WEBVTT - Cowboys Break: Should Starters Play In Philly? 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:04.080 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.280 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:11.000 a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:15.360 ready for a break. Yeah, and so much for that. 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:20.720 It's time for the break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:27.040 with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton. 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.840 It is Thursday, December twenty eight, twenty seventeen, Season thirteen, 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:35.720 episode number ninety seven. Welcome to another edition. Happy Birthday, Derek, 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:41.120 Happy Birthday, Derek, going, Yeah, keep goingep going. I want 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:50.040 to hear the whole Daniels fanlies. Yeah, yeah, that's all 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:54.840 I got. Alright, there we go. Oh, now you got 0:00:54.840 --> 0:01:01.880 the real one. Beautiful, beautiful Shanley san Ley fifty. Come on, man, 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:05.560 I'm not far though, I am not far. I'm rounding that. 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:10.080 I'm rounding the corner Smith now, Yes, I'm forty five 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:13.800 years old man, rounding the corner to fifty. Huh. I 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:15.440 didn't know if it was out for Morris or I 0:01:15.440 --> 0:01:17.080 can't even believe that. Like when I was a kid, 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.679 when I thought about forty five or fifty, I was like, 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.119 that's so a grandpa. Yeah, I do not. You don't 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.240 feel old like so you're telling us like that, shut 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:28.800 up about twenty five and twenty nine. Yeah, exactly, you don't. 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.080 You have it, but you but I understand it, like 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.280 when you're eighteen or nineteen, you think twenty five is 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:38.720 yeah old, thirty is you know, and forty five geez wow, 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:42.039 yeah you're heading toward death, you know. So, but it 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.320 doesn't feel like that. I still feel just as young 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:46.760 and surprised I did when I was twenty well no, yeah, 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:48.560 like when I was like thirty two. Man, I got 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:51.720 out of bed this morning. I I slept in and 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:53.480 I looked at it the phone, and it was like 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:56.600 derk Eagleton just completed a run. So hey, I got 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:58.440 to sleep in though before I got that run. That's 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:00.800 always a good thing, good for you. Family isn't in 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:03.240 town right now, so I actually got to sit and 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:05.800 watch in front of a fire, watched the Texas game 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:10.200 last night. They get a win, eat some good popados, 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:12.360 and man, it was a good evening. It sounds like 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:15.280 a great evening. It was like good evening. Family back today, 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:17.800 So then I get to celebrate with them tonight. All right, 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:20.960 So let's talk to what was that I don't know, 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:23.080 but you know what, it was a bad timing for 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:25.840 the really bad timing for that. I need to be 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.680 in my personal business, like I'll say it for myself. 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:33.560 All right, let's get to some let's get some Cowboys football. UM. 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:35.519 I want to talk about Dez Bryant. We talked a 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:38.440 little bit about this yesterday, but then the media got 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:40.480 to the locker room and so they had an opportunity 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:45.000 to talk to Dez and it's pretty interesting. UM, I'll 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:47.200 just let's listen to what he had to say first 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:48.960 and then we'll kind of dissect some of that. I 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:51.000 think Ken has some of that audio pulled up. KI, 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:52.960 what do you have? Yeah, so I have. This is 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:56.359 the first cut when he was initially asked about why 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:58.800 he's frustrated and why he wanted the media to be 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.120 around his locker for the next ten minutes or so. 0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:07.639 All right, season, I feel like for the most part, um, 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:09.960 I can only I can only do what you know 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.240 I can control. Yeah, and a bitter times, hell, yo, 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:19.120 you know, frustrating, you know, you know, certain situations you 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:21.840 know that I couldn't control. But other than that, UM, 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:24.600 I believe who I am. I'm I'm a head of 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.160 a football player. I know that. I believe that. You know, 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:28.880 I let a lot of things get in a way 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:33.200 that bothered me mentally, and you know, um, I felt like, um, 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:37.080 if anything, UM, I need to deal with an offseason, 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:40.240 you know, it is that. You know, just like I said, 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:45.200 you know, UM, only certain things I can control. That's it, 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:50.000 all right? That was des brian locker room yesterday. That 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.080 was the theme. That was the theme of the day. 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:56.560 What control, control, what I can control? Know? He actually 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:58.840 tweeted that two two or three days ago. Now how 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:01.200 did that go? But then said the same thing. He 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.840 he said that same quote control which you can control? 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:07.000 So let me ask, almost like somebody around him and 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.000 repeats it all time, but it did. It did to me, 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:12.240 and Des even talked about this a little later. It 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:14.440 did seem like they were pointing to the fact that 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.600 there were things that are beyond their control that are 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:21.120 causing a certain amount of frustration. And it sounds like 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:24.520 it's more with regard to scheme and and kind of 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.400 some of the things that are that maybe the offense 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:30.160 that's happening within the offense that they can't control, which 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:33.640 then points immediately to the offensive coordinator. Did you guys 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:37.000 get that impression? And if so, do you think that 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:41.839 that maybe creates a little bit more of a tough 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:46.480 situation for the offensive coordinator, because obviously Jerry would at 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:48.640 some point I would assume and Dees said he's gonna 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.120 talk to Jerry that at some point this gets back 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.360 to Jerry, and Jerry maybe thinks, hey, I need to 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.400 keep my players happy. Yeah, I mean I didn't take 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.159 much of it. I mean, it's like, are you going 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.440 to say something or you're not. I mean, you know, 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:05.320 it's no one likes the implier, you know, they don't 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.120 so say it. I mean, like, what is it? What? 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.120 What can you control? Because really you're talking to a 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.440 group of people who are going to report it to 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:17.640 a larger group of people that just see dropped passes, 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.839 They see the ball hitting your hands, they see you know, 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:23.120 plays over the middle where you know, and and a 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:25.120 deep ball in the Giants game hits you right in 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:27.480 the face. I mean, they just that's what we see. 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:29.960 So what else is there? You know? And is there 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.599 something else? And you're not really saying it. It's just 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:34.760 kind of vague, like, well, there's there's more to it. 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.039 You don't know, and well, no, we don't know, but 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.640 so and they get mad at the media for speculating, 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:41.839 but that's really all that they're left to do. And 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:44.440 then I know later he said some other things, but 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.800 there's a you know that about injury. I don't know 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.600 if we're going to get to that, but that's that's 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.840 not a good thing either. Well yeah, and to your point, like, no, 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.000 I didn't come away with the impression that you did 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.760 at all, because the stuff about the scheme and Scott 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:02.680 Lenahan came about eight to twelve minutes into a sixteen 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:04.760 minute press conference, and it's almost to a point where 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:09.840 it's like, well, what's bothering you dead? Is it the scheme? Yeah, 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.000 Like that's part of it, is it? Like is it 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:14.440 the outside noise? Yeah, that's part of it. Like it's 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.200 just there are a lot of things that were bothering him. 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.280 Not just I thought it was so close to being 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:22.480 a really good and productive media session, but like like 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.279 Dez had to wherewithal to know that he was getting 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:28.440 roasted in the media and by the fans, and he 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:30.480 wanted to address it and he wanted to speak, but 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:33.839 just smart, he really hasn't been visible in the media 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:35.839 this year. I even went back and look, he's tweeted 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.760 like six times since the season started. He hasn't done 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:42.159 very many press sessions, like he's been real under the radar. 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:44.800 And he comes out and, like I said, it was 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.760 so close to being good, but he just kind of 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.359 tailed off. He was like, well, I let some stuff 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:52.599 bother me? Well, what bothered you? Did the scheme bother you? 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:54.479 Did it bother you that you weren't getting enough touches? 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:56.880 Did it bother you that people were talking mess about 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.160 how you're not good anymore? Like? What? What was it? 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:02.480 And he never really elaborated on that. He kind of 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.240 and it kind of said all of it. Yeah. He 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.520 basically was like, stuff's been bothering me this year, and 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:09.880 I don't want to talk about it. But that's pretty 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:11.800 much where I'm at. And so then again that leaves 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:14.440 a situation where it's like, well is it this is 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:16.840 it that? Have you been healthy? No? I haven't been healthy. 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.320 Are you pissed about the scheme? Yeah, I'm pissed about 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.640 the scheme. I'm gonna talk to Jason and Jerry about 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:24.240 that way. And then it just becomes a little bit 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.480 of everything because he didn't really finish his thought in 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.400 my opinion, but in saying, yeah, it's the scheme and 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:32.960 I'm gonna talk to Jerry and Jason about it, that's 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.440 the part that to me kind of signaled that he 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:39.240 at least feels like this is more about what's being 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.480 done to him than what he's doing. And in that case, 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:46.120 if that's what he's communicating to Jason and Jerry, does 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:48.960 that affect Jason and Jerry's opinion on what they need 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:51.720 to do as far as who's coordinating or how their 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:53.880 coordinate because they may decide, hey, we're gonna keep Lenninghand 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:55.960 the same role he's in, but maybe that means we 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.360 gotta get des more involved because we feel like we're 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:01.640 not using an asset and it's at its fullest potential. 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:05.000 I just I if that was like this big deal 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.440 and this central theme, I feel like it would have 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:10.800 been higher up the list, and we went down the 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.360 check mark and it came way down at the bottom, 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:16.520 you know. And I don't think Jason Garrett and Jerry 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:18.640 Jones need Dez to talk to him to know that 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.200 the way the passing game looks isn't gonna cut it. 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.440 If you want to win games in the NFL, so 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.440 I didn't. That didn't resonate that much with me among 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:30.440 the two dozen other things that we talked about. That's 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.080 just me though. All right, let's let's hear another clip. 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:37.040 There was a clip where Dez talked about the contract, 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:40.040 and we talked about that a little bit yesterday. What 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.400 did you have to say about the contract? Kit He 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:44.560 was asked if he would consider a pay cut, and 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:53.120 this was his response, um, whenever. Um, I haven't had 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:55.360 I haven't heard no talks about that. But if it comes, 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:58.680 if it comes, well I don't know, probably not. Hell no, man, 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:04.760 I believe me. I love that was so funny to me. 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.160 I love the way he kind of came to that 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:10.280 out loud, like he thought out loud in front of 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:13.440 the world, basically like, well, you know, maybe we'll talk 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:17.440 about I don't know about hell you know what it was. 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:19.880 And somebody tweeted this to me. They were like, as 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.160 he was talking, he literally thought about the amount of 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:24.320 money that he would be giving back, and it got 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:26.760 to wait, wait, well, hell no, I'm not giving my 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.560 money back. What I'd take that money for me? Yeah, 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.120 willingly signing it over to you, But I thought it 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.800 was interesting, especially coming out of the conversation we had 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.840 yesterday on the air, Nick, when you were like, there's 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.480 there's what I don't just said, well, your word, I said, 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.160 I don't think there's any way he's gonna play for 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:47.640 that that cap hit. And you're thinking from standpoint of 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:49.719 the organization, there's no way that they're going to go 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:51.920 into next year what the contract as it currently is. 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:53.960 I don't think so. I think you have to you 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:56.040 have to cut him, or you have to ask for 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:59.720 a pay cut. I don't really think you should restructure. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.640 That's one way to do it, just restructure it lower, 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:04.040 but that you don't want to do that. You want 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:06.760 you don't want to add years to this situation with 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.559 he's getting up there in age, and you know, there 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:11.240 was a time where we thought he was kind of 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:14.280 injury prone from a backstandpoint, but that really hasn't flared 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:18.240 up on him. But I just think that, you know, 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:21.600 going back to what we said before getting open the 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.520 scheme and all that, like that, that all sounds good 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:27.160 because that used to be the issue, but now the 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:31.240 biggest issue is just making plays like like catching the 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.080 ball like he's been so sure handed over the course 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:37.360 of his career, but now you almost feel like there's 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:40.520 a confidence issue there. And the fact that he called 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.040 reporters over there. He's never done that before. And I 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:45.280 think what Dave said was right. I think he threw 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:49.240 out this, this simple tweet that said, hey, I only 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.440 can control what I can control it. I bet ninety 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:53.760 percent of the responses, why don't you just control the 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:55.959 football when it comes your way? No doubt, don't you 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.600 control the pass? I read of the response and they 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.360 and that's different for him, Yeah, to be on the 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:05.600 other side of things, and I think he attempted the 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.080 best he could to kind of reel this back into 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.199 his favor. But it's hard to do that. It's not 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:13.280 it's not it's hard to put it. And it also 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:16.920 tells you, And this I think is really true. Everything 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.320 that we see from the standpoint of how players played, 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.240 there's a lot more complexity to just they played well 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:25.120 or they didn't play well. And I think in this instance, 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.640 what he was trying to express is some of those 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.640 other things that may have affected his ability to play well. Now, 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.720 whether whether they like what there are varying degrees to 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.080 how much it affected it right, like there can be 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.319 a little thing over here where yeah, I may have 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:40.760 a little injury that could have affected a little bit, 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:43.640 or it could have been the scheme affected it a lot. 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.199 You don't know what the varying degrees are. But it's 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:48.440 more complex than just saying a guy played well or 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:51.080 a guy didn't play well. There are lots of reasons 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.320 as to why that can take place or not. And 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:55.400 I think he and I think a lot of players 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.800 at times feel like when they're getting really roasted by 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:00.959 fans and media, they felt gott to have to explain, 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:03.520 and sometimes it can work against him because then it 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:06.280 feels like they're just making excuses. Well and that I 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:10.520 mean a lot of it said yesterday felt like excuse making. 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:12.439 There was some there was some good stuff in there, 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:14.840 but a lot of it felt that way to me. Um. 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:16.640 But then you know, at the same time, I think 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:20.880 des he's way too good of a team player, Like 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:23.600 he's not gonna go out there and just throw people 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:27.400 under the bus, like but I felt like he wanted to. 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:29.160 He kind of wanted to. He was like he was 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.480 at the brink. If I really speak my mind and 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:35.040 really try to exonerate myself. It's gonna not look good 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:36.920 for a lot of other people, probably not for him, 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.440 and and to his credit, he didn't do that. But then, 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:41.880 like I said, you wind up just trying to It's like, guess, 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:44.800 what's bothering Dez? Like you're just kind of well, is it? 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.040 This is it? That is it? That's I mean, in 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.400 the long run, it's a it's a good thing, Like 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:51.480 I think it's a good thing for him that he 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:54.439 didn't do that, But it leads to frustration on our 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:56.800 part because I don't really have much clearer of an 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.640 answer than we did so at this point, based upon 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.040 what he said yesterday, do you believe? I guess, Nick, 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:06.400 do you still believe? Would you believe? And also beyond that, 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:09.640 do you guys believe it ultimately ends up in a 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.520 standoff with the team and maybe not on the team. Um, 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.320 if that's the case, can we do a first you 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:17.200 already said what you think? Can we do like a 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:19.839 first take thing? Here? I think Dez is gonna play 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:24.200 twenty eighteen at his current value, I do add here, Yeah, 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:25.960 I think it's gonna be a lot like the Brandon 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:27.840 car thing, where we talk about it until we're blue 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.000 in the face and then nothing ultimately happens. Like that's 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:34.160 what I think is going to happen. So if that happens, 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:40.160 what changes? What would change? Because I'm I'm open to 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:44.160 that happening. If you bring in a different coordinator that 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.360 can come in specifically and have to do things to 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:51.839 try to get Dez the ball, you know or I 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.280 don't know, you gotta do it. I mean, he's not 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:56.120 He's got to get his confidence back up, you get 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:59.360 you gotta fix it somehow, someway and I don't. Here's 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:02.840 my problem. You can't. I mean you talked about trying 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.080 or him himself talked about trying to get the ball more. 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.240 There was a question in there too where someone asked 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:12.480 him or told him, like, you know, you went into 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.440 training camp knowing that this was a running game offense. 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:20.080 You've seen the offense or dad trying to get him 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:22.520 the ball plenty of times, and you hear about that 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:24.480 on Twitter over and over, like why do they keep 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:27.520 trying to force it on desk? And yes, there are 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.720 many other factors and a lot more into the whole 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.560 scheme and all that, but the reality is the times 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:37.320 that he does get the ball where he should catch that, 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:40.880 and he doesn't, he drops it, that goes. That has 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.560 nothing to do with scheme or anything. That's just basic 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:50.320 wide receiver abilities. Except he may make the claim when 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:53.080 I'm like pining to get the ball when I haven't 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:55.080 gotten the ball too for the first time until the 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:58.680 second quarter, I'm not as into the floor of the game, 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.440 and that's when middle mistakes happened. Now, again that's all 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:04.320 excuse making to some degree, but I'm just saying I 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:08.760 think that. Again, I don't. It doesn't strike me as 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:10.840 and to be honest with I'm not even gonna single 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:12.560 out dads. There are a lot of players on this 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:14.720 team that aren't the first ones to step up and 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.840 say my bad, no excuses my bad. Like, that's not 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:20.960 what we hear from this locker room very often. Typically, 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:24.240 if we hear anything, it's more in the line with well, 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:26.560 this was why, or this was going on, or this 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.760 was going on. So yeah, he's probably not gonna say that, 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:32.680 but there's probably some some of that's probably what he's 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.200 thinking that, Hey, if I was in the involved in 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:37.480 the game from the very beginning, maybe I don't have 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.080 all these mental mistakes because I'm more in the flow 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.000 of what's going on compared to last year? Was he 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:47.040 used more than this year? Probably? I think he probably 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:48.720 got more targets. I don't know that for fact. Do 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:50.200 you guys know that. I don't know his targets off 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:51.960 the top of my head. But he had fewer receptions 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:54.080 he did. I mean he missed three games actually, yeah, 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:57.120 but I looked it up. Though he averaged he averaged 0:15:57.160 --> 0:15:59.840 three point eight receptions per game last year and he's 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:01.920 averaging four and a half. I mean, it's not I 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:03.640 want to say he's got more targets this Yeah, I 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:05.760 think I saw it's some kind of graphic that said 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:08.680 he had a lot more targets this year. Probably in 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:11.400 last year. Um, it felt like that's certainly at the 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:12.960 beginning of the year, because there were games when he 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:14.800 was getting what he had a game where he got 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.040 targeted twenty times or something like that. Denver. Yeah, I 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:19.920 mean so, so, yeah, he's he was getting targets. That's 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.000 where I'm going at. It's like, it's not that they're 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.520 not giving him the chance to it just hasn't worked out. 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:28.640 Whatever the reason is. I wonder if like Gate more 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.800 twenty eight more targets ninety six last year, one twenty 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:34.440 four this year, that's a lot. Keep in mind he's 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:36.960 played three more games too, So still if you just 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.160 take those, if you if you take like the average 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:41.320 and take three out, like, that's still more right. It 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.320 had one hundred and fifty nine targets in twenty thirteen 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:48.320 one nine, yeah, and one thirty six and fourteen, And 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:51.160 where's he this year when twenty four So after this 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:53.880 game he'll probably have right there in line with the 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.520 twenty fourteen. Yeah, he'll probably be at like I know, 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:01.720 Philly ten. Maybe, yeah, probably, I'm guessing too. I wonder 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.399 if I wonder if like they bought into their own 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:06.760 hype too much in the sense that like it was like, well, 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:10.400 last year, you know, rookie quarterback, we're just gonna get 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:12.800 take what we can get, you know, Dez, you're just 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:15.600 gonna have to play ball. And Dez played ball because 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:19.040 he was still getting catches and touchdowns and they were 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.800 winning winnings in a row. Then you turn that around 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.680 and it's like, okay, year two, we're gonna make the leap. 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:28.280 Deck's no sophomore slump here, and that's gotta be mean 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:30.320 Dez and Deck and I mean at least through the 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:32.320 first like six weeks of the season, it sure looked 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:34.480 like that where it was like, we gotta gets the 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:37.120 ball des and deck. You mean, you know how many 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:39.680 how many of those first few games the Giants game, 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.160 right off the bat going to Dez like three times 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:44.040 in a row in the red zone the Denver game, 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:46.679 It's like every throw he threw was in Dez's direction. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.360 And it seems like they kind of corrected that as 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:52.639 the season went on, But I think there was a 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:54.879 little bit to that where you're just like, well, we 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:57.679 gotta make this happen, even if defenses, even if we 0:17:57.760 --> 0:17:59.600 know defenses are gonna try to take it away, we 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:01.479 got to this happened. You think Dez is a Pro 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:05.680 Bowl alternate? No, yeah, you can say that, like, no, 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.080 I think, I mean, I don't. Yeah, I don't have 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:10.600 the stats pulled up. Well, I mean I wouldn't think 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:13.280 so either. But he made it last year. Yeah, but 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:15.679 I'm thinking, like last year's no where he's He's not 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:20.600 even top ten? Is he? All? I'm saying touchdowns? Hold on, 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:24.240 he made the Pro Bowl last year. He had fifty catches, 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:28.000 seven ninety six eight touchdowns. I mean, I don't know 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:30.040 how you're a Pro Bowl alternate for that, but he did, 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.800 and he made it this year. He's got sixty six catches, 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:36.920 eight fifteen and six touchdowns. That's that's my point though, No, 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:39.399 I'm just saying I wouldn't think so either, But that 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:43.160 is maybe ye if. But he played well last year, 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:45.840 like he really did. I think it's what you saw 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:49.000 that it didn't look like this year. No, you know 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:51.480 that that's if he were to make the Pro Bowl. 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.439 That's just the epitome of like stat watching, Like I 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:57.719 don't care what his stats say. He was bad this 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:01.520 year by top receiver standards. He he was not a 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:03.639 focal point of the offense last year, but he was 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.600 good and he came up big often. Like I said, 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:08.640 I've said it like three days in a row now Pittsburgh, 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:12.000 Green Bay, Minnesota. He was like the only thing that 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:14.560 was working for the offense in Minnesota that they scored 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.359 seventeen points. Did he have a single like what games 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:19.480 this year? Was there a game where it was the 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:23.600 Dez game at all oh um And that's the that's 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:27.320 the difference that he had six he had he had 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:29.639 sixty yards and I mean he broke he broke that 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:31.800 game in New York where he got him on the board. 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:34.120 I mean that was probably the closest you could say, 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:35.680