- 11 minutes ago
Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran joined the show and talked about Drake Maye’s busy brain, made the case comparing Maye and Trevor Lawrence, sang the praises of the defense, and previewed this Sunday’s matchup in Jacksonville.
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00:00Let's just start with the generalities.
00:01What is wrong with this offense right now, Tony?
00:05When I did the blame pie, I said that the biggest place goes to Drake May's busy brain.
00:13I think he has a very busy brain right now,
00:17and I think a lot of it is related to the trickle-down effect of new guys in the offense.
00:23And I know that there's guys he's experienced with, you know, Douglas and Hollins,
00:27but they spent a lot of their offseason centering what they were going to do with A.J. Brown,
00:33and when he moved aside, Romeo Dobbs was into a different spot that they hadn't really prepared for.
00:38So that shouldn't upset the apple cart entirely, and I don't think it will all season.
00:43But as Phil Perry and I spend time looking at some of the different plays and just say,
00:47watch this, watch this, there's little things that I think defenses are forcing receivers to do
00:56that May looks at and says, okay, he's doing that.
00:59Okay, well, it's a little late now.
01:00And then there's also mistakes that he's making.
01:02I talked to Matt Castle earlier today.
01:04I'll have him on quick slant tonight.
01:06And he said that that mistake on the linebacker interception last week was just entirely on May.
01:13He just should have understood what was going to happen with the linebacker on that
01:17or diagnosed it when it happened and thrown underneath to the open receiver.
01:20So it's myriad things, but I don't think anything, I think the only remedy is time and reps.
01:28So, Tom, we listened to a little bit of Josh McDaniels.
01:30I know you were down there for the whole thing.
01:32He didn't sound overly concerned.
01:33Do you get the sense that there will be any drastic changes this week or just staying the course?
01:38No, I think it's going to have to be steady as she goes.
01:41It's one of those things where if you started taking the course and you're not getting it,
01:45you're not going to teach somebody something new.
01:48The answers are there.
01:50They just need to get to them quicker and not get to the wrong answer.
01:53They go, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I should have remembered that.
01:56So I really don't think that they would alter drastically what they're doing.
02:01ATC, I'm just curious.
02:02Is there anything maybe conceptually, you know, you would maybe like to see the Pats do more on offense?
02:08You know, we were talking earlier about like a no huddle or empty set or just maybe a muddle.
02:14Just something, just anything conceptually that you would maybe like to see them do that they're not doing now?
02:23Well, and I'm not an offensive coordinator, and I can talk it pretty well, but this is very rudimentary.
02:30More of those in-cut slants that we saw out of Kyle Williams, foot hits, balls out, foot hits, balls
02:36out.
02:36You know, I remember Edelman used to run a lot.
02:39It was against cover, too, but a lot of players did.
02:42Givens ran it as well.
02:43That little outbreaking route behind a corner, if the corner is kind of sitting in zone, you know, throw that.
02:49That little outbreaking route to the receiver who's on the boundary, goes out, boom.
02:53Just some of those easier throws for him to hit, I think that might be helpful for him, but I'm
03:01sure they're in there,
03:02and there are occasions on which he hits them.
03:03And if we look at that first drive last week again, his rhythm was outstanding prior to the fumble.
03:11He sat through, sat through.
03:12The stuff we were talking about in postgame, Teddy, that we weren't seeing, we did see it early in the
03:18game,
03:18but it gets overshadowed by the later drifting that he does.
03:21And it's not as much of it, but it leads to such bad plays that we remember it.
03:28Yeah, it's interesting, too, because we were talking earlier, Tommy Curran, by the way,
03:32about this Jacksonville team and whether or not this is going to be, like,
03:37is there anything about this Jacksonville team when you see them makes you think that Drake could indeed have his
03:42breakout game this Sunday?
03:45They don't get much pass rush, despite the fact they have talented pass rushers like Josh Allen Hines.
03:53That's their big lament this week is they spent the latter half of the game against Denver not even breathing
03:59on Bo Nix,
04:00and that was one of their laments last year in the playoffs against Josh Allen.
04:04They didn't bother him, didn't get to him.
04:06So I think that could work in their favor somewhat if they can't get through.
04:11But, of course, the Mike and Leno injury alters that expectation just a little bit to see what will happen
04:17there.
04:17But they haven't blitzed either, and their defensive coordinator is somebody who's worked a lot with Brian Flores,
04:23but they don't blitz nearly as much as Flores, who actually is blitzing on 75% of the snaps right
04:29now in Minnesota.
04:32But there could be more time for him, and if they want to play the cover six that people are
04:38talking about, that's fine.
04:39Just talking to Phil Perry again, I don't want to appropriate his stuff, but he said, you know,
04:43he's only had, like, 30 snaps against cover six or 30 attempts.
04:48So, and they're not, you know, he said there's varying degrees of grades that he's gotten against them.
04:53But he's not a disaster.
04:54It's not like a Rubik's Cube he's standing there trying to solve.
04:57It's just a defense where they play cover two on one side of the field,
05:01and then there's four guys kind of in different zones on the other side, Teddy, right?
05:05That's exactly right, Tom.
05:08The 63-yard pass completion to Romeo Dobbs was kind of a cover six beater.
05:14He was wide open in that.
05:15So they're starting to find ways to puncture that coverage there.
05:21So go ahead, Ken.
05:22Well, so, Tom, obviously a lot of injuries and shuffling around.
05:25I know O-line was something you mentioned in your blame pie there,
05:28but I'm kind of surprised that the first-round pick, Caleb Lomu,
05:31is not in the mix to replace Nwenu.
05:33Does that surprise you, or is it just too early in his rookie year?
05:37I think it's the latter.
05:38He's having been a left tackle at Utah, learning right tackle to bounce him inside and say,
05:44all right, we're going to feel more comfortable with a guy who's not really played guard very much
05:48in his career as opposed to maybe a physically not as sharp 36-year-old who knows what's going on.
05:56I could see why they would air with Greg Van Roten and then Ben Brown over there if it came
06:01to that.
06:03I just think that would, you know, again, you'd be in a situation last year where you had
06:09Jared Wilson next to Will Campbell, and that, at times, we looked at the inexperience there.
06:17That would be, this would be another case of inexperience on the road,
06:19two guys playing next to each other with Wilson moving to center this year, back to center.
06:24But he hasn't played great, so maybe the stability, I don't know.
06:29So I'm not surprised that Momo isn't in there yet.
06:32Yeah, I'm a fan of, actually, I think Ben Brown's serviceable as a backup,
06:36so we'll see how that goes.
06:37But, Tom, I'm curious what you think about the defense.
06:39I thought they played outstanding last week against the Steelers.
06:43People go, wow, it's against a 42-year-old quarterback.
06:45But I'm just curious if you think this defense, is it fool's gold, middle of the mall,
06:49or is this sustainable, what you're seeing from the defense?
06:52I think it's pretty sustainable.
06:54And, you know, I spent last week saying, you know, that if they blitz Aaron Rodgers,
06:58he's going to know what's coming.
06:59He's going to throw right over him.
07:01And they said, yeah, good luck.
07:03We're going to get there.
07:04And they did get there.
07:05And I didn't think that they would blitz as much as they did.
07:07And, you know, Rodgers was lamenting that they sent six a number of times.
07:11I don't know how often they did it.
07:13But he was bothered and didn't want any piece of it.
07:15Now, Lawrence is a far different quarterback in terms of mobility.
07:19But you pointed it out in the first week.
07:21You know, Drew Locke wasn't bothered.
07:24Rodgers was definitely bothered.
07:26They're going to get after Trevor Lawrence, who I look at as –
07:30and see what you guys think about this.
07:32Trevor Lawrence and Drake May, they're probably going to be on similar arcs
07:37for most of the decade, the rest of the decade.
07:39I don't see Drake May as being, you know, he had a phenomenal year,
07:44and that's never going to be taken away.
07:46And Trevor Lawrence has not had a statistical year like Drake May did.
07:49But Trevor Lawrence is pretty frigging good, too.
07:53Dude, you just made me want to throw up.
07:55You just said that Drake May and Trevor Lawrence are going to be on the same trajectory.
07:59And I don't like that at all.
08:01That is not flattering for Drake May.
08:05Drake May – I mean, Trevor Lawrence, here's the thing.
08:07They won their last eight games last year.
08:10And since back November, I think it was 16th of last year,
08:13he's thrown 19 touchdowns and two picks.
08:16He's pretty good.
08:18But he's also one of those guys that can be really bad.
08:21Like, he's got streaks.
08:22He's a streaky quarterback, isn't he?
08:25They all are.
08:26What are you talking about with the guy, you know, 30 miles to the south?
08:31I mean, but to your point, though, you got –
08:33Hey, to Tom's point, though, Rich, if you look at –
08:36I mean, Parker Washington is a six-round draft pick from three years ago.
08:41You know, Brian Thomas Jr. was a highly drafted kid,
08:45but, you know, it hasn't played up to his potential.
08:46And Jacoby Myers they brought in last year.
08:48So he's not working maybe with the type of players that you would think.
08:53So I don't know.
08:54I think there's a little something to what Tom's saying.
08:56I know what you're saying, Tom.
08:57Trust me.
08:58The reality – you're speaking truth now.
09:01You're speaking reality.
09:01I don't like hearing that because, like, you know –
09:05Well, I know.
09:07It's like going –
09:08What's that?
09:09But – sorry, the fine print on Lawrence
09:12and the fine print on everybody at the quarterback is who's around him
09:16and who were their coaches.
09:17He had Urban Meyer, Doug Marone in his final year there, and Doug Peterson.
09:23It just – it wasn't good down there.
09:25And now he's got stability with Cohen, and he's playing much, much, much, much better.
09:28And it's probably going to be the same way with May
09:30as long as McDaniels is the offensive coordinator,
09:33which probably made you roll your eyes, too.
09:35Who gets to a Super Bowl first, Drake May or Trevor Lawrence?
09:39Well, Drake May already won.
09:40He's already been there.
09:40I'm talking from here on out.
09:42We know why he was there.
09:43I'm talking – who gets to a Super Bowl next?
09:44Who is it, Drake May or Trevor Lawrence?
09:48Okay, I'll play Trevor Lawrence.
09:51Wow.
09:51AFC South.
09:52They're a better team than you think.
09:55They're the most underrated team in the National Football League.
09:58The only games that they've lost since last year are a narrow one to Buffalo in the playoffs
10:05when they get Josh Allen, and then last week to Denver when they just kind of went south,
10:11but they had a 17-0 lead, I think.
10:15So, as I said, going into the season, and maybe it was just because Drake May was second in MVP
10:21voting,
10:21like his name was in the conversation amongst the elite quarterbacks.
10:26Mahomes and Allen.
10:26Right, right.
10:27It was like, well, Allen, Mahomes, obviously ahead of him.
10:29And then, you know, you'd probably – just to some of our favorite listeners,
10:32Lamar Jackson you would put up there as well.
10:34But Drake May was, like, right underneath that.
10:37But now we're kind of talking Trevor Lawrence.
10:40I don't think Trevor Lawrence is in the top 10 in anybody's list this year.
10:44He was, like, hovering around, like, 11 and 12 maybe.
10:47So, you're saying that reality that the us Patriots fans should just kind of look at what's going on
10:53and face the reality that maybe Drake May isn't as elite as we thought he was.
10:57Everything is in forever, though.
11:00Everything is not forever.
11:02I mean, Justin Herbert and Dak Prescott were more highly rated in a really good Jeremy Fowler poll with GMs
11:09and execs.
11:10And Drake May was eighth.
11:11I don't know where Trevor Lawrence was, but it probably wasn't too much further than, as you said, 12th.
11:15That's fair.
11:16Throw a blanket over all those guys.
11:17How were their defenses?
11:18Who got injured on their offense?
11:21All those things matter.
11:22You know, Burrow, Mahomes, Allen, Jackson, those are the guys you're going to look at year in and year out
11:29and say they can carry the team almost completely on their back, generally.
11:34You're not that off with a guy.
11:36I think I heard you.
11:38I really liked your analogy.
11:39It's kind of like, you know, NASCAR or horse race, you know.
11:41And Drake's, you know, I haven't got out of the first turn.
11:43He's still kind of just in the middle of the pack, waiting to make his break, you know.
11:47Yeah, exactly.
11:48I mean, in the cars, he's getting used to the car.
11:50Yeah.
11:51It's pulling a little bit.
11:53A couple pit stops, he'll be good.
11:55Well, okay.
11:56Well, let me ask you that.
11:57What is your confidence level that Drake this season is going to get back to his regular season last year
12:02greatness?
12:03Like, what is your confidence level that that's going to happen?
12:07He's going to have plenty of games like that.
12:09He's going to have plenty of 22 for 26, you know, 280 yards, two touchdowns, no pick games.
12:15But he's going to have a hell of a lot more games where he's not completing 70% of his
12:20passes.
12:20That's because of who they're playing against.
12:22So, I don't think he's going to play like he did last year.
12:24Put it that way.
12:25He's not going to have the same statistical season that he had last year, where his QB rating was nearly
12:31perfect in some games,
12:32and he completed 70% of his passes.
12:34It's not going to happen.
12:36But he will have games, he will have games.
12:40Listen, if anything, you are a man giving some sobering news to Patriots fans today, or sobering opinions, Robert.
12:47Really?
12:47Can't I be an unreasonable fan?
12:48No, you're fine.
12:49Well, I did just look up the follow rankings.
12:51Trevor Lawrence was 16th.
12:52So, that's not great, if indeed, I mean, he was in the also receiving votes category.
12:57Who was 10 to 16?
12:59It was Darnold, Jaden Daniels, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence.
13:07Yeah, I mean, the aspiration is that, you know, by the end of the decade, Drake May is in the
13:13top three quarterbacks.
13:14Boom.
13:15All the time.
13:16That would be awesome.
13:17But Trevor Lawrence goes to the Super Bowl before Drake May goes back.
13:23It's defenses.
13:24It's a lot of things.
13:26It's a horse race.
13:27You, look, I mean, you made me answer a ridiculous hypothetical.
13:31I was unprepared.
13:32It's an awesome hypothetical.
13:33Classic Rich.
13:34It's an awesome hypothetical.
13:35Give it respect.
13:36Lock it in.
13:37All right.
13:38Tommy Curran.
13:39All right.
13:41All right, Tommy Curran.
13:42That was good.
13:43Good stuff.
13:43We will talk to you again soon.
13:45And I'm going to sit here and just kind of have to take in this whole Trevor Lawrence comparison to
13:51Drake May.
13:52And you know what?
13:53Maybe you're right.
13:54And maybe we've all been fooling ourselves.
13:56All right, Tommy Curran.
13:56Great stuff.
13:57We'll talk to you again soon.
13:58Bye.