Raiders name Kirk Cousins as starting QB

0:00on today's PFT Live. The Raiders are finally named to start in quarterback. The Falcons have not joined me in Jack Bighead for all the things happening in the NFL PFT Live starts now. Welcome everyone to Fanta in 60, a brand new show with me, John Fanta, and my co-host, Jay Croucher. Join us as we bring the fan first energy to NBC Sports now. My new show is the place for understanding the week in sports. We'll talk big story lines by real moments. And most importantly, we'll hear directly from you. The fans, it's going to be a great hand. I can't wait for you all to see it. Fanta in 60 airs, Mondays at 6 p.m. Eastern on NBC Sports now and NBC Sports Radio. See you there. Hey, it's a Thursday edition of PFT Live. And here we are. Hey, slugger. Here we are. How you doing there, slugger? Well, Antonio Brown here. We were starting to worry right in Fringement. All right. We thought we were going to have to send out a posse.

1:03We thought we were going to have to put out an APB, the clock's ticking towards 7 a.m. Eastern here on P.Cock. No NBC has send today because you know, pedal, pedal, pedal, coast, coast, coast, pedal, pedal crash apparently. But we're here and series X and 85 NBC Sports now. Yada, yada, yada. But we're getting toward showtime. Showtime. And we're ready. Yeah. And Gary's in here talking and he's like, looks at his watch. And like, where's Chris? Yeah. I'm never this late. We were getting very nervous. I was starting to be concerned about your health and well-being. I actually considered calling you. And then the age of texting in the cell phone, like, you rarely make a phone call. I was actually going to call you and like, dude, are you alive? Like, where are you? So, yeah. Welcome. Oh, thank you. Well, there is a story. Is there a story? There is a story. Oh, good. This is going to be a good show. I got out of the house late today. Like, the dog had to go to the bathroom. Which dog? The LT. So, I went out there, waited for him a little bit. Had I spilled my coffee cup. So, had that, that took a little extra time. So, now I'm like, oh, man.

2:03That's that thing over there. Yeah, I put it over here. So, I pulled it over here. So, now it's, yeah, I'm behind schedule. And I always cut it close as it is. So, now I'm looking at it and I'm going, I'm having left my house and I go, oh my gosh, it's 624, I haven't left the house yet. So, I'm kind of running to the car. And I'm pushing this, this means living a little bit now. So, I get on the highway, I'm on the Marit Parkway, I get off. I'm good, I'm all good, actually. It's even worse, actually. I got four. It's even worse. Well, no, no, no, no. I did get pulled over. Yes. So, I got off the highway. Can't wait for the body, can I? I came up to one of the, one of my pet peeves, the Stanford Connecticut random lights where 100 cars get stopped every few minutes for, I've never seen a car go the other direction. So, I'm at that light going, oh, of course I got this light. And of course, there's never anybody going. I want to go, why is there a light here? I've never seen a car. So, now it's the old, you know, we got to wait for the green light to turn and it's still, it's like, nobody's here. What are we waiting for?

3:04So, I jumped the gun. It was yellow, the green light thing and I was like, all right, I'm going and I hit it and I said, look to the rear rear mirror. I saw, I guess in that meantime, a few other cars got behind me and I saw what it looked like a Ford Explorer and I was like, oh, man, is that a cop? And then three seconds later, there goes the lights. Oh wow. Yup, yup. He let me go. He let me go. I was like, I'm on live TV at seven o'clock. I said, I'm late, I'm sorry. I said, I know, I jumped the gun. He said, yeah, you jumped the gun a little bit and he gave me a warning and thank you to that. I appreciate that. Yeah. So, that was it. That was it. That was the stop. That was probably about nine minutes, eight minutes. But like, you know, I got pulled over, I think it's 640 or 641. So, I'm going, oh no. If he writes me a ticket, I'm going to be here at 065. I'm not going to make it. And he let me go. I think it's 649. And I was like, okay. And then, you know, as soon as he turned, I was like, I got to hit it again. And I kind of got here. He offered a FaceTime Kyle.

4:04I didn't like that. You're funny. No, I didn't. I mean, any light, do you know? No, no, no. He took my license. So, and I think he knew. So, that's where, yeah, I got lucky there. I got lucky. Well, as soon as you walked in, my first thought was, you can't be late because you cut yourself shaving. That's for damn sure. And I haven't seen this. It comes through the monitor differently. Right, right. You are crossing the lines here. Yeah. Into grizzled. Yeah, I've got that. You have gone from fresh faced, young Christopher. Yeah. Into grizzled veteran. Grizzled veteran. And it's very patchy. It's very patchy. It's very patchy. And I usually actually don't even let it get this long right here, not that it's long. But you're right. I don't think you can really see it because my hair's somewhat fair and gray and whatever. I see gray on the chin. I just can't do the clean shaving thing lately. I don't know what it is. When I do it, I look at it and I just go, gosh, I don't even like the way I look. So I've been keeping it usually a little lower than this. But you're not the first person lately to go, damn, you got a lot of grays in there. Holy crap. I didn't realize that.

5:05I kind of get that like once or twice a day right now. When you got the light hair, the grays don't show up. They blend in on top. They do. You can't get away from it. You can't get away from it. This is very gray through here. But yeah, thank you very much. My chinny chin chin. Well, good to see you, buddy. Since you are. Oh, and I'm going to give this to you anyway. Since you have assaulted me. Oh, my God. Come get him, officer. There you go. I wrapped it myself. I wrapped it myself. Like a man did. Oh, yeah. Whoa. That was just bad. I didn't have time to fend it. I had time to open it. And I hope that's what it is. You know, I was wondering. I hope it's your gift. I was wondering. There's a chance it may not be. You're funny. I was wondering, you know, I was like, man, in a floria, you're usually great with birthday gifts. And I, of course, am not with gifts or anything like that. I'm still waiting for the for all. I know. And so I was like, man, floria, you didn't even text me on my bird. Yes, I did. Did you? Yes, I did. Yeah, you were drunk. I might have been. What time was that? I texted you Saturday night. OK. You responded. I did result.

6:05I was drunk. Yeah. You're right. It was because Alex and I had talked about the day before. It's like, oh, we need to text Chris tomorrow. And then I remember it at like 9.30. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get there. I think they're going to. Come on. I need hooks. I dig them in there. Hold on. Just keep talking. You're going to have to figure this out. So it's PFT live. And we've got a few other things to take care of before we actually get to the show. Thank you for tolerating our Tom Foulery. I don't think I can be able to get it. I can't imagine that they would have been able to get handcuffs on you. Yes. Now that I realize, John, your hands are. Do they have extra, yeah, that says you're coming. So it's been fully secured. It is the most secure thing ever. Oh, and for what is inside, it makes sense. So anyway, I'm excited. Before we get to business, I do want to say, because as I was traveling yesterday, and I try my best to work while I'm traveling, it's not always the easiest thing. I know it's a first world problem, but we're in the back of a car. It you get jostled around and copypasted, archie comment. And I was at the airport and the flight was delayed.

7:07And I saw right before we were supposed to board, and it was like, that can I get this done? Can I get this done? Because I was very intrigued by this story. It's been hanging around sports for a while now. And I feel like a couple steps removed from it because my friend Pablo Tore, our friend Pablo Tore, is involved in the reporting that came out last year that won his podcast Pulitzer as to all of the salary caps shenanigans that the LA Clippers were allegedly doing. And yeah, Steve Bommer. What's this amazing like boom, boom, boom, where Pablo has his report, and that's just kind of out there. And we don't know what the NBA is doing about this idea of extensive salary caps or convention. Then ESPN on August 17 had a three author, nothing to see here's story. There's nothing. So it made it even more dramatic when it hit yesterday with these unprecedented penalties. But I first found picks $30 million fine.

8:09And it was vindication ultimately for Pablo because people wanted to take his Pulitzer back after the ESPN report. Boy, they've been nice. I really hope that's what I mean, supposed to be. I hope it's not. I hope it's something else. I hope it's some lingerie. You brought Jill or something. Wow. Is that it? That's it. That's it. I hear. We got you. We had the conversation at one point. Do you remember we had the conversation on the air? Yeah. About 46. And who wears 46? Oh my gosh. And you got the original. The guy, the guy who was the inspiration for the 46 defense, Doug Plank. And fortunately, fortunately from my checkbook and bank account, Doug Plank is not in the same stratosphere as some of the other players from that team. That's a team. That's a meaning though, right there. Right there. And I did some research after we first talked about Doug Plank in 46 because he wasn't on the 85 bears. Yes, right. They named the defense. I know. And he wasn't on the team. And I'm starting poking around. It's like, this guy wouldn't even play for the bears in 1985. And it was named after him when he got to Chicago.

9:14He wore number 25. I did not know that. And it's all in the news now with all the numbers, games that are going on. Oh, back in junior back in 13. 13. Now, once number 13 in Indianapolis, look what. The contract. No, thank you. Ron Shanklin, receiver who played for the Steelers in war number 25, which was unusual. In those days, and it's typically you had to have played another position. So maybe Shanklin was a running back who became a receiver. But 25 is what Shanklin wore. They traded for Shanklin and Shanklin wanted 25. Rookie, you got my jersey on. That's what Shanklin said. Right. Right. Right. So out goes 25. In goes 46. So the rest of the story is it could have been the 25 defense, which doesn't have the same ring as 46. And since I didn't know you when you were 25, it would have completely blown the whole Doug Plank jersey. And I think that's three bears jerseys you now have in a closet somewhere. Gail Sayers, when you turned four. I got Gail for sure.

10:15And Brian Piccolo, when you turned four. Oh my gosh, I forgot Piccolo. You're right. Holy crap. Signed by James Cahn. Yeah, you're right. So I got three of them. And then Michael Jordan, you got me last year with the 45. The baseball. Yeah, the baseball, which is clutch. And the story behind that was during Canton for the Hall of Fame game. And I heard you tell the story about how Michael Jordan, O'Fill, a catch of money from a poker game, surely illegal and appropriate and, you know, complies with all ordinances, poker game. And he said, uh, just sent me some merch, some sign merch. And I showed up. Exactly. Yeah, dad, we were in the, you know, celebrity golf tournament. That was the time I got to meet Michael Jordan all week long. I was, I was there to meet Michael Jordan. I think I was nine or 10. Wow. Maybe 11. So it's a big deal. I could, you know, there were two tennis athletes even over the past one week. Well, Mark and Boss Bose were one of them, who're in a big deal. And & Boss Bose as something like ladies we listen, the guy named laughter over the Circumbers! Just, uh- And it's always been like, inmost serious. Like I'm a loser. Well, I was out over at one point of our league in the franchise. So when he was about the United States that gym. And we were about the right decided 20 and we had like the right dog from marathon

11:20for him. I'd the one $35 gold or $22 gold and we got outing the instant, but he beat Harlow's running. , He's probably got more. And Yes, but it's kind of like a visiting pool to jump into every corner of your he got to know Michael Jordan a little bit. And so now it's like, I think our last night there. And he's like, all right, Christopher, let's go. And he takes me down to the lobby. Takes me down into the casino. Because Michael's there playing, he's gambling. And I remember, you know, Michael's got a crowd around and I'm watching him play Blackjack or whatever he was playing at that time. There's no kids allowed. And I remember one of the security guards being like, and he's like, it's okay, hold on. He's got to talk to Michael real quick. And we went through the ropes and dad brought me up to Michael Jordan. And was like, you know, and he shook my hand and he signed a card real quick. And yeah, it was really cool. But there was a funny story. And then yes, dad won some money and the handler came by. How do you want Michael to pay? And dad goes, ah, just tell him to send us some gear, some jersey, some autographed basketballs. It never came.

12:21But thank you for making up for it. I had 45th birthday. So I mean, the rest of the story is, we're still an outstanding dad. I know. Then Michael Jordan owes to Phil Simms. Yeah, I have to tell Mike one day. With statutory interest, we're probably up into six figures now after all these years. So Michael, get ready. Get ready. I'll offer my services per photo. Thank you. Or maybe I should get some signed gear. Totally. I think so. Maybe one jersey. So anyway, as good, good story. And you were telling that when we were in Canton and one of those classrooms, remember it was Canton McKinney High School. We were in a classroom. It's just a weird vibe. And it's like, 45's coming up. There's no good 45. And White Sox, his little detour, we're talking about that the other day with athletes thinking they can play other sports. He did baseball for a little while. Well, thank you, though. Hey, no, you're great. You're great gift for that. You are. I'm glad you enjoyed it. OK, so we are here for more important business, at least as far as you're concerned. The NFL season starts in only six days.

13:24And finally, finally, the clouds parted. The trumpets played. God has spoken. Kirk Cousins will be the starting quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders to begin the season when the dolphins come to town. And I must apologize. There have been numerous occasions. And I had it in my head. And I must have misheard Joe Rose. I'm on his show every Friday. And one of the big topics is Fernando Mendoza, because he's from Miami. Right. And somehow he got in my head that that week one game is back in Miami. Yeah, yeah. And that got all twisted. And I hadn't looked it up. So I have said multiple times that that game is in Miami. It's a homecoming for Fernando Mendoza. It has extra meaning. It's not. It's in Las Vegas. So it has less meaning. But it's still the dolphins week one. And finally, after delaying, deferring, and filibustering on the whole thing, finally, Clint Kubiak announced as it's going to be Kirk Cousins. It's just there's no apparent reason for it, because everything was pointing toward Cousins. Like, why are what are we waiting for? It's almost disrespectful to Kirk Cousins to wait this long.

14:27Well, I think it kind of tells you something. I mean, we got a few other quarterback situations too, where it's like, you don't need an update. You don't need to tell me you're giving me a press conference. The way you're handling the situation itself is kind of telling us a lot. I mean, I thought later after the preseason game number three that, and I came in, I know we didn't do the show the day after that, but I did my pod. And I was like, oh, that's a lock. That's a lock right there. Kirk Cousins is starting quarterback. Mendoza did well, but through the interception, Kirk Cousins was pretty efficient. All right, they're going to go with it. But then, yeah, to wait a few days before we actually name them, I did kind of find that surprising. I did. And the fact that they had to make that announcement tells you that they were still kind of maybe fumbling with the idea of going, hey, maybe we should just throw Mendoza out there. Mendoza is ready. I don't doubt that. Yeah, he made a few mistakes. It's also better than the stats would tell you. And he passed the eye test. And I know out there, he's had days where everybody is like, wow, Mendoza, oh my gosh, his arm is actually more

15:28powerful than I thought. He's actually going to be in the top part of the league with one of the strongest arms in football. And then he knows how to play within the pocket. He's got great feel there. Really, his biggest mistake through the preseason is he trusts his arm in accuracy so much that he's through some balls where you'd go, you're not going to fit it in there, especially the second in the interception we saw the other day. Oh, it was great throw. It was a great throw. It was just, it was the hands off the hands. He threw it high to a guy that's not real tall. Jalen Naylor, who's 5'11". But yeah, I think this does tell us that they were still kind of kicking around the can of going, maybe we should put him out there. Because I do think it's inevitable. And we're going to see him sooner rather than later. It just makes me wonder what was going on behind the curtain. Yeah. And what kind of conversations they were having. I've been a believer from day one that Tom Brady has been the, no, he's got to sit. He's got to sit and they've managed the situation to not create an internal uprising where the rest of the locker room saying, what are we doing here?

16:29This kid's got the upside. Let's get him out there. Let's get him the reps. We're going to be better over the long haul with Fernando Mendoza. Then we are going to be with Kirk Cousins. They see it every day. And I think that there's got to be a reason. Because there's no reason to, to wait as long as they waited if it was going to be Cousins all along. Yeah, because I think it was going to be Cousins slam dunk. And then we got to first preseason game and they went, well, we're going to let them keep competing and they left the door open to where you said, all of a sudden you were like, wait, you told us all off season, it's Kirk Cousins. And all of a sudden after preseason game number one, it was, well, you know, we're not going to make any decisions. And they left the door cracked open. And then after the second week, it still became, hey, we like the competition. And there was another few phrases from Kunt Kubi Act to go, wow, they're seriously thinking about this. We saw Brady at the training camp at one point. I bet you that was the day or the time where he started to realize, he realized, and they were probably telling me, hey, Mendoza, it's, it's, it's not even close how much physically better he is than Kirk Cousins. And the mental stuff is coming fast.

17:31And he's, he's, he to me could play week one. I understand them going with Kirk Cousins, give Fernando Mendoza a little time. I know we're both in the, in the corner of play your young guy, get him going. And I know there's the Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rogers and, and the Tom Brady template. But there's also the Jaden Daniels, the CJ Stroud, Drake May would not have been in the Super Bowl. If he hadn't played as a rookie, Bo Nix wouldn't have gotten to the AFC Championship game. If he hadn't played as a rookie. And that's where I just look at it to go. It's a different era now. These guys with the amount of reps they have, seven on seven camps, all these tournaments and high school and all that. They're just way more polished as pocket quarterbacks when it's a guy like Fernando Mendoza. And that's where I'm a believer. But I do think it's only a matter of time. I got a question to ask before that. I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. Let's hear directly from Clint Kubiak on the Raider starting quarterback for week one against Miami. And let's study carefully to see if there's any clues as to how permanent that decision is. Here he is. Kirk's going to be the starting quarterback.

18:33And he wasn't out there today. That was by design for a rest day of that day. I played really good football. I'm really happy with all three of our quarterbacks. And you know, Kirk's had a really good off season, very good camp. And he's earned it with Kurt being the starting quarterback. Is there any expectation for Fernando to play all this year? I was worth to Miami first. So yes, yes, it's not a full season decision. Yeah, it's week one. It's Kirk cousins. And they continue to get Mendoza ready behind the scenes. Welcome everyone to Fanta in 60. A brand new show with me, John Fanta and my co-host Jay Croucher. Join us as we bring the fan first energy to NBC Sports now. My new show is the place for understanding the week in sports. We'll talk big story lines, viral moments, and most importantly, we'll hear directly from you. The fans. It's going to be a great hand. I can't wait for you all to see it. Fantons 60 airs, Mondays at 6 p.m. Eastern on NBC Sports now and NBC Sports Radio.

19:35See you there. When you started playing NFL level, how long does it take for the game to begin to slow down? Yeah, yeah. It's so I would say, you know, I didn't play as a rookie. My second year probably beat Brad Johnson out in training camp, but Brad was just a year removed from winning the Super Bowl. And they went with him. But I think Brad, we all knew it was like, hey, Brad Falter's, I'm going to be the starting quarterback. I got it in the game against the Seattle Seahawks in like week three and the game was in fast forward. I was like, holy cow, they're big. Holy cow, they're chasing. I mean, it was really like that. I was driving back to pass that I was like holy crap. They're everywhere, right? It felt like the walls are closing in. And I played pretty good. It made some big time throws. I made a mistake at the end of the football game, Charlie Garner. He kind of had an option route and made his decision so fast and so quick. He kind of gave me no telltale or read. And I ended up turning the ball over.

20:37So he went one way and you threw it. I didn't even throw it. In fact, I'm trying to think, oh no. So he had the option to go left, right, or straight. But you're supposed to kind of break down and act like you're going to cut even if you're going straight. And he just went. And I was still like in the process of dropping back. And then I couldn't throw to him. And then I kind of got stuck. And I was just trying to throw the ball out of bounds. And then I got my feet got clipped and I didn't get it all the way out of bounds as somebody intercepted it. So that game was like holy crap. Now they start Brad one more week. Then I come in in the New Orleans game the week after. And I remember the first drive, at least that I had the whole week of practice. So that really helped me. The first drive I was nervous as hell. And the game was fast, but it was definitely slower than it was two weeks earlier against the Seattle Seahawks. And then I would tell you we went down. We scored a touchdown. The second drive I went out there and I was like, whoa, I feel relaxed. I actually feel like I'm back at Texas now.

21:37I'm comfortable again. And we went down and drove again. And I was like, all right, I feel good. I'm seeing the field. And it can happen. I guess that quick. And then the next drive I got blindsided by Will Smith and hurt my shoulder. And then I was out for a bunch of weeks. But for me there, yeah, I think the practice in the full weeks of reps, you know, I was a second year player who played a lot of the preseason in both years. And I felt like that second time around I was like a different guy and mentally a lot more comfortable and felt like I could see the field a whole different way than compared to that Seahawk game. What do they say to you on the sideline when you're keyed up? How sensitive are you to that? I watched the most recent hard knocks and they were talking to Jalen Milro after he played some of the new season and they were giving him positive reinforcement. He was upset and it's good that you're upset. They see you're upset. It's all about the message the quarterback sends. So if you're sending this message of being nervous, agitated, anxious, what do they say to you to try to try to stop that if anything and does it work?

22:39Yeah, it does work. So, you know, one you get juiced up, you get juiced up. And I think this was something to happen with Fernandes Mendoza, even that last interception is where he threw some balls even in that game where he threw it so hard. I was just like, you don't need to throw it that hard, but you're just, oh, my gosh, I'm excited and you're just, you're adrenaline's going and you make normal throws with just maybe more intensity than you really realize. Gruden was great in throwing out a little joke to me and pregame and stuff like that. I don't think anybody thought I was nervous. Everybody kind of thought Sims is crazy and I hope he just doesn't come out there and throw fireballs everywhere. It was a little bit more like that. Relax. Make sure you see the field where behind you big soldier, he would say stuff like that. Joey Galloway was really my angel on my shoulder to kind of like, he was my buddy and he would kind of, hey, you all right, they're big fella. That's how he's probably big fella. You all right, you're right, a little nervous today. Yeah, yeah, oh, you're going to be okay today, right? He would kind of do that to me. And it was little things like that that made me feel better. But within all that, I mean, we have scripted first 10, right?

23:41I mean, I've got to memorize like anything. Third play of the game. I think I threw a completion. We kind of run up to, he told me, you know, one of the John Gruden long-ass puns, plays, and I'm like, I'm hyperventilating and I get in the huddle and I look at everybody, I'm like, all right, Westwright slot. And I look around and they go, shit, I forgot. I don't, I forgot, timeout. And I had to call timeout because I just, my adrenaline and everything was going so hard. Whatever he had said to me in the play, I just, I blanked and it was a play that I had studied all night. But I just couldn't spit it out in the moment, had to take a time out. He looked at me like, what the, are we doing? The first 10? And I think the next play, I threw a big completion and then I threw a touchdown and it was like, okay, he's all good from there. But yeah, you're going to go through some bumps like that when you're young. I don't know if I ever told you this, but your guy, Joey Galvey and I were born in the same city, presumably in the same hospital because I only think there was one hospital

24:46at town. I did not know that. Yeah, right? That's the river. Yeah. Yep. Yep. I don't know how I ended up being born there because I grew up in West Virginia, but it's all right there. Sure. It's five minute drive. My grandmother, my mom grew up. I assumed that's why I'm almost from, I must be where the doctor was. Yeah. It was a very simple explanation. Yeah. Yeah. So you and Joey Galvey. Yeah. Joey Galvey was great. He was, you know, of course, one of my best buddies on that team and it did help to have a guy. Well, it had it helped me to have veterans who believed in me and could, I could see in their eyes. They believed me and they would just give me a little encouragement, encouragement, whether it was Galvey, Mike Allstop was a great supporter of mine. Michael Pittman, right? Michael Pittman, Jr.'s dad, he, they couldn't be, they could not have been better. I killed. Those were guys that they had been there. They had played in big games. They had seen other talented quarterbacks. They would tell me things like, hey, Sims, I never seen anybody could throw it like you or have the arm like you.

25:46And those, those were the things that allowed me to be like, okay, wait, they like me. They think I'm good. And of course, I performed well in practice and all that, but those are little things that do help you in your mentality as a young player to give you the confidence to go, hey, I, I can be something here and I belong to be, you know, maybe a really good player. And this is all useful in enlightening because this is what's going to be going on with the Raiders as Kirk Cousins is preparing and playing in games. They're getting Fernando Mendoza ready and inevitably at some point this season doesn't it feel inevitable that at some point totally and either when the Raiders have fallen out for all practical purposes of playoff contention or if Kirk gets injured and I don't say that with any Malokio director and direct intent, but quarterback pushing 40, he had that big injury a few years ago. They don't have exactly an all pro offensive line. Everything with him. High effort right now.

26:47Right. At some point he's going to need to take some time off and maybe the rest of the season off depending upon how Mendoza plays. And that is all relevant to some things that John Spitek, the GM of the team said on Tuesday of Mendoza, his time is coming. Yes. But he's got to earn it every day and he knows that. I think we're all very pleased with the person and his work ethic and his commitment to being a great quarterback. So his time is coming. That prompted me and I addressed this yesterday on PFTPM to look at the schedule. Yeah. There really isn't that sweet spot. That's sweet spot. Yeah. Sweet spot. Yeah. They don't have a buy until week 13. That's kind of late to make the transition. Totally. They don't have a Thursday night game. So there isn't a mini buy to give Fernando Mendoza extra time. The best opponents to make the change, not all of them, but all right, the dolphins, if that game would have been week seven, week eight, week nine, maybe that's a great time

27:47to do it because you're giving him a home game and a lesser opponent than the rest of the schedule would suggest at New Orleans, tough environment, saints are better than I think we're giving them credit for. That's only week three. So that's kind of early. Then you've got the Jets week eight, but it's at the Jets. I would want him to start at home. Yeah. And look at the home slate beyond the dolphins and chiefs. No, thank you. Bills. No, thank you. Rams. No, thank you. Seahawks. Holy crap. Chargers, Broncos. And the Chargers home game is the first game after the buy. It may not be until week 14 unless Kirk Cousins gets injured and even the road games like at the Jets week eight at the Browns have a good defense. It's going to be a tough environment to play in, especially if they're competitive this year. That at Cardinals game, that would be a nice thing to have early Titans week 16. That would be nice to have right around week five or six. The schedule does them no favors as it relates to finding an ideal window on the left side

28:50of the column to start Fernando Mendoza. No, you're you're exactly right. There's no easy spot there, but I would expect it one to be on the left side of the column here. I don't think we're going to wait till November or late October one. I, you know, when I really look at it, if they end up losing to the dolphins and then okay, it's at the Chargers who are better than the Raiders right now. We know it's the NFL. So there's nothing's a given. The Saints, as you said, it's in New Orleans. They're going to be a better football team. New Orleans, I think we both believe could be one of those surprise. Oh, wait, they're this good in the middle of December. Yeah, they could be that. I'm telling you, I don't know if the chiefs aren't the spot. I don't know if it's not the spot. I know it's the chiefs, but it the chiefs are not the chiefs of all. We have a lot of questions. They're depending on a lot of young guys. They've gotten older in certain spots. You know my thoughts on the Kansas City Chiefs. When you brought up when should he do it or whatever? I almost wanted to go man, the over under is like week four for me, week five. I really do feel that way.

29:51Now, if Kirk Cousins plays phenomenal, we know things will change that way. But at the same time, I don't know if I can, I see Kirk Cousins playing at a level. So it's just going to blow them, blow them away. Athletically, you could see Kirk Cousins. He's not a, he never was a danger to make a play outside the pocket. I think that's even gone, you know, down even more ever since the Achilles. We've talked about his arm, even in the preseason. Yes, he can make the throws, but it's not wow. And it's a lot of effort to throw 12 and 15 yard throws where you go, gosh, he had a wind up and give it everything he had to throw a 12 yard curl route. I think those again are the things they're seeing, but that could be a moment. If he falters and they go, okay, we've got three games under our belt. We know how we want to play our offensive lines playing well now and hitting on all cylinders. Ashton Gentys totally healthy and playing well. Kansas City at home. And I, as you know, think the chiefs are going to be a third place team in the AFC West. I'm on the fence and whether I'm even going to put them in the playoffs really.

30:55So that's one I do look at to go. That might be a nice sweet spot. They can throw them in there. And by the way, cousins played the Saints twice last year and beat them both times. That's right. And writing at New Orleans. Yeah. In week. Yeah, it was a ugly game. 24 to 10. Right. Ugly game. What was the stats in that game? You see it? Because I remember it was 16 for 23 for 199 two touchdowns. One pick pass or rating of 107. It seems like a high passer rating. It does. Or 16 for 23 69. Six completion percentage nearly 200 yards. That would have been the numbers here somewhere of yards per attempt. And I'll see it. And I'll see it. So that how with it looks like 8.4 yards per attempt. So that would explain 8.7 yards per attempt. So, you know, an efficient day. Yeah. But for the interception. And they now that was right before the Saints started to get hot. They beat the Saints in the last game of the season. 1917 to repel the Panthers. The playoffs instead of the Buccaneers. Still, he's got experience against the Saints. So, he's that we're looking at that.

31:56We yeah, it makes more sense to stick with cousins. And if you can't win that one, maybe that's the. Okay. If they're 0 and 2 and they're going to New Orleans and they don't win that one in their 0 and 3, it may be. Yes. Home game. Kansas City chiefs chiefs may be a little wounded. And that's on the other guy. Broncos, then the Colts, then they got the Dolphins. So they may not be feeling desperate. They may be 2 and 1, but a Fugaisi 2 and 1. Yeah, sure, sure. But that may be the time because there really isn't another spot you can look at and say that's obvious on the left side. Yeah. If it's the right side, the obvious spot is after the by week to make the change. But I don't think it lasts that long unless they are. I don't think they wanted the last that good. Unless they start winning. Unless they're contending. That's right. Then you ride it out with the cousin. But I think with this like you said, the fact that they made a press conference about he's going to be the starting quarterback when we kind of all thought it was. I think that just tells you that it's it was still they were still thinking about it.

32:58And that just to me says it's Kirk cousins is on borrowed time here. And I think the word you use is right. It's the experience. The so it's Mendoza. The talent is far greater than than Kirk cousins. But once he can kind of equal the experience and get somewhere closer in the stratosphere a little bit, that to me is when they are going to be like, OK, you know, he's run this play, you know, 45 times now. He said a lot of reps. He's seen some different defenses. And as soon as he can close that gap a little, I just think Mendoza will take off. I'm very confident in what I saw with Mendoza. People are wrong with some of the hate they have given him. Again, I think he played realistic football. They played realistic football. It's different than some of these other ones out there where yeah, they manufactured little completions and the numbers look good. They called plays that were like, Hey, this is aggressive. This is what we would call for our starter. And he made throws and was under pressure. I think about as much or more than any quarterback in the preseason.

33:59And that's where I loved it. You got to see throws and NFL regular season environments where you go, yeah, the walls are closing in or he's going to get hit in the chest and he stands in there and makes big throws. I was very impressed with what I saw Mendoza do in the preseason. Well, I'm with you. I think we're going to see him sooner than later, unless the Raiders surprise us. Yeah, with performances that make them very viable and delay that moment where it's going to be inevitable. The problem is as we've discussed, there really isn't that spot that screams out. This is the great opportunity to shift cousins about that over to Mendoza. And the Falcons may have some remorse for letting Kirk Cousins go because he's probably better. They like it. The Kirk Cousins are not. They like it. They like it. Cousins. They like it. They like it. They like it. I'm not. And it's time to move on. And now they're like, what are we going to do? So let's talk about their quarterback situation. That is the last one where we don't know who the starter is going to be.

35:02They go to Pittsburgh to start the season. GM and Cunningham said yesterday, no decision yet on the starter. Ultimately, when the coaches are ready, when the players are ready, we will make that decision. Well, the clock is ticking because the preparations for the Steelers to the extent they have already begun. There's a mandatory break with this new formula. Let's not that new anymore. But the three preseason games, they get a few days off, Labor Day weekend, the players come back, start getting ready. Yeah. I'd like to think they're going to know before the break, it would be nice for the starter to know before the break. Am I going to be playing in that game at Pittsburgh? So it's just odd. And it's not odd because on one hand, you've got your presumed starter, Michael Penix, Jr., who still isn't all the way back from the tour in ACL. And then you've got Tuah, who has not been good so far in his time with the Falcons

36:03in the preseason. So what do you do? And they're one of the teams to cap for. So you still have Cooper, Russian Jack Strand floating around if they decide to do something completely kooky and they just go none of the above with Tuah and Penix. Might be the oddest quarterback situation I can remember in recent history. I don't, I'm not trying to, you know, overplay this. Let's unpack this. It's a quarterback in Michael Penix, who we know has talent and has got some tools that you go, he's just starting quarterback. But at the same time, he hasn't played consistently. He's been hurt or you know, one year, he was of course the backup and then played at the end of the year. Last year, only plays a handful of games, gets hurt again and it was all over the place. And now we have a new regime who's not even tied to this guy, it didn't draft him. They come in, they get Tuah, the guy they're not tied to, who is still an experience and certainly wouldn't make any coach.

37:04If you go back and watch the film and go, oh man, I feel warm and cozy about that. He'll do the right thing with the ball and really run the offense the right way. There's been moments of that and he's got incredible potential because of his big time left arm. There's no doubt about that. But okay, we're new. We watched the film, man, it's inconsistent. He hasn't been able to practice. We're not tied to him. And we have another guy that was a starter in the NFL and he's come in and he's gotten all the reps and played in the preseason and really hasn't looked all that good. And we're here. We are that were 11 days out and they're going, wait, the guy that we haven't really seen do anything, he still might start and he doesn't really done anything in the past to prove that he should definitely be the starter and we're not tied to him. But we still, even though we haven't seen him go full blast yet, we still think he's probably better than the guy that has been playing and practicing all the time because obviously it ain't been that good because if it was that good, they would just go, hey, Tuah's the

38:05starter. Michael's not healthy yet and when he's healthy, we'll then reevaluate the situations. To me, I don't know if I've ever seen a situation quite like this. This is very odd. Welcome everyone to Fanta in 60, a brand new show with me, John Fanta and my co-host, Jay Croucher. Join us as we bring the fan first energy to NBC Sports now. My new show is the place for understanding the week in sports. We'll talk big story lines. Hyrule Moments and most importantly, we'll hear directly from you, the fans. It's going to be a great hand. I can't wait for you all to see it. Fantons 60 airs, Mondays at 6 p.m. Eastern on NBC Sports now and NBC Sports Radio. See you there. And I've got a thought on that before we get there. Here's Ian Cunningham from yesterday on the progress Michael Pennich's junior is making as he continues his recovery from the season ending tour in ACL in 2025. We never went into it that way. Things happen. So again, with him, for him to be where he's at, it shows because he's been working his

39:10tail off to get to this point and our staff putting a really good plan together for him to get to the point of 11 on 11 where we're having these conversations where who's going to be the starting quarterback and is he going to be ready? It goes to show you like he's put himself in that position because of the work that he's put in. So I think they're hoping that Pennix can get there. I was looking at their depth chart on their website and of course they'll say it doesn't mean anything, but it's out there. It's the closest thing we have to an indication from the team. They've got two and Pennix as the first team, Cooper Rush as second and Jack Strand as third, which is impossible because whoever the starter isn't is going to be second. I think that's where I'm getting curious about this and they've got two ahead of Pennix. That's not alphabetical order. So there's a message to that. I think they they wanted to be two, but two hasn't been good enough.

40:11So they're kind of willing Pennix to get healthy enough to play. Here's the question. Yeah. If Pennix isn't ready to go, is there a chance they just can't put two out there? Is there a chance they just go with Cooper Rush or crazy outside the box? Yeah. Possibility of letting the kid from Minnesota state more ahead. Yeah, Jack Strand. Roll the dice and let's see because he's the Matt Ryan on the depth chart. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I hear what you're saying. I think it'll still be two, but he, you know, again, just watch, watch two of play in the preseason. You can't come away with going, oh, that looked good. I know the stats will even be somewhat good last week against the dolphins, but we fun will the snap. We had another drive end up in nothing to start the game. It was the third drive of the game. And even when they had success on that third drive, it wasn't like you were like, oh, man, he looks good. He's carving them up. I mean, he threw a shallow cross to Kyle Pits.

41:12He broke like three tackles and then ran up the sidelines for like 45 yards. And then there was another play like that again, plays that I'd go, this isn't going to be realistic against the number ones in the regular season when teams and the smarter players and the better players. And they've seen these plays like that stuff's not going to work. That's what I've argued with some of this fake success we've seen in the preseason with some quarterbacks. And of course, they were playing their one, they were playing their ones of Atlanta. And it was the dolphins, twos and threes. And they were having a hard time moving the ball efficiently. So like to your point, it doesn't feel like they want to do it. Now, you know, Kevin's to Fanski. I don't know how much power he has in this. He's got to be a little bit like damn. I, yeah, I'd like to frame my, you know, team around my quarterback here, but two of his not, you know, taking charge here to make them feel good about that. And with Ian Cunningham there in the new regime, maybe they're looking at it going, listen, I just saw Caleb Williams, you know, I'm looking at two of him and starting franchise quarterback. That's for sure. I know what a starting franchise quarterback's arm looks like and all that.

42:14I just came from Caleb Williams. Michael Pentax. When I see him throw the ball, I go, ooh, that looks kind of like Caleb. Williams sometimes with the boy and how it pops and spins and all that. So I, I think they, they, of course, he's an important asset, and they traded and I mean, and it was a controversial pick. And I would think there's some way they'd want to make that work instead of diving back into the quarterback market. And I'm sure that plays a part in this as well. But again, I would say this situation is very odd that we're still here talking about a quarterback competition where one of the guys hasn't been able to compete. One of them hasn't been able to compete. they're still going to go, we might name the guy that's been standing by the Gatorade bottle to compete. We still might name him the winner, even though he didn't really compete and get the show what he can do. That's crazy, honestly. You know, one of these days, there's going to be a compelling documentary about the football career of Tua. Yeah, there really is. Because how did we all get to know Tua? Yeah. National Championship. Jamlin Hurts Bench.

43:15Exactly. Tua plays. Yeah. They win it all. And Tank for Tua was the thing in 2019 until Joe Burrow emerged, but still he was the fifth overall pick, one pick ahead of Justin Herbert. And there's always been a counter to whatever he does well, whether it's, remember, is a rookie. They were pulling him out in two minute situations and they were going with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Yeah. It's Patrick later explained it's because Tua didn't know those plays. Those nuances. Wasn't ready to go out, right? Run it then. Yeah. And then he had the concussions. How do you know? And he admitted that he didn't prepare well that year. It wasn't a professional, right? Because then when Mike McDaniel was there, that was one of the things. It was the shots of him out there doing the mental reps before the game, right? Get there early to go and do all the stuff. And then he had the concussions and he became the name and the face that we associate with head trauma in the NFL, the, the hit where he got pulled down onto the ground in Cincinnati

44:15and his head hit and went to the hospital and thought maybe he's never going to play again. Then he's not, he's not as big as the typical quarterback. So it's an even greater onus on protecting yourself. And there's been all this adversity, but he is still found ways to succeed. He led the NFL in passing. Yeah. In 2023 passing yardage got him the, the big contract in the mid 50 million per year. It's just this very complicated contradictory story that always feels like it's on the verge of imploding. And I feel like this is the year it's going to go one way or the other. No one is going to want him to be a starter next year unless he plays well this year. And it's still not clear the Falcons even wanted to be the starter this year. It's, it is something we've never seen before. And I think Tuah is a quarterback we've never seen before because he is a non prototypical size.

45:16He's had these flaws in his game. He's had the injuries that have made him unavailable at stretches. And then the year that he led the league in passing, that was 2023. And that was a year they're dropping like flies and he somehow goes wired a wire. That was a year with Kirk cousins. That was a year with Aaron Rogers week one. This quarterback's hurt. That's quarter quarter back start and Tuah, Tuah plays every game. So it's just a fascinating story start to finish and it's not over yet, but it feels like it could be ending. Yeah. It feels like this is it for Tuah. And if he's not the week one starter and he loses the competition to a guy who wasn't healthy enough to compete, what does that say? The Falcons think about him. Exactly right. And you know, again, this is where I, you know me. I've taken a lot of crap about my stance with Tuah when he was the number one quarter, or the number one passing quarter back in football. I was still there going, it ain't good. You know, this is where, hey, I know people might look at me and they still go, oh, you got Zach Wilson wrong. The guy that everybody had number two, he made him number one.

46:16And the guy that I remember number one, he made him number two. Oh, that's crazy. But one of my jobs is to tell you and things where I evaluate through my experience to go, you know, yeah, the numbers look good, but I'm not sure I buy into it. I mean, you know, I was ahead of the curve with Blake Bordles, right? I told you, it's not realistic. That'll, that'll fall apart as soon as that team stops being over your line. Well, it's a line up Blake Bordles. He was not put on hurt to throw the football. And I was proven right. Different out that he was a lefty that threw the ball righty. So that was like, bam, okay, Chris was right about the biggest guy on the team and they said you be quarter back. Exactly. That's a good athlete. Yeah, exactly. And so, so yes. And I probably went overboard in some of my playing with that whole situation. Tuah, the same thing. You know, Jalen Hertz. Again, I know Jalen Hertz has had success at all that. I think in a lot of ways from what we've seen this off season and what's come out of Philadelphia. I wasn't far off and everything I've been saying about Jalen Hertz. With Tuah, this is a guy to me that, yeah, in some ways in football terms, how to shamrock

47:18up his ass really here through his football career. He got to play on Alabama by far the best team in college football within all star team around him, all a bunch of first round offensive linemen and first round wide receivers. And they were phenomenal. And we gave him the credit as we do in this sport too often to go, oh, they won the game, the quarterback, the quarterback, the quarterback. And then, and you know, my thought of that always was I go, we could have put 20 quarterbacks in college football in that Alabama team and they would have been everybody's good if not better. You know, oh, wow, he's perfectly protected and he threw a slant to Jalen Wattow and he ran 70 yards. I mean, come on. And that's what, so he was drafted way too high because of the team. This is how teams mess it up. We've gone through this before. We're drafting the team instead of looking the player. It's like, it's like opposite of my homes or Josh Allen where the team that people looked at him, well, the team wasn't very good. I know he can't be good. They didn't have a good record. Patrick Mahomes was four and seven in senior year.

48:19He's not very good. What? Turn on the film. He go, he made more crazy throws and awesome throws in one game than two of it did in the whole year college football. So he got that and then he gets to Miami and he doesn't have the sham rock up his butt for a little while. And then Mr. Shamrock, leprechaun, Mike McDaniel comes to town and goes, hey, I got a sham rock for you again. Let me show you this offense and I'll just do everything for you. And it kind of fools you with numbers and success and way things are. But then you, as we know, teams caught on to Mike McDaniel, McDaniel a little bit. I do think his game changed because of the concussion and he was unwilling to hold the ball in the pocket as much and it's all kind of been downhill from there. And that's, you know, a crazy story. And I think this is where now he doesn't have all these tricks and he's going to have to play quarterback a lot like the rest of the league is going to have to play quarterback. And Atlanta's going, wait, if the pocket's clean and he's got to throw a 20 yard out route, he can't really do it or he doesn't do it very well. Oh, if the pocket's clean and he's got to make a power throw in cut to 15, 20 yards down

49:24the field. It's just, and so yeah. I think that's why they're sitting there going, we might play Michael Pentax, even though he hasn't even been in the quarterback competition. He still might win the quarterback competition. All right. Let's have some fun. Yeah. Predict the Falcon starter week one at Pittsburgh. I feel like we're at this point. You know, it's all about it. Sounds like Michael Pentax health. I feel, I feel like they're going to go with Michael Pentax. I do. I feel like that's where we're going to go in this. You know, Pittsburgh is the place where to have played his last game and through a bunch of rainbow balls that stood in the air for 75 minutes and you're right. That was the end. That's what I'd be worried about. I'd be worried about a little windy day as we know it can get at that stadium and you go there even though it's, yeah, it's a warm and summer, but it's a little windy and now two has got to make throws in that wind. That's not going to be great for him as we know outdoors. Elements has always been a negative. So yeah, I get a feel that we're they're going to try.

50:24But Pentax is ready and they feel like he can physically just play. I feel like they're going to go with them. You know, yeah, what do you think? I love a good story. And we've got this nontraditional arrangement in Atlanta where Matt Ryan, who was working for CBS last year, experienced accomplished player with the NFL MVP in 2016. He's running the show on the football side. Great juxtaposition to the Raiders, not having the cajunas, as you would say, to put Fernando Mendoza out there. Wouldn't it be something if they shock everyone and go with Jack Strand and just say, I see something in this kid. Yeah. We asked the question in the past, how did he not end up at a bigger program in the age of NIL? How's the Minnesota State more ahead for all four years? He didn't want to go. Yeah. So I think it would take some major, major, major co-hunus from Matt Ryan to initiate that.

51:34But if they go back and look, who's the only guy that we talked about out of the preseason? Yeah. Strand was the most impressive guy. Now I know he's playing against backups. Yeah. But he still looked pretty good. He looked the part. Yeah. No, and you know, sometimes we give the guy a benefit against the backups. And then the other guys we go, well, we're not going to give you the benefit of against the backups. You know, like I just said, but two of it, we all look pretty good in that game. We're going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He looked good. All right. It was second and third stringers. He was playing with the starting team of the Atlanta Falcons. And then we get to like a second or third stringer. And he's playing against the second. And we go, well, it was against the second and third stringers. And I want to go, well, he was playing with second and third stringers himself. But Jack Strand, yes, you know, I thought he was really impressive. I don't think they'll do that. I don't, but Jack Strand's got a future. And I wouldn't be shocked if things went weird this year. And if Michael Penex does get hurt, that we see Jack Strand out there at some point. I just have a feeling Matt Ryan's thinking about it. I have a feeling you're thinking, oh, you're possibly going to meet one of the things. One of the things that I think you factor into that. And you have to have the mindset of the quarterback.

52:35Now it's not like he was brash, right? But he got the job done. He knew how to make the big decisions in the big spot. What would you regret more? Did you regret more not moving forward with a guy that you think may have it and then finding out later that you probably should have or would you regret rolling the dice on a guy and finding out he's not the guy? I mean, look, Ryan's going to be there for a while. It's not like he's on the hot sea. Yeah. He's the guy. He's the guy that Arthur Blank has basically said, come fix this for me. Hey, you want me to fix it? Here's my, here's my imprint. I'm going to believe in this guy and not just because I see something in him that tells me he could be great, but none of these other guys are any good. Yeah. Now, I'll do respect to Cooper Rush. He's had a good career as a backup and every time he's a free agent, I'm like, why don't more teams want him? Didn't go well last year in Baltimore. But I just look, we don't know what's really going on, but we do know this. They haven't named a starter and the guy that they hope can be ready to go isn't ready

53:39to go. If he's not ready to go, I won't be surprised. I won't, I mean, I'll be like, I can't believe they did it. I will be surprised, but I won't be like, where did that come from? I'll understand exactly where it came from. It's your scenario. I mean, one, I think he's got a, he's got a spot there regardless. I mean, even to the future. He's on the tent. That's a big four guys. I mean, I think he can be the backup next year, but yeah, at the year goes crazy here. And I think a lot is about the expectations of Atlanta. Where are the expectations of the owner and what do they think? I think one of the reasons that Raheem Morris was fired is because they felt like, hey, our team was better than that. We should have been in the playoffs. We messed some things up. And of course, that you can certainly question some of the old regime and some of the moves they made. The curve cousin and Phoenix that hovered over it. Totally right. Exactly. So all of that was an issue. Now if the team's in a spot to go, hey, yeah, we want to be competitive, but we're not expecting anything, then I, you know, if Michael Penex plays five, six weeks, doesn't play well, maybe as a setback with his knees, something like that. And they come to the realization that, hey, this is, we're a good team, but we're not

54:40going to the playoffs. That's really about next year and the year after. Then that's where I think like Jack Strand might be able to come into play there because they'll go, hey, we've lost. We know what we are. What's the point of putting two out there? And to your point, I'd like to know what we have in this kid because he was so impressive looking in the preseason. And maybe that's where he gets his chance. Two final points very quickly. Number one, we have no idea what the players are thinking. There's been no chatter about that. So they may love this guy and they've managed to keep it quiet. And the other point is this. Even though Atlanta is a major city, there isn't a very robust press call that he's digging, hoping and trying to find out who's, oh, hey, these guys really like Jack Strand. There isn't the same level of coverage that you would expect in a city that size. So that may be why we're not hearing about it if that's the case. All right, we mentioned Jalen Hertz a little bit ago. He got benched for two to a one-the-championship. Hertz has a Super Bowl ring on his hand. It's 2020-26, a critical year for Hertz.

55:41We'll address that next based upon some things that his boss and filly had to say. We'll be back with more PFT Live right after this. Welcome everyone to Fanta in 60, a brand new show with me, John Fanta, and my co-host, Jay Croucher. Join us as we bring the fan first energy to NBC Sports now. My new show is the place for understanding the week in sports. We'll talk big storylines. We'll hear you guys in the next video. Bye, Real Moments, and most importantly, we'll hear directly from you. The fans. It's going to be a great hand. I can't wait for you all to see it. Fanta in 60 airs, Mondays at 6 p.m. Eastern on NBC Sports now and NBC Sports Radio. See you there.