- 7 minutes ago
Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran joined Rich, Ken, and Ted to preview this weekend’s game against the Miami Dolphins. He talked about how he feels the team is building towards a crescendo, possible trade targets, his worry about WR A.J. Brown, and more!
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00:00Tommy Curran, what's up, buddy? How you doing?
00:02Hey, you guys.
00:04Hey, Tom.
00:05So, any interesting news out of Foxborough today?
00:09Apparently, um...
00:10Oh, man.
00:12We've...
00:12Oh, listen, I'm sorry, but the A.J. Brown news...
00:17I remember we had you on after the week he came back and had pan hands.
00:21Yeah.
00:21And dropped five passes, and you said...
00:23It actually wasn't even on our show. It was on Jones-A-Keefe.
00:26And you said that your worry meter on a scale from 1 to 10
00:30was a 6.8, I believe, if I'm quoting you correctly.
00:33Mm-hmm.
00:33And now, A.J. Brown not at practice.
00:37They have added knee to one of the issues that he's dealing with.
00:42Where is your worry meter today, Tommy Curran?
00:45It just ticked up, too. It's like the doomsday clock.
00:49It just ticked up, too. It's up to 8.8.
00:53I guess I pinned it early because I needed to see that the five drops
00:59in that first...
01:00And he got credit for three, but there was also a fumble in there
01:02and the dropped onside kick.
01:05But be that as it may, it's concerning because he came to you
01:10with a knee that was a situation that the Los Angeles Rams,
01:16for instance, decided they weren't going to make a deal for A.J.
01:20because of the knee condition that they felt was too risky for them.
01:23This knee could be swollen.
01:25It might not even be the same knee.
01:26We don't know any of that, but just as with the passes,
01:30and I said eventually he'll make the plays to make him A.J. Brown,
01:33and my worry meter will go back down.
01:35Until I see him running and the knee is not declared to be an issue,
01:41the concern remains high.
01:42It really stinks because I guess it gets to this.
01:45Did the Patriots make a mistake?
01:48And I don't think they do or did.
01:51I don't think they did because I agree with the process.
01:54But if it turns out it's a knee that's limiting him that he had prior,
01:59I would be inclined to say maybe it was a mistake playing him twice
02:04within five days of each other when the three days before he played,
02:08we saw him at practice and he was kind of gimping around.
02:11Is there anything to the thought that maybe his knee isn't feeling great
02:17because he was overused the past couple of weeks?
02:22That's what I'm insinuating, but I really don't know.
02:25And we don't know.
02:26So they say, don't speculate about injuries.
02:28And I say, well, what's going to happen if I do?
02:32So until we know why or what, did he hurt at a practice yesterday?
02:37Was it wrench?
02:38Did he bang it on a helmet?
02:39We don't know any of that.
02:40So it might not even be related to whatever ongoing issue he had
02:44that he's developed over the course of being in the NFL.
02:49But I think that that is worth talking about just because you had two games
02:54in five days.
02:55He did not look great during the media portion of practice
02:58where we saw him running routes before the Jets game.
03:02I was a big supporter of, look, you rely on your medical staff.
03:07The medical staff says he's good to go.
03:09And you look at him and he's running around fine.
03:13And he says he wants to play, then you go with that.
03:16Well, back to when they signed him.
03:18Yeah, go ahead.
03:19I'm sorry.
03:19I'm babbling.
03:20No, no, I cut you off.
03:20Sorry, Tom.
03:22Back to when they signed him,
03:23do you think the whole organization was on the same page today?
03:25Were there any dissenting voices about this degeneratively,
03:28or do you think they were all on board?
03:32I think they were all on board.
03:34I do.
03:35I mean, we talk about ownership,
03:37and I think that Rich generally tends to err on the side of the crafts
03:42are more involved and make more decisions than they let on.
03:49I don't think that they do.
03:50I think that they allow the football people to make the football decisions
03:52and then maybe look over their shoulder later and say, really?
03:56But in this instance, I think that everybody was on board.
04:00The question becomes, you know,
04:02are you going to get the longevity out of A.J. Brown that you hoped
04:07when you gave up a first-round pick that you would have control of for five years
04:12if you would use that pick?
04:15I'm going to change gears a little bit here
04:17and go to the other side of the ball, Tom.
04:18I'm just curious about the defense, what you think about the defense.
04:21I mean, they've kind of –
04:22recently, the missed tackles is a big issue.
04:25I think they ranked third in yak yards in the NFL,
04:28giving up 887 yards after being hit.
04:34The Ds allow an average of 3.38 rushing yards after contact,
04:39and they're not turning the ball over.
04:40So just the defense with the X-plays last week
04:44and getting run on a little bit,
04:46what is your concern level with that side of the ball?
04:50It's not as high as the numbers would indicate.
04:53You have the three Luther Burden catches last week
04:56and the Jackson, Smith, and Jigba catch and run
04:59for the lone touchdown against Seattle, which definitely aids.
05:02You can't dispute the numbers, but you can explain them away by saying,
05:06yeah, there's some numbers there that they had some big plays.
05:09The tackling, Teddy, I look at this team,
05:12and I think it's a good tackling team.
05:15Two linebackers, I think, are very good tacklers.
05:17The entire secondary, I think, are good tacklers.
05:20I do think they missed Kairos Tonga quite a bit up front,
05:24but I still think the defense is probably more reliable
05:27than the offense on this team,
05:29and that the missed tackles, that many of them,
05:32was the most that they had had since the Super Bowl,
05:34and prior to that, it hadn't been bad.
05:35I really felt like last Thursday's game was kind of an outlier situation.
05:42Short week, they got exposed,
05:45and the same thing kind of happened with the Jets.
05:47I am concerned about their run defense,
05:50because between James Cook and the Jets,
05:53and then Chicago, you have seen teams be able to run on them.
05:57So when you were playing for Bill, once something was a problem,
06:01Bill would address it until it was done.
06:03So I'll be interested to see if they're able to flip a switch and fix that.
06:08Speaking of addressing problems,
06:09there's already been some pretty massive trades
06:11that have been made early here before the trade deadline.
06:15When you look at the Patriots,
06:16and there's obviously several different positions of need right now,
06:20do you think the Patriots would make a move or some sort of trade?
06:24And if so, what position group?
06:27Like, where are you looking, and what do you think their mindset is?
06:31I think that they would if it appealed to them,
06:33and they didn't think that, okay,
06:34we're going to get somebody back at that position that's going to fix it.
06:37For instance, guard.
06:39Quentin Nelson goes,
06:40is Mike Mweno in a position right now where he's coming back?
06:44Most likely not.
06:45Elijah Vera Tucker, he should come back,
06:46but it's significant enough an injury that's going to have him out for a bit.
06:51So guard would have been a position.
06:54And they will, I'm sure,
06:56weigh whether or not they want to give up the pick at this point in their
06:59development still.
07:00That was a reason that they didn't make any moves last year at the trade
07:04deadline because they felt, okay,
07:06we're not a team that's really adding right now because we're still a
07:11developing team.
07:12We don't want to give up our draft picks.
07:13And in the end, they got,
07:15I don't think they lost the Super Bowl because they didn't make a move to
07:18trade deadline.
07:19But I look at safety, they're wafer thin there.
07:24Craig Woodson and Kevin Byard,
07:25I think are two players who have played pretty well overall,
07:29but there's really not that much behind them.
07:31I think you could look at edge,
07:32Khalil Mack with the Chargers is a player who's out there.
07:35Buda Baker plays safety for the Arizona Cardinals.
07:38Well, those are two names that stick out to me.
07:40Josh Downs is with the Colts and he's expressed somewhat desire to be traded.
07:48That when he was asked about it, he said, you know,
07:51if I'm here, I'm here.
07:52If I'm not, I'm not.
07:53But he's a smaller receiver.
07:54And I just don't think that a younger receiver,
07:57even though he did play with Drake May at North Carolina,
07:59bringing him in, he's going to be in there.
08:02And all of a sudden you just wave a wand and he's got it down.
08:05So I don't think there'll be busy,
08:08but I'm sure that there will be calls going out.
08:12All right.
08:13Now yesterday on early edition, Tom,
08:14your co-hosts were merciless when you commented that Eli Raritan had
08:18impressive quads.
08:19Is that, I'm pointing you correctly.
08:21That was not nice of them.
08:22But let me ask you about Eli and Kyle Williams,
08:24because they're in the spotlight now this weekend.
08:26Of these two,
08:27who do you have faith in that can step up and take this game over?
08:30Easy.
08:31I know where he's going.
08:31Oh, oh, oh, it's Eli.
08:34Eli.
08:34Okay.
08:34But Tom also called Kyle a home run hitter,
08:36which I thought was impressive.
08:38Okay.
08:38Well, he,
08:40he had four touchdowns last year on 10 catches.
08:43His,
08:44his yards per catch right now is something obscene.
08:47I think he's,
08:48it's like 23 yards per catch.
08:50That's good.
08:51I like home runs.
08:53I do.
08:54Yeah.
08:54He's like Dave Kingman.
08:58But I think Eli Raritan is a player that you can count on as being a
09:03fixture for this team for a few years.
09:05It's early seven games into his career,
09:08but I think he's just got the right makeup.
09:11And the reason we mentioned the quads is because I was interviewing him for
09:15irrelevant questions this week and he sidled up and I just,
09:18my God,
09:18you have huge quads.
09:20We started talking about blocking and he's been a better ball.
09:24Locker than they anticipated.
09:25So I think that there's a lot of room for him to improve.
09:28And I think he's already pretty frigging good.
09:30Hey,
09:31Tom,
09:31just looking at the AFC landscape,
09:33you know,
09:33you got the chiefs that got just drilled against Seattle.
09:37So they,
09:37they're not undefeated anymore.
09:39You know,
09:39there's just a lot of teams,
09:40you know,
09:41even the Jaguars have lost a couple and they kicked our butt,
09:44but just,
09:44just how would you kind of just the top teams in the AFC?
09:48What do you,
09:49what do you think those teams are?
09:50Are the Patriots close to being a team that you think is maybe one of the top
09:53teams in the AFC?
09:55No doubt.
09:56Yeah.
09:56I think it remains wide open.
09:57I think,
09:58you know,
09:59the Patriots,
10:00Kansas city,
10:01Buffalo,
10:04Denver,
10:05and Jacksonville are probably the five best teams.
10:07You know,
10:08Pittsburgh's in the mix based on record.
10:11The Browns are in the mix based on record.
10:13I just don't believe in the Bengals.
10:15I just don't think they're a team that's very reliable.
10:20They do seem to underachieve on a regular basis.
10:23The Ravens would,
10:24would certainly be in the mix.
10:25They've kind of kept it together.
10:27Their heads above water somewhat without Lamar Jackson,
10:31but it's something we've talked about a lot in the off season is where would
10:34the Patriots fit in the AFC?
10:37And I,
10:37I think the AFC remains even after seven games as wide open as I thought it
10:42was during the regular season.
10:44So when you talk about whether or not the Patriots are a contender,
10:47we did this a lot in the off season.
10:48Would the Patriots be a contender to,
10:51you know,
10:52win the AFC,
10:53go back to the Superbowl.
10:54And I think they have as good a shot as anyone because the bills are under a
10:59new coach.
11:00The Ravens are under a new coach.
11:01Kansas city's dealing with the homes coming back.
11:03And even though I think that despite his statistical drop,
11:06he's still who he is.
11:08So it remains wide open.
11:10And I,
11:10I don't think you've seen the best of the Patriots yet either.
11:12I really don't.
11:13I think the Patriots are building to a crescendo.
11:17I think they're a team that's still improving.
11:19I think Drake may is still improving.
11:21I think that regardless of the news today with AJ Brown missing practice and
11:25having me added to the injury report,
11:28I think the team is going to continue to get better.
11:30I'm sorry,
11:31Tommy current.
11:31I can't get over the fact that on a scale of one to 10 of concern,
11:35you're an 8.8 when it comes to AJ Brown.
11:38I know.
11:39I mean,
11:40that's because I'm,
11:41I'm imagining right now,
11:42Travion Henderson in practice today as well,
11:44or at least he was seen leaving early,
11:46I think with his backpack or something like that.
11:48So if you've got,
11:49I'm just,
11:50I'm imagining the offense,
11:51you got no Travion Henderson,
11:53AJ Brown's not playing.
11:54Romeo Dobbs is out.
11:55You're receiving core is what you've got.
11:58Efton Chisholm,
11:59Kyle Williams,
12:00and Pop Douglas.
12:02I was asking Ted this earlier,
12:04like,
12:04is that sustainable?
12:05Like,
12:06I don't know how,
12:07it almost seems like you're walking on like glass.
12:11And at any moment,
12:11it's just going to come shattering down.
12:13And the only thing holding it together is Drake may.
12:16Sure.
12:17And that's a good guy to have it hold together.
12:19And it's also an outstanding opponent to have this week for the New England
12:23Patriots because they're playing Miami.
12:26So it knocks off a week of Romeo Dobbs being unavailable.
12:31We don't know the level of dire consequence that we have with AJ Brown.
12:38I do think the defense is better than they indicated last Thursday.
12:43I think it's a stable team.
12:44It's a glitch.
12:47The 8.8 I present to you,
12:49concern level is more based on until I have evidence that everything is fine
12:54and it dips down to a two,
12:57then I'm fine.
12:59How's that?
13:00Does that assuage your concern about my concern?
13:04No.
13:04No.
13:05Not at all because I'm just imagining,
13:07you know what's going to happen?
13:08If AJ Brown continues to have this deep,
13:10it's going to be like they knew the entire time.
13:13Why were they the only team in on AJ Brown?
13:15I mean,
13:16that's what you know that's going to be the narrative if things end up going,
13:19continuing in this direction.
13:21But even if it does continue that direction,
13:24the team finishes 10 and seven and wins two playoff games.
13:26Who cares?
13:27I mean,
13:28yes.
13:29I mean,
13:30you're right.
13:30It will be lamentable.
13:32It will be conversation.
13:33But I think that that's a separate issue.
13:37Concern levels about AJ Brown or the unavailability of Romeo Dubs.
13:41To me,
13:41they should be able to beat the Miami Dolphins this week and improve to five and three.
13:47I was going to ask you,
13:48will they cover though?
13:49Are you feeling like a comfortable win or a...
13:51Yeah.
13:51It feels like a 24-10 to me.
13:53It feels like a 24-10 to me.
13:55Ken,
13:55it's the worst offense in football.
13:57Excuse me,
13:57the worst defense in football.
13:58And the quarterback got four touchdowns and four picks.
14:01He's not real potent.
14:02Okay,
14:02but it's trouble down in Miami,
14:04no?
14:04You've been on a lot of these trips down there.
14:05Tough to win there.
14:06Will you stop looking at a clear sky and finding clouds?
14:10Every day,
14:11I have to deal with this.
14:12Every day.
14:13Somebody has to push back on this homerism.
14:16Yep.
14:16All right.
14:17All right.
14:18Well,
14:18Tommy Curran,
14:20great stuff,
14:21despite you obviously making me anxiety about A.J. Brown go up fairly significantly.
14:26But listen,
14:27we'll keep an eye on it.
14:28We'll see what ends up happening,
14:29and let's just hope...
14:32Let's just hope this is the knee thing,
14:34is just compensating for the ankle,
14:35and he was overworked,
14:36and he'll be back and fine after the Miami game.
14:38That would be nice.
14:39That's all we can do.
14:40That's all we can do.
14:41All right,
14:41Tommy Curran,
14:42great stuff.
14:42Thanks for coming out with us,
14:43man.
14:43We appreciate it.
14:44See you guys.