GMFB Tuesday Hour 2: Jalen Hurts Injury Controversy, Rams Biggest Problem, Jim Nantz 'Peanut Punch'

0:04 Good Morning Football is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio.

0:14 Good Morning Football!

0:25 That's right. This is GMFB, everybody. Welcome inside.

0:28 Presented by Old Trapper Beef. Directly Tuesday, October.

0:31 20th, 2026.

0:31 L.A., New York.

0:32 Jamie Erdahl, Manti Teo, Willie Colon at the breakfast table on the West Coast. Kyle Brandt holding it down on the East Coast. KB hanging out in Buffalo Bill's basement. We always rely on him to cover Monday Night Football 2. It's entire tea for us. Kyle, get through the highlight, but then we've got to get to news from around the NFL.

0:47 All right, here we go.

0:48 Let's get to the news, but let's get to the highlight first because there was a lot in this one. It also has an undefeated Niners team and a Commanders team trying to recover from a massive debacle. 23-17, Commanders lose again. More head scratchers from Jane Daniels. Great first half for the Niners, and then they just held on for dear life afterwards.

1:07 Let's hear from the coaches who had a lot to talk about in this one.

1:11 Anytime you get off to such a good start in you have a comfortable lead and it slowly dwindles and the other team has the ball down less than one score inside the 50. It's usually, it's not a good feeling. And usually the momentum takes over. And especially after a couple of those penalties kept them on the field on fourth down.

1:30 Wasn't look good for a while.

1:31 And I thought that was a huge challenge for our guys to just the competitive stamina, to keep that focus, to keep it going, to not think negatively of the fact that we let them back in it. And I was just proud of them for being able to finish it and find a way to get a win.

1:44 These guys are built for tough spots and moments. But, damn, the first half was rough. They have third downs go poorly on both sides of the ball. I thought that was going to be one of the real keys to the game. I'm sick about the ending. I'm proud of the way the guys battle and fight. And, you know, that was my thoughts, you know, with the team.

2:03 It's crazy what the 49ers are doing at 6-0. They're an older roster. They have a lot of injury. But when your quarterback is playing this way, of course you're going to be undefeated.

2:12 Look at this.

2:13 At least 1,500 pass attempts gets you on this list. And what also does is if you have a 100-plus passer rating, highest in the career with 1,500 minimum pass attempts, Lamar, Aaron, Joe, Mahomes, but Brock Purdy is leading it. That's a great company right there, Brock. It's an unbelievable company. Kenny, keep it going.

2:32 He said recently this is a long season. This is only the beginning for the 49ers. But Brock, you keep going like this, man. The 49ers will go far in 2026. We'll be right back. Changing gears, we've got to talk about the Philadelphia Eagles once again, and they've come under criticism for handling the Jalen Hurts diagnosis. Despite multiple statements released by the team since this story began back on October 4th, the Philadelphia media cannot hold themselves back when trying to get information from the man who was sent out to answer to the final chapter of this yesterday, which was Jalen Hurts being put on blood thinners and out for the season, and it was head coach Nick Sirianni who had to respond to the questions.

3:14 Nick, why was Jalen Hurts allowed to fly home despite the team knowing that he had a blood clot?

3:19 Again, I'm not a medical expert. Same deal there. We get medical information from our guys, and we always put the player's health first and foremost in every situation, and that's where we were there.

3:36 Were you briefed by the medical team before you did this press conference on why he was permitted to fly despite the blood clot?

3:44 Yeah, guys, I talked to them.

3:47 Can you give us the information?

3:48 I talked to the guys.

3:50 Hey, Jeff.

3:51 As a spokesman of the.

3:52 Team, we're just hoping you give us some information for the public.

3:55 Thank you.

3:57 Guys, I've addressed this.

3:59 I've talked to you guys about this. Again, the medical experts are there, and I think I've answered this question multiple times. We put out a statement for you guys to hear, put out multiple statements for you guys to hear. And I told you guys that last week that I was going to leave it at that of where we were on that because we put out a detailed statement for you guys to hear and understand.

4:27 The statements are put forth to provide a foundation of understanding for the situation, but then the media availability is to ask further questions that have clarification on it, Mike Garofalo. So Nick Sirianni was the chosen spokesperson on this specific topic. And as we can see, not as much information was gleaned as maybe the media would have hoped. So what's the latest context we need to understand in Philadelphia?

4:49 Yeah.

4:50 Nick Sirianni is the spokesman, I think, is the key part of what you just said there, Jamie, because that was Jeff McClain, the veteran reporter who was asking that question. And I speak Jeff McClain with a little bit of a Philly accent there. What he was basically saying was you're the spokesperson. You're the one here that we have to ask questions of. We understand that maybe this isn't your job and that these decisions were made above you, but you're the one that's available. So that was the the.

5:13 for the back and forth right there that Jeff was trying to make a point, and I get that part of it. Look, I've gone through this a few times with a bunch of people here, and I've tried to get to the bottom of this as best I can.

5:24 Jalen Hurts had what they called a superficial blood clot.

5:26 I don't know if this is common in the NFL for a player to play with a superficial blood clot, which means it's not a deep vein thing, and at the time is not on the move. But here you're seeing him right there pedaling during the game on the sideline. He didn't come out for warm ups for whatever reason, didn't feel like he was ready to get out there.

5:45 There's the whole issue of did he sleep? Was he awake for 36 hours? He was at the hospital. He got back to the hotel somewhere around three to four a.m. And then around 10 or 11, he was then summoned by the Eagles.

5:58 Was he sleeping in the meantime?

5:59 No. I don't know.

6:01 I've heard multiple versions of this one. And if he didn't, it was more or less his decision. Doesn't sound like the team or doctor said, hey, you can't go to sleep. Now, that all being said, you've got a player who is dealing with an issue here that.

6:15 Is not of the regular variety. He is overseas, having flown there.

6:21 He was without a few offensive weapons, key ones in Saquon Barkley and Devontae Adams for him at his disposal right there.

6:28 He maybe hadn't.

6:30 Slept for 36 hours and wasn't feeling good because of it.

6:33 He only ran two times in this game.

6:36 In a Jalen Hurts started game, two times is tied for the low for rushing attempts for a player that uses it. So he probably felt like, hey, I don't want to take another shot. I don't want to put myself in harm's way. I'm speculating on that point because he hasn't spoken to that. But I would not be surprised if that's part of it.

6:51 So.

6:53 The Eagles are.

6:53 Relying upon doctors, independent doctors, to give them their opinions. I've talked to doctors. I've had some say, yeah, any blood clot wouldn't put him out there. I've heard others say, well, superficial. If it's not on the move, that's something that potentially a guy could play through. Again, we don't know if this is a common thing in the NFL at this point.

7:11 But all that being said, I keep coming back to nobody at any point up to and including Jalen Hurts himself said, you know what? Maybe this isn't a good idea.

7:20 I don't feel good. I'm not rested.

7:22 I'm dealing with something here that's going to cause me to be hesitant here and maybe not put myself in harm's way. So there are a lot of questions that still need to be answered. Nick Sirianni is not going to answer him. And I would also say this, by the way, the Eagles and Jalen Hurts' team working together to put out statements because this is not a sprained ankle, Jamie.

7:39 This is not a common football injury. This is more of a player personal health thing. So the Eagles are going to take a little bit of a step back and let Jalen Hurts and his team camp dictate things when it comes to what's getting out there publicly. So that's sort of the stance that they're taking right now.

7:53 But I still have plenty of questions. We all still have plenty of questions. And we all still have plenty of opinions as to whether he should have even.

7:58 Taken the field in the first place.

7:59 Well, it's the Philly media, Mike. You know better than anybody. That's not the last time those series of questions are going to come. They're going to be hurled towards anybody that's representative of the Eagles. The season is long. The media availabilities are aplenty. And this isn't going away.

8:12 Mike G.

8:12 thanks so much. But hang around if anything changes. and we have more curiosity about this. Keep in mind, Jalen Hurts opting to play in this game in London was coming off of the heels of Lane Johnson's retirement. You can imagine the player and what he means to the city and what he knows he wants to embody in terms of representing himself and the team.

8:30 He wanted to be out there.

8:31 I can imagine this thing, it snowballed incredibly fast, and it's incredibly serious. So, Manti, now that we know all these facts, what do you make now of it today?

8:41 Number one, Jalen Hurts. There are two types of players, right, Willie? There's players that you have to motivate, and then there's players that you have to pull back. Jalen Hurts is one of those guys that I think everybody knows, whether you're a player or a fan, that he's a guy that you have to pull him back. You really have to tell him, no, you're not playing. Now, as far as Nick Sirianni being the guy up there, Answering the questions.

9:03 I do believe Nick is like he didn't know from what I know about head coaches is they go to the medical professionals and the medical professionals tell him, yes, he's a go.

9:13 No, he's not a go.

9:14 Nick Sirianni then.

9:15 Says, OK, cool.

9:16 I have 50, 52 other guys that I have to worry about. My franchise quarterback, according to his medical doctors, are saying he's clear to go. He's playing. There could be a conversation, Willie, that Nix goes up to Jalen and said, Jalen, are you good?

9:31 Right.

9:32 Knowing Jalen, he's like, yes, I'm good. Right.

9:34 I just think that regardless if you don't know what a superficial blood clot is or not, if the guy stays up for longer than 24 hours, that is a huge red flag already. And then he has to go out and play a football game.

9:48 I couldn't play a football.

9:49 Game getting less than eight hours of sleep, seven hours of sleep, let alone not sleeping at all. So there are just certain things that happen, Willie, throughout the course of those 48 hours, whatever it was, that you just question the medical professionals of this opportunity.

10:04 All happened.

10:05 Jalen was going through all of these symptoms, and yet you still thought it was OK for him to travel. I don't know about that.

10:11 Yeah, the problem is every detail we hear thus far is foggy. We just don't know. There's pieces that are kind of empty along the way. And I think if you, and to your point, I understand what you're saying, man. Sometimes you got to take the gloves off the fighter. You can't let them into the ring. And that's all.

10:27 But we all understand that, you know, Injuries in football can change the course of the season, but there's also a psychological impact. You're looking at Jalen Hurts right now, who was trying to will this team to victory week after week. And what we saw out of this, he was off, especially in the second half, is that because he was being conservative, because they struggled to close games.

10:47 and be efficient and win football games, man. He probably felt like, man, if everything else, I'm going to go down with the ship, right? I know what we look like offensively. I know we struggle to run the ball. We don't have an office line. But I owe it to these guys to be on the field and doing what I do and lead this team to victory, even when I know I'm deficient across the board. I think I struggle with not only Jalen Hurts because, valid, yes, he's a fighter and he's a competitor. I think I struggle with somebody in his locker room that he's probably close to who said, dog, you don't look good today, right?

11:16 Because we all try to hold each other accountable. I've been on the field where I know I shouldn't have been on the field due to some injuries, but I also had guys like Nick Mango, may God rest his soul, say, hey, dog, you know, it's okay. We got this one. Like, you just expected somebody to step in and look at Jalen Hurts.

11:31 You know when you're a guy, it's not himself, right? And so that's what I look at. Like, who was around Jalen for those 48 hours? Because you know how Saturday nights are, right? You're going to the hotel. You have dinner. You have your meetings, right? And then you have a little– you kind of get stressed and get ready for the day before. You know you have a best friend on the team that– It gives you the eye test. Ballplayers, we give each other the eye test.

11:51 You know when a guy's hurt and you know when a guy's not all the way right. I don't even think he was hurt.

11:55 He wasn't there. He was at the hospital.

11:59 That leads to another thing. There should have been somebody on his team that should have stepped up and said, dog, I don't think this one's for you. Let's fight another day. That's just my opinion about it.

12:08 It's an ugly story and there's something about it that stinks. They're losing the crowd too fast. I don't mean just the internet crowd or people online. I mean journalists, national journalists, writers, people who do this for a living, people who will cover the Eagles for a living, they're losing them fast.

12:25 When you give the public statement and it's all in the green font and it appears extremely produced, There's no candor. It's just it's this headline that you're not going to make people comfortable with that explanation. It's a starter. Jamie mentioned that it's like we're going to set the table. Here is our statement. And then there's follow ups about what happened. I mean, I look at this and I'm a fan. I'm just my eyes are glazing over. I'm like, what the hell happened to my quarterback? And was he at risk of more serious things happening to him? It's just you glaze over.

12:56 And then.

12:57 They take Sirianni and stick him out there to just get the crap kicked out of him by questions he's not fit to answer, doesn't want to answer, or both. I completely agree with our ESPN colleague, Marcus Spears, who said the people that should be out there answering questions are the owner, the GM, and.

13:15 Everyone in charge of the medical decisions.

13:18 Nick Sirianni is like, you want to ask me about the run game or clock management?

13:22 Fine.

13:22 You just put him out there and all he's saying is, well, refer to I refer to the medical people. I read one of the medical. Well, they put the medical people out there. And when you don't put them out there, guess what it looks like? It looks like you're hiding something. It looks like you're hiding something weird happen.

13:39 Right.

13:40 You're telling me you have this whole international flight. You're there in London. You realize what he's got. The medical people are like, yeah, we love it. He should go out there and play. Or is there any possibility you lost two games in a row, your season was on a brink, and you're like, eh. Jalen, let's put him out there. Because in doing so, in doing anything that approaches that, like you're really violating the trust, not just with that player, but with all the players, with all the fans, with everybody. You're supposed to protect him. Jalen's not going to say I'm not going to go.

14:11 Are you kidding me?

14:12 Jalen's got a calf issue and he can't play in London.

14:15 That's how it would be.

14:16 After what Caleb went through for going off on the cart with the towel over his head, he got massacred for a month.

14:20 You think Jalen's gonna be like, yeah, I'm good.

14:22 I know we lost two in a row and everything, but like, I got this calf thing. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm out. Go with Tanner. It would never happen. It's not his job. I respect that it would never happen. Something stinks. It's not a unique opinion. Everybody out there feels that way. And the best way you can cover things up His full disclosure, candor, ask me anything you want. Here's our medical advisor who was there.

14:45 Here's the GM. Here's the owner.

14:47 We're all there to have a.

14:48 Big press conference because our franchise quarterback is out for the season. And there may have been some things that went on that put him at risk. Evil deeds, whatever they are, you can cover them up. They may go away for a while, but they still stink. And you got to address it head on because another Twitter statement or Sirianni blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

15:07 It does nothing except.

15:08 Make the people more angry and more eager for what really happened to Jalen.

15:11 It's only week six to that head coach has to sit up there every single week and they.

15:16 Will not let this go.

15:17 The Philadelphia media.

15:18 I think what Jeff McClain was trying to get to, and Mike Garofalo, you can weigh in on this, is that they asked Nick Sirianni an initial question, and he really tried to use the medical.

15:28 As his defense.

15:29 The subsequent question was, but were you informed, which immediately becomes more of the human element. which then imply, like, Nick Sirianni is in between a rock and a hard place because all they're asking is, did you know? And he went to medical professional, which immediately becomes frustrating, and that's how you got.

15:46 That sound bite.

15:46 So how do you think Philadelphia is going to handle this moving forward in terms of the constant peppering? Because it won't just be Sirianni.

15:55 It will be the players, to Willie's point, too.

15:57 Every time someone shows up at their locker and a microphone is stuck in their face, they are going to be like a dog looking for a bone for understanding what happened here.

16:05 Jamie, there's a league meeting in New York today. I'll be heading to Manhattan shortly.

16:10 As a part of that and usually Jeffrey Lurie is there the Eagles owner I will.

16:14 Try my best to grab him and talk to him and see.

16:18 If maybe he can have some it doesn't get any higher than that at that point right when you're talking about ownership so we'll see if he's available I did see someone on social media today point out the fact that when Andy Reid was the coach of the Eagles they would bring Rick Bulk right he does this with the Chiefs by the way Rick Burkholder their head trainer to get up and anytime it was any kind of medical question or an injury question he would try to answer it to the best of his ability the Eagles have not done that to this point perhaps they will do that in the near future again though you're talking about a very very private player Very private player.

16:48 Yes. And so this stuff is going on. I get what you're saying.

16:52 I do.

16:52 But I also understand how they're trying to work with him as well, because, again, it's beyond the above and beyond a typical football injury.

16:58 But I am with you.

17:00 I still think we need someone other than Nick Sirianni who's not just going to point back to statements is going to give some more detailed answers.

17:06 And in that statement, it says that Jalen Hurts will still be around the team, it sounds like, as long as treatment is going smoothly.

17:11 I'd love to hear from him. Let's get him back out. I would love to talk to him. I got questions for him as well, such as, as I pointed out earlier, why didn't you pull yourself? And I get it. This is one of the more competitive dudes. And maybe this is a lesson for all the players out there at all levels.

17:29 Is that we talk about football. It's life and death. It's war. It's all these analogies that we use. There's stuff that's bigger than football.

17:37 And maybe, just maybe, someone out there will go, you know what? I don't want that to happen to me because then it travels to my lungs and all that stuff. Pull yourself if you're not comfortable. Talk to people. Let people know what you're thinking.

17:48 And the fact that he was in London this whole time is tricky as well because how well informed are you after a flay? You don't have your people around you. It's just... It's... challenging situation. Mike, let us know how that goes in New York. We'll tap back into that. Real quick, is Baker Mayfield okay? I know we wanted to get to that.

18:06 Real quick.

18:07 Baker Mayfield's going to try to do some stuff this week.

18:10 They need to see him throw.

18:11 As of the start of this week, they're planning as if it's going to be Jalen Daniels. Let's see if Baker Mayfield can surprise to the upside with that dislocated thumb.

18:18 He's close. Don't know if it'll be this week.

18:19 Very good, Mike G. Have fun in New York today. Until then, we'll roll on on GMFB. It's time for the two-minute timeout presented by the Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo. It's been a rough go for the Rams after high hopes at the beginning of their season. Their head coach, Sean McVay, is now looking for a way to find some consistency on the field.

18:45 Yeah.

18:46 I just think consistent execution, you know, I don't, there's not one thing, you know, there's a multitude of different things that occur on a snap to net snap basis. That's why you always hear me talk about football is the greatest team sport that there is. You know, there's a lot of guys that are doing a really good job and we might just have a little bit of a breakdown, you know, in one spot where they've got a hard down and then that affects the integrity of the whole play. So yeah, It's more of consistency, having the things that we want to be about on a consistent basis, snap in and snap out, be more reflective.

19:19 That's when we're at our best is we're playing consistent. There's a joy at which we're competing. There's an energy and an edge. Those are some of the things that we're looking for as a whole.

19:28 He's already got the mindset and the energy behind him on the sticker wall. He can put consistency up there too. Willie, how do the Rams get back on track consistently?

19:38 Honestly, just find the run game again. That's what's killing him. I know Kyra Williams has popped off the tape as of late, but his carries per attempt have dropped. I think also right now the operation is sloppy. It looks like a bunch of individual guys trying to make magic happen. When we're used to the operation of the Rams to be efficient across the board, you have the big entry with Devonta Adams, and now he's possibly out for a while.

19:59 And then you see Matthew Stafford. This is the first year I think we're starting to see his age. And I don't know if that's because of the lack of protection. We know Larrick Jackson was suspended this game. And the Rams gave up three sacks against the Cardinals. But overall, I think I'm surprised that the operation of how they manage things is clunky. Nevertheless, man, it all starts up front.

20:19 Get the run game going. Protect Matthew Stafford. And play behind his defense that needs to be better, especially in a situation of football. Overall, you know they have the talent. They have the pedigree. They have a big-time head coach, Sean McVay. This is a 214 that you believe can rebound because of their DNA. With that said, you're looking at a division that continues to eat between the Seahawks and the 49ers. Oh, and the Cardinals are scrappy. And so as we continue to move forward, man, I believe in the Rams. But nevertheless, man, they got to get her thing. They got to show protection. Finding the run game is going to be a good way to get back on track.

20:54 I said this yesterday, Willie, and this is something that I'll ask you, too, because I think it reveals a lot to me on the status of this offense.

21:01 It's like, who's their bully? Right.

21:04 Every single offense, every single successful offense team has a bully on both sides of the football. I don't even know who the bully is on defensive on the defensive side of football. I mean, Aaron Dotton, maybe, but that's a huge maybe.

21:16 Right.

21:17 And so.

21:17 Their problem to me is they're trying to get cute before they start to get working. You have to establish this mentality and this approach to the game of football where I'm going to punch you in the face first. Then I'm going to get pretty. Right now, they're trying to bob and weave and box with their hands behind their back when they haven't established anything yet.

21:36 So go back to.

21:38 That run game that you just referred to, Willie. Establish something because now that you don't have Devontae Adams for weeks now, now everybody can just focus on Puka. How you get that attention off of Puka is you get those guys to get a safety down in the box because they're scared of your run. So that goes back to that bully brand of football that I don't know if the Rams ever had.

21:59 Really?

22:00 But they have to get back. They have to incorporate that in their offensive scheme.

22:04 Against the Bills Monday night, they proved they could run the ball. They just didn't show up against the Cardinals this past Sunday.

22:08 And so it's just those two running backs. Get them going. Kyron Williams, let him be the energy. He had his postgame comments that he said were, I don't know, man.

22:16 I'm not on the football field.

22:17 Keep him on the football field.

22:18 Coach, see what that looks like for you, KB.

22:19 I just, can you imagine Kyle Shanahan being like, oh, you lost Devontae.

22:24 That sucks.

22:24 Miles Garrett's not coming back to save you. Why don't you step into my office? This is what I do getting out of bed in the morning. All my guys get hurt. Not just this year, every single year. I lose all pros. I lose Hall of Famers.

22:36 I still win. Like, welcome to this world. Like, you don't have a super team.

22:40 Sorry.

22:41 Some of your Avengers are hurt. I hate to see it. Nobody's a bigger Devontae fan than me.

22:46 But win a game. Just win one game. Win a game.

22:49 Beat the Raiders. The Raiders have lost three in a row. Can't you just be a normal football team? I still think you're the best coach in the league, but you just.

22:58 Don't look like it right now.

23:00 I don't know.

23:02 There's no joy in this.

23:03 I feel like the Rams were going to be this fun character this year for us to play with. The juggernaut, the super team, whatever. There's nothing fun about this. I don't celebrate them losing at all, but I really would like to see them get on their feet.

23:16 It's like.

23:18 All right, so Miles Garrett will be back. It doesn't matter if there's nothing left for him to come back to. Devontae will be back when?

23:23 In December?

23:24 They may be out of it by then. They just don't have it. Whatever it is, you watch them. They don't look impressive. They don't look like they have chemistry. They don't look like they have the right type of energy. Thank God they had that come-from-behind miracle win against Philadelphia, or they'd be on a four-game losing streak right now with their only win coming against the Giants. Just win one game, and then we'll talk about it. But other than that, if you lose this game to the Raiders, what are you, 2-5?

23:48 Bye-bye. See you later. Got other teams to talk about.

23:50 Kyle, can he still be the best coach in the league, in your opinion, if he doesn't have it? I mean, I actually see a disconnect there with you. You got his back, which I respect and appreciate, but you yourself have said he's seemed off his game, even from a personality perspective, since September 1st.

24:07 Yeah, I mean, not this year he hasn't been.

24:08 Over his body of work, I think he's the best coach in the league.

24:11 But listen, I mean.

24:12 I mean, the best coach in the league right now is probably Todd Munkin.

24:14 Okay, so we got a crazy season going on. You know what I mean?

24:17 We're doing special things in places that we didn't expect, and we're doing terrible things in places we thought would be great.

24:23 Yeah.

24:24 Speaking of terrible things that happened, one was a moment in the booth in Las Vegas on Sunday.

24:30 J.J.

24:30 Watt, dare Jim Nance to do something that just didn't go well for Jim. Now, Kyle Brandt has to talk about it, as he would say. And this is On Air Talent Mishaps. Kyle, you got us covered on GMFB next.

24:48 So I've been watching Jim Nance my entire life.

24:52 Everything from the 18th Green at Augusta, the Final Four, the Super Bowl, what have you.

24:56 Just countless, countless moments.

24:58 And despite all that, I think I've arrived at a place where my favorite Jim Nance moment, amidst all of those memories, is him punching the crap.

25:08 Out of J.J.

25:08 Watt's football the other day. I still think this is so cool and so funny that this happened. So if you didn't see it, they're in the booth. They take a moment where they're trying to show the peanut punch.

25:18 And J.J.

25:19 Nestles that sucker between his five biceps and.

25:21 His pectoral and says, give it a shot, Jim. And Jim's like, okay. And Jim punches it so hard. Like, really hard.

25:29 Full commitment. And then comes back and it's all wrapped up. I just think this is an incredible.

25:33 Thing that happened.

25:34 And.

25:35 You know, sometimes in what we do, whether it's a studio show, pregame show, broadcast show, you have this mixture of Avenger types who played in the NFL and then media and journalist types who never did. And every once in a while, something comes up that's physical that the media journalist types have to do. And in my experience, they're always so committed and they want to prove themselves and show the Avengers that they can hang. This right here, JJ is basically Thor.

26:01 And Jim Nance is like Agent Coulson. But he's like, you know what?

26:05 Damn it.

26:05 I'm going to try to pick up this hammer. I'm going to give it my all.

26:08 And for one moment, Jim Nance was like, yeah, I'm back at Marlboro High School basketball.

26:12 I'm at University Golf.

26:14 I'm going to hit this thing with everything but the team bus to try to get this out. Now, it doesn't budge because JJ is JJ. But I just have so much respect that Jim Nance, who is usually just so erudite and familiar. And it's the same thing that we love when we show up for every week said, you know what?

26:30 Screw it.

26:31 I'm going to crow hop and give you a straight right hand. I don't care if it breaks every metaparcel in my wrist. I'm going for it. And I like it so much because I've been part of these shows before and I've been with co-stars and co-hosts like this before. And again, sometimes you'll take the non-NFL types and say, hey, guess what? Do something physical. Maybe we'll have a laugh at it. But they're not laughing. They're 100 percent committed.

26:54 Let me give you another example. Remember when Adam Schefter was like, hey, Schefty, go do the Lambeau leap.

27:01 Let's see if you can do it.

27:02 Schefter fully committed and gave the best jump possible.

27:06 Go ahead.

27:07 Elite athletes make it look easy, but it's not.

27:10 40% of his Twitter followers do not believe he can make it.

27:14 I don't either.

27:15 All right, Adam.

27:17 Here we go.

27:18 Here goes nothing.

27:20 Oh, my God. Don't slip. Oh, my gosh. Don't slip. Yeah!

27:27 Think it's awesome everyone wants to laugh at Shefty's vertical whatever I think it's truly cool that he did it you know easily he'd be like no I'm not doing that I'm gonna stick to my sources pretend I'm on my phone for the minute I don't want to get laughed at he went for it he committed and I think he was really trying to do his best I can go up and down the list of like media luminaries in our industry how about an old one from Rich Eisen and a tackling dummy Rich was Rich was a Charles Woodson meets Charles Haley.

27:57 He hit this thing as hard as he could. Look at him, and he got up, and he's like, yeah!

28:02 And you get that adrenaline surge, and he looks like he's next to Rod Woodson there.

28:06 Go on, Rich!

28:06 Boom!

28:07 He dropped the hips. He leveled that thing.

28:09 I totally respect the effort in the khakis and the commitments.

28:13 There's more. We could go all day.

28:15 How about when we were at NFL Films, And Schrager had to run a skinny post from Dan Orlovsky, former NFL quarterback. And Schrager almost died making the catch, but there was no way he wasn't going to bring it in.

28:36 It's an ACL. It's an ACL. It's a touchdown. It's just awesome. Look at Peter went down.

28:42 He could have broken both collarbones, but there was no way he was not going.

28:47 To make that catch. I was on that field that day.

28:50 I can personally guarantee you it was covered with goose crap. And half of it was all over Peter's like JCPenney blazer that he was wearing that day.

28:58 But you know what?

28:59 He brought the catch in from Dan. Hands catch, too. Quality all day. How about Mike Garofalo? Special teams are difficult, too.

29:07 They're like, ha-ha, Mike Garofalo. Take a snap and do a hold as a kick. Mike, careful.

29:12 Look how locked in he is. The one hand down with the two fingers, the right hand up. He looks to his kicker. He gets a signal.

29:18 Mike looks like he could do this.

29:19 In a game.

29:20 Now he dropped it. That's okay. Mike tried. He was committed.

29:24 Just like Jim Nansen punched the ball out from JJ.

29:27 It's the commitment. It's the effort.

29:30 It's that you're not going to make a fool of me. You can give me 100 snaps. I'm going to keep down on one knee until I catch one of them.

29:37 You want another one? I keep going all day. Field Yates. Field Yates, young athletic guy.

29:43 He's like, I'm gonna be out there on the beach playing football screw it i'm gonna give it my all launch the field dates fire in.

29:48 The hole give away no love on it too oh flat come flat come flat.

29:54 The beach field legitimately injured himself Like legitimately like had a major injury. But I feel like he regrets nothing. He's like, yes, I hit the crap out of that inflatable on the beach. I'm not going to come out here and you're not going to tell me I'm some fantasy football nerd or something. No, I'm athletic. I'm aggressive and I'm committed. I cannot tell you how much I respect these people feel. I think he's had enough feel.

30:14 Great job. I love it, guys. There's no way that field was going to just whiff that thing. Field three stands like he's on the field. That's the closest he's going to get. And just to bring it back to Jim Nance, the second JJ held that football up, some synapse fired in his brain where he's like, oh, I'm going to go full Deontay Wilder on this.

30:34 That is a short right throw.

30:36 A sort of like a Mickey Ward or Turo Gotti type connection. If it was any other color commentator in the history of the sport other than J.J. Watt, I think that ball's coming out. I think he hit that thing harder than a 2006 peanut Tillman himself.

30:51 Actually hit it. And I cannot tell you, Mr.

30:53 Nance, how much I respect getting out of your comfort zone, doing something physical at any age and any generation against any opponent.

31:00 Don't care. All of you in this clip, I love you. You committed. You went for it. And I feel like you're my brothers.

31:07 All right, we're joined now by NFL national reporter for ESPN and a Tuesday regular here on GMFB. Lindsey Theory, what's going on?

31:13 Yay!

31:14 There we go, Lindsey.

31:16 Lindsey, last we sent you off, you were headed to Atlanta to watch Falcons-Bears.

31:21 Great for the Bears.

31:22 But also awesome for you because you took your reporting to new heights in Atlanta over the weekend.

31:27 What did you get into?

31:28 Well, thanks to my producer, Chad Minitullo, who puts us up to anything. He's like, hey, why don't you go up to the top of Mercedes-Benz Stadium? So there's this really cool camera. I know you guys have seen the angle.

31:38 Yes.

31:39 Shoots down on Bijan Robinson.

31:43 Okay, so you're going to be at the top of this spot right here.

31:45 Somewhere up there, 300 feet.

31:46 Oh, my gosh.

31:47 Right above the field.

31:48 You were really up there?

31:49 Yeah, that's me right there.

31:50 See that little speck of a person?

31:52 Yeah, there we are. 300 feet above the field was hanging on with two hands. But that is where the Falcons put Austin Hill. He's an amazing content guy for the Falcons.

32:03 And he looks, you guys, check this out. He puts his camera, like, over the edge.

32:07 To shoot down on Bijon there. And that's how you get, like, this video game angle. So we took an elevator up three floors.

32:16 Wow.

32:16 Climb 255 steps.

32:18 There's like a hatch at the top where they unlock it, let it out, or like scoot it over and you climb up a ladder and onto the roof.

32:25 Wait, wait, wait.

32:26 So he's holding the camera.

32:28 Over the railing?

32:28 He's, like, holding the camera over the railing. It's all, like, strapped onto him. And he's tracking Bijan. And it's, like, this really cool thing. And we got to talk to Bijan about it. And he's as wonderful as you could imagine of a young man. But he's, like, this is so cool that there's someone up there with, like, kind of the God-given talent I have doing what I do on the field. There's someone capturing it. It's, like, a really cool thing going on.

32:52 Good guess. Yeah, that's one of those views that you could just imagine if it was on other certain players that do kind of crazy heroic things during the game, that would be another great shot. I would imagine if you did it on Caleb Williams, Some of the plays he made last year, awesome. Yeah. You saw him come back against the Falcons. What did you think of his return?

33:14 Oh, I thought it was everything you wanted it to be and then more. I mean, what really captured me was the moment Caleb Williams sprinted onto the field. I mean, you saw the TikTok video he released.

33:23 Yes. Very spicy.

33:25 Mm-hmm.

33:26 It was a spicy when he ran onto the field for warmups and then the performance really matched that. Like he was out to prove something to all of the talking heads who doubted how he left that game with a hamstring injury. And this offense absolutely thrived having him back out there. They had had red zone struggles going into this game really throughout the season. They were great in the red zone. Caleb completed his first pass, first 12 pass attempts.

33:50 They were able to get their ground.

33:51 Game established again because everybody knew this was no longer going to be a one-dimensional offense with him when he was out. So everything was really clicking on all cylinders, and I really think going forward for Caleb Williams, this is going to be a revenge tour. He took all of those people saying, like, oh, why is he being carted off?

34:08 Why does he look like he's crying?

34:09 Is he out for the season? He took all of that so personally that he's going to be playing his best ball.

34:13 That's cool.

34:14 Lindsay, let's address the– lead story for NFL news over the last 48 hours, and that is the Jalen Hurts situation in Philadelphia. We played the Nick Sirianni sound. He was put between a rock and a hard place in this media situation. How do you see this unfolding in Philadelphia between ownership, management, coaching, players, knowing that this is a topic that won't go away?

34:34 Yeah, it's going to be a mess for a long time. I have no other way to say it. This is a very serious medical condition, and something fell through the cracks for him to have played football, for him to have flown across the ocean, for him to be in this situation. My heart personally goes out to Jalen Hurts because you know how serious that could have been. But if you're the Philadelphia Eagles, you have a lot of questions to answer of how the situation came to be.

34:59 And the first thing you have to do is think of Jalen Hurts as a person. Because that is where this entire situation, it's not about the football. We all would like to see Jalen Hurts obviously come back and play football and thrive once again. But this is all about the person, making sure that he is okay.

35:16 To live.

35:17 This is a human being.

35:18 It can't be overstated how serious of a medical condition this is.

35:21 It's really well said.

35:22 So we always like to know where you're going this weekend. Sounds like Minnesota coming off a bye.

35:26 You know it.

35:28 Yeah.

35:28 They're facing kind of a messy Colts team who just let their GM go. Have you seen the Vikings defense play in person yet?

35:34 I haven't.

35:35 Well, not this season.

35:36 I'm very excited. Really, I mean, Brian Flores has done such a nice job dialing it up this year. They're at the top of nearly every statistical category. He has so many returning guys this season that they were really able to kind of go from the jump. I was there this summer over the offseason. We obviously had the quarterback situation, but the defense is what continued to stick out in that offense. That's what I'm also going to be looking for, right? Of them coming out of the bye.

36:02 They're going to have some guys back.

36:04 Be healthy.

36:05 KOC, you know, he's the quarterback whisperer out there. What can he do with Kyler Murray now that Kyler's really had some more time under his belt? But that defense has absolutely powered them to where they are. But to stay where they are, they're going to need that offense.

36:17 Just get going.

36:18 Let's talk about the Colts. Kyle Burnett, Tennessee Titans beat them.

36:22 Can you believe it?

36:23 Yeah, it happened. Real time. I watched it. But the Colts let go of their GM, Chris Ballard. What should we expect from them?

36:30 Yeah, I think going forward, if you're the Colts, every single guy is now on a job addition, right? If you're Shane Steichen, you've got to prove that you can hold on to that job. That's going to be an uphill battle because a general manager, whoever comes in, is probably going to want to have his coach. He's going to want to have his quarterback. Also, the interesting part of this is, The dynamic here. So Carly Ursae-Grenen, it's well documented.

36:50 She's on the sideline.

36:51 I think the interesting thing about the Chris Ballard situation is usually the general manager is with ownership in the Sweetall game.

36:58 Yes.

36:58 So this is a different dynamic of who they might look for, who they might hire, who wants that job because it is a different dynamic having your owner down there on board. the field with you. You know, if you're the Colts, you have a lot of people you can consult with of which direction you want to go.

37:13 You know, Andrew Luck comes to mind, Peyton Manning, talk to them. Who do you want leading this organization? But for every single player, Daniel Jones included, very much a job audition going forward.

37:24 And I can't lose.

37:26 I know it's different responsibilities, but hasn't Andrew Luck been doing that for Stanford? It's for Stanford GM right now.

37:32 That's exactly what I'm thinking. If you're Andrew Luck, are you interested?

37:36 You've been the GM for Stanford. GM for the NFL is a little bit different, maybe a little less messy than college football these days. So is that something possibly that he would be interested in having? I think that's a conversation if you're the Colts, you definitely need to have.

37:49 Can I throw a name in there? Go ahead. Chris Shula, defensive coordinator for the Rams. As a GM? As a GM? No, no, as a coach. Oh, as a coach. Oh, well, they didn't let their coach go, though. Well, they should. I'm a notable operation.

38:01 All right, now we're firing coaches.

38:03 Yeah.

38:04 We need an off-season. I like Chris Shula.

38:06 You want Chris to be the GM?

38:08 I know, right?

38:10 Nothing's working.

38:10 Wake up.

38:11 You see this?

38:12 Put your name in. Blow the whole thing up.

38:14 Andrew Luck's like, nah, I'm going to take back my name for the Colts. Lindsay Theory, thank you so much.

38:19 Join Minnesota.

38:20 I will.

38:20 Get in before January, all right?

38:22 We just heard from Thielen.

38:23 Hey, Theory and Thielen.

38:24 I love our Lindsay Tuesdays. Lindsay Tuesdays.

38:26 Very involved.

38:26 Yeah.

38:27 Good job.