49ers-Jets Recap + Puka Nacua Update & Other NEWS!

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audience only.

Oh,

baby.

Monday night football capped week one of the 2024 season, and it was Christian McCaffrey doing Christian McCaffrey things.

28 carries for a buck 47 and a touch averaging over five yards a tote.

What's that?

CMC was scratched?

It was

checks, notes.

Jordan Mason shredding the vaunted Jets defense for a buck 47 and a touch.

That makes sense.

49ers, 32.

New York Jets, 19

up there at the big bell bottom.

And the Niners after a stormy summer.

Really impressive start to the season.

And for the Jets, well, we'll get to the Jets.

Dan Hansis here.

Mark Sessler,

the gravedigger, on the ride as well.

Heed the call.

Mark,

just an amazing, amazing show, I thought, of

greatness

once more from Kyle Shanahan, who loses the best offensive player in the game.

That's not a quarterback in McCaffrey, the reigning offensive player of the year.

And he has such a genius scheme that he could run circles around his old buddy Salah

and get equal production from a guy who was a spare part in the eyes of everyone before Monday Night Football began.

Well, and yeah, and I mean, let's be real, I think you and I have had

contrasting fancies around Shanahan for years.

And I think that to the point where I maybe have annoyed you a little bit with my Shanahan-esque indulgences.

And I think tonight, the problem is this keeps happening on like prime time games too in the regular season, where I thought the way they opened the second half where this was even modest for what they've done in the past when they used to play the Rams and stuff.

But like a seven-minute plus drive off the clock that completely eats the heart out of the New York Jets

sort of ends the game early.

And it's not, it's interesting.

I was watching the Manning cast, and Peyton Manning, obviously, has been around for so long that he came into the league when Mike Shanahan was the guy, and he was the centerpiece.

And all these players, and Troy Aikman said it too, all these players wanted to play for Mike Shanahan back then.

Because if you were a quarterback, you were given a running game that would beguile the opponent non-stop.

And I remember back in the day when like the earliest fantasy football teams I'd ever play on, that Mike Shanahan, you know, in the post-Terrell Davis world with the Broncos, he'd bring in guys like Orlandus Gehry, Mike Anderson.

Clinton Portis was a true star for a while, but like Tatum Bell, Ruben Drones, Mike Bell, Bell, Selvin Young, and he just rotate these guys.

And it's like you'd lose your A guy like Christian McCaffrey, and then in comes second running back, or sometimes third, or sometimes someone brought in off like a UPS truck delivery job, and he'd run for 126 yards.

And it's like tonight is surprising because it shouldn't happen that way, but it's not because the Shanahans, whether it's the blocking scheme, the way they go find these one-cut running backs, they know exactly who.

I thought Connor said it really well last night.

Certain teams, and the Rams are that way, the Niners that way, they know exactly what kind of players they want.

And the Niners, under the Shanahan scheme, know exactly what kind of running back they want.

And to me, when this happened, when this announcement happened, I am in a terrible fantasy league where like I, if there's like 22 teams in it, I can't get anyone.

I was like quickly looking for Jordan Mason.

He's gone and he stars, and he's one of the best running backs of the league because of the system he's in.

And I thought it kind of spelled doom for the Jets very early when you saw that Mason was able to do exactly what Shanahan wanted, Dan.

Yeah, I mean, this was

an absolute butt-whipping in the trenches.

And

so, you know, and Trent Williams, for instance, who a week ago we didn't even know if he'd be playing in this game, he's on the field and absolutely dominant.

He doesn't even allow a pressure in this game for the first time since week three of 2022.

And,

you know, it wasn't just him.

He's obviously the captain of that line and the future Hall of Famer.

But up and down that line, they were blowing holes open.

It reminded me of the game I watched yesterday between the Texans and Colts and what the Houston offensive line was doing to the Indy defensive line for Joe Mixon.

And that's not to take anything away from Jordan Mason because he's a great story.

And it was, you know, ESPN had the great shot of him going up to his mom before the game, and all of a sudden, he has this great opportunity once in a lifetime.

Some of the background on it is crazy.

He had never had more than 11 carries in an NFL game before tonight.

He had, I think he finished with 28 in this game.

He had never had more than 22 in a game in college.

And then all of a sudden, week one, Monday night, Sportsman, he has 28 carries and he is a star.

So while I didn't, like, I wasn't watching Jordan Mason and thinking to myself, wow, this guy is an untapped superstar.

I'm thinking about the scheme and I'm thinking about Shanahan.

And yeah, like the Shanahan thing, for me at this point, now that they've, you know, had these multiple years of success, it's really about like, will he ever get over the hump?

And he's had some very difficult playoff losses.

He had obviously the infamous overtime failure in terms of knowing the rules.

And there's just certain things and some collapses along the way that we don't even need to get into.

His test, like some of these other teams we talked about yesterday, is to come no matter what.

But after a stormy summer, I really thought, I felt really good about the Jets' chances in this game because I thought it really set up well.

And then when you hear that CMC is out, you're like, okay, here we go.

But like to Shanahan's credit, to the Niners' credit, and hell, I know he's not going to be the guy that gets the juice here, but their new OC, Chris Forrester, to his credit, they cooked up a scheme that employed

an insane amount of motion, gravedigger.

This is from Next Gen Stats.

The Niners' offense featured motion on 90% of plays against the Jets, 62 of 69.

The second highest motion rate of any offense in week one.

Behind the Dolphins was 91.

The Dolphins, who are coached by who?

Mike McDaniel, who comes from what?

The Shanahan coaching tree.

These guys are just on a different level.

And when they're up against a coaching staff and we're going to get to the Jets, that is not at that level, these type of nights can happen.

The Jets have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, but it's not just talent in the NFL that works.

Yep, the motion craze has been taking over the league for a couple of years now, maybe more than that, and it's just going to keep continuing.

You saw it with the Saints with Clint Kubiak going down there and taking them from, you know, a team that was last in motion and play action rate last year to near the top of the league after week one.

And you're seeing the same thing on Monday Night Football with the guy who kind of pioneered all of it.

I mean, at least for this era of football right now.

And yeah, you see it with the receivers, just like the little cheat motions, like where they're aligned outside the tight end and then they move inside the tight end.

And it just changes the leverage and the angles for the defense and the communication that the defensive backs have to make with each other.

And it just makes everything easier.

It also helps Brock Purdy identify what kind of coverage he's facing.

It's just like they call it cheat motion because it's like a cheat code for the offense.

Mark, I thought that Purdy did a nice job.

Again, he ran the offense efficiently.

And I don't remember too many instances in this game where the Jets need to get off the field.

And there were a lot of third and manageables.

Every time,

it just seemed that they were picking the areas to do damage.

And then it becomes a question of with the Jets without Hassan Reddick, and you're going to hear it get louder around him now after this game, can they at least disrupt Purdy?

And I thought they would do a better job with that.

But again, the offensive line for the Niners really balled out, and I thought it set the stage for everything.

It's not a star-studded Niners line beyond Trent Williams.

And I think that speaks to what we've just been discussing about the system.

I left that as one of the more concerning notes for the Jets because I thought that was the place that we've seen them dominate.

We thought they could dominate tonight.

Hassan Reddick chose to be taken eight hats have

$800,000 he won't be paid to not play for the Jets tonight.

That's a statement to me.

There wasn't a single receiver for the Niners that crossed 70 yards.

I thought Purdy played well.

He missed a number of throws.

There was a terrible Brandon Ayuk drop, which I kind of liked because it's kind of like you want to sit out all offseason and camp and

prance around and tell us how great you are.

Then you had one of the biggest drops of the night.

But Purdy, to me, I think one thing that he added to his game, and we've seen it before, but like he's a good runner.

Like, he's mobile.

And I think that more than people realize, and he's smart about when he does it, too.

And he kind of complemented that offense.

They did just what they needed to do, but they dominated on both sides of the line.

And I thought that was, to me, for the Jets, Dan, one of the more concerning things.

The one reason I think this happens a little bit, just to go back for a second to the Shanahan thing, is that dating back to 2016 almost a decade Kyle Shanahan and this is a little old school has used 21 personnel at a top two rate every season going back to that season that means why you have a night like Kyle Yuschek almost every game you get to play like you did tonight from Kyle Uzczak where it's like this is one of the teams still using like a fullback that does everything that Shanahan wants and I think again that came from the Mike Shanahan world and all that and it's like we all know it and they can't stop it and that's the one thing about the Niners.

It's like,

who knows better than anyone than Salah?

Like, here's what's coming.

And Shanahan dictated it.

They knew exactly what was going to happen.

And the Niners on some of these games where they pull off this like 11-play, seven-minute drive, it's like, we're just going to do it.

It kind of reminded me of the end of the Lions game last night against the Rams.

It's like, you know what's coming.

We're going to do it.

We're going to execute it.

This is who we are.

It's hard to stop.

And that's what good teams do.

And I want to, before we move on to the other side of this, I want to, we should definitely call out the Niners' defense as well.

This is a defense that was getting run on by the end of last season, and the Jets have, in my mind, potentially a top-five running back and Brees Hall and an offensive line that we were told over and over again this summer, and it still could be, it's early, a very good offensive line, anchored obviously by Tyron Smith now and some other promising players and proven players in that line.

In this game, the Jets run it 19 times for 68 yards, averaging 3.6 yards per attempt.

And that really put them behind the eight ball.

And so credit to Nick Sorensen, their new defensive coordinator.

They added some fresh faces in that front seven to get bigger and more physical.

And they, again, trenches, man.

It was an ass-kicking.

All right.

Let's move to the other side of this.

And I think a good way to get things going on the Jets side of things is to check in with my dad over there in New York, in Rockland County, where he watched the game with my sister and brother-in-law and my mom and my brother Kevin.

They all got together around the TV to have a special moment.

Didn't quite work out that way.

Let's check in with my dad.

Green today.

Today.

Today, today.

What is he gonna say today?

Here's the review of the Jets home opener in San Francisco.

Not a good night for the Jets.

49ers basically destroyed the Jets on the offensive side and defensive side.

Twice the number of plays, points, everything, even six field goals by the field goal kicker.

Rodgers himself didn't play bad, bad, but he wasn't on the field too often, so he couldn't really be judged on how he really could be with the Jets.

But I was happy to see him on the field like all Jet fans.

I'm not disappointed as much because of the fact that the preseason there was no really Rodgers playing, but right now I'm really looking forward to game two and go, Jets.

Thank you, Dad.

And you know what?

Keith Hansis has the good perspective.

And by the way,

that song, Freaking Amazing, my friend down in Texas, Jack,

he is Jackie Daytona, and you can get his name is Keith.

He's Dan's dad on Spotify, iTunes, anywhere where you get your music.

It's on streaming services right now.

That's a banger.

And,

you know,

the Jets failed today, but I think what you're hearing from my dad and you're going to hear from me now is that Man, one year ago today,

when the Achilles goes on Rodgers, the whole season ended.

And that was like, it was all that buildup.

And then it was over.

And the irony is they won that game, their week one game, but the season was over.

This year, they lost the game, but the season is alive.

And Rodgers came out of the game physically in a good place.

And I thought he looked very good at times in this game.

There was nothing from Aaron Rodgers that made me nervous.

So we do get...

Gravers Titans next week.

The schedule is actually soft the rest of this month.

I think the Jets are going to be...

Oh,

you disagree?

You probably do.

I disagree.

I just love it.

So I think the Jets are going to have some time to settle in here.

I'm not that concerned.

Here's my overarching concern, Mark, about the Jets, is that they are coached by a man and Robert Sala, and they have their games.

And I know Rogers has an incredible amount of autonomy with the offense, but their play caller, their offensive coordinator is Nathaniel Hackett.

And there are going to be many games this season where they will go into action and they will be at a deficit in terms of advantage at head coach and at play caller.

And when you are in that situation, that's going to come back to haunt you.

So while the Jets have a lot of talent on this roster and Aaron Rodgers has solidified the quarterback position, I thought Salah got...

circles coached around him in this game.

And Ulbric, the offensive coordinator, and Hackett did not impress me, especially with some of the short play calls.

And that is going to continue to be be a problem around this Jets team.

The coaching staff, I think, stinks, and not many teams with a suspect coaching staff make big waves in an NFL season.

If you ain't got no haters, you ain't popping.

Yeah, whatever.

You know it, Robert, too.

Doubt's going to be creeping in.

I'm not as down on Robert Sala as you are, but I understand why you are.

Like the Nathaniel Hackett part of it to me

has not made sense for so long, and it's giving too much power to someone that's trying to create their own coaching tree inside of a different coaching staff.

And I think that's always kind of not been how a team like the New York Jets should be organized.

You know what bothered me tonight?

Because I thought Garrett Wilson in the first quarter looked like an absolute star.

And it was like this person could take over this game.

He could take over this game.

And early on, Brees Hall had a couple moments that made you think like these two guys, and it's not all on Aaron Rodgers, like these guys with Aaron Rodgers could hang with the Niners.

And I don't know if it was the play calling or just the Niners being the better coach team and just they overcame their own early start.

But Garrett Wilson disappeared after the first quarter.

Like, Aaron Rodgers disappeared after that early drop.

The defense couldn't get off the field.

The defense inability to get off the field and then the running game's inability to kind of establish any type of cadence and rhythm to the offense.

It felt like by the time we were midway through the third quarter, we'd barely seen Aaron Rodgers and Garrett Wilson.

After that, one,

they have a three and out that has a bad Lazard drop to start the game.

They have the Brees Hall fumble on the second possession.

The third possession is a thing of beauty.

And I'm watching it, Mark, and I'm like, and I'm not, I'm not like, yeah, I'm not dressing this up for podcast purposes.

For someone that's watched terrible quarterback play for so long, to see Rodgers with 70,000 enemy fans around him, being complete control of the offense around him, getting people in the right spot, and then with that flick of the wrist, the arm is still there and hitting those bing, bing, bing to Garrett Wilson and then getting right down the field.

I can't wait to see more of that because I think more is coming.

It's just we didn't see enough of it, and I don't think they got enough opportunities in this game to really establish what they can be on offense.

I still feel very good about the offense.

I just feel very bad about the way the rest of the team played today.

Yeah, that was the thing was that they couldn't get control, like they couldn't put anything together, and they had those early three and outs.

What they really needed in this game was the defense just to give them a chance to find their footing.

And you had those two penalties by Tyron Smith on two of the three and outs after the touchdown drive.

Both of them declined because they were on third down, so they didn't convert anyway.

But you can just kind of sense that this team, which is a lot of new pieces coming together, is going to need a little time.

Like, this is essentially the preseason for most of these older Jets veterans who sat out the entire preseason.

They didn't get any action together outside of training camp.

So they need a little time.

And if the defense had just given them a chance in the second half to

put some drives together and find their footing, I feel like this could have been a totally different game.

And it's, to me, it's one of those things that's like, it's week one, and you can't take too much from week one unless, I don't know, unless your team is

defending Super Bowl champion or you're the Panthers.

Yeah.

Right.

Two opposite ends of the spectrum.

Yeah.

Week one is a liar, Mark, as they say.

But yeah, at the same time, there's no way to spin it if you're in that locker room with the Jets or you're a Jets fan is anything other than that was bitter disappointment because you were waiting kind of two years for that game and it kind of was a wet fart to be real.

Well, I think, yeah, I mean, it's like a

nice,

true self-look at where you stand in terms of a better coaching staff and a better team.

But this is a Jets team that like, they're different than other sports teams around.

Like, you've got a vice tightening on like you're essentially on your on around your head non-stop and it's like they've got to come out of this next like they've got to get a couple wins out of this next couple weeks like you can't start one and three i just think like they can't let chaos take over they've got to rearrange get their act together and and sorry gravedigger but it's like this jets titans clash is absolutely critical and and really much more for the jets than the titans because i don't think people are hovering around the titans wondering if they're going to like dance their way into the playoffs I mean, if they do, that's nice.

But the Jets are seen as a playoff team.

You've got to, in very quick order, you've got to turn around and show us what you can do,

not what you're limited at.

And

I'll cap it with this, which is you're going to hear a lot now, and I'm sure on talk radio and New York WFA, and people are going to be going nuts about Hassan Reddick, but Hassan Reddick is not a guy that's known for stopping the run.

So that is, you know, this team was going to have a lot of issues today, regardless of Reddick.

And I saw one person tweet, oh man, no one's made more money tonight than Hassan Reddick.

Let me let you in on a little secret here.

Hassan Reddick, as we mentioned, is losing $800,000 a game check.

In addition to all the money he lost this summer, the Jets with, again, a manageable schedule, I think it's Titans, Patriots, Broncos, I believe.

The Jets are going to wait that guy out, and he's not going to want his contract to toll for another year, which will happen if he never reports.

So he's the one that there's no leverage.

The Jets are going to wait out the Reddick thing, and it's going to resolve itself.

And maybe to put a little lipstick on the pig, the Jets will make it seem like they adjusted the contract on some level.

But there's not going to be any mega deal for Hasan Reddick, and he will show up.

What version of Reddick shows up?

I don't know.

Did they need Reddick today as a pass rusher?

Yes, they didn't sniff Brock for most of the game, but ultimately they lost this game because of their failure to stop the run and have any continuity in the game plan.

So credit to the Niners.

You kicked the Jets' ass, and they are off and running.

Let's take a break.

Wait, Dan, before we take a break, I have to tell you this because you hate it.

It was a score of gamma.

32-19, the 1,085th unique final score in NFL history.

Really?

It's crazy that there's a 1,008th

score combinations.

I agree.

32-19 doesn't sound that crazy.

Nate Hackett's genius fourth and short and goal line play calling.

The Jets missed out on two two-point conversions in this game.

So that gets you to 19 despite scoring two touchdowns.

Okay, that's cool.

By the way, before we take a break, I want to let everyone know that we are not the only

podcast on this beautiful platform, Underdog.

Mark, we're having a great time here on Underdog.

They've been so supportive of us.

James Palmer, friend of the show.

He has a program with Steve Smith, the future Hall of Fame wide receiver.

He's not in the hall yet, right?

But he's going to be in the hall.

Soon.

Is he?

Justin, can we check that out?

Is Steve Smith in the Hall of Fame?

If he's not, he's going to be.

He's one of the greats, and he's a good dude, Steve Smith.

They do a show called 89, simply.

And if you've listened to the show with Palmer on it, he's not happy that his name's not in the title, but he's going to be a professional and do a great show.

Also, your boys

are your boy, Mark, and gravedigger Colt McCoy.

He has his own program

with Jay Gruden, coach,

AQ Shipley, and Justin Pugh, his two dogs on the offensive line.

It's called Clean Pocket.

We absolutely endorse these shows.

Met these guys, had a great night out a couple of weeks ago.

Things got a little bit weird with the other guys on the show that aren't me, but everybody came out of it okay.

Check out 89 and Clean Pocket.

We'll be right back to hit some news.

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audience only.

All right, we're back.

It's time to get into some news.

But first we have an update on Steve Smith.

He actually has been on the ballot for three years and has never advanced to the final 15.

So there's some snubbing going on.

Let's get Steve in the hall.

Can we start like a movement here?

Race.

Well, I would.

We're not putting Steve Smith in the hall, Mark?

Well, here's the thing.

You know, for many years, we brought this up on our previous vehicle.

Not allowed into the Pro Football Writers Association.

Like, it's like not allowed to be part of that.

Like, look it.

You get us in now.

We'll turn the vote.

And by the way,

that would be right.

That would be right.

This is someone that belongs in Canton.

That's the kind of receiver I want on my team and in my company.

So here we go.

Unbelievable.

What a disgrace.

Clean it up, Canton.

It is a disgrace.

Let's do some news.

I know that a lot on you guys in the past.

Clean it up, Canton.

This team was supposed to be built on how much.

Anybody else got questions?

Kayvon, what happened?

Is that a big for you?

Go ahead.

What happened on that penalty?

Man, I tried to convert.

I think I kind of hooked his face mask.

Come on with this guy.

Mark, I mean,

that's what a clown.

And I think, I don't know for sure, but it looked like it was a reporter from Giants.com potentially based on the story.

It was Jordan Renan, I believe, who is a

really good reporter.

It's been on our show in the past, like asking a really fair game-related question.

Like if you're going to...

We made it clear that it was Kayvon Thibodeau?

Yeah.

It was Kayvon Thibodeau, our old friend.

And I mean, Mark, we broke the news about this guy.

We broke the news.

I'm surprised because I thought that he had turned, I thought that there was evidence that there were other things going on.

He had turned the corner a bit.

If you're going to be sarcastic and treat a reporter that way,

it should be funny.

It should be humorous.

We should enjoy it.

It should make the reporter feel like part of the sarcasm and the joke, too.

And it was just sort of like rude.

And I get you came out of a bad game, but.

It's a fair question.

That's the other thing.

It was a totally game-related question.

I know what their question was.

He got cut off before he could even

play it again.

Watch this again.

I know that a lot's on you guys in the past rush up front.

This team is supposed to be built on.

How much.

Anybody else got questions?

Yeah.

See,

it's Jordan.

We know what he's asking.

He's asking about the fact that Kayvon Thibodeau came out of that game with no sacks, very little pressure.

They were destroyed, and it's like this was meant to be the strength of the Giants defense.

What happened today?

That is a fair game-related question.

100%.

Because when Kayvon Thibodeau has three sacks in a game, and he had huge games last year, he took a big step forward as a player.

He's answering those questions.

Yes, he is.

Listen, this is New York, buddy.

You need to clean it up.

Come on.

And you should answer the big spoon, little spoon question.

That's the other thing, Sess Dog.

You should answer that question.

That's at the root of this.

I think we found out early on that there's a sensitivity to tough questions.

That was a tough question.

It would have provided information.

It could have been aggregated.

Big Spoon, Little Spoon with Brian Dable

didn't want to go there.

And he didn't want to go there with a real football question either.

And we do have an expression, Mark, on the show

when someone reveals something about oneself without even realizing that they have just essentially told on themselves

and their character has been exposed.

He's working for it.

He's looking for it.

I think he found it.

There it is.

And Pipe Down Giants fans.

Oh, they spent five minutes ripping on kit.

Relax.

We are allowed to have fun here.

Just like News Flash, like go find some podcast where you get 47 straight minutes of analytics, deep diving.

We like to talk about Kayvon Thibodeau sometimes and him being a dick.

Like, sometimes we do.

It's our show.

And these are the decisions we make.

And we make the decisions, Mark, based on what we think our audience will ultimately love because it is about the audience.

But it's also about what we like talking about.

It's about us.

It's about them.

It's largely about Gravedigger.

I'm really missing an old sound drop right now that was

what a politician you are there.

All right.

Let's get to the news, and we will start with the big news out of Green Bay.

Jordan Love, of course, in the opener with five seconds to play in that game, gets a rolled up on.

It turns out it is an MCL sprain in his knee.

It's a type of injury where very often it leads to players missing multiple weeks.

The Packers are not, they're holding their cards close to their vest, put it that way.

But LaFlore said, Matt LaFlore, the head coach, said on Monday that, yes, backup better be ready.

Backup better be ready.

Yeah, if Jordan's not cleared, then we'll start Malik and Sean will be the backup.

What's the possibility, say if Jordan isn't cleared, what's the possibility of Jordan actually being ready for?

I couldn't give you a percentage, but if he gets cleared, we'll give him every opportunity like we always will.

And,

you know,

I know he's doing everything in his power.

I know

he's spending a lot of time trying to get back as soon as possible, but certainly we're not going to put him in a position where, if he can't protect himself, that he'd go out there.

Mark, I'm fluent in coach speak.

This is very clear to me.

Jordan Love ain't no way in hell he's playing this week and probably not the next couple weeks after that, but certainly not playing this week.

And they have backed themselves in a corner with Malik Willis.

So if there's any game planning and strategy to employ here that maybe your opponent in week two has to study Jordan Love game film, if you could trick them that way, maybe that helps Malik Willis.

But in reality, everyone knows the deal.

Malik Willis is the starter and maybe Sean Clifford gets in the game as well.

We're going to find out.

I'm completely with you.

I mean, I think that if you got later on to that, into that quote, it was very clear when he asked, like, it's just, you know, about protecting himself.

He is not playing.

And it could be a lot of Josh Jacobs and a lot of

kind of hiding Malik Willis.

Diana Rossini from the Athletic did mention that to

what we talked about on Sunday, that Ryan Tannehill's name has been whispered.

That I think, I don't know if that's going to happen.

It's a little late in the week already for that to happen.

But Gravedigger, I would imagine that Ryan Tannehill is someone that you've got to be looking at because this this is a team who is a playoff type team.

This could happen.

And Malik Willis loses games

by all evidence that we have.

He does not win them.

He loses them.

The only problem, though, Gravedigger, is that

once you're in this deep now, you can't just sign Ryan Tannehill.

I know Baker did it once in a freaky, off-chance way, but you don't just sign a guy on Wednesday and play him on Sunday.

But next week, though,

But what about Joe Flacco?

It's like you literally could bring in Tannehill if he's healthy and

have him play not this game, but the next one.

It's Malik this week.

But it's like you don't have to stick with him for three or four weeks if that's how long this goes on for.

So Tom Pellisero actually reported that Tannehill was not reached out to.

So Diana Rossini and Tom Pellisero reporting opposite things here on that side of things.

I don't know who's right.

Obviously, we probably never will know unless Tannehill signs with the Packers, then we might know Diana was right.

Tannehill, to to me, I mean, I don't know anything, but I would guess he's not interested in coming into spot start for two or three games.

Look, they're not putting Jordan Love on IR.

If they thought he was going to miss more than three games, they'd put him on IR, right?

So he's not going to be on IR, which means he's probably back in four, maybe five if things aren't going as well as they hope.

Games, your next two games are against the Colts and the Titans, two teams in the AFC that, yeah, you want to win every game to make the playoffs, but ultimately, when it comes down to tiebreakers and stuff, like they're not going to be super impactful for the Packers' playoff chances.

I feel like this is just going to be like a Malik Willis read option, screen out the ass, like as many screens as you can call reasonably in a game, and just hope that your defense can carry you to victory in the way that the Bears' defense did it.

The old screen pass out the buttocks attack.

I've always enjoyed it.

I'm with you, and I don't know anything about it either, but I can tell you for damn sure if it was Jordan Love's ACL that popped as opposed to a slight tear of his MCL, Ryan Tannehill is probably on a plane on his way to Wisconsin.

But I think the reporting out there also around Tannehill is that he's not going anywhere unless it's a really good situation for him.

And he doesn't want to fly and join the Packers and maybe play for a couple weeks when he's totally cold, doesn't know the playbook, and then Jordan Love comes back anyway and he's holding the clipboard.

That doesn't sound like something that Tannehill wants at this stage of his career.

But let's see how it it all plays out.

In other injury news, the Rams lost Puka Nakua on Sunday night football.

It turns out he did aggravate that summer knee injury.

Very, very annoying.

And he's going to miss at least four games because they did put

Nakua on IR.

Well, they will.

They haven't done it.

They will, but

they will put him on IR, just like the Packers did not.

put Jordan Love on IR, keeping the door open there.

Anyway, here is what Sean McVay said about Puka Nakua.

You had said that you said Puka was a candidate to go on IR.

Is he going to go?

You're going to place him on in the middle?

That's most likely, yes.

What would be a determination that would have you decide not to do that?

I mean, why would you not do that?

Well, since you're so specific with my words, he's going to go to IR, Gary.

How's that for you?

Okay, thanks.

Just want to be clear.

No, you are.

I'm joking, but yes,

because I there's always possibilities, it's probably not likely that he would not go to IR because his injury is going to keep him out for more than a month.

So that is the most likely route.

Now, when you only have eight throughout the year and you're talking about already being on maybe six of these in week one, that'd be maybe why you wouldn't do it if you wanted to hold a spot.

But that's the most likely direction that we would go.

I like that.

He lost the game.

I don't know if it's the gravelly nature of his voice or just the fact that he was just pretty real, enjoyably from a coach angle with the reporters'

syntax, but that just cracks me.

I watched it like four times.

It is.

There's something funny about it.

But what's not funny is Nakua's,

the fact that the injury has reoccurred now.

It's one of those things where it's like, just like with Cup last year, who obviously balled out and picked up the slack and had like 20 targets on Sunday,

You just hope Nakua could shake it.

And this makes a lot of sense that they're just shutting him down and they're going to try to get this thing right because this is a team that hopes to play in January.

Speaking of playing and not playing, their offensive line, the Rams, we're going to have Jordan, and maybe we'll kind of table this because Jordan will give us some more insight who covers the Rams so beautifully for the athletic.

Four of their five starting off offensive linemen are hurt right now.

Jonah Jackson is the only one that's healthy.

And before we move off these big injuries, we should just, a little clarity on Christian McCaffrey, who, yes, was scratched.

In fact, it wasn't as surprising, it was surprising to us, but it wasn't surprising to people behind the scenes with the Niners because after the game,

Jordan Mason

was speaking to Lisa Salters on ESBN and said he knew on Friday that he was the starting running back in this game.

So they are, according to Adam Schefter's reporting, there's a very good chance he's going to miss week two as well, McCaffrey.

And that's probably a very similar trajectory potentially to Nikul, where it's like the Niners, they know the goal is to be playing in February, and they do not want to mess with a soft tissue injury.

This calf injury has now been meddlesome for McCaffrey for weeks and weeks.

All right.

In other news, Deshaun Watson is coming off, Mark, a really bad game.

Obviously, the Browns offense had a really bad game.

By the way, great start for all the teams of Heed the Call.

Titans, Jets, Browns, 0-3.

Sensation.

And, you know, the vibes, they're not good.

Anyway.

The good news is we will not be 0-6 because one of our teams is winning next week or they're tying and then we'll be 0-5-1, maybe, but we will not be 0-6.

That's true.

That's good.

I forgot about the Jets stomping the Titans in Nashville on Sunday.

That's right.

Okay, good.

Anyway, Deshaun Watson, who obviously ended up with the Browns in part because of his legal issues involving

all the massage and sexual assault allegations and all that led to Watson being traded to the Browns, who immediately made him the highest paid player ever in terms of guaranteed money, all the drama around that.

And the whole idea for the Browns was, okay, we're taking this.

risk on this guy that's a PR disaster

and we're going to hopefully it's smooth sailing.

Well, not quite.

So he's been sued again, Deshaun Watson, arising from an alleged incident in October 2020, which is when he was with the Texans, in which he is accused of sexual assault and battery while on a date.

Mark, I know you've obviously as a Browns fan, you've read up on this a little bit.

What could this mean for a Browns team?

I know every Browns fan's wondering,

is there potentially an out on this contract?

Is there anything out there about that if this turns into something more than just, you know, this reporting?

Well, first of all,

you know,

it's in development, like what we're learning about it.

But what I read about the incident itself is like, whoa.

This guy is disturbing.

And it's just really hard to imagine gearing up to root for,

even if you're

in the locker room, like a teammate of this guy, for what's been going on, what you read, and like that this is the leader of the team.

In terms of what's come out, I read from PFT that there is a paragraph in the contract that they created with Deshaun Watson where if another type of this situation, a lawsuit, I think, bubbles up, that there is a potential way out of the contract to some degree.

I guess the question would be if this particular incident was known by the team, if they can prove it was or it wasn't.

You know, as of when we tape, as we're taping this, that's to be to be seen.

I think it's more speculation, but I also wonder if it's more, to to be honest like wish casting from people that are watching the browns with this quarterback saying like is there a way out of this contract is there a way out of one of the worst trades of all time is there a way out of this complete total mess um with a player that doesn't even look like he really wants to be on the field and probably needs to be somewhere else so you know there's a lot more to come on this uh it's just disturbing that there's more allegations.

It's disturbing that this person's playing right now.

Like, I wonder if the NFL could get involved and say, we're shelving this guy.

This is just not good for anyone involved.

And it might be better for the Browns if they just turn to Jameis Winston or fill in the blank because it just feels like you talk about bad vibes.

It's more than bad vibes.

There's just some bad business, bad legacy.

bad everything involved with the organization that this person continues to start for the Cleveland Browns, in my opinion.

But really, in the opinion of anyone that reads what this was about.

Right.

And, you know, it's very important to point out this is not a criminal case and nothing has been proven around it.

But at the same time, certain people lose the benefit of the doubt.

And Watson, based on the prior actions, obviously you have to take something like this very seriously.

He's still due to receive $92 million fully guaranteed after the season.

And one part of the story that could get interesting is, was this case disclosed to the Browns before the trade was consummated with the Texans?

So we'll keep an eye on this story and that obviously

after another poor performance by Watson, then for this to follow up a day later.

Yeah, it's just he represents a dark cloud sitting over the organization.

Let's wrap up with getting caught up with some

injury news, rapid fire style.

In fact, let's do a little 8 o'clock delight.

Take it away, gravedigger.

Panthers star defensive tackle Derek Brown suffered a potentially season-ending knee injury.

It's a meniscus

tear, similar to what J.J.

McCarthy went through, where

they're going to have to do the surgery before they know if it's truly season-ending, but Teppers get a second opinion.

Obviously, it's a huge loss for the Panthers, who are terrible anyway.

Jags cornerback Tyson Campbell has a hamstring injury.

We'll miss some time.

That's a big one to watch.

Rome Adunze has a sprained MCL.

Only had one catch in his debut, but tough break for Kayla Williams.

Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson has an MCL sprain.

It is considered weak to weak.

This is actually good news because he was very much feared to have torn his ACL.

So he'll be back in a few weeks.

David Njoku feared to have suffered a high ankle sprain will probably miss three to four weeks.

Ian Rapperport said they're hopeful it's on the short end so maybe three weeks but could be as much as a month or more.

I like that Njoku.

Tough game yesterday, but tough loss.

He'll be back.

He'll be back.

Next.

Antoine Whitfield Jr.

will miss a couple weeks with a sprained ankle and foot.

The Bucs secondary is very banged up.

Definitely something to watch.

Josh Allen has been cleared to practice and will play Thursday, which is good news for the Bills, obviously.

On the other hand, the Bills starting nickelback Turon Johnson is going to miss some time, according to Sean McDermott.

And finally, the Steelers punter Cameron Johnston suffered a season-ending knee injury.

So they will be signing punter Corliss Waitman, who has been with the Steelers three times now.

Mark, you watched that game, right?

That Steelers game?

Yes, I did.

What happened to the punter?

Well,

do you recall?

He was banged up and he was in a lot of pain.

And Chris Boswell, who went six six for six on field goals and was, as we mentioned, the hero of the game, had to come in and actually punt.

And it's not his role, and it's not something that he does

on a daily basis.

And he did fine.

I mean, like, he didn't, you know, it wasn't a disaster.

He did fine.

And, like, so Boswell was just kind of like, I'll do everything for you.

I'll hit every field goal you ask.

I'll come in and, you know, replace the hurt punter.

I mean,

I don't want to.

oversimplify the special teams world, you know, but

can we just combine the kicker and the punter?

And then, you you know, these teams give a give a little more depth than other positional groups.

Like, I think it's possible, right?

And I don't, and that's bad news.

And any punters listening to the show, my apologies,

or frankly, kickers, because maybe it's a guy that's a natural punter who also can split the uprights.

But yeah, just a little bit of an eye-opener there.

I was watching

like in the middle of the night on

Friday night, I believe, when I couldn't sleep, some old school.

Wait, you couldn't sleep?

Yes, that happens all the time.

But it was the Pat Sommerall football life, and it brought me down a couple different wormholes.

But they talked about the fact that, like, way back then,

quarterbacks were just punters, too.

Like, you quarterbacks were just simply, you're also your punters, and they'd keep them on the field for four downs.

But then it was like, wait a minute, why are we keeping these guys on the field for this play where they've got eight defensive linemen trying to destroy them as they became more and more important?

So that's where it came from, Dan.

And I think you've got to live with the specialization of it all.

Awesome.

What else did you do that night?

I'm just curious.

That's all I'll report on.

Probably had hours to kill.

I watched a lot of.

No, I actually watched a number of sex addiction.

You got a problem with sex?

No, I watched a number of people.

Are you addicted to sex?

That is a problem.

Sex addiction.

Why would you play that?

Like, I watched a number of football lives in my living room.

Did you really?

I did.

I kind of love that.

I love that show

when they're not shoving non-essential content in terms of the main.

This has reached new levels of absurdity.

Okay, go.

We're gone.

I do like that show.

And Missing Rings.

I watched the Missing Rings of the Bills.

Hey, any way, Mark, you could support NFL media and their content, I support it.

That was not my goal.

All right, so.

Good up.

I'm really, yeah,

the Jets lost, but you know what?

There's another game.

Last year, year there wasn't another game.

So I'm feeling good.

We're going to talk about that game.

A little chance for a little plug here?

Music City Audible Podcast, my Titans podcast.

We're going to have a very special guest to help preview Titans Jets coming out Wednesday morning.

Check us out.

How about that?

Gravedigger.

Beautifully done.

Thanks.

Way to self-promote in a big spot.

Can't wait to be on that show.

We're also going to be on Erica Tamposi's Rams programming tomorrow and tomorrow, Tuesday.

And

we are going to be on the Rich Eisen Show.

Dan Hansis and Mark Sessler representing and plugging the brand, Heed the Call.

And by the way, Heed the Call is on Patreon now, too.

And we have a big announcement on Thursday coming,

dang it,

about some of the programming that you're going to get for the launch on Friday.

I think the listeners, Mark, are going to be into it.

The programming launch on Friday morning.

What do you think?

I really do.

We wouldn't create stuff in a vacuum that had no meaning to the people that have listened to the show.

And

it's stuff that I'm excited about.

So

I like to think if I'm going to write something or create something, that would make someone else like it.

But yes,

you're coming to me for these pitches, and I'm giving you long-winded, drifty answers.

And I know that you wanted probably a sentence or two at top.

Usually when I know it's time to say goodbye.

Coming up on Wednesday, Connor Orr will rejoin us and will preview Bills Dolphins, Thursday Night Football.

And then, yes, Thursday, the preview with Jordan and Mike, and then the TNF recap.

And, of course, the Sunday night flagship.

It comes back around again

on,

well, Sunday.

All right, that's it.

Thank you to everybody for listening.

Until next time, you know what you must do.

Heed the call.

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