Speaker 1: The game is over, New York, you play to win
Speaker 1: the gate. He's got a Jet touchdown, can't. You're listening
Speaker 1: to the Official New York Jets Podcast, a Jets three
Speaker 1: sixty production. What's Up Everybody? Ethan Reeberg Eric Allen back
Speaker 1: in studio for the Official Jets Podcast this week breaking
Speaker 1: down Jets Vikings with Mike Wabashaw Wabby. He's a legend, man,
Speaker 1: he is he he is a Minnesota legend or an icon. Listen,
Speaker 1: you cover a team for a long time, people start
Speaker 1: associating you as he should be with the Minnesota and
Speaker 1: you too with the New York. You can't imagine going
Speaker 1: to Vikings dot com without seeing what the e and
Speaker 1: I spoke to Wabby about a lot of different things.
Speaker 1: Obviously spoke about Kirk Cousins, who spoke about Sheldon richardson
Speaker 1: making his met life returned this Sunday. We talked about
Speaker 1: the Minnesota defense that has been underperforming well a a
Speaker 1: little while and now they're back on track. Can we
Speaker 1: start this program off with an apology? My mother said
Speaker 1: I was being too hard on you last week when
Speaker 1: when Ethan Greenberg stated this is the Jets most important
Speaker 1: game of this season, and she said, you went a
Speaker 1: little hard at Greens. That's okay, I said, Mom, he
Speaker 1: went to new house over at Syracuse. He's been doing
Speaker 1: this for a few years now. Yeah. Yeah, But I
Speaker 1: appreciate it. I appreciate. But I publicly apologized because well,
Speaker 1: I guess I was coming too hard at my colleague
Speaker 1: over here the Green What what. I don't think it
Speaker 1: was too hard to Now you're making me seem like
Speaker 1: a soft The public apology is backfire me. But I appreciate.
Speaker 1: I appreciate this. Well. So my follow up to both
Speaker 1: you and my mother, who we will have on the
Speaker 1: podcast at some point, is if last week was the
Speaker 1: biggest game of the year for the Jets, what is
Speaker 1: this week Greens game? Really that's interesting because I think
Speaker 1: last game against the Colts, a banged up Colts team,
Speaker 1: was a game the Jets should have one, and they did.
Speaker 1: Now this is where they're going to another level. They're
Speaker 1: stepping up in weight class. Because beating the Broncos was
Speaker 1: one thing. Beating the Colts was one thing. This is
Speaker 1: a different deal, Greens. This is a team that won
Speaker 1: thirteen games a year ago, and you'll look at the
Speaker 1: Vikings roster they got dudes all over the place. I
Speaker 1: agree with you and that this is a different weight class.
Speaker 1: I think this weekend is a litmus test. Litmus Yeah,
Speaker 1: you like that. But the reason going back to I
Speaker 1: said last week and bringing it back to this week
Speaker 1: is something that Coach Bowl said after the game is
Speaker 1: this was a game that last year, speaking about the
Speaker 1: Colts game, the Jets winning that game was a game
Speaker 1: last year that the Jets probably would have lost. So
Speaker 1: when I said it was the biggest game, I meant
Speaker 1: I meant it in a way where you could really
Speaker 1: see the character and the resiliency of this team, and
Speaker 1: I think that it shine. And now going up in
Speaker 1: weight class, to use your analogy, I think that this
Speaker 1: is a different kind of test. Now. It's fascinating to
Speaker 1: me though, when you look back at two thousand seventeen,
Speaker 1: which we don't live in the past, but sometimes we're
Speaker 1: reminded of it. The Jets after six games last year,
Speaker 1: you know what the record was. It was three and three.
Speaker 1: It was three and three. There it is, there were
Speaker 1: three and three and um over the weekend, Terence Crawford
Speaker 1: went up in weight class and in boxing and he
Speaker 1: took down pose Bena vite is Okay. Why I bring
Speaker 1: the crowd Daddie up here is that what do They'm
Speaker 1: very interesting to see where you're going with my analogy
Speaker 1: is what do the Jets have? Did they have that
Speaker 1: knockout power as they're gonna be facing one of the
Speaker 1: teams a lot of people think are still amongst the leads.
Speaker 1: I think it goes back to screens his Minnesota in
Speaker 1: the playoffs this year. I would say We've seen a
Speaker 1: couple of teams, and I've seen North so far. I
Speaker 1: would say Minnesota got the best talent on the roster
Speaker 1: of all the team's obvious North. Yes, I agree with
Speaker 1: I agree with that. I think that what you're saying
Speaker 1: goes hand in hand with what I'm saying is do
Speaker 1: the Jets have the power the firepower to one go
Speaker 1: toe to toe with a team like the Vikings that
Speaker 1: have dudes all over their roster? And then, to use
Speaker 1: my analogy, it's it's kind of a litmus test to
Speaker 1: see if what the Jets will do and what they
Speaker 1: can can do against his Viking sa. I'm very excited.
Speaker 1: I'm very excited for Sunday. The Jets have more dudes
Speaker 1: than last year, I will say that, so not all
Speaker 1: three and three's are the same. The Jets have more
Speaker 1: players this year than they did in two thousand seventeen.
Speaker 1: The other thing that you look from early trends, Yes,
Speaker 1: they scuffled there and that three game losing streak, but
Speaker 1: you look at these numbers, you gotta go back a
Speaker 1: while to see the last Jets team over the first
Speaker 1: six games who had two forty point efforts in a
Speaker 1: thirty four point performance. As well, you gotta go back
Speaker 1: far the offense. Yes, I'm excited to see what they do.
Speaker 1: I'm very excited to see what this defense does because
Speaker 1: if Trumaine Johnson is down and busters down again, it's
Speaker 1: gonna make for an interesting day. Stefon Diggs and Adam
Speaker 1: Feeland are two I think the probably the best wide
Speaker 1: receiver duo. I think you would be hard to argue
Speaker 1: against that. Even though this Tyreek hell guys out of
Speaker 1: this world. Cheeta is a freak, but Codator Kansas City,
Speaker 1: it's like dial it up, run down the field. We'll
Speaker 1: hit you because you're four too, and everybody else is
Speaker 1: for something you're four to. Mahomes can throw, can throw
Speaker 1: a mile and a half, so just run down the
Speaker 1: sideline and I mean Sunday Nights game was crazy. You
Speaker 1: are right, there are a great wide receiver pair. And
Speaker 1: we will talk to Wabi about Kirk Cousins and we
Speaker 1: will discuss Sam Donald. But Cousins, you know, when you
Speaker 1: look at the splits, when you look at the stats
Speaker 1: game by game, he's off to a fantastic start here.
Speaker 1: You have to give him a lot of credit because
Speaker 1: even though there's talent around him, he's made it look easy.
Speaker 1: The one stat that I will say before we head
Speaker 1: into this Bobby interview is Kirk Cousins after Week one
Speaker 1: has completed over of his passes, one of which was
Speaker 1: in each game. Well, he's ridiculous. Over the past couple
Speaker 1: of years, he's top two three in the NFL and
Speaker 1: completions and completion percent alright. So on the other side,
Speaker 1: while you're throwing out the stats here, I want to
Speaker 1: ask you if Kirk Cousins is an elite quarterback, is
Speaker 1: the one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL?
Speaker 1: You think about that, I'll think about that and I'll
Speaker 1: tell you the answer after this Wabby interview. So without
Speaker 1: further ado, here is the one and only Wabby. Alrighty a,
Speaker 1: let's go out to Minnesota here and speak to Vikings
Speaker 1: dot COM's way no other than the Wabby himself. Thanks
Speaker 1: for coming on the Official Jets Podcast today. Hey, my pleasure, guys,
Speaker 1: thanks for having me on the Official Jets podcast. This
Speaker 1: is My This is My Jets podcast debuts super excited.
Speaker 1: All right, we're gonna make it a good one. Well, yeah, exactly, so,
Speaker 1: while let's just kick things off here is uh. Before
Speaker 1: the season, a lot of experts had the Vikings as
Speaker 1: a potential Super Bowl contender, and I'd say through about
Speaker 1: six weeks I think a lot of people around the
Speaker 1: league are are kind of say, oh, well, what's up
Speaker 1: with the Vikings defense after last year? From your point
Speaker 1: of view, what's the biggest difference on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball from last year to this year. Well,
Speaker 1: I think in the first four games, guys, it was
Speaker 1: big plays. Um, that was just something the Vikings did
Speaker 1: not surrender last season much at all. And and a
Speaker 1: lot of times in games it was like zero or
Speaker 1: one explosive games allowed. And then in the first month
Speaker 1: of the season, especially in that Rams game in Week four,
Speaker 1: you know, we we just gave up too many explosive
Speaker 1: plays and chunk yardage and UM. And so I think
Speaker 1: that was sort of the biggest you know, outside of
Speaker 1: just the end result of the games, I think that
Speaker 1: was the biggest differ prints was teams were able to
Speaker 1: explode on our defense. Now, the good news is we
Speaker 1: called that down a little bit. We had a Thursday
Speaker 1: night game against the Rams and then we had ten
Speaker 1: days off before we went out to Philadelphia and play
Speaker 1: the Eagles. UM. You know, I think you know, we
Speaker 1: all kind of call that the mini buy in the business.
Speaker 1: And I think I think there were some adjustments that
Speaker 1: were made, um, you know during that time by Zimmer
Speaker 1: and the and the defensive coaching staff, and we've we've
Speaker 1: seen much much better play from the defense in these
Speaker 1: last two games, both victories against the Eagles and the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: And a big thing that has happened is we've seen
Speaker 1: a reduction in the number of explosive plays allowed. UM.
Speaker 1: I think that's sort of been the biggest UM internal
Speaker 1: talking point has been explosive plays, and that's going to
Speaker 1: be a point of emphasis going forward, especially playing a
Speaker 1: Jets team that's been exploding, um, you know, on offense
Speaker 1: quite a bit. Lately. All right, well, Green's elected to
Speaker 1: bury the lead in this scenario. I was singu atter
Speaker 1: for you yet, So what's the deal. Did the Vikings
Speaker 1: all along think they were going to get Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: in free agency and his he exceeded expectations. So far,
Speaker 1: we haven't seen much of the Vikings obviously since we're
Speaker 1: covering the Jets, but you look at his statistics, it's like, wow,
Speaker 1: they jump off the page. Touchdown, three interceptions. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: guy is unbelievable. I mean, he's you know, he's the
Speaker 1: best quarterback that that we've had here, you know, in
Speaker 1: a while. And like, if you look at how case
Speaker 1: Keenom played last year, I mean, Case Keendom played outstanding
Speaker 1: and he was able to improvise. He was able to
Speaker 1: deal with um some past protection problems, and he was
Speaker 1: able a case king, was able to get the ball
Speaker 1: into the playmaker's hands. And he did a great job
Speaker 1: here and he helped us go thirteen and three and
Speaker 1: we went to the NFC title game. You know, Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins is also doing a great job, but he just
Speaker 1: does it in a little bit different way. Um, And
Speaker 1: what we've seen from Cousins is a quarterback who can
Speaker 1: do anything you ask him to do. He can drop
Speaker 1: back seven steps and throw the ball down the field.
Speaker 1: He can use the quick game. There are some zone
Speaker 1: read concepts you can use with him. He can bootleg,
Speaker 1: he can change protections and change the play at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. I mean, he's He's worth every penny
Speaker 1: the Vikings have paid him so far, and he's off
Speaker 1: to the best or second best start in team history,
Speaker 1: depending on how you look at it. Dante Culpepper had
Speaker 1: a really fast start in two thousand and four. Um,
Speaker 1: and Kirk Cousins is having a comparable start to Dante Culpepper,
Speaker 1: and he's doing some things we've never seen Vikings quarterbacks do.
Speaker 1: So um. You know, I think the marriage between John D.
Speaker 1: Philippo and Kirk Cousins has been really good. Um so
Speaker 1: far here um through six weeks, and our offense has
Speaker 1: been explosive, especially through the air. Of course, Adam Theland
Speaker 1: has been on fire. No one can stop him. We
Speaker 1: hope that continues. But yeah, Kirk Cousins has been everything
Speaker 1: people expected and more through the first six weeks and
Speaker 1: hopefully he can keep it going. Prior to him signing
Speaker 1: in metas soda. We're Vikings fans worried about the Jets
Speaker 1: or did they feel pretty solid that they were going
Speaker 1: to get their man. Oh that's a good question. Thinking
Speaker 1: back to when that was happening. Um, you know, I
Speaker 1: think there was some, um, some uncertainty, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins was the best quarterback on the market, and
Speaker 1: you know he there were a lot of teams that
Speaker 1: weren't interested in them. And you know, the interesting twist
Speaker 1: to that whole story for the Vikings was, if you'll remember,
Speaker 1: the Vikings had three pretty good quarterbacks to consider. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, they had Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Bradford and case
Speaker 1: Keena coming off their own roster. So they had to
Speaker 1: they had to navigate those waters and see what the
Speaker 1: possibilities were with those guys, in addition to deciding whether
Speaker 1: or not they wanted Cousins and then deciding how they
Speaker 1: were going to pursue Cousins. So it was really, um
Speaker 1: an interesting offseason. Um just looking at the quarterback position here,
Speaker 1: and I know you guys had Teddy Bridgewater for a
Speaker 1: little while, so you can see, um, you know, why
Speaker 1: the Vikings were were so enamored with Teddy for as
Speaker 1: long as they were. You guys saw it firsthand. So um,
Speaker 1: it was a really interesting offseason. I think it shook
Speaker 1: out really well for the Vikings. Um, with the way
Speaker 1: Sam Donald was playing, I think you can argue it
Speaker 1: shook out really well for the Jets. So um, but
Speaker 1: you no Cousins three year deal and whatever the money was.
Speaker 1: And I think the hope, you know, at least for
Speaker 1: the Vikings, is that that's just the first deal they
Speaker 1: do with Kirk Cousins, because what he's done so far
Speaker 1: has been has been above and beyond what anyone could
Speaker 1: have expected. Listen, I think it's a best case scenario
Speaker 1: for both sides. And the Jets went into free agency
Speaker 1: and then the draft with plans A, B, C, and D.
Speaker 1: Let's just play hypotheticals here looking back. If the Vikings
Speaker 1: don't get Kirk Cousins, what was their plan? B Um?
Speaker 1: I guess without talking to Zim and Rick and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, being in their meeting room, it's it's hard
Speaker 1: to say. I would have to imagine, you know, one
Speaker 1: of the one of the three quarterbacks who was coming
Speaker 1: off the roster maybe was a plan. B Um. I
Speaker 1: have to imagine there was Um, you know, there was
Speaker 1: a decision made to go after Cousins and to just
Speaker 1: do whatever it took to get up. And I think
Speaker 1: probably once they made that decision um there there probably
Speaker 1: was no looking back. What was I don't know, but
Speaker 1: I mean the Vikings had some pretty good options to consider, um,
Speaker 1: you know, including keeping case Keenum Um who who is Um?
Speaker 1: Obviously a guy who can win at a high level.
Speaker 1: He did it for the Vikings last year. So UM,
Speaker 1: you know, I I I'm glad we didn't have to
Speaker 1: see what Plan B was because I think Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: was Plan A. And it's always good to see your
Speaker 1: team achieve what its objective is. Lobby through six weeks
Speaker 1: of the NFL season here, I know you've said on
Speaker 1: on the pod that Kirk Cousins has gone above and
Speaker 1: beyond expectations. Well, what's the most impressive thing about Kirk
Speaker 1: cousins performance this year through your eyes? Well, you know,
Speaker 1: I think if you look at what has happened with
Speaker 1: the Vikings offensive line from a lost standpoint, I mean
Speaker 1: all offseason it was how can the Vikings add and
Speaker 1: improve the offensive line? Add two and improve the offensive line?
Speaker 1: And they did some things. They drafted a tackle in
Speaker 1: the second round. UM, they added a um a solid
Speaker 1: piece and free agency in Tom Compton. Last year, they
Speaker 1: drafted a center in the third round, and they signed
Speaker 1: to offensive tackles Riley Reef and Mike Reremers. So there's
Speaker 1: been a lot of addition to this offensive line to
Speaker 1: try and make it better. But if you look at
Speaker 1: what happened in August to this team, UM and late
Speaker 1: July the passing of Tony Sperano, and you lose Nick
Speaker 1: Easton to an injury. Right now they're dealing with Riley
Speaker 1: Reef and an injury to him. Uh. Pat alf Line
Speaker 1: did not make it back until the regular season started.
Speaker 1: So and I think the fact that Kirk Cousins is
Speaker 1: able to move this offense up and down the field
Speaker 1: the way he's been able to do it with an
Speaker 1: offensive line that is still being put together, you know,
Speaker 1: I think is really impressive. And um, you know, he's
Speaker 1: been able to do it on schedule in the pocket,
Speaker 1: he's been able to do it off schedule out of
Speaker 1: the pocket. He's done it against the blitz. He's done it, um,
Speaker 1: you know, with only three rushers in his face and
Speaker 1: teams dropping eight. He's been able to do it every
Speaker 1: which way, so that that's been the most impressive thing
Speaker 1: to me is is to be able to do it
Speaker 1: with an offensive line that is still being put together.
Speaker 1: And he's delivering great pregame speeches. I'm sure are helping
Speaker 1: your numbers there at Vikings dot com. Now, I don't
Speaker 1: know about his touchdown celebration, so let's get off cause
Speaker 1: it's just for a second and talk about the guys
Speaker 1: he's thrown too. Are Adam Talen, who's got six consecutive
Speaker 1: hunry our games, which is just absolutely staggerant. And Stefan Jags,
Speaker 1: the top wide receiver pair in the National Football League. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's been fun to watch. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: these two receivers all of their careers, really, but this season, UM,
Speaker 1: you know, they're they're performing at at the best level
Speaker 1: they've performed at individually and as a tandem. So you
Speaker 1: know it's Um, I don't I don't think it really matters. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, his zone coverage, man coverage, whatever. I you know,
Speaker 1: I think they've found a way to have an answer
Speaker 1: for all of that. And and look, I mean you're
Speaker 1: gonna cut you. You're playing good defenses every single week,
Speaker 1: and there are wins and losses within every game. Um,
Speaker 1: so you know, Kirk Cousins is not throwing a perfect
Speaker 1: game here to Digs and Celand, but more times than not,
Speaker 1: they're finding ways to be coverage and win. And um,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm sure that if you look back at
Speaker 1: our game against the Arizona Cardinals, Stefan Diggs did not
Speaker 1: um have the production that maybe we're used to sing,
Speaker 1: but he also went up against Patrick Peterson. The good
Speaker 1: news is most teams don't have more than one Patrick
Speaker 1: Peterson type of corner. They've got one of those, and
Speaker 1: we've got two receivers, um Diggs and DeLand who can
Speaker 1: who can match up well with anyone. So it's been
Speaker 1: a luxury for the Vikings to have both of those guys.
Speaker 1: And some games they're both going at a m at
Speaker 1: a high level. Some games one of them is getting
Speaker 1: there's while the other one is is taking up a
Speaker 1: bunch of coverage. So um, you know, it's it's been Um,
Speaker 1: it's been fun to watch and feeling is just you know,
Speaker 1: he's Mr reliable and Mr consistent. Now, the one thing
Speaker 1: that both of these guys um do really well that
Speaker 1: does not always get talked about is their route running.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're their their route running is really really good.
Speaker 1: And I think that's going to serve them well, um,
Speaker 1: later in their career. And I think it's gonna you know,
Speaker 1: it serves them well later in the season when guys
Speaker 1: get banged up and maybe they lose a step. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, they're still able to create separation because of
Speaker 1: their route running. And that that's one thing maybe, you know,
Speaker 1: for Jets fans or for you guys to watch, you
Speaker 1: know what what makes these guys so good? How are
Speaker 1: they able to produce? Just pay attention to their route running.
Speaker 1: It's really fun to watch. Looking at this Jets Vikings
Speaker 1: matchup Wibby, is what's a matchup that you think that
Speaker 1: Jets fans should think that's a favorable matchup or if
Speaker 1: you're Vikings fans say, okay, I'm a little concerned about that. Well, um,
Speaker 1: you're talking about on either side of the ball. You know.
Speaker 1: I was I was watching, Um, I was watching you
Speaker 1: guys and and the game against the Colts, and I
Speaker 1: just I saw a lot of attention paid to Leonard Williams,
Speaker 1: you know, and I think you guys have probably really
Speaker 1: enjoyed watching him play. UM. So I think he's a
Speaker 1: concern really for any team. UM when when you're going
Speaker 1: up against the Jets, is um is watching that guy play.
Speaker 1: I think Darren Lee's um sideline to sideline speed is
Speaker 1: really impressive. UM. So I think, you know, those maybe
Speaker 1: are our two matchups to watch for Jets fans to see, Hey,
Speaker 1: how are the Vikings gonna handle this? Um? You know,
Speaker 1: because these two guys can create some problems. Now, Pat
Speaker 1: elf Line, our center who's back in the lineup, has
Speaker 1: made a really big difference for the Vikings. So I
Speaker 1: think that's gonna help us handle a guy like Leonard Williams. UM.
Speaker 1: But I would really watch number ninety two for your
Speaker 1: defense see how the Vikings handle him. And then, like
Speaker 1: I said, I think Darren Lee is really really good
Speaker 1: and really fast too. I think offensively, you know, UM,
Speaker 1: I thought, you know the numbers for Donald or they
Speaker 1: can be gaudy. Um, they look really good. But what's
Speaker 1: interesting to me is, UM, it's not that it's not sophisticated.
Speaker 1: I think the offensive design has sophistication to it. But
Speaker 1: I think Donald is doing such a good job of
Speaker 1: executing and it's not um, it's not rocket science. They're
Speaker 1: using a little bit of that RPO or play action,
Speaker 1: reading a linebacker and safety and and and finding ways
Speaker 1: to create big windows for Donald and Donald is throwing
Speaker 1: the ball um accurately and on time. So I'm looking
Speaker 1: at some of these um slant and uh and flat
Speaker 1: concepts that Donald and the offensive staff are using to
Speaker 1: to create um, you know, wide open receivers. I really
Speaker 1: um enjoyed watching that against the Colts. So I think
Speaker 1: the Vikings, you know, they feel good about the improvements
Speaker 1: they've made on defense the last couple of weeks, but
Speaker 1: I think that's really here this week against the Jets,
Speaker 1: because I think the Jets can challenge you in a
Speaker 1: lot of different ways. Though, what are you encouraged by
Speaker 1: what you saw from the run game last week? I
Speaker 1: think about a D nine yards against the Cardinals, Ottavius
Speaker 1: Murray went off from one fifty five and where, oh
Speaker 1: where is Dalvin Cook? Is it a possibility that he
Speaker 1: could be on the field come Sunday? Because I think
Speaker 1: for the Vikings to take that next step down the
Speaker 1: line in January, is they gotta have that balance offensively? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I UM, I do feel good about the running game. Now, um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a hundred and ninety five yards for
Speaker 1: the team, which was which was a good number, and
Speaker 1: Latavius was one which was a caleer high. Now, it
Speaker 1: was the rs on the Cardinals who came into the
Speaker 1: game having surrendered the most rushing touchdowns in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and I think they were the third worst rushing defense
Speaker 1: in the NFL, So you should be able to run
Speaker 1: it against those guys. I think the Jets run defense
Speaker 1: is better, so this will be a stiffer test for
Speaker 1: the Vikings running game. With all that being said, what
Speaker 1: I like the most about the rushing performance was the
Speaker 1: ability to explode um. It wasn't just a volume day
Speaker 1: for for the running game. The Vikings were able to
Speaker 1: do it with explosion. The touchdown run for Murray was
Speaker 1: twenty one yards um. I think he also had a
Speaker 1: twenty eight yard or and a thirty one or thirty
Speaker 1: four yard or so. We were able to explode and
Speaker 1: move the ball down the field in chunks and and
Speaker 1: and it wasn't always the passing game that was doing
Speaker 1: And I think that's you know, that alleviates a lot
Speaker 1: of pressure from the past protection Um and from the
Speaker 1: passing game in general, when you can explode on the ground,
Speaker 1: so more than just twenty carriers with two hund yards.
Speaker 1: What I'm looking for is every now and then a
Speaker 1: twelve yard run and then an eighteen yard run and
Speaker 1: then a thirty four yard run. And if you end
Speaker 1: up with a hundred and twenty instead of a hundred
Speaker 1: and ninety five, but you had four or five explosives
Speaker 1: in there, I think that's just as good. Last one
Speaker 1: for that secondary you talk about, they've given up big
Speaker 1: plays and sharing that up in the defensive backfield and
Speaker 1: they've played better of late. The loss of Mike Hughes.
Speaker 1: How does that impact them? And do you see this
Speaker 1: defensive backfield just getting better and better as the weeks progress. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the secondary has gotten better and better as the weeks
Speaker 1: have gone on, and especially the last two weeks UM
Speaker 1: with the with you know, the the injury to Mike Hughes.
Speaker 1: The reason that stinks, guys is because and maybe you've
Speaker 1: you've you guys have gone through this um this season
Speaker 1: or a different season with a rookie. But when you
Speaker 1: have a really good defense, which the Vikings have, and
Speaker 1: it's toll of guys who have who have been on
Speaker 1: the team for a long time. When you look at
Speaker 1: wind Vall and h Daniel Hunter, Kendricks, Barr, Harrison Smith,
Speaker 1: Davier Rhodes, Trey Wins, these guys have played together for
Speaker 1: a long time. So the structure is really sound. When
Speaker 1: you have a rookie and you are able to play
Speaker 1: him within that structure, it is an ideal learning environment
Speaker 1: because you are more able to tolerate and survive mistakes
Speaker 1: that that rookie is going to make because he's so
Speaker 1: well insulated by good and experienced players around him. So
Speaker 1: it was a perfect learning environment for Mike Hughes, and
Speaker 1: learning environment is important for a corner. It's a really
Speaker 1: hard position to play and you're gonna make mistakes. But
Speaker 1: Mike Hughes was, you know, he he had his back
Speaker 1: covered by a lot of really good players. So that's
Speaker 1: the part that really stinks about this is you're taking
Speaker 1: a rookie corner out of what was a really good
Speaker 1: situation for him to learn. Um, Now, how do you
Speaker 1: handle this going forward? The good news is Mike Hughes
Speaker 1: wasn't handling anything on his own. He was splitting time
Speaker 1: with Mackenzie, Alexander at the nickel corner spot. And then
Speaker 1: those two were also splitting time with our third safety,
Speaker 1: Jron Curse, who we use as a big nickel from
Speaker 1: time to time. So I think you're gonna see Mackenzie
Speaker 1: Alexander and j Ron Curse continue to split those nickel reps.
Speaker 1: Where I think the depth would really get tested is now,
Speaker 1: is something happens to Rhodes, Trey, Wayne's or Mackenzie Alexander.
Speaker 1: Now it's undrafted rookie Holton Hill or veteran Marcus Sheryls
Speaker 1: who would have to step in. That's where I think
Speaker 1: the Mike Hughes injury could really hurt when it comes
Speaker 1: to the starters and the the guys who play most
Speaker 1: of the downs. Because of our depth right now at corner,
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna be able to survive the Hughes injury,
Speaker 1: but we will really miss Myke Cues and uh and
Speaker 1: and that development that would have occurred on the field
Speaker 1: for him was just going to be delayed by about
Speaker 1: three quarters of a season. All right, Green's I Live
Speaker 1: and I Live Sheldon Richardson, He's coming back to that
Speaker 1: life stadium. What have you thought of Sheldon so far?
Speaker 1: Early on here with the Vikings after coming over from
Speaker 1: Seattle signing in the off season, and no, and Sheldon,
Speaker 1: like we do. I gotta imagine he is really itching
Speaker 1: to get out there on the field. Yeah, I'm sure
Speaker 1: he is. You know, she's been Um, you know, we've
Speaker 1: We've only had him here for a little bit, right,
Speaker 1: I mean it's been a half a year. Um, But
Speaker 1: so far he's been a treat to have around. And
Speaker 1: I think I think he's funny. I think he's really
Speaker 1: bought into the team concept here with coach Zimmer in
Speaker 1: this defense. And you know, look, I mean Sheldon has
Speaker 1: been around the block. He knows when he comes into
Speaker 1: a new atmosphere. I'm sure he experiences in Seattle and
Speaker 1: he he's experiencing it here in Minnesota. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: stepping into a locker room with a core group of
Speaker 1: guys that have been together for a long time one
Speaker 1: thirteen games last year, and have super high expectations. Sheldon
Speaker 1: has stepped in here and he's been all about his
Speaker 1: business the whole time. I've been impressed with him, and
Speaker 1: I think he's only going to get better the more
Speaker 1: games he plays in this system. That is wabby of
Speaker 1: Vikings dot com. You can follow him on Twitter at
Speaker 1: wabbi w O B b Y Wabby. Thanks so much
Speaker 1: for coming on your debut here on the Official Jets pot.
Speaker 1: Hey my pleasure, guys, thanks for having me. Let's do
Speaker 1: it again. That was Wabby great having him on for
Speaker 1: his debut on the Official Jets Pod. So he asked
Speaker 1: me before the interview, is is Kirk Cousin elite? And
Speaker 1: are we just talking about this season or are we
Speaker 1: talking about career wise? He said, an elite start this year,
Speaker 1: But I'm talking totally okay that I probably say no,
Speaker 1: I probably say top ten, okay, but I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't say top five, especially because you gotta consider before anyone.
Speaker 1: You gotta consider the oldies, but goodies, Tom Brady, Phil Rivers,
Speaker 1: Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger. That's four right there, and then
Speaker 1: well we'll Ben over the course of his career. Right now,
Speaker 1: it take Cousins over Roethlisberger. Well, but I agree with that,
Speaker 1: That's why I asked the question. So I put Cousins
Speaker 1: top ten, I don't put him top five, okay? Well,
Speaker 1: and did you want the Jets to sign him an
Speaker 1: off season? Because they went an off season with various plans,
Speaker 1: and the first part of that off season plan was
Speaker 1: they made a run after Cousins. Of course he signed
Speaker 1: with Minnesota. Well you know this is this is a
Speaker 1: great debate, and what is this Chris Cuomo. Well, I
Speaker 1: think hindsight you'd lean no even after a start. Even
Speaker 1: after a start, I would say you'd probably say no,
Speaker 1: But mostly because your your quarterback. This is a more
Speaker 1: macro level. What I'm about to say is you get
Speaker 1: a young quarterback twenty one years old, you mold them
Speaker 1: into your system, however you want to do it. You
Speaker 1: still have the most cap space in the league heading
Speaker 1: into two thousand nine, you now have something to build around.
Speaker 1: And then, not to mention, a recipe for success of
Speaker 1: recent has been you try to make a push with
Speaker 1: the rookie quarterback before you have to pay him, assuming
Speaker 1: he paid for But the first exception or Indianapolis. And
Speaker 1: that's interesting, and we discussed this last night with Eric
Speaker 1: Coleman on Inside the Jets. He made a good point.
Speaker 1: It's that Indianapolis has put a lot of resources behind
Speaker 1: Andrew lock. When you put that many, that amount of
Speaker 1: rees sources behind one player, it's going to impact you
Speaker 1: down the line other spots. I agree with that. And
Speaker 1: then just on the other side of the coin, here
Speaker 1: is in March, if I told you, okay, the Jets
Speaker 1: signed Kirk Cousins and then have the number six overall
Speaker 1: pick or number three, that then you're thinking you could
Speaker 1: get a premier position like a Bradley Child. If the
Speaker 1: Jet drafted three, they would have had options of Bradley Child,
Speaker 1: Denzel Award, Quinton Nelson, who likes your pick of the litter.
Speaker 1: At that point, you probably don't make the move up
Speaker 1: to go to three. So at six, you're probably going
Speaker 1: best player available. Well, yeah, you're definitely getting two starters,
Speaker 1: and you would definitely think that they're two elite players,
Speaker 1: correct because or close to elite, and Cousins is a
Speaker 1: very very good quarter. But then, not to mention, by
Speaker 1: the way, you have two second round picks, so so
Speaker 1: you you're supporting cast might have looked a little different.
Speaker 1: But I think hindsight you would do what the Jets did,
Speaker 1: trade up from six to three, draft Donald whatever, and
Speaker 1: then the rest is history, I think. And this is
Speaker 1: not running away from any side, but wab he said,
Speaker 1: all right, and I think that's what you're articulating as well,
Speaker 1: is that there are times, just like what we saw
Speaker 1: with the Colts last week, there are times when moves
Speaker 1: can work out for both teams and players. And this
Speaker 1: might have worked out best for Cousins, and this might
Speaker 1: have definitely worked out the best for the Jets because
Speaker 1: Sam Donald, to me, has an unbelievable upside. And I'm
Speaker 1: not saying he's to the level of anybody right now.
Speaker 1: I don't even think that's fair to say that about
Speaker 1: him six games into his NFL career. But what we've
Speaker 1: witnessed is he's getting better each in every week. He's
Speaker 1: seeing things cleaner, he's recognizing and using his feet better.
Speaker 1: He is holding himself in that pocket and not escaping
Speaker 1: the pocket, which a lot of these young quarterbacks are
Speaker 1: doing nowadays because you get a little bit Antsie back there.
Speaker 1: He's getting better every week, and Jeremy basically gotta credit
Speaker 1: him a lot, and Michel Lombardi and on and on
Speaker 1: and on. But I really like what the Jets have
Speaker 1: set up for themselves, not only two thousand and eighteen,
Speaker 1: but beyond. I agree with that, and I think that's
Speaker 1: also where you kind of have to value Sam Donald
Speaker 1: is what the Jets done do with the money that
Speaker 1: they did not spend free agency this year Moving forward,
Speaker 1: I think it's part of a what I said before,
Speaker 1: it's part of a larger plan here and it's on
Speaker 1: the macro level. And I'm I know it's week six
Speaker 1: of the regular season and there's a long way to go.
Speaker 1: And like you said before, we don't live in the past,
Speaker 1: we don't live ahead. We live kind of in the
Speaker 1: moment during the season. But I think if you're a
Speaker 1: Jets fan, if you take a second to think about
Speaker 1: the off season, it's gonna be uh an exciting one. Again, well,
Speaker 1: you have financial flexible and that doesn't mean you go
Speaker 1: in and you spend crazy. You don't, you pick your spots,
Speaker 1: but it gives you the ability to do add pieces
Speaker 1: along the way. And again, Mike mcagnan had a fantastic offseason.
Speaker 1: I don't know how you can't look at the Jets
Speaker 1: after six games and say mccagnan did not have a
Speaker 1: fantastic offseason. You got Trumine Johnson, who has played well
Speaker 1: when he's been in the lineup. Unfortunately's missed the last
Speaker 1: couple of games, and you mentioned before he's still got
Speaker 1: the quad injury with the monitor his status throughout the week.
Speaker 1: Avery Williamson has been fantastic. He's been very good. Sure
Speaker 1: he got beaten a couple of times in coverage against
Speaker 1: the Jacksonville Jaguars, but again he was in another takeaway
Speaker 1: last week. Uh the offensive side of the ball. I
Speaker 1: was talking to Brian Winners about this last night or
Speaker 1: on insaide the Jetson Winner said, he's so smart. Spencer
Speaker 1: Long the guys lining up next to each and every
Speaker 1: Sunday or Monday Thursday. He's so smart and he brings
Speaker 1: a lot to the table. Isaiah Crowell is one of
Speaker 1: the league leaders in rushing. You got Terrell Prior who
Speaker 1: has touchdowns in consecutive weeks now, and then the list
Speaker 1: can go on and on. We talked about the draft picks.
Speaker 1: We at first. You start with Donald Chris Hernan getting
Speaker 1: into the end zone last week. You got Perry Nickerson
Speaker 1: playing a big amount right now with buster screens stilling
Speaker 1: concussion protocol. I know I'm missing guys, but you know
Speaker 1: Henry Anderson for the seventh round pick. We can go
Speaker 1: on and on. Mccagnan, I don't care if you're a
Speaker 1: fan of a Jet, the fan of the Jets, which
Speaker 1: most people are who are listening right now. Are you're
Speaker 1: just a follower of the National Football League. Mccagnan and company, had,
Speaker 1: you know, really impressive all season. I echo those sentiments
Speaker 1: and we move on on the Official Jets Podcast, is
Speaker 1: right real quick before we wrap up for Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: the Shepherds starting every week for this team since day
Speaker 1: since day one, but a four days stay. So are
Speaker 1: are you sure anyone else here you want to throw
Speaker 1: out like a touchdown Jackson? Okay, we'll go on and
Speaker 1: on here, but in uh in other news in greens Weekly,
Speaker 1: Syracuse Spot, Syracuse Basketball, they got they got their guy,
Speaker 1: Joe Girard, the third New York's all time leading score
Speaker 1: New York Cities, No, New York State's all time leading score,
Speaker 1: going staying home, Glens Falls, New York, going to the Queues.
Speaker 1: Have we have been had? Midnight manness? Yeah? The team
Speaker 1: is even allowed to practice yet and you're throwing me Syracuse. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I got excited. I got Syracuse Football how to buy
Speaker 1: Syracuse basketball stepped up with the wind? Who did they
Speaker 1: have this week? Scuse unc do you guys get back
Speaker 1: to your winning way? It's gonna claim victory, I hope.
Speaker 1: So did you know that Dino Babs gonna take everybody
Speaker 1: to to Uh? That would be nice. I have to
Speaker 1: bring this up for to Carl Durell. But Dino Baber's
Speaker 1: was the associate head coach at U c l A
Speaker 1: and he worked under Carlton Route when he was head
Speaker 1: coached there. Oh that's a fun fact. Kelly finally got
Speaker 1: his first win college. Uh. Well, back in college is
Speaker 1: the Bruins Sticktown, California upsets last weekend, So there could
Speaker 1: be a few upsets on the horizon this week in college.
Speaker 1: Just keep an eye on that. I wanted to bring up.
Speaker 1: The other orange and Blue here is your Gators almost
Speaker 1: almost let it slip away. It doesn't matter him did
Speaker 1: they wind they win. I'm not saying they didn't. I'm
Speaker 1: saying it was a little close. Fort got two weeks
Speaker 1: to prepare for Georgia. You talk to Georgia. I'm sure
Speaker 1: they'd take an ugly win right now to get your
Speaker 1: team roll by l s Uh what's up? Tomal Okay, Well,
Speaker 1: one more thing the Blue and Orange here, okay the
Speaker 1: Knicks opened up this week, is that he gets the
Speaker 1: Hawks do you think Kevin Knox is a real deal? Uh?
Speaker 1: I already he's not gonna be in the starting lineup.
Speaker 1: I like Kevin. Yeah, And we should talk to Todd
Speaker 1: Bowles at some point about the Knicks because he's the
Speaker 1: Knicks guy. Yeah. And uh, I'm excited to see what
Speaker 1: the next twe this year. Just I mean, it's it's
Speaker 1: new coach syndrome, Like you get excited, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. I'm excited to see Fisdale the next picked up.
Speaker 1: Kevin Knox is gonna be a very good player. Nick
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of pieces right now. They don't.
Speaker 1: That's for that. That's again for for next offseason. That's
Speaker 1: all we have here on the official JEZZ podcast again
Speaker 1: Jets vikings. For the Jets to win this game, they're
Speaker 1: gonna need a big time productive day from the defensive line.
Speaker 1: Cousins talked to multiple people this week. They've discussed his
Speaker 1: low arm angle delivering the football, so it's almost side
Speaker 1: arm at times. The Cardinals bat at seven passes down
Speaker 1: in the line of skirmish last week he went thirty four.
Speaker 1: So also when they lost the last time they lost, wait,
Speaker 1: they batted seven passes. Yeah, look that up. So he
Speaker 1: basically won seven without Yes, they okay, and when Buffalo
Speaker 1: went to town. And by the way, the Bills have
Speaker 1: a very good defense. Their offense not, but their defense
Speaker 1: is very good. You have to win up front against
Speaker 1: their offensive line. Otherwise it's gonna be tough to stop them.
Speaker 1: It just is. Those guys are that explosive. And Darneld
Speaker 1: the company just gotta keep on doing what they're doing.
Speaker 1: I love to balance on offense, the clock, the Jet
Speaker 1: to score the clock very well. Red zone efficiency. Check
Speaker 1: us out practice today time fifteen on all Jets platforms.
Speaker 1: Friday morning, we'll discuss the red zone. All right, that's
Speaker 1: all we have here on the Official Jets podcast again
Speaker 1: Jets Vikings Week seven. That Life Stadium. We'll see a
Speaker 1: Sunday