GBag Nation
Dallas Cowboys LB Eric Kendricks joins the Nation: Talks NFL Parity; Facing the Steelers in Pittsburgh; Thoughts on RB Dalvin Cook
This podcast is brought to you by Men's Tea Clinic. Men's Tea Clinic is the team I trust with my total wellness optimization, and so should you. Five DFW locations with North Frisco, Eldorado Parkway at Dallas, North Tolway, now open. Call 972-go-men's tea or visit mensteclinic.com. - The seasons may be changing, but the deals at the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKia. And I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings events, where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. Shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. Plus, with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Log on and shop online at the sharpestrides.com, right from the palm of your hands. Or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides, located 2250 South Sea Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out, head on over to the sharpestrides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell 'em that your girl, Tasha McKia sent you, the sharpest ride, affordable, sexy, sharp. - It's been a long year. - After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon AT&T at T-Mobile.com/KeepAndSwitch. - Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card, a left 15 days qualifying unlocked device, credit, service, ported, 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. - All righty, it is time now for the Eric Kendrick Show here on your home of the Cowboys 105.3, the fan, and a good afternoon, sir. How the heck are you doing here? - What's up? - Well, you know, we're getting excited. It's been a bit of a layoff. Everybody get rested up here with the extra couple days. - Yeah. It was kind of weird watching football on Sunday a little bit. Obviously, you get our bodies a little bit of more of a break. That short week is always, you know, you try to get yourself mentally ready, but when it's all said and done, it's a pretty physical type of situation. - Now, speaking of watching football, we are seeing like a historic level of upsets. You never know what's gonna happen any week in the NFL, do you? - Yeah, I mean, that's like, I don't really count on those upsets, really. You know, it's just kind of like, you know, any given Sunday. I know that, I know that, you know, everybody has favorites and, you know, some teams may seem better on paper, but, you know, we all, we all are grown men playing the sport. We all went to college. We all went to the best at our position. A lot of schematics come into play, coaching, weather, you know, all types of factors, where sometimes you knock the ball out on the ground and, you know, sometimes it takes good balance, sometimes it takes a bad balance, so it's crazy. - Yeah, there's so much variance in there, and you're right there. I mean, the team, there's so much parity. They're so evenly matched that, you know, so many things can sway the game one way or the other. Now for you guys going in to face the Steelers, how do you like the idea of going to Pittsburgh? You have much history there? - Yeah, you know, I've played there once, but I'm excited to play a night game there. You know, I think that, you know, when you think of Pittsburgh, you think of like, you know, just classic football, hard-nosed. So I'm excited, you know, I feel like the towels, you know, you know, everybody knows what's up, but yeah. - Yeah, good passion. - Yeah, it's cool. - It is a terrible towels, dude. I'm gonna be in a sea of those. I'm traveling to the game with a couple buddies going as a fan. - Yeah, let's try to stay, you know, I heard that you're going on, let's try to stay out of the, you know, the jails they have there, the makeshift jails. I'll try to pick any fights with anybody, you know, just be, just be a fly on the wall, you know, just be cool. - I'm gonna be on my best behavior, Eric, I promise you. All right, don't worry. - These were at a 50 Jersey, Eric, just to let you know. - Let's go. - They got you, bro. - Yeah, you have no problems with that, you know? - No, they're gonna be too damn scared to mess with me when they see that Henrik's on the back, but I guess it's like, hey, low-hanging fruit, it's just the generic media question, but it is a very banged up defense. I mean, you don't have Micah, you don't have Demarcus Lawrence. So for you, I mean, what are some of the things, the changes, what can you share with us about the challenges for your defense right now and who needs to step up? - Yeah, I mean, it's obviously who needs to step up, but you know, I feel like we all kind of have to, you know, just going into week five, you know? It's like, we know how we've been attacked thus far. You know, we know where our communication level needs to be. We know what checks we need to have. We know how to make adjustments during the game, you know what I mean? So like, just from a whole defense standpoint, we have higher expectations of ourselves from the first games. So like, you know, now we're missing these, a couple of few pieces, but it's like, you know, now other people have an opportunity to rise and rise to the occasion, especially on Sunday night. So this is one of my favorite kind of things about football. You know, it's like, you see what people are made of. - Now, Wolf Chuck's favorite thing about football is the Cowboys. He is a Cowboys super fan. And he's willing to at least get in a strong argument to support them, right? But Eric is there, do you have a team? Is it a basketball team or a college team like UCLA? What gets your fan, your inner fan like excited? - I'm actually one of those weird people who don't really have a team. You know, I grew up in Fresno, California. My friends were, all my friends growing up were Raiders fans, Niners fans, Charger fans, you know, you know, all across the board. It has a bunch of Rams fans, you know, and then for the basketball, it was like, you know, I don't even know Lakers, you know, no one was really a Clippers fan. People came Warriors fans late on the game, but I feel like it was just all over the place. You know, my family never really had a favorite team. Me and my brother are very similar in that aspect, but I definitely had favorite players, you know, I feel like I was a big running back fan, especially, you know, growing up. My dad played running back. I played running back, you know, elementary and things like that. So it was like, I really like watching running backs as they played on Sundays. - Well, then for basketball, I mean, you were like eight and nine years old when Kobe and Shaq started dominating. That must have been, you know, pretty fun for you to, were you a Laker guy at all or Kobe Shaq guy? - You know, I would like to claim that I was, but you know, like I said, I had a bunch of family and friends who were Laker fans, so I was watching the games and everything. And obviously, you know, I was in tune with like Sports Center and stuff like that, but it wasn't like I had the jerseys. It wasn't like I had the, you know, the constant updates and this, I didn't have the stress, honestly. I didn't have the stress of like-- - Sounds kind of nice, actually. (laughing) - You know, it is crazy 'cause when I graduated from UCLA, I was really invested into UCLA. And you know, I mean, I'm still invested somewhat, but I would, you know, be glued to the TV. And it was just so, I've never had a favorite team like that. So I wasn't used to, you know, my stress level of just raising and lowering as I'm watching a, you know, a sports game on TV. So, you know, I feel for people a little bit. (laughing) - Hey, Eric, yeah, you say you were watching football this last weekend, I'm gonna check you. You probably weren't. You were watching something on the Food channel. What did you watch on the Food channel? And then what did you prepare? I know there was something you were just dying you in the midst of were dying to do, and you had to do it this weekend once you get done on the food side. - Actually, so I wasn't watching Food Network, but I was watching a lot of cars, like, you know, the movie Cars. You know, I've been watching those-- - The Cars. - Yeah. - You know, Pixar? - Yeah. - They have three, they have three movies, you know, it's-- - Yeah, something in the queen. - I actually held off on watching the movie until, you know, this phase of my life, just for this reason. So I can just enjoy them that much more with my son. - Oh, cool. - But yeah, we, where did we go? We went a couple places for restaurants. We had a little date night and-- - There you go. - Yeah, around town. We cooked a little bit. We just had some good, some good in me and her time. - There you go. - Relaxed a little bit. A lot of body working between there, you know, but it's still work time, but it was much needed. - Have you ever taken on Justin Fields before? - I have. I played, you know, I was in the division with him, so, you know, very familiar with Justin Fields and his abilities. Yeah, what do you know what I know about him? - Well, I just, I'm everything, the whole book. Like, just how different it is. He's a running quarterback, but the size factor, I mean, he's kind of, he's as big as a linebacker. - Yeah, no, he's, he's, he's-- And the thing is like, when he's running out of the pocket, he's really running to look downfield. You know, I mean, I know that we know, we know of him as, you know, being a-- - The seasons may be changing, but the deals and the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKeea. And I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings events, where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. Shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. Plus, with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Log on and shop online at thesharpestrides.com right from the palm of your hands. Or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides, located 2250 South Sea Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out, head on over to thesharpestrides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell them that your girl, Tasha McKeea sent you, the sharpest ride, affordable, sexy, sharp. Doors take us to summers away. Or winter adventures. And afternoon getaways. Your dedicated fidelity advisor can help you open those doors by working with you on a comprehensive plan to help you reach your wealth's full potential. Because doors were meant to be opened. Visit fidelity.com/wealth. Investment minimums apply fidelity brokerage services, LLC member NYSE SIPC. ♪ You spent a over here ♪ Now at T-Mobile, get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible trade-ins. All on America's largest 5G network. Minimum of four lines for $25 per line through a month without a paid discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without a pay plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge. Phones will be a 24-monthly bill credits for well-qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement too. Bill credits end if you pay off devices early. CTmobile.com. - I run in quarterback, which he's a great athlete, but every time he escapes the pocket, those are usually when his deep balls come out the back field. 'Cause he's looking downfield and he's really good at throwing the ball long distances. And I think that we know him for these big fat runs and obviously he has crazy highlights, but yeah, every time I played him when I was in Minnesota, it was kind of like, you never know what to expect with him because it's big plays everywhere. - The arkendrick show here with you on the fan. Okay, speaking of Minnesota, one of the topics for us and the fans and maybe it's uncomfortable to talk about a teammate like this, but a lot of folks wanna see Dalvin Cook get a shot there. What do you think of him in practice so far? Is he ready to go? - Dalvin Cook, just speaking of him in this other days, Dalvin Cook is just, he was one of our best players, one of our leaders. I've seen him countless times, put the team on his back and play through injuries. Just a hard worker, doesn't really say much. Humble guy, when he speaks, he commands people's attention. But yeah, you know, Dalvin's been a great teammate. He's been here for a couple of weeks now, getting in good shape and practicing hard, working hard with us. - Hey, Eric, I was gonna, you guys did a really nice job, the run defense the other night against the Giants. I mean, well played on your guys' part. - When, is it really more about the fits? When you have to deal with say some of that, the RPO stuff or the read option stuff, is it about fits? Is there some secret to playing against that style of offense that you have to have? You absolutely have to do this on defense in order to play against a team like that. - Yeah, I think it's a little bit of everything. You know, I think obviously your fits need to be on point, but with the, with the, with the RPO, with the read option, you know, their whole, their whole goal is that they, they have an extra guy than you do. So it's like, not all the fits are gonna be perfect. So it requires you to, yes, this is my fit. Yeah, this is what I'm supposed to do, but at the end of the day, like, how is the offense gonna try to attack me? How am I, as a defender, gonna do my job and then get off a block and then make the play that, you know, is not necessarily supposed to be made, but needs to be made. And I think that, you know, the first, you know, the first few weeks, you know, it was like, we were getting different looks at it and then trying to hone in on our, our technique. And, you know, we're gonna get faced with a lot of that this week as well. Yeah. But, you know, I think that, you know, obviously the more reps we get, the more live reps in games, the more we know how people are gonna attack us, you know, we can, you know, change things up, do things differently. Maybe do things, you know, as a, as an individual, as a player that, you know, like a, you can't, you can't really coach that you can't coach, you know? Sure. Like instincts wise that we, we have to take over, you know, it's like, we're the ones that in the white lines, we gotta play. How was it being at practice? And all of a sudden you look over and there's a helicopter landing next time. (laughing) I've never, you know, it was crazy to me. Crazy. Yeah, I mean, I saw it from the distance and I was like, yeah, I wonder if that's gonna, you know, get any closer. (laughing) I wonder if it's gonna land on the field. I wonder if it's gonna, oh man, I wonder if it's gonna hit, you know. I wonder if I need to run. Does everybody just stop at that point and just start watching? And it's like, hey guys, we're gonna like, 30 second break here. We're gonna wait for this. Yeah, I feel like everyone was, you know, this is my, that was my first time seeing this. I feel like everybody was more used to it than me. So I'm, you know, once again, here, I'm just the, I'm just the weirdo that's, you know, whoa, that's cool. (laughing) So. I feel like, you know, when things like that happen, I feel like I'm just like a 12 year old boy, you know? It's just like, just the mechanics of things. Like, you know, I'm a car guy, so it's just like, man, this is a big machine like, oh man. It is cool how smooth that thing is too. Oh, he'll give you a ride if you ask him, Eric. He'll give you a ride in that thing. That was crazy. Yeah. So what was crazy, you're seeing that thing touched down or watching Brandon Aubrey actually miss a field goal. Guys, that's crazy. That didn't happen. This dude's hitting bombs though. Have you ever seen a kicker like this in all your days? It didn't happen. Yeah, not really, no. I mean, I've been with a lot of great kickers, but I mean, yeah, it's, you know, he's incredible. Yeah. Did you ever get asked during these anonymous player polls? Like, do you ever get in the mix on these? Because I just saw another one from the athletic. A bunch of players were asked a bunch of questions. I wasn't sure what that process was like. What was the poll? Well, they had a bunch of different questions. One of them was what's your least favorite road trip to take in the NFL? And a bunch of cities were listed or places. Do you have a least favorite city to have to go on a road trip to? Give me, give me the, do they have any options? Give me the options. The number one was Green Bay. Absolutely. You don't like the paper valley in? I mean, the people in Green Bay are awesome. You know, like the, you know, the fan, I mean, like, you know, that was my division rivals for how long. And it's like, I have nothing bad to say about. Sure. I love playing in Lambo. You know, it's an awesome stadium. It's an awesome venue. Apple pool. Yeah. People are great, but those trips there, it's just kind of like, it's out of the way. You're taking long bus rides, you know, the food isn't, you know, as, you know, as you go to other cities, you're like, oh, I'm going to go eat here, eat here, you know, before the game. It's like just less, you know, less. I mean, I guess you're there for a reason, you know, it's business, but at the same time, you know, I guess, I think that's why it comes into play. Buffalo was number two, by the way, I don't know. Yeah, you know, I played there as well. Yeah, I mean, that was cool. Well, Pittsburgh was one of the top votes. Obviously you guys will be there this weekend. One anonymous player was quoted as saying of Pittsburgh being his least favorite because it smells like urine in their locker room. Oh, that's verbatim. I don't, you know, I haven't been there in a while, so I'll report back to you guys next week on that. Well, at least do. By the way, I peed my pants last week right here on the show in your honor as a bet payoff. We called it the Eric Kendrick's. Great. You'll do that from time to time. Did you just keep working? Yeah, just just powered right through, man. It was awesome, but it gets, it's warm at first. There's kind of like a soothing feeling. And then 10 minutes later, you're shivering because you're so cold, you know? So that was the problem. It was a very spicy hot. Yeah, very much so. Give him hill, man. We'll be pulling for you. Appreciate it. Take it easy, guys. There he goes. Cowboys linebacker Eric Kendrick is every Thursday with you here on your home of the Cowboys 1053, the fan. Okay. We'll step aside. We'll come back. Maybe take a look at the headlines, express ways. Now just 20 minutes away and we're back with it here in the G back nation. The seasons may be changing, but the deals and the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKia. And I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings events, where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right. Everything is on sale now. Shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. Plus, with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Go on and shop online at the sharpest rides.com right from the palm of your hands. Or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides located 2250 South Sea Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out. Head on over to the sharpest rides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell them that your girl, Tasha McKia sent you the sharpest rides affordable, sexy, sharp, AT&T customers switching the T-Mobile has never been easier. We'll pay off your existing phone and give you a new one free, all on America's largest 5G network. Visit T-Mobile.com/carrierfreedom to switch today. Pay off up to $650 via virtual prepaid master card in 15 days, free phone up to $830 via $24 monthly book credits plus tax, qualifying, port, and trade and service on Go 5G next to credit required, contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits to credit, stop and balance and require finance agreements do. Post-season baseball is here and it is the absolute best time of the year. I'm Rod Bradford of Baseball's and Boring. And we're going to have you covered every step of the way with instant reactions from players and coaches and managers and fans and reporters and everybody else who is immersed in this awesomeness and all the craziness that comes with October Baseball. So follow Baseball's and Boring in the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast. (upbeat music)