Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Crucial: A.J. Brown and Kyle Williams Drive Patriots Camp Buzz

Starting point is 00:00:00 Lots of wide receiver news coming out of Monday's practice, including A.J. Brown getting dinged and Kyle Williams, a DMP. This is Lockdown Patriots. You are Locked on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's happening? I am your host, Nick Cattels. On today's show, the running back and linebacker depth battles are heating up. In the second segment, three. rookies are making headlines. But first, an update on the wide receiver room. Today's episode is brought to by Fandul. Join all the action at Fandul.com to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer this MLB season. Monday reportedly was heavy in the run game on the offensive side and the quick passing game. So not much downfield, not much intermediate, not much of any of that, right? We're talking a lot of red zone, a lot of heavy run game,

Starting point is 00:01:04 some quick passing game, some screens, et cetera, et cetera. But we were also heavy on the wide receiver news coming out of Monday's practice. Let's start with Kyle Williams. Kyle Williams was a DNP on Monday. He got dinged up on Saturday. He came off the field. He got looked at. He hung around.

Starting point is 00:01:23 And now we show up on Monday and we find out that Kyle Williams is not going to practice. And this is significant. I know it's one day. And we'll see if Kyle Williams is bad. out there relatively quickly. But this is big news. Kyle Williams, we talked about it last week, was looking like the seventh receiver on the depth chart.

Starting point is 00:01:44 He then has his best practice. Then he gets tweaked on Saturday and doesn't practice on Monday. And for Kyle Williams, if you're trying to climb up that depth chart, every single day of practice that you miss is going to feel like a week. Now, it's not going to be a week, but it's going to feel like it's been a week. You've got to leapfrog multiple guys in that room. And every time you miss a practice,

Starting point is 00:02:12 you might as well miss three or four practices when you're in the spot of Kyle Williams. If you want to try to beat out of Mack Hollins and be the third or fourth receiver on this team, you've got to be out there. You've got to be out there on a daily basis, making plays, enforcing the hands of the Patriots and their offensive staff.

Starting point is 00:02:30 that's what every single guy that is battling to move up a depth chart, when you're talking about a roster like the Patriots have, that's the number one goal of every guy trying to make moves. If you're trying to make moves up, and you're certainly not trying to make moves down, if you're trying to make moves, you've got to be out there practicing. You've got to show up.

Starting point is 00:02:54 You've got to be dependable. You've got to make plays. You've got to make your argument. And standing on the sideline, watching practice is not making an argument. So Kyle Williams, the pressure is on. He has to get back sooner rather than later. If this is an extended period of time in any kind of way,

Starting point is 00:03:15 that would spell a disaster for Kyle Williams and his hopes, his optimism of not only being a piece in the passing offense, but making the team. So all eyes on Kyle Williams to see, if when he gets back to practice. Kyle Williams was not the only receiver that was dealing with something. AJ Brown during practice on Monday, dislocated his thumb.

Starting point is 00:03:41 Now, AJ Brown told the NFL network that he dislocated his thumb, which is why we know he did what he did. The good news here, though, is that AJ Brown continue to practice. He dislocated the thumb, popped it back into place, went back out there, continued to practice, ended up with four catches on Monday, caught multiple touchdowns, and you start to see that momentum. It continues to gather for A.J. Brown and Drake May, the A.J. Brown train keeps rolling.

Starting point is 00:04:12 He continues to make plays, whether it's scoring touchdowns or having a catchdown field of 20 yards against Christian Gonzalez and a jump ball like he had on Saturday. He continues to show up and show out at practice. Now, an interesting note comes from Mike Giardy. and Mike Giardy reported that, you know, A.J. Brown and Christian Gonzalez looked like they could get into a quote-unquote scuffle after a brown catch during Monday's practice. I don't mind this at all. It's football. It's physical. Guys get sick of going against each other. Apparently on Monday, the trash talking was at an all-time high compared to any of these prior Patriots practices with this specific roster. So the trash talk is picking up. Guys are being very, very competitive.

Starting point is 00:05:02 And I've said it before. I'll say it again during this camp. Iron sharpens iron. And you've got an offense that potentially could be a very, very good and explosive offense going against the defense. That could potentially be very, very good borderline shutdown, depending on opponent. And you have those two elements battling each other every single day.

Starting point is 00:05:24 This is going to happen. you're going to have alphas in the room that are going to go at each other and not just on the field as far as I'm running this route. You're trying to defend this route. AJ Brown's an alpha. Christian Gonzalez, even though he's not as loud as people would want him to be, don't get it twisted. Christian Gonzalez is an alpha. So when you have two alphas going against each other, you've got a guy who's considered a top 10 receiver in football, some might say he's, He's not that guy anymore, but he's still looked at as a top 10 to 15 dude at that position.

Starting point is 00:06:01 And you've got Christian Gonzalez, who is considered one of the top three or four corners in football. Yeah. I mean, these guys are going to go after each other. Gonzalez is going to get the best of Brown. Brown is going to get the best of Gonzalez. They're going to be yapping. The flapping of the gums is going to pick up. The physicality is going to pick up.

Starting point is 00:06:18 I'm on your nerves. You're on my nerves. Yeah. There are going to be scuffles. there are going to be kerfuffles. There are going to be screaming matches. This stuff happens. And I think that actually is a good thing.

Starting point is 00:06:34 It is a healthy competition. Let those guys go after each other. As long as nobody's throwing punches, nothing ridiculous happens. Let him go after each other. I'm sure that Mike Vrable absolutely loved the back and forth between Gonzalez and Brown on Monday, given that it did not lead to anything stupid. I guarantee you Mike Rable was smiling, if not literally right there on the outside. He was smiling on the inside.

Starting point is 00:07:02 Romeo Dobbs, he is starting to, you know, firmly plant his feet into the ground as the number two wide receiver of this team, which was expected. But it's nice to see develop. Taylor Kyle's posted on Monday, Romeo Dobbs scored versus Christian Gonzalez in the corner of the end zone during seven-on-sevons, then caught a curl from Drake May during 11 on 11th. Romeo Dobbs finished with three catches, by the way, on Monday. His best day, so far of camp, was this past Saturday when he had five catches, but back-to-back good days for Romeo Dobbs at practice. And Romeo Dobbs met with the media after practice on Monday. This is from Mike Cadillick with a Romeo Dobbs quote, Mike Cadillac of CLE and S. Romeo Dobbs on his chemistry with QB Drake May, quote, it's growing. It's a day-to-day grind, and

Starting point is 00:07:52 it takes a certain amount of trust. He's a great leader. He's poised. And he's a great guy to be around, unquote. Mike Reese posted scene setter. Romeo Dobbs, whose presence has been somewhat overshadowed by A.J. Brown says, quote, I love where I'm at, unquote. Selfless, smart, reflective.

Starting point is 00:08:12 I'm confident that Romeo Dobbs will be the perfect compliment to A.J. Brown this season. I am very confident. I am bullish on the thought that will be. get to week one in Seattle on that Wednesday night, and A.J. Brown, Romeo Dobbs will be set up to be your one and two, respectively, and both guys will be in position to produce right out of the gates. As long as they're healthy, they continue this steady progression that we've seen through camp. I am bullish on those two guys. Kishan Booty popped up again on Monday after a couple of quiet days. Mark Daniels posted from Mass Live.

Starting point is 00:08:52 Kayshan Bouti ended practice with an awesome touchdown catch from Tommy DeVito. He had a few nice catches today. And so we go back to how we started this segment with Kyle Williams not practicing. And you finish it up with Kishan Bouty making plays again on Monday. And that's why. That's why I say Kyle Williams, every missed practice, it might as well be three or four, because you are opening the door for another guy in that room to make a play. you are opening the door to, you know, welcoming Kishan Bouti to allow the coaching staff to forget about your existence.

Starting point is 00:09:30 So Kyle Williams is out on Monday. Kyle Williams had picked up some momentum over the past few practices. Kishan Bouty, his momentum had kind of, I wouldn't say, vanished, but it was slowly fading. Boom. Monday, Kyle Williams not out there. Kishon Bouti out there. Kayshan Booty making plays. And these are the types of practices that, you know,

Starting point is 00:09:53 lend credence to the idea of keeping Kishan Booty on this team. Do you have enough confidence in everybody in that room? Is Kishan Booty, one of your top three or four guys? And if he is, what do you do then? And the more Kyle Williams misses, and the more Kishan Booty's out there playing well and playing better than the Mack Hollins is and Kyle Williams is and Efton Chisholms,

Starting point is 00:10:20 then he's going to get his shot. From 30,000 feet, I also think this tells you, you know, add Efton Chisholm, add Pop Douglas, and just think about how deep this wide receiver room is. You got to go back years, man. I know I've talked about this offense being as talented as it's been since the Tom Brady days. You've got to go further back into the Tom Brady days

Starting point is 00:10:42 to look at this wide receiver room and compare it to yesteryear. It's a good thing. It's a good problem to have. Gabe Accus takes his next step forward on the field. That and more next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now, the number one sports podcast network, your team every day.

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Starting point is 00:12:10 Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer. Gabe Accus on Monday was more involved. So we talked about it over the weekend. Gabe Accus showed up to practice. He was there. He was limited. I'd say very limited, did some individual drills, ran over coach Mike Smith during one of those drills, and that was pretty much it.

Starting point is 00:12:33 But on Monday, we saw a more involved Gabe Accus. And one thing we did not talk about over the weekend regarding Accus's return is the fact that Mike Vrable told the media, Gabe Accus kept texting him and texting him and texting him. As soon as that contract was signed, Gabe Accus. was bothering the head coach to get out out of the field saying, am I going to practice tomorrow coach? Am I going to practice tomorrow coach?

Starting point is 00:13:01 Is it time tomorrow coach? He wants to be out there. And so on Monday, Gabe Accus for the first time in a Patriots uniform participated in team. He was out there for some 11 on 11s. He took part in a one-on-one. If you're wondering, he won in his one-on-one.

Starting point is 00:13:23 matchup. Now, he beat Lorenz Metz, who is not going to make this roster and probably we'll be looking for more work once this camp is over. But Gabacchus was out there. He was part of team. He's in the one-on-ones. He's beating Lorenz Mets. And by the way, if you were wondering, Gabe Accus was playing on both sides there, both edges. So he's playing right defensive end, left defensive end could tell us that the Patriots are very confident in his ability to play both ends, which of course would open the door for him to play maybe a little bit more once he gets everything figured out. But he's out there and he's getting more involved.

Starting point is 00:14:14 And this is not about beating Lorenz Mets in a one-on-one. Yes, that's nice. I mean, if he lost to Lorenz Mets, then some people might be scratching their head wondering what's going on. I wouldn't. It's a single one-on-one. But it's not about the one-on-one on Monday. It's the fact that Gabe Accus is taking the next step. And this goes back to what we mentioned on Saturday when he debuted at practice. You want to get him ready to that Indianapolis joint practice. And if Gabe Accus is ready for that joint practice, which is a week from Tuesday, August 11th, you've got about a week to go to get him out there and get him some reps in that joint

Starting point is 00:15:00 practice. I do not expect Harold Landry to be back by then. So you have the chance to put Gabe Accus out there during that joint practice a decent amount to give him some shots, to give him some looks against legitimate NFL competition. So anything that you do that is seen as a step forward from now until that indie joint practice is a good thing. And unequivocally, Gabacus took a step forward by going out there on Monday and being involved, much more than he was involved in his camp debut. Let's talk about another rookie, Karan Pronti. Boy, the Patriots, they were criticized by many for the Karan Prunty pick.

Starting point is 00:15:46 I didn't really care as much as other people. It was a fifth round pick. You're not very likely to hit on fifth round picks. Now, of course, you can hit on fifth round picks. And teams have hit on fifth round picks. But it's, you're going to that round. It's not like you're thinking we're going to draft a guy who's going to make this team from day one and be a difference maker. If it happens, great.

Starting point is 00:16:09 You're doing cartwheels and giving each other high fives in the front office. But I wasn't all going bananas and worked up about the Karan Pronti pick because it was in the fifth round. But Karan Pronti, he's starting to come on a little bit. at camp. And he's really started to pick up since Carlton Davis went out with a hamstring, reportedly a hamstring. Doug Kide had Karan Prunty on his stock up honorable mention lists after the first week of padded practices over at Mass Live. And, you know, Kide pointed out that Karan Prunty had a pass breakup and pick in consecutive practices. Then on Monday, Karan Prunty showed up a couple times again.

Starting point is 00:16:56 Evan Lazzar posted on Monday that Karan Prunty forced an incomplete pass on a go ball against A.J. Brown. And he intercepted third string quarterback Barron Morton. So again, all of this is relative. Karan Prunty defending A.J. Brown on a go ball and not giving anything up, forcing an incomplete that's really good. As far as picking off Baron Morton, you know, that's something that is not as sexy to report and talk about. But really, it's all relative,

Starting point is 00:17:35 and we're all trying to just look at these young players, especially, and the new guys, showing signs of life, showing us some progress for the rookies, for a guy like Karan Prunty, again, fifth round pick, showing any flashes is good for him. And this, like we talked about with Kyle Williams, if you're not out there practicing, you're giving somebody else a shot. And with Carlton Davis not practicing, there is going to be opportunity for the others,

Starting point is 00:18:06 so to speak, at cornerback. Charles Woods replaces Carlton Davis. He is your steady number two guy opposite of Christian Gonzalez on the outside. But Charles Woods going out there in replacing Carlton Davis, obviously has a domino effect for everybody else at the position on that depth chart. I have another rookie name to discuss coming up, but first, don't forget if you're watching us on YouTube to click that thumbs up, give us a like. Throw a comment in as well.

Starting point is 00:18:37 I want your thoughts on the wide receiver room. Kyle Williams, not practicing on Monday. And don't forget to subscribe, help a brother out, help a channel out. The goal, 11,000 subscribers by week one. against the Seahawks in Seattle on that Wednesday night. All right. One final rookie I wanted to talk about. He is somebody that we've talked about already because he has earned the right to be

Starting point is 00:19:02 talked about. But Tanner Arkin keeps getting looks with the ones, with the top offense. And there's some positive reporting on the heavy group. This is why I wanted to mention Tanner Arkin on this podcast because we've discussed his blocking and all of that. but the idea of heavy personnel is something we have discussed multiple times leading into this camp. And it's it's the idea of trying to throw more at the defense, giving them more to look at, more to think about. And Evan Lazar over the weekend, Patriots.com, he wrote that the Patts Big Personnel Groupings featuring Tanner Arkin, A.J. Brown, Matt Collins, and Reggie Gilliam have been effective at keeping the defense,

Starting point is 00:19:49 guessing on run and play action passes. It's precisely what we have discussed. Giving the defense run looks and throwing out of those run looks, going with the heavy personnel, hitting him with a play action, going down the seam, going down field. And Eli Rairdon, his growth, Tanner Arkin being somewhat early, but somewhat a revelation, would absolutely. absolutely help the Patriots ability to disguise significantly what they want to do on the offensive side.

Starting point is 00:20:28 If Tanner Arkin can be a legitimate depth piece that keeps the playbook open, even though Julian Hill is done for the year. And one theme we have carried throughout the past few months is putting less on the plate of Hunter Henry. The less he has to do, the better. not because he's not good, really good past catching tight end. His blocking has started to fade, but he's in his 30s. So the more that Eli Raarden and Tanner Arkin can show during this camp, the better it is for Hunter Henry, the better it is for the Patriots. Coming up, camp competitions and another good day for Will Campbell.

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Starting point is 00:22:00 box plus free dessert for life. Go to HomeCef.com slash locked on NFL. That's HomeCef.com slash locked on NFL for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. HomeChef.com slash Lockdown NFL must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Thanks for checking out the lockdown podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network, running back three, the depth chart at the running back position, something we are consistently keeping an eye on during this camp. And it is tightly contested, that running back three spot.

Starting point is 00:22:43 At the beginning of camp, Land Larison looked like the guy who had the inside track. But it was early. and we always stress it's early. We're certainly not late into camp. So it was Lan Larison at the beginning of camp. Lately, Jam Miller has been flashing. And so if Jam Miller can continue to show these flashes, have these moments,

Starting point is 00:23:09 then obviously with the Patriots, you know, investing a draft pick on Jam Miller, then they might be more apt to just keep him on the 53 man when they break for camp. And let's not forget one thing. That Jim Miller, you know, he has some ability on special teams. And I can't stress this enough. When you're looking at, you know, wide receiver six slash seven,

Starting point is 00:23:34 when you're looking at running back three, you want to see guys who are capable of returning kicks, being able to play on special teams. You know, Kyle Williams has been out there when he was out there. he's been out there on some special teams looks. And we know that Kyle Williams had some returning done last year. The Patriots tried Efton Chisholm as a kick returner. He was not good.

Starting point is 00:24:01 I did not think that Efton Chisholm was good at returning kicks. Kyle Williams, though, he has that straight line speed, and he could do damage on special teams. So when you look at that receiver spot, you've got to think about that. You also have to think about that with that running back three spot. And Jam Miller, if he can help you on special teams, that would give him the edge on maybe some other guys. Meanwhile on Monday, Terrell Jennings returned to practice. And so now you got, you know, Lan Larison, Terrell Jennings, Jan Miller.

Starting point is 00:24:37 You can include Miles Montgomery. But Jennings coming back to another body. He obviously is accustomed to this offense. He was in New England last year with Josh McDaniel. Now, Land Larison also knows the offense because he was in New England last year as well before he had the season-ending injury in camp. But those two guys, they know the system, so that helps. Now, I do wonder, if you're the Patriots, you can play some games here with the roster. And what I mean by that is you might not be worried about, you know, Land-Larison getting picked up and put on a 53 man coming out of camp.

Starting point is 00:25:20 and think that you can slide him onto the practice squad. I'd imagine you might think the same thing about Miles Montgomery, your UDFA running back. You know, Lane Larison was UDFA last year, Miles Montgomery, UDFA this year. Terrell Jennings, he's got a limited skill set compared to some of these other guys. And the Patriots, they added to the running back room

Starting point is 00:25:44 knowing that Terrell Jennings was on the roster. So that would tell me they're trying to upgrade on Terrell Jennings. So I would have to guess, and it's a pretty educated guess, that Terrell Jennings is on the outside looking in. But you look at these other guys, you know, Jan Miller, Lan Larison, Miles Montgomery, out of those three guys, the Patriots used to pick on Jan Miller. So if you think it, you know, it's possible that all three of these guys,

Starting point is 00:26:15 you could get onto the practice squad if need be. You might lean towards keeping Jan Miller out of camp because he was the guy that you drafted. And he's got that special team's ability. How about linebacker three? Well, Khalil Jacobs has had some moments, another UDFA. But Chad Muma has been showing up. Taylor Kiles posted about Chad Muma on Monday. Muma had an impressive pass breakup on an angle route versus Ramandre Stevenson.

Starting point is 00:26:48 and he later helped blow up a run and team. Evan Lazar over the weekend wrote at Patriots.com that Chad Muma has been their most effective depth linebacker. So out of the KJ Britt, Chad Muma, Kahlil Jacobs, NAMDi Obi, Aizor, out of that group, it sounds like Chad Muma, according to Evan Lazzar's eyes, he's had the better camp so far.

Starting point is 00:27:16 And it sounds like Khalil Jacobs is kind of right behind Chad Muma. Now, what's interesting is Greg Bedard had mentioned at the beginning of camp that KJ Britt was out there a lot. Like KJ Britt was the guy behind Robert Spillane and Christian Ellis and KJ Britt was also involved with a lot of special teams looks. It feels like since the beginning of camp, Chad Muma and Khalil Jacobs have made some headway and they're moving up closer towards KJ Britt, if not surpassing him at the current moment. And Chad Moom is a guy with tons of athleticism. Interesting prospect. It was a top hundred pick. Considered a top 100 prospect going into the draft a few years ago. Will Campbell,

Starting point is 00:28:02 Will Campbell winning again in one-on-ones. He was two and oh on Monday. He beat Draymont Jones. He beat Jesse Lucetta. Again, this is less about who he's going against than it is about what he looks like his technique, his body, and the consistency of improvement is good news as far as his approach and what he's doing out there. Evan Lazar posted that. Will Campbell continues his strong start to camp. This was on Monday. He looks healthy, strong, and has more variety in his past sets. So we've heard that from multiple people. The technique has been polished over the offseason. His past sets, more versatile, his body looks better. I mean, Will Campbell clearly worked on what he needed to work on over the past few months.

Starting point is 00:28:57 Doesn't guarantee that he's going to be great, but he has done the work. And now it's about execution and especially executing against some top-notch pass rushers. Campbell meeting with the media on Monday said, quote, I feel good. My body feels good. I'm just trying to be as consistent as I can be, unquote. There's been absolutely zero reporting about Will Campbell not being healthy during this camp. So what you've wanted to see from him, the first week plus is what you've seen from him. And one last note, Taylor Kyle's mentioned on Twitter that the run game on Monday was more competitive than it has been in recent practices. And so that's another kind of battle, right?

Starting point is 00:29:44 the run game, the interior run game, the red zone run game, the defense, they have consistently shut down the run game during camp. On Monday, according to Taylor Kyle's, the run offense, a little bit more competitive, which is nice. You'd like to see a back and forth there. All right, that wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe on YouTube. Thank you for making lockdown. Patriots, your first listen. For your second listen, check out Lockdown NFL scouting. Kyle Crabs, Joe Marino, they've got you there taking care of you.

Starting point is 00:30:22 Find Lockdown NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day. See you next time.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Crucial: A.J. Brown and Kyle Williams Drive Patriots Camp Buzz

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