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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 and 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. And like Amazon Prime, I'm a lot of things beyond what I'm best known for. I'm a girl mom to two teenagers, a dog mom too, an entrepreneur, a TV commentator, and I use my Prime membership pretty much every day for so many things. I am known for being quick and crafty on the soccer field, and I am definitely crafty at home, especially digging in with the girl school projects. And I rely on Amazon Prime to have what we need and get it to us with the speed I am used to. With every change of season, I love to decorate our home.
And where do I get ideas and the goods? Prime, of course. Not to mention with all the great streaming options, it's a total gold medal experience. 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 WhyVaccines.com. Brought to you by Merck. Fernando, how are you, man? Yeah, I'm doing well. I mean, I'm out here in Cali. You know, the weather is beautiful all the time, so I really can't complain. Well, I'm happy you can't complain.
I know there might be some Charger fans who want to complain. Let me get to this first, Fernando. Yeah. How's Justin Herbert doing with that foot, man? How's that going? Well, I mean, Thursday should be two weeks. You know, the report came out he'll be reevaluated in two weeks and should be out of a walking boot, so two weeks is Thursday. He's been out of practice every single day that I have been there. He's cheering on his teammates.
He's paying attention to what Greg Roman's saying. You're listening to everything, and Greg today said that he doesn't feel like Herbert will skip a beat, that he feels like as soon as he comes back in, it's going to be like riding a bike, that he's going to be able to go, and the offense should be ready to go. But yeah, it's been about two weeks now, and obviously Easton's stick has not looked good, and that should be concerning to the team, especially if Justin's not able to start the season. But all indications are that they feel good that Justin should start the season week one against the Raiders. Well, Fernando, with this being a team in transition, everything from a new general manager, a new coach, the quarterback is learning a new system, but some of the more familiar names on offense over the past few years are gone.
Austin Eckler gone, Mike Williams, regardless of injuries, he's now gone. What's the expectation for this team in whole for this season? Well, I mean, if you ask the fans and a lot of people that are familiar with Jim Harbaugh and his past, they're thinking playoffs.
They're thinking at least make a wild card and hopefully win a game. But realistically, I mean, the defense is flying around, and a couple of weeks ago they were going up against the Rams, and you could tell Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, Derwin James, those guys were putting their stamp on the practice. But what really surprised me was they were doing red zone, and Matthew Stafford does an end around with Puka Nakua, and Elohi Gilman comes up and he stamps them a little bit and knocks them down. And Sean McVeigh comes over and he goes, hey, be smarter, dude.
Why are you knocking down my guy? And Elohi, Derwin's like, nah, nah, nah, come on, that's how we're going. And Derwin said after practice, hey, we're flying around.
We're excited about this. So the defense is, they feel good about it. It's the offense where you have a little bit of question marks. Defense, what I have a question mark is about the secondary with Asante Samuel Jr. and Christian Fulton. They've looked good in practice.
Christian did a good job against Cooper Cupp. The defensive line's a little bit of a question mark. I mean, you have Poona Ford, Scott Madlock, and Otitogbanya, and Morgan Fox, but what's that going to look like come game day? Because Scott Madlock and Otitogbanya were two kind of reserve guys last year, so what's that going to look like? And Poona Ford, can he stay healthy?
So that's going to be a question mark. On the offensive side, it's going to be about Justin and how can you replace the production that, like you said, Austin Eckler, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams. They're really high on Ladd-McConkie, and they feel like Ladd-McConkie's going to put the stamp on this offense, and they feel like he could really be a weapon that could take over for Keenan. On third down, they would always go to Keenan Allen, Justin would, and it feels like Ladd-McConkie may take over that third down duty.
So there's a lot of hopes and a lot of will-sees, but that's all they can really go on right now, especially with their quarterback not practicing. Man, well, as a Bulldog here, I'd love to see it from Ladd-McConkie getting some of that work. Fernando Ramirez is joining us here from the Sporting Tribune, covers all things Chargers. Let's get down to brass tacks.
Let's do it. How is this team embracing Jim Harbaugh? So, I mean, you know, the players are the ones that can smell BS from a mile away, and they keep on telling. And, you know, I like to go with the veteran guys, guys that have been around. I mean, you go to a guy like Khalil Mack, who's been around Brandon Staley, John Gruden, Matt Eberfluse, Matt Nagy, Jack Del Rio, and he says, hey, like, this is different.
Like, it feels different. They like the way that Jim, Ben Herbert, and all those guys are taking care of their bodies. They like exactly what Jim's doing, and you listen to some of these veteran players, and they're really excited about having the opportunity to finally win. I mean, being in the Chargers organization is not easy. I mean, it's been the 27-0 blown lead against Jacksonville.
There's been the game where they go into New England with no linebackers, and they had to play with seven secondary players, or cornerbacks and safeties, and New England just blew them out of the water. I mean, there's been things, I mean, Chargering, all that stuff, and they feel like, with Jim Harbaugh, things are going to change. So that's kind of, I mean, I don't want to say that he's, like, people think that he's the answer. He's the chosen, he's the Anakin Skywalker of all this, but it kind of feels like everybody feels like Jim's kind of the chosen one, the one that's going to lead them to winning, and possibly winning a championship, something that their franchise has never done. So that's kind of where the veteran players are. When you listen to them, they're really excited about this, and they say it's night and day completely different from everything that they had last year. So they're really excited about, and then obviously Jim's working out with them.
I saw him after the game on Saturday, he had cleats on, and I'm like, wow. And, like, before the game, he's over there catching passes from Easton's stick and stuff, so it's just, he's definitely different, but it seems like the players are really embracing his involvement, and the way he's coaching, and the way him and his coaches are coaching them. Well, Fernando, with so many questions going on about his past tenure as Michigan's coach, and some of the sanctions and suspensions and whatnot that are being handed down for a guy who's not there, we seemingly still get statements from Harbaugh regarding his old job. At what point does he just say, hey guys, I'm not answering any more questions about Michigan, or is he just going to be an open book?
What do you think? No, I think last week he said, and that's the last I'm going to talk about that, so I think if more things come out, there's going to be no way we can't ask him those kinds of questions. Like, if more things start coming out, because that was only about the 20-20-20-21 stuff, I mean the Connor Stallions and all that other stuff, we'll see what happens.
I think I saw Coach Moore said he can't wait until that stuff comes out to clear them, but we'll see how all that comes down. But yeah, it was pretty interesting when he was like, I do have a statement, and he goes, the opposite of Eddie Guerrero, former WWE legend, he goes, I don't lie, I don't cheat, I don't steal. So I was like, wow, this is kind of a WWE promo when he went with what he was saying, so I was like, kudos to you, I'd love to see, and I'm not trying to steer away from this, but I'd love to see Jim do something with WWE.
I think it'd be interesting to see him do something like that, like hit a wrestler over the head with a chair or something, I'd have some fun with it. Before you joined in the last break, I said that if he were to return to Michigan, this would be a very WWE thing to do, like the guy who's suspended is showing up to stick it to his boss. This is like, well not his boss, but the NCAA, it's like Stone Cold Steve Austin of football here. There you go, we think alike, JR, but when I first heard that he was going, I was like, oh wow, that brass right there, going down there and doing that, and then all of a sudden today Coach Moore was like, oh no, he's not going to come, he's going to send his parents instead. I think I saw that, that he was going to send his parents, and I'm like, oh, that actually would have been pretty interesting to see him show up. Because you know, the fans would have been adoring him, they would have cheered him, they would have been everything that the NCAA didn't want, so yeah, kind of a letdown, he won't be showing up. Yeah, well maybe his parents can go out there and give the middle finger to the NCAA. Fernando Ramirez is joining us from the Sporting Tribune, covers all things Chargers. I want to ask you about somebody who had a difficult season last year.
I don't know if he couldn't find the football, or if the football was finding a way in between his hands. I know where you're going. Yeah, yeah, Quentin Johnston, like this guy's supposed to be a big time, big man wide receiver, or was he just another TCU scam out here? What's this about?
So, I mean, okay, so I'm going to put it to you like this. Kellen Moore, the Chargers offensive coordinator, and Brandon Sailey and his staff decided that when Mike Williams went down, they were going to put Quentin in that role. That's not what Quentin does.
Quentin is not, is nothing like, is nothing like Mike Williams. He's not that kind of player, and so that kind of slowed him down. And he hasn't made any excuses. He said, I mean, I talked to him about the Super Bowl, and he's like, yeah, I just got to patch some things up. It was a rough freshman rookie year. And the funny part is that the Chargers have kind of had a history like this in the past. Melvin Gordon, his first year, very bad first year. Mike Williams, first year didn't really get going, and then in their second year, they had kind of a better second season.
So, I mean, that could be the case here, but I think it's all about the way the Chargers are going to use them. And Quentin said that he's talked to Mike, or to Jim Harbaugh, and that Jim keeps on, every time he sees him, he's like, you screwed me over in that game when you went 75 yards and took it to the house. But the thing here is, Sanjay Lal, the receivers coach, he was with Seattle last year, and he said, look, I got to do a lot of homework on Quentin Johnston.
Same as GM Joe Ortiz, both of them did a lot, because they had the 22nd pick. So, they all did their homework, and they said they found ways to be able to use Quentin, and they feel very confident that Quentin's going to have a way better second year. So, I mean, according to them, he's doing everything that he needs to do, and then according to him, they're putting him in a position to be able to succeed this season.
So, yeah, it should be interesting to see what way they try and use them, if it's drag routes, and then have him turn the corner and use his speed, or what they decide to do with him. But they're expecting him to have an impact on this offense. Well, Fernando, you said the fans are expecting, I don't know, competing for a wildcard berth.
You take a look at the AFC West, it's the Chiefs and everybody else, whether it's the Broncos or the Raiders, everybody is in some type of transition. What do you realistically expect from this team? If Justin Herbert is able to play all 17 games, and he shows up week one against the Raiders out of that boot, what are you expecting from the squad? I always look at the odds, and it always says, I think before the season, it said seven and a half, or a couple weeks, like before training camp, it said seven and a half or eight wins for the charge.
And I said, you know what, I'll add three, just because it's horrible, and I think I put it at ten, so I said ten wins. I just have to see, I haven't done my full prediction yet, but I've been saying ten wins. I think they make a wildcard, and then from there, it's whatever it needs to be, but whatever happens happens. But I think for Herbert, they're going to need at least, because there's been question marks about him. Obviously, he was kind of dealt a rough hand with the way this team has kind of been constructed in years past.
And then you get to hear more about what happened with Staley and everything, and you're like, oh wow, it really was a mess in this organization. So I think ten wins, and I think they do make a wildcard. The thing is, their defense is going to be different. They're really excited about their defense or defensive packages. One area that I don't feel like a lot of people are talking about the Chargers is, I think their special team is going to be even better this year. I think Darius Davis is an explosive returner who could score multiple touchdowns for them.
And then on top of that, you have Justin Herbert. If you have a quarterback, you should be able to make the playoffs. And the Chargers do have one of the better quarterbacks in the league, so they should be able to compete for it as long as everybody stays healthy. And like you said, if Herbert plays all 17, then I think they do make a wildcard, especially with the way Jim and this staff is. I think they could be in for a ten-win season and then let the cards fall where they may in the wildcard.
But I do think that they make a wildcard. Knowing that Harbaugh wants to play from the inside out and that Herbert is not going to be tasked with probably throwing the ball a million times, are there no concerns for the life of me? I'm like, these are just raven running backs, okay? But are there no concerns that injuries are going to screw them up there?
No, I mean, not really. I guess it's about kind of hoping that these guys stay healthy. I mean, JK has been one of those guys where, man, I'll tell you one thing, Jar. He's looked really explosive in practice, and it seems like they're being very careful with both him and Gus Edwards, and they're kind of slowing them in, easing them in. They did partake in parts of the joint practice. They've had some practices, some practices where they sit out, but they've been very careful with them. And they feel like if JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards are healthy to start the season, and they're healthy this season, they're going to have a really good run game. And they're kind of that smash and dash, kind of like that, and I don't want to compare them, but kind of like that Chris Johnson, Lendell White, big back in Gus Edwards, and then you have the quick, elusive back in JK Dobbins. So they're really excited about them, but I don't necessarily believe that Herbert's not going to throw the ball a lot.
I feel like when the nitty-gritty comes to it, they're going to go to Justin. It's just, how many times are they going to be like that? As Hayden Hurst told us from the beginning, a Harbaugh run team is exactly what you think it is.
It's tough. They want to punch you in the face. And in the fourth quarter, they want the other team to be looking up and saying, Crap, we still have another quarter to face these guys? And he's like, and our team is going to be like, Yes, we have another fourth quarter to beat up on these guys. So, I mean, they expect to be tough. They expect to be able to run the football. But I think when obviously the tough gets going, they're going to want number 10 with the ball in his hands. I just think that it's going to be different than anything we've seen in the past because Harbaugh's never had a quarterback like this. So I think a lot of people are picturing Justin basically being J.J. McCarthy 2.0, where he throws the ball nine times or 10 times or 11 times, and I just don't see that that's going to happen. I think, yes, they're going to want to take some pressure off of Justin, but at the same time, they're going to try and mold their offense around him. It sounds like everything is all about number 10. So I think the show is going to be number 10.
And I don't think they're very – not nervous, but I think they're going full steam ahead with their running backs. Okay. Well, Justin Herbert, hopefully his foot is out that boot and he's out there earning all of that 53-plus million dollars. Fernando, where can people follow you and all your work with the Sporting Tribune? Oh, I'm at at RealFRamirez on Twitter, Instagram.
I do some TikToks here and there, and then obviously the sportingtribune.com and just look up my name or charges and you'll find all my work. But, JR, I appreciate you having me on. You are the best of the best. I always enjoy our conversations. Well, thank you so much. I appreciate you being here. We'll catch you on down the line, Fernando, okay? All right. Anytime, man.
You have a good rest of your evening. 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 WhyVaccines.com. Brought to you by Merck. 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 WhyVaccines.com. Brought to you by Merck.
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 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.
