00:00Well, we knew that A.J. Brown ended up ending up on the injury report on Wednesday.
00:04Not only his ankle, but also his knee was listed.
00:08And then yesterday he wasn't at practice.
00:09And once again today, he and Travion Henderson both missing.
00:13Now, I don't know how many texts back and forth our group text had
00:17with reports from different reporters saying that A.J. Brown was going to be out for multiple weeks.
00:23Well, it was just one reporter, wasn't it?
00:25That was kind of aggregated by others.
00:26So there was like two.
00:28I'm not sure he's a reporter.
00:29But both of them, you'd click on it, and it wasn't like four followers this guy had,
00:34but it wasn't like a million.
00:36You know, it was like, I think he had like 10,000.
00:39Pull it up now.
00:40He's got 11,600 followers.
00:41Okay.
00:42And so all these people started taking that and running with it.
00:45Just know that that has not been reported by any reputable source
00:49that he is going to be out for multiple weeks.
00:52Now, seeing that he did not practice today and did not practice yesterday,
00:55I think we all would agree.
00:56Obviously, chances are he's most likely not going to play on Sunday.
01:00Yeah, but Vrabel hasn't ruled him out, though, right?
01:01Questionable.
01:02Not ruled out.
01:03Yeah.
01:04Didn't he say he's got to see how he feels tomorrow?
01:06Now, Vrabel's answers here were very interesting.
01:08I think we should play him.
01:09We played the one on the feed, and he said questionable.
01:11But he was asked several follow-ups.
01:13So I want Ted's interpretation of this.
01:15And yours, Rich.
01:16Yeah, so here's the first one about rushing him back.
01:19Is there any concern you might have rushed him back,
01:22or can you not think that way?
01:24I don't think those things are really – I think those are separate issues here.
01:30Those are separate issues here.
01:32Huh.
01:33Okay, so what does that mean?
01:34Rushing him back versus what?
01:36I mean, I'm assuming he means he hurt his knee this week, like he did aggravate it,
01:41or something happened maybe at practice would be my read,
01:44but I don't know if that's accurate.
01:45Okay, he's saying that the ankle didn't lead to the knee.
01:47Right.
01:48It wasn't the workload or you playing him too much in the first two games back.
01:51It was something else.
01:52Okay.
01:53Once again, this is a knee that has been an issue for a while,
01:56and we're assuming it's the same knee.
01:58I don't know if it is or if it isn't.
01:59Well, funny you say that.
02:01Greg Bedard went as a Patriots general manager for Halloween for the 20th year in a row last night.
02:06He said last night on NBC, he asked a lot of people over there, and he got shrugs,
02:10so he's assuming it's the bad knee.
02:12That's his report now.
02:13He got no answer, and so he's going to run with that and say it's his bad knee.
02:17Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:18Which couldn't be true or could not be true.
02:19Once again, this is one of those reports that has not been confirmed.
02:22All I know is that there's just – everyone likes to retweet everybody,
02:25even though if they don't get any kind of confirmation that it's legit.
02:31But is there any more of Rabel talking about that?
02:33Okay, let me hear more.
02:35This is about his workload and whether he had too much workload.
02:38Can you expound upon that?
02:39Just in terms of his workload, I think he played – I know part of that was Romeo got hurt,
02:44but he played quite a bit in the two games.
02:47I think it was like 102 out of 120 snaps.
02:50Was there any thought of maybe scaling back – like he's out there,
02:53but maybe scaling back the workload?
02:55I mean, we want our best players to play, and I would consider him one of those.
02:58And, I mean, again, we're really here focused on trying to get a win on the road
03:03into the division, and we'll make a decision on the guys that are questionable tomorrow.
03:08Oh, geez.
03:08Good answer, bud.
03:09Good question by Reese there.
03:10He was digging in.
03:11That's an uncomfortable one.
03:12That's a good way to go, Mike.
03:14It's usually not his style.
03:15What do you guys think?
03:17Can we all agree that he maybe was rushed back, or do you guys not feel he was rushed back?
03:22I don't – or –
03:23I think it's – it could be rushed back, but I think it's more Romeo Dobbs being out,
03:28he got way more reps than he was supposed to get.
03:30I think that he wasn't eased back in the way that he should have been eased back.
03:33I think that's Reese's question.
03:34Yeah.
03:34Because he played almost 90% of the snaps, or over 90% of the snaps, in both games.
03:39That's – and when Dobbs got hurt in the first play of his first game – of AJ's first game
03:43back,
03:44against the Jets, right?
03:44Oh, in that touchdown.
03:44Yes.
03:45Yes.
03:45Okay.
03:46So that's interesting.
03:47Yeah, maybe.
03:47Maybe when Dobbs got hurt, they had a plan for him.
03:50It was going to be less reps, but then that changed things.
03:52That's interesting.
03:53But is there – there's a part of me that wonders if they – because part of me thought
03:59he wouldn't be back for that Jets game, and even the Bears game because it was a short week.
04:04Yeah.
04:05Is there any – is there a part of you that maybe thinks that they rushed him back
04:08because this was such a big trade?
04:10The Patriots don't make these types of trades.
04:13Pay this kind of money and spend draft capital like this hardly ever.
04:18Or is it to kind of validate that that was the right move?
04:21So they wanted to – Braves or, you know, the coaches kind of maybe forced him out there
04:26before he was ready?
04:27I hate to say this, Ted, but I think you'd be in the best position to answer that.
04:31Yeah.
04:31As a player, as someone – because I also don't know, like, when his doctor says that he's
04:38fine and the player seems to think that he's fine, why would they not put him out?
04:44You know what I mean, Ted?
04:45And you would know better than anybody.
04:46There's tactics, though.
04:47Coaches can have tactics.
04:48They can ask you, hey, how's your hamstring, right?
04:50Whatever it is you're dealing with, how does it feel?
04:52And that's basically them pressuring you by just asking you.
04:55Yeah.
04:56And you just wonder – I looked up Brable's career, 14 years.
05:01Can you – you guys want to take a guess on how many games he averaged a season
05:06in that 14-year career?
05:08Must be a lot.
05:1012.
05:10Well, it's – it's – it's – it's unrelievable.
05:14Eight of the 14 years, he didn't miss a game.
05:17Ooh.
05:17He averaged 14.7 – geez – games in the regular season a year in his 14-year career.
05:24You just wonder, you know, Mike's got it.
05:26Mike's played through a lot of injuries.
05:28Yeah.
05:28And you just wonder if there's a culture of, hey, man, it's expected of you to get out
05:32there even if you're not 100%.
05:34But to your point, especially if he went to bat for A.J.'s trade to the crafts in the
05:39front office and said –
05:39And you know he did.
05:40Which I'm sure he did.
05:41And then he's saying, look, A.J., you've got to make me look good, buddy.
05:43I traded a first for you.
05:44Get on the field.
05:45Just ask him a question.
05:46I wonder.
05:46Right.
05:47He's also one of the most notorious coaches for, quote-unquote, overusing a player.
05:52What he did to Derrick Henry when he played for Tennessee was almost criminal.
05:55Like, Derrick Henry had – I remember there was one year where he had – it was like a
06:02ridiculous amount more carries than any other running back in the league.
06:05I'll check that out.
06:06I'm curious myself.
06:06Well, he's still going, so he didn't kill him.
06:08He didn't kill him, no.
06:09Still leading the league.
06:09No, he did not.
06:10But you're right.
06:12I don't know whether they rushed him back.
06:14All I know is that it was shocking to see a guy who hadn't been playing for weeks all
06:19of a sudden get 90% of the snaps.
06:21Wasn't that a little bit shocking?
06:23And then another 90% of the snaps four days later.
06:26On a short week, yeah.
06:26Great point.
06:27Now, here's the last question because this – Rable gets a little snippy.
06:30It's the fourth – the third follow-up.
06:31The fourth question, then A.J. Brown, and here's the exchange.
06:33Since he's questionable with A.J., you're not worried at this point that it's like a
06:37long-term thing?
06:38I'm focused on today.
06:39I'm focused on getting a team ready to go down to Miami and win.
06:42That's what my focus is.
06:44I don't concern myself with things that are – you know, you waste time worrying.
06:49With the possibility that A.J. can't go and you have Romeo and Matt on IR.
06:54We'll have 11 out there, Soph.
06:56I promise you.
06:56We'll have 11 out there on offense.
06:58I hope that we do.
06:59That's our goal.
07:00And, again, I appreciate all your guys' questions.
07:03We've been through this before.
07:04Okay, so if I'll let you finish your question since I cut you off.
07:07Jeez, you guys make a great point.
07:10I'm listening to that answer, and I'm thinking, he probably did go to bat for A.J. Brown.
07:14That's what I said yesterday.
07:15Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:16That's his guy.
07:16Yeah.
07:17And so he's probably sitting there going – and that's probably why he wanted him
07:20to get out there as quick as he did.
07:22It's like, dude, don't make me look like a fool.
07:23You need to get out there and show them that you can play, that you're not damaged goods.
07:27Do you know what I had to say to get your ass on this team?
07:30I mean, it makes all the sense in the world that that's his mentality.
07:34Dude, one of the worst position groups in the NFL is the Patriots' wide receivers.
07:39They rank at the bottom of a lot of metrics.
07:42So it is a group that has been underperforming all season long,
07:46and Mike's got to feel a little bit – because you stick your neck out for somebody like that.
07:50I mean, he got a lot of credibility for taking the Patriots to the Super Bowl last year, right?
07:55And so that gave him some, I think, some leeway to kind of flex his muscles, if you will.
08:00And I guarantee you, A.J. was one of his biggest flexes, and they said,
08:03you know what, Mike, you got us to the Super Bowl.
08:05We're going to trust you in this instance.
08:06But typically, that is not a move the Patriots make, considering the history of injuries
08:13with that degenerative knee that A.J. has.
08:16That was a huge risk for the Patriots to take.
