In the latest episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast featuring Nick Cattles, the duo provides an in-depth preview of the upcoming Patriots vs. Dolphins matchup in Week 8. They delve into the Patriots' decision to sign WR Jalen Reagor to the 53-man roster, the release of Malik Cunningham and bringing him back to the practice squad. Additionally, they tackle a mailbag segment and offer their game predictions.
Check us out over at BSJ $50 for the year … Bedard and Giardi tag-teaming on the Patriots with film and the best sources around to give you the most accurate reporting on your football team this season.
Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.
This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles Podcast is brought to you by:
Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. NEW customers can bet $5 and get $200 in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Now is the best time to join FanDuel! The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won’t wanna miss. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.
ODDS-R! Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro? Enter OddsR. They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always
Check us out over at BSJ $50 for the year … Bedard and Giardi tag-teaming on the Patriots with film and the best sources around to give you the most accurate reporting on your football team this season.
Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.
This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles Podcast is brought to you by:
Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. NEW customers can bet $5 and get $200 in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Now is the best time to join FanDuel! The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won’t wanna miss. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.
ODDS-R! Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro? Enter OddsR. They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 And so I think they're going to get off to a slow start.
00:02 They might wake up at some point.
00:03 That's why it's important for them to get off to a good start.
00:06 But I like the spot after the Eagles, before the Chiefs.
00:10 It's a perfect spot for the Patriots.
00:11 I do think they have a chance at an upset.
00:14 The Greg Bedard Patriots podcast is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering
00:18 partner of the CLNS media network.
00:21 He's Greg, I'm Nick.
00:22 Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattle is with you this week, wrapping things up,
00:27 getting ready for the Dolphins and the Patriots on Sunday.
00:30 First I'll tell you this episode is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering
00:34 partner of the CLNS media network.
00:36 Greg, just a couple of headlines today.
00:39 It's quieted down a little bit.
00:40 Funny how that happens after a Patriots win.
00:44 Things calm down a little.
00:46 But first, Jalen Rager this morning was assigned to the 53-man roster.
00:51 Your thoughts on Rager and also your thoughts on the fact that the Patriots now have eight
00:56 wide receivers on this roster.
00:59 You mean, wait, we're not firing everybody this week and already before the midpoint
01:04 of the season?
01:05 I mean, it's just, and I know, and I hear from people, I get emails, I get tweets from
01:09 people, like, for example, after what was their most recent defeat?
01:15 It wasn't the Saints, the Raiders game.
01:19 And some people are basically pronouncing time of death for the Patriots.
01:24 And I'm just like, I just want to see how the season plays out because that's how it's
01:29 judged and you never know in this game what can happen week to week.
01:34 And that's why I don't try to overreact.
01:36 I know fans have the, they're allowed to do that.
01:40 That's why they're fans, they're passionate.
01:43 I get it, but I just, I'm not in the same spot.
01:46 I don't have the luxury of that.
01:47 I have a team to cover and there's now, there were 11 games, now there's 10 games left in
01:53 the season and we'll see what happens.
01:55 So Jalen Rager, of course, former first round pick that they picked up off the scrap heap
02:03 from I think the Vikings released him, I think.
02:06 But anyways, what I've seen of him, his speed is real on film.
02:11 It's good.
02:12 It seems like on film he reasonably knows where to go as far as his routes and things
02:17 like that.
02:18 He did have a nice in-cut in the last game against the Bills.
02:25 One of those sort of trust plays where the Bills are playing off and Mack knows three
02:30 step drop, boom, you need to believe that the wide receiver is going to be in the right
02:35 spot, and he was.
02:39 It's certainly interesting, Nick, that they have signed him to the roster.
02:44 There's been a lot of roster shenanigans going on.
02:46 The Patriots, by my count, now have eight wide receivers on the roster.
02:51 Parker, Bourne, Smith-Schuster, Douglas, Thornton, Booty, Rager, and Ty Montgomery, however you
03:00 want to put him.
03:02 It hasn't really come to fruition that he's the third down back that we thought he was
03:08 going to be or sort of Swiss Army knife like he was going to be when Matt Patricia was
03:12 here.
03:13 He seems mostly on special teams, but whatever.
03:17 Obviously, that's a lot.
03:21 That's too many wide receivers.
03:23 You have to think that there's a roster move coming.
03:27 I thought it might be Booty, and maybe he gets a case of the Foxboro flu.
03:33 He came up last week with an ankle injury, but I checked the injury report.
03:37 He's not on the injury report this week.
03:43 Look, he keeps getting passed on the depth chart by a variety of people.
03:48 I think it would be wise, if they can, to shut him down for the year.
03:53 We talked all along, and I think we're going to have a question about this later in our
03:57 mailbag, so we won't get into it too much now.
04:03 It was going to be tough for him to play a lot this year.
04:05 I think the other possible move, Juju Smith-Huster going on four game IR to heal everything that
04:14 ails him.
04:15 He had the concussion.
04:16 He's obviously dealt with the knee thing.
04:18 Considering where they are right now and coming off their best offensive game and look like
04:22 the pecking order, sort of Kendrick Bourne and then Demario Douglas, and then filling
04:28 in beyond that, I think they can afford, and it might be better for the team, just to put
04:33 Juju, let him get healthy.
04:37 If there are depth issues later on or they need him, it'd be nice to have a veteran receiver
04:41 more at 100% later on in the season.
04:45 I think that's a legit possibility.
04:50 I mean, certainly, there has to be an injury concern.
04:55 Somebody has to be going on IR for them to make this move.
04:57 Well, you know what the saying is, Greg, "Quantity, not quality."
05:01 That's what they got at wide receiver right now.
05:05 I'm interested to see the wide receiver mix of snaps this week.
05:09 Last week, we had Kendrick Bourne with the most snaps, thank God.
05:12 Finally, somebody that can give you some yak, give you some electricity when they catch
05:16 the football, somebody that Mack trusts.
05:19 He was number one in snaps at that position.
05:21 Douglas was number two.
05:23 Devontae took a slide back.
05:24 Rager took a step up.
05:25 Does Rager get even more snaps and Devontae gets less?
05:29 Tyquan Thornton, is he out?
05:31 I would imagine he's going to be inactive with his big fat three snaps last week.
05:35 You mentioned it on the pod earlier this week, one of those snaps he ran the wrong route.
05:40 And Juju, Juju's out there on the practice field for the second straight week.
05:44 Are they going to play him?
05:46 As you mentioned, could they actually put him on IR?
05:49 Could they stash him away for a few weeks?
05:52 If he does play on Sunday, is he taking snaps from who?
05:56 How many snaps does he play?
05:59 That whole kind of juggling game at wide receiver fascinates me.
06:02 Yeah, you know, absolutely, Nick.
06:05 You're totally right to point that out.
06:06 And it's just, you know, it's interesting.
06:08 Like I think, you know, I have a lot of patience with Tyquan.
06:13 I know there's a lot of fans that that aren't that don't have that considering his draft
06:17 status and and, you know, speed and upside and things like that.
06:22 They think they want to label him a bust already.
06:25 He has had a rough go of it as a youngster as far as his health has not been optimal.
06:30 He has not been on the field enough.
06:32 But, you know, look, I know internally one of the big sort of complaints about the personnel
06:39 and their lack of ability to do certain things in the early part of the season was centering
06:46 around they had no vertical option in this game and you in this team and you you need
06:52 to have that.
06:53 You need to have that at least threat where, you know, at least one safety is like, all
06:57 right, I got to stay over the top of this guy.
06:59 And that that creates space underneath of your, you know, building levels into your
07:05 your passing attack, which the Patriots like to do, which, you know, all good offenses
07:09 like to do.
07:10 And they've just lacked that.
07:11 And so, you know, I still have a lot of hope for Tyquan.
07:15 I think he's bright.
07:16 His speed is absolutely real on film.
07:20 It is legit.
07:22 And you know, I think between him and Ragoor, somebody has to present the vertical element
07:28 in this passing game.
07:29 I would I would continue on with Tyquan at least until he gets hurt again.
07:34 But then maybe that's just me.
07:36 Yeah, I'm not writing him off by any means.
07:39 People want to write off these young guys immediately.
07:41 It's silly.
07:42 And especially given the injury situation now, the injury situation is real as well
07:47 as his speed.
07:48 Can he stay healthy?
07:49 As you just mentioned, that's that's a huge question.
07:52 I just wonder if they trust him at all.
07:53 You know, does Mac trust him at all?
07:55 When he's gotten out there, he really hasn't proven that he knows what he's doing consistently.
08:00 So we'll see how all that comes together.
08:02 Last headline for you quickly here.
08:03 Malik Cunningham was released.
08:05 Then they get him back on the practice squad.
08:07 I don't know about you, Greg, but it is borderline amazing to me that the guy that was QB to
08:15 a couple of weeks ago in Vegas, you're a Mac Jones injury away from Malik Cunningham being
08:19 your quarterback the rest of that game.
08:22 And then within two weeks, that same guy is getting released.
08:25 This this QB to tap dance is insane to me.
08:29 Is it insane to you?
08:31 Yeah, it's it's absolutely ridiculous.
08:34 But you know, it just it just goes along with all the you know, and I guess we have no other
08:40 choice but to, you know, pin this on Bill Belichick.
08:44 But you know, this just goes along with like they he just has zero feel for offense.
08:49 He offensive personnel.
08:51 He really does.
08:52 He has no feel for it.
08:53 I mean, you know, look back on the like the little Jordan Humphrey stuff, you know, from
08:57 last year where the guys like playing a buttload of snaps early on in the season when they
09:02 can't generate any offense, including against the Ravens, where, you know, they were going
09:06 to need to score in the 30.
09:08 And then, you know, a couple of weeks later, he's he's released.
09:11 And, you know, I I'm sure it will be explained away and has been in in different circles,
09:20 you know, around the beat that like, oh, you know, there were a lot of injury issues and
09:24 they had to do this and they had to do that.
09:26 I mean, you know, that's the sort of minutiae, the margins that Bill Belichick gets lost
09:33 in and they lose sight of the big picture oftentimes on offense.
09:37 And, you know, that Malik Cunningham was one heartbeat away from playing quarterback.
09:42 I mean, just Nick, just think of it this way.
09:44 And everybody knows I did my rant on this, you know, when it happened.
09:47 But, you know, just think about this now that like say say they, you know, say Matt Jones
09:54 got hurt in that game, the Raiders game, and Malik Cunningham had to go in and they didn't
09:59 do anything and they had a chance to win that game.
10:00 And then they go, you know, they beat the Bills the next week.
10:03 I mean, you know, Bill Belichick willingly left a possible win on the table with what
10:09 he did at the quarterback position.
10:10 Now, you know, Malik, you know, if if this this is the second time Malik Cunningham has
10:17 been released and available to the league and nobody has picked him up.
10:21 So please stop telling me about Malik Cunningham.
10:25 And you know, he should play quarterback and he's a weapon.
10:27 He should do this and that.
10:29 Like nobody in the league believes that.
10:32 You know, he's a developmental player.
10:33 That's what he is.
10:34 I don't understand the need to.
10:36 They should have kept him on the practice squad.
10:37 They should have elevated him again for that game, for whatever package that they were
10:42 going to do.
10:43 And then and then put him back on the practice squad.
10:46 You know, this dance is just silly.
10:48 But you know, the bottom line is this.
10:50 Malik Cunningham is a talented kid, but he's very much a developmental kid.
10:54 He belongs on the practice squad.
10:56 Just leave him be.
10:58 Let's see where he is next year in camp and then we can go from there.
11:02 Snap into action this NFL season with FanDuel, America's number one sports book.
11:06 Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet.
11:12 That's $200 in bonus bets.
11:14 Win or lose.
11:15 I love those little suckers, those little bonus bets.
11:17 It's like free money.
11:18 If you're thinking about joining FanDuel, there's no better time to get in on the action.
11:23 The app is easy to use.
11:24 There's a wide range of betting options, including spreads, player props, over-unders
11:28 and more.
11:29 So visit FanDuel.com/Boston and kick off the NFL season.
11:33 FanDuel, official partner of the NFL.
11:36 All right, so Greg jumped on X today and asked for your mailbag questions.
11:45 If you don't follow Greg, which I find hard to believe, but if you don't follow him, it's
11:49 at Greg A. Bedard.
11:50 If you don't follow me, much more believable, it's @NCRadio.
11:54 Let's get to some of these questions.
11:56 Matt Ryan first on the docket here today.
11:59 Greg, not going to make this too complex.
12:03 So what happened to the booty hype?
12:06 Should have never bought into it.
12:08 As we told you here on the podcast, during everything, he got off to a slow start.
12:13 Look, he was a late round pick.
12:17 No question about his, you know, he has a pretty good ceiling as a prospect and has.
12:23 Look at what he did his freshman year at LSU.
12:26 But after that, he's had a lot of injury issues.
12:28 He's had off-field issues.
12:29 There are a lot of teams that wouldn't even entertain drafting this guy because of some
12:33 of his off-field issues.
12:34 Now, as we've said before, everything that I've heard from the building, like they've
12:39 really liked him in the building.
12:40 He has been a professional and all that stuff.
12:42 We don't know.
12:43 Well, that was a while ago.
12:44 I don't know if that has continued.
12:48 Him not having much of a role on this team when he could have, you know, is he still
12:54 doing the right things behind the scenes?
12:56 You know, I don't know.
12:58 But I think, you know, the booty hype was typical training camp, rookie, wide receiver.
13:03 We never have any wide receivers hype.
13:05 Like, look, I was guilty of it when I was growing up a Dolphins fan, like, you know,
13:09 especially at the running back position.
13:11 Like I used to go nuts because they never had a running game.
13:14 And then they'd bring somebody in, whether it was like Sammy Smith I got a little excited
13:18 for or remember, you know, Cecil Collins.
13:22 Cecil Collins, man, I was so excited.
13:24 I went out to training camp practice or mini camp practice.
13:26 And like, I was like, he's going to be the answer.
13:28 He's going to give Dan Marino finally a rushing game.
13:31 And so, you know, I understand.
13:33 I understand it.
13:35 But you know, you just got to, especially with these younger guys, I mean, look, they
13:39 popped on pop as a six round pick.
13:42 Don't get greedy.
13:43 You know, if if, you know, booty can be a long term developmental guy, maybe he can
13:48 get his legs back to where he was as a freshman being in a professional program and being
13:54 a professional wide receiver now, then, you know, maybe it pays off a year from now.
13:58 But, you know, to think that two six round wide receivers were going to come in and make
14:02 an impact in your offense, it's just it just doesn't happen that way.
14:06 So, you know, pop is the guy he is legit.
14:09 They hit on that great pick, you know, awesome job by the scouting staff, you know, but,
14:16 you know, booty just, you know, like Malik Cunningham, like just just let it play out.
14:22 Let him be a young player in his career.
14:23 Let him develop.
14:25 And you know, they have they have plenty of other options.
14:29 Some I don't love like Parker and Juju, but this is the bed they made for themselves.
14:33 Yeah, I still would have given booty a shot over Parker, especially coming off of that
14:38 Raiders game.
14:39 But it feels like since they didn't do that and I know he popped up last week, I think
14:43 it was a hammy.
14:44 I know you said ankle hammy ankle, whatever it was.
14:47 So maybe that's why he didn't get a chance.
14:49 But it certainly seems like Rager has surpassed him.
14:52 They want something out of Thornton, obviously, after investing that second round pick, I
14:56 would have given him a shot over Parker, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
14:59 All right.
15:00 Next question.
15:01 Eric Larrabee contractually.
15:02 How does the team get out from under the Juju and Parker contracts, Greg?
15:07 So I am just looking those up right now at over the cap dot com and you yourself can
15:12 do that over the cap dot com.
15:14 Great place.
15:15 Almost all of their stuff is is free on there.
15:19 So Juju Smith Schuster has 16 million dollars guaranteed.
15:24 By the way, his over the cap valuation right now is one point six five million dollars.
15:31 So let's say let's say they wanted to say they want if they cut him before June 1st
15:43 or trade him or what?
15:44 Let's see if trades and trades different.
15:48 They can they can trade him.
15:49 And basically the dead money is sort of the same.
15:53 It offsets.
15:54 They would save money if they trade him.
15:56 If they cut him.
15:58 Before June 1st, it would be it would be nine point six million in dead cap.
16:06 Basically they would save like a million dollars.
16:08 That's that's it.
16:11 And you know, so it's really Juju is really a two year deal.
16:15 You can you can get out any time you want to.
16:18 This is also one of my complaints when, you know, they were one in five and everybody's
16:22 talking about the future.
16:23 And I was thinking about doing a column about like, all right, well, you know, what steps
16:26 would I take as far as the Patriots in the future?
16:30 And one of the one of the primary things I would do, Nick, is.
16:35 And I don't know if this is just Bell Tech refusing to do it or them not having the personnel
16:39 in the house.
16:40 But one if I was general manager of the team, one of the first things I would do is find
16:45 the smartest cap person in the league.
16:48 And I would start doing some modern day cap gymnastics that the Patriots absolutely refuse
16:54 to do.
16:55 Everybody else is doing it.
16:57 The best teams in the league are doing it.
16:59 To me, the Patriots are leaving a lot on the field that they did, that they aren't, you
17:03 know, adding more in future years with all their cap space, with all the TV revenue that's
17:08 coming in.
17:09 You know, look, we don't know if it's sustainable.
17:11 One of the reasons why the Patriots were so good for so long is because they did have
17:15 cap discipline.
17:16 To me, that's when the cap was tighter.
17:19 I think the rules have changed.
17:20 The rules of engagement have changed on cap management.
17:22 I don't think the Patriots have kept up with the times.
17:25 It's another another way that I think they've fallen behind the rest of the league.
17:31 You know, so Juju, you know, you can get out any time on Juju after the season.
17:37 It wouldn't be a huge issue, especially with the amount of cap space that they have.
17:43 Devontae Parker, if they cut him, it would be six point three million in dead cap.
17:49 They wouldn't save a lot if they traded him.
17:53 It's a tradable contract.
17:54 They would probably they would basically save three point four million if they traded him.
18:00 By the way, his OTC valuation right now is five million dollars.
18:05 What?
18:06 How does that happen?
18:07 But anyway, yeah, I don't understand that.
18:10 But yeah, so look, none of those contracts are albatrosses or anything like that.
18:15 They can do anything they want.
18:16 And but Devontae is definitely, I would say, easier to get out of.
18:20 Yeah, I agree with that.
18:23 All right.
18:24 Larry Speedstick, Belichick, Kraft, Matt Jones, kill one, Greg, marry one and sleep with one.
18:31 Who you got?
18:33 Well, let's see.
18:35 It's just tough.
18:38 Yeah.
18:39 Well, I'm definitely I'm definitely marrying Kraft.
18:43 I mean, he's got the deeper pockets.
18:45 He's the billionaire.
18:46 You get the money.
18:47 I was just thinking the same exact thing at the same exact time.
18:49 Yeah.
18:50 And I'm definitely marrying him because, you know, and he's getting older.
18:53 So, you know, the marriage wouldn't have to last all that long.
18:57 And then, you know, I'm inheriting places in Palm Beach and New York City and Brookline
19:02 and you know, all that stuff.
19:04 You know, all due respect, Robert.
19:05 I'm not you know, we're just having a little fun here.
19:10 You know, kill one, kill one or sleep with one.
19:17 You know, I guess I guess if I had to, quote unquote, kill one, I guess would be Belichick
19:22 because, you know, he's not getting any younger.
19:23 I don't think, you know, he's going to be around for very much longer.
19:29 And you know, and you can always find a replacement for him.
19:34 Sleep with one.
19:35 You know, I guess Max, the last one left.
19:38 I don't exactly know what that means, but I'm trying to have fun and play along.
19:46 So Greg would marry the 82 year old billionaire.
19:51 Then he would quickly move on to Mac and Greg would be the cougar in that relationship and
19:59 he would sleep with Mac and then he would then move on to Belichick and he would take
20:03 Belichick out and he would kill Belichick.
20:06 I actually marry.
20:08 Maybe I should marry and kill Robert Kraft.
20:10 You know, like one of those like movies, you know, like cyanide or something.
20:14 No, I can't do it.
20:16 Can't do it.
20:17 Won't do it.
20:18 You only got one one option for each person.
20:19 I actually agree with all of that.
20:21 Like Belichick's legacy.
20:22 It's solidified.
20:23 Let's get older.
20:24 Like, you know, he's done all that he could do or he's done most of what he could do with
20:28 with football and with his life.
20:30 So, you know, and Kraft, you talked about a deep pockets and Max got plenty of life
20:35 to live.
20:36 So there you have it.
20:37 Although you have to make sure that you cut the relationship off after that one shot with
20:41 Mac because, you know, you've got Kraft's money, Greg, and you don't want Mac chasing
20:46 Kraft's money that you got from Kraft, you know, eventually.
20:52 I think Mac would be a little needy and stuff.
20:56 He would get ready for dinner and Mac be yelling
21:04 at you across the kitchen.
21:05 Sit, Greg, sit like he was doing last week.
21:08 Sit.
21:09 All right.
21:10 Anyway, Troy Brown, is he getting a pass?
21:13 This is from Mike six.
21:14 Oh, three is Troy Brown getting a pass on the inconsistency with the Patriots wide receiver
21:18 core.
21:19 Not if you've listened to this podcast for the last two years.
21:22 I mean, I can't speak to what other people are writing and saying.
21:29 And I think I've mentioned this before.
21:31 I don't read and listen to a ton of other stuff during the season because I like to
21:36 keep my mind uncluttered and sort of have, form my own opinions.
21:41 I don't want to be unoriginal and unknowingly cribbed from somebody else.
21:47 And when I do hear things, you know, whether it's from like Chris Sims or Greg Cosell,
21:52 or you know, I did mention on Felger and Maz that I did think it was interesting about
21:57 Rick Spielman was on Tom Curran's podcast and they talked about his philosophy for building
22:05 around Kirk Cousins and when he was GM of the Vikings and you know, how he sees Mac
22:11 and Kirk kind of similar in that, you know, they're not the, they're not the, you know,
22:16 they're not the most dynamic athletes at the quarterback position.
22:20 And you know, Kirk Cousins likes to step up into passes into the pocket.
22:23 So it was a premium for him to build up the three interior offensive line positions.
22:29 It didn't, he admitted it didn't work what he tried to do.
22:32 But you know, but I thought that was interesting.
22:35 But you know, look, as far as Troy Brown, if you'd listened, if you've listened to
22:40 this podcast and my issues with the route running on this team, I've been very critical
22:45 of Troy the last two years.
22:48 And you know, I gave him somewhat of a pass Matt Patricia's year because you know, you
22:53 need a coordinator and offensive coordinator in the NFL should be able to coach the assistant
22:58 coaches.
22:59 And I don't, I don't think Troy was getting that at all last year.
23:03 And I think it showed and you know, Bill O'Brien has a lot of fires to put out and, and you
23:09 know, I think, you know, you can make the argument that it's getting better.
23:12 It was better this week.
23:14 I still had some issues with the routes, including Kendrick Bourne on the second play of the
23:18 game, running the wrong route and Matt getting mad about that.
23:21 And Pop Douglas ran a wrong route and you know, that stuff's going on.
23:26 But look, I think it's a legitimate question to, to ask, you know, is Troy Brown a good
23:32 wide receivers coach?
23:33 Is he good enough or could they do better?
23:35 You know, we'll like everything else, we'll let the season play out and, and, you know,
23:39 have more of an answer after it.
23:41 All right.
23:42 Michael Quirion has a question for you.
23:44 Trade deadline coming up soon.
23:45 Yes, it is.
23:46 It's on a hot, it's on Halloween.
23:48 So it's five days away.
23:50 We're creeping up on it.
23:52 Could you see the Patriots actually buying, trading for some additional help?
23:56 Greg on the O-line, he mentions Jerry Judy.
23:59 He mentions DeAndre Hopkins.
24:02 Broncos Titans seem to have a fire sale going on right now.
24:07 Could you, do you see the Patriots adding instead of maybe subtracting before the deadline
24:13 is up?
24:14 I, I do not.
24:17 Nothing major.
24:18 Is it on the offensive line?
24:20 I, I don't see it.
24:22 They put in enough it and, and look, I'm just putting myself in Bill Belichick's shoes and
24:26 sort of, you know, the way he thinks and the way I've observed him over the years, I think
24:31 at this point he's like, I put enough resources into the offensive line and, and, you know,
24:37 with, you know, they made those two late camp trades right before the season for two tackles.
24:43 Calvin Anderson is back on the list with an illness.
24:45 I don't know if this is still the thing that kept him out a while, but man, what a rough
24:49 go for this guy.
24:52 And he's, you know, even before that he was a healthy scratch behind a bunch of guys.
24:56 Tyrone Wheatley Jr. is on IR.
24:59 Vidarian Lowe is not good right now.
25:03 I do think he still has potential with the right, if, if he has a good offensive line
25:07 coach to develop him.
25:09 The skills are there.
25:10 The technique is not, it's not even close, but I think they've settled on you know, and
25:16 they should get Riley Reif hopefully back at some point.
25:18 I don't know how serious his injury is and I do think they liked him at guard, but you
25:24 know, you do worry a little bit about the tackle depth.
25:27 You know, Trent Brown got beat up last week.
25:32 Michael Wenu is dealing still, you know, with the ankle.
25:35 He's not a hundred percent.
25:37 I think they feel okay about City Sill at right guard.
25:41 You know, he's the weak link, but you can deal with one weak link on the offensive line.
25:45 They have Moffey behind him who's, you know, okay and developing.
25:49 There's also Jake Anders is out there.
25:51 You have James Ference on the practice squad.
25:53 I do worry a little bit about offensive tackle depth with what they're doing.
25:57 You know, Trent Brown and Michael Wenu, you know, you're one injury away from being back
26:01 into it, but are they really going to put more into it and get somebody decent?
26:05 I doubt it.
26:07 And as far as the other stuff, I mean, maybe I've never been a Jerry Judy guy.
26:11 I certainly didn't like his attitude with the Steve Smith stuff.
26:14 That's a bad sign to me where, you know, Smith was being critical of him and then Judy got
26:19 all sensitive about it.
26:20 Like, you know, be a pro.
26:23 Don't be a big baby.
26:25 Would love to have Dehop here.
26:27 I don't know if they're getting him in a trade.
26:32 He's been really good this year.
26:34 You know, as far as getting open and stuff like that, that offense stinks.
26:39 You know, and so I don't know.
26:41 I don't really see it.
26:42 I would be, I'm more interested in them being sellers.
26:46 I don't think it helped Josh Uche's cause here that he missed last week and the pass
26:50 for us was great and did a great job against Josh Allen.
26:53 Do you really need Josh Uche?
26:55 If you can get a third or a fourth for him, I would do it.
26:59 They'll probably hang on to Duggar, which unless they're going to franchise tag him
27:03 or give him a boatload of money, which I wouldn't do.
27:06 He was bad last week.
27:08 I would entertain trading him.
27:09 So, you know, I don't know.
27:11 I mean, Nick, what do you, I mean, do you think there's a trade that they could make
27:15 that's going to make them a lot better?
27:17 I do think they're competitive and I want to play out the season and I think they'll
27:20 be in it somewhat, but I don't know if there's really one trade that sort of puts them over
27:25 the top.
27:26 No, not really.
27:27 I mean, I, there are just so many questions, you know, at so many different spots.
27:33 There's a lot of holes in the boat that you're trying to plug as is.
27:36 And I just, I don't know if there's that one player, that one marquee name that you could
27:40 bring in.
27:42 I agree that the Hopkins thing could be interesting.
27:44 And I'm not the biggest guy on Judy.
27:46 I don't think you're going to give up what you would need to give up probably to bring
27:49 in Courtland Sutton.
27:50 He's another interesting name in Denver, but there's, there's not really a ton out there.
27:54 Like Derrick Henry is the name everybody's talking about.
27:56 You're not bringing in Derrick Henry.
27:58 So yeah, as, as far as the offensive line, I hope Trent Brown's out there on Sunday.
28:03 He's been their best offensive lineman this year.
28:06 That video from when he got hurt in the Buffalo game, I think it was Mike Reese who posted
28:11 that earlier this week.
28:12 And that video looked bad.
28:14 Like he went down awkwardly.
28:17 Somebody hit his leg awkwardly.
28:20 He did like a split that didn't look great.
28:23 Hopefully he's okay.
28:24 But if you end up with, if this, if this offensive line is healthy, relatively speaking, and
28:29 you end up with Brown, Strange, Andrews, Reef, and Owenu, I think you could do much worse
28:35 up front than that.
28:36 So we'll see if they can stay healthy.
28:37 All right.
28:38 Last question from the mailbag.
28:39 I know you have another one or two that you wanted to get to, but the last one I've got
28:42 on the list, this is from water boys.
28:45 If Belichick is back, will craft bring in someone to handle personnel?
28:50 Water boys throws a name out there, Jeff Ireland with the saints.
28:55 That's one of the big question out there, you know, water boys as far as after the season,
29:01 you know, a lot of this stuff.
29:02 And I get a lot of questions about like, who do you want to see as the next coach?
29:05 What do you think the Patriots to do?
29:07 I, I just, I can't get there yet.
29:09 Like let's, you know, if they're eliminated with like a month or, you know, whenever they're
29:14 eliminated, we'll start to talk about that stuff.
29:16 But you know, there's a season to be played and there's, you know, they can win this game
29:20 on Sunday and then they have a lot of winnable games.
29:24 You know, late, you know, after that and later on in the season and they'll have a bye week
29:28 to get healthy and things like that.
29:30 Like you know, I'm all about the season and you know, but as far like I do think the crafts
29:39 need to take a hard look at their personnel.
29:41 I mean, we've been over it.
29:42 Their offensive personnel is just not good enough and their approach to offense isn't
29:46 good enough and you know, how they are brought into the modern age.
29:52 You know, do they give, do they give somebody in personnel does macro work hand in hand
29:57 with Bill O'Brien?
29:58 You know, do they bring somebody else in?
30:00 I have a hard time seeing them bring somebody else in from outside the family on top of
30:06 Belichick to pick personnel.
30:07 I mean, I just don't think Belichick would stand for that and you know, maybe that's
30:10 one way to move on from him, but I, yeah, I, I don't, I don't see something like that
30:16 happening.
30:17 I mean, could they empower somebody more?
30:19 Yeah, but I still, this is all written into Belichick's contract.
30:23 It would, it would get really thorny.
30:25 Yeah.
30:26 And Ian Rappaport this week with Greg Hill, I think it was Greg Hill.
30:31 He mentioned that his reporting is that Bill does have final say.
30:36 He has not heard that anything was taken out of Bill's contract about that.
30:39 So because the Dale Arnold post from earlier, everybody was reporting stuff on Belichick's
30:44 contract.
30:45 Dale Arnold had posted that there was some responsibilities laid out and people started
30:49 to wonder if that meant that Bill no longer had final say or that he gave up some of the
30:54 power as GM that he once had.
30:57 Rappaport said that's not what he has heard and what he has, you know, reported.
31:01 So it seems like Bill still has final say.
31:05 I think as far as the bigger picture and the question of whether or not you keep Bill at
31:10 these positions, it's like, I have fallen into this trap as well saying, oh, if they
31:15 get the seven wins or eight wins, then Bill will stay as head coach, but the GM title
31:19 has to go.
31:20 I also think it depends on who you're beating, right?
31:23 Like if they finish with six or seven, if they finish with seven or eight wins, but
31:27 those wins, like if you look back and Buffalo was by far the best win of the season and
31:32 they lost to all the good teams they played, then really how much better did they get?
31:36 They just beat up and, you know, they just beat up fellow mediocre to bad teams.
31:41 If they stack up wins against the Giants and the Commanders and the Colts in Germany, and
31:46 you know, Zach Wilson still playing at the end of the year with the Jets and they beat
31:50 the Jets, you know, here at Gillette.
31:53 I mean, even seven, eight wins, I think you have to kind of evaluate all of it.
31:57 Who did they beat?
31:58 How did they look?
31:59 There's a lot of football left and you know, I said last week, my, my hope percentage about
32:04 this season before the Bill's game was at 2%.
32:08 I officially more than doubled my whole percentage.
32:10 It's now up to 5%.
32:11 Yeah.
32:12 Big movement, big movement in the whole percentage this week and we'll see how they do in Miami.
32:16 If that'll affect that number again.
32:18 So that's where I'm at.
32:19 All right.
32:20 You have a question or two, Greg, that you wanted to address from the people.
32:23 Yeah.
32:24 So, uh, Champ to Pug, as I said, PFF graded JC Jackson high.
32:30 How do you feel about his play?
32:33 If you've listened to this pod, you know how I feel about PFF.
32:35 Um, I take it with a grain of salt and you know, there's a lot of context that needs
32:40 to be put in to stats.
32:42 Like for example, I think I read somewhere that they had Siddy So as the highest rated
32:46 rookie guard this season with his performance against the Bills.
32:50 I mean, come on, give me a break.
32:52 The guy gave up like three quarterback pressures, three and a half run stuffs.
32:56 He was by far the worst on the offensive line.
32:59 Like get out of here with that nonsense.
33:01 Um, you know, I, it wouldn't surprise me if JC Jackson graded high in, in this game.
33:08 Um, you know, I do think, well, I mean, first of all, he gave up the touchdown to, um, to
33:14 Stefan Diggs, you know, when he didn't tackle him, like, how can you be rated high when
33:18 you don't even tackle?
33:19 It's, you know, you're only going to touch the guy down.
33:22 Um, you know, so there's that, but, uh, look, there's gotta be context, you know, into things.
33:29 And when, you know, when the Patriots are getting pressure, pressure as much as they
33:35 did, um, you know, on Josh Allen, like there's, there's not a lot of time, um, you know, for
33:43 you to cover.
33:44 And they did a great job of that.
33:45 They got, they were able to get pressure before the Bills routes developed and, and Ken Dorsey
33:50 never adjusted.
33:51 He kept running the same sort of deep level routes where, you know, that was just, wasn't
33:58 a winning strategy against the way the Patriots were playing coverage.
34:01 Um, but in general about JC Jackson, I think he's, I think he's really good in man coverage.
34:07 He's still really good in man coverage.
34:09 He's, he's had some huge coverage mistakes.
34:12 Um, he's been playing man when everyone else has covered three and vice versa.
34:18 I didn't see, I didn't see that this week.
34:21 Um, you know, but, uh, he, he's, he's really good in man.
34:25 The more man that the Patriots are able to play and Jack with Jack Jones being back,
34:29 they're able to play a little bit more man.
34:32 Um, that allows JC Jackson to be at his best.
34:35 If he has to play a lot of zone and have different responsibilities, he can get into trouble.
34:40 Um, so far they haven't had to do that.
34:43 You know, we'll see how it goes, you know, this week against the dolphins.
34:46 Oh, and, uh, one more question.
34:48 And this is actually for me, uh, just because I think some people, if they were listening
34:53 to Felger and Maz yesterday, uh, might not have understood the context, but that you,
34:58 you basically, the question is, is it true?
35:01 You flipped off, uh, Felger and Maz producer, James Stewart after the show on Tuesday.
35:06 Um, it is true, but there's context.
35:11 So, uh, Jimmy came in hot.
35:13 Um, we were all sort of hot.
35:15 I had a feeling going into Tuesday's telecast that it was going to be one of those tractor
35:19 pull middle of the week things where we're all sort of on each other's nerves.
35:24 And I didn't like, you know, and I knew it from the day before where they were mocking
35:28 my column about Mac Jones, which I thought I was accurate.
35:31 I was given the kid as flowers for a great
35:33 virtual.
35:34 So, but yeah, exactly.
35:37 I had to turn it off.
35:38 I heard them doing it.
35:39 I heard the tone.
35:40 I had to turn it off because I knew it was going to make me mad.
35:43 And so I came in and I'd be like, all right, you know, you guys want to, you know, virtuoso
35:46 to my face and stuff like that.
35:48 And you know, Jimmy Stewart, anytime you, anytime you criticize the show, he gets his
35:53 backup pretty quickly.
35:54 Anytime you, anytime you criticize their content or their approach to something, he doesn't
35:59 like it.
36:00 Hey, I understand it.
36:01 I do the same stuff with my, my work and you know, my columns and things like that.
36:06 And but just for the record, they could criticize everybody in the job they do.
36:10 But if you criticize the job they do.
36:14 Little sensitive.
36:15 Yeah.
36:16 Yeah.
36:17 They're like, you know, the sensitive patriots and sensitive Bruins fans, you know, like
36:20 how about the dad now that, you know, that, that sort of thing, you know, but so as I,
36:28 when I leave the show, I always make it a point to go by Jimmy's window and sort of
36:32 giving him a salute, like, Hey, you know, thanks for the show.
36:35 And he does it back to me.
36:36 And so yesterday I did it to him, Tuesday, I did it to him, but I also tossed in a bird.
36:42 I was smiling, we were laughing and he gave me the double bird back and he was laughing
36:46 and smiling.
36:47 You know, we were just busting each other's chops.
36:50 You know, because sometimes we get on each other's nerves and that's fine.
36:53 That's what happens with these shows.
36:54 But you know, it was not in a mean spirit.
36:56 We were just joking around.
36:57 It was sort of locker room banter.
36:59 So I just wanted to make that clear.
37:00 Yeah.
37:01 And from what I know, Jimmy, he's a good dude.
37:04 All right.
37:05 This episode brought to you by a fan dual exclusive wagering partner of the sale and
37:09 S media network.
37:10 New customers receive 150 bucks in bonus bets with any winning $5 money line bet.
37:16 All right, Greg, before we get to picking this game, Tyreek Hill could be out reportedly
37:22 a hip issue did not practice yesterday.
37:25 And if you heard what to a tongue of Iowa had to say at the podium, what Jalen Waddle
37:30 had to say, it did not necessarily come across as he's going to play this weekend.
37:37 Could this be a legit injury?
37:39 Is there maybe some shenanigans?
37:40 What do you think's going on with Tyreek?
37:42 Yeah, I don't know, Nick.
37:44 I mean, you know, does anybody else find it funny that like, you know, he all of a sudden,
37:50 you know, has an injury issue and might miss a game the week before he's supposed to play
37:55 his former team?
37:56 I mean, you know, I don't know.
37:59 And maybe the Dolphins aren't all that worried about the Patriots.
38:02 Maybe they're just like, all right, well, we'll give him sort of a bye week.
38:05 You know, we need him against the Chiefs.
38:07 He's going to want to play against the Chiefs.
38:10 You know, that sort of thing.
38:12 But you know, I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into it.
38:14 But that's that was my first thought.
38:18 Changes the landscape of the game if he's not out there.
38:20 I mean, yeah, you could argue you could argue that earlier in the season, you know, and
38:26 really not even early the entire season so far, you could argue that he should be in
38:30 the conversation of MVP.
38:31 He's been that good.
38:33 He has been that dynamic.
38:34 So if he's not out there, that would help the Patriots cause, of course, if he's not
38:40 out there in the Patriots end up winning, then how, you know, then we then we have to
38:44 deal with all the questions next week of, well, would they have beaten them with Tyreek
38:48 Hill and all that stuff?
38:49 So I don't know if I'd rather have Hill out there on Sunday playing against the Patriots
38:53 so we don't have to deal with that crap the next week or if I want them, you know, out.
38:58 So the Patriots have an even better chance of winning this game.
39:01 Speaking of their chance of winning this game, Greg, FanDuel line still Miami nine and a
39:06 half point favorites over under a forty five and a half.
39:10 How are you feeling?
39:12 So I was surprised.
39:14 I thought especially given the Tyreek Hill news, I thought that I thought the number
39:18 would be more around like seven or seven and a half.
39:20 And we did we saw the line drop against the Bills last week as we got up to game time.
39:27 I haven't watched a ton of Dolphins film.
39:29 I probably I watched like three quarters of the Eagles game and you know, but I did listen
39:33 to people like, you know, that I trust, like Chris Sims and Greg Cosell, you know, who
39:37 watch these guys, you know, week after week.
39:40 And especially Greg Cosell talked about like he could he he didn't think that the Dolphins
39:45 did very much motion with Tyreek Hill.
39:47 Like he couldn't think of one instance.
39:49 I did not see that on film.
39:52 And while they certainly had their issues against the Eagles, I didn't think the Dolphins
39:57 were all that bad in that game.
39:59 I mean, if Tyreek Hill catches that ball late in the third quarter, it's a tie game.
40:06 It's 17 17.
40:07 The Dolphins, their biggest issue was they had a ton of injury.
40:11 I mean, penalties in the game every time they did something, including I think, you know,
40:16 their opening drive.
40:17 They scored a touchdown to get called back by penalty.
40:20 You know, they had 10 penalties.
40:21 The Eagles had zero in the game.
40:25 You know, while the final score, you know, was rough and in the end of the game was rough
40:30 where I think they were just getting manhandled.
40:31 I think the Eagles finally wore on them because they're so big on both lines.
40:37 I didn't think that I didn't think that the Dolphins played all that poorly in that game.
40:43 You know, so I think their demise is somewhat exaggerated and, you know, their performance
40:49 against the Eagles, that loss, I think has been somewhat exaggerated.
40:54 You know, I do think that the Patriots the first time around had a decent plan against
40:59 the Dolphins.
41:00 I was definitely critical of it.
41:01 Too much three deep safety.
41:03 You know, they gave up a lot of stuff underneath and that ended up killing them in the game.
41:07 And yeah, I was more critical of, look, the team's built on defense and special teams
41:13 and you know the offense is going to be slow out the gate with a new coordinator and injury
41:18 issues in the offensive line.
41:19 And I'm sorry, the defense has to make plays and you have to be more aggressive.
41:23 If that means you might give up a big play, them's the brakes.
41:27 But this is the way you built the team and so I thought they were way too conservative.
41:31 Now contrast that and I just posted a column last night on BSJ about the defensive approach
41:36 against the Bills.
41:37 I thought it was awesome.
41:38 It was tremendous job by Steve Belichick and Gerard Mayo.
41:42 Certainly, you know, and I've been very critical of them against the Bills.
41:46 They took the fight to the Bills and it ended up winning them the game.
41:49 I mean, they blitzed like 50% of the time.
41:52 Half of those blitzes were heavy blitzes.
41:56 Six plus guys.
41:57 I mean, it was unbelievable and that determined the game.
42:04 Now I do think there's a lot of things that the Eagles do that the Patriots can replicate,
42:09 including how they're big up front, they're somewhat fast on the edges.
42:15 You got to contain, you got to condense.
42:18 I would look for the Patriots to put a premium on the edge with speed guys.
42:22 You got to try to keep those motions as much as possible inside.
42:26 You got to make it an offensive line game because their offensive line is not very good
42:30 at all.
42:32 And you got to play in front.
42:34 If you play from behind against that Dolphins team, it's over.
42:38 And so it's important for the Patriots to get off to a really good start just like they
42:42 did against the Bills.
42:44 But I do think they have a puncher's chance in this game.
42:47 I am definitely picking them to cover the point spread.
42:51 I think it will be more anywhere from three to seven points.
42:56 But I do like this spot for the Patriots.
43:00 I do think, yes, the Dolphins might be a little bit grumpy coming off the Eagles game, but
43:04 I think more importantly, that's a very big physical team that takes a lot out of you
43:09 when you're a finesse team like the Dolphins are.
43:12 And so I think they're going to get off to a slow start.
43:14 They might wake up at some point.
43:16 That's why it's important for them to get off to a good start.
43:19 But I like the spot after the Eagles, before the Chiefs.
43:23 It's a perfect spot for the Patriots.
43:24 I do think they have a chance as an upset, but I'll probably end up picking the Dolphins
43:29 by about three or four points in this game.
43:32 I like the point about the Eagles coming off the Eagles game.
43:34 They are a physical, tough team to play.
43:37 So Miami's got a ton of injuries.
43:40 The offensive line is all banged up by Isaiah Wynn on the IR.
43:44 Armstead is out.
43:46 Connor Williams has been banged up, although he's been on the practice field.
43:48 That's their starting center, if you're wondering.
43:51 Eikenberg has been replacing him lately, but it does look like he has a chance to play.
43:57 Williams has a chance to play, but that whole line is banged up and they're not very good
44:00 to begin with.
44:01 Defensive backs.
44:02 Jalen Ramsey is out there practicing.
44:04 Today, Fangio said that he's not sure if he's going to play on Sunday.
44:07 They're just trying to get him more involved.
44:09 We'll see if Ramsey is out there.
44:10 He was supposed to get out there by December, so this would be a very early return.
44:14 But Ramsey has been out there this week.
44:16 Holland, who's a tremendous safety, he's in concussion protocol.
44:20 He might be out.
44:21 Xavier Howard did not play last week due to a groin injury, so their defensive backs are
44:26 all sorts of banged up.
44:28 Tyreek Hill, we mentioned him.
44:29 Raheem Mostert wasn't out there on the practice field yesterday.
44:33 He's a little dinged up.
44:35 A-Chan, A-Chain, A-Chun, A-Chun, he's on the IR with an injury.
44:40 So this team is just ravaged right now with injuries.
44:44 Red Zone's going to be a big deal.
44:47 They're a really good Red Zone offense.
44:49 And if we remember back to the game earlier this year, the defense for the Patriots, the
44:54 plan, didn't have an issue with it.
44:56 Him laying back and not giving up big plays.
44:58 They did a great job on Tyreek Hill, even though Jonathan Jones was not playing in that
45:03 game.
45:04 The issue was in the first half, they gave up touchdowns and not field goals.
45:07 Their Red Zone defense broke.
45:10 They have to be better defensively inside the 20 when the Dolphins get into that red
45:14 area.
45:15 And I'm interested, Greg, I'm just fascinated to see the approach from the Patriots.
45:19 Will they build off of what we saw against the Bills?
45:21 Will we see that consistent motion from O'Brien?
45:24 Will Bourne and Douglas get most of the snaps at wide receiver?
45:27 Will we see some of those things, more play action from Mack and getting him into a rhythm?
45:33 Will we see more of that continue or is that going to be a one week thing?
45:37 Will Juju come back and clunk it up, so to speak?
45:40 So I'm interested to see the approach offensively and defensively.
45:44 As you mentioned, their approach worked.
45:48 I think Bill would tell you that their approach worked for the most part earlier this year
45:51 against this team.
45:52 Do they go back to that or do they mix it up like they mixed it up against Buffalo?
45:57 Very interesting game to watch.
45:58 Yeah, I will say the biggest, the biggest, the one thing I wanted to mention, the biggest
46:02 key for the defense and the Patriots did a reasonable job of this in the game, but the
46:08 most important thing against Tua is to take away his primary read.
46:11 When you do that, then he starts to panic and, you know, starts throwing off his back
46:15 foot and pitter pattering and stuff like that.
46:18 So that's the most important thing in this game.
46:20 I think they'll obviously change from what they did the first time.
46:23 Belichick never likes to play somebody the same way twice, but that's the premium when
46:28 you play against Tua.
46:29 Take away his first read.
46:31 Yeah, I think the nine and a half is a little heavy, so I'm leaning with the Patriots to
46:36 cover this and I'd go the over.
46:38 I'd go the over 45 and a half.
46:40 I think both teams could score some points on Sunday.
46:42 All right, BSJ, check them out.
46:44 50 bucks for the year.
46:45 Bedard, Giardi, obviously doing great work with the Patriots.
46:49 Corrales rolling with the Celtics with that win last night against the Knicks at Madison
46:53 Square Garden.
46:54 Hags has joined the crew as well to cover the Bruins, so Joe Haggerty is there as well.
46:59 So check them out.
47:00 One last thing to squeeze in here, Greg, you love the name deflator.
47:04 We're going back to the BSJ member question, which we haven't done in a long time, but
47:09 deflator asks Taekwon Thorn lack of snaps.
47:12 Are they easing him back in?
47:14 Does this tape look bad or is it more of a case of him missing time and being behind
47:17 the eight ball so he needs time to get re-acclimated before they trust him?
47:22 Yeah, I think it's just the lack of practice time.
47:26 When you're a young player, especially a receiver in a complicated offense, you need to be on
47:31 the practice field.
47:32 You need to play games.
47:33 You need that tape.
47:34 You need the teaching points from it.
47:36 You need to earn the quarterback's trust.
47:38 And Taekwon's just missed way too much time.
47:41 And I think the best you can hope for for him this year is to slowly stack success.
47:46 It would be nice at some point here if he hit a shot play.
47:50 I would assume they're going to dial one up for him if he's active and all that stuff
47:56 in one of these games coming up here.
47:58 And you just sort of build from there.
48:01 But I think against the Bills, the way the Bills play with the zone and the two safeties
48:07 that they have who are really smart, I think it was more of a short intermediate game,
48:13 which it was because Mac Jones had the second lowest average depth of target at like 4.3
48:18 yards last week.
48:19 There will be other games against, especially once they play more man-to-man teams.
48:25 And the Dolphins don't really do that.
48:27 But against man-to-man teams, they're going to need more speed on the field and somebody
48:31 who can just take somebody and go and beat somebody.
48:34 And they don't have enough of those guys.
48:37 So he's not much of a zone guy.
48:39 Look for him more against man teams, but you just want to slowly build him up.
48:44 He's missed too much time.
48:45 He needs to practice.
48:46 He needs to play.
48:47 He's Greg.
48:48 I'm Nick.
48:49 Back next week, recap this game.
48:51 Peace.
48:52 The CLNS Media Network is powered by FanDuel.
48:55 Sign up at fanduel.com/boston and get in on the action with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed
49:01 when you place a $5 bet.
49:04 That's $200 in bonus bets.
49:06 Win or lose.
49:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
49:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
49:11 [MUSIC PLAYING]
49:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
49:15 (upbeat music)