Colin Cowherd (2:33)

Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now let's get this party started.

Matt Jones (2:55)

You're listening to FOX Sports Radio.

Colin Cowherd (2:59)

All right, here we go. It is a Thursday. We are live and it is the Herd. Tom Brady will stop by the show in a couple hours from now. One hour exactly from now. Greg Cosell stops by and I was thinking this morning as we get ready for Thursday Night Football, second Thursday night game. Last Thursday it was the Cowboys almost beating the Philadelphia Eagles, the Super bowl champs. If CD Lamb catches that perfect deep ball by Dak, they do beat them in my opinion. So tonight we don't get a struggling iconic franchise in the Dallas Cowboys. This Thursday we get the best franchise in the NFL arguably, and maybe not even arguably in the last 30 years. The Green Bay Packers. And I want to talk about that. So the packers are again, what else is new at home and favored on a big national TV game. And you know, I was thinking this morning, I live close to Green Bay now. I'll get up there eventually. But they've dominated the NFL since Brett Favre arrived, Farb and Rogers, 25 years, 15 division titles. Now suddenly the Lions over the last couple years, new coach, new gm, new culture, you know, they build that thing up and last couple years back to back division titles. There's a new sheriff in town. No, actually you watch week one, the Lions made a mistake on coordinator hires. They may be third to fourth and Green Bay is back on top. That's the way it always works. Minnesota's had good years. We always over inflate the Bears chances. Oh, Detroit's really now gonna own the future. And Green Bay's back on top. First of all, they've become the only NFL franchise that has hit home run, home run, home run with quarterback. And not only they get did they get far. It was a bit of a reclamation project. Rogers first round fell to him and Jordan Love but they didn't have to give up massive draft capital and bought him out to get them. That was kind of like Danny Ainge and the Celtics. We're going to rebuild and still be viable. And yet today, and then tonight as you watch as the league is pivoted to offense and franchises like the Bears and the Steelers that are iconic can't figure out offense. No team in the NFL in 2025 has more tight end wide receiver talent on rookie contracts that can all play and you'll see it tonight. Since 1992, added up over 30 years, the packers are number one in the NFL in winning percentage points per game, second in playoff wins, division titles since the Brett Favrea one. Be able to get job done and go 1 and O in the north.

Matt Jones (5:48)

Is, you know, the star we wanted right there. But big picture, I mean it starts, it all starts with NFC North. So to have a North team come in here, we got big, big. Just picture for us right now is, you know, super bowl is down the road, but it all starts with NFC North. So we got to go out there and you know, obviously get off to a better start than we did last year.

Colin Cowherd (6:09)

Packers tonight in a close one. So, you know we do, we do a lot of predictions on a week to week like blazing five. And I got Colin right and wrong on Monday. I usually say what I'm about to talk about for Mondays, right and wrong. But big picture predictions, the one that got the most pushback this year, as I said, I think San Francisco is going to finish third in their division. That's the one I got all the pushback on. And the reason I gave was not because Kyle Shanahan, he's great. It wasn't because I don't love George Kittle, Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey and Fred Warner, their Hall of Fame talent. I said this is an organization. Number one, they're brittle. And number two, as much as I like John lynch, they have missed on too many top picks. So when the injuries happen, they don't have a reservoir of depth. And this morning, Brock Purdy out three to five weeks, my first NFL macro prediction that looks right. So you generally don't start a season with injuries and get healthier. And this is where Green Bay has flourished. It's hard to find, especially an offense, a Packer early draft pick that's been a miss. It's hard to find. San Francisco gave up two first for Trey Lance, miss, Jake Moody, third round pick, kicker disaster Javon Kinlaw, first round miss. Even in free agency they went for Javon Hargrove. That was wasted money. So when you watch the NFC right now, there are three teams that pass the eye test and they all have something in common. The packers look fast, young and athletic. The Rams defense does. And the Eagles on both sides. And the reason being they've nailed the draft and that's what worried me about San Francisco. Not just that they were brittle and a little old, but that they've missed on so many draft picks. When you get banged up, this is what you look like going into New Orleans with a chance to lose to arguably the first or second worst team in the league. Yeah. Now Brock Purdy, who's going to be out, that is a great draft pick. That is as good a draft pick as you're going to get. But when you look at the nfc, Rams defense, Packers offense, Eagles both side, it's nailing the draft. So in this league you get old and brittle very fast when you start giving away picks. You drafting quarterbacks that can't work, draft kickers in the third round. That's why, by the way, the Lions last year had so many injuries, but yet they finished 15 and 2. Why? Because they had drafted so well. So the injuries for the Niners going into Week two, it's unbelievable. Brock Purdy, Brandon Auk, George Kittle and several players that are game time decisions. Mac Jones will be the starter. Yes, that Mac Jones. Here's Kyle Shanahan. Mac knows how to play the position. He can play well in the pocket.

Matt Jones (9:13)

Distributes the ball well, sees coverage as.

Colin Cowherd (9:15)

Well, can play fast in there. He's got a lot of good film from the NFL with experience and obviously college tough guy will hang in there and deliver the ball where he needs to go. So Green Bay tonight, favored as they should be. Greg Cosell will be joining us one hour from now. This is the part of the Greg Cosell appearance for the next 15 to 20 weeks that I absolutely love, where he goes deep into all the game film and tells us what he saw and what he did not.

Matt Jones (9:45)

Be sure to catch.

Colin Cowherd (9:46)

Live editions of the Herd, weekdays at.

Matt Jones (9:48)

Noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports.

Colin Cowherd (9:51)

Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.

Matt Jones (9:54)

Hey, what's up everybody? It's me, three time Pro Bowler Lavar.

Colin Cowherd (9:57)

Arrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a podcast called oh, up on Game. What is up on Game, you ask? Along with my fellow Pro Bowler TJ Hushman Zada and Super bowl champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game, we're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to up on game with me, Lavar Arrington, TJ Huch, Manzada and Plexico Burris on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podc from the best B2B. Marketing gets wasted on the wrong people. So when you want to reach the right professionals, use LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn has grown to a network of over 1 billion professionals, and that's where it stands apart from other ad buys. You can target your buyers by job title, industry role, company seniority, skills, company revenue, all the professionals you need to reach in one place. Stop wasting budget on the wrong audience. Start targeting the right professionals only on LinkedIn ads. Spend $250 on your first campaign on LinkedIn ads and get a free $250 credit for the next one. Just go to LinkedIn.com cowherd that's LinkedIn.com cowherd Terms and conditions apply.

Matt Jones (11:22)

Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And tw that is exactly what you're going to get. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Looks like something that should not be sold. Oh, my. So that was my other big Colts takeaway. Have you sold that? Yes. Might want to go back to the drawing board at the Colts stadium.

West West Prop (11:50)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (11:51)

Might want to go back to the drawing board on that. Yeah. I thought the shape we had with pretzels was working pretty well. It's worked for generations. We're just here trying to enjoy it. We hope you all will join us throughout the year. And let's go. I hope I'm as youthful as Pete Carroll is at his. He's a young 73. He is a young 73. He is spry. I wouldn't fight him. I would listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

West West Prop (12:24)

All right, West West Prop here from hood politics with prop podcast. You already know our get down. If you grew up in our urban areas of comfort, of struggle, you understand politics much more than you giving credit for feds taking over American government. Hop out, boys. Hopping out the van, snatching up your Theo and them two wars that was supposed to be solved in 24 hours. Jerry just out here mandering all over the place, the turfs and of course the Epstein of it all. Well, this week we decided to shoot our shot and boy, did we pull up from the logo to see if we can get somebody to come tap in with us. And the one and only Jamil Hill pulled up from the Spolitics podcast to keep it a whole separate century in America. What sells in politics are narratives and storylines. It's like we treat politics like we treat sports, which is part of the reason why we're in the situation we're in right now. Listen to the Hood politics with Prop podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

Colin Cowherd (13:20)

I'm Dan, he's Ty.

Matt Jones (13:21)

Hello.

Colin Cowherd (13:22)

And we're the Solid Verbal College football podcast. College football season is here and you. You know what that means. Your team is going to break your heart three times probably before Halloween. Uh huh. But fear not, the Solid Verbal will be right there with you through every soul crushing loss and impossible comeback. Join us all season long, all year long, as we ride the roller coaster of this ridiculous sport. Whether you're a die hard fan or a casual observer, we'll help you make sense of all all the chaos and of course celebrate the madness. Tune in for previews, recaps, bits you won't hear anywhere else, and all the emotional support you need as a college football fan. We don't just love college football, Ty, we live it.

Matt Jones (14:11)

Listen to the solid verbal college football.

Colin Cowherd (14:13)

Podcasts on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Everybody after the Caleb Williams loss on Monday and a pretty bad second half is, is opining on. Well, it's not as bad as you think. Or it's absolutely terrible. I tried to be optimistic. I thought he outplayed J.J. mcCarthy for the first two quarters. Absolutely. And maybe the third. He got outplayed in the fourth, the most important quarter obviously, but the numbers are not playing the Caleb Williams favor. I'll give you an example of a couple of them. So I read this in Yahoo. Sports this morning in the last take. Last year and week one of this year, Caleb Williams leads every NFL quarterback with 52 incompletions due to overthrows. So too much horsepower overthrowing the ball. Next is Bo Nix, Mahomes Darnold, Justin Herbert, Stanford. Okay, fine, there's overthrows when you have a big army, but it's the margin. He is so far ahead of even second place. He's 48% higher in one year in one game than Bo Nix in second. He's also right now worst in the league in the operational stuff. You gotta have a good foundation before you build a cool kitchen. Pre snap penalties, they had four, eight offensive penalties. Here's more damning news. A lot of people In Chicago were saying, you know, might as well just be Justin Fields. No, it's worse. He might as well be Mitch Trubisky. If you go to the first 18 starts of Mitch Trubisky and the first 18 starts of Caleb Williams, it's identical except Caleb gets sacked significantly more for the radio audience. Completion percentage is 62 for both passing yards, about 210 for both. Total touchdowns, about 22, 23, 24 for both. Passer rating, mid-80s for both. It's not Justin Fields, it's Mitch Trubisky.

Danielle Fishel (16:27)

So.

Colin Cowherd (16:28)

And here's another number that's not good. Positive, Colin. It's not working well for me. He completed just 66% of his throws, 14 of 21 on balls 6 yards or less. Jaden Daniels was 11 of 12, so he's missing laps. He leads the league by a long shot in overthrows. He's the worst in the league operationally and they got him a clever head coach and they rebuilt the O line and they drafted a tight end out of Michigan with their top pick, D.J. moore. Two other receivers, five of their top six picks the last two years have been offense. The good news, no more Brian Flores for a while. But all the numbers coming out, I'm trying to spin it positively. Um, it's not great. Here was Nick Wright yesterday. He really struggles with the operation still and the getting out of the huddle, motioning guys a little too late. Like the pre snap stuff. He still looks like a rookie. And this is year two. I still believe in Caleb Williams long term, but I think it is going to be a much slower process than I had hoped. Yeah, I mean, listen, short passes overthrows operation former Bears comp. It's not good. And to make it worse, Detroit just got humiliated in week one at Green Bay. And what is our rule on this show? Teams with competent head coaches and quarterbacks that get humiliated almost always have a great week of practice and button most of their problems up. So it's, it's not like you're facing an overconfident Lions team. You're facing a Lions team that is like in crisis mode. So they're going to have an incredible week of practice and Jared Goff at least has the operational stuff down. Here's J. Mac with the news.

Matt Jones (18:33)

No, no, no, turn on the news. This is the Herdline news.

Chris Friedle (18:38)

Colin, let's get started with Aaron Rodgers, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. Hey, he had a good game so we'll continue to talk about him. However, he is playing the Seahawks this week. It's going to be tough. Rogers spoke about that jets performance and said there was one area he hopes to improve.

Matt Jones (18:55)

I don't think I was moving that well, so I think I ran kind of into at least one or two sacks, so I got to do a better job using my legs. You know, I might be old, but I still feel like I can move around pretty good. And I wasn't moving the way I usually like to move.

Colin Cowherd (19:08)

Why do you think you weren't moving around the same? Was it just first game action or. I mean, I was a little tight.

Matt Jones (19:15)

The tight.

Colin Cowherd (19:16)

He's honest about it. I appreciate that.

Chris Friedle (19:18)

A little tight. Come on.

Colin Cowherd (19:20)

Well, he's on. I mean, I think he's old.

Chris Friedle (19:21)

He can't move anyway. He's not gonna suddenly be spry in the pocket. Colin, come on. Hey, I'm just telling you, I. I got into some debates yesterday with people like, the gambling community's torn on this one, Steelers or Seahawks. And I have planted my flag on the Seattle side here.

Colin Cowherd (19:37)

I'm just telling you, I like Seattle. It's not. It's not one of my favorite bets. Yeah, I'm not planning my flag. Pittsburgh at home. I think the one thing that you looked at Pittsburgh is the Arthur Smith Aaron Rodgers combo, I think was very, very effective. They didn't run the ball particularly well. He didn't move. The defense has questions, but special teams and Aaron's comfort level, I test that was not. They were getting plays in early. Aaron had enough time. That part was very, very promising.

Chris Friedle (20:08)

Yeah, we. We need a Seahawks win. I do not need a 20 Aaron Rodgers. And then us having to talk about this guy every day he's washed. I'm sorry. It was one game. Next. Moving on. Big game on Fox. Oh, boy. This is a big one. Ben Johnson, your guy, heads back to Detroit to take on the Lions. We heard from Dan Campbell yesterday about their friendship. Well, Amon Ross St. Brown talked about what he expects the Lions fans to do when Ben Johnson walks in the building.

Matt Jones (20:38)

As soon as Ben walks in there, we're booing him. I don't give a All booing him.

West West Prop (20:41)

Like, yeah, he said it's going to be lit.

Colin Cowherd (20:43)

I'm not going to lie. And I'm here for it. For sure. I already know Ben.

Matt Jones (20:46)

What he's. I just want to be a fly on the wall in his meeting room, bro. Like, how is he as a head coach? Like, Ben, that is not you, dawg. Like, I know you, like, stop acting like this, Ben, bro, I want to be a fly on the wall for one meeting. Just once.

Colin Cowherd (21:01)

Nah, bro. You done with Ben now, bro. It's our turn, bro. It's your turn. Yep.

Matt Jones (21:06)

Hey, y' all got it, man.

Colin Cowherd (21:08)

I would say this, yeah, because he turned down a job earlier. I can see Detroit fans saying, dude, it was pretty good here. You bailed. You know, it's funny because Ben had more than one job opening. The fact that he chose Chicago, he didn't choose it because of great ownership. He didn't choose it because the roster was perfect. Why did he choose this job? Is it Caleb? Caleb Williams? That's right. So it's really interesting. When anybody chooses a job, it's usually salary for most people. That wasn't it. He would have been paid big money everywhere. So why did Ben Johnson take it? He didn't take it because he trusted the GM or it was the owners or it was the historic relevance or they had great momentum or the roster was complete. He chose it for Caleb. So if you chose a job for a reason, you're like, okay, I. Joe, I chose the job because I love the CEO of a company. And you get there and the CEO leaves, you're like, so my takeaway is this is unsettling for Ben Johnson because the reason he came and they in camp, we're going to resign Tyson Benjant to a big contract. It's pretty unsettling.

Chris Friedle (22:17)

I mean, I think that makes sense. Sense to say he picked it for Caleb, but I don't know. There's such a disconnect now between the two and I'm sorry, Bears fans.

Colin Cowherd (22:24)

That's true.

Chris Friedle (22:25)

There is a disconnect. What if there are other reasons we don't know about? His wife maybe loves Chicago or is from there or his. His dad is from Chicago.

Colin Cowherd (22:33)

I don't.

Chris Friedle (22:34)

He may have a connection to the city to say he picked it for Caleb and then didn't do his homework because, Colin, you.

Colin Cowherd (22:39)

You.

Chris Friedle (22:39)

That Tyler Dunn story, like, if you read that, would you want to go coach Caleb Williams walking away from coaches? Well, are you sure?

Colin Cowherd (22:49)

Well, it's because Ben was the. I mean, Harbaugh a couple years ago was the number one candidate. Yeah, I think this year it was. Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson were the two great candidates. Frable was going to go back to New England. Jets looked at him, but it was going to be new. I mean, if I could choose Robert Kraft or the Jets, I'd choose Robert Kraft and Drake May. So Vrabel was going to go to New England pretty early. So, you know, I Don't know. I said before, they're very Rarely like Matt LaFleur was lucky he got a job in Green Bay and had Aaron Rodgers Later Prime Mike McCarthy got Dak. Those are like way better than that Nick Sirianni got, you know, Howie Roseman. Five out of six head coaching jobs come with a major problem and Chicago's is upstairs historically. So you didn't think quarterback was the issue. You thought you could solve him. Most coaches have enough of an ego they think they can solve the problems, but it's. That's why it's so fascinating.

Chris Friedle (23:47)

Hey, I'll just say this. I'm on the Lions this week. I like them at four and a half five. It's up to six now. A lot of money coming in on Detroit. If somehow the Lions lose this game and are now 02, Colin, I think you can officially start like, hey, you know, maybe Dan Campbell wasn't a genius all these years. Maybe it was Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson or hell, even the jets new oc. I'll butcher his last name, Tanner something or other. But maybe it was all those guys and not Dan Campbell. I think there's some low key pressure on Detroit to win this game. And they better look good, Colin, if they don't, I'm just telling you. The Lions could be the show opener on Monday for losing to Caleb. Final story, New York Giants, rough week one. And there was this encounter on the sideline between Brian Dabel and Malik neighbors. Neighbors iced up there with the necklace, popping off to his coach and then refused a high five. Look at the video. Listen. Neighbors can say what he wants. And here he is downplaying the interaction. But I don't know. My eyes don't lie.

Matt Jones (24:47)

I was trying to get the offense going. I was trying to get people to let's get rolling. You know, the lights was on, the game was on, you know, it's time to play. I feel like that just got pushed, pushed over, you know. And everybody was talking about just how, just how I was have an attitude and stuff like that. It's just, I got an mbf. I got a natural face.

Chris Friedle (25:08)

This is what it is.

Matt Jones (25:09)

It's my face.

Chris Friedle (25:11)

Yeah, I like that. That's funny. But Colin, you can't deny it. He looks at his coach and basically shouts at him. And obviously they were upset. Russell Wilson was vomiting all over himself. Look at it.

Colin Cowherd (25:24)

Well, Brian's a lot. I think Brian's a really good coach, but he's intense. I mean he, he's got more of a coordinator mindset like, he's very emotional. You know, a lot of the great coaches, like, Andy Reid's not emotional on the sideline. Bill Belichick was never emotional. I mean, Kyle Shanahan is not overly emotional on the sideline. Most. Sean McDermott's not overly emotional. Most head coaches are not. I would say Day Ball is on a short list of the most emotional coaches on the sideline. And that doesn't always play in his favor. I mean, he gets worked up.

Chris Friedle (25:57)

I mean, listen, by the way, we're in a lying era where people just say whatever they want. Like, Sarkeesian took to the podium and was like, yeah, there's nothing to see here with Arch. Like, come on, don't lie to me. Brian Dabel, Malik neighbors. There was something there. It'd be like Tyreek Hill. And I think we may talk about him later. Like, he's on this on the sideline complaining, and then he's trying to, like, brush it off like it was nothing. Guys, the video footage doesn't lie. Something. Something is clearly up. Just be honest with us.

Colin Cowherd (26:26)

No. J. Mack with the news.

Matt Jones (26:30)

Well, that's the news.

Danielle Fishel (26:31)

And thanks for stopping by.

Colin Cowherd (26:33)

The herd line news. Sometimes, you know, in the NFL, we all know this, it's really a quarterback. One, a head coach two, it's a quarterback coach league. GM's important. So is a left tackle and an edge rusher. But it's mostly a quarterback and a head coach league. And it probably has been longer than we admit. I mean, if you go back to, you know, you, you go back to Elway and Shanahan and Aikman and Jimmy Johnson and Bradshaw and Chuck Noel and Fouts and Eric Coriel. You know, basically the great quarterbacks of all time. Breeze and Sean Payton, they've always had a great coach. Mahomes and Andy Reid, Belichick and Brady. Joe Gibbs is an outlier, winning with three different quarterbacks. But I'm seeing something that was a New England problem during the dynasty. So what is the one thing during the dynasty? Because New England did a lot, right? They had the best coach, they had the best quarterback. They got. They didn't always lead the league in sacks, but they got consistent pressure. They had Dante Scarnecki on the offensive line. They always had a capable run games. What was the one position they were bailing water a lot? Wide receiver. And the sense was, well, they just can't draft wide receiver. I have a take that Brady was part of the issue, because it's not like they didn't have good Receivers. But did you notice who worked with Brady? Wes Welker, already in the league. Randy Moss, already in the league. Julian Edelman, year four, had played quarterback, Gronk as he aged. Why is that? Because my take was Tom was so precise and so obsessed and so smart that you get wide receivers come in with a little ego, a little distracted. Tom didn't have time for him. And by year two, the organization had moved off. People, look at what's happening to Kansas City. Are you noticing this in 2009? Look at their first and second round skill picks. 2019, McColl, Herdman. And they have a good GM in Brett Veach. Way above average. One of the top five GMs in the league. 2020, Clyde Edwards, Hilaire. 2022, Sky Moore. 2023, Rasheed Rice. 2024, Xavier Worthy. Worthy's more of a gadget player than a volume guy. And not a lot of hits. It's starting to feel like Brady in New England and Steph Curry in Golden State. When you have these high functioning, super smart veterans that the offense is built around. I mean, how many young guys did the warriors draft and they don't work? How many young receivers did the Patriots draft and they didn't work? Look at Kansas City. Who works in Kansas City? They bring back old juju Smith, Schuster, he works every time. And old Travis Kelsey and old Kareem Hunt, the old guys. So my takeaway is between Andy Reid and Mahomes, like Steph and the warriors or Brady and Josh McDaniels. It's not easy for young guys to break in. They need an obsessiveness, a maturity. I mean, again, go back to Tom Brady. It was Dion Branch who they brought back again. And then Randy Moss and then Wes Welker and then the coach's son who played quarterback in college, Julian Edelman. So that's why I say when you look at Kansas City right now, obviously there's going to be potentially A.J. brown on the market, Tyreek Hill in the market. Usually I'm not great at predicting acquisitions, but Tyreek hill, a veteran, A.J. brown, a veteran. Could I see New England going after him now? I think A.J. brown to New England with Vrabel is a better fit. They really need a number one. But if you look at Kansas City's regression, it is starting to feel like Steph and Brady struggling to implement young people with a smart coach, Belichick and Steve Kerr and Andy Reid and a very meticulous veteran quarterback. For the record, when LeBron went to Miami, who did he want to play with old D. Wade, old Chris Bosh or older. He went to Cleveland. He didn't want to play with Andrew Wiggins. He wanted to get Kevin Love in the building. You know, when he went to the Lakers, Anthony Davis had been in the league. He wasn't a fan of Kyle Kuzma, he wasn't a fan of Lonzo Ball. These old high functioning players with incredibly high standards. I mean, LeBron's one of the smartest players. Mahomes, Brady, Steph Curry, they struggle, they often struggle with young teammates. So it's interesting, when I'm sitting there looking for Brett Veach, I'd probably get Tyreek Hill and A.J. brown. I'd probably get their agents on the phone. I know those will work. I know those guys will work. I would keep your eye, keep your eye on A.J. brown in New England. They need a one. By the way, they're a very young team. They could use some veteran leadership or veteran presence in the locker room with A.J. brown. Just a thought. Diana Rossini around the corner. Greg Cosell, top of the hour. Tom Brady stops by as well. We're live. It's the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd.

Matt Jones (32:04)

Weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.

Colin Cowherd (32:06)

The best B2B marketing gets wasted on the wrong people. So when you want to reach the right professionals, use LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn has grown to a network of over 1 billion professionals and that's where it stands. Apart from other ad buys. You can target your buyers by job title, industry role, company seniority, skills, company revenue, all the professionals you need to reach in one place. Stop wasting budget on the wrong audience. Start targeting the right professionals only on LinkedIn ads. Spend $250 on your first campaign on LinkedIn ads and get a free $250 credit for the next one. Just go to LinkedIn.com cowherd that's LinkedIn.com cowherd. Terms and conditions apply.

Matt Jones (32:53)

Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining and twice a week.

Colin Cowherd (33:04)

Week.

Matt Jones (33:04)

That is exactly what you're going to get. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Looks like something that should not be sold. Oh my. So that was my other big Colts takeaway. They sold that? Yes. Might want to go back to the Colts stadium.

Colin Cowherd (33:21)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (33:22)

Might want to go back to the drawing board on that. Yeah, I thought the shape we had with pretzels was working pretty well.

Colin Cowherd (33:26)

It's worked for generations.

Matt Jones (33:28)

We're just here trying to enjoy it. We hope you all will join us throughout the year. And let's go. I hope I'm as youthful as Pete Carroll is at his age. He's a young 73. He is a young 73. He is spry. I wouldn't fight him. I would listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

West West Prop (33:55)

All right, West West Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcast. You already know our get down. If you grew up in our urban areas, a comfort of struggle, you understand politics much more than you give him credit for. Feds taking over American cities, government hop out, boys hopping out the van, snatching up your Theo and them two wars that were supposed to be solved in 24 hours. Jerry just out here mandering all over the place, the turfs and of course, the Epstein of it all. Well, this week we decided to shoot our shot and boy did we pull up from the logo to see if we could get somebody to come tap in with us. And the one and only Jamil Hill pulled up from the Spolitics podcast to keep it a whole century. The American public is used to being entertained. We're a consumption society, so what Trump figured out is entertain them and they'll never question you. Listen to the Hood Politics with Prop podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Matt Jones (34:51)

What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game, from scouting reports and player development to building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots. From college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow, we break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get Your podcasts.

Colin Cowherd (35:50)

All sorts of things to talk about. Greg Cosell started next hour. Diana Rossini is joining us. The athletic senior NFL insider is joining us, and we are grateful for that on a Thursday. So let's. Let's start with the Brock Purdy situation with Mac Jones. Now, remember, Shanahan liked Mac Jones out of college, and they went and got him in Jacksonville, so that's not the issue. He likes this quarterback. But the Brock Purdy stuff, and he's been dinged up. Toes, elbows, shoulders. I. I mean, yesterday it was, oh, no, it's going to be five weeks. Like, where. What are you hearing in terms of timeline in return?

Danielle Fishel (36:22)

Yeah, there's. It's definitely a form of turf toe. Apparently, there's different definitions of it, but he's exp. Expected to miss at least two games. I was not told that it would be up to five. Of course, it could always be. It's all based on that recovery. But it was a bit of a surprise injury on Monday when that popped up. And I can tell you, it's interesting. You talk about insiders and chatter around the league. I talked to the Saints on Monday, and they already knew about it. They were already prepping for Mac Jones, so word was spreading around the league quickly. And then, of course, Kyle Shanahan came out and spoke to the media publicly. And, you know, he's always been very transparent about what's going on with his team in terms of injuries. He's probably the best at it in football, but, you know, he's dealing with the shoulder, but the foot is. Excuse me, the toe is the issue. So we'll see. And Colin, we've. We've seen it before. We've seen quarterbacks get shot up before, you know, before games. It's pain. But also, you got to look at the 49ers situation right now. George Kittle is on IR. Christian McCaffrey was dealing, obviously, with a little bit of that calf situation last week. The injury bug is. Is swarming them again. And it's only, you know, week two here. So I think the fact that it's so early in the season is at least keeping them calm there. This is an ideal. You know, I had someone in football ask me, you know, you've been around the Niners a lot. You've seen them in training camp. You know, what do they do different? It seems that injuries hit them all the time. And I don't. I don't have an answer. Like, I don't know why it's the 49ers but lately it just seems like they're the ones dealing with a lot of situations. A quarterback that just got paid a boatload of money.

Colin Cowherd (38:04)

Yeah, well, the Niners and the Ravens have had injuries over the last five years, and they're two of the most physical run games. So maybe some of it's that they have harder practices. And I want to pivot to this, though. There is something with. With the Chargers. Excuse me. If the Chiefs lose at home to The Eagles, they're 0 and 2. It's not desperation time, but the numbers drop down to only 12% of 02 teams make the playoffs. Okay, so my take is AJ Brown. One target in week one. Tyreek Hill in Miami I think is unsolvable. And they have a wide receiver issue is. I mean, it seems to me Howie Roseman gets Tank Bigsby a wide receiver before the season. They went and got Dotson last year when the AJ Drama was heating up. I feel like Howie Roseman is creating depth in the offense by last year to today knowing he may have to move A.J. brown. So A.J. brown, Tyreek Hill and the Chiefs. Can I connect the dots at all there?

Danielle Fishel (39:04)

It's. It's a cute idea. I don't necessarily think it's true, though. I know what you're thinking. Right. So how he moves with purpose. I think he's proven that. Right. Nine trades in 2025. Right. He's done that. And it's every. Every afternoon I feel like we're reporting something new and he's doing it with positions that I didn't even know there was a need for, you know, in the latest trade that he made recently. He's never worried about winning the trade either. I think that's important to State. Right. Because I. I had a lot of conversations over the years with organizations who are obsessed with winning the headline the next day, and we both know how that works out. It doesn't matter. Nobody cares. It's. Are you able to get the players immediately step in and make a difference and put your team in a position to win? Now, that being said, I know there were teams calling about A.J. brown during the off season. Okay. So they. The teams were told they're not moving A.J. okay. And it wasn't like a, hey, let's keep talking. It was a no, thanks. This is A.J. brown. He's one of the top five wide receivers in football. Top three. We're not moving him. I have a hard time imagining Howie Roseman moving him. Tyreek Hill, different situation. Are they moving Tyreek Hill right now? Absolutely not. Tua needs him. Mike McDaniel needs him. This offense needs Tyreek Hill. But depending on what happens come October, right before the trade deadline, the first week of November. All right, then, you know, we'll talk about that because things will possibly change there. But I think in terms of these ace receivers, both teams, both offenses need them right now.

Colin Cowherd (40:39)

So I know it's early, but outside of Miami, the New York Giants were the toughest watch. And next year's quarterback draft class looks like there's four minimum five to six potential first round quarterbacks. So my opinion would be you better figure out if Jackson Dart can play. You better figure it out. And I made the argument, I think Monday or Tuesday, if The Giants trail 14 nothing in half and have four three and outs, you're going to start losing the locker room. And now, now if they go to Dallas and they play well, all bets are off and Russell buys himself time. But when the Giants say Russell is quarterback one, do you buy it? What's, what's the, what's the Runway look like here?

Danielle Fishel (41:28)

Yeah, I did buy it because I was around them and the offense looked good with Russell in training camp and the coaching staff felt good. This wasn't a scenario where, remember when Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes was there and remember all the chatter about Patrick at practice. It was like, you gotta see this kid. Like I think he may play right. Look, I think Jackson Dart has impressed. There is no doubt. I think his personality, his fiery energy, his understanding of Brian D. Bull, I think they're a wonderful match. I think they're a perfect match. In fact, I just think for the way training camp went, they are trying to get Jackson Dart as prepared as possible and Russell Wilson is able to do the job. From their, you know, from, from their perspective right now, they, he can run the offense they're looking for. They're of course missing their left tackle, right. This is the biggest part of this story. Why are you going to roll out Jackson Dart if you're not going to give him the best protection? Because he's just going to get hit and it's not going to look good. He's not going to be able to run the offense. Just has Daniel Jones, right. Look at him and Indy when he's got some protection, you know, he up week one. So look, I think Jack, we're going to see Jackson dark, Colin, that is no doubt we're going to see him. Especially if Russell Wilson continues to play like whatever that was. And I have to tell you, I was A little surprised. Look, we've had a million conversations on the show together about Russell Wilson, whether it was in Denver, in Pittsburgh last year, but there were times where we did see good things. And I understand what New York was seeing out of Russ. They love that quarterback room. They love putting Jackson Dart around, Jamus, around Russell. Apparently, it's a type of quarterback room of let's get the young guy ready, which is a good way to be, knowing that he's got to play. It's just going to be a matter of when. And Colin, whenever we talk about this stuff, it's not just in a vacuum of who's going to be the best quarterback out there. You have to count the fact that Brian Dabel is on the hot seat. Joe Shane is on the hot seat. John Mayer came out last year and it pained him to bring these guys back because he didn't want change. So you have to imagine some of this is a factor in when you pull the trigger and say, because, look, Brian Dable calls in Jackson dart at the second half against the Dallas Cowboys because they need a spark, any bombs, or they have to stick with him. Who knows what happens, right? So I think all of this you have to take into consideration for a team in the last 10 years, you know, is one of the most losing organizations, you know, outside the Jags, which is hard. It's hard to think of that. Right, because you think Giants and you think that they've had success, but it was so long ago at this point, you know, and that you just take a look at the body work with Brian Dabel there and. And outside of just that first season, it's just not great.

West West Prop (44:14)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (44:15)

Diana Rossini, senior NFL insider of the Athletic. Got a podcast, too, at Crushes. Good seeing you.

Danielle Fishel (44:21)

Thanks. Yeah, Colin, check out my column, too, on the Athletic. I drop it at 10am Eastern on Saturdays. I love. It's my favorite thing I do. I just write about all the stuff going on in football.

Colin Cowherd (44:30)

I will. We will. Thank you.

Danielle Fishel (44:32)

Thanks. Love you guys.

Colin Cowherd (44:34)

Yeah. All right, Greg Cosell, top of the hour. You know, J. Mac, I want to throw this up again. So I was saying, you know, I think you and I both would rather be positive than negative, especially with young quarterbacks. Because when you watch Cam Ward play against Denver, it's exciting. Like, I was like, oh, we got another team. I mean, they've had Marcus Marioti and, you know, the late Steve McNair. I mean, they've had guys that can move the change. Ryan Tannehill had a couple of Good. But you watch Cam Ward and it was like, oh, my. I think, I think Tennessee has a chance to upset the Rams this weekend. So people will be watching this game now because, you know, the Rams are, you know, fairly high profile. Stafford McVeigh. But I remember saying this on the air. I didn't think. I was not a fan of Mitch Trubisky as a draft pick. I've told the story. Greg Cosell told me to watch Mitch Trubisky his last year at North Carolina. He goes, he's going to get drafted. He's moving up the board. What do you think? I was in Hawaii with my family. I watched and I texted Greg Cosell. I'm like, I don't get it. Ball dies at 25 yards. He's kind of athletic. I don't see it, blah, blah, blah. But I always defended Matt Nagy, the head coach, and I said, timeout. Stafford, Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers were in their prime in that division and Trubisky twice got to the playoffs with Matt Nagy. So I'm like, I don't like Trubisky, but I think Matt Nagy can coach. But when I put those numbers up, we can put them up again. Through the first 18 starts of Caleb Williams and Mitch Trubisky, they are, outside of sacks, the same player, athletic. But you don't trust their accuracy on big throws. I mean, it's in dispute. And by the way, I've only got one game of Ben Johnson. Give me five to six more. But I mean, when I looked at those numbers this morning, the staff handed me those numbers. I was like, forget Justin Fields comp.

Chris Friedle (46:32)

I mean, listen, some of that. Is that cherry picked? Maybe. But you're right, this is alarming. I mean, Maserati, Mitch, like, I know you said he got to the playoffs twice. Listen, he never really won from the pocket.

Colin Cowherd (46:43)

That's right.

Chris Friedle (46:44)

He's a run around guy. That was the answer when everybody wanted a running guy quarterback. And I think we got to look at like a guy like Cam Ward. Like, he is mobile, but man, he can win from the pocket. I like him a lot. And there's another guy starting this week, Mac Jones, for the, for the 49ers. Remember him in college? But it's like, oh, he's dominant from the pocket, but he's kind of a statue. He's like slow. So I didn't personally like him. And, and you see now he's getting a shot with the Niners. So this idea of having a running quarterback is great. But number one, they've got to process and win from the pocket. And I haven't seen that from Caleb yet. I'm not saying we won't. Yeah, I just haven't seen it.

Colin Cowherd (47:21)

Well, it's what Nick Wright and I talked about yesterday. You have to be operationally buttoned up. Like I thought. Bo Nix and Sean Payton took the blame on this. Bo Nix operationally for Denver in week one did not look. It looked like he was rushing everything. And my take Monday was I think they put way too much on his plate. They have not put that much stuff on the plate of Caleb Williams. I mean, Sean Payton has a legendary reputation of just stacking. I mean, just if you, if he thinks you can learn it, remember he and Russell Wilson had a problem because Russell didn't want to wear the armband. He didn't want to wear that. And Sean's like, yeah, wear it. And Russell didn't like, you know, why didn't Russell want to wear it? Probably because it looks like he doesn't know the play. I don't know. But he pushed back and Sean was like, wear it. So, and I, Brady wore it. I don't have a problem with it. But if you can't get the nuts and bolts and the operation down, it doesn't matter, you know? You know what, when I watched Caleb in that first drive, it was a very much Cam Newton. Cam Newton was jaw droppingly talented and I watched that Roma dunz throw and he ran for a touchdown. I said, that's Cam. Like, Cam was like the best college quarterback I've seen maybe ever in terms of total dominance. And Caleb had a lot of that. But man, there's a reason that Cam never had back to back winning seasons. His mechanics and operations and self indulgence and, and distraction. And this, this position is so hard and there are so many boxes to.

Chris Friedle (48:52)

Check and you know what the Lions want to do. They're going to be blitzing Caleb heavily. Get him off his spot, get him running around like a chicken with his head cut off and let him make mistakes.

Colin Cowherd (49:01)

Greg Cosell, Hour two. It's the Hurt.

Matt Jones (49:07)

Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining and twice a week. That is exactly what you're going to get. Listen, NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

West West Prop (49:39)

All right, West West Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcast. You know I get down. You come from the urban areas. You understand politics more than you giving credit for. Between Jerry out here, Mandarin all over the place. Hop out, boys. Snatching up family members and two wars that was supposed to be done in 24 hours. Not to mention Epstein. We had to reach out to the homie Jamil Hill because she gonna keep it a century. The American public is used to being entertained. We're a consumption society. So what Trump figured out is entertain.

Colin Cowherd (50:07)

Them and they'll never question you.

West West Prop (50:09)

Listen to the Hood Politics with Prop podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

Matt Jones (50:16)

Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks on Move the Six. We take you inside the game. From breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sundays. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast.

Colin Cowherd (50:44)

On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or.

Matt Jones (50:47)

Wherever you get your podcasts.

Colin Cowherd (50:49)

I'm Dan. He's Ty. Hello. And we're the solid verbal college football podcast. Tune in for previews, recaps, bits you won't hear anywhere else, and all the emotional support you need as a college football fan. Join us all season long as we ride the rollercoaster of this ridiculous sport.

Matt Jones (51:07)

Listen to the solid verbal college football.

Colin Cowherd (51:09)

Podcasts on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We don't just love college football, Ty. We live it. This is an iHeart podcast.