Tua Tagovailoa Concussion Reaction (Hour 1)

Hey guys, Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket Podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important.

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Hey guys, Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket Podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important. Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time, and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch. It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from the play show yet not overly ostentatious studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street, it's a football Friday! Addition of the Zach Gelb show across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, and that free Odyssey app, 855-212-4CBS. I'm going to jump on in. 855-212-4227. You can always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb.

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Alrighty, I got to start off with the game last night. Going into the game, football-wise, I thought the Bengals would win. I thought the Bengals would cover the number. If it was just the way that this game played on out, without any injuries, we probably would not be talking about this game right out of the gate because Cincinnati was expected to win.

They were the more desperate team. Miami 3-0, and you look at the Dolphins, short week on the road, it just had a feeling that the Dolphins were due to lose, and the Bengals aren't as bad of a team the way that they've played through the first three, now four weeks of the season. So for them to get to 2-2, I think it's fitting because this Bengals team, they had a magical run last year. Can they get back to the playoffs this year?

Absolutely. It would be disappointing if they don't because you have such a good quarterback in Joe Burr. You have three really good weapons, as you saw last night, T. Higgins, Jamar Chase, Tyler Boyd. I know Joe Mixon, how many times are you going to get opportunities at the goal line and now put the ball in late in the game, and you have a solid defense as well. So that's a Bengals team that it ultimately comes down to how much can you protect the quarterback in Joe Burrow, and I would like to see how we're talking about this team four or five weeks from now when this offensive line unit gets some games together under their belt, and hopefully they can improve the protection of Joe Burrow.

But let's not sugarcoat this. The biggest story from that game is what happened with Tuatunga Vailoa, and we were reacting to it last night on the air as it happened, and it was horrific, it was scary, and you look at the actual hit, I've seen more violent hits, I've seen more violent throw downs. I didn't think that was a malicious throw down. It was a normal football play when you have a defensive lineman taking down a quarterback, but when you see the aftermath of what occurred, yeah, it's frightening. When he is lying on the field, Tuatunga Vailoa, and his hands lock up like that, that's something that I have never seen. Now, I know that people say it's common, and that is the fencing mechanism as the way that they described it, and that's what happens when you have a brain injury like that, your hands do lock up. But in an NFL game, and we see concussions all the time, we've seen tackles of a quarterback player stand up, fall down all the time, but to see how quickly his hands lock like that, I can't remember seeing something like that in an isolated game as well, and that's another thing that plays into the equation. That was the only game that was on last night.

The only NFL game that was on last night. And it's not just this week, it's also what happened last week. And let me preface this right out of the gate. I have an opinion, I'm not a doctor, so anyone that's tweeting me, oh, well, why are you sharing your opinion? You're not a doctor, there's medical professionals, sure, but you're allowed to have a human reaction.

I'm not sitting here saying that I know more than the doctors, or I know more than the medical experts, but I could only take it from the way that I view it as a fan, and I give you my reaction, and that's why you tune into the show. But last week, and this is where it starts, was last week when he fell down after standing back up against the Buffalo Bills, I remember seeing an eye on football, oh, he's going to be done for the day. And when they released that statement, oh, he's questionable to return, I got questionable.

He's not returning. The guy up against the Buffalo Bills to a tongue of Aloha tried to stand up, and he fell right back down. And then how quickly, because he had halftime, and then coming out of the half, he was back on the field, I was shocked that he got back on the field. Now, you have to clear concussion protocol, and there is an independent neurologist, and there is also a team doctor that undergo tests, and they somehow passed him. So last week, according to the doctors, he didn't have a concussion. And then after the game, you hear, oh, it was a back injury, or they tried to cover it up or tell you what genuinely happened, that it was a back injury.

And I remember Hickey and I earlier in this week, we were having this conversation, do you buy the back injury? And if he passed a concussion test, like part of you goes, well, maybe it was a back injury, but your eyes told you something else. And when you watch that last week, absolutely, it looks like the player that suffered a concussion. So when I see that last week, and then he quickly gets back on the field, but you know he had to pass concussion protocol, as a fan, I just question, and as a fan, I wonder, what is the actual protocol to prove that you don't have a concussion and you can return to the game? And is it that easy to get back on the field, even in an era now, where we have a heightened awareness for player safety, this is not 1980, this is not 1990, this is not the early 2000s, where you could just sweep player safety under the rug.

Now with the way that the lawsuits have gone out and have played out, the NFL, and I say this in air quotes, they appear to care about player safety, we know what they care about the most, and that is the amount of money that they're making each and every year in this multi-billion dollar industry that is the NFL. So last week, it was stunning that he was back on the field, but you gotta remember, he played the entire second half, and not only played, played at a really good level, you remember the third down throw on third and 22 to Jalen Waddle. So leading into this week, and it's a short week, you still saw what happened last week, but there was no doubt in my mind that Tua was gonna play on Thursday, because he returned to the game on Sunday, and he was cleared of having a concussion, he cleared concussion protocol. But then last night, while he's playing, we see the hit, we see him go down and he did not stand back up, he had to get carried off in scary fashion on a stretcher. So the main thing that I wonder is how was he actually cleared last week, because I know I didn't feel this way the entirety of last week, I had mixed feelings, you know, leading up to this game this week, but he had to have had a concussion last week, right? And maybe they need to change their protocols where if you, at any time during a game, are wobbly, or you look like you're about to fall over, and he was falling over, that you just don't simply return. And then last night, it got taken to a different level, and I was shocked last night when I'm watching this game on Amazon Prime, and the sideline reporter gets on the screen and goes, okay, he's going to a level one trauma center, which he expected in the hospital, all that, and then there was a report later on in the game and sometime in the fourth quarter that he's getting discharged from the level one trauma center, and he's expected to fly back with the team. Now, don't get me wrong, that is a world-class level one trauma center, all right?

That goes without even needing to be said. I am not a doctor. I don't pretend to be a doctor, but my human reaction last night was, yeah, that doesn't make sense. With what I saw on the field a few hours ago, and needed to get carried off in a stretcher, and the way that his hands locked up, not only is he getting discharged, but he's going back on a plane, and the reason why the plane thing stood out is because I remember the Mets with Ryan Church. He got on a plane, and he thought it ruined his career because he had a concussion, and that's what I was thinking last night. I even tweeted out.

My exact tweet was, I'm not a doctor. Two are getting on a plane, though, tonight, has major Ryan Church vibes, and it doesn't make sense. Now, I'm sure that there was medical reasons in the hospital that gave those doctors enough to say, you're good to leave, and obviously, you're good enough to go fly back, but I was kind of stunned by it last night, and all I could do is just sit back, watch what I see unfold, and give you my reaction and my feelings on the matter.

That's all I could do. So yes, last week, shocked, he was cleared to get back in the game up against the Bills. This week, I was not surprised that he was playing because he returned last week in the second half up against Buffalo in that game in Miami, but when he goes down and he could not move, and he had to get carried off in a stretcher and his hands locked up like that, if you would have told me in that moment when we were looking at it that he would get back on the plane that night and fly back with the team, I would never have believed you in a million years.

So, what happened last night, it's scary, it's awful. Mike McDaniel, after the game, said, people know the risk when you play football, but no one signs up to have what happened last night go down, but last night was not a good look for the NFL, and injuries are a part of this game, but there's just obvious questions that you have to ask, and you wonder, how did this guy get approved to return last week with what we saw? And then also in the game last night, when you think maybe it's back-to-back concussions, even though he cleared concussion protocol last week, you just wonder, why was he put in that spot to be on the field last night, but once again, you go back to the point that he returned last week? So, I'm not saying this is an easy situation, and I'm not even blaming Mike McDaniel. Like, some people, they are like, oh, fire Mike McDaniel. He's a coach. Mike McDaniel gets told by the medical staff, is he good to go or not? And if they say he's a no-go, he can't put him on the field. And on Thursday, and even Ryan Fitzpatrick said it last night, he did an interview with Tua, I think it was that Wednesday, for like two hours, and Ryan's not a doctor.

He alluded to that afterwards on the broadcast on Amazon Prime, but he said it seemed like he was the normal Tua Tonga Valoa. So it's a weird spot. It's a bizarre spot, and you just have to react to it the way that you kind of feel. But the bottom line is, it's not a good look for the NFL, because it looked like he had a concussion on Sunday, and we know he had a concussion last night. And you wonder, when you get into any of these player safety conversations, how much the NFL actually cares about player safety. Hickey, give me a thought on this.

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. You heard what I just said for the last 13, 14 minutes. I'll allow another voice into the conversation. What say you? What happened last night obviously is very unfortunate.

I guess my thing is, I don't really fault the NFL or the Dolphins. It just, it's kind of one of those things where it happens. He was cleared, they have a protocol in place, by all intents and purposes, the protocol was used, and Tua passed it.

It's unfortunate, like we talked about before. I think he had a concussion on Sunday, so I think he was playing last night with a concussion. With that said, the doctors say he didn't. The doctors say he could play. You have an independent neurologist as part of the decision-making crew to take kind of the decision, or not have as much team influence making the decision.

There's still a team doctor involved in the matter, but there's checks and balances there with the independent neurologist. So yesterday, a lot of the reaction was, I can't believe the NFL did this, they should be, you know, this is bad luck for them, bad luck for the Dolphins, like you said, fireman McDaniel. It's unfortunate.

And you never want to see it happen. So this is what I question. So let me be clear here, because I do agree with some of what you're saying.

My question is, maybe we need to revise, or maybe we need to take a stronger look. And we'll have Drew Tranquil coming on as an NFL player, so we'll ask him about the protocol. But all we know about the protocol is you have to get approved by an independent neurologist and a team doctor. Andrew Whitworth last night said there was times he returned and he knew that he had a concussion. Like he knew, like he felt that something wasn't right, but he was able to pass the test because players, if you give them the option, they're going to play. They're going to, a lot of players, 9 times out of 10, players are going to play because that's their mentality.

So I just wonder, is the protocol effective? Because like you said, you thought he had a concussion last week, so did I. And then he's able to pass the test to get back on the field. It's like, and I'm not a doctor, I don't have the answers here, but how effective is the test if everyone watching is saying, hey, that's a concussion. And the guy can't even walk off the field.

And the next thing you know, he's back in in the second half. So that's my main question on this matter, Ryan. And the thing I don't know is, right, can you even strengthen the protocol of concussion? I have no idea. So it's like, sure, something we can say, change it.

I don't know how, I don't know if there's even a way. It's unfortunately the head injuries are the one area of the brain, of the body we have no idea about, you know, it's like we don't have enough information on. And if it was just the team doctor, then you could call it into question because he's being paid by the team. The independent neurologist, I don't think is going to say, oh, well, we got to do what's best for the NFL. Let's just get two on the field and pass him when he clearly does have a concussion. Agreed.

If you want to get in on a line 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227, we allow you to voice your opinion on the Tuatunga-Vailoa situation last night. We'll take a break when we come on back. What are you more excited for this weekend?

Josh Allen going up against Lamar Jackson or Tom Brady against Patrick Mahomes? Zach Gilpshaw off and running on a very busy football Friday on CBS Sports. It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, guys, Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important.

Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time, and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch. It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, guys, Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important. Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time, and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch. It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Now let's get to you.

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. We start things off in Virginia with Jake, who's first up on the Zach Gelb show. Jake, what's happening? Another much, Zach.

Thank you for taking my call. Yeah, so I watched the game on my phone last night while I was listening to the radio broadcast, 910, Westwood 1, of it. Yeah, when I saw it, I was thoroughly disgusted by it because I'm with you, man. Like he should have never even played the second half of Buffalo because obviously he had a concussion then. I mean, as a fan, you've got to be sickened by this. This is a horrible look for the NFL. And like on the radio broadcast, I forget who it was. But even they said, yeah, this is a horrible look for the NFL and it's stuff that's coming to question here. But I still know who you would fire. Well, here's the thing. Like we see what went down last night and appreciate the phone call, Jake. And right away, everyone's reaction is it's awful.

It's terrible. Who do we hold responsible for? But I don't know.

And I don't know if anyone gets fired from this because here's the thing. Last week, he had to clear and I thought for sure it was a concussion in the moment. But he had to can clear concussion protocol from an independent neurologist and then a team doctor. And Mike McDaniel said last night and reiterated today that even though it was a short week on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, there was further testing. And he said there was no head injury last week.

Now, you may not believe that. And I totally get why you wouldn't believe that because we all saw what happened in that Buffalo game where he stands up and he's shaking his head and touching his head and then needed to be helped off the field. So it's tough to believe that was a back injury when you step aside a few days later and fully examine it. Yeah, it's tough to believe it's a back injury, but if the doctors are saying that he's he's good to go and he doesn't have a concussion. I can't fault Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins for them playing him because the medical professionals who are more intelligent than all of us, they said he didn't have a concussion and he was good to return.

So that's the complicated part. And then you hear the excuse of the back, you hear it's a back injury, and then you watch what transpired last night. And last night, his hands are locked up. And that was just a scary thing, like we paused and I was like, I couldn't believe what I was watching.

And we know that this is a violent sport. Let's go to Alex in Oregon next up on the Zach Gelb show. Alex, go ahead.

Hey, Zach, I haven't called you in a while. I wanted to talk about, I have a personal experience, I want to play devil's advocate here for just a second. With those back of the head concussions, I've had about, I've had two concussions and one of them was those. For about 15 minutes, I was in the same state as Tua wobbling around and everything. I sat down, I was fine, and you could, I seemed like a normal person.

But then the next day, I had no balance or coordination and I lost it for like two months. Secondly, I'm a big NASCAR fan, I can't imagine you are, that's fine. I'm not, but go ahead, yeah. I'll be honest with you, I do not watch much NASCAR. The only time I watched NASCAR was when the pandemic first started and that was the only thing on. And I decided to place a few dollars in NASCAR and care about it for a few weeks.

But go ahead. Well, you're in New York City, so there is a racetrack in your backyard. Anyways, but there's been a couple of concussions this season. And the way that NASCAR has dealt with it that I've seen is you'll get a waiver, like an injury waiver.

And so in the NFL, when players want to play because, especially like a lower level guy, he's got to play to get that game check or incentives or whatever. Whereas in NASCAR, they're not losing incentives, so now the onus and the responsibility goes on to the driver to where they can afford to sit out a race if they're not feeling it. And Alex Bowman just said, you probably don't know who that is, but he just had a concussion this past weekend from an accident that didn't even look that bad in comparison to most of the crashes you see. And he got wrecked, and then he drove the rest of the race, and then two days later he goes to a doctor, and he's out for this weekend. So what does the waiver do?

That's the part that I'm confused about. Just explain the waiver part. Okay, so earlier in the season, a guy had a concussion, and he was out for four races, but he had already won a race, which glitches him into the playoff. NASCAR had granted him the waiver, and then playoffs rolled around.

He said, I'm still not right, so he waived his right to the waiver. But basically the waiver is there in the place of a serious injury that is on the part of NASCAR's fault, which these concussions have been. Then that is there for the driver to take advantage of, that NASCAR gives him an opportunity. What, to still get paid is what you're saying? Yeah, no. NASCAR is not a per race basis.

Yes, the purse is. But what is the waiver doing? I see why you're losing me. I don't get what the waiver does. What does the waiver do here? Oh, well, the waiver itself is like, okay, you're not going to get any points as a driver for this race, but that waiver will go on, you know, that waiver will exclude that race for you, is what I'm trying to say. Gotcha.

Alex, appreciate the phone call. I don't know what that, how that relates to the conversation in terms of the NFL on how we could maybe change the protocol here. But here's the bottom line. If you leave it in the hands of the player, nine times out of ten, the player is going to go out in the field and play if he's told he could get on the field. I don't know, with what we saw last week, how you could have, how he passed those tests.

Like, I don't, it doesn't make sense to me. He's clearly wobbly, but an independent neurologist and a team doctor said that he didn't have a concussion. So it's like, what is McDaniel going to do? What's Tua going to do in a spot like that? They're going to play him. Scott in California, next up. Scott, go ahead. Hey guys, I was just trying to chime in on this.

I'm trying to remember what I was wanting to say. I believe that I saw both of the hits and I don't believe that they put him out too quickly. They go through cognitive tests. They do a lot of, it's not one doctor's sin, like putting a flashlight in his eye and saying, hey, you're good to go. They do CAT scans and he's young enough to where maybe, you know, it didn't affect him much. What I saw last night, that is a concussion with the hands locking up.

So he's going to be out for a while. But isn't it possible that they didn't run him out there too early, but it's possible that he just had two major hits where he hit his head. And maybe we need to talk to the Miami Dolphins offensive line more than the doctors and not doing the protocol. Well, Scott, I don't think that's fair to blame it on the offensive line.

You don't need to be thrown to the ground hard. And I didn't think last night was all that bad and taking hits, it's part of the game. So if you're going to say, oh, the offensive line needs to protect him better, sure, every offensive line needs to protect a quarterback better. But I would not blame that on the offensive line last night.

I don't think that's very fair or very reasonable. But the thing is, and I'll keep on saying this and I'll sound like a broken record player. What we saw last week was a guy that could not stand up straight. And he was somehow clear to get on the field in the second half. I just wonder what made the doctor say that he was good and did not have a concussion. And is it possible that he didn't have a concussion last week?

Yeah, it's possible. But then what you saw last night we know was a concussion. And when you see it locked, his hands locked up like that, maybe it was one isolated incident where that could happen. But it's impossible when you see last night not to think about last week where he leaves the game.

You're not thinking he comes back and then does return to the contest. So there was never a doubt in my mind this week that leading up to it he was going to play because he played the second half up against Buffalo. But it is also tough for me to say that he didn't have a concussion last week. But I'm not the doctor.

So the doctor said he was good to go. They played him. And that's what happens. If the team gets told by the medical staff, he's good to go. You don't ask any further questions.

They just don't. They just put the player on the field. Drew Trenkle going to join us next. On the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important.

Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time, and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch. It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. We continue it as a Football Friday on the Zach Gelb Show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Chargers looking to bounce back after back to back losses.

They're going up against the Texans this weekend in Houston at 1 o'clock p.m. Eastern. And now joining us on the Zach Gelb Show is a linebacker for the Chargers, Drew Trenkle. Drew, appreciate the time. How you been? I'm good, Zach. How are you doing? I'm doing fantastic. I appreciate you jumping on today for a few minutes right before you guys get set to have a little battle up against the Texans this weekend. I know you're talking about Q Collar today, a big topic of conversation with the aftermath of what occurred last night in the football game.

Just tell me a little bit about Q Collar. Absolutely, yeah. For me, it's just an added layer of protection. It kind of gives me the most confidence going out there that I'm doing the most to kind of protect my head to the best of my abilities.

And obviously we see things like last night what happened with Tua. But if we're being honest, head injuries are happening every day on the gridiron, every Sunday. And certainly, you know, every time, you know, youth, high school, college athletes are stepping out on the field. So if we can do the most to protect our brains, be in the best helmets and the best equipment, you know, that's always advantageous for our athletes. I know that more than a dozen NFL players are currently playing with Q Collar, which is applying slight pressure with devices to the jugular vein via the neck.

The Q Collar gently increases blood volume inside the head, reducing the brain's movement upon impact, which is the primary cause of a brain injury. How did you come across this and why did you think it was the best thing for you to wear? Yeah, Zach, I actually first wore it at Notre Dame back in 2016 when they were just coming out with the product and guys like Luke Kuechly were testing it. And, you know, our football team at Notre Dame was trying it out. So I was aware of the Q Collar. I felt like from a performance standpoint there were some needed improvements before, you know, I wanted to wear it in a game.

And they've certainly addressed those over the past few years. And heading into this season, I was very interested in wearing the device and protecting my head on a week-to-week basis. Drew Tranquil from the Chargers here with us. How did you react to what we saw last night with Tuatunga Vailao in the Dolphins-Bengals game?

Yeah, Zach, it's really sad. We all saw what happened the week earlier. And from a player's perspective, it's difficult. Anytime a guy gets hurt, you feel for him. We play a high impact game where, you know, injuries are inevitable. But specifically when it comes to the head, it's tough to see that they let him go back on the field last week after what we saw. As a player in the heat of the battle, your instinct is fight or flight. You're going to want to go back in.

You're going to want to say I'm good. But it's unfortunate that they let him go back in after seeing an obvious head impact, seeing him stumble around. And then we see the aftermath, you know, what can happen when that is left not taken care of. And unfortunately, he went down last night. Supposedly the news is he's got feeling in his extremities and he's feeling well.

And certainly that's what our hopes are. But you just feel bad for the kid. So I'm not a doctor, obviously, and I would never try to pretend to be one. But as a fan and just watching this or just any human being, like last week, I was shocked when he returned to the game. Like what is it, what do you especially have to do to clear concussion protocol? Because I was shocked how quickly he got back on the field last week. Yeah, honestly, I'm not super familiar with the concussion protocol. And like you said, I'm not a medical expert either.

I've never had to go through that in a game. From what I understand, they take you in the tent. And there's a baseline test we take as players coming in with our entrance physicals. And I think you do a quick test and they compare that to your baseline.

I think the doctors look at your eyes and see how they're dilating. And there's just a few standard probably balance tests that he went through. But a lot of it, when it comes to concussions, is so subjective. And so the player is saying, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.

And the doctors are saying, well, these things seem to be checking out. He's not having a ton of sensitivity to light right now. And you can get players that end up going back in the game with head injuries. I know he returned last week like we're talking about. He clearly played in the game last night in a Thursday night game. Were you surprised that he played on Thursday last night?

I was, Zach. I was watching the video of him stumbling after getting hit last week. I was surprised, I guess not surprised at the fact that Tua seems to be a really tough kid.

And obviously desires to be out there and be playing with his teammates. But I was surprised they let him go, for sure. Drew Tranquil here with us. Chargers going up against the Texans this Sunday, 1 o'clock in Houston. Going back to last week, what happened? How do you kind of look back on that loss to the Jaguars? Where that game was really one-sided in favor of Jacksonville?

Yeah, it was a humbling experience. We played really poorly, really in all three phases. We had areas where we could have improved. I thought if we did anything well, I thought we kind of contained Agnew, their returner on special teams. But if you look at offensively, defensively, we just needed to make more big plays. Jacksonville made those plays. You look at the 50-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. You look at the forced turnovers they had.

And they really just dominated the football game. So we know we can play a lot better. And we've certainly shown that this week in practice.

And we're looking forward to the opportunity to go against the Texans Sunday afternoon. Did you at all in the preparation overlook maybe the Jaguars a little bit? Do you think that played a factor into it?

I don't think so. I think you come off two division games and the atmosphere is a little bit different on Sunday. And I think at the end of the day, we knew Jacksonville had a great defense. We knew they had a good offense with an efficient quarterback that had been playing a lot better through two games than he did last year.

And I think they just exposed that in us. And they played really, really well. They played good football. And we did not play well enough on defense or offense to win that ballgame.

Drew Tranquil here with us for a few more moments. I was a big believer in this team. I'm not going to jump off ship after three games. I thought you guys were going to win the AFC West this year.

That was my pick before the year. Where's the mentality of this team right now since you're in that locker room after you guys got that week one victory but then the last two weeks it hasn't gone in your favor? Yeah, we felt like we were really close here in Kansas City. A couple plays here, a couple plays there.

And the movie looks completely different. We did not play our best football last week. And we've certainly been battling some injuries here. And we've got guys, you know, playing through stuff. We've got guys that have gone down and are going to be out for a while. I know we've got a resilient group and we've got a deep group. When you look at, you know, what Tom Tolesco and Coach Staley have done with building our roster, we've got depth. And we're really optimistic about the guys we're going to have on the field this Sunday. And we like our chances to go out there and play a lot better football than we did last week. Some years teams just get hit with an injury bug.

And we saw that last year with Baltimore. You've talked about the injuries. Rashawn Slater is out for the year. Joey Bosa is now going to miss a lot of time. Herbert, I know he had a full participation in practice the other day. But he's been banged up. Keenan Allen out this weekend.

Does that at all cross your mind? That man, like maybe this is just the year that we're getting hit with the injury bug and it could derail the season? You know, I don't know that our mindset is that it's going to derail the season. Certainly you feel it when you have star players like you mentioned. If you look at Corey Linsley, Keenan Allen, Joey Bosa, Rashawn Slater, our franchise quarterback, Herbert is dealing with something. You definitely feel that as a team. But like I mentioned earlier, I feel like we have a lot of depth.

Whereas maybe in years prior, we would have felt it a lot more. I think when you look across the landscape of the NFL, we see it last night with Tua. Every team in some shape or fashion is dealing with what we call the injury bug.

It's just inevitable kind of in the game of football. So, you know, we like our chances. We like our depth in our locker room and I think we're going to be ready to go. We certainly miss those guys and they're a big part of our team.

But it's cool to see those guys still out there at practice, still hanging around, coaching up the next man in. And we're looking forward to the opportunity this week against the Tech Boys. Tom and Brandon addressed the defense this offseason and they were aggressive with some of the shortcomings that happened last year. What do you think this defensive unit can be this season, Drew Tranquil? You know, I think we have a ton of potential when you look at how they've invested on the defensive side of the football. We're great at all three levels. And I think when you can have your rush and your cover working together, you can be a good football team. Certainly, you know, we're not happy with how we played specifically on third down thus far in the season. But, you know, we're optimistic that we're three games in and we have a lot of new guys playing together.

There's a lot of continuity that has to get formed, has to get shaped. And, you know, we're developing that on a week-to-week basis and we're going to continue to be a better football team. Take me inside your locker room when it comes to the belief level in your head football coach. Because last year when the aggressiveness was working, everyone was loving it.

When it didn't work, everyone was critical of it. Are you guys fully bought in to your head football coach, Brandon Staley? We love Coach Staley. And I think a great example of that is we have onboarded so many new guys.

When you look at Kyle Van Noy, when you look at J.C. Jackson, I'm specifically talking the defensive side of the ball, Khalil Mack. You know, Austin Johnson, Sebastian Joseph Day, we brought in so many guys. And these guys come in and they're like, man, just sitting in a team meeting with him, he's so bright. And so I think guys really believe kind of in his understanding of the game, kind of how much he puts into being a great football coach. And this is his second year as a head coach. He's a young guy.

He's figuring it out as he goes, just like we are. But I think more than anything, we can see his commitment. We can see his commitment to being a great coach, to investing in his players. And he shows that on a day-to-day basis.

And so I think when you talk about the belief, the belief is very, very high when it comes to Coach Staley. What has been your impressions for the first two years of what we've seen from Justin Herbert and what he's been able to do so far as now he's in year number three in the NFL? Because, man, you can't really say many negative things about the guy.

Yeah, Justin is fantastic. He's a fantastic teammate and he's an ultra competitor. I think he's such a unique leader in that he's the guy, he literally doesn't have to say anything. And he has the full respect of the locker room, the full respect of the organization and the coaching staff. You look at what he's done the past two weeks with banged up ribs and he's out there. He wants to be out there.

He's battling through it. And you just can't say enough about his toughness and his leadership kind of as a player and the intangibles he brings. We all know the tangibles, the arm strength, his decision making. But when you look at the intangibles and what he brings to our organization, it's unbelievable.

Last thing I'll ask you before we let you run, Drew Tranquil, and I really appreciate the time. This team, like we've been talking about, loaded with talent, big expectations this year. Really the last decade, decade plus, the Chargers have had a lot of talent and they haven't gone where they're supposed to go. So some fans say it's the same old Chargers now with you guys getting off to that one and two start. What do you say to that fan that is doubting that your football team isn't going to get to the level where you guys should get to this year? It's a great question.

It's a valid question. I think as a football team, we onboarded a ton of players this offseason and Coach Staley addressed it kind of in the team meeting this week. We've got a lot of guys that have not played a lot of football together.

And so from a communication, from a timing perspective, from all these things that really, really matter. If you look at all the great teams over the course of history, even look at the Tampa Bay team. When they onboarded all those great players, they struggled early and they went on to win the Super Bowl. You look at basketball, like the Miami Heat when they onboarded LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, all these guys. It took a while for them to learn to play together. I think we're just figuring out ironing out the wrinkles, specifically on the defensive side of the football, learning to play together. You insert a rookie there at right guard, Zion Johnson, they're figuring out continuity in the offensive line.

You get Rashawn Slater going down, Corey Linsley missing time. There's a lot of continuity that has to be formed to execute on all three phases and I think we're feeling that early on. But I like our progress and how we're looking on a day-to-day basis in practice. And I think you're going to continue to see a better and better football team as the year goes on.

Drew Tranquil on the Zach Gelb show on behalf of the Cute Collar, which is the only FDA cleared sports equipment proven to help protect the brain from repetitive head impacts. Drew, safe travels, good luck this weekend, really do appreciate the time and perspective. Yeah Zach, thanks so much. There's Drew Tranquil from the Chargers, just real quickly too had just released a statement. I want to thank everyone for all their prayers and support since the game last night. It was difficult to not be able to finish the game and be there with my teammates, but I'm grateful for the support and care I've received from the Dolphins, my friends and family and all the people who have reached out. I'm feeling much better and focused on recovering so I can get back out on the field with my teammates.

That is from Dolphins quarterback to a tongue of eye low. Zach Gelb show CBS Sports Radio news brief next. On the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, Mike Valenny for cash the ticket podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important. Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch. We'll see you next week. It's cash the ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.