NFL Season Preview: Key Updates and Insider Insights
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00:00Of course, it's always great to have our SportsGrid NFL insider, Adam Kaplan, with us, and we
00:08are almost there.
00:11One week from tonight, the NFL season will kick off in Kansas City between the Ravens
00:17and the Chiefs.
00:18This is the last, as Adam just said, the last dead week before we really get things cooking.
00:24But the beginning of this week, Adam, is very busy.
00:27I know that going into Labor Day weekend, it's not, unless, of course, you're probably
00:31John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco.
00:36But you had plenty of activity with everybody getting their rosters cut down to 53 and filling
00:41up those practice squads earlier this week.
00:43Yeah, look, Tuesday and Wednesday, the cut down of 53 was at 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.
00:49Practice squads on Wednesday, there rarely are shockers or real surprises.
00:55What happens is a lot of teams who know they're not going to keep certain veterans, they try
00:59to trade them.
01:00For instance, the Broncos were shopping Tim Patrick, veteran receiver, who's a pretty
01:03good player, by the way.
01:05But unfortunately, he's had two major lower body injuries, and he wound up being released.
01:09He signed with the Lions practice squad.
01:12Allen Robinson, I kind of knew this, he was going to make it with the Giants.
01:16He moved on, I believe, to the Lions practice squad.
01:18In fact, I talked to Allen.
01:19I ran into him at the radio row at the Combine, and Allen said he's going to go into broadcasting.
01:26He actually did some work for us at Sirius XM, NFL Radio.
01:29But the bottom line is, Mike, as you know, at this time of year, it's just kind of like
01:34failed draft picks, veteran players.
01:38And then what happens is, though, these guys who get cut, sometimes they go into better
01:41situations.
01:42Like Noah Brown, right?
01:43Noah Brown, a veteran receiver, you might remember from Dallas, a former 7th round pick.
01:48He really did a good job for the Texans.
01:50They re-signed him on a one-year deal.
01:52He gets cut, so he goes to Washington's practice squad.
01:55They have like no definite receiver.
01:57He should be called up fairly soon.
01:58He might be able to get in the rotation very quickly.
02:01And your guy Robert Woods, the former Bills receiver, who was a pretty good player earlier
02:05in his career, he was drafted by the Bills.
02:07He actually made the Texas roster.
02:08I thought he might be the guy who would go.
02:10But not a lot of shockers.
02:12And as you mentioned, practice squads fill up with a lot of veterans.
02:15I thought that, by the way, we should mention this.
02:18And I know people will criticize some players in the Bills practice squad, but if you look
02:21at the former high-round draft picks, veteran-proven players who are kind of on their way down,
02:27I like what the Bills did.
02:28They have guys who are clearly going to be on their active roster at some point.
02:32And I think that that's why, for a team like them, who, as we discussed last week, Adam,
02:36is in kind of a transition right now.
02:39They're not, you know, rebuilding.
02:41They're transitioning into a next stage of Josh Allen.
02:45Having some veteran guys on your practice squad is very helpful because you're trying
02:50to build up young guys on your actual roster.
02:53So if things aren't going well, you at least have some depth there on the practice squad
02:58that you can go to.
03:00There was also some trades of note that did take place earlier this week, including, and
03:06you thought that the Tennessee Titans were going to have to move one of their quarterbacks
03:12out, and it ends up being Malik Willis.
03:13Yeah, and look, what I find interesting is, and it's going to be fascinating, the Titans,
03:18yes, they moved Malik Willis.
03:20He had no chance to make it.
03:21I was with the Titans two weeks ago.
03:23It was already a fait accompli that Mason Rudolph was going to be the number two quarterback.
03:27The only question would be is, could they find a home for Malik Willis?
03:30They did.
03:31They got a seventh-round pick to the Packers.
03:33Now, the Packers, what they did is they cleared out two quarterbacks, Sean Clifford, who was
03:38a Penn State quarterback.
03:39I met Sean at the Super Bowl, a radio row where you're set up at SportsGrid, and Sean
03:44is going to, he cleared waivers.
03:45He's going to be in the practice squad.
03:47Now, you have to remember, Malik Willis is kind of in a new offense here.
03:52Yes, Tennessee ran a Wesco scheme, so did the Packers, but he's got to learn it the
03:57way that they do it, and if the Packers are grooming Malik Willis to be their number two
04:03quarterback, this is going to take some time.
04:05He's got a lot of skill, though.
04:07He could run.
04:08He's got a lot of arms.
04:09He's kind of a smaller quarterback, not very accurate, but this is kind of a new look for
04:12their backup quarterback position there in Green Bay.
04:15That was kind of one of the interesting trades, and then Ernest Jones, this is kind of a big
04:19deal this week.
04:20Ernest Jones made it clear he wanted an extension.
04:23The Rams could not reach a deal, and I just, I got the feeling that they didn't think that
04:27it was going to work out for him there, and so they traded to the Titans who, they lost
04:32a rookie inside linebacker, Chance Campbell, for the season to an ACL, and talking to the
04:38Titans, man, when I was there at training camp, they loved this kid, but he blew out
04:41his knee, and he won't be able to play this season, and they were really light at inside
04:45backer, so they got Ernest Jones, who should wind up starting, or at least pushing for
04:49a starting job, so that helps them, and quite frankly, Mike, this Titans team, I'm not saying
04:55they're going to be like the Texans of last year, or the Jaguars of two years ago, where
04:59they came out of nowhere to make the playoffs, but Rand Carthon, you might remember his dad,
05:04Rand Carthon, a former fullback for the Giants and Patriots, Carthon's done a phenomenal
05:10job in terms of addressing every possible need he could.
05:13You can't get every need done in one off-season, but he addressed as many as he could, and
05:19this Titans roster is mentally upgraded.
05:21The roster was terrible last season, much better.
05:24They're a team that I like to go over their total.
05:27Their win total's six and a half, Mike, I actually like that, they're going to be better
05:30than people think.
05:32Lots of injuries, of course, Adam, as usual, as we get close to the start of the year.
05:37The Steelers are dealing with several of them, along with, of course, yesterday, Tomlin naming
05:42Russell Wilson as their starter for week one.
05:45Yeah, let's get started before we get to injuries with Russell Wilson.
05:48I can just tell from being there, I mentioned Pharrell here on Coast to Coast, been with
05:53them for two days, you just see the difference and the calming influence that Russell Wilson
05:59has around the football team.
06:01He's willing to make tough throws where Justin Fields doesn't really process all that well.
06:05Really good athlete, and what you're going to see with Justin Fields is they're going
06:08to use him potentially in a third down and short, sort of a change-up quarterback, maybe
06:13run certain formations, this will give the defense something else to think about.
06:19We've seen this before with Arthur Smith, with Marcus Mariota, when Mariota and Smith
06:24worked together in Atlanta, but bottom line is Russell Wilson's going to be the starter
06:27week one and probably going for it for a while.
06:30Now, at some point, if Russell Wilson isn't playing well or they're eliminated from the
06:33playoffs late in the season, that's certainly when you can see Justin Fields take over.
06:37But updating some injury situations, let's get to their offensive line, which Mike, when
06:41they face those Falcons in week one in Atlanta, a week from this Sunday, they've got a lot
06:45of injuries.
06:46Fitanu, their first-round pick-right tackle, he's got an MCL sprain, he started working
06:50this week, they're pretty hopeful he'll be able to play, but you don't like that a rookie
06:53misses part of training camp.
06:55That worries me a little bit.
06:57If you look at the interior of their offensive line, this is a problem.
07:02They just lost one of the guards due to a pectoral strain.
07:07That worries me.
07:08Nate Herbig, his brother Nick, who's on defense, Nate's out for the season with that torn rotator
07:15cuff.
07:16So that worries me.
07:17Isaac Sayamala, who I was talking about, former Eagles offensive lineman, who was the highest-graded
07:21offensive lineman, I'm told, from last season, he's the guy who's got the pectoral strain.
07:25So they're down and deaf, certainly on the offensive line.
07:28Broderick Jones didn't play well, their first-round pick from last season, so they've got to get
07:32that going, I'm told, with Rowan Wilson.
07:34So that lingering ankle injury, I'm told, we could update this, this is actually a high-ankle
07:37sprain.
07:38That's why he's not back yet.
07:40He's working very limited this week.
07:43It's going to be touch-and-go whether he could be available for week one against Atlanta,
07:47but look for Van Jefferson, another former Atlanta Falcon, and a former second-round
07:53pick for the Rams some years ago.
07:55He should be able to start week one.
07:56He had a great training camp, that's why he made it.
07:58I'm told they love his veteran influence.
08:00He almost certainly will start week one, and they'll work Rowan Wilson in when he's ready
08:04to go, but they're really bagged up.
08:06That does worry me for week one.
08:09You're in Atlanta where it's going to be loud.
08:11That worries me with communication with the offensive line, and let's not forget, Mike,
08:15Russell Wilson is the new starting quarterback with these guys.
08:17That does worry me for that week one matchup.
08:20It should.
08:21I got under a minute, Adam.
08:23I saw a clip of John Lynch before from yesterday.
08:24I heard that.
08:25I think the word that you could say is he looks finished with this entire thing and
08:30just wants it to be over and wants Aiyuk to make a decision.
08:33He does, and what you have to understand is Ricky Pierce held a first-round receiver.
08:38You might remember he had a hamstring injury in the offseason.
08:41I'm told that's fine.
08:42The shoulder problem's lingering.
08:44He can't take contact in that shoulder.
08:46They're very light receiver right now with that Aiyuk.
08:48Even if he starts practicing next week, Mike, he hasn't practiced in months.
08:53You don't know kind of game shape he's in.
08:55They know what kind of shape he's in, physical shape, because he's in their building, but
08:59he's not practicing, Mike, where they're indicating he might practice this week.
09:03That's not good.