# The NFL Report: The NFL is Kicking Off + Bucky Brooks & Mike Giardi Join the Show

An episode of [NFL: The Insiders](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1543090622), 10 Sep 2026, 25 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/e922fbd8-b608-413a-ac83-b06d015154b4/ea7cf0c7-e733-44ad-ae27-b4c100075163/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=3e412703-0644-468e-9001-ae390070e4db

On the rundown for today’s The NFL Report Podcast: -Preview of Tonight's Superbowl Rematch with Bucky Brooks -Brock Bowers not playing in Week 1 -Joe Burrow's contract talks in Cincinnati -The Rams have landed Down Under without Aaron Donald? -Is Tua feeling the Pressure in Atlanta? -Mike Giardi gives insight on the Patriots -Could Travis Hunter be the next Comeback Player of the Year? The NFL Report is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeart Media. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] Speaker 1: We've got a game tonight coming up on the NFL report.
[0:06] Speaker 1: Everything you need to know about night number one and
[0:10] Speaker 1: a Super Bowl rematch in Seattle.
[0:14] Speaker 2: Wait a minute. Brock Bowers isn't playing Sunday. Why?
[0:18] Speaker 1: We have the latest from Vegas on Wednesday. Stunning news
[0:21] Speaker 1: on the league's number one tight end. And Joe Burrow says,
[0:26] Speaker 1: I'm not going anywhere. Neither should you, by the way,
[0:29] Speaker 1: because the NFL report is right now.
[0:33] Speaker 2: And we're back. Welcome back. Welcome to the NFL Report.
[0:37] Speaker 2: Football is back. Represented to you by Nationwide. My name
[0:40] Speaker 2: is Andrew Siciliano. This is the kickoff edition. We are
[0:43] Speaker 2: 90 minutes away from kickoff in Seattle.
[0:46] Speaker 1: Coming up, the latest on that Brock Bowers injury, which
[0:49] Speaker 1: came out of nowhere today.
[0:52] Speaker 2: What is news to me?
[0:53] Speaker 1: Let's get our latest headlines in here to start it
[0:56] Speaker 1: off with the fact that, well, we've got a game tonight.
[0:58] Speaker 1: For the first time in 14 years, the NFL is
[1:01] Speaker 1: kicking off a new season on a Wednesday, and it
[1:04] Speaker 1: is a Super Bowl rematch to kick it off. The
[1:06] Speaker 1: first time we have had that in a decade. 272
[1:11] Speaker 1: regular season games and then 12 more in the playoffs
[1:15] Speaker 1: to get you to... SoFi Stadium, the building right across
[1:19] Speaker 1: the street from where we stand now in Super Bowl 61.
[1:22] Speaker 1: The NFL member did the poster. Well, they do the
[1:25] Speaker 1: poster every year, but last year you could kind of
[1:27] Speaker 1: look at the poster and did it come true? Is
[1:30] Speaker 1: this scripted? Can you figure out who's going to play
[1:34] Speaker 1: in Super Bowl 61? No, you can't because it's the
[1:36] Speaker 1: world's greatest reality show. It is not scripted. We can
[1:39] Speaker 1: tell you, however. But somewhat, well, as expected, Nicky Manwari
[1:45] Speaker 1: is inactive. The guy that came in second to the
[1:47] Speaker 1: defensive rookie of the year voting a year ago still
[1:49] Speaker 1: coming back from that ankle injury.
[1:51] Speaker 2: He is not ready to go.
[1:52] Speaker 1: Travion Henderson also not ready to go, but we kind
[1:55] Speaker 1: of sort of knew that already. He is out for
[1:58] Speaker 1: the Patriots. Bucky Brooks is in, however. Bucky, happy football
[2:03] Speaker 1: to you and yours as well.
[2:05] Speaker 2: Here we go, buddy.
[2:06] Speaker 1: When last we saw these two teams, they were playing
[2:08] Speaker 1: in Santa Clara. six months ago, and the Patriots were
[2:12] Speaker 1: getting shut out in the first half.
[2:15] Speaker 2: They have since added A.J. Brown. How does A.J. Brown, Bucky,
[2:18] Speaker 2: change the math tonight?
[2:20] Speaker 3: He gives them a true number one receiver.
[2:23] Speaker 4: We think about that version of the Patriots offense that
[2:25] Speaker 4: showed up in Super Bowl. They didn't have anyone that
[2:28] Speaker 4: could win the one-on-one matchups on the outside.
[2:30] Speaker 2: Well, in A.J.
[2:31] Speaker 4: Brown, they now have someone that can win those one-on-ones.
[2:34] Speaker 4: And think about this. He's going to be positioned at
[2:36] Speaker 4: the X receiver. That's the big physical receiver that has
[2:39] Speaker 4: to win against press coverage at the line of scrimmage.
[2:41] Speaker 4: With the Eagles, those four years he was there, he
[2:44] Speaker 4: was number one in yards per route versus press. at
[2:47] Speaker 4: 3.4 yards per route, according to NextGenStats. But not only that,
[2:51] Speaker 4: he's one of only four receivers in NFL history to
[2:54] Speaker 4: average 75 receiving yards and 15 yards per catch. This
[2:58] Speaker 4: is a big-time playmaker, someone that Josh McDaniels likened to
[3:01] Speaker 4: Rob Gronkowski, and we saw what Rob Gronkowski did in
[3:04] Speaker 4: this offense.
[3:05] Speaker 2: Look for a lot of.
[3:06] Speaker 4: Isolations for A.J.
[3:08] Speaker 3: Brown.
[3:08] Speaker 4: They're going to trust him to win his matchup, and
[3:10] Speaker 4: Drake Mays is going to get him the ball early
[3:12] Speaker 4: and often.
[3:12] Speaker 2: You see A.J.
[3:13] Speaker 1: Brown there on the field warming up. Lumen Field in Seattle.
[3:15] Speaker 1: Beautiful weather. 75 degrees as we speak right now. Seattle
[3:20] Speaker 1: has a different feel offensively. And this is significant. Clint
[3:24] Speaker 1: Kubiak is now in Vegas as the Raiders head coach.
[3:27] Speaker 1: And Brian Fleury is the new offensive coordinator. He was
[3:31] Speaker 1: at one point a college quarterback at Maryland, then a
[3:33] Speaker 1: defensive assistant.
[3:35] Speaker 2: Totally different view on the game. How's the Seahawks offense
[3:38] Speaker 2: different tonight?
[3:40] Speaker 4: They want to keep the same system. Fleury comes from
[3:42] Speaker 4: San Francisco. They want to run the Shanahan wide zone system.
[3:46] Speaker 4: So they're going to keep that intact. But every time
[3:48] Speaker 4: a new play caller takes over, They can put their
[3:51] Speaker 4: own spin on it. The challenge that Fleury has is,
[3:53] Speaker 4: how can he take an offense that was really good
[3:55] Speaker 4: with Sam Darnold and JSN, who is Offensive Rookie, who
[3:59] Speaker 4: is Offensive Player of the Year, how can he continue
[4:01] Speaker 4: to advance that? Well, he has to take some of
[4:03] Speaker 4: the concepts that Sam Darnold really loves and add.
[4:06] Speaker 2: His own spice to it.
[4:07] Speaker 4: Look for more passes to the running backs out of
[4:10] Speaker 4: the backfield. Look for more targets for the tight ends
[4:13] Speaker 4: in the intermediate range of the field. And then look
[4:17] Speaker 4: for them to continue the run game with Jadarian Price
[4:20] Speaker 4: taking over. It will look the same, but other guys
[4:23] Speaker 4: will be targeted more, and maybe the diversity will make
[4:26] Speaker 4: the Seahawks a more dangerous team. As we get to it,
[4:29] Speaker 4: teams won't be able to key on JSN. They'll have
[4:32] Speaker 4: to defend the entire field and run a game that
[4:34] Speaker 4: is just as potent and explosive as it was with
[4:37] Speaker 4: the Super Bowl MVP, Kenneth Walker, being the bell cow.
[4:41] Speaker 1: Jadarian Price never had more than 15 carries in a
[4:43] Speaker 1: game in Notre Dame, which blows my mind. Bucky, do
[4:46] Speaker 1: you think he is ready for a heavy workload, whether
[4:48] Speaker 1: it's tonight or at any point this season?
[4:51] Speaker 4: I think down the line he'll be ready for that.
[4:53] Speaker 4: But remember, this league is about running backs by committee.
[4:56] Speaker 4: He will shoulder some of the load, but they'll sprinkle
[4:59] Speaker 4: it amongst their other running backs. Don't expect him to
[5:02] Speaker 4: be RB1 fully until about midseason.
[5:05] Speaker 1: George Helani is there. Emmanuel Wilson is there. And they're
[5:07] Speaker 1: still waiting. for Zach Charbonnet to be there as well.
[5:10] Speaker 1: Bucky Brooks is always here with you. Bucky, we appreciate it.
[5:13] Speaker 1: Let's move on to the Rams, if we could, because
[5:15] Speaker 1: the Rams, as we stand here today, have touched down
[5:19] Speaker 1: in Melbourne, Australia. They landed roughly 28 hours before kickoff
[5:26] Speaker 1: with the 49ers coming up tomorrow. Matter of fact, they're
[5:28] Speaker 1: going to be on the ground in Australia tomorrow. roughly
[5:33] Speaker 1: right around the same amount of time they were in
[5:35] Speaker 1: the air to get to Australia. So there's that. Sean
[5:42] Speaker 1: McVay is 3-0 in international games. Meantime, as you probably
[5:46] Speaker 1: heard by now, Aaron Donald was not on that plane,
[5:49] Speaker 1: didn't make the trip after coming out of retirement last week.
[5:52] Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan thought he was going to play, so do
[5:55] Speaker 1: not think he's disappointed.
[5:58] Speaker 5: Very excited.
[5:59] Speaker 6: Very excited.
[6:00] Speaker 5: I told you guys last time I talked to you guys,
[6:01] Speaker 5: he was definitely playing. So I've never been more excited
[6:04] Speaker 5: to be wrong about something. So we're good.
[6:07] Speaker 3: Can you give us the exact reaction at this moment
[6:08] Speaker 3: when you found.
[6:09] Speaker 5: Out that you were playing? I just smiled and said,
[6:13] Speaker 5: that's good. So we're going to have to see him eventually.
[6:16] Speaker 5: We played him twice. But I was hoping he won it.
[6:20] Speaker 5: I was preparing for the worst. And I'm glad that
[6:24] Speaker 5: we don't have to see him this week.
[6:26] Speaker 2: All right, that's Shanahan tongue-in-cheek. He is not excited about
[6:28] Speaker 2: this news. This is real.
[6:29] Speaker 1: Alfred Collins is out for the year. Torn patellar tendon
[6:33] Speaker 1: at practice in Melbourne. Collins was a second-round pick last year,
[6:37] Speaker 1: actually played a huge part in the 49ers, beating the
[6:40] Speaker 1: Rams on that TNF in Los Angeles back in week
[6:44] Speaker 1: number five. Let's move on to the Raiders. As mentioned,
[6:47] Speaker 1: this one caught a lot of people by surprise today.
[6:50] Speaker 1: Brock Bowers is going to miss a game or two.
[6:52] Speaker 1: Ian Rappaport and Adam Schefter had that news earlier on Wednesday.
[6:57] Speaker 1: Just a few hours before this, Clint Kubiak, the Raiders
[7:00] Speaker 1: head coach, suggested that every Raider was good to go
[7:04] Speaker 1: for week number one.
[7:06] Speaker 2: Evidently.
[7:06] Speaker 1: Brock Bowers is not good to go for week number one.
[7:10] Speaker 1: Ashton Genty, though, is trending in that direction. Genty on
[7:14] Speaker 1: the practice field Wednesday for the very first time since
[7:18] Speaker 1: an ankle injury back on August 23rd. He was a
[7:21] Speaker 1: full participant in Wednesday's practice. Yes, it is that time
[7:24] Speaker 1: of the year. It's the Raiders of the Dolphins coming
[7:27] Speaker 1: up Sunday, week number one. How about a former Dolphins quarterback?
[7:31] Speaker 1: He is now a Falcons quarterback. It is Tua Tungabailoa,
[7:34] Speaker 1: and we heard from him yesterday today for the very
[7:37] Speaker 1: first time since being named the Atlanta starting QB. It's
[7:42] Speaker 1: the Falcons and the Steelers Sunday. I, I don't think I,
[7:47] Speaker 1: for myself and what I believe, I don't have anything
[7:49] Speaker 1: to prove to anyone outside, but it's the proof to
[7:51] Speaker 1: my own self that I can continue to play at
[7:54] Speaker 1: a high level.
[7:55] Speaker 7: Well, you kind of told them that, you know, you're
[7:56] Speaker 7: going to be starting quarterback.
[7:57] Speaker 3: Is it more of a week to week thing for you?
[7:59] Speaker 3: Or did they say it's your job until further notice?
[8:03] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[8:04] Speaker 6: Kev didn't say any of that. Um, But how I'm
[8:08] Speaker 6: taking it is I got to go with this day-to-day,
[8:12] Speaker 6: and that's out of my control. What I can control
[8:15] Speaker 6: is how I prepare, how I go out there, how
[8:18] Speaker 6: I play, how I perform, and that's all.
[8:22] Speaker 8: I can do.
[8:24] Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield performed, and now Baker Mayfield has himself a
[8:27] Speaker 1: new contract after saying he would not negotiate once he
[8:31] Speaker 1: showed up for training camp. Baker evidently let his agent
[8:34] Speaker 1: behind the scenes negotiate, and he now has a three-year
[8:37] Speaker 1: contract worth $ 165 million.
[8:40] Speaker 2: I haven't updated that thing in a long time.
[8:45] Speaker 8: There was a time and point where I used a
[8:47] Speaker 8: lot of that negative stuff to fuel me, but, you know,
[8:50] Speaker 8: found the fire within, and, yeah, go from there. I
[8:54] Speaker 8: still have so much to prove. This isn't... I've made it.
[8:58] Speaker 8: You know, this is life-changing money. This is stuff that
[9:00] Speaker 8: for us is unbelievable, but it's an opportunity to help
[9:03] Speaker 8: the community and to continue to progress and move forward.
[9:07] Speaker 8: And the main goal is still the Super Bowl, and
[9:09] Speaker 8: I don't have one of those.
[9:10] Speaker 2: I took on a new role this year, too, besides
[9:12] Speaker 2: my current role. My role is to piss him off
[9:14] Speaker 2: every week.
[9:16] Speaker 8: He's pretty good at it.
[9:17] Speaker 1: That's Baker with one-third of the GM there, Jason Light
[9:20] Speaker 1: pictured on the screen. That list he's referring to is
[9:23] Speaker 1: his old school list, those against whom he still had grievances.
[9:27] Speaker 1: Joe Burrow has no grievances and also has this to say.
[9:31] Speaker 1: In a piece on Bengals.com, quote, I'm here for the
[9:35] Speaker 1: long haul. I'm not going anywhere.
[9:39] Speaker 8: Yeah, it was never a question in my mind I
[9:42] Speaker 8: didn't necessarily think about.
[9:45] Speaker 3: You know, stamping that in that moment, that's just.
[9:51] Speaker 2: How I feel. I don't know. You know, I am
[9:54] Speaker 2: where my feet are, and I try to attack every
[9:58] Speaker 2: day with championships. mindset, like I said before.
[10:01] Speaker 8: I love it here.
[10:02] Speaker 4: I love everything about this place.
[10:04] Speaker 2: We're going to make it work.
[10:06] Speaker 1: Baker and Burrow have had their battles. They actually go
[10:08] Speaker 1: head-to-head coming up in week number one. Burrow should have
[10:12] Speaker 1: both his wide receivers on the field. Zach Taylor says
[10:15] Speaker 1: both Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins are on pace. verbiage
[10:21] Speaker 1: used by the reporter on pace to play Sunday. Baker
[10:25] Speaker 1: 3-0 lifetime against Joe Burrow if.
[10:27] Speaker 2: You are keeping score. Baker is out of Cleveland. Deshaun
[10:31] Speaker 2: Watson is in Cleveland.
[10:32] Speaker 1: Deshaun has never lost to the Jaguars if you're keeping score.
[10:36] Speaker 1: Watson 7-0 against his former AFC South nemesis. And Watson
[10:40] Speaker 1: gets another shot to be QB1 for Cleveland Sunday.
[10:45] Speaker 9: I mean, that's one thing you got to control. I
[10:47] Speaker 9: think I'm super excited. I'm super happy. I'm super, you know,
[10:51] Speaker 9: blessed for the opportunity that this organization gave me. And
[10:54] Speaker 9: I just want to be able to capitalize on it. So,
[10:56] Speaker 9: you know, me being on my last year of my
[10:58] Speaker 9: deal and, you know, being year 10, I feel like
[11:01] Speaker 9: this is my opportunity to be able to go and
[11:03] Speaker 9: showcase that I can still play in this league. And
[11:05] Speaker 9: I want to continue to play in this league. So
[11:07] Speaker 9: this is my opportunity.
[11:08] Speaker 2: To do that.
[11:09] Speaker 1: Jaguars, Browns coming up Sunday, 1 o'clock Eastern time in Jacksonville.
[11:13] Speaker 1: Coming up in a matter of moments, Sam Darnold and
[11:15] Speaker 1: the Seahawks. The faceoff against Drake May and the Patriots.
[11:18] Speaker 1: Coming up next, our old friend Mike Giardi tells you
[11:20] Speaker 1: how the Christian Gonzalez deal went down. That's next on
[11:24] Speaker 1: the NFL Report.
[11:28] Speaker 2: Drake points with his right hand to set the protection.
[11:30] Speaker 2: Mike's six!
[11:32] Speaker 7: Touchdown, Patriots!
[11:33] Speaker 2: They'll tell you!
[11:34] Speaker 1: They'll tell you!
[11:37] Speaker 2: Great job, man. Great job. Come on. You've got him
[11:45] Speaker 2: in man. They split. He reads man, and the tide
[11:48] Speaker 2: has turned. Out of the eye.
[11:51] Speaker 3: Faked by May. He's going to run it to the left.
[11:54] Speaker 3: He's being chased. Tries to get outside.
[11:55] Speaker 2: He does! He's got the first down! That's how you
[11:59] Speaker 2: do that!
[11:59] Speaker 4: That's how you do that!
[12:01] Speaker 5: That's how you do that!
[12:03] Speaker 2: That's how you do that!
[12:07] Speaker 1: Oh, what is old is new again. From the Boston
[12:11] Speaker 1: Sports Journal, covers the Patriots day in, day out. No
[12:15] Speaker 1: one does it better than Mike Giardi. Getting ready for
[12:19] Speaker 1: the kickoff opener. Good to see you, sir.
[12:22] Speaker 3: Andrew, I feel like we've done this a few hundred, 200,
[12:25] Speaker 3: 300 times. A thousand times.
[12:28] Speaker 2: Good. Let's do it again. It's a new season.
[12:30] Speaker 3: I love it.
[12:30] Speaker 2: So we'll turn over a new leaf.
[12:33] Speaker 1: And it's a new season that's going to have Christian
[12:35] Speaker 1: Gonzalez tonight, night number one. They got the deal done yesterday.
[12:39] Speaker 1: Four years, 135, 102 guaranteed. That is million, 102 guaranteed.
[12:44] Speaker 1: million guaranteed Mike if they had not got it done
[12:48] Speaker 1: do you think he's playing tonight I do not.
[12:51] Speaker 3: I do not. I think, you know, he was very
[12:54] Speaker 3: evasive during the lead up to this situation. When we
[12:57] Speaker 3: asked him specifically about that, I asked him specifically about it.
[13:00] Speaker 3: And he's like, I'm just worried about today. But in
[13:02] Speaker 3: talking to some people, I think that was really on
[13:05] Speaker 3: the table. And really what he felt like was his
[13:07] Speaker 3: last leverage point, Andrew. So you think about it, you
[13:10] Speaker 3: were all out there and you play for two point
[13:12] Speaker 3: two five nine million or whatever the number was for
[13:14] Speaker 3: year four for Christian Gonzalez. And then something happens to you.
[13:18] Speaker 3: You've left a lot of money on the table. You
[13:19] Speaker 3: put yourself at great risk. And by withholding your services,
[13:22] Speaker 3: you put their feet to the fire. National television, everybody
[13:26] Speaker 3: talking about this game. The Seahawks paid all their guys.
[13:28] Speaker 3: The Patriots had one guy to pay, and they didn't
[13:31] Speaker 3: pay him. So I think it was a real consideration
[13:34] Speaker 3: for him.
[13:34] Speaker 2: There's connective tissue here.
[13:36] Speaker 1: Obviously, they're playing the Seahawks and Devin Witherspoon, who are
[13:38] Speaker 1: the same agent or the same agency. And that deal
[13:41] Speaker 1: got done months ago. What took so long to get
[13:45] Speaker 1: this one done?
[13:47] Speaker 3: Well, my belief is Christian wanted to trump Witherspoon's numbers
[13:51] Speaker 3: by all accounts, and whether we're talking about the total value,
[13:55] Speaker 3: the total guarantees. But the big number to me, and
[13:57] Speaker 3: what was the real sticking point in this whole scenario,
[14:00] Speaker 3: was the $ 59 million that Witherspoon got over the first
[14:03] Speaker 3: two years of his deal. Because we could talk about
[14:05] Speaker 3: all the guarantees. I don't know why we call them guarantees, because...
[14:08] Speaker 3: Witherspoon has to be on the roster on such and
[14:10] Speaker 3: such a date in 2028 to get the next $ 25 million.
[14:13] Speaker 3: And Gonzalez wanted to make sure that he was north
[14:15] Speaker 3: of $ 59 million. And the Patriots were like, look, you
[14:17] Speaker 3: were drafted later than he was. His resume is a
[14:20] Speaker 3: little bit longer than yours in terms of some of
[14:22] Speaker 3: the accolades that he's gotten, the number of games that
[14:25] Speaker 3: he's played. And obviously, unlike you, he's a Super Bowl winner.
[14:28] Speaker 3: Not that Gonzalez was at fault for what happened in
[14:30] Speaker 3: the Super Bowl, but they just didn't want to go there.
[14:33] Speaker 3: And so I think that was a point where The
[14:35] Speaker 3: two sides stopped talking, basically, like, well, we're not going
[14:38] Speaker 3: to get to that number and we're not going to
[14:40] Speaker 3: come to your number. So what are we going to do?
[14:41] Speaker 3: We're just not going to talk. And then it feels like, obviously,
[14:44] Speaker 3: on on Monday, on that flight to Seattle, things changed
[14:48] Speaker 3: and some calmer heads prevailed. And he gets fifty three,
[14:51] Speaker 3: fifty four million in the first two years, which isn't
[14:53] Speaker 3: what he wanted, but still plenty good enough. And now
[14:56] Speaker 3: he is protected and his family is protected for years
[14:59] Speaker 3: and years to come.
[15:00] Speaker 2: Absolutely.
[15:00] Speaker 1: It is good American money. If you can get it.
[15:03] Speaker 1: Talking to Mike Giardi ahead of tonight's kickoff opener. Enough
[15:06] Speaker 1: about the contracts. Let's actually talk about the football. When
[15:08] Speaker 1: last we saw the Patriots offense, they were pretty bad,
[15:12] Speaker 1: to be candid, in the first half, especially against the Seahawks.
[15:15] Speaker 1: They got a couple of points on the board in
[15:16] Speaker 1: the second half.
[15:17] Speaker 2: You add A.J. Brown, Mike, in the offseason.
[15:20] Speaker 1: How much different does their offense look this evening now
[15:23] Speaker 1: that they have an alpha at wide receiver?
[15:27] Speaker 3: Well, for as good as Stefan Diggs was last year,
[15:29] Speaker 3: he didn't pull coverage in the way that the Patriots
[15:32] Speaker 3: think that A.J. Brown can. And by the way, when A.J.
[15:34] Speaker 3: has had moments during training camp to stand out, including
[15:38] Speaker 3: day one of the joint practices against Philadelphia, his old teammates,
[15:41] Speaker 3: he did just that. Like he has come as advertised.
[15:44] Speaker 3: In fact, maybe for those that were knocking him down
[15:47] Speaker 3: a peg, maybe he has trumped that advertisement, quite frankly,
[15:50] Speaker 3: with the way he's played today. The chemistry is still
[15:52] Speaker 3: building with them. I don't think it's perfect yet. I
[15:54] Speaker 3: actually think Romeo Dobbs came along over the last few
[15:57] Speaker 3: weeks of training camp with May, maybe faster than AJ has.
[16:01] Speaker 3: But I still think that it's all going to revolve
[16:03] Speaker 3: around AJ. And if he is bringing bodies with him,
[16:06] Speaker 3: then it's going to open things up for guys like
[16:08] Speaker 3: Romeo Dobbs, for Pop Douglas, or for Hunter Henry, who
[16:10] Speaker 3: quite frankly in the last couple of years, Andrew, has
[16:12] Speaker 3: been the guy that basically it's had to go through.
[16:15] Speaker 3: And now he's sort of a, I don't want to
[16:16] Speaker 3: say forgotten guy because they think he's still really good,
[16:18] Speaker 3: but like he's not the focal point and that's probably
[16:20] Speaker 3: good for him.
[16:21] Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly.
[16:22] Speaker 1: We had Devin McCourty on the show yesterday. Wow, it's
[16:26] Speaker 1: one day in. I'm already forgetting things.
[16:28] Speaker 2: Devin on the show yesterday, he says that they could
[16:32] Speaker 2: use A.J. a lot in the slot tonight. What do
[16:34] Speaker 2: you think of that?
[16:35] Speaker 3: Yeah, I think Josh McDaniels loves to move his receivers around,
[16:38] Speaker 3: and I think at points last year, he was a
[16:40] Speaker 3: little bit Trapped is not the greatest word to use,
[16:43] Speaker 3: but it's the only one I can think of right
[16:44] Speaker 3: now in terms of the personnel that he had. Keyshawn
[16:46] Speaker 3: Booty was an ex and he had to stay outside.
[16:48] Speaker 3: And Stefan Diggs didn't have the juice anymore outside, so
[16:52] Speaker 3: you got to put him inside. And I felt like
[16:53] Speaker 3: they were sort of pigeonholed into some of those positions
[16:56] Speaker 3: with A.J. moving him into slot, giving him a little
[16:58] Speaker 3: bit more time to release, work the underneath stuff. Like,
[17:02] Speaker 3: I think they feel like they can unlock that part
[17:04] Speaker 3: of his game, which over the last couple of years
[17:06] Speaker 3: in Philadelphia, for whatever reason... quarterback, relationships, offense structure, period.
[17:12] Speaker 3: They didn't lean on as much. I think you're going
[17:14] Speaker 3: to see a little bit more of that, certainly with A.J.
[17:15] Speaker 8: Brown.
[17:15] Speaker 1: All right, we'll circle back to contracts, but in a
[17:18] Speaker 1: different way. Huge year for Drake May. Year two was
[17:20] Speaker 1: pretty darn special. MVP votes and a road to the
[17:23] Speaker 1: Super Bowl and all that. Year three, when he also
[17:28] Speaker 1: can get paid at the end, you know, next offseason
[17:32] Speaker 1: here as well.
[17:34] Speaker 2: What's the thought on Drake May heading into the season?
[17:37] Speaker 3: That he is so much calmer and confident and in
[17:41] Speaker 3: control of this offense than he was last year. And again,
[17:43] Speaker 3: we're talking about someone who finished second in the MVP
[17:46] Speaker 3: voting and lost by just a whisker through, uh, for
[17:49] Speaker 3: whatever it was, 4,500 yards. Um, had 72% completion percentage.
[17:54] Speaker 3: Like he broke some of Tom Brady's records. And if
[17:56] Speaker 3: you go into the nerd numbers, you know, some of
[17:58] Speaker 3: the EPA things.
[17:59] Speaker 2: I love it.
[18:00] Speaker 3: Yeah. He had one of the best seasons that quarterbacks
[18:03] Speaker 3: had in the last 15 years. So Andrew, the guy
[18:05] Speaker 3: that I'm seeing this summer looks better than that one.
[18:08] Speaker 3: So that should tell you all you need to know
[18:10] Speaker 3: about his comfort in the offense. They've opened it up
[18:13] Speaker 3: for him even more. You know, you're one year in
[18:15] Speaker 3: the system. Now you're two with the same offensive coordinator
[18:18] Speaker 3: and Josh McDaniels. They're giving him more responsibility at the
[18:21] Speaker 3: line of scrimmage, something they didn't give him a ton
[18:23] Speaker 3: of last year. And I think that may have proved
[18:25] Speaker 3: costly in the postseason, even though, again, they got to
[18:27] Speaker 3: the Super Bowl with the offense sort of ground to
[18:29] Speaker 3: a halt in the playoffs. And I think those sorts
[18:32] Speaker 3: of things have me believing that he is a top
[18:35] Speaker 3: five MVP candidate again this year and beyond, quite frankly.
[18:38] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[18:38] Speaker 2: No, totally with you.
[18:39] Speaker 1: Finally, here, Mike, it's been an odd offseason for the Patriots,
[18:43] Speaker 1: let's put it that way. They take the field tonight, however,
[18:46] Speaker 1: as I don't want to call it a disrespected AFC champion,
[18:50] Speaker 1: but this is one of the weird Super Bowl rematches,
[18:53] Speaker 1: and the first one where we've had a true rematch
[18:55] Speaker 1: in week number one, in which it seems like.
[18:57] Speaker 2: Both teams have a chip on their shoulder.
[19:00] Speaker 1: The Seahawks seem forgotten with all the Rams hype, and
[19:04] Speaker 1: the Patriots, people still a year later say, eh, you
[19:07] Speaker 1: got there, but you really weren't that good. Big picture
[19:11] Speaker 1: for the Patriots and their road ahead as they take
[19:15] Speaker 1: the field tonight.
[19:16] Speaker 3: Yeah, I think Mike Vrabel has... Issued that message to
[19:19] Speaker 3: them more than once about like, hey, you know, people
[19:22] Speaker 3: didn't think what you did was real last year. And look,
[19:24] Speaker 3: it's a new year. We have to start all over.
[19:26] Speaker 3: But like, we know what it takes to get there.
[19:29] Speaker 3: And now we have to figure out the way to
[19:30] Speaker 3: take that next step and win that final game. I
[19:33] Speaker 3: also think there is a matter of we didn't play
[19:35] Speaker 3: the way we were capable of in the Super Bowl.
[19:37] Speaker 3: We didn't show the world what we were all about.
[19:40] Speaker 3: And now we have an opportunity to open the entire
[19:42] Speaker 3: NFL season with all eyes on us and show everybody
[19:44] Speaker 3: against that very team that has pretty much the same
[19:46] Speaker 3: roster that we were a lot better than that. They're healthy, obvious.
[19:50] Speaker 3: not too many injuries to speak of coming into this thing.
[19:52] Speaker 3: So I think there is a real sense of urgency
[19:55] Speaker 3: to just put our stamp on this season right away
[19:59] Speaker 3: and show everybody that the last memory of them wasn't
[20:01] Speaker 3: the right one.
[20:02] Speaker 1: It is the first of a scheduled 272 of these things.
[20:08] Speaker 1: The Patriots, the Seahawks, a Super Bowl rematch to kick
[20:12] Speaker 1: off a brand new season. Mike Giardi, great to talk
[20:14] Speaker 1: to you, sir.
[20:16] Speaker 3: Always a pleasure, Andrew.
[20:17] Speaker 1: Everybody wants to give Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Donald a
[20:19] Speaker 1: comeback player of the year.
[20:20] Speaker 2: Why aren't we talking about Travis Hunter, people? Can we
[20:22] Speaker 2: talk about him? He's a wide receiver.
[20:24] Speaker 1: He's a DB, probably more of a DB this year, whatever.
[20:27] Speaker 1: He's going to be on the field Sunday against the
[20:29] Speaker 1: Browns for the first time since an early November knee injury.
[20:34] Speaker 7: He's been doing this for a very long time at
[20:36] Speaker 7: a high level and played in big games he understands
[20:39] Speaker 7: you know he's had to come back from some injuries
[20:41] Speaker 7: obviously not as as large as this one but um
[20:45] Speaker 7: you know I do trust that you know he may
[20:47] Speaker 7: have some jitters or whatever it may be but I'm
[20:50] Speaker 7: sure a lot of guys will have similar ones be
[20:52] Speaker 7: in game one um you know and I just I'm
[20:55] Speaker 7: happy for him you know I'm happy to get him
[20:57] Speaker 7: back on the grass doing something that he loves to
[20:59] Speaker 7: do and that he's passionate about doing and energetic about
[21:03] Speaker 7: doing on a daily basis so excited about.
[21:06] Speaker 1: That for him for Aaron Chudor, Sanders in the same
[21:09] Speaker 1: building together coming up on Sunday.
[21:11] Speaker 2: The Ravens will be in Indianapolis to face the Colts.
[21:13] Speaker 1: Coming up next on the NFL Report, what Eric Henry
[21:17] Speaker 1: says about the couch. Different couch than the couch you're
[21:20] Speaker 1: going to be watching on Sunday. The season is here,
[21:25] Speaker 1: so go get NFL Plus, will you please? Get 20%
[21:28] Speaker 1: off an NFL Plus annual plan. With NFL Plus, you
[21:31] Speaker 1: can stream live local and primetime games on mobile. With
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[21:36] Speaker 1: game replays, you access NFL Pro, all the cool stuff.
[21:41] Speaker 1: Limited time offer. It ends September 21st. Sign up today.
[21:45] Speaker 1: Plus.NFL.com slash radio. Plus.nfl.com slash radio. Terms and conditions do apply.
[21:54] Speaker 1: Let's do some quick hits, some other headlines. Let's just
[21:56] Speaker 1: show you the schedule for Sunday because that's the most
[21:59] Speaker 1: important thing. It is an 8 plus 4. It is
[22:02] Speaker 1: an 8-game early, 4-game late Sunday schedule. There is one
[22:06] Speaker 1: Sunday night game, Cowboys and the Giants.
[22:09] Speaker 2: One Monday night.
[22:10] Speaker 1: Only one Monday night game this year. Patrick Mahomes makes
[22:13] Speaker 1: his comeback. And Bo Nix does the same.
[22:16] Speaker 2: That game is in Kansas City. Speaking of comebacks, How
[22:19] Speaker 2: about these?
[22:20] Speaker 1: The new Seahawks owners had their presser today in Seattle
[22:22] Speaker 1: before the opener, and they said that coming in 2027,
[22:25] Speaker 1: not this year, but.
[22:26] Speaker 2: Next year, the throwback white uniforms. Yeah, buddy.
[22:32] Speaker 1: Kenny Easley, hello. Bring back those uniforms. Tyler Smith, goodbye,
[22:36] Speaker 1: at least for a month. The Cowboys put their offensive
[22:38] Speaker 1: lineman on injured reserve today.
[22:40] Speaker 2: It's thumb. It's a thumb injury.
[22:42] Speaker 1: He had surgery yesterday. They signed Nick Leverett to the
[22:46] Speaker 1: active roster, and they signed former first-round pick Laken Tomlinson
[22:51] Speaker 1: to the practice squad. Tomlinson, well-traveled. This is his seventh organization.
[22:55] Speaker 1: One of them, by the way, was the Baltimore Ravens.
[22:59] Speaker 1: Derrick Henry, when asked about retirement, said he's not going anywhere.
[23:02] Speaker 1: He wants to play until he wins a Super Bowl.
[23:06] Speaker 1: He's 32 years old, quote, tired of being at home
[23:10] Speaker 1: on the couch watching the Super Bowl. So there's that.
[23:16] Speaker 1: From Derrick Henry. And there's this from Jameer Gibbs. He
[23:19] Speaker 1: says if he were drafting in fantasy, he would take himself.
[23:24] Speaker 2: Number one overall. What do you want him to say?
[23:27] Speaker 1: Like, I would take Derrick Henry number one overall? Of
[23:30] Speaker 1: course you're taking yourself number one overall.
[23:34] Speaker 2: Or maybe B. John Robinson or Jamar Chase.
[23:36] Speaker 1: Or if you're in a league that values the quarterback,
[23:38] Speaker 1: you would take Josh Allen number one overall. But that,
[23:40] Speaker 1: you know, is just me. In my league, we have
[23:41] Speaker 1: to play two quarterbacks. We have 14 teams. It's a
[23:44] Speaker 1: miserable league. We have 23 players on our roster. And, yeah,
[23:47] Speaker 1: you have to take a quarterback in the first round.
[23:50] Speaker 2: That, you know, whatever. Fantasy Stardom Sit-Ums right now on NFL.com.
[23:57] Speaker 2: Go there. Check them out. NFL.com. Start. Sit.
[24:03] Speaker 3: As you.
[24:04] Speaker 2: Get ready.
[24:04] Speaker 1: Remember, don't forget to set your fantasy lineup. Time for
[24:08] Speaker 1: one more thing before we go. The great researcher John
[24:11] Speaker 1: Todd tells me this. I think I might have used
[24:12] Speaker 1: this earlier. Six eventual Super Bowl champions since 2020 have
[24:16] Speaker 1: gone a combined three and three in week one. So
[24:20] Speaker 1: to put it in perspective, both the Seahawks and the
[24:23] Speaker 1: Patriots lost in week one last year. They both ended
[24:29] Speaker 1: up in the Super Bowl. So there's all this hype.
[24:31] Speaker 1: You have to win week one. Week one sets the season.
[24:34] Speaker 2: No, it isn't. Week one is a liar. Week two.
[24:38] Speaker 1: is the truth teller because these two teams you're seeing
[24:41] Speaker 1: tonight in a Super Bowl rematch, both lost games that
[24:44] Speaker 1: most expected them to win a year ago.
[24:47] Speaker 2: Football is back, everybody. Join us tomorrow, 7 p.m. Eastern
[24:50] Speaker 2: time on the NFL Report. I'm Andrew. So long, everybody.

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