Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Truth: Patriots' A.J. Brown Targeted, But Was Drake Maye Forcing Throws?

Episode Date: October 20, 2026

New England Patriots silence critics as Drake Maye bucks the narrative—refusing to force-feed A.J. Brown in the win over the New York Jets. Was Brown really the only option, or did Maye’s disciplined decision-making spark a more balanced attack? Nick Cattles spotlights Brown’s return, his 10 targets, and why the box score doesn’t tell the whole story, dissecting key plays and debunking the “force-feed” myth with all-22 insights.Key topics include Romeo Doubs heading to IR, the emergence of Kyle Williams and Corey Kiner, and how the offensive line—featuring standouts like Caleb Lomu and Will Campbell—rose to the challenge. Cattles breaks down Zak Kuhr’s three critical defensive calls that stymied the Jets, examines mounting injury woes, and previews a daunting upcoming stretch against the Chicago Bears and beyond. Can the Patriots’ revamped roster respond, or will adversity finally catch up? Don’t miss this sharp analysis of New England’s evolving identity.Photo Credit: David Butler II - IMAGN IMAGES Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-patriots/Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/nfl/#patriots #newenglandpatriotsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Gameday Men's HealthBook your complimentary test and consult at https://join.gamedaymenshealth.com/reasons_to_choose_gameday-1201?utm_source=lockedon&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=NFL&utm_network=lockedon&utm_adgroup=corp&ghl_tag=national,corpGustoTry Gusto today at http://gusto.com/LOCKEDONNFL, and get three months free when you run your first payroll. OdooGreat organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon.Butcher BoxIf you're looking for an easier way to get great meals on the table, give ButcherBox a try. Go to https://ButcherBox.com/LOCKEDONNFL to get $20 off your first box, plus your choice of free ribeye, new york strip, or filet mignon in every box for a year — with free shipping always.AppleYou can earn up to 3% unlimited Daily Cash back on every purchase you make with Apple Card using Apple Pay. Apply in the Wallet app on your iPhone today. Subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank, USA. Salt Lake City Branch. Terms and more at apple-card-dot-com.https://learn.applecard.apple/unlimited-daily-cash?cid=apy-318-2000008800000-400000000000039&itscg=2030032&itsct=srvs-crd-P3004756-C3004897&mttnagencyid=c1a&mttnsiteid=133087&mttnpid=LockedOn%20%28Audio%29&mttnsubad=srvs-crd-P3004756-C3004897&mttnsubplmnt=&mttncc=USPrizePicksVisit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL and use code LOCKEDONNFL and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup!KALSHIToday's episode is brought to you by Kalshi. For a limited time, Download Kalshi and use code Locked On to get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi. Trade what’s next.GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelGet three hundred fifty dollars in Bonus Bets — GUARANTEED — when you bet five dollars every day for seven days. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COMFANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Drake May did not force feed the football to A.J. Brown on Sunday, and I'll prove it to you. This is Lockdown 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 show, Zach Cores, three most critical calls that save the game for the Pats. In the second segment, Romeo Dobbs, heads to the IR and our offensive takeaways from the week six film. But first, A.J. Brown led the team in targets this week, but Drake May did not force the football to his top receiver. Today's episode is brought to by Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use code lockdown for $20 off your first purchase. Mark Bertrand. I saw a clip on Twitter, my friend Mark Bertrand at 985, the sports subs saying that, He believes Drake May force fed, forced the football to A.J. Brown.

And some people watching Sunday's game believe that the Patriots, Josh McDaniels, May, were doing everything they could to force the ball to Brown against the Jets. I understand that takeaway when you look at the box score. I understand looking at May having 32 pass attempts and almost one third of those pass attempts being targets to Brown who finished with 10 targets on Sunday. I understand that. I understand the math of looking at those two numbers and saying to yourself, yeah, man, they just kept throwing to Brown.

Why did they keep throwing to A.J. Brown? I can understand people thinking back to, you know, it's third and five and Brown has the drop, and then you go right back to him on fourth and five. We'll talk about that specific play in a couple of minutes. but let me try my best to dispel the notion that may force the football to Brown against the Jets on Sunday. When I talk about a quarterback forcing the ball to a wide receiver, I'm thinking that that quarterback is forcing the ball into tight windows, making very dangerous throws. The level of difficulty on those pass attempts, pretty high, right?

that he's throwing into tight windows. I think when you say a quarterback is forcing the ball to a wide receiver or any receiver, tight end, whoever, he's trying to throw the football into double team coverage. And that's not the case. When you talk about a quarterback forcing the ball to any receiver, you're telling me that that quarterback passed up open guys and chose to make a tougher throw because of not the level of difficulty of the throw,

but who the quarterback was throwing the football too. And I'm here to tell you that did not happen against the Jets. Drake May was not throwing the football to A.J. Brown in tight windows. He was not throwing to Brown when he's being double-teamed and blanketed. He was not passing up better options to force the ball. to A.J. Brown. As a matter of fact, Evan Lazard, Patriots.com, he noted that there was one, one tight window throw the entire day to Brown. That is not a quarterback forcing the ball to a wide receiver. Remember when we all used to say, oh, who's Tom Brady's favorite

receiver? The open receiver. Well, guess who was open on Sunday an awful lot? A.J. Brown. Brown's problem was not getting open. Brown's problem was catching the freaking football. But let's get back to this idea of, hey, man, he was forcing it. May was forcing it to Brown. He was passing up other options there, right? Why were the Patriots so obsessed with getting Brown the football? On the Pop Douglas touchdown, that is a perfect example of a quarterback not forcing the ball to wide receiver one, quote, unquote. It's a third in goal play. It's a tight window option to throw the ball to Brown. You could argue he might be open, probably not.

It would absolutely be a contested catch. It is a tight window throw. It is a dangerous throw. It's third in goal. You're on the precipice of points. You think about May in the first three weeks of the season. He might force that throw to Brown, but he doesn't. He doesn't force the throw to Brown.

And you can see the screenshots that I post. on Twitter at Nick C. Radio of this specific play. Third and goal, A.J. Brown, top of the screen, seemingly one-on-one, and May could try to squeeze it in there, but he doesn't. What does May do? He extends that play, and he finds Pop Douglas as he extends the play much more open than Brown for six points. a quarterback who is obsessed with getting the ball to Brown doesn't wait,

doesn't show that patience, doesn't extend. He gets into the pocket, he looks over to Brown, and he fires it. I'm going to force it into that tight window, and I'm going to trust my guy to make that catch. That is not what happened. Now, Brown was open, a lot more open than that third in goal play. He was open all day long. And honestly, when I look at the throws that May attempted towards Brown's way, I got to tell you, I couldn't really find one bad decision from May when he threw it to Brown.

Not a single one. You might think back to that pass attempt, the end line of the end zone, right? Where Brown is kind of twisting somewhat. He gets his hands on it. He just can't come down with it. It would have been a difficult catch. You go back and you watch that. You watch that play on the film.

And that throw is a difficult throw, but Brown is open. And May has to layer it over the top. And what happens is he sees another defender, May sees another defender. So he's got to throw it somewhat behind Brown on that play. But he throws it probably just a little bit too far behind Brown, which makes it a more difficult catch. But that's not a force job. it's your quarterback who was runner up to the MVP who has made plenty of tough throws, throwing it to Brown because they have the opportunity if they execute it well

to result in a touchdown. Now let's talk about that fourth down play because I know some people especially had a couple people on Twitter, you know, reply to me and say, well, how about that fourth down play, Nick? You know, he just dropped the ball on third down. you go back to him on fourth down. I would say, number one, you're not going to give up on AJ Brown. You traded a first round pick in 2028 for this guy. Because he drops one or two passes early in the game after being out a month,

you're not going to just freeze him out. That's silly. I would argue that you go back to him to try to get that confidence going, to get him back on the rails. But let's talk about that specific fourth down play. Number one, Brown is the first read. he's the first read for May on the play. Number two, the Jets send seven defenders after May.

They blitz. So the Jets send seven. You don't have enough guys to block the seven jets. So what you do is you got to get rid of the football quickly. You don't have time to read all of your progressions. Number three, Brown's open. He's open. I took three screenshots. You can see it as May is getting ready to uncork the throw.

Brown has a yard, yard and a half a separation on the cornerback. He's open. He's got to come back to that football, which he tries to do. Now, I would say there was a little bit less urgency at the top of Brown's route. And I have to wonder if that's because of the ankle. Maybe he did not have as much pop at the top of that route to come back quickly when he got that leverage on the corner. But he's open. When May's getting rid of the football, A.J. Brown is open. And as May's getting rid of it, he's also getting hit. The pockets muddy because of the seven jets that are screaming towards Drake May.

Now, the only other option that May has is Pop Douglas on a crossing route. But Jamie and Sherwood, who's a very athletic linebacker who we discussed in the preview before the Jets game, Sherwood actually does a great job. He's got Pop Douglas covered. The other option is a deep shot down the right sideline. May is towards the left hash mark. And if he throws it deep downfield to the right side, he's throwing into double coverage.

And that is a very, very low. I mean, you can't have a lower percentage throw than that throw if May made it. I would say it's either incomplete best case scenario or easily picked by the Jets. So Brown's the first read. Seven guys are sent with the with the Jets Blitz. May looks at Brown. Option one, fourth and five.

I got to let go of this football. My guy is open. Pop Douglas is not open. My other option on this play because again, I would wipe away the deep shot down the right side of the field. It's just not happening. So pops my other option. Pops covered. Sherwood's all over that. So I'm not throwing to pop. I'm throwing to the open guy. Who's the best receiver? The open receiver. Say it with me. And then we have to just think of the bigger picture, right? The rest of the options and why guys

might not be available or might not be running as many routes. So why did A.J. Brown get 10 targets? Well, number one, Romeo Dobbs left the game. So he's out. There is no Mack Hollins. The next guy on the list, that wide receiver you're going to trust is Pop Douglas. How many targets did Pop Douglas have? He had eight. Two less than Brown.

Two less. Hunter Henry would be next on that list, right? He had five targets. Kyle Williams played 25 snaps, and we've talked about his role within this offense. He's not going to get a ton of targets. And by the way, you're using your tight ends and you're using your running backs to also help your offensive tackles. Will Campbell coming back from the injury last weekend. Caleb Lomu, rookie season gets thrown in to replace Morgan Moses.

So you're occupying some of your receivers on these past plays on these dropbacks because you're helping protect the quarterback. You're helping your young offensive tackles, which means if you're going to chip and you're going to have those guys help, they're not going to get out quickly for routes. If A.J. Brown caught the ball against the Jets more often than he did, the story of that game would be the dominant return of your number one receiver. The dominant return of a guy who's been an alpha throughout his entire NFL career. He just dropped the ball. Literally, that was the story.

Not your quarterback, quote unquote, forcing it to that alpha receiver. coming up, Romeo Dobbs joins the long list of injured Patts who will miss significant time. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. One of my favorite parts of game day is everything leading up to it. Getting the house ready for a watch party,

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com slash regulatory. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer. So you get A.J. Brown back and immediately you lose Romeo Dobbs. We found out on Monday that Dobbs is officially being placed on the IR. He will be gone for at least four games. And the Patriots have placed 20 or more guys on IR this season so far. I mean, this season of injury has been totally nuts. and I posted on Twitter again at Nick C. Radio.

I posted on Monday, or maybe it was like Sunday evening, I forget, and I reposted it. I don't know. But I posted in the last 24, 36 hours that the Patriots, I mean, when you look at this, the amount of injuries that they have had and the fact that they are 30th in the NFL and turnover differential, which Mike Grable went on the radio Monday and absolutely blasted his football team calling the turnover is ridiculous. list. And he also said you can start with me regarding those turnovers. But the Pats are 30th and turnover differential. They've had a billion injuries to critical players,

by the way, not just, you know, gunners on special teams with all due respect to those cats, but some significant injuries at critical positions, guys that were going to be vital to the operation. And the Pats are a fourth quarter implosion in week one away from being five and one this season. I mean, given the circumstances, that's outstanding work by this team. But back to Dobbs. So now Dobbs and Mack Hollins both currently out. Hollins has missed the last two games, which means he could come off after the next two.

We'll see if that happens. The next four games, if you're wondering, we know about Chicago, quick turnaround Thursday night football. That is a very tough assignment. Then the paths have to go down to Miami. Now, we know the Patriots have had some problems in Miami. not so much last year, but they have had some of those issues, right? So now you're going to go down to Miami. It's in October.

Might still be pretty warm on that Sunday. Then you come back home and you play against the Packers. The Packers defense playing really good football. They've got explosive wide receivers in Christian Watson and Matthew Golden. They're getting Josh Jacobs back this week. So, I mean, you look at what's going on. By the way, Micah Parsons will very likely be back. against you to play on that Sunday.

And then you travel to Germany to face the Lions. I mean, my goodness, you can look at that schedule. And the only team that you say, ah, well, you might want to pencil that in is Miami. That's the only one you could pencil in as a win. And again, you're going down to Miami, which hasn't always been the easiest place to play. But at Chicago against the Packers, going to Germany against Detroit, that explosive offense, Those are tough games. And so you're not going to have Romeo Dobbs for any of those four games.

Hopefully you get Mack Hollins back for the Packers. But I mean these injuries, like I'm sitting there saying to myself, enough is enough. And because of the Romeo Dobbs injury against the Jets, A.J. Brown, who the idea was, let's ramp him up, he played 52 snaps on Sunday. 52 snaps. How was his high ankle sprain responding? to that. I don't know. We'll see. Quick turnaround. That's why I said, do you really want to play him twice in five days? And now you just played them a lot more than you probably wanted to going

into that game because of the Dobbs injury and when it happened. Kyle Williams, great job on the third down conversion on Sunday against the Jets, but he's got to show up. He's going to get a lot of opportunities because there's no Matt Collins and there's no Roman dobs to throw on the outside. If you want to put AJ Brown inside every once in a while, then you would see that, right? So I think you'll see more of Kyle Williams this Thursday night, but he's got to produce when given the opportunity. So what's going on with the IR situation? Well, Evan Lazare posted on Monday, the Patriots have already used three of eight IR returns, AJ Brown, Marcus Bryant, Brennan Schuler, players who are still eligible to return

off IR. Dobbs, Hollins, Reggie Gilliam, Michael Wenu, Del Pettis, Greg Van Roten, Bryce Berenger, Quintavius Hutchins, and Khalil Jacobs. Nine dudes. Now, Brendan Schuller returned from the non-football injury list, but as Lazar points out, players who return in season from the NFI count toward the eight-player limit. Players who return from the pup, like Harold Landry, they do not count. The Patriots, by the way, if you were wondering, we get an additional two IR return spots if they made the playoffs. Some other roster moves because of Dobbs going to IR, the Patriots signed wide receiver Ryan Miller.

They also signed offensive lineman Jacob Rizzi and guard Andrew Rupzich to the practice squad. Obviously Rizzi and Ropsich were with the team during camp. But you need to fortify that offensive line with all these freaking injuries. Let's move to some offensive takeaways from Sunday's film. Here's the good news about the O line. Caleb Loma was really good, folks. He was really good against the Jets.

You know, I thought he gave up only one pressure. Go back and you watch that Pop Douglas touchdown that we talked about in the first segment of this episode. Check out Lomu's rep against David Bailey on that play. Bailey tries to hit Loma with the spin move. Lomu has it locked down and then ends up burying him. He puts Bailey on the ground. I mean, it's a pretty embarrassing tough rep for David Bailey. And that helped by the time for that Pop Douglas TD.

I also thought that Lomu had two to three good run blocks in the game. As far as the left side, Will Campbell, I thought he was really good on Sunday, especially, you know, trying to fight through that sprain knee. It's obviously not as significant of a sprain as last year's sprain, but it's still something he's got to deal with. And I thought Campbell all in all was good. He gave up two pressures. I thought he was pretty steady. I also thought that he had one to two good run blocks. Thought it was another solid day for Jared Wilson.

So, I mean, if you're looking at the big picture, and I know some had Wilson giving up a couple of run stuffs, I'd probably put one on him. I know he gave up one or two pressures. You know, who's playing around him? That also tells some of the story. But all in all, I think you walk away and you say to yourself, left tackle, center, right tackle, three young guys.

and all of them played pretty well against a challenging front and, you know, a defense that had gotten pressure with stunts and games and blitzes, even though they did not blitz and play as many games as they usually do to try to get to the quarterback because of May's mobility. Eli Raredon, I thought he had his most consistent day in the run game. He still missed a couple of run blocks, but I thought all in all, it was his most consistent day on the ground blocking for the running backs. the Patriots, you go back.

You know, early in this game, they tried to roll out the three tight end sets. 13 personnel, not great in the first half. 13 personnel in the fourth quarter, very good. They used three tight ends a decent amount during that final drive when it was Corey Connor, Corey Connor, speaking of Connor, he was terrific. Two plus runs late I had him for.

That third and one that people might overlook, third and one late in the fourth quarter, and you look at a gain of three by Kiner from the Jets 27 yard line. He gets to the 24 yard line. That is all Kiner. It's not blocked. He's getting hit at the line of scrimmage, if not just behind the line of scrimmage.

And he fights for an extra couple of yards. He gets the first down. You keep the clock moving. And that's a huge play. He also had two good kickoff returns. He got in the mix and kickoff coverage. And I got to wonder, will we see more snaps for Corey Kiner on?

Thursday night because he earned him. Up next, Zach Coors three calls to a win and other defensive takeaways from the film. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The NFL schedule is full of games you plan for all year, but sometimes the best memories come from the games you almost missed. Game time makes it easy to find tickets the NFL matchups you want to see with prices that include fees so you know your total cost upfront. You can browse games, see a panoramic view from your seat before you buy, and get tickets in just a couple of taps. Plus, zone deals let you choose the section and let game time choose the seats to help save even more. Whether it's a rivalry game, a matchup featuring a player you must see in person or an underdog ready to make some noise.

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that an offensive lineman catching a touchdown, even though that's a tough one for me to buy. This season, Fandul is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all-new Fandul Rewards Club, featuring exclusive offers, surprises, and even more. Every week, you want to check the Fandul app to see what's waiting for you. I love watching a game-winning play on a Sunday. Everything comes down to the final seconds,

that feeling, that anxiety, what makes football so much fun. And Fandul is adding another layer of excitement, with rewards and surprises throughout this football season. Make this your most rewarding season ever with our friends at Fandul. Visit Fandul.com. Again, it's fandul.com to get started. Thanks for checking out the number one sports podcast network right here with Lock on Patriots. In the ultimate preview, I asked a question, can Gino Smith survive the Zach Corr blender?

And honestly, I thought Smith was better than should have been expected. I thought he did handle some of the things that Zach Core loves to do up front. I thought Smith did a pretty good job handling those things. And I thought Frank Reich did a pretty good job, you know, handling some of the simulated pressure. We'll get to that a little bit later. But Core did. He did get Smith and the Jets on three critical downs.

Huge game deciding defensive play calls. Third and five from the Patriots 10, 531 left. in the third quarter. Core ends up sending a blitz. He also overloads the right side of the Jets offensive line. You've got a game up front as well, and it results in an Elijah ponder pressure. So the Jets, instead of finding pay dirt, they get three points via a field goal. Really good play call, very effective from Zach Corr.

Then you had back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter. second and 10 from the Patriots 22, 731 left on the clock. Another blitz. You get a Christian bar more pressure, incomplete pass to Omar Cooper. You come right back on third and 10. Again from the New England 22, 727 left in the game. Another blitz from core. And it creates a free runner in Marcus Jones.

Jones gets to Smith with a quick pressure. And there's no chance. Smith throws it pretty much right to the ground. Play is blown up, results in a field goal. Those three play calls ended drives. Those three play calls led to six points instead of a possible 14. So Smith was better than expected against some of the things core likes to do defensively.

But to go along with those three play calls, you had several. We talked about this in the live post game, stops on third and fourth down. those critical downs swung the game to the Pat's side. Now, the thing the defense had trouble with a lot was the run game, especially early. But Braylon and Allen had 4.6 yards per carry. Early in the game, the Jets were just chewing up yards on the ground. So what went wrong?

Well, number one, the aforementioned Frank Reich. I thought he got Zach Corr a few times. The tit for tat, the Jets ran into some of the Patriots simulated pressures. That worked out. The Jets were getting their offensive linemen on the Patriots linebackers. That's a win for the Jets. But you also need the pads to just be better on all three levels against the run. We saw some of that against the Jaguars, right?

We saw some of it against James Cook when the bills decided to run the football. Defensive line getting pushed, linebackers getting washed out, mistackles by pretty much everybody at all three levels, mistackles by defensive linemen, mistackles by linebackers, miss tackles by corners, mistackles by safeties. And when you're going against somebody like Braylon Allen, again, he's a good back and he's tough to take down. You need to execute against that guy.

You need to wrap up. You need to come downhill with some force to get that guy down on the ground. Or you're going to get trucked like Kevin Byard did. Speaking of Kevin Byard, safety play needs to be much better. Bayard missed multiple tackles. And the one that will remember is the one I just brought up when it's like him one-on-one sideline, it's a swing pass, drop off, check down, whatever you want to call it from Smith to Braylon Allen.

It's a one-on-one and Alan just goes, I'm going right through you and he runs through Byer. And Bayard had a number of missed tackles in this game. He had the defensive pass interference late in the fourth quarter, even though it might have been a little ticky-tacky. And Craig Woodson, along with Byrd, I thought, you know, you look at that coverage on Omar Cooper's 48-yard touchdown, depending on the defense. defensive play call. That could have been on Craig

Woodson. It could have been on Bayard. I'll give them half a minus point each. They blew the coverage. Cooper gets open. 48-yard touchdown. Can't happen. On the good side, Marcus Jones, I thought, was really good. Gabe Accus once again flashed three or four times in this game. I thought Robert Spillane on balance was good. But man, oh man, we look towards Thursday night.

You want to talk about a gigantic challenge for this defense against Ben Johnson, great play caller. Caleb Williams is back. He's healthy. Chicago has tons of weapons. Colston Loveland and Roma Dunzei and Luther Burden, DeAndre Swift in the backfield on a short week banged up. It's going to be a challenge. Big challenge. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown. Patriots reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe on YouTube. If you want another way to be lockdown to the Patriots every day. Check out the lockdown Patriots hit, your daily hit of

espresso on the team that you love. Quick, strong, five minutes or less. Find Lockdown Patriots hit on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. Appreciate every single one. Check you next time.