The NFL Report: 3 Most Intriguing Week 7 matchups + Saquon back at practice

QB one or QB one more week.

Coming up on the NFL Report, the latest on who's in and who's out for week seven of the most important position in sports.

Meantime, don't forget Paris.

We're going to go to France to sit down with Cam Jordan, ahead of the Saints and the Steelers and a petit déjeuner on Sunday. And is Sunday night in Seattle still the game we thought it would be? All of that next on the NFL Report. We are presented to you by Nationwide.

Hi there.

My name is Andrew Siciliano from the home office. You love the cardiac kids behind me.

It's fun. It's week seven.

We have a TNF preview coming up shortly. We also have Jordan interviewing Jordan in Paris.

I'll explain. What is news to me?

However, our latest headlines right out of the gate. We tease the quarterback injuries. So let's do them first in Baltimore, where it is looking more and more like Lamar Jackson could be back on the field Sunday against the Bengals. Now, nothing is official, but we do know, and you could see here, that he was on the practice field, limited, but there for the second day in a row. Lamar has missed the Ravens' last two games. They are 1-1 without him and with Tyler Huntley. We can't say with certainty, however, that Baker Mayfield will be back Sunday for the Buccaneers after missing three games with a dislocated thumb. Mayfield practiced again today, two straight days now, with that white glove on his thumb.

Bucs in Carolina Sunday. Yeah, I feel good. Just improving.

It's been a process for me.

You know, I never.

Never really missed time because of injury, so not fun. You always want to be out there with your guys, but just doing the rehab process, doing as much as possible each and every day and trying to recover as quick as possible and take it one day at a time. So it's been feeling slowly better and better, but that's the frustrating part. It just takes time for an injury like that.

Bucs can sure use Baker.

The 2-4 Eagles definitely need Saquon Monday night to help break a four-game losing streak. Barkley has missed the last two games with his hamstring injury against the Rams. and hamstrings can be tricky, but Saquon, for now, tentatively, is expected back on the field this week.

Anytime you add a player to Saquon's caliber to your team, that's obviously a huge plus. I like the backs in the room that we have. Obviously, we've been beat up there as the seasons went, and I'm glad we've had the guys that we've had to be able to step in and go, but.

Yeah, always, anytime.

We'll see where we are with Saquon, but anytime. That's a possibility. That's huge.

It's obviously similar to Vic's defense, which is kind of funny because you're like, oh, yeah, they do that in practice, too, or whatever. But they have some really good players out there, and I'm excited to go up against it and.

Spread the ball.

Tanner McKee talking about Christian Parker, the Cowboys' new D.C. who came from Philadelphia, and the Cowboys are 2-4, and how do we say this? I mean, the NFC is just not good. 2-4 is the worst that any Dak Prescott team has begun. Brian Schottenheimer is a weird world, is taking heat, but he's only one game back in the win column.

I think it comes with the territory. I think, you know, some of it is deserved. You know, we got to play better. I got to coach better, and so when you grow up in a family that, Your dad's a head coach for over 20-something years. You understand that this is part of the job description. No one likes it.

I block out most of it. Some of it gets to me. Doing this job and having to speak to you guys is part of that. But at the same time, I've got strong shoulders. I know what a great coach I am. I know what this team is capable of, and that's what I focus on.

Cowboys Eagles on Monday night. We got Packers Lions on Sunday afternoon. Let's hit Josh Jacobs here. That story back on the practice field again today. Yesterday, we played to Matt LaFleur speaking of second chances after Jacobs pleaded no contest to two charges related to domestic violence. Tonight, we have what Jacobs said yesterday after returning from the commissioner exempt list.

I'm remorseful and sorry for putting this team in this situation. You know, sometimes when you go through life, situations occur and a four second, three second decision, you know, can alter your life, honestly. But with that being said, man, I'm still a human being, man. Still trying to learn, still trying to grow from the whole process. Actually learned a lot throughout this process, legally and just personally.

Josh Jacobs expected to play. We've got a game coming up tonight. Caleb Williams and your 4-2 Chicago Bears.

Love the suit. Soldier Field.

Drake May going bomber jacket, walking in there. 4-2 against 4-2. Christian Gonzalez, if you're wondering, is up and active. He was a late move to questionable with an illness. Let's get a primetime preview on this one. Our primetime preview is presented... by NationwideNFL.com's Lance Zerline. Love the t-shirt, Lance, with our primetime preview here today. It's a battle of the number one overall pick in 2024, the number three overall pick. Drake May's been hot. The Patriots have turned things around. There's a lot on May's plate tonight.

There is a lot on May's plate.

You know, it's a battle of the two most heralded quarterbacks, obviously, from that draft. And I remember when it was Jaden Daniels and Bo Nix were playing the best that rookie year from that class. And then all of a sudden, Caleb had his moment and Drake made it to a Super Bowl. And then he got off to a terrible start, turned it over a ton. But man, the last three games, 10 touchdowns, he's completed 100. 64% of his passes. He's been very, very good. The problem is the turnovers. The Bears do a great job of taking the ball away, and so that's going to be something that Drake is really going to have to balance being aggressive with also understanding when he doesn't need to take chances. His job

gets a lot easier if A.J. Brown can catch the football. He had three drops last week, and A.J. Brown has got to play better football. But I really do question whether or not the Patriots can give him a little bit of a running game tonight to make his job a little easier against that Bears defense.

Yeah, Drake May only one pick in that three-game winning streak. The TD to INT ratio is 10 to 1. Caleb, meantime, came back last week off the hammy injury, and all he did, Lance, was go 10 for 10 out of the 8, and then eventually complete 30 passes.

Is that good?

Yeah, it's pretty good. And, you know, I'm really excited. I think this Bears team, before the year started, I had this Bears team winning that division. I know they've got a very tough season. They've got a very tough schedule, but I think the Bears are that team just waiting to make that next step up into Super Bowl caliber team.

And I'm really excited to see who the Bears are with Caleb Williams. I think the Bears are excited to see who they are with Caleb Williams. The running game is the best in football right now. They average over 160 yards a game. And, you know, part of that was because they needed to run the football when he was out. But now that he's back, Ben Johnson going to be able to balance pass and run.

We know they can run it.

Now we're getting Caleb mixed in with some really good targets, the most creative play caller in all of football.

I'm excited to see who the.

Bears are now moving forward, and I think we're about to see a Bears team that may be able to stake a claim to being one of the top two there in the entire NFC.

You mentioned that run game. Still no Kyle Madunga. He's going to miss another game. It is Roshon Johnson, RB2 tonight. Behind Yandre Swift. And real quick, I said nice shirt. I'm maintaining eye contact here. My monitor is actually down. When we spoke earlier, Lance had a cool Smiths t-shirt on.

All right, let's get to the game in France.

France is the eighth country in which the NFL will play an international series game. It's the Saints. It's the Steelers. It's Sunday morning. It's Greg Rosenthal and Jordan Rodrigue now with Cam Jordan.

I think they're strong. Anytime you have a Hall of Fame quarterback, that makes the entire O-line better anyways. I love when we talk about offensive line, but I'm like, there's Aaron Rodgers back there. They're going to be just fine regardless. You could put literal cones in front of him, and he's still going to be a Hall of Fame quarterback.

So you see the throws he makes. You see the way he speeds up his timing, the way he commands his offense. I mean, you saw what was it, two games ago when him and his OC were sort of getting into it. He's like, let me run it, and he ran it, and there's a reason why he's a Hall of Famer.

Another cow guy. Cerebral. Going to get after him?

Absolutely. The plan is, you know, you've got guys like Chase Young and Carl Granderson. You talk about, you know, Brodden as well as Godchow. I think we've got a formidable front.

You know, this is all within reason and with the caveat that he is, you know, in his 40s at this point, but.

They said LeBron's in his 40s, too, and he's out here dropping buckets.

No, but I mean, last couple games, he's moving better. You see him picking up a couple first downs with his legs a couple weeks ago. I mean, do you think he's faster somehow this year?

No, nobody's ever been like, man, he's a burner. But Aaron Rodgers is definitely elusive as well as he's always been quick. So you pair that up with his IQ for the game, and that's what makes him scary as well as a Hall of Famer. He's always had a tremendous arm talent and the ability to just put ball placement.

So It's going to be up to the entire defense to try and put a hold on him.

Well, the Saints have the advantage. They have been here all week. So you got the fun stuff out of the way early. They're going to be behind.

Come on.

They've got Aaron Rodgers and Cam Hayward.

Cam Hayward doesn't like fun.

TJ Watt, have you?

You've never seen them in the offseason?

I've never seen TJ Watt smile, matter of fact.

That's what I'm saying.

They're not built for having fun.

So they'll be just fine.

You can fly them in Saturday.

T.J.

Watt.

Yeah, Cam's going to sleep the whole time anyways. And, you know, like, does he practice anymore?

That's fair.

Low on the list of, like, guys that I personally probably would want to go out with.

T.J.

Watt and Aaron Rodgers.

I don't know.

They wouldn't want to go out with me.

I probably wouldn't go out with Aaron Rodgers. I feel like you're going to learn a lot of conspiracy theories.

And with that, we appreciate Cam Jordan.

Thank you, as always.

Appreciate you guys.

Fun stuff there from Cam Jordan. The Saints, as you can see, are already in. London, or Paris, I beg your pardon, the Steelers are leaving on a red-eye from Pittsburgh this evening, Thursday evening. And when they get there, they're going to see a Saints defense. Cam Jordan, part of that defense here, Lance Zerline, that has not been good in any way, shape, or form. They're facing Aaron Rodgers.

That's one side of it, as Cam said. The other side of it is the Saints coming off a victory, but Mickey Loomis this week in Paris answering questions about Gail Benson seemingly turning up the heat on this team winning now.

What do you think on this one?

Let me talk about Mickey for a second. He is the longest tenured general manager in the NFL by a long stretch. Eight more years than John Schneider, who's next up in Seattle.

He's been doing it a long time. Here's the problem.

He's 29-45 in his last four and a half seasons, counting this year. Four of the last five seasons, counting this year, the 2-on-4 record, have been losing seasons for Mickey. And Chris Ballard was just fired by the Indianapolis Colts. So anytime that happens, you know, people start to perk up in buildings about whether or not their jobs could be on the line.

When we turn to Aaron Rodgers, they talked a lot about Aaron Rodgers. He's been terrific.

He's on pace right now to throw 34 touchdowns this year.

Now, that's his pace. He's still only averaging 6.4 yards per attempt.

So I feel like those numbers are a little bit funny. I'm not sure if we're going to see that many touchdowns, but clearly Rodgers and that offense are clicking at a pretty good rate. They weren't very good against the Bucs until they needed to be there in the fourth quarter, and they turned it on. But against the Saints defense, I don't know that they have to do a whole lot to be able to move the ball down the field.

And again, that is the early morning game coming up 9.30 Eastern on Sunday. Thank you, Lance. Lance is coming right back, by the way. What if I told you there is yet another Rams injury that they may have to overcome this week, but they have done this before? How bad is it in L.A. that's straight ahead on the NFL report? It really is a great Week 7 schedule, and it opens with a great game at Soldier Field.

Got a couple of 4-2 teams. A.J.

Brown came back last week, as Lance had said earlier, dropped three passes, but they're a better team with him, better team with Roma Dunzey healthy as well. for Caleb Williams. Patriots bear slightly after 8 o'clock Eastern, 7 local, of course, at Soldier Field, Chicago. Here is that long list of really good games on Sunday. Now, maybe not the headliner, but it's interesting for me. Can we focus on the one there bottom left? That's the Rams and the Raiders.

They're at Allegiant Stadium in Vegas. And the Rams, well, I They got to start winning. They are 2-4. Some think their season is over. I think that is nonsense. Back in 2024, they opened 1-4. They made the playoffs. In 2023, they started 2-3, and they made the playoffs. Matthew Stafford looking to start that turnaround this Sunday.

Every year is different.

Every game is different.

You know, you can't sit there and go, because we did X, we're going to do Y. But we obviously know what, you know, what it takes to win football games. We have enough guys on this roster that know what it takes to win. And, you know, that starts today, right? We can't sit there and look big picture and go, OK, we have X amount of games left. These guys are doing that, whatever. Like, that's not the mindset at all around here. It's how can we be as good as we can day in and day out? How can we go compete every single day so that Sunday when we turn the tape on, we're proud of how we competed, how we played, how we went about our business, and live with the results. And I think that's the mindset

of this group. You know, and if we do that, I think we're going to like the results more often than we don't.

Okay, all of that is great, but what if I told you now Puka Niku is banged up? He's officially limited today. He was on the practice field, but then he left early. on Thursday with a calf injury. Remember, Devontae Adams is out, hammy. Terrence Ferguson isn't back yet, a tight end. Lance, you got the entire D-line banged up. Yeah, they still have McVay. They still have, obviously, Aaron Donald and Matthew Stafford. All that is great. As we list your top three most intriguing games, Rams-Raiders is number three.

How does the Puka would-be injury change things here for you?

Well, it changed it a great deal, but I still think that when you look at how the Rams can run the football with a two-headed monster at the running back spot, and then you look at how the Raiders defend, I think you still have a chance.

To get out there and get the W. The Raiders are a great story to start the season off 3-0, but they've lost their last three.

They're allowing 36 points a game in those three.

And I'm one of those guys that always say, yeah, but this is still the Rams.

It's still the Rams. Is it really still the Rams? That's what makes this intriguing. They're 27th in terms of sacks, 26th against the Rush. Now, the Raiders don't run it well. They're 30th in the league in terms of running the football. But this is one where you feel like the good team should progress to the meet. We should see them play good football like we saw the Texans do last week, another team that got off to a bad start. I'm expecting the Rams offense to push it down the field consistently against the Raiders. And at some point, the Rams defense has to start playing Rams defense. It's been disappointing.

I didn't sign up for Aaron Donald to come back for this. As a football watcher, I need more from the defense. That's just me being selfish.

That's what I need.

But I did sign up for a great AFC North battle week seven. The AFC North, like the NFC North, the entire division at 500 or better. You got Joe Burrow, the Bengals, potentially Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. They split last year, Lance, with the road team winning each game. This is your number two most intriguing matchup.

You know, I'll tell you why, and all due respect to the Browns memorabilia in your background, but I think everyone's looking at this game and saying, okay, eh, Steelers and Browns, but really this is the game.

This is the one. Whoever wins this one's going to come out, and that's going to be the team.

But the fact is— You know, Lamar Jackson is 7-2 against Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow, when he plays the Ravens, he either goes way off with 500- and 400-yard games, or they really hold him down. He's 4-7 in his 11 games against the Ravens. But in this matchup, if Lamar goes, I think I have to like the Ravens.

They've done a great job of running the football, and they don't turn it over. Those are the two things that you have to do to win.

You want to hear Joe Burrow on Jesse Minter's defense? Let's roll that.

The scheme is different in some ways, but in a lot of ways it's similar as well. They're going to put their playmakers in position to make big plays, and they have some really good playmakers. We have to limit their opportunities to affect the game and take care of the football and play smart and take our explosives when they come.

Lance, your thoughts?

Well, I mean, for Joe, like I said previously, he's been feast or famine. And this is going to be a situation where they're going to watch film and get ready, but he's going to have something a little different dialed up for Joe Burrow. So this is really fascinating to me because I want to see which Joe Burrow shows up.

Is it going to be the guy who bombs out with four or 500 yards and high 300 yards, three touchdowns?

Or is this going to be one of those games where It's a bunch of Derrick Henry.

It's a bunch of Lamar Jackson extending third downs with his legs and moving the chains. And then the Ravens just really taking the air out of the ball. Is that what it's going to be?

We do know this. Historically, these two guys have gotten into some real shootouts from a points-per-game standpoint.

So when they get together, there's always a good chance that we're going to have a fun, fun matchup with a lot of points.

Absolutely.

Also fun on Sunday night, NBC Football Night in America, the Chiefs, they are undefeated. Sam Darnold and the Seahawks, and he's been a turnover machine of late, 3-3.

You know, the couple picks that I threw, just, you know, when that time clock starts to go off and, you know, just being careful with the football. And sometimes that's throwing the ball away, and other times that's knowing, you know, just when I'm kind of under pressure and even maybe even taking a sack in those situations. So I think just understanding, you know, or not understanding, but being aware of the situation and, you know, not making a bad play worse is kind of the goal moving forward. But I'm just going to continue to play decisive and try to get the ball out.

When the schedule came out back in May, Lance, you circle this one. It's great.

Now when the Chiefs get out undefeated, you circle this one.

It's great. But Are the Seahawks still great? Where do you come down on this game?

Yeah, I feel like Laramie Tunsil with all these false starts I've had on this segment. But I will say this. Here's where I come down on this one. We know it's going to be a great offense versus a great defense. Mike McDonald versus Andy Reid is going to be terrific. Pat Mahomes, we're excited about it. The numbers align and match up. The real problem here is is Sam Darnold.

You mentioned his turnovers, and then he just talked about not making a bad play worse.

I'm afraid that's who he's been for much of his career.

Last year, he had that incredible run in the playoffs, but Against Steve Spagnuolo's defense, it's really tough to get right against Steve Spagnuolo and that defense. Unless you're really able to run the ball and protect Sam Darnold, unless you're able to, and when I say protect, I mean literally protect them also from a sack standpoint, you really have problems. They turn it over a lot. They get sacked a lot. Steve Spagnuolo can change the pictures on you after the snap and really cause confusions for quarterbacks.

He's smart with where he brings blitzes and pressure points from. So, You know, this is, on paper, this is a really fun matchup. But at some point, Seattle's offense has to come to the party. That's going to be the real key here. I think from a numbers standpoint, it really matches up well if Seattle can have a good showing offensively.

Yeah, and a good showing offensively means, and this team has had an issue this year, running the football game.

There is good news. There is help on the way.

Zach Charbonnet, right at the end of that window, the 21-day window to activate him, has been activated. So there's a good chance he is back on the field coming back from that bad.

Knee injury a year ago. Thank you, Lance Zerline. Appreciate you. No false starts, no five-yard flags. Some of them on me as well. See you, buddy. Lance Zerline, everybody. We continue on the NFL Report.

More.

From Soldier Field straight ahead, can Drake May of the Patriots stay hot? Can they get to five wins? Can they win four in a row? Don't go anywhere. The NFL Report, everybody, with a friendly reminder to go get NFL Plus Premium. You get NFL Red Zone, you get every touchdown every Sunday, and then you can catch game replays and track advanced analytics powered by next-gen stats with NFL Pro. Sign up today at plus.nfl.com.

Slash fast. Terms and conditions do apply. Quick hits.

Injuries ahead of that Sunday night game we mentioned earlier. Travis Kelsey, Cooper, McDonnell, LeJarrius Sneed, and Brashard Smith limited in practice today. Jalen Moore and Rashi Rice did not practice for the Chiefs. For Rice, it is a hammy injury. And this is maybe even more significant. Tackle Josh Simmons.

Left tackle Josh Simmons is going on injured reserve. It is a bulging defense. disc in his back. Simmons had initially complained of a calf injury. They figured out it was actually a disc injury.

Not good.

Also not good in Seattle. We told you about Charbonnet. Elijah Arroyo going the other direction. Shoulder surgery and the tight end is going to miss the rest of the season. Braylon Allen has done a good job for the Jets in the backfield. Had a big 100-yard game a is on his way back. Brees Hall, the Jets running back, a limited participant today in Florham Park. He has a quad injury as the Jets get ready for an AFC East game with the Dolphins coming to town. And we get ready for a Thursday night game, a fantastic one to open up week number seven. The Bears were on the road in their first game last week after losing the legendary Mike Ditka. So this is their first game at home after the Hall of Famer died. So this

is on the sideline forever 89.

That's cool.

Also cool what they're giving away today when you walk into Soldier Field. That is our one more thing. The Bears are giving away Mike Ditka mustaches. Just the fake mustache. Boys and girls, men and women, can put on that fake mustache if you are one of the first individuals 10,000 fans. Where have we seen that idea before? Can we flashback to 2012? This is when yours truly was the preseason voice of the St.

Louis Rams. Get that right, Andrew.

That is Hall of Famer Marshall Falk on one side of the picture and Ross Tucker. What a booth that was. We all donned our fake Jeff Fisher mustaches.

Who's the other guy? That's Brian Killingsworth, Rams marketing executive. It was his idea for the fake mustaches. I think it was. Whatever. I need a fake mustache from Chicago. Somebody save me one. We'll see you next week, everybody. Enjoy week seven. I'm Andrew Siciliano.

So long.

The NFL Report: 3 Most Intriguing Week 7 matchups + Saquon back at practice

Kapitelklicken springt direkt hin

Shownotes

Transkriptvom Podcast bereitgestellt · Zeitmarken springen hin