Lamar Jackson Criticism (Hour 3)

You're listening to the JR Sport Brief.

It is! The JR Sport Brief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. I'll be hanging out with you for two more hours. I get started every single weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific.

Thank you so much to all of our listeners, everybody tuned in and locked in to the show. All over North America, my friends in Canada, like Vancouver or Edmonton, I don't know, and Montreal. Pick some place. What's up Toronto? I see you. I don't really see you, but I know you're there. And thank you to Nick Diodoro, our producer in New York, holding it down tonight. But if there was no you listening, there'd be no show. You can always listen on the free Odyssey app.

You can tune in on your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate, Sirius XM Channel 158, and a smart speaker if you have one. We've had a busy show on opening night for the NFL. We'll have to wait a little bit longer for the kickoff.

I'll explain momentarily. But we've kicked off today with a fun show. Thank you to former NFL player Willie Colon for joining us last hour. Played for the Steelers, played for the Jets, talked about his thoughts on this upcoming season. Thank you to Mike Danger, host of the Sports Bar, won the fan in Rochester for coming through and joining us as we had conversations surrounding the Buffalo Bills.

I know some people are high on them, some people are low on them. Mike Danger puts them in the eight win range. I would happen to agree eight to ten wins.

Buffalo Bills not as good as they they were. Anyway, if you want to participate in the show, knock yourself out. You can you can talk to me to eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven.

That's eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. If you use the Internet, it's simple. You can find me online at J.R. Sport Brief. I'm at J.R.

Sport Brief on Instagram and and Twitter slash X, which is almost an awful place to be nowadays just for humanity. You can go ahead and find me on the book and my face and stuff. Let me. Nick, have you seen that Bill Belichick has joined Instagram? Did you see this?

Yes, I did. And I was shocked. Why? He's he's he's all over the media right now, right? He's doing everything. Yeah, I know. I might have something to do with his new girlfriend, maybe.

Oh, oh, oh. Maybe she put him on to the ground. Is that you think she wants to spy on him? Is she trying to make him some money? Maybe a little bit of both and make herself some make make herself some money. Oh, there you go.

Possible. I don't know if Bill Belichick needs any more, but she could take a commission. Look at her, a businesswoman. Maybe she's the one putting Bill Belichick to work. This guy has like I don't even know, like three, four, five, six, seven TV jobs right now. Bill Belichick did not waste no time getting to the money as he is. I don't want to stay retired from coaching.

I just might not want to go back. Well, with all these TV, you don't think you do you think he enjoys? Well, he has to enjoy coaching, right? But he never looked happy as. Yeah, even when he cracks a smile on TV now, it just doesn't look real to me.

Looks like a really forced smile. But you got to give him credit and credit. Yeah, but he's good. You know, it's like really hard for him to, you know, act like he's having a good time. I think deep down he doesn't really like it, but he likes to check. Well, he has to do something, right?

And what is he going to do? Sit at home? Yeah. His girlfriend.

That's what I would do. Oh, well, maybe he doesn't want to hang out with her. Maybe on the special occasions.

I don't know. This is this is what I think a lot of people know. Out of sight, out of mind. Like if Bill Belichick were not on television and this man is going to be on TV seemingly every day on a new whether it's the Manning cast or Pat McAfee or this underdog show or the CW show that he's on right now.

And I'm probably missing one. But if he's not on TV every day. People, I'm not going to say they're going to forget about Belichick. His name would probably still pop up, but I think there's going to be more of a desire to bring him in. I think it's going to be easier to bring him in if he's seen.

And one thing he's got, he is going to be seen everywhere. If the Giants have another bad season as expected, do you think he'll go there? You know, we spoke to someone on the air either earlier this week or last week about Belichick coaching. And it was said that, yeah, the New York Giants, they they they might be a possibility. Like, why would that be a shot that would actually be full circle for the New York Giants if he were to return winning two championship as the two championships as a defensive coordinator in the late 80s and early 90s and then to come back to the Giants to end things, at least to try.

It's not just one hell of a story. That might be where he ends up. Would you like that? Would you prefer that as a Giants fan?

Yeah, I wouldn't mind. I mean, it really can't get much worse, but they definitely need a new quarterback, too. So I know the quarterbacks are the main issue.

Yeah. Does Bill Belichick at this stage of his life, this stage of his career, would he want to walk into a rebuilding situation? Maybe if he still has the same power.

I don't know. I don't think they'll let him be GM like he was before. But if he has like a say in it, then it takes time. You know, if the giant well, you know, there's so much that has to go into that. A, the Giants have to stink. The Giants have to have a top draft pick, which they probably will. The Giants have to feel comfortable with whoever they're bringing in at quarterback.

And then if I'm Bill Belichick, I want to feel comfortable with the quarterback options as well, based on, you know, where we would be selecting. So this has been said and they write down the turnpike from the New York Giants. It just it's an easier thing to say because the team is put together already. But the Philadelphia Eagles are night and day. If they stink with the talent that they have, I don't expect them to.

And so I know if Nick Sirianni, if he can't get the job done, if he and Jalen Hurts can't get along and Nick Sirianni is going to be looking for work, I just don't see that with all of the talent. They had issues last year. And I think the Philadelphia Eagles were on too much of a Super Bowl hangover coming off of that loss.

I don't know if they're going to suck. But Bill Belichick, just plug and play with the Eagles. I don't know what other team in the NFL currently has another situation where you can look at it and go, hey, I can win today if I show up. Would Bill Belichick say, hey, I want to babysit for a year? I'm not so sure. Everybody is not, you know, destined to be the Houston Texans.

You know, I don't. If I'm Belichick, I want to win today. When Tom Brady left Belichick and the Patriots, Tom Brady went to a ready made team, had an offensive line, had skilled position players on offense, had a solid defense.

The man went down there. I remember early on in that season with Tampa, people like, oh, Brady doesn't have it. Brady's throwing ducks. Man ended up winning a championship.

And some of these things you just can't make up. But Bill Belichick, yes, he is. He is everywhere on TV. Speaking of TV, as I stare at one of the televisions here in the studio right now. The Ravens and the Chiefs, I told you the game has been delayed. The new kickoff time is about 33 minutes from now. So 40 minutes past the hour is the kickoff time, the new kickoff time for the Ravens and the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes, everybody, they're currently back out onto the field.

They are all warming up. So the game was originally scheduled to get us all kicked off at 820. We got a little push back by 20 minutes.

And that's better than nothing. You know, a little rainbow came out over Kansas City and we will still have football, albeit now with a delay. 40 minutes past the hour, the Ravens and the Chiefs are going to kick off the 2024 NFL season. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. Eddie is calling from Florida. Eddie, you're on the J.R. Sportbreeze show. What's on your mind, man? Hey, J.R., thanks for taking my call. And I just wanted to say bless you for your show.

I'm a probation officer. I spend a lot of time at night driving around, checking on people and listening to you really takes the edge off the evening. Thank you. As long as you don't come looking for me, Eddie, we good, OK?

We are good, brother. Don't worry. Thank you. Thank you. And when you had the show from Tinder, too, I'm also an insomniac. So you helped me then. I listened to you and then to the charming Amy Warren. Well, thank you. My question is, yes, even though I'm here in Florida, I've been a Chicago Bears fan since 1977.

Damn. So I started off with Bob Avellini. I've gone through the others, you know, McMahon, the kids from Florida, Kramer, everybody. There's never been a good quarterback since I've followed the team. I watched a guy when he was at USC. Caleb Williams.

Thought he was fun to watch and play. Yes. What are you?

Are you your real perspective? Do you think I am finally have a guy or I've been I've been saying, you know, at some point in time, everybody has to end up with something, right? Unless you're the New York Jets, you just get handed crap even when you think it's going to work out. Everything that that I have heard like you and have seen about Caleb Williams, you can throw out everything from USC. I mean, I've sat here and we've discussed Caleb Williams crying on mommy's shoulder after a loss. We've gone into Caleb Williams reaction to the media and and being upset at press conferences.

We we can go into painting his fingernails and we can go through all of that. But his time so far, despite not having even thrown a football for the Chicago Bears, everything appears that he's he's the guy that said the fact that they named him captain like his teammates voted him captain says enough. There hasn't been any issues. Now, everybody has to go through growing pains. I think part of his time at USC is a part of that growth process. Do I think Caleb Williams is is is he going to throw a fit one day with the media? Maybe or maybe not. Maybe he's he's learned and grown.

I just watch how he plays. I think he's at at minimum this year minimum. He's going to be an average quarterback. He's going to give some he's going to lose some. Is he going to gunsling?

Yes. Is he going to shock and amaze you? Is he going to sometimes maybe do too much?

I think that's part of the process. But the fact that he has so many weapons around him right now, Roman Guernsey, a fellow rookie, he saw that big pass that he threw in the preseason. You know, I yeah, I refused to watch the preseason because I didn't want to get my hopes up. Well, some of the plays that he made in the preseason, he made some good ones. So how he performs behind the offensive line is something to be seen.

But it certainly looks like the guy can he can make the throws how he puts that together into winning football. We'll see because there's nothing this is what it boils down to when you're QB. What the hell do you do in the final two minutes of a game?

That's it. For me, you can be as exciting as all get out to keep you in the game. But there's guys there are very few guys in the NFL who you say it's two minutes to go. We're down or we need to win. There are very few guys that you can look at and say, this guy is going to command the offense straight down the field to either win the game or tie the game or come back. And we got to see if he can do that.

And that takes time, man. But I feel good about Caleb Williams. I'm excited. I feel excited for Bears fans. Maybe you can get a guy who can throw, I don't know, three thousand four thousand yards and consistently get, I don't know, 30 or 40 touchdowns, something Bears fans are not used to. So I'm cautiously optimistic. Enjoy the best QB the Bears had was in the 40s.

And that was before my parents were married in 1950. So we have a quarterback at all. But honestly, if he's just above average, that would be a step up. If I have to think, Eddie, about this, if they have to think about bears in an iconic photo. There is one with Jay Cutler and he is looking absolutely miserable on the sidelines. Yes.

Yes. Nothing that photo. And he looks so miserable on the sidelines that I have seen a cigarette photoshopped into his mouth to add additional emphasis for how miserable.

When I think about Bears quarterback play, I automatically think about that photo. And I think that encapsulates, you know, what things have been. Hey, Eddie, that's how it feels. Thank you for calling from Florida, man.

Yes. I really appreciate the work you do. You really helped his own probation officer get through these rough nights. And it's pouring down here where I'm at in Florida right now.

So you drive safe. OK, Eddie, call me and I'm here. Take it easy.

No doubt about it. Shout outs to Eddie, the old probation officer in Florida. If you are in Florida right now and you are not doing what your ass needs to do, you better you better get it together before Eddie shows up at your door. 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4227. The game is going to get underway in about 15 minutes. We got the Ravens, Derrick Henry pacing around currently on the field, ready to make his debut for these Baltimore Ravens. Chris Jones hopping around, led the team last year, ten and a half sacks.

All he's known is success with this team, with this squad. It's going to be a good one. We just have to wait a little bit longer.

When we come back from break, I'm going to get some more of your calls. And then I want to talk specifically about Lamar Jackson. You know, we had one caller who's just like, oh, Lamar Jackson ain't no good quarterback and there's no more good quarterbacks.

I'm just like, listen, man, times are changing. What happens if Lamar Jackson wins himself a championship? What are people going to say then? Like, what are you going to say then? If the name of the game and everybody is so concerned with titles, if and when Lamar Jackson get his hands on one, what are you going to say? People going to say, sorry?

No, people will just kind of say nothing. 855-212-4227. I'll get some more of your calls on the other side of the break. We'll talk Lamar Jackson and we'll get into it. We just got a lot to do. It's the J.R. sport re-show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network.

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Visit prizepicks.com for restrictions and details. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief. Now we're 20, well yeah, now we're less than 20 minutes away from the start of the NFL season. Was expecting it to be like now.

That's not how it worked. We had a weather delay, out an arrowhead and so now the game will tip off in less than 20 minutes, 18 minutes to be exact. 855-212-4227.

It was 855-212-4227. A lot of criticism, not unusual of Lamar Jackson and his play, what he's done, what he has not done. The last time we saw Lamar Jackson on a football field was against these Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.

They ended up losing to the Chiefs 17 to 10. A rightful criticism to Lamar Jackson and Todd Monk and the offensive coordinator for how they decided to utilize him, especially as the game went on and primarily as a passer. He's like throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball.

Not necessarily as bread and butter. Not exactly like he's throwing a ball to, I don't know, Devontae Adams or Justin Jefferson out there. So despite winning another MVP award and being one of the best quarterbacks in the game, NFL players voted him as the best in the game. He got to get over the hump, I get it. I think to a certain degree he has been unrightly criticized or incorrectly, whatever the word is.

Congratulations on my English, right? You know what the hell I'm saying. But I think on the other hand he doesn't get the credit that he deserves.

It just really depends on who you're chatting it up with. And so Lamar Jackson has gone through quite a bit since we last saw him, including some weight loss. You know, at the start of training camp a little more than a month ago, Lamar Jackson sat down with CBS Sports and he was asked why he decided to lose some pounds.

Take a listen to this. Why did you decide to slim down? Was it was it simply for the speed element? Just so I can move around without getting fatigued. That's all. I don't know if I was getting fatigued last year.

Probably if I get a first down, but I don't like getting caught if I do this out the run. So yeah, it's part of it. You know, we get a little slower as we age. You don't think it has anything to do with age? No, not at all. No, I'm only 27. I'm still young.

Definitely don't have anything to do with age. Yeah. Well, the man moved around to the tune of 821 yards on the ground rushing last year, in addition to five touchdowns. Lamar Jackson also recently admitted that in that game, he feels they would have won the game if his legs were fresh. That's what he said.

This is what he said. He said we would have won the game if his legs were fresh. So maybe it wasn't just a matter of the game plan.

I think it's easy for us sitting around at home and on the couch. Why isn't he running? Why are they throwing the ball? Were his legs heavy? Were his legs tired? Was he tired? Did he have an injury? I mean, we don't know. These are all factors that we don't always take into account unless they are blatantly told to us or unless we can just flat out see them, you know, while we are watching the game. And unfortunately for Lamar Jackson, having, having to hear him say that if his legs were fresh, maybe having Derrick Henry around will absolutely spell him to be fresh in the postseason.

We know he doesn't have the best receiving group, but the name of the game is that when we get deeper into the postseason, it's that Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, they fall flat. I'd love to see them win a Super Bowl. I'd love it.

Get over the hump, please. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. Mike is here from Baltimore. You're on the JR Sportbree show.

Go ahead, Mike. Hey, JR, my perfect addiction friend. How you doing, buddy? Haven't talked to you in a while. I'm very well. How you doing? I'm doing great. I'm especially great because of this game tonight. And my question to you was, who do you think is going to win tonight?

Yeah, I did discuss that. I think it's the Chiefs at home. This is a pick and type game.

It can go either way. I think it would probably bear better in the interest of the Ravens if they win, because if they don't, it's going to be the same old, same old thing. And they can't beat the Chiefs.

And Lamar is one and four against Mahomes. So in his and the Ravens' best interest to not get picked apart earlier in the season, it's probably better for the Ravens to go out there and win. If the Chiefs end up losing today, people just go, OK, yeah, fine, whatever.

No big deal. Yeah, yeah, I agree. But you know what, JR? It's the first game of the season. And either way, you know, it's a lot of season to go. If we lose, like you said, I mean, it's not doom and gloom. So you know, I hope we win. But I mean, if we lose and go to the Super Bowl and win, who cares if we lost to this game?

You are correct. Losing one game, losing this game, it is not doom and gloom. But you're in Baltimore. You know, there are going to be some fans. You might have some folks on the radio. You might have some folks on TV.

If the Ravens should lose in this first game, it is for some people, it's going to be doom and gloom. You won't hear the answer. Exactly. You know that. Enjoy it, my man.

OK. Thank you, JR. Take care, buddy. You as well, Mike. My man calling from Baltimore, Maryland. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. John is calling from Indiana. John, you're on the JR Sportbreeze show. Happy beginning of the NFL season. What's up?

Thank you. I guess I'm just one of the more optimistic Bills fans that isn't ready to hit the panic button just yet. From what I saw last year, people kept telling me how stupid I was when the defense went down. There's no chance you're beating Dallas. We beat them.

Actually, we blew them out of the water. There's no chance we're beating Miami in week 18. Well, your daddy Josh just went in there and showed you that we're going to beat you, even with a practice squad defense.

So I'm not ready to hit the panic button just yet. OK, well, thank you, John, for calling from Indiana. What I'll say, though, what the hell does that have to do with this year? Like, I mean, he's not the first Bills fan to bring up things that have taken place in the past. Well, we beat this team or we beat the Chiefs or we beat the Ravens or we beat that. So what?

You got to win the games that matter. That's it. And what happens and what has taken place in the past isn't an indicator of what's to take place in the future.

It's not. Patrick Mahomes, the last time he spoke to the media prior to tonight's game where they're currently singing the national anthem, the last time that Patrick Mahomes spoke to the media, he made it very clear. This is the guy who actually won the championship. He said last year is last year is a blank slate. What we did last year don't got squat Ditley to do with what we're doing this year.

We can use it as motivation. We don't mean anything. I just think looking at all we beat this team last year, the Buffalo Bills specifically. And not the same team. They're not the same team. OK, you can look at a couple of squads that actually have some continuity. The 49ers have continuity. The Kansas City Chiefs have some continuity. The Lions have continuity. The Ravens have continuity.

They've added a big piece. And yet he might be getting older. We know he's still one of the best running backs in the game. And Derrick Henry, I mean, he might be one of the older backs now. But what I'd be shocked if Derrick Henry Henry went out there and I don't want to say took a watch my words here. What I'd be shocked if he led the NFL in rushing again. No, I wouldn't because the guy's been good. He's been damn good for a long time.

And between him and Lamar Jackson, he might be out there doing the two step. Your turn. My turn.

One, two, one, two, one, two. They're gonna be out there battering teams on the ground. But we know one thing.

You got to get the job done when it matters. 855-212-4227. Sutton is calling from South Carolina. You're on the J.R. sport re-show. What's up, Sutton?

Uh, hello. Um, what do you this upcoming season? What do you think the Miami Dolphins record's going to be? Oh, well, I think they'll win about 10.

And thank you, Sutton, for calling from South Carolina. I think that they'll win about 10 games. I think that they'll probably get into the postseason as a wild card. I think I want to give the division to either them and maybe not so much the Jets. I just don't think the Dolphins can win the big one. Is it?

And we had a caller, I think, earlier in the show who said it perfectly. The Miami Dolphins can go out there and win the teams or beat the teams that they're supposed to. But they're not in that upper echelon when it comes to the AFC. They're not. They're not the Chiefs.

We know that. And not the Ravens. Ravens at least built to punch you in the mouth. You think about the Ravens out there running game in defense. That's, that's trenches football. The Miami Dolphins are not trenches football.

The Miami Dolphins are arcade style football. I gotta outscore you. I gotta be faster than you. I gotta outspin you. I gotta juke you. But when the going gets tough, they get punched down.

It's as simple as that. And I know Tua Tonga Valoa catches a lot of criticism. I will never forget the image of Tua Tonga Valoa walking into Arrowhead Stadium last year when it was, I don't know, negative one million degrees. And we know people, literally people lost some of the appendages, okay, at that game last year.

Fans thinking that they could just hang outside and not freeze and have injuries. Tua Tonga Valoa showed up. This is a guy who has to play football in it.

He showed up in like a giant, walking from the bust of the locker room. He needed a beanie and a bubble coat. You would think he was going to the Tundra. And I know it's cold, but it just, it just read clueless.

It read clueless. And he and the Dolphins, they played like it. Hey, that's the name of the game.

You gotta be able to play everywhere, anywhere, in any conditions in football. That's just what it is. Dolphins ain't built for it. 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4227. You know what? We're going to take a break. Speaking of criticism, we're going to talk about a quarterback who's been criticized quite a bit. Lamar Jackson. I do want to share with you some words that he had to say about Patrick Mahomes. We'll get to that on the other side of the break. It's the JR Sport Free Show on the Infinity Sports Network.

855-212-4227. Now they're singing a national anthem. They've done the fireworks. They pulled out the banners. They unfurled a new banner and all types of stuff for the Kansas City Chiefs. We get it. They're the champs.

Coco Jones is singing the national anthem. All a play. I haven't seen anybody shed a tear. I guess that's exclusive. Uh oh. Wait, wait. Hey Nick, Travis Kelce, that's not a tear. That was all sweat, right? Yeah, I believe so.

Yeah, he's a close-up. I said nobody's shedding a tear and then Travis Kelce is a lot of sweat. Maybe he has sweat in his eye and it's causing a little perspiration.

I don't know. We're about to have football. The game is going to kick off momentarily after what has now been a more than 20 minute delay after, you know, terrible weather. And unfortunately terrible weather at a football game is something that I can relate to. Back in 2010, I was doing some work for a technology company.

And so I had gone out to MetLife Stadium in New York to see the Jets play against the Vikings. This was going to be, uh, what's the, I don't want, I got to watch him before he sues me. Oh man. What? Okay. Oh my God.

I drew a block. Nick, help me out. Packers to Vikings and Jets. Brett Favre. This was going to be Brett Favre's return to MetLife Stadium. The game was supposed to kick off at like 8.15, 8.20.

It was pushed an entire hour back. So for an entire hour, fans were crammed into all of the suites and suite areas and club areas. And it was just a complete mess. And then leaving the game, I didn't, this is the first time I just left the game directly. I don't think I got home until after 2 a.m. And of course you can't predict the weather, but going out to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey is a mess enough. Leaving is a mess enough. But then having to deal with the weather delay and the puddle and the traffic, it was just, it was a nightmare.

It was a complete nightmare. I'm glad that they're getting ready to get the season and this game under way. 8.55, 2.12, 42, 27. Todd is here from Tampa. Todd, you're on the JR Sportbreeze show. What's up? Hello JR. How you doing? How you doing? I'm very well. Go ahead. What's on your mind?

Yeah, hey, what's on my mind? Kansas City, they better enjoy this ceremony today. It's not happening again. They are not going to the Super Bowl. They are not.

If everyone is going chalk, oh, Patrick Malone's in Kansas City. Yeah, Kelcey was shedding a tear there. I guess he broke up with his girlfriend. Okay. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Sorry. Not happening. Todd, I put you on hold.

You're doing a little too much. We don't need the entertainment element of it. I just have a simple question for you. Just answer the question. Why do you believe that the Kansas City Chiefs are not going to three-peat? Simple as that.

I don't need to hear about Travis Kelcey's girlfriend. Why don't you believe? I'm reiterating it, just saying it again so you understand. Why don't you believe the Chiefs are winning the Super Bowl? Go ahead. Oh, they're not.

They're not winning it. You know it. I know it. Okay.

Thank you, Todd, for calling from Tampa. I feel like I just spoke to, I can't even say someone in kindergarten. Because if you ask a child something, you can at least get a yes or a no or a reason. Hey, you want to take a nap? No. Why not? Because I'm not tired. Do you want to eat?

No. Why not? Because I'm not hungry. I didn't think that I could ask a grown man a question. Hey, why don't you think the Chiefs, why don't you think the Chiefs are going to win the Super Bowl? Because they're not. I know it and you don't. You know it too. Either that or he's trying a little too hard to be entertaining.

I don't think it was entertaining. Season starts off with a Derrick Henry carry here. What I can say, it is a beautiful sky post rain in Kansas City. This is actually a beautiful shot. The game is being broadcast on NBC and Peacock.

And just to have this little purple haze and purple sky over all of the red and arrowhead is actually a beautiful visual right now as they get ready to get going. You know, I did say and mention that Lamar Jackson, especially for today, we know it's one game. He's just going to be criticized either way if they lose because he's criticized when they win.

He's criticized when he wins MVPs and what have you. And so it was pretty funny. A couple of days ago, Lamar Jackson was talking with the media and he was asked about what he's been able to learn and or take from Patrick Mahomes and the relationship that he has. And he gave a straightforward answer. Listen to this reaction in the back and forth. How much of a relationship, if you have any with Patrick Mahomes and just what do you see from him on the field that makes him unique? And what do you take away from his game? I don't I don't have a relationship with him. I don't think I have a relationship with any quarterback in the league.

I don't take anything from it, any anything from him. You know, I just played my game, but he's a great quarterback. I'm going to say that he's a great quarterback. He has the accolades to prove it. But man, he's just he made things he made things happen on the field that make his team successful. Make it makes the team. Oh, yeah.

Hell yeah. Of course it does. It's not surprising. Not everybody.

Not everybody is friends. He says, I got no really. Why would he? He's training. I mean, outside of having a quarterback coach and throwing a ball or some wide receiver like like this is is this some type of shock or news or surprise in the league?

I did the ultimate competitors. I think we got more friendly guys in the NBA. Everybody wants to be buddy buddy and run businesses together. NFL players are literally trying to knock each other's heads in. I don't know how much that kind of leads or lens outside of positional groups, wide receivers being friends, but quarterbacks. What do they learn?

I mean, outside of watching a guy, what exactly are you going to learn? And I've mentioned this throughout the course of the show, as we have talked a lot about obviously the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens getting started tonight. We had our guests. We've done a lot of talking about the bills.

I have mentioned wanting to spend some time and I'll do it now about the Browns. Cleveland Browns last year had Joe Flacco pick them up off of the scrap heap or they picked him up off of the scrap heap, scraped him off of his couch. Kids were probably climbing all over him.

He had to take him to soccer practice and all this stuff that the dads do. And he helped lead him to the playoffs until the Texans said, we're just going to whoop that ass. So Deshaun Watson is healthy now, right?

Supposed to be coming off of that broken, busted up shoulder has not lived up to the expectations of his $230 million guaranteed in his contract. And there's an expectation that if he can return to some of what he was when he was with the Texans that the Browns can do a little bit more than just get to the postseason and lose. The defense was able to hold them down last year.

Now the defensive player of the year on the squad and Miles Garrett, even though I think T.J. Watt should have won the award. And so the Browns have kind of flown under the radar despite being a team that went 11 and six last year. They have to play in the same damn division as these Baltimore Ravens. We know that they're always beating the living hell out of each other. The Steelers are certainly still always in the mix. This is like the trifecta of let's all beat each other up.

And so Deshaun Watson, he actually talked about this. He said, yeah, we're the underdogs and that's fine by me. It's fine with us.

It's perfect. We're just going to go under the radar and work. That's all we can do. We don't we don't get into all the power rankings and people opinions. So it's the NFL. Things change. Teams change.

Rankings change. So, you know, it's week one. You know, the key is to be the best team in week 17. Each week you got to get better. And I think that the teams that do that, you see them, you know, rise to the top and end up in that final game.

And that's what we got to take that approach. Yeah, I didn't even mention the Bengals out there. Yeah, I didn't know I didn't have the Bengals in my top six list either. Right outside the top six list, based on some of those injuries that they have suffered specifically to Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, I feel good that he's going to show up and go to work.

But the division is always tough. And so the Browns, they're going to be hosting the Dallas Cowboys. We talked about the Dallas Cowboys earlier in the show. Dak Prescott was still kind of waiting, trying to see what he does with his deal and his contract. Will he get it prior to the season start? Is his deal going to blow some of the other quarterback deals out of the water? Is he going to be the first 60 million dollar a year quarterback? It seems like the type of splash that Jerry Jones would want to make, but they have to open up the season in Cleveland against these Browns and Deshaun Watson throwing a ball to Amari Cooper.

Jerry Judy hopefully has some life left in him. We'll see what happens. Nick Chubb, hopefully we can see him towards the end of the season. Jerome Ford is going to be running the football, but Deshaun Watson is going to be tasked with holding things down. But it's not just them. The defense basically held the ship, kept them afloat last year. And so this year against the Dallas Cowboys at home, there's an expectation from Jim Schwartz that the fans are loud and make life difficult for Dak Prescott.

Listen to this. It makes it difficult when an opponent is at our place because our fans are so into it and so loud and they'll be ready. I mean, we got a little time before the game, you know, they know what time it is and they'll play a big part in this game.

Yeah, I mean, Ellen's screaming. And that's actually nice to hear because for a very long time, you think about any type of dog pound with the Cleveland Browns, I just think about bags on heads and empty seats. I don't think about fans making noise to disturb the other team's offense. I just think about bewildered fans trying to figure out why they are sitting outside in the cold, watching the Browns lose again. So it's nice to have a stadium full of fans who actually have an expectation that their team is going to win. The NFL season is underway. Lamar Jackson and Baltimore Ravens trying to drive into the red zone of the Kansas City Chiefs. 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27 is 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. You know, let's come back on the other side, give you a recap of everything we've discussed so far in the show and talk about some more on the Infinity Sports Network. Don't move.