REShow: Tyler Lockett - Hour 1

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Wise move. Today's guests. Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett from the Showtime drama Your Honor. Actor Brian Cranston, NBC Sports Boston Patriots insider Tom Curran.

Bucks wide receiver Mike Evans. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Yes.

Yes. We're on the air. It's a Friday. It's on the air. And the it is The Rich Eisen Show.

That's an odd way of opening a program, but I don't care if this is the way I'm feeling. I'm feeling it. Super wild card weekend starts tomorrow. Wild card weekend has arrived. We're here live on the Roku channel to talk about it.

It starts tomorrow, ends Monday night. And on Monday night football, Mike Evans. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to take on the Dallas Cowboys. Mike Evans scheduled to join us hour number three of this program. And scheduled to join us on Monday.

Micah Parsons. We're fair and balanced. We got football. One and done football.

It starts in the soggy climbs of Santa Clara, California. Tyler Lockett and the Seattle Seahawks and all their house money are coming to the field of jeans. Trying to make it a nightmare. And a one and done Brock Purdy. Nice job, Brock.

Take a seat. That's what the Seahawks want to do. Before that, Tyler Lockett joins us 20 minutes on this program. We also got Bryan Cranston making his way to the studio today. He'll be here on this program today. Be good times with one of our favorite guests and one of the greatest human beings to grace a television screen.

Fact. And a silver screen. Emmy Award winning Academy Award nominated Bryan Cranston here in studio. And Tommy Curran's going to join us. Tommy Curran's going to join us because there was a press release that came out of New England. One Patriot Drive or whatever they call it right there.

And I've I've never I've never seen anything quite like it from New England. We'll hit that with Tom Carne in a second as well. Good to see you over there, Christopher Brockman.

How are you? Rich Bobcraft hears me. I have been talking loud all year. Hold on a minute. Hold on to that. Hold on to that thought.

Put a pin in it. You got it. I will give you the floor on that subject matter very soon. Thank you. DJ Mikey D is in D's nuts. Good to see you, sir. Good to see you. Second straight week of a full week of the Rich Eisen Show. Second straight week wearing pants.

Yes. Good to see you over there, Mike. TJ Jefferson has the candle been lit, sir. Candle was lit.

It's on fire right now. Friday. Let's do this. Fantastic. Fantastic. We're on the air. It's great time.

OK. Code five. So there's some interesting things happening afoot in the National Football League just in time for a super wildcard weekend. Two missives, one on Twitter, one straight out for press release. OK, let's start with the tweet.

Let's do it. We know exactly what ails Lamar Jackson right now because Lamar tweeted out himself. This one came out shortly after we went off the air yesterday. Lamar Jackson letting us all know what's going on with his knee. And it is no bueno.

He tweets out. Thank you, everyone, for your support and concerns regarding my injuries. I want to give you all an update as I'm in the recovery process. I've suffered a PCL grade two sprain on the borderline of a strain three.

There is still inflammation surrounding my knee and my knee remains unstable. I'm in good spirits as I continue with treatments on the road to recovery. I wish I could be out there with my guys more than anything, but I can't give 100 percent of myself to my guys and fans. I'm still hopeful we still have a chance. And I'm imagining the chances to play in Sunday night's super wildcard weekend triple header capper.

On NBC, we had Mike Torrico on earlier this week to talk about it. Ravens at Bengals. And it sure looks like Tyler Huntley. And if he can't go because he didn't go last week and I proffer to say he didn't go last week to make sure he was healthy. He was a set. He was. They sat him down fully aware that Lamar might not be back for Sunday night football or at the time they knew.

For a trip to Cincinnati, most likely. And this is not good news. I said it earlier this week and I know I'm not going on a very long, thin limb here. A totally like the Ravens need this guy, maybe more than they've needed or ever needed him before, because their wide receiving core is, as Stuart Scott would call it, spandex then. And Mark Andrews is absolutely the guy that the Bengals are circling in their defensive meetings this week. Like that's the one guy. Let's just cover him and cover him and then make sure Dobbins doesn't run all over us with Gus Edwards.

We're good. Joe. Jamar. Tyler T. Joe. The other Joe. Mixon. Hey, give us 21.

24. We'll get through it. Lamar shows up.

Different story. Your head's on a swivel. You don't you don't know who's got the football.

That's when the Ravens are at their best. Who's got it? Who's got it? Dobbins have it? Does Edwards have it? Does anybody else that's probably not on your fantasy team all year long have it? Who's got it?

We don't know who has it. Oh, that guy's got it. He's wide open down the field. That's their offense.

That's it. And then they play defense and they let Roquan Smith, who is going to be playing his first playoff game. And by the way, his first game is a professional. Pizzade.

Paid. Is how he shows up in his first playoff game. Boy, do they need Lamar. And now that you hear this, you're like, man. This Raven season is in trouble, despite how good their coach is or despite how good some of their skilled players and defensive players are.

Got to have Lamar. That's simple. End of story.

It looks like they're not going to get him. That's one way to look at this tweet. These two tweets. The other one is.

Why are you letting us know about this? Every aspect of Lamar's season will inform what happens this offseason again. I think he's going to get franchise tagged at the end of the day. And I say that is that's the way the Ravens aren't going to let him walk.

They don't want him to walk. I mean, they have reconfigured their entire organization to revolve around number eight offensively, everything else. And the everything else is also to make sure that nobody says a crossword or could even have it construed as a crossword about Lamar Jackson. Not a whiff coming out of Baltimore that this longer than expected hiatus is contract related or in any way shape or form related to anything that Lamar has done or not done or hasn't done hard enough or isn't willing to do hard enough. Nothing. The Ravens have kept it quiet in a way.

Few fewer teams, let's put it that way, will coordinate. And he's putting it out there about his injury information. Because I don't know, is that because he's wondering what the fans are thinking? Hey, I want all the fans to know somebody around him is just like, you got to let everyone know what it is, Lamar. Because for anybody out there talking about you not wanting to do it because it's money related or you not wanting to do it because you're concerned about the the need long term, got to get it out there. Because it certainly isn't the Ravens putting it out there.

And if any of you out there are thinking, you know, this is an unfair way to look at it. Lamar's just being himself and putting himself out there in a way that a team definitely doesn't want. NFL teams, coaching staffs, do not want this type of information out there. It informs too much for the opposition, should Lamar go. And also, they've done, I mean, everything publicly and again from what I'm hearing privately to keep this information quiet so Lamar can just do his thing and get back whenever he can.

And if anybody out there is thinking, you know, there's no criticism that is worthy of me sending direction of Lamar for tweeting this stuff out. What if Big Ben had done it? What if Ben Roethlisberger, who spent, you know, a decade and a half plus Hall of Fame years, first Ballot Hall of Fame years in the NFL, number of times he would get ripped non-stop because he's way too eager to let you know just how hurt he is. So when he comes back, you're like, well, that's a superhuman effort or what have you.

Well, look at him. Right? So just as a visual, we have the same presentation, radio audience, on our Roku channel feed of the tweets as if Big Ben had tweeted them out. What if Ben had tweeted out, oh, by the way, great job on Mike Hoskins to change the purple hearts to steal her yellow hearts. Well done, Hoskins. The devil is in the details, isn't it?

Look at that. What if Ben had tweeted out, oh, my knee, it's got a grade two bordering on a great, strange three. And, you know, I've got, it's still inflamed. I'm in good spirits, though. You know, wish I could be out there with my guys more than anything, but I can't give 100% of myself to my guys and fans. Still hopeful. Might be out there. I mean, this is just a juicy steak dinner for all the Ben Bashers, like myself, to kind of go after. Wouldn't wouldn't you go? Wouldn't everyone go after Ben for doing that?

We all know there's levels, man. Some people have earned better favor than others, like the Skip Bayless tweet. It went nuts and people hated it because it was him. Had someone else had a different, you know, maybe massaged it differently and put it out. It would not have caused an uproar. That's why sometimes because Ben doesn't have that favor in Lamar. No question. No question about it.

Could this be the beginning of something else? That's the whole thing with Lamar and the Ravens right now. That would be obviously quieted in two seconds flat if he shows up, balls out in Cincinnati and sends the defending AFC champions home one and done.

On Sunday night, whole country watching. Sure doesn't look like that's going to be the case. And that's a damn shame. That's a damn shame. I just wanted to give you those two ways of looking at it. One in which is like damn shame.

And two, it's like, well, what is that? And how will that inform the Ravens as they move along long term? Or is it an indication that Lamar isn't comfortable with the way the Ravens are handling him? I mean, that's a fair question to ask because the Ravens have put it out there that I mean, everything John Harbaugh has said is like, I'm not with the rehab team. He's with the rehab team. And when I hear from the rehab team, he's ready to practice.

Boy, will I be excited. In the meantime, have you ever heard the coach say that? No, no, of course. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like I'm just coaching the team doctors.

Tell me when somebody is available and I'll plug him in. Absolutely. And then you also hear, you know, he's in good spirits. I mean, he's he's covering the bases for Lamar. We love him. I will always love him. And then he tweets out exactly what's wrong with his knee.

It's it is it is kind of like a an eyebrow archer. And then in the same way, we just discussed a tweet. That a player sent out that I'm sure a team's not thrilled about. Let's talk about a press release the team sent out and I'm sure the coach may have signed off on.

Wasn't his idea. I'm telling you, folks, when this press release came from New England on Thursday, this to me was like an absolute meteor flashing across the sky. And it could be a comet, you know, like once in a once in a 100 year comet across the sky. It's just a two sentence press release with a headline. And I'll read it to you. Patriots to extend Gerard Mayo will begin interviewing for an offensive coordinator. By the way, very rare semicolon. Yeah, very rare semicolon in the title. And then the Dateline, Foxborough, Massachusetts. I went full hacksaw on you. The New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick have begun contract extension discussions with Gerard Mayo that will keep him with the team long term.

In addition, the team will begin interviewing for offensive coordinator candidates beginning next week. Oh, gosh. Now, then. Here we go.

First of all, let me do a victory lap real quick. The fact that you see. A title associated with a coaching position. In writing for New England. Is.

Absolutely mind blowing to the point in case in point, put the put that up one more time, if you don't mind. Mr. Hoskins, they refer in the first statement. They refer in the first line of the statement to begun contract extensions with Gerard Mayo.

That will keep him with the team long term. Now, if you go back in the time machine, you can be referring to the player, right? Huh?

Right. Or or at this point, if you don't know anyone who's on the coaching staff, it's just like, who is your odd male? Like, OK, it's just some guy that found on the, you know, walking down from from the mall next door. You just showed up.

No, no, no, no. Who is your odd man? Does he have a title? What's his title? They leave it out because there are no titles associated with coach. They can sign him as a defensive coordinator.

I think he was technically like the linebackers. What do you sign him is like what? What? What are you interviewing him for?

What are you extending him for? They don't put a title on there, but there is a title offensive coordinator. I saw this. I'm like, whoa.

Because this reeks. Of the man atop the flow chart. Calling in. I'm just calling in the HC and saying, hey.

Love you. What was that this year? But what was that this year? Yeah. Who was calling the plays and what we were doing? And I I'm reading lips about the quick game and you know, and the fans.

One answers. And in the last 20 something years, the answer has been in Bill. We trust from top to bottom. And the fact that they put out a press release, not only saying, hey, fans who want Gerard Mayo to stick around here and not be interviewed as head coaching positions.

And anywhere else you see in places. We're going to hold on to him, but we'll put at the end there. We're interviewing offensive coordinator candidates. Like we're going to call it a title.

And it's just going to be like everywhere else where there's a an individual. That we know. Has been hired to coordinate the offense. And this is what we're going to call him. We're not going to figure out during training camp who's calling the plays and leave this whole business that we saw in August this year as to who is it? Who is it? Is it a former defensive coordinator? Is it a former special teams coach? Now, we're going to get somebody who has a track record of coordinating offenses calling plays. We're going to hire that individual and call them this title. And this will be acknowledged. By the New England Patriots. As such, we will refer to this person with a title. And when I'm assuming asked, is this person the offensive coordinator that you hired? Like, let's put it this way.

It's been so crazy. And this is the way it goes. This is what you get with the greatest coach in the history of the NFL. Being your coach. That when this person is hired. And it comes out in any press release. That so-and-so has been hired as the new offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots.

It will require. And it will be our press conference moment that day. It will require a direct question from a member of the New England media to the head coach who hired this offensive coordinator to acknowledge from his mouth. That this person is, in fact, the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots.

And has been, in fact, hired to call the place and run that side of the football as one would expect of an individual with the title of offensive coordinator. That moment will have to come, Chris. And you know, it's a flip of the coin as to whether he will acknowledge it publicly.

I know because like personally out of his mouth. I know that it's going to be Mike Reese probably to ask the question. Could be Tom Carney joining us in an hour. Could be Tom. Usually it's Mike in these cases.

So just or Ben Volan, maybe one of those two guys like good luck. Good luck to you. And I hope we get the right answer. I'm just glad that RKK has heard my pleas. It sounds like this is exactly what it is, Chris.

Yesterday, I think was my favorite day of the 2022 NFL season as a Patriots fan. Right. Bob, every single. Not being in playoff position. Absolutely.

Absolutely not. Despite all that we're talking about. I wish we had lost every game to have a better draft pick. All I'm saying is every week I would come out here after an offensive stinker and say there's still time to fire these guys.

And it looks like we're finally going to get there. I'm sure they're not going to be gone. But they're not going to be involved in the offense. And it's I don't know about that either.

Fantastic. Put Joe Judge back on special teams. That special teams that gave up to kick off return could have still been there. It's not like he he didn't.

But nobody knows. But now we know whether it's Bill O'Brien or Cliff Kingsbury or somebody else, they're going to be running the offense and calling the plays. And Mac Jones can go back to looking like the Pro Bowler. He was in his rookie season or they're done with him, too.

And if that's the case, then Mac, best of luck. You know, you did you did all you could for us and we're on to somebody else. But hallelujah.

Robert Kraft going in and reminding Bill who signs the check. I think this is what it sounds like to me. And I don't think that's that is an exaggeration. I feel like this is an overreaction Monday.

That's not an overreaction. I can't like honestly, that press release is like a comet flying across the sky that we will never see again. Not in our lifetime. Yeah, not in Bill's reign as you know, leading this team.

Wow. And it sounds like Gerard Mayo might be head coach and waiting like it. We don't keep him here in the long term.

That's what that sounds like to me. Let's go. But he's being he's being retained to do what? What's his title? I don't know what his title, but whoever's coming in is the offensive coordinator. Right.

My favorite day of the season. Wow. 844-204 Rich number to dial. Tom Curran is going to join us in 40 minutes to make heads or tails of this. Our number two also Brian Cranston. Cannot wait.

Celebrity true or false. We've been we got it all queued up. It's going to be dynamite. He's just such a wonderful human.

Our three Mike Evans at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What's more likely as well, but coming up next Tyler Lockett and the Seattle Seahawks are going to San Francisco, Santa Clara to try and one and done the two seated Niners. Can't wait to chat with this guy when we come back on the Rich Eisen show. Great season to coming up. Catch up with season one or start season two on YouTube or wherever you listen. 844-204 Rich is the number to dial right here on the Rich Eisen show on the Roku Channel and so much more and the so much more includes the Rich Eisen show radio network powered by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry.

Grainger has the right product for you call click Grainger.com or just stop by. House money in Seattle being put on a plane with the rest of the equipment of the Seattle Seahawks and heading to Santa Clara San Jose Airport. The Seattle Seahawks moving in for a big game against the San Francisco 49ers who they got swept by including Brock Purdy and joining us here right now on the Rich Eisen show in advance.

One of our favorites is getting ready for I believe his sixth postseason with the Seattle Seahawks. Our friend Tyler Locket back here on the Rich Eisen show. How you doing Tyler? I'm doing pretty good man. How you doing?

I am doing great. I mean, this is your fifth trip to the playoffs and maybe the most unexpected I would say Tyler. I mean, how satisfying is this obviously I know there's unfinished business, but the fact that this team has made the playoffs after the everything that went on in the offseason preseason everyone predicting this that and this everything else for you Tyler, you know, I think I think it's just shows the type of group that we have as a unit, you know, a lot of people had opinions a lot of people said a bunch of things about it. How we were going to be how many games we were going to win or how many we were going to lose. I think the biggest thing is just for us as a team like that a lot of the bond more together.

It allowed us to be able to just go out there and play free. Like we really didn't have anything to lose. We more so have everything to gain just in general because nobody had any expectations of us and I mean if you want to be honest, it's so it feels so refreshing to be able to play when people don't have any expectations on you. It's like, you know, they expect you to make mistakes. They expect you to lose they expect you not to make it a game. And so for us, it's like, okay. Well, let's just go out there and play and let's just see what can happen. And I guess the phrase the words that Geno Smith used way back in September is kind of a mantra for this team that you know folks wrote him off, but he didn't write back, you know, it's kind of the entire team one would say right Tyler.

Yeah, I mean, I agree man. I just I think like the biggest thing about sometimes within the media is everything is opinion-driven and you know, and sometimes they don't understand how a team is made and they don't understand what a team can look like and what they can do and you know when people buy-in when we understand the system when we learn the system, it doesn't matter, you know, like none of that stuff really matters. And so I think for us like we had to really buy-in and understand what is it that you know our coaches want us to learn about the system or the new defense that we're learning and stuff like that. And you know, this was our second year learning Shane Waldron system and you know, the more and more that we were able to understand it and learn and play in it. It became a little bit more easier to be able to go out there and play rather than us, you know, the kind of go out there and kind of think things through or figure out if we were doing things right.

So I mean, I think just time allowed us to continue to learn how to be better for one another. That said, the Seahawks still needed some help to get into the playoffs. Walk me through your Sunday night football watching party.

If there was, what was that? Once we were able to get past the Rams, that was a crazy game just in general, but you know, it's always cool to win in overtime on a game when it's field goal and stuff. But yeah, once the game was over, I was able to go home.

I was with my fiancé and my mom, great grandma and I, and we were just sitting in the living room. At first I didn't know if we were going to watch the game and then I was like, you know what, let me just watch the game because he had something that really like stuck with me. He was like, you know, we ended off on a good note. Either we're prepared for next season, you know, the way that we just finished or if we get another chance, we'll take advantage of that in the playoffs. And so it kind of let a lot of the nerves go where I could just watch the game and understand like don't get mad at certain plays, just let the game play out. And if we're supposed to be in there, we're going to be in there.

And so I was definitely cheering when DJ Shark ended up catching that little stick route to win the game. And so you were surrounded by family. Did you have your phone out? Are you texting any of your colleagues, your comrades during the game or no?

You don't do that. Oh, man, like I think I called Quandre in the game, maybe like the third quarter, I think. And you know, after that, my dad called me whenever they got the four down conversion. I called Gino like, I mean, it was a great feeling because sometimes like man, when you need something to happen or you need a team to lose, it just seemed like that never happened. It was just kind of cool, you know, just growing up, you know, it's just kind of cool to finally see like, okay, like we won, now we need this team to win. Oh, this team won, we in, you know what I mean?

So it's better when you can control your destiny, but it was a really cool feeling to kind of see it play out, you know, for us. Tyler Lockett here on the Rich Eisen Show. And I could ask you, you know, what Pete does. I mean, you just mentioned how he even said something sending you home after that win over the Rams to keep your season alive and needing some help and how he said, hey, either we've just finished up strong to prepare for next year or we'll take advantage of an opportunity in the playoffs if we get it. Now that kind of calmed your nerves in a way or set your mind right. But it really is, and I witnessed this in Munich being around the team for that game against the Bucks prior to that game, and I know you didn't win, but it really is just a philosophy or just an emotion or attitude that he has that everybody acts just chill or themselves and bouncing off the walls. There was this video this week that went viral over the last 24 hours. I don't know if you saw it, Tyler, where Gino's doing the gritty and then Pete comes zipping around the corner on a scooter, you know, and it's just like, you know, like a circus, but that's the way it is there every day, right?

Like I can already hear it in the background and the phone call. Yeah, I mean, you know, I think Pete does a great job making it real fun and he created an atmosphere where you can be yourself and just bring who you are to the facility every single day. You know, one of the biggest things just about being a Seahawks and being here is you got to be able to learn how to be self-motivated and self-driven because sometimes you can get lost in all of that and you forget why you're even here.

So you got to be able to understand how to provide structure for yourself and how to be able to like, you know, keep each other accountable so that we don't get lost in the fun and the atmosphere that Pete tries to create because, you know, that's what makes this an amazing place and when you can balance that out, you learn how to have fun, you learn how to compete and you learn how to be able to win not only just in the victories, but you learn how to win even in the losses and stuff like that because you start learning how to be able to capitalize off of the mistakes that you made, you start learning how to be able to overcome things and so, you know, a lot of people don't understand you can win and still lose, you know, so, you know, we just try to look into everything in a depth way to where it helps us learn how to be better. But I imagine you also got to have your head on a swivel because the coach scooter could come around the corner at any time, right? Is he on that all the time?

What do you mean? Is he on the scooter all the time, coach? Because you got to, you know, you could just zip around the corner at any moment in time, you got to have your head on a swivel walking around, I'd imagine. Oh, yeah. I mean, there's times where you got to keep your head on a swivel but for the most part, like, you know, when you're on the scooter, you're kind of like going in hallways and stuff where most players aren't, you know, walking through, so it makes it easier. It just so happens we've probably been in the indoor and we all came out right where the scooter was coming. That's amazing.

What a video that is. I got Tyler Lockett here on the Rich Eisen Show. What about your role? This is, as I mentioned at the top of this conversation, post-season number six for you. Last time we spoke during the season, we established you're the OG there at that facility. So what are you going to counsel your teammates as you go take on San Francisco for a third time? You're opening up the post-season for the entire league, those two teams, this game on Saturday. What's your counsel for the rest of your teammates? I mean, honestly, I don't really know.

I haven't thought about it. You know, I think that, you know, I think everybody's ready. You know, we know that we're playing one of the best teams in the NFC. We played them twice and they beat us.

You know, I think all the motivation is there. We understand that they have a phenomenal defense. We understand, you know, the type of offense that they do and how things have been clicking.

I think they've won like nine straight. And so, I mean, we already know what we're up against. We know that this is a divisional opponent. I think, you know, right now it's just us being able to just calm the nerves down, just being able to play, understanding that, you know, we got another chance. But, you know, at the same time, I mean, nobody really expected us to be here outside of our building. Like, we believe that we can get here within our building. And so, I mean, you know, it's not like we have a lot of pressure on us or anything.

So, I mean, we're just going to go out there and just play free and let the chips fall where the chips fall. And how proud are you of Geno? I know I'm asking a question that gives you the opportunity to gush, but you've been there. You've been around him.

As he said, don't call the comeback. He's been there. He just had an opportunity finally. And he's, you know, going to be a playoff quarterback here for the Seattle Seahawks.

So, I'll give you the floor on Geno. Yeah, I think Geno's played amazing. I think he's done so many amazing things. You know, you guys have all seen him make tremendous throws, make plays with his legs. I think, you know, some of the biggest things that I could think of, some of those big calm moments for me, was just the fact that if you've seen him throw interceptions, it was like he never missed a beat. You know, he came back and he will lead us to a touchdown.

Or, you know, he would just do so many amazing things after that. And people don't understand that it's so hard to be able to make, you know, not so good of a play. And sometimes that stuff can stick with you the rest of the game or even weeks. But it's like you don't see him flinch. He just, he lets it go and he keeps on playing. He keeps throwing no matter what.

And, you know, it's games like this last game we played versus the Rams where you understand that, man, if this dude didn't go flinched, then there's no need for any of us to flinch. And so, you know, he's a great leader, a great teammate, and really happy just for him to be able to get his shot. He's ran with it. And I think he's, like, done a great job in being able to balance out the stuff that the media said from the very beginning to the stuff of how all the tables turn now. And, you know, he got a chance to become a Pro Bowler.

Like, there's just so many amazing things that he's done. But, I mean, he's prepared for his moment. Sam, what about you, Tyler? As we wrap this conversation up right here, you know, you've been in the league since 2015.

Here it is, 2023. What's it going to, you think, going to be going through your mind? Anthem's playing. You're getting ready to go out there in a playoff game against the 49ers, whole country watching.

What do you got for me on that one, Tyler? I mean, for me, it's just, you know, be the best teammate that I could be. And, you know, whatever it is that I got to do to be able to help my team that game, that's what I'm going to be willing to do.

Sometimes you got to be able to sacrifice, you know, the individual stuff for the betterment of the team. But, you know, at the same time, it's like I said, we don't have anything to lose. And so, you know, for us, we just going to go out there and have fun.

We're going to enjoy it. At the end of the day, it's just a football game. You know, we understand that it's the playoffs. But, you know, you can't make the playoffs bigger than what it is to where we start playing outside our normal framework.

You got to be able to just go out there and just play. And, you know, you understand that no one's guaranteed another week to be able to play. You know, that's decided after the game. And so for us, we just going to go play.

And like I said, we just going to see what ends up happening. Tyler Lockett, you take care of yourself. Always appreciate the time and our conversations. I always enjoy it just like I did this one. Good luck to you on Saturday. Thank you, man. Happy New Year. Right back at you. Right back at you. Tyler Lockett at TD Lockett 12 on Twitter and Instagram right here on The Rich Eisen Show.

So, you can listen to the NFL and the NFL app on the Odyssey app on westwoodonesports.com via Westwood One Station streams or by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports sponsored by AutoZone. So, what did you make of that, Christopher? Guys? Guys?

Anything? What did you make of that? No, I mean, look, Seattle's had a tremendous season, one that it was unexpected, to be honest. I mean, heading into the year, we were talking about them, you know, kind of being at the top of the draft board when we watched them play in the preseason. And, you know, they just do it again because what? Pete's a hell of a coach.

He sure is. They get players who buy in. And they get players who fit what he wants to do.

Exactly. And Kenneth Walker ended up being maybe Offensive Rookie of the Year. And Geno Smith had the season of a lifetime.

Mike, think about it. He is their all-time single-season passing leader now. That is unbelievable. The dude hasn't played in eight years. And he got great players around him like Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf.

Yeah. And a good offensive line. And look, here they are, a playoff team. And now anything can happen. And that's the setup for this game that I'm fascinated by is you got a San Francisco team that's played all three quarterbacks.

All three. And normally, when you play all three quarterbacks like the Jets or the Titans, you don't make the playoffs. They played all three quarterbacks. Yeah, and I slag on Kyle Shanahan, but hell of a coaching job out of him. Unbelievable to coach these guys.

Absolutely. And they go into this game with a kid making his first career playoff start and everybody else around them ready to roll because they almost made the Super Bowl last year. And despite the beginning of the season when they lost to the Bears and the Broncos, the 49ers come in on a hot winning streak. And it's going to be raining cats and dogs and it's going to be wild. And that's an exact setting that they lost week one in against the Bears in Chicago.

And that's in a mind's eye. And then you've got Seattle with all the house money coming in. But a team that's lost twice to San Francisco and their last trip to San Francisco was in week two.

And that's when Trey Lance got carted off, brought in Jimmy G, who got carted off. And then they brought in Brock Purdy, who completed the series season sweep of this team. The Niners have the Seahawks number. They should win this football game. And if Seattle doesn't win it. In Geno Smith's first postseason start. If that doesn't happen. Then the worst comes to worse is that their season when nobody expected them to make it, they got in a playoff game and they can start focusing on a draft in which they choose fifth overall. Oh, wow.

Using the pick they got in the first round of this year's draft for Russell Wilson. Wow. Let's take a break. 844-204-rich number to dial phone calls and the news about Mike Williams is even worse than you thought. That's coming up next before Tom Curran joins us and then Bryan Cranston in studio. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, everybody.

Thanks for watching. All right, here's the deal. We in the media, we second guess. That's what we do. We do.

We fully do it. This show likes to look forward. We do have a crystal ball here. It's so damn heavy. But I should have got a much smaller one. I went too big.

I can't even just grab it. We have a Magic 8 ball here. We try our best to see the future, right? But we are who we are. We're part of this animal known as sports talk radio.

And I also have been around coaches. So when I talk about hot seats, it is with real serious care. When I talk about hot seats and when somebody's put themselves in the firing line and things of that nature. You don't like to do that. I like to do it. But it's like families are on the line. I feel the need to set this stuff up.

I do. But this is the time of year where decisions are magnified in winner go home games. It's a week to week league. We are in the week to week portion of this league where there is no other week if you lose a football game. That's it. It's over.

Over. And so when the coach makes a decision and it backfires, it really you really need to make sure ownership believes in you. And if I'm Brandon Staley, I'm getting ready for this game against the Jaguars and people are available or the people are available to you.

But if one of them is not available to you because of a decision you made to make sure he got out there and the guy's injury prone to begin with. And his health, along with others, helped the team string together four straight wins to put them in a position. To make the playoffs, which they then did so well, those four games to do it, that their final game meant nothing when they took the field in Denver last week, it meant nothing. So Mike Williams being helped off last week, everyone's like, what are you doing? What are you doing? Which is the latest decision made by this coach to elicit the question of what are you doing? Even Keenan Allen took to Twitter this year when he decided.

Bizarrely. To go for it in Cleveland. On fourth and, you know, fourth that WTF are we doing? Keenan Allen even tweeted something out while he was injured while he was injured about what the coach was doing on the field.

Like, what are you doing? And that has been a mantra so much for this coach. And he's finally made the playoffs. And so sure enough, we were we were saying Mike Williams is hurt.

And. And you're playing him in the game and Joey Bosa were waiting to see his readiness. And and it's not consistent with what others do, which is play in the entire time that you could push back and say Dallas did it. Philadelphia did it. Philadelphia needed to win the game. Dallas didn't.

But at least Dallas got out unscathed. So, you know, Mike McCarthy doesn't have that second. He's second guessed about everything else. True.

But. The second guess has arrived. In a big way, because Mike Williams has been ruled out and then Tom Pelissero says after initial X-ray and MRI came back negative. Further testing revealed a fracture in his back that he suffered in Denver. What that will likely sign him a couple of weeks per sources. So even if the Chargers go into Jacksonville and without Mike Williams win this game. A trip to Kansas City, potentially, so maybe if they make the Super Bowl, he'd be back.

I don't know. AFC Championship game if they're lucky. You need Mike Williams to beat Kansas City. Chargers fans will tell you that. You know, a couple of years.

Philip Rivers found him multiple times in a big game in Kansas City years ago. Look, the thing that's just really bizarre is this coach doesn't play anybody in the preseason. So you're willing to come out of the gate slow, I guess, knowing you've got a full season to ramp up anyway. But if you're that careful to make sure we're starting healthy, even if we do come out of the gate slow, potentially, we're starting healthy. But finishing healthy, you're now like, we're going to we're going to play guys. That's what we do.

We play football around here. So the second guest is here. Fair or not, it has arrived. And if the Chargers are one and done and Herbert and this team finds themselves points challenged against the team, they only scored 10 points against just one catch for Mike Williams in that loss earlier this year against Jacksonville. So put that in your super wild card weekend pipe and smoke it. Just hopefully she's smoking on bro. Let me hear for the Chargers.

It's just not smoke them if you got them. Hey, Rich, I'm telling you, man, the Chargers are on upset alert. What are you smoking, bro? Give me some, you know, like we have to be unbiased here. But when you said about if the Chargers could go on and take on the Chiefs and then make it to the Super Bowl, I think that was the appropriate time for Magic Johnson to jump in and just let you know that they're not going to be there.

I don't know, man. This team has got a bunch of talented players going into the season. Chargers. Many people had them winning divisions and Herbert being MVP.

And how many moves that they made in the offseason to put them in the mix. So these people, people that forgot that Patrick Mahomes was alive, alive and Patrick Mahomes is lost on his home turf in the playoffs last year. But so all I'm saying, all I'm saying is the Chargers could do it and it would be much more feasible to do it if Mike Williams was healthy.

And it looks like he won't be even for that game based on the decision in week 18. You know, and I hate to do it, certainly with Sean Payton out there. Sean Payton has already said, well, I prefer to coach in Los Angeles. Well, he hasn't said it. Information men and women have said it based on their sources, which is so close to Sean Payton. I don't know.

Close, close. The guy he buys his note from in Manhattan Beach, Mike. I prefer to coach in Los Angeles if possible, but that would be a very bold move. Again, Brandon Stilly is outstanding with the media and you could see he can coach football games and he runs risks and he does elicit the WTF are we doing elicits those statements.

But the guy the guy is not dumb and he's really good at what he does. And he's definitely less expensive than Sean Payton. And, you know, the Spanish family is not known to make moves as wild and expensive as it would be to fire their coach. Hire Sean Payton, acquire him with whatever draft choices is required to give to New Orleans just to get him in the building for as much money as he will command. But if you think he's available and he wants to live there and you could stick him in that stadium and say, you got Justin Herbert now.

If I'm a current coach, I wouldn't do anything, any missteps that would open these doors based on my decision making. All I'm saying. For over 40 years, Jim Ross has been the voice of wrestling. Nobody has stories like Jim Ross, and he shares his tales with co-host Conrad Thompson on Grilling Jr. Vince McMahon was the top heel in the Attitude Era. It was a fresh character. It was new. It was material that we had not seen or heard to that date. We could have created a bigger or better heel. We wanted to make more heels and we tried to make more heels and we did, but nothing compared to Vince. The Grilling Jr. Podcast. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.