The Rich Eisen Show Hour 3: Bills ‘4-Downs’ Season Preview, Browns QB Competition, plus ESPN’s Jason McCourty

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1:17But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. The one and only The Rich Eisen Show.

1:34Rich Eisen:Snap to love has time. Describe for me if you would mind your relationship. From The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Matt is great. We're talking the same language all week. We're in each other's ear. Earlier on the show, NFL Network insider Mike Garofalo. Still to come, ESPN NFL analyst Jason McCourty. And now, it's Rich Eisen. The three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. That's not a threat. It's just a fact. We're here in hour number three. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Got all the phone lines lighting up. We're very appreciative of that. Everyone wants to play win-loss games, so we'll do our best to get it all in.

2:18Rich Eisen:I've got my Bills four down season preview that is coming up. Also have, for everybody to chew on, the latest on the Browns quarterback. decision that Todd Munkin's going to have to make. And the first two hours of the program, a lot of fun. We had Mike Garfello on hour number one. T.J. Jefferson threw the Penn State Nittany Lions banner off of his favorite team's list because Dan Lanning, the head coach of the Oregon Ducks, came through and gave him a fresh pair of rare Nikes, right? You got them right there? We unpacked them. Look at that. What are these again? Again, I'm not a shoeophile. This is some Jordan 1s.

3:00Rich Eisen:Jordan 1s. Oregon P.E.s. Ooh, baby. Damn. Okay. Well, that's how you take a team you've been rooting for since you were a kid and throw them overboard. See, this is you starting stuff. When the ducks quack, feed them. Thank you. If you missed anything in the first two hours, Disney Plus page for all three hours of the program. There's also our podcast to listen to all three hours, our YouTube channel, our socials, if you will, at Rich Eisen Show for so many of them. On Instagram, Facebook, there's our website, richeyesandshow.com, our store, richeyesandshop.com. Jason McCourty, who I've known for quite some time from his good morning football days.

3:43Rich Eisen:We called some games in Germany back in the day as well. He is a meteor rising in our business. It's part of the Monday Night Countdown crew for coming up this season as it was announced just yesterday. Good to see you, Jason McCourty. How are you, sir? I'm doing well. Good to see you guys. TJ, that's all it takes, a pair of exclusive kicks, and you throw the banner down? That's it? Look, Jay, I wasn't in charge of the banner. You know, that wasn't, you know, I couldn't. You didn't say no. It wasn't me that did. And planning said, actually, listen, Jason, this is the new. You want to pop up the old?

4:18Rich Eisen:Do we have the old? Because the old, you know, we thought we just, okay, there you go. Okay. I mean, I don't know why you had this. That's the old. Now we're the new. Take Penn State. All right. Yeah, you got the. See ya. They could have taken. So the answer is yes. The Clippers out or someone. The answer is yes. The kicks are fresh, though. I like the kicks. I can respect it. The kicks are fresh. Look, man, you know, it is what it is. You know, so. That's really. Penn State's gone. Where have I found you? Are you on the road somewhere? Where are you, Jason? I'm in New York City. We got a countdown show tonight for the preseason game, Raiders versus Houston.

4:56Rich Eisen:So hanging out for a little while until we go on there. Okay, so the new crew is getting unveiled tonight pretty much. Because I'm seeing Pat in Indianapolis. Is he going to hop a plane to get there tonight? Are we unveiling the whole thing? It won't be him. It won't be everybody. So it'll just be a few of us in tonight. Okay. You know, I heard the news, and I wanted to get you on right away. As you know, I invited you yesterday. You had your schedule all locked up. I wanted to tell you straight to your grill. I'm happy for you, man. Congratulations. I really appreciate that. I appreciate that, Rich.

5:27Rich Eisen:You know, because you're going to be going on the road and you're going to be doing your thing. And, you know, so the story of tonight, let's hit that fresh off. What's the story of tonight's game? I think it's Mendoza, the way he played in week one against the Cardinals. Just being able to show us some of the things that we didn't see in college. Quarterback under center, going play action, delivering the ball over the middle, a layer throw. That's not an easy one to make. He did that going through his progressions throughout the course of his time. in that game, being able to work from the left side all the way over to the right side and find an open guy.

6:02He scrambled outside the pocket. There were a few things that when you look at it, there was times he ran backwards in the pocket. There was a hit he took on the sideline that you're hoping that those are the things with more experience that he kind of gets out of it and kind of moves in that right direction. But, I mean, watching him in week one, like for Raiders fans, you should be fired up of what's to come for this guy. I don't think they should be in a rush. I think Kirk Cousins looked really good. It was a third down. He's checking plays, moving them in to something different. That's what a veteran kind of brings to the table and something Mendoza can learn while he's watching Kirk Cousins, assuming he's still going to start this season.

6:37Rich Eisen:Well, you know, and I'm wondering how his demeanor that we see at the podium after he has a game or a practice, plays in the locker room, and how you would, you know, as a teammate of him, take, for instance, a soundbite like this after he practices with the ones for the first time in a joint practice against the Texans. You'll get some reps with the ones against the superstars on their defense. And then obviously their twos are fantastic as well. We got so much work, whether it was move the ball, first down, third down, red zone, two minute. There's so many situations. And I believe overall is a positive day.

7:21There were plays that I loved and plays that I wish I had back. But in reality, that's a lie. I wish I didn't have him back because it's a growing experience. And it's practice. It's practice. And this is what I love.

7:31Rich Eisen:And it's just a beautiful day to play football here. And I'm so happy. There's so many things to learn from today. You're a teammate of his. How do you take that in, Jason? I think within the locker room, if you're genuinely yourself and it seems as though that's who Fernando Mendoza is, we love you. As long as you can go out there and throw touchdown passes and lead this offense and do the things necessary, For me as a defensive guy, I'm speaking from that perspective. I don't care what my quarterback sounds like in the postgame conference or what he's saying. It's about what he's doing on an everyday basis.

8:02And from what all reports are saying, he's been terrific since he's gotten to Vegas. Those are the things you want to see. Are you coming in early? Are you staying late? Are you putting the work in to learn the playbook and all of those other things? If you're a little quirky, you can be a little dorky, whatever the case it may be. I don't care. If you can play that quarterback position and you can go out there and excel and uplift the guys around you, that's all that matters. The guys in the locker room, we're all not going to be best friends. If we can put together that common goal and move in the right direction, hey, I love you.

8:31Be who you are. Go throughout the entire practice schedule, two-minute red zone like he did, and say it all. We're all good. What do you think? Is he a week one starter? What's your general sense of it? I don't think so. I think the Raiders will stick with the plan. They brought Kirk Cousins over there for a reason. I think you look at that first preseason game, Cousins played well. He did the things that you would expect him to do as a veteran. So I think if he continues to do that, they're going to start the season off with Kirk Cousins. And it'll be dictated by how he plays. If the Raiders are winning games and Cousins is playing well, I don't see them going to Mendoza.

9:06The issue, or I don't want to say issue, but where the Raiders are going to, you're going to see a test of what the plan is and how you respond. If Mendoza tonight goes out there and plays really well, He plays well in the third preseason game. And then a regular season starts. And let's say Cousins is playing okay at best, but they start the season off 0-2, 0-3. You're going to start to hear all the rumblings, guys like me and you on media saying, hey, it's about time to get Mendoza fans chanting Mendoza at games. That's going to be where they're tested because is he ready? Is he going to be ahead of schedule?

9:39All of those things factor in. But you want to get a look at him at some point this season.

9:44Rich Eisen:Well, again, that's the question, right? I mean, we could figure it out all we want prior to the season. But then you look at their schedule and you're wondering where would be the soft space to put him in there. What do you think? You got that up on the screen right there. Give me a week. Or even if it doesn't matter, like if Cousins is winning games, right? You can't. You're not going to do it. You're not going to do it. And you look at that and you look at week four, you got Kansas City, you got at New England, Buffalo Rams. And you can say, all right, let's throw them in there against the Jets, potentially.

10:20And you got the 49ers coming. Like there are no there didn't seem to really be a soft landing. Right. I think as you go throughout the course of the season, if you've made a determination from where he's been throughout training camp to the preseason, the growth you're seeing from him going against your starters and the reps he's getting throughout the course of the regular season. to me it's more about him forget about the schedule when you feel like he's at a point where he's ready to go and lead the team and be the starter throw him in there it doesn't matter if it's against the Denver Broncos or the Rams or whoever if you feel like he's ready to be a starter in the NFL there are going to be games where you're going against a really tough defense there's going to be games where you might be going against a 32nd ranked defense but you've got to be prepared so to me it's all about Mendoza his preparation and where he's at before you

11:05Rich Eisen:thrust him into the lineup. Jason McCourty, new to Monday Night Countdown's pre-post-halftime show right here on the Rich Eisen show. Where are you on your Super Bowl prediction thought process right now? I'm still working through that. I haven't even determined all of my playoff teams just yet. The funny thing is, as you go through it, week one of the preseason is completely different from the regular season. Think about Houston right now. Higgins was a guy that all training camp, all they talked about as the number two wide receiver, Jaden Higgins in year two, he's been skyrocketing how well he's playing.

11:43They just lost him for the season. To me, Houston is very much, if CJ Stroud can play the way he played his rookie year, a team that I'm thinking about potentially being in the Super Bowl, what does Nick Cassero do? Does he go and try to make a trade for Kayshawn Booty? Do they kick the tires on Brandon IU. That determines where they fit into this entire scheme and all of those things. So I'm still working through my Super Bowl pick. Do you have yours ready to go?

12:08Rich Eisen:Listen, Jason, this is not my first rodeo here. I've got a daily seat here, right? And then there's the season preview show that's on the radar screen for NFL Game Day morning on the Tuesday after Labor Day, which is really the rubber meets the road. Like, that's it. Like that's the last stop of the predictive markets of folks like you and I, right? Absolutely. You know, I'm going back and forth. You know, we held a segment this week about put one in, take one out from last year. We did that. You want to take a swing at that one, Jason? Put one in. Put one in. Take one out. Put one in. From last year.

12:56Rich Eisen:Okay, take one out. Well, Kurt, just so you're aware of this, because I think you might be seeing Kurt every few so often on Mondays. Be careful of him. OK, Walter Payton, man of the year, sweetheart of a guy. Great dude. Great, great husband. Great father. Great grandfather. But when it comes to time to the rundown, he's already sending in a intergroup text chain. The put one in, take one out, because he knows the producers don't like when we repeat. So he wants to get his in right away, like literally is doing that now. So be careful of him, all right, is basically what I'm saying. Have your head on a swivel with that Kurt Warner guy.

13:32Rich Eisen:I'll definitely be doing that. I'll definitely be doing that. Put one in, take one out. Okay, take one out. I'm going to take out the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm going to take them out. And who do you put in? Put one in.

13:50Rich Eisen:They won the division, which means you've got a new division winner. You can make it as simple. You can make it in the AFC North. You could put it in the AFC North box. Yeah, I was going to say, I'm going to go with the Baltimore Ravens. So if I'm taking one out Steelers and I'm putting in the Ravens, I'm flipping that. Okay. Do you want to tell Jason McCourty what I did on the program for my AFC? Put one and take one out. Jason, Chris, big Pats fan. Love you. Rich did the exact same thing that you just did. Look at us. Great minds. It was those pretzels in Germany. We got locked and loaded. Pretzels in Germany.

14:25Rich Eisen:was that was what who's in germany yeah that might be a hasselhoff b-side yeah okay uh i thought the same thing although i'm i'm sitting here thinking that it is possible though that the steelers got more explosive on offense just because of who the head coach is now um you know i i i dig that bernard kid that they drafted uh pitman can can have more chunk plays right um you know they added Rico Dowdle at the running back position to go with Jalen Warren. You know, they got Robert Tunyon rhymes with Funyon to go along with the wagon. Darnell Washington and, of course, Friarmuth. Like, they protect Rodgers and they might be more explosive.

15:13Rich Eisen:But why do you like the Ravens, Jason? Why do you like them? To me, when you have a two-time MVP and a quarterback in Lamar Jackson who's still in his prime. I don't see him missing the playoffs in back-to-back years. I also like the addition of Jesse Mentor, not only as a head coach, but he's going to be the guy calling the defense. And the Ravens' defense wasn't good last year. In the last two years, there's been a rollercoaster where they start the season or giving up a ton of points and they fix something. Kyle Hamilton goes from safety to more of a linebacker role and he switches back. I think Mentor comes in and he just kind of puts that at ease.

15:46And those guys on the defensive side of the ball are going to know what they're doing, where they're supposed to be. and they're going to execute at a high level. I'm also fascinated to see Declan Doyle as a play caller mixed with Lamar Jackson. I think there's multiple teams, probably about eight teams or so, that are true contenders and have stars at the quarterback position that have somebody new in their ear. I think that's going to be a fascinating thing just to continue to see how it all develops. Jalen Hurts is another guy, brand-new offensive coordinator. But I think Declan Doyle, with some of the things they did in Chicago with the quarterback under center, the run game, mixed in with the play action, with Lamar's athleticism.

16:24I think there's still another part of his game that we might not have been able to see just yet. And every time he's gotten a new OC, he's won an MVP. So I think it's going to be a big year for him.

16:34Rich Eisen:Okay, so now let's do it for the NFC while I'm throwing you pitches you didn't see coming. Put one in, take one out. Now, this is a lot tougher for me on the NFC side. I'm going to automatically go with my put one in, and I'm going to say the Detroit Lions. That's a team that I'm high on. The schedule is going to be easier, healthier. So who do you take out? Who do you take out? This is big, Jason. Because, listen, you could have them win the division, which means you might kick the Bears out, or you could now go wildcard team. And last year, two of the wildcards, as you know, came from the West, Niners and Rams, and one came from within their division in Green Bay, Jason McCourty, who's going out.

17:24Rich Eisen:You put the Lions in. You're so close because I put the Lions in too. You did? I did. All right. I don't feel great about this, but I'm going to say the 49ers. I'm going to take out the 49ers. I'm going to say the injuries get up to them, age. I don't feel great about that, but I'm going to say the 49ers. Everybody can't make it. It's just how it is. I chose the Packers and then didn't really elaborate on it because I wanted to keep it quiet because Jordan Love said yes to coming on the program yesterday. You know what I mean? A man that's done this for a while. Not my first rodeo. I love it. So, okay, Jason, before I let you go, you're doing Mondays.

18:02Rich Eisen:Devin's doing Sundays. Yeah. You want to do like some sort of swap where and you don't tell anybody? Would you be able to pull that off? Would you be able to pull it off? I think so. We got to tell one person that can sneak us in and out. Like who? What does that mean? You got to try this. I mean, you get his credential. He gets yours. Who the hell knows the difference? Can you pull that off? No? I don't think anyone will know until we get to the first segment and ESPN sees how bad he is. And you're going to be like, this cannot, this cannot be Jason. We've just seen way too much good footage for him to be this bad today.

18:47Rich Eisen:So ESPN management would be the first to sniff it out. This is great. Because I guess you haven't worked, how often you've worked with Scott, with Van Pelt yet? Have you worked with him yet? I haven't. I haven't. All right. Maria Taylor might sniff it out because she's worked with your brother. She's just going to think he's made mass improvements from the last year to this year. she's gonna be blown away nbc's gonna be like what got into devon okay try it try it we gotta set that up that's pretty cool though your family must be jacked right oh mom's fired up she's like i'm only watching football sunday and monday the rest of it she's like i'm over it so just sunday night and monday night okay that'll be fun give it a try that sounds like some bad 80s movie right where brothers swap networks and primetime games.

19:35Rich Eisen:Let's see how hilarity ensues. Hilarity ensues. That sounds like we can put it on Disney+. All right, Jason, thanks for the time. Have a great time tonight. And I'm so happy for you, truly. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Thanks for having me as always. Always, yes. And look for more of my calls. As a matter of fact, I'm going to make one to you later. Jason McCourty right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Everybody, that was a delight. by the way that's Jason's like probably good morning football experience right he had no idea I was going to ask him yeah and boom take on the spot and of course I'm extremely happy that he and I are almost lockstep almost getting there almost lockstep 49ers that's that's an interesting I mean that Mike Evans again has got his leg wrapped Again, the tightness.

20:25Rich Eisen:What are we doing? I know. These are the times to have these happen. You're supposed to get tight when you start. Again, I'll just say this. It's apples and oranges. It's different people, different ages, different injuries. At this point last year, everybody thought, not a chance Matthew Stafford makes it through the first half, potentially, of week one, let alone the entire season. And he had the best year of his life. That's true. Well, because he had that Airstream parked out. He had the back this, the back that, right? People here in Los Angeles were like sending herbal teas and stuff, trying to figure out how to help him through it.

21:00Rich Eisen:You were offering your guy to walk on your back? That's right. I was offering, yeah, Deron. Deron. Deron. Deron. Deron Bland? I met that dude. Oh, you did? Yeah. Susie definitely has a photograph of him walking on my back. Oh, I might have it. What do you mean you may have? I mean, look. Susie sends us pictures of you. I mean, she sends stuff, you know? I don't know. She shouldn't. And she's in the green room. Hey, Suze, let's get that picture. No, no, no. I don't know. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow.

21:34Rich Eisen:The challenge is finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash eisen terms and conditions. Apply. When we come back, more phone calls, latest on the Browns quarterback decision, and my Bills four-down season preview.

22:12Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here. We talk a lot about battles in sports. Teams battling through adversity. Athletes fighting for every yard. The toughest warriors I've ever seen, though, aren't on the field. They're kids fighting cancer. They're families standing beside them. Doctors, nurses, caregivers. That's why I'm proud to support Hyundai Hope on Wheels. For over 28 years, they've helped fund pediatric cancer research, raising more than$303 million and supporting over 40 ,000 children. Learn more and donate at HyundaiUSA.com backslash Hope on Wheels. Rich Eisen here. running a small business means every hire matters.

22:46Rich Eisen:A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge? Finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com. Terms and conditions apply. O 'Reilly Auto Parts can help take the guesswork out of your vehicle's check engine, ABS, or maintenance light with O 'Reilly Veriscan.