Zolak and Bertrand share their thoughts from the Patriots preseason game against the Vikings, evaluating where the team stands ahead of its final preseason game.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
#nfl #patriots #football
Thumbnail photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
#nfl #patriots #football
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00:00Patriots played a game over the weekend.
00:02Zoe was in Minnesota.
00:04Enjoy your time out there?
00:06Not one of my favorite places.
00:08But I tell you what.
00:09How was it in the summer months?
00:10Hot.
00:11It was fine when I was there.
00:13Then we got rain for the game.
00:15But they said Wednesday and Thursday were steamy.
00:17But their freaking facility.
00:20Oh my God.
00:21Nicer than Vegas.
00:24Actually nicer than Vegas.
00:25Really?
00:25They have an omni hotel built right on their facility.
00:28Ziggy Wilf owns all that land out there.
00:31It's away from the city.
00:33You're in the middle of nowhere.
00:34So are you saying that once the Patriots facility is done,
00:37it won't even rival the Minnesota Vikings,
00:39the facility that's well established in Minnesota?
00:42Look at me.
00:42I'm back, baby.
00:43It's 10-6 and I'm back.
00:45Trying to paint them into a corner right now.
00:46Wait a minute.
00:47So if you took the bubble and moved it,
00:52put it directly next to it, then yeah, it would.
00:55But their football building is going to be phenomenal.
00:57I talked to Vrabel about it for a little bit.
00:59Very nice.
01:00Biggest takeaway from that game for you is?
01:04Eftem Chisholm.
01:06Eftem Chisholm made the football team that night.
01:08He was productive.
01:09He caught everything.
01:10He ran with the football.
01:12And I'm not just saying it because of the production
01:13or the fact he scored a touchdown, which he did.
01:16He knows spacing, which is critical for this offense.
01:20Like, they threw a slip screen to him in the first preseason game
01:24to the left side.
01:24He should have scored on that one.
01:26But it's literally like what Amendola and Edelman did.
01:29Bang catch, tuck the ball, drop the shoulder, be physical, and run.
01:35If you asked me three weeks ago, what do you think of this kid, number 86?
01:38And we're up there on our perch on a red level.
01:42What did I say to you when we were up there?
01:43Look how small this kid is.
01:44He's tiny.
01:46He's got no shot.
01:47No shot to make this team.
01:48Look how big his helmet is with that padding on it.
01:51He's the MVP of the preseason so far.
01:55He really is.
01:56He and Henderson.
01:57But, I mean, we know Henderson's pretty damn good.
02:01This kid went from two weeks ago to probably not being on the roster
02:04to being, I think, roster lock number six for the receivers.
02:12I also have another take.
02:13Okay.
02:15Quarterback's a little shaky right now.
02:16Oh, that's my take.
02:17A little shaky.
02:19I'm not worried yet.
02:22I think he's feeling the pressure of everything.
02:26He had some guys open, boy.
02:27He almost threw that one to Mac Hollins, the little scramble
02:30where he scooted out to that right side, sort of extended the play.
02:34And Mac Hollins is 6'4", and he's got his toes down on the sideline.
02:37And that ball almost went through his hands up high.
02:39He almost missed that one, too.
02:41But the one to Pop Douglas, my God, was he open.
02:43That was eye-opening.
02:44And then they almost had a hospital ball to Mac on that first slant of the game.
02:48Like, ball's high.
02:50Ball's high.
02:51Brett Favre was like that, too.
02:52Two really bad throws on that first drive.
02:55Yeah.
02:55And I said this, I don't know if it was to McCollum.
02:58I don't know if he was gone for vacay yet.
02:59I feel that calling games for him, he's better towards the middle
03:03and then towards the end.
03:05I think he gets better as the game goes on.
03:07It's almost like a Brett Favre.
03:08You come out, you're a little excited, you know, a little helter-skelter,
03:13and then you calm down and you play a good game.
03:18He's seeing things well.
03:20He's got to let it go.
03:22He's going to the right spot with the ball.
03:24It's kind of loose, man.
03:25Relax.
03:26I think he's feeling the pressure.
03:28I do.
03:28Everybody's talking about it.
03:30Drink me, drink me, drink me.
03:32Comes with it, though.
03:32So, it's only a preseason game, though.
03:40Right.
03:40Feeling the pressure in a preseason game?
03:42No, I think he's feeling the pressure.
03:44No, no, I understand.
03:44I'm saying, but that's alarming.
03:46Okay.
03:46And it's coming out in the form of you go into a preseason game,
03:49which I don't care if you're a second-year guy or in your 20th year.
03:54A preseason game is a preseason game.
03:56You know this isn't real.
03:57You know that it's about going out and getting.
03:58Well, it's more than that.
03:59It's more than that.
04:00A good day of work in.
04:01Yeah.
04:02That's what this is.
04:02It's more than that.
04:03It's the pregame.
04:04It's the meetings.
04:05I think it's the practices, the joints, the staying in the hotel.
04:09Mike Vrabel reminds me of Bill Parcells.
04:12A much better version, I think, of Bill Parcells was open by how many yards?
04:17Seven.
04:18Seven.
04:19So, you could have drawn a circle around Pop Douglas that was seven yards out
04:23in every direction, right?
04:24Yeah.
04:26And no one was there.
04:29And he threw it over his head.
04:30Yeah, air melded.
04:31Air melded.
04:32Two air meld throws on the first drive.
04:35It's concerning.
04:37I mean, if you are going to be the guy that elevates the team, as this team needs him
04:42to be, that is the pressure you're referring to.
04:45That if this team is a seven-win team versus a 10-win team, we'll be there at the end of
04:5010 wins saying, well, they did it because Mac.
04:53I did it again.
04:53They did it because I can't get it.
04:56I can't get rid of that.
04:57Well, when he looks like that.
04:58Drake May was the reason why they were able to do it.
05:02That's the only path.
05:04They don't have any other path there.
05:06And so, you just can't.
05:08You cannot afford to miss throws like that.
05:10Because if it happens on the first drive of a preseason game like that, it can happen
05:15on a drive in the fourth quarter when you're down a field goal on the road.
05:19Fumbled first series last week, so you sort of stack in two shaky games.
05:26We can only give him three series.
05:28We can only review the series that he's out there right now, though.
05:30I agree to be fair.
05:31Right.
05:32Because we can't sit here and just rip everybody else without evaluating what we see in it.
05:36Like, you can't tell me Efton Chisholm made the football team that those were meaningful,
05:40important reps on Saturday and then also say, yeah, but Mac doesn't matter.
05:44No, it either matters or it doesn't.
05:47And I think it matters.
05:48And that was concerning.
05:50And if he's feeling the pressure, I can understand why.
05:54There's plenty of pressure being put on him.
05:56It's not about that game.
05:57I think it's just the pressure of being a quarterback on his team.
06:00Like, your hopes are with him.
06:03And he's got to play well.
06:04He knows it.
06:05Josh knows it.
06:06See, here's the thing, too.
06:07Are they trying some things like that kind of route to start a game or second call the
06:12game with Pop?
06:14Say you're in a regular season game.
06:15You're going to call something quick to Henry just to get him going.
06:18Maybe a little screen pass.
06:19Maybe a little slip screen.
06:20There's ways you could do extensions of the running game.
06:23Just quickly get the ball out just to get him in rhythm.
06:25That's kind of what you do to start a two-minute drive.
06:28I mean, they could just be kind of looking at something.
06:30And they had two days of practice there.
06:32Hey, let's try this with Pop.
06:33I don't know.
06:34Well, the play itself is wildly encouraging, is it not?
06:39Yes.
06:39Yes.
06:40Vertical.
06:41That stood out just in how open he got on that play.
06:44That you thought, wow.
06:46If the Patriots are going to have receivers that have the capability to get this open on
06:50any play, their offense is going to be pretty good.
06:54It is.
06:56That's good.
06:56The play was great.
06:58McDaniels.
06:59Wow.
06:59Great job.
07:01The quarterback.
07:02I mean, that's like having the yips.
07:06And the protection was good, by the way.
07:09Oh, by the way.
07:10That offensive line.
07:11Protection's fine.
07:12That's a good way to put it.
07:14It was fine.
07:14They did not have massive breakdowns like they may have had at times in the joint practices
07:20out there last week.
07:21I saw a couple plays where Garrett Bradbury got his ass handed to him.
07:25But it didn't happen in the game, did it?
07:27No.
07:28No, it didn't.
07:28But what did happen in the game, I thought when they were going right to left, so it was
07:35first quarter still, which is I'm trying to get my bearings here.
07:38Will Campbell had a great block off the edge.
07:40Guy came down, went inside, stayed with him, crashed him down, crashed him down.
07:43Now, protection's great.
07:46What'd Drake do?
07:47Slid out left.
07:48Oh, no.
07:49Started to buy time.
07:50Will Campbell's guy came off him and went right to Drake.
07:54It's almost like it hit him, and it's like a late hit where you fall on that shoulder.
07:58And I'm like, I worry about that, too.
08:00You worry about his awareness.
08:02Pocket awareness and ability to avoid the rush.
08:05I think he has really good awareness.
08:07I think what they're trying to get him to do is not run.
08:09I think maybe he would have taken off.
08:11If nobody's open and he has good protection, I think he takes off quicker last year.
08:15I think he's trying to stay in the pocket, push the ball downfield.
08:19We want you to throw.
08:19Yeah, but you can push yourself right into a defender that an offensive lineman thinks
08:23this play is over and dead out here.
08:25He didn't help well.
08:26Yeah.
08:26That makes your lineman look bad.
08:29That's an awareness thing.
08:31That's an awareness thing.
08:32You've got to be more aware.
08:33Yeah.
08:34You've got to be more aware, and you have to be able to hit the easy throws.
08:37I mean, that's not even a difficult one.
08:39That's not even elevating your team.
08:40That's doing the basic things.
08:42Your offense, everyone puts in the work on that play to get Pop Douglas that open and
08:46you miss the throw.
08:47Well, forget it.
08:48Then you know what you are?
08:49You are the seven-win team.
08:50You are the team that can't get out of it because your quarterback's not even doing the
08:54basics.
08:55Never mind elevating you.
08:56So again, I get it.
08:58Small sample preseason game.
09:00Very small.
09:01Well, let's hope that doesn't happen on a drive in the fourth quarter against the Raiders
09:05in week one.
09:05And let's hope.
09:08Let's keep our fingers crossed, I guess.
09:10Yeah.
09:11And if he's feeling pressure and he's feeling that there's a lot being put on his shoulders,
09:14number one, he's right because there is a lot being put on his shoulders.
09:18But it can't lead to what we saw Saturday.
09:20He's got to be better.
09:21Comes with the job.
09:21Comes with the job.
09:22You want to be the star quarterback?
09:24You want to be the guy that's up there in the top five someday?
09:27You want 60 million?
09:28You want 60 million a year?
09:29Can't miss those throws.
09:30No.
09:31No.
09:32You can't do it.
09:34That was Saturday.
09:35That was the preseason.
09:36Let's talk more about receivers, though.
09:37Afton Chisholm.
09:38You're excited about Afton Chisholm.
09:39I am now.
09:40Let's talk more about his performance.
09:42And you said he's now the sixth guy in.
09:45Let's get an updated list of receivers that make the Patriots roster for 2025.
09:50Who's in?
09:51Who's out?
09:52So put him on the roster.
09:54Right in the middle of the game.
09:55I mean, I would.
09:55He's productive.
09:56He's got that kind of yank.
09:58He says, hey, he's in.
10:01Did you tell Elliott that when he was there, when he visited the booth?
10:04First question out of the gate to him, though.
10:05What was it?
10:06About Chisholm.
10:07Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:08High production guy.
10:08We love him.
10:11That tell you that he's a lock?
10:13No.
10:14I said it before.
10:15Would a personnel executive make a declaration like that?
10:18No.
10:19Without knowing in his mind.
10:21God knows.
10:21Stuff happens.
10:22He's going to be on the roster.
10:23Oh, there's a lot of time.
10:24No, no.
10:24You know what I mean, though.
10:25But at this point in time, is he thinking, hey, if I'm making the roster today, he's on?
10:29I think he.
10:29And that's why he's willing to say that he loves the player.
10:31I think Elliott answered the question a lot more positively then.
10:35It wasn't a generic.
10:36He's a positive guy.
10:37Yeah.
10:38Yeah.
10:39He is.
10:39It was good having him in.
10:41I'm sure it was.
10:42He said tell you hi.
10:42Oh, thanks.
10:43What's up?
10:43How you doing?
10:44Stop it.
10:45Nice to hear from you.
10:47All right.
10:47So, he's in.
10:48Efton Chisholm's in.
10:49He had a slow start to camp.
10:51We said multiple times two, three weeks ago, oh, they'll have no problem getting him to the
10:56practice squad.
10:57It just hasn't popped.
10:58It hasn't flashed, and now it has.
11:00So, what we saw in the spring has now shown up later in summer.
11:05So, Efton Chisholm is the sixth receiver on the team.
11:08Who are the first five?
11:10I'm going Diggs, Hollins.
11:13It's good to see Hollins out there making some plays.
11:15And boy, he was lucky to catch that first one.
11:19Pop Douglas, obviously.
11:21Booty.
11:21Hello.
11:22Booty.
11:22I'm getting to him.
11:23And then Williams, the rookie, third-round pick, who had a hospital ball from Dobbs.
11:30Dobbs, man.
11:31Josh Dobbs.
11:32Like, Dobbs was better this week.
11:35He sucks.
11:35He sucks.
11:36He sucks.
11:37I'm taking it for what it's worth.
11:39Bad signing.
11:40You know what that goes on?
11:41You know what that goes on?
11:42Four straight third-down conversions.
11:44Mike Rabel.
11:45Put it up.
11:46Fowler, get the graphic.
11:47He ain't going anywhere.
11:48We blame Rabel now.
11:49We blame Rabel.
11:51That's Rabel's fault.
11:52If Drake May goes down this year and gets hurt, and we have to watch the pastronaut, and he sucks, it's Rabel.
11:59That's his problem.
12:00That's a bad signing.
12:02I obviously hope and pray that Drake May never gets hurt.
12:08But if it happens, like it did last year when he missed a little bit of time, I am not looking forward to that experience.
12:14Yeah.
12:14I can tell you're not either.
12:16I'm trying to take it for what it is.
12:18Okay.
12:19I don't know what it is.
12:20That's about as bad as you're going to get for yourself.
12:22This is the guy we brought in.
12:24And you know what?
12:24Joe Milton stinks.
12:25He isn't doing anything down at Dallas either.
12:28Everybody's giddy over the backflips.
12:29He got a big throw the other night.
12:30Yeah, at least he's fun to watch, though.
12:31He'll tackle the end zone the first play to get him.
12:33Come on.
12:36Got people texting me about him.
12:37But, like, Dobbs isn't going anywhere.
12:39They like him.
12:40They paid him.
12:41It's structure for Drake.
12:43Oh, it's brutal.
12:43Yeah, it's a terrible structure for the rest of us to have to watch that.
12:47What is the structure?
12:49That he's a veteran and he's not threatening.
12:51You got a one, a two, and a three.
12:52Yeah, that's it.
12:53That's what it comes down to.
12:54Maybe Drake needs that.
12:55He's a really heady veteran.
12:57He really understands the game.
12:58He's probably – he's like doing a game.
13:00He's like Brian Hoyer.
13:01Yeah.
13:02He's the Brian Hoyer.
13:03Really smart football guy.
13:04That's good.
13:04But when you put him on the field, well, that's a different story.
13:08It doesn't work out.
13:09More times than not, it's not a positive experience.
13:13Is there a chance they keep seven receivers?
13:15I hope not because that's a waste.
13:18Because that's Baker then.
13:19Because – so, wait.
13:22What's happening with Polk?
13:24Oh, I think he's going to IR.
13:25I think he's getting a Foxborough flu.
13:27Oh.
13:28Oh, nice.
13:29What do you think?
13:29Buy another year and avoid the embarrassment of having to cut him.
13:34Hopefully it catches on.
13:35Oh, he's got an injury.
13:37Dude, he ran that jet sweep last week.
13:39It was so slow.
13:41Yeah.
13:42So, Jalen Polk to IR.
13:45See, Baker is playing special teams too.
13:48And during his IR stint, he's going to learn the rules of the game
13:51and what happens when your foot is in the back of the end zone.
13:54Yeah.
13:54They're going to send him to classes with a referee.
13:56Big year three loading.
13:57Yeah.
13:57Okay.
13:58Jalen Polk goes to IR.
14:00So, he's gone.
14:01And Baker, they cut?
14:02See, Baker has had a multitude of chances to catch balls.
14:07Like, there was one that was low to the outside.
14:09I said, oh, that was a bad throw.
14:11Then I saw it on the replay.
14:12He put it right in his hands.
14:14He had a great catch on the comeback to the left side.
14:17He had a juggle drop this week and he had a juggle drop last week.
14:20Yeah.
14:21He's had opportunities to make bigger plays.
14:23So, I don't know how they're going to look at it.
14:25I mean, if you value the games, which they should value.
14:28Yeah.
14:29That means Baker's out.
14:30That means Baker's out.