Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Dog Days: Patriots Facing Several Injury Questions, as Camp Drags On

Starting point is 00:00:00 The dog days of training camp are starting to take their toll with several injuries that could significantly alter the Pat's plans the next couple of weeks. This is Locked-on 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 Cattles. On today's show, Lockdown releases our NFL top 100 list heading into.

Starting point is 00:00:36 to 2026, and you might be surprised where some patriots land. In the second segment, Gabe Accus is gaining momentum before next week's joint practice against Indy. But first, camp injuries are piling up. Today's episode is brought to by Kalshi for a limited time. Download the Kalshi app and use code lockdown to get $10 when you trade $10. Now, it's tough to understand the significance of certain injuries during training camp. times guys just disappeared and you don't really have a clear idea how significant the injury is,

Starting point is 00:01:12 how long that guy is going to be out, how the injury happened. So I do have that caveat, that disclaimer at the top of this. We don't truly appreciate or understand or know the significance of some, if not all of these injuries. But with the Patriots having five straight padded practices to go along with the heat and humidity that is hitting New England, there are now several important players missing time, missing practice time for the Pats. I want to start with Carlton Davis because Carlton Davis got injured a week or so ago. Carlton Davis has now missed a week of practice. And it might not be as big of a deal if it weren't for two things.

Starting point is 00:01:59 Number one, reportedly, it looked like Carlton Davis hurt his hamstring. We went through this last year with Christian Gonzalez. And I've said this a bunch of times throughout the last several years. Hamstring injuries scare me. Hamstrings and calf injuries. Those types of strains, they scare me because they will linger. And so Carlton Davis has a hamstring situation, reportedly, which means this thing could linger. We don't know how serious of a hamstring injury this is. Christian Gonzalez,

Starting point is 00:02:33 he hurt his hamstring relatively early in camp last year, and we know he missed the first few games of the 2025 season. So number one, the nature of the injury, if it is a hammy, that concerns me. Number two, Carlton Davis has a long injury history. We talked about it when the Patriots signed him last offseason. Carlton Davis is a guy that that you could pretty much take it to the bank, he's going to miss a month of the season. Now, last year, that did not happen. He went down, he got back up a bunch of times in games.

Starting point is 00:03:06 He did not miss any games last year for the Patriots, but the history of Carlton Davis is of somebody that can't stay healthy. And the secondary to me is the strength of this defense. The top three corners you have, the safeties you have, if Carlton Davis has to continue to deal with this hamstring, and it continues to linger, that is going to impact your secondary significantly. It is going to impact your defense significantly.

Starting point is 00:03:32 Then we move to the offensive side of the football. Romeo Dobbs missed his second straight practice on Thursday. Now, Wednesday's practice was a walkthrough. Guys didn't do much of anything. Not really the biggest deal. But they were back in shells on Thursday. And Romeo Dobbs was not out there. So back-to-back DMPs for Romeo Dobbs.

Starting point is 00:03:54 It's terrible timing. It felt like Romeo Dobbs was just starting to pick things up at camp. He had a very productive day last Saturday. He had a good day on Monday. And then all of a sudden, Tuesday doesn't do much of anything. Wednesday, again, during the walkthrough, he is MIA. And then on Thursday, he is once again missing from practice. So now back-to-back practices missed by the guy who is supposed to be your second receiver on the depth chart.

Starting point is 00:04:24 And with Romeo Dobbs, not off to the fastest start, learning the new offense, learning to work with Drake May, every day he misses is pretty significant. So you can't miss reps if you're Romeo Dobbs. You've got to be out there. You've got to be getting this chemistry before the joint practice next week against Indy. So back-to-back DMPs for Romeo Dobbs. Will Campbell. Andrew Callahan had a note yesterday that, you know, Will Campbell was walking. around with an arm brace. The brace looked like the gronk arm brace from, you know, years ago.

Starting point is 00:05:00 And I made that note. And I said, Will Campbell's walking around with this arm brace. It's his left arm. We don't know what's going on. We don't know if this is serious. We'll see what happens during Thursday's practice. And today, Thursday, last time I checked, Will Campbell was impacted by whatever is going on with his arm. Mark Daniels posted that Will Campbell did not participate in 11 on 11s. Instead, he worked off on the side field with the team trainer. So there's Will Campbell working with the team trainer. Something's going on with the left arm, wearing an arm brace, was was wearing it on Wednesday, did not participate in those 11 on 11thes on Thursday. So now we have the question about Will Campbell, what's going on with him? And you don't want

Starting point is 00:05:47 Will Campbell's momentum to be slowed down because he has been very good, if not great, early in camp. Anything that slows that down is not great. Then you have Christian Barmore. Christian Barmore left Thursday's practice early. Mike Giardt posted Christian Barmore angrily tossed his helmet before disappearing down the hill with trainer Jim Whalen. So leaving with the trainer doesn't make me feel great. Again, we're going to get more information as time goes on. But the fact that Christian Barmore threw his helmet and disappeared with the trainer down the hill, that doesn't make me feel great. And don't forget, Christian Barmore, no more guaranteed money on his contract.

Starting point is 00:06:36 He needs to play. So I would imagine he is going to be very, very frustrated if he can't get out there sooner rather than later. So Carlton Davis dealing with the hamstring. Romeo Dobbs, MIA, back-to-back practices. Will Campbell rocking an arm brace and did not participate in 11 on 11s on Thursday. Christian Bormor leaves early, throws his helmet, leaves with the trainer. We still have the mystery surrounding Harold Landry.

Starting point is 00:07:05 Harold Landry, he had surgery about six months ago. Is he managing this injury or is he hurt? Or is it both? Greg Bedard wrote at Boston Sports Journal on Harold Landry today. Landry was spotted for the first time as he worked on the side in a long-sleeved shirt and shorts under the supervision of Frank Perano, who is the director of sports performance. He pushed a sled at one point, but he was favoring his left leg. Seems to be a ways off, but always a good sign if they appear on the field.

Starting point is 00:07:39 So yes, it's a good sign that Harold Landry was out there on the football field, but he's favoring his left leg, favoring it? About six months after surgery, don't love that, especially with his history. I have no idea when Harold Landry will be back. And obviously, Harold Landry is a pivotal piece to this edge group that we've been talking about for the last few months. Christian Barmore was not the only Patriot that left practice early. Charles Woods left practice early. And if you're not aware, Charles Woods has been replacing Carlton Davis at practice,

Starting point is 00:08:20 opposite of Christian Gonzalez. So Carlton Davis, hamstring, Charles Woods leaves practice early for the second time in the last four or five practices. Last time wasn't a big deal. He was right back out there. Let's hope that's the case. But if Charles Woods is not out there for tomorrow's padded practice, well, now your second and your fourth cornerbacks are dealing with injuries. Again, that's not ideal. and if Charles Woods misses time and Carlton Davis continues to miss time, well, hello, Koran Pronti. Karan Pronti has been playing pretty well at camp recently, and your fifth round pick might be pressed into more significant action than you might have thought when you drafted him if Carlton Davis and Charles Woods continue to be banged up. So again, we don't understand the true significance of what's going to. on with any of these guys. But when you go through the roll call, you've got six or seven

Starting point is 00:09:21 important patriots dealing with injuries right now. Carlton Davis, Romeo Dobbs, Will Campbell, Christian Barmore leaves practice today, Harold Landry, Charles Woods, and now your secondary depth, you're looking at it, you're looking at your left tackle, your franchise left tackle. You're looking at the guy who you invested a lot of money in this offseason to be a number two receiver after A.J. Brown. I mean, you're looking at some pretty significant players on this roster. And hopefully they get back sooner rather than later. We know the Patriots had good injury luck last year. Hopefully this is not a harbinger of things to come. Don't forget, Tuesday, joint practice against Indianapolis. Gabe Accus is flashing a surprise replacement for Will

Starting point is 00:10:14 Campbell at practice today. And we have much more coming up next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. Before the season even kicks off, everyone's making predictions. On CalChi, America's number one prediction market platform, you can trade predictions in a live market. I'll give you an example. Can the Patriots win at least 10 games this season? The Pats are currently trading at 54%, meaning a $100 trade pays out $176. and $42 if the Pats reach 10 wins. On Cali, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house.

Starting point is 00:10:57 And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position. Trade the draft pick, the game, and more on Cali. Download the Calci app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10. K-A-L-S-H-I-C-T trade on anything. 18-plus only. restrictions and eligibility requirements apply event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors calcce products are not available in all jurisdictions prices values and available markets may differ from those mentioned for more information see cowshee.com

Starting point is 00:11:29 slash regulatory thank you for making us your first listen for being an everyday or quick note we are unfortunately discontinuing ad-free pods here at lockdown patriots i can't thank those enough who had subscribed but all subscribers to the ad-free shows should have received notification and a refund as of yesterday, so as of Wednesday. But make sure you subscribe to the regular feed to get our daily content. I am not going anywhere. I am excited for the 2026 season. We'll get to Gabe Accus in a minute.

Starting point is 00:12:04 Sean Pat's fan says, what's up, Nick? What's up, Sean? Hope you're doing well, my man. Appreciate you stopping by. Mr. A.B.Q, Gabe is going to be a defensive rookie of the year. and defensive player of the year candidate. That's some pretty high expectations from Mr. underscore ABQ,

Starting point is 00:12:26 not only defensive rookie of the year, but defensive player of the year candidate. I mean, if that happens, my freaking goodness, what a pick. What a pick that would be. All right, Patriots and Shells on Thursday, they will be back in pads tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:12:43 some noteworthy things happened on Thursday. Sounds like Gabe Accus's early transition to the NFL is going well so far at practice. Evan Lazar posted about Accus today. Accus flashes with speed rush around Caleb Lomu at right tackle. He drew a hole. Mark Daniels posted. Gabe Accus took multiple reps with the starters today. He also had some good battles with Caleb Lomu on the second team.

Starting point is 00:13:10 Accus beat Lomu decisively on one rep. Taylor Kyle's from CLNS, ACS continued to ramp up participation and flashed multiple times as a pass rusher, beat Caleb Lomu with a ghost move early and got pressure versus Demetrius crownover to help force a Tommy DeVito interception. So Gabe Accus showing some flashes in practice today. Now, he's not the only got to beat Caleb Lomu. I think Greg Bedard has said enough about Caleb Lomu for the rest of us. Caleb Lomu has had some decisive losses over the past few practices,

Starting point is 00:13:47 up and down camp so far. Not really surprised, given that he's more of a raw prospect. You know, the hope is you can use him as a sixth offensive lineman this year, get him developed for 2027. So Gabe Accus is not the only guy to beat Caleb Lomu in training camp, okay? He's not the only guy to beat Demetrius Crownover,

Starting point is 00:14:12 who is more raw than Caleb Lomu is raw. But this still matters because Gabe Acus missed so much time. We talked about it. You know, he was not on the field for the rookie minicamp. He was not even in town for mandatory mini camp. He missed the first practice or two during training camp. So when he gets thrown out there after missing so much of the early camp season, the more he shows the sooner, the better.

Starting point is 00:14:41 So this does matter. Gayback is missed significant time for a rookie. And if he's getting reps with the starters already and he's making some plays already, no matter who they're against, that's good news because theoretically he should be behind the eight ball. He should be behind all of these guys because of that missed time. And this is all about Gabak is preparing for those joint practices. The Patriots need.

Starting point is 00:15:12 They need ACUS to be a legitimate, rotational guy. They don't need him to be defensive player of the year. They don't need him to be defensive rookie of the year. They need him to be able to contribute consistently to this pass rush to help them on the edge, especially against the run. They need Gabe Accus to be a legitimate rotational player. So the more he does in practice and the more he's ready for these joint practices, which begin on Tuesday against the Colts, the better it is for this football team.

Starting point is 00:15:50 All right. We mentioned it last segment. Will Campbell did not participate in 11 on 11s during Thursday's practice. Caleb Lomu was not the next man up. So Caleb Lomu was not your backup left tackle at Thursday's practice. Marcus Bryant, last year's seventh round pick from Missouri, was actually the guy who replaced Will Campbell in 11 on 11th. So Marcus Bryant was your left tackle too.

Starting point is 00:16:20 Caleb Lomu was at right tackle. And I think there's a combination of things here. Of course, you know, you want to keep Caleb Lomu, I think, at right tackle as much as possible because that's where you want to play him. And I talked about this in a prior podcast. I don't want to put too much on Caleb Lomu's plate right now as he continues to go up and down and mostly down over the past few practices. There's no need to kind of rush this dude. There's no need to put so much on his plate if he's not picking up what you're putting down.

Starting point is 00:16:53 And so if you want Caleb Lomu to be the insurance policy from Morgan Moses, then just keep him at right tackle. And I believe Caleb Lomu got some reps at left tackle three today behind my. Marcus Bryant, but leave him there. Right tackle two, that sixth offensive lineman, if he develops quick enough, that's what his role is. Now, Marcus Bryant, I think, you know, he has shown some flashes reportedly during this camp. And of course, it was his natural position left tackle from his days at Missouri. He was the left tackle. Armand Membue was the right tackle. So Marcus Bryant sliding him in to replace Will Campbell while keeping Caleb Lomo at right tackle,

Starting point is 00:17:38 given what's been happening over the last week or so, makes a lot of sense to me. All right, there was another near scuffle that happened at practice today from the same two guys. We'll get to that in a minute. But don't forget, if you're watching us on YouTube, give us that thumbs up, give us a like. The likes help us with the algorithm. Don't forget to throw a comment in as well, your thoughts on the injuries that we ran through in the first segment. so don't forget to like, don't forget to comment, and don't forget to subscribe the next goal, 11,000 subscribers, hopefully by week one against Seattle in Seattle.

Starting point is 00:18:12 All right, forget SummerSlam. SummerSlam was this past weekend. I enjoyed it. Wasn't great, wasn't bad. Thought it was a pretty good show, had Chinese food with it. Love SummerSlam, love professional wrestling, as some or if not many of you know. But forget about SummerSlam this past weekend. Christian Gonzalez and AJ Brown has been the showdown of the summer.

Starting point is 00:18:34 These guys are battling every single day of this training camp. Mike Reese posted today a lot of fire emojis on the field today between Christian Gonzalez and AJ Brown, which seemed to be sparked by Gonzalez's edge slash trash talking after some lockdown coverage. Looked like the two almost needed to be separated at one. point. This is now the second time that Gonzalez and AJ Brown needed to be kind of separated and things didn't get too far. Mark Daniels from Mass Live posted Kishon Booty jumped in to separate Brown from Gonzalez. And Kishan said, quote, I was just trying to pull AJ out

Starting point is 00:19:19 to go on to the next. I heard him say something about you a grown man. So I just got in there before it got too far, unquote. So A.J. Brown telling Christian Gonzalez, you are grown man, they're going back and forth, getting each other's faces, and Kishan Booty dives in to separate those two before it gets too serious. As far as on the field, Doug Kide posted Strong Day from Christian Gonzalez and team drills and one-on-ones. He went 2-0 versus A.J. Brown in those one-on-ones.

Starting point is 00:19:49 Evan Lazard did note, though, that A.J. Brown got behind Christian Gonzalez on a vertical route, but Drake May missed A.J. Brown with a slight overthrow. And Taylor Kyle's posted that Christian Gonzalez calls his matchups versus A.J. Brown, quote, good on good, unquote, noting he'll face a similar set of physical wide receivers while Brown will face cornerbacks who like to talk, which Gonzalez has been doing plenty of this summer. That last line stood out to me the most. Like Christian Gonzalez, you know, the play is the play. It is a very hot competition between two very talented players. But I think this could mean more for Christian Gonzalez because Christian Gonzalez,

Starting point is 00:20:31 he was not a very vocal guy, right? Didn't talk a lot of trash, didn't play with a ton of edge. I'm not one of those guys that says he's not physical enough. I don't care if he's overly physical or not. I think he's actually improved his physicality since he was drafted into the league. But he's not an edgy player. He's not yapping at guys. He doesn't flap those gums.

Starting point is 00:20:51 So the fact that Christian Gonzalez is jawing at AJ Brown and they're going back and forth, I love that. AJ Brown is pulling the alpha out of Christian Gonzalez at these practices. I think it's a great thing for both guys. It was an uncharacteristically ugly end to practice for Drake May. He had two interceptions. He forced the football to Kay Shan booty. It was picked.

Starting point is 00:21:17 He forced the football to Hunter Henry. That was also picked. And we have one other note from Ian Rappaport. Ian Rappaport reported earlier today that the pageant Patriots had 36-year-old offensive guard Greg Van Roten visit the facility. And if you go back, I believe it was yesterday's podcast, if not the day before, we've talked about the interior offensive line, the backup guard position. I have a lot of questions.

Starting point is 00:21:44 I had a lot of questions before camp. And Ben Brown has not looked good at guard during this camp. A lot of the other, you know, throw it up against the wall type scenarios for the Patriots that they've tried, those have not looked great. And I would not be surprised whatsoever if the Patriots end up signing, if not Greg Van Rotin, somebody like him, a veteran guard who can back up Michael Wenou and Elijah Veritucker, especially given Elijah Vera Tucker's injury history. So not surprised whatsoever that the Pat's had a visitor today.

Starting point is 00:22:20 Coming up, our biggest takeaways from Lockdown's top 100 list for 2026. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. There are more live events than ever worth seeing right now. Games, concerts, comedy shows, festivals. The hard part usually isn't deciding what you want to attend. It's actually getting the tickets. Between long wait times, confusing checkout processes and surprise fees, buying tickets can sometimes feel harder than it should.

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Starting point is 00:23:42 And don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. Jump to a couple of comments here before we get to the top 100 list. Newby boy monk. I can see Accus getting eight to nine sacks if he plays a full year. Maybe. I would kind of peg for. you know, six or seven. But, hey, if he gets eight or nine sacks, that's a very good rookie season.

Starting point is 00:24:03 Very good. Low key, 1033. Acus has a skill set that's hard to beat, speed combined with power. Might be the closest thing we've had to Willie McGinnis in 20 years. That's a high tower could line up anywhere, too, now that I think of it. A lot of big time expectations from some of you regarding Gabe Accus's rookie season. I'm going to pump the brakes a little bit. I'm going to be patient with him.

Starting point is 00:24:32 I do think he can be a contributor. I do think hopefully by mid-year, he will be a significant contributor. But we will really start to figure it out next week against the Colts in the joint practice. And then the following week with the two joint practices against the Eagles. And by the way, I do plan on being at those joint practices against Philly. All right.

Starting point is 00:24:52 Locked on, released our NFL top 100 list. There were three Patriots on the top 100 list going into this season. Drake May was 31st overall. Christian Gonzalez was 39th. And A.J. Brown was 87th. Now, I would argue that Drake May deserves to be in the top 25 of the top 100 after being the runner up to the MVP last year. But, you know, top 25, 31, not a huge difference.

Starting point is 00:25:23 I don't think it's necessarily disrespect. If you look at the quarterback position, Drake May was the sixth quarterback. So he was the sixth ranked quarterback within this top 100 list. I think that's reasonable. You know, going back several weeks ago, I discussed ranking quarterbacks. And I think I had Drake May like fifth, fourth or fifth in the league. I think it was fifth. So having Drake May ranked sixth, I don't think is anything crazy.

Starting point is 00:25:53 I do have a beef, though, with this locked on NFL, top 100 list at quarterback. Patrick Mahomes, for some reason, was ranked 15th. Patrick Mahomes is not the 15th best player in the NFL. Now, he might end up being the 15th best player in 2026. He might end up being a top 10 player this year. But if you go and you look, and I've been saying this for the last couple of years, if you go and look at Patrick Mahomes in what he's done, the last three seasons, you look at that Kansas City offense.

Starting point is 00:26:22 they have not been very good. Patrick Mahomes has been a different guy the last three seasons. But he continues to get this lifetime achievement award. Him being 15th overall in the top 100 to me, I think that's nonsense. Nonsense. He does not deserve that after the last three years. By the way, zero quarterbacks ranked between number 16 and 30 on this list.

Starting point is 00:26:50 Christian Gonzalez, again, 39th overall. in lockdown's top 100. Christian Gonzalez was the fourth ranked cornerback on this list. Patrick Sartan was number one, Derek Stingley, two, Devin Witherspoon, three. I would argue that Christian Gonzalez should be ahead of Derek Stingley and Devin Witherspoon. I would make that argument. I would debate that.

Starting point is 00:27:16 That Christian Gonzalez is better than both of those guys. Quignan Mitchell, if you were wondering, was next up at 40. on the list. AJ Brown, 87th in the top 100. I don't think that's insane. I don't think that's a bad ranking necessarily after the season he had in 2025. His numbers dropped.

Starting point is 00:27:40 You know, when you're looking at it statistically, when you look at it statistically, you know, he has declined. So I don't think it's, I believe that AJ Brown absolutely deserves to be in the top 100. but when I see 87th, it's not like I'm flipping a table over.

Starting point is 00:27:59 By the way, he was the 11th ranked wide receiver on this list. I think that's respectable. You know, I think that is very fair. When I talked about A.J. Brown, after the acquisition, I had A.J. Brown hovering somewhere like between the 12th and 15th receiver. Somewhere in that range, he could go as high as 9 or 10. he could go as low as like 15 or 16. So him landing on this list as the 11th ranked wide receiver,

Starting point is 00:28:28 I do think is fair. I don't have any beef with that whatsoever. What stood out to me, though, with this top 100 list from lockdown, is there's a lot of respect for that position. There were six wide receivers in the top 27, six wide outs in the top 27 players in the league. I think that really speaks volumes as far as how important people, think a true wide receiver one is to a football team in 2026.

Starting point is 00:28:57 Overall, the Patriots had three players in the top 100. Again, Drake May, Christian Gonzalez, A.J. Brown. I could have made an argument for Milton Williams, but he did miss games last year, so that probably hurt him. The Patriots are tied with six other teams on this list with three players tied for the fourth most. If you're wondering the two teams with the most players in the top 100, Philadelphia and San Francisco each had six players on this list. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio.

Starting point is 00:29:35 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 with Kyle Crabs and Joe Marino. You can find Lockdown NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to Have a great day. We'll see you next time.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Dog Days: Patriots Facing Several Injury Questions, as Camp Drags On

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