- 6 months ago
Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston stopped by Zolak and Bertrand to share his thoughts from Patriots training camp, even explaining why some players may not make the team's 53-man roster.
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00:00Back here on Zolak and Bertrand and joining us now in the super service today guest chair is NBC
00:05Sports Boston's Phil Perry. Phil how we doing? What's up boys? How we doing Phil? How we feeling
00:11up here? That's a hell of a practice huh? No no there's nothing to take away from that other than
00:16uh you know Matt Collins return doesn't get you going though? It does well it makes you start
00:20talking receivers and I I think that's the one thing you can look at you can say okay Diggs is
00:25number one Bob Douglas is number two I go Kyle Williams number three I go Kayshawn Booty number
00:32four or maybe you could put him at three then put Kyle Williams at four then you go Bourne then you
00:37go Matt Collins and then everybody else at the end. I think that's a I think that's a totally
00:42reasonable list on your part I would have Booty just based on how he's been used ahead of Williams
00:46so to me the top three guys that they've been using out here at camp have been Diggs,
00:50Douglas, and Booty yeah very consistently. Booty's played his way into this.
00:53I it feels like they want him to succeed I mean he's consistently done a good job he's not he's not
00:59making wow you kinds of plays on a regular basis out here but I think he's doing everything right
01:04the little things I think he's matured as a player and so and my understanding is he's matured as a
01:10person it's hard to it's hard to believe that guys he's actually a little bit younger than both
01:16Javon Baker and Jalen Polk even though he's got a full extra year in the league than those guys and
01:21so I think they think there's more upside there with him than there is with somebody like Kendrick
01:26Bourne who to me if you didn't know his name was Kendrick Bourne based on what he's done out here
01:30at camp so I don't think anybody would have him on a 53-man roster projection right now so you think
01:34he has nothing left I don't know if it's that I just he's not being used yeah when's the last time
01:39we saw Drake May throw Kendrick Bourne a pass it's a good question he's not out there plus with uh the way
01:44Bourne talked about having McDaniels back like that's my guy you would think that that relationship
01:49earns him a spot and earns him a gig I just don't know if it will to me he feels like their sixth
01:56best receiver right now or their sixth receiver on the depth chart if I was ordering them and I don't
02:01know how many sixth receivers in the NFL do nothing on special teams which is which is Kendrick Bourne and
02:07so to me I don't know if he's a lock to make this roster by any stretch of the imagination and if
02:13they feel like they need to keep an extra body on the edge or on the offensive line for one reason
02:17or another somebody's kind of banged up but isn't going to miss a ton of time so you need somebody
02:22extra like he might be the guy to go which is a little sad I like Kendrick Bourne I sort of I like
02:27the cut of his jib I like what he's about uh but they've got a lot of guys whose skill sets to me
02:32kind of overlap they're just sort of intermediate they're not deep guys they're not you know small
02:39shifty quick guys I think he and booty uh have very similar skill sets but one guy is younger and I
02:44think they think probably has more upside what did you make of Jalen Polk's comments last year and
02:47last yesterday I should say in terms of turning the page on last year and not really addressing it
02:53that was a little odd to me you know I wouldn't blame the guy if he just feels like he doesn't want
02:58to give the media the time of day and so anytime he thinks he's getting a leading question he's just
03:03not going to give you the answer that he thinks you think he should be giving right because it felt
03:09like he was giving softballs yesterday hey you know was it hard to miss time no it wasn't really
03:14that hard all right you know do you know do you think about last year and you know disappointing
03:19you know use that as motivation not even think about last year all right you know as I said last
03:25night to Curran on early edition we all know uh the first step in solving any problem is to first
03:31refuse to acknowledge that it exists don't address it yeah just forget that it ever happens yeah exactly
03:37he's kind of the same guy from last year you're like you saw that you saw the play I was in I was
03:41in the end zone like no the rule says states that you were out of the end zone and he still went with
03:46that a week after like you're not gonna you're gonna you're not gonna thump him like he's he's gonna be
03:51his own guy and hey good luck to him you know yeah I'm again I'm I've sort of got this 53 man
03:56roster thing in the receiver position on my mind because I'm doing one right now for our website
04:00he's not going to be on the roster for me how many do you think they keep don't know how you could put
04:05them on I think they could keep six and right now I I would have Bourne on there but again I think if
04:11we were really sort of removing his history and Josh McDaniel's history from the equation you probably
04:16just say they have five guys I thought one thing that was interesting about practice today
04:19and again it's not competitive at all but Mac Hollins and his first chance to actually participate in
04:25something on the field he's on the the field on the right hand side with Drake May and Stephon Diggs
04:33and Kayshawn Booty and Pop Douglas and on the left hand side is Kyle Williams and Kendrick Bourne
04:40and Efton Chisholm like all of these like you know secondary tertiary types of receivers and Mac Hollins is
04:46out there getting reps with you know alongside Steph Diggs and and Pop Douglas I think he's going to
04:50play a significant amount offensively he's a big body uh I think they like that he can block for a
04:57team that I think is going to run the ball quite a bit and so you know to me he's gonna he's going
05:02to be taking snaps away from people there's only you know so many snaps to be had at that position
05:06so we all know that this team is going to go as far as uh Drake May's development takes them and as
05:11good as Drake May becomes or whatever and I'm going to just we've been talking I don't get to talk to
05:14I don't get to talk to Phil that often I want to know who would you take right now for this team
05:18would you take Drake May or would you take Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts right now for this team right
05:23now today for this season I would take Jalen Hurts but I don't think it's a question who you'd rather
05:32have long term I just think we get a little caught up sometimes and I know you know this show and others
05:39is all I heard you talking about it today I was I was listening on my way in and you're talking
05:43about how Drake May can't go one and nine again and I get it obviously nobody's looking to lose
05:49that many games right was he the reason they went one and nine no okay no no so let's let's try to
05:54just remove the wins and losses thing just for a second doesn't have to be forever and always I've
05:59defended but just for a second removed wins and losses from the quarterback position when you have
06:04a discussion like this because situation matters so freaking much at that position and there's so many
06:11examples of it got like did Sam Darnold just start to become a pretty good quarterback last year
06:15or was he surrounded by crap in New York and surrounded by crap in Carolina and he got put
06:20into one one of if not the best quarterback situation in the league and he turned out to be a halfway decent
06:25not a great quarterback right but a pretty good starting caliber quarterback ends up getting a big
06:29contract was Tom Brady you know a a one-and-done playoff type of quarterback in 2019 was that reflective of
06:36his performance or was he still one of the best players in football and did he show it the very
06:40next year in 2020 when he was surrounded by one of the best supporting casts in football like these
06:46guys are buoyed by or sunk by their situations all the time Baker Mayfield was good in Cleveland
06:55then he sucked in Cleveland then he sucked in Carolina now he's good again in Tampa Bay
06:59is that just him riding the roller coaster that's probably part of it or was he just surrounded by vastly
07:04different casts that have improved his stock or devalued his stock in our eyes so I just think
07:12that that position and so the reason why it's pertinent to this conversation is you have a guy
07:17who's arguably last year in the worst quarterback situation in the league in Drake May and the guy
07:21who's in the best okay and Jalen Hurts so Jalen Hurts gets credit for having the best offensive line
07:27in football and the best receivers in football and it's helped him become a pretty damn good quarterback
07:31I think for this roster like he could help you here in New England because of what he does with
07:36his legs um and I just think he's you know he's shown enough that right here today I'd be willing
07:43to take him over Drake May but next year I might feel very differently about that there's a lot there
07:47and I just want to just follow up real quick with this Zoe and Phil if the Patriots were to go one
07:52and nine this year don't you think this year it would be a lot more Drake May's fault based on what
07:57they have sure okay yeah because the situation's improved right the offensive line's still not
08:01great but it's better the receivers still aren't great I'd say they're still below average but it's
08:05better yeah and so yeah no it's not you know you can't you can't make any sort of excuse for for that
08:12kind of record if that were to happen again no I like his command and I like his tone this year
08:16it's night and day from a year ago where and he's not going to tell you everything he's not giving you
08:20all the answers so I tell you where the bodies are buried but he just feels like he's in control
08:25like there's confidence it's his team and um hey they cleared the deck for him so it's all on him
08:31do you Zoe do you make anything of the fact do you think this is something worthy of note is it in
08:37any way impressive to you or do you say yeah who cares it's practice the fact that he hasn't thrown
08:41an interception yet in training camp I think that's huge because day one of OTAs there was four picks
08:46and that has gotten cleaned up so he's advancing and I know they haven't really pushed it down
08:51field a ton you know you haven't seen a lot of team drills where they're really trying to go
08:55downfield he had the one scramble drill where he hit pop Douglas uh for the big one on Saturday uh
09:00he had a nice throw to Kyle Williams here I think it was yesterday but Josh has done a good job I think
09:06hey we're going to take what's in front of us take what's in front of us we're not going to turn it
09:09over protect the ball and uh I think it's giving him some confidence this or that at the end of the
09:15season we say this guy is a foundational piece on the offensive line go uh Jared Wilson private
09:20uh it's a good question it's a good question I right now and this is in part because I was a
09:31a believer of Will Campbell's before he was drafted just based on conversations that I had had with
09:36people I trust when it comes to offensive line evaluation I think you're going to have two
09:40I do uh Jared Wilson to me has been arguably their most impressive offensive lineman period
09:47not just as a rookie I thought what he did in the one-on-ones to me was eye-opening to say the least
09:54to shut down Christian Barmore twice and Milton Williams once and really shut them down yeah like
09:59sometimes we watch those one-on-ones and it's like ah kind of a stalemate it looked like that one
10:03could have gone either way he won all three reps decidedly and for somebody who only played one year
10:10you know started one year at center at Georgia to come in miss the spring here in New England dealing
10:15with something physically get back out here for training camp and basically second day of pads as
10:20a pro just stonewall two we think really talented interior defensive lineman um that stands out so I
10:30think he's going to be able to play and play well it's interesting to me that with Bradbury out
10:33yesterday that they didn't move him to center they decided to play him at guard and that's interesting
10:39they brought Ben Brown in right they brought Ben Brown in and I thought so that might have been
10:43because he had had a few fumbled snaps Wilson did earlier in training camp and they said okay maybe
10:48let's just you know pump the brakes on the center stuff for now and just get him on the field because
10:53we know he can block and so let's put him at left guard um but that also could be and I would allow
11:00for this too it also could just be that well we know Bradbury's coming back eventually and the center
11:04spot's going to be his sure so let's just play Wilson let's practice Wilson at the spot he's
11:08ultimately going to end up at yep and that could very well be the case if that is the case what does
11:13that mean for Cole Strange are these the last are these the last days for Cole Strange here in New
11:18England yeah I thought he wasn't bad in camp like so far like it it was okay yeah I'm with you but
11:24I'm not expecting like the world out of him but like let's get him out there and see he can get be
11:29scrappy and go block people and maybe there's a chance though he ends up being kind of like the super
11:33subtype yeah right we're on game day you need somebody who can play a little bit of center and
11:39play either right or left guard yeah coming off the bench you know Ted Ted Karras did before he was
11:44starting here you know maybe that ends up being the path for him but you know center is still very new
11:49for him he tried it a little bit last year I thought some of the snaps were were fine uh the other day
11:54when we saw him playing some center with that second unit uh I just I do wonder you're going to have
11:58Ben Brown uh Caden Wallace and Cole Strange all kind of competing for backup interior offensive
12:06line spots gotcha and I'm not sure who ends up winning out there what's your biggest question
12:10mark still for this team heading into tomorrow's scrimmage and then obviously the joints coming up
12:14next week with Washington well I think the biggest question mark is you know Will Campbell you know
12:18it's it's early and even if I believe he will ultimately be fine at left tackle we still you know
12:26have to see it on a consistent basis talking to Morgan Moses after practice here today you know
12:31he basically acknowledged that it wasn't a good day of practice for for Will Campbell yesterday and
12:36and he said listen I you know I told him in 12 years I'd be lying if I told you I never had a bad day
12:41so you know and and my guess is based on what we know about Will Campbell's makeup and his want to
12:47and all the intangibles like he's going to be fine that a practice like that one isn't going to
12:52you know tank him but let's see you know I did find it interesting on the three reps where it
13:00looks like he he pretty clearly lost so there was the one one-on-one rep with Braden Swinson I don't
13:04know if you guys saw that but Swinson swiped his hands immediately in the one-on-ones and
13:09Will Campbell was was literally blocking air you know like a half a second off the snap and then in
13:16the 11 on 11s Caleb on chase on got inside on him twice so those are three inside moves and I wonder
13:21for a guy who appeared to in college have issues with the inside move if that's something they're
13:27going to be able to coach up and get out of his game because you know again what was that the third day
13:33of padded practice that was looking like an issue yes yeah because the big thing is you can't slide
13:37every damn play to him you know you can't give him the extra help every play you're gonna have to
13:40leave him on the island sometimes so and getting beat inside and to me it's easier to give him help
13:45on the outside right yeah with a back or a tight end or chip you know even pop Douglas I saw pop
13:49Douglas take Caleb on chase on off his feet at one point just by chipping him at the at the line of
13:54scrimmage sort of a condensed formation from Josh McDaniels and so he got you know Will Campbell got
13:58some help that way if you're getting beat inside and the guard is occupied that's a quicker path to
14:04the quarterback that's a bigger issue to me yeah so that to me is still the question and then sort of
14:09secondarily to that Tim your depth at that position is nil there's very little there
14:14Demantre Jacobs hasn't been horrible but we saw what he was last season when he had to play a lot
14:19at right tackle last season and after that I don't know who the other backup would be it maybe it would
14:25be low whenever he gets out there and you would just give it to him based on experience alone
14:29but this kid Marcus Bryant seventh rounder they took out of Missouri he was the left tackle to Armand
14:34Membu's right tackle last year uh he's been very up and down I don't know if he's worthy of a roster
14:40spot so you know it's hard to find guys that can play that position I get it it just feels like
14:46you're putting yourself in a really really bad spot if either one of your top tackles ends up
14:51getting banged up all right we'll keep an eye on it Phil thanks for stopping by thanks Phil all right
14:54guys thanks for having me