00:00Another week of camp done is flying by flying by.
00:04Well, we were all excited coming off the Washington joint practice.
00:07We were all excited coming off the Washington commanders preseason game.
00:11Number one against the New England Patriots.
00:13We're all excited after joint practice.
00:15Number one against the Vikings, because we were talking a lot.
00:18And Phil Perry even talked about it earlier this week.
00:20He was a little nervous that they might get overwhelmed by this Vikings team in that first joint practice.
00:26That did not happen.
00:27Yeah.
00:27But it seems like that might have happened yesterday, though.
00:30I think the Vikings came back.
00:32And that's what you see a lot in these joint practices when there's two, is one team wins the first day.
00:37The other team goes into the meeting room, sees the film, gets chewed out, comes back, responds.
00:41I think that's what you saw from the Vikings yesterday.
00:43That doesn't mean that, you know, you just ignore it from the Patriots' point of view.
00:47I think there are some things you point to that worry you.
00:50I actually think there is one maybe incurred.
00:52And I'm not there.
00:53So this is, I, you know, feel a little naked doing this.
00:56So I'm talking about the practice I didn't see.
00:58But based on the reporting, and I trust the people, obviously, that are down there, I think there might actually be one bright spot from yesterday's practice.
01:05So it's not that you don't take anything from it, but that can be how these things tend to go.
01:09And now we see O'Connell said that J.J. McCarthy's not going to play.
01:13So I'm going to guess some of the Vikings starters aren't playing.
01:16We'll see if maybe the Patriots starters play a little bit, just so they don't leave Minnesota on that low note.
01:22But, yeah, it was, I think, a lot of what you worried about getting exposed with this team maybe got exposed yesterday.
01:31All right, before I ask you if you're going to hit the panic button and how hard you're going to hit the panic button,
01:35even though I know you said you had one positive coming out of this practice, let's get a recap here from Greg Bedard on yesterday.
01:39Take a listen.
01:40But I thought for the most part, I thought the Patriots offense did pretty well.
01:46They ran the final minute.
01:49The final period was one minute left on the clock, one touchdown, sort of starting around midfield.
01:56Drake May's possession did not get off to a very good start at all.
02:0393 came up, sack up the middle, probably against Michael Wenu.
02:07Completion to Mack Hollins.
02:13Actually, they ruled it incomplete.
02:15I could have sworn he got it in on the sideline, but that was an incompletion.
02:2015 came on a sack against Morgan Moses on 3rd and 10.
02:25So that left them 4th and 15.
02:27They had a completion to Mack Hollins.
02:29That converted.
02:31And then with 8 seconds, they clocked it.
02:33There was a false start on Will Campbell.
02:34Then from about 30, 35 yards out, 4th down, 8 seconds left.
02:42Drake May put up a jump ball for Kayshaun Booty and he came down with it for a touchdown.
02:47Alright, so Greg, believe it or not, even with that, was more positive than the vast majority of the reports that were coming out of yesterday.
02:53We had Phil Perry over at NBC Sports.
02:55Sports Boston talking about the struggles with the offensive line.
02:58Says it was a rough day overall for the line.
03:00Seven sacks appeared to be given up by the starters.
03:03Will Campbell, especially a particularly hard time yesterday.
03:07He allowed three sacks, two on outside moves, one on a bull rush.
03:12Was also flagged for a false start in the hurry up two-minute portion of practice as well.
03:17Jared Wilson, the left guard, and we had mentioned this, by the way, before we had left with Zoe at the end of the show.
03:25Not running with the ones.
03:26Left practice early, actually, yesterday.
03:29So not running with the ones, didn't practice.
03:31We're not sure whether or not he was getting demoted to begin with there.
03:34Because he was initially at practice to start.
03:37And then Ben Brown takes over.
03:38So we'll wait and see what's going on there.
03:40But Phil Perry also talking about how Wilson's had a tough couple of weeks after a really hot start to camp.
03:47So overall, what's your level of concern with this offensive line right now?
03:53It's not insignificant.
03:55I think some of what you saw is probably the Vikings front is good.
04:00And Jonathan Grenard's a good player who got to Will Campbell.
04:02So you got to weigh that in.
04:04If Wilson is not a starting caliber player, it becomes a lot stronger.
04:08Because, all right, Ben Brown, I think, is a solid center.
04:12Like, if he has to start a few games for you, that's not the worst thing in the world.
04:16I don't know about him to the starting left guard.
04:18It's because he's never really played in the NFL.
04:21Garrett Bradbury, by all accounts, had kind of a rough week out there in Minnesota.
04:25Now those guys know him well.
04:27He also might not be that good.
04:29Right.
04:29Isn't that part of this?
04:30They cut him.
04:32He had a rough year last year, and they cut him.
04:33I had said back in April that, you know, a lot of people were penciling in Garrett Bradbury's starting center.
04:39And my thought was it was going to be an open competition between him and Jared Wilson.
04:42Now, nobody steps up and wins the left guard job.
04:45So Jared Wilson goes over there.
04:46So that kind of changes the tone of that.
04:48But does Ben Brown reenter the mix there?
04:50But if now you need him at left guard, what happens?
04:52And, you know, still the concerns about Morgan Moses just with his age.
04:55So there's – it's a lot – I go back to what I've been saying.
05:00I still think they're in a much better place than they were last year.
05:03Okay, that's a very low bar, though.
05:04Right.
05:04But that's more about where they were last year than where they are now.
05:09Right, right, right.
05:09So, you know, I have no – they're not going to be a top half of the league offensive line.
05:14Again, my thing is, like, if they could be in the top 20, I'd be ecstatic.
05:17They're not looking quite there yet.
05:19They might not be 32nd, which would technically be an improvement.
05:22But there's definitely still some warts to work through.
05:24All right, so Bradbury's saying, by the way, prior to the first joint practice,
05:29and obviously, like you mentioned, coming over from the Vikings,
05:32this was going to be the most complicated it was going to get all year
05:34for this offensive line in terms of what Brian Flores was going to kind of throw at him
05:37over these joint practices.
05:39So I do think you have to factor that in as well.
05:42But, yeah, I think there is real concern.
05:44Let me ask you another question.
05:45This is kind of a side topic as well.
05:47So is Cole Stranger kind of completely out of the mix?
05:49Do you think he's in trouble in terms of a roster spot?
05:51If Wilson, let's say it wasn't – honestly, either way it went, right?
05:56Whether Wilson is getting demoted or whether Wilson was banged up,
05:59the fact that Cole Strange isn't back there after being an off-season award winner
06:02and having that initial left guard spot to start training camp
06:06cannot be a positive sign for him, right?
06:08No.
06:09If you're not going to keep two backup – well, really,
06:13you're not going to keep three backup interior offensive linemen.
06:15Caden Wallace is in his own category because he's kind of combo right guard,
06:18right tackle.
06:18But the big thing – the big red flag for me with Cole Strange
06:23was when Ben Brown started playing guard.
06:25The advantage that Cole Strange had was he could play guard and center.
06:29And if you're going to be a backup on the interior,
06:31you really have to be able to play multiple positions.
06:34You usually don't have teams keeping a true backup exclusive center.
06:39Like that just doesn't really happen.
06:40But then Ben Brown starts playing guard.
06:42And so that, to me, signaled they're opening up that competition
06:45between those two guys.
06:47Because now if Ben Brown is getting the starting reps,
06:49that tells you he's ahead of Cole Strange.
06:52Right now, the thing Cole Strange probably needs to get on the roster
06:55would be two things.
06:56One, they keep ten linemen.
06:57He's in their top ten.
06:58Most teams keep nine.
07:00If they keep ten, he'd probably be the tenth.
07:03The other thing would be is Garrett Bradbury.
07:06And I – he's, by all accounts, I'm just talking to him,
07:09he's bought in.
07:10He's in on the Vrabel program and all of that.
07:13But you see this sometimes with veterans.
07:15This is a guy who's a first-round pick.
07:16He's been in the league seven years, started every game he's ever been a part of.
07:20If he finds out he's not going to start, is he somebody who asks for his release
07:24and maybe goes somewhere where he's going to have a real chance to start?
07:27Because if he's not in the picture, well, now Cole Strange is your –
07:30Ben Brown's your starting center.
07:31Cole Strange is your backup.
07:32Right?
07:32So that's kind of the math for Cole Strange right now.
07:36He's not out.
07:37He's not off the team at this point, but he's squarely on the bubble.
07:42Like, it could go either way with him, and it might be beyond his control at this point.
07:46He may need some other things to go his way.
07:48All right.
07:48So, Will Campbell, we know that Wilson and Campbell struggled during that commander's game
07:53with the one play where the turnover with Drake made.
07:57Right?
07:57Other than that, in terms of the run game and stuff like that, he excelled.
08:00Are you glass half full or glass half empty right now with Will Campbell
08:04coming off of what we just talked about with his struggles yesterday with the Vikings?
08:08I don't know if I'm glass half full or glass half empty.
08:10There's just a trend I've recognized that when he gets beat –
08:15so that first practice where it didn't go well for him here in New England,
08:19it was – he allowed two sacks and three pressures, which was the headline,
08:25but the thing that kind of got glossed over was that happened in the span of four plays.
08:29He was fine besides that.
08:30He had another one last week, which, again, was against Caleb on chase on,
08:35where I think he allowed three sacks in, like, sixth place or something like that.
08:38I don't think it was three sacks.
08:40The number sounds high, but it was multiple sacks in the practice,
08:43and it was reported as multiple sacks in the practice,
08:45but it was in this very condensed window.
08:47It sounds like yesterday that was kind of the same thing, the false start aside.
08:50The pressures, it all sounded like, kind of came boom, boom, boom,
08:54and it wasn't spread out over the course of the practice.
08:56So, I don't know how I feel about that.
08:59Like, okay, so for most of the day, he's been good, but when it's bad, it gets bad,
09:05and he doesn't rebound quickly.
09:08Like, is it good that most of it's self-contained, and there's large chunks where he's fine?
09:13Or is it worrying because it's all kind of coming in these condensed windows?
09:17Yeah, it goes off the rails quickly.
09:18If that happens in a spot in the game where it's important, you know, so that's just –
09:24I don't remember him being like that in college.
09:26Now, he really didn't get beat in college at all, so there's that element to it.
09:30But it is kind of weird that it feels like when he allows these pressures, they come in bunches.
09:35And he bounces back after.
09:36Like, the Caleb on chase on one here, I think was like the first four plays of practice or something,
09:42or it was in the first period.
09:43And the rest of the day, he was fine.
09:44But again, you allow two sacks, that's going to be a storyline,
09:47especially when it happens in four plays.
09:49So I'm still trying to figure out exactly what to make of that,
09:52but I think that's three instances now where it's happened,
09:55and I feel like it's something worth noting because it's becoming a bit of a pattern.
09:58All right, brutal day for the offensive line yesterday out in Minnesota
10:01as we get ready for preseason game number two tomorrow.
