Pats' Linebacker, Jahlani Tavai, joins the show! How has preparation changed?
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00:00because it is a Patriots preseason Friday. We are joined by Patriots linebacker Jelani Tavai
00:07and he is brought to you by Shaw's in Star Market, perfecting the art of fresh and by
00:13findmassmoney.gov. Hey, Jelani. Hey, what's up, man? How y'all doing? Well, we got a couple old
00:21guys in here. They're talking about how you guys you're not mentally tough and you're not
00:27physically don't take the bait, man. I think that's what I heard.
00:40Well, I can't agree to disagree. You know, I don't know. Yeah. I mean, listen,
00:46you've been doing this for a while. So what's that? I can only speak for myself and I don't know.
00:55Do you? Well, do you? I mean, from a preseason perspective,
00:58do you feel like you get what you need to get out of it?
01:03Oh, I would say yes or no. I think I think that over here in New England, we do a great job of
01:12making sure that the toughest days are, you know, are during practice. So I think that,
01:19you know, when I was listening in and hearing about the conditioning part,
01:22I felt like most teams don't condition like we do. And I'm sure all the guys who have played
01:29here in the past understand that and understand that they were here with Bill. They know about
01:34the hill. They know about the the late practices where we have the condition even after a two
01:41minute drill or something. So, you know, like I love I love the way that we practice because
01:46they do, you know, somewhat get us ready for the games and we have to prepare that way during
01:53practice and make sure that we put ourselves in the toughest situations that way that when it
01:57comes to the game time, we know how to manage and how to make sure that we're ready for those,
02:04you know, those fast drives where some teams are low tempo or or, you know, late in the fourth
02:09quarter. So I feel like we do a great job here at practices that way that when when game time
02:16does come, we're prepared and ready for any type of situation, whether we're dog tired or not.
02:22Hey, Jelani, Matt Light here. Listen, and as a former player rep, man, you got to be real careful
02:27talking about those late practices with Bill. I mean, clearly that doesn't happen with Gerard.
02:31I mean, you guys, you know, you're adhering to the overall time frame and you guys are
02:36off the field when you're supposed to be not doing anything crazy. I get it. I get it.
02:40Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, with the with the wink wink. Yeah, yeah.
02:46Jelani, one of the things one of the things that I, you know, I try to look at and it's hard
02:52because, you know, yeah, we are old men who are not in the locker room no more. And one of the
02:56things that I look at is the preparation and how guys prepare on their own. Are they studying the
03:04film? Are they looking at the film? When you start to look at some of the younger players as they
03:08come in through college, do you feel like they're in a position where you see a lot of self-preparation
03:17rather than only preparation when the coaches are there telling them, hey, watch some film,
03:22do some studying? I think it's a bit of both, but we've been we've been getting the right guys so
03:30far on who who cares, you know. So a lot of the younger guys will pull us aside and I can only
03:38speak on the defensive part because I'm right now, you know, during training camp, we're really
03:42just with our position or with our groups because we don't, you know, the offense has their own
03:48schedule and, you know, then they meet they meet all day. So I would assume that they're taking
03:55care of business on their side. So on the defensive aspect, though, we do have the younger guys who do
04:01care who are asking the vets on about technique or how they see things on film. And then, you know,
04:11they need to do that, first of all, because they're already months behind us on the playbook,
04:18on how it is to be a vet and or how it is to be just a NFL player. So I would expect them
04:26to do that. And luckily, they have been so I mean, so far, it's been it's been good. I mean,
04:33of course, you're gonna have the strength, like the guys who will do their own thing, but
04:37an overall aspect, I think that we have the right guys, as we're talking about our younger guys.
04:43Yeah, you listen, you hit on a good point. Defensively, right? When I think about training
04:47camp, you guys read and react to things, right? That's what you do, right? Whatever the offense
04:52is showing you, you have to, you know, find a way to read and react in real time, right? So
04:58naturally, in training camp, the defense is typically ahead of the game, right? It's tougher
05:02for the offense to get on the same page. You know, you're trying to execute plays and run routes to
05:07the right depth, all that kind of stuff. And with a new offense and with new guys and a new head
05:12coach, I mean, I could I could see where in training camp, you guys are definitely ahead
05:16of the game defensively, when it comes to practice back and forth, right? What I think,
05:22though, is interesting is, you know, look, not that long ago, we were able to hit back-to-back
05:27days, right? And I don't, maybe I'm wrong, I don't think you guys can hit back-to-back days.
05:32And, you know, I think it takes away from your ability to really get yourself in football shape,
05:38right? And I know you don't have to hit to be in football shape, necessarily, from just that
05:43standpoint. But do you feel like, you know, you can go out there and in training camp,
05:49put yourself in the in the best position possible? And maybe you can't answer this,
05:53because you weren't in the era of when we did hit like that. But do you feel ready to go week one
05:59physically? I think I feel ready to go week one. I mean, this past week, we've had was,
06:10I think, I think we went two or three days straight with full pads. And it was a pretty
06:15physical day for everybody. And we were, I think, definitely everybody was getting
06:21anger with each other, because we're just trying to, I think we're just trying to dominate the
06:25offense. So I think practices, you know, I think you have to put yourself in that situation,
06:33whether it's you're in pads or not, you have to you have to create the low pad level,
06:39like mindset where you have to, as much as you don't want to, like stay low, like whether it's
06:43a block, whether it's a tackle, or you chasing after the ball at an open field, you have to put
06:49yourself like in kind of a game reality situation. You know, we got guys like, I don't know if you
06:55guys seen the video of Pep when he was miked up. But when we weren't in pads, this guy practices
07:02the same way. He'll come over, hit the guy with his shoulders, get extension, and then fall off
07:08and then tag off on the running back. But his pad level never changes. You know, so a lot of younger
07:14like when you have a guy like Pep, and you know, I hope I see myself when I when I practice,
07:18I do the same. But when you have a guy like Pep, who does it repeatedly, and and you have the
07:24younger guys who watch him and and you know, look up to him because he is a he's a big role model
07:29for our younger guys. You know, that that, you know, that that that feeds off of everybody on
07:36the defensive side. So I think that guys just have to understand that when we don't have a ton of
07:42live periods or live practices, you have to put yourself in the situation where you can imitate
07:50like, like how you would play in a game. A lot of talk last couple days about Taequann
07:55Thornton, how he looks. Have you seen an improvement there?
07:59Hell yeah, he's having a really great camp. I'm really excited to see how he performs
08:05Sunday and then we'll see where everything goes after that.
08:10Jelani, I'm closer to your age than these old heads sitting with me. So I always find it
08:15interesting when people say, you know, oh, especially when it comes to Drake May, you know,
08:20he wasn't prepared right in college, the way that the college game is played. He's not ready to go
08:24out there and play a live game in the NFL. Do you think at some point people just need to give
08:29more credit or put more respect on Drake May's name and say, wait a minute, he seems calm,
08:34cool and collected out there. Why don't you throw this kid in there and get the reps as soon as
08:39possible? Yeah, I mean, of course, I always give people their flowers, but you know, Drake's gonna
08:48have to prove himself too, you know. It's his job to make sure that, you know, everybody who's
08:54hating on him or doubting him, he's got to be the one to, you know, prove him wrong, you know. So
09:02the way that I see him working and the way that I see him approaching each day, I think that,
09:08you know, as the weeks go on, I think that he'll have a great opportunity to,
09:13you know, prove those people wrong. Speaking of proving people wrong,
09:18final preseason game Sunday, you guys head into the season underdogs in every single game.
09:24Is that something that you as a vet and a leader and this team can use going into these games?
09:33I don't mind being underdog, man. I've been an underdog my whole life and I love it, you know,
09:39because when teams, you know, think that they can roll over on you, it's the best type of game
09:47to come in and just smack them in the mouth, you know. So I'm excited for the season. I'm excited
09:53for Sunday, so I don't know who's playing or not, but if we do get the opportunity, I'm going to
09:58take full advantage of each rep that I get and just make sure that I am ready for the week one
10:04to come. You know, I've got to make sure the old heads over here listening know that we're ready.
10:19They both played with leather helmets. All right, Jelani, listen, good luck.
10:27I definitely got to play with a leather head, but just on a different sport.
10:31All right, listen, go get them Sunday and we'll look forward to talking to you
10:38a week from today as we get ready to start the season, all right?
10:42Perfect. You all have a wonderful day.
10:44All right, there he is, Jelani Tavai.
10:47He's the nicest guy.