Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Showcase: A.J. Brown Dominates Minicamp | Drake Maye Dodges Bullet

Starting point is 00:00:00 AJ Brown displayed his dominance at this week's minicamp and has looked every part the alpha-wide receiver the Pats believed that they acquired. 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 Cattels. On today's episode, Mike Vrable doesn't sound as concerned about the.

Starting point is 00:00:36 defensive edge position that many others do. In the second segment, the pads dodged a season altering bullet on Wednesday after Drake May goes down. But first, A.J. Brown's terrific start. Now, I'm going to give every single one of you a disclaimer. It's mandatory minicamp. It is the middle of June. It is certainly not joint practices. It is certainly not regular season games. We all understand that. We all understand that mandatory minicamp is a passing camp. I get it. You get it. We also understand that Christian Gonzalez, one of the best corners in football, has not been in competitive drills this week for the Patriots, which would obviously make it tougher on A.J. Brown to make the types of plays that he made with Drake

Starting point is 00:01:22 May in his first series of legitimate practices with this football team. But put those disclaimers aside, I am here to tell you that A.J. Brown has done everything this week. that you had wished he would do. He has been that guy. AJ Brown is off to a spectacular start as a New England patriot. Mark Daniels from Mass Live posted earlier today. A.J. Brown had two touchdowns today. His first was awesome.

Starting point is 00:01:56 He adjusted in the back left corner of the end zone, spun around, and hauled in a five-yard touchdown. Now, I just watched the highlight. The Patriots just posted the highlight on Twitter. So you can go to their Twitter handle and you can check out this touchdown pass from Drake May to A.J. Brown. And I'm telling you right now, it's outrageous.

Starting point is 00:02:19 It's outrageous. A.J. Brown is a whirling dervish. Somehow does the complete spin around and keeps his eye on the football, tracks it, catches it, and then somehow gets both of a. his feet down in bounds. It is an absolutely ludicrous catch. Evan Lazar posted about the catch. Highlight of the day, A.J. Brown making a ridiculous twisting catch for a touchdown,

Starting point is 00:02:47 wow play. It's impressive, Lizar posted, watching A.J. Brown attack High Point the football. There were two days of competitive football this week, two days of competitive drills. And A.J. Brown had the highlight of the day both times. He has had a major impact already in this camp season for the Patriots. And you see what he can do. Now, here's one thing I want to clarify or make sure that we talk about clearly. Not only is this mandatory minicamp, and we have that all down at Christian Gonzalez, not out there, but I will also tell you that these plays, these highlight real

Starting point is 00:03:32 plays that A.J. Brown has made this week, those plays do translate to the regular season. I don't care if this is a passing camp. I don't care if Christian Gonzalez is not out there. What A.J. Brown has done individually this week that absolutely unequivocally can translate to the regular season because what we're talking about is red zone play. We're talking about contested catches in tight spaces. And that's what A.J. Brown does. That's what he's done throughout his entire NFL career. We're talking about having unbelievable body control to the point where you can do a complete spin, track the football, jump up, catch the football, and get your feet in bounds.

Starting point is 00:04:13 That crazy body control that we've seen A.J. Brown have throughout his career. The red zone impact, this is not unusual for A.J. Brown. Now, he might not be able to take the play that he made today on every single cornerback. but I will tell you right now, AJ Brown can make that play against the vast majority of the cornerbacks in the NFL. And I'm telling you right now,

Starting point is 00:04:39 Drake May throwing him the football makes a big time difference. And when you have, I said this on an episode this week, when you have Drake May and his level of talent and his confidence, and you have AJ Brown,

Starting point is 00:04:52 his level of talent, his confidence, AJ Brown's ability to track the ball, body control, contested catches, all those types of things, right? Work on back shoulder plays. With those two players specifically,

Starting point is 00:05:07 they can make magic happen if they figure it out, if they figure out the chemistry, and their timing is right, because they're just naturally gifted cats. The types of plays that were made this week by A.J. Brown, they do not depend on his speed. They do not depend on his ability to separate They depend on his ability to be physical, to play bully football, to have strong hands, hand-eye

Starting point is 00:05:36 coordination, to have that body control. That's what these types of plays rely on. And A.J. Brown is going to have the hands. He's going to be able to have these contested catches. He is still going to be a very physical, intimidating presence on the football field. That's why these types of plays that he has made this week should get all of you excited. These are plays that he can make. These are the I'm better than you type plays.

Starting point is 00:06:06 And you don't need speed. You don't need to run a four, three. You don't have to look like you looked going back two or three years ago to make those types of plays. Because as I've said from the very beginning, A.J. Brown at 80%, 85% of his capacity from a couple of years ago is still so much better than a lot of receivers in football. And that's what you see play out. Brown spoke to the media after practice, and he spoke highly of his new quarterback. Here's what AJ Brown said about Drake May. Quote, the talent speaks for itself.

Starting point is 00:06:43 He can make any throw. But I think what's more impressive to me is that he knows what he's doing to be that young, to understand the defense, and to understand every little check, the hots, the blitz, and all those things. So young and so fast, it's very young. impressive. I really admire that. He knows what he's talking about. He demands everyone else to know as well. He's a true leader of men, and it's crazy to see at a young age. He's a true leader of men, unquote. A.J. Brown, pretty much verbally sending a love letter to his new quarterback. And there is

Starting point is 00:07:23 nothing. There is nothing more important for this offense. than the connection between AJ Brown and Drake May. And it's not just lip service. It's not like AJ Brown is just saying these things. The chemistry between these two players is already showing itself on the field. The timing is already showing itself on the field. These types of plays, they just don't happen. You don't wake up and you get the timing.

Starting point is 00:07:53 The back shoulder throws to the tight spaces of the end zone. and the timing and coordination that that takes and the chemistry that that takes. So it's not just A.J. Brown telling us that he loves himself some Drake May, or Drake May telling us that he loves himself some A.J. Brown. It's about these two players who are very, very talented showing this type of chemistry this early on. That should get you excited. The chemistry. I mean, I can't help but be pumped and jacked with the thoughts of what these two guys could do.

Starting point is 00:08:26 as long as both stay healthy this season. The chemistry, the way it's been this early, the types of plays that they're making this early, you should be excited. May went out there and worked with A.J. Brown and Romeo Dobbs the last couple of practices after practice, trying to build that chemistry with both of those guys. Love seeing that.

Starting point is 00:08:48 You don't have to do that. We're talking about A.J. Brown, who's been one of the best receivers in football for a number of years. We're talking about the runner up to the MVP last year at quarterback, but they are out there doing the extra work after practice in the middle of June because they understand how important that is. We should not overlook that work ethic. And according to Mark Daniels of Mass Live,

Starting point is 00:09:12 he posted that Brown said it's the plan to get together with Drake May during the upcoming break before training camp. So they're going to continue to work together. They're willing to get the extra reps. they're willing to do what they've got to do to be fully ready and prepared for training camp on July 25th. Love it. The more reps, the more conversations, the more hanging out, the better for this situation.

Starting point is 00:09:39 I love everything that I'm hearing. AJ Brown finished up speaking to the media earlier today saying about being in New England, quote, it means everything to get to do this. Playing for my favorite team, playing for coach raves, being around teammates that I know, it feels great, unquote. It has been almost as perfect of a start that you could ask for. With A.J. Brown acclimating himself to the team, to the quarterback, making plays, saying all the right things, doing the extra work after practice, doing the extra work apparently between mandatory minicamp and training camp.

Starting point is 00:10:18 Drake May, doing what he's done. A very, very promising start. to the AJ Brown era in New England. Doesn't guarantee anything. Doesn't guarantee he's going to have 15 touchdowns this year and 1,500 yards and 100 catches. But a very, very promising start. And if you were hopeful on the day of this trade,

Starting point is 00:10:42 what we've seen this week should not hurt any of that hope. Because he's been that good so far. Next, the close call involving Drake May that ended practice early and other important notes from minicamp. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. Workplace chaos can show up fast. Deadlines are stacking up.

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Starting point is 00:11:37 Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed's sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show, we get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com. podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast terms and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. The last thing anyone wants to hear is Drake May going down at a mini camp practice. It actually happened on Wednesday. But fortunately, the quarterback, he got back up. We'll have the details of how it went down.

Starting point is 00:12:30 and more coming up in a minute. But before we get to that, thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer. Get your daily Patriots fix, completely ad-free by joining the Everydayer Club today. Start your seven-day free trial right now and get closer to your team without the interruptions.

Starting point is 00:12:45 Click the link in the show notes. We'll go to lockdownpatriots.com to claim your free trial. Also, don't forget, if you're watching us right now on YouTube, click that thumbs up, give us a like. Helps us with that algorithm. As I always say, I want to slap that algorithm. right in the neck. Help us out with that algorithm by clicking that thumbs up. Don't forget to throw a comment in like the man. The man, 31 69, Cattels. What's up, the man? Appreciate every single

Starting point is 00:13:14 comment you throw in there. I want to see your thoughts. I want to hear from you. How excited are you about this start from AJ Brown? Yes, it's mandatory minicamp, but he has had a spectacular start in New England. Between on the field, off the field, what he's saying, what we've seen, he has been terrific so far. I want your thoughts. So like, comment, and subscribe. Of course, don't forget. Our next goal is 10,000 subscribers here on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:13:43 So the Patriots almost had a catastrophe play out at practice on Wednesday. And that's not hyperbolic. Drake May went down at practice. And here's what Alex Barth posted regarding what happened with Drake May at this mini camp practice. Practice ended a little early after Brayden Swinson collided with Drake May during a team rep. Wasn't a full tackle, but the quarterback ended up on the ground and took a second to get up. Let me first start here. Braden Swinson, baby, what are you doing? What are you doing, Braden? There is absolutely zero excuse when you collide with the quarterback at a mini camp.

Starting point is 00:14:30 can't practice. What in the world are you thinking? Were you not paying attention? How does this, how does this even happen? This can't happen. This can't happen again. I don't care who it is. Braden Swinson, Elijah Ponder, Craig Woodson, Kevin Byard, name your defender. I don't care who it is. You simply cannot make that type of contact with the franchise of the organization. You don't Like you just, you can't do it. You can't do it. Wherever Drake May is, you should not be close enough to touch him physically to the point where he's hitting the ground.

Starting point is 00:15:15 Not the face of the franchise, man. This can't happen at any practice, let alone mini camp. Like Brayden Swinson, get your head out of the tookus and make sure that you don't ever do this again. Now, Ravel, Mike Vrable and the staff did exactly what they should have done. They shut practice down. Drake may hit the ground and Mike Vrable said that's enough. We've seen enough.

Starting point is 00:15:47 We're calling it a day. And that's precisely what they should have done. You can't risk the 2026 season by letting the teammate hit Drake May. He falls awkwardly and something bad happens. So Mike Vrable, tip of the cap, end practice right at that moment. I've seen enough. We're moving on. See you in late July, everybody, for training camp.

Starting point is 00:16:13 That's precisely the way this should have been handled. Now, fortunately, may seem to be okay after the collision. He was not looked at by a trainer, which is great news. And he also stayed after practice throwing the football to some of his receivers, including A.J. Brown and Romeo Dobbs. So the collision, a little. It's a little scary. Don't want to see it. Don't need it. Don't have to have it. Shouldn't happen again. But thankfully, it looks like the Patriots and Drake May dodged a huge, a huge bullet on Wednesday. Could you imagine Drake May getting hurt at a mandatory minicamp practice because he accidentally collides with Brayden Swinson? I would have lost my mind. I would have been moving furniture in this house. I'm telling you right now. Furniture would.

Starting point is 00:17:03 have been moving. Now, as for practice, Patriots offense, they ran a lot in the red zone again. Lots of red zone this week. It's rather obvious that Mike Vrable and the staff, they want to make this a point. The Patriots were not very good in the red zone last year. They are trying to correct that. Lots of red zone work this week. Now, according to those on the ground, the offense won the early portion of practice. The defense won the late portion of practice. Drake May ended up being 10 of 20. Now, again, remember, we're talking about in the red zone, some of this in the low red zone.

Starting point is 00:17:40 So the field is tightened up. It tends to be a little bit easier for the defense to operate, especially against receivers. That's why the AJ Brown stuff is pretty critical that we've talked about. But Drake May, 10 of 20, he had seven touchdowns, including one rush. touchdown. That's from Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald. And overall, if you're looking at the beginning of this mini camp and you're looking at the end today, the three-day stretch, overall, I would say, Drake May had a really good mini camp, really good mini camp for your quarterback. It seems to be, as they say, checking all the boxes. It seems like he's doing everything he should be

Starting point is 00:18:19 doing. He has progressed in this offense. He looks very comfortable. His connection again with A.J. Brown has been there. He has been reportedly very accurate. So what you wanted to see from the quarterback, I think you saw from the quarterback this week. Some other notes. Kishan Booty, this is interesting. We talked about Kishan Booty on Tuesday. Kishan Booty was more involved the first day of mandatory minicamp than I anticipated. I was surprised by that. Well, on Wednesday, that wasn't the case. Interestingly enough, Kishon Booty did not take part in the competitive drills.

Starting point is 00:19:00 He was not out there for the 11 on 11th. I don't know if that means a trade is coming soon. I don't know what it means. But it is very interesting that day one of Minicamp booty's out there and he's taking part in 11 on 11th. Then you had your walk through slash jog through on Wednesday. So who cares what he did? And then on Thursday,

Starting point is 00:19:22 The last day of minicamp, the last time these guys are going to be on the field together before they go to training camp in late July, Kishan Bouti is not participating in 11-on-11s. So I don't know what the change was for. I don't know why this happened, but I do think, again, that Kishan Bouti will eventually get traded. Caleb Lomu. Caleb Lomu was again at right tackle with the starters in front of Drake May.

Starting point is 00:19:50 But another interesting note about Caleb Lombo, at Thursday's practice, he actually got some snaps at left guard. So now we start to think about what the Patriots are envisioning with their offensive line, especially when you look at the depth. I've been talking about the lack of depth on the interior offensive line, right? You've got Ben Brown. That's fine. He's okay.

Starting point is 00:20:13 He's serviceable. He'll be good. No worries there. But beyond Ben Brown, what do you have on the interior offensive line? where's your depth? Well, now with Caleb Lomu getting some snaps at left guard, it certainly feels like the Patriots are open to the idea of Caleb Lomu being like your super sub if he needs to be.

Starting point is 00:20:35 Swing tackle. If one of your tackles goes down, he's going to replace that guy. And if not, if there's some kind of break glass in case of an emergency situation at guard, Caleb Lomu might end up playing some guard. So they're cross-training him. He's playing all sorts of positions. he hasn't played at any center, but it does feel like they're cross-training him, getting him ready for really any type of situation. You might be wondering what happened with Elijah Vera Tucker.

Starting point is 00:21:03 Well, Elijah Veritucker, again, he's been limited, but I will say on Thursday, AVT took part for the first time in competitive drills. So it looks like Elijah Vera Tucker is progressing. It's the first time in camp that he was out there, 11 on 11s, in competitive drills. you start getting him ready for training camp. So that progress continues, which I think is fantastic news. Coming up, Mike Vrable might surprise you with his thoughts on the edge position. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe.

Starting point is 00:21:46 Appreciate every single one of you. I really honestly do. Thanks for checking out the Lockdown Podcast Network. now the number one sports podcast network. Harold Landry and Gabe Accus, they haven't touched the practice field yet, but Mike Rable doesn't seem phased by where the Pat stand at the edge position.

Starting point is 00:22:04 I'll get to that in a minute. But first, Skull Easy Clap, he posts. Why aren't we hearing much about Dobbs from any of the reporter slash media? Is he a bust? Well, first I would hesitate to overreact to anything that happens at minicamp. As I've said, it's mandatory minicamp.

Starting point is 00:22:21 I think we all have to be reasonable. and not be like, oh, that guy's a bust or that guy's going to be a superstar. You know, if you have a track record of being a star, like an AJ Brown, he's doing things that he normally does. You can take more out of that. But Romeo Dobbs today, what I saw from reporters was that there was one catch where I think he toe tapped. And I think Andrew Callahan had it as a touchdown.

Starting point is 00:22:44 Others said that he might not have gotten the second foot down. So it's not like he's been exploding all over the place. but he's made a couple of plays. He's made a couple of plays. I just think the attention is on AJ Brown right now. So let him continue to get reps. Let him continue to build that chemistry. We'll get to camp.

Starting point is 00:23:05 I do not think Romeo Dobbs is going to be a bust. Now, is he going to be a star? Probably not. But I think Romeo Dobbs is a professional. I think he's very versatile. He's a solid, solid number two guy. And as long as he picks up the offense and there's been nothing reported that he's having trouble with that.

Starting point is 00:23:24 As long as he's picking up the offense, I think he's going to be just fine. But we'll see as time progresses here how it all unfolds. All right, there's been some trepidation over the edge position, given the Gabe Accus situation. But one person that's not really concerned, apparently, is Mike Vrable. Mike Vrable at practice today, according to Doug Kide, seemed happy with the edge group.

Starting point is 00:23:50 He said, quote, that's a good group. I'm excited about adding Dre, as in Dreemont Jones, the development of Elijah Ponder and Brayden Swinson, and we added Jesse Lucetta and some young guys. So let me first say, it's obvious by what Mike Grable said about the edge group before practice that he does not have the same type of urgency to add to that room that he has with the tight end. group. You know, we talked about it yesterday on Wednesday's episode. You know, Vrable came out and said, yeah, we're going to have to add some numbers there. And so Vrable's looking at tight end and he's saying we've got to add somebody to that tight end room. The edge room from what he says, if he's being transparent and who knows if he's being transparent, but he seems pretty content with who they have at edge. And, you know, Gabe Accus, I would say another interesting. part of what Mike Vrable said was what he didn't say.

Starting point is 00:24:53 Mike Vrable did not bring up Gabe Accus. He was asked about the edge position. He said it's a good group. He brought up Dremont Jones. He brought up Elijah Ponder. He brought up Brayden Swinson. He brought up Jesse Lucchetta. He did not bring up Gabe Accus.

Starting point is 00:25:09 Now, am I going to read a lot into that? Not necessarily, because I don't believe he brought up Harold Landry. And we know how Mike Vrable feels about Harold Landry. So I think the reason why Mike Vrable did not bring up Gabe Accus when he's breaking down the edge room is because Gabe Accus is not there. And Harold Landry has not participated. So my reading on this is Mike Vrable was giving a shout out to the guys who have been at minicamp, who have been participating. That's my read on why he did not bring up Gabe Accus. And the Gay Backus story is something we have to keep talking about.

Starting point is 00:25:48 to keep paying attention to. He has not signed yet. I think now he's the only second round pick that has yet to sign a contract. He's got the injury that caused some type of procedure. So that is something that we continue to stick a pin in and we just wait to see if there's any seismic change as we get ready for camp late in July. Hopefully, Gabe Accus is out there in late July. He's already missed a decent amount of time here. And Mike Smith, the outside linebacker, coach and pass rush specialist this week. Mike Smith said, yeah, this is going to impact Gabe Accus's rookie season. He's missed a decent amount of time already for a rookie.

Starting point is 00:26:29 Now, it doesn't mean he can't impact this year. He certainly can impact this year. But what level, it's not helping him to be missing these practices. He has not been around. I guess he hasn't been around since OTAs, right? He was out there for the first couple of OTAs walking around. But if he's not at the facility, he had a procedure. like how involved has he been?

Starting point is 00:26:51 I don't know. But it's something we have to continue to talk about and pay attention to. But I think as far as Rabel and what he said, he's giving credit to the guys that are there, the guys that are doing the work right now. I'm not going to read too much into that just yet. Lots of talk about Elijah Ponder this week. Speaking of Mike Smith, he met with the media this week.

Starting point is 00:27:13 And here's what he said about Elijah Ponder. Quote, I've got very high expectations for him, very. All these guys have done great all spring, but he really, really looks comfortable out there. It has really slowed down for him. And again, we're June 9th or 10th, but I got high expectations for him. He's always going to fight. He's very intelligent. He's big.

Starting point is 00:27:32 He's athletic. He's done some kind of freaky stuff. The spring around the edge, the top of his rush that you're like, oh, wow, that's pretty nice to see. So Mike Smith is pumping the tires of Elijah Ponder. And Elijah Ponder, if Elijah Ponder takes a leap in. year two. That would be so significant for the edge position. It would be so significant for that position. It'd be so significant for the defensive front, so significant for the past rush,

Starting point is 00:27:59 so significant for the future of the pass rush and the future of that defensive line. If Elijah Ponder takes a big leap, I don't know if it's going to be a quantum leap. Love that show. Not sure why it was canceled. But if Elijah Ponder takes that significant leap in year two, that really does change the dynamics of this defensive edge position. And so maybe that's why Mike Vrable is a little bit more cocksure about edge and what they have in that group because maybe Mike Vrable is buying all sorts of Elijah Ponder stock. Now, before today's collision, there were also some pretty positive Braden Swinson vibes after a disappointing rookie year.

Starting point is 00:28:43 Mike Vrable talked about Brayden Swinson today. Taylor Kyle's posted, Vrable says Brayden Swinson. Swinson came back in shape this spring, adding the second year edge realized what professional football is and had embraced special teams. So look, nobody knows nearly as much as the guys who were in the building. And so Mike Vrable, the defensive coaching staff, maybe they're seeing some signs from Elijah Ponder and Brayden Swinson that both dudes could contribute. Now, I'm trying to be reasonable and not get too far ahead of myself. But if Brayden Swinson can give you any type of impact, because frankly, I am not expecting Brayden Swinson to have much impact defensively this

Starting point is 00:29:28 year. But if he can give you some impact, if he can give you some impact and Elijah Ponder does take a leap, and again, these are ifs. But then you start to understand why Mike Vrable feels better about edge than we might feel about edge because he sees these young guys and he thinks the team's going to get more out of those two young guys than we would ever think that they would get out of those young guys. So pretty interesting comments from Vrable, given the current circumstances of that edge group. All right, that wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Truly, I thank you for making us your first listen for being an everydayer. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Hit that like button and subscribe.

Starting point is 00:30:13 And if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you. Get Lockdown. Patriots ad-free plus members-only Discord access and more, head to lockdown Patriots. com or check the link in the show notes to learn even more. Have a great weekend and we will see you next time.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Showcase: A.J. Brown Dominates Minicamp | Drake Maye Dodges Bullet

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