KRIS JENKINS JOINS PHIL SIMMS AND CRIS COLLINSWORTH TO TALK ABOUT THE ISSUES OF THE DAY; AND ARIZONA CARDINALS HEAD COACH KEN WHISENHUNT INTERVIEW VIA SATELLITE
NEW YORK (September 26, 2012) Phil Simms and Cris Collinsworth are joined by former New York Jets lineman Kris Jenkins to discuss the issues of the day on this week’s INSIDE THE NFL. The episode premieres tonight, Sept. 26, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME.
In addition, Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt joins the program via satellite to discuss his team’s 3-0 start to the season.
James Brown anchors INSIDE THE NFL on SHOWTIME along with All-Pro NFL greats Collinsworth and Simms serving as expert analysts. INSIDE THE NFL, now in its 34th season, airs every Wednesday night through the NFL season on SHOWTIME, with multiple replays each week on SHOWTIME and SHOWTIME EXTREME® and availability on SHOWTIME On Demand.
INSIDE THE NFL is produced by CBS Sports and NFL Films. The executive producers are Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports and NFL Films. Pete Radovich Jr., the Emmy Award-winning Creative Director for CBS Sports, serves as coordinating producer.
Following are excerpts from this week’s episode:
On referees returning to work…
MIKE LOMBARDI: I think there is optimism within the league office today. In talking to sources within both sides of the camp there seems to be optimism that a deal can be reached. The good news is the league, two weeks ago, said it would have to be a deal done before Tuesday to get them on field on Sunday. Now that position has softened where they feel like if they can get a deal done by sometime today, and we are taping this show Wednesday afternoon, maybe tonight, they feel like maybe they can get the officials back on the field perhaps for the Thursday night game and easily for the Sunday game.
COLLINSWORTH: What we saw from going to practice with the Baltimore Ravens is they practiced getting fouled. And the mindset of the players became, ‘Here are the NFL rules but here is what we are playing by,’ right? The mindset was so much more aggressive, pushing the envelope, there were several helmet-to-helmet hits in the game and I do think that it got more dangerous than what it had been before that.
COLLINSWORTH: The game was more physical, nobody can tell me these games haven’t been more physical. It’s like going back to the ‘60s or the ’70s kind of football and you’ve got the Kardashian’s refereeing. It’s like some reality TV show going on out there.
On whether the Saints can recover from the loss of head coach Sean Payton this season…
JENKINS: I think the only way that they recover from that is if Drew Brees turns into Peyton Manning as far as being a coach on the field. If they can’t do that then it is trouble.
On the Saints’ game this weekend against the Green Bay Packers…
COLLINSWORTH: Well they certainly will be underdog for this game but we’ve seen it too many times… Drew Brees is capable of putting 50 (points) on the board every single time he goes out there. Are they there offensively yet? No, they are not. But I’m telling you, this team is capable of scoring points in a way that not many teams are because of the player, Drew Brees.
On the struggles without head coach Sean Payton…
SIMMS: We all played the game…football, it’s just not natural. It really isn’t. You go to practice and you need somebody to push you. You need somebody to push you physically and mentally. And unless somebody is there pushing you, it is not natural to go out there and do it by yourself…You need that head man, Sean Payton, pushing those players both ways. That’s not happening down in New Orleans right now.
Coach Whisenhunt on his team’s start to the season…
WHISENHUNT: We didn’t have a lot of change in the offseason and it’s not hard to forget 1-6 and what we went through as a team in that period and how difficult that was. So when you think of drawing on things, that’s a very painful memory but it is something you can draw from and understand. This is where we were with essentially the same team. We’ve gotten out of it because of our focus, our attention to detail, and our physical play and that’s what’s got to continue.
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