On Monday's edition of Zolak & Bertrand, the guys look ahead to the Patriots' training camp and the start of the season. They also talked about who the Patriots will need to utilize to get ahead in the first week against the Las Vegas Raiders.
00:00But yesterday when I read the news about Stefan Diggs not being on the pup list, I got excited.
00:08I have tempered expectations this year of the Patriots overall.
00:12It's more of a betting line kind of thing.
00:14But seeing Stefan Diggs not on a pup list, I feel urgency.
00:19When I saw that Travion Henderson signed a guaranteed contract, I felt urgency.
00:25So that's my biggest takeaway from just an announcement of who's there and who's not.
00:30And watching Forged in Foxborough, which we'll get some thoughts on, feeling a little bit of urgency from the Patriots compared to a year ago.
00:36Yeah.
00:37And, I mean, ever since we started watching these videos of him working out and rehabbing, he looks better than anything you have at the position.
00:44Yeah.
00:44He's the best in the group.
00:45I just think he's healthy enough to be ready to go.
00:47I don't think it is much more than that.
00:50It still allows you to dictate what his pace will be.
00:53The problem is you put him on pup.
00:55He's in T-shirt and shorts.
00:56He's working on the other field.
00:58He wants camps going on.
01:00He won't be in team periods.
01:01He won't have the helmet on in team periods.
01:02And the difference is that.
01:03You can pick and choose and do that during practice now and still keep him out of games.
01:06Right.
01:06And, Joe, you know, I think you said as opposed to last year.
01:10So Kendrick Bourne would be the guy from last year who did start on PUP.
01:14There's a huge difference between Stefan Diggs and Kendrick Bourne.
01:17Yeah.
01:18There's definitely more incentive to have Diggs be available for as many games as you possibly can have.
01:24Whereas I feel like last year with Bourne, it was almost like they had two rookies in Baker and Polk that they probably wanted to get a look at.
01:32They got a little bit of a log jam.
01:34Rather than make a decision at the position, well, we're going to put one of those off a little bit.
01:38And we'll give us three extra weeks to buy some time to see how this pans out.
01:43Obviously, Bourne came back when he came off of PUP and wasn't really overly explosive when he came back.
01:51I think Zoe was right about the way that Diggs looked in the spring.
01:55He looks healthy to me.
01:57I think back, the one thing that I think everybody makes the same mistake with, with torn ACLs is, well, so-and-so did this, so-and-so did that.
02:07They're all different.
02:08Like Wes Welker tore his ACL in the last game of the year and didn't miss anything.
02:13He was back for the start of the next season.
02:16Now, he wasn't the 120-catch guy he was prior to the injury, but he cut 86 passes.
02:22He had, like, seven catches and two touchdowns in week one of the 2010 season after tearing his ACL in week 17 of the 2009 season.
02:33He missed nothing.
02:35So, these guys, to me, it's all case by case.
02:39I agree with Zoe.
02:39I thought Diggs looked the part in the spring of being healthy enough to go.
02:44Why slow him down?
02:45He's ready to go.
02:46So, when I say urgency, I just mean it as, you know, last year they took a week off when they didn't have to.
02:54They could have started early.
02:55They didn't.
02:55Oh, that bothered me.
02:58Absolutely.
02:58That's a great point.
02:59But they're all in.
02:59I mean, again, they got Henderson done.
03:02Gave them the money, too.
03:03Like, when they start camp this week, I know that we're only going to really be able to see them in helmets and shorts and running around.
03:10But, like, I think they mean business.
03:12That's what I mean by urgency.
03:14September's a big month.
03:15I mean, whatever way you want to slice September.
03:18Like, you've got to get out of September 2-2.
03:221-3, not good enough.
03:24I don't want to say disaster.
03:26But Rodgers going to Pittsburgh helps them.
03:28I think it would be borderline disaster if they start 1-3.
03:31Oh, yeah.
03:32Well, I don't want to say that yet.
03:33But, like, let's see what these other teams look like.
03:36But the starts are something which I've been a problem.
03:39You've got to start fast.
03:39Been a problem.
03:40They can't start slow.
03:42How many in a row has it been 1-3?
03:44I think they struggle overall at home.
03:48They're 16-26 their last five years at home.
03:51Yeah, they're 10 games under .500, which is a problem.
03:54And I'll just give you the betting line.
03:55It was 3-1.
03:58Patriots opening line against the Raiders.
04:00It's gone down to 3.
04:01So, we'll get into that.
04:04We'll do all that.
04:05But as far as camp goes, I do feel a sense of urgency for everyone to be there,
04:11everyone to be accountable.
04:12And I feel like there's going to be a lot of competition.
04:16Like, I don't think Vrabel cares about what you did before.
04:19I think it's great.
04:20I think it's good for, like, the guys like Duggar, Ramondre, Stevenson, and them.
04:23Like, you're going to have competition.
04:24We're going to put the best guys out there.
04:25Like, we've carried you over.
04:27You're making big money.
04:28You've got those second contracts with the team.
04:30You still have to go out there, and you have to prove yourself at camp.
04:32And that's going to be fun to watch.
04:34Is there a player, not Drake May, that is most essential for the Patriots this year?
04:39Left tackle.
04:40Period.
04:41It's a good one.
04:42First thing I think of.
04:43That's it.
04:44Left tackle.
04:46It's a good one.
04:47I mean, it's hard to get around.
04:47I think they've got questions across the board.
04:48How, I think, how much they were hand-strung by the offensive line last year.
04:54You can't do that every season.
04:56You can't go into every offensive series saying, how do I work around my offensive line?
05:01So, I mean, I hate to be boring, but I think Joe's got the pick.
05:05I'll be different.
05:06I think they were the worst team in the league at stopping the run last year.
05:10Not according to Godshall after the Chargers game.
05:14He was a pretty good run stopper.
05:16Yeah.
05:16They weren't great at stopping the run, but there's a lot of good teams that don't stop the run overly well.
05:22You're right.
05:22But, I'm just trying to be different than you guys.
05:25Yeah.
05:25No.
05:26I think Milton Williams has never played three down.
05:28I don't know.
05:29I don't know what he's playing.
05:29A King Christian Barmore be healthy.
05:30I think those are questions.
05:32Yeah.
05:32They have a lot of questions, but for an essential player, I have a hard time getting past the left tackle.
05:39Because, if something were to happen to Will Campbell, if he doesn't pan out, if he ends up having to play guard, you know, any of the negative things surrounding Will Campbell, you're back to Vidarian Lowe or Demontre Jacobs.
05:52I can't believe they're still here.
05:53You know, and, you know, Lowe's going to have a slow start to camp.
05:58He's on a list, too.
05:59He's on, is he on PUP, I think, to start.
06:03So, that's what you ended, that's what you played the majority of the games with last year, and it wasn't good enough.
06:08So, that's a vital individual player, and that's a lot to put on a rookie.
06:13Did you guys, and I'm throwing an adjuvant, I had the chance to watch Forged in Foxborough yesterday.
06:19I've not.
06:19But, just one takeaway from it was Doug Marone working with his two assistants and how much effort they're putting into the offensive line and teaching guys how to come off blocks and double teams and how to learn a stunt.
06:34Those were things I don't think were being taught a year ago.
06:37Like, no offense to the coaches that were there.
06:39They're basically the same guys.
06:40Well, I think.
06:41I mean, Marone is in charge, but.
06:42But, I think Marone is there.
06:44So, good pushback because that was a takeaway of mine was, whoa, there's a lot of communication going on here.
06:52There's, Marone is telling guys what to do, but working with certain guys as well.
06:56I just, I saw a lot of collaboration.
07:00It just seemed like there was an emphasis on the offensive line on Forged in Foxborough.
07:04Yeah, they're going to be, their coaching staff is a long way ahead of what it was last year.
07:13There's so many guys that were sort of first time in a role last year, and you don't have that.
07:18Doug Marone's been an experienced offensive line coach.
07:21That will be better.
07:22Some of the guys that he's working with have some experience now.
07:25Obviously, Josh McDaniels has been an offensive coordinator now.
07:30This is his third difference stint here alone, let alone the opportunities that he's had as a head coach elsewhere.
07:36There's a lot more.
07:37Todd Downing.
07:38Thomas Brown.
07:39Like, there's a lot of guys that have done the job other places as opposed to last year.
07:45So many of those guys were doing what they were doing for the first time.
07:48Yeah, there was a moment where Josh McDaniels was running an offensive meeting.
07:51He's running it like he's the guy, but Thomas Brown is, you know, putting in a lot of the stuff there.
07:58And you could see Doug Marone saying, well, I think, you know, on this situation, maybe having an extra tight end here.
08:04So I think they're going to be prepared for those things.
08:07That's the one thing I'll say about McDaniels.
08:09When Max Crosby's out there week one, they're not going to leave Will Campbell out there by himself.
08:14No, Josh isn't stupid.
08:15So I think that was at least something I noticed that a lot more collaboration and at least an understanding of why you're making this block and what you're doing.
08:23It's probably one of my biggest reasons for optimism is, I think, the upgrade that they've made on the entire coaching staff.
08:30Yeah.
08:31But know what I liked about you today?
08:32Uh-oh.
08:33No, no, this is good.
08:34I feel urgency and like the move of Diggs, and I think Zoe did too.
08:39You were like, eh, it's a paper announcement.
08:41It's just, and then when I say, hey, I saw those guys, and they were there last year.
08:45Based on the spring, I was not surprised that Diggs is not opening camp on PUP.
08:52Okay.
08:52Because I saw him out there running routes and moving around, and Zoe's absolutely right.
08:57He's moving at a different pace than everybody else.
08:59He's different than everybody you have.
09:01He's different than everybody you have.
09:02He's different than the other guys coming off an injury.
09:05So I wasn't expecting him to, you know, that doesn't mean that I'm not optimistic.
09:09They're better.
09:10Everybody keeps saying, like, what do you think?
09:12What do you think?
09:12You know, you go out, Zoe.
09:13I'm sure you get bummed.
09:14Oh, is it the 12?
09:15Like, no.
09:16You know, what do you think?
09:17What do you think?
09:17What do you think?
09:19I keep saying the same thing.
09:20I think they acquired a half dozen or so players, a dozen players that are better than the guys
09:26that they're replacing.
09:27And you're better coached, like you said.
09:28You're pointing about coaching.
09:29The coaching staff, I think, is light years ahead of them.
09:31It's two more wins there.
09:32So I think they'll be better.
09:34I don't know what that'll translate to.
09:36I think the schedule is favorable.
09:39But that doesn't mean you're going to win all the games.
09:42Joe, you talked about the Raiders game right off the top.
09:44And I know you had a nice little back and forth with the bartender yesterday about, you
09:51know, the Raiders opener and whether or not that's, you know, one that we're penciling
09:54in.
09:55In my experience.
09:56I'm sure they're penciling it in, too.
09:57On Patriots.com radio, that's exactly my retort.
10:02You know, it's the Raiders, Zoe.
10:04It's the Browns.
10:05It's the Giants.
10:05Yeah, I mean, it's the Panthers.
10:06We're going down to Miami week two.
10:08That's a bitch to play now.
10:09I'm sure that's a W for them.
10:12Even Patriots fans would say, at Miami, that's tough.
10:14But Raiders, Steelers, Giants, Panthers, Titans, Browns, W, W, W, W, and all the other teams
10:25that you're playing are all doing the same thing to you.
10:27Win, win, win, win, win.
10:28Yep.
10:28They'll say, whoa, whoa, whoa.
10:29We open with New England?
10:31Oh, we're going to get up to 1-0 start.
10:33That's the way the Raiders are looking at it.
