Evan Lazar makes his comeback! On the 'Patriots Daily Podcast', Taylor Kyles hosts the once CLNS reporter, who now pens for the Patriots. They dive into an analysis of the first day of joint practice between the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers. Additionally, they chat about the recent addition of Running Back Ezekiel Elliott, who was seen in team attire but didn't engage in any of the day's competitive drills.
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#Patriots #NFL #NewEnglandPatriots
This episode of the Patriots Daily Podcast is brought to you by:
FanDuel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Visit FanDuel.com/BOSTON and start earning BONUS BETS with America’s #1 Sportsbook! Because right now, when you bet on a Super Bowl Winner, you can GET BONUS BETS EVERY TIME THEY WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON!
21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 Deposit req. Refund issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.
#Patriots #NFL #NewEnglandPatriots
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SportsTranscript
00:00 on S Media, joined by a face I think a couple people
00:03 in the audience may be familiar with.
00:06 Good friend of mine, absolutely love him.
00:08 Paved the way for me to do what I'm doing right now,
00:11 setting the high standard.
00:12 Really excited to have him on back with the network.
00:15 Evan, how you doing, bro?
00:17 I'm doing well.
00:18 I'm all right.
00:19 I got to be honest with you, Taylor.
00:20 Today, I faded down the stretch today,
00:23 just like the Patriots often do.
00:25 So I have training to practice.
00:28 My face is all sunburned.
00:30 I had to go run out and get allergy medicine
00:32 because I was just sneezing up a storm in my hotel room.
00:35 So I'm all right now, though.
00:37 I got it together just for you.
00:39 But I think that, like I said, just like the Pats often,
00:44 maybe a little bit rough down the stretch.
00:46 Good start, rough down the stretch.
00:48 That was perfect.
00:49 You set me up really well because you powered through.
00:52 Now let's talk about Mac Jones powering through.
00:54 It was a pretty tough situation for his supporting cast.
00:57 How did you think he did separate from everything
01:00 that was going on around him?
01:01 And then after that, I guess we can get into the offensive line
01:04 play, the receivers, and whatnot.
01:06 So how did he do?
01:06 Yeah, honestly, I think Mac has been
01:08 the least of their problems for most of these practices.
01:11 And I understand that there is a macro level discussion
01:16 with Mac Jones, his physical limitations,
01:19 and what an offense led by Mac is really
01:22 capable of in the NFL in 2023.
01:25 We see Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts.
01:28 And he's not those guys physically.
01:30 He's not as athletic.
01:32 He's not as gifted.
01:34 But at the same time, I still go out to most of these practices
01:37 and say, when the other guys are doing their job
01:41 and everybody's doing their 1/11 around Mac,
01:44 he puts the ball consistently with good accuracy and timing
01:47 and touch more than [INAUDIBLE] than not.
01:51 And that's how it felt like today as well
01:54 when he was in.
01:55 The offensive line wasn't caving in around him,
01:58 and the guys were getting open down the field.
02:00 He was making the throws that were being presented to him.
02:03 So I think a lot of people would want more out
02:06 of their quarterback, the people around him a little bit more.
02:10 But I still am pretty [INAUDIBLE]
02:13 going to do his job.
02:14 It's really more about the other guys around him at this point.
02:19 And how did you feel about the situational execution?
02:21 Because obviously, Mac was asked after practice
02:23 about the ref where Belichick seemed to glide into him.
02:26 I thought there were maybe a couple instances
02:28 where receivers weren't doing what they should have been
02:30 doing in a situation where you understand that you're not
02:33 going to get hit, but you do want to keep the ball going
02:35 and not try to just run off.
02:38 It's a big play that in a big game probably wouldn't.
02:40 What did you think?
02:41 Because I thought this was one of their sloppier performances
02:44 considering they've really been on point with not getting
02:47 penalized, doing what they're supposed to be doing given
02:49 the situation that's happening.
02:51 What were your takeaways there?
02:52 Yeah, that's a good point.
02:54 And that two-minute drill towards the end of practice
02:56 was pretty rough.
02:57 There were multiple penalties, multiple sacks, just things
03:01 that you look at this offense.
03:03 And I think the biggest thing for me
03:04 is just they're going to be an offense that's
03:07 going to, in many ways, to that death 5,000 paper cut strategy
03:11 where they're going to be more about efficiency
03:14 and getting first downs and running the football and things
03:18 like that, whereas these other offenses around the league,
03:21 including the one we saw today on the other side
03:24 of the Packers, is more bombs away and more
03:27 hunting explosive plays.
03:29 And they're trying to get three-play, 75-yard touchdown
03:34 drives when the Patriots might be a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown
03:37 drive team.
03:38 So when you are a team like that, execution,
03:41 play-to-play is paramount.
03:43 You cannot shoot yourselves in the foot.
03:45 You can't go backwards.
03:47 You can't have negative plays because you don't have
03:50 the capability necessarily to make it all up
03:52 in one 40-yard chunk.
03:54 So if you go backwards with a sack,
03:57 if you get called for a hold, then that
04:01 becomes a point where it's second and 20,
04:04 and you don't really have the playmakers or the offense
04:06 to then go ahead and make up for that in one play.
04:09 So that's my biggest worry about the negative plays
04:13 that we saw out there today is that this team is stringed
04:16 together positive plays offensively 8, 9, 10 times
04:21 in a row to get down the field.
04:23 And if they go backwards, it might get behind schedule,
04:26 and they might get off the rails a little bit.
04:28 And you mentioned that.
04:30 What did you think of the receiving course performance?
04:32 Because I felt like Devontae Parker did Devontae Parker's
04:34 thing.
04:35 Juju thought he found the holes and zones a couple of times.
04:38 But it also felt like as big a problem as the offensive line
04:41 was, there looked like there might have been some coverage
04:43 sacks as well.
04:44 So how did you feel about the top unit,
04:46 and do you think that maybe somebody like Kayshaun
04:48 Booty, who was great early on, or Demario Douglas, who
04:50 had his flashes today and has had flashes consistently,
04:53 do you think maybe they should be getting more opportunity
04:56 to show what they can do and add some explosiveness?
04:58 Or do you maybe think that the veteran group just really
05:02 does need to get that time together, maybe some chemistry
05:04 or what's your takeaway?
05:07 It's a good question because I think this group is--
05:11 the veteran guys clearly are good at the little things.
05:15 The details seem to be a lot sharper when they're out
05:17 on the field, whereas with a Taekwon Thorin, for example,
05:21 we have some route running miscues.
05:24 We have Demario Douglas, as good as he's been as a route runner,
05:27 as dynamic as he is as a mover, you have limitations
05:31 with his size.
05:33 They are going to play him probably inside of this slot.
05:36 So he's not necessarily as versatile as a Kendrick
05:40 or a Juju that can move around the formation a little bit
05:43 more.
05:44 So you look at those two guys, and you
05:46 have two guys that can get open and can
05:49 without help from the scheme.
05:50 And I thought that's what we saw that very first 11 on 11 period
05:54 this morning was with play action, and you have RPO,
05:59 and you have motion, you have all these smoke and mirrors
06:01 that Bill O'Brien is capable of scheming up,
06:04 then they can move the football because help for the receivers
06:08 to get open with all the run action.
06:10 And then they obviously are protecting the offensive line
06:13 with all the misdirection and false keys.
06:15 When you have all that stuff going on,
06:17 you have that ability that maybe masks some of your weaknesses.
06:21 But then when you get into 11 on 11,
06:24 where it's a two minute drill, and it's just roll the ball out
06:27 and it's our 11 guys against your 11 guys,
06:29 they don't have a ton of guys that are just natural route
06:32 runners, that just are natural at creating separation
06:35 and are explosive players, except the two rookies.
06:39 So-- or the two young guys, I should say,
06:41 with Dorgan and Douglas.
06:42 And I guess you can throw Booty in there today.
06:45 He had a pretty good day.
06:46 So maybe you throw him in there as well.
06:48 But I'm interested to hear your point of view,
06:51 because they do typically lean on Parker, Boron, and Schuster.
06:58 They're obviously paying Schuster and Parker.
07:00 So those guys are going to be out there.
07:02 But it's a slow group when you really think about it,
07:05 all things considered, especially with Hunter Henry
07:07 at tight end.
07:09 Yeah, so I actually got really excited in the last practice
07:12 in Foxborough that we went to, because instead of Juju
07:15 in the slot during two minute, we saw DeMario Douglas.
07:18 And Juju's someone where, in my mind, yeah,
07:20 you like him on the field when you're playing zone,
07:22 because he knows how to find those soft spots
07:24 and be quarterback friendly.
07:26 If you're going to use a stack or a bunch,
07:28 then he's smart enough to know how to capitalize on those
07:30 to get himself open.
07:32 But if you're just going him in the slot,
07:34 no motion, no special formation to kind of help him out,
07:37 I don't really like the matchup against most NFL corners,
07:40 because I don't think he has that ability
07:42 to create his own space.
07:44 Whereas DeMario, I think, consistently gives people
07:47 trouble and can be that guy where,
07:49 if Mac just needs to count on somebody to get open,
07:51 that can be him.
07:52 Now, as you said, the size limitations are significant.
07:55 And you also don't know how far along he is in terms of Mac
07:58 really having that comfort to say, OK, I got Parker outside,
08:02 my jump ball guy.
08:03 I got Kendrick Bourne.
08:05 He's good on the backside dig, whatever.
08:07 Underneath, if I just need to get the ball out, it's DeMario.
08:10 We don't know where they are yet.
08:12 I don't want to put my eggs in that basket.
08:13 But I would like to see Douglas involved more.
08:15 And I think he's on the right track.
08:17 And now I'm curious to hear what you think about the Booty
08:19 situation.
08:20 Because like you said, he was popping off early on.
08:22 Mac gave a great anticipation throw on a deep out.
08:25 Bailey Zappi threw a deep out that seemed to be behind him
08:28 and let the defender get in on the play.
08:30 But Booty still made a contested catch
08:32 and kept the speed in along the sideline.
08:34 And we really saw him get involved.
08:36 And then he's gone for the rest of practice.
08:38 And I wasn't sure if it was--
08:40 I'm wondering from your perspective,
08:42 was it a lack of opportunity?
08:43 Did you see that maybe he wasn't performing as well?
08:46 And that was why he wasn't getting those targets?
08:48 What happened there?
08:49 Because I was kind of drawn to blank.
08:51 Yeah, it's a good question.
08:53 Because he kind of had a day that the whole offense had,
08:57 where that was a period they were about to have a day.
09:00 And then it faded quickly and honestly got kind of ugly
09:04 at times in those later portions of the period.
09:07 I thought that opening period of practice for Booty
09:10 was maybe his best team period session
09:13 of the entire training camp.
09:15 I am not--
09:17 I haven't been as big on Booty, Taylor, as some other people.
09:20 Big on Booty, no pun intended.
09:22 But I haven't been as big on Keisha on Booty
09:26 as some other people.
09:27 Because I think a lot of his catches
09:28 that he's made in practice, especially in on 11 on 11,
09:32 yeah, they're great highlight reel,
09:34 one-handed, acrobatic type of catches.
09:37 But I didn't necessarily see the consistent separation
09:40 or that ability to repeat it over and over and over again.
09:44 Whereas a guy like Douglas, you can see it,
09:47 that he could be able to get open not just once or twice,
09:51 but maybe five or six times in a game
09:54 or something along those lines.
09:55 And that's something that I haven't necessarily
09:57 seen from Keisha.
09:58 But today in that first opening session,
10:01 I felt like that was his best session of camp,
10:04 where he was creating downfield separation.
10:07 He really does a good job against off coverage.
10:10 If guys are off the line against him, whether it's zone or end,
10:14 I feel like he has that ability to free release
10:17 off the line of scrimmage, get defensive backs uncomfortable,
10:21 and then break underneath on dig patterns or outs or things
10:25 like that.
10:26 But if he's asked to beat press man and just go one-on-one
10:30 against a guy, I don't necessarily
10:31 see those great separation skills
10:34 like a guy like Douglas.
10:36 So I think that's the conundrum, is
10:38 that you see the body type with Booty
10:41 can be a little bit more versatile.
10:43 He has a little bit more size, a little bit more thickness
10:46 to him.
10:46 But it doesn't necessarily-- the dynamic route running.
10:50 I think that they're in an interesting spot
10:52 with these receivers, though, because they're
10:55 going to be pretty stubborn, I think,
10:57 about playing the veteran guys in that room.
11:00 I just know how Bill Belichick thinks
11:02 and how that system typically works.
11:04 And I think they'd really be stubborn about that.
11:07 But at the same time, you see how explosive guys
11:11 like Thornton and Douglas can be,
11:13 even just to keep the defense honest,
11:15 even just to get safeties to respect the speed on the field
11:19 a little bit more.
11:20 And I think that the receiver sets, especially,
11:24 where it makes some sense to not have such similar players
11:29 across the board, where if you're Parker,
11:33 a Boren, Juju, Hunter, Henry, and that's
11:36 kind of your passing group, you're just kind of slow.
11:39 You don't really have any threat of running by anybody.
11:42 Whereas I hate to take one of those guys off the field
11:46 at times, but if you put Thornton or Douglas
11:49 into that three receiver, 11 personnel grouping,
11:52 and maybe take a Parker, or a Boren, or Juju out
11:55 of the equation, getting some more juice on the outside,
11:58 and some guys that can run by some people.
12:00 And even if it doesn't hit consistently down the field
12:03 to Thornton, for example, at least
12:05 you have the threat on the field that that might happen.
12:08 And I think that you mentioned how Belichick's
12:11 going to be stubborn.
12:11 And that's because in this system,
12:12 there are so many slight adjustments and things
12:14 that you have to--
12:15 when you're running a route, you have to make certain changes
12:18 based on what you see.
12:19 I don't want to say definitive leaks.
12:21 We don't have tape.
12:22 But we might have seen a glimpse of that in the last practice
12:25 at Boxborough, where Mack almost threw that interception when
12:28 Douglas was in during two minute, where
12:30 Douglas ran an out.
12:31 But it seemed like Mack thought he
12:32 was going to run a corner because the pass wasn't
12:34 even close.
12:34 And in those situations where you have a quarterback who
12:36 knows the system and a rookie receiver,
12:38 it's probably on the receiver.
12:40 So you understand why.
12:41 But at the same time, if your offense
12:43 can't move the ball or get separation and it's hurting
12:45 you, you have to start figuring out ways around that.
12:47 And you mentioned Tyquan Thornton,
12:48 the only young receiver we haven't talked about yet.
12:51 We did see him get behind the defense on that one play,
12:53 where Bailey Zappi overthrew him.
12:55 It might have been wind or whatever.
12:57 But you started to see the flashes of, OK,
12:59 this is what you want.
13:00 Like if it's play action and you have
13:02 Thornton in a condensed split, you'd
13:04 like to see him against all coverage
13:05 be able to really be that threat.
13:07 All right, nobody's hitting me.
13:08 Let me be an athlete and run.
13:10 What did you see from Tyquan today?
13:11 And do you think his stock is any higher or lower than it
13:14 was entering today's practice?
13:16 Yeah, I think it's a little bit higher than maybe it was.
13:19 Right when he returned, when he got hurt,
13:21 it seemed like he got hurt.
13:23 He didn't really have a great start to camp, gets injured,
13:26 and then comes back.
13:27 In the first couple of days, I think he was just
13:29 getting wet a little bit.
13:30 But I thought today he had some good habits.
13:34 And that's all I'm really looking for from Tyquan,
13:37 where you mentioned the deep over that
13:39 looked like a little bit of an overthrow.
13:41 Maybe the wind caught it from Zappi.
13:43 And then I thought there was a play earlier where they
13:45 actually [INAUDIBLE] the coverage on the back side,
13:48 and he was all by himself behind the defense.
13:51 But Mac's eyes were elsewhere because of where
13:53 the read was taking him.
13:55 So those are things that if he just keeps doing those things
13:58 and keeps doing it well, then eventually the targets
14:03 will find him.
14:04 Like a ball will find you.
14:05 And I think that's one of the difficult parts about playing
14:08 receiver sometimes is that you could run a great route.
14:11 And if the quarterback's not looking in your direction,
14:14 then the ball might not necessarily get there.
14:16 But eventually it will.
14:18 And they'll come back to those types of things.
14:20 And they'll see it on.
14:21 They'll say, oh, this worked.
14:23 Like tomorrow, let's try to go out and hit it,
14:25 those types of things.
14:26 And they'll be able to figure out those types of things.
14:30 So with Taekwon, I mentioned the route running miscues earlier.
14:33 I do think that some of that stuff
14:35 does happen with him where [INAUDIBLE]
14:38 not always on point of where they want him to be going.
14:41 I think the big thing that you see
14:43 is when he's being inside out, like when there's a guy
14:46 outside and there's a zone defender on the inside of him
14:50 too, they really want guys to sit down in between those zones.
14:55 And sometimes that's going to continue towards the sideline
14:58 and actually get himself run into coverage.
15:01 Those are the things that you want to coach out of his game.
15:05 But he's got the speed.
15:07 He's one of the more frustrating guys
15:09 that I think that's on their offense
15:10 because you look at guys like a Kendrick Bourne,
15:15 for example, who is nowhere near as fast or explosive
15:19 as Taekwon Thorin.
15:20 But he's a heady guy.
15:21 And he's a savvy vet.
15:23 And he's a good player.
15:24 But if Taekwon had like Kendrick Bourne's IQ,
15:29 then he would be a great player.
15:30 But they have to be able to find ways
15:32 to get him to be smarter out there
15:34 because they need his speed.
15:36 That's just a genuine statement that they absolutely
15:39 need somebody that's going to keep the defense honest
15:43 and be able to stretch the field a little bit.
15:46 And so I really think he's one of the bigger X factors
15:49 in the offense this year.
15:52 So I've kind of been tiptoeing around the offensive line
15:54 conversation because it's a weird one to have.
15:57 Because there's always the asterisk of Trent Brown
16:00 and David Andrews are the only guys
16:02 who are playing the positions you expect
16:04 to be starting in week one.
16:06 Riley Reif may be a starter.
16:08 But is he going to be guard?
16:09 We don't know.
16:10 At the same time, my concern has been, yeah,
16:14 even if the best case scenario, Mike Nwenu comes back
16:19 relatively early.
16:20 And you get Cole Strange, and he's totally fine
16:22 and has a good year and all these things.
16:24 Riley Reif or whoever's at right tackle isn't a liability.
16:27 Even if that happens, how much is the offense's inability
16:31 to execute plays consistently because of pressure
16:34 going to have a ripple effect into the season?
16:37 I'm curious what you think about that.
16:39 And whether this is something where week one or even
16:41 after maybe the first month, they can snap back in
16:44 and be like, all right, we can execute these plays
16:46 when we're comfortable.
16:46 Or do you think this is going to have long-term ramifications
16:49 even if they get their best case scenario in the trenches?
16:54 I don't know if the offensive line makes or breaks
16:56 the season for them.
16:57 I don't think that's even dramatic to say that.
17:00 Their play up front is going to dictate whether or not
17:03 they're going to be an offense that can actually threaten
17:07 in this division especially.
17:08 But just in the grand scheme of things,
17:10 in the league in general, it's--
17:13 I actually thought-- and I don't know
17:15 if you caught the clip of Hard Knocks
17:17 last night where Robert Sala was talking
17:20 about his offensive line.
17:21 And I thought the clip really sums up just offensive line
17:25 play in general around the league.
17:26 He was like, you can have a Hall of Fame quarterback,
17:29 the reigning offensive rookie of the year,
17:32 Dalvin Cook in the backfield, but if the offensive line
17:35 stinks, then [AUDIO OUT]
17:38 And the Patriots obviously don't have all that offensive talent
17:41 other than the Jets do.
17:44 But the point still stands, I think,
17:46 for New England where if they're not
17:48 going to be able to block anybody,
17:50 I don't really know why it matters.
17:52 Like, I don't think any of this other stuff
17:55 that we're talking about is really
17:57 going to make a difference if their offensive line doesn't
18:01 get their stuff together.
18:03 I think the biggest thing is with that group,
18:06 I thought that the pass blocking in Thursday night's game
18:10 against [AUDIO OUT] I think really what we have to go off
18:13 of because there's not a whole lot of--
18:16 we don't get to watch film of practice, right?
18:18 So we don't really know what went wrong sometimes.
18:21 But I think the biggest thing is that the pass protection
18:24 was a little bit better.
18:25 I don't know what you thought.
18:26 A little bit better than I thought.
18:29 They had some really, really bad plays, no doubt about it.
18:32 Like the two zappy sacks, there was
18:35 pressure from multiple angles.
18:36 But for the most part, it was a little bit cleaner
18:39 than I thought it was in a pass protection sense.
18:42 Their run blocking was abysmal.
18:45 They were in the running game all over the place.
18:48 And that, I think, is going to be a big thing.
18:52 I think that they have to figure out this thing up front.
18:55 And I've tried to remain patient with it
18:58 because the biggest thing is if they can have a stirrier three.
19:03 Like if you have Cole Strange, David Andrews, and Mike
19:06 Conway playing good football together on the interior,
19:10 then you'll have that to create the depth of the pocket.
19:13 So Mac Jones can step up.
19:14 Mac Jones can take shallow drops, things like that,
19:18 to protect himself in a good position in the pocket,
19:22 where the tackles, all they're going
19:24 to have to do at that point is block inside out.
19:26 Like just don't let anybody beat you inside.
19:29 And don't let anybody beat you badly around your corner.
19:32 Like if you can get them to 8 to 10 yards
19:34 and he has that ability to step up, then they'll be OK.
19:38 And I think that that's really what they're counting on.
19:40 But you have to see that group together
19:43 before you can go out and say that it's going to be all right.
19:45 I think, like I wrote today, the hand
19:48 is hovering over the panic button.
19:50 I'm not pressing the panic button yet
19:53 because we have a regular offensive line together yet.
19:55 So I can't press it because it could all
19:57 be fixed when Cole Strange and Mike Conway come back.
20:01 But that's what they have to hope for
20:03 is that that interior really builds that sturdy shelf where
20:07 Mack Jones can just sit right behind David Andrews
20:10 and on Wenu and Strange.
20:12 Those guys really be the guys that do the heavy lifting.
20:16 Yeah, and you mentioned the preseason game.
20:17 Definitely looking back, especially when Cunningham
20:19 was in the game, it felt like they started
20:21 to kind of get a rhythm going.
20:22 When you watched, I thought there
20:23 were some moments where they struggled.
20:25 Like Sidney Soak definitely adjusting to the tackle spot.
20:28 Cody Russell got pushed back a couple of times.
20:30 But the issues were really, I thought,
20:31 stunts and line games and things like that, where they just
20:34 weren't picking those things up well.
20:36 And you mentioned the run blocking,
20:37 which I actually thought was really good today.
20:39 Mack Jones mentioned it after practice.
20:41 And it looked like they were blowing some holes open.
20:43 The running backs were getting past the line of scrimmage
20:46 and actually able to do a little something at the second level.
20:48 But with the backups you saw, their lack of chemistry
20:50 was glaring because there were times
20:53 where it didn't look like combos were
20:54 being executed the right way.
20:56 So guys were getting their leverage,
20:58 and it was almost impossible blocks at times.
21:00 So with that backup line, I definitely
21:02 think the run blocking could do some work.
21:04 Was positive to see today that the unit that was out there
21:07 was blowing some holes open.
21:08 But we talked about the offense ad nauseum.
21:11 Let's get a little defense involved here.
21:13 What did you think of the secondary?
21:14 I thought Christian Gonzalez, for the most part,
21:16 had a pretty strong day.
21:17 He did let up one catch against Dobbs.
21:19 I think it was on a slant or something,
21:21 where I didn't even think he knew that the play was about
21:24 to happen because he seemed like he was caught off guard.
21:27 Marcus Jones let up a few catches.
21:28 Jack Jones, I thought, had a strong performance.
21:30 What did you think of that group?
21:32 Well, I just want to say off the top--
21:34 and I know people are going to hear this and say that all
21:37 those receivers are mid compared to Tyree Kill and Jalen Waddell
21:42 or the grand scheme.
21:44 I really think Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs
21:47 are good players.
21:48 I think those guys are starting to come on.
21:50 And Christian Watson, in particular,
21:52 is somebody I absolutely loved in the draft
21:53 and I thought was a great rookie for them,
21:56 especially in the last eight games or so of the season.
21:59 So those are two good players.
22:02 Are they Jerry Rice?
22:03 Like, no, of course not.
22:04 But they're two good receivers.
22:06 And I do think that this group-- and no offense to the Patriots,
22:10 but I think that they had to adjust a little bit
22:13 to the speed of Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs out there
22:16 today because they did a bit better than Devontae Parker
22:20 and some of the other guys that they go up
22:22 against on a daily basis.
22:23 So I thought that was a bit of an adjustment, especially
22:26 for Christian Gonzalez.
22:29 The big play that they hit to Watson, I think,
22:31 is interesting for two reasons.
22:33 One, I still think the defensive role is a work in progress.
22:38 That's really been one of my main concerns
22:40 watching this defense.
22:41 They don't really have a natural center fielder.
22:45 Like, and what I'm talking about is route anticipation,
22:49 but also technique, right?
22:50 Being able to get in the pedal, hips, and turn
22:53 and run after a football.
22:55 They don't really have a guy that looks smooth back there
22:58 in that role yet, and everybody's
23:00 sort of trying to learn it and trying to figure out
23:03 what they can and can't do and things like that.
23:05 And that's what training camp is for.
23:07 But until I'm 100% what they're doing in the center field
23:11 role, I don't know how great I feel about the deep ball
23:17 on this pass defense right now.
23:18 And I thought the one with Gonzalez, too, with Watson,
23:23 it looked to me like it was probably
23:26 some sort of coverage.
23:27 And I think sometimes what happens with Gonzalez--
23:30 and this happened in this college film as well--
23:33 he gets a little bit lost in zone coverage at times.
23:35 And I think the biggest thing is his receiver ran underneath him
23:40 and ran over the middle of the field to kind of sit
23:43 at the middle.
23:44 And he got sucked up in the middle of the field.
23:47 And then once he saw Jordan Love's eyes going deep,
23:50 he tried to retrace his steps and get back to the deep third.
23:54 And their system, when that route goes underneath,
23:57 they want you to get depth on the--
24:00 there's a fall off and get deep into the middle of the field,
24:04 or the deep third of the field, I should say.
24:07 And I thought he knew that he kind of messed up a little bit
24:10 and tried to haul ass back there to fix the problem.
24:14 But at that point, it was just a little bit too late.
24:17 So the little things with Gonzalez--
24:19 when he's in man and he's just asked
24:21 to just play press man against people,
24:23 the guy's smooth as hell.
24:25 He's sticky.
24:26 He's a great cover guy in that respect.
24:29 But in zone, he does get a little bit lost
24:31 and tends to cover grass more often,
24:33 or kind of get pulled into different directions
24:35 and things like that.
24:36 I do think that was a good point, because when I saw it,
24:39 I was thinking, oh, it's a pretty heady play for him
24:41 to even notice when he was sucked up.
24:43 But you're right.
24:43 He probably should have been getting depth there.
24:45 And I thought that he should have really
24:47 been playing the hands, because I thought
24:48 him trying to look for the ball that whole time
24:52 put him a step behind, where if he's
24:54 looking and waiting for the ball to fall, he can punch it out.
24:57 And Jalen Mills, it looked like it was partially on him,
25:00 but I thought that he was trying to disguise
25:02 and was rotating to the middle, which makes it a lot harder
25:05 to cover ground when you've got Watson on the same side running
25:09 across and out with 4-3 speed.
25:11 That was one of those where I didn't really--
25:13 I said it was more of an offensive win
25:14 than a defensive loss.
25:15 But a great point.
25:16 Gonzalez probably should have been getting depth there.
25:19 What did you think about the other corners' performances,
25:21 like the other Jones in particular?
25:22 Jones is--
25:23 Yeah, I thought-- look, I think that Jack Jones probably
25:26 had the best day in terms of pure coverage.
25:28 Now, he was working a lot with the twos
25:30 or kind of like the one-bees, right?
25:32 And it wasn't exactly against the top guys for the Packers.
25:37 But I thought that he was pretty sticky out there
25:40 for the most part.
25:40 I think he got beat on one to the sideline, deep ball
25:43 towards the end of practice.
25:45 But he had pretty darn good coverage.
25:46 That was kind of--
25:47 Perfect throw.
25:48 Yeah, just a good throw and catch.
25:50 So I saw out of Jack Jones a bit outside
25:54 of the extracurriculars a little bit after the whistle
25:56 that they had to pull him back from.
25:58 But that's Jack Jones.
25:59 And I think with him, the one thing that I really
26:01 do like about him-- and I don't mean
26:03 to get into a whole conversation about the off-field stuff.
26:06 But I kind of like that he's a little chippy.
26:09 That group doesn't have a lot of chippiness to it,
26:12 aside from Kim and Jabril Peppers.
26:14 Like, the rest of those guys are just kind of nice dudes,
26:17 to be honest with you.
26:18 Christian Gonzalez is this quiet rookie, very, very
26:22 reserved personality.
26:23 I think Marcus Jones has a little energy to him.
26:26 But he's the nicest guy in the world.
26:29 I don't think he's going to get into a training camp joint
26:33 practice fight.
26:34 That's just not Marcus Jones's style.
26:38 And then you obviously have guys like Jonathan Jones and Adrian
26:41 Phillips, who are nominated for lifetime achievement awards
26:45 when they retire from football.
26:46 So those guys don't really have a ton of--
26:50 I don't know-- just juice sometimes.
26:52 I'm not saying they don't play fast or play hard.
26:55 I'm just saying they don't play with edge at all times.
26:58 The two guys that do are obviously Jack,
27:01 and I think Jabril Peppers is the ringleader of the juice.
27:05 But I think Jack Jones, having a little bit of an edge to him,
27:10 off field notwithstanding, I think is a good thing.
27:14 Yeah.
27:14 I think Jalen Mills kind of slides
27:16 into that category a little bit.
27:17 Now, he gets made fun of because when he was with the Eagles,
27:20 he was doing it when quarterbacks
27:22 were throwing 10 yards ahead of the receiver,
27:24 and he's celebrating when he didn't have good coverage.
27:26 But you saw when he had that run stop,
27:28 he's got a little bit of juice to him too.
27:30 But yeah, no, I see what you mean.
27:32 With the cornerback group especially,
27:34 Jack Jones giving them a little more fire helps.
27:36 Now, going to get you out of here.
27:38 Last thing I want to know is what your thoughts were
27:40 on the kicking situation.
27:41 Because we saw Nick Foulk had a good day, had one miss.
27:45 But you can also clearly see, I feel like,
27:47 he's got below average leg strength.
27:50 Whereas Chad Ryland's freaking booming kicks so high
27:52 that we couldn't even tell whether they were in or not,
27:55 but also missed a couple.
27:56 What were your thoughts on both the weather
27:58 and how they both were able to adjust and compensate?
28:01 Yeah, that win was pretty gnarly.
28:03 The Packers kicker, of course, Carlton, yeah.
28:09 He kicked one, and the wind just completely knocked it down.
28:14 I don't know what, like 5 to 10 yards short of the goal post.
28:17 It looked like a force field.
28:18 It just went--
28:19 It was honestly the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
28:21 It was like somebody, like, yeah, force field.
28:24 Or like Obi Wan with the force was just like, nope,
28:27 that ball's dead, right?
28:29 So that was weird.
28:31 Those conditions were a little bit crazy out there.
28:33 It was pretty windy.
28:34 But I will say, I think with Ryland,
28:37 when it gets windy like that, you
28:39 would like to see him kick it a little bit more on a line
28:41 drive.
28:42 He's trying to put air under the ball still,
28:44 and you know it's windy.
28:45 And once the ball gets up in the wind,
28:47 you have no idea where it's going to go from there.
28:50 So adjusting a little bit more, I
28:53 think, is something that he'll continue to learn.
28:55 But I just look at his draft status,
28:57 and I do think that's a factor.
28:59 But mainly, I look at the performance.
29:01 And it's going to be tough for them to side with Fulk
29:04 on this one.
29:04 He's got a much stronger leg.
29:07 I think he's accurate.
29:08 I don't think it's like Nick Fulk is hitting 80% of his kicks
29:12 and Ryland 55%, right?
29:14 Like, I think it's like 80%, 75%.
29:16 And with that plus the bigger leg and I think maybe a little bit
29:20 more juice on kickoffs, I would give it to Ryland for all those.
29:25 I know Alex Sparth had both kickers on his 53-man roster
29:29 projection because he thinks they're
29:31 going to let Fulk do the accuracy stuff
29:35 and then let Ryland kick like 50-plus and kick kickoffs
29:38 and stuff like that.
29:40 And I'm going to put him there.
29:42 That's, I think, something that isn't completely out
29:46 of the realm because I know Bill Belichick.
29:47 And he feels like Fulk's better 45 than in-in,
29:51 but we can't trust him 45-plus.
29:53 But I know them.
29:55 I know that they'll do crazy.
29:58 I will say quickly, though, on the punters,
30:02 Bryce Beringer has not been very good,
30:04 I would say, for the last three or four practices.
30:07 He's pulled off.
30:08 Yeah, today he had some tough hang times,
30:11 like just like a couple of--
30:12 over three seconds.
30:14 Had some [AUDIO OUT] some drives.
30:16 So I don't know what's going on with him,
30:19 but I watched it happen with Jake Bailey-Taylor.
30:21 And once you lose it, it's like a golf swing.
30:24 And once you lose the swing and the rhythm
30:27 and the technique, all of a sudden,
30:29 you can really start to have it unravel.
30:32 So I'm not ready to panic or anything
30:34 about Bryce Beringer yet.
30:36 But I am watching it tomorrow and as we go forward here
30:39 in Nashville to see if he's in a funk
30:42 or if it's just one or two bad practices
30:45 or whatever the case may be.
30:47 That's a really good point.
30:48 One thing, I just have it in my head
30:50 when you mentioned the kickoffs.
30:51 The best way you can visualize the difference in leg strength
30:55 is when they do kick off, Ryland takes like two or three steps
30:59 and just booms it.
31:00 Nick Boat gets a running start.
31:01 Like he's 10 yards back, multiple steps
31:04 trying to get the power on that.
31:06 There's a very, very--
31:07 I mean, I'm sure anybody could see it
31:09 if you've been in any of the training camp practices
31:12 or whatever.
31:12 But big difference.
31:13 We'll see what happens there.
31:14 Evan, appreciate the time, man.
31:16 I always let people plug themselves.
31:18 I feel like everybody who's watching this right now
31:21 knows who you are.
31:21 But going with tradition, I will give you
31:24 the floor to promote anything you'd like to.
31:26 Yeah, well, everything that we do is on Patriots.com.
31:30 So you can just go ahead, write to Patriots.com,
31:32 and find it all there.
31:33 I see some of the old people in the chat, some familiar faces
31:37 and familiar names.
31:38 So that's awesome.
31:39 And this isn't the only CLNS podcast
31:43 I'm going to do this week.
31:44 So there's a little bit of a tease for you.
31:46 And then I also mentioned Patriots Catch-22,
31:49 people that like me and Barth and aren't sick of us yet.
31:53 We do a podcast over on Patriots.com.
31:55 It's called Patriots Catch-22.
31:57 And we do that once a week.
31:58 So Barth and I are still doing stuff on the air.
32:01 I think he tries to every once in a while.
32:04 I figured I'll give that a plug too.
32:07 Awesome.
32:07 Appreciate you so much for joining, man.
32:09 Appreciate you all for watching, as always.
32:12 Take care of yourselves.
32:13 Take care of each other.
32:14 We will see you next time.
32:15 All right?
32:17 Oh, why is he--
32:17 [INAUDIBLE]
32:26 Oh, yeah, we're still live.
32:27 OK.
32:28 Amen.
32:29 I don't know.
32:29 [LAUGHS]
32:30 Fuck.
32:31 Awesome.