Jourdan Rodrigue’s Summer Training Camp Tour Notebook

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Do you love me, sir?

Sir, please tell me you love me, sir.

Happy Thanksgiving, sir.

Sir, will you let me join you to cut the turkey this year, sir?

Please, sir, sir, will you please come to my high school graduation, sir?

Please, please.

Heed the call heeding that call

on a Monday Dan hands is here with

my main man Mark Sessler

But you know what and this is why it's good to check in on the video show Mark with a Fred Rogers get up

here in late August.

What's going on with you sussy?

You know, we we once worked for someone of,

I will leave out any human recommendations of the person, but he waltzed around.

Human recommendations must be omitted.

He waltzed around our office in a Hawaiian-type shirt, and I've always felt that whenever I've tried to wear the shirt, it stigmatized it a bit, but it's a Californian type getup, correct?

Yeah, but you said before the show you weren't feeling well.

No, no.

And I'm wondering, you know, that do we need to get the hyperbaric chamber from SoFi Stadium or wherever the f it is right now and move it over to your neck of the woods and get you.

Because we're right up against the start of the season now.

I need you 100%.

I'll be 100%.

I don't know where you'd park that vehicle up here in Hollywood.

There's not really any sort of...

In front of the man's theater.

I feel like a good chance it doesn't get towed.

I don't think that thing has wheels, right?

You could just helicopter it down and plant it there.

It just seemed like a cigar-shaped UFO.

So, yeah, I don't know if wheels were part of it.

You might think somebody's fresh today, by the way, Dan.

Well, you know why?

I'm wearing a little bit of a

ooh la la.

Look at me.

It's summertime

because guess who's on the show today?

She's bad.

I want to look good for her, number one.

She's that important.

But I also want to celebrate the end of summer.

I just sent my kids off to school, first day of school.

They got it.

And this person joining us is going to tell us all about her summer vacation.

Jordan Rodrigue, what's up?

J-Rod, she's back.

Yay!

Hi, Dan.

Hi, Justin.

Hi, Mark.

You know, Mark, you can take the chair out of the Immortal Chamber and set it up in your house.

I learned that.

This information I never thought I would need to know in my entire life.

You can actually remove the Immortal chair apparatus out of the tube.

and put it like just like a dentist chair, just like right in your office if you wanted to.

150.

We have been waiting to talk to Jordan about this particular vehicle, right, Dan?

Yeah, I mean, I feel like if there's one person, even though Jordan now, after a big fancy promotion at the athletic, is more than just a meager beat writer.

She is out there as a features reporter and a national presence, and she's been all over the country.

And that's when I say this is Jordan's summer vacation, because to some people, a vacation, like somebody like a Jordan Rodrigue, like working the entire time, traveling to different training camps.

It's like the opposite of a Sessler vacation.

But this is what Jordan loves to do, and and we're very excited about it.

I love it.

And you guys, I wanted to say thank you so much, too, because you guys were so supportive.

You kind of knew this was coming.

I mean, both of you knew this was coming for a while.

And you guys were so supportive.

The Dan text that I get in support is like, oh, yeah, beers.

Yeah.

Good, good job.

It's about time.

The mark text of support I get is like, you know, the sweet whispers of autumn lift you off your feet and you simultaneously roam toward curiosity and run from a cage.

So, thank you guys both so much for all of this.

I appreciate it.

Congratulations, it's very

thank you so much.

Um, all right, so

before we get into everything, I just want to say, um,

and we're going to do it, we're going to do a little news catch-up, we're going to go through all the camps that Jordan went to, um, but we need to we need to button up something.

I, as I expected, um, a take that I had on our last show,

I worried it would be a setback in my relations with the city of Philadelphia.

It was a setback.

So I wanted to, in the, Jordan, you're a journal.

So it's like

in the matter of both sidesism, you want to be able to, you know,

have that voice heard.

And if some, if that voice wants to get some, you know, frustration off their chest,

I am allowing this platform to be a safe place for that so in a way what a job by the old Zeuser

let's welcome in a man who's a near and dear friend of the show both behind the scenes and otherwise he is also the lead singer

and more of a great great band called the wonder years it is dan campbell and we welcome him to heed the call and i should add that dan is also a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan.

Soupy, how are you, buddy?

And as you know, head coach of the Detroit Lions.

And so.

How does that work, by the way?

I feel like because

you are a Dan Campbell of renown, you're known, you're a national, international figure like Mark Sessler.

But Dan Campbell, obviously, head coach of the Lions.

Is it one of those situations where it's going to get to a point for, like, for the Wonder Years to headline La La Palooza, you need to beat the shit out of Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions.

Like, how does that work?

Well, first and foremost, I have some serious doubts about my ability to do that.

What I will say is

that Dan Campbell, head coach of the Detroit Lions, has no social media presence.

I do.

And because I am the singer of this band, I have like the little blue check mark, right?

On my Instagram.

And in my profile picture, which is small, I am a white man with a beard.

And so there are enough people who will glancingly look at that after, let's say, a Detroit Lion playoff loss and send me myriad death threats.

I get truly the meanest things in my box.

That's right.

And

I just, I think with one second of looking at my Instagram, you would realize this person's

muscle mass.

is significantly different.

And I was unaware that the head coach of the Detroit Lions also sang in an an emo band and writes poets like it just doesn't quite

but people need to fire off their anger into the void somewhere and I have unfortunately become that void yeah that's

he should he should thank you I mean really if anything like the coach of the lions should thank you for shielding some of the vitriol I am a shield for him I'm that that uh meme of the the soldier having all the things hurled at him protecting the sleeping child the sleeping child is the massive burly head coach of the Lions.

And I'll just say, like, yeah,

for instance, your Twitter profile,

great shot of you kind of looking into the middle distance, head against the wall.

Exactly what I would think the lead singer of the Wonder Years' shot would look like.

An artistic photo for your background.

Looks like a woman or a girl at the sea.

And then underneath, The Hum Goes On Forever, which is that a lyric of yours, Dan?

I'm sorry.

That was our last full-length album, was The Hum Goes On Forever.

Okay, I have

departed from Twitter, but didn't delete it because that feels like

it has not been updated in recent years.

Okay.

Well,

it does strike me as a line because I do like that line is something like Dan Campbell would say at the end in the locker room after the NFC title game.

He's like, gentlemen, the hum goes on forever.

The poetic head coach.

Yeah.

That's a poetic head coach.

All right.

So now I'm going to move out of the way, Dan, because

obviously, as an Eagles fan, you've reached out to me repeatedly to express disdain with some of my takes around your favorite team, including after Super Bowl Sunday.

And

if you, before I turn it over to you, if you did miss Friday's show,

we had a mailbag episode, and one of the questions was about who is the Dalton line, the prime meridian of NFL head coaches.

Check this out.

Which leaves one coach, who I believe is the prime meridian

of head coaches uh none other than drum roll please

yes siriani you get it

oh no and it was an easy one

the philadelphia eagles had an easy one

what is the prime meridian what is the dalton line uh the the siriani line it he is neither a solution or necessarily a problem all right dan all Go ahead.

First of all, I just want to say I'm not mad.

Don't put it in the newspaper that I'm mad.

I

just feel that I need to come here to speak on behalf of my neighbor and beloved head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Nick Siriani.

And I think that what I want to get into here is I have these three thoughts I have to kind of establish the conceit of the exercise, which I think is important here.

And so the first of these points is that this is a year-to-year exercise, the Dalton line.

You're above, below status on the line, and you can correct me if I'm wrong at any of these points, anyone on the show.

You're above, below status as it pertains to the line can change year over year.

Football is a violent sport.

Age comes for everyone.

Time is a thief.

At one point, Aaron Rodgers was so far above the line that he would not have known a line existed.

This year, I would believe he's below that line, right?

We are correct in assuming this is a year-to-year exercise.

Needs to be real.

Yeah, I think that's fair yeah cool

then i need to establish of course what the line delineates between

historically

you have said that if you're above it you are the guy right you're your team's guy you're part of the solution yep you're part of the solution and if you are below that line you are not And I am of the belief structure here, and I think this might be one of the more contentious takes, that the line does not need to fall on a quarterback and should, more often than not, fall between two quarterbacks.

Who is the last guy above it?

Who is the first guy below it?

Who is the last your guy and who's not?

And I also believe that Dalton.

Yes, Jordan, like the equator.

I believe Dalton has ceremonial naming rights for this line of demarcation because he was so often Schrödinger's quarterback.

With him, your season was both alive and dead.

We didn't know, right?

that is not often the case and i think that oftentimes the line will fall between the two people but am i correct in my understanding of like that is what the line's delineating between

mark uh it's like the equator just like the equator

and then i think this is where the disagreement lies right is my third point which is what does it mean to be the guy

And to me, my reading of the guy here is that with this quarterback or in this case, coach installed, your team is a competitor for a championship this year or at the very least in the next few years.

You are one of the handful of teams that has a shot, that has a puncher's chance at a Super Bowl.

Then what I would say is being below that line means that you are an impediment to your team being a contender in this year.

or one of the next few.

All of those things established.

In a different time zone.

all of those things established dan handsis i have to ask you a yes or no question oh go ahead can the philadelphia eagles win a championship this year with nick siriani installed as their head coach

absolutely then he is above the dolton line

disagree you don't

agreed with those three points prior to it right about

the fact that we re-evaluated year every year because there are coaches that were above and are now below, and were below and now are above.

If we agree that the line delineates between you having the guy or not, and if we get it.

And if we agree that the guy means he's a part of a championship team, then he's above the line.

You can say, I don't like the way that guy coaches.

I don't believe his style is important.

There are a lot of different styles of head coaches, right?

That have won championships.

You have hard asses like Belichick or Scheme guys like McVay.

You have guys players want to play for like like Pete.

Nick, not your version of the perfect head coach, right?

But the fact that with him installed as head coach of the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles, they are a contender for a championship, then he is, in fact, above the line.

Okay.

Well, listen, I'm not here to even push back necessarily on your point.

I just wanted to give you, as an Eagles fan, a platform.

I just,

I'll just say this:

I wonder what happens if we have this same conversation a year from now.

I wonder where you have him in this conversation.

He could very much move, right?

I mean, I think right now I looked at it.

I made a list the other day when you said this, and I was like, where do I think the line is, right?

And I think it's kind of right around this, like, Zach Taylor, Todd Bowles, Mike Tomlin section.

And that's what I said too, Dan.

Right.

But I think that the difference is Mike Tomlin, who has won a Super Bowl in the past, right?

So you would say that obviously he's done it.

But in in recent years, he hasn't shown the capability to do that, right?

Like he has kind of been Schrödinger's head coach in the same way that Andy Dahl was.

Is your season alive or dead?

But Nick Siriani just, I mean, in two of the last three years, brought you to a championship.

Well, listen.

I just don't understand how you could say that he,

I actually, I, I, I absolutely respect your opinion.

And also knowing how you are, you're an analytical thinker.

I mean, we know how you, you, the business, the way you run your business and everything.

I'm impressed by this.

I thought I was going to get the angry, belligerent Eagles fan, but I underestimated

the intellect of one Dan Campbell.

It's a metaphor because Nick Seriani is the same GD way.

You see the thing that he's portraying on the outside, Dan, and you don't like him for it.

But if you go behind closed doors and you watch how this guy reaches people and you watch how he connects, you watch how he pays attention to the things and connection to things that that Howie Roseman does analytically.

I mean, I just say it simply to Dan Hansis, Dan, you're wrong.

Like, that's all, that's that's just my point.

I know this is going a little wayward here, Dan, on a, on a, on a Monday morning.

It's very easy.

It's very easy to say that I'm wrong when they just won the Super Bowl.

What takes bravery is to say he's not a special coach when they're defending Super Bowl champions.

I will stand by that.

And I think we need

not we, I think certain people need, including everyone on this chat, a little bit more space and time to see that I was right.

And I want to thank everybody and my socials that came to my defense.

Thank you.

That, yeah, Dan, dig in.

Don't be afraid because I think people are afraid, you know, to get after certain Eagles figures because Eagles fans could be, the vitriol comes hard.

I'm just saying.

Don't think he's special.

I think he's right in the middle.

And we can't, we got to move on.

We got a lot to get to.

But this doesn't change how I feel, but it was very important to give you that platform, Dan, and you've knocked it out of the park.

So thank you.

I appreciate it.

You can say right in the middle, but he's above the line.

That's just all I'm saying.

If he's below the line, they can't win a Super Bowl.

They just

can win the Super Bowl despite their head coach.

Barry Switzer, Dallas Cowboys, perfect example.

That is a very different scenario than that.

Is it?

That was Essler.

Is it?

Barry Switzer caught eating a hot dog during the Pro Bowl sideline.

Check out Broom People on Instagram.

By the way, idiots out there, do you really think Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions has an Instagram handle called Broom People?

Are you kidding me, you morons?

Anyway, leave Dan Campbell alone.

Leave this Dan Campbell alone, but go support the Wonder Years and check out dance music because it's wonderful.

Thank you.

We have a new song out last week called New Lowe's.

I'll plug it while I'm here.

Song's called New Lowe's.

We wrote it for our dear friend Becky Lynch, who is the WWE Women's Intercontinental Champion and Per Sports Illustrated, the greatest women's wrestler of all time.

That is her new entrance music, and it is now on streaming platforms.

Dan Campbell, new feminist of the week cover.

Feminists of the week.

Dan Campbell.

You're posting your photo, Dan.

Go ahead.

There you go.

Bang.

That's insane.

Becky Lynch.

I didn't really know her, but I was at a beach here in Los Angeles recently, and right next to me was

Becky Lynch and her husband and family enjoying a day at the sea.

And I was like, oh, because her husband's a famous wrestler.

And then my sister, who's into wrestling, I was like, hey, so-and-so's here.

I was alerted to it.

It's like, oh, yeah, his wife is arguably the greatest wrestler who ever lived on the female side of things.

Well, why is if she's the greatest wrestler?

Just a quick question.

She's the intercontinental champion, like a Tito Santana type figure.

Like, would she not be more Hulk Hogan-esque from a woman?

No, the big strap.

You think she should have the big strap?

I've seen the big strap a number of times, including being the first woman to ever headline WrestleMania.

Becky Two Belt's great.

Also, Mark, why are we trying to diminish her in any way?

It was a technical question because I thought the intercontinental belt had been taken away in general, but that's the IC strap is, you know, meaning north and south of the equator and everything around it, right?

Mark, she was coming off.

She is not the Dalton line.

Touring her best-selling memoir,

New York Times best-selling memoir.

She toured that for a year.

She's back in wrestling.

Got to get your feet wet with the IC strap.

How cool is that?

Very diverse.

I like that.

Very

on the Graham, I believe,

when the entrance music was played at a recent pay-per-view on the Trump.

SummerSlam, yeah.

Heard it at Metlike.

Very cool.

Truly crazy.

But yes, thank you for the opportunity to defend my neighbor and beloved head coach.

Dan Campbell, ladies and gentlemen.

One of the guys.

Thanks, buddy.

Bye, guys.

Thank you, Dan.

All right, good.

So you got to give, you got to give both sides of it, Jordan.

And yeah, it just, it speaks to,

you know, integrity.

That's, that's all.

And courage, too, also.

And courage.

And you know what, Joseph?

That's insane.

To hear someone like you to have the football acumen that you do, Jordan, and just say flat out, you're wrong.

And for me to still not even think in one millimeter that I am indeed wrong, that shows a level of stubbornness and perhaps ignorance that has never never been seen

in our world.

But yes, just a little bit, Sessler.

Hey, Sessler, yeah, maybe it's stubborn, maybe it's ignorant, but it's just a little brave.

Well, give me, I feel like, give me some courage points for going along with the bit for two episodes in a row.

Here, I've gone along with the bit.

So I'll give you courage when you take off that sweater.

Christ, it's August 25th.

Let's do some news.

Station note: in today's news rundown, and in all subsequent news rundowns ahead of opening kickoff, the Heed the Call NFL podcast will maintain a strict blackout policy on updates, real or manufactured for TV chuckleheads, on the contract disputes involving Micah Parsons, Trey Hendrickson, and Terry McLaurin.

We understand these are talented players whose absence from their respective teams can have ramifications on the NFL season, but it's just, well, in the words of Deputy U.S.

Marshal Sam Gerard, I don't care.

Thank you for your hedonism.

Oh, but wait.

Thank you, Zummy.

Oh, but wait.

We have breaking news.

That's what I should.

The commanders and wide receiver Terry McLaurin reached agreement Monday on a three-year contract extension worth up to $96 million that will end his holding and get him in uniform

for the regular season opener against the New York Giants.

His agents confirmed to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

He gets $30 million in terms of a signing bonus in the deal.

And that means that, yes,

Jordan Rodrigue McLaurin will be with the Commanders as they look to build upon their surprise trip to the NFC title game.

In all seriousness, that was serious.

We have, if you've been listening to the show, we have not been doing the twist and turns of those negotiations just because it's just, there's not a lot of meat on the bone.

It is or it's not.

You're signed or you're not.

You're above the equator or you're below it.

But now that he has signed, good, because we want to see these these commanders in full flight, Jordan.

Yeah, and it's cool.

You know, it was really interesting.

Cliff Kingsbury was even getting like publicly annoyed that it hadn't been solved yet.

And Adam Peters was sort of on like a media blackout, too.

He wasn't doing the normal things that GMs do this time of year on the circuit of talking because he knew that he would just be asked about this situation, which ultimately, to me, of any of the three that we're not totally talking about, this was the one that was always going to get done, was always such a no-brainer, at least for both sides, not just one side or a pride or an ego shot on the other side.

This was always going to get done.

And I like it for all of them.

They have their number one back.

This guy could go in the ring of honor tomorrow because of everything that he's gone through with that franchise and how he's held the bones of it together the best that he could.

This was the right thing to do, and I'm glad glad it got done.

Terry.

Terry.

The worst,

the worst story that could have come out of this, that

Terry McLaurin, after all the hideous quarterbacks that he toiled with, would suddenly not be with the team now that they found an absolute wonder.

Like, yes, this was going to get done.

To Justin's note in our news note here, he put a little bullet point that said, this is why we don't like talking about this shit while the dispute in quotes is ongoing, ongoing because 99 times out of 100 it ends like this and it did and it ended the right way and there's none of this is dramatic or surprising because we knew you would get that in Justin

he did write that in

I love that little

noon's not great look at you look at you adding little little justy notes in there now I love it yeah I like to put a little bit of personality in the rundown so it doesn't look like I copied and pasted the whole thing off of a of Twitter or somewhere else I don't know he's proving he's not using AI to build the rundown.

I will say,

editorial note, listening, as I've been traveling all these weeks, listening to the show and keeping up on it, I have really liked how you guys have started to talk about what's going down in the Google Doc.

There's a lot of personality.

A lot of stuff happens in the Google Doc.

I'm glad you're starting to pull

the kimono open a little bit.

Yeah, we do like to throw that kimono open.

And,

you know, this is all I care about because I do find the only thing I ever find interesting about this contract stuff is, okay, where does he slot in amongst the WR ones in the league?

So his average salary is now $32 million.

It's the same as A.J.

Brown, and I'm thinking about it of the Eagles.

And it's like, that's about right.

I feel like those guys are the same.

Less than only Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, C.D.

Lamb,

DK Metcalf, which is like, hmm, okay.

And Garrett Wilson.

I think.

And maybe Wilson, maybe Wilson's a little higher than he should be, but the Jeffs wanted to get that deal done.

That all makes sense to me.

McLaurin's a very good player.

I believe he's 29.

He should have two or three more, four years, maybe if they're lucky, elite years, if he could stay healthy.

And yeah, to your guys's point, like when you have been through the shit,

when you have a player that has been through the

darkness,

when you finally get to the light, you know, it's nice to have one of at least a couple of those guys on the roster that really, the fan base tends to really latch on to those type of players

that were able to come up and finally see the good side of the game.

So good for Terry McLaurin.

And yes, but the other two players, I won't say him by name.

Zummi handled it.

You won't hear anything until they do that.

Okay, that's important, and that's that.

All right.

Speaking of Dan Campbell's Philadelphia Eagles.

Not that Dan Campbell.

The other Dan Campbell.

So confusing.

Dan Campbell.

The Vikings are trading QB Sam Howell to the Eagles.

It's a fifth in 2026, a seventh in 2027 to the Vikings.

Well, Philadelphia gets Howell and a sixth in 2026.

Hey, Sese, your boy.

Minnesota recently signed Carson Wentz.

How about that?

That's my boy now.

Is that the way?

I am a little...

Howell is obviously like a hot and cold operation.

I'm a little surprised that an organization in 2025 is going with Carson Wentz over Sam Howell, just a little bit, because I can see the upside of Wentz, but like to me, Howell was like there is a variable operation there, and they move on from him.

I guess I would have gone in the other direction myself.

Yeah, I think so.

Uh, this one, sometimes it's as simple as who has relationships in the building, and like it or not, and in this case, it's Josh McCown, the quarterback's coach, who has a relationship with Carson Wentz previously.

And I think this is a part of a broader move to just get somebody who has tons of

reps preparing for a long season of NFL games, less so because you want him to be on the field, more so you need somebody to show JJ McCarthy what like week eight preparation looks like,

what it actually takes to get through the long, arduous stretch of a season.

And Sam Howell just did not look good in practice.

And he's like you said, Mark, he's been up and down.

But the practice reps,

if you're not going to have somebody who can spot start for you, you just need somebody who is actually going to be a value add on some of the more like behind-the-scenes stuff.

And he has the relationship with Josh McCown.

A few more items here.

Get you caught up today.

Commanders are trading running back Brian Robinson to the 49ers for a 2026 sixth round pick.

Kyle Shanahan said Robinson will be the RB2 behind Christian McCaffrey.

The Niners have had a lot of injury issues this summer behind CMC.

The Patriots are reportedly via rap sheet shopping safety, Kyle Dugger.

Interesting.

He's been a starter there the last five seasons.

The Browns get rid of a quarterback, Snoop Huntley.

He was picked up when they were dealing with some injuries on the quarterback side of things.

Steelers rookie first-round pick Derek Harmon has a knee injury.

As we know, he's expected to miss about a month, so he's going to be behind schedule in his first year.

Never ideal, but he will be back.

Cowboys activate cornerback Trayvon Diggs from the pup list.

He's coming off a knee from last year.

And finally, the the depth chart for the Raiders at quarterback was thinned out when backup QB Aiden O'Connell broke his wrist

in the preseason finale over the weekend.

He's going to be out six to eight weeks, start the season likely on IR.

I mean, listen,

there are frustrating ways to get injured.

I cannot imagine a more frustrating way to get injured than to be injured seriously in the third and final game of the preseason.

My goodness.

Put him in a bubble.

There are whispers that the Raiders may pursue Ryan Tannehill as well.

Ooh.

We're still.

Oh, we're still.

Yeah.

How old is Ryan Tannehill?

He is, let's see.

North of the equator.

North of the equator, I think.

Yeah.

South of the Dalton line at this point.

We did, there were years, and he's 37.

Wow, he just turned 37 in July.

I think he came out a little later

back in the day.

There are

certain players that

did challenge for the Dalton line over the years.

And I don't know if Ryan Tannehill ever was the guy, but I always like that if he ever was, we had the name locked and loaded, the Tanna scale.

I always like that.

He was always in that conversation, I feel like.

All right, let's take a break.

Let's stop right here.

We'll take a break.

And when we get back,

Jordan Rodriguez, summer vacation.

Here we go.

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All right, back to the show.

Oh yeah.

Forget about whatever Sessler's up to in the middle of Hollywood.

Pounded asphalt.

Jordan, she's by the sea.

She's beach boogieing.

Beach blanket bingo.

Is that what they call it?

But she's also traveling all over America

with the athletic, getting

a real look at all the teams that matter matter in 2025.

And now, as she rejoins Heed the Call, we're going to get a little camp reports.

What Jordan Rodrigue learned on her summer vacation.

Jordan, what an exciting seg we have today.

I'm so honored.

This is so cool.

Normally, Dan, when I'm ripping around

in my off hours, sometimes every once in a while I'll send you a voice memo about kind of what what's going on around me or you know, what's what the situation is.

This is this is I need to put this backing in it now.

Like this is better.

Trying to keep a straight face as you're doing this.

I, yeah.

I usually think when Jordan is walking around, I usually imagine there's like tears welling in your eyes just

admiring

so much beauty around you.

It's hard to even.

But you gave her, there was a recent voice memo.

It was just like, I almost stepped in shit on the sidewalk.

As a tear ran down your cheek.

I just thought you'd want to know.

It's the duality of man here.

I just thought you'd want to know, you know?

I love the duality of man.

And woman?

Yes, of course.

Cover's already taken this week, Dan.

Sorry.

Ow.

Notice Mark didn't speak up.

Notice Mark didn't speak up there.

Equal duality distance.

They're equal.

All right, let's get to it.

I want to say one thing.

If you want to watch this on YouTube, which you should be doing, Dan has just spent the last three minutes doing the beach

dance like

beach blanket bingo and that funicello type scenario over there.

So it's been quite a visual show.

I'm wearing my little sporty boy beach shirt, and

it just feels right.

By the way,

as I understand it, Jordan, that there are some various figures in the NFL that had reached out that are fans of our show during your summer journey.

Yeah.

Oh, I've been so excited to tell you guys.

So when I I was in, I went to a bunch of camps.

And when I was in Minnesota, I was, and you see, I rolled the O a little bit too.

You know, I'm got, I'm nailing it here.

You know,

and I was doing some stuff with their media, internal media team.

And they do like the really cool behind-the-scenes documentaries and worked with some really awesome people during that time.

And I had someone come up to me and say that they are a hedonist and that they listened to Heed the Call.

And it was so cool.

And I just, I was so disarmed and taken aback.

I didn't cry Dan

but we we got to talking about everyone on the show and they passed along some compliments they said Dan you're doing such a great job hosting the show and like that your hair still has the hair right and that Justin like you're making the show into an actual like

future version of sports broadcasts and like they love how you're putting everything together and all the new colorways and everything.

And they loved like Connor's contrarian takes, even though they're like a little bit crazy sometimes.

They get a kick out of them all the time.

People talking.

I just thought it was so nice to have you.

That's so cool.

I love, I love, I love.

It's like when we put in the work on the show to get it's a, it's, it's, you know, there's a measure of pride, right, Mark?

What a stirring report that was.

What do you mean?

What do you mean, Chev?

What?

You know, the minute it began, I knew we were going to go.

We're going to name everyone that's ever been attached to the production except for the person speaking at the moment.

Oh, my God, Mark.

I didn't name you.

Wait, let me check my notebook.

Hang on.

I'm sure I have it somewhere in my notebook.

Hang on.

Keep looking.

Hang on.

Hang on.

She's going to a notebook, too.

Hang on.

Wow.

Mark, it's almost like a bunch of people.

I think I almost got to it.

Hang on.

Cecil, your name's on the show.

This is just unbelievable.

Hang on.

I'm taking too much time, Mark.

I'll look for it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right.

But it's great to have you, Jordan.

And in all seriousness,

let's hear about it because I'm counting these.

And it was a little bit reductive.

Mark, you're not the only one that gets a little bit.

A little bit reductive, I thought, of like who I am as

a person that

I

texted Jordan privately to congratulate her on when you've gone to one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine camps in the summer.

What I texted her, Mark, was like, I congratulated her because once you're working for an outlet and a high-profile outlet like the athletic, and they're sending you all over the country, that's like the top tier of being an NFL reporter.

And then Jordan comes on our show.

It's like, yeah, you know, Dan does it his way, which is like, hey, let's get a f ⁇ ing beer.

Duality of man, duality of Dan, you know?

And I will tell you that.

So we all get it in certain ways, Sesse.

You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, you know, you just, it's, yours is more public-facing, Mark.

You know, because you're, you're a brand, you know?

But I think

let's get into it, Jordan.

In a big sweater today.

Where do you want to start, by the way?

We have, like I said, Rams, Chargers, Saints, Cardinals, Cowboys, Niners, Vikings, Patriots, Commanders.

Where should we start?

Well, you guys covered the Rams pretty well with the Stafford situation.

That was obviously their most important situation happening throughout camp.

But I did want to touch on just a little bit more of the Rams I know the listeners are shocked to hear this but that's where I started my camp tour so just to start really quick I was looking at I was looking at this roster and to me this version of the Rams team build especially with Stafford I wouldn't say healthy but Stafford trending toward health and certainly going to start in week one

this is the Sean McVay trauma response roster build and what I mean by that is that all the worst case scenarios that have happened to this team 2022 no backup quarterback when Stafford did get hurt, and no run game when Stafford did get hurt,

Puka Nakua, you know, and Cooper Cup being hurt at various times throughout the last couple of years, the offense starting and stopping.

They've patched around in all of the places, you know, teams running all over them and losing games that way.

They've patched around all of Sean McVay's worst case scenarios and all of his worst fears to lift the floor of all of those scenarios.

So now they've got Jimmy G who, you know, like it or not, Sean McVay believes he can win games with him in case case Stafford goes down.

You don't really want to make a full stretch run with him, but believes that he can.

Kyron Williams gets hurt.

You've got second Kyron Williams right behind him, Blake Corum.

Then you've got faster Kyron Williams behind him and Jarque Hunter.

Puka Nakua gets hurt.

Now you brought in tight end Terrence Ferguson, who's going to play a lot of that power slot F stuff for them, which means you can move.

So you can keep that sort of 11 and a half to 12 personnel that they like to run.

Alary Jackson misses time because of the blood clots.

You've got DJ Humphreys now on the roster.

Puna Ford is now their run stopper.

It's all these things where they've picked and pruned these like dramatically dramatic fears of the head coach and sort of just like assembled this roster that like has a higher floor if disaster happens.

I want to say like I watched the Browns Rams broadcast with our friend JB Long and Mina and MJD.

And they did this great thing, which I think baseball did a nice job with this with Clayton Kernshaw during the

all-star game.

It was like about a 15-minute

sideline interview with McVay while the game was happening, and it was him being like the best version and most intriguing version of Sean McVay that I've seen, but also reacting to

stuff happening on the field.

It's like he was like a robot.

He was able to see stuff that like I don't even understand how he could do it.

But it was so compelling and it kind of made me feel differently about this Rams team.

My other quick note is Cody Schrader, 5'8.

We got a 5'8 guy catching passes on the Rams.

Like, listen, if you're the 5'8 guys out there, you gotta be liking that.

And so

it's inspiring to me.

He's a 5'8 king, and he's amongst the kingdom.

I like that.

Justin, what is the

over-under on the Rams?

Right now, it's set at nine and a half wins for 2025.

Because, Jordan, if I'm reading into what you're saying, it's like they took a lot of punches, and there's a lot of obvious speculation and anxiety around the Rams, but they're going to come out of this okay, you think that they're going to hit the ground?

Maybe not running, but you know, they averted the disaster that the season seemed to be potentially trending toward if the Stafford thing.

He's not out of the woods, obviously, but

everything is okay.

Even from the outside, if things look a little shaky,

your vibe there is that they feel confident going into the season.

Yeah, and it won't surprise you, any of you, to know that even though I don't cover them anymore, I sneak into their walkthroughs sometimes.

So I also

ill.

I'm ill.

It's like the 23-year-old still showing up at the high school keggers.

It's like, oh my gosh.

What's up, fellow kids?

No,

I do think that it's a good thing.

If he were to rejoin practice any later, I would say the concern would significantly spike for the season overall.

Now, after week one, we might have a completely different reaction.

He might take a bad hit.

This back thing is going to be a thing to me through the entire season.

But for right now, to open up the season and to hopefully get on the right track in their minds, things are trending in a good way.

And they've built in all of these like backstops everywhere along this roster because their goal is to go and chase a Super Bowl this year.

Have you been in the Immortal Chamber?

No, but you know what?

You know what?

You guys would appreciate this.

I got the day after all of that, you know, after Matthew Stafford walks in just as reporters are coming out to practice.

That's the time that Matthew Stafford walks into into the immortal chamber right when all the reporters are allowed to shoot that period of practice and that's when it happens and then i get a press release from the immortal company the next day asking me would i like a tour of this chamber would i like you know and i'm like

this seems a little you know and i was asking about it at the stops i went to i was asking if i would talk to a medical person or a doctor or a team sports scientist or whatever like i'm i'm trying to do the connor thing where i keep a straight face face.

They actually, this thing is going around the league.

This thing is making, I don't think it'll be put in your face the way that the Rams did it, you know.

But this thing is making it.

The Rams are like, yeah, it might be going around the league, but

it was here first.

We discovered it.

Yeah.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

All right, let's move on.

Next up in the

enough of that shit.

Up next on the

summer tour.

We're staying.

Ooh, we're heading to El Segundo.

Mayberry by the Sea, my hometown.

I know.

Talking about the Chargers.

And one of the best breweries of all time, El Segundo Brewing.

And also a town that I texted you, Dan.

You have to pick the right song, put the right song on when you roll through that town because of how picturesque it is and how like 1950s but more progressive beach town it is right I like that I like that you added that's a compliment for you there Dan you've chosen to live there so this I call this the land of the large humans, right?

When I went in from the quarterback to the tight ends to the offensive line to the running backs, Omarion Hampton, who's going to be their number one running back because Najee Harris is still not practicing with the mysterious eye injury.

Omarion Hampton.

It's so mysterious.

A firework exploded by his face.

Right.

What's mysterious is what actually happened.

Like nobody's.

Yeah.

But like he, Omarian Hampton.

I could tell you, Jordan, I could tell you.

A firework exploded by his face.

Yeah.

And that's usually bad for

me.

I just don't want to picture it.

That's all I'm saying.

I just don't want to picture it.

Me and Mark were in the newsroom in NFL media when Jason Pierre Paul literally exploded his own hand.

And

if that does not tell these guys you can't play with fireworks, nothing ever will.

But anyway,

we digress.

Take a look at JPP's hand.

Go ahead, Jordan.

Sorry.

Yes, or don't if you would like to keep your peace on this day.

Okay, so what was so striking to me was like how like physically imposing and massive this entire team is on offense from their skill players, even even the like speedy, shifty, like sort of

rookie that they brought in, Trey Harris, who's supposed to play a number of different receiving roles, by the way, got some real stuff to him.

Like this kid is going to ball this year, I think, if they throw the ball, which they might not be.

What do you mean by that?

He's got some stuff to him.

He just has this like,

he just is everywhere he needs to be.

He gets off the line really quickly.

He's so, um, he plays so assured, even though he was a rookie fitting into a very low pass volume offense.

And he moved around a lot the day that I was there.

And that told me a lot because if you're giving him more to do, that means that you're going to depend on him a lot.

And he's really showed up in the preseason so far as well.

And I just think that he's going to be someone that Justin Herbert, when Justin Herbert does get a chance to throw the ball, is going to love throwing the ball to.

And he's a versatile guy that they can move around a ton.

They're still going to depend on their tight ends too.

But like, even he is built like pretty solid.

This is a team that wants to like impose its will to the point where my favorite thing, and I've been waiting to talk to you guys because I had to get you guys's reaction to this guy, Scott Matlock.

Yes, Dan, a third Matlock has entered the scene.

Not Lady Matlock.

Well, you make your own decision on that.

And so Scott Matlock is their fullback.

He plays both ways.

He plays defensive line.

He's almost 300 pounds.

He plays defensive line.

He plays fullback.

he plays on special teams, and he wears a black jersey at practice because he is in a unique unicorn position.

He's the only player on the field wearing a black jersey.

I will say, on the other side of the ball, really, really, really excited to because these guys like really clashed.

And Scott Matlock was all over the field, and he was like one of my most favorite players to watch all training camp.

It was so fun.

Can I say that

what we're seeing here?

I'm sorry, the name of this gentleman again?

Scott Matlock.

Scott Matlock.

Yeah, Scotty Matlock.

When you're a ginger, right?

I like when a ginger, especially an oversized ginger like a Matlock,

just goes for it.

And he's like, I have a defining feature.

My hair is orange, right?

Grow out the beard, grow out the hair.

Got the big bushy red eyebrows, too.

Let those grow.

Let them connect.

Liam Gallagher them.

Just go for it.

Just go, just lean into what God gave you, Scotty Matlock, for the win.

And Dan, you said

not Lady Matlock, and Jordan said, that's for you to decide.

I will decisively let you know this is not a lady.

This is not a matter of time.

Yeah, this one feels pretty clear-cut to me, but listen, we're,

you know, very we're progressive people.

We don't make any judgments.

Anything else from Chargers camp?

So, like, here's the thing about the Chargers with me.

Jordan, like, we had money on, and money's the voice of the Chargers.

He's a team employee, but also, Matt Money Smith shoots straight, and he was very optimistic about this team.

He thinks, you know, the Joe Alt situation and losing the tackle, Rashawn Slater, was very painful to them.

And obviously, the Mike Williams thing was like, oh, that was weird.

Bring back Keenan Allen.

There are some things that you could poke some holes, but your report there,

you and money together with positive commentary here.

I'm kind of leaning towards that over

in San Diego.

Excuse me.

El Segundo.

Yeah.

And

you can't, like, it's very much on my radar losing these players because obviously, you know, I'm there early in camp, and then Rashawn Slater goes down a few days later.

That's awful.

My radar, my radar was up on Makai Bechton as well, who missed three weeks of camp, and he was supposed to start a guard for them.

So their offensive line went from being a real strength to being a question mark.

And that's not insignificant.

But I think where they can really

butter their bread this year is this defense.

And I'm not kidding, guys.

You know, I'm not takey.

You know, I don't do the dramatics, but like, I think that this defense is going to be a top three defense in the NFL this year.

And they finished certainly ascending

on that streak late in the year.

Dion Henley is going to be a player that will become, in my opinion, a household name this year.

He's somebody who is like that dude in the middle of this defense who I think should have gotten a little more pop in

these votings and awards and stuff last year, but it's the Chargers.

And so nobody was really watching him.

And Jesse Minter is someone who's also going to get head coaching interviews this year.

And certainly the team is preparing as such.

There are contingency plans now in the case of losing Jesse Minter this offseason.

As more coaches around the league start to copy what he's doing, especially with his pressure and his front structures,

he out-coached an underperforming group last year or an under-talented group last year.

And now this year, too, in this defense, I just think they're going to put a hurt on somebody.

All right.

Very interesting.

Let's move to the New Orleans Saints.

And did you see see them in Irvine?

I know they split their camp, right?

Between Louisiana and Irvine.

What's coming out?

Now, here's a team, Ceci, that we haven't talked about a ton on our show, right?

And there's a reason for it.

The vibes from the outside are not great.

What were the vibes on the inside of the facility?

I will say I was pretty surprised because this is still clearly a team that was searching for answers at quarterback.

There was a pretty even rotation between Tyler Schuck and Spencer Rattler and jakeer at the time um shuck and and rattler to me on the day that i was there pulled ahead they were playing some pretty competitive 11 on 11 drills and red zone stuff at that time and to me tyler shuck and talking to the beat reporters there tyler shuck had one of his better days to me it's like a two-man race between those guys and they still haven't figured out who it's going to be i mean we could all speculate it could be rattler you know chuck's the guy they drafted it could be any of these these guys but this is still very clearly a team that this lady in camp doesn't have a definitive answer at the position.

So barring that, that is the main thing about this team.

And as much as it's like annoying to keep talking about it over and over again, if you're people, you know, in New Orleans, this is the number one thing about this team.

It will be the number one thing about this team under Kellen Moore, former quarterback himself,

until they get this situation figured out.

I will say, I think they've got some pretty good skill guys.

The receivers,

at least their top two receipts, Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave, I think are pretty solid.

I really still like Alvin Kamaro with this run game.

And this defense looked so much better than I expected it to.

And I came in skeptical because I covered the good year of Brandon Staley as defensive coordinator.

I covered the crash and burn of him as a head coach of the Chargers and the defenses that were like at the bottom of the league year over year.

And going out to Saints Camp and listening, what I always do with these guys who come out of this like fangio system is i stand behind the dbs at practice right that's the thing you're supposed to do because you listen how they communicate with each other and then you can understand how much of this defense is installed and how well they know it and how energetic and confident they feel and justin reed is there now and this is a defense that has like like badass capabilities And it kind of stinks to think that, okay, maybe they could be sunk down a little bit because they'll have to be on the field a lot, it seems like, with this offense until you figure out your situation at quarterback.

What was your take on Kellen Moore?

I mean, you know, experienced coordinator, but not that far removed from just being a player himself and now a first-time head coach.

I always think it's interesting to go to camp because you can really see the intensity of practices and how the coaches are split up in their duties.

Like, what was your take on the coaching staff and Kellen Moore weeks into this journey, into this summer?

Yeah, it was interesting because when I went, the defense was like kicking the crap crap out of the offense, right?

And so, and this was like low red area, like this was like not, and

Demario Davis was like running around yelling, you know, they can't get into the end zone, all this stuff.

And, and this was, Kellen Moore just kind of stayed even.

Like, he didn't really change.

He strikes me as somebody so far, and then being around him a little bit, you know, when he was in Philly, he strikes me as just somebody who is very even keel and he vacillates toward the positive, not toward the negative.

So, I would say that, like, there's a lot of coaches that try to stay even keel, but when going gets stressful, they vacillate toward the negative, they get shouty, they turn, you know, really intense.

You see, like, the different veins start to emerge in the necks and the foreheads.

But, like, with Kellen, he just strikes me as even, vacillating, positive.

And I think his players are responding to that in a way where I expected much different vibes out there than I actually felt, even with all the questions and lack of clarity on the offense, you know, at their, you know, at quarterback, it just felt like everybody's like very realistic about where they're at right now with that.

And it was like

a freedom that comes with that.

We're not, we actually are addressing and looking at the problem.

We're not just like not talking about it and pretending that we're still going to be

this team when we're not kind of thing.

I like where, and this doesn't surprise me,

but so far, I'm feeling more optimistic about all the teams that we've talked about.

Well, I mean,

I would like before we get to the end of this exercise for Jordan, just like we're going to tee up a team, and he's like, oh man, this is going to be dog shit.

Like, I'm hoping that happens, but also I'm understanding that perhaps it's probably not going to happen.

But one can dream as we move on in the Jordan summer tour.

And Zumwalt doesn't want it to be this team.

How about the Arizona Cardinals?

Yeah.

As Beach Blanket Bingo came to Glendale and the surrounding territories.

Yeah,

another land of the large humans because we know

Jay, it's all right.

It's a preview.

He was like DMing me too.

I had some coverage out of there, and I wrote a feature about Trey McBride, who's just an absolute star.

And

Jay kept DMing me on Instagram, being like, okay, okay, enough, enough, enough.

Jason is breaking into your DMs.

Yeah, do you want us to tell him to stop?

We talk.

We talk.

I met him at the heat house.

Yeah, we talk.

We go, you know, both Arizona kids.

You know, we had a great time at the heat houses.

I'm Walt and Rodriguez under the same roof.

That's right.

Yeah.

Okay, but if it becomes too much, let us know.

We'll reach out to him.

Okay, good.

You know,

I'll send a signal or something, some sort of like a, you know, at the bar when like they tell, they find a hand signal to give to the bartender to say, like, help me get out of this situation.

Right, get me out of this situation.

I'm sure Jason will love that characterization.

Okay, go on.

The Arizona Cardinals.

We won't be hearing about that.

This is like the biggest question again, is about the quarterback.

And I think that it's because Kyler Murray has such a high ceiling at times and such a low floor at times.

I really liked when a listener wrote in to us and suggested him as the Dalton scale quarterback because the more I think about it, the more I agree with that.

And it's interesting.

Which is a problem, by the way.

Yeah, which is a problem.

Yeah, I know I say it.

I know I say it with an excited voice, but it's just because I was just happy to be there, guys.

Okay.

And so

it it is an issue.

And he's got one year after this year.

He's got one year left of guaranteed money on his contract.

This is Jonathan Gannon, Drew Petsing, Nick Rollis.

It's their third year, that coaching staff.

This is a coaching staff that's starting to get a lot more respect and getting sort of whispered and buzzed about in coaching circles around the league.

I'm sure Connor would tell you the same.

We both talked to a lot of similar people in that regard.

And this is also a team that has a really high potential, but they're only going to go as far as the quarterback takes them.

And I think that's where you run into these questions about, you know, Kyler Murray's connection with Marvin Harrison.

This is still going to be an offense that runs through the tight end in Trey McBride.

They run a lot of 12 personnel, two tight ends.

They run a lot of 13 personnel having the third tight end slash full, you know, fullback kind of hybrid guy on there.

But

they still need to maximize having a number one receiver.

So they just need more from everybody.

And this defense finished about middle of the league in EPA last year.

So it's improving, but still has a long way to go.

They're not going to get Walter Nolan on the field for an unknown amount of time.

And he was really going to shore up their defensive front.

And I still have questions just about the offensive line, although I think they really found like a franchise guy in Paris Johnson who's playing tackle for them.

But it's really, that's crazy.

The team is crazy making because it always just comes back to the quarterback every single time.

You think, oh man, this and this and this and wow, this roster and all this stuff.

And then it just comes all the way back to the quarterback every time.

That was a less than glowing dispatch.

Oh, you called me out.

I was trying to.

Yeah, no, but I'm just saying, I did notice that.

Two things, two things.

One, I really wonder, okay, great point.

So he has two years left of guaranteed money on this big extension he signed.

I wonder if this year is like the others, where there are good things and there are bad things, that he would be probably a very attractive trade piece next offseason where you could send him somewhere.

Let's say Los Angeles, for instance, to the Rams after Matthew Stafford retires.

And then McVay goes, Well, I get a free year to see if I can fix him before I have to pay him, unless Kyler Murray has the juice to say, Well, I'm not going anywhere until I get a new deal.

But it's just interesting with that one year of guaranteed money is interesting to me.

The other thing is,

if you could play, like one of my things with Murray is, is he a leader?

Is he like a dude that can be that guy uh can you be our body language monitor and give us some just general vibe check-in on Kyler Murray what you saw from him what what is he like around his offensive lineman does he feel engaged at all times like what is your Kyler Murray sense I will say they're kind of going um extra in like the the quotes and like some of the like buzzy here things that get produced about

like really focusing in this year, really locked in.

Now, when I watched the, I watched two practices, one more, more of a walkthrough and one the practice.

And I will say, one thing that did tell me that he's more, I

don't want to say more committed, but it seems like there's just more of a commitment to like actually accentuate the things that he can do that make him a dangerous quarterback is I saw more design runs being installed, especially in the red zone.

This was a team that did have trouble, despite the fact they were moving the ball, they had trouble scoring, and they were, you know, they need to improve in that area.

And that's a part of it is Kyler.

Kyler needing to actually, if he's got an option to do that, he actually needs to take that option and use his legs and be a threat there.

He's very hard to tackle, as you guys have seen, and as we've all seen in spurts and flashes,

and he's hard to catch.

And so I think when you have that threat and he's committing to that threat, you are looking at somebody who's buying into what's being asked.

of him a little bit more.

And I just, I think it's going to be important to watch all year.

You know, the other thing, Dan, you mentioned him being a potential trade asset.

The sneaky, like big move that they did this offseason was bringing in Jacoby Brissette as his backup, Jake Brisket.

And I talked to Jacoby for a while, and Jacoby is one of the most confident people you'll ever meet.

And he's a backup, QB.

Yeah, and he believes he could still win games for teams, a team in the league.

And Jacoby, the underrated thing about the signing is he played in this system and played really well in this system previously.

So he's not only somebody who's going to push Kyler, in my opinion, sort of subconsciously, but also somebody who, if they do decide to make a move and their season is either teetering or on the downslope, you still have an extremely capable guy, you know, to play quarterback for you.

He's not going to sort of waste all this offensive talent if you do decide to press the button and offload, you know, the quarterback.

I will say one quick thing.

Like, I know I tired everyone else out with the Cardinals scenario a year ago, but they quietly led the NFC West.

You actually snuffed them out.

You actually tired the Cardinals season out until it no longer exists.

That may be the case.

That may be the case.

But they actually led the NFC West in points scored and were second in points allowed.

I feel like they are kind of this team that's on the cusp.

And it's like, I see growth, and I believe in the GM too.

So I'm not getting off that train just yet.

The head coach is entering his third year, 4-13 in year one, 8-9 in year two.

To your point, if they're four and six in October, late October, and the quarterback is a problem, I wonder if Gannon's like, I got to save my job.

I got to, maybe I'll pull the trigger.

Something to keep an eye on.

All right, let's move to,

ooh, Gero World, the Dallas Cowboys.

What's going on around that team?

Yeah, well, the thing I'm not going to talk about is still the biggest thing about this team.

Anything else, literally anything else.

I know, but it permeates the vibe is what I'll say.

I was there for two days, and it permeates the vibe.

And we won't talk about it anymore, but it's one of those things where when you're like, oh, no, you know, you asked, oh, no, it's not a distraction.

Like, they're avoiding making it one, like all this stuff.

Like, this thing, because of the presence of both of the people involved in this thing

that we're not talking about, the presence that because they're both there,

it's like the, oh,

don't look over there kind of a, you know, it's like, it's just, it permeated the vibe.

So, okay.

So.

Yeah.

I struggled even to read about it but i know there was some type of preseason incident this over the weekend where this figure who we're not going to talk about was like eating nachos and like laying on the a table or something so it's like yeah it is a distraction let's let's not say it's not

go ahead jordan eating nachos

yes and i and i also the the big thing about this team on offense is i don't buy that they'll be able to run the ball i know cowboys fans get mad at me for saying this every year i do not buy it i'll have to see it prove it.

They could not run the ball against one of the worst.

Yes, the Rams overhauled their run defense this season.

They were the worst run defense in the NFL or one of them last year.

The Cowboys could not move anybody in these joint practices that I went to.

They could not move anybody, and

they couldn't block.

Brian Schottenheimer went so far as to compliment the Rams linebackers, which I think is the first time that's ever happened in

the recent history of the Rams defense.

And so, like, it's interesting because they've got an uphill climb, but I know we're not supposed to talk about it.

The biggest thing,

the guy who is not at practice has to move all around the defense.

So, Matt Eberflus, who's working with Brian Schottenheimer, can't actually install his full defense the way that they want to run it.

A defense that should be one of the better defenses in the league this year if they have the pass rush that they need.

You know, and it's supposed to help stabilize some of these new pieces that they have on offense.

That's the big concern level: is yes, this is a distraction vibes-wise, but you can't physically install like a massive part of your playbook until this is done.

And it just feels like

a team like maybe working off a different timeline than every other team in the league in terms of getting their schematics in.

I was impressed with Brian Schottheimer.

Like, everyone says he's got the right demeanor to handle all of this.

And I'm impressed with his collaboration with Matt Eberflus.

But, like, this whole thing,

like, we don't have to talk about it, but it's there, man.

Like, it is, it is, it permeates every piece of this roster and this installation and this game plan.

To your point about the running back situation, the depth chart, it's Javante Williams, who, come on,

has never been the same since his knee injury.

Fifth round pick, Jaden Blue.

Seventh round pick, Phil Maffa.

Those are the top three guys I'm seeing in this depth chart.

Miles Sanders is there.

Deuce Fawn, little Deuce Fawn.

He's still moving around there.

That's good.

Pitter pattering everywhere.

So, yeah, they, I mean, God, you know what what they're going to do?

They're going to be last in rushing this year, and then they'll be the team that takes the top running back on the board next year.

They're going to be like, we'll Zeke it.

We're going to Zeke the problem.

Zeke was on the team last year.

Like, if Zeke shows up again, we'll know it's like DEF CON 5 panic scenario.

All right.

Let's head to San Francisco 49ers camp.

Very low percentage of this.

That is Smiles and Glory Holtz.

I get that.

I get that.

All right.

It's just becoming a sound bit machine at the same time.

So true, Jerry.

So true.

Well.

How about the Niners, Jordan?

Yeah, I was only here for one day, so I just have a few notes.

The hype train about Ricky Pearsall is so true.

I spent the practice watching him.

I don't play fantasy football.

If you play fantasy football, this is somebody who you should pick up.

I think the offense is going to run through him, George Kittle.

And Christian McCaffrey.

The passing game is going to even run through them because Juwan Jennings was still not practicing.

They think the situation is going to be resolved by week one, but he has not practiced.

So it's going to take some time.

So this whole thing is going to run through CMC George Kittle

and Ricky Pearsall.

The hype about Upton Stout,

their rookie who's going to play in the slot for them, undersized rookie.

Very, very real.

This defense has a long way to go.

And that's why they brought in Robert Sala to try to help develop this group and to sort of lift the floor around some of these rookies and some of these young players that they have up front.

But this offense was very, very practiced, very professional.

Like it just, it really was the 49ers, as you know them, just on defense, they've got some big questions still.

What, I mean, I've got to ask you this.

You were within a stone's throw of Kyle Shanahan.

Ominous respect.

Ominous respect.

I mean, we've got, we are Shannonites, if that's the word.

Shannaheites.

What was it like for you to be just near him in his presence, in his aura?

And what did you absorb

um always a little

super bowl but go on can we calm down with this

stuff you know go ahead oh always a little scared to be honest with you

he does have it does he have an intensity about him shanahan i i sense that that there's an intensity that maybe emanates from his orb

Yeah,

anytime you're like on a field or like talking to him, you know, more in a public setting or whatever, there's like a force field of like ominous respect kind of thing around him and intensity, like you mentioned.

But then when you kind of get him off the field, he's like, just kind of a dude.

Like you just, he's, he's fun to talk to.

So.

Yeah, his dad was Mike Shanahan, too.

Intense gaze.

Intense gaze.

Yeah.

He's like, yes, sir.

Merry Christmas, sir.

I love you, sir.

I love you, sir.

Say it, say it, say it.

Yeah, but Ricky Pearsall is kind of a receiver.

Kyle Shanahan was like, if only I could have almost been that guy.

I could have almost been that guy.

Yeah, you're right.

That's interesting.

Yeah.

Ricky Pearsall, I think he's.

Do you love me, sir?

Sir, please tell me you love me, sir.

I'm ran into a trauma-filled childhood memory of some sort here.

Yeah.

Happy Thanksgiving, sir.

Safe word, Dan.

Sir, will you let me join you to cut the turkey this year, sir?

Please, sir.

Sir, will you please come to my high school graduation, sir?

Please, please.

What?

Sir, I need this, sir!

Sir, I need this, sir!

You can imagine it, though, right?

Yes.

Sir, will you please have a catch with me, sir?

All right, I'll stop.

Oh, my God.

I'll stop.

I'll stop.

Should we should we should we go?

Let's move on.

The Vikings.

Yeah, I think

Joe from Stranger Things, aka

J.J.

McCarthy, was like the.

Oh, yeah.

I know exactly what you're talking about.

Yeah.

Or Steve.

I guess Joe is his band name.

Yeah.

Steve from Stranger Things.

Yep.

But he, he, um, this was the biggest, this is the biggest story about the Vikings right now.

Um, their defense.

I spent one day, I was there for two days of joint practices between them and the Patriots.

I spent one day charting the defense, um, and it was awesome.

I mean, there, it just, there's no other word for it.

It's just awesome.

Like Brian Flores' group got better this year.

It's kind of scary to think about that, but up front, they got better.

In the secondary, they're more experienced.

It's just, they threw everything they had

at Josh McDaniels and Drake May

with interestingly positive, positive results on the Vikings side and interesting results.

We'll get to it in a minute on the Patriots side.

Then the next day I watched J.J.

McCarthy.

He had like a bad day the first day where he he was up and down.

But the way that what a lot of people notice, the way they structure these practices, is you kind of go live the first day and then you go back and you troubleshoot everything that happened and went wrong.

Then you go live again the second day, almost as if you're preparing for two games, but in two days.

And there, obviously, it's not contact either, but it's like a two-game plan stretch in two days.

So you're adjusting and recalibrating.

The second day, he looked great.

I think the things that you expect to be

a little bit off or shaky about him, he settled into like pretty quickly in terms of some of his touch throws, like perimeter throws, the throws he needed to sink over the top of a defender.

After a couple misses, he sailed a couple and then he started hitting those really well.

Then, you know, the middle of the field, that will be his bread and butter.

I think we knew this watching his very few times he threw at Michigan, but that will be his bread and butter.

He was throwing some what coaches like to call absolute piss missiles into the middle of the field to the point where TJ Hawkinson even dropped one and was like, oh, my bad dude, sorry, my hand burned off.

Like it was so,

it's very clear where he's most confident and where he's still developing.

But he came away at his podium that day, the second day, going against the Patriots defense where he's really successful.

He was absolutely floating.

This is going to be a kid who, the mental development is going to be.

interesting and fun to watch too, because you could really tell he felt that.

Like

he went up to the podium and he was absolutely like levitating because he had a good day.

So it's like, okay, let's talk about that.

And let's also talk about, you know, how to keep the bad days higher, you know, and how to, how to like rebound the way that they did over the course of a two-day practice.

That was really positive to see.

How about like from a

leadership angle?

Because he's having to step into that, you know, and I think last year obviously was really tough for him.

to be kind of on the in abstentia in the outskirts and not really part of probably the the team process like how do the other players respond to him because he really seems like a great, almost like, I don't want to say Tom Brady-esque, because that's sort of annoying, but like, there's just something about him where he's like, oh, you're a quarterback.

We get it.

Like, do the other players, have they glommed onto him already?

Yeah, he seems like he just, he, he fits right in with everybody.

And this is a team where there's like a lot of guys who are older, a lot older than him and have played a lot of football together.

And then what people also forget about the Vikings is this is a team within a team underneath the umbrella of Kevin O'Connell because the defense is a like a living entity by itself coached by Brian Flores and that's why they brought it in was so it could become that it could evolve into that so for him to have the respect of the defensive players and for him to be somebody who they're complimenting and they're appreciating how he goes about his work and how he's practicing how he's coming back from tough practice days to have strong practice days like that was the most telling thing to me because this whole defense like i said it is like it is a team within a team and kevin o'connell i think is one of the few people in the league who can hold all of that together in a really functional way

and make them more competitive from it.

Because in a lot of places, that just wouldn't work.

But when you have a quarterback who gets along with everybody and leads, and you have a head coach and a defensive coordinator who have this collaboration the way that they do, you're able to get away with it in a really positive way.

And I think that's going to be kind of the story of the Vikings this year.

Okay, Jordan, I know you have to go and get to your other duties as a professional football writer.

So we have two more patriots and commanders.

Do you want to just throw out a couple nugs before we say goodbye?

Yeah, we kind of already got to the biggest commanders.

Yeah.

That's the story.

But I will say Debo Samuel is someone definitely to watch in that offense as well because Terry McLaurin was not practicing the day I was there, obviously.

Debo Samuel was doing everything.

He was coming out of the backfield.

They were sending him down the field for deep throws.

Like he was doing everything and he looked good.

He looked like him and Jaden Daniels have connected well.

So the Terry thing has been the most talked about thing as and rightfully so.

But Debo's sort of confidence and like building this emergence, this is still going to be a 12-personnel team.

One player who I want to shout out that should get more attention league-wide, but won't because he's a second tight end is John Bates.

He's like the best blocking tight end in the NFL right now, and he allows them to stay in 12th personnel as much as they want.

So they really only need Terry and Debo to be good because they've got Zach Ertz and John Bates.

And then on the defensive side, keep an eye on Johnny Newton, who they really need to take another step forward in his second season.

Remember him?

And he looked good.

He looked like he's ready to help shore up this team.

He had the foot thing last year, right?

Yeah, and

that harlot.

Oh, the scorpion woman.

And they just,

they need to not depend so much on your linebackers to stop the run.

So they really need him to be the presence that they drafted him to be.

All right.

And the Patriots.

Trayvion Henderson might be the offensive rookie of the year.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

Okay.

I mean.

She said it.

Okay.

And

you guys know I'm not takey.

I feel like I've been a little takey on this show today.

I'm not takey normally, but watching how this running back, this rookie running back

picked up Brian Flores' pressure.

Now, I will say, they sent the house after Drake May.

He was.

embattled all day.

At one point, it was the second day.

It was like seven sacks or something like that.

But for Trayon Henderson's part, for what his his responsibilities were and his outlet being the outlet and all these things, he's going to be on the field for every down.

He can handle the pass rush.

He can handle the pass protection and the blitz pickups and all of these things.

And he can pop a big play like at any second.

He took a wheel route for like this only this one of two touchdowns the Patriots scored the entire day.

And this is like a big play player waiting to happen.

And he's also got this like sort of star material.

I was talking to a coach about him for a while, star material, somebody who's on a team captain track for them after he's a rookie.

Like, this is a player.

They really found a guy in this player.

And I think he not only, because this is, you're looking at a receiving core where like Matt Collins is probably going to have a big role.

Stephon Diggs is probably going to be more of the underneath Outlook guy early on because of the recovery from the injury.

So you're looking at like a dependency on him, too.

You're going to need him to be exactly this guy.

So I expect high volume for him early.

And that was a huge impression that I got from watching that offense.

That's exactly, see, that feels like a missing, the missing piece for me anyway, like, is there is a lot of optimism around the Patriots.

And it's like,

okay, but

especially on the offensive side of the ball, like, what is there that's going to make them special beyond Drake May's potential?

If they have a game-changing rookie running back and pair him with the quarterback who's going to be able to make enough plays, then the offense gets feisty.

And then I'm with you.

Then I could see this as a team that can make the biggest jump and win total year to year in the league.

That's very spicy, Jordan.

That's not a hot take, but that's spicy.

It's hotter than I'm accustomed to putting my spicy.

Which is why, Mark, we should value it.

Like people should listen to that and value it more because this is not coming from a hot takes woman.

This is someone who

very cold, very cold takes.

She's an icy woman.

It continues to blow

your fantasy draft, Dan, because I think it's just there's too many nuggets here if your friends are listening, your neighborhood friends.

Yeah, there was some pushback on the old

fantasy thread that I had made some of those comments.

Some people thought it was

presumptuous that I would think that, or presumptive that I would

think that they are like, how do I get inside Hans's head?

Like, okay, fair.

I can't imagine that.

He covers professional football for a living.

But it's like, but then again, like, this is also the same podcast where, like, what's inside Hanses' head?

Beer, pizza, hot chicks guns

strawberries

strawberries all right Jordan thank you so much

you're the best

people that were like where's Jordan Jordan will remain a part of the heed the call family

but you just have to wait a little bit longer her for her visits because she's a very busy very busy and very successful woman

and but I look forward to grabbing that beer with you beer you know you know what Mark you can come too Justin, you live in Texas now.

But congratulations on your upcoming

all of that.

Yes, Justin.

Thank you.

That's it.

Thanks.

All right, coming up later this week, we go around the AFC and NFC, our annual tradition.

So make sure you're there for that.

And check out the Patreon and all the extra stuff on that side.

Till next time, do what you must.

Heed the call.

Thanks, Jordan.

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This is like septic, this is life-threatening, and she knew just what to do.

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