Fielding The Blame (Hour 2)

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One-year upgrade requires financing, qualifying, device and upgrading in good condition after six months with half paid off. Alrighty, how we doing? Hour number two of our radio program. That's right, it is the Zach Gelb Show. The Gelb Show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. It is a Take 5 Wednesday.

I'll give you my top five teams in college football and the NFL at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific. So there's a lot going on with the Chicago Bears. We'll get into the three enormous stories with the Bears right now. I think everyone has heard about this Justin Fields interaction with the media. We've also heard about Alan Williams resigning as the defensive coordinator.

And there's a lot of speculation about what happened. But Hickey, I think we need to start with the biggest news about the Chicago Bears. It's not Justin Fields.

It's not Alan Williams. The Bears also release Nathan Peterman today. What the heck is going on today with the Chicago Bears? That should have been the lead of the show. Nathan Peterman, no more.

I do find it funny. You have the star quarterback or the guy trying to be a star quarterback. I can't call him really a star quarterback with the Chicago Bears basically throwing the coaching staff under the bus and then saying afterwards, oh, the media took him out of context. You have a bizarre situation that there's a lot of rumors that we don't know what is true and what is false with the former defensive coordinator of the Bears and Alan Williams. And as all that stuff is going down and as it looks like Hallis Hall is basically going up in flames when you're talking about Justin Fields, when you're talking about the defensive coordinator, I do find it funny that there was a roster move made and we get that breaking news alert. And you're like, what else are you going to get breaking news today from the Chicago Bears?

And it's, oh, this is to provide a little levity. Nathan Peterman got released. Now, do you think that this was done by design at all, Hickey, where the Bears, who are not a smart organization, just go, all right, the quarterback is messed up today. There's a lot of bad rumors going out there about the defensive coordinator.

We just got to make a move now to make a move. Everyone likes to have fun at the expense of Nathan Peterman going back to right when he was with the Bills and the Raiders and he's kind of turned into a punch line. Did the Bears kind of identify that today and go, OK, let's get a few chuckles out here and get people maybe just making a few jokes about something when serious things are going on with the team? I'm going to say no, because I don't think, no offense to Nathan Peterman, many people care about him or honestly, I don't think many people knew he's even the backup.

I did not know that he was the back. Exactly right. But I think you are underestimating the amount that a minority of people enjoy, especially on social media.

And social media is not always a reflection of society. How much people love whenever Nathan Peterman's name is in the news, because he's kind of one of those guys that we all know is bad. But we've glorified to the point how bad he is that we almost celebrate him whenever he gets cut or a team moves on from him or he does anything in regards to the football. Look, if they're cutting someone just to get the attention away from two massive stories and are cutting a backup quarterback, you got bigger problems than the first two stories we talked about. Do you know who their backup quarterback is?

I do, Tyson. I think it's how you say baguettes. I don't think that's how you say it.

Yeah, something like that. It's spelled B-A-G-E-N-T. Yeah, there's an N in there. I could be mispronouncing it. It's not baguette? I got to double check.

It's like the bread, baguette? Not 100% sure. Okay. But he played well against the Colts in the preseason, a lot of buzz around him. Oh, so that's how you know him?

A lot of buzz. From a small school. So that's how you knew about him? Well, I've heard his name before. He's from Shepherd University. I think.

Where the heck is that? I think he was at the Senior Bowl. If that's correct, there was an obscure quarterback from an obscure school that was at the Senior Bowl that was getting some buzz.

I believe that's where I first heard his name last year and people are talking about him. I'll double check that part. Wait, but who cares? It doesn't really matter.

Yeah, that's where the buzz started and clearly it's risen to a level where he is now the backup. I think we pride ourselves on being factual on this show outside of playing the AI version of Ferenc's kid last night and not knowing that it was AI. But I think 9 times out of 10 we're really factual.

If we're not factual about Tyson, whatever his last name is, I don't really care. But if you had to take a guess where Shepherd University is, do you have any idea where it is? I will say North Carolina. No clue. That would be inaccurate.

You want to keep on going? Washington State. No, we actually we talked about this state this week. We've talked about it this week. We haven't talked about the team, but we we've talked about the state. California. No.

Come on, Dexter Henry. That's the hint. Pennsylvania.

But not the way that you think about it. Or West Virginia. There we go.

It is in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. There you go. According to Google.

That was the quick search that I did. So if it's wrong, I'm going to be like Justin Fields. It's not me.

It's someone else. And then if someone calls me out for the way that I said those comments, then I'll clarify it and say, oh, the media just took it out of proportion. All right. Moving on from Nate Peterman and him getting cut. Should we start with Fields or should we start with the defensive coordinator?

Which way should we attack this? I would say Fields since we know more there. OK, let's play you some Justin Fields today.

We'll play you four audio cuts from Fields. This is Justin Fields at the podium saying he's thinking too much on the field. Felt like I was kind of robotic and not just not not not playing like myself. So, you know, my goal this week is just to, you know, say F and just go out there and play football how I know how to play football. And that's not that includes thinking less and just going out there and, you know, playing off of instincts rather than just, you know, so much sort of say info in my head, data in my head and literally just going out there playing football.

So that was the only answer. We wouldn't be talking about Justin Fields today. I think when a lot of people struggle in playing sports, they think too much. And that's basically what he's saying, that he's thinking too much and he's playing robotically. Now, good media members listen and they follow up. And when they followed up, this is where it started to get bad for Justin Fields. Justin Fields on why he's playing robotically.

You know, could be, you know, coaching, I think. But, you know, at the end of the day, they're doing their job when they're giving me, you know, what to look at, stuff like that. But at the end of the day, I can't be thinking about that when the game comes. I prepare myself throughout the week. And then when the game comes, it's it's time to play free at that point. So I'm thinking less and playing more.

Do me a favor, Hickey. I want people to really digest that audio clip before we play the next one. So play that over again, please.

You know, could be, you know, coaching, I think. But, you know, at the end of the day, they're doing their job when they're giving me, you know, what to look at, stuff like that. But at the end of the day, I can't be thinking about that when the game comes. I prepare myself throughout the week. And then when the game comes, it's it's time to play free at that point. So I'm thinking less and playing more. So I don't want to say whatever he said after coaching.

It doesn't matter. But when you throw the coaches underneath the bus and say it could be coaching, which is him basically saying it is coaching. And then you follow it up by saying, but I know that they're just doing their job. That doesn't make Justin Fields look good. And I'm not saying there aren't problems with the Bears coaching staff.

We know that there are. The fact that they ran the same play three times in a row, backed up in their own end zone at the end of the game made absolutely no sense. So there's a coaching problem with the Chicago Bears, but there's also a Justin Fields problem with the Chicago Bears.

There's been a bunch of videos that have surfaced after the game where Justin Fields had wide receivers wide open and didn't even throw the football to them. Justin Fields is having a problem now, and maybe it is because of an information overload in reading the field. So if you're a real leader, even if you have a problem with the coaching staff, I think you have to look yourself in the mirror first before you point the finger. Because when you lead with, all right, it's too much information and you're thinking too much, that doesn't really tell us whose fault it is.

It doesn't. Like maybe you could assume all the coaches are putting too much on his plate, or maybe that's a Justin Fields issue, but all that stuff was vague. But then on the follow up, when you go to, it could be coaching. It doesn't matter what you say after that, even if you say the coaches are just doing their jobs.

And that's my problem with Justin Fields. I'm not saying he's in an ideal situation. He's not. But they did enough this offseason where you should look okay. I'm not saying good.

I'm not saying great. I wasn't one of these people that went on TV and like, Oh, he's gonna be a dark horse MVP candidate. The Bears are gonna be a sleeper team. I said it before the start of the season. I think the Bears, the way that people were talking about them and the excitement over fields, they were getting set up to fail because the offensive line was still questionable going into this year. Sure, they got DJ Moore, but they lost other pieces on the offensive side of the ball. And I didn't think this offense was all that good. And the jury still out on what Justin Fields could be.

I said this earlier in the week, and I'll double down on it. This is the last year of Justin Fields being viewed as the guy in Chicago. This season's already off to a disastrous start.

Now you basically have him and the coaching staff feuding, and there's a disconnect between him and the coaching staff. And this team has two picks. They're gonna be high up in the draft. They have their own first round pick, which will be top five, and you have the Panthers pick, which could be top five as well. So we talked about the Cardinals right in a similar situation where they had their own first round pick and the Texans' first round pick. Would it shock anyone if the Bears and the Panthers are the two worst teams in the league? And maybe the Bears are the ones that are getting Marvin Harrison Jr. and Caleb Williams. Or even if it's 2-3, you don't get Caleb Williams. Maybe they're taking Chidor Sanders.

Maybe they're taking Michael Penix Jr. or Drake May and then going out there and getting Marvin Harrison Jr. This is gonna be a reset after this year once again for the Bears at the quarterback position. And remember, it was the quarterback that was talking this offseason, Yeah, I'm throwing for 4,000 yards. I'm gonna be the first Bears quarterback to do so.

No, you're not. Not this year. And I don't think he's gonna be the quarterback next year. Maybe he'll still be on the team because of the fact that, you know, he's still on his rookie deal. But they're gonna have a new guy to be hopefully the guy for Chicago because they're gonna have a bad draft pick and they could only put those conversations on hold for one year. If you're back in that spot this year, I don't think they're gonna be able to put it on hold for another year and tell you that Justin Fields is still the guy, Hickey.

I'm with you. I mean, again, you hear these comments that just screams like he's trying to just let everyone know it's not him, but it is him. Because again, when you're not reading the field, when you are openly saying you can't process the information the coaches are giving you, that's on you. That is on you. We don't know the information he's getting, but if you can't process, can't understand what they're asking you to do, again, not saying Luke gets to their offense coordinators calling these great plays or that the offense line is great.

Neither are true. But also too, show something. Anything. Any signs of life that you could be a competent quarterback and he's not so far in his two plus years in the NFL and now again you hear these comments and it just to me sounds more like trying to skirt blame and try to blame others for his own struggles. Now, there's one thing when you say this and then it goes viral and then it's how do you kind of clean up the mess. So I'll give Justin Fields credit. He then immediately talked to the media when he realized that this was going viral and it wasn't making him look good, but he didn't make himself look any better. Here's Justin Fields clarifying his comments to the media after practice.

When you take my quote out of context and we just say that if you take the picture on the inside out like y'all are trying to split split us up. I'm not blaming anything on the coaches. I'm never going to blame anything on the coaches. Never going to blame anything on my teammates. I will take every whatever happens in the game. I will take all the blame. Never will you hear anything come out of my mouth to where I will blame it on somebody else in this organization.

My teammates never will you hear that. So I just want to clear that up and just know that like I need to play better. That's it.

Point blank. If that's what I should have said in the first place. So he realizes he messed up. But when you say you never said anything about the coaching staff, like what are we doing here? It clearly talked about the coaching staff or the quotes out of context. Well, that's that's the typical card where an athlete may not like what they said or what they said was honest. They don't like the reaction to what they said.

And then the next thing you know, it's up. You bad people in the media, which are some bad people in the media that take things out of context. I've been taken out of context before with things that I've said on this show.

It happens. But Justin Fields wasn't taken out of context at any point. We we played the entire part of the clip.

Everyone else has heard the entire part of the clip. How is my my follow up there would be how are you taken out of context? Because he wasn't.

He wasn't whatsoever. So that's a that's even makes Justin Fields look worse when he's trying to clarify this and clean up the mess. It even got messier. This is a disaster. It really is a disaster right now with the Chicago Bears.

Alrighty. And that's not the only thing. If you've been following what's been going on with their now ex defensive coordinator. Now, I don't want to speculate here, but there was one report out there that the FBI raided the facility today. And Charles Peanut Tillman is a part of the FBI, like gave the Bears a heads up about this. The former Bears defensive back with the peanut punch that has been denied.

But you have two things here. Let me start you off with the Brad big side of this. So lots of speculation about the status of Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams. I could tell you for the last three days we've been operating under the belief that his absence has not been related to health or a family member. Which I'm not totally familiar with Brad Biggs. I know that he's a longtime columnist covering the Bears of the Chicago Tribune. I don't think he's someone that just has a history of putting erroneous and ridiculous things out there.

But it is interesting to me and we'll get to the other side of this in just a second where the side of it is that like something happened. There's been a lot of rumors out there. And then you have Brad Biggs saying, well, the defensive coordinator, Alan Williams, is saying that this is health and a family matter.

And Brad Biggs is saying, yeah, the last few days we've been operating under the belief that this absence has not been related to health or a family member. Now, the other part about this is Courtney Cronin, who also covers the Bears. She covers the Bears for ESPN. She said this was a statement from Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams and his resignation effective immediately.

I'm taking a step back to take care of my health and family. I appreciate the opportunity to work with the Chicago Bears, a storied NFL franchise with a rich history. The McCaskey family is first class, second to none. I would also like to thank Coach Matt Eberfuss and general manager Ryan Polce for giving me the opportunity to come to Chicago. I would also like to thank President Kevin Warren, the former Big Ten commissioner, if you remember. The coaches and players of which I value their relationship and camaraderie. I value the NFL shield and all that stands for it.

Before and after taking some time to address my health, I plan to come back and coach again. So that was the statement from Alan Williams. Courtney Cronin also had a team spokesperson address the rumors regarding Hallis Hall being raided today by the FBI as false.

We were also told the police have not been to Hallis Hall in connection to Alan Williams. Now, there is a sports attorney, Andrew M. Strath, I believe I'm saying his name, who Courtney Cronin spoke to. And this attorney out of Chicago who's working with former Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams, told him that Williams is resigning due to health concerns and family issues. Given the false rumors and what seems to be out there on social media, I just want to set the record straight that Coach Williams has some health challenges and some family issues he's dealing with. And he thought it was the right time to take a step back and deal with those issues. He has tremendous respect for the Bears organization. He just thought it was the time to handle this health issue and his personal matters.

So I don't know what is true here and what is false. The entire thing seems fishy. If it is because of health and personal matters, we wish him nothing but the best.

And who knows if the rumors are true and what he was potentially being investigated for. But I feel like, Kiki, we're not being told something here. And if it is health and personal matters, you have to respect that.

I don't need to know what that is. But it's just been a very bizarre day with the field stuff and then a totally different thing here with Alan Williams. And this is on the Bears in the sense that you've got to come out and set the record straight. You can't have basically two conflicting reports out there. And again, Brad Biggs is someone you see the other Twitter reports are for the most part from people that are really unsubstantiated. But this is a guy who has a big following, who is there in the building every single day, who works at the Chicago Tribune.

The other reports are from people that no one's ever heard of. So if he is saying that from what he's hearing, the reasons for the resign or reasons why Alan Williams resigned are not true. I think the Bears owe it to the public and owe it to, in a way, Alan Williams to at least set some sort of record straight here and let everyone know what is going on, what is true, what is false. And the quieter they sit, the more questions that are going to be asked.

And if he, let's say, is going through health problems and personal problems as well. I saw another report where it was like the coaching staff today was shocked. Like, if you're a coaching staff and I think you would know if someone's going through some personal problems or some health problems as well. So when you hear that, like the coaching staff and people, the Bears facility was shocked over this resignation today, it even provides either further questions and further speculation. Well, then, like, what were you really shocked about? Is there part of these other things that are being speculated, not even saying fully true, but somewhat true? Now, Ian Rappaport put this tweet out there.

Clarity. The FBI did not raid Hallis Hall today. The league is not involved and Peanut Tillman is not involved whatsoever in this matter. So I don't know if there's some investigation somewhere or not.

The Peanut Tillman thing, and I remember talking to Peanut Tillman at Radio Row when he first said he wanted to go be involved in the FBI. Like, if he, you know, if he had information about the Bears, he's not calling up the Bears just because he played for them and say, hey, we're about to rage you today. Watch out. Something really wrong is going to happen. And is that a conflict of interest, too? So, you know, I don't think he'd be assigned. And also, I don't think he would be forthcoming with the Bears if something was going to happen today.

So there's something weird here. If it's just health and personal issues, I hope everything's OK, clearly, but it seems like we're not being told something with this story. But I don't want to wildly speculate because then that's not fair because just what a few Internet reports or Internet rumors. How many times have we seen those things turn out to be untrue?

But the Brad Big stuff makes you say, well, whoa, whoa, whoa. That's a respected journalist. If he's saying it's not it wasn't expected to be health or personal matters. Was Allen not forthcoming with the Bears? Is there something more to this? And all those questions we don't have the answer to. So here's what's in play. We'll go back to the Justin Fields thing. I'll ask you this. Do you believe that there's any way that Justin Fields could salvage his career in Chicago? I do not.

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See terms and learn more at discover.com slash match. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. All right, Hickey. Time to try, if I could speak, this new snack. Roasted seaweed snacks. I got some of this. It's the sea salt version.

I was listening to my guys, Hochman and Crowder, they were trying this. And then I got some and I tried it on their show today and I thought it was very delicious. It's roasted to light, crispy perfection. It's not the most appealing thing when you look at it, but I've tasted it before. It is very tasty.

Hickey is, I think, afraid to usually try new things, but he says he's going to try this. You are smelling it right now. When you look at it in the little container, it is a green sheet.

How do you kind of describe this right now and your thoughts going into it? It's very glossy, very shiny top, looks oily. I was not really expecting that. I don't know if I like it. They haven't tried it yet, so how do you know you don't like it?

I'm saying the look, just the pure look. Smell, not overbearing, but I do get a little whiff of low tide. If you know, folks, you know.

Not great. And Hickey is a big beach guy. Hickey is the king of the beach. There is no doubt about that.

He's not going to be at the beach where low tide is around, that's for sure. All right, take a bite out of this. Do you like it? No, I didn't get a great flavor. Sea salt isn't bad, but they do have- They come in different flavors? They have like teriyaki flavor, they have a bunch of different flavors. But I think this is the generic kind, like just like the regular, like when you go get ice cream, there's vanilla.

This would be like the vanilla version of ice cream in the seaweed world. Your thoughts, you don't love it. It's okay. Yeah, I get the little hint of- Popcorn, that I said earlier? Popcorn like you said, but I mean, I'll eat this one little sliver, which by the way, it's like three or four bites, so it's a little bit bigger than I thought. Really? Yeah, I got two bites, I'm halfway through.

You want to see how a pro does this? Sure, sure. Well, okay, I just shoved it in there. One bite? Just like a chip. I'll pass on the one bite.

Marco- I'm not going to have another one, I'll say that. Will you try some seaweed snacks here? Seaweed snacks, can I get a little more information? It's roasted seaweed snacks, sea salt, roasted to light crispy perfection, 30 calories in one serving. Yeah, the calories is not what I was looking for.

I know, but I'm just trying to be nice here. So Marco is taking a sheet of seaweed, he's put it in his mouth, ooh, the Marco Crunch is very good, and he one-bited as well. Heck, he needed three bites.

Not bad. You taste a little popcorn? I got a little popcorn flavor. Not really, but it almost reminds me of sushi, because of the seaweed. Oh, that's a good call too, it's like sushi and popcorn. It's almost like the, yeah, I mean the seaweed wrap on the outside sometimes, it tastes a little bit like that. Would you snack on these throughout the day, or not your cup of tea? Probably not.

Okay. It's not bad, and I love sushi, but I would need more with it, it's a bit much and it's very salty. Yeah, very salty. There's other flavors, like there's a teriyaki flavor that I wonder. Maybe. Because I'm not a big salt guy, and for some reason I ordered sea salt, because that's just what they were talking about on the show that I was listening to.

Yeah, just really salty, so that, I know, I don't see myself eating more, too many of those. You can think O'Reilly Auto Parts while your car care needs get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Adam Schechter has reported that the Rams are finally trading Cam Akers, I feel like this has been a two, three year conversation where he always wants out and he's only been in the lead for two or three years and now he's finally getting traded. It's Cam Akers and a conditional 2026 7th round pick to the Vikings in exchange for a conditional 2026 6th round pick. Now, Kevin O'Connell is the connection here, the former Rams offensive coordinator, you know, with Sean McVay, he's now the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, so a move where I think it's low risk.

And I don't even want to say high reward, but maybe medium size reward here, because you look at the Minnesota Vikings, there's no Dalvin Cook. Yeah, they signed Alexander Madison to a two year deal this offseason, I believe, and there's an expectation that Alexander Madison could be an every down back in this league. But when you're off to an 0 and 2 start, you get someone that has talent, but just hasn't been happy the last few years with the LA Rams where he started his NFL career, Hickey.

I don't think that this is a move where if you look at it from Minnesota, you really have any concerns because you basically gave nothing up to get him. And for the Rams, it's it's kind of amazing where the Rams were a few years ago to where they are now, and I know they've had a good start to this year. They beat Seattle, they were competitive up against the 49ers, but this is a Rams team with so much talent a few years ago. And now you look at them, it's really just Matthew Stafford, it's really just Aaron Donald, and then also Cooper Cup.

But he hasn't been on the field the first two weeks of the season, and now Puka Nakua, I love that name, Puka Nakua, has turned out to be like a star through the first two games of the season. But it's kind of crazy where all the talent that they had, that now when you look at the Rams roster, there's like three names that the average football fan really knows. I mean, Kyron Williams is running well, the former no-name running back, but I don't know if you're Kim Akers how or why he was in the doghouse for McVay for it feels like two years.

He hasn't wanted to be there forever. I think that's partly because I don't think he likes the role or how he's used, but you're right, it's been like a feud now for really two years since at least he was back on the field. And again, with the Rams getting banged up last year, now this year it's like the depth is tremendous why it's gotten this bad. But if you're at least Minnesota, I mean, you get basically a free running back for the most part. You swap what, 20 spaces in the last round of the draft, and you help right now what is the worst rushing attack in the NFL.

And you at least bring some, hopefully some boom to that position group that right now at 0-2 desperately needs it. Now this could just be some wild speculation here. Remember when he had the Achilles tendon injury in the summer when they won the Super Bowl, and then he came back that season and was a part of that Super Bowl run. Maybe there was some back and forth, and it's weird, I don't know if Akers felt like he was rushed back because he still played when no one thought you were going to play. So I don't know, maybe there was some handling of the injury that he wasn't thrilled with, and he just kind of has held that against the organization ever since. That's the only thing that I could go to when, or even speculate about why this relationship always seemed as if it was, no pun intended here, off to the right foot of the relationship.

And it seemed like it was just a misery from the beginning here. Maybe, but I guess what I was saying on the other side is when you tear your Achilles, there's no thought of you coming back. I believe it was reported in that moment, like, oh season over. So it's not like there's an expectation of, oh he's hurt, but us as the Rams will expect him back in the playoffs. It was like a miraculous return. And he played too, he could have said no.

Right, and in the playoffs when you win a ring, I'm assuming that he was all okay with that. I think maybe it's probably more the role than, I'll say, just rushing back from the injury. But it's not as if he's been a stud running back in this league. If you're not happy with the role, how about you play better? It's kind of like Justin Fields, right?

You want to complain, but also how about you do something about it instead of just blaming others for right now your situation? And he didn't have a great season last year, but he had a solid season last year. You know, first true year playing, coming off that Achilles injury with how quickly you got back. And in 15 games you put up 786 yards and 7 touchdowns on 188 carries. It's not as if he was terrible.

But yeah, it either comes down to carries, maybe the mishandling of the injury if he thought that was the case. But man, that's been a disaster forever. And the Browns, they made their decision. I got to pause in between saying his first name and his last name so I don't say a word that I'm not supposed to say on the radio if I say it very quickly.

Which I may have once did in my beginning of my radio career when I was in Philadelphia. Hosting when Kareem, pause, pause, pause, hunt was the running back for the Kansas City Chiefs. But Kareem, pause, pause, pause, hunt is back with the Cleveland Browns after the Nick Chubb injury.

Which, Hickey, that makes a ton of sense. He knows the playbook, he knows the system, he knows the team. Even though that was one of those situations where you thought he was going to be off the team last year with how unhappy he was. Now there's an opening not signed anywhere else and he walks right back into Cleveland. And I can tell you this, he'll be getting a ton of carries.

It won't be a carry issue now with unfortunately Nick Chubb out for the year. Also underscores his mark in the running back market, won a trade last year. They could not find a trade partner, he stays with the Browns. Okay now he's a free agent, could sign anywhere he wants to go. Could not find a deal with any of the other 31 teams and now one injury.

There he goes running back to the team that he's called home for the last few years. The running backs really have no leverage. And this past week was a really crappy week for the running backs. Because the Giants didn't pay Saquon Barkley. Now Saquon Barkley's not going to play on Thursday. The early report was he's going to be out for three weeks.

We'll see if he's out for three weeks with the ankle injury. But I kind of feel as if then the owners in the league are going to be like, see that's why you don't pay a running back. That's why you don't commit four years to a running back.

And look we didn't. So you know you see the injury pop up. And then you have Nick Chubb who's the last running back to get a long term extension like a big deal.

And we all saw his just awful and terrible knee injury that he suffered the other night. And for that to be the guy that ends up getting hurt this year where it was the last big time deal done to a running back. It just once again gives the owners ammunition. And we all think Nick Chubb is an excellent player and he's so valuable to the Browns. For them just to say see this is why you don't pay running backs and why you don't give them these monster contracts. So the NFL running back can't win because when you don't pay them they get hurt.

And then when you do pay them they get hurt as well. And we know how much teams now go running back by committee and how much they do throw the ball now in 2023. So it just stinks right now to be an NFL running back. It's not just the injuries it's also the fact that the replacement running backs for the most part each situation is different. Come in and play well Jerome Ford steps in 100 yards on the ground.

You bring Creme Hunton probably do okay. Kenyon Drake goes to the Ravens. He'll probably run for another 600 yards. Like it's not up to the level of Nick Chubb or JK Dobbins when he's healthy.

But the drop off is not as steep as you would think or steep at other positions and that's part of the problem. And look at the example of a running back that was elite. A running back that got paid in Ezekiel Elliott.

And the last two years we saw signs of him slowing down. Then this Tony Pollard kid out of Memphis pops up in the fourth round. And he was a pro ball running back last year and now is playing on the franchise tag for the Dallas Cowboys. So you look at the teams that have won Super Bowls in this league in the last 20 years. Kansas City, Philadelphia, New England. A lot of times it's been running back by committee with these teams that end up going to the Super Bowl and winning it.

Now I'm not saying the run game is not important but the days of the bell cow back for the most part are pretty much over. Especially if you're expecting to get a four or five year deal at a monster rate. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio you can think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs.

Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. I would give them the official review here of the roasted seaweed snack. I would say it's like a 6.7. I would give it. I enjoyed it. I think I could go through this package the entire time and then maybe order a different flavor.

I don't know if I'm definitely going to be ordering it again but I thought it was a solid snack option. Hickey, your scale on one to ten. Brady Quinn did one to ten with us today and it was on Ohio State losing to Notre Dame.

And he thought Notre Dame was going to beat Ohio State and he was at a ten confidence level of that. So on the appeal level here of the seaweed snack, where are you at? 4.3. 4.3.

Marco? 5.6. 5.6? Not the rest.

5.6 though it's closer to ten than zero. Yeah. It wasn't awful. There's not a whole lot of taste so it's not that bad but it's not good. Would you be intrigued to try the like teriyaki version of it? Intrigued is strong. Would I try? Yes. Am I? Oh, no. Marco's keeping the opportunity open for sponsorships is what I'm hearing there with the 5.6.

In that regard, yes, I can be bought. A little extra dinero, a little extra cash for big bucks balletti right here on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah.

Sometimes I crack myself up. When you need to know what's happening, it's time to get hit in the huddle. The big question is Desmond Ritter. The problem that I think a lot of fans are having and looking at Desmond Ritter is they just haven't seen enough. They want to trust him. They want to believe.

But I will tell you this, Jason, in the training camp sessions that I had a chance to go check out, the one thing that bothered me was his aggressiveness to throw the football when he needed to. Listen and subscribe to In the Huddle, available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. The venue's set. Families coming in from all over.

It's your quinceañera. With all the excitement, it may be easy to overlook COVID-19. It's still a risk, and that's why it's muy importante to get this season's COVID-19 shot ahead of time. It helps protect against COVID-19, which can cause severe illness and hospitalization. So let's set the date, vaccinate and celebrate.

Check eligibility and schedule this season's COVID-19 shot on the CDC site vaccines.gov. Sponsored by Pfizer and BioNTech. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. Before we get to some teams right now, the season is already over.

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. Let's go to Mo in San Diego, who wants to chime in on the running back market. Mo, what's happening?

What's going on? So listen, I play college running back, and I love this position. I really do. Where'd you play, just wondering?

Naval Academy. Okay. So, you know, I followed the position, and I consider myself a football guy. The bottom line is this has to be collectively bargained and changed. The way the running back position is compensated.

And it's simple as this. This position, because of the wear and tear and the intensity of it from the day you're at Pop 1 or on, requires that you mature physically sooner. It's almost like when we were in elementary school and they talked about how women mature faster than men, and hit their puberty and all that stuff faster. The running back positions peak years are different from everyone else in the NFL.

Oh, absolutely, because there's more wear and tear on the body, 100%. They should be getting paid when they're between the ages of 20 and 27. But that's when they're on their rookie deals or they're in college. If you think about the best running backs in history, they always pop early.

They always show early. I mean, we can go all the way back to Herschel Walker when he was a freshman in Georgia. He was the best running back in the country, and he couldn't even play varsity. It's always been this way, but we just haven't looked at it this way. They need to be compensated earlier on, and you pay them when they're in their peak years. And then when they hit that later years, 26, 27, 28, 29 years old, that's when they're making the smaller payments, the smaller payout, because they're not in their peak. And now you can offset that with a younger running back. Look at Bijan Robinson.

He's already popping. But Mo, you know this, and I know this. The CBA doesn't expire until March of 2030.

Correct. You know that the owners are not going to do anything to go out of their way for running backs. The players union will never get on the same page because then other positions are going to start to say, oh, I'm a defensive end.

I want to get paid sooner. So the running backs know they have no leverage. They know it. I know it's not an easy fix.

I certainly do. But it certainly needs to at least be understood where they can say, hey, look, when these guys, I don't even know if it's every running back in all positions at all times, but maybe, for instance, they have like a point system that says if this running back becomes a pro bowler, hits this number, hits this gate, hits this gate, he's eligible for it. Are they eligible for it? Because the top guys deserve to get their money when they get it. Ezekiel Elliott earned his money the first five years, but he was on his rookie deal. Nobody had any issues when he was the most productive running back in the entire NFL because that's what he was doing. But he was getting paid on a rookie deal and then he needed to get his money. Of course, he has to get paid at some point.

So he's looking for it, but it's after he's hit his peak so it looks bad. Mo, Mo, this is what I'll also say, too. I'm happy that you brought up Zeke. I think a lot of times the teams that end up making these long-term commitments are the teams that end up taking running backs early in the first round. Not like 28 or 29, but when you use a top 10 pick on a running back like a Bijan, like Ezekiel Elliott, like Christian McCaffrey, there's more pressure to give that person a second contract where if you get picked in the second, third, fourth, or fifth round, all right, you play for us for four years, you can be a great running back in the league, then we'll get to franchise tag you for two years, then we get you to six, then we can work on a two- or three-year deal after that if you're still playing. Yeah, it's just the way it goes.

The production is there. It's not like the value is not there. Every running back isn't at that high level. But the top running backs are very hard to replace. The problem is when they're getting paid and when they're asking for their money. Everyone gets injured. This is the NFL.

You're going to get injured. So that's not it. The problem is when they do so and they're on that second deal and their days are numbered at that peak proficiency, it hurts even more. And then they just say, well, I told you so.

No, that's not the issue. You know, Leonard Fournette, when he was at LSU, the dude was a stud. He should have been in the NFL then, right, because that's when he was getting his. They almost should let the running backs leave after their sophomore year because that's when they're ready to go. Their bodies are ready for it because you have to be because of the wear and tear of the position. You just mature sooner because you have to get prepared for the hits that you take. It's just natural.

Mo, great points and good conversation and good energy. Just wondering, I don't know how old you are. Were you at Navy when Kina Reynolds was there? No, I was there before. As a matter of fact, we were talking about the Ireland game. I was with the first group that went to the Ireland game the first time we played Notre Dame. And I played under Coach Tinde, Amato Lolo, the really good staff there.

So I followed the program obviously a lot in all the progress. But yeah, good times. Yeah, Keenan Riddle was amazing. We're missing that type of quarterback right now. We need that. Well, Mo, I got to let you run, but thank you for your service and great phone call.

You can call me anytime. I was a big fan of Kina Amato Lolo. I was no longer the head coach at Navy. And Keenan Reynolds was such an electrifying player in college football. Here's the main point about the running backs. I know we're up against it. You could all have great points like Mo and try to go out of your way to help the running backs get paid earlier. But we know that owners are not going to do that. They're not going to bend the knee here and make an exception for a running back because then they fear that it's going to happen in other positions.

And running backs know that there's no leverage here. It's almost like the scene from Mr. Deeds when he walks into the room and you have someone stand up and goes, you're going to have to start making all these rich people start hating money. And ultimately they did because they had the soft spot for Mr. Deeds and also the guy that liked to change the socks in the movie. I forget his name. It's escaping me. But these owners, there's only 32 of them.

They're not going to go out of their way to pay running backs sooner and then end up having more money come out of their pockets even though they could afford to do so. Well, well, well. Shopping for a car? Yep. Carvana made financing a car as smooth as can be.

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