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00:00but you know it's not news until he says it is he is tom withers one of the most respected
00:05if not
00:06the most respected sports journalist in northeast ohio whether he's retired emeritus or working hard
00:12and right now he is on the wise heart right we make it right call cow right hotline hello mr
00:17withers how are you tom hardly working how are you good i just want to make sure hey jump in
00:24jump in on this conversation with us because we haven't done it yet who is the browns mvp so far
00:28this season browns mvp so far this season interesting todd monken i actually kicked that
00:37around that's a really interesting one yeah i you know it's kind of hard um i mean obviously
00:43you know watson has played better than i think most of us expected so he would have to be on
00:50there i
00:50would have to put denzel boston in that conversation who's been sensational and i think is only going
00:55to get better um defensively nobody really stands out to me um you could make a you could make a
01:03uh
01:03pitch for andre schmidt who's been um more than clutch so um any amongst those group i don't know
01:09it's kind of early to name an mvp but i i get what you guys are doing having a lot
01:13of fun with it
01:13especially midweek midseason yeah that's what we do yeah gotcha the other thing that i like was just
01:20kicking around if let's just say they do win five more games down the stretch here right and end up
01:26making the playoffs i don't know how you couldn't look at deshaun as comeback player of the year
01:32oh no i think he would definitely be um i don't see any other you know candidate who's been through
01:38what he's been through over the last couple of years and i know people will have probably issues
01:43with that but the fact that the guy is you know would be coming back then from you know major
01:48shoulder surgery uh two ruptured achilles um and get them to the playoffs but i would pump the
01:53brakes on that much like i was telling people to pump the brakes on that kind of discussion a couple
01:58of weeks ago um you know as far as the playoffs are concerned as far as the comeback and as
02:04far as
02:04like the contract extension beyond this year it's such a long season and look how quickly it shifted
02:09last week right we didn't even know that he was um you know potentially in concussion protocol and
02:13ends up missing the game and then we end up going through you know days of um a renewed
02:19controversy if you will here even though i don't really think there was one but i just found the um
02:24you know the last couple of days were just uh kind of strange and suspicious and um it was just
02:31weird
02:31the way uh munkin handled everything following sanders start on sunday it makes me wonder tom if he
02:38just wanted to like mess with people like it kind of made it made me what like that was kind
02:43of what
02:43popped into my head was like it's almost like it it seemed like he was like hey you know what
02:47let's
02:48let's throw some chum in the water and watch how jaws reacts yeah i don't know you know i i
02:53don't
02:53disagree with that necessarily dan um you know especially because of and i happened to be out there
02:59yesterday um you know todd's tone yesterday was like you know why do i even have to tell people
03:04publicly who were starting a quarterback and it just seems like there's days where he's kind of
03:09you know had it with the media and i get it i i'd be as um gruff probably with the
03:15media as sometimes
03:16coaches and players can be because it it's a lot you know as much as i enjoy the access and
03:22i think
03:22it's important for um for us to hold you know people in account uh especially you know a professional
03:30franchise like this i get where he's coming from i don't know dan it was just i thought it was
03:35just a
03:35little bit strange in that what then comes out yesterday was you know he never intended to make
03:41the change well if that's the case why didn't you just say so and you can't tell me you didn't
03:45already
03:45have some conversations with your offensive staff on monday and then for deshaun and i asked him
03:52yesterday while we were um in the scrum in the locker room you know are you yet you knew you
03:57were
03:57going to play this weekend are you confident you're going to have the job for the rest of the
04:01year and he said well that's up to todd in the front office which then lends to kind of these
04:05theories that people have that it's not necessarily todd monking pulling the strings on the quarterback
04:10situation so i don't know it's just i think they made it more complicated than it needed to be
04:15um you know i i like i said before i've been impressed with the way watson has you know rebounded
04:22and
04:22kind of resurrected his career this year and um you know he's finally playing like the quarterback
04:26the browns were hoping they were getting four years ago um are they going in the right direction
04:30then if they go back to watson you mean at the end of the year no now like you know
04:36no i think it's
04:37absolutely the right call yeah no i think yeah i think you would um you know run the risk of
04:42maybe
04:42uh you know hurting your locker room from the standpoint that i think it's pretty clear when you
04:48watch those guys side by side whether it's in practice or if you want to break down you know game
04:54film
04:54and scrutinize that that watch procedurally the browns function much better now do they both have
05:01their flaws are they holding on to the ball too long for sure does shador maybe do a better job
05:06of pressing the ball down the field than watson does perhaps but you know i i think the underlying
05:11problem right now with that offense is that offensive line and their inability to protect
05:15whoever's back there but i do think andy from from the standpoint of where the team is right now the
05:21fact that deshaun has gone five and three in his first eight starts i think is it's clearly the
05:26right way to go at the moment were you surprised they did not make a move at the trade deadline
05:31no not really um you know i sure i think they probably would have like defined maybe a little
05:36bit of offensive line depth but you can probably do that organically during the course of the season
05:42just with you know picking people off of practice squads or or whatever the case may be or there may
05:47be a
05:48free agent still lingering out there i think you know as monk and talked about yesterday you know
05:53they believe in these starters they have right now they just got to coach them up a little bit better
05:56i just you know there's been some uh you know assignments that have been missed um it seems like
06:02there's stuff that can be cleaned up and they can fix this offensive line i mean they went out
06:06that was their priority in the offseason wasn't it that's why they you know made a couple of the
06:11deals they did and and signed the free agents they did to upgrade this offensive line which i think
06:16we all knew was going to be an issue you can't replace that thing from stem to stern and not
06:22expect there to be some problems uh especially you know you know following joel batonio's retirement
06:27etc etc so um yeah you know they're they're about where i thought they would be to be honest with
06:33you
06:33guys i didn't necessarily expect the browns to be five and three at this point i thought they would
06:38hover around 500 for most of the year and i still think that's probably the kind of team they're
06:42going to end up being in the end tom withers joining us on the wise heart right we make a
06:47right call kyle wright hotline associated press emeritus you can read him all over the place
06:51as well now tom what is it going to take to get this run game up and moving is it
06:58a quinchon
06:58judkins problem is it an offensive line problem do they need to i'm so perplexed yeah yes and yes
07:05to both of those i do think that um you know i think quinchon has shown moments right he's had
07:10he's
07:10had flashes of being the quinchon that we saw last year and the one that we saw at ohio state
07:15i think
07:15he also you know i'm not going to say that he's got a vision problem necessary but i think there
07:21are moments where you know he could instead of making the jump cut and trying to do more just
07:26you know take what the team has given you i thought a good example for me just in reaffirming
07:31that belief was like watching the bills on on monday night and just the way they and i listen james
07:37cook is a different kind of cat but just the way they stuck with the ground game right just the
07:42way that they you know the offense was not moving but they were just insistent upon just you know
07:47jamming it up there and trying to get those three and a half four yards at a pop and i
07:51think maybe
07:52sometimes the browns get a little bit cute i think there's times too where you know todd's trying to
07:57still figure out his personnel and what exactly he does have so i i think there you know again i
08:04think
08:04there are some coaching things that can clean up some of the problems in that offensive line i think
08:09your quarterback play can help your running game obviously um i did like the fact that they were
08:15they had some design runs for deshaun earlier this year and i think maybe you'll see more of that now
08:20that he's back so i i think it can be fixed dan i don't think it's the end of the
08:23world but
08:24but you're right and it's necessary for them if they have you know goals of getting to the playoffs
08:28this year they got to get that run game cleaned up quickly kind of a quirky schedule this year
08:33you're home this week you're off and then you're home for three after that so three straight yeah
08:37four out of five you're at home um what do you think of that and how advantageous could it be
08:44especially because you get the bengals at home first before you got to go on the road to see
08:48them at the end of the year yeah which is why i think this is a real pivotal week in
08:52the season
08:53for the browns i feel the same way for the texans to be honest with you and i think people
08:57may be
08:58underselling them to a point if you look at their record yeah they're three and five but they've had some
09:02really tough losses and they're starting to get it together and that defense is more than a handful
09:09with you know led by will anderson jr and and cj stroud is you know he's shaken off whatever was
09:15going on with him last year and really playing at a high level as well so yeah i think this
09:19is a
09:20a very interesting juncture excuse me andy in the schedule um and it has been quirky and the browns
09:26aren't the only team that's had these kind of quirks you know where you play you know three or four
09:29in a
09:29row on the road and then three or four in a row at home so yeah and then coming back
09:33out you know
09:34you're going to have you know mendoza here with the raiders like you said you get the bengals at
09:39home you get the falcons at home another team you should be able to handle because then it gets a
09:43little bit tough i mean you got to go to the giants and to the ravens two teams that you
09:48know
09:48if lamar is back at that point they're a very different team the giants are playing exceptionally well
09:52and you know you're going to be at cincinnati to end the year so if this team does have those
09:56playoff aspirations that we talked about this is really huge here for them to to get this done at
10:01home and as we've seen this year they've been a different team at home they're one of just a
10:04handful of teams that's undefeated so far in 2026 at home tom withers joining us on the wise
10:10heart rate we make it right call kyle right hotline it's a big boy cavalier win last night
10:15what stood out to you watching it uh madison square harden if you will get the t-shirts get the
10:23t-shirts
10:24tom withers gets 10 he finally played the way that everybody is hoping he would play right i mean
10:30we talked about deshaun and looking like he was supposed to like four years ago well james harden
10:34played like the james harden of old last night and when he plays like that they're a very different
10:39team now it still gets to be a little bit ball dominant at times or what have you but i
10:43like what
10:43they got out of the bench as well and um let me just say this i know there's been some
10:47some chatter
10:48about kenny atkinson and his job security i think that's absolutely nonsensical um you're so
10:54early in a season you've got a coach who has led this team to the eastern conference finals just a
11:00year ago i know we've seen in the past that there's been you know some some knee-jerk reaction by
11:05the
11:06owner what have you that was a very different circumstance when david blatt was fired entirely
11:10different circumstance you know the the players didn't respect him um lebron james was here oh by the
11:17way and i think it's a very different situation with kenny he's still trying to figure out exactly what
11:22he's got i mean let's not forget that this front office has put james harden on his plate and they've
11:26had to kind of figure out a way to have two ball dominant guards on the floor at the same
11:31time and
11:32you know last night we saw the way that this team can play you know i'd still like to see
11:36a little
11:36bit more out of evan mobley but i've kind of resigned myself to that may be who he is but
11:41um you know
11:42they got some good production uh it was a good it was a night too where you know the the
11:47nick shots
11:47weren't necessarily falling you know brunson missed some shots that he would typically make so
11:52yeah it was great especially you know given what happened on opening night and um uh you know the
11:57fact that they were on a little bit of a skid here uh and the charlotte game was just a
12:01head
12:01scratcher i don't know what was going on that game and i like the fact that that kenny said his
12:05starters
12:05in the fourth quarter of that game send a little bit of a message when you can these guys are
12:09pros they
12:09they have they have some pride and they want to play and so you know i i do like what
12:14they did and
12:14you're right dan that was a big boy one last night um i i still like okay i do think
12:20there is some heat
12:21on him don't you i mean there's it's got to be a little i think it's all external i don't
12:24think
12:25there's i don't think any anybody within that organization is putting any heat on kenny atkinson
12:30i think they believe in him um you know it listen i you know i i felt that jb bickerstaff
12:36was a good
12:36coach and i still think he is i do too how's how's he doing now mike brown was fired twice
12:41by this
12:42organization how's he doing now so i think exuding a little bit of patience would be
12:46would benefit this team in this situation i think kenny is a good coach i think he's got his players
12:52attention i i know his staff adores him and so um i don't know andy i don't think there is
12:58any heat
12:59on him right now i think the heat is coming from you know sports talk and uh social media and
13:05that's
13:05about it still second best odds again and charles barkley charles barkley yeah i i i just think last
13:13night was what the doctor ordered especially the way they played and for what they were able to do
13:19and get you know like evan mobley moving across the paint and you know making big threes late like
13:25i hope that they can take last night and kind of you know spin off that and move forward right
13:30i mean that's what we're all up for exactly any but as you know the nba is very strange and
13:37i think
13:37the eastern conference is going to be yes all over the place this year right and i and i do
13:41think
13:42i mean the calves are clearly a playoff team i'm not so sure that they're any better than
13:46the fourth or fifth best team in the east i'll be quite honest with you you know regardless of going
13:50to the finals last year you know boston is clearly on you know with with paul george and by the
13:56way
13:56i think that guy was born to be a boston celtic just because of the way he's always played
14:00throughout his career and he's at a point where he just wants to win now and he just wants to
14:05serve
14:05jason tatum so i think that makes them very dangerous and i think missoula is one of the
14:10best coaches in the league we all see what philadelphia's got right now if they can keep
14:14him beat healthy and if lebron can you know fight off father time one more time you know they're
14:20going to be right in and at the end no question about it and i think there's some other
14:23interesting teams in the east so and then you know forget about out west but yeah you know i
14:29think the calves are in a good spot andy and i think you're right i think last night was what
14:33the doctor ordered and gives them a little bit of breathing room here over the next couple weeks
14:37just to kind of again continue to build off what they were able to accomplish last night tom as
14:42always we appreciate your time and it's not news until tom withers says so so thank you my friend
14:46thank you you're the man thank you you got it guys have a good day we will talk to you
14:50soon tom
14:50withers uh associated press emeritus is what we say so uh nice enough to join us on the
14:55elbow patches and a pipe nice enough to join us on the wise art right we make it right call
15:00kyle right hotline we'll talk a little bit about what he is at plus headlines straight ahead right
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