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Scoop City: Inside The NFL
Why Micah Parsons showing for Cowboys OTAs is a good sign for his extension...for now
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- [00:01]
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- [00:54]
Mike Jones
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Chase Daniel
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Chase Daniel
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- [01:49]
Chase Daniel
Welcome into Scoop City. I'm Chase Daniel. We're talking Chiefs Anthony Richardson and the Cowboys today and the impact of coaching changes on today's show. Don't forget to like and subscribe for the latest scoop. National NFL writer for the athletic Mike Jones back on the show today. Micah Parsons also back. Well, almost. Parsons is set to return to the Cowboys and the source? You guessed it, Micah Parsons himself. Hear what the Cowboys pass rusher had to say about the latest contract talks and and reuniting with the team. Meanwhile, the Chiefs fell one game short of the historic three peat. But could that loss lead to an even more super bowl wins? What Mahomes had to say about his motivation. But we start in Indy where there's breaking news and Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is out indefinitely. Ouch. After injuring his throwing shoulder. Here's what we're hearing around the league. Colts head coach Shane Steichen telling reporters Tuesday that Anthony Richardson injured his AC joint, the same one he did his rookie year, and is now out indefinitely. Richardson already dealt with injuries his first two seasons. Mike. I guess the quarterback competition with Daniel Jones may be over already.
- [03:07]
Mike Jones
Yeah, what's that saying? The best ability is availability. And here we are with Anthony Richardson. Dude looks like a physical specimen but cannot stay healthy. And the door, you know, he was supposed to have a little bit of a leg up, but now he just completely opens the door. Daniel Jones taking all the first teen reps. He might wind up running away with this job.
- [03:29]
Chase Daniel
Yeah. So a little bit of background. The injury is to Richardson's AC joint, obviously in his right arm where he is a thrower of the football quarterback he previously had season ending surgery on in October of 2023, his rookie season. Richardson reported pain in the AC joint after an OTA practice last Thursday. He has not practiced since. And today or Thursday is the last day of voluntary OTAs. My takeaway from the Anthony Richardson injury again is, look, he didn't play a lot, Mike, in college. He didn't have a lot of reps going into the NFL. Obviously drafted really high. The dude, like you said, is a physical specimen. His body has never seen and will not see a season without injury. This is just sort of how he is most notably as a runner. Right when he tapped himself out, he's got concussion. He's. I think he's dealt with concussions before. He's dealt with these shoulder injuries and it's got to be a little bit of a sign for the Colts to be like, hey, I'm glad they went out and got Daniel Jones. They paid him a lot of money. They know it was going to be an open competition. I feel bad for Anthony Richardson, though, because he never, he never really materialized because he's always been held back a little bit by the injuries. My thing is like when you watch him on the film, Mike, he can throw the football a quarter mile, right. He's not accurate with the football. He's never really been a high completion percentage thrower. And if you look, they've tried to build this offense like they did around Jalen Hurts when Stichen was in Philly and that's why they wanted a runner, because they felt like he could do it. He's been sort of up and down. What's your takeaway in general about the whole situation that Indy's going? Because remember, and look, I'm sure you're a listener of this show. We've talked about it with Diana and I. Indianapolis Colts, Shane Steichen, GM Ballard, Chris Ballard. They are squarely on the hot seat going into this year and now potentially without their starting quarterback.
- [05:37]
Mike Jones
Yeah, it's not a good situation, but I think that this is a cautionary tale that you can't like get so smitten by what you see physically out of a prospect when you don't have much of a body of work to go on. Like you said, he hasn't Played a whole lot. It reminds me, it's different. But the Trey Lance situation where, you know, he had all the physical gifts, San Francisco, he didn't pan out there and now he's in Dallas. Doesn't look like he's going to pan out there. But now you have a guy who, yes, like you said, he can throw the ball, you know, 200 yards, can't hit it on the short range, you know, the mid range game, you know, he can't do that. But then I just wonder, mentally we saw, like you said, he tapped himself out of a game because he was tired, you know, obviously got a shoulder injury, you can't throw, then. Okay, but again, if what is he doing to take care of his body? What is his routine? You know, from, from what I hear, he's a guy that, you know, is likable guy. He even goes downtown to play basketball at the Y down there in Indy. But okay, what is his offseason regime to try to fortify this body of his? And again, if you can't stay on the field, this really hurts his chances of being anything. And so I don't know that Daniel Jones is really the answer, but Daniel Jones is a guy that, you know, at least, you know, hey, he's going to be on the field, he's going to execute. He's had some injuries, but when he's there, he's, you know, he's not a game changer, but he's going to take care of the football for the most part. Might not light it up, but they know that he's going to be on the field or as Anthony Richardson. It's really going to be guesswork.
- [07:18]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, look, when, when, when Ballard and Shane Steichen decided to bench Anthony Richardson for a couple of different reasons, they say it was play. I think it was. I mean, I know it was. He needed to grow up as an NFL athlete, he needed to grow up as an NFL quarterback. And everything that we heard he gained his starting job back, he was able to move along. And I had heard from the team that he had made pointed progress in that for not only like what it is being a quarterback on the field, but all the stuff off the field. This really hurts his time there for a couple reasons. My main reason is because these reps and OTAs and training camp are so extremely valuable, especially when it comes to a guy who has not played a lot of touchdowns. Okay, he threw, he's thrown for eight touchdowns and 12 interceptions and he had a 47.7% completion percentage. He's eight and starter. He's eight and seven as a starter through two seasons. So I. Now Daniel Jones jumps into it. What can you expect in a Shane Steich and Daniel Jones type offense? I know Daniel can actually move pretty well. He's got some wheels on him. What do you see this offense becoming?
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Mike Jones
Well, I. I still think that they're going to have to rely heavily on the run just because of the fact. I mean, look what Daniel Jones was with the Giants. You know, I can't remember what the streak was, but he like did not throw a lot of touchdown passes there. But if you have a strong run game, if you use a little bit of his mobility, you know, Brian Dabel is creative offensive mind and couldn't get much out of him. Maybe Shane Steichen can tweak some things, but I think that they have a better offensive line. They probably have a little bit more to work with than what he had there, outside of, you know, having Saquon Barkley for the start of his career there when Saquon was healthy. But you've got, you know, a good running back. So again, I think he'll be asked to basically manage the offense. I don't think that he's going to be asked to put a cape on or anything like that because that just isn't how he's built, you know, if he can just take care of the football, put the hit ball in the hands of the playmakers, you know, and they rely on their defense, which they've kind of revamped and they're waiting for some guys to get healthy, but they're hoping they can lean on them, you know, and there's questions there, but if he can do that things, he gives them a chance at least, because that defense has been, you know, pretty solid.
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Chase Daniel
Yeah. And when you look at the Colts and Chris Ballard's tenure before we move on to Micah, it's one of those things where it's going to be defined as the quarterback, Right. They had Andrew Luck and I was at the game, I was playing on the field in the game that Andrew Luck retired. I remember seeing at halftime all these phones lighting up and everyone is just like, oh, my gosh, he like literally retired mid game, or it broke mid game. And ever since then, they've been searching for quarterbacks. You go back to like, they got.
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Mike Jones
Philip Rivers for a little while, right?
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Chase Daniel
Philip Rivers. It was Matt Ryan, it was Carson Wentz. It was a lot of different guys that had played and they tried to fix the quarterback position and they haven't drafted. Look, if they don't win this year, you would imagine that it's going to be really difficult for Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard to keep their jobs. All right, no Micah Parsons at OTAs for Dallas. But I have a good source that says he will be at mandatory minicamp. The source? Micah himself, saying he hasn't missed a minicamp in four years, even though the contract is not done. I have teammates and a playbook. I'm preparing as if I will be on the field on the first week of camp. But it's in the owner's hands. That's the one I want to underline and talk about in a second. I'm ready to win a Super Bowl. Mike, what are your takeaways from this? And what in the world is taking Jerry so long to get a deal done with one of the brightest stars in the NFL?
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Mike Jones
Okay, I think that Micah Parsons is a good teammate and a good leader, and he wants these guys to know that, hey, look, I am committed to you guys, and he knows that. Okay, this is. We got a new defensive coordinator. I need to get some reps and understanding of this system. And so that's why he said, I've got teammates and I got a playbook. He wants to be on the field at the start of training camp, but he's basically putting the pressure on Jerry Jones. Come on, get this thing done. But I think that Jerry probably loves this because we see him do this every year. They've got a big name player who needs his contract extended, and they have the opportunity and he could save some money by getting it done, but he drags it out, and then somebody at that position resets the market. And so what does Jerry have to do? Reset the market? But I think that that's why he does it. He drags it out. He loves being talked about. He loves the Cowboys being at the center of controversy. And then, okay, last minute, he's going to go ahead and break the bank, make Micah Parsons the highest paid non quarterback player in the history of the league, and then it'll be okay, but it's going to be unnecessary when it could have been done before. But Micah knows this, and that's why he said it's in the owner's hands. And so it's basically like, hey, I'm doing what I got to do. Jerry, come to the table, man. It's on you.
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Chase Daniel
Exactly. He's putting. He's putting the onus back on the owner. And look, receiver CD Lamb missed almost all of training camp before signing August, really last minute. Dak Prescott's deal was finalized the day of the season opener, but he did not miss a practice. Cowboys begin their mandatory minicamp June 10th. Parsons will likely get over that $40 million mark that Miles Garrett has set. And when you said about contracts, that made me think Dallas and I did some math. Dallas has cost themsel on the Micah Parsons contract a total of about $6 million per year. So it could be upwards to $25 million more throughout the course of the contract by waiting, when they technically could have done it the first day of the league year. Because we see Miles Garrett got 40 million a year. We saw Daniel Hunter get 35.6. We saw Max Crosby get 35.5. We saw Chris Jones even get 32. Now he's going to surpass all those. I just don't understand the way of thinking when you are literally, I understand, like, he's a businessman, but money, it comes down to. And you have to imagine that Micah's looking at stars like Dak Prescott and CD Lamb. They've got to be having conversations about what it was like for them, right?
- [13:39]
Mike Jones
Yeah, no, I think so. And I think that he's playing this out just the way that they did, where he's like, look, I'm going to be patient. And I again, used to, Gary, yes, he's a businessman, but I don't think that he cares about saving money. You know, if he wants to do it on his time, it always seems like it comes back and bites him. But I think that he kind of likes the fact that, oh, hey, you know, all the intrigue, he, you know, he doesn't have victories and playoff runs and Super Bowls to capture the imagination and the attention of the American football fans. And so he's like, okay, I've got some drama here, and I think that's part of it. And so he'll get it done and. And then he'll, you know, thump his chest and be proud that, hey, we made our guy the highest paid player at his position here. They just better hope that, you know, this thing, I mean, because obviously Cincinnati's got Trey Hendrickson, who's another pass rusher who wants to get paid, but, you know, if they get it done, then it's just going to bump it up. They're going to bump it up. And Micah Parsons is really smart by waiting.
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Chase Daniel
And he is smart by waiting because you missed another one. T.J. watt. Right, so, T.J. watt, Trey Hendrickson.
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Mike Jones
Yes.
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Chase Daniel
So. So I wonder if your Micus camp, who's going to sign first? Right? Because T.J. watt. Is it. Is it? Is it, Is it Micah? Because I know Micah probably is a superstar player. He wants to be. He wants to be the highest paid player in NFL in defensive history. And, and I, and I agree that he deserves to be that way. And the salary cap keeps going up, but eventually, and I think, I think Mike is playing this from a leadership perspective, and I think he's playing it in the court of public opinion. Excellent. Because he's sort of putting the onus on the owner and he's showing that leadership. Like, hey, man, like, I want to be there in phase one, because phase one does not include on field stuff. Phase two and three, phase, like minicamp, it's another thing. It's like they don't really. He's not going to practice. He's going to show up because he doesn't want to get fined $100,000. It's an interesting situation, but if you're Micah's camp, how do you play this? Because, you know, Micah wants to get it done before the season. It sounds like T.J. watt and the Steelers, they're not in a super big hurry, right?
- [15:47]
Mike Jones
No. And then the thing is, their owner has already said that, hey, we're going to take care of him. It's just a matter of when. So it's a tricky spot for if you're Micah, you know, are we going to see a hold in which I think CD Lam did that where he reported for training camp but just didn't practice. You know, we've seen some guys do that, but with Micah saying, like, I got teammates, I've got a playbook, he wants to be out there. And again, he's trying to make sure, you know, they're making sure he comes off as supportive and, you know, committed. But again, I bet you, like you said, he's talked to Dak and they're like, hey, man, just like, you know, do the right thing. It's going to take, you know, just be patient. We know old Jerry. You know how it is. He's going to get it done. Just keep on playing it like you are, man. We understand this is business. We've been there.
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Chase Daniel
Totally agree. So the Chiefs move on to them. They're looking to bounce back from their super bowl loss, which would have been a three peat first in NFL history. Patrick Mahomes talked to reporters this week at OTAS about how the loss is just added motivation. Let's take a listen.
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Patrick Mahomes
It's hard. I mean, I Feel like I focus every year because I know how, how special a run that we're on and how many years left I'll have all these great players and a great team. Every team's different and you don't want to miss an opportunity. But I mean, obviously when you, when you lose a Super Bowl, I think there's sometimes in those workouts you may be a little tired. You have that extra added motivation to finish even a harder finish, stronger. And I think it'll be good for us at the end of the day. I mean, obviously looking back, you want to win the game, but a lot of these guys hadn't lost one, hadn't lost a, hadn't ended a season on a loss that are on this team now. So I'm sure they'll be motivated to go back out there and try to find a way to get to the super bowl and win it this year.
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Chase Daniel
Mike, interesting words. I liked what he said. And teams should fear the Chiefs if they need extra motivation from Patrick Mahomes. Are the Chiefs still the team to fear in the AFC though?
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Mike Jones
Yes, I think so. Because who, who has really closed the gap on them? So Buffalo maybe, but they still have some questions. You know, we talked about them on, on Monday. Yes. You know, they've got Boza, but how much are they going to have of him? They're also, you know, they've got James Cook that they're, you know, try to take care of that. Baltimore, they, they didn't really meet their wide receiver, you know, depth, knee. They obviously DeAndre Hopkins, he's kind of getting a little older. They drafted a pass rusher. I don't see anybody who really leapfrogged the Chiefs. And the other thing about this is, is listening to Patrick Mahomes, I kind of get that feeling kind of that Kobe mentality where it's like, oh, you know, he's motivated, he's locked in, he's elite level competitor. And this is what I mean, he was already elite. He didn't need anymore, but now he's got and he's talking about look and he's getting his guys to buy in. When you're tired and you can't do that last rep, then you remember about that loss. But I think that he's going to be maniacal in his approach to this. He is going to make sure they come out and that they are playing at their best level yet. Because look, he's 29. It's not like he's like getting close. You know, he hasn't even turned 30 yet. And so, yeah, he's going to just be as hungry as ever. Look out, everybody.
- [19:06]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, I think, and I think, I think they are still the team to fear. And I say this because the Chiefs have won so many games. They're. They're the lowest point in their career. They've reached the AFC Championship Game. Seven years as a starter, seven AFC Championship games he's played. And the Chiefs have played in five of the last six Super Bowls. So at least at minimum, they are getting back to the AFC Championship game. And if you want to say the Bills, which I would say absolutely, the Bills are probably the team that have closed the gap a little bit on the, on the Chiefs, they can't beat them in the playoffs. Josh Allen has lost four or five in postseason games to Patrick Mahomes. Four of his five last exits have been to Patrick Mahomes. He has not beat them in the postseason when it matters the most. And look, failure to me, it breeds toughness and it calluses your roster. An interesting quote in that article that I read about it because I wanted to read more up on, on Patrick Mahomes and his mindset and obviously know a lot of those guys over at the Chiefs. The biggest thing he said is if you've been on that team going into year three, your season, if you've been with the Chiefs for three years, has not ended in a loss. Mike, they don't know what it is to fail. And that's what's crazy to me. And I think that's sort of him saying, hey, I've lost two Super Bowls, the Bucks and this one. And the losses always, always, always end up becoming, I don't want to say blessing in disguise, but it's like, take the Bucs one, for example. They ended up saying, hey, both of our tackles need help. What did Brett Veach do? He went out, he got new tackles. He got an all new, brand new, like offensive line. And now 20, 21, they made it to the conference championship game. Didn't, didn't make it all the way. But I do believe there's something to be said about. And I think it's so good for young quarterbacks to watch. Sort of the motivation for Mahomes because like you said, man, he's 29. Now. Let's talk about the biggest issue I thought for them last year was their left tackle position. Did the Chiefs solve their biggest issues?
- [21:12]
Mike Jones
I think that they did. And they did it both ways. They went into free agency, you know, and drafted. Now it was Trent Williams backup, he didn't play a whole lot, but when Trent Williams was hurt, he played well. And then they went out and drafted, you know, so they got a veteran and you got a rookie that you have at that position and, you know, we'll see how it plays out, which one of them winds up starting. But that depth issue is taken care of there. That was the big. Like you said, that was a big problem in the super bowl that year. All of last year was basically a patchwork quilt where they were rotating guys in and out at left tackle because nobody could get the job done. Well, they saw what happened where the Eagles just pinned back their ears and feasted on them. And Patrick Mahomes had never, I mean, again, he was running for his life in that super bowl loss to the Bucks. But that was bad. They did not cross midfield, I don't think, until the third quarter. So they went out and they addressed that. They also punched up their defense, getting some more young and versatile playmakers to go and beef up their defensive front. They also added some skill position players, some running back, wide receiver, Versal type guys. So they went out and made sure that they have what they need. And so I think that, yeah, this roster, there was no complacency there. They addressed that. They were able to look in the mirror and assess, okay, yeah, we've got to do better. And they went and did that. So that's why I think you've improved the roster and you've got a hungry Patrick Mahomes and it all breeds. If you talk to the guys there, he's the tone setter. It's contagious. And you know, even he talked about Travis Kelce. He was asked about them. He's like, look, nobody knows if this is last year. He said, he does not seem like a guy who's beat down, who's old, who's tired. He seems as hungry as ever. And so, good Lord, yeah, you know, that's all.
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Chase Daniel
And supposedly the Travis Kelsey had cut weight. They get Rasheed Rice back. But just a little context. So the reason why we say it's offensive line, obviously we know that. But Mahomes was sacked career high 36 times in 2024 and sacked a single game, most in his career, six times in the Super Bowl. So they went out like you were saying, Jaylen Moore from the 49ers, they drafted Josh Simmons. They moved their second round draft pick last year, Kingsley Sumatilla, to inside guard. So they do have a lot of talent there. Before we, before we move on do you think the AFC west is a one team race still? Or do you think Chargers, Denver, I mean all playoff teams, do you think they've closed the gap a little bit? I know the Denver Broncos specifically have played them well over the years.
- [23:42]
Mike Jones
Yeah, Denver has. And I mean, I expect that Bo Nix is going to take another step forward. They also went out and, you know, they got J.K. dobbins, so their run game should be a little better. I do think that they've maybe shrunk the gap. I don't think that anybody has overtaken them. You know, I just, I don't think that you, you, you can, it would take, you know, a big loss of one of their most important players to be able to do that. And again, they're improving both them and the Chargers, but I don't think they've overtaken them.
- [24:16]
Chase Daniel
Nine straight, I believe AFC west titles, it started when I was in my last year in Kansas City in 2015. So pretty amazing for them. All right, coming up, could be a Texas sized problem in Houston. C.J. stroud not throwing at OTAs. What's going on there, why the team isn't concerned and why maybe they should be. That's next on Scoop City.
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- [27:07]
Chase Daniel
All right? Welcome back to Scoob City. No throwing for CJ Stroud at OTAs. D' Amico Ryan says it's just shoulder soreness and they are being overly cautious. But they do have a new OC in town. Bobby Slo is out. They hired Nick Kaley from the Rams. No OC experience there either. Mike, I know you have an amazing article out on the Athletic. It's out now about these new offensive schemes. How is this all going to play out and how does it impact Stroud's development?
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Mike Jones
Yeah, so you know, there are 15 new offensive coordinators around the league and so we're looking at, okay, what's one pressing question for each one of them? And the real question about, you know, the, the Texan situation is can Nick Caylee help him take another step forward? Can he fix this unit? Because look, they thought that they had the next hot offensive mind in Bobby Slowik. You know, d' Amico Ryan's, you know, went back to his roots in San Francisco, got Bobby Slowik to come with him. Kyle Shanahan's right hand man, he looked great. Their first year together, CJ Stroud and Slowik and then last year was like he really didn't develop a counterpunch. And so not only did they have offensive line problems, but he wasn't able to figure out how to mask any of those deficiencies when defenses would exploit that. And so now he's out. Now I'm, I, if I'm a Texans fan, I'm a little concerned because you go and basically do the same thing where you go and get a young offensive mind with no play calling experience. And Nick Caylee was the tight ends coach in the Rams organization now. Doesn't mean that he didn't help with game planning a lot of times with Sean McVay, his tight ends coach is responsible for third down package planning and things like that. So yes, this guy's involved in game planning, but he has not been in the heat of the moment looking and basically the chess match that is calling an offensive game. Also, he's never worked directly with quarterbacks and have to develop a young guy. So if I'm Dimiko Ryan, I would like to have found a veteran guy to maybe kind of help CJ Stroud take the next step. So this guy is not learning on the fly because that's what a lot of this is going to be doing. It's going to be because, you know, d' Amo, Ryan is a defensive guy. He's not going to be mentoring Nick Kyle, you know, he could have had some little insights and things like that, but, you know, what do you do to help him take another step forward? Because he kind of regrets last year. And, you know, the wide receiving core is very new because they've got a lot of injuries. Their offensive line has been revamped, but, you know, they traded away Laramie Tunsil, so you lost one of the best left tackles in the game. That's just a really tall task for Nick Kaley here. And so I think that in addition to, you know, him not throwing, the big question is, you know, who's going to be in his ear and how capable is he going to be?
- [30:02]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, look. And looking at him play last year right there, there was definitely a little bit of regression from him. It seemed like one. He wasn't seeing stuff open as easily, but he also got hit a lot of times from the quarterback position. And when you look at this new change, and we talked about it before the show, I'm like, it's the same person. Like, what, What. What makes Nick Kaley different than Bobby Slope? Because even like, I was. And you were saying, I'm like, dude, Bobby Slokes that. That guy. After he got C.J. stroud to throw for 4,372 yards and 27 touchdowns, only five interceptions in his rookie year, they regressed. Will this new scheme simplify things for him?
- [30:41]
Mike Jones
I don't know about simplifying. I think that there will be some. Some carryover, some familiarity, because it's from the Shanahan tree. Obviously, Bobby Slow came from San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan. Nick Haley's coming from Sean McVeigh, who was on the same staff under Mike Shanahan. So, you know, basically, Kyle taught and Mike taught Shawn everything. He knows enough. Sean has taught Nick Kelly that it's not like it's a more simplified system. And I don't know if C.J. straw really needs simplicity. I think he know. Needs to know how to react. When a defense has all the film on you, they know what your weaknesses are. They know what your strengths are. They know how to take that away. Because these defensive coordinators get paid a lot of money, too. They spend a lot of time figuring out how do we take this away from him? And then what do you do when they take it away? How do you react? And so that's what Bobby Slope wasn't able to help CJ Stroud do. And I don't know if Nick Caylee can. Maybe so maybe a different set of eyes. He's not as married to what they were doing, what Bobby Slo was doing, and is able to change. But it's going to be different. It's going to be, you know, similar language, similar verbiage, a little bit different because it's a different guy coming from a different organization. But I don't know, man. I'm just a little worried for him. And again, like I said, I would have preferred a veteran voice that had maybe had the track record of developing a quarterback rather than a guy doing it for the first time. Because, look, if you don't get this right, you know, d' Ameco, Ryan's in them. Yes, everything has looked good for the first two years, but the window is short in the NFL.
- [32:19]
Chase Daniel
All right, it's a new error down in Duvall. Liam cone comes over from the Bucks. All eyes in Jacksonville will obviously be on quarterback Trevor Lawrence and getting the most out of the number one overall pick. What is your read on this Liam Cone Trevor Lawrence situation down in Jacksonville?
- [32:39]
Mike Jones
Yeah, you know, he's got Liam Coleman comes to Jacksonville having helped Baker Mayfield deliver his best season yet as a pro. He has been in the Sean McVeigh organization in coaching tree, and it's like Jacksonville kind of wanted a Rams east type of thing because they took out James Gladwell from there, who was the assistant general manager. Now they got Liam Cohen. Number one priority is to help Trevor Lawrence live up to expectations. He had a rough rookie season with Urban Meyer. Then he showed promise in year two with Doug Peterson. Then he had some injuries, and things just really never progressed from there. They actually regressed, you know, the next year after that. So here he is with another voice in his head. But he's got a guy that's got really strong communication skills, a guy that, you know is a. Is a good motivator. He's a good teacher. It's going to be interesting because, you know, Liam Cohen does not have a whole lot of NFL experience. He's been an NFL coach for five years. Obviously, he's got some coaching experience in the college ranks as well and again did well with Baker Mayfield. We'll see how this whole thing plays out, but it's just basically do or die mode now for Trevor Lawrence because you know the time, the clock has been ticking and, you know, we'll see how it plays out.
- [34:04]
Chase Daniel
Can the Jaguars offense improve though its consistency in the new system? Because when you study Liam Con and offensive corner Grant Udinsky coming over from the Minnesota Vikings, right, it's going to be interesting to see how both of the schemes fit together. And everything I've known from Liam cone and studying him, he does things that his quarterback does well, like he's not out there pushing stuff that Trevor Lawrence doesn't do well or anything like that. Do you see the consistency improving under him?
- [34:35]
Mike Jones
Yeah, well, the good thing is, is Grant Yudinsky comes from Kevin O' Connell, who came from Sean McVay before he went to Minnesota. So it's going to be very similar there, similar philosophies and yes, they really strive to have a varied offense that it's not just like, oh, hey, this is the one thing we're going to do. But they're like, hey, we want to have it varied. So that way, okay, we'll figure out what this quarterback does well and then we'll capitalize on that. We'll accentuate that and find ways to ease pressure on him. Look, they have a decent running game. We think that they're going to have an explosive weapon in Travis Hunter. We'll see.
- [35:15]
Chase Daniel
Yeah. How do you, how do you view Travis Hunter fitting in this system? Because I want to talk about him because I do personally believe he needs to play offense. I think he's a more of an impact player in offense. You touch the ball more on offense. You like probably going to play both ways. How do you see that fitting in?
- [35:30]
Mike Jones
Yeah, I think it's going to be interesting. I, I am curious how they're going to use him. I talked to a lot of people who felt like, look, he is a lockdown corner and a pretty good wide receiver. A couple of people said where you're really going to see him is maybe in the red zone or some field stretching, but they think that he's going to be able to make his presence felt. And so I think that Liam Cohen is just the perfect type of guy who, who has, you know, he's coached wide receivers like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, you know, and he got a lot out of their rookie wide receiver last year. He's been with McVay, who they had to patch together wide receivers in the Rams that year that he was the offensive coordinator. So he's got a wide range in his short time of using different kinds of talents. And so I think they will have a lot of different ways to use Travis Hunter. And so it's going to be interesting to see. But yeah, I think they're going to be a couple fireworks a game offensively and he's going to make some solid plays and be, you know, tough as a defensive back as well.
- [36:33]
Chase Daniel
All right, guys, Jags wrapped up their OTAs on Thursday and that is a wrap for us as well. Mandatory minicamp starts next week. Stick with us for the latest scoop. Thank you so much for listening. For Mike Jones, I'm Chase Daniel. Bye, guys. Tag me next time.
- [37:01]
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