The Dan Patrick ShowTexas Head Football Coach, Steve Sarkisian joined the show to discuss the biggest differences between the Big 12 and the SEC. Plus, senior NFL reporter Albert Breer stopped by to share some updates regarding the New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
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Well, I did it. I finally got away from the dan Uts, figured out a way to get out of the man cave, and I headed north. So I'm joining you from the great state of Maine. If you're watching new setup here, yep. I'm coming back eventually, but for now. Todd's like, are you coming back soon? I go, Todd, I'll be there maybe next week. Now, can you survive? I know, I know, but I'll keep an eye on you. But here in Maine. So it's kind of a vacation while still working, and the gang's all here ready to go. Best and worst of the weekend, as we always do every Monday. You can dialos up eight seven to seven three. DP show email address dpat Danpatrick dot com, Twitter handle at DP show. Stat of the Day brought to you by Panini America, the official trading cards of this program. And these rapid radios, instant push to talk walkie talkies. They are awesome. You get national LTE coverage. We're using them today. The big Germans up here with me, He's communicating with the Home Office. Yes, got the got the big german up here. He set up the studio ready to go. So go to rapid radios dot com. You'll see how great they are and by being a listener gets sixty percent off and free shipping as well. Play the day, poll questions, stat of the day, all of that coming up. Fritzy's here, Seaton's here, Marv Paulie and yours truly. So I'm I don't know if I'm an officially a manor, but I'm becoming a manor. Yeah, what does that mean? Well, I think it just means I'm a badass. I'm an outdoorsman. That's on their lessons plate. If I'm not mistaken. The badass state, right, Yeah, like New Hampshire there, live free or die, right, Maine is just I'm a badas.
Yes, are the things you have to do to incorporate yourself in Maine to feel more like a local, like buy some Carhart jackets, or you know, I have that beard, maybe grow beard even in summer.
No, I don't think that. I did a lot of fishing last week on vacation, a lot of fishing, some trout, some salmon. I went to a shooting gallery, a shooting range, and a friend of mine has the gun that John Wick uses in his movies. So he said, you want to go, you want to go shoot? And I go, I don't know, maybe a BB gun. He goes, no, no, no, no, no, I got the gun that john Wick uses.
I'm thinking I'm back all of a sudden.
Did you show up in a suit with a die?
No?
No, it was very serious when you're there, it is really really really serious. And I'm you know, protocol, I'm not doing well. But even with the headphones on, it is woud in there. But yeah, I went john Wick for a day.
Yes, Paulin, you got ll bean boots at the Ready winter summer. Doesn't matter where you go to the beach in Main, you wear bean boots.
You would love it with the core that you get to wear up here in Maine. Yes. And by the way, if you're watching on Peacock and why wouldn't you be. We have my boat name, So I have a sticker that I put on. It says anchor. Man it's an anchor and then it says man. But on the desk we tried to fix attach one of those stickers there. So that's what's on my pontoon boat.
Yes, tod No, I love that Paul Bunyan thing with the play the jacket there with the green pants. That may be the best thing on that Tess quad.
Now, well it's saying a lot, but you know, the audience will help supply some more shotskis here for the desk, my home away from home. All right, poll question today, Seaton, what are we going to go with?
Well, I think we should start with the obvious best Northern New England State, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont.
Yeah that's right.
I didn't mean to take over the show right out of.
The gate, but wow, wow, it's going to get for me. Get I could Paulie May hold on to Vermont?
Oh boy?
Yeah, I don't want to rile the locals here up in Maine.
He got more coastline up there than Vermont does. I don't think Vermont has a ton of coastline.
No, No, there's a lot of lakes up here. Got to see some of the cabin masters up here at the Great Show with Chase and Ryan and Ashley Jedi. What else do we have there seeing, say.
New Hampshire just scoffs at at Vermont, like even we have coastline, you fools. Let's see we could go another big one from when we were off. Who you got Tyreek Hill, Noah Lyles, that.
Was a big story. Oh my goodness, we'll talk about this. Noah Lyles, I think is going to join us in a couple of days. But yeah, he was sort of you won your gold medal and then you know, he got sick and the two hundred and then Tyreek Hill kind of calls him out. It goes back to Noah Lyles with the whole he's the world champion, where you can't say a basketball team is the world champ. You haven't played the entire world. And then all these athletes kind of came down on him, and then Tyreek Hill says he can beat him in a fifty yard dash. So we'll we'll talk about that and the difference between being fast and being some of the fastest men in the world, and we'll talk about that. Otto Bolden, who was the analyst for the Olympics, talked about that, and he was an Olympian. He won three medals as an Olympian. But just when you talk about top end speed maintaining top end speed, that's different because when you got the guy who's fast, he starts to slow down. But the guy who's the fastest man in the world, he doesn't slow down. He maintains twenty seven miles an hour.
Yes, Paul, I did have an idea for the race because I want to get in early on this idea because you know, Noahles, you think would have a major advantage on Tyreek Kill being a pure sprinter, that's what he does for a living. Noah Lyles has to wear a full football uniform, cleats, socks, helmet, EyeBlack, everything, and then it's a It puts Tyreek Hill in his environment.
It's good TV as well.
Okay, I didn't think of that. I mean, I'd be fine if they just wore track uniforms. Yeah, but I know, Hey, it's content. It's the visual that you're going for. But we'll have more on that coming up, and I think no Allyles will join us later on in the week. What else do you have seton?
Well, we've been putting it off as long as we can, but I don't think we can anymore. The Bears are dot dot dot a playoff team still building or the Bears.
All I know is Paully had a great weekend. He had a great weekend. Keep Caitlyn Clark played well, and Caleb Williams played well. Oh that's all he needs. But you know, it's interesting how we use preseason results, where you go, hey, Caleb Williams looked awesome. Well, you probably saw one pass to Roma Doonsa that was a wonderful pass. But if you watch the entire game, I don't think you come away going, man, he is the next Patrick Mahomes. He has mahomesy in qualities, but nobody's Patrick Mahomes. And then you're watching bow Knicks with the Broncos, and all of a sudden you go, hey, Sean Payton's got his next Drew Brees. I don't know if that's the case. I do think that bow Knicks is a good quarterback, a very experienced quarterback. I have very few quarterbacks who have played more college football than bow Knicks has.
Yes, Dud, I was guilty of getting very excited about a meaningless preseason game last night. I watched the whole thing, and Stidham had his moments, Zach really didn't do much of anything, but seeing what bow Knicks was doing, I'm like all in on like a ten and seven season.
At least you know, and the thing about the Caleb Williams place, You know, if you watch the entire game, which I'm a maniac, I watched the entire Bears versus Bengals, there was a lot of plays where he's just rolling out, rolling out, turning around and rolling out, and the ending was really great. But it's one of those things where you're watching you're like, is this great or is this entertaining?
Yeah, it's I don't blame you though, for getting super excited about it because it's your first You've been thinking about this the entire time, You've been super excited for months thinking about it, and now you're finally getting to see it.
I mean, it's pretty spectacular.
And that's what it is. A's a Bears fan.
It's been one of those summers where you're on hard knocks, you're at the Hall of Fame game, and then your new quarterback finally gets a chance to play, and he plays really well and has some really fantastic plays and seeton as a Bears fan, there's plays that I've never seen before. You know, they're like quarterbacks in Chicago don't do that, especially at home.
So if you were seriously looking at it, though, where do you put them in that? Do you feel like the Bears are still the same old Bears? Do you put them more as a playoff team? Where would you look as a real I know you're a Bears fan, but also as just a football person.
Yeah, I know what you're saying.
I think that's a good point because you have to look at the Bears past year or year and a half, the way they made the right trade and try to bolster the line and bolster their skill positions, and they finally have a team. Then they added a quarterback in the draft, So it's almost like from a strategy standpoint, you have to like what's going on. But I think it's a Bears fan you also say, like, the Lions look like the team that should win the NFC, not only that division, but maybe the entire NFC. And if you could just be happy having a eight nine ten win season they won seven last year, that would be fine. It's more so and I think I said this a month ago, did we find our quarterback for the next five, six, ten years?
And it's leaning in that direction.
It definitely appears that way, right, I mean, so far, everything you're seeing, even just from sort of a I mean, I hate to get into this early even though that's always a topic, but like the leadership part of it, like, oh see, he's just a born leader. He kind of has that energy and that swagger of a guy who's like you need to take seriously right from jump.
Yeah.
I was watching the game against the Bengals and it felt like Kayleb Williams was not flappable. Again, it's a preseason game against the second unit of the Bengals.
I'm not gonna have you know. They're not exactly playing the Ravens with ray Lewis.
Yeah, but there was plays where he would just keep calm and he wouldn't just take off running down the field. And not to compare him to justin Fields, but let's do it. Fields would have been rushed and just taken off. It felt like Caleb Williams was.
Like, let's keep looking, let's keep looking, let's keep looking.
Pass first, yes, Morvin, all right.
So the question was for PAULI, So if the Lions loose to the Bears once, are you like, all right, this is a great season for us. Along with eight wins, is it eight wins and a win against the Lions.
It's gonna be a feel.
I think we said this day in a couple of weeks ago, it's gonna be a field at the end of the season. Did we build a good team the Chicago Bears, did they build a good team? Did they find their quarterback? And why'll probably be a better team this year, more threatening team for sure.
Well it's one of those that if you got eight wins, but you beat the Lions once, you beat the Vikings once and beat the Packers once, then that might be viewed as a successful season. But back to bow nixt he went eight of nine for eighty yards and he's led six scoring drives in seven possessions in the preseason. And I know that we grade this on a curve. Oh, were you gonna give me a stat of the day.
Stead of a day?
Stall of a day?
Statuta day, Statuta day.
This is the stule of the day.
Stat of the Day has always brought you by Panini America, the official trading cards of the Dan Patrick Show. Now once again you'll look at the results. Rock Perty didn't play well. Well, we just assume he's going to play well. Bow Knicks plays well. Caleb Williams plays well, therefore, oh my gosh. And then Russell Wilson goes eight of ten for forty seven yards, but he was sacked three times. I have no idea how to grade what Russell Wilson did. Justin fields takes over and he throws for ninety two yards. He rushes for forty two yards. The Steelers' first team offense so far in two preseason games hasn't scored any points and has seven first downs. Not time to panic, but certainly this would lead to maybe justin fields because arm and legs, you're gonna need both of those. But it is preseason and we tend to use these stats for strengthening or weakening. An argument here, but I do think with Bo Nicks and Sean Payton, and Sean actually liking his quarterback unlike Russell Wilson, that should help the chemistry there. But Caleb Williams is not going to Carolina. Caleb Williams is on a decent team in Chicago with the potential to be a playoff team. I think that would be a fair assessment. But the level of the excitement in Chicago, I don't know if they felt this since the eighty five Bears. Oh it's like, yeah, we're going to be special this year. And you might be, but in that division, I think you got to be fair. Detroit will be good, Green Bay will be good. I think Minnesota will be competitive even losing JJ McCarthy. Yes, Martin.
Defensively, they've never felt that way, even with the Rex Grossman team, prime erlac or In Lance Briggs. You guys didn't feel like really good, like our we're a super Bowl contender even with a less than average offense.
Yeah, it's.
I know what you're saying.
It is trying to like you said, Dan, it's try to keep calm, try to realize it's the preseason. But it's like, you know, you've been hungry, for hungry, hungry for years and someone walks in a nice stake to you and you think it's the greatest stake you've ever seen.
It's hard to keep cool.
All right, we'll get to your phone calls coming up by the way over under, let me see the stealing I got over unders here for the Chiefs, Niners, Steelers, Broncos, Packers, Bills. I'll get the Bears over under. Have that for you coming up? All right, let me take a break, just getting started on this Monday. Your phone calls Operator Tyler sitting by each seven to seven three DP show. We're back after this.
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Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller. Would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name is the Fifth Hour? I'll tell you it's a spin off of it. Ben Maler Show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry in media, sports, and more every week. Explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcast.
He's the head coach of the Texas Longhorns. Steve Sercusian back on the program. Do you feel like you're in the SEC now or is there still part of that big twelve hangover?
Well, I think once you go to league meetings in the spring, down there in Destin you you definitely feel like you're part of the conference. You know, the SEC does everything big. And then naturally with the media days and doing media days in Dallas, you could feel the energy of the excitement and so but we'll find out more when the season comes around. We got to start. We got to start playing these games week after week.
Take me back to when you took the job. Did you know at the time Texas was going into the SEC?
I did not, you know. I took this job with the under the impression of we would be in the Big twelve. You know, I took the job because it was University of Texas, right, and the history and tradition, the great players, coaches, teams that we've had here, uh and what an unbelievable university in the city of Austin, all those great things. And then after it had been on the job for a little while, then I got notified of the potential and then nationally it all came to fruition. So, you know, I think it's a great opportunity for US and and US continuing to build this program and and in the state of college football where it's headed and so much has been made, I think of conference realignment about you know, people losing rivalries and and some of the history of college football. We're actually gaining two back, you know, for the opportunity for us to play A and M again, the opportunity for us to play Arkansas again, and some of those great games with with with coach Broyles, and and and Darryl k Royle and and just what that that that rivalry meant over the years for us. We're kind of gaining some rivalries backs as well as going into my opinion, Uh, you know, the best, the best conference in the country.
Which SEC stadiums have you never coached or played in?
Ah?
Wow? You know, I've never been to the Swamp. You know, I've never been to you know, coached and I've been there. I've never coached there. I've never coached at Georgia.
Wow.
I think just about everywhere else I've been. You know obviously you know been and Bryan Denny been to LSU, I've been to been to College Station. So been a lot of those stadiums. There are great environments, the fanfare. I think that's what makes this conference so great, right, I mean, A there's elite coaching, there's elite players. Uh, there's there's a reason the SEC has more NFL draft picks than any other conference every year. But the fan engagement in the way that they commit to their teams and the love they have for their programs, in my opinion, is second to none.
But this is a soap opera. This is like reality TV when when you're in the SEC, it's just different than any other place. Uh. And I I don't even know how you prepare for something like that, aside from getting your team ready, but really it's it's its own soap opera.
Well, I think the challenge is, you know, having been in that league, you know, three different years with Bama in twenty sixteen and then in twenty nineteen and twenty twenty, that we all are aware. Everybody's aware of the physical challenge that it takes, you know, the physicality of the SEC and things of that nature. To me, it's it's the mental intensity that you have to have week in and week out to get prepared. And I think that's going to be probably one of our challenges that I have to help navigate our team through and manage through. That's my job to do that because week in and week out, when you go on the road. The environments are the environments even our home games. You know, the SEC fans travel really well, and they're going to want to travel to Austin. It's going to be a new, you know, new place for them to come play. And so we've got to do a great job from a mental intensity standpoint of making sure that we're dialed in not just on Saturday, on game day, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
We're talking to Steve serkese in Texas head coach, who scheduled at Michigan for Week two.
You know how long has that game.
Was scheduled before I got here. I don't I don't know if I'm able to do that. And clearly you haven't looked at our future schedule either, because the next year we go to Ohio State. So we'll go three straight years at Alabama non conference, at Michigan, at Ohio State. But that's you know, for me, I think that that's a it's actually a really good thing, especially now more than ever with the expanded playoff. The fact that that you know, we get to go play these early non conference games get a little bit of a of a of a of a barometer of where we're at as a program. But I think the beauty of it is that those games early in the year really aren't going to define your season. You still have to go play well in your conference. You if you don't win, you still can maybe a four to loss or two or maybe even three and get into that playoff. Gives a little bit more of that NFL feel that way, to where you know you can really test your team early in the season, see where you're at, where you need to improve to get ready for conference play.
How do you think Nick Saban's gonna do as a member of the media.
I think he's gonna do great. Man, You know he I've seen him a few times, and I saw him obviously at SEC media Days. I watched him covering the NFL Draft. He's so knowledgeable, right, and he's got so much more personality than people probably give him credit for. But his insight is really incredible and I could sit there and listen to him all day, and so I think he's gonna do great. I think I think fans are really going to gravitate to wanting to hear him speak on games and strategy and different things that come up. With the ballgames.
You had Roger Clemens in the building.
I had, we had the Rocket in. Man, it was awesome, great story behind this, you know. So two years ago we were playing BAM at home and who's who were on the sidelines right like you'd imagine, and then there's Vince Young, there's Kevin Durant and second quarter I looked down, I said, holy crap, that's Roger Clemens, you know. And I grew up a huge Red Sox fam when I was a kid. So it's a TV timeout. So I go down there. I said, hey, Roger's great to meet you. I love having you here. I said, I'm a huge fan. And so that next week I get a package and he sends me a jersey, you know, and it says, you know, rocket Roger Clemens seven times, Cy Young, two time World Series. And then he puts in quotes tough all day. I said, what a great saying, And so we've actually adopted what was his mantra, was tough all day. And so we had him come speak to the team last Friday, and it was awesome, you know. And to put to put it into perspective, we got a lot of young players that never saw Roger Clemens pitch. But when you think about you know, forty six hundred strikeouts, you know, twenty strikeouts in a game, twice seven Cy youngs, I mean, those are incredible numbers. And so and then you realize he's sixty two years old and he looks like he's about forty five, looks like he can still get on the mound and throw about ninety eight.
Okay, but you're facing Alabama and it's a TV timeout and you have to go saiload to Roger Clemens.
Yo.
Yeah, but that's but that's kind of who I am, you know, I I I appreciate that one thing about me, Dan, you probably know this. I love college football. I love the pageantry of college football and and all that comes into it in those big games. I think part of that even was with my time at SC with Pete with with Pete Carroll and you look down the sidelines and they're Snoop Dogg or there's there's Will Ferrell, or there's you know, Marcus Allen, whoever it was, and just watching him engage with them, I think it almost gave us a sense of confidence. Like coaches, in a great frame of mind, we should stay in a great frame of mind. He's he's he's loose, he's confident, uh, And so I kind of evolved into that myself, and so I do try to touch base with the people on our sidelines, you know, whether it's in pregame and sometimes during a TV timeout, just to kind of give him a high five or a fist bump and let him know I appreciate him being there.
Do your players know you played quarterback?
I think they do, you know, I think nowadays with you two, and I think they like pulling up all my bad plays, but they do know. Unfortunately I can't throw like I used to, but I think they're aware.
How do you keep Arch Manning happy? Content positive?
Yeah?
You know, the one thing with Arch that has been and I think I really credit his family, his mom and his dad, you know, his grandpa, obviously, his uncles. You know, I think they understand the process and so many times. You know, we're in this world now of instant gratification, right, whether social media or the five star recruit comes in, it starts right away. But if you really look back at the history of Eli and Peyton, they didn't start their freshman year, you know, it took time as they developed, because I think the one thing that the Mannings understand is when it's your time to play, that they want to play really well, right. They don't want to be learning on the job. And so we've got a pretty good history and tradition of developing quarterbacks over the last twenty or so years, going all the way back to Carson Palmer and all the guys that we've coached, uh and and I think we've seen an immense amount of development in Arch. We feel very comfortable if and or when he gets in the game, he's gonna play good football for us. But I also think they understand the process of developing himself to be a championship caliber quarterback in the SEC and on the national stage, but also preparing and putting himself in the best position to for the National Football League.
Who's the best quarterback you've ever been around?
Oh, man, don't do that to me. I've been around some really really good ones, I mean, and I can rattle him off from obviously, you know, from what you know Carson was, you know, Matt Castle was a backup with us that whole time and gets drafted in the NFL to John David Booty to Mark Sanchez. You know, we had Jake Locker for a couple of years at Washington to to you know what. You know, even when I got into the NFL, Matt Ryan had a couple of great years with us, to Tua to mac Jones and now we've got Quinn and they're all they've all different. You know, everybody's got a different skill set, you know, strengths and weaknesses, and trying to train them the way we think they need to be trained, but also play to their strengths to do the things that they do well.
So be the best quarterback you've coached against.
Ooh man, that's another tough one. That's tough in college football.
Yeah, one of the.
Better games I've seen played, at least one of the better drives I coached against, was in twenty sixteen. You know, I called the National championship game, but one game Coach Saban had me call it, and it was Bama against Clemson and that that final drive by Deshaun Watson to go win the national title. It was a pretty tremendous drive. But I'm gonna say the best one ever was Vince Young and the National Championship game. We said in our locker room, the guy was Superman that night, and you know what he did for Texas in that game and ultimately that final drive than five twenty six seconds to go to go make that play on that stage. He beat us, you know, and you know, I know their team was really good, but it really just felt like Vince Young beat us that night.
Do you have a full suit, like a burnt orange suit, like pants, jacket tie.
I don't have that yet. I'm gonna go with yet, you know, I I definitely will. We'll sometimes step outside the box with some of the suits that I wear, and a full burn orange suit sounds like it's something that I'm supposed to be wearing. So maybe maybe this year I will get something like that done.
You know, you get white belt, white shoes. But I would wait until like after the Georgia game, maybe after a win. Then then maybe.
Put on after the game. Put on after the game.
Yeah, or for the next week, maybe the next week. Who do you play after Georgia? You got to play a Cupcake after Georgia?
I have no idea.
Hold on, let me see, all right, you got so you got Oklahoma and then next that following again Georgia, you're at Vandy.
I don't know if the orange I don't know if the orange suit in Nashville is Oka. Like, I feel like I should be one of orange shoot at home for a home game.
Okay, how about uh Florida.
Maybe maybe we'll look into that.
Yeah, that that'll be I got to.
Find somebody make that. I don't think you can just go down to your local your local mall and pick up a burnowm suit.
So if you beat Georgia, you'll have people waiting in line to make you an orange jumpsuit there. Uh, well, good luck. And I know how many times have you said to your team, Hey, we got Colorado State. Let's not be thinking about Michigan because you open up the Colorado State.
Here's the thing I've been doing. I've been reminded him of that game by practicing at two thirty in the afternoon.
Uh.
That game is August thirty first, at two thirty in the afternoon. So it'll be about a one hundred and so degrees temperature. It'll be probably about one hundred and I don't know thirty or forty on our on our turf. So him in the sun reminds him every day of that. We play August thirty first against Colorado State.
Good to talk to you again, coach. We'll hopefully catch up with you during the season. Good luck.
Thanks DA, I appreciate buddy book them.
Yeah, that's Steve Serkesean.
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio wapp.
Albert Breer is joining us. He of course, is the Monday morning quarterback, so he's really important covering the NFL. Joining us from Jets camp, Albert, Thanks for joining us. Is all the media attention warranted with the New York Jets and Aaron Rodgers?
Can I seal that?
Yeah?
Yeah, yeah, I mean it is interesting how that the organization here really attracts that, you know, and the Cowboys have been that way forever obviously, like where it's like almost just because it's the Cowboys, certain thing has become a circus. Like the CD LAMB thing in Dallas seems like it's like five times bigger than if it was anywhere else, you know what I mean. And the Jets seem to have it's not the same, but a similar sort of effect as far as how like stories just get amplified here, you know, even like versus the Giants. Like if some of the things that were happening with the Jets were happening with the Giants, I think a lot of us would like brush them off as no big deal, you know. In reverse, like if Daniel Jones through the interceptions that he's through this weekend as a New York Jet, we'd probably digest that differently too.
That makes sense.
Yeah, yeah, you can't throw a pick six if you're Daniel Jones. I mean no, you can't. I mean, come on, come on, I mean, it's it's just disaster waiting to happen here. Brian Dables is how hot is the seat that he's on right now with the Giants?
You know, it's interesting, Dan. I think back to, you know, when Joe Judge got fired.
And I remember, you know, talking to people in the weeks and even the months leading up to that, and when it started to look like Joe could be on shaky ground. The response I got was the Giants were really embarrassed by where they were as a franchise, and.
They didn't want to have.
The indignity of having had three coaches in a row go to and out right, so Ben McAdoo tooing out, a patch, Schurmer tooing out, and then Joe Judge twoing out and things just got so bad at the end that they had to pull the plug on everything and start over again. And yeah, I know it was really embarrassing for the Mares, the tissues because they always view themselves as this gold standard franchise, like the East Coast version of Steelers stability personified, right, like all of that different stuff, and turning over coaches at that rate and getting it wrong at that rate and lacking an identity really got under their skin. And so I I don't think that they want to start over, you know. And I think even if this there were some bumps this year, I think they still liked the direction that Brian Dable and Joe Shane have have put them on, and so I think I personally think it would have to be really bad for those guys to be in trouble, you know. I you know, I think that they liked the foundation. They feel like they've started to fix the lines of scrimmage with guys like Andrew Thomas, Evan Neil on offense, and obviously, you know, defensively, you look at some of the names there, cave On, Thibodeau, Dexter, Lawrence, Brian Burns, and they always knew it was going to take time to rebuild, even if they did have that big breakthrough in year one.
Talking to Albert Breer the Monday morning quarterback joining us from Jets camp, the Viking situation with JJ McCarthy, yep, I keep reading that you know he's going to need surgeries out for the year, but there was no one play where he may have injured himself. How does that happen?
So Warren tearing the meniscus. It's I hate to put it this way.
It's like maybe the type of injury that you and I would might might suffer from from jogging too much.
But is this a spillover from Michigan? Like there?
I mean, like so, I actually I was actually curious about that. So I did dig into it a little bit night. I asked some teams that I knew really would have investigated JJ McCarthy and the idea of of drafting him, and I asked if there were any red flags medically, you know, after he went through the combine and everything else, And the answer I got back was no. Now, again, generally, this is a wear and tear injury. This isn't something where something pops, you know, like Achilles pops and acl pops.
It's it's not really like that.
So I mean, I I think if there is a silver lining here, and to me there are two. One, it's that by going in and repairing it a likelihood it's not going to be a problem again. Right, So if you trim and if it was a lost serious one, yes you get them back this year, but there's always the potential that you're going to have.
To go in and do a repair at some point.
The number two is sort of and I think the Vikings were going to be disciplined about this anyway, but it sort of forces them to give him a red shirt year. And I don't think that's a bad thing, you know, I think any the quarterback can benefit from that. Now, JJ was ahead of schedule developmentally from where they thought he'd be, and he looked really good, look decisive, accurate athletic, you know, and that that preseason.
Open against the Raiders.
But I do you know, know that Kevin O'Connell and Wes Phillips and Josh McCown and the offensive staff there really feel like there's going to be a big benefit to JJ McCarthy and getting to sit and watch Sam Darnold go through a full NFL season, see the ups and downs. You know, before you know they hope becoming a starter in twenty twenty five.
What's the proper reaction to Caleb Williams and bow Nick's performance is this past weekend.
So I think it's fair to expect both those guys to be ahead of schedule for different reasons, right, So with Caleb, it's because they the benefit the Bears did of having the number one overall pick and knowing that he was going to be their selection.
I'd say they.
Really knew at the combine right that the Caleb Williams was going to be the guy, and so that allowed them creatively to start ramping them up. And you actually have a story going up on the site today about all of this, and like what they did creatively to get him ready to go. They were installing the offense with him in March and April, so when they went out to USC for the pro day, when they had the thirty visit when they brought him in and had the you know three one hour zooms.
That are allowed pre draft.
They were putting in formations, they were putting in terminology, they were putting in cadence. The thirty visit, they taught him, you know, how to call play in a huddle because that's something he hadn't had a lot of experience with that That allowed them to hit the ground running with him when he reported for rookie mini camp in May, and then when he went away for the forty days between spring and summer, he took some big jumps because they worked with his personal quarterbacks coach to give him a program.
For that period of time.
So by the time he got back, like I had, one coach there told me, it really looked.
Like pro football, you know.
And that's a big thing for a rookie, especially one coming from the sorts of offenses that Caleb Williams has played in. So I think the Bears, Bears fans should be excited about what they saw because of the situation he's in throwing a Keenan Allen and Dj Moore and and rom Adnze and.
The problem they need to be less excited. In Chicago they're too excited. I think, like the expectation level is like how far are we going in the playoffs?
You know, right?
And we get to the They're a.
Tough division too, I mean, Detroit look like who's the world? I mean, is Minnesota going to finish last night?
Division? And Minnesota's a really.
Good team, you know what I mean, Like that's a Kevin O'Connell's done a fantastic job there.
I mean, I think Green Bay's got a shot, a shot to.
Make a or run at unseating Detroit. And I think Detroit is one of the three or four best teams in football, you know. So it's gonna be a tough road to hole in that division. As for Denver bo Nicks, I would be this is gonna sound like I don't want this to sound insulting. I would be alarmed if he didn't look good after sixty one starts in college.
He's supposed to look.
Good, you know, Like that's the benefit of taking a guy who has a historic amount, who's got a historic amount of playing time in college, is that.
He should look ready.
He started, He was a multi year starter at two different schools. He went through the ups and downs he played in different offenses.
He should be.
As prepared as damn near any quarterback who's ever come out of college based on the amount that he played. And so, you know, I think it's good that he's that that it does look the way that it does, but that's sort of what we should expect. He's a good fit for Sean Payton's offense. And I think the one thing that's like a really obvious but notable if you watch the Broncos preseason games, the offense moves when he's in there, you know, and that's a simple thing, but it means it's an efficient operation when he's in there, and that's going to allow you to get buy in from other players in the locker room. And so, you know, like I would be less worried about where bo Nix is in year one, in year two. What I'd be more concerned about is where he is in year four and year five, where it's like I have a lot of confidence he's gonna be able to play at a competent NFL level fast. The question is when it comes time to pay a guy like that fifty or sixty million dollars a year, is he going to be able to level up to the point where you're going to be, you know, ready and happy about doing that. That that's the part I think people are less sure about.
Speaking of money. Brandon Nayuk's story seems to have calmed down. What's that mean to you?
Well, I mean, if it's quiet, that's I'd say that's.
Good news for the Niners and good news for a Yuk, right, Like, you know, I think this really comes down at least part of it, to the to the the the interpersonal relationship between Naiyuk and the Niners people. Things got pretty sideways there for a little bit, and I think part of it was, you know, where the receiver market had gone and where some of the other guys who got paid this offseason were and so you know, I think, you know, like the Niners had reached the point of frustration where they were like all right, dude, like, well, if you think that there's some there's a place out there where you can match the money and our football situation, go find it and we will reopen talks with other teams about doing a trade. And so he goes out and you know, New England offers him. I mean two separate types of deals, both at over thirty million per but he didn't want to go there because the football situation. He liked the football situation better in Pittsburgh. But Pittsburgh offered around I think it was twenty seven to seven, which is not much more than the Niners offered. So there's a guy who's been. There's a guy who's been, like on the West Coast his entire life. Grew up in California. I went to school in Arizona. Players a pro in California. Does you want to uproot and move across the country for a worse football situation for just a little bit more money, you know? So, I think the Niners had reached the point of frustration with the handling of this. But they always loved him as a player. Kyle always wanted him as a player. And if you look at where they are right now, George Kittle's gotten older, Deebo Samuel's got mileage on his body, Christian McCaffrey's got mileage on his body.
If you're going to.
Pay Brock Purdy a year from now, well, who are you pairing him with for the next five years? I used the most logical answer. So I think you know, when this thing got a little bit messy. The reason that Niners allowed him to go talk to other teams was to try to, you know, sort of break the stalemate and drive a conclusion, whether that was trading him away or keeping him on a long term deal. And I think the hope was that they'd be able to bury the hatchet and get a long term deal.
And that could happen.
Now.
I think a lot of that is going to be dependent on whether or not at you and the Niners can get themselves past some of the acrimony of the last few weeks.
But I don't think the.
Money parts as hard to figure out as maybe it was a couple of weeks ago.
Play nice today with the Jets. Great to talk to you is always thank you.
Thanks for your help too on the interviewing stuff. I appreciate it.
I'm always here for you, Albert.
Thanks TV
