Speaker 1: What's up, everybody. Welcome into a Wednesday. They should have
Speaker 1: Texans All Access from the Monday Texans Radio studio. I'm
Speaker 1: your host, John Harris Football and on the sideline reporter.
Speaker 1: So glad to be with you for the next two
Speaker 1: hours because it's game week. Yes, Sunday kick noon against
Speaker 1: the Inneapolis Colts on September eleventh. Looking forward to the game,
Speaker 1: maybe more so than any opener in quite some time.
Speaker 1: Very curious to see not only how the Texans look
Speaker 1: in week one, but also how the Colts look and
Speaker 1: how the Texans obviously stack up to one of the
Speaker 1: teams perceived to be great this year. Now we got
Speaker 1: a jam pack show, Mark Vandemir stopping by and just
Speaker 1: a little bit for an interview, but he's also gonna
Speaker 1: be here for twenty questions. We got Dpciter sitting down
Speaker 1: with John Grenard. We've got men behind the Mikes, Matt Taylor,
Speaker 1: the voice of the Colts with Mark, and then we
Speaker 1: got a little in the lab. But we kick off
Speaker 1: tonight's show with the general manager of your Houston Texans,
Speaker 1: Nick Cassario, and of course we gotta get his thoughts
Speaker 1: right at the shoot game week Baby let's go. You're excited,
Speaker 1: excited about the opportunity here on Sunday, so I think
Speaker 1: the team will be ready to go a big challenge
Speaker 1: in front of us. So with to play good football. Nick.
Speaker 1: We talked a little bit about the Colts last week,
Speaker 1: but now it can really dive in and a player
Speaker 1: that interests me in a good way in a bad
Speaker 1: way is Grover Stewart for the Colts. We all know
Speaker 1: about the Forest Buckner, we know about skill Leonard. Grover
Speaker 1: Stewart sort of flies into the radar. You got a
Speaker 1: second contract from the Colts. I think it's a guy
Speaker 1: that Chris really believes in that defense, really believes in.
Speaker 1: How much of a problem does he become in the middle.
Speaker 1: He absolutely, I'd say probably is a player that can
Speaker 1: kind of helps solidify their front and kind of slow
Speaker 1: start to his career, but it's turned into a really
Speaker 1: good player. I think what makes him unique is for
Speaker 1: how big he is six six three forty. He's a
Speaker 1: big man, but he's very athletic for his size, so
Speaker 1: his length is playing strength. He's got good quickness. So
Speaker 1: when you pair that with a player like Buckner on
Speaker 1: the interior their defense, like they want to be strong
Speaker 1: in the middle of the defense, and those are two
Speaker 1: players that give them the opportunity to do that. Nick,
Speaker 1: we always talk draft with you and players coming out
Speaker 1: of college, but you guys scout all the teams in
Speaker 1: the league. Here and Matt Ryan veteran thirty seven years old,
Speaker 1: and you evaluated him coming out of college too. What
Speaker 1: do you make of his career, the trajectory and what
Speaker 1: he brings to the Colts. Yeah, he's had a great career,
Speaker 1: There's no question about it. So it's been a very
Speaker 1: consistent player, very dependable player, very durable player. I mean
Speaker 1: he's been on the field essentially every game that he's
Speaker 1: been that he's played, so it speaks to his preparation
Speaker 1: and speaks to the toughness. He's a very skilled player,
Speaker 1: very accurate, and I want to say he's around I
Speaker 1: don't know, sixty five percent career completion percentage, which for
Speaker 1: a quarterbacks really good. So it makes good decisions, anticipates well, instinctive,
Speaker 1: smart with the ball. He's very, very tough. So for
Speaker 1: a player that doesn't necessarily move a lot, you know,
Speaker 1: he's more of a pocket thrower, but he's very tough.
Speaker 1: He knows how to move within the pocket, and he
Speaker 1: can deliver the ball under stress and under duress. So
Speaker 1: I think they're excited about what he potentially could bring
Speaker 1: to their offense. So it's certainly going to be a
Speaker 1: challenge for our defense, no question about him. Nick. Two
Speaker 1: years after the fact that I'm still trying to figure
Speaker 1: out how Johnson Taylor got to the second round and
Speaker 1: then how he got to Adianapolis coach, which I hit
Speaker 1: all those teams that decided to pass on him so
Speaker 1: he could go to Indianapolis. And now he's turned into
Speaker 1: arguably one of the top five players in the league, argue,
Speaker 1: the top running back in the league. Why does he
Speaker 1: create such issues for defenses? Yeah? I mean really, he
Speaker 1: does everything well. He's big, he's two hundred and twenty five,
Speaker 1: two hundred and thirty pounds, and he's fast. So when
Speaker 1: you put that combination together, and he's instinctive, and he's
Speaker 1: got a good, good running style, good lower body strength,
Speaker 1: and if you give him any space, which unfortunately we
Speaker 1: saw that in our games last year, if you give
Speaker 1: him any space, he gets into the space so quickly,
Speaker 1: and then he's got really good top end speed in
Speaker 1: acceleration so if you don't have enough speed in the
Speaker 1: second third level of defense, he's just gonna run away
Speaker 1: from me. So we're gonna have to make sure. I mean,
Speaker 1: tackling is gonna be at a premium. I know, Love
Speaker 1: He's talked about that a little bit here during the
Speaker 1: course of the week, but tackling is gonna be at
Speaker 1: the premium. Getting multiple hats of the ball. He just
Speaker 1: can't give him any space. So the run fits and
Speaker 1: leveraging the ball are going to be important against their offense.
Speaker 1: And I know we're talking a lot about Taylor, but
Speaker 1: Hinz presents as many problems. So it's a good one
Speaker 1: two punch. So they really compliment each other. Well, they're
Speaker 1: both fast, and Nahem isn't as big as Jonathan, but
Speaker 1: he's equally as fast as explosive. So when those two
Speaker 1: players are on the field, the potentially puts the defense
Speaker 1: in conflict. But they're two really good players and we're
Speaker 1: gonna have to attend with them, no question about it. Well,
Speaker 1: it's an interesting offense to evaluate because Philip Rivers two
Speaker 1: years ago, Carson Wentz last year, and now you have
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan. How are they different you think? Or is
Speaker 1: it all still a Frank Reich project, and it's going
Speaker 1: to be very similar. Yeah. I mean this is Frank
Speaker 1: and coach Brady, so they had the system has been
Speaker 1: in place here for a number of years, and I
Speaker 1: think what they try to do is modify to their
Speaker 1: offense to whoever is playing quarterback. But I'd say there's
Speaker 1: a lot of similarities between Philip and Matt. I mean,
Speaker 1: I want to say they're the same player, and even
Speaker 1: Carson to some extent. Carson maybe a little bit more athletic,
Speaker 1: had better movement skills. But they're all big, they're all strong,
Speaker 1: you know, they all are tough. They play from the pocket.
Speaker 1: So they have their system in place. They think there's
Speaker 1: gonna be some things that they're gonna do regardless of
Speaker 1: who's playing quarterback. I mean starts with the running game.
Speaker 1: I mean, Pittman's emerged as a really good young player.
Speaker 1: They drafted Pierce in the second round. They've used dueling
Speaker 1: at different points, so they have I would say they're
Speaker 1: explosive offensively, and they can score from anywhere on the field.
Speaker 1: So I think big plays tackling will be at a
Speaker 1: premium just in terms of preventing those from a defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball. They've added, like you said, Pierce,
Speaker 1: they've added a few rookies, they haven't added a much
Speaker 1: and a lot of other places except for one guy
Speaker 1: that you actually know pretty well out at corner, Xavier
Speaker 1: Rhodes out to find Gilmore steps into that spot and
Speaker 1: watching him during the preseason, you okay, that's the Gilmore
Speaker 1: that we all know. What kind of problem does he present?
Speaker 1: Nick's to find Gilmore out on the outside for the Colts. Now, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Steph's a really good player. He's got good length, six
Speaker 1: foot one hundred ninety pounds. He runs well. He's a
Speaker 1: very instinctive player, like he understands football, he understands splits,
Speaker 1: he understands receivers, and he plays the ball well. And
Speaker 1: he's very competitive. Despite his i would say demeanor and
Speaker 1: how he articulates his thoughts, he's a really good kid.
Speaker 1: He's a good football player. Kind of had some injuries
Speaker 1: that he had to deal with over the last few years.
Speaker 1: But to your point, John, he looks like he's healthy
Speaker 1: and ready to go. So they added him, and they
Speaker 1: and the addition of Phason is kind of one of
Speaker 1: those under the radar types of things. So Brandon has
Speaker 1: experience in Gus's system, so he's with him in San
Speaker 1: Diego in LA and he's with him in Vegas. So
Speaker 1: those two players fit the profile of what they want
Speaker 1: in the perimeter. They like the big, long corners that
Speaker 1: can run. And then Kenny's been as consistent a player
Speaker 1: at his position as they're in a league over the
Speaker 1: last cover many years. So they're good in the secondary,
Speaker 1: they're good on the front line. And then they draft
Speaker 1: a Cross in the third round. Who's big, he's fast,
Speaker 1: he's tough. So they had essentially replaced Cross, or excuse me,
Speaker 1: replaced Willis with Cross. You know, the un foreseen retirement
Speaker 1: of Willis are in the off season, but they probably
Speaker 1: anticipated that there a little bit with a drafting across.
Speaker 1: So they've gotten younger, they've added some new players to
Speaker 1: go along with some of the existing players on their team,
Speaker 1: and schematically, they'll do some things that are specific to
Speaker 1: Gus's system, but they're certainly going to present some problems
Speaker 1: for our offense on the defensive side of the ball. Nick,
Speaker 1: you've been watching all these game planning practices and without
Speaker 1: sharing all the secrets, what about the Texans offensive identity?
Speaker 1: Because here is a game one situation element of surprise,
Speaker 1: and they want to establish that identity. However, it's going
Speaker 1: to play out very quickly. Yeah. I mean running the
Speaker 1: football regardless of who you play in a week to
Speaker 1: week basis, So being able to run the ball, being
Speaker 1: able to stop the run, that's going to be at
Speaker 1: a premium here this week. So I think this will
Speaker 1: be a good opportunity for us offensive. It's all about execution.
Speaker 1: It's all about getting the manageable down to distance situations,
Speaker 1: being able to execute on third down, and hopefully when
Speaker 1: get the ball into the red area, scoring touchdown. So
Speaker 1: there's a lot of elements that we're gonna see. We
Speaker 1: saw some of those elements last year. Turnovers are always
Speaker 1: going to be a factor. You go back and look
Speaker 1: at the game last year. It's ten three at half time,
Speaker 1: then we throw the interception and you get the big
Speaker 1: play for a touchdown, and before you know, it's bios
Speaker 1: out of control and you know, the game gets out
Speaker 1: of hand. So I just want to make sure that
Speaker 1: you know you control the game as best we can
Speaker 1: limit the the big plays from their offense and try
Speaker 1: to create some big plays offensively and try to be
Speaker 1: good in a running game on both sides of the nick.
Speaker 1: I think last week we touched a little bit on
Speaker 1: your waiver claim of Tyler Johnson, who came from the Buccaneers.
Speaker 1: I know we didn't talk about OJ Howard being added.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts We'll get to thoughts about Tyler
Speaker 1: as well. But OJ and Tyler being added to the
Speaker 1: passing game, how does that impact the offense? Yeah, both
Speaker 1: experienced players have had varying levels of production regardless of
Speaker 1: where they've been. I mean, OJ was a good player
Speaker 1: there in Tampa Bay for for a number of years,
Speaker 1: and he had the injury in twenty twenty twenty. I
Speaker 1: believe it was so, and then twenty one kind of
Speaker 1: slowed him a little bit. But big strong runs, well,
Speaker 1: you know, Tyler's had some production, has good size, it says,
Speaker 1: a decent run after catch players. So the big thing
Speaker 1: will be in a short period of time, whether or
Speaker 1: not we can get those players acclimated to our system,
Speaker 1: whether or not we can get them ready to play there.
Speaker 1: Obviously not going to be able to handle the entire offense.
Speaker 1: But you're into more of a game plan specific type things,
Speaker 1: so certain things that may be more relevant than others.
Speaker 1: So we'll see if we can get ready to play,
Speaker 1: and we'll work through the week to see who's actually
Speaker 1: going to be available come game time. Nick pre Covid,
Speaker 1: And it's hard to imagine that a year ago we
Speaker 1: were still in testing mode all the time and everything.
Speaker 1: But pre Covid Tuesdays we're a big day for players
Speaker 1: to come around to different teams around the league and
Speaker 1: try out. How is that working now and what do
Speaker 1: you get out of that? Is that to keep the
Speaker 1: role of decks fresh with information on potential players if
Speaker 1: you do need them. Yeah, that's probably the big thing. Mark.
Speaker 1: So you kind of have a familiarity with most players,
Speaker 1: and we've gone through the preseason, so there's been a
Speaker 1: number of players that have been on rosters that have
Speaker 1: been released, and it's not necessarily i would say position
Speaker 1: specific or geared towards a specific player. It's more to
Speaker 1: kind of get a general mosaic of players and get
Speaker 1: more information and either confirm the information that we have
Speaker 1: or maybe we find something different and maybe we find
Speaker 1: we have a better option. So you're always trying to
Speaker 1: prepare for the what if. So if we lose someone,
Speaker 1: what's our next option? So I would say in the interim,
Speaker 1: the first option is the practice squad. Okay, if we
Speaker 1: don't have a player at that respective position on the
Speaker 1: practice squad, what's the alternative? And we'll probably have a
Speaker 1: decent amount of movement on and off the practice squad.
Speaker 1: So if you're replacing a player, who you're replacing them with.
Speaker 1: So I would say the first month or so, four
Speaker 1: to six weeks, well the volume was probably higher. I
Speaker 1: mean league wide, I'd say ourselves included. Then once we
Speaker 1: kind of get through the first three or four weeks,
Speaker 1: probably have a pretty good idea who's available, and we'll
Speaker 1: be able to plug a hole if necessary. Nick, As
Speaker 1: you prepare for a game, you prepare so many different ways,
Speaker 1: so many situations. First, second down, third down, what are
Speaker 1: you doing? Fourth down? How do you handle an end
Speaker 1: a half? End of game situations? It was actually reading
Speaker 1: article this morning. I thought it was interesting about University Houston.
Speaker 1: They went into overtime the other day against UTSA, and
Speaker 1: they've done a study on overtime about taking the ball
Speaker 1: first or playing defense first, and I thought it was
Speaker 1: pretty interesting from that standpoint because you don't play a
Speaker 1: ton of overtime games, but the college, you have to
Speaker 1: attack it a certain way. Is overtime something that you
Speaker 1: look at as a particular situation that you put studies into,
Speaker 1: analytics into how you go about overtime because it has
Speaker 1: changed over the years. How do you kind of attack
Speaker 1: overtime and how do you look at and perceive it. Yeah, No,
Speaker 1: there's strategy involved in essentially all phases. So once you
Speaker 1: kind of get passed early downs, essentially each game is
Speaker 1: situational football. It's about third down, it's about red area,
Speaker 1: it's about and a half, it's about four minutes, about
Speaker 1: short yardagan goal line. If you do happen again into overtime,
Speaker 1: what's your philosophy, who's the opponent? Who are your playing?
Speaker 1: So we allocate a lot of time and resourcing to
Speaker 1: understanding kind of what's going on, what are other teams doing,
Speaker 1: what are there so many things that we might want
Speaker 1: to implement. We'll talk about them as a staff and
Speaker 1: just make sure we're prepared. So if we are in
Speaker 1: that situation, we kind of have an idea of how
Speaker 1: we want to handle it. So you're not going to
Speaker 1: tell us what your preference is for the format, It's okay,
Speaker 1: let me ask you this though, because obviously we had
Speaker 1: three preseason games. The starters didn't play the entirety of
Speaker 1: any game, but a lot more on the third game.
Speaker 1: And I'm watching college football this weekend, Nick, and there's
Speaker 1: some definite situations that come up that it seems like
Speaker 1: they weren't completely ready for. You're having some week one rust,
Speaker 1: if you will. Is there week one rust in the
Speaker 1: NFL despite the fact that the preseason games, when you
Speaker 1: look at the data year to year, yeah, really, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a new opportunity for all of us. So none
Speaker 1: of us have played a game, none of us is
Speaker 1: coaching a game. One of us have played a full game.
Speaker 1: So adjusting to the game in week one, there's always
Speaker 1: going to be things that pop up that maybe you
Speaker 1: didn't anticipate and prepare for. The ability to adjust and
Speaker 1: react during the course of the game is the most
Speaker 1: important thing. You'll have an idea how the game is
Speaker 1: going to declare in a first quarter on both sides
Speaker 1: of the ball, the kicking game will be the kicking game.
Speaker 1: So once you have a feel for how the game
Speaker 1: is being played, then you can kind of play out
Speaker 1: the rest of the game. But really, each play you're
Speaker 1: going from first down to second down, second out of
Speaker 1: third down, third down to fourth down, there's a new
Speaker 1: situation that comes up essentially on every play. You don't
Speaker 1: know when it's gonna come up. You don't know what
Speaker 1: situation is going to come up and a half you're
Speaker 1: trying to run the clock out or you're trying to
Speaker 1: kick a field goal, So you sort of have to
Speaker 1: prepare and then we will able to react in the
Speaker 1: daft to what goes on during the course of the game. Nick,
Speaker 1: I know you watch college games with a different eye
Speaker 1: because you look at it from an evaluation point, but
Speaker 1: this weekend, and I think it happens every single weekend
Speaker 1: in college football because it's the day before pro games.
Speaker 1: I'm asking this question. Have they been times when you
Speaker 1: see something in a college game and go, WHOA, we
Speaker 1: maybe need like a five minute primer with our guys
Speaker 1: right before the game to say, Hey, this happened in
Speaker 1: this game. We need not that we need to be
Speaker 1: aware of it, but just be conscious of the fact
Speaker 1: that this might happen. There's so many of them that happened.
Speaker 1: The North Carolina Applatches State game where the kid ran
Speaker 1: back downside kick and gave applatches stayed a chance. You
Speaker 1: ever had those opportunities to kind of sit down and say, hey,
Speaker 1: wait a second, this happened. We need to be alert
Speaker 1: for this. No, it's it's a relevant point. It probably
Speaker 1: happens more once we kind of get through the weekend.
Speaker 1: So you go back and look at some of the games,
Speaker 1: and we'll look at some situational plays, look at some
Speaker 1: of the big plays, look at some of the things
Speaker 1: that came up. Maybe there's an application to what we're doing,
Speaker 1: or maybe the application to the NFL. But just when
Speaker 1: you go back and look at this past week in
Speaker 1: a college football the biggest difference in the games was
Speaker 1: a kicking game. Yeah. So, I mean, so everybody talks
Speaker 1: about the importance of special teams and to manifest itself
Speaker 1: in college football, so we put a big emphasis in
Speaker 1: a kicking game here. I would say the Colts are
Speaker 1: probably as good as special teams unit we're gonna face
Speaker 1: in the league. I think when you look at Goslin's
Speaker 1: rankings last year, Rick is very well respected. I think
Speaker 1: the Colts per second, so they do a good job
Speaker 1: in gaming. Bubba was a good player in a kicking game.
Speaker 1: That was his career, and he's done a good job
Speaker 1: putting together. They have some really good core players and EJ.
Speaker 1: Speed they're traded for Grand Steward. They allocate a lot
Speaker 1: of time and resources to that particular phase. So the
Speaker 1: kicking game is gonna win or lose games. At some point,
Speaker 1: you just don't want to lose it, you know, in
Speaker 1: a situation where you could have prevented something negative from happening.
Speaker 1: What about being in the building on Sunday, Nick, with
Speaker 1: the fans coming in regular season situation, Liberty White kickoff
Speaker 1: all of that. I know that you're really focused on
Speaker 1: what is happening between the lines, but it's going to
Speaker 1: be a quite an atmosphere. Yeah. No, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of excitement anticipation for this game. It's Liberty White, and
Speaker 1: so I mean that brings its own kind of unique
Speaker 1: sort of circumstances. But I know Love, He's talked about
Speaker 1: this from day one, so that the fans are important
Speaker 1: when they need the fans. We're playing at home. It's
Speaker 1: a good opportunity for us hopefully get off to a
Speaker 1: good start, and our goal is to try to put
Speaker 1: a good product out there that everybody can be proud of.
Speaker 1: And cheer for so it'll be fun. I think everybody is,
Speaker 1: you know, excited about Sunday and being able to get
Speaker 1: on the field and actually play some football. All right,
Speaker 1: Everybody goes to a particular musical choice before kickoff, not me,
Speaker 1: You have one or you just total competing on your
Speaker 1: drive to the stadium? Is it? Is it a talk show?
Speaker 1: Is accusa? What is it? No? My drive to the stadium. Actually,
Speaker 1: my wife and I kind of have our own little
Speaker 1: Sunday routine, so she actually we drive to the stadium together.
Speaker 1: She drops me off so after the game we can
Speaker 1: go home together. So honestly, we're just kind of having
Speaker 1: like a nice conversation about nothing related to football. So
Speaker 1: it's like trying to keep it as normal as possible.
Speaker 1: Dropped like Dan Campbell, metallity got to hear Motley Crewe
Speaker 1: right now? I mean, who doesn't want to hear Molly
Speaker 1: Crewe right now? Well, hopefully you because you're listening to
Speaker 1: me and to Mark and twenty questions. That's next on
Speaker 1: Texas All accesses. Welcome back to this Wednesday edition to
Speaker 1: Texans All Access. I'm your host, John Harris propplying outside
Speaker 1: a lot of reporter and Mark stays with me for
Speaker 1: our first edition of twenty questions. Okay, you're ready, this ready,
Speaker 1: just firing all right questions? Now you can go as
Speaker 1: fast as you'd like. You can explain things you don't
Speaker 1: have to. How long do we need the segment to
Speaker 1: be Johnny? Yeah? Well, I mean, you see, the whole
Speaker 1: key with twenty questions is the fact that you never
Speaker 1: actually get through. That's kind of the fun. But you
Speaker 1: just got twenty questions. If you really have twenty I
Speaker 1: can answer them. Go on, Shaquille Leonard will play on
Speaker 1: Sunday against the Texans. Yes or no? Oh? I don't
Speaker 1: want him to. How about that? You know how I
Speaker 1: feel about this. He should rest, relax, take the year off,
Speaker 1: make sure that he's healthy enough. I was doing this
Speaker 1: with Andrew Luck for a few years, and then finally
Speaker 1: my witch came true at the beginning of twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: when he retired completely. So, Darius, I mean, Shaquille, it's
Speaker 1: up to you to retire immediately for your own safety.
Speaker 1: I liked him not playing on Sunday, Johnny Jonathan Taylor
Speaker 1: in the first time he will see the Texans since
Speaker 1: running for over a hundred last year, at NRG Stadium. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor will be held under one hundred yards. And
Speaker 1: if so, how do the Texans do it? I think
Speaker 1: they could slow him down. You know, he could still
Speaker 1: have a Hundy, you could still win. I think the
Speaker 1: key number for him is about one hundred, ten hundred
Speaker 1: and fifteen, okay, because he could have a forty yard
Speaker 1: run and then the rest of the time you're kind
Speaker 1: of keeping him bottled up or something like that. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say. I'm gonna say he doesn't do it. He
Speaker 1: doesn't get to the century mark. They hold him to
Speaker 1: eighty seven point five yards. Shaquille Leonard, Forrest Bugner, Grover Stewarts,
Speaker 1: Defont Gilmore, Julian Blackman, Bobby o'karakay. Which Coult worries you
Speaker 1: the most? Maybe it's what I didn't say. Which Colt
Speaker 1: defender worries you the most? On Sunday as far as
Speaker 1: the defenders go, I would say Jonnick and Gockway worries
Speaker 1: me the most. The strip sack turnover potential that he
Speaker 1: rings to the table, that sort of thing worries me.
Speaker 1: I think that if you look at the game in retrospect,
Speaker 1: if you lose you'll say, oh, Buckner bottled things up
Speaker 1: in the middle, they couldn't run or something like that.
Speaker 1: Something a little more subtle, if you will. But the
Speaker 1: big splash, turnover, game changing play buying Gockway worries me.
Speaker 1: We all have twenty seventeen PTSD, don't we. Yeah, we do.
Speaker 1: I mean for many reasons. But yeah, from a football standpoint,
Speaker 1: that opening game of the year of Jannick and Gockway
Speaker 1: just beating the unit. What Tom Savage in the first
Speaker 1: half is just always stuck with me. Yeah. And also
Speaker 1: the one there the game you played at Jacksonville that year,
Speaker 1: which was just a celebration of Jaguar history before the
Speaker 1: Texans came into the league, when they were really good.
Speaker 1: It was like the game they played with the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins in the playoffs. Okay, it wasn't that lopsided, but
Speaker 1: it felt like it. What was that game sixty two
Speaker 1: to seven or something like that to cap off the
Speaker 1: ninety nine season in Dan Marino's career, it felt that bad.
Speaker 1: It was the Jaguars out all their frustrations over the years,
Speaker 1: of all the losses to the Texans. That's what that
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen game was. Down there and Gockway now a cult.
Speaker 1: Thanks a lot in Gockway, Gilmore. I hate these acquisitions
Speaker 1: from a Texans standpoint in Indy, very frustrating. Pro Football
Speaker 1: Talk put out their power rankings in Week one and
Speaker 1: Mike Florio has the Texans at number thirty two. What
Speaker 1: do you think about that placement? I think you know,
Speaker 1: I think Seth said it best this morning. They were
Speaker 1: going over a lot of the different power ranking situations
Speaker 1: presented by league media, national media. They don't think a
Speaker 1: lot about the bottom five, six, seven, eight teams. They
Speaker 1: don't really put a lot of thought into that. They
Speaker 1: put a lot of thought into the top ten. Because
Speaker 1: a team that gets knocked out of the top ten
Speaker 1: and somebody's power rankings, their fan base is gonna be
Speaker 1: a lot louder than Hey, we're not thirty one, we
Speaker 1: should be twenty nine, that kind of thing, right. Yeah.
Speaker 1: To be ranked last though, is just pure ignorance. You
Speaker 1: didn't finished last last year. You are better now. I
Speaker 1: mean this is not debatable. You are better now than
Speaker 1: you were when you left the building last year, right
Speaker 1: after losing to the Titans. Now, I guess a lot
Speaker 1: of teams can say that, but come on. The Bears
Speaker 1: are trying to pick up anybody they possibly can because
Speaker 1: they feel so badly about their roster. The Jaguars should
Speaker 1: be better, but are they better than the Texans who
Speaker 1: beat them twice last year? You cannot say that. They
Speaker 1: have to prove it on the field. So I don't
Speaker 1: like that thirty two ranking at all. I love these
Speaker 1: power rankings. I love them. They mean absolutely squat, but
Speaker 1: I love them. Florio's got the Titans at eight, the
Speaker 1: Colts at eleven, the Jague Wires at twenty nine. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the Texans at thirty two. Do you agree with a
Speaker 1: the first two? No? How do you think it should go?
Speaker 1: I would probably rank the Colts higher. I know the
Speaker 1: Titans have been there and they're the two time defending
Speaker 1: AFC South champions, but I don't think they got a
Speaker 1: ton better the Colts did. The Colts with Matt Ryan
Speaker 1: and the defensive acquisitions we talked about on paper, you
Speaker 1: should at least give it to them. Now. Maybe it
Speaker 1: doesn't work out with Ryan at all. Maybe that's his
Speaker 1: hunch right there, But the Titans themselves drafted a quarterback
Speaker 1: to show you, you know what, they're a little shaky
Speaker 1: they're a little iffy on the quarterback situation, and it's
Speaker 1: a situation that produced a belly up performance in the
Speaker 1: postseason for them. So I think that you should rank
Speaker 1: the Colts ahead of the Titans. I would pick the
Speaker 1: Colts ahead of the Titans in the division if I
Speaker 1: had to. I tend to agree with you. These are
Speaker 1: the power rankings from I don't think this is maybe
Speaker 1: I can't tell what this is. Maybe Draft Kings. I
Speaker 1: kinda like them. They got to Texas at twenty nine.
Speaker 1: They got the Jaguars at twenty eight. Of this top
Speaker 1: ten that I'm about to read to you, which team
Speaker 1: doesn't belong number one? Bills, two Bucks, three Rams, four Chargers,
Speaker 1: five Packers, six Chiefs, seven Broncos, eight Bengals, ninety nine
Speaker 1: Ers and tend the Browns. Which team doesn't belong in
Speaker 1: that top ten? Browns? Yeah, Brown Browns. Deshaun Watson's gonna
Speaker 1: play opening Day? Is that what they have? Get Browns four? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he says this, and disbelief. Yeah, you can't pick the
Speaker 1: Browns that high because they have to play the bulk
Speaker 1: of the season without Watson. Even with Watson, I get it.
Speaker 1: They've got a good roster, etc. You have to take
Speaker 1: that into account. With a better quarterback, they're gonna be
Speaker 1: a lot better than they were last year. But Jacoby
Speaker 1: Brissette has trouble hanging on to employment as a starting quarterback,
Speaker 1: even a backup quarterback at this point in his career.
Speaker 1: So I don't swim in confidence if I'm a Cleveland
Speaker 1: fan right now. The other thing is this, what were
Speaker 1: the Chargers and that one fourth? Yeah, that's given them
Speaker 1: a lot of rich I love, I'm one of the
Speaker 1: leaders of the Chargers are really good campaign but they
Speaker 1: got to do it on the field. They have to
Speaker 1: be able to prove it. And they're a lot of
Speaker 1: teams that. I mean, everybody has to do that, but
Speaker 1: the Chargers, especially after missing out on the postseason, losing
Speaker 1: to a Raiders team that lost its coach on the
Speaker 1: final day, with a chance to get to the postseason,
Speaker 1: they couldn't close the deal. That doesn't mean they're gonna
Speaker 1: be bad this year, but I don't think you should
Speaker 1: rank them in the top five. Pete Prisco has his
Speaker 1: power rankings for CBS Sports, and we are both Prisco fans.
Speaker 1: I love Pete, less I don't agree with him that
Speaker 1: I don't like Pete, so tell me do I like
Speaker 1: him or not? Right now, he has the Texans at
Speaker 1: number twenty six, one spot above the Detroit Lions. What
Speaker 1: about the Jaguars one spot below? Glad you asked the
Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguars your comments about Pete Prisco's power. You know,
Speaker 1: just as John McClain got Warren Moon into the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame, and we'll get Andrey Johnson into the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame, and he got a lot of people into
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame, Robert Brazil, Pete Prisco feels like
Speaker 1: he got Tony Basselli into the Hall of Fame. And
Speaker 1: I don't know if he did or not, but you know,
Speaker 1: Pete was always trumpeting the cause of Basselli getting into
Speaker 1: the hall, so good for him. Look, I think twenty
Speaker 1: six is nice. I saw whose power rankings? Did I see?
Speaker 1: With the Texans had five games against teams that were
Speaker 1: below them. They had two against the Jags, they had
Speaker 1: one against the Giants, one against the Bears. I think
Speaker 1: that you have to rank the Giants pretty low based
Speaker 1: on the fact that they really don't believe in their quarterback.
Speaker 1: The Bears for reasons I just stated previously, and the
Speaker 1: Jaguars should be below the Texans based on the fact
Speaker 1: that they lost twice to them last year, and they
Speaker 1: both are better, but how much better? Okay, he's got
Speaker 1: the Bengals at five and the Patriots at number twenty two.
Speaker 1: That's a little low. Which one is more likely to
Speaker 1: be wrong? Bengals at five or Patriots at twenty two.
Speaker 1: Remember Matt Patricia is your offensive coordinator in New England.
Speaker 1: I think that I think the Bengals at five is
Speaker 1: probably more likely to be wrong. Okay, I think the
Speaker 1: Bengals based on the fact that they won ten games,
Speaker 1: they got hot in the postseason, they should be better
Speaker 1: this year. But five is high. Twenty two is low
Speaker 1: for the Patriots. Johnny, But but I could see things
Speaker 1: going very wrong for New England in a division that's tougher,
Speaker 1: all right. The Jets might not be tougher, but the
Speaker 1: Bills want to smash the Patriots every chance they get, obviously,
Speaker 1: and when they're not gonna have another wind swept run
Speaker 1: only game in Western New York, New England won't. The
Speaker 1: Bills will sweep in this year, and the Dolphins could
Speaker 1: be a lot better. I think it's gonna be tough
Speaker 1: for New England. Okay, I'm gonna give you five teams, Yeah,
Speaker 1: five teams, the Bills and the AFC West or the
Speaker 1: field to win the Super Bowl. So you got the Bills,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, the Chargers, the Broncos and the Raiders. Or
Speaker 1: are you taking the field? Now? Most power rankings as
Speaker 1: I'm looking at Sam Monson's has the Bills at one,
Speaker 1: the Chargers at five, the Chiefs at four, the Broncos
Speaker 1: at seven out. So four those five in the top seven.
Speaker 1: So you take in the Bills of the FC West
Speaker 1: or the field. It's not even hard you take that
Speaker 1: first selection the Bills. If you want to make it
Speaker 1: really hard, you say the Bills and the AFC North, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: because the Bengals made it to the Super Bowl. The
Speaker 1: Ravens are gonna be better if Jackson stays healthy. I
Speaker 1: don't expect much out of Cleveland. I really don't, because
Speaker 1: Uber Sett and all that. Steelers not the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: but they're gonna be a tough out. I would say
Speaker 1: that would make it harder because to me, the Bills
Speaker 1: are going to the Super Bowl. Yeah, I think so too,
Speaker 1: But you also only have AFC West in that scenario,
Speaker 1: the AFC, you don't have an NFC and look, so
Speaker 1: few minutes anything can happen all but this is to
Speaker 1: win the Super Bowl. W to win the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: Bills in the FC. Wests still take it because I
Speaker 1: got the Chiefs and the Chargers do get hot and
Speaker 1: Denver could be really good, but I don't think they'll
Speaker 1: be that good. Yeah, the Raiders. I could change it
Speaker 1: up and say the Bears and the AFC North or
Speaker 1: the field to what have the number of the Draft
Speaker 1: Bowl Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Steelers and the Bears by a lot? Okay,
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco is starting the first three games for the
Speaker 1: New York Jets because of Zach Wilson's knee issue. What
Speaker 1: do we think of that? By the way, I'm asking you,
Speaker 1: what do you think of that? Joe Flacco starting the
Speaker 1: first three games to the Jets? What's their record at
Speaker 1: the end of three games? You want me to see
Speaker 1: who they play? Yeah, you gotta give me the gotta
Speaker 1: get what you said three games with Flacco? What happened
Speaker 1: to Mike White? I thought he was pretty good. They
Speaker 1: start on September eleventh at Homing. It's the Ravens. Then
Speaker 1: they go to Cleveland to take on the Brissette Browns,
Speaker 1: and then they go back home to take on the Bengals.
Speaker 1: One and two could beat Cleveland. They're not gonna beat
Speaker 1: the Ravens, which interesting because they'll lose both at home,
Speaker 1: but went on the road against the Browns. Yeah, one
Speaker 1: and two. One and two with Flacco Zami Wilson, if
Speaker 1: Zach Wilson were healthy, still goes one and two with
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco's your quarterback? Who will lead the league in rushing?
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry or Jonathan Taylor? Or the field or the field?
Speaker 1: I'll give you. I get Henry and Taylor, you get
Speaker 1: the field. Are you taking that bet? I'll take the field? Real,
Speaker 1: I'll take a shot. Sure Dalvin Cook stays healthy the
Speaker 1: entire season. You know, somebody else comes out of the
Speaker 1: Elijah Mitchell. You know one of these guys, all right,
Speaker 1: Damian Pierce? Yes, I said it wouldn't that be? Which
Speaker 1: makes me think this is a better way to a
Speaker 1: phrase that the leading rusher in the NFL will come
Speaker 1: from the AFC South. So you get the NFC South
Speaker 1: running backs or the field? Now that would be even better.
Speaker 1: I'll still take the field, but I want to see
Speaker 1: Pierce do some serious damage here. The leading passer in
Speaker 1: the NFL yards only you get the AFC West right
Speaker 1: or the field. So you get Mahomes, Herbert Car or
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson. The leading passer by yards in the NFL
Speaker 1: will come from the AFC West or you're taking the field.
Speaker 1: I'll take the AFC West, no question, Herbert, Mahomes, Car, Wilson.
Speaker 1: I mean maybe even Car flirts with that. I think
Speaker 1: Car's gonna be flirting with it. I think the number.
Speaker 1: I think Car is gonna have the numbers there. I
Speaker 1: think very easily. Justin Herbert could. But I think the
Speaker 1: Charge is gonna be ahead and more games. I think
Speaker 1: this year, so a little probably on Austin that a
Speaker 1: little bit more. You have that Charger love going on.
Speaker 1: I do, I do. I sang it, yeah, super Charger.
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I would go to Vegas and
Speaker 1: put money on the acust to lead the league in passing. Oh,
Speaker 1: you know the you know my wild card, which I
Speaker 1: don't know. It's too much about Cart, Tom Brady, Dak Prescott,
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott. I think Prescott could put up some numbers.
Speaker 1: They have to throw it. They have to. I don't
Speaker 1: think their running game is is what it was? Now?
Speaker 1: Can you get it off with a rookie had left tackle?
Speaker 1: And I know Jason Peters went out there, but how
Speaker 1: long is that gonna take? So it's not gonna be
Speaker 1: a Green Bay because they want to run the ball.
Speaker 1: Yeah they do. And Tampa, well Brady did it last year, right,
Speaker 1: he could do it again. See that he could do
Speaker 1: it again. I think Tampa's defense being a little bit better,
Speaker 1: But I don't know what Tampa's gonna Tampa to me,
Speaker 1: is gonna be a struggle bust just from the offensive line.
Speaker 1: I'll give you a Wildcard League leader in passing. Say it, Jamis.
Speaker 1: Do you know that he got off to such a
Speaker 1: hot start in his career. I saw this graphic the
Speaker 1: other day, and you know, you see so much stuff
Speaker 1: you forget what it is, and I should have remembered it.
Speaker 1: But he got off to one of the hottest starts
Speaker 1: in history in terms of total yards past four. Now,
Speaker 1: the turnovers might have been there and some other things
Speaker 1: that you don't like, not enough wins, but he threw
Speaker 1: for a bucket load of yards. He was him Marino
Speaker 1: and somebody else in the first three four years of
Speaker 1: their career with the most yards you did two any questions,
Speaker 1: very well, we're gonna do that from now on. Nice job.
Speaker 1: You're off the hot seat. But John Grenard is in
Speaker 1: the hot seat next with our deep sunt Interview of
Speaker 1: the week right here in Texas All Access. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: but it's so good to be back on Wednesday night
Speaker 1: All Access for not one, but two hours right here
Speaker 1: at Sports Radio six ten. You can pick us up
Speaker 1: on the Houston Texans zapp. It's so glad to be
Speaker 1: with you. I am your host, John Harris, and my
Speaker 1: good friend DPCO is one of the best interview you
Speaker 1: were going to fine. We call her interviews the deep
Speaker 1: slant interview of the week. And I said this to
Speaker 1: Mark at some point because dep caught up with John
Speaker 1: Grenard earlier today and there's one thing I know about
Speaker 1: both of them. They can go. They can go for
Speaker 1: a while. So I got a little worried about time
Speaker 1: because Deep talking to John, this is gonna be a
Speaker 1: great conversation. I just thought I was gonna go for
Speaker 1: maybe thirty minutes. Well luckily they didn't go that long.
Speaker 1: But a lot of meat, right here on the Bone
Speaker 1: with our deep Slant Interview of the week with edge
Speaker 1: rusher defensive lineman John Grenard. Deeply ticket away. It's a
Speaker 1: deep Slant one one presented by Xfinity. Our guest for
Speaker 1: week one, Jonathan Grenard. John, I mean, I feel like
Speaker 1: you're a vet. It's only your three for you. Do
Speaker 1: you feel like of it? You're like a leader of
Speaker 1: this defense, but more so you're one of the guys
Speaker 1: that's been a fixture through a lot of changes, right right,
Speaker 1: And it feels that way kinda. I mean, being going
Speaker 1: on year three. Obviously different coaches, obviously every year so far,
Speaker 1: but I think this should feels a little different. I mean,
Speaker 1: the energy feels good. I think guys understanding what the
Speaker 1: standard is. We're understanding what love He wants, what the
Speaker 1: organization is about, and I'm just trying to establish a
Speaker 1: new one. And obviously you know in the past it
Speaker 1: wasn't we didn't live up to that. But I think
Speaker 1: now this year we're just all in that same mission
Speaker 1: and we don't want to court. Yeah, you're going through
Speaker 1: a several coaching changes, but at least with Lovey being
Speaker 1: the new head coach, you had him as your defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator last year, Does it feel like there's something that
Speaker 1: you can really build on just knowing his scheme and
Speaker 1: knowing what he's looking for when you're all right, I
Speaker 1: think now just I think taking that his defensive mindset
Speaker 1: and you know, making everybody on the team, including the
Speaker 1: offense and special teams understand what he wants to So
Speaker 1: I think it's just we'll use that now on the
Speaker 1: defensive side to you know, spread that to the offense
Speaker 1: and help them out understand, you know, that what the
Speaker 1: mission is and what the standard is. And I think
Speaker 1: they already know a self explanatory. I mean, we all
Speaker 1: we're trying to win here, we all understand what we're chasing.
Speaker 1: But it definitely does help to have a guy like
Speaker 1: like love you coming back your defensive coordinator. Now he's
Speaker 1: the head coach and obviously leading it the right way,
Speaker 1: and it's not hard to follow it. Like I mentioned before,
Speaker 1: it's just easy to follow because we at understand what
Speaker 1: we're trying to do. What was your off season, Like
Speaker 1: I know, it's probably not the way you wanted to
Speaker 1: spend it. You were out there during ot as, you
Speaker 1: weren't doing much. We saw you start to take snaps
Speaker 1: obviously in the preseason in the training camp. But tell
Speaker 1: us about your offseason just getting healthy and what that
Speaker 1: was like for y'all. Yeah, I had a little clean
Speaker 1: up surgery, a little bit something else, a little bothering
Speaker 1: me in my foot, but it helped out that I
Speaker 1: used that time to pretty much just work on other
Speaker 1: aspects of my body that I felt like that were weaker,
Speaker 1: you know, or that needed tending to. And I feel good.
Speaker 1: I mean, like, as you mentioned, it was tough watching
Speaker 1: the guys that are OTA's obviously just continues to take
Speaker 1: and reps being out there, you know, with the guys
Speaker 1: sweating and grinding, but we understand the business, we understand
Speaker 1: what the mission is and understand the mental reps is
Speaker 1: was huge for me. I just went back over my
Speaker 1: old film watching the guys that are in there now,
Speaker 1: just trying to add to my game and just correct
Speaker 1: the stuff that I did be a better and more
Speaker 1: efficient player. Yeah, I was gonna ask you, what did
Speaker 1: you learn about your self throw those mental reps and
Speaker 1: not being on the field. Yeah, that I think too
Speaker 1: much at the time. So I'm a bit huge overthinker,
Speaker 1: and I think that's my issue just in general in
Speaker 1: life period and not just with ball. And I think
Speaker 1: whenever you can do that for anybody, to just dumb
Speaker 1: it down to where they can just play fast and
Speaker 1: do one thing the mission is and what they're asking
Speaker 1: you to doing that defense, offense or defense, it makes
Speaker 1: the game go faster and more comfortable. In that way,
Speaker 1: you can just play faster. I think overall that was
Speaker 1: the mission I was trying to get to each year
Speaker 1: them trying to learn something that that I can build
Speaker 1: off from last year. What about pass rushing, I mean,
Speaker 1: you're just known as obviously a great pass rusher and
Speaker 1: the defense. I know that you have had your conversations
Speaker 1: with Laramie Tunsel and Titus Howard, especially in camp. So
Speaker 1: how do you improve your pass rushing heading into a
Speaker 1: year three? And how did those guys really help you? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean, like I said, even today, I mean, we're
Speaker 1: gonna do it every day. We're gonna go against each other.
Speaker 1: You know, we don't going against each other in the game.
Speaker 1: I just think to take these to pick each other's
Speaker 1: brains from pass rush stuff. It's a little small things
Speaker 1: because we're all as all pass rushes, we all think
Speaker 1: the same kind of we understand that's in a million
Speaker 1: ways to get to the quarterback, but at the same time,
Speaker 1: it's kind of a foundational way that everybody gets to
Speaker 1: the quarterback where it's a certain move that is that
Speaker 1: is adjustable for one guy or fits him. But yeah,
Speaker 1: we do that all the time, and I just think
Speaker 1: overall it helps us Iron Sharp AND's Iron and these
Speaker 1: are guys that obviously at the top of their game
Speaker 1: with Laramie and and Titus as well. And I think
Speaker 1: if we continue to do that amongst ourselves with the
Speaker 1: guys who got in our room Acrost the defensive line,
Speaker 1: I just think that it'll be great for us and
Speaker 1: to build that Camaradoe as well, just so that way
Speaker 1: we know going into the game and we can always
Speaker 1: just help each other out for that we need. Do
Speaker 1: you try different moves on them in practice? Yeah, you
Speaker 1: got to try to try them out and see like, hey,
Speaker 1: how's this gonna work. You kind of got you kind
Speaker 1: of call you out when it's something new they haven't
Speaker 1: seen before. Uh, kinda yeah, because it's more so like
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, we don't want to lose.
Speaker 1: I mean, some some guys some days you want to
Speaker 1: get an extra rep just to kind of see whether
Speaker 1: you didn't like how he beat you on that rep.
Speaker 1: You're trying to get another win, or you're trying to
Speaker 1: work something that you didn't before that you might have seen.
Speaker 1: So I think that that's a good thing about it.
Speaker 1: You know, we never get into it that that type
Speaker 1: of stuff just because we understand we're trying to do
Speaker 1: you gotta get hit him off or stuff like that.
Speaker 1: We understand this ball, We understand that's that's a good
Speaker 1: thing about having a good relationship outside of the locker
Speaker 1: room or just inside them on the football field to
Speaker 1: understand the mission. We can try a lot of things
Speaker 1: and at the same time, we just gotta be be
Speaker 1: real with each other when it comes to it. If
Speaker 1: it's not a move, it ain't working like that, say
Speaker 1: like nah, I'm gonna do this every time, and it's
Speaker 1: like okay, So you know, you just gotta keep building
Speaker 1: and vice versus. So I think it's been a fish
Speaker 1: for everybody. Well, one of the old linemen gave you
Speaker 1: credit for something. A. J. Cann said you were the
Speaker 1: best trash talker on the team. He was asking who
Speaker 1: the best best trash tracker was. He said that, He
Speaker 1: said that you're the loudest one, at least in camp.
Speaker 1: You were, and he said it was all good stuff,
Speaker 1: very chippy. Sure, and I find that kind of hard
Speaker 1: to believe because you were like this whenever we see
Speaker 1: Versali and happy. But what do you like on the
Speaker 1: field with those guys. I try to turn it. I
Speaker 1: try to turn it up a little bit, just because,
Speaker 1: I mean, if I feel the team needs at that time,
Speaker 1: whether the practice is a little sluggish or something, sometimes
Speaker 1: a little bit just throw it in there, just talking
Speaker 1: a little trash, get us going. I like to keep
Speaker 1: it friendly. Sometimes it's not as friendly as others, but overall,
Speaker 1: we just we love a game. I love a game
Speaker 1: of football. I just love them to compete, and I think,
Speaker 1: if we're out there, why not compete. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: it's already hot as ever out there anyway, so if
Speaker 1: we're might as well compete and try to both get
Speaker 1: not just get through it, but I actually win through it,
Speaker 1: you know, and push through it. So yeah, I like
Speaker 1: to do that. I mean, I've been kind of do
Speaker 1: it on since I was young. But as you say,
Speaker 1: I kind of look like this on the outside. I
Speaker 1: try to keep it. I try to keep this so
Speaker 1: that's a good thing. I'm glad I get it all
Speaker 1: out on the Yeah, I'm glad them people see me
Speaker 1: off the field and like, okay, you cool this guy.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't have my glasses on the day,
Speaker 1: so they think I'm a little non sophisticated right now.
Speaker 1: But other than that, yeah, I try to I try
Speaker 1: to keep it a little, keep that on the field.
Speaker 1: What about during games? During game time? I mean, what
Speaker 1: is it? I'm fascinated with trash talking on the fielding games?
Speaker 1: I mean, what is it? What is the art to
Speaker 1: good trash talking? Is it funny? Does it mean? Is
Speaker 1: it annoying? It just depends when do you start? When
Speaker 1: you stop? All right? I think it just depends. Um.
Speaker 1: Depends on the guy. First of all. It depends on
Speaker 1: how well. First of all, not the guy, depends on
Speaker 1: how the game is going. If you're winning, okay, so
Speaker 1: if if you're if you're winning the game, then that's
Speaker 1: that's best grounds to talk. Um. But you make a
Speaker 1: couple of plays, you kind of have to pace it.
Speaker 1: Do you want to talk? Because you'll better be a
Speaker 1: play that you know, get you off the field, because
Speaker 1: if you're talking trash on the field, you're still on
Speaker 1: the field. You gotta go five six more plays then
Speaker 1: then this you're gonna be real tired. So I just
Speaker 1: thin you gotta play with a little bit. But overall,
Speaker 1: I just try to go with it. I mean, I
Speaker 1: just played with the field. I mean, it gets me
Speaker 1: tired sometimes talking trash, so I gotta pick and choose
Speaker 1: my battles. But for the most part, yeah, for the
Speaker 1: most part. Um, I'm gonna try to get under the
Speaker 1: skin if I make a couple of plays, just so
Speaker 1: that I just get myself going to the minutes. Fine,
Speaker 1: I mean I don't I don't mean no ill intent
Speaker 1: at all. You're never gonna here we go below the
Speaker 1: built about some stuff. I'm just trying to talk trash
Speaker 1: to get us both through the game. For sure. What
Speaker 1: about division opponents, because you're gonna see these guys twice
Speaker 1: a year, is it like a series to be continued?
Speaker 1: You're going against these guys quite a bit, right, you
Speaker 1: would think that, you would think so, But I haven't surprised.
Speaker 1: I haven't talked as much trash. But I just think overall,
Speaker 1: we just got to get to that point where we
Speaker 1: can do that. I think when we get to that point,
Speaker 1: we all can conftantly walk around when our chest out
Speaker 1: to the point where we know, we know our identity,
Speaker 1: we know we're actually putting it on tape, were getting
Speaker 1: the results we want. And I think that's you know,
Speaker 1: not only is the film going to show, I mean
Speaker 1: you can then you can be able to kind of
Speaker 1: talk a little bit at the time too, because you
Speaker 1: know that you're you're confident what you're doing, and you
Speaker 1: know that it's no matter what they're gonna do, you're
Speaker 1: gonna win. So when we get to that point, I
Speaker 1: think that's what where you're going to see a huge turn.
Speaker 1: And I'm definitely going to continue to my best every day.
Speaker 1: Whether we like that or not. I'm still gonna be
Speaker 1: talking trash to keep us going because at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, we're still growing and we still play defense.
Speaker 1: So we got to stop the wars every time they
Speaker 1: try to score. All right, Well, speaking of division opponents,
Speaker 1: you open up the season against the cole to Matt Ryan.
Speaker 1: You grew up in Georgia, so you grew up watching
Speaker 1: him all. I mean, what's that like? I know Lovey
Speaker 1: Smith has talked about it just facing those guys again
Speaker 1: the way they dominated last He's kind of good to
Speaker 1: start off the season against them. But what are your
Speaker 1: thoughts on the colt and with Matt Ryan, a guy
Speaker 1: that's really been a veteran and kind of makes that
Speaker 1: team look a little bit different. He does. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's a great quarterback. I mean, like I said, I
Speaker 1: grew up a Georgia kid um and watching him coming up.
Speaker 1: Obviously when he got drafted there, he kind of turned
Speaker 1: the Falcons around him and we were blackout in Atlanta
Speaker 1: um around that time. So for him to change that
Speaker 1: around and give the city a little hope at that time,
Speaker 1: he was huge for the city. So I just admire
Speaker 1: a guy like that, his true character. But but on
Speaker 1: the football side, he's a great quarterback when everybody everybody
Speaker 1: know him, he's well respected, makes the Reds real good.
Speaker 1: He fits that offense kind of like you know Carson
Speaker 1: Wentzon and Phillip Rivers the year before. You know, these
Speaker 1: guys were Frank Rig He's a quarterbacks coach. It fits
Speaker 1: these guys. So I think overall we gotta make just
Speaker 1: make him feel uncomfortable. A lot of teams that had
Speaker 1: success to gets him in the passage. HA made him
Speaker 1: feel uncomfortable with his pass rush um games or anything.
Speaker 1: Just get him off of his office spot, make him
Speaker 1: get out of rhythm. You're gonna you gotta do that
Speaker 1: gets an event like that because he's seen it all,
Speaker 1: he knows it all, he's done it all. So I
Speaker 1: just think overall, we stopped him. And then you get
Speaker 1: to twenty eight that the running back they got a Taylor.
Speaker 1: I mean he's a great back as well. We stopped
Speaker 1: that aspect, and I think overall they're going to continue
Speaker 1: to just come to us at the times we're trying
Speaker 1: to just get them to those long situations in passing down.
Speaker 1: So I think we'll give ourselves a really good shot.
Speaker 1: There are you talking about growing up in Georgia, So
Speaker 1: I have to ask you about the John Grenard Foundation.
Speaker 1: Just started it this off season, So tell me what
Speaker 1: the what was the driving force behind starting it and
Speaker 1: who you really hope to help with that. Yeah, I mean, like,
Speaker 1: I'm a small town kid from For the ones who
Speaker 1: are from Georgia, I'm from Hi, I'm Georgia. But you know,
Speaker 1: people asking where you're from, my say Atlanta because general
Speaker 1: so I'm twenty, about thirty minutes outside of Atlanta to
Speaker 1: going north, and this is a small town and it's
Speaker 1: kind of surrounded by two or three of the biggest
Speaker 1: counties almost in Georgia, you know, Cobb County, um in
Speaker 1: Fullton obviously where Atlanta resides, and obviously Douglas County and
Speaker 1: those counties around it. So we kind of sit right
Speaker 1: in the middle. And I just think me creating that,
Speaker 1: creating the foundation was to level the plan field so
Speaker 1: that we will all have equal opportunity. And that was
Speaker 1: all that was our mission statement. That's our mission statements
Speaker 1: to level the plan fields because of you know, when
Speaker 1: you look at mckeachron saying mckeachroon is the school in
Speaker 1: Cobb County or the hill grows, you know, these bigger
Speaker 1: schools that are surrounding our county, they get all the
Speaker 1: shot because they're just they just look better. They're obviously there,
Speaker 1: and to just put out more so, I just think
Speaker 1: what I wanted to do there, and it's not just
Speaker 1: hire them, it just it kind of goes for anybody
Speaker 1: that's overlooked. And I just think that me getting my
Speaker 1: hands on them and the people in within our foundation
Speaker 1: get our hands on the youth around there and being
Speaker 1: a part of that to make sure that we're not overlooking.
Speaker 1: We can supply the people and the kids with those
Speaker 1: stuff that makes them put them on that level playing field.
Speaker 1: I love that, and that's just that's what I'm all
Speaker 1: about because I just know me how was a three
Speaker 1: star recruit coming out, didn't have many offers like that
Speaker 1: coming out of school. I had to prove myself a lot,
Speaker 1: you know. At the same time, I didn't have a
Speaker 1: lot of the resources to get to where I needed
Speaker 1: to go at the time, but I was fortunate enough
Speaker 1: to eventually build those relationships to get that. And I
Speaker 1: just think I don't want everyone to start that path
Speaker 1: when when I have the authority to make them all
Speaker 1: on a level playing field. So that's what we're about,
Speaker 1: and I think that I'm gonna continue to draw for it.
Speaker 1: We had our first successful camp this past offseason, Youth Camp,
Speaker 1: and it was amazing. We had a lot of huge turnout.
Speaker 1: Even though the rain tried to get us, we still
Speaker 1: had amazing turning out. About seventy kids came out, and
Speaker 1: We're going to continue to keep trying to go out
Speaker 1: and be bigger and better next year, and we're still
Speaker 1: building those relationships by teach them literacy, you know, football
Speaker 1: stuff or life stuff in general, just life coaches, and
Speaker 1: I think in totality we're going to be good for
Speaker 1: the community. All right, great stuff, Love to see it.
Speaker 1: Congrats on the foundation, appreciate it. That's a lucky year. Three, Jonathan,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. Deep Well, those are two of
Speaker 1: my favorite people in the building, two of my favorite
Speaker 1: people anywhere right there, dep City and John Grenard. Now
Speaker 1: one of my favorite people you heard earlier in the show,
Speaker 1: Mark Vandermer. He's going to stop by at the top
Speaker 1: of the second hour with our men behind the mics,
Speaker 1: the two men making the call on Sunday for their
Speaker 1: respective teams. Of course you know the voice Mark Vandemir,
Speaker 1: but do you know the voice of the Indianapolis Colts. Well,
Speaker 1: it's our friend Matt Taylor. Men behind the mics to
Speaker 1: kick off the second hour of Texans All Access. That's next.
Speaker 1: Stay tuned, Stay tuned. This is one of my favorite
Speaker 1: weeks of the year, because, I mean, who doesn't even
Speaker 1: get absolutely jazzed about having a season opener against the
Speaker 1: visional opponent right here in our own beautiful and RG Stadium.
Speaker 1: I mean, we all do right in game week world though,
Speaker 1: all Access for US kicks from one hour to two hours,
Speaker 1: and I'm always stoked about that on Wednesday and Friday,
Speaker 1: and I am your host, John Harris, football analyst, sideline
Speaker 1: reporter right here in Honday, Texans Radio Studio. I've been
Speaker 1: doing this for nine years and this is the first
Speaker 1: week of the ninth year. And when we kick off
Speaker 1: the second hour if we're lucky, and most times we
Speaker 1: are because Mark Vanimer is an absolute beast when it
Speaker 1: comes to finding, locating, and interviewing. The play by play
Speaker 1: man on the other side could be a woman. I
Speaker 1: don't know there's any play by play women in the
Speaker 1: league for each team. I don't think via radio, but
Speaker 1: Matt Taylor has been the play by play voice of
Speaker 1: the Colts for about the last four years. I believe
Speaker 1: like he took over in twenty eighteen was when he
Speaker 1: took over. He's been one of our great friends. He
Speaker 1: was a sideline reporter, so he was essentially me and
Speaker 1: then he turned into Mark and that's magic. And when
Speaker 1: the two of them get together, we call it Men
Speaker 1: behind the Mics. Mark Away with Matt Taylor of the
Speaker 1: Indiapolis Colts. Joining us right now in Texans Radio Matt Taylor,
Speaker 1: the voice of the Indianapolis Colts, And here we go, Buddy,
Speaker 1: Ready for twenty twenty two Texans opening against Indie. And
Speaker 1: there's really nothing like it. I mean, this team has
Speaker 1: been such a thorn in the side. How about a
Speaker 1: sword in the side of the Houston Texans. Man, how's
Speaker 1: it going? And you must have a great deal of
Speaker 1: excitement for this upcoming season. Oh, first, for sure, I
Speaker 1: mean everybody does. I mean, it's it's football season. It's
Speaker 1: gone for so long and then you just wait and
Speaker 1: have it inch closer and closer. And yeah, the Colts are,
Speaker 1: they're excited. I mean, the fan base is excited for
Speaker 1: this upcoming season. Certainly, there's a lot of anticipation. You're
Speaker 1: trying to get that horrible taste out of your mouth
Speaker 1: from what happened last year to end the season, right,
Speaker 1: and the Colts had a ninety eight percent chance of
Speaker 1: making the playoffs going into the last two games of
Speaker 1: the season and then they just they stubbed their toe.
Speaker 1: And I mean, whatever, whatever bad meta more you want
Speaker 1: to use, that's what happened to the Colts because they
Speaker 1: lose the Vegas at home and then Jacksonville on the road,
Speaker 1: just inexplicable loss, and then you know, more quarterback change
Speaker 1: over a lot of changes in the off season. So
Speaker 1: it's a good roster, it's a good team, and I
Speaker 1: think the fan base is shopping at the bit to
Speaker 1: erase what happened last year out of their memory and
Speaker 1: finally get off to a good start. That's something that
Speaker 1: this franchise and this team under Frank Right just hasn't
Speaker 1: been able to do. And they've got to be able
Speaker 1: to do that this season. Considering they play Week one
Speaker 1: against Houston, but more than that, they play their first
Speaker 1: two games against the AFC South and five of their
Speaker 1: first seven are against the division. So if they get
Speaker 1: off to a bad start this year, there may not
Speaker 1: be a lot of room for you know, wiggle room
Speaker 1: there down the stretch to climb back into it like
Speaker 1: they did a year ago. Matt, I don't want to
Speaker 1: dwell on last year, but some aspects I do want
Speaker 1: to bring up, and Jonathan Taylor would be one of them.
Speaker 1: His performance, especially against the Texans. But for a whild
Speaker 1: there in the middle of the season, the Cults were
Speaker 1: going so well with Carson Wentz. You really got on
Speaker 1: a great role with him, and then I know it
Speaker 1: went bad at the end. Now you have Matt Ryan.
Speaker 1: Can the Colts be as good as they were when
Speaker 1: they were playing at their best with Carson Wentz with
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan at the controls? Yeah, I think so. I
Speaker 1: mean if you go back and look at when the
Speaker 1: Colts were rolling last year in the middle of the season,
Speaker 1: towards the end, you know, Carson Wentz was really efficient
Speaker 1: and he didn't have to do a whole lot in
Speaker 1: terms of, you know, carrying the workload because as you said,
Speaker 1: they did have Jonathan Taylor. He emerged as you know,
Speaker 1: an MVP dark horse. I think he's the best running
Speaker 1: back of the NFL because he's the perfect blend of
Speaker 1: power and speed. He can block, he can catch, I mean,
Speaker 1: the guy can do it all. So he was rolling,
Speaker 1: he really started to emerge. I think the problem towards
Speaker 1: the end of last year is that they just got
Speaker 1: a little bit too reliant on Jonathan Taylor. And you know,
Speaker 1: teams knew they had to take him away first and foremost,
Speaker 1: and down the stretch, the Colts just couldn't capitalize. I
Speaker 1: mean in theory. I mean, if you're a novice football fan,
Speaker 1: you know that you know that the better you are
Speaker 1: at running the football, the easier it should be to
Speaker 1: throw it and capitalize on play action and went on
Speaker 1: the outside and keep teams guessing. It just didn't happen
Speaker 1: for the Colts. I think there's a combination of a
Speaker 1: lot of things that contributed to that. But you know,
Speaker 1: quarterbacks a big part of it. You know, receiver talent
Speaker 1: was a part of it. You know, the Colts only
Speaker 1: threw for over two hundred yards twice in the last
Speaker 1: eight games of the season last year. So it just,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, did not work out with Carson Wentz,
Speaker 1: both on the field off the field, just it didn't
Speaker 1: mesh for whatever reason. And so here we go again.
Speaker 1: It's another quarterback. It's five straight years with a different
Speaker 1: quarterback at the helm. You know, the Colts are still
Speaker 1: looking for stability after the retirement of Andrew Luck and
Speaker 1: they think that with Matt Ryan here now, it buys
Speaker 1: them time to still compete and still be in a
Speaker 1: position to accomplish all of their goals while they still
Speaker 1: have time to look for that franchise quarterback of the future.
Speaker 1: Not over extend themselves, you know, and find the right
Speaker 1: guy whenever that time comes, whether you trade up in
Speaker 1: the draft or and you pull off of you know,
Speaker 1: big offseason trade like the Broncos did to get Russell Wilson.
Speaker 1: So I think they can win and and and you know,
Speaker 1: execute at a high level with Matt Ryan. And I've
Speaker 1: said this all along. If you get a typical Matt
Speaker 1: Ryan type of a season, and by that, I mean
Speaker 1: if you look at his history fourteen years with the
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons, if if he puts up four thousand yards
Speaker 1: passing and uh, you know, he's somewhere between twenty three
Speaker 1: and thirty passing touchdowns and he's completing sixty six sixty
Speaker 1: seven percent of his passes. Again, that's a very you know, stereotypical,
Speaker 1: very good Matt Ryan type of season. If he gives
Speaker 1: you that, there's no reason why the Colts can't flirt with,
Speaker 1: you know, double digit wins and possibly winning the division
Speaker 1: for the first time since twenty fourteen. Matt Taylor Boy
Speaker 1: the Cults joining us on Texans Radio. Matt, give me
Speaker 1: a thing or two in the preseason that made you say,
Speaker 1: all right, everything's on schedule. We're good to go and
Speaker 1: maybe a thing or two that you say, well, they
Speaker 1: still need work in this area. Let's see if it
Speaker 1: works out. Let's see how they put it together leading
Speaker 1: into week one. Well, I think the first one is
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan. I mean, I think he is as advertised.
Speaker 1: You know what you saw when he played at a
Speaker 1: very high level in Atlanta. That's what you're getting so
Speaker 1: far through a month of training camp with the Colts.
Speaker 1: He's in command of the offense. Guys respect him. He
Speaker 1: has this sort of quiet arrogance about him where he's
Speaker 1: very respected in the locker room, but at the same time,
Speaker 1: guys know that they've got to be on their piece,
Speaker 1: and q's with a veteran like him that he commands respect.
Speaker 1: He has to get the best that everybody on the
Speaker 1: field when they're out there. And so from that standpoint,
Speaker 1: I mean, he's incredibly accurate. The ball placement, the decision making.
Speaker 1: You know, there's gonna be a lot of guys that
Speaker 1: get involved in this offense. That's that's a Frank Reich staple.
Speaker 1: That's a Matt Ryan staple dating back to his Falcon's days.
Speaker 1: So that's that makes you feel good, maybe even bigger
Speaker 1: than that though, mark is that this team is healthy.
Speaker 1: And if you're a Colts fan, and if you pay
Speaker 1: attention to the Colts in Houston, you know that hasn't
Speaker 1: been the case the last couple of years, especially last
Speaker 1: year going into the regular season. Training camp was basically
Speaker 1: a wash because there wasn't a lot of time on
Speaker 1: task for that team last year because Carson Wentz went
Speaker 1: out the second day of practice, when Nelson went out
Speaker 1: the second day of practice. T why Hilton was he
Speaker 1: missed a lot of training camp. Ryan Kelly was banged up,
Speaker 1: Braydon Smith, the right tackle was banged up. I mean,
Speaker 1: they had a lot of key players and star players
Speaker 1: that just didn't practice a lot and play a lot
Speaker 1: before the regular season, and I think that contributed to
Speaker 1: their slow start. They were oh and three and then
Speaker 1: one and four, and that's really been you know, the
Speaker 1: theme of the Colts is just wait for injuries to happen,
Speaker 1: because they've happened the last couple of years. So they're
Speaker 1: incredibly healthy right now going into the season. Knock on
Speaker 1: wood as far as that is concerned. So that's been
Speaker 1: a nice welcome chains there's no drama as far as
Speaker 1: the injuries. Are concerned, and then I think some of
Speaker 1: the things on they give you a little bit of
Speaker 1: trepidation is, you know, the offensive line is really really
Speaker 1: good in terms of their starting five, but the depth
Speaker 1: is young and inexperienced. You know, they they signed Dennis
Speaker 1: Kelly in the off season, but he hasn't practiced the
Speaker 1: entire time in training camp. He's kind of like the
Speaker 1: one big injury that that the Colts just haven't been
Speaker 1: able to get him on the field. Um, so he's
Speaker 1: sort of their swing tackle, that veteran guy that you know,
Speaker 1: played a lot of those years with Tennessee. Last year
Speaker 1: he was with Green Bay, So you have him. I
Speaker 1: think you've got Bernard Ryman. He's the backup left tackle.
Speaker 1: They picked him up in the third round. He's a
Speaker 1: he's a He's a guy that I think could be
Speaker 1: the long term answer at that left tackle position, but
Speaker 1: right now he's never played a game in the NFL.
Speaker 1: And most of their depth along the offensive line is
Speaker 1: either a first year guy or a second your guy
Speaker 1: and not a lot of experience. So hopefully that unit
Speaker 1: can stay healthy and intact because there's just a lot
Speaker 1: of unknowns with the depth along that offensive line. On offense. Defensively,
Speaker 1: you feel really good again about the starters. You know
Speaker 1: they've upgraded with you know, premier talent like we talked
Speaker 1: about before. We started with Unique and goakway in here
Speaker 1: now Stefan Gilmour at the cornerback position. So they've upgraded
Speaker 1: on that side of the ball. But again depths a
Speaker 1: little bit of a concern at defensive tackle, maybe a
Speaker 1: little bit in the secondary. So I would say that
Speaker 1: the biggest strength of this team are the twenty two
Speaker 1: players starting on offense and defense. After that, you have
Speaker 1: to factor in what are the Colts going to look
Speaker 1: like on special teams and if they do start to
Speaker 1: get banged up with injuries, can that backup talent come
Speaker 1: in and still play a high level. Matt Taylor, voice
Speaker 1: of the Cults joining us, I agree with you. The
Speaker 1: Cults can be very good if certain things work out.
Speaker 1: What about the Titans here, how are we feeling about
Speaker 1: them from an indie perspective. I saw a little Malik
Speaker 1: will Us work in the preseason. I thought, oh, that
Speaker 1: could be a problem. And I know they just got
Speaker 1: the injury to Harold Landry, They've got some other issues.
Speaker 1: But what do you think of the Titans, the two
Speaker 1: time defending AFC South champions going into twenty twenty two. Man, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know it's funny you bring that up, because you
Speaker 1: know this is this is certainly you know a topic
Speaker 1: of conversation around here. You know, when when the owner speaks,
Speaker 1: when Jim Hursey speaks, you know, to the public or
Speaker 1: to the team, you know, he always brings up Tennessee.
Speaker 1: You know, that's that's the chief roadblock for the Colts
Speaker 1: at Lisa has been the last couple of years in
Speaker 1: the AFC South and those games, those two matchups within
Speaker 1: the division have meant so much in determining who wins
Speaker 1: the South and you know, representing that division in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's it's really been sort of uh,
Speaker 1: you know, addition by subtraction. With the Colts in mind
Speaker 1: this offseason, you know, it starts with a J. Brown.
Speaker 1: And I don't know how specifically how those matchups between
Speaker 1: the Titans and the Tech since have gone the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, but I know for certain that the
Speaker 1: Colts it's not as if Derek Henry's run all over him.
Speaker 1: It's been J. Brown. The Colts have actually done a
Speaker 1: nice job all things considered against Derek Henry in the
Speaker 1: ground game, it's AJ Brown on the outside and Ryan
Speaker 1: Tannehill that have torched the Colts and have gone on
Speaker 1: a nice little winning streak against Indianapolis and those matchups here.
Speaker 1: So without him, I mean, the Colts didn't have a
Speaker 1: first round pick, but they were celebrating on that first
Speaker 1: night of the draft when A. J. Brown got traded
Speaker 1: out of the division. They were doing fist pumps because
Speaker 1: he's been a thorn in their side. And so now
Speaker 1: with Treylon Burke's there, I know he's an nice little
Speaker 1: player out of Arkansas and they think they can get
Speaker 1: you know, similar production. But I've got my questions right away.
Speaker 1: You know, as a rookie coming out here, Robert Woods
Speaker 1: has really never been a number one guy. He's coming
Speaker 1: off an injury. You know, they haven't really drafted very
Speaker 1: well the last couple of years, but they've still gotten
Speaker 1: it done. You know, Nick Westbrook Akeena out of Indiana.
Speaker 1: You know, he's a local kid that we're from smiliar
Speaker 1: with here. He's an undrafted guy. So I'm just curious
Speaker 1: how they're gonna have explosive plays on offense like they
Speaker 1: have the last couple of years without a j Brown
Speaker 1: on the outside and then on defense. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: they were one of three teams or the only team
Speaker 1: I should say last year they had three players with
Speaker 1: eight sacks with Autry and Simmons, and you know, as
Speaker 1: you said that with that injury. So I'm just a
Speaker 1: little bit curious how they're going to sustain because they've
Speaker 1: lost a lot of top end talent the last you know,
Speaker 1: three or four months here, dating back to the draft.
Speaker 1: You know, this should be Indianapolis's year to get it done.
Speaker 1: But until you dethroned the king, if you will, it
Speaker 1: really doesn't matter. And the Colts again have talked very
Speaker 1: openly about what their goals are and how important those
Speaker 1: matchups are to their success this upcoming season. Matt Taylor,
Speaker 1: boys of the Cults joining us. What about the Jaguars
Speaker 1: with Trevor Lawrence year two? You have year one with
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson coaching the team. Preseason some ups and downs,
Speaker 1: but there's a lot of optimism in North Florida. I
Speaker 1: guess that's common this time of year with a lot
Speaker 1: of franchises. But what do you think is this a
Speaker 1: year where they can finally up the win total significantly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I said the same thing last year, and you know,
Speaker 1: obviously we were all sort of let down, or at
Speaker 1: least I was with my expectations. I was a little
Speaker 1: bit more bullish on Jacksonville last year than most people.
Speaker 1: But no one foresaw the you know, the side show,
Speaker 1: the circus show of of Urban Meyer and you know
Speaker 1: all that transpired with that. But they they've got to
Speaker 1: be better. I think Trevor Lawrence is gonna be good.
Speaker 1: I think he's going to be a franchise quarterback and
Speaker 1: a guy that you can really build around. You know, defensively,
Speaker 1: if you look at there's that side of the ball.
Speaker 1: They don't have a ton going on. There's sort of
Speaker 1: a team in flux. You know, they've they've claimed a
Speaker 1: lot of guys this past week. You know, they traded
Speaker 1: Leaviscus Chanals. You're kind of wondering what they're doing on offense.
Speaker 1: So I think they're probably in all things, all things
Speaker 1: being equal, they're probably still a year or two away.
Speaker 1: But I still mean, don't don't don't tell Colts fans that,
Speaker 1: because it doesn't matter how good or bad Jacksonville is,
Speaker 1: they always bring their a game against the Colts. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Colts haven't won down there on the road since
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen. And we all know what happened last year
Speaker 1: in a week eighteen when the Colts were in a
Speaker 1: win an in situation and they were a fifteen point
Speaker 1: favorite on the road against the worst team in football,
Speaker 1: and they got blown out. They lost twenty six to
Speaker 1: eleven in a game that really wasn't even that close.
Speaker 1: So that's a rivalry because the Colts just can't break
Speaker 1: that hex in Jacksonville and North Florida. So that that's
Speaker 1: another game that circled on the Colts you know, calendar,
Speaker 1: and they play that game week two. They play that
Speaker 1: next week after this first game against the Texans. So
Speaker 1: they're trying to get a lot of bad blood or
Speaker 1: a lot of bad taste out of their mouth very
Speaker 1: quickly to start the season and get off to a
Speaker 1: good start. All right, Matt, we're in the AFC South, obviously,
Speaker 1: let's go outside the division here. Give me your dark
Speaker 1: horse in the AFC. I mean I would presume, well,
Speaker 1: correct me if I'm wrong. You tell me who you
Speaker 1: want or who you would pick objectively, maybe to win
Speaker 1: the whole conference. A lot of people say Kansas City,
Speaker 1: I say Buffalo. But tell me who your pick is
Speaker 1: and who's your dark horse team who might do some
Speaker 1: damage this season that not everyone is expecting. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's so hard to say because if you look at
Speaker 1: the AFC. We've talked about this a lot in the offseason.
Speaker 1: If you look at the AFC right now, Mark, you
Speaker 1: got sixteen teams, right you only keep seven that make
Speaker 1: the playoffs as of right now? Who you crossing off?
Speaker 1: Like who you're crossing off right now? At a sixteen
Speaker 1: teams and saying they don't have a chance to make
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I mean the Jets maybe, but even then
Speaker 1: they might surprise some people. Maybe Jacksonville, but again we
Speaker 1: just talked about them that got that franchise quarterback. Outside
Speaker 1: of that, that's that's really about it. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think Pittsburgh can bounce back. I think Cleveland could still
Speaker 1: surprise some people with Jacobe set, we'll see, But I mean,
Speaker 1: as of right now, it's it's anybody's game, and especially
Speaker 1: in you know, especially in that West Division, if you will,
Speaker 1: with the Raiders and the Broncos and the Chiefs and
Speaker 1: the Chargers just loaded with quarterbacks, you know, the Texans
Speaker 1: have to play that division. I know the Colts have
Speaker 1: to play that division, right, the AFC South and the
Speaker 1: AFC West took up this year. It's so difficult to say.
Speaker 1: I would say probably until you know it proven differently,
Speaker 1: you got to go with the Chiefs. But a dark
Speaker 1: horse that I like are the Raiders. I'm a huge,
Speaker 1: huge Derek Carr fan. You know, if you're in my
Speaker 1: inner circle, you get tired of me saying how much
Speaker 1: man c I have on Derek Carr and what he
Speaker 1: can do. So they might be one of those teams
Speaker 1: to watch out for this year, but the AFC is
Speaker 1: going to be maybe the most parody filled conference we've
Speaker 1: seen in the last couple of decades. Yeah, it is
Speaker 1: gonna be fun to watch Matt and I can't wait
Speaker 1: for Game one, September eleventh, that NRG high noon. Texas
Speaker 1: and Colts. Thanks for visiting my friend. You got him
Speaker 1: my pleasure. I can't wait to see him. And that
Speaker 1: has a double meaning really because we have not had
Speaker 1: a chance to see Matt in a little bit because
Speaker 1: I don't think they traveled. They didn't travel in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty obviously, and I don't think they traveled in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one, but I could be wrong about that, but
Speaker 1: it's gonna be good to see Matt Taylor and the
Speaker 1: Cults radio team on Sunday, Nancy the Colts as well. Now,
Speaker 1: we got a lot going on around our Texans world.
Speaker 1: And when two geeks get together and start nerding out,
Speaker 1: well we call that in the lab, and those two
Speaker 1: geeks are well myself Andrew Doherty in the lab next
Speaker 1: right here in Texas All Access. It's Game Week. Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: welcome in and welcome back to our second hour of
Speaker 1: Texas All Access. Hopefully you didn't miss men behind the
Speaker 1: mics with Matt Taylor, the voice of the Annapolis Colts,
Speaker 1: and of course Mark Vanomir. And as I said earlier,
Speaker 1: Game Week is just it flies. It really does fly.
Speaker 1: You have sort of a routine, but you gotta get
Speaker 1: back in that routine. And that's what we're getting into
Speaker 1: the fact that we've got two hours again during the season.
Speaker 1: The offseason, we get one hour from six to seven.
Speaker 1: In the season, we get two hours on well, we
Speaker 1: get three on Tuesday, we get two on Wednesday, we
Speaker 1: get one on Thursday because Thursday football. But then we
Speaker 1: get two on Friday, So I'll be back on Friday again.
Speaker 1: Like I said, it's my ninth year doing this. So
Speaker 1: we got this down to a science, and we've been
Speaker 1: doing in the Lab for about five or six years,
Speaker 1: and that is Drew Dorry and myself and we get together.
Speaker 1: We geek out about any number of things, and that's
Speaker 1: why we call it in the Lab. Here's this week's episode.
Speaker 1: I like starting a season with the Colts. I was
Speaker 1: doing Texans Matchup and I was going back and looking
Speaker 1: at the twenty ten game against the Colts and Aaron
Speaker 1: Foster taking over, and what a charge that gave this stadium. We'rgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, retouchedown.
Speaker 1: It's two hundred thirty one yards easily the finest individual
Speaker 1: performance on the ground by a Texan in team history.
Speaker 1: Just so much fun. What's easily? What's second? One? Man?
Speaker 1: He got me there? It's probably it's Arian or maybe
Speaker 1: Lamar Miller the ninety seven yard nine that he got
Speaker 1: the ninety seven yard or ye, but I would have
Speaker 1: to go back and yeah, I just I just threw
Speaker 1: that out there, just thinking we always talk about that one,
Speaker 1: but are there other ones that stand out? He didn't
Speaker 1: get the yardage, but he kind of was. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think he was the difference in the game offensively
Speaker 1: seven and one Texans seven and one Bears Sunday Night
Speaker 1: Football at Chicago in twenty twelve. He gets the touchdown catch.
Speaker 1: You know, he had one. It was a very we
Speaker 1: had to slug it out type of effort, but he was.
Speaker 1: He was very good that. Yeah, in a sort of
Speaker 1: odd way. It's not no one's ever gonna say that's
Speaker 1: the second best performance, but that's the one that it
Speaker 1: still kind of jumps out to me of all his performances. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I had one. I think it was Tennessee in fourteen.
Speaker 1: I thought it was pretty good. His game against Dallas
Speaker 1: and in eleven. Yeah, his game against Dallas in twenty fourteen,
Speaker 1: even though on a losing effort. I remember the third quarter,
Speaker 1: first half, we couldn't really get anything going. Either team
Speaker 1: really could in that game against Dallas twenty fourteen, and
Speaker 1: then Arian really kind of woke everybody up in the
Speaker 1: third quarter. Didn't give it to him enough in overtime, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then tried to throw it to him in overtime.
Speaker 1: And yes, I don't want to get into that didn't
Speaker 1: get it to him enough. Anyways, that's neither here nor there, John.
Speaker 1: We're gonna do a few things relative to game week.
Speaker 1: All right, you're gonna answer or finish a sentence for me,
Speaker 1: oh boy. And we're gonna also have our cream of
Speaker 1: the crop predictions of the crop. Okay. So we're gonna
Speaker 1: welcome our good friend Randy the macho Man savage back in.
Speaker 1: Oh baby, Yes, so the macho Man. They're cream of
Speaker 1: the crop. Thank you, macho man. The macho Man give
Speaker 1: us his his stylings for cream of the crop. But
Speaker 1: then we're gonna give who we think will be the
Speaker 1: cream of the crop. But I want you to answer
Speaker 1: this sentence. Who Okay. Ultimately the Texans will triumph over
Speaker 1: the Colts because finished that sentence. This is a much
Speaker 1: more physical team. It's a much more explosively twitchy team
Speaker 1: in the trenches. Okay. And those words often don't go
Speaker 1: together all that often when you're talking about interior players.
Speaker 1: But to beat the Colts, they have those guys, and
Speaker 1: you've got to match those guys. And I heard I
Speaker 1: can't remember who was I was listening to this morning,
Speaker 1: whatever I think it was, maybe excuse me, Sean and
Speaker 1: Seth and they were talking about the offensive line. Our
Speaker 1: offensive line and our offensive line might include Titus Howard,
Speaker 1: Justin britt Laramie Tuntsol on the front. But Titus being
Speaker 1: a guard last year and now at a tackle makes
Speaker 1: a massive difference. Aj Can being at guard makes a
Speaker 1: massive different experienced has played these guys twice a year, yes,
Speaker 1: the last five years. Physical. He did interview with Mark
Speaker 1: and I the other day and shook hands with him, like,
Speaker 1: my hands are pretty big. I mean I've got like
Speaker 1: size tenant quarter hands. I mean I would go to
Speaker 1: the combine and I would get hand kudos. So when
Speaker 1: he grabbed my hands, wow, And he's had a really
Speaker 1: good preseason that thought. And then when Kenyon comes around,
Speaker 1: that changes everything at left guard, even if it's Justin
Speaker 1: McCray to start, I think it's better than how the
Speaker 1: Texans started at at left guard. I would rather had
Speaker 1: McCrae at guard Howard at tackle as opposed to what
Speaker 1: they ended up starting in Week one last year. So
Speaker 1: I just think that change of tight us out to
Speaker 1: a tackle. Aj can't coming in a guard and Kenyan
Speaker 1: potentially going in at guard or Justin mccrai guard I
Speaker 1: think changes things for this offense, no doubt, defense asily.
Speaker 1: I think Willie Collins has taken his game to different
Speaker 1: level roys in the second year. I just think there's
Speaker 1: so much better inside. You got Booker, you got Highness,
Speaker 1: you got some dudes that have some twitch, some stout power,
Speaker 1: and then you add Obo outside to what you already had.
Speaker 1: Then you got to two vets. I just think you're
Speaker 1: that much more explosively twitchy outside. And I think the Colts,
Speaker 1: I don't want to say are the same, but the
Speaker 1: Colts added in Gockway on the outside. Now he won't
Speaker 1: play the run, But if a team's gonna have great
Speaker 1: edge rushers, I'm okay with that because you got there.
Speaker 1: I mean, you got Titus out there, but they add
Speaker 1: in Gockway. But on the offensive line, they've lost. They
Speaker 1: lost Costango two years ago. I don't think they've ever
Speaker 1: really fully replaced him. So now that's Matt Pryor. They
Speaker 1: got Danny Pint to replace him. Mark Lewinsky and Glowinski
Speaker 1: was the glue they held that line together. It's still
Speaker 1: gonna be a good offensive line. Those are two losses
Speaker 1: over the last couple of years that have could really
Speaker 1: hurt the Colts. So if your defensive line can match up,
Speaker 1: especially in those two particular spots, and then you can
Speaker 1: win and win consistently with that explosive twitch, that power
Speaker 1: up front, and you got a great opportunity to win
Speaker 1: his football game. All right. I like that. My answer
Speaker 1: would be the because they win because takeaways, yep. And
Speaker 1: a rejuvenated run game. Okay. I think I think you're
Speaker 1: gonna have to get takeaways clearly for this defense for
Speaker 1: this team to flourish. And I do think they run
Speaker 1: game with Damian Pierce is going to be so much
Speaker 1: better than what we saw last year. And you know,
Speaker 1: justin Britt I talked to him in the locker room
Speaker 1: the other day and he said, all right, listen, we're
Speaker 1: not gonna get nine ten yards to carry like we did.
Speaker 1: Everyone needs to chill on that. But we gotta stay
Speaker 1: committed to it. We gotta keep getting the four and
Speaker 1: five yard chunks consistently because they didn't do that last year.
Speaker 1: There was in the three two range, three four range,
Speaker 1: which is unacceptable. You know, they and I'm not speaking
Speaker 1: out of turn. We've heard Nick Kissius yet we've heard
Speaker 1: Lovey say that everyone has said that, I'm off as
Speaker 1: Alignment said it. Yeah, I'm just parroting what they say.
Speaker 1: So they do those two things. That makes a world
Speaker 1: of difference over what you saw them do against the
Speaker 1: Colts last year. This is a big sticking point in
Speaker 1: their respective or the collective Crows. They're absolutely smoked with
Speaker 1: no real excuse. You get smoked at Buffalo, that's kind
Speaker 1: of an excuse. It was Davis mills first road start
Speaker 1: and it was in torrential downpour. I mean, you can
Speaker 1: kind of wipe your hands with that one, so to speak.
Speaker 1: But the other two you were in perfect weather conditions
Speaker 1: and you got blasted by a superior opponent. And they
Speaker 1: want more. The Texans want more. Okay, So you brought
Speaker 1: up MALIEK. Collins and we're gonna add this in. I
Speaker 1: didn't put this in the table of contents. But true
Speaker 1: or false, we did see him a little bit, but
Speaker 1: for the most part he was He was not in
Speaker 1: in the preseason. True or false. The guys we did
Speaker 1: not see the preseason, and the things on offense end
Speaker 1: defense we did not see in the preseason, meaning blitz
Speaker 1: is on defense. Uh, different plays on offense. But those
Speaker 1: things that we that did not show up in August
Speaker 1: will also prove to be the difference on Sunday, true
Speaker 1: or false because we didn't see Brandon Foks, we didn't
Speaker 1: see Justin britt. I think it makes a difference in
Speaker 1: how the units operate for sure. You can also look
Speaker 1: at the Colts and say, well, you know they didn't
Speaker 1: play there guys either, right, And I think a big
Speaker 1: difference is does Shaquille Leonard play? That's Darius Leonard for
Speaker 1: for those of you who can't remember the inside Labbacker
Speaker 1: changed the name to Shaquille, Yeah, exact, Shaque Lenard, the maniac,
Speaker 1: the guy that we all I don't know I would
Speaker 1: put him on a villain's list. I think you were
Speaker 1: the one that said I put him on the Rushmore
Speaker 1: of Texans villains, up there with t Y Hilton. He's
Speaker 1: just so frustrating to play three of those. He wasn't
Speaker 1: even healthy last year. He's still punching the ball out
Speaker 1: from everybody. I mean, he's made such big plays against us,
Speaker 1: the last huge difference maker. Now know if he's gonna
Speaker 1: be ready for Week one, My guess is he is
Speaker 1: going to be on the field dressed out. How much
Speaker 1: he plays could be a difference. I'd be stunned if
Speaker 1: he doesn't. I would absolutely, I would be stunned. I'm
Speaker 1: just totally playing of in some form or fashion. I'm
Speaker 1: totally preparing for him to play. Yeah, and he didn't
Speaker 1: do anything in the preseason. Buckner didn't do a whole
Speaker 1: heck of a lot of preseason. Grover Stewart did playing
Speaker 1: in the preseason, so they didn't play their full guys.
Speaker 1: They're full of a lot man of guys. We didn't either,
Speaker 1: But there's a lot that revolves around Brandon Cooks. There's
Speaker 1: a lot that's going to change with your protection when
Speaker 1: you have a guy like Laramy tuns alot on the
Speaker 1: edge because you're like Laramy, you got in Gockway. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm good. I'm good. So you can set the protection
Speaker 1: different ways. You can, you know, move your running back
Speaker 1: and have your running back do different things. So I
Speaker 1: think schematically it makes a difference, especially Brandon Cooks. Where
Speaker 1: you can line Brandon up, what matchups you can get
Speaker 1: him on, what you can glean from a defense from
Speaker 1: just where Brandon is lined up. If there's a perimeter
Speaker 1: corner that lines up put Brandon inside. It's a decent idea. Well,
Speaker 1: that's probably man. Let's watch the safeties after snap. Yep,
Speaker 1: that's man. Okay, this is where I want to go
Speaker 1: with this route and gives Davis Mills some hints and tips, etc.
Speaker 1: I think those things make a difference for this team.
Speaker 1: I think the difference makers were the ones that obviously
Speaker 1: didn't play a lot. But I think you mentioned the
Speaker 1: biggest difference maker in this one, and that is Damian
Speaker 1: Pearce and the running game. Now you can look at
Speaker 1: the running game and say, well, success in the running
Speaker 1: game is the result of the process up front, of
Speaker 1: those guys occupying that front, moving that front, getting a
Speaker 1: hat on Darius Shaquille Leonard and occupying him as well
Speaker 1: to give Damien just little slivers a space. But I
Speaker 1: think also the one thing last year's team really could
Speaker 1: not kind of tap into was this game is seventeen seventeen,
Speaker 1: and it demands us to win the next five minutes
Speaker 1: of game action as physically as it can be. This
Speaker 1: game is teetering on the brink of us really pushing
Speaker 1: it over the edge. Can we take it over physically?
Speaker 1: And I think with a young hammerhead like Troy Harrison
Speaker 1: at fullback with AJ Cann and Kenyan Green on the inside,
Speaker 1: you have an opportunity to do that more so than
Speaker 1: you could last year or the year before. You just
Speaker 1: couldn't take over a game, and that I would love
Speaker 1: to see. Like in that twenty ten matchup, that offensive
Speaker 1: line an area took over the game in the second
Speaker 1: half and physically just brought it to the Colts. And
Speaker 1: if there's a team that you want to go in
Speaker 1: and just bust it right in the mouth, you know,
Speaker 1: you go in and bust the bully right in the mouth.
Speaker 1: You don't back down, but you can't tip toe in either.
Speaker 1: That game gets to the third fourth quarter in it
Speaker 1: demands physicality to take over the next eighteen fifteen twelve
Speaker 1: minutes of game action. Then you got to be able
Speaker 1: to do I think Texas can tap into that a
Speaker 1: little bit more than they could in the past. And
Speaker 1: that's gonna be I think a massive, massive appointments game.
Speaker 1: All right, Time for Cream of the Crop. Okay, my
Speaker 1: cream of I'm gonna go first. My cream of the
Speaker 1: crop is gonna be offensive coordinator pet Pamilton. Oh wow,
Speaker 1: I've touched on this a few times since February. I
Speaker 1: can't stress enough that if what we've seen and what
Speaker 1: we're hearing turns out to be true, things will be
Speaker 1: much different than what we've seen around here offensively the
Speaker 1: last eight years. I think he's gonna get guys in
Speaker 1: position to succeed. He's going to accentuate strengths. He's not
Speaker 1: going to jam a square peg in the round hole.
Speaker 1: He's going to be creative in a different sort of way,
Speaker 1: yea in m I think a more sensible sort of way.
Speaker 1: And so I think he does that. We saw glimpses
Speaker 1: of it. We saw glimpses of it in August. I
Speaker 1: mean what they were doing with the run game. And yes,
Speaker 1: I know it was pre season, but we didn't see
Speaker 1: that in the preseason here over the last decade. You
Speaker 1: didn't see it with Kubiak. He didn't see Arian peeling
Speaker 1: off big runs like that. You really did not. So
Speaker 1: that's that's what I'm going with. I'm going with pet Pamilton.
Speaker 1: He's if the Texans are to win and to take
Speaker 1: care of business and be this tough, physical team that
Speaker 1: they have said that. Pep said that Lovey Smith has
Speaker 1: said he wants them to be. It's gonna be because
Speaker 1: of what he's dialed up and what he's kind of
Speaker 1: helping still up front without offensive line and with this
Speaker 1: running game. I'm gonna use a phrase, affect them job
Speaker 1: and one word dendam to this and with what he's
Speaker 1: done since February installing this offense with Davis Mills, Davis
Speaker 1: has been up in those offices, working with him, getting
Speaker 1: things right, saying well, I don't I think that's I
Speaker 1: like that call, but what about this? This I think
Speaker 1: would work. They've been working on this. I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say a phrase and it First you're gonna go,
Speaker 1: wait a second. That's paradoxical in some sense, but I
Speaker 1: think an off a good offensive coordinator has to have
Speaker 1: stubborn melieability. I love it, Yes, meaning you've got to
Speaker 1: be stubborn on certain things, but being malieable means you
Speaker 1: are flexible to other things that during the game, hey
Speaker 1: I've started, we stubbornly have to stick to the run
Speaker 1: because it might pop. This is the game, it might pop.
Speaker 1: Melieability tells you you know what, they're eating us alive
Speaker 1: and they're staying in their base when we go to this.
Speaker 1: We've got to make this adjustment, and we got to
Speaker 1: make it quickly, and so everything that you've done during
Speaker 1: the week can get I don't want to say throw
Speaker 1: out the window, but it can be adjusted. But if
Speaker 1: you have stubborn malieability, as in we ran it, it
Speaker 1: didn't work, but we're gonna stick to it and see
Speaker 1: how it goes and be flexible off of that. And
Speaker 1: I think that's one way that I see PEP being
Speaker 1: different than play callers maybe in the past, which I'm
Speaker 1: okay with. My cream of the crop is going to
Speaker 1: be a guy that you mentioned a little while ago
Speaker 1: I brought up and as MALIEK. Collins. All right, I
Speaker 1: think Willie Collins during training camps playing on a level
Speaker 1: that I've not seen him since his days in Nebraska.
Speaker 1: His quickness was the same, if not better than it
Speaker 1: was last year. His power, he's so quick and concise
Speaker 1: with his hand movement and everything he's doing, and he
Speaker 1: has counters for everything. Now it's a battle going aa'st
Speaker 1: Quinton Nelson. It's gonna be a battle going as Danny
Speaker 1: Pin three, even though he's going and starting presumably for
Speaker 1: the first time. If his pint guard wage I expect
Speaker 1: then you gotta go against Ryan Kelly at center, so
Speaker 1: that that interior is pretty stout and pretty tough. But
Speaker 1: I think Malik matches up with them really well because
Speaker 1: of his quickness, and he's not just a guy that
Speaker 1: runs up field a two hundred and eighty eight pounds
Speaker 1: two hundred and eighty five pounds. He's a good stile
Speaker 1: of the three h five. And if you see Malik
Speaker 1: his button, his thighs are just massive, So it's not
Speaker 1: like he just runs up field and gets knocked out
Speaker 1: of gaps. He gets up field, but he holds his
Speaker 1: own and then can redirect when he gets there. I
Speaker 1: think Millie Collins ends up being a massive figure in
Speaker 1: this week one. He's my creamat the crop to go
Speaker 1: with your Pep Hamilton. I like your Pep Hamilton cream
Speaker 1: the crop. It's really good, it's really really good. But
Speaker 1: I'm going with Mille Collins on the defensive side. I
Speaker 1: think he's got to be a big key. Well, you
Speaker 1: know what, I like your MALIEK. Collins, and I also
Speaker 1: like your stubborn mellieability. So we're just liking everything today.
Speaker 1: This has been fun. How do you like that oxymoron,
Speaker 1: stubborn melieability. I think it's something all offensive coordinators need
Speaker 1: to have at some point in their repertoire. But hopefully
Speaker 1: Pep Hamilton will show that he's got that and then
Speaker 1: some on Sunday calling plays against the Indianapolis Colts. Now
Speaker 1: there's plenty going on around the NFL. Why does Friday
Speaker 1: a big day for one of the great quarterbacks in
Speaker 1: the league. What's going on with other squads as well?
Speaker 1: We'll have that right here in Texans All Axis we
Speaker 1: go around the NFL. Next, stay with us, Stay with us,
Speaker 1: Stay with us. We have fun Us segment of this
Speaker 1: edition of Texans All Access from the Honday Texans Radio studio.
Speaker 1: What a great show it's been. We had Nick Cassario
Speaker 1: on with Mark and myself. Mark stop by for a
Speaker 1: little twenty questions. John Grenard was in the house with
Speaker 1: dep City for a deep slant interview of the league
Speaker 1: brought to you by Exfinity. Matt Taylor was here the
Speaker 1: voice of the Colts, who did a little men behind
Speaker 1: the mics with Mark Vanimir and then of course I
Speaker 1: didn't laugh with Drew Doherty. That's always fun stuff. So
Speaker 1: let's finish up by going around the league. And probably
Speaker 1: the biggest item to me going around the league is,
Speaker 1: and I've asked this numerous times of our guest John McClain, etc.
Speaker 1: Et cetera, what's gonna happen with Lamar Jackson's contract? And well,
Speaker 1: we should know by Friday, we should know whether the
Speaker 1: Ravens and Lamar Jackson will come together. I won't even
Speaker 1: say his agent because he's his own agent, he and
Speaker 1: his mom, and there's been no agreement. Well today he
Speaker 1: said at Friday as the deadline for a deal. Now
Speaker 1: the other side of this is his claimed that, yeah,
Speaker 1: we are still talking, but Friday is the deadline. We
Speaker 1: get to Saturday. In those note deal we're done. If
Speaker 1: that happens eighteen nineteen twenty twenty twenty two, it's the
Speaker 1: fifth year of his lad that did so if they
Speaker 1: can't come to a deal now, the Ravens can franchise him,
Speaker 1: which I would imagine they're going to do at the
Speaker 1: end of the year if they can't get a deal
Speaker 1: done by Friday. But Lamar seems to be a guy
Speaker 1: that he says it's Friday, It's Friday. It's not like, well, Friday,
Speaker 1: but maybe we'll move to Wednesday. No, no no, no, he
Speaker 1: seems like a guy that sets a deadline and he
Speaker 1: is going to stick with it now, Like I said,
Speaker 1: he told reporters today in Baltimore. As of right now,
Speaker 1: we're still talking. The week's not over yet. That deadline's
Speaker 1: coming up very very soon on Friday. Now the day
Speaker 1: earlier on Thursday, we have NFL football real ones that
Speaker 1: count in the standings, not like Baltimore's twenty three game
Speaker 1: preseason street coup cares and not the fact that Texas
Speaker 1: were three. You know, the preseason's fun, it's funny get wins.
Speaker 1: But now it's for real and it starts Bills Rams
Speaker 1: in so far, the Rams will be dropping the flag. Baby.
Speaker 1: They already got their incredible rings, but they're gonna drop
Speaker 1: the banner in Los Angeles. And it's the first time
Speaker 1: that the Rams have had a championships in Los Angeles
Speaker 1: since the nineteen Boy have they ever won one in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles? Now I think about it, I don't know
Speaker 1: that they have because they moved out to LA in
Speaker 1: the fifties. Probably got one in fifty one, I think
Speaker 1: that was the year. Maybe. So you check me on that.
Speaker 1: Go see how I did but they didn't want one.
Speaker 1: In the sixties, seventies, eighties got to a Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: and then by the nineties with the Saint Lewis the
Speaker 1: only championship that I could think of the have is
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety when they want it in Saint Louis,
Speaker 1: so they'll drop the banner. It's so far, so it's
Speaker 1: gonna be fun. Bills Rams. I usually do my predictions
Speaker 1: for games on Friday for the games on Sunday, so
Speaker 1: I guess they gotta go on record here. I like
Speaker 1: the Bills to be just. I think the Bills are
Speaker 1: gonna win it. I know I fall in live a
Speaker 1: lot of people I've been saying for a while, especially
Speaker 1: when the Bills got von Miller. I thought, man, if
Speaker 1: Von is anything like he was with the Rams last year,
Speaker 1: look out that defense could be hella nasty with the Bills.
Speaker 1: I'm going Bills to win in LA. I think the
Speaker 1: Rams take a step back. I think the Rams are
Speaker 1: a top ten team in the league still as Mark
Speaker 1: and I talked about that about power ran kids and
Speaker 1: things like that, I think Rams are a top ten team.
Speaker 1: But I think over in the NFC, I think Trey
Speaker 1: Lance is gonna be all that. I think the Packers
Speaker 1: will be solid again another twelve thirteen win season, and
Speaker 1: I think the Eagles are gonna surprise some teams. And
Speaker 1: the Cowboys have as much talent as anybody in the league.
Speaker 1: So I think those are the teams to end up
Speaker 1: watching the NFC. I just don't know what to think
Speaker 1: about the Buccaneers, but I'm going Bills to win tomorrow,
Speaker 1: and you know what, let's have them cover the spread.
Speaker 1: The Texans picked their captains. A lot of teams announcing
Speaker 1: that today. I think the Bills announced there is They've
Speaker 1: got like a thousand captains. Let's get that picture. To
Speaker 1: Dre and to Mark, I was like, man, this is
Speaker 1: participation trophy stuff. Nine captains. We'll Texas the five two
Speaker 1: offense to defense, who won special teams and offense. It's
Speaker 1: hopefully the past catch combination we're gonna see a lot
Speaker 1: of this year. Davis Mills, Brandon Cooks offensive captains over
Speaker 1: on defense. How about Jerry Hughes not even here for
Speaker 1: what three months? Four months? He is a captain and
Speaker 1: Christian Kirksy not surprising that the man in the middle
Speaker 1: is a captain on defense. So Jerry Hughes, Christian kirksy
Speaker 1: on defense and our faith, our buddy, long time long snapper,
Speaker 1: pro bowler John Weeks, Special teams captains. So Davis, Brandon,
Speaker 1: Jerry Hughes, kirk go and see are your five captains
Speaker 1: for your Houston Texans. Get pumped. I love it. I
Speaker 1: don't look when everybody, well you have these captains. I
Speaker 1: saw somebody make a comment that Trey Lance was not
Speaker 1: voted captain with the forty nine ers. I'm like, look, man,
Speaker 1: you got Trent, you got Kittle, you got us check,
Speaker 1: you got all kinds of players on that forty nine ers,
Speaker 1: you know roster that have probably been captains in the past,
Speaker 1: and I ain't gonna lose being captains. I'm not putting
Speaker 1: anything over on Trey Lance, but you can make a
Speaker 1: lot a lot as made of that. Okay, well, this
Speaker 1: guy wasn't made of captain here in Houstons. I mean
Speaker 1: a Larmy Tunsil's not gonna be a leader, or that
Speaker 1: Tyas Howard's not gonna be a leader, or JB. Justin
Speaker 1: Britt's not gonna be a leader. Yeah, those guys are
Speaker 1: gonna lead. They're just not given the title of captain
Speaker 1: as voted on by the players, So Captain's voted here
Speaker 1: in Houston Bill's Rams tomorrow night, Lamar Jackson and finally
Speaker 1: asked this question to Mark what he thought. Joe Flacco
Speaker 1: will start the first three games, presumably for the Jets,
Speaker 1: and it starts against the Ravens. Mark Jackson's team this weekend.
Speaker 1: Zach Wilson is out until week four, the number two
Speaker 1: overall pick in the twenty twenty one draft. With that
Speaker 1: bone bruise, just couldn't get back ready for week one.
Speaker 1: They decided to give him more time and so he'll
Speaker 1: be back in week four. But Joe Flacco, the venerable
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, he was drafted, how about that?
Speaker 1: Still sticking around, still kicking. Jets take on the Ravens
Speaker 1: and Joe Flacco will start that game. So there is
Speaker 1: You're around the NFL news of the day right here
Speaker 1: on Texans All Acts is a big thanks to Nikissaria,
Speaker 1: to Mark Vanimir, to Judherity, John Grenard, Deep City, Matt
Speaker 1: Taylor and all of you for listening. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: We'll see mr on as always, Go Texans.