Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Stunner: Stefon Diggs Not On New England Patriots PUP List To Start Camp

Starting point is 00:00:00 On the verge of camp, we've got fantastic news about one of 2025's most important paths. That's where we start on this episode of 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 up, Patriots fans? I am your host, Nick Kattles, born and raised in New England, of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans? I am your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, also hosted the Everything Pats podcast, co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles and a sports

Starting point is 00:00:35 talk show host veteran. On today's episode, some less than ideal injury news at multiple positions has come out and it hasn't been a great start for one of the prized free agent signings of this offseason but first huge news for the Pats offense just days away from camp we appreciate you joining the show making us your first listening for being an everyday or the lockdown Patriots podcast a proud part of the lockdown podcast network your team every day and today's episode is brought to you by Fandool.

Starting point is 00:01:05 Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Huge news for this offense. The number one receiver in your wide receiver room is seemingly fully healthy and ready to start camp on time. I am talking about of course, Stefan Diggs. Mike Reese posted over the weekend not seeing a wide receiver Stefan Diggs as part of the PUP slash NFI lists suggests his recovery from a torn ACL is progressing as he appears

Starting point is 00:01:41 to be on track to be on the field for day one of training camp. Evan Lazar jumped in. This suggests that Diggs will avoid the PUP list. Pretty remarkable given that he tore his ACL roughly eight months ago. So it sounds like Stefan Diggs is going to be ready on day one of training camp. Fantastic news. This tells us that there are no physical obstacles for Diggs as we get ready for the 2025 season. He's going to be able to run. He is going to be able to cut.

Starting point is 00:02:13 And we saw in OTAs, we saw mandatory mini camp. The glimpses that the media got, it seemed like Diggs was ahead of schedule. It seemed like Diggs was moving pretty well. It seemed like Diggs would have pretty well it seemed like digs would have the opportunity to possibly start training camp on time well now it looks like that is absolutely going to be the case and and you do not you do not start training camp day one after a torn acl about eight months ago you don't do that unless you've been putting work in. And I think this absolutely describes the fond digs work ethic. And the fact that he is going to be ready for day one of training camp tells us he's been working his butt off.

Starting point is 00:02:56 He has been motivated. He is driven to show people that he can still play at a relatively high level in the NFL, the work ethic to get back at around eight months, no PUP, running, cutting, doing whatever you need to do to be there in eight months is just unbelievable. And it tells us everything we need to know about how much time Diggs put into the rehab process. And you can look at 2025 now and it digs is out there and he's he's ready to go day one if he fails.

Starting point is 00:03:31 If he fails this season, if he doesn't produce, it doesn't feel like it's going to be because of that ACL injury. It could be because of age. It could be the accumulation of wear and tear, but digs looked like digs at OTA's and mandatory mini camp We saw the videos we saw the tweets. We saw the Instagram videos

Starting point is 00:03:51 we saw some of the videos from his rehab process down in Florida and I also mentioned on Twitter going back a couple of weeks ago. There was the video of Both I think it was booty. I think it was booty and digs running a drill and you couldn't tell you could not tell which guy is coming off ACL surgery. So this is just tremendous no physical obstacles for digs he's going to be ready to go and that means digs in this Patriots offense has an opportunity for a pretty fast start. I mean, because digs is going to be out there day one of camp, he's going to get all the looks that he needs to get at the playbook, get out there, start

Starting point is 00:04:36 running these routes, start executing these plays with the rest of the offense. So it's not just mental reps he's taking to physically be out there and to take those reps at a physical standpoint. That's awesome. And it allows Diggs as much time as he needs throughout this camp to be fully ready for the season, to fully understand this playbook, to fully understand what he is strong at and how he can help this team. It's also significant because Diggs now gets to build the chemistry with Drake May. There's going to be no delay. It would have been a little funky if Diggs isn't out there during training camp. Then, you know, who knows how much time he misses in the regular season if he

Starting point is 00:05:25 misses a month if he misses six weeks he's not out there until week seven week eight whatever it would be in this hypothetical scenario he hasn't been working with May and he has to plop in he's got a parachute into the season and work with May for the first time and say all right you know this is this is my first time with Drake May as my quarterback. And I'm just going to jump into the middle of a season. This is the perfect situation for digs for May for the Patriots. It's the perfect situation because digs now gets to work with May during a full training camp, a full on training camp. He's not missing

Starting point is 00:06:01 any time. He can get to work right away with the QB. And Diggs is a smart guy, obviously IQ football IQ. He's going to be able to understand and learn what his best fit is. And Josh McDaniels will be working with Diggs. And he will understand by the time you get to the second joint practice, McDaniels, May and Diggs will hopefully be all on the same page and they will understand what Diggs is within this offense. How does he compliment the other receivers? What can he do for May that other receivers might not be able to do in that room for the Patriots? So when you get to training camp day one and you have So when you get to training camp day one and you have the ability to get out there on the field and start working and not just run drills but actually go 11 on 11 and get that competitive juice flowing again when you have that.

Starting point is 00:07:03 It's so big as you get ready for the season. There's no slowing down in this process. The playbook, the quarterback, the OC, how you fit, you will be able to work on all of that before you get to week one. And because Diggs is back and because Diggs is going to be apparently out there day one of camp doing everything that everybody else is doing. I've got some above average expectations I would say for Diggs. Now he's not the same Diggs that he was in Buffalo. We have to understand that, but I still have relatively high expectations for him

Starting point is 00:07:35 since he's already going to be out there day one. I would have slowed the roll a little bit. I would have pumped the brakes a bit. If he wasn't physically able to be out there day one, I'd say, well, this might take a little while, we don't know how long it's going to be until he's out there until he's, you know, able to run routes and do what he's got to do to get on the football field. It would have lowered my expectations. But now day one

Starting point is 00:08:00 training camp physically ready. Those expectations are there. Diggs is a fantastic route runner He knows exactly what he's doing how he sets up defensive backs. He's a really good route runner He's got fantastic hands those hands were out there for the world to see last year in Houston before the injury So he still has terrific hands. So route running, great hands, versatility can play inside, can play outside. I don't think the Patriots are going to play digs a ton on the outside. I do think you're gonna see digs lined up in the slot

Starting point is 00:08:34 an awful lot, probably more than some of you might have expected when they signed digs. But that's where he was mostly in Houston. And I think that's where he's going to be a lot for the Patriots this year. So he's got that versatility. He's worked within a Brian Dayball offense. So he understands a lot of the concepts that McDaniels is going to run. And he's just experienced.

Starting point is 00:08:58 He's an experienced receiver. He's an experienced guy who at one point was a true bona fide number one, a true alpha receiver in the NFL, one of the best handful of receivers in the league for Josh Allen and Buffalo. So he's been there. He's done that he understands what he needs to do to be effective and impactful. So this is fantastic news. This is awesome. And Patriots fans should be ecstatic that it looks like digs will be ready will be operating day one of training camp fully functional. And I've got some some pretty healthy expectations for him because I do think

Starting point is 00:09:41 he is going to play some good football this year. All right. That's the good news. We've got some not so good injury news that could negatively impact this camp. That's next as we continue with today's episode of lockdown Patriots, part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Summer sports are in full swing and whether you're all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green or high stakes soccer action, Fandle is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You're already following the action. Why not make it a little more thrilling? I was hanging out with some friends over the weekend. They had Fandle fired up. The app was there, and they were going to town, been in some fights, some golf, fantastic stuff. And if you're following the action already,

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Starting point is 00:12:33 Mack Hollins, PUP. Austin Hooper, PUP. Venarian Lowe, PUP. Angelani Tavae, PUP. Now, Tavae was expected. We know he went down with a calf strain. And so we're not surprised by that one, but you've got Hollins Hooper low to go along with to Vi and let's start here with Mack Collins. You brought him in free agent. He was MIA early camp OTAs mandatory minute camp wasn't on the field. Obviously an injury situation. We don't really know what's going on. We don't know how bad it is. OTAs, mandatory mini camp, wasn't on the field. Obviously an injury situation.

Starting point is 00:13:06 We don't really know what's going on. We don't know how bad it is. And when you look at Hollins, this is an issue. He's not going to be an all pro. He's not going to be a pro bowler. That's not his level. He's not a spectacular football player. He's a good solid veteran. But what he is, is that big bodied X receiver, which is something

Starting point is 00:13:29 that the Patriots have wanted for quite a while. We bring you back to the Nikhil Harry days, that the big bodied X receiver Hollins fills a need on this roster. And so he's not going to be out there day one of training camp. Hopefully he gets back sooner rather than later. But this is an issue because we haven't seen him on the field now for some months. And again, who knows the significance of the injury? Who knows how long this is going to take for him to get back. And he fills that big body role. He also helps in the red zone. His red zone impact should not be overlooked. He's that big target for Drake May. He's practically the size of a tight end.

Starting point is 00:14:14 And we're talking about somebody, you know, who was signed relatively early and free agency has the link with Josh McDaniels McDaniels knows exactly who Hollins is and to get the most out of him what needs to be done and when you look at the red zone I'm sure McDaniels was cooking up some plans for Hollins and look maybe Hollins is back in the second week third week of camp who knows this could be a few days and he could be out there but right now he is not ready and the Patriots for a team that was 30th in the NFL last year in red zone offense Touchdown percentage they were 30th out of 32 teams the third worst red zone offense in all of football Any little bit helps so Holland's is ability to help you in the red zone again That can't be overlooked that is something the Patriots need So you're gonna lose lose that big bodied X receiver on the outside and you're going to lose somebody

Starting point is 00:15:08 that can help you in the red area. Hopefully he's back sooner rather than later. He's not going to have 80 catches. Nobody ever expected him to have 80 catches, but he is somebody that should help you. So hopefully they get him back. Then we look at Hooper. This is also a pretty serious situation. He missed some early camp. He wasn't out there like Collins wasn't out there for stretches for long stretches. I've talked about the tight end position. The tight end position is thin. Hunter Henry Hooper, both guys going to be 31 years old during this season. You look beyond those two cats and we don't know who to trust. We don't know who's going to make the team as a third tight end. Maybe you know Brock Lampp ends up being a guy who could play fullback slash tight end. Maybe it's you know, Jack Westover. Maybe it's Jaheem Bell. Maybe it's CJ Dupree.

Starting point is 00:16:04 Who knows? But it's kind of a scary scenario here. If Hooper can't get on the field soon, you've got Henry and nobody else that you can trust. Nobody else that you can bank on. Tight end is a huge question. If Hooper is not capable of getting out there and starting for you week one. If he is not capable of being out there week one, I don't know what to expect beyond Hunter Henry and Henry look, he's been Mr. Dependable, but he's going to be 31 and he plays a physical brand of football. So it's getting a little bit, it's getting a little bit tough there at tight end

Starting point is 00:16:46 Hooper is part of Drake may circle Drake may went to Hooper a decent amount last year They have some of that chemistry and we know that Josh McDaniels loves utilizing tight ends So how long will Hooper be out? What's going on? What's what's the injury? We'll see We'll see what happens. But to have your second tight end not being ready for day one of training camp, given the rest of your depth chart at that position, that's a problem. Now Noah Fant was released over the weekend. Maybe Noah Fant is somebody the Patriots give a call we'll see but I've got some concerns at tight end especially now with this Hooper news I've got some concerns there and hopefully Hooper comes

Starting point is 00:17:32 back and it's not that big of a deal and he is ready for week one then we look at Vidarian Lowe and I know Vidarian Lowe wasn't good last year I get it I I understand. I watched you watched. We all understand that low was was not good enough at left tackle. But much like tight end, when you look at the tackle position, the depth just is not there. And low was the guy that was going to be behind Will Campbell. You look at the rest of this depth chart. Caden Wallace, is Caden Wallace going to be anything for you this year? Can he play on the left side? He's been playing guard, he's been playing right tackle, the early phases of camp.

Starting point is 00:18:15 So is Caden Wallace somebody that you can trust? Is Caden Wallace somebody that's going to be able to move to the left side in a pinch to help you out if something happens with Campbell, if Campbell turns an ankle or misses a week or two. Can you move Wallace? I'm not super confident in that Marcus Bryant seventh round pick you're gonna put that on his plate That's a very tall task to say hey look we need you at left tackles young man. We're gonna throw you in there If Campbell's out you gotta you gotta find somebody. So is it going to be Marcus Bryant? Is it going to be jack Conley who brings great versatility from Boston College

Starting point is 00:18:53 has obvious connection with Doug Marrone because of last year is is he somebody that you could possibly swing over to the left side he's he's played all bunch of positions across the O line. Is he an answer? You sign Yaseer Durant going back. Maybe that's why the Patriots signed Yaseer DurFL because they knew they needed this depth. It's it's a big question mark I mean tight end is thin tackle is thin and now you got your backup left tackle not starting camp on time You've got your backup your number two tight end who's not gonna be able to start camp on time These are positions that you don't want to see dealing with a numbers game. You just don't and Then finally Jelaniai, calf injuries are difficult. Calf injuries are very, very difficult.

Starting point is 00:19:54 And you know, I'm certainly hopeful that Tavai is able to get out there at some point. There's some questions about whether or not he fits this defense to begin with. Now he's behind the eight ball, missing the time with the calf injury. Looked like a serious injury when it happened. Is he going to be able to get back during camp? Or is he going to miss some time during the season? Have no idea. You've got Gibbon so you can throw in there and maybe I'm not going to go too nuts here because he's got to get on the field, but this could be an opportunity for Marte Mapu to survive. This could be an opportunity for Mapu to make this roster. I, I, I'm not going to bet on it because he hasn't been able to stay healthy.

Starting point is 00:20:32 He can't get out there. You can't make the club in the tub, but this could be the last opportunity for Mapu to prove that he could do something. And Vrabel and Terrell Williams have them playing at linebacker. I think that's a great idea, but he just has not been able to stay healthy. And that is a very physical and demanding position. So some of these guys starting on the PUP,

Starting point is 00:20:57 it's not great news for the Patriots at these specific positions, especially. Things could be going better for Carlton Davis in his first New England summer. We'll explain next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Did you know that workplace stress is at an all-time high? 61% of the global workforce is reporting higher than normal stress levels. This summer is the perfect time to take a small step

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Starting point is 00:22:23 H E L P dot com slash locked on that's better help. H E L P dot com slash locked on. Now I'm not going to freak out. I'm not sounding alarm bells, but this is not the kind of start you would like to see from Carlton Davis after he signed that big contract in free agency. Mike Reese lets us all know that Carlton Davis is going to begin training camp on the NFI list. And if you're wondering, hey Nick, what in the world is the NFI list? Well, the non football injury list is a roster designation for players who are unable to participate in team activities due to injuries or illnesses sustained outside of official team practices or

Starting point is 00:23:06 games. It's similar to the PUP list, but specifically covers non football related incidents. So there's an injury, there's an illness not related to football that is going to keep Carlton Davis away from day one of training camp. And we don't know how long he's going to be out. away from day one of training camp and we don't know how long he's going to be out and we don't know exactly what the issue is. But I go back to the to the biggest question about Carlton Davis and that is his health. He has a long injury history. He's had issues staying on the field and playing 1617 games. He pretty much is going to give you 12 games a year. And that's the biggest question about him.

Starting point is 00:23:46 Can he get on the field and give you those 14, 15, 16, hopefully 17 games? He just has not been able to do that throughout most of his NFL career. And now he's 28 years old. We all get older. We don't get younger. And, you know, he is supposed to be the solution to your outside cornerback to Riddle. He's supposed to be the answer for that. He's supposed to be the guy opposite of Christian Gonzalez. You can bank on it. No big deal, right? I've talked about this

Starting point is 00:24:16 secondary. I've talked about this defense and one of the biggest things about this defense is the ability to have two cornerbacks who are really good and really good in press man coverage. Guys that can go man to man, which opens up a whole bunch of options for you defensively. And Carlton Davis is that guy. He's that number two guy. A lot of teams he could be the number one cornerback for. But he just has not been able to stay on the field. He's now 28 years old. And he has not gotten off to a great start here.

Starting point is 00:24:53 Because not only do you now have him on the NFI list, and hopefully this is a few days and, and we look back at this and it's not a big deal and he's out there practicing within the next week or so. big deal and he's out there practicing within the next week or so. And you know, it was an illness or whatever and he gets through it quickly and he's fine again, I'm not hitting any kind of alarm bells here. But it has not been a clean start for Davis. Look, OTA is not the biggest deal in the world. They're voluntary. The players association collectively bargained for the right to have those voluntary OTAs. They went back and forth and negotiated with the NFL owners to make sure they could have some of that voluntary time where they don't have to be on the field. They can be, you know, with their their families they could be on vacation so not that big of a deal i'm fine with davis not being at otas it's okay he knows what he's doing he's been around the league for a long time but he wasn't at otas then he gets to mandatory minicamp and from what i read

Starting point is 00:26:01 he got roasted at least a few times against Pop Douglas. He gave up a couple of plays. So he's not there at OTAs. He wasn't great at mandatory mini camp. And you go back, you know, and you look at those two things combined with the fact that now he is on the NFI list. And now you wonder, okay, is this gonna knock him out of camp for a couple of weeks?

Starting point is 00:26:29 And if so, is he gonna be able to catch up to speed quickly? Is he gonna be reliable week one? Now he was very good last year for Detroit when he was on the field. It's very good. You can look at pro football focus. He got an honorable mention in Jeremy Fowler's ESPN piece for the top 10 cornerbacks. He got an honorable mention in that, or at least no, he received a vote. I think he received the vote, not an honorable

Starting point is 00:26:53 mention, but he received at least one vote to be in the top 10. So he was really good last year, but there hasn't been a lot of positivity about Carlton Davis' summer with the Patriots so far. And you hope he turns things around sooner rather than later. And the third cornerback position is important. We talk about tight end. We talk about tackle. Cornerback.

Starting point is 00:27:20 Very, very critical that the Pats have somebody as their third cornerback that they can trust that they feel good about Gonzalez his rookie season we know he got injured. He missed the final 13 games or so of that of that rookie season He's only played 20 games in his NFL career because of that. So You know you miss 14 games 13 14 games your rookie season due to injury. He missed a game last year. Davis, his injury history. You got to make sure you have all the bases covered that cornerback you've got to make

Starting point is 00:27:57 sure that your third guy is solidified. I think it's going to be Alex Austin, and I have seen the flashes from Alex Austin but the question about Alex Austin is He also had to deal with some injuries last year. He played in only nine games because he hurt his ankle So Austin had you know some injury questions the last couple of years He's been banged up a little bit. So can he stay on the field? Marcus Jones, do you want him playing that outside role with the smaller frame? He's been really good in coverage, but he's gotten beat on the outside because he's just a smaller guy

Starting point is 00:28:34 So I don't know if you can trust him to play on the outside Consistently if Davis goes down if Davis can't get back on the field and be ready for week one I don't know if you love the idea of Marcus Jones or not. Maybe it's Marcellus dial from last year's draft. You know, he has shown some, some decent signs. So maybe, maybe dials the guy that gets the call. Isaiah Bolden also, obviously, uh, on, on the, on the roster for camp. And he's somebody that could possibly make an impact at that

Starting point is 00:29:06 third cornerback role. But it's going to be interesting. I would imagine as Davis is out and on this NFI list, I would imagine it will be Austin given the first shot opposite of Gonzalez day one of training camp. Maybe it's somebody else, but I would expect it to be Austin. But Davis, you got to get him back. And it has not been the best last couple of months for him ever since he signed with the Patriots. So he's got to get back on the field. He's got to prove himself ready because you absolutely want him there opposite of Gonzalez week one. If you can get it. All right.

Starting point is 00:29:43 That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio, and don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel, and don't forget to hit that like button and subscribe. The Lockdown NFL Top 100 is available on Lockdown Sports Today. The NFL Top 100 was voted on by the NFL hosts of Lockdown,

Starting point is 00:30:01 like yours truly. Don't miss where your favorite players were ranked. Subscribe to sports today on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast have a great day and we will see you tomorrow.

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Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Stunner: Stefon Diggs Not On New England Patriots PUP List To Start Camp

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