Mike Vrabel’s Homecoming Debut, Scouting the Raiders & More | Patriots All Access

Mike Vrabel’s Homecoming Debut, Scouting the Raiders & More | Patriots All Access

Next on All Access, I’m Dan Roach. The Patriots are getting ready to open up their NFL season, but it might be without one of their best players. I’m Scott Solak and I sit down with Mike Brael on the eve of his first game as Patriots head coach. We’re building trying to build a program, something that’s going to last and something that can sustain success. And we’re just trying to get it right, trying to get the right people in the building at the right time. I’m Mike Reese and I’ll tell you what I think the Patriots have to do to beat the Raiders in week one. And I’m Steve Burton. Those stories plus follow Mil Williams journey to the NFL. Right then, I know he was going to be drafted in the NFL. [Applause] The preeason is over. Sunday kicks off the 2025 regular season and a new era of Patriots football. Hello everyone and welcome to Patriots All Access. I’m Steve Burton and we are thrilled to be kicking off our 31st year. Mike Vo and the Patriots kick off their season opener against the Raiders at 1:00 right here at Tlet Stadium. And Dan Roach tells us the anticipation has been building for the season opener. I’m Dan Roach for the Pats. And as excitement builds for the season opener here Sunday at Gillette Stadium against the Raiders, we begin with a health concern. One of the best players on the team, quarterback Christian Gonzalez injured his left hamstring on July 28th and his status for the opener remained in doubt all week long. had a status. Uh we report on India like what do you want to know about out both the Patriots and the Raiders commit to Sunday off four and 13 seasons. Both have new head coaches and lots of new faces up and down the roster. You know, it’s week one and we’ll we’ll see if what we’ve been doing since really OTAAS and Coach Drael came in that identity and building that. We’ll see if it it’s, you know, shows its fruits on on Sunday or or if we have more work to do. They’ve got a new head coach, a secondyear quarterback who’s coming in off a promising firstear campaign. A rookie class that’s generated excitement, plus some bigname free agents. One player who exudes enthusiasm, newly named captain Robert Spain. I’m gassed up. I’m at an all-time high excitement level. I can’t wait to get out there and play football. It It’s going to be an honor to run through that tunnel. Um, yeah. I don’t take these moments for lightly. We get 17 of them guaranteed this year and, uh, I’m going to cherish those moments. Got to be on our game. It’s good to be out there, you know, week one, you know, starting at home. So, I’m excited, looking forward to it. Like, I’m appreciating where I’m at right now. Like, you get back to doing what you love. I’m around some good individuals. It’s fun. It’s It’s new. Uh, it’s obviously going to be an adjustment, but, you know, we’re trying to get this show on the road. We’re trying to start one and0. All right, Dan Roach. Thank you very much. in our Bob Syscott Friendship Studios. Week one with Mike Reese and Paul Vero. Good to see you guys. And here we go. But I got to ask you about Christian Gonzalez. Haven’t seen much of him. What should we expect? I have absolutely no idea what to expect. And my my number one concern, Mike, would be not necessarily the Raiders, but long term, you know, for the for the whole season, you know, reportedly a hamstring problem. Those things can kind of linger. Um my fear would be him coming back not being quite right and then aggravating it and then missing an extended period of time. So we haven’t seen him for quite some time. We remember at that practice July 28th he’s covering Stefon Diggs on a short crossing route and sort of pulls up holds the back of his left hamstring there and he has not practiced much if at all up to this point. How much does that frustrate Vable and the coaching staff? Well, it’s the the uncertainty has to be the most frustrating part. You know, how do you game plan? How do you sort of prepare your secondary not knowing for sure if he’s going to be there and at what level of play he would be at? And right, it’s a pretty important guy. I you can make an argument he’s the best player on the team. Not ideal. Uh he was on both road trips if I recall in the preseason. So I think he’s still been around the team. All right guys, well don’t go far because we got to talk big picture coming up. A lot to talk about. We got more Patriots All Access right after this. Coming up on Patriots All Access. go behind the scenes of Eftton Chisum’s successful effort in making the team. Take this opportunity to thank you for uh let you know that we made the team and later join us on Milt Williams journey to the NFL. I think it was my sophomore year called a pick six from being in coverage and then I think the next year I put on a little little more weight and then I start putting my hand in the ground. You’re watching Patriots All Access. Patriots All Access is brought to you by Bank of America. What would you like the power to do? And by Sports Illustrated tickets, 50 million sports concerts and theater tickets. Same seats, better prices. Fans deserve better. And by Cross Insurance, the official insurance broker of the New England Patriots. [Music] Welcome back to Patriots All Access. One of the cool items to happen in the preseason is when an undrafted free agent seizes the opportunity presented and against some odds makes the team. That’s exactly what happened with receiver Eftton Chisum III. Our Forge and Fox cameras work behind the scenes to capture Chisum’s story. returning kicks, returning anything. Whatever I can do, just to take advantage of an opportunity. Come on, let’s do it. Come on. I got you. Whatever it is, you know, I just kind of want to do that and do it to the best of my ability. Gang on three. 1 2 3. And hello again everyone. and a very pleasant good evening and welcome to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro for the 2025 preseason opener between the Patriots and the Washington Commanders. I came into the league undrafted, so I had to work my way up from the bottom and try to find as many reps as possible. That’s what these guys are doing out here is just trying to gain experience. Let’s go, Chis. Yeah. Come on, baby. Let’s do it. I love Eton Chisum’s game. I I saw a bunch of his film hit him, you know, one-on ones and team periods, just making as many plays as possible. I got the chance to talk to him today on the field. I just told him to go as hard as you can on every play and every drill. Uh whether it’s a blocking assignment or it’s a a pass route. So, um he’s got a great chance to make this team. I know whatever I can do to help him in his game, always rooting for him. And he’s done a fabulous job of continuing to just be the same guy every day. make plays, do the right thing, line up where he’s supposed to line up, run the route properly, go to special teams, put in work. Shotgun snap is back. Wridge steps up, throws it to the middle, and it’s caught by Chis crossing right and he furles it into the end zone. Touchdown Patriots. [Applause] Oh, first, bro. Bro, that was fun. Morning. And I thought I thought Chiz has been battling, you know, had the good catch and then I thought he made a hell of a run to like he got a first down out of that. And honestly, he shouldn’t have had a first down. It should have been third and nine and he bored his way in there. I thought that was a good play by a kid who again didn’t have a million reps but he played really played his ass off. Welcome to US Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis for preseason game number two. There’s nothing that can stop me now. I know it’s for me. I was born for this instant. I want the glory. Yes, I want the glory. Do steps left, throws it to Chis, cross bossing at the 10, gets away from one defender, gets away from a second defender, dives between a pair and he’s in. Touchdown. There’s nothing that can stop me now. I know it’s for me. [Applause] [Music] Grab a seat here. So, I just wanted to uh take this opportunity to thank you for everything and uh let you know that you made the team and we’re excited about, you know, where you started out and come in and, you know, we had you had you rated as draftable and and you rewarded our scouts with uh with your hard work, your determination, your effort. You know, I thank you for everything. You you’ve earned it and this is I always like to tell everyone like this is a jumping off point. Like this isn’t a oh, I made it. I can relax. Like this is this is the start of your career. So, yes, sir. Congratulations. You definitely earned it. and we’re excited about the prospects of you playing for us. Ah, thank you. Yeah, appreciate it. Weight off your shoulder. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. What? All right. Thanks, sir. Thank you. Let’s go. You know, sitting down, you always get like a little bit of butterflies and then he told me he made the team. So, I mean, huge blessing, huge honor. I’m so thankful just for the opportunity from Patriots organization and so excited just to get to work. Welcome back to Patriots All Access. Time to sit down for the first time during a regular season with the head coach. Mike Vable joins me now. Coach, good to see you. You, too. How are you? Last time we talked out of camp, you’ve had a lot of practices, a lot of joints on the road, at home, three preseason games. How’d your first preseason go as the head coach? Well, I think we got through. I think there’s a lot of things that we got done and again, we’ll have to continue to improve, but I mean, I love the crowd. I love the energy. I love the support from the fans and and hopefully we’ll continue to give them reasons to come out and and and cheer and and stand behind us. Preseason isn’t just for the players, it’s for the staff, too. You got a brand new staff. I’ve talked to you a couple times about guys being upstairs, guys downstairs, the whole communication thing, coaching on the sideline. How impressed are you with the way everybody communicated? Well, I mean, I think it, like you said, it is for everybody. It’s it’s for our operation and that’s why I felt like getting in the stadium with the scrimmage, you know, the um you know, we had a blue white scrimmage and uh that went really well. But that was our first action in the stadium. Again, that’s their day. That game day is their day to to go play, but we have to be able to give them some adjustments and just give them some recognition of things that are going on. So, I did feel like that process is good. It’s going to have to be really good throughout the season to to help us win. All right, week one, it’s here. It’s the Raiders. Pete Carol’s Raiders. You know, Pete, you’ve coached against Pete a long time. There’s not a ton of film out there, but what do you see when you look at the Raiders? Uh, is it his style team? Well, I mean, I do, we do see a lot of uh his style team. Obviously, they’re going to run a run the football. You know, they got a veteran quarterback. Um, but a high draft pick here with with Genty. You know, they’ve got some good young skill. Uh, Bowers is obviously elite and um, you know, defensively it’s a veteran group. They’ve got very good specialists. Their punter is excellent. Their their field goal kicker is excellent. Um, so again, it’s a veteran team on defense. Um, offensively, the skilled players are young. Jacob’s got some, you know, years to them and then some understanding in the slot, Gino Smith, but the skilled players are young and explosive. So, it’ll be critical for us to to limit the the X plays uh defensively and make them earn it. You remember what the element of the unknown was as a player, as a coach? Does that worry you? Keep you up more at night? Certainly, it keeps you up a lot more than it does as a player. I uh I slept well as a player. Uh you try to focus on a lot a lot more as a coach. So, um there’s going to be things that we’re not going to be able to cover uh that we won’t know. And, you know, they have to use their rules. The quarterback’s going to have to make points. They have to get us in protections, know where the hots are. If they come, you know, defensively, we won’t be able to show them every single play that they’ve probably worked on. Uh, we’ll have to be able to to set an edge, build a wall, swarm tackle this guy, know where 89 is, and somehow affect the quarterback. Time now for the Sports Illustrated ticket question of the week, and it comes from Saul F. Uh, wants to ask, do you get any butterflies at night? Do you stay up at night? Do you get nervous before games? Uh, I probably do a little bit. I mean, it’s it’s anxious. It’s I’m excited for the players. I want the players to do well. And again, I was lucky and fortunate to to have success in this league. the teams that I was on and and I want the players to experience the same thing. That that is my number one goal. If you want to ask the coach a question, you have to follow the team on Twitter, patatriots.com/askcoach. We’ll be back later in the show with some more stuff. Coach is going to hang tight and we’ll have some stuff for you on the other side. More ball access right after this. [Music] Welcome everyone and joining me now is Patriots tight end Hunter Henry. How you doing, my man? Good, man. Good to see you. Good to see you. Good to see you. Are you ready for some football? Are you ready to play games that are meaningful? Games that count? I’m ready, man. I’m ready. Is the team ready? Team feels ready. Yeah. Uh, a few more days of practice, but uh, obviously been a long camp and, you know, we’re fired up. Ready to go. I was going to say, talk about the excitement. Do you feel like there’s a buzz with this team going around here? I mean, you know, every year is a new year with, you know, every team. Um, but I think all the guys are excited, man. Uh, week one always brings a a new kind of energy, a fun kind of energy. You know, football’s back. Um, you do all the work, all the training camp. Um, so it’s finally you get to go out there and hit another team. How important is it to get off to a fast start? Oh, it’s huge. Um, you know, I mean, this is a big opponent. It’s a good team. Um, you know, it’s home, too. Um, you need to play good at home. So, I mean, this is it’s it’s a tough out. Um, and you know, we got to be ready to go. Your teammates elected you as captain. Captain’s back. Yeah. How special is that to you? Oh, it’s a big honor, man. Uh to have the respect, the honor of the teammates, you know, it’s it’s voted on by your peers. Yeah. Um so to have that respect, have them think that highly of me is is a big honor. Is it hard to believe that you are kicking off your fifth season here in New England? Yeah. Come on, man. It’s crazy, man. It’s crazy. Has it gone by fast? It’s gone by fast. Uh you know, it’s it’s crazy to look up. I mean, I’m 5 years here, 10 years in the league. It’s uh it’s a blessing, man. It’s my great honor to present the 2025 Ron Burton Community Service Award to Hunter Henry, you know, and you’re entrenched in the community. You won my dad’s award, Ron Burton Community Service Award. How special was that for you, man? That’s a huge honor. I mean, to be, you know, in the same name as your family, man, and and that name is overrated by Hey, man. No, they they mean a lot to this community, a lot to this place. the values, the morals, um everything you guys are about is is what I want to be about. So, it’s pretty pretty cool to be kind of in the same name of those guys that want it and then your family. Good luck on Sunday against the Raiders. Thanks, bro. All right, here we go. Hunter Henry, our guest. You’re watching Pitches All Access. We’ll be back right after this. [Applause] The Oakland Raiders were the opponent for the Patriots home opener back in 2014. It was the Raiders last visit to Foxboro. The game was a lowscoring affair, producing a single touchdown. To the right, Brady with a shotgun staff. Stands in, throws to the near side. Ross has it and he has a touchdown for the Patriots. Too easy. Steven Gosskowski added three field goals. The kick sailing to the uprights is good. But the win wasn’t secured until Vince Wolffork. Yes, Vince Wilfork intercepted a Derek Carr pass with under a minute to go in the game. Quarterback drops back, comes to the right, looks down the middle, throws to the middle, ball is batted around, picked off by the deflection. Vince Wilfork has it. Coming up on All Access, Mike Vrabel’s got plays. You got to be able to run the ball. You got to be able to play on their side of the line of scrimmage. Will Campbell here. He’s starting with the combination block. But first, the backstory of Patriots defensive lineman Milt Williams. He’s been quarterback, running back. He’s played some everything. I started to feel like, wow, this could maybe really turn into something. You’re watching Patriots All Access. Patriots All Access is brought to you by Gillette. Gillette’s Best Shave is now the best a fan can get. Get it while you can at gellet.com/n. [Applause] [Music] Welcome back to All Access. Armed with oodles of cap space and cash, Mike Vabel and his staff were aggressive when free agency opened in March. One of their priorities was defensive lineman Milton Williams, who is fresh off his best game as a pro and helping the Eagles win Super Bowl 59. From a small town deep in the heart of Texas to Foxboro, we follow Williams journey to the National Football League and the Patriots. Presented by JetBlue. He was playing quarterback, running back. He’s played some everything. Well, there’s a sack. Williams bringing the pain. And then I started to feel like, wow, this can maybe really turn into something. Pressure and down goes Cousins Milton Williams with the strip sack. Diamond in the rough. Yeah, I believe in myself. Can’t relate to my story. Put me right back on the shelf. I’ve been on this journey trying to find my way. [Music] first football memory and that was about I want to say five or six just being in practice just having fun playing football scoring touchdowns watching the NFL he was always a dream with little league football he was playing quarterback running back he’s played some everything he was pretty much the biggest kid so he would you know run over kids throw touchdowns but when I noticed that he was can be a good player is when he started playing defense. But in his mind, I want to be a quarterback. I want to be Cam Newton. He that was his mind. But you know, once we realized and focused on u defense, we got to muscle up now once he got to high school. All this is all this right here is new construction. Like they still got But the field, this the same field, same bleachers, same press box. Same press box, same lights. Yeah, all this stuff the same on the field. So that’s crazy. Everything else, it looked like they trying to get brand new. My first memories of Milton actually on this field or on film. It was pretty clear pretty quick that athleticism was not in short supply. So uh yeah, once what I was here when we he just put his hand on the ground for the first time and just was just starting to learn to play the position that uh he’s clearly so advanced at now. I think it my sophomore year caught a pick six from being in coverage and then I think the next year I put on a little little more weight and then I started putting my hand in the ground and uh really just learning like I remember uh uh coach Cook and uh my other coach coach Paul was telling me like schools like they was looking like looking to recruit me but was saying like I needed to learn how to play with my hands and play with extension and use my tools more than I was using them cuz I was just running past people just using my athleticism. the athleticism was there. There were going to be coaches that were going to show up and he’s a big kid and he looks good in the weight room and then you see him on film and you realize he can move too. So, we knew that was going to happen. The success was what we weren’t sure was going to happen because that took buy in from from Mil. It was all about him and him being willing to learn. It’s it’s not glamorous putting your hand in the ground and getting punched in the mouth 85 times a game. It’s just it’s not what kids want. And so it took a lot of him buying in to the fact that that was what was going to be best and and that was the difference. His senior year, he really laid there, focused. He would do his workout, train, some of the other guys, they wouldn’t do that stuff and he would be upset that they lose a game. I said, “Well, it’s you did your part.” M he he he got discipline. He was really focused in in before going to college at the senior year. [Music] Then once we accepted at Louisiana Tech and heard that some previous players from that school had been drafted to the NFL, I was thinking, well, maybe he does have an opportunity. Williams bringing the pain. He had the football a long time in his hands before Milton Williams found him. When Milton came home that year, when he came home from college, I told my wife I was going to go run heel with Milton, baby. And he took up the hill. I said, “Whoa, wait a minute.” He said, “Daddy, you going to come?” I said, “No, you go you go do yours, man.” He came home, he was like, “Baby.” And I was like, “What?” And he was just like, “Boy, Newton’s got something. You should see the way he ran up that hill.” And I was like, because my husband is so like hyper and and he was like, “I’m serious, babe.” He said, “I you know, I’ll run with him and and and compete with him.” He said, “But I was tired.” And I was like, “What? You you got tired?” Right. Then I know he was going to be drafted in the NFL. Welcome to the 2021 NFL draft. With the 73rd pick in the 2021 NFL draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select Milton Williams, defensive end, Louisiana Tech. I’ve been doubted my whole life and told that I wasn’t good enough to play at the next level. I wasn’t good enough to, you know, make it to the NFL. and coming in third round pick. They definitely just give me extra motivation. At the end of the day, they can’t stop you from from putting out good tape. They can’t stop you from putting in extra work. They can’t stop you from practicing harder and and going harder than the guys that are in front of you. Like they can’t stop you from wanting to outwork people that you competing with. So, you know, hard work pays off. Everything happened for a reason. I think what’s got left? Pressure again. D. Ball is out and the Eagles have it. Milty Williams with the strip sack. Coming from Philly, you know, never never being a starter, never looked at as a as a starter on the team. And now I’m putting out good tape. The hard work and uh just my determination led me to this position. And uh it just felt good knowing that that that it paid off. I really wasn’t thinking about the free agency at the time. I was just trying to celebrate. My son got a Super Bowl ring. I mean, he played good. He was he he played his best game on the biggest stage, Super Bowl. I mean, everybody saw it. The world saw it. And when I met Mr. Craft, we we when he signed with with the Patriots, I said, “Mr. Craft, we’re here to retire. We’re not here to, you know, get a contract then go somewhere. We here to retire.” He said, “That’s the plan.” We didn’t get a chance to just really celebrate the Super Bowl and just so much going on, you know, going to a new team and and I mean it’s a lot, man. We we the last 6 months we’ve been dealing with a lot of different things. I immediately felt embraced and just a peace and a calm and a welcoming spirit just being there. And it just warmed my heart that my child, you know, we’re all of this is being done for my child. So, I I was just proud. I’m just I’m ecstatic about the move. Pass on three. One, two, three. No, we did not do it right. I’m definitely looking forward to to uh putting the pads on and really showing, you know, what they know I already can do, but just showing now that I uh that I’m a Patriot uh with that gear on, with that uh with that Patriot logo on my helmet, really showing the type of player that I’m going to be in the future. [Music] Special player right there, number 97. we get a good look at Milton Williams and his journey to the NFL. What what caught your eye with him and I know you recruited him when you were at Ohio State. Well, the the explosiveness um that that he shows, right? He he plays bigger than what he is. Uh the impact, the speed, uh the the ability for him to to play on the other side of the line of scrimmage to to really um work edges and pass rush quickly. And again, I think he continues to improve. there’s things that he wants to work on. He’s like, “Man, I’m I anything you could do to help me, I’m trying to get better. I’m continuing to want to get better.” And uh I love his pedigree. His He’s got a great family and I think that that um that means a lot to him. And I think he was he was raised um by a great family and I think that that shows. I think first preseason game was out in space down the line of scrimmage. I can’t remember the last time I saw a big guy out where a corner is trying to make a tackle. Yeah, I mean again he retraces on a screen. And I think the big thing for these guys that pass rush is is they want to pass rush. And then when they get let go, some of them just keep kind of going. And you know, as a quarterback, you just drift and and throw it over the guy. And um Milt did a good job. And we’re going to need that a lot this year. We’re going to have to be able to retrace and and get down the line of scrimmage and and go help the guys out in space. These guys are hard, especially when there’s blockers out on you. So again, that was a great example of him doing that in the first game, and we’ll need a lot of that this season. All right. It’s a good look right there. We’ll be back. More Patriots Access right after this. Then we’re gonna have some X’s and O’s from Coach Frabel for the preseason. [Music] This nextgen stat is brought to you by AWS. Milton Williams generated the second highest pressure rate among defensive tackles last season. Williams was disruptive during the Eagles Super Bowl run, recording three or more pressures in every postseason game, including two sacks in Super Bowl 59. [Music] Welcome back to Patriots Access. Time now for X’s and O’s. We’re going to take four looks at the preseason uh big plays. What better way to start than play number one, the kick return 101 yards. Tayvon hit. Yeah, pretty good way to start the season here. Um, as you can see here, the the rules obviously we’ve got the kickoff, the condensed, the dynamic kickoff. One adjustment that they made is now we’ve got three the ability to have three players off the ball to kind of help with spacing. Um, and then everybody else has to be up here on the front line on the restraining line, 35 yd line. So, as we let this roll, you’ll see this is the best way to watch it from the end zone. Here is this is a this is a play for us. That’s an important play. So, Tayvon, special player, Gibby, you know, special running back, right? We got two of our running backs back there cuz we feel that this is an important play for us. And Gibson had the 64 yard. He’s going to come up later on, but again, there’s going to be there’s going to be a lot of one-on-one block. So, here, rookie Ponder, Elijah Ponder is at the point of attack. So you can see there we’ve got the double team. Um schooler does a great job right here coming off that and making sure we’re sealing. Basically he’s reading this thing inside outside to inside. He’s going to read the three. And you can see now we’re ponder and again there’s going to be a lot of these situations where we have to be able to do a good job of blocking and giving these guys a late shove or staying square on the guy. I I don’t know where these are penalties are going to go this year, but maybe it is, maybe it’s not. But I know I know that if we get this guy in space and everybody else on the backside cut off and we’re working like Skooler is and Dr. Gibby and then Antonio gets through there and gets the uh the safety. Now we’re on the backside safety and the and the kicker and we’re off to the races. Yeah. Just this totally flips the field for you too. Well, I mean, whether we’re starting at midfield, whether we’re starting on the plus territory or in this case, you know, it’s a house call and and and we’re shooting the musketss, you know, whatever that may be, that that’s going to be an important play for us. Touchbacks are going to go on the 35. We’re hoping that teams make a decision. Hey, are we going to kick to them? They got some kitty cats back there. Or are we going to kick a touch punt return? Yep. And so, again, we have another guy that we feel strongly about back here. Marcus Jones has done it very well uh for a lot of years. So you’re going to see some of our, you know, what we would say starters out here on these units cuz I tell them it’s important like you want to score touchdowns, let’s go out here on a return unit. So again, the biggest thing here with punt is it’s always going to start with blocking the gunners, right? If you can block the gunners, whether that’s on a double or that’s on a single or in this case, you see coming out of it uh from the line of scrimmage. But you got to get this guy blocked. So you got to get this guy blocked. It starts there. That’s That’s a great job right there by Schooler. Okay. So, now what we’ve created is a bunch of space for Marcus to go and attack the defense. What you’re going to see here is a bunch of great extra efforts and a bunch of great decisions. Okay? Because that’s a potential blind side. That’s a potential blind side. That’s a potential blind side. And that’s a potential blind side block because they’re going back towards their end zone. And if they hit the guy in the head or neck or forcibly with their forearm, those are penalties. And so you can see we’re getting high screens. It’s almost like a basketball. We’re getting high screens. We’re getting guys that are showing their hands so the referee can see that they’re not blocking in the back. You can see Jamaich Hasty, okay, who this meant a lot to them and it still does and and again he came in and and helped us. But you can see all these legal blocks and you’re allowed to get and then now Marcus is on a punter. Okay, we can’t do anything about that. That’s on him. We joked with him here, but we know we can’t let the t the kicker make the tackle. Coach Coach Springer had that ready to go right next day. We We had it tuned up. We We talk about these things having to be a weapon for us. That’s great. And again, those are extensions. I mean, we talk about getting the first first down. That’s three first downs right there on offense. You saw what the kickoff returns able to do. Okay, moving on here. Yep. So, now we’re down in the red zone, right? Again, the red zone, the space gets limited, right? windows are tighter to throw the football at some point in time. You you got to be able to run the ball. You got to be able to play on their side of the line of scrimmage. Will Campbell here. You starting with the combination block, okay, between Will and Benny, the combination block of winning the line of scrimmage. Hoops trying to widen the edge here and set the edge. Okay, you can see Jack again, he’s got to read it through like a running back. Jack necessarily trying to get outside and we probably should insert here. Okay, for the safety, but that doesn’t happen. But the finish and the sustain that we’ll see on the back side and on the front side, it’s a great job by Bradberry by Garrett going out there, letting his hat out and getting the guy covered up. Doesn’t look like much, but we got him covered up. We’re we’re we’re got a hat for a hat. I know Jack’s supposed to get through here, but you can see when we don’t see their color, we have a chance. There’s places to run. And you can see Trayvon now running through arm tackles. And then now we’re finishing. There’s guys finishing and Trayvon running through arm tackles first. And Kyle Williams blocking on the outside. Like if you don’t block as a receiver, this guy could slide down and make the tackle to what? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, let’s talk about just trying to protect the guy with the football. Speaking of great effort, F chism. Yeah. So down in distance-wise, third and nine. Third and nine here. you you know I I I would think that in normal ball you got to be careful trying to throw a 10 yard route on the 12 yardd line for a first down, right? So there’s going to have to be some catch and run element to it just to protect where we are first half field goal, etc., not throwing it into some traffic or whatever. But you can see Gcott does a nice job of trying to lift his guy, forcing his guy over the top. So G’s coming here. He’s lifting his guy. This guy chooses to go over the top, which then now creates space for Chis. He’s got a lot of space out in front of him. We get a good ball. Okay. And then now we’re running on the post safety. But again, here’s what I like about our football team or love. Here’s Hasty again finishing. There’s John Giles. Okay. Turning and finishing. There’s Cole Strange running. There’s Jared Wilson running. And then obviously you got to break some tackles. talked about Chis’s play strength. Okay, there’s Giles finishing and then now Chis is getting into the end zone. Be careful reaching the football there when it’s not fourth down or two. And the big thing I talked to you too going down there, you converted a lot of third and manageable, those third and four, third and fives. Dos hit those to get you down and tight there. Yeah. And as long as we stay in those manageables, I think our percentage is going to be good. When you start living in the third and 10 world, your percent Hey, this is going to be fun, man. Appreciate it. There you go. There’s your X’s and O’s. More patrons all access. We’ll return right after this. Patriots All Access is brought to you by Bank of America. What would you like the power to do? And by Sports Illustrated tickets. 50 million sports concerts and theater tickets. Same seats, better prices. Fans deserve better. And by Cross Insurance, the official insurance broker of the New England Patriots. [Music] Welcome back in our Bob’s Conference Studios. Back with Mike Reese and Paul Pillo. Week one. What should we expect going into this game? Expectations. A lot of excitement, right? You know, for sure. But in terms of what to expect on the field, Mike, I really have no idea. You got two guys in Pete Carroll for the Raiders. Obviously, Vable for the Patriots, their first games with their new teams. They’ve been around a little bit. Carol, obviously more so than Frabel, but I I have absolutely no idea what to expect in terms of game plans and and how this game is going to unfold. One thing I feel confident in saying, um, this place is going to be buzzing. There’s a lot of excitement around Mike Rabel and what the energy that he’s brought to the team. So, love the atmosphere, love the time of year, love the weather forecast at this point. Like I think if you love football and you’re from New England, I I just would say like where else would you rather be? When you look at this game and you look at this Patriots team, what are you excited most about? I’m going to go with the easy one for me and that’s Drake May and just to see his uh you know evolution into you know hopefully what we are hoping that franchise quarterback, right? you know that his development under Josh McDaniels, his comfort level with the new offense and the system, his ability to get the ball out, uh, you know, quickly and and accurately. Drake May, give me Ton Henderson. And I love this story. So, uh, last week at practice, they had Marco Sturm, the new Bruins head coach, visiting and he’s just looking out at the players and his eye is drawn to number 32, Trayvon Henderson. He said, “Tell me more about that guy.” So, even just another head coach in another sport that he’s catching his eye and I think he’s like a lot of people in New England like saw the hundredyard kickoff return for a touchdown, the eight yard touchdown run where he’s sneaking through a a a sliver of a hole, right? Like want to see more of him. I don’t mean to spread the wet blanket. But what are you most concerned about? I’m going to just say upfront, you know, the pass protection. I want to see Drake May. Well, in order to see Drake May, I need him to have some time to be able to see his receivers. So, it would be pass protection in a nutshell. Uh, he’s got some four probably four different starters from last year. So, they’ve done a lot of work on the offensive line. I want to see if they can hold up. And this sounds crazy after everything we’ve talked about all preseason a little bit on the defense. Like, we touched on Christian Gonzalez and what his status is. And you got Ashton Genty, the number six overall pick coming in. Like, can you stop the run? I I think there’s a little bit of an unknown. And then Brock Bowers, this tight end here is maybe the best in the NFL. How have you done defending tight ends? Like I I think when you you ask concerns, like those are a couple things that actually came to the top of my list here. So, how will this game go down? How will the Patriots win this game? I’m going to go with something that Mike just talked about with Ashton Genty in that running game. The Patriots have been a little bit leaky against the run in recent seasons and they’re a little smaller up front. How will the game be won? who’s gonna win up front. Yeah, my concern is the pass protection. Mike’s concern is stopping the run. If the Patriots can do those things effectively, that’s how the game would be won. And I I like a stat that Mike Rael pointed out this week about how last year in week one, the the the winners, the majority of the winners won the second half of the week one game. So that to me points to the better conditioned team that maybe has more gas in the tank in the second half. So, where will the game be won with the team that’s in better condition plays with the better fundamentals in the second half? Which brings us to our predictions. Go ahead, my man. I’m going to make you happy in week one cuz I’m tired of you giving me those looks in the hallway when we walk by. Look, if you go, we get those looks when we walk by, Mike and I, you don’t even talk to us off air anymore. Yeah. 2317. Okay. But this is not going to be an easy game. I could see it going either way. I think the Patriots get a little bit a little bit better, a little bit more buttoned up. Eliminate the penalties, Mike. eliminate the the self-inflicted wounds and they come out with a a week one win. I’m thinking points in this game. I want to see if I’m right in terms of a game in the high 20s. I’m going to say Patriots 28, Raiders 24. He likes it. I do it. I do. He might all the way around. Great job, guys. Thanks, Steve. That’ll do it for this week’s edition of Pictures All Access with Mike Reese and Paul Pearl. I’m Steve Burton. Have a great week, everybody. [Music]

Patriots All Access kicks off its 31st season as the excitement builds for the regular season home opener. Head coach Mike Vrabel gives a progress report on the Patriots, plus spotlights top plays from the preseason. Plus, follow Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams’ journey to the NFL. All that and more on this episode of Patriots All Access.

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