This is the Patriots Catch twenty two podcasts with Evan Lazar and Alex bar Blazarre and Lazarre.
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Here is Evan Lazar and Alex Bars.
I feel like Chad Ryland's been better than Joey Slide.
He I wouldn't say that it's close. He has one more make but sly hit of a live kick with fifty seven yard of a one on.
I had the kickers overalls the down it really Yeah, And so you still think this is an issue, Yeah, it's I put Chad Ryland on here just to mess with you. I'm not talking about it. I don't.
So you didn't watch the kickers, You're just.
Going not even one bit no kicking yesterday and the joint practices.
So we can't with nothing in the last two days.
Nothing the last two day. Oh yeah, I guess that's true. Yeah, we can't critique the kickers from yesterday's joint practice with the Eagles. We are are We have other things to talk about that are much bigger than the kicker with this team right now. Evan Lazar, Alex Barth Patriots Catch twenty two with you for the next couple of hours. We're obviously going to talk about yesterday's joint practice. We'll get a little bit more into tomorrow night's preseason game
against the Philadelphia Eagles as well. Do three up, three down. That's sort of the show for you today, And of course we'll take your lovely calls and emails. Eight five to five PATS five hundred is the phone number, and web radio at Patriots dot com is the email address. And before we get rolling, Hey Patriots fans, if you want to see Toyota's best offers, including those not seen on TV, go to buy a Toyota dot com. It's Toyota's official website for deals for the official vehicle of
the New England Patriots, Toyota. Let's go places. And after yesterday, alex I cracked open a nice bud Light after that practice. It's easy to drink, it's easy to enjoy. Bud Light, the official beer sponsor of the New England Patriots. All right, just give me a second to get something off mych here.
Go for it.
You know how I do this, right? Yeah, I'm gonna here's my opening monologue, my opening take of the show about yesterday's practice for the Patriots offense. I would love to come in here and just let it roll off and just say, you know what, the Eagles, I look this up. They are right now in some places have the third best odds to win the Super Bowl this year, third best odds in the league behind the Chiefs and
the forty nine ers to win the Super Bowl. The Patriots are in that conversation, but for the number one overall pick right there on the other side of the spectrum. So there's a part of me that doesn't want to completely kill them for what happened yesterday, because this is two teams that are moving in very very different directions and are in very very different places and their roster development.
The Eagles came into this practice yesterday and my first thought as these teams were running onto the field is like, there's Jalen Hurts, There's Aj Brown, There's Devonte Smith, Jordan Davis, There's Saquon Bark Jordan Davis, there's Jalen Carter. Like you know, there's all these studs on that side of the football, and I'm like, the Patriots just don't match up well
against this team. This is a team that is very very good against a team that's rebuilding, and there's definitely some truth to that, but I can't completely let it go, like I can't completely sure let the Patriots off the hook that easily. And I also want to just put the caveat on this by saying, this does not necessarily mean that Drake may is going to be a bust and Rod Mayo is going to be out of a job in two years and all of this is terrible, right and gonna go up in flames. It's one day.
It doesn't necessarily mean anything about the long term future of what they're doing here. With that being said, I want to read a few stats from you from the charting that I did to practice yesterday, just to set the scene what this was like for the Patriots offense yesterday, which frankly was a bleep show, an absolute bleep show on the offensive side of the football. And we've seen some bad offense in summers. I don't love comparing because it's hard, it's hard to get, but.
I gotta ask this. I don't know yesterday wasn't good. There were days in twenty two that felt worse to me.
Yeah, I would agree, but this is yesterday was worse than anything we saw last year. Yeah, I would agree. You know, we were talking about after the show. Duce and I were in Green Bay last year for the joint practices, and we mentioned to each other, like, where this didn't feel this bad in green Bay?
Green Bay last year was like encouraging pretty much.
Yeah, especially on one of the days. It feels like it felt like the Patriots were able to the offense was able to make some plays down the field. You know, DeVante Parker over Russell Douglas I think was like the big play in that late portion of practice when it was like full team will been on eleven.
Sure.
Anyways, anyways, here's some numbers for you. Give me numbers, Drake, I almost said mac Jones because we're just talking about it. Drake May and Jacoby Brissett drop back to pass forty two times in practice yesterday.
Hang on, let me let me run this through the buttons.
Okay, forty two times. Yeah, they were sacked fourteen times. Fourteen times.
You want the percentage on that, it's about a third, right, it's exactly a third? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's also from what I've seen that that number might be conservative compared to some of the other numbers I've seen.
Yeah, so I had fourteen. I practice, sacks are always a gray area. Yeah right, you're not tackling the quarterback to the ground. So who knows if everybody greats them differently, or Jacoby Brissett would squeak out or whatever. I had fourteen Jacoby Brissett. Now both Now, one of them was his fault, one of them wasn't.
And just for the record, for reference, the highest sack rate in the league last year is just over eight percent. The Jets in Miami were tied.
Yeah, Jacoby Brissett. One was his fault, one wasn't. Okay, two interceptions on twenty four passes.
Yeah, one of those definitely not his fault. He hit Austin Hooper right between the numbers. Austin Hooper caught it like caught the ball. And then was it Nolan Davis that hit him, not Nola Day's Nolan Smith. I think that hit him and he just went right up in the air. And I'm not blaming the safety. It doesn't matter no he threw it. I'm just describing the play so people understand what you're talking about.
Okay, this is the maybe the worst part to me and imagine being worse than fourteen sacks on forty two drop ACKs.
Yeah, I actually don't know what you're gonna say here.
Nine penalties? Oh yeah, yeah, nine penalties?
Was it? There were three or four false starts.
Get false starts?
They had an ineligible man downfields and eligible jayvon Baker and OPI.
Looked like a legal hands to the facer face mask or something like that on one of the blockers.
I just remember four like there was flags ever see dull penalties.
There was flags everywhere, and some of it, yes, was procedural, to the point where.
No, the procedural stuff I worry more about, yeah than the other stuff.
To the point where Gerrod Mayo at one point went over to Alex van Pelt with his hands up in the air like this, like what are we doing? Because they couldn't they just like couldn't even get plays.
Off Shanhanshry Okay.
Then they also had three botch snaps exchanges, right, you know, whether the ball just was a bad snap and the ball just hit the ground immediately. And then there was one with Jacoby Brissett where I think he was trying to hand the ball off to Pop Douglas on the Jets sweep and the ball hit the ground. Yeah, and he had to just dive on it like a grade and just yeah.
I think that was the case of being sped up because the way the offensive line was looking. I don't think he was sure he was going to have time to hand that ball off. So fourteen sacks, yeah, two picks, yeap, nine penalties, three botch snaps? Wait, fourteen plus two plus nine plus five? Right?
Yes?
Okay, on how many snaps?
Forty two dropbacks?
Right, so you've encounted for thirty so far.
Correct. Then here was Drake May's last two minute. And this this part really gets into all that kind of stuff. Is just like, Okay, you had a bad day, you were playing a really good team in practice, and you got your butts kicked. All right, it happens. Okay, this is the part where it starts to I get to the point where these things are going to irk me
like that. Now I'm mad. Now, now I'm mad. Drake May's final two minute in yesterday's practice, they put him back out there on the field with the twos with Antonio Mafi at center against the Eagles, starting defense, Yeah, what are we trying to accomplish with that? So he goes sacked by Nolan Smith, who goes right around Calvin Anderson at left tackle for like at second two point
four seconds or something. Ridiculous sack by team. I wrote team because there was multiple eagles in the backfield that I'm not actually one hundred percent sure who.
Touched the team meeting at the quarterback.
Yes, yeah, complete pocket collapse.
Couple of those, but a couple of those yesterday.
But an incomplete pass on a comeback round to Kaishan Body that stood no chance. He threw the ball, you know it was. It was wide right, but Kaishan Budi was covered. The ball had to come out instantly. At this point he sped up.
He put it well, I know, talking about the one he put like well into the sideline. Yeah, yeah, that was I call it a throwaway.
It was. It was borderline throwaway.
I thought it was a throwaway. I actually didn't even think it was a target.
And then on the last play for Drake Mason, right now he's over three.
Yeah, on the last.
Play he goes four and out, Nikobe Dean comes in up the middle, blows up the running back on the way to the quarterback and sack.
Yeah.
So we have three sacks and four play span and one incomplete pass against the Eagles starting defense against the Patriots twos, which I still don't really understand. Why what the point of that is. So my guess where I'm getting at with this is, first of all, you know, I have to be innocent till proven guilty. I have to give them the benefit of the doubt, the coaching staff, the front office that I can't come on this show in May. Yeah, already screaming about the offensive line before.
I did that for both of us, before the pads come. I can't.
I'm not in a position to do that. Yeah, I have to watch it first.
I have to give them that courtesy that let's put the pads on, let's see what it looks like.
I usually too, I usually do that too. That's how worried.
Okay, at this point, if you do, you want the truth, the truth is I'm ordering the code read. This is Defcon five. This is they need to get into a meeting room with the offensive coaching staff and all of them need to have a coming to Jesus about what the heck they're doing. Up front. They can't block anybody. Okay, that's the starting point. Vederian Low at left tackle is not working. It's not working. The line looked like it was making some early signs of hope, progress, whatever you
want to call it. When they have Caden Wallace up with the top group at left tackle and Chooks a Corf on the right side. That was two weeks ago. Now it was like twelve practices ago or something like that. They they haven't gone back to it. They they don't seem to want to go whatever the case may be. They don't want to go back to it. But Darien the left tackle is not working. They need to move away from that. Uh you finish your point. Sorry, No,
it's okay. I would also say that the one silver lining or bright spot on the line so far has been Laden Robinson, who I think has been decent. It was good in the game last week on Thursday Night.
Well what about Mike on win?
Yeah, but I'm talking about guys that you're not like expecting to.
Carry on to surprise, So not the typical starters.
Yeah, right, Like I can't worry about David Andrews and Mike on Win right now, right, right? Okay, So the way I look at it, they're at they're at red alert, they're at def Con five. They need to do something upfront. They either need to sign somebody off the street like a Donovan Smith and see and roll with that and see if that works. Or they need to move it around right, they need to reconfigure.
Yep.
So there's a couple of ways they could do it. Maybe Leyden Robinson goes into the starting lineup and Mike on wen who goes back out to right tackle and choofs the core force flips back to left tackle. Maybe you just elevate Caden Wallace up to the top group again and he is at left tackle and everybody else stays the same. But something has to change. You cannot have Vedarian Lowe as a starting left tackle for this
team in week one. Yeah, and I'm not trying to like single him out and like pick on him necessarily, but it just the five guys that they're rolling with right now, the combination doesn't work and four out of five of them need to play because that's that's the plan.
Well, let me let me put it this way. It's not to pick on on Darren Lowe. He shouldn't be in this spot, right. He's not an NFL starter. Yeah, and what you're seeing on the field is just confirmation of that. I don't think anybody was expecting to be This isn't They're not in this spot because players are underperforming compared to expectations. They're in this spot because players
are performing the same way they've always played with. The tape tells us all of them, and that's there's good and bad to that, but that's why they're in the spot. So I do think they should change something, yea. I you know, Mike ohen Went who out to tackle is interesting. I do wonder if they like the group on the interior right now and don't want to start moving pieces. And I was on with Taylor Kyles this morning and he brought this up, and this is something you've talked about.
Mike go and Went, who was a good tackle, but he's a great guard. Would you agree with that assessment?
Yes?
So do they if they move Michael and Went into tackle? Do they have any great offensive linemen?
Probably not, but it still might be the most stable, So I know, but I wonder if it's not like a five man.
I get what you're saying, I just wonder if that plays into the equation. No, I think I'm knowing you have an anchor.
What plays into the equation is that they are looking at it and saying andrews. So that is a stagmos of that too, like, Okay, we got the interior to work, let's not touch that because the last thing you need is to move Michael and winnow outside. It's a little bit of a process for him to get back at it at right tackle. And also maybe Leyden Robinson as a rookie doesn't take the step with the top unit.
You think, now now it's a real fire drill. And I'm not saying that would happen, but I think that's part of the equation. And that's why. And this is what I was gonna say, Evan when I almost cut you off. They should change it. I don't think they're going to before week one because they're simply out of time. And if you start moving pieces now, you're not gonna
be able to get guys ready for week one. Gerrod Mao a couple of times this summer, when asked about finalizing the offensive line, had given this second preseason game is kind of the.
Cutoff point and said, we want to know if they're they're just beyond that point.
But but listen, but let me let me finish the point. After that second preseason game is when they want to know. And there's a reason for that because after the second preseason game, it's not really training camp anymore. You're sort of done with the testing and evaluation and player development stage. You're starting to get ready for Week one. And you
can't do that if you're rotating the offensive line. And this is why it's so frustrating to me that they stuck with this Vaderian Low group as long as they mean to pick on him. But that's the big change. That's what's so frustrating about them sticking with the Vaderian Low group as long as they did. Remember I said before the Panthers game, Evan, all right, you gave them a week. You're gonna give them the game. Let's see what it looks like. And they did that, and that
was fine. You gave him a full week. You let them build some continuity. It clearly wasn't working after that game. This would have been the week to go back into the lab, can reconfigure things again, experiment, change things and see what works. But they're at that cutoff point, which is objectively a logical cutoff point. Now, I think they kind of have to roll with this at least three weeks one and two and then reevaluate and when you
get into the season, maybe move some things around. And it's probably a situation like it was last year, like it was the year before that, that it's gonna be week five, six seven, and mic wh Win, who's gonna move out to tackle and things will settle down and you'll have some more time to work with Laden Robinson, get him ready there. So I don't disagree with anything you said. I just think the damage is done. Like they're not going to get that time back that they
spent on this line. And at a certain point you got to dance with hubrungya. And if they start moving pieces around now, you're risking I know people think it can't get worse, but you're risking a real disaster come week one because at the very least, at the very least, the one thing this group has is continuity, and you're risking the same quality product without continuity if you start moving pieces around now. And I know that sounds a
little hypocritical. What's the difference between changing now versus changing weeks four or five. You don't Bill would do this. They would rotate the tackles week one, and you can do some of that, and you can are moving pieces around within the games and see what things look like in the games. But you don't want to not have a line set. You don't want to go into week one with a line that hasn't spent significant time together. That's just asking for trouble.
Okay, So I agree with everything you said. That's the short term panic button of what's going on right now. That's the week one conversation. That's September twenty twenty. Let me get to it.
It's a little longer, Okay, go ahead.
My bigger concern about what's going on right now is what's going on with Drake May. Yeah, because that's the franchise right there. Like, I really don't care too much about September twenty twenty four. I just don't like I want them to be competitive. I want it to be a watchable product. It's more fun for us if it's watchable and it's competitive and all that kind of stuff. But it's not my biggest.
So sorry to backtrack real quick before you get into Drake may Than, because someone's to asking you said, you're into the idea of them signing a veteran.
Now, if what we're seeing is truly accurate, like if they're watching the film back of practice and it truly looks as bad on the film as it looks watching live, then then I at this point they might have to consider it.
I think it has to be DJ Humphries, if you go that way, I think he's the Charles Leno's healthy, Charles Leno's coming off hip surgery in March.
DJ Humphries is coming off an injury too.
Yeah, but it's an ACL, and I know that sounds bad, and none of the there's a reason all these guys are available. Yeah, ACL is relatively recoverable now, especially for alignment. How do you feel about a guy and and he tore his ACL in December? How you feel about about a guy that had hip surgery in March? Yeah, and that would be Charles Leonel Leno. David Bactiari can't get
on that he has been in field three years. Donovan Smith is healthy, but you go back and you look at the way he played last year, if he takes another drop off like he did from twenty two to twenty three, I actually don't think he's an upgrade.
Yeah, I'm not totally. This is again where I don't feel like those guys are upgrades necessarily. So I'm not like I think. I think Humphreys has the best chance to be a marginal upgrade. But I'm with you, I'm not pounding the day. But this is where, again you talk about the time they've already spent. Yeah, they brought one of these guys in at the end of July or at the beginning of August, you'd have a better idea. Yeah.
So my biggest concern right now is what's going on with Drake may because it's not so much that I I don't know where he's at. I honestly don't know. I couldn't tell you where he's at because he played six naps in the preseason game last week. We haven't had a show since then. I know that that's kind of water under the bridge at this point. But he didn't play in the preseason game last week. For all
intents and purposes. He gets into the practice yesterday and his line is just completely overwhelmed with what the Eagles are doing upfront, and he really just didn't have a ton of chances. So for me to sit here and say, how is he mentally progressing, you know, going through reading coverage, going through progressions like timing rhythm, I don't know, And that's terrifying. That's terrifying that we can't. This is what all of us had fear feared about putting him in during the sea.
Don't say all of us you wanted to start in week one and we went back and people got mad in the YouTube comments we were arguing, okay, so much.
Sure, whatever, I'm just saying. The point is is that we don't know where Drake lay is at because he's not given a chance out there right now. And I know everybody's gonna hear that and say, well, why don't they just put him in front of the ones, And Okay, I hear you all on that. But to say sit here and say he's he's so far away, like he's he's not even close to playing yet, I just don't know how you could say that, because does he even have a chance to go through a progression right now?
Like could he really have a chance at going one, two, three, and like hitting a backside dig route right now.
The few times he's done he's the few times he's had that, he has done it. Yeah, but it's just so few and far between that you don't know if it's a consistency thing or why.
I am sure that there are things pre snap and within the first couple beats of plays where he needs to be found master or if he's not quite there yet mentally in terms of configuring things and setting mike points and all that kind I'm sure there's a bunch of that kind of stuff going on where if he was a little bit further along in that capacity, maybe he would be able to get them into better positions
to run plays more successfully. I am allowing for that completely, but that's hard to ask for a rookie quarterback like that. That's not gonna happen from ninety nine percent of rookie quarterbacks. What I'm seeing out of him in practice right now is that it's incomplete, like it's I don't know what he is. I'm hoping that we're going to see a little bit more tomorrow night, and maybe that will give us an indication of where he's at. But right now.
I just mentioned the hurry up, like that hurry up was worthless, like it didn't teach us anything, he didn't get anything out of it. And that part, to me, is even more worrisome than the fact that it might not be great upfront for the first you know, for this season, or even the entire year. Maybe I was gonna say September, but maybe even in the entire year.
He's at a point now where the conditions, the environment is just not conducive for him to be developed in a way that we can come out tangibly and say when people ask me, where's Drake May at right, I honestly couldn't tell you.
Yeah, so I got to ask. I did a mail bag last night on ninety eight five the sports sub dot com, and I was asked, I'm trying to find the exact question, is Drake May's future in trouble since the offensive line is struggling, And I said, it doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be because this should not be Drake May's offensive line, like they should go out and improve it. I'm talking long term. I'm
not talking about DJ Humphries. I'm talking about after this year now, his timeline may be delayed, which I think, Evan is what you're talking about, that we're not going to get an answer on him. We're not going to get a referendum on him as soon as we maybe
otherwise would because the offensive line doesn't allow that. But if they handle this correctly, and I don't love the spot they've put Drake Man to begin with, I think it's very clear where I stand on that in terms of the investments they made in the offensive line this offseason or lack thereof, they can still go out and make those investments and get them a line and put
them in a position to succeed. But that also comes with delaying the timeline, and that means dealing with pressure from the media, from the fans, perhaps inside the building to get Drake made going because if they put him behind this offensive line, I don't think it's gonna look
good now, and I think it's gonna hurt him. So it is tough that you don't know right now, and the reality is, at least as I see it, we're probably gonna have to go through maybe an entire year that we just don't know that we can't say whether or not he's good or bad, because we're not going to get the full picture. And if he goes in early and struggles, then you look at, well, is this
doing lasting damage? So what you're saying, yeah, it's tough, and you might go into next off season with quarterbacks still essentially an unknown. I don't think you can go out and at a guy but well, or are we building this is Drake May the guy we can build this around, like you might go in with that because of where the offensive line is at.
Yeah, it just it feels to me as though there's one thing coming from the team right now about Drake May. And we had Alex Van Pelt addressed the season ticket holders on Sunday and I was there asking him questions. Mike Reeves tweeted out the exact quote, and he was very complimentary of Drake May's said that, you know, they've cleaned up his footwork, he's going through progressions a lot faster than maybe they expected, like all these kinds of things.
And I'm not calling him a liar. I'm just saying I don't know how you could tell. And they obviously have a knowledge of the game and a knowledge of what's going on out there. That's double that of the people in this room, right right. But the point of being is that he is at a point now where, well, first of all, they're asking him to play within the
pocket in practice. I asked him this about I asked him about this yesterday, and he said, in practice, you can't really simulate all the off script improvisational stuff like I'm not gonna break out of the pocket, spin move a sack and then get out on the perimeter and start making things happen with my legs, Like that's not really what we're the goal of practices, Like, that's not
what we're really trying to do in practice. So they're already making him play a little bit left handed and work on things he's not necessarily good at yet or not necessarily all the way there yet with so it was always going to be bumpy as he kind of
goes through this developmental phase of his career. But they also are putting him in an environment where the people in front of him can't block for him, and frankly, like the receivers haven't really been giving him a ton of separation either, because their best receiver in terms of separation all that is pop obviously he gets all of his reps with Jakobe were sett and the starters. Hunter Henry has been out there the last couple of days, but he gets all of his reps which Kobe were
set and the starters. Those are your best pass catchers, and Drake may doesn't throw to either of them right now. Usually he gets a Kashawan Boody, the rookies, you know, Polk Baker, and then maybe some combination of like Rager Thornton will mix in there as well with him. That's usually the guys in the that tight end. It's pet Way, will Cox, you know, those types of players. No offense to any of those guys. But that's not necessarily helping
him out either. So I know that people think that I'm making excuses for him, probably you know the anti Drake made people hear a bunch of excuses. But to me, it's not even that I don't know if he's good or bad, like it's incomplete, like I I wish I could give you a judgment, like I wish I could sit here and tell you. And this to me is problematic because we're headed in a direction now where he's
probably gonna sit a while in his rookie season. If he sits a while in his rookie season, once you get in season, all those reps in practice are gonna be going to Jcobe prisct' because he's got to getting ready to play the game on Sunday, so they're just not there. So these this was his opportunity to show
real development from start to finish a training camp. And now hopefully we get to see him more, like I keep saying in the preseason games, and then I could get on on the film and really grate out the film and see exactly how it looks with the ability to watch it back. But it's disappointing. It's frustrating that we are at such an incomplete impast this far into camp with Drake May that we just don't really know
what he is yet. And there's you can see it with the eyes that you know he's got physical tools, he's got ability, he's got size, all the things we knew already. I feel like we've learned no new information about him, and I shouldn't be saying that like we
should have. We should have learned a lot of new information about him, and I feel like we have none at this point in training camp, and that to me is even more worrisome than the fact that they can't block the Eagles front on August thirteenth or whatever it was.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean agree with all that. I don't know. I don't know much. Add I get it. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just the known as frustrating. It doesn't mean Drake May is bad. It's just frustrating from the outside looking in, Like because I think people hear that and think, oh, that means Drake May isn't good. That's not necessarily case. We just we don't know what he is. Like you said, we haven't learned anything about him.
Is this the whole handling of Drake May in the whole summer that this has me has me irked at this point.
I mean I was irked about it back in March. I'm kind of.
It's griding my gears because it's not even just about the offensive line though, Like I'm not talking about the personnel. I'm talking about how they've handled how they've managed his reps and handled his routine on a day to day basis. He doesn't play in the preseason game he got I believe like half as many reps yesterday as Jacoby Brissett did in a full eleven on eleven's. Yeah, he doesn't get any opportunities with the ones. The door was never open at all for him to make a push ever.
And I'm not even just talking about week one. I don't know how you can look at where we're at right now and expect him to play before Halloween like
this is now. We're at the point where it's gonna go behind closed doors here soon and they're gonna have to see some real progress from him and then and behind closed doors settings, yeah, for the next couple of weeks months that to the point where maybe he can play in like the second half of the year, you know, right, And that that to me did not need We didn't need to get here, We didn't need to get to this point.
Well, when they didn't add a tackle in the offseason, they kind of decided it.
But I don't even think it's just about the tackle. Like in practice, he's in a red non contact orts. He's not gonna get hurt.
But I think some of the trepidation is in Gid kind of talked about this after the first preseason game. They don't they are worried about their ability to protect him, so they're hesitant to play them. And if you know you're hesitant to play them this year at all, why overly drill him in practice?
Because I think you need to find out what you have. You need to find out what you have, like, you need to find out if this guy that you drafted third overall really is the future.
I think they and I think they understand that. I also think they're like, legitimately, they want to make sure jakober Set is competitive this year. They don't want to take anything away from Jacoby Brissett.
I think that's the wrong way to approach it, That's all I'm saying. They why not give him any opportunities with the ones in practice? It makes no sense, especially when you know that the backup offensive lines of train
Wreck right now. Just to give him the opportunity to actually go through a play at in a proper manner consistently and like maybe strings some positive plays together, we get into these hurry ups every single time in practice when they put him in the two minute and he can't move the ball.
Yeah, it's been it's been rough.
Yeah, So like what are we getting out of that? And I get it. You want to give jacobyber Set opportunities to get him ready to play and all that. Jacoby b be fine. He's made forty eight starts in the NFL. He's thirty one years old. Like, if you give Drake May six reps a day with the starters, it's not going to make jacobyber Set go from Tom
Brady to Zach Wilson. Right, He's gonna be who he's gonna be, right, And I just that to me is the biggest thing is it's not so much about let's open the door and let's see what it looks like with Drake May in terms of him starting, it's mostly
just for his development. It would help his development to actually be around pieces that function at a decent level so that he can sit back there and actually go through progressions and go through the offense and move the ball and grows he have some confidence about what he's doing out there. It's it's been going all the way
back to Thursday's preseason game. Then we can we can move on from this going back to Thursday's preseason game to now, all of this handling of the quarterback has made no sense to me.
No, I look, I don't understand the plan. I don't understand I don't I don't want to say I don't see the plan. I do see the plan. I don't like on all the offense line. I don't even understand what the plan is. I guess a quarterback, I understand what the plan is, but it doesn't I said when they moved on for mac Jones that there's less to be learned there. And I hope that even though it's a new like Bill's not in charge anymore, still a lot of the same people. I hope they learn their
lesson from the mac Jones saga. I do wonder if this is maybe too much of an over correction.
In terms of them being so slow with it.
Just so careful, or maybe they're just being so careful. Maybe it has nothing to do with mac Jones. Maybe I mean pack away Aaron Rodgers sat multiple seasons Short and Loves at multiple seasons, like maybe it's some of that, but it just feels like they're they're handling with kid gloves, and I think it and I I'm the one the whole mac Jones that are pounding the table. You need to take it, you need to make it as easy as possible for the quarterback. Saying the quarterback needs help
is not a dirty thing. The more you help your quarterback along, the better. And I still believe all of that, but a certain point you got to put the kid on the field.
Yeah, I wonder my fear isn't necessarily that they're over correcting from mac Jones. My fear is the first thing that you said, Yeah, which is that.
The second thing I said, the packaway thing.
No, my fear is the thing that you said about that they want Jacob Brissett to be viable this year, and like they're more concerned about well winning games in the short term with Jacoby Brissett as the quarterback than they are about developing.
That could be that could so I was actually thinking it the other way. This could be a chicken or eg thing. Yeah, they're so set on stringing Drake may along slowly that that's why they're more invested in Jacoby Brissett because they know that. I didn't think of it the way you're saying. I'm more meant it the other way that the hesitance with Drake may maybe why they're more invested in Jacob Breseet because they know he's going to start at least call twelve games this year.
Yeah, it just the whole handling of his reps. I'm not in his how they're walking him through this whole thing, like let's take all the other pieces around it off the table, like the offensive line, all this stuff, all the way through. How they've just handled his development, I'm not. And I also wanted to take off like footwork and mechanics, and because I think that some of those things have
shown some improvements. I think his footwork does look better in some instances, and I think his motion is tightened up a little bit. His front arm now they're having him bring that front arm closer to his to his body Brady's style, like Brady would put the towel underneath his front arm and keep his arm. His mechanics are faster, more compact. His shotgun drops actually have been a lot better,
you know, a lot more in rhythm. Like his three step hitches right now out of shotgun is actually looks good and looks how it should to my eye at least. So I think that they've made progress with some of the mechanical and technique work that they've done with him.
It's more about the handling of the reps and who he's playing with and when he's playing in preseason games and things like that that I just can't fully wrap my head around, Like was that koe Brissett went out there last Thursday night and he also played what five to six players or something like that. Was Were those five six plays for koe Brissett meaningful in any sort of way? Did they help him in any sort of way? Why not go back to last Thursday night and start
draaking May from the beginning of the game. If you only want him to work with the top offensive line, I get it. You don't want to put the kid back there against a shaky offensive line and get him killed in a preseason game. Then start him with the ones last week, give him two series full series with the ones, and give him those opportunities, because Brissette will get him in the second and third preseason games, and
he got him yesterday in the joint practice. So it just it feels like all these different things, I'm starting to second guess a lot, and that to me is worrisome. But I want to turn the page because we could talk another forty five minutes about all this. So take some of these phone calls and emails, and we got a bunch of emails rolling in as well, and then we have some other things we wanted to get to. But let's get to the phone lines, because these guys
have been waiting. Jeff is in Maine. What's up, Jeff?
Hey?
How you doing? Guys good?
How are you good?
So every year I make my fantasy team name something to do with the Patriots. This year is very niche. It's the Manhattan Project Nice. I don't think anyone is going to get it, because no one in my fantasy is from is from New England. But you know, I think that I think it's.
A good one.
I know that you guys discussed, you know, the offensive coaches having a come to Jesus meeting about the offensive line, and obviously that's the offensive line needs to be addressed.
But do you think that, you know, after playing the Patriots defense every day and being able to kind of adjust your game plan to them, and playing the Panthers stadium maintenance workers that they trotted out there during the preseason game, you know, after getting their butts sticked by the Eagles and a good defense, do you think that this is going to kind of make a VP realize the changes that he's going to need to make, not to like in game adjustments, but just the philosophy of
this offense and how he's going to shape game plans right from the start rather than you know, adjusting on the fly to a defense, but you know, the core philosophies that he's trying to implement because of the person that he has.
Yeah, thanks for the question, Jeff, And we love the fantasy football name. So it's a good question. It's the game plan offense versus just trying to get yourself your house in order, you know, to run things. You mentioned earlier the continuity factor, and there's basically two there's a fork in the road, and there's two ways that things go. They can throw it all out and start putting throw all the on the freaking floor on the and then
start putting them back up on the whiteboard. Or they can just put their head down and say we're gonna trust our stuff, like we're gonna trust ourselves, our coaching, our system, and that in the coming weeks and months, this will get better. Right if we stick stick to the process and we stick to the plan, this would get this will get better, and my gut tells me that they are gonna go with the stick to the process version at.
Least to start. It doesn't mean they're gonna start seventeen games, but yeah, for first week or two.
My gut tells me that because if you read up about these West Coast coaches and this offense and this system and things like that, they'll all tell you, especially in the run game, it takes a while for the outside zone stuff to start to really stick and like come to fruition because it's it's a rhythmic dance. It needs to be drilled, it needs to be sequenced. It all needs to be worked on over repet you know, repetition. Repetition.
Repetition is so big with this coaching tree that it seems unrealistic me that they would just go out there and throw it all away and say we need to start completely from scratch, because my guess is in their head they're saying, by a midway point this year into year two, it'll start to come together, like it'll it'll
start to click, you know. And if you go back and you look at some of these places, Sam Fran, you know, Green Bay, Tennessee, even I think is a good example when the floor was there and Tennessee as the offensive coordinator. It takes time to run this kind of scheme. So my guess is that they're gonna stick their head in the dirt and just pray that it works.
I also think it doesn't help that there's not there's not a clear fix. Yeah, if it was in some people might say it's Mike win wint right tackle. It's probably as clear as you get, but.
They have too many there's too many holes at this point.
Right, So you're moving one guy off position and you're putting a rookie in the lineup. That's not even if you think it's better, and I think it might be better, but it's not a clear fix, you know what I mean by that?
It has a higher ceiling.
It has a higher ceiling, but it's not there's not an obvious all right, Well, we'll put this guy in for this guy and we're good.
Yeah.
Right, And I think that makes it tougher to just make the change like that. I'm with you. I think this is gonna be the starting offensive line for at least the first few weeks, and maybe there's some in game adjustments. Again, Bill used to do this where he'd rotate one spot during a game and you get like a sixty to forty split. Remember Cole Strange did that his rookie year. I remember he rotated with but yeah, he only played like sixty sixty five percent of his
first few games, maybe something like that. But I don't think there's gonna be sweeping change between now and week one.
So as bad as everything wants, last year, and I'm not trying to say that it may it fixed all their problems or anything like that, but last year they felt pretty good, even though it didn't work out this one right with Trent Brown at left tackle right like he was an NFL left tackle, So moving Mike Onnuenu to right tackle to fix that problem made sense because they had a guy on the left side that they felt was okay. In this situation, bold tackle spots are
an issue. And then if you move Landon Robinson up into the starting lineup, now you have a rookie right guard that you're not one hundred percent certain about either. So now you have three issues bas rightly.
And and the other one would be just putting Kane Wallace back in at left tackle. That's what I would do. That's what i'd move Mike Winu. That's what I would But that's also you're putting a rookie career right tackle in college at left tackle, and that's not a gart that's hardly guaranteed fix either. Look, I think Caan Wallace can be a serviceable right tackle in the NFL, like starting caliber, I don't know about all pro, but like
a starting caliber, decent right tackle. But that's that doesn't mean that's going to translate to the other side.
Yeah, that's what I would do too, because I I feel like that was when they were at their best in this camp for those couple of days. And granted those couple of days were very fleeting and they very long ago at this point in terms of camp days, but those first couple of days and pads with Cad and Wallace at left tackle, they looked okay. Yeah it wasn't I'm not telling you it was the nineties Cowboys,
but they looked okay, and then they were serviceable. They all of a sudden, we got back into practice after a day off and Vederian Lowe was at left tackle and Kayden Wallace was with the twos, and it never went back, and I didn't understand at the time. I didn't know what Kaden Wallas did to be essentially be demoted at that point of the summer. Yeah, it just it didn't make any sense then. It doesn't make much sense now, all right, Patty is an aguam. What's up, Patty?
What is up? Guys?
Hey?
So I was thinking maybe the plan coming into the season, and this may still be the plan. It's sort of break man like like the Chiefs treated Patrick Mahomes, where, you know what, We're just essentially gonna sit the kid for the entire year. Maybe we'll give him a game or a game or two, because you know, his rookie year. They they were still only playing sixteen games. And I was on record, I've been on record, I've been on
board with him starting week one. But Evan, I listened to the whole cast yesterday and I'm starting to uh to what I'm thinking. I'm walking that back and you know, until they get this line settled, I mean I might, I might be on board with him sitting almost the whole season, you know, barring something happened to Jacobe Verssett. But do you guys think at a point like at a certain point where they're maybe mathematically eliminated. Well, let's just say that that is the plan. We're sitting them
practically the whole year. But if they do get to a point where they're mathematically eliminated, do you think they just say through it, Let's let's get it. Let's have him get his experience. Now, a little bit of experience, and just cross our fingers, hold our breath and hope the freaking kid doesn't get hurt. And I'll take it off the here and thanks for as always.
Thanks guys, appreciate you listen yesterday.
The last thing is the key there.
Yeah, I I look at I agree with everything that he said about that piece of it, because I'm at you mentioned it earlier. I was Drake made the doors open for week one. I am so far from that at.
The spit told him.
They they are so not even close to ready for him that I am now at the point where I I probably look at it now and say, does he start the last couple of games of this year just to get his feet wet in the NFL and make a couple of starts to go into year two with some experience. I think Patty mentioned Patrick Mahomes right, he started his last game his rookie season.
Which means, yeah, they already finished.
Yeah, so it was a Week seventeen game and now would be a Week eighteen game for the Patriots. I'm at the point where that that is now on the table. But as much as I'm changing my tune on that, I don't want it to come across that it's because of Drake May. I'm changing my tune to that because a because of the dumpster fire that is going on on the offensive line right now, but B because I feel like Dave mishandled the whole situation at this point
where he's not going to be ready any sooner than that. Yeah, And that that's the part that I want to hold them accountable for, is that this did not have to get to this point like he should have been able to start earlier on in his rookie career. He should have he should have been able to start at some point as a rookie and play meaningful games as a rookie. And that's not going to happen now. I don't And if I had to say today on August fourteenth, that's not gonna happen.
It can change. But no, I'm I'm with you. I'm I'm more annoyed about the line thing because I think the lack of reps is a product of the offensive line. I Gerdmeo said that was the least part of it, So that's the part that bugs me. But to to to Patty's point, there, does he just play you know, one or two games at the end of the year, you see where he's at. Maybe throw him in blowouts, you know, during the season. I think I don't. I think Mahomes played in a few other games, like where
the Chiefs were up big. And may be wrong on that, but it all comes down to whether or not they think they can keep them healthy. Because what would be a true nightmare scenario, No, Mahomes only played that one game, Okay, what would be a true nightmare scenario is you get to that point late in the year where like, okay, we're gonna put him in after you've already I don't want to say stunted his development, but delayed the timeline, and then he gets hurt, and now does he miss
time next year? And now he's just so far behind schedule that you know you're gonna be getting to the point where you got to decide on his fifty year option, and you may not have a full picture of what he is, so it it makes sense, but you have to be able to protect him. And are they gonna get there at some point this season? I don't know. I just don't know.
And it should be able to for one game where you can scheme it up and you can get the ball out of his hands quickly, and you can move the pocket and all these kinds of things one game in January, when you've had seventeen weeks to try to figure out this the offensive line to get it to be representable. They should be able to play him for one.
Game their games in starting in December, just looking what helps them. There aren't any real dominant pass rushes in here. Colts, Cardinals, the Bills of a good pass rush, but that's mostly interior. I'm assuming von Miller's Cook Chargers and then Bills again, So.
The Bills, I mean Everysso that's true. Yeah, but I hear you, like, yeah, it's.
Well, I was just looking like I forgot if like, for instance, the the I know most of the schedule, but like the rams are at the end and they've got some some dogs and pasts the Dolphins there at the end, Guys like Jalen Phillips.
Like a week team jam against the Bills, who here very easily could have everything locked up that they can possibly lock up.
I don't think they will.
Okay, maybe seeding, but like they're not going out there playing for play their lives in that game. Maybe that that's a point where they can they can get them in there, and it's one of the you know, those four corner offense games for Buffalo.
That but like you said, like you said before, you can scheme ways around it. And that's what kind of confuses me so much about the preseason handling of it. There's immense value in him just going out getting the line pre snap, making the reads, making the communications, and then you can just have him hand it.
Off, yeah, or throw a ball into the flatter screen.
Right like you don't need to call your full playbook. Just give them the experience of going out there, and you can certainly mitigate his chances of getting hit, rollouts, things like that. So I understand not putting him out there and having him run like a four he its offense. Yeah, I totally understand that and not running some of these more complex calls that have two even three cut routes in them that take more time. Like, yeah, don't put him out there and have him do that. I'm with
you on that. You can go out there and hand it off. If he's getting hit, handing the ball off, there's much much, much bigger problem.
And he wouldn't have because Bailey's Appy played in that game just fine the other night for the lion's share
of it. And that's the other part that I think is so frustrating, because I agree with you one hundred percent about what you said that procedurally, he could get into a game and just kind of go through the motions of what it's like to call the play in the huddle, to get to the line of scrimmage, make checks, make alerts, you know, whatever the his cans, you know, if it's a run, pass, whatever, and hand the ball
off thirty times that you can do that. The other thing I would say is is that was there any better team in the preseason that they'll face then the Carolina Panthers practice squad, Right, he was gonna play a bunch of bumps, Like if they put him in the game, with tomorrow night against the Eagles, and the Eagles play some of their guys, Like, he's gonna be facing a team that's that's loaded defensively and especially on the defensive front.
So that was the opportunity. The opportunity was to play him against the freaking Panthers, right, like the third string defensive line. Like what, at what point, there's no Zappi was fine? Like Zappi is pressured on like thirty percent of his dropbacks in that game. It wasn't anything. Alarm it. It wasn't anything. It wasn't Dallas.
Well, but they didn't know that going in. They may have thought it was gonna be worse than that.
They thought it against Carolina's practice squad, they thought was gonna be worse.
Well, well, here's the thing. They kept the group the same, So maybe they were encouraged by what they saw just just reading teaies.
Yeah all right, it's officially back to school season and you can find everything you need to design your dream dorm at Bob's Discount Furniture. Set up stylish study spots with plenty of small space, friendly seating, a plus bedroom sets and of course, smart storage made to maximize your college HQ. So stop in and make the grade with Bob's Discount Furniture, the official furniture store of the New England Patriots. All right, let's get to some of these emails and we'll do three up, three down.
We got a few more calls too.
We do have a few more calls. I'll get you guys in a second. So this is an email from David in Maine. First question, based off of everything that everybody's hearing and what he's you know, listening to and us and things like that, the offense is bad because of the offensive line and specifically the offensive tackles. Yes, And he's just wondering if that notion is correct that this is all the offensive line. I wouldn't say it's all the offensive lines ever, all one thing, right football.
I thought yesterday, you know, we haven't talked a ton about Jacob Brisett his day.
He's had a tough couple days here.
His accuracy has been sporadic. Yeah, the last couple of days, I thought he had some opportunities. And this is where I kind of get fired up about not giving Drake may some of these reps because I did think yesterday that Jacobber said, had some clean pockets and had some ability to push the ball down the field. He was just missing throws. He missed a wide open Austin Hooper for what would have been a really nice touchdown down
the field. Hooper ran like a seam splitter against his too high structure, looked like quarters and just shot right up the middle of the defense through the zone and was behind the defense and was open in the end zone, and Jacobyber said, overshot him. He threw a ball behind Taekwon Thornton that Darius Slay ended up getting a hand in late into the passing window or into in between you know, the catch point, and that should have been out in front of Taekwon Thornton and should have been caught.
He threw one to Jalen Rager in the two minute that was complete that Rager caught but was wrong shouldered right. He like made rigor adjusted to it. It's kind of like the throw Zappy made to Kaishon Booty in the preseason game last Thursday night, where it was one of those like no no yes plays right where it was like he threw it inside when it should have been outside and the corner jumped it, but the corner missed
it and I couldn't break it up. There's just those like little things there with his ball placement where it's like, yeah, that throw was where it should have gone, the reads are where he should be going, his eyes are and feet are in the right place. As he's generally accurate, but there's just times with Jakobe Brissett where I'm left wanting a little bit more where You're just like, if that was just a little bit of a better throw there, then they have a big play or they have a
yards after catch opportunity. I'll give you another example. Yesterday, they ran a I believe it was like a leaked type of play where Austin Hooper kind of snuck out on the wheel route and it worked like there was it kind of was like a busted coverage for the Eagles and he was wide open. Instead of hitting him in stride, Austin Hooper had to go up and high point the ball and adjust to the ball in the air,
and the safety came over and tapped him down. If that ball hits Austin Hooper in stride, then he's up the sideline and he's running with it. These are just the little mini things, like minor things which Kobe Weressett with his ball placement that if he just had a little bit more class like it was just a little bit better that they these plays would hit for more explosives or bigger plays down the field and things of
that nature. So I think there's a little bit of that going on with the first team offense right now. That his ball placement's been kind of sporadic over the last couple of days, and it was in the preseason game, I felt like a little bit too. And then the other thing was outside of Pop Douglas, their receivers, I don't think we're uncovering all that consistently.
Most of their catches were contested catches.
Hooper was getting open a little bit, and I think that speaks to the tight end in this offense viable option and Hunter Henry should be a viable option. And Pop came alive in the in Jacoby Brissett's two minutes and his hurry up at the end of practice. Pop made a few catches to get them down the field in that instance, But other than that, it does it still doesn't feel like there's a ton of explosives down
the field, like deep opportunities. A lot of it is underneath stuff and check downs and passes into the flat or quick outs or whatever.
Right, Yeah, yeah, I agree. I would just say to the original question, like how much of this is the tackles. Everything's always a little bit of everything, but like the tackles are the biggest issue, I would also say, I think some of these other issues the offense, you know, the quarterback and the receivers. You can't develop timing if you can't get the play set up. Yeah, and we saw them handle this last year in past years by running more seven on seven's in practice and taking the
line out of it. They haven't necessarily done that this year. I think they want to drill the offensive line as much as possible to try to get it figured out. But ultimately, what it comes down to is there's not as the I've been as many opportunities to develop chemistry in the passing game, and you're seeing that.
Yeah. The second part of David's question is about all the cap space that they have. The Patriots are about forty two million dollars right now under the cap, which I believe is number one in the league. He's just asking if it rolls over, and yes, one hundred percent of the cap space rolls over year to year, so they will be able to roll over all this space into next off season. So he said, you know, they paid you on, they obviously can pay jud On if
they want to pay Youdon. Yeah, but the biggest thing to me with the cap space is that once they missed out on Calvin Ridley, and it didn't seem like they loved the rest of the free agent market this offseason.
Right.
It seemed to me as though they said, instead of overpaying in free agency for like C plus talent, let's just keep the war chest and we'll keep the cap space, will roll it into next off season and then hopefully in twenty twenty five we make some splashes.
DK met Calf.
Yeah, I actually don't mind the approach because we learned our lesson in twenty twenty one, where you go out and you pay like overpay for guys you know, Johnny Smith, Nelson Aguilar, like those players, and then you're like stuck with that core for like two or three years cap wise, and then that puts you into a tight spot.
It would bother me less if they just paid Judon. Yeah, just game him through this year. Just put a band aid on a game through this year and then you can part ways. But meanwhile, he was awesome in practice yesterday and he's going one hundred and ten percent. He's totally bought in. He's giving them every reason to pay him. Yeah for whatever, that's that's totally fair.
They probably should pay Jude On and hopefully will here soon and they can do that with their cap space and all that. But just lasting on the cap space like it obviously didn't work out with Brandon Nyuk, but that's a great example of Brandon Nyuk all of a sudden becomes available potentially via trade in the middle of August, which almost never happens, but it did happen in this instance, and now suddenly they had It's so easy for the Patriots now to just cut the check and acquire Brandon.
I you it isn't a problem. Whereas if they were up against the cap because they spent all this money in free agency and you know, got rid of all of it, all the cap space, then all of a sudden, now we're in a conversation about how do you move the cap space around and how do you figure it out to get him on the roster. Same could be true if it's at the deadline or something like that. That a you know, CD Land DK, that Calf you're one of your guys, comes available at the deadline. Now
you have some wiggle room. So I don't mind that they they they held serve with the cap space because I feel like they will be better used in future management. Regardless of you know, what happens this year, It'll be better used in future times. All right, let's see here, Uh, okay, a lot of questions about the offensive line and how bad it is. Obviously, so I'm trying to read these emails while hosting the show, which is not good radio.
Take the call and well we're answering the call. You can read the emails and figure out which one.
Okay, that's a good idea. All right, Brad is in Ohio. What's up, Brad? Brad you're on the air. O. Hey, how's it going, Brad?
How you got doing today?
Good?
Good?
I was wondering. I agree with you guys so much. I just think that Drake's being not used properly. I mean, we've got to get this guy some reps. I mean He's got the throwing ability that Jacoby Marys just doesn't or Jacoby Bursett I'm sorry, doesn't have. And you know, I mean proving this in practice, he's out playing him. So what what on earth are we We're actually gonna sit him on the bench. I mean, I know, the offensive line is the trocious and we don't have tackles.
And Kyden Wallace shouldn't be on the left side. He proved that in the preseason game. But on the right side he looked good and Landon Roberts did, so we got three really effective right guards. And you know, I'm just really confused about our offensive line, and you guys are so on to the you know, the fact about it. What do you think I mean? And who's the better receiver Thornton or reagor running Rowls hands. I mean, there's so many problems. I just thought, you know, at first,
I was optimistic. Now I'm kind of looking at the season and the future, like what's Jared Mayo doing. I'm confused. I guess maybe any insight.
Thank you, thanks Bratt, thanks for the call. I understand I understand all your everybody that's a Patriots fan. I totally understand all your frustrations with what's being told to you, and we're just telling you what we see. We're not trying to kill anybody. We're not trying to be negative. If we could come out here and say they had a great day yesterday against Eagles, we would we would, you know. With the with the offensive line, I feel like we've beaten that drum a little bit to death
at this point. I still feel like that the best thing to do at this point with their offensive line is to elevate Kid and Wallace to left tackle with the top group and just sink or swim with with some of the younger players that they have in this roster. You know, city so second year guy Caden Wallace at right or left tackle, excuse me, just let the rookie kind of learn on the fly, trial by fire, and he's gonna have bumps in the road and it's not gonna be pretty at times, I'm sure, but it also
is not gonna be pretty. Evederian Lowe is the starting left tackle either, So I'd rather go with the guy that has developmental upside and that you're invested in as the future. Enter the Raiger Thornton question. Yeah, I think this is a really interesting one because not to hype up either player, like either one of them is anything special necessarily, but it's interesting to be because they seem to be fighting for the same role in the offense
and sort of the same roster spots result. So I had them both on my last fifty three man roster projection and I had Booty as the oddoan out, so you can go that direction. But either way, only one of those guys is actually gonna see real playing time in games. It seems to the seesaw to me like
which one looks better in terms of playing receiver. Obviously we know Rager can return, but in terms of actual receiver play, there's Rager days and there's Thornton days, and it kind of just goes back and forth a little bit.
But isn't that the tiebreaker? What else can you do? And I thought Jalen Rager looked really good as a kick returner yesterday against the Eagles.
So.
I still think Rager has the edge. I still have Booty on because he gives you something different, and I know there's some overlap with Jalen Polk, but if they want to ease the rookie, and especially if Kendrick Bourne is going to start on PUP, I just think it makes sense to have Booty on the roster.
Yeah, that was the biggest reason why I had him off. Was more stylistically. I always think I used this analogy a lot, but I always think of receivers and cornerback rooms. Like basketball teams. You know, you have one through five, and you want to have a point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, center. You don't want five centers, right, you didn't, but you also don't want five point guards.
So you want to have different types of skill sets and different types of body types, you know, inside outside guys, you know, different skill sets in general, and to me, kish on Booty, it has the same exact skill set as Bourne, Osbourne, Polk Baker, like all those guys kind of play the game the same way. Similar build, similar you know, inside outside versatility, similar route tree, like all
of it. So he's the fifth receiver if you keep him, he's the fifth receiver on the team that plays that way. And you have Borne, who when he's healthy, is going to play well.
So I put Booty on, but with the idea that I don't remember if I exactly wrote this, But you're going to have to open up a roster spot form when he comes off pup.
Yeah, mat right, But you're gonna have just for the long term, yeah, because Bourne's gonna play at some point. So you have Bourne who's gonna play, yeah, you have Osborne who is gonna play, yeah, and then you have the Bolt the rookies who are also going to play. So we're keeping Kaishan Boudi on the roster to be a game day scratch.
I mean he's basically he's just giving I basically kept him because I think he's the best depth option until Kendrick Born comes back. Okay, you're saying long term, when Kendrick Borne comes back. I mean, if somebody else gets hurt, maybe you keep me, keep a bunch of wide receivers. But the idea would be like, he's just keeping that spot warm Untilkendrick Born.
Comes Okay, fair enough, Yeah, it could go either way. They would. I would say, if I had to lean one direction with Raager and Thorton, I would read slight Rager right now. The returnability is there, and I do think that he's a little bit more consistent in practice in terms of his receiver play taekwons is his speed plays more like Taekwon's a faster guy, and he his vertical like his third level speed is better than Jalenragers to actually get down the field and make those plays happen.
But Rager it seems to me like a little bit more consistent and well rounded. So I'd go slight lean towards Rager on that one. I wanted before we do three up, three down and talk about Thursday night, I want to do talk about the defense a little bit from yesterday because I realized we got into an hour into the show of me screaming about the offense podcast and I didn't talk at all about the defense full disclosure, do just to watch the defense, and I watched the offense.
I watched the defense perfect.
So I'm going to react mostly to what you're telling me. But what I saw out of the defense, at least on the whole when I was able to kind of look over there, was that they were definitely holding their own more than the Patriots offense was, and it kind
of went exactly how you would expect this to go. Now, with that being said, I looked over a couple of times, and Jalen Hurts was throwing dimes to AJ Brown down the field, where I was like, yeah, those two guys are still really damn good and that's gonna happen every once in a while. But I was wasn't looking over there and seeing play, you know, tons and tons of
plays down the field for the Eagles. But he threw one to AJ Brown that I did catch into like the honey hole in his zone coverage where he just like feathered it over Alex Austin and dropped it in a bucket to AJ Brown like an in stride to AJ Brown, where I just was like, holy hell, like that that right there is like a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback and one of the best receivers in the league just being too good, like you can't defend that, you know,
type of thing. But in general, what you know, who stood out on the defensive side of the ball.
So I thought Matthew Judon had a really good practice. He was Hurts his pressure quite a bit, some of those stories he made he made under duress. I thought Patriot's pass rush was good, Judon was good, Gonzalez was better. He was really good against AJ Brown in one on ones, which stood out, and then they put him more on DeVonta Smith in team Yeah, and he was solid. I thought he had a definitely that not if he'd had that day going up against the Patriots receivers, I'd be
a little more worried. But to have the day he had against a J. Brown Defontet Smith, you feel pretty good about it. I thought BYL. Peppers had a pretty good day. You know, he was going up against Dallas Goddard, had a couple of really physical pass breakups. So you know, three of the best players on the defense obviously, no duh. I'd say the one guy under the radar Marco Wilson. Yeah, was competitive throughout the day, and he's one of the favorites.
I think he might be the favorite at this point for that second boundary spot as long as Jonathan Jones out opposite Christian Zalez, and that obviously still a roster spot even when Jones comes back. So I those were the guys that mainly stood out to me. You know, a couple others in there here or there, but but Judon was a force, and I thought the defensive front
as a whole represented well. There were just some times that they got pressure and Jalen Hurts made a play anyway, and I know that, Like, I think the number was like twenty four to twenty seven or something for Jalen Hurts, and people say, how did the defense look so good? When he completed that many passes? A lot of those were like two yard checkdowns. Yeah, a lot of those were him just getting the ball out to get the ball out. And that's the difference between him and a
guy like Kober Sat or Drake May. He's under pressure, he was able to then handle it and make something happen because that's what goold quarterbacks do, even if that's something wasn't exciting, but they pressured him a ton yesterday.
Yeah, that was my biggest takeaways as there was a lot of heat on the quarterback.
And it kind of reminds me. Sorry, you remember the Week one game last year where he played decent even though like they were in his face the whole game. Yeah, yeah, it was kind of like that.
Yeah, I mean he's I think Jalen Hurts are really good. I think Jalen hurt is going to bounce back this year. And he looked like he was going in that. It looks like he's on his way to that based off of what we saw yesterday. The other thing I would just say about what I saw defensively, I agree with you with Christian Gonzalez, and I know this is becoming
a storyline with Christian Gonzalez. He is so far down the list of the people I'm worried about with this team, and I understand that people are just trying to be objective, and he has given up more catches in this camp than I feel like he did as a rookie last year. But then I went back and looked at my notes from the Green Bay joint practice yesterday, and he gave up some plays to Christian Watson in those practices in
Green Bay. Yeah, so maybe I'm just misremembering him so not completely, but like overrated his rookie camp just maybe a little bit in my eye, in my top of mind. And then they got into the regular season and he's going toe to toe with AJ Brown and Tyreek Hill and Garrett Wilson and he's the rookie of the month. Right, Yeah, so I get that. Yes, I agree that he's probably given up more catches in this camp than I was expecting.
And I would also say I totally understand that people don't want to crown him yet off of four games or really three and a half games from his rookie season.
But to me, he's one of those guys where when the lights turn on for real, like he'll turn on for real and right now in practice, he just kind of goes to the motions a little bit at times, which I don't love, but like it just is his personality and he's just not one of these he doesn't he's not necessarily like one of those tie law type of corners where it's like nobody ever completes a pass on me ever, right, Like, he's not necessarily his demeanor.
So I thought that yesterday he showed well against those two receivers, and if that's the type of guy that you're getting in game, and when I say show well, I feel like he also turned it up maybe a notch because he was going up against AJ Brown and DeVante Smith and he was like, Okay, I'm gonna treat this like it's live, like this is real, and it felt like he turned it up a little bit, and I thought he was pretty decent. What did you see and what have you thought of Keon White?
So far didn't stand out as much. I mean, he was part of the pressure, but didn't I wouldn't say he took over like maybe you were waiting for him to do that wasn't bad, But I wouldn't. It wasn't doesn't like immediately come to mind when I think of the best players.
Yeah, he's He's someone that I'm is a little bit on my radar because I hear a lot of you know, the people in the media tent saying that he's had this great summer. And I'll fully admit that we take an approach with us with us coverage wise that I watch the offense most of the time for most of practice. But he is someone that I'm still waiting to see some of that finesse out of. And he can go through blocks, and I have no doubt about that, he can press blocks. I have no doubt about, you know,
standing up guys and things like that. I just don't see him get off blocks a ton.
You're you're still really on this take. I just I don't think anybody's saying he's going to be a top five pass rusher in the league.
Yeah, I just like I'm on the take because in order for him to take this leap that I keep hearing about, you can't just be a pure like it's you can't just be a power rusher, like. He has to have other tools in his tool belt for him to be as good of a player as I hear some people think that he's going to be if even if like you know, I think last week we mentioned like Trey Flowers. Yeah, like even to get to trade flowers, He's gonna have to be more actually tangibly productive than
what I've seen in practice. Like I just I feel like he's a linear athlete, and those types of guys that don't move well laterally and don't have a ton of wiggle or finesse or whatever you want to call it or fluidity with their movements, those are guys that get eat up a lot by blocks. Like you're just gonna get kind of run into the line of scrimmage and he just kind of gets swallowed, you know. Half the time, I'm just not there with Keon White. I don't know. I hear a lot of hype about him.
I want to be there. I want to see it. I want to be like this guy is gonna take over for Judaan and like make Judon expendable and just trade out.
Yeah, I don't think he's like a takeover for Judon guy. I don't think they have that guy. I guess ideally be joshu Ja. For me, it's like Tetrikwi's a little bit older, contracts almost up, Like it's more that role for me, Like he's more of that kind of player.
Fair enough, all right, Corey is in Charlotte. What's up? Corey? Hey?
How you doing?
A good question? What do you guys think about? Like just I know you mentioned Drake may is like it's an incomplete grade on and I agree with that. I think because he's just not surrounded by better players, like just just starting with the ones on the old line, starting with the ones with the wire Receiven tight ends and just let's let's just see what we got, because I mean, we know what we know what PRIs set is,
we know what Bailey is. Like, I'm still shot Bailey is still on it on the roster after that game against the Panther, playing against guys who's gonna work at Walmart, Like that's been unacceptable. And also because of Joe Joe milsaying his skill set like put him I want to see him with the one wide receivers in old line, just see what we got, because I I do believe some players really just shine when they already surrounded by just better players.
And what do you.
Guys think about the d overall against the Eagles one yesterday? And I go there.
All right, thanks to Corey, thanks for the call. Look, I I you're preaching the choir about Drake Bay getting some reps with the Ones, and I want to reiterate that to me, him getting reps with the Ones has nothing to do with him starting Week one, Like we're not We're right, we're too far past that point the door never you said this earlier about like the offensive line,
and we're kind of at that point. We're at the point now where Drake May starting early on in the season or week one is off the table, Like it's too late. He is not playing Week one against against Cincinnati. What I'm more looking at it now is, okay, you know he's been in here since May, since the draft rooking Mini camp ota is mini camp, training camp, preseason game. Where's he at?
Like?
Can we just get a barometer of a met stick to try to like measure up of where is he is he only is he not even close? Is he seventy five percent? There is the eighty ninety whatever? I don't know because of who he's working with and what's going on around him. So if you can get him some reps in practice with the ones towards the end of training camp here and going into the regular season before they really need to give everything to Jacoe Brissett
because he's gonna be playing in the games. Let's give him some opportunities now. Again, not to even talk about him starting, but just to get to a point where we can feel like we have some information about where he's at. Maybe they're looking at the preseason games as that, and maybe you know, this week, tomorrow and next Thursday, we'll get like a really good look at him in the preseason. He'll play thirty snaps or something like that,
and that's where we'll go. But you're preaching to the choir with that want to do three up, three down?
Yeah, Well go one, we're calling up.
Well, we'll get down in a second. Let's do three up, three down. We'll do the ups first and then we'll take some of these other calls that are coming in and then we'll go go to the downs. This is sort of like a for me, this is kind of like going back to the last like week, right, Like I don't want to base it off of just one practice or whatever. It's obviously the preseason game too, but so let's call it the last like week of Patriots. Okay, football.
I weighed the last couple of days a little more, but that's fine.
My number one up, Pop Douglas. Yep, I think the Pop Douglas has come alive. No more red non contact jersey. He's been At times he's been literally unguardable, like like just especially in the slot on like the quick hitting
stuff over the middle. He's been truly a breath of fresh air, like actually explosive, energetic receiver and has been opened a ton and and Kobe Brissett just continues to feed him like he's like, all right, this is obvious that I'm going where I'm going with the football here. I really excited what I've seen. How to pop. I still think that the two biggest things though with him not to make everything all, you know, constantly go negative
on everything. What's his early down roll? Yeah, first and ten from the twenty five and they want to run the ball, Like, what, how does he get on the field? What's how does he factor into a twelve personnel? Is it just we're gonna put him out in the field and we're gonna have him run jet sweeps and things like that, and that's how we're gonna avoid him having to block anybody for real? Or that's fine, But what's his early down roll and how do you feed him
and keep him healthy? Right? Like that does that's a big thing too. But in terms of actually on the field with these with the production on the field in practice, Pop Douglas has been on the rise for sure.
Yeah, he's been excellent. Matt Dolff had a great line that he's no longer wearing on contact jersey, but it doesn't really matter because nobody can touch him anyway. Yeah, the way he's running routes, he's been excellent. It's just how he gets on the field and how he stays on the field, that's the only question. If he stays healthy, he can be a thousand yard receiver. But he's gonna stay healthy.
Yep, all right, who's number two?
I'm gonna say so, I'm gonna replace Pop in mind because I had like a fourth, So we'll can't pop for you. Okay, I'm gonna say Matthew Judo, Okay. I've been really impressed with him. He's been good. He's had a couple of good practices at good practice yesterday. He's clearly very involved, very engaged. He's playing with a ton of effort for a guy that's in his situation. I mean, you wouldn't know it. You would think the way he's practicing right now. The contract situation was solved, and from
where we were three weeks ago, that's something. Now, what this ultimately turns into in terms of his future, I don't know, but boys, he had a good week and a half of camp. Just objectively as a football player, he's done everything you want to say.
Yeah, I really like his energy that he is coming back, Like I feel like when the contract stuff, really when s really hit the fan with all that, he didn't feel or seemed like Matthew judont to me in terms of his energy and what he was bringing to the table and that respect looks like he's back into that mindset. Almost makes you wonder if there is something that's been agreed to in handshake agreement about.
It We've been saying that for weeks, like maybe it's coming at.
The end of camp or something. I don't know, Like it's just odd that all of a sudden he just is on board, you know, Like, yeah, I still know if he's fully on board, Like sometimes I look at him and I still feel like a little bit of trepidation from him. But he's certainly much much better. His attitude is much better than where it was the beginning of camp. So that's Number one for you is Judon, Yeah, okay,
Number two for me is Jeremiah Farms. I just wanted to give him a shout out for the game last week. Mostly Yeah, five quarterback pressures, awes sack, two stuffs, two drawn holds on back to back plays in that game. He was everywhere. He was the best player on the field for the Patriots defense in a game where they dominated defensively. He was excellent. He's on the team. I don't think that's the question. Yeah, he's gonna make the team, and maybe they have something with him there. He can play.
I wouldn't necessarily put him over the nose all the time. I think he's more better stuited to play three technique and the type of scheme that they want to run. But I was really impressed with him on film and during the game live too, and I just feel like he's he's a menace, Like he's really stepped up. We'll see what it looks like in the regular season. And I'm not trying to tell you that it's one for one. Oh,
don't worry about Christian Barmore. Now, it's fine, But I do feel like they needed somebody to come out of the woodwork a little bit step up for Christian Barmore, and Jeremiah Farms has taken that opportunity.
All right. So this one mine's basically based off of practice yesterday. Yeah, kickoff unit. They gave the Eagles hell and and look this rule. So you this rule is too new for me to know if this is more the Eagles being bad at it or the Patriots being good at it. But they had what six kickoffs during that period? Yeap one ray Kwon Ricmillan comes down the field force as a fumble. They had another didn't like
that too much where they well get to that. They had another where they like line drives squibbed it and the the way the ball is spinning and where it landed relative the returners. The returner was so disoriented he
picked up the ball and along the sideline. His next step was out of bounds at the two yard line, so you set the defense up at the two, and then they had another squib kick that looked like it was gonna do the same thing, and I think the Eagles just the frustration boiled over because he got a little bit of a shoving match there. Chapping happened right in front of Robert Kraft while he was live on the Sports Hub, which made for good radio. But yeah,
it was they. I think they threw some things that the Eagles that the Eagles weren't expecting, and that's encouraging. And even on kick return too, ray Quan McMillan did a big block. Jamichael Hasey laid somebody out, which he's not a big guy.
Yeah, that's what it seemed to me like the Eagles were reacting to. Is ray Kwan McMillan leveled somebody and it was maybe he was maybe at one percent and everybody else was at one hundred. Fine, yeah, no, I'm gonna say it's a bad thing. I'm I think that's why.
No, But then you had that other one where it was like a perfectly placed squib kick, because some people will say, well, why not just let it roll out of bounds if it's that close to the sideline. One those low kicks, you don't have as much time to react and you maybe lose track of where you are on the field. Yeah, the other thing that's important to remember, if the ball goes into like directly into the end zone or through the end zone, it's a touch back
to the thirty. If the ball lands in the landing zone then goes into the end zone and you kneel on it or whatever, the touchback only goes to the twenty. So where the ball was rolling, it wasn't necessarily going to roll out of bounds. It was probably going to roll into the end zone just inside the pipeline. So you probably want to feel that because you don't want
to start all the way back at the twenty. But again, I don't think the guy knew where he was on the field because the ball got to him so quick and he's running, sprinting to get there that he steps out of bounds. So Patriots kickoff unit came ready yesterday. They were good.
Jeremy Springer up. Sure sounds like some of those things where maybe things that they wanted to try out schematically, right, like squid kicks and things like that. That's not something you did. The players are just doing on the flyout.
They've been that. That's that's a call. Yeah, and it's They're not the only team that's tried that. I mean, this is We've seen a lot of teams try these things. But it just I thought the execution was really good yesterday.
Okay, there you go, Jemy Springer up. I love it.
Uh.
My third is Leyden Robinson. Okay, I think Laban Robinson has been the best of the rest, if you want to call him that. I hate to call it that way, but like, yeah, take Andrews and on WHENU and like you know, you know this the stal warts out of it, right, like the the entrenched starters out of it, looking at that next wave of offensive linemen of who might be able to step up and push for playing time and
uh maybe make this thing better. Yeah, Leyden Robinson, I thought it was great in the game last Thursday night. Really showed well, very physical, played through the whistle, finished blocks in the run game, held up well in pass pro gave up just a hurry and pass protection and a lot of snaps. He actually played I think the most snaps out of anybody on the team offensively last week. And then it was okay yesterday, won a couple reps in one on ones against the Eagles, who kind of
dominated the one on ones and two v twos. I thought Leyden Robinson was was solid. It's hard to tell with the second unit in practice because there's a lot going on around him that's not very good. But he's been okay so far. And I know I didn't put him on the downs list, but cityso has been a little bit on my radar. I didn't think he was great in the game last week, kind of was playing a little out of control and just missed some blocks and things like that. And it wasn't great yesterday either.
I didn't feel like against the Eagles. So, whether it's on Window going out to right tackle, whether it's Leyden Robinson starting to compete more levely, you know, So has kind of been entrenched there at left guard since day one. Maybe Leyden Robinson starts to push him a little bit. Maybe that, you know, makes both guys better, right, Hopefully, iron sharp and iron. So I've liked what I've seen
from Laydon Robinson. I think they may have found it's easier to find interior guys later in the draft, like on when he was a sixth round pick, Dave Anders undrafted, like, it's easy to do that. So maybe they found something with Laydon Robinson as a fourth round pick.
Yeah, yeah, he's he's shown some progress, and then the question is just when and how do you get him in the lineup because the interior has been fine? And are you moving Michael and Wennu what happens when Cole Strange comes back? It's just moving pieces. But he looks like a guy that will probably get some run at some point this year.
Yep, all right, who's your third?
My third, Romandro Stevenson.
Yeah, I just think he's.
Moving really well. Anybody who watches this show or any of my shows knows one of my big pet peeves with the team. One of my biggest pet peeves with the team the last few years was the over usage of Vermandra Stevenson. And I don't mean that to say he's a bad player, because he's not. But any of these running but you look at these running back dominant teams. They always fall off late in the year because in the modern NFL it's just so hard to maintain that level.
And Stevenson was top ten in touches two years ago. He was top ten in touches last year before he got hurt. And he told us at the end of the twenty twenty two season that it was getting to him, like physically, the workload was impacting him. And you know, he missed what month month and a half at the end of last year, with so a little extra time to kind of heal up, take care of his body
things like that. I think he said he didn't lose weight, but redistributed it less body fat, more muscle, whatever it is. He looks a little more lean, and he's just getting in and out of cuts a little quicker. Things like that. He's got a little extra something in his step. He just looks healthy again. And I think that's good because I think you're gonna see a better version. I've said
this before. If it's one hundred and eighty touches versus two fifty, and I'm just using round numbers here, but like it's not that necessarily I want him touching the ball less because I think he's bad, but I think you get more bang for your buck. I think ultimately those one hundred and eighty or two hundred touches have more value than two fifty the four to five touches a game that could maybe go to another running back. Those add up by the time you get to like
Thanksgiving in December and into January. They have Antonio Gibson now, who I think is a strong second option who I think the coaching staff will be willing to use. So I think they're in a better position to manage his workload better. I still think he's gonna be an important part of the offense. I still think he's gonna be very involved. But you know, I go back to the Bailey's Appy game in twenty twenty two against the Lions where they were up three scores with like three or
four minutes to go. Game's over, yeah, and they're just running half back dive or duo or whatever it was with Ramondre Stevenson, and he's taking big hits, and it's like, can Kevin Harris not do this? Like he doesn't need to be taking these big hits and the game is over. I feel like He's gotten a good chance to heal up after two very rough years, and I think that bodes well for him this season.
Yeah, he's looked good, and I feel like Antonio Gibson has looked as advertising.
He's looked pretty good too.
Yeah. Yes, I think both those guys are trending in the right direction for the season. And Ramano Stevenson to me just looks a little bit more like he was a couple of years ago breaking tackles. You know, in that preseason game, he bounces one outside, breaks the tackle eleven yards, Like those were the types of runs that he was making two years ago, you know, in twenty two at the beginning, and then in twenty one even when he was getting those opportunities, and then last year
his yards after contact numbers plummeted. They were just terrible, like a full yard less than what it was the year.
And I think it was just physically he was worn down.
Yeah, and you know some of that was like he was getting contacted earlier in the play. And I have all the fancy next gen stats that I could probably like rid him a blame of everything from last year, right with his production, but his yards per his yards per carry average. Ye, just the raw number was one yard less exactly, and then his yards after contact was one yard less exist So there you go. He wasn't
breaking tackles the last year. He wasn't finishing runs last year, and I hopefully he's getting back to that way.
I think you might see him He had a good stiff arm in the in the preseason game. But I think you might see him start running around guys more as much as through them, just because he looks a little quicker and it keeps you healthier.
So yeah, see, I love it. All right, let's do downs, then we'll answer the calls and we'll talk about tomorrow night. My number one down uh to me? Right now, the three most important figures in the Patriots organization are all down. Elliot Wolf, Grod Mayo, Alex van Pelt. We gotta be better, Elliot Wolf. The tackles are on you, okay. We've been talking about it since March. I gave you a chance,
I gave you my trust. I said, I will allow you to show me that chuk sikora For is going to be viable, and show me that Mike on When is a right tackle. I was skeptical, but I allowed for it not working. Right, your plan's not working already back to right tackle? On when who's already back to right guard? You lied to me? Okay? I feel hurt by that. Okay, down, Drod. Mayo to me is down mainly because I feel like it's a little Felger and Mazzie, But I kind of agree with them on this. I've
like stopped deflecting blame to AVP. Like he gets up there and he and they ask him about the reps for the quarterbacks and he's like, well, that's like an AVP question.
I think Alex van Pelt's the head coach of the offense. I think it's that kind of setup.
And he said that, but like, you guys still need to be on the same page. Well, like the communication still needs to be there of why this is happening.
Or what I would say is, at what point, if it's clearly not working, does Mayo go to Alex van Pelt and say, I'm the head coach? Change it? Yeah?
Right?
At what point? And in addition to the quarterback reps with the offensive line? I wonder if there's a point Mayo goes and says, I don't know what you're doing Like, I've given you a chance to try this. Put Mike back out at right tackle, get Lane Robinson in there, get the rookie in a left tackle, or get Calum Anderson and left tackle, Like you need to do something different. This group isn't the answer.
Yeah, it whether he wants it's fair. And I actually I understand where he's coming from with the offense. He's not an offensive guy, right, He's a green head coach. He's first year head coach. And I actually kind of like that he knows his limitations, right, Like he knows that he's not trying to coach offense, Like he knows
that that's not his side of the football. But to your point, like the buck stops with him at the end of the day, and when things aren't working, it is his job to supervise the people that he put in charge to run things. And right now I don't feel like he's being a very good supervisor, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, okay, And then AVP. I don't know what's going on with the quarterbacks. I don't know
why Drake may is not playing in preseason games. I have no idea what's going on with the offensive line. That's a train wreck. All of it just seems like a mess right now. The procedural penalties that the nine penalties I said yesterday, the bots as this is not gonna cut it, this is this is not it. So he's on the down most.
Yeah, so I kind of phrased this differently. I was just gonna say, like the plan, Yeah, the plan on offense, going back to march, going back to free agency and all of it. Yeah, the things we spend hours about on the show in terms of the tackles and things like that, like the personnel plan is coming up short right now.
I have a very simple rule. Do you and I spend a lot of time on this kind of stuff. We're probably a little bit more educated on it than most, But we are not coaches and we are not general managers. If we can see the train and we're standing on the tracks and the train is coming and we can see it coming and they can't, that's a problem because you and I are not general managers. We're not Elliott Wolf.
We weren't raised by our father, who was a Hall of Fame general manager and has been in the league for twenty years scouting, right, and we're not Drod Mayo, who is a pro bowler and then a head coach. And we're not at that level. We get that here. Some people think we don't, but we get it. We're not on their level. But so have us.
Simpleton, you're telling me all those hours I've logged on mad and mean nothing. Yes, that's fair.
If us simple folk down here can tell you that this tackle depth chart ain't gonna work in an NFL game, then you should know it's not going to work. And now if you're gonna sit here and tell me be patient, Calvin Banks Junior's coming, Will Campbell's coming, Like that's gonna be the plan. We're gonna worry about this next year. I hear you. But you still need to be at a point where you're functional enough at the rest of the.
Audiene stop gap. You know who they need. Ironically, and I kind of wrote this last night in my mail bag, and I'm actually curious what you think of this. Yeah, and I know we got a couple more calls to get, so I'll try to be quick with this. But somebody asked me, is it an organizational failure? The Patriots have need at least one starting tackle since twenty nineteen and refused to address it. And yes, yes, and no, I
don't know that they refuse to address it. I think this all goes back to eighteen.
In eighteen, so Nate Solder leaves after the twenty seventeen season, right yep. In eighteen, they draft Isaiah Win to be the left tackle, and they signed Trent Brown as or they trade for Trent Brown whatever it was, as an insurance plan, and Isaiah Win blows out his achilles in the preseason. Trent Brown gives them really good left tackle play in twenty eighteen.
All right, they move on from Brown. We drafted Isaiah Win. I don't necessarily blame them for not adding another tackle in that window because you used a first round pick on this guy, and the goal was for him to be the left tackle and they wanted to give him a chance. So that's nineteen. That's twenty. They bring Trent Brown back, and this is where you maybe go to the organizational failure of it. Beyond the player development of Isaiah Win. Trent Brown almost became a binkie. They couldn't
quit Trent Brown. We have Trent Brown as an option in our back pocket, and I kind of understand it, and I get it, and well that's going. They didn't do that for nothing. They did it because they had They needed to address quarterback, they need to address receiver, they needed to address corner, and they basically were able to continuously say, we have Trent Brown for now, we have other significant needs. Let's address the other significant needs,
and we have Trent Brown in our back pocket. And what you're seeing that they don't have a Trent Brown now. They continue to address other needs. Quarterback, receiver, were needs. They addressed those, they try to address them a receiver to a bigger extent. In terms of free agency, I think they went all in on Calvin Ridley and maybe let some other free agents go, but there is no
Trent Brown to come save them. And I think that's why they're in this spot now because maybe it was supposed to be Riley Reef, maybe it was supposed to be Calvin Anderson, the guys they signed last year. That that to me is how they ended up in this spot. They didn't have that veteran in their back pocket. Maybe the veterans they thought they were gonna have chookes of corps for were never realistically going to be on that level.
Yeah, that's a really a fair point with Trent Brown because I almost couldn't quit him either, because when he's on, he's When he's on, he's great. Yeah. His tape is like top twenty left tackle in the NFL.
And I think it was always there was never a ton of competition because teams didn't want to deal with him. Yeah, and there was always a lot like they were just they were perfect for each other.
Yeah. Yeah, and he's not a bad player when when he's mentally locked in and he's focused. So it is you see it and you're like, okay, you know, I if we can keep him on the rails, like I get it the one and let me.
Just that's not necessarily me saying they should have resigned Trent Brown. Yeah, but it's how did we get to it? Because I think that that relationship was done both ways. It was done both sides.
When he went out and I think it was Dakota Randall it when he was yetness and still like that. You can't give that interview and then come back.
Right, yeah that, but how did we get here?
Yeah?
I think a lot of it is they Isaiahen didn't work. You can say they picked the wrong guy, they failed to develop him. Whatever you want to call that, Isaiwen didn't work. They were able to lean on Trent Brown where they fixed other whole on the roster, and then the clock ran out on Trent Brown before they were able to actually get that next tackle in place. So my one, if you want to call that mismanagement of assets or you know, a lack of addressing, that's semantics.
At that point, I'd argue it's more of an asset of mismanagement of assets than a refusal to address.
But sure, I guess it's not even a pushback on that. It's just more I agree with the philosophy or the point that you and I do. Drive have been doing the draft together for how long. Every single draft we've ever covered together, tackle has been in need, right, every single one, Because I think nineteen was probably the first full draft we covered together. Yeah, and it was a need. Then they drafted Yadnika just in the third round of that draft. It's been a need for every single draft
since twenty nineteen. I'm not necessarily asking them in that span to take a first round pick again after they took one with Isaiah Win And we're kind of giving that leash to Isaiah win but they they probably should have used another top one hundred on a tackle.
Probably, well they try again, So they tried Yadney could just had injury issues, not top one hundred, but they took two and twenty twenty one was Michael in the sixth round. One was Mike and Winu who was never going to be a left tackle, but he was a guard in college, right, he's a guard? The other or when did they draft Justin Huran? That was yes, so because they also drafted didn't they draft William Sherman that
year too? Was okay? So like Justin Ran, you could argue a guy maybe they gave up on too soon because he was serviceable. He was probably never long term, but they tried, they they and I that's that's why I go back to how much do you realistically try? What is the window where it's acceptable to use a premium ass set on a player after using a first round pick at that position? Like when does he to? Okay?
So fair and so I but what did they what did they do in twenty two before the draft? But I look at twenty two, Yeah, and you know where I'm going with this?
Yeah, Cole Strange.
But but if they had drafted Tyler Smith instead of col Strane and we're not in this mess.
What did they do in twenty two before the draft. But was their first personnel moved.
That offseason trading Shack Mason. No, they traded for Trent Brown. Oh, I think that was twenty two, right, They.
Traded Patform back for him. Might have been, which is kind of my point. They they always they they wanted to address Oh was twenty one, but they had him. I think they Yeah, they maybe they resigned. Yeah, So March twenty first, they re signed Trent Brown to a two year, fourteen million dollar deal.
Yeah. Right, And and we had talked a lot before they resigned him. We thought he was gone, yeah, because it hadn't gone well the year before.
We thought he was gone.
He went to the Raiders and then the Raiders cut him and they brought him back.
They they traded for him in twenty one.
Or they traded for him from the Raid, right, but he was in.
It was in the last year of his deal. Yeah, and we thought he was gone. He was gone. He was gonna go chase big money again. They wanted to address guard. They wanted to address receiver Taekwon Thornton, right, they wanted to address other things. So what did they do? They went back out and they re signed Trent Brown.
The twenty two draft. That's really where it hit.
Twenty two would have been the time. You're right, twenty two would have been time to address it. But I'm telling you that's what I think addressing it was was trading for Trent Brown.
Okay, So on the same note, I guess we can. I can just kind of talk about.
This even Oh, that's right, we're doing ups and downs.
Yeah, second down here, just the entire offensive tackle depth chart, just from top to bottom. I think A quarters four has been the probably the best out of the group. And that's saying best very very lightly. But he's been okay. He's been fine at right tackle. A left tackle, whether it's Vaderian Low or Calvin Anderson who's been wrapping at left tackle for the most part. With this twos has been terrible. They had Caden Wallace. It seemed like Kayden Wallace was on a fast track and he was in
a good spot early on in camp. That has completely that train has slowed completely down, And I don't know what's going on with that? So your top four tackles right now, of low a core four Anderson Wallace, I can confidently say that I maybe think they have one starter, yeah, in a core four, and then like one like Wallace is still kind of an unknown, so I'll give him that.
That is, I think Walls could be a starting caliber level player, but only at the position that chooks a core for places right, So.
They have no left tackle. They have no depth at tackle because I don't think that Vederian lower Calvin Anderson's even capable depth at this point.
I think Calvin Anderson's a decent swing.
I don't think you have to see him trying to block Nolan's That's fair. Uh So their tackle situation exactly, I'll I'll give you guys the credit because I wasn't able to on them on March exactly where all of you thought it would be. On August fourteenth, their tackle situation is where it is.
You know. I mean, I couch my takes more than anybody. I put more qualified and my takes and anybody give myself away to weasel out of being wrong. I did not do that on that take. That take, I pounded the table.
I gotta be protect myself a little bit.
My second down U Chad Rown? Oh no, I just I think he let Joey Slide catch up Joey Slid.
So Joey Sides jacked by the way Joey size Hugh So we talked to Joey sly the other day. Yeah, super nice guy. We spent a lot of time talking about golf. Some of it out relates to kicking, but just also kind of golf. Okay, don't too long on this. You talked them for fourteen minutes. It was absurd, It's great. We had great, We had a great.
Cop looked over.
Three times and Joey Slide was still talking.
Yeah, he was enjoying it.
I think that was the longest non quarterback press conference of the summer.
What is your problem with that? Me, Bob Socy, Brian Hines? Who else was there?
For?
Good conversation with the guy?
So Joey Slide.
After thirteen minutes of talking golf, yeah, somebody asked him about the kickoff and he talked like, yeah, you know, he compared it to golf. He was like, I used to be the driver, the big leg kick it through the end. Now you getta get the wedge out and drop the ball in there, and it's more strategic, and he kind of threw in at the end. And also, I know I might be in a position tackle more. I'm excited for that and I'm ready for it. Didn't say he's okay with it, said he's excited for it.
He gain big dude. I'm like, of course you're excited for You're gonna take somebody's head off. Anyway, he had. They did this drill. Was this on Sunday?
Yeah, thirty more seconds.
They did this drill on Sunday where it was the four live field goals reach kicker like they've done at the end of each practice, get off your phone, listen to me. Nope, but they had like the entire team in a semi circle around the kicker just yelling at him and like jumping up and down his face, waving his arms. De Marcus Covington was really into it. Tetrika was really into it, and Sly was the better kicker
that he's still perfect from fifty plus. Ryland I think is one for three from fifty plus in this camp. Ryland also had his first miss from the forty yard range. He missed a forty eight yarder.
Okay, so just as some of miss up because I'm falling asleep, Joey Sly right now, if you had to call it right now, Joey SLID's your.
Kicker, I'd still maybe go look elsewhere. But between the two of them, I'd go Joey Slide.
Yeah, I'm okay with rolling with the Sly guy. I'm alright with it. He's got a big leg, He's gonna give him some distance. Like their offense is not going to be able to drive the ball consistently.
So what it comes down to right now between the kickers to me, do you want the guy that's more reliable from thirty to forty nine but that's his range, or do you want the guy that can step out maybe give you a fifty plus?
What I like about Joey Sli's got a bigger leg, yep, and he's got a little bit more moxie. Yeah, you know, last year Ryland turned into a puddle. I saw that. I don't need that again. I'll take the guy that's got a little bit more moxie and has a little bit more leg. All right, done, Joey Sly, I'm with you all right, last one here for me, I would just say that in general, the cornerback depth is something
that's creeped up a little bit. You know, we we've had a lot of data now of no Jonathan Jones and no Marcus Jones because of the injuries, and I think Jonathan Jones is mostly just veteran management. But regardless, we've seen a lot of Marco Wilson, Alex Austin, Isaiah Bolden that next group. I was hoping that group would be a little bit better. And then obviously when you supplement that with Gonzo being just okay in camp and not like dominant in camp, that probably doesn't help things either.
Marco Wilson, I'm with you. I think you mentioned this earlier has probably been the best. Yeah, and I would now probably have him on my roster projection, which I haven't had him on yet. I think he's on for me now, but I'll throw Sean Wade into that too. I didn't mention him dial. You know, those guys, it just feels to me like there's still a little bit I'm not one hundred percent sure how deep they are anymore.
So I always hate doing this, but it's more of a can't make the club from the top down. Yeah, Sean Wade missing these last few practices sucks because it felt like he was making real momentum, making a towards a roster spot. Now he's not out there the repping Isaiah Bolden in the slot, which Wade's natural slot ability was the best, like the biggest thing he had going for him towards making the roster. This is just this is valuable time he's missing right here, and I think
it's really gonna hurt his chances to make the team. Yeah, he didn't do anything wrong, Like guys get hurt, it happens, but that's the reality of it. If you get hurt and somebody else steps up, that job might not be there when he come back.
Yeah, I think I would. Now if I had to redo my roster projection, I probably have Marco Wilson on and set Wade.
So I had I had Isaiah Bolden as the odd man out of my last one, I'm gonna switch those on my next one.
I think, Yeah, really quickly before I take these calls and wrap a little bit of NFL news, JJ McCarthy out for the year. Torn meniscus, all right, so that's all right, full of meniscus repair, which means that he is now out for the year.
So to relate it back to the pay and obviously, you know, hoping the best for the hint for him and the Viking and all that whatever. To relate it back to the Patriots, because it is a Patriots show. This is it is gonna be interesting to see what happen with him in terms of his development. This is a valuable, valuable year. He is losing. Forget not playing in games, not being at practice. I'm sure he'll still be around and being the meeting rooms, but it's tougher
to be engaged in that way. This is why you have to be so careful with Drake May when it comes to the offensive line.
I didn't see the play exactly that he got hurt on. Did he get hurt on a contact injury or.
It was I don't think anybody knows it was a practice thing, because coming out of the game, nobody was saying anything.
No.
I think it was in the game. I saw a report yesterday that at some point in the game he went to the sideline and said his knee felt weird. Yeah, and they're like all right, we'll run test. But he didn't take a big hit, he didn't get rolled up on. It was a very much it's football, and that's you know, you risk that with Drake May every time you put him out there, and you have to take that risk to when it's a cautionary tale. But I wouldn't even
say caution Well, I guess it is the people. There are gonna be people who look at Drake May seven snaps and say, we'll say this is why you don't risk him. But I think it also shows you like this is this has the potential to massively alter his career. And people point to Joe Burrow. Burrow plaid three months before he tours ACL or before got hurt as a rookie towards ACL. That was his rookie, right, he played
three months. He got enough data that you know, missing as much time as JJ McCarthy's gonna miss like he's behind now he's behind his development. This is another guy like Drake May that is a project and it it it'll be interesting to see how this impacts and moving forward. Also good chance for Sam Darnold, who Minnesota's had a decent summer.
Okay, just my quick thing on JJ McCarthy. And this is not an Andrew Luck moment. Okay, I'm not rooting for injuries. I'm not happy that he's hurt.
Well, according to you, Andrew Luck didn't retire because of jury.
You know what I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to like be an a hole about this, right, I'm not rooting for injuries. I'm not happy he's hurt, none of those types of things. But a part of me is a little bit okay with the fact that he's not gonna play this year. Because we said it on
during the draft, I can pull the receipts. I remember saying this during right after the draft that because he's playing in Kevin o'c donald's offense with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, if JJ McCarthy got on the field early on,
he was going to look better than Drake Man. Oh yeah, it was gonna be kind of like a Mac Jones situation, right and uh, and now, just if JJ, if Drake May was sitting and holding the clipboard for the entire year, JJ McCarthy is having a good rookie season in Minnesota. As you like to say sometimes Alex, that would not have been good for the brand, all right, that would not have been ever said, yes, yeah, that would not
have been good for the brand. That that would have been tough deal well, and so selfishly.
I guess I we would have just had a deal with people that don't understand how Oh yeah, you throw at Justin Jefferson, you're gonna look pretty good. The Patriots don't have Justin Jefferson.
All right, let's take these calls. Jake is in Lemonster. What's up, Jake? Jake? You're there going once? All right? Call us back, Jake and we'll get you on the air. Sean is in Vancouver, what's up? Sean?
Hey, Alex thought I was with you from the beginning about with the offensive line being a disaster preventing trick me from playing right away. And you know, but I don't see this as a team that's going to make the playoffs. So I don't think you have to wait till the last week of the season. If they could just get this offensive line sorted out, you know, be a week five, week six, whatever they do, that's when they should play May because that's that's really the priority.
We want to see. If May is the future, because this team isn't about now, it's about the future, and we need we need to find that out. So we need to find out if this guy is real. I do have a question for you the guys though, how is Antonio Gibson looked in pass blocking because he's going to be needed as a passing down back. I'll take it off the air, I think, good question.
Good questions on the first point, just real quick. Yeah, that's where I've been right. Once the offensive line set, that's what trick may and the problem is might take more than five or six weeks to figure this thing out at.
This point, right I think that's where we're at.
It might take you three months.
Yeah, as I like to do with you know, the first point that he made about kind of they're not gonna be playing We know they're not probably not gonna be a playoff team. Like it's not gonna do with wins, right, it was. It was more about protecting him and keeping him healthy and giving him a chance back there to succeed and all that kind of stuff. And right now, it's hard to envision the offensive line coming together in
the short term to make that happen. By week five or week six, like he was saying in terms of bit blitz pick up. For Antonio Gibson, I do feel like he's been used the route a lot more than blitz pick up. Yeah, And I wonder if that's something that a VP in this offense is gonna be a little bit different than they're The old guard was one. I don't know if it's gonna be. Bax didn't play under Belichick until they understood pass protection, right, they were
not allowed on the field, especially in passing situations. Uh number two. The Patriots would use the back a lot more than some other teams and blitz pick up, especially recently once like James White retired and stuff. So a lot of teams, you know, especially in this West Coach tree, they want to reset things so that the back can get into the pattern. Like whatever you have to do to release the back and not force the back to stay in and blitz pick up, whether it's remiking, you know,
whatever like to do that. We don't want the back to be in the backfield and blitz pick up as much as we can prevent that. Reid is huge and he reads huge on that is the running backs in Kansas City hardly ever pass block. They're always in the pattern, So I don't know how much they're gonna use him in that, But I haven't necessarily watched specifically how he's picked up blitzes and how he's looked in that regard,
but it hasn't been noticeably a problem either. I guess this is the other way to put it.
Yeah, I would agree with you. I don't know that he's had any like wow moments in pass pro, but there haven't been many times I've seen him totally blown aside me either, Like he's been serviceable, but he hasn't done in the ton Like you said, it feels like he's mostly been out in the pattern, and I think that's how they're gonna use him. And realistically, if they reach a point where they're like, all right, we need the running back to be a part of pass pro.
Ramondra Stevens is one of the better pass blocking running backs in the league, they'll probably just put him on the field more at that point.
Yeah, Gibson and I actually really like that. So just we only have a couple more minutes. I don't want to get two bogged down in the next as the nose, but when you think about it's a numbers game, right, It's always a numbers game. And if the back is releasing in the pattern, then somebody has to account for him in coverage, like there's a there has to be a player for player in coverage. So in theory, if you always were releasing the back out of the backfield,
then the backs guy cannot blitz all the time. Otherwise that's where you're just gonna go with the ball. It's gonna be easy to right. So that's how these other teams operate, is that if you're gonna blitz and we're gonna release the back, well, then we're gonna have five in the in the pattern, and you're only gonna have six guys in coverage, and there's gonna be somebody open, right, And so we'll devise away that with hot routes and things like that that somebody's got to be open at
that point. So in theory, you shouldn't have to have the back pass protect all the time. Now, there's going to be certain protections that they will, and you know there's certain instances where they will, but in general, a lot of these teams, you know, like the Floor I know, for a Fact and Shanahan are two guys that they want the quarterback in the center to figure out a way to get the back into the pattern at all times, Like just remight get it, Atlanta, Slide the protection this way,
slide it that way, whatever you gotta do. We don't want the back just sitting back there and picking up linebackers like it just doesn't help us as an offense. So I feel like AVP is going to be in more of that school. But we'll see. It's a good
question and we'll see. But I hope to an extent that the days of Pierre Strong is just never going to get on the field because they can't pick up a freaking linebacker and blitz pick up or Kevin Harris, like you're mentioning the Lions game a couple of years ago, Ormandre is still in the game when they're up thirty points, Like, I hope those days are gone because I think that was a little an instinct, you know, archaic way of looking at it. I want to talk just to wrap
up the show. I know you have one more call and we'll get to it, but I do want to give our takes on Tomorrow night really quickly. So what are you looking forward to tomorrow night? What are you expecting to see in terms of Drake May's participation.
So this is the big question because Garrod Mayo at the beginning of the week said he's gonna play more, He's gonna play more, He's gonna play more, and then the offensive line happened, and I wonder if that's a recalculation. I don't know that anything would surprise me at this point in terms of valid him not playing, I guess would surprise me him not playing at all, not playing a single snap. Beyond that, I'm kind of ready for anything.
I like that you're kind of ready for anything.
Yeah, he could play five snaps, he could play forty. Both would make sense to me at this point.
Yeah. I don't think he's gonna play a high volume like forty, you know, JJ McCarthy. I know it's a bad example now that with the injury, but I think he played like thirty thirty three. Yeah, I think he was the most with thirty three out of the rookie quarterbacks.
I don't expect him to play that much, but I do expect him to play enough that we have some tape to like dig into and I say we, I really mean them, yeah and you yeah, obviously me too, But yeah, I expect to have come away from this where we have like, okay, we have ten to twelve dropbacks of real dropbacks, not screens you know, or like third and ten dump offs into the flat, like actual quarterback plays. Last week we got one. We got one
play action drop that went through Jalen Riger's hands. I think that they will try to get to about ten, twelve, fifteen of those this week. But I was dead wrong about how they were going to use the quarterbacks last week, so I couldn't. I don't. Maybe don't take my word for it, but that's what my gut tells me. The other thing, I just really quickly, I want to mention I didn't think that the rookie receivers look great on film with their route running last week. It's just something
that I texted you about it. I'm not like, well, I said def Con five earlier, red alert by the offensive line. This is like one or two, like def Con one or two. It's not something I'm like crazy worried about, right, But I just feel like Jalen Polk in particular, Jalen Polk's gonna have to have a PhD in route running right, Like he's gonna have to be an expert technician in order to uh to thrive in
the league. Things like getting defenders off their leverage, eating up cushion against off coverage efficientcyy efficiency through the top of the route. Like I didn't love those elements of his game last week. It looked like it was moving a little fast for him the first time out, So maybe that slows down for him eventually. But he's got to think the game, like if he's got a corner that's eight yards off, he's got to eat up the space.
Like you gotta come out of the blocks, man, Like you gotta come out of the blocks like Noah Lyles, right, you gotta get up on him. And then you got a maybe bad example because he did. He had to. He had to flying twenty in that one hundred meter, not the not the first, not the ten yard split. But you gotta come out of the blocks, and uh, you got to eat up the cushion, and then you want to get up on the toes right, and then you you make the brake happen at the top of
the route. But if you don't get the defender to even think for a second that you might run by him. Then your toast like you gotta make the defender think like, Okay, this guy's got you gotta get him back on his heels. Yeah's and I'm either in my pedal or on back of my heels or my hips are opening up to the field like something has to happen there from the defender. Similarly, he ran a route a little quick out that the
defender had outside leverage on him. He's like, you know, right shaded outside leverage, and he just ran right into
the leverage. And I'm not saying that he should have optioned routed it or anything, but if you know that you're gonna run it out and you're locked into a route and you have outside leverage corner, you have to make a move at the line of scrimmage in your release to get him off the leverage right, like give a little fake to the inside or stem it up to the inside quickly and then come back to the outside.
You gotta think the game. And I didn't really see that from him in that game in that film, and Javon Baker a little bit to that extent too, But I didn't necessarily expect Javon Baker to be at that level. Jalen Polk's gonna have to be at that level. You know, Jacobe Myers was at that level, is at that level.
You know.
The other comparison, Tyler Boyd, like Keenan Allen, like some of the other names people throw out, Like, those guys are at that level, So I gotta see a little bit more they're out of Jalen Polk. I'm so torn on Jalen Polk. Like all the things that we talk about during draft season when it comes to receivers, this
one's like really giving me up at night. I'm so torn about what to think about him because you know, my typical preferences are separation, ability, speed, like all the Like Zay Flowers is like my guy, right, Like that's the type of receiver I look at and say, that guy's gonna translate, that guy's gonna be good in the league. Jalen Polk does all the other things well, he catches the ball, well, he's physical, he's got some Alpha in him, and he's got kind of that a little bit of
attitude to him. But he doesn't separate and normally I'm out on those types of guys, but I do see it with Jalen Polk, like how he could build himself into a good NFL receiver, but he's gonna have to refine his route running and be like an expert expert route runner in or to make that happen. So those are a couple of things. Is there anybody else other than the quarterbacks that you're looking out for.
That third string tight end battle? But we can take this call. I won't run it down third thing.
Third string tight end is more important than the caller. Nowchic tachical? All right, all right, John, You're more important than the third string tight end? What do you got?
I was actually kind of digging in here waiting to see what parts was gonna say. Huge fan of both of you guys. I think my wife's sick of hearing
both your voices at this point. But I think kind of like my biggest takeaway from listening to your guys a show and the coverage and like the whole Drake may experience and not to beat like Bill Belichick again because we've done that, but I just think it shows you, like how many years and how many years I've listened to you guys talk about where they just never addressed, like like glaring holes on offense, whether it's tackle, offensive
line depth, receiver deaf like topping receiver talent. And I think it's like years and years and years of this like accruing and to the point where now you can't even get Drake May out in a preseason game because he's going to get his head ripped off. And like we saw in the joint practice yesterday, like you put him out there with twos, even against another team's number twos, Like it's not competitive. So I think people need to like I think you guys have done a good job
of this. I can't listen to ninety five anymore, but like you need to pump the brakes and like, let Drake May develop so that way in two years we're not sitting around being like what happened to Drake May?
You sees ghosts?
He's leaning off his back foot, Like we just need to calm down. But thank you guys, love listen.
To your show.
Thanks John, thanks for the call. Well said, that's exactly. That's a great way to end my first thirty five minutes of standing on the ledge at the Tobin Bridge that that's exactly where it's at right now, is patients like we are now yesterday. To me, first of all, just really quickly, I know we have to end. Yeah, but I listened to Badard on the way home last night. He like saw ghosts, like looks. It was like he saw a dead person the way he was talking about
practice yesterday. And I think it was genuine like he was Jenny.
Was rattled by the ducks and horses question, but okay.
Yeah, he was genuinely rattled, and I was not quite that far, but I was in this. I think we're all in a similar place where yesterday was a real wake up call to the fact that this team's got a ways to go. And we watched a team in the Eagles, who I mentioned at the top of the show, have the third best odds in some places to win Super Bowl fifty nine. Are one of those teams eight to ten teams, let's call it that that has a
legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl. And you saw what that looked like, and then you saw what the Patriots offense looked like, and all of a sudden, it's like, we need to take a big step back, right we've been in the campgrind. We've been at every practice. It's been a couple of weeks of this every single day, almost being out there watching for two hours. I think
we all need to take a deep breath. We need to take a big step back, and we need to realize that this is gonna this is gonna be a while.
Are we going to, uh do Will Campbell check ins on the show this year?
We might have to, and Luther Burden and we'll Travis Hunter, Will Campbell cal we all need to. This was a wake up call yesterday and that and that's the great way at the end of the show. So, uh, we'll be back next week, probably the same day, same time, roughly. I would say this is kind of we're not sure exactly when we'll be on during the regular season. We still got to work out what their the football schedule is and all that kind of stuff. But for now,
this is uh, this has been good. Uh, So we'll probably be back next week around the same time, really quickly. Before we wrap here, Bridgestone, the official tire of the New England Patriots, was proud to partner with Sullivan Tyre, New England's headquarters for quality Bridgestone Tires. Visit Sullivantyre dot com to find a location near you and easy to drink, easy to enjoy bud Light, the official beer sponsor of
New England. Patriots. Enjoy the game tomorrow night. Hopefully we see more of Drake May and we'll see you guys next week.
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