Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Drake Maye, Christian Gonzalez, Jerod Mayo and Mandatory Minicamp Thoughts

Starting point is 00:00:00 Drake May made progress in mandatory minicamp, but can he win the New England Patriots starting quarterback job in training camp? Stick around, we're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. And thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen each and every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is not only a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day, but we are also free and available on all platforms,

Starting point is 00:00:48 including YouTube. So smash that subscribe button and download and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts to ensure that you're getting the latest episode as soon as it's available. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for the Patriots country. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for the Patriots country. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL.

Starting point is 00:01:14 While you're out there showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style, follow our account there as well at LO underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $200 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. Visit FanDuel.com to get started. And Pats fans, it is a new week. A little bit of a schedule flip here. We are coming at you with Mailbag Monday on Telegraph Tuesday this week.

Starting point is 00:01:48 Our good friend Murph will be joining us to break down all of your great questions. Another robust mailbag submitted over the weekend. Thank you, and a tip of the cap to all of you everydayers for doing so. And we are looking forward to bringing you the mailbag here on Tuesday. But to open the week in style, we are equally humbled and just as honored to welcome a good friend of mine, a colleague of mine at Athlon Sports and Patriots Country. He is also the producer of the opening kickoff from 6 to 9 a.m. Central Time every morning at 1055 WNSP in Mobile, Alabama.

Starting point is 00:02:24 He is also a senior sports analyst and contributing writer for Yellowhammer News, covering all things Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide. He is Michael Brawner. Michael, welcome back to the pod, and thank you for joining me here today, bud. Absolutely. Always happy to do it. Thanks for having me on again, Mike. Anytime.

Starting point is 00:02:40 It is our honor to welcome you back. And Mike, we'll dive right in with the question that's on everybody's mind right now. And much of the region's attention last week, justifiably so, was on Tom Brady, his Patriots Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Truly a great night to be in New England, to be a Patriots fan, and to witness it was amazing. I know Pats fans are still reeling from that, but we all know that it's time to pivot now to what the Patriots have in store for them this season. Present is definitely something the Pats want to live in. The future is something they're excited about. The past is something they'll always treasure, but it is time to move on. And Drake May is the new quarterback in New

Starting point is 00:03:22 England, or at least he will be in the foreseeable future. Jacoby Brissett may have something to say about that, about the starting job right out of the gate. But the Pats, May, Brissett, the current iterations of 2024 New England Patriots, finished up minicamp last week on Wednesday. And a lot of the national pundits still continue to say that Jacoby Brissett is a little bit further ahead than Drake May in the quarterback competition right now. But they're also saying that May has been making some significant progress. And you're hearing that a lot from the local pundits, myself included, that have seen what Drake is capable of and doing and improving on each and every day. And I think it's making a lot of people excited. So my first question to you is when you

Starting point is 00:04:06 see or you hear about the type of progress that Drake May is making right now what's your first reaction to that is this something you want to hear as a Patriots fan simply because it's the normal cadence of the way things should go or does it fill you with a little extra optimism that he could end up starting sooner rather than later yeah well first off i'm i'm glad you mentioned the brady ceremony because it feels like a really good time for that in that all right let's mark the official end of the old dynasty and move on to what's next is it a new dynasty probably not but like hopefully a competitive afc roster uh and it doesn't take more than a couple of years to make that happen. As for Drake, yeah, I mean, I think the reports we've read and written

Starting point is 00:04:53 and heard and listened to and taken in all this Patriots content, I think it's about exactly what you want to hear. Realistically, like, yes, would it be nice to hear Drake May is far and away the best quarterback on the roster and he's tearing tearing it up every day it hasn't been that would it be nice to hear that sure but realistically that wasn't going to happen uh that hasn't happened for caleb williams in chicago i think all these guys are about where they're supposed to be in terms of like could he usurp brissette and uh and be the starting quarterback in week one, it seems like he's going to go into camp with a chance to at least make that happen.

Starting point is 00:05:30 He's not going into camp with, okay, I'm definitely the backup quarterback and there's no chance to change that by week one. It seems like just based on the reporting, my impression is that it's open. The job is Brissette's, but it's open for May to take this summer if he's able to do that. I'm not going to be upset if he's sitting on the bench early in the season because the team's not going to be any good this year anyway. So I think there's something to be said about throwing a guy in the fire.

Starting point is 00:05:55 I always hate the, you know, what if you ruin a rookie quarterback by, you know, ruin his confidence by putting him on a roster that's not going to get well. If he gets ruined that way from a bad year, chances are that's not going to get well if he gets ruined that way from a bad year chances are he wasn't going to be the guy anyway uh that's why like i thought it was a good idea jacksonville to start trevor lawrence uh in that 2021 season same draft as mac jones they had the worst roster in the league and granted they had maybe the worst coach in nfl history and urban meyer but you know and trevor lawrence i think disappointed a little bit

Starting point is 00:06:24 this year but guess what he just got a 275 million extension. If you're there five years later with Drake Bay, I think you're, you're pretty happy. I think Trevor Lawrence has a chance to be a top 10 quarterback. So, and you know, they threw him into the fire with the worst team in the league. So I'm not, I want May to be ready, but I'm also not opposed to him learning on the job a little bit because I don't expect the team to compete this year anyway. So I guess long answer there, but it's almost like two. I didn't feel like Mac Jones was going to start week one until Cam Newton got cut like that that day. It felt like Mac has probably been better in camp, but no way they'll start him. And then, you know, they did.

Starting point is 00:07:05 Obviously, it's a different head coach now. So we'll see if that approach changes. But I think that Drake has put himself in a spot where he at least has a chance to realistically compete for the job this summer. Very good point. And I'm glad that you mentioned Cam Newton and Mack Jones, because I think that's a parallel that maybe some people are missing. Maybe some are not giving it enough credit, or maybe some are not looking deep enough into the past to see what exactly happened there. Most of the NFL pundits at the

Starting point is 00:07:34 time believed that Cam Newton was going to get the start or be the starting quarterback when the Patriots broke camp in 2021, and that Mac Jones would eventually take the reins maybe week four week five once he was able to get his feet under him and then start it ended up coming right out of camp Mac showed enough to that coaching staff that he was ready to take the reins so the precedent is there for Drake May to be able to take the job from Jacoby Brissett there's no question about it where I think Jacoby becomes the better option and why it's a different situation than Cam Newton was a couple of years ago is because of the comfort level he has with Alex Van Pelt. And knowing that Van Pelt is going to constantly

Starting point is 00:08:16 and consistently go back to that security blanket that he knows can run his offense, can run it effectively, and can be a very good template for Drake May to follow when he's watching pro-level action happen in the regular season. If Drake comes out with mechanics that are still being worked upon, or there's still things that need to be refined in order for him to really play his game, yeah, I don't think they'll hesitate to start Brissette. I don't believe that they'll just do it because Drake is the number three guy and you need to throw him in there if it's close enough. I think this coaching staff realizes that you need to put him in when the time is right, not necessarily when everyone else is telling you the time is right. But things that I've liked

Starting point is 00:08:57 seeing from Drake and that lead me to believe that he could end up taking this job, the velocity, the touch he's putting on the ball, we saw that consistently at North Carolina, and he's doing it on the field, forming some nice relationships with some of his receivers. He and Jalen Polk are going to be a factor this year, folks. They're going to be a force. Demario Douglas is starting to work well with him. I'd like to see more of the budding relationship

Starting point is 00:09:21 between he and Javon Baker in training camp. But Drake is doing things. He's showing his exceptional athleticism. He's showing his arm, and he's also showing the touch that he can put on the ball, which, in my opinion, makes him the ideal steward for an Alex Van Veldt offense. The other things he's doing well is taking to some of the coaching that he's been getting. The last time you were on the program Mike we talked about Drake leading uh the the shotgun which he never did uh at UNC with his left foot he typically operated while leading with

Starting point is 00:09:51 his right foot but he's doing it well and he's taking to it fairly quickly Gerard Mayo has said he's coming along a little bit quicker in that regard than we thought even Alex Van Pelt but there are still elements of his game that need to be refined. Still some decision-making questions. I think any rookie quarterback is going to have those. Still some mechanics that need to be worked on when it comes to his footwork, and that leads me nicely into a question I'll ask you now regarding that competition, because I think most of us here in Patriots Nation have narrowed down that starting quarterback competition to really two guys.

Starting point is 00:10:26 I think it's either going to be Jacoby Brissett or Drake May. All respect to Joe Milton and Bailey Zappi, who I think are kind of battling for the third spot on this roster right now. I don't think either one of those guys is going to be your opening day starter if everyone on this roster is healthy. So if that be the case, and the battle is close enough between Drake May and Jacoby Brissett, which way do you lean? If you're the coach of this team, do you go with the kid because it's close enough or do you go with Brissett because he's the safest option at

Starting point is 00:10:57 this point on a roster that still needs work beyond just the quarterback position. That beginning part of the schedule is pretty brutal, isn't it? But I think it depends also on what the offensive line looks like, even more like in terms of the biggest question on the roster. We've talked about that left side, specifically last time I was on, between a quarter four and if you're starting a rookie at guard or Cadenace at left tackle it's just not a good it's not a good situation on the left side of that line losing trent brown and then you know having cole strange i shouldn't say losing trent brown because they let him go but

Starting point is 00:11:34 uh and then having cole strange be out for injury i think if the line is getting dominated weekly in uh in camp then it's tough to justify throwing May in week one. But if it looks okay and, you know, it's not going to be patchwork every week and May is not going to be running for his life immediately, I say throw him in. I mean, like I said, I'm always for having a guy learn on the job and I hate the you're going to wreck his confidence type of thing

Starting point is 00:12:04 because, again, like I can't emphasize it enough. If Drake May comes in and struggles the first month or two of the season, which probably would happen realistically, and then that ruins his confidence and he's never a good quarterback, well, he was never going to be a good quarterback in the NFL anyway. I can live with that. It obviously sets your franchise back quite a bit if the guy you took number three overall doesn't end up being at least good. But it is what it is at that point. I'd rather know that

Starting point is 00:12:31 one or two years in than three or four years in, kind of like in Mac Jones's case. Again, I'm glad we brought up Mac talking about his rookie year, which you can say in hindsight, they shouldn't have started. Of course they should have started him. They won 10 games and made the playoffs, and Mac Jones was really good his rookie year, didn't he? Now, obviously, three different offensive coordinators and a lot of other situations, and the fact that he's pretty limited, it didn't work out. Then, leading up to the draft, people saying that Drake May is similar to Mac Jones. Besides the fact that they're both goofy-looking white guys who wear number 10, there was no similarity there whatsoever.

Starting point is 00:13:13 You brought up the velocity that May has. May's a different cat in terms of compared to Mac Jones. They couldn't be any more different if you made him in a lab. So, yeah, I mean, if you feel like May is ready, I think he's a little bit more of a project than Jones was in terms of, you know, he might not be as pro ready day one. Again, Mack, it didn't work. Mack just had a very limited ceiling. I think May's ceiling is a little bit more limited or limitless rather, but a lower floor, obviously.

Starting point is 00:13:47 So, you know, Mack was the high floor, low ceiling guy. We saw that play out over three years. So if he's close, yeah, I say throw him in. Unless like it's a really terrible, terrible situation on the offensive line and you know that without a doubt, then I say throw him in. Yeah, brilliant point. And I think the line is going to be a huge factor in this as well, because you do need protection for any quarterback, especially a young quarterback. And that can shake the confidence of a quarterback if they're

Starting point is 00:14:15 trying to play their game and they're simply not getting their time because of the fact that the O-line is not providing what they need. That can definitely make a quarterback gun shy. So that is something to watch. But great stuff, Mike, when it comes to Drake May. We're all excited to watch what he looks like in late July when the Patriots reconvene and training camp begins in earnest. But Drake is not the only player that's going to be garnering attention. Patriots also have their last year's first round pick returning to action for the first time in a while.

Starting point is 00:14:45 He's ready to make his impact on the NFL. Mike had an amazing article for Patriots Country of Athlon Sports this week on the progress of Christian Gonzalez. We're going to talk about that and much more when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Locked On listeners, summertime means baseball, the NBA Finals, and more. And you can bet it all on FanDuel. Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet.

Starting point is 00:15:20 That's $200 you can use to bet everything from the finals MVP to who's going to hit one out of the park. Your favorite green team in the hub is so close to raising the banner 18. So make your fandom and your confidence work for you with FanDuel. Visit FanDuel.com slash locked on and add a big win to your summer bucket list. FanDuel, America's number one sports book. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots. And joining me is my friend and colleague at Patriots Country of Athlon Sports, Michael Brawner. And folks,

Starting point is 00:16:01 before we continue our discussion on mini camp wrap up and what's to come in training camp, I just have one question for all of you, especially all of you locked on everydayers out there. Are you tired of having to turn down the volume with all that shouting going on when all you want is your daily sports fix? Well, it's time to make the switch to Locked On Sports today. A free 24-7 sports streaming channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all that streaming. Locked On Sports Today brings you can't-miss analysis, opinions, and news

Starting point is 00:16:34 streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app. Locked On Sports Today is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day, as is Locked On Patriots. And here today, we've been talking a lot about minicamp wrap-ups, some of the big storylines coming out of last week's three-day session in Foxborough and the practice fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium. Mike, obviously, Drake May is a huge story. Everybody wants to know the rookie quarterback's progress. But I think one of the bigger storylines as well coming out of camp was the progress being made by cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

Starting point is 00:17:13 Christian, unfortunately, had a premature end to what was really a promising rookie season last year. That first month, the month of September, was truly one of the better months that you'll see a rookie cornerback put up. You go against players like A.J. Brown and Tyreek Hill and Garrett Wilson, and you're able to hold them to being non-factors in the games in which you played against them as a rookie, you know you're on your way to something special. And he was chosen as the defensive rookie of the month for September. But unfortunately, a torn shoulder labrum in week four against the Dallas Cowboys ended his season. He's back on the field now, and Christian sounds like a guy who's ready to go. He sounds like someone who is healthy and determined to make his mark on this team and in the secondary. And Mike, this Patriots defense last year was unarguably their strength. They were

Starting point is 00:18:07 definitely a formidable unit. You put that defense on any other team in this league and you're probably looking at a playoff team without any question. That's how good these guys were, kept them in despite the difficulties that they had on offense. So when you look at Gonzalez and you look at what you expected to see last year, what we saw in the little sampling size and what you hope to see this year, how optimistic and how excited are you to watch Christian Gonzalez play football this year? Yeah, it's funny because when I was writing that today, obviously I knew he got hurt early in the year, but I had to do a double take when I realized he really only played three full games last year. Like, it doesn't feel like that at all. It felt like, you know, if you had just asked me blindly on a random Monday how many games did Christian Gonzalez, I would have said probably five or six.

Starting point is 00:18:55 But he really played three healthy games last year. I think he got hurt in the first half of the Dallas game. That Dallas game was forgettable. So forgive me if I'm getting the time that that happened incorrect. But yeah, I mean, he had as good of a start to a rookie season as you could possibly ask for. I think he was as good or even better than Sauce Gardner was the year prior for the Jets. And he found a way to be the story of the NFL. I think Gonzalez was on his way to cruising to a Defensive Rookie of the Year award. All he had to do was continue, or even a little bit worse level of play

Starting point is 00:19:34 than he had through the first week. That's the best rookie in the league, at least on the defensive end. I mean, he was absolutely phenomenal from week one against Philadelphia. It was like, wow, this guy is absolutely for real. You know, if you remember, Patriots traded down and Washington drafted Emmanuel Forbes over him. I was clapping my hands at the time. I mean, Christian Gonzalez was the perfect fit for this defensive way. It was almost a little bit of a luxury pick just in terms of what the strengths of the team were, but I'm so glad that Belichick did pull the trigger and make that happen because, man, I mean, he was a superstar so quickly, and I'm so confident that

Starting point is 00:20:11 he's going to, as long as he's healthy, he's going to continue to do the things he did during the first few weeks of the season, all season long. I mean, the defense was good without him last year, so it's exciting to think how good the defense can be with him back and hopefully healthy for the full season. Yeah, exactly. I mean, just thinking about the competition that he played, and we mentioned guys like Hill, Garrett Wilson, and A.J. Brown, these three are top-level receivers. Even the most seasoned cornerback is going to have difficulty keeping these guys under wraps. But you look at his his stat sheet and that to me really illuminates everything this kid was able to do he held those three to ten catches 102 yards on the 74 routes that he covered those receivers on a nice corner blitz that resulted in a sack on jalen hertz

Starting point is 00:20:57 against the philadelphia eagles again showing off his ability not just to lock down his opponent but also to draw a beat on the football and get after the passer if need be. A lot of aggression there. That was something that I think a lot of Patriots fans were wondering from his time at Oregon. Does this kid have the aggression to be a top-level pro cornerback? He put that to rest in week one and showed that he does have the ability and he does have the desire to do so.

Starting point is 00:21:23 The stat that I love about christian gonzalez that really makes me excited to watch him this year mike allowing opposing receivers to get open on only 23.1 percent of their routes that's a rookie that's lockdown material when you think about what he can do with a full mini camp a full training, getting back to where he needs to be. And even though it's a small sample size, three pro games now under his belt, I think the sky is the limit on this kid. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch him in training camp, especially when the pads come on and you start to see some of that contact, getting back and forth a little bit with some of those receivers. There's a little more attitude in the receiver room this year, which I like. Guys are playing with a little bit more swagger. You can expect to see that from

Starting point is 00:22:10 the rookies, from Polk, definitely from Javon Baker. Kayshaun Booty is showing a little bit this year as well. He's having a very good spring so far. We'll see if it translates into the summer. You're going to start to see cornerbacks now get challenged a little bit. And I think Christian leading this group is going to be ready to do that. And him showing that attitude is going to force everyone else in that room to kind of raise their game a little bit. He's mentioned guys like Alex Austin and Isaiah Bolden who have worked around him, getting a chance to elevate those guys and then playing along savvy veterans like Jonathan Jones and even Marcus Jones, who's determined to make his mark in the cornerback room this year as well, doesn't want to just be a return man, a lot of competition there. And I think that's going to

Starting point is 00:22:53 translate well for the New England Patriots and especially for Christian Gonzalez. No doubt about it. I mean, it's funny you bring up the receiver group you know i should hope they have more swagger i i guess uh you know considering that they had none last year and you know that was more of a talent issue than an attitude issue i think uh and that's another thing that you know we didn't have it on the list but i think it'll be really interesting to monitor there's a really long jam at the wide in the wide receiver and it's not because there's all these great players, but there's all these players that are kind of fringe good enough to make the roster.

Starting point is 00:23:29 Like I wrote about Keyshawn Butte last week. I think it was Mark Daniels. He had him leading the spring in terms of charted catches. Like Keyshawn Butte, you look up and down the roster, like there are six guys that should be there. Obviously, Polk and Baker are locks. Kendrick Warren is a lock. But there's really, outside of the three,

Starting point is 00:23:49 and Demaria Douglas obviously as well. So outside of the four locks, it's really like six guys competing for two spots between Juju Taekwon, Jalen Rieger, who obviously will return kicks, depending on Marcus Jones, but offers value on special teams nonetheless. And then Butte too. So there's a lot of guys competing for those two spots.

Starting point is 00:24:11 That's another storyline I'm really looking forward to in camp. Again, like would I get rid of them all to trade for T. Higgins? Yeah, I would. But that doesn't mean that there isn't at least some quality players that'll make roster decisions difficult this summer. Yeah, without question. I'm glad that you mentioned that, that there is a at least some quality players that'll make roster decisions difficult this summer. Yeah, without question. I'm glad that you mentioned that, that there is a good deal of competition in the wide receiver room. Good deal of competition at the cornerback position as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how Christian's ability to lead either by example,

Starting point is 00:24:38 or if he has to be a little bit more of a vocal leader. Again, if anybody's worried about Christian's injury, I don't think that's a factor this year i think he will be healthy and bottom line what christian does better than anyone on this roster being able to maintain eye contact with the quarterback no matter who he is as long as you have that ability he will be your top option and who knows maybe there is a savvy veteran out there waiting in the wings to come in and bring it all together. Stephon Gilmore. And, you know, who knows? Maybe that will be a possibility. I wrote about that over the weekend for the Patriots. Obviously, he was at Tom Brady's Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Starting point is 00:25:15 Says you never know. He liked his time here in New England. Stephon was one of the great covers here in New England. Always enjoyed being around him. And I know Patriots fans would love to see him back in a Patriots uniform. Wouldn't that be the nice icing on top for the Patriots cornerback cake this year? But bottom line, having Christian Gonzalez back in this lineup is exciting. And what else is exciting, Mike, is that we are wrapping up the first offseason program of Coach Gerard Mayo. You mentioned very eloquently earlier that the Tom Brady ceremony may be just a line

Starting point is 00:25:50 in the sand that was needed for this team to take their leave of the old guard and now usher in a new generation. The start of training camp is a lot different than the start of rookie minicamp and mandatory minicamp. This is where things start to get real, and it's getting real for Gerard Mayo. He acknowledged that in speaking to the media last Wednesday. What are Mike and my thoughts on his first offseason program, and what does it mean for the Patriots heading into this season?

Starting point is 00:26:18 We're going to talk about that and more as we wrap up this episode of the Locked On Patriots Podcast, proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots. Joining me is my friend and colleague of Athlon Sports Patriots country, Michael Brawner. And Mike, in the previous segments, we talked offense, we talked defense, we talked Drake May, Christian Gonzalez,

Starting point is 00:26:49 two of the most exciting guys on this roster. Still a lot to be done here, offensive line, receivers. We're going to talk about all that, folks, as the offseason progresses. So don't worry, there is still a ton of content coming to you here on the Locked On Patriots Airwaves. But one of the things that struck me as minicamp was wrapping up, Mike, is that this was the first off-season workout program that was run by Gerard Mayo when he spoke to the media on Wednesday and talking about the contrition that this job has given him and the fact that

Starting point is 00:27:20 he's learned a lot, being able to talk to coaches that are in the room with him and coaches that are outside the room that he's had an opportunity to bring in here. Tony Dungy being one, someone I never thought I'd see on a Patriots practice field, but it worked. And it was something that I think Gerard enjoyed being able to utilize. Moving forward now into training camp, what do you think are some of the lessons Gerard Mayo did learn? And from an analyst standpoint, what do you think are some of the lessons he had to learn? Well, obviously he learned everything he knows about being a coach in the NFL under Bill Belichick. So I think probably the biggest challenge for him was separating like, all right, this isn't Bill Belichick running the team.

Starting point is 00:28:06 This is me running the team now. And not that, you know, you want to tear down and completely change everything that, in my opinion, the greatest to ever coach the game did. But at the same time, things have clearly grown stale over the last couple of years. I still think more so due to roster issues. Again, falls on Belichick as well, but I try to separate coach Belichick and GM Belichick a little bit, but in terms of the coaching chops, they were still there. So I think it was probably a big challenge for Mayo. All

Starting point is 00:28:35 right, how can I put my own spin on this program, make it a different program while also not completely getting away from the formula that brought this team six Super Bowls over the last 25 years. So I think it's probably a little bit odd for him, given that not only did he coach under Belichick, but he actually played under Belichick and was a really good player. And Belichick made him a first round pick. So I think just the getting out from under that shadow and from a fan perspective, I think, you know, that's not really going to happen. Like you said, it's starting to feel real, like camp will come, but you know, it won't really feel real until it's week one. And there's a new head coach on the sidelines. Like even the first big thing, like talking about titles and you know, like, yeah, Alex Van Pelt's the offensive coordinator. Demarcus Covington is the defensive coordinator. Like, we think titles are important. I mean, I liked that a lot. It made me not think, like, all the issues I had with Belichick,

Starting point is 00:29:30 of which there were many over the last few years. Like, you know, the act of not answering questions gets a little bit more tired when, you know, you're 4 and 13 instead of 12 and 4 every year. I think you have a little bit more room if you have to answer questions. Or the fact that, you know, there's less secrecy around the organization. There's more access. It's just like a little bit more from a player perspective,

Starting point is 00:29:51 probably more fun right now to play for the Patriots. Obviously, you know, it's not going to be fun if you, if you win two or three games this year, no one's going to be having fun, but it's definitely a departure from, you know,

Starting point is 00:30:02 the, the shroud of Belichick into, you know, well, all right, let's see what this guy is going to bring. So I'm at least intrigued. I'm not fully there of like, all right, like it's the Mayo era, but I'm getting there for sure. Yeah, and I think a lot of Patriots fans would agree with that statement right now. There's still a long way to go. We talk about the players on the field and we talk about the roster, and there is a long way to go for the younger guys to round into form, for the veterans to assimilate into what's going to be a new system, a new way of doing things. And something

Starting point is 00:30:34 that was very Belichickian in the way Mayo, basically imparting the wisdom and counsel his team needs now to head into this little mini break that the Patriots are having is don't lose the gains that you've made. Don't take your foot off the accelerator. This is a good opportunity for you to refresh, mentally recharge, but you want to make sure that you're staying physically prepped, and you also want to make sure that you're not taking your eye off of the ball. That's important. You're either getting better or you're getting worse is what gerard actually said you don't maintain you continue to go out you continue to get better it's important to be home and spend time with your family your loved ones and be able to recharge but it's also important

Starting point is 00:31:16 to continue to get your workouts in make good decisions that's very important folks and if you do that you will be okay so that filled me with an awful lot of optimism heading forward and i think that's where uh gerard now has the challenge of being able to take what this team has done so far and now put it into practical action because training camp again you're going to see the pads come on you're going to see contact come up patriots are going to hold a joint practice with the philadelphia e Eagles during training camp and then preseason games. It's going to start feeling and getting a lot more real for Gerard Mayo with each passing day, each passing week. So I think it's going to be interesting from your aspect and your standpoint, when you look at this team

Starting point is 00:32:00 heading into training camp, maybe the first week or two, what are you looking to see from the bats as they move forward? Just development every day. Obviously, you know, May is going to be the main story and rightfully so, because the number one thing I'm going to be looking for is, you know, let's hear a positive report out of Drake May today. Hopefully, you know, he had a decent day, but, you know, I would like to see a balance where the defense isn't whipping the offense every single day. Like the offense is getting some over on the defense. Because obviously that was the story last year when he said, like, this defense is really good. Really, defense was really good.

Starting point is 00:32:35 But it also turned out that the offense was, frankly, incompetent. So I would like to see a balance from both sides as training camp starts to kick off. And then again, like we've talked about time and time again, what does that offensive line look like? Because that's probably my biggest concern at this point. Absolutely. Could not have said it better myself. And folks, you can catch his wisdom, his counsel, his reason, and his dynamic insight each and every day on Athlon Sports Patriots Country. I'm so honored and so humbled to work alongside this man and

Starting point is 00:33:05 definitely we look forward to bringing you the best coverage we can during Patriots season through training camp, through preseason and of course through the regular season. Mike, before I let you go today, please let everyone know where they can reach out to you, interact with you on social media and to let us know what you've got marinating

Starting point is 00:33:21 in Mike's kitchen between now and the next time that you join us here on Locked On Patriots. Yeah, you said it. I mean, Patriots Athlon is where you can find all of our Patriots covered, Patriots country, a part of Athlon sports. You can follow me on Twitter at mbraunerwnsp. I do a lot of Alabama and Auburn stuff because, you know, my full-time radio job is based out of Mobile and I went to Alabama. So a lot of college football from me on the Twitter, but also a lot of Patriots stuff as well so be sure to check me out at m brauner wnsp online absolutely folks you can catch him each and every morning on the opening kickoff 6 to 9 a.m central time so adjust your clocks for that on 105.5 wnsp and of course at

Starting point is 00:34:02 yellow hammer nation covering everything from the auburn tigers to the alabama crimsonSP and of course at Yellowhammer Nation covering everything from the Auburn Tigers to the Alabama Crimson Tide and of course all of his great Patriots coverage on Patriots Country of Athlon Sports and folks once again I thank all of you especially all of you everydayers for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage

Starting point is 00:34:19 on behalf of Michael Brawner I'm Mike DeBate reminding you all to stay safe and to stay well and be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, folks, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on A Lot on Patriots.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Drake Maye, Christian Gonzalez, Jerod Mayo and Mandatory Minicamp Thoughts

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