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00:00Back here on WEEI Afternoons, we go right to the guest line for one of our favorite chats every week.
00:07Former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer.
00:09It's called Appointment Radio.
00:10Appointment Radio, Brian Hoyer, you've become here on WEEI Afternoons.
00:14How are we doing this week, Mr. Hoyer?
00:16I'm good. How are you guys?
00:18We are good. We were just talking about, and I want to start here,
00:22we talked to Drake May yesterday, and I don't know if you heard the interview or not,
00:25but he had a comment about the interception and telling the guys on the sideline
00:30that's not going to happen again, and it didn't.
00:33And the way he said that was like an air of not arrogance, but just internal confidence.
00:39He even referenced, this is what I do. I'm a professional.
00:42This is literally my job.
00:44That we were just talking about, if you're 35 years old, that's awesome.
00:47That's cool that you have that.
00:49If you're 23 years old, how do you have that already?
00:53Yeah, it's been impressive.
00:54I mean, look, I would say this season so far, that first quarter was probably about
00:59as bad as we've seen Drake play.
01:01I mean, there were certain throws where I kind of sat there,
01:04and this is where I've gotten to.
01:06I'm sitting there with my wife and son, and I'm like, God, something's off.
01:09And my wife's like, oh, leave him alone. He'll be fine.
01:11I'm like, you know what? She's right.
01:14We've just come to expect such a high level of play that there was one pass where
01:18it looked like he was trying to throw like an under route to Hunter Henry,
01:21but there was a back in the same area, and he kind of like –
01:24changed his mind up mid-throw, and it just went to no one.
01:27And I was like, man, we haven't seen a play like that from Drake in a long time.
01:31And then obviously the pick, and then to hear his confidence,
01:34and not just him saying it and doing it, but some of the throws he made
01:37after that poor first quarter performance.
01:40Like, to me, the one up the middle to pop Douglas against Tampa to throwing it
01:44around, the Mike linebacker.
01:47Like, I've been in games as a quarterback where I've struggled and not gotten off
01:50to a good start, and that's not a throw that you want to be attempting to make
01:55when things haven't been going well.
01:56And it's just amazing to me how he weathers the storm and just has that internal
02:02confidence.
02:02It's a great thing for him to have, and it's great when you can go to the guys and
02:06say, hey, fellas, my bad, it ain't going to happen again.
02:09And then you go back it up because that's like – that's when the folklore
02:12of a player starts to grow, right?
02:15He's 23 years old.
02:16He understands he made a mistake.
02:18He goes, listen, fellas, that's on me.
02:19It ain't going to happen again.
02:20And then he goes out and throws for a career high.
02:23Now, he still hasn't gotten that 300 yards.
02:25I thought he would this past week, but turned it around pretty quickly.
02:29You know, yeah, Brian, that throw versus cover two over the linebackers in front
02:34of the safety, boy, you don't want to mess – if you're going to make that throw,
02:38you better be pretty confident you can get in there for sure.
02:40But let me ask you about the – just the injuries.
02:43I mean, you're out there, you're a quarterback, and then your left tackle
02:47and your left guard go out with injuries.
02:50What are you thinking at that point?
02:53And then also, just what do you think Josh McDaniels will do to negate maybe
02:58those guys being out moving forward?
03:02Well, I think first and foremost, within the game as a quarterback, you realize,
03:05okay, I'm not going to hold the ball any longer, right?
03:08And that's just a – that's a normal reaction.
03:11I think the one thing I would say – and, you know, we've talked about it.
03:15I've played for a lot of great coordinators.
03:17I've been high on Josh.
03:18And the one reason I would say this is where you're thankful you have an experienced,
03:22experienced offensive coordinator who can be creative with a game plan moving forward
03:26because let's just say, for instance, you know, the Patriots did what a lot of
03:30people wanted.
03:31Let's go get a young, hot name that's from the West Coast system.
03:35And that could have been great.
03:37But now you're into the point in the season where guys are getting injured,
03:41and Josh has done this so many times before and has the experience of figuring out
03:46how to navigate around injuries or maybe where you could be a little shorthanded.
03:52And so, look, next week's game makes me a little nervous because you're going against
03:56a Giants team.
03:57They have nothing to lose.
03:58They just fired their defensive coordinator.
04:00It's a Monday night national game.
04:02This guy who's the interim D coordinator is going to want to come in and make a splash,
04:05make a name for himself.
04:06And they have some, let's just call it, great elite talent on the front four of the Giants
04:12team.
04:13And so, to me, what Josh is going to do this week is understand, look, we've got a
04:17new combination of guys playing on the left side.
04:19They've got some good pass rushers.
04:21We have to be ready for some things that they have up their sleeve, try to make a name for
04:24themselves.
04:25We're going to focus on the quick pass game this week.
04:27Drake, you know, when I call these certain plays, the ball's got to come out of your hands
04:31in under two and a half seconds.
04:32When I see that maybe some of their pass rushers are out, we'll get to the shot plays.
04:38But having a coordinator with that experience and realizing I'm not just going to go call
04:41plays next Monday night against this defense with some of our guys down.
04:45I have to be very mindful of how I put the game plan together and how I call the game
04:49on Monday night.
04:50And so that's where you've got to be thankful that you have an experienced guy who's been
04:54through the fire in a lot of different situations.
04:57Look, Brian, the team has obviously checked off so many boxes and passed so many tests this
05:02year.
05:03But I'm trying to look at it in a positive way as in, hey, maybe this is a nice little
05:08bit of battle testing, metal testing and adversity that they need to go through to kind of really
05:14come together over the final stretch of the season and get ready for the playoffs.
05:18What do you say to the idea of a little adversity being a good thing to go through before you get
05:24to the games that really count?
05:26Yeah, I mean, look, the NFL adversity is coming at some point or another.
05:29And I would say, you know, we do our podcast and our producer, Danny, is like a legit hardcore
05:34fan.
05:35He's like, I actually think it'd be good if they lose a few games before they get to the
05:38playoffs.
05:39David Andrews and I just laughed.
05:41We're like, dude, when you lose those games, I don't like it sucks.
05:44And in hindsight, like in 2018, we lost to the Steelers and the Dolphins.
05:49And those were some tough moments in that season.
05:52It did help us build resiliency.
05:54But like, I'm not going back and be like, yeah, I'm glad we lost those games.
05:58No, that's not what it is.
05:59And so if anything, I'd rather have them face some adversity while they keep winning games
06:03and understanding.
06:05And the one thing I would say, you know, you saw the postgame locker room.
06:08It wasn't as joyful and exciting as we've seen after some of the other wins.
06:13And I think it's a realization like, man, we took some tough injuries.
06:17We battled.
06:18We didn't play as good as we wanted to.
06:19And so to me, that's a team that's locked in.
06:22They realize if they play that way come January, they're going to be going home.
06:27And so I think it's great that they're learning some of those, how to handle some of that adversity
06:32as they win, because each win, you know, puts them in a better position for letting these
06:37guys rest a little bit longer, right?
06:38Letting them be ready for the playoffs.
06:40So I like where they're at.
06:42And ultimately, this always goes back to the culture that Vrabel has brought in and the guys
06:47buying in and realizing the stakes get bigger now, right?
06:50And so losing Campbell, losing Wilson, you know, things, obviously Milton Williams the
06:56week before, like they're lucky they've put themselves in the position where they're in
07:01a good spot right now and they can afford to let those guys properly heal knowing that
07:05they're going to be playing in the playoffs.
07:07Former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer here on WEI Afternoons.
07:10Brian, I want to circle back around to the slow start, because if there's one negative that
07:15has been even close to consistent with Drake May, it's been starts to games, even going
07:21back to the preseason.
07:22I remember people talking about high throws.
07:24Does he get too jittery?
07:25And some of it we attributed to rain in Tampa.
07:28Have you seen anything technically that he does differently early in games that maybe lead
07:34to some of these slow starts?
07:36Anything you can put your finger on as to why the one downside of his game is he starts
07:40a little slow sometimes?
07:41Yeah, I mean, not technique-wise.
07:44I think, you know, there's not anything that I see that like all of a sudden he magically
07:48fixes on the second or third drive of the game.
07:51I just, this game to me and Ted, you've been in those games where you go, you're playing
07:56in Cincinnati, they're not very good, the fans aren't really, there's no energy in the
07:59building, and all of a sudden you get lulled to sleep.
08:03We've all done it, no matter how good you are.
08:05I saw it happen with Tom Brady down in Jacksonville a few years ago.
08:08Like, it's just one of those things, and like, you got to bring your own juice, and
08:12all of a sudden, bam, it's, you know, you're down 10-0, and it's like, man, we better wake
08:15up.
08:16And, you know, he was able to do that.
08:18You don't want to obviously establish that type of pattern.
08:21I think sometimes, look, we've talked about the defense having a hard time stopping the
08:25opening script.
08:26The one thing about Josh and the way he calls plays, this is not a script offense, okay?
08:31He doesn't want to be locked into the first 15 plays because you have to make adjustments,
08:36and he doesn't want to be, you know, sitting there in front of the team, and they're like,
08:40well, you said play six was going to be this play, and all of a sudden the situation doesn't
08:44dictate it.
08:45Iowa actually always preferred to have openers, which is like opener passes, opener runs,
08:51as opposed to being locked in to a first 15, because you don't know.
08:55You may call a run on second and 10 on the second play of the game thinking you're going
08:59to get six, and all of a sudden it goes for a loss of two, and now you're totally thrown
09:03off track.
09:04So I think they need to do a better job of executing early on.
09:08I don't think it's anything technical.
09:09You know, get the running game going a little bit earlier, or start with a few quick passes.
09:13You know, one of the games that I think back to where they started fast against Miami,
09:18they had Drake on the move early.
09:19Like, get him out in the pocket, let him get comfortable, and let him get a few completions
09:23under his belt, because you know at some point he's going to pick up, especially hitting
09:27some of those deeper throws.
09:29You hear all that?
09:29I did.
09:30That's good stuff, man.
09:31That's why we have him on.
09:32Dang, dude.
09:32You didn't say that in TED Talk.
09:34I needed to get a quarterback's perspective.
09:35You know what?
09:36I should have.
09:36Dang it.
09:36I said it on the breakdown last night, though, Brian.
09:39And thanks for your help, by the way, with those plays.
09:41Gosh.
09:43I want to go to the defensive side.
09:45And I want to talk about Christian Gonzalez a little bit.
09:47You know, the fourth receiver comes in and beats Christian for a fade, which to me,
09:55I don't know.
09:56Like, I mean, he's press coverage.
09:57I thought he was a little bit laxed on that coverage to T.
10:02Higgins before the half.
10:04He gave up kind of a soft 16-yarder where he got him into field goal range.
10:07I thought the week before he was a little casual covering, you know, Mitchell for the
10:13Jets.
10:14What are you seeing from him, Christian Gonzalez?
10:17And then, you know, that play that he gave up in the third quarter to their four-string
10:23wide receiver, like, just that's unacceptable, right?
10:25I mean, you expect more from that guy, right?
10:28Yeah.
10:28I mean, I think kind of lulling yourself to sleep, so to speak.
10:31You don't want to play down to the guy you're covering, right?
10:34So, Jamar Chase doesn't play.
10:36And it wasn't like he was matching T. Higgins all over the field.
10:39And so, all of a sudden, you're playing some guy, you know, you don't really know a lot
10:42about him.
10:43And the one thing about Flacco is Flacco is going to throw the ball around and give people
10:46a chance.
10:47So, I think it almost kind of caught him by surprise.
10:49And I think the one thing you'll see going forward is, I don't care who I'm covering.
10:54I got to bring my A game because in the event that someone, I think he was actually shocked
10:58that Flacco was even attempting the ball on him with a guy who wasn't T. Higgins or Jamar
11:02Chase.
11:02That's the way he played it.
11:03Yep.
11:04Exactly.
11:04Yeah.
11:05And sometimes, you know, look, I'm not a defensive player, but when you're a great corner,
11:08I think it's sometimes you can almost, you know, I know it happened with Steph Gilmore
11:13a lot.
11:14Like, hey, they ain't even going to throw the ball over this way.
11:16Well, you get a certain quarterback who, you know, Joe Kuhl over there, I mean, dislocates
11:21his finger, just lifts his hand up and is like, hey, fix this and goes back in the game.
11:24Like, he doesn't really, he doesn't really care.
11:27And so, he's letting it fly out there.
11:28And so, I think it's one of those things like, hey, don't just assume that because I'm
11:34a top corner and this isn't one of their best receivers, I can take a playoff because
11:38that's when it can come back to bite you.
11:40I heard you say earlier, Brian, that Monday night's game actually puts a little scared
11:45in you because the Giants kind of playing with house money, two and ten, you know, wounded
11:51animal, Jameis Winston, God knows what he's going to do.
11:56I'm kind of, I'm kind of with you on that one in so much as like this team has, and you
12:00got coordinators that have a lot to prove, like they have absolutely nothing to lose and
12:04everything to gain.
12:05And once again, the Patriots have a little more time to prepare.
12:08Plus, they were a little dinged up themselves.
12:11No, no doubt about it.
12:13And look, I'm going to steal a line from Bill that he used a lot.
12:16Like, they're not a bad team.
12:18They have a bad record.
12:19And it's been a very tumultuous year for them.
12:22Obviously, you fire the coach.
12:23You have, you inject Jackson Dart into the starting lineup.
12:28He plays really well.
12:29Scadaboo plays really well.
12:30And I was actually watching that game when Scadaboo got hurt against the Eagles.
12:34And you could see the energy just sucked out of that team.
12:39You're not used to seeing two rookies just come in and inject some life to this team.
12:42They've lost a lot of games at the end of games.
12:45So I don't think their record is indicative of who they are.
12:49And then you couple that with you've got a bunch of guys who, as far as the coaches,
12:54they don't think that they're going to be back.
12:56Like, they have nothing to lose.
12:57Let's go out.
12:58You saw it last week.
12:59They run the trick play with our old buddy Gunnar Osheski.
13:02He throws a dime to Jameis.
13:03And Jameis breaks a tackle and scores a touchdown.
13:05Like, that's the type of stuff in a game like this you have to be worried about.
13:08So your head has to be on a swivel.
13:10And ultimately, you don't want to give them any life.
13:13You don't want them to come in here and be up 10-0 and be out there and be like,
13:17Hey, this is great.
13:18We're beating them.
13:19They're 10-2.
13:20We got nothing to lose.
13:21Like, let's keep throwing it at them as opposed to if you go out there and take their will early.
13:25I've been on teams in that scenario.
13:27Fire coach, nothing to lose.
13:29And all of a sudden, you're down.
13:30And you're like, all right, let's just stay healthy because we got free agency coming up.
13:34Or, you know, what vacation am I going to be taking in about a month and going to Mexico?
13:40Like, that's the reality of the NFL.
13:42And so this is a week of all the weeks where you cannot start slow
13:46or else you're going to find yourself in a dogfight.
13:48As I mentioned, you've got great players.
13:50I mean, we don't even know.
13:50If Jackson Dart's back, now all of a sudden you've got to worry about the quarterback running game.
13:54No other quarterback with more designed runs this year than Jackson Dart.
13:57And so that adds another element to your defense that you have to defend.
14:01And they didn't do a great job when Justin Fields was in here a few weeks ago.
14:05So it's a very intriguing matchup.
14:08And I think the best thing that they can do is go out and start fast.
14:11If there's ever a game to do it, it's this one.
14:13Yeah.
14:13Brian, you got me officially scared poopless, man.
14:16That's – you make excellent points.
14:19Those are all valid and excellent points.
14:21Last question for us, Brian.
14:23I'm curious about Matthew Stafford.
14:26He's on fire right now.
14:28It's pretty amazing how he's playing 17 years into this game.
14:33It's amazing.
14:34He has, I think, eight touchdown passes from, like, the three-yard line in.
14:40And then six of them are from the one yard.
14:43So he's got all these touchdowns, which – and I'm trying to – I'm just kind of comparing this to the MVP race with Drake May.
14:49Are you impressed, just, I guess, with what Matthew Stafford is doing in general?
14:53But also, is it more impressive or less impressive that he's got all these touchdowns from the three-yard line in?
15:02Well, you know, especially with the struggles and the Patriots had down there in the low goal line area, what the Rams have done a lot, because they have these elite receivers, they'll get in, like, that goal line package, but they'll have Devontae split out.
15:15And they call a run play, and they basically tell Stafford, like, look, if they only single Devontae, you have the green light to throw it.
15:23So he's had a lot of those where they're actually called runs, and it's kind of a weird backwards version of an RPO, and not, like, in the way that you see in college in the shotgun.
15:32It's like, you know, run left, but Devontae's one-on-one, go ahead and throw it.
15:36He had one this weekend.
15:37It was incredible.
15:38No, I mean, Stafford is playing at just another level.
15:41And as much as I want Drake May to be in that MVP talk, right now Stafford is just pulling away, and I think that's a culmination of him having now been with Sean McVay for five years, having a lot of input on the offense, and then just pairing it with great skill players, right?
15:59They go out and get Devontae, and I thought that was a great addition because, in a weird way, Cooper Cup and Puka Nakua are very similar type of players.
16:07Now you add Devontae, who's more of a vertical threat, a guy who's very different than Puka, and McVay just does a tremendous job of game-planning it.
16:15Their running game is really well.
16:16They get in 13 personnel, and they throw defenses off, and Ryan Wendell, former Patriot, is doing a tremendous job coaching their offensive line.
16:24They're just firing on all cylinders, and then they have a young defense who's playing lights out as well.
16:28And so, look, I'm hoping for another Patriots-Rams rematch in the Super Bowl.
16:34Obviously, you were a part of one, Ted.
16:36I was a part of one, and it would be great to start off the new Patriots dynasty the way the old one kind of ended beating the Rams in the Super Bowl.
16:45So, fingers crossed.
16:46I would love to see that matchup.
16:47Mic drop.
16:48Absolutely.
16:49And we do need to apologize because we busted your chops for not knowing you couldn't say the S-word on the radio.
16:54Apparently, we also have to warn the head coach because I'm sure you saw his press conference.
16:58He used the S-word in his first answer, Brian.
17:00So, you're not the only one, Brian.
17:02You football guys like to use the S-word, apparently.
17:05Party mouths, all of us.
17:05Party mouths, all of you.
17:07Hard to get out of the locker room mentality, right?
17:10That's it, buddy.
17:11All right, Brian.
17:12Have a happy Thanksgiving.
17:14Enjoy the weekend.
17:14Monday Night Football.
17:15We'll talk to you next week.
17:16Thanks, bud.
17:17All right.
17:17You too.
17:17Happy Thanksgiving.
17:18Thanks, Brian.
17:19That's former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer.
17:22If you were listening, yes, he just said start off the new dynasty with a Ram Super Bowl.
17:27He did.
17:27He did say it.
17:28Interesting.
17:28A lot of good stuff from Brian Hoyer.
17:30We're a bit behind, so quick break.
17:31We'll recap what he said.
17:32A little T. Higgins nugget.
17:34And then we'll be back here with The Drive.
17:35Top of the hour, all here on WEEI.
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