Gresh and Fauria: Day 11 Training Camp recap and reaction
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00:0011 of training camp.
00:08You just got a good look at the field.
00:09If you are watching us on Twitch,
00:12you can listen to us on the Odyssey app.
00:14Final hour of aggression, Fourier 104
00:17is the time here from Gillette.
00:19Isaiah Bolden is scheduled to chat with us today,
00:24I do believe.
00:24That's the way it's all going to break down.
00:27I think Kevin Harris and Calvin Anderson and some guys
00:31we don't necessarily hear from very much
00:33are the group and crew that is talking today.
00:37Then tomorrow will be a day to get ready for preseason game
00:41number one.
00:43Fourier, was there anything that stood out
00:45to you, good, bad, or indifferent today
00:48with practice?
00:49No, not necessarily a player.
00:53Although that one period, the one team period,
00:56I thought looked the best, just as far as just the way
00:59they're throwing the ball, the receivers catching the ball,
01:02the offensive line giving protection against the ones.
01:06One good play by Romandre Stevenson
01:09at the second, I think the second to last period, team
01:11period, almost like a flat route out of the backfield,
01:16ran for a bunch of yards.
01:19The overall run game seems to be non-existent for the most part.
01:24I mean, that's the way I'm seeing it.
01:26Every time they try to run to the edge, they can't hit it.
01:28Every time they run to the middle, they get stuffed.
01:32So usually you'll see like, all right,
01:36everybody at the second level is tagging off.
01:40But getting to the second level has
01:42been kind of hard for the run game to accomplish.
01:46So yeah, as far as what we've been watching,
01:49that's what stood out for me.
01:50How about you?
01:51It was some of the red zone work and that there's clearly
01:55going to be some struggles and issues there.
01:58The O-line got a look at some blitzing,
02:00it appeared to be today.
02:03There was the one right up the middle
02:04in the goal line period where here comes the blitzer
02:08and Brissette threw it right there.
02:10And it almost really should have been picked off.
02:13It was a defender had to kind of hit him in the hands
02:15and then dropped it.
02:17But just not enough offensive momentum yet.
02:23You don't like the casualness of practice.
02:26That's bugging the hell out of you.
02:27Well, it is.
02:28And also, when you mentioned that you
02:30got guys walking out the Universal Studios back lot
02:35way after stretching has already begun,
02:38there's just kind of a, OK, pace to everything.
02:44Because how you operate sort of sets the standard
02:48for where you want to get to.
02:50And if it's loosey-goosey in practice,
02:54and maybe we don't hammer the details like we need to,
02:58and things of that nature, to me that stuff
03:01adds up, especially when you're struggling to find young talent
03:06or have young talent emerge.
03:09That's where those things have to really matter.
03:12Not everyone at the NFL level just
03:14gets to survive on athletic ability alone.
03:17You've got to have a lot more to play 13 years in the league.
03:22You were physical.
03:23You could run.
03:23You could block.
03:25What kept you in the league?
03:26Toughness, dependability, details.
03:30Even for you, being on time still.
03:33Right?
03:34You have those.
03:36I have those.
03:37I hate to say that it all kind of feeds into itself.
03:40But to me, Christian, it does.
03:43And yep, things are very, very different down here.
03:46Very, very different.
03:48Very different.
03:49OK, so do you think, every time we
03:52have one of these conversations, I just
03:54try to figure out what is really most important to Mayo.
03:59Because he is relatively new.
04:02It's like, as far as players who are coaches, he's super young.
04:08He's not that far removed from playing.
04:11So as a player, OK, listen, who cares if you're walking?
04:16In the big scheme of things, nobody matters.
04:18It doesn't matter.
04:19So what's the most important thing for him
04:23as a new head coach who was a player?
04:26Establishing his culture should be that.
04:30Because I would say the most important thing for me,
04:33if I was going to be a head coach,
04:35what's the most important thing?
04:37I would kind of want to make sure,
04:41God, I think that we would all be,
04:43we all kind of understand.
04:46Dante Skarnick used to say, hey, there's
04:50500 ways to block a front, right?
04:53It doesn't matter what way you choose, as long as all of us
04:58are agreed upon, this is the way we're blocking it.
05:03Seeing it from one set of eyes, right?
05:05That's the way that's, I hope I'm paraphrasing.
05:07No, but people will say, people say process doesn't matter.
05:11It does, and that is a part of it.
05:13It doesn't matter what you choose.
05:15Can you communicate it, teach it, coach it, and execute it?
05:19Yeah.
05:19No, for the most part, I don't know.
05:21Can you even grade them right now, as far as who's doing it?
05:24I don't think you can.
05:25That's why when people went nuts over May on the bad day
05:28last week, I think you and I were both like, whoa, whoa,
05:31wait a minute.
05:32Expect this.
05:33This is going to happen.
05:35This is not a fully formed quarterback.
05:37And you even talked about, even in the young days of Tom Brady,
05:40year two, year three, still messing stuff up at times
05:44at the line of scrimmage.
05:46How nervous do you think Mayo is going to be Thursday?
05:49First time he puts on the headset that
05:51is the head coach's headset.
05:53He walks out to midfield, greets, he shakes hands.
05:57How's everybody doing?
05:58OK, good to see you.
05:59How's camp going?
06:00And now it's unofficially official,
06:03because it's still a practice game.
06:05And he's practicing being a head coach.
06:07I got to tell you, I don't think he's
06:09going to be nervous at all.
06:10I think it's the wrong emotion.
06:13We're back to day one when he got the job.
06:17That's it.
06:18Whee!
06:19Whee!
06:20Yeah!
06:21Let's go on the roller coaster.
06:23Yay!
06:24Wasn't that awesome?
06:25That was so awesome.
06:27That, to me, is what I'm expecting more of that
06:31from Gerard Mayo.
06:33First time out, it's like the first time he had sex.
06:37You didn't realize how bad you were.
06:39Really?
06:39But he kept banging away.
06:41Oh, he just did everything I wanted him to do.
06:43No, but that's the thing.
06:45I mean, whee!
06:47That's what I'm expecting.
06:48I don't think it's going to be tight nerves,
06:50any of that kind of stuff.
06:52Now, week one of the regular season,
06:54because everybody will be watching,
06:56and then your decisions are out there,
06:59then I think the nerves might set in a little bit.
07:02You know, down 7-0 at Kansas City first quarter.
07:05Cincinnati first quarter.
07:07That's what it's like.
07:09Because you've seen the difference between the way
07:12you watch a game in the preseason, the way they coach,
07:15the way it's played.
07:16You know, everybody's kind of in third gear,
07:18except the young guys that are really trying
07:20to make a name for themselves.
07:22And the coach is like, yeah, you may make a mistake.
07:24You may coach this preseason specifically on guys
07:29that you want to judge and grade.
07:31You're going to coach the game.
07:33Hey, listen, I don't care if I lose this stupid game.
07:35The stats don't matter.
07:36It's never part of your record.
07:38No one ever looks at your pro-focus stat chart
07:41and says, oh, you know, you played in 50 preseason games,
07:44and you never had a touchdown.
07:45Nobody cares.
07:46So you can't even really judge him on his decisions
07:50during the preseason.
07:51You can't judge him on that.
07:53He may say, well, I wanted to throw the ball directly
07:56to the left, and I wanted May to do it, so we did it that way.
07:58I think where the criticism of Mayo is fair
08:02is, what is he looking for, and what
08:05is the end game goal for what you want
08:09to get out of this season?
08:10Because I heard him say early on,
08:13well, we're going to develop.
08:14And then I heard him say, well, we're about winning.
08:17And then I heard him say, well, we're
08:18about developing these guys.
08:20And then I heard again say, well, you know,
08:23we also want to win as well.
08:24So what are you balancing here?
08:27Because if this really is the truest version of this
08:31is building the foundation year for what we want to do here,
08:35then there is a certain way to go about that,
08:37where the wins and losses don't matter as much.
08:41But are you getting the work done
08:43of developing your wide receivers
08:44and your young O-linemen and maybe your QB as well?
08:47OK, so I see Isaiah Bolden.
08:49I want to call him Brandon Bolden, but I see Isaiah
08:51Bolden.
08:53So they had signings.
08:54They were signing autographs for the kids.
08:56Got it.
08:56It looks like we're probably going to get him right now,
08:59right?
09:00Am I seeing that correctly?
09:02I don't know where you're looking.
09:04Right there.
09:04Oh, yeah.
09:05So I'm like, right there.
09:06There is white t-shirt, young lady with a blue jacket.
09:09Looks like she's calling Billy right now.
09:11I think so, yeah.
09:12Isaiah Bolden is a number 29 in your playbook,
09:15number one in your heart.
09:16Scheduled to join the NHL.
09:19Remember, he was the guy that got hurt.
09:20Remember last year he got hurt?
09:21Yeah.
09:22And they called that game last year against the Packers.
09:24Yeah, that's one of the first things I want to ask him is,
09:27you know, what was that like coming back?
09:30Now, Isaiah Bolden was the seventh rounder.
09:32I know Mayo and crew like this guy a lot, quite honestly.
09:38And here's the other thing, too, that I want to ask him.
09:42He's 6'2".
09:44He's tall.
09:44I'm looking at him now.
09:45He looks like a wide receiver.
09:47Right.
09:47A tall, lengthy, skinny wide receiver.
09:49That's big for a corner.
09:52So hopefully we'll talk to Isaiah Bolden in mere moments.
09:55But yeah, he's good to go.
09:57All right.
09:58Isaiah Bolden is with Gresh and Fourier
10:00here with us at Patriots training camp.
10:03Isaiah, if you look up, we're up here in the blue area.
10:06Look up.
10:06Look up.
10:07We're right up there.
10:08Hey, over here.
10:08Hey, there we go, man.
10:10What's up, what's up, what's up?
10:11Isaiah, how are you?
10:12Hey, man, let's start with, and we were just talking about it,
10:15your season ended with a head injury last year.
10:19Hey, man, kind of walk us through what that was like.
10:22Like, how long did it take for you
10:25to kind of get back to being you going through that ordeal?
10:32Really, honestly, I mean, I felt pretty healthy
10:34throughout the year.
10:35But really, just my first day back practicing,
10:37it really felt like I was me again, honestly.
10:39So pretty much, you know, TAs, I felt like myself.
10:42But it was a long, long season for me last year, for sure.
10:46So I know your last year was cut short,
10:48and now you're kind of starting over again
10:50with the whole process.
10:51I know Mayo has really talked a lot about you
10:53as far as being a demon on special teams.
10:56With that being said, do you view that as a way
10:59to get extra opportunities on defense,
11:02or is it kind of an equal for you?
11:04How's that been going so far?
11:07Really, it's an equal for me.
11:09Special teams, defense, I mean, I really just right now
11:11trying to find my way on the team.
11:17Pretty much, that's the main thing.
11:19Special teams, corners, safety, nickel,
11:21whatever I got to do to be on this team is what I'm going to do.
11:25You know, Isaiah, I was going to ask you, at 6' 2",
11:27have you been mixing in at safety a little bit?
11:30I mean, you look like body type wise the kind of guy
11:34that they could cross train, corner, and safety.
11:37Yeah, you know, different personnel, different packages.
11:40You know, I leave it up to Coach Mayo to move me around
11:42and stuff like that.
11:44How difficult is that mentally to know
11:46all these different positions and all these different coverages?
11:50I mean, it's difficult, but once you get the hang of it,
11:53you know, it gets easy.
11:54I got great veterans such as De'Rell Pepper,
11:58Duggar, Jonathan Jones.
11:59I mean, my vets are great guys.
12:00They tag me along along the way.
12:03How has this camp gone for you?
12:07Where do you feel like you're getting better?
12:09How do you see yourself contributing
12:11to this team this year?
12:14Really, just my versatility.
12:15Special teams and on defense, I feel like that's my main thing
12:18right now is versatility.
12:20Is there a guy that you watched as maybe in college
12:23or even last year whose game you kind of like to emulate?
12:29Is there a guy that you had looked up to
12:30and whose game you want to pattern your own off of?
12:34I like to do a mix up.
12:36Pat, Chetan, Jalen, Ramsey, and Kenny Moore, those three guys
12:39is kind of what I like to mix my game after those.
12:41What about them is it that you like more?
12:45Jalen, his versatility, his physicality.
12:48I mean, his patience, his line of scrimmage on that corner.
12:51And then Kenny Moore, his slot game is his elite.
12:56Well, Isaiah, it's getting a little noisy down there.
12:58We're going to let you go, friend.
12:59Thanks for the time.
13:00We appreciate you.
13:01Keep on keeping on.
13:02We'll catch you down the road.
13:04All right, appreciate you.
13:05Thanks for having me.
13:06All right, there we go.
13:07There goes Isaiah Bolden taking a few minutes with us
13:10after practice.
13:11It seems like they're giving him, throwing a lot at him.
13:14Well, he's in an opportunity to win a spot.
13:17Man, he does look tall, man.
13:19He looks tall from here.
13:20Usually people are like, he's like long.
13:22He looks like a safety.
13:25You think?
13:25Yeah, yeah.
13:27The modern day free safety.
13:29Long, lanky, long-armed.
13:34I mean, the strong safety really doesn't exist in the league.
13:36No, they're called more wheel linebackers.
13:38Exactly right.
13:39So he's definitely going to be a bit of a match-up guy
13:43and all that stuff.
13:44All right, thanks to Isaiah Bolden.
13:46Thanks to the Patriots for setting us up with that.