Youth Takeover (Hour 1)

Is there something really absurd that skeeves you out? Getting a paper cut on my eyeball. A fear you can't shake? I'm going to leak ocular fluid down my cheeks.

It's going to go into my mouth and I will perish. Whatever scares you, I want to talk about it. Join me, Larry Mullins, on my new podcast, Your Weirdest Fears.

Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from. Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm interested in making money.

I'm not interested in hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season 2, The Dixie Mafia. Available now 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. Welcome on in to a Tuesday edition of Maggie and Pearl Off across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, and that free Odyssey app. Maggie and Andrew both out this entire week. So, Zach Gelb here with you all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern. You can always hit me up on social media where I'm straight flexing on Instagram or you could follow me on the good old cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb, that's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B, and you could always hit me up at 855-212-4CBS, that's 855-212-4227, and that's to hit me up to call the show, not to just personally text me, as some of you have done that throughout the years and have found a way to get my number.

But anyway, we got an action-packed show today. Emmanuel Bari along the other way. Jay Gruden, the former NFL head coach, going to join us 20 minutes from now at 4.20 p.m. Eastern, former NFL linebacker Chad Brown will stop by. He now does a talk show in Denver as we'll continue to discuss Nathaniel Hackett getting fired and what the future is going to be for Russell Wilson, whoever is the next head coach of the Denver Broncos. And then at 5.20 p.m. Eastern, fresh off a two-touchdown performance to conclude Week 16 and punch a ticket to the postseason. Chargers running back Austin Eckler going to join us in the final hour of Maggie and Perloff.

on this Tuesday edition on CBS Sports Radio. Here's where I want to start off, and it's with the game last night, as you see Justin Herbert punch his first ever ticket to the NFL postseason that will commence in three weeks from now on Wild Card Weekend. You're looking at the landscape and the quarterbacks right now that have already punched their ticket to the postseason all 27 years or younger when you look at these quarterbacks. When you see Patrick Mahomes, and we already know what he has done in this league, and he's already had an abundance of postseason success winning a Lombardi Trophy and getting to another Super Bowl. You look at Josh Allen looking to win his first Super Bowl with the Buffalo Bills.

You have Joe Burrow who was in the Super Bowl a year ago. Lamar Jackson, we think, is going to be back in time for the playoffs, maybe back as soon as this weekend. Who knows as you're not only managing an injury, but there's extra attention there because he does not have a future contract, and you wonder if Lamar is going to wait until he's 100% to come on back and play football for the Baltimore Ravens, and now you insert Justin Herbert into the conversation and into the postseason where he's trying to change the perception about the Chargers who have had some great quarterbacks throughout the years, but whenever it's supposed to be the Chargers' year, you see them end up coming up short of expectations, and really this year for the Chargers my only expectation was to go make the postseason. They had to make the postseason this year, and there was a time where maybe you thought they were going to fall short when they have dealt with the bevy of injuries that they've suffered.

Joey Bosa hasn't played for the majority of the season. You've seen Derwin James in and out of the lineup, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams in and out of the lineup, offensive line injuries. They're hoping to get Rashawn Slater back for the postseason. So everything has been thrown this year at the Los Angeles Chargers to make you think, okay, even though they have all this talent, maybe they won't end up making the playoffs, and not only did they punch their ticket to the postseason last night, depending on how all out they go in the final two weeks of the season, because they already have their postseason berth, you know they're not going to win the AFC West.

It all just comes down to what wildcard seed they're going to get. This team could win their final two games of the season, and they could be a football team that has 11 wins when you go up against the Rams this upcoming Sunday on New Year's Day, and then after that you go up against the pathetic, dreadful Denver Broncos. So this is a Chargers team that the reason why I think they're really dangerous is they're getting healthier, and we'll see when Bosa comes back. You'll see if Rashawn Slater is able to come back. Mike Williams and Keenan Allen now are starting to get back into somewhat form. I know Williams wasn't a big factor in the game last night, but Allen was.

Austin Eckler could do it all on the ground and through the air as well. He's on pace to have back-to-back 20 touchdown seasons, 20 total touchdown seasons. So this Chargers team is coming together, looking like they're coming together at the right time, and I do believe that they're going to be a dangerous team come postseason football, because these next two games you just want to stay healthy. You want to knock off the rust from some of the guys that you're going to implement back into the lineup that have been out for several months or several weeks. But really this team, even though they still have to deal with that perception of same-old Chargers, even though there will always be some skepticism, to Brandon Staley, who I got to tip my cap to, because all throughout the year he's been dealing with the Sean Payton rumors and how Sean wants that Los Angeles Chargers job, and he's had every excuse in the book this year to really fold, to crumble, and then he still may have lost his job with all these injuries, and you see how much that team believes in Brandon Staley and likes Brandon Staley, and he has toned it down a little bit earlier in the season, not so much, but as the season has progressed, he has toned down some of the stupidity when it comes to his aggressive coaching style, where you're looking at some scenarios and he'll sometimes go for it, and that's okay. I'm not saying you should never go for it and be really passive, but there were some times when he was lining up to go for it and you're like, huh? Well, what the heck is he doing? They even pointed out in the broadcast last night with Aikman and Buck how he has toned that down a little bit, but this has been a heck of a year for the Chargers.

I don't know what the ceiling is. If you could win a playoff game, I think that would be a big step in a positive direction, but they did take a big step this year because they have so much talent and they're a roster that is absolutely loaded on both sides of the ball, and this is a football team that has showed you, okay, they are a little bit different than Chargers' teams of the past, and this is no disrespect to guys like Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers that were the quarterbacks there, but Justin Herbert is on pace to do some really special things in this league, and Drew Brees wasn't Drew Brees. I know he made one Pro Bowl when he was the quarterback of the Chargers. Phillip Rivers arguably has gone on to have a Hall of Fame career, but you're looking at Justin Herbert, his first three years in the league. He has the most passing yards in the history of the NFL out of any quarterback through the first three years of an NFL career, and when you have Justin Herbert, really other than Emmanuel Acho, everyone's able to identify this, that everyone knows he's a special quarterback and he's the real deal, but when you get touted as that guy, when everyone is throwing bouquet after bouquet in your direction and everyone's giving you words and words of extolment, you eventually have to have the wins come, and the last two years, the wins weren't there, and last year, Justin Herbert played his ass off up against the Las Vegas Raiders, and they didn't win the game, so I think a lot of people this year, the only detractors were saying, oh, well, he doesn't get into the playoffs, and we've got to remember how young Justin Herbert is. We've got to remember, I know that Justin Herbert got inserted into the lineup early on in year one, but he wasn't supposed to be the starting quarterback.

They wanted to go with Terod Taylor. If it wasn't for the doctor puncturing his lung, if you remember that story with Terod Taylor on the sideline, Justin Herbert would not have got in as early as he did, but for Justin Herbert, he's only 24, and what he's been able to do this year has really displayed to you if you were skeptical if he was the guy or not, that not only is he the guy, but he is definitely a franchise quarterback, and I think for most of us we knew that, but there were some people that didn't want to say it because, oh, the wins weren't there, but you look at the way that he has led this team this year with a defense that has been up and down, with an offensive lineup that has lost Rashawn Slater, who is a great tackle in this league and a young tackle in this league. For an offense that was dealing without Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, this team, even though the stats are still pretty damn good, he's starting the league in passing yards, he's 12th in touchdowns, but really the leadership of Justin Herbert and the play of Justin Herbert has really guided this team to get to the postseason berth that they clinched last night.

So, yes, the first two years were super-duper impressive. When you look at the numbers for Justin Herbert in that rookie year, 31 touchdowns, 10 interceptions. Last year, 38 touchdowns. I know 15 interceptions is high, but you also then see he was a 5,000-yard passer last year. His first year in 15 games, 4,336 yards. This year, you may just look at the numbers and you may not think they're the greatest numbers in the world, 21 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and you see right now with two games to play, he's closing in on 4,300 passing yards, but the numbers don't just tell the story. Because like last night, he didn't have a passing touchdown because they got the ball down deep and then Austin Eckler ran him in for touchdowns. So the stats are sometimes misleading, but every way that you want to chalk it up, he does have over 13,600 passing yards to the first three years of his career, and once again, that's the most out of any quarterback through the first three years of his career.

But put the numbers aside, you just watch the way that he's fought through 15 games so far this year with a lot of his weapons being taken away. For anyone like Emmanuel Otters that's saying, oh, he's just a social media quarterback, well, I'll take that social media quarterback on a lot of other teams around the league because he's clearly not only a top 10 quarterback, you probably say a top seven quarterback right now and trending in the direction of being a top five quarterback and being one of those big names for years and years to come in the NFL. And you look at the AFC. We know Mahomes, Burrow, Allen, those are the three big names so far in the AFC. Lamar Jackson, also a massive name in the AFC when healthy. Justin Herbert, a massive name in the AFC. And someone else who this year is starting to show with the right coaching can be a massive name for years and years to come in the AFC is someone that is on the verge and trending in the direction of clinching a playoff berth and may add into these young quarterbacks of 27 and under in the AFC that's going to the postseason this year.

That's Trevor Lawrence. So you are seeing right now just a difference in the AFC compared to the NFC. Look how many young names there are in the AFC that are established or that are breaking out this year. In the NFC, yeah, Jalen Hurts has had a wonderful season.

He could be the MVP. Dak Prescott, we got to start to see the postseason success. You look around at other spots like Kyler Murray, he's got to show me a lot and he's going to be out for most of next year with the ACL injury. Kirk Cousins, really good quarterback. Matthew Stafford, hurt but good quarterback. Jared Goff playing good football this year, but I don't know how much longer he's going to be the quarterback of the Lions.

Tom Brady still kicking it in the NFL trying to lock down a playoff berth. There's a big difference and a big disparity when you're looking at, and don't forget about Aaron Rodgers too in the NFC. But for the sake of this conversation, guys that are going to be on their teams for the next five to ten years in the AFC to the NFC, there's a lot more confidence in the quarterbacks in the AFC, those young guns in the AFC than there are in the NFC. We're still trying to see who are going to be the names that carry the baton in the NFC for years and years to come where the AFC is pretty damn clear. Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, we'll see if Lamar Jackson leaves the Baltimore Ravens.

You have Herbert and you got Trevor Lawrence as well. And you either have the quarterback or you don't. And sometimes when you just have a guy but not the guy, you could win a lot of games. That may be the case in the NFC, but in the AFC, you better have the guy and then some. Because we know Josh Allen is the guy. We know Patrick Mahomes is the guy.

Joe Burrow is the guy. Same could be said for Justin Herbert. It's looking like Trevor Lawrence is going to be like that quarterback that we thought he could be with what he's doing here in year number two with the Jacksonville Jaguars. So this is setting up to be a very fun postseason and especially in the AFC, the wildcard matchups are going to be phenomenal. And then whoever is going to be the one seed, if it's Cincinnati, if it's Kansas City, or if it's Buffalo, is then going to be waiting. But you look at the storylines right now of these quarterbacks and where they are in the AFC, it's going to create a very exuberant NFL postseason. Because for Patrick Mahomes, I think there's a lot of pressure for him to win that second one with how people think he could go on to be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Josh Allen, he's looking to bring a city that's one of the most passionate fan bases ever, their first Lombardi Trophy, and has had some heartbreak the last two years. Joe Burrow, first full year as a starter, he took a team to a Super Bowl that no one thought was even going to make the playoffs. Lamar Jackson has won a unanimous MVP. If he can come back healthy, maybe he could get rid of some of the demons that he's been criticized of in the postseason.

And for Herbert, you have done enough this year to now punch your ticket to the dance and we'll see how far you could take it. And then I'm going to assume, and I'd much rather see, no offense if you're a Tennessee Titans fan, I'd much rather see Trevor Lawrence in the postseason compared to the unknown and the uncertainty of Malik Willis. So this is shaping up to be what should be a phenomenal postseason in the NFL. But you look at the AFC right now, the Bills are the one seed. So Wild Card Weekend, you would have right now, and not all this is set in stone clearly, you'd have the Chiefs going up against the Dolphins. I don't know if Tua's going to play again because he's in concussion protocol again, but if he does, that's Mahomes against Tua. Then the 3-6 matchup, right now as we currently sit, would be Burrow against Herbert. And then if Lamar is back and healthy, and if the Jaguars make the postseason, you would get Lawrence against Jackson.

Sign me up for that. And the story of this postseason is, which one of these quarterbacks, 27 and under, are going to continue to add to the legacy and the very promising legacy that they're already building in the NFL. And as a fan that may or may not have a dog in the fight, depending if my team makes the postseason or not, and I don't think they will, just to be able to sit back on the couch and watch all this play out, it's going to be awesome. Zach Gelb here with you and Maggie and Perloff on CBS Sports Radio.

We'll take a break. When we come on back, we'll chat it up with Jay Gruden. As Jay will join us, the former NFL head coach will get his view on the Russell Wilson situation in Denver. And also, should the commanders this week start Carson Wentz or Taylor Heinecke, and we'll throw around the football with him and talk about various quarterback situations in the NFL.

Jay Gruden going to join Zach Gelb next, right here on CBS Sports Radio. Is there something really absurd that skeeves you out? Getting a paper cut on my eyeball. A fear you can't shake? I'm going to leak ocular fluid on my cheeks.

It's going to go into my mouth and I will perish. Whatever scares you, I want to talk about it. Join me, Larry Mullins, on my new podcast, Your Weirdest Fears.

Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from. Is there something really absurd that skeeves you out? Getting a paper cut on my eyeball. A fear you can't shake? I'm going to leak ocular fluid on my cheeks.

It's going to go into my mouth and I will perish. Whatever scares you, I want to talk about it. Join me, Larry Mullins, on my new podcast, Your Weirdest Fears. Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from. What's the strangest thing you're afraid of? Tails without fur on them, such as rats or opossums. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, where we dig into the crazy things you're afraid of. Everything from animal-people hybrids you know, people who get surgeries to look like an animal to giant statues.

If I ever saw one of those giant statues, I probably would poop my pants. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from. Zach Gelb here with you on CBS Sports Radio.

We'll continue the NFL conversation right now with the former NFL head coach, and that, of course, is Jay Gruden, kind enough to join us on CBS Sports Radio. Jay, always appreciate the time. How you been? I've been doing good, playing a little bit of golf, watching these games on TV, having a good time. Have you been hitting them straight? How's your golf game? You know, it's up and down. Like most five handicappers, you play good one day and terrible the next, but it's fun.

I'm envious of all the golf time you're able to get in. So right now, we were talking about this before you came on in the AFC, and this is shaping up to be a heck of a postseason, especially when you just look at the quarterbacks. You already have Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Lamar Jackson.

Now Justin Herbert last night clinched playoff births, and then you could see Trevor Lawrence added into that fold. Just with those young, talented quarterbacks we have in the AFC, it's really setting up not only for a fun postseason, Jay, but for years and years to come. Yeah, for sure, and that's why you see so many teams jockeying and trying to find that quarterback because that position is critical for your team's success, and those teams that you mentioned all have great ones, great futures for years to come.

I mean, they're all young, they're all talented, and I think the stage is set for a great playoff. Last night we saw Justin Herbert and the Chargers punch their ticket to the postseason. How do you kind of look at the job Brandon Staley has done this year? Because not only has he had to deal with a lot of injuries, but also those rumors of maybe Sean Payton replacing him.

Yeah, I think every team that's struggled a little bit has those rumors of Sean Payton coming in. You know, it's a tough thing to deal with, but Brandon's done a good job. He takes some hits for some of the decisions on fourth down and what have you, but he's got that team in position to make a run in the playoffs. He's got an excellent quarterback. Their defense played a lot better last night than they have in games past, so that's a big plus for them. If their defense continue to play, Justin Herbert gets going, throwing to Keenen Allen and Mike Williams, they'll have a chance. Yeah, and I still think that they're so dangerous because really, Jay, and you even just said it, they haven't really played their best game yet because of all those injuries. Yeah, I agree, and I didn't even mention Austin Eckler. I mean, this guy's running between the tackles.

He's a great weapon out in space, in the passing game, so yeah, for sure. Their defense continue to play like they have. They get healthy. They get Derwin James on the field for a whole 60 minutes, game after game.

They're gonna be tough to deal with. Who do you think is the best team in the AFC right now? Well, I usually start with the quarterbacks, and I think, you know, you gotta mention, I think the Cincinnati Bengals are. They beat Kansas City three times in a row. They're playing very good defense. They got three unbelievable, talented receivers. They got a solid running game. I do worry about the loss of their right tackle. That bothers me a little bit, but I like the way Joe Burrow plays in clutched situations.

Talking to Jay Gruden right now, Zach Gelp here with you on CBS Sports Radio. If you were interviewing for that Broncos job and you were asked how would you fix Russell Wilson, what would your answer be? Well, sometimes quarterbacks at the age of Russell Wilson have had habits that they cannot correct, and he has an issue with pocket presence. Takes a lot of stacks. Doesn't see very well down the field. There are things you gotta do with them, get them outside the pocket. Try to get some quick game going.

Try to make it comfortable. Gotta get a strong running game for him. I don't think Russell Wilson's in any position where you think he can drop back 35 to 40 times a game and he's gonna beat you. He's gotta be a controlled passing game 20, 25 times a game and running game and play great defense. But he still can't escape and do the things you need to do for a quarterback. With him being 34 years old and how much money they have tied up to him, do you think that's an attractive job for perspective head coaching candidates?

I really do not. It's a tough situation to walk into. They've been dismal on offense. They should be better on offense than they are with the talented quarterback that they have, the receiving court they have. They've had a couple good running backs. Their offense line isn't terrible, and their defense has been playing great.

There's no reason for them to be in a situation they are in. You can't just blame the coach. I know they fired Coach Hackett, but players have to stand up and make some plays, and they just haven't made any on offense.

They've been horrific, and I really don't know why. Is it the quarterback? Is it the line? Is it the play calling?

I think it's a combination of all of them. Is the ceiling for Russ moving forward at the age of 34 just being a good quarterback in this league and no longer a great quarterback if he gets things right again? I think, yeah.

Yeah, I do think so. I think when they were great at Seattle, they had the legion of doom. They played incredible defense.

People tend to forget that. They just think about Russell Wilson, but they had one of the top defenses of all time playing with them. Great in turnovers, making big stops, give them a great field position, and they had a pretty good defense in Denver. And the way he's performed the last couple years, I'm not too sure he's a top 25 quarterback, let alone a top 10 quarterback. Jay Gruden here with us. When you get to this decision that Rahm Rivera has to make for your old football team, if you were still in charge there, would you go with Carson Wentz or Taylor Heineke this week?

You know, it's a tough call. I'm not there to watch them practice every day in OTAs and training camp and just see the body of work that they've put in. You can see them on game day. You see Heineke make some plays with his legs. He's a tough, great competitor. You see the arm talent that Carson Wentz has. He struggled a little bit early, but they weren't playing as good on defense as they were when Heineke played. They were running the ball effectively when Heineke got those wins, so I'm sure Carson Wentz can hand off just as good.

That's a really tough call. I can't pin the loss of the San Francisco game on Heineke. He played very well for three quarters. He had two very unfortunate plays. I don't think either one of them were his fault.

One was on the back, one was on the protection. They pulled him, brought in Wentz, and he made some good throws down the field. It's just hard for me to say, hey, put in Wentz right now, because if they thought Wentz gave the best chance to win big games in the playoffs, they should have put him in when he got back from his injury. So I think there are some feelings around the building as they think Heineke's better. I personally would stick with Heineke. When you look at just the roster, I know there's a lot of different views of the commanders organization because of their owner and Daniel Snyder.

We don't know how much longer he's going to be owning the team. But when you just look at that roster, it seems like they're a quarterback away. This seems like a pretty damn good roster, Jay. Yeah, it is.

I like to think I left it in a better spot than when I got it. We had some pretty good players. They left some pretty good players that we had go.

But they are talented. They have very good defensive line. Sweat, Allen, and Payne are outstanding. They lost Holcomb, but they're getting a first-round pick back. Chase Young, they've got a pretty decent secondary with Kendall Fuller back there leading the way. And then offensively, the offensive line is probably a little bit shaky, in my opinion. But they have a good, strong running game and obviously three ultra-talented receivers. What's been your evaluation this year of Daniel Jones, Jay Gruden?

You know what? I like Daniel Jones. I think Daniel Jones is doing a lot with the little right now. I know he has a great running back of Saquon, and that's their ticket to success is handing him the ball. But when he has to drop back the pass, he doesn't have Tyreke Hill or Jason Waddle or Jalen Waddle or any of these marquee receivers running around for him. He's got a pretty marginal group out there at receiver.

I'd probably say they're the bottom third of the league in receiving talent and tight end as well. So I think he's doing a lot with the little. I think he's got arm talent. He's showing what he can do athletically outside the pocket. He's a lot more athletic than a lot of people give him credit for.

I do like him. I think somebody's going to take a chance with him if it's not the Giants. Somebody will pay him very well and let him be their franchise quarterback for a few years.

That's going to be the thing, what the contract is, because I do think the Giants want him back, but I just wonder how crazy you get with this contract because he's showing that he could be a serviceable quarterback, a little bit more than a serviceable quarterback in this league, but you still wonder if he could be that franchise guy. Yeah, that's the issue a lot of teams have with these guys that aren't the top, you know, the Burrows, Mahomes, and Josh Allen. Those are obvious guys, but then the other guys are playing the quarterback position. They're going to want quarterbacks starting money, and that's what it is, and some teams are stuck with guys that are maybe top 10, top 15, top quarter, but you have to have somebody. You can't go into the draft and say, let's draft one. You can't go to free agent and say, there will be a free agent available.

No, there won't. Not many teams are going to let go of a marquee quarterback to another team. They're going to keep their quarterback unless you're the Washington football team like we let Kirk Cousins go. You know, so it's very hard to find a quarterback, and if you have one that has some talent, has some athletic ability, you got to hold on to them because there's no guarantee you're going to find another one like that.

Jay Gruden, you mentioned one of your former quarterbacks and Kirk Cousins. What do you think the Vikings could do this year with what you've seen out of them so far? Well, I like the fact that they've won a lot of close games.

You know, to be 10-0 with one-point games or two-point, whatever, close games is impressive. They've come from behind. They've won with the lead. They've done a lot of, they've made big plays in critical situations. They have big-time players that keep positions of Dalvin Cook and Justin Jefferson and Adam Bellion, and obviously, Adam Hockinson, he's no cupcake either. So they have key players at key positions, and the quarterback is playing with a lot of confidence, and that goes a long way come playoff time.

And I think defensively is where they're struggling, obviously, but if they can play a little bit better, then they have a chance. I look at Justin Jefferson. He's making a serious case for NFL MVP. We've never seen a receiver win that award, but with some of the injuries at the quarterback position, he may end up winning this thing, Jay.

I agree, and why not? I mean, this guy is a dominant player. Some of the plays that he's made, like I mentioned, the one against Buffalo, the one last week against Giants, he just made play after play in big-time situations, and then why not? I mean, this guy is a dynamic player. He can run every route from outside and inside. He's a great target. He's good after the catch.

Obviously, he's a great guy. He brings a lot of energy to that franchise, and they would not be where they're at without that guy. I know you're doing some work with the Rams right now. Just what has been your evaluation of Baker Mayfield, because it's been impressive how that guy has come in and just very quickly has played some better football? Yeah, Sean's a very quarterback-friendly coach. He can take a quarterback and make him very comfortable early, and that's what he's done with Baker. He hasn't asked him to do too much in a drop-back passing game. He's got him outside the pocket, done a lot of play action, some bootlegs, some comfortable throws for him, and when he's asked to make some big-time throws, he's made them.

It's been a great start for Baker with his career at Rams and pretty rejuvenating himself to put himself in that talk for maybe a quarterback for one of these teams that need one in the future if it's not the Rams, if it's somebody else. There's a coaching side of it, and then there's a human side of it when we get to Tuatunga-Wailoa. This is now multiple times this year he's been in concussion protocol. I know they're fighting for a playoff berth, but how would you handle that situation this weekend if you were a coach? Well, you have to let the trainers handle it, and then the concussion protocol will take its course.

That's the only thing you can do. You know, when they say he's ready to go, then you have to take their word for it and to his word for it. You know, if they say he's not ready, he's not passing the necessary test, and he can't play.

That's just the way it is. You know, I think some concussions are obviously more dangerous than others, I guess. I'm not a doctor, but hopefully it's just a little minor rung bell, I guess, so to speak. I don't know.

It's just hard to say, but you have to trust the process, trust the doctors, and obviously trust Tuat. Last thing I'll ask you was announcing that J.J. Watt is going to be playing his final few games of his NFL career over the next two weeks. When you were preparing for J.J. Watt, just what would come to mind is we've seen one of the more dominant players in NFL history in the last decade or so.

I think you said it there. I think he's, if not the best, the most dominant. He's in the top five most dominant players. He was the guy that could play it all over the defensive line. We played him when I was at Cincinnati, and he was at Houston, and very difficult to prepare for because he was everywhere.

Defensive end, three technique, nose tackle. He's slanting. He's going up the field.

He's batting balls down. I think we lost J, but anyway, we were pretty much done, so I appreciate Jay Gruden for joining us as we were getting a pretty in-depth analysis there of one J.J. Watt, but good stuff with Jay Gruden joining us. Zach Elb here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Let's take a time out when we do come on back.

Let's get into that Tuatunga-Wailoa conversation as he's now back in concussion protocol, and there's a lot of conversation on if he should even be allowed to play this upcoming weekend or another weekend in the NFL this season. Zach Elb here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Appreciate Jay Gruden joining us.

Chad Brown going to stop by at 4.20 p.m. Eastern, and then Austin Eckler from your now playoff-bound Los Angeles Chargers will be swinging by at 5.20 p.m. Eastern. Last night was a joke of a game where the Colts' defense is really good. They are a solid defensive unit, but offensively, they are just god-awful, and I know they're without Jonathan Taylor, so you couldn't really expect much. The wide receivers aren't horrible.

I would not say they're great, but you look at the quarterback play. Matt Ryan's been abysmal this year. They go to Sam Ellinger briefly, abysmal, and now you're just trotting out Nick Foles probably because you don't want Matt Ryan to play because if he can't pass a physical, then his contract is guaranteed for next year, so this is just going to be a painful finish if you're a Colts fan to the final two games of the year, but I guess you could spin it into that you rather want to lose, even though it's always tough for fans to say they want to lose because naturally, we just watch the games. We invest so much time in the games, but it does behoove you to lose because you could only increase your positioning in the NFL draft, but last night, seeing Nick Foles just trot it out there, and Nick Foles is someone that maybe has one of the more bizarre careers in NFL history. He's won a Pro Bowl MVP. He's won a Super Bowl MVP, but he can't really be a long-term starting quarterback in this league, but the magic of Nick Foles was being plugged in here and there and then going on these runs, and I know that this Colts scene, there's nothing really expected out of him, but at this point, getting plugged into the final three games of the season for the Indianapolis Colts, you saw last night, he does not belong on the field as a starting quarterback in the year of 2022, soon to be 2023, and I've seen enough of Nick Foles.

Now, I'm not usually someone that says, go hang it up, go retire, because if you could get a paycheck, if you could do this for a living, do it as long as you want to, but for Nick Foles now, at the age of 33, turning 34 in January, what is the purpose of you playing anymore? Because last night, there was no way that he was having fun on the football field. It seemed like every time he dropped back, there was a turnover, and he had one of the ugliest stat lines that you'll ever see. 17-29 for 143 yards was sacked seven times and had three interceptions. That's just brutal stuff, and it wasn't even like the Chargers played this great game last night. You know, offensively, I still think they're trying to figure things out when you knock off the rust of some of these guys, like a Keenen Allen and a Mike Williams, and Keenen Allen played well last night, and Austin Eckler has just been a rock for that team, and we know how good Justin Herbert is, but that Chargers defense, yeah, like, I want to give them credit, but they also got some lollipops thrown their way with the way that Nick Foles was throwing that football. So that was a painful game to watch last night, but that game probably wasn't... It was a game that had to be the most painful for Nick Foles because you're a guy that will forever be remembered in a crazy way in the annals of NFL history because you won a Super Bowl, and you won a Super Bowl MVP out to Tom Brady in one of the more high-scoring Super Bowls that you'll ever see. But now to be playing well-removed from 2017-2018 and some of that magic that you created to now being relegated, let's just say, to the third-option guy for the Indianapolis Colts just to go on out there, hand off the football, have to throw the football, and just get pummeled behind an offensive line that is the richest offensive line in the NFL this year, but they have been terrible.

And you look at this Colts team, and it was comical to me last night. Before the game, ESPN does an interview with Jim Irsay, and I forget who it was. I think it was maybe Troy Aikman, but he's like, oh, I respect that Jim is talking, and I appreciate it. It was either Aikman or Booger that said this. I appreciate that Jim is talking because a lot of owners, they fire their coach, and then you never hear from them. I don't know, if I'm a Colts fan, I'm not feeling all that great hearing Jim Irsay speak last night. Chris Ballard definitely back next year. Why? And then maybe he was just being nice.

I would have to think this is the case. But when he's hyping up Jeff Saturday about the possibility of him coming back, I'm like, what? And I know that Jim said that it's unknown right now in terms of who's gonna be the next head coach, but he believes that Jeff Saturday is an outstanding candidate. What have you seen recently that suggests that Jeff Saturday is an outstanding candidate?

Because he wasn't qualified for the job. And I thought some of the criticism was a little bit over the top, and it got taken too seriously. But how many people, especially at ESPN, were praising the move of Jeff Saturday just because they were buddies with him and they worked together because he was a TV analyst, and then were taking victory laps after he defeated Josh McDaniels in that first week on the sideline? Yeah, a lot of people that were taking victory laps and were saying, oh, see, I told you so.

It wasn't the craziest idea. And they kept it close against Philadelphia, but ever since, you know, Jeff Saturday, since that Raiders game, hasn't won a game. They lost five in a row. Not only lost five in a row, they got outscored 33 to nothing in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys. They were up 33 to zero against the Vikings, and then the Vikings had the biggest comeback in NFL history.

And last night, they were only able to score three points. So if Jeff Saturday is the coach next year of the Colts, and I don't believe that's gonna be the case, how many people said no, or just how delusional is Jim Irsa? And another part of this is him guaranteeing that Chris Ballard is gonna be back.

I would not have done that. Now, you may have a preference to say that Chris Ballard is gonna be back, but you're telling me, if let's say you call up Jim Harbaugh, and Jim Harbaugh says, Jim, I will join you. I will go back to Indianapolis, but I need to either be the GM or bring in my own GM. You're really gonna keep Chris Ballard there if Jim Harbaugh wants to join you and doesn't want Chris Ballard as the GM? Like, come on.

So I just wonder how attractive that job is. And you could look at it, Colts or Broncos, which one would you rather have? Because both have good defenses. Offensively, they don't really have much to offer. Now, this Colts offensive line is a problem now, and there's a lot of money invested. You do have Jonathan Taylor. You have Michael Pittman. Pierce is a solid wide receiver, but you don't got a quarterback. Now, you will have a top five draft pick. Can you get your quarterback in this draft? We'll have to wait and see. It depends who you like. If Bryce Young isn't there, do you love Will Levis? Do you love C.J.

Straub? I don't know about that. And just to assume that you're gonna be able to pluck a quarterback off the streets, that's what Indianapolis has been trying to do for the last few years, and it hasn't worked. So, I don't think this Colts job is that attractive, but I would actually think it's more attractive right now than the Broncos job, because Russell Wilson, there's a lot of money tied up to him, and not only is there a lot of money tied up to him, he's not playing well. And there's not a lot of optimism that Russell Wilson could turn it around, and even if it's not gonna be as bad as it was this year, you have to deal with two things. One, getting him back on track, and two, he has to fix those relationships over in the locker room. And I look at Russell Wilson, I'm starting to think, or not starting to think, I do think, that he doesn't have a ceiling of greatness anymore. If they fix him, his ceiling may just be good, and there may be flashes of old Russ, but you'll never see the old Russ again. So, I would say that the Colts would be at a more of an attractive destination than the Broncos, just simply because at least you don't have your guy at quarterback yet. Where for the Broncos, you have your guy, but he's not playing like the guy, and you're tied up to a lot of money, and you gave up away a lot of resources to go get him. But Jim Irsay, he's always a concern, even though you know he wants to win, if he's already gonna push Chris Ballard on you, and you don't love Chris Ballard, and you don't see that relationship forming with Chris Ballard, then that maybe could be the reason why you would say no, but when push comes to shove, if you have a great candidate that wants the job, will Chris definitely be back? That's still something that I have to wonder about.

Alright, let's quickly hit on the Tuatunga-Vailoa situation. So, I know it was not technically diagnosed a concussion. When you go back to, when he left the game against the Bills, and then came back against Buffalo, where they did win that game. I'm not a doctor, and I know that they called that a back injury. I don't get how that wasn't a concussion.

So, with how much lack of trust that I have in the NFL, and the people that they employ, medical degree, you know, obviously being a doctor background or not, I'm always skeptical with the NFL. So, I do believe, and maybe I'm wrong here, but with what I saw, it's tough to not believe that Tuatunga didn't have a concussion when he returned to that game up against the Bills, but a few days later on that Thursday night football game, for sure, that was a concussion up against the Bengals. And I know that he missed some time, and now he's back, and over the weekend, the concussion spotter wasn't even able to identify where he got the concussion.

And, of course, through Twitter there's a video that has surfaced where he took a hard hit in the first half. So, I look at this Tuat situation, I wonder if he's going to get cleared, but if he does get cleared, and you're Mike McDaniel, who's trying to get in the postseason, remember, this was a Dolphins team that they looked like they were going to be a lock five, six weeks ago to get into the postseason, and now with the way that they have played as of late on a four-game losing streak, they've gone from eight and three to eight and seven fighting for their playoff lives. So, there's going to be, I would imagine, a tough decision here for Mike McDaniel if, if, if, if, if, if, Tuatunga Villoa gets cleared, and you got to figure out, do you trust the doctors, and do you just put him back on the field because he's cleared, and we've seen players get cleared before and coaches say no, or do you go to a, for your long-term health, for your long-term future when you suffer multiple concussions in a season, I don't feel comfortable putting you back under center because if you get another concussion, we, we just don't know where this thing is going to go. So, I think you have to do right by the player here, even if he does get cleared, and if he does break concussion protocol, and I would not play him this weekend, and I know a lot of people are making a push for him to not play for the rest of the season. I can't really fault you and really disagree with you if that's your case as well, but as we've seen, for the majority of the time in the NFL, as long as, as you get cleared, most of the time, you do end up playing, but with how this has been in the spotlight and then also thinking about how many brain injuries, unfortunately, Tua has suffered this year, I think it's a bad look if he's playing, coming up against the Patriots on Sunday, and not only is it a bad look, you got to think about the person, and the NFL, a lot of times they tell you, we care about player safety, but there's a lot of times where you say, hmm, do you really care about player safety? So if he gets cleared, it's going to be fascinating to see if Mike McDaniel is actually going to play him this weekend, because how many times did Mike McDaniel sit up there and go, I do it to the best interest of the player? Oh, with the spotter not being able to identify that he was concussed, and you even saw right against the, I think it was, I forget which game it was, but one of the Patriots players, I think it was getting the Cardinals game, you had Devontae Parker, or Nelson Aggle, have to say stop the game, stop the game, because you had Devontae Parker with a concussion. It just continues to be missed, not all the time, but some of the time, and we're talking about the health of someone's brain here.

So it's serious stuff, and I want to say I would be surprised if two was playing this weekend, but then yet again, I never get surprised when it comes to health and safety of a player, because the NFL tells you they care, and they don't always care. What makes your skin crawl? No matter how absurd, I want to know. Tails without fur on them, such as rats or opossums. I'm Larry Mullins, the host of a new podcast called Your Weirdest Fears. You send me your fear.

I'm just so weirded out about the texture and how they can just move around and flop. And then I go to the experts to learn how to overcome them. Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.