I didn't think the pain from the shingles rash would affect simple everyday tasks like bathing, getting dressed, or even walking around. I was wrong. Though not everyone at risk will develop it, 99% of people over the age of 50 already have the virus that causes shingles, and it could reactivate at any time. I developed it and the blistering rash lasted for weeks. Don't learn the hard way.
Like I did. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist today. Sponsored by GSK. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody!
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Now. On with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. With guest host Susie Schuster from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's guests: NFL Network Insider Tom Pellisero, Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, Vibe Check co-host Chineo Gumake, Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, and now.
Susie Schuster.
Well, hello there, everybody. Susie Sheester, thrilled to be here with you on The Rich Eisen Show. It's been a while since I was on the family of networks. It was 20 years ago, to say it, actually. It was the, believe it or not, guys, it was the.
Hawaii Bowl, and then a quick overnight flight to the Houston Bowl for the 2004-2005 college football. Hi, everybody. Thrilled to be here with you. If you're wondering who I am, it's a great question. I'm Susie Schuster, a longtime reporter, also married to Rich, so I can't be fired.
But that's a whole different conversation. Christopher Brockman, how are you this morning? Susie, I'm great. It's great to see you. Great to be with you on this program.
So, the 2004 Hawaii Bowl? Is that what you just looked at? Hold on, I got to look this up. Do you remember who played? It was the TCU.
No, TCU was the Houston Bowl. It was. I know it was. Florida, was it Florida International? Because I think Brandon Marshall was playing.
So it would have been, was it so Christmas Eve 04 or Christmas Eve 05? 04. Into 05. I had an overnight flight. To get to the Houston Bowl.
So it was actually Hawaii against UAB. Maybe it was the next year. What do I remember? I don't know. Try the next one.
I was just trying to check. Whatever it was, it was great. And off I went to the Houston Bowl. That was the TCU Horn Frogs. Oh, so Nevada and UCF?
That would be the one. Great game. And I was told make sure you don't say Nevada. That's Nevada. Yep, yep.
49-48 overtime. Great game. And then, yeah, then a quick overnight flight, just a jaunt across the world and a little Houston Bowl. And that was the last time I saw you guys on the family of networks. But thrilled to be here with you.
Good morning, Chris. Good morning, Michael. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, Susan.
TJ the Candle is lit. Good to see you. Welcome home to you too. Thank you. No one said that yet.
This is very exciting. I have to say, for the kid who worked in Bristol, and I did work in Bristol from 97 to 99, I'm kind of thrilled that this came full circle. Really happy to be here with you. And as always, I try to overbook and try to compete with the Peliceros who come in and try to take the chair after me. I try to come in with a strong show for you all.
So I went deep. I called one of my oldest friends. When I say old, does that mean I'm old? But I did call Charles Barkley. And in the open, you see Rich look to his side.
He looks happy. I think he looks happy because Charles is back on the show because he's not on all that much. But I like to flex. I like to call my friends. I also called Michael Irvin, who happens to be my daughter's godfather.
Talk about a great guy to be your daughter's. Godfather, can you imagine when Taylor's old enough to date? If somebody comes to the door and it's Michael Irvin, wouldn't you be scared? Like the scene in Bad Boys 2, TJ, right? Like, where are you taking my girl?
I thought my goddaughter had a good one, but I think maybe Michael Irvin might have me be the little one. I think you might be right. Shanea Agumake will be on as well. We'll talk about the Aces and the Mercury and that incredible game last night from Asia Wilson. I was.
I mean, what can't she do? And I will ask her, can you even guard Asia Wilson? Can you, I mean, her plane, she goes straight up, she goes over, she had that game-winning shot last night. Of course, uh, Dewana Bonner almost got off a shot with 0.3 to go. It was textbook on how to.
you know, execute that play with that much time left. It was Very close. I mean, she almost got that shot off, and it was quite incredible. But of course, the aces now up 3-0. They have a chance to seal the deal on Friday, TJ.
And I don't know how you stop them at this point. I mean, they won the first game with the bench. They won the second game with Jackie Young and Asian Net. I mean, last night was a collective effort. They were up by a lot.
The Mercury made it a game. They were, you know, when Satu Sableye took that shot, the knee to the head, that was really scary. When you. You know, she was on the court for a while. She tried to stand up.
You rarely see a player go back down after getting up, but that rallied Phoenix. They were, I think, they were down 12 at that point. 50 in the first half. Yeah, and then they just rallied around that, and it was like, wow, they're going to come back and win this game. But Asia said, no.
Asia said, not tonight. But we'll see what happens on Friday.
So Sinead would be great to have her on to talk about this and also about the quagmire that's going on right now. Is that a good way to put it?
Well, also ask Charles Barkley about that quagmire between the WNBA and their commissioner as well. But we do have an NFL game to discuss first. But 844-204 is the number to call. You know, I like calls. If you watch this show a lot or if you listen to it, you know that I will.
Pretty much clean the board every time. It's not just because I have OCD, I actually like talking to you all.
So there you go. Watch us on Disney Plus on the ESPN app. First time I get to say that, that sounds kind of weird. Kind of like. Don't forget the rich part of this.
8442. Stop short every time. Stop short. 844-204-RICK. Thank you for that.
8404. 204 rich is the number to call. Hit that. Never thought about it. We're also going to push for you to have your own call letters when you're here, so we'll have maybe S-U-Z-Y at some point.
Not yet, but. You know, hopefully one day. I like the sound of that. I like the cut of that jib. Thank you very much.
844204DGAF. Is that what hers are? That might be, yeah, I mean. She I think she does. DGAF?
I know what that means, DJ. I think you I said Susie, so that's on Brockman. I'm bringing the F. See what everyone will know. Our new audience is these two do love each other, but every now and then the the mass hole mass hole starts to, you know, like the mass hole mass hole crime starts to come out with these two.
Listen to us on ESPN Radio, by the way, presented by Progressive Insurance. I gotta pay the bills here. Please stop distracting me. Follow us on X on Instagram at Rich Eisen Show. Quiet.
Quiet. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, youtube.com/slash RichEisonshow. The truth is, is that when we do do the show, people are always like, God, she's really mean to Chris. And I like to watch those two hate each other. I don't think people think that.
I think, honestly, respectfully, Chris, I think. Most people are like, people should be meaner than Chris, I would think. Yeah, a lot of people feel that way. We're actually closing in a million. We're at 998,797.
My goal is to bring you over on the live channel. Let's go, folks. Let's go. I want to be able to crest that wave. Like and subscribe.
Yeah, that's right. Like and subscribe. The more you subscribe, the more I'll take it out on him.
So that's what I'm just saying. Like we can talk about. The more donuts we'll get, I guess. Yeah, true. I mean, somebody said, do they really need the donuts?
I think it was Tom Pelicero when I called him. Yeah, that wasn't very nice. That wasn't very nice. We're nice here. All right, we got a game tonight.
All right, fine. Should we talk about that four and one, one and four and what to expect? And we'll say Quan carried the ball more than six times. I mean, Is it a replay of the revenge game? Will we see him go off?
And what are you boys expecting for tonight? The thing is, like, TJ, you get this because you follow this division. You follow the NFC East and the NFC Beast or the NFC Least. Who knows? But weird things happen on, especially on Thursday nights.
The Thursday night games have been pretty interesting this year. High scoring, kind of, kind of weirdly, the way they play out. And then you got the Eagles and all their drama. I'm sure we'll get into that at some point today. You know, the running game is now an issue after it was the passing game that was an issue.
And is AJ Brown happy? Is he not? Devontae. What's happening behind closed doors? We got weird team meetings.
We got Dayball throwing shots. We got Jackson Dart with kind of an injection of energy, which the team clearly needed. He's definitely got the juice. But then they go down to New Orleans last week and. Five straight possessions with a turnover.
They don't kind of, they don't look too great. They kind of give the game away, so to speak. And now it's one and four and four and one. Are people taking the Eagles tonight in Survivor? Like in the Survivor Leagues?
That's another factor here. And so I'm kind of ready for anything tonight in the Meadowlands. I mean, and then there's people who are thinking like the season's over for the Eagles. They're 4-1 people. Like, relax.
Take it down a notch. I would imagine. I would be shocked. I would be shocked if they didn't look great tonight. I would be shocked if they don't win by two scores, maybe more.
And I would be shocked, TJ, if AJ Brown doesn't have a monster game. Yeah, you know, Devontae Smith had a huge game. He had his kind of breakout smitty, right? You know, and he's a little bit, he's the quieter of the two, right? You're never really going to know.
that he's upset the way that you know that A.J. Brown is is is unhappy.
So I'm thinking division game, rivals, but over the last 20 matchups, the the Giants have won four. Oh, four and sixteen against the Eagles over the last twenty times they played, so. I think this, you know, there's a thing called a get-right game, right? And uh Think that could be the case for the yeah. Tyron Tracy is back for the Giants tonight, but what is going to be his workload coming back from the.
From the shoulder injury, Scataboo has been interesting. Yeah. You know, yards per carry isn't all that great, but he provides you kind of that boom and that juice that Dart kind of brings. But who's catching the ball? Obviously, we know Malik Neighbors is out.
No Darius Slayton tonight. Is it a big Wandell Robinson game? Theo Johnson is the only one to catch touchdowns from Jackson Dart so far, three for three. Um Do they have enough firepower to keep up with the Eagles' offense? Can the Eagles' offense get back to that?
Explosion that we kind of saw at the end of last year. We haven't really seen that exciting high-flying Eagles team. Saquon, what is going on? Six carries, what won in the second half last week. And the line's not exactly playing the way the line played last year.
And that's the biggest thing that I'm looking at right now. Is it Juergens? Like, what's happening there? Where's the disconnect there? Why isn't the line playing the same way?
I don't know. But this kind of seems to be the Eagles thing, right? Like last year, they were two and two, and then everyone's like, What's up with the Eagles after the way they finished the year before, having gone starting 10-1, and then basically losing out essentially? This is just kind of what they do. They kind of thrive off this type of chaos and drama.
Nick Siriani is kind of the perfect Philadelphia coach for the mood and the mindset of the town and the fan base. Again, I expect Philly to come in just kind of gangbusters and maybe end this one early and we get a big Saquon game. Saquon Revenge. Love Revenge. Saquon, AJ Brown.
I think Philly rolls tonight. But again, stranger things have happened in division play and especially on Thursday night. And what about Jackson Dart? You've got a rookie making his first ever short turnaround. Yeah.
Starting on prime tonight, what are we expecting to see from him in terms of just from that quick turnaround? That's new territory for him. I think you're expecting them to bring energy. I have a few friends who are Giants fans and they are excited. Not overall for the season, but for this kid, you know, and that's what you need as a fan base, right?
Even when things are going great, you just need something to kind of focus on. And And have a positive takeaway from. And that's what this kid, him and Scatterboo together, man, they are fun to watch. You know, you go on social media, you see videos of Scatterboo's teammates like doing impressions of him. And if you notice, he has to wear the, you know, the, the, The juggernaut helmet, I call it, during practice because I don't think the kid knows any other way but to just go all out.
So, yeah, if I'm a Giants fan, I'm kind of leaning on these two, a couple great players on defense, but.
Alright. I don't know. I don't think tonight's their night. But for the hopes to land on the backs of two rookies, think about it. Their offense lands on the back.
The backs of two rookies. Yeah, but that's wouldn't that give you hope, though? Yeah, if Russell Wilson was out there, do Susie a favor. If you're a Giants fan, call in. Let us know how you feel because, yeah, like if I'm a Giants fan, I'm looking at it.
Let's talk this out, though. Best case scenario for the Giants tonight to get a victory. What do they need to do, right? You talked about the exciting defensive players. We know what they got on the front line.
It's Brown, it's Thibodeau.
Sorry, Burns and Thibodeau and Abdul Carter, right? They have to make Jalen Hurts uncomfortable. Don't let him extend plays and see what we do, what Patrick Mahomes has been doing so well: scrambling and getting first downs and keeping drives alive. Don't let Jalen Hurts do that, right? Make A.J.
Brown and Devontae Smith uncomfortable, right? Take them out of it early so they are maybe complaining more on the sideline and we see some type of blow up on the side. And then you need. Create a big play. Jackson Dart, maybe with his legs.
Maybe it's something over the middle. Maybe it's a deep ball to one of these wide receivers that we aren't really familiar with. You're not starting them in your fantasy matchup tonight. Best case scenario for the Giants is. Ugly this game up as much as you can.
Keep it low scoring. Scataboo. Tracy's back, you're controlling the clock, and maybe you get a game-winning field goal, you know, and it's like 17-14. Not a great game. Al Michaels will complain a lot if it's something like that.
Herb Street probably will have more shots of his dog, but there's a path for the Giants to kind of steal this and ruin survivor pools and, you know, and kind of just make this. It's been a weird season so far. The first month in change has been kind of a lot of head-scratching results, crazy finishes. And I think if the Giants want to do that tonight, add to it, ugly it up, TJ. I echo his sentiments.
I'm not complaining about any more shots of the dog. I'll take all the shots of the dog as I can.
Well, I knew I knew you didn't have her on that part of of your your statement, but is Herpie's dog getting paid? I I wanted to like this this dog flies and PJs, like gourmet meals. This dog is like insane. This dog lives a better life than you do. Oh my God.
This dog is insane. Abdul Carter got in on it too on the Saquon thing. I like just like, like I said, the past aggressive mentality, the vibes are setting down. I'm like, oh, God, you know, boy, what a great receiver he is. I mean, he's always open.
He's always open. And Saquon, I mean, like, why wouldn't you just hand the ball off to him all the time? And Smitty and my buddy Smitty. Smitty. By the way, did you watch um I don't know if you saw this or not, but I I love this, but uh Eli Manning was on Peter Schrager's podcast.
Eli's. Manning Eli. Is that your Duval thing or? No, that's no, that's a that's the Jersey Mice commercial with Cebito and Eli.
Sorry, I missed that one. Lies. And he was saying that Jackson Dart, he gave him his number and said, reach out to me if you need any advice. You know, I'm happy to be there for you. I know what it's like starting behind a veteran quarterback.
Obviously, he had. He had Kurt Warner of Warner Wednesdays. And uh He said the phone rang, and Jackson Dart called and he said, Can you help me get a reservation at Ford Charles? Is that a fancy city? Which is, by the way, a great restaurant downtown.
Apparently, it serves the best steak in town, serves the best prime rib ever, apparently. But it's a really small restaurant in lower Manhattan. Can you imagine he picked up the phone and called Eli and said, Can you get me a reservation? Like, he's the most expensive. Concierge.
What do you want to know, Susie? One thing's for sure: he gets a win tonight. He ain't going to have to call Eli to go. Eli's point was start winning. Talk coverages.
Do you want to talk being a rookie in New York, what that's like, handling newfound fame? Ah, hey, can you get me a table for $4? Can you get me a restaurant? Can you give me a table for Ford Charles? Which, by the way, if you're watching Ford Charles, I would like to go too.
But I'm just saying, can you imagine? That is hysterical. It's pretty funny. I love that. Yeah.
I mean, just saying, that kind of speaks to the boxy of Jackson Dart, you know, like fearless. Don't worry, I got the cover two. I got that cover. I got it all. I got it all.
Yeah, man. I just, you know, nobody knows me yet in this town. Maybe he's taking a table. Susie, maybe he's taking the lineman out for a nice steak dinner. Which would be smart.
It would be smart. The restaurant is the size of this chair. Like, it's tiny. And by the way, I know he's making enough money to do such as a rookie? I mean, maybe one dinner?
Then again, I've seen how much those guys can eat. But that said, I mean, the ball.
So that's, I'm just saying, I guess if you're the Giants quarterback, you're. You're already brimming with confidence, but let's see you win a couple. And then, perhaps, like you said, the ice cream sundae will be yours. I have my priorities. All right, let's take a break when we come back.
Tom Pellisera will start this off hot. We'll see whether he's got a hat on or no hat, and Chris will start drooling at the Save his luscious locks. Lot more ahead on the Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. I didn't think the pain from the shingles rash would affect simple everyday tasks like bathing, getting dressed, or even walking around.
I was wrong. Though not everyone at risk will develop it, 99% of people over the age of 50 already have the virus that causes shingles, and it could reactivate at any time. I developed it and the blistering rash lasted for weeks. Don't learn the hard way. like I did.
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist today. Sponsored by GSK. Back here on The Rich Eisen Show, we are at ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance. I'm Susie Schuster in for Rich Eisen, and it is time to talk to Tom Palisero. He's going to join us right now here on The Rich Eisen Show.
He is en route to take over this show for tomorrow. And Tom, before we talk football, I have to ask you, does it creep you out how obsessive the guys are about talking to you about the head of hair that you have on your head? I mean, from Brockman's perspective, I imagine any hair is a point of jealousy.
So, you know, I hate to flex on him every single week on the show, even when it's messy, even when I'm in travel mode here. It just. You know, it's still got them beat. You okay over there, Chris? You okay?
You know, I think if you're blessed with that type of lettuce, you should show it off to the people, let the world see it. But, you know, Tom's his own person. I don't want to judge too hardly here. Don't judge. I mean, the guys are always mooning over you.
And I mean, I know how Rich is about it.
So, like I said, thank God. Our kids got my hair, but anyway, let's talk about football, shall we? Fatco, is he an upgrade? That's going to be the question here, Susie. The Joe Flacco we saw throwing an armed hunt interception in Detroit is not that much different than what we've seen from Jake Browning so far.
But, you know, certainly Joe Flacco is going to have better weapons for him in Cincinnati. He's throwing the ball to Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. That's a lot different than throwing to Jerry Judy and some young players that they have in Cleveland. You know, Joe Flacco has played in this similar type of an offense before.
You know, obviously. Zach Taylor comes from working with Sean McVay in the past. Flacco has played with other former Shanahan McVay assistants. He played with Michael Fleur with the Jets, played with Rich Scandarello years ago in Denver, a tenure that I think a lot of people don't even necessarily remember. And the reason that the coaches in that tree like Joe Flacco is it's the arm twitch.
It's the ability to see it and rip it and get the football out really quickly. He's not going to extend plays a ton outside the pocket. You know, he's not the most mobile guy, but he can stand in and he can throw an accurate ball. Really, what they're trying to do as much as anything is just calm down the turnovers that have really made life difficult for the Bengals to this point in the season. You know, there'd be a difference if we're talking about going out and trading a pick and taking on cash for Kirk Cousins or trading something of significance for be it a Russell Wilson or Jameis Winston.
A five-six pick swap for a guy making very close to the minimum salary is about as low leverage as it gets here. I thought that perhaps they would give Give Jake Browning another start here. But when you look at how the schedule lines up, if you're going to give Joe Flacco a whole week to try to microwave that rhythm and timing and tempo and understanding the offense and the feel for his teammates, this is the week to do it. Because after that, you got a short week to a Thursday night game against Pittsburgh. They might practice once at most next week.
You know, if you were to lose the next two at Jake Browning, all of a sudden you're two and five, and there's not a lot of point in playing Joe Flacco.
So they're going to take their shot right now and we'll see what type of impact it makes on Sunday against the Packers team. Yes, the Browns beat with Flacco's quarterback, but if you remember that game, They didn't do a whole lot offensively until late Jordan Love interception gives him a short field for a touchdown. Other than that, the offense didn't do much on that day. I imagine that Jeff Hafley's sitting there and basically figuring out how to apply, even though we got to cover those receivers differently, we're probably going to attack Flacknell very much the same way. But I think what you're saying about almost calming down the ship, some of the reports out of the camp there were saying that offensive linemen were even saying we're learning so much from him, even in the like the quick turnaround.
What will having a veteran like that do to kind of Quell the issues, maybe give them some confidence. God knows He's not going to go in there and light it up. But at the same time, it's just that. steadying man at the helm.
Well, it'll be great as long as they're winning. You know, he could be as steady as he wants, but if the Bengals put up 10 points this week, it's not going to make a whole lot of difference. I think that if you've brought this up to the bigger picture here, remember, this is not, hey, we need Joe Flacco to make a playoff run. This is, we need Joe Flacco to keep us a little above 500 until late in the season and hope Joe Burrow is ready to return. Realistically, I think.
But bringing Joe Burrow back, do you think that they really can do that? Yes, if they are in playoff contention, there is an opportunity here. I mean, it's a 12 to 14-week injury, is what I was told when Burrow first got hurt.
So you're talking about mid-December, if you're pushing it, you know, maybe late December, early January, but somewhere down the line, there is that opportunity out there where perhaps they can get him back down the stretch. And so they're trying to go 500 or a little above. They're not out of it in their own division. Obviously, the Steelers are atop the division right now. And I don't think that anybody's looking at the Steelers as an unbeatable team.
You have the Ravens who are the favorite coming in, and they may have to go out there without Lamar Jackson this week to try to stave off one and five. When you've got as much money invested, cash and cab in your star players as the Bengals do. You're thinking about taking our shot right now. And for a Bengals franchise that never makes trades, almost never makes trades, literally three players in this in-season, you know, acquired since 1973, Joe Flacco being the third one. This is them breaking the mold a little bit and saying, you know what, we can't just say, well, you know, let's just.
Try to make do with Jake Brownie. They're trying to flip this thing immediately, and it starts out by going up against the Packers team that's coming off a buy and is really, really talented. You mentioned Lamar. What are we thinking about a timetable for his comeback? Once he hurt that hamstring against Kansas City, the logic would always have told you that he wasn't going to play in these first two games.
You know, if it was significant enough to according to Jean Harvaugh, there's no way he could have come back against the Chiefs. That's the type of hamstring injury that if you were to try to push him out there a week or two weeks later, you read the risk of a setback and something that could linger with him all season, particularly with Lamar's play style. You need him to be able to move around. And so if they can get through this game, they then have the buy. That gives Lamar three, four weeks total to heal up.
There's no reason as of now to believe he's not going to be ready on the other side of the buy. We'll have to see. You know, Lamar is kind of his own character. He could show up on Friday and decide on playing this week. But right now, all the signs point toward another week of Cooper Rush slash potentially Snoop Huntley in the lineup, and they've got a really tough task ahead of them on Sunday as well.
Yeah, as a recovering sideline reporter, I'm always happy to talk about soft tissue injuries. What about in Philadelphia? What are we thinking about there with the meeting that? Look like it happened on Monday with Saquon, with AJ, with Jalen Hurts. What are you hearing and is there a there there?
Well, I think that in the big picture, and Nick Siriani alluded to this yesterday, it's a good thing when guys want to talk. It's a good thing when they want to work through issues. You know, the Eagles could easily say, well, we're the Super Bowl champs. We're just going to figure this thing out. Or they can get together and go, all right, how do we as leaders of this team push this going forward and get things going better?
From an offensive perspective, I personally think that especially on a short week, you're not going to have a lot of practice time to work things out. You're barely even going to review the tape from the prior game. It's got to be your leaders, your highest paid players, your best players need to rise up and drive the change. I mean, you can point very clearly to some statistical anomalies through the course of this season that would tell you why the Eagles' offense has been struggling. There's no world in which Saquon Barkley should be getting one carry in the second half of the game.
You're up three touchdowns. There's no world in which A.J. Brown, to this point in the season, five games in, should have essentially had one productive half of football. Jalen Hurts is playing much the same way that we've seen him play. In the past, he's obviously really dynamic as a runner.
He can make things happen in the passing game, they're just not clicking at this point. You know, part of the issue with success, Susie, is that every year you're going to lose when you win, like the Eagles have won. You're going to lose people. And the Eagles have been in this perpetual cycle of either losing a coordinator or choosing the wrong coordinator and having to move on from them. Every year, going back to high school, Jalen Hurts has had a different coordinator.
So, the same bumps we seem to see every year from the Eagles in the early portion of the season, they're hitting again. This is a team that seemed to have it all figured out. Down the stretch of last season, you know, the bar is high in Philadelphia. Anybody else would be talking about, well, they're four and one. You know, yeah, they got some things to work on offensively, they'll get better at it.
With the Eagles, you know, it's DEF CON one, but you know, they have all the tools in place, they are a relatively healthy football team. The one of Landon Dickerson tomorrow night at the Giants. But, you know, this is absolutely a game that on paper, the Eagles should win and win handily. You know, let's see kind of what the philosophy is out of the gate. I'm a long-standing going back to his days in Tennessee.
I'm a big believer that, you know, your offense goes as A.J. Brown goes. He's a tone setter. He makes things happen. Yes, Saquon Barkley is your focal point, but the way that A.J.
Brown can dictate things, when you get the ball in his hands, the juice that that gives him and the offense, I would not be surprised at all if they make sure they're getting the ball to A.J. Brown early tomorrow night. And for the Giants, I mean, Brian Dable had some high-level passive-aggressive Jedi mind tricks. I was wondering what you thought about listening to him sending a message down the turnpike. I should say tonight, by the way.
I'm all lost on what day it is. I'm flying there to host this show on Friday. Today's radio. Is tonight. You know, Brian Dibble's got a lot to work through at this point in the season.
You know, obviously, they made the big switch to Jackson Dart. That gave him some juice going into this thing. This is a division game. These are the games that when you hire a coach in the NFC East, You want to be able to win. All right, short week.
You're trying to stay relevant here, stay alive. You got to go out and you got to match them toe to toe. They've got a lot of talent that they've amassed on the defensive side. They're obviously trying to figure things out system leaked neighbors injury on offense. They get Tyrone Tracy back tonight.
They got Cam Scatabu, you know, rolling pretty well, but they are banged up at wide receiver. You know, no Darius Slayton either. You know, that's not going to make it any easier on a young quarterback. I'll be fascinated to see. what Brian Dable might have to do with Jackson Dart in this game.
Do they utilize his legs a little bit more? Do they run more design types of runs just to kind of get him into the game, get him feeling some early confidence? Because you don't have that Malik Neighbors. You can just run a bubble and let him go to work. You don't have those types of guys.
Wandell Robinson is a nice receiver, but you don't have Malik Neighbors on your team.
So let's see how they try to get that offense going tonight. And I think that that's going to say a lot about whether or not they've got an opportunity to pull off an upset that really could kind of launch them as they go into this mini-buy this weekend. How about San Francisco? Are we going to see Mac Jones? It sure looks like it right now.
It does. You know, Brock Purdy, he tried to come back after missing two games. He aggravated that toe injury. Those are tricky. It's not to the extent of the, you know, the Joe Burrow injury that was surgery in three months.
But still, anytime you're dealing with a turf toe-like injury, there's a lot of different things. Just the flexion of your foot can aggravate that thing and set you back. You know, for Brock Purdy, I understand why he wants to get out on the field. I understand why the 49ers want him on the field. And I, you know, Mac Jones has played really well in his opportunities, but Brock Purdy is the guy that they paid.
Brock Purdy is the guy who knows all the ins and outs of this offense. Brock Purdy is the guy who, you know, really unleashes a lot of the different things that you can do. Mac has taken advantage of his opportunity. At minimum, you can sit there and go, listen, we're 3-0 with Mac. You've got time.
You don't have to push yourself. Purdy's a competitor. He wants to be out there. But Mac Jones isn't 100% either. But Mac Jones being close to 100% versus Brock Purdy, running the risk of yet another setback that sets.
Out for the long term. It certainly seems like the arrows are pointing toward another week of Mac Jobs. And it was interesting to listen to Kendrick Byrne talking about him playing with him, of course, in New England, about how he just sees a much more relaxed player. And I'm curious about you in terms of what you see in him and how he has changed and why you think it's working for him there. The number one thing, Susie, is Kyle Shanahan.
Mac Jones is a classic Kyle Shanahan quarterback. And when they trade up to number three back in 2021, there's a reason that everybody believed it was for Mac Jones. That was a strong consideration for him before they kind of sold themselves on the upside of Trey Lance, had that second workout with him and all that. But if you talk about the traits that Kyle Shanahan looks for in a quarterback, it's somebody who is a fast processor, who is accurate with the football, and that Kyle can make automatic. Kyle Shanahan is as talented as anyone in the NFL at scheming people open, even when he doesn't have Brandon Ayuk.
And they traded Debo Samuel and Ricky Piersall is hurt, and Juwan Jennings is hurt. He's still, you watched the game last week, he's still scheming people open. Mac Jones is just, he's a really good fit for that. And, you know, nothing against, you know, what, you know, some of the people that Mac Jones is working with in New England, but there was no consistency. There was not a longstanding, you know, type of a scheme and a process and a plan like they have in San Francisco with Kyle being there almost a decade now.
He's just, he's. in the perfect spot for him. Little bit different personality. He's obviously hyper competitive. He's, I know they talked about the broadcast last week.
I heard that coming out in the draft that he was like the John McEnroe of the youth tennis circuit, you know, growing up. He would break brackets and all that type of stuff. But he's also kind of got this, you know, aweshucks personality off the field. He's just, he's a really good fit for what they want to do. It's obvious that Mac is enjoying, you know, every second of being able to get back out there and play.
49ers did a two-year deal with him, by the way.
So they've got one of the best values in terms of their backup quarterback, not just this year, but next year as well. But, you know, bigger picture, you think about the other quarterbacks that have gone through and been healed, so to speak, by either Kyle or Sean McVay. You saw Sam Darnold do that for a year, goes to Minnesota, then gets paid in Seattle. You saw Baker Mayfield for like six games, go to LA, then go to Tampa, and now he's back to being a star. Mac Jones well could be the next one of those.
And I think it's also an important reminder when we're quick to write off quarterbacks in particular as busts. And this guy can't play and they got to get rid of him. I mean, New England shipped him off to Jacksonville for a late-round draft pick. And it just, there was no future for him in New England. But there are certain quarterback coaches, and I put Kyle Shannon in that category, certainly offensive coaches that are just so good at what they do that just.
The schematics of the thing and the environment that they build, it helps engender that confidence that can put people back on track. And that's what we've seen for three games with Mac. What about Pierce Allen Jennings? Ricky Pearcell has been, you know, every injury that he's had, it seems like it takes him longer than they expect. It's always, we think he's going to be out here then.
And it's another couple of weeks. It's the same thing in this case. He's got a knee issue that's going on. They thought that he would be back practicing by now. He wasn't out there.
Doesn't mean he's not going to play on Sunday. And the same thing with Juwan Jennings. He's got a couple of different injuries going on. He's been banged up kind of perpetually. You know, the good news, you mentioned Kendrick Bourne, who we had on the insiders the other night, one of you know, the happiest guy, the eternal optimist.
You know, he's just blown away. What did he have, like 10 catches for 140 yards or something crazy last week? Think about who they're throwing to. It was Kendrick Bourne, who wasn't on the team at the start of camp, Sky Moore, who they traded for during camp. Mark Boswaldez Scamling wasn't there during camp.
And DeMarcus Robinson was suspended at the start of the season. They're literally an entire JV number two unit wide receiver group, and they find ways to get those guys out there. Again, I remember saying this to Kyle Shanahan one time, I think it was during the Brandon Ayuk stuff last year, and I was sitting in his office and I'm like, dude, you're, you know, you're as good at scheming up people as anybody. He's like, no, it's a lot easier if you have. Have good players to scheme it up for.
And he's right. You know, elite receivers make everybody look better, but he finds a way. You know, if you've got a trait, if you've got speed, if you've got route running ability, he's able to put you in positions to succeed. And that's one of the things that makes Kyle Shanahan special as a coach. Tom Palisero joining us here on The Rich Eisen Show, Susie Schuster, in for Rich.
Gino. How long does he have in Vegas? It's bad right now. It's not good. It's just not good.
He's really struggling, which, you know, so I was at the week one game. in Fatz Earl. Where it was bumpy in the first half, but Gino stepped up and made a bunch of big-time throws in the second half, you know, to guys like Trey Tucker and other players that people outnumber the average fan has heard of. Not having Brock Bowers is a big deal. You know, that's the straw that stirs the drink.
He got banged up, I think, in the fourth quarter of that game, has played several games, but wasn't himself, then misses last week's game. No sign that he'll be back. When you lose your number one weapon, it's not a wide receiver per se, but Brock Bowers is essentially a wide receiver. He just plays a little bit different spot on the field. That does have a ripple effect on everyone else because, quite frankly, they're just not.
That's talented outside of Bowers at the receiving positions. Jacoby Myers is a really good solid receiver. He's not getting targeted for whatever reason right now. Beyond that, you're relying on a bunch of young guys. Michael Mayer, their number two tight end, has also been out in recent weeks here.
But a lot of this just boils down to Geno, whether it's decision making or accuracy. He's just not playing like we've seen Geno at his best. The Raiders are paying him $40 million this year. They gave him a raise. There was no signing bonus in that deal, and he's not due guaranteed money beyond this season.
So absolutely, there's a scenario in which they could move on from Geno Smith. I don't get any sense right now that they're thinking about benching him, going to Kenny Pickett. I don't know that Kenny Pickett is necessarily an upgrade. He didn't have a camp to kind of get used to how they're doing things with the Raiders either. At some point, some of the scrutiny is probably going to fall on Chip Kelly and this entire thing.
They've got a young guy in Ashton Genti who's a ton of fun to watch, especially over these last. Couple of games, you know, how do you leverage him? Take some of the pressure off of Geno Smith. Pete Carroll made reference to that the other day when he was asked about how to get Geno on track. He said, We got to run the football more and we got to run it better.
That's kind of the answer that Pete has for everything from an offensive perspective. You go back to all those years with Russell Wilson, as much as people wanted to let Russ cook, a big part of the reason they were successful was they were the best running team in the NFL for a large portion of that time. And they didn't need Russ to go out and throw the ball over the yard for the first three quarters of the game and until hey, fourth quarter, we're down. All right, Russ, now do your magic. You know, it's kind of the same thing with Geno Smith, who is in that same type of a structure here.
Right now, for whatever reason, they don't really have that balance. Bowers' absence is a huge part of it. But certainly, the longer that the struggles would go on for Geno Smith, the more we're talking about are the Raiders back at the quarterback market in 2026. Tom, thanks for your time. Have a safe light here.
And don't forget, like, you know, I bring the guys food, so just don't come empty-handed. Wow.
Well, you gotta set that bar. That's not cool. I gotta throw darts. I gotta throw darts. You come at the seat.
You gotta know. Where did you bring them? What's dunno? Oh, donuts. We love donuts.
Yeah, that's what they need. Yeah, we love donuts. Wow.
Because they all need baked goods. Susie, not only does he not bring us food, I got to drive him around like I'm Miss Daisy, or he's Miss Daisy. Dang, it's ridiculous. You have it so good when I'm here. And we love that.
We love that, Susie. Thanks. Tommy. Safe fly by the time. Bye.
See you tomorrow. Thanks again. Oh, yeah, Tommy P. I mean, does he think where like gremlins? Like, don't feed us after midnight or something?
I think he does. With the donuts, they just take this for granted. But you know who doesn't? Susie Shit. That's right.
Yeah, see. Normally, we, I hate to tell you guys, but normally we start drinking around now on the Rich Island Show when I sit here. Usually it's a champagne mimosa situation. I thought it's the first time back on the mothership. I should probably, like, you know, be professional a little bit.
It's not easy for me. I know. I wanted to, look, I said the group chat. I was like, let's do this. You're ready to go.
Chris, allow me to reintroduce myself. And I got shot down. Allow myself to introduce myself. Guess what? The next time...
Oh, we pop the bottles.
Okay, fine. Let's talk happy things like the ALDS defeat of the Yankees when they come back. Wow.
Yes. My first villain is Mattingly. That got a gun in the store out. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. ESPN Radio is presented by Progressive Insurance.
Progressive Insurance offers 24-7 protection when you bundle home, auto, and motorcycle. Learn more at progressive.com. Susie Schuster in for Rich Eisen. He is in London getting ready to call a bunch of games and you know. Because he was there, he could not cry into his pillow last night, as the Yankees.
Went home, their championship drought.
Now, sixteen seasons, the third longest in franchise history, and. You know, Chris, I know that you are bereft, heartbroken to say the least, watching Vladi Guerrero Jr. Doing the chant on the MLP postgame show, wearing goggles? Look at the smile on your face. You're taking champagne in your eyes.
You know what I mean? It hurts. You get hurt. You got to bust out the goggles. Yeah, kids asked me last night if I'd ever been in one of those clubhouses, and I absolutely have several times.
Pre-goggles. Pre-goggles. I know that, Susie, because you remember. You told me myself. I was with you.
You remember? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, oh, and Lakers. And Lakers.
I've had some champagne and a beer poured on my head. It's been great. The same thing. But I can tell you. What's that, baby?
I said, it's not your first rodeo, is what you're telling me. No, it's not my first rodeo, TJ. No. Yeah, yeah. Champagne gets in your eyes, it gets a little bubbly.
And by the way, nothing quite as glamorous as driving home from Anaheim, raking of beer. After having them poured over your head after the Angels win the World Series. Thanks, Troy Percival. I had to throw that suit away. That said, Yankees and Aaron Boone expects to come back, but boy, You're sad over there.
Yeah, you know, look, Aaron Boone expected to be back. Great, love it. I think they should extend him, honestly. I think that Boone does a hell of a job. Brian Cashman does a hell of a job.
Lifetime contracts. Why would you ever get rid of these guys? Continuity, TJ, in this business is an underrated aspect for success. Right. You do realize that the Red Sox are already under the business.
And the Yankees are so good at just making the playoffs and not doing anything else. Let's take a look at the business.
So you've got to extend these guys. Are you done over there? No. Do you see what I'm saying here? It's like a lifetime contract.
You're just going to crack the whip with this guy. I don't like the Yankees either. Not really. Not really. Yeah.
I like the old art. I like, I like, listen. I mean, I'm not, I'm a lot. I'm not going to lie. I like whoever I'm covering at the time for baseball because I'm into it.
But, like, no, I'm from New England. What do you want from me? Even though my daughter's middle name is Mattingly, but that was a whole different conversation. And that was a. I had to convince him that he had the rights to name a kid.
Because it was the third one. We talked him into a third one. We talked into a third one, and so I agreed that he could name her Mattingly if it was a girl. But whatever. Here's what Aaron Boone had to say.
The ending's the worst, right? Um. Especially when you know you have a really good group and a group of guys that really came together so well. At the right time, the final couple of months, this was a team. And It's a team that played for one another.
Did a lot of really good things, and we got beat here. You pour so much into the. To go on this long journey to have a chance to chase a dream and win a championship, and when it ends this way, It's it's always You know, it's terrible. It it's it's it it hurts. Um But I know for me personally, I know for a lot of those guys it also Continues to ignite your fire to want to get back and play in these meaningful games and have a chance at glory.
Boy, the first two games of the series for the Yankees, Toronto outscored them 23-8. Are you crying over there? What's going on? What's happening? Oh, yeah.
Boys of summer, you guys. I mean, you can even hold your hand. Oh, poor Airman. I'm back to the thing where I'd rather not be in it and lose. Like they lost the last two years.
Then I don't want to be in it. Don't put it in. But you're not in it. How much time do you have? I still have a chance.
I still have a chance. You're not even in it. No, you're not in it.
So it's a 16-year drought, right? How old is Cooper again? Cooper is 14. Do you think he'll ever see a Yankees championship in his lifetime?
Well, I don't know. My nephews Jack and Sam were born, and suddenly the Patriots won everything. But was it Belichick or was it Brady? We're going to talk about that ahead. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
Mm-hmm.
