Patriots Unfiltered 6/9: Direct From Day 1 of Minicamp

Tune-in as the PU crew go live direct from day 1 of Patriots minicamp. They share their thoughts on what they see, who stands out and more! Plus, hear from Head Coach Mike Vrabel as he speaks with the media before practice!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Some of the content of Patriots Unfiltered may not be
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Speaker 2 (00:11):
The World's original podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
This is Patriots Unfiltered.

Speaker 4 (00:20):
Presented by Toyota's official website. For deals, buy a Toyota
dot com.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
All right, welcome, we are live from Jette Stadium and
Patriots Mini Camp twenty twenty five.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
I'm joined by Mike dus Eva Bizarre and i'd.

Speaker 5 (00:38):
Say for the next hour or so we're gonna be here.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
We're gonna be listening to Mike Brable.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
He's gonna be doing this live press conference at about
twelve fifteen, and then we'll turn our cameras to the field.

Speaker 6 (00:49):
And tell you what we're watching.

Speaker 5 (00:51):
So, like I said, we'll be going to fold and
after one o'clock.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Today and then after practice we've got a special Patriots.

Speaker 6 (00:58):
Unfiltered wrap up show we're gonna be doing around two
thirty down in the studio.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
So it's a big name for us. Again.

Speaker 6 (01:05):
We are presented by.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
By at Toyota dot com. If you want to see
Toyota's best offers, including Ghost See on TV, go to
buy a Toyota dot com. It's Toyota's official website, deals
from the official vehicles to New England Patriots.

Speaker 6 (01:19):
Let's go to mini cams. All right, we're at many camp.

Speaker 5 (01:23):
Yeah, so what do you guys?

Speaker 3 (01:25):
What are we watching? What's what's on your bucket? I'd
say the first of these attendants. I mean, it sounds
a little bit basic, but that's what you're curious about.
The Tourgunia Andam. We've seen most of these guys arobout.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
The days here.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
I would guess that most of them will be here
today as well.

Speaker 6 (01:40):
Some guys come them in you see continuing to work
for some things. But I think the first place you
have to start contendants.

Speaker 5 (01:48):
Yeah, they've had really good attendance, I would say through
the voluntary portion of practice, emphasis on voluntary. They they've
had a really good turnout in those practices. So we've
we pretty much seen everybody come through at least one
practice here over the last couple of weeks, which has
been nice and been good for us, but also I'm
sure good for the team. But in terms of battles

(02:10):
or just competitions in this training camp, I feel like
we have a pretty good idea of most of who
the top line guys are going to be but you
look at wide receiver, that room is crowded and there's
a lot of bodies to work out in that room.
And then on the offensive line, there's a few spots
that I feel like are still up for grabs, mainly
left guard, and who's going to be playing next to

(02:30):
Will Campbell is a big one for this team right now.
A couple of different guys, you know, Cole Strange and
West Tweitzer, the veteran, have had reps there, but I
don't think anything is set in stone about who's going
to be next to Campbell.

Speaker 7 (02:47):
A couple of years ago, first round pick. Finally healthy
this year. I mean he said last year at this
time he was still learning how to walk. So highly
athletic kid. I know this discussion about his draft status
what is, but he's here now is what is fourth season.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
It's time to put it all together.

Speaker 7 (03:03):
Made for cool Strange, huge opportunity for him at left guard,
and I'd love to see him to take advantage of it.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
I think he's got plus athleticism if if he's able
to put it all together this season.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
So what you're gonna see today is basically a walkthrough,
but you will see, you know, some positional drills. At
some point we're going to have to turn our cameras
off because of rules. But this is a mini camp.
It's a teaching environment. It's not training camp yet. There's
no pads. As you can see, guys are in shorts.
They're starting to arrive now getting on the field. We

(03:33):
saw Haro Landry get on the field. He's a big
addition in the offseason. So I know, for myself, I'm
going to be looking, you know, I'm gonna be checking
out these new guys. How are they fitting in, Not
just the offensive line guys, but guys like Harol Landry
and you know people that they added through free agency.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Chase On too as well, those two edge guys.

Speaker 7 (03:55):
This defense has been largely remade, remade this offseason, and
you see bits and pieces.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
Of it here and there.

Speaker 7 (04:01):
It looks a lot different than what we're used to seeing.
And you know, it's a defense guy. I'm excited to
see some of those changes. I think this defense can
be very aggressive, and I think there's an aggressive tone
just being set across the team right now. You see
it with Mike Rabel running from drill to drill, preaching energy.
We've seen a lot of that through three OTA practices.
I'm sure this will be maybe even a little bit
more intense. I know our friend Paul, who isn't here

(04:23):
unfortunately today. We like to joke that really, mini camp,
like you said, Fred, is just an extension of OTAs,
but this is mandatory mini caamp.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
So I do think there's a little bit of extra
juice here today. I know, I'm excited.

Speaker 7 (04:33):
We're broadcasting live, We're doing a whole thing for it.
This is the last time we're going to see these
guys until training camp, so I think we make the
most of it.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
It's a good day, and we'll be here tomorrow as well. Yep,
So you'll get two days of mini camp from US.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Live shows, and again at around two thirty we're going
to be having a wrap up show. So I know
we have to turn our cameras off at around one
oh five or so, but we'll still be here. We'll
watch the rest of practice and we'll wrap it up
around two thirty, and I think we might even have
a guest in the studio.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
Great, so great. It's a big day here at Gillette Stadium.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Someone we haven't really mentioned yet, but all eyes will
be on Drake May as always. He started OTAs at
least the ones that we were able to see a
little bit slow this season, but he really picked it
up that last practice.

Speaker 5 (05:18):
Yeah, it's been fun to watch him and Josh McDaniels
together with McDaniel's being back, and we know this offense
is going to take time to come together.

Speaker 6 (05:26):
There's going to be some growing pains as they learn
a new system.

Speaker 5 (05:29):
And that's how I would categorize some of the things
we saw in the first couple of OTA practices with
Drake May was just getting his feet wet in this
offense and really going from the classroom and putting it
on the practice field, and the difference that did different
calls and the different way they do things and the
cadences and all that kind of stuff. But then we
were out here last week and he had probably his

(05:51):
best practice that we've seen so far of the spring.
Looked much more comfortable, much more in rhythm. Saw some
of those Drake May downfield Wow throws, big time throw.
So I thought last week was his best practice out
of the three we've seen so far. So you're seeing
it get better and better as each week goes along.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Yeah, that's what I was going to say. We want
to see it continue to get better.

Speaker 7 (06:10):
Today shouldn't be a straight line, right learning a new offense,
There's going to be ups and downs.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
There might be a couple interceptions. I don't think it's
the end of the world.

Speaker 7 (06:18):
But seeing Drake may Moore in command and control of
the offense seemed in those early practices like he was
thinking a lot. You could see a little bit and
there no you know, see those things start to continue
to get better think would be a great sign. And
as we've been talking about all off season, guys, this season,
it's a lot on Drake may I don't want to
put too much on him, but quarterback, second year elite,

(06:38):
we know how important this position is in the NFL,
and I think we're all hoping that Drake may takes
that big step forward.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
And if I'm Mike Vrabel and the coaches, this is
your last opportunity before camp, so you've got you know,
this mini camp again, you mentioned it was mandatory, Mike.

Speaker 3 (06:52):
Everybody's here, rookies.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
And veterans, and you want to kind of leave camp
on a good note because now you're going to have
this gap between you know, June eleventh and middle of
July when they start showing up again. That's a long time,
you know, relatively speaking, So you want to make sure
that you get a lot in these next couple of

(07:15):
days and that you ended on a good note both
offense and defense.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
Absolutely.

Speaker 7 (07:21):
I mean, I was just looking back at my notes
because I seem to recall and as I look at
my mini cam note from last year, you know, Jalen
Polk ends things with a fade TD.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
It was a big play.

Speaker 7 (07:30):
The defense did push ups put a cap on a
great spring for Jalen Polk, who carried some of that
momentum in the training camp. Unfortunately wasn't able to carry
it into the regular season. So they did on an
end on a half high note last year didn't mean anything.
Maybe not so much for Jalen Polpe, but I totally
agree Fred having a big play like that, just some
kind of play to feel good about as you go
into this next six weeks until training camp starts.

Speaker 5 (07:52):
Yeah, it's all about setting the table for training camp.
This is where you set that foundation. And we're showing
two guys on the monitor right now. Efton Chisholm wearing eighty,
who's one of those guys that look do we know
it's real yet or not? Probably not until we see
the pads on and see him in preseason, but Fton
Chishom's looked great out here in the spring. And that's
the type of thing that you do this time of year,
is you put yourself in position to then compete for

(08:14):
the roster and training. Canny came out with another one
of your favorites. Yeah, Land Larrison thirty four. You see
Davis Product, who led that level of football in scrimmage.
Pretty much every running back stat that you could think
of last year has that look of a Patriots third
down back. Chisholm has that look of a slot receiver
in Josh mcdaniels's offense.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
So we'll see see you see Will Campbell number sixty
six coming on right there.

Speaker 6 (08:39):
With Jack con in Boston College.

Speaker 7 (08:41):
Yeah, which doesn't too many favors because Jack Connelly is
a giant human being.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
If if anybody can actually.

Speaker 7 (08:46):
Make Will Campbell look a little small, but Will Campbell's
six to six, three hundred and twenty fans is, so
he's got plenty of size.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
But it's funny. When he stands next to those guys,
you forget how big they are.

Speaker 7 (08:55):
Marcus Bryant as well, the other draft pick that they
had another huge tackle.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
Out in the back of the field is where the
offensive lineman. We used to call it Dante's Inferno. I
think we should still call it that day, agreed. That's
where the offensive lineman go, you know, between position. When
they have their positional drills, they go back there. So
that's where they were heading out there.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
So otherwise, weather today, in case everyone's interested, it's a
little unseasonably cool. I would say, yeah, not too bad,
but it's overcast. In terms of the players, this must
be great.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
I love it. I mean it's about sixty degrees.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
A little windy, so that might affect any kicking maybe
later in the practice, but it's it's great weather for
the players for sure.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (09:43):
Last week, Deuce's boy, Jabrill Peppers was on Twitter saying
how hot it was at one of the practices we
had that ninety degree day here in Fox Parthing. It
was what last Thursday? It was pretty hot? He was like,
I think we practiced in Asana I think was the
what he tweeted. So today they'll have a nice day
out here. Always good when it's overcast too, and you're
not like the sun's not beating down on you in

(10:03):
the middle of the field.

Speaker 6 (10:04):
So yeah, perfect weather.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
If I can jump in here real quick.

Speaker 7 (10:07):
We got a good shot here, right, two rookie edge
defenders Elijah Ponder number ninety one, who was undrafted guy,
and Braden Swinson as well, who was a draft pick.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
Just two really interesting guys. You brought in.

Speaker 7 (10:19):
Two veteran edge presence Fred mentioned Harold Landry k Levon
Chase on on both sides, they've been getting a lot
of run. But I think a big question for you know,
going into camp is can one of these two guys
or even both of them start to find a role.
I think there's opportunity in the edge position, certainly older
guys that they brought in veterans, so some youth there.
Those are two guys I'm gonna be watching a lot

(10:40):
this springing into the summer.

Speaker 6 (10:41):
Yeah, especially that situational pass rusher role.

Speaker 5 (10:44):
Can one of those guys coming on third down and
maybe offer a little bit more juice off the edge
and allow Keon White to kick a little bit further inside,
or you know, Harold Landry didn't exactly have the best
pass rush metrics last year, so maybe he comes off
the field for somebody that's got a little bit more
juice in the I'm hoping to that Braden Swinston kind
of turns it on a little bit as we go here.

(11:04):
I haven't noticed him a ton in the first couple
of practices, so maybe as we get deeper into this,
he starts to make an impression.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
So you know, up until the point that they get
into pads, how do you judge an offensive or a
defensive line? No, that's a fair question, is a serious question,
like what are you looking for if you're one of
their position coaches or if you're Mike Vrabel or one
of us looking like.

Speaker 3 (11:25):
How do you judge someone in these conditions? I think
it starts with communication and being all on the same page.

Speaker 7 (11:32):
You hear an offensive line coaches talk a lot about
seeing it all through the same set of eyes. I
think this is where you set that foundation and the cutting,
loose rushers coming in, miscommunications, those kind of things I
think are the biggest no nos at this stage of
the game because it is really hard to judge physically,
how you're going to deal with, you know, your sets
and are you getting deep enough? Should they go back

(11:53):
and look at the film and they can probably judge
that a little bit, But for me, I think it
all starts with communication, starting to get on the same page,
building that camaraderie. We've seen a lot of different rotations,
different guys. Evan mentioned the battle at left guard. You've
seen many people at right guard too. You've seen a
bunch of guys at center. You see even with the
second group, so you know right tackles going in when
Morgan Mouses was out earlier. So a lot of opportunities

(12:14):
there along the offensive line of them all getting familiar
with each other.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
While you were talking, Mike, our camo's were fixed on
Trevion Henderson, and there's somebody in that position where even
if you're not tackling, you can kind of get a
sense of his movement.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
You know, his burst, the power in the way he runs.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
You know that's something that you can tell, you know
when guys are even in shorts without pads and so
far he looks the part.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
He sure does. I mean he floats, he floats through.

Speaker 7 (12:44):
You could just tell he's got explosiveness and I'm really
excited about him.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
How are they going to use him?

Speaker 7 (12:49):
Though last couple of years feels like they got away
from being so down specific. We remember the days of
Sony Michelle's in on early downs and James White's in
on later downs. I don't know if Josh McDaniel still
prefer that kind of set up, but I think with
the three backs that they have between Ramandre Gibson and
now Henderson, you know, those top three, that all three
of them could probably play third down. I mean, I
think Henderson has definitely skewed more towards that third down back.

(13:11):
He's a little smaller, He's probably not going to get
the short yardage carries, but his element of explosiveness, I
just think the more you can get that on the
field and really make that an element of offense, the better.

Speaker 3 (13:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (13:21):
I think you're gonna see maybe potentially some unique formations
with him in personnel groupings because his explosiveness and his
speed is going to be a different dynamic than some
of the other guys. You know, receivers and tight ends
can bring to the table. So even seeing two running
backs out there on the field at once might be
able to have treyvon Henderson play a little bit of
a different role and move around the formation.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
It's funny you talk about formations. A couple of weeks ago,
we had Craig James in the studio for a patch
from the past and yeah, thinking of the Pony Express, Yeah,
maybe you bring that back the Pony package.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
That's where it came from.

Speaker 5 (13:55):
Yeah, him and Eric Dickerson back at SMU, right, So yeah,
it just it's hard to watch treyvon Henderson and not
think that this team needs that kind of energy. They
need that kind of explosiveness and speed on the field
as much as they possibly can. But at the same time,
he's not the biggest of back, so you don't want
to overwork him and worry about you know, tread or

(14:16):
injuries or anything like that.

Speaker 6 (14:17):
So there is a happy medium to it.

Speaker 5 (14:19):
But even if he's on the field and they're using
him as a decoy, you know on a jet motion
or you know, a passing to the flat or something
like that, that opens up space for somebody else, it's
going to be useful. I've just been really impressed by him,
and even he's got a little bit even more wiggle
than I think I thought you know, you knew about
the straight line speed at Ohio State, but being able

(14:39):
to make guys misses another thing too.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yes, I saw earlier Milton Williams just walking to the
back of the field.

Speaker 3 (14:48):
He's a big guy.

Speaker 7 (14:49):
He's a big guy, and it's funny in retrospect now
it really makes a lot of sense when you see
the kind of defense that they are prescribing that they
want to run and what Milton Williams brings toy table.
I think Christian Barmore had some uncertainty coming into this offseason.
So far, it seems like he's a full go. I
don't want to declare that, but no, he's a full participant.
He doesn't look like he's limited in any way at

(15:11):
this point.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
To me, that's one of the best things that's happened
so far this offseason. Is like you said, it seems
like he's one hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (15:18):
It does. He looks ready to go. It looks in
great shape too.

Speaker 7 (15:22):
Yeah, but it's clear why they brought in Milton Williams
and the impact that he can potentially have. Probably have
to play a little bit more, but I would put
the rest of the NFL on notice with Christian Barmore
and Milton Williams together in the center of that defensive line.
It's there both can be and I think that helps
a guy like Keon White. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, yeah, I'm.

Speaker 6 (15:38):
Glad you brought that up. With Barmore being a full participant.

Speaker 5 (15:41):
That's been probably the most positive development of the entire
spring is that he looks like his old self and
looks like he's he's fully healthy.

Speaker 6 (15:48):
From what we have seen.

Speaker 5 (15:49):
And you put him in Milton Williams on the interior
next to each other and some of the things that
they can do together with the picks and the games
and things that you can run on the line of scrimmage,
and then you put Keyon White in there as well.

Speaker 6 (16:00):
I think he's had a pretty nice spring. We've seen
him in the backfield quite a.

Speaker 5 (16:03):
Bit and maybe playing a little bit more of his
hand in the dirt and a you know, more natural
position for him than standing up on his feet at
two eighty five, two ninety. So those three guys in
Harold Landry has been pretty consistently, you know, the top
group out there.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
On the deepense.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
Okay, let's go downstairs and Mike Rabel is about to
start his press conference.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
Good, good hike, Karen.

Speaker 5 (16:28):
If Drake may as kind of a natural born leader
or someone who's more evolving into that role, well, I.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Think we're always trying to evolve in what we do,
whether that's leadership, whether that's learning the other side of
the football, that's learning each other. So again, Drake's you know,
I think it's a unique position. Being twenty two, it's
kind of unique in that sense, and so I think

(16:58):
that there is a lot of room to grow. I
think there's a lot of natural leadership qualities. I think
I have to encourage him and continue to encourage him
and to put him in those positions to do that
so that the players understand, you know, that there's a
different version of all of us. There's one that's maybe
off the field, that there's one in the meeting room,
and then there's a version on the field which we
all have to understand is somewhat different than what it

(17:20):
may be off the field.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
Makes a good leader as a quarterback, like.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
I think, I don't think it matters if you're a
quarterback or a you know, offensive lineman or a running
back or defensive back. It's it's about your ability to
reach certain players that maybe you know, again, we don't
want to have any gaps, and so hopefully that you
know what to do, that you're prepared, you do the
things right the right way. You're a good listener. I

(17:49):
think you can adapt to what happens and adapt to
the people that you're talking to, maybe based on what
they they need, as far as sometimes people need a
little different encouraging and sometimes you need a little bit
firmer hand and maybe a little bit more firmer stance.
And I think that's all important of understanding and getting

(18:10):
to know each person before you can can start to
lead them. Like, yeah, is it kind of reviewing the
things you've done in the spring?

Speaker 3 (18:19):
Is it competing? Is it setting the stage.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
Full with Campbell?

Speaker 5 (18:21):
Bill?

Speaker 1 (18:21):
I think that's where things have kind of changed. This
is just an extension of the last nine or ten
days that we've had on the field. That's going to
look the same. They're just the only difference is that
there's the time constraint isn't the same. We're not under
the same time So we're going to continue on with
our installation, you know, start to try to put first, second,

(18:43):
third down together, move down into the red zone and
so all those things that you talked about as far
as is competing, that's never going to change when we
come out here to practice. We just have to understand that,
you know, there's parameters to how we compete and stand
away from the quarterback can stand off the ground and
not going through receivers without pads on. So really for us,

(19:04):
nothing's going to change from the first three weeks.

Speaker 5 (19:09):
How was steff On Digg's done since you know, coming
to New England last week?

Speaker 2 (19:12):
Good?

Speaker 1 (19:13):
I mean just trying to you know, figure out where
where everything is and and you know, what his role
is and making sure that as we add those situations
the third down and no huddle in the red zone,
that he's staying up on it. It's working hard in
his in his rehab. When he can certain drills he
can be out there, and there's certain drills that he

(19:34):
he won't be. But I think he's engaged and uh
they're there, you know. I like his energy.

Speaker 8 (19:39):
Christian Barmber when we talked a few weeks ago, so
he was confident that his medical issues were behind him
from last year. Do you share that same confidence and
what have you seen from him in the time you've
been with him here for these three or four weeks.

Speaker 1 (19:51):
Well, I'm not going to comment on Christian's medical status.
I'll leave that up to him. But what I've seen
as a player that is excited, that is coachable, extremely coachable,
has some versatility. He's rushed inside, he's lined up outside,
It's worked extremely hard. You've seen him chase and play
with great effort and just down the field and excited

(20:14):
to see where he's at. But I've seen a lot
of just improvement and a lot of engagement from him
since the time that we've been here.

Speaker 7 (20:23):
Experience very early.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
But looking at that defensive front, kind of following up
on that little bit, how is that group coming together
with Milton and Christian and Kan altogether. Well, there's a
lot of other names out there as well, so I
wouldn't just single those three out. I think that's that's
got to be a strength for us this year, and
those sat front seven, and we certainly invested in that position,

(20:46):
and I like how they're competing. I like how they're working,
and this is a tough time. It's just like, hey,
rush the passer, you know, be a physical presence as
a D lineman. But to a certain extent in the
spring and then pull back and then get out of
the way, no bull rush and all these things that
we give them. But but I'm excited where they're at

(21:06):
and they're learning a lot of installation. I think they're
working well together. I think they're communicating, which is which
is important. I think they're they're working hard, and they're
getting in shape from experience.

Speaker 3 (21:15):
So how much can culture impact wins and losses? And
can it compensate for talent efficiencies?

Speaker 1 (21:24):
I mean, I'm sure that that's you know, I don't
know what the analytical number is, but I think that
there's certainly a way too. There's a style in which
you can play, uh that can lead to success. But
but but again that's never gonna make up for for

(21:45):
execution and and and players making making plays. But hopefully
that we're prepared, we play hard, and you know, we
take advantage. We get good enough where we can take
advantage of bad football going.

Speaker 6 (21:55):
Through the spring. How have you gone to know to
Mario Douglass and what have you learned about him and
his play style?

Speaker 1 (22:01):
Well, I love the person. I love his attitude, I
love his spirit. He loves a practice, he loves to
play this game. He loves football. That that shows. I
think he's gotten better. I think there's moving him around
different places, and he's picked up everything that we've asked
him to do, so that the more that he understands,
the more we give him. And so I'm excited to

(22:23):
see where he continues to be and continue to grow.
The competition it left guarded early on him. Well, we'll
be able to evaluate I think the lineman once we
get to training camp. So moving a lot of guys
through there, but really we'll have to make a lot
of those decisions and determinations once once we get to
training camp and there's pads and start stacking some days together.

(22:46):
This is purely a passing camp, and so I don't
know if you get a full evaluation without shoulder pads
on as an offensive lineman.

Speaker 3 (22:54):
You said it's a passing the camp.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
What do you see problem the receiver.

Speaker 6 (22:57):
There's obviously a lot of guys. You see a big
storting out part of the screen.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Well, I think guys are stepping up and taking advantage
of opportunities, or some guys that are working off on
the side. Uh, some guys that have haven't been available
to us, And I think that every day somebody shows
us something, it's can we continue to do it consistently? Right,
We'll go down in the red zone and see who
can kind of catch, you know, maybe make some plays

(23:23):
and contested catches and tight windows. And but but I
but I like how they've worked. I've liked how they've responded,
you know, thrown a lot at them now with you know,
first second, third down and then adding red zone and
no huddle. So hopefully you know they're ready to go
today with all those situations. Your analytics can't.

Speaker 8 (23:44):
Sling the practice on one says that something you've done
in the past, and what's the thinking behind that.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
I just felt like, hopefully we can get two good
days of work here and and get going on to
the off season program and we'll still work.

Speaker 3 (23:57):
I just.

Speaker 1 (24:00):
Then want to come out. We'll be out on the field,
we'll be lifting and running and meeting.

Speaker 8 (24:04):
How do you do about analytics as a tool, the
advent of analytics and how much it's.

Speaker 3 (24:08):
Changed in the fifteen to twenty years.

Speaker 8 (24:10):
Some people mean on it heavily, some people use it
as kind of a guide.

Speaker 3 (24:14):
What do you do?

Speaker 1 (24:15):
We want to use technology to the best of our ability?
And what we can do to help us be more efficient,
to help us make better decisions and formed decisions. I
don't think it's that. I don't think you can rely
and base every decision off the numbers, But I also

(24:36):
think that those are important to ask questions and then
be able to follow up and come to a sound
decision on everything we do, personnel, coaching decisions, player health
and safety, strength and conditioning, every aspect of our program.
Hopefully we'll have some analytical background and data that we

(24:59):
can rely on on that they can ask questions, and
then when you look at coaching and self scout and
an opponent breakdown how we become more efficient, uh with
with that system.

Speaker 3 (25:10):
A couple of questions.

Speaker 4 (25:11):
About leadership at Drake a little bit earlier, just wanted
to fall up on one thing. How have you seen
him kind of handle that balance? I imagine it's difficult
to balance between being the guy that everybody likes and
wants to be around, but also being demanding.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
Is that something they, Yeah, this is pro football. I
don't think everybody's gonna like you. I don't think that
that's something that that is possible, and we have to
just we have to do our job. We have to
make sure that we're prepared and that ultimately the players
can hold each other accountable to to play to our
standard and play to our identity and and know what
to do and perform an ability to maybe push guys

(25:48):
and not care about what that's that's that's evolving, and
that's that's a work in progress. I think we're all
learning each other a little bit. I think we're all,
you know, kind of learning the system and learning the plays,
and once we we master it, I think that's going
to start to separate itself.

Speaker 4 (26:05):
With one of the assistants he brought in, I don't
think you had so much experience with as some of
the others. Hey, what appealed to you about him joining
the staff And since he was hired, what has he done.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
With the edge group to help him along.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
Mike's a good team. He's a very good pass rush teacher.
He's a excellent teacher that breaks film down, that can
explain moves, that can show guys these moves. He's coached
a lot of good pass rushers, whether they're in a
two point stance a three point stance, they had a
certain play style. The thing I really appreciate about appreciate
about Mike is he can cater into every play style

(26:37):
and skill set and he'll show KC moves and he'll
show Keon different moves and one may be better at
another one, and so it's not one size fits all,
and he's able to coach to all those different guys
and I think you'll see it and have seen it
on translate to the practice field. I think the moves
and the things that they do an individual translates to

(26:58):
the team. So that's the thing we want to do
is make sure that our drills translate to the team
periods and then ultimately to the games.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Josh McDaniels questions guys.

Speaker 4 (27:07):
Josh McDaniels mentioned that some of the offensive coaches were
showing him cut ups at things he wanted to integrate.
I'm curious, how important was it for you to integrate
some of those principles and what is it about maybe
some West Coast things that you wanted to bring here
to New England.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
I think they are always that you want to have
a very inclusive staff. You want to make sure that
people feel comfortable sharing ideas. We understand that not everybody's
idea is going to get used, and that goes for defense,
that goes for offense. You know, we have to come
together and decide what's best for the football team and
you know what our players can handle, and again, what

(27:40):
can can marry with what we're already doing, and what
are some some change ups to those things. So I
love the ideas that everybody has been able to bring
and then hopefully we can blend it here in training camp.
Here there'll be a couple of players for personal reasons,
but other than that, we don't have any holdouts, if

(28:02):
that's what you mean. But there's a couple personal situations
that are going to keep a couple guys from being
out here.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
That's Mike Rabel with his opening mini camp press conference.

Speaker 2 (28:16):
And I don't know about you guys, but one thing
that really kind of struck me was when he was
talking about Christian Barmore and he was talking about he's coachable,
he's excited. We probably know more about Christian Barber than
Mike Rabel, does you know what I mean? Because you
forget that, like, yeah, we've had Christian Barmer here for
a couple of years, but Mike Rabel hasn't.

Speaker 3 (28:36):
He's new to him.

Speaker 2 (28:37):
So when I hear him say, well he's coachable, why
did he choose that adjective that descriptor that's a good
sign that in Mike Rabel's mind he's taking in what
we're telling him.

Speaker 6 (28:50):
So that kind of struck out, And.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
So that goes for all the veterans that we're so
accustomed to that we know a lot about, but Mike
Rabel's learning for the first time, and they're learning about
their coach as well.

Speaker 7 (29:02):
Yeah, I found myself wondering sometimes, like a new coach
comes into a system like this, you need to learn
a lot of the players you're gonna have. So how
what's that study like breaking down your players that you're
going to have. But you're right, Fred as the as
the head coach, he's got a lot to do. Great
to hear that perspective on bar Moore didn't anticipate he
was going to dive too much into the problems. And

(29:23):
you know, if they're behind him or not, but overall
he's out there. He's out here again today I heard
Mike two mentioned at the end some of the guys
that haven't I haven't checked off yet. Did see Julani
Tavai here looks like his leg is wrapped. He got
injured in the last practice that we saw. Reports were
probably out till training camp with a with a calf injury.

Speaker 3 (29:42):
But just a few players. I don't know.

Speaker 7 (29:43):
Ivan, you can chime in if you've seen any of
these guys, but ninety nine key On White, I haven't
seen yet, sixty nine Cold Strange, Matt Collins, we haven't
really seen him all spring. He's been essentially a coach
working with some of the players he's been around, but
not in Pats And last one I have is Miles
Battle and West Schweitzer. So just a handful of guys
who happened around, but ke On White and Cole Strain

(30:04):
is probably the most notable. Two guys that we haven't
checked off yet might be the two that that Mike
was talking about.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
And it's funny, you know what a difference from the
past here when Rabel gets right to the point where
it's holding out. That's what I want to know, you know,
because that is really at the end of the day,
why you're asking.

Speaker 7 (30:21):
Yeah, you know, one other site just to share that
I thought was was good, was Josh McDaniels walking up
talking to Stefan Diggs up the stairs. It looked like
they were laughing a little bit. Josh had his arm
around Stefan Diggs so excited to see what Josh McDaniels
is cooking up in the lab with Stefan Diggs.

Speaker 3 (30:36):
It should be fun. Well, the question with him is
is he going to be ready on day one? Right?
But I mean it's amazing how ready he looks.

Speaker 5 (30:44):
He does he does, yeah, I mean we saw him
last week and maybe we'll get to put some of
the positional drills up on the screen for people. But
I think everybody came away from that practice really encouraged
by how Stefan Diggs was moving and how good he
looked just six seven months off of surgery here from
that ACL in October. So I don't want to put
any timelines on it, as the head coach would say,

(31:06):
but I do feel like this is way ahead of
where other guys, just comparatively speaking, have been that we've
experienced here Kendrick Bourne last year and things like that,
where we didn't even see any of those guys in
training camp. You know, they were pup guys and we
never really saw them go through drills. So the fact
that it digs on the screen now number eight, like
the fact that he's doing these things already is really

(31:28):
encouraging not to get too excited.

Speaker 2 (31:31):
I mean, he's been working really hard, and if you
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(31:53):
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Speaker 3 (32:02):
It's a new partner. Really excited.

Speaker 7 (32:04):
I'm excited too, Yeah, Evan. Evan's got to get some
guardwork going here.

Speaker 6 (32:09):
Non existent yard.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
So yeah, we can see Diggs and the other wide
receivers doing their drills.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
This is probably the most exciting thing going on right now.

Speaker 7 (32:18):
I mean it really is, and I mean the fans
are now able to see little what we saw in
the last OTA practice, which was some of the leadership
of Steffan Diggs. You heard about it last year in
Houston that he was really a big part of of
getting guys like Nico Collins and Tanked Dell up to speed,
and you're seeing it here over the last two practices
what we've seen with Stefan Diggs, with him, you know,
working with Jalen Polk on the side, working on hand

(32:40):
fighting a little bit, you know, sharing his knowledge. As
much as he was brought here to play wide receiver,
I think there's also a big part of it of
bringing some you know, kind of that alpha dog mentality to.

Speaker 3 (32:49):
That wide receiver room. Give everybody somebody to look up to,
you know, and look look at.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
I don't want to be a debbie down or you know,
get negative on it, but there is that thing about
when you have that, you know, type of high profile receiver,
you do have to watch out because he's definitely a leader.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
He likes to you know, coach players.

Speaker 2 (33:08):
We've heard that from the Texans, but also you want
to make sure that he's leading them the right way.

Speaker 3 (33:14):
And I remember when Randy Moss.

Speaker 2 (33:16):
Was here, who was probably the greatest receiver that you know,
one of the greatest receivers this team has ever had.
He was a pied piper, but was he always leading
in the right way?

Speaker 3 (33:26):
You know?

Speaker 2 (33:27):
And so I know the Patriots spent a lot of
time making sure that you know that that was in
fact what he was doing.

Speaker 3 (33:34):
So you just have to be careful, you know, especially
when practice is over.

Speaker 5 (33:39):
You know.

Speaker 7 (33:40):
The word the word that comes to my mind, Fret,
as I've thought about this a little bit is jump start.
And I think this offense has gone a long time
without having that kind of threat that Stefan Diggs still
can be.

Speaker 3 (33:51):
But I think you need something for Drake May. We've
talked about it, like getting Drake made that weapon.

Speaker 7 (33:55):
Didn't really do it a couple of years ago for
mac Jones in that year where you're on the QB contract.
So you know it's von Digg's going to be the
long term solution of why Probably not? But I think
that he has enough left that over the next couple
of seasons he can jump start this offense and really
give Drake May a reliable target that knows how to
get open in key spots.

Speaker 3 (34:13):
I just there's nothing more valuable.

Speaker 7 (34:14):
As much as you want to, we talk about contested
catch guys down the field, and you know, I think
Drake May has that skill set to hit those guys
down the field, but at the same time, it's the
guys that can get open. Like Stefante's absolute route technician,
and he's going to be a huge help to some
of these guys as they learned the playbook he is.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
And you know, I when Moss was here, Brady was
the guy who was kind of, I don't want to
say his babysitter, but he was kind of the guy
making sure that Moss was always focused, always engaged. I
don't know if May has the time for that at
this point in his career. So you mentioned, you know,
Josh McDaniel's walking up the stairs arm maybe he's the guy.

(34:50):
Maybe he's the guy keeping him focused on football, you know,
at least while he's here, because he is going to
be the example for the other receivers.

Speaker 5 (34:57):
YEA, his brother Ben McDaniel's on the text and staff,
so it was with Diggs last year, So there might
be a little bit of a connection between those two
guys already. But I think the encouraging part about Stefan
Diggs is that if he's getting his targets, he's going
to be happy and there's really nobody else to.

Speaker 6 (35:13):
Throw the guard the ball to you as much as
you want to throw it to Stefan Diggs.

Speaker 3 (35:16):
So when you don't know the way they're talking about schism.

Speaker 5 (35:21):
If he's healthy and he's out there, he's going to
get one hundred plus targets.

Speaker 6 (35:24):
This yere easily.

Speaker 5 (35:25):
So as long as he's getting the ball, like any
receiver of that kind of ILK, as long as they're
getting the ball, I think they're going to be pretty happy,
and he should get the ball a.

Speaker 6 (35:35):
Lot, a lot.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
You see Josh McDaniel's talking with the other coaches right now.
They're talking strategy. I'm sure what they want to accomplish
in this practice, but let's talk a little x's and oh. So,
if you're an opposing defense and you're coming in and
you're playing the Patriots, and assuming Stefan Diggs is out there,
you know he's the number one target, what can Josh
McDaniels do to keep all the defense away, you know,

(35:57):
at least ease up the pressure on Digs so that
you can get him all those targets.

Speaker 5 (36:02):
Yeah, it's a it's a good question, and it's one
of those where do you allow them to kind of
take him out and then it creates opportunities for the
other guys and it's that trickle down effect sort of
thing where Okay, maybe he's going to be more of
a decoy this week or something along those lines, or
do you use things like you know, moving him inside
or using him out of a stack you know, two

(36:23):
receivers on the line next to each other, or a
bunch with three receivers on the line of scrimmage and
get him off the line of scrimmage and creative ways
like that.

Speaker 6 (36:31):
Usually when you move guys inside or you move him.

Speaker 5 (36:33):
Into those different alignments, it becomes harder to like double
him out of the game, right because you can't move
the bracket all over the place, So like, how do
you go about doing that? So there are ways to
keep guys away from brackets or double teams. But he's
going to see the opposing team's number one corner every
single week, and you paid him this money because he's
supposed to be able to beat those number one corners,

(36:55):
not you know, consistently, at some sort of consistency level.
So that's hope is that he still has that juice
in the tank to go out there and get open
against number one guys. But Josh McDaniels is one of
the best guys, I would say in the NFL in
terms of offensive coordinators, of finding matchups and scheming guys
off the line of scrimmage to keep them away from

(37:17):
those traps of the defenses set for them.

Speaker 6 (37:19):
So I'm really excited to see what he.

Speaker 5 (37:21):
Has with Diggs because I think he's gonna move him inside, outside,
all over the formation. I don't think you're gonna just
see Digs running out, you know, into one spot every
single week. It's gonna be a ton of different looks
that they give defenses.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
And while McDaniels goes over what they're gonna do on
the right box, feel like we need Scott Hansen in
here for the Dumble Ducks. The team is going through
their their conditioning and stretching exercises.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
You see defense and blue offense and white d catch.
So he is here, White, you did, okay?

Speaker 5 (37:54):
Ke On White's wearing like kind of a different color
practice jersey.

Speaker 6 (37:58):
It's like white and blue.

Speaker 3 (38:00):
It's interesting special. Yeah, so that's a two way player.

Speaker 6 (38:03):
That's why you missed him.

Speaker 3 (38:05):
Yeah, Travis Hunter e your heart out well.

Speaker 7 (38:06):
That's good, and then it's uh, I guess really just
West Sweitzer Tyrese Robinson. So a couple of guys that
have been in the mix for that interior offensive line rotation.

Speaker 2 (38:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (38:16):
Again, it's these camps.

Speaker 7 (38:18):
You show up, you don't know who's going to be
at the voluntary ones a couple of weeks ago. It
gives a lot of guys different opportunities. Tyrese Robinson. I
remember a couple weeks ago him getting thrown in there
a bunch. So I think it's a lot of like
what you were saying, Fred, even you have a sense
of these guys, you study them, but getting to give
them opportunities at this point, it's good put them in
with the ones, giving them a look. It's along those
lines we talked about Fton Chisholm. You know, I I

(38:40):
I watched him a lot last practice. I gotta say,
I mean, the hype is real. Okay, he can get open,
he just he does. He has that savvy you know,
I hesitate to jump on these guys.

Speaker 3 (38:49):
All right.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
So so he comes in here, no one knew who
he was, and all of a sudden everyone's talking about
him because he seems.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
To fit the part of that slot receiver. Yeah, what
what has stopped us from people knowing who he was before? Here?
Why wasn't he more well known?

Speaker 2 (39:03):
Isn't because that certain position is just so special for
Josh McDaniel's offense, Like you know, yeah.

Speaker 5 (39:11):
Yeah, Well he went to Eastern Washington, so he went
to a smaller school, and he had huge production at
Eastern Washington. Actually took down some of Cooper Cups records
school records at Eastern Washington. But he was at a
Shrine Bowl invite to he went was at the Shrine
Bowl this year, and then he ran a four to
seven in the forty yard dash. And when you run
that slow at the receiver position, teams are just crossing you.

Speaker 6 (39:32):
Off as a draftable player.

Speaker 5 (39:34):
You know, the same thing happened to Xavier Orstreppo out
of Miami who ran a bad forty times.

Speaker 6 (39:39):
So you had the bad forty time.

Speaker 5 (39:40):
He's not the most physically imposing guy out there, but
the production in the craftiness is definitely there of an
NFL player, And just talking to some of the guys
at the Shrine Bowl, they were disappointed that he went undrafted.
They really felt like he had draftable tape and looked
past the test of what you need to get draft
at that specific position. Like everybody's making a big deal

(40:03):
about the forty, but nobody's talking about the fact that
his short shuttle and his three cone was one of
the best at the combine.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
I'm just gonna say, if you're looking at the slot receiver,
you're not looking at forty.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
You're looking at quickness in small spaces.

Speaker 6 (40:14):
Yeah, and so you know, yeah, you.

Speaker 5 (40:17):
Tell me that he very very high marks in both
of those things, especially the short shuttle, you know, the
little twenty yard shuttle, well over the ninetieth percentile in
the short shuttle drill, and then also a sub seven
three cone and a really good three cone time too.

Speaker 6 (40:31):
So you look at guys you like a.

Speaker 5 (40:33):
Wes Welker, for example, who ran in like the four
to six range and the forty but just had off
the charts quickness. You know that definitely can translate specifically
to playing in that slot role.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
And there you see eighty six right there, right behind
Trevion Henderson.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
So you know who knows who knows that? I think
that the smarts is an underrated aspect of that.

Speaker 7 (40:54):
Really hard to judge the football smarts of guys when
they're coming out, whether it's right or not. Josh McDaniel's
system has a reputation for being difficult to pick up
for some receivers. So if Ethton Chisholm's really smart and
is consistently in the right place where Josh McDaniels wants
him to be, you know, last week we saw him
starting to get some reps with you know, the upper
level guys, and that should.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
Only continue if he continues to play like that, you know,
And I want to talk about that a little bit.

Speaker 2 (41:20):
You know, the reputation the McDaniel's offense being you know,
complex and hard to pick up. Is it because it's
just so much to absorb or does it you know,
especially in the position.

Speaker 3 (41:32):
Of the slot.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
Does it rely on the player having a high football
IQ and being instinctual And that's something sometimes you can't
teach and the player either has it or they don't.

Speaker 5 (41:43):
A lot of at least what in the past it's
been in the past. I mean, we don't know exactly
what it's going to look like this time around, but
in the past, they're reading coverage, so you're you're sight
adjusting or you're adjusting your routes based.

Speaker 6 (41:55):
Off of is it man, is it zone? Is it
one high, is it two high? Safeties? Are they playing
off or they playing press?

Speaker 5 (42:02):
And everything within the route has an adjustment to what
the coverage is doing. Now, when it's executed properly, it
can almost be unstoppable because guys are just breaking away
from coverage all the time and finding those open areas
on the field. But it takes quarterback and receiver to
really see the same picture. And I remember with Brady,

(42:22):
it was what Brady saw. It wasn't necessarily what was right,
it was what Brady saw. So if Brady was expecting
you to break away from this leverage or to sit
against that zone, then you did it the way that
Tom Brady did it. So all these receivers and Drake
May this time of year especially, are getting together and
they're figuring out, you know, if he's playing outside leverage
on me and it's single high safety, Like, I'm expecting

(42:45):
you to run this route this way, right, and you
have to be able to do it.

Speaker 6 (42:48):
So that's the complexity of it.

Speaker 5 (42:50):
And I think a guy like Chisholm, when you play
in that slot, you're reading all these different elements and
you have to find these pockets of space in these
high traffic areas. And he just has shown a nat
in the spring of being able to do those sort
of things. And you look at Julian Edelman, former quarterback,
Jacoby Myers former quarterback, like those are the guys that
have really thrived in that solot role, that have that

(43:10):
thinking man's game.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
Yeah, yeah, and eachis that's a good way to put it.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
You see the team getting together in the middle of
the field here, just usually sometimes they do this where
Brabel just kind of sets the tone.

Speaker 3 (43:22):
That's what we're looking for today.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
You know, don't hit the quarterback, don't drop the ball,
you know, run through the play, finish the play.

Speaker 3 (43:29):
You know, those types of things. Stay off the ground.

Speaker 2 (43:32):
Just just a little reminder some of the things he
said in the press conference earlier and now he's probably
repeating to these guys.

Speaker 3 (43:39):
Yeah, just go back to what Evan was saying real quick.

Speaker 7 (43:41):
I don't know how as an offensive coordinator you can
run that kind of system that essentially is like a
living thing. I mean, it adjusts right like it's it's
a thoughtful thing. And ever go back to just run
the route buddy. You know, I know, I know it's covered.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
Just run the route.

Speaker 7 (43:56):
I know there are other systems in the league that
will ask you to to convert routes or to adjust them,
but as a coordinator, that's one element I can't imagine
Josh McDaniels wants to change. It's it's so hard to defend.
Like you said, if you have guys that are all
on the same page. We saw plenty of times for
twenty years. When it gets going, it's impossible to defend.

Speaker 6 (44:14):
And not every route is a fully an option route. Yeah,
so option routes are.

Speaker 5 (44:19):
You know, you basically have your your cart blunch, you
got your freedom to kind of get open. You know,
a lot of those option routes are you know, routes
that like Edelman would run right like that really truly
you could break either way and you had that total freedom.

Speaker 6 (44:31):
Some of these routes are just conversions where.

Speaker 5 (44:33):
Like, if this guy's playing off, I'm just going to
run a hitch, but if he's playing press, I'm gonna
run by him on the go route Like that's those
things are pretty simple. It's the option routes, and those
tend to be more in the middle of the field
that can get overly complex, and every offense has these
I should put that out there, like they're running this
in San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan, they're running this, you know,
down in Miami with Mike McDaniel. It's just the way

(44:55):
that it's stressed up, in the way that it's presented
that maybe it has been a little bit more complex
and pass with companiels.

Speaker 2 (45:01):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's a passing league, and
like you said, so many teams do the same thing
and makes it really really hard to defend if you
do it right.

Speaker 6 (45:10):
Yeah, and if you have a smart.

Speaker 2 (45:11):
Quarterback, and that's the hope here in New England is
that we've got one and he's going to be able to.

Speaker 3 (45:18):
Get the answers to the test, as Brady would put it.

Speaker 7 (45:21):
Yeah, add on with a full house today, a wide receiver,
It'll be interesting to see how some of the reps
are divvied up in these two camps. It's not the
end of the world where guys are, but you certainly
get a sense of who's kind of in the mix
with the upper group and who's trying to fight their
way into that group.

Speaker 5 (45:37):
Yeah, and you have the corners all one together today.
So that was something from last practice that you just noted.
No Carlton Davis, no Marcus Jones and the voluntary practice.
They're both here today and that duo Gonzales and Carlton
Davis has a chance to be really, really good. So
let's see what happens when those receivers get out there
today and they have an all pro on one side,

(45:59):
in a pro Bowl calib corner on the other side.
And can you have a practice like you had last
week for Drake May when this whole defense is together,
because I kind of think of this defense a little
bit as two's like Milton Williams and Christian Barmore kind
of that pairing up front, but the safety Dandam you know,
Duggar and Peppers. And now you have this cornerback tandem
that has a chance to be truly one of the

(46:20):
best cornerback tandems in the NFL. I really believe that,
especially with Gonzales. Just continue to ascending.

Speaker 3 (46:26):
So to a end.

Speaker 5 (46:27):
So we'll see this group out there together today, which
will be exciting.

Speaker 2 (46:30):
Well, when the Patriots are at the best, they really
got at it in practice, I mean practice was as
competitive as the games. Guys like Rodney Harrison were, you know,
always chirping Brady, and Brady was chirping back. Who do
you think is going to be that a hole on
defense this year? That really gives Drake May the business
but makes him a better quarterback.

Speaker 5 (46:50):
Definitely heard Carlton Davis be that kind of guy in
the past. He can be a chirper, he can be
someone that can do a little trash talking. Christian Barmore
is known for being a little bit of a charge
a talker out there as well.

Speaker 6 (47:01):
So maybe in the pass rush, you know, he gets
in there and we'll let Drake May hear it.

Speaker 5 (47:05):
But Davis, in a lot of ways, I just think
compliments Gonzales really well.

Speaker 6 (47:09):
Gonzalez has got.

Speaker 5 (47:10):
That Stefan Gilmour energy, a little bit quieter Sassin ninja
out there, whereas Carlton Davis is that more of that
stereotypical number one corner where he's got a little bit
of bravado and he's got some you know, pizzazz to
his game. He's got those long arms too. You just
look at the arms on him that everybody talks about it,
you can tell you just look at his body type,

(47:31):
that he's got tons of length and physicality and a
little bit of snarl to him too.

Speaker 3 (47:35):
Pepper's is a little loud.

Speaker 7 (47:36):
To a guy I'd like to highlight, though, is Robert Splaine,
who I think if you're just kind of tuning into
this season, he's the new man in the middle. Now,
he's the guy that's going to be running the defense,
calling it. We talked about some of the OTA practices
where it seemed like he was consistently blowing up plays
in the blackfield.

Speaker 3 (47:51):
He just seemed to know what was coming. He's going
to be a big part.

Speaker 7 (47:54):
He's a quiet guy though, I don't think he's a
trash talker, but he is going to be in the
backfield a lot, hopefully this year, tackles for loss plays
on the ball.

Speaker 3 (48:02):
Those are the things hoping for.

Speaker 7 (48:03):
Veteran Roberts Spulaine, who has been just an absolute tackling
beast the last two seasons with the Raiders.

Speaker 6 (48:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (48:08):
I know, I know a few of the Raiders writers
and their pists that Splaine left in free agency. Like
the Raiders, you know, you always liked that when the
fan base and the reporters are like, oh dang, you
got our guy. And I remember last week he had
a good practice a couple of weeks ago and guy
in all the Raiders but was like, oh, what are you?

Speaker 6 (48:27):
That's Robert Splaine.

Speaker 5 (48:28):
Just you know, he's not necessarily the biggest name or
the guy that people are going to write about first,
but he's always around the football, and he's got a
great motor and a great instincts to his game and
you know, NonStop hustle sideline to sideline.

Speaker 6 (48:43):
And he made one hundred and fifty something tackles last year.

Speaker 3 (48:46):
With two years, he's got over three hundred tackles.

Speaker 6 (48:47):
Yeah, so he's going to just be a tackling machine.

Speaker 3 (48:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (48:50):
And those two guys together, you just saw fifty three
and fifty four Christian Ellis, who had a little bit
of a breakout season last year, I mean was forced
into action due to injuries. Patriots wanted to resign him.
The Raiders signed him to a deal maybe to replace
Robert Splaine, and the Patriots said, you know what, we
not only want Splaine, we want to keep Christian Ellis around.
So he's six stuck around on a two year deal.
So long Patriots fans have been looking for more mobile linebackers.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
Like you said, read the sideline to sideline kind of guys.
I think this is you know what this defense is
going to be.

Speaker 7 (49:18):
It's all about speed, aggressiveness, and I'm excited to see
how I mean.

Speaker 2 (49:21):
You know, Zach Thomas is the guy that comes to mind.
You know that's sideline, the sideline tackle machine, and people
made fun of him.

Speaker 3 (49:27):
Well, it's all he does is make tackles. What's wrong
with that? Yeah, well, I think it depends. If they're
eight yards down on the field, it's one thing, but
if they're four.

Speaker 6 (49:35):
He needs some of that too.

Speaker 3 (49:36):
Yeah, no, you do.

Speaker 5 (49:37):
Somebody's got to take the trash out right exactly. But
that will allow and I do you pointed this out
a couple of weeks ago. It is a great quote
by Splaine where he said he wants his defensive line
to get up the field and be aggressive, and he's
going to make them right. And when those guys fly
up the field, it's going to be the hit or
miss sometimes because you are being over overly aggressive. And
if he can just be that guy that makes sure

(49:58):
that it's an eight yard run on an eighty yard run,
then that's exactly what they need. You know, they don't
necessarily need him to make all the splash plays in
the backfield. They need somebody that's going to mitigate damage
in the middle of the defense.

Speaker 6 (50:11):
And I think that's why he's here.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
And you know, he even said it, he said, let
these guys up front make those plays.

Speaker 3 (50:16):
I'll clean it up. I'll get you right.

Speaker 2 (50:18):
Yeah, because we talked about it at the top of
the show. There is some talent here in the defensive line.
They should be making some plays this year. So then
you have guys like spelaying behind them. You know, that's
a pretty on paper, it looks like a pretty good
front seven.

Speaker 6 (50:36):
Yeah, Mike Rabel just said it. It's got to be
a strength of our team.

Speaker 5 (50:39):
Yeah, that's exactly what he said is his press conference,
and he's absolutely right. And you look at the stats
last year, flasting the league in sacks, towards.

Speaker 6 (50:46):
The bottom of the league in pressure rate. They have
to find a way to get after the quarterback.

Speaker 5 (50:50):
And I remember back in January that was one of
the first things he said at as introductor and press conferences.
Affecting the other team's quarterback and pressuring the other team's
quarterback is such a big part of of playing good
football in today's NFL. And they went out and they
signed probably the best pass rusher in free agency in
Milton Williams. And they bring in a familiar guy in
Harold Landry, who you know back in this system. I

(51:11):
think you hope that maybe his pass rush production goes
back to what it was two years ago with Rabel
in Tennessee. So even though the metrics don't look great
for Landry last year, I didn't remember. There was a
scheme change, there was a coaching staff change. There was
a lot of different things that they were asking him
to do, you know, just technique wise and schematically that
now that he's back home in this deep rable defense,

(51:32):
hopefully we get the guy if Harold Landry was the
Pro Bowl caliber player for the Titans for a couple
of years.

Speaker 7 (51:38):
Just to echo, I know you already said it earlier,
but again, it just puts a focus on Swinson for me,
trying to get some young legs in there. I don't
think you want Harold Landry playing every snap, even if
he's being productive. You're going to need a third rotational,
third or fourth rotational guy, you know, key On White.
We've seen him show some flashes mostly from the inside.
How's he going to play on the edge? Chase on
more of a more of a DPR toviticity as rusher

(52:00):
last year playing across from Max Crosby, and he's on
Patriots unfilter, and he told us he knew he benefited
a little bit from that. But some questions, and I
just I would love to see one of those young
pass rushers just bring a little bit of speed around.

Speaker 3 (52:12):
The edge, like a guy like Josh Ucha.

Speaker 7 (52:15):
He had a very specific role, but I'd still love
to have somebody like that with some speed third downs.

Speaker 2 (52:20):
Yeah, a little special teams practice here, Marcus Jones returning punts.

Speaker 3 (52:24):
Yeah, good to see him. He's been He's been a
little bit in and out. Don't know if he was
dealing with anything. I know.

Speaker 7 (52:28):
Kyle Dugger and Michael went You probably the most two
most significant players that seem like they've been limited. They're
still kind of working back from some things. Kyle Dugger's
been out here almost every time, just haven't really seen
him do much.

Speaker 6 (52:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (52:40):
Yeah, I was coming off that ankle injury last year,
and the hope for with Dugger is that it was
the ankle that was that led to the season he
had last year, And if he gets back one hundred
percent healthy, then starts playing like the guy we saw
in twenty three instead of twenty four. And now you
have that back in the mix with him and Pepper's
back together and playing good football again. You can be

(53:02):
encouraged by that too if you want. But I'm interested
to see what happens with Marcus Jones in this defense.
Is he going to be the full time slot corner?
Do they really want a bigger body type in there,
because they've talked about that a little bit. You drafting
Craig Woodson maybe in the fourth round is a slot
safety that could be a little bit more sturdy.

Speaker 6 (53:21):
At that position on early down. So we'll see.

Speaker 5 (53:23):
It's fun to watch those three, you know, Davis, Gonzo
and Marcus Jones played man coverage because they can all
play man at a really good level. But is that
a full time role for Marcus Jones. He's obviously going
to return punts and he's gonna have a role on
this team, as you know, a primary punt returner in
defensive back, but is he a starter on this in
this defense?

Speaker 7 (53:42):
I mean, maybe he's just a piece you know, in
the in the in the in the workbench, you know
that that when we need him, when we've got a small,
shifty slot that he minds up, lines up will with,
he might play a little bit more.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
Or and when you need that double team in the
you know, because there's there's just elite speed that you're
going up against, and you know you have him double
with somebody else. You know, maybe more of a man's
zone thing where he kind of trails the guy into
a different zone.

Speaker 3 (54:07):
He's sticky.

Speaker 7 (54:08):
I mean, I like that him coming out of college.
I mean, he obviously has a little bit of a
size disadvantage, but I connect that slot position to the
safety position. And we've heard plenty of coaches getting asked
about to Dugger and Peppers, does that fit the kind
of free safety, strong safety mold you might want. But
there's a lot of guys, you know, Jalen Hawkins who
played a bunch last year, Marcus SEPs who came in
from the Raiders.

Speaker 3 (54:28):
He's been a starter, a little bit more of a
free safety guy.

Speaker 7 (54:31):
Del Pettis who played a big role for the Patriots
on special teams last year. Craig Woodson you mentioned, drafted
I mean, you know, that's six guys right there that
there's all some kind of argument for that these guys
should should play and should play on defense. But how
do the coaching staff see it all coming together? What
picture are they imagining? That's where that slot position where,
whether it's you know, Marcus Jones or Isaiah Boulden or

(54:53):
Craig Woodson, that's where the defense will really get interesting
to me. How do they want to play? Do they
want to play more speed? Do they want more size?
From that slot position? That's an interesting spot to keep
an eye on.

Speaker 2 (55:04):
And you know, if the Red Sox aren't gonna use
and we can use Romananthem, you know what can he do?

Speaker 3 (55:08):
Might as well do something right.

Speaker 6 (55:10):
There's definitely a matchups from Marcus Jones.

Speaker 5 (55:13):
You're gonna play that those two guys in Miami twice
a year, so someone's gonna have to get Tyreek Hill
and someone's gonna have to have Jayleen Waddle.

Speaker 6 (55:19):
And he still has that ability to go run.

Speaker 5 (55:21):
With those types of you know, shifty, fast receivers like
those two guys. But I've been really impressed with Craig Woodson.
He's probably been the player out of the draft class.
That surprised me the most. I think he's been around
the ball a ton, even going back to rookie Minni
camp when we were in the bubble and we got
to see them for that one day he made a
play on the ball. So he just seems like he
has a nice feel for the ball and in space

(55:42):
and playing those zones deeper in the field that maybe
Kyle Duggan and Jabriel Peppers aren't natural fits for playing
thirty yards off the ball like that in the deep
part of the field, But if Craig Woodson could do
that sort of thing, that frees those guys up to
then play closer to the line of scrimmage and be
more aggressive and do the things that they are good at.
So I'm encouraged by what I've saw from Craig Woodson.

(56:05):
You know, there was a lot of talk about him
being white, maybe the one consensus reach that they made
in this draft, and he's been impressive.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
I thought, well, that's the kind of thing where you know,
when you see a guy like that in the spring,
then you keep your eye on him in the summer,
and if they start using him running with the ones
a little bit, then maybe they saw what you saw,
you know, and and okay, we want to see a
little bit more of this guy playing, you know, against
the ones, I should say, who've seen the puppy nipping

(56:35):
a little bit? And then you know, you put pads on. Okay,
can he keep that up when we put the pads on?
Does he do it in pre and that's how you
earn more play.

Speaker 7 (56:46):
Yeah, that's the most fun stuff to me with watching
camp day in day out, as you see guys start
to get chances. And I always go back to Michael
Whenu as an easy example, but right out of the gate,
you just started to notice every day this guy this
six round pick, he's getting some run with the top
line and there seems like there's something there that he's
this coaching staff like, so saw maybe a little bit,

(57:06):
which is I'm hard to tell in OTAs, I think
you really got to get to training camp to really
find it believable.

Speaker 3 (57:11):
But you guys know how it goes.

Speaker 7 (57:12):
Injuries happen, opportunities open up, and guys are already starting
to maybe make a little bit of a push here
in mini Campinot's yes, stacking it up.

Speaker 3 (57:20):
Stack days baby, as they say, Yep.

Speaker 5 (57:23):
You always talk about that Theron harmon roll right, like,
even if it's not a full time role, but can
Craig Woodson come on the field and on third down
he can be the deep safety in the middle of
the field and it just unlocks everybody else to just
kind of do what they need to do on the
on the play and be the ones actually maybe making
more of the splash plays on the football. But if

(57:45):
he's deep up top and you can just trust that
if they run a deep post, he's gonna be there
and he's going to cover it for you, then that's
all you really need out of him.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
You see the quarterbacks running through their drills. So right
now the Patriots are carrying three. You got Drake, made
Josh and Ben Woolridge. Yes, so those are the three
that you're looking at right now. Looks like they're looking
doing a little play action simulation here.

Speaker 5 (58:10):
Yeah, that was the biggest thing just going forward and
with Drake may I know there's a lot of talk
about grasping this McDaniel's offense at the line of scrimmage,
but the footwork carryover. He had made so much progress
his rookie season with his footwork going from where he
was at North Carolina to where he ended up with
the Patriots, and how are they going to keep that

(58:31):
the same AVP was a big left foot forward and
the rhythm of the footwork and all that kind of stuff,
and it seems like it worked. You know, the boot
camp that they put him through in terms of his feet,
and that's how you control the ball. That's how accuracy
comes from the bottom up, and you know your footwork
and your mechanics with your follow through and all that
kind of stuff.

Speaker 6 (58:51):
And I just thought he made leaps and bounds in
that way last year. So you just hope that that.

Speaker 5 (58:57):
Carries over into this season and we'll see. These are
the types of drills that they do out here this
time of year to drill that kind of stuff. So
you're dropping back from under center, it's one thing to
drop back from shotgun.

Speaker 2 (59:08):
That's that's he's gonna yell down and tell them to
get him out of from under center.

Speaker 3 (59:12):
You want him in the shotgun.

Speaker 5 (59:14):
I definitely would prefer to see him more in the
shotgun or even the pistol than under center. I just
I think it's more natural for him. I think it's
a better fit for him. But there's a lot of
advantages to the quarterback being under center in the run
game that you can't deny. You'll play action works ten
times better from under center than it does in shotgun.
That's just statistically proven out. So you know, I understand

(59:37):
that there you have to be.

Speaker 3 (59:38):
Pro style, especially the pony express right.

Speaker 5 (59:41):
And if you're gonna have me Trevon Henderson on the
jet sweep and Remonder behind him, and then you're under
center and you're.

Speaker 2 (59:47):
Faking and you get the guys coming in underneath, I mean,
what's the defense gonna do.

Speaker 3 (59:51):
They can't. They can't. They can't defend every thirty five
a game with that surrender. Just give it up. There's
Hunter Henry.

Speaker 2 (59:57):
It's probably the right now, the most relied table pass
catcher that Drake May has.

Speaker 7 (01:00:02):
I mean, of all the signings they made back in
twenty twenty one, I mean, Hunter Henry's really been an
anchor for this offense for a few different quarterbacks, and
he just he means a lot to Drake. I think
it was a no brainer, you know, bringing him back here,
keeping him around. I'd like to see maybe Jahem Bell
do a little bit. He had kind of a rough
practice last week and a couple drops and you know,
you could seem like he was fighting it a little bit.

(01:00:24):
I still think he looks good on the on the move,
on the hoof runs pretty well, pretty big. But it
seems like right now Patriots are pretty well set. Austin
Hooper missed a couple of the voluntary practices he's out
here today, so it looks like they're pretty set with
those two guys for now.

Speaker 5 (01:00:39):
Yeah, big one to know to number forty six there
on your screen. Brock Lampy the one traditional full back
that the Patriots have on one of one currently. This
is a James Devlin Yakub Johnson full back with Brock Lampy.
And that's a big question when you start doing the
roster crunch and the fifty three man projections. Are they
going to carry a full Are they not going to carry.

Speaker 6 (01:01:01):
A full back?

Speaker 5 (01:01:02):
I will I can't imagine Josh McDaniels is gonna not
carry a full Like I think that that's just been
a staple of his offense for so long that I
have to imagine that it's going to still be at
least in his back pocket, Like maybe that won't be
the base offense anymore.

Speaker 6 (01:01:17):
Right now, he has a different kind of quarterback.

Speaker 5 (01:01:19):
But when the Patriots weren't going well, it was I
formation James Devlin in front of a running back and
just we're coming at you.

Speaker 2 (01:01:25):
You know that when you just needed a spark, you
just run him out of the backfield and he catches
a ten yard pass and I'll you know, all of
a sudden, the defense you know, breaks their back yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:01:35):
Yeah, or they go I and then they break it
out and then all of a sudden he's out wide,
and it's do we match him, you know with a linebacker?

Speaker 6 (01:01:41):
Do we put a corner on him? You know, what
are we doing?

Speaker 2 (01:01:43):
And the question is are those rare occurrences enough to
have a roster spot right?

Speaker 5 (01:01:48):
And and do you carry three tight end slash full
backs Henry Hooper Lampy or do you is he like
really the fourth guy? And then you're carrying like a
developmental player like you know, one of the UF or
Jaheem Bell as your third ye you know, Jack Westover
has had some run here in these practices. I'm a
CG dopre guy who's one of the UDA phase that
they signed. So it's a that's a big part of

(01:02:11):
when you're doing the roster projections, getting it down to
fifty three, that's a big spot. There are we carrying
three tight ends or you're carrying four tight ends, or
you're carrying a fullback or you're not carrying a fullback,
and those are going to be the things that are
going to decide a lot of this.

Speaker 7 (01:02:25):
They got him catching passes right now, so I mean
it goes back to the coaching staff getting to know
these guys, and we don't truly know what they love.
I mean, I think personally like you can see that
he likes intense dudes who were really into it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:39):
But style of play, toughness.

Speaker 7 (01:02:42):
You know where you splitting the difference on those lower
ranking receivers, tight ends, defensive backs, even you just you
don't know what they're going to come up with it.

Speaker 5 (01:02:50):
Right when you start talking about, you know, at large
roster spots, just large roster spots regardless of position, that
are up for grabs. If Lampi's on the team, and
that's taking us spot away from somebody else, maybe that's
taking a spot from a sixth receiver or taking a
spot away from another defensive lineman or offensive lineman.

Speaker 6 (01:03:08):
So those are the tough roster.

Speaker 5 (01:03:09):
Decisions that you have to make, and there are some
flexibility with the practice squad now, like he could start
on the practice squad and elevate him for games and
things of that nature. But when we get out here
we still hear regular regulars sometimes and like, you know,
the fullback's going on the field, like you know, that's
just I can't imagine that that package is just going
to be completely wiped out of Josh mcdaniels's arsenal.

Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
Good point talking about tight ends. Who's your blocking tight
end going into the or do you have one?

Speaker 7 (01:03:40):
Yeah, I mean I think on this stage you're probably
a little bit leaning more towards the third tackle, like
a Caiden Wallace perhaps, But it's a good point.

Speaker 3 (01:03:47):
We always talk about it.

Speaker 7 (01:03:48):
Is there a spot for a guy who's just a
pure dirt blocker get in there? Why tight end just
ready to ready to do the tough work that needs
to be done in the running game.

Speaker 3 (01:04:00):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 7 (01:04:00):
I think in a perfect world you have a guy
who can do both, like Gronk, But right now they've
been doing it by committee.

Speaker 3 (01:04:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:04:05):
Yeah, if only we could just get Gronk, you know,
the prime just picking up how many of That's got
to be another one out there? So see you do
preeze that guy out of Alabama, he's a blocking tight end.

Speaker 6 (01:04:16):
Two fifty five to six it is. You know that
he's a he's a house.

Speaker 5 (01:04:20):
You look at him, and that was our first impression
at rookie Mini Camp. I was like, that's a big dude.
That's a tight end. Like you know, that's a blocking
tight end. Hooper is a plus blocker. I give Hunter
Henry a ton of credit. He's really worked hard on
his blocking since the Patriots signed him, and he's become
a much more serviceable inline blocker. But if I had
to guess if they were going to keep like a
pure blocking tight end as the third tight end, you

(01:04:42):
know for goal line and short yardage and that kind
of thing, then the body type is dupree You know
he he's got that tool, he's got that ability. That's
how he was used at Alabama. So we'll see if
you can make a push. His time of year is coming.
This is not his time of year. The the shorts
and T shirts is not going to be where seed
you do free shines. You need the pads to see
what he's gonna do all right.

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
Well, listen, it's getting to time where we have to
shut off our cameras, so we're gonna end the show,
but I want to thank everyone for watching. Practice will
continue and we'll continue watching practice. What we're gonna do
is we're gonna go into the studio at two point thirty.
We'll wrap up everything we see. So thanks for watching.
We'll be back tomorrow same time.

Speaker 3 (01:05:28):
Hey, this is Deuce. Thanks for tuning into the show.

Speaker 7 (01:05:30):
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Speaker 3 (01:05:41):
Thanks a lot