Greg REACTS to Jerod Mayo Response to His Report + Patriots Coaching candidates+

CLNS Media Sports Network

In the latest episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast featuring Nick Cattles, Greg Bedard shares his reactions to Jerod Mayo's response to his reports. The episode also covers discussions about the challenges Mike Vrabel is facing in Tennessee, as highlighted by both Lombardi and La Canfora, who have also connected Vrabel to the Patriots. Additionally, there's a recap of the Patriots' recent loss to the Bills and a discussion on potential coaching candidates if the Patriots decide to transition from Bill Belichick.      Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.    This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles is brought to you by:  Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering parter of the CLNS Media NetworkRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, Official Partner of the NFL. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.    Visit https://factormeals.com/BEDARD50 to get 50% off your first box! Factor is America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.

Transcript

00:00 What I've reported is real.

00:02 People can pretend that it's not.

00:04 They can say whatever they want to say.

00:07 I don't really care.

00:09 You know, I know it's real

00:11 from the multiple different people that I've talked about

00:15 that both before and after my initial report.

00:19 This response also sheds light on people

00:24 who maybe Mayo rubs the wrong way.

00:27 I think in some corners of that building,

00:30 the way Mayo handled this question

00:33 would rub people the wrong way.

00:35 Even, you know, Bill Belichick

00:37 or people who are aligned with him, you know, in this way.

00:41 He's Greg, I'm Nick, you know the deal.

00:50 This episode is brought to you by FanDuel,

00:51 the exclusive wagering part of the CLNS Media Network.

00:54 Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets

00:58 with any winning $5 Moneyline bet.

01:02 Let's start with Gerard Mayo, Greg,

01:03 because on this podcast and at BSJ,

01:06 you have written and you've spoken about

01:09 Gerard rubbing some people in the facility the wrong way.

01:12 Mayo had a chance to finally respond to your report

01:15 yesterday with the media.

01:17 What were your thoughts?

01:18 Okay.

01:20 First of all, while I look for the comments,

01:23 'cause I saw that Andrew Callahan transcribed them all.

01:28 Good job by him.

01:32 Let me just, you know, tell people sort of,

01:36 and I'm not sure if I've explained this,

01:39 because, you know, one of the things that Gerard says,

01:43 and let's go over some of his comments.

01:46 Some of his, he said,

01:49 "Honestly, when that report came out,

01:51 "you know, my brother sent it to me.

01:52 "It was more hurtful than anything.

01:53 "I found it to be, well, the timing is a little bit weird,

01:56 "in my opinion, and if that was the case,

02:00 "I feel this would have been leaked sometime earlier."

02:04 He said, "At the same time,

02:06 "I try to treat everyone the same way.

02:09 "I will say this, I've thought about it for a while,

02:11 "when people talk about rubbing people the wrong way,

02:12 "like obviously sometimes, I mean,

02:14 "that's part of the job of being a leader,

02:16 "to rub people the wrong way.

02:21 "If there's any change or anything like that,

02:23 "it's gonna be painful.

02:23 "If someone's gonna rub you the wrong way,

02:26 "at the end of the day, you have to look at it

02:27 "through all the words, and really get to the substance,

02:30 "get to the meat of the potatoes.

02:32 "I know it's recent, I think it's like a week old

02:34 "at this point, but it triggered an opportunity

02:36 "for self-reflection.

02:38 "We all have blind spots,

02:39 "and maybe that's one of my blind spots,

02:42 "but you know, at the end of the day,

02:43 "hopefully whoever put that story out

02:46 "is man or woman enough to bring it to my attention,

02:49 "to have a conversation."

02:51 So that's sort of the crux of it.

02:59 He went on, he was asked about it sort of twice,

03:02 and went on at length.

03:04 First of all, to talk about just the genesis of the story,

03:09 and I know Gerard said he questioned

03:12 sort of the timing of it.

03:14 To me, as a reporter, the timing is logical.

03:17 - Right.

03:18 - He wonders, and certainly I want your opinion on this,

03:22 Nick, as sort of an independent observer,

03:24 and a member of the media.

03:26 But to me, the genesis of the story was,

03:28 look, at a certain point in the season,

03:30 it progressed to the point, including by certain reports

03:35 by Tommy Curran and others,

03:38 that this was progressing, that Belichick and the Patriots

03:41 were gonna part ways at the end of the season.

03:46 So to me, when that happens,

03:49 Gerard Mayo is viewed differently, okay?

03:54 He is viewed as a possible successor to Bill Belichick,

03:59 as the possible next head coach of the Patriots.

04:01 In August and September, Gerard is an assistant coach,

04:06 he's not even a defensive coordinator,

04:09 he's not calling defensive plays.

04:12 And so, quite frankly,

04:17 Gerard Mayo wasn't even really on my radar all that much.

04:20 I know we talked about, he got the contract extension,

04:23 Kraft, as I reported, used the phrase,

04:28 heir apparent with Mayo at the league meetings last year.

04:33 And so, but once it got to this season,

04:38 once it got past the Colts game and there were reports,

04:41 Gerard Mayo is now a different person to me,

04:44 or he should be, whereas he has the ability,

04:49 he has the potential to be the next head coach

04:51 of the New England Patriots.

04:52 It's time to start vetting him.

04:56 It's time to start calling around,

04:57 getting opinions, asking people.

05:00 And really, this is just the course of,

05:03 in the reporting of what's next for the Patriots,

05:06 what's gonna happen with Belichick and what's next.

05:08 And so, I'm talking to as many people as possible,

05:12 inside the building, outside the building,

05:14 league sources, all this stuff,

05:16 to find out the answers to all those questions.

05:19 And so, obviously, I'm going to ask about Gerard.

05:22 And all I knew about Gerard, really coming into this,

05:26 was my sort of history with him,

05:29 which I have, there's nothing in our history,

05:33 other than I have a great deal of respect for him.

05:36 I thought he was a hell of a player.

05:38 I knew that, you're talking about

05:39 defensive rookie of the year when he came out.

05:41 He was a middle linebacker,

05:43 almost immediately for the Patriots.

05:45 Was smart as hell,

05:46 was teaching people the defense as a rookie.

05:48 Obviously, a leader, a spiritual leader of the team.

05:53 Went into business right after his playing days,

05:57 then came back to coaching.

06:00 And by all accounts,

06:03 A's across the board, in terms of everything,

06:07 talked about as a future head coach somewhere,

06:10 possibly here.

06:11 But, once it became apparent, or at least likely,

06:16 that Belichick would part ways with the Patriots,

06:19 or vice versa, at the end of the season,

06:21 now Gerard is looked at differently.

06:23 It's time to go under the microscope.

06:24 Everybody goes under the microscope.

06:26 It's not personal, it's not about Gerard.

06:28 I've already looked at Bill Belichick,

06:30 I'm gonna look at Mike Vrabel,

06:32 I'm gonna look at Brian Flores,

06:33 I'm gonna look at Bill O'Brien.

06:35 All of these as we get towards the end of the season,

06:38 and the transition period for the Patriots.

06:40 So, in terms of the timing,

06:43 I don't think it's weird at all,

06:45 because, like I said, he's under the microscope now,

06:50 and so it's his turn to be in the spotlight.

06:54 Nobody's perfect.

06:56 There are going to be flaws in every possible candidate

07:01 for the New England Patriots,

07:02 and it was sort of his turn.

07:05 And I'll just say, I know other reporters know

07:08 the information that I've reported,

07:10 and including, I haven't reported everything

07:14 to the full tilt, 'cause I didn't think it was,

07:16 some of it was fair to Gerard,

07:19 or I don't think it was the right thing to do

07:24 as far as reporting, and making sure you have

07:27 certain things correct, and things that you know of.

07:30 I will state unequivocally,

07:32 I 100% stand behind my report, my subsequent reporting,

07:37 which has been a little bit harder,

07:40 but just dealing with his comment about the timing,

07:43 to me, I think it's perfect timing,

07:45 because he is now under the microscope,

07:47 if he intends to be the successor to Bill Belichick.

07:50 - Yeah, so a lot of stuff that's out there,

07:52 doesn't get thrown out there unsolicited, right?

07:55 Like, usually there's a reason why reporters

07:57 are digging into something to see if there's a story there,

08:01 and look, I think it's just obvious.

08:04 Belichick might be on his way out,

08:07 there's a guy in the building that might be the successor,

08:09 you ask questions to people that have worked with that guy

08:12 who could be the successor.

08:13 Do you like him, do you not like him?

08:15 How do you feel about him?

08:16 Has he changed at all?

08:18 I just think that's a natural situation.

08:20 I do think, as far as the way Mayo

08:24 handled the questioning yesterday, Greg,

08:27 I don't know if you agree, I would think you do,

08:30 but I thought it really did draw a line,

08:34 you know, that contrast between who Mayo is

08:37 and who Belichick is, and a lot of people

08:39 wanna group Mayo with Belichick,

08:41 'cause he played for 'em, he's coached for 'em,

08:44 but I thought that answer, in a number of different ways,

08:48 did show you the stark contrast

08:49 between those two individuals

08:51 and how they would handle a situation like this,

08:54 and what that might tell you,

08:56 what Mayo would be like as a head coach.

08:59 - 100%, I 100% agree with you,

09:01 and I also will say, upon further reflection

09:04 and listening to his comments a little bit more,

09:06 I will say that I think the comments are a double-edged sword

09:11 and sort of show you how Gerard Mayo

09:15 can be viewed differently by different people,

09:17 and let me explain.

09:18 First of all, I do agree with you.

09:20 I think that, look, let's just say,

09:22 if Bill Belichick got this question,

09:24 and he gets these kind of questions every week

09:26 about this report or that report,

09:28 and what's Bill say?

09:31 - Is that one of those reports

09:32 from one of those anonymous sources?

09:34 You'll have to ask one of those anonymous sources.

09:37 - Like, and he'll just get rid of it,

09:38 or I'm focused on the Jets, you know, this.

09:41 He's not gonna entertain it,

09:43 and I do think, over the long haul,

09:45 you know, there's definitely extremes.

09:49 There's a middle ground, but, you know,

09:51 as a head coach of football,

09:53 you can't answer every single report that's out there,

09:56 and if you're the head coach of an NFL team,

10:00 there are gonna be a lot of reports

10:02 that aren't kind to you,

10:03 and you can't just respond to every one of them.

10:05 I, now, I do think it was important,

10:07 and definitely, I expected Gerard to answer this,

10:12 but I will say, I agree with your point

10:14 that if people were afraid,

10:19 and look, Gerard knows what he's doing.

10:22 Like I said, he's extremely smart.

10:25 Some people will call him calculating.

10:26 Some people will call him political.

10:28 I also think he has an excellent agent,

10:31 and Sean Kiernan from Athletes First.

10:33 I think that they knew this was coming.

10:36 They knew the question was coming at some point,

10:38 and I'm sure there was a discussion

10:40 about how he was going to answer it,

10:42 and if you were Gerard Mayo,

10:44 and wanted to be the successor to Bill Belichick,

10:46 but differentiate yourself from Bill Belichick,

10:49 a guy you played, like you said,

10:51 played for, assistant coach,

10:53 the only place he's ever been in the NFL

10:55 is one Patriot place,

10:56 and for a lot of people,

10:58 Joe Judge, Matt Patricia, Josh McDaniels,

11:03 go through the whole list of guys

11:05 who only stayed at one Patriot place,

11:08 and then ventured out,

11:08 and was a head coach on their own.

11:10 It didn't go well for them,

11:12 because they tried to be, some of them, at least,

11:14 tried to be Bill Belichick.

11:17 Gerard, with his answer,

11:19 whether it was natural or what have you,

11:24 definitely set a course that said,

11:27 I'm not Bill Jr.,

11:29 like some people basically nicknamed him

11:33 during his playing days here,

11:34 that he was Bill Jr.,

11:35 that they thought the same way,

11:37 that they were both that smart,

11:39 and so Gerard's answer, just answering it,

11:43 how expansive he was,

11:45 how he talked about his feelings,

11:47 how he talked to, how he reflected,

11:50 how maybe he does come off not well

11:54 to others, I mean, you couldn't get

11:57 a bigger departure from Bill Belichick,

11:59 so I think that served him well.

12:01 However, Nick, I will say,

12:03 and I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on this,

12:06 you know, like I said, what I've reported is real.

12:10 People can pretend that it's not.

12:12 They could say whatever they wanna say.

12:15 I don't really care.

12:17 You know, I know it's real

12:19 from the multiple different people

12:22 that I've talked about,

12:23 that both before and after my initial report.

12:27 This response also sheds light on people

12:32 who maybe Mayo rubs the wrong way.

12:35 I think in some corners of that building,

12:38 the way Mayo handled this question

12:41 would rub people the wrong way,

12:43 even, you know, Bill Belichick

12:45 or people who are aligned with him,

12:47 you know, in this way.

12:49 The Patriots, more than any other,

12:52 probably NFL team I've ever been around,

12:54 there is a structure.

12:58 There is a, what's the term?

13:00 I just had it in my head.

13:01 About, you know, it's related to Army,

13:03 a chain of command.

13:04 - Yep.

13:05 - There is a chain of command with the New England Patriots

13:07 that, you know, it is,

13:09 Bill Belichick talks about all things football,

13:12 and you take your lead from Bill Belichick.

13:15 And when you get answers,

13:18 or when you get questions that Bill would get,

13:21 you know, most of the people there

13:24 would answer them similar to Bill,

13:25 maybe a little bit nicer,

13:27 but similar to Bill,

13:28 basically like not give reports air.

13:32 And so for Gerard Mayo to go on at length

13:37 about a report,

13:39 I could see it bothering some people in the building.

13:43 And some of those people saying like,

13:45 all right, well, at the end of the day,

13:47 who's Gerard serving answering the question this way?

13:51 Is it serving Bill Belichick,

13:52 who you're supposed to be serving,

13:54 that you're supposed to be in service of the head coach,

13:57 you know, or are you serving yourself?

14:00 And, you know, to me,

14:02 I don't know how you feel about it, Nick,

14:03 but I think that if you're looking at it that way,

14:06 that the Patriots have a chain of command

14:08 and a strict structure to their football organization,

14:13 you could make the case that this was a self-serving answer

14:16 for Gerard Mayo.

14:17 Now, I don't disagree with it.

14:19 I love it.

14:20 I'm glad he answered it as a media member

14:22 and I ain't gonna complain,

14:23 but I'm trying to shed light on, you know,

14:26 how a report like mine can come to light,

14:29 how people can tell me these things.

14:32 I would say that this answer could show you

14:35 how it could be viewed differently

14:37 in different areas of that building.

14:38 - If it is viewed that way,

14:42 then I think it speaks volumes of Belichick,

14:45 how he handles his operation.

14:49 And I would also say that if that ruffled feathers

14:52 and you happen to be somebody who believes

14:54 Belichick will acquiesce in any way for 2024 to stay,

14:59 well, if that's how he felt about Mayo's comments,

15:02 he ain't changing.

15:03 And I'm one of those people

15:04 that do not expect Belichick to change.

15:07 I do not expect Belichick to walk into Kraft's office

15:10 next week and say,

15:12 "All right, give the power to somebody else.

15:14 I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy coaching.

15:15 You know me, Bill Belichick,

15:17 the guy who just lays back and loves to just coach

15:19 and not worry about anything else."

15:21 You know, I go back to years ago, I have a friend,

15:24 and this friend told me, because try to follow this.

15:28 My friend had a friend who worked there with the Patriots.

15:34 And I learned years ago

15:38 that Belichick knows everything in that building.

15:41 And I mean, we're talking about the nutritional staff,

15:44 we're talking about the custodians.

15:47 He knows everything.

15:49 He knows who picks up the garbage at night.

15:51 He knows, so he is very aware of everything

15:56 with his surroundings and how he wants these things handled.

16:01 And there's been stories out there

16:02 how he speaks to the team to make sure

16:04 that he'll bring the employees at the facility

16:07 in front of the group.

16:09 And there'll be this whole like, you know,

16:10 thank you kind of thing and ingratiate the team

16:13 with the guys and women that work behind the scenes.

16:16 So he's all aware.

16:18 And he loves to have a hand in pretty much everything.

16:21 That's why I don't think he's ever going

16:23 to be willing to step back here in New England

16:26 because he's built this thing the way he wants it.

16:29 And that just goes into what you just said, Greg.

16:31 Like, if he looks at the comments by Mayo,

16:34 he's like, you know, "Gerrard's not with the program.

16:38 He's not sticking to the program.

16:39 Okay, now let's look at this in a different way.

16:42 If you bring an outside president of football operations,

16:45 or even if somebody, Bill knows,

16:48 and they have a press conference,

16:50 that GM is going to say what they want to say.

16:52 And they should say what they want to say without,

16:55 you know, thinking of,

16:56 "Oh, the head coach might not like this.

16:58 Bill might not like this.

17:00 This might cause some friction."

17:01 So I think Kraft, Greg, I don't know about you,

17:04 but if I'm Kraft and Belichick looks at those comments

17:07 and feels that way, to me,

17:09 that's even further reasoning why I can't have this guy

17:11 in the building with a different power structure.

17:14 - Yeah, I would agree with that, Nick.

17:16 And I would also say that, look, I don't blame,

17:19 like I said, I don't blame Gerrard Mayo

17:21 for answering the question the way that he did.

17:24 And I think he knew full well that this was,

17:27 this was sort of a job interview,

17:29 that the Krafts are listening,

17:31 that they're listening to that.

17:32 And that, you know, this would appeal to them.

17:36 But, you know, I also think that,

17:39 that, you know, this, it can, you know, that's what,

17:44 if I was Gerrard, that's all I would be focused on.

17:50 Like, look, you know, pretty much the chances are

17:52 is that Belichick's done here.

17:54 And I do think that, I do think Gerrard is very,

17:58 and this goes to also pointing out how he can quote,

18:02 "rub people the wrong way."

18:03 I do think he's been singularly focused

18:06 on being a head coach in the National Football League.

18:09 You know, I'd point to you that there was a,

18:11 there was a, he interviewed, I think, I think I look back,

18:14 I think this was in 2020.

18:16 This is when Gerrard Mayo was in his second year

18:18 as an assistant coach in the Houston Chronicle.

18:21 Aaron Wilson was there at the time,

18:23 did a humongous takeout on Gerrard Mayo

18:26 as a possible next head coach, which I just looked at,

18:30 I was like, what, this guy's in his second year

18:34 as an assistant coach.

18:35 And I just know, let me, you know,

18:38 I know that, well, I'll just leave that aside

18:43 'cause you're always thinking about

18:44 how you're gonna get aggregated.

18:45 But let's just say that Gerrard Mayo has been,

18:49 he's been singularly focused on being a head coach.

18:52 He is aspirational, you know,

18:56 and I think this, his answer to this question,

18:59 which I thought was great, I certainly entitled,

19:02 I don't have a problem with it.

19:05 He, I do think it was, that's what he had in mind,

19:09 that if it wasn't just the crafts he was speaking to,

19:12 he was also speaking to other NFL teams

19:15 that might have head coaching opportunities.

19:17 - One more thing about this.

19:19 God forbid somebody has ambition.

19:21 Not worried about Gerrard Mayo being focused

19:25 on being a head coach one day.

19:26 If that's the dude's goal, then that's his goal.

19:29 And he should be focused on that, that's number one.

19:31 Number two, at this point, when you're coaching a team

19:35 that has four wins with one game left,

19:38 you should be concerned about yourself.

19:40 You should be focused on number one,

19:42 and you should be lining up your next gig

19:44 just in case you get fired.

19:46 Like that's the way this world works,

19:48 no matter if you're in journalism, football,

19:50 whatever you do for a living.

19:52 He's in a situation where this whole thing

19:54 could get turned over.

19:55 So yeah, if I have an opportunity to answer a question

19:59 that puts me in a great light,

20:00 that might help me take that next step in my career,

20:03 especially with the circumstances he's dealing with,

20:06 I don't have a problem with it at all.

20:08 Finally, I'd say this.

20:09 There's absolutely--

20:11 - Nick, just real quick,

20:13 but before you make your last point,

20:15 I just wanna say you are 100%,

20:17 in the real world, you are 100% correct.

20:21 But one Patriot place in Bill Belichick's kingdom,

20:25 that does not go over well.

20:27 So I just wanted to point that out.

20:29 - Fine, King Belichick's led me to a four and 12 season,

20:31 whatever.

20:32 Here's what I would say.

20:34 I would also say this,

20:36 that there is no matter what the reporting has been,

20:39 that Greg has shared, others have shared,

20:42 football I do know is a results-based business.

20:46 And if I'm Mayo, here's my response.

20:49 There's zero indication that any of this

20:51 has impacted the product.

20:53 This defense has still played well without Judon,

20:56 without Gonzalez, and others like Jabril Peppers recently.

21:00 We are holding up our end of the bargain.

21:03 I'm coaching, I'm game planning,

21:06 these guys are prepared to play.

21:08 We're doing the best we can.

21:10 So you can say everything you wanna say about it,

21:13 but defensively, we've been much better than that offense.

21:17 So maybe Bill O'Brien should start rubbing

21:18 some people the wrong way.

21:20 Maybe something should change there.

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21:56 (upbeat music)

21:58 - All right, let's continue the coaching conversation, Greg,

22:05 because obviously it's taken over the area now.

22:08 It'll take over the area, I think,

22:10 for the next few weeks at least.

22:11 You had mentioned, going back weeks ago,

22:16 and I remember this vividly,

22:18 Diana Rossini from The Athletic had come out and said,

22:22 "If you think Mike Vrabel's leaving Tennessee,

22:25 wipe that from your brain."

22:27 I read that as the Titans kind of know

22:29 that Vrabel might not be happy. (laughs)

22:32 And Tennessee, and ownership is already throwing out there,

22:36 hey, he's gonna stay here

22:37 'cause they wanna draw a hard line in negotiations,

22:39 but whatever.

22:40 You came out roughly the same time and you said,

22:43 "Nah-ah, that is not great down there in Tennessee.

22:46 Vrabel ain't happy.

22:48 He could be gone."

22:50 Very interesting now, Greg.

22:52 Reporter after reporter after reporter.

22:55 NFL insiders, Mike Lombardi, Jason La Confora,

22:59 Dan Graziano, there's a bunch of people now

23:03 that are saying, "Watch out, Vrabel might get traded.

23:07 Vrabel wants out of Tennessee."

23:09 I just want your thoughts now,

23:10 looking back at your report that came out,

23:12 again, months ago, I think,

23:14 and how seemingly this story's now getting caught up on

23:18 and Vrabel might be out of there.

23:21 - Yeah, I initially reported,

23:22 I looked back to end of November

23:24 and I doubled down a few weeks ago on it

23:27 and sort of fleshed out a little bit

23:29 of the Rand Carthon, Mike Vrabel dynamic.

23:33 And just so people who don't know,

23:35 Rand Carthon is the GM of the Tennessee Titans.

23:40 And from what I understand,

23:43 again, I stand firm behind my reporting back then and now.

23:50 And this also goes to the discussion

23:53 that we're gonna have or continuing to have

23:55 about the Patriots and what they do next.

23:57 And what you can absolutely not do

24:00 at the head of your NFL operations

24:03 is you cannot have a shotgun marriage

24:06 between the general manager and the head coach.

24:08 It never, ever works.

24:10 And when the Titans decided to fire John Robinson,

24:14 and I know a lot of people thought

24:15 that was a power move by Mike Vrabel

24:18 and made him stronger in Tennessee.

24:20 That's not the way it happened.

24:22 That was made by ownership

24:24 for I don't know what the specific reason was.

24:27 It could have been A.J. Brown.

24:29 I don't know.

24:32 There could have been other issues

24:34 with John Robinson in that building that I'm not aware of.

24:37 But the bottom line was that was not something

24:40 that Vrabel maneuvered for, to have John Robinson out.

24:45 I mean, if, now you could say that

24:47 if Robinson got fired and somebody came in

24:50 who was very close to Vrabel to run football operation

24:53 or run personnel, but that's not what happened.

24:57 Rand Carthon and Mike Vrabel don't know each other at all.

25:00 Rand Carthon was with the 49ers.

25:02 He was one of the top GM candidates last off season.

25:07 Certainly has the credentials.

25:09 But the ownership of the Titans,

25:15 Amy Strunk-Adams put, Amy Adam Strunk,

25:19 put together Vrabel and Rand.

25:22 I'm sure Vrabel was in on the interviews

25:24 or something like that, but the bottom line,

25:25 the owner decides on that.

25:27 And you have to have alignment between your head coach

25:31 and your general manager,

25:33 or else they're gonna butt heads at some point.

25:35 They're not gonna see things the same way.

25:37 And I just don't think, I know from talking to people

25:42 around the situation, talking to people with Vrabel,

25:45 he is not happy with the situation there.

25:47 And does that mean he's looking to get out?

25:49 I don't know.

25:50 Does that mean that the Titans need to do something to,

25:54 I know they love Vrabel, they want Vrabel there,

25:57 but if Vrabel sees a no-win situation with the GM,

26:00 he ain't gonna stay there.

26:02 And he can make a power move, possibly to New England,

26:05 possibly to some other place.

26:07 But there's no question in my mind

26:09 that if the Tennessee Titans don't do anything,

26:14 then Mike Vrabel could be available to any team in the NFL.

26:17 - Do you mean that as far as Karthian,

26:19 like would he want him out?

26:21 - I don't think that can be ruled out.

26:25 Now, that would be a terrible look for the Titans

26:28 that they hire one of the top minority candidates

26:31 in the league and then let him go after only a year,

26:36 when some people believe that the league office

26:38 had some influence over the Titans going in that direction.

26:41 Now, I don't know if that's true,

26:43 but a lot of people in the NFL believe that.

26:47 I think they're between a rock and a hard place.

26:50 And I'm not saying that Rand's not qualified, he is.

26:54 But if you're gonna hire somebody like Rand Karthon

26:59 and you're gonna tell him to run personnel,

27:01 let him go pick the head coach.

27:02 And it's just like what we're gonna discuss

27:04 with the Patriots, that if you either have to decide

27:09 whether you're gonna have a strong head coach or a strong GM.

27:12 The strong head coach, tell him to pick the personnel guy.

27:15 Strong GM, let him pick the head coach.

27:17 That way you have alignment, they're bought in together,

27:20 there's a marriage there, it's not a shotgun,

27:23 it's a real marriage that they have to make it work

27:26 or else you're asking for disaster along the lines

27:28 that the Titans have had this year.

27:30 - And you're also inviting Karthon,

27:32 if he is let go after a year,

27:34 to drop the hammer on you in some way.

27:36 And I'm sure there would be leaks and there'd be stories.

27:38 I do wanna ask you one more question about this though.

27:41 It would seem to me, maybe I'm totally off base,

27:45 it would seem to me that Mike Vrabel,

27:48 Mike Vrabel's agents, people around Vrabel,

27:52 are pushing the narrative that he could be available.

27:55 It's the only thing that makes sense to me.

27:56 Tennessee wouldn't be pushing this.

27:58 Again, I think Tennessee spoke with Roussini

28:02 at the same time that you were writing this

28:04 about Vrabel roughly to get it out there

28:06 so teams, if they are interested,

28:09 hey, you gotta pony up

28:09 because we're not giving this guy away.

28:12 Do you think Vrabel/Vrabel's side is pushing this, Greg,

28:16 because he's just unhappy in Tennessee

28:20 or, and maybe it could be both,

28:22 he has something lined up already

28:25 or at least he is significantly interested

28:29 in a job that could be out there.

28:31 Let's say Ohio State gets rid of Ryan Day.

28:34 Let's say Belichick leaves New England.

28:36 Is he kind of looking at this saying,

28:38 ducks in a row, I could get out of here.

28:41 I could go to New England and work for a guy

28:43 that I trust entirely in Robert Kraft?

28:46 - My personal opinion,

28:48 somewhat informed, but I haven't talked to Mike

28:55 or anybody like that.

28:56 So I'm just reading the tea leaves

28:58 and also what I know

29:00 and dealing with these situations previously in the NFL.

29:04 To me, this looks like Mike Vrabel

29:07 and somebody told me that his kids are older now.

29:10 So he's not married to the Nashville area anymore.

29:14 And he's been there six years now, done a lot of good.

29:18 This is on the other side.

29:20 He's nowhere with the quarterback position.

29:23 I think that Mike Vrabel looks at this,

29:26 especially after the move to Rand Carthon last year.

29:29 I think that Mike Vrabel is looking for a change of scenery,

29:33 a new situation and that's what he's angling for.

29:37 Does that happen at the end of the day?

29:39 I can't tell you.

29:40 A lot of different things could happen.

29:41 They could throw the bag at Mike Vrabel.

29:44 They could do realign the personnel department

29:47 how he wants it.

29:48 Anything could happen.

29:50 But I think that either way, Mike Vrabel is trying to win.

29:53 And it's either he wins by leaving

29:56 and finding a new situation.

29:57 And we all heard about how he talked about the Patriots

30:00 when he was here for his Hall of Fame induction.

30:03 And there was even more going on behind the scenes

30:06 in regards to that.

30:07 Or his situation with the Titans and his power

30:11 is improved to where that's where he wants to be.

30:15 - And let's not forget, there's been a recent report

30:18 that Kraft is doing exactly what you said he should be doing

30:21 if he's getting ready to move on from Belichick,

30:23 which is he's talking to a lot of people.

30:25 And he's only gonna talk to people who he trusts.

30:29 And you just have to imagine that Vrabel and Kraft

30:31 know some of the same people.

30:33 So it's easy to connect the dots.

30:37 Kraft is doing some legwork on Belichick.

30:39 And where could we go if we move on from Bill?

30:42 It's easy to connect the dots and say Vrabel could absolutely

30:46 be a part of that conversation, if not a significant part

30:48 of that conversation.

30:50 One more question before we get to the Buffalo-Bills game

30:52 and some stuff that you saw.

30:55 And also, if we can get to it today, Belichick's future,

30:57 which I hope we can.

31:00 Jocena Anderson, over the last 36 hours or so,

31:04 two days or so, she's the latest to throw out

31:07 the Chargers with Belichick.

31:09 Gary Myers threw out the Chargers with Belichick.

31:12 I believe Graziano also threw out

31:14 the Chargers with Belichick.

31:15 This Chargers-Bill Belichick thing's not going away.

31:20 The Athletic also wrote over the weekend

31:23 about Belichick being on the list

31:25 and that the Chargers are looking to maybe spend

31:27 more money than they usually do

31:30 and looking to hire somebody that has a larger profile

31:33 than they usually go with.

31:34 Just kind of your thoughts on this idea.

31:38 If Belichick is, again, these conversations I'm sure

31:41 have been happening behind closed doors with some people,

31:44 if not many people.

31:45 Is this thing kind of lining up where we might know

31:49 where this is going?

31:51 Is it a possibility that Vrabel knows Bill's out,

31:55 Kraft knows Bill's out, Kraft knows Vrabel wants out,

31:58 Vrabel's going to get out, Bill's getting out,

32:01 and Bill's going to LA?

32:02 I mean, because there is, I don't wanna go too deep here

32:05 and put the tinfoil cap on or anything,

32:08 but it does kind of feel like, Greg,

32:09 over the last couple of weeks, the smoke is building

32:13 and this all could just be one giant kind of domino game

32:16 that just everybody pretty much knows,

32:19 nobody's gonna say it, but then when the season ends,

32:23 boom, it all happens.

32:26 - Nick, you beautiful, beautiful son of a bitch.

32:29 (laughing)

32:31 All I'm missing is that meme from, I think it was,

32:35 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia with the strings

32:38 and the guy in front of all these things.

32:40 Like, that's you, that's you.

32:42 Look, I don't put anything past these people.

32:48 I really don't.

32:52 I mean, Belichick to the Chargers, could I see it?

32:56 Yeah, I mean, I think he knows the quarterback is there.

33:00 It's more of a veteran roster.

33:03 They got a lot of decisions to make,

33:04 a lot of salary cap stuff.

33:07 I just don't think, like Tom Brady,

33:09 I don't think Bill Belichick is going to have

33:11 the biggest market, especially in terms of

33:14 if he wants power.

33:16 I think that a lot of people think that the Panthers

33:21 will get Ben Johnson, will pay the freight for Ben Johnson.

33:24 I think people think that Jim Harbaugh's

33:26 gonna go to the Raiders, depending on what happens

33:30 with Antonio Pierce and Champ Kelly.

33:32 That's, Mark Davis has been after,

33:35 Jim Harbaugh has been his white whale for a long time.

33:38 And I think the stars have aligned

33:39 that that's gonna line up.

33:41 Washington, it's not really the owner's MO

33:45 to go with a big figurehead and all powerful

33:51 being, that's not the way he's dealt with the 76ers

33:53 or the Devils, the other teams that he owns.

33:55 Dallas is not gonna make a change.

33:58 Everybody loves to talk about it.

33:59 They're not going to.

34:00 Dak's playing the best ball of his career.

34:02 Yeah, Mike McCarthy's a moron sometimes.

34:05 But if you're the owners, are you really gonna change?

34:08 Dak Prescott's playing the best ball of his career.

34:10 Are you gonna bring in somebody else,

34:12 another offensive coordinator for Dak?

34:14 No, you're gonna figure out a way

34:15 to make it work with McCarthy.

34:16 So I don't think the chances are very good there.

34:19 Atlanta's gonna be open.

34:20 I could see Brad Blank, Arthur Blank.

34:25 (laughing)

34:28 A little bit of a Freudian slip.

34:30 Yeah, he'll be very excited about that mention.

34:33 For those of you who don't know,

34:35 Brad Blank is a guy who, he's a NFL agent,

34:38 but he also represents a lot of media people.

34:41 And I've certainly interacted with him

34:45 and consulted with him in the past.

34:48 And currently.

34:49 But Arthur Blank, could he be sick of,

34:53 he's 82 years old too, could he be sick of this crap

34:56 and just say, I'm just bringing in Belichick?

34:57 I could definitely see that.

34:59 And I could see him giving Bill his own autonomy.

35:02 And like, they have their,

35:04 I think Bill would love the shit out of Flowery Branch.

35:07 Like it's off by itself, it has its own apartments.

35:11 It's like Xanadu for like football.

35:14 Talk about Shangri-La.

35:16 So, you know, now that that popped into my head,

35:18 that's interesting.

35:19 But yeah, I mean, I could see it work,

35:21 but you know, do I think that,

35:23 do I think there's maneuvers going on behind the scenes

35:26 to sort of line things up?

35:28 Hell to the yes.

35:29 Do I know what it's gonna look like

35:30 at the end of the day?

35:31 Hell to the no.

35:32 It'd be fascinating.

35:34 It would be fascinating.

35:36 Two quick comments.

35:38 Way to throw the football on second down the other night,

35:40 Mike, you continue to stink as a coach in my estimation.

35:42 Oh my God, that was horrendous.

35:44 Guys, also, clock management, he stinks.

35:47 And also, I wonder,

35:49 I don't know if you would say yes or no to this, Greg,

35:54 but I do wonder if David Tepper

35:57 and the incident over the weekend,

35:59 could that make some people hesitant?

36:02 You know, like if you're Ben Johnson

36:04 and you already know like this guy

36:05 has been changing his mind all the time

36:07 and coach in, coach out,

36:08 and now you get this kind of volatility

36:12 and you wonder like,

36:14 do I really want to be dealing with that

36:16 if I'm somebody like Ben Johnson?

36:18 Because it seems like Ben can go anywhere he wants.

36:21 All right, let's get to the Bill's game.

36:23 You did not like Bill Belichick's post-game press conference

36:29 and the fact that he brought up turnovers.

36:31 Tell us why.

36:32 So to keep it succinct,

36:36 Belichick talks about turnovers like there's some,

36:40 like, you know, it's just the problem of one player,

36:44 you know, be it Mac Jones or Billy Zappy,

36:47 like he tries to scapegoat it.

36:49 Like, you know, and the fans glob onto this.

36:52 They're like, oh, well,

36:53 Bill just got good play from the quarterback

36:55 if we didn't turn the ball over.

36:57 First of all, there's some fallacy in that,

37:00 you know, looking back, you know what the,

37:03 you know, yes, the Patriots are not good

37:05 in plus minus this year.

37:07 You know, the biggest reason for that, Nick,

37:09 it's not the offense, it's the defense.

37:12 The previous two years,

37:14 the Patriots had 30 takeaways each season,

37:17 including, you know, how many touchdowns

37:20 did they have last year?

37:21 I think Kyle Duggar had like three or four by himself.

37:23 I think they had seven return touchdowns on defense,

37:26 which really improved things.

37:29 So they went from 30 the previous two years

37:32 to they have 17 this year.

37:34 That's minus 13.

37:35 That's the biggest reason why they're a negative

37:38 in takeaways.

37:39 You know, the Bills and the Chiefs

37:44 are both right around the Patriots,

37:46 one's below, one's above in terms of the Patriots,

37:48 in terms of giveaways.

37:50 Like it's not, turnovers are not the affliction

37:53 that have killed the Patriots,

37:54 even though, you know, they're certainly,

37:56 they've certainly hurt the Patriots,

37:58 but the issue that I have is, like I said,

38:01 Bill looks at this like, and fans glob onto it,

38:05 that it's like, oh, well, Matt Jones sucks,

38:07 and it's Bill O'Brien, and these guys,

38:08 like this is the reason why the season.

38:10 No, turnovers just don't happen in a vacuum.

38:13 Like they're not just because of one player.

38:15 They are symptomatic of the offense,

38:19 and about how hard you make it for the quarterback.

38:21 The harder you make it in terms of protection,

38:24 running game, weapons,

38:25 the more turnovers you're gonna have.

38:27 Look at Josh Allen, look at Patrick Mahomes.

38:30 Those guys have been turnover machines this year.

38:32 Why?

38:33 Their lines stink, they have no running game.

38:36 You know, Mahomes does when Pacheco's out there,

38:39 but he's been hurt a lot because he's a little dude.

38:41 - Go Ruckers. - Terrible receivers.

38:43 Would you, go Ruckers.

38:44 (laughing)

38:46 - I think you're gonna spook yourself

38:47 as soon as you said Pacheco.

38:48 You're thinking, Rucker, oh, well, hold on.

38:50 - Exactly. - You do a run game

38:51 when Ruckers is in there.

38:53 - I know, I was having flashbacks

38:55 in the great pinstripe bowl triumph.

38:56 (laughing)

38:58 Like, you know, it's, Bill looks at it,

39:00 and this is the way he's always looked at it,

39:02 and this is the crux of his problem with offense,

39:05 that he's just like, if we just, you know,

39:07 play defense as special teams,

39:08 it's just don't turn the ball over,

39:10 like, you know, we'll be fine,

39:12 'cause we'll coach our way out of it.

39:13 And he just thinks it's just gonna happen.

39:16 Like, it's just, like, that's just the formula.

39:19 When the formula has only worked

39:21 when he had a unicorn in Tom Brady at quarterback.

39:24 You look back, I went back and I looked

39:26 at his Cleveland days.

39:27 His quarterback's through 20 interceptions a year,

39:31 you know, because he makes it hard.

39:32 He never makes it easy on the offense,

39:34 and when you do that, the turnover rate,

39:36 the chances of a turnover increase dramatically.

39:39 The less you have on offense, that's going to happen.

39:42 So, for Bill to sit there and say, it's the turnovers,

39:45 and you know, when we didn't turn the ball over,

39:47 we were competitive.

39:48 You're at fault for the reason why there are turnovers.

39:51 It's not Mac Jones, it's not Bailey Zappi,

39:53 it's not Bill O'Brien, it's you.

39:55 The way you conducted this team.

39:57 You give no pass protection, no running game,

40:00 no receiving targets, guys are gonna try to make plays,

40:03 they're gonna, the room for, the margin for error

40:06 gets that much smaller, and guess what?

40:07 The ball's gonna get turned over.

40:09 So, I'm sick of hearing about that,

40:11 and people need to point the finger at Belichick,

40:13 say, he's the reason for the turnovers, not everybody else.

40:17 So, that's the first thing I have an issue with.

40:19 - Yeah, and Zappi's post-game press conference

40:22 of if the four turnovers didn't happen,

40:24 who knows what would've happened in this game,

40:26 or whatever the hell he said.

40:27 Yeah, Bailey, the Titanic would've been a fantastic voyage

40:31 if it wasn't for the iceberg.

40:32 Like, the four turnovers happened, bro.

40:35 It happened.

40:38 You didn't want them to happen, but it happened.

40:39 It's a part of the game, it's a part of the up and down play.

40:42 That drove me nuts when he said that.

40:44 And I'm not, again, the caveat,

40:46 I'm not defending Mac Jones here,

40:49 but imagine if Mac Jones said something like that.

40:51 People went bananas about everything Mac said.

40:55 What Bailey said on Sunday was as bad

40:57 as anything Mac ever said.

40:58 Well, if the four turnovers didn't happen,

41:01 you know, we might've been able to move the ball, thanks.

41:04 Speaking of moving the ball,

41:05 Josh Allen had a tough time doing that

41:07 against the Patriots defense.

41:09 Are you ready to say, Greg,

41:11 that we learned anything about the defense on Sunday,

41:13 or do you look at that game and say,

41:15 man, Josh was just brutal?

41:16 - So, you know, people who listen to P.O.D. understand

41:22 that I don't go into the film with any preconceived notion.

41:27 I might go in a certain direction,

41:29 and some weeks, a lot of weeks,

41:32 I look at the offense and the quarterback play,

41:34 because that's been the issue with the offense,

41:36 or been the issue with the team.

41:39 And this week, I certainly wanted to take a closer look

41:42 at the defense, but I didn't know, I mean, I couldn't tell.

41:45 I mean, I watched the game just like everybody else,

41:47 and it's like, okay, some good defense.

41:50 Allen obviously missed some plays,

41:52 but I go into it and I take emotion out of it,

41:57 and I just grade each play.

41:58 And then at the end of the day,

42:00 wherever that takes me, it takes me.

42:02 And, you know, at the end of the day, I think,

42:06 and I have things to back this up,

42:09 but I thought Josh Allen played one of the worst games

42:12 I've ever seen him play.

42:12 This was basically Josh Allen as a rookie,

42:16 back when he was terrible,

42:17 completing only like 52.8% of his passes.

42:21 Now, I'm not gonna say the Patriots

42:23 had nothing to do with that.

42:24 They did, they pressured him, they made him move,

42:27 they got him off a spot, they played some tight coverage.

42:30 There's no question about that.

42:31 It's never black and white in football.

42:33 It's never one thing and not the other.

42:35 It's, you know, but I would put it 75, 80% Josh Allen

42:40 in this game, you know, 25% of the Patriots defense.

42:44 Josh Allen said after the game to Kimberly Martin,

42:46 "I threw the ball like absolute crap today."

42:49 According to NextGen stats,

42:54 Josh Allen's completion percentage above

42:56 or below expectation was minus 15.2.

42:59 - Oof.

43:00 - Only Taylor Heineke, minus 27.9.

43:04 He of the 34.2 passer rating on Sunday

43:08 was worse than Josh Allen in week 17.

43:11 The not always reliable ProfootballFocus.com,

43:14 which Nick, listen to this,

43:16 gave Bailey Zappi the Patriots' third best passing grade

43:20 of the season on Sunday.

43:22 - Yeah.

43:23 - And three interceptions.

43:24 - So somebody told me, I don't know if this is true,

43:25 I gotta jump in, my podcast, The Nick Cattle Show,

43:29 if you can check it out on YouTube,

43:30 somebody commented in there yesterday to me

43:33 that ProfootballFocus said that Bailey Zappi

43:36 did not have a turnover-worthy throw against the Bills.

43:39 And I'm like, wait a minute, he threw three picks.

43:43 (laughing)

43:45 - And the third one, I definitely split with Jalen Rayburn,

43:47 and you could certainly have issues on the other ones,

43:50 but yeah. - Yeah.

43:52 - I gave him two and a half interceptions in the game.

43:55 I am gonna check that, 'cause I will say

43:57 that sometimes in terms of some of those stats,

44:00 it takes them a while to put it up.

44:03 - Okay. - Because they need

44:04 to watch the film more closely, so sometimes they don't,

44:08 let me check that while we're looking at it.

44:10 - 'Cause I just asked you, wait a minute,

44:11 he had no turnover-worthy throws when he had turnovers?

44:13 How's that work?

44:14 - Oh no, you are correct.

44:16 Zero turnover-worthy plays.

44:18 He had two big-time throws in that game,

44:20 but zero turnover-worthy plays.

44:23 Okay, so in any event, take this with a grain of salt

44:28 because of where it comes from,

44:30 but Pro Football Focus gave Allen

44:33 his second-worst passing grade of the season

44:35 against his worst was the Jets in week one,

44:38 where he threw three interceptions.

44:40 He got graded down, I don't know,

44:41 is Bailey Zappi's agent paying Pro Football Focus?

44:44 Like, what's the deal?

44:46 And also, this has been updated

44:48 since I first published the story, but I put it in.

44:50 At Pro Football Reference,

44:53 they have a stat called bad throw percentage,

44:55 which I think comes from Pro Football Focus.

44:58 Josh Allen's bad throw percentage was 25%,

45:02 his highest of the season.

45:05 And look, I also grade the film,

45:08 and I started this very early on, like, watching the film,

45:11 'cause I was just like,

45:12 what the hell is wrong with Josh Allen?

45:13 So I started just like with the Patriots quarterbacks,

45:15 I'd do the minus plays.

45:16 I didn't do the plus plays, but I did the minus plays

45:19 just 'cause I wanted to see.

45:20 I had Josh Allen for 13 minus plays in the game.

45:25 To put that in perspective with the Patriots quarterbacks,

45:28 only Mack Jones against Buffalo week 16, 2021,

45:32 and this year, week nine, against Washington

45:35 had more minus throws in a game

45:37 over the last three years for the Patriots.

45:39 And so, you know, Josh Allen,

45:41 look, the Patriots had some to do with it,

45:43 but they didn't really do anything.

45:44 It wasn't like they did a whole lot of pre-snap, post-snap,

45:48 you know, fool the guy.

45:49 He just missed a lot of passes,

45:51 including the biggest one was the one to Stephon Diggs,

45:54 where he had him wide open for an 88 yard touchdown pass,

45:58 and he just missed him.

45:59 He missed Dalton Kincaid on the first third down.

46:03 Yeah, there was pressure, you know,

46:05 and, you know, Duggar was in the vicinity,

46:08 but I've seen Josh Allen make that throw a zillion times.

46:11 He didn't take the check downs in this game

46:13 for whatever reason.

46:14 Like, he just, he had a bad day at the office.

46:17 The Patriots certainly had something to do with it.

46:19 You know, I'm not going to, you know,

46:21 say they were bad or anything like that,

46:22 but that game should have been a blowout.

46:25 If Josh Allen played a B game for him,

46:28 that game is over at halftime.

46:30 It should have been over at halftime.

46:31 So no, I don't look anything more

46:33 into what the Patriots defense, quote unquote,

46:35 did against Josh Allen and the Bills on Sunday.

46:38 - All right, Greg's got a rapid fire edition

46:40 of three up, three down, but first, don't forget,

46:42 check them out at BSJ, 50 bucks for the year,

46:44 Bedard, Giardi, everybody else that works there.

46:47 Swing on by, 50 bucks for the year.

46:49 Also, don't forget that this episode is brought to you

46:52 by our friends at FanDuel,

46:54 the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network.

46:56 New customers receive 150 bucks in bonus bets

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47:01 All right, Greg, three up, three down.

47:03 - Anthony Jennings, after an off week last week,

47:07 he was outstanding again on the edge.

47:09 He was a pain in the ass.

47:10 He was great in the running game.

47:12 This dude is making himself a lot of money

47:15 with the film that he's putting on.

47:17 Christian Barmore didn't have three sacks this week,

47:20 wasn't dominating.

47:21 He's getting double teamed a lot more.

47:24 This was the first week where you really saw it,

47:26 but he was still really good, especially in the run game,

47:28 which has just been amazing to see his transformation there.

47:31 Shout out to Demarcus Covington,

47:33 the Patriots defensive line coach,

47:35 who I think has just, continues to do an outstanding job

47:39 year after year.

47:40 I know we're critical of the coaching staff a lot of times,

47:42 but I want to make sure the guys who are doing a good job

47:45 get their flowers.

47:46 And David Andrews, I thought, again, was outstanding,

47:49 had some great run blocks.

47:50 I know the running game wasn't great in this game.

47:53 He also had to play next to Antonio Maffi,

47:56 who we'll get to.

47:57 So he's sort of handicapped in that regard,

47:59 but I think David Andrews is just,

48:01 has continued to do a great job.

48:04 Keon White and Siddy So also had good games for the Patriots.

48:07 - Yeah, Keon White's popping.

48:08 How about your down?

48:10 - Antonio Maffi.

48:11 Let's just play Jake Andrews in the last week.

48:14 Give him a shot, see what the Patriots have in him.

48:18 It's just, look, Maffi's trying.

48:21 He certainly, I like some of his skills,

48:24 but he's just a developmental player at this point,

48:26 former defensive tackle in college.

48:29 It's just too early for him.

48:32 And, you know, it's time to give somebody else a shot.

48:35 Bailey Zappi was my second down.

48:38 He's Mr. Half bad, half good, pick watch half.

48:41 You know, it's just gonna happen.

48:42 That's just the player he is at this point.

48:46 And Jawan Bentley for the second week in a row.

48:49 You look, I have a great deal of respect, you know,

48:53 for Bentley.

48:55 He's just really limited in coverage.

48:59 He should have gotten picked on even more in this game,

49:02 him and Tavai, but certainly Bentley.

49:06 He looks tired to me.

49:07 Dude's been a warrior for multiple years,

49:09 played a ton of snaps.

49:10 It would be natural for his legs to give way a little bit.

49:14 And that's what it looks like these past couple of weeks.

49:17 - All right, he's Greg Omnic.

49:19 We've got one more game to take a look at

49:21 before this season is over.

49:23 And then of course, we'll just have a ton

49:25 of off season shit to discuss.

49:27 But until next time,

49:28 this is Greg Bedard, Patriots Podcast with Nick Capp.

49:30 (upbeat music)

49:33 (upbeat music)

49:36 (upbeat music)

49:38 (upbeat music)

49:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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