- 4 months ago
On Friday's edition of Zolak and Bertrand, the guys reacted to the news of the Patriots releasing safety Jabrill Peppers.
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00:00What's your concern level for Christian Gonzalez
00:02and his ability to be ready here for the start of the season?
00:05Yeah, for the start of the season, it's kind of a small C concern.
00:10Where my concern really lies is longer term
00:15because I think, first of all, he's a really important part of the team,
00:19and you could make a strong argument he's the best player on the team,
00:22the most talented player on the team.
00:23So to not have him at full strength, potentially,
00:27I think would be a blow to the secondary.
00:32When a guy like that, Tim, who's just so athletic and so fluid
00:37to have a hamstring problem, if he's not quite 100%,
00:41and at this stage, I expect him to be back practicing
00:44once we were no longer allowed to watch the entirety of practice.
00:48I figured he'd be back on the field when we're not watching,
00:51but he hasn't been.
00:53So I'm not going to get really concerned about opening day
00:57until next week.
00:58If he's not out there next Wednesday,
01:00that's when the work is really, really done in earnest for the Raiders.
01:05Wednesday would be the first day of the week.
01:09They'll probably practice on Monday as well.
01:12But if he's not practicing next week, I'll be concerned about the Raiders.
01:15But my larger concern is, does he have something that's going to linger?
01:19And that's what happens with soft tissue injuries.
01:21That's what my major issue would be,
01:24not necessarily whether or not he's ready to go for week one.
01:27So David Andrews, former Patriots center
01:29and soon-to-be regular contributor here for Zolak and Bertrand,
01:33I think beginning next week, tweeted out this morning,
01:35too, when do we start to worry about Christian Gonzalez for week one?
01:39Hamstrings can be tough, and you definitely want him healthy
01:41because you don't want him to be out there for two weeks
01:44and then down another six.
01:46So it's a little concerning.
01:47So this is why I, you know, David Andrews and I, you know,
01:50we're elite, you know, elite at what we do.
01:52Yeah, elite athletes.
01:53Elite at what we do.
01:55No, but that's exactly, that perfectly illustrates what my fear is,
01:59is that he comes back, is not quite right,
02:03aggravates it a little bit,
02:04and then you end up, it's something he's dealing with all year.
02:07Whether he's missing a lot of games or not,
02:09that would be the worst case scenario.
02:10He's back for a week or two, and then he's down for six.
02:12And that happens with hamstrings, with guys that are speed guys.
02:18It's hard to keep it in check.
02:20You know, like, no disrespect to David and his lineman ilk,
02:24but a lineman can pull a hamstring,
02:27and it ain't the most pleasant thing to deal with,
02:29but they're dealing in tight quarters.
02:31They're not necessarily asked for long speed or anything like that.
02:35You can kind of get by, but corners, wide receivers, running backs,
02:40it's a little bit more difficult to do it.
02:43The other concern for me when it comes to the cornerback position
02:46is just that this is supposed to be your strength
02:48with Carlton Davis and Christian Gonzalez.
02:50And we talk about the lack of depth that New England has.
02:53I think if suddenly that part of your defense,
02:56which you were going to be leaning on greatly,
02:58isn't there and available for you,
02:59that sort of changes the dynamic in terms of what the expectations
03:03for that defense is going to be.
03:05And I just think big picture when you talk about what's the path
03:09to a delusional fan like myself's, you know, their path to 10 wins.
03:14It's a really good defense, and Drake may take in that year two jump.
03:18And if Christian Gonzalez isn't a part of that defense,
03:20it's a lot harder to picture a really successful defense
03:24for this Mike Rabel year one team.
03:26Yeah, I think they're vitally important, both Davis and Gonzalez.
03:29And Davis is a guy who also has been dealing with something
03:33throughout the summer.
03:34He's been monitored, managed, I would say.
03:37And a guy with durability issues in the past.
03:41He's missed a handful of games.
03:42He's a really physical guy.
03:44He's missed a handful of games in the past each year.
03:48So those, I would agree with you, those front-end corners,
03:52I think, are important for the defense.
03:53But the second part of what you said for your delusional,
03:56whatever, 11 games winning, and I don't want to call you delusional.
04:00You're optimistic, we'll call it.
04:02We at Patriots.com like to call that optimistic, not delusional, okay?
04:08So to get there, you need the other part of what you talked about.
04:12You need Drake May to make that big year two jump.
04:14And if that happens, whether Gonzalez and Davis are fully healthy or not,
04:19you're probably going to get better.
04:20617-779-0985, loaded lines.
04:23I apologize for making you guys wait.
04:24Let's knock some calls out.
04:26Let's go to Red in the truck.
04:28Red, what do we got?
04:29I was just thinking, last, I don't know how many years,
04:32but it seems like there's a big star every year.
04:34Micah Parsons, A.J. Brown, Bon Diggs, good luck.
04:38Guys you didn't think were going to be available?
04:40I guess what I'm asking is, who do you think might become available?
04:44I guess we'll probably end of this year.
04:46And who would you think, if you could pick one guy for the Patriots,
04:50get frustrated and want to get out, who would that be?
04:53I'd say, I guess, it's not going to happen with Brock Bowers.
04:57I know he's just in his first year, but would love to see him on the Patriots.
05:02Yeah.
05:02I mean, they're on a lot of this.
05:06Like, A.J. Brown is an example of this.
05:09That would be my pick, to be honest with you.
05:10No, but now A.J. Brown is different.
05:12He's in the area now where those guys move because they get cranky
05:17and the team doesn't want to pay him anymore or whatever.
05:19A.J. Brown got moved in his prime, like Micah Parsons just did.
05:24You know what?
05:24I don't know how I didn't really think of this, but the Luka Doncic thing for Dallas, too.
05:29It's been a tough stretch for Dallas fans.
05:32I will say this.
05:33That's another layer on it for me.
05:34If you're a Dallas sports fan, that's a crusher.
05:36You lose two stars.
05:37I can't compare the two just because Luka, in the way the NBA is,
05:41to move off of a player like that for the package they got.
05:45And now, by the way, the fact that it's going to get covered up from the fact that you won the lottery
05:50with a 1.7% chance and wound up with Cooper Flagg,
05:54now you're going to just sort of gloss over the fact that you came up.
05:57Some might say that that was a bit fishy.
06:00Luka Doncic.
06:01But more on that in a second.
06:02We have breaking news right now from Adam Schefter.
06:06This is breaking sports news.
06:08Powered by Pelvon Instant Oil Change.
06:10On 98.5, the Sports Hub.
06:12This is a bit of a surprise.
06:18Patriots releasing veteran safety Jabril Peppers.
06:21Peppers still has $4.32 million guaranteed remaining on his contract for this season.
06:28He adds Peppers has started 85 games, including 26 with New England,
06:33and has totaled over 500 tackles, 7 interceptions, 6 forced fumbles,
06:377 fumble recoveries in the NFL.
06:40So this is something we're actually going to talk about a little bit later,
06:42that Jabril Peppers, it appeared, the last couple of practices have been running with the twos.
06:47Yep.
06:48And now he's out the door.
06:50So, I understand, you know, there's a line of thought out there,
06:58and I talk to Evan Lazar about this a lot when we do our shows on Patriots Unfiltered,
07:02and there's a line of thought about the scheme that they're trying to do defensively
07:08that is not necessarily conducive to Jabril Peppers and Kyle Duggar and their skill sets.
07:14They're more physical, in-the-box kind of safeties.
07:17It's been Hawkins and Woodson running with the ones over the last few practices.
07:22And it's been that way.
07:24Initially, it was Duggar who was removed, but Peppers was still involved with everything.
07:28And then all of a sudden, the Giants preseason game happens,
07:32and the starters are out there, and Jabril Peppers is out there,
07:35when all the other starters are basically not playing.
07:39You know, there were a few young guys like Will Campbell and Jared Wilson
07:42started on the offensive line, but for the most part, there were backups in the game
07:47for the Patriots that night, but Peppers was out there,
07:50and that got me to pay attention a little bit, watch practice.
07:55You know, he's not with the ones again.
07:57When they went to some of the sub-packages, he was part of some of those, you know,
08:02big nickel kind of things.
08:03But I just had a developing thought, and I was wondering if maybe, you know,
08:09we've seen reports about them peddling Kyle Duggar.
08:12And some people have reported that one of the stumbling blocks for dealing Duggar
08:17has been his contract.
08:18He's got a bigger deal, and teams haven't been willing to take that contract on.
08:23So I started to think, well, now all of a sudden,
08:25Peppers isn't playing as much at practice.
08:27Might they be sort of greasing the skids for a deal and then saying, well,
08:31you know, we're trying to move Kyle Duggar.
08:33We still think he has something left, but it doesn't really fit our system.
08:36You know, we think we have a, you know, a scheme change, and he's not a scheme fit.
08:40Do you want Kyle Duggar?
08:41No.
08:42How about Peppers?
08:44You interested in Peppers?
08:46That's kind of the way I looked at it based on what was happening with the reps
08:49in practice.
08:51Now I didn't really, I didn't anticipate either one of these guys getting released,
08:54outright released.
08:55I think they're both too good in terms of talent to just lose them for nothing.
09:01I wonder if there's more to this story.
09:03I wonder if this is going to be another guy who went to them and requested a
09:07release.
09:08I wonder if, you know, they were looking to get money from him, like, you know,
09:10like Andrew Callahan talked about with Kendrick Bourne.
09:13I wonder if this is a similar kind of situation, but not ideal, Tim, on the eve of
09:18the season to be losing players that I think are among your better players.
09:21Yeah, I mean, he's one of your better players on the roster.
09:23I tend to agree with you here.
09:24I wonder if, number one, he wasn't going to be a starter anymore.
09:27And we've talked about the way that Kyle Duggar has sort of handled that and the
09:31way that he even played in those preseason games, going all out, saying the right
09:35things.
09:36Was there a level of acceptance there from Kyle Duggar that there wasn't with
09:39Jabril Peppers?
09:41And then if you're going to keep both of those players who talked about sort of
09:44being redundant when it comes to the Mike Rabel Patriots, if you're not able to move
09:47off of Kyle Duggar and it doesn't really save you a ton of money in terms of cap space,
09:52so you just keep him for this season, do you then move off of Peppers if both of those
09:57guys aren't going to be starters?
09:58I'm a little surprised they couldn't find a landing spot for Peppers based on his
10:02production over his career.
10:04Yeah, I think that's a fair second guess, too.
10:07But I do wonder if maybe they look at it and say, well, we could use one of them.
10:11We don't need them both.
10:12You know, we could use one physical safety who can help us stop the run and maybe rough
10:18up some guys over the middle and whatnot.
10:20I still think Duggar, I think back to Duggar, I think he's always had some issues in
10:25coverage, in space.
10:27But his athleticism is pretty apparent as well.
10:31And I go back a couple of years when he was making those.
10:34Do you remember when he jumped that screen pass in Vegas for a touchdown?
10:38It's one of about seven highlights the Patriots have had over the last few years.
10:42Yeah, I mean, there's a handful of plays that stood out to me from that season.
10:47And I know last year was a disaster.
10:49He was awful last year.
10:51And it wasn't just about the injury.
10:52Mentally, he was not where he was supposed to be frequently.
10:56So I'm not just giving him a pass.
10:58I still think there's a player in there that should be worth working with.
11:03And, again, when you're trying to establish a culture, are you telling people in the locker
11:10room that he's not one of your best 53 players?
11:15Peppers, Duggar, and they're not playing.
11:17I don't know.
11:18I mean, Mike has a plan.
11:19We'll see how it unfolds.
11:21Yeah, the captains from last year continue to go by the wayside here.
11:24Jabril Peppers, the latest to go as he is released today by New England.
11:29I'll say this, too.
11:29Look, I know it was another coaching staff, and you bring in a new coaching staff, and
11:34you're looking to do different things, all that.
11:37But I go back to last year and sort of the lack of any building block that you got from
11:43that offseason, whether it was through free agency or the trade or through the draft, excuse
11:47me, other than Drake May, is astounding.
11:50I mean, this is another guy that you gave an extension to last year and is now out the
11:55door.
11:55There were not that many players.
11:57What I was talking about early in the show.
11:59And listen, it's a story.
12:01It's not uncommon.
12:03Coaches come in.
12:04They want their own guys.
12:05I totally understand what Mike Rabel's trying to do.
12:07He's trying to get the guys that he's going to go forward with.
12:10Yep.
12:12I do wonder if maybe it's a little too much too soon.
12:15But I understand what Mike Rabel's coming from.
12:18I know what Ryan Cowden and Mike and Elliott Wolfe.
12:21And I see the vision.
12:23They're trying to get the guys that they think are going to be with them in their scheme and
12:27fit their culture.
12:28I thought that Peppers was a guy that brought a lot of energy, quite frankly, and physicality.
12:33And I would have had a role for him, but they thought differently, evidently.
12:37Yeah.