It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We know today is a big day. It's a big week in the NFL.
It's the media day. We got teams talking. We got players talking. We got clown shows. We got circuses.
We have a lot. But right now we're going to focus in on football. We're being joined by someone right now who played in the league.
We're talking about cornerback for the Denver Broncos. He's now going to educate us not just about the big game in this upcoming Sunday, but something very special dealing with health and hearts. Joining us right now is Lilo Lang. Lilo, how are you?
Hey, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me, JR. I really appreciate it.
No, thank you so much. We're definitely going to talk about what you're doing with heartflow.com and the game for registry. We're going to get there. I got to ask you about the game. You playing cornerback. I know you watch the game differently than most of us. What impresses you the most about the two starting quarterbacks that we're going to see on Sunday in Mahomes and in Hertz? I think one of the most important things you see about these two guys is that both of them can create plays after things break down. It seems like that's what quarterbacks do in the league are the quarterbacks that's having success that when the pressure is on them, they can get out of the pocket and make things happen. And both of them do it very well. Well, Lilo, when you think about the evolution of the game, just from when you played in the 90s up until now, still crazy to think it's 2025. Do you think a corner's job is much more difficult given the passing and the unpredictability of the QBs?
Absolutely. Not only the passing with the QBs and their ability to scramble and run and create and make things happen with their legs, but more importantly, the receivers. The size of the receivers now is amazing. Most receivers are 63 to 65.
When I played, they were probably averaging 5, 11, 6 feet. And so the combination of both of those really make things difficult for a defensive back. You got to stay in your coverage longer. And so it makes it very, very challenging. Playing defensive back is probably one of the most difficult positions to play in the NFL. A former cornerback for the Broncos, Leo Lang, is here with us on the JR sport ratio coast to coast. We know the Kansas City Chiefs, they're going to be looking at a running back. They're going to look at Saquon Barkley, who was built like a truck and moves like a Ferrari to try to keep him out of the end zone.
What do you expect with trying to stop him? We know the Eagles, their defense is good. The Chiefs have improved defense.
What are your thoughts? I think the Chiefs will put nine in the box. I think they will do everything they can to stop Saquon Barkley from, you know, performing and doing well and make Jalen Hurst beat him. So I think putting nine in the box, trying to do everything they can to stop the run, playing a lot of man to man defense and making Jalen beat them is, I think that's going to be their course of action.
You think the Chiefs are going to be successful in getting that three in a row? You know, I'm not going to put anything past them because of Patrick Mahomes. He's a great quarterback. He knows how to win and he figures out ways to make big plays, not only throwing the ball, but running the ball in key situations and everything.
And so I don't want to put anything past them, but I am cheering for the Eagles to get a victory. Lolo Lang is here with us. We know you, you played on the same team as a Hall of Fame quarterback and Mr. Elway. What made him special? We all heard and saw and knew that he was a ridiculous athlete. He'd be running around crazy if he was still playing today, huh? Yes, the game suits him very well for his athletic ability. John is the type of person that he could do just about anything, you know, and do it at a very high level above average. So I don't care if it's playing golf, baseball, basketball, checkers, whatever it is, he did very well at it. And, you know, his athletic ability would suit this game today very well.
He would be a top quarterback in this league. Lolo, when you talk about what the Broncos are currently doing, they have Bo Nix, they have Sean Payton. I'd say surprisingly, they've had success in that first year. People are excited about what Bo Nix brings to the table.
What have you seen? I know you keep up with those Broncos. Absolutely. And, you know, it's just really good to see them playing some good football once again, very competitive, you know, even exciting to watch. And, you know, to see Bo Nix come in as a rookie and do what he did, you know, learning the offense, getting adapted to the speed of the game.
Because a lot of people don't know and understand that the speed of the game is the hardest thing to adjust to coming out of college. And he did a very good job of doing that. You know, teams blitzing early in the season. It affected him a little bit, but he got better and better each and every week. And that's all you can ever ask of a rookie quarterback is to just continue to improve. Former Bronco Lelo Lang here with us on the J.R.
Sport Brief Show. When you think about the evolution of that quarterback position and the success that we see early on rookies, do you think that the game has changed to allow an easier integration or do you think, you know, there's so much money involved, we just got to throw the rookies out there now? Well, I think the coaches are doing a good job of, you know, spoon feeding the quarterbacks their playbook instead of trying to throw it all at them at once.
Give them a little bit here, let them, you know, digest that, understand that, move forward and add a little bit as the season goes along. And, you know, these guys are, you know, pretty prepared coming out of college as well with reading defenses and understanding, you know, different gamesmanship the defensive coordinator coordinators are going to try to have against them. And, you know, the coaching, their athletic ability and, you know, their partners in crime, their teammates, you know, helping them out really benefits them to, you know, execute and be able to play a little earlier than guys did in the past. So Lelo, we know that there's at least a public emphasis from the league about health and player health and player safety. And from when you played in the 90s versus what we see now and in recognition in the tent and is independent neurologist and what have you on the field. We know the NFL has tried to be forward facing about health. What are you working on right now as it relates to heart health? And tell us about the game for registries.
Very unique. Well, I'm very proud and very excited to be partnering with Dr. Boone in heart flow, you know, to encourage, you know, all retired athletes, former NFL players to take advantage of just helpful technology that they have that takes 3D images of your heart arteries. And, you know, it gives you an opportunity to see, you know, your cardio about health ahead of time before something.
That's, you know, that's always been a major problem. You know, heart disease, you know, is a killer not only in the United States, but worldwide. And, you know, for guys to be able to get an in-depth look, a 3D look at their cardiovascular health, it's amazing. You know, it tells you the percentage of blockage that you may have in your arteries. If there are any narrowing of the arteries, any plaque buildup, and it also gives you an opportunity to sit down with Dr. Boone, who is a leader in this field, and he can give you some recommendations to move forward, you know, especially if you see some issues there that can help you sit down with your doctor and get a better understanding of what would be some things you could put in place to, you know, not only help you take care of your heart health, but to also live longer. No, we know that.
We encourage everybody to go to heartflow.com to find out more information because, I mean, that's what keeps everybody ticking. We know how important that is. When you look at the league and the popularity and the expansion of it just throughout the decades since your involvement, what are your thoughts on an expansion like moving to an 18 games, eliminating a preseason? Do you think that's too much of a good thing?
You never can have too much of a good thing. I think if you can eliminate, you know, more of those preseason games, I think guys would be, you know, more excited about, you know, adding more games to the schedule and everything. And so it depends on how they go about it. If they reduce the preseason games and, you know, I think they've already done that.
Instead of four preseason games, I think it's a number of about, you know, two or three for teams now. I think guys will, you know, jump all over that. Well, Elo, thank you so much for the time. I want to encourage everybody again to check out heartflow.com. Where can people keep up with you? Well, hey, you know, currently I'm a business banker with a national bank called PNC Bank. And so if you want to get with me, you can go to lilo.lang at pnc.com and you can get directly in contact with me. You know, I help businesses from one million to five million with business loans, lines of credit.
Also, you know, open checking accounts and things of that nature. And, you know, can also help them on the personal side as well. Well, Lelo, we appreciate all your work helping people out now also educating educating folks about heart health. Thank you. We're going to catch you on down the line. OK, Lelo? All right. Thank you so much, JR. Really appreciate your time and look forward to talking to you sometime in the future. Hey, I'm going to shoot you an email. We got something to talk about, Lelo. OK? Absolutely.
