00:00We talk a lot about the opener, the Vrabel impact of it.
00:04And when I say Vrabel impact, that's really going to be more, I think, on a viewer.
00:07How much is it going to be in your face on Wednesday night?
00:09I think Vrabel's been dealing with this and will continue to deal with it for a while.
00:13But for a viewer, I think it's going to be back in your face on Wednesday.
00:16We'll see.
00:17That might be more pre-game coverage and lead-up than it is the actual game broadcast.
00:21You think Drake Mays up for the challenge, Keith?
00:24Because he wasn't the last time he faced this defense.
00:27No, he wasn't at all.
00:28And not to take all the blame off of him, he had a terrible game.
00:32He was also running for his life.
00:35He was getting hit a lot.
00:36So I just wonder.
00:37His shoulder was screwed up.
00:38His shoulder was, yeah, so you could throw that in there too.
00:41But is his offensive line up to the challenge is another way of looking at it.
00:44And he's going to have to overcome, even if the offensive line isn't great,
00:48it's still the quarterback.
00:49All the pressure is on the quarterback.
00:51They need to still figure out a way to get it done.
00:54But how much time does he have?
00:55If Will Campbell has a game similar to his Super Bowl, the Patriots have zero chance.
01:01And Drake May has zero chance to really get anything going.
01:03If he gives you an average performance, he gives up a sack, but he plays pretty well,
01:08then maybe they'll be able to put up some points.
01:10So I think Campbell is not one.
01:14That's probably May.
01:17Maybe it's Gonzo if he's out there.
01:19Although if Gonzo's out there, I'm pretty confident.
01:20It's really just a question of, is he out there?
01:22No, I think it's Campbell and May.
01:23I'd throw both those guys on there.
01:24So Campbell's up there, though.
01:25It's A.J. Brown's first game.
01:27There's a lot of guys I'd have my eye on.
01:28But Campbell really does get thrown into the fire right away, all over again.
01:34And it's like, okay, your injury excuse is taken away.
01:37You're not hurt.
01:38You're healthy.
01:38I mean, he's had a minor elbow thing going on.
01:40You probably have a more significant elbow thing going on than Will Campbell.
01:43It's bad.
01:44So you're thrown into it right away on national TV.
01:48Game one.
01:48Same defense that you couldn't block to save your life.
01:51And people wanted to say you were hurt.
01:53Now, it's my contention.
01:55Will Campbell struggled against pretty much every good pass rush they faced last year when
01:58he was healthy or when he wasn't in the postseason.
02:01If you want to say he wasn't healthy, he was healthy enough to be out there.
02:04You got to block.
02:04And he did it.
02:06But you're right.
02:07I mean, if he goes out there and the offense looks good and he's stonewalling guys,
02:10or at least, you know, maybe there's a sack on Drake May, but largely he's up to
02:14the challenge.
02:15I'll look at Will Campbell a little differently and say, all right, maybe, maybe he was hurt
02:20in the postseason and maybe he has gotten stronger in the offseason.
02:24And maybe he really is a left tackle because I, I've never really believed from the second
02:29they drafted him, that's what he is.
02:31And he is going to be under a microscope in six days.
02:33Oh, great challenge right off the rip.
02:35I think of all the position groups, it's the one that has the highest ceiling, the lowest
02:40floor.
02:41Like, I don't know.
02:43It could be better than it was last year.
02:45It has a chance to be right.
02:46Wilson's playing his natural position.
02:48Campbell, you hope is better in year two.
02:51Vera Tucker could be better than what Wilson was a year ago.
02:54I feel like we barely talked about this.
02:56Barely talked about him after he signed.
02:58He wasn't out there for everything in the offseason program, but he was pretty much out there at
03:02training camp.
03:03But I feel like they are, this is another spot that Vrabel was talking about with the
03:07depth.
03:08And so Caleb Lomu having maybe more of a down than up camp is concerning.
03:14So not only did he not win a job, right?
03:16A first one pick didn't win the starting job.
03:17Okay.
03:18I'm not sure how confident he should be.
03:20And if he has to get any reps, if Morgan Moses goes down for a couple of plays, how are
03:25you going to feel about Caleb Lomu coming in?
03:27So I think the five that they have, have a chance to be really good.
03:30Uh, but you got a guy that missed all of last season in Vera Tucker.
03:35Everybody's like shocked that Morgan Moses didn't miss any time.
03:38The two rookies from last year missed, missed games.
03:41So I think it could be good.
03:43It could be a solid, I don't know.
03:46I don't know where you'd think they would rank me like a top 10 offensive line.
03:49I think it has the potential for that.
03:52Or the bottom falls out and you're like, this guy's not a left tackle.
03:55This guy's too old.
03:56This guy missed all of last season.
03:59There's a ton of question marks.
04:00Look, there are.
04:01And in some ways, it's great to get that test right away and just know, or at least have
04:07some strong opinions early.
04:08It's hard to know week one.
04:09I mean, last year, as you said, they lost to the Raiders two years ago.
04:11They beat the Bengals in week one.
04:13But to have some real intel to really sink your teeth into, because we weren't able
04:18to do that.
04:18They didn't play in the preseason.
04:20But I'm not going to let May off the hook if he struggles in that game, even if he is
04:25running for his life.
04:26And here's why.
04:27Maybe nationally, Justin Herbert gets let off the hook constantly for his tackles being
04:32hurt.
04:32Yeah.
04:32How do we talk about Justin Herbert after that playoff game?
04:35We kill him.
04:36We kill him.
04:37Stroud hasn't had a good offensive line in two years.
04:40How do we talk about CJ Stroud after that playoff game?
04:42Right.
04:42So, like, we don't let those quarterbacks off the hook here in New England.
04:45We talk about Stroud like he's trash.
04:47He might be about to get $50 million a year from the Texans, and he wins a playoff game
04:50every year.
04:51We talk about Herbert like he's trash, because he hasn't won some playoff games.
04:56Drake May needs to go out there, whether he's running for his life or not, and be up to
04:59the challenge.
05:00Maybe, maybe you want to give him a little leeway and a little excuse for not being 100% in
05:05the
05:05Super Bowl.
05:05Nick brought it up.
05:06Fine.
05:06Maybe you want to do that.
05:07He's 100% now.
05:09His offensive line is as healthy as they're ever going to be.
05:12If you're up for the challenge against this team, this is the game to do it, and I'm
05:16not going to let him off the hook if he's running around.
05:18He's got to make plays.
05:19And part of what I like about him and his profile is he's athletic enough to make plays when
05:25things break down.
05:26He's the type of quarterback who shouldn't need an offensive line at all times.
05:29It helps every single QB.
05:31But he's a guy who can make plays off script, so go make them.
05:34Yeah.
05:34And is it a competitive game?
05:36It's a three and a half point spread, so ideally, that's going to be a close game.
05:39But the Super Bowl was just such an ass kicking.
05:43And it was just, by the end of the game, remember some of those clips and some of those other
05:48angles of it?
05:49Drake May was just like, couldn't believe it.
05:52He was getting destroyed.
05:53Mike Vrabel was picking him up.
05:54Vrabel was ready to let him not finish the game.
05:56Yeah.
05:56He's like, you good?
05:57And I don't even know if he knew where he was.
05:58Like, it was a beatdown.
06:01I mean, the final score, you look back on it, you're like, well, the final score wasn't
06:04as lopsided as some of these other Super Bowls in New Year's past.
06:07But it was like, no, they weren't in it.
06:10And now getting a chance to face that same team, pretty much that same team, right?
06:14They brought back a lot of their guys.
06:15They actually gave extensions to two of their young players.
06:19So to get a chance to face them right away again is good.
06:22Like, you know, how's this one going to go?
06:24Hopefully a lot different than last time.
06:25Text line 617-779-7937.
06:29So you two are saying Gonzo won't play week one without a new contract.
06:33I said that.
06:33You did not.
06:33We're actually not both saying that.
06:34It's just Keith.
06:35Just me.
06:36Remind us what you said about him not being at training camp without a new contract.
06:39Fair point.
06:40I mean, I didn't think he'd be out there doing what he did at training camp.
06:45Although.
06:45Was he good in the joint practices?
06:46When it got to joint practices, he went AWOL.
06:49Okay.
06:50And he was totally hurt.
06:51Had nothing to do with his contract.
06:52Nope.
06:52Nope.
06:53But just he got hurt the day before joint practices came back the day after.
06:57Just for point of clarity.
06:58I think he'll be out there either way.
06:59I know you do.
07:00Most people do.
07:00I just I do not.
07:01But I like I don't think it's like 100%.
07:03I'm fearful he might not be out there, too.
07:05I just now I got to make a pick.
07:06I do think he'll be out there.
