Patriots Playbook 8/30: Analysis of 53-Man Roster Moves, Practice Squad Reports

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey, Patriot fans. If you want to see Toyota's best offers,
including those not seen on TV, go to buy at
toyota dot com. It's Toyota's official website for deals from
the official vehicle of the New England Patriots, Toyota. Let's
go places. This is Patriots Playbook. The legend today is

(00:27):
July the twenty seventh, twenty sixth. Right, Okay, got it,
I'm lucky if I know my name, he said, what
do you think?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
You know?

Speaker 1 (00:33):
He was asked by the media, what do you think
of your team's at con fusion on the field. He said,
I'd be in favor of it. You got that nobody
else did. But but if you're going to ask him
to do a Maya culpunk and say, okay, my bad, Sorry, guys,
I really screwed up on that draft, that's never going
to happen. You know, when I was a kid, I
didn't have any toys in my toy chest. Never did.
Maybe stronger, maybe tougher. But he who has the most

(00:55):
toys at the end wins. Preseason's over.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Now here's your host of Patriots play Book, John Rook.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah, preseason is over, and I think probably for the
better that it's over. Welcome into the playbook. It is
our final final, which means last offseason edition of the playbook.
And before we move on any further, I've got a
great big announcement to make, well, actually two partial announcements
to make, actually three partial announcements to make before we

(01:24):
get into the crux, and that are by the way.
I know that many of you have your questions on
the final fifty three which came about yesterday afternoon and evening.
We're going to spend all day talking about that. Today
the practice squad, the waivers now are being accepted, rejected,
worked on, moved around. That started just literally a minute

(01:46):
ago around the NFL. So as waiver pickups and or
signings happen, we'll bring them to you as soon as
we can. The Patriots practice squad should begin to start
taking shape over the course of the next hour, and
then before probably three o'clock today, I think you'll pretty

(02:06):
much know what's going on. The Patriots have a practice
today schedule for one forty five, so I think most
everything is going to be decided by around that time,
with the exception everybody they pick up from another team.
We're going to keep you up to date on that.
Evan Lazar, our own Evan Lazarre will join us in
the second hour of the show to update you on
the roster and the practice squad and whether or not
Patriots are gonna actually have more than one quarterback on

(02:28):
the roster, which I know came as the biggest shock
I think of all during the fifty three Well, let
me get to those quick announcements, because that's going to
happen here. First. Number one, this show, this show. This
is the last preseason show, the last offseason show. Next
Wednesday will be the first regular season show. And by Wednesday,

(02:48):
I mean the last couple of years we've actually done
the regular season show on Thursdays. We're moving to Wednesdays, people,
So Patriots Playbook will move to Wednesdays at two pm Eastern.
So we will bring this show on Wednesdays right after
Patriots Unfiltered. So you're gonna have four, as we like
to call it, action packed hours of football talk on

(03:12):
Wednesdays to you know, basically get you to the week
into the weekend and to the game week and all
that kind of stuff and pick you up from the
previous weekend. So Patriots playbook moves to Wednesdays this season
in the regular season at two pm Eastern until four
pm Eastern, and then of course, available for playback on

(03:33):
the podcast thereafter. Speaking of available for the playback of
the podcast, we don't stream. Oh my god, I guess
that means how I've got a word. Do I need
to put on my makeup now? Since we're gonna be
on camera? Please? You don't want to burn the place
down looking all? Oh my god, you know I was.
I was having a conversation on Facebook. I know I'm old,
but I was having a conversation on Facebook with an

(03:54):
old high school friend because I got one of those
updates this week. And Facebook, you know how they send
you memories, you know all the time. Oh you did this,
you know ten years ago, you did this, five years ago.
They sent me one from fifty freaking years ago. Fifty
years It said I started high school fifty years ago,

(04:16):
day before yesterday. You know what my action was, you mother?
What the hell? I started high school in August the
twenty eighth of nineteen seventy three. Okay, do the math.
I'm not gonna tell you anymore, but that's when I

(04:39):
started high school and I got that this week and
then on the way in just thirty minutes ago. On
the way in here. Okay, guy also has gray hair
like I do. Said, Hey, mister rook, how's it going?
What WOA like things now compared to the way they
used to be? I don't like it. Get off my name, Lord,

(05:04):
But I got mistered by somebody else who had great hair.
I got Misterared. What the hell? Hey, John, how's it going?
Hey Rookie, what's happening? You know that's what most people say.
I got. Hey, mister rook, nice to see you just
should be taken as a sign of seniority, you know
what I mean. Not not old seniority, you know what
I mean. My dad is mister Rook. He's eighty five. Okay,

(05:26):
my dad's eighty five. He deserves to be mister Rook.
He's earned it. Toche, I'm John, Okay, you want to
call me Rookie. I've been known as Rookie my entire life.
That's fine. I don't care, doesn't matter. But I'm just
like God bless America. Really all right, anyway, I just
had to get that off my chest a little bit.
All right. We today's show is also I think special

(05:50):
because I know how passionate most of us are about
following football, also about you know, following the Patriots as well. Hell,
that's why we have the jobs that we do. That's
why we're getting ready to start year twenty three for
this particular program, year twenty three for the playbook, year
twenty four next week, I guess, because that'll be the anniversary,

(06:13):
right year twenty four for Patriots dot Com Radio. So
we've been going at this almost a quarter of a century.
Is that hard to believe? The Patriots were first. I know,
the Patriot's been first in a lot of things and
probably last on some things too, but Patriots were first
in terms of live streaming radio on the team website.
Nobody did it live like radio programming before the Patriots

(06:35):
did in two thousand and it was the forerunner to
what Patriots Unfiltered is today. Would give you the history
listen now, and if you don't like it, hell with you.
We did that back in two thousand. It was Patriots
Football Weekly at the time, and then we brought the
playbook in in two thousand and one, I mean literally

(06:57):
two weeks before nine to eleven, which was Wow, you
want to talk about, you know, tough beginning. That was
a tough beginning, but we got through it. We did
we did well with it, and we've been going ever since.
So this is year twenty three for the playbook that
we'll be starting in the regular season next week. And
one of the things that you know, we we try
to sort of look, I know everybody is really clued in,

(07:20):
and I know everybody likes different opinion. Everybody has. Opinions
are like belly buttons and other things that we have
on our bodies. Everybody's got them right. Okay, everybody's got
an opinion. I wanted to share opinion today is really
what I want. So, yes, the phone lines are open
eight five to five, PATS five hundred. Okay, it's a

(07:41):
toll free telephone number. You want to call in, shoot
the bleep, chit chat, talk about the Pats. You want
to blame the Patriots for the fifty three man. You
want to you know, praise the page. Whatever you want
to do is fine. Pomp ponds can be waived here
today if you wish. That's fine. We'll try to balance
it out as best as we can. PATS five hundred

(08:02):
is the number. Web Radio at patriots dot com. That's
the email address. If you want to send an email,
you can. I will read those on the air unless
you tell me not to, unless you tell me not to,
and please follow. On social media, you can follow me
on X formerly known as Twitter. This does does Elon

(08:22):
realize that that's more cumbersome than just saying Twitter, because
you have to almost preface it by saying follow me
on X? What the hell's that? You know? Got to
think about it now, Yeah, well I do. I do,
because you're right. Every time I call up the app
on my phone, it looks like, you know, something that
I probably shouldn't be looking at. Not that I look

(08:42):
at stuff like that because I don't know what those
things look like. Okay, I don't. I really don't, I
promise you, Miss Robin, I don't. I have no idea
what those things look like. Uh but you know, okay?
So yeah, on X formerly known as Twitter, it's at
JR Broadcaster. Okay, at JR Broadcaster, very simple. On Facebook,

(09:04):
you can follow me on the Facebook page John dot Rook.
On Facebook, you want to submit the friend request, you
can do that. I would just ask that when I
click on your name and your profile. Just indicate somehow
in your profile that you're a football fan or a
Patriots fan, because if you're a fan, I'm going to
accept the friend request. I get a lot of that
spam stuff that you get that people just want to
try to scam you on and I don't do that.

(09:26):
And if I don't know you, or I don't recognize you,
or I don't think you're a football fan, guess what,
I'm going to deny the friend request. It's pretty simple.
And then you can also follow me on Instagram and threads.
I guess that's Instagram's you know, that's their answer to Twitter,
which you know, I don't know if it's working or not,

(09:47):
but I'm on it. And you can also hit me
up on Instagram and threads at JR Broadcaster. Very simple
to follow along. And I usually, you know, publish a
lot of the stuff that we do here on the show,
repeat a lot of the stuff we do, heur in
the show, post the podcast, you know, from the show.
We try to send it all out via our social
media channel, so that way you're clued in. And because
of that, that's why in terms of today's show, we

(10:10):
wanted to be in the business of sharing opinion. So
Matt and I Marine and I thought that it would
be a great idea to get those who spend their passion,
their time in their effort podcasting and blogging about the Patriots.
And they may or may not be professionally paid for this.
Some are. Some do it so well that they get

(10:31):
paid for this, but some do it just because they're
big fans. All right, Well, these people are all pretty good.
I've heard their stuff and joining us in the twenty
minutes here Mike Debate, who hosts the Lockdown Patriots podcast.
If you've listened to that one. If you follow Mike
as well, you see his stuff. He writes for a

(10:52):
Fan Nation as well, which is the Sports Illustrated website.
Mike's gonna join us. Our good friend Clazy Claire Claire
Cooper is going to join us in our number two.
She does the Claire Perspective podcast. Uh. And then in
our number three, Brian Barrett, who hosts the Off the

(11:13):
Pike podcast on The Ringer and for those that might
be listening locally, Brian was the pre and postgame host
for the Red Sox Radio Network on WEI here locally,
and then The Ringer hired him to write and to podcast,
and apparently it's going real well for him because the
podcast is already getting a lot of attention, covering not
only you know, New England the Patriots in particular, but

(11:36):
also the NFL.

Speaker 4 (11:37):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
Brian Barrett's going to join us in our number two
for on his Off the Park, Off the Pike podcast.
So those three people are going to join us throughout
the course of the show to share their opinions. I'm
basically what we got to talk about. Evan Lazarre is
also going to join the show in the next hour
when we have an update to pass along on the
practice squad. Because, like you, my jaw hit the floor.

(12:00):
Or when I heard that both Bailey Zappie and Maleek
Gunningham were cut yesterday. Now, did I think for a
minute that that would stay the same way? No, not
for a minute. I understand. I see through the madness.
You know that the final fifty three is really not
going to be the final fifty three. It's not gonna

(12:21):
be the roster that faces the Eagles that we're talking
about this time next week. Okay, But the fact remains
is I think we had wild swings and misses at
predicting the final fifty three this year because the roster
had to change because of all the injuries, and let's
face it, because of some of the shortcomings of the

(12:42):
personnel on this Patriots roster. You know, it's kind of funny.
Didn't we before the draft? I know, I talked about
this before the draft. I thought the Patriots would take
an offensive alignment. I thought they'd take a tackle. Did
we not say that here on this show? Matt, Yeah,
we did. We did. We talked about it, I know,
and I got poo pooed, I got shunned, I got disdained,

(13:05):
I got laughed at. I'm like, oh, literal need that? Well,
what do they need that for? Another offensive lineman?

Speaker 5 (13:10):
All?

Speaker 1 (13:10):
Shoot me? Now, well, what the hell do they need
the most right now? Out of anything? An offensive lineman tackle? Yeah? Hm,
I guess I could say I told you so, but
I'm not because, frankly, I don't know that I would
have passed on Christian gonzales either. I don't think I

(13:32):
can't say that I would have. I wasn't in the room.
I wasn't there in the moment, so I don't know.
But Christian Gonzalees slides down to me and I'm ready
to take a tackle at seventeen and he's there. I
might have done the same thing, so I understand it.
But I think this team is clearly in a world
hurt up front. And I also find it kind of funny.

(13:54):
I looked at the odds today on BETMGM, and I'm
not advocating betting. Okay, we don't bet here because if
we guess what we get asked, so we don't do
that here. I don't do that. I know a lot
of my friends do. They got the betam GM app,
they got the DraftKings app. I mean that's fine, but employees,
now that's for voting. We don't do that, all right.
But I'll tell you this BETMGM today because I know

(14:16):
a bunch of guys who are on it, and they
do sponsor a lot of stuff locally. I know they're
a sponsor for ninety eight five. You know a lot
of things. They have the over under at Patriots wins
this year. It started in the preseason at six and
a half. Today it's up to seven and a half
and that number is getting pounded. That is their number

(14:40):
one ticket taking the over on the Patriots at seven
and a half wins. Can I ask what the hell
you saw from this Patriots team that would cause you
to go all in on this team on the over
seven and a half wins for next year? What did

(15:02):
you see? What did you see that I didn't see?
Because I'm gonna tell you what I saw. Okay, first
of all, I saw nothing, and and that's that's to me.
It's sort of the great dichotomy that we're facing here.
Oh I just threw a big word in there. Okay,
dichotomy d I C H O T O M Y dichotomy. Yeah, right,

(15:27):
where's Eric? When I know it's it's sort of a
it's sort of a it's a conundrum. It's a question.
It's a uh, it's a what's a good way to
put it? Conundrum? Dan It that's what it is. Okay,

(15:47):
all right, I think I understand what that one means.
It's it's interesting. We we have teams in the past
in the preseason who are anxious to work their guys
out and see what they have, and yet over the
last I don't know, ten years or so thereabouts, especially

(16:10):
since we shorten the preseason to three weeks, I say
we that's the NFL the collective. We you see more
and more teams playing things close to the vest. They're
not showing their cards. The Patriots under Bill Belichick have
done this for a number of years, longer than ten years.
They don't like to show you anything in the preseason,
which is why I've always found fascinating the Baltimore Ravens

(16:32):
twenty four game preseason win streak until this year when
Washington beat them a couple of weeks ago to snap
their twenty four game winning streak. Think about that, they
won twenty four exhibition games in a row. That should
be in a Guinness Book of World Records before they
got to beat Because these games mean nothing, and the
Patriots over the last ten to twenty years especially, have

(16:54):
played that way in the preseason. It means nothing. It's
like a glorified scrimmage, and so teams aren't gonna show
a thing. But what they did show stunk this year.
Let's be honest. Let's be honest. It was not good.
And the offensive line, because it's already banged up, you know,

(17:17):
we had you know, Cole Strong went out with the
the the what the first practice of the year. We're
down on the first practice. You know, Trent Brown, you know,
Trent is is always you know, a challenge you know,
to get you know, into shape and things like that.
Calvin Anderson, it was telling us this week, you know,
in media circles, that he had a very serious illness

(17:38):
over the course of the summer and it was doubtful
that for a while there that he was ever going
to get back to the football field or even get healthy.
And so and these three guys are you know, considered
to be well, that's three fifths of your offensive line
and Mike on Winnu is the fourth of that fifth
and he had ankle surgery in the offseason and didn't
practice at all. He's on the pup. That was it.

(18:04):
So the offensive line that was thought to be pretty
good coming back this year was nonexistent, and the Patriots
showed it. So you can either look at it from
a positive perspective, Well, if they got guys together again,
this gives them a chance now to get the right
guys on the field that they thought they're gonna have,
or you can say, good golly, miss Molly, the depth

(18:25):
is terrible. So there's two ways of looking at it.
And based on what I saw, the depth is terrible.
Now will it improve? It stands to reason that it
will because you threw those guys in there who could play.
You threw them in the fire. It's kind of like
getting thrown into the deep end when you're a five
year old and learn how to swim. Okay, kid, claw

(18:46):
your way to the top. That's how I learned how
to swim. To my mother's horror standing on the side
of the pool, because I remember that, I actually remember
that I was scared to death. Guy picked me up
and threw me right into the deep end of the pool,
John Wayne' stuff. That's exactly how it happened. But this
is what we're doing, now, this is what we're doing.
I think that's a great analogy. We're taking the Patriots,

(19:07):
you know, offense, and we're throwing into the deep end
of the pool. Bill O'Brien has a hell of a
challenge on his hand, folks, and especially if the Patriots
stayed with one quarterback, I don't know how the hell
you're gonna keep You're gonna keep one. See, the whole
mind numbing thought of this is is that you got
an offensive line that hasn't played one minute of time yet.

(19:28):
This preseason together, four of the five have been on
the sideline shell due to injury or rehab. And the
backups stink. And you got one quarterback and you expect
to keep him healthy the whole year. Water you nuts.
Can't wait till you're on camera next week so they
can see these facial reactions. He's annoyed and confused. You

(19:56):
could actually see the white hair in my head rubbing
his eyes turn. The beads of sweater are starting to
come out of the forehead. Are we in HD? Oh?
If we're in HD, then you'll see the beads of
sweat next week. Oh my god. It makes no sense. Okay.
So that's why I found the whole bet MGM thing
today absolutely fascinating. That fans are pounding betters are pounding

(20:22):
the over at seven and a half and it's already
risen from six and a half in the last month
to seven and a half. It started at six and
a half, and I remember thinking, well, if I was
a betting man, I'm not mister Kraft, but if I was,
I'd pound that sucker at six and a half. At
seven and a half, I'm probably still pounding it, but
I'm not pounding it quite as hard as I was

(20:43):
a week a month ago. But it's just I'm just like, Wow,
this really is fascinating. So I gotta find out from you.
I'm gonna find out from our podcast hosts. I gotta
find out today, where does the optimism in your mind

(21:04):
come from? Because I didn't see it. I mean, the
preseason was so freaking bad for Bailey Zappy. He's gone. Now.
Do I expect him to be back today? I do,
but it's possible someone could take a flyer on him
and then he's gone. And I know that, you know,
a couple of veteran potential veteran backups are out there

(21:29):
that are looking for jobs. And I think the Patriots
would be great, in great shape if they could get
a guy, say like case Keenum, if they could get
a guy like Colt McCoy, if they could get a
guy like Nick Foles. You know, I actually think they'd
be in great shape for two reasons. Number One, I
think you'd feel reasonably certain that you could still be

(21:52):
a plausible offense if any one of those guys came
into the game to replace Mac if he were to
get hurt. Number one. Number two, a more seasoned, veteran
player is gonna be somebody that Mac can rely upon
in the quarterback room. Didn't we see that the last
couple of years with Brian Hoyer. So you look at
basically replacing the same role that Brian Hoyer fulfilled over

(22:15):
the last couple of years, only maybe just maybe better talented. Maybe.
So I'm really not I'm not worried about the quarterback,
even though it's just bizarre as hell to have one
quarterback on the final fifty three Malik Cunningham. Look I listen,

(22:36):
I'd love to have him back. He provides a dimension
to this offense that you just can't buy. And I
got to find a spot for this guy on the
active game day roster. You could have him returning punch,
you get him returning kicks, you could have him in
there running RPO, whatever you want. I mean, you know
you're gonna run the ball probably, but I mean he's
got the threat, you know, to pull that ball back

(22:57):
and fire it up the field too if he's gonna
run an RPO. So I'm just telling me, look, I
think this is something that could turn out to be
in their favor. But they're going to see how the
waiver wire progresses and again it just got started twenty
three minutes ago. Just got started twenty three minutes ago.
All right, Eldred says he's busy and he can't wait

(23:19):
to get on, So we want to bring Eldred. Who's
I assume Eldred you're driving somewhere in North Carolina.

Speaker 6 (23:25):
Uh no, throw them off today. I just told him
I can't wait to talk feet.

Speaker 1 (23:28):
Oh oh, I thought that there was an emergency here
because it says, you know, marine says Eldred can't wait
to get on. That's what it says here on my
call screen. Okay, what he said in my ear. Okay,
all right, well guess what I'd glad to talk to you, buddy?
How were you?

Speaker 6 (23:46):
I'm fining certain you?

Speaker 1 (23:48):
Well, so tell me what you why you couldn't wait.

Speaker 5 (23:50):
To get on?

Speaker 6 (23:52):
Like I've been saying for all your build apologists, I
don't care get him out as GM.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
Bottom line, it's not gonna happen.

Speaker 6 (24:00):
Because it's not gonna happen this year, not gonna happen
next year.

Speaker 1 (24:04):
I don't think it's it's not gonna happen until he
not gonna happen until he gets don Shula's record and
he retires. Period. That's how you get Bill the GM out.
That's that's what's gonna.

Speaker 6 (24:15):
Happen the world, cause you're gonna go on, uh go
six and seven, sixteen eleven, Devin ten for next two
years because it's the talent level.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
Well, now, Eldred, I I will, I will give you this.
If this team goes you know, six and eleven, seven
and ten this year, Bill may not have to get
out on his own. This team cannot fail. I would
say that this team uh needs to make the postseason
without build, you know, visiting the hot seat, a legitimate

(24:46):
hot seat, because the Crafts want to win. And if
they go another year without getting into the postseason, you know,
I mean, they made the postseason two years ago, got beat,
didn't get in last year. They need to get back
to the postseason and the goal is to win game.
And the only way they do that is if they
really realistically, let's face it, if they don't get in
as a five or a six seed, they got to

(25:07):
get in potentially ostensibly as a division champion because then
they get a home game. Now I actually believe, I
don't think I don't. I'm not I'm not confident of
the chances, but I would tell you their chances this
year may be better than what they were a year
ago because I think the the the top of the
AFC East has come back to the Patriots, and the

(25:27):
Patriots have risen up slightly to meet that challenge. That's
in Buffalo, and certainly that will be now with the
Jets with Aaron Rodgers there and in Miami, because I
just don't trust Miami and I don't trust to staying
healthy for the entire season. So I honestly I said
this during the offseason. I would not be shocked to

(25:47):
see the four teams in the AFC East go three
and three against each other. I wouldn't.

Speaker 6 (25:55):
I can't see that. I can't see that, mister, because one,
like you said, the beginning line is atrocious and they
had backup that was killing me, and now it's even worse.
So you got the best defensive line, you know, everybody
thinking about the offense. You got the best defense coming
that coming after us too, with those quarterbacks of those
wide receivers. You got a line they don't have. You

(26:15):
have no froom starters yet, got people untested, and then
you're gonna trade for and use the draft pick for
people that's under You know, why don't you go after
Connie Brown or or somebody like that?

Speaker 7 (26:28):
What you should have got.

Speaker 6 (26:30):
You know, you could have went there, but no, you
had problems get you believe, which you always believe in
a strong, a strong middle class. Well, hey, you ain't
got a middle class if you ain't got a top class.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
That's actually a pretty good point.

Speaker 6 (26:45):
You ain't got a man behind that. You know, the
bat step up if he falls out.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
Gotta have a top class to get a middle class. Yeah,
you're right.

Speaker 6 (26:52):
And then, like I said before, it's draft notices, well something. Now,
I won't give him too much too bad on free agency,
but when it comes to linemen and wide receivers, he
gets to l all the way around because you don't
want to pay people from this ninth thing. He's still
set in the nineties, in the eighties, in the nineties,
it's twenty twenty three. Bill, you need to wake the

(27:14):
h up. You should have woke up. You know, he
thought he thought Brady was too old. Everybody I thought
maybe Bill was getting too old because I did well,
because goes to personnails and everything. I don't know, okay,
person lines, No, he is just dead in his mindset.
I will set that.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
Way, Elden. I would tell you, I don't think it's
so much age as it is that he's just set in
his waist. And maybe that's a byproduct of being seventy one.
But look, he you know, still he's gonna stay with
the philosophy that put this this team at the pinnacle
of the NFL for twenty years. Now, does that mean
that it's suitings at twelve?

Speaker 4 (27:52):
Well, you don't have twelve no more. I agree, he
had twelve. I agree, I agree, But you gotta look
at every again. I'm just trying to get you to
look at it from his person. It wasn't all twelve from.

Speaker 1 (28:02):
His perspective, from his perspective because because then well but see,
I'm just saying, now, you're disrespecting the other players who
are part of, you know, those Super Bowl championship teams.
And I don't think that's Bill's intention here. Maybe deep
down he knows, hey, I had something really special in Tom,
and I think he's shown that. He's even said that
here in the off season, you know, as Tom comes

(28:22):
back to be you know, faded here next week, you know,
with the uh, you know, the Eagles game in town.
I think Building deep down knows what he had, but
he's trying to be respectful to everybody who's been a
part of those six Super Bowl trophies. And frankly, I
don't blame him. That's what a CEO's job is supposed
to do. Now, does it mean that he's kind of

(28:43):
lost touch with some of the modern nuances of the
game today as opposed to say, fifteen or twenty years ago.
I will allow you may be right about that. Yeah,
I certainly I get it. I get it, and maybe
just maybe let's just say this now. I just got
through telling you when I open up the show that
you know, this team is well no needed offensive lineman,

(29:05):
and I was an advocate of taking an offensive lineman,
and they ended up taking Christian Gonzales. Maybe that's the
way for these newer people, these people that have come
in now and take over these other jobs that are
helping him here. Maybe that's their way of saying, Yo, Bill,
we got to get with the program and we need this.
Because if it had been left up to strictly to Bill,
I truly believe he would have taken tackle in the draft.

Speaker 6 (29:30):
I do well that I sort of agree and disagree
with that because I think the scouts be telling him
because he ain't dumb. He ain't stupid bout at least
he sees the he sees to report, he sees to combine.
But it's just that I can find somebody who's who's
the first round. I can get that same guy in
the fourth, fie for sixth rounds. That ain't always true,

(29:51):
because sometimes you got to go after that affro dog.
You had a chance to get a lave, You had
a chance to get a line, a walker, You had
a chance to get a cat. Last year, you had
a chance get Washington. You had to just get a
lot of people that you wouldn't need right now, but
you know, just to be all lonely. He didn't do that.
He got strange and he got whatever take one and

(30:12):
where they both had to me. I don't want to
call him a bush yet, but he ain't showed me that.
You know, it hurt and just then can't be there.
Before that, you had a chance to get a couple
more people you wouldn't got what you got, and that
was it because he don't realize draft grade is what
draft grades are. I can find this person and get

(30:33):
this person, and you know, we just put them in,
but they ain't always always the point.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
Eldred, You know me, draft draft draft grades are are
useless until you're two or three years into the process.
They're useless. So anybody that gives me a draft grade,
I mean, we're starting to see that twenty twenty two's
draft wasn't very good because the back half of that
draft is now all gone. The upper half was pretty good,
but the back half is gone. And again I would

(30:58):
allow that part of the reason for it is is
because of what's happened to this team with some of
the injuries. I mean, how many of the rosters do
you see with eleven offensive linemen still on it out
of the fifty three players on the team. That tells
me they think I had a major, major issue And
they didn't. They did not allow for that, or at
least they thought what they had was good enough until

(31:20):
what they had and what they thought was good enough
wasn't good enough, and there wasn't enough of it to
go around because they were all either sick or hurt,
and so it's changed the makeup, so I can't. I
can't even blame them really for the twenty twenty two
back half of the draft being you know, an apparent
bust because they're all gone. I can't really say that
because the circumstances changed. Can you play?

Speaker 7 (31:43):
Can?

Speaker 1 (31:44):
Can you plug and play? That's what I want to know.
Do can players relate to being plugged into a spot
that you want them for, that you draft them for?
And can they play?

Speaker 7 (31:54):
And and casey?

Speaker 6 (31:55):
I don't see two other teams having that problems. Legend
everybody's plugging somebody?

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Well who others? Who other than Kansas City and Philadelphia? Really?
Can you you know?

Speaker 8 (32:07):
Uh?

Speaker 6 (32:08):
I mean, okay, let me the Saints when they got
a lave he plugging?

Speaker 1 (32:13):
What are the Saints won lately? What are the Saints won,
Eldred nothing? Okay? So then then it's a moot point.
Your argument is mood though. That's what I'm trying to say, Bud.
Unless the an end result is championship level caliber team,
it doesn't matter how you get there. It really doesn't.
It can't. It doesn't matter what the Saints did. You

(32:34):
don't want to follow the Saints, right I.

Speaker 6 (32:37):
Don't want to follow the Saints. But like I said,
you said, guys that plug and play, that contribute, That's
what I'm giving you. I didn't say the records to
A twelve or seventeen and oh or fourteen and three?
And then they tackle did the guy for Dallas. I've
got the guys and he's on the right left side.
They move their guard, you move to tackle Stardney starting now.
They got him last year. You before last Dardan playing,

(33:00):
you know, and then we get strange he stays be played.
But it wasn't good. That guy for Dallas was darn good.
The qarment that brown guy did a guy for the Browns.
Then why they made the other guy they spending madwhe
dexpendable because they drafted him this year. Boy showed out
all doing preseason and he's fighting none of that guy
in the first fight him for this staring position and

(33:21):
he's gonna take it. And that's Brown clone. You could
have got him in the fourth round, but you got
Jake and Jack Andrew. Sure, So you're paying apples to apples,
orange and orange. Yeah, And like I said, it's just
the thought.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
Process, okay, And it's Heather Well let's let's see if
we can't get a couple of other opinions in here.
As we mentioned, bringing a lot of uh, we're bringing
some podcast hosts in, people who host Patriot's Pause to
get their thoughts on this particular issue. And leading us
off today, Mike Debate, who hosts the Locked On Patriots
podcast on the Locked On Podcast Network. If you will, Mike,

(33:56):
it's good to have you on the program. Thanks for
taking a little time to visit with us today.

Speaker 5 (34:00):
John, thank you so much for having me today. My
honor to be on.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
So let's I want you to jump into this, I
mean in terms of what we were just kind of
talking about, because I think you caught the tail end
of the conversation between Elder and myself here, what's your
stance on you know, first of all, eleven offensive linemen,
whether or not they have anybody that's worth playing, And
were you as shocked as anybody else over having just

(34:23):
one quarterback on the fifty three?

Speaker 5 (34:26):
Yeah, I think anytime you see one quarterback on a
depth chart, you're naturally going to have a little bit
of a panic reaction. The first reaction is going to be,
what is Bill doing here? Why are we carrying only
one quarterback, a starter in mac Jones, and then you're
cutting loose Bailey Zappi and Malik Cunningham. I think it's
interesting to point out that this actually happened a couple
of years ago when Cam Newton was cut loose. Ryan

(34:48):
Hoyer was also cut some roster manipulation. He ends up
coming back in the fold. So it's not completely unprecedented
for the New England Patriots to do this. Now, I'm
not making an excuse for it. I'm just simply stating
that this is something that Bill has done before. And John,
I think you hit on this when you said that
Bill is pretty set in his ways, and I think
these are one of This is one of the tactics

(35:08):
that Bill will use in terms of building a roster. Now,
if this all comes to fruition the way we are
hearing reports that the Patriots would like it to come
to fruition, either Bailey Zappi or Malie Cunningham or both
will end up back on this roster. And if that's
the case, and he can do this by signing them
to a practice squad deal, which is a little bit
less than what they would be making on their rookie

(35:30):
deals all of a sudden, it looks like a pretty
good move, but it's a lot of risk. There is
an inherent risk, and then there's a risk beyond of
losing these players. And even if they come back, they
can still be poached away by other teams that want
to sign them to their fifty three man rosters. So
a lot of blind faith being made by Bill Belichick here.
I can understand some fans being uneasy and being squeamish

(35:53):
when it comes to the offensive lineman John Unfortunately, I
think this is more a necessity than anything else. There
is a dearth of availability. We're gonna see some guys
go on IR probably shortly, and I think the Patriots
are trying to stockpile as many bodies back there as
possible to make sure that they're not deficient at any
one place on the offensive line. But definitely a head

(36:15):
scratcher in day one of roster building one oh one
with a New England Patriots.

Speaker 1 (36:19):
Yeah, I think you brought up a really important point.
The IR is gonna probably have a flurry of activity
year once the waiver period is over in the next
hour or so, and we get an idea if the
Patriots going to put in a claim on anybody they may,
because some of the guys that made the fifty three
would be candidates to be put onto the ir But

(36:40):
the only way that you can bring them back in season.
For anybody who doesn't know this, only way that you
can bring a guy off the IRN season is they
have to make the initial fifty three. So they're on
the initial fifty three, but they may not be in
any shape to play right now. So it wouldn't really
surprise me to see the Patriots take a stab or
two at the wave wire from another team and then

(37:02):
replace those guys you know, and move some guys to
the ir that you know in order to be able
to make room for them on the final fifty three.
So all of that has taken place, probably even as
we speak. And like I said earlier, if we get
the updates on this, we'll pass that stuff onto you
as we find it out. Eldred, does that help you
at all? Is he still there? Eldred? Are you still there? Okay? Well,

(37:28):
I was just asking if some of that explanation helped
you at all understand why they do things the way
that they do them.

Speaker 6 (37:37):
Yeah, he said his ways.

Speaker 1 (37:39):
Well, he definitely is that, he's definitely setting his ways.
But I mean we got to get by that, Eldred,
I mean probably for another couple of years. We got
to get by that. It's not gonna change. And so
I don't really think we need to waste the time
over trying to get Bill to come into the twenty
first century, as many of us have. I just I
don't think it's it's really it's just not plausible.

Speaker 6 (38:03):
No, But I guess said, I like part of this draft,
this year's draft, you know, the first two, maybe maybe
the first three, but after that, I don't know. Gonzales,
I'm glad. I hope things we're out the way it's
opposed to. But other than that, before then, no, you
got to get this big dog somewhere. You got to
get get that athlete.

Speaker 1 (38:23):
I agree, I got away from it. And all you
don't want Tom and all you need to do to
to to underscore that very fact that you just said
there is when you realize that both the ESPN and
NFL network, when they publicized this last week their top
one hundred players in the NFL, only one Patriot is
in the top one hundred for either group. One, which

(38:48):
tells me, yeah, the top end talent is not here.
And again we're talking about you know, third parties that
are you know, it's all subjective, let's face it, but
there's only one guy. And you know, you know your
quarterbacks should be there. You know, you got Matt Judon
who you know clearly he's the one guy that was there.
But your quarterback's not there. You should have running back there,

(39:08):
probably have a receiver there, and certainly a play baker
on defense there, which the Patriots happy. But you don't
have a back. You don't have a quarterback, you don't
have a receiver, which should probably all be there as
well if you are a true let's say, postseason contender,
and the Patriots don't have that. So that tells me,
as you said, for there to be a true middle class,
you've got to be an upper class too, and right

(39:30):
now you're right, that's that's where they're falling short. I
would agree with you.

Speaker 6 (39:34):
Yes, okay, mister, what's your prediction on the record this year?

Speaker 1 (39:39):
I said this before and I'm gonna stick with it, although,
believe me, I'm just because I'm kicking myself on it.
I said eleven and six and I'm gonna I know,
I know, I know, but I'm still one of those
guys that would probably pound that over, especially if it
stays at, you know, low at seven and a half,
I probably would do that. Now. It's because I did

(40:00):
this before training camp started, and I'll be honest, if
I had kept my mouth shut, which is probably what
I should have done before I put it on the record,
and let the preseason transpire, let the preseason go, and
then based on what I saw in the preseason, with
all the injuries and all the situations come up on
the offensive line and the quarterbacks and all that kind
of stuff, I would probably cut that back reasonably now

(40:22):
to nine and eight. I'd take two wins away until
I saw something better. That's still an over on the
seven and a half. But nine and eight to me,
is not a postseason team. It might be, I don't
think it is. I think you still got to get
to ten wins for this team to be in the postseason.
What about you.

Speaker 6 (40:41):
Well, before before the injury, I was going ten and seven, okay,
But now seven and ten, even with O'Brien, okay, you know,
got he gonna need a lot of help, a lot
of this net. So you know, maybe the first year
they get your thing on ground level. Next year that
might be better. I don't stick with seven and seven.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
Okay, that's fair. That's fair, Eldred. Be safe out there
on the roadways, my friend.

Speaker 6 (41:09):
All right, thank you? Good to that. Are we good
talking to you?

Speaker 7 (41:12):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (41:12):
It's good to talk to Eldrin in North Carolina. All right,
let's uh, Mike, let me let me just ask you then,
what are you thinking about for the one loss record
and would it have changed? Would it be different before
the preseason as opposed to where it is today?

Speaker 5 (41:29):
Yeah, I think mine definitely did change from the preseason.
From beforehand up until now, John, I was in your camp,
I was teetering on the brink between ten and seven,
eleven and six. I really like the way this team
was put together. I thought the Bill O'Brien effect was
really going to be big with this team. I still
believe all of that, but the injuries along the offensive
line and the difficulties that we've seen give me a

(41:49):
little bit of pause at this point. So I've kind
of dropped down the nine to eight, and I know
that may upset some Patriots fans out there. I still
think this is a team with a winning record, but
it's going to be awful tough to overcome some of that,
especially early on. Got a very tough early schedule. This
is going to be an opportunity for the Patriots to
show how much they've grown because I know the defense
is going to be capable of carrying the load. It's

(42:09):
going to be whether or not the offense can rise
to the occasion and join them. They surprise some people. John,
You're may be sitting pretty in that prediction. If they can't,
then we're probably looking into what Eldrits just said and
what's happening with the Patriots regression as a result of
some of the injuries that they've had. But I'm going
nine to eight right now and I'll stick to it.

Speaker 1 (42:30):
You bring up a good point. I mean, the way
that the schedule breaks down, with the way you've got
this roster in flux right now, Boy, it just this
is not tailor made for a fast start. Now, will
one in three bury this team? No, No, it won't,
because I think they can make up ground in the
middle and latter part of the season, provided they can,
say relatively healthy. We know that health is going to

(42:52):
be a factor. But the thing that I look at,
Mike is the personnel matchups that they have. You got
an offensive line, it's been nothing but Swiss cheese here
in the summertime, and yet you got to go up
against all these teams that have premier front fours in
front sevens. Let's start with the Eagles for one, right,
and then you know what you see you know Buffalo
has with Miami. I mean, the offensevine is going to

(43:16):
get a supreme challenge, which is one of the main
reasons why I think they went and got a guy
like Ezekiel Elliott. I think that you're gonna see Ezekie'll
probably play on a lot of downs and he may
actually get more playing time early in the season than
Ramandre Stevenson because he can block and he can catch

(43:37):
out of the backfield. What do you think about that, agreed?

Speaker 5 (43:40):
I think you're going to see Ezekiel take more snaps
as a blocker than you will as a ball carrier
or as a backfield receiver. Yeah, because he's very, very
good at that. Look at the tape on him. If
Patriots fans have not had the opportunity to do so
during his time in Dallas. He's always in the mix
of protecting the passer and protecting against the run as well.
He can even get in there and act as a
decoy on a run blocking scheme. So this is a

(44:02):
guy that is very capable of being that type of
back that can change the complexity of the way you
block if you're an offensive line. Was a little bit
surprised that the Patriots maybe didn't put a little bit
more beef into the tight end position to try to
do that. I know Matt Sokel had a good preseason
in terms of being able to block. That's something that
I think they may look to add via the practice squad.

(44:22):
Who knows, maybe one of these guys that they cut
loose in either Soco or Ferkser ends up on the
fifty three man roster because of ir situations. But yeah,
the Patriots right now are going to be facing some
very difficult front sevens, and that's where Mac Jones had
his difficulties last year. When the front seven overpowered the
offensive line. You started seeing defensive coordinators send those strategic

(44:44):
glitzes from the second and the third level that confused Mac.
They got him from the outside. I think Mac's going
to be better equipped to deal with it this year
because of Bill O'Brien's tutelage and because he's a year
older and a year wiser, But that still is a concern,
and if the Patriots don't shore up though, edges, especially
on the offensive line, might be looking at some of
the same of what we've seen the last couple of years.

(45:06):
And I know Patriots fans don't want to see that.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
Eight five point five PATS five hundred is the toll
free tellable number. If you want to join in, you
can also hit us up web radio at Patriots dot
com email. I've got a couple of moves here. I've
noticed on x formerly Twitter Gota hate that Doug Kide
from the Boston Herald is reporting the Patriots are signing

(45:29):
wide receiver Tyrek Pitts to the practice squad, and Karen
Griegan from Masslive dot com says that Malik Cunningham has
cleared waivers, which means simply another team did not pick
him up, which means he would be available for the
Patriots to sign to the practice squad. That has not
officially happened yet, but apparently, according to her source, Cunningham

(45:51):
has cleared waivers. So we'll keep bringing these up to
date to you as we get them here. Meanwhile, let's
go back to the phones here' Sean and Vancouver. Hey Sean, Hey,
John can use me probably, I'm on my headset.

Speaker 9 (46:03):
Let me take you off. Actually, I think I can
do that now.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
Yeah, I know worries in a bunch of things says here,
but says here. You're in Montreal. You're in Montreal actually
today vacation.

Speaker 7 (46:14):
Yeah, good for you Montreal.

Speaker 9 (46:16):
My best friend son had a bombits.

Speaker 7 (46:18):
That went really well, nice and nice that.

Speaker 9 (46:23):
This should sound better.

Speaker 1 (46:24):
Right, Yes, it does much perfect.

Speaker 9 (46:26):
Okay, apologize about that. You know what, Before we started
the preseason, I know it's gone horribly, but I was
thinking that seven and ten and uh, I had a
weird premonition. I went through every game for the entire season,
for every team, and nothing seemed unreasonable to me when

(46:47):
I was just trans trying to get these information from
the universe coming to my brain. I don't usually do
this esoteric crap, but that's what happened. I saw the
Patriots at ten and seven tied for the division lead.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
I could see that happening at ten and seven. I
agree with you, Sean, I could actually see that happening
at ten and seven, not in nine and eight. And
I think that may be a little low, but I
can see them tied with either Buffalo, probably Buffalo at
ten and seven, and maybe Miami maybe, And I.

Speaker 9 (47:24):
Thought, and I saw the Jets at nine at nine wins,
so it's like all all of.

Speaker 1 (47:28):
Them are above five hundred together, which, yeah, I don't
think that would really surprise too many people. Like I said,
I think there are many who believe that top to bottom,
the AFC East is probably the stiffest test of all
the divisions in the league. And like I said, it
wouldn't stun me to see everybody go three and three
against everybody else. It just would not surprise me.

Speaker 9 (47:50):
The other toughest defenses are in the NFC East and
probably the AFC West, So all the teams the Patriots
play have really tough defense. So a lot of these games,
not just for the Patriots, but for the Bills and
for the Jets and for the Dolphins will be tough games.

Speaker 1 (48:06):
F YI. Karen Grigian now putting out there that Malie
Cunningham is in the process of being signed to the
practice squad and then and that was what I Yeah,
and then Mark Daniels, also from Mass Live says Patriots
are signing Joshua Bloodsoe to the practice squad.

Speaker 9 (48:21):
Yeah, that's that's what I was thinking. You know, with
the way the preseason went and how horrible they looked,
I think Belichick just decided to roll the dice and say,
you know what, we can cut these guys. They're going
to bring back other quarterbacks. They'll bring back other running
backs and tight ends. And they figured our guys are
not gonna get claimed by other teams, and we'll have

(48:44):
them on a practice squad and it'll protect us that way.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
Well, also just got the hang on a second shown.
We just got the waiver claim list. Patriots did not
claim anyone on waivers from another team, and they also
did not have a player that they previously waived claimed,
which hence they're they're moving to signing Mollie Cunningham.

Speaker 9 (49:05):
I have a big question, though, when can they place
someone on I R and not lose them for this season?

Speaker 7 (49:12):
What date is that?

Speaker 3 (49:14):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (49:15):
Gosh, Mike, do you know? Runoff hand? Is that October? Uh?
Is it? Halfway week seven? Week eight? Somewhere in there?

Speaker 5 (49:24):
I believe it's I believe until we eate. Yeah, I
don't know if it's necessarily. I mean, obviously there would
be a deadline. I don't have the exact date in
front of me, but I believe right up until we gate.

Speaker 1 (49:34):
That's what I thought too. Yes, yeah, so I think think.

Speaker 9 (49:39):
Man, maybe maybe I'm I'm confused because I know if
you have someone in training camp before the season starts
and you put them on I R, you lose them
for the season. But once the season starts, you can
put someone on I R and then bring them back
after for a week. So but I'm wondering, is can
they do that now? When when can they put people

(49:59):
on ION?

Speaker 1 (50:00):
Well, they'll put it. They'll put everybody on I. They
can put anybody on IR right now. Once they if
they've already made the fifty three, then you can put
them on IR and bring them back. And by the way,
Adam Schefter just two minutes ago tweet it out that
Bailey Zappi is signing with the practice squad. So is
Zappi is back. But here's the catch. Patriots still need

(50:20):
a backup quarterback for the active roster.

Speaker 9 (50:24):
Right but they'll they'll make moves before.

Speaker 1 (50:26):
They'll have to.

Speaker 7 (50:27):
They'll be changed, they'll have to.

Speaker 9 (50:29):
I imagine maybe maybe someone like Thornton will go on
short term my.

Speaker 1 (50:33):
R, Yeah, yeah, I would think that that would pray. Well,
That's why he had to make the roster. That's why
there's six receivers there, and why there are eleven offensive
linemen there because they know some of those guys, one
or two of those guys who knows they're gonna have
to they're gonna have they're not ready to play. So
because they're not ready to play, they know that they
will be ready to play at some point, so they

(50:54):
go on short term I are. But in order to
be eligible for short term I are, you gotta be
on the fifty three. So that's why the fifty three
looked like a mess.

Speaker 9 (51:02):
I was getting that. Yes, yeah, Now I also wanted
to say something that was a little different than and
kind of kind of odd. But I think one of
the reasons they brought in these extra are they traded
for these extra offensive tackles is because they didn't really

(51:22):
like how it worked out with wry A Reef. They
don't know what's going on. Calvin and Anderson and I
would have liked to see them take Dewan Jones in
the draft, but they took a center instead of backup center.
So that's what they did. And I think now that
you're looking at that, they're sort of like going to
see in the next two weeks who can play right tackle,

(51:43):
who can start, and those decisions will will come down
the line. And then technically they actually have seven wide
receivers because Matthew Slater it doesn't play it. Yeah, is
slated at wide receiver on the depth chart.

Speaker 1 (51:56):
Yep, that's true. Let's see. Okay, I appreciate that, Sean.
Thank you. Always going to talk to you. Mike Reese
putting out there. Andrew Stuber's cleared waivers and the Patriots
a plan to re sign him to the practice squad.
So there's another offensive tackle, Mike, which tells me that
there's got to be some my art movement coming in

(52:17):
pretty short order, don't you think.

Speaker 5 (52:19):
Absolutely? And you know, Stubor is someone last year that
I know came in with pretty high expectations, spent the
entire year on injured reserve. Coming out this year, He's
had his share of struggles, but this is still a
solid developmental talent and I think that's where the Patriots
are going to start to backfill. You're going to start
to see these guys come into the practice squad and
continue to develop. And Andrew Stuber is definitely a good project,

(52:42):
so good to see him back, and it's good to
see both Bailey and Malik both are in the squad
as well. Yeah, now the Patriots can put into action
that plan that they started yesterday. So it looks like
everything worked out for Bill the way he wanted it to.
Now we're going to see if it's actually going to
work on the field and in direct the calendar.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
Is this roster, is this team Is this thought process
in too much of a state of flux to really
be competitive, if not effective, at that competitiveness early in
the season, because let's face it, those first four weeks
aren't going to be easy.

Speaker 5 (53:17):
No they're not, and there's no question about that. But
I think flux is a relative term when it comes
to this team. John, to be totally honest with you,
I think a lot of times we look on the
outside and say this doesn't make any sense, what is
Bill doing? And then magically it has a way of
working itself out. Now that worked an awful lot better
when the gentleman wearing number twelve was your quarterback. I
will concede that argument any day of the week, twice

(53:39):
on Sunday. But at the same time, there is still
a method to Bill's madness, so to speak. And I
think that's where you're going to start to see some
of these moves, some of what Bill Belichick wanted to
do and the Patriots brass by the way as well,
wanted to do with this roster and building this roster.
Now that you're going to see some of the people
go on ir and some of these moves being mad,

(54:01):
that's where you're really going to see what this true
fifty three man initial roster is going to look like.
On opening day yesterday, I think it was more of
a dress rehearsal than anything else and panicked some people.
But now we're starting to see the dominoes fall a
little bit.

Speaker 1 (54:14):
You know, we've been around this game long enough to
know that I wouldn't panic by it. That it was
not that it couldn't stay the way that it was
because you only had one quarterback on it. I mean,
let's face, we don't know this team might decide to
wait until you know they announce the game day roster
a week from Thursday, before we know who's actually going
to back up Mac Jones at quarterback. They could take
that long. They could use game day elevations for the

(54:37):
first couple of weeks right in order before they decide
to assign someone of the fifty three as opposed to
keeping them on the practice squad. They could do that conceivably,
I think, just to save the roster space.

Speaker 5 (54:48):
Yeah. Absolutely, And again they did that a couple of
years ago with Brian Hoyer geving him as an elevation
and then they signed him to the fifty three man roster.
And I do want to clarify. Sean brought up an
interesting and very good point with regard to injured reserve. Yes,
it's there's a four week window where the player is
able to return and they're placed on injured reserve. If
they're eligible to come off and they're able to come off,
they will be able to So the one thing that

(55:10):
you want to be careful with is designations to return.
That's I think where it could get interesting. But injured
reserve does give you a little more flexibility than it
has in years past, right where a designation automatically put
you out for the year. That's no longer the case.

Speaker 1 (55:23):
Right when you come off, I are you got four
weeks to show up and be on the fifty three?

Speaker 5 (55:29):
Right? Absolutely?

Speaker 1 (55:30):
All right? Great tweet here by or ex post. Damn it.
I can't. I'll never get used to that. By the way,
Mike Ree says, quarterbacks Bailey Zappi and Malie Cunningham are
both planning to re sign with the practice squad. And
while the squad is a little muffled, I believe I
hear Bill Belichick's or the sound is a little muffled.

(55:50):
I believe I hear Bill Belichick's favorite Taylor Swift song,
you need to calm down, playing from his Jillett office.
Calm down, Brian, and Maine joins is here in the playbook.
Hey Brian, thanks for hanging in.

Speaker 10 (56:06):
Hey, good afternoon, John, Hello Mike, Mike, thank you for
the saane and intelligence view. After the ramblings of Eldred
and I love Eldred, he just seems to be more
negative on your show, John.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
He is because he knows I'll tolerate it. That's why.

Speaker 10 (56:23):
Yeah, but what you just said, Bill has to be trusted.
He's been around a long time. He's forgotten more than
these guys who like to bash them all the time.
I went to the first game in nineteen sixty and
bu and I'm a couple of years older than Bill,
and I assure you my brain is not gone yet.

Speaker 1 (56:41):
Nor is his. Had a boy. See, I like that, Brian,
Let's stick let's stick up for the old guys. Let's
go well.

Speaker 10 (56:49):
I don't mean to sound like one of those cranky
old men, but look at our defense. It's more than solid.
I think top five and the offense will come around.
I trust Bill. People don't remember how bad it was
back in the seventies. In the early eighties, we were terrible.
We're okay. Now we're competitive, and that's the worst some
of these people have ever seen. So it kind of

(57:11):
drives me crazy. We have young kids that are about
to kick punters in field goal guys. They wouldn't have
let folk go unless they thought this kid could do
the job. So, like Mike, I think I'm a little
more positive than a lot of your callers.

Speaker 1 (57:25):
I think that's fine. I think that's okay. And like
I said at the beginning of the show, today, Brian,
I want that positivity here. And that's why I asked
the question, because based on what we saw, which wasn't
a lot, Brian, let's be honest, what we saw in
the preseason. Why is there so much optimism? Why are
so many people thinking, all this team's going to win
more than seven and a half games? Why? I really

(57:47):
want to see and I want someone to convince me
what you've seen, If anything out there that would indicate
optimism other than just blind.

Speaker 10 (57:56):
Faith, well, I don't think it's. I think they're not
trying to win a game like that. They're using backups,
so there's no real bard. You know, you can't tell
who they're gonna be yet. As Mike said, everything will
come into play later.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
Yeah, well it's and that's just it. Nobody wants to wait.
I think you kind of hit on it. Nobody wants
to wait. We all want it now. We all want
to know what the end result is going to be now,
and really, what fun would that be if we had
the end result now? If you knew what the Patriots
record was going to be and you couldn't change it,
would you have any anticipation for the season at all? No? No, no,

(58:35):
of course not. If we knew that this was going
to be a nine and eight or ten and seventeen,
you'd be like, oh damn. You know. You like to
think that there's some hope for better that's out there,
and so that's why you've got to let these things.
I mean, that sounds ridiculous, but it's really true. You
got to wait for these things to play themselves out.
And we all want it yesterday, and nobody's gonna get

(58:56):
it yesterday. And I think that's why Bill Belichick has
so much fun with the media and with others involved,
because he knows that there's a demand for this information,
but he didn't care. He's like, I'm gonna go about
building this team the way that I've always built this
team over the last twenty four years, twenty five years,
and that's what he's gonna do, and we're not gonna

(59:16):
change him. So that's why I always I always chied
Eldrid a little bit about that because I'm like, he's
always hated Bill a GM. Well, guess what, I haven't
exactly liked him either, But yeah, I'll tell you what.
I'll take six trophies. I think that's pretty good return.
That's like one out of every four. Right, that's what
he's batt in two fifty. I know guys in the
Hall of Fame batten two fifty and builds a shoe

(59:39):
in for the Hall of Fame. So let's give it
a little bit of let's give it.

Speaker 10 (59:42):
Some time here, and I think you'll see that as
Zekiel and Ramande will be a great pair of running
backs and they'll compliment each other. And before I go,
and I want to thank you for your time, Matthew Marine,
thank you for your service.

Speaker 1 (59:56):
Hey all right, urah whah, thank you, Brian, appreciate your time.
Eight five five pats five hundred eight five five pats
five hundred.

Speaker 10 (01:00:07):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
The Practice Squad Tracker is being updated almost as I speak,
and Mark Daniels from mass Live is doing a pretty
good job of keeping track of it today. Right now,
Practice Squad bailey 'z Appy, Malie Cunningham. Corliss Weightman has
been signed to or is going to be signed to
the Practice Squad. Joshua Bledds. We told you about Tyrek Pitts,

(01:00:28):
we told you about Andrew Stuber, we told you about
uh and that's the latest. So Corliss Weightman apparently is
the latest addition to that one. Mikey, if there's a
spot that you feel like this team and I think
you touched on it when you mentioned tight ends, but
I mean, is there another area that you think should
be potentially tended to through the practice squad for this

(01:00:51):
team to, you know, give itself a little bit of
depth shape.

Speaker 5 (01:00:55):
Well, I have a funny feeling that a tight end
expert is going to come in here in a few
minutes and basically be able to quell anybody's questions and
solve all the problems related to that. So I will
respectfully bow out of that. But I think the running
back position maybe one that the New England Patriots do
need to take a look at their carrying too right now.
In Ramondre Stevenson and of course Ezekiel Elliott, that's a

(01:01:16):
great one two combination up at the top, but you're
gonna need a third downer to come in spell some
of these guys and give them a little bit of rest.
I like the fact that they have Kevin Harris now
I believe will be at their disposal. I really hope
he's going to be able to come back and find
his way back onto this practice squad. Sime Montgomery was
a little bit of a surprise. All the pieces seem

(01:01:38):
to be falling into place for Ty to come back
and be a contributor to this team, but injury questions
are always a concern with him. He's one to watch.
And then, of course, you know you've got someone like
JJ Taylor, who I love. We're hearing reports that maybe
he may want to start for USh somewhere else. But
at this point, the Patriots need to at least bring

(01:01:58):
one of those guys back. You have to think that
on the final fifty three man to start the season,
that they're going to have at least three running backs
on this depth chart. I don't think they opened the
season with two.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
I have to I agree with you on the running backs.
That's the one area that I'm kind of anxious to
see what they decide to do. Mike. Great to have
a little bit of time to visit with you today.
Thank you. So for those that might be uninitiated, where
do they catch your poet podcast?

Speaker 5 (01:02:20):
Oh, you can catch us on the Lockdown Podcast Network.
We're free and available on all platforms including YouTube, so
subscribe or download wherever you get your podcasts. And we're
five days a week Monday through Friday on the Lockdown
Patriots podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:02:33):
Perfect, thanks, Mike. Let's do this again sometime.

Speaker 5 (01:02:36):
Absolutely, John, my honor and my privilege, and go friars.

Speaker 1 (01:02:39):
You got it. Gotta get a friar to drop that in.
I appreciate that. Thank you. I like that a lot.
All right. So Mike said that obviously a tight end
expert was going to probably join, and yes, I believes
miss Claire from the Claire perspective, Claire Cooper, who loves

(01:03:00):
her tight ends? Is is she up?

Speaker 6 (01:03:03):
And she there?

Speaker 1 (01:03:04):
Oh she's there? Great, Hi Claire.

Speaker 11 (01:03:08):
Hell E Rookie.

Speaker 1 (01:03:09):
Hey see now that's all right. At least she didn't say,
mister rook thank god. Did you hear me make that
dire tribe early on the show? Yeah, yeah, thank.

Speaker 11 (01:03:18):
You, But I knew I had to make you feel
better because yeah, you know, you're completely timeless for us.

Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
John, appreciate it. What do you think about the tight
end slot in particular, and if they could bring back
one of the guys who were in the summertime, who
would you tend to think might be able to help
this team or should they look outside the outside the organization?

Speaker 11 (01:03:44):
Well, initially before they did the coutdown, I was very
very as you can imagine, into champion for three tight ends.
But I had a really good reason. It wasn't just
my kind of tight ended enthusiasm that drove that train.
It was with the weakness of the offensive line. It
seemed to me that a blocking tight end would be

(01:04:05):
a really good fit. And Matt Solcall was doing really
well and he got you know, he got called up
in games and okay, he didn't really catch much of
a pass and that sort of thing, but something that
he could work on, I would imagine, and he is
a good blocking tight end. That's something that we know of,
and I think that him plugging that weakness in the

(01:04:25):
offensive line to utilizing him blocking was going to be
something that was beneficial to the team. However, obviously, since
they cut down, they've really predominantly kept a lot of
olne I think it was eleven when they did their
fifty three come out, So it may be that they
don't need the help on the O line, but I'm
still very wary to say that because even though they've

(01:04:49):
got so many olignemen, it just doesn't feel like they've
really got a very very solid O line. So for me,
I think if you're bringing back somebody who's been in
the system, who knows that system, who has been there
for a couple of years now on the practice squad,
as we said last year, I think so Cool for
me was a really good fit. If you're now looking externally,

(01:05:11):
I'm not quite sure because I haven't really looked at
who's been available to Pines. I've been so focused on
the three and wanting that three internally and wanting that
so call, and believing that the blocking tight end was
going to be necessary that I haven't thought about the
external factor of bringing somebody in. But I understand that
one of the recent draft selections has been released by

(01:05:33):
I can't remember who took him, But I know Zach
Koomtz has been released by whoever took him. I can't remember.
I apologize everybody. So that's a very interesting At this
point as we were recording this, as far as I'm aware,
he's still available, so that would be an interesting one.
I know he's scored really well on all the combine tests,
and everything was green. When you put up his stats,

(01:05:53):
it's all like very green, and he was the top
tight end I think to score. Ever, I believe he
may have since nineteen eighty one or something along those lines.
On nineteen eighty four or something, he was the top
tight end to have scored, So that was that he'd
be interesting. But I still worry about blocking. Still feels
very important to me at the moment.

Speaker 1 (01:06:15):
Interesting. I sort of saw a speaking of interesting, just
saw a tweet from David Wade, who was one of
the news anchors at WBZ here in Boston, and he said,
years ago, the Miami Dolphins waved a young stud quarterback
named Steve Burton, which is true, they did. And I
worked with Steve years ago in radio in Boston and

(01:06:36):
he's their weeknight sports anchor at Channel four in Boston.
And he says, the Dolphins haven't won a Super Bowl since.
So NFL teams be careful who you cut. They may
be a future star, you know. And honestly, nobody picked
up anybody off the waiver wires, so everybody wants bargain
basement stuff right now, and you know, to in order

(01:06:57):
to be able to sign to their practice squad. I
find that kind of interesting that nobody has an immediate need.
I would thought that the Patriots might have an immediate
need just because of some of the injuries. But no,
it looks like they're content to kind of lay back
and wait and see, you know, who makes themselves available
And oh, I had that one. Joshua Bledsoe's being so okay,

(01:07:21):
So that's fine. Our boy. Evan Lazar is going to
join us here in a little bit with an update
on the practice squad, But he says the Patriots can
only elevate Zappi from the practice squad three times before
they need to put him on the roster to make
him game day eligible. So you could do that for say,
the first two to three weeks of the season, elevate
him off the practice squad, and then put him back

(01:07:44):
on the practice squad. Before long, they would have to
give him a permanent spot on the fifty three. I
personally believe that the Patriots will try to retain as
much flexibility as they humanly possibly can in the opening
weeks of the season, based on the strength of the
competition that they'll be facing and the needs for preparing
against those particular teams. So I'm not sure that we're

(01:08:06):
going to see any fifty three man designations right away.
I think they may wait to elevate certain guys just
to keep other teams guessing. What are your thoughts on that.

Speaker 11 (01:08:17):
One, Claire, Yeah, I think one thing with regards to
Zappi was he was quite so. He was quite successful.
He had some success last year, but that was in
a much lesser complex offense and the way that the
offense was being ruined. And it's interesting that he's come
into it this season as such, or this season as
we started, and he hasn't seemed to have been as good.

(01:08:41):
So I think it'd be interesting to see how he
developed under Bill O'Brien. But that's again, that's a time
thing you're only going to see over time, and I'd
be interested to see if they do bring in a veteran.
I was wondering if you had any thoughts on a veteran.

Speaker 1 (01:08:55):
John veteran in which position?

Speaker 11 (01:08:58):
Quarterback? Sorry quarterback?

Speaker 1 (01:08:59):
Well yeah, yeah, I mean honestly, I mentioned this right
off the top, and I mean the two names that
jumped right out at me started with Colt McCoy, but again,
you don't know how health he's gonna be. He's had
injury problems. Yeah, and then case Keenum and Nick Foles,
and you know, I think any of those guys if

(01:09:19):
they were able to strike a deal with them. I
think any of those guys would be helpful to Mac
in the quarterback room because of their because of their
experience in the league. Now, have they been pre eminent quarterbacks. Well,
I would argue that Brian Hoyer wasn't exactly a pre
eminent quarterback in the NFL, but because he had been around,
he'd been in a lot of locker rooms, He's in
a lot of coaches, and there's a lot of players,
knows a lot of schemes that someone like that can

(01:09:41):
be very helpful to a younger player who doesn't have
quite the lay of the land. And so that's to
me where a guy like a veteran, you know, backup
can be helpful to a younger, still developing quarterback because
he can tell that guy what to expect in certain situations.
I definitely think that a veteran quarterback would have benefit

(01:10:02):
of the Patriots. He might still we don't know that
because nothing's finalized yet as we speak right now, but
you know, I think that would be beneficial to New England,
especially if they decide to, you know, move Mallie Cunningham
around a little bit and not play quarterback. Then yeah, sure,
bring in a third quarterback and let him do that.
And I kind of get the thought process that you know,

(01:10:26):
we know that Bailey Zappy last year just kind of
got lightning in a bottle, right, they had to play him.
He came in, he performed real well, and then of
course then we had all the we had all that
stuff going on and and and people lose their heads,
they lose their minds when things like this happened. And
I remember, I had those that listened to the show

(01:10:46):
know that I caused Evan, poor Evan to almost burst
a blood vessel in his forehead because of the Zappy
thing last year, because I was I was tweaking him
really more than anything else, because I knew he was
so violently against it. But I you know, I knew,
I know our fandom. I know what fans here, expect,
what they like, what they want, what they see, what

(01:11:08):
they love to do, and they love to do that.
So I think ZAPPI would have benefited for an entire
year on a practice squad where he could just sit
and learn the lay of the land, because let's face it,
he is smallish, you know, he's got some foot speed,
but he has difficulty looking over some of those offensive lines.

(01:11:28):
At six feet tall, you know, he can work on
his arm strength, He can work on a lot of
different things that a year in the practice squad without
having to worry about the playbook per se, might benefit
him as a potential future player. If not here, then
certainly somewhere else. And that's why I think that the
presence of a veteran quarterback would still be beneficial to

(01:11:52):
this Patriots team, because a Mac has more of a
real sounding board, Biley can develop a little bit more.
And see, there are all these rumors during the last
month or so that Mac and Bailey were kind of
at odds with each other anyway because they were competing
because there's such.

Speaker 11 (01:12:11):
A compar Devil's Advocate. Sorry, can I really throw something
in that normally, this isn't the kind of thing that
I'd say, because I am a Mac girl. I'm big
into Mac Jens being the quarterback and everything like that.
But could you argue that Mac is far enough into
his career that he doesn't necessarily need a veteran holding

(01:12:32):
his hand, and that a veteran could kind of mix
in a little bit too. Much between the communication with
Mac and Bill O'Brien that still needs to build because
it's it's I know, it's an old kind of it's
an old new relationship, So you don't really want someone
in the middle kind of ruining that communication in between.

(01:12:52):
So you could argue, I'm not arguing this, I'm just
kind of throwing it out there that you could argue
that a veteran could actually mix in too much. Yeah,
and not even be necessary for Mac. Now you know,
has he got this old head on young shoulders that
he doesn't need that?

Speaker 1 (01:13:08):
Now, well, I think you certainly make that argument. And
if you're expecting what you're expecting out of Mac, and
that is to take a team and try to lift
it up on his shoulders a bit in order to
justify let's say, given him another contract. And of course
we know last year was a bust and last year
was basically a waste, and the Patriots really don't have
anybody to bleme with themselves for that particular instance, there

(01:13:29):
is a little extra pressure put on Mac. So you
could look at it one of two ways. Hey, look, Mac,
you're the guy we put a little more pressure on you. Sorry,
my bad, but you know this is this is still
you know, what we expect of you or be If
you really want to help him get to that point,
maybe you still bring in that veteran presence to help

(01:13:51):
him kind of learn some of these things. And I'm in,
I'm in, I'm in choice B in that particular instance,
with all due respect to Bailey and a Malik who
I think you know, listen, what Bailey gave the team
last year was a real, you know, shot of adrenaline.
But we don't want to get carried away. The people
who were calling for Bailey z Appy over Mac Jones
are just caught up in the fandom part of it.

(01:14:11):
That's all. I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying
you're caught up in the in the emotion and you're
not really looking at it. And I think that this
is where the veteran can help Mac be Mac, especially
if the veteran comes in knowing I am not the starter,
I am not competing for the starting job here. I

(01:14:33):
am being paid to be a tutor and a backup
only in case of injury. And if you're able to
sign a deal like that with one of the aforementioned
I'd be all for it, and I think that I
think the benefits there vastly outweigh the negatives.

Speaker 11 (01:14:51):
That's a different situation though, if you bring in a
go to what I actually what my example was of
throwing that in the mix. If you are bringing a
guy in who knows and he knows his place and
he knows that that's what it is, that's a little
bit different because you don't get the water's muddied quite
so much. But yeah, I mean I am of the
mindset of a veteran. I think would be a positive thing.

(01:15:11):
I just kind of wanted to turn it on its
head and see the other side of well, is there
another you know, is there another argument to be made
to not have a veteran or to not bring it back.

Speaker 5 (01:15:20):
I mean, that was just my point.

Speaker 1 (01:15:21):
Yes, And if you are in the corner of saying, well,
you know what, we expect a lot of Mac because
he was a first round draft pick and number fifteen
of ro all and he should be good enough to
overcome this, then yeah, I would say, yeah, you could argue,
you could certainly argue that I don't feel that way personally,
but I could see somebody making that argument, like, you know, Oh, hey,
I Max our guy. He's got to show it right. Yeah,

(01:15:43):
So yeah, I can see someone making that argument. I
don't happen to agree with it. Jeremiah Farms has been
added to the practice squad, So defensive tackle Farms. He
was the only tackle in fact, I think cut from
the defensive line on Tuesdays. So but he's been added
to the practice squad. So that provides a little extra
depth I think for the Patriots and what right now

(01:16:04):
could probably be described as one of the deeper areas
of the team in form. So he's been added. That
was the last one that I noticed has been active
added to the practice squad. And again Evan Lazar will
join us here and within the next ten to fifteen
minutes to bring us up to date on the practice squad.
The team will be practicing this afternoon here in approximately
thirty minutes outside on the Gillette Stadium fields, and I

(01:16:29):
would say probably by four o'clock today we'll Eastern time,
will probably have a pretty good idea of the entire
sixteen member team. Patty and Aguam is on the phone
lines with us. Hey, Patty, welcome into the playbook.

Speaker 8 (01:16:44):
What's going on, John, what's going on in Claire. Hey, Patty,
So John, I just wanted to make a couple of points.
First off, Claire, you gotta come out with a new
Clear Perspective episode. When does that drop? And you gotta
let us know number.

Speaker 11 (01:17:00):
Oh, it's on its way plugging. I was hoping John
had let me plug it at the end. Bro'll just
like plug it now, sneak, sneak. Hopefully by the weekend
there'll be a pre season wrap up, a Claire Perspective
coming at you at the weekend. So sort of Friday Saturday,
you'll you'll get a new episode drop.

Speaker 1 (01:17:16):
That'd be something that I could I could listen to
while I'm mowing the lawn on my tractor.

Speaker 8 (01:17:21):
Of course, it's always good to do yard work, working
around the house and listen to pat podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:17:28):
I'm with you there, John, There you go number two.

Speaker 8 (01:17:30):
Before I get to my Patriots point, it was often
that to hear Mike debate my opinion. He's got the
best voice, the best radio voice, best podcast voice, however
you want to call it, and the biz. John, as
far as pay guys go, you're the best. I'm not
taking anything away from you, by.

Speaker 1 (01:17:47):
Man, Yes you are. You're totally dissing me. You've totally
completely fished me and Claire too for that matter. But
I mean, you're talking to the guy here who's who's
been a professional on the radio business now for damn
near five decades. I mean, come on, what's up with that?
You need me? You need me? Do you need me

(01:18:08):
to go around talking a little bit more like this?
Does that help you? Patty? If I come out and
do I mean last night I did the uh the
voiceovers for all of the uh you know, the uh
the Patriots Foundation stuff last night, Yeah, the premiere and
uh you know, and so I was told by the
Patriots they needed me to put on my Voice of
God act. And so I'm like, oh, man, I know right.

(01:18:31):
So that means, you know, not only a did I
have to really reach down and get something that I
didn't normally have, but I had to rely on Marine
to give me a little base boost.

Speaker 8 (01:18:43):
You already know you're mister legend.

Speaker 6 (01:18:45):
Gosh.

Speaker 1 (01:18:45):
Okay, all right, all right, I'll let you slide.

Speaker 8 (01:18:49):
All right, I'm not gonna let me as far as
the roster construction goes, and I'll get into what I
think they're gonna they're gonna do this year at least.

Speaker 7 (01:18:56):
Like a record.

Speaker 8 (01:18:59):
I can't believe how badly they mismanaged the tackle spot.
I mean, I like them getting interior depth in the
draft in the fourth round. But Claire can attest to
this because I was emailing her on draft night. I
didn't think Christian Gonzales was gonna be there. I'm glad
they took him round two. I wanted Darnel Washington, the
tight end from Georgia, and I think I think Claire

(01:19:20):
wanted any tight end on the board that was like
you know. But then once once the third and fourth
round rolled around, I mean there were guys on the
board that that were there for the taken, like Dwan
Jones was there for the taken. They took Jake Andrews instead.
Blake Freelan John who you know I was high on

(01:19:41):
from b Yu. I mean, was he was there before
they took uh. I don't know who the hell they
took him the fourth round, but they could have. All
they had to do was leap frogs whoever picked in
front of them, because he got literally taken in front
of them. But that being said, I do have faith
and O'Brien, I have fate that Adrian klam is gonna
get these guys to play together. I look at the

(01:20:01):
train wreck that was the offense last year and said,
I can't believe the steam one eight games, you know,
and you know the defense held them in most of
the games. I think the defense has improved, minus the
loss of Devin mccordy, of course, but I think the
talent is superior on defense, and I think offensively, I mean,
you got a couple of good young guys, and to

(01:20:22):
Mario Douglass Keyshawn BOUDI, I'm not relying on them until
like catch fifty sixty passes or anything. But I think
I'm with a lot of the consensus where I think
Bourne is gonna have a big year, and I think
anything that you get out of those two young guys
is going to be a plug. And Claire, come on
your guy, Hunter that that's been Max third third down guy.

(01:20:44):
I'll camp he's gonna be good.

Speaker 12 (01:20:46):
Yeah, hopefully hopefully.

Speaker 8 (01:20:48):
Gseki's gonna pitch in too. I mean, they don't need
they don't need all of these guys to be world beaters.
They just need him to be good and get open
or have Billy seem them open and do their job.

Speaker 7 (01:20:59):
Baby.

Speaker 1 (01:21:00):
So is that part of your reason for optimism, Patty,
Because again, the my main question was, is you know, hey,
if the number being set by all the books is
seven and a half now for the Patriots on wins
and the over is getting pounded on that, I'm trying
to find out where the optimism is coming from. Is
that your optimism?

Speaker 8 (01:21:19):
That's my optimism that their their defensive talent and offensive
talent is leads and bounds and there they're actually going
to have a clue on what to do offensively. The
one thing that will derail this team is the offensive line.
But like I said, I have fate that O'Brien and
Clem will scheme things up. So when they're playing teams
like Philadelphia and Dallas with these ridiculous lines that they're

(01:21:43):
they're not going to say, yeah, let's let's have a
few shop plays in here where it's going to take
four to five seconds for the guys to get out.
But no, I think they're going to scheme it up
so the balls out quick, on time and on target,
and let's rack up some of the act baby, rack
up instead.

Speaker 1 (01:21:58):
I like that rack up yack. I liked that. By
the way. Now we're joined by Catch twenty two's in
Patriot dot Com. Evan Lazar, who is a regular hearing
the playbook during the regular season. For those that are
listening for the first time, like Ron in Conway, New Hampshire, says,
this is my first time listening to your show, Patriots Playbook.
I love Unfilded and Catch twenty two a lot.

Speaker 13 (01:22:18):
Oh thank you?

Speaker 1 (01:22:19):
How about that? Thank you? Okay? So where are we then,
in terms of the practice squad? I mean I think
I'm updated on the names. Maybe you can give us
some infil Yeah.

Speaker 13 (01:22:28):
We're filling up quickly here. It sounds like, well, not
just sounds like it knows like that nobody was claimed
on waivers that the Patriots waived yesterday, and the Patriots
claimed nobody off of the waiver wires.

Speaker 1 (01:22:40):
So I find that a little surprising.

Speaker 13 (01:22:41):
Things are are looking like everybody that was released by
the Patriots yesterday that was subject to waivers, the players
that they would like to bring back on the practice
squad will probably be back on the practice squad. So yeah,
Bailey's appy signing, Malie Cunningham, Josh Bledsoe, Andrew Stuber cordless weightman.

(01:23:02):
Those are some of the names that I've seen Tyrack Pitts, Yep,
those are those are the names so far. Yeah, Jeremiah
Farms makes sense too, So I think pretty much everybody,
but no tight ends yet for Claire. So I think
that's the biggest one, right is where do they go
with the depth of tight end? You know, is so
cool brought back as folks are brought back as Lumpkin

(01:23:23):
brought back. So those players are still out there and
making their decisions. But they got away with it, John,
They got away with it. They they rolled the dice,
they gambled on the quarterbacks. They they did a little
bit of they went to the roulette wheel and they
spun the thing. And think thank goodness for them. Bailey
Zappy made it through waivers and was not claimed. And

(01:23:46):
I will tell you that he had a handful of
offers from other teams to sign to the practice squad
with other teams as well, and ultimately decided to come
back to New England. So that wasn't just clearing waivers.
He also had to mold a couple of different offers
from the practice squad point of view too, And the
pig is a big cut.

Speaker 1 (01:24:07):
And pay for him, by the way, Yes, we need
to make that very clear. Going from his rookie deal
to the practice squad is a big cutting pay.

Speaker 13 (01:24:15):
Yeah, it's about six hundred and fifty K this season,
but you also lose the rookie deal, right, so you
lose the third year and fourth year on the contract.
They aren't guaranteed, but if you're on the roster, they're
going to be guaranteed to you as they pay out.
So I think that to me, that was the biggest thing.
Now we can all breathe a sigh of relief that
he cleared and that the Patriots are going to get

(01:24:36):
him back on the practice squad. So they're going to
retain Bailey Zappi. But I thought that the biggest surprise
to me of releasing him in the first place was
ripping up the rookie contract because you had a serviceable
backup quarterback under contract at a cost controlled amount for
the next three years. And now on the practice squad

(01:24:58):
he will go year to year with the contract.

Speaker 1 (01:25:01):
So could it be maybe they just they cut a
deal with him somehow to to incentivize him to sign
back with the Patriots. Supposed to taking one of those
other practice quote off.

Speaker 13 (01:25:11):
I'm sure that there was something to do with that,
of whether it was more money or a promise that
he was going to be on the fifty three once
they do some roster tinkering this afternoon.

Speaker 1 (01:25:21):
With the injured reserve. That's what I think, Yeah, or
whatever the case may be.

Speaker 13 (01:25:25):
But I will tell you this, he was blindsided by
the decision to release him yesterday. It was he was
not expecting it. It was it was a something that
was described to me. The word that was used was blindsided.

Speaker 1 (01:25:38):
And I welcome to the business.

Speaker 13 (01:25:41):
Yeah, I don't think that there was any indication and
I know there's gonna be a lot of speculation over
the next couple days of did he have beef with
Bill O'Brien, did he have beef with Mac, did he
have beef with the head coach, or like what was
there stuff going on behind the scenes that made the
Patriots want to move on from Bailey z Appy and
at least from Zappi's camp. He didn't feel like there

(01:26:03):
was any animosity or any tension with anybody in the building,
and this decision to waive him yesterday was a complete shock.

Speaker 1 (01:26:12):
Yeah, it's a shock to a lot of people. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
But you know the Patriots, Sometimes you got to gamble
when you have other needs that need to be tended to,
and we know where the biggest need is. That's why
eleven offensive lineman made the final fifty three. And you
know that all eleven aren't sticking there because there's got
to be some mixing and matching and moving like chess
pieces being done here. Yeah.

Speaker 13 (01:26:32):
So I think that the one that I can almost
guarantee is going to happen is Taekwon Dorton going to
injured reserve. He's definitely one of them, and I would
assume that that Riley Reef was the other. But I'm
ninety nine point nine on Taekwon going injured reserve. So
those two guys will probably free up the roster space
for some other tinkering, maybe re signing Zapi to the

(01:26:55):
fifty three. I think also possibly a running back like
a Ty Montgomery or Kevin Harris could come back to
the fifty three man roster. And I know Mark Daniels
had the report yesterday that Calvin Munson is another guy
that they view as somebody that maybe could be brought
back once the players are placed on injured reserves, so
the depth of those spots that they're not carrying is coming.

(01:27:16):
But the eleven offensive lineman. My read on that is
they need to give Darien Lowe and Tyrone Wheatley at
least a week of practice to show us what you got.

Speaker 1 (01:27:27):
Yeah, we don't even know what we can get, right.

Speaker 13 (01:27:29):
Yeah, And I go back to that collective that twenty
nineteen season where they did the same thing. They de
signed Jermaine Iluminor, Corey Cunningham, and Russ Bodin right around
roster cut down day, and Cunningham and Illuminor made the
entire year on the roster. Boding didn't even make it
to Week one. They cut Boting before they even got

(01:27:51):
to the first game of the season. So I don't
think that's going to necessarily happen with these two guys.
But just because they gave up draft capital or Pierre
Strong in Wheatley's case, I don't think that it's a
foregone conclusion that they're both gonna be here for the
long term. They gotta earn their spots just like everybody else.
So you have those two guys's potential. You know, guys

(01:28:14):
that might not make it very far here down the line,
and that gets you from eleven to ten, let's say,
and then maybe Riley Reef goes on injured reserve designated
to return. That gets you down to nine, right like,
And that's how you get the number down on the
offensive line. So I will they go into Week one
with eleven offensive lineman on the fifty three man roster?

Speaker 1 (01:28:32):
I say, no, what's the healthy number? Would what you
expect a healthy number to be on the line? You
go too deep at every spot? How many swing you
know players do you really carry?

Speaker 13 (01:28:42):
So last year they only carried eight on the week
one roster, right, and that seems to be their sweet spot,
eight or nine guys, I would say, So I just
calculated it for you, like Reef goes to injured reserve,
and then maybe one of the new guys doesn't end
up making it, and now you're down to nine. So

(01:29:03):
I think that that's possible that we could be looking
at closer to nine guys. I think the biggest thing is,
and we can talk about it, I'm sure we will,
is one. They put themselves in a tough spot at
tackle because they didn't invest a real premium asset at
the tackle position in the offseason, and now they are
throwing darts to try to find a right tackle for

(01:29:25):
Week one that can start and play well for them.
And then I would say number two, they drafted those
three guys in the middle rounds that are all interior
players besides so who they're trying to transition to tackle,
that were picked in the fourth and the fifth round.
And you don't usually cut fourth and fifth round picks
in year one. Maybe a fifth round pick, but fourth

(01:29:45):
round picks, healthy fourth round picks always make this team usually,
so you don't really usually cut those guys. So you
had three roster spots saved for the rookies, and then
you had to bring in the two new guys, and
that's how you kind of get to the big number
of eleven. And I thought that there was a chance
that they might have figured out a way to ir
one of the rookies, but unfortunately, I don't think that it,

(01:30:08):
I should say unfortunately, but you got to have some
sort of injury. You can't just completely make up an injury,
like you have to have a stub toe or something
to end up on injured reserve stub toe.

Speaker 1 (01:30:20):
How close should they to get Calvin Anderson back and
you know a win who as well back in the fold.
I mean, and yeah, obviously Cole Stung just came back
as well. So I'm just wondering how close these guys
really are actually playing.

Speaker 13 (01:30:32):
Yeah, So Calvin Anderson, I think is a tough one
because he was really sick and if his weight is down,
if he is physically having to build his endurance back up,
those are things that you're going to have to look
at as maybe, you know, not an option for week one. Now,
I would say that either way, you are not going

(01:30:54):
to see the same five guys go wire to wire
against the Eagles. They don't usually go wire to wire.
And one anyways, along the offensive line, there is some
sort of a rotation regardless, And I would say with
On Whenu especially and Anderson especially, those two guys are
not playing one hundred percent of the snaps against the Eagles,

(01:31:14):
I don't think I.

Speaker 1 (01:31:15):
Can't imagine that. So maybe maybe they've built that depth
up that's one of the reasons behind you.

Speaker 13 (01:31:20):
Yeah, so I think that you know, at at guard,
you're looking at maybe Mafi playing some some for On
WHENU at right guard, and then I would also say
at tackle, I think it's gonna be a combination of guys.
I think it could be Anderson and one of the
new guys, or it could be Anderson and so and
there's some sort of of a fifty to fifty split

(01:31:41):
there rotationally to get through the first week of the season,
to get through the first game of the season, which
is no easy feed against that front that Philadelphia is
bringing here. But that's that's the reality.

Speaker 1 (01:31:51):
That's what we got, no question, Patty, thanks for the
phone call. Appreciate you. Claire. I want to give everybody
again the jump on the podcast for this weekend that
you're going to spill.

Speaker 14 (01:32:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 11 (01:32:01):
Sure, the next episode of A Clear Perspective of Patriots
podcast should hit the airwaves probably Saturday morning, all being well,
maybe look out for it Friday night, but it's going
to be Saturday morning more than any and it's going
to be a pre season recap wrapper because I'm hopefully
launching a new show for Patspropaganda dot com nice which

(01:32:22):
covers actual regular season game recaps, so hopefully that will
be launched this season. So that was a sneaky little
drop there, but A Clear Perspective brought to you by
full press coverage is still going to be here each
and every week, mostly in the regular season, so hopefully
i'll have John back and Evan as well. I always
love to get Evan to myself because he's so interesting

(01:32:43):
still too. So yeah, last time I had Evan on,
we went way over so that was fun. So I'm
hoping to get Evan back really soon as well. So yeah,
and please check out Patspropaganda dot com for my written
work as well.

Speaker 1 (01:32:54):
Beautiful Claire, thanks for taking a little time today. We
always appreciate it, you know that, and we'll talk to
you soon.

Speaker 11 (01:32:59):
Good to say.

Speaker 1 (01:33:00):
Evan taken go ahun clear you got it, guys. Just
a quick reminder, Bridgestone's the official tire of the New
England Patriots, proud to partner with Sullivan Tire, New England's
headquarters for quality bridge Stone Tires. Visits Sullivantire dot com
to find a location near you and 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

(01:33:22):
Toyota's official website for deals from the official vehicle of
the New England Patriots. Toyota. Let's go places, all right,
eight five five pats five hundred, will get right back
to the phones. I want to welcome into the program
Brian Barrett, who hosts Off the Pike podcast on The Ringer. Brian,
how are you?

Speaker 14 (01:33:42):
I'm doing well, John, how are you great?

Speaker 1 (01:33:44):
Thanks for taking some time today. So how's how's life
after Uh, how's life after Odyssey? Treating you?

Speaker 15 (01:33:51):
It's pretty good, a lot better. I really left my
time at the Ringer so far. So yeah, it's been
a lot of fun. We're a year into this thing
now and can't wait for the Patriots season to get underway.

Speaker 14 (01:34:02):
Although it kind of feels.

Speaker 15 (01:34:03):
Like Patriot season is already underway after a cut down
day yesterday and now that it looks like and it
appears the Red Sox season is over, it feels like
it is Patriot season.

Speaker 1 (01:34:11):
Yeah, it definitely is that. All right, we're gonna let
Evan go because he's gonna get out to practice. They're
gonna kick things off here roughly in about ten minutes.
But we've gotten up to date, Brian on where we
stand with the practice squad thus far. Zappie Cunningham, weightman
Bledsoe Pits, stubor Farms are the ones that we can

(01:34:33):
confirm at least right now. Obviously, that leaves us with
another seven or eight still to go before all things
are said and done. What's been the biggest surprise to
you to this point in time in terms of the
makeup of the fifty three and the way this team
developed or didn't develop during the course of the training

(01:34:54):
camp preseason.

Speaker 14 (01:34:56):
Yeah, I think the biggest thing to me.

Speaker 15 (01:34:57):
And obviously now we know Zappi is back with the
but the fact that they were willing to take any
risk now I understand that they probably felt like, hey,
most teams already they have their quarterback room decided on.
So it's tough on cutdown day to just pick up
a guy like Bailey's Appy. But if you think about
where we're at just less than a year ago, Bailey's
Appy is playing pretty well, and I get it. It

(01:35:18):
wasn't exactly like he was asked to do a whole
lot is expected completion percentage in that game against Detroit
was seventy seven point seven percent, which tells you or
they were a lot of easy throws, and in the
Cleveland game, one hundred and sixty five of his yards
came via play action, which was twenty yards more than
anybody else that week. So I get that he didn't
have a very difficult job. But John, if you told
me that prior to the offseason that the Patriots would

(01:35:40):
be willing to risk that Dailey's Appy could leave, I
would have told you that you were crazy.

Speaker 14 (01:35:44):
So I guess it really tells you right if you look.

Speaker 15 (01:35:48):
If you look at it now, he just clearly did
not have a great training camp, and in the actual
preseason games he played really poorly, which I think is
disappointing because the backup quarterback position. Obviously Mac got injured
last year and he filled in admirably, but that's something
that you want to have secured, and obviously there's at
least some hesitation that Zappy can actually fill that role.

Speaker 1 (01:36:09):
Yeah. Doug Kide from the Boston Herald reports the Patriots
are resigning Cody Russy to the practice squad, so, according
to his source, offensive lineman Cody Russy will be providing
a little bit more depth up front. So I think
at last count, that's we're halfway through. That's eight of
the potential sixteen players you know on that team. You
know the way to go about kind of creating the

(01:36:34):
roster has gotten stranger and stranger over the last few years.
And I don't know if it's made more strange, but
something we talked about in the opening hourither show, Brian
or not, or if it's just a byproduct of doing
business today, you know, in the modern day NFL, but nowadays,
as compared to ten or twenty years ago, when teams,
you know, we're trying a lot more you saw you know,

(01:36:56):
I'll throw out this one from back in the day.
People who are you know, twenty something vintage won't recall
this one. But back in the day when a Michael
Bishop comes in and he plays quarterback and people go
gaga over his ability to move the football and run
with it and everything, and you're thinking, oh, this guy's
gonna be the next thing. And yet the Patriots purposely
kind of did that, I think back in the day,

(01:37:16):
back in the nineteen nineties, because they wanted to throw
people to curveball to not know what to expect. Now,
teams these days are much more close to the vest.
They're much more conservative in what they show others. And
now we're learning that teams are much more conservative and
how they build their roster because frankly, they don't want
others to know what they have. I'm kind of curious

(01:37:38):
to find out how you feel about what seems to
be the going trend now in the NFL teams just
not just not being very public. And I realized that,
you know, we've always been like that here in New England.
You know that as well as anybody, but this is
new for a lot of other teams around the league.
Playing your cards close to the vest like a poker.

Speaker 15 (01:38:01):
Yeah, it's really interesting. And to piggyback off what you're saying,
you think about you're talking about the Michael Bishops of
the world and sort of a curveball that you could
throw and having to prepare for something.

Speaker 14 (01:38:11):
I thought that's what we could possibly get with Malie
cunning In.

Speaker 5 (01:38:14):
Now.

Speaker 14 (01:38:14):
I understand that it was tough to justify keeping him on.

Speaker 15 (01:38:16):
The roster because of the fact that you have a
ton of receivers on this team right now, Like I understand,
maybe you don't have that definitive number one guy, but
they're deep at that position. Considering what we've seen from
Demario Douglas and Kayshn Boody, really emerged at the other
training camp, so it would have been difficult to keep
him on the roster because quite frankly, is not ready
to play receiver. But having that luxury of a quarterback

(01:38:38):
that could run the football, that's what I like about
bringing him back to the fact that, okay, maybe you
do activate him for a couple of games, because I
think back to the New Orleans Saints when Drew Brees
was even getting older.

Speaker 14 (01:38:48):
Right when you think about that, they had Taysom Hill
and this.

Speaker 15 (01:38:50):
Is Drew Brees first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback, and
Sean Payton and company were willing to change things up.
We know the Patriots last year and hopefully this isn't
the case this year were dead lasted in the NFL
and touchdown percentage in the red zone. So having a
guy that can run the ball a little bit, and
I thought he and I get it's against backups and
all that he really flashed in the first preseason game.
I think that would be something that you would like

(01:39:12):
to have around. When you're talking about Cunningham and the
fact that, if you think about it, your first game
of the season, which is a good thing, right you
have Jalen Hurts.

Speaker 14 (01:39:19):
Coming in, really likes to run the ball.

Speaker 15 (01:39:21):
Right, you get a lot of these mobile quarterbacks, and
now you don't have to have like a defensive back
doing it in practice. Now you can actually have Malie
Cunningham doing that. So just from that, he brings value
to the organization.

Speaker 1 (01:39:31):
No doubt about it. I was just gonna say, dude's
got to be on that practice squad because he can
come in and mimic half the quarterbacks in the league.
It seems like, so that could be a valuable weapon
to have in preparation. Eight five point five patch five hundred,
the toll free televille number Todd in North Carolina. Hey Todd,
you're in the playbook.

Speaker 16 (01:39:50):
Hey how's it going?

Speaker 6 (01:39:51):
Guys?

Speaker 16 (01:39:52):
I like what I've seen so far with the reacquisition
of a few people. I wouldn't have been sad if
they would have gotten rid of Zappy. That would have
ended a controversy that had been started by Bill and
maybe corrected one of his mistakes by you know, creating
that situation with the two quarterback young especially young guys.
Creating that situation with them was.

Speaker 1 (01:40:10):
Just you know, that brings up I think that brings
up a whole other, you know, conversation, and Brian, I
don't know how you feel about it, but you know,
did the Patriots handle last year incorrectly? Now that we
know what we know?

Speaker 15 (01:40:23):
Yeah, I think it was one of the strangest things
that we'll ever see. I still don't understand why if
Mac could only play a couple of series in that game,
what was the point of even putting them out there?
Considering that Zappi in the previous two games had played
pretty good for this team, right, they won both those games.

Speaker 14 (01:40:39):
You might as well just let him play that game
rather than Mack.

Speaker 15 (01:40:42):
You knew was going to be at least a little
bit rusty coming back from the injury. So I think
unintentionally they created a controversy because we heard the cheers
at Gillette for Bailey Zappi, which puts the team the
players in a weird place as well, and that whole conversation,
the debate over Mack and Zappi. I thought it was
a little stupid to begin with, because Mac is significantly
more talented, but it became a thing like we can't ignore.

(01:41:04):
It became a distraction that the coaching staff was asked
about basically every week, right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:41:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 16 (01:41:11):
So I also really am wondering about right now is
some of the takes of some of the people that
want the throwback to the old style. You know, let's
have a run first and then get the passing from
the run. I don't think that works anymore in this league.
I think you've fallen behind. I think you end up
in the in the chasing game, and it doesn't matter

(01:41:31):
how good your defense is. If you constantly chase, they
won't last the season. I think that's happened in a
couple of years now, where towards the end of the year,
everybody falls off and they oh, what's wrong with their defense?
They're not doing good?

Speaker 6 (01:41:41):
Is at the end of the year.

Speaker 16 (01:41:42):
I know they've had some tougher opposition, but I also
think they're just warm up because they're on the field
all the time. And I think that that makes a
big difference, right And I think right now, what they
got to do is they got to get to their
passing game now. And I think that's what they've got
to focus on. I think they don't need to get
any more tight ends two that are getting the passing game,
and I think they just need to pass that ball

(01:42:03):
and stay in these games.

Speaker 1 (01:42:04):
Well, I think I would argue that they could use
a third tight end in order to serve as almost
like a glorified tackle. So you know whether or not
they bring back, you know, somebody that you know Evan
mentioned earlier. You know, whether it's Sokol or Friser or they,
you know, go another route. I know that the kid
from the Texans, Pharaoh Brown, is that his name. I

(01:42:25):
know that Bill O'Brien worked with him when he was
in Houston. That would be another name that you might see,
you know, being considered potentially a tight end.

Speaker 7 (01:42:33):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:42:33):
Besides, how can you not like a guy whose name
is Faro? I mean, come on, right, I mean you know,
I mean, but I mean to me, I think they
could still use that because it allows you some versatility.
It allows you to go more to those you know,
two tight end sets if that's what you you know,
deem you need and frankly, if they need the help
up front, I want somebody up front who can catch

(01:42:56):
the ball if he has to.

Speaker 11 (01:42:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 15 (01:42:58):
And the other thing that I'd look at too, in
terms of the tight ends is going back to Bill O'Brien.
We all know about when the two tight end look
took over the NFL when you had Rob Grinkowski and
Aaron Hernandez. But even if you go back to what
he did in Houston, he and Ryan Griffin and c. J.
Fedorwitz on the field a ton like those were two
out of their top four guys in targets one of
his years there in Houston. So if you look at

(01:43:19):
this Patriots team, yeah, maybe they don't have it from
like a number one receiver option in terms of how
they're going to beat you just guy on guy, but
I think a lot of what they want to do
is beat you personnel wise, and having those two big
bodies sixty five sixty six tight ends that can work
the middle of the field, I think that's something that
the Patriots certainly want to take advantage of. So I
guess if you're looking for good news is the fact
that Kasiki seems to be trending in the right direction

(01:43:42):
and if none, if nothing else, he can certainly help
in the red zone because we know that when he
was at the combine he had basically the best vert
jump of anybody in the combine, not just tight end,
So it is nice to bring that athletic presence to
the red zone as well.

Speaker 1 (01:43:54):
Yeah, absolutely all right, Todd, Thanks man, good to talk
to you. Eight five five, Pat's five hundred. Erica in Virginia. Hey, Erica,

Speaker 2 (01:44:05):
Hey, how are you doing today?

Speaker 1 (01:44:06):
Great? Great? Thanks for taking the time. What's on your mind?

Speaker 7 (01:44:10):
Hey?

Speaker 5 (01:44:10):
Listen.

Speaker 2 (01:44:11):
So a little bit ago, as In was talking about
how you know Bailey comes back to the practice squad
now with that contract restructure, is that any type of
hint that Malie Cunningham could be a possible QB two
or from the articles that I am now reading, is

(01:44:33):
it that they are in a possible look to bring
in a more of a veteran.

Speaker 1 (01:44:41):
I don't know that it would. I don't know if
that would indicate that I think that that certainly is.
We mentioned this just a little while ago on the show.
That frankly my choice if and again it's not my choice,
I know that I would prefer to have a veteran
presence in, you know, on the sideline, in the locker room,
what have you, because I think that adds bonus to
mac if you can find a veteran presence that's willing

(01:45:04):
to settle for being the backup you know that, Hey,
this is Max's team. I'm here. In other words, you
got to have Brian Hoyer. And this is gonna sound terrible, Brian,
I love you, buddy, but you get a Brian Hoyer
with a little more talent, little more ability.

Speaker 2 (01:45:16):
And if you have that, oh yeah, no, I definitely agree.
I feel like I'm as much as I like Hoyer too.
I feel like he should have been gone a long
time ago.

Speaker 1 (01:45:24):
Well yeah, because I just didn't know whether or not
he could, you know, do what the team needed him
to do. Yep, and you know he five or six
years ago, that's different now. I don't know. And and
so if if.

Speaker 2 (01:45:35):
I did hear McCoy's name being thrown out there, how
do you feel about that?

Speaker 1 (01:45:39):
He's hurt? Colt's hurt. I mean, the reason that Arizona
gave up on him is because he's got a bad elbow. So,
I mean, I personally would love it being a Longhorn.
I would love it. I'd love to see it. I
think he's got a lot of moxie. I think he's got,
you know, a lot of savvy. I think he's you know,
got intuitiveness. He's played in several spots in the league.
I think he could bring a lot to Max, you know,

(01:46:01):
in a in a tutoring kind of situation. Yeah, but
but if Mac actually got hurt, what is gonna take
you to W's? Can he give you a shot?

Speaker 2 (01:46:12):
I don't know, right, That's what I was thinking too.
I was like, because it's the minute I heard his name,
I'm like, I don't know. That sounds a little too
much of a reach.

Speaker 17 (01:46:20):
What do you think, Brian, Yeah, I think it's interesting
because I think the fear now with Bailey Zappy after
they brought it back to the practice squad is if
Mac was out for two to three games like we
saw last year, clearly the organization has lost at least
some faith, and I wonder if it's partly, Hey, can
this guy carry out the Bill O'Brien offense like it

(01:46:41):
was a.

Speaker 15 (01:46:41):
Lot more simplistic last year as unfortunately we would all
find out and sap he could carry that offense out.
But I do think they should still be in the
market for a veteran. So obviously if you have a
Colt McCoy and AJ mccheron, like I know Case Keenum
is on the Texan still, but that would have been
a guy I would have liked to look at, and
I know that would have had to be be a
trade because he's played for Bill O'Brien before. But that

(01:47:04):
guy's not going to be able to play well for
in eight game period. But if Mac misses two to
three games, is this telling us by what they did
with Zappy on Tuesday that they don't feel confident in
him playing.

Speaker 14 (01:47:15):
For two games for this team.

Speaker 15 (01:47:16):
That's the thing that I think is unfortunate right now
where they're in the market for a backup, because ideally
you would have liked to have just said, Okay, Zappy
can be that guy, but clearly the Patriots don't really
feel that way right now.

Speaker 2 (01:47:26):
Yeah, that's kind I knew coming in. I knew when
Patricia got announced last year, and seeing Zappy step up
with his little two games, I said, yeah, just like you.
It's a simple playbook for him. He can run it.
And the minute ob guy announced, I was like, he's
not going to hold up.

Speaker 12 (01:47:43):
He's not.

Speaker 7 (01:47:44):
He's too short, he's.

Speaker 2 (01:47:45):
Too small of the guy. He holds onto the ball
too long. He's not the man for it.

Speaker 1 (01:47:51):
I can't I can't argue that. I mean now, obviously, Erica,
you you've kind of you've you're right there, spot on
with the analysis, so you know, is a bit short.
You probably have to move him around in the pocket
a little bit. He probably has to learn that. I
know he's trying to learn how to sit in the
pocket because if you've never actually been in a pocket
in the National Football League, that may be the scariest

(01:48:12):
place on planet Earth.

Speaker 10 (01:48:13):
Okay, oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:48:14):
And seeing him, over seeing him the past game, I
was like, no, that's not his that's not for him.

Speaker 1 (01:48:19):
That's not his game. That's not his game, which is
why he played you know, the five wide spread offense
at you know, Western Kentucky and Houston Baptists and places
you know he was before. Uh doesn't mean he can't
be in the pros, but he might be a professional
quarterback in a in a certain situation. And I'm not
sure that New England is it. I just don't know that.

(01:48:43):
So which is why, Well, I'll tell you why. Because
they see potential in him, and they see promise in him,
and they and and they're intrigued by that potential. And
then the Patriots caught lightning in a bottle when he
came in from Mac injured a year ago and everybody's yelling, everybody,
you know, that's.

Speaker 7 (01:49:03):
A good one.

Speaker 2 (01:49:03):
Lightning in a bottle.

Speaker 1 (01:49:04):
Yeah, well that's that's what we did and and and
that's what that's what that's what Bailey caught. And I
loved the story, but I also knew that this was
clearly only a short term deal, that it wasn't going
to be a long term deal. Because anybody who's watched
quarterbacks play, especially at this level, for as long as
I have and a lot of other people have, would

(01:49:25):
know who's more tailor made for the pro game today
right now, and it's Mac and it's not even close.
And I said that a year ago, I'm saying it
again now. And I love Bailey's abby. I think he
brings somebody to this team. The team wants Bailey to
have a chance to sit and learn, and I think
he can do that on the practice squad, which to me,

(01:49:46):
if they're able to work out the depth in other areas,
it benefits this team to still bring in a veteran presence.
I don't know that they will. They may decide they're
going to gamble, and because of what Bailey did last year,
he could come in and do it again this year
if they needed him. That's a calculated risk they're gonna
have to take.

Speaker 2 (01:50:03):
I don't know, I do I hope they bring in
the veteran. But I do appreciate your time today, guys.
I got a clock back into work, but I appreciate
you squeezing in and answering those questions for me.

Speaker 1 (01:50:13):
I appreciate you squeezing us in Erica. Thank you, you
got it, Erica in Virginia. Let's get Steve in North Dakota. Here, Steve,

Speaker 7 (01:50:23):
Hey, uh, lifelong pass fan out here in the Midwest.

Speaker 1 (01:50:27):
Well, welcome to the show. Welcome to the program. We're
glad you're with us.

Speaker 7 (01:50:30):
Oh, thank you, Thanks guys for for taking my call.
So I agree with with what you know all the
callers are saying, and we need to have that backup
veteran preference, you know. And and it's not just because.

Speaker 12 (01:50:47):
You know personalces out there, John, you know, it's very
vocal ambanment that wants to see in the league any rules.

Speaker 6 (01:50:57):
Uh. You've got some up and downs of the new.

Speaker 12 (01:51:00):
In his career, whether it be at NB level or
the worst quarterback of the league, Right, you know, there's.

Speaker 7 (01:51:11):
Something that I think is great to really kick.

Speaker 12 (01:51:13):
Around Brian now being there, uh you know, offensive quarter
and being able to work with quarterbacks. Yeah, O risk
hard Warren singing.

Speaker 7 (01:51:23):
In a vetro like Carson Wentz.

Speaker 1 (01:51:26):
Yeah yeah, okay, Uh any thoughts Brian at all? I
mean some of that broke up for me. I don't
know what you were able to hear.

Speaker 7 (01:51:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 15 (01:51:33):
I I don't want Carson Wentz part of this organization.

Speaker 10 (01:51:36):
Okay.

Speaker 14 (01:51:36):
If you look at the past couple of.

Speaker 15 (01:51:37):
Teams, the Eagles gave up on him, the Colts gave
up on him, Washington gave up on him. And to
your point earlier John about wanting a guy that knows
he's the backup, Carson Wentz is going to be the
opposite of that, Right. He's going to come in, he's
going to think he's better than Mac Jones, and he's
going to want to try to get that job, even
though based on the recent evidence we havent have of
him as a quarterback, he hasn't been particularly great. So

(01:51:59):
I think that creates more of a distraction than anything else,
and I quite frankly don't want him on the field.
If Mac goes down, like, I don't feel confident in
that guy.

Speaker 1 (01:52:07):
No, No, I kind of don't either. Why don't you
got Steve anything else?

Speaker 7 (01:52:13):
Well that's what I got now, you know, unless you
guys want to come and play a game over here,
you know, so I can come and see it closer.

Speaker 6 (01:52:19):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:52:21):
Well, it's a lot of.

Speaker 1 (01:52:22):
Travel out there. They're they're they're, yeah, they're they're doing
the Germany thing. So I don't know if we can
put Fargo on the list or not, but hey, i'd
be I'd be all for that. I'd love I'd love
to come to. In fact, I love going to Fargo.
I like I like North Dakota State. I think, I
think that's a beautiful campus. I play in the Fargo
Dome if I could.

Speaker 7 (01:52:40):
Oh, beautiful dome, beautiful campus. They play a pro style system. Uh.
You know you've seen the guys out there, like Trey
Lance is out there now. Uh, and it's great to
see that, you know, coming from you know, a team
that wants division too low.

Speaker 1 (01:52:54):
After absolutely, Hey, let me let me ask you about
Trey Lance. Are you surprised how it apparently hasn't worked
out for him? Especially plays like San Francisco.

Speaker 15 (01:53:03):
I was.

Speaker 7 (01:53:03):
I was really shocked at you know, first of all,
when San Francisco traded up and all those picks for them.
You know, Kurry Lance, he had a exceptional one year
career in.

Speaker 3 (01:53:18):
North Dakota State.

Speaker 7 (01:53:20):
Part of that is the system. Part of that is
the league that he played in. Was he worth what
San Francisco paid form I wouldn't have if I was
in that position. But once they got him, they did
him wrong. And you know, they didn't take a quarterback
that they drafted that high and give him the opportunities

(01:53:43):
he needed to show that he could be that guy,
and literally they pushed him back. And the more they
pushed him back unless he was producing. I think he's
got a great opportunity now in Dallas's and I have
a wonderful mentor although there's a little animosity that's going

(01:54:06):
on there.

Speaker 1 (01:54:07):
But well, yeah, if you're a high draft.

Speaker 7 (01:54:09):
Pick like he was, you're two to maybe be that guy.

Speaker 1 (01:54:12):
Yeah, But if you're if you're a high draft pick
like he is, uh or was Steve, Yeah, if you're
dak Prescott, how can you not kind of raise an
eyebrow at bringing in a guy like Trey Lance I mean, look,
they're getting him for a song and a dance. But
the fact is is that somebody saw something in him
to make him that pick. It's unfair after only a
year to call the kid a bust. I don't think
he's even had the opportunity. He just didn't find the

(01:54:34):
fit and and and Brian, I think you can probably
concur with this one. This is in this day and age,
drafting is a crapshoot. It's got about you got a
draft toward need and fit more than anything else. I
think the days of best athlete available, you know, quite
honestly are are sort of passe. I think you you

(01:54:55):
got to find some that it fits your physical as
well as your mental culture on a team in the
NFL these days.

Speaker 14 (01:55:03):
Yeah, And I think they overthought it.

Speaker 15 (01:55:05):
That's such a great organization, and it's amazing that they
can trade all those draft picks and they're still fine.

Speaker 14 (01:55:10):
They're still one of the favorites to come out of
the NFC.

Speaker 15 (01:55:12):
But I think they convinced themselves like, hey, if we're
getting all the way up to three, we got to
take the guy with the super high upside.

Speaker 14 (01:55:18):
Because if you go back prior to the draft, there
was a lot of.

Speaker 15 (01:55:20):
Noise that, hey, Kyle Shanahan really likes Mac and that
fit would actually make sense because Max a guy that's
going to play on schedule right, he wants to get
rid of the ball quickly. He would actually fit perfectly
in Kyle Shanahan's system. I mean, think about some of
the guys that have succeeded, the Matt Ryans of the world,
the Jimmy Garoppolos of the world, that do want to
play on schedule. So I think they just overthought that

(01:55:41):
draft pick. And the guy had no real track record.
He barely played. I know he was the starter at
North Dakota State, but he barely played there. And then
they had a COVID year where what he played one
game and you traded all those picks up to number three.
It's incredible. If any other organization did that, they would
have been in big trouble. It's just San Francisco's so
deep afford to lose the picks because the rest of

(01:56:02):
the team is so talented.

Speaker 1 (01:56:04):
Calvin Munson is signing with the Patriots practice squad. Reporting
Mark Daniels from Mass Live and a couple of other sources,
and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him
on the fifty three when ther injured reserve list starts
getting placed around. I don't know about you, Brian, but
I know that Munson had He was one of the

(01:56:25):
few I thought that actually had a pretty good summer.

Speaker 15 (01:56:28):
Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what happens
with the fifty three because of Zappy coming back to
Is he going to be the backup quarterback for Week one?
Are they going to get a veteran? And then the
other component of this, John is the offensive line. There's
so many offensive linemen right now on this team, and
I understand part of it is they got to figure
out who's going to be healthy enough to get going
during the regular season. But I think, and I know

(01:56:49):
you guys are talking about it before I came on here,
that's the biggest concern right now.

Speaker 14 (01:56:53):
Is this offensive line going to hold up?

Speaker 15 (01:56:55):
Because you feel good about the summer, but mac Jones
has had I feel better than with the weapons than
most people do. I feel like Kendrick Bourne emerging late
is a great thing for this team because I thought
he was really good in twenty twenty before or twenty
twenty one before falling into the doghouse. But the offensive
line has the potential to derail this whole thing if
they can't figure that out.

Speaker 7 (01:57:14):
Right, So what do you guys think about carrying just
two running backs currently on.

Speaker 1 (01:57:19):
The roster that won't stay, that won't lie.

Speaker 7 (01:57:22):
Are you seeing Montgomery as a possibility coming back as
a as a third?

Speaker 1 (01:57:27):
I think he would be a strong candidate for the third.
I think Kevin Harris would also be a candidate for
that as well, and I think those would be the
likely ones. But again, it all depends on whether or
not these guys, you know, when they get waved, when
they get cut, they have an opportunity to sign on
anybody else's practice squad, And if they get offered more
money or more of an opportunity to make the fifty
three or what have you, then guys don't have to

(01:57:48):
resign here. They don't, and so you have to hope that,
you know, maybe this was something that I guess, at
least in time Ontomery's case. You know, here's a guy
that's had a hard time staying healthy. And while I
appreciate his talent like anybody else, you know, hey, the biggest,
the most the biggest most valuable asset a player can

(01:58:09):
have today is availability, and if you can't stay healthy
on the field, you're not doing anybody any good, and
so you're expendable. So I question his availability if it's
time Montgomery, Kevin Harris might be more likely, but again,
you know, like I said, I'm sure that he's amongst
the candidates. I'm sure they'll bring in at least one. J. J.

(01:58:30):
Taylor could be another or maybe even two more potential
running backs. Brian, what do you think?

Speaker 15 (01:58:36):
Yeah, Yeah, I just don't think it's it's as important
as other positions because if you look at it right now,
the way that the Patriots have done it previously, they've
always had that James White third down back. But I
think they feel comfortable with both Ramandre and Ezekiel Elliott
on third down now. Zeke is not the athlete that
he once was, but going back to the cliche, he's
really good in pass protection, right he can pick up blitzes.

Speaker 14 (01:58:59):
And we know that Ramond is a really good receiver.

Speaker 15 (01:59:01):
I mean, he caught what sixty nine passes last season,
So I think they're comfortable with that rotation right now.
And I don't think they feel like any of the
guys they had in camp are close to those two players,
so they're going to get the bulk of the snaps
to begin with. So I'm sure you stash one on
the practice squad, and if you need to activate them,
go ahead and do that. But I don't think they're
going to be afraid to go into games with just
those two guys.

Speaker 1 (01:59:21):
No, probably not. But I would tell you, you know that,
you know, the one thing that we haven't really spent
any time on today or even this summer yet, is
to talk about his ego, Elliott's ability in the red
zone and in short yarded situation when you need a
first down on third and short or even fourth and short,
or let's say in gold to go situations. Patriots were
miserable at that last year, and I think Elliott that's

(01:59:43):
the one thing he still may be able to provide,
is the ability to pick up that yard or two
we're in your in short yarded situations.

Speaker 7 (01:59:50):
And I bring that Corey Dillon ability yes that we
saw year Yes, yes, one percent on that way. And
one we're concerning you brought it up, you know about
you know, the pass blocking and all it's you know
a concern that I'm seeing, you know, on the fifty
man roster.

Speaker 2 (02:00:06):
He is.

Speaker 7 (02:00:07):
The two tight ends that we're carrying are great receiving
tight ends. It'd be lovely to see them in that
two tight end step. But neither one of them are
known for their blocking, and that's going to be really disastrous.

Speaker 1 (02:00:18):
That's why I would that.

Speaker 7 (02:00:20):
Matt cass Is when he's back to the running for
his life.

Speaker 1 (02:00:22):
That's why I would hope that, you know, one of
the other spots that they look at here is potentially
before a blocking tied in to back up the two
that they have on the roster. Steve, thanks for the
phone call, my man.

Speaker 7 (02:00:34):
Gee, I appreciate you taking my call. It's been a
pleasure document you guys.

Speaker 12 (02:00:38):
They've been looking forward to the season.

Speaker 1 (02:00:40):
Thank you, Steve, appreciate You'll hope we hear from you again. Hey, Brian,
you want to give folks a chance to pick up
where your podcast is loaded? Located where they can find
you work.

Speaker 15 (02:00:49):
Yeah, you can get it on Spotify. It's off the pike.
It's a Ringer podcast. We have one up right now.
Talk to with Sheil Capatia from The Ringer and the
Philly specials. So we did an early preview on week one,
but also got into where he ranks the Patriots offense.

Speaker 14 (02:01:03):
Tomorrow, I'll have one up.

Speaker 15 (02:01:06):
I'll be chatting with Andrew Callahan from The Herald, so
we'll do a bunch of Patriots roster stuff. So we'll
have that up early Thursday afternoon or I should say
midday Thursday afternoon, maybe a little bit early evening, depending
on when we finish up with Callahan, but that will.

Speaker 14 (02:01:20):
Be up tomorrow. So it's Off the Pike on Spotify.

Speaker 15 (02:01:23):
It's a Ringer podcast, so you can get it on
anywhere you get your podcast, but check it out on Spotify.

Speaker 1 (02:01:29):
Beautiful and on x formerly known as Twitter. It's at
It's Brian Barrett. Correct, you got it? Thank you all right,
No problem at all, Hey Brian. I'll look forward to
visiting with you throughout the season. So thanks a lot
for the time today. This was good fun.

Speaker 14 (02:01:44):
Thanks for having me, John, I had a ton of fun.

Speaker 1 (02:01:46):
Absolutely, you got it. Brian Barrett. Everybody, you need to
check him out Off the Pike podcast on The Ringer,
check his work on The Ringer dot com and we'll
try to get Brian on from time to time throughout
the course of the year. Here I want to endo. Oh,
the one thing I had I haven't mentioned today that
I'm going to save here for the end is the
fact that the Patriots had a streak come to a

(02:02:06):
crashing end with this draft slash preseason slash roster building
portion of the summer camp. Okay, no, that's all right.
I thought you were gonna give me the violin play
on here. That means it's time to go. The Patriots

(02:02:29):
streak of having at least one undrafted free agent make
the fifty three has come to an end. It was
a remarkable streak, and I believe this is an NFL
record nineteen straight years, nineteen straight years with at least
one UDFA Okay, undrafted free agent, nineteen straight years at

(02:02:54):
least one made the final fifty three. Did not happen
this year, and I think probably because of all the
injuries to the offensive line. Otherwise I kind of felt
like Malie Cunningham would have kept that streak alive. That's
my own personal thought. Obviously didn't happen, but Cunningham is
one of Now we have nine on the practice squad

(02:03:16):
that had been reported over the course of the last
two hours that we've been on the program here today,
and I would anticipate the rest of the practice squad
to be made public here in the next couple of
hours as well. But that's where we are in terms
of building the New England Patriots for twenty three. Email
here from Ron in Conway, New Hampshire says, my question

(02:03:36):
is about the fifty three man roster. I love Belichick.
I think he's the greatest coach ever next to Lombardi.
I would say you might put him on a pedestal
past Lombardi in terms of trophies. But Bill does what
Bill thinks is right, and who are we to judge
him for doing his job. None of us listeners are
part of the team other than being beat writers and
media talking heads. Even though I agree with a lot

(02:03:56):
of the media writers and reporters I'm speaking of, it
just confuses me, as one lonely fan of how your
glaring need of a tackle in the draft, Bill decides
to draft a corner in this year's draft. I mentioned
that earlier, I believe, didn't I in the show. Yeah,
our greatest need was a first round tackle or big
time free agent tackle. We also needed a big time
wide receiver, but instead of taking someone like Zay Flowers

(02:04:20):
or uh uh in jigba we uh again, Bill drafts defense. Granted,
Gonzales was touted as a stud corner, I think that's
yet to be determined. I don't see that at all.
Though Bill's drafting as a GM is unsatisfactory at best.
They had a good defense, they needed an offensive draft
this year simply did not draft first or second round
offensive players. Boy, we love revisionist history around here, don't we.

(02:04:49):
I started out the program that they said, you know,
you know, I think we're talking tackle back in April,
and everybody said, no, no, if they draft to tackle,
oh I'm gonna screen. Oh I'm gonna jump off the train.
Oh they can't get a tackle. They gotta go for
the guy, you know. And of course, like I said,
I look, I said this earlier, I repeated again, if

(02:05:13):
Christian Gonzales had slipped to me at seventeen, I'd have
been real tempted there as well. So I don't blame
them for that. But it's clear that an issue that
wasn't fully or shall I say, appropriately addressed is coming
back to bite them right now, and so to me,
that's the biggest reason for any sort of state of

(02:05:36):
flux that this Patriots team is in right now. It
all centers around the offensive line and the uncertain to
go around the line. You know, if they get the
five guys together relatively healthy, and finally get them on
the field for the first time together really this this summer,
and they can perform reasonably well, then I think some,
not all, some of this stuff goes away. It's going

(02:06:00):
to be a while. And the problem here is the
schedule to start is going to be a tough bite
to chew on. And so that's where you see a
lot of the prognosticators lowering their expectations on New England.
And that's why I opened up today by asking you, hey,
you know seven and a half that's already risen a

(02:06:21):
full win. It was six and a half when the
summer started. BETMGM had that, and now it's seven and
a half in the over and under on wins and
that's still the most played over under on BETMGM. The
number of tickets that are out. The number one ticket
is the over on the Patriots at seven and a half.

(02:06:43):
Where is the optimism coming from? Is what I want
to know what do you know that we don't. This
will be fun to kind of follow, This will be
fun to revisit once we get to that point in time.
Do I think the Patriots will be there?

Speaker 6 (02:06:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (02:06:56):
I do. I'm going to stick with the original projection
and say eleven and six. But I'm putting an awful
lot of faith in stuff right now that doesn't look
like it deserves that kind of faith. Well, as we say,
they got to play the games, and guess what this
time next week we'll start talking about it. As I
mentioned off the top of the program, if you joined
us late, Patriots playbook moves to Wednesdays this year and

(02:07:20):
the regular season people not Thursdays Wednesdays. So we'll be
right here, same Pats channel, but different Pats time because
we're gonna go from two until four Eastern Time on
Wednesdays in the regular season. We'll come on right after
Patriots Unfiltered Patriots Unfielded as Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during
the week. On Wednesdays, we follow up our programming lineup

(02:07:43):
will follow up Unfiltered at two pm Eastern on Wednesdays,
and then Catch twenty two stays at two pm on Thursdays.
Just so you know what the Patriots Live Show, radio
show and podcast lineup will be for the regular season,
which starts next week. So next week on Wednesday here
at two pm Eastern time, it's all Philadelphia Eagles, that's
what we're talking about. Well, traditionally we'll have somebody on

(02:08:07):
the Patriots beat. We will have somebody on the Eagles beat,
a writer or a broadcaster. Russell Baxter, formerly from ESPN
and he's known as the pro Football Guru himself. Russell
will be back as a regular again. He's been a
regular for better part of our you know, twenty plus
year history here on Patriots dot Com Radio. And I
hope to hear from many of you, especially those of

(02:08:29):
you who have tried the show out today for the
first time. Hopefully you like it. We've been here for
a while. We tend to stick to more little nuts
and bolts and we like to get the opposing viewpoints
rather than just you know, wave pom poms here. So
but you know, hey, we got room for that too,
and we did a little bit of that today. Thanks Marine,
appreciate you, and thanks to Brian Barrett off the Pike Podcast.

(02:08:51):
Claire Cooper a Claire Perspective podcast, Mike Debate. Locked on
Patriots Podcast for joining us today. All right, regular seasons here,
Let's go get them next Wednesday, two pm Eastern for
the next edition of Patriots Playbook.

Speaker 3 (02:09:11):
Thank you for downloading this podcast. Subscribe on Apple, Google Play,
and everywhere else you listen like the show, Please rate
and review us. Listener comments and ratings help keep us
high on the podcast rankings so new listeners can find us.
Be sure to check Patriots dot com for more news
and more podcasts.

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