Week in Review: Al-Quadin's Odyssey, Browns what-if's, the dominance of Chris Jones
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Greetings, all! We’ve got plenty of stories and podcasts for you here at Go Long ahead of Week 7 in the NFL. Miss anything? All links are below.
Al-Quadin Muhammad sat down to open up old scars and explain why the time is now for a takeover. I think you’ll enjoy this week’s profile.
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‘I’m a sick f--k:’ Why Al-Quadin Muhammad is the missing piece for the Detroit Lions
Go Long chats at length with the menace these Detroit Lions have been craving for on defense. Football’s gravitational forces were bound to unite Al-Quadin Muhammad and Dan Campbell.
A few items of note. His language is quite colorful on all subjects.
Becoming a Dad before taking one college snap. His mentality was different than most at 17 years old. (“I’ve got to take care of my son. Anybody in front of me is trying to take food off of my table.”)
Turbulent college years. He opens up on all the incidents that could’ve crushed him. Eventually, he was booted off The U. His name was plastered across the headlines for all of the wrong reasons. (“Me personally? I don’t really give a fuck how anybody thinks, how anybody feels, how you may view me, all of that. I don’t care if my name is being blown up, if I get the credit, if I don’t get the credit. At the end of the day, I want to be out there doing what I love to do and competing and proving people wrong in silence.”)
Colts GM Chris Ballard recently texted Muhammad but those years still drive Muhammad. He felt underappreciated in Indy. “(I know he knows. You fucked up.”)
Upon getting his practice squad shot in Detroit, Muhammad wasn’t going to waste one rep vs. Penei Sewell… even if it meant nearly throwing hands. Coaches noticed. Teammates noticed. His pass rush is fueled by relentlessness.
Muhammad is a deep thinker. Yeah, he feels like the entire league has been overlooking him for a decade. But he doesn’t complain about things happening to him. He changes it up. (“No, no, this happened for me. Ain’t no shit that happened to me. It happened for me.”)
Dan Campbell, the Cleveland Browns and what could’ve been
As a hopeless romantic, it pains me to admit that times are tough for the 1-5 Cleveland Browns.
Football is simply better when the Browns are good, and there’s a promising nucleus building. We know Grant Delpit is doing his part to bring the junkyard back. But now the locals must see Joe Flacco’s slingin’ it at will for the Bengals and Baker Mayfield state his MVP case each week.
There’s also the fact that Dan Campbell interviewed for this job in 2019.
We shared insight into that crucial moment this week.
The lesson to be learned? It pays to use the other part of your brain. Cleveland, a tick too concerned with analytics, dismissed Campbell’s old-school rhetoric.
McGinn Files: Inside the rise of Chris Jones, the Kansas City Chiefs’ mercurial star
Hey, good thing Andy Reid didn’t listen to his son.
The only voice of dissent was Britt Reid, the Chiefs’ D-Line coach, when Chris Jones was the pick in 2016. He wanted Robert Nkemdiche.
Our Bob McGinn details Jones’ rise from Mississippi State to Arrowhead with insight from people inside that Chiefs war room. He’s got the talent to take over any game at any moment, but Jones’ on/off switch has also drawn ridicule — most recently in a loss to Jacksonville. McGinn explores through the eyes of scouts and coaches around the NFL.
GL Pod: Tre Watson on NFL reality, Packers Outlook, Baker Mayfield & the return of his brother Christian
Christian Watson returns to the field soon. How will this change the Packers’ offense? Tre Watson — his brother, podcaster and a former NFL/CFL/XFL/UFL linebacker himself — brings his sharp analysis to the Go Long Pod.
Ty & Bob Pod S4 E6: Wild Bears MNF finish, Brian Branch’s punch & Packers survive Cincy
Your weekly two-hour dose of NFC North talk is right here with Hall of Fame scribe Bob McGinn. We make sense of Chicago’s one-point triumph in DC, the Lions’ frustrating loss to Kansas City and the Packers sneaking past Cincinnati.
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ICYMI:
PATRIOT REIGN? How Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye can restart a dynasty of their own
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The showers were a pigsty. A scene straight out of a college frat house. His first spring on the job, Mike Vrabel noticed that players were leaving washcloths all over the shower floors and refused to let this slide.