- 6 months ago
On Thursday's edition of Zolak and Bertrand, the guys were joined by Mike Reiss who covers the Patriots for ESPN. While discussing the state of the team's offensive line, and specifically the left tackle position, Reiss explained how the only real option for the team is rookie Will Campbell.
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00:00Mike Reese is here. Mike, great to have you.
00:03Beetle, Zoe, Tim, great to be with you.
00:05I want you to know that this is the Super Service Today guest chair you're sitting in.
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00:19Day two camp observations or day one and two camp observations.
00:23What's standing out to you, Mike?
00:24So what stood out to me today was a take the profit day.
00:27Just a lot of short passes, and I think if I had to sum it up, not the most exciting day for those that were here,
00:33but when you look at Drake May and if you're keeping the count of the completions, 14 of 15, a lot of passes close to the line of scrimmage.
00:42And I was going back to last year for him.
00:45He had the 10 interceptions in the, I call it, he played 10 games wire to wire, and you want to see that number come down ideally this year.
00:53And I felt like today that was the theme.
00:55Like, just take what's there and make positive yardage on first down to set yourself up.
01:02Drive starters.
01:02Good drive starters.
01:03I felt like that was today, though.
01:04I don't know.
01:05What did you guys see from up here?
01:06I think it made a bit of some inside check run slash short game stuff.
01:10It looked like a lot of screens to me, too.
01:12Flat routes, that type of stuff.
01:13Yeah.
01:14I said to Morgan Moses, I said, this is one of those days where it's less about execution and more about install.
01:19That's what it felt like.
01:20And what did he say?
01:21I like him.
01:22He kind of agreed with that.
01:23You know, he said, this time of year, it is what it is.
01:26You've got to understand that you've got to play a role as whatever you are on the field.
01:32And he was speaking as an offensive lineman.
01:33Like, you've got to do what's best for the team on a day like this.
01:37I was asking about sacks, you know, because there have been a number of sacks here in the first couple of days.
01:42Probably more so yesterday.
01:43But should we read into that?
01:46I'm not sure we should.
01:48So I think actually two things are true on this, Beatle.
01:51Yeah.
01:51So I think it's fair to be concerned about the offensive line.
01:54But I think I wouldn't be concerned based on what we've seen in non-padded practices.
01:59I would agree.
02:00And I think so.
02:01I actually, you know, I don't want to get boxed in here and tell everyone, hey, you know, don't worry about the offensive line.
02:06Like, I have concerns, you know, like everyone else.
02:10But Morgan Moses actually said this to us.
02:13I don't know if he said it to you.
02:14He goes, come on.
02:15We need something to grab.
02:17There's no pads.
02:18And these defensive linemen, I mean, Harold Landry, he can just run right up the field.
02:23They run right through him.
02:24We can put, you know, a sack for Landry.
02:27But, you know, when the pads come on, if you're calling the game, probably just pop them with a draw play or a screen, you know, and you might have a big play.
02:37So it's easy to, I think.
02:39They're just not really hitting.
02:40And I think that's it.
02:41So maybe.
02:42So how do you.
02:42I don't know.
02:43It's the new league, man.
02:44I think he said at one point, he goes, hey, if you can block him, great.
02:47But he's kind of like, yeah, whatever.
02:49It's not a big deal.
02:50But I will say on the line, you know, same conversation we've had the last couple years.
02:56So they're going left to right.
02:57Will Campbell.
02:58And it seems to me it's, you know, Will Campbell or bust, right?
03:01He's going to be the left tackle.
03:03They don't have much behind him, which would be a concern.
03:07Left guard, it's been cold strange for the most part the whole time.
03:10They did rotate in Jared Wilson, their third round pick at both center and left guard a little bit with the first unit.
03:18Garrett Bradbury at center.
03:19Watch for him, right?
03:20A little undersized guy that the Vikings moved away from because he was overpowered at times.
03:26Michael Wenu at right guard and Morgan Moses at right tackle.
03:29And, yeah, we've seen a little leakage out there.
03:32But, again, how much do you want to read into that?
03:33I think the good part is, too, Josh is telling the quarterbacks, play through it.
03:36Just because they come by and touch it.
03:38Just keep the play alive.
03:39Just keep the play alive.
03:40We've got to process things.
03:41It's got to be better than last year, though, Mike.
03:43It will be.
03:44So that doesn't mean it's going to be good, but it absolutely will be better.
03:47I think the coaching will give them a chance, right?
03:50So even I go back to when Josh McDaniels was here, some of their offensive lines, they didn't have, like, as many household names.
03:57But they did things to protect those guys.
04:01Remember last year we were talking about the tackles being on an island at times.
04:04I just don't think you'll leave Will Campbell on an island against Max Crosby in week one.
04:10They won't allow it.
04:12Yeah.
04:12Coaching-wise.
04:13Especially early.
04:14You know, you get behind in a game like that, then your confidence really goes.
04:17Mike, we've talked about the receivers for years now.
04:21We've talked about offensive line for years.
04:24The Terry McLaurin holdout continues in Washington.
04:27I saw your, I guess you would say, fellow beat reporter, Karen Garigian.
04:34She thinks that there's a chance this team is going to try and make a big move for a player at some point.
04:40The same way at this time last year we started hearing about Brandon Iyuk.
04:44Do you think that's a possibility for them?
04:46Do you think Terry McLaurin could possibly end up somewhere else other than Washington?
04:50One, I wouldn't doubt Karen, right?
04:53She gets the first question with Mike Vrabel every time, and she nails it every time.
04:58Isn't that sexist?
04:59I would just say, I'm just glad I don't have the first question.
05:03There's a lot of pressure.
05:04Now we're getting pop quizzes from Vrabel, and we're coming up with the answer.
05:06Oh, the other day was great.
05:08Just don't be clear.
05:09Nat at myself.
05:10You better be prepared, Mike.
05:11You better not be comatose over there.
05:12You know, we've got to be sharper.
05:15Let's go.
05:15Don't ask the same question twice.
05:17Well, that I don't, you know, but we've got to be better.
05:20Bill hated that, too.
05:21First couple days of camp are for all of us reporters, too.
05:25But, Beto, I don't think you can rule anything out on that stuff.
05:29And if McLaurin was ever an option in a realistic way, absolutely, you look at it.
05:37I haven't heard anything that would make me think that that could happen right now,
05:40but let's not rule it out.
05:43What do you make of the wide receiver competition as is with the guys that are actually on the roster right now?
05:47So, I was really impressed with Kyle Williams yesterday, the third-round pick out of Washington State.
05:52He had a bad drop today, so I didn't think he sort of built on what we saw the first day.
05:58But I know they like him.
05:58Ah, that's it.
05:59They missed again.
06:00But I know they like him a lot.
06:02I know they like him a lot.
06:03And I know some of the guys in there say, of all the rookies that have been in in the last few years,
06:08that he's the one that gives them the most hope, you know, of the rookie receivers.
06:12To me, I think the receiver depth chart goes like this.
06:17Diggs is always first in the line in the drills.
06:20He'll be out there.
06:21Kayshawn Booty has been out there with him.
06:23And Pop Douglas right now, those would be the top three guys.
06:26I think Matt Collins, when he comes back, I'll be in there as a fourth guy.
06:31Kendrick Bourne, he's in there.
06:33Kyle Williams is in there.
06:35And I'm missing one more, who's my other guy.
06:38I'm not putting Polk in there.
06:39I'm not putting Baker in there.
06:40Don't put them in there.
06:42Chisholm?
06:43I want him to be there.
06:46Booty, I said Booty was in there.
06:48And I think Chisholm's probably your seventh guy.
06:51I don't know if you'd keep seven.
06:52Like, he looked good in the spring.
06:54He has not shown up much, Tim, to be honest, the first two days.
06:57So that's one where, like, I feel like we've hyped him from a media standpoint.
07:02And I almost worry, like, if he doesn't make the team,
07:05do people look at the media and say,
07:06what were you talking about all spring?
07:08You know, and so I think that one's on the edge right now.
07:12Mike Reese is with us.
07:13Mike, this is the hardest question I will throw at you.
07:15Do you have a name on this roster that could potentially be a surprise cut
07:22by the time we get to the end of this preseason?
07:25So, like, would Anfernee Jennings qualify in that regard?
07:30Yeah.
07:30He has to.
07:31I would put it.
07:31Yeah, that would be a surprise cut for me.
07:33So, and the reason why, and I think he's a very good player,
07:37and he will play in the league this year.
07:39Real quick, is he the one that got the bump and then asked for another one?
07:43I don't know.
07:43Those other guys are getting more?
07:44No.
07:44No.
07:45No.
07:45That wasn't him?
07:45Okay.
07:46That was, um.
07:47Wasn't that Ushay?
07:48Last year.
07:48Yes.
07:48It was Ushay.
07:49That's right.
07:49That's right.
07:50Yeah.
07:50So, Anfernee Jennings is a really good player.
07:52He's an edge setter in the old 3-4 Belichick.
07:56Yeah, Bob and I thought he came off at the end of the year.
07:57Yeah, but now you look at what they have on the edge,
08:00and it's Landry.
08:02It's Keon White.
08:04It's Chason.
08:05And then you've got a rookie like Braden Swinson,
08:08their fifth-round pick out of LSU,
08:10and then even an undrafted guy, Ponder.
08:13So, like, he's, Anfernee Jennings,
08:15you don't really see him right now in the first two practices out there.
08:18So that would be one name that, off the top of my head, came to me.
08:23Gotcha.
08:24Anything we missed?
08:25Anything you want to hit on before we say goodbye?
08:28Well, you're not kicker guys, right?
08:30No.
08:30So, okay, we'll pass on the kicking.
08:32I want them out of the sport.
08:34You're going to punch them in the face.
08:37You know, sometimes I wonder, like I always try to look at it critically,
08:40what could derail the Patriots, right?
08:43So we talk about the offensive line.
08:46I sometimes wonder about what's behind Drake
08:49and if they're sort of living their life without football insurance, right?
08:55So Drake was in the concussion tent a couple times last year,
08:58and you're hopeful that that doesn't happen this year.
09:01But based on what we saw last year, I'll ask you guys,
09:04what's the likelihood he plays all 17 games,
09:07and how do you feel about what's behind them?
09:09That would be something where I thought Dobbs threw a bad interception yesterday,
09:14maybe a little bit better today.
09:17I think you're absolutely right.
09:19I think that if he plays the way he was playing a year ago,
09:23he will not make 17 starts.
09:26I hope that with Rabel and McDaniels, that changes.
09:30Yeah.
09:30I hope he is playing in a different way.
09:32A grain throwing in him.
09:33If we don't want to run, we want to throw.
09:35And we saw in the Forged in Foxborough that that was an emphasis
09:38that was being put on him by Mike Rabel.
09:41He was emphasizing that point with him.
09:43I hope that's the way that it goes.
09:45But you're right.
09:46I don't think the past or not is it.
09:49Yeah.
09:49And I think when I bring this up,
09:52that's good, Vito.
09:53When I bring it up to others,
09:55they say there's still a chance you could,
09:57like let's say Cleveland, just to use an example.
10:00They got four quarterbacks.
10:01If Kenny Pickett comes available,
10:02do you feel better about someone like that?
10:04And I'm not saying that.
10:05Honestly, I might.
10:06Which is scary, but I might.
10:08Just based on, you know, the potential and the coaching, right?
10:12Yes.
10:12So I think you asked me, like, what else?
10:15I never got the infatuation with Dobbs.
10:18I certainly don't get it based on these first two days.
10:20I think as a mentor to Drake to show them, you know, how it worked.
10:23Like, that's great.
10:24But ultimately, I look at it and probably influenced a lot by what we heard
10:28from Bill Belichick over the years is, like, that's one position that he,
10:32and he said this, if you don't have it accounted for at all layers,
10:36first, second, third, you put the whole team at risk
10:39because it's such an important position.
10:42Quarterback always has the ball in his hands.
10:44Which is weird because he went into 2020 with no plan at the position.
10:50But in theory, you get my...
10:53Well, I'm sorry.
10:54Am I wrong?
10:55No, you're not wrong.
11:00That's a...
11:01You will always...
11:02It's very confusing for all of us.
11:04How did that happen?
11:05But no, you're...
11:06I agree with that.
11:07I agree with what he said.
11:09He should have practiced what he preached on that topic.
11:12Maybe should have let Brady have a little more leeway and kept him here.
11:17That would have been nice, too.
11:18Would have been great.
11:21Sad.
11:21But I think it's a valid point, and I got a Joe Milton point I got to make today.
11:27Sure.
11:28That I thought of.
11:28What is it?
11:30And it's this.
11:31Joe Milton going to Dallas.
11:33And we've already started here.
11:34Joe Milton looks great in Dallas.
11:35Are they saying that, people?
11:36They are.
11:37Really?
11:37He's thrown it through a wall.
11:38He's having a good camp, I guess, through a couple of days.
11:40He's got a strong arm, Mike.
11:42And I would just say that Joe Milton doesn't need to be really good or overtake Dak Prescott
11:51or have great starts for that trade to look bad.
11:55All it's going to take is Drake May getting injured, and whoever it is, whether it's Pastor
12:00or not or anybody else, coming in and being terrible to prove it was a bad deal.
12:05But it doesn't take Joe Milton being great to prove it bad.
12:09It'll just be the Patriots didn't get better at backup quarterback.
12:14That's all it's going to take for that to look silly and to have an easy second guess.
12:19Yeah.
12:20Well, let's hope it doesn't happen just for everybody.
12:23See, the sad part is, like, Brissette, I think, felt offended the way everything was handled.
12:27He thought he had a legitimate shot.
12:29He was kind of pissed once he got pulled.
12:31I think from day one, if he was your backup, like, that would have been the perfect backup room.
12:36Oh, if you last year signed Brissette and said, hey, you're the backup.
12:38You're the backup.
12:39I don't know.
12:40Jacobi, help him.
12:41I don't know if he would have signed here.
12:43He would have waited.
12:43I'm just saying the perfect world.
12:45As we look at backups, this is what happens.
12:48You know, you're left to pick with what's left.
12:51And that is one where if they wanted to add someone, I don't know who's available,
12:57but that's still something they can address as time.
13:01You know, it's not like it's Milton.
13:04They can't get him back, but they could add someone if they want to.
13:07And I was a little surprised that they didn't draft a quarterback to develop just based on the coaching here.
13:14And maybe this Ben Wooldridge, who's their third guy, who actually had a couple throws today that caught my eye.
13:21Maybe he could develop like a Matt Castle.
13:24But that's one, Beatle, that gives me a little pause.
13:27All right, Reese.
13:28Mike, it's great to have football back, isn't it?
13:29I love having football back.
13:31Two great days, right?
13:32Wind a little windy, but that's nice.
13:34And I think good energy down here, more than 5,000 fans the first day, maybe a little lighter.
13:40Lighter today.
13:42A little lighter today, but good energy.
13:44Tell me.
13:44The puppies.
13:46I got to find out about the 41st puppies.
13:47I texted Mike about the 41st.
13:49I got to find out about it.
13:51Number 41.
13:52I know.
13:53I got to find out if someone got it, what was wrong with the 41st.
13:58Three legs.
13:59But let me find out.
14:01This is the hard-hitting reporting we need from you, Mike.
14:04Definitely.
14:04Mike was the one to have the update that 40 of the 41 puppies were adopted.
14:08Definitely.
14:08And immediately, you know where my mind goes.
14:10Well, what the hell was wrong with the last one?
14:13What was wrong with that dog?
14:14Right.
14:16And let's find it a home.
14:18You know?
14:19Yeah.
14:19Definitely.
14:20Somebody take the dog home, please.
14:22It's getting windy.
14:23All right, Mike.
14:23Thanks for being here.
14:24Bye.
14:24Bye.
14:24Bye.
14:24Bye.
14:24Bye.
14:24Bye.
14:24Bye.
14:24Bye.
14:24Bye.
14:26Bye.
14:26Bye.
14:26Bye.
14:28Bye.
14:28Bye.
14:28Bye.