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Speaker 1: Welcome to playmakers. Everyone. I'm your host, Haley Elwood. It

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Speaker 1: is week six in the Los Angeles Chargers will host

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Speaker 1: the Denver Broncos at home on Monday Night football. Joining

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Speaker 1: me to talk about this one. I'm so excited to

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Speaker 1: have her on is ESPN NFL analyst and senior writer

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Speaker 1: Mina Kimes. Mina, thank you for joining me, Thank you

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Speaker 1: for having I'm actually really glad you're on considering our

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Speaker 1: content team quite literally buried you in the schedule release video,

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Speaker 1: so thanks for not holding that against us. I'll get

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Speaker 1: my revenge on you. You're very i would say talented,

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Speaker 1: maybe the most talented in the NFL content team. At

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Speaker 1: some point, there we go, all right, little backhanded action there. Okay,

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Speaker 1: let's get into this Monday night game. Chargers are three

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Speaker 1: and two, Denver two and three. Weird things happen when

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Speaker 1: the AFC West meets in primetime. We saw this past

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Speaker 1: week between the Raiders and the Chiefs. What your overall

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Speaker 1: thoughts on this matchup? Yeah, well, I think the Broncos

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Speaker 1: have been one of the more disappointing teams in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: I think their own fans would agree on offense and

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Speaker 1: I certainly it's going to be an issue in this

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Speaker 1: game looking to get that offense going with Russell Wilson.

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Speaker 1: That's struggled at times in ways that I don't think

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Speaker 1: anyone anticipated going into this season. But it doesn't make

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Speaker 1: it easy for LA because the Broncos defense, I would say,

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Speaker 1: in the other direction, is outperformed expectations. Share some DNA

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Speaker 1: scheme wise with Bran Staley and his defense, and they've

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Speaker 1: been excellent against the past. It got some really really

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Speaker 1: talented players in that secondary, so this is not a

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Speaker 1: gimme for LA. Yeah. No, you make great points. So

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Speaker 1: as of taping time. In terms of the Chargers offense,

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Speaker 1: we don't know the status of Keenan Allen quite yet.

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Speaker 1: They've been able to run the ball pretty effectively over

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Speaker 1: these last couple weeks. But when you look at that

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Speaker 1: unit as a whole, what do you make of it

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Speaker 1: right now? Well, I think the offense has been pretty

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Speaker 1: outstanding considering the injuries that have had to overcome. You

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Speaker 1: mentioned Keenan Allen not playing. By the way, he's on

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Speaker 1: my main fantasy team, so that's one that I check

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Speaker 1: around around the clock constantly too. Yeah, but yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I would say the loss of Rashaans later earlier in

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Speaker 1: the season, you know, I thought would be really devastating

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Speaker 1: for that unit. And I think the Chargers offensive line

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Speaker 1: has really risen to the occasion. Jamar Salier, you guys

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Speaker 1: drafted out of Georgia. Georgia, has looked really solid the

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Speaker 1: last two games, and that's really promising because to me,

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Speaker 1: that would have been the single biggest thing that could

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Speaker 1: have held this team back from it's not just playoff,

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Speaker 1: super Bowl aspirations. And if he continues to develop the

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Speaker 1: way he's played so far, I think, you know, that

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Speaker 1: bodes well for this offense, given how good and how

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Speaker 1: efficient they've looked despite some pretty brutal injuries. So flipping too,

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Speaker 1: the Chargers defense huge talk of the off season, with

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Speaker 1: the trade for clil Mac bringing in different players J C.

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Speaker 1: Jackson statistics sly sort of middle of the road right

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Speaker 1: now defending the run, Brandon Staley said, as a whole,

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Speaker 1: they're sort of a work in progress. There's been good,

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Speaker 1: there's been some not so good. But in terms of

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Speaker 1: that group, how do they maybe kind of find their

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Speaker 1: way as they now and kind of move forward into

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Speaker 1: the second quarter of the season. Yeah, you know, another

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Speaker 1: another example of a unit that's had to overcome pretty

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Speaker 1: significant injuries. Obviously, sorry to say it tends to be

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Speaker 1: a theme with this team year to year, but you know,

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Speaker 1: I would say I think I tweet this actually after

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Speaker 1: that game, we guys lost both Slater and Bosa. You

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Speaker 1: really couldn't pick two worst players to lose, just for

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Speaker 1: a variety of reasons. Obviously, Joey has a chance to

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Speaker 1: come back later in the season, and I think that's

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Speaker 1: been what's made thanks challenging for them. You know, Cleil

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Speaker 1: Mac has been everything you'd hope for and more, both

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Speaker 1: as a pass rusher in defending the run, which has

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Speaker 1: always been a really cool and underrated part of his game,

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Speaker 1: but needing a secondary edge rusher to step up in

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Speaker 1: bos absence, I think is going to be ultimately what

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Speaker 1: decides whether this group can outperform sort of the expectations

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Speaker 1: placed on them or obviously not before the season, but

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Speaker 1: right now and then in the back end, you know,

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Speaker 1: again some injuries, guys have been in out of the

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Speaker 1: lineup kind of figuring things out, looks like in terms

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Speaker 1: of the safety and rotation and just the corners in general.

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Speaker 1: You'd like to see JC Jackson kind of come up

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Speaker 1: with the football the way he has in the past.

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Speaker 1: But you know, I think things seem to be trending

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Speaker 1: in the right direction. So moving to the Broncos and

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Speaker 1: you touched on it a little bit, but when it

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Speaker 1: comes to their offense, just what's going on with that? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: if you want a lot, because you know, watching a

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Speaker 1: lot of Seattle football as I do. With Russell Wilson,

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Speaker 1: you know he's struggled a bit this season, and I

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Speaker 1: will say it's been a little bit puzzling. There's some

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Speaker 1: of the struggles I think kind of reflects things we

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Speaker 1: saw in Seattle the last couple of years terms of

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Speaker 1: maybe a bit of a decline in mobility on part

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Speaker 1: the quarterback and trying to push the ball down field

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Speaker 1: when opportunities aren't always there. But I also would say

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Speaker 1: the last few games I've noticed Wilson has struggled with

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Speaker 1: his accuracy on shorter and intermedia throws, including throws like

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Speaker 1: I don't know that he would just make routinely. He's

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Speaker 1: always made routinely over the course of his career, and

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Speaker 1: I think that might actually have something to do with

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Speaker 1: the shoulder injury that he's been battling, So I don't

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Speaker 1: know where to status is on that count, but yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's been very limiting for this offense, and then obviously

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Speaker 1: losing Javonte Williams and the run game is brutal. He

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Speaker 1: looks like what he looked like, one of the more

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Speaker 1: talented and explosive violence is the word I always use

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Speaker 1: with him running backs in the NFL. But Melvin Gordon

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Speaker 1: is a pretty is capable back. And you know you

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Speaker 1: shouldn't count the Broncos out in terms of running the football,

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Speaker 1: especially because they I think will be probably committed to

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Speaker 1: running the football heavily in this game. Yeah, I think

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Speaker 1: you're right, and I think when it comes to someone

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Speaker 1: like Melvin, he's always going to want that revenge game

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Speaker 1: against that. That's right, I forgot. Yeah, right to the

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Speaker 1: Broncos defense. You also talked about it a little up top.

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Speaker 1: They're good. They're really really good, and Justin Simmons could

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Speaker 1: be back for this game. They could even get some

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Speaker 1: more pieces back. You mentioned defensive coordinator Agero Overro. He's

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Speaker 1: had relationships with Brandon Staley. They were on the Rams

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Speaker 1: together just a couple of years ago. Joe Lombardi called

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Speaker 1: that offense. He said, there's a lot of variation when

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Speaker 1: it comes to that offense. But I'm sorry defense, excuse me,

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Speaker 1: but what makes that defense so dynamic? Well, you know,

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Speaker 1: I start by saying, beyond the scheme, they have really

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Speaker 1: really talented players at every level. Starts up front, you know,

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Speaker 1: Bradley Chubb and Randy Gregory, the combination of those two

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Speaker 1: pass ushers, but there's really good depth behind them. Some

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Speaker 1: of the younger edge rushers that they're bringing up I

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Speaker 1: have been talented and disruptive as well. And then in

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Speaker 1: the back end, you know you mentioned Justin Simmons pastis

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Speaker 1: her tan looks to me to be one of the

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Speaker 1: best cornerbacks in football. Can really do it all Man's zone, right,

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Speaker 1: He's just so he's so disruptive making plays on the ball.

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Speaker 1: Technique is so refined, and he rarely makes mistakes, and

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Speaker 1: he is sort of the star or that, you know,

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Speaker 1: grounds that unit. They're i think going to play pretty

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Speaker 1: similarly to how they have so far this season, trying

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Speaker 1: to keep everything in front of them, limit explosives down

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Speaker 1: the field. You probably see a lot of split safety

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Speaker 1: looks to that end, but they will see those light

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Speaker 1: boxes that that style of defense tends to do, and

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Speaker 1: I think that's something that the Chargers can build upon.

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Speaker 1: You know, obviously I haven't gotten Austin Ekeler going recently

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Speaker 1: in the last game. That's going to be an opportunity

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Speaker 1: again there in this one, and I think if they

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Speaker 1: can take advantage of that, they can keep the chains

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Speaker 1: moving and the offense can be pretty efficient. The AFC

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Speaker 1: West was the division coming into this season that was

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Speaker 1: so high. Everyone's talking about it. There's new pieces being

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Speaker 1: added to almost every team in the group. What is

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Speaker 1: the state of it right now? Because in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: it's not exactly living up to the hype that I

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Speaker 1: think everyone sort of thought it might. However, they'll look

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Speaker 1: at this back to back primetime games on Monday Night football,

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Speaker 1: it's true, Yeah, yeah, I think. You know, it's really

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Speaker 1: hard to sort of put the Chargers in like an

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Speaker 1: underwhelming or I guess, evaluate them relative to preseason expectations

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Speaker 1: because of all of the injuries and not just injuries,

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Speaker 1: but injuries to some of the most important players on

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Speaker 1: your football team. So you know, I can't really look

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Speaker 1: at them and say that they've been disappointing because I think,

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Speaker 1: you know, that just the level of adversity has been

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Speaker 1: pretty unreal. But as far as the rest of the

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Speaker 1: division goes, you know, I, like a lot of people,

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Speaker 1: I thought this would be not not just a dominant division,

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Speaker 1: but one where every offense would be dominant. I mean

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Speaker 1: looked like had just one, two, three four at quarterback,

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Speaker 1: a level of talent we really rarely see in the league.

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Speaker 1: But you know, we're reminded so often that football is unpredictable.

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Speaker 1: A team like the Raiders that you know, adds Davante

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Speaker 1: Adams one of the best skill players in the NFL

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Speaker 1: and was so fortunate in one score games last year.

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Speaker 1: Will that luck tends to turn. Probably should have seen

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Speaker 1: that coming and it has thus far this season. And

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Speaker 1: then in Denver, Yeah, some unforeseen issues I would say

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Speaker 1: with that offense, as well as some game management problems

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Speaker 1: that have also played that team. So before we get

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Speaker 1: you out of here, I just want to finish on

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Speaker 1: a couple of questions about Justin Herbert, because you were

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Speaker 1: up in Oregon last year at the golf tournament. You

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Speaker 1: brought the really great feature on him, and just kind

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Speaker 1: of wanting to talk to you about that. What did

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Speaker 1: you maybe learn about him that was most surprising from

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Speaker 1: talking to him, and then those closest to him, well surprising.

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Speaker 1: I would say, you know, I think I tried to

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Speaker 1: kind of convey this justin again based on my sort

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Speaker 1: of limited interactions with him, is very, very down to earth,

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Speaker 1: and I would say, not someone who enjoys thet I

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Speaker 1: guess that's not that surprising. But you know, I've spent

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Speaker 1: a lot of I've written a lot of profiles of

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Speaker 1: quarterbacks and NFL players, and they're not always you know,

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Speaker 1: I've met guys who don't like the spotlight, or guys

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Speaker 1: who like don't really indulge in like luxurious things, and

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Speaker 1: I would I would say he takes it to a

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Speaker 1: level that I have not seen in the NFL before

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Speaker 1: in terms of being a bit of a home buddy

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Speaker 1: and sort of having simple liking the simple pleasures in life.

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Speaker 1: I guess, yeah, it's very much football oriented. But like

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Speaker 1: you mentioned, I think, you know, everyone obviously picked up

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Speaker 1: on the shopping cart anecdote in that which was he's

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Speaker 1: got to put him away, But it's he is such

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Speaker 1: a just kind of a fascinating person who has gotten

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Speaker 1: to know over the last couple of years and In

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Speaker 1: speaking to your NFL Live teammate Laura Rutledge last year,

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Speaker 1: she had told me she felt like so many people,

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Speaker 1: herself included were wrong about him and that transition that

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Speaker 1: he would make to the NFL. Why do you think

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Speaker 1: that was the case? Yeah, just from a football perspective, Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, I actually told him to his face that

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Speaker 1: I underestimated him because I do a lot of draft

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Speaker 1: coverage at NFL. What was his reaction, Uh, that's okay,

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Speaker 1: it's fun. Um, Yeah, No, I was just speaking for

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Speaker 1: me personally. You know, I was never really the personnel

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Speaker 1: off the field who he was off the field. That

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Speaker 1: It's not never something that kind of entered into my

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Speaker 1: mind trying to evaluate how he would be in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: But watching him at Oregon, um I was I didn't

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Speaker 1: see the quarterback that we see today. And um some

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Speaker 1: of that is probably just my own inability to evaluate

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Speaker 1: tools in a vacuum, but I would say also the

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Speaker 1: nature of that offense, um, I thought was pretty limiting,

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Speaker 1: as well as some of the players around him, And

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Speaker 1: that can what that's what can make it really hard

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Speaker 1: to evaluate a college quarterback sometimes, Um, you know, because

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Speaker 1: they're asked to do very different things and given different opportunities,

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Speaker 1: And we're comparing a guy and like I don't know

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Speaker 1: Alabama to a guide or again, sometimes you're trying to

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Speaker 1: wail face things into consideration and then the other thing,

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Speaker 1: I think that you can never anticipate. And this is

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Speaker 1: true of I don't know playing like Josh Allen, for example.

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Speaker 1: It is their own will to improve and sort of

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Speaker 1: work ethic and desire, and obviously Herbert has all those

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Speaker 1: things and Groves. Yeah, I remember talking to Molly McGrath

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Speaker 1: after the draft and she covered a lot of his

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Speaker 1: games at Oregon. Had mentioned how he was going to

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Speaker 1: take that playbook in the NFL and study at like

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Speaker 1: the textbooks that he would study at Oregon, and that

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Speaker 1: that would work. Yeah, that he would apply to his classes.

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Speaker 1: He would apply the same on the football field. And

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Speaker 1: I think you've seen it. I mean, obviously he's done

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Speaker 1: things that no other quarterback has done through their first

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Speaker 1: two years in a in the NFL. But for you personally,

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Speaker 1: what's maybe the most impressive thing about his short career

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Speaker 1: in the league thus far. You know, obviously his physical

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Speaker 1: tools are credible. He makes throws that well, we are

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Speaker 1: kind of like in a golden age of freaky throws.

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Speaker 1: But I used to do a segment on Sports Center

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Speaker 1: or last season called Kimes Dimes where I would just

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Speaker 1: picked the craziest throws every weekend. And it was really

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Speaker 1: hard for me not to pick justin Herbert throws every

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Speaker 1: week because it rummik. He would just do something insane.

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Speaker 1: And then, you know, watching him, I can't wait to

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Speaker 1: get the end zone view the next day when we

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Speaker 1: get our All twenty two because he just looks insane.

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Speaker 1: But to me, what's been most impressive about him, and

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Speaker 1: probably I would say the biggest reason behind his success

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Speaker 1: as far is his consistency. He doesn't really have bad games.

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Speaker 1: And you know, we talk about some of the other

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Speaker 1: superstars the NFL and guys who are in the MVP consideration,

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Speaker 1: and as wonderful as they are, you know, I can

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Speaker 1: point to each of them and sort of point to

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Speaker 1: you know, down performances, multi interception games, things like that,

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Speaker 1: and I would say, Herbert, his floor is so high

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Speaker 1: as a quarterback. And then the other thing is what

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Speaker 1: has really blown me away is his processing. You know,

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Speaker 1: I mean, the guy's like a machine going want to

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Speaker 1: three like it so quickly going through his progressions. It

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Speaker 1: again just blows my mind again when I get a

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Speaker 1: chance to see that end zone view. Sometimes, you know,

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Speaker 1: in a game, sometimes people like to bemoan the fact

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Speaker 1: that he doesn't push the ball down field more in

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Speaker 1: the offense, just because you know, we want to see

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Speaker 1: the fireworks. But you know, never underestimate everything that goes

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Speaker 1: into sometimes an eight year of completion on his part,

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Speaker 1: and how much of that is I would say, attributable

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Speaker 1: to what's going on in his head. Yeah, that's a

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Speaker 1: great point when you kind of lay it out like that.

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Speaker 1: And then finally, Mina circling back to the Monday night game,

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Speaker 1: what do you think could be a deciding factor in

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Speaker 1: terms of how this one plays out? You know, I

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Speaker 1: think I would say Bronco's offense has obviously been struggling

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Speaker 1: to get back on track, and as long as LA

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Speaker 1: doesn't allow for certain the explosives that we've seen at

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Speaker 1: times from Russell Wilson, kind of keep the things in

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Speaker 1: front of them. They I just don't foresee them having

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Speaker 1: too much trouble limiting them on that side of the football.

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Speaker 1: And then as far as the you know, I would

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Speaker 1: say strength on strength matchup in terms of the Chargers

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Speaker 1: offense versus the Broncos defense, you want to see, if

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Speaker 1: you're a Chargers fan, continued solid play from this offensive line,

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Speaker 1: because if you're you know, the Broncos side of thing,

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Speaker 1: their best chance of winning this game is just being

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Speaker 1: disruptive up front, forcing some turnovers, forcing negative plays because

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Speaker 1: of finding mismatches on that side of the football. So

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Speaker 1: I suspect it will be one where Justin gets rid

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Speaker 1: of the ball pretty quickly, and as I say dead,

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Speaker 1: I think the Charges will have success running the ball too. Well.

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Speaker 1: We hope that's certainly the case, Amna, thank you so

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Speaker 1: much for coming on. We look forward to this matchup

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Speaker 1: on Monday. We appreciate it. Thanks for Van