Hour 2: ‘What’s More Likely,’ Commanders Concerns, NFL Insider Tom Pelissero

23:26Tom Pelissero:Well, first of all, the 49ers have been in this spot before. It's not every year, but there are certainly too many years where the 49ers were a week or two in the season and they've got one or more calamities that they're having to deal with from a health perspective, a roster perspective, or everything else. I mean, they lose their quarterback for somewhere. It's going to be multiple weeks. doesn't sound like Brock Purdy goes on injured reserve, but you're talking about turf toe or a turf toe-like injury, which is where, and you can see the play where it happens, you know, his foot gets way overextended where it's supposed to actually bend with that big toe.

24:03Tom Pelissero:You know, that can damage ligaments and tendons and all sorts of things. And so it's going to be a matter of how quickly can he get past the pain portion and get back to functionality. They'll go week to week on this thing. We're not going to see him on Sunday against the Saints. Doesn't sound like we'll see him next week either, but they're hoping sooner than later he's able to get back out there. So you've got Mack Jones now filling in a quarterback. You lose your starting tight end George Kittle for four games. They hope it's only four. Part of the reason they IR him is because that fourth game falls on a Thursday night, so they've got four games in like a 23-day span.

24:33Tom Pelissero:It just makes sense. Give him the time to rest. But also, Juwan Jennings got banged up. We already know Brandon Ayuk is not out there. He's going to be back sometime October, November, but it's still going to be a bit for him. And then, oh, yeah, you had to cut your kicker who you've stood by through thick and thin for two seasons plus one game. You know, here we are all of a sudden and they're making a kicker change as well. That's that's a lot on the plate of of Kyle Shanahan, who unfortunately is used to dealing with these things. We'll see exactly how they handle as they go to into a tough environment, but against a really winnable game against the Saints.

25:06Rich Eisen:And then we're always in our world of media and talking about it. Tom looking for a spot where a quarterback could be the first to be benched due to inefficiency or their performance. And a lot of folks looking at New Jersey on that front in Dallas with the Giants and Russell Wilson. What's your tea leave reading there with Jackson Dart being just one snap away from getting into the game right now?

25:31Tom Pelissero:Tom, I would say the Giants coaching staff knows and this goes all the way to the front office. This goes to ownership. I mean, this is an organizational decision, but they've got one move that they can make this season. The one move that they can make to potentially change how things are going is to bench Russell Wilson and put in Jackson Dart. And you want to be careful about how you approach that, making sure that you're setting Jackson Dart up for success. And when you look at the Giants' schedule going into this season, you'd say, this was pretty difficult out of the gate, so put the veteran quarterback in there.

26:05Tom Pelissero:You never want to be on a list with a stat like the Giants are the first team to not score a touchdown in their opener three years in a row since the Lions in the 1940s. That's bad company to be in. And for whatever reason, from just an offensive competency perspective, they've been perpetual slow starters going all the way back to Brian Dable's first year when they kind of had some things together. They won a ton of one-score games. They went into the playoffs and even won a game. I don't get the sense that this is imminent. I know that Brian Dable kind of was nonspecific after the game. It sounds like that was more the frustration of how that game went and just wanting to make sure they went back and reviewed the tape.

26:45Tom Pelissero:We all know this. Every time that the offense stumbles, any time Russell Wilson doesn't play well, the heat's only going to rise in New York. And so Jackson Dart is there. It's hard to say for certain exactly how close to ready they feel he is. He looked really good in the preseason. But Russell Wilson, the first string offense, looked pretty good in the preseason too, and they couldn't move the ball at all against the commanders here. If they keep losing games, there's no question. We could see Jackson Dart sooner than later, but I don't get the sense that this is a, hey, if we come out, we have a bad quarter on Sunday.

27:18Tom Pelissero:We're going to throw the rookie in there against Dallas.

27:21Rich Eisen:Speaking of not wanting to be on a list, Tom, you don't want to be atop the list of first team to hold a players-only meeting in a season, And you certainly don't want that to be on a date like, oh, say, September 9th. But that is apparently what happened in Miami on Tuesday, Tom. What is happening with the Dolphins as you know it at present?

27:44Tom Pelissero:Well, that was about as bad of an opener as you could possibly imagine. You've got the entire summer to draw things up and figure out how you're going to attack this specific opponent. Granted, with some level of undone because Luan Arumas, you know, a new defensive coordinator in Indianapolis. but you've got years of tape on him in Cincinnati. You know what the personnel is. There were definitely some things that Lou, who's really good at his job, threw at the Dolphins, and it threw him off. But you've got to be able to function at a higher level than they did. They had miscues pre - and post-snap.

28:15Tom Pelissero:As Mike McDaniel put it, the guys got caught up a little bit in the bells and whistles of Week 1. The fact that they had a players-only meeting, I think, more so speaks back to the emphasis through the offseason about mutual accountability. It was everybody staying together and being on the same page. And when I've talked to people in Miami coming off that, I mean, obviously, nobody wants to see week one go like that. But the insistence I get is it's better than it was a year ago. We're still on course here. This is not absolute panic mode. But they've got to come on and show it this week because you've got a Sunday game at home against the Patriots team.

28:50Tom Pelissero:I was there in Foxborough. They really struggled. There were good moments on defense. There were not a lot of good moments on offense. if you can't beat the Patriots, who historically, by the way, have struggled in Miami, if you can't beat them on your home field, then you're turning around and playing a Thursday night game in Buffalo. You potentially could be 0-3, and that would be the first time you're going to have people saying, oh boy, are they going to make a change if the Dolphins get blasted in this game? I don't know that we're anywhere close to that point. I know how that organization feels about Mike McDaniel.

29:23Tom Pelissero:There's no doubt that they have had fairly unique challenges through the course of this offseason in terms of making multiple big trades, signing starting corners in August, trading for Darren Waller, who has yet to play a snap, and he's ruled out again this week. Jalen Waddell's banged up with the shoulder now this week. Devon H.M. may not have been 100%. Jalen Wright hasn't been healthy. There's a lot of stuff going around that team, and that's not to make excuses for them. They also lost two starting offensive linemen in the game last week. Austin Jackson's going to be out this week, and James Daniels is headed to injured reserve.

29:56Tom Pelissero:I mean, that's a lot of moving parts that the Dolphins have. There's no doubt. I mean, there is not a bigger game on the schedule than week two right now for the Patriots. Because if you go into Buffalo 0-2 national TV, and that game could get as ugly as games against Buffalo sometimes do, you're only going to feel the pressure ratcheted up that much around that program. So it makes sense. Players get together and say, hey, that was awful, but we're not going to allow this to be the product again this Sunday.

30:26Rich Eisen:Can Tyreek Hill being a part that's moving elsewhere? I mean, that's one of the red hot rumors of this week is that if the Dolphins go any further south, then Tyreek could be had for the right price. And within the conference, I mean, teams like the Steelers and Chiefs have been associated with that rumor. Your thoughts on that, Tom? Is there a market for this? Is it happening?

30:48Tom Pelissero:I don't foresee Tyreek Hill being traded in the near term by the Dolphins, barring some type of a blowup, which we've seen those happen surrounding Tyreek in the past or postgame comments. I don't get the sense we're there because, Rich, the moment that they would trade Tyreek Hill, that's Miami waving the white flag. Go back to the end of last season, the conversations that they had through January, February, March. They made a conscious decision. We need to change things in this locker room. were going to move on from Jalen Ramsey. They end up trading him to the Steelers in June, but that was a deal that was going to happen.

31:23Tom Pelissero:He was not going to be a member of the Dolphins for months. They made a simultaneous decision to keep Tyreek Hill because they believed that this part of it was salvageable, that Tyreek would come back with a greater sense of responsibility and would come back more dialed in. We know Tyreek's made comments about he finally knows the offense, finally knows the playbook, feels like he's in a better spot. Well, again, you get into week one, it doesn't look good. And if it continues to not look good, then certainly there's a scenario where Tyreek Hill could be traded. They also converted a large chunk.

31:55Tom Pelissero:It's built into the contract, but they converted a large chunk of his compensation this year into a bonus. It's an option bonus structure. And so the team, if there were a team trading for Tyreek Hill, would get him at a pretty low rate, too. But you also have to factor in here, bringing in Tyreek Hill would change certain dynamics, potentially, in your locker room. I don't see a team like the Steelers bringing in Tyreek Hill, period. To be quite frank, Rich, never say never. But if any team is going to have inside information on where things went sideways with Tyreek last year, it would be from a team that traded for multiple other Dolphins veterans within the past couple of months.

32:32Tom Pelissero:It just seems like it would be a difficult fit there. You have the additional NFL review and allegations of domestic violence raised by his now ex-wife. That's a lot for teams to bite off. So where does that leave him? You mentioned the Chiefs. It sounds like Xavier Worthy avoided the worst of it here. He potentially even could play this week. We'll see what his participation is in practice today. But you don't necessarily have an acute need in Kansas City. But you know this, they're willing to take calculated risks on guys who might come with trouble, whether that's off the field, whether that's in the locker room.

33:07Tom Pelissero:They know Tyreek Hill. They didn't trade him because they didn't think he could play anymore a few years ago, Rich, when they traded in Miami. They traded him because Tyreek wanted to make$30 million a year and they could get a first and a third round pick and use that$30 million a year to rebuild their offensive line and their defense. They did that. Now this would be Tyreek Hill coming back at a different price point for less cash. It would make sense. But again, we're not there yet. No trade is down the road. The Dolphins lose these next couple that we're going to be talking about all kinds of different things that could happen in Miami.

33:38Rich Eisen:A few minutes left with Tom Pellicero, my colleague from NFL Network and the NFL Media Group, NFL Plus. You kind of touched on Xavier Worthy after he collided with Travis Kelsey in Brazil. three snaps into the game, everything got flipped over in their world, as well as their game plan for that day and evening in Sao Paulo. What's the latest? Is he going to wear a brace? Is it really possible? Is surgery feasible? Walk me through what's going on with Xavier Worthy and the Chiefs, best you can tell.

34:10Tom Pelissero:Well, it sounds like with this particular shoulder injury, it's not a surgical necessary thing at this time. It is an injury that, and I heard this all the way back from the night of the game, was they were hopeful once the x-rays were negative, this would be something where maybe he could wear a harness and be able to get back on the field. But you've got to get comfortable with the harness. You've got to feel like you've got full range of motion. You've got to feel like you can protect yourself, whether that's from defensive backs or Travis Kelsey running his run. Slightly not the correct depth out there.

34:39Tom Pelissero:But those are real things. Things happen in football games. What you don't want to do is send Xavier Worthy back. But you said it, and you were there, Rich. Their game plan was built so much around Xavier Worthy that however many snaps into the game that was, and he goes down, all of a sudden what they had to do is they had two other receivers who were running routes in the game that they had never repped in practice because those were Xavier Worthy plays and because the offense was supposed to run through Worthy. So I would add that caveat, too, on anybody sitting here and writing off the Chiefs.

35:08Tom Pelissero:Now, if you watch the Bills-Ravens game on Sunday night, I certainly walked away going, these two teams look more dangerous right now than the Chiefs. But take into account, when you have a game plan that's built through really the entire offseason and the week of the game, and then you lose one of your core players, it does have a ripple effect. And so let's see what they can come out and do against another really tough defense on Sunday against the Eagles.

35:30Rich Eisen:So where the might play, can play, we just need to keep an eye on the injury. report for summer?

35:35Tom Pelissero:He practiced yesterday. So the fact that he was out there on a limited basis, again, this is one that might sometimes, you know, game time decisions are kind of phony. This is one that they truly might take up at least until Saturday, just because, you know, again, there's an experimentation with the harness. There's, hey, how's he feeling after a day of practice? They could also have looked at him yesterday and just decide to shut him down. My understanding has been going into practice yesterday. They thought, all right, let's go and test this thing out. Let's see how his body responds to it.

36:01Tom Pelissero:Let's see how he works on the practice field. We'll get clearer answers later today, but he may well be listed as questionable.

36:07Rich Eisen:Ed Oliver ruled out for the Bills. That's significant, one would say. What other significant injuries do you want to throw out there before I let you go into the weekend, sir?

36:16Tom Pelissero:Ed Oliver got stepped on in practice on Wednesday. It just seemed like he couldn't really shake it. He was in a walking boot. I mean, he was the one guy in a game where both teams scored 40-plus points, Rich. Ed Oliver was the defensive player who was absolutely everywhere on the field. So a little bit of extra challenge for Buffalo going into this week. Sounds like good news on Drake London. He's practiced the past couple of days. I know Raheem Morris has been optimistic that he's going to be able to go this week. Denzel Ward being off the injury report. A time guy pops up on Thursday with an Achilles.

36:47Tom Pelissero:You get a little bit worried about it, but he's going to be good to go this week. It'll be RSC2, whether or not the Browns put Quinshawn Judkins onto the field. Had his meeting with the NFL this week. He's only practiced basically two days since back in the spring. That would certainly tell you he's not going to get a full boat, but do they get him out there and get his feet wet? This is amidst the ongoing NFL investigation that could yield discipline, even though legal charges, criminal charges were dropped based upon an allegation of assault. So there's a lot of moving parts there. But for the Browns, this guy, again, setting aside those things, this guy was supposed to be a huge part of their rushing game going into 2025.

37:31Tom Pelissero:So let's see as we go through these next 48 hours, if they feel like, hey, let's at least get this guy a few carries and get him going.

37:36Rich Eisen:Last one for you in the 90 seconds I have left. And I might ask this every single week with you, Tom, like the team or the scenario or the issue that other folks around the league are hitting you up about the most on your phone over the last week is?

37:53Tom Pelissero:Yeah, it's, I mean, it's some of the things we just talked about. It's what's going on in Miami, what's going on with the Giants. This is like their, I never want to say there's a low rich, right? We had the highest rated week one of all time. There's news galore. But the first two, three, four weeks, it's pretty rare for people to want to massively change course. You might see a kicker get cut. You got like the Jaguars trading their backup running back because it didn't work out for them in Jacksonville. But the first four weeks, everybody kind of good or bad tempers the expectations in terms of, you know, September, there's a lot of experimentation, particularly in week one.

38:30Tom Pelissero:You get surprised by certain things. Nobody wants to make drastic moves over the next two, three, four weeks. But I would say the teams that we all came into the season talking about and thinking about whether or not they were going to potentially have problems. Some of those teams had problems in week one. And so a close eye on how teams like the Dolphins and Giants navigate this early portion of the season. I don't like this answer.

38:56Rich Eisen:I don't like this answer. I don't like it at all. It's not juicy enough for me. Like nobody's blowing your phone up last night saying, why do the Cowboys trade Micah? Nobody's blowing your phone up saying that while he's blowing up the Commanders last night. Nobody. Is that what you're saying?

39:08Tom Pelissero:I think everybody got bored for six months of saying, what are the Cowboys doing with Micah Parsons? and eventually once he got traded, they're all just like, all right, whatever. Resolution. Okay, I got it. Resolution.

39:21Rich Eisen:Okay. Yeah, that's really it.

39:23Tom Pelissero:I mean, the trade stuff, like there's still – listen, the first starting quarterback who goes down for extended stretch, it'll be will Kirk Cousins go there? Will the Falcons trade him? What else do they do? I mean, the commanders lose Austin Eckler last night to what is in all likelihood pending MRI, I'm not sure, to kill his tendon. I know they got Bill. everyone's excited about Bill, but do they go out after trading Brian Robinson? Do they go out and sign or trade for a backup running back? Those are kind of the little things that people begin to look at here because the moment the injuries start, there's only so many places you can go.

39:55Tom Pelissero:There's not a lot of veterans on the street. We're not to the point where teams want to punt on their season yet and start trading key players, but we're also not that far away from teams potentially making some tough decisions if they can get value.

40:06Rich Eisen:All right, Tom, thanks very much. Next week I want a juicier answer to that question.

40:10Tom Pelissero:I will think about that answer for the next seven days. Bring the juice. Bring the juice next time.

40:14Rich Eisen:Tom Pelissero, everybody, right here on the Rich Eisen Show. There he goes. I'll send you the video, Tom. Okay. We take a break. Come back. Your phone calls, 844-204-RICH, number to dial. I got my top five other games that I'm looking forward to seeing this week. And Michael Chiklis making his way to our third hour studio.

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41:16Rich Eisen:Because next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability. Because the future isn't some far-off concept, it's already here. Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Jeff in Detroit wants to chime in. One of our favorites and longtime listeners and many-time callers. What's up, Jeffrey? What up? No. Today's my birthday. Feeling good. Hey, happy birthday. Happy birthday. My cousin.

42:00Rich Eisen:It was so funny. I called into the show. And me and Adam, the call screener, who's a Ferris fan. That's right. It's on. Me and him always comment, Josh back and forth. When we got off our call today, he always tells me, you have a great weekend, good luck, or whatever. That's nice. He got off the phone today. He said, have a great weekend. No luck. And I thought about it. Well, Jeff, I don't know if you saw earlier this week. Well, Dan Flex to be able to open up a Disney app and see my guy rich. Lovely. Right there. I know your kids love it. Like, well, here's my father right here. You know what I'm saying?

42:34Rich Eisen:They don't care. On the Disney app, which is great. I love the new platform. You guys have been doing great so far. I've been loving it. I had a ride with one Detroit Lion. TJ refers to him as the sun god. And he told me to just take it easy, calm down. What was Detroit when he got there? And I thought about that. And that's one of those things where today, I mean, this weekend is going to be a must-win situation because whoever loses is going to be 0-2 in division. But us Detroit Lions fans here, we know what it is to lose, and we feel like Jared Goff and our Lions are going to get back in the race.

43:19Rich Eisen:I honestly believe so. So, Jeff, first of all, happy birthday. Thank you, my brother. Secondly, did you say you were driving Amon Ross St. Brown around? Yeah, I had him a couple of days ago. And we were talking. We actually had a little somewhat of a conversation. And, you know, he's of the mindset that everybody else is. We lose one game. We're falling off the cliff. My question is, and I just hated it as soon as it happened, why the hell did Jerry have to send Micah to the North? Yeah, I know. My goodness, man. That guy has something to deal with. I know. Last question for you. St. Brown wears 14.

43:57Rich Eisen:Was the percentage of his tip higher or lower than his uniform number? Jeff, whoa.

44:05Tom Pelissero:He did me well. He did me well.

44:08Rich Eisen:Welcome to Jeff of Detroit, giving us the update from Detroit, saying everything's fine here. No panic. Maybe he was saying that to him because he was behind the wheel of a car, but he truly does believe it. Thank you, Jeff, in Detroit for calling in on the program. We love Jeff. Happy birthday to him. He's usually in the barber shop. He DMs me all the stuff that the guys say in the shop. They're loving this thing. And he always gives us something to talk about. And this one is just Adam, our call screener, is just, and he's really sensitive these days. He's also kind of spiraling after the way Monday night went.

44:44Rich Eisen:I couldn't tell when he came on the program with a full sheet of paper of notes. And I told him, I'm like, just put that away and speak from the heart, man. And then he says, bring in Tyson Bajan. And I'm like, okay. He wants Bajan. He wants Bajan. He's going to call it for Baygent. He's like, if the Bears are 0-4, they better start Baygent. Rich, right after Warner Wednesday's ding, I went back to Adam, and I said, now, look, Adam, Kurt Warner, Hall of Famer, Super Bowl champion. He told you Caleb's going to be all right. Are you okay? And Adam still was not okay. You know what, man? I don't know, man.

45:17Rich Eisen:But Kurt Warner came on this program on Wednesday, and he said, I don't know. I looked at the film, and DJ Moore was open, and Caleb didn't connect with him. I don't know if he ran the right route. Sure enough, confirmed by the offensive coordinator. Didn't run the right route. Remember he said that J.J. McCarthy's pick six. He needs to look at the film because it looks like Justin Jefferson might have broke his route too early. And he says, but we won't know because, you know, I don't know if Justin Jefferson is going to talk about it. You know what Justin Jefferson said in his media availability yesterday?

45:48Rich Eisen:He admitted he ran the route. He did. So. Kurt Warner. Kurt Warner Wednesdays on the Rich Eisen show, everybody. Make sure you watch it. And also go check out Kurt's QB confidential page because he sees things and talks about things that other ones don't. And then the coordinators and players confirm it. It'll be all right, Adam. We, through Kurt, make you smarter. And a lot of these guys around here make you dumber.

46:15Tom Pelissero:Oh, wait, what?

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