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SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid. Well, less than a month from now, we've got
00:07our first NFL preseason game. I was just sitting around yesterday as we were preparing for
00:13shows and just, you know, kind of looking at things. All-Star break is next week. And
00:18I was like, when is the NFL going to begin here? And I looked and I saw August 1st is
00:23the first preseason game. Now, naturally, I know it stinks, but it's great to have football
00:27back and it's coming so soon now. Training camps open in two weeks, college football
00:31less than a month, and the NFL a little bit over two months away, but preseason soon.
00:36Let's bring in Jacob Kameker from Sporting News. And Jacob, look, I really still do enjoy
00:42sports this time of year. It's a little bit different than most times of the year, just
00:47simply because once the NBA Finals are over and the NHL Stanley Cup is over, you know,
00:53there's just, there's not a lot, let's just be honest. So sometimes what happens is, is
00:58that the final OTAs for the NFL get a lot of attention because it's like our final preview
01:02before training camp starts. So we begin with the story of Dak Prescott, who had a walking
01:08boot on at Dallas Cowboys camp. And as you just heard in the previous segment, Dak says
01:14it's much ado about nothing. It seems like a very reasonable explanation as to why he
01:20has it on. Do you believe everything that he said? Do you think that this is just simply
01:25precautionary?
01:26I think it's fair to assume it's precautionary. At this point, we haven't heard anything about
01:31him needing any sort of extra surgery. He basically said that he worked out really hard
01:37a couple of days and that old ankle injury he had when he snapped his leg back up four
01:42years ago against the Giants, that just kind of acted up on him a little bit, but it doesn't
01:47seem like a big deal. It sounds like he's just doing it to be precautionary and just
01:52protect himself ahead of what's going to be an important season for him because he's due
01:56for a new contract. And I think this is just his way of saying, I've got to make sure I
02:00take care of myself this year. I got to make sure I'm not hurt at any point during the
02:05season or that could really affect my bottom line and my future. Obviously, a certain amount
02:09of it is out of his control. So I think this is him just going after what little control
02:14he can have over injuries and just being sure he's OK. Now, if I'm the Cowboys, though,
02:19I'm at least a little worried about this because that is the old injury. It was a bad one when
02:24he suffered that leg injury. I'd be putting an air cast. So I'm keeping a very, very close
02:30eye on him because I don't want to end up in a situation where he goes down because
02:35without Dak Prescott this year, the Cowboys, I mean, they've lost some talent on the offensive
02:40line. They lost Tony Pollard. Asking Cooper Rush to carry that offense to victory. I don't
02:46love that idea. So if I'm the Cowboys, I'm trying to protect Dak as much as possible.
02:50Yeah. You know, it's funny that you mentioned that. And I was thinking the same thing. And
02:54then I took a step back and I thought about it, Jacob. And my answer is probably this.
03:00Without Dak Prescott, the Cowboys are going to have a really hard time. But, Jacob, every
03:05team is going to have a really hard time without their starting quarterback. This is the day
03:09and age of the NFL. I think you could probably say that about 25 other teams in the NFL.
03:13There are no backup quarterbacks anymore that can succeed. It's very rare to have a situation
03:18like that. We saw that last year play out a little bit with the Cincinnati Bengals,
03:22although let's be honest, you know, they had some decent backup quarterback play. They're
03:26hoping that doesn't happen this year. Joe Burrow basically saying, hey, look, I got
03:30a I got a lot personally to prove this year. You know, certainly when he's healthy, he's
03:34one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. The Bengals definitely missed him. Goes without
03:38saying. His total on FanDuel this year for passing yards is 3975. I know it's still early
03:44in the game to make these sort of predictions, but it's at least good to hear verbally that
03:48the guy is motivated. I think that's fair. Yeah, I think that's a very good sign for
03:54the Bengals because he's been injured pretty much every year he's been in the league. And
03:59again, injuries aren't always the fault of the player, but it's been frustrating, I think,
04:03for Bengals fans to see him get injured during training camp and the preseason at times the
04:07past couple of years like he had his little calf strain and it didn't keep him out of
04:11action in the early stages of last season, but he clearly wasn't 100%. So I think just
04:17whatever he's probably doing whatever he has to do to get himself either conditions to
04:22avoid injuries. I know I've heard stories about Christian Watson on the Packers. I know
04:27he went to like a hamstring specialist. He's had hamstring issues to look at kind of what
04:32the issue was. So we've seen players being more proactive about injuries. I imagine that's
04:37what Burroughs doing as well. And I think if he stays healthy, I think he can easily
04:42pass for 4,000 yards in that offense. Just think about all the weapons they have with
04:46Jamar Chase and T Higgins and now they have the best receiving tight end Joe Burroughs
04:52probably ever had Mike Gusecki. I know he maybe not maybe isn't the most exciting name
04:57in the world, but he's going to be able to catch passes at tight end position something
05:01that Burroughs hasn't really had a lot of. So I think if he stays healthy, the Bengals
05:06are going to be a really threatening team in that AFC race. And even if he has to miss
05:11a few games, like you said, Jake Browning was decent last year. So they can get by with
05:17him. It's just a matter of, hey, how much time is Burroughs going to miss? And you hope
05:22it's less than three games. Yeah. And I think Burroughs being back in full represents their
05:27odds over on FanDuel where they're basically even with the Baltimore Ravens to win the
05:31division. The interesting note here, I think, Jacob, from my perspective, I'm not surprised
05:35where the Steelers are. I guess I'm surprised that Cleveland has fallen back a little bit
05:39plus 480 to win the division here. What am I missing there with Cleveland? I thought
05:43they had a nice year last year. I think it's just people aren't confident in Deshaun Watson
05:49and I get that. But if you take the Browns roster outside of quarterback, they don't
05:54really have much of a weakness and they might have one of the best rosters in the league.
05:58So I get not being confident in Watson or saying, oh, he hasn't been good since he's
06:03gone to the Browns. But they do have Jameis Winston in the background there. I know, again,
06:07guy who turns the ball over a lot may not be exciting, but I think they're going to
06:11be in the race. And I think the Ravens, who have lost a few starting offensive linemen
06:14from last year, might take a little step back. So I could see that being a three-team cement
06:19mixer up top there. And you can never rule the Steelers out of literally stealing games.
06:25That's what they do with their defense. So Mike Tomlin never has a losing record. So
06:29I think that division could be one where all the teams are late in the season fighting
06:33for winning records.
06:34Yeah, I think that's all fair. And honestly, a division where Baltimore we know is going
06:40to be there in the end, there's always one or two other teams that are fighting to make
06:43the playoffs. All right, Jacob, well, I know you're on vacation next week. So am I. So
06:47I hope you enjoy it and I'll see you in two weeks. And when we do, training camp will
06:52be open in the NFL. So I would imagine we'll be hitting a lot on the NFL and the baseball
06:56trade that line too, as well. Thanks for coming on.
06:58Yep. Thanks, Craig. Enjoy your time off.