- 12 hours ago
Tom E. Curran joined the guys to discuss the latest from Patriots training camp, including the latest on the Christian Gonzalez contract situation and what he believes will happen when it’s time to negotiate with Drake Maye.
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00:00A gentleman we love having on the show, someone who, I don't know if he's seen the Odyssey,
00:07but if he has, I need to find out whether or not, like you two boys, he thinks it was
00:11meh and sucked, because you're the only two people that I know in the entire world who
00:16did not like the Odyssey.
00:17We didn't say that, we just said overrated.
00:19I guarantee he has not seen it.
00:21That's three hours he could be playing golf if he's watching that movie.
00:25Yes, Mr. Tommy Curran from NBC Sports Boston.
00:28Tommy, thanks for joining us, buddy.
00:31How are you kids doing?
00:32We're good, bud.
00:33Just too damn good.
00:35I don't even know what to do with myself.
00:37So, Tom, this was an interesting practice today.
00:40Obviously, you guys were very special, the public not allowed, only the coolest guys with the
00:46laminates were able to get in there, but it's an interesting one regarding Drake May and
00:51his performance, correct?
00:53How did he end his part of the practice?
00:55Well, they were a little bit uneven.
00:57There was a lot of work done with defense trying to get their hands on balls, especially
01:04down in the red zone, and the practice concluded with three consecutive picks, so two of them
01:10by Drake May, and then the second team came in, there was a tip pick, and they said, you
01:14know what?
01:14That's enough.
01:14It was just about 11.59 anyway, so they were probably about to draw the curtain on it,
01:19but, you know, it wasn't a lopsided practice in terms of the defense, you know, having its
01:25way against the offense, but those picks, I think, were a little disconcerting for Mike
01:30Vrabel, who said, you know what?
01:31This looks a little sloppy.
01:33It wasn't really a regression.
01:34It wasn't anything to sound the alarm over.
01:36It was just a day on which what would have been incompletions landed in people's arms,
01:41and they said, you know what?
01:42This is too sloppy.
01:43We're wrapping it up, and I'll tell you this.
01:44The reason it was closed to the public is because of that concert.
01:49Oh.
01:49Oh, the BTS concert, the Gillette last night, right?
01:53Yeah, that's correct.
01:55They're doing it again tonight, I do believe.
01:56So, they didn't want the chaos, so it wasn't really, you know, invite only, but it was.
02:02Well, speaking of disconcerting, Tom, and the offense, Dobbs missed another practice.
02:07I haven't been down there to watch it, but I just haven't read much in a positive sense
02:11about him yet.
02:12What are you seeing with Dobbs, and is it just too early to judge?
02:16That's a good way of putting it.
02:18You know, there's nothing wrong.
02:20There's just nothing to exude about, because there's nothing that you're looking at and
02:25go, oh my God, I can see why they went and got this guy.
02:28I'm sure that will come.
02:30There is, when they do go to him, which is, you know, not frequently, he generally makes
02:37plays.
02:38You know, yesterday he wasn't out, excuse me, today he wasn't out there.
02:41And my buddy Phil Perry, you know, noted that the last play that he was in for was a
02:47play on which Robert Spillane got up into Drake May's face, kind of made him short arm
02:53a throw to Dobbs, and Dobbs kind of half dove, kind of frogged toward it.
02:59And then he didn't have any more reps during that practice, but it was near the end anyway.
03:03So maybe he impacted himself somehow on that play, but he was not there.
03:08Also, while we're at it, Will Campbell was not a full participant.
03:12He was out there in pads, but he didn't take part in any of the reps.
03:16Looked like he had something on his left arm and was going through some cardio stuff.
03:21So he wasn't there.
03:22Christian Barmore also left practice, launching his helmet in disgust, unless he just didn't
03:28feel like carrying it.
03:29And the cornerback, Charles Woods, who for more than a week now has been taking the reps
03:35as the corner opposite Christian Gonzalez, because Carlton Davis hasn't been in there.
03:39He also walked off under his own power.
03:41Boom.
03:42It was excellent to run down.
03:43Just real quick, Barmore, was he mad at himself, or did he get mad because he got hurt,
03:49or what do you think the helmet was about?
03:50We don't know.
03:51Okay.
03:51Don't know.
03:52Don't know.
03:52Could not trot out there and ask him.
03:54I thought he just doesn't want to carry it.
03:57Yeah.
03:57Just like kicking it in front of himself.
04:01TC, what do you make of Pop Douglas' impact?
04:05This time last year, it was, oh, Pop Douglas.
04:07Oh, he's perfect.
04:08They've been going to Pop Douglas.
04:10He's going to be the next great slot for this team.
04:14And then it was interesting to see how he kind of evolved last year, where he was more
04:18of a deep threat from the slot position.
04:20But how are you seeing Pop perform?
04:22How do you see them using him in this offense this year?
04:25He's out there a lot.
04:27It looks like really they're trying to determine how they're going to divvy up reps between
04:33Dobbs and Douglas in that slot position.
04:37A lot of motion, as there often is for a player like Douglas, who's so quick off the line,
04:42get him in motion before the snap and allow him to just turn upfield and lose people so
04:46they can't jam him because he's a little bit smaller.
04:48And he's so freaking quick.
04:49It was interesting as the season wore along last year.
04:52I mean, we've all seen enough Pop Douglas plays made in short area where you say that's
04:57unique.
04:58There's not a dozen guys in the NFL that are quicker than that.
05:03But I think Josh McDaniels kind of absorbed the blame for it and said, I've got to find
05:08a way to get him more involved.
05:10And it will be interesting because as they try and, I think, get a little bit more run
05:18potent with the tight ends, with a fullback, with bigger wide receivers who can block more
05:27downfield as Dobbs and A.J. Brown should be able to do where his role will reveal itself.
05:34I should also add, too, speaking of wide receivers and A.J. Brown, A.J. Brown and Christian
05:40Gonzalez, I don't know if somebody was just going to ask me this anyway, but that was
05:43kind of the headline of the practice today.
05:45Yeah, yeah.
05:46And he, A.J., Gonzalez is going right up his posterior.
05:53And A.J. seems to be a slightly irritable gentleman, right?
05:57No personality at all.
06:00He's getting there, you know, because, you know, Gonzalez, there was a deep throw down
06:04the left sideline, overthrown by May, kind of one of those throws that if A.J. Brown
06:10doesn't get it, nobody gets it.
06:11But Gonzalez had him locked down 30, 40 yards downfield, and you could see there was some
06:16jawing back and forth.
06:17And it wasn't as good nature because there was some pointing going on and some turned
06:21around.
06:22And then, you know what?
06:23I've got another thing to say, kind of thing, yelled back.
06:26And then they were doing some reps, and Gonzalez also got extremely excited after a pass breakup,
06:34and Brown really wasn't into it.
06:36And Kayshawn Booty had moved over to kind of see if Brown could relax a little bit.
06:41And Brown wasn't really that psyched to see Kayshawn Booty interjecting himself.
06:45Kayshawn Booty's probably saying to himself, I just want to get out of here.
06:51Hey, real quick, Rich, this is unusual for Gonzo, right, Tom?
06:56I mean, to see him as animated as he's been this camp?
07:00He is more and more growing into a person, whether it be at the podium or interjecting
07:06on the field that we really haven't seen before.
07:09Not in a bad way, just he's more animated, more comfortable with himself and his role.
07:14Maybe that's the feeling you get when you have about $110 million in guaranteed money
07:18around the next corner.
07:21But he certainly has grown into who I think he wants to be at this juncture of his career.
07:26And he's not the same guy he was last year.
07:29And that's not a criticism, because I thought he was boring watching paint dry previously
07:34to listen to him talk.
07:35But he's much more entertaining and revealing, I think, now that he was.
07:40He's not saying a lot, but he's at least listening to the question and trying to meet you halfway.
07:46And before he wouldn't, it was just shrugs and nods and mumbles.
07:52Well, we're talking to Tommy Curran, NBC Sports Boston.
07:55And, you know, we talked about this for a while yesterday, because I think that Ted might be
08:01a little nervous.
08:01I'm not so nervous.
08:02But does what's happening with Christian Gonzalez right now tell us anything about how the Patriots
08:08will eventually handle Drake May and his contract?
08:13I don't know if Drake May is going to handle his contract the same way as Gonzalez is.
08:18Because, again, we talked about this last week.
08:19My perception is more that he's not getting hosed, a la Logan Mankins or Vince Wilfork,
08:25feeling as if they have to take to the podium.
08:29He's not getting hosed as much as he is saying, yeah, thank you.
08:34It's a good offer.
08:35We'll see what I do with it.
08:36And he's slow playing them.
08:38That's my perception.
08:41And I think that probably has to do with Devin Witherspoon.
08:43So will the Patriots blow Drake May out of the water?
08:47Or, more likely, will Drake May say, yeah, I appreciate it.
08:52We're going to see what Caleb and does, Jaden Daniels, do before I sign.
08:57Because I think that's more likely.
08:59So they're going to have to cough up about $70 million a year,
09:03probably more than $400 million in total value on the contract,
09:08just based on Patrick Mahomes and the rising salary cap since he did his deal.
09:12He's at 64, Mahomes is.
09:14He's going to have to make more than Josh Allen.
09:16Josh Allen signed two years ago.
09:17He's going to have to make more than Joe Burrow.
09:19All of those guys.
09:20He's younger.
09:23He's been a runner-up for MVP.
09:26He's played in the Super Bowl.
09:27Those are things that Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen haven't done.
09:32Allen having been the MVP and Lamar having been the MVP.
09:35I understand that.
09:35But he's already over some mountains that those guys have not conquered
09:42in terms of playing in a Super Bowl.
09:44Well, one follow-up to the time.
09:45Real quick, can I just say,
09:47what confidence do you have that the Crafts aren't going to jack around,
09:50like that they are going to mess around with that contract?
09:54They just don't do that,
09:55and I think that I'm in the extreme minority when I say that.
09:59I just don't think that they jack around with contracts as badly as people
10:02in the market do.
10:04Aren't they doing it right now with Christian Gonzalez,
10:06like going out and saying that they offered him the most money in Patriots
10:09history?
10:09Isn't that kind of the definition of jacking around, doing it all in public?
10:13No, that's the definition of communicating with your fan base,
10:17so that your fan base understands when they say, boy,
10:19I've been hearing for years you guys jack everybody around,
10:22and they're the cheapest owners in professional football.
10:24I think that is an instance where the owner is saying, yeah,
10:27I'm not really that cheap.
10:29I think that that is really a low-hanging fruit accusation that has,
10:33over the course of time, reared its head.
10:35And I'm just going to say to the fans,
10:37we have a pretty generous offer on the table,
10:39so I don't take it as jacking around.
10:41I take that as information shared by somebody who's frustrated with,
10:45A, his reputation in the fan base,
10:47which he doesn't think is necessarily deserved,
10:50and, B, I don't think there is a B.
10:52I don't have a B.
10:55It sounded good.
10:56The setup sounded good, though.
10:58Well, the B, I guess, is...
10:59I'm in the minority, though.
10:59I think it is.
11:01I think it's a crock to spend as much time and effort as there is spent on
11:07complaining about how cheap the crafts are.
11:10How close do you think they are, Tom?
11:13It's up to Christine Gonzalez, I would think.
11:15I mean, you could get it done now and say, here,
11:18here's $111 million guaranteed.
11:21Here's $36 million a year.
11:24And I really base this on what Albert Breer has been talking about in terms
11:29of resetting the market, and he pointed out that when you're resetting the
11:32market, generally speaking, in the NFL, you're seeing jumps of $5 million
11:38over the average annual value.
11:40So he'd have to get up to around $36.
11:44Do you guys feel the cornerback is a premium position?
11:48Not like he used to be.
11:49Nope.
11:49It is, it is, it is.
11:51But it's not...
11:52You're right.
11:53Like, look at running back.
11:54They're making $23.5 million, Jonathan Taylor.
11:57B. John Robinson's making, like, $23.
11:59Yeah.
12:00Who's going to be a more important player to their team this year,
12:02B. John Robinson or Christine Gonzalez?
12:05Now, the longevity isn't the same, and the quickness with which you fall off
12:09isn't the same.
12:11But some of these positions, whether it be tight end, running back, they're way
12:16lower, guards kind of low.
12:19But he wants to have it be recognized, I think, as a premium position.
12:23Teams like the Jets trading Sauce Gardner or the Chiefs trading Trent McDuffie,
12:29Jalen Ramsey moving around the league are all indicators to me that some teams
12:32don't say, look at it and say, I think we can figure it out another way.
12:37Good player, but we're going to try and figure it out another way.
12:39I don't think the Patriots should do that, but I think it's hard to reset the
12:43market by that much.
12:46All right.
12:47So, Tommy, finally, is there something that this – what is it, 11 practices
12:52that you've seen so far?
12:54Like, is there something that you have seen in these 11 practices that either
12:58confirms what you thought about this team or completely contradicts?
13:02Like, how has your opinion changed from the beginning of camp to where you are
13:06now?
13:06How about some developing, crystallizing opinions?
13:09Yes.
13:10Okay.
13:10Love it.
13:11My crystallizing opinion is that I just – there are five good offensive linemen at
13:18the top of their depth chart.
13:20I just really would like to see them develop a collective identity.
13:24I don't know what it is.
13:26You know, you want to be a running team.
13:27You want to be able to blow teams off the ball and gain your three yards on third
13:33and three or third and four, whatever.
13:35You don't want to do that on third and four, do you?
13:37On third and two.
13:39And I just don't see one developing.
13:41But you have five pretty good players.
13:43So – and we have not seen the running game right now in camp really establish
13:48itself as something like, oh, wow, they just blew those guys off the line.
13:51They're going against a pretty good defensive front.
13:53So that's one thing that I really look at and say, because they've really belabored
13:58that point, Rich.
13:59We want to be a running team that can run when everyone knows we need to run.
14:02So I really am putting that on an offensive line that they've devoted themselves to
14:07say, we've got to get better.
14:09All right.
14:09Well, Tommy Curran, hopefully next time we speak, this Gonzalez thing will be done,
14:13settled.
14:14He'll be taken care of, contract in hand.
14:17Wouldn't it be much worse if he wasn't practicing?
14:20Yo, way worse.
14:21Yeah, way worse.
14:22I don't know.
14:23Do you really, Rich – I don't care if he gets paid tomorrow or August 28th.
14:28He's up there.
14:30I just want him to play.
14:31That's my whole thing.
14:32I don't want him to miss games.
14:33that
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