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Speaker 1: It is a football Friday Week five edition. Don't overlook

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Speaker 1: the opponent edition God Zach Erstman with me Bird Gang,

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Speaker 1: and Yeah, it might be easy to look past the

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Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans coaches players. We've heard them all week say

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Speaker 1: the same thing. The Titans record is not a reflection

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Speaker 1: of the talent on the field. Zach and I preview

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Speaker 1: the matchup on Sunday, including going into enemy territory. We

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Speaker 1: speak with Jim Wyatt, Senior writer editor for Tennessee Titans

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Speaker 1: dot Com. But first, what's the latest with Darius Robinson.

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Speaker 1: It's Cardinals Cover two, Episode nine thirty one, and it

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Speaker 1: starts now.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to Cardinals Cover two.

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Speaker 3: Pa Baker, What Heart?

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Speaker 1: What rent?

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Speaker 3: This guy's unbelievable.

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Speaker 2: Cardinals Cover two is presented by Hyundai, proud partner of

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Speaker 2: the Arizona Cardinals, and by Arizona Cardinals Podcast. Visit Azycardinals

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Speaker 2: dot Com Slash podcast.

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Speaker 3: Season A ten, half of five. PA's in again some

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Speaker 3: more Harry Magic.

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Speaker 2: WHOA, Here's Craig Grioler.

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Speaker 1: So I'm not sure if this should be looked at

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Speaker 1: as good news or bad news. Personally, for me, Zach,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to look at it as good news because

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Speaker 1: as much as we have talked about and speculated about

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Speaker 1: Darius Robinson, have not seen him on the practice field

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Speaker 1: all week. I was not at Thursday's game against the Seahawks,

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Speaker 1: but in talking with you, Darren, Danny, and Paul, the

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Speaker 1: amount of time Darius was in the medical tent, the

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Speaker 1: blue medical tent, it certainly pause for concern. But here

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Speaker 1: we are on a football Friday. D rob will not

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Speaker 1: play this week against the Tennessee Titans with that chest injury.

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Speaker 1: But that's all we know is that he will not

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Speaker 1: play in Week five.

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Speaker 3: When I was watching the blue medical tent, I kept

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Speaker 3: a close eye on it, and it felt like five

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Speaker 3: minutes and then you look down at the clock and

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Speaker 3: it was five minutes, little bit longer than that. Even

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Speaker 3: that de rob was in the blue medical ten and

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Speaker 3: he walked off and they announced that it was a

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Speaker 3: chest injury. Later revealed that as a peck injury, so

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Speaker 3: still a chest and it's something that this Cardinals team

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Speaker 3: is definitely going to keep a close eye on the

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Speaker 3: depth of the defensive line. Rooms already being tested early.

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Speaker 3: And it's funny we talked about the depth and how

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Speaker 3: strong it was. Well this defensive line room three years

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Speaker 3: in a row has had a lot of hits against it.

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Speaker 3: So at least as of right now, it appears that

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Speaker 3: it's not a significant long term injury. That's a plus.

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Speaker 3: It's also speculation on our end, we could just try

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Speaker 3: to connect the dots, and that's simply what we're doing

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Speaker 3: here on cards cover two. With that being said, though,

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Speaker 3: this is a team that's going to need to try

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Speaker 3: to fill the void of d Rob, who hasn't popped

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Speaker 3: up a ton on the statue, but this staff has

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Speaker 3: spoken very highly.

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Speaker 1: Of d Rob did have at least to me, his

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Speaker 1: best game of the season against the Seahawks, but unavailable

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Speaker 1: this week. So four healthy bodies in that D line,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna need five, maybe six, but at least five certainly.

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Speaker 1: And as you have noted, Anthony Goodlow has been that

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Speaker 1: guy that has been elevated from the practice squad of

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Speaker 1: the active roster each of the past two weeks. Has

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Speaker 1: the ability to be activated or elevated one more time

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Speaker 1: then you got to make a decision. But it was

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Speaker 1: good to hear JG speak highly of Anthony Goodlow because

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Speaker 1: he has played a lot of snaps.

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Speaker 3: I first of all, to go to backtrack for a

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Speaker 3: quick second here. I really hope I didn't Jinks d

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Speaker 3: Rob because I tweeted out after the sack he had

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Speaker 3: against the Seahawks and said, hopefully this gives him some

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Speaker 3: added confidence going forward, and then two minutes later he

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Speaker 3: ended up in the in the ten saying that there's

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Speaker 3: no such a legit thing as a broadcast. Chinx says

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Speaker 3: the broadcasters exactly.

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Speaker 1: No one is hearing what the broadcasters are saying while

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Speaker 1: the game is being played on the field, on the ice,

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Speaker 1: on the court. It just the players, the coaches, They

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Speaker 1: don't hear it. So how can it be a jinx.

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Speaker 3: Because you're speaking into the universe or you're tweeting it too.

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Speaker 1: I really don't think the universe cares a whole lot

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Speaker 1: of what's happening. I mean, there's so much going on

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Speaker 1: in the universe that you know, a game, whether it's whatever,

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Speaker 1: professional sport, college or high school, whatever, it is so

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Speaker 1: insignificant when you talk about the universe.

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Speaker 3: And that right there is going to be played on

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Speaker 3: the next Cardinals kickoff, NFL kickoff show that bite right there.

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Speaker 3: But but you're not You're not wrong.

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Speaker 1: However, something that appreciate that. Thank you.

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Speaker 3: Of course you're Craig. You are never wrong. There it is,

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Speaker 3: there's another one thing. Look, you're you're not wrong in

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Speaker 3: the sense that a lot of these things are insignificant

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Speaker 3: when you look at it in the grand scheme of things.

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Speaker 3: D Rob has gone through a lot so far in

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Speaker 3: his NFL career that has been unimaginable in a lot

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Speaker 3: of different ways, and you feel for the guy and

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Speaker 3: you want him to just get that opportunity. And I

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Speaker 3: kind of say the confidence thing tongue in cheek because

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Speaker 3: last year it wasn't an easy road for d Rob.

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Speaker 3: And you want to see that confidence when when de

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Speaker 3: Rob talks about football, he has the biggest smile on

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Speaker 3: his face, and it can't It's tough to not have

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Speaker 3: a big smile on your face when you get to

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Speaker 3: see a guy talk as passionately about the sport that

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Speaker 3: we all love to watch and we all love to

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Speaker 3: cover it. In his case, he loves to play, so

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Speaker 3: you want to see that confidence from him. You're starting

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Speaker 3: to see that confidence though from one guy being Anthony

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Speaker 3: Goodlow on the practice squad. The Cardinals have elevated him

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Speaker 3: twice so far and he has played, and he has

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Speaker 3: played significant snaps. It's not just a practice squad elevation

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Speaker 3: that you bring up and he plays two different snaps

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Speaker 3: and that's all you really see from him. He has

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Speaker 3: made an impact. You have heard his name over the

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Speaker 3: PA system a handful of different times, and it's been

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Speaker 3: interesting because when you look at this roster from dating

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Speaker 3: back to last year, Goodlow has been in the building,

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Speaker 3: so this staff has a lot of familiarity with him.

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Speaker 3: And during the time during the preseason when we were

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Speaker 3: talking a ton about Elijah Simmons and about PJ. Mustafer,

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Speaker 3: Anthony Goodlow's name was not ever really mentioned. But this

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Speaker 3: staff said that they've seen something, They've seen him improve

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Speaker 3: and so far they've him And I asked Johnathan Gannon

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Speaker 3: about it on Friday during his media availability and I

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Speaker 3: asked him what ways can a practice squad guy like

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Speaker 3: that separate themselves from being a practice squad player versus

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Speaker 3: making an impact on game day And he was saying, how, Look,

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Speaker 3: everybody's role is going to change, but in Anthony Goodlow's case,

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Speaker 3: he has improved week after week. So it's interesting. It'll

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Speaker 3: be interesting to see what the Cardinals end up doing.

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Speaker 3: I would expect him to be elevated now, especially in

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Speaker 3: light of this d Rob news, but we'll have to

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Speaker 3: wait and see until Saturday.

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Speaker 1: Two tackles one tackle for loss over nineteen snaps for

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Speaker 1: goodlow against the Seahawks, So we'll wait and see what

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Speaker 1: roster move is made on Saturday. D Rob the only

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Speaker 1: player that has been ruled out as of Friday for

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Speaker 1: Sunday's game against the Titans, which kicks off at one

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Speaker 1: oh five in the afternoon eight thirty am. Pregame coverage

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Speaker 1: begins on the Arizona Cardinals Radio network. It is a

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Speaker 1: Cardinals team zech that desperately needs to get back in

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Speaker 1: the win column. Second straight game at State Farm Stadium,

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Speaker 1: chance to wash out the bad taste from back to

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Speaker 1: back walk off losses, and at least on paper, and

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Speaker 1: we talked about this earlier in the week here on

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Speaker 1: Cardinals Cover two. Perhaps maybe the best opponent for the

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Speaker 1: Cardinals the Titans, who come in with a record of

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Speaker 1: zero and four. Yet what we've heard all week long

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Speaker 1: is that's an zero to four record. But if you

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Speaker 1: watch the games, you look at the talent on the

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Speaker 1: roster on the field, Tennessee Titans are a team not

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Speaker 1: to be overlooked.

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Speaker 3: They're not, and I don't think the players in this

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Speaker 3: building have overlooked them. This is an industry that allows

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Speaker 3: us to overlook. If you're in the building and you

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Speaker 3: start to overlook an opponent, you get hurt. And that's

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Speaker 3: something that happened to the Cardinals last year against the

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Speaker 3: Carolina Panthers, a team that you were significantly better than

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Speaker 3: on paper. And I asked Maximlin about in the locker

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Speaker 3: room heading into the game against the Carolina Panthers this

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Speaker 3: year before the home opener, and I asked him, did

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Speaker 3: you think you might have overlooked them a little bit?

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Speaker 3: And he said, yeah, we might have, because you are already

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Speaker 3: thinking about what Saturday Night football against the Rams is

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Speaker 3: going to look like, and where you can potentially be

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Speaker 3: seeded in the division or in the playoff rankings, and

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Speaker 3: how you could potentially have a path to winning the division,

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Speaker 3: and you overlook Carolina and your playoff hopes have disappeared

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Speaker 3: and have turned into nightmares. In the Cardinals case, this

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Speaker 3: time around, you are a team that is two and

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Speaker 3: two with the ability to have been four and oho

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Speaker 3: or zero and four. Two and two right now is

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Speaker 3: a gift but it's something that's also been deserved by

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Speaker 3: this team. This is a Tennessee Titans team that, for

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Speaker 3: what it's worth, a lot of rumors circulating about their

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Speaker 3: coaching staff, about the future of the organization in different ways.

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Speaker 3: Jobs could potentially be on the line for some of

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Speaker 3: these teams in these next couple of coming weeks. This

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Speaker 3: is a league where this type of stuff turns around

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Speaker 3: pretty fast one way or another. Decision makers are quick

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Speaker 3: to make decisions. In the Cardinals case, they cannot overlook

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Speaker 3: Tennessee for that exact reason.

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Speaker 1: All you have to do and we see it each

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Speaker 1: and every week. In fact, we've already seen it here

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Speaker 1: in Week five, Thursday Night Football, the forty nine Ers

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Speaker 1: in overtime knocking off the Rams twenty six three. Not

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Speaker 1: a single person, especially after the news that brock Perty

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Speaker 1: was not gonna play, Juwan Jennings was not gonna play,

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Speaker 1: Rocky Pearsall was not gonna play. Not a single person

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Speaker 1: picked or believed in the forty nine Ers outside of

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Speaker 1: the players themselves. And what happened. They jumped out to

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Speaker 1: a fourteen nothing lead and then hang on when in overtime.

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Speaker 1: So it happens every single week you do not want

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Speaker 1: it to be you. If you're the Cardinals, hey we

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Speaker 1: can start looking at next week the Anneapolis Colts or

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Speaker 1: the following week Green Bay Packers. Can't afford to do that.

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Speaker 1: I don't get the sense that the Cardinals front office, coaches,

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Speaker 1: players have even thought, had that even enter their mind

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Speaker 1: at any point this week. Now, fans, media, we certainly

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Speaker 1: can look at what the Titans have done, or what

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Speaker 1: better said, maybe what they have not done, and say, well,

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Speaker 1: this is certainly a get right game, but you got

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Speaker 1: to play. And Kyler Murray talking on Wednesday about coming

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Speaker 1: out with a sense of urgency from the start, Paris

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Speaker 1: Johnson Junior talking about getting off to a faster start

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Speaker 1: or playing faster. So I think I think the coaches,

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Speaker 1: starting with Jonathan Gannon, have got the player's attention as

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Speaker 1: far as what has happened the previous two weeks, letting

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Speaker 1: the opponent stay in the game, come back in the game,

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Speaker 1: and then ultimately win on a field goal.

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Speaker 3: And imagine what the Titans are thinking right now. We're

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Speaker 3: discussing this is going to be a get right game

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Speaker 3: as if it's you know, easy PC it's not. And

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Speaker 3: that's something that I think this Cardinals team, while they

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Speaker 3: hope that this is their get right game, they don't

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Speaker 3: anticipate for it to be the case because you don't

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Speaker 3: want to undermine or overlook your opponent. As we previously discussed.

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Speaker 3: The way that I look at it, though, is this

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Speaker 3: needs to be your get right game. You need to

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Speaker 3: have a complete four quarters, and you need to win

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Speaker 3: a decisive fashion. That's something that the Cardinals have done

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Speaker 3: in certain points of the games that they've played in.

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Speaker 3: You think about the strong start that had against the

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Speaker 3: Carolina Panthers, but that was mostly because of what your

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Speaker 3: defense was able to do. Three plays into the game,

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Speaker 3: Josh Swat stripsack that leads to Zaven Collins touchdown, and

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Speaker 3: you're up seven to nothing before the Cardinals offense even

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Speaker 3: gets on the board or it gets on the field. Rather,

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Speaker 3: this is something that this team is going to seriously

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Speaker 3: need to try to take advantage of early on. Utilize

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Speaker 3: an offensive line that is pretty banged up in Tennessee's case,

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Speaker 3: with right tackle JC Latham dealing with the hip injury

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Speaker 3: right now. He has not played since Week one. Calvin

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Speaker 3: Ridley's on the injury report, We're not sure where he's

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Speaker 3: at with. I believe it's a knee and an elbow

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Speaker 3: issue for him. So he's somebody who has in practice

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Speaker 3: at least on Wednesday and Thursday. That's your number one

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Speaker 3: wide receiver and the number one target for cam Ward.

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Speaker 3: And you also want to utilize your disguises and your

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Speaker 3: schemes in Nick Rolis's case, that can confuse a rookie

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Speaker 3: quarterback in cam Ward. And I'll have a story on

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Speaker 3: Azycardinals dot Com for Saturday about the Cardinals and what

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Speaker 3: they learn from playing against rookie quarterbacks last year. You're

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Speaker 3: not going to get much information out of this coaching

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Speaker 3: staff because every staff or every opposing staff is different.

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Speaker 3: But in the Cardinals case, they kind of know what

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Speaker 3: they're going to be facing off against in cam Ward.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, just Ward's fifth career starts. And as I mentioned

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Speaker 1: off the top, you and Isaac, we had a chance

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Speaker 1: to speak with Jim Whittt, long time writer. He has

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Speaker 1: covered the Titans for a number of years, currently right

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Speaker 1: now covers the Titans for Tennessee Titans dot Com. Here

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Speaker 1: now is our conversation. Really appreciate the time, Jim, So

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Speaker 1: after four games, how would you describe the mood of

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Speaker 1: the team and really the fan base considering how things

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Speaker 1: have gone so far.

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Speaker 4: Oh man, not very good. To be honest with you,

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Speaker 4: I can't. I can't sugarcoat if the team is frustrated,

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Speaker 4: because even though I don't think anybody thought this was

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Speaker 4: going to be a great team, it has been maybe

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Speaker 4: a little more underperforming than than they imagine, and there's

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Speaker 4: been a lot of frustration over some things have gone

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Speaker 4: wrong for the fan base, probably worse because you know,

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Speaker 4: this fan base has been you know, from twenty nineteen

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Speaker 4: to two thousand and twenty one, this team was winning

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Speaker 4: divisions and went to an AFC championship game in there,

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Speaker 4: you know, with the number one seed in AFC in

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Speaker 4: twenty twenty one, and then midway through the twenty twenty

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Speaker 4: two seasons, like the switch flipped, and uh, you know,

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Speaker 4: any of that season are a long losing streak, had

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Speaker 4: a six and eleven season in twenty twenty three, that's

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Speaker 4: when Rable got fired. And then the last two years.

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Speaker 4: Won three games last year and oh four this year,

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Speaker 4: so three wins out of last you know, three and

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Speaker 4: eighteen over the last twenty one games. And I think

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Speaker 4: fans here, you know, their patients has been tested. There

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Speaker 4: are some reasons to still feel like there should be optimism,

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Speaker 4: and part of that with the quarterback. But until you

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Speaker 4: start winning some games, you're not gonna have too many

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Speaker 4: people jumping up and down and and Titans kind of

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Speaker 4: in a bad way. You know, after the first month

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Speaker 4: of the.

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Speaker 3: Season, Craig, if you want to get a good pulse

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Speaker 3: on how the Titans fans are feeling, you just go

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Speaker 3: to Tennessee Titans dot com and look at Jim's Mailbagh.

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Speaker 3: First of all, I appreciate a lot of your responses.

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Speaker 3: You definitely give him a platform to vent. And speaking

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Speaker 3: of venting, it seems like that was something that cam

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Speaker 3: Warden was doing following the game into keeping a buck

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Speaker 3: and steal his phrase. I appreciate when a quarterback has

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Speaker 3: that kind of transparency and honesty and vulnerability following a game.

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Speaker 3: But just how is his message taken throughout the building?

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Speaker 4: Well, you know, it's funny, not funny, but you know,

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Speaker 4: the tone in that locker room was different Sunday in Houston,

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Speaker 4: and it had been the first three weeks, and so

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Speaker 4: I think Cam as a tone setter. Jeffrey Simmons and

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Speaker 4: other little guys on the defensive side of the ball.

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Speaker 4: They were more frustrated, more outspoke, and more upset than

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Speaker 4: I'd seen him after any game this year. I have

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Speaker 4: to be honest with you that I had to scramble

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Speaker 4: and talk to my younger people on the beat that

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Speaker 4: could tell me what keeping in the button meant. I'd

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Speaker 4: never heard that expression. I was familiar with keeping it

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Speaker 4: one hundred. I've never heard of keeping in the buck.

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Speaker 4: I don't know when that transition took place. So I

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Speaker 4: thought he'd said it was if he was keeping a book.

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Speaker 4: So I've got Cam. You know, Cam's definitely to keep

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Speaker 4: me on my toes and uh, what's what's uh what

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Speaker 4: the current terminology is on some of this stuff. But

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Speaker 4: it was pretty easy to decipher and understand what he

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Speaker 4: was saying. And he's he's picked off, and and it's

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Speaker 4: tired of losing and embarrassed by the product that the

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Speaker 4: team has put on the field the first four weeks

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Speaker 4: of the season, you know, and when you get shut

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Speaker 4: out like the Titans didn't, you know on Sunday twenty

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Speaker 4: sixth to nothing, first time they'd been shut out since

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Speaker 4: two thousand and nineteen. When they've lost sixteen to nothing

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Speaker 4: against the Broncos, and that's really when the this season

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Speaker 4: kind of flipped for them. I think, I think you

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Speaker 4: see some feelings come out and cam wants this team

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Speaker 4: to be better. You know, I don't want to say

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Speaker 4: it's a temper tantrum, but calling some guys out and

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Speaker 4: letting people know how you feel is not going to

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Speaker 4: fix them. And they gonna have to be better across

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Speaker 4: the board to fix things. And that means they're gonna

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Speaker 4: have to, you know, quick committing penalties, and they're gonna

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Speaker 4: have to tackle better, and they're gonna have to be

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Speaker 4: better upfront protecting the quarterback. They got to make their

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Speaker 4: field goals. I mean, so there's a lot of things

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Speaker 4: that need to go right for this team to start winning.

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Speaker 4: But I will say that I felt like Sunday was

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Speaker 4: the tipping point, and I would expect to see, you know,

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Speaker 4: this team come out with a lot of passion on

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Speaker 4: Sunday in Arizona and playing even more desperate than they

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Speaker 4: have at any point this season.

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Speaker 1: For those of us who haven't seen a lot of

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Speaker 1: the Titans this season, and specifically cam Ward, it's very

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Speaker 1: easy to just look at the numbers and draw conclusions.

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Speaker 1: But are you seeing and I know it's a small

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Speaker 1: sample size with him, but are you seeing progress from

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Speaker 1: weeks one, two, three to Sunday Week four?

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Speaker 4: Well, it's hard for me to say yes right now

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Speaker 4: because I don't think he played real well on Sunday

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Speaker 4: and he missed some throws, and his numbers Sunday we're

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Speaker 4: not pretty. And so he did have one of his

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Speaker 4: best games on Sunday. But I do think he has

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Speaker 4: gotten better. You know, Sunday was just a bad performance

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Speaker 4: across the board. Offensively, they had a new play caller

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Speaker 4: in there. You know, I don't want to completely judge

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Speaker 4: him about what we saw against the Texans. I do

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Speaker 4: think he has shown a lot of positive signs over

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Speaker 4: the first couple of weeks of the season. He just

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Speaker 4: had had a lot of help around him, I mean,

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Speaker 4: and the protection hasn't been very good. They've missed JC

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Speaker 4: Latham to start on the right side. They've they've kind

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Speaker 4: of had to play with the makeshift offensive line some weeks.

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Speaker 4: You know, Calvin Ridley, who's just supposed to be this

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Speaker 4: team's number one to see number one receiver, has been

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Speaker 4: inconsistent so far this season. He'd be the first to

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Speaker 4: tell you that, you know, a lot of things around

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Speaker 4: team have not been good. He has had his moments

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Speaker 4: where you can say, hey, this kid could be special.

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Speaker 4: But I think, you know, after that last week's game,

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Speaker 4: people around here talking about whether he's regressed, and I

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Speaker 4: don't think he has. I just think that I just

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Speaker 4: think the team is a little bit of a mess

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Speaker 4: right now and and kind of figure out a way

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Speaker 4: to change the conversation.

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Speaker 3: Each quarterback, especially rookie quarterbacks, I think when they come

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Speaker 3: into the league, they always had that one defining traite.

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Speaker 3: Kyler Murray former first overall pick himself, obviously, it was

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Speaker 3: his mobility and his agility to get out the pocket

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Speaker 3: and create magic with his legs. Was his trade. What

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Speaker 3: would you say, is cam Ward's trade that separates him

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Speaker 3: from being a rookie quarterback then might make him a

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Speaker 3: fitting amongst the pack with all the other NFL quarterbacks.

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Speaker 4: I just think that he's just kind of fearless, and

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Speaker 4: I think he also has a great confidence about him.

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Speaker 4: I've seen a lot of rookies come in here, and

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Speaker 4: you know, whether it was Jake c Locker, Marcus Mariota,

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Speaker 4: or Vince Young and all of them had different traits,

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Speaker 4: and I think cam very talented from an armed strength standpoint,

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Speaker 4: from a ability to kind of make plays on the run.

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Speaker 4: But I think what has stood out to me about

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Speaker 4: him more than the thing is just his confidence and

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Speaker 4: his kind of his moxy that he has for being

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Speaker 4: so young and being a good leader even as a rookie,

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Speaker 4: and I think that's going to serve him well moving forward.

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Speaker 4: I mean, the veterans respond to him. They liked the

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Speaker 4: way he's kind of taken ownership of things from a

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Speaker 4: from a game standpoint. Yeah, he's still got a lot

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Speaker 4: of things to learn, a lot of things to improve,

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Speaker 4: But I just think the way he carries himself and

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Speaker 4: the way the conference that he plays with is infectious,

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Speaker 4: and I think that is going to go a long

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Speaker 4: way and helping him change the culture here and kind

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Speaker 4: of changing the fight of this franchise. Again. They just

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Speaker 4: got to be better around him.

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Speaker 3: And that kind of goes into my next point, Jim,

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Speaker 3: because the offensive line, obviously there's been a you mentioned

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Speaker 3: the health with jaycon Latham. He right now cam Ward's

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Speaker 3: the most sacked NFL quarterback, and that's something that you

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Speaker 3: talk about. His fearlessness and his willingness to get back

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Speaker 3: up when you get knocked down as much as he has,

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Speaker 3: that could be a little bit deflating, But it doesn't

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Speaker 3: seem like that that has really knocked his spirits. But

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Speaker 3: what has been the sense of urgency maybe to fix

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Speaker 3: what's going on along the offensive line?

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Speaker 4: Well, I think there's a lot and I know it's

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Speaker 4: it's it's interesting that when you struggle, people start looking for,

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Speaker 4: you know, the point the finger at why that's happening.

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Speaker 4: And Bill Callahan, I think is one of the best

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Speaker 4: offensive line coaches in the league. He's got that reputation.

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Speaker 4: Anybody been around him knows that. But because of the

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Speaker 4: struggles that they've had, people are thinking there's some fans

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Speaker 4: out there, well, Bill Callahan's not getting a job done. Well,

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Speaker 4: Bill Callahan has not exactly been dealing with, you know,

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Speaker 4: a stellar group here since he's been here. Last year,

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Speaker 4: the offensive line, it was a bit of a mess.

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Speaker 4: They went out and tried to address at this offseason.

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Speaker 4: They signed Dan Moore in free agency. They signed Kevin

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Speaker 4: Zeidler in free agency. They moved J. C. Latham to

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Speaker 4: the left side or to the right side. I just

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Speaker 4: say which is more familiar position. I think what this

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Speaker 4: group needs more than anything is just people to be

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Speaker 4: available and for them to have a chance to Jill

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Speaker 4: and you mentioned Latham has been out since Week one,

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Speaker 4: Kevin Zeidler missed missed the game a couple of weeks ago.

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Speaker 4: Wood Cushionberry has missed half the season last year with

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Speaker 4: an achilles injuries. Just four games back from that and

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Speaker 4: he's still kind of finding his way. They need these

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Speaker 4: guys to be healthy, to stay in there, to learn

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Speaker 4: each other, to get on the same page, and there

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Speaker 4: is a great sense of verurgency that happened. I do

435
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,639
Speaker 4: think this team's well coach there with Bill Callahan. He

436
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,840
Speaker 4: just needs his guys and they've struggled in part because

437
00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:31,800
Speaker 4: they've had practice squad players being promoted to play tackle

438
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,480
Speaker 4: in the NFL, and that's hard to hold up when

439
00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:37,720
Speaker 4: that's happening. And they've had other guys had to step

440
00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,639
Speaker 4: in for injured players. They just need guys to stay

441
00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:44,320
Speaker 4: healthy and to be able to play together and get

442
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 4: this thing figured out.

443
00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,000
Speaker 1: Don't want to ignore the defense, but one more offensive

444
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,560
Speaker 1: question for you, Jim, and that is something you referred

445
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:55,360
Speaker 1: to earlier, and the change in play caller Brian Callahan

446
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,160
Speaker 1: has handled those duties over to the quarterbacks coach one game.

447
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,760
Speaker 1: But did it any different or do you expect the

448
00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:06,280
Speaker 1: offense to look a little bit different or tweak some

449
00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:09,000
Speaker 1: things coming into this week's game against the Cardinals.

450
00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:11,280
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think tweaked some things. I mean it was

451
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,800
Speaker 4: you know, it's a tough start for Bowheart degree. You know,

452
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,040
Speaker 4: playing against the Texans defense is really good. They got

453
00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,360
Speaker 4: some good rushers. I think the Titans spent so much

454
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:26,720
Speaker 4: triumph time and effort to protect the quarterback that that

455
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 4: limited what they could call and what they could do.

456
00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,240
Speaker 4: They tried, you know, they tried a couple of trick

457
00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:37,359
Speaker 4: plays and try to flee flick or early tried another

458
00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,119
Speaker 4: I guess trick player in the game. Those are some

459
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,840
Speaker 4: things we haven't seen a lot of. But they're playing

460
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:48,520
Speaker 4: catch up most of the way. And I think Bowheart

461
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,680
Speaker 4: agree his first time as a play caller since his

462
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,680
Speaker 4: days with the Raiders back in twenty twenty three, he'd

463
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,879
Speaker 4: admit that maybe there's some rust and trying to get

464
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,840
Speaker 4: into a better rhythm calling. So I think I think

465
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,960
Speaker 4: he'll settle in and if the Titans can stay in

466
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,120
Speaker 4: games and not fall behind. It'll give him a little

467
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:11,520
Speaker 4: bit more freedom and flexibility on what they can call.

468
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,000
Speaker 4: But it's hard for me to really figure out trends

469
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,119
Speaker 4: or or kind of guess what he might do, just

470
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,680
Speaker 4: because just havn't really seen him in that job much

471
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,760
Speaker 4: really one weekend and it wasn't a great wasn't a

472
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:27,439
Speaker 4: great game to judge off of.

473
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,640
Speaker 3: Going over to the defensive side of the ball, Cedric

474
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,679
Speaker 3: Gray seventeen tackles against the Houston Texans. That is a

475
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,960
Speaker 3: ridiculous stat line. Is that the type of game that's

476
00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:40,679
Speaker 3: kind of an anomaly or is that something that the

477
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,440
Speaker 3: Cardinals fans should expect to see the second year linebacker

478
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 3: flying around on that defense.

479
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,800
Speaker 4: Well, he had a great game Sunday, and he's another

480
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:50,719
Speaker 4: guy that missed most of the last season and then

481
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,679
Speaker 4: he's really playing for the first time now and he

482
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:58,520
Speaker 4: is very active, very productive. But the best player on

483
00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:02,400
Speaker 4: this defense is Jeffrey Simmons. I mean, and he has

484
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 4: I've covered him since he's been in the league. I

485
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:09,520
Speaker 4: think he's playing the best he's ever played since he's

486
00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,879
Speaker 4: has picked first overall back in twenty nineteen. I mean,

487
00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,480
Speaker 4: he's getting double teamed on a consistent basis. He had

488
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,480
Speaker 4: four tackles for a loss on Sunday. I think that's

489
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,520
Speaker 4: the first time of Tighten it's had four tackles for

490
00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:26,120
Speaker 4: a loss since two thousand and eight. He has been

491
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:31,960
Speaker 4: incredibly disruptive despite getting a lot of attention from opposing

492
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,440
Speaker 4: teams offenses. So those are your best two players on

493
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,360
Speaker 4: the defense right now. But Simmons is head and shoulders

494
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:41,199
Speaker 4: above the rest of these guys, and they need to

495
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,959
Speaker 4: be better across the board. You know, the defense has

496
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,080
Speaker 4: had its moments where they've looked good, but then they've

497
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,560
Speaker 4: also had too many lapses, and tackling has been an

498
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:51,719
Speaker 4: issue and playing in the fourth quarter has been an

499
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:55,679
Speaker 4: issue for them, finishing games, And that's what's stressed around

500
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 4: here this week is finished games, playing three quarters. You

501
00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,160
Speaker 4: don't get a reward for that. You got to finish

502
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 4: the game and give yourself a chance to win. And

503
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 4: Sunday the Titans, you know that fourth quarter down six

504
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,680
Speaker 4: nothing and they end up losing the game twenty six

505
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,960
Speaker 4: to nothing. So that that's left a bad taste in

506
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,439
Speaker 4: a lot of those guys mouths coming out of last week.

507
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,400
Speaker 1: You bring up Simmons and what he did last week,

508
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,800
Speaker 1: certainly impressive, and the Cardinals have had their issues when

509
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:28,400
Speaker 1: it's the interior of a defensive lineman, specifically defensive tackles

510
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,160
Speaker 1: coming up the middle. Is that where Simmons has been

511
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,680
Speaker 1: predominantly or has he been moved across that D line.

512
00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 4: He's been moving around, and they've had to do some

513
00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:39,399
Speaker 4: things because Tavandre sweatsmen out who was supposed to be

514
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,440
Speaker 4: their big enforcer in the middle a nose tackle, he

515
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:44,560
Speaker 4: went on into reserve and he's out for a couple

516
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,959
Speaker 4: more weeks. So because of that, they've they've they've started

517
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 4: moving Simmons around. He'll line up on all sides, sometimes

518
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:52,679
Speaker 4: line up in the middle, just trying to get as

519
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,800
Speaker 4: good a matchup as he can. And I think they'll

520
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:57,200
Speaker 4: probably do that again on Sunday.

521
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:02,280
Speaker 1: Jim, appreciate the time again, great information, good insights, and

522
00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:04,960
Speaker 1: look forward to seeing you and the Titans on Sunday.

523
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:07,280
Speaker 4: Okay, appreciate it, Appreciate to have me.

524
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 1: So I thought a very honest assessment from Jim about

525
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:15,880
Speaker 1: the Titans and what the mood is, what the talk

526
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,720
Speaker 1: has been, especially since last week's game against the Houghtons

527
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:23,200
Speaker 1: Houston Texans, and you just get a sense, and you

528
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 1: heard Jim say it. They're a fired up Titans team

529
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,840
Speaker 1: entering State Farm Stadium. On Sunday, we talk.

530
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,480
Speaker 3: With Jonathan Gannon about how the two losses of the

531
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,080
Speaker 3: Cardinals have face have kind of been a shot of

532
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:39,679
Speaker 3: adrenaline for this team. It's very similar with what the

533
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 3: Tennessee Titans are experiencing right now, because yes, they're a

534
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:45,200
Speaker 3: team that's fired up, but they're a team that they're

535
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 3: back against the wall, so they're feeling a lot of pressure.

536
00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:49,040
Speaker 3: Kind of goes to what I was saying earlier on

537
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 3: in the episode about how this is an organization right

538
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,240
Speaker 3: now that has a spotlight on them for their coaching

539
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,560
Speaker 3: staff and what they're doing with their first overall pick,

540
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,120
Speaker 3: and they're sit situations at quarterback with Will Levis only

541
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 3: a year prior. There's a lot of differences that are

542
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:07,399
Speaker 3: going on, or a lot of different things rather that

543
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,440
Speaker 3: are going on with the Tennessee Titans, and in this case,

544
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:12,639
Speaker 3: this is a shot for them to try again the

545
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:14,960
Speaker 3: win column for the first time. And you never want

546
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,560
Speaker 3: to be that one anecdote of who did cam Ward

547
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,600
Speaker 3: get his first victory against as an NFL starting quarterback.

548
00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 3: You don't want your team to be the answer.

549
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,760
Speaker 1: By the way, like Jim, I was unfamiliar with the

550
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:29,040
Speaker 1: phrase keeping it a buck. Really, I had never heard

551
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,359
Speaker 1: of that before. Keeping it real, yeah, I get that,

552
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:34,880
Speaker 1: But a bucks, yeah that I had not ye, keeping

553
00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 1: a buck, Okay, I got educated this week. Cam Ward

554
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:39,560
Speaker 1: educated me.

555
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:39,960
Speaker 4: This week.

556
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,160
Speaker 3: You got culture. Is what Danny would tell you, right,

557
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 3: I did keep it a buck, keep it a hundred hundred.

558
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,800
Speaker 3: That again, I'm not saying I say it. I say

559
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 3: keep it a buck.

560
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:51,160
Speaker 1: Okay.

561
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,760
Speaker 3: I've dropped that in my lingo every now and then.

562
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:57,640
Speaker 1: Just not in the vicinity of myself. It's not something

563
00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,880
Speaker 1: you have said here at work, maybe the confines of

564
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:04,000
Speaker 1: your apartment, your condo, your penthouse, whatever.

565
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:04,320
Speaker 4: You know.

566
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,640
Speaker 3: Well, I don't. I don't live with anybody, so less

567
00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:09,720
Speaker 3: I'm talking to myself, which is very likely at certain points.

568
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,400
Speaker 3: It gets lonely every now and then. But no, I don't.

569
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,800
Speaker 3: I don't talk to I don't talk to myself. But

570
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 3: the lingo in my past life as a as a

571
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:20,080
Speaker 3: college student.

572
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 1: His past life was like, how many lives have you led?

573
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:24,240
Speaker 3: In my past life as a college student. Maybe that

574
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 3: was a part of the lingo I could teach you

575
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:28,080
Speaker 3: a lot of different lingo.

576
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,400
Speaker 1: We're gonna completely get off this topic, you know, on

577
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 1: the not even gonna not even going to engage in

578
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:41,720
Speaker 1: the We're going to talk more about camp Ward because

579
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:46,840
Speaker 1: I did find it interesting, despite him being a rookie, that,

580
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:50,440
Speaker 1: at least according to Jim Wyatt, that the veterans have

581
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,960
Speaker 1: responded to what he said not only on Sunday immediately

582
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,320
Speaker 1: after the game, but during the entire offseason. And you

583
00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:03,040
Speaker 1: would it's a bit of a surprise because you're a rookie,

584
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,880
Speaker 1: but then again, it's not because you're the face of

585
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,280
Speaker 1: the franchise. You were given the keys, much like Kyler

586
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,920
Speaker 1: Murray back in twenty nineteen, drafted number one overall. Here

587
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,680
Speaker 1: you go, thrown into the fire, thrown into the deep end.

588
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 1: It's your team, and make sure you are the vocal

589
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:24,160
Speaker 1: leader in that room. And it's hard to hear some

590
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:26,000
Speaker 1: of the things that he said if you're in that

591
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 1: locker room in a seven, eight, nine year veteran, But

592
00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,520
Speaker 1: you're the franchise quarterback and sometimes things need to be said,

593
00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:36,760
Speaker 1: no matter whether it's your first year or your fifth year.

594
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 3: Kyler talked a few years ago, I'm pretty sure. It

595
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:42,840
Speaker 3: was in twenty and twenty three or last season where

596
00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:45,120
Speaker 3: he talked about the challenges of going into the huddle

597
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,840
Speaker 3: as a rookie and you're walking across and you see

598
00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,520
Speaker 3: a bunch of everybody in that huddle is older than you,

599
00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:52,200
Speaker 3: and you have guys like fits in that huddle, and

600
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,960
Speaker 3: you're like, wait a minute, Like I'm in a different

601
00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:56,880
Speaker 3: league now. They have respect for the position, they have

602
00:30:56,920 --> 00:30:59,320
Speaker 3: respect for the player. It doesn't mean that there comes

603
00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,720
Speaker 3: with something that doesn't leave out any hesitation in Kylor's case,

604
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,520
Speaker 3: but with cam Ward, that the calmness, the coolness, the

605
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:10,280
Speaker 3: veteran savviness that cam Ward possesses even as a rookie.

606
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:12,720
Speaker 3: It's the reason why he wears the sea on his chest.

607
00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:14,800
Speaker 3: And you want to see your quarterback, regardless of what

608
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,680
Speaker 3: the year is or how or their experience, you want

609
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,840
Speaker 3: to be able to see that they're wearing the sea

610
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:22,000
Speaker 3: on their chest because it shows that they have not

611
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,240
Speaker 3: just a command of the huddle, but they have the

612
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:27,800
Speaker 3: respect and they've been able to earn that from their peers.

613
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,200
Speaker 3: In the case that you were talking about is it

614
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:32,400
Speaker 3: might not be easy to hear about. That's something Jeffrey

615
00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:34,720
Speaker 3: Simmons talked about in the locker room earlier in the

616
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:38,720
Speaker 3: week about how cam Ward has the availability and the

617
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:42,240
Speaker 3: responsibility to share his opinion and the platform to speak

618
00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:43,920
Speaker 3: how he feels. He said that the two of them

619
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,840
Speaker 3: have spoken about how they could possibly have addressed it

620
00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:48,560
Speaker 3: maybe a little bit better. And I don't want to

621
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:50,960
Speaker 3: speak out of turn. You could watch the press conference

622
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,080
Speaker 3: clip from Jeffery Simmons, but I think it's something that

623
00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:56,520
Speaker 3: with your other veteran leadership, you all want to make

624
00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,160
Speaker 3: sure you're on the same page. And in cam Ward's

625
00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,080
Speaker 3: cape case, he was keeping it a buck and he

626
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,640
Speaker 3: said exactly what was on his mind. I'm pretty sure

627
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,040
Speaker 3: a lot of it is the postgame frustration of just

628
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,640
Speaker 3: losing in the way that the Tennessee Titans did, not

629
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:12,520
Speaker 3: being able to put up any points on the board.

630
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,000
Speaker 3: It's a tough pill to swallow, and I've got a

631
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,320
Speaker 3: lot of cases, but it says something about cam Ward's

632
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,640
Speaker 3: confidence to be able to still speak up in the

633
00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:21,320
Speaker 3: way that he did.

634
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:24,440
Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans dot com for that and you can follow

635
00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:28,040
Speaker 1: Jim Wyatt at j Wyatt Sports for more on what

636
00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:31,480
Speaker 1: the Titans are going through. And again it's an offense

637
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 1: that needs to play better. It's an offense that needs

638
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,120
Speaker 1: better protection from the offensive line. It's an offense that

639
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,200
Speaker 1: needs better better production from their wide receivers. You've got

640
00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:44,800
Speaker 1: names in there, Calvin Ridley, Tyler Lockett, Van Jefferson, but

641
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,560
Speaker 1: right now things are not clicking, and you hope that

642
00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:50,440
Speaker 1: it doesn't click this week. So the onus now becomes

643
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 1: that Cardinals defense, that front seven, whomever is playing along

644
00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 1: the defensive line. Can you get after a cam Ward

645
00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,800
Speaker 1: who's the most sacked quarterback in the league, third most

646
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:05,440
Speaker 1: pressured quarterback and the league make life difficult for him

647
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:08,600
Speaker 1: to where maybe you get some more hands on footballs,

648
00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,080
Speaker 1: maybe some more takeaways in the three that the defense

649
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:11,880
Speaker 1: has this season.

650
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:15,160
Speaker 3: Can we go into the prediction business? From the last

651
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,240
Speaker 3: time the Cardinals played the Tennessee Titans in a regular

652
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:19,680
Speaker 3: season game, I'm pretty sure was that Chandler Jones five sacks?

653
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: Correct?

654
00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:22,880
Speaker 3: How many sacks do the Cardinals get as a game

655
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:25,480
Speaker 3: as we could go as a team here, because I

656
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:28,680
Speaker 3: honestly I expect Josh Watt to finish with two sacks

657
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:29,240
Speaker 3: in this game.

658
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,440
Speaker 1: Six sounds like an awful lot until you realize that

659
00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:37,280
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray has been sacked six times twice already this season.

660
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:39,160
Speaker 1: Some of those he just runs out of bounds, but

661
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 1: it counts as a sack. I'm gonna say, considering what

662
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,640
Speaker 1: has happened with the Titans cam Ward, that offensive line,

663
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,920
Speaker 1: I think six is a good number to shoot for.

664
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:54,200
Speaker 1: But it's not. I'm gonna go back into my Jonathan

665
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:56,960
Speaker 1: Gannon coachbeak here, but sacks are not a winning stat

666
00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:03,360
Speaker 1: and I I've come around to believe that because you

667
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:06,080
Speaker 1: need to get the offense off the field, and yeah, sacks,

668
00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:08,200
Speaker 1: especially on first and second down, makes it a lot

669
00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:11,120
Speaker 1: easier and certainly on third down to get off the field.

670
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:15,360
Speaker 1: But consistent pressure. Can you mix the sacks with a

671
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:17,920
Speaker 1: couple of takeaways, and then I think that's when the

672
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,919
Speaker 1: defense has played a solid game.

673
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:23,600
Speaker 3: I'm pretty sure Josh Sweat and Baron Browning are the

674
00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:26,359
Speaker 3: two players with the most amount of pressure so far

675
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,560
Speaker 3: in this Cardinals defense. And then the defensive line. Koas

676
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:32,200
Speaker 3: Campbell I'm pretty sure has eight pressures so far, though

677
00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:33,879
Speaker 3: five of them came in the game against the San

678
00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:37,040
Speaker 3: Francisco forty nine ers, which is quite remarkable, But that's

679
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:39,000
Speaker 3: exactly what it's going to need to be is as

680
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:41,960
Speaker 3: I mentioned earlier, trying to confuse camp Ward, trying to

681
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,160
Speaker 3: generate that pressure so that he could get home. He's

682
00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,360
Speaker 3: the most sacked quarterback in the NFL right now with

683
00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:49,440
Speaker 3: seventeen and it's something that this Cardinals team is definitely

684
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:53,040
Speaker 3: going to need to capitalize upon and utilize the injuries

685
00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,759
Speaker 3: that they currently face on their offensive line to their advantage.

686
00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:58,279
Speaker 3: But when you are able to do that, and you're

687
00:34:58,280 --> 00:34:59,960
Speaker 3: able to have that Russian cover, you're able to cut

688
00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:02,759
Speaker 3: and rush a little bit. And I this is a

689
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,759
Speaker 3: defensive back, a secondary unit that has talked about needing

690
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:07,600
Speaker 3: to get their hands on more football, and not just

691
00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:10,760
Speaker 3: in the past deflections category, which they've done an excellent

692
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:13,319
Speaker 3: job at so far this season, but trying to turn

693
00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:17,399
Speaker 3: those past defenses into interceptions and into takeaways. And that's

694
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,320
Speaker 3: when you want to try to utilize cam Ward's youth

695
00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:22,799
Speaker 3: and try to take advantage of it to make some

696
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,000
Speaker 3: takeaways to put your offense back on the field.

697
00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,719
Speaker 1: Could see Well Johnson back on the field this week

698
00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:31,240
Speaker 1: after missing the previous two games with a groin injury.

699
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:34,279
Speaker 1: But even without Will on the field, I think key

700
00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:40,080
Speaker 1: Trell Clark has played tremendous corner stepping up again. When

701
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,359
Speaker 1: your number is called, you don't know what it is,

702
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 1: are you ready to step in? And I think Key

703
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,279
Speaker 1: Treil Clark has done a great job doing that. On

704
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:49,360
Speaker 1: the flip side, when you talk about the Cardinals running

705
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:51,919
Speaker 1: back room, yeah, you don't have James Connery, you don't

706
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 1: have Trey Benson, but Michael Carter and Mari de Mercado,

707
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:58,040
Speaker 1: Bam Knight, their numbers are being called starting this week.

708
00:35:58,160 --> 00:35:59,759
Speaker 1: What do you do with those opportunities?

709
00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:00,000
Speaker 4: Again?

710
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,200
Speaker 1: As a Titans rush defense that is not good at all,

711
00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:05,919
Speaker 1: numbers wise, and you just watch some of the film,

712
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:10,879
Speaker 1: it's just not great. Can the Cardinals find something offensively

713
00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:14,360
Speaker 1: specifically in their run game finally this season?

714
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:15,960
Speaker 3: And I think this is the game where you need

715
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,600
Speaker 3: to have that confidence. You need to try to bring

716
00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,880
Speaker 3: that back in and reignite that confidence that this offensive

717
00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:24,400
Speaker 3: line had all of last year and even all of

718
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,239
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three when they were a team that was

719
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:30,760
Speaker 3: still struggling, the offensive line was still something you could

720
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,520
Speaker 3: rely on in getting that run game going. With James Connor,

721
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,319
Speaker 3: I totally believe that this is something that could potentially

722
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:41,239
Speaker 3: be done. Because you mentioned the struggles that Tennessee has

723
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:43,520
Speaker 3: had so far. They're in the bottom of the league

724
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:46,000
Speaker 3: twenty eighth and run defense. This is something that the

725
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:47,880
Speaker 3: Cardinals team is definitely going to need to try to

726
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:51,000
Speaker 3: take advantage of. You don't have your top two running backs,

727
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,360
Speaker 3: and James Connor and Trey Benson, they're both on injured

728
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:57,120
Speaker 3: reserve trade Benson with the ability to potentially return at

729
00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:00,759
Speaker 3: some point this season, although it's unclear when that might be.

730
00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:04,000
Speaker 3: With Amari de Mercado and Michael carter I have an

731
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:06,880
Speaker 3: article on Azycardinals dot Com about it. I know the

732
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:09,799
Speaker 3: fantasy footballers out there are very invested in what the

733
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:12,759
Speaker 3: Cardinals end up doing because you look at what the

734
00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:15,600
Speaker 3: Tennessee run defense looks like, and you look at how

735
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:20,479
Speaker 3: the Cardinals run offense has had glimpses, but they haven't

736
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:23,080
Speaker 3: been able to put it all together. Paris Johnson Junior

737
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:26,160
Speaker 3: was talking about how if one person on the offensive

738
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:28,680
Speaker 3: line messes up and Ford do it right, all five

739
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,400
Speaker 3: still mess up because everybody needs to be in sync.

740
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:33,840
Speaker 3: There have been different moments where it looks like they're

741
00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:36,239
Speaker 3: like so close to trying to crack one open and

742
00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,200
Speaker 3: have a couple more of those explosives that we've grown

743
00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:42,799
Speaker 3: so used to seeing last season. That hasn't happened yet.

744
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:46,360
Speaker 3: But against the Tennessee run defense that outside of Jeffrey

745
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:49,880
Speaker 3: Simmons up the middle, there isn't really many players that

746
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:52,520
Speaker 3: stand out, at least when you look at their depth chart.

747
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,799
Speaker 3: This Cardinals need to try to take advantage of the

748
00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,279
Speaker 3: situation you're given, and this is what they add to

749
00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:00,839
Speaker 3: what they have against own four Tennessee this week.

750
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:04,520
Speaker 1: Since you brought up predictions, here's a prediction for Sunday.

751
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:08,160
Speaker 1: Michael Carter and Mario de Mercado Bam Knight. However, those

752
00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:10,839
Speaker 1: guys get their carries, the Cardinals will rush for over

753
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:12,880
Speaker 1: one hundred yards. Now, well they said a season nine

754
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:15,680
Speaker 1: and rushing, I don't know, but I just would like

755
00:38:15,719 --> 00:38:19,400
Speaker 1: to see this run game be more efficient. And again,

756
00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:22,560
Speaker 1: it's not just the running backs. It's not just the

757
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,840
Speaker 1: offensive line. It's not the play calling, it's not the

758
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:29,000
Speaker 1: play execution, it's everything that just has to be on

759
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:31,719
Speaker 1: the right and I don't think we've seen it enough.

760
00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:34,120
Speaker 1: In fact, the coaches have said that Jonathan Gannon very

761
00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:37,480
Speaker 1: specifically talking about the line of scrimmage calls, whether that's

762
00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:40,960
Speaker 1: again the quarterback, the offensive line, the tight ends, whomever.

763
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:41,439
Speaker 4: It is.

764
00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:49,120
Speaker 1: Not concerning, but something that needs, in JAG's words, very correctable.

765
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:51,280
Speaker 1: Let's see it corrected on Sunday.

766
00:38:51,719 --> 00:38:55,239
Speaker 3: That this is what the extended by the mini buy

767
00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:58,399
Speaker 3: has allowed for this Cardinals team to kind of dive into.

768
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:01,120
Speaker 3: Is what has been the struggle so far in the

769
00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,520
Speaker 3: offensive rushing attack. Johns again and when asked if he

770
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,120
Speaker 3: has confidence at those adjustments that he made during this

771
00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:09,319
Speaker 3: mini buy that they're going to translate over, he said,

772
00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:11,759
Speaker 3: I'm not sure. We'll we'll see on Sunday. And that's

773
00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:14,160
Speaker 3: something we're gonna be both very excited to see on Sunday.

774
00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:16,799
Speaker 3: Is what does Cardinals rush. A rushing offense ends up

775
00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:18,759
Speaker 3: looking like it's not going to look the same as

776
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:20,800
Speaker 3: it would if it was James Connor or Trey Benson.

777
00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:25,520
Speaker 3: But Amari Demercato is a He's got sneaky speed. You

778
00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:28,200
Speaker 3: remember the fifty four yard rush, of fifty three yard

779
00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:31,160
Speaker 3: rush against the Chicago Bears. He's definitely somebody that's able

780
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,800
Speaker 3: to crack one open. Michael Carter a slippery, smooth runner

781
00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:37,440
Speaker 3: that can that can shake off a couple of different

782
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:39,440
Speaker 3: defenders and make some magic with his legs.

783
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:40,120
Speaker 1: Bam Knight.

784
00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:42,280
Speaker 3: He cracked through it with that sixty seven yard rush

785
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:45,400
Speaker 3: against the Raiders in the preseason. The Cardinals have the

786
00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:48,759
Speaker 3: ability to getst his rushing attack going Paris. Johnson Junior said,

787
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:51,000
Speaker 3: it's about eighty percent on the offensive line and then

788
00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:53,000
Speaker 3: twenty percent is going to be on their running backs

789
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,160
Speaker 3: to try to make a move, try to find that

790
00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:57,800
Speaker 3: gap and try to take advantage of it, get those

791
00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 3: yards after contact. But that eighty percent from this offensive line,

792
00:40:01,719 --> 00:40:03,560
Speaker 3: he needs to start to turn to ninety one hundred

793
00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:06,120
Speaker 3: percent to try to get this offensive rushing attack going.

794
00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:10,400
Speaker 1: Sunday afternoon one oh five is the kickoff eight thirty am.

795
00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:13,839
Speaker 1: Pregame covers begins on the Arizona Cardinals Radio Network. An

796
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:17,120
Speaker 1: opportunity for the Cardinals to get back above five hundred

797
00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:20,720
Speaker 1: before heading to Indianapolis the following week. But we focus

798
00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:24,839
Speaker 1: here on tennessee the here and now and again a reminder, Zach,

799
00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:28,719
Speaker 1: what are you working on for the advance on Saturday?

800
00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:31,920
Speaker 3: It's going to be about the Cardinals' familiarity going up

801
00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:34,960
Speaker 3: against rookie quarterbacks. Remember back to last season, they played

802
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:38,000
Speaker 3: the first three overall picks. They actually played I'm pretty

803
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:41,280
Speaker 3: sure the first six overall picks in or the first five,

804
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:44,480
Speaker 3: because it was Joe Alt the Cardinals played against on

805
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:47,680
Speaker 3: Monday Night Football, and then Marvin it was obviously number four.

806
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:52,240
Speaker 3: Number three was Drake May with New England. The Cardinals

807
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:56,360
Speaker 3: beat him up pretty easily. The second pick in the

808
00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:58,400
Speaker 3: draft with Jade and Daniels. He had his way against

809
00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,080
Speaker 3: the Arizona Cardinals as he did it's most teams in

810
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:03,920
Speaker 3: the NFC. And then Caleb Williams. That was the game

811
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:06,800
Speaker 3: that that ebro Flus ended up getting fired at or

812
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,920
Speaker 3: right after, if I'm not mistaken. So the Cardinals were

813
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:11,920
Speaker 3: able to bring down kle Williams a bunch, and they

814
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,120
Speaker 3: learned a little bit about going up against rookie quarterbacks.

815
00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:17,359
Speaker 3: Now they go up against the number one overall pick

816
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:17,920
Speaker 3: once again.

817
00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:21,440
Speaker 1: It should be fun. I'll see you on Sunday afternoon,

818
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,279
Speaker 1: maybe even Sunday morning, depending on what time you wake up.

819
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:26,920
Speaker 3: I will be there Sunday morning, but I will be

820
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,640
Speaker 3: out on the Great Lawn doing a lot of fun stuff.

821
00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 3: Forward or you just wanna, We're gonna be doing a

822
00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:38,080
Speaker 3: few different come meet videos. We're gonna do a few

823
00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:41,239
Speaker 3: different opportunities to uh to do some fun things for

824
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,960
Speaker 3: the camera and it's gonna be exciting.

825
00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:45,319
Speaker 1: Come meet Zach.

826
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:47,560
Speaker 3: Yes, I'll be out on the Great One and a

827
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:49,520
Speaker 3: handful of different other tailgate spots. So if you have

828
00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:51,960
Speaker 3: a tailgate spot, I need to come visit. And it's

829
00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:53,960
Speaker 3: a few hours before the game because I still have

830
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,160
Speaker 3: to be inside and changed into a suit. But if

831
00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:58,200
Speaker 3: there's a few, if there's a few tailgate spots, I

832
00:41:58,239 --> 00:41:59,319
Speaker 3: should go hit up.

833
00:41:59,400 --> 00:41:59,759
Speaker 1: Let me know.

834
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:02,000
Speaker 3: I'll be like the new Justin Pugh.

835
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:07,000
Speaker 1: Okay, just ton of on a smaller scales, so literally

836
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:07,719
Speaker 1: and figured it out.

837
00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:10,560
Speaker 3: I'm not six five and three twenty or whatever his

838
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:11,359
Speaker 3: measurables were.

839
00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:15,360
Speaker 1: But if you do have a pregame spot, tailgate spot

840
00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:17,799
Speaker 1: at Zach a z Cards.

841
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:20,040
Speaker 3: That's the that's the axe handle at the Twitter handle,

842
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:21,040
Speaker 3: so definitely let me know.

843
00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:22,680
Speaker 1: All right, this should be fun. I'm happy for you.

844
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:24,600
Speaker 1: Enjoy it you, I appreciate it. I'll be out.

845
00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:27,560
Speaker 3: I'll be out on the tailgate scene for a lot

846
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:29,719
Speaker 3: of this season, so so let me know bird game.

847
00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:33,279
Speaker 1: On that note, we'll put a lid on this edition

848
00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:36,279
Speaker 1: of Cardinals Cover two presented by Hyundai, proud partner of

849
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:39,600
Speaker 1: the Arizona Cardinals as always, special thanks to our executive

850
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,720
Speaker 1: producer Jim on One Hunter, our associate producer Cody Fincher

851
00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:44,840
Speaker 1: for Zach Gershman, I'm Craig Royal. Lou. We'll talk to

852
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:46,759
Speaker 1: you next time here on Cardinals Cover two.