Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the forty nine Ers First and
Speaker 1: ten podcast, presented by Cisco, ten minutes of the most
Speaker 1: up to date forty nine Ers news first Thing in
Speaker 1: the morning. I'm your host Brian McDonald and joining me
Speaker 1: is forty nine Ers team reporter Lindsay Polares and special guest,
Speaker 1: New York Jets team reporter Caroline Hendershot. Caroline, thanks for
Speaker 1: joining us today.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, thanks for having me on. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1: Yeah, We've got a lot to cover heading into this
Speaker 1: Monday night football season opening matchup. Today, we're going to
Speaker 1: talk Aaron Rodgers, Rock Purty, defensive standouts, that Sala Shanahan
Speaker 1: coaching connection. There's so much to get into surrounding this game.
Speaker 1: But before we do that, let's quickly recap the offseason. Caroline,
Speaker 1: what's changed for the Jets since the end of that
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three season. What were some key areas the
Speaker 1: team for focused on before getting here to Week one?
Speaker 2: I mean, I think there was so much change from
Speaker 2: the end of the season, right, Like I believe that
Speaker 2: GM Joe Douglass put in a lot of work this offseason,
Speaker 2: so he went and obviously Aaron Rodgers came back fully
Speaker 2: healthy in the off season and honestly close to the
Speaker 2: end of last season, but came back fully healthy and
Speaker 2: was practicing with the team, So that was a change
Speaker 2: for the team. They added some more weapons on offense,
Speaker 2: including Mike Williams who was recovering from his injury and
Speaker 2: is also now prepared to go for Monday Night. And
Speaker 2: they completely revamped the offensive line, which I think was
Speaker 2: a big point of emphasis for all parties involved. There
Speaker 2: was thirteen different offensive line combinations last year for the Jets,
Speaker 2: so that was a big point of contention, just with
Speaker 2: all of the change and nothing being the same, and
Speaker 2: losing one of their guards in Elija Vera Tuck, so
Speaker 2: there was a lot of work to be done on
Speaker 2: that O line. And with the additions of left tackle
Speaker 2: Tyrone Smith, left guard John Simpson, and then you have
Speaker 2: the center Joe Tipman returning, Elijah Vera Tucker returning as
Speaker 2: right guard, and then the addition of Morgan Moses as
Speaker 2: the right tackle. So I think it's going to be
Speaker 2: a big change in a good way on the offensive
Speaker 2: side of the ball. And then with the defensive side
Speaker 2: of the ball, almost every single defensive player returned from
Speaker 2: that top five Jets defense last year, So that's going
Speaker 2: to be another year in the system for them, so
Speaker 2: should be very competitive.
Speaker 1: And for the forty nine ers, it seems like they
Speaker 1: put their pieces of the puzzle together this offseason, extending
Speaker 1: Juwan Jennings, Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk and then recently getting
Speaker 1: things in line for Trent Williams. Lindsay, how have these
Speaker 1: deals set the forty nine ers up for success and
Speaker 1: do they bring a sense of confidence to the team
Speaker 1: as they head into Week one?
Speaker 3: Yeah, So the Er situation is almost the exact opposite
Speaker 3: of what the Jets went through. There was a restructure
Speaker 3: of the defensive side of the ball, and like you mentioned,
Speaker 3: just the securing of all the weapons on offense, right,
Speaker 3: So you wanted this very high scoring offense that put
Speaker 3: up almost thirty points a game to pretty much just
Speaker 3: stay intact, and you're hoping for kind of a copy
Speaker 3: and paste on the offensive side of the ball, especially
Speaker 3: with just the embarrassment of riches that the forty nine
Speaker 3: ers have. Like you mentioned Christian McCaffrey, the NFL Offensive
Speaker 3: Player of the Year. You've got George Kittle who had
Speaker 3: over a thousand yards. You have Brandon Ayuk, Deebo Samuel.
Speaker 3: Really the last two pieces of the puzzle came together
Speaker 3: on Monday, and that was with bran Or actually earlier,
Speaker 3: a little bit earlier for Brandon Ayke, but Brandon Ayuk
Speaker 3: and Trent Williams. So the offense is looking in really
Speaker 3: good shape and for the defense also looking great. But
Speaker 3: a lot of new faces, particularly on the defensive line.
Speaker 3: A big emphasis for the forty nine Ers was making
Speaker 3: sure that they tighten up the run defense in twenty
Speaker 3: twenty four, So you brought in MALIEK Collins from the
Speaker 3: Houston Texans and then Leonard Floyd from the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 3: Really like just a totally new D line. You've got
Speaker 3: you Tour Gross Matos, Jordan Elliott from the Browns. You
Speaker 3: bring in Devon Drake Campbell as well as a linebacker
Speaker 3: with Drake Greenlaw out after tearing his achilles in the
Speaker 3: Super Bowl. And then on the back end you bring
Speaker 3: in Isaac Gadam from the Saints. So a lot of
Speaker 3: new faces for the forty nine ers defense. But yes,
Speaker 3: it's all come together just in time for Monday Night football.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Lindsay, definitely a bit has changed for the Niners
Speaker 1: with Nick Sorenson stepping up as defensive coordinator. Just like
Speaker 1: you mentioned those new faces to the d line, so
Speaker 1: faithful expect to see some new things from the forty
Speaker 1: nine ers defense in Week one. But let's talk quarterbacks
Speaker 1: of the game. Aaron Rodgers is the national topic of conversation, Caroline.
Speaker 1: I want to know when he's not making headlines, but
Speaker 1: give me the feel on New York's offense and how
Speaker 1: things are clicking with him back in action.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think the offense is really confident in the
Speaker 2: work that they have put in and the progress that
Speaker 2: they were able to make throughout training camp. I've heard
Speaker 2: kind of the same sentiment repeated in the locker room
Speaker 2: that you know they're ready, they feel like they're in
Speaker 2: a really good place. And Aaron Rodgers was speaking to
Speaker 2: the media yesterday and he was just kind of emphasizing
Speaker 2: that this team's ready to win and ready to win now.
Speaker 2: So I think that the offense is excited about finally
Speaker 2: getting back on the field with all of its pieces.
Speaker 2: Almost everyone fully healthy, so I think everyone's just kind
Speaker 2: of a little itching to get on the field now.
Speaker 1: For the Niners, a big storyline in the Bay during
Speaker 1: training camp was brock Perty's first full off season with
Speaker 1: the team. Now that we've arrived to week one, lindsay,
Speaker 1: what are some things you're looking to see in a
Speaker 1: year three version of Rock Purty?
Speaker 3: You know, you just want to see a completely healthy
Speaker 3: Rock pretty and the off season translate over to the
Speaker 3: regular season. You know, obviously brock Purty was coming back
Speaker 3: from a torn UCL at the end of that twenty
Speaker 3: twenty two season. I mean, you couldn't really tell right
Speaker 3: last year because just finished top five in almost every
Speaker 3: statistical category. And then the forty nine Ers offense, like
Speaker 3: I said earlier, was scoring almost thirty points a game
Speaker 3: in the regular season, So just a tremendous efficiency we
Speaker 3: saw from brock Purty. You know, I think one of
Speaker 3: the big topics of the off season was that Brock
Speaker 3: really honed in on taking care of his body because
Speaker 3: he had the opportunity to do so for his first
Speaker 3: time as the forty nine Ers starter. So we put
Speaker 3: on a little muscle, and you just want to see
Speaker 3: him take that natural progression from year two to year three.
Speaker 3: This has been the most normal year, I would say
Speaker 3: of his NFL career. Just because that injury was so significant.
Speaker 3: So you just want him to I mean, not copy
Speaker 3: and paste, but just take the next step. Right, last season,
Speaker 3: he ended with one hundred and thirteen passer rating, first
Speaker 3: among all qbs in the NFL. You'd love to see
Speaker 3: that again. Thirty one passing touchdowns in the regular season,
Speaker 3: third most in the NFL, and he led this team
Speaker 3: to a Super Bowl fifty eight appearance. So you just
Speaker 3: want to see him continue to take the next step forward.
Speaker 3: He has all pieces around him to do so, so again,
Speaker 3: just we want to see more of the same.
Speaker 1: Now, I want to shine a light on the defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball. Caroline. You spoke about that defensive
Speaker 1: retention for the Jets at the top of the podcast,
Speaker 1: But what is it that stands out to you about
Speaker 1: this year's Jets defense.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think that they just had another year
Speaker 2: in the system, right, so everyone felt more comfortable last season.
Speaker 2: It showed on tape with just kind of how successful
Speaker 2: they were in limiting other teams. And I think that
Speaker 2: having almost every single player return minus a few here
Speaker 2: and there, is probably the key for this defense. You
Speaker 2: don't usually get all of your main pieces back, so
Speaker 2: you still have the two time All Pro and Pro
Speaker 2: bowler Sauce Gardner. You still have CJ. Moseley, who's a
Speaker 2: captain and a staple of this not only linebacker room,
Speaker 2: but the defense as a whole. You have Quincy Williams
Speaker 2: who's coming off in All Pro season. You have his
Speaker 2: brother Quinn Williams on the D line. So and then
Speaker 2: I mean not to mention Jermaine Johnson, who took a
Speaker 2: huge step last year and is just ready to continue
Speaker 2: taking that big step. So I think having all of
Speaker 2: those pieces return is like the biggest key for the Jets,
Speaker 2: And I think maybe one of the other exciting aspects
Speaker 2: to it is how good they were last year, but
Speaker 2: how much they all believe there's more work to be done.
Speaker 2: So just knowing that their ceiling isn't nearly what it
Speaker 2: could be is just kind of maybe the icing on
Speaker 2: the cake for this entire situation. So I think they're
Speaker 2: gonna try and limit this really talented forty nine ers
Speaker 2: offense to as little points as they possibly can.
Speaker 1: Plus, we've got that head coach connection going on in
Speaker 1: this primetime game with Robert Sala's history as the forty
Speaker 1: nine Ers defensive coordinator, alongside Kyle Shanahan. Caroline, has Sala
Speaker 1: shared any insight about his relationship with Shanahan.
Speaker 2: You know, there's so many connections in this game, whether
Speaker 2: it's Breis Hall and Brock Purty being on the same
Speaker 2: college team, whether it's Javon Kinlaw coming over from the
Speaker 2: forty nine ers, whether it's the coaches. There's just so
Speaker 2: much into this game that the storylines are so rich.
Speaker 2: But you know, he just shared earlier this week, Robert
Speaker 2: Sala how impressive Kyle Shanahan is as a coach and
Speaker 2: just what he's able to make cappen on the football
Speaker 2: field is so difficult. So he had nothing but good
Speaker 2: things to say about him. So I think that is
Speaker 2: going to be an even bigger challenge, just knowing the
Speaker 2: dynamic of the relationship, how much time they spent together,
Speaker 2: how their minds work, probably very similarly, And not to
Speaker 2: mention how the big comparison to the Jets defense was
Speaker 2: the San Francisco forty nine ers style of defense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know it goes both ways. Shanahan knows
Speaker 1: Sala just as well. Lindsay, how do you think that
Speaker 1: familiarity could influence Kyle's approach to a Sala led defense.
Speaker 3: You know, I think it's just kind of echoing what
Speaker 3: Caroline said. It just feels very familiar, right, they do
Speaker 3: likely think very similarly. I think it's gonna be a
Speaker 3: really exciting matchup. What I really enjoyed hearing actually speaking
Speaker 3: to this familiarity topic is just how the players on
Speaker 3: the defense, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner in particular, we're talking
Speaker 3: about how Glentchel Robert Sala was on their careers very early,
Speaker 3: and you know, just knowing each other's style of play.
Speaker 3: Nick Bosa, you know, remembers that Sala had a huge
Speaker 3: hand in bringing him to San Francisco. Fred Warner was
Speaker 3: giving him a shout out for giving him the nod
Speaker 3: as the Mike linebacker in his rookie season. So there's
Speaker 3: definitely a familiarity there, and I think it just adds
Speaker 3: like another layer to this primetime Monday night football match up.
Speaker 1: Now, let's get a quick look at health status, Caroline,
Speaker 1: are there any notable injuries that could impact the Jets
Speaker 1: performance in this game.
Speaker 2: I don't think there's really any notable injuries from any
Speaker 2: of the starters. I think the one person obviously to
Speaker 2: watch will be wide receiver Mike Williams. While he is
Speaker 2: healthy to go for Week one, it's more so his workload.
Speaker 2: So I think they're just going to be very strategic
Speaker 2: and monitor how they actually use him throughout the game.
Speaker 2: So don't know how much we'll see of him or
Speaker 2: how little we'll see of him, but it will be
Speaker 2: determined on how he's feeling, how the coaches think he's performing,
Speaker 2: what his body can handle. So I think there's just
Speaker 2: a lot of factors that go into that. But that's
Speaker 2: really the only person to watch.
Speaker 1: And lindsay, what's the latest regarding injuries to the forty
Speaker 1: nine ers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so no injuries that we should be too worried about.
Speaker 3: If anything, I actually want to say that Christian McCaffrey
Speaker 3: being limited in practice yesterday, you know, fans out there
Speaker 3: don't worry a ton about that. This isn't it was
Speaker 3: an achilles and I believe yes, achilles and calf injury.
Speaker 3: And we heard from John Lynch on canbr earlier that
Speaker 3: he should be good to go for Monday night football.
Speaker 3: He feels confident in him. So I just want to
Speaker 3: actually put people's mind at ease there. And then we
Speaker 3: had Aaron Banks who suffered a broken pinky. Over the
Speaker 3: course of the preseason, he was limited in practice. These
Speaker 3: are actually positive signs, so I think, yeah, those mostly
Speaker 3: good news actually on the injury front.
Speaker 1: And finally, as we wrap up today's episode, Caroline, which
Speaker 1: matchup are you most excited to watch in this contest? Oh?
Speaker 2: Man, I just feel like there are so many whether
Speaker 2: it's direct matchups or kind of indirect matchups to be
Speaker 2: aware of going into this game. It's going to be
Speaker 2: truly one for the book. So I hope the performance
Speaker 2: really lives up to the Monday night football hype. But
Speaker 2: I'm gonna cheat. I'm gonna give you two I'm watching,
Speaker 2: not going head to head right against each other, but
Speaker 2: Christian McCaffrey and brace Hall both really powerful running backs.
Speaker 2: I want to see how each one does against the
Speaker 2: opposing defense, and kind of I know that it's going
Speaker 2: to be in the back of each of their minds,
Speaker 2: I'm sure, just of you know, maybe who's getting the
Speaker 2: better edge on each other and who's picking up more yards.
Speaker 2: So I think that one's a fun one to watch.
Speaker 2: And then maybe a less obvious one. A name that
Speaker 2: San Francisco forty nine or fans are familiar with Javon Kinlaw.
Speaker 2: He came to the Jets defensive line this offseason and
Speaker 2: he added thirty pounds of lean muscle to his frame, which,
Speaker 2: let me tell you, I don't know how he did that,
Speaker 2: But now he's around three point thirty. He was saying,
Speaker 2: he's weighing in at So not only is there going
Speaker 2: to be a little bit of added emotion for him
Speaker 2: playing against his former team in his former stadium, but
Speaker 2: I do think that he is going to be in
Speaker 2: it at a different level this season just because of
Speaker 2: his weight gain, his increased He was explaining his increased
Speaker 2: flexibility has improved his rate of play a lot. So
Speaker 2: I'm just excited for his performance and maybe how that
Speaker 2: can help quinnn Williams maybe not get double teamed as much,
Speaker 2: So that should be exciting.
Speaker 1: We and the faithful no Javon Kinlaw pretty well, so
Speaker 1: that should be very interesting. But lindsay, do you have
Speaker 1: a key matchup for this game?
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, there's a ten to choose from, but
Speaker 3: you know, I'm really interested to see rock Party in
Speaker 3: the forty nine ers past catchers against Sauce Gardner and
Speaker 3: Michael Carter. You know, I just think that those are
Speaker 3: two incredibly talented cornerbacks on the New York Jets side,
Speaker 3: both of them allowed less than three hundred yards in
Speaker 3: coverage in twenty twenty three. And then obviously we know
Speaker 3: how high power to the forty nine ers offense. Was
Speaker 3: so excited to see that play out on the field.
Speaker 3: But there's just so many good matchups in this one,
Speaker 3: so I know it's going to be a good one.
Speaker 1: A lot to look out for on Monday night, but
Speaker 1: faithful that will do it for today. Caroline, Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining us. Subscribe to First and ten
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