# The Insiders Podcast: Aaron Donald set to play Week 2 MNF + Multiple starting QBs ruled out for Week 2

An episode of [NFL: The Insiders](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1543090622), 19 Sep 2026, 43 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/0414225e-5167-477f-9f83-ae390070e4d2/cc60621a-4fcc-48e1-807b-b4ca00044207/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=3e412703-0644-468e-9001-ae390070e4db

Patrick Claybon is joined by NFL Insiders Ian Rapoport, Judy Battista and Jeremy Fowler to talk about the latest headlines. Rams DT Aaron Donald will play on Monday Night Football against the Giants. Vikings QB Kyler Murray has been ruled out Week 2 as Carson Wentz will start against the Bears. Bengals QB Joe Burrow is questionable with back tightness. Falcons QB Cooper Rush will start Week 2 against the Panthers while Tua and Penix are still ruled out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:09] Speaker 1: On today's show, we have a source very close to
[0:12] Speaker 1: Aaron Donald who has his plans for Monday Night Football.
[0:15] Speaker 1: It will be Carson Wentz starting for the Minnesota Vikings
[0:17] Speaker 1: against the Bears. And a night to remember in Buffalo
[0:23] Speaker 1: for the Bills. We'll recap that all today on the Insiders, which.
[0:25] Speaker 2: Starts right now. Hey everybody, welcome to the Insiders.
[0:29] Speaker 1: Patrick Claibon here in the NFL LA Newsroom, joined by
[0:31] Speaker 1: Ian Rappaport, Jeremy Fowler, Judy Batista, and Lindsey Theory there
[0:34] Speaker 1: with the Rams, which is where we start with what
[0:36] Speaker 1: is new today. Coming into the NFL LA Newsroom after
[0:40] Speaker 1: an off-season of questioning whether or.
[0:41] Speaker 2: Not Aaron Donald will return to play.
[0:43] Speaker 1: He comes back to the team, then the question becomes,
[0:47] Speaker 1: when will he play? Well, Aaron Donald asks about his
[0:50] Speaker 1: plans for Monday night against.
[0:52] Speaker 2: The Giants today. Feeling good, feeling good.
[0:56] Speaker 3: Back-to-back days this week, so feeling like myself. So, you know,
[1:02] Speaker 3: been a great week.
[1:03] Speaker 2: Are you going to play Monday?
[1:05] Speaker 3: That's the plan. So two practices today, have another practice tomorrow,
[1:08] Speaker 3: and then we'll see.
[1:10] Speaker 2: But feeling good. Coming back with miles there was going
[1:14] Speaker 2: to alleviate you being double and triple.
[1:17] Speaker 3: You think they're going to double, triple team me, not
[1:18] Speaker 3: playing for two years? They ain't worried about me, man.
[1:20] Speaker 3: They don't need to be worried about me. They don't
[1:22] Speaker 3: need to worry about me at all. No, man, they
[1:24] Speaker 3: don't got to worry about me.
[1:25] Speaker 2: How with him out and if you play, are you
[1:28] Speaker 2: expecting to see that?
[1:30] Speaker 3: Whatever happens, I'm just going to go out there and
[1:31] Speaker 3: play my game and just try to do what I
[1:34] Speaker 3: can do. I don't know what they're going to do
[1:36] Speaker 3: out there. I don't know what I'm going to get.
[1:38] Speaker 3: All I can know is I got a game plan.
[1:41] Speaker 3: Go out there, execute it, and just try to play ball.
[1:43] Speaker 3: That's it.
[1:44] Speaker 1: So, Lindsay, after waiting for months, we get it straight
[1:47] Speaker 1: there from the man himself. Just on a random Friday,
[1:50] Speaker 1: Aaron Donald has plans to play on Monday.
[1:56] Speaker 4: Absolutely, Patrick.
[1:57] Speaker 5: And Aaron Donald, as you saw, there was as upbeat,
[1:59] Speaker 5: chatty and eager as I've seen really in like 10
[2:02] Speaker 5: years covering him.
[2:04] Speaker 4: You said it. He says he plans to play Monday.
[2:06] Speaker 5: Really, that stems from how he's felt at practice. Now,
[2:09] Speaker 5: it's been really interesting to watch his practice progress. You know,
[2:12] Speaker 5: he started in the back of the line when he
[2:14] Speaker 5: first came out of retirement. Now he's inched his way
[2:16] Speaker 5: up going through individual drills. But it's really the 11-on-11
[2:20] Speaker 5: work that has been the most important. He's had back-to-back
[2:23] Speaker 5: days now in that 11-on-11 work. And that's really the
[2:26] Speaker 5: final determinant, how his body feels coming out of that,
[2:29] Speaker 5: whether he will play on Monday. Now, I mentioned it,
[2:32] Speaker 5: but he appears very eager to get back out there.
[2:35] Speaker 5: That's despite, obviously, not having Myles Garrett available. I did
[2:39] Speaker 5: ask Aaron Donald about Myles Garrett since he suffered that
[2:42] Speaker 5: injury being placed on injured reserve and will be out
[2:45] Speaker 5: at least four weeks later. Donald looked at me and goes,
[2:48] Speaker 5: my reaction? Ah, Patrick, I can't repeat that next word
[2:52] Speaker 5: on the air. But that's what he said. But he
[2:54] Speaker 5: did remind all of us that Miles Garrett is not
[2:57] Speaker 5: going to be out forever.
[3:00] Speaker 6: I have a couple of guesses on what that word
[3:02] Speaker 6: might be. We'll leave it to after the show. As
[3:05] Speaker 6: far as the Los Angeles Rams, obviously a significant, significant
[3:08] Speaker 6: day with Aaron Donald saying that he is going to
[3:10] Speaker 6: be out there, plans to be out there on Monday.
[3:12] Speaker 2: But this really is.
[3:14] Speaker 6: Just the start of things for the Rams. He's going
[3:16] Speaker 6: to go out there, going to get his feet wet.
[3:18] Speaker 6: We'll see how many snaps. Aaron Donald is able to play.
[3:21] Speaker 6: Is it really just a handful? Or when he gets
[3:23] Speaker 6: out there, is he going to want to play more
[3:25] Speaker 6: and more? My sense is he'll probably want to play
[3:27] Speaker 6: as many snaps as humanly possible.
[3:29] Speaker 2: The reason I say this is just the beginning.
[3:31] Speaker 6: One, as you mentioned, does not have Myles Garrett because
[3:34] Speaker 6: Garrett is on IR for four games.
[3:36] Speaker 2: Also, he has not played for two years.
[3:38] Speaker 6: So the Aaron Donald, Judy, that you're going to see
[3:41] Speaker 6: Monday is not going to be the Donald that you're going.
[3:43] Speaker 2: To see tomorrow.
[3:44] Speaker 6: Week 16, 17, 18 is a work in progress.
[3:47] Speaker 2: They did not do this for week two.
[3:49] Speaker 6: They did this for January and into February, and that
[3:52] Speaker 6: is something we should all think about while we are
[3:55] Speaker 6: watching this unbelievable comeback Monday.
[3:59] Speaker 7: Well, the New York Giants do get Aaron Donald in
[4:02] Speaker 7: week two. And I wouldn't say they're going to listen
[4:05] Speaker 7: to the idea of, ah, don't double team him.
[4:07] Speaker 4: Don't worry about it.
[4:08] Speaker 7: But I also wouldn't say that they are intimidated by
[4:10] Speaker 7: this prospect. Cam Scadaboo, the running back, talked about he
[4:15] Speaker 7: hasn't played in two years.
[4:16] Speaker 4: He hasn't practiced a lot. He's still got to play football.
[4:19] Speaker 7: And Cam Scadaboo said, if I have to meet him
[4:21] Speaker 7: in the hole on third and one.
[4:23] Speaker 4: So be it. I've got to get a yard.
[4:25] Speaker 7: As a matter of fact, I would say he, Jackson Dart,
[4:27] Speaker 7: other players talked about, listen, They look up to Aaron Donald.
[4:30] Speaker 4: He's an all-time great. CeCe Maranoa, the right guard.
[4:34] Speaker 7: Talked about he used to study film of Aaron Donald
[4:37] Speaker 7: to watch his hand placement. So they are very much
[4:40] Speaker 7: looking forward to facing him. They are not intimidated by him.
[4:44] Speaker 7: There is a lot of confidence, a lot more confidence
[4:46] Speaker 7: than we've seen in recent years in the way the
[4:48] Speaker 7: offensive line is playing. They stood up well to the
[4:51] Speaker 7: Dallas Cowboys last week. The New York Giants go out
[4:54] Speaker 7: onto the field now believing they can beat any team,
[4:57] Speaker 7: and they're feeling.
[4:58] Speaker 4: Good as they get ready to face the Rams, Lindsay.
[5:04] Speaker 5: And Judy, it might be bad timing for the Giants
[5:07] Speaker 5: coming off their win to come out to L.A. and
[5:08] Speaker 5: face this Rams team because it's a very inspired group.
[5:11] Speaker 5: They are so tired of hearing about the debacle in Australia.
[5:16] Speaker 5: All of these guys saying, you know, originally this schedule
[5:18] Speaker 5: looked like we'd have some rest going into this game. Instead,
[5:21] Speaker 5: all that's happened is that we've had a bad taste
[5:24] Speaker 5: festering in our mouths. Matthew Stafford said it. Devontae Adams
[5:28] Speaker 5: said it. So this team's really looking forward to totally
[5:31] Speaker 5: turning the page, putting one foot in front of the next.
[5:33] Speaker 5: And there's been a renewed focus at practice this week
[5:36] Speaker 5: as they try to move on from that game. And
[5:38] Speaker 5: as they do try to move on, there's a big
[5:40] Speaker 5: question in the air. Receiver Puka Nakua was out of
[5:44] Speaker 5: practice today, did not practice because of a hip issue.
[5:47] Speaker 5: So that's certainly a situation to monitor going into Monday
[5:49] Speaker 5: night football.
[5:50] Speaker 1: A lot to look forward to coming up on Monday night.
[5:52] Speaker 1: Hopefully Puka Nakua will get back out there on the field.
[5:54] Speaker 1: Thank you to Lindsay Theory for her work today. And
[5:57] Speaker 1: with Hills, we will get to some other updates, especially
[6:00] Speaker 1: starting with those quarterbacks. First up, Kyler Murray ruled out
[6:05] Speaker 1: for Sunday against the Bears. Carson Wentz is going to start. Ian,
[6:10] Speaker 1: what's the status on Kyler Murray?
[6:13] Speaker 6: Well, Kyler Murray remains in the NFL's concussion protocol, was
[6:17] Speaker 6: limited all week, was able to get out there and practice,
[6:19] Speaker 6: which is a good sign for the following week, but
[6:22] Speaker 6: was not able to get to full participation. Obviously not
[6:24] Speaker 6: going to be cleared by the independent neurologist and the
[6:27] Speaker 6: way every player recovers.
[6:29] Speaker 2: Is different. So while the hope is that.
[6:30] Speaker 6: He is out there the following week, you simply don't know,
[6:33] Speaker 6: which means Carson Wentz gets the start.
[6:36] Speaker 2: Wentz had an up and down performance, but when it.
[6:38] Speaker 6: Mattered, was really, really good, especially in the fourth quarter.
[6:42] Speaker 6: So at least he has the opportunity to go out
[6:44] Speaker 6: there and have some success.
[6:45] Speaker 2: It is certainly a tall order to go face Dennis
[6:48] Speaker 2: Allen in the Bears defense.
[6:49] Speaker 6: It's going to be pretty angry after last week, but
[6:51] Speaker 6: Wentz will be out there hoping that he can do
[6:54] Speaker 6: what he did in the fourth quarter.
[6:57] Speaker 8: Ian, Joe Burrow is determined to stay on the field
[6:59] Speaker 8: after missing 16 games the previous three seasons, and it
[7:02] Speaker 8: looks like that will be the case again. He will
[7:04] Speaker 8: be on the field.
[7:05] Speaker 2: That's the plan.
[7:06] Speaker 9: Zach Taylor, the head.
[7:07] Speaker 8: Coach, said that Burrow threw the ball well today, is
[7:10] Speaker 8: feeling better. He had a ramp-up period all week with
[7:12] Speaker 8: that back tightness, was limited earlier in the week. throwing
[7:15] Speaker 8: the ball more today. So barring something unforeseen, it appears
[7:18] Speaker 8: that the Bengals are making plans for Burrow to play.
[7:21] Speaker 8: Back tightness is not something that's serious, but it is
[7:23] Speaker 8: something to monitor. How much can he handle, especially against
[7:25] Speaker 8: a Houston pass rush that is going to be ornery
[7:28] Speaker 8: after losing last week? So they are ready to go.
[7:31] Speaker 8: Burrow's trying to get their second straight win. The Bengals
[7:33] Speaker 8: really want to get off to a hot start. They've
[7:35] Speaker 8: struggled with that in the past.
[7:38] Speaker 6: Well, for the Atlanta Falcons, Cooper Rush, their former QB3,
[7:42] Speaker 6: he starts again somehow, someway, third-string quarterback starting. In the
[7:46] Speaker 6: second game of the season for the Falcons, that's been
[7:48] Speaker 6: about the way it goes, although Rush did acquit himself
[7:50] Speaker 6: fine last week.
[7:52] Speaker 2: As far as why he.
[7:53] Speaker 6: Is starting, first of all, you have Tua Tugavalo, not
[7:55] Speaker 6: going to.
[7:55] Speaker 2: Play, doubtful with an oblique injury. And then you have
[7:59] Speaker 2: Michael Penix Jr.
[8:00] Speaker 6: who they would love to be the starting quarterback as
[8:02] Speaker 6: soon as he returns. is able to get out there,
[8:04] Speaker 6: is confident enough to get out there on that reconstructed ACL.
[8:08] Speaker 6: The hope is sooner rather than later for Michael Penix Jr.,
[8:12] Speaker 6: but until he feels like he can go, it is
[8:14] Speaker 6: going to be rush starting.
[8:15] Speaker 2: For the Falcons.
[8:18] Speaker 8: Ian, at least we know who the man is in Seattle,
[8:21] Speaker 8: who the bonafide starter, that's Sam Darnold now. He's expected
[8:24] Speaker 8: to be out. Sources there are telling me it's probably
[8:26] Speaker 8: a few more weeks. They're hoping for better, but it
[8:28] Speaker 8: looks like a four-week injury overall from September 9th. He's
[8:31] Speaker 8: already feeling better. That's the good news. But people I
[8:34] Speaker 8: talked to in Seattle this week brought up unprompted Drew
[8:36] Speaker 8: Locke and how he's ready for this moment. They feel
[8:38] Speaker 8: like with a full week of practice reps, he's really
[8:41] Speaker 8: going to respond. He's taken to this offense. He's impressed
[8:44] Speaker 8: the coaches since he signed there over a year ago.
[8:47] Speaker 8: So they feel like they're in good hands in the
[8:49] Speaker 8: short term. You're also going to see more Jadarian Price,
[8:51] Speaker 8: the running back. He's going to ride the hot hand there.
[8:53] Speaker 8: But they feel like Locke not only can handle the offense,
[8:56] Speaker 8: but throws a good deep ball. So they're going to
[8:58] Speaker 8: want to try to stretch the field this weekend.
[9:01] Speaker 1: So that wraps up our quarterback injury update. Here's some
[9:03] Speaker 1: notable pass catchers. Nico Collins has been ruled out for
[9:07] Speaker 1: the game on Sunday. Coming off of career highs for
[9:09] Speaker 1: both Zay Flowers and Chris Olave. Zay Flowers is doubtful
[9:14] Speaker 1: for the game for the Baltimore Ravens against the Saints.
[9:16] Speaker 1: Questionable for Chris Olave. Also questionable, Ladd McConkie and Michael
[9:19] Speaker 1: Pittman Jr. And doubtful for Brock Bowers 10 days after
[9:23] Speaker 1: he had knee surgery. Coming up here on the Insiders,
[9:27] Speaker 1: things have gone exactly as planned for Joe Brady and
[9:31] Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills.
[9:32] Speaker 2: Not so much for Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos.
[9:35] Speaker 1: We'll get a chance to look at both of those
[9:38] Speaker 1: teams when we come back here on this edition of
[9:41] Speaker 1: the Insiders.
[9:45] Speaker 2: Saturday, it's the SEC.
[9:47] Speaker 1: All day on ABC, kicking off at noon Eastern with
[9:49] Speaker 1: number two Georgia at Arkansas, followed up by Florida State
[9:52] Speaker 1: at number.
[9:53] Speaker 2: 10 Alabama at 3.30 p.m. Eastern.
[9:55] Speaker 1: The nightcap at 7.30 Eastern, Lane Kiffin and number 7
[9:59] Speaker 1: LSU return to Oxford to take on number 8 Ole
[10:01] Speaker 1: Miss in one that you surely don't want to miss.
[10:07] Speaker 2: Go Ole Miss, Jackson, Dart, and Cam Scadaloo travel west as.
[10:10] Speaker 1: The New York Giants face off against Matthew Stafford and
[10:12] Speaker 1: the Rams at SoFi Stadium. Don't miss Monday Night Football, Monday,
[10:15] Speaker 1: 8 p.m.
[10:16] Speaker 2: Eastern on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and the ESPN app.
[10:20] Speaker 1: And also, check out Peyton and Eli on ESPN2, also
[10:23] Speaker 1: streaming on the ESPN app.
[10:28] Speaker 10: Let's look back at some Thursday night football.
[10:48] Speaker 2: New Highmark Stadium opening.
[10:50] Speaker 1: A beautiful night in Buffalo as Josh Allen and the Bills.
[10:56] Speaker 2: In action against the Detroit Lions.
[10:58] Speaker 1: These two teams went 48 to 42.
[11:00] Speaker 2: In Detroit last time they faced off first quarter. It's
[11:03] Speaker 2: a familiar sight. Josh Allen with another rushing touchdown. It's
[11:07] Speaker 2: 82nd in his career later on. Third and 11. Second
[11:10] Speaker 2: drive for the Bills. Second touchdown for the Bills.
[11:13] Speaker 1: As Josh Allen hits a wide open Josh Palmer for
[11:16] Speaker 1: a 43-yard score on the busted coverage. Later on, they're
[11:19] Speaker 1: up 10 in the third quarter.
[11:21] Speaker 2: Josh rolling to his right. He's just going to keep
[11:23] Speaker 2: going that way. Touchdown Josh Allen. They win 41-31.
[11:28] Speaker 1: He finished with three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns
[11:33] Speaker 1: to continue a great start statistically for Josh Allen. Congratulations
[11:38] Speaker 1: going out to the greatest start for a new head
[11:41] Speaker 1: coach in Buffalo Bills history as it's the first coach
[11:44] Speaker 1: in franchise history to win his first two games and
[11:47] Speaker 1: it's all about continuing his learning opportunities.
[11:50] Speaker 9: I'm learning our offense-defense specialties. I'm learning how to communicate
[11:53] Speaker 9: to the guys at halftime in terms of You know,
[11:56] Speaker 9: sometimes they need me to not say much. Sometimes they
[11:57] Speaker 9: need me to get on them. And I think that
[12:00] Speaker 9: that helps form the identity. But as much as I
[12:02] Speaker 9: can continue just passing it on to, hey, Bradley Tubb,
[12:05] Speaker 9: Josh Allen, and make it a player-led team where they're
[12:07] Speaker 9: speaking my message, it kind of makes everybody's life a
[12:10] Speaker 9: lot easier. But, you know, we're finding ways to win
[12:15] Speaker 9: football games, and that's the most important thing.
[12:19] Speaker 1: But you want to find some comps to start your
[12:21] Speaker 1: season as a quarterback? What about 2018 MVP Patrick Mahomes
[12:25] Speaker 1: and 2013 MVP Peyton Manning, who go on to throw
[12:28] Speaker 1: 55 touchdown passes after Josh Allen started the game, started
[12:33] Speaker 1: the season with nine pass touchdowns and a rush touchdown
[12:36] Speaker 1: and no turnovers.
[12:38] Speaker 2: What a start for him.
[12:39] Speaker 1: Where Judy Batista, we've been talking about continuity with Joe Brady.
[12:43] Speaker 2: It feels like something even more than that through two games.
[12:47] Speaker 4: It really does.
[12:48] Speaker 7: You know, you talk to teams before each game and
[12:51] Speaker 7: in talking to the Bills before week one, all we
[12:53] Speaker 7: heard was they wanted that vertical attack, keep their foot
[12:56] Speaker 7: on the gas, the aggressiveness.
[12:57] Speaker 4: And they did that.
[12:58] Speaker 7: They were getting big chunk plays against the Houston Texans
[13:01] Speaker 7: of all defenses.
[13:02] Speaker 4: And then. Going into week two, it's the short week.
[13:05] Speaker 7: They really wanted to get the running game established, get
[13:07] Speaker 7: James Cook going. Well, they did that more than 200
[13:10] Speaker 7: yards on the ground. So they are basically able to
[13:13] Speaker 7: call their shot on offense. Now, everything they want to do,
[13:16] Speaker 7: they're able to do at will on offense. But I
[13:20] Speaker 7: thought the most important moment last night was when DJ
[13:22] Speaker 7: Moore went out when he landed hard on that left shoulder.
[13:26] Speaker 7: He's out of the game, and you think, oh, is
[13:28] Speaker 7: this going to be the speed bump that slows this
[13:30] Speaker 7: offense down?
[13:31] Speaker 4: And it did not slow the offense down.
[13:33] Speaker 7: Keon Coleman, who's been up and down in his first
[13:35] Speaker 7: two seasons in the league, really stepped forward. Joe Brady
[13:39] Speaker 7: talked about it after the game. He was taking on
[13:41] Speaker 7: plays that were not his plays. He was in personnel
[13:43] Speaker 7: groupings that were not his usual personnel groupings. He had
[13:46] Speaker 7: to step up. Joe Brady talked about how intelligent Keon
[13:50] Speaker 7: Coleman is, but it also shows you how deep this
[13:53] Speaker 7: Bills offense is going right now. Josh Allen has a
[13:57] Speaker 7: great deal of trust in these players. He went to
[13:59] Speaker 7: Keon Coleman on a third and seven late in the
[14:02] Speaker 7: game when the Lions had closed the gap to just
[14:04] Speaker 7: 10 points. That basically shut the door on the Lions'
[14:07] Speaker 7: faint hopes of coming back. They are rolling deep and
[14:11] Speaker 7: really effective on the Buffalo Bills offense right now.
[14:15] Speaker 6: Yeah, and Brandon being the general manager resisted any urge
[14:18] Speaker 6: to trade Keyon Coleman, even when the fans were basically
[14:21] Speaker 6: calling for it, knowing that there is a good player
[14:23] Speaker 6: in there somewhere was on display last night. As far
[14:27] Speaker 6: as the other side of things, for the Detroit Lions,
[14:29] Speaker 6: obviously not as good. And Kelvin Shepard, the defensive coordinator,
[14:32] Speaker 6: one of the bright young defensive coordinators in the NFL,
[14:35] Speaker 6: certainly in the spotlight a little bit, just based on
[14:37] Speaker 6: what the Buffalo Bills did.
[14:39] Speaker 2: Here's my sense. Not a lot of panic in Detroit.
[14:41] Speaker 6: Yes, they need to get things fixed, need to take
[14:43] Speaker 6: a couple extra days and figure out which direction this
[14:46] Speaker 6: defense is going to go.
[14:47] Speaker 2: But there is a thought that the Buffalo Bills are
[14:49] Speaker 2: really good and Josh Allen is really good, and they
[14:51] Speaker 2: are going to do this probably to a lot of people.
[14:55] Speaker 6: The one thing I would wonder about is, does Brad Holmes,
[14:57] Speaker 6: the general manager, feel obligated to go get a player?
[15:00] Speaker 2: Joey Porter Jr.
[15:01] Speaker 6: Would be the one who would make sense if he's
[15:03] Speaker 6: even available by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Patrick, the price would
[15:06] Speaker 6: be heavy if the Lions wanted to do it. But
[15:09] Speaker 6: if they wanted to add to their secondary, there's not
[15:11] Speaker 6: a ton of avenues to do it. That at least
[15:13] Speaker 6: would be one to point out.
[15:15] Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels like a long wait until they could
[15:17] Speaker 1: possibly get back with the best safety combo in the
[15:20] Speaker 1: league with Kirby Joseph and Brian Branch.
[15:22] Speaker 2: We'll go to our.
[15:24] Speaker 1: Next primetime game that's coming up here where we'll all
[15:28] Speaker 1: be gathered together to watch one game, and that is
[15:30] Speaker 1: the Colts and the Chiefs. The Chiefs' number one pick,
[15:35] Speaker 1: their first-round pick, Mansour Delane. Got a pick on his
[15:39] Speaker 1: first drive, but it wound up being the end of
[15:42] Speaker 1: his game as he is questionable defensively. for Sunday night
[15:45] Speaker 1: with that shoulder injury. Let's look to the other teams. Judy,
[15:48] Speaker 1: the Colts defense saw Derrick Henry go for 144 yards
[15:51] Speaker 1: and three touchdowns.
[15:52] Speaker 2: And to bounce back from that, they have to go
[15:54] Speaker 2: up against Kenneth.
[15:55] Speaker 1: Walker after the great debut that he had running for
[15:58] Speaker 1: the Chiefs. This new look Chiefs running offense.
[16:02] Speaker 7: Yeah, the Colts defense gave up more than 500 yards
[16:04] Speaker 7: of offense to the Baltimore Ravens. Part of the problem
[16:08] Speaker 7: was if you watch back that game, you could see
[16:10] Speaker 7: they were having trouble communicating.
[16:11] Speaker 4: They were having trouble lining up.
[16:13] Speaker 7: DeForest Buckner said they couldn't get aligned correctly. Cam Bynum,
[16:18] Speaker 7: the safety, had the green dot. He was the defensive
[16:20] Speaker 7: play caller in that game. That's kind of unusual. Most
[16:23] Speaker 7: teams use linebackers because they are literally in the middle
[16:27] Speaker 7: of the defense. For the deep safety, he had to
[16:28] Speaker 7: come all the way up. It just wasn't working. They
[16:31] Speaker 7: were running out of time, so they are going to change.
[16:33] Speaker 7: Who has the green dot? It's going to be Akeem Davis-Gaither,
[16:37] Speaker 7: a linebacker. This weekend, they are hoping that that will
[16:40] Speaker 7: help some of the communication issues and able to get
[16:43] Speaker 7: the defensive play calls in and get everybody lined up correctly.
[16:46] Speaker 7: You could see when they were struggling to get lined up,
[16:49] Speaker 7: Lamar Jackson would see it and then call for the
[16:51] Speaker 7: ball right away. You know that Patrick Mahomes' eyes would
[16:54] Speaker 7: get really wide if he saw the Colts struggling like
[16:57] Speaker 7: that again. So they are hoping that this change in
[17:00] Speaker 7: the defensive play caller will clean things up.
[17:03] Speaker 2: You know Mahomes is going to be looking for that.
[17:05] Speaker 6: There's a good reason that our good friend Kyle Brand
[17:07] Speaker 6: says week one is a liar. It's because things like this,
[17:09] Speaker 6: these teams really are figuring it out in real time.
[17:12] Speaker 6: Just like the Kansas City Chiefs offense. And obviously there's
[17:15] Speaker 6: a lot of hoopla. I contributed to Patrick Mahomes coming
[17:18] Speaker 6: back and making that dramatic return from an ACL and
[17:20] Speaker 6: an LCL tear. The reality is, this is going to
[17:23] Speaker 6: be a little bit of a work in progress. But
[17:25] Speaker 6: what we saw was exactly what the Chiefs hoped, right?
[17:29] Speaker 6: They were pretty physical. They're able to run the ball
[17:31] Speaker 6: at will. And Mahomes is able to get out there
[17:33] Speaker 6: and feel like himself. The problem is, he's not quite
[17:36] Speaker 6: going to be himself for a little.
[17:38] Speaker 2: Bit of time. Yes, it's amazing that Mahomes... He was
[17:40] Speaker 2: out there.
[17:41] Speaker 6: It's amazing at the quickness and speed that he was
[17:44] Speaker 6: able to play. But it might take him several more
[17:46] Speaker 6: weeks to get back to playing like his old self.
[17:49] Speaker 6: You just got to hope the defense and the run
[17:51] Speaker 6: game can hold them up, Patrick, as Mahomes gets his
[17:55] Speaker 6: legs under him.
[17:56] Speaker 1: Yeah, you'll have to do it against a Colts defense that,
[17:59] Speaker 1: as Judy said, had a lot of problems with Lamar
[18:01] Speaker 1: Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens will be at
[18:04] Speaker 1: home to take on the Saints as we look at
[18:06] Speaker 1: what Lamar has been able to accomplish back in week one.
[18:09] Speaker 1: 40 points, 300 more passing yards, 200 more rushing yards.
[18:13] Speaker 2: The Ravens did it in 2026. They also did it.
[18:16] Speaker 1: In 2019, the problem is after Baltimore had eight different
[18:19] Speaker 1: receivers catch the ball, they may need some help at
[18:23] Speaker 1: receiver as we look at the injury report for the
[18:25] Speaker 1: Saints and the Baltimore Ravens. Zay Flowers is doubtful with
[18:29] Speaker 1: that hamstring. Also in bold there, Trey Hendrickson, questionable for
[18:33] Speaker 1: the game. He came over as an edge rusher from
[18:36] Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals. Also questionable, Chris Olave, who again had
[18:40] Speaker 1: a career game in the opener against the Lions.
[18:44] Speaker 2: More to come here on the Insiders.
[18:46] Speaker 1: The NFC East had two teams suffer division losses in
[18:49] Speaker 1: week one. Now both the Commanders and the Cowboys in
[18:51] Speaker 1: a battle to avoid 0-2. The things they're changing to
[18:55] Speaker 1: avoid that 0-2.
[18:56] Speaker 2: Outcome when we come back on the Insiders.
[19:00] Speaker 1: Back on the Insider Sunday is game day on NFL Network.
[19:03] Speaker 1: Get set for a full day of football with Game
[19:05] Speaker 1: Day Morning.
[19:06] Speaker 2: Follow along with that day of football on Game Day
[19:08] Speaker 2: Live and relive the best moments of the day on
[19:11] Speaker 2: Game Day.
[19:11] Speaker 1: Highlights and Game Day Final, all starting with Game Day
[19:14] Speaker 1: Morning at 9 a.m. Eastern, where you will see Hunter
[19:17] Speaker 1: Lipke and new Broncos linebacker Von Miller talk about their
[19:20] Speaker 1: non-traditional exchange for his jersey.
[19:27] Speaker 2: Number 40 is important for me because that's what I wore.
[19:29] Speaker 2: I wore that in high school, I wore that in college.
[19:33] Speaker 2: I won a Super Bowl at number 40. Coming to
[19:38] Speaker 2: the Dallas Cowboys, Hunter was number 40.
[19:41] Speaker 6: A couple hours after he signed, he said, hey bro,
[19:45] Speaker 6: I'm here to be a great teammate and to win
[19:48] Speaker 6: a championship.
[19:49] Speaker 2: What do you think about, you know, the number 40?
[19:52] Speaker 2: I didn't just want to, you know, de-bow him for
[19:55] Speaker 2: the number. I wanted to, you know, come up, you know,
[19:57] Speaker 2: with a deal that was beneficial for us both.
[19:59] Speaker 3: Everybody's been joking around with me, like probably the first
[20:02] Speaker 3: time that a jersey's been swished over chicken before, but
[20:06] Speaker 3: here we are.
[20:09] Speaker 2: Vaughn in that Cowboys front might need to help the
[20:11] Speaker 2: back end.
[20:12] Speaker 1: The Giants had three touchdowns where the receiver was wide open,
[20:15] Speaker 1: five or more yards of separation. That total halfway to
[20:19] Speaker 1: the season total for what was a bad defense last year.
[20:23] Speaker 1: Brian Schottenheimer and Dan Quinn ahead of the game on Sunday.
[20:27] Speaker 2: When it comes to the green dot, will Mr. Barham
[20:31] Speaker 2: be starting on Sunday?
[20:33] Speaker 11: Yeah, he'll be the green dot for us. And again,
[20:36] Speaker 11: he's got great command of what we're doing. Again, had
[20:40] Speaker 11: to get into a little teaching moment this morning on
[20:43] Speaker 11: the radio. Again, the green dot, I think, gets overblown
[20:47] Speaker 11: at times. And again, basically what you're doing, you're repeating
[20:50] Speaker 11: the call. And then you're setting fronts and all that.
[20:54] Speaker 11: And then the entire defense needs to communicate. But Jay
[20:57] Speaker 11: Sean's done a great job. As you guys know, we
[20:59] Speaker 11: do have multiple guys that can wear it. But Jay
[21:01] Speaker 11: Sean should be the one that starts out with it.
[21:04] Speaker 2: With Jaden, what didn't you see?
[21:08] Speaker 12: On Sunday against the Eagles from Jaden that maybe you
[21:10] Speaker 12: want to see against the Cowboys?
[21:15] Speaker 13: Honestly, I saw a lot from what I've seen in
[21:17] Speaker 13: the camp part of things. I saw a very good
[21:20] Speaker 13: decision-making process, remaining a passer in the scrambles, deciding when
[21:25] Speaker 13: some throwaways were the appropriate time. I'm very much looking
[21:31] Speaker 13: forward to seeing him in a lot of clutch moments ahead.
[21:35] Speaker 13: He has such confidence in that space. with the system,
[21:37] Speaker 13: with the guys. And so I'm very much looking forward
[21:40] Speaker 13: to seeing that.
[21:42] Speaker 1: For Jeremy Fowler now, Jeremy, Terry McLaurin ran the most
[21:45] Speaker 1: routes on the entire team, but he finished with 14
[21:48] Speaker 1: yards in the opener.
[21:49] Speaker 2: What do the commanders change against Dallas?
[21:52] Speaker 8: Well, they changed their plan to get him more involved.
[21:54] Speaker 8: They clearly want to do that from all that I'm hearing.
[21:56] Speaker 8: They won't force the ball. Jaden Daniels famously likes to
[21:59] Speaker 8: go to the open man. He's going to follow the
[22:01] Speaker 8: game plan.
[22:02] Speaker 2: Of the defense.
[22:02] Speaker 8: And last week, Philadelphia tried to take Terry McLaurin away.
[22:05] Speaker 8: But I was at Washington camp. He was dominant, best
[22:08] Speaker 8: player in the field when I was there. And I
[22:10] Speaker 8: was told that really continued throughout camp where he's had
[22:13] Speaker 8: one of his best. So they do want to rely
[22:15] Speaker 8: on him. They're going to try to scheme up ways.
[22:17] Speaker 8: to get him open. And then with Dallas on the
[22:19] Speaker 8: other side, they know they have to tighten up on
[22:21] Speaker 8: third down. 9 of 11 on third down. So I
[22:24] Speaker 8: don't expect sweeping changes this early after one week on
[22:26] Speaker 8: the defense, but they know that they have to just
[22:29] Speaker 8: tighten up. So there's a feeling there that Dallas is
[22:32] Speaker 8: a pressure cooker. They're not used to losing to the
[22:33] Speaker 8: Giants like they did last week. So there's some tension
[22:36] Speaker 8: over there right now that they're trying to sort through.
[22:39] Speaker 6: Now, tension is a daily occurrence there in Dallas. They
[22:42] Speaker 6: know the spotlight that is on them, and.
[22:44] Speaker 2: In part because of what the New York Giants did
[22:47] Speaker 2: to them.
[22:47] Speaker 6: And I want to talk about the Cowboys' offense, because
[22:49] Speaker 6: there's been a lot of discussion about just how explosive
[22:52] Speaker 6: this offense is with Dak Prescott running the show and
[22:54] Speaker 6: all the weapons that they have. Receivers with Pickens and
[22:57] Speaker 6: Lamb and running backs with Javante. I mean, really just
[23:00] Speaker 6: up and down the line, talent all over the place.
[23:02] Speaker 6: Offensive line's a little banged up early in the season,
[23:05] Speaker 6: but still really, really effective defensively. and they just weren't
[23:08] Speaker 6: the home run hitting, highly efficient offensive machine that we
[23:12] Speaker 6: all expected. If the Cowboys are going to get to
[23:14] Speaker 6: where they should be this season, which is competing for
[23:18] Speaker 6: a playoff spot and then into the playoffs, this offense
[23:21] Speaker 6: needs to take some of the responsibility here, and I
[23:23] Speaker 6: would expect a bounce back performance from Dak Prescott and
[23:27] Speaker 6: friends on Sunday.
[23:28] Speaker 1: In front of the home crowd at AT & T Stadium,
[23:30] Speaker 1: we're 266 miles away. The Houston Texans will have their
[23:33] Speaker 1: second straight home game to start the season against another
[23:38] Speaker 1: pretty good AFC quarterback, but how healthy is he? Joe
[23:41] Speaker 1: Burrow dealt with back tightness in practice this week, said
[23:43] Speaker 1: he'd be ridiculous for him to miss Sunday's game, but
[23:46] Speaker 1: the Bengals have listed him as questionable.
[23:50] Speaker 2: Upward, Nico Collins.
[23:52] Speaker 1: We saw he was ruled out Sunday for the game.
[23:55] Speaker 1: What can you tell us about his hamstring injury? Because
[23:57] Speaker 1: he's had these in the past.
[24:00] Speaker 6: He's had several of these nagging injuries. Heard it this
[24:02] Speaker 6: week in practice. Did not practice the past two days.
[24:06] Speaker 6: So officially ruled out. Does not seem to be a major,
[24:09] Speaker 6: major injury. Obviously hamstrings can be tricky, so they're not
[24:12] Speaker 6: going to want to rush him back. But at least
[24:14] Speaker 6: minor is better than the alternative.
[24:16] Speaker 2: So what this means.
[24:17] Speaker 6: For the Houston Texans, they're going to have to rely
[24:19] Speaker 6: on some of their depth.
[24:20] Speaker 2: Jalen Noel is certainly a name to watch. They're really talented.
[24:24] Speaker 2: Would not be surprised if he's more involved.
[24:26] Speaker 6: And then Keyshawn Booty, the former Patriots receiver who played
[24:29] Speaker 6: in the same system in New England, who they traded
[24:32] Speaker 6: for this offseason, right actually around time of cut-down day.
[24:36] Speaker 6: I would expect Keyshawn Booty to be front.
[24:38] Speaker 2: And center this weekend.
[24:39] Speaker 6: If he's anything close to the player Texans believe that
[24:42] Speaker 6: they traded for, we're probably going to see a lot
[24:45] Speaker 6: of him from C.J.
[24:46] Speaker 2: Stroud.
[24:47] Speaker 1: Yeah, with a defense on the other side probably hungry
[24:49] Speaker 1: to bounce back after Josh Allen. The Bills were all
[24:52] Speaker 1: over them in the start of their 2026 season. Let's
[24:54] Speaker 1: stay in the AFC South where the Jacksonville Jaguars had
[24:58] Speaker 1: a vastly different start than the Denver Broncos.
[25:01] Speaker 2: The Jags able to rest.
[25:02] Speaker 1: Some starters for a big part of the second half
[25:04] Speaker 1: against the Browns. Meanwhile, the Broncos offense struggled in Kansas
[25:08] Speaker 1: City on Monday night. We heard from Sean Payton all
[25:11] Speaker 1: week with regards to the defense. But, Judy, over on
[25:16] Speaker 1: the other side, you have Davis Webb making his play-calling
[25:19] Speaker 1: debut against Steve Spagnuolo on the road in a season
[25:23] Speaker 1: opener with arguably one of the best play-callers of his
[25:26] Speaker 1: generation as his head coach just watching on.
[25:28] Speaker 2: It has to be a difficult situation.
[25:32] Speaker 7: Well, you wonder how difficult it is and maybe how
[25:35] Speaker 7: difficult it could get if things don't go much better
[25:38] Speaker 7: for the Denver Broncos offense. You mentioned things didn't go
[25:41] Speaker 7: well for the Denver Broncos in any way. They weren't
[25:43] Speaker 7: good on defense either. But on offense, they really sputtered.
[25:46] Speaker 7: They never got things going. Bo Nix struggled. They didn't
[25:50] Speaker 7: really commit to the run.
[25:51] Speaker 4: They were way out of whack on their pass offensively.
[25:54] Speaker 7: Run balance. It just didn't go right. Now, Sean Payton
[25:57] Speaker 7: has defended Davis Webb. He said there's a lot of
[25:59] Speaker 7: dirt on everybody's hands, including his own, meaning Sean Payton's
[26:03] Speaker 7: own hands. So he is sticking with Davis Webb. He
[26:06] Speaker 7: is the one, after all, who decided to turn the
[26:08] Speaker 7: play calling over to Davis Webb.
[26:10] Speaker 4: But you do have to wonder if.
[26:11] Speaker 7: Things don't get better against the Jacksonville Jaguars. And worth noting,
[26:15] Speaker 7: the Jaguars were the team, the only team that beat
[26:18] Speaker 7: the Broncos.
[26:19] Speaker 4: At home last season in the regular season.
[26:21] Speaker 7: If things don't look better from an offensive standpoint against
[26:25] Speaker 7: the Jaguars, you do wonder how long Sean Payton will
[26:29] Speaker 7: remain patient with Davis Webb and with the offense.
[26:32] Speaker 4: You know he doesn't want to make a change. It's
[26:34] Speaker 4: been only one week.
[26:35] Speaker 7: Things could turn around after one week quite easily.
[26:38] Speaker 4: We will see how it goes.
[26:39] Speaker 7: But certainly this is something to keep an eye on.
[26:41] Speaker 7: This was one of the biggest changes made in the
[26:43] Speaker 7: offseason in Germany. It certainly didn't get off to the
[26:46] Speaker 7: best start.
[26:47] Speaker 2: Yeah, Judy, no doubt about that.
[26:49] Speaker 8: My sense is Sean Payton wants to see the big
[26:51] Speaker 8: picture here, to your point.
[26:52] Speaker 2: He knows it's only one game.
[26:54] Speaker 8: He knows Davis Webb is an ascending young coach who
[26:56] Speaker 8: was on the head coaching trail last year doing several
[26:59] Speaker 8: interviews and acquitted himself well. So they want to give
[27:02] Speaker 8: him a chance here. Sean Payton, not the most patient man,
[27:04] Speaker 8: but wants to be as patient as he possibly can here.
[27:07] Speaker 8: And my understanding is part of why Payton relinquished play-calling
[27:10] Speaker 8: duties is because he had called it for so long.
[27:12] Speaker 8: We're looking at 25-plus years. He wanted to see the
[27:15] Speaker 8: game from a different vantage point. He knew that it
[27:18] Speaker 8: was time. But he does want to see Denver run
[27:20] Speaker 8: the ball better and commit to that a little bit more.
[27:22] Speaker 8: They got away from it last week, just 15 rushing attempts.
[27:25] Speaker 8: Part of that was they were playing from behind. But
[27:27] Speaker 8: he wants to see J.K. Dobbins and that crew get
[27:30] Speaker 8: going a little bit more, although they could be without R.J. Harvey,
[27:33] Speaker 8: who is questionable with a hamstring injury, not looking great
[27:35] Speaker 8: for him right now.
[27:37] Speaker 1: And for Coach Payton, it's not deflection to bring up
[27:40] Speaker 1: that defense. They gave up 247 yards after missed tackles.
[27:44] Speaker 1: It's the most in the NFL since 2018 in that
[27:47] Speaker 1: opener against the Chiefs. Speaking of piling up yards, how
[27:51] Speaker 1: about starting your season with a casual 59 points on
[27:54] Speaker 1: the road?
[27:54] Speaker 2: Stacey Dales joins us on the driving force behind Ben
[27:57] Speaker 2: Johnson's offense coming up next on the Insiders. That's who
[28:02] Speaker 2: we want to be each week.
[28:03] Speaker 13: We didn't get into this profession trying to be mediocre
[28:05] Speaker 13: or average.
[28:06] Speaker 2: Touchdown! The Bears are in business. We want to be
[28:08] Speaker 2: the highest scoring, have the most wins. We want to
[28:10] Speaker 2: win the Super Bowl. That's what we do. 10-5 touchdown.
[28:14] Speaker 2: The Bears continue to pile on. A 50-burger.
[28:19] Speaker 1: It's great to have goals to spend Johnson did. Even
[28:22] Speaker 1: better to live up to them. They've scored 59 points
[28:24] Speaker 1: in the opener. The best since 1980. Most rush yards
[28:28] Speaker 1: since 84. Most rushing touchdowns since 1941. You got to
[28:32] Speaker 1: go back to 1980 to find them have eight touchdowns
[28:36] Speaker 1: in a week one.
[28:38] Speaker 2: And they will. go into their week two game against
[28:41] Speaker 2: Carson Wentz.
[28:42] Speaker 1: As Kyler Murray has been ruled out, had that very
[28:44] Speaker 1: frightening looking concussion in the opener on the late hits.
[28:48] Speaker 2: So it is Carson Wentz.
[28:50] Speaker 1: And as I was informed moments ago by our friend
[28:53] Speaker 1: Stacey Dales, only start number 100 for one Carson Wentz.
[28:57] Speaker 1: And that also means we get the Jalen Johnson against
[29:00] Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson matchup, Stacey.
[29:03] Speaker 14: Yes, this is the matchup of the JJs. By the way,
[29:05] Speaker 14: we're going to have some weather.
[29:06] Speaker 4: How about it? Here in Chicago, maximum wind gusts, Patrick.
[29:09] Speaker 14: Up to 28 miles per hour, 80% chance of rain.
[29:13] Speaker 14: So buckle up. It's going to be a fun one.
[29:15] Speaker 14: Justin Jefferson has 89 career receiving yards per game against
[29:19] Speaker 14: the NFC North. That is a substantial number now against
[29:23] Speaker 14: the Chicago bears. He has four receiving touchdowns in his career,
[29:26] Speaker 14: but he has been brilliant with Carson Wentz.
[29:28] Speaker 4: Dating back to last season.
[29:30] Speaker 14: He was better with Wentz than any other quarterback that
[29:33] Speaker 14: took the field in terms of scoring touchdowns.
[29:36] Speaker 4: We saw two.
[29:37] Speaker 14: Last week against the green Bay Packers, which matched his,
[29:39] Speaker 14: season high from last season. Justin Jefferson, if you can
[29:42] Speaker 14: think about that. And Carson Wentz said today, my job
[29:47] Speaker 14: is to get him the football one on one. If
[29:49] Speaker 14: he's got an inch, I got to throw it. I
[29:51] Speaker 14: spoke with Jalen Johnson, who's going to see quite a bit.
[29:54] Speaker 4: Of this guy.
[29:54] Speaker 14: That's going to be a fun matchup. I spoke to
[29:56] Speaker 14: Jalen Johnson today about it. And remember Chicago second in
[30:00] Speaker 14: the league after week one, 42% man defense with Dennis Allen.
[30:04] Speaker 14: So you're going to see them having what Jalen Johnson,
[30:07] Speaker 14: Patrick called a chess match. He said, it's going to
[30:10] Speaker 14: be a dog fight. And some of the things he
[30:12] Speaker 14: told me, you got to stay in it for the
[30:13] Speaker 14: whole time. You're going to win some, you're going to
[30:16] Speaker 14: lose some, but you have to keep your mind in
[30:18] Speaker 14: it because of that dog fight and be really good
[30:21] Speaker 14: in situational moments and Certainly at times you've got to
[30:24] Speaker 14: show Justin Jefferson. Jalen told me different looks, whether you're
[30:29] Speaker 14: off man, whether you're press, you might be a little
[30:31] Speaker 14: more aggressive. You might be a little more soft. Again,
[30:34] Speaker 14: this is going to be a cat and mouse game
[30:35] Speaker 14: between the two of them. And it's certainly going to
[30:37] Speaker 14: be a big difference maker in this game.
[30:39] Speaker 1: You had a great matchup of offensive and defensive play callers.
[30:42] Speaker 2: You mentioned the weather.
[30:43] Speaker 1: I think one thing that would operate pretty well will
[30:45] Speaker 1: be a nice ground game. They had those 291 rushing
[30:48] Speaker 1: yards in the opener against the Carolina Panthers, Stacey.
[30:52] Speaker 14: Yeah, I pulled a nugget out of our research packet, Patrick.
[30:56] Speaker 4: There's a play on words.
[30:58] Speaker 14: The Bears are the third team in NFL history to
[31:00] Speaker 14: have six rushing touchdowns in a season opener, dating back
[31:03] Speaker 14: to the 1922 Canton Bulldogs and the 1920 Rock Island Independents.
[31:10] Speaker 14: For you research nerds and buffs out there. It is
[31:14] Speaker 14: a perfect blend up front. I spoke with Cole Komet,
[31:17] Speaker 14: tight end with this group, and he told me they
[31:19] Speaker 14: put a lot of good blocks on tape last week. Obviously,
[31:22] Speaker 14: they were synchronized, he said. They knew where they were going.
[31:25] Speaker 14: The communication was exceptional. They knew where their IDs were,
[31:29] Speaker 14: and they were just technically sound.
[31:30] Speaker 4: Well, guess what?
[31:31] Speaker 14: I spoke with Eric Wilson today from the Vikings defense.
[31:35] Speaker 14: All the things that Cole Komet told me this week,
[31:38] Speaker 14: Eric Wilson told me. Linebacker for their group. Because it
[31:41] Speaker 14: showed up to them on tape. You watch it right
[31:44] Speaker 14: here on your screen. I mean, the way that this
[31:46] Speaker 14: offensive line moved the line of scrimmage, as Kemet told me,
[31:50] Speaker 14: they just continued to push back the Carolina Panthers. And
[31:53] Speaker 14: you saw DeAndre Swift, Kyle Menongai, and that guy right there,
[31:57] Speaker 14: Caleb Williams, lead the charge.
[31:59] Speaker 4: And as Eric Wilson told.
[32:01] Speaker 14: Me, we cannot let Caleb Williams go.
[32:03] Speaker 4: He called bonkers against us.
[32:05] Speaker 14: They have to keep him in the pocket some way, somehow,
[32:07] Speaker 14: and figure out how to corral this rushing attack.
[32:10] Speaker 4: That is the.
[32:11] Speaker 14: Number one priority for Brian Flores heading into Sunday.
[32:14] Speaker 1: Looking forward to this game. A couple of offenses that
[32:16] Speaker 1: were very successful. Stacey Dales on the Bears and the Vikings.
[32:19] Speaker 1: We go from high-flying.
[32:20] Speaker 2: Offenses to offenses that kind of struggled.
[32:23] Speaker 1: First-half turnovers plaguing both Baker Mayfield and Deshaun Watson on
[32:27] Speaker 1: the road in Week 1.
[32:28] Speaker 2: Deshaun Watson and the Browns on.
[32:30] Speaker 1: The road here again against Tampa, where we haven't seen
[32:33] Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson start at home through the preseason. This two
[32:38] Speaker 1: games starting on the road, Judy, is this potentially the
[32:41] Speaker 1: last stand for Deshaun Watson?
[32:44] Speaker 7: Well, we'll have to see how week two goes. Certainly
[32:47] Speaker 7: week one did not go the way the Browns had hoped.
[32:49] Speaker 7: Todd Munkin made Deshaun Watson the starting quarterback because he
[32:53] Speaker 7: thought he gave them the best chance to win. They
[32:55] Speaker 7: were starting the season two games on the road against
[32:57] Speaker 7: two what we expect to be very good defenses. Certainly
[33:00] Speaker 7: the Jacksonville Jaguars proved to have a very good defense.
[33:03] Speaker 7: The Bucs struggled last week all around. He thought that
[33:07] Speaker 7: Deshaun Watson gave the team the best chance to win
[33:09] Speaker 7: in those cases. It did not pan out last week.
[33:11] Speaker 7: The offensive operation wasn't good. Deshaun wasn't good on his own.
[33:16] Speaker 7: Todd Munkin has stood by Deshaun Watson so far. He
[33:18] Speaker 7: said he's liked what he's seen in practice. He saw
[33:20] Speaker 7: stuff on tape that he thought was good.
[33:22] Speaker 4: We'll see how he performs this week.
[33:24] Speaker 7: We know that the reception at the home game is
[33:27] Speaker 7: probably not going to be good for Deshaun Watson, so
[33:29] Speaker 7: they're going to have a decision to make if the
[33:31] Speaker 7: play does not improve this week about whether they want
[33:34] Speaker 7: to put Deshaun Watson out there or go to Shador Sanders.
[33:37] Speaker 1: Yeah, play this week could influence how that reception goes
[33:40] Speaker 1: for Deshaun Watson.
[33:40] Speaker 2: When they make. That home opener in Cleveland.
[33:43] Speaker 1: The 49ers return victorious home from Australia. Now we'll play
[33:48] Speaker 1: host to the Dolphins coming up on Sunday. They had
[33:51] Speaker 1: a solid defensive performance against the Rams. Meanwhile, the Dolphins
[33:54] Speaker 1: kind of struggled to generate yards.
[33:57] Speaker 2: They were led.
[33:58] Speaker 1: In receiving by rookie Caleb Douglas, where we have, Ian,
[34:01] Speaker 1: in this matchup, one of the oldest rosters in the
[34:03] Speaker 1: NFL against the absolute youngest roster in Miami. But the
[34:07] Speaker 1: old vets at wide receiver, I know they hate calling
[34:09] Speaker 1: them old, they look pretty good for the 49ers in
[34:11] Speaker 1: the opener.
[34:13] Speaker 2: Devo Samuel, old.
[34:14] Speaker 6: 30 years old. We're all actually old. He's not that old.
[34:17] Speaker 6: But yes, let's talk about the San Francisco 49ers pass catchers.
[34:20] Speaker 6: It is a week after Deshaun Stripling was knocked out
[34:23] Speaker 6: for the next 10 or so weeks with a deltoid rupture. Obviously,
[34:27] Speaker 6: Ricky Pearsall also out for the season. What that has
[34:30] Speaker 6: meant is that Devo Samuel returned to the 49ers after
[34:33] Speaker 6: a year away with the Commanders. has the ability to
[34:37] Speaker 6: really step into the spotlight. He had a really solid
[34:39] Speaker 6: performance last week, probably opened to people's eyes about what
[34:42] Speaker 6: he can do physically.
[34:43] Speaker 2: Had several catches, had a touchdown.
[34:45] Speaker 6: Really reminded you of the last couple years with the 49ers.
[34:48] Speaker 6: Debo will have the opportunity to prove that this is
[34:52] Speaker 6: real and keep his stay in San Francisco a little
[34:54] Speaker 6: bit longer if he keeps performing like he has.
[34:57] Speaker 2: It just feels right.
[34:58] Speaker 1: It's the familiarity there to have him there in that
[35:00] Speaker 1: 19 jersey making plays for the San Francisco 49ers.
[35:03] Speaker 2: Coming up here on the Insiders, we look to where
[35:06] Speaker 2: the last dance for.
[35:08] Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers goes up against the ascension of Drake May.
[35:11] Speaker 1: How does the MVP runner-up bounce back after the loss
[35:14] Speaker 1: in the opener? And how he does it with the
[35:16] Speaker 1: two-time MVP on the other sideline. That's coming up next
[35:19] Speaker 1: on the Insiders. Back on the Insiders, we're going to
[35:23] Speaker 1: Super Bowl 61, and you can, too, enter for a
[35:26] Speaker 1: chance to win four tickets to Super Bowl 61 and
[35:29] Speaker 1: a three-night vacation to Disneyland Resort.
[35:31] Speaker 2: To watch the Super Bowl champion cavalcade.
[35:33] Speaker 1: Scan the QR code on your screen now or visit
[35:37] Speaker 1: www.espn.com to learn more. Looking forward to week two for
[35:45] Speaker 1: the Patriots and the Steelers. A lot of folks questionable
[35:48] Speaker 1: for this game, including Michael Pittman Jr.
[35:50] Speaker 2: Draymont Jones, and Carlton Davis. Joey Porter ruled out with.
[35:54] Speaker 1: That back injury, but one notable name not on this
[35:57] Speaker 1: graphic we didn't see in week one, Travion Henderson of.
[36:03] Speaker 2: The New England Patriots.
[36:05] Speaker 1: As we've got this matchup with the Patriots back at
[36:07] Speaker 1: home after the loss in the opener. Judy, what does
[36:11] Speaker 1: Travion do for this offense that had a rough start
[36:15] Speaker 1: against the Super Bowl champs?
[36:18] Speaker 7: Well, it should certainly help bolster their rushing attack, and
[36:21] Speaker 7: they may need to lean on that a little bit.
[36:23] Speaker 7: As you pointed out, Drake May struggled a bit in
[36:26] Speaker 7: week one. Josh McDaniels, his offensive coordinator, said, you know,
[36:29] Speaker 7: teams have a year's worth of tape on Drake May now,
[36:33] Speaker 7: so they are able to figure out what he likes
[36:35] Speaker 7: to do, where he likes to go. And one of
[36:37] Speaker 7: the things that you've seen the top defenses do, they
[36:40] Speaker 7: were doing it in the playoffs last year, and we
[36:42] Speaker 7: saw it last week with Seattle as well, is They're
[36:44] Speaker 7: trying to take away that deep pass that Drake May
[36:46] Speaker 7: was so very effective with last season.
[36:50] Speaker 4: They're trying to take it away from him.
[36:52] Speaker 7: And so they're forcing him to sort of take that
[36:54] Speaker 7: short underneath passes and go methodically down the field. Drake
[36:58] Speaker 7: May said himself he lost patience last week and he
[37:00] Speaker 7: launched three balls down the field that were intercepted.
[37:03] Speaker 4: They were all when he was trying to go defensively.
[37:05] Speaker 4: down the field.
[37:06] Speaker 7: So Josh McDaniel says, you know, you need discipline to
[37:09] Speaker 7: stay patient that way. He doesn't like the word patient.
[37:11] Speaker 7: He likes the word discipline. They need to stay patient.
[37:14] Speaker 7: But one way to get teams out of staying back
[37:17] Speaker 7: to defend those deep passes is to run the ball effectively.
[37:20] Speaker 4: We will see if they can do it this week.
[37:21] Speaker 2: Yeah, we call it a bounce back.
[37:22] Speaker 1: How different things would be if the decision-making was just
[37:25] Speaker 1: a little bit different for Drake May in the closing
[37:27] Speaker 1: moments there.
[37:28] Speaker 2: Total bit of a meltdown for the Los Angeles Chargers
[37:31] Speaker 2: in their opener.
[37:31] Speaker 1: They've got the Raiders coming to SoFi this week. See,
[37:35] Speaker 1: they're brought Bowers back at practice with the knee.
[37:38] Speaker 2: Injury, but.
[37:39] Speaker 1: He is still doubtful he's 10 days removed from having
[37:42] Speaker 1: his knee cleaned up. On the other side, Ladin McConkie
[37:45] Speaker 1: questionable for the game on Sunday. He left the game
[37:49] Speaker 1: in week one with a rib injury that came on
[37:51] Speaker 1: this hit from Mack Wilson over the middle.
[37:54] Speaker 2: Again, questionable for Sunday. It was Jordan Love and.
[37:58] Speaker 1: The Packers getting blitzed a ton by the Minnesota Vikings
[38:01] Speaker 1: in week one. Up next, another defensive play caller that's
[38:04] Speaker 1: had Jordan Love's number is on the schedule. We break
[38:08] Speaker 1: that down coming up next on The Insider. Back here
[38:14] Speaker 1: on the Insiders, look at the injury designations for the
[38:16] Speaker 1: Jets and the Packers in week two.
[38:19] Speaker 2: Both Omar Cooper Jr.
[38:20] Speaker 1: And Mika Fitzpatrick out of the game, one with an ankle,
[38:22] Speaker 1: one with a groin injury. And keep an eye on
[38:24] Speaker 1: Aaron Banks, questionable as is Lucas Van Ness.
[38:28] Speaker 2: Javon Hargrave, doubtful for the Green Bay Packers.
[38:31] Speaker 1: Aaron Glenn, very familiar with and complimentary of Jordan Love
[38:35] Speaker 1: ahead of the game.
[38:37] Speaker 12: Number one, his arm talent is unbelievable. And when I
[38:44] Speaker 12: say that, it's, man, the different angles that he throws from.
[38:48] Speaker 2: I mean, you clearly see that when you watch the tape.
[38:51] Speaker 12: The arm strength, his ability to get out the pocket
[38:54] Speaker 12: and then be able to launch the ball deep.
[38:57] Speaker 2: You see that quite a bit.
[38:59] Speaker 12: I know sometimes they don't want a lot of quarterbacks
[39:01] Speaker 12: doing this, but when you have the ability that he
[39:04] Speaker 12: has of, man, maybe rolling to your right and being
[39:06] Speaker 12: able to flick it and throw it back to you,
[39:08] Speaker 12: he has the ability to do that. And everybody doesn't
[39:11] Speaker 12: have that ability, but... When you have the talent that
[39:14] Speaker 12: he has, I think most coaches will be like, okay,
[39:16] Speaker 12: you know, you do you. And just make sure you
[39:19] Speaker 12: throw it out on the team. So he's done a
[39:21] Speaker 12: good job of that. He's really dangerous. I think he's
[39:25] Speaker 12: more elusive than guys might give him credit for. We
[39:32] Speaker 12: want to try to keep him in the pocket as
[39:33] Speaker 12: much as we can, but we also want to deter
[39:36] Speaker 12: some of these throws that he has because he has
[39:38] Speaker 12: these receivers out there that can cause a lot of damage.
[39:42] Speaker 12: They're all 4-3 guys. They're all tough guys. They all
[39:44] Speaker 12: can go up and catch the ball. It'll be a
[39:47] Speaker 12: challenge for our secondary.
[39:49] Speaker 1: Judy, for tracking the QB wins against Aaron Glenn-led defenses,
[39:53] Speaker 1: one and three for Jordan Love, but a lot's changed
[39:56] Speaker 1: for both of them since the last time they faced off.
[40:00] Speaker 4: That's right.
[40:01] Speaker 7: Aaron Glenn is was five and three when he was
[40:03] Speaker 7: with the Lions against the Packers. And they won the
[40:07] Speaker 7: last two games against the Packers in his last year
[40:09] Speaker 7: there as defensive coordinator before he took the Jets head
[40:13] Speaker 7: coaching job. So he is very familiar with the opponent.
[40:16] Speaker 7: Of course, he has to take them on without makeup. Fitzpatrick,
[40:19] Speaker 7: as we told you, the safety is out for this.
[40:21] Speaker 4: Game with a groin injury.
[40:23] Speaker 7: Jordan Love racked up a lot of yards last week,
[40:26] Speaker 7: but the Vikings blitzed him like crazy.
[40:28] Speaker 4: Well, Aaron Glenn likes to blitz like crazy, too.
[40:31] Speaker 7: As a matter of fact, I believe the Jets blitzed
[40:34] Speaker 7: second most often compared to just behind the Minnesota Vikings.
[40:38] Speaker 4: So I would certainly expect to.
[40:39] Speaker 7: See a variety of blitzes to try to disrupt Jordan Love.
[40:43] Speaker 7: But look, Aaron Glenn is calling the plays for this
[40:46] Speaker 7: defense now. He called it his superpower. He took back
[40:48] Speaker 7: defensive play calling this year. This defense feels a lot
[40:51] Speaker 7: more confident with Aaron Glenn calling things. They like where
[40:55] Speaker 7: they are. We will see how they match up this
[40:57] Speaker 7: year against Jordan Love.
[40:58] Speaker 1: And see if they can break the streak with Jordan Love.
[41:00] Speaker 1: 18 straight games without an interception as that Jets defense
[41:05] Speaker 1: goes up against the Packers.
[41:07] Speaker 2: It was a bit of an up-and-down game for Jalen Hurts.
[41:09] Speaker 1: Had three touchdowns, no interceptions, but only completed 56%.
[41:13] Speaker 2: Of his passes.
[41:14] Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni on playing a Robert Sala defense this week.
[41:19] Speaker 10: Yeah.
[41:19] Speaker 15: I think that you've seen, uh, coach solid coach defenses
[41:23] Speaker 15: be extremely good defenses, you know, over the past decade
[41:27] Speaker 15: of the, of the NFL. Um, and so I have
[41:30] Speaker 15: a lot of respect for, for him and coach Bradley. Um,
[41:34] Speaker 15: you know, just think the world of those two guys,
[41:36] Speaker 15: you know, particularly, you know, again, I miss particularly coach
[41:39] Speaker 15: Bradley because I've worked with him. Um, and so got
[41:42] Speaker 15: a ton of respect for those guys. Um, you know, get,
[41:45] Speaker 15: they always get their guys to play hard, play with
[41:47] Speaker 15: good fundamentals. Um, And then you look at the, you know,
[41:51] Speaker 15: starting with Simmons, the guys that they have on that team. And,
[41:55] Speaker 15: you know, obviously he's a phenomenal football player. We're going
[41:58] Speaker 15: to have to know where he is at all times
[41:59] Speaker 15: in this football game and make sure, you know, we
[42:03] Speaker 15: got good football players too. And so, you know, those
[42:07] Speaker 15: are some things that you think about before you go
[42:10] Speaker 15: in and play this game.
[42:12] Speaker 1: And we celebrate mutual respect, but most eyes are going
[42:15] Speaker 1: to be on the number one overall pick of a
[42:16] Speaker 1: couple of years ago, Cam Wark.
[42:19] Speaker 6: Yeah, it seems Cam Ward, especially locally, is starting to
[42:22] Speaker 6: get some heat a little bit about his performance and
[42:24] Speaker 6: these struggles that he has had. Understandably, everyone wants their
[42:27] Speaker 6: quarterback to really kind of hit the stride and find
[42:30] Speaker 6: some of that success.
[42:31] Speaker 2: Cam Ward is talented as anyone.
[42:33] Speaker 6: The former number one overall pick, as you mentioned, having
[42:36] Speaker 6: to answer questions this week.
[42:37] Speaker 2: Well, if you think... You're a successful, good quarterback. Why
[42:40] Speaker 2: have you not exactly played like it?
[42:42] Speaker 6: All of that stuff gets quiet if Ken Ward can
[42:45] Speaker 6: have a breakout performance against.
[42:47] Speaker 2: The Philadelphia Eagles. If that happens, he.
[42:49] Speaker 6: Can all breathe a little easier, and I know some
[42:51] Speaker 6: in the organization will as well.
[42:53] Speaker 2: Because a lot can change.
[42:54] Speaker 1: A lot can change, especially conversationally around the league between
[42:57] Speaker 1: a couple of weeks. Week one can occasionally show us
[43:00] Speaker 1: things that may not be true in.
[43:01] Speaker 2: The long term. It's going to be a long time
[43:03] Speaker 2: until we see you. We're going to miss you. Insiders,
[43:05] Speaker 2: we'll be back on Tuesday for Ian Rappaport, Judy Batista.
[43:08] Speaker 2: I'm Patrick Claiborne. Enjoy week two. Have a good weekend, everybody.

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