Everything is coming up Patriots! How do they keep the train rolling?! | Patriots Talk

Everything is coming up Patriots! How do they keep the train rolling?! | Patriots Talk

[Applause] Hey, what’s up everybody? Welcome into Tom Current’s Patriots Talk podcast. Phil Perry alongside uh we have been talking about how easy the Patriots schedule is. Somehow it got even easier on Monday. Monday morning, Sunday’s opponent, the Titans, they took their guy, head coach Brian Callahan, out behind the shed. That’s the guy who was hired to replace Mike Vrabel. It seems like Mike Frabel has landed on his feet, however, because everything is coming up. Patriots, we have entered the meteoric rise portion of the program. I’ll bring Phil in in a moment. I’m just going to babble. If the Patriots were a 70s rock band, this is their moment. They got a breakthrough album rocketing up the charts. They got a heartthrob front man on the cover of magazines. I mean, look at this. Look at this album cover from the 2025 Patriots right here. That’s sultry good looks. Brooding, in control, and poised. They are in the sweet spot, ladies and gentlemen. This is the feel-good 15 minutes of their VH1 behind the music retrospective. This is when it’s all coming together for them. They’re shiny. They’re fun. They’re new. And at the moment, they have zero competition for the hot team that everyone is talking about. The Patriots should luxuriate in their newfound success. Wreck a hotel room or two, huh? The 2025 Patriots, Phil, they’re in a place at the right time to take off. They’re now 4-2. Ought to be 5- one. They could be 6 and 0. And the schedule, as we’ve pointed out incessantly, is full of horrible opponents. Last time the Patriots were uh this good, they were briefly the number one seed back in 2021 in December, believe it or not, after the wind game in Buffalo. That time they had a quarterback they could win with. Now they have a quarterback that they plainly win because of, which Phil has pointed out. Their win in Buffalo, see that that that’s the thing. their win in Buffalo as opposed to that fluky wind win back in 2021 that was authentic and it’s clear the Patriots have the guy not just their guy Drake May has evolved into the guy which is a step above a guy which is a step above just a guy but the thing is before Buffalo May hadn’t yet shown the ability to play a clean game against an elite team on the road and walk out with a win he hadn’t shown that the adrenaline that he was impacted by would not affect him on a big stage, but he did that. And that performance in Buffalo coupled with the brilliant followup in New Orleans on Sunday, it’s not fleeting. And it’s really, I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, it’s jaw-dropping when you realize that this is the same raw player that was having his throwing motion and drop back fundamentals stripped down and reinvented from April through August of 2024. Right now, Phil, there’s not a team in the league that wouldn’t sign up for a decade of Drake May. I’m going to throw right now to Mike Vrabel on Drake May and then what you’ve all been waiting for, Phil Perry dropping nuggets. Well, I would say that the credit goes to to Drake. That’s that’s what it’ll all go to. It’s not going to go to anybody other than the player that’s that’s doing that and improving and understanding and making the plays. uh his ability to throw um off platform and extend and keep his eyes downfield. You know, there was some things that we asked him to work on that that Josh and Ashton asked him to work on coming out of um Buffalo. I felt like he tried to do that and then when he had to extend have the ability to extend, but you know, I think that that’s um when when quarterbacks can feel the rush but also see downfield and see things develop, uh that that’s that that can be deadly. Just it’s hard to defend that. Phil, thanks for your patience during the preamble. Why was Drake May’s performance on Sunday even better than the numbers showed? Well, I think it’s because two of his best throws of the day didn’t even count. I mean, you had the unbelievable throw that was unccorked to Stfan Diggs down the right sideline on third and long that gets wiped out because Stfan Diggs is resting his hand on the shoulder pads of the defensive back in coverage. Did not look like a pushoff to me. I don’t think it was a pass interference call. be that as it may, as you like to say, he comes right back on a third and forever now and throws again down the right sideline, takes a hit as he does so and drops another pass into the bucket for M. Collins that goes off his hands and lands out of bounds. But that that might have been his best throw of the day. So, when you look at the stats, that tells you one thing. That tells you he had a good game. You can see his touchdowns and look at those alone and say, “Boy, that’s a big game hunter at quarterback. All three of his touchdown passes travel at least 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Those are those X plays that Mike Greyel’s looking for, those explosive shots. It’s really hard to string drives together where you got to run 15, 16, 17 plays to get all the way down the field and in the end zone. You don’t have to do that with Drake May. But I think even if you look at those touchdowns or you look at the box score stats, which again are impressive, and this is another week where he lands in conversations with quarterbacks that we never thought that he would be spoken alongside this early in his career at least. But those stats don’t even don’t even tell you just how good he was. Tom, I mean, it’s we’re we’re really genulecting at the altar of Drake May, but it’s it’s it’s hard not to. I mean, you’re disingenuous if you sit there for four hours on the radio or go on television and just try and pretend that there’s a million things to pick apart and people are too hasty. When you see it, you say it. If you see something, say something. You have to. He’s on an incredible heater. Tom, can I just give you Can I give you a stat? This is from NextGen stats. Fourth player aged 23 or younger since 1970 to record at least five consecutive games with 200 plus passing yards and a 100 plus passer rating. Mahomes has done it twice. Dak Prescott has done it and Dan Marino has done it as well. That’s a good crew. That’s a good crew. It’s a pretty good group. Um, one of the most impressive things you talked about the explosive plays, but what I’ve been impressed by during this stretch of games is the third down throws and conversions he’s made and there were so many plays the other day. the throws to the sideline that you mentioned, uh the booty sideline back shoulder throw to seal it, the touchdown throw to Booty, the scramble, but also the third and 11 throw to Hollands, which they needed to get. Was it third and 11 to convert to get them into it was the first first down of that and they also had a third down throw to Diggs that was critical in the the end of the first half. But that third and 11 throw to Hollands was critical to get them into a situation where okay, all they need is one more first down and the party’s over. Those are the plays when you couple them with the ability to run, the ability to move and and extend a play and get an explosive is is huge. Now I’m using the word explosive, which I’ve never done before. But we’ve been explained to death. So now that’s entering my particular vernacular. He is not discerning about who he’s going to throw to either. Which brings us to Kan Booty. Check out these numbers from Booty. They are not just flash in a pan numbers. He’s averaging 15.9 yards, excuse me, air yards per target this season, as Phil pointed out in his story on NBCportsboston.com. Fourth most in the NFL. Then if you go to Pro Football Reference and use their handydandy um segmenting tool over the last nine games, 42 targets, 34 catches, 541 yards, 15.9 yards per catch, five TDs, 81% of the time he catches a ball thrown to him. projected over 17 games and nine is not a small sample but projected over 17 games it would be 64 catches for 1021 9.4 touchdowns on the season. I’m not look I said earlier this year he could be a 1B or he could be a good team’s two and I got a little push back and I don’t blame you because you hadn’t seen it but the physical skills are there and they keep showing up. Why? Well, here’s Mike Fable and Booty from Sunday. I mean, I think he factored and certainly came up huge at the end. Um, you know, I think he’s just gotten better and just like his demeanor never too up, you know, I mean, never too down and just, you know, sometimes the ball finds him and he makes the plays and and when it doesn’t, he, you know, just kind of understands that it just wasn’t his his snap. and then to to be there at the at the end there to take a good hit and score and then to come up with a huge play there at the end that really, you know, went in there and went won the game for us on a on a third down. So, I think you see the confidence that Drake has with him. Uh his play strength and his ability to go uh frame the football in in a big situation. Why Phil is Quan Booty so difficult to deal with when he is not what we would call a blazer, nor is he 6’4? Well, he’s got great hands and he’s got great body control, which is something you’ve been saying about him really since the beginning. And he has a quarterback who’s willing to throw to him while he’s covered. And I loved what Drake May said soon after the game was over on Booty’s first touchdown catch. He said, “Hey, it’s one-on-one coverage.” Like in the NFL, one-on-one means you’re open. And that’s not the case for every receiver. Not every receiver can just beat man-to-man coverage. You should you should trust him no matter what and throw him the football and expect him to make a big play, but it feels like that’s where Drake May is with a lot of his receivers and Kahan Booty is one of them. I mean, think about last year some of those down the field catches. I can remember um at home against the Texans in Drake May’s first start deep down the field touchdown on a great throw. He wasn’t open. He’s corner is right there stride for stride with Kahan Booty. I think it was Derek Stingley. He’s one of the best corners in football and one of the most highly paid. Uh in London against Jacksonville down the field down the left sideline I can remember in my mind’s eye. And then this year sec second week of the season in Miami touchdown throw there’s a defender all over him and Drake May puts it in the perfect spot and he’s able to reel it in. So there’s real trust there. We’ve been talking all season about or especially these last two three weeks about the chemistry that Drake May has with Stfan. I think it’s just part of Drake May’s wiring is to trust the people that are on the field with him and allow them to go make plays. And he has that gunslinger mindset. Hey, that guy’s covered, but it is one-on-one. Let me try to zip it over this guy’s helmet for a touchdown, which he did on the first touchdown throw to Kahan Booty and man-to-man coverage. That that to me is a big part of why Booty’s having success is because he has these skills, but in order to leverage those, you need a quarterback who’s willing to throw him the ball while he’s covered. And Drake May has done that. It’s like the anti Brady. But Brady would only stop going to you when you didn’t reward him. Like Kembrell Tomkins, if you lined everybody up and said Kembrell Tomkins is going to be the guy who Brady goes to more than Nquille Harry or Brandon Tate or whoever else. Aaron Dobson. Why? Because he catches it. You have to get some level of return on the throws. And I think as we’re talking about contested catches and somebody able to win these 50-50 balls, players who have cycled through here, who were supposed to do that job, Devonte Parker just is a shining example of a guy who right now, if you look at what Booty’s doing, that’s what Devonte Parker was supposed to do. And that can change things and big part of why they didn’t. Um, let’s move on now, though, because I want to talk about the Patriots running game. And and with with that in mind, the Patriots are playing the Titans. They’re one and five. They just fired Brian Callahan. They have five offensive touchdowns so far this season with Cam Ward, the rookie number one overall pick, directing the offense. They’re 28% on third down. They’ve allowed 25 sacks already, 5.4 yards per attempt throwing, 67.3 passer rating, 55% completion percentage. I’m talking all about the offense right now because the Patriots should be able to score and get some separation. And with that being the case, at some point they can say, you know what, let’s dig deep here on this run game because the Titans are allowing 4.5 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns have been allowed by them so far. So, Phil, run game run game. They they’ve got to get it figured out. I I was down at Gillette Stadium um on Monday talking to Garrett Bradberry about it and he insists it does feel like they’re close, but they’re they’re starting to get frustrated hearing that word from themselves, close. How many times do you have to say it before it actually starts to yield results? So for them, there is some frustration that’s setting in. I thought we heard it right after the game from Mike Frabel. You know, what’s going on with the run game? Ah, probably one guy away as usual, you know, and I get it. They are frustrated. I I know. Um how do you fix it though is the question because it doesn’t feel like it’s one issue every snap. It feels like there are certain plays where it’s this side of the line, that side of the line not getting to the linebacker level and allowing these running backs to to get a whole lot of runway to get themselves started to maybe break some tackles. I think it is somewhat on the backs as well and Vrabel alluded to that on Monday where he said he was asked Tom if he felt as though running backs were so concerned with holding on to the football that maybe it was in some way impeding their ability to pick up yards while they have the football. Good question. I thought and he agreed. He thought that might be an issue. So how do you get past that? Do you just need a few games under your belt before you can run loose and pick up extra yardage? It’s not a great place to be. You’re you’re lucky if you’re the Patriots that the quarterback’s been as good as he’s been because you don’t want to long term have everything on his shoulders week after week after week. Especially when you get later in the season, it gets a little colder and you’re going to be seeing some some good teams. If you hope to be a playoff team, you know, you want to be able to run the football against the Bills, against the Ravens late in the year when you’re going to be playing in cold weather. Isn’t it wild to consider the Patriots are operating with two running backs right now when you kind of imagine that the the woods are full of running backs? You could just walk in there, pick one off a tree, bring it back, and have a 5’11 220 lb guy just running around. They don’t even have a third down back right now. And and at the beginning of the season, I was like, well, you can have Henderson apprentice in that role. And now Henderson, I think the longer it goes, the harder it gets for a guy to sometimes have his skill set unveiled. They’re trying to solve a lot of things with the running game all at once. So, it’s not as if we’re just trying to get this guy on track. They’re trying to get the whole thing on track, which slows the progress of both backs, I think. And I I do think it’s something that they’re gonna have to really look at if it continues, which it likely will to be one of those things that’s a C at best all season long because right now it’s a D. I asked Vel about the the end of the game. We talked about this on the aftermath pod. Those first down runs under center, first down late in the game. I know you’re trying to melt some clock, but you’re also trying to stay on the field so you can melt some clock. and three of their last four runs on first down, all under center, went for negative yardage. And so I asked Variable about it and he said, “No, you know, it didn’t sound like he was against those play calls.” I asked if they maybe should be doing something a little bit more creative. And uh he didn’t think that was necessarily all that fair of a question. That’s fine for him to feel that way. They have done a number of different types of runs over the course of the season. I just thought in that moment, boy, the Saints were really teeing off on you and you just continue to slam it into the middle of the line. His explanation was, “Well, we don’t want to go sideways and maybe go backwards.” But Tom, they’re going backwards on the downhill runs. So, what’s the explanation there? Asked a few people. It was not what you and I theorized it could be. We weren’t saying for sure this was it, but we’ve covered Bill Bichc teams in the past where they say to themselves, “Hey, we got to get this solved. Let’s run this stuff right now and get it figured. Let’s prove to ourselves we can do it against real competition.” And I I thought at the time with Bill Bich at times there was merit in that. I like that idea. I don’t hate it either. You’re not getting a great look in practice. How often are these guys really tackling in practice these days? So how are you supposed to work on this stuff? But I was told nope, not the case. That, you know, they’re just trying to win the game. I think they liked those play calls. I think they’re trying to be a no frills run game in order to get it started. And unfortunately for them, they’re going backwards. So I don’t know what you do now. Well, it’s clear, and I’m sure Mike has realized this as he looks at his roster, there is no Derk Henry on his team, but they’re calling plays like they have Derrick Henry on their team, and there’s a mindset there like they have Derrick Henry on their team. They also don’t have Ryan Tanny Hill or Marcus Mariota under center. They have a better player than that. Is there a way to incorporate him? Now, you don’t want to put too much on them, but you know, is there some read option? Again, that’s put you in a situation where, okay, we might lose four here and we’re also going to open the opportunity for Drake to to get hit. But, you know, design quarterback runs, you know, try and screw them up in personnel if they think you’re going to run. Because I think what I’ve gathered from Mike so far between him, between him and Stretch, the mindset is we’re just trying to get to the end of the game. When we got the lead and it’s under six or seven minutes, we’re trying to get to the end of the game here. We’re not We’re gonna be a no frills team. Get out, get the win, get the hell out. I think he is conservative in that vein. I think Mike is more conservative than than Josh McDaniels. Probably the same way Bill tended to be, too. Um, until he got Brady and realized how explosive he could be, but they it’s going to be hard for them to go through the next 11 games with two backs, one of whom has a tremendous fumbling issue. All right, we’re going to take a break. We’ll be back in just a minute to to talk about some of the guys we may be overlooking in our Drake May genulection phase. All right, that’s Mike Vrael from the Greg Hill Show on Monday with his commentary on the officiating. It’s it was it was amusing, comical to borrow a phrase, but we have been very Mayentric as we should be when you have a quarterback talk about it all the time. It’s vital. But let’s run through some of the guys who should get a little more credit than we’ve actually had time to give in this three-game win streak and and and start at the top with Mike Vrabel as a head coach. We’re talking about Drake May in the MVP race. Would Mike Vrabel, he fits the profile, taking over an ass team turning it into not ass Mike Frabel. So far, I think you were getting at should he be in the coach of the year discussion and how could he not be? Who was expecting the Patriots to be a winning football team this year? Even if many expected them to be improved and many believed that this schedule was soft before the season began. And so people like you and I thought they could be in that nine win range and maybe even in the playoff hunt with those nine wins. But they’ve been better than that. And if the quarterback continues to play this way and they continue to rattle off wins, Tom, this guy’s got to be in the coach of the year discussion because that that’s the formula, right? Yep. If you go worst to postseason, you’re in the mix. And Mike Vrabel is certainly there. Couple of challenges that worked on Sunday down in New Orleans, you know, maybe a fourth down call that you and I didn’t love in real time, but listen, that’s going to happen. I I like that he’s been I think, you know, you’re talking about conservative in certain spots. I think especially at the end of the game, I he has been aggressive at times, too, going forward on fourth down, sometimes even in his own territory, which I’ve liked. So, yes, he’s in that conversation. Another guy who we haven’t spoken a ton about. We had a lot to say. You guys had a lot to say when Bobby Spain only had three tackles in the first two games. Well, now since then, he’s got 25 and 9, 34, 45 tackles in four games. Okay, Bobby Spalain impact maker. and one of the key plays of the year, forcing a fumble in Buffalo and helping the Patriots win the turnover battle that night and helping them get a season defining at least to this point kind of win. He’s been out there all the time. He’s durable. Seems as though he’s pretty smart, Tom. They’re in the top 10 in points allowed so far. They seem like they’re a relatively good communication unit, and I give him a lot of credit for that. So, yeah, let’s put him on the underrated crew. Uh, Christian Ellis, he was a guy who yesterday we actually spent some time talking about, hey, you know what? Maybe um maybe he had the best game among the linebackers. And the linebackers were not guys we were talking about who had had terrific games so far. He has 41 tackles so far on the season. Same deal. Consistent seven, eight, and nine tackles the past few weeks. Pass defense and a force fumble on Sunday. And I look at him as a as a as a good sort of bounceback story, although he has been, as you’re talking about, consistent with some of the tackling numbers. It does feel as though they’ve been tinkering at that position. We’ve seen alongside Robert Blaine, who feels like the staple there. You’ve seen some Jack Gibbons, you’ve seen some Marte Mapu. Sometimes they’ll have three linebackers out there, so it doesn’t necessarily mean Ellis is off if one of those other guys is on. But Ellis, I think, was inconsistent enough at the very start of the season that they were kind of messing around at that position. and the fact that he plays yesterday, plays as well as he does. Another guy with a key force fumble uh down there in New Orleans, it feels as though he’s kind of staked his claim to that number two inside linebacker spot. Let’s roll a couple of secondary players in here together. Marcus Jones, he kept it two touchdowns a couple weeks ago and Craig Woodson, the rookie safety. Marcus Jones has been one of their best players period, I think, Tom, on either side of the ball. Three pass breakups and a sack yesterday or excuse me, on Sunday against the Saints. important sack, too. I mean, he’s ending drives. He’s He’s like the stopper. Like, I don’t know what else to say about him. Special teams and defense. I was making fun of you even though I like Marcus Jones. And I remember sitting in the studio when they drafted Marcus Jones saying, “Hey, that’s a heck of a pick in 2022, but I was I was giving you a little bit of a hard time because you just threw it out there. One of the best lock corners in the league early in the season.” I said, “Oh, I I don’t I might pump the brakes there.” I think I was taking a bill. Bill had said that at some point and I just was Well, he’s making you look good. Whatever Whatever sparked that discussion, he is making you look good. Because I can’t imagine there are a ton of slot corners who are playing better than him right now. And Woodson ton of time on the field. He’s always out there. And how many times have we looked at him and said, “Boy, what a mistake that was.” Right? I feel like at that safety position, it’s almost like offensive line. If you’re not talking about him, that’s a good thing. and and so for him, way to be. Fourth round pick, rookie. He’s out there every single snap it feels like. And uh does not seem to be on the scene for any of these explosive plays that have really hurt the Patriots. Poor Kyle Duggar wandered out there for two minutes yesterday in Zing Zang. Uh Gonzalez, Barnmore, Landry, and Zack Cerr. And then we’re going to flip to offense before we get to soundcheck. Sound check. A new feature. I hope you guys are going to like it. Like that. I want to start with Kerr because as an emergency defensive coordinator in EDC in EDC that to me is hard enough but to have your team and I know the competition is what it is and I know some of the advanced numbers have not been good. Believe the Patriots were 27th in the league in success rate going into that game against the Saints. But the points Tom are the points the Saints got inside the Patriots 40 yardd line five times on Sunday. They scored one touchdown. It’s a Ben but break kind of Ben but don’t break. Excuse me. Don’t break kind of feel for them. I think you’ll take that if you’re Mike Vrabel with all the the shakeup. You don’t have your number one corner for a month. You don’t have your DC that you hired to be the guy to lead your defense. So, I give Zack Core a lot of credit. Will Campbell uh and I mentioned Landry, too. I he’s just been he’s so small when you see him on the field. You see him in the locker room. He’s not a small fella, but when you see him on the field, he looks like he could be running back sized, but he makes an impact. And good for him that he was able to uh gumby himself back onto the field after what looked like I said to Michael, “Ah, it’s an MCL.” Yeah. Outside of his knee. Couple going to be a couple weeks. Dr. Kurin. Yep. I’m on the scene with those usually the nose. Sniffs it out again. Five minutes later, he’s a good MCL he’s got there. Hey, I I don’t know what he’s doing. Is that yoga? Is that Pilates? What do you do to make your your ligaments that kind of flexible? Teddy Bruski had that. No one was more gummy than him. He was bizarro. He really could bend in a variety of different directions, but he deserves a lot of credit. Uh Will Campbell as well, you know, to not be the obvious, you know, weak link in the chain, I think, is is a big step. And he’s been much better than that. I I think I set the bar too low when I said before the season if he could just be somewhere between like 13 and 20 in terms of left tackles in the NFL that that’s worthy of the number four overall pick just based on where that position was for them previously and the fact that he would grow into it as time goes on. I I think he’s he’s kind of there already and he’s on the he’s on the better end of that spectrum that that I laid out for him. Now along the offensive line as well, four of the five positions are manned by people who were not here last year. Morgan Moses, Jared Wilson, Garrett Bradberry, there’s really not I mean it’s not like they’re running over people, so that would be helpful to see. But the offensive line and the improvement or it just to get from embarrassing, which it was for two years, to pretty capable. I don’t know if they’re pretty capable or just capable. I think they’re pretty capable. Although Sunday was, you might be able to look at that and say in some ways they win the game. And so, you know, we’re nitpicking now, but over 50% in terms of the pressure rate that Drake May saw, over half of his drop backs, he was pressured. Mhm. And to average two yards per carry, basically two yards even per carry. Not their best game. You know what’s wild is usually you hear pressure rate with a quarterback. And you also, we’ve done this for decades. How many hits can he take? He’s not getting hit. He will. He’s gonna get smooshed, but he’s just not taking hits because of his athletic ability. Let me roll through this real quick before. Sound check, which you guys, I said it before, I’ll say it again. You got all of it. I’m on the edge of my seat. Um, between Bobby Spelain, newly signed, Woodson drafted, Landry signed, Campbell drafted, Moses signed, Wilson drafted, Bradbury signed, Christian Ellis resigned. Matched. Matched. Yeah, free agent matched. Um, the only guys we mentioned who I think are playing in this noteworthy and I could include Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, but there’s it’s a we got a time limit on this thing. Um, I wonder who gets the credit truly behind the scenes for such a good off season of player acquisition. Ah, are you talking about with the big boss with ownership? Well, no. Is it is it Elliot Wolf? Has he quietly had a revival behind the scenes or is it as I suspect the Vrabel fed Ryan Cen Mike Vrabel different let’s go after this kind of player that has resulted in improvement because I don’t understand how you can go from the worst in the league over a decade with those guys or half a decade at least for Wolf who showed up on scene in 2021 to having this fleet of capable players and just say well it was Bill wasn’t Bill last year when Chuk Sakoro was running out there to play left tackle. I do give Mike Vrabel and his new staff a lot of credit. Now they have been giving Elliot Wolf credit as as doing a key job in that front office. But Tom, let’s just look at the players that you mentioned. um the free agents at least, how many of them have experience with either Vrabel himself or an assistant that’s on the Patriots staff that has just been hired by Vrabel to work for him. So, you know, Robert Spelain spent time with the Titans, Harold Landry with the Titans, you know, Morgan Moses wasn’t with um Mike Vrabel in Tennessee, but he was with um Todd Downing in New York. Yep. So Terrell Williams with Carlton Davis who we didn’t mention who’s been more than capable. So so I kind of am I’m kind of fairly or unfairly I’m putting those signings in in a varable labeled bucket right now. Phil, you know what it’s time for now? Is it time for sound check? Sound check. Okay. You know what? We’re trying to keep it fast moving on the uh the Tuesday pod. So we’ll get some sound for you and we’re going to give you some quick reacts and it’s going to be around the AFC East and with some of the four teams. first one up. The Jets have dipped to 0 and6. They lost uh they threw for 45 yards uh and there were eight sacks for Justin Fields. Here’s Jets head coach Aaron Glenn talking about looking on the bright side on Monday. Listen, I know it’s tough being 0 and6. Uh but with the midst of that, when it comes to yesterday’s game, there were a number of improvements that uh I want to make sure that our guys understand that we’re going to build on. And when it comes to that, man, I thought our special teams did a hell of a job having Kane back as a kick returner. Um, that definitely helped us. I think Isaiah did a really good job as far as the pump returns. I thought our coverage teams did a really good job. Any point in the storm, Phil. Special teams look good. I think it’s always important to to look at things from a a glass half half full perspective when you can. Amen. Uh meanwhile, Tua Tonga touched off a firestorm in his postgame. 33 seconds of Tua sound coming at you in which he just sets fire to the boats. Well, I think it starts with the leadership in in helping articulate that for the guys and then what we’re expecting out of the guys, right? We’re expecting this. Are we getting that? Are we not getting that? We have guys showing up to player only meetings late. Guys not showing up to player only me only meet there there’s a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make this mandatory? Do we not have to make thisatory? So So it it’s it’s a lot of uh it’s a lot of things of of that nature. And here’s head coach Mike McDaniel who opted for Capri pants on Sunday as he stood at the podium. Capri pants um talking about getting his football right. Yeah, I think it’s pretty simple that that sucks. You know, the way you can make it suck more like I I think I’m not worried about um the the team staying together. Um I’m worried about us getting our football right. Those opponents, the Patriots have three games combined against those clubs. Phil, more good news for the Patriots. They close the season with those two teams. It’s all coming up Patriots. It really is. Meanwhile, as I mentioned before, Brian Callahan out in Tennessee. Um, this might have been a portion of the reason it was difficult for him to maintain his job Monday morning. Commentary that wasn’t that explosive about Cam Ward, but it being 2025, people said, “Wait a minute, he got thrown at the bus.” We we felt good coming into the game. Um, and to to not be able to to perform well on offense and and not be able to score any points and and lose a game is is disappointing. Um, you know, we all got to be better. Cam’s a part of that, too. Cam’s got to play better football as well. And we got to coach better. We got to play better. All those things. It’s not all just him, but but he is a part of it. And, um, we’d like to be able to to start seeing some more good football being played and we got to do a better job. That didn’t seem that inflammatory. No, not at all. I hope that’s not the reason why. I hope that’s not the the impetus for the decision there. Not that I know Brian Gallahan from Adam, but that would be a little weak, wouldn’t it? You got a little bit more time to get to know him now. He’s got an open slate. Uh Mike Rael heading back to Tennessee this week. Got to be feeling his oats. Cat that swallowed the canary. Is it swallowed or ate? Eight. Swallowed. Be that as it may, here’s Mike Frael talking about Titans week. This is going to be probably a lot to be said about this and think would file under the category of you know is it interesting or important and I would probably say this would be very interesting but in the end not very important uh to our preparation or what we need to continue to try to do to improve as a team but having spent you know six years there or seven years there I mean it’s uh you know I think it’ll It’ll be nice to see some some people that I haven’t seen in in a few years that helped us win, players and and staff, but uh you know, we’ve got a huge job here to do uh as we prepare for him. Two final questions. I know Mike pretty well. Not day in day out talking on the phone, but over the span of 22 years. And he will quietly revel not in the firing of Brian Callahan, not in the travailes of a of a franchise and and the players, but he’ll be pretty happy that the people who made the decisions to make sure that he had to uproot his family, spend a year out of football, and go to Cleveland are looking at a team right now that isn’t as good as it was. Now, he did, Mike did high road it um in one of his conversations. I think it was EI say we didn’t win enough. It’s the right thing to say, I think. You know, wasn’t kicking rocks over it, but he’s he’s going to have to feel kind of okay, you wanted to move on. How’s it coming? I think that would be human nature and and probably not just for Vrabel. There a number of different guys on this Patriots staff now that worked in Tennessee. So, uh, they do feel like a a group to me that’s so invested in what’s going on right now, they’re going to spend a lot of time in that, but like I said, any person in those shoes probably be feeling an ounce of that that you’re describing. All right. Finally, uh, from a coach having the time of his life to one wondering why he wants to end his coaching life in this situation, here is Bill Bich with a probing question posed to him on Monday. Last game it was 28-3 after the first quarter. People clearing out after halftime. Statistically UNCC has gone from a perennial bowl contender to statistically one of the worst teams in college football right now. And people in this building are upset. Fans are upset. The people that brought you here stuck their necks out to bring you here. I mean, can you acknowledge you? You’re telling me that you believe this process is working? Yeah. 100%. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, it’s a learning curve. We’re all in it together. Um, but we’re making a lot of progress and and um, you know, the process will eventually produce the results that we want to produce like they have everywhere else I’ve been. So, I’m very confident in that. Players are working hard. They’re getting better. Um, and we’re going to continue to do that and improve. Bill whistling past the graveyard and adding in the it will improve as it always has everywhere I’ve been. Boy, does that not reek of the, you know, what do you tell people who are hoping to see the team perform a different way? The last 20 years, wasn’t that the answer? Last 25. Last 25. How dare I? And a statement had to be released after that as well. All right, we’re going to end with this statement right now. Thanks for joining us. Make sure you catch the next Pats podcast. We will be back with you again on Thursday with another one of these pods. And of course, Quicks Lance will be with you on Thursday. I think we’re going to have either Harold Landry or Matt Holland for irrelevant questions. Those will be keepers. Until then, keep yourself out of the rain. [Music]

Things are looking up for the New England Patriots, but how do they keep things rolling? Tom Curran and Phil Perry debate that, discuss the impact of Kayshon Boutte, and how the Patriots can get their run game going.

2:00-Drake Maye continues to elevate his game
7:30-The impact of Kayshon Boutte
12:30-How do the Patriots get the run game going?

CONNECT ➡️ Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nbcsboston || Our website: https://www.nbcsportsboston.com || Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok @nbcsboston

🎧Listen to our podcasts:
🏀 Celtics Talk: https://celtics-talk.simplecast.com/
🏈 Patriots Talk: https://tom-curran-patriots-talk-podcast.simplecast.com/
🔗 Next Pats: https://the-next-pats-podcast.simplecast.com/
🔉 The Quick Snap Podcast w/ Brian Hoyer & David Andrews: https://the-quick-snap-with-david-andrews-amp-brian-hoyer.simplecast.com/

The official YouTube page of NBC Sports Boston. Home of the Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, and Bruins. We connect fans with the teams they love.