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00:00It's a Tom E. Tuesday, Tom E. Curran, NBC Sports Boston, joining us here as he does every Tuesday at high noon.
00:06What's going on, Tom?
00:08I am looking live over Mike Rabel's first practice that is open to the media.
00:15And they have just finished their opening little drills, and now they have entered into dynamic stretching.
00:21We heard from Mike Rabel just 15 minutes ago, and he highlighted the fact that the Patriots are already in competition mode.
00:27Not just a learning camp, they are getting after it.
00:31Meanwhile, Washington will be in Foxborough prior to the preseason game for joint practices.
00:36The Patriots will travel to Minnesota and visit the Vikings prior to that preseason game.
00:41So you'll see J.J. McCarthy, one of the greatest young quarterbacks in the National Football League, squaring off with Drake Mets.
00:49This is good stuff. I think this is what happens when you get on the field like this.
00:52You just automatically turn into a snappy reporter.
00:55That's good stuff, Tom.
00:57That was scribe stuff right there.
00:59That was. That was real good.
01:00Any takeaways from the 10, 12-minute Q&A with Mike Rabel today?
01:06Not really. Honestly, it was very much focused on the development of the team identity
01:13and installation of basically a culture and what they're going to be all about.
01:18You know, wanted to stay low on any type of talk about schedule or what the expectations might be for anybody.
01:25So I thought that was interesting.
01:27Can you hear the music in the background?
01:28We can.
01:29A little bit.
01:29Yeah, a little bit.
01:30No, it's okay.
01:31We hear it, but it's not overly distracting.
01:34It's not distracting.
01:34That's fine.
01:35Some might call it distracting.
01:36But I can hear it.
01:38No, but I think that was one of my takeaways there, Tom, as well.
01:41He didn't take the bait on, hey, are you looking at the schedule?
01:45Are you doing any of this?
01:46And as we know, that was something that would happen over the last year with Gerard Mayo.
01:50So I do think that jumped out.
01:51He wasn't playing any of those games.
01:53I thought it was interesting, too.
01:57You know, we talked about this last night on an early edition with Rich.
02:00When you look at a team that is coming off consecutive four and four seasons
02:04and people are trying to reasonably and objectively look at their schedule
02:10and still coming up with nine or ten wins, not even being aggressively optimistic,
02:17it has to change a little bit, I think, the expectations and pressures
02:21that are going to be applied on the team.
02:22So, you know, what if this bad team starts 500 in the first month of the season?
02:28People might look at it as a disappointment.
02:30Well, you should have beaten Carolina.
02:31You should have beaten the Raiders.
02:32You should have beaten whoever the other opponents are, Miami and a good team, Pittsburgh.
02:37So it's going to be interesting to see how Rable begins to measure
02:41and maybe temper some of the expectations.
02:45I'll be interested to see that because Bill would always temper them.
02:48But is Mike also of the mind that, no, no, no, we're full speed ahead.
02:51We expect success.
02:52We expect to be good.
02:53Which way will we go with that is going to be interesting.
02:56You know, we heard Rable was asked towards the end about the wide receiver room
03:00and it was brought out like, hey, you got a pretty loaded receiver room there.
03:03And he quickly stopped and was like, well, this time of year,
03:05every team has, you know, a ton of players at every position.
03:09But there is something there about the wide receivers they have.
03:12I'm not saying any of them are amazing, but there's a few guys there that might be some
03:17interesting cuts.
03:19Like you can't carry all of them.
03:21You have a bunch of recent draft picks and then a couple of free agents that they signed
03:24this offseason.
03:25So that's got to be one of the more compelling position groups as we enter, you know, all
03:30this stuff.
03:31Yeah.
03:32And I think that really you have three guys who are on the outside looking in who are
03:36recent draftees.
03:37Booty was one of their most productive guys, but that's, you know, Kevin Gamble level
03:43production last year from Booty.
03:47I mean, nobody else was there to catch balls.
03:49So I think Polk and Baker have to prove their worth, even though they're second year players.
03:56I don't think that they get grandfathered in by any stretch of the imagination.
04:01They have to prove their worth.
04:03And I think they're on the outside looking in and have to try and edge out guys like,
04:07how are they going to beat out Kendrick Bourne?
04:10Like McDaniel loves Bourne.
04:13He's caught 800 yards worth of balls, 55 catches on like 70 targets in 2021.
04:18How's he going to beat him out?
04:19How are they going to beat out Demario Douglas?
04:21They're not.
04:22They're not going to beat out Diggs.
04:23They're not going to beat out, you know, Matt Collins, who's a core special teams guy.
04:27These guys do nothing on special teams.
04:29So I think they might all be cooked.
04:33Yeah.
04:33No, it doesn't look overly promising for some of those guys trying to sneak their way on.
04:39When it comes to OTAs and what you're looking for, Tom, I'd imagine a lot of it, and correct me if I'm wrong,
04:45I imagine a lot of it is who's playing with whom and what the depth chart looks like.
04:49Is it fair to read into that at this time of year?
04:51Or is that something that, I mean, we're even jumping the gun at OTAs compared to a training camp or a preseason?
04:57I honestly don't look at it that much.
04:59I look kind of at the movement because it's the first time you get a chance to see how someone looks physically.
05:05I remember commenting a few years ago when Matt Jones' first year in 2021, I said,
05:09man, he's 6'2", but he is kind of slight compared to Jimmy Garoppolo, who was also 6'2".
05:14And be like, he's not slight, he's just the same.
05:17I'm like, all right, okay.
05:19That's when Mack was a new shiny pillar, people defended.
05:22So, you know, get a look at how Kyle Williams moves, how well does he work in the bags during drills
05:28because I think the depth chart is a lot of it's going to be default.
05:32You know, Bradbury will be the default center, and, you know, Carlton Davis and Christian Gonzalez will be the default corners.
05:39I am interested to see the rotation of safety, for instance, to go a little in-depth on the personnel on the roster.
05:46You know, where is Mapu lining up?
05:48Where are, what's the story with Duggar and Marcus Epps, who's a new safety ad, and Jabril Peppers, what's that rotation like?
05:56Because I think that's an important part of this team, too.
05:58So, yeah, I'll watch a little bit of the depth chart, but I wouldn't make conclusions.
06:01How's that, Jody?
06:03Seems like there's been either a new offense or a tweaked offense every year for the last four or five years here with the Patriots.
06:11Do you think this has a chance to be a smoother transition, considering you are bringing in some new guys?
06:17So whether it's a rookie left tackle or rookie running back, free agent receivers, it's, you know, they're joining a new team.
06:23So it's going to be new regardless.
06:25Plus, it's a guy like Josh McDaniels as opposed to the previous two guys that were here.
06:31Do we expect a quicker transition for everybody learning this offense?
06:35I think this is the first step, you know, the first few OTAs and rookie minicamps and things, but this is the first time you have the entire class in the auditorium, so to speak, to try and teach them.
06:49And I don't know, I'd be interested to ask Josh whether do you move as quick as your fastest learners can take it, or do you wait until your slowest learners are caught up?
07:00I would imagine it's probably the former.
07:01They're going to move quickly, and if you don't catch up, we're going to have to move on.
07:05Now, if only two guys are keeping up, you're going to have to slow everything down, but that will be interesting to watch.
07:11They just have huddled up here for a pre-practice meeting before they break into things.
07:16They finish their stretching.
07:18Dynamic stretching.
07:19Do you know what dynamic stretching is?
07:22No, a more active aerobic stretch, I'd imagine.
07:27You don't sit there and put your hands over your head and start pulling on your goddamn gosh darn toes.
07:33Yeah.
07:34You know, you just don't do that.
07:35It's bad for you.
07:36An active stretch.
07:37You jog around a little.
07:38Butt kicks, things like that.
07:40One of those.
07:41I got you.
07:42I'm a bend over, touch your toes kind of guy.
07:44I didn't realize that was bad for me.
07:45Okay, so when it comes to, I can't do that?
07:47What am I going to do?
07:48I'm going to pop a hammy?
07:49Yeah, you haven't listened to Tom Brady, nothing?
07:51You know, people, you got to get loose a little bit before you go.
07:54People just walk out there and start grabbing their toes and bending over.
07:57I'm actually not much of a stretcher whatsoever.
08:00I'll just, you know, I'll pull something and just go try to run it out.
08:03So when it comes to the Patriots' expectations this year, Tom, not that they're playing you off.
08:09When it comes to Patriots' expectations this year, I'm curious if you think they have a bit of a window
08:13with the Celtics getting eliminated early, people being out on the Bruins.
08:17They're angry about the Sweeney extension today.
08:19The Red Sox underachieving.
08:20Is there a bit of a window for the Patriots to kind of capitalize in this city?
08:24Yeah, I think the window is door.
08:30Any kind of orifice is always a jar for the Patriots to walk right through.
08:33Because any kind?
08:35Yeah.
08:36Opening.
08:39So I think that they have an opportunity here because the NFL rules, and it has long since ruled.
08:46I think post-2004, by the time 2006, 2007 rolled around, I think the Red Sox had started to become secondary by then,
08:55and now the gap is so massive that people are only interested in, you know, how are the Patriots doing?
09:01What are the Patriots doing?
09:02People, you know, there is certainly Celtics conversation, but I think the Patriots are much more universal.
09:08So I think the Patriots do have an opportunity now with the conversation to carry it through.
09:13It is going to be a hard road to hope.
09:15I'll be candid.
09:16So it is for you too.
09:17I don't like not having live sports as a media member.
09:21We've had live sports in multiple, you know, for years through June that can dominate our conversation,
09:29whether it be Celtics or Bruins, and now we're not going to have that.
09:33So we're going to spend a little more time than we need to on the Patriots when they're not really doing anything of note.
09:38Sox had a nice win, Tom.
09:39Don't sell the Sox short.
09:40They had a nice win last night.
09:42That's a lot of sports.
09:43Yeah, but I think that there's a nice window for the Patriots, as I said.
09:45Yep, I would tend to agree with that.
09:48Do you have any thoughts on the recent report that Bill Belichick is now engaged to his idea mill and creative muse, Jordan Hudson?
09:59I'll believe it when I get the invite.
10:01I hope that you guys would feel the same way.
10:03Yeah, well, we're still waiting on City Connect jerseys, so I don't know that we're going to be getting any invites to this grand wedding.
10:11But that will be interesting to follow.
10:13So Tom E. Curran on a Tom E. Tuesday, NBC Sports Boston.
10:16As always, we appreciate the time.
10:18You can check out the latest from Tom on Twitter, at Tom E. Curran.
10:21You can check him out all over NBC Sports Boston, including Early Edition last night with Rich Keefe.
10:26Tom, we appreciate it.
10:27We'll talk to you next week.
10:28All right.
10:29Thanks, guys.
10:29Take care.
10:30Take it up.
10:30Take it up.
10:30Take it up.
10:30Take it up.
10:30Take it up.
10:32Take it up.
10:34Take it up.
10:34Take it up.
10:34Take it up.
10:36Take it up.
10:38Take it up.
10:39Take it up.
10:40Take it up.
10:40Take it up.
10:41Take it up.