Okay to say that this week's episode of the week Side Podcast with Jenny Rerentis and I'm con roor is uh special is an understatement? Jenny, I mean we are kicking everything up a notch. We are kicking up the intensity, the heat, the production. We're going all out here because this week we have for each other some burning questions. Sorry I spoke too soon, I I you know my timing was off there with the sound effect. How do you not love that? This is how good our producer is, our producer shall be as watched this burning questions. That's as close as you're gonna come to feeling like a magician where you can just make something happen simply by saying it. You know, isn't it amazing? Um? We're talking, we've been talking a lot, uh necessarily so about some football tangential topics. This has been a difficult summer, I think, um for everybody, um, you know inside and outside the sport. Um. And you know we want to with training camp it's happening, right, I mean we we did not expect it to be on pace like this. Obviously there's a ton of players who have opted out. Um, and still there may be more players opting out, But as it stands right now, we are still on pace to have UM football UM with a giant kind of asterisk next to it. You look at what's happening with the NBA, with Major League Baseball, we don't really know what's going to happen. But if that's the case, UM, I think that we should dive in a little bit and we should kind of ask ourselves some of the questions that we UM might have been asking all offseason if this UH, if this podcast UM was was happening under under typical circumstances. So, Jenny, I got to UH for you, and I know you have TOW for me. So I don't know, are you excited for some burning questions? This is never gonna get old. Maybe this will become a weekly stick for us Connor. I love a good bit. I love a good bit. I don't know, what do you think you? I'm excited. You're opener really got me fired up. As if you're a head coach standing in front of his team. You're like Matt Rule, you know, generating a lot of enthusiasm with his opening address to the team. So here we go. Excellent segue, Jenny because my first burning question for you is, uh, you know, so we spent the whole offseason when we were talking about football, I think talking a lot about the NFC South, in particular, the Saints, at least in my opinion, have the most complete roster in football. Um, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are have Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski and Lashawn McCoy. They have the old kind of aging all Star team, which is very kind of attractive right now and fun. The Falcons are always the Falcons. I think they're going to be competitive. They have a great head coach and a good quarterback and a good wide receiver. But the fact that like Matt Rule signed on to be head coach of the Panthers, that feels like a million years ago, right, I mean, it's it's almost like that happened in This is a great topic, Connor, because you're right, it's not something that we've talked a lot about. And I think part of the reason is because everything has been virtual, because uh, team off season programs were, you know, not the way they normally would, where there would be a lot of conversation about what music is playing at practice and what the you know what the schedule is like, and you know what the locker rooms are like, and all those kinds of things were lost. So I think for new coaches, we have less of a sense of what things are actually going to look like under their watch. So I think it was natural that they kind of receded to the backburner, especially as the headlines were how will there be a season, what will the players union and that league agree to, etcetera, etcetera. Yeah, so let's say there is a season. Let's say things start the way that they do. UM, I've been keeping up with UM. You know some of the conference calls that they've been doing just out of interest. I think that people who UM know me know that I'm a head coach obsessive. That's kind of the thing, like if I had to pigeonhole myself into one niche of covering football, it's I love head coaching decision making, hiring of head coaches, firing of head coaches, head coach philosophy, all that kind of stuff. So in keeping tabs on on Matt Rule a little bit and just kind of how everything's been going. But Jenny, I ask you, what what is sort of your a your your baseline expectation. And do you think that either Matt rules newness, freshness is going to be an advantage or because of the historic times that were in almost like an unseen disadvantage, like this is this is this going to be good like some people are assuming or historically bad. Well, I think every new head coach this year has a tougher road because you're trying to institute your new culture, your new system. Knew everything across the board, and there's less of an acclamation period. I mean, you can do zoom meetings all you want, but guys aren't in the building, you're not together. You might not get like that one on one time in the hallway if you pass somebody or somebody's popping into your office. I think it's a lot harder to manufacture meaningful interactions with your players. Um So, I I do think there will be a distinct advantage. I mean how much that disadvantage, excuse me, how much that translates to results on the field is hard because a lot of the new head coaches maybe expectations are are kind of low. I mean, I think that's especially true for ruling the Panthers, right, I mean, they're kind of in this rebuilding, they're they're starting a new era. Um, extreme roster turnover right um. Or you know the corner stones that we've always associated with the Panthers, Cam Newton, Luke Kickley or at least over the past several years, um, Greg Olsen, they're all gone, so it's kind of a fresh start. So I do think the fact that expectations are low um are a good thing because there's a little bit more time for them. UM. So I'm interested to see how their approach takes because this is the common question of projecting college coaches to the NFL, and so a lot of Matt Rules comments have reminded me of a little bit of the Jim Harbaugh enthusiasm unknown to mankind type of thing. Um, Like the comment last week about they he wanted. Um. He was telling this team that eight is the new six for social distancing, So if six is the guideline for social distance, they were going to do it at eight feet to really, um go all in on that. It sounded a little bit like the hundred and ten percent, which I always hated as a young swimmer growing up because it was like, I mean, what do you mean, I'm trying my best anyway. So um, So I don't know. I think expectations are low. So I don't think there's going to be a lot of angst in in Carolina this year. Connor. I think he has a really long contract, He has a long time to rebuild, and I think people are just kind of saying, hey, well, this is you know, this is the start of a new chapter and let's give it a little time to see how it works out. I you made such a good point about just building that organic relationship with the players, and here's something that I'm going to be fascinated to hear about, um when we're and and maybe this is a year from now, because to be honest, Jenny, we're not going to have these intimate conversations with players, um like we used to at the locker at the time where you can kind of pull them aside. Um. You know, we've done our best this offseason over the phone, you know, connecting with people. But even then, I mean, things are are kind of different, especially if you have met them before and you can't you can't kind of get in front of them. But how coaches are are bridging that divide digitally and you know, so many guys will say that their relationship with their coach came down to a moment where maybe the coach sees them in the in the lunch room and it's like, hey, how's your how's your wife? I know she just had a baby, or you know, is your dad doing okay? Or you know any of these like little things where you know they would know, um, you know, prove to them that they know something about them on a on a personal level, you know. And I think that, um, he can't do that, I mean, and and our coach is going to try to make up for that by texting players a lot. You know, are they going to be checking in on them, um, you know, saying like, hey, I saw you posted this on Instagram? Was it did you guys have a good vacation or or something like that? I don't know, you know, And what is the effort like then to to build that organic relationship when you can't get in front of a guy and and have that little aside yeah texting, I guess. You know. People communicate these days. I mean, I feel like we have a group chat Connor. You, me and Jonathan Jones are old st I colleague, and I feel like, I'm very in touch with you guys because we are in that group chat all day, every workday essentially, So I mean, I guess you can build that, but it's a little bit different when it's coached to player. UM so yeah, I UM. And even when you can be together in the facility as they are now, right, I mean, everyone's kind of trying to keep their distance from people too. So it's I don't know, like how you feel, Connor, but anytime I have like an interaction, like uh, friends with a guy named Eugene who works in my building, UM, but it's just kind of awkward to stand six ft apart in the lobby and like you're kind of shout across the space, you know, to hear each other. So it's definitely not Um, it's not a great time for relationship building. I I and I you know, I feel like this is going to be a common theme this season of like what is it like for new coaches trying to establish these kinds of relationships. We went to the open the playground in our community the other day, and we went down and a friend of mine was there with someone who had lived there for a while that I hadn't met um, you know, kind of another um dad my age, and so he's like, oh, this is so and so, and then we both looked at each other and he said, uh, he just said. The first thing he said is how do you want to do this right? Because we have our masks on? Do you want to elbow bump? Are we gonna be elbow bump? Guys? Are we just gonna? Are we gonna? You know, how how do you want to start this relationship off? And so it was funny, you know, and you diffuse it a little bit with humor, but it's it's for real. I mean, you know, you don't know how, you know how to interact. You don't know what anybody's individual comfort level is, and you should always respect that individual comfort level, especially when it comes to, uh, to something like this. So yeah, no, I'm I'm I'm gonna be fascinated. I mean, I think that in the end, um Matt Rule will be a good coach um in the NFL. But man, it's it's just such a such a weird time. And and maybe that's part of the advantage too, is that, um, you know, your players kind of know what to expect from another coach. You know how they're going to react in certain situations, and maybe this is a unique chance for him as the season goes on to surprise his players and to really show them part of his personality. I don't know, but uh that I don't know. I think that's that that definitely warranted a burning question. All right, I will head into number two then, Connor Um, alright, so this is do I do it? As well? Like do I generate the sound effects? You can definitely were portable even partners And okay, so here's my first burning question. It feels cool, doesn't it. It does all. I feel like we're kind of on a game show here, So I'm reading off my little card, Connor. Can Patrick Mahomes be even better? In Jenny? The answer is he can be somewhere between what he was last year and that phenomenal fifty touchdown season. But I don't think. I don't statistically, I don't think it gets better than that is better than the right, um. And I think the reason is, like everything evens out right no matter how like the way that we're talking about Patrick Mahomes now is almost like superhuman. UM. But I do think that we've had elements of a mahomes Ian player, UM before and I think we will after at some point. Now. Is he uniquely talented, sure, Um, And is he superb? Absolutely? But I just think that the NFL is such an adaptive league that I think it's it's going to be hard for someone to dominate physically for that long Um. And you know, fifty touchdowns is a lot. You know, fifty plus touchdowns is a lot. I mean, I guess Peyton Manning did it in Denver, but I think he had a little bit of an element of surprise there with UM a slightly variant offense, a better running game, maybe better wide receivers than he had had for a little while, and everything seemed new and fresh. Uh. And the division might have not been as good. I don't know. I mean, there could be a lot of reasons there. But I think that the a f C U, their division is getting better um Uh steadily. I think the conference is getting better steadily. And I don't know, I think that defenses, I mean, even though it's been a lapse of an off season, UM have spent this whole time figuring out how to stop, specifically someone like him. Yeah. Well, I guess aside from statistics because last year was kind of weird. He missed two games with the kneecap injury, and you know, he had a slightly different journey than we thought he might that second year. UM, but ultimately at the end of the season probably came out the best he'd been, you know, because he used some of that time to address his mechanics and reset a little bit. And he also made the comment um on Lebron show that he started learning defense, learning how to read defenses the second half of the year. So I guess the question would be, like, if there are areas of mahomes game that he can still improve on, what do you think those might be. It's interesting. I mean one of the things that you heard people say about Patrick Mahomes after his first year, UM, and that kind of echoes what he said on the Lebron thing was wait until he actually gets a command on you know, the little things like his protections like the first year apparently you know that that was just something that he is not comfortable with it all, you know, Um, and maybe to some degree then yeah, I mean reading defense is adjusting to all that kind of stuff. I mean, if you can grow to a level, um, where you know, defenses are back pedaling to be afraid of all the things that you can do and almost like you're in control. I think a few quarterbacks over their time in the NFL have gotten to that level of dominance and you understand all the things that could possibly happen. Um. That's a really powerful place to be UM, and we'll see if he can get there. I think that's the ultimate thing, right for Andy Reid now now that he's won the Super Bowl, is how do you now make your quarterback the greatest quarterback in NFL history? You know, I mean that's got to be the goal. Because you have all the tools, You've won a Super Bowl in your second year, third year together, you have all this time now in front of you. Theoretically you have a gigantic advantage this season going into this season, so I you know, I'm interested to see how far they can push it. You know. Yeah, I remember before last season and then again during the time when he was kind of out with the injury, he was kind of refreshed on some of these mechanics things. But the idea of he has so much natural power he can throw the ball out of the stadium and when he worked with his private quarterbacks coach. He was working with Jeff and Jake Christensen last offseason, and basically the idea to not just be a thrower, but to be a passer and to figure out how to kind of use your efficient movement to make sure that that that power is harnessed the right way. And when I remember, they said one of the flaws that they've worked on, if he has flaws, was his head movement, and so he would his head shifted too far forward, so he relied to more too much on his throwing arm, and then he would drive passes downward locking his front legs. So and then he fixed that habit immediately. So I'm always curious like quarterbacks like the little fine tuning of their mechanics. So that was something before last season, and I'm interested to see like what he came out of this season doing because he was his mechanics were definitely more refined. Obviously, even with the injury, like it didn't throw him off because he essentially in some ways the knee injury last year kind of reset his mechanics in a way because he couldn't rely too much um on that leg. And I think it kind of UM, a lot of the things he worked on he had to draw on those after that happened. UM, So I'm curious to see, like what mechanically he tweaks, and then also how the scheme continues to grow because Andy redesigned this before Patrick Mahomes even got there, and it's they've steadily built on it. And now as he continues to you know, broaden his knowledge base of what other defenses are doing and how teams were responding to the kinds of things they were doing, you know, adding new counter moves to that. So I think what is exciting is it's not just the physical ability, it's also that he's he's got this mental capacity in tandem with his head coach to continue like growing the scheme and making it more adaptive. And Andy Reid has always been an innovative coach. So I feel like the next chapter of that will be interesting too. UM. One of the things that I thought was fascinating about Mahomes in particular, and there are a couple of quarterbacks in the NFL that you can say this about, is the gift that their coaches can give them UM to be able to spend their first year in in relative comfort in the pocket, right, and whether that's something that you do schematically, whether you already have a very good run game, um, because it's just such an uphill climb for quarterbacks who, um, you know, for one reason or another get fixated on pressure or you know, a coverage that they can't solve or a throw that they can't make. And you can see it, you know, you can see the dividing line between the quarterbacks who come in comfortable, who already have this sort of baseline ability to diagnose things, to see through pressure and mahomes, I mean that that's what you see. I mean, it's just it's a guy who goes out there only thinking successfully almost because that's what he's um, you know, that's what he's experienced on the field. And you could throw a couple other guys in there like that who have had these experiences kind of tailored for them by good coaches and by good general managers who have built good rosters, um. And what an advantage that is. And just you know, because when you're already building on on that level of comfort and proficiency, the sky's the limit. Where if you're somebody who's gotta you know, think about Sam Donald right now, or Mitch Robiski or any of these guys that are you know, maybe the arrow isn't pointing up on them yet. How much work that is left to be done? And you know you're already you're entering your third season or your fourth season. Everybody's wondering what's gonna happen and and you know, it's just it's a monumentally different situation. Yeah, no, I agree. I think that's really well said. Um, And I'm ready for our next next sound effect, Connor, our next burning question. Why didn't you say? You could have said it? Well, it was your turn. It was your turn, because I've been abusing it. Okay, Okay, I was thinking you could have at the end, you know, just stick one in there at the end. So this is one that I've spent a lot of time this offseason thinking about for some reason or another. You know, sometimes you've just done walk and you know the world is in havoc, and what comes into your mind, are the Brown is going to be good this year? Finally? You know, Um, And I find myself, you know, that's just that's where my head goes sometimes. And as a head coach, obsessive I've said this in the past. UM, I am immediately inclined every time a new head coach is hired to think that they are a genius and that they're going to solve all of the NFL's problems. Um. I'm a sucker for that introductory press conference. UM. A lot of times for national media, that's when we get our first one on one access to these guys. And they always got a plan, you know, in their bright eyed and bushy tailed and Uh. I sort of always digest that energy and think, oh, this guy's got it, He's gonna figure it all out. Kevin Stefanski very high and Kevin Stefanski was very excited about what he did UM in Minnesota, the analytical approach, the way that he kind of broke down and worked with Kirk Cousins on some of the comfortability stuff. I think the two tight end sets are going to be dynamite if David and Joke who can buy in here in Cleveland. Um, But you know that's me. I grew up a Browns fan, shook that when I got a professional job. But that's it's lingering somewhere in the back of your mind. Also obsessed with new head coaches. So I think the Browns are gonna be good? Do you think the Browns are gonna be good this year? This is such a Connor or question. When we came up with the idea for the show, which was Connor's idea, Well, let's each come up with two burning quiet scans, and I should have known this would be one of your two. I'm just not sure. I think that all the points you made about the fancy are really good ones, Like I feel like he's a great fit for this job. You know, I think you want someone younger who can go into Cleveland and is super excited for the opportunity and maybe can block out some of all of the long history and the baggage of the organization. I feel like that's a really good fit. I feel like he'll be a good pairing with Baker Um and as you described, the offense really makes a lot of sense, multiple tight ends fullback what we saw in Minnesota. I feel like we'll translate really well to Cleveland, and you know, the personnel that they've tried to build out there. I just am always so skeptical when a quarterback goes through so many system changes and coach changes. Early in his career. So this is Mayfield's fourth head coach, his third system, UM County interim. But right, Um, so, I you know, I think that that always messes with a quarterbacks development, even if you're aware of it. You know, it's like how your mind works. Even if you're like aware of that your mind made do X, Y and Z, it still has impacts on you. Right. And I feel like even if you're aware of the fact that like, Okay, this can be a challenge for quarterbacks, but we're not going to We're gonna make it work. I feel like there are just a lot of tangible ways where you just have a hard time settling into a groove. And every new quarterbacks coach that comes comes in has different suggestions for your fundamentals. I mean I remember that with Mark Sanchez a lot. It felt like you know, um and and it wasn't the same turnover. But um, just different, um, Different people have different ideas of what your fundamentals should look like, what your timing should be, what's being asked of you. So those would be my reasons for skepticism. UM. But I will say that Mayfield, as you know, he's a guy that is I would say, finds motivation and a lot of sources and could channel what's happened the last few years. We're kind of mess of things. And you know, he experienced the rookie season where he did really well and then uh sophomore season where he kind of took a step back, and he sort of, UM, I think has seen a little bit of you know, the good and the bad, and perhaps we'll use that to channel it into this this new season. And you know, um, you know, perhaps like the humility of a season like last year's will be a motivating force. As we're talking, um, you know, my Brown's positivity slowly sapping. As so we're recording this about two thirty in the afternoon on Monday, UM, and Odell Beckham interview came out that he said he doesn't think that we should have a season. Um and among the among the hot you know, the first the lead quote and the story from the Wall Street Journal is I'm actually on a boat right now, Odell Beckham says, And as soon as we hop off the phone here, I'm jumping in the water and getting on a jet ski. So um, yeah, so Odell back on a boat and then maybe perhaps doubling down by hopping on the jet ski. Um. So you know, I don't know, you know, this is uh rendering dicey territory here. Um. When I used to work for the NFL, um we you know, we were allowed to. And you know, I wasn't sure kind of how to handle it at the time and didn't really get back into it. But you know, you were allowed to be a fan because you worked for the league, right And you know I used to be on the Around the NFL podcast and everyone knows that. You know, Dan is a huge Jets fan, and Mark is a huge Browns fan, and and Greg is Patriots fan, and you talked about that and so, um, I was at the Hall of Fame game and uh that year and the year that Brown's drafted Johnny Manziel and I was like, you know what, it's this is a fun time. This is a fun time. And I'm going to get um, I'm gonna get my wife a T shirt that says that's my man Zell. Uh. Yeah. And so just so regrettable on like a million different levels. And I'm thinking, like, thank god I didn't experience this again with the Odell Beckham thing, because your first inclination is to run and get the merchandise. And you're so excited, But I don't think this is I think that's good. This is gonna be a forgettable, forgettable chapter in Brown's history. And then he'll he'll sign with the Patriots when he's thirty and have seventy one touchdowns with Trevor Lawrence. You know. Yeah, yeah, well who knows Connor? Who knows? Or Cam Newton or Cam Newton um. But yeah, that's so it's almost like when I have a I like to sneak Brown's questions onto the show, specifically for Jenny, because it's like Jenny is infinitely smarter than I am, and so if I can, it's almost like I'm I just have like slightly better access than everyone listening to the show. And I could be like, Jenny, what do you think of the Brown's? You know? I could text her like what do you think is going on with the Brown's? You know? And it's just a work thing, you know, specifically work, you know. But anyway, what's our I'm gonna let you say it all right now, onto our fourth burning question. Really, it's exciting every time you hear it is it's so good. It's really fun. Um. We should do sound really should do sound effects every week. If it's not this one, we'll do something else or Shelby our producer. I know. The worst part is that Shelby has to then listen to every word that we say, waiting for the burning question. Que. He can't like block us out, So Shelby, we apologize. Maybe we won't do sound effects every week, but it has been fun this week. UM. All right, mine is how good can rookies be in? It's a great question. Um. And you know I'm thinking about the Bengals and and Joe Burrow um in particular. You know, they're the one team that really doesn't seem to have that backup plan, you know, like the Dolphins I think are going to play Ryan Fitzpatrick for a while. The Chargers, um, as you have said, you know all along, I think planned on playing Tyrod Taylor for a while. Um. And while some of these plans, you know, um best laid plans, you know, all that stuff always happens. I think those are two situations specifically where they wanted those quarterbacks to sit for a little while. Cincinnati does not have that luxury. I think that they were planning on grinding it out that first year and getting Burrow the reps and hoping that everything worked out. But I don't know. I mean, and it's that trajectory that we've talked about right where you're quarterback and you don't start on that ascent, like what happens to your career? You know, and and you know, are you doomed almost immediately? You know, you have to dig yourself out of this whole. But it's a gargantuan challenge, not only for Burrow but for Zach Taylor, who didn't have a wonderful first season as a head coach, you know, and and uh, I don't think we saw his offensive identity come out. Um, but yeah, you pinball across the board. I mean, you know, running backs are going to have to learn how to read different um, you know, blocking schemes and perhaps that they've ever seen in their entire lives before. You know, Um, defensive lineman might be getting double team for the first time and since high school. You know, I mean, all this different stuff that that everyone's going through, it's it's really gonna be stunning. And everyone says that you know, all without this uh uh everything's gonna be out of control. And I don't think that that that's necessarily born itself out in the n B A. I don't know. I don't think the NBA has been hyper high scoring, but I do think that the NFL is either going to be like we're going to have these weird sixty point games a lot, or we're gonna have a lot of really bad, like ten seven games too. I think where teams are just really sort of struggling to get out of the mud. Yeah, you know, you always here in training camp that the defense is ahead of the offense because on defense, you know, you have assignments, but on offense, all eleven players have to be in sync to make a play work. And so early in camp it's as the players are getting in sync, usually it's the defense that's dominating practices. So I feel like that could be the tenor of the season. At least early on, I was thinking a lot about what it would be like to be a rookie this year. I mean, obviously we're all adjusting to a very different year in this pandemic than we expected, and there are certainly some very serious challenges and health concerns and family issues that take precedence. But if you're starting your career something that you've always dreamed about, you certainly did not imagine starting it under these circumstances. Joe Burrow did not imagine that his first NFL start will come in an empty stadium, you know, with health protocols in place, UM, with concerns in the back of your head. If the other team will you know you're coming into contact with if you can infect each other. So, UM, it's kind of a weird thing and it'll be interesting to see how, like you reference Connor, if career trajectories are affected at all because of this, and um, just that the opportunity to get to be less prepared, um, to be have less reps going into this year. You know, I don't know, uh, you know, it's um, I lost my train of thought for a second there, Connor, But yeah, I was just, uh, I don't know, I don't know what to expect from any of these rookies when you were in high school, and um, I don't know if this ever happened at at your high school, but like we would have these times where you know, some like Traine anzy At family would like come through maybe it was like military related or um we had like a missionary focused college near our hometown. So there were a lot of families that would be there for like a year, and then they would move somewhere else, and like all of a sudden, this great athlete would just emerge at a practice one day, and all the coaches are like, how do we figure this out? You know, how do we incorporate this person? And you know, it's almost like that where you're learning. You're you're at a new high school, You're meeting all these new people for the first time, you're maybe learning the sport UH from a fundamental level for the first time, and and what that must be like. You know how eye opening that is. You know, I'm sure that all of our listeners have watched the seminal NBC UH sports series Friday Night Lights, the adaptation of the movie, and in season two, when Matt Saracen starts to struggle, there was Voodoo Tatum, whose family was displaced by Hurricane Katrina. He comes in UH, he gets Matt sara Orson gets benched Foodoo Tatum incredibly talented, can throw the ball the length of the football field, and but did he fit in with the team, you know, and uh, and and and was he ready to be part of a team. So I don't know. These are all the questions that coaches are gonna have to answer this offseason. I really miss our Friday movie pod Connor. I know, you should watch Friday Night Lights. That would be like a good Yeah. I actually watched part of one of the first seasons. I think I have a DVD set. I think so a friend gave it to me at some point, so, um, but yeah, that just made me think of our football movies that we used to watch on Friday's or record for a Friday podcast. That was a fun summer activity spent in when we could gather in a small conference room with some beverages and uh have a little relaxing afternoon without large concerns looming over our head. You're not, though, uh week side pod gag because uh, I did get Jenny on board um with a new show. And Jonathan Jones are former colleague who works at CBS. Jenny's sister, my wife, our former editor Bett Marston. We have a we have a powerhouse chat on Wednesdays now during lifetimes Married at first Sight and let me tell you what it. We're cooking with gasoline right now. I mean this is uh, you know, we're we're we're figuring out this social distance thing, like we we I think we've got it. I have to say that my sister was really a spark and that first week, you know, breakout star, the breakout star, she didn't know who everybody on the text chain was. She didn't have everybody's number. She had, she knew who you and me were, but she didn't know exactly like which number corresponded to which other person. So I will have to instruct her. But despite that, she was bringing lots of new information about some of the contestants that she had looked up and had lots of insightful commentary. She's, you know, a seasoned expert of married at first Sight like her Connor um so could really provide that that depth acknowledge to the analysis. Yeah, I would say to that. You know, hey, if any of our listeners, by the way, um you know, we would love to do another mail bag episode soon. So weak side pod at gmail dot com. That's weak Side pod at gmail dot com. You can ask us about Mary at first Sight. You can ask us about football, you can ask us about I don't know books are reading during social distancing. I just finished my fifth book since COVID started. This is not like a brag, um, but it sounds a little bit like it. But knowing your personality, I knew better. No, yeah, um, and some of them were very bad. Um, but I felt the need to get through them. Um and uh so I just my other hall from Amazon started to arrive today. I just got owned so hard. Oh it was really good, Shelby, well done. I enjoyed that. Yeah. Um, but you know we got another hall of books. Like, if you're reading anything good, drop us the line in on weakside pot at gmail dot com. You know, um, you can ask us about any of that stuff too. I mean, you know, we're we're around and we might need We're gonna have some time, you know, I don't think we're gonna get rolling anytime soon. Here or some vegetable recipes. That was our alternative podcast idea for today. And you know, Connor and I have always had this kind of backup plan that you know, if our careers went south, we could start a vegetarian or vegan. What did we decide just vegetable based talk, vegetable based vegetable based talk area called roots in New Jersey. UM. Neither of us have any experience in the restaurant business, so this is a wildly um unlikely idea. UM, but you know, it's always been kind of our backup plan. So if you have any vegetable based UM recipe ideas that we could keep in our back pocket for or was it route Yeah, yeah, okay for route Okay, I want to make sure and and just kind of bouncing off that too, because I actually was thinking about this the other DAYCU. Remember I texted you during a particularly UM I don't know what what what was going on, but I was like, oh, man, like maybe I will need a backup plan at some point. And there was a vacant restaurant space near my house. Oh I remember this. I passed it not too long ago, and I was I don't know why, but like I think I was like on a run or something, and I was like, oh, you know what, like if we're going to do the vegetarian talka reel, like we have to think about alternative tortilla UM, like a vegetable based tortilla that is gluten free, and like I don't know why, but like I started, my mind started kind of going off in that way. So anyway, if if you have any of that too, like if there's a way to make like a beat tortilla or something like that, you know, um, we really we we got to cover all of our bases here before we start talking to investors. I've had almond flower tortillas, but that presents an issue for people if they have a tree nut allergy. That's another option. Yeah, they're pretty good, They're pretty good. Yeah, I prefer corn tortillas, but um, but yeah, it was it was interesting to try. Yeah. Well, thank you for joining us today for our burning questions and we will be back later this week with another podcast. The mm QB week Side Podcast is me Jenny Rerentis and Connor Or. We are produced by Shelby Royston Sizes Executive producer and podcasts is Scott Brody, Ben Eagles, Director of editorial Projects and product Mark Mravik is Ameritus executive Director the mm QB. Keep up with our entire lineup of podcast five days a week by subscribing to the mm QB NFL Podcasts for free on Apple Podcasts. And while you're there, please do us a favor and leave a rating and review. It really does help other people find the show, which is also available on Spotify, Radio dot com, Sitcher, as i dot com, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. M

Okay to say that this week's episode of the week Side Podcast with Jenny Rerentis and I'm con roor is uh special is an understatement? Jenny, I mean we are kicking everything up a notch. We are kicking up the intensity, the heat, the production. We're going all out here because this week we have for each other some burning questions. Sorry I spoke too soon, I I you know my timing was off there with the sound effect. How do you not love that? This is how good our producer is, our producer shall be as watched this burning questions. That's as close as you're gonna come to feeling like a magician where you can just make something happen simply by saying it. You know, isn't it amazing? Um? We're talking, we've been talking a lot, uh necessarily so about some football tangential topics. This has been a difficult summer, I think, um for everybody, um, you know inside and outside the sport. Um. And you know we want to with training camp it's happening, right, I mean we we did not expect it to be on pace like this. Obviously there's a ton of players who have opted out. Um, and still there may be more players opting out, But as it stands right now, we are still on pace to have UM football UM with a giant kind of asterisk next to it. You look at what's happening with the NBA, with Major League Baseball, we don't really know what's going to happen. But if that's the case, UM, I think that we should dive in a little bit and we should kind of ask ourselves some of the questions that we UM might have been asking all offseason if this UH, if this podcast UM was was happening under under typical circumstances. So, Jenny, I got to UH for you, and I know you have TOW for me. So I don't know, are you excited for some burning questions? This is never gonna get old. Maybe this will become a weekly stick for us Connor. I love a good bit. I love a good bit. I don't know, what do you think you? I'm excited. You're opener really got me fired up. As if you're a head coach standing in front of his team. You're like Matt Rule, you know, generating a lot of enthusiasm with his opening address to the team. So here we go. Excellent segue, Jenny because my first burning question for you is, uh, you know, so we spent the whole offseason when we were talking about football, I think talking a lot about the NFC South, in particular, the Saints, at least in my opinion, have the most complete roster in football. Um, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are have Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski and Lashawn McCoy. They have the old kind of aging all Star team, which is very kind of attractive right now and fun. The Falcons are always the Falcons. I think they're going to be competitive. They have a great head coach and a good quarterback and a good wide receiver. But the fact that like Matt Rule signed on to be head coach of the Panthers, that feels like a million years ago, right, I mean, it's it's almost like that happened in This is a great topic, Connor, because you're right, it's not something that we've talked a lot about. And I think part of the reason is because everything has been virtual, because uh, team off season programs were, you know, not the way they normally would, where there would be a lot of conversation about what music is playing at practice and what the you know what the schedule is like, and you know what the locker rooms are like, and all those kinds of things were lost. So I think for new coaches, we have less of a sense of what things are actually going to look like under their watch. So I think it was natural that they kind of receded to the backburner, especially as the headlines were how will there be a season, what will the players union and that league agree to, etcetera, etcetera. Yeah, so let's say there is a season. Let's say things start the way that they do. UM, I've been keeping up with UM. You know some of the conference calls that they've been doing just out of interest. I think that people who UM know me know that I'm a head coach obsessive. That's kind of the thing, like if I had to pigeonhole myself into one niche of covering football, it's I love head coaching decision making, hiring of head coaches, firing of head coaches, head coach philosophy, all that kind of stuff. So in keeping tabs on on Matt Rule a little bit and just kind of how everything's been going. But Jenny, I ask you, what what is sort of your a your your baseline expectation. And do you think that either Matt rules newness, freshness is going to be an advantage or because of the historic times that were in almost like an unseen disadvantage, like this is this is this going to be good like some people are assuming or historically bad. Well, I think every new head coach this year has a tougher road because you're trying to institute your new culture, your new system. Knew everything across the board, and there's less of an acclamation period. I mean, you can do zoom meetings all you want, but guys aren't in the building, you're not together. You might not get like that one on one time in the hallway if you pass somebody or somebody's popping into your office. I think it's a lot harder to manufacture meaningful interactions with your players. Um So, I I do think there will be a distinct advantage. I mean how much that disadvantage, excuse me, how much that translates to results on the field is hard because a lot of the new head coaches maybe expectations are are kind of low. I mean, I think that's especially true for ruling the Panthers, right, I mean, they're kind of in this rebuilding, they're they're starting a new era. Um, extreme roster turnover right um. Or you know the corner stones that we've always associated with the Panthers, Cam Newton, Luke Kickley or at least over the past several years, um, Greg Olsen, they're all gone, so it's kind of a fresh start. So I do think the fact that expectations are low um are a good thing because there's a little bit more time for them. UM. So I'm interested to see how their approach takes because this is the common question of projecting college coaches to the NFL, and so a lot of Matt Rules comments have reminded me of a little bit of the Jim Harbaugh enthusiasm unknown to mankind type of thing. Um, Like the comment last week about they he wanted. Um. He was telling this team that eight is the new six for social distancing, So if six is the guideline for social distance, they were going to do it at eight feet to really, um go all in on that. It sounded a little bit like the hundred and ten percent, which I always hated as a young swimmer growing up because it was like, I mean, what do you mean, I'm trying my best anyway. So um, So I don't know. I think expectations are low. So I don't think there's going to be a lot of angst in in Carolina this year. Connor. I think he has a really long contract, He has a long time to rebuild, and I think people are just kind of saying, hey, well, this is you know, this is the start of a new chapter and let's give it a little time to see how it works out. I you made such a good point about just building that organic relationship with the players, and here's something that I'm going to be fascinated to hear about, um when we're and and maybe this is a year from now, because to be honest, Jenny, we're not going to have these intimate conversations with players, um like we used to at the locker at the time where you can kind of pull them aside. Um. You know, we've done our best this offseason over the phone, you know, connecting with people. But even then, I mean, things are are kind of different, especially if you have met them before and you can't you can't kind of get in front of them. But how coaches are are bridging that divide digitally and you know, so many guys will say that their relationship with their coach came down to a moment where maybe the coach sees them in the in the lunch room and it's like, hey, how's your how's your wife? I know she just had a baby, or you know, is your dad doing okay? Or you know any of these like little things where you know they would know, um, you know, prove to them that they know something about them on a on a personal level, you know. And I think that, um, he can't do that, I mean, and and our coach is going to try to make up for that by texting players a lot. You know, are they going to be checking in on them, um, you know, saying like, hey, I saw you posted this on Instagram? Was it did you guys have a good vacation or or something like that? I don't know, you know, And what is the effort like then to to build that organic relationship when you can't get in front of a guy and and have that little aside yeah texting, I guess. You know. People communicate these days. I mean, I feel like we have a group chat Connor. You, me and Jonathan Jones are old st I colleague, and I feel like, I'm very in touch with you guys because we are in that group chat all day, every workday essentially, So I mean, I guess you can build that, but it's a little bit different when it's coached to player. UM so yeah, I UM. And even when you can be together in the facility as they are now, right, I mean, everyone's kind of trying to keep their distance from people too. So it's I don't know, like how you feel, Connor, but anytime I have like an interaction, like uh, friends with a guy named Eugene who works in my building, UM, but it's just kind of awkward to stand six ft apart in the lobby and like you're kind of shout across the space, you know, to hear each other. So it's definitely not Um, it's not a great time for relationship building. I I and I you know, I feel like this is going to be a common theme this season of like what is it like for new coaches trying to establish these kinds of relationships. We went to the open the playground in our community the other day, and we went down and a friend of mine was there with someone who had lived there for a while that I hadn't met um, you know, kind of another um dad my age, and so he's like, oh, this is so and so, and then we both looked at each other and he said, uh, he just said. The first thing he said is how do you want to do this right? Because we have our masks on? Do you want to elbow bump? Are we gonna be elbow bump? Guys? Are we just gonna? Are we gonna? You know, how how do you want to start this relationship off? And so it was funny, you know, and you diffuse it a little bit with humor, but it's it's for real. I mean, you know, you don't know how, you know how to interact. You don't know what anybody's individual comfort level is, and you should always respect that individual comfort level, especially when it comes to, uh, to something like this. So yeah, no, I'm I'm I'm gonna be fascinated. I mean, I think that in the end, um Matt Rule will be a good coach um in the NFL. But man, it's it's just such a such a weird time. And and maybe that's part of the advantage too, is that, um, you know, your players kind of know what to expect from another coach. You know how they're going to react in certain situations, and maybe this is a unique chance for him as the season goes on to surprise his players and to really show them part of his personality. I don't know, but uh that I don't know. I think that's that that definitely warranted a burning question. All right, I will head into number two then, Connor Um, alright, so this is do I do it? As well? Like do I generate the sound effects? You can definitely were portable even partners And okay, so here's my first burning question. It feels cool, doesn't it. It does all. I feel like we're kind of on a game show here, So I'm reading off my little card, Connor. Can Patrick Mahomes be even better? In Jenny? The answer is he can be somewhere between what he was last year and that phenomenal fifty touchdown season. But I don't think. I don't statistically, I don't think it gets better than that is better than the right, um. And I think the reason is, like everything evens out right no matter how like the way that we're talking about Patrick Mahomes now is almost like superhuman. UM. But I do think that we've had elements of a mahomes Ian player, UM before and I think we will after at some point. Now. Is he uniquely talented, sure, Um, And is he superb? Absolutely? But I just think that the NFL is such an adaptive league that I think it's it's going to be hard for someone to dominate physically for that long Um. And you know, fifty touchdowns is a lot. You know, fifty plus touchdowns is a lot. I mean, I guess Peyton Manning did it in Denver, but I think he had a little bit of an element of surprise there with UM a slightly variant offense, a better running game, maybe better wide receivers than he had had for a little while, and everything seemed new and fresh. Uh. And the division might have not been as good. I don't know. I mean, there could be a lot of reasons there. But I think that the a f C U, their division is getting better um Uh steadily. I think the conference is getting better steadily. And I don't know, I think that defenses, I mean, even though it's been a lapse of an off season, UM have spent this whole time figuring out how to stop, specifically someone like him. Yeah. Well, I guess aside from statistics because last year was kind of weird. He missed two games with the kneecap injury, and you know, he had a slightly different journey than we thought he might that second year. UM, but ultimately at the end of the season probably came out the best he'd been, you know, because he used some of that time to address his mechanics and reset a little bit. And he also made the comment um on Lebron show that he started learning defense, learning how to read defenses the second half of the year. So I guess the question would be, like, if there are areas of mahomes game that he can still improve on, what do you think those might be. It's interesting. I mean one of the things that you heard people say about Patrick Mahomes after his first year, UM, and that kind of echoes what he said on the Lebron thing was wait until he actually gets a command on you know, the little things like his protections like the first year apparently you know that that was just something that he is not comfortable with it all, you know, Um, and maybe to some degree then yeah, I mean reading defense is adjusting to all that kind of stuff. I mean, if you can grow to a level, um, where you know, defenses are back pedaling to be afraid of all the things that you can do and almost like you're in control. I think a few quarterbacks over their time in the NFL have gotten to that level of dominance and you understand all the things that could possibly happen. Um. That's a really powerful place to be UM, and we'll see if he can get there. I think that's the ultimate thing, right for Andy Reid now now that he's won the Super Bowl, is how do you now make your quarterback the greatest quarterback in NFL history? You know, I mean that's got to be the goal. Because you have all the tools, You've won a Super Bowl in your second year, third year together, you have all this time now in front of you. Theoretically you have a gigantic advantage this season going into this season, so I you know, I'm interested to see how far they can push it. You know. Yeah, I remember before last season and then again during the time when he was kind of out with the injury, he was kind of refreshed on some of these mechanics things. But the idea of he has so much natural power he can throw the ball out of the stadium and when he worked with his private quarterbacks coach. He was working with Jeff and Jake Christensen last offseason, and basically the idea to not just be a thrower, but to be a passer and to figure out how to kind of use your efficient movement to make sure that that that power is harnessed the right way. And when I remember, they said one of the flaws that they've worked on, if he has flaws, was his head movement, and so he would his head shifted too far forward, so he relied to more too much on his throwing arm, and then he would drive passes downward locking his front legs. So and then he fixed that habit immediately. So I'm always curious like quarterbacks like the little fine tuning of their mechanics. So that was something before last season, and I'm interested to see like what he came out of this season doing because he was his mechanics were definitely more refined. Obviously, even with the injury, like it didn't throw him off because he essentially in some ways the knee injury last year kind of reset his mechanics in a way because he couldn't rely too much um on that leg. And I think it kind of UM, a lot of the things he worked on he had to draw on those after that happened. UM, So I'm curious to see, like what mechanically he tweaks, and then also how the scheme continues to grow because Andy redesigned this before Patrick Mahomes even got there, and it's they've steadily built on it. And now as he continues to you know, broaden his knowledge base of what other defenses are doing and how teams were responding to the kinds of things they were doing, you know, adding new counter moves to that. So I think what is exciting is it's not just the physical ability, it's also that he's he's got this mental capacity in tandem with his head coach to continue like growing the scheme and making it more adaptive. And Andy Reid has always been an innovative coach. So I feel like the next chapter of that will be interesting too. UM. One of the things that I thought was fascinating about Mahomes in particular, and there are a couple of quarterbacks in the NFL that you can say this about, is the gift that their coaches can give them UM to be able to spend their first year in in relative comfort in the pocket, right, and whether that's something that you do schematically, whether you already have a very good run game, um, because it's just such an uphill climb for quarterbacks who, um, you know, for one reason or another get fixated on pressure or you know, a coverage that they can't solve or a throw that they can't make. And you can see it, you know, you can see the dividing line between the quarterbacks who come in comfortable, who already have this sort of baseline ability to diagnose things, to see through pressure and mahomes, I mean that that's what you see. I mean, it's just it's a guy who goes out there only thinking successfully almost because that's what he's um, you know, that's what he's experienced on the field. And you could throw a couple other guys in there like that who have had these experiences kind of tailored for them by good coaches and by good general managers who have built good rosters, um. And what an advantage that is. And just you know, because when you're already building on on that level of comfort and proficiency, the sky's the limit. Where if you're somebody who's gotta you know, think about Sam Donald right now, or Mitch Robiski or any of these guys that are you know, maybe the arrow isn't pointing up on them yet. How much work that is left to be done? And you know you're already you're entering your third season or your fourth season. Everybody's wondering what's gonna happen and and you know, it's just it's a monumentally different situation. Yeah, no, I agree. I think that's really well said. Um, And I'm ready for our next next sound effect, Connor, our next burning question. Why didn't you say? You could have said it? Well, it was your turn. It was your turn, because I've been abusing it. Okay, Okay, I was thinking you could have at the end, you know, just stick one in there at the end. So this is one that I've spent a lot of time this offseason thinking about for some reason or another. You know, sometimes you've just done walk and you know the world is in havoc, and what comes into your mind, are the Brown is going to be good this year? Finally? You know, Um, And I find myself, you know, that's just that's where my head goes sometimes. And as a head coach, obsessive I've said this in the past. UM, I am immediately inclined every time a new head coach is hired to think that they are a genius and that they're going to solve all of the NFL's problems. Um. I'm a sucker for that introductory press conference. UM. A lot of times for national media, that's when we get our first one on one access to these guys. And they always got a plan, you know, in their bright eyed and bushy tailed and Uh. I sort of always digest that energy and think, oh, this guy's got it, He's gonna figure it all out. Kevin Stefanski very high and Kevin Stefanski was very excited about what he did UM in Minnesota, the analytical approach, the way that he kind of broke down and worked with Kirk Cousins on some of the comfortability stuff. I think the two tight end sets are going to be dynamite if David and Joke who can buy in here in Cleveland. Um, But you know that's me. I grew up a Browns fan, shook that when I got a professional job. But that's it's lingering somewhere in the back of your mind. Also obsessed with new head coaches. So I think the Browns are gonna be good? Do you think the Browns are gonna be good this year? This is such a Connor or question. When we came up with the idea for the show, which was Connor's idea, Well, let's each come up with two burning quiet scans, and I should have known this would be one of your two. I'm just not sure. I think that all the points you made about the fancy are really good ones, Like I feel like he's a great fit for this job. You know, I think you want someone younger who can go into Cleveland and is super excited for the opportunity and maybe can block out some of all of the long history and the baggage of the organization. I feel like that's a really good fit. I feel like he'll be a good pairing with Baker Um and as you described, the offense really makes a lot of sense, multiple tight ends fullback what we saw in Minnesota. I feel like we'll translate really well to Cleveland, and you know, the personnel that they've tried to build out there. I just am always so skeptical when a quarterback goes through so many system changes and coach changes. Early in his career. So this is Mayfield's fourth head coach, his third system, UM County interim. But right, Um, so, I you know, I think that that always messes with a quarterbacks development, even if you're aware of it. You know, it's like how your mind works. Even if you're like aware of that your mind made do X, Y and Z, it still has impacts on you. Right. And I feel like even if you're aware of the fact that like, Okay, this can be a challenge for quarterbacks, but we're not going to We're gonna make it work. I feel like there are just a lot of tangible ways where you just have a hard time settling into a groove. And every new quarterbacks coach that comes comes in has different suggestions for your fundamentals. I mean I remember that with Mark Sanchez a lot. It felt like you know, um and and it wasn't the same turnover. But um, just different, um, Different people have different ideas of what your fundamentals should look like, what your timing should be, what's being asked of you. So those would be my reasons for skepticism. UM. But I will say that Mayfield, as you know, he's a guy that is I would say, finds motivation and a lot of sources and could channel what's happened the last few years. We're kind of mess of things. And you know, he experienced the rookie season where he did really well and then uh sophomore season where he kind of took a step back, and he sort of, UM, I think has seen a little bit of you know, the good and the bad, and perhaps we'll use that to channel it into this this new season. And you know, um, you know, perhaps like the humility of a season like last year's will be a motivating force. As we're talking, um, you know, my Brown's positivity slowly sapping. As so we're recording this about two thirty in the afternoon on Monday, UM, and Odell Beckham interview came out that he said he doesn't think that we should have a season. Um and among the among the hot you know, the first the lead quote and the story from the Wall Street Journal is I'm actually on a boat right now, Odell Beckham says, And as soon as we hop off the phone here, I'm jumping in the water and getting on a jet ski. So um, yeah, so Odell back on a boat and then maybe perhaps doubling down by hopping on the jet ski. Um. So you know, I don't know, you know, this is uh rendering dicey territory here. Um. When I used to work for the NFL, um we you know, we were allowed to. And you know, I wasn't sure kind of how to handle it at the time and didn't really get back into it. But you know, you were allowed to be a fan because you worked for the league, right And you know I used to be on the Around the NFL podcast and everyone knows that. You know, Dan is a huge Jets fan, and Mark is a huge Browns fan, and and Greg is Patriots fan, and you talked about that and so, um, I was at the Hall of Fame game and uh that year and the year that Brown's drafted Johnny Manziel and I was like, you know what, it's this is a fun time. This is a fun time. And I'm going to get um, I'm gonna get my wife a T shirt that says that's my man Zell. Uh. Yeah. And so just so regrettable on like a million different levels. And I'm thinking, like, thank god I didn't experience this again with the Odell Beckham thing, because your first inclination is to run and get the merchandise. And you're so excited, But I don't think this is I think that's good. This is gonna be a forgettable, forgettable chapter in Brown's history. And then he'll he'll sign with the Patriots when he's thirty and have seventy one touchdowns with Trevor Lawrence. You know. Yeah, yeah, well who knows Connor? Who knows? Or Cam Newton or Cam Newton um. But yeah, that's so it's almost like when I have a I like to sneak Brown's questions onto the show, specifically for Jenny, because it's like Jenny is infinitely smarter than I am, and so if I can, it's almost like I'm I just have like slightly better access than everyone listening to the show. And I could be like, Jenny, what do you think of the Brown's? You know? I could text her like what do you think is going on with the Brown's? You know? And it's just a work thing, you know, specifically work, you know. But anyway, what's our I'm gonna let you say it all right now, onto our fourth burning question. Really, it's exciting every time you hear it is it's so good. It's really fun. Um. We should do sound really should do sound effects every week. If it's not this one, we'll do something else or Shelby our producer. I know. The worst part is that Shelby has to then listen to every word that we say, waiting for the burning question. Que. He can't like block us out, So Shelby, we apologize. Maybe we won't do sound effects every week, but it has been fun this week. UM. All right, mine is how good can rookies be in? It's a great question. Um. And you know I'm thinking about the Bengals and and Joe Burrow um in particular. You know, they're the one team that really doesn't seem to have that backup plan, you know, like the Dolphins I think are going to play Ryan Fitzpatrick for a while. The Chargers, um, as you have said, you know all along, I think planned on playing Tyrod Taylor for a while. Um. And while some of these plans, you know, um best laid plans, you know, all that stuff always happens. I think those are two situations specifically where they wanted those quarterbacks to sit for a little while. Cincinnati does not have that luxury. I think that they were planning on grinding it out that first year and getting Burrow the reps and hoping that everything worked out. But I don't know. I mean, and it's that trajectory that we've talked about right where you're quarterback and you don't start on that ascent, like what happens to your career? You know, and and you know, are you doomed almost immediately? You know, you have to dig yourself out of this whole. But it's a gargantuan challenge, not only for Burrow but for Zach Taylor, who didn't have a wonderful first season as a head coach, you know, and and uh, I don't think we saw his offensive identity come out. Um, but yeah, you pinball across the board. I mean, you know, running backs are going to have to learn how to read different um, you know, blocking schemes and perhaps that they've ever seen in their entire lives before. You know, Um, defensive lineman might be getting double team for the first time and since high school. You know, I mean, all this different stuff that that everyone's going through, it's it's really gonna be stunning. And everyone says that you know, all without this uh uh everything's gonna be out of control. And I don't think that that that's necessarily born itself out in the n B A. I don't know. I don't think the NBA has been hyper high scoring, but I do think that the NFL is either going to be like we're going to have these weird sixty point games a lot, or we're gonna have a lot of really bad, like ten seven games too. I think where teams are just really sort of struggling to get out of the mud. Yeah, you know, you always here in training camp that the defense is ahead of the offense because on defense, you know, you have assignments, but on offense, all eleven players have to be in sync to make a play work. And so early in camp it's as the players are getting in sync, usually it's the defense that's dominating practices. So I feel like that could be the tenor of the season. At least early on, I was thinking a lot about what it would be like to be a rookie this year. I mean, obviously we're all adjusting to a very different year in this pandemic than we expected, and there are certainly some very serious challenges and health concerns and family issues that take precedence. But if you're starting your career something that you've always dreamed about, you certainly did not imagine starting it under these circumstances. Joe Burrow did not imagine that his first NFL start will come in an empty stadium, you know, with health protocols in place, UM, with concerns in the back of your head. If the other team will you know you're coming into contact with if you can infect each other. So, UM, it's kind of a weird thing and it'll be interesting to see how, like you reference Connor, if career trajectories are affected at all because of this, and um, just that the opportunity to get to be less prepared, um, to be have less reps going into this year. You know, I don't know, uh, you know, it's um, I lost my train of thought for a second there, Connor, But yeah, I was just, uh, I don't know, I don't know what to expect from any of these rookies when you were in high school, and um, I don't know if this ever happened at at your high school, but like we would have these times where you know, some like Traine anzy At family would like come through maybe it was like military related or um we had like a missionary focused college near our hometown. So there were a lot of families that would be there for like a year, and then they would move somewhere else, and like all of a sudden, this great athlete would just emerge at a practice one day, and all the coaches are like, how do we figure this out? You know, how do we incorporate this person? And you know, it's almost like that where you're learning. You're you're at a new high school, You're meeting all these new people for the first time, you're maybe learning the sport UH from a fundamental level for the first time, and and what that must be like. You know how eye opening that is. You know, I'm sure that all of our listeners have watched the seminal NBC UH sports series Friday Night Lights, the adaptation of the movie, and in season two, when Matt Saracen starts to struggle, there was Voodoo Tatum, whose family was displaced by Hurricane Katrina. He comes in UH, he gets Matt sara Orson gets benched Foodoo Tatum incredibly talented, can throw the ball the length of the football field, and but did he fit in with the team, you know, and uh, and and and was he ready to be part of a team. So I don't know. These are all the questions that coaches are gonna have to answer this offseason. I really miss our Friday movie pod Connor. I know, you should watch Friday Night Lights. That would be like a good Yeah. I actually watched part of one of the first seasons. I think I have a DVD set. I think so a friend gave it to me at some point, so, um, but yeah, that just made me think of our football movies that we used to watch on Friday's or record for a Friday podcast. That was a fun summer activity spent in when we could gather in a small conference room with some beverages and uh have a little relaxing afternoon without large concerns looming over our head. You're not, though, uh week side pod gag because uh, I did get Jenny on board um with a new show. And Jonathan Jones are former colleague who works at CBS. Jenny's sister, my wife, our former editor Bett Marston. We have a we have a powerhouse chat on Wednesdays now during lifetimes Married at first Sight and let me tell you what it. We're cooking with gasoline right now. I mean this is uh, you know, we're we're we're figuring out this social distance thing, like we we I think we've got it. I have to say that my sister was really a spark and that first week, you know, breakout star, the breakout star, she didn't know who everybody on the text chain was. She didn't have everybody's number. She had, she knew who you and me were, but she didn't know exactly like which number corresponded to which other person. So I will have to instruct her. But despite that, she was bringing lots of new information about some of the contestants that she had looked up and had lots of insightful commentary. She's, you know, a seasoned expert of married at first Sight like her Connor um so could really provide that that depth acknowledge to the analysis. Yeah, I would say to that. You know, hey, if any of our listeners, by the way, um you know, we would love to do another mail bag episode soon. So weak side pod at gmail dot com. That's weak Side pod at gmail dot com. You can ask us about Mary at first Sight. You can ask us about football, you can ask us about I don't know books are reading during social distancing. I just finished my fifth book since COVID started. This is not like a brag, um, but it sounds a little bit like it. But knowing your personality, I knew better. No, yeah, um, and some of them were very bad. Um, but I felt the need to get through them. Um and uh so I just my other hall from Amazon started to arrive today. I just got owned so hard. Oh it was really good, Shelby, well done. I enjoyed that. Yeah. Um, but you know we got another hall of books. Like, if you're reading anything good, drop us the line in on weakside pot at gmail dot com. You know, um, you can ask us about any of that stuff too. I mean, you know, we're we're around and we might need We're gonna have some time, you know, I don't think we're gonna get rolling anytime soon. Here or some vegetable recipes. That was our alternative podcast idea for today. And you know, Connor and I have always had this kind of backup plan that you know, if our careers went south, we could start a vegetarian or vegan. What did we decide just vegetable based talk, vegetable based vegetable based talk area called roots in New Jersey. UM. Neither of us have any experience in the restaurant business, so this is a wildly um unlikely idea. UM, but you know, it's always been kind of our backup plan. So if you have any vegetable based UM recipe ideas that we could keep in our back pocket for or was it route Yeah, yeah, okay for route Okay, I want to make sure and and just kind of bouncing off that too, because I actually was thinking about this the other DAYCU. Remember I texted you during a particularly UM I don't know what what what was going on, but I was like, oh, man, like maybe I will need a backup plan at some point. And there was a vacant restaurant space near my house. Oh I remember this. I passed it not too long ago, and I was I don't know why, but like I think I was like on a run or something, and I was like, oh, you know what, like if we're going to do the vegetarian talka reel, like we have to think about alternative tortilla UM, like a vegetable based tortilla that is gluten free, and like I don't know why, but like I started, my mind started kind of going off in that way. So anyway, if if you have any of that too, like if there's a way to make like a beat tortilla or something like that, you know, um, we really we we got to cover all of our bases here before we start talking to investors. I've had almond flower tortillas, but that presents an issue for people if they have a tree nut allergy. That's another option. Yeah, they're pretty good, They're pretty good. Yeah, I prefer corn tortillas, but um, but yeah, it was it was interesting to try. Yeah. Well, thank you for joining us today for our burning questions and we will be back later this week with another podcast. The mm QB week Side Podcast is me Jenny Rerentis and Connor Or. We are produced by Shelby Royston Sizes Executive producer and podcasts is Scott Brody, Ben Eagles, Director of editorial Projects and product Mark Mravik is Ameritus executive Director the mm QB. Keep up with our entire lineup of podcast five days a week by subscribing to the mm QB NFL Podcasts for free on Apple Podcasts. And while you're there, please do us a favor and leave a rating and review. It really does help other people find the show, which is also available on Spotify, Radio dot com, Sitcher, as i dot com, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. M