Will Burchfield with the latest on the Lions before week 1.

0:00the right. Carsten Anderson every Friday during the national football league season, we will get the very latest on the lines and this week New Orleans is on tap and the Birch kid is out in Allen Park who writes for our website, of course, also on Fox two does a great job covering this football team and many of our teams here in Detroit. Birchie, what's up? What's going on? I love them to week one. It's exciting. We're fired up so far. Okay, so Dan Campbell spoke today, what's the most interesting thing he said? Well, look, I think fans should be encouraged that Derek Moore, it sounds like it's going to be out there on Sunday. Obviously, he had that hamstring injury late in training camp and he's been limited in practice this week, at least via the practice report, but it sounds like he's put in pretty two good days of work and they expect him to go on Sunday. Christian is in, who's in the similar boat, is maybe a little closer to 50-50 and then know worthy that Campbell for now expects Christian Mahogany to get the starting nod on Sunday. Doesn't mean he'll get all 60-65 snaps. I think he still committed to a rotation with Ben Barge, but at least out of the gate,

1:02you'll see Mahogany. Although I should note, he dropped a warm up 40-yard bomb from Penae's stool today. So that might have knocked him down in Dubai left guard, too, on Sunday afternoon behind Ben Barge, who caught his pass from Jared Goff. Wow. Who threw the better pass, Penae or Goff? I'll tell you what, man. Penae's still can spin that thing and the football looks like a golf ball in his hands. That boy has missed. So if Izzy and Kent go, does that mean we see Rookie Keith Abney? Yeah, I think we'll see Rookie Keith Abney regardless. They could probably rotate that spot as well. You'll probably see some Roger McCreary. Obviously, it's going to be rock and DJ Reed on the outside, but there's still a three-horse race there to determine the number one nickel. But I think that right now, if Izzy and Kent go, Abney should get most of those reps. They're pretty high on him. I think he's come a really long way. Physically, they always loved his mental makeup. He made some plays, especially against St. Brown in the slot for the end of camp.

2:03Some pretty impressive pass breakups or tackles in the red zone near the end zone that definitely caught my eye, certainly caught the coaching staff's eye. He feels like he's ready to step in here. You know, it makes him contributions to the defense as a rookie. What about Jimmy Rolder status? Yeah, so he's an interesting one because he's had a full week of practice, but he also hasn't played meaningful snaps since his early camp injury. And, like, they are going to have to leave a handful of players inactive on Sunday to get the roster down to 46. And it would seem to me that Rolder might make sense that someone who doesn't have a lot of recent experience under his belt, but if he's not out there on Sunday, I fully expect to see him in week two. Yeah, sticking with the defense. I mean, it's kind of like, I'll believe it when I see it, but I do like the theory that Hutchinson will play less snaps to keep him fresher. And I think we saw last year towards the end of the season that there's reason for that.

3:04But again, I'll believe when I see it. But with him on the outside and the Lemick Neal back to 100% on the inside, how do you see this rotation on the interior playing out for the success of this defense? Yeah, I think that's sort of the X factor in the front seven, anyways, is what kind of penetration and havoc they can create on the interior. I think we know that we're going to get an all-pro season likely out of Hutch. And I think Wannum and Moore look like pretty capable, compliments to him. But I'll leave Lemick Neal and Tyler Williams in some way start to hold the keys to the defensive of the front seven ceiling this year. And Aleem has looked like himself throughout training camp. He said he feels much more like himself, unlike last season. Calvin Shefford yesterday was almost emotional talking about him and how excited he is to see him play on Sunday. Healthy again for the first time. Hopefully dominant again for the first time because while Aleem was out there last year, there were times that Sheff said he couldn't even put his foot in the ground and plan. And that's why he looked more like just a body out there than a difference maker.

4:07So I think we're going to see Aleem McNeal this year get back to that pro-Bull caliber player who earned that $97 million extension in 2024. And then they're going to see a lot of Tyler Williams at the nose, which is really not what he played last year. Not a whole lot of what he played at Ohio State. But like DJ Readers gone where Lopez is gone and they log basically every A gap snap last year. So this defensive line is lighter. It's also quicker and it has some more juice and they're going to use some more movement, some more stunts up front. And I think Tyler Lee and Aleem will play a big bar in increasing the interior pressure this year. So three guys that the fans saw and really enjoyed in the preseason, Eric O'Neal, Skyler Gil Howard and Ahmed Hossini are any of them going to be in uniform this weekend or do you think they'll all be healthy scratches? I think Hossini will be healthy scratched. I'm confident we'll see Gil Howard on Sunday. I think he is a very natural defensive tackle to sort of behind Aleem, maybe even behind

5:08Tyler Lee. So he's definitely going to get some snaps on past rushing downs. In fact, I thought it was really refreshing guys to hear Brad Holmes talk about him and describe him as a DPR, you know, a designated past rusher. It feels to me like that's the term that Brad Holmes, Stan Campbell, Kelvin Shepard would have recoiled in years past because they wanted the three down well-rounded defensive lineman. And you know, he acknowledged for the first time there is some value in a player who might be strictly a past rusher. They still believe that Gil Howard can play against the run. All believes that when I see it, you know, I think we'll see him mostly on third downs, but he's definitely showed in the preseason. He can be a real disruptor in there. So that's part of the shift that I'm talking about from less mass up front and more twitch more quickness. And so I do think we'll see him on Sunday. And then O'Neill, yeah, I think he'll go to the game too. Like he climbed his way up the ladder and camp and the Lions kept him around for a reason. Switched to the offensive side and specifically the interior of the offensive line.

6:10Obviously, we have a new face at center. It was supposed to be for the season. Kate Maze, obviously, he heard his wrist and now is out. Now you got scrugs. And then on the left side at the guard position, there's still a battle there. So it sounds like Dan Campbell's leans that he's going to start with Mahogany, but that barge could get some reps in there. I said earlier, I think that's a good thing because if Mahogany is as good as he was last year and been poised to take a step forward, if he's in competition, then that means barge is even better. How do you see it? Yeah, I think they like barge a lot. You know, the plan clearly was to have barge come in here and compete for that job and push Mahogany to be better and the injuries limited him and look, that's been the story of his career. But you know, he was the starting left guard for the 49ers, entering last season in a complex offense with a pretty diverse dynamic Russian scheme. He's been a starter before for the Jaguars. When healthy, he has played important roles on good teams and good offenses. So they do see, no, I think maybe a ceiling that barge offers that maybe Mahogany doesn't.

7:15So we'll see how that plays out. I agree. It's refreshing to know that if Mahogany gets hurt or can't go or vice versa, just the depth is much more solid than it was a year ago. I was having this conversation with someone yesterday who asked me, hey, you know, when you think the lines fell out of love with Christian Mahogany and decided to bring in barge and I said, I don't think they fell out of love with Mahogany. I think they were just, frankly, by the end of the year rather disgusted by what they saw from the players behind him last year. And they resolved to make sure that if they went to someone else this year, that the level of play would be steadier and more consistent. Perch, I'm going to ask you a question that's probably impossible to answer, but I get asked it all the time, is there any indication that Kirby Joseph will be back on the field this year? I'm glad you asked that, Karz, because I'm coming closer and closer to the conclusion. And I say this carefully, I really do. And I say with all due respect to Kirby Joseph, that we won't see him on the field this year. And I think it'll take a minor miracle for him to play because he has been doing nothing

8:19but resting and rehabilitating his knee for almost a full year. And if it isn't ready now and surgery isn't a recourse, which we know it isn't, when will it be ready? And there's a couple of reasons that I'm just wary of this entire situation. Well, I'm when he tried to come back last year after several weeks, maybe a month and a half of rest and rehab, came out to practice with an extremely bulky knee brace and lasted all of one practice. The next day, the knee flared up to the point that he wasn't able to go again, the rest of the season. And I honestly fear the same thing happening again this year. And I think they do too. I think part of the reason they're waiting so long to push the knee and get the answer one way or another is that maybe they just want to preserve him for late in the season and hope that they can debut him in November and having for games in December and into the playoffs. I think they probably know that that knee is not going to hold up for 16 games. I just wonder at this point, what more could he possibly gain from rest and rehabilitation?

9:21And if the answer is nothing and they haven't pushed the knee yet to see how it responds, I think they know that it probably won't respond well and they're probably waiting for as long as possible, perhaps with bigger games looming late in the year to push that thing and try and have him on the field for games that matter. But even that to me is beginning to feel like an increasing improbability. The Saints are Sunday against the Lions at Ford Field. What do you see that the Saints can present offensively and defensively to might get the Lions some fits? Yeah, but this is going to be a good first step for the offensive line, which is the unit that all of us have had our eyes peeled on since the first day of training. It really since the first day of spring workouts. Cams Vernon is not going to play, which might make the task a little bit easier, but they do have some pretty good past restriors. Chase Young coming off his best season in the NFL, Granderson can get after them a little bit. And so look, this is going to be a chance for Blake Miller to face live fire over 60 or

10:2165 snaps for the first time. It's going to be the first time we see juice grugs again face live fire for 60 snaps and working concert with Jared golf. And I think that if there's any path for the Saints to pull an upset on Sunday, it involves just disrupting the offensive line and putting the Lions offense on their heels. So this is a pretty good first barometer for where that unit stands. And then on the other side of the ball, this was a pretty good Saints offense over the final five games of last season. The overall numbers weren't great, but it did feel like they unlocked the two things with Tyler Schock, which is the most improbable pronunciation of the word shock of all time. That's the OU G8. But hey, boys, you can guarantee you will hear a shock rhyme in the Lions game day live poem on on Sunday morning. God. And I was blind by that. Careful with that. I'll abide, I'll abide. And they drafted some receivers, one of whom in the first round, Jordan Tyson won't go on Sunday.

11:22But I do think with the Lions secondary, obviously a bit compromised, they have some abilities to make some plays and then Schock can use his legs to make plays. So Lions are favored big here for a reason. This is the third biggest spread of week one in the NFL. Only the, I think, jagged over the browns and someone over, I think the dolphins are favorite by more. So the Lions should roll. But if they don't, to me, it'll be because the offensive line just can't find its footing in week one against the decent defensive front. Did you woo your wife with the poem? You know what's crazy? I actually did. I really did. You know what? After I took her to, I took her to a Bob Seeker concert at Pine knob, one of her first times out here. And afterwards I had, I had a little poem written down and I read it to her and she was, I think I like to believe she was blown away. I actually read a version of that to her during our vows at our wedding. So yes, Gator, I did. Of course. So what time you on TV and what time can people expect the poem? Well, yeah, you can catch us from 10 to 11 lines game day live.

12:25We'll be dropping that rhyme in the first segment. So for that, I've got the now and to see what I have to be awake that early. Always a pleasure. Bertie, great to have you on again. We'll do it again next week. All right, guys. Thanks a lot, talk soon. There he is. A reporter on the ground at Alan Park, William Birchfield, a K, a, birchie kid. Let's talk some college football next, Michigan, Michigan state back on the gridiron tomorrow. We got to, are you going to eat that coming up in the one o'clock hour or picks coming up at 138, 97 one.