# Mike Florio on Hawks’ QBs, Watson, Atlanta, Arizona, Bad First Weeks, KC

An episode of [Softy & Dick Interviews](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1245866571), 16 Sep 2026, 12 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/98a2599f-cd9b-4f2a-9be4-b22c00e585f2/907d6469-cef5-4bda-9f13-b2f100f49399/1c6ad84e-3876-4fb9-968d-b4c701801765/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=26b16ce4-8fab-44ea-88d4-b2f100f493bc

Mike Florio of PFT and NBC joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to discuss Seattle’s quarterback situation with an injured Sam Darnold and Drew Lock stepping in, Deshaun Watson in Cleveland, who the Falcons are going to play at quarterback, the Cardinals coming off a win over the Chargers, bad week 1’s in the NFL, and if the Chiefs are back. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: It's time for a weekly conversation with pro football talks,
[0:03] Speaker 1: Mike Florio. Brought to you by Simply Seattle. Tired of
[0:06] Speaker 1: buying and repping the same old Seattle sports gear everyone
[0:09] Speaker 1: else has? For the best Storms, Seahawks, Mariners, Kraken, Rainiers, Sounders,
[0:14] Speaker 1: and not to mention the largest Sonics collection in the world,
[0:17] Speaker 1: check out simplyseattle.com. Now with Mike Florio. Here's Softie and Dick.
[0:22] Speaker 2: All right, here we go.
[0:23] Speaker 3: A chance to talk to a guy that we have
[0:25] Speaker 3: recognized multiple times as the king of NFL media.
[0:28] Speaker 4: The host.
[0:29] Speaker 3: Undisputed heavyweight champion of the NFL press corps from the
[0:32] Speaker 3: NFL and NBC, profootballtalk.com, PFT Live, our friend.
[0:37] Speaker 2: I want to step on your nuts right now.
[0:39] Speaker 3: Mike Florio with us. How are you, pal?
[0:41] Speaker 4: Is that me?
[0:43] Speaker 3: This?
[0:44] Speaker 2: I want to step on your nuts right now.
[0:46] Speaker 4: That is 100%.
[0:46] Speaker 3: How do you say hi? Well, you be the judge.
[0:52] Speaker 2: I want to step on your nuts right now.
[0:54] Speaker 3: I mean, I don't know what to tell you, man.
[0:55] Speaker 5: Total Florio inflection.
[0:57] Speaker 3: Hey, you know what, Mike? We are iHeartMedia. We are
[1:00] Speaker 3: guaranteed human. We cannot use AI on the show.
[1:03] Speaker 1: That's right.
[1:04] Speaker 3: Everything is.
[1:09] Speaker 4: to end our civilization. So use AI.
[1:12] Speaker 3: I'm with you.
[1:12] Speaker 2: Keep it busy.
[1:13] Speaker 4: Keep it occupied.
[1:14] Speaker 3: I'm with you, man. Skynet will be turned on at
[1:16] Speaker 3: some point, and we are done-sy. I totally agree with that. But, hey,
[1:20] Speaker 3: speaking of that, Sam Darnold's done for at least this Sunday.
[1:23] Speaker 3: What's your read on this, man? What's your read on
[1:25] Speaker 3: how long you think the Hawks will be without their
[1:26] Speaker 3: starting quarterback?
[1:28] Speaker 4: Well, I was told over the weekend it could be
[1:30] Speaker 4: four to six weeks. And, of course, Seahawks fans reacted
[1:33] Speaker 4: very reasonably to that. Didn't shoot the messenger. Didn't decry
[1:38] Speaker 4: the suggestion as phony and fake and made up. And
[1:41] Speaker 4: as I've said many times over the years, if I'm
[1:43] Speaker 4: going to make stuff up, it would be a lot
[1:45] Speaker 4: more interesting. Then Sam Donald could miss four to six weeks.
[1:48] Speaker 4: Jay Glazer reported on Sunday he got that glute tendon
[1:52] Speaker 4: issue and that they were gathering up to four second opinions.
[1:55] Speaker 4: You know, when you gather up to four second opinions,
[1:57] Speaker 4: you do that because you don't like what you're hearing.
[2:00] Speaker 4: So they want to be very cautious. They need to
[2:03] Speaker 4: be very careful. They have a team that's built to
[2:06] Speaker 4: win without him in the short term. They don't want
[2:08] Speaker 4: to lose him for the long haul. They got the
[2:10] Speaker 4: money games coming up later this year, specifically Christmas with
[2:14] Speaker 4: the Rams and then the playoffs after that. So they're
[2:16] Speaker 4: going to be smart. They're going to be judicious. And
[2:18] Speaker 4: they're just taking a wait and see approach. But I'm
[2:21] Speaker 4: not saying it will be four to six. It could
[2:23] Speaker 4: be four to six. And as Glazer said, seeking up
[2:27] Speaker 4: to four different second opinions to try to hear something
[2:29] Speaker 4: that they like and that they're willing to incorporate.
[2:32] Speaker 2: But this is a very rare, unusual injury to that 10.
[2:35] Speaker 4: It could have been much worse. And we don't know
[2:38] Speaker 4: how bad it's going to be. It's going to be
[2:39] Speaker 4: one week at a time. And also, there's a strategic
[2:42] Speaker 4: advantage the Seahawks seem to be embracing. They put out
[2:44] Speaker 4: a statement earlier this week. about it they're creating this
[2:48] Speaker 4: mystery as to whether or not he's going to be
[2:49] Speaker 4: available if you can at some point get another team
[2:53] Speaker 4: to spend time preparing for two quarterbacks that dilutes the
[2:57] Speaker 4: amount of time they can prepare for either one that
[2:59] Speaker 4: gives you an edge so you don't want your quarterback
[3:01] Speaker 4: to be injured but there is an opening there to
[3:04] Speaker 4: take advantage of the uncertainty that you can create as the.
[3:07] Speaker 5: Injury unfolds do you feel fairly comfortable that then hawks
[3:11] Speaker 5: can survive a month without sam darnold without multiple losses.
[3:16] Speaker 2: That's a big fan.
[3:18] Speaker 4: Drew Locke has played decent football over the years. He
[3:21] Speaker 4: had that great Monday night game against the Eagles. Remember that?
[3:25] Speaker 2: He was emotional afterward.
[3:26] Speaker 4: It was a great moment. He won the game on Wednesday. Now, frankly,
[3:30] Speaker 4: the Patriots blew it twice when they were up 10-0.
[3:33] Speaker 4: They squandered the lead, and then they had the chance
[3:36] Speaker 4: to at least force overtime. They got a little too greedy.
[3:38] Speaker 4: And the next thing you know, the game's over. But
[3:40] Speaker 4: I think the Seahawks can plan and put together– package
[3:45] Speaker 4: each and every week.
[3:46] Speaker 2: That is aimed at getting the absolute most out of
[3:48] Speaker 2: Drew Locke.
[3:49] Speaker 4: And then you've also got Jalen Milrow lurking if he
[3:52] Speaker 4: ever gets to the point where you decide that that's
[3:54] Speaker 4: an avenue that you want to go. And I have
[3:56] Speaker 4: no idea if that's something that they'd be thinking about doing,
[3:59] Speaker 4: but they have him available and we know how much
[4:01] Speaker 4: they liked him when they drafted him. So he's around
[4:04] Speaker 4: and Locke is the guy and Sam.
[4:07] Speaker 2: Darnold will recover. And it could have been a hell
[4:10] Speaker 2: of a lot worse.
[4:11] Speaker 4: They were fearing a fractured hip socket, which would have
[4:13] Speaker 4: ended his season after five snaps. Right.
[4:15] Speaker 3: Well, Mike Florio is with us. And speaking of an
[4:18] Speaker 3: end to the season, is it possible that if Deshaun
[4:21] Speaker 3: Watson plays terribly this Sunday against the Bucs, that his
[4:25] Speaker 3: starting job will be taken away and the Browns in
[4:28] Speaker 3: week three against Carolina are going to Shadur Sanders and
[4:31] Speaker 3: asking him to be the conquering hero?
[4:34] Speaker 4: When they decided to make Deshaun Watson the starter for
[4:37] Speaker 4: week one, the main reason they were doing that, it's
[4:40] Speaker 4: pretty simple. they knew that they had two road games
[4:46] Speaker 4: to begin the season. And with those two road games,
[4:51] Speaker 4: you can roll the dice with Deshaun Watson. If they
[4:53] Speaker 4: had started at home, there's no way they could have
[4:56] Speaker 4: put him out there. So the goal was, the hope was,
[4:58] Speaker 4: he plays well enough and the team plays well enough
[5:00] Speaker 4: at Jacksonville and then this weekend at Tampa Bay that
[5:03] Speaker 4: they could let him start week three against the Carolina Panthers.
[5:06] Speaker 4: Based on what we saw week one, I don't think
[5:08] Speaker 4: you can play him week three. And then he said
[5:11] Speaker 4: today that the media wants to see him and expects
[5:13] Speaker 4: to see.
[5:14] Speaker 2: Him throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns.
[5:16] Speaker 4: I don't know anybody in the media that thinks he
[5:18] Speaker 4: can do that. If anything, we look at him and
[5:20] Speaker 4: we say, what happened to the guy who used to
[5:22] Speaker 4: be a good quarterback? Is that ever going to come back?
[5:23] Speaker 2: Is he ever going to get close to that?
[5:25] Speaker 4: No one is expecting him to be great. If anything,
[5:28] Speaker 4: we're just sitting back and waiting for when Shadur Sanders plays.
[5:31] Speaker 4: And I think at some point, Dylan Gabriel is going
[5:33] Speaker 4: to be the starter because I think when we see
[5:35] Speaker 4: Shadur Sanders, he's going to have– a rough time.
[5:39] Speaker 2: He's going to.
[5:40] Speaker 4: Not be what they need him to be. And they're
[5:42] Speaker 4: going to want to see what Dylan Gabriel can do
[5:44] Speaker 4: as they're evaluating what their plans will be for 2027.
[5:46] Speaker 5: Speaking of quarterback situation, who's going to play in Atlanta
[5:50] Speaker 5: this week?
[5:53] Speaker 2: Good question.
[5:53] Speaker 4: And look, they've got four guys on the roster for
[5:55] Speaker 4: a reason. They really don't have one guy who's ready
[5:58] Speaker 4: to go and perform at a high level. It was
[6:00] Speaker 4: going to be Tua Tonga-Vailoa. Then he had the oblique
[6:03] Speaker 4: injury last Thursday during practice warm-ups. And then Michael Penix Jr.
[6:08] Speaker 3: they.
[6:09] Speaker 2: I think are mildly frustrated that he's not back.
[6:12] Speaker 4: He's not ready to go. They think he's physically okay.
[6:15] Speaker 4: When you have a torn ACL, you have to be
[6:17] Speaker 4: comfortable with the idea of dropping back and having a
[6:19] Speaker 4: lot of bodies, limbs, torsos, arms around your legs and
[6:25] Speaker 4: maybe hitting your legs. And you have to be.
[6:27] Speaker 2: Comfortable with that.
[6:28] Speaker 4: Carson Palmer had... a struggle when he tore his ACL
[6:31] Speaker 4: in the 2005 playoffs. He has been said it took
[6:34] Speaker 4: him a full season plus another six or seven games
[6:36] Speaker 4: to get comfortable with the idea of all that stuff
[6:39] Speaker 4: that goes on around your legs. So he's just got
[6:41] Speaker 4: to get comfortable. Look at what Malik neighbors, the giant
[6:43] Speaker 4: receiver went through. He wasn't sure he wanted to play
[6:46] Speaker 4: John Harbaugh. The head coach tackled him during pregame warmups to.
[6:50] Speaker 2: Let him see that.
[6:51] Speaker 4: Yes, you'll be okay.
[6:52] Speaker 2: You'll be able to, to play and not suffer painfully.
[6:55] Speaker 4: You know, another injury. So they, they want Pennix to
[6:58] Speaker 4: come back.
[6:58] Speaker 2: He's still not ready.
[7:00] Speaker 4: Cooper rushes the guy. I think they should just go
[7:02] Speaker 4: with Jack Strand undrafted out of Minnesota state. Morehead stayed there.
[7:06] Speaker 4: Didn't take an NIL deal.
[7:08] Speaker 2: I think he's the.
[7:08] Speaker 4: Closest thing they have to Matt Ryan in a fallout fails.
[7:11] Speaker 2: Just give Matt Ryan a helmet and let him go
[7:12] Speaker 2: back out there.
[7:13] Speaker 3: Yeah, Mike Flora with us. And, Mike, this Cardinal team
[7:16] Speaker 3: the Seahawks are going to see on Sunday just came
[7:18] Speaker 3: off a really nice win against the Chargers. I mean,
[7:22] Speaker 3: is this Cardinal team maybe better than we thought? The
[7:24] Speaker 3: Chargers maybe worse than we thought? What do you make
[7:26] Speaker 3: of this Cardinal team with Jacoby Brissett that we'll see
[7:29] Speaker 3: on Sunday?
[7:30] Speaker 4: Probably both.
[7:31] Speaker 2: And, look, a lot of people just assume Jacoby Brissett's.
[7:34] Speaker 4: Not any good. You know, he's the NFL passing yardage
[7:37] Speaker 4: leader since he became the starter last year in place
[7:39] Speaker 4: of Kyler Murray. He is a solid option. He is
[7:44] Speaker 4: the guy that can win football games. And I think
[7:46] Speaker 4: it's a combination of the Cardinals being better than we
[7:49] Speaker 4: expected and the Chargers maybe being a little overhyped. Because
[7:52] Speaker 4: they always seem to be. It's always something with the Chargers,
[7:55] Speaker 4: whether it's injuries, whether it's ugly losses. And then you've
[7:58] Speaker 4: got Jim Harbaugh, who will not let this Justin Herbert
[8:01] Speaker 4: is going to be the greatest quarterback in NFL history
[8:03] Speaker 4: thing go. That doesn't help Herbert. That doesn't help anyone.
[8:06] Speaker 4: If anything, Herbert's going to wake up one day and say– Well,
[8:09] Speaker 4: maybe the reason that I'm not winning playoff games is
[8:11] Speaker 4: I need to be on a better team like Matthew
[8:13] Speaker 4: Stafford did. So it's just an ugly situation. And I
[8:17] Speaker 4: know it's only Harbaugh's third year, and I know he
[8:19] Speaker 4: went to the playoffs each of the last two years.
[8:21] Speaker 4: They were one and done both years. If they have
[8:23] Speaker 4: a disaster of a season, I don't rule out anything
[8:27] Speaker 4: once this season ends.
[8:28] Speaker 5: Mike Flora joining us. You know, Mike, the week between
[8:32] Speaker 5: the week one weekend and the week two weekend is
[8:34] Speaker 5: the biggest overreaction week of the year. And like I
[8:37] Speaker 5: made the comment yesterday, it's like we evaluate these teams
[8:39] Speaker 5: for five months in the offseason. Are we supposed to
[8:42] Speaker 5: just throw away our entire five months of valuation of
[8:46] Speaker 5: these teams based upon four quarters of football? Is that
[8:49] Speaker 5: what we should do? Or should we be a little
[8:51] Speaker 5: more nuanced about it?
[8:54] Speaker 2: Well.
[8:54] Speaker 4: I don't think we throw away the entire evaluation. And
[8:57] Speaker 4: I don't think it's overreaction. It is the normal, usual reaction.
[9:01] Speaker 4: How many times does it happen before we say, hey,
[9:04] Speaker 4: that's just the way it happens? That's the reaction when
[9:06] Speaker 4: people care so intensely about the sport and each game
[9:10] Speaker 4: means so much. And you've had all this time to
[9:13] Speaker 4: prepare for this opponent you've known since May is going
[9:16] Speaker 4: to be your week one opponent. If you come out
[9:18] Speaker 4: and you just look like you know what, that's going
[9:21] Speaker 4: to make the fan base very upset and very concerned.
[9:24] Speaker 4: And I think some of the teams that need to
[9:25] Speaker 4: be concerned, the Broncos, to look as bad as they did.
[9:29] Speaker 4: Anybody who just no-showed week one, especially if you no-show
[9:32] Speaker 4: against a division rival, what in the world do we
[9:35] Speaker 4: expect this year? And the reality is, Teams are going
[9:38] Speaker 4: to change from week one to week 18. They're going
[9:40] Speaker 4: to get better or they're going to get worse. Very
[9:42] Speaker 4: rarely do you have a team that is just flatline
[9:44] Speaker 4: the whole year. Maybe the Steelers are the closest thing
[9:46] Speaker 4: we've seen to that, where they're just always kind of
[9:48] Speaker 4: the same. Change coaches, they're still kind of the same
[9:50] Speaker 4: that they've always been. For the most part, teams get better,
[9:53] Speaker 4: teams get worse. There's no reason to panic. If you
[9:55] Speaker 4: win week one, all it means is your worst possible
[9:58] Speaker 4: record is going to be one in 16. If you
[10:00] Speaker 4: lose week one, all it means is your best possible
[10:03] Speaker 4: record is going to be 16-1. And there was a
[10:04] Speaker 4: Panthers team that won in Minnesota 2001, lost every game
[10:08] Speaker 4: after that. Yeah.
[10:09] Speaker 3: Are the Chiefs back?
[10:10] Speaker 2: I don't think they ever left.
[10:13] Speaker 4: I think last year was just kind of a weird
[10:15] Speaker 4: aberration where that habit they have of trying to snatch
[10:20] Speaker 4: victory from the jaws of defeat. You know, sometimes when
[10:23] Speaker 4: Indiana Jones slips back for his hat, that stone wall
[10:26] Speaker 4: crushes his arm. And I think that's what happened to
[10:29] Speaker 4: the Chiefs a few times last year. And then Patrick
[10:31] Speaker 4: Holmes gets injured and they just got written off. They
[10:33] Speaker 4: should not be written off. I picked them to win
[10:35] Speaker 4: that division, not that it means anything. And if they don't,
[10:37] Speaker 4: you'll never hear me say it again. I'm not surprised
[10:40] Speaker 4: at all that they won that game. I am mildly
[10:43] Speaker 4: surprised that they stuck to the run the way they did.
[10:45] Speaker 4: I know they paid Kenneth Walker III. But I said,
[10:48] Speaker 4: you know, they're like the guy that gets a membership
[10:51] Speaker 4: to the gym and says he's going to go.
[10:52] Speaker 2: Every day because he's bought the membership.
[10:55] Speaker 4: Once it's time to wake up and go, that guy
[10:57] Speaker 4: may not be going to the gym.
[10:59] Speaker 2: And I thought once it was time to go play,
[11:01] Speaker 2: Andy Reid's going to.
[11:01] Speaker 4: Be dialing up pass play, pass play, pass play. But
[11:04] Speaker 4: this plays perfectly as long as Kenneth Walker III stays healthy.
[11:10] Speaker 4: I think that's one of the reasons why the Seahawks
[11:12] Speaker 4: decided to go ahead and make the change. They didn't
[11:14] Speaker 4: have the consistent durability they were looking for. He got
[11:17] Speaker 4: hot at the perfect time, and he carried it into
[11:20] Speaker 4: week one. But there's 16 more games. And the way
[11:22] Speaker 4: he was running the other night, I don't know if
[11:24] Speaker 4: that's sustainable for anyone. I have the same concern about
[11:27] Speaker 4: Jameer Gibbs. And Detroit had 34 touches week one, and
[11:30] Speaker 4: David Montgomery in Houston had 23. It's a long season. We–
[11:34] Speaker 4: We can't really envision a running back getting 20 to
[11:37] Speaker 4: 30 touches or more per week and making it through
[11:40] Speaker 4: a full season. No doubt.
[11:41] Speaker 3: All right, man. Mike, great stuff.
[11:43] Speaker 2: I want to step on your nuts right now.
[11:45] Speaker 3: You're the best. We'll talk in a week.
[11:48] Speaker 4: Bye. See you. Mike, see?
[11:49] Speaker 2: The pause?
[11:51] Speaker 5: Well, yeah, he was waiting for something to say.
[11:52] Speaker 3: But you heard the pause. I'm telling you. The pause. Mike,
[11:56] Speaker 3: see you later.
[11:57] Speaker 4: Okay.
[11:58] Speaker 5: Does he want to say something snarky?
[12:01] Speaker 3: He's trying to formulate some smart-ass response, and if he can't,
[12:05] Speaker 3: he just hangs up and he moves on.
[12:07] Speaker 4: I'm with you.
[12:08] Speaker 3: Let's get a break. Factor Fiction brought to you by
[12:10] Speaker 3: the Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel. It's Wednesday. It's Jackson's Day.
[12:15] Speaker 4: Coming up next.

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