Speaker 1: This week on the Happy half Hour, he was very stern,
Speaker 1: you know, with sending him early to the locker room,
Speaker 1: and he was very pointed and direct, and there wasn't
Speaker 1: a ton of back and forth between those two. And
Speaker 1: I think that kind of exemplifies, you know, the side
Speaker 1: of his leadership where we say, you know, he's he's
Speaker 1: a firm guy, he's a tough guy, and it's he
Speaker 1: kind of showed it and then we saw what happened
Speaker 1: as a result. TEXTA It's time for the Happy Half
Speaker 1: Hour with your friends Kristin Balboni, Augusta Stone and Darren Gann.
Speaker 1: That's right, it's that time of the week. It's the
Speaker 1: Happy half Hour podcast with your friends, Darren, Augusta and Kristen.
Speaker 1: Happy Thursday morning, everybody. How we feeling cold? It's a
Speaker 1: little older now, Yeah, Like it's so funny every year.
Speaker 1: I was telling Darren, it's like you'd think I grew
Speaker 1: up in Florida because if it gets below fifty, I'm freezing.
Speaker 1: I grew up and I always say the North Georgia Mountains.
Speaker 1: I was really in the valley, but it still gets
Speaker 1: pretty cold there. So um, I can't handle the cold.
Speaker 1: I'm a big baby. I do love it. I love
Speaker 1: a little coziness. I do like a little fall on.
Speaker 1: The mistery at the front desk has been teasing me
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks. She saw me come in
Speaker 1: in long pants the other day and she's like, I
Speaker 1: don't think I've ever seen you in long pants because
Speaker 1: I try to wear shorts as long as I possibly can.
Speaker 1: And she said something smart, and she was like, it's
Speaker 1: pretty much long pants from here on out, isn't it.
Speaker 1: It's kind of looking that way. I think it's going
Speaker 1: up into the seventies next. But yeah, I've turned my
Speaker 1: my weather talk on him. Such apparent we can just
Speaker 1: talk for the whole half hour about the weather in
Speaker 1: North Carolina. Oh God, Kristen's turned into the insurance commercial.
Speaker 1: I sure, am, I sure, I am, proudly absolutely. I
Speaker 1: love to talk about the weather. But we have plenty
Speaker 1: of other things to talk about on this episode, So
Speaker 1: let's get right into it. Let's talk about what we
Speaker 1: have learned from Steve Wilkes. Let's call it week and
Speaker 1: a half tenure as UM as inter room head coach. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the game against the Rams did not go the way
Speaker 1: that the team wanted it to go or fans wanted
Speaker 1: it to go. Just a lot of injuries, a lot
Speaker 1: of adversity in that game. But um, but we've seen
Speaker 1: some some good things and some bad things, so let's
Speaker 1: let's talk about it all. So Darren, let's start with you.
Speaker 1: What have we learned since Steve Wilkes has taken over
Speaker 1: the helm? Well, I mean, the first and foremost, Steve
Speaker 1: Wilkes has not inherited an enviable position with everything that's
Speaker 1: going on at the quarterback position, the guys being hurt.
Speaker 1: But I do think that Steve's got a tone about
Speaker 1: him that when things may seem chaotic, he's got such
Speaker 1: a steady hand on the wheel that you feel all
Speaker 1: right about it. I mean he is he is not
Speaker 1: a guy who projects panic or anything like that. And
Speaker 1: I think at the end of the day, I mean
Speaker 1: Steve is kind of an old defensive coordinator. He wants
Speaker 1: to simplify things, he wants to strip it down. You
Speaker 1: saw that in the game plan last week. I mean
Speaker 1: he said, we want to run the ball, and early
Speaker 1: on in that game they ran the ball well and
Speaker 1: controlled it. It It was like eleven minutes of the first quarter. Uh,
Speaker 1: they had possession and things were looking pretty good. You
Speaker 1: get a defensive score from Dante, but it just as
Speaker 1: with a lot of things, with the quarterback situation they've
Speaker 1: had this year, wasn't necessarily sustainable. But I do kind of,
Speaker 1: I guess, like appreciate the fact that Steve's got a
Speaker 1: steadiness about him. You know, he knows this isn't an
Speaker 1: ideal situation. There's no interim head coach who's ever walked
Speaker 1: into an ideal situation. But he's got kind of the
Speaker 1: personality to handle it and and try to lead guys
Speaker 1: through it. I mean, it's really the only the only
Speaker 1: thing you can do when you find yourself in this moment. Well,
Speaker 1: I'll go with the thing that I have learned about
Speaker 1: Steve Wilkes because it relates a little bit to yours, Darren,
Speaker 1: that of you know, he has such a history with
Speaker 1: the Panthers, But the person on the Panthers who may
Speaker 1: have known him the longest is long Snapver J. J. Jansen.
Speaker 1: Of course, yes, he told me that they have known
Speaker 1: each other since two thousand four, so almost twenty years
Speaker 1: when j J was a freshman and Notre Dame and
Speaker 1: he was coaching DBS and he said, I've I've known
Speaker 1: him since I was a scrawny little freshman at Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: And then he said, well, maybe not scrawny, which I
Speaker 1: thought was great. But to your point, Darren, Um, I
Speaker 1: spoke with JJ last week on on Wednesday, so right
Speaker 1: after the transition, and he said, I think knowing Steve
Speaker 1: Wolks for as long as I have, that he has
Speaker 1: the temperament to step into this situation because of the
Speaker 1: way that he can just block everything out and focus. Um,
Speaker 1: the way he's a great communicator, clear, concise, uh and
Speaker 1: ready for the challenge. And it just really struck me
Speaker 1: what you just said, Darren. I think we're all seeing
Speaker 1: that as well, the thing that JJ told me to
Speaker 1: look out for. So that's something that that I've learned.
Speaker 1: He goes way back with j J Jansen Augusta, what
Speaker 1: about you exactly. Well, it's like you said when you
Speaker 1: said communication style, I felt like you're almost reading my mind,
Speaker 1: because that's what I was going to say. I was
Speaker 1: going to say. It's he's a very stern communicator. I've
Speaker 1: noticed this not only like on the practice field and
Speaker 1: obviously when he's talking to the team, but also when
Speaker 1: he's talking to the media, which as a reporter, I
Speaker 1: find that refreshing when you have someone who speaks and
Speaker 1: indefinites or you know, answers things very very clearly. You know,
Speaker 1: you asked him a question, he'll look you dead in
Speaker 1: the eye and he'll answer. And I just I I
Speaker 1: find that very respectable. And from my position, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's easier to work with a coach like that, UM.
Speaker 1: But I also just UM, I think we saw his
Speaker 1: sort of stern, pointed style UM in a situation that
Speaker 1: was not ideal along the sidelines against the rams UM
Speaker 1: when we saw Robbie Anderson and his position coach Joe
Speaker 1: Daily kind of get into a small little spat a
Speaker 1: couple of times. And I saw the video replays of it,
Speaker 1: but he was very stern, you know, with sending him
Speaker 1: early to the locker room, and he was very pointed
Speaker 1: and direct, and there wasn't a ton of back and
Speaker 1: forth between those two. And I think that kind of exemplifies,
Speaker 1: you know, the side of his leadership where we say,
Speaker 1: you know, he's he's a firm guy, he's a tough guy,
Speaker 1: and it's he kind of showed it. And then we
Speaker 1: saw what happened as a result, Um, And and now
Speaker 1: Robbie is in Arizona. Yeah, let's let's yeah, great segue.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about that, Darren. Yeah, it was kind of
Speaker 1: a it was kind of a mess, and it was
Speaker 1: pointing that direction. And honestly, I think it's fair to
Speaker 1: say Robbie wasn't thrilled with the way things were going. Again,
Speaker 1: the offense in general isn't clicking right now when you're
Speaker 1: thirty second in the league, that's fair to say. UM,
Speaker 1: and the passing game in particular. And so Robbie is
Speaker 1: a guy. Every wide receiver wants targets. Everyone of them
Speaker 1: wants to be involved. Everyone of them wants to be
Speaker 1: the guy making plays downfield. Nobody's making plays downfield right now.
Speaker 1: So Robbie wasn't necessarily happy. Um. You know, there was
Speaker 1: there was some talk about his relationship with Matt Rule
Speaker 1: being a component of it, But I don't know that
Speaker 1: that's necessarily it. I mean, Robbie just wants to be
Speaker 1: you know, involved in you know, featured more in a
Speaker 1: passing game that's got success. And you know, we'll see
Speaker 1: how it works out for him out in Arizona. They
Speaker 1: obviously needed the help with Hollywood Brown getting hurt um
Speaker 1: interesting side note, Hollywood Brown had to go see Dr
Speaker 1: Robert Anderson in Green Bay about his foot and ankle,
Speaker 1: and now he's replaced in the line up by Dr
Speaker 1: Robert Anderson, who is uh on his way. He's been
Speaker 1: practicing with the Cardinals for a couple of days. Now.
Speaker 1: We'll see if he's out there on the field tonight.
Speaker 1: I don't know how quickly Robbie will pick up, but
Speaker 1: you know, it just became an untenable situation because when
Speaker 1: somebody doesn't want to be here and kind of makes
Speaker 1: it obvious that he doesn't want to be around with
Speaker 1: the way he behaved on the sidelines. I mean, we've
Speaker 1: seen Robbie get into it on the sidelines before. It
Speaker 1: was with Joe Brady in the past. He's he's gotten
Speaker 1: in those situations previously, and it just got ugly. And
Speaker 1: when it gets ugly and there in the situation you
Speaker 1: get in, you get guys gone, and it's got Fitterer
Speaker 1: got on the phone Monday morning was able to get
Speaker 1: two things for one. Robbie so at a six round
Speaker 1: pick in twenty four and a seven and twenty five
Speaker 1: is not a lot, But considering the situation and considering
Speaker 1: what it looked like, getting a couple of things, you know,
Speaker 1: some extra draft inventory for the future is not the
Speaker 1: worst thing, because I don't know much good Robbie was
Speaker 1: doing them in the short term anyway. And and now
Speaker 1: you spend the rest of the season looking at Terris
Speaker 1: Marshall's shy smith, see what they've got to offer when
Speaker 1: he's healthy exactly. So you got to kind of adjust
Speaker 1: on the fly when things like that happened. But it, um,
Speaker 1: it's that time of year. It feels like it worked
Speaker 1: out well for everyone involved, Robbie included, as you said,
Speaker 1: we'll see how it goes. So certainly we wish him
Speaker 1: all the best. But you know, as we sit here
Speaker 1: Thursday morning, but that is the only trade that has happened, um,
Speaker 1: But the trade deadline is looming. So what are you
Speaker 1: two hearing about what the Panthers may or may not do. Well.
Speaker 1: The one thing I don't think they're doing is is
Speaker 1: trying to trade everybody on the roster. I mean, Scott,
Speaker 1: I've heard the same thing. Yeah, Scott always says you
Speaker 1: listen to everything, and people listen. People are calling about
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey. You know why, because Christian McCaffrey is really
Speaker 1: good at football. UM and other people would enjoy having
Speaker 1: a Christian McCaffrey. It's just a matter of what to say.
Speaker 1: They're not going to give him away. I I don't
Speaker 1: think you're going to see a situation where you know
Speaker 1: they're not going to trade Christian for a fourth round
Speaker 1: pick or something. They're not just throwing a guy away.
Speaker 1: If somebody calls and offers, I think you're obliged to listen.
Speaker 1: I think you have to listen to every offer and
Speaker 1: see because you know, realistically, the Carolina Panthers are going
Speaker 1: to be going into an off season where they want
Speaker 1: to find stability at quarterback and a lot of people
Speaker 1: think that means drafting one. And if you're trying to
Speaker 1: draft quarterback, you know, I don't think it's the pick
Speaker 1: you're going to get in exchange, but any picks you
Speaker 1: add helps you in the process. So if you need
Speaker 1: to move up and get a particular guy that you like,
Speaker 1: or you need to package picks and trade from Matt Stafford,
Speaker 1: I mean, you never know. When we didn't know at
Speaker 1: the time Matt Stafford was going to be available, when
Speaker 1: he became available. So I think you you just kind
Speaker 1: of gotta look at its inventory if you make a
Speaker 1: deal for at or whatever picks it happens to be.
Speaker 1: And and I don't think they're absolutely intent on trading him.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think if they don't get an appropriate offer,
Speaker 1: they don't get what feels like value, why would you
Speaker 1: just give the guy away? You wouldn't so because he
Speaker 1: has high value to your team right now with the
Speaker 1: way he's been playing. And that's that's the thing that's
Speaker 1: important to remember. After not seeing a lot of Christian
Speaker 1: for the last two years, the Christian we're seeing right now,
Speaker 1: it's like, Wow, this guy is getting it done again.
Speaker 1: And and I think that's what's got a lot of
Speaker 1: people interested. But I don't think, you know, they're not
Speaker 1: trying to trade off Brian Burns or it's not like
Speaker 1: they're just trying to accumulate future draft picks for the
Speaker 1: next full time head coach that they're gonna hire in
Speaker 1: twenty three. So it's not a fire sale, it's not
Speaker 1: give everybody away. It's not clear the decks or anything
Speaker 1: of the sword, and and they're not going to take
Speaker 1: pennies on the dollar for guys. I mean, there are
Speaker 1: assets here, and I think that's worth remembering at a
Speaker 1: time when everybody's talking about what's going wrong, what's you know,
Speaker 1: who could be on the way out those kind of things.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is still a team that going into
Speaker 1: twenty three, still has Brian Burns, still has Derek Brown,
Speaker 1: still has j. C. Horne, still has Jeremy chen of
Speaker 1: a defense along with Dante d J. Moore on the
Speaker 1: other side, the starting five off on the offensive line
Speaker 1: that's played every snap so far this year and has
Speaker 1: some good depth in Bradley Boseman and Cam Irving and
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's you know that stuffs in place, and so
Speaker 1: I think there is things that you know they're going
Speaker 1: to want to build all and so you look at
Speaker 1: and you listen, and I don't think it's a fire
Speaker 1: sale by any stretch of the imagination, but you never
Speaker 1: know what could happen. I've heard the same thing. You know,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of as you name just a
Speaker 1: few of the really talented players on this team, and
Speaker 1: they've been developed and are are playing well at a
Speaker 1: lot of different positions. And um, I've heard the same
Speaker 1: that that's not something that's on the radar, right, Trying
Speaker 1: to keep those pieces in place is important, so we'll
Speaker 1: certainly see what happens. We never know, of course, That's
Speaker 1: why we love and sometimes hate football, right we never
Speaker 1: You never know what's going to happen. But I always
Speaker 1: appreciate we're in the football business, but also the news business.
Speaker 1: We all know that our lives can change with one
Speaker 1: phone call. We sure do we sure to do. Um.
Speaker 1: But but Darren, you talked about stability at quarterback, so
Speaker 1: let's talk about quarterback as it stands right now, Augusta.
Speaker 1: We have heard, uh Steve Wiks say that it will
Speaker 1: be Why are you guys laughing? Huh, I'm just there's
Speaker 1: there's a lot, and there's a lot. I mean, if
Speaker 1: you think about it, there is a sense of stability
Speaker 1: because I Steve Wokes told us to be prepared for
Speaker 1: the same starter and the same backup. That backup is Jacobs.
Speaker 1: That is one way to look at it. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it is a sense of stability. It is continuity, get
Speaker 1: doing by week. Oh my goodness. No. Um. I got
Speaker 1: to seak with Jacobison on Monday, and uh, I just
Speaker 1: I really enjoy talking to him because he has such
Speaker 1: a such an honest outlook about things. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, like I I genuinely asked him. I said, okay,
Speaker 1: look like you come off the practice squad. You've been
Speaker 1: here since August thirty one. So I was writing late August,
Speaker 1: and I was like, it's about as late in August
Speaker 1: as you can get. You get here from Seattle on
Speaker 1: a red eye, learn everything really quickly, and then lo
Speaker 1: and behole. P J Walker ends up, you know, hurting
Speaker 1: his neck. He's fine and he'll play this week, and
Speaker 1: he practiced yesterday. But um, all that to say, you know,
Speaker 1: I was like, the circumstances, like they're wild. He goes, oh,
Speaker 1: they're wild. Like he gave it right back. He's like,
Speaker 1: it is absolutely wild. Um, having to learn on the fly.
Speaker 1: But that's kind of I think I talked about last
Speaker 1: week with the mindset of the backup, and it's it's
Speaker 1: so interesting, you know, I wrote about it yesterday. I
Speaker 1: sort of went down the list of like, Okay, so
Speaker 1: p J. Walker, he heard his neck, but he's fine,
Speaker 1: and he took all the first team reps, and then
Speaker 1: Jacobison he'll be behind him. Baker Mayfield still isn't clear
Speaker 1: but he's still running around and he's still you can
Speaker 1: tell he wants to get out there so badly. And
Speaker 1: then say, I'm Donald returned yesterday, and the response on
Speaker 1: Twitter that I saw whenever I tweeted a photo of
Speaker 1: him was very excited, which was cool. Um, And just
Speaker 1: to clarify because I know we know this because we're
Speaker 1: reading all the articles. He's designated to return from i R.
Speaker 1: So we returned to the practice field, but we are
Speaker 1: not anticipating him being ready to go. And just just
Speaker 1: to make sure that our listeners aren't aren't showing the
Speaker 1: same excitement as Twitter. Right, So, yeah, it's still some time.
Speaker 1: It's some time. They're played football in seven weeks, so
Speaker 1: I think it's reasonable to let him practice for a
Speaker 1: couple of days before he gets right back into it
Speaker 1: and he'll need a little time. But uh, it's also
Speaker 1: a different Sam Donald is pointed out by Christian McCaffrey.
Speaker 1: He's got a sweet beard. I was gonna be the beard.
Speaker 1: It's uh, Sam's one of those guys. I can't grow
Speaker 1: a decent beard. Sam has and Christian said yesterday he's
Speaker 1: got big lepre con energy, and so Sam was like,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, I'm taking this from Christian McCaffrey. It
Speaker 1: was kind of funny, funny go back and forth. But yeah,
Speaker 1: the bearded Sam darn Old could be back and and
Speaker 1: could be a factor, honestly, because we don't know. We
Speaker 1: don't know right now how long Baker might be out.
Speaker 1: If Baker's coming back, and and I asked Steve Wilkes
Speaker 1: last week. I said, when Baker comes back and he's healthy,
Speaker 1: is he absolutely the starter? And Steve said something other
Speaker 1: than yes, absolutely. I mean he talked about those guys
Speaker 1: are going to compete for it again. So there was
Speaker 1: a competition once upon a time, and then Baker came
Speaker 1: back and hadn't played great before he got hurt. So
Speaker 1: all things are kind of on the table right now.
Speaker 1: So the idea that we might see Sam Donald at
Speaker 1: some point this year, we might see p J. Walkers
Speaker 1: some more, we might see Baker Mayfield again. You know,
Speaker 1: right now as we sit here on Thursday morning at
Speaker 1: ten thirty in the morning, where it's kind of hard
Speaker 1: to tell what's coming next. Well, whoever we see over
Speaker 1: these next few weeks is is very lucky in the
Speaker 1: fact that this offensive line has been playing together and
Speaker 1: they have been playing well, as our very own Panther
Speaker 1: stats guy, Will Brian is going to tell us and
Speaker 1: he's done enough. Will's stat of the week? All right, So,
Speaker 1: as promised, live from our undisclosed location inside Bank of
Speaker 1: America Stadium, here's Panthers stats guy with this week's stat
Speaker 1: of the week. So ikey, yeah, he's okay. He's been
Speaker 1: playing pretty well right there. In the last two weeks.
Speaker 1: He has a seventy five point eight pass blocking grade
Speaker 1: according to PFF. That's the highest among rookie tackles in
Speaker 1: the NFL over that span. And it's not just him.
Speaker 1: The entire offensive line has really been playing quite well.
Speaker 1: Their pass blocking grade over the course of the season
Speaker 1: so far ranks seventh in the NFL. So what once
Speaker 1: was a weakness really has become a strength. Really is
Speaker 1: strange days that we're talking this way about a Panther's
Speaker 1: offensive line. I can always count on you and putting
Speaker 1: it in perspective. Thanks man. We need theme music for that.
Speaker 1: I think Quinn will comes in. He needs to have
Speaker 1: his own theme song. I think you should see him. Well,
Speaker 1: come in. I'll see if I can write something for
Speaker 1: next week. Maybe home a few bars. I would love that.
Speaker 1: But it's a great point, right This offensive line has
Speaker 1: um become very stable and Um is doing a good job.
Speaker 1: And again, it just blows my mind that we're having
Speaker 1: these conversations because watching last year, fourteen lineups in seven
Speaker 1: team weeks and literally guys walking in off the street.
Speaker 1: You know, they claimed Michael Jordan off waivers from the
Speaker 1: Bengals at initial cuts, coming out of the coming out
Speaker 1: of training company ends up starting team games. So you know,
Speaker 1: last year was just a grab bag. Every week it
Speaker 1: was a different group. And now for the same guys,
Speaker 1: same five guys to start and play every snap of
Speaker 1: the first six games. Now, Pat Elflndes on the injury
Speaker 1: report this week hadn't practiced. So you know, if Pat's
Speaker 1: not able to go, having a Bradley Bozeman, who started
Speaker 1: forty eight games the last three years for the Baltimore
Speaker 1: Ravens is a pretty good place to be. And again,
Speaker 1: after last year, I know it just clouded my judgment.
Speaker 1: But but Queen Boseman, Jordan's Cam Irving who here's a
Speaker 1: tease for you coming up this week on Panthers dot Com.
Speaker 1: We've I'm working on a story about Ikey and his
Speaker 1: development and and the role cam Irving plays in it,
Speaker 1: and it's pretty I think it's going to be a
Speaker 1: pretty cool little story, So be on the lookout for
Speaker 1: that on Panthers dot com. So excited to read that
Speaker 1: because I that's something I've noticed from game one on
Speaker 1: the sidelines, you know, doing radio sideline is just um,
Speaker 1: I dare, and I don't want to steal your phrase.
Speaker 1: It's the perfect phrase of cam Irving being the Ikey whisperer.
Speaker 1: You know, he's really taken that that role as he's
Speaker 1: not playing much to guide and develop and support um Ikuanu.
Speaker 1: And it's incredible. So I can't wait to read that.
Speaker 1: And this Aquanto kid pretty good at football. Think he's
Speaker 1: going to be pretty good. I think he's gonna be Okay,
Speaker 1: let's let's talk about injuries overall. Though. You mentioned Pat
Speaker 1: elf Line being on the injury report and um, you know,
Speaker 1: aside from the quarterback um issues and injuries in the
Speaker 1: last game against the Rams, which we've already addressed, that defense,
Speaker 1: especially that secondary was pretty thin in that last game
Speaker 1: and they were already missing some key pieces. You know,
Speaker 1: you're Frankie Lulu's your j C Horns so Augusta Darren,
Speaker 1: what are YouTube hearing about? Who may or may not
Speaker 1: be healthy, who may or may not play the state
Speaker 1: of the defense Yesterday, Steve Wokes had a ton of optimism,
Speaker 1: especially around the cornerback so Dante. He said that Dante
Speaker 1: Jackson told him that he'd be able to play um
Speaker 1: with that ankle, and he wasn't dressed out in practice yesterday,
Speaker 1: but I wouldn't. I'm not. I'm not reading into that
Speaker 1: too much. Um. And then J. C. Horne was back,
Speaker 1: which was really good news. Um, he was in the
Speaker 1: Green limited at some capacity. Jersey Frankie Luvu same deal
Speaker 1: though he's been taking the Green jersey on and off
Speaker 1: even when he was playing. So Um, there's some general
Speaker 1: optimism I think around that, which is so good because,
Speaker 1: I mean I wrote about it after the game in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles. List. I mean they were Tay Hayes was
Speaker 1: out there and they had just he had just been
Speaker 1: called it from the practice squad, so it was they
Speaker 1: plays in Jacobison, Yeah to practice squad guys that had
Speaker 1: important roles in that game. Yeah. Yeah, So so um,
Speaker 1: but I think there's a general since of optimism yesterday.
Speaker 1: It was good because Yesterday was like the PADS day
Speaker 1: since they moved it from Thursday to Wednesday, so you
Speaker 1: kind of get to see, like who's gonna go out there.
Speaker 1: I saw J. C. Horn, you know, getting good work
Speaker 1: in after last week. I think he spent the entire week,
Speaker 1: you know, in sweats and not dressed out, so that's
Speaker 1: that's definitely positive. And then he missed the trip because
Speaker 1: it's a rib and and all of that. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I actually pulled up the injury list like before we
Speaker 1: started because it's gotten so long and I'm going to
Speaker 1: start forgetting them. Um. But yeah, and then c J.
Speaker 1: Henderson concussion protocol. He wasn't even out there yesterday. Saw
Speaker 1: in the locker room now, so he's around just standard
Speaker 1: with concussion programs. But yeah, they were running out of
Speaker 1: dudes y Sunday. I mean they had Ta Hayes and
Speaker 1: Ere and Mosby out there playing defensive snaps on the
Speaker 1: end and um, yeah, that's not an ideal situation because
Speaker 1: you were running out of dbs. When Dante gets hurt
Speaker 1: and doesn't finished a CS in active c J Concussion
Speaker 1: protocol and all of a sudden you look up and
Speaker 1: keep Taylor and Tay Hayes are the only two corners
Speaker 1: you've got left. So you know, thank goodness for guys
Speaker 1: like Miles Hartsfield who can do a lot of different things,
Speaker 1: because they kind of need guys who can do a
Speaker 1: lot of different things in the situation they were in.
Speaker 1: But it was good. And I tuck j C a
Speaker 1: little bit in the locker room and and he feels
Speaker 1: pretty good about being able to play this week. He just, um,
Speaker 1: j C is one of those guys. He's always gonna
Speaker 1: want to play and he's always gonna want to push it.
Speaker 1: So you you hope he gets healed up and uh
Speaker 1: then set himself back or anything like that. But it
Speaker 1: was definitely a positive sign to see him out there
Speaker 1: on the practice field yesterday because he's a guy they're
Speaker 1: gonna need because let's be honest right now, playing against
Speaker 1: a team like the Bucks. Uh they did not look
Speaker 1: great last week against the Steelers. But oh, by the way,
Speaker 1: Tom Brady also pretty good at football, So it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a little bit of an all hands on deck.
Speaker 1: You're gonna need Frankie Luvu out there trying to move
Speaker 1: the old man off his spot. You're gonna need j C.
Speaker 1: Horn in the back covering because those Bucks receivers have
Speaker 1: made some plays in the past, so uh, they are
Speaker 1: definitely going to need those guys this weekend. We'll see
Speaker 1: what happens, right, Bucks come into town on Sunday and uh,
Speaker 1: we'll see how it all goes. Guys, are should we
Speaker 1: make pirate jokes? You can? There's there's an yeah it. Uh.
Speaker 1: I was looking back at the film of the Rams game,
Speaker 1: especially the second half, and it was rated R. That
Speaker 1: was pretty good on the spot, Darren, I laughed. Is
Speaker 1: that going back to me though, becoming a parent laughing
Speaker 1: at those things and talking about the weather that might
Speaker 1: be we've we I know my go to guy in
Speaker 1: our staff meetings is Alex Grant because I know, no
Speaker 1: matter how terrible a joke I tell, my guy, Alex
Speaker 1: is gonna laugh. He does the same thing with me too.
Speaker 1: He's great for like a nice sympathy laugh, like all
Speaker 1: I see your effort on this sho. He's such a
Speaker 1: good teammate because some of the as jokes, they'll just
Speaker 1: looked at him the other day. It's like, don't encourage,
Speaker 1: don't tell jokes. We should always encourage, Darren, especially when
Speaker 1: it comes to pirate jokes. Thank you both so much,
Speaker 1: happy happy half hour, and we'll see you next week.