On this episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast, Greg is rolling solo to address the growing rumors around WR Brandon Aiyuk and if he could find himself in New England, reacts to Matthew Judon's media session, and breaks down the Patriots practice on Sunday. Plus, is Drake Maye making progress? Greg takes a closer look at his practice reps, and looks ahead to Thursday's preseason game where all four quarterbacks are slated to get playing time. All that, and much more!
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This episode of The Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast is presented by:
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00:00This is the Greg Bidard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.
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00:19Also take the guesswork out of buying baseball or even football tickets with the season rapidly
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00:34All right.
00:35Before we get into the Patriots on the field, Greg, of course, the biggest story, and this
00:39is all subject to change, folks.
00:41We are recording this at five o'clock on Tuesday.
00:45Okay.
00:465 p.m.
00:47Tuesday is when we're recording this.
00:48I don't want people tweeting at us and bitching at us if Brennan IU gets traded somewhere
00:54and you say, well, what happened?
00:56Where was your reaction?
00:57We're recording this thing and what happens happens.
01:00So let's get into IU.
01:02I guess I'll just start with asking.
01:04Have you heard anything?
01:05Do you know anything with your own reporting as far as what the hell is going on here?
01:12Nothing that's really not out there.
01:14You know, what I what I know is that and this goes back to the offseason.
01:19I mean, when we talked about Elliott Wolfe and sort of, you know, what we thought the
01:24plan was, the Patriots were going to be aggressive in adding a number one wide receiver and,
01:33you know, they've been trying on Brennan IU the whole time.
01:37They've been checking in on him.
01:39Didn't look like it was going to happen.
01:41You know, as I reported at the time, the San Francisco 49ers were telling anybody who would
01:47listen we're not trading Brennan IU and you can understand why.
01:50Because, you know, they're they've been knocking on the door of a Super Bowl.
01:55They have basically their whole team coming back and they don't have another wide receiver
02:00like Brennan IU, sort of like that boundary type guy.
02:05And so they have, you know, between Christian McCaffrey and Debo and Kittles and IU, you
02:12know, you have an array of different weapons.
02:14It's the ideal.
02:15And so they they they had no idea they weren't entertaining the thought of trading Brennan
02:24IU.
02:25You know, so the Patriots have been in on that.
02:28We know they traveled with Calvin Ridley.
02:30Ridley never wanted to be wanted to leave the South.
02:34Patriots were very aggressive.
02:36They've continued to check in on IU.
02:38And, you know, they've been very aggressive in, you know, their trade compensation with
02:44the 49ers.
02:45Now the 49ers have, you know, in the past couple of days have opened it up, have said,
02:49OK, now we're going to listen.
02:51And, you know, I don't exactly know what the 49ers are trying to do.
02:57I'm sure we're going to get into more of that.
02:59I mean, I think I think they're they're to the point.
03:03I think they're frustrated with IU, who's done nothing.
03:05He's been a hold in a camp as opposed to like Debo Samuel is, you know, when when he went
03:12through his contract, like he went through everything.
03:16And I think they've grown frustrated with him.
03:21And I think my guess is that they decided, well, we're going to call his bluff, OK?
03:30We're going to let him we're going to arrange trades.
03:33He's going to be able to talk contract with other teams.
03:36And at the end of the day, it's going to be his decision to go to team X, Y or Z.
03:43Where they might be a ways away from a Super Bowl if they ever get there.
03:49Or he could take what we're offering, which maybe is on top of the market, but it's still
03:53pretty good and stay with us and compete for Super Bowls every year.
03:57And so I think they're I think they're to the point, Nick, where they're just putting
04:01it into his court, putting the pressure on him, calling his bluff to be like, all right,
04:07you decide you want out or do you want to make a decision?
04:13So I think the way the reporting has gone and I don't know how aware of you you are
04:19for the Twitter insiders, but I know some people on Twitter, they get a bad rap and
04:25they should because they just throw stuff out there.
04:27But there are people that are on Twitter and social media that have legitimate sources
04:33and are followed by a lot of people.
04:35And there's this one person by the name of Pretty Ricky.
04:38It's Pretty Ricky two one something couple numbers.
04:41And this person has nailed a ton of stuff well beforehand.
04:46And so this person has been on top of the the IU stuff and they keep saying he's going
04:52to the Steelers.
04:53He's going to the Steelers.
04:54I don't care what anybody says.
04:55He's going to the Steelers.
04:57You know, I know what people are saying over the last day or so, but the Steelers are the
05:01team to watch.
05:02It's the Steelers.
05:03It's the Steelers.
05:04So if you start to put all this stuff together, you know, the reporting is, oh, well, the
05:10Steelers, the commanders, the Patriots, the Browns, they're in this.
05:13And then you have Adam Schefter go out there yesterday with Pat McAfee and Schefter says,
05:20hey, look, you can offer Brandon Iuke a great contract.
05:24But if Iuke doesn't want to play for the team that's willing to give him that contract,
05:30then he doesn't have to sign there and he doesn't have to OK that trade.
05:34He pretty much has a no trade clause is how Schefter has really put it.
05:38And I'm paraphrasing.
05:39Mm hmm.
05:40I don't think it's a coincidence.
05:41You know, I've spent a lot of time in radio.
05:43I see how reports go.
05:45I don't think it's a coincidence that later in the day last night, Matt Mayoko from NBC
05:50Sports Bay Area comes out and says, oh, well, the Steelers, they have not met the demands
05:55of the Niners and the commanders have taken themselves out of this.
06:00This is the Browns.
06:01This is the Patriots.
06:02And the 49ers have OKed the parameters of these deals.
06:07And then today.
06:08I found this interesting, Schefter starts his day on McAfee saying there's no chance
06:13again, I'm paraphrasing, but he says Pittsburgh's not in this thing at all.
06:17Two hours later, Schefter's like Pittsburgh's back in this.
06:22So you tell me if I'm wrong, you're the you're the reporter here.
06:26You're the guy who deals with sources.
06:27I don't.
06:28The way I think this is being played out behind the scenes is IUK wants to get paid 30 million
06:34a year.
06:35Niners don't want to give him 30 million a year.
06:39So what happens is IUK starts to leak and even say things on the podcasts that he's
06:44been on, like commanders and Steelers.
06:46That's where I want to go.
06:47I feel like IUK's team or IUK himself, I'm guessing it's his representation, spoke
06:53with Schefter and said, yeah, we know that the Browns and the Patriots are willing to
06:57pay him, but he doesn't want to go to Cleveland or New England, which in return, the Niners
07:02went to Matt Mayocco and said, well, that's nice that Brandon doesn't want to go to
07:06Cleveland or New England.
07:09But unfortunately for Brandon, Pittsburgh's not offering us anything that we want.
07:13So we're not just going to trade him there to trade him there.
07:17So these are his options.
07:18I feel like that's where we're at.
07:20And IUK wants to go to the Steelers.
07:23The Niners are pushing back, saying Pittsburgh is not offering Andrew Filippone tweeted out
07:28just a little while ago, Greg, that, you know, the Steelers are offering Calvin Austin, young
07:34wide receiver who has 17 catches.
07:36They're offering James Daniels and they're offering another offensive lineman.
07:41They're offering a backup offensive tackle.
07:43They're offering or an offensive guard, which San Francisco doesn't need.
07:48And they're offering a receiver who has 17 catches in his NFL career.
07:52Now according to Filippone, the Steelers don't want to move from that.
07:58The Niners want Friar Muth or Pickens or a first round pick.
08:05They want one of those three things in return and Pittsburgh's not budging.
08:09So I just think we have a stare down and a stalemate here, which with each side speaking
08:14to their, you know, favorite reporter or insider trying to fight this thing via the media to
08:21try to sway people.
08:23How do you feel?
08:26I don't disagree with you on any of that.
08:30I just I think there's there's a whole bunch of games being played.
08:34You know, what's interesting and this is sort of like an inside football thing, but
08:39both Brandon Aiyuk and like everyone at the among the 49ers brass, whether it's John Lynch,
08:48who's the general manager, but Kyle Shanahan runs everything there.
08:52It's his franchise as far as personnel and all that stuff.
08:55Like he runs everything.
08:57They're all represented by the same agency, Athletes First.
09:00Now, I'm sure they have different agents, like, for example, Trace Armstrong represents
09:06a lot of coaches and front office people, the former NFL player.
09:11And I know Ryan Williams of Athletes First represents Aiyuk.
09:17But there's a lot of intermingling going on.
09:20So there's that aspect of it.
09:24Yeah, my read on this is.
09:29The 49ers have called Brandon Aiyuk's bluff.
09:35But there's and they're trying to show him that there's limited teams that he can go
09:38to.
09:39Like, I mean, the Steelers package, if Filippone is right, like the players that they're offering,
09:45it's garbage.
09:46I mean, you know, the Patriots have similar players they could offer.
09:50And I'm sure the I'm sure the 49ers laughed.
09:53And, you know, a first round pick is nice.
09:55But, you know, I think, you know, you got to look at you got to look at the position
10:01that the 49ers in and Kyle Shanahan, and we all know his shortcomings, how he keeps coming
10:05up shorts of Super Bowl titles.
10:08And like, I have a hard time seeing them being okay, not getting a wide receiver in any deal
10:18that can approximate what Brandon Aiyuk can do for them.
10:23And we heard Matt Maioco say this, like, he thinks that the 49ers would prefer the deal
10:29with the Browns with Amari Cooper.
10:32And you know, you can see the appeal of Pickens with the Steelers.
10:38You know, I do think the Patriots can get there with, you know, I know, Kendrick Bourne
10:41has been mentioned, and I know Kyle Shanahan loves him.
10:45The 49ers love him.
10:47I'm sure he'd be, you know, well there, but I mean, he's hurt.
10:51You don't know when he's going to be back.
10:53You don't know how he's going to be back.
10:55You know, I would love to offer Matthew Judon as a sweetener in that, especially after what
10:59transpired again, the other day.
11:03And then he sat out today at practice.
11:06But like, I just think, like, I think Brandon Aiyuk is, I think he's in fantasy land.
11:13If he thinks he's like, everything's going to come together, like sure, he wants the
11:17Steelers, but the Steelers are offering crap.
11:19So the 49ers aren't going to do that.
11:21So what are you going to choose?
11:22Are you going to choose money?
11:23Are you going to choose winning?
11:25Like what are you going to do?
11:27And I think that's basically where we are right now is where the 49ers are putting it
11:31on Brandon Aiyuk and being like, you make the decision on where you want to go.
11:38But like, but at the end of the day, it's your call and you got it.
11:42You got to declare what you're about.
11:45Now, interesting, because Michael Silver earlier today, he tweeted out that in a vacuum
11:50or this was last night in a vacuum, he feels like Shanahan would rather have born in the
11:54Patriots number two second round pick than Cooper in the Browns second round pick.
12:00I saw you last night on NBC Sports Boston say that Shanahan loves himself some Kendrick
12:04Bourne.
12:05So I quote tweeted Silver and I quote tweeted him writing last night on NBC as Boston at
12:12Greg A. Bedard said that Shanahan loves Kendrick Bourne, loves him in all caps.
12:18Silver tweeted back at me in like three minutes, just three or three letters.
12:24Yep.
12:25So so and Silver, if people don't know, he is very plugged in to the operation over there
12:33in San Francisco.
12:34It's a very close.
12:35Yeah, he's very close with all those guys.
12:38And so is so is Burt, which was interesting, like Burt's Burt Breer has been pretty silent
12:43on this, which has surprised me considering the Patriots are involved and the forty niners
12:48and Burt's very plugged in with them as well, along with just Jeff Darlington.
12:53Well, maybe Burt's busy with Amazon Prime, from what I read.
12:57Yeah, it was.
12:58Maybe.
12:59Yeah.
13:00So but so it's and then you got Jocena Anderson saying the Patriots aren't giving up on this.
13:07We'll see if they can kind of stretch the limits and bring him in.
13:11I feel like the longer this goes, the less likely it is that the Patriots get you, because
13:16if you wanted to be here, he'd be here.
13:19This would be done because the reports are the Niners are OK with Bourne in a second
13:23round pick, maybe an extra pick added to that offer.
13:27They have agreed on the trade parameters.
13:29Every single report, Greg says the Patriots are willing, more than willing to dump a ton
13:34of money.
13:35We have Mike Reese on SportsCenter, our buddy from ESPN, saying the Patriots are super aggressive.
13:41They are more than willing to pay you because a top five receiver in the game.
13:45So here's what I'll say.
13:46And I want to get your thoughts.
13:48I know this is already happening.
13:50I've heard it in certain places.
13:53I am here to tell you.
13:55Do not blame Elliott Wolfe.
13:57People are going to blame Elliott Wolfe.
13:59People are going to frame this as if Wolfe failed or he lost.
14:03The only thing the Patriots can do is what they're doing.
14:06Here is an offer.
14:08Here's the money we're willing to pay.
14:10According to everybody, whether it's Jocena Anderson, Reese, Bedard, Mayoko out there
14:16in the Bay, people that are out in the Bay Area who are not trying to do a solid for
14:20Robert Kraft, because I know some people might try to spin it that way.
14:24Everybody has said to a person, talking with their sources, the Patriots are willing to
14:30pay as much money as it takes to make you a patriot.
14:33And we know from Mayoko, they have an offer on the table that has been accepted by the
14:38Niners.
14:39That's all you can do.
14:40Offer a ton of money and put a package on the table that's accepted.
14:44Those two things have happened.
14:45It's now on you.
14:47Yeah, I agree with you, Nick.
14:50I think that I think throughout this offseason and look, you know, just to come flat out
14:58like I agree with you.
14:59The longer this goes on, it's not good for the Patriots.
15:02And I think the chances of him landing here are lessening by the minute as more teams
15:08get in and the dance goes on and all this stuff.
15:11And I, you know, I feel a little bit bad for, you know, Elliott Wolfe and the Patriots and
15:17Patriots fans.
15:18And, you know, because I do think I do think they're doing things the right way as far
15:24as, you know, personnel.
15:26We don't know much about on the field yet.
15:28But as far as like rebuilding and sort of.
15:34Sort of making amends for the previous years and all the personnel missteps and things
15:39like that.
15:40And, you know, the position that they're in now where, you know, they don't have a number
15:43one right receiver or or, you know, a good offensive tackle.
15:47And we all knew these things were coming and were an issue, but they were just neglected
15:52for years.
15:53And I think that, you know, you can see you can see Wolfe's plan that, OK, look, we stunk
16:01last year.
16:02So we have the third overall pick.
16:03We're taking a quarterback and we saw that in hard knocks where we're pretty content
16:07and pretty much Wolfe told us all this, you know, that, you know, we need a quarterback.
16:16And so it's no secret and we're going to sit and pick.
16:19So you get the quarterback.
16:22I think they were of the mind that, you know, would they in a perfect world like the draft,
16:27the wide receiver?
16:28And I think that you're going to see the movement towards that coming up in the NFL as if it
16:33hasn't started already, where like you can't be paying these fees for wide receivers when,
16:38you know, in reality, you look at the list of highest paid wide receivers.
16:41They haven't really won a whole lot team wise in terms of once these guys got paid top of
16:48the market, you know, is that the best thing for your team?
16:52But I think, I think Elliot Wolfe has been methodical and looks down the road and says
16:56like, all right, well, this is what we need.
16:59And so we got the quarterback and now we need the number one weapon and we need, you know,
17:04a franchise left tackle.
17:07You know, how are we going to get both?
17:09How you look at the NFL landscape?
17:11How can you, you're not going to get an offensive tackle by trade or free agency like nobody
17:18good.
17:19I mean, you know, just this past year, I mean, it's Tyron Smith who gets broken down all
17:24the time.
17:25And like Jonah Williams, who, who even knows what tackle he's best at and the Bengals didn't
17:29even want him around really anymore.
17:32And so I think they looked at it and said, all right, well, you know, ideally we draft
17:36the wide receiver, but let's play it out.
17:40Like, all right, if we have an opportunity to secure a guy now and just pay money for
17:44it while we have a rookie quarterback on a rookie contract, like let's just do that
17:50and save what we think is going to be a pretty good first round pick in 2025 for the tackle.
17:56And then all of us, and along the way, let's resign all our good core young players, whether
18:01that's, you know, offensive linemen or defensive, like if you get may, if you get a brand and
18:07I type, and then you get the offensive, you get the left tackle next year in the draft
18:12along with everything else they're doing and promising on J J Jalen Polk, promising
18:17on Javon Baker, you got pop Douglas.
18:22You know, you got Keon white taking a step up, like, you know, you have Christian bar
18:27more in the fold, all those guys on defense that are the core that you have re up all
18:31of a sudden, you know, all those pieces come together and you're like, especially with
18:36a year of training for Drake may the Patriots in 2025 could be pretty good.
18:41You wouldn't see many holes on that roster.
18:44And now they just, they keep trying.
18:47They keep putting their best foot forward, but you know, for various reasons, you know,
18:52it appears they're going to come up short again, but I agree with you.
18:56This is no fault of Elliot Wolf.
18:58Everyone's the, everyone's going to play the blame game if they don't get them and they're
19:02going to dump on, whether it's the crafts or Wolf or the situation that they're in,
19:07like, look, it's just the situation that they're in.
19:10And timing can be everything.
19:12And right now the timing isn't great for the Patriots, but at least you see the plan and
19:18that they're being aggressive and trying to do things.
19:22And I think if you're a fan of a team, that's all you can ask.
19:27And you just hope that in time, um, those plans will start to come to fruition.
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20:47One last thing on this, Greg, I'll just add this for a minute.
20:52People will say, oh, well they got to try harder, give up more.
20:56And it's a very delicate balancing act for Elliott Wolf because you're still trying to
21:00rebuild.
21:01If you give up too much, you could be shooting yourself in the ass and hurt yourself down
21:05the road.
21:06And all I'll say is from what they have tried here, they try to pay Ridley.
21:12We know the situation, how that played out.
21:15Then during the draft, they tried to move up with the Buffalo bills.
21:18The bills gave them the straight arm, held them over a barrel and said, well, overpay
21:22us egregiously with picks and then we'll maybe do a move.
21:26And the Patriots, they had different holes to fill.
21:29They didn't feel like they could give up as many picks as Buffalo was going to force
21:32them to because they're division rivals.
21:34They don't want to help the Patriots.
21:36So they try to move up in the first round and get a deal so they can draft a young wide
21:40receiver after being turned away by San Francisco draft weekend, according to reports, because
21:45they were trying to deal for IUC all the way back in April.
21:49Now you fast forward the one legitimate wide receiver that is available.
21:54They've put the most money on the table for him and they've put an offer that's been accepted
21:57by San Francisco.
21:59There's not much more you can.
22:00You cannot.
22:01I've said this the whole time and I've said this forever.
22:04You can't force somebody to say yes.
22:06You can try.
22:07You can try as hard as you can, but you can't put a gun to the forehead of IUC or the Buffalo
22:11bills or somebody else and say you're signing this or you're OK in this.
22:15It just doesn't happen that way.
22:17Let's get to Matthew Judon quickly.
22:20I wasn't a fan, Greg, of him talking yesterday.
22:23Gerard Mayo comes out, says this is in the rearview mirror.
22:26If it's in the rearview mirror, everybody just shut up about it and let's move on.
22:30Yeah, I, I agree with you.
22:33I thought that it was not a good look for Matthew the other day.
22:38Like, I was fine within his initial press conference, the nine minutes basically speaking
22:43from the heart, mostly truce.
22:47You know, the whole social media thing will agree to disagree.
22:52But, you know, I thought he was honest and it and, you know, Gerard Mayo gave him that
22:57opportunity to blow off steam and be honest and tell people where he stood and.
23:04You know, Mayo got rewarded by Matthew Judon, you know, acting out that whole thing.
23:09And this was the first time we heard from him.
23:12And I just thought he came across as obtuse, untruthful in multiple of his answers and
23:23never heard the words.
23:25Now, I didn't need to say I'm sorry or I apologize, but just be like, you know, look, I.
23:34And he did say something about like he didn't want to be distracting to his teammates.
23:37Well, he obviously was.
23:39It was obviously a big deal.
23:41It was obviously reflected poorly on Mayo in the organization.
23:45And I didn't think he was contrite at all about it.
23:48And instead, he threw even more of a temper tantrum.
23:51He's quoting his salary at six point five million, you know, all this stuff.
23:56And then there was that.
23:58And then we come out today and I think he came out with his helmet in to start practice.
24:04But at some point he didn't take part in practice at all.
24:07Now, he's still in good spirits on the field.
24:11But yeah, I from what I understand, I don't think the the organization is a fan of his
24:19act and I think they're getting tired of it and something needs to change quickly because
24:27this is just it's it's a it's a constant story.
24:31It doesn't need to be there's a way to deal with this.
24:34And I just think he's dealing with it poorly.
24:37I just thought they gave the story oxygen yesterday again.
24:41And over the weekend, the speculation was, hey, things could be going in a positive direction.
24:47Judon looks like he's having fun out there.
24:50Roussini came out, Diana Roussini from The Athletic and said that, you know, Judon and
24:56the Patriots feel like they're getting closer or whatever.
24:59It felt like there was some positive momentum.
25:01They should have just left it with the positive momentum.
25:04And then you throw him out there and he says what he said and you just you go right back
25:08to square one.
25:09All right.
25:10Let's talk about practice.
25:11Actual on the field stuff.
25:13You want to start with Saturday.
25:15What do you see Saturday?
25:16What stood out to you on Saturday?
25:21And all of a sudden, I'm drawing a blank that I write something down on my notes on this.
25:26I don't know.
25:27I did.
25:28I did say, let's talk about practice on Saturday.
25:30And why did I now I'm blanking?
25:32Why said that?
25:33Let's just talk about today.
25:34All right.
25:35Let's today.
25:36Let's start with Joanne Bentley, who was was tweaked with an injury.
25:41It looked like today I saw you tweeting about this.
25:43What do you see?
25:44How do you feel about it?
25:45Yeah.
25:46So I noticed in practice that you want Bentley was having his left elbow looked at.
25:51And at first it was just the trainers and they were looking over pretty good poking
25:55him and pulling things and stuff like that.
25:58Then they then they called over a team doctor.
26:02This went on for a while.
26:04And then Bentley didn't have his helmet anymore and just watch the rest of practice.
26:11There looked to be some concern with that.
26:16You know, I imagine they're going to do further tests and MRI or something like that.
26:19But you know, when you're talking about a middle linebacker and how they have to make
26:23plays and deal with blockers and stuff like that, it's not good.
26:27I mean, you know, we do have a while.
26:29So, you know, say he tweaked something, plenty of time for him to deal with that.
26:36But hopefully I don't think that they can lose them.
26:39I mean, they can, but it's not ideal, especially on the heels of Barmore and what's going on
26:44with Jude on Bentley's like he's he's a leader.
26:48He's tough.
26:49He's out there all the time, plays a lot of snaps.
26:53Is he the perfect player?
26:55No, but he's good for this team.
26:58And he's gotten better every single year.
27:00And so, you know, I'm I'm concerned about that, that he's going to be out for a little
27:05bit.
27:06But hopefully it doesn't linger on in the season.
27:10This is a little bit of an issue now with with the injuries, Greg, they're starting
27:14to pile up a little bit.
27:15We talk about Bentley.
27:17Marcus Jones has missed now multiple practices.
27:20Yet again, he can't get back on the field after having a pretty damn good start of camp.
27:24Taekwon Thornton said today that he's dealing with a soft tissue issue.
27:28And yes, I love saying that because tissue issue, right?
27:31And then you've got you've got offensive tackle, which Calvin Anderson has missed a practice
27:36or two.
27:38But the big one is, you know, Chooks, a core of four has now missed three or four practices
27:41in a row.
27:42Caden Wallace today stepped out for a minute.
27:44He had to be looked at.
27:48Let's let's just I guess we'll we'll go to offensive tackle with the injury talk because
27:54this offensive line, like many in the NFL, Greg, they're not very deep.
27:58And you can see the impact of some of these guys when they take, you know, since a core
28:02four has been out, the domino effect.
28:06Are you starting to get concerned if they if they can't keep guys on the field, how
28:10bad it could get?
28:11Yeah.
28:12And let's also I don't know if you mentioned him, but Josh Uche hasn't really done much
28:15of anything this camp.
28:18He runs a lot on the rehab field, but then, you know, doesn't take part.
28:22The offensive tackle.
28:24Yeah, I still I mean, we're basically three weeks in the camp and just to let people know
28:30to give a sort of reset.
28:31So they have the Panthers.
28:33They had the Panthers game on Thursday night.
28:36There is some sort of practice not for the public on Sunday.
28:42Normally that first first time back after a game.
28:45It's not much.
28:46It's like a glorified like walkthrough type of thing.
28:50And then we have I think it's Monday and then Tuesday is the joint practice with the
28:56Eagles.
28:57And that's it for public practices for all of camp.
29:02So basically for like three weeks, three, we're not going to see anything of what's
29:07going on.
29:08And so the offensive tackle thing, I have I have no read on what they're doing.
29:14And it's hard to tell because of the injuries, Chooks been out, as you said, Wallace got
29:19dinged up today with his left elbow.
29:22He did return to practice, but it didn't look good.
29:25He was kind of like walking off the field with like his arm straight by the end of it.
29:29Like, you know, he might miss some time coming up here.
29:33Maybe he doesn't play on Thursday night.
29:35We'll have to see how he reacts tomorrow.
29:40You know, so Vardarian Lowe's been out there for five straight practices, a left tackle.
29:45Now, I'm not saying that he's a bum or anything like that, because, you know, and we've talked
29:50about this before.
29:51I mean, it's hard for me to judge a lot of where these offensive linemen were, especially
29:56guys like, you know, Tyrone Wheatley, who they already released and Vardarian Lowe,
30:01who were who were traded for right before the season last year.
30:06And I think everybody knows how I felt about the offensive line coaching, basically since
30:10Josh McDaniels and Karen Bracillo left for Vegas.
30:17Then it was Matt Patricia, and Matt Patricia was coaching the offensive line and the offensive
30:21coordinator with Billy Yates.
30:23That wasn't good.
30:24Then this past year, they bring in Adrian Clem, who I tried to warn people about, and,
30:29you know, he did have a health issue that forced him off the sidelines, and that was
30:34legit.
30:35But I don't think he was really doing a lot of good work before that.
30:39And so, I do think that they're getting good coaching so far.
30:44So I leave it open that Vardarian Lowe, I do think he's improved.
30:47I think he's been solid.
30:50I think that Caden Wallace has been the better left tackle.
30:53I don't know why they went off Chuk Sikora for so early.
30:58I thought he had potential there, but, I mean, I think they've been throwing the tackles
31:03in a blender, and this is not ideal.
31:06They do still have time to get it settled, but, no, you're a little bit worried about
31:13what's going on in tackle.
31:16As long as they're healthy, which is a big if, I feel like the offensive line, there's
31:22a pathway to not be awful.
31:24There's a pathway to be good enough.
31:26And I would say the interior of the offensive line, even though City So, also did not take
31:31part in 11 on 11s today for the most part, which is another big issue.
31:36Because So's actually been really good to me, and I'm not as good as Bedard or Evan
31:41Lazar or some of these other guys that break down offensive line play and pad level and
31:46punch and slide and kick and whatever the hell else.
31:50But just from the layman's eyes, to me, obviously, Owenu, other people have said this, he has
31:56been a monster.
31:58He's been a monster on the field.
32:00Best player, regardless of position, by far.
32:03Ridiculous high level is what a one who's looked like at camp.
32:07So has been, I think, just behind him as far as offensive line and how they've looked.
32:13And you got David Andrews, who's kind of, yes, he's not the same guy, but he's old steady.
32:17So the good news is the interior offensive line, as long as they can stay healthy, has
32:21looked pretty damn good, which means to me, Greg, all you need and correct me if I'm wrong,
32:27but you've got four or five offensive tackles that we talk about.
32:33If one of those guys can play decent football, just one, then you could help the other tackle
32:38spot.
32:39That's that's all they need.
32:40They just need one of these four or five guys to stay healthy and play average football.
32:44Yep, absolutely.
32:45You know, 100 percent.
32:47And you were hoping you felt a little bit easier that it was going to be a core for
32:51it.
32:52Maybe he gets back out there and healthy because of his experience.
32:56And, you know, what some of the traits that he showed on film, Caden Wallace has, you
33:00know, I've been I think he he has exceeded my expectations so far in camp.
33:06I think he's had a couple rough days.
33:08I don't know how much that has to do with the elbow.
33:12But yeah, you're just hoping that that one guy sort of grabs the side at one side.
33:17You prefer it to be left tackle, but it doesn't have to be.
33:20And then you can help the guy on the other side.
33:23It's the middle of the summer.
33:24It's hot.
33:25But, you know, what summer means to me, baseball, I love going to the park.
33:30I love supporting the old town team.
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35:41Moving on to the quarterbacks.
35:43I know you want to talk about Drake May.
35:45We'll get to him in a minute.
35:46But just your overall thoughts, Greg, I think Jacoby Brissett has looked from the beginning
35:53of padded practices last Monday.
35:54I wasn't there today, but through yesterday I'd been through through I'd been by four
36:00times.
36:01I've watched four padded practices with these guys.
36:03I think Brissett looks like a pretty good NFL quarterback to me.
36:07Not great, but pretty good.
36:09Clearly ahead of Drake May.
36:11How do you feel about Brissett's camp?
36:12Yeah, I think he's I think he's been really good.
36:15And, you know, people do have to remember that the last time he was a starter in this
36:20offense two years ago, he was top 10 in the league in QBR.
36:24And that was with the Browns, who, you know, I don't think had a lot of things going for
36:28them.
36:29And also he was thrust into the situation with Deshaun Watson and and, you know, all
36:34of that.
36:35And so I think that speaks well of Jacoby.
36:37I think the things that thing that stands out about him, Nick, in practice is like he's
36:42at his best situationally.
36:46We even saw it today.
36:47They had a drive where I think they had to get in the field goal range or something like
36:51that.
36:52And he came out and he was under a lot of pressure, but he was four for four and let
36:56him down the field for a field goal.
36:58And so, you know, that's impressive.
37:00Now, you know, Drake May and Joe Milton and other people might be more physically impressive
37:06and say, you know, one on ones or seven on sevens and stuff like that.
37:09But when it comes to team play and situational drills, which I think are are very important,
37:20he clearly stands out.
37:21And to me, just every day I have the watching practice, I have more and more of a thought
37:27of if this isn't Jacoby Brissett's team right now, it's damn close to being that way.
37:33Just, you know, the way his leadership, the way guys respond to him, like all that stuff.
37:38You just you look out there and it's nothing against Drake May and who I think is doing
37:42fine and he's making progress.
37:45It's just, you know, you could tell Jacoby's he's been here before.
37:50He's eight years in the league.
37:52He's been in this offense.
37:54Guys can come to him and he understands what they're trying to do.
37:57He delivers the ball accurately on time with good velocity.
38:01I mean, he threw a bullet to the left sideline in the end zone today to Javon Baker, who
38:07made a sensational grab.
38:10I thought it was out of bounds, but it was definitely close enough.
38:13But you know, he Jacoby knows what he's doing.
38:17And I think that breeds confidence and you can just tell the other quarterbacks don't
38:22know what they're doing as much, which is fine.
38:25And that's that you can understand that.
38:31And but to me, you know, there hasn't been much thought about Drake May just because
38:37of how good and in command Jacoby Brissett has been.
38:43To me, May has pretty much come as advertised watching him.
38:50You know, the highs are very high.
38:52He'll zip a great throw here, a great throw there.
38:55And you're like, man, he'll he'll move out to his right, extend the play and flip
39:00a ball on the run.
39:01That looks beautiful towards the sideline every once in a while.
39:05And then you'll have some other issues.
39:06You know, when he's in a two minute drill, he'll he'll struggle a little bit.
39:11He'll have throws that make you kind of scratch your head and go, what what was that
39:14about?
39:15Overall, to me, I feel like he has gotten better, Greg, since the first padded practice
39:20that I saw on Monday, which he looked pretty wretched, frankly, which wasn't a surprise.
39:25It was first padded practice.
39:26I think overall, though, he's gotten better.
39:28How do you feel about watching him today and how do you feel about him overall?
39:32The last, you know, what's it been, nine, ten practices?
39:34Yeah, I agree.
39:35I think that he seems to get more comfortable every day.
39:40And what people need to understand is that, you know, Drake has all these gifts and he's
39:48he's naturally talented.
39:50And I think he's naturally born to play the position.
39:54And, you know, you see that at times, especially in drills, especially in seven on seven.
39:58I mean, he dominates seven on seven.
40:01If NFL games were, you know, had no offense of a defensive line, I'd be talking about
40:07him going to the Pro Bowl, but that's not the way things operate.
40:10And I think Drake won't be able to the Drake that the Patriots need, that they believe
40:15he's going to be where you talk about that, you know, making plays off platform and, you
40:21know, pulling plays out of his rear end and things like that, like all of that is there.
40:26But that can't come until he gets the foundation in the offense.
40:30And, you know, with his mechanics, even though I'm not as worried about that, it's more about
40:35like and I'm not saying he doesn't know the offense or, you know, can't call plays in
40:39the huddle or anything like that.
40:40I'm just saying like he needs that stuff, you know, the verbiage, the understanding
40:47the routes and all this stuff like it has to be it has to be quick.
40:52It has to become second nature.
40:55And then he could do all the things that he can do.
40:58I mean, to me, it's very similar to Patrick Mahomes when he came in to the Chiefs and
41:02Andy Reid's offense is complicated.
41:04There's a lot going on.
41:06And guess what?
41:07Andy Reid said he's sitting.
41:09That's what he's doing.
41:10He's sitting.
41:11He needs to learn.
41:12He needs to get the mental side.
41:14And then once he does that, then his natural gifts can take over.
41:18And guess what?
41:19After sitting for a year and starting one game, Patrick Mahomes was NFL MVP and threw
41:2350 touchdown passes in year two.
41:26And it's because he got that basis in the system and had that understanding that allowed
41:31him to play fast and play free.
41:34And you don't see that with Drake.
41:36You see him making progress every day, but he's not there yet.
41:41We don't know when he's going to get there.
41:42It could be that by the season opener.
41:44I have no clue.
41:45Guys learn on a different schedule.
41:48But I will say, Drake May had two unbelievable timing passes, back-to-back plays in seven
41:55on nine red zone today.
41:58One to Kayshaun Booty in the right corner, and then Jaheim Hines, who was back today,
42:02who was good to see.
42:04The same play in the corner, and Drake dropped just two perfectly in the bucket to those
42:11guys.
42:12And you're like, holy cow, look at that.
42:14Now why was he able to do that?
42:17Because he didn't have to think that much.
42:18He didn't have to worry about the pass rush, which him playing with the back of the offensive
42:22line is not doing him any favors.
42:24Now he's also not going against the defensive starters a lot of the time, so some of it
42:28evens out.
42:31But then you have a team period.
42:34So Jacoby Bursette gets into the same situation.
42:36They do the same situation.
42:37It's like a minute 45, something on the clock, and they got to get a field goal.
42:43Jacoby goes four for four, goes down the field, leads a field goal.
42:47Drake May goes oh for four, throws an interception on his first pass, forcing a throw over the
42:52middle.
42:53It was probably on Moffey.
42:56They had a bad shotgun snap.
42:59I don't know.
43:00I think it went off his leg or something like that.
43:02But then he had three more throws where he's not making good decisions, and he's forcing
43:07it into guys who are just covered, guys who are blanketed.
43:11And so you see the promise, and you see the struggles.
43:17And the thing that I take confidence in is that I know Alex Van Pelt and Ben McAdoo specifically
43:24know how to get him there, have a plan to get him there.
43:28Just let him go through the process.
43:31And just for people, if you haven't been paying attention around the league, I mean, Caleb
43:35Williams is going to start for Chicago.
43:36Of course, he is first overall pick.
43:38Chicago is set up for offensive fireworks, so to speak, but what they've done around
43:45Caleb Williams, he's in much better shape to do some things.
43:49And obviously, Jaden Daniels was just named the commander's starting quarterback, which
43:52should not surprise anybody, because many people thought that, aside from Michael Penix,
43:58that Daniels might be the most pro-ready quarterback in the draft.
44:02But the other rookies that you see, JJ McCarthy, he's not ready.
44:06He's QB2 right now in Minnesota, Sam Donald starting as of right now.
44:10Bo Nix, Denver came out and said Jared Stidham right now is on the top of the depth chart
44:16at quarterback.
44:17And of course, Penix was drafted weirdly by Atlanta, so he's behind Kirk Cousins.
44:22But this happens.
44:24This happens.
44:25These guys are young, and especially Greg and I have gone through this.
44:27We don't need to relitigate the history of Drake May, but he hasn't played a ton of
44:32football the last three or four years.
44:34We have to remember that.
44:35I mean, there's just a lot of new being thrown at Drake, and he hasn't consistently played
44:41football the last three or four years.
44:42So take a deep breath.
44:45Give him time.
44:46Big picture.
44:47He's progressing.
44:48All right.
44:49We want to talk about preseason game quickly coming up on Thursday night.
44:51But first, I want to remind you, take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with Game
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45:21All right.
45:22Carolina comes to town on Thursday night.
45:24Gerard Mayo spoke with the media this morning.
45:28Sounds like all four quarterbacks are going to play, Greg.
45:32What do you think as far as how much each guy plays?
45:36What are you anticipating?
45:37Yeah, Nick, sort of like all I can do is go off of like what we've seen in practice, especially
45:41today's practice, which seemed like a somewhat of a dry run for the game.
45:47Sort of get certain groupings in together.
45:50And you know, what we saw was Jacoby Brissett worked exclusively with the starting offensive
45:57line.
45:59I don't think they held over anybody for Drake May.
46:03Drake May got some times with the twos, almost all the twos, maybe a few threes.
46:11I'm going to assume, this is a guess, I think the starters are most of them.
46:18Like you might see like a David Andrews sit for like Nick Leverett.
46:23And you know, also remember, I think you mentioned this earlier, but Siddy So was out today in
46:28a bit of a surprise.
46:29He was in full pads, but Michael Jordan was out there for him today.
46:36I think that, I think that Drake May is going to play next.
46:40And I think he's, I think he's going to play, I think Jacoby plays, if not a full quarter,
46:48upwards of a quarter.
46:49I think May gets a quarter, possibly into halftime, out of halftime.
46:57Then I think it's going to be Zappi.
47:00And then I think Milton's in Zappi, I don't think we'll get a ton of time, maybe like
47:04a series.
47:05And then Milton will get the rest.
47:10That's what that's my best guess.
47:12It's really going to hurt Joe Milton's chances of starting at quarterback for this team this
47:16year.
47:17If he's playing now, some people are going to be stunned about that.
47:22Tough break.
47:24Look, Drake May, I would like to see him, Greg.
47:28I was talking about this on my podcast, the Nick Cattle Show, yesterday.
47:34But I do feel like giving May at least a shot, a period at practice with the ones would be
47:42something that would be interesting.
47:44And I think maybe even needed for the rookie to trust the offensive line and maybe get
47:49a few snaps in a row that you're not getting a crazy snap at your foot or above your head
47:55or there's a complete offensive line breakdown or Mitchell Wilcox is dropping a football.
48:00I would like to see that.
48:01My hope was, OK, well, that's not happening at practice, but maybe you sit Jacoby Brissett
48:08and you play May at least a drive or maybe two drives with some of the starting players,
48:15some of the top guys.
48:17Do you think there's a chance of that happening or do you think this is going to be split?
48:21It's going to be cut and dry.
48:23Mayo is going to play Brissett with the starters.
48:24Those guys go out and it's May in the second unit that go in.
48:29I think the chances of that are are low.
48:33And by the way, let me point out, I don't think there's any grand conspiracy on the
48:37part of Alex Van Pelt and Gerard Mayo to hold Drake May down because Jacoby Brissett might
48:46make them look better in the early going.
48:49I mean, I've been covering the National Football League for 20 years and watching on a full-time
48:54basis and watching camp practices.
48:59One of my tenets from watching over all these years, different coaching staffs and all this
49:04is the coaches, coaches and their decisions tell you all you need to know.
49:12We've even heard Gerard Mayo say, and I don't know if this is at the podium or with Kay
49:17Adams or whatever, he basically has said when Drake May's ready, he'll get his chance.
49:26Between that and what we've seen on the field, the coaches don't think he's ready.
49:30There's nothing wrong with that, but I agree with you.
49:33I was hoping these two practices before the preseason game, he might get a drive with
49:39the offensive line.
49:40Actually, I thought it might happen today, and I actually put a tweet in my drafts getting
49:45ready for when Drake May went out there because there was a certain point in practice where
49:50it was strange because Jacoby Brissett went out there with the starters for, I don't know,
49:55six, seven plays, and then suddenly they went to the backups.
50:00I've seen this before.
50:01Belichick used to do this when Cam Newton and Mac Jones were here.
50:04They would do that because they were giving the starting offensive line a breather to
50:09go back out there with Mac, so I thought, here we go.
50:13We're going to see it with Drake.
50:14Didn't happen.
50:16My advice is just believe what the coaches are telling you and trust in what the coaches
50:21are telling you.
50:24I feel a little bit bad because if Drake gets that opportunity, he's probably going to be
50:28behind closed doors after the Eagles' preseason game, but you never know.
50:34If he goes out there ... Nick, I will say this.
50:36If he goes out there and plays really well and he could show the coaches on Thursday
50:42night that, okay, maybe he's not the greatest practice player in the world, but when the
50:48lights go on, he's a gamer and he looks completely different.
50:52All of a sudden, the coaches go back and they watch the film and they're like, hmm, that's
50:57interesting.
51:00Maybe it's time to give him a couple of snaps with the starters this week.
51:03Maybe Monday's practice before the Eagles, let's take another look at it, and then maybe
51:07against the Eagles in the joint practice, maybe we give him a shot with the starters
51:14at one point.
51:16It's a fluid situation, but as of right now, I don't think that's the plan, but Drake can
51:22change the plan at any point.
51:25Yeah, I have wondered that.
51:27A couple of things, practice, these practices, these padded practices, it's all structured.
51:36It's all scripted.
51:37There are reasons why coaches do certain things.
51:40Drake came out last week in his first padded practice on Monday, like I said, was wretched.
51:45He came out a couple days later and said, well, Monday's practice was all third and
51:49long.
51:50That was the script.
51:51The quarterbacks were working off of third and long.
51:54That was the idea of the practice, which obviously does impact when you have that context.
52:00Drake's performance that day doesn't excuse everything, but it makes a little bit more
52:04sense.
52:05The defense, I know Evan Lazar has said, the defense playing a lot of cover too, at least
52:09early in camp.
52:10It seems like they're forcing Drake made to take the easy stuff underneath, which is smart.
52:17It's the idea of don't force it downfield.
52:21Let's make sure that he's got the basics down.
52:22He's taken the easy stuff underneath if he sees these defenses and doesn't try to fit
52:28a tough throw when he shouldn't.
52:31We have to keep that in mind.
52:32Also, I do wonder, do you think we'll see a better May?
52:36Because it's not going to be as scripted.
52:38It's not going to be as almost handcuffed in the game on Thursday night versus what
52:44he's been doing at camp, which is a lot of, hey, footwork, the simple stuff.
52:49Let's make sure the basics are figured out.
52:51I do.
52:53I think May's going to pop on Thursday night, and I think that's going to be a storyline
52:56coming out of the game.
52:59I love that.
53:00That's a tease.
53:01I'm going to leave it there.
53:02Well, we'll see what happens on Thursday night.
53:05Greg and I have not discussed this, but I'm guessing we will do a pod after the game.
53:08So we'll have a reaction at some point on Friday or whatever it is.
53:12It's been a little crazy.
53:13It's been busy for Greg, for sure.
53:15So that's that.
53:16We'll go into Thursday night, Carolina, the Patriots.
53:18If you're excited to see Bryce Young, get rid of that excitement, because Jack Plummer,
53:22not Jake Plummer, will be playing that game.
53:25Not the snake.
53:26I'd rather see the snake.
53:30So we'll talk to you after the game.
53:32We'll see how things go.
53:33Until then, be well.
53:48We'll see you next time.
53:49Bye.