WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 127: A Great Day to Have a Great Day 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:03.360 This week on a Happy Half Hour. 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:09.880 Here's what I think about preseason football after watching thirty 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.160 years of NFL preseason football product. It's kind of like 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.040 when you buy Craft singles or something that says American 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.280 cheese product. They don't say cheese, they say cheese product. 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:21.119 That's what preseason football's like. 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:28.760 Touchdown cow wha, It's time for the Happy Half Hour, 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:34.760 presented by Southern Star, an official bourbon of the Carolina Panthers. 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:39.800 Here are your hosts, Darren Gant and Cassidy Hill. 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.080 All right, it's a great day. I don't know, I 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:48.199 just felt like starting the Happy Half Hour in the 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.040 voice of Dave Canalis. I mean, he always walks into 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:53.840 press conference, you know, full of energy, and he says 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:55.800 things like that was a great. 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:57.920 Day, what a great day, to have a great day. 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.280 How we do on everybody, every big good good. 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:03.120 I wish I had a little bit of his energy. 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:05.080 Podcast, Matt, Does it come off as sincere when I 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:05.800 say it that way? 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:06.679 No? 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:08.640 Okay, what if I just do it the way I 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:12.319 always do and say, hello, friends, welcome to the Happy 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:12.880 Half Hour. 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:15.759 If you're not starting the podcast talking about liquor, then 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:16.840 it doesn't feel sincere. 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:21.360 Yeah, hey, okay, I'll take that all right. So there 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:24.480 we go. We're already into this happy half hour presented 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.200 by a Southern Star, an official bourbon of the Carolina 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:31.360 Panthers celebrate the spirit of the Carolinas. And you know 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:33.800 what we celebrated last week, Cassi Hill, What did we 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.400 celebrate last We celebrated a touchdown. We saw it with 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:37.039 our own two. 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.720 D Actually we didn't if you were in the elevator 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:40.240 like I was. 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:42.679 Well, I was. I was watching it on a monitor. 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:44.480 So I've heard the stories. 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.680 Yes, touchdowns have been scored. The Carolina Panthers have scored points. 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.320 All of you naysayers go someplace else. It is a 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:54.720 happy half hour and a happy half hour. Uh and 0:01:54.960 --> 0:02:00.240 only happy because preseason almost over. Oh yeah, it's kind 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.600 of a drag. I understand people who have been frustrated 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:04.880 not seeing the starters and the people that they kind 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:08.359 of want to see. But there's a reason for this gang. 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.640 There is a reason. And Bryshawn kind of summed it 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.000 up on Tuesday. 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:17.840 Yeah, yeah, day of the week is it anymore? 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:20.480 That is a great question. But bryshonk summed it up 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:22.760 on Tuesday when he said, you know, we trust the coaches. 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:24.480 They have a plan, and they have put us in 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:28.480 a lot of game like situations in practice to kind 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:33.520 of adjust for if they don't play in a preseason game. Now, granted, Darren, 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.440 a lot of people will say, well, we're prepared regardless. 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:38.840 You've watched a lot of practices, and you've watched a 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:44.000 lot of practices for the Carolina Panthers. Do you see it? 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:46.520 From my point of view, We've heard so much about 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:50.720 Dave Canalys's training camp plan and and not straying from 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:52.600 the plan even when it would have been easy to 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:56.360 and actually sticking to it, and it's sort of beginning 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.359 to unfold to prepare the players in a certain way. 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.120 I feel like we have actually seen that happen, and 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:05.160 we've seen it working in the longer camp went on, 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:07.680 and the closer we get to the regular season, you're like, Okay, 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:11.200 I actually kind of see his process here. Do you 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:17.880 think that plan is enough to make up for possibly 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:19.560 not playing the starters in a preseason game. 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:23.600 Here's what I think about preseason football after watching thirty 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.120 years of NFL preseason football product, and it's kind of 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:29.600 like when you buy craft singles or something that says 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:33.280 American cheese product. They don't say cheese, they say cheese product. 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:37.760 That's what preseason football is like. It's preseason football product. 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:40.480 It is a product of the NFL. 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.520 It is not like the other football And Canal has 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:47.280 talked about it earlier this week, and Matt is awesome, 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:48.840 and we'll pull the sound and he can say it 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.200 in his own words, but Dave said in as many words, 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:56.760 there is a difference between a joint practice snap and 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.600 a preseason game snap. And I'll let him explain that 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:00.760 part before we come back. 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:04.720 So you're gonna get an elevated speed just naturally, you. 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:05.160 Know, guys. 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:07.400 Guys, we're pushing our guys to go full speed all 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:09.520 the time. But as we know, they get into this 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.320 competitive moment and when the jersey color changes and it's 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:15.080 someone new, there's an excitement to it. There's just naturally 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:17.120 an excitement to that part of it. But we're not 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.440 tackling to the ground, you know, we're certainly not you know, 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:22.400 cut blocking anywhere, and we're not doing some of the 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:24.840 things that that we would normally do in a normal 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:26.840 game setting, you know, so there's still a big difference, 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.440 you know, it's like, there's it's amazing to me always 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:33.600 the levels of speed that our players take it when 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.479 it goes from the most competitive thing you can create 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:38.920 in a practice to what happens in the game, you know, 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.920 and the adrenaline and all those things and the lights 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:43.000 and all the excitement of that. 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:47.000 And I get that. I'll go with him on that, 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:51.080 except here's what I like about the joint practice situation. 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:53.720 And I swear I believe if my friends at three 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:57.239 forty five Park Avenue steal my idea and turn joint 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:00.960 practices into three hour scrimmages where the first half is 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.719 one versus two or Mayo versus your D, the second 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:08.800 half's your DMO that kind of thing, and turn it 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:13.040 into a three hour joint practice on television inside stadium 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:17.440 bowls with money, then we'll all be better off. Because 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:20.480 here's what I like about a joint practice. Snap number one, 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:23.839 it's predictable. You can strap a red jersey on your 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:27.240 quarterbacks back. Know that nobody who's trying to prove a 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:29.479 point and make a name for himself and become the 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:31.960 fifty third man on the roster tries to take out 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.839 your guy. The other thing I like about it, and 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:37.599 I actually prefer this one. I mean, I understand safety, 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.039 but it is still football and people are still gonna 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:42.520 get hurt no matter how many steps you take to 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.080 try to protect them. Here's what I like the most 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:48.960 about a joint practice. It's a repeatable rep. If you 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.640 want to get I mean, say, for instance, da and 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:54.919 Canalis open the door to maybe playing those guys in 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:58.120 Buffalo on Saturday afternoon. And if he does, that's fine. 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:01.040 But if he does, he's going to be going against 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:03.960 Buffalo's twos because Sean McDermott already said he wasn't playing 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.080 his And you don't know if you're going to get 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:09.279 in a red zone situation or not. I mean, Bryce 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:11.920 might drop back, scramble a little bit, chuck one up 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.880 to the heavens, and Deontay Johnson might run eighty yards 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:18.120 for a touchdown. Boom. That's a series. I don't know. 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:20.080 Would you go one play and get them on out 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:22.800 of there, but you'd get no red zone. So he 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.840 can get together with Robert Salah or whatever coach he 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:27.880 wants to do it with in the future and say, 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:30.360 really like to work on red zone today? All right, cool, 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.239 let's do twelve plays of red zone and if something 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:35.320 doesn't go right in one of those plays, blow the whistle, 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.520 bring it back reset. We've seen Dave do that in 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:41.440 his own practices before. So I just think the repeatable work, 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:46.280 the controlled work, the predictable work, allows it to be 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:49.159 better work. I mean, there were things I saw during 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:53.240 the joint practice on both sides, on both fields that 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:56.440 were instructive to where the Carolina Panthers were. I mean, 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:59.840 this time a year ago when the Jets were in Spartanburg, 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:03.120 that joint practice did not go particularly well for the 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:07.360 Carolina Panthers. You could tell. And again, you know, sometimes 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:09.320 it's a canary and a coal mine, sometimes it's just 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:13.280 a dead bird. But that practice last year should have 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:17.280 been the moment when we all said this ain't quite right. 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.120 But we didn't even realize how bad it was going 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.120 to become at the time. But this year, you know, 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:25.240 and people ask me on Twitter, you know what the 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:27.040 difference was in this one now one, and I said, 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:29.760 a competent offensive product was on the field. I mean, 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:33.440 not only did they score during those sessions, Bryce moved 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.880 the ball downfield, he was hitting some shots deep. You know, 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:41.120 they were protecting well. Icky was getting good work. And 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:43.480 I think some of the things you've seen over the 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:46.080 course of and this is a really long way of 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:48.960 answering what was a really direct question on your part 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:53.120 about seven minutes ago. I think the work Dave Canalis 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.840 has done during this training camp's been very focused. He's 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:59.120 been intentional about we want to run, we want to 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:04.200 be physical, and they've practiced that way by being very intentional. 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:07.920 The one thing that Dave Canal said he would want 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.000 to see out of the starters if they did play 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:14.760 in a preseason game specifically Bryce was essentially the between 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.440 the snaps procedures, the operation of things, getting in and 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:21.680 out of the huddle, you know, getting to the line, 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:25.160 maybe making some checks or whatnot. Those are things that 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.600 you can, like you can practice in practice, but I 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:31.600 don't know if you can really facilitate the game atmosphere 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:35.480 of doing those things. So, if let's say they don't 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:38.640 play on Saturday, and the first time the starters step 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:40.600 onto the field to play this season is that first 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:44.240 week in New Orleans, a notable tough place to play 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:48.000 there in the super Dome or sound echoes, do you 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:51.439 just resign yourself to the fact that there might be 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:57.160 some procedural issues the first few drives, maybe even the 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:57.640 first game. 0:08:57.720 --> 0:08:59.920 I think it could be, but it doesn't have to be, 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:04.359 don't I don't think it has to be that way. 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:09.080 And I just think that they've gotten a little bit 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:12.320 of that out of the way in terms of Canalis's operation. 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.360 He went through a George League game management coordinator in 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.600 the first game and did his first challenge and one 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:22.760 he's one and zero. They've done a lot of that stuff. 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:25.240 I think you can replicate some of that kind of stuff. 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.520 I used to laugh when John Fox was coach, he 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.960 dedicated part of a training camp practice to how they're 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:33.080 coming out of the tunnel to stretch, and he would 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.360 have everybody on the roster, ninety deep crowd into that 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:40.520 little you know, crepe myrtle shaded corner of the field 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:42.680 at Wafford and come out of the corner and then 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:45.320 it would go stretch and everything. You can teach some 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:49.240 of that procedural kind of stuff. And listen, Bryce Young's 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.960 been in big games before in that building, you know. 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:54.400 I think in the course of his time as a 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:56.839 college player he might have wandered in there a time 0:09:56.960 --> 0:10:01.480 or two, but it's you know, I think some of 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:03.680 that stuff and the call for these guys to play 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:06.120 in a preseason because they have to do it. I 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.280 keep going back to, you know, just checking the numbers, 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:13.480 Thirteen teams, including the Carolina Panthers, have not played their 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:17.240 starting quarterbacks at all in the preseason so far through 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:19.960 two weeks now. Some of that's injury. I mean, Matt 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.600 Stafford's been a little dinged up. You know, different guys 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:27.720 are out for different reasons, but you know, seventeen teams 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.040 didn't play them in Week one, twenty teams didn't play 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.600 them in Week two. You know, obviously that vin diagram 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:37.360 crosses a little bit there, but thirteen teams doing it 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:40.360 means there's a reason some people don't do it, and 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.880 I think the lack of predictability. And Canalis also mentioned 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:46.719 this last week, just having guys dinged up. I mean 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.240 Xavier League, it has missed some time with injuries. Damian 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.320 Lewis has been in and out of practice a little 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.800 bit with some shoulder related stuff, some personal stuff, and 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.040 so I think that without being able to put all 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.480 those people together, Dave's just been hesitant to put half 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.600 a first offense out there. Because if you want it 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:09.120 to be what you expect to get out of it, 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:11.840 if you want it to be intentional, and there's that 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.199 Dave Canala's word again, you want to play those guys 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:17.080 all together. So it's decent work. 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:20.120 Can I take a guess at what thirteen teams haven't 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:21.040 played their quarterback? 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:25.000 You can, and as you talk, I'll dig the notebook 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:26.920 out of my bag that has that information. 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:29.120 And this is purely just a guess. I'm trying to 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:30.920 think of who I've heard this played, and therefore who 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:31.400 wouldn't know. 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:33.319 If Matt had a digging sound effect. 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:38.120 The Jets have not played their starting quarterback. Oh no, 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:40.720 I don't think the forty nine ers have. 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:43.000 You're all over the yard now. 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:44.360 The forty nine ers have. 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:47.360 Blah blah blah blah, and the forty nine ers have not. 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:53.880 Okay, so some two for two I want to say 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.320 the Bucks have not. 0:11:57.280 --> 0:12:02.360 I'm all over this notebook now the Diggings again, No, 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:05.720 brock Purty did play in Week two, so the forty 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.360 nine ers have not. Here we go the thirteen teams 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:13.040 that have not played a quarterback in the preseason. Jets, Baltimore, 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:17.079 ravens Lamar Jackson, Cleveland, Deshaun Watson was I guess Chargers, 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.360 I mean, Justin Herbert's been hurt, He's coming back this week, 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.880 probably played a little bit. Maybe Miami's played two has played, 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:28.559 Dak Prescott hasn't played, Jalen Hurts, Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins, Bryce, 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:33.199 Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Matt Stafford, Gino Smith. Those are 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:36.960 the thirteen guys. So you've got kind of a mixed 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.040 bag of old and dinged up and old and don't 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:43.560 need it and young and could you know, could arguably 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:47.280 use some. You know, I think you could talk about 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:50.240 Baker Mayfield in Tampa as being a guy who could 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.920 probably use as much as anybody else. He's running a 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:56.079 brand new offense this year without Dave Canal. 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.640 Speaking of Baker Mayfield, Dave Canal has actually made a 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:01.520 good point. I thought early this week about you know, 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.560 they played their they played their quote unquote starters in 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.040 the preseason at Tampa last year because they were in 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:09.920 the middle of a quarterback competition. It was still down 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:13.160 between Baker Mayfield and Cayl Trask until Week one, And 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:15.840 he said that's obviously not the case here. Yeah, and 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:18.640 so that makes a difference too. Another question that I'm 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:20.440 meant to ask a few minutes ago, what is at 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:24.240 three forty five Park Avenue the NFL headquarters. 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:26.680 Oh yeah, that's their mailing address. 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:28.679 Do you send a postcard? 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:31.199 Now? It's just one of those things. I know. It's 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:34.200 kind of in thirty years you kind of pick up 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:37.160 certain things, and certain things just become shorthand, and it's 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:38.480 really like, yeah. 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.240 When people say like or you hear like reports from 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:43.760 the British media and they're like news today out of ten. 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:45.880 Downing, Yeah, exactly, it's kind of like that. 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:47.560 You know what's at ten Downing? 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:49.880 Is it the Prime Minister's House? 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:51.160 It's the Prime Minister's House. 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:52.559 Oh yeah, I'm a genius. 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:55.640 Or six hundred Pennsylvania Avenue, it's the. 0:13:55.640 --> 0:14:01.760 White House, sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue. See what happens when 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.840 you try to get wise the confidence? Yeah, I know, 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.760 un earned confident. This is the benefit of being old. 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.240 You just kind of stop and look at people and say, 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:12.520 did you mean to do that? 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:13.400 Oh? 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:15.360 I was short numb a thousand, my bad? 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:18.760 Yeah, at any rate, you could have been more intentional 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.640 with that. Hey, speaking of intentional here's an adorable Dave 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:25.280 Canalis story about being intentional. I saw him this morning 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.680 on the practice field before practice started. He's walking out 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:31.160 on the grass doing his Dave Canalis thing, being very 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:32.640 bouncy and energetic. 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.560 Because it is. It's more it like we joked about 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:36.880 it not being as legit from you at the top, 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:38.120 but it is legit from him. 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.200 Oh, no question. And he stops dead in his tracks, 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.800 and I thought, did he step on something sharp? What 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:47.320 happened here? And he bends down and he picks something 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:49.280 up out of the grass, and I was like, I'm 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:52.600 assuming somebody left a nail or something there that somebody's 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:54.600 going to drive a golf cart tire over and flatten it, 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:56.480 because I just kind of think nails are going to 0:14:56.560 --> 0:15:00.480 go in tires. But it was a moth. And Dave 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:03.320 Canalis comes up with two hands holding this big brown 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.520 moth and he's like, look at that. He stands there 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:08.440 and he considers it for a second, and then he 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:12.200 walks it over to the side across the little artificial 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:15.000 turf barrier between the grass field and everything else in 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:17.120 the world, and he kind of sits it down on 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:21.680 the edge very gently, And I was like it's adorable, 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:26.360 because ay, I believe Dave Canalis has the best interest 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:29.560 of that moth at heart, he wants the moth to 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:33.480 become its best version of its moth self. But I 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.800 think also in Dave Canalis's brain, he's like, I do 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:38.760 not want one of my guys seeing a moth on 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.120 the ground and getting distracted and taking away from the 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.800 activity of football practice. I think both of those things 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:46.080 can be equally true. 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.920 And with the advent of technology, that moth could be 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:50.240 a little drone for all we know. 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:55.840 Yeah, it's clearly a Saint's drone that's flying over this place. 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:58.840 So anyway, now that and that was a story about 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.720 Dave Canalis in a moth. So at any rate, where 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:05.560 were we We were talking about what's coming up in 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.280 the next little bit. You know, we covered obviously there's 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.720 going to be a game Saturday at one o'clock in Buffalo, 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:15.880 New York, Orchard Park to be specific, and then we 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:18.240 will be back and this will turn into a whole 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:20.880 new ball team again. Because before we talk to you 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:23.320 again here on the Happy half hour, since we normally 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:26.640 do these in midweek, this team's going to look very 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:30.080 different on Tuesday by four o'clock. They've got to turn 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.040 a ninety man roster into a fifty three and that 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.200 is going to be hard, and you know, for a 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:39.080 lot of different reasons. I mean, I think anybody could 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:41.240 look at this roster and say, okay, there's one, there's 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:43.760 one that you could probably cross some names off and 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:46.480 have a decent chance of being successful. But where this 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:51.040 is tricky is we're not gonna know on Tuesday who 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:54.400 the fifty three is. We're not gonna know on Wednesday 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:56.360 who the fifty three is. It's going to be a 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:59.800 minute because, as we've mentioned throughout the off season, one 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:02.200 of the benefits of being two and fifteen the year 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:05.440 before is you've got the very first spot in waiver 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:09.119 claim order. So basically, any player with four years or 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:12.200 viewer of experience in the league that gets cut next week, 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:14.320 if the Carolina Panthers won them, they're going to have 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:18.960 them right. And I imagine, based on you know what 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:22.040 we've talked about this roster being which is thin in 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:25.160 a lot of places, that is a privilege they are 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:28.600 going to exercise. So it's going to be interesting to 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:29.919 see how all this comes together. 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:33.640 With that in mind, going into Saturday's game, which Dave 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:36.800 Canals alluded to earlier this week, is being a decision 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:41.199 game for a lot of guys. What units are you 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:43.520 keeping an eye on the most, and even if for 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:46.840 different reasons, like for example, I think both the wide 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:49.320 receiver and the safety units are ones to keep an 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:53.240 eye on, but for completely different reasons. One of them 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:55.119 they're going to be begging guys to take some of 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.479 those spots, to claim those spots, and the other one 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:00.399 they got some hard decisions to make. 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:02.560 They really do. I mean, safety is a place where 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:04.960 they're deep, and I mean they kind of casually old 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:07.800 by the way, drop into Rudy Ford the other week, 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:10.159 and Rudy Ford's a cat who started games in the 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:15.080 league and it's been a good special team year, and 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:17.920 so yeah, I think safety is one of those places 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:20.960 because what do you do with a Jamie Robbinson. What 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:23.399 do you do with an Alex Cook who started a 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:25.720 couple of games here last year AND's got some potential. 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:31.200 So that is behind a very veteran starting group. I mean, 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.960 Averro's talked about three starting caliber safeties in Xavier Woods, 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:38.600 Jordan Fuller, Nick Scott. Right now, Xavier's not practicing. He's 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:41.040 got a little bit of an injury deal, and who 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.199 knows how long that's going to keep him out. But 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:47.520 until then, you're looking at all, right, what do you do? 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:53.440 You know, Sam Franklin broke his foot back together Saturday. Ostensibly, 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:55.760 Sam is a guy you want to keep on the 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.800 fifty three and bring back later in the year. Now 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:01.280 they've changed the rules a little. In the past, anybody 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:03.760 you wanted to put on IR and bring back later 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:06.160 you had to carry to the fifty three man through 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.000 the fifty three man cuts. This year, they'll let you 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:13.800 put two guys on IR on cutdown day and then 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:17.240 bring them back at some point later, not having to 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:19.200 carry him on because I think a lot of people 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:21.879 realize those were just kind of roster spots that were 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:24.320 getting turned over the following day anyway. So let's just 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:26.840 put that mechanism in place and put a cup on 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.000 our Sam's a guy who could fall into that category. 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:34.440 But then you're talking about you know, Alex Cook, Demani Richardson, 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:36.679 who keeps making play after play, whether it's in the 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:40.119 preseason game or in practice or joint practice. You know, 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:43.439 there's a lot of guys in there, and again, we 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:45.879 kind of Oh, by the way, somebody like Alex Cook, 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:48.439 who's looked good and was able to step into a 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:51.520 weird situation and start last year in and amongst a 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:55.240 lot of veterans. So that is probably as deep a 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:57.840 group as there is. The one that's interesting to me 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:01.760 and the one I'm continuing to watch and again for 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:05.399 a very different reason is the Cornerbacks we we know 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:09.280 based on canal is saying that Dan Jackson was gonna 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:12.919 miss six weeks ish and I love six weeks ish. 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:16.960 I love I love six weeks ish almost as much 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:19.600