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Now. On with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. We're talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud, but it's shocking. It's shocking.
Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Brian Winghorst is here. The NBA isn't concerned today with whether people who are playing in the legal poker games got defrauded. Today's guests. NFL Network insider Tom Pilicero.
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. Actor Michael Shannon. And now, it's Rich ISEN.
Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show on a Friday. We are all over the map, guess-wise, and we love it. Tom Pellicero, my colleague from NFL Network, is going to join us with all the 411 in about 20 minutes' time. And then Tom Ezzo is going to join us, the head coach of Michigan State basketball.
Lots to talk about with him from our boy Steve Mariuchi getting his number retired at the Northern Michigan University. And Uh also Speaking of college football, Michigan plays Michigan State tomorrow. And so now I've got lots to talk about with Tom Ezzo. But front and center is what he was talking about: a kid from the G-League being allowed to play for Louisville basketball. And that caught our ear.
And I'll tell him straight up when he joins us in the second hour. Anytime he starts a soundbite by saying, I'm going to get in trouble for this, he has me at hello. Like, I'm like, you know, does he know that Kenny Powell? Powers, Jiff, of snapping the foot out of the launchrope. That's me.
And then Michael Shannon, the actor, an actual thespian, is coming in studio in hour number three. Master Thespian. I mean, he's in some really heavy movies about the assassination of James Garfield and also the Nuremberg trials, you know, comedies. He's going to be here in studio in hour number three, and we've got a great. Celebrity true or false for him.
Um, and and then there's you at 844-204-Rich, number to Dial here on the program. And uh, it's always great when you when you do a show and you're sitting down, and one of your colleagues strolls onto the floor and says, Oh, we're starting. Uh, Chris Brockman, good to see you over there, Chris. I caught that one. I'm an actor, I'm an actor, I'm here every day.
And your quoted, I said, like we always do it this time. I mean, it was 859-59. I'm like, oh, we're starting. By the way, only the best of the best do that. I've watched Chris Berman sit in a chair and say, Hey, welcome to prime time.
Literally five seconds before he has to start speaking. Hey, Jay Felly, good to see you. What's up, Rich? You're wearing your Dodger cap. It is the World Series beginning tonight.
Let's go. Game one. Good to see an actual Dodger fan sitting in that chair rather than that other guy who sits here. You put on a Yankee Dodger hat. A split hat yesterday.
Yeah, exactly. What an abomination. Good to see an actual Dodger fan here on the first day of the World Series. T.J. Jefferson, candles lit.
Good to see you. I was going to say this. I know Chris Berman. Chris Berman's a friend of mine. Sir, Chris Brockman is no Chris Berman.
But they share a first name. That's true. Excuse me. It's a respect to Chris Crocodile Brockman. And B and the man.
We're very similar. All right. Encircle the wagons. We start this show with Thursday Night Football. We'll talk about the Chargers in a second, five and three.
You know, we talk about the Chargers quite a bit on this show. They're in our neighbors across the way here in El Segundo, California. And I'm a Jim Harbaugh nut, as we all know.
So I'm not being disrespectful of the team that won Thursday Night Football last night in convincing fashion, without, by the way, arguably their best defensive player for much of the game in Derwin James. They put the hammer down on Carson Wentz. That's where I want to start this show. The Minnesota Vikings at a crossroads, the 14-win team last year, going 14-3, they now have more losses in the first seven games this year as they had in all of last season. And the focus of the Vikings was 100%.
Is on their decision to draft my guy, the champion quarterback of Team 144 of the University of Michigan, J.J. McCarthy, to move up one spot to draft him 10th overall before Bo Nix, just after Michael Pennix, in a draft that also has Jaden Daniels. Offensive rookie of the year last year, Caleb Williams, winner of four straight games. In 2025 with Ben Johnson in Chicago, he's playing much better. Nobody, though.
As we all know, playing better from that class in 2025 than Drake May, whose head coach Mike Vrabel was on this program yesterday. We talked all about it and the decision to draft J.J. McCarthy. Him getting hurt. Watching Sam Darnold do what he did last year in 14 wins and have him stroll off to Seattle where he's 5-2 right now on his bye.
And then Daniel Jones was sitting there after the Giants caught him and they made an offer to Daniel Jones to stay, and he decides to go to Indianapolis, where he was definitely going to be the starter without any kid behind him that they're definitely going to play. because they need to see what they have in him. Anthony Richardson, the Colts already saw what they had in him and decided to get Daniel Jones in. and he is six and one. He's the quarterback of the only one lost team entering.
uh the rest of this week eight action. Right now. Uh I should pardon me. Jordan Love is a one-loss team. He also has a tie.
6-1. The only quarterback that's 6-1 entering week eight action. And so the decision for them to do that and then start J.J. McCarthy this year, have him play three dreadful quarters and then one superb quarter in a week one Monday night football win in Chicago that had, by the way, J.J. McCarthy the Offensive player of the week.
only to show up the next week and look so dreadful in the Minnesota Vikings week two. Home loss to the Atlanta Falcons. looks so dreadful. that everybody thinks that the ankle injury that he suffered in that game was. In air quotes, it's just you need to take a break, kid.
We've already seen. Eight quarters, seven plus, seven healthy, if you will, quarters out of you. Take a break. You're not ready yet. We're going to start Carson Wentz and see what we have.
as a team. to try and win behind a veteran. And getting his, you know, other chances in another organization, just like Sam Darnold did, although Carson's had many, many, what I think Al Michaels mentioned, six teams in six seasons. Yep. Bouncing around.
And by the way, the reason why Anthony Richardson got drafted in Indianapolis is because Jim Ursay, may he rest in peace, was like, this guy, Carson Wentz, that just lost in Jacksonville. Get him out of here. I don't want to see him anymore. Yeah. Literally, just disappear him from our organization, please, was essentially how Jim Ursa was approaching Wentz.
And this is the guy that Minnesota is starting. And now They're three and four. And now Wentz was so banged up last night. As he's suffered 19 sacks since becoming the Vikings starting quarterback in week three after. being sacked five times.
Last night, by a Los Angeles Chargers defense that got Khalil Mack back and was marauding that front. For the Vikings. that Wentz looked like he was in tears. On the sideline, coming off the field after his last sack. You can look at his left arm he's holding because his left shoulder is what got injured a few weeks ago.
And he's playing because that's not his throwing arm. But you could see. Wincing and on occasion looking like he is in tears to wonder about whether his body can hold up, whether his ability as a quarterback is Dwindling away. I don't know what was going through his temples, but it looked like he was going through something. It's hard to watch.
It was hard to watch. Yeah, it's hard to watch. It was hard to watch. And um that's Where the Minnesota Vikings sit today. At three and four.
And as I mentioned, there's a 4-1-1 team in the NFC, and it's the Green Bay Packers sitting atop that division and the Detroit Lions on a bye week at 5-2. And a Bears team. that is sitting there at 4 and 2 with four straight wins. And the Vikings are the ones sitting in last place wondering. What next?
This was the head coach after the game. talking about it. As I told our team, we've got an opportunity in front of us where we need to. Uh Own this. This is not a Bury the tape kind of uh Time for our organization.
This is a Um watch it, view it, own it. Um every coach, every player. Um and it starts with me. Um I did not uh have our team prepared to play. And uh we'll go back to uh many aspects of Um what we need to improve on.
Yeah. Here's what they need to improve on: the quarterback play. And the offensive line play in front of him. And the offensive line play is what is crucial. There is a conversation again.
about J.J. McCarthy's viability. And I saw the moment last night, and Chris, you were bringing it up in our pre-show meeting. Prior to you wondering what time the show is beginning, I guess. And Where the other JJ, Justin Jefferson, makes a catch, rolls out of bounds.
J.J. McCarthy is there and For somebody coming off of a high ankle sprain, look pretty limber in avoiding this move and then enthusiastically signaling the first down. Yeah, while jumping up and down on said alleged injured ankle.
Okay, it's not an alleged injured ankle, it's an actual injured ankle that the head coach says. does appear to be well enough. for him to start. Aw but potentially next week. JJ, and he was close, and JJ and the medical staff kind of didn't quite feel like he was there yet.
But there was a lot of encouragement that, especially with the time we have, Kevin, and where he's at, and the confidence level he thinks he can get to, you know, if JJ's healthy, JJ will play. And JJ will play. And when he does. It's all. And I'll be straight up.
Uh with you. You know how I feel about him. You've met him as well, guys. When he's been here. He's one to root for, he's one to like.
But he's got to. Play Stay healthy, you know what your best ability is, right? Bail. Ability. And He must avail himself of this opportunity and show why he was drafted 10th overall.
In last year's draft and show some action for four quarters that look like, say, panics. When he had some time at the end of last season, although that was a very difficult spot. Gotta show stuff like Dart. in his first few starts this year. Got to show stuff.
Like he did in the fourth quarter of week one. That part. He's got to show what we're seeing out of Bo, what we saw out of Bo Nick's after he got some time last year. Not saying you got to be Jaden Daniels. Um And he might have to be behind an offensive line that is having trouble.
I mean, Darasol is in and out. He's hurt. And you know, went as we know as a proclivity. to hold on to the football. which has been part of his career.
Part of the reason why he's bounced around. And it was bounced off the turf last night. And just 34 rush yards. Fewest rush yards by a game for Minnesota in two years. Two years.
So you got to get the run game going and you got to protect The kid. And maybe, you know, his ability to move around. um is hampered. Which is why they're like, we're not ready to put them out there yet. But this business of their hiding him, Has got to be disproven by J.J.
McCarthy when he gets out there. And here's the issue: you put up the schedule. Mm-mm-mm-mm. Talk about a crucible. Detroit.
Hosting them coming off a buy. But he's back in the state of Michigan. Maybe he can find some magic. Then he's home against Baltimore and Chicago before. The first of two against Green Bay.
That one against Detroit and Detroit is the first of two against Detroit. You're at Seattle too. Home against Washington, the one at Dallas. Everybody. That ain't going to be easy.
As we we know the pass rush is in question there, but At the Giants. That front seven is nasty. Ask Bonix. And then they finish up. Two at home against Detroit and Green Bay.
He's going to have to. JJ's going to have to get out there, and he's going to have the toughest opponents in his division and in his conference, and must have games for them to not only show that they have a playoff. running them this year. But you have to wonder if JJ doesn't show anything. In that remaining ten games of this season.
For them. Do they have a decision to make in the offseason?
Now, Kevin O'Connell, your reigning coach of the year, said when he was on this show during the draft season that. Organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations. And he's going to have to be. the avatar of that Theory. And that belief.
And their organization is going to have to support this kid. And that means the front up. In front of him? Protect him. And then he's going to have to be.
Dynamic. And we're going to see. And then we'll see if that organization does use these 10 games as enough of a Sample size for them to go into the offseason and think: what do we do here? And all options might be on the table. You draft another one?
I'll throw it out. At that point in time, Kirk Cousins might be inexpensive. You get one last run with him? He knows the system? Because you got someone like Justin Jefferson, who became the youngest player to reach 8,000 career receiving yards.
Can't waste this.
Okay, you know what I mean? Can't.
So the people are there. You're three and four, and you could say part of it is because you told Sam Darnold. Um Here's our offer. He took a better one elsewhere. We don't know the numbers.
You told Daniel Jones, here's our number to stay here. He's listening. You got the kid. You're going to definitely play him. I'm looking at the kid down in Indianapolis.
They're looking for competition. You're not. At the spot. I'm going there. And, um And Vikings fans, Love J.J.
McCarthy. He will always have a place in my heart. I am biased. I am biased. I just know I believe in him.
But he's going to have to show it. He's going to have to prove it. Yeah, I have friends who are Vikings fans, and that is literally, you know, as we talk about football. They're like, we had Sam. Yeah.
We had Daniel. The one is Sam. Like, you could have committed all the dollars to him. That could have kept him, I imagine. I imagine.
Daniel Jones is just like, you know, hey. Um You're clearly starting J.J. McCarthy around here. And you aren't going to commit all the dollars to Daniel Jones just by having him around and just assuming he could turn it around. Sam's already shown you something.
Daniel had to show you something for you to decommit. to J.J. McCarthy. Darnold showed you something that could make you think about decommitting to J.J. McCarthy and just saying, sorry, you got hurt, kid.
But we have to keep this thing going. 14 wins and the. Is too much for us to just turn our back on. That one, that one is, I'd understand Vikings fans would lament. But again, organizations.
Fail young quarterbacks before the other way around, says the reigning coach of the year and the quarterback whisperer. of note in this league. And he's gonna have to Fine then. Connection. At Detroit?
and then home against the Ravens, and then home against the Bears. And then at Green Bay, at Seattle. Against Sam Darnold?
Now going up and showing up and winning these games and winning a good amount of them and then going to Seattle and beating Sam Darnold is a way for JJ McCarthy to tell all the Vikings fans they made the right choice. And Showing the coach, you made the right choice, and showing the general manager and the ownership, you made the right choice. Can he do it? I think he can. Will he do it?
Stay tuned. 844204, Rich Number Dial. Tom Pellisero joining us. We'll talk the Chargers after we talk. To Tom.
And there's a great Harbaugh files based off of last night's victory. Before Tom Izzo joins us, it's a what's more likely Friday as well. Don't go anywhere off and running. As many of you know, supporting pediatric cancer research is something I care deeply about. That's why I'm proud to share what Hyundai is doing through Hyundai Hope on Wheels.
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And it comes standard. Visit HyundaiUSA.com and search Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Here in the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance, Tom Pellisero is back here. How are you, Tom?
Good to see you, man. How are you? Doing fantastic, Rich. What's up to my boys in the studio? Hey, Tommy P, what up, baby?
All right. Hey, Tommy P. Stop it. All right. It's so stupid.
You take a video of him and then send it to it's a waste of time. It's really stupid this time because I was recording myself. No, please stop. Speaking of waste of time, the people who think that J.J. McCarthy has an ankle injury in air quotes because he was so ineffective in his second start that they just had to bench him.
You're already making that face. Walk me through what's going on there and the decision that. They made on him last night prior to Thursday Night Football, and when we're going to see McCarthy next. I've tried to explain this as consistently and clearly as I can amidst all the conspiracy theories and the talks of a soft benching. J.J.
McCarthy has not had a lot of opportunities over two years in the NFL to practice football, much less play football. He had his entire rookie season wiped out because of the meniscus injury. Got reps through the course of this offseason. Week one goes out, didn't play well in the first half, but made a bunch of plays in the second half against Chicago on national TV. They're 1-0 in the division.
Following week, his fiancé gives birth to a child, misses a day of practice. It was already a short week. Game didn't look good, but he also got hurt, suffered a high ankle sprain in that game.
So we have literally seen one football. Full game. Of healthy J.J. McCarthy. And by the way, he hasn't even practiced on consecutive days in a full capacity since before week one.
And so, what the Vikings have tried to do. Is take a very deliberate approach to getting J.J. McCarthy not just 100% healthy, but 100% in a groove and ready to go out there and play well. They were hopeful. That was going to be right after the buy, and he'd be able to do it against the Eagles and then the Chargers when they were playing two games in five days.
When I was told during the buy, hey, he looked good on the field last week, but the ankle's not 100%. That was a pretty good tell between JJ, the medical staff, the Vikings coaching staff. They just didn't feel like he was already all the way there. You listened to Kevin O'Connell post-game last night. He made abundantly clear what I've been saying, which is that.
All signs are pointing toward J.J. McCarthy being back in the lineup this week against the Lions. You're hoping that, you know, with a mini-buy, you get a bonus practice on Monday, more time for the offensive line that's been beat up, for those guys to get fully healthy here. You're hoping that the entire environment is set up for J.J. McCarthy to go out there and have success.
That is certainly what the Vikings are banking on after already playing more games with Carson Wentz than they ever intended or hoped or wanted to going into the season.
So, do we see him against Detroit next week? That is my anticipation. We'll see JJ McCarthy unless there is some type of setback, unless he tells the coaches, hey, I just don't think that I can go. You know, he's had six full weeks now to recover from an injury that, by and large, that type of high ankle sprain is four to six weeks. That timeline's up.
Again, he gets an extra practice next week, so you can see him four times out there. If you see a full participation designation on J.J. McCarthy come next Wednesday, that'll be a pretty clear indication all systems go. And he's going to be out there for a tough game against the Lions. Tom Pellicero here on the Rich Eisen Show.
Let's talk about some other big-time games in week eight. Aaron Rodgers says it's not a revenge game. I give you the floor, sir. Tom. A revenge game might not be exactly the way that you would script it because, quite frankly, Aaron Rodgers, he wasn't traded away against his will.
He was a willing participant for several years in wanting to leave Green Bay prior to the draft week deal that sent him to the Jets. You know, Aaron's a remarkably talented player. He's obviously a very unique human being. He has a habit, and we've seen this publicly based on his appearance on certain shows, to say exactly what is on his mind and to complain about various things.
Sometimes that can get weighty for an organization, but it did not disrupt his ability to work with Matt LaFleur and win a couple of MVPs with that group. It just came to a point. He felt like from the Jordan Love, the trade-up to get Jordan Love and taking him in the draft that from that point on, he had been kind of disrespected. That's where you started to hear different things. They ultimately tried to appease him by giving him a new contact.
Contract before ultimately, you know, he did not perform well in 2022. The time was right for everybody. The time was right for Jordan Love to go play. The time was right for Aaron, who wanted to continue playing, to go and do that in a different place. Is this game going to matter more to Aaron Rodgers?
I'm not inside his head, but my short answer would be, Rich, absolutely. Aaron Rodgers is going to want to go out and play well against the Packers, you know, showed the organization that he's still got it. You know, on some level, you know, he likes Jordan Love and those two worked a lot together. And you see the impact of Aaron Rodgers on, you know, the little things Jordan Love does with his footwork and other things that really Aaron Rodgers, you know, whether it was verbally or whether it was leading by example, he really helped bring Jordan Love along. But would it mean something to Aaron?
I think that everything, Rich, in this, in what could be Aaron Rodgers' final season, everything means a little bit more to him beating the Packers before ultimately, as he made clear in an interview with Green Bay Reporters yesterday, eventually resigns with them a one-day contract. Contract to retire as a Packer. Absolutely, that's something that he would remember a lot more than your average game. Is Josh Jacobs going to go in this game? He's always questionable and then he runs for 90 touchdowns.
So, I mean, is there any concern on this or what? It was legit close last week in Arizona, particularly after the plane got delayed for hours on end and they lost all their nightly meetings. He went through a pregame workout. Josh always thought that he could go. He had to convince the Packers and the medical staff and the coaches that he could go.
I would anticipate it's a similar type of situation here. You know, Josh Jacobs is always going to want to go. He's going to have to make sure that the medical staff believes that as well. But, you know, like you said, Rich, we've seen this a number of times. I mean, he was once questionable with a calf going into Seattle when he was playing for the Raiders and ran for 300 yards.
Put nothing past Josh Jacobs. He's always going to believe he can go out and do it. Packers generally have a conservative type of medical approach, but as of now, I would anticipate Josh Jacobs going. Niners sitting right behind the Packers in the NFC standings. Packers one, Niners two, taking on a Texans team that comes off the bye and gets spanked by Seattle.
And it's a short week for them. Couple guys in this game. It's another Brock Purdy going to go. Is it Mac Jones instead? And then Nico Collins has not practiced with a concussion.
That he had knocked him out of that game all week. What do you got for me on this big one in Houston? It seems like Mac Jones is going to be the one to go. Kyle Shanahan said at the start of the week, it would be a stretch for Brock Purdy to be out there. They still haven't had Brock Purdy practice in full one time since he initially suffered the injury.
You know, and then obviously came back in week four and had the setback here. Until you see him fully participating in practice, you can assume that it's going to be Mac Jones. You know, kind of the philosophy and the way that the 49ers have approached that is you give the reps to the guy that you think is going to be starting. Mac's been dealing with an oblique and a knee, but he's been fully participating in practice.
So it seems like, as much as there's, you know, there was hope for Brock Purdy, and you know, eventually does he get the J.J. McCarthy treatment and suit up and be the number three quarterback, at least in the short term? We'll see about that. But it certainly seems like this is going to be Mac Jones. As for Nico Collins, you know, there's a procedure, obviously, there's a five-step concussion protocol that he has to clear.
If he's not out there today, that's going to be a pretty clear indication that he doesn't have a chance because you have to be able to get back onto the field, do non-contact work, and then be able to be expected. Exposed into a contact environment before the independent neurology gives the final go-ahead here. All those things are part of the process. If he doesn't practice today, then there's virtually no chance we're going to see Nico Collins. Tom Pellisero here on the Rich Eisen Show.
So. This one's uh wide open. But a simple question, what's the scoop with A.J. Brown? Tom.
AJ Brown, right now, or let's take the two parts of this because I know where you're going. One part is real hamstring injury. We've seen AJ in the past practice very little or none at all and still go out and play on Sunday. My guess, and we'll find out when the injury report comes out, but my guess is they will list him as questionable, just knowing how the Eagles have approached these things in the past. But there seems to be a real question about whether or not he's actually going to be able to go out and play on Sunday.
In terms of the broader picture, we had another Instagram comment or post or whatever it was on Tuesday. It's obvious that there's a lot of frustration in different corners of that building. And even last week, when AJ Brown was making plays and appeared on the field to be back on the same page with Jalen Hurts, it seemed like that would be the type of game that might heal some things. Apparently, not entirely, or else A.J. Brown is just wanting to kind of keep this alive and keep us talking about him here.
What I can tell you affirmatively, Rich, is to this point, Yes, Howie Roseman has gotten calls. Howie has told other teams, I'm not trading AJ Brown. Could that change somewhere in the next couple of weeks? Never say never, but just knowing the history of Howie Roseman, and particularly when you're talking about a team that's the defending champs that still has designs on repeating as the Super Bowl champs, the only way that you trade away your number one wide receiver is if you can pull off another trade and acquire a different number one wide receiver. There's some receivers that are available right now in trades, but none of those guys are AJ Brown.
You know, we'll see how this evolves over the next 11 days. Right now, All you've got to read into is, like I said, the Instagram comments and the speculation. I've got nothing firm to say AJ Brown is going to be traded. Never say never, but at this point, it doesn't seem like that's in the cards.
Okay.
So what other games are of note here? that I could ask you Jaden Daniels hamstring, not long term, but long enough to. Rule him out of a Monday night game, middle of this week. What's the scoop there for Washington? They need him, Tom.
I mean, let's be straight up. I mean, I know Mariota is somebody who can be stopgap, but this is it. Like, rubber's soon meeting the road on a season. Here.
Well, and you're, and yeah, you're three and four, and you're going to face a Chiefs team that looks like they once again might be the best team in the AFC. And you've got a defense that hasn't been stopping anyone. Oh, yeah, going up against the healthiest and most full-strength Chiefs team they've had, particularly with Rashi Rice back in the lineup. But with Jaden Daniels, the idea was if you're trying to push through the hamstring and get out on the field, that's different than going through a two-week rehab protocol here and focusing on the rehab. They just want to take that option off the table at the start of the week, have Jaden rehabbing the injury.
My understanding, and Dan Quinn has alluded to this publicly: it's a very low-grade hamstring injury. But when you're talking about a quarterback who uses his legs like Jaden does, he's a very good pocket passer, but he does use that mobility. You run the risk if you go out there even eight days later of popping something and all of a sudden now you're looking at an IR stint because you made it worse. They just want to focus on him getting healthy.
So you're going to have to try to find a way with Marcus Mariota. The best news, if you're a Commanders fan, is Terry McLaurin, Debo Samuel were full participants in practice. On Thursday. It has been a while since either of those guys were practicing that much. That would seem, and listen, you know, with Terry McLaurin, there's been no setbacks, but he got into last week and everyone thought he was going to play, and then he has decided he wasn't there.
You know, we'll see how that plays out through the course of the week. But again, full participation seems to have him on track. And Debo, after taking last week off, because that heel pain just got so bad, both those guys should be out there. That makes a difference. We'll see.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see some things, whether it's schematically or personnel-wise on defense that are a little bit different. For Washington this week, they're going to have to throw something at a Chiefs' offense that, like I said, is really looking like they're gathering steam right now.
So, McLaurin, yes. Debo, yes. Um Jaden Daniels, no. For Monday, as we know. That is what it appears to be.
Not firm yet on Terrier Debo, whether or not they have a setback during the week, but seems like those guys are going to get back. We got a lot of quarterback stuff, Rich, going on through the course of this week. Michael Pennix Jr. also, he had the injury last week, and there was a lot of confusion. Raheem Morris kind of got misquoted in his press conference.
People speculated at the foot, was at the ankle. My understanding is Michael Pennix Jr. has a bone bruise in his knee. That's where the injury is.
Some things got lost in translation there. Doesn't sound like it's any type of a major deal. Full expectation that he's going to be able to play on Sunday against the Dolphins, but you know, keep an eye on that. Does that impact him in terms of the types of things they want to do with him? Again, not a guy who's a big runner, but he does, you know, have functional mobility.
If that's limited at all, then one thing the Dolphins defense does have is they do have pass rushers.
So that's worth keeping an eye on. And then Bryce Young as the Panthers go into a game against the Bills. I reported on Monday, it's a high ankle sprain. Not expected to play this week. The Panthers have said he.
Day today, but has not practiced at all Wednesday and Thursday. They want to keep the door open until the last second, but seems like we're going to see Andy Dalton against the Bills on Sunday for a Panthers team. That right now, they got a lot going for him. Rich, first time we're at mid-season, you're talking about Carolina. I mean, they're game back in the NFC South right now.
They're a very relevant team, but now going up against the Bills team that seems to be getting healthier. They're coming off the buy. I think that's going to be a really interesting one to watch on Sunday. And then you didn't even mention Lamar. Does that mean we're expecting him?
I know Ben Johnson said this week for a Bears team on a four-game win streak that they're planning for Lamar and they'll just adjust. To Snoop or Cooper Rush, which is probably a wise game plan. Is it Lamar? We got him. I always hesitate to speak definitively on Lamar Jackson because there have been weeks where he doesn't do anything all week because he's sick or because he's banged up, whatever, and then he plays.
He is just a bit of a wild card. What I would point to is John Harbaugh said before the buy, coming out of the buy, they expect Lamar to play this week. Lamar has been on the practice field, albeit limited, the past couple of days. I would be surprised sitting here right now if Lamar does not play on Sunday against the Bears. We'll get the final injury report.
They could list him as questionable, but based upon what I know and what they have admitted or acknowledged publicly to this point, I believe Lamar will be back for a big game. I mean, you got to get this one on Sunday against the Bears. If you lose, you're one and six and you effectively have to run the table. They got a lot of guys back. Roquan Smith is back.
That's huge for the defense as well.
So it seems like if the Ravens are going to make a run, they're going to be as close to full strength as they've been this entire season. Yeah, if you look at the research packet we get from the top-notch NFL. Film Network research staff, and I'm sure you do, Tom. Uh 'cause you're a professional. Um there are in uh the Um history of the Playoffs since 1990.
The number of one in six teams to make playoffs is zero. Percent zero. out of 91, it's never happened, two in five, 6.3%. The chances become dumb and dumber a little bit higher with a wind, you know?
So, before I let you go, my weekly question. Who who who's uh blowing up your phone? I shouldn't say that. My weekly question, which team are those who blow up your phone. interested about.
wanted some tea spilled about. Who's what's the scuttlebutt?
So let me let me give you two answers on this. The first one, since we are coming up on the trade deadline here, the main question that GMs and others in position to make trades have been asking me is why is it so boring in the trade market right now? We are 11 days out. There's not been a trade in over two weeks, which granted, there was a time not that long ago where there just weren't a lot of NFL trades.
Now there are, and there's been this lull for the past couple of weeks. And what I would point to is that the teams that would be logical sellers just aren't in a position right now where they want to sell. That's the Jets, who, by the way, have a buy next week.
So I would assume that after this game, that's where they have some discussions about what direction they want to go. The Raiders are on a buy right now. They're just not in sell mode. The Titans are certainly making people available, but they're trying to get Cam Ward going as well. In other words, the macro answer to this is there just is not that much of an urgency from a sell standpoint, combined with a lot of the teams that bought last year.
Have had some buyer's remorse because if you think about the highest profile trades that we saw a year ago, and granted, wide receiver is always a tough position to trade for in season because of the integration period and the rhythm and timing and tempo that's tough to microwave mid-season. But the biggest trades were Devontae Adams. didn't work out at all. Amari Cooper went to Buffalo, and I don't fault the Bills for making that trade, but Amari did not play well the rest of that season. Then Deontay Johnson was such a mess that they ended up having to cut him before then reclaiming him so they get a comp pick.
But that's an entirely different story. In other words, a lot of the big trades that we saw last year just didn't pay off.
So everybody on both the buy and sell standpoints seem to be moving a little slower. I do think that when you get into next week and some of those sell teams, Cleveland has a buy in week nine as well. Maybe some of those teams, even though Cleveland's already made a bunch of trades, they kind of got ahead of the game here. You might see a little bit more action starting as we get past this weekend of games. The other thing.
that I want to say Rich and it's less about though certainly some people bring it up But I heard a lot about it on the broadcast last night. And I see a lot of it on social media. And it is the question, and it's a fair one, when you see those side-by-side graphics of Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones, and you hear over and over again: how could the Vikings have let these guys walk? Boy, they must really be regretting letting those guys walk. I think Kirk Herbstreet last night said it's buyer's remorse.
Let's just take a quick review, and hopefully, I've got a couple of minutes here. Let me take a quick review. of the Vikings quarterback approach through this offseason. The guiding light of everything they were doing was they believe in JJ McCarthy. They drafted him at number 10 last year.
They believe he's going to be the starting quarterback sooner than later.
So, whatever they did in terms of adding another quarterback, it needed to meet a couple criteria. One, it couldn't be so expensive. That is Hindered other roster building. Namely, they felt like they needed to rebuild and get bigger, more physical on the interior offensive and defensive lines. And number two, it couldn't be such a commitment that it effectively stalled the progress of J.J.
McCarthy. So they did make an offer to. to Sam Dardold. It was a shorter term. Type of an offer.
There was a point at which, because of the way the quarterback Dominoes were falling, it was not clear that Sam Darnold was going to get a big offer in free agency. And ultimately, even the deal he ended up signing with Seattle wasn't like an off-the-charts, top-of-market type deal, like you might see under other circumstances for a guy who just went 14 and 3, is still young, and is playing the best football of his life. Then the Seahawks saw an opportunity, they trade Geno Smith, they get a third-round pick, and then they also acquired Sam Darnold for less money than Geno wanted from them. That's how he ends up there. Plan B then was let's re-sign.
Daniel Jones. And they had a comparable offer on the table, very similar to what the Colts ended up giving Daniel Jones. But what they found out was Daniel Jones was actually leaning toward going to Indianapolis and effectively thought that his opportunity was better there.
So they pulled their offer from Daniel Jones. And at that point, it was abundantly clear Daniel Jones would have been a short-term type of solution in Minnesota. It's now going to be J.J. McCarthy's team. Obviously, the third thing that comes up is Aaron Rodgers expressing interest in coming to Minnesota.
That was certainly something that they at least talked about, as you tend to do with a four-time NFL MVP quarterback. But again, they felt like that was going to be something that was going to stand in the way of the development of J.J. McCarthy. All of which brings me to.
Some of the posts I was seeing last night basically being like, just throw JJ out there. It's going to be bad. If it's bad, just get rid of him and bring in something new for 2026. Aren't we literally having the conversation right now about other teams giving up on quarterbacks about Baker's doing now, what Darnold's doing now, and Daniel Jones? They're trying to do something, Rich, that's out that's unorthodox and outside the box and frankly uncomfortable for a lot of people.
Why isn't JJ playing? Because Kevin O'Connell doesn't think that's the right thing right now. This week, he's finally close to full health on that ankle. He's going to get an actual week of work. Let's see what J.J.
McCarthy does for the rest of the season and then revisit all those conversations. But they didn't just let these guys walk. They didn't say we don't need you. They tried on some level to bring those guys back. Ultimately, good for Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones.
They picked the right spots for them. They're winning games, you know, and putting themselves in position to make a lot more money for years to come. I'd have given you more time, but you wasted time saying hello to everybody before. I got to run. Tom Pellisera, everybody.
He's just too nice a guy. Too nice a guy. We'd get more information if he wasn't so damn nice. We're back in a moment. We're on the Rich Isaac show.
That was that was recorded. The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast.
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We all love good news. Love it. You're on the program. We'll talk about the Chargers later on. I know I promised I'd talk on the back end here about it, but.
We'll do that after Izzo, if you don't mind, prior to our Prior to our uh what's more likely segment? But uh we learned today the list of contributors that have reached a finalist stage for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We all know that there's Players that are Uh eligible. for enshrinement and then there's a veterans committee for players that have pass their, if you will, eligibility for enshrinement just to get voted in? Fresh off of their playing days.
And the contributors are Usually there's coaches list as well. Right. And then the contributors, owners and others. And the list that was released today. Howard Kosell's on that list.
Some big names. I know. John Fessenda's on that list. I believe Virginia McCasky is on that list, correct? Yeah, she is.
Rooney Jr. is on that list. Bob Kraft. Bob Kraft, who we talked about with Mike Vrabel yesterday. How are these some of these people not already answered?
I know that question. But, you know, here's one. Finalist. Amy Trusk. Ah, yes.
The Princess of Darkness. The one who was standing next to Al Davis every single time I met her for the first time. at owners' meetings. And she scared the ever-loving crap out of me. When they walked in.
to an owner's meeting. Honestly, the Imperial March music should have been played. And But that's just a facade.
Well, I mean, I shouldn't say that. It it's part and parcel of who she is. But she is one of the warmest, most delightful people. I'm getting emotional talking about it. Yeah, it's right.
You know, obviously, she and Susie doing a podcast, What the Football Here last couple of years. Um and um She deserves it. She absolutely deserves it. Raiders fans know it. And uh I'm so excited that she was named as a A finalist.
For the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it is so well deserved. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
