Speaker 1: This week on the Happy half Hour.
Speaker 2: Julius was surrounded by studs Mike Rucker and Chris Jenkins
Speaker 2: and Brinson Butner and Dan Morgan and Mark Fields and
Speaker 2: Mike Minner.
Speaker 1: And he was that guy.
Speaker 2: I mean, he was the one they all looked at
Speaker 2: and like, Yep, that dude's different. Tut's I know.
Speaker 1: It's time for the Happy half Hour with your friends.
Speaker 1: Kristin Balboni, Augusta Stone, and Darren Gannon.
Speaker 2: Hello, friends, Welcome to the Happy half Hour. The post
Speaker 2: bye week condition of the Happy half Hour.
Speaker 1: Augusta Stone, how was mama?
Speaker 3: Mama's great? Everyone was good. The one thing that I
Speaker 3: needed to follow up on was that we weren't able
Speaker 3: to go to the high school football game because they
Speaker 3: moved it to Thursday night instead of Friday night and
Speaker 3: we already had plans. They claimed it was for weather.
Speaker 3: There was no weather the whole time I was home,
Speaker 3: so not sure what's up with that. But everything else
Speaker 3: this was really good. How about you, Darren?
Speaker 1: Everything was good.
Speaker 2: I went to the went to Raleigh to see the kids,
Speaker 2: dropped by the State Fair. I am a huge fan
Speaker 2: of State Fair food, as you can tell by my physique.
Speaker 2: I am committed to fitness, especially if it includes food
Speaker 2: items on a stick. I had many of those while
Speaker 2: I was gone, some some less. The deal pickled doughnut
Speaker 2: was underwhelming. I wasn't prepared to enjoy it, and I didn't.
Speaker 2: There were many fine items, though. The delight, the true
Speaker 2: delight of the State Fair.
Speaker 1: Was the red velvet banana pudding.
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, that sounds divine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was exactly as good as it sounds.
Speaker 2: I think more more things should come with a mix
Speaker 2: of red velvet cake in them, you know, like red
Speaker 2: velvet pork chops, red velvet mashed potatoes, cheapers.
Speaker 3: No, I thought for a second you were going somewhere
Speaker 3: really normal with it, like, oh yeah, like red velvet.
Speaker 3: Well you said put it, but like brownies or cookies.
Speaker 3: Red velvet cookies, by the way, very good. But you
Speaker 3: just went off the rails.
Speaker 1: Man red velvet fried chicken.
Speaker 3: Oh well maybe okay, but there's a chicken and waffles
Speaker 3: thing that's really really good when you put the syrup
Speaker 3: on it. I'm not actually going to swat that one
Speaker 3: down as much as mashed potatoes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it could be good. Maybe that was a
Speaker 1: bridge too far. I did go brisket.
Speaker 2: And waffles on a stick. It was kind of you know,
Speaker 2: it was it was interesting. It was interesting. I give
Speaker 2: it a solid B.
Speaker 3: There you go, There you go. I love maple syrup
Speaker 3: on like savory things like that. I think it's a
Speaker 3: cool like way to balance each other out. I had
Speaker 3: vegan chicken and waffles up in Boston, Massachusetts once, or
Speaker 3: it was actually Cambridge, which is right outside of Boston
Speaker 3: where Harvard is. It was awesome. It was so good,
Speaker 3: so out of tim would recommend, and I'm sure it's
Speaker 3: even better not vegan.
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, I'm trying to imagine, you know,
Speaker 2: because there is an egg component in most of your
Speaker 2: baked goods or waffle type products. So you went vegan waffle,
Speaker 2: which is one thing, but vegan chicken and.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, Apple sauce is a great egg substitute just
Speaker 3: in general, if you're like looking, I know when eggs
Speaker 3: were super expensive back then, I was like loving Like
Speaker 3: I'd see random like Facebook posts about like things to
Speaker 3: do other than eggs, and I'm like pretty familiar with that,
Speaker 3: like flax seeds mixed with oil or apple sauce. Apple
Speaker 3: sauce is so good in like different, Like you could
Speaker 3: literally use cake mix put apple sauce in it instead
Speaker 3: of eggs. It does the same thing and you can't
Speaker 3: tell it honestly makes it feel like more like gooey.
Speaker 2: When my kids were younger, I would make banana bread
Speaker 2: when the bananas were starting to go bad. And you know,
Speaker 2: when you got kids around the house, there's always a
Speaker 2: cup of apple sauce somewhere they got stuck in a
Speaker 2: lunch box and carried home because nobody wants to eat
Speaker 2: a cup.
Speaker 1: Of apple sauce.
Speaker 2: But so yes, I have used that baking hack before sex.
Speaker 2: All right, all right, I guess we I guess we're
Speaker 2: obligated on this football podcast to eventually, at some point
Speaker 2: talk about football, and we'll get to that, but not yet,
Speaker 2: because first and foremost this week, coming out of the
Speaker 2: bye Sunday, the Houston Texans are in town. But more importantly,
Speaker 2: I don't know more importantly, but very very important, the
Speaker 2: Carolina Panthers are adding to the Hall of Honor Musin
Speaker 2: Mohammad Julius Peppers will join that esteemed list of greats
Speaker 2: along the opposite wall of Bank of America Stadium here,
Speaker 2: and it's going to be regardless what's going on with
Speaker 2: the season, regardless what's going on.
Speaker 1: With the game.
Speaker 2: I just think it's such a neat opportunity for the
Speaker 2: franchise to see these two guys come home.
Speaker 3: And the content has been awesome this week. If y'all
Speaker 3: haven't checked it out yet, the videos that our video
Speaker 3: team has made for Julius and Moose are both so
Speaker 3: incredibly good, like totally must watch content, so fun, so cool,
Speaker 3: how many people they got to sit for those interviews,
Speaker 3: and I really enjoyed those videos. They were just so
Speaker 3: well done. So definitely check that out. But yeah, that's
Speaker 3: an exciting time. I mean, I think it's really cool
Speaker 3: whenever the franchise. I love like you talk about, you know,
Speaker 3: the nostalgia of the franchise because it is, you know,
Speaker 3: young in general, but you have this kind of really
Speaker 3: cool legends, living legends aspect of this whole thing, and
Speaker 3: you get to see it kind of come to fruition
Speaker 3: on Sunday. I think it's really exciting. And I mean, again,
Speaker 3: the content's been awesome. Darren's written amazing stuff, the graphics
Speaker 3: have been great. The wallpapers that they posted on social
Speaker 3: media a couple of days ago just everything has been
Speaker 3: so cool, and I think it's a good opportunity to
Speaker 3: flex the department for a minute. It's awesome stuff.
Speaker 2: Those two guys too, I mean occupies such a unique place.
Speaker 2: I mean you mentioned a fairly young organization. And also,
Speaker 2: Happy Birthday, Carolina Panthers. Thirty years ago today the NFL
Speaker 2: granted a franchise to the Carolinas, and here we are
Speaker 2: it is today. Happy Birthday, Carolina Panthers. You are now thirty,
Speaker 2: you're old enough to run for Senate. Maybe they should,
Speaker 2: but it's uh, but no.
Speaker 1: In that time.
Speaker 2: I think sometimes in this conversation's come up with Hall
Speaker 2: of Fame selection committee meetings. I've actually had other voters say,
Speaker 2: you know, for a team that hasn't won a Super Bowl,
Speaker 2: for a team that's so young, you're up here talking
Speaker 2: a lot. And it's going to become more in the
Speaker 2: coming years, with Julius being eligible next year, with Luke
Speaker 2: Keighley coming a year after that. Steve Smith's eligible and
Speaker 2: has been a semifinalist the last couple of years, so
Speaker 2: it's possibility we'll talk about him. But you're reminded at
Speaker 2: times like this, how rich the history of this franchise
Speaker 2: is when you can talk about a musin Mohammed who
Speaker 2: at large stretches of his career wasn't even the best
Speaker 2: receiver on his own team. And yet when you look
Speaker 2: at his numbers, I mean, he is, I think twenty
Speaker 2: eighth in receptions, thirty fourth in receiving yards all time
Speaker 2: in NFL history, He's in the top thirty five in
Speaker 2: both categories. And to think about one hundred years of
Speaker 2: football across thirty plus teams at different points in football's history,
Speaker 2: you know, what Moose was able to do was amazing.
Speaker 2: And just walking around talking to players now, I mean,
Speaker 2: there's a piece we'll have coming up tomorrow and Panthers
Speaker 2: dot Com about current players talking about what they actually
Speaker 2: recall of these guys, and Jonathan Mingo flat out admits
Speaker 2: he was like, I didn't really know that much about
Speaker 2: Moose until I met him in Spartanburg and started cooking
Speaker 2: burgers with him. So you know, that's the age difference,
Speaker 2: you realize. But in talking to Feeling and Djhark and
Speaker 2: guys with a few more years on him, they remember
Speaker 2: Moose for his physicality, They remember the way he would
Speaker 2: block people. They remembered him going and getting plays. I
Speaker 2: mean a lot of receivers. When you think about big
Speaker 2: yardage guys, you think about guys like Steve, guys who
Speaker 2: were fast guys who are getting downfield.
Speaker 1: Moost did the dirty work for fourteen.
Speaker 2: Years and also caught a bunch of passes, made a
Speaker 2: bunch of plays, and was able to create really a
Speaker 2: unique place.
Speaker 1: In Panthers history exactly.
Speaker 3: And I like the I mention that because the thing
Speaker 3: that I've kind of appreciated and respected so much in
Speaker 3: you know, just thinking about their careers and digesting all
Speaker 3: the content, is the longevity of both of their careers. Again,
Speaker 3: you wrote a great story this morning on Panthers dot Com,
Speaker 3: posted about an hour ago about kind of them getting
Speaker 3: to come back home again and to both of them
Speaker 3: spend over a decade in the league. It's really cool
Speaker 3: that they were able to loop right back around where
Speaker 3: they started. And I love the Julius Peppers side of it,
Speaker 3: you know about the I've been in North Carolina. I
Speaker 3: needed to get away, but then he wanted to come back.
Speaker 3: You know, It's just it's so special and it's so
Speaker 3: cool that you look down and you read the amount
Speaker 3: of years that they've been here and it it's so
Speaker 3: it's so cool to think about how their careers are
Speaker 3: really long and they ended up back, you know, here
Speaker 3: in the comfortable place, in the place where they were
Speaker 3: meant to be. It's just really really cool.
Speaker 2: And it does blow my mind because it practically never happens.
Speaker 2: I mean, I you remember Jared Allen for all his
Speaker 2: years in Minnesota or Kansas City, and Jared Allen finished
Speaker 2: here in twenty fifteen. You know, I remember Reggie White's
Speaker 2: final year in the NFL was as a Carolina Panther,
Speaker 2: and it was just weird the whole time when you
Speaker 2: saw him in the locker room. It's like, this is
Speaker 2: not where you're supposed to be. You're you're supposed to
Speaker 2: be wearing some shade of green. You're not supposed to
Speaker 2: be in black and blue and silver. It was just
Speaker 2: it was so unusual at the time. It remains unusual
Speaker 2: in my mind. But for those two guys to be
Speaker 2: able to come home and finish this thing up is
Speaker 2: you know, it's a special layer of the story, Julius says,
Speaker 2: And we're going I predict we're going to have a
Speaker 2: lot more Julius content in the next year. Because with
Speaker 2: him being eligible for the Hall of Fame for the
Speaker 2: first time this year, I don't think it's going to
Speaker 2: be a very long wait before I end up getting
Speaker 2: shipped back to Ohio to do more Hall of Fame
Speaker 2: content again, because Julius is just He's special, and again
Speaker 2: talking to guys in that locker room, even the young
Speaker 2: kids who weren't able to fully appreciate him in like
Speaker 2: a film watching capacity, you know, not watching him as
Speaker 2: a peer the way football players are used to watching
Speaker 2: other players, but just when you hear them talk about it,
Speaker 2: it underscores the fact that Julius is just so different.
Speaker 2: I mean, he is just otherworldly. I was watching NBA
Speaker 2: games last night and you see Victor wimbin Yama and
Speaker 2: a guy that size isn't supposed to do those things,
Speaker 2: and that's what Julius did for seventeen years. I mean,
Speaker 2: I just think about the fact that Julius was surrounded
Speaker 2: by studs at every level on almost every team he
Speaker 2: played on. Early on his first couple of years with
Speaker 2: the Panthers, He's out there on a defense that also
Speaker 2: includes Mike Rucker and Chris Jenkins and Brinson Buckner and
Speaker 2: Dan Morgan, and Mark Fields and Mike Minner and I
Speaker 2: could go on and on and on, and he was
Speaker 2: that guy. I mean, he was the one they all
Speaker 2: looked at and like, Yep, that dude's different. And he
Speaker 2: comes back in twenty seventeen and you see the pictures
Speaker 2: of him standing at midfield next to Thomas Davis, next
Speaker 2: to Cam Newton, next to Greg Olsen, and when you
Speaker 2: put it in that context, you realize that this is
Speaker 2: one of the most incredible football players any of us
Speaker 2: have ever seen. For a course of a seventeen year career,
Speaker 2: it just never ever happens. And for it to be
Speaker 2: Julius and for him to so casually discuss.
Speaker 1: I mean I could have played a couple more years
Speaker 1: if I wanted to. I just yeah.
Speaker 2: You think it's like you understand you're talking about something
Speaker 2: that's never happened, and you just casually, oh, yeah, I
Speaker 2: could have played another couple no question about that.
Speaker 1: It just blows my mind.
Speaker 3: I know it's gonna be so cool to see them
Speaker 3: all here. I think it's going to be such a
Speaker 3: such a gift for everybody. He gets to cover the game,
Speaker 3: everyone who gets to come. I love It's funny. I
Speaker 3: have noticed in the NFL schedule, and again, you know,
Speaker 3: I'm still pretty novice. This is my second year. But
Speaker 3: when the Panthers have like a home game, like a
Speaker 3: crucial catch game, then we'll go on the road and
Speaker 3: we'll be at their crucial catch game. We have a
Speaker 3: Hall of Honor game. When we were in Miami, they
Speaker 3: were inducting someone. So it's like, I get I love
Speaker 3: that I saw it in Miami, and now we get
Speaker 3: to see the Panthers version of it with the speeches
Speaker 3: and everything. You know, everyone's getting honored, and I think
Speaker 3: it'll be really cool. I'm really excited. I think there's
Speaker 3: a banquet as well that you'll be covering this week, Darren.
Speaker 3: That'll be really cool.
Speaker 2: Saturday ninth, there's a dinner where all that and the
Speaker 2: neat thing about it is.
Speaker 1: And I thought it was cool talking to J. J.
Speaker 2: Jansen about this because JJ has lived half of this
Speaker 2: franchise's existence as the long snapper, played more games than
Speaker 2: anybody here. JJ was talking about that sense of place
Speaker 2: that this creates. He said, when you see Julius in Mooch,
Speaker 2: you're reminded of the two three teams. You're reminded of thirteen,
Speaker 2: fourteen fifteen. You're reminded of seeing Julius come back here
Speaker 2: in seventeen, and it's just you get a sense for
Speaker 2: what it means to all these people, not just the
Speaker 2: guys in the locker room, but the fame, the stands.
Speaker 2: And that's why you know Sunday's going to be a
Speaker 2: need opportunity to share that there are going to be
Speaker 2: a lot of team legends coming back for the weekend.
Speaker 2: You know, just looking at the guest list for the
Speaker 2: different events, you realize it's going to be a who's who,
Speaker 2: and you know you just casually get guys like Jake
Speaker 2: and Jordan talking about these guys and to hear the
Speaker 2: respect they have for both these cats is it just
Speaker 2: brings home the point that this is going to be
Speaker 2: a special weekend for a lot of people exactly.
Speaker 3: And on top of that, where after the bye Panthers
Speaker 3: are playing the Texans, I will I think we can
Speaker 3: kind of redirect now to the what's going on on
Speaker 3: the field.
Speaker 2: We've covered mam All red velvet, banana pudding and the
Speaker 2: Hall of Honor. We now must talk about the current
Speaker 2: Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 3: But you've written about it and I think it's true,
Speaker 3: and we've been saying it for a while. This stretch
Speaker 3: of the schedule is more friendly. It is more teams
Speaker 3: that are kind of in the vein, like you said
Speaker 3: of the Panthers, kind of the you've you've mentioned the
Speaker 3: jury of their peers. I think is what you've said
Speaker 3: and what you wrote this week in the mail bag,
Speaker 3: and it's true. I mean, you look at the next
Speaker 3: few games and I think this is kind of the
Speaker 3: start of that stretch where okay, these are teams that
Speaker 3: are Adam Peel was actually talking about it yesterday in
Speaker 3: the locker room in similar standings with a new head coach,
Speaker 3: with their rookie quarterback c J. Stroud, who is very
Speaker 3: well stored, very good friends with Bryce Young since middle school.
Speaker 3: First and second overall pick we've heard it all, but
Speaker 3: we'll be hearing even more of it, I'm sure. But
Speaker 3: you know, kind of in similar similar boats, obviously not
Speaker 3: the same, but similar. They're coming here and then you know,
Speaker 3: it kicks off kind of the Colts Bears part of things,
Speaker 3: and I think it's a it's an interesting starting point
Speaker 3: to come off the buye. The newness of Thomas Brown
Speaker 3: calling plays, which we talked about last week, and we'll
Speaker 3: hear from him again today and kind of hear how
Speaker 3: that's been going in practice and in preparation. But I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, that's that's something to look forward to. It'll
Speaker 3: be different and it'll be a different opponent. It won't
Speaker 3: be the Detroit Lions, it won't be the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 3: And I think that's something that Panthers fans despite the
Speaker 3: O and six start, which you can't ignore, but I
Speaker 3: think it's something that you can look forward to and
Speaker 3: be like, Okay, the next few games are not against
Speaker 3: the NFL's top five offenses. That's not bad, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Not facing the Detroit Lions and the Miami Dolphins back
Speaker 2: to back, I think is a good thing, not a
Speaker 2: bad thing for these guys. And it is I am
Speaker 2: constantly reminded one of the most amazing things to me
Speaker 2: about football players in general. But you know, just kind
Speaker 2: of this, when you get in this situation, the thing
Speaker 2: they are able to do is compartmentalize and kind of
Speaker 2: put that to six in its box over there. Can't
Speaker 2: do anything about it. Obviously, hate it. Nightmare start couldn't
Speaker 2: have gone any worse, But you take a week off,
Speaker 2: and it gets a little easier to kind of put
Speaker 2: it in its little box and just stick it in
Speaker 2: the attic and forget about it if you will. Now
Speaker 2: it obviously where I am not, it is my vow
Speaker 2: to not talk about playoffs or any of that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff. That it's not pertinent win a game, win
Speaker 2: two games, do something for a little bit before I'm
Speaker 2: even going to entertain any of that talk. But I
Speaker 2: think what they have the opportunity to do is kind
Speaker 2: of hit reset in a lot of ways. As you mentioned,
Speaker 2: there's a new play caller now, Thomas Brown's in charge
Speaker 2: of this offense now and gives Frank Raich a chance
Speaker 2: to step back and sort of be the CEO, be
Speaker 2: over the top of the entire operation.
Speaker 1: And it can't hurt.
Speaker 2: It's not going to get worse than an zero to
Speaker 2: six starts, So I think from that standpoint, it helps.
Speaker 2: The schedule helps, and I think these guys there are
Speaker 2: reasons to believe, based on what we've seen of Bryce
Speaker 2: young It at stages of this season, that he is
Speaker 2: getting better.
Speaker 1: So if you.
Speaker 2: Can put some of that stuff together, here's your opportunity
Speaker 2: to change some of the results. And I think those
Speaker 2: guys definitely need that exactly.
Speaker 3: And I know we talked about a little bit between
Speaker 3: you and me, but I was looking at the injury
Speaker 3: report because I'm getting ready to write five things to
Speaker 3: know where I'm getting ready to prep for it. And
Speaker 3: usually let to go over there because I like to say, Okay, well,
Speaker 3: especially with this season, who's available, what's going on? And
Speaker 3: it is shorter, But there are some guys that have
Speaker 3: hit ir there are some guys still coming off of injury.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, there are some guys who
Speaker 3: are working back. Austin Corbett principle among them leming to
Speaker 3: participant yesterday. He talked in the locker room a little
Speaker 3: bit yesterday, and I know you're really in tune with
Speaker 3: the O line in Corbett after that awesome story you
Speaker 3: got to do kind of chronicling all of his steps
Speaker 3: in the process and getting activated and coming back. Wanted
Speaker 3: to share, or wanted you to share kind of what
Speaker 3: your thoughts were on whether or not you know when
Speaker 3: you think he'll come back, when you think he'll be ready,
Speaker 3: and the kind of difference that he'll be able to
Speaker 3: make along the offensive line. Because Austin Corbett is a
Speaker 3: huge piece of that that they've been missing, and we've
Speaker 3: kind of seen that and felt that through the first.
Speaker 1: Six week right.
Speaker 2: I think last year as it was happening, you know,
Speaker 2: we remarked on it a good bit because it was
Speaker 2: so unusual. But to go through a season with only
Speaker 2: two versions of an offensive line and for the change
Speaker 2: to have been a conscious change, to go from Bradley
Speaker 2: Boseman or from pad alf line to Bradley Boseman, and
Speaker 2: then for that five to play out the rest of
Speaker 2: the year. That's unheard of in the NFL. And obviously
Speaker 2: that luck did not continue going into this year. They've
Speaker 2: already played three different left guards, three different right guards.
Speaker 2: There's another change, and I'm assuming at this point that
Speaker 2: Austin's going to be out there on Sunday. There's been
Speaker 2: no official word, but everything is pointing toward this being
Speaker 2: the week that you get Austin Corbett back on the field,
Speaker 2: and I think that's going to have the opportunity to
Speaker 2: stabilize because with all that, if there's been a common
Speaker 2: thread to the offensive line stuff through those first six games,
Speaker 2: it's been other teams have been able to get way
Speaker 2: too much pressure up the middle and they've taken advantage
Speaker 2: of the fact that you're constantly shuffling guards and putting,
Speaker 2: you know, the backups to the backups in those spots.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's it's not just that you're playing backups.
Speaker 2: It's when Chandler's of oola goes down and all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, you're looking at Cade Mason, Calvin Throckmorton, and
Speaker 2: Calvin Throckmorton wasn't even here in training camp so and
Speaker 2: all of a sudden he's looking like a stable starting option.
Speaker 1: So it shows how much flux.
Speaker 2: They've been in, and I think getting Austin back stabilizes
Speaker 2: some of that, but it also creates when you think
Speaker 2: back to last year when you go Bozeman, Corbett, Moten.
Speaker 1: Now you've got a side of the line that you know.
Speaker 2: In a short yardage situation, in a crucial situation late game,
Speaker 2: you know you can trust those three cats, and you
Speaker 2: know that they're going to know where the other one's
Speaker 2: going to be, you know which direction they're moving, you
Speaker 2: know what.
Speaker 1: They favor, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2: I just think creating that kind of stability can only
Speaker 2: be a good thing for Bryce Young, for Cube Hubbard,
Speaker 2: for Miles Sanders, who's back on the practice field this
Speaker 2: week after missing a game and after a rough start
Speaker 2: of his own. It can only be good for all
Speaker 2: those guys, So I want to see, if you know,
Speaker 2: I think Austin is going to lend a little stability
Speaker 2: and credibility to that offensive line.
Speaker 1: It's it's both balanced and ballanced.
Speaker 2: You know, they are better and bigger and stronger, so
Speaker 2: it can only be a good thing. We'll see how
Speaker 2: that manifest itself, especially in the run game exactly.
Speaker 3: Well. I like that you mentioned the run game because
Speaker 3: that was another thing I was thinking about, which was
Speaker 3: and I don't think, I truly don't think we're gonna
Speaker 3: see a big difference with Thomas Brown calling plays. I
Speaker 3: don't think it's gonna be one of those things where like,
Speaker 3: oh my goodness, they're running so much more or they're
Speaker 3: passing so much more, or I don't think it's gonna
Speaker 3: be anything quite like that. I think it's more of
Speaker 3: an operational thing that we probably don't see. But like
Speaker 3: you know, you still want to see the results. M
Speaker 3: And I think it'll make Frank Craig's game days easier.
Speaker 3: And I think but but there's still some convencial wisdom
Speaker 3: to think that there might be a little bit more
Speaker 3: focus on the run just because of Thomas Brown's you know,
Speaker 3: influence as a as a running backs coach and you
Speaker 3: know kind of what he did throughout throughout his past
Speaker 3: before he got here. I think they have shown that
Speaker 3: Chuba Hubbard can be a good option back there. Getting
Speaker 3: Miles Sanders back, I think will add more variety. I'm
Speaker 3: excited to hear today if Thomas Brown mentions anything about,
Speaker 3: you know, working with the running backs and thinking to
Speaker 3: highlight them a little bit more in the run game,
Speaker 3: and especially having Austin Corbett back up the middle. I
Speaker 3: think it's just even smarter to think about it that way.
Speaker 3: So that's something that I have been intrigued by. And
Speaker 3: then of course, like I mentioned, but having Miles Sanders
Speaker 3: back on the practice field just gives you, gives you
Speaker 3: more options, gives you more people back there. But also,
Speaker 3: you know, a big week for Bryce Young. I think
Speaker 3: he's been asked at point blank about like him and CJ.
Speaker 3: And then they've been asking Frank this week about you know,
Speaker 3: how do you feel? And of course Bryce is the
Speaker 3: guy and I think, you know, it would be he
Speaker 3: to have a good game this week and kind of
Speaker 3: build on you know, he's been consistently getting better week
Speaker 3: by week, and now he has the the bye week
Speaker 3: to kind of refresh. But I think he looked good
Speaker 3: in Miami, especially for that one quarter that we talked
Speaker 3: about that was just really good and everything kind of
Speaker 3: hitting on all cylinders. I think I think it'll help
Speaker 3: him too to have a guy like Austin Corbett back
Speaker 3: there and kind of continue to work with chemistry with
Speaker 3: the receivers and that I'm feeling and everybody. I think
Speaker 3: it's a good thing. So I think it's a I
Speaker 3: think it's a big week for Bryce Young to kind
Speaker 3: of you know, be in front of essay in the
Speaker 3: press conference. It was so fun. He was so excited,
Speaker 3: you know, talking about all the guys he knew on
Speaker 3: the other side. I mean, Willie Anderson was his teammate
Speaker 3: and they were really close. CJ. Stroud is his childhood friend,
Speaker 3: he played basketball with all in southern California. Like, he
Speaker 3: was just so excited. So I think this will be
Speaker 3: an exciting week for him to have some maybe not
Speaker 3: extra juice, but just kind of you know, no after
Speaker 3: the game that ah man, I know, so many people
Speaker 3: over on that sideline and put on a good show
Speaker 3: for them. I think would be really cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2: I think it's interesting that there are people who want
Speaker 2: to relitigate the twenty twenty three NFL Draft after six games.
Speaker 1: I wonder what these people for Owen K's look like.
Speaker 2: Because if you're really trying to think it should have
Speaker 2: gone a different way after six weeks, I mean I worry, honestly.
Speaker 1: Obviously, CJ.
Speaker 2: Stroud's off to a good start, Tamiko Ryan's doing a
Speaker 2: great job as coach in Houston. He's got that thing
Speaker 2: that you want your coach to have, and they are
Speaker 2: off to a good start. But these guys, you know, again,
Speaker 2: I kind of laughed because seeing the process evolve from
Speaker 2: January when Frank Reich rolled in through February March you
Speaker 2: make the trade for the number one pick, and then
Speaker 2: when they really zoomed in on those final four guys,
Speaker 2: when you watch that thing from up close. Of course,
Speaker 2: they haven't changed their mind. Of course they're convinced. I mean,
Speaker 2: all the stuff that went into this, they still believe.
Speaker 2: And there's nothing we've seen out of Bryce that necessarily
Speaker 2: thinks this is not Oh my god, he's shorter than
Speaker 2: he we thought. He's getting every pass batted down to
Speaker 2: line of scrimmage. It's not like that, he's not. You know,
Speaker 2: this thing hasn't gone perfectly. Obviously they're zero to six,
Speaker 2: but there's individual parts of each game where it's like, Yep,
Speaker 2: that's what Frank was talking about. Yep, that's what they're
Speaker 2: looking for. And as they go through this thing, you know,
Speaker 2: if it continues to build, you know, we'll see how
Speaker 2: it goes. But that is that's the key to this
Speaker 2: thing for the rest of the season. And again O
Speaker 2: and six is sort of in its own box over there.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: It's what can you do, what can you build? How
Speaker 2: can you progress in this thing? And this week's going
Speaker 2: to be the first step in that exactly.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm glad that you said that, because I agree.
Speaker 3: I've kind of winced multiple times, like it has been
Speaker 3: six weeks and Bryce Young is not the main issue
Speaker 3: on offense. If you watch the games and you sit
Speaker 3: back and you're like, oh, it's bright, No, no, it's not,
Speaker 3: it's really not. And I think he has shown steady
Speaker 3: improvement and I'm excited to see what the bye week
Speaker 3: does for him. I'm excited to see him against other
Speaker 3: teams and you know, every week. And I think, like
Speaker 3: you said, you know, we can take the O and
Speaker 3: six starts. So we're not going to say the P
Speaker 3: word that ends with an FS or anything like that,
Speaker 3: cause that's not what this season's about. The season is
Speaker 3: about what can we see from Bryce Young? How can
Speaker 3: we develop Bryce Young, how can we get Bryce Young's
Speaker 3: familiar in this system, and also changing some things up.
Speaker 3: I mean, Thomas Brown's the play caller, and that won't
Speaker 3: be extremely different, but it'll be a little different and
Speaker 3: it's something that they get to build on now through
Speaker 3: the last stretch of the season, I wouldn't I was
Speaker 3: about to say half, but we're not even halfway through.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I keep saying half and it's third I know, I.
Speaker 2: Know, I know.
Speaker 3: I had to stop myself and say a stretch because
Speaker 3: it's not halfway or not halfway done. But but there's
Speaker 3: a decent stretch left and I think that's kind of
Speaker 3: where we're focused on. And I think the wins, you know,
Speaker 3: they could come, the more they develop and the more
Speaker 3: they get healthy again, especially on defense. Xavier Woods came
Speaker 3: back to practice yesterday, which is, which is a huge plus.
Speaker 3: But you know, there's still tons of holes back there,
Speaker 3: and I mean, you know, working with a good defense
Speaker 3: would help. And there's just been a lot of an
Speaker 3: opportune things happen this year with injuries that haven't helped
Speaker 3: Bryce at all. But I think I think if you
Speaker 3: refocus the season to be like, Okay, let's see what
Speaker 3: we have from him, Let's see what we can do
Speaker 3: from him, I think that's a that's a way to
Speaker 3: look at the games and watch the games and maybe
Speaker 3: you know, compartmentalize that oh to six like you mentioned,
Speaker 3: and just kind of see this in its own like
Speaker 3: little pocket. And I think I think the results are
Speaker 3: going to be better than when things were a little
Speaker 3: bit shaky, when people were falling out left and right,
Speaker 3: when the offensive line was getting poached, like you said,
Speaker 3: just off and off, and often someone's hurt now, someone's
Speaker 3: hurt now, and you're like, oh my goodness. Speaking of which,
Speaker 3: Chandler's Vala also came back to practice yesterday, which was
Speaker 3: awesome to see. So I mean, things are things are
Speaker 3: looking up after the bias they should, especially injury wise.
Speaker 3: I mean, guys have extra time and there's still plenty
Speaker 3: of pieces and guys that are not fully there yet.
Speaker 3: But I think the healthier they get, the more familiar
Speaker 3: they get, the the more kind of Frank's able to
Speaker 3: take that CEO approach as we've talked about, and you know,
Speaker 3: letting Thomas Brown kind of run the thing as a
Speaker 3: play caller and have more you know, kind of focus
Speaker 3: in other areas. I think I think it's a it'll
Speaker 3: I think it'll show, if not this week, at some
Speaker 3: point down the stretch that Okay, they're kind of figuring
Speaker 3: it out, because I mean, they all came here and
Speaker 3: we've talked about it, didn't know each other, didn't know,
Speaker 3: you know, kind of they knew that they had a
Speaker 3: lot of respect and that they were all like, really
Speaker 3: experienced coaches, but they didn't know immediately how this whole
Speaker 3: thing was going to mesh. And I like the signs
Speaker 3: of progress that we've seen the we're not gonna stay
Speaker 3: doing it one way because it's it's not working, so
Speaker 3: we're gonna try something else. And it's not major sweeping changes,
Speaker 3: but it's small things. And I think that's that's something
Speaker 3: else that you can turn too. It's not that they're
Speaker 3: doing nothing they're making changes. So I like it, and
Speaker 3: I'm optimistic about this next stretch because, like you mentioned,
Speaker 3: I mean, it does feel like these next few games
Speaker 3: are not the kind of teams where you know, these
Speaker 3: teams are gonna, you know, necessarily make a big playoff
Speaker 3: run or they have these insane offenses that move super
Speaker 3: fast and there's nothing you can do about it, like
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, Like it's not as inevitable
Speaker 3: when you look at the Texans, when you look at
Speaker 3: the Colts, when you look at the Bears. So I think,
Speaker 3: I think that's something that and I'm not saying they're
Speaker 3: guaranteed wins, but I think they're guaranteed you know, decent shots,
Speaker 3: which I don't know we would have said about the
Speaker 3: teams that are the whole world exactly exactly what.
Speaker 2: I know exactly we shall see. It's all hypothetical up
Speaker 2: until Sunday, join us. Regardless of the game, all of
Speaker 2: honor Sunday Mussin Muhammad Julius Peppers will be here to
Speaker 2: be celebrated.
Speaker 1: We can talk more about that then we will.
Speaker 2: Continue to all this week and more than anything else,
Speaker 2: I think I've written on my little notepad here in
Speaker 2: front of me.
Speaker 1: The thing I'm going to take away from this podcast.
Speaker 2: Million dollar idea, red velvet, chicken, and office. We'll explore
Speaker 2: that and report back with results next week on the
Speaker 2: Happy half Hour