Texans Practice 11 at Training Camp!

Summary

Payne & Pendergast: Texans Practice 11 at Training Camp!

Date: August 12, 2026
Hosts: Seth Payne & Sean Pendergast
Podcast: Sports Radio 610’s “Payne & Pendergast”
Episode Theme: In-depth analysis and spirited banter on Texans’ Training Camp Practice 11, preseason roster decisions, player development, and recent Houston sports headlines.

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast take listeners inside the latest developments from Houston Texans training camp leading up to the first preseason game against the Chargers. The duo tackles key issues such as starter load management during preseason, emerging camp storylines—including rookie performances and intense practice skirmishes—and the progression of quarterback C.J. Stroud. Beyond the Texans, the hosts also dive into Astros woes, shifts in NFL broadcasting, and offer the usual blend of wit and insight for a true H-Town sports rundown.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Preseason Dilemma: To Play or Not to Play Starters?

• Debate Over Playing Starters in Preseason

  • Most NFL teams (Texans included) are unlikely to play starters much, if at all, in preseason games.
  • D’Amico Ryans hasn’t revealed specifics, but “you’re probably not going to see C.J. Stroud” in the first preseason matchup. (02:32)
  • Quote:
    • "I’m still torn on it a little bit because you look at the teams like the Rams... they get off to slow starts every year too. And you wonder, alright, maybe at the end of the year if you’re playing in L.A. instead of in Seattle, that ends up making a difference." — Sean Pendergast (02:53)
  • Some, like local host Clint, are “stomping on the table” for all starters to play; hosts seem resigned to modern NFL risk management.

• Consequences of Sitting Starters

  • Citing the Texans’ 0-3 start last year, the hosts question if limited preseason reps hurt early regular season performance.
  • “You can get injured during the regular season… so you got to manage the risk, but you also got to manage winning some football games during the year.” — Sean Pendergast (04:19)

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Practice Highlights: Physicality, Deep Plays, and Scrappy Rookies

• Texans’ Spirited Practice

  • Recent practice was “chippy” and more physical, driven by D’Amico’s displeasure with a sloppy showing the day prior. (08:17–10:22)
  • Quote:
    • “We can’t have letdowns. We can’t have setbacks… We have to count on guys to be relentlessly consistent in what they’re doing… But today, guys responded really well, all three phases." — D’Amico Ryans (09:36)

• Big Offensive Plays Emerge

  • Notable improvement: deep strike to Nico Collins and an 80-yard TD by David Montgomery (10:57–11:17).
  • Acknowledgement that some of these “big plays” would likely not occur in a real game scenario due to probable sacks.

• Rookie Watch: Keelan Rutledge & More

  • Center Keelan Rutledge in focus—handled transition well but faces new test against nose tackles in coming games.
    • “The next big challenge is how do you deal with a 340 pounder right up in your face, you know, three inches from your face mask as you’re trying to snap the ball…” — Sean Pendergast (06:02)
  • Scrappiness highlighted—Rutledge already involved in multiple practice scuffles.
    • Will Anderson Jr. and Keelan Rutledge had a scrape; Rutledge reportedly has five such incidents. (12:04)

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Defensive Edge: Will Anderson, Leadership, and Locker Room Dynamics

• Sheldon Rankins on Will Anderson Jr.:

  • Anderson recognized as entering a phase where he “can take over practice,” displaying growing leadership and dominance. (12:25)
    • Quote:
      • “He’s getting to that point where he realizes if he wants to shut practice down, he shut it down… The game is in the palm of my hands.” — Sheldon Rankins (12:25)
  • Offense reportedly using such comments as motivation—practice intensity follows.

• Will Anderson’s Influence

  • Anderson now driving his D-line teammates to higher post-practice standards (“D-line out running after practice”). Compare to Michael Jordan’s leadership (15:03).
  • D’Amico Ryans is supportive of "chippiness" but draws the line at actual fights:
    • “I expect that from every player on our team. We’re not backing down from anybody... There’s always chippiness in our game... We just have to make sure we’re smart, especially in game.” — D’Amico Ryans (16:03)

• Practice Fights and Mentality

  • Rutledge compared to other “naturally scrappy” linemen. Difference called out between dirty play and true intensity, with nostalgia for old-school training camp fights.

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National Spotlight: C.J. Stroud’s Development and Contract Narrative

• National vs. Local Perspective

  • ESPN’s Dan Graziano suggests Texans are holding off on extending Stroud after a poor playoff performance, but hosts argue it’s a more nuanced process:
    • “I disagree a little bit... I think the process and everything leading up to that playoff game is probably the thing they wanted to see if it was different... It’s more nuanced than just, oh, that one game is the game..." — Sean Pendergast (23:58)
  • No sense of contract distractions around Stroud—he and the team appear patient.

• Nick Kaley on Stroud’s Growth

  • Offensive Coordinator Nick Kaley praises Stroud’s off-season work, leadership, and comfort in Year 2:
    • “His process has been excellent… He’s worked his ass off all offseason… We’ve had a chance to just dive into deeper conversations… to really try some different wrinkles… and he’s been there every step of the way.” — Nick Kaley (26:14)
  • D’Amico Ryans providing more public praise than last year, reflecting Stroud’s command of the offense and improved practice performance (27:26–28:42).

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Around the League & H-Town Sports

• Broadcasting Shuffles: Watt & Tucker’s CBS Moves

  • With Tony Romo’s absence (“Romo’s cooked, right?”), CBS moves J.J. Watt to top team and Ross Tucker to No. 2 with Ian Eagle—a big moment for the former Texan and Houston sports broadcasting. (29:41–31:17)

• Astros’ Mediocre Division Race

  • Astros lose to San Francisco, division remains weak: “AL West could potentially finish with all teams at negative run differential.” (33:10)
  • Anecdotes about manager Joe Espada’s tension with media, grading the division as “five kind of mediocre to bad baseball teams.” (33:26)
  • “You got to win these Hunter Brown starts because these other starts, you just don’t know what’s going to happen. But then, to your point, this division is so bad, I don’t know that they got to do anything…” — Seth Payne (34:29)

• Vikings QB Decision

  • Kyler Murray named starter over J.J. McCarthy, and the hosts joke about the lack of faith teams seem to have in the rookie.
    • "Hey Coach, can you give me some constructive criticism? Yeah, I don’t like your whole thing." — Sean Pendergast (38:01)

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Rookie Class Stock Up / Practice Preview

• Texans have notable position battles and increased depth, especially on the offensive line, adding relevance to otherwise lower-stakes preseason matchups (36:19–37:01).
• Hosts note optimism for this rookie class: “A lot of green arrow up with this rookie class. I’ve been impressed by, by practically all of them.” — Seth Payne (37:01)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On starter rest in preseason:
  “I’ve just accepted that that’s the way of the world...” — Sean Pendergast (02:41)

• On Will Anderson’s emergence:
  "The game is in the palm of my hands… and he also understands the responsibility that comes with it." — Sheldon Rankins (12:25)

• On practice chippiness:
  “We’re not backing down from anybody… There’s always chippiness in our game… but we just have to make sure we’re smart…” — D’Amico Ryans (16:03)

• On C.J. Stroud’s offseason:
  “He’s been working. You can tell he’s worked his ass off all offseason. His process has been excellent… the intentionality, the detail, the leadership, the urgency.” — Nick Kaley (26:14)

• On Astros’ division:
  “The AL west currently could potentially be the first time ever… the entire division would finish with a negative run differential.” — Sean Pendergast (33:10)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:45–05:01 – Preseason philosophy: Play starters or rest?
• 06:02–07:11 – Keelan Rutledge’s rookie challenge at center
• 08:09–10:22 – Practice recap & D’Amico Ryans calls for intensity
• 12:25–13:15 – Sheldon Rankins on Will Anderson’s dominance
• 16:03–16:52 – D’Amico Ryans on chippiness and team culture
• 22:11–23:12 – Dan Graziano/ESPN on Stroud’s contract
• 26:14–27:58 – Nick Kaley on Stroud’s growth and offense customization
• 29:41–31:17 – Ross Tucker & NFL broadcasting shake-up
• 33:03–34:29 – Astros lose, AL West analysis
• 37:01–37:44 – Texans’ rookie class outlook and preseason preview

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Summary

This episode offers Texans fans and Houston sports enthusiasts an information and banter-packed update from training camp, preseason decisions, and emerging player narratives—especially the growth of C.J. Stroud, the physical energy at camp, and the impact of Will Anderson’s leadership. The second half rounds out with familiar Astros pessimism, amusing rants about broadcasting changes, and a glance around the NFL as the new season approaches.

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Recommended For:
Listeners eager for insider Texans coverage, sharp analysis, and the signature humor and camaraderie of Payne & Pendergast as Houston football season nears.

Transcript

[Jill Schlesinger]

Hey there, it's Jill Schlesinger. I'm launching a new show. It's called Money Moves. And your money is going to move. We're going to help you make better financial decisions. We're going to call out the B.S. you're finding all over social media. We're going to give you actionable guidance to make your financial life clearer, less stressful. We're going to answer your financial questions and take the mystery out of your financial life. Follow and listen to Money Moves with Jill Schlesinger wherever you get your podcasts.

[Seth Payne]

Sports Radio 610 presents Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast.

[Sean Pendergast]

We coming to eighth time.

[D' Amico Ryan]

Let's get to work in man.

[Dan Graziano]

Let's go.

[Seth Payne]

Great day. Great day. Oh, give me some juice, baby.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, yeah. Let's do it.

[Seth Payne]

Hey, what's happening, everybody? Happy Wednesday to all of you. Nice to be with you. We appreciate you getting up with us. We are with you until 10am this morning for the first time in a long time. We're with you till 10am this morning. Do you have the stamina to go four hours today?

[Sean Pendergast]

It's like, it's like I've only ever run a half marathon and all of a sudden I got to run a marathon.

[Seth Payne]

Welcome to the party.

[Sean Pendergast]

Four hours of talking. I think every single person out there who works a hard manual labor job understands how difficult it is when they double their workload to sit in air conditioning for four hours and talk about sports. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right. As the NFL season is about to begin, which is the easiest time in the of the year to talk about sports generation, can I say this? Every single year, I know it's coming and yet it surprises me a little bit. This is the week when people realize, especially given that so few starters play substantially in preseason games, fans around the National Football League realize, oh, all of those things that we want to find out about our offense or our defense or our quarterback, we're really not going to find anything out for a while now. We're getting little bits and pieces, but likely not going to see a whole lot of substantial action out of your starters no matter which team you're following in the.

[Seth Payne]

There are a few that I saw yesterday that I think Cincinnati is playing their starters.

[Sean Pendergast]

They're playing, right?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, there's a couple, but you're right, like most of the teams aren't.

[Sean Pendergast]

But if they do, it's still also, it's, it's one or two series.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not much. It's. It's it's not much. I was listening to the drive yesterday afternoon while I was driving around town and Clint was none too happy. They are. They are. The Texans are. It looks like going to be. Dimiko has not been specific about who's playing and who's not playing, but I think we can read into it. We know what the. The MO's been in the past.

[Sean Pendergast]

You're.

[Seth Payne]

You're probably not going to see C.J. shroud tomorrow night.

[Sean Pendergast]

Most likely not. Yeah. And Clint. Clint wants all the starters to play.

[Seth Payne]

Not happy with this.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, I will.

[Seth Payne]

I guess.

[Sean Pendergast]

Maybe I've just. Maybe Clint's got more fight and verve than me. I've just accepted that that's the way of the world.

[Seth Payne]

That was Ron. Ron was like, I can't. I'm not standing on the table. What I like to see C.J. stroud. Sure.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Clint was. Clint was not only standing on the table, he was stomping on the table.

[Sean Pendergast]

Clint's very anti load management too. Right. So it makes sense and it's just. Listen, I don't. I'm not going to sit here and act like I've broken down the mathematics on it and everything, but most teams by and large have figured, man, the risk of injury is just too great. Despite yada, yada, yada. I. I'm still torn on it a little bit because you look at the teams like the Rams. The Rams never play their starters in any preseason games. Hardly. I think they've bent on that the last couple years. But then they get off to slow starts every year too. And you wonder, all right, maybe at the end of the year, if you're playing in LA instead of the, instead of in Seattle, that ends up making a difference.

[Seth Payne]

Well, the Texans got off to an own three start last year. Given that, would you. Does that move the needle for you and wanting to see them play?

[D' Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. And I think that I already felt that way with the Rams. Like you got to find some kind of balance between man. Like the. You guys are out there, you're practicing, you sure act like it matters. The coaches all get upset when there's no good practice. So you're definitely trying to improve yourself and getting ready for their season. When you get off to a slow start, the maybe one thing you could have done was play in some more preseason games.

[Odyssey Ad Host]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And okay, maybe a couple guys get injured, but the trying to find that balance is difficult.

[Seth Payne]

I do.

[Sean Pendergast]

I think I'm. I am. Even though I'm a little bit like Ron, where I've just I've given up, you know, I've given up the fight. I just go ahead.

[Seth Payne]

You're in that 30 year marriage, hold

[Sean Pendergast]

me under the water until the bubbles stop coming and whatever.

[Seth Payne]

Right.

[Sean Pendergast]

But there is a part of me that's. That's. Yeah. All right, look, I. Cool, man. You know what? You know what else? You can get injured during the regular season. You know what else? You can get injured whenever Joe Mixon did whatever the hell he was doing when he got injured. You can get injured, like, so you got to manage the risk, but you also got to manage winning some football games during the year.

[D' Amico Ryan]

That's true.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Do you think we see Keelan Rutledge tomorrow night?

[Sean Pendergast]

I hope so.

[Seth Payne]

Do you think we see him, though?

[Sean Pendergast]

I think we do. Okay. D' Ameco said a handful of players won't be.

[Seth Payne]

He said yesterday was a handful. The day before it was a select few.

[Sean Pendergast]

A select few.

[Seth Payne]

I love parsing out. Yeah. Like whenever I think of a select few, it's a pretty elite group.

[Sean Pendergast]

Is it a handful or a select few? Select few.

[Seth Payne]

Select few, smaller group.

[Sean Pendergast]

I think the combination of select few and it will. And it depends. Are they J.J. watt handfuls or how

[Seth Payne]

big are the hands?

[Sean Pendergast]

You know, Rubio handful? I don't know. Like, what's. What's the deal?

[Seth Payne]

Kenny Picket hands.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Are we talking about Kenny Pickett hands here?

[Sean Pendergast]

Do we have Kenny Pickett hands or Robert Brazile hands?

[Seth Payne]

It's a handful. One hand. Kenny Pickett's. How many people are sitting? Two. So that'll be. Yes. Let's just see.

[Sean Pendergast]

Kenny Pickett hands on J.J. watts body.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, well, that's easily done.

[Sean Pendergast]

Wig character on snl. Is it one of her hands? I think that I'd like to see the rookies play as much as possible. We've seen the Texans and other teams do this too. Hey, it's first round pick. He's going to start now. He's good. Yeah. All right. All right.

[Seth Payne]

He would be the. He'd obviously be the only one that wouldn't play. I think of the rookies.

[Sean Pendergast]

Rutledge.

[D' Amico Ryan]

Rutledge.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rutledge. Kaden McDonald's absolutely going to play.

[Sean Pendergast]

Marlon.

[Seth Payne]

Marlon Clynes absolutely going to play. And everybody else is a day three pick. They're all playing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. And I think the big thing with Rutledge is that, as I've told you, they don't. The Texans don't. When the Texans offense goes against the Texans defense, the center doesn't have a nose tackle. Right on top of them. And these next three teams they play all utilize a nose tackle and that's a big difference for a center. So as you know, Keelan's done a great job. All those things. We had questions about that. Okay. There's the mental side of transitioning to center. Even if you're a college center that you know enters the NFL. There's a big mental component to it. But he never played center in college other than the Senior Bowl. So there's the mental side. He seems to have adapted to that really well. There's the physical snapping of the football. He's. He's adapted to that really well. There are some errant snaps during OTAs and minicamp and there have been some imperfect snaps during camp, but nothing that I think you don't also see out of bonafide starting centers already. So he's handled those challenges really well. The next big challenge is how do you deal with a 340 pounder right up in your face, you know, three inches from your face mask is your. As you're trying to snap the ball and make all your calls and everything.

[Seth Payne]

Yep. So, full disclosure. There was a practice yesterday that you and I were not at.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

We were not there. We're not going to lie to you and pretend that we were there. I thought it was because it was in the stadium two days before a game. I thought they were just doing a walkthrough yesterday. Which they did.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Then they tacked a practice onto it.

[Sean Pendergast]

I had Romo yesterday regret of missing out.

[Dan Graziano]

Oh.

[Sean Pendergast]

And I was drunk and, and driving. So I was.

[Seth Payne]

And not paying attention. And not paying attention to football.

[Sean Pendergast]

I was driving drunk down the road and I'm listening to the radio and I'm hearing reports of this, this, this chippy practice. I'm like, oh no. Oh, Jim.

[Seth Payne]

Right, right, right.

[Sean Pendergast]

What the hell's going on? Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Drinking and then not actually watching the practice. Those both things Romo would do. No, but it was. I, I thought it was a walkthrough. So I, you know, I time I had some client stuff to do yesterday. So we were not there. But it sounds like it was a pretty spirited affair.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. No, and it sounds like. And I think that follows.

[Seth Payne]

John Harris, by the way, is going to join us at 8:25. He was there.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

So we wanted an eyewitness to join us and.

[Sean Pendergast]

No, no, no. But that part of it. And I think that d' Amico had been upset with practice the day before. What's today? Wednesday, Tuesday. On Monday he was Upset with Monday's practice. It's. I thought this was interesting because d' Amigo didn't seem upset with the practice immediately after practice. And so it's classically, I'm guessing, one of those things where when they watch the film, some of the bad plays were because of mental errors. There might have been perhaps a letdown in some of the swarminess and finishing plays and all of that. And then I also think that CJ that on Monday, CJ Threw an interception to Colin. Right. Was on a ball that he probably shouldn't have thrown.

[Seth Payne]

Right, Right.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know, so in terms of the process, I think he probably thought Monday was sloppier than it should have been. So I got excited to hear that. He was excited about a practice yesterday where there are a bunch of big plays on both sides, but I'm guessing it was just because guys won their physical matchups.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You're a coach. You're watching your team. Obviously, when the offense does well, the defense does poorly. But if it's a. If it's a. If it's a really good player, like Nico Collins, who happened to have a really good rep versus Kamari Lasseter, you're not worried about either of those guys. It was just. Okay, cool. C.J. had a nice throw over a really good football player.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Here. Here was d' Ameco talking yesterday about that exact thing. Seth, this is d'. Ameco. He was fired up at how yesterday's practice went because Monday was not great.

[D' Amico Ryan]

I think the guys were a little fired up, and I had to get after him a little bit yesterday. It wasn't our best practice yesterday by any means. That wasn't who we are, how we come out. That wasn't it. So, you know, everybody need a reminder just of what we're doing, what we're trying to achieve, what are we trying to accomplish? Right. To do what we're trying to accomplish, it takes persistent work every single day. We can't have letdowns. We can't have setbacks. Like, we have to continue to press forward. We have to count on guys to be relentlessly consistent in what they're doing in their approach every single day. Yesterday we took a step back. It wasn't good enough. But today, guys responded really well, all three phases. Did a really great job. Right. Making plays, doing what they're supposed to do.

[Seth Payne]

So, okay, so, yeah, he was not happy on Monday. Much happier yesterday.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. And some of the big things, you know, what we've been hungry for is, okay, cool. The offense is doing a lot better this year than they were last year. We haven't seen a whole lot of deep strikes. And then all of a sudden you see that. Oh, okay, you hit a deep strike to Nico Collins. That apparently probably would have been a sack by Danielle Hunter, but I'll take it. And Lassiter was.

[Seth Payne]

Whoever's covering him was trying.

[Sean Pendergast]

As far as the actual. Imagine that it was Braden Smith that would have either had a holding caller, it would have been a sack.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

But the coaches allowed it to stand.

[D' Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And then David Montgomery had a 80 yard touchdown.

[Seth Payne]

80 yard touchdown, man. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

With Henry toe. Toe in coverage. Pay no attention to that.

[Seth Payne]

But just look at the 80 yard touchdown from an offensive point of view.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, I do wonder though too, that I wonder about d' Amico and how he felt specifically about that play. Because it's one thing when David Montgomery catches it 10 yards downfield. Okay, cool. He beat Henry Towa toe in coverage. But there's. There should be.

[Seth Payne]

To the house.

[Sean Pendergast]

There should be somebody else. Yeah, I don't know if there might be that, Dave.

[Seth Payne]

That David Montgomery's calling card either is just running away from people. You know, he's a. He's more of a headbanger, but he's.

[Sean Pendergast]

But he also, you know, he is. Yeah, he's faster than people think, etc.

[Odyssey Ad Host]

Etc.

[Sean Pendergast]

And all that. But also like Kamari Lasseter's or Calum Bullock's. Really fast too.

[Seth Payne]

Sure.

[Sean Pendergast]

Or whoever else was on the. In the third level of the defense.

[Seth Payne]

Yep. Okay. So the other thing I heard on the afternoon show yesterday was they had an interesting theory. The other thing that happened at practice that people were making note of, was it Keelan Rutledge? Keelan Rutledge and Will Anderson Jr. Got into it. Yeah, they got into a scrape, a scuffle. It wasn't a fight.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's not like Will.

[Seth Payne]

No. At all. He's very energetic. Yeah, it is.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's very much like Keelan Landry's keeping the running tab. I think this is up to five scuffles for Keelan Rutledge.

[D' Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

I don't think Demiko Ryan's minds it at all, but this was the. This is the theory that. That they had on the afternoon show. Sheldon Rankins met with the media on Monday and he had this to say about Will Anderson Jr.

[Sheldon Rankins]

I think the turning point for players of his caliber is like when they realize that when they want to take it over, they can take it over. I think he's getting to that point where he realizes if he wants to shut practice down, he shut it down. Like, if he don't want them to get a playoff, they won't get a playoff. He don't want him to get a pass off, they won't get a pass off. He want a TFL every play he can go do it. So I think he's starting to get to that point where he finally realizes that, like, man, like, the game is in the palm of my hands. And he also understands the responsibility that comes with it. I think that's what makes him so special, is that, you know, you get a lot of guys in that position of. Of being that dominant, being that good, and they kind of look at it like, you know, it was supposed to happen to them. Whereas he looks at it as, you

[Seth Payne]

know, he's grateful for every chance we got. We need Byron, the part where they. That Sheldon and I, to be clear, I think Sheldon was just complimenting Will. I don't think he was throwing shade at anybody. But we know that the human condition in sports is that you try to find any sort of disrespect you can.

[Odyssey Ad Host]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And put that chip on your shoulder. So the theory that, that Ron and Clint had, which I thought was awesome, was that, oh, the offense heard that Sheldon Rankin's go, really? Will Anderson can just shut down practice anytime he wants to.

[Sean Pendergast]

I like that theory.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, really? Oh, really? He can just do it whenever you damn well just like it's flip a switch.

[Seth Payne]

I am Will Anderson and practice is now shut down.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, and guess what, offense? That's what they did on Monday. I mean, it was on Monday. I came out of practice on Monday thinking that, okay, you know what? The offense did some good things today. I saw some really good stuff. And then I look over the. Jonathan Alexander does a really good job of putting a play by play out on X. I encourage all of you to follow him and read his articles, but I'm like, oh, yeah, after that first couple of periods or series of plays which were really good, there was a sack in each ensuing one that would have killed the drive. And that, yeah, Will Anderson and Daniel Hunter just pretty much shut down the practice and turned it into a bad offense.

[Seth Payne]

If Monday were a game, the Texans offense was the team that would have lost, like 27 to 6. Yeah, something like that.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know, they just couldn't get out of the, you know, I couldn't move the ball. It is training camps interesting though, too, because it's kind of like relief pitchers where you only have a small sample Size. And you start to. If the offense has two bad series in a row, you. You act like the same way it is with a relief pitcher.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Two bad appearances in a row. Two bad innings in a row. In two games. It feels like they've been awful forever.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know, like, meanwhile, a starter can have two bad innings and then make up for in the next five.

[Seth Payne]

Yep.

[Sean Pendergast]

So I try to remember that with the offense, like, okay, yeah, like, in a game, you might have three or four bad series, you can make up for it. But the other thing about Will, this training camp, I think, has been. And this is in line with some of the things that Sheldon Rankins was talking about the other day. I think he's been a little bit more Michael Jordan, like, in his leadership there. I think after Monday, he might. Yeah, I think after Monday, when they. I think they might have had. Let me check my notes. 37 sacks on Monday. Will Anderson had the D line out running after practice. He was upset about he. I don't know exactly why or whatever.

[Seth Payne]

Saying he's like a cruel taskmaster.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. Like. Yeah, in a good way. Yeah, in a good way.

[Professor Greg Jackson]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

A good kind of cruel plus one. When Sheldon said that he's, you know, Will is realizing the power that he has, I. I had this image of, you know, Shaq staring at his hands.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

I didn't even realize I had these superpowers.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. D', Amico. Ryan's likes the chippiness here. He was on Rutledge getting into it with Will Anderson.

[D' Amico Ryan]

Better be careful there. You messing with Will Anderson. But, no, it's.

[Sean Pendergast]

I love it.

[D' Amico Ryan]

I love the scrappiness of Keelan. I love that his mindset is what I love. He's not backing down from anybody as he should. I expect that from every player on our team. We're not backing down from anybody. We know we're not physically fighting, but there's always chippiness in our game because it's a tough. It's a physical, violent game that we play, and there's going to be some chippiness that goes on, but we just have to make sure we're smart, especially in game. Right. We have to make sure we're smart and make sure we're not that second guy to cause the team to hurt ourselves, and then coach is going to be really upset.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. There's a level of chippiness, like if it turns into fisticuffs and the benches are emptying. D' Ameco does not like that, but he likes the One on one, non injury.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right, right, right. No. And there haven't been all out brawls or anything in Texans practices. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the combined practice with the Raiders. Yeah, a team that kind of takes pride and living on the edge, going, you know, step, they, they see boundaries and they step right over them without breaking stride.

[Seth Payne]

They've done it for years.

[Sean Pendergast]

They, they did a lot more in the 70s and 80s, but, but they've done it and yeah, they're feeling themselves a little bit. I think that it's, it's fun because the Texans face the Chargers in the preseason and one of the people who is unlocked in a death battle for the right guard position for the Chargers is Trevor Pennington. Who, remember Trevor Penning was in the draft. He was Mr. Tough Guy and meanwhile like you'd watch film and he'd get his butt whooped, but every now and then he'd drive a 195 pound college safety out of bounds and people thought he was the toughest guy on earth. He got in a boatload of fights in camp, in training camp, his rookie year against in the Saints. But it was his fault, like where he was just, he was doing all the stuff that get defensive linemen to fight you because you're playing dirty, you're holding, you're driving guys over piles in practice and all that stuff. A jerk. And he was getting fights to the point where the coaches said, no, that's Trevor Penning's fault. Keelan Rutledge is a little bit different. He's just, he's just naturally scrappy the same way really. Wyatt Teller, as a young player was a guy that would put guys on the ground. A lot would play to the echo of the whistle. All that lemonade, fresh squeezed lemonade.

[Seth Payne]

Lemonade.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh no.

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[Jill Schlesinger]

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[Sean Pendergast]

Are you looking for a podcast about pro football that doesn't put you to sleep with an avalanche of analytics or insult your fandom with brainless hot takes?

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[Sean Pendergast]

I'm Dan Hanzas. And I'm Mark Sesler. Oh, hi, Mark. And we're the hosts of Heed the Call, the NFL podcast you've been waiting your whole life for. Heed the Call covers every game, every storyline, everything that matters, and we do it all with a touch of mirth.

[Dan Graziano]

Football is fun.

[Sean Pendergast]

Why shouldn't your football podcast be the same? Follow and listen to Heed the Call NFL Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. But I never thought of him as a dirty player. He was just really, really scrappy. Wyatt Teller's got to have fun with Keelan Rutledge.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, yeah. Taking him under scrappy wing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. Reminds him of himself when he was a young man.

[Seth Payne]

Probably think he said that to him at any point yet. It's like, you remind me of me.

[Sean Pendergast]

Maybe.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

There's on Iron Sharpens Iron. They. The Texans web series. They do. They did. They showed a little teaser of this week's episode, and it's Wyatt Teller at a barbecue place with, I think, Keelan Rutledge.

[Seth Payne]

So, yeah, I forgot about Iron Sharpens Iron. I saw the d' Amico mic'd up video yesterday.

[Sean Pendergast]

You did an interview for Iron Sharpens Iron the other day.

[Seth Payne]

Seth Payne.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's right.

[Seth Payne]

Yes. Iron sharpens iron.

[Sean Pendergast]

You. Yeah, I did. You know what I did? I learned from McLean. When you do these documentaries.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know, they're gonna. They're gonna take a bunch of footage and they're just Gonna choose, like, 21%

[Seth Payne]

of what you said.

[D' Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You might be in there for like, four seconds. So he's like, just. You just say the most, like the. The biggest, boldest out things you can say. You know, you just want to. And some of it will work and some of it won't. So I was like, all right. I tried to go there a little bit.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, that's good advice. If you want to get on there. That's good advice. You know, he's on a bleep ton of those things on the NFL Network. John McClain, that's who he's on a bunch of them.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know what? I said that I think that might make the cut. I said I made a pretty bold statement about the Texans defense compared to every other unit in the AFC South. Okay.

[Seth Payne]

I like it. I like it.

[Sean Pendergast]

That'll be people in Jacksonville hate me enough already. It'll be this one will especially. This will land especially square on their jaw.

[Seth Payne]

All right, coming up next, C.J. stroud. They were talking nationally about C.J. stroud and Nick Kaley did Adam Schefter's podcast. And where is CJ at in the eyes of his OC Right now? Where is he at in the eyes of the national media? We'll get to that. And we got good news on a friend of the show as well, a couple friends of the show. We are announcing our guest list for tomorrow's launch of 95. 7 the fan. We're doing that at 8am today. We launch at 8am tomorrow. We're going to announce our guest list. You will not want to miss that. We will be announcing that at 8am today.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's live from the West Point Lincoln and West Point Lincoln of Sugarland Studios.

[Seth Payne]

Here's Paine and Pendergast, Payne and Pendergast with you. CJ Stroud has been a big talking point here in Houston in the off season. And yesterday on espn, they had they did a big segment on CJ Stroud. Here was Dan Graziano of ESPN talking about the Texans quarterback.

[Dan Graziano]

Houston gives out big veteran contract extensions as soon as they possibly can. Will Anderson Jr. Got one this offseason, is drafted one pick after C.J. stroud. The fact that Stroud doesn't have one yet is a sign that the Texans want to see more. And that's fair enough. They got to the playoffs last year with what they felt was a championship caliber defense. They knew when they took the field in New England that if they won that game, they were going to get a shot to beat Jarrett Stidham the next week to go to the Super Bowl. And C.J. stroud laid an egg. So what does that tell you about him, the Texans? For them, it meant we need to see more before we talk about extending him. Now, he has never had a run game. They have changed the offensive line on him over and over and over again. There are reasons that CJ Stroud has not been always in the best position to succeed. Most of those reasons have been cleared up. They should have a better running game. The offensive line has continuity for the first time. Tank Dell coming back. The wide receiver room could be a lot deeper and the defense should still be great. A lot of pressure on CJ Stroud to deliver this.

[Sean Pendergast]

I figured this yesterday when we were sitting in the studio and I saw on ESPN that they were doing that big piece on ESPN or on C.J. stroud.

[D' Amico Ryan]

That.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep. Yesterday, my social media feed, I saw from, you know, big accounts and other people that I. That I couldn't avoid, that people I follow. All of a sudden it was as if the Patriots game had happened yesterday. And I like the exact same takes and everything based almost completely on the Patriots game. If they were doing any kind of due diligence, they might include the Steelers game into it because that was really bad, but that some of it was like just red hot. This is. I can't believe this is the guy. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Everything that Graziano said right there is true.

[Odyssey Ad Host]

I would.

[Sean Pendergast]

I disagree a little bit. And that he just said so clearly that, well, they need, you know, the. That playoff performance is what is scaring them off of, you know, giving him the contract or whatever. I think there's more to it than just that. I think think the process and everything leading up to that playoff game is. Is probably the thing that they wanted to see if it was different. How is CJ Adapting to his second year in the system and how is he operating and running the offense? Which obviously includes. That includes the performance in the Patriots game. But I think it's. It's more nuanced than just, oh, that one game is the game that made them.

[Seth Payne]

Definitely is. It definitely is. If here's the thing. If it weren't, then that means that he was going to get a contract extension going into the playoffs last year.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

And it was still very much up in the air, right?

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, exactly. I think that if he had had now, if the Texans had gone and won the super bowl, you kind of more chance than not they're probably going to have an extension because the formula works or whatever, but that we don't have to live in that hypothetical world because it certainly did not happen.

[Seth Payne]

Sam Darnold has not gotten a bump in pay since winning the super bowl for the Seattle.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's a very good point, Sean.

[Seth Payne]

Certain teams may look at it differently.

[Sean Pendergast]

That. That's a really good point. Yeah. So I think that it was kind of a shock to me, and it was something that you and I were talking about right up until two weeks ago. The. The CJ Stroud contract extension dynamic. Actually, we hadn't been talking about it much at all until Nick Casario and CJ Stroud both said on the first day of training camp that there had been some talks.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And then we talked about it for a couple of days, and then we kind of forgot about it, and I just don't. I think the biggest thing, and this is credit to CJ and unlike Kyler Murray going into his fourth year or Baker Mayfield right now, CJ really has not added any fuel to the fire. And I don't sense that it's something that is bothering him or anything. If there is no extension, I don't think it's going to be any kind of an issue in the locker room or with David Mulligetta or anywhere else along the way. It's. If it happens, it happens. But it doesn't seem like either side feels like it's a pressing issue.

[Seth Payne]

Nope. Here's Nick Kaley. Yesterday. He was. He was on Adam Schefter's podcast, and here's his assessment of where things are at with C.J.

[Nick Kaley]

yeah, I'm really proud of him. I mean, he's been. Since he left, he's been working. You can tell he's worked his ass off all offseason. His process has been excellent. Just, you know, the intentionality, the detail, the leadership, the urgency. Year two in the system. I've always had a great relationship, CJ and I, but I feel like more time on task. Going into year two, we've had a chance to just dive into deeper conversations. You come up for air after that season, and now it's like, okay, look, here's the things we did well. Here's the things maybe we didn't do well. I'm never going to do anything ultimately that doesn't fit our offense and the players we have. We're going to tailor it around our players and who we have players over plays mentality. But then with CJ having comfort and confidence in those things, I always want to customize that throughout through the lens of having, you know, having him have confidence in what we're doing. So we've had that dialogue and it's been great. We've had a chance to. To really try some different wrinkles and compliments and add, you know, some volume to the offense this offseason. And he's been there every step of the way. His consistency, his ability to move throughout the day, just being the same guy and taking it to the field. I've been really pleased and proud with

[Sean Pendergast]

what he's done that I didn't realize Sean McVeigh had worked so much with C.J. stroud in the off season. He sounds so much.

[Seth Payne]

It's crazy how much they sound alike, right?

[Sean Pendergast]

No, and I think that's something that I would say with d' Amico. D' Amico said something about CJ yesterday or a couple days ago where I'd seen one of our listeners comment that. Man, that seems like that sounds like the first really genuine praise that see that d' Ameco has given cj. That's what the listener said. I think it's been like that with d' Ameco during this training camp. I do think, yeah, there were times last season where, I mean, at times d' Ameco just flat out said we need more from CJ and some of the praise that he would give him. It felt like he was holding back a little bit and he wasn't being.

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[Sean Pendergast]

Critical necessarily all the time. I think it's been more, you know, full force praise and it's, and it's borne out in the way it looks out there. It looks way more like CJ is in full command of the offense. And it wasn't, it wasn't that way last year. And part of it, part of it is just simply that with what they want the quarterback to do in this system, it's a lot and it's really hard to. It's kind of like you just took a typing class for a couple weeks now, you know, go out and type 140 words.

[Sheldon Rankins]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's just it, it takes time. It takes muscle memory.

[Seth Payne]

Six reps. How about the, how about the news? Just shifting gears here real quick. Cause we teased it. How about the news of our good friend Ross Tucker yesterday? Yeah, Ross Tucker, if you missed it. And Ross will be back with us this season as well on Tuesdays at 7 o'.

[Sheldon Rankins]

Clock.

[Seth Payne]

He'll be back with us. I'm fairly certain it'll be at its usual time. Tuesdays at 7 o'.

[Nick Kaley]

Clock.

[Seth Payne]

He's our Odyssey NFL Insider, but he's Also part of CBS's Sunday NFL announced teams and he'd done a few Texans games the last few years. Normally a Texans Titans game. I feel like every Texans Titans game included Ross Tucker and in the rotation he was down, I think on about like the, maybe the fifth, fifth or sixth team. Well with the ripple effect from the Tony Romo leave of absence, we know that JJ Watt got bumped up to the first team with Jim Nance. Ross Tucker is getting bumped all the way up to the second team with Iron Eagle.

[Sheldon Rankins]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

He's filling JJ shoes.

[Sean Pendergast]

And this is where, you know, like with jj, JJ is a big, big, big, big star. And when he enters broadcasting. Okay. It just, you figure. Okay, that's. It makes sense that they put him in a pretty lofty perch right off the bat with Ross Tucker. Talk about a hard scrabble.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Harder.

[Seth Payne]

He's a grinder man.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. He was a journeyman in the NFL.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

He just started podcasting when nobody else was podcasting. He's. He's picked himself up from the. His bootstraps. He has the hardscrabble upbringing from somewhere near Scranton, Pennsylvania.

[Seth Payne]

Right, right. And Princeton.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, by football terms, you know what is hard scrap.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, sorry. Yeah, that's right. Cornell guy.

[Professor Greg Jackson]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

No, you play football at Princeton. It's not like, oh, welcome, welcome. Right into the NFL. Here you go.

[Seth Payne]

This is a huge.

[Sean Pendergast]

You and Jason Garrett, you know that, right?

[Seth Payne]

You. You know how I feel about Ian Eagle. I think Ian Eagle is excellent.

[Nick Kaley]

He.

[Seth Payne]

He and Kevin Harlan are my 2 favorite play by play guys on Sundays. And I loved JJ and Ian Eagle together. I thought they were an excellent pairing. I think JJ would be great with Jim N. And I think Jim Nance has got to be ecstatic to be getting J.J. watt for however long this is going to be.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's going to be happy to get somebody with a pulse. Yes.

[Seth Payne]

That puts in the work.

[Sean Pendergast]

At least a pulse that doesn't have a high bac that can make it

[Seth Payne]

to the stadium without getting pulled over. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

So I never once thought JJ was drunk when he was on air.

[Seth Payne]

No.

[Sean Pendergast]

And I don't know that Romo ever was, but I know every time I watch him, he sounds like he might drunk. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, he might be. This is a huge save for my love of Ian Eagle. I think he and Ross are going to be great. I think that'll be a really good pairing. This is like a addition by subtraction.

[Sean Pendergast]

I know. Well, I've heard Ross with Kevin Harlan a lot on the radio.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And they're very like, so similar vibes there. And I think that'll. They'll fit right in.

[Seth Payne]

I do too.

[D' Amico Ryan]

Romo.

[Seth Payne]

Romo's cooked, right?

[Sean Pendergast]

I would imagine so. I think that this is the classic boy. CBS executive executives are happy to have this out.

[Seth Payne]

If he's got a morals clause, he's done.

[Sean Pendergast]

People have been. I can't imagine you're a CBS exec that goes and talks to other insiders or Whatever. When you're at wide shut parties and stuff in the off season.

[Seth Payne]

Right, Right.

[Sean Pendergast]

Where somebody isn't like, dude, what the hell are you guys going to do about Romo? And they're like, well, I don't know. He's fine. But like, no, seriously, man, what the hell's going on?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Like people in the. It's one thing to get lambasted by people in the media and everything, but industry insiders have known that's a train wreck for the last few years. So this is. This might be a really easy out. Somebody might. Somebody at cbs. Their job might have been saved by Tony Romo getting into that pickle in Wisconsin.

[Seth Payne]

That's a $70 million pullover on the side of if he loses his. He's got four years left on his deal.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Of nearly a total of $70 million.

[Sean Pendergast]

There might be some executive at CBS who just like fully stood up on the table and said, we need to give Romo this money. And he was about to get fired at some point because of it. He was like, oh, boy, I think

[Seth Payne]

I just got sends a fruit basket

[Sean Pendergast]

to that cop to the Wisconsin pd.

[Seth Payne]

All right, let's get to headlines. Coming up next. Astros lose last night. We'll about talk. Talk about that. We've got some football headlines we'll get to as well. Hey, look. All right, let's get to headlines. Not much to say about the Astros last night. They lost 4 to 1 to the San Francisco Giants. Hunter Brown takes the L last night. The bats, as you can tell, they lost 4 to 1. So the bats did not do very much last night.

[Sean Pendergast]

Shocking to some of you don't know that the Astros had runners in scoring position. Nothing with it. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yep, yep, yep.

[Sean Pendergast]

The AL west currently could potentially be the first time ever apparently, that the entire division would finish with a negative run differential.

[Seth Payne]

Is that where we are right now?

[Sean Pendergast]

They all have a negative run differential. Everybody's minus 20 plus at this point.

[Seth Payne]

Let me check the eye test. Yep.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, checks out.

[Seth Payne]

These are five kind of mediocre to bad baseball teams. I. Look, it's a Hunter Brown start. And part of me wants to say that, look, you're in a dogfight in the division. You've seen got to win the games that Hunter Brown is pitching because the other four guys pitching in the other games are not reliable at all. For you, but Lambert's been good. Yeah, but Javier not reliable. You know the two guys. Wisnowski's been decent, but he's a Tommy John guy. I don't you know, we don't know what the shelf life is. It's not like he's got a huge body of work prior to that to hang his hat on. Renell Blanco has not been good since he came back. You know, Mike Burrows is pitching a rehab start on Friday. Seth, I don't know if you knew that, but yeah. So he may be back.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's not reliable, I'll admit, Sean, that's basically our trade, the Mike Burroughs trade. Okay. Anybody coming back from the IL or just a stint in the Miners traded for Burroughs twice. Now, you know, we're looking at is the. We're not going to trade for anybody, but we've got guys coming back to the major league roster. Oh, what was wrong? Well, some of them just sucked.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

No, they weren't even injured. Yeah, it was. They're not even coming off the illness.

[Seth Payne]

So that was going to be my hot take is you got to win these Hunter Brown starts because these other starts, you just don't know what's going to happen. But then to your point, this division is so bad, I don't know that they got to do anything, you know, like they. I mean, they got to win enough games to win the division.

[Sean Pendergast]

I wish. I hope at some point, if they, like, let's say the Astros just win this division with a slightly above.500 record or something. I need there to be a AFC South Champs. Brian. Moment where Espada says to some writer,

[Seth Payne]

some writer, it's got to be Chandler.

[Sean Pendergast]

AOS champs. Chandler west champs.

[Seth Payne]

Yes, Chandler. Brian T. Smith, I think are cut from some of the same cloth. Yeah, I think so.

[Sean Pendergast]

Hard driving journos.

[Seth Payne]

Hard drive and journos that probably, maybe at times rub management of the team. Not their own management.

[Sean Pendergast]

Sorry, you don't like the question toss. That's what I'd say.

[Seth Payne]

Right. Chandler has rubbed Joe Espada the wrong way. Remember he tried to be a gm. That one.

[Sheldon Rankins]

Well, no.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, Chandler. That was the weirdest moment.

[Seth Payne]

He's accused of it, at least.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, Chandler just asked a simple question. Is there a chance. Was it Burrows or was somebody. Is there a chance he goes down to the Miners?

[Seth Payne]

It was Weiss.

[Sean Pendergast]

It was Weiss. That's right.

[Seth Payne]

Who got sent to the minors the next day.

[Sean Pendergast]

No, no, he got sent to the minors hours. Well, like it was. It was announced hours later that he was going to go. That he was being sent down. Yes, but Espada took exception to Chandler playing gm.

[Seth Payne]

Playing gm.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yep. All right, so Astros lose last night. Afternoon game today, 245 I believe today. First pitch. Trying to win the series in San Francisco's Astros remain in first place because the division's terrible. The Rangers lost to the Angels last night. Still a half game up in the division. Texans back at practice yesterday. They're off today. The Chargers come to town tomorrow for the first preseason game. Doesn't sound like there's going to be a bunch of starters playing in this game. If you're curious about rookies and backups and undrafted free agents, then tomorrow night is your night.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, I think this is the thing that the Texans to be a Super bowl caliber team, one of the strengths they have this year is that I do think they have way more depth at a lot of positions, most notably the offensive line. So the Charger, the Chargers have some stud rookies and backup defensive linemen too. This is, this is. Honestly, there are going to be some really relevant battles between Chargers offensive lineman and defensive lineman or Texans offensive lineman and Chargers defensive lineman that are going to have an effect on the season. You're going to play 8, 9, 10 different offensive linemen at some point this year. And it's not like the got the Texans offensive linemen on Thursday night are going to be going up against a bunch of slappies. There'll be some good stuff.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, there should be some really fun stuff to watch. And this rookie class as you and I outlined yesterday has been to me a lot of green arrow up with this rookie class. I've been impressed by, by practically all of them. So you'll get a good look at those tomorrow night. By the way, if you want to win a pair of front row tickets to see that game on Thursday night in the bullpen. Be listening at 7:40 today for the cue to call. And you could be at the game tomorrow night in the front row checking out all the things Seth was just talking about. Kyler Murray is the starter for the Minnesota Vikings. He was named the week one starter yesterday by head coach Kevin O'. Connell. Kevin O' Connell does not need to see any preseason games. Nine is on the back burner. J.J. mcCarthy.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. So it felt from watching on the outside looking in that it was just a matter of time until Kyler Murray got comfortable in the system and figured some things out. But it doesn't feel like they like J.J. mcCarthy all that much.

[Seth Payne]

It doesn't feel like anybody does.

[Sean Pendergast]

They don't like his whole thing.

[D' Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Hey Coach, can you give me some constructive criticism? Yeah, I don't like your whole thing. Yeah, this whole deal you got going on here, your decision making, your shtick with the alter ego personality.

[Seth Payne]

What did him in was when Kevin O' Connell said, Look, JJ. And JJ's like, Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's nine.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's nine.

[Sheldon Rankins]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

We're in a football center, football venue.

[Seth Payne]

I'm in uniform. I'm in. I'm in my, my costume.

[Sean Pendergast]

Adam Schefter doing that thing which is so funny because his, his job is to write words down. Yeah. Has a way of really phrasing things, strangely. But Schefter is a Michigan man. Yes. And he had tweeted out yesterday something along the lines of, now JJ McCarthy forced to be a backup.

[D' Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

No, he earned it.

[Sean Pendergast]

Sheever. Nobody's forced to do anything in this life, really. You know, you could just walk away from football right now. And being a motivational speaker, he might

[Seth Payne]

have a hard time finding a job that pays what he's making, but nobody's forcing him to do anything.

[Sean Pendergast]

That was the other thing that Schefter said after going after. What was it? It was after winning 6 of his 10 games last year. Like already 6 and 4. What am I supposed to do, have a parade?

[Seth Payne]

Did you watch the games? Like, he didn't win him because of nine. All right, seven o' clock hour coming up. Hey. A little over an hour from now, 8am today, we have a killer guest list for Tomorrow's launch of 95. 7 the Fan. If you, if you don't know the details tomorrow at 8:00am I mean, there'll be a countdown and everything to 8:00am. We flip that switch to 95. 7 the fan. Sports radio 610 becomes 957 the fan. We've got a great guest list lined up starting in that 8 o' clock hour tomorrow. We will announce who's on that guest list at 8am today, so be on the, be on the lookout for that again. 7:40 today. You can win a pair of front row tickets to the Chargers Texans preseason game in the bullpen tomorrow night. All right, let's do a little stock up, stock down. I know other shows on the station do that as well. We're gonna, we're gonna hijack the gimmick for a little bit here. But there, there are players who have impressed so far, even more than maybe we expected. There are some that we're still waiting on here. We'll go through those as we get you ready, continue to get you ready for the start of the preseason on the field tomorrow night.

[Professor Greg Jackson]

Stay history that doesn't suck is a legit hard hitting American History podcast told through entertaining stories. As we approach America's 250th anniversary, now might be the time to go back and learn how we got here. With more than 200 episodes, you can binge your way decade by decade, defining event to defining event from the founding into the 20th century. Join me, Professor Greg Jackson for History that Doesn't Suck. An Odyssey Podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.