Lamar’s Timeline, The Most Messy Fun Team in the NFL and Calais Campbell Joins the Show!

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we love a little messy fun.

00:00:08
Speaker 2: I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Talk.

00:00:11
Speaker 1: Sport studios in London talking back through a monitor to my friend Jordan rod Rieg who's in the Chris Westling podcast studio. We are gonna have some messy fun today. We're going to talk about who we think is the most messy fun team of the year. We're going to do some news, we're going to preview TNF, and we're going to talk to one of our favorite players in the NFL.

00:00:34
Speaker 2: Like we're not going to.

00:00:35
Speaker 1: Jordan is going to Kaleis Campbell is coming up on the show. How is everything on the home front?

00:00:42
Speaker 3: Jordan, you know your chair was super high for whatever reason.

00:00:47
Speaker 4: I don't know.

00:00:47
Speaker 3: I'm sitting in it right now. Head to lower it a little bit otherwise we're cooking over here.

00:00:51
Speaker 4: Greg.

00:00:52
Speaker 1: I am really excited and I like having a little extra pressure, so I doing like anything live is fun, you can't mess it up. In this case, our listeners will know that Kaleis Campbell is arriving shortly, and so that means it's a challenge to the two of us. Jordan, we can't honk too much on this NFL Daily. We have to get to the Kaleis Campbell portion or else they'll just like boot me out of the chair. They actually will revoke my work visa here in the UK. So why don't we do some news. But what we're going to do is we're going to put a timer on it, a mental timer. Eight minutes or less, we will do this news. And unfortunately we got the news that Lamar Jackson is going to be out most likely this week, according to The Baltimore Sun. Now we're taping this on Tuesday afternoon. As of this point, NFL Network and ESPN, I find it interesting, have not reported this, but it is a trustworthy local source. The Baltimore Sun believes that it's unlikely Lamar Jackson plays this week against the Texan, that his hamstring injury could be a two to three week injury. They have the Texans in the Rams before their bye week, will get quickly to all the other Ravens injuries and there is a lot, but this Lamar Jackson one is different, Jordan, and it just makes you wonder where this Raven season is going.

00:02:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, and there were no updates earlier in the week either from John Harbaugh which always, to me is not only an ominous sign, but a sign that's the nature of the injury itself. Hamstrings are so fickle and even when you do come back, you're still watching it, monitoring it, being the soft to sense of soft tissue issue injury that it is. I mean, I am concerned about this, and even when he comes back, I will remain concerned about this down the stretch.

00:02:42
Speaker 4: For Lamar, I.

00:02:44
Speaker 1: Can see what you're doing. You feel that timer in your head. We should just do this every week. So look, I'm just joking. The rest of the Raven situation is such a nightmare. So since we've you know, last talked about all the injuries, did a great job on the recap show, but we're focused on those, you know, somewhat disappointing Monday night games. We learned Namdi Matdabike is out for the rest of the season officially. When John Harbaugh was asked about his neck injury being career threatening, he said that Matta Week would have to address that. So that's really concerning for a great young player who signed a big, long term deal and is a huge part of that team. On top of that, we learned Rokwan Smith and Marlon Humphrey, two of their best starting defensive players, are out at least multiple weeks, and BROGERC. Washington, who already was out of the lineup, is moving to short term injured reserves. So I think the question is basically just can they win a game before this bye week?

00:03:43
Speaker 2: You kind of look at this bye week.

00:03:44
Speaker 1: It's three weeks right now until after the buye they're home for the Texans and the Rams. Can they win one of those games? Because if they can't, with Cooper Rush potentially starting at quarterback and all these defensive players out, they would be one in five going into the buy and the whole structure of this season in the AFC North would just look different.

00:04:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's I think the statistical probability, even if you start one and four, it's something like three point two percent of actually having a chance at making it to the postseason. Now, we've seen the Lamar Jackson Ravens pull off some miraculous things. That's why it all hinges to me on how fast can Lamar get back into the lineup and do they look at the bye week. I know the reports are saying two to three weeks, and I am not going to question other people's reporting, professional journalists reporting, But something in my back of my mind is thinking, could it actually be longer, simply because they're eyeing that bye week and thinking, we're just going to try to roll with what we have and try to like fully load back up as best we can with as many of these guys as possible, including the quarterback, after the bye week, and hope that that it's not a one in five start for them.

00:04:51
Speaker 2: We'll see what happens with this Steeler season.

00:04:53
Speaker 1: But you look at the rest of the division, no Joe Burrow, and you think, okay, maybe there is a path here to at least, you know, being better than the Bengals and the Browns certainly. Okay, you obviously talked about Tyreek Hill. We knew the injury was that serious with a dislocated knee at the time you guys were taping, so not much more to add there. There was a report this morning that it will be torn ligaments on top of the injury, that he had a dislocated knee, So you know, the future of his time in Miami obviously is up for grabs. His future in the NFL, unfortunately, because of an injury like that is up for grabs. Some injuries that we did get more specific updates on on Tuesday. Joe Alt will be out multiple weeks for the Chargers with a high ankle spring. That was the fear when he went down. And that's a situation Jordan where now you know Mackay Beckton might be returning, but they are without both their starting tackles, and the guys that were there last week didn't play that well, even the ones that were starters previously, and.

00:05:52
Speaker 3: McKai Beckton was has been in the concussion protocol and so rushing a guy back out of that, you're obviously not trying to do that.

00:06:00
Speaker 4: You don't want to do that.

00:06:01
Speaker 3: But the Chargers, I mean, this was scary right from the jump Rashaun Slater, and then it was like this optimism started to build with Joe Alt playing so well there at left tackle, you know, you worry about this team that they can run the.

00:06:15
Speaker 4: Ball well, they looked like they could last week.

00:06:18
Speaker 3: Can they protect Justin Herbert adequately with him playing at an MVP clip so far this season? This is a big hinge point for the Charger season so early in the year.

00:06:27
Speaker 1: In my opinion, sometimes it's really important who you get at, you know, when certain injuries hit. So they get the Commanders who have been rushing the passer better this year until that Atlanta game. Then they have the Colts, which is a tough matchup. Then they have the Vikings, so that could be in the Joe Ault window. We'll see when he gets back. The Raiders lost their left tackle also to a high ankle sprain, and then rap Sheet reported that it's a fracture for Colton Miller on top of the high ankle sprain, so he is going to injured reserve. He was easily their best offensive lineman. So that's just more bad news for an offense that doesn't need it. And then we will wrap our news with our weekly check in with Nick Sirianni AJ Brown and the most unhappy four and zero team in the NFL.

00:07:11
Speaker 2: Uh take it away, Nick, he.

00:07:13
Speaker 5: Wants to contribute into into these wins, and he's had a couple of games where he hasn't been able to, you know, and for different reasons of why we haven't in these games. So but I question nothing about you know, his desire to play great football, his desire of being a good teammate, on his desire to be here.

00:07:35
Speaker 1: This has been bubbling since the end of last year. Jordan AJ Brown sent out a tweet on Sunday night that said, if you're not welcomed, not listen to quietly withdraw, don't make a scene, shrug your shoulders and be on your way, which I am reliably told is a from the Bible.

00:07:55
Speaker 2: It's a scripture.

00:07:56
Speaker 1: Your thoughts on a team that's like unhappy even though other four.

00:08:01
Speaker 4: Don't make a scene post on social media.

00:08:03
Speaker 3: You know, it's just so you knew this was gonna happen. Like you see him not getting targeted, then you see him getting sort of force fed targeted in the second half of that game and coming away with another low production day. I mean, this is one of the best players in football and Zach Bourbon might college get the athletic notice this. He is so savvy, he's so media savvy, and he knows exactly what he is doing when he does all of these things. And yes, and Zach allowed this to Yes, he should.

00:08:33
Speaker 4: Be getting the ball more.

00:08:34
Speaker 3: This is an Eagles offense that is somehow like putting up these crazy single half numbers, crazy in a bad way. In some of these halves of football and yet still the most dominant team that's playing right now. It's just you know, it's starting early this year. Greg, That's all I'll say about that for now.

00:08:56
Speaker 1: And I wonder if he's speaking for DeVante Smith a little bit too.

00:08:59
Speaker 2: Just listening to coverage.

00:09:01
Speaker 1: I think both of them get frustrated with what's going on and everything worked last year, and I to me, the thing that is really running this offense off the tracks is the running game and the offensive line. They're just not playing as well. Yeah, and they can't run block right now. They're not one hundred percent playing. Johnson's not one hundred percent, Landon Dickerson's not one hundred percent. And because they can't run, it's affecting the passing game. It's a mess. We're not a mess. We did it in eight minutes. It's time for the segment. I can't believe it, Jordan. We are off to such a great start this season, and so are the Jaguars. So we were just texting, like what should we talk about on this show and we were talking about, well, we could talk about like who are maybe the messiest teams, like the teams that were really enjoy watching like a fun, messy team, and we could have had candidates, like the Cowboys are kind of fun. There are other teams we threw out, and we just like knew that the Jaguars were our pick and we decided, you know, we're the hosts here. Do you want to talk about why the Jaguar are the most messy, fun team of the year and that we are really enjoying the ride and looking forward to the next few months of Jaguars whatever happens, like we can do it.

00:10:15
Speaker 2: Tell me, like the first.

00:10:17
Speaker 1: Reason why you are enjoying watching this team, why you're finding them fascinating.

00:10:23
Speaker 3: I mean, it's the defense for me, and it's interesting. I think they were slept on a little bit. I think we you know, we mentioned them a couple times as they could be sneaky good, especially down the stretch of the season. They are visibly and very statistically good. Immediately as the season started. They are first in takeaways in the NFL. Right now, they're also first in turnover differential, and they're scoring off the turnovers. Four takeaways last week and seventeen points off of those takeaways. They've got, dudes, at every level. I love the way they rushed the passer. Josh Heinz Allen is playing unconscious football right now. Devin Lloyd is having an incredible season. Two interceptions against the forty nine ers last week. And I love the way that their coverages work too. They're a zone team, but they're zoning in a really aggressive way where their eyes are super clean. They're very confident, they understand where they need to be and went to crash down and went to back off.

00:11:20
Speaker 2: A little bit.

00:11:21
Speaker 3: I really love the way this team plays. They are aggressive, they are hitting. Go watch this tape. The forty nine ers came into that game beat to heck already and they were hitting. And this is this is a well run operation on that side of the ball right now.

00:11:37
Speaker 4: And that's one of my favorite things about the Jaguars at this point.

00:11:39
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, we'll start on the defense. To me, it is the whole picture, like the fact that Trevor Lawrence really isn't playing that much better, the fact that Liam Cohen has the press conference.

00:11:50
Speaker 2: We'll get to all that, but I agree.

00:11:51
Speaker 4: He did ask me for one thing, by the way, just to say I know.

00:11:56
Speaker 2: I'm just painting the picture.

00:11:57
Speaker 1: And we'll go through all the things because there are so many things. But I think you're right to hit on that because that's what I think can continue. Now you talk about turnover differential like that. Obviously that's not going to continue. I get it. They already a four more turnover is forced this year than they had all of last year, which is just like a preposterous stat But you mentioned a lot of the key players there, and what strikes me is that Devin Lloyd heinz Allen.

00:12:26
Speaker 2: I'd throw Jordan Lewis in there.

00:12:28
Speaker 1: They're slot cornerback who's thirty, but I still think qualifies here and Trayvon Walker are defensive players in their primes and they're playing their best. And I do think there is something to watching defensive football that you know it when you see it, and it's the number one thing that a new defensive coordinator can add. Sometimes you do see that they actually do the thing Jordan they talk about in the press conference, that they are flying around to the football and hitting more like they are that team this year. I can I can remember like the first lou Anarroumo Bengals team, like you could see it early in the year. And so I think you combine that with with like you said, players at every level playing their best.

00:13:11
Speaker 2: Those are really good players. I'd throw Tyson Campbell in the mix too.

00:13:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, there are a bunch of players who are Pro Bowl caliber type players. So even if the turnovers fall off, Jordan, I do think that the level here of being like a top eight type of defense is here to stay.

00:13:28
Speaker 3: And I will use this to broaden out into the rest of how they're built for now with the short term and long term vision on what this is going to be. You know, Jordan Lewis was a player that they went after so hard in free agency after James Gladstone had spent a couple of tries in the front office with the Rams hearing Sean McVay talk about how bad he wanted Jordan Lewis to be a Ram, and they made a couple of They made a couple of attempts over the years at Jordan Lewis, and the way that it's been described to me is that they felt like coming in and rebuilding this team with a combination of veteran free agents, some high dollar but most who they eventually know they will be replacing with draft picks over time and patching those holes and then a couple of guys who they can culture set. Jordan Lewis was comped to Andrew Whitworth when Sean McVay first came in to be the head coach of the Rams and needed a culture setter in his building, and how they pursued Andrew Whitworth so heavily when he was trying to decide what his future look like post Cincinnati, and they weren't sure they were going to get Jordan Lewis, but he came over and I assume he's happy he did. Watching kind of what's going on in Dallas over the next couple of weeks and months after free agency, and he very much is that culture setting type of guy. You know, the last time the Jags defense was this impressive, they had another culture setting guy, Kaleias Campbell ironically on the show today, and these are the types of players that were calm in terms of being able to set that culture for this new Jags regime. Comp to me about those guys are the same names that came up when talking about what Jordan Lewis is adding to this group behind the scenes.

00:15:13
Speaker 4: So also a great name with a great spelling.

00:15:17
Speaker 1: Yes, there aren't many Jordans with ther or ou Are. I love a little Jordan representation out there. So we said they're messy fun and so the defense is just fun to watch.

00:15:29
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:15:30
Speaker 1: Part of the things that that are messy about them, and there are more than a few. They leave the league in penalty yardage in terms of they have the most penalties in the league, they have the most penalty yardage. They have the worst penalty yardage differential. And then I was thinking about these players that are playing well, and I'd throw in some offensive ones like Anton Harrison and even maybe a free agent pickup like Arc Arms that who's helping out. And you know who's enjoying this, And it's a little messy to think about. You know who's enjoying all these pickups, Trend Balki. It's Trend Balki's revenge. I mean, these are all of Trend Balkis, like high picks are suddenly doing pretty well, like he was enemy number one. So I think for Jaguars fans that put the clown nose on Balki, you at least have to remember, like I mean, these were his picks out there doing pretty well.

00:16:19
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:16:19
Speaker 3: I do think too that like you're seeing where they are really messy on offense is where I have less concern about them as this mess staying at the level that it is with the penalties. A lot of these penalties are coming off of the pre snap motions and the shifts and those types of things. And that's a collective effort between the quarterback A and then B the rest of the offensive lineman just getting their timing right, Understanding cadences, Understanding you know, how to tick back the mental clock once the quarterback says a certain word or once he stops his foot, how fast that motion has to come across, How fast you have to get reset. This is all a part of what this offense is, and so I think that they do cut that down over time. I'm what remains messy is them figuring out really how to get the best out of the receivers. I noticed Brian Thomas Junior had more outbreaking routes this week, still had plenty of in breakers, but Trevor Lawrence did not target him on a single in breaking.

00:17:14
Speaker 4: Route this week.

00:17:15
Speaker 3: All of his targets were on out breaking routes according to his next Gen chart. And this is, you know, figuring out what to do with Travis Hunter. The fact that Hunter Long is their touchdown receiving leader. With respect to Hunter Long, you're not gonna keep it that way, right like you got it. You gotta figure out your passing key.

00:17:33
Speaker 2: The most efficient Hunter on the team is Hunter Long.

00:17:36
Speaker 1: And that's sort of what I mean when I get to MESSI and we joke about Hunter Long for former ram and I did check on PFF just like how they thought he was doing. And he's only played fifty snaps, but he is actually their highest rated offensive player. I'm like, how is that even possible? And it's because of games like Sunday he was on the field for six routes. In those six routes, he made three outstanding catches like yeah, game saving diving first down that set up a touchdown, the actual essentially game winning touchdown, and another key first down to Hunter Long getting it done. While the two talented guys, you know, Brian Thomas Jr. Is going through it right now and Travis Hunter they're figuring out, but he is. He's part of it for me because I feel I do feel like his defensive snaps and there weren't many of them in Week four, but the week before actually looked really good. He did make his best play on offense that he's had with a nice catch up the seam on Sunday, And so even if it's not working out perfectly right off the bat, he does add like a fun factor we've never seen this before, factor that I am just going to be ready to crow about when it does finally work, because it will, Jordan, it absolutely will.

00:18:50
Speaker 3: I know you're so ready. You were down just a little bit a couple of weeks ago. You're at a little sad, a little depressed. Maybe Travis Hunter was disappearing a little bit. Then you watch the isolated cutups right Greg of all of his snaps in coverage in that in that zoning cover. Like I said, that zoning coverage that I think is really really fundamentally sound, and he played awesome. I do not worry as much about Travis Hunter. I think they're messy too, in the sense that, like I think we went into the season like can Trevor Lawrence play better to lift up this group on offense, and now we're sort of like, can Trevor Lawrence play better and not make one potentially catastrophic decision per game to stay on the same positive track as the rest of this offense. That's kind of It's interesting. I've I've felt a little bit of shift. I'm back to last year's wonderment of Trevor Lawrence when I was pushing I said, I need I need to see more from him and decisions like your fifth year guy that decisions like that late slide where he went out of bounds of clock.

00:19:52
Speaker 4: Management.

00:19:52
Speaker 3: Again, some of these penalties are not all on the offensive line. Some of it is the quarterback orchestrating things as well. I just want to see I just want to see him stay on this less messy track and get less messy with the rest of this group.

00:20:08
Speaker 1: He has always been a quarterback, and this is tricky to talk about, but he does not strike you as a quarterback that's winning from the neck up yet, like in terms of game management, in terms of seeing the whole field. He's a young quarterback and you get better. I've seen Hall of Fame quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger have it click like very late in his career, and Lawrence he just makes boneheaded plays. And the crazy thing is Liam Cohen is the quarterback whisper.

00:20:38
Speaker 2: He's the guru right.

00:20:40
Speaker 1: I think if you just isolated Trevor's play and the numbers back it up, the advanced numbers for the most part, and definitely just like the raw yards per attempt, completion percentage, all that sort of stuff.

00:20:51
Speaker 2: He's actually playing.

00:20:52
Speaker 1: A little worse this year, which seems crazy, and maybe everyone's just trying to figure out the offense. And that's why I think this team could go in any direction. But I think they have a higher ceiling, Jordan, because they're winning because of their running game. We should finish really with that. They're winning with their running game. But I actually think Trevor Lawrence to this point is having that part of the season where if they make a movie about how this all goes well, they're talking about how his head was swimming in the new Liam Cohen offense early, Like, we're still in that swimming. He's drowning a little bit. He's not even playing well and they're winning these games.

00:21:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, And it starts upfront and I really like, you know what we're seeing from ETN. We're seeing some pop from basial toot and tooton hive stand up, and I feel like this is interesting because they're getting three point two to one yards before contact per carry last week against a banged up San Francisco forty nine ers defensive front, but a tough one still, and they've been blocking really well for Trevor Lawrence too. No sacks last week, and they're first in sach Grate in terms of protecting him on a personnap basis.

00:22:02
Speaker 4: And that's the entire season.

00:22:03
Speaker 3: So it's like, schematically, it's all coming together starting up front, and to your point, once the little pieces and the details and all the minutia, the timing and all of these things catch up, they've already got this fundamentally sound run game that's really popping so far this season, and they're getting blocking for it, which is which I think is one of the most important things. The blueprint is there, it's like literally about taking the next step forward within it.

00:22:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've had two of the most dominant pass blocking games of the year and I was granted it was against Carolina and against the Nick Bosa less nick forty nine Ers, but he was not touched literally not a quarterback hit on Sunday, which is crazy.

00:22:43
Speaker 2: And they're playing well in the running game.

00:22:45
Speaker 1: I think this is where Liam Cohen's Jaguars really remind me the most of the Liam Cohen Bucks. The cohesion nature from day one is the secret. Sauce Travis etn like is becoming the guy. He's leading the NFL in your carry right now. He's hitting the big plays, he's more patient than he's been and the blocking, it's They're greater than the sum of their parts right now in terms of Dvoa Jordan. Their twentieth in terms of passing, but they are second right now in the NFL in terms of their running game.

00:23:15
Speaker 2: And I know you're just.

00:23:19
Speaker 1: A football dorc at heart, and like a cohesive running game like this, there is nothing more fun to watch. So wrap us up with a little just like love for what they are doing on the ground and why I'm really excited to watch this team the rest of the year.

00:23:36
Speaker 3: Well, I think it's giving everybody confidence and I want to call back. You know, James Gladstone was on our show in the spring and his main thing was making sure they're building up front and continuing some positive pieces that were already there and continuing to build through the run game.

00:23:52
Speaker 4: And he said, getting the way, stay.

00:23:54
Speaker 3: In the way in terms of blocking up you know your assignments and all of those things.

00:23:58
Speaker 4: And I just think that you can see.

00:24:00
Speaker 3: It in some of the mannerisms and some of the even the extracurriculars after the game. This team is feeling itself a little bit, I think rightfully so. But it's this confidence that comes with you know your foundation is solid, and that comes from the run game. Like I know this is a little taky, but I don't know that Liam Cohen is out there talking smack to.

00:24:18
Speaker 4: Robert Salah after the game. If they got.

00:24:21
Speaker 3: Pushed around on the line of scrimmage all game, even if they won, it's winning at the line of scrimmage. Lillam cohenes a former quarterback with a sort of a receiver's mind, clearly like you have to, you really have to see this entire The way they're winning up front on the on offense, but also on defense, I think is just giving them a lot of all over confidence and a little bit of vibe over there.

00:24:43
Speaker 2: Making them a little chesty.

00:24:45
Speaker 1: You're right, I didn't really think about the connections here, because, yes, the forty nine ers became who they were by being the biggest, toughest team, and they were pushed around by the Jaguars, who were somewhat built by Trent balk who had the same idea back when he it was with the forty nine ers. And yes, now the Jaguars aren't perfect.

00:25:05
Speaker 4: I know they're messy.

00:25:06
Speaker 2: They're messy that they'll have some stretch.

00:25:09
Speaker 1: But man, I love watching etn in two and run. I love watching this team. And yeah, back when we had the Round the NFL podcast, we would have a team of the podcast every year. I'm not saying the Jaguars are this team, but we just wanted to give them a little shine. Felt like they deserved a little extra They don't get enough national spotlight. You know who does get a lot of national spotlight, The Rams and the forty nine ers. We will talk TNF preview after this break, Dull, we are back on NFL Daily quick TNF preview before we get to your interview with Kalayas Campbell, which I'm really looking forward to listening to. The Ras are catching the forty nine ers, Jordan potentially at the right time. Obviously Nick Bosa out for the season. Rams are favored by five and a half in this game. Rock Purdy, you missed the fake practices early in the week, but he did finish out that game, so I feel better about him than Ricky Pearsall, who he just might not know about going into the game. Same thing with Juwan Jennings. Pearsall has a PCL injury. Kyle Shanan doesn't believe it's going to be long term. Juwan Jennings didn't quite finish last week's game with a shoulder injury. Do you think the forty nine Ers, in a world where they have these guys, let's say at least the receivers for the most part, have enough even if they are healthy, to win this game in Los Angeles, where for most of Sean mcvay's tenure they've had a lot of success.

00:26:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, DeMarcus Robinson revenge game a little bit here, right, because DeMarcus Robins in his back for the forty nine Ers, and he will be a factor.

00:27:02
Speaker 4: I'll have to be right.

00:27:03
Speaker 3: I am still skeptical after especially after watching some of the contours and the spaces and the voids that the Colts were able to find offensively, I am concerned still about their ability to defend a pass catching tight end. Tongus has been you know, Brock Purty's like kind of go to guy, especially in that red area with George Kittle banged up, and I do I do expect. I mean, it's not reported, but I do expect Brock Purty to play just because he did finish. He looked like he was in pain, but he did finish that game. And this is absolutely a huge game for the forty nine Ers coming in to Sofi Stadium in mass numbers, and so I do think that this secondary for the Rams is what still remains my biggest question. And I don't know if the forty nine Ers have the the you know, I don't know that they're going to outmatch them in terms of like body for body here, but in terms of scheming guys open, I still have very much my flag up, my guard rails up thinking about what this secondary is sort of culpable to with you Kyle Shanahan and some of the ways that he can like sort of circle certain defensive players and then just spam play calls right at those players.

00:28:12
Speaker 4: That's a concern still for me.

00:28:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, last year, even with a really down and forty nine Ers team in the second time around, it was a total mash unit. They played those games to where it was a final possession game. The Rams won both of them, but they were both close. Obviously, you really need pearsol and or Jennings out there to help with the offense. I'm a little concerned though about their running game, Like this forty nine Ers team doesn't make sense to me. If Christian McCaffrey is dead last in the NFL and complete in rush yards over expected huge negative. The offensive line actually pass protected pretty well last week against Jacksonville, I thought, but the run blocking hasn't been great, and they're not that injured in terms of their offensive line, they're just not playing that well and McCaffrey's not as explosive he leads the NFL and touches. I think about some of those old forty nine Ers seams, Jordan, and I think, like, man, they could use a Raheem Moster, you know what I mean. They could just use a little bit of more juice in terms of their running game.

00:29:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they went out and they got Brian Robinson right to try to see if maybe they could spell Christian McCaffrey a little bit. You're not seeing a lot of that happening so far. And this is especially like we mentioned earlier in the show about how the Jaguars defense was hitting. I mean John Jennings part of yeah, it's a shoulder or whatever it is, but also he was crunched between two defenders, took a kidney shot that set him on his back, flat on his back for a little while during that game on the sideline as trainers were working on him. A little bit like these this is a banged up team that is really really loading up the workload early on for Christian McCaffrey, a player who we know his hint his injury history, and coming into this game on a short week. And yes, the Rams have been banged up to their interior offensive line is still a little shaky. Justin Dietitsch played well at left guard. But if you're looking at the Rams defense, which is pretty healthy overall in their run game, I can't imagine you're not trying to use at least a little bit of a change up if you're Kyle Shanahan, to try to get some power going a little bit and get Christian McCaffrey working in the passing game.

00:30:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, I totally agree with that, And I know Robinson's not like a big play guy either, but if nothing else, you know, use use him on the goal line, use him to just take some load off of Christian McCaffrey. I really love the way Matthew Stafford played last week in general, the way he's adjusted to this offensive line, giving up a lot of quick pressure. He has the lowest time to throw when he's under pressure of any quarterback in the league, so he is making quick decisions. He has the lowest pressure to sack ratio of his entire career. But I don't think he's bailing Like you know, as you watch on YouTube, you see some of the dimes he had last week. I don't think he's bailing out of plays early. He's just playing at a high level and playing smart. And Puka Nakua right now, Jordan is literally on pace for like one hundred and seventy catches or so season.

00:31:09
Speaker 2: Like remember when we were like one in one A well, not so much.

00:31:12
Speaker 1: DeVante has seventeen catches, And I think DeVante's presence is actually opening things up a little bit for Puca versus the other way around.

00:31:19
Speaker 2: Puka is just absolutely in his prime right now.

00:31:22
Speaker 4: It's so funny to me.

00:31:23
Speaker 3: I mean, he's like pretty unguardable right now, right and it is, and he's doing everything, and he's sort of like getting him into that eleven and a half personnel because he's playing tight end sometimes within the blocking structure on run plays, and he's doing all these things, and you're right, it is interesting. It's like, at what point are and I think he's got plenty of respector on the league, but it's like they're still almost like leveraging things toward DeVante.

00:31:47
Speaker 4: Adams, and it's like Puka is destroying these defenses.

00:31:51
Speaker 3: Nobody has had a solid coverage plan for him yet and he's making every throw or making every catch. I'm watching those Matthew Stafford throws. And our friend Nate Tice always does a Monday Matthew Stafford cut ups every week and like, I will never quit him.

00:32:06
Speaker 4: I won't. I won't do it. Rams.

00:32:08
Speaker 3: Our listeners can get as mad at me as they want for talking too much about Matthew Stafford, but I will never quit him because he makes the sickest throws you will ever see.

00:32:18
Speaker 4: And I am never out with that guy, never out.

00:32:21
Speaker 1: Well, I tell you what he is. He's I'm gonna while him over here. I'm buying him a one way ticket to quarterback Island. Barring an injury, you know, crossed your fingers.

00:32:31
Speaker 2: He is.

00:32:32
Speaker 1: He is playing like a top five quarterback right now. And it's the biggest reason why I like the Rams in this game. I don't necessarily like five and a half, but I don't have to worry about that, at least for this purpose. Look, they don't have a pass rush right now. The forty nine Ers without Nick Bosa, have Bryce Huff and that's about it. Michael Williams is a good player, he's not like a peer pass rusher. So Stafford ultimately against a quarterback brock pretty who looked like he was injured last week not play particularly well, was pretty inaccurate. It's just too much of a mismatch in a game that I think the Rams are going to score. I don't know if the forty nine ers can keep up. I will take the Rams.

00:33:10
Speaker 3: If anything is going to swing this game, in my opinion, toward the forty nine Ers, it's going to be plays that are made by these linebackers, Fred Warner and d Winters, who are all over the field, and because they cannot rush the passer, I do expect d Winters the way Robert Sala. We've seen earlier in the season using him, you know, in the blitz, creating pressure, stimulating like he's going to pressure, and then dropping and really covering well as well, flying all over the field. I think that if this is going to swing, that's going to be where it does. But I just think the Rams A are healthier and b body for body, pound for pound at almost every position on the roster, are just as nearly a complete team as it gets in the NFL.

00:33:48
Speaker 4: Right now, I'm picking the Rams.

00:33:50
Speaker 2: This is what. This is what Kyle Sanahan likes. Everyone doubting them going in against imnist.

00:33:56
Speaker 4: Respect to Kyle, i'minous. Respect. Don't make eye contact.

00:33:59
Speaker 1: If if you thought he was in a bad mood after losing to Liam Cohen, Like, who knows what who Robert Sala is gonna tell that he's gonna kill after this game. Okay, let's get to someone who would never say something like that on the football field. It's a Walter Payton Man of the Year Award winner. And yes, I'm throwing it to you, Jordan. Have a great time talking to Kaleis Campbell. I will see you guys on our preview show on Wednesday.

00:34:27
Speaker 3: Okay, NFL Daily listeners, it is an unbelievable honor to welcome our next guest here today, Kaleis Campbell, once again an Arizona Cardinal. Thank you very much for coming back eighteenth NFL season. Khalaiis, I just have one major question for you that I've wondered for the last probably about ten years.

00:34:49
Speaker 4: How the heck are you still.

00:34:52
Speaker 3: Doing this at such a high level, showing up all over the stat sheet week over week over week as still one of the best defensive players in the NFL in your eighteenth and it breaks my brain?

00:35:04
Speaker 4: How are you doing this well?

00:35:06
Speaker 6: I will say, I surprise myself.

00:35:09
Speaker 7: You know, I'm just grateful I get to still go out there and perform at a high level. I love this game so much with my heart, really a fan. I'm lucky enough to play it, and so for me, I just I dedicate myself toward I put a lot of working hard work does playoff. But this is just God. You know, I'm very grateful that guy's blessing with the ability to go out there and produce it, produce at high level and hopefully keep it going.

00:35:32
Speaker 3: I know I never want to see you stop playing. I know that's very selfish of me, but I grew up in Phoenix, and you know I actually interned for the radio station out there. I know you're very familiar with Arizona Sports out there, Ron wolf Ley and all the guys, and I was an intern for them in twenty fifteen and I was gathering sound in the locker room and I was squeezed right at the edge of the Kaleis Campbell post game scrum that always would surround you to hear you talk about everything that happened during the game. And you will not remember this, but I will never forget it. And I was squeezed out of it by some of the cameras and you turned to me at the very end and you asked me if I got everything I needed. And I was just a baby intern at the time.

00:36:13
Speaker 4: And for you to.

00:36:15
Speaker 3: Notice that and to take an extra second, I mean, you've always been such a presence, kalais not just on the field, but in the locker room. And I see all of these shots. This Cardinals defense plays their butts off. They play so hard, and you're a huge part of that. And I see these shots of you on the sideline, always giving these galvanizing speeches and keeping people's heads in the game. And I guess over the years you've always done that, But how have you developed that?

00:36:42
Speaker 4: Where do you look to to.

00:36:44
Speaker 3: Find these motivational conversation starters, to find the things that inspire you to then talk to others. And I see you post a lot on your Instagram as well, and I'm kind of wondering where your curiosity in that space comes from of motivating people and then letting it all out on game day.

00:37:02
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think a lot of my motivation, you know, I love the game of football and I want to be really really good at it. And the best thing about football is you the team. You can't do it by yourself, and so you have to be able to inspire other people to go and be at the best vision of themselves, be at a leaite level for you guys to win. And because that is a big part of it, you know, you have to learn about motivation, how to get people to you know, sacrifice self and become part of a team.

00:37:29
Speaker 6: And that's just it's a challenge.

00:37:32
Speaker 7: Uh. But over over the years, you know, even when I was in high school, I've always had this mentality. In college same thing. So over the years I just kind of try different things figured out what work. But one thing for sure is you have to over communicate. You have to talk to guys. You have to tell them, remind them all the time. Like this is the most important play the games, most important drive of the game. Well we are right now. There's nothing nowhere else, whether it be like locking breed, get your breath, you know, whatever you have to do to get ready for this ext drive to be the most important one.

00:38:02
Speaker 3: Where do you go to to find that for yourself? I know you're such a competitor and you have that drive intrinsically, but you know, keeping yourself like locked in the way that you have at such a high level for you know, almost two decades now, Like do you what are your books that you like to read?

00:38:17
Speaker 4: What do you listen to? Do you do breath work? How are things?

00:38:19
Speaker 3: What are things that keep you centered and ready to kind of let the monster out of the box a little bit when you have to.

00:38:26
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, I have a great support team, you know, between like you know, just some of my brothers and sisters and just like you know, some of my best friends, and I'll ideas and things I'm thinking, you know, off of one of my best friends. We talk all the time about like just motivational tactics and you know a way of going about doing things. My wife does a good job of keeping me grounded and keeping my head you.

00:38:49
Speaker 6: Know, look forward.

00:38:50
Speaker 7: But I also will like watch a lot of you know, old Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant videos and you know, righting lowest speeches and like that too, So you know kind of just like always looking like, Okay, who are the best leaders and what can I learn from them? You know, what can I use that's going to allow for me to be a better leader? And but a lot of it too though it's just natalistic, you know, like sometimes it's just like staying presidence there on my feet, are figuring.

00:39:19
Speaker 2: Out what my real goals are.

00:39:20
Speaker 7: Right, one of my goals and you know usually it goes are the win and perform at a high level on the football field as a team. Well, then what can I do what's in my power to make that happen? You know, I feel like I can only I can only maximize so much of my physical stuff. Like I just physically I have to you know, be move, flow and tread a little bit lightly during the week, But where I can't get better at is the studying, uh, you know, trying to help other guys understand what their role is and how they can be more effective with it. So a lot of the how I can be effective impact the game comes to the mind and how I can help other guys.

00:39:58
Speaker 4: You know, it's interesting.

00:39:59
Speaker 3: I know it's a point of pride for you that you are known around the league and pursued every time you're a free agent because of what you bring to a culture in part, but the real people who know ball and watch you every year know that you still bring it and you start are playing at such a high level. I guess I know the culture thing is a point of pride for you, But what's the point of pride being Like, Okay, I'm not just a culture guy. Like I'm coming in, I'm gonna earn my snaps and I'm gonna make splash plays. I'm gonna get my giant hand up there and bat your passes down. Every year, I'm going to rush the passer, I'm going to stop the run. What kind of like is that sort of like a little edge that you still have, Like, hey, I'm not just in here to motivate people.

00:40:38
Speaker 4: I'm here to play ball too.

00:40:40
Speaker 7: Oh yeah, you know that's a big part of it too. Like even when you know I was you know a little bit of freege in a bunch pretty much every year last you know, a few years, and like I've heard a lot of pitchers and teams trying to give me come there. And when I lead with me just being like a like a vocal leader, it kind of like rust me the wrong way a little bit because like you know that's coming eulematically you know you don't get that, but you all, I still got to see me as a baller, you know too, because I can play football still at a league level.

00:41:04
Speaker 6: And part of me, you know.

00:41:05
Speaker 7: Part of my motivation is proven it right, proving it because I mean, everybody thinks you're gonna fall off for that, everybody, but the part of the people think you're gonna fall off, right, they take that when you get to be thirty nine years old, you can't do it if they league love on anymore. And most time they're right. But part of my motivation is go out there and proving them wrong, you know. And it's a daily process, you know, Dlvihn Thomason. He's, you know, a great teammate of mind, but he always challenged me pretty much every day, like I don't care what you get in the past, None of that matters no more what you're gonna do right now, you know. And I'm like, you're right, because if I try to try to play football again, you know, all my history and all my legacy, that there'll a bit tough for that when I retire. But right now, none of that matters. All that matters right now is well I can do for this team today, And so I have great teammates around me to keep me grounded, keep me focused on the main thing. But I would like to be able to make impact. You know, I told myself I didn't want to just join any team. I wanted to join the team by far I can make an impact on and off the field.

00:42:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, and off the field too, Kalais. I want to talk about that because we see it all over the tape year after year. But you also you're a Walter Payton Man of the Year. I mean, people don't forget like the impact I know as a as a Phoenix native like I will never forget the impact that you've made in the communities. Everywhere you've been, you always do such an amazing work in the community. And right now you're working on the Kalais Comes Home Homecoming with a Heart campaign. Can you tell us a little bit more about the work that you're doing.

00:42:33
Speaker 6: Yeah, so it's kind of a two part thing, you know.

00:42:37
Speaker 7: First things first is the health of refuge I've worked with for a long time.

00:42:42
Speaker 6: It seems like it's.

00:42:43
Speaker 7: Been over a decade, and they really help people, you know, going through homelessness, which I personally experienced when I was a kid, and you know, usually it's you know, single mothers with a few kids who were trying to get back on their feet. So we're donating weekly based off my fats, but really the big, big, big thing is trying to bring awareness and just try to use a platform the credit exposure for them. And then as well as I'm picking nine other charities, they get one home game and one way away game where I'm trying to encourage fans to donate alongside me. But I'm doing dating based off of my stats, and so that's part of another reason why I want to perform well, because I want to be able to utilize some of the resources and bring it to some of these cool charities who are all Phoenix based or doing some really good stuff, and I really want to really trying to comb out on them and show the Finnish community who they are and what.

00:43:36
Speaker 6: They're all about.

00:43:38
Speaker 3: Klais when you're helping to provide resources for people who are experiencing homelessness, I know that's a like you said, it's a very personal thing for you and a part of your story. I guess, what can you share with the audience, with the listeners about common misconceptions about you know, what they see versus what you're actually experiencing when you are out there, you know, in the buildings helping people in you know, in the communities helping people, and really what you want people to know about this work that you're doing.

00:44:10
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:44:10
Speaker 7: So a lot of times, very similar to my family story, where you just follow hard times, right, you know. I know sometimes you can get the narrative yet like people, we are homeless, you know, I mean for whatever reason. Right, most of the time, it's just you fellow hard times, right, Misfortune comes at the wrong time, you're not prepared for it, and you have to just make do when you were just trying to tradewater and figure it out that you can get back into a good spot. And so for my family growing up, both of parents lost their job at the same time. You know, we end up getting evicteddn't have anywhere to go, and you know, we found a family homer shelter similar to what House of Refuge does, where they keep families together, and you know, we're there for like six months and now my parents can get back on their feet. And then coming out of that, you know, we move into a what bedroom home you know, for another like six months or so, and then we end moving to a five bedro one mouse after that. And it was just like, you know, kind of like we just needed somebody to help us for a short period of time before we can get back on our feet. And that's the same thing with a lot of these families that you're dealing with. You know, a lot of them just need a little bit helpful a short period of time time you get back on their feet, and then you get them, you know, to a place where they can you know, be self sufficient and then go out there and and you know, and live a normal life again. And so you know, it's just like man, like you know, I think a lot of times you try to encourage people to realize, like you know, just to help in hand. You know, some people just need to help a hand. It's not up forever, you know, helping for the rest of your life. You just just got help for a short period of time and then you know, most people can get back on their feet and do and do great things in this world.

00:45:38
Speaker 3: Well said, and it's been so impressive. You are like the living embodiment of a helping hand, not just in the community, but on the field as well. He's still going, guys, somehow, some way at a.

00:45:51
Speaker 4: High level class.

00:45:53
Speaker 3: It was like a personal and also a really great honor to talk to you today.

00:45:57
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for taking the time.

00:45:59
Speaker 3: Every Body go check out Kalais comes Home Homecoming with a Heart campaign. We'll make sure to share these links on social and within the episode description as well.

00:46:09
Speaker 4: Kalais good luck this week man. We really appreciate it.

00:46:12
Speaker 6: Well, thank you for your tiking. I appreciate you.

00:46:14
Speaker 4: That was the legend.

00:46:16
Speaker 3: Kalaeis Campbell still doing incredible work on and off the field, personal hero of mine. Stoked to be able to talk to him today. You guys, this is a pretty fun show, honestly. I mean I got to sit in the power chair, had to lower it a little bit. Shots to Greg, Greg and Patrick Claibon and myself. We'll be back later this week with the preview shows and Guys Week five.

00:46:40
Speaker 4: Right right, let's do it.