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Previewing Miami Dolphins training camp with CBS4's Mike Cugno.
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00:00Well, Mike Cunho is on the Toyota of Hollywood Hotline.
00:03You can watch him locally on CBS4 and nationally on CBS Sports HQ.
00:07And he will return this season as the sideline reporter on CBS4's Dolphins preseason broadcast,
00:15which is very exciting.
00:17Cunho, I think Jimmy got that wrong.
00:18Where are you calling us from?
00:20Where are you having the hot dog today on National Hot Dog Day?
00:24Jimmy seems like the only one on the program that understands me.
00:28And gets me.
00:31So, I think all of a sudden I'm Team Jimmy.
00:34Mike, I told him an hour ago your ass ain't eating no hot dog.
00:38I know you.
00:39I mean, remember Mike used to do stuff for the show, though.
00:42He used to care about the show.
00:44And then all of a sudden he's on HQ and he's doing Dolphin Sidelines.
00:48All of a sudden he's like a different guy.
00:50Yeah, I'm big timing you now.
00:52That's what it is.
00:53I mean, you finally cornered me to get me back on.
00:56And, yeah, I'm going to big time you a little bit here.
01:00Yeah.
01:01I mean, the guy, you know, in his earlier days in broadcast, you know, he would call me and he would go,
01:06listen, this Jim Barry is eating up all my airtime.
01:10And can you get me on the radio at least?
01:13And I said, I think I can wedge you in if you'll eat a McRib or something.
01:19And he's like, whatever you need, because I know Jim Barry won't do that.
01:23So whatever you need.
01:24I had to deal with a week's worth of guilt trips because I've been so busy with work.
01:30I haven't been able to come on.
01:31But he's sending me clips of Josie.
01:33He's sending me clips of Omar Kelly at various establishments around.
01:38Like, just like, see, they're doing it.
01:40They're doing it.
01:41I'm like, oh, real true friends of the show.
01:44Oh, here's Omar Kelly drinking a Slurpee on 7-Eleven.
01:47I haven't poisoned my body enough for you over the years.
01:52You got a fry at a Panther game.
01:54That's all you get.
01:55The snack wrap was reintroduced.
01:58Cugno wouldn't go to McDonald's for us.
01:59I figured hot dog day.
02:00Can you just, can you boil up a hot dog there at home then?
02:03I'm sure you have hot dogs in the fridge, right?
02:05Boil a hot dog?
02:08Well, I mean, you can't grill it, right?
02:10Yeah.
02:10What are we going to do?
02:11Why can't I grill one?
02:15Was that impossible?
02:16It just doesn't feel like you're a guy who would fire up the grill at a moment's notice.
02:19It seems like you'd have a whole procedure.
02:20Oh, my God.
02:21I grill like four times a week.
02:23You do?
02:25Yeah.
02:26What about a zucchini dog?
02:27A little Crowder powder.
02:29What's that?
02:30A zucchini dog or something like that.
02:33Zucchini dog was my nickname in high school.
02:38I bet it was.
02:40All right.
02:41Well, Mike Cugno disappointing us, not calling from, because we asked you to get one of the
02:46roller dogs at 7-Eleven.
02:48When's the last time you've been out there?
02:49Man, I will never, I don't know, it's been a while, but I will never do the roller dogs
02:55again.
02:55I told you the story in Tallahassee buying the two for $1 from like the Shell gas station
03:01roller dog because you're like, you're broke college.
03:03I can't go back to that.
03:04I can't.
03:08Upgraded, Hawk.
03:09Roller glizzy.
03:10I mean, the old Cugno I used to know.
03:13Knocked down a couple of glizzies.
03:15Wash it down with a shamrock shake.
03:17I don't even know this guy anymore.
03:19Never happened.
03:21None of that ever happened.
03:23I don't even know this guy.
03:24Now he's showing up at Panthers games with a Tupperware full of zucchini muffins.
03:28We had to catch him at Florida State.
03:31That's when Mike was Mike.
03:33That's when Bleep went down.
03:35That's when Bleep went down.
03:36I would have eaten the Tupperware at Florida State had you asked me.
03:40Like, you guys just missed the boat altogether.
03:44You know, Solana counts as macros.
03:46Do you count macros?
03:49I used to do that stuff, but you kind of get into a rhythm of what's what, and then you
03:53don't have to count it.
03:55So, you just eat a whole lot of protein and move on with your day.
03:59I don't want to look at an app every time I have a meal.
04:02Pretty lame, huh?
04:04He likes, what does he like?
04:05Micro greens?
04:06Is that what you mean?
04:06He drinks micro greens and omega-3 eggs.
04:09Free range.
04:10Yeah.
04:10You ever have an omega-3 egg?
04:13I don't know what that is.
04:17It's just a cage-free egg, Mike.
04:19I mean, these guys are, these guys are.
04:23How many times do I have to tell you?
04:24Were we caging eggs before?
04:27Were they going to have soup?
04:28What are we doing?
04:30Micro greens are a great source of fiber for the last time.
04:34But I think Mike brings up a great point.
04:36It's a cage-free chicken.
04:38I don't think we call it a cage-free egg.
04:40Man, those eggs are quick.
04:42They'll get away from them.
04:44Why do you think the price went up this year on eggs?
04:48They're shaping.
04:49Well, that's up for debate.
04:50I mean, I could go.
04:51So, again, he's going to be doing the Dolphins sidelines for the preseason on CBS 4.
04:59Do we know, we were talking about this with a couple of guys, a couple of analysts, are the Dolphins one of the great unknowns this season?
05:07Where they could just as easy be a playoff team as they could just as easy be the cellar dwellers in their own division?
05:17Like, do we know, do we have any idea going into the season what they're going to be?
05:23Okay, so this is kind of the way I look.
05:27Like, when I talk about a floor with the Dolphins, the way I look at it is what we saw last year with Tua in there and Tua out.
05:34So, the combination of that was eight wins.
05:38So, I think, in my mind, you started about just Tua being there is going to, like, for an entire season, you can put your floor somewhere right around seven or eight wins.
05:51So, that to me, and then what happens next, whether they could figure out the offense, obviously the offensive line, there's going to be some changes there.
05:59That's where I go.
06:00So, that's why I don't see this team being a bad football team.
06:05Like, I'm not, like, I don't think they're, like, a four-win team.
06:09I'm just not going to buy that.
06:11I think they're more, it's more like, are you going to get eight and nine Miami Dolphins, or is it going to, or is the ceiling going to be a little higher from there?
06:19That's where I kind of put their baseline, because they are getting a lot of, look, Minka Fitzpatrick being back there at safety is certainly going to help,
06:26but the defensive line is going to look a lot better this year, not so many injuries coming into the season.
06:31So, to me, I just don't see them as one of these, you know, polarizing teams in terms of the number of wins.
06:40And, Mike, you bring up the O-line, and I'm with you, you know, Armstead retiring and bringing in young guys.
06:45I can't say his name. I'm not going to try the second-round pick.
06:49But my biggest question is cornerback.
06:53Like, if I'm another team going into a game and it's Cater, Kohu, and Storm Duck, I'm not running the ball very much.
06:59Is that the biggest concern, or is it another position?
07:03No, I mean, no, you're right. It is. It is the biggest question, Mark.
07:06We'll see if they can find a veteran sometime between now and then, maybe even trade for one.
07:10But that's why I think that, you know, having Sheeler there and Chop and Jalen and Bradley,
07:16having that unit healthy and getting to the quarterback, to me, that's going to help so much.
07:23And you really, you know, I think we kind of forget the, you know, what Bradley Chubb was adding.
07:29The year, you know, he was healthy when it was him, Seeler, Jalen for most of the year before he got hurt,
07:36like, he was an 11-sack guy.
07:37Like, he was either first or second in the team and tackles for a loss that year, too.
07:42Like, that was a lot of production you lost with Bradley Chubb and Jalen being out.
07:47So, that obviously would help.
07:49That would help on the back end with those corners in terms of time to throw, obviously.
07:54But you still need some dependable guys.
07:56So, they do have to figure that out.
07:58That is the biggest question mark going into camp.
08:01There will be camp battles, and we'll see if they can find someone maybe on the market that they can plug and play immediately.
08:07Hey, what about offensively?
08:09What's the identity going to be in your mind, Kunio?
08:11Is it going to be in 2023?
08:14Because I know we've done, and the Dolphins have been talking about, they're trying to change, you know,
08:20the culture inside the locker room, and they're trying to be a tougher team.
08:23And they can say what they want to say.
08:25But when they start playing games, are they going to try to really be a more run-first team?
08:32Or is this just going to end up being the track meet that we saw in 2023?
08:37Because, hey, Tyreek should be healthy, Waddle should be healthy, and hopefully Tua's healthy for 17.
08:42So, that is my number one question going into this year, is what the offensive identity will be.
08:50Because, look, last year they even told us, like, and, you know, Mike McDain said at times, like,
08:55even Tyreek was saying, hey, we need to be a little bit more balanced on offense in terms of the way we attack teams.
09:01To me, if you have two of the fastest guys in the NFL on the outside, use two of the fastest guys in the NFL on the outside.
09:09And then, you know, what Devon H. Andrew can give you at the backfield in terms of,
09:15you don't know whether he's going to run the ball or be a pass catcher.
09:18And we know all the motion and stuff they do.
09:20If you can figure that part of the offense out again like you did in 2023,
09:25I'd much rather see them go that way.
09:28Because sometimes using that threat to set up the run isn't bad.
09:33We saw Raheem Mostert set a Dolphins franchise record in terms of touchdowns that year.
09:41And a lot of it's coming out of the backfield.
09:42So, to me, I just think you just lean into your most talented players.
09:49Use them.
09:49And to me, that's where I would go in terms of finding an identity.
09:53It just seems so simple.
09:56I know it's not.
09:56In the NFL, there's a lot of moving parts.
09:59But if it were me, I would go back to more of the track meet style.
10:04Get those guys going.
10:05Even Malik Washington.
10:06I mean, he had packages last year where you saw some flashes of that speed.
10:11I just like what they have at wide receiver.
10:14And until they can tell me that and show me they can run the ball, just lean on those guys.
10:19Yeah, I'm with that.
10:20But who do you think they're closer to, being the team that they were in 2023 or being the team that we saw last season?
10:27Because I've made the case to Crowder and Solana and Jimmy that, hey, ignore last year.
10:33Like, only worry about 2023 when Tua was healthy.
10:37Whatever you saw last year was, to me, an aberration.
10:41I expect them to look like they looked in 2023.
10:45Which one do you think is the closer to this team being this season?
10:50I'm going to caveat.
10:51I'm going to say they're closer to 2023.
10:53But I'm going to caveat this because last year, that was just frustrating.
10:57That was just a frustrating year because of the injury at quarterback.
11:01Him in and out of the lineup.
11:02So, and that's why I said, like, to me, that's the baseline.
11:06If that's how bad it's going to be again, you know this team is going to be, I think, at worst, seven wins.
11:13But, man, there were just so many times that season, 2023,
11:18where it looked like opposing defenses just had no answers.
11:22And then there was times where some teams seemed to figure it out, like the Baltimore Ravens.
11:28I'm just, you know, it's fine the middle ground of whatever 2023 was.
11:34It's not the 70 points.
11:36And it's not the team that, you know, went into Baltimore and got blasted.
11:40But it's somewhere in the middle where you're seeing a lot of production, where you're seeing Tua being, look,
11:46that year Tua was the number one passer in the league in terms of yards.
11:49And he was top five in terms of touchdowns.
11:51He had 29 that year.
11:53But it's got to be, he's got to be somewhere in that one to eight range for this offense, to me,
12:00to be clicking at what we remember seeing in 23.
12:05And, Mike, speaking of Tua, it runs through him.
12:09The team, I don't say the offense, the team runs through him.
12:12If they don't get to, you know, mid-20s, you know, high 20s, 30s,
12:15like I don't think they're going to win, you know, choke teams out defensively.
12:19But is our concern of the backup quarterback something bigger this year
12:24because of what we saw with Tim Boyle and Huntley and all those guys last year?
12:28Like when Zach Wilson gets in the game now, you really have to pay attention, don't you?
12:32Yeah, so think about this.
12:36So last year, in terms of passing plays of 20 or more air yards,
12:42the Dolphins had 10 all season.
12:45And that was, I believe that was tied for 31st in the league,
12:48where the year before they were first.
12:50So, and you can see even Tua, his air yards last year took a bit of a dip.
12:56That's why I think, like, he's got, the offense has to go back to that 2023 style.
13:03And having, like, having your quarterback room, your backup quarterback room set,
13:07you know, that these are the guys, you know, you're not going back and forth
13:11or all of a sudden in the end of July or mid-August, you got to find a new guy.
13:16No, the fact that these guys are going to be in it and, you know,
13:20Zach Wilson has experience as a starter in this league,
13:24you feel a little bit better about that stuff and maybe trust it.
13:29Look, if Quinn Ewers gets in there at any point, something terrible has gone wrong, right?
13:34Like, two quarterbacks have gone down.
13:38You probably feel better.
13:39Zach Wilson's no good, which is a possibility.
13:43Which, you know, but at least you've seen him start NFL games before.
13:49That's why I say maybe he's no good because I've seen him.
13:51Right, right. I know, I know.
13:54But at least there was some plan to address it this year,
13:58where last year it felt like it was just kind of like trying to play catch-up
14:04the entire time something bad happened at the quarterback position.
14:09Gunio, what did you think of the swing-off to end the All-Star game last night?
14:12Thank you for asking because Salonis had to sneak in a really bad,
14:19really bad take in the middle of the night.
14:22I thought it was great.
14:24My only hang-up on it was that Mr. Boone picked someone else to hit home runs
14:32on that line because we needed to see it come down to the last guy.
14:37That's my only great –
14:39Well, do you know why he was forced to pick who he was forced to pick?
14:42Did some guys just like hit the showers and leave?
14:46Am I making that up?
14:46Not just hit the showers.
14:48We're literally on airplanes.
14:50Like Aaron Judge was on an airplane.
14:52Like everyone left.
14:53The real stars play the first couple of innings because they start
14:57and then they get out of there so they can have a little modicum of a vacation
15:01before the league starts back up again.
15:03But that was – no, it was great.
15:05It's a great idea and I love it.
15:06But there are certain guys across the league that just seem built for that kind of stuff.
15:10Schwarber and Pete Alonso would be top of my list in terms of who would you want
15:15to have a swing-off.
15:18I would choose those two guys in any top five for a swing-off ever.
15:23I loved it.
15:24I thought it was great.
15:25I'm also happy that Stowers was able to contribute there in that spot
15:29because everyone around the country is probably like, who's this Stowers guy?
15:32But we've been watching him hit 19 home runs for the first half of the season.
15:35And we knew he had the power to do it.
15:37Solana doubled down on it in the 2 o'clock hour.
15:39I mean, maintains it was awful.
15:41No, I just didn't love it the way everybody else loved it, Cuno.
15:44Everybody – I texted Hawk before I even looked at Twitter.
15:49I was telling Hawk, man, like, I don't think this is good.
15:51I don't think this is fun.
15:53And then I go to Twitter and I'm expecting the same reaction.
15:56And I literally can't find a single person who didn't like it.
16:01Everybody's talking about –
16:02It was the most fun of the entire night.
16:04Right.
16:04Everybody's talking about it being, like, the best thing that's ever happened in sports.
16:07And I didn't have that reaction.
16:09I didn't feel that way.
16:10You got to look at it through the prism of baseball,
16:14who has traditionally messed up this game by having ties
16:19and all of a sudden calling games.
16:20Like, they have – over the last couple of years,
16:23they have made adjustments to the game itself,
16:26whether it's extra innings, whether it's the pitch clock,
16:28whether it's the robotic umps that are coming into play.
16:31This was just another thing that baseball fans, young and old,
16:36can point to and go, this was a cool way to end this.
16:40Did you see the last out of the game, dude?
16:43That little check swing where the ball didn't leave the batter's box?
16:46Like, how can the all-star game end in a 6-6 tie on that?
16:50So, like, to me, that's why they needed something.
16:52That would have been the most anticlimactic finish to an all-star game
16:55after the way that AL came back in that – they were down 6-0.
16:59And for it to end on that little check foul ball, whatever,
17:03would have been a disaster.
17:04So, look at the prism of the changes baseball has made,
17:07and you just put this in the win column for what they've been doing.
17:10You call it a disaster.
17:11I would have called it spectacular,
17:14because it means I could have gone to bed earlier
17:16instead of watching a bunch of guys take –
17:17But you were watching it.
17:19You literally only tuned it out because I texted you –
17:22I texted you that there's a dong off.
17:24Like, I mean, that's the only reason.
17:28Yeah, I didn't watch a single minute of the all-star game, Mike.
17:31I didn't even know about the check swing.
17:32That does sound ridiculous.
17:33Oh, my God.
17:34You see –
17:35That's what I'm saying.
17:36You're arguing with – yeah.
17:38A little context, buddy.
17:42You know, like, man, you're so good at this,
17:46like, that you're perfect for –
17:49This is why you win these awards for Miami times,
17:51because you could just swoop in with a hot take
17:53and not have seen an entire game
17:55and just, you know, you zigged when everyone zagged.
17:59Guy told us Julian Hill was going to be the next great tight end
18:02for the Dolphins.
18:06Could be.
18:08I mean, I've got Cugno today.
18:11He will not say a bad word about Zach Wilson or Julian Hill.
18:14This dude is excited for his sideline.
18:18Darren Waller.
18:19We need Darren Waller.
18:20I'm trying to get him to take a shot at Jim Barry.
18:23I mean, I'm giving him easy targets.
18:25He's passing on all of –
18:26The only thing he wants to attack is glizzies.
18:29Yeah.
18:30See, I know how to bob and weave.
18:33I'm giving you the old rope-a-dope.
18:34Oh, we've noticed.
18:35I'm giving you the rope-a-dope while still getting air time,
18:38which is just beautiful.
18:39Like, this is –
18:40You have an air fryer?
18:41Someone texts in that you could air fry a hot dog.
18:43I used to have an air fryer, and then it crapped out on me,
18:48which was a disaster because I used to –
18:51Man, my old go-to candy was you dice up a little mango,
18:54put some chili powder on it, and dry a mango in there.
18:57I am on a mango kick lately.
19:00Funny that you say mango.
19:02When's mango out of season?
19:03Because I am on a major mango kick.
19:05It's getting there.
19:06It's getting there if it isn't already.
19:08It's never really out of season, though.
19:09You just go to Publix, you buy some mango.
19:11Can you get mango all year long?
19:13All year long.
19:14Yeah, you can.
19:15But that's not candy, Mike.
19:16That's a dried mango.
19:17Don't call that candy.
19:19You're not –
19:19If you get the right mango, though, it is almost like candy.
19:21The right mango at the heart of mango season is almost like eating a Snickers bar.
19:27That's ridiculous.
19:28It's the same thing.
19:30Caramel comes out of it and everything.
19:32And, Hawk, you better quit trying Jim Barry.
19:34Jim Barry ain't no easy win now.
19:37Oh, listen, I used to have Jim Barry on the show until Cuno stole his slot
19:41and now all of a sudden won't do any of the fun stuff that he promised.
19:46Who, me or Jim?
19:47Is this how Jim got off doing this?
19:51Is that how he got out of it?
19:54Pretty much, yeah.
19:56For whatever reason, I could not get Jim Barry to agree to go get an Orange Julius
20:01while talking about the Panthers preseason.
20:04To pick this man's brain a little bit more.
20:07See you, Cuno.
20:08We love you.
20:09Love you, too.
20:10Hey.
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