With the call of today's game on Fox Sports analysts Brock Heure joins us now and I think it's the first time we've had you on our air because we don't get a lot of Fox games and you're a lot of times on college games. Brock, it's good to see you. How are you. Yeah, I'm doing good, doing good. It's it's gonna be fun. This is probably one of the more college environments for US because the booth is way up high. It's not as big and company and cozy as a number of these newer stadiums. It'll be
a blast watch. I think gonna be a very competitive game too. You are normally on college football, right, You've been with Fox for about a year or so, but they've moved you over to NFL coverage, and you know the adjustment of that for you. This has gotta be a little different prep. I would think week to week, well, you do the college games, and we were chatting off the air. This is much easier than the college game.
The b y u Utah game with forty two Polynesian players and nine hundred vowels you don't necessarily find anymore in the NFL, So the games are three hours or less, right about ten possessions each sixty five plays. Frankly, you know most of the players, and it's a huge advantage for me a little a little bit like Matt Rule. I was talking to him about this last week in the Carolina game. I mean, I know most of these
guys through college, right. I know how to pronounce Daria because I had him in Wisconsin two or three times, or Calebon chased on uh, you know. So it's familiar names, a lot less of them on my board, a lot easier to enunciate and pronunciate and um and the coaches, frankly to have been just terrific and transparent all the way along. So it's been a blast. Brockward with Us has the Call of the Game today on Fox Sports. One of those names that you know how to pronounce
is Gardner Minshew, the second Jaguars quarterback. You've done him for a while. You're out in Seattle, of course on radio and then covering the college games on Saturday and now NFL on Sunday, so you've known Gardner for a little bit. This is his year to prove that he can be the guy in the NFL. But it's funny because he probably shouldn't be in this position to begin with. He shouldn't even have played last year. Now he has the opportunity. What have you made of his season so far? Yeah?
I talked to him a bunch on Friday when we were out at the facility. First of all, he's two and oh when I've done his games, so he was excited about that and he knew that. Uh. Secondly, he's a rental kug. He's not really from Wazoo. When you're there seven months, you're not really People said, oh, you're a husky, he's a cougar. I'm like, he's He basically lived in a rental for seven months and made the most of it in his eleven one season. Is absolutely
a character? Is you? And your audience knows having followed in the last couple of years. You know, I said to Gardener, I said, okay, when you're done playing and we we know you want to coach, are you going to install a air raid system? And you're said high school or college or do you like this pro style stuff? And he didn't even hesitate. He's like, are you kidding me? I'm going air raid. We're throwing the rock spread it everywhere, playing in space and simplifying. So to me, that's that's
the conversation, is how much can he grow. We've seen Aaron Rodgers our crew twice this year, and frankly, it's unfair. What he's doing to defense is he's taken him apart pre snap, He's taken him apart at the snap he's with his cadence, he's taken him apart post snap. In this day and age with very little stadium noise and everything else. I mean, it's just Russell Wilson. I watch up close back home as well. It's the same thing. And that's where Gardner, to me, is going to It's
not about his arm athleticism. I think he's a smart guy, but can he commands like you've got to do to be an elite guy at this level down in down out, series in, series out, game in, game out. And you're right, this is his prove it season, even with a lot of young people around him, and and and not nearly the defense they've had here in the past. That's what he's got to prove to this organization, to decision makers. Can he command the show at the line of scrimmage
consistently like the great guys do. And right now, that's still I think to be fair work in progress. Yeah, how long does that process take to figure it out? We know how long he's going to have to figure it out. Can he do it in that amount of time? He has to show significant steps, you know, I remember Pete Carroll saying to me about Russell Wilson, it takes four or five years for you to get your master's degree, your true mastery of your system of what defenses are doing.
So he's not gonna have four year master's degree here in year number two and what his eighteenth start. But what you've got to see is that command grow over the course of the season, right, I mean, he's he's his decision making touchdown, the interceptions very good. His accuracy to me is just fine. But when you watch Aaron, when you watch Mahomes, when you watch Russell, when you watch those guys at the very very top and you see Gollie, how did they change that protection? How did
they change that play? How did they keep the defense on guessing at all times? How how did they constantly get to the very best play against anything thrown their way? That's what the very very elite do at this level now in this day and age. And as I said, he's not going to get his master's degree, but he's got to work towards it over the course of the season.
And that's frankly what I'm excited to watch today against the Detroit team that does a bunch of junk at the line of scrimmage but ultimately plays a bunch of man behind it. Can he take advantage of it? Not for a series, not for a quarter, not for a half, can you do it for sixty minutes? Because this team will need him to brock Heward with us from Fox Sports. Balance has been the buzzword this week around t I A. Bank Field, getting James Robinson more involved deeper into the game.
He had only thirteen carries last week and that laws in Houston, and it feels like that might take some of those things off Gardener's plate if they can balance things out for Ja Gruden, no question, and that sets up your movement where I think Gardener is very comfortable. That's sets up more play action and you have to be sitting there and to your point, a lot of
it is situationally. When you're behind, you've just frankly got to throw it more, but to be dead last in the league sent for an old, old line coach like Doug Moron that that's just not that's not gonna work, That's not how you're gonna function. And on top of it, I really like your two tackles. Mccam. Robinson's in a contract year and you are seeing it. That guy is playing with the fury and a vengeance and a consistency. He's not shown his previous three. Juwan Taylor on the
other side. I don't know if they keep a pancake stat in the NFL, but if they did for offensive tackles, I promised you he would be high up there and well above average. He has some snap and some nastiness. Uh A j Knts having his best year as a pro lender is the center. So this is a above average offensive line and the fact that they're sitting there at sixty six percent past that's not tenable, nor does
it play to your strengths. And I would guess we're going to see a commitment to that run game today heard with us. Let's flip it to the Jaguars defense. They've had some three issues as of late but consistently throughout the year they have struggled to find pass rush, one sack in each of the five games so far, and really not a lot of pressure on quarterbacks in general. Not many hits, not many pressures. It's crucial to getting Matthew Stafford's face and make him move a little bit
and dance those feet around. But if you don't, he has the awareness in the arm to carve you up. Yes he does. And and I think you're gonna see Todd wash be more aggressive now that the burden is to your point about some of the injuries, you know you're gonna I think see Korea starting their base package today. A guy that's had three days of work, you're gonna see the ball shared in my opinion, after about being here seven days. You're gonna see him take some significant
snaps today. So I mean guys right literally right off the straight and Shared's case and and Korea totally different system his third and four years. So uh that that's gonna be a little burdensome on the early downs. But I think you're gonna see them cut it loose, especially if they get Detroit in the passing situations. While Detroit is Holiday is a big receiver. They don't scare you with their speed. Amdola didn't run that great. Marvin Jones
isn't a Blazer by league standards. So I think they're gonna trust their people to play some man on the back end, and in any passing situation they can, they're gonna crank it up. But yeah, they're gonna be down somebodies today in that front. There's gonna be some brand new faces that they're gonna have to know the basics on early downs and then to your point, you've got to get home. You've got to hit. Matthew Stafford QB hits on the year, that's near the bottom of the league.
The good news for them is they're facing the worst in the league as far as pressure. Detroit has five sacks as well and only like sixteen hits on the quarterback. So yeah, the team that that that gets the grass stains on either Gardener Gardner or Matthew Moore consistently, it's probably the team's gonna win finals. Thought here, whether you brought brought humored with us from Fox Sports two top corners in the draft last year, going ahead to hit, well,
they're not going head to head. But they're on the same game this week, Jeff Okuda and c J. Henderson. Henderson was out last week with the shoulder. Sounds like he's good to go for today. Okuda the higher of the draft picks last year. How about those two guys earlier this season. Yeah, both of them stunted, you know, I think in their growth and development a little bit by injury for Akuda, especially with a hamstring that limited
so much of his training camp. And Todd Wash was pretty honest with us and we were talking about Chase on not necessarily c J, but it, but it relates in much the same way. And he said, Man, these rookies, they're up against it more than any rookie class that he's ever seen, you know, because of this COVID situation, because of the c b A that in all the new rules and regulations both with COVID and the new CBA anyway, where these guys can't hit, can't play in pad.
So rookies are are. Yeah, And for rookie corners, especially top ten corners that are counted on immediately to come in and be locked down, shutdown guys unrealistic with the off season and training camp. But both have certainly flashed, both have had some pick both of had some tackles for loss and and disruptive guys. And I know this, both of them are highly athletic and have that athletic arrogance that you need at that position. Great stuff, Rock,
Enjoy Jacksonville. Great to see you and talk to you, and we'll hopefully see you down the line soon. And enjoy those college boards this year. I I really, I really do, I really do miss them, and who knows, maybe one day I'll see you on the road again.