- 6 months ago
On Wednesday's edition of Felger & Mazz, the were joined by Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal. While recapping the Patriots first day at training camp, Bedard explained how the second year signal-caller looks more confident in the team's coaching staff, along with the Patriots receivers as well.
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00:00Greg Bedard from the Boston Sports Journal. He's on set, on site, ready to report all the latest.
00:08You want to know, you want to go three deep at guard here? Here's your chance.
00:12Yeah, where's Danny from Glosser today?
00:14Yeah, we're not.
00:15Let's go.
00:15We're not doing that. First of all, Greg, how you doing?
00:18Good, how are you?
00:18Good, babe. How was, my first question is, how was the turnout in terms of fans?
00:22Did you feel any buzz returning to the situation or what?
00:26Uh, well, I would say the attendance was good. It surprised me. I mean, I would say the stands were 85, 90 percent packed.
00:35There were people on the hill. There were so many people that there was overflow in the normal, my normal practice viewing spot.
00:42So I basically got kicked out because there were so many fans. So people need to stay away so I can get back into my normal viewing spot.
00:49But, um, I thought it was good. I mean, as far as buzz, you know, these practices, especially these first three, uh, or through Saturday, um, you know, it's very much, it's in the CBA, the reacclimation process.
01:02Like, they can only go an hour and 20 minutes today. A lot of individual drills, only two team periods.
01:07So, um, you know, definitely not the buzz for like a padded practice, which we should get on Monday.
01:13Um, but, you know, I thought it was good. I mean, you know, Diggs catches the first pass from Drake May and, you know, you could definitely notice a cheer.
01:20So people, I do think that there's an excitement, uh, about the team and we'll see whether they can maintain it.
01:27Do you agree with, uh, your, uh, your cohort at Boston Sports Journal, Mike Giardi, who tweeted his synopsis today, some of the bad pass protection, less than optimal.
01:36Some would even say subpar, a lot of heat off the tackles. The old line, did it suck?
01:41Jim goes there right away. Um, well, this is your expertise.
01:44No, I know. Um, let's just say this, um, pass protection was not good today. Um, it wasn't, um, I will say the silver lining in that is that it didn't seem to affect
01:57Drake May at all. I thought, you know, my stats for Drake May were five of five with five sacks. Now, none of those sacks were on him.
02:04They were very quick pressure. Two of them were for, from Morgan Moses. One was from Will Campbell against Keyon White.
02:11Uh, Demontre Jacobs, the backup right tackle had one. Remondre Stevenson, uh, did not pick up a blitz. He had one.
02:18Um, but it was like really quick pressure, but the good thing was, you know, I thought Drake May was really comfortable.
02:23Um, even on the plays where he was sacked, he was still, you know, getting completions, I think four out of the five times.
02:30Um, so that was good, but yeah, not a good start for Patriots pass protection.
02:35You can make all sorts of excuses about it, that it's easier to pass block with pads on the defenses ahead of the offense and all that stuff.
02:42But it was not a good start. And I would say the most, probably the most concerning thing was, and I don't know if this is just because he's a veteran
02:50and they're pacing him, but Morgan Moses gives up a sack. I think it was on the second play of team.
02:56And he got pulled for Demontre Jacobs and he was sort of in and out of the lineup, um, all day in the two team periods.
03:03And it's surprising because in the film that I've watched of Morgan Moses, he's rock solid.
03:08You know, he's almost boring to watch because he does his job, but today was not a good start.
03:12Okay. So Greg, I don't have it up in front of me at the moment, but when I read your summation, you said that Keon White got one of the sacks and on the play,
03:20he quote unquote blew right by Will Campbell. Is that an accurate representation of what happened?
03:26And tell me how did Will Campbell look specifically?
03:28You know, I thought Will Campbell looked fine. I wasn't watching, um, you know, him a ton, uh, especially from the angle that I was at.
03:35He was sort of on the other side of the field. Um, you know, but I thought he looked all right on that play.
03:41You know, he tried to try to get his hands on Keon White and couldn't, and White went right around him.
03:47Um, couldn't reach him. Here we go. It's the first day. I'm just asking, Greg.
03:53Listen, we have a show to do today. So he, you know, he, he missed the block, you know, we'll just say that.
03:59Um, I, I don't, I don't know if arm length had anything to do with that. White could have swatted his hands down.
04:04You know, I don't know. Keon White's pretty good when he's coming off the edge.
04:09Uh, but yeah, that was a rough rep, but I thought overall, I thought Will Campbell was fine.
04:14Okay. Uh, what differences do you see in Drake, man? If any, uh, I just, you know, when, when I see Drake, I just see somebody who's, you know, a lot more confident.
04:24I mean, especially from where he started training camp last year, I think he, you know, we kind of, uh, came in a little meekly, you know, and, and that might be because of his age.
04:33You know, he didn't play a ton in college and even his last year in high school, um, and sort of deferred to Jacoby Brissette.
04:40And it probably didn't help that the coaches were saying, we're going to go with Jacoby.
04:45And Drake may was like, okay, well, I'll just sort of get my work in.
04:48And, um, you know, he didn't come in like gangbusters, like a, you know, a top quarterback pick should.
04:54Um, but I think a lot of that had to do with the, the situation that the Patriots laid out there.
04:59Uh, but this year, you know, Drake, Drake just looks confident to me.
05:03It looks like a guy who has a lot of confidence in the coaching that he's getting from, you know, McDaniels and Vrabel.
05:10And that I think he does have some confidence in, um, in his receivers.
05:15I know people aren't crazy about him, but, you know, and he mentioned them today.
05:18I mean, you know, when you're talking about, you know, Steph Diggs and, you know, Hunter Henry and when Mac Hollins gets back and Kendrick Bourne, you know, those are guys that have played a lot in this league.
05:29And I think that that's a comfort level.
05:31And also having, you know, Morgan Moses, Drake also mentioned Garrett Bradbury, the center.
05:36You know, you're talking about guys who have played in this league a while, know what they're doing.
05:40And I think that also gives Drake confidence.
05:43Okay.
05:43How about the receivers?
05:44Uh, Williams apparently had a good day.
05:46Your thoughts on Williams and your thoughts on how Diggs looked.
05:48Yeah.
05:49Um, you know, Williams did do a good job.
05:52You know, he had a couple of catches downfield against Gonzalez.
05:54Um, at least one, if not both of them came on a play that, you know, I, I deemed a sack.
05:59Um, you know, but still, uh, I think where he's standing out to me, um, which is a little bit of a question mark is, um, his strong hands down the field.
06:10He's, uh, whether it was minicamp or now he's catching contested balls, uh, which, you know, in college, some of the book was on him that he would have some, you know, easy drops.
06:20He would make tough catches, but I think he's doing a good job.
06:22And I, I think he's, his, uh, ascension on this team is vital because they don't really have anybody like him on the outside that can give that speed element.
06:32Um, so they have a bunch of guys that can operate on the inside.
06:35They don't have many guys that can operate on the outside.
06:37So the faster he hits, the better it is for everybody.
06:40And, you know, digs just, uh, I mean, he, he just amazes me.
06:44I mean, that he's able to do what he's doing this soon after knee surgery.
06:48I mean, I, I even figured today, even though he was cleared and all that, I figured he, this might be a day where he's doing mostly individual stuff.
06:56Maybe, you know, get a rep here and there and take team.
07:00He was involved from the jump and he also looks comfortable in his offense.
07:05And I do think he's a good fit for what he does, you know, motion and the slot inside can go inside, outside.
07:11I think that's something that Josh McDaniels can tap into very easily.
07:14So, uh, Greg, in terms of the offense and how, when I say the offense, could you get any grasp on terms of what they were running and whether it was more McDaniels stuff or entirely McDaniels stuff?
07:25Like, can you read into that at all at this stage?
07:28Not really at this stage.
07:29I mean, you know, I will say that I was surprised at how much the fullback Brock Lampe, um, was involved, um, especially like early in the team periods.
07:38Um, that was a surprise.
07:40I mean, I don't think it's a, a coming in.
07:42I didn't think it was a definite that the fullback would be part of this offense.
07:47I think it's the way I understand it.
07:49It's more about the player.
07:50If they have a player worthy enough at fullback and Lampe has a good reputation, um, then they'll make room for a fullback.
07:57If they don't have a guy, then they won't, um, you know, but I, I, I haven't noticed, um, you know, a ton in terms of the offense to me, it looks somewhat similar.
08:07I think they, they are starting to put in, and Drake even said this, you know, basically today and probably the rest of this week is sort of a review what they've already done.
08:17And that's sort of the basics of the McDaniel offense.
08:19I do think that they're putting more, uh, they're starting to sprinkle in more space plays where, you know,
08:26getting may in the space, um, you know, doing things with the running back, a little bit of like read options and things like that.
08:33I think that's, that's starting to come be sprinkled in, but I think we're going to see more and more of that as we go on.
08:39Okay.
08:40Uh, Greg, we're joining us from a training camp down at Gillette stadium from Boston sports journal.
08:44He'll be doing this big boy Tuesdays, I believe, starting next Tuesday.
08:48You'll also read his write-ups on the web.
08:50He probably does three up, three down.
08:52Do you do three up, three down from any individual day of training camp?
08:54Yeah, I do it just about every day.
08:56Today I did three up and two down.
08:58Okay.
08:58Well, here on Felder and Maz, we're going to demand three down.
09:01Okay.
09:02So give me your, from today, give me your three up and create a third down, please.
09:07So, uh, three up was, uh, May, Diggs, and, uh, DJ James, the unheralded, uh, cornerback, probably like four string,
09:17who had the interception of Josh Dobbs.
09:19Um, by the way, Jim and Danny from Gloucester, I will not be singing the praises of Josh Dobbs,
09:24uh, today because I had him as one in six and a one of six, and he sort of sprayed the ball all over the place today.
09:31Uh, but DJ James, uh, he got an interception may sort of through, uh, Dobbs threw one up to Javon Baker.
09:38Uh, it wasn't really close and, and James picked it off.
09:41Uh, two down, uh, Morgan Moses, uh, with the two, two sacks and he was replaced multiple times.
09:48Uh, Josh Dobbs, of course, and a third down, uh, I guess it would be Demontre Jacobs, the other right tackle.
09:58Uh, it just wasn't good on the edges today, uh, from anyone, you know, I, Campbell had the one sack.
10:03I thought he was okay, fine, uh, the rest of the time, but those would be my three up and three down today.
10:09How do Campbell's arms look, Greg?
10:13Um, short.
10:15I mean, you definitely notice it in person and, you know, and on the field.
10:19And, um, you know, I'll be interested to see.
10:22I haven't seen him in pads yet up close.
10:24I've seen plenty of him in.
10:25Is that going to extend his arms where the shoulder pads like lengthen your arm somehow?
10:29I think it's going to look worse, but, um, we'll see how that goes.
10:34Still the number one issue on the team, wouldn't you say, Greg?
10:37No, not to me.
10:39I mean, the number one issue to me is I'm more, I'm most worried about center.
10:45I think, you know, I think that Campbell will at least give you, it will be an improvement
10:51over last year.
10:53So I'm not really worried about that.
10:55And also, um, Josh McDaniels knows how to help him.
10:58If he's the one guy on the line who needs help, I'm more worried about Bradbury.
11:03Um, you know, good reputation in the run game, but he was pretty horrendous in pass pro last
11:08year, uh, with the Vikings to the point where, you know, they let him go and they signed,
11:13um, I forget.
11:15I want to say it was a guy from the Browns.
11:16I forget who they signed, uh, but an older guy, um, you know, for, for, I think less money.
11:23And so anytime that happens, it worries you.
11:27And, you know, I don't love this film.
11:28I, Jared Wilson, we finally saw him, the draft pick out of Georgia, uh, participate in practice.
11:34He didn't do anything in the off season.
11:36Uh, he, he got most of his time at center sprinkled in a little bit at left guard.
11:41And I also, also point out that Caden Wallace was full time at left guard today.
11:46So I don't know if he's done at tackle or they're still sort of undermanned.
11:51And that's why he's there.
11:52Okay.
11:53Anything else, big boy?
11:55Uh, I think that's about it.
11:59Um, yeah, we hit on everything.
12:01Okay, good.
12:02And you can save all the backup guard talk for the website and your podcast and all of that.
12:05Make sure you wear sunscreen, big boy.
12:07You look a little pink to me.
12:09Thanks for checking in, Greg.
12:10We'll see you soon.
12:10See you guys.
12:11Bye.