- 7/23/2025
On Wednesday's edition of Zolak and Bertrand, the guys traveled down to Gillette Stadium to broadcast from Patriots training camp. They then questioned which Patriots receiver is fighting for their roster spot this year in training camp.
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00:00I don't think this team is about that, and I'm glad you brought that up, because didn't this team in the offseason make it a priority to remove any friction?
00:15Isn't that why Joe Milton doesn't play here anymore?
00:18Yeah, it's one of the reasons, yeah.
00:20Isn't that why David Andrews was sent packing? Isn't that why nearly every captain has been removed?
00:28Oh, they stripped it, yeah.
00:30Isn't that what they did?
00:31Yeah, he stripped it.
00:33So, I think they've made efforts to avoid competition and friction, and I'm not sure that's a good thing.
00:42It certainly leads to less drama, for sure.
00:46You have less of that.
00:47But I don't know that that ultimately makes you better.
00:50Does that mean you're better? Does that mean Drake May will be better because Joe Milton's not there to push him?
00:54I don't think so.
00:55And I don't even like Joe Milton. Again, I'm going to keep saying that.
00:58I don't think Joe Milton was ever going to overtake Drake May, but I'll tell you what, it'd be in the back of Drake May's mind, and I don't think it's a bad thing.
01:10So, you remove all the leaders, you remove all the captains, you give a free runway to all the new guys who are here, who've been here for four minutes, to become leaders on the team.
01:20All your guys that you signed, Mike Vrabel, and I'll tell you what, if Carlton Davis sucks in this camp, you've got drama on your hand because you know what we're talking about?
01:28The guy missed the spring. He wasn't here. That's another guy I'm looking for today.
01:32Well, plus you've got another, what, second, third-year guy, and Christian Gonzalez is going to be looking for a really big contract.
01:39You've got a guy over there making $20 million opposite of him, and you're going to be comparing him to them, to each other.
01:43That's going to happen throughout camp and throughout the season, and that's where you're going to get a pretty good feeling as to what Gonzalez is going to be worth.
01:50Because there's a guy making that. What are you going to pay that guy?
01:54Yeah, that could be your first drama here, the Gonzalez money at some point.
01:58I'm not saying this year, but, you know, down the road here.
02:01I'm talking about this camp right now, and I'm telling you that if Carlton Davis isn't good, you've got a problem on your hands.
02:06Because if Stefan digs, is it all disinterested in this team because he gets out there and maybe not as good as he thought it was?
02:15I don't know. You could have it.
02:17All I'm saying is right now all things are quiet.
02:20Don't bank on that being the case through the end of August here.
02:24Never wise to do in this league.
02:26No.
02:27I mean, if there is drama, it's going to be at the wide receiver position, right?
02:30Isn't that where the most competition is right now?
02:32With the young players involved?
02:34I know from a talent perspective, yes, but you have guys fighting for jobs at that position.
02:41And Baker and Polk have not exactly acted in the most professional of manners their entire time here in New England.
02:50No.
02:51Certainly not.
02:52Those are two guys who have the potential to have issues.
02:55But those are easy ones to fix.
02:57You know why?
02:58You just cut them.
03:00That's true.
03:00Bye.
03:01That's true.
03:03Right?
03:03That's true.
03:03That's an easy one to fix, so I'm not too concerned about that.
03:06Taquan Thornton was here four years.
03:08He's a second rounder.
03:09Correct.
03:10Second rounders get a lot of life.
03:11Correct.
03:11Except the guy who drafted him was still here, too.
03:13Sure.
03:15And I guess you could say the guy who drafted those receivers is still here.
03:19Yeah.
03:21That feels like a technicality, doesn't it?
03:23Yeah.
03:24I mean, if it's a technicality, I don't know why it continues, but it does.
03:28So.
03:29How much will you watch Elliott Wolfe out here?
03:31If at all.
03:31Zero.
03:32Why would I waste my time doing that?
03:33Let's see where he's walking.
03:34I'd just see who he's involved with, who he's talking to.
03:37See how many cell phones he carries.
03:40Does he cross the arms, or does he spread the legs and put his hands on the knees, get
03:45that lower level look like Ernie used to?
03:47I don't care.
03:48Quite frankly.
03:49At all.
03:50Not even a little bit.
03:51Yesterday, what did you think of Mike Rabel's press conference?
03:56Fallen.
03:57What do you think about that?
03:59Do we have the audio?
04:01It'd be great.
04:01Let's play the audio.
04:02Let's play the audio.
04:03Yeah, we'll play.
04:05To think?
04:07Hello?
04:08You called five weeks over the summer.
04:12I think, you know, one of the most important parts of the most important part of the offseason.
04:16Now the guys are back.
04:17I know there's 90 of them, but generally speaking.
04:1991.
04:2091.
04:21It seems to be an international pathway.
04:23What, how'd they do?
04:24I mean, whether you were in a coma when I answered Tom's question, or typing on your phone, or tweeting, I don't know.
04:36But I spent five minutes answering that question.
04:39And I could go back through it, but I'd rather not.
04:43We won't know.
04:44We did pretty good on the linear run test, which they practiced.
04:49They knew what it was going to be.
04:50Maybe the big thing will come when they're in line contact.
04:55I mean, when you're sitting there, you're wrestling with a guy, and then the D lineman's rushing.
04:59He almost gets to the quarterback, but we're telling him to plant and run and go sprint to the football, and then go do it again.
05:05Or we're asking Kyle Williams to go run a post, and he didn't get the ball, but he wanted to get the ball, but he didn't.
05:12Can he run back, get set, know what to do the next play?
05:16That's really where we'll see.
05:17So I'll be able to answer that question, again, hopefully only once in a few days.
05:25Mike, I thought you were punking me.
05:27I'm like.
05:29You had fun with it there at the end, but the message was sent.
05:34You know, you guys aren't going to be getting off easy here.
05:37Whether it's 90, no, it's 91.
05:40I don't know if you were comatose there while you were typing your little tweet.
05:42It's almost like a Patricia answer in Detroit, but this came with a hammer.
05:48He sent a message to the media.
05:50Except.
05:51This is the way it's going to be.
05:52Except it was correct.
05:55Yeah.
05:55It wasn't wrong.
05:56No.
05:57No.
05:57No.
05:58Bolin was in the wrong there.
05:59He knows it, too.
06:00I think he admitted it.
06:01And Mike knows everybody in the room.
06:06He's a smart guy.
06:07He knows them all by name.
06:09And he's going to be ready to go for a press conference.
06:11They're not going to be just like 15 minutes of fill.
06:14Not fill Perry, but, you know, filling time.
06:18Man, oh, man.
06:19It's sort of a generic question, right?
06:20I wish he had a little more Parcells in him, though.
06:24Like, it's great.
06:25It's funny.
06:26I find it funny, but he wasn't trying to be funny.
06:29Right?
06:29He gave a little ease at the end.
06:31At the end.
06:32But, yeah.
06:35It wasn't like he just dropped the hammer on him.
06:37Yeah.
06:38It's great.
06:38Oh, yeah.
06:39It's great.
06:39It shows some grit that I complained a year ago about the coach coming out here
06:46and chuckling and laughing it up every press conference.
06:48It was horrendous.
06:50Give me that every day of the week.
06:52Yeah.
06:52He's a ball breaker.
06:54He wasn't really breaking his balls, though.
06:55He just set him straight.
06:57He's still a ball breaker.
06:58He'll break your balls.
06:58Yeah, I know.
06:59I miss those Parcells press conferences where he would have done the same thing,
07:04but he would have been funny.
07:04Everyone would have been laughing at ball.
07:06And that's finesse, baby.
07:09Parcells could do it better than anybody.
07:12Frable just dropped him.
07:14But that is so much better than a year ago.
07:17That's what I thought.
07:18I thought about all those ridiculous male press conferences during camp a year ago.
07:22I mean, and this is just, that's just so much, Bell.
07:26Wow.
07:27That's awesome.
07:27Great.
07:28He's engaged.
07:29Locked in.
07:30Comfortable.
07:30Doesn't give a F about what the reporters are thinking about him.
07:34Doesn't want to be their friend.
07:36Doesn't want to be any of our friends.
07:37Great.
07:38Excellent.
07:39Volant.
07:41I enjoyed it.
07:43Tough, tough look for Volant.
07:47Well, now he knows.
07:48Yeah.
07:49Now he knows.
07:49Listen to the questions and answers prior to asking the question.
07:52Learning moment.
07:53Is the music quieter this year?
07:55It is.
07:56I don't think it is.
07:58We usually, yeah, it is.
07:59Yeah, we usually can't hear ourselves.
08:00This is, this is, oh, maybe.
08:05Yeah.
08:05Yeah, it's a little softer, I guess.
08:07Yeah.
08:07Compte says it, yeah.
08:08Well, I mean, they're just stretching.
08:09Let's see what it goes to when they're trying to use noise in two-minute drills.
08:14Let's see what it sounds like then.
08:17What do we think of the crowd today?
08:21I mean, this is.
08:22I thought it would be more.
08:22Yeah, but this is bigger than day one last year, for sure.
08:25I would agree.
08:26I can't remember what it was, day one.
08:28I would say the aluminum bleachers are, I'm going to go 80% full.
08:3580 to 90, somewhere in there.
08:36The hillside's full.
08:37The hillside's full.
08:4180% full.
08:42Yeah.
08:4380% full.
08:43I heard from one staffer that there were people lined up here at 4 a.m.
08:47I feel aggressive.
08:48I don't understand why that would be the case.
08:53I won't tell you the staffer's true thoughts.
08:55Those were off the record.
08:58Did they agree with that?
09:00Staffer was happy to see everyone, though, and greeted them warmly.
09:03I will tell you that.
09:04Greeted all of them warmly.
09:05I think the true thoughts were along the lines of, what's wrong with people?
09:11I'd say that.
09:12What's the need to do that?
09:14I mean, I don't know what you get out of that.
09:16Right?
09:17Right.
09:17What's the difference between showing up at 4 a.m. and, let's say, I don't know, 7 a.m.
09:21if you really wanted to be super early?
09:23What time do the gates open?
09:25I don't know.
09:258.30?
09:269?
09:26No, I think it's like 9.
09:279?
09:28I know.
09:28We didn't get the Sarge announcements.
09:29Gates open in 90 minutes.
09:31Where's that weirdo?
09:32Is he here?
09:335 minutes.
09:355 minutes.
09:36What's the name of the area he has where he sits down?
09:385 minutes.
09:39Sarge's?
09:40Sarge's Court?
09:42That's a good question.
09:43What is that called?
09:45That's where you can get an autograph from, like, Patrick Pass and meet Sarge.
09:48Yeah.
09:48Yeah.
09:49No, last year they had some good names in there.
09:51Corey Dillon was there.
09:52Danny Madola did it one day.
09:55Some good Pats alums in the house.
09:57Clock Hill and Corey Dillon.
09:58Yeah.
10:00Looks great, by the way.
10:01Yeah.
10:01Looks really good.
10:03Let's talk more about position battles.
10:06Where are the best ones?
10:07We touched on receiver.
10:09What's that battle shaping up to be?
10:11And also, what's a fair expectation for Steph Diggs this year, statistically?
10:17So, the battle at receiver.
10:19Who's battling?
10:22Who needs to earn their spot?
10:25I think Kyle Williams, first and foremost.
10:27He's a high-round pick.
10:28I know he's a high-round pick, but he's a third-round pick.
10:30But, like, he's still got to earn the spot.
10:33You've got to prove you know where to go.
10:34You've got to prove you know where to line up.
10:35You've got to prove you know the understanding of the offense.
10:37You've got to prove you know spacing and timing.
10:41And that the quarterback has faith in you.
10:43You've got to earn all that.
10:44You're the rookie.
10:45It's not like you're here second, third year.
10:47You know, like Drake knows you.
10:48Like, you've got to work with Drake and work well with him.
10:51I think he's got a lot to earn.
10:52Sure.
10:53Yeah, but he's not.
10:54What about Pop?
10:55He's not battling for a roster spot.
10:57And I would say Pop is in that same category.
10:59He's not battling for a roster spot.
11:00He's on the team.
11:01Yeah.
11:03Diggs is on the team.
11:04Pop's on the team.
11:05I feel like Kendrick Bourne knows he's on the team.
11:07I think Bourne's on the team.
11:08And so.
11:10I've seen people read and try to categorize which receiver's going to make it.
11:14A lot of people have Bourne out.
11:15I just shake my head at that.
11:17He has a better relationship with the offensive coordinator.
11:19They believe in each other, and Josh got the most out of him when he was healthy.
11:23So that's kind of my question.
11:25Well, who is battling there?
11:27Who's fighting to make the team?
11:28All right.
11:29Got a little.
11:30And that's what I want to know.
11:32Got a little what?
11:33A little cross-pollination here.
11:35Got the offense running over here.
11:37Defense running to the other field.
11:38Not much going on.
11:39Can you explain cross-pollination to me when it comes to flowers or something?
11:44I could do that.
11:45Yeah, I mean, if you're walking over there like they're taking that grass, that grass seed,
11:48you're walking over there.
11:49It's sort of cross-pollination, yeah.
11:52It is one of my most relaxing times of the day, you know, when practice ends
11:57and they go around with that bucket and they're just stepping and throwing,
12:00and then the blowers come.
12:03Did you do need those blowers?
12:04There's a lot of crap out there in that field.
12:06Is Matt Collins fighting for a roster spot?
12:07No.
12:08Okay, we just named five guys, didn't we?
12:10I know.
12:10So Pop, Mac, Diggs, Bourne, and Kyle Williams is five.
12:19That's five players.
12:21Here's your five.
12:21So if we're battling for a sixth.
12:23You're going to take Booty or you're going to take one of those others?
12:25I'm just talking my way through this.
12:26What is the actual battle at receiver?
12:29Booty.
12:30Booty and Hulk.
12:32Booty and Hulk.
12:33Yeah.
12:33Chisholm, right?
12:35F them Chisholm.
12:35I don't think he's going to make it.
12:37You don't think so?
12:38I think it's a bold prediction.
12:39He doesn't make it.
12:40A lot of hype.
12:41Yeah, he's already the training camp darling before training camp even started.
12:45You're right about that.
12:45Yeah.
12:46I mean, I did like what I saw from him in the spring, but I don't know.
12:50I don't know that Efton Chisholm is a lock.
12:53If they keep seven, it'll be because of him, I guess.
12:56Not because of Polk or Baker.
13:00That won't be what it is.
13:02Because if they're going to keep seven, that's the guy I would go with.
13:07I would go with the kid on the upside and see if anything's there.
13:09I don't know how they're bringing back Polk or Baker this year.
13:14I don't know how that happens.
13:15I don't see it.
13:15I don't see it either.
13:17I could see seven with Chisholm, six otherwise, and the sixth guy in there is not the second-year guys.
13:27It's Booty.
13:27Booty would be the guy.
13:29Yeah.
13:30Who gave them reliable sort of production last year.
13:33So that's how it would shake out.
13:35That doesn't feel like much of a battle.
13:37He showed up to play.
13:39Did Booty.
13:40At least he was productive in games.
13:42Well, he's the one who was very upset about those guys.
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