Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Fight: Drake Maye Battles Through Rollercoaster Practice

Starting point is 00:00:00 Drake May straps in for a roller coaster ride, but does more than just survive. That's where we start on this episode of Lockdown 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 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 Cattels and a sports talk show host veteran. On today's episode, the Pat's defense keeps showing up in the most unlikely area. Also, the latest on a pivotal pat and some uncharacteristic mistakes pop up. But first, Drake May fought out of the corner against one of the best defenses in football. We appreciate you

Starting point is 00:00:54 joining the show, making us your first listen. And for being an every dayer, the Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner, the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The expectations, we talked about this during yesterday's episode. The expectations for the Patriots offense this week was that it was going to be a pretty tough assignment, a tough assignment against a Vikings defense that is absolutely no joke. We broke down why they're no joke during yesterday's episode. And I said to myself, and I believe I said on this very podcast,

Starting point is 00:01:29 If the Patriots offense does relatively well, if they play like average football, it would be a huge win for the program, leaving this week's action in Minnesota. So this was going to be a very tough challenge for the offense. And on Wednesday, the first joint practice between the Pats and the Vikings, it was certainly a roller coaster up and down type day for the offense, including the quarterback but I'm here to tell you from what I have read from what I have heard Drake May all things considered was okay he was okay in this joint practice he didn't melt down he didn't look overwhelmed he wasn't a complete scattered mess he was okay here are some of the reporters on the ground posting about the Vikings defense and then Drake May's day Mark Daniels

Starting point is 00:02:29 Mass Live posted the Vikings defense is really good. Andrew Callahan, Flores' defense, as I just mentioned a minute ago, no joke. Now, I also want to let all of you know the circumstances of this practice, especially early on, the first team period that was out there. The Patriots offense was repping second and long. So it was really difficult. And Evan Lazzar wrote, down and distance is set up to get the offense back on schedule. so the goal is to set up third and manageable, not necessarily to throw deep.

Starting point is 00:03:03 So this was second and nine, second and 11, second and 13. What do you do? Try to pick up six, seven, eight yards, make that third down manageable. And that makes it a little bit more difficult, given that context. It's not just, hey, first and 10, we're going to try to move the chains. Different. Now, with that as a backdrop, Phil Perry posted, May finish 13 for 21. Hit long touchdowns to Matt Collins and Trayvion Henderson.

Starting point is 00:03:32 Mark Daniels had slightly different numbers. He had May 16 for 25, as did Callahan. Daniels added, May had some big time throws today. My takeaway from all of this is that Drake May battled. He battled versus this defense. In battling, in winning, winning some of those battles. it's a nice job by May I'm not going to sit here and say it was a good day or a great day but it was a day that I feel is completely acceptable given the circumstances and the

Starting point is 00:04:13 challenges that were in front of the quarterback here's another thing that I loved reading about May's day he responded we always want to see how he's going to to fight back. Is he going to fight back? And honestly, Friday night's game against Washington, he wasn't very good. He followed that up on Sunday in practice. Didn't look very good. Monday's practice didn't look great. So it's been a rough few days for May.

Starting point is 00:04:44 And he walks into this joint practice against this defense and did not get off to an awesome start. But he showed the mental toughness. And he responded. He settled in. Andrew Callahan posted May settled in with a nice anticipatory throw to Pop Douglas and a long pass to Cajon Booty. Evan Lazzar posts, better second series for May, completions to Diggs, Booty, Hollins, and Hooper. Long touchdown to Hollins on the third series. The pressure by Minnesota was definitely noticeable, but May seemed to handle it well.

Starting point is 00:05:22 And he mixed in some highlights. Mark Daniels, May has had some nice moments today. Big throws to Holland. Holland's 50-yard touchdown. Douglas, 25 yards, booty, 30 yards. So not a great start for May in that first period when it was second and long and you're trying to deal with down and distance. Getting your feet wet against this defense. But then in the second series, third series, he responds.

Starting point is 00:05:49 He plays better football. He makes some big plays. Gives you some highlights. I'll take it. Now, of course, it would have been awesome if May was excellent from the beginning through the end of this joint practice, if he was absolutely on fire. And we were talking about May lighting up the Vikings defense, but I just did not have that expectation going in.

Starting point is 00:06:12 I did not anticipate May being able to do that. So winning some battles, coming up with some highlights, responding against this defense, to me, all of that matters. All of those are positive things. he had one dropped interception so he wasn't compounding mistakes he wasn't throwing it to the other team consistently he wasn't making baffling decisions one dropped interception throughout this practice and of course you don't want a dropped interception you want nothing like that you want zero turnover worthy plays but given the context given the circumstances one dropped pick you'll take it because the

Starting point is 00:06:54 Offensive line had an incredibly rough start. Phil Perry, rough time for the offensive line, allowing six sacks, counted two off Will Campbell's side. Callahan, Vikings handled Pat's O line with sacks pressures, two drawn holes. Daniels, Vikings dialed up the pressure and had at least five sacks on the first 20 May dropbacks. This is not surprising the conversation yesterday. You can go listen to it if you missed it.

Starting point is 00:07:25 You can go watch it if you missed it. We try to get all of you ready for a tough day for this offensive line. We try to prepare you mentally to deal with reading something like the offensive line gave up six sacks, two off Will Campbell's side. We tried to prepare you. Hopefully, you're absorbing this okay. It was a tough, challenging day for the offensive line, as was a tough, challenging day for the offensive line, as was expected. Flores, we have discussed this,

Starting point is 00:07:59 not afraid of throwing the kitchen sink at teams. And Perry posted about that saying Flores gave pass protectors all they could handle. During one stretch when he brought extra rushers, or at least showed all-out blitzes, New England allowed three consecutive sacks. So three of the six sacks happened in that one stretch when Flores just kept bringing heat. bringing heat and bringing heat.

Starting point is 00:08:23 But like the quarterback, here's a sliver of good news. More good news for May, but a sliver of good news with the O line. They settled down. They improved. Now, they weren't great, but they improved. Back to Perry. The Patriots line did settle down a bit, saw Campbell and Jared Wilson handle multiple stunts on the left side, improving upon where they aired in last week's preseason game in practices earlier this week.

Starting point is 00:08:49 And Callahan quote, tweeted Perry, writing, building off this, Campbell and Wilson passed off a stunt. The play before May hit Henderson for a 70-yard catch-and-run TD to end his two-minute drill. Their progress led directly to a score late in practice. There's no better way to learn than to have to face it, face the heat, and correct it. And the O line, Wilson and Campbell, specifically learning from facing these stunts against Washington and now Minnesota. And late in the practice, they adjusted and they handled it. Now the million dollar question is, how do they look tomorrow? Some of their offensive notes, Trevionn Henderson keeps crushing it.

Starting point is 00:09:33 The aforementioned 70-yard touchdown to win that two-minute drill. It was a wheel route. 60 yards after the catch, a missing skill set in 2024 for this football team. And I just, you know, there's, there's really no doubt in my mind that Henderson is going to have an impact. And he is just, he's an impactful play waiting to happen. He's also been consistent with these big time plays. And he had another killer play in pass protection. The wide receivers, Diggs had a good day.

Starting point is 00:10:11 Taylor Kyle's called him automatic. Douglas and Chisholm, consistently reliable, according to Kyle's. Callahan wrote that Jvon Baker had a nice day around one drop. The not so great, Kisham Booty, Kyle Williams, up and down. Williams had yet another drop. And the run game wasn't spectacular. But all in all, given the circumstances, given the test they were facing, I think you could live with the results from this joint practice,

Starting point is 00:10:41 especially Drake May's results and his day. One defensive area that needs improvement from last year keeps showing huge signs of life. 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 almost here. And that means fantasy football season is back in full swing. And this year, Yahoo Fantasy is turning things up with a fantasy football experience like never before.

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Starting point is 00:11:51 at Yahoo! Fantasy.com slash lockdown NFL. The defense put together a really solid joint practice against the Vikings. And I should mention, before we get into all of this, there was no Justin Jefferson, Kevin O'Connell before the practice said that Justin Jefferson is not going to practice this week. He's not going to play this weekend. So obviously, much like the Terry McLaurin situation with Washington, you're taking away the best offensive player for the team you're going against. And we have to look at that and we have to appreciate that context.

Starting point is 00:12:38 Now, Jordan Addison, he was out there. Addison was out there for the Vikings. So they at least had their second best receiver, even though they didn't have Jefferson. Either way, I want to focus on the offensive line of Minnesota and what the Patriots defensive line did to that O line, because once again, the Pat's pass rush wreaked havoc on a practice. We've seen this, the Patriots D against the Patriots offense, but now we're seeing this play out against other teams. It's great to see.

Starting point is 00:13:11 Doug Kide, some good pressure from Milton Williams, Kalevon, Chase, on, Harold Landry, and Keon White during 11-on-11s. Pass-rush dominating. It's not me. Doug Kide saying it, or at least writing it, pass-rush dominating the Vikings' offensive line early here. In Kide's wrap-up, he wrote, focused on defense today. Sacks from Chase-on, Williams, White, Landry, Farms. Jennings. Iton.

Starting point is 00:13:44 Let's see. At least one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, at least seven sacks from the Patriots defense, run stuffs from Christian Ellis, Anthony Jennings, Kairis Tonga, and again, Harold Landry, having a pretty good camp. The pass rush, the pass rush, the pass rush. We keep hearing about it. We keep talking about it because it has been a consistent. factor for this defense from day one of training camp they keep getting after the quarterback

Starting point is 00:14:18 and so with with minnesota's offensive line having trouble with the pass rush you now can look at the patriots and say well their offensive line also having some trouble with the pass rush but that also tells us that the patriots offensive line they're getting a good test day in and day out against this defense because consistently the Patriots' defensive front is getting after it, consistently bothering offensive linemen, bothering the quarterback. And that gives the paths an opportunity, especially for their young offensive lineman, gives them an opportunity to face that kind of fire day in and day out,

Starting point is 00:15:06 which is only going to make you better. and if this pass rush continues to torment offensive lines, imagine marrying that pass rush with the corners that you have. If Gonzalez and Davis are healthy and you're getting this kind of push up front, you're getting this kind of disruption, it's going to be a nightmare for most offenses to deal with. And let's not just overlook the fact that this was the Vikings offensive lines. line. We spent a lot of time talking about the defense, and justifiably so, second best defense in DVOA last year, added talent to that defense as well. But the offensive line, the Vikings invested a lot of money and resources to the offensive line during this off season. They felt like they had to get better in the trenches. So they added to their defensive line, but they also added to their offensive line. And part of that was getting rid of Garrett Bradbury.

Starting point is 00:16:09 So don't scoff at this Vikings offensive line. Don't thumb your nose to what they have up front. Christian Darrasaw is one of the better left tackles in football. Now he's coming off in ACL, but he did. He did get some reps in this joint practice. So Darrasaw was out there. He's been in the mix. So Dara saw is out there getting some reps.

Starting point is 00:16:33 You're going against him. The Vikings also signed Freezing Kelly to try to solidify that. interior offensive line. You're dealing with those guys. They drafted Donovan Jackson, one of my favorites in the draft. Big Guard from Ohio State. So it's not like this offensive line from Minnesota is some kind of joke. You've got legitimate talent across that offensive line. So if the top defense is giving headaches to this top offensive line of the Vikings, that is a fantastic sign. I wouldn't tell you that the Vikings have to, like a top 5-0 line, but they've worked on it heavily and they have legitimate talent

Starting point is 00:17:17 up front. You're not dusting some crappy O line. And it just buoys my confidence. It buoys my belief in this defensive line and this pass rush off the edges and what Terrell Williams and Mike Vrable want to do on what they preach. And if you have a top 10 defense, If you can hypothetically set this up and say your front seven continues to get the quarterback, you have those cornerbacks healthy, your back end is okay, not awesome, but okay, you could be looking at a top 10 defense. And I feel, I've said this on paper, I've said this from the beginning after a free agency in the draft, I think the Patriots have a chance to be a top 10 defense in football this

Starting point is 00:18:01 year. And if not top 10, right on the outer edge. And if you're talking about a top 10 defense, and you're talking about at least an average offense, and I do think the Patriots can have an average offense this year. If that's what you're talking about, you're talking about a competitive football team, which is what all of us want.

Starting point is 00:18:18 A competitive, serious football team, you're watching games thinking you have a chance to watch the Patriots win those football games. If you have that top 10 defense and you've got that average offense, you're going to be in games. And the fact is this defense is, really good against Washington, has been good against the Patriots offense, and get off to a good start against Minnesota in the first joint practice. There is potential there. There is

Starting point is 00:18:49 absolutely potential there. Landry's having a good camp. Chase-ons had a terrific camp. Milton Williams picked it up against Washington, had a quote-unquote sack during the joint practice against Minnesota. Barmore has had a really good camp. Keon White, little up and down, hot and sometimes slightly cold. But you start to look at this defensive line and what they've been doing throughout this camp. I think there's legitimate reason to be excited about the Patriots having a pass rush in 2025. And they were literally one of the worst. You could argue the worst past rushing teams in the league last year.

Starting point is 00:19:37 And it feels like that's just not going to happen this season. Even if they're not awesome or great or excellent, spectacular, I just feel like they're not going to be what we saw last season, incapable of disrupting. The perfect opponent, uncharacteristic hiccups as I hiccup, in getting to the bottom of a missing pat. All that next is we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots,

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Starting point is 00:21:00 That's monarchmoney.com. The code is locked on NFL for a half. off your first year. I'm confident. I'm confident in the take that the Minnesota Vikings are the perfect, the perfect team for the Patriots to be facing this week. Getting ready for your second preseason game. The first preseason game, you're trying to get used to things, you're trying to see

Starting point is 00:21:32 if you're jelling. you're not necessarily jumping into the pool in the deep end, maybe dipping a couple toes, figuring out what you've got. Third preseason game is likely going to be a waste. Let's be honest. Not for the guys at the very end of the roster trying to make the team, but for most of the team,

Starting point is 00:21:52 the third preseason game is a big fat yawn. And that's why teams are doing joint practices. The NFL got rid of the fourth preseason game a few years ago. They might get rid of the fourth preseason game a few years ago. they might get rid of the third pre-seasoning game at some point. The second week is the crucial week. And when you think about that, with this particular Patriots team, the Vikings are the perfect opposition.

Starting point is 00:22:16 They really are. Take the joint practice, for example, up and down. Wasn't great. Wasn't a complete meltdown. May had some lows. He had some highs. Offensive line began. struggling mightily got a little bit better as the practice went on and as you have these

Starting point is 00:22:38 ups and downs it allows you to learn it allows you to see what you were doing well during the ups and it allows you to look at as people would call it in the league teach tape the offensive line's going to have plenty of teach tape from the joint practice and in Campbell and Wilson learning about these stunts in real time having to face the stunts in real time. The ups and downs, the learning process. This is a successful program in Minnesota. Now, they haven't won Super Bowl with Kevin O'Connell,

Starting point is 00:23:11 and they haven't had as much playoff success as I'm sure that they want. But this is a winning football team. They are going into the season with O'Connell being one of the favorites to get to the playoffs in the NFC. And if it wasn't for the Detroit Lions being as good as they've been the past couple of years, the Vikings would be the story of the NSC North and would be looked at as one of the few, one of the handful of teams that are truly title contenders walking into a season. This is a successful program.

Starting point is 00:23:45 I have a lot of appreciation for O'Connell and also Brian Flores. I think that this coaching staff in Minnesota is a good coaching staff. I think KOC is a very bright offensive mind. I think Flores, we've talked about it. He's an elite defensive coordinator. And here's the thing. That coaching staff is not just challenging the Patriots players. That coaching staff is challenging the Patriots coaches.

Starting point is 00:24:17 Doug Morone in Hoss, as they call him, Jason Hothailing, in Robert Coogler, the offensive line coaches for the Pats. They have to prepare their offensive line for a Brian Flores defense. that should up their game coaching-wise. It's a challenge for the offensive line coaches to make sure that it doesn't turn into a mess. It's a challenge for the offensive line coaches to take what they learned from joint practice one and apply it to joint practice two. It's a tremendous challenge for Josh McDaniels to handle the young quarterback

Starting point is 00:24:51 against a very difficult defense. Battling Brian Flores, battling the wits, the offense, the offense versus the defense, McDaniels versus Flores. Challenging. Terrell Williams against O'Connell and his offensive staff. So this Viking staff gets you more prepared for football that matters. And it just feels like going against the Vikings in week two of the preseason, you are truly running through the fire.

Starting point is 00:25:25 You are running through the fire to see if you can get out the other. the end. And I don't think you have as much of a challenge if you're going against like the Giants in week two or you are going against Washington in week two. If the Vikings were one or three as far as preseason opponents, you don't get as much impact out of that because both teams truly know you're getting close. You're getting close and you don't have a ton of time to fix what you think you've got a fix.

Starting point is 00:25:58 Really is the perfect opponent. All right, let's jump to something else. I praised the Patriots operation after the commander's preseason game and talked about how clean the operation was. I think they had only, you know, a couple of penalties actually accepted in the game against Washington. Their first penalty that was accepted was in the fourth quarter, no delay of game issues, no confusion.

Starting point is 00:26:26 communication messups, except for maybe Monty Rice getting burnt in coverage at linebacker. But the operation was clean. There's been some slippage this week. There's been some slippage. You had the delay of game during practice on Monday. I think it was the final 11-on-11 period. And you had the delay of game and you had Vrable reportedly very upset with May and showed his frustration towards the quarterback on the practice field.

Starting point is 00:26:58 So you had to delay a game. And then during the joint practice, you had more sloppiness. Phil Perry posted one area of Rabel will likely want cleaned up penalties. Counted three flags on the top Patriots offense, two holds and one on sportsman-like penalty. On sportsman-like penalty. Yet, that happened when Mack Hollins decided to punt the football into the crowd after a long touchdown catch.

Starting point is 00:27:22 Holland said he punted the football because he didn't like the energy from his teammates. He said he'd do it in the regular season. If he saw that happening, I would say, no, boy, no, boy, no, don't be punting footballs. We know Vrable looks down upon displays of emotion like that. So I'm sure Vrable will speak to Holland. The Patriots also had turnovers. Joshua Dobbs had not one but two interceptions. Pop Douglas had a fumble.

Starting point is 00:27:52 You had a couple of drops, and you had the Drake May dropped interception if you want to throw that into the mix as well. So some uncharacteristic sloppiness from Mike Vrable's team during the joint practice, and it's going to be compelling to see if they clean that stuff up the second day of these joint practices. I'm sure Vrable, that's going to be one of the priorities talking to the team. Clean that stuff up. We're not good enough to have those kinds of mistakes. that sloppiness. All right, let's wrap up with the positive here.

Starting point is 00:28:26 Carlton Davis's update. Now, I did a live stream for everything, Pat's, right after the joint practice. And at the time, the only tweets that I saw about Davis was that he walked off the field and was on a stationary bike. This is why it's dangerous to do a live stream a minute or two after the practice because you don't have all the information. Now, here's the good thing.

Starting point is 00:28:48 Carlton Davis, who was expected to practice in this joint practice, did practice after he got off the stationary bike. He was out there for the team periods. And Mark Daniels posted Davis says he's good. Davis won't say what he was dealing with this offseason, said it stunk to not be a full participant this offseason. He wants to earn the respect from his new teammates and coaches. by performing on the field. And Taylor Kyle's post that Davis says he expects to be ready for week one. Heck yeah, I can play right now.

Starting point is 00:29:28 I don't care about the camp of the preseason. It's frustrating Davis on, off the field, on off the field, on off the field. But all I care about is if he's ready for week one. And he has been pretty consistent now. He was out there on Sunday. He was out there on Monday. He was out there during this joint practice on Wednesday. So he's starting to stack days.

Starting point is 00:29:49 He's starting to get out there and be a part of this thing. And as long as he's ready for week one with hopefully Christian Gonzalez, all I care about. Positive steps. Positive steps. 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.

Starting point is 00:30:08 Thank you for being an everydayer. Don't forget to hit that like button and subscribe. And thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen. For your second listen, check out Lockdown Fantasy Football, hosts Vinnie Iyer and Kate Madjouk. You can listen every day to prep for your draft, become the most informed manager, so you can take home that trophy, find Lockdown Fantasy Football on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day, and we will see you tomorrow.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Fight: Drake Maye Battles Through Rollercoaster Practice

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