It's Friday, which means the practice week. Hey is in the barn. Who shoveled it in there for the Steelers? Was it that guy right there, Russell Wilson or was it justin fields. We'll talk about it coming up as the charade somehow continues joining us later in the program, This guy right here who I think just caught another pass against the Saints. It's Chris Godwin, Buccaneers wide receiver. You're gonna want to hear from him about all things football and what he's doing off the field for the
Tampa area. And then this guy as well, joining us, Brian Branch who, yes, I think he just forced another turnover against the Cowboys. The Lions defensive back is with us. Later in the program. It is the Insiders for your
Friday of week seven. As we are inching closer to Sunday, Judy Batista joining me Mike Garofalo, as we get you set for this weekend of NFL Action and look back at the last couple of days in the news that it brought us, including the news that really kind of sort of hit on Tuesday, or at least I think we thought it did. And somehow the Steelers are still
playing this one along. Mike Tomlin sounded like he was gunning for Russell Wilson as the starting quarterback on Tuesday, but now sort of walking it back and not quite confirming it even if Russ and George Pickens sort of did.
It's the first game of the year for me.
But you know, I've been fortunately, been a lot of first games, you know, so the confidence is there, obviously, and then obviously just being out with the guys.
That's the fun part about this game. It's just playing the.
Game you love and and doing the fiscal part of you know, getting an end zone hopefully, you know, let's score a bunch of touchdowns.
Have you noticed him putting in extra time this week, maybe working with you one on one, just to try to get on the same page.
Yeah, getting on the same page. I have to practice throwing more than morning usually because you know, this is first start. Mike, how did Russ look this week?
And if you're.
Ready to name a start, I am, but I'm just gonna, you know, keep that in house. But I thought he was sharp. I thought Justin was sharp as well. I thought we had a highly productive week from both guys and from the unit.
As a whole, making a scenario still in play where you could use both quarterbacks.
Certain how much hen put does Arthur have on these situations, just given that he's been game planning with Justin.
For six weeks.
I wear the decisions.
He wears the decision Judy and Arthur Smith, who is being discussed there, the offensive coordinator said, whichever way Mike tells me to go or ready for both. Are ready for Russell Wilson and we're ready for Justin fields. And speaking of both, you heard the question there in week one they were planning to use fields as well as part of a package of plays alongside Russell Wilson. So yes, you could see that. But Judy, again, I thought on Tuesday we had our answer. Here we are on Friday.
We do think it's going to be Russell.
Wilson, though, we do. But I really appreciate Mike Tomlin's commitment to this, to keeping it, trying to keep it in house, even though George Pickens is out there saying like, yes, I'm spending more time with him because he's making his first It's good that they're spending more time because presumably one of the reasons that Mike Tomlin wants to make this kind of unorthodox move at this point, is that
he wants more out of the passing game. They are only twenty eighth in passing, they're twenty first in scoring. He clearly even think he wants more explosive plays, more downfield plays. It's not that Justin Fields did anything wrong. Really, he did a lot of right, but he just didn't do enough. It seems of what Mike Tomlin wants to see.
I keep going back to what Tomlin said at the very beginning of the week where he said the offense has been good and Justin Fields has been good, which is not to be confused with great, and he said, like, you know, we want to be one of those teams.
This is a competitive league.
We want to be one of those teams. And so I feel like he is making this decision with the big picture in mind, that it's not just about winning games right now. It's he wants to be able to compete with the Ravens and the Chiefs and the Bills and those kinds of teams that he would have to face in the A playoffs.
I understand that I do, and Russell Wilson certainly has more Skins on the wall has a Super Bowl ring as well, which Justin Fields does not have. But he's got to play error free, like he's got to make up for the ceiling that he doesn't have that Justin Fields has. And the fact that I think that offensive staff felt like they were building toward making Justin Fields a dynamic quarterback who also is playing the position the right way. That's what they've been working on with him.
So for Russell Wilson to sort of bend him off, he's got to back up Mike Tomlin's confidence and for that it's got to be error free football, which he did not necessarily show them in the spring and into the summer. So a fascinating storyline to watch there in western Pennsylvania as the Jets come in and try to get their third win of the season against Russell Wilson. We know for a fact that it'll be this guy Anthony Richardson who missed the last two games with an
oblique injury. Shane Stike in the head coach excuse me saying that, yes, he is going to be the guy against the Dolphins. Good to go the highly drafted youngster versus the well highly drafted veteran who's been around for quite some time in Joe Flacco, who certainly put again that he is still a capable quarterback at this point of his career at Judy. We do know that Richardson, just like Russell Wilson, going to have to play well because we know what the backup option is.
Well, this is again you just were talking about justin field steiling. Anthony Richardson has a really high ceiling, the Colts think, and they want to see him reach it. This is all about getting Richardson on the field, hopefully keeping him on the fields and developing him.
He's barely played.
He barely played last year, he's barely played this year, and he's already missed time. I don't think there's much argument that right at this moment Joe Flacco is the better quarterback. He's still playing really well. But this is all about the future of the Colts and that future is Anthony Richardson, and they need him playing and playing consistently and hopefully playing week after week so that he can into the franchise quarterback they believe he is.
Yeah, you're talking. I mean, you make a great point. He's still in that portion of his career where he needs to get reps. This is the guy who came in from college and did not have that experience. That was one of the knocks against him. So we're still at the point where he's got to get more football under his belt and learn how to play quarterback at the NFL level. Okay, those are a couple of decisions and injury situations that we've been following, as are these
right here Aaron Jones. The fact that he's I mean that one looked really bad when he suffered it in London's the fact that he is questionable at this point and on the likely side of playing it is a great sign for the Vikings as a head into that game against the Lions. Nick Chubb, what a great story. We saw his emotion as his teammates were hooting and hollering while he was meeting with the media. They are excited to have him back in Cleveland. Milik Neighbors got
that clearance for the concussion on Thursday. The groin issue that popped up not a major deal as well. And then there's Cooper Cup questionable to play against the Raiders. We'll keep an eye on his status as we get closer to Sunday. The Broncos aren't playing Sunday. They're already done. They already Dubbeday. There you go. They're marching down Bourbon Street.
The Broncos love to do this after victories to kind of troll the opponent and hey, we came into your territory with carrying your flags up your most famous street. I wonder where they got the local musicians there, certainly not Broncos fans, I'm sure. Here was Sean Payton after the game greeting some of his former players, including Alvin Kamara and lip Readers Unite. I think we got a couple of folks saying come get me or get me, you know, trade for me. From my understanding, he was
just greeting him and just saying hello. Now that being said, this is an interesting one to watch because Kamara does have another year left on his contract. However, it's a balloon year that was just meant to inflate the contract when he signed it the last time with the sat so it's really not a real year. He is in
the final year of his contract. So the Saints now have let's say a little more than two weeks now, Judy to get a deal done with him, or make a decision, this is the guy we want to trade and get some value for because we potentially could lose
him as a free agent. You always get the well if we lose it with a free agent, we can get the cop pick back, but sometimes you want the compensation now, So certainly is one we're keeping an eye on Judy to see if either the Saints could come to an agreement on a deal with him or maybe consider dealing him elsewhere.
Well, and you could also see why Alvin Kamara might want to rejoin Sean Payton because he was super productive when Sean Crayton was there in New Orleans, right, I mean he fit perfectly to what Sean Payton likes to do, which not only includes running the ball, but throwing the ball to running backs out of the backfield. And Kamerica can do that and they don't really have that kind
of person in Denver right now. But you know, I just go back to the Saints who started the season so so hot, and how quickly it has unraveled with so many injuries, and certainly if they deal Kamara now and you know, don't get a deal done with him, I mean that is presumably waiving the white flag on this season, especially the way things have gone in the last few weeks. That's a tough decision to make for
the Saints. At this moment. We still have a few weeks to go, but certainly the way they've gone the last few weeks, with all the injuries and the results they've had, you know, they got a big decision to make here in the next two weeks or so.
Now. A lot of times when you see a player get to Week one and say that's it, either you get a deal done by then, or I'm not doing a deal during the season. From my understanding, this was not one of those situations. So potential contract extension is still in play for Kamara before the end of the season, and maybe that's what the Saints could use to kind of stop this negative momentum and maybe spit it forward to show that there's hope for the future. Speaking of
the future, that is where Max Crosby is looking. The Raiders All pro defensive end spoke to the media this week and he was asked about, well, DeVante Adams got traded, could you potentially be next? Listen to his words, but also look in his eyes when he's talking here, I'm not here to rebuild. I'm here to win.
So you know, I don't know whatever that means, but yeah, I'm here to win now, and whoever I'm gonna be, I'm you know, I'm going to be here to win. So that's all that matters to me.
Yeah.
A lot of bread crumbs there, Judy, a lot of
bread crumbs scattered, I would say. My interpretation, and from talking to folks who know what Max Crosby means to the Raiders and what the Raiders mean to Max Crosby, my interpretation is I think he'd much prefer to stay there, but understands that DeVante Adams being traded, the fact that they don't really have a long term solution at quarterback, like this could be a slow rebuild and if that's the case, at twenty seven years old, Max Crosby kind of saying, if you're going to do that, I don't
have time for that, right.
Yeah.
I thought the look on his Facebook sort of resignation more than anything that like, oh gosh, this is.
Going to be a tough situation.
Let's just go back a few days. Mark Davis at the owners meeting earlier this week in Atlanta, was asked about ex Crossman. He said, it's not happy, meaning they are not going to trade him now. Of course that was a few days ago. That was before Max Crosby said what he just said. And certainly we'll see how the next few games go to see if their future changes.
In Las Vegas.
But you know, again again, once you see a DeVante Adams sent out, and obviously DeVante Adams wanted to be.
Sent out, but once.
You see the organization make that decision, that's a pretty strong signal about the way things are going. Obviously, the quarterback situation is not great there right now. They're not winning a ton of games, They're not playing very well. You can understand if Max Crosby is, you know, sort of taking a deep breath and saying, I'd like to be here, but this is not really what I signed up for and it is not how I want to spend the next few seasons.
Quick turnarounds are possible. I mean, look, the Texans got themselves a quarterback and c. J. Stroud went to the playoffs immediately the next year expected to be an even more dangerous contender, So it can happen. But I think the Raiders owe it to Max Crosby to be honest with him right now as the trade deadline is approp because if it's not going to happen and fully this offseason, then make the move now and get him where he can get to a competitive team, and if it is
going to happen, follow through it. They owe it to Max Crosby, and I'll say they owe it to head coach Antonio Pierce at some point, like he's got to have a roster to show whether he's got the chops to be a long term head coach in the NFL or not. Chris Godwin, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver, has shown the chops to be a successful receiver in
this league for quite some time. We're going to talk to him about that, about the Bucks right now, and about the state of Tampa following the Hurricanes and what he is doing to help.
Good staff pastor the Anzel cloughckball touched down Tampa Bay. Chris Godwin's got it. How the bucket of your score on the opening possession for the third game.
In a row, Mayfield throws an absolute rope to get it in there.
Emotion Godwin play action fake Mayfield, looks downfield, throws a clot ball all the left side out of fross the fifty to the forty five is Godwin. He breaks another tackle, Godway down the sideline upside of the numbers on the ten five free, two one touchdown, Tampa Bay. Chris Godwin fought through a tackle, got his balance and scoots fifty five yards to the promised land.
You know, the play doesn't end when he catches the ball. He's like a running back out there, and a physical running back out there in open space. Chris Godwin on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, joining us Durning, Judy Batista, and myself Mike Garrolfalo here after his big game on Sunday. What was that game like? Because that thing just opened up and all of a sudden points left and right. You being an offensive guy, certainly scoring more than the
other team as well, helps. What was that game like on Sunday?
Man? It was, honestly, it was a crazy game.
We started off like really really hot and then hit a bit of a lull there in the second quarter, has some bad turnovers and some uncharacteristic penalties, but we bought the diversity, man, and then turned it on in that second half, things like twenty seven to the points, gritty win by the guys.
All right, Well, you have personally not hit a lot at all the season. You lead the league in receptions and in yards after catch. Obviously, you and Baker seem to have a great connection. What's working for you and Baker this year so well?
I mean, honestly, I just think our second year of working together, I think we've gone through some highs and some of those and just in terms of like learning like what each other are looking for. But I think like both of us were very smart players and at the end of the day, we're just trying to win. So I think we have a good connection going, but that that goes with a lot of hard work and
a lot of time put in. So I'm excited about where we are, but I know that there's a lot more in store for us.
A new offensive coordinator this year in Liam Cohen. Maybe a lot of folks around the league don't know enough about him. Time for him to get a little bit of his flowers right here from you, because you guys have been playing well offensively and he's been pushing the right button. Certainly did on Sunday.
Yeah, for sure, man, I mean Leam. He's a football guy man, Like I think every than he does. He's focused on trying to be better and trying to improve us as an offense. And that was something that we could tell back in OTAs like the way that he thinks about ball. He tries to things up to get guys open. But he's also what we've learned the first couple of weeks of the season is he's really good at making adjustments and trying to attack where defenses are
a little bit vulnerable. So I think I love having him as an offensive coordinator, and I think the rest of the guys feel that same way.
You've got the Ravens this week, and they are a very high scoring team. I think their fourth in the league in scoring. You guys are second in the league in scoring. But does that put more of an onus on the offense when you know it's probably going to be an explosive offensive game.
Honestly, I don't really look at it that way.
I think that when you go into a game where you have two really good teams, right, like you really just expected to be a battle and like, yeah, like both offense are putting up points. But we also both have really good defenses, so there's no really telling how the game will go. I think you kind of go to the mentality understanding that it's going to be a fight.
And if you go in there expecting the battle for four quarters or more, I think that you put yourself in a great mental space of God and compete because, like you know, in any game right at this level, like it can go up and go down, but as long as you you know, you don't falter and you stay within like the confise of your game plan, I think that you'll be good.
You got we'll get the final injury report. Excuse me on Saturday right now. Mike Evans out of practice the last couple of days, the big guy, do you have to you know, hey, listen, Mike, we need you out there, number one, but number two, we got a thousand yard streak that you got going in your career that we got to keep going. How much encouragement you give them to battle through and get out.
There, man?
I think you always give Mike encouragement, man, like whenever he's out there on the field with us, like good, that's good for the Bucks, right, Like it's been that way for ten years now and it will continue to be that way.
He's just such a dominant player.
But I think the biggest thing right for players is just like their health, right Like, there's a long season and you never really know like what things guys are dealing with. So I like we trust like at this point and to know his body and to know what he can deal with, and you know, if he's able to go on Sunday, Like I said, that's big for the Bucks, all right.
The Ravens game is the start of a really tough stretch in your schedule. You got the Ravens, then you've got the Falcons, and then you've got both Super Bowl teams back to back Chiefs and Niners. How do you approach a stretch like this where you know it's a proving ground for your team and maybe a make or break stretch in the season.
I mean to be honest, we can't look past, you know, any game, right Like, yes, it's a tough stretch coming up right here, but like each game is very very important and not just like for this stretch, but for like the duration of our season, right Like, we're still trying to put together four great quarters of football, which we haven't done yet, and so we just got to take it one game at a time, right, Like, we have a really big game come up here Monday night
versus the Ravens, and like they're a very, very tough opponents, so we got to focus on that. And I think if we just take it one week at a time, I think that will be a much better shape than if we're trying to jected out into the future.
The Team Godwin Foundation, it is a cool and unique founded. I will let you you tell us what the what the foundation does, and I want to know specifically what you have done with regard to the recent hurricane relief efforts through your foundation.
Chris, Yeah, I appreciate it.
The Team Godwin Foundation, right, Like, we're centered around supporting rescue dogs. We're big on trying to get people to adopt their dogs instead of buying them.
And we've done a lot of work.
With a lot of local shelters over the course of my time here in Tampa just in support them, like financially, trying to help dogs with like whatever medical needs that they have, trying to keep dogs with their families, and then trying to like help import dogs from places where they were they're in like a kill zone like in terms of like their shelters to allow them to prolong their lives as long as possible, to be able to get adopted and then specifically from these hurricanes.
Like, we're just trying to do whatever we can to help in our area, right, just like a lot of guys.
And part of that has been our MVP initiative, which is the most Valuable Pet Initiative, and that's really We've donated fifty thousand dollars to this and the biggest part of it really is just support our local shelters and our rescue partners to try to help like our displaced dogs because people like people's pets get displaced on storms, and then help them find like fossil location for them, help pay for medical bills, and again all of it is just aimed to try to help keep dogs like
with their families so that people can, you know, can continue to have their pets with them.
That is great work you're doing, and I know you say wee. So let's give Chris Godwin his props for that, but also your wife, Mariah, a co founder of the foundation. Let's give her some love for what she is doing as well. Chris. We appreciate I know, in addition to the relief efforts, when you win a game in the middle of a hurricane relief, I know that helps a lot of folks around the community. So you provided that
this past week. Congratulations on that. Best of luck to you and the Bucks going forward.
Awesome. Thank you guys very much. Hope you got your seat.
Thank you Chris. We always appreciate spending time with him, and always appreciate when a Super Bowl rematch pops up in the regular season. We got that coming up. Jeffrey Da Brian Baldinger are going to join us to talk about it.
Do you like football?
Do you like London? Do you like football in London? Well, this is your chance, last chance in the twenty four season. The Patriots face the Jaguars in the London Finale. Rise, Shine and watch this Sunday at nine thirty am Eastern only on the NFL Network and NFL Plus subscription required for NFL Plus. Steve Weish, I think he's got dual citizenship by this point. He's been covering both teams this week. Has the latest from London all.
Right, Hitting into Sunday's game at Wembley Stadium. A lot of running back news with the Patriots and the Jaguars, and let's start right there. At Jacksonville at starting running back Travis Etn, he will be a game time decision, according to head coach Doug Peterson, as Etn is dealing with the hamstring injury that he sustained last Sunday against
the Bears. He has been limited all week now. If he can't go, it'll be leading rusher Tent Bigsby who will start, and he'll be spelled on passing situations by d Ernest Johnson. Now for the new England Patriots running back from Andre Stevenson, who hasn't practiced for much of
the week, he'll also be a game time decision. And lastly, on injury news for the Jaguars, cornerback Tyson Campbell, who's missed the past five games with a hamstring injury, will be activated to the active roster and will likely start and be a welcome return to the Jaguars defense.
Week seven bunch of blockbuster matchups. Hard to top this one, though, a Super Bowl rematch Chiefs forty nine ers Sunday afternoon. The entire nation is going to be watching and the forty nine ers got some absolutely amazing news this week in preparation for this game. That's wide receiver Ricky Pursol. He is going to be active for Sunday's game against the Chiefs. It's just about seven weeks since he.
Was shot in the chest. He is back.
It's just wonderful news. Great to see him back on the field and healthy. And now let's bring in some guys to talk about this game.
Ore.
I'm Jeffrey Chidia and Brian Baldinger. Jeffrey, let me start with you. We know about the wide receiver situation with the Kansas City Chiefs. Sometimes it looks pretty dire there, Hollywood Brown, Rashie Rice not with them. How important does that make Juju Smith Schuster to that team right now?
It makes it critical Judy that he plays in this game.
You know, he had a hamstring injury earlier this week, so there was some question about whether he's going to be out there, and he still is listed asked questionable. But he's come in here and made a huge splash. You know, when they signed him, they told me he was going to be a packaged player. But last week had the big game where He had seven catches for one hundred and thirty yards, and offensive coordinator Matt and Maggie talked about just how important it is for him
to be a part of this offense. He's running a lot of the same routes that Rashid Rice ran, but he also has that trust factor that makes him a very valuable target for Patrick Mahomes. They're running out of receivers, as you said, but Juju Bie here Baldy is making a big difference for this offense, no.
Question about it.
Over one hundred yards against the New Orleans Saints, you know, a couple of weeks ago, and you know they're running out of running backs too, you know, I mean Isaiah Pacheco goes down, they pick up Kareem Hunt. He makes a start against the Saints and goes for over one
hundred yards like he did. He looked like he did his rookie season when he was the rookie of the Year and led the league in rushing the way he was breaking tackles and running right behind Tooney and Creed, Humphrey and Trey Smith Creed out there leading away right now. But it's interesting to me, Jeff, is that any red in twenty five years of his business. Has always been a pass first guy and run late in the game
to win the game. But because of the injuries to wide receiver and because of the pass game hasn't been as electric as they wanted it to be, they've kind of leaned on the run game, and so they're almost fifty to fifty right now run pass for the first time in Andy Reid's career. So you know you're going to see cream Hunt, You're going to see some A. J. P. Ryan,
maybe some Carson Steel. It won't surprise me against kind of a beat up San Francisco interior where you know, obviously they have a replaced a linebacker from the last year, and you know Javon Hargrave goes down. I could see Kansas City attacking just a belly of that forty nine or defense right now with that rushing attack.
Baldy, you're going to be calling this game. So I know that me and Chief and studying a rock party. What is the key to him solving if anything can be solved with Steve Spagnolo's defense.
Well, you know he knows that Spags is going to come after him in some unorthodox ways. When you at least expected zero blitzes, you know, blitzes from the safety in the corner position. Nobody times it better than Steve Spagnol. He's a master at it, so he knows it's coming. The key really is I mean, he's got great movement and ability to escape. But the key to me, I think in this game, because it went against him in the Super Bowl, is they got to stay on the field.
They've got to convert third downs.
They've been excellent this year.
They're fifth or sixth in the league about forty six percent right now, which is a good number. They need to complete that kind of number against Kansas City, to stay on the field, to be able to handle some of those blitzes and burn them on those blitzes, because nothing stops a coordinator like Steve Spagnola more from coming after you than if you sting them on one or two of those. And I think, you know, just being alert pre snap reads kind of looking at some of the trends.
That they might have seen this year.
Now they've had two weeks get ready, but still I think Rock Purty pre Snap is going to be critical and how he handles the blitzes when they come after him because they're going to come.
Right Jeffrey, we know the Chiefs offense has been less productive than we're used to seeing so far this season, and now they have to look at Nick Bosa across the line of script from them.
What kind of problems does he present to them?
Yeah, really bad timing for Nick Bosa to show up on the schedule, because Baldi knows this.
This is the guy who's a one man wrecking crew. He had fourteen pressures last against Seattle. In that Super Bowl that Baldi referenced, he had twelve pressures in that game, and so the Chiefs know what to expect from him. The problem that they have right now is offensive tackle has definitely become a weak spot for them. On the left side, they're playing Wanya Morris in place of Kinkle
Sua Mataiya. On the right side, that got Juwan Taylor, who's second in the league in penalties right now, and so it's really a tough combination to deal with a guy like Bosa. And Andy Reid talked about how they know they're going through some growing pain with these guys and they believe in their talent, but they.
Really got to get it done this week because Nick Bosa is coming.
I cannot wait for this game. You know, when the schedule comes out in May, you circle the games you can't wait for. This is one of them that I have had circled since all the way back in the spring. Baldy, Jeffrey, thanks so much to both of you. And look, here's the formula for getting invited to be a guest on The Insiders.
You come here after you have a big game.
We already heard from Chris Godwin, and now it's Brian Branch's turn after he picked off Dak Prescott twice. We're gonna talk to Brian Branch when we return on The Insiders.
This player came out to me last week and he said, hey, coach, if I get a takeaway, can I break the team down next week? And I said, if you get two, you can break him down all week. Well he got more than that. Man, all right, this guy had six times because that PBu two PBUs. He had intercepts, two interceptions and then one punch out.
Man bb b B is Brian Branch, the Lions defensive back joining Ian Rappaport, who's popping in here to do this interview alongside me. Here Mike Garafalo, Brian, thank you for joining us. The first question off the bet. You know you had that verbal contract there that you could break down the team for the entire week. Has Dan Campbell delivered on that?
He?
Uh, today he didn't allow me break it down. But I feel I know why. I kind of had a bad practice in a way, but he broke his promise on that in a way.
Well, so I want to kind of go back to that. You know, Dan Campbell gives unbelievable post win speeches. I know this because we seem to show them all the time. Winning is great, and being able to break down the team when after you get a game ball is great. But what is it like in that locker room? Everyone's all jacked up? You're hearing Campbell give his speeches, Like what is that post win environment like for you guys. You've got a bunch of them already.
H We all fired up knowing that you know, shooting this league it is hard to come by with a win, and for us to get a win, everybody you know is shoot, we all pumped up, and that's that's the environment.
We've got. Everybody got great chemistry and just shoot, we want that win.
Ther performance against Dallas and you can see it down the bottom there, two interceptions, two passes, the fenst Ford fubble, six tackles, quarterback hit earns you what you see also above there the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. We saw that Forest fumble. There the punch out, which guys seem to be getting better at. It seemed like it was only Peanut Tilman that did it back in the day.
What feels better grabbing the interception and punching that thing out and tell me how you practice that during the week.
I feel like the punch out is better. To be honest, I kind of got it.
I've been watching Frail Warner and he like, we do a turnover tap every week before our games, and he's on there every every week punching the ball out, And I feel like that that feels better than an intercession because it's almost you, you creating that play and you you getting that ball out, and it ain't nothing nothing better than getting that ball out.
I mean that Look, that is a thing of beauty right there.
Uh.
I want to go back to the You get an NFC Defensive Player of the Week, which is very cool. Congratulations On the other side, Will Anderson, your good friend got AFC Defensive Player of the Week. How quickly did it take you to get to your phone send him a text? I mean, I assume you guys are still keeping in touch or you competitive, Like, how does that work?
When I found out that he got it too, that's that's crazy to me. Just you know, somebody you grew up with, and the fact that we both are able to perform like that and do have one of our best games in the same week. You know that speak numbers about us. And I'm also super proud of him. He really to goat on. Just wish you keep going. And yeah, really when.
We talk about the Lions, we talk so much about Dan Campbell, and for good reason. He's one of the great personalities around the league and he's proven to be a really, really good head coach. But I want to talk about your defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn because I want to give him some shine for what he has done alongside Campbell. Give me, give me the best thing about playing for Aaron Glenn as a defensive coordinator.
He going one.
He didn't play football before, you know, he didn't had about forty plus picks and he knows what it takes.
Uh.
You know, you know how hard it is to be the deepest back for one. But as a defense coordinator, he puts us in the right spots to make plays. And he always tells us that he gonna put us in the right spot for us to make plays. We just got to, you know, take advantage of the opportunity. And you know, I love playing for AG just because, like shooting, it's more than just football.
You know.
He he's a real coach. You know, he can relate to you and he understands and he just he treats everybody the same. So that's what you want in a coach.
And you guys are getting some big time recognition across the NFL for the kind of performance you have on defense, like you did last week against the Cowboys with that beatdown. Aaron Glenn also getting a lot of notice around the league as well.
Meanwhile, this week, you guys got a big one.
You face the undefeated Viking still undefeated. Uh, it's gonna be an excellent game. Obviously you've done a full week of tape study. They cut some they got some weapons. How do you see that match up? Breaking down and what are some of the more important things you guys got to get accomplished against Minnesota.
We know they got weapons.
They got Jju one of the best receivers in the league, if not the best receiver in the league. They also have a great wide receiver two in Jordan Addison, who could be a wide receiver one any other teams.
Just really stopping those two guys. I don't feel like we're really too worried about the run game.
Just you know, they got they take shots, and we got to beat and we got to be on our piece of cubes and back end this week like no other.
Uh, just to stop that.
So they give us a lot of tough challenges in their office, especially in their offensive scheme too, by the way they run a lot of different routes almost like the Rams and how they do stuff. They have a great quarterback, Sam Darnold. He's playing really good football right now.
So we just got to be us though. When the ball and the air was you got to go get it.
Do you guys, I know you're looking each week who your opponent is, but do you guys look at this division because this is a game for a potential share of first place in the NFC North, but if you lose, it could be a share of last. I mean, that's how tight this thing is, and that's how good the records are in the NFC North. Do you think about that at all? Do you kind of watch that a little bit as you're preparing each week?
We know how important this game is, especially just like you said, they're in our division. We just try to play every game each each week is you know, a different opponent, no matter if they're in a division or not, we still have the same mentality for each opponent.
I don't want to take this off the field a little bit. We know that cancer has hit your family hard. Please share with us and the viewers your experience and my crucial catch.
It is so meaningful to you.
It's so meaning meaningful to me because my mom growing up, my mom had breast cancer and she was battling that almost you know, majority of my childhood and she was able to beat it. And you know, cancer runs deep in my family. My dad had cancer, my mom's mom
had cancer. And so I decided to partner with American Cancer Society, you know, during this time, just because I want to, you know, help other people who have cancer, you know, be there for them, for their family members, or you know, just just be there for them in general, because I know how detrimental cancer can be, and shoot, I hate it, to be honest.
So that's American can society is my you.
Know, that's awesome. The Crucial Catch campaign originally began with the NFL recognizing that October was Breast cancer Awareness Month, and then it grew to all cancers. But obviously for you, this is an important one. It's great work that you're doing, and you get a platform like this to talk about that kind of stuff when you play as well as you have. So we need more interceptions, we need more punch outs, and you need to get Dan Campbell to make good. You got to break You better break down
the huddle. We better have a good practice and break down the huddle tomorrow.
How about that? Right? Yes, sir, I got you there.
You go. Awesome, Brian, continued success. We appreciate your time. Congratulations on everything you're doing on and off the field.
Thank you, pal, Thank you a man.
Great spending time with Brian Branch always. Also great to spend time with Adam Rank, who's going to talk about, you know, repairing and replacing guys in your lineup. You know what, he's questionable himself. I'll explain it after the break. Adam Rank joins the Insiders. Time now to repair and replace your fantasy rosters presented by Safe Light. And now for role, it's Adam Ranked. I mentioned before the break that he was questionable. I actually said, don't say anything,
don't speak. I don't want to hear it because I know that this voice right now is not the dulcet tones of Adam Rank that we're used to. He's battling something, but you know what, he's here, he's questionable. Any type decision he's in. Adam Rank, how are you?
I wouldn't miss it. You know this is the thing.
You coach two soccer teams, you go on multiple shows, you're up for Jimfy, you do the whole gamut on a Friday.
But I'm here, I'm a gamer.
I'm ready to go.
Mikey g I wouldn't miss it.
Well, now you're to pull back the curtain completely. Now you're making me feel terrible and about not agreeing to retape this segment, so you can already be in bed resting those vocal cords. My bad. But let's talk about repairing and replacing some players at quarterback, running back, receiver in your fantasy lineup. Let's start with the quarterbacks.
Well, if you were starting Caleb Williams or Dak Prescott on your teams this week, you're going to have to replace them. One of the suggestions I would have is Andy Dalton, who's played very well ever since he's become the starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers. He's had at least two touchdown passes in three or four games this year. And now he's going a real nice matchup against the Washington Commanders, who've allowed the fifth most fantasy points to
the position this season. And the one cool thing about the Commanders, they're so generous that they won't try to take the ball away from you.
They'd have just one interception on the season. Now they've just let the quarterback throw it. I think it's very nice.
My high school career might have gotten a lot better had opposing teams taken the same approach with me.
I got that one. I was already thinking of my one liner, which is that another way to repair and replace your lineup is to make a trade. And if you're in Adam Ranks leagues. I assume you're in multiple leagues. You are going to make a trade with Adham Rank. You want to know why, because he's going to make you an off when you can refuse. We're moving on the running backs here. How do we repair and replace at the running back position?
Well, you know what, again, there's injuries. There's a lot of things going on with running backs. Travis ATMs, a gay time decision, things like that. One of the players that I really love is Tyrone Tracy. And this is the guy I remember when Tom was on the show back in August. He's like, Ran, give me a running back I need on my somebody I can bid a dollar for my auction league. I said, take Tyrone Tracy. This guy is going to be a player. And over
the last couple of weeks he's proven it. He's had at least one hundred scrimmage yards in back to back games. In each of those contests, he's had at least nineteen touches, which lends itself to the production. The only problem is Devin Singletary is now pull it up being like, yeah, I'm ready to go. I know I look like Brian Dable I want to fly out to the meadowlands right now.
Just be like, yeah, I'm the coach and just tell everybody like, oh yeah, Tyrone, Tracy's starting and we're gonna run him twenty five times.
Yeah.
Well, you know, Davel came down to uh to your fighting weight right now this year, So to you, you know, a little a little a little more shave. I think you got. I think you got a little too much beard going on. He's got a little less. I don't know. We'll figure it out.
But no hats.
Brian Able like to wear hats, which is crazy because ball.
Gouts odd as a bald man.
I don't get that right right. And then training camp in the broad daylight anyway, we're getting off tracker, like what are you doing? Yes, come on, here we go. Not just trim it just a little bit and there we go. You're were the hat.
See, I'm wearing the hat. Even with the wing, I still wear the hat. I'm committed to it, exactly.
Wide receivers repair and replace me, my friend.
You know, I love Lad McConkie.
He has been the most consistent wide receiver for the LA Chargers, and one of the things about a Greg Roman offense is there. He talks about the running like they love to run the football.
That's evident.
But slot receivers have traditionally feasted in Greg Roman's offenses, and we're seeing it this season with Ladd mccaukey. The rookie is the most reliable guy. He's the player who got who has the most targets, receptions, receiving yards, all that good stuff. Again, with so many of the injury report is just filled with wide receivers, Although we did get some good news about Marvin Harrison junior. Malik Neighbors looks like he's a goat. So it might not be
as repair and replace as it needs to be. But if you're in a dire situation and I've got some I have Dj Moore players like that, I've ceedee lamb Lad McConkie has been a guy that I'm throwing into the lineup this week and I'm not even worried about it.
Yeah, what I think about your mcconkee call, I think he's a fine lad. We're pulling out all the accents for this segment here because we've which is always, yeah, which is always and to tell us the wait, wait, hold on now, they're telling I mean we have to go. Adam Rank, you are.
A gamer Saturday for me, I want to yell, I want Tom you.
May, Yeah, you are the gamer of all gamers. We're gonna repair and replace your voice. Drake May's he's still going. Drake May wants to tell everybody Whay, everybody in London should be Patriots fans. That's up next. I love Rank.
There are a lot of fans here in the UK who are yet to have an NFL team that they support and devote their lives to. What is your message for those new fans? Why should they be supporting the Patriots?
First off, I think it comes with the team name, you know, New England. I think it's easy for you know, UK fans that you know, be attracted to that. You know, our colors are pretty sweet, you know, they represent a lot of different things. And then from there just I'm kind of excitement from the team. I think we got you're on the come up and we've got a lot of things to look forward to, a lot of bright
futures ahead. So shout out to all the fans that are already Patriot fans over here and look forward to having some more.
I mean, aren't they the patriots because they beat the British in the Revolutionary War. I don't think that really works. I sort of like the New England thing though. Yeah sure, Drake may D minus right there for Drake.
There you go, D minus. It's on them. Back to your history books. I love you, everybody. Happy Friday from the inside.