Jordan Love Being Written Off Too Quickly (Hour 2)

Alrighty, hour number two of our radio program.

In just a minute, we'll have a little conversation about the Alabama football team. But first, I just have to ask a question here to the guys on the other side. So, Delta 9 Brian in our YouTube chat. I'm gonna assume, and I know Brian a little bit, filling in on this show, then hosting this show in this time slot. Brian seems like a good dude, but sometimes, just with the name of Delta 9 Brian, maybe he mishears the conversation a little bit.

But I'm going to be on the side that I trust Delta 9 Brian. So, Brian in the YouTube chat said there was, I guess, a conversation earlier this morning on a great morning show, Maggie and Perloff, which I'll be a great company guy you can listen to Monday through Friday, 6 to 10 a.m. Eastern, on many of these same CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM Channel 158, of course, the great always working free Odyssey app, and on YouTube. So, I guess they asked Perloff a question about how much he pays for a haircut. I'm just wondering, before I give you the answer on what Brian said, how much do you guys pay for a haircut? Stu, you have a nice head of hair, how much do you pay for that haircut? $20. $20.

Reasonable number. Michael Samter, how much do you pay for a haircut? It's the city in the city, the prices are always a little bit higher, but I go to a barber, $30. $30.

So, that's my price too in the city. It's $25 for the cut, and then I tip 20%, so $5 right there if my math works out, ends up getting to $30. How much do you think Andrew Perloff pays for a haircut? Now, Perloff can be a little bit bougie.

You know, he is from the main line, so they grew up in a different cash flow than probably all the rest of us. But Andrew Perloff for a haircut, how much do you think he pays, Stuart Kovacs? Take a guess. Surely not like $40.

I hope not. I'll go $40. You say $40? I'll say $40. Should we go like prices right here? If you're above the number, you don't win, but if you're below the number, then you come on down and get the prize.

Samter, how about you? What do you think Perloff spends on a haircut here? I would have gone with the $30, $40 range, but since you're making a big deal of it, I'm going to say he pays like $100 for a haircut. Okay, $100 would be ridiculous. Now, the number he pays, I think, is ridiculous.

Okay. Just the haircut, Andrew Perloff, according to Brian, says that Perloff pays $50. That's a lot of money.

Honestly, it's a lot, but it's not unreasonable. I have friends who go to a hairstylist, right? If you go to a barber, you're paying $20, $30.

And you know what? Perloff probably does go to a hairstylist. He's not us common men. He's not a man's man like us that goes to a barber and talks it up with the barber for about 25, 30 minutes when it should take about five minutes because that's what men do. And you have no idea how much it costs for a woman to get her hair done at a hairstylist. My wife, it's usually over $100 for her to go because she gets all these things and the hair and the blowout and the shampoo and all these things. So I would imagine that Perloff is going to a hairstylist, not just a regular barber.

$50 is a reasonable price. But what is he getting styled? Like, you're a guy. And Perloff has good hair. Yeah, but you know what?

But that doesn't put a lot of work in it. He could do the shampoo and then they can do the blade shave in the back and then maybe they're doing a little trim and all these different things. They get extra for that blade shave in the back of your head and they take the shaving cream out. They throw it on your neck and they take out the razor. When you go to a barber.

But sometimes at certain places, those kinds of things are extra. If Perloff is sitting down and getting his hair washed. Oh, yeah. But if Perloff is sitting down getting his hair washed and then they're charging him like 10 extra bucks to just get his neck shave. Oh, that's. I'm sorry.

We have to take away his man car. Listen, I'm guessing. I'm just throwing out things that would make the haircut a little bit more expensive. But there are a variety of different add-ons. There's the hot towel on the face. There's the shampoo. There's a variety of things. I don't know if he gets any kind of coloring done or any kind of extra gelling or anything like that.

There might be little add-ons and maybe he just goes to a more expensive place, which is also fine. I like going to a barber. I've got this one guy I go to. There's five chairs. I won't go down to any of those other four chairs. I got my guy and that's it.

He's great. I won't touch anybody else. People are particular about their hair. I'm OK. As long as you're spending 50 bucks. I pay for a haircut. I pay 30. What's the difference between 30 and 50? 20 bucks. It's not a significant deal. That's a meal. If somebody is paying one hundred and fifty dollars for a haircut, different story.

Now, if you're paying one hundred and fifty, I have friends who go and they get they get crazy expensive haircuts. What friends do you have? How old are you, by the way?

I didn't mean it that way. Like what friends do you have? Period. How old are you? Forty three. You're forty three.

What friends do you have that have these luscious locks that need tender, loving care? Because I'm already starting to realize this and I'm only twenty nine that the hair starts to go. And the hairline starts to get messed up rather quickly. I was told by my mom growing up the entire time.

Oh, you take after your mother's father. And oh, my my papa Eddie had a great head of hair. It was unbelievable. And clearly that stuff was all a bunch of nonsense because I start to see my hair getting thinner and thinner by the day. What friends you have as you're closing in on 50, Santa. Sorry to say that.

That was kind of like now to listen. I've got a great head of hair. I got a great head of hair. A lot of my friends have great heads of hair. And I have some friends who are a little bit bougie and they enjoy the finer things in life and they have a little extra disposable income than maybe the rest. So they'll spend a little extra on a haircut, which I'm OK with if you can afford it and you can whatever.

What's the big deal? Here's the thing with Perloff. I don't even think he's going to stylist. I think he's just getting taken advantage by a barber.

They're like, oh, here's this big star from the Dan Patrick show. Then on CBS Sports Network, CBS Sports Radio, I think they're taking advantage of him and they're just charging him like 40 for the haircut. Perloff probably tips 10.

I don't know if that number 50 is not including tip, but I am going to assume here that, you know, whatever it is, 50 bucks. I think they're just taking advantage of him because they know who Andrew Perloff is. And Perloff probably is just the go with the flow type of guy that doesn't like a lot of confrontation from my experience.

He definitely is that guy. Oh, geez. How much do you think Maggie's paying for a haircut if Perloff's paying 50?

And there's not a lot of work to do there. Women's hair is completely different. Maggie's got to be paying at least 100. Well, it depends where she goes. She she lives in a different part of town that might be a little bit less steep, steep in pricing. She doesn't live in the city is what you're saying. Everything's jacked up in the city. Everything's jacked up in the city. Crazy. I pay like 17 bucks to get a salad here in the city. Sweet green.

Don't even get started on rent. Oh, yeah. Well, that's that's a whole different topic for it for a different day. Anyway, let's get back to Alabama. So going into this year, I think we all said that Alabama is vulnerable. You had no clue who was going to play quarterback for them. It started with Jalen Millrow. Then they took Jalen Millrow off the field for that one game.

Then they go back to Jalen Millrow. Alabama, their first big game of the year in week two, they lose to Texas by 10 points. After that, they barely beat South Florida. Then they had a big statement against Ole Miss and a game that almost everyone was picking the lane train. They beat Mississippi State and then they played Texas A&M this past Saturday. And my biggest takeaway from that game was, man, Texas A&M really blew it. And Texas A&M was in control.

They were up 17-10. Then it gets to 17-17 and Jimbo Fisher became a coward. Jimbo Fisher got conservative and Jimbo Fisher on fourth and one goes, call out the punt team.

But if it was fourth and inches, I would have gone for it. Which was just so stupid by Jimbo Fisher and shows why he's an overrated, overpaid coach. And the guy can get set up with such a great team from the hard recruiting work that he does.

And he always finds a way to mess it up. So I don't walk away from that game with Alabama saying, wow, I really do believe in Alabama. It was more so me being disappointed with A&M. But sometimes those games happen where you win a game that you probably shouldn't have won and then it turns your season around. And for the Alabama Crimson Tide, they're scheduled the rest of the way. Arkansas this weekend. Then they play Tennessee. They play LSU. Then they're at Kentucky. They have Chattanooga towards the end of the season.

Then you got the Iron Ball. Thanksgiving weekend as they're at Auburn. Alabama, though, already has one loss. And the SEC is not as strong as it's been in other years. That game by Alabama, if we want to dissect it just from the Alabama level, their defense, we all know, is great.

Their offense may not be bad as as bad as what we thought, but it's still not a great offense. And I just can't trust Alabama this season to not lose another game because we've never seen a two loss team make the college football playoff. Alabama last year had two close losses and they didn't make the college football playoff. So if you already have one loss and I just gave you the schedule of Arkansas, Tennessee, LSU, Kentucky, forget Chattanooga and Auburn, I don't think the odds are very good that Alabama is going to run the table. And oh, yeah, by the way, then get into the SEC championship game and beat Georgia, who you're most likely going to play. I think Bama at the end of the year is going to have three or four losses. I still don't think Alabama is going to be a college football playoff team.

And you look at the rest of college football, too, the Big Ten. Right. Because if Bama gets in, you're going to assume that two teams from the SEC gets in.

That would be Georgia and Alabama. Right. I think there's a better chance that two Big Ten teams get in.

Right. Michigan and then Ohio State, Penn State, whoever has one loss that's a non-conference champ, because they do believe that Michigan's going to win the Big Ten for a third straight year. You look at the ACC. Florida State has two big wins, even though they're not aging great, but they're still undefeated.

And early in the season, they took it to LSU in the second half and then they found a way to survive up against Clemson in that overtime game a few weeks ago. You look at the Big 12. Oklahoma right now is in the driver's seat. But let's say Oklahoma doesn't lose a game and they lose in the Big 12 championship game to Texas. If Texas takes care of business the rest of the way and you have a one loss Texas team against a one loss Alabama team. You know, if Alabama wins the SEC, they they probably get in. But if Texas is one loss and they win the Big 12, Texas beat Alabama.

So what leg would Alabama have to stand on? And then you look at the Pac-12. The Pac-12 is the best conference in college football this year, which it's crazy to me and so ironic to me. And it shows you the greed of college football and money.

And that's just the reality of it. How the Pac-12 is going away after this year when you have three teams in the top 10. And at one point you had eight teams in the AP poll top 25 earlier in the season.

Right? Like we're talking about who's going to win the Pac-12. Will it be Washington? Will it be USC? Is it going to be Oregon? Washington plays Oregon.

And we'll have the head coach of the Washington football team, Caitlin DeBoer, joining us coming up in about an hour and 10 minutes at 5.20 p.m. Eastern today, 2.20 p.m. Pacific. So I think it's going to be very tough for Alabama to make the college football playoff. One, they're not as good as they've been in recent years. And I'm always someone that believes in Saban.

Nine times out of 10, I believe in Alabama. I never write them off until they have the required amount of losses or they get eliminated in the college football playoff. But you just look at the numbers here and you just look at what you're seeing with this team. They're not this dominant team and they already have one loss and you still have six games to go and you have to win all those games. And even if you win all those games, you then have to beat Georgia and they're not going to beat Georgia through what I've seen so far. And I know Georgia has not played a lot of good teams and Michigan hasn't played a good team yet. But you look at what Georgia just did to Kentucky, who had a big win against Florida and then Georgia plays Kentucky. Kentucky in the top 20, right at 20.

That wasn't even close. And the last two weeks, I know you could say, oh, it's Nebraska. Oh, it's Minnesota.

You're not wrong. But Michigan made it clear that those two programs don't even belong on the field. Like how many times do we see a great team play down to their competition? And you just see the way that Georgia's built, you see the way that Michigan's built. Those two teams are going to the college football playoff.

So you only have two spots left. And I got to think either Texas or Oklahoma is going to find a way in. I got to think the winner of the Pac-12 is going to find their way in. And let's not forget about Florida State with the with the ACC.

So there's already an overload. And in a few weeks, one of those teams will stumble. One of those teams will fall. And Alabama, to even have a chance to get in, are going to have to stay on one loss and just look at that three game stretch of Tennessee, LSU and Kentucky. I just don't see how Alabama doesn't get one loss in one of those three games. Forget about running the table. Forget about running the table and then having to take down Georgia. That three game stretch. I can't sit here and adamantly say, Sam, that they're definitely going to beat Tennessee, LSU and Kentucky when they play them in back to back to back weeks.

You're definitely right. It's a gauntlet of a schedule. But let's say they do get through it. The one thing that Alabama has going for them, if you look at the Big 12, right, Oklahoma and Texas, they might face off in the Big 12.

Yeah, they probably will. But they don't have divisions there. Right. So it's possible that the Texas gets left out if they lose another game in the conference. You look at the Big 10. Well, Texas can't lose either. They just they had their mulligan up against Oklahoma. Now they got to run the table and beat Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship. Right. Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, two of those three teams are not going to be playing in the Big 10 championship game because there's division.

Yes. And they're all in the same division, the East Division of the Big 10. You have Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern on the other side in the West. So the fact that they're all in the same division hurts them significantly. Same thing when you look at the Pac-12. There's no division. So between USC, Oregon, Washington, Oregon State, Utah, all those teams, only two of those teams are going to be playing in the conference championship game. But here's the thing. When you look at the SEC, Georgia and Bama are in opposite division.

Yes. So Bama runs the table and they get to the SEC championship game. If they have a tight game, whether they beat Georgia or not, if they lose a tight game and finish with two losses in a year, they still have a chance depending on what happens elsewhere. But they're out because you look at the Big 10, you will have Ohio State and Penn State. Let's just say if Michigan gets in and wins the Big 10 championship, potentially waiting there with only one loss as we just saw what happened last year with Ohio State and Alabama had two losses.

So I look at Alabama. First off, I don't think they're going to be, even if they're in the SEC championship game, I don't think they're going to only have the one loss that they currently have because they're just not a dominant team. But even if they get to the SEC title game and let's say they lose and only have two losses, what are your wins that would make me say, oh, you need to get in the college football playoff?

Because then the two best teams on your schedule that you played were Texas and Georgia and you would have lost to both of them. Like Tennessee is ranked 19th right now. LSU has been the most disappointing team in college football. They're ranked 22nd. Kentucky's ranked 24th. I don't even know if those teams are definitely going to be ranked to the top 25 heading into that final college football playoff poll before they select those teams. So I just think the road here for Alabama, even when it's not this difficult road compared to other years because the entire SEC is down, I just can't trust them this year to not have a single flaw the rest of the way.

And I just got to judge history here. You know, if this was a 12-team format, Alabama is probably going to make the college football playoff. But in a four-team format, you get two losses.

We've seen it ever since the format started. A two-loss team has never got in. So where's your belief level with Alabama?

8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS, 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. We'll take a break when we come on back. I guess we have to discuss that game last night. I have a reaction about the Packers, a reaction about the Raiders, and man, I'm watching that contest last night. And I said to myself, I'm trying to eat healthy. I know I shouldn't order some disgusting food. Thankfully, I had a little chocolate chip banana bread still left out on the counter, so I cut myself a slice of that. But I was really just sitting back there in that game saying I got to eat something fattening to try to make that game actually look delicious because Raiders and Packers was a snoozefest last night.

It was a real snoozefest. I'm actually proud of myself that I made it through the entirety of that game. So we'll talk some Packers and Raiders next. This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial, stuck in a timeshare and won out.

Contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at WesleyFinancialGroup.com. Stuart Kovacs, I have to ask you this, you being a Raiders fan, and just notice, yesterday, entering the game, Sue doesn't feel really good about the Raiders, he's not happy with the state of his franchise. He wears a minuscule Raiders logo. I sat in front of Stu for two and a half hours and I couldn't even see the Raiders logo that was on his left chest yesterday that was just isolated away in the corner.

Today, as you can see on our YouTube stream, Stu has the big obnoxious Las Vegas Raiders letters, also has the classic Raider logo, and he is all back in, I'm assuming, on his Las Vegas Raiders after that torturous game last night. If you're a Raiders fan, you're sitting back today screaming Raiders, Raiders, and acting like a child, but for everyone else that isn't a Raiders fan, and I guess Packers fans also tortured by that as well last night, that was a brutal, brutal, brutal game to watch. Yeah, I get that. I totally see it from outside of thinking that, and I did not like watching a lot of it as well. I thought there were bits and pieces of the game that were pretty boring. By bits and pieces, I mean probably most of the game, but I'll take the win. So, I look back at that game, and I had two reactions on a Raiders perspective. I still can't get over last week when they get the ball after Staley's incompetence, that their first and goal at the three, how they still didn't give the ball to Josh Jacobs.

I guess they started to trust Josh Jacobs a little bit more in this game, but it was crazy to me how they still didn't give the ball to Josh Jacobs last week, first and goal on the three. But the other thing that was the big topic of conversation from this one is that it was a four-point game. It's fourth and one.

You could go put the game away with the first down. McDaniels elects to kick, what, that 53-yard Carlson field goal, as the Carlson brothers, I didn't even know they were brothers, kicking for both the Packers and the Raiders, and he misses the field goal. And every Tom, Dick, and Harry in America is like, oh, Josh McDaniels is an idiot. Josh McDaniels does something stupid again.

Oh, Josh McDaniels is allergic to winning. I'm going to be honest here, because I always believe in honesty, I wasn't irate about the decision. Now, I wasn't sitting there saying, kick the field goal, kick the field goal. When I was watching the game, I thought they would go for it, because you put the game away, and you still need a touchdown, even if you don't get it. You still have to allow a touchdown.

I would lean more so on the side that you go for it in that spot. But, I thought as if the reaction on social media was just like a little bit blown out of proportion, and I don't even think McDaniels is a good head coach, that that is clear, but because of how people are annoyed at him, because of how bad of a coach he is, I feel as if the reaction was worse than what it actually needed to be still. I agree, I was fine with it.

I was fine with it. Go up by seven, let the defense play. It's tough, because even being up by that much, you're still in a position where the defense could ruin it for you. And as a Raider fan, that's kind of what I'm used to, right? So, the field goal, I think it was the right... At least get you to overtime? Yeah. Even if you allow the touchdown, but with that being said, I gotta think Matt Lafleur, on the road, if he scores a touchdown there, I gotta think he's going opposite of Riverboat Ron, up against the Eagles, and he would have gone for two.

That's true. I do lean more going for it in that spot, but you would have thought that Josh McDaniels made the dumbest decision in the world last night, taking the field goal, and I just didn't think that way. The other reaction is everyone's crushing Jordan Love today. Oh, Jordan Love stinks. Oh, Jordan Love is not the answer in Green Bay.

I don't know what Jordan Love is. We've only seen Jordan Love start five games this season in the NFL. I don't care about any other games that have happened before there in the few starts that he got filling in for Aaron Rodgers when he had COVID, or when you're towards the end of the season, or if you're playing in the fourth quarter up against the Eagles, which Jordan Love did.

It's almost as if it's just a product of society on social media. I don't know how much of a reflection the reaction on social media is compared to the everyday human being, because not everyone is on social media religiously during that game, and also you may be on social media just not voicing your opinion on social media. But I do feel like now a lot of times that we try to make every game as the make or break game for a young player, and when you have a young quarterback, and maybe just because we've been spoiled, where you saw Patrick Mahomes, his first two years of starter, win an MVP. Lamar Jackson, first true year as a starter, win a unanimous MVP, and recent history we get programmed to saying, oh, if you're a young quarterback, the moment you get on the field, we know what the standard is. Jordan Love did some good things in the game. He did some bad things in the game.

I think Jordan Love has some mobility. He could extend the plays. There were some drops in the game last night, and then there was just some bad decision making where he throws interceptions and you go, oh, I know he's not technically a rookie, but this is really his first true year as a starter where you go, that's what you kind of anticipate from a young player to make those mistakes. I don't really walk away from that game last night with my first reaction from the Packers saying, oh, this quarterback's screwed. This quarterback has no future.

This quarterback is lost. I think the reaction should be more about the coach putting the quarterback in those positions and Matt Leflore. Because Matt Leflore, a lot of Packers fans tried to tell me that this guy was a great coach and this guy was a sensational coach. And this guy, oh, it's not just because he had Aaron Rodgers and he could win with any quarterback. Well, these next two years are going to show that about Matt Leflore.

Because this year it kind of is a wash. If you're a Packers fan, you judge success based off of, can you at the end of the year walk away with the feeling that Jordan Love is the guy? And if you walk away at 7 and 10, let's say this season, and you see enough from Jordan Love to suggest that he's the guy, I don't even care about the wins or losses. But for Matt Leflore, you have a two-year window and it starts now to show that you belong as a head coach in this league. And if he doesn't get Jordan Love playing well towards the end of the season and next year find a way to make a playoff appearance once again, people are going to start to turn on Matt Leflore. And people are going to start to say Matt Leflore really had success in the NFL because of Aaron Rodgers and pretty much anyone could have coached Aaron Rodgers. Heck, it happened to Mike McCarthy. And Mike McCarthy accomplished a whole lot more than Matt Leflore. Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl, the only time Aaron Rodgers got to a Super Bowl. And eventually Mike McCarthy, and it was time to split, and it was time to get a divorce, eventually Mike McCarthy got ran out of town by the very nice and usually nice Green Bay Packers fans. These next two years are enormous and you never want to see a player get hurt, but Rodgers getting hurt even though it takes the first round pick away from the Packers, it does help a little bit. Matt Leflore, because imagine how bad this would be if the Packers were showing inconsistency and Love was showing inconsistency and you had Aaron Rodgers at like 4-1 through the first five games of the season. Lighting it up and just putting big numbers up on the scoreboard if he was still playing quarterback and if he was healthy to play for the New York Jets. So it really, that was such a big build up this offseason.

What is Love going to look like with Leflore? What is Rodgers going to look like with the Jets? And through five weeks of the season, we know we already lost Aaron Rodgers for the year with the Achilles.

I don't buy this nonsense that because he's going about his rehab in a different way and a special way that he's going to get expedited back onto the field quicker than anyone has ever before with an Achilles. And we're going to see Aaron Rodgers play in January where the Jets aren't even going to make the playoffs. So even if Rodgers does do all this and jumps all those hurdles, the Jets aren't even going to be in the playoffs and they're not going to have a team that makes the postseason for him to return to this year. Rodgers isn't playing until next year, but it's amazing how all the air has already been taken out of the balloon five weeks in where the Rodgers storyline is gone.

And I kind of feel as if what we saw last night, it's not going to be consistently what you see from Jordan Love, but there's going to be some weeks as we've seen through the first five weeks of the season where Love looks really good. And then there's going to be other weeks where he looks really bad. And right, week one, they dominate the Bears, then they blow that game.

You know, in week two, up against the Falcons, I believe. And then in week three, they're down by 18 at home and they had that great comeback against the New Orleans Saints. It's going to be ups and downs because the Packer fan doesn't have Rodgers anymore, doesn't have Brett Favre anymore. And it's not always just a given that you go from great quarterback to great quarterback after great quarterback. There's a learning curve here in the NFL. Not everyone's able to be Mahomes, not everyone's able to be Lamar Jackson right away as well. And you're going to see some good and some bad with Jordan Love. But the end of the season, regardless of the wins and losses are, you need to walk away just saying, hmm, I've seen more good than bad from the quarterback to make you think that he could get the job done. But the first person that people are going to turn on, if Love does not work out, you could argue it's going to be Gudekunz because that was his draft pick.

But you don't really see much of Gudekunz throughout the season. It's just the way that the GMs are designed or how they barely have talked to the media outside of trade deadline. You're going to have a lot of people that turn on Matt Lafleur because he's this offensive whisperer. He's this offensive genius.

And he has to find a way to get this right. And at the end of next season, if he doesn't, you're probably going to have a complete regime change with the Green Bay Packers. Okay, we'll take a break here on CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, we will talk with a rookie defensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints, a Clemson legend as well.

And that's Brian Bersee who's going to join us. Saints had a big blowout victory this past weekend against the New England Patriots. They are 3-2. After five games on the season, what's the ceiling for the Saints this year?

What can the Saints accomplish inside the NFC South and the NFC? Brian Bersee will join us next. But first up, standing by with the latest CBS Sports Radio update, here he is, the act man, Rich Ackerman. All right, we continue.

This is the Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Coming up in a few moments, we should have Saints rookie defensive tackle Brian Bersee join us on behalf of Sleep Lumber. So, really looking forward to that conversation.

So, we'll get to that in just a few moments. As the Saints, they had a big victory over the weekend going to Foxborough and just beating the snot out of the New England Patriots. That NFC South has turned out to be a good division this year outside of the Carolina Panthers. So, it's going to be fun to monitor the rest of the way with those three other teams to see how those teams are going to stack up against one another with the Falcons, the Saints, and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers getting off to a good start as well to start off this football season. But there's been a lot of sloppy play around the NFL and we haven't had a lot of good games so far through the first five weeks of the season. I was just talking to Tiki Barber about it during the break in the newsroom here at our CBS Sports Radio studios and Tiki was basically saying, oh, maybe it's like the extension of the preseason because they barely do any preseason. I'm like, Tiki, we're now already in week six. They only play three preseason games to begin with. So, hopefully we see some better games as the season do progress.

But, really, the Saints had a phenomenal performance up against the Patriots. Let's welcome in a Clemson legend and a rookie for the Saints in Brian Bersee, who's kind enough to join us right now on CBS Sports Radio. Brian, thanks so much for doing this. How you been? Good, good. How are you? Thanks for having me.

Well, thanks so much. So, how has this adjustment been? You go from a legendary career in Clemson, first round draft pick of the Saints. How has this early adjustment been to the NFL? Yeah, it's been amazing, you know, being with an organization like the Saints and, you know, having so many guys on the team that have done so well in the NFL forever. You know, having a guy like Cam Jordan to kind of lean on and show me the ropes through the beginning of this kind of run in the NFL, it's been amazing.

Yeah, how about being in that locker room? Because you talked about Cam Jordan, there's so many veterans on the defensive side of the ball that this team is just loaded with talent defensively. What have you been able to pick up from some of these guys that have been in the league for a few years now?

Yeah, I mean, I would say just kind of knowing how to go about your business. You know, you got guys on the defense like De'Mario Davis, Cam Jordan, Tyron Matthews, all these guys who have been doing it at such a high level for so long. And, you know, you just kind of see the right way to go about things with those guys on the defense. So they've been a huge help for not only me, but I'm sure all the other young guys on the team. Brian Bursey here with us, rookie defensive tackle for the Saints on behalf of Sleep Number. We'll talk about them in just a second. When you got that phone call that you were getting drafted by the Saints, it's really a new era now in New Orleans with Sean Payton not there the last few years.

Same could be said for Drew Brees. So we're trying to see what that next chapter of Saints football could be for them to select you in the first round. What was going through your mind? Just I mean, I was just super excited, you know, a childhood dream of mine to get that call and obviously, you know, hear the commissioner say your name.

And so so it was just just an amazing feeling for, you know, not only me, but just my whole family. We were just all super, super excited. Going into the New England game last week. What type of game did you expect? Because I thought that was going to be a close football game that you guys would win.

It ended up being a blowout victory for you guys. Yeah, I mean, you know, I think going into every week in the NFL, you know, it's you're getting ready for a dogfight. I think, you know, everybody's so talented in this league and just just going in and preparing, preparing the right way every week, practicing hard and and, you know, just doing everything you can to come out, you know, hopefully with the outcome you want.

So, you know, I wouldn't say there was any any difference in preparation or anything. We obviously had a good week of practice, but we were definitely going into that game ready for a dogfight. I respect your answer and I know how much you respect you have for all the players in the NFL. But I say this as a Patriot fan, their offense could do nothing right in the year of twenty twenty three so far. Like when you were watching them on tape, did anything intimidate you about this offense? Because this offense to me has just been terrible so far this year.

I don't think I could I could say I'm intimidated by any offense. But I think, yeah, they definitely have pieces on that offense that that, you know, they obviously have big play. You know, they have a chance of big plays and their line is solid. And so, you know, I think there's definitely some some bright spots on that offense.

Brian Bursey here with us. How about your quarterback in Derek Carr? I know he's playing with the injury. We know how tough Derek Carr could be. You being a rookie, what has really stood out to you about your quarterback? Yeah, I mean, I would say just that, you know, watching him, you know, get hurt and and and fight back to be ready the next week and just seeing his resilience. And, you know, how positive he stayed through all that. And, you know, continue just continue to lead for not only the offense, but for the whole team.

And, you know, we all definitely rally around him. I think we're all trying to figure out what the Saints could be. Before the season, a lot of people had you pick to win the division. The division's been a little bit better than what people thought it would be. You being around that team, where do you think you guys are heading this year knowing the talent you have in that locker room? Yeah, I mean, I think obviously we're all week to week here, you know, getting ready for the next week. But at the end of the day, I think everyone's goal is to win a Super Bowl. So, you know, preparing every week and getting ready for the next game and in order to kind of build that up and get to where we all want to be.

Talking to Brian Bursey right now, we'll talk about sleep number in just a second. The next opponent, the Houston Texans, CJ Stroud has done a wonderful job with the Texans so far. We know D'Amico Ryans has always been kind of that next coach and now he's finally getting that opportunity. When you look at Stroud and guys like Nico Collins, what challenges can the Texans present this upcoming week? Yeah, obviously CJ's been playing very, very well this year. They have a very solid offensive line, you know, they have weapons on offense. So I think just preparing this week like we do every other week and, you know, just getting ready for all the possible outcomes that we can get from this offense and doing everything we can just to prepare ourselves.

I think at the end of the day, that's really what it comes down to. How comfortable are you right now through five games when you get ready to start your NFL career? Do you feel like you're caught up to NFL speed yet? Yeah, I mean, I think there's obviously always room to kind of improve on that, whether, you know, it's technique or that kind of thing. But as far as just kind of game speed goes, I think I've been able to kind of get used to it pretty quick.

And so that hasn't been too much of a problem for me. Do you know what the standard is at Clemson? It's to get to the college football playoff and have a chance to win a national championship. Now, a lot of us are looking at Clemson differently. What are your thoughts on the state of your alma mater?

You know, I was I get that, you know, all the time. But, you know, being back in Clemson and, you know, while I was playing there, you know, when you have guys who had kind of left and, you know, look back on it and are, you know, not talking too great about about the team. It can be tough being a player there. So just staying positive and, you know, hoping for the best for those guys.

But definitely, definitely a super fan. I think you're in a unique position because you were just with the university and now you're starting a new chapter with the Saints. It's a new game with NIL and the transfer portal. Like, do you think DABBA will eventually adapt and change on those things? Because right now they have one player from the transfer portal.

Like, it's tough to win in college football when you're not willing to change with the times. I mean, I think coach when he's done a good job, you know, with NIL, you know, we started a whole we have a whole building in in the facility. Just just kind of for that now for the transfer rule. I couldn't I couldn't really tell you on that. I think you'd have to you'd have to go ask him. I'm not sure what he I'm not sure if you'll ever change on that, to be honest with you. What are some of your favorite memories?

Because it's kind of weird. Now you're playing for a different team. You were associated with Clemson. What are some of those memories that you look back on? You go, wow, those are my favorite times being a part of the Clemson football team. Yeah, I mean, I would say honestly, just just being in a locker room, you know, you build some of your closest friends in college, you know, you live with them. And so, I mean, you know, those times just being a locker room with all those guys and just hanging out, going out and doing doing outside things. I mean, I would say one of my favorite things was was night before games. We would go and see movies as a team. So like just little things like that, that definitely, definitely I think about when I think about my best memories. And then, you know, winning games obviously is is is something that that we kind of definitely, definitely just want from one from one from the team every year. Tell me what you're doing today with Sleep Number Brian Brusey.

Yeah, so Sleep Number's partner or the official partner of Crucial Catch with the NFL. So, you know, they they've done a great job raising awareness for for this awful disease. Obviously, you know, I lost my little sister to it a little over a year ago. So just being partnered with a brand like Sleep Number and and seeing everything that they do for cancer and everything that they do to to try to stop this disease one day has been really, really cool for me to be a part of.

And they started this this tool called the Defender that is on the NFL.com that you can go and do a quick test and and kind of see your cancer risk. So, you know, I think I think just continuing to spread awareness for cancer is something that's that's huge for for all of us. And Sleep Number has been a great partner and somebody who's done an amazing job at doing that. To carry on your sister's legacy, what do you want people to know about your sister? She was just, you know, amazing, such a such a happy spirited person. I always had a smile on her face, somebody that that, you know, you couldn't smile.

You could not smile when you were around her. So just somebody that I look back on and know how strong she was and and and just just the grit that that she had through through that that awful disease that she was going through. And, you know, obviously somebody that that we all miss every day. So, well, nothing but the best to you and your family moving forward. Brian Brzee have a great rest of your rookie season. Good health to you. And thanks so much for doing this today on behalf of Sleep Number.

Thank you very much. There you go. Brian Brzee joining us right there. Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio and you take a glance of that division. And we're all trying to figure out who's going to win the NFC South this season. Tampa based on a good job to start this year at three and one and Baker Mayfield right now. People sort of look back to is this kind of Cleveland Baker Mayfield when he got that Browns team to playoffs and won a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. So that's going to be a fun storyline to monitor for the Falcons. You have Desmond Ritter, who it seems as if the first two weeks of the season, everyone was all in.

Then the next two, it was, oh, this guy's not the answer. And then he bounced back with the really strong performance that defense of the new defensive coordinator has been playing well. And you see the talent on that team with Bijan Robinson, Tyler Algier, Drake London, Kyle Pitts.

They had the pieces there. But it comes down to can the quarterback be a game manager? And then you have the Saints who have a loaded defense. But it's just what will be the identity of the offense.

Olave is really good. Alvin Kamara is the most touchdowns in Saints history. That happened this past week in the franchise leader. And can a Michael Thomas stay healthy? I can't bank on that. And then ultimately, Stu knows this, when the moment gets big, is Derek Carr going to actually show up?

And there's different moments where you could look at the level of how big it is. When you have this NFC South that's not that good, all you're asking the Saints to do is do what they're expected to do. And that's win a division championship this year.

And if Derek Carr can't do that, then I don't want to hear anyone talking about the belief level of Derek Carr moving forward. Alrighty, a whole lot to do here. And one more hour to play on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. And a very busy Tuesday edition of our program.

Well, come on back. It is a Tuesday. We will recap the week that was in the NFL with a little overreaction, proper reaction. And then coming up 25 minutes from now, the head coach at Washington. A big top 10 matchup this weekend.

Oregon and Washington. Kalyn DeBoer is going to stop by. One more hour to play. We're here at CBS Sports Radio. Get on board 855-212-4CBS.

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