Lots to Say: Worst Weeks and The Athletic's Brooks Kubena

0:05 Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and iHeart Podcast. We got lots to say. We got lots to say. We're glad you're here and we hope you stay. Cause we got lots to say. Yeah, we got lots to say. Now here's Bobby and Matt. What's up, everybody? Welcome back. We have Brooks Kubina coming up in a little bit. He is the Eagles beat reporter, which we will talk about everything happening there, Jalen.

0:41 Hurts, et cetera.

0:42 So that one's crazy.

0:43 A lot to digest there.

0:45 Matt Castle, kickoff Kevin, Brandon Ray, I'm Bobby Bones. And I will start us this week, not with the power rankings of the best teams, not with the power rankings of the worst teams, but my power rankings of the worst week last week.

0:58 The worst week?

0:58 Who had the worst week last week?

1:00 Okay.

1:01 Okay.

1:02 Had number five, the Dallas Cowboys.

1:04 Yes.

1:04 They had the fifth worst week. They're now two and four. They lost 23-13 to the Packers. After that Tampa loss.

1:12 That was more Devon stating than the Green Bay loss.

1:15 Not when it's two losses in a row, though.

1:16 No.

1:17 Well, they've lost four, so. They needed a big response after that Tampa Bay loss. And there was nonstop pressure on Dak. And he did not look good. So, NFC East, I don't know. Does anybody want it?

1:31 It's probably the worst division in football, let's be honest.

1:33 The leader right now are the Giants with three wins, and then everybody else has two wins in this conference. I mean, they still have an opportunity, and that's the benefit of being in the NFC East right now is they just need one game to get them back in the mix because I don't think the Giants are very good.

1:50 They're going to have quarterback issues there, obviously. The Eagles, they just lost their starting quarterback, but they have no offense whatsoever. And Washington, what are they, 1-4-1? And they have proven that they can't win games as well. So, I mean, it's a wide open division.

2:06 They are in favor right now to win the division that the Cowboys are. Isn't that crazy?

2:10 Great division to be in.

2:11 Yeah, it's kind of the favorite to not lose it. Right. More than win it. Exactly. And number four, the Chargers. They are now 0-6. They lost to the Chiefs. We expected them to lose to the Chiefs. However, losing that sixth game in a row, golly, that is tough. uh justin herbert threw an interception in his sixth consecutive game they entered their bi-week winless and here we are they had two weeks to think.

2:35 About it and they lost lad mcconkey again and so this team is struggling they have got no identity they brought in mike mcdaniel to come in and kind of give a boost to this offense it hasn't worked out nothing's working they're gonna have to reevaluate everything it's unbelievable.

2:52 It's unbelievable and he i like mcdaniel but His hair is perfect. His sunglasses are perfect. He wears headphones sometimes just walking in. It's like sometimes you got to un-pretty yourself a little bit just to make it seem like you're... Just corny, though.

3:03 It's a little corny.

3:04 He tries really hard to be the comedian that he's not.

3:07 And I just think sometimes it comes across as, okay, it's not serious.

3:12 It's not professional at times, at least when I see him.

3:14 Tough to be funny when you're losing.

3:15 Oh, it's not funny when you're losing, is it?

3:17 And number three, the Indianapolis Colts because they lost to the Titans and the Titans are terrible. So they lost to the terrible team and that loss was so bad they fired their GM.

3:24 Yeah. Yeah, that was a long time coming, I think. He's been there for 10 years.

3:28 And, you know, last year they make that splash trade to go out and get Sauce Gardner, trade away two first round draft picks.

3:34 They bring back Daniels.

3:37 And so at the same time, you're sitting there going, OK, he's made a lot of transactions that have not resulted in the result that they want.

3:45 And then you go out and lose to the Titans. Yeah, you're going to make some changes at the top.

3:50 To the Titans.

3:51 To the Titans, and they were winning 13-0 in the first half. So that's even more destructive.

3:56 The Philadelphia Eagles at number two. They lost 25-14 to the Panthers. It was their fourth straight loss, and it was followed by reports that Jalen Hurts was not going to return at all because of blood clots, and that story just got worse and worse. Heck, we'll talk about it in just a second with Brooks Kubina. But the Eagles, they're a no-go. Tanner McKee's not the guy. You got to give him some time. You got to give him a little time.

4:20 He's got one start.

4:21 That's fine, but he's not the guy that's going to make them good this year.

4:23 Right, because how much of their offensive unit is hurt anyway? You've got a makeshift offensive line. You've got guys at the outside positions and wide receiver position being down. They've lost four running backs. I mean, it is a complete disaster on the offensive side of the ball.

4:39 At number one, my worst weak power rankings. Who?

4:43 Chargers.

4:43 Well, I already said them like two ago.

4:45 No, not the Chargers. Sorry, the Rams.

4:46 Yeah, the Rams. Yeah, for sure. Unless you want to go Chargers twice. Sorry, I actually wouldn't hate that. LA, LA, LA. I was in LA. I wouldn't hate Chargers twice, but yeah, it's the Rams.

4:53 It's 100% the Rams.

4:54 They lost 18-16 to the Cardinals. I mean, losing to Arizona at home is bad enough, but then you lose to Monte Adams for six to ten weeks.

5:03 That stings.

5:04 And then their kicker gets hurt too? On the first kickoff. He's like 5'4, trying to make a tackle.

5:10 Why do kickers always get hurt making the one tackle that they have to every now and then? And he came in there like he was going to light that dude up, and he just ran through his face.

5:19 I felt bad for him. Didn't he do ACL or something like that?

5:22 That's terrible. Nobody's outlook took a bigger combined hit than the Rams.

5:27 It's bad.

5:28 Bad for them. I still think they can make the playoffs. Tough division. But it's a really tough division for sure.

5:34 Really tough division.

5:35 They've got a tough schedule coming up. And two and four, like you said, you lose Devontae Adams. And also even listening to like Kyron Williams and some of these guys, they're looking for answers too. They're starting to point fingers a little bit and do all those things that we're not used to hearing that from a Sean McVay team.

5:52 They breed confidence. They're playing with swagger. Right now, they are not.

5:57 Tough to be in L.A., Except for all the weather and options and food. It's nice.

6:03 Yeah, all the health and health and stuff.

6:05 Pretty good. All right, now it's time for Fresh from the Oven Takes, brought to you by DiGiorno. Just like a pizza fresh out of the oven, these takes are hot, fresh, and ready for Monday night. Let's break down the matchup. So every week we're serving up three of our hottest NFL takes, bold predictions. It might sound crazy right now, but we actually think they could happen. And so, Mr. Castle, let's hear your first take.

6:25 Tanner McKee will throw a career-high three touchdown passes. Tanner's career high in a single game is two touchdown passes, and he's done that twice. One of those games was against the Cowboys in 2024.

6:38 Well, I think because they're playing the Cowboys again on Monday night, I wouldn't swear you were wrong because it is the Cowboy defense. Exactly.

6:45 Exactly.

6:46 Any other mid or better defense, I go, you crazy Matt Castle. But I'm not going to say that now because although I don't think he's the guy, I think that, well, anybody serviceable can be the guy against the Cowboys. So hot take meter. Four out of ten.

7:01 Four out of ten.

7:02 Okay, I'll take it.

7:03 I'm sure Tanner would take it, too.

7:04 All right, next one. Next one.

7:06 Whoever wins, Cowboys or Eagles, will win the NFC East. Dallas needs to prove its defense can hold up, obviously, while Philadelphia needs to prove it can win without Jalen Hurts.

7:17 The division is an absolute mess, as we've talked about.

7:21 I think it's the Cowboys or the Giants more than I think it's the Eagles or the Commanders. And I'll go to the Giants for a second. And again, we're not talking about any Super Bowl contenders here.

7:30 No.

7:31 So with the Giants, I mean, McCarthy comes in and throws for 250 yards in the fourth quarter. That first interception that he threw.

7:38 Yeah.

7:38 As soon as he comes in, it looked very Tua in the overtime game. That's it. The Falcons game, you're like, oh my God. Just got to get that one out of the way. I know. Got to get it out of the way. But he comes in, throws a pick. Well, sign already your career. And then he just goes off. Started to roll. Yeah, between throwing to neighbors and likely.

7:54 It was just chunking. He was just chunking. So, I think the Giants actually have a chance to win that division more so than the Eagles do. I think it's a Giants or a Cowboys division, but again, they're all so bad. I wouldn't even argue if you wanted to say Commanders at this point because they did actually look pretty good against the 49ers.

8:11 They did, and they came back too.

8:12 I mean, they're down 23-3 and started to storm back and had chances at the end. Shockingly, they weren't able to put together a drive at the end, but At the end of the day, they do have enough offensive power and their defense look good in the second half that they can compete for sure.

8:28 Hey, Kevin, look at the odds for that entire division. Like, I want to know the order because I would right now guess it's Dallas.

8:35 For sure, Dallas.

8:36 Then the Giants. Then the Eagles and the Commanders. That is just going with no knowledge whatsoever. All right, next hot take.

8:42 Okay, the Cowboys will have more total yards than the Eagles and still lose.

8:46 Dallas can move the ball, obviously, offensively. But... It's struggling defense and inability to finish drives could allow Philadelphia to win the game despite having fewer yards.

8:57 If Dallas loses this next game.

9:00 After having more yards than Philly?

9:02 Just in general, if they lose this next game after losing two terrible games, then they should have to peel the star off their helmet and just play silver-helmeted.

9:11 That would be hilarious.

9:13 You don't deserve the star.

9:15 You get a star once you get a win.

9:16 You're playing a beat-up offensive line. You're playing a backup quarterback. You're playing three or four running backs that are missing from the Eagles running back room, and you still can't win that game. That would be crazy to me. I expect the Cowboys to win. However, I've expected them to win the last two games.

9:32 Yeah, there's been a lot of games that I've expected them to win, and they just do not win or show up. I definitely expected them to win against Tampa Bay two weeks ago on a Thursday night when they're playing a rookie quarterback who was a free agent only in his second start and he looked all world.

9:49 Those were your fresh from the oven takes brought to you by DiGiorno make Monday night pizza night with fresh from your oven taste it's not delivery it's DiGiorno so stock up DiGiorno have it in the freezer have it ready that way when you want it it's there do it before Monday night kick off Kevin what do you have we have the Cowboys.

10:09 At number one okay Giants at number two and then Commanders and Eagles.

10:13 Commanders over the Eagles yep really it's gotta be so close so what are the Cowboys I'm gonna guess are they plus 200 130 okay what's.

10:21 Next Giants 154 plus 154.

10:24 That's close. Yeah.

10:25 That's real close.

10:26 And then it drops off. Commanders plus 600.

10:29 That's a big drop.

10:29 Yeah.

10:30 And then the Eagles plus 700.

10:31 Plus $ 1 million.

10:33 $ 1 million.

10:35 I mean, Terry, they also lost Terry. Washington lost Terry McLaurin in that last game too. That's a big loss for them.

10:41 So I have here, we can roll through this pretty easily. I like to start with my power rankings, but not a lot of changes.

10:49 Not a lot?

10:49 Well, at number five, overall, I'll put the Broncos. And I'm going to say quality opponents matter because Denver's beaten Seattle, Jacksonville, and the Rams. That's a good point. Are the Rams quality? I still think yes, but their losses came against San Francisco and the Chiefs. So that schedule, even though it's 3-2.

11:09 That's true. That's a very hard five-game schedule. Hell yeah, that's a tough game. And to have three games out of that, I have the Broncos moving up into the five spot. Okay. I respect that. Thank you. I respect you.

11:20 You know, I don't know about Bo Nix right now. I'm still questioning that. But their defense is still good.

11:25 You know what else is good? You. I respect you.

11:27 Hey, I appreciate it. I respect you, too.

11:29 It's all about respect in here. The 5-0 Minnesota Vikings.

11:31 Sorry, keep talking while you're going.

11:32 Nah, you're good. The Vikings are still unbeaten. What are you going to do? You got to put them in there. Minnesota deserves credit for winning every game. In the end, you are. What your record says you are. Three victories came by one score. The offense has just got to get a bit more consistent. But not a lot. They're winning games.

11:52 They have looked better.

11:53 And now they're coming off of a bye week as well. That defense is just nasty. So they're going to keep them in ballgames. If that offense can get caught up to speed and give them just a little bit more, this team is going to be really hard to beat.

12:06 You can predict 3-2-1, but the Bills are at three. They just have an offense that can beat anyone. Josh Allen and also James Cook. It's just, just go. Just go in defense. Just be okay.

12:16 He can just throw the ball underhand and throw it perfectly in between three defenders and it's a touchdown.

12:22 The problem with their defense is the defense has given up almost 29 points a game. That's a lot of points. Yeah. That's a lot of your offensive guys have got to give it to you every single week. And as you know, you can be good But it's hard to be 30-point-a-week consistent through a whole season.

12:37 Right, and that puts a ton of pressure on the offensive unit to feel like they've got to make plays every single possession when you're in those type of games. Then again, there's the other side of it, that you're battle-tested. And as you go forward, you know, hey, look, we're in a dogfight. We've been here, we've done that, and we've won these type of games. So I think that that's a team also that during the trade deadline is going to look to go get somebody, particularly on the defensive line, to help bolster that defensive line. Because if they can get some help on the defensive unit to bring that number down a little bit, they're going to be in a great position.

13:10 Also, shout out Raiders because they actually played them close.

13:14 Hell yeah.

13:15 It was a good game. Great game. And number two, the Chiefs. They are the closest challenger to my number one team, which you're going to know what that is too. But shout out to the Chiefs. I mean, the whole deal is they're winning. Mahomes is... slowly, probably rehabbing from that injury. They don't need a lot from him, but what they do need, they do get. And they've got Seattle coming up next. It's going to be a big one.

13:35 That'll be a big one. And at number one still, the strongest overall resume is the 49ers. Six wins, no losses. They've beat Denver and Seattle. They have depth, although they have a lot of injuries. At the wide receiver position in particular. Mike Evans, Achilles injury. That stung.

13:53 Because his first half was outstanding.

13:55 He's He's way better than I thought he was going to be, and I expected him to be good.

13:59 Yeah, well, you think you're getting a player that has experience that can come in and be a guy that's impactful. Not to the extent, I think, that anybody saw coming the way.

14:09 That he's performed.

14:10 He doesn't even practice during the week. He just shows up on game day like, boys, I'm ready to roll. That's pretty legit.

14:16 49ers are pretty legit, and they are... My number one team. They're everybody's number one team. I'm not doing a DiGiorno hot take. The 49ers are just really good.

14:24 They're really good, and they've won in different ways. The biggest concern, like you said, moving forward is going to be wide receiver. Deebo Samuel's out. Obviously, Ricky Pearsall's out for the year. Was it DeMarcus Robinson was out as well?

14:34 Joe Montana.

14:35 Joe Montana's out. He's not coming back. Yeah, Ricky Waters is no longer coming back. He's not there. Who do I keep naming, guys?

14:40 Tom Rathman is still, yeah. Yeah, so that's what's up.

14:43 We're going to take a break.

14:46 Brooks Kubina, who is the beat writer for the Eagles. We're going to talk to him next. Let's welcome in now Eagles beat writer for the athletic Brooks Kubina. Brooks, I just saw the story that came through my email that says that the Eagles are all good. They're not going to be punished for what happened with Jalen Hurts. Like, can you shed some light on that?

15:22 Yeah, I mean, I reached out to the NFL last night and heard that they were not investigating myself. Going on right now, that's the league's approach. The question also is, what is the NFLPA? How are they going to respond? From my understanding, they're fact-finding at this moment. So, How this goes forward, the league not making any moves right now, but there are going to be still some questions from the players' union to try and figure out what's going on.

15:47 So you see from both the parties involved with.

15:51 The Eagles and Jalen Hurts' side, through his agent Nicole Lynn, who's been on record through statements, those things are coming together. What you're seeing is that there were a lot of parties involved, not just the Eagles and their medical team, but also whenever they were in London. They were in an external hospital there, so there were some other doctors involved in this too. So there are a lot of questions that we were trying to, as beat reporters in Philadelphia, trying to find out yesterday. And Nick Sirianni was the spokesman for the team at that point as the head coach when arguably it should have been someone else who was more– who could speak on authority with that. All the medical doctors for the Eagles report to Howie Roseman,

16:29 the general manager, but– Sirianni stuck with his line that he was not a medical expert. So that's kind of where things are right now in terms of trying to find out if there was not even just if anything went wrong.

16:42 But just what was the process.

16:43 So there are details that aren't yet available.

16:48 Yeah, Brooks, what have we learned thus far about the timeline from hurt symptoms when they originally came about to the game in London and ultimately the diagnosis to end the season for him?

17:00 Yeah, what we know is that Jalen Hurts, the Thursday after the Rams game, went in after practice to the training room and reported a calf injury. They did treatment on that Friday. He was listed on the injury report with a calf injury and was practicing as a full participant. They fly to London on Saturday. He goes through a walkthrough, and then afterward, they check on the leg with– procedure, the ultrasound, and they find that it was not, they found that it was a superficial blood clot. And then at that point, whoever was part of that decision, what medical staffs were involved and whoever within the organization, they decided that he could play Sunday and Jalen Hurst decided to play as well.

17:51 They do that.

17:51 And within the statements, we knew that he was authorized to fly back. And within 72 hours, to have a follow-up ultrasound. He gets back Wednesday, practices Wednesday night is whenever he has the follow-up ultrasound. They find that the clot had moved. Thursday is when the news broke that the following week after the Jaguars game was that he.

18:15 Was going to be out that week because the clot had moved.

18:20 And, you know, I was in the locker room myself talking to players about their reactions. And Britton Covey, a wide receiver who is the NFLPA rep for the team, he said he was as blindsided as anybody. Jalen Hurts, just to give some background, doesn't talk about injuries as minor as an ankle sprain. So this was not something he was telling his teammates. Covey said that they knew that he was dealing with something with his calf because, frankly, it came out on the report. And they saw him in the training room getting treatment on it. And Covey did say, he's like, I did see him getting an ultrasound on it. And I thought that was weird because you don't really do that with the calf. And then the news came out. So that was that Thursday leading

18:55 into the game. And then Saturday is whenever the news came out that he would be put on injured reserve. And they were already going in with Tanner McKee. And then Monday was whenever the joint statement comes from Nicole Lynn, his agent, saying that it had spread into his lungs. So That's the timeline we know. The part of that is at what point did the clot go into his lungs?

19:20 From Thursday until Monday. And in the statement that they wrote, it said within the last few days they'd been checking on it. So that kind of gives the timeline of events there.

19:30 So would you give me some clarity because Twitter doesn't. Like when he didn't sleep for 36 hours leading into the game that he did play, can you walk me through exactly what happened there?

19:44 So my understanding of this is that, and I know this comes from a report that came out yesterday that was then clarified later, the team traveling to London Friday night was staying on their own time from local time Philly. So getting in for the walkthrough and then afterwards checking on the clot and what to do about it. It's my understanding that he got back late 3 a.m. local time in London and then went back to the team hotel slept until leaving, and then.

20:17 Got to the field. I remember talking to Jalen Hurts after that game, and he said he was resting.

20:25 So there was some confusion based on that initial report, and as social media does, explodes those things into oblivion. So that's my understanding of what was happening.

20:40 So there was never a 36-hour he didn't sleep period of time? Not to my understanding.

20:45 Got it. That would have been insane, don't you think? That's why I was asking about it. No way he's sleeping for 36 hours still playing that game.

20:51 I have a baby and I'd say more than that.

20:54 Putting the medical situation aside, how much does Hurts not be in there impact this team moving forward?

21:01 It's big.

21:02 I mean, it's the starting quarterback for any franchise is a big deal. This one in particular because they overhauled their offensive system over the offseason and to not only something that was going to be unfamiliar to Jalen Hurts, but even more so for their backup, Tanner McKee, who at Stanford was almost exclusively shotgun-oriented and then in the last couple of years didn't really have much experience in that.

21:26 But going forward, it's something that I wrote recently. It's not only just Jalen Hurts in this, like the offensive line, losing Lane Johnson to a sudden retirement, trading Cam Juergens. Saquon Barkley was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Devontae Smith just came back from his own Even whenever these players were all together on the field in the first couple of weeks, this was a system that was struggling to get off the ground under first-time play caller Sean Mannion, who now is having to do this without some of his key players. So the interesting thing going forward here is how does this organization evaluate each part of this system independent of the issues that have come up? Because this is the third time that Nick Sirianni has hired

22:12 a coach who has not had play-calling experience.

22:15 All three of them have gotten at least, for now, up to a rough start.

22:19 The last two, Kevin Petillo and Brian Johnson, who had called plays in college but not the NFL, were eventually fired. So now what are you looking at? Is it Tanner McKee making a couple good throws within the system? If the pocket collapses, are you looking at how your rookie Markel Bell is doing at right tackle. Right now, they're down four running backs. So in a wide zone system where you're trying to establish the wide zone and you're down most of your guys, how do you evaluate the system going forward? Does that mean now Sean Mannion is going to have to adjust? One of the things that I found really interesting in the offseason was one of the reasons Sirianni hired him was because he liked how

22:59 much conviction he had in what he believed. And after the first couple of weeks, I asked Mannion, you know, how much conviction he had in this to see. And he's like, complete conviction. I'm going to stick with this. And we saw that Sunday, quite frankly, with Tanner McKee. And there were a lot of problems as they were trying to get through that game. Are they going to try and adapt this more to the personnel at hand, which is what a lot of offensive coordinators do?

23:23 That's going to be interesting to see.

23:24 And probably how they evaluate Mannion, how that eventually plays out over the year, evaluating Sirianni's decisions on how to fit the team, but also globally evaluating you know, this is not an independent thing of Nick Sirianni, but the staff and the personnel and how they made this immense shift to this type of offense and the players involved.

23:44 So it's going to be an interesting next couple of weeks because they play all three of their NFC East division opponents in a row right before the trade deadline. And the NFC East is the worst division in the league right now.

23:57 So All of them can lay claim that they could possibly get to the playoffs, but this was a team that had Super Bowl sites.

24:05 Just to simply get into the first round as an NFC East champion in a weak division, is that the long-term goal as well as the short-term goal for this team? That trade down line is going to probably look pretty interesting.

24:18 For the Eagles, I would think, because they operate on all times and clocks, both future and present, and I think they could probably make some deals that... you know, help both things. Obviously, Tanner, he's the backup and he started last week, but is he the guy the rest of the season as far as Eagles are concerned? I believe that's the case.

24:54 I mean, they came out training camp, hoping that between Tanner McKee and Andy Dalton would separate themselves as the backup, and neither did, and it was first Andy Dalton, and then he went into the Bears game through a pick, and then they went with McKee. From here on, there were some signs for McKee on Sunday that he could advance in this system. The problem with having that quarterback competition over the summer is that he missed out on extra reps if they had had him there as the number two and may have progressed further than he has i think uh the confidence is in there that he might be able to progress off off of what he did sunday but joe milton behind him they also have cole payton a quarterback that they kept on i think

25:35 it's uh notable just to point out that they had four quarterbacks entering the season that means they liked cole payton wanted to see him progress in the system so if mckee falters and payton's advanced they might give him a look if he's ready but that's why they also picked up milton If he's not, then someone else is going to get a try. To go and get another quarterback, whether that's in a trade to salvage the season or just to get someone to hold things together, you'd have to wonder what in service is that.

26:04 Doing for this season.

26:06 And I mean, as I said before about the trade deadline, you know, is this a team that thinks it can make the Super Bowl run? You got to evaluate that in terms of how you're using your draft capital and other players on your team. So For now, I think McKee is part of the plans and fits kind of what the goals are realistically for this team.

26:26 What'd you like from Tanner McKee that you saw on Sunday? What'd you dislike in just his overall performance?

26:33 What I liked was that there were some quick decisions for downfield throws. There was a couple of Devontae Smith, one on the first down that was about 15 down the middle. And then there was another similar kind of throw that got called back on a holding penalty. His touchdown pass to Devontae Smith was also right on target.

26:49 I thought those were the good things. I think whenever I talked to Tanner McKee before his start, he quite frankly didn't look comfortable in the system in the preseason. And I asked him what had he progressed in the last three weeks or the last five weeks. And he said he wasn't thinking as much anymore in the system.

27:06 He was making quick decisions. And I think I saw that a bit. The things that I didn't like or think there are things for improvement are some of the play-action game, which may not be completely independent of his.

27:19 Faults. I mean, they're kind of together.

27:22 That first play, whenever he gets sacked, the offensive linemen go in opposite directions. There's some miscommunication on that, whether that's McKee or on the play or some players. There's some collective issues there. I think just streamlining those things together within the week are improvements he can make. Um, and also I think it's going to help that knowing that he is the starter going to this because he did come in on a Thursday on short weeks notice.

27:48 And then also dealing with the, you know, a Thursday center trying, trying to collaborate with the offense at that point. Uh, I think those are things that he can clean up as they're going forward. Also paired with Sean Mannion with a full week, knowing that McKee is his player and whether they're going to adapt some of this system to things that he does well. Um, you're not going to, um, you know, do certain things with McKee in terms of, we still haven't seen the tush push as much, even with Jalen Hurts in there.

28:16 I just think there are things that they can fit to McKee's skill set that, you know, might work. You talked about the evaluation of the offensive coordinator and even the coaches in general. How do you evaluate coaches whenever Lane Johnson's out, Jalen's out, Saquon's hurt? How do you evaluate what you have when actually you're not getting to evaluate what they have?

28:36 I mean, you know, whenever I'm sitting there If I was asking if Howie Roseman was available, that would be one of the questions I would ask. I covered the Texans from 2021 to 2023 before coming out to Philly, and that was a team that was in a rebuilding phase.

28:53 They fired David Culley. They fired Lovie Smith. And on the field, they just simply were not a very talented team.

29:01 They had a lot of players playing on one-year contracts and trying to evaluate offensive coordinators like Tim Kelly. who was fired after 2021, some of the quarterbacks like Davis Mills, who's still on the team.

29:13 So I'm using that as a comparison here.

29:15 You look on the field and you try and take each player and you're saying, are they developing? Are they moving forward towards, okay, I can see a scenario here where when these pieces are there together, there might be more success. I'm going to point towards Willie Lampkin, the left guard that's filling in right now for the offense.

29:33 After Landon Dickerson was in injured reserve and then whenever Cam Juergens was traded, he steps in. And you see him in pass protection and he played really well uh the last couple of weeks and some of the touchdown runs that they had in the in the goal line situations that's there in in when you look at an offensive coordinator.

29:51 Looking at what players.

29:53 Are they isolating in the game plan to to to lean behind those things and if collectively uh the the system continues not to work whenever you make those decisions, like trying to find answers and, and doing that. It can be even just a sequence of plays. It could be a sequence of drives. It can be a full game.

30:13 I think there are ways of doing that. Even whenever you don't have your starters there that's things all kind of coaches deal with. And then again, with the, with the quarterbacks and the way that they handle the scenarios, whenever there's like Devante Smith available or, or, or such.

30:28 So, It's very specific. It's hard to do whenever you see a team getting just, you know, beaten.

30:35 By multiple scores in a game, but not unprecedented for teams across the league.

30:41 Brooks, how much support does Nick Sirianni have within that locker room amongst the players versus the outside noise that everybody hears amongst the Philadelphia faithful?

30:51 A lot.

30:52 I was talking to Jordan Milata. Last week for a story I was set to write before the news with Jalen Hurts emerged, which was based on what was really the focus last week after the London game, which was Nick Ciarani's apparent mismanagement of the final offensive drive and then the kickoff after that. They like that he allows them, through this example, in every game, every practice that they have, They have these situational periods where he shouts out time, distance, all.

31:26 Of these things. And he trains them more than any other NFL coach I've heard of doing that.

31:30 And part of that, my lot of was saying is like once they're in the huddle, he trusts them to do their job. They have so many other things to think about that he's putting them in position to be professionals. So he a lot of likes that a lot of other plays I talked to like that as well. They also whenever Nick Sierra stood at the podium after the London game and said, this one's on me. And the players seeing that, knowing that's not exactly true, they appreciate.

31:55 That from him.

31:55 I remember in the 2023 season, there was a similar instance whenever Jalen Hurts checked a play to A.J. Brown and ended up being a game losing interception. And Nick Sirianni went out and said that was his fault. And behind the scenes, Jalen had checked the play and he kind of bore that. So a lot of the team players respect how He preaches accountability to them.

32:19 He owns it himself. So he's practicing what he preaches.

32:23 And a lot of the, I think really when it comes down to in terms of those parts within a program is, is the person consistent with what they're trying to get across in their messaging?

32:35 To everybody I talk to, he is, but no one likes to lose.

32:39 So all of these things are trying to figure out what's best in moving forward. None of them have faltered in their confidence that Sirianni will try to do all these things and address these things with fairness and accountability. But we'll see whether that leads into better results.

32:56 Final question. The Eagles want to lose now, right?

33:01 I don't know.

33:02 I don't think so. I mean, it depends on who you're talking about. And even then, I don't think so. Because Again, I'm going back to my Texans coverage, but they had a chance to have the number one pick going into the 2023 season. And everybody was going in week 18 against the Colts, and they decided to go for two against the Colts and win, and they got the number two pick. Players on the field, they have no guarantees of being a part of whatever next is, unless you're on a contract that has a lot of multiple guarantees.

33:29 And even then, they traded A.J. Brown last year.

33:32 So the coaches know that if they don't succeed... And they're going to be evaluated based on what's on the field. So they're going to try. So it's really hard to get into a concert of trying to lose whenever all these things are at hand. So I think there's ways that from a higher up view, if you're thinking about building the team, and I'm meaning Howard Roseman here, is take a trade like the Cam Juergens trade. You look behind and you see the progression from a player like Drew Kendall, who is now starting. It was a late round pick last year. give him an opportunity while also getting a second round pick. He said he wasn't shopping around for Cam Juergens, but the Ravens come around with an offer that they can't refuse. I would think that

34:16 the rest of the year, managing in that way, saying, okay, what might player X get in the long run?

34:23 That's going to impact this team.

34:25 But also, I like these other players involved, and it's going to affect some of the, obviously, the on-field play. That's kind of more where trying to lose would come from and i just don't see it coming from any of the players who have more to lose and coaches who also as well and you can even say that for roseman who's always going to be evaluated too but i would say three super bowl appearances.

34:49 Give them a lot more security all right b cubina on twitter i really appreciate the time i know you're in the middle of it now so uh thanks for giving us some of that valuable insight thanks brooks really appreciate it yeah anytime And now let's play Is It Real with Matt Castle.

35:19 What's first?

35:20 NFL Week 6, Is It Real? The Patriots are real contenders in the AFC. New England's won three straight games, improved to 4-2 after beating the Jets 26-19.

35:31 It's hard.

35:34 For me to commit that they are real right now. They do have the Bears, the Dolphins, and the Packers coming up. If they can beat the Bears... I think they're a little more formidable.

35:46 I mean, they're coming off two victories or now three straight victories. They did beat Buffalo.

35:52 They did.

35:53 Who was in your top five. They did. Raiders were a hot team coming in.

35:56 I agree.

35:57 They pounded the Raiders.

35:58 I hear you.

35:59 Jets.

36:00 That's why I'm saying.

36:01 A.J.

36:01 Brown also, I mean, he just has to catch the ball again. I'm just a little, I'm not anti the Patriots being a contender. That's why I'm struggling with this a little bit. I'm in Patriot purgatory. That's what we call it. Patriotory. Really? Purgatory. Purgatory. Neither of those really work, but you get what I'm saying.

36:17 I totally understand what you're saying.

36:19 I am going to say, you know what? If you make me decide, I'm going to say it's real. But man, I'm right on the line. It's real. They're real. They also proved they could win last year. They did have an easy schedule, but they do have a body of work that proved that they've done it before.

36:35 And their defense is getting after it as well. So I'm going to go.

36:38 So you two Patriot crybabies, don't yell at me. Could we turn the mics off and you guys scream at me? It's tough. For everybody that's listening to this, you have no idea the abuse I get. Oh, my gosh.

36:45 We bring out paddles with Patriot faces on them.

36:48 It's real. Okay, number two.

36:50 Number two, the Browns are legit AFC North contenders. Cleveland beat Baltimore 13-10 on the last second field goal. Now are 4-2, tied with the Ravens and Steelers at the top of the AFC North.

37:05 It's hard for me to believe that the Browns are good because, most of all, they're the Browns.

37:10 They're the Browns. Yeah.

37:11 And also, I love fan bases that have been through it for years and haven't won. Like, I root for them. It's hard for me to root for Deshaun Watson. They have an ineffective run game. So I'm going to start there. They play mock-you-up football.

37:24 Salty defense. No pun intended.

37:26 Their passing game struggles until the fourth quarter. I'm going to say a little bit, this is a bit like Buffalo, where if Buffalo doesn't score 30-plus points, they can't win. If Deshaun Watson and those rookie receivers don't play well in the fourth quarter, they can't win a game. This has been their pattern of winning. Their running game has not been effective. But again, their defense is carrying it.

37:44 Yes.

37:45 So I can't come on here and say that the Vikings are a top five team and not give the Browns a little bit of shine.

37:52 And it's a black and blue division. You know what I mean? That's what they do.

37:54 They beat each other up and defense wins those games and a lot of outside venues other than Minnesota. So you're going to get those cold weather games. And look, they get no style points for the way that they win by any means, but they are winning ballgames.

38:08 And those points don't matter. Style points count for nothing. I did watch on TikTok some of the All-22 from Cleveland.

38:15 Is that where you watch your film normally? Yeah. Yeah. It's actually pretty good. Yeah, it's good.

38:19 You know, you had to make fun of me and then I admitted it was true and then you stopped. So yeah, I didn't select you. You're a former NFL quarterback over there. But yes, so I did watch some of the All-22 on TikTok and their receivers aren't getting a lot of separation, especially early. And I'm stealing that from the guy I was watching saying that. He was like, look, they're not getting any separation.

38:40 Right.

38:40 So I'm saying they're not real yet.

38:42 Okay, fair.

38:43 I mean, I think this is an easy one. Are the Rams the biggest disappointment in the NFL? They fell to two and four. Embarrassing loss against Arizona. I know you're going to say.

38:53 Chargers, aren't you? I say Chargers. They're 0-6. It's hard because we didn't expect the Chargers to go to the Super Bowl, but the Rams, we did. And you know what? I think they still can. That's the crazy thing about the Rams. I don't think the Chargers can.

39:06 No, the Chargers are out of the mix.

39:07 Also, wouldn't it be a surprise if Harbaugh goes to college next year? He can.

39:10 He's been suspended from college for years and years.

39:13 It'll be like, wait a minute, Arkansas. They'll fit. We'll take him.

39:17 He's an associate head coach. He's not really on staff.

39:19 He's got a mustache. His name is Jim Harbaugh. We'll take him. I think the Chargers are the biggest disappointment because it is so, just the word is weird that they're 0-6. They're way better than that. They're coaching, they're quarterback, they're offensive line, I struggle, but who doesn't? Half the teams are having offensive line problems.

39:36 Yeah, they've got a lot of offensive line problems.

39:37 So I'm going to go Chargers are the most, but the Rams are right there. But I do think at least the Rams have a chance for it not to be a total disappointing season. The Chargers aren't going to win until they play the Jets. And even then now I'm wondering if they're going to win.

39:50 I saw a crazy stat the other day about Justin Herbert. And they were talking about how Andrew Luck retired after six seasons, I believe it was. And he got sacked somewhere around the 180s, like 184, something like that. Justin Herbert through six seasons had been sacked. almost 230 or 240 times, it's crazy how much this guy takes abuse.

40:09 Okay, so let me ask you then, as a former Pro Bowl NFL quarterback, that's got to be a little bit on the offensive line, but also how long is he holding the ball?

40:18 Yeah, there's no doubt that sacks come in different ways, right? There's guys that get beat up front or there's games or you're playing with backups, which they did last year. They're doing this year that absolutely impact the protection. Then there's the other side of it where you're holding on to the ball a little bit longer.

40:36 And it's on us. It has nothing to do with the offensive line.

40:40 So there's part of that for sure. But throw the ball faster.

40:42 OK, well, you could do that. Just quick game all day long.

40:48 That's what Aaron Rodgers did for two years.

40:50 The other issue with the team right now is that they're playing from behind in all these games. So you have to throw the ball to get yourself back in. What happens to a defensive unit when they know you got to play? They pin their ear back. So you have no balance to your offense. You can't run the ball consistently because you're now trying to make up for a two score deficit. And you put yourself in that position.

41:10 And that's a very difficult position to be in for any offensive unit.

41:13 The two quarterbacks I think about having to do that in the last few years are Aaron Rodgers and Baker Mayfield. where it's like, well, we can do nothing except I'm just going to throw real fast. But the Chargers, if Quentin Johnson's like your guy, you don't really have a guy.

41:28 You don't really have that dude.

41:30 Don't.

41:30 Because they're also one of those teams that have been built on this mentality of we've got to run the football first, set up play action, and they haven't been able.

41:39 To run the football.

41:40 When you can't do that, and then you go and have the interceptions and the turnover issues that they've had, and then you're playing from behind, it is a recipe for disaster.

41:48 Ladd McConkie, Quentin Johnson, Trey Harris.

41:53 Ladd's been out for, what, three or four weeks?

41:57 I mean, when Quentin Johnson got out.

41:58 Three of the six weeks that they've played?

42:00 Yeah, it's frustrating. Okay. Okay, sorry, Justin. Sorry, Justin.

42:05 You're winning off the field, though.

42:07 I've made so many great power rankings this week. I was just in a power ranking. Nothing. What position group are we going to? No, we're going to do my top five most impactful NFL absences. Ooh, I like that one. I have to switch up a little bit. Yeah, that's creative. Because it's like I do teams. I have to do that.

42:25 And we know what the teams are.

42:26 And the teams haven't really moved.

42:28 Yeah. And number five. Mm-hmm. I got to be honest. I'm going to put as much time into this one. So feel free to. This is going to be fun. Feel free to inject whomever.

42:36 Right.

42:37 And number five, Nick Bosa from the 49ers.

42:39 Mm-hmm.

42:40 Now he's got the kneecap issue. San Francisco can survive his absence because they can survive pretty much anyone's absence. But I think their championship hopes and ceiling, they need that pressure.

42:52 Quit hitting the desk.

42:53 Now I'm doing my fingertips. You don't hear that.

42:55 I heard it all.

42:56 No, do you hear that? Do you hear that?

42:58 Oh, you're like a mouse now. Yeah.

42:59 Okay, sorry.

43:00 It's just for effect.

43:00 Do you hear my fingertips?

43:01 Back to Bosa. Yes.

43:02 Back to Bosa. I think it hurts the secondary a lot that they don't have Bosa because now they've got to play secondary longer. And so I have him at number five.

43:12 Yeah, I don't know if his absence has been as impactful as to reach the top five.

43:17 That's what I said.

43:17 They're 6-0.

43:18 Okay. But all I said was, I think it affects their- I think moving forward- No, you weren't listening to me. I said it affects their championship ceiling.

43:27 Yeah, but you're not talking about the most impactful absences.

43:30 Well, I haven't got to 4, 3, 2, 1 yet.

43:32 We're at 6.

43:33 We're at 5.

43:33 We're at week 6.

43:34 Okay, number four, Michael Parsons and the Packers.

43:36 Yeah, 100%.

43:38 Oh, now we're friends. Yeah, now we're friends. Recovering from ACL and meniscus surgery. They still, as far as I know, Kevin, they don't have a return date yet. All I know is he wasn't going to play against the Cowboys.

43:49 Yeah, the only thing I've seen is possibly week nine, a couple weeks away.

43:53 That's a long recovery, too, compared to guys like Kittle, who's coming off the Achilles.

43:58 Don't compare injuries. You know better than that. Yeah, that's stupid. As someone who's been injured before, you know better than that. Everybody heals differently. That's right. 100%.

44:05 And honestly, I'd want a healthy.

44:09 Micah Parsons is coming back without any issues and no restrictions whatsoever. Because if he comes back and he's that dude again, especially when you get late in the year and he's fresh, that's going to have a major impact.

44:21 And I don't have specifics like I did about Bosa with Parsons, but Parsons is a top five guy. The specific is he changes how the offensive schemes change. When he's on the field. 100%.

44:32 That's what we call a game changer.

44:34 When we come in to meetings on Wednesday morning and you go through the personnel and they circle certain guys and they say, this guy will wreck the game by himself if we don't do what we need to do to accomplish this particular play. So we've always got to give him chip help or know where he's at and make sure he doesn't wreck the game.

44:52 Chip help.

44:53 Chip help. You know what that means. Not a tortilla chip either.

44:56 And number three, I'm rolling all quarterbacks here.

44:59 Baker Mayfield.

45:00 His dislocated throwing hand thumb is being evaluated. Hopefully, he comes back this week. And that Tampa offense depends on Baker Mayfield. 100%. 100%. Like, he's that dude for Tampa Bay. Yeah.

45:14 Did he surgically have to do anything to it? Or just pop it back into place?

45:19 I don't know, Kevin. If I were going to guess, I'd say he did not have surgery.

45:25 Yeah, coming back that quickly would be crazy because I dislocated my thumb and had to.

45:30 We don't compare injuries.

45:31 No, I am comparing. I'm talking about my example.

45:35 No surgery.

45:35 No surgery. Oh, yeah, then he's good to go.

45:38 Number two, Lamar Jackson. Missed the past two games. Still remains day to day. Probably back next game. But Baltimore lost its best. I mean, Derrick Henry is the dude. Although that fumble was so bad. He doesn't do that.

45:57 He doesn't do that.

45:58 But they went 1-1 without him. And if you're going to say your backup has to come in and play, and you've got two games, 1-1 is probably what.

46:04 Best case scenario.

46:05 Yeah.

46:06 Versus going 0-2, especially in that division.

46:08 The Ravens just scored, what, 10 points?

46:10 10 points.

46:10 13-10 was the final score.

46:12 It was not a great day for that offense.

46:16 So I have Lamar Jackson at 2, and then at 1, I do have Jalen Hurts. Even though I don't think the Eagles were really going to be a contender anyway. I think they could have won the division. But that story's just tragic. It's terrible. Yeah.

46:30 I mean, and how abrupt it all came about, right? You have a bruise on your, from what we're understanding now, bruise that becomes a blood clot. You go back in for further evaluation. Now the blood clot's moved. And it's a scary situation. We're not just talking about being able to play.

46:45 That's life or death. Talking about life. Last week, we looked at the schedule and we thought, Not a lot of sexy games. Let's see how many sexy games we have this week before we go. All you have to do is say if it's sexy or not. On Thursday night.

46:58 Sexy.

46:58 The Patriots and the Bears. Sexy.

47:00 I agree.

47:00 Sexy game.

47:01 That's a sexy game. That's a sexy game. I like this game. Under the lights.

47:05 Steelers at Saints.

47:07 But in Paris.

47:08 And what's a sexier city than Paris? Sexy.

47:10 It's sexy.

47:11 It's not sexy. No, in the background. No, it'll be just like that. Come on, it's sexy. Not sexy. The Steelers and Saints. The Bucks and the Panthers. Not sexy.

47:19 Not sexy.

47:20 The Giants and the Texans. Not sexy. The Bengals and the Ravens. Sexy. The Colts and the Vikings.

47:28 Not sexy.

47:29 The Dolphins and the Jets.

47:31 Not sexy. Who's got the points right now?

47:35 The Browns and the Titans. Not sexy. That's the before picture. The 49ers and the Falcons. I think it's got some sexy qualities to it. If you had a couple drinks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. one or two. Yeah, have a couple games.

47:49 You don't need that many.

47:51 The Packers and the Lions. Pretty sexy. Sexy. Because the Packers have been winning.

47:55 Yeah.

47:56 Man, you told me the Packers were going to, were they 4-2?

48:00 Are they 4-2?

48:01 If you told me the Packers were going to win games after how they started.

48:04 I know.

48:05 No chance.

48:05 And Jordan Love looks.

48:06 They're 4-2. That's crazy.

48:08 And Jordan Love looks awesome.

48:10 The Rams and Raiders.

48:12 Pretty sexy.

48:13 The Chiefs and Seahawks. Boing. Cowboys and Eagles. You know what?

48:18 Just because.

48:21 I'm going sexy just because it's the Cowboys and the Eagles. Only because the two teams, the brands.

48:26 Yeah, the brand does hold weight. I'm going not.

48:29 Sexy right now. Buy week this week, the Bills, the Chargers, the Commanders, and the Jaguars. That's sexy. It is now time for situational awareness. My first question to you, Matt. Your team trades for a big-name player in the middle of the season. As the starting quarterback, does that instantly bring a jolt to the locker room? 100%.

48:48 And especially when you're saying big-time player, it could be either side.

48:53 Of the ball. For example, maybe think of this as Marvin Harrison Jr. So, you know, ends up going over the Texans.

48:59 Just don't watch his tape leading up to him coming in.

49:02 Watch his college tape. Yeah, watch his college tape. You'll feel better about it. But it could be anyone like that.

49:06 Yeah.

49:07 Offensive, defensive, you can even play on either side of the ball.

49:09 It definitely gives you a jolt.

49:11 You're excited about that they are aggressive and that they're going out trying to make your team better. Now, if the person is drafted to your position, you're feeling.

49:17 A little edgy about it. There's a different type of jolt. But if it's somebody that can immediately be an impact player and come in and help your team, everybody's.

49:27 Pretty excited about that. Everybody.

49:30 Everybody, other than the position that he's going to take over the job.

49:34 All right.

49:35 Your gut says one team, but AI says the other team is the team you should place the bet on. Which one are you trusting with your money, AI or your gut?

49:44 So let me tell you what I've been doing. You have gut health now, too, because you don't eat cheese anymore. That's correct. No dairy at all.

49:49 Yeah, that's amazing.

49:51 I also have AI health.

49:52 Yes.

49:52 Because I use it.

49:54 What's your go-to AI app?

49:57 Depends. So for games, I go to Muse. Hmm. Yeah. Never even heard of that.

50:03 Yep.

50:04 It's the meta. It's the Instagram version of it. It's the one that can do your tasks for you. Have you heard about that one?

50:11 No.

50:12 Oh, there's some pictures for this building here. And I said, I'm just going to upload the pictures we have sent to my house. The only time it checked in with me was to send me the price. It says, is the price good?

50:20 I said, good.

50:21 In the mail, I got all these pictures. Framed, exact size, everything. Come on.

50:25 The handful of them.

50:25 Wow, that's amazing.

50:26 It's amazing. I'm still like elementary school chat GBT. Can you make my son.

50:31 He's writing his pen pal letters.

50:33 Can you make my son two versions of this test?

50:38 So I go to Muse and I say this. Of the entire board that's opened. What is your favorite bet? And what is your second favorite bet of the entire board? And it'll come back and go, this is what I think. And this is my backup. And so far this season, I think my muse is five and two.

50:56 So really good.

50:58 So far it's been solid. We had one bad week where we didn't hit anything, but it's been really solid, especially with college. College is hard.

51:06 You bet the overs.

51:07 NFL is the hardest.

51:08 NFL is way harder. Yeah.

51:09 I agree with that. I bet the under on the Arkansas and Tennessee game back a couple weeks ago, and I didn't want to bet the under because I don't want to be at a game and then have to, like, root for nobody to score. But instead of all the bets, this is the one I'd choose, under 51.5. And I said, don't just pick it because I'm going. He said, no, of all the bets. And it easily hit. Nice. So if my gut says one thing and AI says another, I'll bet my gut. But I'm really not looking for AI to give me a bet I was already considering.

51:38 I'm going at a blank, going, of every bet, what do you think?

51:40 Yeah, what's your go-to? Yeah. Pretty good, though. It's been pretty good so far, yeah.

51:44 And then when it misses, I'll get a note the next morning. Hey, sorry about those misses. I'll do better next week. I'm not kidding. I'm not kidding. It starts to be your friend. It's got feeling. It starts to be your friend. I'm so sorry. Don't worry, I'll do better next week. All right, next question. Your team is 0-5, but the organization says it's sticking with the young quarterback.

52:00 When does protecting a rookie's confidence become more important than trying to win now?

52:05 I think you've got to know the player, and that goes through the evaluation process of bringing him into the organization, understanding him from a mental standpoint and emotional standpoint.

52:16 Because there's guys.

52:18 That really do need a break and need to learn how to be a professional and maybe some time away. Case in point would be Carolina, Bryce Young. who had to step back for.

52:28 A few weeks.

52:28 Andy Dalton goes in, plays. But when he came back in, he was a different player. And at the same time, it's got to be a pulse of the team because I think that the quarterback feels everybody's energy around him. When you're losing and you're not playing well, particularly as a young guy, you can feel those veteran guys looking at you saying, like, when are we going to get on track? Especially when you have an older veteran quarterback there as your backup. They're looking at, well, can he do much worse? Like Dalton.

52:55 Exactly.

52:56 Let's put him in there. Let's see what he can do. And then when the young guy is ready, it's time to bring him back in. But you're playing a very difficult line there, especially in the front office, because you drafted a guy. You put him in there early. You made the decision as a coaching staff to start the young guy. And then at what point are you able to turn back to him?

53:13 Yeah, I'm trying to think of who that would. Bryce Young is the best example of that. It's the one that's worked.

53:20 Yeah.

53:21 And the one that hasn't worked yet is Anthony Richards. Yeah. All right. Give me one more. All right.

53:27 You have the same receiver on one fantasy team that you're facing in another league.

53:32 What are you rooting for?

53:33 I'm not. I'm just letting Jesus take the wheel. Yeah. Jesus take the wheel. This happened to me. I have CeeDee Lamb. I only play in two leagues and I hate playing in multiple leagues because of just this. And so CeeDee Lamb was on my team. And in my other league, he was on the other team. And it was when he had like 19 catches.

53:49 Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah.

53:50 And it got to the point where I just was not going to have any emotion at all. It was like a tie from a couple weeks ago.

53:56 I'll just take my wins when I can get them.

53:58 So I don't like that when it happens. And I try to draft similar teams. It's hard, though, if you don't get the same position in the draft. Right. Because in my main league that Kevin and I play in together, I think I got like the fourth. No, I got the 12th pick. So, yeah, I just say it's all you.

54:15 I submit. Yeah.

54:16 I submit to the fantasy gods.

54:18 Hallelujah.

54:20 All right, let's do one more. One of your boys has a football game the next morning at 10 a.m., but all his friends are having a sleepover the night before. Are you making him stay home or are you going to let him go to sleepover and also play the game at 10 a.m.? That's a tough one.

54:36 I think at this age, being seventh grade and fifth grade, my boys are good at the sleepover. Hopefully it's a friend on the team so that you're making it there on time and doing all those things and there's some sort of of responsibility factor that says, Hey, I know it's a birthday party. You guys come over, sleep over, have fun, do all that stuff and get ready to rock.

54:56 And roll, babe. I mean, that's, that's where I'm at. Yeah.

54:59 Come on.

54:59 All right. Final one for me.

55:01 Family member comes to visit for the weekend and starts giving you advice about your house and parenting.

55:09 How do you handle that?

55:12 Well, that would never happen. One, I think I'd be open. I would probably ask for advice because I know little.

55:25 So that's different than them coming at you like, hey, dude.

55:28 So I don't want this to sound like I'm too good for advice, but no one should come to me and unsolicited start offering me advice about things that are very personal to me unless you're my wife. And she does. And sometimes I'm still like, what do you know? And then she does know more than me. And I'm like, God dang it. And I got to admit she knew what she was talking about. So that would not happen.

55:46 That would not happen. Like grandmother, grandfather would come in and be like, hey.

55:50 Everybody's dead, man. What the hell are you doing? Oh, I guess Caitlin's parents.

55:53 Yeah, Caitlin's parents.

55:54 So you meant mine.

55:55 No.

55:55 But mine are dead too. No, you had to go negative. They're always talking about Caitlin's parents.

56:00 Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what? Caitlin's parents, I'd be totally up for any advice they give me at any time. They kind of have an open door.

56:07 Yeah.

56:07 I do really value their advice. So them, I'd be okay with. Anybody else?

56:13 No, thanks. I guess you'll be on their Christmas list this week for such nice things.

56:17 They did ask me what I want under my stocking this year. Do I want Bobby or dad? Oh, definitely dad.

56:24 I picked Bobby.

56:25 Of course you did. Of course you did. There's a lot of dads. There's one Bobby.

56:33 There's one Bobby.

56:34 Yeah, there's a lot of dads that get around with Kayla Spanley all together. No, I'm the dad in our house, but if everybody's together at the holiday, Kayla Spanley.

56:42 Because then Caitlin probably calls you that at times, and then your daughter does too?

56:45 Caitlin does not. Why? Daddy. Never once.

56:50 Not even one time.

56:51 Even as a joke, it has not happened. That is it. Thank you guys for listening. This is Matt Castle. Kickoff Kevin. Brandon Ray.

56:57 I'm Bobby Bones.

56:58 We've had lots to say. Goodbye, everybody. Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and iHeart Podcast. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.