REShow: Doug Pederson - Hour 2 (6-2-2023)

This is the Rich Eisen Show. My God, he is so funny. But you know, he is also so serious. Rich Eisen. He's in charge of every detail. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

The actual playing part, I'm definitely tired of getting hit. My least favorite record is the amount of sacks that I've taken in my career. Earlier on the show, Stephen A. Smith. Still to come, Jaguars head coach Doug Peterson. NHL on TNT analyst Paul Bissonette. Hosts of American Ninja Warrior, Matt Iseman, and Akbar Bajabiamila. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air.

844204rich number to dial. The head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Doug Peterson calling in in this hour. A little what's more likely coming up, we also have some cup predictions. Paul Bissonette, Biz Nasty himself, from the NHL on TNT set will be calling us in hour number three on that front.

Matt Iseman and Akbar Bajabiamila of American Ninja Warrior. It is season 95 for them. It's pretty wild.

That's on as much, I think it's Law and Order, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

It's kind of funny. It's available on Peacock, which is available right here on Roku. Roku. It is indeed. Chris Brockman is in his spot, hour number two. Jay Felley, where is Mike Del Tufo today? Oh, USFL, he's got to get ready for some USFL game, is that what it is? Yeah.

I mean, I saw it in action last week. He does quite a bit. Yeah.

Defined quite a bit. He's checking in with each of the microphones on site. And there are a lot of microphones. There are a lot of microphones.

Well, we saw yesterday, thanks to your video that you sent us, of Del Tufo working a USFL game. And honestly, like Robocop, he's like moving around. He's using the whole board. He's using the whole board. He's staring. He's looking up.

He's looking really intense. And I asked him, where's your cell phone? Because you were on your cell phone half the time here. And he basically admitted it's an easier show to do. Here, our show. Here, right.

Because of course it is. Is it easier to do this than a game? I have never done that.

I can't do that. Never done what, a game? I've never done a game, no.

I've never sat on another board other than this one. Okay. But I can tell you I use probably eight channels and he was using about 30. Oh, okay. Okay.

Oh, interesting. Does it sound like I'm kissing his ass? No, not at all. Since I saw that video on your Instagram account referring him as the goat. So you are kissing his ass. Now I sat behind him and did absolutely nothing for eight hours.

So I don't know why. Oh, you were working? I was working. I'm not sure why they brought me in. Oh, you were working. So you did nothing but you were working? Nothing.

That's interesting. USFL schedule. By the way, the Fox games are Sunday.

Okay. There's not even games today or tomorrow. Fox's USFL games are Sunday.

The Memphis Showboats and the Jersey Generals, Michigan Panthers, New Orleans Breakers. Thank you, sir. You're right. He did say he was off USFL this week. Oh, okay.

Great. He might be doing the Yankee Dodger game tonight, which is tonight, by the way. On Fox? No, I think yes hired him to do some work. Oh, that's right. That makes sense.

That's what he said. And then the Fox Yankee Dodger game is tomorrow. Michael Kay is going to sound great tonight. I was going to say, if he needed two days to prep for USFL, like, come on.

I don't have everything ready. Luis Severino versus Clayton Kershaw tonight. Nice.

Good one. This, by the way, this is the month. This is a big month in Southern California for baseball. This is the month where the Angels are going to make a move and get going or not. And we'll see. Well, honestly, we're going to see where the Angels right now in the wildcard race, if I'm not mistaken, are they neck to neck with your Red Sox right now, Christopher?

That sounds about right. And so they're in the mix right now. They're in the mix for a wildcard spot. And the question is, are they going to stay in this mix for a wildcard spot?

Will they hit a skid and will Otani look at the front office and they at him and say, okay, it's time. And the wildcard is it's Angels, Mariners, Sox, Blue Jays, all within a half game of each other. Yeah. And then but but three out of case in the Yankees. Yeah.

Three and a half back in New York has been on fire except for the other night. And they get they get Stanton back tonight and they get Josh Donaldson back tonight. So we'll see how that works out. But the Otani stuff.

Keep an eye on this month. Obviously, there's lots of baseball between now and the trade deadline that happens in July. But this is the year of Otani. I want him. You want him, TJ?

Brockman, you want him? Everybody wants him. Everybody wants him. The Angels want him. Southern California wants him. Do they?

Showtime. Do the Angels want him? Yeah, they do. They do.

I can't tell. I know Trout wants him. I know Trout wants him. Doug Peterson is going to be joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show in about 15 minutes time. So we now have time for our usual Friday staple. Are you ready, Christopher Brockman?

I am ready. It's the usual Friday staple. It's a staple of our program.

That's why we call it a Friday staple. It is time for What's More Likely right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Hit it. What's more likely?

Never say never, but never. Very good. What do you got, Chris?

Oh, we've got NFL Films music. Well, yeah, a couple NFL items and then, you know, kind of a light What's More Likely. Why is it light?

Why do you mean light? I'm just making things up out of thin air. What are you talking about? Chris, what do you think sports talk radio and sports talk conversation, entertainment show conversation is?

Who are you talking to? Right. You make stuff up all the time. Yeah. Okay. Including the fact that you didn't think Tom Brady, you thought Tom Brady didn't pause and forget about the Patriots when he went down the list of AFC East.

Well, that was a defense mechanism. Do we need to go back and parse language? Tom said, obviously, there's a Patriot. Do you need to mention them? Because it's obvious that they're in the mix. I didn't hear him say that. What do you got, Chris?

What do you got for What's More Likely? Okay. Quarterbacks got to talk quarterback.

Why not? It's June 2nd. D.J. Stroud is killing it in OTAs down in Houston.

The quotes, have you seen these quotes? Very eye opening. How on it he's been. Killing it. Noticeably more comfortable.

Are those calls coming from inside the house? Noticeably more comfortable than what? Against Michigan?

Like, what do they compare it to? Already ahead of pace. Already way ahead of pace. Did you guys see that? That's language, okay? Yes.

It matters. Like Tom Brady saying, obviously. Trey Lance, incredibly incur- no, that's about Brock Purdy.

Sorry. Has been killing it as well, really having a great offseason. Which quarterback are you more likely to buy stock in for 2023? Purdy. Trey Lance or D.J. Stroud?

What? Purdy's not part of the situation. Purdy's not involved, Rich.

Get Brock Purdy out of your mind. I'll take- Trey Lance has made a substantial jump as a passer. I'll take Trey Lance. Over C.J. Stroud? Yeah, of course. A guy who's actually played football?

I know. Over a guy who hasn't played- Stroud has played more football since high school than Trey Lance by a wide margin. By a wide margin.

He's thrown more passes just like last week. I'll take Lance because- I'll take Lance, he's on a better team. Of course I'm gonna take Lance. You don't know if Lance is even gonna be starting.

Lance is like the third guy! Excuse me. Stroud is starting. Hey, hold on, hold on. Have you guys learned nothing about the San Francisco 49ers quarterback rooming situation?

Uh, guess not. It's like the Godfather Part III. Anytime you think somebody's out, they pull you back in.

Honestly, they should have that GIF or whatever the hell you want to call it of Al Pacino from Godfather Part III in their quarterback room. When I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. Get out of here. Oh yeah, so Lance could be third on the depth chart so he's not gonna play, right?

In San Francisco- get out of here. And they're a better team. What if Stroud gets de-hopped? Stroud ain't getting de-hopped. I don't think- I don't know that.

I know, I don't know that. I'll still take Trey Lance. Can we move on please? My God. What else?

Wow. You disagree? You take Stroud over Trey Lance?

I think Stroud's gonna be awesome. Okay. Uh, how about this?

You think the Texans are gonna stink? Uh, they're not mutually exclusive. Okay, very good.

Okay. Who's more likely? Which head coach? They're head coaches right now.

Yes. But we're gonna talk quarterbacks. Which head coach should have more anxiety about their quarterback situation right now? McDaniels. Josh McDaniels or Kyle Shanahan? McDaniels.

Please, get- what is the matter with you? He does- they don't have a qua- they have three, which means zero. Three equals zero. NFL math, three, zero.

That's what that means. They needed four last year. Four, zero.

He's psyched. Four equals zero, two. Shanahan- Here, in the NFL, math goes like this. One equals one, two equals zero, three, zero, four, zero, on and on. Got it?

Dude, Shanahan has gotta walk into work and go, this is great. Everything is fun. No, that's not what you think. Everything is awesome, like the Lego movie. It is not the Lego movie. It is the Lego movie. That's not awesome. It is. He's gotta go, MF, this again?

Why can't I get one guy? Nope. Nope.

Nope. Because he knows one guy's gonna emerge and he's gonna ride that guy until he gets hurt, and he'll ride that guy until he gets hurt, and he'll ride that guy until he gets hurt, and maybe the ride's over. Get out of here. That's crazy.

You're crazy. Josh McDaniels has got Jimmy G, Jimmy Addendum G, and Brian Hoyer. And the other guy has, you know, Trey Lance, healthy. He's got Purdy coming back looking healthier, and Sam Darnold, come on, bro.

Three equals zero. McDaniels might be sitting there saying, I'm not anxious. Are you anxious? You look anxious to me. I'm not edgy. Are you edgy? You're the one who is edgy, not me. I'm not edgy.

You're edgy. That's the way it sounded like yesterday to me. McDaniels should feel totally fine, because I don't care what Tom Brady said on every outlet yesterday, if it's like, hey, Tom, we need you, cool, only needs 24 votes. That was kind of the false thing that was going around that he needed 31.

No, no, 24. So the AFC West can vote no all they want. Tom can come back. He's not coming back, and there's no way Kyle Shanahan is anxious about anything. What else, Chris? Aye, aye, aye.

All right. Pacing. There's a couple of big stars that don't have homes. Big stars that don't have homes. Zeke's won. Which without a home is going to have the better year this year? Zeke D-Hop.

Oh, great question. Gosh, I just think it's got to be Zeke, because he's not going to be expected to carry the whole load, but then if D-Hop winds in Buffalo or Kansas City when it's all said and done, gosh. I'm going to have to go with D-Hop on if I can jump in. Go jump. Because he's not going to go to a team that doesn't have a top-notch QB. I mean, he's talking about maybe going back to the Texans, and CJ Stroud, as great as he may be looking at on air or in 7-on-7s, or he's grasping the playbook faster than anybody thought, and they're very high on him.

Well, they should. He's the second overall pick, but he's still a rookie. Yeah, but then you got to think, too. Think about some of the QBs that D-Hop had to catch balls from. I bet we can't name any of them. Zeke, Zeke. I mean, Zeke could score 10 touchdowns wherever he goes next. What if he winds up in Buffalo? Man, if I'm Buffalo, I knock on his door like immediately. James Cook, Zeke Elliott, let's go. Come on, now. Why can't Buffalo get both those guys? Oh, boy.

If I'm them, I would. Well, you have to get it so Kansas City doesn't get that. But you also have to beat the sickest, deepest conference I've ever seen. Yeah. You know, certainly if you're Buffalo, you've got to take on the Jets and the Dolphins and what's that other team? They're up in the top corner.

There's a map of the States, and it's like that. You need to play back the sounds. Did you guys just forget when he said, obviously? I make myself laugh sometimes.

I thought you were a words guy. Oh, my God. What else you got over there, Chris?

You know, Rich, I just thought of something. You know where I think would be a good home for Zeke? AFC, playing for either the Steelers, the Bengals. Steelers? That's a good one.

Just one of those, because those are just grind out games, man. Do you know who could use Zeke Elliott? The Dallas Cowboys? Everybody could use Zeke Elliott.

I'm just trying to, I don't want to be. He's a 27-year-old just looking for a home and saying, I'll sign and I'll win your championship. He can go ring hunting like Odell.

And like D-Hop is. Speaking of Odell, Rich. Yes. Which wide receiver in a new home do you like to have a better year? DJ Moore, who's been shredding guys at OTAs, or Odell Beckham?

By the way, do you want to know something so I could say this? It's Odell. Secondly, because it's Odell.

What? By the way, you know I'm going to choose Odell over anybody. You know how I feel about Odell Beckham.

According to multiple sources, DJ Moore shredding defensive backs at OTAs. You know what it is? It's like. I love OTAs.

Here's what it is. I want to hear, I want to hear somebody not shredding it or killing it at OTAs. Because right now everybody's undefeated. Everybody looks great. Everybody's feeling great. Most everybody's healthy.

Everybody's staring at their calendar right now and looking at their vacation or their wedding or whatever they're going to do because this is the only time of year in which they can do it. And everybody's happy. It's Odell. And you know I'll choose Odell pretty much every time you give me a choice involving him.

So, sorry DJ Moore. You love Odell like a son. But it's also Lamar. It's Lamar.

And I can't wait to see what that offers you. Mark Andrews talking up the offense, how great it looks. You know why? It's OTAs. Because it's OTAs.

I love OTAs. Aren't they still playing seven on seven? We're just jonesing for football.

We're still two months away from training. Can't wait to ask Doug Peterson. I'm not, man.

I'm really invested in basketball. Tell me who's disappointing you, Doug. He's going to call in five minutes.

Tell me who's disappointing because everybody looks great, right? All right. Two ones real quick.

You can change music, Jay Felley. Okay. Very good. Nuggets sweep or the Heat push it to six games? Nuggets sweep or Heat push it to Nuggets sweep. What are you asking me right now after I saw last night?

Dude. How about Nuggets sweep or Heat win a game? What if I change it? I'll go Heat win a game. I'll go Heat win a game.

Like what? Game four so we don't get swept? Dude, if the Nuggets sweep out the Lakers and then the Heat? Build a Jokic statue right now. Right? Right? Like Stan Kroenke. Let's go.

Commission that baby. Brockman's always big on the stories that are going to come if something happens. Oh, absolutely. Someone's going to say Jokic. Top 10 NBA player of all time. Someone's going to say something weird like that. Oh, he's going to finish in the top 10, I think, when it's all over.

You think so, huh? He stays on this pace and the Nuggets win multiple titles. Let's hold off on that. Game four of the Western Conference Semifinals, the Nuggets' last loss. If that's the way they end their season. Nine straight to win or ten straight to win out. And also, Rich, you're going to see him this weekend. More likely to make the World Series, Dodgers or Yankees. Can I reserve judgment until I see them in person?

No, absolutely not. My heart is screaming. My heart is screaming. Our Tuesday in-studio guest coming in, even though he's not associated with the team anymore, is Reginald Martinez-Jackson. Well, he's always going to be associated with the team. And I just, you know, I mean, come on now.

But the Dodgers seem to be better poised. What's up with Nestor Cordova? What's happened with him? I don't know. Don't know. Pitch clock might be messing with him.

I don't know. Third time through the order, he can't get through third. I know. But, you know, bottom line is, I need to reserve judgment. In the meantime, I'll just look down on you in the standings.

It's not a problem. I mean, take a look at the standings. In the AL East, it's just nuts. I mean, you got the Rays. You got the Jays. You got the Yankees.

You have the Orioles. And you've got the... What's that last one? They're up in the middle. Look at the mat.

It's up in the right corner. The team that's been your daddy this century. I'm making myself laugh so hard, I'm crying. So it's like that way.

It went down the wrong pipe. I'm making myself laugh so hard. Your daddy this century. That team. Your daddy this century. I'm just saying.

Because I forgot that last team. Oh, obviously it's the Red Sox. Daddy. Just call him the daddy. I'm like literally tearing.

You should see on the Roku channel. I'm saying Max Scherzer has been on fire. All right, let's take a break. We want to be relatively on time. Head coaches, you are on time. Good thing he's not on Coughlin time because he'd be listening to me cry and laughing. You're the worst. Men, do you get distracted during the day thinking about your underarms sweating, itching, or emitting an odor? Do those thoughts keep you from showing care when it counts? New and improved Dove Men Plus Care antiperspirant with 72-hour sweat and odor protection and one-quarter moisturizing cream helps you forget about your underarms so you can be present for the moments that matter. Don't let underarm insecurities keep you at arm's distance from the ones you care about.

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Songwriter and producer Jamie Hartman reacts to the Ed Sheeran verdict. You need to create something new. And of course, you're going to use traditional parts to get there. Are you going to sue the Rolling Stones for making a samba out of sympathy for the devil? Are you going to sue Elvis Presley for writing Bar Sonova?

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Call clickrainger.com or just stop by. And joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show is the head coach of the defending AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars, Doug Peterson, back here. How are you, coach?

I'm doing fine, Rich. Thank you so much. Yeah, appreciate it.

Great to have you on. So where are you? We just chit-chatted on the Roku channel audience for the TV audience about what's going on personally. Football-wise, where are you? What phase are you in? You're in OTAs.

What do you got for me on that front right now? Yeah, no, we just finished up our sixth OTA. We've got four left next week.

So we're wrapping things up here. We've got about a week and a half, four days next week, and then three mandatory, that veteran mini camp at the end. So we're about seven practices from being done. And guys are, we've had great participation. Guys are working extremely hard, and it's been a good offseason for us. Okay, so what do you get out of an OTA, Doug? What do you get out of it?

Not much. To be honest with you, it's obviously by league rule, there's not a lot of contact or physicality. So we do a lot of individual work, a lot of one-on-one coaching with players and really detail their skill that way. We do some team stuff, but I slow the pace down so we don't have collisions and things like that out on the practice field. And really, I just want to see the mental side of the game, guys going in the right direction, the offensive line headed in the right spot, defenses fitting the right gap.

And we can do that and slow the pace down. We can see that as a coaching staff. And then for the young guys that we have, the new players to our team, how well do they take the information from the classroom out onto the practice field?

We're not out there more than about an hour and 30 minutes each day, but still get some good overall work with both the vets and the young guys. Doug Peterson here on the Rich Eisen Show. So what's the leap for Trevor Lawrence? We saw obviously what happened last year and you and I spoke during the regular season and you said an inflection point was a long afternoon for him in the UK and London and he said he wasn't going to make many mistakes like that anymore and he learned quite a bit from it.

We saw what happened in the playoffs last year, first half that was a nightmare, big win and then a scare and you put a scare in the Chiefs for sure. What do you look at the leap for Trevor Lawrence now, coach? Yeah, I think going into his year three, year two with us and the staff, I think the way he played the back half of the season is the way he needs to start this year. There was a lot of confidence at the end of the year with him and that's the next step.

That's the next phase, right? It's putting all of that together and we feel or I feel too like he's the guy which he showed towards the end of the year. He can put the team on his back and we don't want him to throw four picks and then throw four touchdowns. We'd rather him just throw the four touchdowns and win a football game but he can do that. He's capable of putting the team on his back and finishing a football game and potentially winning. He did that against Baltimore.

He did that against, obviously, the Cowboys. That was more of a pick six walk off there but did some things late in the season that proved to us that he's our guy and we're excited about that. And so for him to take that next step is just that, just having that confidence the way he ended the season and start this year that way and try to come out with a fast start and finish faster. Where does he, just in terms of mental aspect, leadership aspect, you just seeing the intangibles, having the front row seat you do. Coach Doug Peterson of the Jaguars here on the Rich Eisen Show. The, I guess, confidence that comes with having a seat at the table with Mahomes, Burrow and Allen.

He had that fourth seat last year for the Final Four in the AFC. Does that manifest in any way? Do you see it at all?

I do see it. I think he's chasing that. I think he's close to putting himself with that group and he's very capable of putting himself with that group. Those guys have, obviously, they've got a couple years experience on him but he's heading in that right direction. And I think the AFC is in good hands overall with the youth at quarterback and we've got one of those guys. We feel really confident in Trevor. But yeah, he's working with the skill and ability that we've been able to provide him and put around him.

That's the next step, getting himself into that conversation. And he started doing that at the end of last season. Again, those are the things that, as we head into training camp this July and August, that's the growth. That's the leadership that we've seen.

It just now has to continue to manifest itself each and every day. Yeah, and you're the only franchise in the division that didn't draft a quarterback, Doug. Everyone else did and might actually play the kid. He could wind up being the dean of the AFC South by week one. Entirely possible. It's possible.

Yeah, it's possible. Obviously, you keep your eye on your division opponent and see what they do in the draft and through free agency. It's just something that we have to understand that we've just got to continue to worry about the Jacksonville Jaguars. It gets better every day and not worry too much about our opponents that way. We've got to get our guys prepared and ready.

But we're excited. We're looking forward to, obviously, Calvin Ridley joining the group and getting him going a little bit and just adding that talent around Trevor and just seeing where things can go. Yeah, let's talk about Calvin Ridley a little bit here, Doug.

Whatever you're willing to share and pry open the OTA, the practice door a little bit here because we're focusing on in the media, the hotel is new in Baltimore and the Andre Hopkins is going to be new somewhere else and all these young kids that got drafted at the wide receiver position and you get Calvin Ridley. I don't think anybody's talking about that kid at all. How is he looking to you, Doug? He looks extremely healthy. He looks fast. He's quick. He's physically just in a good head space physically where he's at. We understand he's sat out of the suspension. He missed a bunch of football and had some injury there in Atlanta. But for us as a staff, too, he's one of those guys you just want to bring along.

He's chomping so much and so badly. He wants to get to the regular season and say, well, pump the brakes. Let's get through this offseason program. But he's been a great addition to the receiver room, a veteran guy with Christian and Jay and Jamal Agnew in there. Just a kid that really is hungry to play football again. He definitely owns up to his mistakes and what he's done in his past.

He's put that behind him. He's in a good place. We're excited to get him and continue to let him work with Trevor.

Doug Peterson here on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's talk about your schedule a little bit here. A big division game to start things off. And as I mentioned how your quarterback could wind up being the dean of the division even though he's in year three, as you pointed out, just year two with you and your current staff at Indianapolis.

And it could be Anthony Richardson, who knows. And then you got Kansas City in your house in week two. I mean, how big do you think that's just going to be in your building home opener, a rematch of the playoff game from last year, Mahomes coming in?

What do you think that's going to be like, Doug? Well, number one, I think it's going to be an electric atmosphere for our fans here in Jacksonville and obviously the Super Bowl champs coming in here for our home opener. It's going to be a big game.

But as you said, we open up with India. I mean, we've got two division games in the first three games, first three weeks. So we've got our work cut out for us. But Kansas City obviously is one of the teams that if we're going to be where they are, we've got to play better. We've got to play smarter football.

And I didn't think we necessarily finished that divisional game last year very, very smart. We had a late turnover that cost us some points there. So it's a benchmark game early in the season for us. And where are we as a football team? Where is our quarterback early in this season?

And those are all the things that we just mentioned a couple minutes ago about the quarterback and how he leads and comes out of the gate fast. And it's an exciting schedule to start for us. And then you follow that up with two London games. Yeah, what's your plan going to be for that?

I mean, do you got to just follow it? Well, we plan on staying over there. And the first game, we'll leave like we normally do on a Thursday and play the Falcons first game. And then we'll just stay in London and practice and get ready for Buffalo in the second of the two games. So we're excited for that. Our owner is obviously a big, with his businesses and everything that he does in the UK, I mean, it's exciting for him.

And he's a benchmark over there in London and we're excited to be playing two games, one in Wembley and the second one in Tottenham. So you're going to have a facility, like a practice schedule set up for your, you're just going to set up shop? Are you going to go see the Crown Jewels too?

I mean, what else you got? What have you got planned? No, I probably won't with the guys, Mike. But yeah, we're just going to set up shop that week too. We'll have a full week over there. And we'll treat it just like a normal week as if we're in Jacksonville. So, we don't let these types of things become distractions for us.

We understand too. Listen, it's the Buffalo Bills. So, another benchmark game for us to live up to some of the expectation and some of the hype that surrounds, obviously, Buffalo, Kansas City. We got Cincinnati later in the season.

Baltimore's in there. It's just a schedule when you win the AFC South. No different than when I was with the Eagles and you win that NFC East. It comes with a first place schedule and first place opponent. So, we're excited for that.

Great opportunity for our team and our franchise. Yeah, I mean, you're going to be away from home four out of five weeks. Because again, I know there are home games for you technically on the schedule. But you're going to be in London for a full week. You come home. You got Indianapolis. Then you're at New Orleans on a Thursday night, short week at Pittsburgh.

And then a bye. So, I guess you're going to get your luggage out. I'm going to get some new luggage. I know.

That's pretty much it. We're going to log some miles. For sure.

Last one for you, Coach. The new kickoff, fair catch rule. Where do you stand on that? You know, my feeling on that, you know, and obviously it'll play itself out, I think, as the season unfolds. I think it becomes situational.

I think it becomes possibly weather-related, weather-driven. I think teams that have dynamic return guys, it's not going to affect. I look at our guy in Jamal Agnew and some of the returns he had late in the season.

I don't think it's going to affect him. I just think for us, we play it normal, you know, and it's a tool that could be used maybe in a game-time situation or, you know, maybe potentially to, if a team is kicking off or a team is behind and they're kicking off to you, maybe you fair catch that, right, and give yourself the 25-yard line to maybe finish the game in a four-minute mode or something along those lines. But I just don't see it really playing out a whole lot.

Really? You don't see it being any different than what we're currently seeing in the NFL? No, I just think you have to evaluate your specialty. I think each team is going to evaluate their special teams units.

Yes. You're going to evaluate your kickers. How well do your kickers kick off? If they're kicking it deep anyway, teams are going to stay in the end zone.

They're still going to get the ball to 25. Right. But I think the teams that have those electric special teams units, it's still an exciting play in football.

Okay. And it was exciting for us last year at the end of the year with Jamal ripping returns out past the 40-yard line and things like that. So I just think it's team by team, case by case, that you'll see it a little bit. But again, teams that have those returners, man, don't take the ball out of their hands. So you're going to basically tell your guy full steam ahead, ball on the 12, take it. Ball on the 2, take it?

Like it's just as if there's been no rule change? You got to understand, I think the league average was just north of the 25-yard line. Field position started drive.

So it doesn't make a, what's a yard, what's two yards in the big picture, big scheme of things. But if the ball is kicked to the 10-yard line, you should be out past the 25 with no problem. Even the 5-yard line with your return unit. So again, I think it's case by case, team by team, who's back there returning it for you.

I think who's kicking the ball off for you are all decisions that we'll have to make as we get closer to the season. I mean, your guy Andy Reid was saying, you know, you keep doing rules like this, you might as well play flag football, which you know for Andy is like a full-on tantrum. That is a tantrum. That's a full-on Andy Reid tantrum where he just doesn't, he still is whispering what he's saying.

But to say that sounded like he, that's a full Andy Reid tantrum when he said that, Doug. He did, I know. But I agree. I agree with him, you know. And I think it's, I don't know if it's, you know, the player's health and safety, all of that.

I just don't know how much of that really plays into this. I mean, it's a great play. It's an electric play.

It's a dynamic play and, you know, again with guys that are, you know, that are electric with the ball in their hands, it's an exciting play for the fans as well. Doug, have a great summer. You mentioned in our TV only segment you got grandchildren on the way.

Congratulations in advance of that. Thank you. And let's chat again soon. Let's chat again. Certainly.

Yeah. Let's do it. I appreciate you Rich. Thank you so much.

Appreciate you too. Let's talk about the Jacksonville Jaguars. The AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars right here on the Rich Eisen Show. I mean, look at their schedule. Let's just jump right in here a little bit. Let's do it.

Okay. They start off at Indianapolis. They might get the first ever snap of Anthony Richardson or Gardner Minshew, right? But they're the division champs. They should go in and... They should have a home game to start the year. Well, I mean, but they have four straight home games.

Two of them just happen to be in London. Half their home schedule comes right off the bat. Home for Kansas City, home for Houston. So they might have two rookie quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes in the first three weeks. And then they go to London and take on a guy starting in his first full year in Atlanta.

Yup. Also a revenge game for Calvin Ridley there. That's another one.

Good one. And then home for Buffalo in Tottenham. The one in Atlanta is in the home stadium that Shad Khan owns in Wembley. And then home for Buffalo in Buffalo. That's a significant disadvantage of Buffalo.

I mean, I'm telling you, man, that time change is no joke. And Jacksonville will be like, what time change? And Buffalo will be like, what time is it? And then they come home and they take on Indianapolis again. Their season series with Indianapolis is done before a quick short turnaround at New Orleans on a Thursday night. And then at Pittsburgh before a bye. And then they finish up with a really tough second half.

San Francisco comes into their house. Cincinnati comes into their house. At least for them, a tough schedule. First place schedule. At least for them, Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Kansas City. They don't go to any of the other division winners. And they have Buffalo at home. It just happens to be in London, but they're the ones who are sticking around in London all week. And Buffalo's the ones coming right in. They need to be five and three in that first eight. It's a Bill's home game, I've just been told. So that's not a Jacksonville home game in a row.

They just did over there in London. OK. Here you have it. That ain't easy. But I still think they're the better team. They have the best quarterback who's got the best situation around him.

And the coach who's won a Super Bowl. They're in the best division for them for success. By the way, that is also Jacksonville could win. Jacksonville has an opportunity to make that leap and could win in any division.

I know. They have that chance. They got the quarterback who's young and good and a coach who's won it all before. And, I mean, if Ridley is the guy who's championed at the bit, as the coach says, Travis, ETN, you had him in fantasy last year.

Nice. He was a game changer. He looked like the kid that they were hoping they were getting out of Clemson. Don't forget Christian Kirk's still there. They got a lot of weapons. I mean, just again, they've got Jacksonville and Indianapolis and Houston and Vrabel's team. Well, obviously the Titans. Yeah. Let's take a break.

The one seed in the AFC two years ago. Welcome Nick Nurse to Philadelphia. This is a fun soundbite exchange. That's next.

This is the Rich Eisen Show before Paul Bissonnette talks Stanley Cup and the American Ninja Warrior duo of Akbar Baja-Biamila and Matt Hysman come in studio. Get an inside look at Hollywood with Michael Rosenbaum, actress Kristen Ritter. Your parents let you travel by yourself. It was a different time. They just put you on a train. As a 15 year old girl, you went to New York.

I went on a bus and I did get picked up at Port Authority. They thought I was a runaway. What would they do?

They detain you and get people on the phone and then they finally let you go to your modeling job. How many times does it happen? Once or twice.

It just seems like it wouldn't happen. It happens. Yeah. Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum, wherever you listen.

On the Rich Eisen Show 844-204-rich number to dial. Did you see the report from, well, it's not a report. Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated went on a local radio show in Seattle and said that the Seahawks and Eagles had struck a trade for Russell Wilson last year and Russell nixed it. What?

Yeah. And could you imagine the difference? Could you imagine if Russell's like, sure, I'll go to Philadelphia. What different situation? Because I imagine the separate offices and all that situation that Denver set up for Russell that has since been changed with Sean Payton coming in would not have happened.

And everything else that was set up. Could you imagine if Jalen Hurts wound up being flipped to Seattle? That Geno wouldn't have had his comeback player of the year moment? Geno still would have backed up, one would think? They would have had a battle, I guess, in preseason. And Jalen could be the one sitting in Seattle with his new contract with the Seahawks having him?

I mean, we could go on and on and on about the sliding doors of this situation. You're playing the result a little bit, but do you think Philly would have been as good? Russell might have had a good year.

I don't know. Clearly the setup for him would have been, as I mentioned, differently off the field, but I think it would have been better on the field because he wouldn't have had... Not a rookie head coach, obviously. Right.

A totally different situation. A.J. Brown still there, Miles Sanders still there, Goddard still there. Much better offensive pieces around him. Correct. And Jalen Hurts would have been up in Seattle.

I'm assuming he would have been flipped in the same way that Drew Locke went from Denver to Seattle. Sure. I know, right?

Wow! And it makes complete and total sense, because don't forget. Remember Daniel Jeremiah told us that the Eagles were ready to draft him? Russell Wilson. Yes, with Doug Peterson. They were ready to take him. Or Peterson wasn't there yet, I don't think. Probably not.

I'm trying to put it all two and two together. Well, that would have been Andy Reid's last year, right? 2012? He said they were ready. They were trying to get Russ.

They had him on their radar screen and Seattle beat him to the punch. Would Hurts have become Hurts? Would Russ have had such a major problem? What would have happened with Geno?

You know? That one was a total mind blown right there. But Russ said no. Russ said no. Didn't want to go to Philly. He wanted to go to Denver. I mean, in total retrospect, beautiful place to live, Denver. I get it.

Gorgeous. Philadelphia obviously has its perks. But just outside of the personal stuff, he could have been in a conference that is absolutely less loaded.

A division that's less loaded. But a situation that he wouldn't have been able to massage to what he wanted. To manipulate to what he wanted. I don't think he could have handled the ban and media scrutiny in Philadelphia, to be honest. I don't know.

Fan and media scrutiny in Philadelphia, you win. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Actually, you're the king of forever. One bad game, it's over.

They'll just eat you alive. Where in Denver, in Seattle, it's kind of like... Go Eagles? Whatever. Saying, you know what, Eagles country, let's fly? Yeah, what would he have done? Like a soar, Eagles soar? Fly, Eagles, fly.

Fly, Eagles, fly. He would have just stayed put. Eating cheese fries? I don't see Russ hanging with the cheese fries crew.

Wouldn't have worked out. Speaking of Philadelphia media, Nick Nurse was introduced as the new head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers yesterday. He was asked a question about, do you think you could take this current roster if Harden stays further than the second round?

And he gave a very long-winded answer that was apparently too long-winded for somebody who wanted to hit the nail directly on the head. This is the exchange. I would imagine from day one we're going to talk about that and that we're going to try to attack that. You know, we're going to have to face it and we're going to have to rise above it. That's the mentality part, I think, that you're going to have to take, right? And there's all kinds of other things like, can we tactically do things?

Can we adjust on the fly? Can we improve as the season goes on? And that's, you know, that's a goal level coach. As you go, you want to keep getting better and then you get to the playoffs in your one team and that's a two-month-long journey.

And you've got to be better at the end of those two months than you were in the first round. Do you want James Harden back? Pardon me? Do you want James Harden back? James Harden's a great player. That didn't answer the question. Well, I would say this, is that James has a decision to make and I'd be very happy if he came back.

Yeah. I mean, man jumped in and didn't answer the question. We'll give him a second to answer the question. Do you want Harden or not? Well, what I'm saying about James is... Do you want Harden or not?

James is really good. He's got a decision to make. He didn't get the answer. Like Tom Cruise, like, did you order the Code Red?

Did you order? You can handle the truth. That's amazing. He asked him a question. He gave one sentence and he jumped down his throat.

That's awesome. He didn't answer the question. By the way, we cut down the initial Nick Nurse soundbite. It went on...

It started about 30 seconds before we came into the soundbite. So it's just like, oh, we don't need these platitudes, Coach. Do you want Harden or not? Well, he's got a decision to make. Oh, you're not answering the question. Well, I'll tell you, I'd be happy if he comes back. Now there you go. Incredible.

Ends justify the means. Although the question did sound very Henry Winkler-like when I was asking about Barry about a year ago at this time. And he says, do you know Patrick Mahomes? He interrupted me.

What if you were to win? Just talk about Barry. Do you know? Do you know Patrick Mahomes? That's true, Rich.

If you had just stuck to Barry, Mahomes and Winkler would have never connected. Maybe so. He wanted an answer to what was on his mind, which is, do you want James Harden? Well, he's a very good player. He didn't answer the question.

I want answers. So that reporter should not have his own talk show. Or the reporter got the answer, which is, I'd be happy to have him. It'd make me happy if he stays put. Like Robert Horry said in an interview with Steven Jackson and Matt Barnes, if Embiid had just taken his big self down low, the Sixers would be playing in the final. So can Nick Nurse do that? Can he make Embiid understand how big he is and how much better? Embiid versus Jokic right now? Oh, come on. That would have been a dream.

We're talking Stanley Cup with Biz Nasty Paul Bissonnette in a moment. Conspiracy theories. Paranormal. UFOs. Science teacher Andrew Greenwood stated that a child ran into his classroom and was hysterically screaming and talking about the flying saucer outside. Hundreds of children ran out of their classrooms to go outside and see this unidentified flying object that was just above the school. Just imagine a bunch of kids running out of school. Most of them probably just ran home. Theories of the Third Kind on YouTube or wherever you listen.