So whether that contributed to part of that and him getting more comfortable or whether there's a little bit more to it.

Yes, I just, you know, I think we have a 17-game sample size of the regular season was really good.

That should tell you he is a very good quarterback.

The fact that it's been five in a row is the only thing that starts to get me a little bit.

And of course, you know, we all know that they were against good defenses.

It's two in a row against the Seahawks.

But like, we consider Drake May, I think, an elite quarterback for good reason because of what he did in the 17-game regular season.

about.

The draw, like that was just idiotic from my perspective, but yeah, Are we so sure that it's not the influence of Ray Bull, that game planning that they had in the game last Wednesday? I know McDaniels has been sort of the easy target for Patriots fans, but to me, is this how they want to play all year? Like, do they want to be a run-heavy football team when they don't really have the personnel, despite the moves they made in the offseason, to do it?

This, I think, is the bigger issue.

This being New England, I walk outside and talk to the neighbors or text with college buddies or whatever, and everybody wants to talk about Drake May because those throws were terrible.

And what I keep telling everybody that I bump into is I'm not that worried about Drake May.

We have 17 games of evidence that he's not going to make that many horrible decisions, and I think that first game is probably an anomaly.

There's plenty of a Drake May discussion to be had.

But...

If they like, if they don't think the quarterbacks as good as everybody else's, that to me is not a good sign.

I mean, he- you would hope a second round pick would play a lot, but it sounds like the snaps are gonna be limited for him regardless.

Yeah, well, and that, all of that kind of makes it super interesting to me what happens with this rookie class.

Like, this new regime for the Patriots, led by Mike Vrabel, but influenced as well by Ryan Calvin and John Streicher and all the people that Vrabel brought with him, got a ton of credit for last year's draft class, and from the contributions that they got.

And fourth round pick Craig Woodson looking like a stud, especially in the playoffs, even as a rookie.

And so they got all this credit for the draft class, and now I think it's, it's an open question what this draft class is going to look like when you consider Caleb Wonmu probably starts on the bench but contributes as, like, a jumbo tight end in goal line situations.

So not, not a massive influence from the first round pick.

The second round pick is starting off behind schedule.

Where does that stand to your understanding?

I feel like all season long they're gonna be one of the bigger storylines of the NFL.

Well, and I just think that postseason run for him wasn't up to his standard.

Obviously, suffers the injury to his throwing shoulder.

And I think, you know, the lasting image for a lot of casual football fans or football fans who, you know, are not super plugged into New England is, oh, when the lights got bright, he kinda crumbled and benefited from this easy schedule.

And that's not fair for a variety of reasons, including that the easy schedule was they played a bunch of easy offenses, not a bunch of easy defenses.

Uh, but all of that nuance gets lost in the national discussion.

And then if he goes out and doesn't play well in that first game, like, yeah, I think you could totally see a bunch of overreactions to the tune of, like, "Oh my God, they, they got A.J. Brown for this guy, and here it goes." So how he handles that, and like you, I think he's going to handle it tremendously, but it's still a storyline because it's one thing to be kind of the underdog sneaking up on everybody, and it's another when everybody kind of has MVP expectations on you.

Like, I, I don't think it's impossible to think, like, halfway through the season, we're like, "All right, is it time to maybe, uh, could he go inside?" Although we just spent a lot of money on Vera-Tucker, and we have on Wenyu, who I know took a pay cut, but I do think it's a fascinating situation.

But the rest of the group, a lot of just guys, a lot of names, but is there anything there that moves the needle?

If Kashan Booty stays, and right now he is understandably not happy.

He's played for three different coaches in three years, done basically everything that everybody's asked, and then he looks around and his reward is they signed Romeo Dobbs and trade for AJ Brown and are basically, "Yeah, w- we're good with your services." As he's entering a contract here, he's looking around like, "What the hell? I did everything right, and this is my reward?" Um, if he can stay, I do think that this can be a better than average, maybe, like, fringe top 10 receiver group.

I think Romeo Dobbs is gonna be a really good player.

The Packers spread the ball out a ton, and there were so many opportunities for so many different receivers there.

That's not gonna be the case with the Patriots.

He's gonna get a ton of run and a ton of targets, uh, even with AJ Brown on the other side of him.

Where do you think that's at, like, with Will Campbell? I mean, I know he's gonna say that he'll be fine and everything else, but i- is it now, like, a serious concern? Do you think every time he allows a pressure that everyone's going to be saying, "Oh my God, there's short arms Campbell again"?

But is there anything there that moves the needle?

if Keishon booty stays and right now he is understandably not happy.

He's played for three different coaches in three years, done basically everything that everybody's asked.

And then he looks around and his reward is they signed Romeo Dobbs and trade for AJ Brown.

And it basically, yeah, we're good with your services as he's entering a contract here.

He's looking around like, what the hell? I did everything right.

And this is my reward.

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What did, uh, what did Vrabel say about AJ Brown today?

He said a lot of nothing.

He was asked a lot of times.

He said a lot of nothing.

He said the Patriots will look to strengthen their roster.

He said, "We'll do that through a trade, through the draft or free agency, whatever means necessary." So he danced around it, I think probably similar to Nick yesterday, but I think we all kinda know at least where this is headed or at least where it seems to be headed, even if he didn't say a whole lot.

Mm-hmm.

That was a move for a guy who had never played 50% of defensive snaps that could've blown up in their face, and instead worked out really well.

What did you think about the amount of money they gave him and the investment they made in him?

I was surprised both in the amount of money and also, I think more importantly, that it was a three-year deal.

When he hit the market and he's going to leave the Jets because of that bad mojo, and I'm sure it was a two-way street there, Jets kind of happy for him to move on, him ready to move on.

I assumed he would get like a one-year highly incentivized contract because if he plays awesome this coming year, I thought...

Well, then he can hit the market again, and then you can be like, well, I'm one of the best left guards.

And see what happens when I leave that dysfunction out in the meadowlands? Like, oh, look, I am one of the best left guards.

And then go cash in.

And do you think that signing, you know, you talk about depth, and we've been talking about this a lot, we might have even talked about it with you, is that if you keep the first-round pick, and you end up taking go offensive lineman with that, do you think they'd be comfortable taking an offensive lineman in the first round that they weren't going to start the season as a starting offensive lineman?

Like the whole... compelling nature of it is elliot wolf said they'll take a tackle and follow me here chad if i i know the patriots are very stuck on their set of tackle but if they take a tackle i cannot imagine morgan moses and will campbell you're starting tackles and that's where next season that's where the intrigue takes foot is that i do think you'd be taking a starter or am i out of my mind

No, I think it's crazy to take somebody at that spot and then sit them on the bench.

So I'm with you and following in terms of like, okay, you kind of got to play this person.

It's like if you invest a ton of money into Milton Williams, obviously you're going to start the guy even if his training camp stinks.

Obviously it didn't.

I'm just using that as an example.

If you draft somebody an offensive tackle at that spot at number 31, it becomes a fascinating decision because like, I almost wonder if you would rather start that guy at guard, even though that sets off, you know, plenty of alarm bells and concern as is.

What are the positions of depth? What are the positions people are excited about or do they think it's a bad draft?

what about will campbell what about the left side of the offensive line

That to me is the biggest question right now going into the offseason of just framing it.

Hey, Mike Vrabel, you picked this guy.

You were so excited about him.

He's made of the right stuff.

You are so confident in all of that.

Do you now say, hey, we think you are going to be an unbelievable left guard, like all-time good left guard.

That speaks to a deficiency in a... every other position on the Patriots offensive roster so yeah we're focused in on left tackle right now but Chad I wonder if you believe what you know Seattle seemed to believe that all the Patriots have is Drake May and then he was papering over a lot of holes for them as you said where else do they need to to get better for next year offensively

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... that seems to come down to the influence of Mike Vrabel.

Look, if people want to look at this and say, "The Patriots have won more than anybody.

And how much concern would there be about the left side of the line, which has been a little spotty here with Will Campbell? Drake Mays turnovers like the fact that like him him on the ground saved them on offense like this Seattle defense wants to scramble you and take away the run like are they complete enough to hang around with a Seahawks team that is just so explosive like they could suddenly put up 21 points in a quarter depending on what happens against a good Patriots defense but is there like does it feel like an uneven matchup on that side of the ball

I think that's the side of the ball that dictates the game.

Whoever wins, I think, will win on that side of the ball.

That's where both teams' strengths are.

That's where you've got to win the game.

The Seahawks have been such an unbelievable defense all year.

The Patriots, I still can't believe it.

How did that process play out and how has it worked so well?

Mm-hmm

... more than any other coach I've seen.

A lot of them, for good reason, are spending the TV timeouts, like, drawing on their playbook, trying to figure out where they want to go on their play sheet.

"All right, we're gonna hit this, and that's gonna set up this." And, like, you can picture Shanahan doing that and McVay doing that a little bit, and it makes sense for them for what they do.

That is not Mike Vrabel.

I w- I've always wanted Mike Vrabel to, you know, wear some sort of fitness tracking device just to, like, watch him on the sideline.

[laughing] He is sprinting up and down the sidelines like a madman.

Yes, yes

What's it like to cover him?

He is intense.

Speaking of football nuts, he is, like, an intense football guy, but does it with a much different sarcastic background.

Like, in a lot of ways, even though he played for Bill Belichick and learned from Bill Belichick, he does things so differently from Bill Belichick.

Like, w- we all know Belichick, saw his press conferences, whatever.

Vrabel sprints off the field after games to be the first one at the locker room, so that he can give every player a hug as they're coming off the field.

Like, that's the energy, that's the excitement that he brings, that is so different from Bill.

Did Robert Kraft ever consider giving Jerod Mayo a second season? And then ultimately, what did that decision come down to?

Do the Patriots have a quarterback advantage in this game, in your opinion, in this game? Yeah, I think

that like so many games this season, the Patriots have a quarterback advantage and a coaching staff advantage and probably a disadvantage at a lot of other spots.

And that's been an incredible recipe for them this season.

They've ridden that coach and quarterback advantage to a 17-3 record.

combining the postseason and regular season, which is incredible.

Now, you look at the rest of the roster, like Witherspoon from the Seahawks, probably the best cornerback in the NFL this season.

JSN, maybe the best wide receiver in the NFL this season.

However, having said that, is that rule true for a week from Sunday? I

On a big picture level, what do you expect from the structure of a Josh McDaniels offense in 2025? Like, is this something that's gonna look like Josh McDaniels offenses that we've seen before, or have you gotten indications that we're gonna see some evolution with parts of how this is?

It's going to be similar with a few different wriggles.

They're gonna live in heavier personnels a little bit more than they did in some of the Brady days, which, you know, obviously makes sense.

Tom Brady's not the quarterback anymore.

You're not gonna be passing it quite as much as they did.

Uh, Mike Vrabel is a coach that still likes a balanced offense.

And so, you know, all of those things will factor into that.

So, just stylistically, what do you expect the Patriots defense under Terrell Williams to look like?

How do you feel about this?

So here's where I'm at, is this offense just has no big play ability without Travion Henderson.

That if you keep him on the sideline and, you know, have Romandre pick up four and a half a carry, which is totally fine in other settings, I think you're just leaving so much on the table.

He's the only guy who just has a ton of juice where when the ball is in his hands, it feels like he can take it to the house.

Jamario Douglas is a good player, not quite that.

Stefan Diggs is still a good player in his 30s, but after the surgery, not quite that.

So this team that has ranked in the bottom five in explosive plays three straight years, having an offensive player that it feels like you have to game plan around, and I don't know how long, years and years since Brady.

How much jeopardy is Kyle Duggar's job in right now?