49ers Injury Crisis Grows as NFL Season Begins | Aaron Donald Out, Alfred Collins Lost for Year

0:00To the faithful. TESTA! MUSIC San Francisco! To the nation. MUSIC And to those who bleed orange and black. MUSIC Good morning. This is Murph and Marcus. Brian Murphy and Marcus the Water Boy Boucher, streaming live at Twitch.tv slash the Sports Leader. We're almost there, everybody. 49er football is tomorrow. That's the good news is the bad news is, oh my god, their injuries are freaking unbelievable. It got even worse since the last time we talked to you guys. I hate to start your day like that. Maybe I should start your day talking, I don't know, the Joel Kunal era out at Oracle Park? Wow. And my question to you Marcus, as we ease into our Wednesday, NFL Wednesday,

1:03the shield back in your lives, tonight at 520 up in Seattle. You hate to see Hawks? Ken Joel, here's today's, you always ask the question in the trending. You know, John Joe Curly, Marcus Boucher, a question of the day. Ken Joel Kunal, play detackle for the 49ers. Good morning Marcus. Murph. What's up my man? Happy Wednesday morning. It is the start of the NFL season. And maybe Joel Kunal with that body. Maybe who can? Who know? Maybe with that body shape. Maybe he can get in the middle of the 49ers defensive line. People know what we're talking about, because so few people are following the giants anymore, including Marcus getting, he told me, how do women actually question his sanity last night at the ball game? Was that true? There was sitting at Oracle Park in the eighth inning, running to one of our lovely listeners, and she simply said, what are you still doing here? Like, don't you have to go to sleep? Don't you have a bedtime? And I said, I'm here for Joel. That's what I'm here for. So when I was the time I worked in the pub in Dublin,

2:04and one of my jobs was to throw people out, and people wouldn't want to leave, but you're supposed to yell, have you know homes to go to? That's what the woman said to you. Have you know home to go to? She basically hit me with like, you don't got to go home, but you got to get the hell out of here. You're here for Joel. Everybody missed it last night. Tidy little two hour or 25 minute affair, not like the US Open tennis last night, which by the way went till 333 in the morning, but a tiny little two hour and 25 minute affair. Actually, you know what surprised me? Bigger crowd last night than there was on Labor Day. Yeah, I was bitch shock yesterday. I went down to the lower bowl. I thought for a holiday Monday would have a better turnout on Labor Day, but it's been great weather on back-to-back days. Maybe people saw the weather on Monday night heard about this heat wave we have going on here in the Bay Area and said, I got to get out to the whole world. Or they wanted a piece of Kunal. That's it. They want a piece of Kunal. They want to say, I missed it. The Giants had a tight one last night. Needs of Kunal. Two to one. And the guy who closed it out was a guy. None of us has ever heard of.

3:05His name was Joel Kunal, KUH NEL. File that away for your Immaculate Grid. Absolutely. Okay. Because he also has played. This is his seventh major league team. So if ever you have an Immaculate Grid that asks for a Cincinnati Red and a Giant, go with Joel Kunal. Anybody asked for a Houston Astro and a Giant? Go with Joel Kunal. Anybody asked for a Tampa Bay Ray and a Giant? Go with Joel Kunal. Anybody asked for a Sacramento A and a Giant? Go with Joel Kunal. Anyone asked for a Milwaukee Bruin and a Giant? Go with Joel Kunal. Yeah. And when the Serums go Giants need a save, they go with Joel Kunal. He got the save. He got the save. He closed it out last night. He actually wasn't that bad. He had a brief scare in the night that he didn't, they did score a run. But the Giants got the win, which means we're going to put it in the books and call it in. But it matched against the tragic news out of Australia. And I say tragic in a sports sense, of course, is the story that if you missed it defensive tackle Alfred Collins, the 43rd pick in last year's draft, and part of that defensive draft that has to remake the 49ers in the coming future. It's supposed to be him and Mike L Williams and up to and stout

4:08and the CJ West and all these guys they drafted, let's your Nick Martin, all these defenders that are supposed to quote unquote be the next generation. Well, guess what? Niners will hit the field tomorrow without Mike L Williams. We knew that he's on P.U.P. He was their first rounder and then just out of nowhere. I, Marcus, I saw it on my Twitter feed. I had trouble piecing it together because the times don't just show screwed up. I was like, is this wait, what? Are they talking about the possibility of, of no, of no Alfred Collins? And then somebody's like, yeah, well, I'll kill that. And that did kind of work backwards. And I saw that the, before I announced that Alfred Collins tore his patella tendon, a very serious injury that has him out for the year. Yeah, he's done for the entire season. It's happened in practice in Australia right before the offense and defense went against each other somehow, so I'm way practice. And of course people, you know, in the, the gallows humor being, you know, where was the substation? Yeah. But you can't even blame the substation. This is on the heels of the news that Sam Okawano broke his foot right before they left

5:09for Australia. And I made you guys the gallows joke. Yes, I said, oh, Marcus, it's okay. They lost Sam Okawano because their D line is so deep. Ha ha ha. We have a laugh. Yes, what a day later they lose Alfred Collins. Yeah, it's getting thinner and thinner. And this comes out to the news that we had last Friday about Sam Okawano not being on the flight and having that broken foot. So he's off for a few weeks as well. So that defensive line is looking thin. It's a defensive line that I look, that I thought looked thin even before some of these injuries that we've had. Even if Okawano was. Even if Okawano and Collins were playing tomorrow night, we'd still be like, man, not a D line. But still a tough task down in the trenches. So this is bad news for big Al Collins himself, a man that had maybe the highlight of his career last year against the Rams with that strip and Kyron Williams down on the goal line. Now he's not even going to get a chance to suit up the play a single snap this season. So that's just terrible news. I mean, it was set against the news that Aaron Donald's not going to the game, which was a member during the whole summer. I was like, kind of like him, his age comes back. Does he really want to go to Australia?

6:09And then, you know, he announced he was coming back and we're all, but we said it yesterday and the day before in the show, all that it's not official yet. It's not official yet, but we would then talk about how it was going to happen. Well, guess what? It's not going to happen. He's not going to Australia. So I mean, then I was going to break in that sense. So no Aaron Donald in this game, they get a terrible break when Alfred Collins tears his patella attendant out. This is the same injury that filled another failed D line when they drafted Drake Jackson. Yeah. And you didn't have this too much from Drake Jackson after doing it. Not in the league right now. He's on the street as they say. So terrible, terrible, terrible news. Other than that, happy Wednesday, everybody. Yeah, happy hump day. Can we salvage the, the opening segment by calling in the 61st win of the season for the giants as they bear down on two more wins to avoid a hundred, the 17 to go, our 16 to go pardon me. Can they go two and 14 over the final 16? Not only can they go two and 14 of the final 16 markers, they're looking to sweep the same lose Cardinals.

7:10There's first chance for a three consecutive day sweep of the season. Yes. Yeah. Because they've gotten a sweep. It just hasn't been three days in a row. And some don't even call it a sweep. Yes. Some people are not acknowledging the fact that it's a sweep. Some people are saying the two games here is a sweep. Some people are saying the giants are already have two sweeps on the season. Many are saying, many are saying people are saying. And wait, you know, you know they're going to trip up. You know they're falling on their face today. You know that, right? They're not sweeping the Cardinals, but we'll try anyway. Well, they did well goes today. And he's going to have a chance to sweep because Shane Robinson, the first base coach called Rob Manfred. And Manfred said, I mean, honestly, you're really still calling to post these dude. Honestly, you can stop now. And Shane said, no, I need to post win number 61, Comish San Francisco Giants to St. Louis Cardinals. One. Beautiful face bar. Beautiful face bar. Oh, yes. Beautiful. I want to say something to the five. You guys need a galau.

8:11Makes some noise for Tony's. Tony's for Tony's. Croll mentality. You know, gun hole. God didn't put a spirit of fear in me. We got to get home. We got to get home. It's like Rue and Slam. I can't believe it. I want to be the face he's franchise. And that's something that motivates me every day. And then how would you assess Logan's name overall? Like waffle fries from Chick-fil-A. Really, really good. We're just been told that Ron Waters during the line of cards was ejected from the game. But I'm not like the wind. Oh, man. There you go. Good one. So once again, you hear Luis Arise. He's a filly. See you. You hear Matt Chapman. He's out for the year. He wants to him, no more. You hear Pat Bailey, who's hitting better for the Guardians. He had two knocks last night. Adios, Patrick. And you heard Elliott Ramos, who, despite being battered by Marcus's angry Yankee fans, hit a three-rowed-homer last night. Yeah. He's been swinging the bat bedroom pitch right now. He's better now. He'll be your October hero. He's gone on a little bit of a hot streak. So yeah, he's got a chance to s October. And then you heard Bryce Eldridge.

9:12And now the new one with whoa, getting tossed. That was pretty good. So there you go. For dance. Oh, we had a couple of bombs last night too, including the guy who wants to be the face of the franchise. Bryce Eldridge, number 16. It's Bob. Maybe. What are we going with next year for the home run? Because we can't re-play that one back. Yeah. It didn't work out too well this year. We got to scrap everything. So bad. It's good. And how about this guy? I mean, I don't know where this came from. It's his third and less than a week. Christian cost number four. It's Bob. Maybe. So the giants do it. And we should almost have a sound of her Joel Kunal coming out there. Dude, the body of a Kunal, the hat of a Kunal, the go-t of a Kunal. I was shocked when I was sitting down here behind home plate last night. I heard, making his oracle part debut. And I'm like, who is it? Who's coming out of the bullpen? It felt like I was playing a game of, yes. Pokemon. I had no idea who the hell was coming out of the bullpen. Did they really say making his oracle part debut? They did. They announced it. That's Carolyn McCartle on the mic. I don't, I don't ever remember them doing that before.

10:14Because I saw Jason Foley make his oracle part debut. And I don't remember him getting that kind of love. Yeah, because he's not Joel Kunal. How far does he say his name? I want to just say this on a personal note. I couldn't shake it. There's a fellow Mill Valley dad named Steve Padelka. What's up, Coach Steve? And he's awesome. But he looks, he's about a nine for Kunal. I was losing my mind last night. He's got that goatee, the same look, the same body. So anyway, shout out Coach Steve. So if you know a Kunal in your life, call him out. Shout him out. Shout him out. You know, one quick digression on the giants because I know we're talking mostly San Francisco Forteniner's today in Aaron Donald in the Alfred Collins news. Bryce Elge is with that bomb last night quietly on a 17 game hitting streak. The second longest hitting streak in Major League Baseball right now. Glad you told me. That's that didn't know. Yeah, I mean, we're paying so much attention to the bombs, but he's become quite the big league hitter and 16. I was like, is there any way you can get to 20? I mean, he's got to hit four in the next 16 game. That's a big ask. It could be done. It could be done.

11:14If he had 20, that'd be pretty darn sweet. He's 21 years old or whatever. So again, just for fun, because I, this is the way my twisted mind thinks. I'm trying to figure out where they're going to finish in the worst teams of all time in San Francisco history. So we all know the 100 lost season from 1980 85, at least I do. I remember it. And I'm pretty confident they're going to win too. Right. I don't think they're going to lose 100. That said they could. There's a hundred. A lot of baseball left. But anyway, so the next target after that is the 2017 team, dude, were you at the leader in 2017? No, I started right at 2018. Okay. Anyway, I came right after the bad news. No, right around five. I mean, we were all around. They lost 98 that year. Let's not forget they lost 98 that year. So to pass that team, they would just have to go four and 12. They could do that. So they could actually find themselves a nice little perch of being not the worst team in San Francisco history, but maybe the third worst team. Yeah. Wait a set the bar.

12:14Now, if you really want to get aggressive, the 84 team, which I also remember was the year they hosted the All Star game, the 84 team lost 96 games. Now, if you want to get cheeky, bro, if you want to get cheeky, can the giants go six and 10 in their last 16? If they do that, they could sneak into the fourth worst team in John's history. Well, as crazy as that sound, I believe they're like nine and seven in the last 16 games. Nine and seven. Yeah. So six and 10 would be a step back. That's it. Give me six or seven more wins. Well, they got to play St. Louis today. They're off on Thursday. So we can all watch the 49ers. That's pretty convenient. Then they host the Padres this weekend who will be playing for a lot. And then they go to St. Louis and Dodger Stadium next week, although who knows what the Dodgers are these days? And then they finish up with a homestead against Minnesota and the Dodgers. No, the Dodgers by the end of that weekend might not be playing anybody. And don't forget Wednesday, September 23rd, two weeks from today. Can be our beer day. K and B are beer. Hey, NBR bell.

13:15See in the beer line. We might even be pouring a few. Dude, there's a good chance me new hoppy on the bar. I'm the sticks, as they say. Yeah, dude. You got that experience. Yes, absolutely. And I can't wait to do it again. I want to be there for the people. I want to peer. I want to pour beer for the people. That's it. All right. Well, listen, NFL starts tonight. Seattle is hosting the New England Patriots. You know, usually I understand that the Super Bowl champ always hosts the first game of the year, right? But it's not always a Super Bowl rematch. No, it's not. I'd say this is pretty rare that we're getting a Super Bowl rematch. I got to be honest. I'm kind of ticked. I don't really want to see the same game. I just saw. And it was a bad game anyway. I actually asked overnight, Dave, I looked up the score. Do you remember the score of the Super Bowl? I had to look it up this morning. I looked it up. I remember it was a blowout. It was not competitive, but I had to double check the score this morning. And we could have been here till the end of time before I told you it was Seahawks 29 Patriots 13. 29 13. Seemed worse. That seems like a score, gummy kind of. Yeah, it does seem like a score, a awkward score. Dave goes, I don't know, something like 28 13 or 29 14.

14:18I go, what do you insane as well? In fairness, it was on NFL Network. Nice. You just watched it. But anyway, 29 13. And now we're see the same damn game. Yeah. That's fine by me. I'm going to hammer the Seahawks just like I did in the Super Bowl. Is there anybody in the world taking the Patriots tonight? Anybody? I heard the guy before us, the guy, uh, tall. He was taking the seat. Yeah, I'm sure there's a couple like bar still guys or something taking the Patriots. He's trying to overthink it just because of their fandom. Yeah, usually anybody not a Patriots fan is probably picking the Seahawks. Anyway, that's what's going on tonight. It'll be on KMBR 680, the sports leader and 1050. What do we call on 1050 these days? K YA, the nifty 1050 KMEL. What do we call on 1050? Yeah, what is on 1050 these days? By the way, Danny Dunn still going with 810 KSFO as his team name. 10 the spread. And he did he do that strictly to piss me off, right? I think he might have. And it guess what? Mm-hmm. It pisses me off. It worked. Yeah. Uh-huh, which is why he's keeping the name. Great job, Danny. At a kid, Danny. Great job. Way to get under a murk skin. By the way, great job, Danny, having one of the only team names we can actually say on

15:18the air. Yeah, we'll be talking a lot about Danny Dunn's team this year. I love you and Danny Dunn. All right. Let's get the guest list from Walt on the other side. Say good morning on a Wednesday on the sports leader. Now back to Merfin Marquis on the sports leader streaming live on these sports leader.com at KNBR, the sports leader app. Um, all I have to talk about is what happened yesterday with injuries with all the guys that are limited. The worst one was Alfred Collins. Alfred tours Patelotin in yesterday. So that was a big loss. You know, the last two deliming pretty much for the year after cuts before the first game, which has been a huge challenge, you know, hurting for Alfred. I mean, happened yesterday during a period right before we started going against each other and I was real, real unfortunate for him. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. Yeah, he'll be out for the year. Brutal, absolutely brutal. Tough way to start our NFL season here as the Patriots visit Seattle tonight at 520.

16:23It can be on our airwaves 680 and 1050. See actually a three point favorites, but all eyes on tomorrow night. The game in Melbourne or Melbourne or whatever the heck you want to call it and man, oh man, the 49ers get terrible news on a season in which they were sort of believed to be third banana behind the Rams and the Super Bowl champ Seahawks. They now the bananas beginning to look a little more rotten as they carry a terrible analogy one step further. I don't know where I came with the banana rotten bananas. Yeah, that's the season right now. Rotten bananas. We all see man. Right now, undrafted for Agent James Thompson steps to the 408. He missed practice with an injury yesterday. He's done with a hammy issue. Couple of practice squatters, Sebastian Valdez, who we've heard about for the last couple years. Who got into he made the active roster last year, didn't he? Yeah. He did throughout the season. I don't believe he started the year on the roster, but I think he eventually got activated. And Kevin Givens, who has been on the field for the 49ers, is also on the practice squad. So there's a couple of names. You maybe hear the rookie from Oklahoma, Grayson, Halton may stop up and get reps because right

17:24now the only three healthy active detacles as of this morning. Of course, they'll make a move to bring one up either Valdez or Givens or maybe Thompson gets healthy. But it's just Oso Diggyzua, who's, by the way, knock on wood, like had a great camp. Healthy is playing great. He's all of a sudden he's everybody's favorite 49er Oso Diggyzua, CJ West. It was the fourth round around in the end of last year, who you know is okay. And then Grayson Halton, who had a nice summer, flashed and some people think highly of him. But man, oh man, it's just trouble, trouble, trouble. I was just going over the curly walked in these NFL capsules, you know, and they give you these, these previews of the games. I like them to kind of geek out on these fun stats. And I was just reading, you know, first as we talk about Matt Stafford and Pukin, Akua, Devonta Adams, Kyron Williams has two touchdowns in four of his last five games against the 49ers. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, stop in the run. Yeah, I mean, etc, etc. You're absolutely right. We focus so much on Stafford, the quick release, Pukin, Akua on the outside, the yak ability and then Devonta Adams, who was a Red Zone monster last year with 14 touchdowns.

18:28But you look at that backfield and Kyron Williams, don't forget about Blake Horm as well. Like he is great in between the tackles. I think they're one of the best one, two punches in all the football. And it was going to be a tough task for this 49ers team to slow down that run game with Alfred Collins with the lineup because Alfred Collins, as much as we're talking about this being a big deal, he didn't have a great training camp. He didn't have a great preseason either. So there are already questions in the trenches. And now this just makes those questions even bigger ahead of this week one, Matt. Oh man, the 49ers and injuries is just continuing. By the way, Kyron Williams, since 20, 23, six in the NFL in running in Russian yards. Not bad. Underrated running backfield. I'm on Twitter and NFL did like this little tweet, you know, the journey begins or something like that. What is the exact caption they have on this darn thing? It says, the journey to the Lombardi starts today and they hired some artists or I don't know if it's AI to do this really interesting picture of painting of 32 players, one from

19:28each team walking towards the trophy at Sofie Stadium. And it's from behind. So you can see everybody's name and number and sort of their silhouette and they did a pretty good job of getting 32 guys into one frame. You have to look pretty deep in there to see like Trevor Lawrence or say one Barclay or things like that. My question to you is in the guy most in the four forefront is Sam Darnold, of course. The next one you see is Drake May. But who do you think the 49ers chose or part of me, the NFL chose to represent the 49ers? You can make one player walking towards the Lombardi. You need his jersey number, his name and his the back of his head. You know, I know that the NFL is a cubie league and everybody lives a quarterback. But I'm going to guess Krishman Caffrey is on that graphic. I would have thought it's Fred Warner. Freddie Rico, that was going to be one of my guesses also. It's all pro Fred. Yeah, that makes sense. 54 and he's featured fairly prominently standing next to 95 Garrett. I don't know. He's standing in between and you do, you know, you know, he's standing next to it. I don't know why this guy's featured so prominently because it looks like the teams in the front

20:31of the of the painting, Darnold May, Lamar Jackson, Miles Garrett, Fred Warner, and then just crashing the party standing next to Warner from behind. Gentie. So, see, I was going to ask who from the Raiders is representing the franchise, the organization. Look at that surprise. Genties on there. I would have guessed Max Crosby. That would have been my guess. But yeah, there's gentie sneaking into the photo. They probably could have moved him up a couple rows. See, you see how far up they have like the teams that aren't going to win it or way. And Justin Trevor Lawrence is all the way towards the front just on her. It's a Thursday. And a gentie get that good seat. Dude, that's my guy, Ash and Gentie. That's why the Raiders is going to do something. We don't know that. Reavamped office. It's a line. Welcome. Welcome in Tyler Lindobom. Is this a script leak? Yeah, dude. It's all scripted. I see it in the stars now for Nando Mendoza. It takes over Ash and Gentie MVP two thousand yards. No, I don't know. It's just some AI graphic. It's really funny. Anyway, all right. Let's get the guest list going on a Wednesday, September 9th, 2026.

21:31It's sponsored by El Serito Honda more than just a car dealership. We are family. Walter E. Cabaseta is our family too. Come on, Walter. How are you, buddy? Good morning, boys. How you guys doing? How you feeling on NFL Wednesday, dude? I'm so hyped. I'm so hyped right now. I got to order your, I got to enter your survivor pool. Yeah. You do. You run out of time, Irf. Yeah. I'm a guy who forgets it. Yeah. I heard you guys do. I also have not joined the the tribe yet. Tribe is spoken. I'm a guy who forgets things. I last week flat out for God a lunch. I was supposed to go to. There was these guys waiting for me. And they did to their credit. They never said a word. It was a business lunch and with some people we do some business with. And they never said a word. And I sent profusor apologies and they said, don't worry about it. But under their breath, they're thinking, what a D. Yeah, I can't believe this guy stiffed us. What a D. Also then I forgot to call for jury duty last week. Oh no. So now I'm on the bad list. Now you've got a chance of actually serving some time. Oh, now I'm on the bad list. Wow. I'm on the Santa's bad list. Oh, you've been a bad boy, Irf.

22:32So in other words, I've forgotten or enter your survivor pool. Don't take it personal. Yeah, yeah. I'm taking it personally. Brad Maynard's know he said, I need a secretary. You imagine the gall of having a secretary like an ego. Yeah, I need a secretary. Isn't that John Joe Curley's job? I'll tell you what he does do a good job running that Joe. Yeah. He will bring in that hot Joe. All right. Well, what do we got today, buddy? All right, boy. So starting off the guest list, we're going to be doing the wide world of Walt. It is a Wednesday after all at 715. I'm very excited. Let's go around the world. This has turned into one of my favorites. It's funny, man. I find myself choking on the when you ask these questions, I always think of the best ones after, right? And just driving in this morning, one of the shows I listen to, they were doing one of these type of games. And they said that their line was, what's the worst thing you have to wait for? Because their theme was we had to wait so long for the NFL. And I couldn't come up with it. I was like, I'm choking again. In that car, I couldn't come up with something good. What's the worst thing you have to wait for? Oh, splash mat on a dizzy line. Okay. I hate waiting in that line. That's a good answer. I know.

23:32It's the first thing I thought about. The only thing I could come up with was anything related to boarding or exiting an airplane. I hate waiting at the gate, waiting on the jetway, or even on the tarmac. It was like, and I'm on row 35, just kind of waiting for every row in front of me to take their pegs down. Would you rather be first one on or first one off? First one off. First one off. Yeah, I want to be the last one on. I want to be the first one off. Correct. That's always my strategy. I'm the guy always hanging out like, I'll let my group go ahead of me. I'll be one of the last people to get on the plane. The only problem with that is the Murphy's are a non-check bag thing. We always need that overhead bin space. That is important. So if you do that, you're risking it. Now guy like you, Marcus, I bet you travel so light, you don't need to need overhead bin. Sometimes I travel just a backpack. Exactly. I took a backpack to Chicago. I didn't even think about checking in a bag. Freedom of a bullshit. Oh, dude, it's easy. Freedom of a bullshit. If I need a new shirt, I'll just buy one. There was a movie called Sex Lies and Video Tape where one of the, it was about a guy who comes to town and disrupts this, this relationship of a friend of his

24:33and he gets with his buddy's girl. Oh, he's a mysterious guy and it's played by James Spader and his whole thing is in life, you should only have one key. That's it. That's your only possession. One key. Yeah, one key. All right. Yeah, so anyway, that's you. That's me. Yeah. Uh-huh. Real quick, another digression. I hate waiting out of red light when there's no other cars. Oh, yeah. That really got my gears. That's a big pet peeve. Are you talking about the one right here and talking to the rest of the couple of them? Dude, I'm like, there's nobody on the road. Nobody's going. I know like, isn't there like kind of like a secret law where you're supposed to wait and treat it like a stop sign if nobody's on the road? But I never know. There's cameras. I don't want a tiki. I just hate when I have to sit out of red light and there's nobody else there. That's pretty good. You see, you're doing better than I did. You're doing better than the bed. Anyway, the point is is that wide world of walk I'm going to be under the gun again. Got to come up with some answers. Oh, 510 on the Golden State Lumber and showroom text on with the great answer. Grand Theft Auto 6. We've been waiting for like over a decade for that game. Well, I don't know anything about that. Grand Theft Auto 5, which is one of my favorite games of all time, came out a decade ago, 2015, 2014. Back when I was still in college,

25:33we've been waiting 10 years for this game. It comes out this November. Can I suggest you take a week off? You may never get it. Dude, they've been teasing that carrot for so long now, but there's actually a release date. It is allegedly coming out this year. Can I make a late 80s, early 90s rock and roll joke and say waiting for Guns and Roses Chinese democracy? Inside the joke from the rock and roll. They were going to drop the cell and cut Chinese democracy and they delayed it and delayed it and delayed it and delayed it. But they were saying, well, when they're going to drop Chinese democracy, they came a running joke through the 90s. They're ever going to drop Chinese democracy. Never. All right. Well, I'm still waiting for it. It's the GTA 6 of Guns and Roses. 301 says, waiting at the DMV. That's a good one. That's a good one. But twice now in the last couple of years, because Declan had to get his license when he was 16 and then we had to get the real ID. Finally, you know what? If you make it a point, it's not that bad these days. It's not that bad. They got a little better system. Yeah, you're still waiting. I ain't lying. You're still waiting. But it's better. A little bit more efficient. And it was in the caveman days when they had no system.

26:35So anyway, what else we got? How about waiting for the guest list? All right. So let's get back into it. Mike Kruko 730. Let's go, man. We're just those days are dwindling, man. The days are dwindling. And we got to do the Raymond Ritter tribute to Mike Kruko. That's something we got to talk about today. Yeah. And we got cooler content at 815. 815. That's a different time. Ooh, I wonder. Because Ron Rivera stopping by at 830. I'm not wearing any UCLA gear today. I'm shocked. I'm wearing my new Navy water polo pullover I got. Look at you. And Debbett, no brooence. I'm just going to let you know, let the things speak for itself. Let your play represent your game. All right. Ronald will be good. And then to wrap it up, one of my favorite human beings, Kevin Harlan at 850. Maybe the nicest guy in the history of the world and also the best at what he does. Harlan. It's the Steven Seaweed rule that, you know, you don't have to be a dick if you're graded something. Can I say that? Yeah, you just did. Okay. Yeah. And if Steven Seaweed was saying it, yeah, go ahead.

27:35Two thumbs up. Yeah, yeah. All right. Here's the deal. 49ers. And Rams, news on Aaron Donald and news on Alfred Collins. Let's get into it here with the players. Had to say next on the sports leader. KNBR, the sports leader. Now back to Merfin Marcus on the sports leader. Streaming live on these sports leader.com and KNBR, the sports leader. Ab. Very excited. I told you guys last time I talked to you guys. He was definitely playing. So I've never been more excited to be wrong about something. So we're good. Yeah, I've never been more excited to be wrong. Welcome to my world, Kyle. I'm wrong every day. It's fun. It's not that much fun all the time. Sometimes it's a trifle. You want to be wrong when you say things like, you know, I think the Rams are going to beat the Niners. And then the Niners beat the Rams. I've never been more excited to be wrong. Kyle's talking, of course, about Aaron Donald. And that is an interesting situation where all along from the moment Miles Garrett was traded to the Rams,

28:36I believe on June 1st and we opened the mics and said, is Aaron Donald coming back? And sure enough, he did come back with his facts to Roger Gidell, Komish, I'm back, signed Aaron Donald. But my thought all along was, man, a guy it hasn't played in two years. The trip to Australia, they're going to say 17 regular season games before we get to the playoffs in mid-January. There's regular season games in January. So I mean, dude, this is a long road. And it's a violent game as we see. Guys going down all the time, Alfred Collins, the latest, even though we don't know if it's violent, it might have just happened at practice and I don't really know if it's contact or non-contact. But the point of the matter is that there was a part of my brain that was thinking, well, he might not go to Australia. But then as we got closer and closer and closer and closer and there was no word on it. And I was like, well, I guess he's freaking going. I guess he's, and then yesterday Adam Schefter from ESPN reports, he's not going. No. So giants, giants, 49ers. Get a break. Yeah, it's a sign of relief for the 49ers.

29:36I'm sure Jake Brendel, Dom Poony, a Carver Willis and Connor Colby are throwing a party down in Australia right now. Celebrating the fact that they will not have to line up across from number 99. And credit to you, you've been on the right case all along. I was, I was, I was 50, 50. Yes. And turns out he's not going to go down to Australia because Sean McVeigh still wants to ramp him up before his return. And it's kind of the same question that we've been asking about Nick Boza and George Kiddell, Krishna McCaffrey, Mike Evans, and these guys who have not been practicing a lot during training camp. Now they have been doing more individually and off to the side than Aaron Donnell has been doing with the Rams for the last month plus. But we talk about football shape. And whether or not these guys are in football shape, this tells me that Aaron Donnell right now might not be in the best football shape. So Sean McVeigh is playing it safe and keeping on the amount of this week one. Question. Is this a form of Greg Popovich load management? And will teams that are really good do things like this with the extended season now

30:37and making them take crazy trips and things? I mean, I don't know. I'm just throwing it out there like, I know this one's unique. He's older. He hasn't played in two years. But could you see his scenario in the future where the NFL starts to kind of load manage a little bit? If you know, I mean, like we're going to get the, I mean, the short answer. We know there's only 17 games. Each one is so important. You can't do that. The NBA is 82 games and 16 teams make the playoffs and all that. There's a reason why even though it sucks in the NBA, Greg Popovich. God bless him. Everybody loves Greg Popovich. But he's the guy who ruined us all by, you know, Michael Jordan, you split 82 games and then Greg Popovich is like, wait, why? Why are we doing this? We're going to make the playoffs. If I rest you for 20, we'll have you fresh and may. And, you know, of course, it makes sense, but it sucks for those of us who have to watch the games in November, December and January and February. So in the NFL, you'd lean and say, no, fewer teams make the playoffs and there's more and there's fewer games, but, but it feels like, you know, if you're a really good team like the Rams and you think you're pretty sure you're going to

31:40make the playoffs that you could, you could load management. Well, I would say the really good teams like the Rams might implement some load management in the final week of the season. Like really, that's the only time we see load management in the NFL. That's happened before. If a team is talking about maybe see locked up October or November, low, and I hear what you're saying. I mean, maybe if a team like the Rams or whoever are undefeated in the middle of October and they're playing the Cardinals this week, maybe you can afford to sit a guy, but to your point, I think each and every game is so important during the NFL season, where you can't pick and choose the whole place. Maybe on these travel games, like as we continue, Roger Gidell continues to try to conquer the globe. Yeah. Like I was listening this morning to some show, forget which one it was, but they were suggesting that there might be a game in Dubai at some point because Dubai is such a Western friendly city that has all sorts of sporting events. Would you know, the NFL game in Dubai seems pretty plausible. And you know, you tell Nick Boaser or you tell Michael Evans, you don't have to go on this. Yeah, but I wonder then if like the players association would say something,

32:41but because you then by load managing on these international trips tells us that maybe these international trips are not the greatest things for these players bodies and their career overall, which is kind of the teams admitting it, then there might be some pushback there saying, hey, if it's so bad, you're holding me out of this game, then why the hell are we doing these international games? There's probably as long as they get paid, they don't mind. Yeah, that's true. Anyway, just throwing it out there. Bottom line, Aaron Donald, not going to Australia. And again, who knows how he's going to be anyway. I mean, obviously the guys, God gave this guy talent for days. He's a large man who moves quickly with great power. Okay. So that's basically his, his gift in life, right? And he's built different too. Like this isn't a guy like Vince Wolfort coming out of retirement with this big old belly, like this guy's a body builder. Like this dude looks like a specimen. I mean, I don't know. I haven't read any research. Has anybody done a story? Is there, is there a comp? You said, Will Fork, was he out for two years? No, I was just using his belly as like an example of like the different shib, a different should I say shapes of defensive line and wear has done something like this.

33:44Who? What former defensive grade has come back after two years off? Has anybody done that story? That's tough defensively. Like we've seen it with quarterbacks and wide receivers come back for two years off. Oh, how long was Brett Farve away when he came out of retirement? I wasn't two years. Well, maybe a year anyway. Some question for Chatchee PT. Some fat to chew on for sure. Speaking of Chatchee PT, I did nail down this. I was correct. Chinese democracy, guns and roses. They began and work in the studio ready for this guys in 1994. 1994 was like, oh, the much anticipated Chinese democracy. Do you want to was released? 2008, bro, they started it in 94 and released it in 2008. Wow. I forgot that it became such a joke in culture that in 2008, 2008, Dr. Pepper famously promised a free can of Dr. Pepper to everyone in America if the album actually came out. 2008, Dr. Pepper had to pay off their bets. Yeah, it says they did not believe that.

34:45I don't want it anyway. Anyway, they had anyway. And there's a lot of people overnight Dave says. And then after all that, it sucked. Yeah. Well, good news for you and me, Walt. We might get GTA 6 on a shorter timeline than the Chinese democracy. I think so for sure. Yeah. All right. Well, those GTA and Chinese democracy risks are sponsored by Redwood Credit Union for you, for community for 75 years. Join RCU today at RedwoodCU.org and Merff. One more thing that we should mention because we are so hyper focused on the 49ers injury report each and every day. Did you see who did not practice yesterday for the LA Rams? Number 95, Miles Garrett did not practice yesterday. It's listed as a knee injury. Not sure if this is one of those veteran days off or if this is a serious injury, but we should point out he was on the practice report for not practicing yesterday with the Rams. And it was all through August too. It was all through August. I mean, maybe the Browns knew something when they shipped him out. You know, maybe they knew he had a bum knee. I don't know. It's good. Uh, they did. They not have Carlos Korea's doctor. Investigate him. So yeah, did he ever pass that physical?

35:46All right, 49ers reacted to the Donald news. They also reacted to the Alfred Collins news. Bosa had some comments on Alfred Collins. All stuff to get into next. Wide world of walled at 715. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Day baseball. Today 1245 on the sports leader. Listen to V sports leader anytime anywhere. Download KNBR V sports leader. App. Murphy Marcus continued live from the casino matrix progressive jackpot studios. Casino matrix. Progressive jackpots are here. Where are you? Just drop in 1-800 gambler. Yeah, it was, it was a weird, weird thing. I didn't really know what happened to him, but um, terrible, really unfortunate for him and Sam, camp ends and those two guys get those unlucky breaks, which stinks, but we've, we've used in meetings this morning. So we talked to him a little bit, but I texted him last night and just kind of

36:46let him know that there's really nothing anybody could say to you in that moment. Or throughout the entire process, honestly, like, you could have guys tell you, keep your head up as much as you want, but they're not going to be there when you go under and get your surgery done or the nine to months to a year where you're grinding away from the team by yourself to get back. So it's all great to have the support, but he has to do it for himself. And he just has to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And I told him I've been through it a few times. So, um, so he just needs to take it one day at a time. Good long quote from Nick Bosa showing how much he cares about the injury to young Alfred Collins who tore his patellar tendon. The second round traffic at a Texas last year was supposed to start at D tackle for the 49ers tomorrow night out joining Sam Okawano was also going to be a big part of the D line who broke

37:51his foot right before the left for Australia. Just bonkers crazy insane that these injuries that we worried about all summer, the Bosa tendonitis or the McCaffrey tightness or the Evans sortness and tightness, all those ones. As those subside, here come some new ones, here come some new ones. And these are more serious because Bosa, Kiddell and Evans and McCaffrey are all going to play. And now Alfred Collins is not. And we've alluded to it at various points during the summer. How important last year's draft was that was the draft where they got rid of the drain greenlands of the world and all those players that left to clear the way for these younger contracts, younger bodies and they drafted them all. Mike L Williams, Alfred Collins, up in Stout, Nick Martin, CJ West, on and on and on. And these are the guys who are supposed to step in and play and now you've lost Alfred Collins for a year. And this is a serious injury that could affect his future going forward. Drake Jackson, this happened to him. He went up not playing again for the team. So just absolutely sucks. And it happened in practice down in Australia, Marcus.

38:51So a D line that was already thin. We were like having gallows humor about Okawano's injury like you go, well, that's okay. They're so deep at D line. Ha ha. No, now you lose Alfred Collins too. So now it's a problem as soon as tomorrow night. Yeah, this defensive line is getting thinner and thinner day by day. And don't forget the fact that Mike L Williams is on the PUP list. So you won't see him the first four weeks of the season. You also mentioned Nick Martin, who was part of that draft class. He's on the IR to start the year. So yeah, they're missing a lot of pieces defensively. That's why as crazy as a take this might sound like to pay off on the John Joe curly question of the day when we talked about the 49ers not having Alfred Collins and the Rams not having Aaron Donald for week one. Am I crazy to say that for this game for week one, it's a bigger loss for the 49ers to not have Alfred Collins than it is for the Rams to not have Aaron Donald. Now hear me out because the Rams a couple months ago, we were already preparing for that defensive line after the trade for miles, Gary.

39:51You throw on guys like Brady and Fizz, Brian Young as well. And then you throw on Kobe Turner, like there's a lot of depth on that Rams defensive line. I don't know if they need Aaron Donald for week one, where it feels like the 49ers need Alfred Collins to play next to Osa Diggy Zua. Don't forget about the biggest play of his career. That strip on Kyron Williams last year, which led to their only win over the Rams. Like this was going to be a tough battle in the trenches with Alfred Collins. I think it's a huge issue now for this defensive line. And I think for week one, it could have a bigger impact for the 49ers than the Rams not have an Aaron Donald. By the way, if you think that's a crazy take, that was Marcus. That's my say. Yeah, huh. No, you know what? That one for a free secluded take. You make a pretty good point. I mean, I don't think the Rams were counting on Aaron Donald, unless they knew behind the scenes, since like January. Okay. In this year, we're going to have Aaron Donald on this play on this stun on this blitz on this one. If they were play, which I don't think they were, I don't think they knew until very late in the game. I think they had a good idea, but you're right. I mean, and he's in what was

40:53Aaron Donald going to be anyway? Was he going to be a spot guy? How much was he actually going to play in week? You're talking about just for week one. Just for week one. I'm not saying season long impacts, even though the Rams will have Aaron Donald return eventually. And the 49ers will not have Alfred Collins return. And I'm not saying my Catholic calls is even in the same stratosphere of being a similar type of player. Obviously, Aaron Donald is a future hall of favor, but I'm saying for the week one matchup for that battle, the trenches, I think this might be a bigger loss for the 49ers. Yeah. I think you're right. And it goes back to the age-old phrase, it's all relative, right? And relatively speaking, the Rams defense is in a better spot than the 49ers defense. So the Rams could afford to keep Aaron Donald. Heck, I mean, I don't know the particulars of his health situation and whether or not he's like coach, I can't go or they were like, you know what? You could go, but you'd stay back. We're playing for a bigger prize than a winning Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne, Australia. We're playing for something in February. So just chill out. Whereas the 49ers didn't have an option like, dude, you got to, like, when they were on the plane, they had to make sure Alfred Collins is on the plane.

41:54They're like, dude, you're starting to tackle. We need you. Yeah. Like my thought process is Aaron Donald is more of a luxury. If you did have him for week one, that's just a cherry on top. They don't necessarily need him for week one. I mean, it goes back to our conversations about him shown up week seven or eight or shown up after Thanksgiving and having him for the second half of the season. But the 49ers desperately need bodies and they need guys like Alfred Collins. We talk about luxury. The Niners have the word luxury and 49ers D line does not exist. No. The luxury is that there is, there is no luxury. I don't know. So yeah, guys, I mean, that's the situation. I think you're right, Mark. I do. Here's what they're left with. Okay, they're detacles that they have are Osa Odigizuah who now becomes like the greatest 49er ever. CJ West as somebody 408 texted in and said CJ to the rescue. Oh, Miss. West, West and Grayson Halton, young man, you know, the next man up when John Feinstein, the late John Feinstein, wrote his book about spending a year with the Baltimore Ravens. It was called next man up because the NFL is so freaking relentless and so violent that honestly,

42:58these injuries happen and there's zero sympathy. They're like, yeah, man, that sucks. Who's the next who's the next guy? It's the next man up league. James Thompson is an undrafted free agent who did not practice yesterday but who made the team. Nick Bosa actually answered a question about him yesterday. Marcus or pardon me, Walt cut V. Nick Bosa on this kid James Thompson. Now he did miss practice yesterday, but if he's ready to go, here's what Bosa said about James Thompson undrafted for Asian who made the team. He's been like a vet from the beginning. I remember in OTA, I was watching all the rookies and just doing drills and I was really impressed, especially because him and Bryce and were undrafted. So I was like, damn, these guys have the tools to be NFL players and then with JT, it's just the mental aspect is different than most. He's really well-rounded human being. So I think he's got all the tools and the mentality to be a really

44:01good player for us. All right. Bosa was a slightly talkative mood down there in Australia. I like it. And now they don't problem his like I said, he missed practice yesterday. So hopefully, I don't know if he plays or if he has to play her, but that's your options. Also Sebastian Valdez and Kevin Givens are on the practice squad. And bro, I mean, this is the case where Australia becomes a factor because theoretically if they were in Santa Clara, they could fly somebody in for a workout, maybe get them on and maybe there's a guy on the waiver wire, but you ain't flying a guy to Australia now. Well, they just flew in. Who was it? Kaleigh Kareem. Kaleigh Kareem, who also, who he's a dn though, yes, not tackled, but still you'll see him, but they had a couple of days to get him in. Although, by the way, the Rams finally left. Yeah, finally, there's no way like Sebastian Valdez can sneak on the Rams plane or something. I know. So that's is there in Australia. Good. I think he is. He could be. Yeah, the, I don't even think the Rams have landed yet. Have they? I think there's a good chance they haven't landed yet. No, I believe they land Thursday morning Australia time. Yeah, pretty soon. Crazy. By the way, now as we're getting closer

45:05and closer, you're starting to see more takes of who's, who did it right? The Niners are the Rams, you know, and of course, you know, the scoreboard will be the thing that tells you who did it right, but there's also talk about the after effects. You know, now some people are saying, well, maybe the 49ers chose the wrong path because by getting used to Australia, it'll be harder to get used to California and that the Rams are like, we may just throw this game on the sacrificial fire and come back and still be in America mode when we come back. Yeah, that's kind of the way that I've been breaking down these travel plans and the discussion about how both teams are planning to attack this. I think the Fortinonters are set up better for success in week one, getting their body clocks adjusted to the Australian time clock, but I think that the Rams will have the advantage coming back to the States week two because they don't have to get their body back on track to the American time. Here's the catch. And I hate to do this too, because you know, any given Sunday and the NFL is the NFL, but now it's playing the dolphins week two. I mean, they can go out there with jet lag and beat the dolphins. Yeah, I'm thinking of a full scatter report for you on the dolphins that

46:05take on the Raiders week one. Oh, all right. In Vegas or Miami, I think the game might be in Vegas. You mean with star, or cash and genty who outranked Max Crosby on the NFL's painting? It was my second round draft pick and the no food in the studio can be our least second round aggressive aggressive. By the way, the Rams, their second, their week two game is a home game against the New York Giants, but then week three, the Rams actually have to get on a plane, whereas the Niners do not. The Niners stay home against well, the Arizona Cardinals again. Can you have jet lag and beat the Cardinals? Yeah. I can. I can. Maybe they might implement some of that load management you're talking about. Really? Whereas the Rams go to Denver for a Sunday nighter. That's tough. Yeah, that'll be a tough one. Little elevation too. I throw that in there too. By the way, the 49ers are already 11 and a half point favorites over the Rams. I just looked at it over the dolphins. No, I mean, pardon me over the Cardinals. We both were wrong. You're looking way. Yeah, there's no way in hell. There might as 11 against the Rams. No, they're 11 and a half favorites over the Cardinals in week three and in week two, they are 10 and a half point

47:09favorites over the dolphins. Yeah. A couple double digit spreads. I guess the, the bookies are not too concerned about the 49ers traveling. The spread is for tomorrow. It is stayed consistent, three and a half. It's been stayed, stayed, stayed, three and a half, three and a half, tonight, by the way, C-hux only a three point favorite down to three. It was a bigger spread in the Super Bowl. Last year in the Super Bowl, it was three. I said, who in the world is taking the Patriots tonight? Apparently somebody. Yeah. Because the line has shifted a little bit. More sound here. I love Nick Boasa. Here's Boasa on himself on his rehab. And after we worried about him all August with the 10 and I just the 10 and I just the 10 tonight is it's cut A B Walt Alpha Beta here. I shed out of the old Alpha Beta supermarkets from my youth. Alpha Beta cut A B Boasa on his own recovery and getting back to the actual playing field tomorrow night. Yeah, I mean, it's never a dull moment. You could think you're through the worst of it and then you have a setback or something. I've been lucky where I've been able to come back from a few of them

48:13and get to myself out there on the field. But it's a grind and there's some days where you you go to bed thinking like, damn, I don't know if I'm going to be all right. And then the next day you feel good and it's just a roller coaster. So I'm feeling really happy. I mean, I couldn't be happier with where I'm at. I'm 100% ready to go for the first game. So it's going to be great. Okay, he just said 100%. 100%. He could be happier. The only problem is that you never get to sack Matt Stafford because the ball's always out of his hands. One of the quickest triggers. Yeah, it's more fun to sack the other guys. 559 says in honor of Marcus's week one, the dolphins must go down and they must go down. Yes, they must go down. Get ready, Malik Willis. 559 is a regular text who said isn't Merf's recent three and four day work weeks a form of load management.

49:16Yeah, you have been doing a lot of load. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Another one coming in October too. I think I'm going to go back to East again. 707 says it's easier coming back to the states in terms of acclimating and jet lag. Yes, I got you too on that one. Uh, four one five four one. Oh, yeah, ha, ha, you're making fun of me there. Four eight says I'm in a last man standing league and want to take the Raiders against the trash Dolphins Marcus send that scouting report ASAP. Oh, man, I don't know about week one. Kurt Cus is beyond that offensive line. We'll see. I don't know if I risk the Raiders week one. That's a risky bit. Three one. I said, I'm into Australia a few times. It'll take them three to four days when they get back. They land Friday. They'll be back to normal the following Tuesday. Seven seven five and others have said it can Joey Boça join the 49er D line. What's the big bear up to these days? Yeah. Remember we we asked Nick about it and he goes nice play. Yeah. I mean, but that's the thing we've talked about this all off season long bringing in a guy like Joey Boça making a trade for Vita Vaya and it sounds like he's now settled with the 10-minute book and ears. I believe they worked out a contract deal. So he's off to trade block, but that's why we

50:18were pounding to table. So hard to go out and make a move for a guy like Vita Vaya. Yeah. So there you guys go. Just a little talk there about that D line situation. Nick Boça's view of the Alfred Collins injury and the 49ers now next man up and it's looking like that next man will be CJ West Grayson Halton. Maybe James Thompson Jr. The undrafted for agent Boça prays so much if he's healthy and then maybe practice squaders Sebastian Faldes and Kevin Given's next man up. Speaking of the next man up, the next man up is Walt for our wide world of Walt the questions that make you react on the spot. Don't choke. Walt's going to ask you tough questions when you need them next on these Parts Ear.