It is a medical issue that is shrouded in mystery in Owings Mills but Luke Jones and Nestor attempt to acknowledge and discuss the significance of Nmandi Madubuike to the Ravens’ overall defensive plan and pass rush as the mandatory camp ends and the NFL goes on summer break.

Overview

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Ravens’ mandatory mini camp, noting it has been shortened to two days. They highlighted the absences of key players like Nnamdi Matabekwe, Rashod Bateman, and Ronnie Stanley, attributing it to minor illnesses. Jones expressed skepticism about Jesse Minter’s transparency, citing his past with the NCAA. They delved into Matabekwe’s neck injury, noting his April surgery and the team’s cautious optimism about his return. Jones emphasized the significance of Matabekwe’s health to the team’s defensive prowess. They also touched on the Ravens’ late season opener and their interest in the upcoming World Cup.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Publish and distribute the new rescheduled dates for the Sorrento of Arbutus Maryland Crab Cake Tour event (postponed from this Wednesday to two weeks from now).
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Provide and run the Maryland Lottery ‘Maryland treasures’ giveaways as part of the Maryland Crab Cake Tour promotion (coordinate giveaway logistics and timing for upcoming events).

Mini Camp Overview and Attendance

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the mini camp, noting it has been shortened to two days.
• Luke explains that some teams skip mini camp if they had good attendance and productive OTAs.
• Nestor questions the significance of the mini camp, and Luke clarifies that there is no contact allowed.
• Luke mentions that some players, including Nnamdi Matabekwe and Teddy Buchanan, were absent due to illness or minor issues.

Player Absences and Injuries

• Nestor and Luke discuss the absences of several key players, including Nate Wiggins, Rashod Bateman, and Ronnie Stanley.
• Luke notes that Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator, attributed the absences to illness or minor issues.
• Nestor expresses skepticism about Minter’s honesty, citing his past with the NCAA.
• Luke defends Minter, stating that he has not had enough time to form an opinion about him.

Jesse Minter’s Role and Public Presence

• Nestor and Luke discuss Jesse Minter’s public presence and his lack of visibility in the community.
• Luke compares Minter to previous coaches like Brian Billick, noting that Minter is more focused on coaching.
• Nestor expresses frustration with Minter’s lack of engaging press conferences.
• Luke emphasizes that Minter’s focus is on football, not public relations.

Speculation on Nnamdi Matabekwe’s Injury

• Nestor and Luke delve into the mystery surrounding Nnamdi Matabekwe’s neck injury.
• Luke explains that Matabekwe had neck surgery in April, and the team’s non-committal statements indicate ongoing uncertainty.
• Nestor and Luke speculate on Matabekwe’s chances of playing in the upcoming season.
• Luke compares Matabekwe’s situation to that of Zach Gore, highlighting the potential severity of neck injuries.

Impact of Matabekwe’s Health on the Team

• Nestor and Luke discuss the significant impact Matabekwe’s health would have on the Ravens’ defense.
• Luke notes that Matabekwe’s return could elevate the pass rush and overall defensive performance.
• Nestor emphasizes that Matabekwe is one of the team’s top players and his absence would be a major loss.
• Luke acknowledges the uncertainty surrounding Matabekwe’s recovery and the team’s cautious approach.

Upcoming Events and Personal Interests

• Nestor and Luke shift the conversation to upcoming events, including the Maryland Crab Cake Tour and the World Cup.
• Nestor mentions the postponement of the tour and the involvement of GBMC and the Maryland Lottery.
• Luke shares his interest in the World Cup, noting that he will watch the semi-finals at the beach.
• Nestor and Luke conclude the discussion with a light-hearted exchange about their personal interests and plans.

Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are W N S T A M 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positive to get the Maryland Crab Cake Tour back out on the road. We have postponed Sorrento of Arbutus from Wednesday of this week till two weeks from now. I’ll be getting the new dates out. We had some cancelations on guests. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland Lottery. We’ll have the Maryland treasures to give away, keep showing the the boardwalk here, maybe I’ll get the horses out here of Assateague. Also, our friends at GBMC, I am wearing my walk a mile in their shoes, a shirt. We’ve had some great conversations on here, and getting myself physically better as I get older with our friends at GBMC. Keep that in mind, that they’re all over the area. Also, Farnon and Dermer, they’re the comfort guys, 410 36777 6777 HVAC. It’s going to be hot this weekend. If your air condition blows up, I got friends that can take care of that. You should have had it serviced over the winter, but I’m not going to shame you, especially not when you’re hot. Just call Farn and Dermer there to comfort guys. This guy makes me more comfortable. Um, they’re comfortable with having him in Owings Mills, but not I. This week it is mini camp, and it’s, it’s a, it’s a mini mini camp, isn’t it? I mean, I remember mini camp used to be like four or five days, used to be a thing, hardball, drag them out here, get my ice cream, do all that stuff. Um, is this a cream puff mini camp? Is this a mini mini camp, Luke? Um, I mean,

Luke Jones 1:20
there had been some two day mini camps under horrible, at least late. You know, when I started covering the team full time, it was three day mandatory mini camp, and a lot of teams still do three days, but you see this. You actually see this around the league quite a bit, especially teams that have veteran coaches in place. A lot of times, they’ll cancel mandatory mini camp week if they’ve had good enough attendance through the spring, and they felt like OTAs were fruitful enough, productive enough. I thought they

Nestor Aparicio 1:45
could do stuff this week that they can’t do any other week. Am I wrong?

Luke Jones 1:49
Um, I mean, other than mandating that guys need to be there, I mean, they, they’re still not allowed to hit or anything like that this week. So, are they

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Nestor Aparicio 1:59
wearing helmets?

Luke Jones 2:00
Yeah, I mean, they’ve been wearing helmets since, since, uh, OTAs, I mean, like that, yeah, that’s been a while, but, but there’s still no, but

Nestor Aparicio 2:08
there’s no, there’s no, no contact, no contact, I mean, fair enough, if

Luke Jones 2:13
you watch the O line in the D line, go

Nestor Aparicio 2:15
anymore, Luke’s pardon, yeah, Chad still doesn’t fill me in on, but it’s been that way for

Luke Jones 2:19
a long time, at this point in time, I mean, really, things changed very much at right around the 2011 CB. So, this isn’t

Nestor Aparicio 2:28
in a different kind of practice than what they’ve had in previous weeks. I thought this was really more structured in regard that it’s just like the OTAs, except people are mandated to be there, that basically, basically, I, okay,

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Luke Jones 2:41
I mean, unless I’m completely blanking out on some part of the rules, or like I always felt like this

Nestor Aparicio 2:49
week was a little special, maybe because they let us in. It’s not special to me anymore. I’m, I’m very special.

Luke Jones 2:55
It’s special because everyone’s, you get your first look at the full team, but that’s where you know, maybe, maybe we transition into what we actually hasn’t been the full

Nestor Aparicio 3:03
team, right? Yeah, yeah.

Luke Jones 3:04
On Tuesday, it was very surprising me, nine guys out. Now, we, we didn’t expect to see Nnamdi Matabeke, we didn’t expect to see Teddy Buchanan, but no Nate Wiggins, nose A flowers, no Rashad Bateman, no Ronnie Stanley, Travis Jones, who is known for being a gym rat. I mean, he hasn’t been on the field, so we were kind of wondering to ourselves, those of us that are out there, if he was dealing with something with something the last few,

Nestor Aparicio 3:30
Ruchman’s not in the lineup, you’re just wondering, yeah, something like that, and then, and

Luke Jones 3:34
then someone misses enough time where it’s like, all right, you got to ask, right, I mean, have to ask, but you know, Jesse Minter said that those guys are all either dealing with an illness or dealing with something minor, and I’ll take him at his word until I have reason not to take him at his word, right? He said all those guys will be ready for the start of training camp now. How many times does

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Nestor Aparicio 3:55
he have to lie in order for you to not trust him? I mean, I’m wondering Jesse Minter, I’m never going to meet him. If I do meet him, he’s going to look at me like, “Who are you? And so, like all of that, like I don’t know anything about him. I know he will cheat, because he got up, he got caught cheating with the NCAA, so he is, he’s a cheater, he’s capable, he’s a hardball. So, but I don’t know how this is going to feel or look different. You’re the one out there, so I have to ask you

Luke Jones 4:23
to answer your question. I mean, if it’s something that’s a matter of semantics, right? If it’s something that’s so inconsequential, John lied

Nestor Aparicio 4:31
about everything, though. John, especially once he got comfortable and got his stripes, and he had the power to throw people like me out and make up bullshit about how he did it, like, why about he, he lied to me, then lied about throwing me out, and continues to lie to this day, to this day. He still, how’s your wife? He says to me, so like John was his own island of bullshit. This guy, I don’t know, I just.. I, I don’t even know the sound of his voice yet. It, I’ve put it on the radio, because you’ve given me 12 minutes of his podium. I don’t know that people know his voice yet, and it’s new. It’s all we’re going to get to know it, but I don’t know. I, I don’t have an opinion on him. He’s been here five months, and I, I haven’t seen him. He hasn’t said anything interesting or looked particularly smart or fun, or this, or that. There’s he’s just after coaching ball, like they’re not. They put Billet’s name on billboards when they hired him, right? This is a different thing

Luke Jones 5:30
25 years ago. Yeah, I don’t know what to mean, different era. Yeah, I mean, Billboards are barely a thing at this point. No, I’m just no, no, not

Nestor Aparicio 5:38
on a billboard. I think he can pump gas anywhere in the city, and people don’t recognize him yet, yet, yeah, it’s gonna happen, but

Luke Jones 5:46
would a person recognize him? Sure, would a couple people, but yeah, you’re right, he could go, I think he

Nestor Aparicio 5:53
can go grocery shopping at the Safeway in an Owings Mill, probably might have

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Luke Jones 5:57
one person stop, yeah, it’s

Nestor Aparicio 5:58
not going to be, I would agree

Luke Jones 6:00
with that. I think Roku

Nestor Aparicio 6:01
and Smith can do that too, by the way, but Mark can. We’ve always

Luke Jones 6:05
talked, but we’ve always talked about football, always lends itself to a little more anonymity when you wear helmets, right? I mean, that’s just through. I was in a grocery

Nestor Aparicio 6:15
store two weeks ago with my wife at 8o’clock on a weeknight. We were over at the Fresh Market in Towson, and there was just a gigantic African American man with two children, just a gigantic man. And I looked at him, and I’m like, gotta be an athlete. He had two kids with him. He was driving a $250,000 car. My wife saw the car in the parking lot, said, “Oh, it must be his. He got in it with his family, and I’m looking at him, I’m looking at him, I’m googling, I think it was Jenkins, the defensive, I think it was him, I had to go through, he had Arizona plates, so you know, like I’m looking, I’m like, it’s a football, I mean, there’s no question it was a football player, and I’m looking at it, and I’m like, is that Simpson? It wasn’t Simpson, because it had to be alignment. It was just too big to be anything else. Looked like a basketball player more than a football player to me. He looked six, seven to me, but, but nonetheless, it was Jenkins. I’m sure it was. I mean, I’m not 100% but 95% And I looked up, because that’s what football player, when you see them out, you’re like, oh, that’s got your football player, you know, Jesse Minter’s not gonna.. I’m just at the point with him where I’m trying to figure out who he is, whether he’s full of shit or not, whether I need to pay attention to press conferences or not, whether he’s going to ever say anything, whether he’s going to be man about town or he’s going to be what John really wanted to be, which was just leave me alone, and I’m going to raise Jesus, and I’m going to coach football, and that’s what I want to do. I don’t golf, I don’t do this, I don’t do that. I don’t know much. I know Minter has wife kids like all that there on the West Coast, come back, but I don’t know what his cue is going to be here. I’m trying to figure, you’re the head coach of the football team, what’s his lane going to be, besides coaching football? I mean, press conferences have haven’t been anything I feel like I need to tune in to even get information this time of year, I know I’m going to be into it, but I just, I want to know what you’re thinking about him, because I don’t have an opinion yet, and I’m waiting to have one, I want to have an opinion of some, there’s nothing, there’s nothing of

Luke Jones 8:20
real substance to have an opinion to this point, they haven’t done anything of other than spring workouts, which again I’m going to sit here and talk about it, but you and I both know the only thing that is of real consequence that could potentially happen during mandatory mini camp week

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Nestor Aparicio 8:39
is a

Luke Jones 8:40
season altering injury, I mean, it’s just.. it’s just reality. That’s not me having disrespect for the process of where they are in terms of getting ready for a season, but it’s just the truth. Look, I can sit here and wax poetics about the gorgeous throw Lamar Jackson made on the run to Elijah Surratt during Tuesday’s play, and look, it was a beautiful throw, but I’ve seen Lamar do that hundreds of times during practice, just like I saw General Flacco do that hundreds of times during practice, right? I mean, it’s not, it’s practice. So to go back to what you say, I don’t know how anyone could have any meaningful opinion on Jesse Minter at this point that isn’t based on priors isn’t based on what you know about him in terms of the work he did with Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers the last couple years, what he did at Michigan with Jim Harbaugh, what he did at Vanderbilt when he finally broke off from the Ravens and was the defensive coordinator there for a year, what he did with the Ravens under John Harbaugh, right, so and I don’t say that to be dismissive, we just, we don’t know yet, right? I mean, look, was this a highly touted hire? Yes, Jesse Minter is very highly thought of around the league, but that said, we can go back and find head coaches who are hired and. Every year, and it doesn’t have to be the guys that end up being a disaster, right? I mean, we can think of Urban Meyer, and some guys that were just not only did they fail, they failed in spectacular fashion. No, it doesn’t have to be that, but you can go back and find.. I’ll use one example here, and I say this with no.. I’m not picking on Daniel Jeremiah whatsoever here, because I have a lot of respect for what he does. He’s someone, he’s a go-to guy when it, when you’re talking about the draft and prospects and all that, but as you know, he does work with, he does some work for the Chargers as some analyst work, and all that. But I heard him do an interview earlier this offseason where he said Jesse Minter was a grand slam of a hire. Now that sounds great, and maybe he will prove to be that right. I’m not saying he won’t be, but I also went back and found him, Daniel Jeremiah, saying the same exact thing when the Chargers hired Brandon Staley as their head coach. We just don’t know, right? We, we see hot shot coordinators almost every year become a head coach, and yeah, in some cases it works out beautifully. And you’re talking about someone that is on their way to being a great head coach. I mean, look at what Ben Johnson did with the Bears this past year, right? He was the hot shot coordinator for a couple hiring cycles before he finally landed in Chicago, and, and said, “Okay, this is the job I want to take, but we can also go back and find lots of coordinators on either side of the ball who are extremely highly touted, who are, you know, people opine or is a can’t miss head coach, and it doesn’t work out for any number of reasons, so my point in saying that is not, not to be dismissive, or who knows, right? I mean, so much of what I’ve heard in the off season, in terms of, you know, whether it’s a flowers talking about the practice difficulty, and you know, or, or you know, Mike Green recently was talking about questioning whether the coaches were setting the pass rushers up for success last year, and look, there may be some validity to that, but it also might be a case of there’s a player pointing to a coach because of his own deficiencies, I mean, it goes both ways, so I hear stuff like that, or I hear, “Oh, well, this looks different at practice, or they’re doing this, or doing doing that. I mean, we don’t know what, how well it’s going to work out. Jesse Minter could be the next.. I don’t know, Bill Belichick. I mean, he could.. the Ravens, maybe they’re getting ready to embark on a dynasty, right? I don’t know. He certainly seems capable, and like I’m impressed by him, and all that.

Luke Jones 12:47
That said, they haven’t played a game yet, right? I mean, they haven’t even had a padded practice yet. He hasn’t dealt with adversity with a disgruntled player yet, as far as we know. I mean, maybe they have dealt with something, and they’ve kept it internal, which, if they have, good on him, because you want to try to keep those things in house as much as you can, but point is, we’re still in the honeymoon period here, so, and I hear your point about him not being overly visible in the community, in the way that, you know, you mentioned Brian Billick, a quarter century ago, or you know, okay, he’s a mentor’s not going to be larger than life, I, you know, yeah, like he’s not that kind of guy, yeah, he’s not, yeah, I think that I think Sashi Brown and Eric DeCosta and Steve Boschotti, regardless of what opinions you might have about it, they would view that as a feature, not a bug, I think they want a head coach who they didn’t want,

Nestor Aparicio 13:44
yeah,

Luke Jones 13:44
and is all about ball, and is not going to say anything that gets puts an unnecessary spotlight on them. I think that is absolutely what they were looking for, and frankly, let’s call speed a spade. John Harbaugh was apt to put up unnecessary spotlight on his team from time to time, that’s already playing out with some of the stuff that’s happened with the Giants, and in their locker room, and Jackson Dart, and hanging out with the biggest racist in the history of the world, and Schtler, and you know, like hanging out smiling

Nestor Aparicio 14:15
like that, you can push it any way you want, dude, but like that doesn’t fly, that it doesn’t, it doesn’t fly in all quarters, and it shouldn’t fly in all quarters, and it doesn’t fly in our country,

Speaker 1 14:27
and I

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Nestor Aparicio 14:27
know you don’t like the political angle of this, but John,

Luke Jones 14:32
I wasn’t,

Nestor Aparicio 14:32
but John has to go coach his football players, and to your point, they didn’t need that here, to your point, the Giants signed up for that. Jesse Minter’s not hanging out with Donald Trump, and you know, putting on Fox. He’s coaching ball, and John had to, my point 20 minutes ago, John was different in 2008 when he got here than when he left here last year. He morphed into. To his shoes, and they were whatever they were. Very John Harbaugh’s a peculiar man, that’s 20 years I’ve met a lot of people in life. John Harbaugh was a dishonest man and a peculiar man. Minter, I with you, he’s gonna stay underrated, like I just gotta win football

Luke Jones 15:19
games

Nestor Aparicio 15:21
that september 14, because if he doesn’t,

Luke Jones 15:23
none of this, and this goes back to my point, if he doesn’t win football games, all we’re talking about in March, April, May, June, even July, with and August with training camp, it’s all eye wash, right? He’s the one marketing the head coach,

Nestor Aparicio 15:37
I agree, but the head coach will be marketed, and what he says, and what he does, and how it relates to being congruent. Yeah, you know what he says and what he does. When they, when they’re, when they line up, it didn’t do that with John. It doesn’t do that with the Orioles. It doesn’t do that with David Rubenstein. It doesn’t do that with Sasha Brown. Certainly, Eric, I mean, these are all of them. There’s a reason you have a press pass, and I don’t, and it’s not because I’m the liar or I’m the dishonest guy. It’s because of the way they operate and the way they want to operate these teams. And in regard to mentor, he’s going to be heard from more than anyone. So is John. Right? I don’t know what the value of that’s going to be, because Albernaz has been at this couple of months too. I don’t know, I don’t feel like he says anything that I feel like gives me some wisdom about the team, the sport, the rotate. I feel like there’s not much said that makes me have to endure Rob Long or Melanie Newman, after a game to get further insights. I don’t feel like I get further insights any more than I did with John after a game. Now, maybe John on Monday or John privately was different, but from a fan, and that’s all I am at this point. I mean, they don’t even want me to be a fan. They like, literally, I’m a fan. I watch it on television. We went through that when Mass and went out the other night. I don’t.. I’m trying to gage what the philosophy is going to be of Minter, and I think it’s too early to do that, because they haven’t played to your point. Like, let’s see them make mistakes and see how he trails it, how he covers up, who’s pointing fingers, who’s taking responsibility, all of those kinds. There’s nothing for that at this point, but I would say this. These two new leaders we’ve had with Albernaz and Minter, I’m nonplussed about them as a media member, of which I still am, in regard to disseminating information, in regard to the Q and A part of it, where am I learning something? Is it something that’s helped me on the radio? Is it something I’m going to talk to about Luke? Is it something where he’s being honest, insightful, or dishonest, and and trying to hide things, like the Matabike thing, the most interesting part for me of all the things we’ve talked about, because it feels like he’s going to play. Sounds like he’s going to play. They’re making it sound like he’s going to play, but that dollar I had to bet it, I would bet on him playing, but he’s not even out there. There are many, you know, we’re five weeks out on them, really starting, and I don’t see the sign that he’s absolutely going to have a chin strap on on September 13 to be chasing the Colts around like I think he is, but that’s such a weird thing to think and not know, because that’s a big part of what is going to happen or not happen defensively for them.

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Luke Jones 18:31
Yeah, but it’s still all based on speculation, right? I mean, what do we.. what do we absolutely know?

Nestor Aparicio 18:39
He had an injury of some kind. We know he

Luke Jones 18:41
had a neck injury that landed him on IR last year. We know that they were extremely non-committal to say anything about his long-term prognosis from a football perspective, and that went on for months and months. We know that the Ravens did not go out and sign or trade for a big ticket defensive tackle. We know that the Ravens did not draft a defensive lineman early. I mean, okay, Zion Young, second round pick, an edge guy, not an interior defensive lineman. We know that, yes, they went out and signed Caleas Campbell after the draft, but that is not a lucrative long-term commitment, and we know, based on a report from Adam Schefter, that when you look at the wording of it lends itself that it maybe it came from the Ravens or maybe it came from Nnamdi Matabeque’s agent, but he underwent a neck surgery in April in which it says doctors believed he’ll be able to play, however it didn’t, it never said in that wording Ravens team doctors believe he’s going to play, so every, and I’m in agreement with you, it had the updates, the non-update updates and. Jesse Minter had one, even on Tuesday, have trended sounding more positive, but we are still largely speculating, and this is a different animal when you’re talking about clearing a player, there’s there are ankles and knees and shoulders and other body parts where there can be some wiggle room, and you can even see instances, not too often, but there are times where teams will even alter contracts, or you know that it’ll be wording in a contract will be added to protect a team, or you know, the money’s conditional on that, you know, go through that a neck injury is a different story, because you’re talking about something, and again, we don’t know the specifics of this neck injury, so I don’t want to make this sound over the top, but we know in the case of using Zach, the end of Zach Gore’s playing career, for example, a congenital spinal condition was discovered in which if he took the wrong kind of hit. He could have died on the field. That’s how dire that could have been for him. And it’s why he was instantly advised to retire. And it’s why team doctors would no longer clear him. It’s why, and the part that’s forgotten about this is a lot of people forget Zach Gore tried to come back a few months later. In fact, he even talked with other teams, there wasn’t to anyone’s knowledge, there wasn’t a single team in the National Football League that would clear him, so that’s a long-winded way of saying Nnamdi Matabike may have found a doctor or a team of doctors that say, “Hey, you had this procedure, we think you’re going to be good to go, and that may end up being true, but until the Baltimore Ravens team doctors and the Baltimore Ravens clear him, we don’t know if he’s going to play this year, right? And as long as the Ravens remain non-committal, whether they sound positive or you’re trying to read the tea leaves or not, until they’re in a position where they say you’re cleared, you’re out there. I wonder,

Nestor Aparicio 22:03
we’re gonna hear from him.

Luke Jones 22:04
Yeah, and that’s a big part of this, right? Because we haven’t heard from him at all, other than a couple cryptic Instagram stories where you know he’s alluding to being grateful or thankful, and who knows, he’s

Nestor Aparicio 22:17
getting paid a lot of money, right? And he’s going to be paid a lot of money,

Luke Jones 22:20
regardless, right? His this season, his, his money is fully guaranteed. So that’s where you look at it from the Ravens perspective, and they say, well, you know, we’ll let this go on as long as it takes, and I will also get $50

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Nestor Aparicio 22:35
million in the bank, and you’re healthy, and you’re 20-six years old, and you can walk away. There’s a lot of people, I’m sure, in his life that would say to him, take your money, go home, dude, you know, you don’t need a ring, you know what I mean. So, there’s that goes on with all these young people, but then there’s this is what I do, and this is what I want to do, and this is what I’m built to do, you know.

Luke Jones 22:54
And this goes back to, you know, we had a previous discussion recently where we were talking about players at the end of their career, it’s really easy for anyone to tell someone else what they should do, but when it’s you, I got these

Nestor Aparicio 23:04
guys in rush running around, Rod Stewart, 81 last week, running around, and they don’t need the money, they don’t even, they’re not going to spend the money, their kids aren’t, it’s what they do, you know, it’s like me getting up and doing this every day, if you took it away from me, I don’t really know what I would do after 35 years of doing this, and I think that for football player, we could talk about money in all of this, and future, and neck, and spine, and all of that. It is a human decision that’s Matabeke, so nobody else’s words even matter to me. That’s why the way they’re talking this up, and as good a player as he’s been, and the fact that they haven’t really sought to replace him in the framework of their roster, yeah, not that they could with the money, but drafting and bringing in more players and bringing in some Brent Urban type of player. It feels to me like he’s going to play, and as I sit here on june 10, I’m talking like he’s going to play, you’re talking like he’s going to play. We don’t.. that’s one of the biggest stories of August, because all the rest of it, we know, we know, I mean, we know Martin Luther is coming back, we know Ronnie Staley wasn’t there, but he’s going to play like we know all of that. How they age out, Matt, BK is not an age out issue, he’s a difference maker, if he’s on the field and he’s healthy enough, and I mean, he’s one of their four best players, five best players, right?

Luke Jones 24:19
But yeah, sure, I mean, if he’s healthy pre-injury, now I’m the amount of BK was that kind of player for this team. There’s no question about it, but part of what’s difficult with this is, again, we don’t know exact, like, we don’t know the details of the injury, and I’ve said this before, and I’ll bring it up again, because it’s, it’s something that I’m familiar with, and I, and I have seen quite a bit, you know. I’m a pro wrestling guy. There have been so many professional wrestlers over the years, and I’m going to talk more recently, guys who have had neck surgeries, back surgeries, spinal fusions, all kinds of different back surgeries, and there’s one in particular that comes to mind for me, and I’m just using. This, as an example, I have no idea if this individual had the same injury as Namdi Matabeke or not. No one knows, but a guy named Big E, Big E Langston was his full wrestling name. It was kind of shortened to Biggie. He was a former college football player in Iowa. He was part of the tag team The New Day. He still works for WW. He does like their pre-game, you know, they have their pre-paper view show and different stuff like that. The title ties the model ESPN, or whatever. But a few years back, and this was, you know, this is a guy who had just become WWE Champion very recently, you know, not long before this, he was dropped on his head on the outside, you know, on a suplex, you know, freak accident was not, you know, wasn’t paralyzed or like anything like that, but very much had a big time scare to the point where he was carted off and like, you know, the referee throws up the ex, meaning this isn’t part of the show, something, so had had that kind of situation, had a spine injury, a neck injury, and he’s kind of, sort of been in a holding pattern ever since, right. And a lot of it is, is it the kind of injury where is there healing that can take place, and if there is, in some cases, for some wrestlers, they’ve waited it out, in some cases multiple years, and some guys eventually do get cleared and do return, and sometimes it’s a couple years later. Now, I have no idea if Navdema gave what he’s dealing with is anything remotely similar to that, but the point is, there actually still could be some very real uncertainty about it. I don’t really see a reason why they would be coy at this point in time if, if it was 100% fait accompli, but we do know he had a surgery. We do know from Adam Schefter’s report that doctors who performed that surgery, or he was seeking a second opinion, or whatever it might have been, expressed belief that he’ll be able to play and play in 2026 but until if and when Ravens team doctors clear him, it’s kind of a moot point, right? I mean, you go back to the Zach Gore thing, and you know, I have no idea, right? It sounds more positive, and you read the tea leaves, and to your point, they didn’t really go out and acquire a big ticket item to replace him. Yes, that lends itself to believing that there is some optimism, but we don’t know until we really know. We’re still, we’re just speculating, right? And the fact that they are still treading as carefully as they are lends you to believe that there’s still some some wiggle room there in terms of if he’s going to get cleared, when he’s going to get cleared. Keep in mind he did have a neck surgery, so maybe we’ll be cleared, but the question is, when exactly is it going to be for training camp, or is it going to be someone who’s not ready till September or October, or you know, whatever. Again, we don’t know, so it is, but it is such a huge story. I mean, other than the center position, just because the center, it’s just so like me, Danny Pinter is your most experienced center on the roster right now, a guy who started what, 10 career games in the NFL.

Luke Jones 28:17
I mean, that’s what we’re talking about, so that’s that’s in your face pressing when you look at the roster or look at the depth chart right now, but in terms of something that swings or increases the Ravens Super Bowl odds or win probability on a week by week basis, hell, health, a healthy Nnamdi Mata BK back in the picture, boy, that changes the pass rush on top of Trey Hendrickson lining up off the edge now, Mike Green being another year older and hoping that everything about this coaching staff comes to fruition, that that it’ll be a better coaching staff. So, but if you take him away from that equation, that that that doesn’t look as formidable, even with Trey Hendrickson, there’s still some questions there, but you add Matabike to the mix, and it’s pre-injury Matabike, and keep in mind we don’t know what kind of neck injury does this, does this lead to a version of Nnamdi Matabike that is officially medically cleared, but the injury in some way has left him a lesser player in the, in the process, I don’t know, right? Again, I mean, there, there are a lot of variables and questions at work here that we’re all just speculating. I, you know, what you said in terms of betting $1 one way or the other on it, I don’t know. I mean, I, I hear you in terms of Minter sounding a little more optimistic, but they’re still very much talking in, in non-guaranteed ways about it. Right? I mean, his quote.. I’ll try to read it for you, you know, from.. from Tuesday. The quote was, at some point, that’ll clear itself up again. We feel good about where it’s at, and so I would just. Leave it at that right now. You know, he says they’re still working through the situation. What’s there to work through if you know for sure that he’s going to play, right? So, I don’t know. I mean, I really don’t know. So shrouded

Nestor Aparicio 30:14
in mystery during a mini kids week that I thought if he’s going to play and he’s making money, he would be out there and

Luke Jones 30:21
he hasn’t been

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Nestor Aparicio 30:22
cleared, right? He had

Luke Jones 30:23
neck surgery in April, and that’s where you know there have been plenty of players who’ve had neck surgeries, even just for like a herniated disc or something like that, where you know that’ll take you out for the season, potentially. If

Nestor Aparicio 30:32
you’ve had Nestor in April, they think he’s going to play in August,

Luke Jones 30:37
and but that’s part of my question, right? Even if you think he’s going to be cleared. When is that going to come, and until that does come, and if there is some ambiguity in terms of he needs to heal in some way a little bit more between now and then, and if there’s unknown, that’s why I mentioned Big E, like the WWE wrestler, there were he would go in periodically for MRIs every two months, three months, whatever it was, early on, and it got to a point, you know, and we’re now a couple years into that, where he’s basically said, like, look, is there a non-zero chance at some point maybe this happens for me, and I can come back, maybe, but I also need to be realistic to know that it’s been a couple years now, and my, you know, the top of my, you know, my cervical spine hasn’t healed to the degree that it needs to for me to resume my wrestling career, so I, again, I have no idea, I’m just using an example just to illustrate there, there can be a lot of unknown here, and again, we’re not talking about a degenerative knee condition, where, like, you can still try to play even if your knees not what it was two years ago, because there’s no, I don’t want to say, I don’t want to be insensitive here, that can affect a player’s quality of life, but a knee injury is not going to possibly incapacitate someone or put them in a wheelchair, yeah, yeah, so, so, so, what’s that? So, a violent game, man. I mean, of course, the violent game, but that, but that’s where I think that’s where I will look. You know me, I’ve been, I’ve been as critical as anyone at times for their lack of transparency when it comes to injuries and things of that nature. This is a case where I understand it a little bit more, because it is a very sensitive body part in terms of your life, forget about football, just your life. So, if there’s some uncertainty here, then yeah, they probably are smarter, not saying less rather than more, and not making assumptions. If there is still some ambiguity there, but we’re going to find out, and yeah, to put that part aside, to acknowledge that part, man, his status is very much one of those, one of those things that one of those variables that could take this team from being, oh, you know, I expect him to be back in the mix in the AFC, but if you have a nom de Matto BK, who’s pre-injury form, no questions about his neck whatsoever, all that moving forward,

Nestor Aparicio 33:00
man, you’re talking about a defense that the ceiling is much higher with him in the mix and healthy rather than not, so it’s going to be fascinating to see. I don’t know exactly when we’re going to get some clarity, and that’s where it’d be nice to hear from him, but he and his agent to this point have not expressed a desire to do that, or if they have, the team has advised him not to say anything, so we’re still in a holding pattern with that one, that’s for sure. He is Luke Jones, he is up Baltimore, Luke, he is out in Owings Mills. The Ravens are in Owings Mills briefly this week, and then they’re gonna go bye-bye for about six weeks, get back after the end of July. Season starts september 13. I don’t know if we’ve ever had a kickoff later than september 13, right? I mean, like, this is really late. I don’t think they could kick off any later than they’re kicking off this year. So things are gonna get pushed back, which gives us more time to watch baseball. Or, in Luke’s case, I know you’ve got a special saddle like this for these World Cup games that are coming in, beginning tomorrow. Soccer, are you really gonna watch soccer?

Luke Jones 34:01
Am I going to watch every minute of every game? No, of course not. But I’m not. Put it this way, 15 years ago, no, I had no interest in that.

Nestor Aparicio 34:11
I know that. That’s why I’m making fun of you, because I knew you’re 15. But

8

Luke Jones 34:14
you know what, I’ve already looked at it. So the last couple, you know, the end, the semis and all that I’m gonna be at the beach that week, so there are a couple games that are, I think, off the top of my head, I looked at the schedule, I mean, I didn’t memorize it or anything, but I think the semi finals might be like a 3o’clock on a Thursday or something like that, because

Nestor Aparicio 34:37
finals the 19th, and just so you know, be home for that, but the

Luke Jones 34:40
previous, but the semifinals, I’m pretty sure it’s like Thursday at 3o’clock or something like that. You know what, I’m already thinking, I’ve already talked about it with my brother-in-law. Man, we’re gonna be at, we’re gonna be at the beach bar watching that, and having a, having a couple adult beverages, and yeah, I’ll watch that, and it’ll be fun. I mean, you know, go. USA, I guess, in the US, probably won’t be playing by the thing at that point. I even, I even know that. Come on, man, I’m not that dumb about soccer. Like, you making oral plans at the Halloween, you know? Like, don’t do that, but, but no. Like, I’ll, I’ll check it out a little bit. I mean, it’s, you know, I know it’s the world’s beautiful game. It’s not my beautiful game, but I’ll check it out. I mean, I’ll, I’ll have it on in the background. How about that? I mean, I’m, I’m not, I’m not an ugly American to the point where I can’t have some respect for soccer. So I’m looking forward to checking out what little bit I’ll check out. And we’ll see, we’ll see how the US does. Can they at least have a decent showing in the World Cup, you’d like to, considering you’re on your home turf, but you know I’m not holding my breath on that

Nestor Aparicio 35:47
one. Yeah, so soccer begins. We’re doing the Maryland Crab Cake Tour, presented by the Maryland Lottery, in conjunction with GBMC, as well as Farnham and Dharmer. It is June. We’d like for the baseball to be better. The football is going to go away here for a little while, so God bless Luke and Oriole Park at Camden Yards all week long. Seattle Mariners are in. Manny Machado is coming in this weekend, gives me a chance to wear my Tony Gwynn jersey, so I’m excited about that. I am Nestor, he is Luke. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking, Baltimore positive.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai