Michigan too, right?

Michigan.

Yep.

Uh, rich rod that, that we could tell that story.

That was kind of a crazy offering story, but, um, you know, uh, technically Michigan was my first.

And then I was leaving that weekend to go to Duke to get an offer.

And, um, but you know, I w I was really upset, not upset, but just torn, you know, it's a big decision at 16, 17 years old, whatever you are.

think,

said that with

Barth on his show right before this.

I feel bad for the kid because he is a great dude, and a lot of these expectations were put on him not by him saying, this is what I'm going to do, how I'm going to do it.

No, he went out and had an unbelievable year last year.

And so now, like you said, you're on the national spotlight.

You're now a national celebrity.

Kids that aren't in New England are Drake May fans because he was one of the best players.

pressure off may maybe help the run game and also how hard is that to do in the middle of the season i know it's different when you have a guy like brady who's been with mcdaniels for a while but i wonder if that's something they need to incorporate more to help the run game get going and just take pressure off of may maybe get the play action going a little bit

How do you feel about this team's offense right now? That's what we were just talking about before you came

in.

They're just leaving so much out there at times, and it seems like yesterday, look.

You would say the explosive plays, right? Like that's so much talked about.

Well, they had six yesterday.

So you'd say, oh, wow.

Like if you didn't know the score, didn't watch the game, you just pulled it up and said, oh, they had six explosive plays.

Yeah,

what this offense does.

It does.

It changes the dynamic of this offense big time.

It changes your plans for the team as in the coach's plans and how they want to build and grow the offense.

It changes how teams are going to cover you.

You know, now the teams...

That's the biggest one.

We at least knew you were going to get one or two cracks in that practice.

What was your reaction to the deal getting done, and the terms of it, and all of it?

I mean, I think there comes a point, right, where when you're, when you're a top guy like that, like, there's only so much negotiating going on, I truly feel like.

Like, the, the parameters are kind of set, you know? And then it's just kind of working it out on both sides.

To me, I always felt like they were a lot closer than whatever people thought.

Like, to how he handled his business, you know, to me, if there wasn't...

And I'm not saying it was always great, but, like, if there wasn't some good stuff in the contract, he wouldn't have been practicing one bit.

And, and again, this week, like, making the trip out there, doing that whole thing, like, I'm sure he did practice.

Yeah

Do you think that should create some more urgency to really go for it now? And how far do you think we are from something like that happening to this team? Well, I think

they have built – A lot of their big contributing players have come through free agency, right, in the last few years.

Morgan Moses, huge spot.

You know, this year it was Vera Tucker, you know, Spillane, Milton Williams.

I mean, the list goes on.

Carlton Davis.

Carlton Davis.

Do you think that should create some more urgency to really go for it now? And how far do you think we are from something like that happening to this team? Well, I think

No,

I think it's just so hard to judge training camp.

uh you know at times like you know oh this guy had a great day and and look there there's an old adage that people used to say it's never as good as you think and it's never as bad as you think and and i can remember that being so true i first heard it in college i thought i had a terrible day at camp uh and this was back in the two days and you know we go in after the first session and You know, coach is like, oh, you did a great job on this, a great job.

And I walked off that field so defeated.

And then I've had days, you know, more where I'm like, man, I had a great day today.

We go watch one-on-ones or something, and you think you win, and it's just a complete – it was more about the guy across from you not doing a good job than what you did like you know your hands are bad and your first step's terrible and you just kind of fall into winning a rap which yeah i mean look that happens that's what the most important part of the game is is just finding a way to win but you know those are things that will get you beat eventually so it it is hard to judge um you know and and i think there were some things i saw yesterday that I really liked.

I really liked this rookie tight end.

We'll see where that goes in his development, but I don't think it all

What's going on on the, uh, what's going on out there right now, guys?

Well, they started the drive, as I talked about tempo.

They started the drive with a run, got a positive run, gets a second down to six, whatever it was.

They throw a play action scene, big chunk play.

Now they jump into tempo.

Then they, they run it again on first down.

They, they, uh, lose some yards.

Who's that?

Probably broke his laces or something.

So there's been reports over the last few days that Lomu has struggled a little bit, uh, David.

Like, is there a level of concern there with you, or is that just sort of, uh, expected? How do you, how do you view that? Ah, he's a rookie in training camp.

There's gonna be bad days.

There's...

He's playing the hardest position on the offensive line, I would say pr- arguably the field.

Uh, you know, there, there's gonna be days- There's the pocket.

Schweitzer is who you're thinking of.

How do you feel about Tom Brady's weekend? Did you catch any of that?

Oh, yeah.

You know, I think my son needs something.

Let me let me run.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Is he going to is he going to is that what we're doing now? Are we going to be WWE guys?

sharks.

He's getting outside today.

He probably has a short-sleeve flannel.

I, yeah, I would say if you were gonna say what are you most worried about A.J. Brown, is it the knee or attitude or however you...

I would say I'd lean more toward attitude, you know? And I mean, I was worried about both of those with Stefon Diggs, though.

Yeah.

And I think he shocked a lot of us, one, by the knee, obviously coming off that injury, and then two, you know, his attitude.

Like his leadership was awesome last year to see.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm

... a, a pretty core Labor priority and, and interest over the years since they established it.

So I think we, we could also look at, say, the defense estate audit and the, the divestment of properties that are being proposed there as well.

So both of those are, I think, indications that the government is trying to find ways across the budget and, and within the defense budget to save money so they can reprioritize into things like this, which are very money intensive and need that quite quickly to stand up the-- whether, whether it's to sort of to make orders and pay them down or to, to build up industrial outputs and capacity to get these things moving.Now that, that's all good.

I think the question then is whether enough money is being spent on the right things and quickly enough, and, and that's something that a lot of other people have discussed so far, so I probably don't need to get too deep into the specifics on that.

But I, I think I'm, I'm sympathetic to the position the government finds itself in, while at the same time recognizing that there is a pressing need.

So I, I, I want to try and sort of be fair to both positions here, is that I, I see an intent in this strategy from the government to do the things that it said it was going to do, which is to spend more money on defense, to prioritize capabilities and geographic domains and regions that are most centrally linked to the strategy it's laid out, and I, I, I think it is pursuing that, and I see evidence of that.

Mm.

David Andrews, have you taken a look yet at the Seattle offensive line? Have you done some scouting there? There's supposed to be some weak links in the middle of that line.

Yeah, there's definitely some weak links in the middle, you know.

And I think for me, watching these guys...

Look, there's been a lot been said about the defense, right? And toward the end of the year, it was kind of this big question mark, the defense, the defense, the defense.

And you hate to go the excuses route of, "All right, well, Milt Williams' not in, Tonga's not in, Spillane's not in," but they weren't.... and that's just the truth in football.

Now they're back, this defense has played unbelievable in this postseason run.

I mean, that's the reason why they've been in games, is this defense.

Are there any, uh, key areas that you look at in this game? Like, you know, you said put the ball in Darnold's hands, but does that start on the interior of the defensive line or, you know, blitzing or, you know, any sort of key matchup you look at on either side?

Where

James did everything...

Way he attacked the weight room, way he attacked his career.

And I didn't really know how he got there.

When I got there in 15, didn't know him that well.

He broke his ankle, remember, or leg in Carolina preseason three.

So he was hurt all year, had surgery.

I think,

And as a center, you gotta know just as much as the quarterback, right?

Yeah, me and Tom would work really hand in hand together, um, you know, how we wanted to handle...

Look, he was, [clears throat] he was driving the bus, and then I was conducting it, you know what I mean? And, um, it is, it's a lot.

But I would say, you know, Biz, really, you would have your core plays, right? And then-...

you know, which we probably had, so let, let's say, like, passing plays, right? You would have dual protections in that, which is something, and then you would have five of those.

Then you would have slide protections, you would have five of those.

Then you'd have your empty protections, you'd have five of those, and then you'd have, um, play actions, gadgets, and all these different things.

Like, wake up kind of.

David, talk to me about some arms, would you, please?

Belger, what would be a good career, in your mind, for Will Campbell? 'Cause I heard you just talking about, like, all the All-Pro thing, so what would be a good career for you?

Now you end up, you know, wasting a draft pick and probably a year or two later still needing a tackle.

I would agree with you on that, but if there's a good player there, it's not that player's ...

Then you're putting un- unreasonable expectations on him.

How's his game?

I love his play style.

That's the most important...

You gotta have some type of edge playing O-line.

And, and, you know, I don't know if they've got too many guys with that edge right now, and that's fine, but he's providing that edge.

And then, that's hopefully something that, that stuff kind of becomes contagious, in my opinion.

Like, you see a guy out there finishing people, you're gonna be like, I'm gonna be sitting there being like, "Well, I'm not gonna let that happen.

So you're not sure it's different then?

What's the best Gronk story that you remember in the locker room?

So, it's not the best, but for me, it was the most impactful, because I was a young rookie, and, y- you know, you're just trying to find your way.

And, you know, when I got to the team, you and Rob, you know, are up there.

And, you're really just trying to...

You don't feel like you're a part of the team yet.

You're just this young guy.

I was undrafted.

(laughs)

(laughs) You're, you're still trained though, you take that ...

...... and he's hard on you, but at the end of the day, he knows he's doing it 'cause he wants the best for you-

By holding.

But then Aaron Donald's such a problem.

So we had it schemed up where Josh was doing so great about the formations, where we were putting Aaron, you know.

We didn't want him backside on some plays, which you would think, but that could cause some problems.

You know, we, we wanted him front side.

So Josh did a great job, and we had a lot of our plays where we weren't...

This is excellent point.

...

I would say, you know, is it the biggest news in Boston? I mean, there'll be bigger news, but the Celtics just got sold.

And Felger-

(laughs)

If he's gonna do that, could we...

Hey, look, we could always, we need help on the bench.

Uh, bring him aboard.