LIVE from Patriots Training Camp Day 4 | Patriots Daily
FOXBORO -- CLNS Media's Taylor Kyles and Mike Kadlick go LIVE right from Patriots training camp to recap Day 4 of practice.
0:00 - Intro
2:51 - Demario Douglas update
4:56 - Javon Baker SHINES
6:11 - Housekeeping updates
7:30 - Shaky Quarterback performance
9:31 - Drake Maye's accuracy
12:09 - No egregious mistakes
14:04 - Offensive line consistency
15:19 - Offensive line strategy
16:37 - Jalen Reagor's role
19:00 - Receiver performance analysis
20:25 - Roster spot competition
22:14 - Alex Austin's performance
24:40 - Secondary concerns addressed
26:49 - Kicking competition analysis
28:15 - Quarterback three competition
29:50 - Anticipation for physicality
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0:00 - Intro
2:51 - Demario Douglas update
4:56 - Javon Baker SHINES
6:11 - Housekeeping updates
7:30 - Shaky Quarterback performance
9:31 - Drake Maye's accuracy
12:09 - No egregious mistakes
14:04 - Offensive line consistency
15:19 - Offensive line strategy
16:37 - Jalen Reagor's role
19:00 - Receiver performance analysis
20:25 - Roster spot competition
22:14 - Alex Austin's performance
24:40 - Secondary concerns addressed
26:49 - Kicking competition analysis
28:15 - Quarterback three competition
29:50 - Anticipation for physicality
************************************************
Patriots Content Brought to you by....
Gametime - https://gametime.co
Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.
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SportsTranscript
00:00I am joined by Robert Griffin III, James White, Field, Yates, Mena Kimes, all right, so first
00:10play we're going to look at second into one of the Patriots first offensive plays.
00:18What's going on, everyone?
00:19Welcome back into another live edition of the Patriots Daily Podcast here on the CLNS
00:23Media Network outside Gillette Stadium as the Patriots just wrapped up day three of
00:28day four.
00:29I'm losing my mind.
00:30We're all losing our minds here off the off day, day four of 2024 training camp.
00:35It's Sunday, Sunday football out here in Foxborough.
00:37Quick reminder, we are powered by GameTime, so head over to GameTime.
00:40Use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase.
00:42All right, Taylor, I don't usually do props.
00:44I'm not really a prop guy, but this is my third bag of popcorn today because the Patriots
00:48had one-on-ones this afternoon, and it was absolutely outstanding, led by Javon Baker,
00:54who number six, the rookie fourth-round pick, was awesome.
00:57I think he was probably the winner of the day for everybody.
00:59Yeah, I tried to find a wheelchair to stand up from.
01:01Could not find one in the facility, but yeah, Javon Baker started living up to expectations,
01:06had a really impressive catch the other day in camp, and now he's building on that strong
01:10performance.
01:11Yeah, he looked good.
01:12Jalen Polk looked good as well.
01:13He beat Jonathan Jones, I believe, on one of his first reps across the middle.
01:17He looked awesome.
01:18Keyshawn Booty looked awesome as well.
01:20I think we really saw this youth movement in the wide receiver room that's been kind
01:25of coming about.
01:26We talk about Juju Smith-Schuster, KJ Osborne, even a guy like Taequann Thornton, who is
01:31actually a veteran at this point now.
01:33But it's the youth movement that makes it so promising, obviously the two rookies, Keyshawn
01:37Booty.
01:38Tamario Douglas, we talked about it earlier.
01:40He's been the most consistent guy in one-on-ones.
01:43He's been the most consistent Patriots wide receiver all along, but he's not really out
01:46here working through those 11-on-11 drills and stuff like that, but in one-on-ones, he's
01:51been awesome.
01:52So point being, there's stuff to look forward to here.
01:56Yeah, and we also got some insight into Tamario Douglas' injury.
01:59Now, he has been participating, like you said, early on during warm-ups and some early drills,
02:04but when it comes to team, we haven't really seen him.
02:06He told us that it was, as we already knew, a hand injury, but he suffered the injury
02:10before training camp began.
02:12Said that he's okay, though, really said to us that it was more of a precaution that he's
02:15being held out.
02:16And as the best receiver in this receiving corps, I think by a decent margin, at least
02:20at this point, it makes sense that they'd rather be cautious, plus it just gives some
02:24of these young guys more opportunities, like Jalen Polk, as we've mentioned in other shows.
02:28You said it, he had a good day, but Javon Baker, man, ooh, you know, y'all know I've
02:32been hyping up the Javon Baker hype train for quite some time, and I'm excited that
02:36some of that's starting to pay off, because obviously he missed a lot of time this spring,
02:40but he's really starting to stack these days, and if this Patriots passing game is going
02:44to exceed expectations, it's going to be because at least two or three of these rookies end
02:48up stepping up.
02:49We saw signs of that, hopefully they build.
02:51Yeah, we heard from Baker, we heard from Demario Douglas after practice as well.
02:55Douglas, like you said, mentioned that his hands holding him out a little bit, but he's
02:59going to be okay, and then Javon Baker basically talking about his expectations of what he
03:05wants to do, just get better every single day, and I think he's done that so far.
03:08He, you know, slowly but surely sort of has been, Jalen Polk has been right in there from
03:13day one with the ones, Javon Baker has slowly sort of worked his way in.
03:16I thought today he took the most reps with the ones he has so far, and he looked solid,
03:20so again, I think that's sort of the main takeaway from today's practice.
03:24We'll get to quarterbacks in just a second, but again, like I mentioned, one-on-ones from
03:27the young receivers.
03:28It looks like from, you know, a Patriots team that's struggled in the wide receiver department
03:32for so long, it looks like we have some promise with those two young guys, so all's well there.
03:37Yeah, finally, and as you mentioned, Demario Douglas was the most consistent receiver.
03:41He hasn't really done a ton this summer.
03:44In the spring, it was clearly him above everybody else, but Baker, I just think, has been the
03:48most dominant.
03:49Like, we're talking a guy who's Moss Defenders three different times, had some clear wins
03:54out here.
03:55He had one against Christian Gonzalez that was kind of, you know, that's the one that
03:58always makes you kind of go, okay, something's a little bit different here.
04:02I will give Gonzo a little bit of the benefit of the doubt.
04:04He had outside leverage.
04:05It was an in-breaking route.
04:06He had good eyes.
04:07He was looking at Baker's hips, which is what you like to see, but still, Baker mentioned
04:12Going up against a guy like Christian Gonzalez, he's a technician, so you've got to play with
04:15him a little bit, but also you want to be a technician along with him, and I think the
04:18shake that he gave to Gonzalez was what actually gave him the separation.
04:21Then he gets Mikey Victor, one of the best plays of the entire summer so far, where he
04:26actually tracks a Jacoby Brissett deep ball over one shoulder for most of the route after
04:30he'd blown past Victor, but the ball was over his other shoulder.
04:33If you've ever played baseball or been a receiver in football, you know it is very hard to go
04:37from one shoulder to the other when you're tracking a deep ball, but he was able to do
04:42it easily, hauled the pass in, just the ability to adjust to those deep passes, the hands,
04:47the ability to win period has stood out from any of the other receivers to me, again, outside
04:51of DeMario Douglas, but the ability at the catch point and downfield has really stood
04:55out specifically for Baker, and then Jalen Polk, not as dominant of a day, but he did
05:00have that really good win against John Jones.
05:02He's been pretty consistent, but Baker, that X roll, I think Jalen Rager has been the deep
05:07threat that we've seen day in and day out, but I think he's the one, Javon Baker, once
05:11again, who in those one-on-one matchups can really dominate, so hopefully once the pads
05:15come on, he gets more opportunities to show.
05:17I like that you mentioned Polk's been super consistent.
05:20Baker's been the flashy one, and that's why, I mean, we joke with the popcorn and we joke
05:23about the standing up out of wheelchairs and stuff, but that's what he told us when he
05:26got here, is that that's the type of receiver he is.
05:28He was asked today what his best attribute is.
05:31He said going up in high point in the football and going to get it.
05:33He's done that so far.
05:34He looked really solid today, so despite a slower day from the quarterbacks, which we'll
05:38get to, some bits of hope in that wide receiver room today for sure.
05:41Before we get into the other stuff, quick housekeeping stuff, news items, things like
05:45that going on with attendance.
05:47Christian Barmore was not out here again.
05:49He was dealing with an illness on Friday, according to MassLive's Mark Daniels, and
05:53he was still absent today.
05:55We didn't see him out here at all.
05:56Marte Mappu, a guy who, was it a hand?
06:00I feel like that got mixed up with Douglas.
06:03I don't think we know what's wrong with Marte Mappu, but he didn't show up for stretch.
06:07He ended up making his way out on the field later on with his helmet, but did not participate
06:11once again.
06:12So that's something to monitor.
06:13I wrote about that a little bit in my Sunday morning column.
06:14You can go check that out on CLSmedia.com.
06:17Just as far as Mappu's injury, the absence, and kind of what it will mean for the rest
06:21of the room and the safeties and whatnot.
06:24As far as other housekeeping stuff, Caleb Ford-Dement, we talked about him on Friday.
06:28He wasn't out here.
06:29He has been cut by the team, and they signed a defensive tackle.
06:32What was his name?
06:33Josiah.
06:34Honestly, it was right when the game was starting.
06:36I don't remember.
06:37It was number 75.
06:38Yes.
06:39We thought it was Vince Wilfork.
06:40We didn't actually think it was Vince Wilfork.
06:41But everyone was confused.
06:42It was a new number 75.
06:43They signed a new defensive tackle today.
06:44So maybe that's a little bit noteworthy, just based on Gotjaw's contract situation,
06:49Baltimore not being out here.
06:50Not that anything's going to go wrong.
06:52Those guys aren't going to be out here or anything, but something to monitor.
06:56Maybe a little bit of a backup plan at that position.
07:00So that's the housekeeping stuff.
07:02One more, actually.
07:03Antonio Gibson.
07:04Kendrick Bourne.
07:05Kendrick Bourne.
07:06Let's talk about it.
07:07Antonio Gibson returns off NFI.
07:08Terrell Jennings returns off PUP.
07:10They end up actually coming out here stretching and participating.
07:13Kendrick Bourne comes out.
07:14No helmet, but a jersey.
07:16Goes through stretch.
07:17Looks really good.
07:18His knee looks OK, as far as running around, jumping around, things like that.
07:22We haven't seen him running routes.
07:23He obviously left the field after stretch.
07:25He did not participate, but some hope there from Kendrick Bourne, because he comes out
07:28here and stretches, at least.
07:29Yeah, it was the first time that we'd seen him with his uniform on the actual practice
07:33field.
07:34Again, didn't do anything.
07:35Really was just there for warm-ups.
07:36It was cool seeing him back out there, because Kendrick Bourne brings a very unique energy.
07:39He loves to dance.
07:40He's always excited.
07:41Also, seeing him out there was really cool.
07:43And then, yeah, the running backs were back.
07:45We saw Antonio Gibson active.
07:46He had one play where I think he caught the ball in the flat or something and juked a
07:49couple guys.
07:50So he still looked good, and even when he was on the list, Gerard Mayo told us it wasn't
07:54anything crazy.
07:56I don't know what it was.
07:57We still don't, but I don't think there's any ill effects from whatever he was dealing
08:00with.
08:01Yeah, for sure.
08:02One other quick note housekeeping thing I'll add is just from special teams, they end up
08:06doing kick returns or punt returns, I believe.
08:08They run a full punt drill, and the return men were Demario Douglas, Jalen Polk, Jalen
08:15Rager, Marcus Jones, and KJ Osborne was out there as well.
08:22Who wasn't out there was Juju Smith-Schuster and Javon Baker.
08:25So that's just another thing to note.
08:27I think Baker participated in those drills at some point during the spring, but he was
08:30on the side with Tyler Hughes, the wide receivers coach, and Juju Smith-Schuster as well.
08:34Something to keep an eye on as jobs get lined up in that wide receiver room.
08:41That's housekeeping.
08:42Let's talk about the quarterbacks.
08:43Up and down day from the quarterbacks.
08:44I think Jacoby Rousset probably had his, I don't want to say his best day because it
08:48wasn't really anything spectacular.
08:49Today was just kind of meh across the board from both Jacoby Rousset and Drake May.
08:54A lot more highs and a lot more lows for Drake May I would say though.
08:56Yeah, with Drake, so during one-on-ones I thought he actually did look good.
09:00He had a couple overthrows, but for the most part you saw the arm talent.
09:04Even more than that, I thought his accuracy on those reps was a lot better than what it's
09:07been for the most part when he goes deep.
09:10He's had a couple really good ones, but I think for the most part, especially even on
09:13air, we've seen the ball placements a bit off downfield where he overthrows guys a decent
09:17amount.
09:19There was one to David Wallace today that ended up getting broken up.
09:21It was a little short, but honestly one of those where I would put it more on the receiver.
09:25Not making a play on the ball.
09:27Those were the exciting reps where, again, you saw the glimmers of hope with Drake May
09:31and some of his young receivers, some of his deep threats.
09:34But then when we got to team drills, a lot more inconsistent.
09:37There were two straight pre-snap penalties during team drills at one point.
09:40One I believe Drake May had to get the huddle done one more time.
09:43The other was Leighton Robinson for a false start.
09:45It was the first lap I think we've actually seen.
09:48During the entire off-season program.
09:50But beyond just the pre-snap penalty, the accuracy for me wasn't great for Drake May.
09:55I think for team drills it was maybe his least impressive performance.
09:58We've seen there haven't been a ton of downfield opportunities for these offenses and that
10:02doesn't worry me quite as much considering it is the Patriots defense they're going against.
10:06But for the most part, Drake May has gone through his progressions and then was able
10:09to put the ball on his receivers where they could get yards after the catch.
10:13Inconsistent on outbreakers, but for the most part he's been fine.
10:15Today I saw some wide misses that weren't catchable.
10:18There was a slant to I believe it was Kayshawn Booty where the ball was behind him.
10:22Not the accuracy that we've seen from him in other days.
10:24So for Drake, between the pre-snap penalty, or not the penalty I'm sorry, but they had
10:29to re-huddle and the inaccuracy, I would just say this was his least impressive day of training
10:34camp thus far.
10:35Does it worry you at all that through four days we haven't seen the practice from Drake
10:39May yet?
10:40As far as he comes out here and shows why he was the number three overall pick.
10:45Because again, this is something I kind of talked about a little bit this morning in
10:48my column where I think May has shown an ability to understand what they're doing on offense
10:53really quickly.
10:54Again, we talked about the pre-snap mistake today, but there hasn't been that much of
10:58that today.
10:59He's come in as the number two quarterback and looked the part.
11:03And so I think that's a positive because there hasn't been many rookie mistakes, but he also
11:09hasn't really come out here and shined either.
11:11So does that worry you at all?
11:13Do you think we should have seen that yet, or are you kind of holding back because we
11:16haven't seen them in full pads?
11:18They haven't really had a full flow of an offense yet.
11:22Not really, mostly because going back to Drake May's films during college, he's a very aggressive
11:26passer.
11:27I think if there were more downfield opportunities, he would at least be trying them, but you
11:30also see in his college tape that he's a pretty good decision maker where if it's not there,
11:34he picks his spots pretty wisely and is okay going underneath if that's what the defense
11:38gives him.
11:39I think that's more what we're seeing.
11:40I think that if there were more of those chances, he'd be taking them, but this is a very good
11:44defense once again.
11:45Jacoby Brissette said it himself, and he hasn't gone downfield very much.
11:48This isn't a defense that's going to give you that very often.
11:50Between the range, the disguises, and different looks they give, or sometimes pre-snap, they'll
11:54force you to go look in one direction, and then maybe there's an opportunity that you
11:58missed because what they did post-snap wasn't what you expected.
12:01So without the benefit of film, I don't want to make any drastic claims or anything like
12:06that, but I wouldn't say it scares me.
12:07For me, I would be more focused on the fact that he hasn't been making really egregious
12:11mistakes.
12:12This was another day yesterday, or two days ago.
12:15I'm getting my days mixed up.
12:17Can't brain start to set in already, but you did see there was the interception to Matt
12:20Judon.
12:21I said then, I thought that was more of a rookie mistake where it's like, yeah, don't
12:23do it again, and I'm not going to hold it against you.
12:26We haven't seen him put the ball into really bad windows.
12:28The accuracy needs to get better, but I think that's what we knew about Drake May heading
12:31into this, and he's still a long way from getting any real live reps against different
12:36defenses where you're game planning and all that.
12:38So yeah, I wouldn't sound the alarm bells too soon.
12:41If anything, I think if you were hoping that Drake May would start today, maybe not.
12:45It wasn't a camp that went in your favor, but overall, I think he's shown enough that
12:48it's like, okay, this guy is making progress.
12:50He doesn't seem to be scaring you with the lapses, and if anything, if you want to put
12:54him out there, you know he's going to make mistakes.
12:56I think the risk-reward is kind of leaning more in Drake's favor.
12:59I mean, I think we sometimes kind of forget that he's just a rookie, and he's had four
13:03NFL training camp practices under his belt.
13:05I ask the question just as sort of a devil's advocate to look at where he is in terms of
13:10where we want him to be, because again, rookies in the NFL come in, they start fast.
13:14But I also think, too, that there hasn't been that much of a difference between him and
13:17Brissette, really.
13:18I think Brissette's overall been better, but it hasn't been drastic.
13:21We keep mentioning it, but we haven't seen glaring mistakes from Drake May yet.
13:24So overall, I think it's fine.
13:27It is tough to judge because of how good this defense is.
13:29Alright, let's do offensive line.
13:32Caden Wallace, Siddy So, David Andrews, Mike Unwenu, Chukwuma Okorafor.
13:38That's your left tackle to right tackle.
13:40Friday to Sunday, the same offensive line, two practices in a row.
13:45Personally, I think that's telling heading into the first day in pads when we're really
13:48going to get a look at that offensive line, because that's when you can really tell how
13:54they're going to work through this zone-blocking scheme, and where guys are, I guess how much
14:00better guys can work off each other from left tackle, right tackle, etc.
14:03I think it's noteworthy, again, that we've seen rookie Caden Wallace at the left tackle
14:07spot two days in a row prior to the pads coming on.
14:10Okorafor, who has been called the left tackle of this team by his teammates and by Gerard
14:15Mayo and by Elliot Wolfe before, he now moves over to the right tackle for two straight
14:19days, again, into that first pad of practice.
14:23Taylor, what do you make of that?
14:25Is it noteworthy?
14:26Am I looking too much into it?
14:27What do you make of the offensive line overall as they continue these tryouts and shuffling
14:31into our first pad of practice?
14:32I think it's definitely noteworthy, because this is the first time the rotation's been
14:35consistent, the entire summer, it's been four practices.
14:38But each day that we came in, there was a different combination.
14:41Shukto Okorafor mentioned, yeah, the coach has told us it's going to be different guys
14:44in there outside of David Andrews and Mike Nwenu every day.
14:48Also still notable that Sidiso has not moved from his left guard spot, he's been another
14:52one of the few consistent pieces on the offensive line.
14:55The only consistent piece other than David Andrews.
14:57They're the only ones who have never actually moved.
14:59And the fact that Caden Wallace is still getting reps, like, I think that's huge.
15:02We want to see him.
15:03I mentioned it when we were seeing Vidarian Lowe and Calvin Anderson.
15:06I want Caden Wallace to get as many opportunities as possible to secure a starting job because
15:11he's someone that you at least expect to be a starter long term.
15:13I don't know if you think the same about Calvin Anderson or Vidarian Lowe.
15:17So as long as Caden's not out there making egregious mistakes, I think it makes the most
15:20sense to keep him out there.
15:22I don't love him being on the left side with Shooks on the right, to be honest.
15:25That's just because I think Shooks isn't as physical of a run blocker.
15:28I think the right side of that offensive line is going to be where you see a lot of the
15:31more physical gap, you know, power, those kinds of run schemes with most of the zone
15:35on the left.
15:36So Sidiso and Shooks, I like.
15:38I think Caden is stronger and more physical.
15:40So I would like to see him next to Mike Nwenu.
15:43But at the same time, if you want Caden Wallace to be your left tackle of the future and he
15:46can hold up on the blind side, it also makes all the sense in the world to keep him there.
15:50So, you know, I'm not too upset, but I do just, especially just Shooks specifically,
15:53I like him better on the left.
15:55That's what I was just going to say before you started mentioning it, where we both agree
16:00you would say that left tackle is more important than right tackle, correct?
16:03Okorafor, one-year deal.
16:05Caden Wallace, four-year rookie deal.
16:08If you can get Wallace getting going on the left side and he can be that, you know, future
16:11franchise left tackle for Drake May on that blind side, I think you want to make that
16:15happen much quicker.
16:17I think you want to make that happen as opposed to Okorafor being there.
16:20You lose him after one year, then you've got to find your left tackle again.
16:23Even if they do get a guy like Will Campbell from LSU in the first round of the draft,
16:26which is, again, we're looking way too far into it.
16:28We don't know what pick they're going to have, things like that.
16:30You can't bank on that.
16:32But I do think they're better off trying to get Caden Wallace at the left tackle spot
16:35instead of Okorafor.
16:36100%.
16:37All right, we are going to talk wide receivers, we're going to talk cornerbacks.
16:40We're going to wrap this thing up in a little while as well.
16:42But first, a quick word from our friends over at Game Time.
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18:02Okay, quick one last note on the wide receivers I want to get your take on because we talked
18:06about guys in the special teams, you know, punt returners, kick returners, things like
18:11that.
18:12One guy that continues to, I just keep noting that he's always on the field out here is
18:16Jalen Rager.
18:17Yeah.
18:18Number 83.
18:19He's there all the time.
18:20He's returning punts.
18:21He's the X-wide receiver, basically the first X-wide receiver on the field with KJ Osborne
18:25as the Z on the right side wearing 11-11s.
18:28He's always getting the first crack at the X position.
18:31I don't think he's really shined though.
18:33There's been some solid plays.
18:34He's going to be one of their better kick returners, I would think if he makes the team.
18:38But is he going to make the team?
18:39Because this room is so crowded and there's so many moving pieces and moving parts.
18:43I guess, long story short, what do you make of Jalen Rager's role through four weeks,
18:46or four days rather, and where do you see it going?
18:49Well first, I think Jalen Rager is going to make the team as a kick returner.
18:52I think he's their best option in that area of the game.
18:54He's been consistent as well.
18:56I think he also makes it because he's been the most explosive veteran by far.
18:59You haven't seen a lot down field from KJ Osborne.
19:02You haven't seen much of that from Tyquan Thornton.
19:04There's been spurts, but not a whole lot.
19:05Juju Smith-Schuster, I think, is playing himself off the roster.
19:08I can't remember the last time he had a play.
19:10I don't think he's had a play.
19:11No.
19:12Where I was like, okay, Juju, I see you.
19:13He had a crossing route from Drake Mayo one of the first days, but he was pretty wide
19:17open.
19:18But in some of the contested targets, where you'd expect a big-bodied veteran receiver
19:21to be able to make those catches and be able to box guys out, he hasn't.
19:25So because those are the group that you're working with, KJ Osborne's been solid, but
19:29mostly underneath some intermediate.
19:31Jalen Rager's been the only one who's really threatening defenses vertically.
19:34He's caught deep passes from, I think, Bailey Zappi, Drake May.
19:37May have had one today from Jacoby Brissell.
19:39I can't remember exactly who that was from.
19:41But in that way, I do think he stood out.
19:42Now, is he going to be a consistent X for you?
19:44No.
19:45I think Javon Baker is the best hope if this team wants a competitive outside receiver
19:49who can win one-on-one.
19:50But if you're talking about a backup, then it's like Kayshawn Booty and Jalen Rager for
19:54me.
19:55And I think Rager's just been the only consistent playmaker in any respect.
19:58So I understand why he's been the top X.
20:00I think the reps and the way that that's been split is pretty indicative of how they see
20:04that room.
20:05Because even Taekwon, we mentioned a couple days ago, he had a solid practice.
20:08But there haven't been many sessions or moments where Taekwon really stands out and you're
20:12like, all right, he's establishing that he deserves a roster spot.
20:16Maybe that changes when the pads come on.
20:17He said he's up to 192 after being 185 last season.
20:21Maybe that helps him out.
20:22But based on history, I'm not so sure that's going to work in his favor.
20:26The one thing I did find out from Eagle's Twitter is that the way we think of Taekwon
20:31Thornton here, you know, the non-padded practice camp hero, and then when the pads come on
20:36he's non-existent.
20:37Jalen Rager was that in Philly for the last couple years.
20:39Because our tweets, the CLNS account tweets every time we would tweet a highlight from
20:44Rager over the last three days, I kept seeing Philly fans being like, yeah, don't get used
20:48to it.
20:49He'll fall off at some point.
20:50So again, the pads, Monday's pads, padded practice is so crucial for so many different
20:54reasons.
20:55So the non-padded receiver room is definitely one of them.
20:56Yeah, I mean, that's what Rager is.
20:58He has the speed, and he's not a terrible receiver.
21:01So he's going to make deep catches when they're available.
21:03He's going to get behind guys.
21:05It's the consistency.
21:06That's what keeps you on the field.
21:08And he's not shown that at any point in his career.
21:09As exciting as his highs have been, I'm not banking on those being something we see all
21:13the time.
21:14Right, I'm with you.
21:15We'll see how that all plays out.
21:16All right, let's do cornerbacks.
21:17We'll do a quick hitter on special teams, and then we'll close this thing out with final
21:20thoughts and we'll get out of here before we head out for day four.
21:24Four.
21:25And then we'll go dive day five tomorrow.
21:26All right, cornerbacks.
21:28Jonathan Jones, Marcus Jones, Christian Gonzalez was the starting group at one point, but we
21:33also saw some Alex Austin there, and saw some Alex Austin at slot corner as well.
21:37Isaiah Bolden was playing some slot as well.
21:39I thought he had a couple of nice pass breakups in there at one point.
21:43Gonzalez, and this goes back to the one-on-ones thing, I keep seeing tweets again on our highlights
21:50from one-on-ones that, oh, Gonzo's getting smoked, Gonzo's this, Gonzo's that.
21:54He's going to be fine.
21:55One-on-ones, we talk about it, it's a wide receiver's dream because A, the cornerback
21:59obviously has no idea where the wide receiver is going, but B, there's no help.
22:02There's not linebackers on the inside.
22:04There's not safeties over the top.
22:05You literally have to lock that guy up from the line of scrimmage all the way to the back
22:08of the end zone.
22:09So wide receivers more often than not are going to win those.
22:11I think Gonzo's going to be fine, but that's my spiel on him.
22:16Want to get your thoughts on Alex Austin, what you saw from him, because he was a guy
22:19who, when we went into this thing and were asking about that third cornerback spot, that
22:24it was going to be Gonzo, Jon Jones, and then a mixture of Alex Austin, Marcus Jones, what
22:27have you.
22:28Marcus Jones has had the leg up to win that job so far, but I think Alex Austin showed
22:31a lot today and was one of the winners of the day.
22:33Yeah, one I do want to comment on Gonzo, I'm on the same page now.
22:36The one really, if you want to say bad rep that he had, was the one where Javon Baker
22:40beat him inside, but again, his leverage was against the route, so it's kind of tough for
22:44any defender to hang with those kinds of routes, but even when guys got a step on Gonzo downfield,
22:48and we saw with Jalen Polk, I mentioned a rep that he had that was really impressive
22:52a couple days ago, Gonzo is still right behind the receiver, able to make a play, so he's
22:58not getting smoked out here, nothing to worry about.
23:00Alex Austin was very interesting today, because he actually got those reps inside and looked
23:04good.
23:05He had a breakup against KJ Osborne.
23:06Osborne thought that there was some pass interference, so you can debate that, but even still, Alex
23:11Austin showing that versatility, he was an outside corner, I'm pretty sure exclusively
23:15last season.
23:16I don't remember seeing him get a single rep in this slot before today, so being able to
23:20play inside and out, that'll be huge for Austin's ability to make this team and actually get
23:24playing time, especially because Marcus Jones still looks very good as the primary slot
23:29corner, had himself a pass breakup against David Wallace, where the ball was actually
23:33in Wallace's grasp, and Marcus Jones, he looked like John Jones out there, he kept ripping
23:37at it.
23:38I think Wallace might have thought he was out of bounds, Marcus Jones just keep going
23:41at it.
23:42Not only does he rip the ball out, he ripped off David Wallace's helmet, so that corner
23:45battle is still really fun.
23:47Again, when you have corners like that, Alex Austin and Marcus Jones getting reps with
23:51the first and second team, sometimes John Jones is out there as well with the second
23:54team, just as part of a rotation.
23:56It's not easy for this team to go down field, I think it makes more sense a lot of the time
23:59for them to go short, because at least you're keeping the offense on schedule versus constantly
24:03airing it out into bad windows.
24:06The reason we keep, we haven't seen, I talked about the practice from Drake May, the reason
24:10we haven't seen a ton of deep balls from Jacoby Reset, a lot of deep shots, is because of
24:14how good the secondary is.
24:16There's so many moving parts and we don't really fully, I don't think we fully know
24:20yet who is going to be the quote-unquote starters and how they'll mix and match, but I think
24:23that's the beauty of the room, that they have so many good players that you can put out
24:27there inside, outside, you can mix and match, you can use different shells, you can kind
24:33of disguise people and what coverage you're in and things like that, and I think that's
24:36going to obviously bode well for this team moving forward.
24:39I'm not worried about the secondary, I don't think anybody should be worried about the
24:42secondary.
24:43You talk about Gonzo all you want, getting burked in one-on-ones, get out here, watch
24:47last season, see what you're going to have from him, he's going to be awesome.
24:50Any last thoughts on the defense before we wrap it up with special teams?
24:54Not really, no.
24:55I guess one last thing on, oh yeah, Barmore not being out there, but he's not out there,
24:58I wonder where that goes.
24:59I'll say Gonzalez, Keyshawn Booty and Jayvon Baker were both asked about him, because it's
25:03pretty cool getting the perspective of the receivers when they're going against Gonzalez,
25:06especially two guys who won their matchups against him, and Keyshawn Booty mentioned
25:10he's so patient, that's one of the reasons Gonzalez is so dominant, and why I think he's
25:14going to pretty much pick up where he left off last season, because on top of being a
25:18freak athlete, having everything you want physically, he doesn't panic, ever.
25:22And you don't really see that from professional corners, much less guys who don't have a lot
25:25of experience, and went up against the competition he did last season.
25:29So they both mentioned, you know, you got to kind of give him a little something in
25:32the middle, because if you just run a plain route, it's not going to be enough, you got
25:35to get him off your pace a little bit.
25:37Jayvon Baker said the same thing, like you got to be a technician with him, so it was
25:40cool hearing the perspective of those guys with a corner who's just so talented and such
25:44an all-around threat.
25:45Yep, alright.
25:46We talked about special teams earlier a little bit with the punt returners, we obviously
25:49saw our first live punt drill today, and those guys were back there returning, but we also
25:53saw a live field goal drill at the end of practice, notably Joey Sly went first ahead
25:58of Chad Ryland, don't know if we should read into it or not, we'll see what happens there,
26:01but I thought that was at least noteworthy.
26:03Both missed their first kicks from like 32 yards out, both bad starts.
26:07Shanks one direction, then the other.
26:09Yeah, but then after that, they went 3 for 3 at the end of the day, so do we read into
26:13Joey Sly going first, is that just a mix-up, is that to try and get in Chad Ryland's head,
26:16kind of keep him on his toes, two bad misses, what do you make of that, and then they obviously
26:20followed up with three more.
26:21Yeah, we've had so many of those, like the Chad Ryland bad misses, and also the competition
26:27that we've seen in other positions, I'm not reading too much into the rotation at this
26:30point.
26:31If it happens two days in a row, then that's significant, but Chad Ryland actually had
26:34a better day the other day than Joey Sly, that's why I think it would be kind of weird
26:37if Joey Sly moved back over him, considering that was how things went, so I'm not reading
26:42too much into it.
26:43If anything, I think as it stands right now, it's damn near neck and neck between those
26:47guys.
26:48Yeah, up with you, we'll keep an eye on that, we'll keep you updated there, because obviously
26:50even though Chad Ryland was a fourth-round pick last year, I think his job right now
26:53is completely up for grabs if Joey Sly can stay consistent and they can get into the
26:59preseason and kind of go neck and neck, I think that job is still wide open up in the
27:03air.
27:04So, that's day four, up and down from the quarterbacks, some get your popcorn ready
27:08moments from Jayvon Baker and the rest, yeah, what do you got?
27:10One more thing, speaking of the quarterbacks, quarterback three remains a legitimate competition,
27:15we saw some pretty interesting way they split reps, I believe the first time around it was
27:19Joe Milton in seven-on-sevens, but he didn't participate in eleven-on-elevens, it was Bailey
27:23Zappi, and then they switched, so it was basically one guy getting the team drill reps each time,
27:28and then them switching off, so I thought that was pretty interesting, I've heard a
27:32lot of talk about Joe Milton being the best quarterback down here, I think that's pretty
27:35preposterous first of all, he's going up against completely different players, it's not the
27:39same quality of reps, and also, I don't want to dump on Joe Milton, because he's been up
27:43and down, it's pretty much been what you expected, but he had a rough interception today, Joe
27:47Giles Harris seemed to kind of bait him into a pick, to a throw to Jayvon Baker on a sit
27:51route over the middle, and they still had their good moments, but I think it really
27:56is both guys pretty much battling, because neither has really asserted themselves in
28:01terms of being like, yes, this guy's clearly doing significantly more, even Milton's completion
28:05to Jayvon Baker the other day, that ball kind of did hang up there, it's cool to see, but
28:09Baker really made a play on a pass that Joe Milton got there, but not necessarily on time,
28:14so yeah, quarterback three, still very much competition.
28:16Yeah, I think for the first couple of days, it was kind of clear that Milton, I guess,
28:21was passing, or they wanted to try and have Milton pass Zappi, they gave him the reps,
28:25they gave him the opportunities, now they're kind of back, closer, like you said, neck
28:29and neck, so we'll see what happens there, I would still say Milton still has the leg
28:31up, just in terms of draft capital he used on him, and where Zappi's at, and his career
28:36is where Milton is, but definitely notable to see them taking reps with each other at
28:41the quarterback three spot.
28:43That's day four, again, quarterbacks up and down, wide receivers shine, get your popcorn
28:47ready moments, Christian Baum was not out here, Marte Mop was not participating, Douglas
28:53is back, or, I'm sorry, Douglas is not back, his hand is still keeping him out of 11-on-11s,
28:59so that's kind of the gist of day four, not much out here, because I think they were slowly
29:04but surely getting ready for day five, in full pads tomorrow, on Monday we get to see
29:08what's going on with the offensive line, we get to see a lot more physicality, Drudd may
29:12have even mentioned on Tuesday, or last Tuesday, that we might get a live tackling drill out
29:16here with the pads on, so, taking us back to the Pop Warner days here, so, one last
29:21thought before we leave, what are you most looking forward to tomorrow when they put
29:25the pads on?
29:26Trenches, I want to see the big boys get after it, I've been saying without the pads there's
29:31only so much we can glean from the offensive line play now, they get to lock horns and
29:35actually do their job, so that'll be fun.
29:37Yeah, I'm with you, it's the offensive line, the offensive line is the most important position
29:40on this Patriots team right now, of course quarterback, of course pass catcher to help
29:44the quarterbacks, but it all starts and ends with the offensive line, so we're gonna have
29:47our eyes fully locked in on to that offensive line tomorrow, we'll have a trench report
29:51on clnsmedia.com after practice, so make sure you check that out, we'll have a full notebook
29:56as well, and also make sure you check out all of our video content, our stand-ups and
30:01things like that on Patriots Press Pass, those will be uploaded this afternoon as well, so,
30:05that's gonna do it for us here on the Patriots Daily Podcast from day four of Patriots Training
30:10Camp, so again, make sure you keep it here, locked in on Patriots Press Pass, check out
30:13all of our written work at clnsmedia.com, and take care of yourselves, take care of
30:17each other, and we'll see you tomorrow, peace y'all.