# The Insiders Podcast: Kyler Murray suffers concussion in Sunday's win over Packers + Mahomes is back with Chiefs win over Broncos in MNF

An episode of [NFL: The Insiders](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1543090622), 16 Sep 2026, 41 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/0414225e-5167-477f-9f83-ae390070e4d2/f5fde399-91a3-40e6-abd0-b4c700150d6e/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=3e412703-0644-468e-9001-ae390070e4db

Rhett Lewis is joined by NFL Insiders Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Jeff Darlington to talk about all the QB situations in flux. Vikings QB Kyle Murray left the field with a concussion, while backup Carson Wentz lead the team to a win against the Packers on Sunday. They also discuss Cooper Rush, Drew Lock and their performances in Week 1. Patrick Mahomes is back from his ACL injury leading the Chiefs to win in Monday Night Football against the Broncos. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: As we welcome you to a brand new week of
[0:02] Speaker 1: the Insiders presented by Progressive Insurance. Alongside our Insiders, Ian Rappaport,
[0:06] Speaker 1: Mike Garofalo, and Jeff Darlington, I am Rhett Lewis. Friends,
[0:10] Speaker 1: let's get this thing rolling with a backup quarterback and
[0:13] Speaker 1: the biggest comeback.
[0:14] Speaker 2: Of week one going hand-in-hand.
[0:16] Speaker 1: Kyler Murray suffering a concussion in the first quarter. Carson
[0:19] Speaker 1: Wentz steadies the ship down 22-10 with 20 minutes left
[0:22] Speaker 1: to play. And the Vikings rattle off 29 unanswered points,
[0:27] Speaker 1: winning 39-14. to 22 over their division rival Green Bay Packers.
[0:32] Speaker 2: So Mike, let's.
[0:33] Speaker 1: Start right there with the quarterback situation in Minnesota and
[0:37] Speaker 1: Kyler Murray's availability here moving forward into week two.
[0:40] Speaker 3: They have to see how he goes through the week.
[0:42] Speaker 3: Obviously on this one, the concussion protocol, Rhett, is something
[0:45] Speaker 3: you really can't predict.
[0:47] Speaker 2: And I know that he was feeling better.
[0:49] Speaker 3: When he got there on Monday after suffering the concussion
[0:52] Speaker 3: on Sunday with the fencing pose as well before he
[0:55] Speaker 3: yielded to Carson Wentz. And all the Vikings can really
[0:58] Speaker 3: do as the week begins is prepare for life with
[1:00] Speaker 3: Carson Wentz as your starting quarterback this upcoming week. And
[1:04] Speaker 3: given everything he did last year and the fact that
[1:06] Speaker 3: he was willing to play through some things, that's why
[1:08] Speaker 3: he got back there with Minnesota. And he played well.
[1:10] Speaker 3: I mean, this is a busted play or a free play,
[1:13] Speaker 3: I should say. And he takes a shot and he
[1:15] Speaker 3: connects there.
[1:16] Speaker 2: And you saw the.
[1:16] Speaker 3: Confidence the entire offense had in him down the stretch
[1:19] Speaker 3: of this game to generate that comeback. So right now
[1:23] Speaker 3: we'll see how it goes for Carson Wentz or for
[1:25] Speaker 3: Kyler Murray, excuse me, as he progresses this week, if
[1:28] Speaker 3: he progresses enough. But right now it sounds like Minnesota
[1:31] Speaker 3: is looking at it like Carson Wentz is going to
[1:32] Speaker 3: have to be our guy.
[1:35] Speaker 4: And it really will be able to tell a lot, Mike,
[1:36] Speaker 4: on whether or not Kyler Murray is able to practice
[1:39] Speaker 4: on Wednesday. If he does, then we'll have a pretty
[1:42] Speaker 4: good idea that he at least has a shot on Sunday. Otherwise,
[1:45] Speaker 4: it is going to be Carson Wentz once again. And
[1:47] Speaker 4: we spent so much time talking about J.J. McCarthy versus
[1:50] Speaker 4: Kyler Murray. It seemed at no point was Carson Wentz
[1:53] Speaker 4: ever in that quarterback derby. Yet where he finds himself
[1:57] Speaker 4: right now is a really interesting situation. He played really
[2:00] Speaker 4: well last Sunday, led them back three touchdowns in the
[2:02] Speaker 4: fourth quarter. If he plays well again, then we're going
[2:06] Speaker 4: to have to have at some point a conversation about
[2:10] Speaker 4: whether or not Carson Wentz has a shot at this job. Obviously,
[2:13] Speaker 4: they would love if Kyle was the starter. That was
[2:15] Speaker 4: the whole idea. But if Wentz continues to play well
[2:19] Speaker 4: in a system that he knows extremely well for an
[2:21] Speaker 4: organization that brought him back for this reason, at the
[2:25] Speaker 4: very least, the Vikings will have an excellent, excellent problem.
[2:28] Speaker 5: On their hands.
[2:29] Speaker 1: Already proving Kevin O'Connell right, putting Carson Wentz into that
[2:32] Speaker 1: second spot ahead of.
[2:33] Speaker 2: The former first-round pick, J.J. McCarthy.
[2:36] Speaker 1: Okay, guys, another quarterback conversation we're having right now in Atlanta.
[2:41] Speaker 1: Where Cooper Rush started the opener in place of Tua Tungavailoa,
[2:44] Speaker 1: who was injured in practice heading into the opener.
[2:46] Speaker 2: Michael Penix, of course, was going to be.
[2:48] Speaker 1: Inactive the whole time. Rush with a touchdown and two
[2:51] Speaker 1: picks in the 20-13 loss to the Steelers. So, Ian,
[2:54] Speaker 1: back to you on how the Falcons are preparing their
[2:58] Speaker 1: quarterback room for Week 2 now against the Carolina Panthers.
[3:02] Speaker 4: Well, the Atlanta Falcons are at least preparing the media
[3:05] Speaker 4: to talk to Cooper Rush tomorrow. As a placeholder, yes,
[3:09] Speaker 4: but he is on the list for the starting quarterback
[3:12] Speaker 4: press conference. No decisions made, let me be clear. But
[3:15] Speaker 4: that basically is where it stands with Michael Penix Jr.
[3:18] Speaker 4: They would like him to be the starter. Best case scenario,
[3:21] Speaker 4: Penix is a starter. Just doesn't seem quite ready as
[3:24] Speaker 4: he tries to come back from that torn ACL. We'll
[3:27] Speaker 4: see Sunday, but my guess is probably week three is
[3:30] Speaker 4: the more likely option. Tua Tagovailoa is still dealing with
[3:33] Speaker 4: an oblique injury. Didn't allow him to play last week.
[3:36] Speaker 4: That's generally not a one-week injury. So that's where Cooper
[3:39] Speaker 4: Rush likely finds himself, Jeff. From QB3 to probable starter
[3:45] Speaker 4: having a chance to just kind of get the ball
[3:48] Speaker 4: in hands of the really good playmakers and just let
[3:51] Speaker 4: this thing go.
[3:52] Speaker 5: That's their only shot here.
[3:55] Speaker 6: Yeah, the old Bill Parcells adage, if you have two quarterbacks,
[3:58] Speaker 6: you don't have one. It turns out that was exactly
[4:01] Speaker 6: right for the Falcons. Literally all camp wondering who would
[4:04] Speaker 6: be Penix or Tua, and now it's neither of them.
[4:06] Speaker 6: So with Tua, I think that the frustrating component here
[4:10] Speaker 6: is that once again, it's an injury that's getting in
[4:13] Speaker 6: the way of his ability to play. The availability has
[4:17] Speaker 6: been an issue in Miami. I covered him closely in
[4:20] Speaker 6: Miami and it wasn't just the concussions. He did miss
[4:23] Speaker 6: 17 games over the span of his tenure with the Dolphins.
[4:27] Speaker 6: Now a lot of those were the concussion, nine of
[4:29] Speaker 6: which were the concussions, but there were also concussions. Different
[4:32] Speaker 6: injuries like thumb, fractured ribs, fractured fingers, a hip injury.
[4:36] Speaker 6: And then now we're talking about an oblique. So this
[4:39] Speaker 6: is something that Falcons fans will have to get used to.
[4:41] Speaker 6: And part of the reason why, if they can get
[4:43] Speaker 6: Michael Penix healthy, it does feel like from an availability standpoint,
[4:47] Speaker 6: that would potentially be the more consistent option.
[4:50] Speaker 1: Did get 29 touches for Bishan Robinson in this game,
[4:53] Speaker 1: which seems like a pretty good pathway forward for the
[4:56] Speaker 1: Falcons while they sort out the quarterback situation there. And
[4:59] Speaker 1: yet another quarterback availability situation to get to here on
[5:03] Speaker 1: this Tuesday edition of the Insiders, talking about.
[5:05] Speaker 2: Sam Darnold and the Seahawks. Some good news.
[5:09] Speaker 1: In the face of near disaster for the reigning Super
[5:11] Speaker 1: Bowl champs after the Wednesday opener, Darnold forced from that
[5:14] Speaker 1: win over New England and will miss week two, but
[5:16] Speaker 1: the prognosis remains.
[5:17] Speaker 2: Positive moving forward.
[5:19] Speaker 1: Ian, back with us here to kind of take us
[5:22] Speaker 1: through the roller coaster of emotions for both Darnold and
[5:26] Speaker 1: the Seahawks following this injury after it happened on Wednesday night.
[5:31] Speaker 4: I appreciate that you changed the lower third right there
[5:33] Speaker 4: from hip to glute because that really is what changed.
[5:36] Speaker 4: We thought it was a hip injury. Actually, it seemed
[5:38] Speaker 4: when it happened like it was a serious injury. You
[5:40] Speaker 4: want to talk about the roller coaster. He went from
[5:42] Speaker 4: the field to the blue tent, to the locker room
[5:45] Speaker 4: to get an x-ray, to the hospital to get a
[5:47] Speaker 4: CT scan and stayed overnight at the hospital. At that point,
[5:50] Speaker 4: you're just thinking like, how bad is this for Darnold?
[5:53] Speaker 4: Then you actually get the results of the test and
[5:55] Speaker 4: learn that he is more day-to-day than week-to-week, not going
[5:59] Speaker 4: an injured reserve, obviously going to miss this week. There
[6:02] Speaker 4: is at least an outside chance that he plays against
[6:04] Speaker 4: the Commanders week three. We'll see. Probably the week four
[6:08] Speaker 4: game is the more likely bet for Darnold. But considering
[6:11] Speaker 4: what it looked like at the time, you watch him
[6:13] Speaker 4: hobbling off the field, that does not seem good. The
[6:16] Speaker 4: fact that he could just miss two games and then
[6:19] Speaker 4: be back is an excellent outcome for the Seahawks.
[6:24] Speaker 6: So Drew Locke stepping in, honestly, is a really interesting
[6:28] Speaker 6: thing here in a game in which now he'll play
[6:30] Speaker 6: a team in the Arizona Cardinals who suddenly showed that
[6:33] Speaker 6: they're ready to win too. Jacoby Brissett and Drew Locke
[6:36] Speaker 6: essentially trying to play the same type of game here.
[6:38] Speaker 6: Make sure that they are consistent. Make sure that they
[6:41] Speaker 6: don't make mistakes. Drew Locke can learn a lot, not
[6:44] Speaker 6: only from what Jacoby Bursette did in his week one win,
[6:47] Speaker 6: but also what Sam Darnold has done all along. He
[6:49] Speaker 6: can make sure that he can win with Seattle by
[6:52] Speaker 6: doing exactly that. He knows that he has the pieces
[6:55] Speaker 6: around him. Trust those pieces. That's what the coaching staff
[6:58] Speaker 6: is telling him this week. So they believe that if
[7:01] Speaker 6: Locke can go in there and perform exactly as he did,
[7:03] Speaker 6: be consistent, don't turn the ball over, they can continue
[7:06] Speaker 6: on this road to success.
[7:08] Speaker 1: So the Seahawks certainly celebrating their first achievement and another
[7:12] Speaker 1: quest for the crown here following the first game of
[7:15] Speaker 1: Week 1. In the last game of Week 1, kind
[7:17] Speaker 1: of felt like a coronation for the Chiefs, celebrating Patrick
[7:21] Speaker 1: Mahomes being all the way back after that Week 1,
[7:25] Speaker 1: after the ACL and LCL injury back on December 14th.
[7:29] Speaker 1: So here we go on the first night of Monday
[7:31] Speaker 1: Night Football, first quarter, Mahomes. This felt like he was
[7:35] Speaker 1: back all the way into the end zone on a
[7:38] Speaker 1: 15-yard scramble. Actually had a scramble for a touchdown right
[7:41] Speaker 1: before this that got called back due to penalty. So
[7:43] Speaker 1: did it twice, and the Chiefs are up 7-0. Third quarter,
[7:47] Speaker 1: Kenneth Walker was the story.
[7:49] Speaker 2: Of the night.
[7:49] Speaker 1: 60 yards on a fourth and one from their own 40.
[7:55] Speaker 1: And so the Super Bowl 60 MVP goes 64-6. Chiefs
[7:59] Speaker 1: extend their lead 21-7, 173 yards on the ground, a
[8:02] Speaker 1: career high for Kenneth Walker, who was not done. This
[8:07] Speaker 1: is actually a touchdown catch, his third career receiving touchdown
[8:10] Speaker 1: after the trickery that Andy Reid got from our pal Boomer.
[8:17] Speaker 7: Chris Berman sent me that play. So that's a 1936-er
[8:19] Speaker 7: right there, so.
[8:24] Speaker 7: Honestly, it was a great play. They executed it well.
[8:29] Speaker 7: We did it at training camp. We've run it before,
[8:33] Speaker 7: just not that smooth.
[8:36] Speaker 8: It's one thing to lose in a hard-fought game where
[8:39] Speaker 8: you feel like you played well. I don't feel like
[8:42] Speaker 8: we played up to our standard, and certainly that starts
[8:46] Speaker 8: with us as coaches, myself. And so Yeah, I mean,
[8:51] Speaker 8: it's disappointing. That would be a great way to describe it.
[8:55] Speaker 8: I would tend to always rather see your team play
[8:58] Speaker 8: well than not play well. And so that's why I
[9:00] Speaker 8: would say it's more difficult.
[9:03] Speaker 1: Yeah, not a great night for the Denver Broncos who
[9:06] Speaker 1: watched Kenneth Walker outproduce their entire offense. 191 total yards
[9:12] Speaker 1: for Kenneth Walker in his debut as the Kansas City Chief.
[9:15] Speaker 2: Just 176 total for Bo Nix and the Broncos. You
[9:20] Speaker 2: knew this would happen, right?
[9:22] Speaker 1: At the first sign of struggle with Sean Payton giving
[9:24] Speaker 1: up play calling duties to Davis Webb, it just so
[9:27] Speaker 1: happens that it happens on the first night of the
[9:29] Speaker 1: season for the Denver Broncos. What's your understanding of how
[9:32] Speaker 1: Payton is processing Davis Webb's first exposure call and plays here?
[9:36] Speaker 4: First of all, we did know this would happen. I
[9:38] Speaker 4: cannot believe it's literally week one or week two, whatever
[9:41] Speaker 4: it is right now. We're talking about should Davis Webb
[9:43] Speaker 4: remain the play call? It's been one week. And the
[9:46] Speaker 4: reason that Sean Payton made this move was not just
[9:49] Speaker 4: because he thought Davis Webb would be a really good
[9:51] Speaker 4: play call, although he does think he is a really good,
[9:53] Speaker 4: bright young coach. The Broncos were going to lose Webb.
[9:56] Speaker 4: He was going to go either be a head coach
[9:57] Speaker 4: somewhere or be a play calling offensive coordinator.
[10:00] Speaker 2: Somewhere else.
[10:00] Speaker 4: He's got a really good young quarterback in Bo Nix.
[10:03] Speaker 4: Davis Webb obviously had a huge role in his development.
[10:05] Speaker 4: So Peyton took a step back to try to help
[10:08] Speaker 4: the game management stuff that he does, the game CEO
[10:12] Speaker 4: stuff that Peyton does, and install Webb as the play caller.
[10:15] Speaker 4: This was not Jeff for week one. This was for
[10:19] Speaker 4: the entire season. They believe very strongly that Davis Webb
[10:22] Speaker 4: will be an excellent, excellent play caller. I think everyone
[10:26] Speaker 4: just needs to breathe a little bit and let these
[10:29] Speaker 4: things develop, right?
[10:31] Speaker 6: Well, yeah, and especially week one. I mean, I understand
[10:33] Speaker 6: the concern, and especially when you have one of the
[10:36] Speaker 6: best play callers of all time and Sean Payton sort
[10:38] Speaker 6: of waiting on the sidelines. That being said, a lot
[10:41] Speaker 6: of this does come down to Bo Nix's play as well.
[10:43] Speaker 6: You can't put it all on the play calling. And
[10:46] Speaker 6: the question there is not just Bo Nix. If we're
[10:49] Speaker 6: talking about some excuses, not just his play, but also
[10:52] Speaker 6: his ankle. This is something that obviously it was January
[10:56] Speaker 6: 17th when he fractured that ankle and he did have
[10:58] Speaker 6: a second procedure in April. He never exactly looked fully
[11:02] Speaker 6: comfortable out there. I, I think it is worth wondering
[11:06] Speaker 6: if he does feel like there's some rust there or
[11:09] Speaker 6: if we're still dealing with some lingering effects from both
[11:12] Speaker 6: ankle procedures this offseason. So again, time will tell. It's
[11:16] Speaker 6: week one, but certainly something to watch when it comes
[11:19] Speaker 6: to Bo Nix.
[11:22] Speaker 3: At a chief secondary, and look how they're playing right
[11:24] Speaker 3: there in that shot right there, playing together, which is
[11:27] Speaker 3: amazing because both of their cornerbacks, starting quarterbacks from last year,
[11:30] Speaker 3: are now Los Angeles Rams, one via trade, one via
[11:33] Speaker 3: free agency. And then Mansour Delane comes in as a
[11:37] Speaker 3: top-ten pick. He gets an interception, and he's hurt right away.
[11:41] Speaker 3: So now you're the Chiefs. You think, like, you're going
[11:42] Speaker 3: to be scrambling, and I thought about that. So the
[11:44] Speaker 3: rest of the game, probably going to have some issues
[11:47] Speaker 3: here because a lot of new parts that are coming
[11:49] Speaker 3: together here.
[11:50] Speaker 2: I didn't see any issues.
[11:51] Speaker 3: I saw guys exactly where they needed to be. I
[11:54] Speaker 3: saw a secondary that was playing together, not like it
[11:56] Speaker 3: was week one. Like it was week 18, if not
[11:59] Speaker 3: the postseason. As a credit to this entire defensive staff,
[12:02] Speaker 3: starting with Steve Spagnuolo, as well as defensive backs coach
[12:06] Speaker 3: David Merritt, who's been a longtime D-backs coach. He was
[12:09] Speaker 3: with Spags and with Tom Coughlin here with the Giants
[12:12] Speaker 3: in Jersey years ago when they were winning Super Bowls.
[12:14] Speaker 3: And he has worked with both young cornerbacks, And old
[12:18] Speaker 3: cornerbacks and safeties as well. And really did a nice
[12:21] Speaker 3: job last night of having these guys prepared, ready to play.
[12:24] Speaker 3: And then when Delane went down, still playing extremely well.
[12:27] Speaker 3: Great job by Kansas.
[12:27] Speaker 2: City last night.
[12:28] Speaker 1: And another chance to see that defense and the return
[12:31] Speaker 1: of Patrick Mahomes on Sunday night football in week two
[12:34] Speaker 1: as they host the Indianapolis Colts at Arrowhead.
[12:37] Speaker 2: Colts coming off that loss.
[12:38] Speaker 1: All right, still to come on this edition of the Insiders,
[12:41] Speaker 1: quite a commotion right over Jim Harbaugh hiring Mike McDaniel,
[12:44] Speaker 1: the excitement there to run a Chargers offense piloted by
[12:47] Speaker 1: the uber-talented Justin Herbert. But the initial result, not matching
[12:51] Speaker 1: the hype. So what's next after the Chargers fall flat.
[12:54] Speaker 2: In week one? And the best thing about Tuesday.
[12:57] Speaker 1: Is kickoff of week two is just 48 hours away.
[13:01] Speaker 1: Bills coming off a big win and ready to open
[13:03] Speaker 1: in front of the home crowd. Live reports when we
[13:06] Speaker 1: come back. Buffalo is building something bigger than a stadium.
[13:12] Speaker 1: NFL Network's new docu-series, Building Buffalo, going inside the construction
[13:16] Speaker 1: of the Bills' new Highmark Stadium. Labor, legacy, and a
[13:18] Speaker 1: city that's waited decades for this moment. You can watch
[13:21] Speaker 1: part one of two of Building Buffalo Thursday at 7 p.m.
[13:24] Speaker 1: Eastern on NFL Network and now also streaming on the
[13:27] Speaker 1: ESPN app.
[13:29] Speaker 2: Check out those.
[13:29] Speaker 1: Beautiful red end zones. Back by popular demand for the
[13:34] Speaker 1: home openers. We get ready for Bills and Lions on
[13:37] Speaker 1: Thursday night football. Both head coaches ready to see what
[13:40] Speaker 1: Bills Mafia has in store for the debut of the
[13:43] Speaker 1: new Highmark.
[13:43] Speaker 9: It's going to be outstanding energy. You know, the city
[13:48] Speaker 9: of Buffalo, it's a night that they deserve, right? And
[13:52] Speaker 9: it's going to be an outstanding environment. And it's where
[13:56] Speaker 9: we want to be and we want to play under
[13:57] Speaker 9: the lights and we want to do all that So
[13:59] Speaker 9: let's embrace it, you know, and now it's an opportunity
[14:01] Speaker 9: for us to show kind of our conviction and what
[14:03] Speaker 9: we believe in and not feel like we have to
[14:06] Speaker 9: put on a show more concerned with trying to put
[14:08] Speaker 9: on a clinic.
[14:08] Speaker 10: This will be one of those places that, you know, it'll,
[14:11] Speaker 10: it'll be, uh, it's going to be loud. Uh, their
[14:15] Speaker 10: fan base is outstanding. You know, they're, they're a lot
[14:18] Speaker 10: like our, our fan base, man. They, uh, they love
[14:22] Speaker 10: it and they show up and they're loud and, uh,
[14:25] Speaker 10: They're all in, and now you're in a new stadium.
[14:28] Speaker 10: You know, it's a new environment, and this is the
[14:30] Speaker 10: first one in that place, the christening. So, you know,
[14:34] Speaker 10: it'll be special. Man, enjoy it. Enjoy every bit of
[14:38] Speaker 10: it because that's part of all this too, man. That's
[14:41] Speaker 10: part of being able to play at a high level, competitive,
[14:44] Speaker 10: the best against the best, in that environment, on the road,
[14:49] Speaker 10: new stadium. Man, that's stuff you never forget, man. You're
[14:51] Speaker 10: telling your grandkids one day. So enjoy this.
[14:56] Speaker 1: I love Dan Campbell embracing the road atmosphere that is
[14:59] Speaker 1: sure to be on fire as the Bills open up
[15:01] Speaker 1: the new high mark. We've got this game covered for
[15:03] Speaker 1: you on both sides. Campbell, Jeremy Fowler with us. Jeremy,
[15:05] Speaker 1: let's start with how Josh Allen and the Bills are
[15:08] Speaker 1: kind of preparing for a pretty unique home opening moment
[15:11] Speaker 1: here as they open up the new high mark.
[15:12] Speaker 11: Well, Josh Allen is so locked in that that whole
[15:15] Speaker 11: $ 2. 2 billion stadium we're talking about, he wasn't entertaining the
[15:18] Speaker 11: excitement part of that. When he was asked about it,
[15:20] Speaker 11: he said, look, we got a job to do. It's
[15:22] Speaker 11: like any other game. We got to go out there
[15:24] Speaker 11: and win. Although he did add that the grass is nice.
[15:26] Speaker 11: They put in new sodding last week and the players
[15:29] Speaker 11: practiced on it today. So they're feeling good about that.
[15:31] Speaker 11: But Allen is only concerned about getting first downs here.
[15:34] Speaker 11: And talking to people in Buffalo, they really note the
[15:36] Speaker 11: longstanding synergy between head coach Joe Brady and Allen is
[15:39] Speaker 11: paying off in a big way early this season. Brady
[15:42] Speaker 11: said that, hey, we know each other so well, we
[15:44] Speaker 11: can make mistakes together. We can keep each other accountable.
[15:47] Speaker 11: We can experiment. Now they're going to experiment a little
[15:49] Speaker 11: more with the running game in this game. They want
[15:51] Speaker 11: to recharge it a little bit because James Cook only
[15:53] Speaker 11: 13 carries, 57 yards, and a fumble against Houston on Sunday.
[15:58] Speaker 11: Talking to Brady, he said that they want to get
[16:00] Speaker 11: him going because they know how valuable he is. Brady said,
[16:03] Speaker 11: I have no reservations giving Cook the ball. He's one
[16:05] Speaker 11: of the very best backs in football.
[16:07] Speaker 12: Jeremy, I talked with Jameer Gibbs who said he's going
[16:09] Speaker 12: to be watching James Cook too because he wants to
[16:11] Speaker 12: be the best back on the field on Thursday. Gibbs
[16:14] Speaker 12: said he wants to reset that. the idea of what
[16:16] Speaker 12: a running back is in this new era, and they
[16:19] Speaker 12: gave him 34 career-high touches this past week. He said,
[16:22] Speaker 12: I can take more on. His coach said, just drink
[16:25] Speaker 12: more Gatorade. That's how we'll get you through it. Long-term,
[16:28] Speaker 12: the Lions have to figure out a running back two
[16:30] Speaker 12: plan with Isaiah Pacheco and injured reserve till December, but
[16:34] Speaker 12: it won't be an issue for Thursday. They're going to
[16:35] Speaker 12: load Gibbs up. He's the center of this offense, and
[16:38] Speaker 12: they hope for him to be able to match the
[16:40] Speaker 12: explosives of Josh Allen. But on the other side, the
[16:43] Speaker 12: route to slow down Josh Allen is going to come
[16:45] Speaker 12: with their pressure and hope for turnovers. Aiden Hutchinson has
[16:49] Speaker 12: circled this game all offseason, wanting to get Josh Allen.
[16:51] Speaker 12: They've never beat the Bills in the Hutchinson era. He said, look,
[16:54] Speaker 12: he had two sacks in five games. They have to
[16:57] Speaker 12: bring the pressure from there. As far as the secondary,
[17:00] Speaker 12: they are very undermanned. On paper, a big mismatch. They're
[17:03] Speaker 12: hoping they can trick Josh Allen into some of those
[17:06] Speaker 12: turnovers with some zone blitzes. So keep an eye on
[17:08] Speaker 12: that for Thursday.
[17:10] Speaker 2: All right, getting you set for TNF.
[17:12] Speaker 1: A great one to kick off week two from the
[17:15] Speaker 1: new high mark in Orchard Park. Thanks very much, Jeremy
[17:17] Speaker 1: Fowler and Cam Wolfe. Okay, let's get to another big-time matchup.
[17:21] Speaker 1: Two teams, well, the Texans obviously a close loss to
[17:25] Speaker 1: the Bills we were just talking about, but the Bengals.
[17:27] Speaker 1: At home against the Bucs, took care of business, not
[17:30] Speaker 1: because of Joe Burrow in the offense, but the defense,
[17:33] Speaker 1: keeping the Bucs under 300 total yards and generating four takeaways.
[17:37] Speaker 2: Ian Rappaport back here with us.
[17:39] Speaker 1: Ian, how do the Bengals feel about their defensive evolution
[17:42] Speaker 1: from year one with Al Golden to week one this year?
[17:46] Speaker 4: It's not even year one. It's really midway through last year.
[17:49] Speaker 4: I would say the last third of last year when
[17:51] Speaker 4: the Cincinnati Bengals started to say, all right, no one
[17:53] Speaker 4: is noticing. All anyone's talking about is our defense is
[17:56] Speaker 4: so bad, and when are we going to fire Al Golden.
[17:58] Speaker 2: And all of that?
[17:59] Speaker 4: But they really felt like they were getting quietly better.
[18:03] Speaker 4: Those stats paired up. By the second half of last year,
[18:06] Speaker 4: they were okay. This was a great start of this year,
[18:09] Speaker 4: four takeaways, and some of those young linebackers, Demetrius Knight
[18:12] Speaker 4: is one of them who had a scoop at score,
[18:14] Speaker 4: were kind of quietly by the end of last year
[18:16] Speaker 4: learning the defense, tracking the ball, and making big plays.
[18:19] Speaker 4: That has only continued, and consider what Duke Tobin and
[18:22] Speaker 4: these Bengals front office did, which was spend a ton
[18:24] Speaker 4: of money on defense to bolster the unit and capital,
[18:28] Speaker 4: bringing in Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants with
[18:31] Speaker 4: hopes that this unit could be much better. It looks
[18:34] Speaker 4: much better. And so if you look at what the
[18:36] Speaker 4: Bengals are consistent of, like, look at the way they are,
[18:39] Speaker 4: if this defense is average, if they are just a
[18:42] Speaker 4: middle-of-the-road defense with Joe Burrow when he hits his stride,
[18:45] Speaker 4: this is going to be a team that has the
[18:47] Speaker 4: ability to go deep, deep into the playoffs.
[18:50] Speaker 1: Meanwhile, for the Texans, certainly looking to improve upon their
[18:53] Speaker 1: defensive performance in Week 1, allowing.
[18:54] Speaker 2: The Bills to score over 30 at home there in Houston.
[18:59] Speaker 2: How about the Raiders in Week 1?
[19:01] Speaker 1: Getting a win over the Miami Dolphins in the first
[19:04] Speaker 1: game of the Clint Kubiak era.
[19:06] Speaker 2: Of course, on the flip side, the Chargers falling.
[19:10] Speaker 1: To the Arizona Cardinals in their opener at home.
[19:13] Speaker 2: At SoFi Stadium.
[19:15] Speaker 1: And Not particularly, not looking really above board offensively or
[19:21] Speaker 1: defensively in that one. As you look at the Chargers'
[19:23] Speaker 1: next 10 games, it starts here with the Raiders.
[19:26] Speaker 2: And then, of course, they got the Bills, the Seahawks,
[19:27] Speaker 2: the Broncos, and the Chiefs.
[19:29] Speaker 1: A gauntlet in the AFC West. the reigning Super Bowl
[19:32] Speaker 1: champions there. And then you got week eight with the Rams,
[19:36] Speaker 1: and it doesn't get much easier for the Chargers. They've
[19:38] Speaker 1: got to figure this.
[19:39] Speaker 2: Thing out quick.
[19:39] Speaker 1: And, Mike, I feel like we spent the offseason, you know,
[19:43] Speaker 1: admiring the quirkiness of the Jim Harbaugh, Mike McDaniel relationship
[19:47] Speaker 1: and how much they were glowing about Justin Herbert.
[19:50] Speaker 2: This was not that in week one. Where do they
[19:53] Speaker 2: go from here?
[19:54] Speaker 3: You saw it while they go through that tough schedule
[19:56] Speaker 3: that you showed. And on top of that, they have
[19:59] Speaker 3: the worst rest disparity in the league as far as
[20:03] Speaker 3: number of days between games. Now, Mike North, the VP
[20:07] Speaker 3: of the NFL that does the schedule, doesn't believe in
[20:10] Speaker 3: rest disparity.
[20:11] Speaker 5: Hi, Mike.
[20:12] Speaker 3: How are you, buddy?
[20:13] Speaker 5: However.
[20:14] Speaker 2: Forget all that. Forget the scheduling.
[20:16] Speaker 3: It doesn't matter what your schedule is if you're not
[20:18] Speaker 3: going to play well.
[20:19] Speaker 2: And Jim Harbaugh, it's funny.
[20:21] Speaker 3: On Monday, I was having conversations with people, and they said, well,
[20:25] Speaker 3: they didn't play their guys in the preseason, and I
[20:27] Speaker 3: think that that's something that's being discussed internally. And then
[20:30] Speaker 3: Harbaugh just out with it, says it at his press conference. Like,
[20:32] Speaker 3: now I wish we'd played our guys in the preseason.
[20:36] Speaker 2: It's a long season.
[20:37] Speaker 3: You do that to guarantee that you're not going to
[20:39] Speaker 3: suffer any injuries in games. And teams are willing to
[20:41] Speaker 3: sacrifice sometimes what the performance might be in week one.
[20:45] Speaker 3: I hope that you can come out and perform the best,
[20:46] Speaker 3: but sometimes if it's not, it doesn't matter.
[20:49] Speaker 2: It's a long season.
[20:50] Speaker 3: In this case, the Chargers need to find a way
[20:52] Speaker 3: to get into that rhythm because this is not an excuse.
[20:54] Speaker 2: About injuries now. Usually we say it's injuries. It's not
[20:56] Speaker 2: an excuse about injuries.
[20:57] Speaker 3: It's about figuring out how they can possibly in-season correct
[21:01] Speaker 3: it in practice.
[21:02] Speaker 1: Well, the Chargers certainly weren't alone in limiting their starters'
[21:05] Speaker 1: participation in the preseason and having a rough season opener
[21:09] Speaker 1: as we get into the regular season. As we continue
[21:11] Speaker 1: here on the Insiders, the Rams certainly fit the bill
[21:14] Speaker 1: there as well, falling flat in Australia in that NFC
[21:17] Speaker 1: West division clash to open the season this past Thursday.
[21:21] Speaker 1: Cowboys also a team with Super Bowl aspirations falling short.
[21:24] Speaker 1: We'll hear from Jerry Jones next. So Jackson Dard and
[21:31] Speaker 1: Cam Scadaboo now traveling west as the Giants face off
[21:35] Speaker 1: against Matthew Stafford and the Rams at SoFi Stadium.
[21:38] Speaker 2: Don't miss Monday Night Football on Monday, 8 p.m.
[21:40] Speaker 1: Eastern on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and the ESPN app. Plus,
[21:45] Speaker 1: Peyton and Eli on ESPN2, also streaming on the ESPN app.
[21:49] Speaker 1: Jeff Darlington back here with us. Jeff, I'd say passing
[21:52] Speaker 1: grade for the Giants in the first game of the
[21:54] Speaker 1: John Harbaugh era, but now a big challenge here coming
[21:57] Speaker 1: out west to battle the L.A.
[21:59] Speaker 10: Rams.
[21:59] Speaker 1: But what does that first win kind of tell us
[22:02] Speaker 1: about how the Giants will approach this challenge here with
[22:05] Speaker 1: the Rams?
[22:07] Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, who would have thought that it feels
[22:09] Speaker 6: like the Giants have the momentum going into this Rams game,
[22:12] Speaker 6: given kind of the issues that they're facing now with
[22:14] Speaker 6: Myles Garrett, whether they bring Aaron Donald back. But it's
[22:17] Speaker 6: what the Giants did themselves that is most impressive. And yes,
[22:21] Speaker 6: we can talk about the numbers of Jackson Dart, the efficiency,
[22:24] Speaker 6: the passing completion percentage. Cam Scadaboo, what he was able
[22:28] Speaker 6: to do. But the best thing to me was 9
[22:30] Speaker 6: of 11 on third down. The best conversion rate in
[22:34] Speaker 6: decades for this team.
[22:35] Speaker 1: If they can go up.
[22:36] Speaker 6: Against the Rams and do what Harbaugh does best, which
[22:39] Speaker 6: is run the ball, they can do exactly what the
[22:41] Speaker 6: 49ers were able to do to expose that team. And
[22:45] Speaker 6: I think that the Giants, as much as it still
[22:47] Speaker 6: feels like maybe they're a bit of an underdog against
[22:50] Speaker 6: what should be a great Rams team, it at least
[22:52] Speaker 6: feels like they're going in with momentum and some proof
[22:55] Speaker 6: of concept with their offense.
[22:56] Speaker 3: You know, Jeff, we spent time this offseason talking about
[22:59] Speaker 3: the Giants and what they expect from their offense, and
[23:01] Speaker 3: I said, you know, Matt Nagy's coming over from Kansas City,
[23:04] Speaker 3: and people might say, oh, that was the offense that
[23:07] Speaker 3: he was putting together last year, and that's what the
[23:09] Speaker 3: Giants are going to do. And I kept saying, no,
[23:11] Speaker 3: they want to run the football. The great irony here is,
[23:14] Speaker 3: of course, now the Chiefs last night ran the football
[23:17] Speaker 3: as well. But Nagy and that guy, Greg Roman right there,
[23:21] Speaker 3: who has a history with both hardballs, really working well together.
[23:26] Speaker 3: I love the fact that every time they went up
[23:27] Speaker 3: to the booth, usually it's a, here's the offensive coordinator.
[23:30] Speaker 3: It was a two shot and you can bring in
[23:32] Speaker 3: Brian Callahan as well as he's serving as a member
[23:34] Speaker 3: of the offensive staff as well with his experience as
[23:37] Speaker 3: a former head coach and offensive coordinator. There's a lot
[23:40] Speaker 3: of chefs in the kitchen. And it can go badly
[23:43] Speaker 3: when that happens. But in this case, it went so well.
[23:45] Speaker 3: And talking to people inside the building, Ian, they're saying,
[23:48] Speaker 3: Greg Roman, he's a run game wizard. We saw it
[23:51] Speaker 3: on display. Of course, John Harbaugh knew from experience. He's
[23:54] Speaker 3: a run game wizard. Really put it together extremely well.
[23:56] Speaker 3: And I expect more from that from this offense.
[23:59] Speaker 4: I did notice that two-shot. That was a nice job
[24:02] Speaker 4: kind of taking, giving credit to both those guys who
[24:05] Speaker 4: helped make this Giants offense run. I want to talk
[24:07] Speaker 4: about Aaron Donald, obviously one of the biggest storylines in
[24:10] Speaker 4: the NFL basically this entire offseason. Rams signed him, came
[24:14] Speaker 4: out of retirement, has yet to play. Could he make
[24:18] Speaker 4: his return on Monday Night Football at home against the Giants?
[24:21] Speaker 5: I would say this.
[24:23] Speaker 4: There is a very, very realistic chance. It feels to me,
[24:26] Speaker 4: based on the people I've spoke with, that Aaron Donald
[24:28] Speaker 4: is targeting Monday night to return. Not going to say
[24:32] Speaker 4: he's going to get there because he's got to make
[24:34] Speaker 4: sure his body is right. He's got to make sure
[24:35] Speaker 4: he's in football shape. He's got to make sure he
[24:37] Speaker 4: can recover and return quickly.
[24:39] Speaker 2: And all those things you need.
[24:40] Speaker 4: To do when you make a comeback at 35 after
[24:43] Speaker 4: two years off. But the goal would be to be
[24:46] Speaker 4: out there against the Giants with the entire country watching.
[24:49] Speaker 4: And that would be excellent, excellent news for everybody except
[24:53] Speaker 4: for the Giants offensive line.
[24:55] Speaker 5: Indeed.
[24:55] Speaker 1: But like the Rams, the Dallas Cowboys and certainly still
[25:00] Speaker 1: have some Super Bowl aspirations, even though they fall in
[25:03] Speaker 1: week one. And Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner, is using history
[25:08] Speaker 1: to keep those expectations alive ahead of week two.
[25:14] Speaker 5: I'll go to the two teams that played in the
[25:17] Speaker 5: Super Bowl last year. They both lost their opening game.
[25:23] Speaker 5: Both teams were put together. Actually, from the back down,
[25:29] Speaker 5: they were surprisingly didn't have the annuity that you might
[25:35] Speaker 5: expect a Super Bowl to have.
[25:37] Speaker 8: But both those.
[25:37] Speaker 5: Teams lost their opening game. Both of them were that
[25:41] Speaker 5: evolved as the season went along. So very much it's important.
[25:48] Speaker 5: I've lost the first game and won the Super Bowl.
[25:51] Speaker 5: So the first game for this team was unquestionably important.
[25:58] Speaker 5: Don't get it wrong. And we all needed the excitement
[26:02] Speaker 5: of a plan executed and in place and have had
[26:07] Speaker 5: the kind of game the Giants had.
[26:11] Speaker 1: All right, so the Patriots and the Seahawks fall in
[26:14] Speaker 1: week one but find themselves in the Super Bowl.
[26:16] Speaker 2: And I love the optimism, Jeff.
[26:19] Speaker 1: How do we feel about where the Cowboys are at
[26:20] Speaker 1: following the week one loss?
[26:23] Speaker 6: I adore Jerry Jones' press conferences and these radio appearances,
[26:27] Speaker 6: but I want to point one thing out. From a
[26:29] Speaker 6: precedent standpoint, when he's using historical context, he also said
[26:33] Speaker 6: in the same interview that he has not had more
[26:35] Speaker 6: turnover in a team since the first year he bought
[26:37] Speaker 6: the Cowboys and noted, we only won one game that year.
[26:41] Speaker 6: So not exactly the precedent that we want to be
[26:44] Speaker 6: setting there. We'll go with the other one that he
[26:46] Speaker 6: pointed out. I do think that this is a team
[26:48] Speaker 6: with a lot of turnover. It is a defense that
[26:51] Speaker 6: needs to get And I do believe that the Cowboys are,
[26:54] Speaker 6: I could make an argument, the favorite to win this division,
[26:58] Speaker 6: even after what we saw from the Giants.
[27:00] Speaker 11: And the Eagles.
[27:01] Speaker 6: I can't back away from that this fast after just
[27:04] Speaker 6: one game. But this is a Cowboys team that I
[27:08] Speaker 6: believe was constructed the right way this offseason. They made
[27:10] Speaker 6: the right decisions when it came to making changes on
[27:14] Speaker 6: the defense. So yes, this is a long season ahead.
[27:17] Speaker 6: I understand what Jerry Jones is saying. But there's no
[27:20] Speaker 6: time to grow into this thing. They've got to get
[27:23] Speaker 6: it going quick. This is a team that has high expectations.
[27:26] Speaker 6: They cannot sit around and wait until this thing develops.
[27:30] Speaker 2: They do.
[27:30] Speaker 3: Sometimes it takes time, though. I mean, I talked about
[27:33] Speaker 3: Steve Spagnuolo earlier in the show. I remember in 2007,
[27:36] Speaker 3: I think it was 40 points plus in first two
[27:39] Speaker 3: games of the season, 80 points over two weeks. I
[27:42] Speaker 3: think they wound up giving total, giving up. And then
[27:44] Speaker 3: all of a sudden it hit and it didn't stop
[27:46] Speaker 3: for the rest of the season. When you're a new coordinator,
[27:48] Speaker 3: you've got to learn not only schematically, because we heard
[27:51] Speaker 3: a lot about this offseason. Christian Parker, this guy's sharp.
[27:54] Speaker 3: This guy's going to bring a lot of schematic. That's
[27:58] Speaker 3: a big call sheet comparatively that we see for some
[28:01] Speaker 3: other guys as well. But how do you coach it
[28:04] Speaker 3: up and how do you fix it in game? And
[28:05] Speaker 3: when they're running the same basic route out of the
[28:07] Speaker 3: backfield over and over. And you've got Mike Tirico and
[28:10] Speaker 3: Chris Collinsworth up in the box saying, how do you
[28:13] Speaker 3: not adjust? That's the finer points of being a defensive coordinator,
[28:17] Speaker 3: that Christian Parker learned the hard way on the job
[28:20] Speaker 3: week one. Let's see how quickly, like Jeff talked about,
[28:22] Speaker 3: see how quickly now you can fix those things and
[28:24] Speaker 3: get moving in the right direction.
[28:25] Speaker 1: Week one can be a lesson in or a test
[28:28] Speaker 1: of patience. Cowboys among a few teams dealing with that
[28:32] Speaker 1: following this first week of the regular season. Okay, time
[28:35] Speaker 1: now for good coverage presented by Progressive Insurance, and you
[28:39] Speaker 1: won't see better coverage of a punt.
[28:42] Speaker 2: This was probably the most viral singular play from week one.
[28:47] Speaker 1: Commanders Gunner, Tyler Owens, simply dominating a pair of Eagles,
[28:51] Speaker 1: sending both to the dirt on his way to the
[28:52] Speaker 1: Eagles punt returner, whom he caught in midair and then
[28:56] Speaker 1: put him to the turf. But as it turns out,
[28:58] Speaker 1: as you'll see here in this pose, Owens has a
[29:00] Speaker 1: habit of catching birds in midair.
[29:04] Speaker 2: Like he did that return.
[29:05] Speaker 1: As you can see here on this X-Post from my
[29:07] Speaker 1: pal David Collier, sports director at KAMC Lubbock, caught this
[29:10] Speaker 1: rather unique moment pregame with his own camera from Owens'
[29:14] Speaker 1: days at Texas Tech. A man of many talents, he
[29:18] Speaker 1: can catch a punt returner in midair and an actual bird.
[29:24] Speaker 2: I mean, what's more viral at that point? Okay, way
[29:29] Speaker 2: to work, Tyler Owens. Incredible play.
[29:31] Speaker 1: All right, when we come back, Two different Sundays for
[29:35] Speaker 1: the LaFleur family. Mike with the win, Matt with the loss.
[29:38] Speaker 2: We'll assess next.
[29:41] Speaker 1: Every Sunday, Game Day lineup has you covered from sunrise
[29:43] Speaker 1: to the final whistle. Game Day morning gets you set.
[29:46] Speaker 1: Game Day live keeps you in it. Game Day highlights
[29:48] Speaker 1: catches you.
[29:49] Speaker 2: Up on every big play you miss.
[29:50] Speaker 1: Tune in Sunday only on NFL Network and now also
[29:52] Speaker 1: streaming on the ESPN app. And there were plenty of
[29:55] Speaker 1: highlights from Sunday on week one.
[30:00] Speaker 2: That's who we want to be each week. We didn't
[30:02] Speaker 2: get into this profession trying to be mediocre or average.
[30:04] Speaker 6: Touchdown!
[30:05] Speaker 2: The Bears are in business. We want to be the
[30:07] Speaker 2: highest scoring, have the most wins. We want to win
[30:09] Speaker 2: the Super Bowl. That's what we do. 10-5 touchdown.
[30:12] Speaker 4: The Bears continue to pile on.
[30:15] Speaker 10: A 50-burger.
[30:19] Speaker 1: Well, Ian, the Bears did, in fact, run away with it,
[30:22] Speaker 1: quite literally, against the Panthers in week one. DeAndre Swift,
[30:26] Speaker 1: a big part of that. And I would say they
[30:28] Speaker 1: got a return on their investment following the contract extension
[30:31] Speaker 1: struck just before week one.
[30:32] Speaker 4: They've invested a couple times in DeAndre Swift, once in
[30:36] Speaker 4: free agency and once on Friday where they gave DeAndre
[30:39] Speaker 4: Swift a three-year contract worth more than $ 33 million in total,
[30:43] Speaker 4: locking him in for years to come. And all he
[30:45] Speaker 4: did on the field was just say, you know what?
[30:49] Speaker 4: That's all worth it. 18 rushing, as you see there,
[30:52] Speaker 4: 124 yards, three touchdowns. We talk a lot about Caleb,
[30:55] Speaker 4: who is great. Talk a lot about Ben Johnson, who
[30:58] Speaker 4: is great. We should talk more about DeAndre Swift, who,
[31:00] Speaker 4: by the way, is also great.
[31:05] Speaker 3: The Bears, by the way, giving up 361 yards, I
[31:08] Speaker 3: think it was, Rhett, to the Panthers on Sunday or
[31:12] Speaker 3: to Bryce Young through the air. They got a lot
[31:14] Speaker 3: of new pieces in that secondary. Their guys scattered elsewhere.
[31:18] Speaker 3: Kevin Byard heads to New England. A few other guys
[31:21] Speaker 3: heading elsewhere as well. So new pieces here. that they're
[31:24] Speaker 3: trying to get together and find some cohesiveness. Elsewhere in
[31:29] Speaker 3: the NFC North, when it comes to defenses, how about
[31:31] Speaker 3: Jonathan Gannon, right? I remember a couple of years ago,
[31:33] Speaker 3: the Eagles are setting the sack record. He's a defensive coordinator.
[31:36] Speaker 3: Everybody's like, he doesn't have to blitz. It's just everybody
[31:38] Speaker 3: up front creating pressure. Well, when one of those guys,
[31:40] Speaker 3: Micah Parsons, isn't there, what do you do? You blitz
[31:43] Speaker 3: maybe one of the most in his career, his second
[31:47] Speaker 3: highest player. blitz rate percentage from what I saw from him. Now,
[31:51] Speaker 3: it was going well for a while, and there were
[31:53] Speaker 3: some really good timed ones. Not so well down the
[31:56] Speaker 3: stretch as things kind of crumbled on both sides of
[31:58] Speaker 3: the ball. But I think it's an indication of what
[32:00] Speaker 3: Gannon feels like, not just a philosophy, but what do
[32:03] Speaker 3: I have to do in a given situation? When Micah
[32:05] Speaker 3: Parsons comes back at some point, and when he's full strength,
[32:08] Speaker 3: maybe even into next year, then maybe he's not blitzing
[32:10] Speaker 3: as much. But this is the way that he tried
[32:12] Speaker 3: to create pressure week one. And I would expect him
[32:14] Speaker 3: to try to continue to do that until Parsons comes
[32:17] Speaker 3: back to that defense.
[32:19] Speaker 1: OK, so that was Matt LaFleur losing in week one
[32:23] Speaker 1: in the NFC North there to the Vikings. Mike LaFleur,
[32:26] Speaker 1: game one for the Arizona Cardinals right next door here
[32:28] Speaker 1: at SoFi Stadium, gets the win. and winning his head
[32:32] Speaker 1: coaching debut against the Chargers. Nice day for Jacoby Brissett.
[32:36] Speaker 1: He enwrapped for 27-37. Looked firmly in control of that offense.
[32:41] Speaker 2: 277 yards and a touchdown. Early returns for the Cardinals.
[32:44] Speaker 2: Pretty positive.
[32:45] Speaker 5: Pretty positive.
[32:46] Speaker 4: You know, I remember in training camp when he was
[32:48] Speaker 4: wanting a new contract, he wasn't really practicing. Then he
[32:50] Speaker 4: gets a new contract, like $ 15 million.
[32:53] Speaker 2: What are the Cardinals doing?
[32:54] Speaker 4: What the Cardinals are doing is understanding that they have
[32:57] Speaker 4: a legitimate starting quarterback in Jacoby Brissett. And this is
[33:01] Speaker 4: a young team. It is a team with underrated talent,
[33:03] Speaker 4: which I know we've talked about before on this show.
[33:06] Speaker 4: And it is a team that Jacoby Brissett... And what
[33:09] Speaker 4: he did was show this young team that if they
[33:13] Speaker 4: listen and they do it properly and they hold each
[33:14] Speaker 4: other accountable and all the things you need to do
[33:16] Speaker 4: in the locker room.
[33:17] Speaker 2: That they could actually win.
[33:19] Speaker 4: So for all of us who spent, me excluded, who
[33:21] Speaker 4: spent most of training camp laughing at how bad the
[33:24] Speaker 4: Cardinals are, at least the week one Cardinals were like,
[33:27] Speaker 4: maybe we're not so bad.
[33:30] Speaker 1: Yeah, and up next for the Arizona Cardinals, the reigning
[33:33] Speaker 1: Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
[33:36] Speaker 2: A good way to keep you refocused.
[33:37] Speaker 1: On the task at hand after Michael Kord's win in
[33:40] Speaker 1: Week 1 with the Cardinals. Okay, Baker Mayfield got the
[33:43] Speaker 1: contract ahead of Week 1, did not get the win
[33:45] Speaker 1: in Week 1 in Cincinnati.
[33:47] Speaker 2: What's next as he goes back to battle the Browns?
[33:50] Speaker 2: Still ahead.
[33:55] Speaker 1: Okay, Ian Rapoport back here with us on the Insiders.
[33:58] Speaker 1: The Niners got some key players back ahead of their
[34:00] Speaker 1: season opening win over the LA Rams, but then saw
[34:03] Speaker 1: a couple go down during the game.
[34:05] Speaker 2: What's the latest on the 49ers injury situation?
[34:08] Speaker 4: Well, we'll start with Deshaun Stribling, a really promising rookie
[34:11] Speaker 4: that would have been a big factor in this 49ers
[34:14] Speaker 4: offense early, despite being just a rookie, but he suffered
[34:17] Speaker 4: a deltoid ligament sprain in his ankle, actually suffered it
[34:21] Speaker 4: earlier in the game, and then went back on the field,
[34:24] Speaker 4: re-aggravated it. He is going to miss at least a month,
[34:27] Speaker 4: still considering some options. As of right now, surgery not planned.
[34:31] Speaker 4: We will see if that ends up changing, but obviously
[34:35] Speaker 4: he is not going to play for the foreseeable future.
[34:37] Speaker 4: And then Jake Tongas, one of the really good tight ends,
[34:39] Speaker 4: partner in crime of George Kittle. He suffered a knee
[34:42] Speaker 4: injury believed to be an MCL injury. He also is
[34:45] Speaker 4: going to miss extended time. So the 49ers go to
[34:48] Speaker 4: Australia and they get a patella tendon from Alfred Collins
[34:51] Speaker 4: and two of their pass catchers suffer injuries to keep
[34:54] Speaker 4: them off the field.
[34:56] Speaker 1: All right, keeping an eye on that as the Niners
[34:57] Speaker 1: move forward. Ian, thanks very much. As we get back
[35:00] Speaker 1: to the action here ahead of week two, we'll see Baker.
[35:04] Speaker 1: Back against the Browns for the first time since that
[35:07] Speaker 1: week one season opener with the Panthers, which was this
[35:11] Speaker 1: first game out of Cleveland, ended up falling to the Browns.
[35:14] Speaker 1: And that one now gets another shot at them here.
[35:18] Speaker 1: But for Baker in the Browns, it's been a different
[35:23] Speaker 1: journey since Baker left. He's hoisted two division titles for
[35:28] Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Bucs, while the Browns are still searching
[35:31] Speaker 1: for one without him. Let's get back to Mike Garofalo here. Mike,
[35:36] Speaker 1: so for Baker Mayfield, plenty of room for improvement ahead
[35:40] Speaker 1: of week two. Obviously, the three fumbles lost is a
[35:44] Speaker 1: big note there as they fell to the Cincinnati Bengals.
[35:47] Speaker 1: How are the Bucs kind of approaching getting ready for
[35:49] Speaker 1: the Browns here in week two?
[35:51] Speaker 2: It'll just be a reminder.
[35:52] Speaker 3: It'll be ball security and practice all week long, working
[35:54] Speaker 3: on that and making sure that he doesn't try to
[35:56] Speaker 3: do too much. A lot of times that's where your
[35:58] Speaker 3: turnovers come in in the NFL, when you try to
[36:00] Speaker 3: do too much and you're facing the Browns. And though
[36:03] Speaker 3: things have changed in a lot of key places.
[36:06] Speaker 2: You know that.
[36:08] Speaker 3: Baker Mayfield's going to want to put on a show
[36:09] Speaker 3: against his former team.
[36:11] Speaker 2: So that'll be the emphasis.
[36:13] Speaker 3: You don't really create it too much when it comes
[36:15] Speaker 3: to the team portion because you want to keep everybody
[36:17] Speaker 3: away from the quarterback and there's no live hitting, obviously.
[36:20] Speaker 2: You can do it in individual.
[36:21] Speaker 3: Drills and they will a little bit as well. But
[36:24] Speaker 3: making sure two hands on the football and making smart
[36:26] Speaker 3: decisions for it, not putting it on the ground, that'll
[36:28] Speaker 3: be the emphasis for Mayfield. They're confident that those mistakes
[36:31] Speaker 3: will be corrected.
[36:31] Speaker 5: In one week.
[36:32] Speaker 1: Okay, another opportunity for Baker, Mayfield, and company to get
[36:35] Speaker 1: things right here ahead of week two.
[36:38] Speaker 2: As we continue on the insiders, the.
[36:39] Speaker 1: Eagles got the win over the Commanders in week one,
[36:44] Speaker 1: but still working out the kinks of that new offense.
[36:46] Speaker 1: Led by offensive coordinator Sean Mannion. We'll assess their progress
[36:49] Speaker 1: report when.
[36:50] Speaker 2: We come back.
[36:58] Speaker 1: Saturday, it's the SEC all day on ABC, kicking off
[37:01] Speaker 1: at noon Eastern with number two Georgia visiting Arkansas, followed
[37:04] Speaker 1: by Florida State at number 10 Alabama, 3.30 Eastern time.
[37:08] Speaker 2: And oh, the nightcap.
[37:10] Speaker 1: 7.30 Eastern, Lane Kiffin returning to Oxford, bringing number seven
[37:16] Speaker 1: LSU there to Ole Miss, and one you surely don't
[37:21] Speaker 1: want to miss.
[37:22] Speaker 2: Oh, and hey, by the way, we're going to Super
[37:23] Speaker 2: Bowl 61. And you can, too.
[37:25] Speaker 1: Enter for a chance to win four tickets to Super
[37:27] Speaker 1: Bowl 61 and a three-night vacation to Disneyland Resort to
[37:30] Speaker 1: watch the Super Bowl champion cavalcade. Scan the QR code
[37:34] Speaker 1: on your screen right now or visit ESPN.com slash SPLXI
[37:40] Speaker 1: to learn more. All right, so the Eagles found a
[37:44] Speaker 1: way to get a win in their opener against the Commanders,
[37:48] Speaker 1: but the offense putting up just 182 yards through the
[37:52] Speaker 1: air as they debut the new Sean Mannion-led offense, his
[37:57] Speaker 1: first time as.
[37:58] Speaker 2: A play caller.
[37:59] Speaker 1: So Mike Garofalo with us now for a progress report
[38:03] Speaker 1: there from Philadelphia on this offense, Mike.
[38:06] Speaker 3: Well, this is one of the teams, we talked about
[38:07] Speaker 3: the Chargers earlier in the show, that didn't play their
[38:10] Speaker 3: guys during the preseason. So you're going to have some hiccups.
[38:13] Speaker 3: Nick Sirianni has not played them from time to time previously.
[38:17] Speaker 3: But this is a new offense, right? You need the reps.
[38:19] Speaker 2: They had been successful week one before.
[38:22] Speaker 3: So overall, it's like, oh, we can see the vision.
[38:26] Speaker 3: But there's got to be better execution on this, and
[38:29] Speaker 3: it's got to get better from here for Sean Mannion because,
[38:31] Speaker 3: I mean, Kevin Petullo will tell you, they don't have
[38:34] Speaker 3: a whole lot of patience in Philadelphia if it doesn't
[38:37] Speaker 3: get better. So week one for Mannion.
[38:41] Speaker 2: Come out with the win.
[38:41] Speaker 3: That's going to help, first of all. And second of all,
[38:44] Speaker 3: it seems like the fan base does see the vision
[38:46] Speaker 3: and that things were a little bit different and new
[38:48] Speaker 3: and fresh, and that was a good thing for him.
[38:49] Speaker 3: Now it's all about the execution moving forward.
[38:51] Speaker 1: All right, Eagles visiting the Titans here to get things
[38:54] Speaker 1: going in week two. The Saints and Ravens also up
[38:59] Speaker 1: next here in week two. Saints' valiant comeback falling short
[39:03] Speaker 1: in the first overtime game of this regular season is
[39:06] Speaker 1: that two-point conversion.
[39:07] Speaker 2: That would have won it for New Orleans.
[39:11] Speaker 1: Fell incomplete nothing fell short for the Ravens in Indianapolis
[39:16] Speaker 1: you might call this a hat trick or I suppose
[39:18] Speaker 1: a triple crown for the king three touchdowns for Derrick
[39:22] Speaker 1: Henry and a big win in the first game of
[39:25] Speaker 1: the Jesse Minter era, 41-23.
[39:27] Speaker 2: But the Ravens are dealing with some injuries, Mike. What's
[39:29] Speaker 2: the latest there?
[39:31] Speaker 3: Zay Flowers only played the first half. I mean, he
[39:33] Speaker 3: had a full game's worth of stats, but he only
[39:36] Speaker 3: played the first half. Suffered that hamstring injury late. Tweaked
[39:39] Speaker 3: his hamstring injury is the way that we're going to
[39:41] Speaker 3: say it. Ian had said it was day-to-day. Confirmed by
[39:44] Speaker 3: Jesse Minter. Sounded like he would have powered through if
[39:47] Speaker 3: it was a.
[39:47] Speaker 2: Meaningful game late in the season. But in this case,
[39:49] Speaker 2: why risk it?
[39:52] Speaker 3: Even if he misses a game, right, it's not going
[39:54] Speaker 3: to be a big deal because this is something where
[39:57] Speaker 3: if it was a multi-week injury, that would be a problem.
[40:00] Speaker 3: So we'll see about Zay Flower's status for this week,
[40:02] Speaker 3: but a good outcome so far. Nambi Matabike, Ian, was
[40:06] Speaker 3: close to playing week one. I'm expecting him to play
[40:07] Speaker 3: in week two. We thought maybe his career was over
[40:09] Speaker 3: at one point. Now he's potentially going to be back
[40:11] Speaker 3: on the playing field in just a couple of days.
[40:13] Speaker 4: So I want to talk about Chris Alave, right? Because
[40:15] Speaker 4: Chris Alave went out and had a career day, 180-something yards. Obviously,
[40:20] Speaker 4: he has been coming back from quite a few health issues.
[40:24] Speaker 4: He had the blood clots, and he's been dealing with concussions.
[40:27] Speaker 4: But Chris Alave did, in the best game of his career,
[40:30] Speaker 4: showing that he is once again a number one receiver,
[40:32] Speaker 4: was wear the Guardian cap. And as you see there,
[40:35] Speaker 4: four concussions. Some players don't like it because it looks
[40:39] Speaker 4: a little ridiculous. Chris Alave likes not having concussions and
[40:42] Speaker 4: he doesn't care how it looks. And after the game
[40:45] Speaker 4: went public with his embrace of the guardian cap, which
[40:48] Speaker 4: is a very, very good thing. The more players are aware,
[40:51] Speaker 4: the better, the fewer concussions, the better. And if you
[40:54] Speaker 4: go out there, you might end up playing like Chris Alave,
[40:56] Speaker 4: which would be really, really good.
[40:57] Speaker 1: Yeah, I suppose never mind the look good, feel good,
[41:00] Speaker 1: play good. And I would say that was the case
[41:02] Speaker 1: for Chris Olave in this one, nearly 200-yard passing for
[41:06] Speaker 1: Tyler Shuck in the Saints opener despite a losing effort there.
[41:10] Speaker 2: All right, much more to come. We're back with you
[41:12] Speaker 2: on the Insiders tomorrow. We'll see you at 7. Thanks, fellas.

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