden, it's just like, whoa, this man was his comeback player of the year. He's a backup forever. Is that the destiny for Sam Donald? I doubt it. It wouldn't be the worst thing that happened to him.

Congratulations. Well, congratulations to the Minnesota Vikings for having an insurance policy. I don't think Sam Donald is one that they wanted to cash in.

But hey, there you have it. Good luck to JJ McCarthy and his recovery. I want to see what he can do. I want to see what all the rookies can do. We've seen Caleb Williams go out there. We saw Bo Nix. Anthony Richardson, not a rookie, but technically it's still raw. We want to see what he can do.

JJ McCarthy winning the national championship in Michigan. People want to see what he can do on the next level and whether or not the Minnesota Vikings made a mistake. Either way, he going to still make his money. And good luck to him. And good luck to the Vikings and their fans.

We're going to take a break when we come back on the other side. We'll chat with Andrew Kramer from the Minneapolis St. Paul Minnesota Star Tribune. OK, we'll get his thoughts on what this means for the Minnesota Vikings. Our fans excited about this.

I highly doubt it. What's to be expected of them in this crowded NFC North? We'll get into all of that with Andrew Kramer on the other side of the break. We'll talk about Aaron Rodgers. We'll give you an update on Brandon Aiyuk. We'll talk about Sharron Moore. Is Jim Harbaugh going to show up and be captain, honorary captain for Michigan? What's up with the Dallas Cowboys and their valuation?

Colin Kaepernick still wants to play football. We got a lot to discuss. You're locked into the J.R. sport brief show.

Andrew Kramer on the other side on the Infinity Sports Network. Don't move. Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again? With North Sides and Bullion as your not so secret ingredient, you can skip the drive through and do dinner at home. Nor taste combos provide a menu of delicious, affordable and well balanced meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less. Visit Nor.com to get quick and easy recipe ideas for your home cooked weeknight dinners. It's not fast food, but it's so good. Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again? With North Sides and Bullion as your not so secret ingredient, you can skip the drive through and do dinner at home. Nor taste combos provide a menu of delicious, affordable and well balanced meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less. Visit Nor.com to get quick and easy recipe ideas for your home cooked weeknight dinners.

It's not fast food, but it's so good. Here's why April chose to vaccinate her child. I think actually meeting someone who was not vaccinated and now has a lifelong struggle with a childhood disease really cemented for me that it's super important that we as parents continue to vaccinate our children.

Talk to your pediatrician or visit YVaccines.com. Brought to you by Merck. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief.

It's the JR Sport Brief show here on the Infinity Sports Network coast to coast. We got some news earlier today. Not good news for the Minnesota Vikings. Not good news for JJ McCarthy.

He has a tear in his meniscus. We don't know how long he will be out. Is it weeks?

Is it months? Sam Donald is going to be leading the team. What does this mean for the squad as they move forward over the next few weeks and months and how do they adjust?

Does this change the outcome of anything? To have a conversation about this Minnesota Vikings team bringing on or having with us right now is Andrew Kramer from the Star Tribune out in St. Paul, Minneapolis. How are you? I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on.

I appreciate the time. We know that JJ McCarthy, he's complained to knee soreness over the weekend following that preseason game. Any surprise that there was a tear in there? Was there anything else? Any inklings earlier on in the offseason that there were any issues?

No, not at all. So much so, this was such a surprise that when the coaches went back and rewatched the game from Saturday, they couldn't find out when it happened. And JJ doesn't know when it happened because he told them he doesn't know. So these are the types of injuries that can really sneak up on you. Vikings players have done this before where they've played full games and then just woke up the next morning with a swollen knee and had to get the MRI and found out. So this could either be a situation where JJ will undergo surgery, but it's up to him and the doctors of whether or not he will get the trim or the full repair. That will determine his timeline of how long he's going to be out. It could be four to six weeks.

It could be four to six months and be season ending, depending on the severity of it. So they won't know until they go in there. And then, yeah, it was a surprise because he finished the game or finished what they wanted him to do on Saturday. And the head coach said he could have kept playing.

He felt that good. Andrew Cramer is joining us from the Star Tribune. Well, I mean, Sam Darnold, he got himself an expensive contract, the one year deal, 10 million dollars. I mean, there was an expectation that he would at least maybe start the season. I mean, that's a lot of money for a backup.

So how does that change things, if at all? Yeah, I think it only changes their development plan with JJ, because as you said, they paid Sam Darnold to start. They brought him in as a placeholder. They wanted to keep Kirk Cousins. They entered deep contract negotiations to keep Kirk Cousins, but obviously Atlanta outbid them and took him away. And so they turned to Sam Darnold to come in and be that veteran who could be the one year bridge to whoever they drafted.

And so the whole plan was to start Sam Darnold week one and then see how far he could take this season. And they wanted to give JJ that kind of buffer to get ready. They're in the same division where they watched Jordan Love grow and develop for years and then have the benefit of waiting and then getting out there when he was ready.

And Kevin O'Connell, the head coach of the Vikings, he's a former quarterback. He's very sensitive to organizations ruining prospects by putting them out there before they're too ready or before they have the right support system or talent around them. And so they had a really slow plan with JJ.

And so I don't think it changes a whole lot for 2024, but it does sidetrack their progress. What they wanted to make in practice with them, what they wanted him to continue getting these reps and continue working. They were having joint practices this week in Cleveland against the Browns. He was supposed to be a big part of that.

And obviously he's not. So this more changes and sets back kind of the growth they wanted for him behind the scenes. And as far as Sam Darnold, this is just going to be even more work for him in practice than them leaning even more into him being the guy this year. Well, how have they looked individually? We've seen a little bit more over the years of Sam Darnold, the good, mostly the bad. And in the case of JJ McCarthy coming out of Michigan, you know, he's being asked, we're doing a little bit more. How have they looked so far, let's just say between now and April?

Yeah. And if you look at the preseason game on Saturday, it was actually a microcosm of how these two guys have looked in camp. JJ threw an interception very early in that game that was very much a rookie mistake.

It was a very obvious throw that he should not have made. And then he bounced back and threw two touchdowns and led scoring drives and really had that confidence that they've loved so much in seeing him since he came to Minnesota. But Sam Darnold has been the more consistent level quarterback, has flashed an arm talent that frankly I haven't seen in a Vikings quarterback since Sam Bradford in 2016.

And those who know ball know that both those guys can really swing the football. And that's why he's taken third overall and in Sam Bradford, excuse me, in Sam Darnold. And so they bring him in, they want to try to give him the best support system he's had.

He's had really bad teams from Carolina to the New York Jets, but the times he's had to get out there and play, it's been not with great pieces or great coaching. And so they feel like they can kind of resurrect his career a little bit. And Sam Darnold watched Baker Mayfield do that in Tampa Bay.

He watched Geno Smith do that in Seattle. He very much believes he can do that in Minnesota. And the Vikings believe in him as well. And he's been consistent. You ask how he looks, he's been consistent in camp. The big question, of course, is once the games start coming week after week, can he maintain that consistency that we've yet to see from him in the NFL? Andrew Kramer is joining us from the Star Tribune.

You talk about the supporting cast. We know Justin Jefferson just got his $35 million per. Is it going to take long? Is he just going to relax if things are going sideways? Are we going to hear from him? Or is he going to be content with just making his money right now? That's a great question because this guy knows and he loves to win. He only knows how to win.

At LSU, whether it's high school or LSU, this kid won at every level he was at. And no, I don't think he's going to be content with money. He was very much involved not in terms of helping them make the decisions this offseason, but in terms of wanting to know what the team was doing at quarterback. He wanted to know how negotiations were going with Kirk. He wanted to know who they were going to draft, who they were leaning toward. He's very interested in all of this. But also, he's very confident because he's a guy who racked up 100-yard games after 100-yard games with Nick Mullins last year for three or four games. Jaron Hall had to start games as a rookie for the Vikings last year. Justin can produce regardless, but in a team game, it doesn't mean you necessarily win, especially if the quarterback is making mistakes.

So I think this is going to be something to monitor. Justin loves the organization. He loves the head coach. He loves everything that's set up around him, but he also hates losing.

So if this goes sideways, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Well, we saw Jordan Addison have an amazing rookie year. We know this past offseason, he's had his issues behind the wheel of a car and DUIs and misdemeanors and what have you. What's his current status? Is there any worry that he may not be an available target for Sam Darnold?

There is, yeah. There's concern he could be suspended for three games because that's the NFL's substance abuse policy for guys who are first-time offenders, criminal first-time offenders under their alcohol policy. So that's something the team is very aware of. They've been bringing in wide receivers to work them out, free agents. They've been trying to get some of their younger guys, like Jalen Naylor is a big one that they've been trying to prepare for a bigger role in the event that Jordan is suspended. But when Jordan's available, he is going to be a massive part, as you said, huge rookie year.

He is the real deal. And when he is available, they're going to put up with a lot with the kid because he is a very talented athlete and generally a very smart football player. So I think he'll be a big part once he's there, but I do think they're concerned about that three-game suspension to start the year. Well, Andrew, we know the offense is going to be a work in progress with Sam Darnold leading the way. You mentioned Addison, Aaron Jones are now here as well. What about the defense? I would say the defense kept them in games last year, had some issues as well. There's some new faces that are part of the team. They drafted Dallas Turner. They're bringing in a Granard from Houston. What are you expecting that defense to look like? And are there areas that they can do better, maybe the secondary?

Yeah, that's one area. Brian Flores is one of the best defensive coaches, best defensive minds in football. And what he did last year with the roster they had, it impressed a lot of people. And a lot of people in Minnesota were surprised he got no head coaching requests this offseason. Not that he didn't get a job, but nobody even wanted to interview him.

Now he's also suing the NFL for racial discrimination in their hiring practices, so that might play a factor. But to get back to football, the Vikings love this guy. They love what he can do with their defense. They love that if they add pieces like Dallas Turner, Granard you mentioned, Andrew VanGinkle from Miami was a Flores guy when he was in Miami.

He's going to be a starter opposite Granard as Dallas Turner kind of develops. They've really added some pieces here that they feel are going to make Flores even better and even more effective of a tactician. So I think they've got good weapons up front in the defense. The question is, they unfortunately lost one of their rookie draft picks at corner in Kyrie Jackson who died in a car accident in July. They lost another starting corner, Makai Blackman to a torn ACL at the start of camp. So they're bringing in Stephon Gilmore, hosting him as a free agent yesterday.

They're just searching for pieces. They've added actually four different free agent corners since camp started, just trying to cycle through guys. So if you can't cover Amman Ross St. Brown, you can't cover Keenan Allen and Romo Dunsay, I think it could be a long year, even with Brian Flores.

So it will be interesting to see. But as you mentioned with this offense, this Vikings team is capable of putting up 20-30 on a given night. So I think they might have to win some shootouts this year.

Andrew Cramish joining us from the Star Tribune. You talk about some of the opposition in the NFC North. In regards to the entire division, what's the expectation from Viking fans? Like we all know this is a transition season, but at the end of the day, people will look at the wins and losses and I would think the performance of Sam Donald, maybe we see JJ McCarthy. Like is this people just going with the flow this season? What's the expectation?

It has to be some type of one, right? Yeah, I think the expectation was to see what Kevin O'Connell and his coaching staff can do with this quarterback transition. So everybody wants to see, is Kevin O'Connell this offensive Sean McVeigh-style mastermind that's going to be able to do it with anybody? I think that's what everybody wants to see. Honestly, the win was taken out of the sales in Minnesota when JJ McCarthy goes down. Everybody's pretty bummed out about that.

They had a night practice yesterday right after the news came out and the fans in the stands were just kind of, yeah, it's just the air was just out of the sales. So the year was all about seeing kind of how JJ could do in the preseason and then maybe later in the year. And now it feels like everyone's just turning to Sam Darnold and saying, all right, man, it's all on you because I don't think they're going to be trotting JJ out there in October, certainly not without the rest of the preseason. And so if this is a team that wins six games, everybody shrugs their shoulders and goes, all right, we'll see what JJ can do between now and, you know, October, September of 2025? Yeah, well, and this is a big year, actually, for the ownership to decide on their GM and head coach. These guys are on four year contracts. They're entering year three of that. And so are you going to let them go into a lame duck year saying, all right, prove it? Or are you going to sign into a one year extension just to make them feel a little bit better about going into 2025?

Yeah. If it goes sideways this year, it is going to be very interesting to see what the WILF ownership group, the family that owns this team, what they decide to do with the leadership, especially at GM, where their drafts have not been as good under Kwesi, Adolfo Mensah. And obviously, you know, with JJ McCarthy, that's not his fault, getting hurt. But they've got some questions about their leadership and the long term outlook. And it would soothe any kind of concerns if they could at least look competitive, because as you mentioned, this division, the NFC North might be one of the toughest in football this year.

Is their fan angst against Kwesi that he would get the boot? I mean, typically you would get, you know, you'd get a quarterback of your own. You'd get a little bit of time with your own QB.

Unfortunately, he has a torn meniscus right now. Yeah, they just traded their first second round pick he made under when he was here in Andrew Booth Jr. to Dallas. Their first pick, Lewis, seeing that the first round pick in 2022 is probably going to get cut out of camp, if not traded. They might cut their third round pick from that year too, Brian Offenbaugh. Last year's draft, they got Jordan Addison, but not a whole lot else from there. And then this year was all about JJ, obviously, and Dallas Turner.

Those two are great. So yeah, they're going to have, they're going to have at least a runway with this team. It's just a matter of, do they put them in a lame duck year in 2025 with that expiring contract for the GM?

Or do they see enough this year to sign them to an extension? That's going to be the big thing. I think he's going to need mid-round picks, free agent additions. The GM is going to need guys to step up. And Kwesi has a lot of fans in the building.

He does. But, you know, the NFL is obviously a very impatient world. So we'll see what ends up with that. Well, listen, the Minnesota Vikings have been looking for a runway back to the Super Bowl in the past forever. And so we'll see what happens over the next several. Hey Andrew, you're not supposed to laugh at that one.

You don't laugh. I'm just saying. We've been a long time. What are we, what are the seventies, right? The seventies?

Seventy-six, yep. Oh my God. Okay. It's been a while.

You're absolutely right. Fans, the fans are very anxious for it. And we actually spoke to Mark Wilf, one of the co-owners of the team not too long ago. They have owned the team now for 15 years, I believe.

Yeah. And so we're in almost 20 years actually. And so they have not had a Super Bowl for 20 years. They are feeling it. And so they're generally patient. They like to model themselves after patient owners of the NFL, like the Rooney's in Pittsburgh. But teams also become, and owners become impatient if you can't do it. So we'll see. Maybe if we rebuild the Metrodome and maybe it'll be a little bit more success.

I doubt it though, but we'll see. Andrew, thank you so much for taking the time. I'm sure we'll be chatting with you real soon in the future, hopefully with some good news surrounding JJ. Where can people follow you and your work with the Star Tribune? Absolutely. Yeah. Follow me on Twitter at Andrew underscore Kramer.

That's K-R-A-M-M-E-R. And then you can find my work at StarTribune.com. Hey, thank you so much for the great insight. Great chat, Andrew. Thank you, man. Yeah. Thanks for having me on. Good talking to you.

No problem. That Andrew Kramer covers all things Vikings for the Star Tribune based out in the Twin Cities and specifically Minneapolis. Minnesota Vikings, they don't know what's going on. This is a lost season.

That's just what it is. The most you can hope for is that JJ McCarthy can come back, be healthy and contribute some type of way at the end of the season. Let's be real.

He wasn't going to be seen at the beginning part of the year anyway unless he was absolutely lighting it up. Good luck to him in his recovery. You're locked into the J.R. sport. We show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network, eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven.

That's eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. We're going to take a break when we come back. We're going to talk about a quarterback who is returning from his own injury. We'll give you an update on him, his leg and his teammates in his book that he didn't write and a lot of other things. Talk about Aaron Rodgers on the other side. We'll then talk about Brandon Ayup.

We'll get into Sharron Moore. We got a lot to do. I'm mom to two teenage girls and quality time together is prime time. We love to cook and I have an obsession, a healthy one, of course, with cooking utensils.

Where do I turn? Amazon Prime to get them fast. And when they arrive, where do I turn? To Prime to stream the best cooking shows. And then for dessert, what do we do?

The Rampone team streams. Each of us gets to be the captain and pick the show. Right now, we're all over British TV, part of a Prime subscription. I think a trip to the UK is in the future.

And of course, we'll get all we need for that trip from workout clothes to raincoats, from plaids to luggage, from travel guides to umbrellas, from streaming to shopping. It's on Prime. Visit amazon.com slash prime to get more out of whatever you're into.

That's amazon.com slash prime. Doors take us to summers away or winter adventures and afternoon getaways. Your dedicated Fidelity advisor can help you open those doors by working with you on a comprehensive plan to help you reach your wealth's full potential because doors were meant to be opened.

Visit fidelity.com slash wealth investment minimum supply Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC member NYSE SIPC. You sit in traffic now. But later, there's an ice cold reward. Medela, the mark of a fighter. You've earned this rich golden lager with a crisp, refreshing taste. Because you know, all your patience is paid out in gold.

You remain calm through honks, bumper to bumper, and people yelling. You are a fighter and Medela is your reward. Medela, the mark of a fighter. Trick responsibly.

Beer imported by Crown Import, Chicago, Illinois. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. The JR Sport Brief show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network.

Thank you so much to Andrew Kramer from the Star Tribune for joining us in the last break. Gave us some updates, gave us some words on JJ McCarthy. And unfortunately, the update is we don't have one until they cut his damn leg open. He's going to have knee surgery. He has a torn meniscus.

But is he going to be out for a few weeks or is he going to be out for a few months? One thing is for certain. Get ready for your dose of Sam Darnold.

If you're a fan of the Minnesota Vikings. So we'll obviously keep you up to date on all of that as things continue over the next several days and in several weeks. Also, you know what?

We get to the top of the hour. I'm going to give you an update on Brandon IU because, of course, there's an update. And it appears that he has the cards in his hand.

This man was running his mouth about how the San Francisco 49ers. They didn't want me. They don't want me. And now the choices in his hands. Do you want to stay or do you want to go?

You did a lot of yapping, all that chatting. Now it's time to make a decision. You want to be a stealer? Or do you want to be a member of the 49ers? I think if you want to win a championship, you stick around with the 49ers potentially, potentially win a championship.

And if you just want the cash, you go to the Steel City. Choices, choices, decisions are hard. We'll give you an update at the top of the hour. Now, having already discussed J.J. McCarthy and his knee and his meniscus and what happens. We got an update from another quarterback today about his own health status. His name is Aaron Rodgers, the man who blew out his Achilles four plays, four plays into the season last year.

Hickey, I think he spent more time carrying that American flag than he did actually playing anything for the Jets. Right. Oh, boy.

Yeah, you might be right. It was close. Just a span of seconds. Grand opening. Grand closing for Aaron Rodgers. And so today or any day that he has a microphone in front of him, Aaron Rodgers wants to talk. He wants to chat. And one of the questions he was asked was about his Achilles and how he's feeling.

And this is what he said. I feel good. It's been a long, long, you know, 10 months or whatever. rehab may be more. But yeah, I felt great at probably four months and then about the same for the next three months. And then there was the last three months been feeling kind of the last five, 10 percent.

OK. All right. Getting there right for guys 40 years old, about to be 41. He's getting there and good for him. Like the New York Jets need him.

I know Andrew Kramer talked about a quasi up in Minneapolis, the general manager, if he doesn't get things together, might be some people calling for his head. If things don't work out with the New York Jets, then Joe Douglas is going to get the boot. And so here we are, the preseason. Aaron Rodgers is, I guess, semi healthy, ready to go. He's not playing in the preseason because why would you throw him out there? No reason.

Right. Just to warm up the leg. And so Aaron Rodgers was also asked about that.

Hey, if your leg feels OK, you're feeling better. Why are you not participating in the preseason? Preseason is not what it used to be. It's to see if young guys, once the lights go on and the pads go on and the tackling happens, if they can if they can show up or if they don't. So what's there to gain? You know, just going out there and being back on the field in a situation where you could get hit. But the way we get after our defense today, the next few days, a few times we go against them, I'm going to be worried about getting hit as well.

Preseason is not real football. Oh, whoa. Oh, Hickey, he told the secret that nobody has ever wanted to share. What gives? Man, Roger Goodell is probably on line one right now.

How dare you? This is like going to what do you remember? There was a I feel I mean, it was 20 years ago, but Fox did an entire series about revealing magic tricks. Do you remember that? No, there's a guy that there's a guy who came out. He was a magician. But of course, he was right. He was a rat.

Right. And so he came out. His face was covered. He had on gloves. You didn't know you didn't know if this guy was black, white, Latino, Asian. He could have been a space alien. But this dude was covered in all black. And the entire premise of this weekly series, I think it was a weekly series, is that he would reveal magic tricks like magic tricks that you would think about.

How do you cut a lady in half? This guy was on Fox just showing the secret sauce. It was a whole series about it. Oh, wow. That's I don't know if I want to watch that.

I like not knowing. I think you I think you might have missed it unless you're going on YouTube or something. Right.

Well, I was going to say, you know, that's I meant to go back and rewatch Magic Secrets Reveal. This was a real big thing on Fox, man. And this is this is akin to what Aaron Rodgers did today. Why would you this could you imagine if LeBron James came out and just said, I don't know, the regular season doesn't matter. Could you imagine he said that? No, but. Did he say that about that? He was mad about the playing games that that I do remember. Yes. Yes, he was. Yeah, you can't you can't say this.

Not that these guys are messing up the money because people will still pay for it anyway. But if there was going to be one guy to say that preseason games are not real football, I would I would kind of take a guess that it would be Aaron Rodgers. And so thus, he is not going to play in the preseason.

I'd be shocked. And Hickey, the show. And wow, it's further back than I even thought.

Damn. Nineteen ninety seven. It was breaking the magician's code. Magic's biggest secrets finally revealed and it ran for three seasons.

I was going to say I hope it wasn't just one because I could definitely see like viewership being pretty high. And I think a lot of people would be interested in learning how that stuff works. Oh, this this man, I just remember there was a big to do about it. And it's just like, oh, this guy's a rat and he is he's a magician rat.

How are you messing up the money for everybody? That's like, I don't know. Could you imagine if all the chefs at Chick-fil-A decided to almost make their own chicken, like they left and just took the recipes with them? Could you imagine or someone like a Taco Bell actually revealed how it's made? Taco Bell, you know, like, you know, they say don't tell us how the sausage is made. If someone goes on and basically reveals, you know, how stuff like that is made and what you're actually eating is a question.

I think you would scare a lot of people away. Is it real chicken? Is it real beef? That's a question that could be answered if it's called chicken. We call them like Deep Throat 2.0.

They were never step up and. Spilling all the secrets. Right. Do we? We don't share secrets here, do we? How we do things, do we? No, there's no secret.

This is it. There's no, you know, hiding behind the curtain or, you know, waving my left hand to not have you see what my right hand is doing. I mean, there's secrets to any business, right? You don't want the people to know certain things. Yeah, let's tell a secret. What's one thing that we don't want people to know? You want to go or you want me to go? You go. I got to think.

OK. What's one thing that that would help people? The listeners know. Hmm.

Like there's actually work that goes into this. Is that a secret? Because I swear some people think that, you know, just roll out of bed and have the conversation I'd have. I don't know. And at the bar, I can't do that. I'd be fired. Can't do that. Hickey can't say these things.

I would agree. Is it a secret to say sometimes you don't want to watch games? A secret? No, Hickey, I tell people I don't watch the ass games. Remember that? No, I'm saying like there are games you have to watch.

Right. And like certain NFL matchups and there'll be days I'm like, you know, I really don't want to watch a game. Like what? Like what game? Well, I don't know. Like whatever the NFL game of the week is, like, let's just say like, I don't know, Bengals.

Right. Like there are just some days where it's like, you know what, like I could really do if there was no games on that to watch, I could really do without it. I will watch whatever.

But I'm not watching ass games. It's like the guy called up months ago or a month ago. He's like, hey, what do you what do you think about school? Well, I'm like, yeah, I'm on a I'm on the air. OK, I see the guy's era. But what do you want me to say? I think I'm sitting around watching Tigers games. I'm talking about teams that matter and Super Bowl teams and championship teams, Olympic teams. Not the Florida Marlins or the Tigers.

Sorry. Matter of fact, when we come back, we'll talk about a good team, the San Francisco 49ers. And what the hell their wide receiver wants to do is the J.R. sport. We show the Infinity Sports Network.

Christy Pierce Rampone here, former member of the U.S. women's national soccer team, three time gold medalist, two time World Cup champion and part of the ninety nine team that won the Women's World Cup, igniting passion for soccer everywhere. A mom to two teenage girls and quality time together is primetime. We love to cook.

And I have an obsession, a healthy one, of course, with cooking utensils. Where do I turn? Amazon Prime to get them fast. And when they arrive, where do I turn? To Prime to stream the best cooking shows. And then for dessert, what do we do?

The Rampone team streams. Each of us gets to be the captain and pick the show. Right now, we're all over British TV, part of a Prime subscription. I think a trip to the UK is in the future. And of course, we'll get all we need for that trip.

From workout clothes to raincoats, from plaids to luggage, from travel guides to umbrellas, from streaming to shopping. It's on Prime. Visit amazon.com slash prime to get more out of whatever you're into.

That's amazon.com slash prime. Here's why April chose to vaccinate her child. I think actually meeting someone who was not vaccinated and now has a lifelong struggle with a childhood disease really cemented for me that it's super important that we as parents continue to vaccinate our children. Talk to your pediatrician or visit yvaccines.com. Brought to you by Merck. Remarkable fight. Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crime Report Chicago, Illinois.