- 3 days ago
Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran shares an update on Drake Maye’s collision that ended today’s practice early with Rich, Ken, and Ted.
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00:00Mr. Tom E. Curran. Hello, Tommy Curran.
00:03How are you kids doing today?
00:05Hey, Tom.
00:06Oh, just having the time of our lives, Tommy.
00:08We saw a report from your buddy there, Phil Perry, that, to be quite honest, kind of scared the snot
00:14out of us,
00:14that Drake May had a collision. Is that right?
00:18And that's why they ended up having to end practice early? Is that report correct?
00:22That report is correct. It wasn't necessarily a collision.
00:26It was one of those over-exuberant pass rushes by Brayden Swinson, a second-year player off the edge.
00:33And there was a completion to A.J. Brown with, I would say, about 25 minutes left in the workout.
00:38A.J. Brown took it in for a touchdown.
00:40But Brayden Swinson made a little bit of contact with Drake May, and the two of them landed in a
00:44heap.
00:45Mike Vrabel said, all right, everybody, out of the pool, out of the pool, everybody.
00:51And they huddled up, and that was the end of it.
00:54But Drake May, just to put a fine point on it or to put a bow on it, he did
00:59throw after practice to Matt Collins,
01:01Romeo Dobbs, a few other guys, and there was no trace of any disabilities or anything like that.
01:07Tom, what can you tell us?
01:09It sounds like a lot of red zone work.
01:11And, you know, A.J. Brown's impact in the red zone in particular, what did you see from him?
01:17And how are they using him in the red zone in camp?
01:23Well, just to give you a flavor, he had an unbelievable pirouetting catch today that was virtually impossible to make.
01:33It was, like you said, red zone.
01:34He was heading towards the left back pylon, and he was looking for over his back, over his left shoulder,
01:43and Drake May had thrown it inside.
01:46And instead of continuing to open up and kind of keep his eyes on the ball,
01:50he turned his body around completely and just plucked it.
01:54So his back was turned to the ball for a split second.
01:57It was really a remarkable play.
01:59He had said some of his baseball experiences as an outfielder helped him with that, tracking the ball.
02:04But it was a hell of a play.
02:05And he made a lot of nice back shoulder catches.
02:08You can see already that he and May are good on those.
02:11And I think that that's a real advantage for him with the size that he has.
02:14He's a tough guy to fight through, and they're going to try and get that telepathy going that you need
02:18on those kinds of plays.
02:19But he figured prominently.
02:22And I would say this, but Drake May, he looks the way an elite quarterback should look in 7-on
02:29-7, 11-on-11.
02:30And by saying that, I mean, everything is – every throw is right on the face mask.
02:35Every – very few overthrows, very, very few throws.
02:40It's like, what was that?
02:41And it really – he really looks on top of things this season.
02:45And Mike Grable spent a lot of time last year kind of on his back to take more command and
02:51leadership.
02:52There is no problem with that right now.
02:55Tom, I know we're a year away.
02:57We were just discussing, though, how the Mahomes contract might impact Drake next year at this time.
03:01Do you have any big-picture thoughts on that year out?
03:05Yeah, I mean, he should be a better player than Patrick Mahomes by the end of Patrick Mahomes' contract.
03:12And that's, you know, allowing that Patrick Mahomes is the Hall of Famer.
03:16But Drake May is 24.
03:19He'll probably sign when he's 25 or 26.
03:21He'll be entering his late 20s on that contract.
03:23So my feeling is, you know, Dak Prescott was the highest-paid quarterback previously at 60.
03:29Now I believe Mahomes is 64, so you'd be coming at 68 and maybe looking for 70 initially.
03:36Jeez.
03:38Insane.
03:38Ted was saying that, yeah, 10 years could be potentially a $700 million contract.
03:44Yep.
03:44Wouldn't be surprised.
03:45Sure.
03:46No, and when you think about it, you know, I often think that the rap on the crafts and underspending
03:53is a little misplaced.
03:55I think when they have had good players, they have paid them eventually.
03:59We haven't seen a lot of contract strife.
04:03I wouldn't even call a Christian Gonzalez thing contract strife.
04:07But you haven't paid market price to a quarterback since 2013.
04:12Yeah, it's true.
04:13It's true.
04:14I mean, it's just so weird with the Gonzalez stuff.
04:17And then you've got, you know, Drake May.
04:21I'm not used to this amount of money being thrown at players here with the Patriots.
04:25No, but, I mean, what their strategy often was was to get the guys early, whether it was Gronk or
04:31even Hernandez, a couple of bigger contracts.
04:33And the guys that they didn't get too early, that ended up being some contract strife.
04:37You know, that was, you know, Will Fork and Mankins.
04:40But the interesting thing is, and I can attest to this, before Bill got here, the Patriots were very generous
04:48with contracts.
04:49Whether it was, you know, Ted got a good contract.
04:51William McGinnis got a massive contract.
04:53Max Lane caught Rucci.
04:55A lot of guys got, Bledsoe got a big contract.
04:57Bill put a trapdoor into that.
04:59He sure did.
05:02But, you know, it'll be interesting to see whether there is a return at some point to, okay, we're going
05:09to pay top dollar to these players because they're part of the organization or the 24 years of Bill saying
05:15that, no, there's got to be a better way to, you know, skin this cat than that.
05:19All right.
05:20So, Tommy Curran, there is a podium moment, or at least outside.
05:25Keyshawn Booty was being interviewed.
05:27And when he was asked about, you know, what his plans were, his answer kind of, we all looked at
05:33each other when we heard his first line was, I wouldn't mind being here.
05:36And then he says, I do want to be here.
05:38He corrected himself.
05:39Whether that's an X, Z, F, whatever, I got to do what's best for me.
05:43Whether that's learning the playbook more, moving around.
05:45There's only one football and there's five of us, you know.
05:47For some reason, the I wouldn't mind being here stood out as not being the most ringing endorsement.
05:53What did you make of when he said that?
05:55Yeah, no, I asked him that question.
05:57I was happy he answered it with the honesty that it really demands.
06:01Look, he wants to have the football.
06:04He looks in the mirror and sees a guy who had, you know, 300 plus yards receiving as a freshman
06:09against Ole Miss when he was at LSU.
06:10He probably looks at himself and says, you know, had I not been injured and not had a little bit
06:16of a, you know, dust up there at LSU, I would have been a top 15 pick.
06:21And he wants to realize the money after this year that he would get in the second contract.
06:27And it's getting harder and harder to envision him being, you know, a 40, 50 or 60 catch guy, never
06:32mind a 75 catch guy.
06:34So I understand his mindset.
06:36It seems to me that he is saying, okay, well, if I'm going to be here, I'll do whatever they
06:41need to do.
06:42But if they move me, that's fine with me too.
06:46But I think that's probably the best approach.
06:48Look, they're not going to move me.
06:49And he does have value.
06:51I mean, his hands and body control are top tier.
06:56And I don't know where Kyle Williams will be relative to him.
06:59I would imagine that Dobbs and A.J. Brown will probably be ahead of him.
07:04But you're going to need the depth and experience that a guy like Keyshawn Booty brings to you.
07:09So I would not be surprised if the Patriots are reluctant to just send them someplace for a seventh-round
07:15pick.
07:15Yeah, interesting.
07:16It's going to be interesting how that all gets figured out.
07:19Tom, I'm curious.
07:20This time last year, we all felt that the defense was going to be far ahead of where the offense
07:26is.
07:27And I'm just curious if you feel the same way.
07:32And what you just think overall about the Patriots' defense.
07:36Where's the weakness?
07:37Where do you still have concerns when it comes to the Patriots' defense?
07:41Yeah, I spent some time talking to the defensive coordinator of that court today.
07:48Hello.
07:50Sorry, we lost you.
07:51Repeat the last ten seconds of what you're saying, Tommy.
07:54Oh, I'm so sorry.
07:54It's all right.
07:55We lost you.
07:57Core about that and the fact that, you know, they started off really well statistically.
08:02But once Milton Williams and Robert Spillane went down with injuries, the numbers really tailed off.
08:07And they kind of stayed high intermittently throughout the rest of the season.
08:10And I think the Super Bowl, they really attacked their edges.
08:13So, the fact that Gabe Ackes isn't there, I think, has to be a pretty big blow.
08:18Because he's a second-round pick.
08:19You probably envision him being able to at least give you something on the edge this year.
08:24And it's clear when Mike is rattling off how many OTAs and weeks of work he has missed,
08:32that when he comes in, he's going to have a massive learning curve to overcome.
08:36Harold Landry is not a run stopper.
08:39They were inconsistent against the run.
08:41I think that Milton Williams lived up to his end of the bargain.
08:43I think Christian Barmore's consistency wasn't what you would like it to be.
08:46They don't have Kairos Tonga.
08:48So, that's a big area that I would circle as being something, if I'm a Patriots fan,
08:52I'm concerned about defensively.
08:53And then Edge definitely announces itself as a place that I would be concerned about, too.
08:58Just because it's right now, you're counting on, and Bray will mention this today,
09:03Elijah Ponder and Braden Swinson.
09:04And they know better than we do.
09:06Ponder had some good moments.
09:07Swinson didn't really do much last year.
09:10But they must be making strides behind the scenes, because if you're going to look at that
09:15and say, okay, it's Landry, it's Draymond Jones, it's Swinson, and it's Elijah Ponder,
09:22that's not what you would call a daunting group on paper.
09:26All right.
09:26So, Tom, there is something we've been talking about here on the show,
09:29and Sports Illustrated actually wrote a very cool article where they reached out to eight
09:32Hall of Fame voters.
09:33And the question that they asked him was, if you had the deciding vote as to whether Eli
09:40Manning or Russell Wilson got into the NFL Hall of Fame, who do you give that vote to?
09:47Russell Wilson.
09:48Ooh, really?
09:50Mm-hmm.
09:51I think he was a better player.
09:54I think Eli Manning, you can't take away the two Super Bowls.
09:57You can't take away his effectiveness.
10:00But if he was playing for the Cardinals and had that same career, in which multiple times
10:05he led the league in interceptions and just statistically was not as impressive as a guy
10:12like Russell Wilson.
10:12There were times when I'd see Russell Wilson get the ball.
10:14I'm like, they're going to go down the field and score.
10:16I remember specifically on Monday night, some team decided to go for it on fourth down,
10:22didn't get it.
10:22I'm like, they're dead.
10:24Yeah, he used to be that guy.
10:25Like, get on my back.
10:26I got this game.
10:28But you take a look at Eli Manning.
10:29Not only did he win two Super Bowls, he was the MVP, I believe, of both of those Super
10:33Bowls.
10:34So, doesn't that count for something?
10:35No.
10:36No, no.
10:36Absolutely.
10:37It 1 million percent counts for something.
10:39That's why I will lobby for Julian Edelman to get greater consideration.
10:42Postseason is the most important, the most high stakes against the best teams.
10:47It's great when guys have tremendous games in week eight and catch 204 yards worth of
10:53balls and compile an 1,800-yard season.
10:56But you look at Edelman and what he did in the highest stakes positions, I know he's never
11:00going to get in.
11:01He might not ever get to be in the final 25.
11:04But what he did in the postseason, and the statistics relative to the greats in the
11:09postseason, is, you know, undeniable.
11:13So, yes, Eli Manning's postseason numbers, absolutely, and what he did in the postseason
11:18should color it.
11:19But if you ask me either or, I would say Russell Wilson.
11:22Not to say that Eli Manning doesn't belong, but it's much more of a, eh, I'm not positive.
11:30Well, speaking of Edelman, Tom, I know you're a hoops guy.
11:33Did last night's comeback get in the 28-3 vicinity for you, or equal it?
11:42Yeah, that tip-in, that tip-in really, really did.
11:45And the way my guy, De'Aaron Fox, one of my favorite players in the league, Melton Town,
11:49did have some Falcons vibes to it.
11:52I loved De'Aaron Fox, but boy, that was tough.
11:56And I don't blame him.
11:57I don't blame him for trying to finish that layup that Ananobi got to.
12:02I really don't.
12:03Really?
12:04You've got a chance to go up three.
12:04You're not going to dribble around for three.
12:06You're going to go to the right.
12:06Yeah, you are.
12:07Of course you are.
12:08I was screaming at the TV.
12:09You're not going to dribble around for 12 seconds.
12:11Ananobi's on top of him.
12:12If you take one dribble, he's going to follow you with 12 seconds left.
12:15Try and put it on the rim.
12:16So we were saying that the Ananobi block there of De'Aaron Fox was the Hightower strip sack
12:22and that the tip-in was the Edelman catch at the end.
12:27Very fair.
12:28Very, very fair.
12:30Okay.
12:31There we go.
12:32So to me, it's 1A, 1B.
12:34Now, it will all change if for some reason the Spurs win three games in a row
12:37and win the entire thing.
12:39Then you obviously can't put them on the same plane.
12:41But right now, it's 1A, 1B, 28-3 in what we saw with the Knicks last night.
12:46No question.
12:46It would be tremendous if the Spurs were able to do that.
12:49Yes, it would, Tom.
12:51I'm right here with you.
12:52I was actually legitimately mad when the Knicks came back.
12:56I know I saw something I was never going to see again.
12:59You know, horrendous basketball by one team and amazing basketball by the other
13:03to have this historic comeback.
13:04But it did piss me off a little bit, to be quite honest.
13:08No, no.
13:08I'm with you.
13:09And it's funny because Phil Perry is of a mind.
13:12I just love this basketball team.
13:13I don't care about the fans and how annoying they can be.
13:15I just love the way they play.
13:17I'm like, no, I can't see them happy.
13:18I don't want to see them happy.
13:19I already went off on Taylor Swift being there with her Knicks stuff on
13:24when only two weeks ago, she was courtside cheering against the Knicks
13:29with her fiancé at the Cavs game.
13:33Fake fans.
13:34Fake fans.
13:34I wonder how she got that ticket.
13:35Yeah, I know.
13:36I know.
13:36She must know somebody.
13:37All right, Tommy Curran from NBC Sports Boston.
13:40Always great talking to you.
13:41Thanks for coming on with us.
13:42All right, guys.
13:43Have a great weekend.
13:43See you, Tom.
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