Do you have that access for these preseason games? And I mean, how much of that did you take to the air on Friday night?

That's a great question.

And I've been there at every level, right? I've been the local reporter who hosts the coaches show.

I've been the national host at NFL Network and I've been doing the games.

And I would say second only to probably news breakers and insiders who are constantly in contact with the coaches in terms of knowledge and value are these production meetings that we have regularly.

with the coaches and coordinators and, uh, sometimes some players, um, before the games.

And they, yeah, they tell you who they expect is going to be playing and generally who's going to be out there first.

But what do you think they really wanted to do?

Yeah.

It, it, exactly.

It was...

You know, when your, when your best guys are hurt, you're, you're not gonna be able to win.

Um, but they feel so good about some of the weaknesses last year, right? The defense is completely revamped.

You're gonna have, you know, seven, eight new starters on the defensive side of the ball.

The wide receiver room, I don't know that I've ever seen before the change in perception after one player is added after training camp has been started.

So first impressions?

... all season long, yeah.

Yeah.

Ex- ex- exactly.

It was...

You know, when your, when your best guys are hurt, you're, you're not gonna be able to win.

Um, but they feel so good about some of the weaknesses last year, right? The defense is completely revamped.

You're gonna have, you know, seven, eight new starters on the defensive side of the ball.

So first impressions?

But what do you think they really wanted to do?

I think that Ayuk was probably in the conversation at some point and that he talked himself or posted himself out of that conversation.

You know, I think they probably had, I think Diggs and Ayuk and, you know, Keenan Allen, maybe a couple other guys, they were looking at them all.

You know, they wanted to upgrade there.

I think they couldn't be happier with the way that things worked out with Steph.

And I think they're really excited about Antonio Williams.

But, you know, if you don't have Steph, then all of a sudden everybody else is playing more.

MGMresorts.com/gamesense.

Yeah.

Yeah.

E- e- exactly.

It was...

You know, when your, when your best guys are hurt, you're, you're not gonna be able to win.

Um, but they feel so good about some of the weaknesses last year, right? The defense is completely revamped.

You're gonna have, you know, seven, eight new starters on the defensive side of the ball.

So first impressions?

Yeah

... he's very good, and he...

You know, what's funny, I remember when he first started getting into TV, my advice to him was to stay on the NFL side, and do games, and not do the, as many studio shows because, um, I feel like...

You, you guys know, the live programming is the one thing that's kind of impervious to DVR and worrying about the ratings, right? Like, people are watching games as they happen.

Nobody wants to tape games and then go back and watch it, right? And then you have the shoulder programming, whereas, you know, the SportsCenters of the world, eh, you'll watch it, or it's background noise, or it might be on.

Um, and he w- he didn't really, like, take my advice.

He did a little college.

Hmm.

Yeah

... he's very good.

And he...

You know, what's funny, I remember when he first started getting into TV, my advice to him was to stay on the NFL side, and do games, and not do the, as many studio shows.

Because, um, I feel like, y- you guys know, the live programming is the one thing that's kind of impervious to DVR and worrying about the ratings, right? Like, people are watching games as they happen.

Nobody wants to tape games and then go back and watch it, right? And then you have the shoulder programming, whereas, you know, the SportsCenters of the world, eh, you'll watch it, or it's background noise, or it might be on.

Um, and he w- he didn't really, like, take my advice.

Mm-hmm.

Everything does

... there'll be some resolution of some...

They're not gonna send the Heisman over.

There'll be some resolution, uh, of some point.

Whether or not he'll be happy with it or not, who knows.

Um, the good news is, though, and I think you agree with this, Jay- I don't think Jay- Jayden is a publicity hound.

I don't think, uh, he thinks about this stuff beyond when it's brought to his attention, then, you know, he's onto the next.

Yeah

Where do you see him headed at this year?

Uh, it sounds like he's getting a grasp of this offense.

It's gonna play to his strengths.

You're getting him a few more playmakers.

You know, everybody's talking about who's gonna be the number two wide receiver.

I'm excited about what Rashad White can provide-

Yeah.

So I started doing play-by-play there, was lucky enough to get a couple NFL games, um, and then transitioned to a full college package.

The

excitement level now, you know, when we got Jaden and he came in and made it to the NFC Championship game the first year, it was so cool just to see everybody, not just here, but there's some Commanders fan groups that go to different bars around the LA area.

Every now and then when I'm not working, I'll try to pop in there and take my son.

It's fun, man.

And, you know, a total influx of free agents that came in this year.

And it's...

The ceiling is so high right now.

Where do you see him headed at this year?

But to see them out there today, what do you think?

fast everything's fast right they're obviously working in a condensed space there um in the 20 or 30 yard line there were some uh yankov made uh some nice grabs the secondary i was impressed with how they were moving around cross was all over the place Dude, old 98 coming off the edge.

It can make some noise.

The question is, is he going to be the guy the first four or five games in Baltimore, or is he going to be the guy that was with the Chargers for that last 11 or 12 games of the year, or a couple years ago when he had 10 sacks for the Ravens? Yeah.

They have players.

Do they have enough playmakers, I guess, during the course of the season? I think they do.

I think they're going to be able to spread the ball around.

It doesn't make sense to

From a straight football perspective, what are you most excited to see?

I'm excited to see this new look defense and how fast they're moving and, uh, and just situational, right? Third and short, third and long, red zone.

Um, I'm excited to see, I...

There's so many things I'm excited to see that we're probably not gonna see in the preseason, right? We're gonna see the starters for a couple of series I would imagine.

I'm excited to see how they look in that new offense.

How, how does the running back situation play out? Uh, B and I were just talking while you were gone, JP, about how everybody's so hyper-focused on the number two, um, receiver situation-

Yeah.

Right? Like, he's smart.