Mike McCarthy Could Be Replaced By Dan Quinn (Hour 2)

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2.20 p.m. Pacific. So every time it feels like maybe like every week that there's a story that you read it when it gets into the week to week cycle of the NFL and you go, yeah, I don't know how much I believe this. The story this week that I turn my attention to is from Tony Pauline, who is reporting that sources tell Tony that if Mike McCarthy does not make a deep run into the playoffs and Dallas lets him go, Dan Quinn will be hired as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. This is a consensus belief throughout the league.

So let me get this right. Mike McCarthy, who for the last two years, everyone has been trying to get him fired, has gone to Dallas and has had back to back 12 win seasons. And two years ago, they lost in the first round.

Last year, they lost in the second round, both to the 49ers. And I am someone that has been extremely critical to Dallas Cowboys. I am someone that has said Dak Prescott as your quarterback is only going to take you so far. And this Cowboys team is just a good team.

It's not a great team. And I still believe at some point this year in the playoffs. That's going to be driving to go win the game and he's not going to get the job done when you increase in competition outside of just playing the eventual NFC South champion like you did a year ago. But you're going to tell me that if McCarthy doesn't have a long playoff run this year, the Cowboys are going to fire.

Let's start there. Even though everyone thinks like Jerry Jones is madman and does all this thing, all these things impulsively and is so reactionary, makes all these changes. Jerry Jones is actually very patient. Like you look back at the clapper, Jason Garrett, how many years did we have to sit here and make fun of him for going like eight and eight every year before they eventually said, OK, enough is enough.

But besides that, you just throw the argument out there. Could you see there being a way that Mike McCarthy gets fired at the end of the season? I do think it's plausible like you lose in the first round of the playoffs, let's say to Atlanta in Atlanta, who will be like an eight and nine NFC South champion. You lose that game. I do think it's plausible that Mike McCarthy can get fired as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

But here's the part that I just don't believe. Here's the part where inside my brain I hear like warning, warning, warning and that Dan Quinn would be the guy that replaces him. Where's the logic on that? Because let's compare Mike McCarthy and Dan Quinn. Mike McCarthy. He has won a Super Bowl in this league. Now, a lot of people said, oh, it's only Aaron Rodgers. Only reason Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl was Aaron Rodgers.

OK, I'll play that game. He goes to Dallas back to back 12 win seasons. And then this year, after getting rid of Kellen Moore and him basically taking the reins of the offense, we have people on shows making a case and making a push for Dak Prescott to win the MVP. So you're going to get rid of a guy that is coach Dak Prescott to an MVP level, a guy that's going to win double digit games once a year.

And a guy that has won a Super Bowl. And you're going to replace him with a defensive minded coach who was a really good coach of the Atlanta Falcons, but doesn't have a Super Bowl. And you're going to get rid of Mike McCarthy for not advancing far enough in the playoffs and not getting the job done in the playoffs for a guy that has maybe the biggest choke job in the history of sports. And Dan Quinn, who was the head coach of a team that blew a twenty eight to three lead.

Like, where is the logic behind this? And let's say I was a Cowboys fan. Am I supposed to get excited that the team moved on from McCarthy to bring in Dan Quinn as the coach? And this isn't a knock on Dan Quinn. Dan Quinn is deserving of another head coaching job. Dan Quinn has done a good job with the Dallas Cowboys as their defensive coordinator.

There's been a reason why he has not left this current situation. So maybe there is some validity that a lot of people think he's the next guy up for the Cowboys job. And whenever they say goodbye to McCarthy, they'll turn their attention to Dan Quinn. But does that get the Cowboys anywhere closer? Does that get the Cowboys anywhere closer to reaching a championship and winning a championship? Because I now have seen in two jobs, Mike McCarthy in one job, win a Super Bowl with the Packers. And you want to tell me, oh, that was all Aaron Rodgers.

Fine. Now, in his next job, the guy is going to have in his first three years in Dallas double digit win seasons. And Dak Prescott right now, even though I don't think he should win the award, is getting talked about as the favorite to win the MVP. So you're going to replace that guy for Dan Quinn, who was a good coach with the Falcons, got the Falcons to the Super Bowl, but didn't get the job done. Like that doesn't add up to me as, oh, the Cowboys have significantly improved their coaching position. It kind of feels almost as like a lateral move, if not even like a little bit below, like a little bit of a demotion going from McCarthy to Quinn. Sam, does this pass the sniff test for you when you hear this report from Tony Pauline that sources tell me that McCarthy does not make a deep run in the playoffs and Dallas lets him go.

Dan Quinn will be hired as the head coach of the Cowboys. This is a consensus belief throughout the league. I mean, if it's consensus based off of talking with Jerry and getting an idea, but like if it's just what people think, then it doesn't mean anything to me, but does it pass the sniff test?

I answer like this. You're right. Jerry Jones is very loyal. Is Jerry Jones still number one in command? Is Stephen Jones taking over?

Well, so let me say this way. Jerry Jones is still the face of the Cowboys. But on the day to day operations, Stephen Jones has a lot of power. Will McClain also has a lot of power in terms of the roster construction, but still everything has to get approved by Jerry. For sure. But my question is at this point, are those voices now drowning Jerry out slightly to a point where they get say over him in a sense?

And if that's the case, then maybe this could be true. So let's play this game that Stephen Jones goes to his old man and he says, I want to get rid of Mike McCarthy and I want to hire Dan Quinn. Now, let's let me put you in the shoes of Stephen Jones. And I'm Jerry Jones as I have my McDonald's sandwich with about like 20 pounds of salt on it from we saw from that hard knocks episode, which was repulsive still to this day. You tell me why we need Dan Quinn over Mike McCarthy and how that makes us in a better position to go get to an NFC title game in a Super Bowl for the first time since the 1995 regular season. Well, I'll play this game with you, but I think my point is not so much that Stephen Jones has to convince Jerry as much as Stephen Jones is decision making overpowers Jerry at this point that maybe Jerry's fading off a little bit and allowing some of those other voices to make the big decisions.

However, if we're going to play that game. Hey, pops, how's it going? Hey, pop.

First, I don't think he says, hey, pops. I don't think that's on the bingo card either, but continue. I'll play along. You're playing along.

I'll play. Hey, pops, pops. Hey, what's going on? Listen, when did when did you guys become Italian?

Jerry and Stephen Jones aren't Italian. Let me go back to the drawing board. Can we get some good brisket here first? Some burnt ends to get all baked beans, some cheesy corn, little fire kiss wings around this conversation.

Turkey. Oh, yeah. We don't want to have a dry conference. Listen, pops, I know you love Mike McCarthy.

Right. And I know that he has done a great job in the regular season and he's really helping Dak become the quarterback that we all hope that he could be. But listen, Dad, I'm telling you right now, there's something missing with this guy, Mike McCarthy. When it comes to those big moments, he and the team fall short and the buck has to stop with him. OK. We know for sure that Mike McCarthy, now that he hasn't gotten far in the playoffs again, despite us having double digit wins again, is just not the guy to win us that first Super Bowl since 1995.

OK. Whether Dan Quinn is the right answer or not, we know it's not Mike McCarthy. We know we like Dan Quinn. It's about damn time that we give him the shot because Mike McCarthy is not the guy. And we know that for sure now. So we're going to get rid of son.

I could call you a son, right? We're going to get rid of Mike McCarthy, who has won a Super Bowl. Mike McCarthy, who with Dak Prescott this year after taking over full control of the offense, has looked like an MVP for a guy that was a good coach, but has coached a team to a Super Bowl. And then when spotted a 28 to 3 lead in that Super Bowl, blew that game.

That's we're going to have that choker be the guy to get the chokers over the hump. That's what we're doing. It's a better option than sticking with the guy that we know is going to choke, as opposed to a guy who hasn't been a head coach for long enough and he's done enough with our system. Remember when we brought him in, how bad our defense was. And we brought Dan Quinn in and he turned us around. Yeah, we also drafted Micah Parsons too.

Well that helps too. And we signed Stephon Gilmore. And up until the injury we drafted Trayvon Diggs too.

Yeah, those things all help. But the system is a big part of it as well because a lot of those players were a lot of the same players that were there before Dan Quinn showed up. We know Dan Quinn is a leader of men. We know Dan Quinn can lead teams to a Super Bowl without a superstar quarterback like Aaron Rodgers.

We know that he can do it. Matt Ryan's a great quarterback, but he's not Aaron Rodgers. He wanted MVP though. Dak is closer to Matt Ryan than he is to Aaron Rodgers, let's be honest. Yeah, by the way, I'd rank those quarterbacks. Rodgers won, Matt Ryan too, Dak Prescott three. There you go. So if Dan Quinn can do it with Matt Ryan and Mike McCarthy had to wait for Aaron Rodgers to do it and he only did it once with Aaron Rodgers, he's going to go down as a top ten all-time quarterback, then I think Dan Quinn has shown us enough.

And whether Dan Quinn has shown us enough or not, Mike McCarthy has shown us enough that he's not the guy to bring us over the hump. Now two things, we could stop with this role-playing of you being Stephen Jones sounding nothing like him and me sounding nothing like Jerry Jones. I was a dead ringer for Stephen Jones. He got the accent down. If either of us actually sounded like Stephen Jones or Jerry Jones, the listening audience would not be able to keep up and no one would be able to understand what Jerry Jones says because he would go on some rant and some tirade about something that I don't even understand what he's saying.

You're going to have 12 ums and ahs in between every other word. So the two things that I want to bring up here. Let me be clear here. I do think that this has a possibility of happening because there's a reason why Dan Quinn has stayed there for as long as he did because Dan Quinn should have another job. What I'm saying is it doesn't make sense to me why if you're getting rid of McCarthy why you would bring in Dan Quinn to be the guy when I don't even know if Dan Quinn is a better coach than Mike McCarthy.

So let me be clear about that. And that's why, you know, Sean Payton was someone that has this great relationship with Jerry Jones. They didn't do it last year. Now back to back 12 win season.

Maybe they thought it was premature. Can I throw out one more name here? What about Belichick? We've seen Jerry Jones bring in the big fish. You shake your head.

No. Didn't Jerry Jones have Bill Parcells at one point be the coach of the Cowboys at the later stages of Bill Parcells career? There is a big belief in the league that Bill Belichick is not going to be back with New England next year. I still think Bill Belichick can be a really damn good coach.

He needs talent though. Bill has not been a good general manager recently. I still believe he is a good coach. So what about Belichick to Dallas?

Because that would excite me more. Let's say they move on from McCarthy putting Belichick in Dallas then going to Dan Quinn. You're not wrong that Belichick in a vacuum would make the most sense. Absolutely. He'd be perfect to coach up Dak to bring that team to the next level.

I don't disagree with you at all. There is a 0% chance that Bill Belichick can handle Jerry Jones. Jerry Jones needs to be the GM. Bill Belichick needs to be GM.

You got two guys who have no business being a GM serving as a GM. The power battle is going to go back and forth. Whoever wins it or loses it, it doesn't matter.

It's a lose-lose situation. Eventually Jerry will win it because it's Jerry's team. And Bill Belichick will not sign off on that. That's the point.

But hold on. Jerry did to some extent get out of the way when Bill Parcells was there and then that only lasted for so long. So if this is to just capitalize on like a two-year window that the Cowboys may have, I think, what is it, bygones could be bygones for two years?

And even though there would be some cold stares and even though Bill wouldn't give much and Bill would probably think, what the heck is Jerry talking about? I do think there could be some tension behind the scenes, but Belichick has shown before he could extend windows with tension behind the scenes. He had tension with Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time towards the end.

If we're just looking at a two or three-year window, I don't think it'd be the worst thing in the world. I would much rather have Belichick than Dan Quinn, I'll tell you that. It would be a beautiful move for the Cowboys and it would be great for Belichick if the two of them can understand and get out of each other's way, which I don't see happening. Could you imagine how hated the Cowboys would be?

Like, look now how many people root against the Cowboys. You then put the villain of the last 20 years of the NFL, because I think as of late, people that hated Brady just hated him because he was a winner. And then when you see Brady leave New England and show some of that personality, now he's going to be on Fox. Like, I think you only hate Brady because of the fact that he kicked your team's ass. You hate Belichick because, yes, he kicked your team's ass, but he's also very smug. And people look at Belichick and he looks like more of a villain. Like, Brady's the golden boy. Belichick looks like a villain. I say this loving Bill Belichick.

You now join forces, quote unquote, America's team, meaning the team that everyone hates the most in America. And you then have the villain of the NFL for the last 20 years coach him, coaching that team. Man, you think we talk about the Cowboys a lot now? We would talk about the Cowboys 365 days out of the year. We have three hours each and every day.

I would say probably two and a half hours each and every day. That would be radio gold. Let that happen. Let it happen. Because by week eight, the Jerry versus Belichick is going to be gorgeous.

Could you imagine how many times Belichick would have to do press conferences? So-and-so from Dallas, Fort Worth, right? Isn't that one of the newspapers? The Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Yeah, the Fort Worth Star Telegram. Jerry on his 9000th radio interview of the week said this. Well, what are your thoughts about what Jerry had to say about your quarterback position?

You know, I'm just here to coach the team and I don't listen to what everyone else says. Bill wouldn't have to do a weekly interview. I know he does a weekly interview now. I think Bill just goes right up to Jerry and says, you do about 19 weekly interviews each and every week. Bill don't have to talk to media then. So what do you think about the Dallas Cowboys moving on potentially from Mike McCarthy to go to Dan Quinn?

And would that be their best option? 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS, 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. I also think it's weird that this story comes out now. Like, there's not a lot of merit right now to speculating about the job status of Mike McCarthy. The Cowboys are having a good season. I still think there's limitations to what the Cowboys could do. But this is a big game this weekend. Sunday Night Football in Jerry's world, Cowboys and Eagles. If there's already a story about this this week when there really shouldn't be any story about it, Eagles beat the Cowboys and the Cowboys lose to them twice this year. And it's only the start. There will be more and more stories like this popping up out of the woodworks.

All right, we'll take a break when we come on back. Byron Young has a tremendous story. Young player on the Rams, outside linebacker, rookie, coming via Tennessee. He's going to stop by and tell us how he went from a dollar general employee to playing in the NFL.

Byron Young with us next on the Zach Yelp show. And from the sound of it, your business is growing. But you shouldn't have to pay more to scale your business. With Stamps.com, you can import orders from wherever you sell online. Find the lowest rates with the fastest delivery times and instantly deliver tracking updates to your customers and stock up on supplies.

Get started at Stamps.com today with code program for a four week trial, free postage and a digital scale. We continue this Zach Yelp show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Now joining us is Los Angeles Rams rookie linebacker and Byron Young. And he's here today on behalf of Dollar General to discuss how his time as a dollar general employee helped shaped his strong work ethic and impact his success on the football field. Byron, appreciate the time.

Thanks so much for doing this. And how are you? I'm doing good. You know, I appreciate you all having me.

Yeah. So you have a wild story. Let's start with the origins. I know you were working at Burger King and then you find your way working at Dollar General. Just kind of tell me about how all that did go down to be the person that we're talking to today. Having a really successful rookie season for the Rams. You know, just hard work and dedication. I really felt like, you know, I was driven and I really know what I wanted.

You know, I would want to be in the NFL and, you know, just working at Dollar General. You know, it really shaped me into the man I am today. You know, just, you know, teaching me how to, you know, be humble and, you know, how to really work hard.

You know, nothing was given to me. So, you know, working at Dollar General, I was always a hard worker and I enjoyed it. So everyone travels a different path to reach their success. Did you always want to be a football player? Like, was that still a thought on your mind when you were working at Dollar General? Yes, I always thought, you know, I was like, you know, I didn't know where to start at.

You know, I didn't really have no goddess in that area. And to where, like, you know, where to start to go to, you know, play football. So it was like it was kind of hard. So I really just had to fight my way and, you know, make my own way to where I'm at now. But let's say I was a customer at Dollar General one day and I walked in and I said to you, Byron Young, one day you're going to go from being a Dollar General employee to playing in the NFL and having five sacks in your rookie season and contributing to wins for the Rams.

Just like what would you have said to me in this crazy scenario if someone said that to you as a customer? You know, I would definitely say, you know, that that's definitely my dream. And hopefully I could, you know, make that come true, you know, because, you know, just working at Dollar General and just trying to see yourself being in the NFL from where you was at. It's like hard to tell, you know, because you got to go through college and everything and you got to go through setbacks, you know, and you just got to fight your way through. So like when someone told me that, you know, I have hope and I have belief in myself.

But it definitely be, you know, something that I just, you know, tell them that, you know, that's one of my dreams. And hopefully I get there. Talking to Byron Young right now. How'd you wind up? Because before you got to Tennessee, you're at Georgia Military Academy. How'd you wind up at Georgia Military Academy? I tried out for the team, you know, while working at Dollar General, I found a flyer for a tryout and it was for actually like the next day. So I called up there the day before and then, you know, asked for the requirements and then, you know, I drove up there was two hours away and I tried out for the team and, you know, made the team.

And, you know, I went from there, you know. How quickly did you find out about making the team like the tryout happens and then how much time did it last before you knew that that was going to be your next journey? So I made a team right then at a tryout because it was like 150 guys there and I was like one guy that really kind of caught their eye on my athleticism and everything. And they loved everything about me, how big I was. And, you know, I feel like that really helped me a lot. So, you know, they told me right then I made the team. So it's one thing to go from Dollar General to Georgia Military Academy. And then the next step was going to Tennessee, a big time powerhouse SEC program.

How did you get on the radar of Tennessee? That was, you know, just me, you know, building my film up and, you know, selling myself to the world. I always, you know, when our season got canceled in 2020, I didn't have no choice but to, you know, rely on my practice film. So, again, other opponents and I just, you know, went from there and played my best game. And I made cut ups and, you know, made highlights. And I posted on Twitter and, you know, DM coaches and, you know, just hoping to get a response back. And, you know, you never know if you never try. So I just, you know, I bet on myself and, you know, and, you know, it all paid off. So that's really what I did. I know you said this was always a dream of yours to play college football, to play in the NFL.

But when you're working at Dollar General, a lot of people don't expect those things to happen. When did you realize when you got some of that football experience at the college level that, man, I'm not only I'm pretty damn good at this, but I can maybe make a living off of this one day? When I, the spring ball, when I first got to Tennessee in 21, we had spring training and at first I struggled a little bit. And then like instantly after like the first two weeks, I started just, you know, doing good and snapping. And, you know, I got a lot better. And that's why I became a starter on that team.

So I was like, this right here is not, you know, it's not hard as, you know, it's not that hard as, you know, a lot of people make it seem so. Right then, you know, going against, you know, guys that got dropped also, it just made me realize that I definitely could compete. I could definitely make it to the NFL.

So right then I just told myself that I just want to do no more than two years and, you know, make my dream come true. So how do you look back at that experience at Tennessee? Because you guys had an awesome team a year ago and a lot of people saw Tennessee start to come back to life as a big time football program. My friends, you know, it's amazing. You know, a lot of great moments, a lot of teaching lessons. You know, definitely taught me a lot, but like it prepared me a lot and, you know, got me ready for the NFL. You know, and just the type of team we had, I feel like it was perfect for me. You know, we had a lot of guys that kind of was in like the same type of situation I was in, you know, transform from another school and a lot of people didn't believe in them. And, you know, they had to fight their way through hard situations, adversity. So it was like we was perfect together.

So just learn from them and hearing their experiences. And, you know, I'm just feeding off that. And I just felt like it made us way stronger.

And that just made me realize for life. That's how life is. You know, you just you just fight your way through adversity and then don't matter. You know, hard times never last, tough people do.

So that's why I rely on them. With this unconventional road that you had to travel, you get into the NFL being a third round pick this year. You already have five sacks and two forced fumbles.

Just how much more do you think you have to go until getting the complete version, like the apex version of one Byron Young? I got a long ways to go. You know, I feel like right now I'm doing pretty good, you know, but I'm definitely you know, got a lot more in the tank and I'm not satisfied with what I've done so far. You know, because I already know I had an Emmy. You know, I always believed in myself. And, you know, that's the hardest thing to do is believe me or so. So, you know, I believe in myself. I believe I could do better and I'll continue to, you know, thrive for greatness and, you know, be the best version of myself.

Byron Young here with us. You've had many life changing moments when you get into draft night and it's that third round, the second day of the draft and you get the phone call from the Rams. Just what emotions were you experiencing when you found out you were going to be the 77th pick in the NFL draft?

You know, just emotions of like relief and stress. You know, it was just a long journey and, you know, it was a long process, you know, just going through the draft process, you know, one of the hardest processes I've ever been through, you know, sleepless nights and, you know, just long interviews all day and, you know, just trying to keep you on composure. You know, it's a tough situation.

So that's pretty hard to do. And I was just thankful for that moment because all that paid off. That's really what that was. I was so emotional about it because I knew what I went through and over the past four to five years, I knew what I always wanted and it wasn't given to me, you know, and it was just hard, you know, just remembering times where I had to really, you know, be on my own. And I didn't really have, you know, really nobody to give me a shot, you know. So it was just proud of myself really for not giving up and believing in myself, you know. Yeah.

Just wondering if you could go back in time and let's say Byron Young from the future comes on back and talks to Byron Young at Dollar General. Just what advice would you give him about the journey that you're about to go through and that you've been through? That, you know, just be patient, you know, and don't be satisfied with anything, you know. Always be thriving for greatness.

Always, you know, want more. Always think you're better than what you're doing or whatever you're presenting. So that's why I definitely tell myself, you know, don't think you have to rush to do anything. You know, it's God's plan and just stick to it, you know, stick to doing everything right.

Stick to being the person you are. A great person, you know, a caring person and, you know, someone that everyone want to be around, you know, because the type of person he is not, you know. So that's the type of person, you know, I am.

And that's why I tell myself that I was, you know, still at Dollar General and just to, you know, keep going and believe in myself. Before we let you run, you got a tough opponent this weekend going up against the Ravens. We all know how great of a quarterback Lamar Jackson is, Byron Young. Just what is the big point of emphasis this week as you guys get ready to go up against Lamar and the Ravens? Just to play our piece and, you know, do our something well. You know, he's a great quarterback, like you said, and, you know, got to press him, you know, got to contain him.

You know, he's a fast guy and, you know, he could throw the ball as well. So, you know, just got to remain disciplined on those areas and, you know, do our best to get a job done. You only got so many weeks left in your rookie season. This team is six and six. Not a lot of people talking about the Rams, but you guys are right there trying to make a playoff spot.

You tell me why this team has what it takes to be one of the seven teams in the NFC this year. Because, you know, just all the hard work we put in and all the setbacks we had, you know, and we never let that, you know, we didn't flinch. You know, we always stuck to it.

You know, a lot of people expect us just to fold and give up. But, you know, we we still in it and we still fighting and we, you know, we love each other and we believe in each other. So that's why I feel like, you know, we should be in there and that's why we make a strong fight to get in there. Because, you know, we rely on each other and it's a family, you know, we're not selfish. You know, we're together and we're going to stay together. You know, whatever happens, you know, we're going to be the team we are. So you don't need me to tell this, you know, in your locker room, you have one of the greatest defensive players of all time in Aaron Donald. As a rookie, what have you been able to learn from Aaron? You know, just being patient, you know, everything I do, you know, being mentally engaged and, you know, just trust in the process, you know, just, you know, getting extra work in, you know, and putting that extra work on the field on game day. So, you know, just being around him, one of the greatest, you know, it's amazing. And just learning from him. Last thing I'll ask you, Byron Young, on behalf of Dollar General, we appreciate you joining us today. You have such an inspirational story and we've talked about that.

And it's awesome to hear you describe what you had to go through to get to this point. Another rookie, Puka Nakua, has taken the league by storm. Your teammate, just what kind of inspiration do you draw from Puka and how about the season that he's having?

Puka, you know, just an amazing guy. You know, since I first met him, he's always been the same guy. And, you know, I'm not surprised, you know, what he's doing right now. Honestly, in OTAs, he was the same way.

Really? He was just, you know, everybody's seen him and he was just doing amazing things. And, you know, I knew it was something special about him. So, like, I'm not surprised about anything he's doing. And it surprised me every day just to watch the type of guy he is. You know, feeling some big shoes and just playing great ball.

You know, breaking records, you know, every week. You know, so it's amazing to watch that. You know, and I'm just so happy that I could get around it and experience it and, you know, be his teammate. You know, because, you know, you don't get that every day. You don't get a guy like that. You know, and with his type of attitude and humble, you know, it's amazing to be around.

You know, he's definitely set himself up for success and he's definitely successful right now. Well, it's been great to hear your story today. Appreciate you sharing it. Thanks so much. And we'll talk to you down the road. Thank you. This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial.

Stuck in a timeshare and want out, contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at WesleyFinancialGroup.com. So yesterday there was this report from The Athletic, Diana Russitti, who said the timeline of events that they're reporting, Zach Wilson made it clear to multiple members of the organization, players, staff, coaches of his apprehension to start due to perceived injury risk per sources. The conversation with Rogers comes as a result of Wilson's shared sentiment with others. So this all goes back to this report yesterday that supposedly the Jets want to go back to Zach Wilson. And then Zach Wilson's like, I don't really want to be the sloppy second, the second fiddle here. I want to go back on the field because of the team around me and the potential injury. So this has been a big mess.

Aaron Rogers in studio today with the Pat McAfee show had this to say about the report of Zach Wilson not wanting to play for the JTS Jets, Jets, Jets. Whoever that person is that thinks it's OK, number one, to talk to anybody like that, I don't understand what you get out of that, number one. But number two, what is your impetus?

What is your motivation to try and bury someone like that? And that's a problem with the organization. You know, we need to get to the bottom of whatever this is coming from and put a stop to it privately. There's no place in a winning culture and there's been this is not the only time there's been a bunch of other leaks.

I think it's chicken at its core. And, you know, I think it has no place in a winning organization to be a source, especially not being an assassin, somebody's character. So, Sam, I want to run this theory by you in regards to this one. We've already talked about how that is an omission right there by Rogers that the story isn't false and he's going after whoever leaked out the story.

And that's what his big problem is. We did see a quarterback move made today where the Jets released Tim Boyle and now they're bringing in Brett Rippon. Now, the only reason why people thought Tim Boyle was there with the Jets was because of his friendship being a former teammate of Aaron Rodgers. In any way, does that move today have anything to do with Tim Boyle maybe running his mouth and saying the truth to other members of the media? And that was the punitive action today. Tim Boyle, you're gone.

You're donezo. I would doubt it. I mean, they basically benched him in the middle of the game for their practice squad quarterback in Trevor Simeon. And if you remember, I mean, I know Brett Rippon is still Brett Rippon, but when this all went down and Rodgers got hurt and people were pontificating on who might be a guy that they could pick up. A lot of the people were talking about guys who played in the Nathaniel Hackett system. Brett Rippon is one of the guys who's played in the Nathaniel Hackett system before, so he knows that system and apparently it's very complicated. And so it would take a guy weeks or maybe even months to get caught up. You want to know why the system is so complicated? Because if Aaron Rodgers isn't there, nobody else can run it.

A hundred percent. Because outside of what he did with Blake Bortles, there's really no justification why Nathaniel Hackett should be an offensive coordinator anymore. I don't believe that Tim Boyle was the rat here because I don't see what the incentive would be for Tim Boyle to be the rat. But the only reason why I think it could be somewhat possible or a long shot is because how many times have we talked about, oh, this player can't get cut. This player can't get released with the Jets or even going back to Green Bay because it would annoy one Aaron Rodgers and this would seem like it would be one of the players with how close those two guys are.

Let's keep it moving, though. An indictment on the Jets coaching staff last night just turned on the tape and see what Jake Browning did. He looked like a Pro Bowler at times in that victory last night for the Cincinnati Bengals. Here is Zach Taylor on Jake Browning's epic performance against the Jaguars. I felt really good coming out of this week, getting ready for this game. And, I mean, you just lit the world on fire. Half time, you know, I wasn't sure if we had an incompletion if the ball had hit the ground yet.

And I just thought he managed the game beautifully well. So the company has a knockout pool. I am one of the three people left standing in the knockout pool, which means I'm going to get knocked out this week because I'm saying this publicly on the good old radio. But last night wiped out five contestants in the knockout pool because they were riding with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

And that was actually a game that I thought was going to have not a lot of buzz and not a lot of juice. And I even said yesterday and asked a pros question when someone asked me what's my betting play. I was just like, I'll just take Travis ATN first touchdown, ends up hitting.

Nice job, nice win. I've been hot the last three days in the gambling world. But that's where I thought my only interest was going to be in this game. And then Jake Browning does what Jake Browning doesn't. Unfortunately, you have the injury to Trevor Lawrence as well when C.J. Beathard gets into the game.

So that was somewhat an entertaining game that went right down to the end in overtime last night. Let's go to Bailey Zappi. I guess he was asked who's starting for the Patriots now. Coaches made it pretty clear, but I'll let him announce it to everybody. That's no private right now. And whenever he announces it, that's with him.

That's it's probably going to be me. I don't want to speak up and say anything because if I reveal that I am the starter, Bill Belichick will then bench me at a principal. Which I don't know how much more Bailey Zappi I need to see. It's weird, they scored no points. The offense though did look somewhat better. Even though they scored no points without Mac Jones.

How is that possible? The guy that I'm just telling you, it did. The guy I want to see is Malik Cunningham. He had a little juice in preseason.

But quite frankly, maybe I don't want to see him because then he can play well. And I want this team to be as bad as possible and continue the tank, tank, tank, tank, tank with the New England Patriots. Look how pathetic my football fandom has been.

I was in the penthouse for 20 years. Now I'd be taken like a cold cheeseburger, quite frankly. When I used to have all this wonderful food and this wonderful football life and watching my team and now my team are a bunch of losers. Welcome to hell.

Oh, I could be like you. I'm just going to give up on my team and I'm going to go join somewhere else. No, no, no.

You had 20 years of Super Bowls and championships and games and titles and all this. Come on. I've seen nothing.

I've seen nothing. And look what happens. You become a Chiefs fan this year and their offense has been nonexistent for the first 13 weeks. We're still winning the Super Bowl. Stop it. Let's go to Lawrence Taylor.

He was on the Let's Go podcast with Tom Brady and then Tom Brady's lackey in Jim Gray. Here is Lawrence Taylor on the rules in today's NFL. If I was playing nowadays, I probably wouldn't last a game because, you know, because of the thing we do. You think you'd get thrown out or you think you'd conform to the rules? Have you ever known me to conform to anything? No, I would get thrown out.

I mean, yeah, I would. It's been hard for me to play. I may have ended the season owing them money. Like we've had Sean Merriman in the studio a bunch. Anytime he is in New York City, he shoots a message to us and wants to come into the studio and talk a little football. Sean Merriman basically said when he was with us last week that he'd be playing for free now in the NFL because his entire game check would just be going to fines. It's amazing how anytime you have a former player speak that plays on the defensive side of the ball, they all acknowledge now they would have no clue how to tackle.

They'd be find out the wazoo. Let's go to Jerry Jones. I have not heard this. I purposely did not want to hear this. But I keep on seeing people tweet about this. This is Jerry Jones who made a joke about the college football playoff this was on with our pal Sean and RJ.

I want to fight through the fan in Dallas. Jerry, did you have any hot take or opinion on the college football playoff committee and whether they got it right or wrong? I didn't. I didn't. And I wouldn't touch that with yours. Am I missing the inside joke here? Yes. The old joke is I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole. Yes.

He says I wouldn't touch that with yours. Is that really that funny? It's pretty funny.

Do I need that? The owner of the Cowboys talking about my junk. I don't know. I got what he was saying, but was it that funny? I mean, they're paid to laugh at Jerry Jones. I mean, let's be honest. I love Sean and RJ. Like, they are friends. But when I see them at the Super Bowl, I got to call them out.

I'm going to walk up to them and just go, And they're going to say, Zach, why are you laughing? I'm going to be like, that's a cackling you guys did over a Jerry Jones joke that wasn't even funny. Here is Coach Prime who attended Florida State then doesn't acknowledge he's ever attended Florida State and played college football with them.

He's now the coach of the Colorado Buffaloes and he commented on Florida State getting left out of the playoff. It's no way that you're going to leave Coach Saban in Alabama out of a playoff and Georgia. No, you're not going to leave Georgia and Alabama out.

It ain't no playoff if you do that. But they're going to always go with business. People think it's just football, man.

You got to understand this is a business as well. And that's what I said from the start. There was no way the winner of the SEC was going to get left out. We know if Georgia won, they were automatically in no debate. But Alabama winning messed up this entire thing because you couldn't put Texas out of the picture and put Alabama in because Alabama lost to Texas. So Texas had to get that three spot. In the fourth spot, it came down to, oh, one lost SEC champion in Alabama?

Who's cruising right now? Where do we go with Jordan Travis, Liss, Florida State team who did not lose a game this season? I will say, I get Prime's point that it is a business, but it's Florida State. There are not a lot of bigger programs in the country than Florida State. So you're not choosing Bama over Florida State because of business.

They're fairly equal when it comes to size of fandom and overall historic glory and all that. I don't know how they tracked this, but they said that the committee putting Florida State out over Alabama is going to save $120-something million. I don't know how they get to that number, but that's something that I did read on the internet. But you read a lot of things on the internet these days. Now, I also saw that Stephen A. Smith said that if Coach Prime was coaching Florida State, they would not get left out of the playoff. He's probably right. And as much as I love Coach Prime, only they're undefeated with the way that he coached down the stretch. Jack Kelp shows CBS Sports Radio.