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Speaker 1: In the Lab, a Texans podcast that takes a different

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Speaker 1: look at things. Drew Doherty and John Harris have their

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Speaker 1: lab coats and goggles on and the Bunsen burners burning.

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Speaker 1: Here's Drew.

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Speaker 2: Happy New Year, John, How you doing?

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Speaker 3: Oh?

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Speaker 4: Happy New Year twenty twenty five to everybody out there.

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Speaker 5: Man, twenty twenty five, it seems so longer. I remember

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Speaker 5: my son was born in two thousand.

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Speaker 2: It's like, man, that's twenty five years ago?

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Speaker 5: Was twenty five years ago? Yeah?

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Speaker 4: I ho her twenty five and January eleventh, and it's

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Speaker 4: just like, where did the time go? Where did time go?

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Speaker 4: I know you feel that way too, because I remember you.

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Speaker 4: I remember senior twins my first summer, first Trant camp.

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Speaker 5: In the Texans.

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Speaker 4: They were in a two twins, they were in a

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Speaker 4: twin troller, and now they're just out and about living

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Speaker 4: like y K the aircraft carrier.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly when you turn.

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Speaker 4: I think was enormous, but that had to be Yet

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Speaker 4: you get two kids in there.

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Speaker 3: A sweethearts, Yeah they are. They're eleven men and amazing twelve.

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Speaker 3: At the end of May, happy near to you, Happy

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Speaker 3: near to you, watching listening the three of us, John

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Speaker 3: me and you we're gonna have a nice little time

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Speaker 3: here today. Because the end of the regular season is here.

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Speaker 3: You have at least two more football games to go,

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Speaker 3: and if things go your way, you're gonna play much

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Speaker 3: deeper into January, maybe even February. So rest is on

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Speaker 3: the docket. Whether it's a full game, a half game,

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Speaker 3: a quarter game, doesn't matter. You've gotten more rest because

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Speaker 3: you play it on a Wednesday.

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Speaker 5: Yep.

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Speaker 3: And uh, you've had those extra three four days to

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Speaker 3: get some some time for you. So that's been a

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Speaker 3: good thing. I think that's gonna help help things out.

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Speaker 3: But by the way, this is in the lab presented

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Speaker 3: by Xfinity in case you're wondering anyways, the value of

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Speaker 3: a mini buy. We say that mini by term usually

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Speaker 3: when you're playing on a Thursday day and you get

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Speaker 3: that weekend off.

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Speaker 2: Oh, it's like a mini buy.

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Speaker 3: We've said it many many times over the last decade,

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Speaker 3: really longer than that even But what do you think

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Speaker 3: the benefit of that many buy might be? Now it

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Speaker 3: coincides with the holidays, but I imagine some self scouting

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Speaker 3: has continued to go on and you get a little

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Speaker 3: bit more time to do that. Some scouting for who

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Speaker 3: your potential playoff opponents might be has happened as well.

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Speaker 2: Could be the Steelers, could be the Chargers, the Broncos.

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Speaker 3: Maybe we don't know, but those are the likely candidates,

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Speaker 3: likely suspects. But self scouting over this many buy because

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Speaker 3: there's a lot of things you can fix, John, There's

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Speaker 3: a lot of things you can get better.

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Speaker 4: Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean you should be self

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Speaker 4: scouting all the way to the super Bowl. And I

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Speaker 4: think the biggest thing for the players drew at this

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Speaker 4: point of the year. And you not talked about this

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Speaker 4: at times over the years. Garan is building in week fifteen,

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Speaker 4: on week fourteen, on stand on a service level. When

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Speaker 4: the offensive line and defensive line are getting out of

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Speaker 4: their meetings and walking to the locker room, they are

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Speaker 4: barely able to get down a hallway like it is.

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Speaker 4: I mean, they've got to think to take a step.

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Speaker 4: I mean, it's they're beat up that much. I'll never

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Speaker 4: forget seeing DJ Reader in his second year. So his

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Speaker 4: second year was twenty sixteen, and he and Will Fork

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Speaker 4: were playing together. But now DJ was a true starter

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Speaker 4: and he was staying on the field for probably eighty

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Speaker 4: eighty five percent of snaps and he was getting double

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Speaker 4: teamed down almost every snap. And I just remember seeing him.

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Speaker 4: He had slides on. He was going on a hallway

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Speaker 4: and it was taking him. I was all the way

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Speaker 4: down by the radio studio. He was away by the

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Speaker 4: auditorium team auditorium. Yeah, and there wasn't much room from

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Speaker 4: the team auditorium to the cafeteria. There's a little distance

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Speaker 4: from here to cafeteria. I nearly beat him to the cafeteria.

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Speaker 4: I could see him, so I kind of picked up

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Speaker 4: my walk a little bit so I could say hey

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Speaker 4: to him.

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Speaker 5: And I got near him and I was just like, man,

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Speaker 5: you're beat up.

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Speaker 4: He's like, yeah, but I'm playing on Sunday, like he

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Speaker 4: just he was gonna play.

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Speaker 5: Was respected it for that. But those guys are so

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Speaker 5: beat up.

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Speaker 4: So if you give them three extra days of rest, yeah,

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Speaker 4: I mean that's enormous to even get your body back

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Speaker 4: to just.

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Speaker 5: Some sense of normalcy.

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Speaker 4: I mean, even getting to get back to eighty five

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Speaker 4: percent down from sixty five percent, I think is big.

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Speaker 4: So for the players, I think there's definitely that rest aspect.

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Speaker 5: For the coach. I think it's a mental break.

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Speaker 4: Coaches need to have that mental break when you have

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Speaker 4: when you've had the games that Texas have had, the

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Speaker 4: close finishes against good teams, and the intense games and

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Speaker 4: short weeks in primetime games, you need a mental break

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Speaker 4: for a couple of days.

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Speaker 5: You need to check out.

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Speaker 4: And I know what, and I mean not even not

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Speaker 4: even coaching or playing, but just being around the team

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Speaker 4: when we had that weekend. Last weekend was the first

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Speaker 4: weekend for me that I had Saturday and Sunday off.

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Speaker 4: There had been probably seventy five percent of the weekends

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Speaker 4: far where I worked both Saturday and Sunday with a

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Speaker 4: college game that I was calling and then our game

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Speaker 4: or try to have or I was moving, you know,

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Speaker 4: and that was always tough because that was obviously self

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Speaker 4: inflicted when travel to way games. But last week was

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Speaker 4: the first time I had a Saturday and Sunday and

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Speaker 4: I literally I just checked out. I just I watched

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Speaker 4: Red Zone, I watched NFL games, I went and got

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Speaker 4: went to my favorite bakery and got my sardobett I mean,

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Speaker 4: I did all those kinds of things that I just

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Speaker 4: just checked out. And there's a part of me that

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Speaker 4: would love for this team to just check out for

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Speaker 4: a couple of days. And how much you feel refreshed

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Speaker 4: from that to charge into the last part of this season.

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Speaker 3: Uh, you took us off in a tangent, and I'm

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Speaker 3: gonna go tangent off of that tangent because you brought

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Speaker 3: up grave day DJ Reader my favorite Texans ever. Yes,

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Speaker 3: he's now a Detroit line an important part of that defense, and.

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Speaker 2: They're they're coming along. Man, they're really really good.

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Speaker 3: But anyways, before they the game that they played here,

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Speaker 3: which Texans.

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Speaker 5: Had so much.

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Speaker 3: They were so much that game, but pregame, but pregame,

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Speaker 3: I'm on our sideline, the Texans sideline round about the twenty,

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Speaker 3: and I see him come out to stretch and he's

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Speaker 3: doing the high legs and I just kind of get

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Speaker 3: in a spot where I know, like I can see

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Speaker 3: him and he can see me. And when I see

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Speaker 3: him kind of scan the crowd to see I just

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Speaker 3: go like a nice four scump type of wave and

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Speaker 3: he kind of smiles and stop and does this yeah,

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Speaker 3: And so it was nice to see DJ. And then

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Speaker 3: I got a video from deep our old paldpcity about

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Speaker 3: two days later because they come towards that end zone

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Speaker 3: and I was like, Okay, I'll get over there and

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Speaker 3: maybe I'll, you know, we'll get.

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Speaker 2: A bro hug or whatever.

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Speaker 3: And I get kind of close and they're doing these

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Speaker 3: one on one drills with their coach, and off to

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Speaker 3: the side, Melissa Stark is interviewing. I can't so she

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Speaker 3: was interviewing with somebody, and I'm like, looking like this,

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Speaker 3: it looks like I'm looking at Melissa Stark like total creep.

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Speaker 2: Hey, she's very good at what she does, she's very pretty.

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Speaker 3: But I was just trying to get a like a

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Speaker 3: bro hug from DJ Reader. But she shed deep clipped

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Speaker 3: this video that somebody else had taken and then like

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Speaker 3: zoomed in on the corner where I was, and it's

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Speaker 3: like the leering Drew Doherty looks lurked.

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Speaker 5: We used to say that about our friend Billy Lucci.

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Speaker 5: You're a lurking.

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Speaker 2: Leering, that's lurking.

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Speaker 3: But it was all for DJ Reader because because you

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Speaker 3: and I both saw him in Cincinnati a year ago

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Speaker 3: when Texans won that one and got to say hello

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Speaker 3: to him. Then, So congrats to DJ Hope you go

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Speaker 3: all the way to the Super Bowl and you lose

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Speaker 3: to the Texans in the Super Bowl.

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Speaker 5: But yeah, second time around, Yeah, that's a game. You know.

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Speaker 4: I feel like that Detroit game is one that left

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Speaker 4: the stain that hasn't completely it's gone.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you think about what that could have meant. Probably

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Speaker 4: you win that game. You're definitely not losing to Tennessee. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: you know, you're probably going a little bit of a

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Speaker 4: little bit of a run maybe and see where you

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Speaker 4: are at that point.

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Speaker 5: But you know what you are what you are right now.

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Speaker 4: Right, you're nine to seven and you've got the division

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Speaker 4: wrapped up and now you play the Tennessee Titans who

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Speaker 4: beat you in your building. You've got this road division

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Speaker 4: streak going on that has been phenomenal, and you have

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Speaker 4: no idea who's gonna play in that game? Yeah, you

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Speaker 4: think everybody, But are there guys that are are just

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Speaker 4: are playing through nicks and bumps and bruises that could

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Speaker 4: use a weekend off. Probably? Uh, could every guy use

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Speaker 4: the weekend off? Probably? But you gotta fill out a

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Speaker 4: forty eight man game day roster. So it's gonna be

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Speaker 4: interesting on Sunday.

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Speaker 2: Yes it is. We're gonna talk about Sunday.

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Speaker 3: We'renna get into our Cream of the Crop award winners

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Speaker 3: who we think will be a Cream of the Crop

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Speaker 3: award winner. But before we do, John, we got to

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Speaker 3: raise a glass. So let's raise Medelo to a new year,

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Speaker 3: new beginnings, and the promise of many, many good things.

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Speaker 3: We don't know where you'res gonna take us, where this

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Speaker 3: postseason is gonna take us, but it's good to be

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Speaker 3: in the postseason because you and I and Texans fans

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Speaker 3: for many, many years, most recently twenty twenty one, twenty

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Speaker 3: two didn't get to worry about January football.

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Speaker 2: That's right, So I'm all for it. I'm raising a

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Speaker 2: glass of that.

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Speaker 3: Now let's move on, our good pal, Randy macho Man Savage,

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Speaker 3: Thank you, macho Man. Yes, it is time for that

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Speaker 3: Cream of the Crop award winner. And you know, interestingly enough,

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Speaker 3: we took a break for Christmas last week and there

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Speaker 3: was no Cream of the Crop award winner because we

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Speaker 3: didn't do it, and maybe that's why the Texans loss.

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Speaker 5: So that's a great point.

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Speaker 3: We're gonna get the mojo back, John, and this week

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Speaker 3: cream of the crop my choice will be.

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Speaker 2: The interior offensive line.

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Speaker 3: You've made that choice many times this season, and they've

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Speaker 3: got to come up big because you are facing a

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Speaker 3: pair of monsters if they do play in Jeffrey's ymmens

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Speaker 3: and Devandre Sweat, those guys wrecked you in this last

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Speaker 3: game that they played here. The Titans beat the Texans.

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Speaker 3: They beat them up, and it was bad. Those two

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Speaker 3: were key reasons why. So you got to keep them

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Speaker 3: free and clear of CJ.

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Speaker 2: Stroud.

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Speaker 3: You got to keep them free and clear of your

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Speaker 3: run game, yep, because you want to generate some run game,

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Speaker 3: get that thing going as you get into the playoffs,

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Speaker 3: because I would imagine Bobby Slok wants to show some

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Speaker 3: things that are different to opposing defenses and maybe hold

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Speaker 3: some things back as well. But you got to get

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Speaker 3: things going forward in a forward direction, and that doesn't

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Speaker 3: happen without your guys guard, center, guard, whoever they may be.

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Speaker 3: Like we mentioned resting, starting and so on and so forth,

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Speaker 3: whoever they may be. You got to play really really

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Speaker 3: well there to get things cracking for twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 5: You are on it, you know how, you know how.

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Speaker 4: I think we've been around each other to know enough

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Speaker 4: to know that Jeffrey Simmons and Devandre Sweat have been

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Speaker 4: absolutely awesome, awesome together, awesome individually, and and they're a

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Speaker 4: tough Uh, they're tough out so no matter who's playing

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Speaker 4: in there, those two have got to be controlled. And

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Speaker 4: the crazy thing was they really weren't getting loose on

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Speaker 4: you in the game against the Titans until the fourth quarter. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: and then they started doing things inside and reckon your

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Speaker 4: your pass rush and sack and CJ and then the

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Speaker 4: whole thing kind of fell apart.

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Speaker 5: I'm gonna go with the guy that if we did so.

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Speaker 4: After the game against the ravens Omar Majub who came over,

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Speaker 4: who's our pr superstar came over and was like, he

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Speaker 4: looked at me, and I always gonna play.

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Speaker 5: After the game, he knew that he looked at.

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Speaker 4: Me and he was like Townsend, Yeah, I was like, Nah,

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Speaker 4: don't worry about it's not gonna have one.

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Speaker 5: Because it was that kind of game.

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Speaker 4: The only two points are scored by the guy that

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Speaker 4: I am making my creamy the cropper this week, and

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Speaker 4: that's Kamaria last Ter.

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Speaker 5: And I think Kamara Laster.

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Speaker 4: I just remember back the draft night and I remember

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Speaker 4: they said his name, and I just I got excited

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Speaker 4: about what he could do in this defense. I thought eventually,

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Speaker 4: I thought he'd played the nickel and Corey Unlin defense

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Speaker 4: pass game coordinator sat in with me and Mark two

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Speaker 4: weeks ago, I think, and we were asking about Kamara

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Speaker 4: and I asked him, I said, was the plan basically

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Speaker 4: got to the point of was the plan originally put

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Speaker 4: Kamaria at the nickel and then let him play there

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Speaker 4: and then eventually he might go out the perimeter corner

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Speaker 4: or maybe leave me at the nickel. He says that

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Speaker 4: was a plan, and then he just was like, we

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Speaker 4: had to have him on a field every single play,

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Speaker 4: and so then we moved into the perimeter corner.

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Speaker 5: And obviously the rest is history.

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Speaker 4: But he's played some Nickel as they've kind of moved

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Speaker 4: some things around, and he does a hell of a

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Speaker 4: job because he's a tremendous cover corner and he is

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Speaker 4: really really physical, like he he's the prototype Nickel in

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Speaker 4: this defense because he blitzes pretty well, he tackles exceptionally well.

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Speaker 4: He can cover man and man on guys inside where

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Speaker 4: which is where you think you lose with a kind

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Speaker 4: of linebacker mentality like Nickel, but he tackles well and

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Speaker 4: covers well. So there's a part of me that thinks,

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Speaker 4: you know, maybe this offseason the Texans look at a

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Speaker 4: guy that can play the perimeter corner they feel comfortable with,

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Speaker 4: and they just leave Kamara at the nickel, or they

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Speaker 4: get Jalen Petrie back healthy, Kamara can stay outside. Either way,

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Speaker 4: I think they've got some options. Wants to get everybody healthy.

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Speaker 4: But for me, Kamara Laster is gonna be that guy.

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Speaker 4: He's got to help on the run game. You know,

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Speaker 4: covering Calvin Ridley is always a challenge. Again, we go

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Speaker 4: back to I don't know how many guys are gonna rest,

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Speaker 4: how many guys you want to rest. You know, Derek

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Speaker 4: Stingley has played. I think I think Sting's played every

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Speaker 4: single game. You know, maybe staying sits a half. Well,

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Speaker 4: that puts you know, Kamari on in the field for

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Speaker 4: the full game with Jeff Akuda or whomever.

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Speaker 5: So I'm going with Kamara last.

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Speaker 2: I think it's a good one.

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Speaker 4: These rookies have played extremely well this year, probably better

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Speaker 4: than anybody. Imagine the fact that you've got for your

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Speaker 4: top four draft picks up being starters basically on your team,

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Speaker 4: and not the starters, but can retributed ralid impact contributors.

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Speaker 4: So I'm gonna go Kamari Last for this one.

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Speaker 3: John, I wish you could measure I wish there was

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Speaker 3: a unit of measurement you could use for confidence.

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Speaker 2: There's not.

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Speaker 3: You know, but before the season started, had a chance

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Speaker 3: to I think it was. I think it was during OTAs,

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Speaker 3: had a chance to interview Kamari one on one.

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Speaker 2: I wasn't at the draft and he wasn't.

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Speaker 3: He wasn't really at the draft either, because he was

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Speaker 3: not a Day one pick, but I just remember being

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Speaker 3: struck by his confidence and a lot of time, Look,

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Speaker 3: you don't get to the NFL if you're not confident.

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Speaker 3: Every guy we've ever talked to has got confidence in abundance,

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Speaker 3: but his is different, and his is not any false

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Speaker 3: bravado either. I can't remember what the question was, but

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Speaker 3: it was something along lines of when did you know

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Speaker 3: that you belonged and you could play in the NFL?

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Speaker 3: And he he was not being cocky when he said these,

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Speaker 3: but he said probably my freshman year when I got

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Speaker 3: to campus, at my first practic, just at Georgia. Because

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Speaker 3: I looked around and I was starting and everybody else

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Speaker 3: around me, I knew would be playing in the NFL

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Speaker 3: and probably be in.

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Speaker 2: A pro bowler. I'm paraphrasing what he said.

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Speaker 3: But basically he's known since then and he thought he

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Speaker 3: was good going in. But that's cemented and solidified because

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Speaker 3: think about who he.

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Speaker 2: Was playing with back in the day. I mean that.

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Speaker 5: First time he was across that rock.

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Speaker 3: Stars, but he was holding his own with those guys,

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Speaker 3: hold his own against those guys. And I just remember

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Speaker 3: when he walked out of that meeting. I didn't know

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Speaker 3: what he was gonna do on the field. I had

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Speaker 3: no idea, but I thought that guy's really confident.

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Speaker 5: That guy.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I've seen confident guys, but not like that.

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Speaker 3: It was hard, and I wish you could quantify like

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Speaker 3: he's got ninety eight rampules of you know, confident.

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Speaker 2: I mean you can't.

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Speaker 3: But whoever, if you if you had to put everybody

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Speaker 3: side by side, he's probably up at the tippy top

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Speaker 3: on the Texans as far as confidences.

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Speaker 4: Fun you say about that is I remember talking him

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Speaker 4: felt the same way. Then we talked to Kaylen Bullock

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Speaker 4: when Kaylen was drafted.

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Speaker 2: I believe it's block block. He pronounced it block.

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Speaker 5: He did pronounced it block block, Yeah, Kaylen block.

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Speaker 4: Anyways, Kaylen get is drafted, and I remember talking to him,

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Speaker 4: and I asked him about being in Houston meeting, what

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Speaker 4: was it like all that kind of stuff, And you

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Speaker 4: did you get on the board drops some places?

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Speaker 5: Oh yes, sir man, I killed that. I mean, like

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Speaker 5: I was like a boy.

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Speaker 4: He is supremely confident. And then it turns like it

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Speaker 4: wasn't like, yeah, you know, hey, I'm gonna be in

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Speaker 4: the Pro Bowl nine times I think six years. It was,

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Speaker 4: you know, just but very self assured. And then I

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Speaker 4: thought about Kamario. I was like, that could be kind

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Speaker 4: of fun. And those two are Kareem and j jo

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Speaker 4: Like they travel everywhere together, the two of them together,

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Speaker 4: best of friends.

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Speaker 3: That's really when I was walking in Today's New Year's Day,

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Speaker 3: I was walking in running there, sure, and I'm not

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Speaker 3: flexing like I'm some hard, you know, lunch pail worker. Anyways,

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Speaker 3: when I was walking down the hall, those two were

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Speaker 3: walking in the locker room together. Kimmera what they're saying,

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Speaker 3: but they're just they're with each other, hanging out all

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Speaker 3: the time.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll leave you where you see four you see

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Speaker 4: twenty one advice versas.

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Speaker 5: It was like the same thing with Kreem and j Joe.

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Speaker 4: Wherever you saw twenty five, you saw twenty four all

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Speaker 4: the time for years.

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Speaker 3: What a nice young secondary those two. Yep, Petree stingly cooking,

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Speaker 3: scotcast and still gotta keep everybody else Amen. All right,

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Speaker 3: so those are our cream of the croppers. Tennessee. Gonna

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Speaker 3: be a fun trip. Let's close out the season with

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Speaker 3: a bang. Lots of Texans seasons have and regular seasons

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Speaker 3: have ended in Nashville. This one will end in Nashville

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Speaker 3: regular season wise. Let's end on a high note. And yeah,

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Speaker 3: let's get twenty twenty five started the right way. Hey,

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Speaker 3: always love doing this with you, John, I always love

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Speaker 3: doing this with you. Thank you for listening and for watching.

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Speaker 3: We appreciate it. Couldn't do it without you yourself. So

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Speaker 3: until next time. We're talking about a playoff game next week.

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Speaker 3: But until then, so long. And this is in the

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Speaker 3: Lab presented by Exfinity m