GMFB Friday Hour 1: Broncos Win, Hurts injury, and Ravens' Malaki Starks

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Presented by Old Trapper Beef Jerky. As always, it's Friday, October 16th. Jamie Erdahl, Manzai Teo, Isaac Rochelle, and Kyle Brandt hanging out in Buffalo Bills basement. KB, we had a first-timer last night on this game. And by that, I mean for the first time in the NFL, three straight primetime games have gone into overtime, which was fantastic for the fans, great for the Ravens, great for the Bills, and great, I think, for the Broncos. But still TBD on that as you're going to take us through the highlight.

Yeah, let's do it. It's a new federal mandate. All primetime games have to be in overtime, which is fine. It's great. It's not great if you're on a morning show, but who cares? We're tough.

We like it.

It's Friday. Uniform's fantastic. Everybody loves it. Eye candy. Seahawks always win in primetime, would they tonight? Broncos down 3-0 early. J.K. Dobbins, such a talented guy. Walk-in touchdowns, a 16-play drive. It was their longest drive of Bo Nix's career and their best drive of the night. Dobbins again watch this what Dobbins such a talented guy you know the story bought through a lot of injuries he's been around but when he gets the ball in the open field he really is very good later in the drive after a PI call got them down to the one RJ Harvey touchdown it's a Broncos kind of night the world champs look flat it's 14 to 3 it looks like it's going to be a rollover but hold on my friends fourth

quarter still 14 to 3. Fourth and four, Seattle going for it. Jackson Smith and Jigba, who was like he always is, had a million catches, didn't score in the game, but just unbelievably productive. And then wait, this, Darnold rolling to his left. He's going to run with it, 18 yards. Darnold doesn't scramble much. Did it effectively, though. Three plays later, first and goal for the one. George Holani, who is doing all he can. Remember, no Jadarian Price. He got hurt, the rookie, so Holani is in there. The running game has not been great. It was a good run by Holani and more bad tackling by Denver. Two-point conversion. He has nobody open, so why not just throw it up?

It's a two-pointer.

And watch what Shahid Shahid does in the back of the end zone. No, mostly as a kick returner, but such a talented all-around player. Finds it, gets it in, two points, got it. And that would loom really large. Now, Seattle gets the ball back because Denver just couldn't kill the clock and their offense was dead on a vine in the second half. But it's picked off. Picked off.

Chris Abrams drain. Drains the spirits of Seattle with this interception. Herbstritt went into great detail about how it was Torrey Horton's fault on the route. That's the second turnover of the game for Seattle. ensuing Broncos possession, all right? They're trying to burn clock. There's a minute and change left, and on a third down, Nix just rolls out and does the worst possible thing. He could have just gone down and taken a sack and made them burn their last time out, but he didn't. So now they punt, and you know who's back there? Rashid Shaheed with a lot of room. You better get him down. You better get him down right now. He will house this thing.

I have to get him down. They finally get him out after a 31-yard return. Remember, Seattle has a timeout because of that weird third down play for Denver. So now under 30 to play. Cooper Cup over the middle had a few big catches. He goes down. No weird clock management shenanigans in this one. Everyone is professional and confident.

They stop the clock. Jason Meyer's been around for a long time. Right down the middle. And we are going to OT, folks, again. Jamie mentioned it. First time ever, three state primetime games and no team. Broncos win the toss. They choose to kick as teams like to do. And Darnold intercepted. Intercepted Jaquan McMillan right in front of the Seattle bench. This one, Darnold, was a mystery. There's three guys there. He said afterwards he was so mad at himself he should have been. But they basically put the game on a platter because then you have Will Lutz, the longtime Sean Payton kicker. Never mind the flag. It's on Seattle. And the kick is good. Denver wins. Will Lutz silencing all those Will Lutz haters in the home crowd.

You don't see that a lot. Bo Nix raises the arms in victory. The Broncos are 4-2. The Seahawks are 500. A sloppy, low-scoring overtime game, but the Broncos managed to stack wins. Let's hear from the two quarterbacks.

First six games, we knew we were going to be tough, but to come out 4-2 with, you know, really a complete team effort in all six games, you know, it was a complete team effort to get.

Four of those wins.

And then we, you know, came up short, you know, just barely. Sam Fran, we could be, you know, 5-1. But, you know, 4-2 is a really good spot. And then as an offense, we'll figure out ways to continue to improve.

When you have a defense and a special teams group that's playing the way that they are for us, like for me, I just got to protect the football. I just think it's BS, you know, for me to keep turning the ball over and It's not fair to our defense, not fair to our special teams group, not fair really to the entire team.

So I got to be better that way.

Sam Darnold with an extremely self-aware and honest evaluation after that loss.

Very self-aware. Bo Nix calling it.

What it is, which is, you know, they got there, but now their record.

It's fine.

It's manageable, Kyle.

However, those two names I just mentioned, Bo Nix and Sam Darnold, you're just like, it was at times a challenging watch.

Specifically at the quarterback position. What do you think about those guys?

A weird game, a weird vibe afterwards across the board. It depends on where you come out with Denver. I think Bo Nix, what he said was right there. 4-2, 4-2. It's one of those, if you had put this on the counter to start the season, all right, you're going to be 4-2. You just beat the world champs in primetime and overtime. You beat a very good Jacksonville team.

You beat the superstar Rams. That's great, right? So why does everybody feel so tense? Well, because the quarterback's not playing well at all.

At all.

Brian Fitzpatrick said a bunch of things after the game that he's talking about Bo Nix in the sense that if you watch him, and I hope you watched the game last night, everybody at home, it amounts to far more than stats. Okay, he was 17-27, very few yards. He just, he looks insecure. He looks antsy. He doesn't look confident. The body language experts would tell you he's tight.

It doesn't look comfortable. All these things. And if you want to get into the change in the play callers or personnel, whatever, I mean, at the end of the game, it's like you're like, you got to get him off the field. And I don't mean sit Bo Nix. I'm like, just get the offense off the field. Let the defense win this game for us because the offense isn't going to do anything. It was three and out, three and out, three and out. The Broncos offense was trying to let the Seahawks win this game, and the Broncos defense just wouldn't let them. So where do I come out? I like to preach this time of year, just stack wins, just stack wins. And like Bo Nix said, get better on the fly. But the difference is, guys, a lot

of times with these just stack wins teams where you have an obvious flaw, it's like, well, our special teams need to be tied together better. Or our pass rush is lacking. But we'll work on it. Maybe we'll sign somebody and we'll get better. The problem when it's the quarterback is a massive, massive problem. So I would say, great, you're 4-2, and I'm impressed with their record and their defense.

But considering this is a Super Bowl type season for Denver, that's why the aura is so strange. Because they're like a heavily, heavily flawed four and two. They can get better, I hope. But right now, the offense is borderline broken. Congrats on the win, but it's a weird win. And I know you guys are feeling what I'm picking up.

Yeah, I'm definitely feeling what you're throwing down over there, KB. Because when I watched last night's game, Bo Nix, In the first quarter, he almost throws this interception through Julian Love. And Julian Love is like mugged up on the line of scrimmage and then bails out to the flat and almost picks the ball off. And then he has an illegal man downfield call or the offense for the Denver Broncos has that illegal man downfield call because Bo Nix decides to shovel the ball to a running back that's blocking for him.

And you're sitting there as a fan. You're like, what are you doing? Those are just.

Common sense plays that don't seem as common sense. And the one drive that they have that it went through 16 plays, 74 yards. For me, that's all champagne. Like there's a couple of screens in there. The best play that they had was an incomplete.

Pass to Mims down the field.

And I thought that that put some pressure on the Seattle Seahawks defense. But the credit for me last night goes to the Broncos defense. I mean, they had five sacks, they had three takeaways, two of those being interceptions. They could have had four interceptions. I thought that the pressure that they're putting on Sam Darnold, and keep in mind, guys, this is without Patrick Sertan, this is without Tolano Hufanga, and yet that defense came out to play. And I look at the opposite side of the football, Isaac.

At Sam Darnold. A lot of the talk is going to be on Sam Darnold.

But this is what I saw not only last night, but the past couple weeks is this is starting to give me some PTSD for the Seattle Seahawks from a couple years ago from an offense coordinator they had in Ryan Grubb. Ryan Grubb ran a heavy shotgun offense. Yesterday, they ran shotguns 70% of the time. Coach Brian Flory, you're now the offense coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks. I don't know if you've seen what Jackson Smith and Jigba had to say about Ryan Grubb a couple years ago about that offense, but last.

Night it kind of seemed like that.

All he ran was slant routes and five-yard outs. That's not the creativity that we're used to seeing with.

The Seattle Seahawks offense that we saw last year.

That's not the Sam Darnold that we saw last year where he was able to hand the ball off, get outside the pocket, whether it's to his right or it's to his left, and make those throws to his wide receivers.

Being in shotgun.

10 for 10 runs. That's the second time that they ran 10 runs out of shotgun this season. Last year, they ran it once all season playoffs included once.

That is not the DNA of.

The Seattle Seahawks offense. He has to figure out how do I make this thing work under center for Sam Darnold? Because not only is it better for Sam, but it's better for your run game, which I know you're trying to figure out, and it's way better for Jackson Smith and Jigwell, even though Jackson Smith and Jigwell is leading in almost every statistical category for a wide receiver.

He has to go back to what they do well. Being a shotgun isn't one. Yeah, you're right.

Their offense is becoming one-dimensional. The Seahawks' offense is just... Look, I could go... This is a classic example. I could go to the 7-Eleven and ask some random person, hey, what do you think is going to happen here? And they could probably predict what's going to happen because that's how the Seattle offense has become.

And this is my thing with it.

You know, it's funny, we spent a lot of time talking about Bo Nix, and we're not even talking about the.

Team that lost.

I was a hardcore Sam Darnold apologetic. Like, I was going to ride or die for Sam Darnold, but it's getting to the point now where it's like, he is actively losing them games. I even look at Bo Nix, and I'm like, look, at the end of the day, he was not very productive last night, but did he really... Like, when you think about if they were to lose or put him in a position to lose, he's not throwing interceptions.

He's not turning the ball over. He's just not making crazy throws. Could make some better decisions. But Sam Darnold is, like, actively losing them games. You get to the end of the game, your defense plays phenomenal at the end of the fourth quarter in overtime. And then Sam Darnold's making throws that everybody's looking at it like, who are you throwing to? There's three people here. There's three defensive– Broncos defensive players here, and.

You're throwing the ball to them.

What I immediately go to is when I played in the NFL and– you know, my quarterback wasn't playing well and my defense was playing well. It kind of starts to divide a locker room because the defense is like, dude, we're balling. We're giving ourselves the best opportunity to win. And then Sam Darnold comes in and is doing the opposite.

So I wonder how the team handles this from the macro level, right? Like, I'm not saying this is now a quarterback competition between Drew Locke and Sam Darnold. But how do those conversations really have? Sam Darnold, for every single game that he's played this season from start to finish, he has turned the ball over. He's not coming out of games where you're like, oh, he threw for 350 yards.

It was clean. Three touchdowns.

He had those games last year. This year, we have not seen that from Sam Donald in the same way. The organization is going to have to start evaluating all the way across. You mentioned flurry, like getting the offense to a place where it's more dynamic. There's more stuff happening. You're getting to the play action pass. The defense is actually trust, right? And they have to buy into and game plan against. It just hasn't happened yet. So this offense is going to have to get to a better place.

Mm-hmm.

I'm watching that Seattle team last night, and all I could think about, especially in the second half, was, man, if they had Kenneth Walker.

Oh, my God.

Can you imagine? I mean, like, let's be honest, dude. Like, that's the Super Bowl MVP, and they made a business decision that we don't want to pay them the huge money But my God, he looks like Herschel Walker with the Chiefs right now, and the Seattle running game just isn't what it is. They pieced something together, and the numbers shook out fine last night, but I promise you, if you watch the game, it's Alani and Wilson. They had Valus Jones, who is this Bears cast-off special teams kind of weapon running the ball, and I get it.

They drafted a first-round running back, and he got hurt, and that sucks, and that was the plan, but I just like in this mythical hypothetical crystal ball time travel, whatever you want to call it. I wonder if Kenneth Walker has a huge contract right now and ran for about 130 yards last night in Seattle wins that game because they don't have the same mojo on offense at all.

And it's translating to Sam Darnold. Like Sam Darnold is a Super Bowl champion. He's not going anywhere. None of that. It's nothing like that. But he and Bo Nix were trying to give the other team the game last night, and eventually Sam Darnold did it. Like, I just couldn't believe that second interception. It was really bad, really bad.

And I know he is so mad at himself because, to your point, Isaac, like... We just went into Denver, you're telling me, maybe the hardest place to play in the league, and we held them to 14 points in regulation and lost? The Seahawks defense got to be like, what are we doing? I mean, that's a win right there.

And Mike McDonald's got to be like, that's a win. Just like two almost carbon copy interceptions, the same spot on the field. It was like he just did it again. So the running game is not what it was. The Seahawks offense is not what it was. Their magic is not there right now. Again, they're 500. That's not... I mean, the Niners are undefeated. The Rams are quote-unquote lurking, but...

I don't like what I see from the Seahawks offense at all, and I really do think right now we are feeling a loss of juice and badassery that they had from the guy who is now the Chiefs' leading running back and tearing up the league.

Seahawks running backs as a collective, 539 yards on the year.

Kenneth Walker III, 537.

He's played less games, though, than the Seahawks, so he's averaging 134 per game, whereas the Seahawks running backs as a collective are at 90. So consider that when it comes to the run game.

Sunday kicks off.

The Texans-Jaguars game from Wembley Stadium as the international games continue. We got to talk about what this means for the Jags as they continue to roll through October.

9.30 a.m.

Eastern, your kick on NFL Network and the ESPN app. Then we're going to wrap up your week with the Commanders visiting the 49ers. Monday Night Football on the West Coast.

8 p.m.

Eastern, ABC ESPN and the ESPN app.

Coming up on our show, though.

First-round pick from the 2025 NFL Draft that we were all hanging out at in Green Bay. But you loved watching him at Georgia, and now he's made his presence known in a win over the Falcons on Sunday night. Friend of our show, a guy we love, Malachi Starks, coming on GMFB later, KB.

One of the best young personalities and young players in the league. Love Malachi Starks. So, huge news over the last 24 hours about Jalen Hurts. Medical news, alarming news, sitting out news, serious stuff that the Eagles had a whole press release about. If you've seen the Jalen Hurts news, he's not playing this weekend because he's got an issue, and it's not just your typical ankle sprain. Ian Rappaport's going to be with us. Have all the details. Don't go anywhere.

Good morning, football.

All right, we got to get to the news that came out of Philadelphia yesterday, and it affects the Eagles not only this weekend, but potentially moving forward and their quarterback. So with that, Ian Rappaport, our NFL Network insider, with us this morning. Rappaport, please, more details on Jalen Hurts' injury that he suffered two weeks ago, yet we're learning about it now.

Let me start with the news of the situation.

Jalen Hurts is going to be out Sunday and out indefinitely for the Philadelphia Eagles, which means Tanner McKee is going to be the starting quarterback this Sunday and then moving forward.

Still need to.

Sign a quarterback for some depth and a backup, but that is the quarterback situation for the Eagles. The reason why is that Jalen Hurts was diagnosed. with a superficial blood clot. This news coming out yesterday, but it is something that has not been new for the Philadelphia Eagles. A little under a week is how long, essentially, they've been dealing with this. Let me go back to before the London game. Hurts reported some pain in his calf, essentially believing that he got kicked in the back of the calf, which is not necessarily what happened. It's just what it felt like because he was dealing with soreness in the cap he was a full participant he got checked out they did believe at that point that there

was a superficial blood clot he was cleared to play played the game came back they were going to watch him for a couple days and then 72 hours after the original diagnosis they're going to do an ultrasound so he practiced on wednesday and did an ultrasound wednesday night and at that point what they learned was that the blood clot had moved and at that point it is scary enough that it is time to shut it down.

It is time to get treatment.

Which generally means putting a player, a person, on blood thinners to remove and get rid of the clot.

And at that point, you cannot play. And so that is the situation that Jalen.

Hurts is in right now. He is receiving treatment for his blood clot. He is off the field until his medical situation is solved. And then, of course, the question is, how long is that going to be? The answer is when it's fixed. So we do not know for sure. I don't anticipate it's something that's going to be immediate.

So it's probably going to be a while. And at this point, Tanner McKee now QB1 for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Wow. Well, Ian, allow us to be a conduit for the fans here. The Eagles post their statement on social media with the entire timeline, some of which you just laid out. And a very popular response from Eagles fans and people online was dismay or frustration that they found the blood clot before the game. And then Jalen Hurts played in the game. And there's a lot of fans that are wondering why that was allowed and why that was deemed safe. If you have a blood clot, superficial or not, why was he after an international trip then playing the entire game on Sunday?

During an international trip.

But yeah, so essentially, the thinking here is a superficial blood clot, which is different from a deep vein thrombosis blood clot. It's considered to be less serious. That is good news for Jalen Hurts. They did tests. Doctors cleared him. They believe that he was at no risk. to himself to play with this blood clot, and at this point, he had not received treatment. That is my understanding for why Jalen Hurts was able to play.

When the blood clot.

Moved, that is when it becomes dangerous, because basically what could happen, Kyle, is the blood clot can go from your calf, which is a very normal and regular place for blood clots to begin. If it can travel up to your lungs, to your heart, that is when it gets extremely scary.

So at that point, it is time for treatment. It is time to shut it down.

But early on in this situation with a superficial blood clot, they did not believe, based on all of their medical knowledge, that Jalen Hurts was at risk to himself.

Ian, you mentioned this, but we got to try to get into this a little bit more. You mentioned we don't know how long he's out. I'm looking at the Eagles schedule. They're two and three. They play a very good Panthers team. Then they play Monday night against the Cowboys. They're playing their entire division schedule. What have you heard?

at all? Is it just it could be this season? It could be a week. It could be. Is everything in play for this type of thing? Because this is huge right now. They need their guy and Tanner McKee. God love him. But this is Jalen Hurts here.

Yeah, medical first, making sure Jalen Hurts is okay and healthy. That is the first thing. Blood clots are unbelievably scary. Kirk Herbst, you told a story on McAfee yesterday. It was just, I mean, these are really scary things. And getting it solved is much more important than anything football related.

As far as the timeline, I'd be very surprised if it was a week. Could it be a couple weeks? I guess anything is possible.

Generally, these blood clot situations are measured in months, not weeks. Look at Taylor Moten for the Carolina Panthers. We just went public with this situation. It was about six months. Chris Alave was dealing with a couple of blood clots from last year, basically took the entire offseason to heal.

So I would say out indefinitely means out indefinitely.

We don't know for sure. I don't expect it to be short.

And I know that Jalen Hurts' medical situation, getting this healed and solved is more important than any football situation.

Rap sheet I don't mean to keep pressing you on this but to read between what you are saying by calling it indefinitely and again we're all just going to put our hands up and say none of us are doctors we get that but when you say treatment for a blood clot normally that means blood thinning medication which you can't play on that you cannot play while you're having that and that's not you're on the medication for a week and then you're able to come back that I think what you're saying is treatment for a blood clot and when you're on blood thinners would be three to four months and so we'd You have to consider that.

That's what I'm hearing from you.

Yeah, right.

And I don't want to put a timeline on how many months or how long he'll be on the anticoagulant medication.

But blood thinners do take some time.

And, you know, it's really the reason timelines are impossible, not tough, but impossible is because we don't know how long it's going to take for the blood clot to clear or break up or dissipate or basically get out of his body in a way that is safe for him. So generally what happens is players are on treatment, blood thinners.

And when it's healed, it's healed. And you're right, you cannot play on blood thinners. That would have to be cleared and out of his body. There are ways to manage this situation. There are several players in the NFL who are playing while managing their situation. Trey Smith, the really good guard from the Kansas City Chiefs, is one of them. Alave, we mentioned, is another one.

There are players who play with this. It's just not immediate when you can get back on the field.

Tough stuff, Rep Shee. Thanks for navigating it with us. We'll talk to you in a little bit.

That's a lot to take in when you consider what the Eagles have gone through over the last couple weeks and, frankly, how terrifying it must be for the player in Jalen Hurts, and we wish him well and health, of course. Manti, when you heard about it yesterday, and now we really have a much better understanding about the depth and the seriousness of this, what.

Do you make of it all?

Well, number one, I hope Jalen is okay. I hope that he has a full recovery. And I respect the Eagles for making this decision because you are, even though you are two and three, you are right in the middle of this whole thing.

It's still early.

And knowing how that division is performing right now, there's still a chance. Now, me trying to always be the optimistic one. Jamie, you talked about the theme so far this season has been primetime overtime games.

Well, the theme has also been the year of the backup quarterback, right?

So you talked about Marcus Mariota for the commanders coming in there after Jaden goes down and being in Seattle Seahawks. Drew Locke comes in there for the Seattle Seahawks, five plays into game one. And that was the best that we've seen that Seattle Seahawks offense.

Perform so far in this 2026 season. Case Keenum on the night football for the Eagles. We can go on and on and on.

So What would this mean for the Eagles offensively? Maybe you don't have your leader in there. You don't have somebody that is the glue for that sideline because Jalen is more than just your Super Bowl MVP. He's also a guy that kind of calms the whole sideline down with his stoic behavior. But you got somebody like Tanner who you know is going to throw the ball around the yard a lot. So what could that mean for your passing offense? Maybe it improves?

I don't know.

My number one thing is I hope the thing that does improve is Jalen Hurts' health.

And maybe, just maybe.

The Eagles and that defense, who is that backbone of that team, is able to carry them through.

The next slate of games.

Because what Kyle said is they have the Cowboys, they have the Commanders, and they have the Giants after this week's game. And that is going to be huge for them. So hopefully Tanner and that defense can pull them through. But more importantly, Jalen gets healthy. Yeah, you're spot on. Those games definitely matter. Those are meaningful games within the division.

I mean, here's the thing. We have an Eagles team now. It's been a weird start to the year, right? Even include the Lane Johnson retirement and just everything that's happened. And now you have Tanner McKee coming in.

Sirianni, who's... I mean, Sirianni's got to figure it out with.

This team soon, right?

So I think that dynamic, which you described, is going to be interesting. How can a quarterback that doesn't have a ton of experience, how can he work with a head coach that's really, some would consider, in a hot seat? That's going to be interesting. So we'll see how it progresses. I'm excited, though. I mean, I'm excited to see what the team could look like, you know, with them having to really revamp things around McKee.

But it's going to be interesting.

And Kyle, I'm curious what you have on this because it's kind of a random situation that I know Eagles fans had no clue was coming.

Yeah, I'm not excited for Tanner McKee. I want to say Jalen Hurts. I don't like seeing the backups. When Ian said that, Tanner McKee is now taking over, and then again, Ian's doing the best he can with information, but you can go on precedent for blood clots, and the word months was thrown out. So months to me, if that is the case, that's the season. They may have to sign somebody. Tanner McKee... The bio, it's very easy to look up. They signed him, sixth-round pick. Stanford, he's huge. He's six-foot-six. He's thrown 88 passes in the NFL.

They don't have, like, a Snoop Huntley. You know what I mean? Like, a guy who's just been around and played a lot of football. This is already a season that's completely on the ropes, where their offense looks inept and the team has issues. And now, oh, my God. I mean, I guess the good news is, if you're trying to go glasses half-full, is that... I mean, if Tanner McKee comes in pretty bad, it'll look just like the offense has looked already. He's not coming in to replace some high-flying show that's lighting up the scoreboard. But I don't know. This sucks. I hate this. I hate it for Jalen Hurts. I hate it for the Eagles fans.

This is terrible. I hope he takes care of himself. And blood clots are really– it's a medical crisis. It's not a high ankle sprain. But we can officially say that the Eagles season now turning to Tanner McKee. I mean, they've turned to Nick Foles. We know that. This team has been through this before. But this is really, really bad news and very frustrating. And if you don't know this, Good Morning Football in a couple weeks will be in Philadelphia with the Eagles fans. And so we will try to raise them up. And maybe I'll show up in a McKee jersey.

Yeah, right? Took the word out of my mouth, KB. What are we dealing with the.

Bears with this?

No Caleb, I guess no problem for us. Kyle's still going to show up with a backpack full of jerseys. That's for the information. Go online and request tickets to come.

Hang out with us. Fantastic crew. Look at Irv representing for the Cowboys. Seth Rollins, Manti Kyle, and I will be in Philly Monday, October 26th.

Ian Rappaport, I promised the people you'd be back, and here you are because we have more quarterbacks to talk about and the fact that Lamar Jackson still did not practice as of yesterday.

So what's going on with the Ravens?

Yeah, I'll start right there with Lamar Jackson.

I know there was a little initial optimism that he'd be able to be out there this week, still dealing with that ankle sprain that initially you thought was it could be a multi-week injury. This would be the second week, and he has not practiced yet. Now, we'll see if he's able.

To practice today, if he's able to get out there today. Maybe he's got a shot at Sunday. Obviously, if he does not practice today, if he's.

Not able to get out there, then he's not going to play on Sunday.

We'll see Tyler.

Schnoop-Hunley, who won, who maybe gives them a little bit of wiggle room. Maybe we'll see him again this week, but more information coming later today. And then for the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams, good news is he is coming back from his grade 2 hamstring tear, as he called it yesterday.

He called it the tear. He didn't say the grade. He has practiced full this week. That is a good sign.

He stopped short of saying that he was playing, though, saying he still has some stress tests to get through.

So we're not for sure, for sure that we are going to see Caleb. And if he cannot go.

Then it gets interesting because Case Keenum was the third stringer who played really well. Tyson Bajan was the backup who got benched last week. So we'll see what ends up behind Caleb if he cannot go, but that is still a situation we are monitoring.

Come on, guys.

Get right.

We want you back in here.

Let's go, Lamar and Caleb.

Jeez Louise. Thanks, Rap Sheet. Talk to you in a little bit.

We'll have more Good Morning Football first hour on a Friday. Got a special guest coming up from the AFC North. You will not want to miss this conversation. So this past weekend, two NFL flag regional tournaments were held by the Cowboys and the Lions, featuring 75 teams competing for a chance to advance to the 2027 NFL flag championships.

Go, buddy!

Go!

In Dallas, that's where the flag championships are going to be. NS Elite Vipers swept the 10U, 12U, and 14U girls divisions.

Hello.

TFL Lady Legends captured the high.

School girls title. And Texas Flash won the 10U boys division. In Detroit.

Brave Performance won the 10U and 12U girls division. KC Heat Blue took home the high school girls title. And Toledo Dirty Birds won the 10U and 12U boys division. And Detroit Legends claim the 14U championship.

Why is there a team called the Dirty Birds in Detroit? Go figure. Ready to compete?

Find an NFL flag league near you at nflflag.com. Have you heard we're going to Super Bowl 61?

You can too.

You can enter for a chance to win four tickets to Super Bowl 61 and a three-night vacation to the Disneyland Resort. to watch the super bowl champion cavalcade scan the qr code and on your screen right now or if you can't scramble your camera phone open fast enough you can visit espn.com sblxi to learn more We're.

So happy about this.

Our next guest on GMFB joining us now, he's a cheat code on defense. He can play as deep safety. He can step down in the box or lock you up in the slot. He's fresh off a stellar performance and an overtime win over the Falcons last Sunday. Please welcome Raven Safety Malachi Starks.

Good morning to you, Malachi.

We're great. Great to see you.

We want to talk all things about the Ravens, not only looking ahead to Sunday's game against the Browns, but also what I just referenced, which is a look back at your overtime Sunday night win over the Falcons.

You didn't have your quarterback.

You're on the road, explosive weapons on the other side, but you guys locked them up. How'd you get this done as a collective for the Ravens?

Yeah, I think the biggest thing for us that we've talked about since camp really is just being a unit, really playing to our talents and focusing on us and how we want to play as a defense. And I think we did that. I think we were able to really be as one and be a unit. And I think when you watch the tape, you saw guys flying around and having fun and being connected.

And I think that was the biggest thing for us.

Well, when we did watch the tape, you played much closer to the line of scrimmage, Malachi, and you were extremely disruptive. It looks like you don't mind kind of rolling down in a box and getting your hands wet a little bit with the big boys. How did it feel down there?

Yeah, I mean, it was nice.

It really was. I think.

I haven't really done that a lot since I've gotten into the league.

So it's been fun. And, you know, I have such great.

Guys to learn from, like Kyle and Marlon and, you know, all the guys that are in the box. I get to really just learn from them and watch them and see what they do and kind of add my own kind of style to it.

So I'm grateful for the opportunity.

Well, there's a lot of guys to learn from on the other side of the ball, too. You know, Malachi, a lot of times young players are asked about their welcome to the NFL moment. Never mind that. Did you have a welcome to Derrick Henry moment where you're like, oh, this dude's different?

I think.

I think honestly it was the first time I got here and I just had saw him. I just don't think I've ever seen anybody that big that could move that fast.

But I think when you're able to watch him, I mean, it's special.

I'm lucky I don't got to go against him on Sunday, but I think just to be able to learn from him and just ask him questions every now and then and just kind of get his thought process on defenses and how.

He does it because he's arguably the best to ever do it.

So I think just to have him as a resource and have him on a team, we're truly blessed.

Well, how about that? So you show up, you're in the Ravens, and you had this great college career, and you're a celebrated guy, and oh my God, there's Derrick Henry on the other side. We haven't even talked about the quarterback. What was it like with Lamar? You're a football fan. You've watched Lamar for years. He's a superstar.

Getting to see him for the first time, meet him, what's it like as a young guy, and there's Lamar Jackson?

Yeah, I think for me, for me, it was super cool.

I think you always like have those moments, you know, where guys were like, you know, when I get there, like, I'm not gonna do this. I'm not gonna say that. And I was one of those people. I was like, when I get there, I'm not gonna do this. I'm not gonna say that. And I saw him and it all went out the window. I didn't really know what to say when I saw him.

Because it was cool.

I think he's inspired so many people. When I was in high school, I played quarterback because of Lamar. And I think when I got here, it was so cool for me to meet him because he had.

Such a big part.

My experience growing up so it was really cool and just to be able to you know share the field with him and ask him questions as well you know he's he's a great leader and I think anytime that I'm able to you know get some tips from him I'll take.

Them Malik I gotta take you back to a moment I want some insight on what happened there was a clip in that overtime win that you guys had about the Atlanta Falcons when you saw Tua come into the game and then the DBs were.

Like oh Two is in the game. Let's go. Let's go get them. Take me back to that.

Like, what was that conversation on the sideline when you saw that two was coming in instead of Michael Penix and the excitement that we saw on the sideline for you guys?

Yeah, I think it started even, like, the draft before that.

You know, I think when we realized we were going to go over overtime, we all kind of decided and, you know, Kyle kind of got up and he told us that one of us, somebody in the room was going to end the game, you know, and I think... When we saw him come in, I think it was just, okay, Pennix has been playing the whole time, so he kind.

Of has the flow of the game of how it's going.

He just hasn't been in it that much, so I think it was an opportunity for one of us to step up in the game, and Kyle stepped up in the game when he needed to.

I love you saying Kyle Hamilton. You got two Notre Dame guys sitting at this table. So when I start hearing Notre Dame guys, we won't go there.

And he's got the jersey. Look at the lockers, how they're set up. They're buddies there in that locker stall. That's fantastic.

Notre Dame guys are buddies with everybody. We're just nice guys.

But you know what?

We won't talk about how inspiring he is. Let's talk about Tyler Huntley.

I played on teams where the backup quarterback and I put it in air quotes because Tyler Huntley is a great player. They come in. It's such a spark for the team because they bring this energy and you want to see them win. Can you just talk about having him at quarterback and what that's meant to this football team?

Yeah, I think Coach Manorhead said something that nobody in the league has the faith of a backup quarterback like.

We do, and I think it's true.

I think I've never doubted Huntley. We've always had faith in him, and just for him to be able to go out execute and, you know, make the big plays when he's needed to and just go perform at a high level, I think is awesome.

It's just his energy as a person. I mean, it's so contagious.

Like when you see him and he's smiling, you have no choice but to smile. So I think just his leadership and the way that he goes about his business on a day-to-day basis, I think that's the reason why a lot of guys have faith in him for sure.

Malachi, everybody knows this.

The longer you're in this game, the more you know people and the more overlap you have. But your connection with Todd Munkin, it doesn't just extend to his time in Baltimore. You were in Athens, Georgia together winning a national championship, I believe. So what do you remember about what a Munkin offense looks like and what are you guys preparing for with the Browns this weekend?

Yeah, I think it's explosive. It's explosive. It's direct. He has a great mind for play calling.

And I think he really knows how to attack defenses. So I think we just need to really focus on us this week and just realize that, you know, we have to play to our talents and, you know, kind of take the flow from last week and kind of run with it.

And I think that'll be huge for us.

Malachi, one of the things that we have appreciated about your time as a professional is you're very honest about all the things that you've been through in your life.

Well, you're doing a road.

Game this weekend, which means you're getting on an airplane. Am I to learn that you don't love, while you're a great football player, you don't love the part of the travel that comes with being a professional?

What's this about?

No, the worst part is definitely getting to the game. And not because we don't have a great system. We have an amazing system. I think for me, My first time flying was my first away game in college. And we had turbulence, but nobody told me what turbulence was. I was like, I was like, I was freaking out.

And I mean, everybody was just kind of like chilling, but I was freaking out. And since then, it's just kind of been a thing that me and flying don't really get along, but it's part of my job.

So we make it work. That's hilarious.

So listen, you're not alone, man. There's a lot of people. Listen, John Madden famously wouldn't fly, like wouldn't get on planes. He's like, we don't belong up there. That'd be his quote. You got to do it. So when you're on your first flight at maybe, you know, 18, 19 years old and there's turbulence, are you like, we're going down? Like, this is it.

What was that like for you?

When I tell you I was freaking out, I was freaking out bad.

It was a late game in Missouri, and we almost went into overtime.

It was not a good experience because nobody told me what turbulence was.

I was thinking the worst things ever, and it ended up.

Not being that bad when I look back at it. But in the moment, I thought it was tough.

Okay, so how do you get through it now?

Do you have a teammate that is very understanding and you've got to grip his arm?

How do you go through this?

Not really. A lot of people actually mess with me, which is okay. What do they do?

It's making me tough, but I take medicine to go to sleep. I'll take a Benadryl or whatever to go to sleep, but sometimes it doesn't work. When we flew to Brazil, I took my medicine and I was probably asleep for three hours and I was up for the rest of the center or however.

Long it was.

I was hoping to hear that Marlon Humphrey when he goes around on that post game little live that he has on your guys playing.

Will help you out a little bit. I'm gonna give you this opportunity.

I know Marlon is a great teammate, but he has a Marlon Humphrey show. He always has that post game thing where he goes around to everybody's seats. He usually spills some secrets about his teammates.

This is your time brother to give it back to him. Do you have anything on Marlon?

I got a lot on Marlon.

The one thing I will say, he's one of the people that likes to mess with me. I think one of our first flights, once he figured out that I didn't like flying, he came to me before we took off and he was like, yeah, they said the engine is not working on the plane.

That's messed up.

Yeah, so that was pretty bad. But he's one of the people that messes with me, for sure.

Malachi, we on this show, we date check oftentimes when someone tries to say MVP this or defensive player of the year that.

But coach of the year, we always welcome this conversation.

Take us inside what it's been like with Jesse Minner in the building so far in your time with the Ravens.

It's been great.

I think his ability to really just step into that leadership role and really have an open conversation with a lot of people in the building. It's easy for people to follow him. He does such a great job. He's very defensive-minded, so it's always good to have, especially defensive back, so it's really good to have the head guy giving you what he sees and what he wants for the game and throughout the week in the game plan. I think it's been awesome, and I think uh because of the type of person he is a lot of guys want to follow him and i think he's doing such a great job and just the step that he's brought in as well i mean it's been it's been.

Amazing Malachi, I'm going to make an executive decision here and say you can come back to GMF anytime.

And I'm just happy for you this weekend.

You're a great interview.

Great job.

We love you. Quick little up and down.

To Cleveland, all right? Quick little up and down.

It's not too long, okay?

Just have somebody drive you. Make Marlon drive you. I agree.

Thanks, Malachi.

Take care, brother.

Thank you.

God bless you.

We have a great college football tripleheader on Saturday starting with the FBS rushing touchdown leader Jaden Baugh in Florida heading to Austin to take on Arch Manning and the Longhorns trying to get right at noon Eastern. Then it's a crimson tide led by quarterback Keelan Russell visiting the 14th ranked Volunteers of Tennessee. And the nightcap is Manti and Isaacs.

Undefeated fighting Irish.

Looking to slow down running back LJ Martin and the 8th ranked BYU Cougars. All three of those games can be seen on ESPN, the ESPN app and ABC.

Hey, I had options.

Okay, there's options.

I had options.

I wanted to play with you guys.

I wanted to play with you.

And you guys have proved me right.

You've proved me right.

Coaches, you've proved me right.

I'm not sure about that.

Yeah, it's an acquired taste. Kirk is an acquired taste.

I was never a pregame huddle guy. even though I had some of the best there. But, you know, Kirk, I get it. Like, Kirk had options. He chose the Raiders, and the Raiders are doing pretty dang good. So shout-out to the Raiders. Shout-out to Kirk. That is my take. I'm still just hyped that Notre Dame is playing BYU.

Go ahead, Isaac. I want to hear what Kyle thinks.

Kyle, can you translate?

I need to hear your thoughts. Best speech I've ever heard. Thick and thin. I will always stay with Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins and Kelly Clarkson, I'm always with you.

We choose to be here.

GMFB Friday Hour 1: Broncos Win, Hurts injury, and Ravens' Malaki Starks

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