Has Corey Kiner passed Travion Henderson on the depth chart?

No, I would say probably not yet at this point, but I think he's at least entered that mix.

I think that based on the fact that when the game was on the line, one score game, they're relying on Corey Conner to have eight straight carries there at the end of the fourth quarter.

I look at that was a two man committee and now it's a three man committee.

I don't think that you can go back now.

and put Corey Kiner on the bench at this point.

But quite frankly, I think it would probably only take one or two more performances like this to have him pass Trevion Henderson on the depth chart.

But, like, this is really a tough spot for the Patriots.

Right

... that's something that maybe you might say in, like, week 10 or week 11 or something.

Like, this is week four.

So they were definitely hearing the noise, but also, to your point, probably feeling it internally as well.

And it, it was funny after the game when Drake May was talking to us in the, in the interview room, when he expressed the relief, when he was saying essentially, like, it's a relief but that he's not content yet.

He had, like, maybe the deepest sigh I've ever heard out of, out of an NFL player before saying that he was relieved.

[laughs] He was just like, "Ah." [laughs] It was like you could feel that sigh from him because he did.

How do you expect this group to shake out more? I know it's not like an apples to apples thing where Chisholm just fills in for Matt Collins but he may be a better option right now than Kyle Williams.

The bottom line is I think he's more hurt and sore than injured, and all of the stuff about it not affecting him is true just because of what I've seen on tape, but I'm open to other possibilities because it's hard to explain anything that's going on right now with Drake May.

Yeah, I think maybe I'm being foolish.

Maybe I'm being an idiot.

But May being put on the injury report this week and Josh McDaniel's comment yesterday that this is something that occurred during the Jaguars game makes all of this make a little bit more sense.

And it didn't make sense before.

And you ran through it.

May was pretty evasive on Sunday after the game.

That might offset things, and Drake May doesn't get the support we think he could get this weekend, and then he probably is in the same spot he's been the last three weeks.

But I'm open to other possibilities because it's hard to explain anything that's going on right now with Drake May.

Yeah, I think maybe I'm being foolish.

Maybe I'm being an idiot.

But May being put on the injury report this week and Josh McDaniel's comment yesterday that this is something that occurred during the Jaguars game makes all of this make a little bit more sense.

And it didn't make sense before.

And you ran through it.

May was pretty evasive on Sunday after the game.

That might offset things, and Drake May doesn't get the support we think he could get this weekend, and then he probably is in the same spot he's been the last three weeks.

What are his strong points? Is he more of a zone guy, or can you just put him on one particular guy and expect him to shut that guy down? Because we have a guy by the name of Parker Washington who, We hope to see him do some big things, but Christian Gonzalez can be a problem when doing that.

Yeah, he's a great man cornerback, and for his size, he's 6'1", 200-something pounds.

No one can really flip his hips and has the agility that he has for his size, so I'd say that that's really his biggest strength.

It allows him to shadow guys really well.

I'm curious to see what the Patriots do this week, though, just because I think they view the Jaguars as having three really good wide receivers.

Obviously, Parker Washington is the star right now, but they know what Scully Myers can do from his time with the Patriots, and they know what Brian Thomas can do from his rookie season.

And Washington, I believe, you guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe he only plays about half his snaps outside, the other half coming inside.

What does that do for this Patriots offensive line?

Blitz with Spillane and Ellis and guys like that through the middle? Was that a help to their Blitz packages?

Yeah, I think it is because it brings size in case they decide to run the ball.

And then it still obviously allows you to get some pressure on the quarterback when you're sending six at times.

And the Patriots blitzed almost half of the Steelers' dropbacks in this game.

And, yeah, I mean, obviously, like I said, I'm impressed so far with Akis.

I'm impressed with Elijah Ponder.

Draymond Jones has had positive moments.

But do you think it should be Van Roten who's in there, or should Caleb Lomu get a look inside?

Yeah.

It was, I think I saw their five and a half point favorites, which to me was a little surprising because I don't think the Patriots, I know they were playing a good team in week one.

They didn't look great in week one.

The Steelers won in week one.

They didn't look great either, but they did win their game.

I don't know.

Five and a half tells you that, you know, the gamblers and the betters think the Patriots are better than just your standard home favorite.

is older than us.

in that way he threw it to the place where only the seahawks defender could get it

and right in front of him and i don't expect him to be looking for it but like it just sort of adds to the chaos is pop douglas was wide ass open in that second level running i i don't know what that play was with the cut blocks from the tackles you have three guys running streaks like dobbs was on the outside he ran a streak pop douglas motioned to the left slot he ran i mean a drag sorry not a streak a drag and Matt Collins ran the same thing.

I'm like, there's no way that was the design in any way.

So the play call and the execution of it, it was just a foobar situation.

But to your point, I know we're using Tom Brady as sort of the greatest player of all time as a standard, but it is what it is.

Many idiots around the country would be like, oh, he's lucky or he's carried by his defense or he didn't have as many big-time throws as so-and-so.

It's like...

But in the grand scheme of things, it was going to be a winning approach before the three interceptions.

And, yeah, you fill in the details because this was a deal that there were people close to the contract negotiations between Christian Gonzalez and the Patriots that were doubtful almost up until it happened.

Yeah, I was not necessarily one of those people.

I was optimistic throughout all this, which made me look like a crazy person back in March and April when it wasn't getting signed.

But just from everyone that I was talking to on the team, it was like, this is going to get done.

It's going to get done.

And then deadlines spur action.

Last night, technically Monday night, since everyone was on local time, on West Coast time, finally got done.

But I think that, especially in the red zone, is going to be huge in this game, as it was where the Patriots often stopped Seattle in the Super Bowl.

So what's what's your kind of take on Travion Henderson and the potential impact of him not being there if he's not there?

Yeah, I think we would have seen Ramondre Stevenson start this game anyway and probably play the majority of the snaps, some sort of maybe like 60-40 share or something.

But this does – like Trayvon Henderson didn't look like he was about to go out to practice today.

And this week, Sunday is a Thursday.

So if a guy's not practicing out there on a Thursday, Sunday in this case, doesn't look great for his status.

Yeah.

So if he doesn't play, the running back depth gets really challenged.

yeah that that does seem realistic i have some questions about will campbell and whether there's limitations there that are hard to overcome but um the other part of this and then i'll i got one more question i'll let you get on your way this is another way to look from an offensive line this is the run game for the patriots versus the seahawks run defense and you see there's no red here and that was a story in the Super Bowl last year and the Patriots struggling they just were never that efficient of a run team to begin with um and the Seahawks were not quite a historic but they were by far and away the best run defense in the NFL and they're able to do it from a light personnel group so When you kind of look at that run game, is there a reason to think that this offensive line is going to help them get better as well? Uh,

And how do you see that improving here this year?

It's funny because during the regular season, the sack numbers were really inflated because Drake May would take off for a scramble and then get tackled a yard behind the line of scrimmage.

And it happened so often that you think, all right, that can't really reflect that poorly in the sack numbers.

It was significant last year.

Or he'd run out of bounds at the negative one-yard mark.

That was a lot of the sacks last year.

There really were not...

What have you seen here this summer?

I ju- I just didn't really understand the rush here.

Yeah, I mean, I, I think it's possible they could have got more value at the trade deadline, but also I think the Texans were motivated to make a deal right now, and if they hadn't acquired Booth, then maybe they acquire a different wide receiver at this time.

And if they're the one team that seems interested in Booth, and if they fill that need, then there's no guarantee that they could get the same package at the trade deadline.

Personally, I would have taken that risk.

I would have kept him for now, seen what they could get for him at the trade deadline.

I also would have just possibly kept him for the entire season for the reasons you're saying.

Like, he's good depth to have, and going even beyond that, I would have [laughs] made him one of the starting three wide receivers.

We really don't have anything we can do.

Yep

... um, no, no, it's, it really is amazing.

And, and we had people that we didn't even know joining our team to, to help us out.

I was just telling a story about it.

Someone saw a tweet that Scott McGla- McLaughlin retweeted, and a father and his daughter just randomly joined our team and raised, like, $10,000 for us.

And-

What's going on?

I, I think it gets done.

What was your experience with her?

Yeah, absolutely.

My daughter, Hallie, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia back in 2023.

And she was mostly treated at Boston Children's.

But once she got her transplant and everything like that, then we took regular visits to the Jimmy Fund.

And the Jimmy Fund just means so much to us because of the research that everyone does and the treatment that they give their patients and everything.

It's so great.

But when you're going through something like you did, to see the amount of people rally, how does that feel to be on the other side of that?

What was your experience with her?

Yeah, absolutely.

My daughter, Hallie, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia back in 2023.

And she was mostly treated at Boston Children's.

But once she got her transplant and everything like that, then we took regular visits to the Jimmy Fund.

And the Jimmy Fund just means so much to us because of the research that everyone does and the treatment that they give their patients and everything.

It's so great.

But when you're going through something like you did, to see the amount of people rally, how does that feel to be on the other side of that?

I'd love to continue this 5-on-5 list, but why don't you start off? What are some of the areas or guys that you think are jumping out at camp to you?

Yeah, I mean, I think wide receiver is definitely one where the Patriots have improved.

And obviously we know about A.J. Brown, but Romeo Dobbs is starting to make some plays out there as well.

And when you've got a competition for the third spot between Demario Douglas and Keyshawn Booty and Mack Hollins and Efton Chisholm and maybe Kyle Williams gets into the mix as well.

I think that that's going to garner better results because all those guys are going to be trying to outperform the other ones.

So I think that's a major area where the Patriots improved, where you saw Stefan Diggs have 1,000 yards last year, but you never really knew what player you were getting from one week to the next.

I think Romeo Dobbs can probably...

He's got some pop, and I think we're going to see that on display this week.

But, I mean, have you ever heard? Robert, say anything like that about a contract before it was actually, you know, done?

Not in my recollection.

I was shocked.

I mean, I'm just standing over there trying to, you know, cover the Patriots event.

I knew that Robert Cross was going to talk, but I didn't think he was going to say anything that interesting.

I was like, whoa, I was blown away by it.

And I think that that tells you that.

How much improvement has he made, at least from this time now compared to last year?

But, I mean, have you ever heard? Robert say anything like that about a contract before it was actually, you know, done?

Not in my recollection.

I was shocked.

I mean, I'm just standing over there trying to, you know, cover the Patriots event.

I knew that Robert Cross was going to talk, but I didn't think he was going to say anything that interesting.

I was like, whoa, I was blown away by it.

And I think that that tells you that.

How much improvement has he made, at least from this time now compared to last year?

Keshaun Booty being the best receiver in camp, notable or nothing?

Sorry about that.

Um, I was on mute.

Uh, I, it is notable that Keshaun Booty's been the best receiver in camp, and probably the best offensive player overall in camp.

Um, it's notable because he was involved in trade talks, uh, reportedly.

Um, he's been involved in trade rumors reportedly for the last two years.

And it's notable because he didn't participate in voluntary, you know, OTAs and the off-season workout program, and clearly there was a reason for that, whether he wanted a contract or he didn't like the fact that he was in trade talks, whatever, there was a reason for that.

[laughs] Gabe Backus is notable, but, like, how about this? In retrospect, is the contract and what led him here, and the fact that he is late to training camp, is this notable? Just the time missed for him.

Keshaun Booty being the best receiver in camp, notable or nothing?

Sorry about that.

Um, I was on mute.

Uh, I, it is notable that Keshaun Booty's been the best receiver in camp, and probably the best offensive player overall in camp.

Um, it's notable because he was involved in trade talks, uh, reportedly.

Um, he's been involved in trade rumors reportedly for the last two years.

And it's notable because he didn't participate in voluntary, you know, OTAs and the off-season workout program, and clearly there was a reason for that, whether he wanted a contract or he didn't like the fact that he was in trade talks, whatever, there was a reason for that.

[laughs] Gabe Akers is notable, but, like, how about this? In retrospect, is the contract and what led him here and the fact that he is late to training camp, is this notable, just the time missed for him?

You have any update on him?

Uh, i- I think that he was recently in Boston.

I think he was, he was posting on Instagram, so perhaps that's a good sign.

This one concerns me maybe a little bit more, um, b- just because he's the last second round pick who has not signed hi- his contract.

And there is these weird questions about the knee, the injury, when it happened, when it occurred, whether the Patriots knew about it, all those different things.

It would shock me, completely shock me, if this contract didn't get done at some point, uh, before the 2026, uh, season begins.

But just the fact that it's where it's at right now, the fact they had to miss all of minicamp, all of rookie minicamp, all of OTAs, it's not ideal, especially since the Patriots lack depth, in my opinion, on the edge, and one of their pres- projected starters, Harold Landry, barely played after week six last year, wasn't on the field during minicamp.

Mm.

What is that area of the team where you say, I thought they were lacking last year and they need to be better? Where do you target?

It's the offensive line for me, especially at the end there in the playoff run.

Obviously, they were only going to make it through the AFC with a weak offensive line, but couldn't get anything going against the Seahawks.

So for that to happen, Will Campbell definitely has to take a second-year leap.

He seemed confident when we talked to him last week that he could do that.

He said, yeah, I'm only 22 years old, still have the best football in front of me.

They've made a major upgrade at left guard with Elijah Veritaker.

If not, maybe take the starting job.

Is there any small pebble stone unturned as far as we're not talking enough about X when it comes to AJ Brown on the Patriots?

So we did an exercise on my podcast this week about going through the 30th through 33rd overall picks over the last 10 years.

I think one thing that's being a little bit overlooked is that only about 35% of those players are hits.

The rest are guys that you would much prefer to have a season or two of A.J. Brown over.

And that's even before talking about that this is a bad draft.

So I think that's being overlooked a little bit, that there's no guarantee that you're going to get a good player with that 31st overall pick.

I think the other thing, too, is that there's a real debate about whether you would rather have the first-round pick this year versus next year so i don't know maybe the eagles are looking at the same way where that june 1st deadline not only helps them cap wise but maybe they would rather have the first round pick in 2027 just because it's expected to be a better draft

But is there any consideration in terms of Christian Gonzalez and the type of presence that he is in the locker room and whether or not he's giving Mike Rabel everything that he wants out of a player of that caliber at that position?

But what does it take to get Max Crosby, in your opinion, just for fun?

I mean, they've got a late first-round pick.

I wouldn't mind shipping off a late first-round pick for Max Crosby.

If not, then maybe a couple seconds.

He's getting up there in age.

I don't know if the Raiders are going to have much of a choice, if he really did.

Like you said, turn to Tom Brady and say, I'm never going to play here again.

In the Super Bowl, he was the worst of all.

What are you hearing about going into this bye week, basically?

Yeah, and that's a major reason for the Patriots' success this season is that they have stayed as healthy as they are.

They have one season-ending injury on the roster, Antonio Gibson.

Robert Spillane suffered the ankle injury, so that's certainly something to monitor since a lower extremity injury like that kept him out for quite a while.

It was originally called an ankle injury, then called a foot injury.

He was really testing it out on the sideline during the game, so it didn't seem like it was a severe injury.

but I don't blame them for keeping him out of that game with the snow and wet, icy conditions and everything like that.

What was the big difference? Was it Sam Darnold?