Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Breakthrough: TreVeyon Henderson Dominates Patriots' Practice

Starting point is 00:00:00 A member of the 25 draft class takes over practice and is looking like an absolute weapon in the Pats offense. That's where we start on this episode of Locked On Patriots. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcasts network, your team every day. What's up, Patriots podcast part of the locked on podcast network your team every day. What's up Patriots fans. I'm your host Nick Cattles born and raised in New England also host of the everything paths podcast co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles and veteran sports

Starting point is 00:00:37 talk show host. We appreciate you joining the show of course and on today's episode three receivers fighting for their roster lives all make plays as a camp battle gets even more interesting Also a young pat gets carted off while another continues to show out But first Trevion Henderson makes life miserable for the Pats defense We appreciate you joining the show making us your first listen and for being an everyday or the lockdown Patriots Podcast is a proud part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Two rookies took big steps forward in Monday's practice,

Starting point is 00:01:13 but I want to start with Trevion Henderson because he was clearly the story coming out of practice. Phil Perry posted Henderson submitted two of the plays of the day today looked like a wheel route helped him get by Robert Spillane along the left sideline for a long score. Moments later got by Christian Ellis for another long TD on another Drake-Made dime. Speed, hands on display. Mark Daniels posted, Henderson led the Patriots with five receptions today. One, two, three, four, feed. I had him down for three receiving touchdowns in one rushing score

Starting point is 00:01:46 Andrew Callahan posted the kid is going to be involved Evan Lazar Henderson was a huge problem and let's just cap it all off With national insider Jordan Schultz who posted there's a lot of excitement within Patriots circles about rookie running back Trevion Henderson. Everyone knew about his home run speed and explosiveness, but multiple team sources have also emphasized his elite pass catching and pass protection abilities. Words like quote unquote special and quote unquote difference maker have been used to describe him surely feels like New England has a super dynamic young back from May to Lena.

Starting point is 00:02:29 We start with Henderson and his huge impact as a receiver it's rather obvious what when you're reading these reports when I'm talking to people that are out at these practices they tell me Nick Trevion Henderson just a different dynamic a different dynamic to this offense, a different dimension to this offense. Antonio Gibson is a good receiver, played receiver in college, but his past protection issues caused a problem, which I think led the Patriots to looking Henderson's way to use a top 40 pick on him. Because you need somebody on third down that you can trust if it's not going to be Stevenson You don't necessarily trust Gibson. So you got to find the guy and

Starting point is 00:03:12 Henderson is the guy but it's not just about pass protection on third down It is his ability as a receiver and what he can do wheel routes beating linebackers He is a matchup nightmare for pretty much any defense in the league. He is so tough to cover. His explosiveness, his speed, his shiftiness, his impact as a receiver cannot be overlooked. You took a step forward exponentially in your backfield by spending the top 40 pick on Henderson. Because what you have now in 2025, as we get ready for the season, we get ready for the first joint practice against Washington. Then we get ready for the second joint practice against Minnesota.

Starting point is 00:03:59 And then we start talking real football. And when you look at this backfield, the addition of Henderson has just completely changed the landscape has made this backfield so much more dangerous. And you know who loves that may love that because may has a security blanket. There's nothing better asked Tom Brady, how many times did we see this over and over and over again during Brady's career, there is almost nothing better, you could say an alpha wide receiver, but there is almost nothing better than having a trusted running back that can play on third down that can get open, and that can explode from time to time. James White wasn't't the most explosive guy Shane Varene wasn't the most explosive guy go back to the days of Kevin Falk

Starting point is 00:04:50 Danny woodhead Rex Burke had for a spell here and there, you know, you look at these third down backs They weren't always super explosive super dynamic Henderson's the best of both worlds worlds He brings that you know consistent blanket Security blanket for the quarterback, but he also brings that explosion and that that that unbelievable game breaking speed and You just don't find that from everybody in the game And you just don't find that from everybody in the game.

Starting point is 00:05:30 It's almost like you have a running back X receiver in your back pocket that you can attack linebackers with. You want to talk chunk plays? You want to talk safety valve? That's what Henderson can be. Meanwhile, another rookie who was quiet early in camp starting to make noise. And that is Craig Woodson. Woodson, Monday's practice, started getting reps, but the ones started taking maybe some reps from Kyle Duggar. Greg Bedard wrote the following,

Starting point is 00:05:57 Duggar saw a downturn in first team reps as Woodson got some run. In Bedard's latest 53 man roster. And that column that he just came out with that BSJ, he wrote this might be it for Kyle Dugger. He's the same player he's always been and showed that by getting beat twice on the same old stuff. There's always just a slight momentary lack of focus.

Starting point is 00:06:18 I'd finally part ways, Badaard wrote. Start the Craig Woodson era. Is that what we saw during Monday's practice? Did we see the beginning of the Craig Woodson era? We'll have to keep an eye on the reps this week heading into the joint practice against Washington. But if Woodson continues to get reps in place of Duggar, it is absolutely a worthwhile discussion to have. And I know Duggar signed his contract extension just last year. And I know that he was hurt for most of last season

Starting point is 00:06:50 and that no doubt impacted his play. But the coaches are watching this. And Duggar's healthy. And he's getting beat in coverage. He's getting beat downfield. He's letting guys get behind him. And you know, Rable's not going to stand for that much longer. So the reliability does what's an actually become more reliable than the veteran Duggar, especially in

Starting point is 00:07:14 coverage. If he does, I don't think this coaching staff led by variable would hesitate to pull the trigger and replace Duggar and say he's just not getting the job done. And now it's going to be up to Duggar. Can you be, you know, assignment focused? Can you be assignment responsible? Can you prove to this coaching staff that you can cover guys? Because that has been an issue off and on for several years with Duggar. Now last year again you can kind of chalk it up and say, oh, you know, the injury, and there's no doubt pretty significant ankle injury, had to have tightrope surgery on that ankle after the season was over. But this is also a focus problem, an assignment problem, a reliability problem with Duggar.

Starting point is 00:08:04 And you just can't keep making those kinds of mistakes because one of those back breaking plays you allow a receiver to get behind you, it's game set match. And this team, no matter how much they are improved or we think that they are improved, they're not good enough to give up huge plays in the passing game because of mental mistakes.

Starting point is 00:08:22 They're just not good enough. Woodson provides more versatility than Duggar. Woodson does give you the opportunity to possibly play him at the big nickel. Duggar, let's not forget, is 29 years old. Woodson is 24. So even though Woodson is an older rookie, that actually might work out for him in this case, because he's got some more maturity than other guys coming out. He's got more experience than some other guys coming out, but he's still five years younger than Duggar. And this staff has no issues trusting young talent. We've seen that during camp. Some of this might change. They might adjust if the rookies, you know, don't look like they're capable of carrying their own weight but we've seen it

Starting point is 00:09:05 i mean jared wilson right now is your starting left guard i just talked about henderson and the opportunity he's getting at practice and now you've got woodson taking reps from dugger this coaching staff is not afraid they are not afraid of playing the young guys and so i don't think they would hesitate pulling the plug and saying, we're going to roll with Woodson maybe a little bit more than we thought we would. And if he's better than Doug, or if he's playing better than Doug, or he deserves it, then you put them out there. Simple as that. Speaking of young players, did we write off most of the 2024 draft class too early?

Starting point is 00:09:46 A couple of guys from that class are trying to change minds across New England. That's next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is presented by Yahoo Fantasy. It's the best time of the year. NFL kickoff is almost here, and that means Fantasy football season is back in full swing. And this year, Yahoo Fantasy is turning things up

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Starting point is 00:10:57 and start playing Yahoo Fantasy Football now at yahoofantasy.com slash locked on NFL. Competition for the fifth through seventh wide receiver spots on this team is heating up. If they're gonna be seven wide receivers, not as urgent, but if there's gonna be six, I mean, we're talking about hotly contested spots on this roster. And as we get ready for this joint practice against Washington,

Starting point is 00:11:25 two names, which might surprise you showed up another name should really surprise you that showed up. Let's get into it. Doug Kide from the Boston Herald posted Jalen Polk was four and zero during his one on ones versus Patriots DBs today. Perfect for now. Meanwhile, J von Baker was making plays. Doug Kight again, Baker caught three straight touchdowns from Joshua Dobbs and seven on sevens. Evan Lazar posted nice day so far for J von Baker. He just caught a back shoulder fade from Dobbs for a touchdown. And that touchdown was separate from his three touchdowns in seven on sevens. I'm not done yet another wide receiver made a play Andrew Callahan posted Efton period Chisholm period

Starting point is 00:12:13 UDFA rookie wide receiver makes a one-handed touchdown catch on a fade route while falling to the ground after getting a step on rookie Craig Woodson great grab so poke showed up Baker showed up E, great grab. So poke showed up. Baker showed up. FDN Chisholm showed up. This competition is getting hot. We know for a fact that digs on this team. We know for a fact that Kyle Williams is on the team. Mac Hollins is very likely a lock. Pop Douglas with the camp he's had is also a lock. Then you get into what's going to happen. Who's going to take over? And it's a battle. It's a battle between a K Sean booty who I think right now most likely a lock because he's had a good camp. And then you get to that sixth spot, maybe seventh spot. If you're carrying seven receivers, I'm not sold that the

Starting point is 00:13:05 Patriots will carry seven, but even if you're carrying seven, you've got two spots left and you've got a number of different names. You've got Kendrick Bourne, more on him in a minute. You've got Polk, you've got Baker, you've got Chisholm. Only so many spots. Let's start with Baker. Only so many spots. Let's start with Baker. My biggest question about Baker remains my biggest question about Baker. Can he find the consistency? He has had some jaw dropping plays during camp. He had some very nice plays last year at camp and he shows you these flashes.

Starting point is 00:13:43 He can do things that no other receiver on this football team can do. He could climb up and grab it, pluck it off the top of the head of a cornerback. He has Randy Moss players during this camp and there just aren't guys on this roster. Mack Hollins is a bigger receiver, but Baker, he has that electricity to his game. But it's just a question of whether or not he can find the consistency. If he can't find the consistency, he's not going to make this club. He's just not going to. He's got to prove to this coaching staff that he can't just do the unbelievable every once in a while. He's got to prove himself to be dependable. We talked about in the first

Starting point is 00:14:31 segment May having that, you know, security blanket, that safety blanket to go to a Trevion Henderson because if Henderson continues to prove himself making plays at practice, he's going to become dependable and he will be a consistent weapon within the offense. Baker has not been capable of showing that ever since being drafted. He'll show you these plays and you just you want more and you want it more consistently from him. So can he find that consistency? Because if he can, he just brings a different element to that position in that room than

Starting point is 00:15:04 this team has right now. If you're planning on a wide receiver core without Baker, which I think you are right now, he's been on the far outside looking in, if you're planning on that room to not have Baker, you're going to lose some of that. You're going to lose some of that electricity. And it really comes down to Baker's ceiling versus can you trust him? Because if you're just going off of potential, if you're just going off the great plays, the

Starting point is 00:15:32 Moss moments in the end zone, if you're just going off those plays, he makes the team and you hope for the best. But you got to trust them. And that's why you can't go off just those plays. You've got to be able to trust him because he can blow up your spot in a bad way as fast as he can make a memorable play that helps you win a game. And you also have to question because of some of the stuff that we heard about

Starting point is 00:16:01 when he was getting drafted, some of the stuff we saw last year, is he inevitably a culture fit for a Mike Vrabel team? But if Baker keeps making the types of plays that he made on Monday, if he makes those plays consistently, it's going to be very, very difficult to leave him off the 53. Then we get to Jalen Polk and J poke, obviously rookie season didn't work out rear view mirror. And he said some things when he came back to practice with the media that, that made some people kind of raise their eyebrows and made you wonder if this guy

Starting point is 00:16:40 truly quote unquote gets it after being mostly a failure in his rookie season. But since pokes been back, he had the shoulder injury shoulder surgery, wasn't involved in the 11 on 11 seven on sevens at OTA is mandatory mini camp. He missed the first few days of training camp. He gets back out there for the first pad at practice last week and really since then he hasn't done anything bad he's done nothing bad since being back which is a positive step for him and we're gonna get into the red zone in a little while because again we saw some up and down from the Patriots offense in the red zone during practice. But poke poke has proven that he can help you in the red zone. Couple touchdowns last year.

Starting point is 00:17:30 As soon as he got back to camp. He made a red zone play almost immediately scoring a touchdown. So he has shown in spots that he can help you in that red area. And he's been very good with the one on ones. He's been very good running drills, according to the people that have been following him and writing about him and talking to people that are watching him closely. And you wonder, Kendrick Bourne gets rolled up on

Starting point is 00:17:55 during the scrimmage late last week. Mike Rable said today before practice that Bourne, he doesn't expect Bourne to be out there this week. So Kendrick Bourne, he might be trying to desperately hang on Mike Vrabel said today before practice that born he doesn't expect born to be out there this week So Kendrick born he might be trying to desperately hang on to his roster spot as is he now has this injury Who knows how long he's going to be out? We don't know what the injury is aside from it being some kind of leg ankle knee issue So he's going to be out for at least this week according to to Vrabel. And that gives the opportunity to guys like Baker and poke and Chisholm to try to find

Starting point is 00:18:28 their way onto this roster. So the born injury might have a gigantic impact on the guys from the 2024 draft and whether or not they could figure some things out and get onto this team for week one against the Raiders. And then you've got Fton Chisholm. Look, Efton Chisholm needs to do more. I'll just put it as simple as that. He needs to do more.

Starting point is 00:18:51 He's been mostly quiet since the early days of minicamp. And you put the pads on, you get a little bit physical, he starts to become a little bit of a different guy. But over the last few days, I'd say he has started to make a play here and there. It hasn't been like dominating practice by any stretch of the imagination, but he has started to show up. But he needs more. He needs to show more. I don't know how versatile he is. I don't think he's going to play outside. You have a lot of options on the inside. And can Chisholm

Starting point is 00:19:25 beat out guys like Baker, Polk and Bourne, who I don't think anybody would disagree have, you know, more natural gifts than Chisholm when it comes to athleticism and different things that they can do. But Chisholm, he's got to stay consistent, just like I said with Baker, but he's just going to make more plays. He's going to make more plays. And he's got to stay consistent, just like I said with Baker, but he's just going to make more plays. He's going to make more plays and he's got to force this coaching staff to keep him on this team. And that's going to be very tough for him to do. But you start off with small steps and he's starting to make some plays here as camp goes on.

Starting point is 00:19:58 We'll see what he does in the joint practice. We'll see what he does in the preseason. I would imagine he will be playing plenty of snaps in the preseason. I would imagine he will be playing plenty of snaps in the preseason. And if he can show out a little bit, he might he might push the staff to put him on this team. All right, well look to be a severe injury hits camp that and much more as we continue with today's episode of lockdown patriots part of the lockdown podcast network your team every day. You ever wish managing your money felt easier?

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Starting point is 00:21:28 And I've got three other takeaways from the practice that you want to hear about. Number one, unfortunately we start with an injury. A patriot was carted off the field during practice. It was Marcellus Dyle. Doug Kyd posted. Dyle is being carted off the field after being tended to by trainers suffered an injury during 11 on 11 so dial gets carted off and He has been in an absolute battle at

Starting point is 00:21:55 cornerback During this camp we talk about the wide receiver competition last segment similar vibes when we look at the cornerbacks and you've got a number of cats who have seemingly done enough to keep themselves in the conversation to possibly grab a roster spot. And Greg Bedard wrote about that during his 53-man roster column. Here's what he wrote. There's a fierce, a fierce battle going on for the

Starting point is 00:22:25 final two or three spots at corner. It's very close between Isaiah Bolden, DJ James, dial miles battle cross Lee and even minor. And you know, so you got, let me count that 123456 guys who are battling for one or two spots. And I hate seeing guys get injured. Hate seeing guys get hurt. I really hate seeing guys who are battling for their roster lives. Get hurt in camp. These guys, when we talk about the Isaiah Bolden's, the Marcellus

Starting point is 00:23:03 dials of the world, you know, them making the Patriots roster for week one and not making the roster could end up being the difference between them being in the NFL, not in the NFL. Of course, you can look at the practice squad. Maybe some other teams are dealing with some injuries at cornerback. They're a little thin there. They want to do something to change it up. But we're talking about guys who not only are fighting for their Patriots roster life, but could be fighting for

Starting point is 00:23:30 their football life. And so to see dial go down, get caught it off. He was tended to by trainers for at least a couple of minutes. We hope it's not a serious, a significant injury. Uh, because I just hate seeing guys go down. I hate seeing guys go down during a camp battle. I, I want to see somebody win that job or win those jobs instead of just getting it by default because somebody blows out their knee. It's brutal. And enough with the cornerback injuries. I've had enough with the cornerback injuries, not to sound like Seinfeld. What is it with all the... You got Davis who was limited in practice today. You've got Gonzales who's not

Starting point is 00:24:13 at practice likely this week according to Vrabel. Now you've got Dial going down and getting carted off. I mean enough with the cornerback injuries during camp. I will say though the good news if you can get good news out of unfortunate circumstances it is the fact that you do have as many corners in camp that you do and as many guys who are making cases to get onto the 53. You know, you've got Davis, you've got Gonzalez, and now you've got Dial. All those guys being out or limited opens the door

Starting point is 00:24:52 for other guys to get more reps. And inevitably, it's who's making the most out of the opportunity. And one guy taking a big time advantage, I've touched on him very lightly, but DJ James is bawling out and he is bawling out day in and day out at practice. Evan Lazar tweeted today DJ James having a great practice he's blanketed booty digs and

Starting point is 00:25:15 Kyle Williams. So it's not like DJ James is blanketing you know the very end of the wide receiver depth chart practice today he blankets booty digs and Williams. Mike Giardi and we know Mike Mike Mike's a very objective pretty tough greater at times. And Mike posted even when James surrenders a catch he tends to be in the wide receivers hip pocket. His summer reminds me a little of J.C. Jackson's from a few years back. Not saying he's J.C., but very involved

Starting point is 00:25:49 in taking advantage of the opportunities, as I just mentioned. And James was a draft pick of Seattle last year. Think it was the sixth round. I wanna look it up. I'm almost positive it was the sixth round, but I want to make sure that it was sixth round. Yeah, sixth round.

Starting point is 00:26:11 So, 192nd overall. He was drafted by Seattle in the sixth round of last year's draft. And when you think about the guy who's calling the shots in Seattle, John Schneider, you know, he had some really good success picking cornerbacks. And yeah, you could sit there and say Pete Carroll had a big role in that. Sure. But hey, Schneider was there. They drafted Richard Sherman. They've drafted Wolin. They've drafted Witherspoon. They've drafted some really good cornerbacks. And so if you look at James and you wonder why, what's going on, why didn't he get as much of a shot last year, Seattle's got some good DBs. And this might be a case of you taking advantage of that,

Starting point is 00:26:50 finding a guy. And he's been mostly terrific during this camp. And right now, it'd be tough to see him not on this football team. So tip of the cap to DJ James, who continues to show up and mostly show out. Let's move on to the red zone. Red zone offense, again, up and down, up and down. Greg Bedard wrote the following, it was all red zone work and it appeared, talking about

Starting point is 00:27:16 Monday's practice, it appeared the offense had the upper hand in the early, pay special attention to this, high red zone periods. From the 20 20 the 10 Drake may Toss two touchdowns to Henderson another Douglas Dobbs had scoring passes to Baker and Chisholm So when we're talking about the 20-yard line and then you're talking high red zone high red zone there low red zone is when you get inside the tent and That's the next part that but dar writes but the defense dominated in these spirited low red zone sessions in a closing game situation with 45 seconds left

Starting point is 00:27:50 from the 25 yard line. May was just two of 10 in the final three periods after starting eight of 10. Dobbs two of five with three sacks. Anthony Jennings, by the way, had two of those in the final three periods. So the offense started off pretty well in the red zone when it was the high red zone. Later on in the practice, you move down to the low red zone and the defense was for all intents and purposes dominant. And that tells me that defensive line is winning against the offensive line. Vrabel talked about before practice,

Starting point is 00:28:19 trying to defend every blade of grass in the red zone. That's what they're working on. So offensive line, defensive line, who's grass in the red zone. That's what they're working on. So, you know, offensive line, defensive line, who's winning in the trenches D lines winning low red zone. Of course, you got the quarterbacks internal clock. It's a ticking when you get into the red zone. You got to be super decisive guys have to get open quickly. It happens like this. And for the offense, it's interesting because they're dealing with the backup cornerbacks. You don't have Davis out there. You don't have Gonzales out there. Davis isn't a full go. Gonzales isn't out there. And the pass rush has been

Starting point is 00:28:56 pretty great. Meanwhile, last note here, offensive line, the juggling continues. Mondays practice Vidarian low back from PUP. Caden Wallace was absent after getting dinged up during the scrimmage. Garrett Bradbury returned to practice Morgan Moses left early not sure if that's because he's being managed. We saw that once before earlier in camp so it could be just that. And this caused some some kind of turnover, especially on the second unit. Mark Daniels posted with Wallace and City So who's also out. The second unit is different. Demontre Jacobs was at left tackle. Ben Brown was at left guard. Cole Strange was at center.

Starting point is 00:29:37 Tyrese Robinson was at right guard and Marcus Bryant was moved to the right side. And you had Ben Brown playing left guard, Strange playing center. Strange reportedly had a pretty good day. And Vidaria Lowe, Greg Bedard said that Vidaria Lowe, his wins during the one-on-ones, he was two and one, his wins were impressive. And so he's being worked back in. And the main thing we got to look at is can they settle on the best five? Can you get to the best five? Can you settle on a best five by the latest that Minnesota joint practice? So you got about a week and a half to figure this out. You got to have your best five by then. So you can go into the final few weeks of camp in the preseason, knowing

Starting point is 00:30:23 who your guys are and getting ready for that opener against Vegas. The second unit remains fluid. It's the best I can give you. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe to this podcast. Thank you for being an everydayer making Lockdown Patriots your first listen. Your second listen, check out Lockdown Bets. Lee Sterling, Kevin Rogers do a great job over there.

Starting point is 00:30:51 You can find Lockdown Bets on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Have a great day and we will see you tomorrow.

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Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Breakthrough: TreVeyon Henderson Dominates Patriots' Practice

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