Taylor Kyles and Mike Kadlick preview the final game of the season for the Patriots, highlighting players who could make the biggest impact throughout the contest. Tune in for the latest insight from Patriots Daily!
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SportsTranscript
00:00I am joined by Robert Griffin, the third James White field. Yes, Mina Kimes. All right. So
00:11first play, we're going to look at second into one of the Patriots first offensive plays.
00:18What's going on everyone? Mike Catholic, Taylor, Kyle's here for CLNS media back with another
00:22episode of the Patriots daily podcast here on the CLNS media network powered by prize
00:27picks, powered by game time and powered by the Patriots heading into their week 18 contest
00:32against the Buffalo Bills this coming Sunday to wrap up the 2024 2025 season. Now we usually
00:39take our last part of the week, uh, as we've done this season, whether it's Thursday or
00:44Friday, uh, as sort of a game preview, uh, type of deal, but given the fact that it's
00:50backups this weekend for the bills and it's, uh, likely younger players and some backups
00:56probably playing down the stretch for the Patriots.
00:57Again, we don't know, but that's kind of what the tea leaves look like. We decided we're
01:01going to take this show and call it players to watch. And we're going to look at some
01:04of the younger guys who we want to see the Patriots, uh, put out there guys. We want
01:09to perform well and kind of take a quick look at some of those, uh, some of those players,
01:13some of the young guys, mainly guys, you know, Joe Milton, the wide receivers, et cetera,
01:16we'll get into all of it. Uh, but first and foremost, Taylor, we were, we just got back
01:19from Gillette stadium, uh, at practice speaking with DeMarcus Covington, speaking with Alex
01:25Van Pelt. And it kind of felt like to me, both guys knew that this might be the last
01:32time they're speaking to us again. Now we don't know what coaching decisions are going
01:35to be made on this, uh, on this staff, but given where the Patriots are at, given, uh,
01:40that Gerard Mayo's job status is seemingly up in the air, it kind of seems like everybody's
01:44in limbo right now.
01:45I think the most jarring part of the entire thing was, you know, when Alex Van Pelt walked
01:49off the podium, it felt like every, every one of us were kind of like, Oh, thank you.
01:55And he turned and was like, no, thank you guys. I really appreciate you. It kind of,
01:58and I know it is the last presser that we're going to get the last one of the season anyway,
02:04but there was something to it that felt like he might know that this could be his last
02:09time. Uh, so long story short, that's kind of what, uh, that's what we're going to set
02:13the stage with today.
02:14And we're also going to talk about some pro bowl topics, uh, some pro bowl things, Chris
02:17Gonzalez, Brendan Schooler, what have you, but let's start with the coordinators. Taylor,
02:21what did you make of what Van Pelt, what Covington had to say today, um, as we enter
02:26into this week, 18 of the season, honestly, I thought the, it was kind of same old, same
02:32old with Covington. I didn't really get any, it's kind of made Van Pelt stand out even
02:37more. It really did kind of feel like business as usual for Covington. He talked about Keon
02:42white, their relationship, how like Keon came to his house for Thanksgiving, how they have
02:45the same goals.
02:46And there was a lot of that, but it didn't really sound reflective. It was really just
02:50answering a question that he was posed because Keon kind of spoke out, um, the same question
02:56on Keon, like three or four times. And he was like, you guys really going to keep asking
02:59me this? Like we're fine. Where are they? We're in the building together every single
03:02day. It's just how it is. But it was funny. It wasn't exactly Mayo though. The other day
03:06saying like, dude, I literally just answered this question. I was like, gee, it looks way
03:11worse in the transcript by the way, that it actually sounded, but I digress. Um, but Van
03:15Pelt to just emphasize more than it did sound like there was level of awareness.
03:18Like you said that he could potentially not be back. And this is a guy who got fired last
03:23year, despite the fact that he didn't have a stable quarterback, didn't have Nick Chubb
03:28was missing most of his offensive line and still managed to make the Browns a consistent
03:32offense. So obviously a ton of that was Kevin Stefanski as we're seeing again this season
03:37to a degree. Yeah. But I went to the post-season last year with all the quarterback troubles.
03:41It was insane. And he was there too. And Van Pelt had some part of that, obviously. So,
03:47you know, I think he understands the reality of the business. This team is not doing well.
03:51I think he realizes they're probably going to want some kind of sacrificial lamb knows
03:55that Covington and Mayo were boys and that he's kind of new. He's really Wolf's boy.
03:59So he probably understands I'm not quite as safe. Um, again, it could have literally just
04:05been him knowing that that was the last time he was going to speak to us because we said
04:08it so many times, he is the best person on coach on the podium and it's not even close.
04:14He looks like someone who is trained, who is seasoned, who understands how to walk
04:17the line of being himself, being honest, giving us insightful and helpful answers while not
04:23giving too many things away or putting his foot in his mouth. So I think like the media
04:28and Alex Van Pelt have a good relationship and it was really just, you know, I would
04:32say definitively it was him being, you know, gracious towards us. But also I'm sure in
04:38the back of his head, he's like, Hey, you know, this could be it for me, even though
04:43it's been made very clear over the past few days that firing Ben Pelt and keeping other
04:48coordinators and Mayo and like that system would not go over well. I don't think with
04:53the locker room, he's very self-aware. Um, and he's been also the, the most accountable,
04:58uh, coach I would say all season long where now I'm not going to sit here and say that,
05:03uh, Mayo and Covington have tried to duck away from blame, but Van Pelt's been very,
05:07like you said, open and honest about the entire situation and kind of where things are at
05:11with the quarterback, with Drake May, uh, with the offense in general, uh, always has
05:17his coach and fellow coaches back in draw Mayo, and also always has his players backs
05:22in guys like Jalen Polk and Jayvon Baker, who he's asked about those guys pretty much
05:26every week.
05:27And every week he says the same thing where we need more consistency, but I have faith
05:31in those guys that they're going to be good players on down the line. And so, and I think
05:34it's man, he's very critical of himself and his players in ways that like Mayo isn't head
05:40coach ways in Covington kind of does in the way that he has to, but with Van Pelt, it's
05:44like, you can tell when he's really annoyed by the things they're doing wrong, which is
05:48a nice breath of fresh air.
05:49Yeah. And you brought up the, uh, the Cleveland situation last year and, uh, Dakota Randall
05:54actually quote, tweeted a story from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler today. And he kind of wrote
05:59a little bit about where the Browns quarterback situation is at this year because Jameis Winston
06:05had played Dorian Thompson Robinson and played.
06:07I just mentioned it to you before the show, Bailey Zappi for Patriots quarterback Bailey
06:10Zappi is starting for Cleveland this weekend. And it's sort of been a train wreck in Cleveland
06:15this year with all the quarterback nonsense where last year, then Pelton Stefanski were
06:20able to weather the storm. And in the article Fowler wrote about how guys like in players
06:27and coaches inside the Browns building, didn't like that Van Pelt was fired last season.
06:33And it was more of like an ownership, higher level, maybe even a front office, uh, move
06:37rather than it was Stefanski getting rid of Alex Van Pelt. So I find that interesting
06:41because he's sort of in a similar situation this year where he may become the scapegoat,
06:46uh, but it's not actually his fault. I think it's, it's noteworthy that Hunter Henry, Antonio
06:51Gibson, Drake may so many guys have stood behind Alex Van Pelt this entire season.
06:56Uh, and players on the defensive side of the ball, haven't really done the same for Demarcus
07:01Covington. And I liked that he was asked straight up today by Karen Garigi and Van
07:05Pelt was how he feels about guys coming to his defense. And he straight up was like,
07:09no, I love it. That's awesome. Like it really means a lot to me. So again, it's just, it's,
07:14he's in a tough situation. And I hope that not just for the sake of him, but for the
07:18sake of continuity on offense, if they do keep Gerard Mayo around next year, that it's
07:24not Alex Van Pelt that ends up as the sacrificial land because he's done a lot.
07:28He's helped with the development and yeah, the offense hasn't been great, but he's not
07:33working with a ton compared to now granted the defenses that had their injuries and what
07:37have you, but it feels like, uh, it's just Van Pelt overall has done a better job than
07:42Covington and you know, friendships aside, I think that frankly, Covington should be
07:46the move over Van Pelt, but we'll ultimately see what happens.
07:50And we heard the whole thing about Van Pelt and the Browns not really being happy with
07:54it from Albert Breer. When the Patriots hired him, he was going on the radio and saying
07:59this was not something Stefanski wanted. The players weren't happy. It was really just
08:03because the Haslam's needed to make a move because they'd invested in Deshaun Watson.
08:07He obviously has been playing terrible, has not been good in several years and they wanted
08:11an answer. They looked at the quarterback coach and Alex Van Pelt as a coordinator and said,
08:17you're what's wrong. Even though people in the building, like I know they said that he
08:20balanced Stefanski very well because Stefanski is not really very much of a forward facing
08:24people person. And that's where Van Pelt's bread and butter is at. And also with the
08:28offense and anything about this team, offense or defense that you point to as a pleasant surprise.
08:34We were talking about this when we were waiting to get into practice. It really is all offense
08:38on defense. I think the only thing you could say is Jaqueline Roy. That's it. Like truly,
08:43that is it. On offense, you could say Austin Hooper. You could say Drake May being as good
08:47as he was. You could say the tight end group overall being as dynamic as they were in one
08:51of the more productive tight end groups in the league. You could say Vardarian Lowe, who yeah,
08:55you can give him as much criticism as you want. There've been multiple games where you don't hear
08:59Vardarian Lowe's name or he makes like two mistakes. And this is a guy who was getting
09:03like taken to the woodshed last year. I think you'd say Mike and when you, now that he settled
09:07back into right guard, yeah, he's not perfect, but he's starting to get back into that group
09:10of what you were expecting. And then several, I would say like Ben Brown, Trey Jacobs have also
09:15had games where they're very quiet, which you wouldn't expect from guys who weren't even on
09:19active rosters. So I just feel like between TC McCartney, Scott Peters, and his group,
09:24Bob Bicknell, all of these guys that Van Pelt helped bring in and Wolf helped bring in,
09:28they're the guys who it feels like are doing anything positive. And where you say, yeah,
09:32I feel like if you gave them more talent, we'd get more out of them. I think Jerry Montgomery,
09:36Steve Belichick, and then Mike Pellegrino, I think they're also in a similar kind of boat,
09:41Drew Wilkins even, but like the defense, the bottom line is no one exceeded expectation.
09:46It was worse than you expected, even while giving them the benefit of the doubt with the injury. So
09:51I just, I cannot say it enough, man. I think it would be such a huge mistake to make Alex Van
09:56Pelt the scapegoat in this situation when you've gotten support from so many different places.
10:01And when even like forward facing to us, as much of the disasters it's been with Mayo,
10:05Van Pelt's been pretty fantastic. And I feel like we all are pretty much on the same page about that.
10:09And yeah, it feels like it almost feels like, no, I don't know, but it feels like players,
10:15not that they wouldn't care, but they would be more, um, I guess they would be more okay
10:20with the fact that Covington was the scapegoat as opposed to Van Pelt, where I feel like the
10:24offense would be truly pretty up again, if Mayo stays, if Mayo's gone and somebody else comes in
10:30that head coach has every right to do his own search and figure it out. Now,
10:34Van Pelt should be an option, I think with the players returning Henry and May and all that
10:38stuff. But like if, if Rabel comes in here and says, I want to do my own search and decides
10:42against it, that's different than Mayo returning and be able to help being, uh, you know, being
10:46fired. But I think at the end of the day, if Mayo does stay, these offensive players are going to
10:51want Alex Van Pelt in the building and you would hope that ownership front office, Mayo would kind
10:58of hear that and understand that maybe we should look in a different direction here, but we'll see
11:02what happens. All right, let's move on to the pro bowl. Taylor Brendan Schooler makes his first
11:07career pro bowl as a specialty inner steamer, excuse me. He's been a step stud. He's really
11:12been a stud, um, you know, on that third of the football ever since, uh, he got here under Bill
11:18Belichick. Now last year, um, we talked about it a little bit on our standup, which you can, uh,
11:23watch on the channel a little bit later on, um, when we, we break this down a little bit more,
11:27but schooler last year struggled a little bit with, uh, you know, with some discipline and with some,
11:33uh, on field penalty issues, but he's really turned a corner this year and has been an
11:37absolute monster. So, uh, I'll give you, I guess, a moment to kind of talk about schooler and what
11:42you've seen from him and just how cool it is that, yeah, it's not great that the Patriots don't have
11:46a ton of pro bowlers. You look at Baltimore Ravens have like nine guys, Minnesota has six guys,
11:51Patriots only have one, but it's Brendan schooler and he's, it's pretty well deserving.
11:55Yeah. And I'm also going to show some self-awareness here. I understand that no one
11:58wants me to sit here for five minutes, talk about special teams. So I'll keep it pretty brief, but
12:02I mean, Brendan schooler one, I think the discipline and everything, Jeremy Springer
12:05deserves some credit. Tom Quinn deserves credit. The assistant, a special teams coach.
12:10We've actually seen the past couple of days, Brendan schooler and Tom Quinn working and
12:13repping together. Um, a lot, especially when everyone else is warming up, they kind of go
12:17off to the side. So those guys deserve credit score deserves credit for maturing as a player.
12:22And I would say probably as a leader as well, you know, Matthew Slater loved him. One of the
12:27last questions I asked Matthew Slater was what's it been like to actually get to watch school or
12:31grow and to be with him towards the end of your career. And he said it was one of the reasons
12:34that he actually probably stayed playing as long as he did and said, but just showered
12:39Brendan schooler with praise. So to see him kind of slide into those shoes of Matthew Slater is
12:43that special teams ACE because score's not just a guy where he excels as a punt cover guy.
12:48I think he has the second most tackles on punts in the NFL. Like that's his bread and butter,
12:52but he blocks on kick returns. He blocks on punt returns. He contributes on kickoffs as well. Like
12:57he does a little bit of everything. The guy can also black kicks for you has such good instincts.
13:02You know, Jeremy Springer always talks about like how he makes his job a lot easier. So all the
13:08credit in the world of Brennan schooler got the PFWAs was not the, Oh no, not PFWA. It was the
13:16what is it? The NFL PA. Yeah. That's got the NFL PAs. I think it was second team
13:24all pro award last year. So now he's finally getting some national recognition.
13:28Hats off to Brennan schooler. Well-deserved. Yeah. And as much as as much as everybody's
13:32down on the Patriots coaching staff right now, Gerard Mayo specifically a really cool video
13:37shared by patriots.com and their social team with them telling school or that he actually,
13:42he made the Pro Bowl roster and Mayo Elliot Wolf there, Jeremy Springer, Tom Quinn, you mentioned,
13:48and then also Matthew Slater in the room as well with him. And obviously super well-deserved. If
13:52you haven't checked that out, go check it out. It's pretty cool. And it's, it's something where
13:56this is, this is me taking something way too far as I tend to do. But if you watch the full video,
14:03Wolf and Mayo in the same room with school, or I know it's, it's, it's not doctored,
14:07but it's set up. So you see them, but we wonder about the friction and the tension between the
14:12front office and the coaching staff right now. Interesting to see them in the same room together,
14:16doing something like that. But then they also, for the first time, I think ever we've seen like an
14:20inside the team meeting room, little thing with Gerard Mayo, something I noticed with him having
14:26the locker room is he goes in there. He says, good morning, man. And they all go, good morning,
14:30right back. And I'm like, it feels like there's something in that room that, okay.
14:34It's not like guys coming in late. It's not like guys looking at each other,
14:37looking at their phones. They were all pretty attentive. Again, it's one second of a social
14:41media video, but regardless, pretty cool. Check it out. Patriots.com shows Brendan Schooler
14:46receiving his, his pro bowl honor. Now I want to talk about one more other thing in the pro bowl,
14:51somebody on the Patriots who was snubbed, but before we do quick word from our friends over
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16:08game. All right, let's talk about the snub. Christian Gonzalez does not make the pro bowl.
16:16I don't have the names in front of me. I should probably have it in front of me,
16:19but I'll look now. We also got a Patriots injury report just now, Taylor. So we'll react to that
16:23in a few minutes, but let's talk about Gonzo first. Christian Gonzalez passed over on defense
16:28for Marlon Humphrey, Derek Stingley Jr. Patrick Sertan and Denzel Ward. I think everyone knows
16:37or everyone thinks he got snubbed at least in and around here. I know that those guys in front
16:41of them are obviously well-deserving. And you also have to look at it this way where the pro
16:47bowl is sort of a popularity contest where a third of it is voted on by fans and not a lot of people,
16:53not a lot of fans out there are watching the three and 13 Patriots right now. So not a lot of eyes
16:58are on Christian Gonzalez. I think he has garnered the respect from his peers. Tyreek Hill constantly
17:03talks about Christian Gonzalez after the games, the number one receivers across from him always
17:08sing his praises, but your thoughts on Gonzo not making the pro bowl. And do you think even though
17:13he didn't make the pro bowl, do you think he still has a chance with potentially being out this week
17:17of the concussion, still making an all pro team when it's all said and done this year?
17:21Absolutely. I don't think this week would have done anything for a stock. Like when they last
17:24played the Bulls, he was on the boundary. Cause I don't really have a lot of guys that truly scare
17:27you a wide receiver. Yeah, it was a snub, but also when I looked at a lot of the numbers,
17:32especially man coverage, I was like, all right, Marlon Humphrey, Derek Stingley,
17:37Denzel Ward, they all have pretty similar numbers to be honest. They're all wrapped in the same
17:42ballpark. So all those guys, like you said, we're deserving. I know bill Barnwell had
17:45Christian Gonzalez as an all pro. I would be stunned if he didn't make the all protein,
17:49especially with him not being in the pro bowl. I think people are going to want to make sure
17:53that he gets some kind of recognition for an outstanding season. This is a guy who,
17:57unless the team has multiple number one caliber receivers or doesn't have any,
18:01he's following the best receiver every single week, playing more man coverage in almost any
18:06corner in the NFL. And he's getting tested. He's one of the more targeted players in the league,
18:11still producing at a high level. He's the only player in the NFL with at least 10 deep targets
18:16and just one reception allowed, but also no touchdowns allowed. The only other person who's
18:20allowed just one deep reception on 10 or more deep targets, Derek Stingley Jr. The one touchdown that
18:25he allowed was to Kashawn booty on Drake Mase first career touchdown. So yeah, it's, it's kind
18:31of like Christian bar more last year where defensive tackle is such a stack position.
18:35You could have a pro bowl caliber all pro caliber season and still necessarily get rewarded because
18:40it's so deep, but I still think Gonzo's different. I think he's me. I think he and Patrick Sutan
18:45really are the two best corners in the NFL. I think Stingley's right there, you know, plenty
18:49of really good corners in the league. Um, and yeah, again, I don't think he was going to play
18:53this weekend. I'm obviously we're expecting him not to play cause he's still up with concussion.
18:57Uh, don't expect them to, but yeah, he's deserving. He'll make the all pro list.
19:00I actually also looked up some stats to differentiate him from the guys who were in
19:05the pro bowl. So all of these stats are man coverage stats for places where there was only
19:10one pro bowler ahead of him and he was second in these. So one covered snaps in man coverage
19:15yards per coverage snap allowed in man coverage conversion rate allowed in main coverage and
19:20explosive reception rate allowed in man coverage. Gonzo was also second in incompletions forced
19:25with 10 that was behind only sauce Gardner. And he had zero missed tackles, obviously tied for the
19:31fewest in man coverage in the NFL. So dude's still out ahead of us. Hell of a season. He
19:36absolutely deserves recognition. He'll get it soon. I'm yeah, he will. I think he'll, uh, like
19:40you said, I think I'll probably end up with an all pro nod. I think when, when fans see that
19:44mixed with hopefully, uh, a better Patriots in next season, maybe a couple more primetime games,
19:49maybe they get flexed into primetime games down the stretch. We're not going to put those
19:52expectations on them, but I think once fans start to understand that, Hey, this guy is one day,
19:57one hell of a player, they'll probably get the fan vote there. All right, let's move on Thursday.
20:01We'll do the injury report. Then we'll get into our players to watch, uh, pretty much the same
20:06list as yesterday. Taylor, uh, except Keishon booty returns, uh, from an illness. He was a
20:10full participant today. Ben Brown, Christian Gonzalez, Jalen Polk did not practice once again.
20:16Uh, that tells me easy. Cole strange gets a started center again, Jalen Polk and Christian
20:21Gonzalez shut down for the season shelf Jalen Polk. Uh, unfortunately we won't get to see him
20:26on the field. Like that's just my read. Maybe he returns tomorrow and it's questionable for Sunday,
20:30but it, it feels like he, his season's probably done. Um, as far as limited Kyle Duggar, once
20:37again, Hunter Henry, Anthony Jennings, Titus Leo to bro peppers, Brendan schooler, Sione,
20:43Jelani Tavai, Caden Wallace, and Drake may once again, limited. So a long list there.
20:49Um, I was, I jokes to myself anyway, that when I saw right hand injury for Drake may
20:54that that was just them saying his arm is tired. His hand hurts. We're not going to play him. This
20:59gives us an excuse to get out. Obviously he's probably dealing with something, but once again,
21:03limited. So what do you read from this injury report? How do you think, uh, it shakes things
21:06out for Sunday? That was a lot of starters who I think shouldn't play a whole lot this weekend.
21:11That's probably the biggest thing, because I know that Mayo keeps saying, Oh, we want to win
21:15but it's like, you need to understand the context of the game. Also, I think it was, um,
21:19for good. It was on Twitter. I'm so sorry that I'm forgetting right now.
21:22Somebody pointed out how, you know, he said, I've never been on a team that didn't care about
21:26winning when in 2014, in the last game of the season against the bills and Kyle Orton,
21:31Jimmy Garoppolo played the entire second half of the game for Tom Brady.
21:34Gronk and Edelman didn't play at Matt Vitor from mass. Great job. Yes. Yes. That was a great point
21:40by him. Another moment where, you know, I understand Mayo says that I get, I get what
21:46he means by it. So I'm not really holding them under the fire for that one. He meant not tanking.
21:50He meant it's true. Like literally Belichick has done it where for them, it was because you
21:54want to keep people healthy for the playoffs. I think it's important to just keep guys healthy
21:58going into next season period, because you are playing backups. Again, if you were playing
22:02actual bills, I would feel differently because I do think that could be some kind of positive
22:06momentum beating Josh Allen, even after, and then it's okay. Two out of the three weeks you beat
22:11Josh Allen and you're competitive with the bills. It sucks that you weren't competitive in two of
22:14those games, but you know what? That's the division opponent that matters. You're not
22:18seeing Josh Allen, probably not seeing a lot of the starters, at least not for very long.
22:22Just doesn't make sense for you to go all out to win this game. Cause you're not going to get a
22:26whole lot of credit from the outsiders. And I don't see how ownership feels any different about
22:32you beating up on backups after you got blown out by a good team. So I think those guys shouldn't
22:37play jail and poke. It's super disappointing. This was probably his best opportunity to get
22:41consistent snaps, maybe find some kind of a rhythm in game and build something. But it seems like his
22:46season is going to be over. Obviously a very disappointing rookie campaign after he truly
22:51did show flashes early this season. I know people like to say, Oh, what are you talking about?
22:54Even though I literally have a thread on my account of not only tape that I saw in times that I
23:00thought he looked good and everybody was so excited about it at the time, but also stats that
23:04show that he was getting open early on before he moved to X full time. And even Matt Harmon and
23:08other respected names saying that yes, Jalen poke was not being used very well, but then he was at
23:13least showing some positive flashes. Hope that a full off season training with Drake may then a
23:17whole spring and summer will allow him to get some positive momentum. And then obviously live up to
23:22the expectations that we had of him early this season. But Jayvon Baker, I mean, I don't really
23:27see a whole lot of reason for him not to get a ton, a ton of reps, if not maybe in the second
23:32half, like even while Drake may is still in there. I think you still got to mix him into some degree
23:36like you were doing with Jalen poke. So those are my big ones. Yeah. Ben Brown, tip of the cap to
23:41him, man. He worked his butt off, really gave the Patriots a lot, obviously didn't end on the best
23:46note, but still the, the level of play that he gave you for somebody who you signed midweek,
23:52obviously everybody knows the story, but really impressive there. And Christian Gonzalez,
23:56not going to say it's a blessing in disguise. It's a brain injury. Those are never good,
23:59but I'm just glad there is no chance that he's playing this weekend. He shouldn't have been
24:04playing period. It's not even like the bills haven't necessarily, like I said, intimidating
24:08receiving core, Bolden, Alex Austin, get those guys as many reps as you can get them. Marcellus
24:14dial even, you know, mix him in. So yeah, that's pretty much it. I'm glad Donzo season's over.
24:20Great, great sophomore campaign. Keep it rolling. Yeah. Well, we'll hit on some of those young guys
24:25in just a second as we quickly run through some players to watch, but yeah, just to, just to kind
24:29of not, not bury his head in the sand, the poor guy, but Jalen Polk finishes his working campaign,
24:35which is 12 catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns. And compared to all the guys
24:40around him in the draft class, not just Ladd McConkie, but no, from top to bottom, it's,
24:44it's certainly disappointing for someone who it's, you know, the Patriots trade back.
24:49They S it looks like they land their guy, someone who you mentioned he had a positive start to the
24:53season, but even back in training camp looked like he had a decent rapport with Drake May early
24:57on. He sort of turned himself into a starter after the first week and a half where all of a sudden
25:02he was getting reps. It looked super promising. And then it just took a nosedive, you know,
25:07at some point this season. So once again, too bad, but hopefully train off season,
25:14Drake may clear the head and get this thing rolling next season for Jalen Polk. All right.
25:18Let's talk about some of our players to watch for Sunday's game Taylor. But before we do quick
25:24word from our friends over at game time, game time is hold on. Now I'm gone game time. It is
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26:04protection, job loss protection, all that good stuff. I know all about job loss. And if I bought
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26:40Last minute ticket, last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. And unfortunately, Taylor,
26:46the new copy does not have our slogan. But anyway, what time is it? Game time. It is game
26:53time. Like we said, game time app, create an account, use code CLNS. You get $20 off that
26:58first purchase. And right now, if you want to see the Patriots potentially not tanking, but if you
27:03want to see some of these young guys we're about to talk about, if you head over to the game time
27:06app right now, you can get into bills at Patriots for as little as $42. That is with the all in
27:13ticket price toggle turned on. So no hidden fees. That's exactly what you'll pay. And now we're
27:19going to talk about said players that you may be able to check out. So first and foremost, Taylor,
27:25talking about AVP and DeMarcus Cummins earlier, what AVP did also mention in that presser was
27:30that Joe Milton got his first for, or he got first team reps this week in practice. Now from
27:37myself talking to Joe Milton earlier this year, he told me that he never took reps with the first
27:41team offense. He was always on the scout team. And then a couple, a couple other media members
27:46spoke with Milton today. And he mentioned to Doug Kyde that it was his first, first team reps
27:51all season long. So relatively new for him. He's obviously been studying the playbook behind the
27:55scenes, but it looks like he's getting some reps, which tells me he'll probably be active
28:00on Sunday and most likely get out there in play. So before we get into the rest of the players,
28:04just quickly on Joe Milton, uh, if, and when he gets out there, what do you expect from him?
28:09What do you want to see from number 19, uh, in his first regular season NFL action?
28:14Um, I'd like to see more control as a passer. I would say, like, I think in the preseason,
28:21he definitely showed some positive flashes, but I think he's still, we all know that thing he does
28:26where he kind of sits in the pocket and then just fires it as far as he can. Like that's not how you
28:31play NFL quarterback. And I do think that Mayo pointed out that he's gotten much better in terms
28:35of reading coverages, which is one of the more exciting things you were hoping for out of him.
28:39And the way they developed Drake, maybe you were hoping that they could do a similar thing
28:42for Joe Milton, obviously not the exact same kind of player, but a guy with so many tools
28:47where it's just like, all right, let's harness these and try to get the most out of him.
28:51And we've seen with Drake, how his eyes are consistently in the right place. He gets
28:54through expressions really well. That's a credit to him, but Joe Milton, you know,
28:57he's a pretty smart guy as well. So it's hard to say what I'm expecting. Cause he's going to be
29:02working with guys. He probably doesn't throw too very often. And it is a pretty big change from
29:07being the scout team quarterback. Um, I'm hoping to see obviously some highlights like young man,
29:11you got nothing to lose in this game. You can throw a couple of picks, but I just want to see
29:14the guy ball out. Like what Bledsoe told Brady, like F it, go out there and sling it. That's
29:19the mentality I want him to have. Um, I'm sure that Jacoby will tell him something similar to
29:23when he gets out there. So do you expect, uh, Jacobi to get any reps in this game or do you
29:29think it's only man? No sense for Jacoby to step foot in this game. I agree. And I think if they
29:34asked him to, and rightfully so, he would probably tell them to F off. Like I'm not going in this
29:39game. I have money to make next season. I'm on a one year deal. I'm not getting hurt in this thing.
29:43You I'm I've been the consummate pro. You took the C off my Jersey. Nobody knows why. But, uh,
29:50yeah, I, I, I agree. I, I wouldn't, uh, I wouldn't expect to see him. And if I was him,
29:54I would, I would say no as well. So, uh, but yeah, it'll be interesting. Milton was up and down for,
29:59for what we saw from him in the preseason. There were some highlights, there were some low lights,
30:02obviously. Uh, but we'll be exciting to see, uh, again, what you sort of have at the backup
30:08quarterback position outside of Drake may, because again, nobody, or Brissette's not under contract.
30:15I've sort of vouched for him coming back, the idea of him coming back anyway. However,
30:20you know, the conversation he had with Mike Reese a couple of weeks ago,
30:22it feels like he's probably looking to go elsewhere. Um, but if this is Brissette's last
30:27game, great pro help Drake may. Um, and hopefully we get to see what Joe Milton can bring at the
30:33backup quarterback position. All right. What else are you looking for? What players to watch? I'll
30:36kind of give you the floor. I know we want to talk about some young receivers or at least one young
30:40receiver in Jayvon Baker, but offensive linemen, defenders, give me the, give me everything you're
30:45looking for in this game, uh, outside of the normal starters that we normally tend to see.
30:50Yeah. There's three young, uh, offensive linemen on this team that you're hoping have some kind
30:54of future, obviously coach strange. You'd like to be David Andrews, successor West guard. You'd
30:59love it. If Leighton Robinson could show you that he can really hold down that spot and be the
31:03counterparts of Mike and when you speak in my good one, you, you'd like Caden Wallace to be
31:07the tackle next to him for the foreseeable future. Now Leighton Robinson has shown signs of growth.
31:12I think mentally he's still, the game is still, you know, coming to him. If you can see it when
31:17sometimes like he looks really confused sometimes when he's blocking, especially in the run game.
31:22I think he's gotten a lot better in terms of past pro. Like the technique is still raw. His
31:26hand placements kind of rough where joke about it like that and all of our game. I think he punched
31:30him in the face like three or four times. He won a couple of times with Ed Oliver also beat him a
31:35couple of times. And then there were also times where like he'll over set a little bit too far,
31:40leaving himself vulnerable to get beat outside. And also because he's a taller guy,
31:44he'll have high pads and get kind of walked back into the quarterback, all things he can improve,
31:49but you don't see the quick losses that you used to see. Really. It's just like understanding when
31:53he's going to see line games and what his assignment is in the run game. But really more
31:58than I thought I was going to see from Leighton Robinson. So that's a positive again, still a lot
32:01of room to grow. But man, if he and Kaden Wallace do work out, this draft pass looks a whole lot
32:07different. Kaden Wallace only got like 15 snaps, not a ton of chances to really show what he could
32:12do. Had one awesome play though, where he and Jaheim Bell had a combo block. He's a pancaking
32:18this first guy. Somebody runs into him while they're pursuing the play. Kaden like picks him
32:22up and drops him pretty much a suplex. That was fricking awesome. He also got bull rushed pretty
32:28badly. So it was kind of like, I'd say they cancel each other out. One play was egregiously
32:32bad and one was fricking awesome. So that's a wash. He missed a block on the second level,
32:37but then in pass pro, no really glaring losses outside of the bull rush. So
32:41want to see more from those guys. I want to see really good play, especially if you're playing
32:46backups, you need to dominate. That's just my expectation because we're looking at you as
32:50starters, not just, you know, third round or fourth round or no, do we need to go in for agency
32:55and get a Patrick Macari, maybe get a Trey Smith. So we know for sure that we've got some pieces.
32:59They should do that anyway. I don't think this game should be the end all be all, but it's at
33:03least encouraging. If you see those guys dominating inferior competition, then Cole strange. I think
33:08physically he made very few mistakes. It's all mental for him, getting the snap off, right?
33:12Making the correct call, picking up blitzers and getting off your assignment when necessary to make
33:17sure there's no internal pressure. I just want to see a mental stride from really all of these guys,
33:22but especially Cole, because he's been in the league for a while, missed more time than both
33:26of them. So you got to give them some level of grace, but I just want to see some growth and
33:30also Cole. Yeah. You need to be dominating up front because you've been in league for a while.
33:34Again, last week, physically, not many mistakes. He said that he felt good. Like he didn't feel gas.
33:38He felt like physically he was on point. So offensive line perspective, those three guys
33:43really, really need a strong showing to give you some level of optimism going into the future.
33:47Just question for you on the old line before we move on to receivers and DBS and stuff. So
33:52last week it was the, the, the starting offensive line that we had seen with low and
33:58Leighton strange, uh, on when, who, and then Trey Jacobs. And then they sort of started to
34:03move guys in and out on when who sat down, Lester cotton goes in and then Caden Wallace
34:07obviously goes in towards the end of the game for Trey Jacobs, but they kept Drake May in.
34:11And I didn't like that. I don't think a lot of people likes that. It didn't make a ton of sense,
34:15but, uh, strange and Leighton have already played in front of Drake May before, but
34:21are D I guess, do you trust them to, or do you think they could start Caden Wallace at right
34:27tackle? Or do you think you start with Trey Jacobs, keep it status quo in front of May.
34:32And then once you take May out of the game, then you give Caden Wallace's chance. Or do you think
34:36that's a position where it's kind of interchangeable at this point? I think the only reason you don't
34:40start Caden Wallace is you don't think he's healthy enough. I think Trey has been as solid
34:44as you can expect. And I do think that especially last week, I thought he had a couple of bad
34:49losses, but considering he was going up against like Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa as a guy who was
34:54just cut by the Broncos before the Patriots signed him. Like I thought he was fine. Um,
34:59maybe you want to see more from him. I think he's a free agent, but he might be a restricted
35:02free agent. So, or an exclusive, I am not always, I don't know how those work to be honest. I got
35:07to ask Miguel, but, um, he seems like he would be back if they want him back. I think he's a
35:12good fit in the scheme. I think that he's a good backup. Like one positive is that all these guys
35:17getting thrown into the fire has shown you if they replace them with starting caliber veterans,
35:21you got some pretty damn good depth and you know exactly what you're going to be getting out of
35:24them. Um, maybe they still put Trey in for a couple of drives because he is still a young
35:29player, but really I think the only reason that Caden shouldn't see the majority of those reps
35:33is just, he's not a hundred percent healthy and they're really just trying to get him any live
35:36reps under his belt, um, before obviously the season's over. Yeah. All right. Let's move on
35:41to wide receiver. Now it's Jalen Polk. It's Javon Baker. Uh, Polk obviously isn't going to play.
35:46We can also loop Jaheim Bell into this mix. Uh, right now I don't believe Jalen or excuse me,
35:52Javon Baker has registered, uh, a catch all season. He is O for O hasn't done it.
35:58Had a couple of reps. Uh, I think, uh, Jaheim Bell, they're all J's, Jalen, Javon,
36:03and he's very confusing. Yeah. But Jaheim Bell, I think two catches for one yard over the games
36:10he's played. So not a ton of production from those two. Again, it doesn't look like Jalen Polk,
36:14uh, is, uh, on track to play this weekend. But if Baker and Bell get more reps in this game,
36:20what do you want to see from those guys? And is that a position where you could see
36:26them going out there with Drake May early in this game? Or is this as strictly
36:30Joe Milton, Javon Baker, Jaheim Bell show? I think it makes more sense to rotate the receivers
36:36early with Drake. Cause if you didn't have, there was some level of like, you wanted to see how he
36:41worked with the young guys, I would assume. So yeah, I think that should start early on,
36:45especially the veterans. Like with Drake, if you want him, like we talked about it, he needs to end
36:49on a positive note because he hasn't played very well in the past two games. Last week was probably
36:52his worst game, full game as a pro. Um, so he definitely needs to be out there and I kind of
36:57get a little more experience, like fine, whatever Hunter Henry does not need to be out there a ton,
37:03especially if he's already banged up and like that already Jaheim Bell is pretty much his backup.
37:09That's who should be getting a lot of those stats. Then Keishon Booty, maybe use him more at Z
37:14because Kendrick Bourne, to be honest, I think if you address the receiver position well,
37:19at this point, I don't know that he should even be back. You should bank on the young talent
37:22because Kendrick Bourne, yes, he's talented. He makes plays. He also makes glaring mistakes that
37:27veterans should not be making. Maybe it won't look as bad if you get a couple other older guys
37:31around him. But like, I really do think if Javon Baker, Jalen Polk live up to what you think they
37:36are, like, what are you going to cut Keishon Booty for Kendrick Bourne? Right now. So yeah,
37:40I think that Kendrick Bourne and Hunter Henry should definitely be rotating pretty heavily
37:45in the game. Again, Keishon Booty more at that Z type use Jay, honestly, Javon Baker at Z too.
37:51I wouldn't mind seeing how that works out, but I think they want to keep him. I know he plays both.
37:54I figure they probably want to keep him with X for the most part though. Um, but yeah, that's
37:58really what I'm hoping for is that we see less of Henry and Bourne guys who are more established,
38:03a lot more time and just don't need to be taken up a ton of snaps. Um, and give Drake
38:07may a chance to maybe see if you can get something going with those guys.
38:09Do you expect anything out of Javon Baker? And it's kind of a, it's kind of a silly question,
38:13but like the, from what we've seen of him, from what we've heard from, you know, Alex Van Pelt
38:19is he's not really putting it all together in practice. So they don't want to put them out
38:23there in the game just yet. Yeah. I don't, I don't, Oh, I'm sorry. No, it's fine. It's like,
38:28no, you're fine. They put them out there though, in the game a couple times and they're still not
38:31going his way. I know you, I, I know what you were going to say, but so what, what do you make
38:37of that whole situation as far as being ready, messing up guys, not being in the right place at
38:41the right time, kind of screwing up everybody else's timing. If you're not on the same page
38:45as all the other, uh, the other 10 guys. Yeah, I think one, I just don't know unless he gets
38:50momentum early, like get him a screen and he gets a big gain or a slant against all coverage.
38:54I just don't know that he'll be able to play fast because he doesn't have like,
38:58where would the confidence be coming from? I think he's probably going to continue to be in
39:01his head unless he has a great week of practice. Like it's just hard to see reality where Baker,
39:07I'd love to see him go off for a hundred yards. I don't see how that happens without a couple
39:10of busted coverages. Maybe you exploit off coverage opportunities to really just get him
39:15some easier touches. I don't know. Um, I'm not expecting much, to be honest. I would love to see
39:20a, like a deep catch, just a sign of life or something like that. But I hit him with in the
39:25bread basket in the preseason that he dropped. He catches that kind of throw. I'm like, cool.
39:30Awesome. I saw it. I'm good. Like that's, that's probably the most I would be expecting is him
39:36making a deep catch. And then Jaheim bell, maybe like taking a screen pass for a lot of yards,
39:40but like, yeah, yeah. I'll stop there. Yeah. I was going to say it's a,
39:46I don't want to say it's not fun. Cause it, it could be exciting if these guys can kind of get
39:50some momentum going into next season, but even a four catch, even a four catch 85 yard game from
39:57Trevon Baker, like it's, it's cool and all, but if it's only there, you know, against the bills,
40:01backups, just because it's the last game of the season. Well, how much does it really mean? Again,
40:05it's better than him not going out there. It's better than being a Jalen Polk situation where
40:09he's not even playing in the game. But again, we'll see what happens with the offense. All right.
40:12What do you got for us on defense? What young guys are you looking for to step up and play on
40:16defense in this Patriots season finale? I have a lot of options. It's really just the defensive
40:22backs. The linebackers like Christian Ellis is technically young, but he's also considered a
40:26veteran. I think like you've, he plays a ton. It's not really like he's prove anything. It's
40:30just like him going out there. It's not like adding responsibility to his plate. It's not
40:34like, Oh, this is your chance type of thing. He's been doing it all season long because of injury.
40:38Yeah. Like him and Jeremiah farms to me are kind of in the same boat in that way.
40:41Um, I would say, um, Alex Austin, obviously you want, this is a game where you'd like to see him
40:47kind of similar to the offensive lineman. I'd like to see you dominate. You're someone that
40:51we're thinking maybe your starter down the road, potentially even a rotational kind of piece,
40:56make some plays, get a pick for some incompletions. He had a good game a few weeks ago.
41:00I want to see that again. Um, Isaiah Bolden, I think this is a game where he is going to,
41:05he has to play a ton obviously, because you're probably not going to have Christian Gonzalez.
41:08So take advantage of those opportunities, man. Hopefully they use them in the slot and outside.
41:12So we can show that maybe he's got a little bit of versatility show what he can do mentally
41:16because the slot is a little bit more mentally demanding. Um, and yeah, just show us what all
41:21that athleticism and that versatility that you showed at Jackson state can do at the professional
41:25level against lesser competition. Um, and then even Marcella's dial, maybe he bumps into the
41:30slot. He spent some time there during the preseason. I know in garbage time, he's gotten
41:33some snaps, get a chance to show if maybe he's shown some kind of growth as a defensive back,
41:37because he did struggle, um, as a corner during the preseason. Also Marte Mapu,
41:43we talked about it. He is so odd because the play-making like instincts in range are there,
41:50but also like his awareness is so bad at times that it completely nullifies his play-making
41:57ability and range. And it's very frustrating. Like the tackling is super inconsistent.
42:02So maybe put together your best game of your career, minimize the mistakes and on a high note
42:06Dell Pettis, a guy who I think doesn't get enough credit is someone who this coaching staff did,
42:11or I'm sorry, this front office added, and it's been good for them. He's been the personal
42:15protector, done a really good job at that had the, obviously the fake that led to a conversion
42:19a couple of weeks ago in Buffalo. And it's been pretty solid when called upon as a defensive back
42:24has been perfect. No, he's given up a few big plays, but there are none where you're like,
42:28Oh my God, this guy can't make it in the league. It's, Oh, this is a guy who was an undrafted
42:32rookie and is going to have to get some more experience under his belt. But I really think
42:36it's like a fourth, maybe like emergency ish, third safety for the team. I think he does have
42:41a future on the squad is more than just a special team or so those young defensive backs are really
42:45the headliners of you got a big opportunity here to maybe carve out a role for yourself
42:50or show that you can be something for us. Let's see what you got. I will close it out with two
42:55before we wrap this thing up. Number one, Terrell Jennings. I wonder if he gets any reps at back.
43:00They signed him to the active roster a couple of weeks ago. Believe. I can't remember if he was
43:04inactive the last couple of weeks or if he was in and out, but never got any reps at the back
43:07position. Uh, maybe reminder Stevenson, you sit him down, keep him healthy. Also potentially keep
43:12him off because, uh, his risk of coughing up the football, but wonder if they give Jennings some
43:16reps down the stretch and then Isaiah Bolden, the kick returner I've been asking for it since week
43:21one, just put them out there. See what you got Antonio Gibson and Jamichael hasty to, uh,
43:26you know, veterans at this point in the, uh, in their careers, guys who, you know,
43:31what they are as your kick returners, get them off the field, get folded in there.
43:34See what you can do. See Javon and Bolden. Exactly. Yeah. Put Javon back there too. That's
43:39right. He started, uh, he was back there at some point this season as well. So that's what I'm
43:43looking for in this one. So, uh, yeah, I guess we'll close it out with this Taylor. What's your
43:49prediction for this game? Give me a score. Give me a score prediction who you got to do it.
43:54Take everything into account. We don't know if may plays, we know if may plays,
43:58uh, Joe Milton's in Joe Milton's out, just swing the bat. What do you got? What's your prediction?
44:06Just because I, I'm hoping for a reverse jinx here. So I'm going to go Patriots
44:1113 to three, 13 to six, 13 to six. Okay. Uh, I'm going to go to the defense to be honest.
44:19Uh, yeah, no, I'm going to go. I'll go 13, 10. I'll go 13, 10. I'm going to go 20
44:28to 14 bills. Patriots land the number one pick. I think true Biscayne and those backups can do a
44:35little bit more against a Patriots defense that is struggling and is going to try and get some
44:39young guys in there. So I do think the bills come out with this one. I do think the Patriots land
44:43that number one pick, but that is going to do it now for us for in season Patriots daily podcast.
44:50We'll have our post game show this Sunday after Patriots first bills. And then we are on to the
44:54off season here on the show. A ton of changes. I don't, I don't want to say a ton of changes,
44:59but a ton of questions to be answered in the off season. So we will obviously be back next week
45:04to get it all done, but thank you guys for watching. We'll be back soon. Uh,
45:10anything else, Taylor, you got anything on your mind before we get out of here?
45:13I'm good, babe. Let's do it. All right. Sounds good. Well, I'll see you Sunday. We'll see you
45:17Sunday until then. Thanks for watching. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other,
45:21and we will see you next time. Thanks for watching. Peace out, everyone.