Alex Barth and Brian Hines go LIVE to recap the Patriots 30-13 loss to the 49ers in Week 4.
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00:00:00All right, everyone, welcome back into another live edition of the Patriots Beat podcast
00:00:26here on the CLNS media network presented by our wonderful friends over at prize picks
00:00:32and game time. It is Brian Heinz back as always with Alex Barth because we have another game
00:00:37to break down. And unfortunately, another Patriots loss. They dropped their week four
00:00:42game 30 to 13 to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday to fall to one and three on the season.
00:00:52Three game losing streak now for the team. And Barth, are you surprised we're going to
00:00:55be talking about the quarterback? We're going to be talking about the offensive line. Uh,
00:00:59but before we do that, just kind of big picture thoughts on, on the game from yesterday there.
00:01:05Well, it is kind of my big picture. Like I know some people came away from that game,
00:01:09like shocked or whatever. And I'm not saying you have to like what you saw cause you don't,
00:01:13but that game to me was even with, with everybody out that was out for the Niners, the Patriots
00:01:19faced a better team than them got outclassed and things that we've known since the summer
00:01:26weaknesses got exposed the quarterback play, the offensive line, the defensive front.
00:01:30It's not to say like, it's not to excuse any of it because it shouldn't be excused,
00:01:35but I don't, there was nothing in there that I was like, Oh, that's new, right? That game
00:01:41just kind of felt like how that game should have gone. The Patriots are not on the Niners level,
00:01:45even with the Niners missing a few key players, we know that. And in particular,
00:01:49the Niners were able to exploit some Patriots weaknesses. Yeah. I mean,
00:01:53they were the biggest underdog of the week. And I know each week of the NFL season so far,
00:01:58the biggest underdog has won outright, but you could sense this one was going to be the one
00:02:03that probably came to an end because you know, you're going cross country. You're against a
00:02:07team that is a Superbowl contender. They were in the Superbowl last year and you just kind
00:02:11of expected that's how it would go. If you told us they lost by, you know, 17 points going into
00:02:17the week, we probably would have expected that. So, um, but yeah, it just brings back into light
00:02:23the quarterback in the offensive line, Jacoby percent under heavy pressure again, over 50%
00:02:28uh, pressure rate for the second straight week. He took, I think, double digit quarterback hits
00:02:33again, six more sacks. Uh, so under heavy pressure still, but he finally did the one thing that he's
00:02:41really been good at the first three weeks is he hasn't turned the ball over and he had a pick six
00:02:46there early great play by Fred Warner, who's an outstanding linebacker and outstanding player.
00:02:51But you know, Jacoby kind of staring Taekwon Thornton down pick six. He put the ball on the
00:02:56ground three other times, two, three fumbles. Uh, one was, I think he only lost one. He recovered
00:03:02the other two, but that's what Jacoby percent can't do now. He's keeping his job for now.
00:03:06Gerard Mayo said this morning that he's, he's still the quarterback. So a, do you agree with
00:03:11that decision? And B like just thoughts on Jacoby percent, uh, again, from yesterday.
00:03:16Um, I, I agree. Um, I, I, I agree with him keeping the job, I guess, basically out by
00:03:27default. Like I'm still not comfortable putting Drake may out there. I don't think putting Drake
00:03:31may out there's the right decision. I thought that was Jacoby's worst game of the year. I've
00:03:36kind of defended him at times in terms of people saying he's holding the ball too long
00:03:40or saying like, he's making the offensive line worse. And I still think that's true
00:03:43for the earlier games. Um, wasn't the case yesterday that he was holding the ball pressure.
00:03:49He missed some open reads. This is a guy that did as a veteran in this league, I believe
00:03:53is one of the 32 best quarterbacks in the league.
00:03:55He might be low twenties, high thirties, but he's one of the 32 best quarterbacks in the
00:03:58league. Um, and has a ton of experience and just watching him yesterday, the pressure
00:04:06is getting to him. Like he's sped up his pocket presence. Isn't there. He's anticipating hits.
00:04:13He's not seeing ghosts in the secondary. Like we associate seeing ghosts with, you know,
00:04:18just kind of like missing guys and coverage and things like that. He's seen ghosts in
00:04:22the pass rush, but you can tell he's anticipating hits when there's nobody near him. And I think
00:04:27a lot of that's a product of the offensive line. He wasn't doing that at the beginning
00:04:30of the year and it's, it's not good, but at the same time, I don't want to subject Drake
00:04:37made of that.
00:04:38Yeah. There like there even plays there was one, cause it was frustrating because the
00:04:44receivers were open at times and that's been kind of the case, not overly consistent. You
00:04:49know, some guys are struggling to get separation, but when there's a receiver open and the offensive
00:04:54line actually holds up enough and the play is not still getting made, that's the frustrating
00:04:59part with Jacoby. And there were some of those on Sunday, you know, there was one, I think
00:05:02it was a third down Keisha and booty was open 20 yards down the field and he had a pocket,
00:05:07but he couldn't get him the football. So, but do you think, you know, they're not going
00:05:11to may, do you think Drake could make this better? Like could think he could elevate
00:05:16the offensive line by whether it's being more in the gun and operating, you know, van Pelt
00:05:22said they will change the offense, right? With the quarterbacks. And we've seen that
00:05:26based off their actions with Drake may in there. So they could do some of that to help
00:05:30the offensive line. And, and even, you know, they're getting blitz so much that cause they
00:05:34have no threat of vertically passing the ball downfield. And that's something else that
00:05:38Drake may is really good at. Maybe just the threat of pushing the ball again, could make
00:05:42some of these defenses back off. So maybe putting may in there could just help the offensive
00:05:47line as a product of his environment almost. Yes. And no, I mean, is he going to help in
00:05:54spots? Yes. This is where, and I know people don't want to hear this, but this is where
00:06:00you have to take the long-term into account. Two or three plays a game. Is he going to
00:06:04make a difference? Yeah. What's going to happen on the other 40 something, 50 something plays
00:06:09he's in there. Cause some of these, the quarterback has no shot and we know that Brian and I also
00:06:15don't think a quarterback setting protections would with what's mostly going to be an inexperienced
00:06:20offensive line.
00:06:21Like you're going to create some pressures. They're going from David Andrews and Jacoby
00:06:25Bursette to if David Andrews out Nick Leverett, who's played like 50 snaps of center in his
00:06:29NFL career and Drake may, you're going to take a drop off there and your teams are going
00:06:34to start blitzing the crap out of you and you're not going to be able to pick it up.
00:06:37So look, the Patriots pressure rate is just a tick under 50% right now. Even if Drake
00:06:43may takes 10% off, which would be massive. I mean, that's not realistic. It's not realistic
00:06:49for him to take that much off, but let's say he takes 10% off. There's still a bottom four
00:06:56pass protection unit in the NFL. You can't subject the kid to that. You just can't yet.
00:07:02And I know I, Oh, he's going to have to get it. He's going to have to learn how to throw
00:07:06against pressure. You dropped him third overall. I get it. This is not normal. This is not
00:07:12NFL pressure. This is learning to drive by racing in the Daytona 500.
00:07:18You can't subject the kid to this. And what's how I know it's wrong is there's a subset
00:07:25of Patriots fans. I think that are trying to talk themselves into lines. Not as bad
00:07:31as we think the play calling is not as bad as we think. So just put the kid in and it'll
00:07:35be fine. It's all under Kobe Bursette. Those aren't even the fans that did stand out to
00:07:39me. I was seeing people yet. And I know Twitter's not real life, but I was seeing people. Yes.
00:07:44I've expressed the sentiment that, yeah, it is a show. Put him in anyway. Cause I want
00:07:50to see him because I just want the shiny new toy. I want the team to be more watchable,
00:07:54which I get.
00:07:55I understand. But if you put him in there and he gets his head taken off, we're back
00:07:59at square one. This is what these crap bag franchises do. They can't get out of the hole
00:08:06fast enough and they jeopardize the long-term picture and they end up right back where they
00:08:11started if not worse. And this isn't necessarily to defend everything the Patriots have done.
00:08:16Let me be perfectly clear about that. This is not to defend everything the Patriots have
00:08:21done. I think they are doing what's best in the current situation, which is you do not
00:08:27have a base level offensive line.
00:08:30You can not subject a rock quarterback prospect to that. The issue is they should not, they
00:08:37should have a better offensive line than they do. And we don't need to go down the road
00:08:42of well, tired, smooth. Wasn't going to sign it. I know that. I know that they brought
00:08:48in no real left tackles and I roll your eyes. I'm a broken record. I know they brought in
00:08:54no real left tackles this off season. The only experience tackle they brought in, quit
00:09:02two months into the thing. Wasn't interested in it. I'm talking about replacement level
00:09:08players. We've done the list. Josh Jones, Cornelius Lucas, Cam Fleming, these guys,
00:09:15they are four weeks in, they are pulling guys off the street. Brian, you know, I've been
00:09:18pretty, I've pretty much poopoo to anybody who comes in here and asks about Donovan Smith
00:09:24or asked about David Bakhtiari or asked about Charles Leno necessity. Now, you know, any
00:09:30of these guys, yeah, I'm, well, I'm still out on Bakhtiari cause I just don't think
00:09:34he can play. I like physically, I don't think he can anymore. I think, yeah, I think his
00:09:38knees kind of cook. And again, if anyone would know, you think it would be Elliott Wolfe
00:09:42who has all these green Bay connections and all that 90, 95 sports.com.
00:09:46I wrote about this today. I'd probably call Donovan Smith and he was atrocious last year.
00:09:52I I'd probably call, I think the best answer is DJ Humphries, but he tore his ACL in January.
00:09:58So you're talking about, I think what is realistically not like he, he's not gonna be back yet and
00:10:04maybe they're waiting for him. I don't know. Even in the meantime, I would call Donovan
00:10:07Smith. I don't think it's going to look pretty, but I think he'll give you at least some sort
00:10:11of continuity there that you're just not getting right now. Um, and you have to convince, you
00:10:16have to convince him to play, right? Like what's right. What's coming here to a one
00:10:22in three team that, you know, isn't, well, he was playing in the Superbowl last year.
00:10:26Like why I would say he's actually a guy I think you can convince cause he's only 30.
00:10:31There's not a lot of good tackles in the league. If you convince him to come here, he's going
00:10:34to get a chance to reset his value. Maybe he gets, you know, one more big contract.
00:10:37It's like, you're gonna, you're gonna start, you're gonna play. You're going to start,
00:10:40you're not in danger of being benched cause he wouldn't be. Um, I do well, I'm doing the
00:10:44quarterback here and I want to throw this on to, uh, somebody brought up here. We could
00:10:49have had Jaden Daniels. I, I get why this conversation is happening. I do one. The other
00:10:55thing I brought up, right? Yeah. Jane Daniels pick second, not third. And I, what did you
00:10:59want them to do? Did you want Chad Ryland to purposely miss field goals? Already cost
00:11:03himself his job. Did you want Bailey's happy Mac Jones to purposely throw picks? Like that's
00:11:07not realistic. We went over this last year. Tanking happens from the GM up in bill Belichick
00:11:13was not tanking because he was trying to save his job. That's not realistic. That's
00:11:17not worth criticizing anybody for when it comes to Jane Daniels though, I, I think if
00:11:24the, let's say the commanders had taken Drake May 2nd and the Patriots had taken Jane Daniels
00:11:29third, I think we'd be right here doing the same thing.
00:11:33I don't, this is not a Drake May thing. It's not a Drake May thing. This is a, you think
00:11:40Daniels would be playing though here? No, that's it. This is my take. I think this is
00:11:45an Elliot Wolf, Gerard Mayo, Alex Van Pelt thing that they want to sit the quarterback
00:11:50and develop them in part because the situation, the reason Washington has the rookie quarterback,
00:11:56that's a star already in the Patriots don't is not because of the quarterback they drafted.
00:12:01It's because they signed Cornelius Lucas. They drafted Brandon Coleman. They already
00:12:05had Terry McLaurin. They were a better situation. They had Cliff Kingsbury as their offensive
00:12:11coordinator. They invested in the offensive line. They had receivers. That to me is the
00:12:17difference. I think the Patriots always planned on sitting the quarterback, whether it was
00:12:23Drake May, whether it was Jane Daniels, whether it was JJ McCarthy, I think they always planned
00:12:28on sitting the quarterback.
00:12:30So debate this all you want. And that's not to say Drake May is going to end up just
00:12:36to find the pick and be on Jane Daniels level. I'm also not totally there with Jane Daniels
00:12:39yet. He's been outstanding, but the question with him wasn't ability. It was durability.
00:12:44So let's see if he can do this for a few seasons. But the thing for me is it's, it's not about,
00:12:50Oh, well they could have had Jane Daniels and he'd be putting up 300 yards and pleading
00:12:5490% of his passes. That's tough to do without an offensive line without Terry McLaurin.
00:12:59I think it's a Patriots plan thing more than it is just the individual quarterback thing,
00:13:03if that makes sense. And that takes going to piss people off. But I've been, I've been
00:13:07feeling this for like two weeks. It's the Packer way, right? That everyone talks about
00:13:11exactly. Exactly. So I just like the Jane Daniels saying like, did people expect like
00:13:19he's two years older than Drake May he's played like three more college seasons. Like, yeah,
00:13:24like he was probably the odds were in his favor to hit the ground running a little bit
00:13:28faster here in the NFL. So I'm not, I'm again, I didn't think he'd come in and be like the
00:13:33best quarterback in the league, like how he's kind of playing right now, but yeah, he was
00:13:38supposed to come in and kind of have a step up on, on some of these other rookie quarterbacks.
00:13:42So yeah, but yeah, his situation is really good. Like there's not a Terry, Terry McLaurin
00:13:48here and, and Cliff is calling things very well over there. So, but yeah, like back to
00:13:54Drake, um, you get their dilemma, the Patriots dilemma, like with the offensive line. But
00:14:03I would just say to you, like you think, like you, you still think he should play at some
00:14:07point this year, right? Like you, you don't, you're not interested in entire red shirt
00:14:11in red. So you're almost, I, maybe this is a cop out. I'm kind of feeling split now.
00:14:17I think it would be beneficial to the team for him to play multiple games this year.
00:14:24I think that would be beneficial. You get to see him in this offense and it kind of
00:14:28helps you tailor your plans for the off season. You also hopefully get some plays on tape
00:14:32that you can use to sell free agents. I mean, he said, if you're not going to have David
00:14:38Andrews and you're not going to have a left tackle and you're still going to be running
00:14:43seven step drops, I don't think you're going to get any of that. Like I, I don't think
00:14:49that those seven, those rates. So I think there's benefit. I just laid out what I think
00:14:54the benefits are to playing them. Obviously development, the team can evaluate him more
00:14:59complete. Like obviously you evaluate the player. You think, you know, the player getting,
00:15:03coming out of college, but seeing him in the context of an NFL offense, your offense definitely
00:15:06helps and maybe it's all right. We need to pay more attention to this or, you know, we
00:15:09don't need this as much as we thought, whatever. And even just, sorry to cut you off, but like,
00:15:13yeah. Evaluating the other play, like we've got nothing on like pop Douglas.
00:15:18I want to talk about Jalen Polk, but you're, you're right. And evaluating the rest of your
00:15:22team. And then obviously the element of maybe you build some, some juice around the league
00:15:26and guys want to come here. Do you get any of that benefit development, internal evaluation,
00:15:35external juice? Do you get any of that benefit putting him in this situation? Like there
00:15:41was a situation they had, we talked about this last week, right? Left to right low.
00:15:47Andrews on when, who Wallace, you can give him that. And I think you might get something. You
00:15:54might be able to squeeze a little bit of juice from that orange. If you're not going to have
00:15:58Andrews, you're not going to have, you know, we'll see what Kate Wallace's injury did not
00:16:03sound good. Didn't look good either. Didn't look good. Yeah. Well, I just, anytime you see like a
00:16:08walking boot and crutches, it was not a locker room. Did you, did you see it? It was that fourth
00:16:12and one that he got really rolled up one, three bodies landed on that leg. That did not look good
00:16:18at all. I'm not even denying that playing him in theory, playing him is more beneficial than
00:16:23sitting him, but can you realistically get any of that benefit if this is what it's going to look
00:16:29like? Yeah, no, I get it. And that's what they're probably debating right now. But again, like I go
00:16:36back to, I think he could make things look better and you know, through the play call, the offense,
00:16:41just his skillset. And I know it's still tough behind the line, but like, like this line could
00:16:46be as good as it could be like going forward with injuries and everything. So it's just tough. Like
00:16:54I've been on week five and I, I still kind of, I feel like I'm at the point where I'd like to see
00:16:58it just because again, I don't know if the line will look better and I think he could help the
00:17:01line, but we're obviously not, it's going to be Jacoby. And this is just something that they're
00:17:06going to have to, you know, they keep talking about this development plan. They're, they're
00:17:09sticking to it. Um, so let me ask you this, Gerard Mayo said today, there is a plan. They're
00:17:15still sticking to it. The plan hasn't changed, but he can't share one of the, what it is. Cause
00:17:18it's really nobody's business. Why do you think he won't share the plan?
00:17:24I don't know if they're really like, I don't know how to say this. Like
00:17:30is the plan changing week to week? Like with the offensive line, do you think?
00:17:35So you're saying he doesn't want to tie himself once he shares the plan, he's married to that.
00:17:39That's a good way. He doesn't want to say like week eight or a week.
00:17:42Right. You know, if the plan is week to week, it'll freak people out. And if you say there's a
00:17:47plan, like once you, even if you're week to week, now, once you get to the end, you can say, Oh no,
00:17:51this is what we're going to do the whole time. Is it possible? He doesn't want to throw people
00:17:55under the bus. Is it possible that the holdup is at least to some extent, the offensive line
00:18:03or the play calling. And he knows that he says that he's throwing wolf and, and,
00:18:07and Van Pelt under the bus. Yeah. I can see that.
00:18:12I just, I, I, I feel like there's disconnect there and that doesn't necessarily mean,
00:18:17you know, it's not going to work, but yeah. Because we talked, I mean, we talked last week
00:18:24that, you know, the comments from Mayo, the comments from Van Pelt, right. Like there was
00:18:29a little disconnect there. And then even after the game, uh, last night Mayo says like, we got to
00:18:34figure out like schematically how we're going to get the ball out of our hands quicker
00:18:38and stuff like that. So, um, yeah, that's a good point. And I could definitely see that. So,
00:18:44um, anything else on the quarterbacks there or, um,
00:18:53you surprised at all. They didn't put Drake main at the end of the game.
00:18:57Not really. Cause it was two possessions for most of the fourth quarter there. I guess
00:19:04they had the one they thought it was over. They play Alex Van Pelt comes out running the ball,
00:19:08huddling. He thought it was over with 10 minutes to go in a 13 point game. That's very true.
00:19:14Uh, I, I, I wonder if they're worried about the hype Drake maze getting
00:19:20between the hype train was rolling with the assistant coaches and all of that last week.
00:19:28And then what happens? You have Ian Rapport come out and say, he's a ways away.
00:19:32They don't put him in the game. Now you there, Gerard Mayo is a lot more
00:19:37served about your code percent than he's been. We kind of talked about this with Joe Milton,
00:19:41right? That they were going to be careful and make sure that Joe Milton didn't steal
00:19:45too much thunder from Drake may after going through his happy fever.
00:19:49Are they doing the same with percent in May? I do wonder if we're not going to see Drake
00:19:54may again, cause they don't want to create distractions. Probably not exactly the right
00:20:00word, but you see what I'm saying? Like they want to be able to go about their business without
00:20:04having to answer questions about this, which I understand, but I was a little sick. They were
00:20:09acting like that game was over and they still didn't put them in. Yeah. But also like when you
00:20:14have him, you know, when you have the shiny car in the garage and Jacoby's playing like this,
00:20:19right? Like it's going to come no matter what, you're going to get questions, you're going to
00:20:22get the hype, but yeah, like just putting him out there. And if he leads a touchdown drive
00:20:28or makes a couple, you know, really good plays like that's just adding fuels to the fire.
00:20:31So yeah, you, you could see maybe their point there, but so how are you fixing this offensive
00:20:38line if you want to get eventually, well, just work towards a functioning offense. Cause that's
00:20:42still the biggest thing kind of playing it. And hopefully you get somewhat comfortable that you
00:20:47get Drake may in there, you know, you laid out the five, the five we liked going into the game
00:20:53and then you lose Caden Wallace. So like you're down your potential right tackle. And I admit,
00:20:58you might not kick Michael window back inside David Andrews, who knows what that shoulder
00:21:03injury is going to be. So how are you trying to construct this starting five up front now
00:21:10moving forward? Besides I see all the, the Koi Kronk comments in the chat.
00:21:14Yeah. I saw those on the post game. Keep the Koi Kronk talk. All the Koi Kronk. I got a good kick
00:21:19out of that. Besides that signing our, we'll do another crossover soon. And that will get,
00:21:24that'll get brought up. Yeah. Um, I, how am I fixing the offensive line? So, yeah, I mean,
00:21:32we don't know about injuries. First off I'm signing a center. I'm, I'm going out and finding
00:21:36an experienced NFL center and maybe Hudson, but he's a center. He's a rookie, right?
00:21:43Rookie. Right. Maybe Nick Leverett still starts. Nick Leverett honestly wasn't bad
00:21:47in place of David Andrews, but we saw him, the wheels kind of fall off that wagon
00:21:52over the summer. So I want to have like a solid plan B or at the very least signed Brian Hudson
00:21:58to the active roster in case Nick Leverett gets hurt. Um, but yeah, I, I think a center,
00:22:04um, that's like I said before, I'm to just side note, I'm not activating.
00:22:10Were you surprised they didn't activate an extra offensive lineman for that game?
00:22:14Like they were at a point they lost and they were down just to Zach Thomas. And you know,
00:22:19they activated Mitchell Wilcox to played like single digit snaps. I thought like they were
00:22:25kind of teetering on a dangerous line there. Uh, surprise wouldn't be the right word. Cause again,
00:22:30they've neglected the offensive line to this point. I don't know why that would change, but
00:22:35not, uh, what's that saying? Like not, um, not surprised. Just disappointed. Um,
00:22:40not mad. So yeah, I'd sign a center. I'd sign one of those veteran tackles, veteran tackle. So
00:22:50I don't know who you're putting your right tackle though. I guess I might honestly,
00:22:54maybe look at a right tackle. Like you're not going to get a guy like Jason Peters,
00:22:58but cause he, he has no, he's not trying to get another contract. He's trying to win a ring.
00:23:03Like if, if Wallace is going to miss time, I actually think you have to get a right tackle
00:23:09because then you can play low at left and kick on when you inside, you got to get on when you're
00:23:13back inside. Like that honestly might be priority. Number one is rough and pass. He's been rough and
00:23:20pass pro. And yesterday again was pretty bad. Everybody got all excited. I don't know what
00:23:24that first week they come out, you know, and it was not just the fans. Like everybody was like,
00:23:28Oh, this guy's an all pro. What a fine. I never saw that from him. I don't know where that's
00:23:33definitely there's stuff to like, but there's stuff to like, but it was, it was a bit much,
00:23:38right? So you got to get Mike on one who back inside. If you can go, so I guess, you know,
00:23:42I'm Andrews and this is where I'm hesitant with Drake may, um, well, I guess if you have so in,
00:23:50in, in on window in the middle, like whoever the center is, okay.
00:23:54The Darian Lowe's injury did not seem bad. He's been back at practice. You can get him at left
00:23:58tackle. Maybe try to Caleb Jones on the right side. Maybe you try maybe sign somebody. Yeah.
00:24:07I don't know. I don't know. McKenzie's played some, right. You could try Jalen McKenzie out
00:24:12there. They just don't, they don't, again, they don't have the bodies. They came in without
00:24:18enough tackles to realistically, to realistically get through a season.
00:24:22I get, there's going to be injuries. I get that. And they're on their fourth string short,
00:24:27nobody really third string. Nobody is asking the third string tackle to be an all pro. Like that's
00:24:33not what I'm trying to do. It's more, that's a position that has a high rate of injury and
00:24:39you've dealt with injuries there. And you've been limited by injuries there the last few years.
00:24:43Brian, at one point in that game yesterday, Kane Walsh goes out,
00:24:48Darian Lowe's already hurt. Trucks, a core four has been gone.
00:24:52The only tackle that was with them in camp that was available to them was Michael Nguyen,
00:24:59who's a guard. The only other tackles are Demontre Jacobs. Who's a waiver claim
00:25:04Zach and Zach Thomas, who's a guard. And then they have two guys on the practice squad,
00:25:08neither of whom were with them in camp. So I can't believe I'm doing this, but to move on
00:25:13from a guy like Calvin Anderson, and I know he was like IR released, but he's on the Steelers.
00:25:18So he's clearly okay. To move on from a guy like Calvin Anderson, to move on from a guy like Connor
00:25:23McDermott, we should not be at the point. I was just going to say, what's Connor McDermott doing
00:25:28nowadays? He's on a team because the Rams are just as banged up as the Patriots. But to be at a point
00:25:33where we're talking about Calvin Anderson and Connor McDermott potentially could have bailed
00:25:37the Patriots out yesterday is kind of wild, but yeah, it's, this isn't, this isn't, Oh,
00:25:43they needed better than Chooks and they should have taken a tackle higher. And
00:25:48it's literally just bodies. It's literally like, like just not having the correct number of players
00:25:54at the position you need to get through a year. And it's happens from time to time. They did it
00:25:57running back a couple of years ago, but if you're Elliot Wolfe in your first year as GM EVP,
00:26:05whatever part of the reason you're here is because the previous person sitting in that
00:26:11chair did not properly attend to the offensive line. And this is what you come. This is,
00:26:16this is what you come to the dance with. Like, how, how can you not be frustrated by that?
00:26:22And it's, it's, it's, it's handcuffing them. It is. I don't mean to keep going back to the
00:26:26offensive line. I know people are probably sick of me saying that, and they want to hear me
00:26:30rip Gerard may or rip Jacoby Berset or rip the defense and we'll get to the defense.
00:26:34But, and, and it's been years of this. We did this, you know, two years ago. Oh,
00:26:38why won't you talk about Mack Jones? Like we can talk about Mack Jones, but the line's the line.
00:26:43Yeah. This is, this is just what it is. What's Yanni Cajou doing? Good point. What's Yanni
00:26:48Cajou saying? Did Zuri Henry sign with anyone? Can we bring Zuri Henry back with him in camp?
00:26:54Eventually. Right. I was just the top. Zuri Henry is not on a team. There we go. I think Yanni
00:27:02Cajou is on somebody's IR actually. The top signers available are Mason Cole, Brian Allen.
00:27:10Yeah. There's not great options. Stromberg. Yeah. Stromberg was hurt. Stromberg I think is hurt.
00:27:16I was looking that up earlier. There's really no great options, but you just keep refreshing,
00:27:21hoping someone will show up and just no one shows up. So yeah, but you're right. I mean, it's
00:27:29been frustrating for multiple years now, and now it's kind of restricting them from putting their
00:27:34number three overall pick on the field. So it is frustrating to a point and yeah, it's just pure
00:27:40lack of bodies at this point. Right. Like someone said, like, is it too late to move on when you're
00:27:45back inside? Like, that's what you'd like, but you just don't have another tackle to put out there.
00:27:51Would you feel comfortable with DeMontre Jacobs, like on the right side of Lowe's on the left,
00:27:57and then you can settle down the interior. Like I know Jacobs, I thought he started okay. And then
00:28:04it just completely fell off once when they started putting Nick Bosa on them over on the left side
00:28:08there. But like, I don't know, he might be your top tackle there. If you want to kick
00:28:12Michael Windu back inside. That's where I may actually try Caleb Jones.
00:28:19Okay. Cause you get your bigger right tackle. He profiles more of a right tackle. Yeah. He
00:28:26profiles. And the other thing you might need DeMontre Jacobs to play left tackle.
00:28:31That's just the reality of it. You kind of might need him over there because what happens if Darian
00:28:37Lowe gets hurt again? So, um, and, and I don't think Caleb Jones is a, is a left tackle in
00:28:43their system. I know he's played it. Um, he's played on both sides, at least in the preseason
00:28:47and plays NFL snap yet, but I would almost try Caleb Jones over there and just keep them on,
00:28:52keep working with DeMontre Jacobs at left tackle because I do think you're going to need him back
00:28:57there. It's you're probably gonna need a back there at some point. I'm not wishing for injuries
00:29:01or anything, but again, guys get hurt and they don't have another left tackle besides the Darian
00:29:04Lowe. And I don't want to see them put Caden Wallace back over there because really he should
00:29:08be your right tackle. I would rather when everybody's healthy, let's say something happens
00:29:12to Lowe. I would rather Caden Wallace on the right side and DeMontre Jacobs stepping in
00:29:16then moving Caden Wallace over to left Michael went out like right on and on and on. So yeah,
00:29:23I would be developing Caden, uh, Caleb Jones as a white tackle. If I were the Patriots, I I'd keep,
00:29:29you've already started DeMontre Jacobs at left. Keep working with them. You might as well. Um,
00:29:35yeah. Yep. Or maybe Cole strange will come and save the day somehow some way, but uh,
00:29:43we'll see. Okay. That's quarterback offensive line. Big stories as usual here. Uh, we'll move
00:29:49on to the rest of the offense, but very quickly before we do that, I need to tell you guys about
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00:31:04Uh, the rest of the offense you wanted to, I believe you said you had something about Jalen
00:31:10Polk. Uh, what'd you see from him, uh, yesterday against the 49ers there? Yeah. I mean, you want
00:31:16a bright spot from that game. I thought Jalen Polk looked really good and he's continued to
00:31:20like, this has been a thing all year where he's not getting a ton of opportunities because the
00:31:23rest of the offense just isn't there, but the opportunities he gets, he makes, he made a couple
00:31:28of contested catches the, the go ball late in the game. I know it was ruled and complete that
00:31:32that's a hell of a play by him. That ball realistically should be intercepted for him to
00:31:37come as close as he did to making that a catch in his fourth NFL game. Again, this year is about
00:31:42development. This year is about the big picture. That's super encouraging to see, uh, that that's
00:31:50really good to see moving forward. There are a few other times where he's open and he either
00:31:54wasn't at the top of the progression or Jacoby reset, just missed him or whatever. But like,
00:31:59I don't know that he's going to be like a top five receiver in the league. Right. I'm not saying
00:32:02that, but he looks like he can contribute to a functional NFL offense. Uh, that feels pretty
00:32:09legit through four games. Yup. And he's, he's someone else. Like, that's why I would love
00:32:14may to get in there. Cause I feel like he would really unlock him a little bit more downfield
00:32:19and using some of those routes. So then you could hopefully get more of the whole picture
00:32:23on Polk as a player. But yeah, I thought he was really good. Uh, yesterday, I mean that back
00:32:28shoulder ball, which, you know, give Jacoby credit to that. That was a great pass taking
00:32:32an absolute shot as he threw it, but you know, late hands, strong hands. That was really impressive.
00:32:37So hopefully they can get more of those down the field. Again, you gotta get the defense to kind
00:32:41of back off a little bit with their blitz rates. So hit, hit, keep hitting some of those more
00:32:45downfield. So I thought, uh, Polk was really good, but, uh, anything from the rest of that
00:32:51receiver room, uh, we saw a little more Keisha on booty, uh, a little less or a lot less Taekwon
00:32:57Thornton, anything out of those guys or even the tight ends and as pass catchers.
00:33:02Uh, um, no, let's, let's skip to the running backs. I think those are the guys when you talk
00:33:08about, well, let me just with the receivers, do you want to see more Jayvon Baker or no,
00:33:13I'm good. No, you're good. No, especially with KB coming back. And I think they're kind of phasing
00:33:19out Taekwon Thornton because that's Kendrick Barnes is going to go in that role. Um, but
00:33:25yeah, uh, I I'm good on Jayvon Baker. They need guys. They can count on at this point.
00:33:29They need reliable players. He's too boom and bust. Yep. So yeah, you mentioned KB will come
00:33:34back. Uh, that should be a nice boost for them. So he could probably take some snaps from Taekwon
00:33:40snaps from KJ Osborne, uh, be a nice boost, but running backs, another fumble for Ramond Ray
00:33:46Stevenson, four and four games, they benched him for like a series, which was like a three and out.
00:33:54So like a short benching, if you even want to call it that, but, um, I don't, I don't know.
00:34:00Like he had two hands on the ball. I think he's just kind of psyching himself out. Like Greg
00:34:04Olson said on the broadcast, like it just gets in your head and you think about it too much. I don't
00:34:08know if that's, what's going on with them, but it's just kind of unacceptable. You have to hold
00:34:13on the ball four and four games is absurd. Yeah. He's putting the coaching, uh, staff in a really
00:34:19tough position here because on one hand you can't have that guy on the field. You can't,
00:34:24I, it was a point of emphasis this week. It was a major talking point, all of that.
00:34:28And he, he fumbled again and early in the game. And it wasn't like that great of a play by the
00:34:34defense falls out there. On the other hand, that's a top two playmaker in your offense.
00:34:42And they don't seem too interested in using the Mario Douglas. So you're really limiting yourself.
00:34:46If he's not on the field, I had almost get, you know, like the fantasy football treatment,
00:34:51you put the guy in the flex as like a ceremonial, but like start Antonio Gibson and Stevenson still
00:34:58plays. But like, you got to do something. You got it. You can't take him off the field,
00:35:01but you got to do something. You got, you can't give him as big of a role as he's had.
00:35:06Cause if he's going to put the ball on the ground, the team just isn't built to overcome that.
00:35:10Yep. Absolutely. Uh, did you like Gibson? I mean, he had the big explosive,
00:35:15which was kind of just a coverage bus, but would you be comfortable expanding his role
00:35:19based off what you've seen? He's looked good. Absolutely.
00:35:24Yep. I, I'd also, I wouldn't, I wonder if they elevate Kevin Harris from the practice
00:35:28squad to maybe kind of send a message. Uh, that would be a good point. Or I mean,
00:35:33Kevin Harris would probably be ahead of Terrell Jennings at this point. I would love to rail
00:35:37Jennings though. I love how he runs, but, uh, yeah, you, you could definitely see something
00:35:41of that, but yeah, pop to like, I don't know. He he's getting open. I still go back to the
00:35:47quote from Jacoby in the summer where he's like, I'm just not comfortable throwing to him yet.
00:35:51And I wonder just how much trust is there between the two, but yeah, you see him like,
00:35:57he looks frustrated at times on film, as you would imagine he is, cause he's not getting the ball,
00:36:01but they got to figure something out there. And again, like you always say, like, you don't want
00:36:06to force them the ball, but you just got to get him involved because he's one of your best
00:36:10playmakers. Yeah. I, but it's, you gotta, what happens if he fumbles again, like at a certain
00:36:17point there has to be consequence, right? Yep. Yep. All right. Any last notes on the offense
00:36:24there, or we can flip it over to the defense. Uh, yeah, real quick. Cause I see some people
00:36:29putting in the comments, um, uh, little, just sports breaking news, Pete Rose passing away at
00:36:34the age of 83. Um, so that's a big one. That's a big one. Quick thought on that. Absolute travesty.
00:36:43He didn't live to see himself get inducted in the baseball hall of fame. Did he play it a little
00:36:47loose betting on, on like should players bet on games they play in? No, I think that's where the
00:36:54line is. Um, but it's been, I don't think it's ever been confirmed. I don't know that you could
00:37:01confirm it, confirm it, but it's been as confirmed as he can. Didn't bet against his own team.
00:37:06By all accounts, never did anything to throw a game or anything like that. Um, there's guys
00:37:11that did a lot worse that are in shoeless. Joe should be in Pete Rose should be in Barry Bonds
00:37:17should be in, um, obviously Rodney Harris and Larry Sanders, but those are different situations.
00:37:23Um, so, and I think he'll get in. I mean, it's insane the way gambling is, is completely
00:37:29engrossed the culture of baseball and professional sports. And we're still holding it against these
00:37:33guys. Uh, but he won't be there to see it. And that that's a shame and the voters should
00:37:39be ashamed of themselves today. Definitely. Um, there is other, by the way, we got some
00:37:45Bruins breaking news too. I know I saw that. I was just, we're going to do a Boston sportsman.
00:37:50At the end, we just saw a lot of people commenting on that in the chat. So I just wanted to,
00:37:53we're due for a Boston. So we're doing a Boston sportsman. There's a lot to talk about. We're
00:37:57doing it. We had, we had quite the day in Boston sports land, but, uh, let's quickly
00:38:03pass away at 83. Yep. Uh, but let's quickly touch on the defense.
00:38:10I don't, I'm kind of conflicted on the defense cause at one hand, it wasn't great. Again,
00:38:16like some of those same issues popping up contained in the pocket, lots of explosive
00:38:21plays. Like I think they hit five pass plays over 25 yards and most of them were like over 40 yards,
00:38:27but when you look at the big picture, it was 23 points allowed on the road against,
00:38:34you know, a really good team again in San Francisco who their, their offense was, I know
00:38:38they were banged up, but they had most of their guys out there. So I don't know, what was your
00:38:42just kind of overall takeaway from, from the defense there yesterday? It was more about
00:38:49the is more about situational football than the overall performance. Like they were,
00:38:56they played at a certain level for most of the day, but their biggest mistakes came on
00:39:00big plays or big moments of the game blowing contained on third downs. The big one was,
00:39:06all right, so you come out of the half before fumble on the kickoff, you score a touchdown,
00:39:10like you're right in this thing, boom, 53 yards over the top to Devo Samuel.
00:39:15Cause Jalen Hawkins let him get behind him as a deep safety. Uh, that's more what bugged me.
00:39:21I think there were more issues with the front than the secondary. There's some issues with
00:39:24the secondary, but it was more situational to me than anything else. I didn't think it
00:39:29was like an overall poor performance. There's some stuff there to like,
00:39:33but when they really needed to make a play, they didn't make a play.
00:39:38They made some other plays that lay at lesser impact moments in the game,
00:39:42but not when they re and that's when you want that, you know, as a hallmark of the
00:39:47bill Belichick defense, you can set your watch to it. Oh, a turnover would be big here. Boom.
00:39:50They'd come up with it. And I know they got that one interception late, but too many mistakes too
00:39:55early. We can get into some of the specifics of it. We kind of talked about with remodeling
00:40:01Stevenson, Josh Uche, they got to do something there. And some of it's depth. They don't have
00:40:07a ton on the edge. And I don't know who you put in for him, especially with Anthony Jennings out,
00:40:11they missed him bad yesterday, but Josh Uche is actively hurting the team.
00:40:15Josh Uche, whenever he's on the field was actively hurting.
00:40:18He's being way too aggressive. Like it's, it's not even aggressive at this point. It's reckless.
00:40:23Like there's, it's one thing to be aggressive. There's a line between aggressive and reckless,
00:40:28and he's not even like toying with that line. He's well past it at this point.
00:40:32And players are kind of like actively talking about it, like without calling him out specifically,
00:40:38but like Devon Godshaw was on the radio today and says, you know, guys are kind of being selfish
00:40:44with trying to make plays. And, um, peppers was talking, uh, today to us on zoom. And he was kind
00:40:50of saying like, you know, guys aren't trying to do too much, but they're trying to like,
00:40:55you got to do what you got to do for the betterment of the defense.
00:40:58And you're not seeing that from some of these guys, especially, uh, Joshua Uche right now. And
00:41:03you know, someone says linebacker need, they really need say on talkie talkie or Marta Imapu
00:41:09back and playing linebacker right now, because Tavai was, you know, off the ball a lot again
00:41:16today or yesterday, and he was on hand for like three of their explosive pass plays. So that
00:41:21that's not working, you know, with, with Bentley out and they need to get him ideally back on the
00:41:26ball. And then, you know, hopefully like talkie talkie or Mapu can kind of fill in there and help
00:41:32with, with your past coverage there because they were picking on Tavai a few times and we know
00:41:36like that's, that's not his game. So, um, I don't know if it's needed in the draft, but they need
00:41:41one of these guys to come back. They can start practicing Wednesday. There were no updates on
00:41:45them for Mayo, but, uh, we'll, we'll see there. So, um, yeah, I did just to go back to Uche along
00:41:52those lines too, because maybe talkie talkie helps them with this a little bit. Like I've
00:41:56seen people say either you're coaching it or you're allowing it to happen. And at a certain
00:42:00point, there's no difference, which is true. And this also applies to Stevenson, but I don't know
00:42:06who else they putting in there, Brian, like who's the next guy up there on edge at the edge. Yeah.
00:42:11Yeah. Cause Oh, Shane's the men is Torres ACL. We learned that he's out for the year.
00:42:17The guy they signed in his place is more like a defensive end than a linebacker.
00:42:22It's not him. Like, again, it goes down to like, it'll be interesting to see how
00:42:26the coaching staff responds and maybe Anthony Jennings is back next week. And we see a lot
00:42:29less from Josh Uche, but the fact that players are calling it out, like it does feel like he's
00:42:34freelancing. And again, like with Stevenson Uche can be an explosive player. And we talked about
00:42:40this when they traded Matthew Jude on, nobody needed to step up more than Josh Uche in that
00:42:44situation. But they like, can you, can you afford to leave that guy on the field? Taylor
00:42:52says, Curtis Jacobs. And that's right. He did play a little bit against San Francisco.
00:42:56Fine. Play Curtis Jacobs, but you're losing a lot of natural athletic ability that they just
00:43:02can't afford to lose, but you might have to do it because the guy's hurting the team.
00:43:06Yeah. I was going to say they don't even have another just on their like unofficial depth
00:43:11chart. They don't even have another outside linebacker. It's Jennings and Joshua Uche.
00:43:16And then Jacobs, it's like Jacob and Christian Ellis, who are those linebackers, but Ellis more
00:43:21off ball. So yeah, maybe it is Curtis Jacobs. They're another one of the waiver claims, but
00:43:27we'll see what happens. Cause he is actively are in the team and maybe the message gets across
00:43:31and he kind of hones it in, but if not, they might have to make a switch there.
00:43:36Or maybe they just make a switch and he doesn't even get the chance, right? Like Mayo said,
00:43:39there has to be a point where you get disciplined for these repeat errors and repeat mistakes. And
00:43:45he's certainly at that point. So we'll see his role going forward, but to the secondary,
00:43:51did you notice anything with, with those explosive plays or just anything in general,
00:43:56they lost Kyle Duggar. That's obviously a big loss. We saw a little more Jalen Hawkins,
00:44:01some Del Pettis too, but anything in the secondary from yesterday that worried you,
00:44:08interested you that you noted in general? Um, not really. I, you know, there were some
00:44:14plays like that George Kittle touchdown. I mean, good for him. Like, what are you going to do?
00:44:20Right. The guy's unbelievable. Um, I would have liked to see them switch it up maybe in the slot,
00:44:25give Isaiah Bouldin a little more run, but not the biggest, not the biggest concern for me.
00:44:32Like I think the secondary playing like that, it wasn't perfect. If that's their biggest concern
00:44:37on the roster, they're in pretty good shape though. Yep. Agree with you there, but, um,
00:44:44I think that's it for defense. Unless you have any other notes as a unit as a whole,
00:44:49the tackling was better, but it wasn't great again. And that goes back to, again, they need,
00:44:53they need some of these middle linebackers back. Definitely. So, uh, hopefully they get some good
00:44:57news in the health department with all those guys, uh, coming back and then we'll see with, uh,
00:45:03Kyle Duggar, how about that? It was an ankle injury. He was in a boot too. So, uh, not great
00:45:08there, but, uh, maybe the best part of the day was special teams. Another really good day,
00:45:15uh, from Jeremy Sprinter's unit. Uh, Joey Sly had a 63 yard field goal, a 54 yard field goal,
00:45:21Bryce Berenger, all four of his punts down inside the 20 great coverage by, you know,
00:45:26Brendan Schooler, Joe Cardona even got involved. Again, Christian Ellis was in for a tackle.
00:45:31Then Christian Ellis makes, you know, one of the plays of the day on the second half, kickoff
00:45:35forces, a fumble recovers, a fumble sets up, uh, the lone touchdown of the day for the offense.
00:45:41So special teams has been encouraging. And if they want to win games, like the way we think they want
00:45:46to win games, which is control the clock and run the ball, they need these types of performances
00:45:51from special teams to try to steal, uh, you know, a possession or two, or even, you know,
00:45:56get some points on the board, like they kind of did. So, uh, it's been really encouraging from
00:46:00that, that unit through the first month here. Yeah. Yeah, it has. And this is a team that if
00:46:06they're going to win, I mean, they got to clean some other things up, but if they're going to win,
00:46:08they're going to have to win on the margins and special teams is the margin. And they've now had
00:46:13first game was a masterclass second and third game, significantly more good than bad. There
00:46:17were a couple of things there to nitpick, but you know, I thought overall encouraging.
00:46:22And then they go back to, again, a near perfect game, um, on, on Sunday,
00:46:28Behringer, sly Cardona school or Christian Ellis was awesome. If they win Christian Ellis gets a
00:46:34game ball. I have no doubt about that. Um, and they're gonna need this unit to be that. And look,
00:46:38you want a little sliver of hope. If you're a Patriots fan, Jeremy Springer might be really
00:46:43good at this. And I know people are going to roll their eyes at that and say, what about AVP?
00:46:48What about the Marcus Covington? What about Gerard Mayo? I'm not saying we can't have
00:46:52that conversation, but don't lump Jeremy Springer into that one. Jeremy Springer might be good at
00:46:57this. Yep. Great early returns from that unit. So, uh, hopefully they can keep that going, but,
00:47:03uh, I believe we could wrap up there. Actually one more question. First quarter,
00:47:09first drive. Did you like the decision to punt on the fourth and one there from, or fourth,
00:47:14fourth and three, was it? I think fourth and three, fourth and three. I didn't like that.
00:47:19Would I, would I disliked more? Was it the second quarter where they went for it? They actually went
00:47:25for it on the fourth and one. Do you know what I'm talking about? The run, right? Yeah. So I
00:47:30already kind of talked about this, but they come out in, they come out lined up for a tush push.
00:47:36That was a long one. You're not tush pushing that you're not fooling anybody. They call the time
00:47:41out. Then they line up to go. I think I heard, did I just talk about this? Might've been another
00:47:46podcast today. I don't think so. And they, they come out, they it's, it was the play.
00:47:50Caden Wallace got hurt. They had Caden Wallace tackle eligible. So you have an extra tackle
00:47:56on the right side and they have the tight end lined up next to the left tackle on the left side.
00:48:01Fourth string left tackle compared to Michael and when who Caden Wallace, and they run off the left
00:48:06side on fourth and one. So two things, one, if you're going to go for it, go don't blow the time
00:48:11out. It's one thing. If you're going to try to get him to jump and then call time out and kick
00:48:15the field goal or take the delay and punt, like whatever, fine. I hate, we're going to get them
00:48:21to fake. We're going to try to get him to jump. If they don't want to call time out and then go,
00:48:25you get them to jump at first and then shift into whatever look you want to be in
00:48:30unnecessary use of a timeout. The other thing, and this is an Alex van Pelt thing.
00:48:34That's the second time they've done something like that this year, where they put in a heavy
00:48:39personnel grouping and they run to the weak side third down in overtime against Seattle.
00:48:46They actually went unbalanced line and they put Hunter Henry next to the left guard and had Kane
00:48:52Wallace and Michael and when, who next to each other on the right side, next to Lane Robinson.
00:48:56Those are your three best run blockers. I understand not wanting to be predictable,
00:49:00but one, you don't necessarily have the offensive line personnel where you can chance it behind your
00:49:06weaker players to, there are certain moments in football games, especially if you're going to be
00:49:11a run heavy team where it's, I know what I'm doing. You know what I'm doing? Stop it, right?
00:49:18We're just going to bully you and get what we want. We're going to bully you and get a yard.
00:49:22These are those situations. This is now twice where they've gotten too cute,
00:49:25lined up off balance, heavy and run against it. Then you cut that out. It's not working.
00:49:31It's not going to work. I don't like, I get what they're going for again. They're like, all right,
00:49:35well, all the big guys are over here. So we're going to sneak it back here where they're not
00:49:38looking. You're not good enough. The guys you have on the backside are getting blown off the ball.
00:49:42It's happened twice now. They need to stop doing that. It's not going to work.
00:49:47Yeah. I thought van Pelt was like better overall with his, you know, quick hitters,
00:49:53you know, get the ball quick, but he still just seems to kind of overthink some of those
00:49:57easy ones. And back to the, like the, the early punt on the first drive, like I just,
00:50:02that was coward football. Like you're a 10 and a half point underdog
00:50:05on the road. You're, you picked up some first downs. You're in their territory, like fourth
00:50:11and three, like you got to go for that. And I get like, you trust your defense,
00:50:15you trust your special teams, but they drove the ball 90 yards and they kicked a field goal.
00:50:20So I didn't love that call, but, um, and also they had them right where they wanted
00:50:27down 14 points to Kyle Shanahan in the fourth quarter. What happened there?
00:50:31That was another thing. So they have that. And then van, this one already, I know I already
00:50:35talked about and van Pelt comes out just lackadaisical with it. Like push the ball.
00:50:39This team can be had in that spot. Yep. All right. So any last thoughts,
00:50:44or we can sneak in a Boston sports minute here to wrap up? Yeah, let's, let's do a Boston sports
00:50:50minute. Cause there, there are some things that need to be addressed. All right. I don't know if
00:50:54we have our background. Oh, we do have a background. Let's throw that up. Where do you want to start?
00:50:59Uh, let's, let's, let's start with the news of the hour. Uh, Jeremy Swayman, Jeremy Swayman. So
00:51:06if you missed it today at Bruins media day, uh, the B and for those who don't follow the Bruins,
00:51:12uh, Bruins goal at Jeremy Swayman is one of the better goalies in the league needs a new contract.
00:51:16He's currently restricted free agent and it's, we were told, don't worry. It's not going to last in
00:51:20a camp. It lasted in a camp. Don't worry. It's not going to last into the regular season. They
00:51:23came out today and said, he's not going to start. Uh, he's not, he's probably not going to be the
00:51:29start of the regular season. They said they have great belief in Jonas Corbisolo. He's done
00:51:33everything they've asked him to do. Does that sound familiar to you, Brian? Um, but they also,
00:51:38they were asked about, you know, what the gap is in the negotiations and Cam Neely, who's Bruins
00:51:44president of football, of hockey operations or whatever it is said, if I were him, I have 64
00:51:50million reasons why I'd be playing that represents what is an eight year, $8 million a year contract,
00:51:56which is kind of what everybody's seems to think is the fair deal for Swayman.
00:51:59Uh, and then within the last 30 minutes, Swayman's agency releasing the statement.
00:52:04Normally I do not release statements or discuss negotiations through the media. However, in this
00:52:09case, I feel I need to defend my client at today's press conference. $64 million was referenced.
00:52:15This is the first time that number was discussed in our negotiations prior to the press conference,
00:52:19no offer was made reaching that level. We are extremely disappointed. This was not fair to
00:52:24Jeremy. We will take a few days to discuss where we are going to go from here. Yikes.
00:52:33How you feel about your goaltending situation, Brian?
00:52:36Jonas Corbisolo. We look good in the preseason, baby. Goalie Bob. Um, yeah. Uh, well, first of
00:52:43all, like Jeremy Swayman's agent is known for this Louis gross. Like he hardball, uh,
00:52:50Johnny Goodrow to the point where, you know, good draw had to be like, sign the damn contract.
00:52:54I want to play hockey. And then a knee lander with the leafs. Like he dragged it out to
00:53:00December 1st, which is kind of like the deadline for this. So he is kind of known for playing hard
00:53:05ball, hard ball. So hard bog, uh, hard ball. So I wonder like, I don't know, like, I don't think
00:53:13Neely would throw that number out and lie about that. And like, I don't blame him for doing that.
00:53:18Like, cause they've had no issues leaking that the Bruins aren't returning phone calls and
00:53:23they're low balling him. Like good for them to kind of throw that number out and say like,
00:53:26we have an eight by eight on table here, which is more than fair for Jeremy Swayman.
00:53:31I know he's a great goalie, but he's played 125 games. He started 125 games in the regular season
00:53:38and only like 20 playoff starts. Like that's not someone who should be asking for 10 plus
00:53:43million into reset the goalie market. Like he hasn't proved, I think he can be a number one,
00:53:48but he simply hasn't proved it. So I think eight by eight is more than fair. It falls like
00:53:53in between, I think it's like John Gibson at like six and a half and, uh, I'm blanking on
00:53:58the Islanders goalie. Who's like eight and a half. So it's more than fair, but, and he says,
00:54:04keep saying he wants to be here, but I don't know. None of this today seems like
00:54:09a good, a good discussion from these two. So I I'm nervous. Cause it was, it was, uh, don't worry
00:54:18a bit. Like the fact it's gotten this, everybody said it wouldn't get this far. And the next,
00:54:22the next benchmark is December 1st. If he doesn't have a deal done by December 1st,
00:54:26he's ineligible to play this year and they'll basically lose him for nothing.
00:54:30I don't think that would happen. He doesn't get a year of service though.
00:54:35So they have to do all this again. Yeah. He would still just be, but that's not going to happen.
00:54:40Like at that point, they're going to have to trade them. So that's, that's the tough part
00:54:45because if they hold their line and they go into the regular season and Jonas Corpus,
00:54:52all I was playing like great hockey, like they're in, in line for a wild card or maybe even the
00:54:57division, like they could just sit there and be like, look, we have our offer. It's fair.
00:55:02We really don't need you right now. Right. And then Swayman might say,
00:55:06okay, either I need to sign this or I lose a year or like trade me. But at that point,
00:55:13like middle of the year, like how's the market for him going to be? So that's the interesting
00:55:17thing. Like this is going to get good going into the season because it could just go the opposite
00:55:22way. And Corpus solo plays like he did last year and stinks up the joint. And now like the Bruins
00:55:27are sitting there being like, we need Jeremy Swayman to be competitive. Our team is built
00:55:31through the defense and goaltending. Like we need this guy out there because Corpus solo is not
00:55:35playing well. So it's going to get good. Like the first 10, 15 games of the regular season here
00:55:41could really decide how this negotiation goes. Honestly. I mean, yeah, it's, it's going to be
00:55:49really interesting to see what happens. And I, you know, I don't necessarily fault if there really
00:55:56is an eight over eight and he's not accepting that. Yeah. The Bruins fight. Like this is not
00:56:02a team. That's a goalie away. They need more pieces and you can't, that's all their cap.
00:56:07Like they're done at that point. And really for the foreseeable future,
00:56:12if you're getting something out of Corpus solo, you're getting some, maybe Brendan bussy breaks
00:56:16out. Yeah. All right. Sorry. You want 10 million a year? We can't do that. We'll trade you. And
00:56:22I know nobody signed him to a tender Swayman, a restricted free agent tender, but it'd be what
00:56:27three first round picks like that's not worth it. Maybe there's a team that is willing to give him
00:56:3110 that you say, all right, give us, give us one first, right. Or give us a first and a third or
00:56:35something like that. How are you feeling about your hockey team besides that? Good, but I'm
00:56:43can't believe they sent a Fabian Lysel down already. Like I thought this is a team that needs
00:56:50at first of all, any young guy who plays well for them is a bonus at this point. And you have a
00:56:55former first round pick who I thought was playing very well in the preseason. I know he only scored
00:57:01one goal, but he was, I thought he looked good. Like he was skating in practice next to Marshy
00:57:08and coil. He never got to play in the preseason with NHLers. It was mostly AHLers. And I think
00:57:12he got one game with like Johnny Beecher, who's like a fourth liner. So you have another like
00:57:18week of camp, a couple more preseason games. Like I don't get the point of sending him down now when
00:57:23you could have just kept them up here and let them run with NHLers and, and let them try to grab a
00:57:28spot. And I know Sweeney said today, like he might come back up, which hopefully does because that's
00:57:33a real injection of what they need in their top six. He can skate and he can score. I know he's
00:57:38got issues away from the puck, like defensively. That's been the reason he's been kind of stuck
00:57:44in Providence, that and injuries. But if you put them next to Charlie Coyle and Brad Marsha, I'm
00:57:48like, he better be on top of it or they're going to send them down anyway. So it's better than
00:57:53Morgan geeky or Tyler Johnson. Who's on a PTO I would imagine in top six. So I wanted them to give
00:57:59them that shot. And that kind of goes back to like, we talked about, I think whatever the last
00:58:04time we did this, like Jim Montgomery is a lame duck head coach right now. And is he going to say,
00:58:09I want to play this 21 year old kid. Who's not getting back on defense,
00:58:14like the ceiling might be higher, but like, maybe he costs me a winner too. When I could just play
00:58:19Morgan geeky, who's going to be sound, he's going to be solid. He's not going to score a lot. He
00:58:23doesn't have the high ceiling, but like, he's going to win me games right now and maybe not
00:58:27lose my job where, you know, the, the ceiling of Lysel Lysel might elevate them in the playoffs
00:58:32down the line, but maybe he doesn't want to go through the bumps and bruises now.
00:58:36Again, sounds familiar. Right. But so that's, that's again, like kind of a big picture with
00:58:41the Bruins right now. It's like, it's, I know the Swayman contract is taking a lot of the headlines,
00:58:46but like that Montgomery one could be interesting if it affects how he manages this team. And some
00:58:50of the young guys don't get shots here. Real quick, before we go to the Red Sox,
00:58:55I see there's some discourse around Christian Gonzalez in the chat.
00:58:57Gonzalez does follow the other team's best receiver. This is the only game he didn't do
00:59:01it. And it's the Niners. They have like three, number one wide receiver. So it, it makes sense.
00:59:05Um, also on the Red Sox, obviously their season ended, uh, yesterday, 81 and 81
00:59:16play 162 games run differential plus four crap the bed in the second half of the season. Again,
00:59:23good job by Chris Cotillo today asking Sam Kennedy, if the standard has changed
00:59:29and Kennedy said it hasn't, but he was annoyed with that question. He was annoyed with that
00:59:34question was like, which lets you know, yes, it has. He said the standard is playing baseball
00:59:38in October. The Red Sox have not played baseball in October in a long time. This is going to be
00:59:44the third year in a row. They haven't done so fourth in the last five or fourth and last six.
00:59:48I think, did they make the playoffs in 19? No, uh, no, I don't think so. They didn't.
00:59:58So fourth time in the last six years and third year in a row, sorry. Fifth time in the last six
01:00:04years, third year in a row, they're not playing baseball in October. If the state, if this is
01:00:09really the standard, you need to change the way you're operating because it's unacceptable to,
01:00:14to trot out. This is going to sound a lot like my offensive line rant to trot out the pitching
01:00:19staff. You did this season, knowing what it takes to get through 162 game season,
01:00:25especially when Andrew Bailey's method has guys dropping like flies in April and may
01:00:30unacceptable. They also need to get some right-handed hitters. You play at Fenway park
01:00:35for whatever's sake, play at Fenway park, get some right-handed hitters,
01:00:41go out, get a real shortstop, not Trevor story. His elbow does not work anymore.
01:00:49You can leave him in the lineup. They have to leave him in the lineup. That contracts
01:00:51an albatross play second, right? Put him at, get a real second baseman stock, which is a second
01:00:56year in a row on Grisham did look good. Like the last, yeah, like the 10 games he played.
01:01:00This is the second year. Oh, we did it with Alberto modesty two years ago. And now we did
01:01:04it with Vaughn Grissom, put a real ball club together, put a real major league caliber ball
01:01:11club together. Give me 26 representative players and they'll say, well, the kids made progress.
01:01:17So the years is success. Then I better freaking see the kids. And I know we just did this with
01:01:22Drake may and people may think I sound like a hypocrite. We're not putting Roman Anthony
01:01:27find a 48% pressure rate. It's different. It's different. Also, you got to trade one of them.
01:01:33Again, they have too many lefty bats. I've been a big Marcello mayor guy. I think it might be
01:01:39time to think about it because he's struggling to stay healthy. And I know I said they need a
01:01:41shortstop, you know, the Boston Red Sox go out, pay a shortstop. Maybe you trade Anthony for more
01:01:46developed shortstop. It's gonna be a lot of guys available. It's off season. You have Roman
01:01:51Anthony. He's legit. You got some pictures coming up, but, but go out and actually invest in the
01:01:56ball club or tell me to my face, tell Red Sox fans to their face that the standard has changed.
01:02:02Cause this has been my take about Red Sox ownership. They think you are dumb.
01:02:08They think you Red Sox fans are dumb. They think that it can be perfectly sunny and they can still
01:02:13tell you an umbrella because they told you it's raining and you'll believe them. So put up or shut
01:02:19up is basically where I'm at with the Red Sox. That, that Mets Braves thing today, that double
01:02:25header. That was awesome. I don't know if you saw any of that, Brian. That was great. I watched the
01:02:29first game. Yeah, that was unbelievable. That was a good time. You have a ton of fun teams in the
01:02:35playoffs this year. This is going to be a fun baseball post season. Boy, do I miss the Red Sox
01:02:40being a part of that or even coming close to being a part of that. Again, give me something
01:02:44like today, even if they lose and they don't make the playoffs, like they've been, they've been out
01:02:50of it for like two weeks now and realistically probably a month, but essentially two weeks.
01:02:56Just give me some drama in September, but the standard hasn't changed. They're still trying
01:03:00to play in October and that's why they haven't done it five or last six years.
01:03:02It's sad. Like I love the Red Sox, but it's just like nothing to look. I think this is the first
01:03:08year. I don't even know. Like I didn't go to a game at Fenway this year and I don't know the
01:03:13last time I went, but my friend paid for the ticket. Okay. So you didn't give John Henry
01:03:18any money. No, I didn't. Okay. I don't drink beforehand. Perfect. I don't remember the last
01:03:23time I went a whole baseball season without going to a game at Fenway. So it's just,
01:03:28it's disappointing. And I know some of these kids will come up next year and it'll be exciting.
01:03:32You know, there's nothing more exciting than when you get like a top pick, like we're waiting for
01:03:36Drake may here, like into the lineup and you get a prospect in there, but you got to do more than
01:03:42just these kids. You got to support them somehow. And, uh, I think it was, it might've been Millican
01:03:49on the sports hub. I forget where I heard it, but like, or, or Carabas on their show,
01:03:53like they made a good point. Like they, like the leadership in that clubhouse too.
01:03:56Like they, they need someone who those guys can look up to these young guys coming in. So
01:04:01whether that is Trevor story, like he seems to have, I know he's not always healthy, which is
01:04:04annoying, but he seems to have some of that, like saying like he, he like wearing the Red Sox
01:04:09uniform still means something to him. Like they need, they need some more of that. So that,
01:04:14that'll be exciting. But, um, Celtics had media day too, last week, I think how you,
01:04:20Celtics better show us something. And I think they will. I think they'll repeat, uh, just because
01:04:26I don't really think anybody else got better. The next cat doesn't do it for me. I'm not scared of
01:04:32Carl Anthony towns. I'm not scared of really any, I mean, Oklahoma city in Denver, that's it.
01:04:39But they should repeat. They still have the best team in the league. And I think they got better.
01:04:43I really think they got better. And Joe Mazula, I think last year he learned a lot and people know
01:04:47I wasn't a big Joe Mazula guy. I think he learned a ton last year. And I think that that was in, uh,
01:04:52incredibly, uh, valuable for him. So not much to yell about with the Celtics. Like they should
01:04:58win the day. And that's not, I wish we could yell about, but like, there's not much to do.
01:05:03Like the Celtics, it's funny. The Celtics are kind of the same as the Patriots in that
01:05:08it's very repetitive. You're kind of just talking about the same thing every game,
01:05:12every year with them for the last three or four years, especially last year.
01:05:15It's just, it's all good. Instead of all bad, like, Oh, they blew another team out. Great.
01:05:20Now what? So yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm high on the Celtics. I want to see Tatum get that MVP.
01:05:25Yeah. I think I'm almost more excited for them this year. Just like all the hate they got and
01:05:30like, Oh, the championship is going to be fun. Like it would be really fun if they just kind
01:05:34of steamroll everyone again and be like, okay, now what are you going to say? We went back to back.
01:05:39We walked through everyone. Right. And they, again, they obviously have the team to do that.
01:05:43So, uh, I'm excited to watch them this year and hopefully, uh, they can repeat some of that
01:05:48success, but I think they might be a little less in the regular season just because they had such
01:05:53a long year going to the finals and then the Olympics for some of these guys. Right. And
01:05:58I think the big point is like, we know dealing with an injury. They said at least like around
01:06:03Christmas is when he's supposed to be back. I would slow play that if I'm the Celtics and I'm
01:06:08so fine with that. Um, so I think maybe a little bit of a drop off in the regular season, which is
01:06:12fine. Like, which is totally okay. They're going to be wagging again in the playoffs. Uh, by the
01:06:17way, we'll love, this has already thrown an interception. I was just going to say,
01:06:20you just put an interception. So I think that's our, that's our, that's our cue to wrap it up
01:06:24here and start watching these Monday night games. All right. Well, that'll do it. Uh, for us two
01:06:29Monday night games, uh, everyone go watch those go to prize picks. Maybe want to win some money
01:06:34while you watch them. But, uh, again, Patriots lose 30 to 13 to the 49ers. They fall to one in
01:06:42three, turn the page to the Miami dolphins back home next week, uh, which will be exciting to
01:06:49watch. Um, which Kobe percent still under center. And we will be back to preview that one on
01:06:56Thursday. Uh, so make sure everyone subscribes to Patriots press pass, turn on your notifications.
01:07:01So you do know when we go live and you can also follow Barth in the meantime, on Twitter at real
01:07:05Alex Barth head over to 98, five, the sports hub.com, uh, to read his Patriots coverage.
01:07:10And you can follow me on Twitter at I am Brian Hines and head over to pat's pulpit.com to read
01:07:15our coverage over there as well. Thank you everyone for tuning in with us tonight,
01:07:19and we will see you guys later this week. Bye.