In the latest episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles, Greg and Nick broke down the Patriots' last open OTA practice, including Drake Maye's ascension to No. 2 reps and a rough offensive practice thanks to a porous offensive line.
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 is brought to you by:
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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 is brought to you by:
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
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SportsTranscript
00:00 This is the Greg Bidard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.
00:08 All right, now that we think we're recording and we're good to go, he's Greg.
00:11 I'm Nick.
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00:53 Greg, you were at OTAs today.
00:56 It was the third OTA practice that you guys could take a look at.
01:01 First of all, 30,000 feet.
01:04 Your thoughts about Gerard Mayo's conversation with the media before you got to that practice?
01:11 I mean, I thought it was fine.
01:12 I don't know.
01:13 I don't know if you're hinting at something, something that might have jumped out to you.
01:17 You know, it's interesting.
01:19 Gerard, in the short time that we've had him in sort of this capacity, he seems to
01:26 he doesn't mind like foreshadowing things and sort of dropping hints on what we're going
01:31 to see at practice.
01:33 That's a, I will say, a welcome departure from before where, you know, it was Bill Belichick
01:39 liked to treat us like fungus, you know, keep us in the dark and feed us shit.
01:46 And so, so Gerard, like, you know, he's he's not afraid.
01:52 He talked up Drake May a little bit.
01:55 And so that sort of foreshadowed that he was going that he ended up getting the number
02:00 two reps instead of Bailey Zappi.
02:03 In this practice, he talked about how it was going to be red zone heavy.
02:08 I one thing where there was a little bit of a disconnect is because he he mentioned at
02:14 one point about how in the red zone, people were asking about Alex Van Pelt and scheme
02:18 and stuff like that.
02:19 And Gerard Mayo said, like, basically, like, you know, you don't really see scheme.
02:23 And this is something he's he has said before on multiple occasions until like third down
02:28 and like red zone.
02:29 That's where you really see the creativity of a play caller in an offense.
02:34 Well, let's just say that was not the case today for the Patriots offense.
02:40 So a lot of work left to be done.
02:44 So Mayo talked to you guys, and then you had a VP, Alex Van Pelt stepped to the mic, and
02:50 he sounded pretty impressed by Drake May and the progression that the rookie has made.
02:55 Your thoughts on Van Pelt's comments today?
02:58 Yeah, you know, I I thought they were good.
03:03 I think that.
03:05 You know, we also have to remember and it's not like I'm saying that, you know, that Alex
03:11 Van Pelt isn't telling the truth, but.
03:15 You know, you do have to take it a little bit with a grain of salt because Drake May
03:20 was the third overall pick.
03:22 Probably a lot of these guys wanted the Patriots to take Drake May.
03:26 So I don't exactly expect them to come out and say, holy crap, this guy has just not
03:32 met our expectations whatsoever.
03:34 He has stunk up the joint for the first like month.
03:37 So right.
03:39 You know, it's good.
03:41 I think that, you know, when he talked about things about calling plays from the huddle,
03:46 the rhythm, being in time when your feet.
03:50 He said that Drake May is making strides, and I would say that is the case.
03:55 I just do think that Drake May has a ways to go, but it's good to see him progressing.
04:01 What you want to see out of a young quarterback especially is a guy who makes, even if it's
04:06 incremental progress, steady progress in the right direction day after day.
04:10 And it seems like that's what he's doing.
04:14 With that in mind, I know a lot of people, maybe I shouldn't say a lot.
04:18 At least some people have made note of the quarterback rotations and how many snaps each
04:24 guy is getting between 11 on 11 and seven on sevens.
04:28 Today there was a bit of a change, right?
04:30 It looked like Drake May was now firmly behind Jacoby Brissett, at least for this set of
04:36 OTAs.
04:37 Do you think that means anything, Greg?
04:41 No.
04:43 In my opinion, Nick, and I could be wrong because again, this is a new regime.
04:49 I think they wanted to see Drake tackle a little bit more in this practice.
04:56 That doesn't mean that it's solidified this way.
04:59 I just think that maybe he's earned the opportunity to get a few more reps.
05:04 I do think Bailey Zappi did well with the reps that he did have.
05:09 But I think they were just giving May a little bit of a carrot and we'll have to see whether
05:14 it continues.
05:15 I remember something similar along these lines.
05:17 I want to say, I don't know if it was with Mac Jones, sort of towards the tail end of
05:23 OTAs, his rookie year, sort of right before mandatory mini camp.
05:28 They gave him an increase in reps and look, that was a good thing for Mac.
05:35 We saw him flourish and eventually win the job after that.
05:39 But I think that I wouldn't read a whole lot into it.
05:44 But look, once they start giving Drake May things as the third overall pick, it's hard
05:51 to take them back.
05:52 So I don't want to say it's not significant, but I don't want to say it's overly significant.
05:58 Let me ask you this.
05:59 Do you think what happens today happens if May is not progressing?
06:05 If they don't see that improvement, even if it's, as you said, baby steps, step by step
06:12 that improvement, do you think they would give him this opportunity to slide behind
06:16 Brissett if he was struggling a little bit more, if he wasn't showing that progress to
06:21 his coaching staff?
06:23 Probably not.
06:24 And I think it's a good point by you.
06:26 I think they would have probably just left him where he was and just say, let's see him
06:33 keep making some sort of progress or at least get going in the right direction more consistently.
06:39 And to me, that they made this decision does back up some of the things we've heard, not
06:45 only from Alex Van Pelt, but from other people like Albert Breer said they're really happy
06:51 with him.
06:52 So I think this is a sign that he's tackling what they're giving him.
06:59 Does he look cleaner to you, Greg?
07:00 You know what I mean?
07:02 When you go back, and again, this has been a very short period of time.
07:05 I'm not expecting gigantic leaps here, but as far as you said, he looks a little bit
07:10 more in rhythm with the footwork.
07:12 How about the whole package?
07:13 Does he look a little bit cleaner today compared to two, three weeks ago?
07:20 I guess I would say yes, a little bit.
07:25 I still don't love his motion.
07:26 I don't like the hitch.
07:29 We'll see whether that's a problem.
07:30 Some guys have it and they're just so talented that they overcome it, especially because
07:35 of arm strength.
07:36 So he could be one of those guys.
07:38 And I wouldn't say the whole hitch thing is a huge concern right now.
07:43 I do worry about when those type of things get exposed in the heat of camp against the
07:50 first team defense and really experienced guys.
07:57 And I will say, in seven on seven, Drake looks very clean, which is good.
08:02 And I wouldn't necessarily say you expect that, but certainly the chances are increased
08:09 because you're not dealing with a pass rush.
08:10 You're not dealing with the offensive line.
08:13 But once the offensive line came on the field today, it was a complete train wreck for the
08:18 offense.
08:19 And it wasn't just Drake.
08:20 I mean, he did throw two interceptions.
08:23 One was a great diving play by Kyle Duggar.
08:25 The other one, I couldn't tell whether he wanted to go short to Juju, but there was
08:30 an over receiver as well.
08:33 And he ended up just throwing it in between them right to some cornerback I've never heard
08:37 of.
08:39 And so you worry about the stress of the situations of the pass rush and the offensive line and
08:48 navigating all that stuff, whether that eliminates the progress that he has made with his footwork
08:55 and things like that.
08:57 Because I think that's the whole thing.
08:59 That's the biggest thing when we talk about how early can he start.
09:03 You're just worried about if things aren't right around him, does he just revert back
09:07 to what he was?
09:08 Is that really the wisest thing for the New England Patriots?
09:11 Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that because I have yet to get my credential.
09:16 Hopefully, Captain Greg is working on that and I can go to one of these practices with
09:19 Greg and he can really teach me the ropes so I could so I could study the offensive
09:24 lineman so he can he can teach me how to break down the beef up front.
09:29 But reading this stuff on Twitter and just hearing you say that now, it seemed like it
09:33 was a tale of two practices for the offense.
09:37 Seven on sevens versus 11 on 11.
09:39 Let's start with the positive stuff, which was the seven on sevens.
09:43 What stood out to you during that period of time?
09:48 You know, I thought all the quarterbacks did a good job sort of, you know, throwing with
09:53 anticipation.
09:54 I thought they did a nice job to the boundary.
09:56 They did some nice stuff towards the end line.
09:59 I thought the receivers and tight ends and backs did a nice job.
10:06 I'm just looking back at some of my stats, even though where was the seven on seven?
10:13 Yeah, so red zone seven on seven was better.
10:17 Brissette was six of nine with four touchdowns.
10:19 May was three of four with a touchdown.
10:21 Zappi was two of four with two touchdowns.
10:23 Milton and basically the only reps he got was one of four with a touchdown.
10:28 I mean, you know, it was good.
10:31 A lot of it was like buying time and just guys coming back.
10:33 It was those type of touchdowns.
10:35 There were a few, you know, that were planned.
10:38 But I thought the quarterbacks and the receivers and tight ends and backs, I thought they did
10:43 a nice job working well together.
10:46 I had seen there was a lot of reaction about Pop Douglas's day.
10:49 And of course, I think like when you're looking at this setup with, you know, shells, shorts,
10:55 t-shirts, you know, Pop's going to be really difficult certain situations because he's
11:00 just so damn quick.
11:02 And, you know, those kinds of players and wide receivers tend to have a pretty decent
11:06 OTA, especially seven on sevens because of the circumstances.
11:11 All right.
11:12 So that is the seven on sevens.
11:15 Then we get to the 11 on 11s.
11:18 And for the second straight time, I've seen this being reported by you and others last
11:24 week kind of felt the same way.
11:26 This team gets to 11 on 11s.
11:28 There are issues, Greg.
11:30 The first thing I have to ask you about is the offensive line again.
11:35 Now this is I want to make sure I couch this.
11:39 We're not jumping to any grand conclusions.
11:41 At least I'm not.
11:42 We're talking about OTAs.
11:44 Mandatory mini camp is next week.
11:46 We're still more than a month away from training camp.
11:48 So those are all the caveats.
11:50 With that said, watching this offensive line, how are you feeling?
11:59 From what I've seen from the last OTAs, and let's also put it in context because there's
12:04 been a lot of guys missing in or like with City, so was out last week.
12:08 He was back today, but they were missing basically who you think are both going to be there.
12:13 The starting offensive tackle, Chuck Acorafor and Michael Wenu was not out there.
12:18 Jake Andrews, who's sort of the backup center was not there, which meant Antonio Maffi had
12:23 to play a lot more center.
12:25 He had a rough time with snaps, several high snaps.
12:30 Couldn't even tell how well he was doing in pass protection.
12:32 There was a lot of middle pressure.
12:34 But just on what's out there, it wasn't good.
12:38 I'm not panicking because I mean like look, the first unit was at left tackle from left
12:43 to right.
12:44 Calvin Anderson, City, so David Andrews, Michael Jordan, Caden Wallace.
12:49 So Wallace, who we've heard they're going to make him a left tackle, you know, Acorafor
12:55 is not there and all of a sudden he's over a right tackle.
12:58 I don't really, I don't really understand that.
13:01 Mayo, again, foreshadowing before practice, talked about how these guys are versatile
13:04 and you're going to see some things and don't read too much into who's with who and all
13:09 that stuff.
13:10 But that was a rough group, which led to an even rougher group.
13:14 The second team was Tyrone Wheatley at left tackle.
13:17 Nick Leverett, Antonio Maffi, Leighton Robinson, and Vavarian Lowe.
13:22 And like, you know, you look at those guys, I mean, so Andrews, out of all those guys,
13:30 really, so and Andrews are the only guys that you could say right now are NFL starting caliber
13:36 players.
13:37 So that it looked rough with the offensive line, without NFL offensive linemen or guys,
13:43 you know, who have a chance, but we don't know yet.
13:48 Obviously it was going to look rough and it did.
13:50 And so I'm not, I'm not going to panic yet.
13:53 I'm not.
13:54 And you know, we'll see after mandatory mini camp.
13:58 You'll be out there.
13:59 Maybe we'll see.
14:00 I'm still waiting for Nick to slip me something.
14:05 Well, let's see once everybody's out there and everybody's supposed to be there.
14:13 Let's see it, how it is then.
14:15 And then if it's still a train wreck, yeah, I'm going to sound the alarm bells.
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15:49 Sounding the alarm bells.
15:51 This kind of leads me to my next question, Greg.
15:53 I've been thinking about this the last couple of weeks.
15:55 I think I covered it on my own solo podcast, the Nick Cattle Show, if you're wondering
16:00 on YouTube.
16:02 How long?
16:03 Let's say that there's still there continues to be some issues up front, especially at
16:07 that left tackle spot.
16:09 You know, Chooks, a core for not looking comfortable.
16:11 Again, this is all hypothetical.
16:13 It might all work out, which would be fantastic.
16:16 But if it if it if it continues to kind of show itself as a problem, do you think Elliott
16:22 Wolfe, you know, before it gets to, let's say, August, do you think he says, all right,
16:28 we're going to we're going to cut this thing off at the pass and there's still a Charles
16:31 Leno or a D.J. Humphries or a veteran tackle out there?
16:36 We got to bring somebody in because we cannot walk into the season with this being the case.
16:42 Do you think he would pull the trigger on something like that?
16:44 Or will he continue to believe in his coaches and his film evaluation and really give this
16:50 a shot through really all of the preseason?
16:52 Yeah, it's a good question.
16:57 I think and I think this goes for a lot of decisions this team has to make, especially
17:01 about like, you know, what are they going to do a backup quarterback?
17:05 You know, when is Drake May going to play?
17:07 Do they feel comfortable with him being a backup quarterback?
17:10 I think a lot of those decisions, I think they reconvene.
17:13 They'll probably reconvene maybe the end of this week, you know, for the end of OTAs.
17:19 And then they'll reconvene and have a discussion after mandatory minicamp right before everybody
17:24 goes on break instead of sort of sets the tone for training camp.
17:29 I think I think there will be depending on how mandatory minicamp looks.
17:33 I think there will be a very serious discussion about like, you know, they're going to have
17:36 to go through this and be like, do we think this guy's going to be able to play this position?
17:41 Or do we think he's going to be able to play at all?
17:43 And if if there's a lot of negative talk during that meeting, then I think the LA Wolf has
17:49 no choice but to go, you know, dumpster diving on the, you know, street free agents to, you
17:54 know, just bring in some guys.
17:56 But I still have a lot of hope that this offensive line provided, you know, Scott Peters is is
18:06 worthy of the job, which I do think, you know, there's a lot of guys in this category where
18:10 we just don't know whether they're ready for a big boy role like this.
18:16 But I think, you know, whether it's a core four or whoever, I think you can figure out
18:20 left tackle.
18:22 So be it.
18:23 Left guard.
18:24 He's fine.
18:25 Andrews is fine.
18:28 Who's going to be the right guard?
18:30 All of a sudden I'm drawing a blank.
18:31 Is it LeBron?
18:32 And I mean, it could be.
18:38 Robinson.
18:39 I mean, Michael Jordan's been getting a lot of reps.
18:44 I don't know.
18:45 I mean, a lot of these guys, I'm not going to know about them as offensive linemen until
18:49 I see the one in one in camp.
18:51 And that sort of gives me a good baseline on where they are.
18:54 I mean, because you really can't judge offensive linemen until they have the pads on.
18:58 I mean, you definitely can't.
18:59 And so and then at right tackle, you're going to have big Michael winning.
19:03 So I mean, they should have enough to make it work.
19:06 But yeah, I think if they get to the end of mandatory minicamp, they have that conversation
19:09 in there.
19:10 There's some worries.
19:12 Then Wolf's going to have to do something sooner rather than later.
19:15 Yeah, I mean, I feel like three out of the five we should feel good about when the city
19:21 so continued to improve last year.
19:23 He should be steady at guard, whether it's on the left side or the right side, whatever.
19:27 David Andrews is David Andrews.
19:29 And I am confident that Michael when it will be a good right tackle, at least a good right
19:34 tackle, if not better.
19:35 So you got three out of the five.
19:37 And if you if you can get one of the Leverett Robinson Jordan group to work for you at right
19:43 guard, then we're really only talking about left tackle, which brings me to kind of circle
19:49 back to what you said about Kate and Wallace.
19:51 So Wallace is on the right side today.
19:53 And I understand Gerard Mayo saying, hey, look, don't take too much out of this kind
19:57 of stuff.
19:58 People are going to be moving around.
20:00 But to me, if you're really committed to transitioning Wallace from the right side to the left side.
20:09 Then I don't think he should touch the right side like at all.
20:12 I understand the idea of like, oh, well, if you know what it was, I'll blah, blah, blah.
20:17 But hey, man, it feels to me, Greg, that that is not a half measure move.
20:21 If you're going to move the guy from right to left, put him at left, let him continue
20:24 to work at left and see if he can make the damn thing work out.
20:27 Right.
20:28 I was to see Kate and Wallace today, a right tackle.
20:32 And I actually had to do a double take because I was writing numbers down to the offensive
20:35 lineman.
20:36 And I was like, wait a minute, do I have the sides right?
20:39 And I was like, no, he's he's that right tackle.
20:41 And I was like, wow, that's kind of a bold move.
20:44 I mean, if you're if you're, you know, if you're teaching this kid to go from right
20:48 to left, like, why even mess with that?
20:53 If you're dead set on him being a left tackle and like you can get into the whole.
20:57 All right, well, I'm sure some people will be like, well, it could be a swing tackle
21:01 on game day and like stuff like that.
21:03 OK, fine.
21:04 But that's like middle late camp stuff.
21:07 You know, maybe some preseason game stuff.
21:09 You don't do that in OTAs where you're trying to get everybody's feet wet.
21:12 You're trying to get them trained.
21:13 You're trying to give them a foundation for what you're going to do in training camp that
21:17 they moved him over to right tackle today.
21:21 Definitely was something I looked at.
21:25 I was very curious about that.
21:29 And on top of it, you put the core for meeting with the media where he didn't necessarily
21:34 sound like he was doing cartwheels about moving to the left side.
21:37 Didn't sound like he was super confident in that idea.
21:41 And we'll see how all of it works out.
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23:02 All right, let's look at the other side of the football.
23:06 You mentioned the offensive line was kind of all over the place.
23:09 It was scattered with people out, absences, all that good stuff.
23:13 But defense really dominated Greg, the 11 on 11s.
23:18 Just watching these guys play on that side of the football.
23:20 My first question is, anything stick out to you that is different than what you've seen
23:25 in prior years under Bill Belichick and with Steve Belichick, their call and plays?
23:30 These guys, I mean, I know Keone White downplayed it, but these guys continue to stand up more
23:35 on the edge, more than I've ever seen them do.
23:39 That continued today.
23:42 It's sort of the same stuff in terms of scheme, movement.
23:47 Offensive linemen slanting one way to create a hole where a linebacker runs through or
23:52 safety.
23:53 I saw a linebacker, Christian Ellis, came in unblocked.
23:59 Let me also point out that the line was so bad at some points.
24:07 For example, this was a regular team period.
24:14 This was in the middle of the field.
24:15 This was not red zone.
24:17 It was Brissette handed off, sack, sack.
24:19 May had a short completion, handed off, interception.
24:24 Then later on, there was, for team red zone in the team period, Stevenson runs for minus
24:33 five yards.
24:34 Brissette incomplete.
24:36 He threw to Stevenson, but he threw even before Stevenson even came close to getting out of
24:40 his break because there was so much pressure on Brissette.
24:45 Complete to Hunter Henry, complete to Kayshawn Booty for a touchdown.
24:48 I thought he did some nice things in practice.
24:51 May got in there, sack up the middle unblocked.
24:54 Michael Jordan false start, check down, scramble after a high snap, interception to a diving
24:59 Kyle Duggar.
25:02 That kind of stuff just kept going on.
25:05 I do think that Christian Barmore was back.
25:08 He had missed the previous one that we saw.
25:10 He was a complete force on the inside.
25:12 I will say Christian Gonzalez took part in a lot more today than we have seen.
25:17 He makes a big difference.
25:19 You also have to look at, they don't have Kendrick Bourne.
25:25 Javon Baker was out today.
25:29 There was another receiver.
25:30 Tycoon Thornton did individual stuff, but he didn't do team.
25:36 Also factoring into this is that they're not getting a lot of separation on the outside.
25:42 You marry the pass rush with good coverage, not great work by the receivers, and you have
25:47 really bad offense.
25:50 Defensively, they were a top 10 defense in DVOA last year.
25:56 They obviously have the really tough schedule this season as far as quarterbacks go.
26:02 They're really going to face a murderer's row.
26:04 They've got their own quarterbacks in the division with Rodgers, Allen, and Tua.
26:08 They've got to play Stafford.
26:10 They've got to play Caleb Williams in that Chicago offense.
26:12 They've got to play Burrow.
26:13 You get the point.
26:17 Going in though, you've got Judon coming back.
26:20 You've got Gonzalez coming back.
26:22 You've got Marcus Jones coming back.
26:24 You've got Barmore taking that step.
26:28 Right now as we get ready for mandatory mini-camp, Greg, how do you feel about this defense as
26:33 far as reasonable expectations go?
26:36 With the schedule as a given, with the coaching situation as well, how do you feel about those
26:41 guys going into this year?
26:45 I feel good about them.
26:46 It's funny.
26:47 I was having a conversation with Gasper after we did television, I think on Sunday night.
26:54 We were having a conversation about this.
26:58 Provided Judon's back in the mix and getting Gonzalez back, I do think in previous years
27:04 this defense was a little inflated by some of their performances against bad quarterbacks
27:11 and bad teams.
27:14 I think this defense should be good.
27:17 They're going to have to be for this team to have a chance to be competitive.
27:25 I think they're going to be really good.
27:26 Do I still have concerns about linebacker and things like that?
27:29 What are they going to do with free safety?
27:32 Things that have to be sorted out?
27:34 Yeah, I do.
27:35 But I still expect them to hold their own.
27:37 I expect them at least to be somewhere around 10 in the league.
27:42 As long as the offense can do a better job of hanging on to the ball, not turning the
27:46 ball over, not putting them in tough circumstances, then I think that's the path for this team
27:51 to be competitive.
27:53 Anybody else stand out today that you haven't mentioned?
27:58 I thought positive and negatives.
28:02 KJ Osborne has had a tough time catching the ball in the three practices that we've seen.
28:09 I know that was an issue for him last year in Minnesota, but everybody thought that was
28:14 the outlier because normally he's been fine.
28:17 But last year, drops were a problem for him and it looks like that's continuing.
28:22 So that's not great.
28:24 I will say, Joe Milton didn't have a lot to do in this practice.
28:30 He certainly took advantage of his downtime by dancing a lot of practice.
28:37 Him and Pop Douglas were doing it.
28:39 This is during individual stuff.
28:41 At first, I was like, "Oh, that's cute.
28:44 He's got some good moves, the big fella."
28:48 But he kept doing it and it started to annoy me.
28:51 I'm like, "Don't we have any effing work to do?
28:54 Shouldn't you be doing something like mental reps or something?"
28:57 I didn't see Drake May doing that.
28:59 I didn't see Jacoby Brissett or Bailey Zappi cutting a rug, but Joe Milton was having a
29:05 blast.
29:08 One thing we haven't talked about, Nick, that I heard somebody else mention and they were
29:11 right, Ramondre Stevenson, to me, looks like he has shed a lot of weight.
29:19 He looks much smaller than I remember him.
29:23 I don't know why that is.
29:24 I don't know if we've talked to him yet.
29:28 Maybe it's a contract year for him.
29:31 We'll see what the Patriots do, whether they extend him or not.
29:34 Maybe he's looking to provide more big plays, a little bit more speed, maybe a little bit
29:40 more out of the backfield, just to increase his big play ability.
29:45 I thought that was interesting.
29:47 Christian Barmore.
29:49 Alex Austin, the cornerback, I will say he continues to stand out.
29:56 Mayo talked today about, he said by the end of last season, they came to the realization
30:03 that he was an NFL caliber player.
30:05 I'm sure you probably remember some of the discussion.
30:09 Certainly some people on Twitter like to remind me of this.
30:11 I love how people get butt hurt on behalf of athletes.
30:18 After Alex Austin's first game, I was like, "He's not an NFL player."
30:22 I will say, by the end of the season, I changed my opinion.
30:26 I did think that he was a good, solid sixth, seventh type of defensive back, but I do think
30:31 he's showing well on the field.
30:33 Jalen Polk.
30:34 I love watching him in individual drills.
30:36 Now it doesn't amount to much.
30:38 There's no defense out there, but his route running, he was returning kicks today in some
30:45 of the special teams and showed a little bit of burst.
30:48 I don't know.
30:49 Jalen Polk's just a guy I like to watch practice.
30:53 I think people are going to be really happy with him.
30:56 Maybe not the huge upside of other people that they wanted the Patriots to draft, but
31:03 all I think of when I watch Polk is, at the very minimum, he's going to be Jacobi Myers,
31:10 but better.
31:11 Jacobi Myers was a really good player.
31:13 He just didn't have much in terms of separation and all that stuff.
31:18 Polk just reminds me a lot of Jacobi Myers.
31:21 He's just a better athlete and a little bit more fluid.
31:25 I really enjoy watching him play.
31:27 It's interesting you bring up the Polk-Myers thing because some of the scouting reports
31:33 would say that Polk is Jacobi Myers with a little more juice.
31:38 I went back and I looked at their combine numbers and a lot of things are similar.
31:43 Height, weight, and stuff like that is very similar.
31:46 Their vertical leap is very similar.
31:48 When you look at the 10-second split, Polk's got Myers.
31:54 When you look at the 40-yard dash, he's got Myers.
31:56 When you look at the broad jump, he's got Myers.
31:59 Those kinds of tests show explosivity.
32:02 You get the idea of same size, same kind of feel, but just a little bit more juice.
32:10 If he can bring that to the field, I really like the player.
32:14 I watched him play a number of times at Washington.
32:16 He's not one of those guys that I just watched highlights on Twitter.
32:19 I watched Washington a few times this past year.
32:22 I like him.
32:23 I think he's a very high-floor guy.
32:26 I think he's going to contribute in year one.
32:29 I can't wait to see him out there playing.
32:31 We've got a couple more things to cover with Greg, but first, this episode brought to you
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32:49 over the Patriots, and of course, John Corrales, getting you all sorts of warmed up for the
32:55 NBA Finals, which tip off on Thursday night.
32:59 Drake May met with the media after the OTA practice today.
33:03 Greg, anything of note that he said, or just kind of, "It was what it was, and we can move
33:08 on"?
33:09 To tell you the truth, I was not there for that.
33:12 That was Giardi's purview, and he has a Drake May story waiting for me to read right now,
33:19 so I did not listen to the big fella, but from what I see, just kind of the normal stuff.
33:27 The last thing I want to talk about, unless you've got something else you want to talk
33:30 about, is Justin Jefferson, because I do think, I actually just did a podcast on this today,
33:36 a lot of people kind of, we get dragged into the thought process of, "Well, that's somebody
33:45 else.
33:46 That's somebody else on somebody else's team, and that's not going to really impact the
33:51 Patriots," but I think the Justin Jefferson contract impacts the Patriots, Greg.
33:55 It's a team that's looking for a wide receiver one, we all know it, and Jefferson's contract,
34:00 let me just give people the feel of Jefferson's deal, because Greg and I always talk about
34:06 NFL contracts and how there's always funny money involved.
34:10 There's Fugazi numbers at the back end to make the contract look bigger, so the agent
34:14 can walk around with his chest out like, "I just conquered the world."
34:19 That's what happens, but Jefferson's contract is different.
34:23 Jefferson's contract is the real deal, and Mike Florio had the details.
34:29 Jefferson's going to get $88.743 million fully guaranteed at his signing.
34:33 The practical guarantees are $95.743 million, and Florio writes that it's far more likely
34:39 that Jefferson will definitely be paid over $125 million over four years.
34:46 Brad Spielberger, who used to project contracts for Pro Football Focus and now works as the
34:51 director of football administration at Grand Central Sports Management, he tweeted about
34:57 the deal and said, "Very real.
34:59 This is a way bigger jump to the wide receiver market than it ever appears, or even appears."
35:04 David Lombardi, athletic, covers the 49ers.
35:08 Obviously, he has a vested interest in this because of the Brandon Iyuk story.
35:13 Lombardi tweeted out, "Most fully guaranteed money wide receivers."
35:18 When you look at this deal, Greg, Tyreek Hill, before Justin Jefferson signed this contract,
35:24 Tyreek Hill, he had $52.5 million fully guaranteed.
35:29 Between Tyreek Hill and Jefferson, there is a more than $36 million gap of fully guaranteed
35:38 money.
35:39 This Justin Jefferson contract reminds me of the Deshaun Watson contract with the Cleveland
35:45 Browns.
35:46 When Watson signed that deal with Cleveland, every team was pissed because Cleveland literally
35:52 handed hundreds of millions of dollars to Deshaun Watson guaranteed.
35:56 Every team that had a quarterback looking for a new deal knew, "We're going to go up
36:01 the creek without a paddle," because Cleveland decided to do that contract.
36:07 You put all the pieces together, Greg.
36:08 This Jefferson contract just exploded.
36:11 The market is just bananas right now.
36:14 Do you think that makes it less likely that Elliott Wolfe would now look at somebody like
36:19 a Brandon Iyuk?
36:21 Maybe even, I don't think it's going to actually come to fruition, but CeeDee Lamb.
36:26 Do you think he's less apt to look at players like that now?
36:30 Because if you're bringing Iyuk in, it's no longer $55 million guaranteed that you're
36:34 looking at.
36:35 It could be $70 to $75 million fully guaranteed that you're looking at.
36:40 Yeah, to tell you the truth, I don't know.
36:48 It all depends on the deal.
36:51 I don't think the 49ers are giving up Brandon Iyuk.
36:53 I don't think the Bengals are giving up Tee Higgins.
36:59 We're going back to if they wanted to bring in a receiver, it's going to have to be somebody
37:03 like Courtland Sutton, somebody like that who we talked about a few pods ago, where
37:07 he was only looking.
37:09 I'm looking for $15, $16 million a year.
37:12 It looks like freaking change in your couch compared to what Justin Jefferson.
37:17 I mean $89 million guaranteed for a wide receiver.
37:25 It's obscene.
37:26 I mean, good for him, but if I'm Elliott Wolfe, I'm still looking for those secondary wide
37:33 receivers, maybe guys who haven't popped yet, like a Courtland Sutton, who have potential
37:38 to be a number one type of guy.
37:40 I'm not saying he's definitely that type, but has the potential.
37:45 I've always thought this, at least going back to my Packers days, and I think it's Elliott
37:53 Wolfe's preference to do just about everything, but especially wide receivers through the
37:59 draft and just drafting, developing.
38:03 When they get priced out, if they don't want to sign here for a team-friendly deal, then
38:08 you bid them adieu and you have somebody else in the works.
38:12 With the Packers, it was Donald Driver and Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson and James Jones.
38:20 You looked at the Packers, they had Devontae Adams.
38:23 They ended up trading him, and they traded it out for a whole bunch of rookies.
38:29 It took a little time to work, but now it looks like it's gangbusters.
38:33 I think they have the cheapest wide receiver room in the league, and those guys could be
38:37 in the Super Bowl this year.
38:40 I think that's always Elliott Wolfe's preference.
38:42 I do think he's trying to find maybe a stopgap guy so they can build that up, but I don't
38:48 think he's going to get too pricey with it.
38:51 All right.
38:52 He's Greg.
38:53 I'm Nick.
38:54 Hopefully you enjoyed this podcast.
38:55 We put a bow on it.
38:57 We're back later this week.
38:58 Until then, be well.
38:59 [music]