Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Waiting: Patriots’ A.J. Brown Status Sparks Debate | Rest vs Jets?

Starting point is 00:00:00 AJ Brown is eligible to return this week, but if it were up to me, I'd be a bit more patient with the number one wide receiver. 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. It's happening. I am your host to Nick Cattels. On today's episode, Caleb Lomu might have an opportunity to force long-term changes on the offensive line. Second segment, rising stars on this Pat's roster.

Starting point is 00:00:39 But first, all eyes are on A.J. Brown this week. Today's episode is brought to by Fandul. Make this your most rewarding season ever with Fandul Rewards Club. Every week, check the Fandul app to see what's waiting for you. All right, before we get to A.J. Brown and your questions, we have to start with a couple of injury updates. Adam Schaefter, VSPN reports that Trayvion Henderson has a high ankle sprain. I had said on yesterday's podcast, I was hoping fingers crossed that it was a low ankle

Starting point is 00:01:11 sprain. It is not. High ankle sprain for Henderson. He's going to miss multiple weeks. And what I don't want to see is the Patriots running Ramandre Stevenson over and over and over again. He's 28 years old. He's dealing with an injury. Obviously, the injury did not keep him out of the game this past weekend. He played terrific against the Raiders. But don't run Steve. Stevenson into the ground. Corey Kiner is now your RB2. People might freak out and think about the fumble. And I get it.

Starting point is 00:01:43 Look, the fumble was bad. You can't turn the ball over. But other than the fumble, I thought Kiner ran well against the Raiders. I think he's a pretty good back. So I think you're fine as long as you can take care of the football. And we know Stevenson's history with fumbling, you don't need Kiner to begin having those types of issues. Land Larison, I would imagine, will be elevated to the 53-man roster. I do wonder who's going to handle kickoff returns because Kiner had been doing that.

Starting point is 00:02:15 Will he continue to do that? Will Larison do that? Will somebody else be in the mix alongside Kyle Williams will have to wait and see? Tom Pelliserro, he reported on Tuesday that Will Campbell's imaging came back on his right knee and he dodged a significant injury. is week to week. So this is obviously not a grade three MCL sprain. You know, we talked about on yesterday's podcast, let's wait and see what the imaging says because the grade of the sprain is so significant with an injury like that. If it's a grade three, Campbell's going to IR and when he comes back, he's not going to look the same. If it's a grade two, not as bad. If it's a grade one, you're really looking at a week to week. So it feels like with this information,

Starting point is 00:03:03 from Pellisero to go along with Campbell on the stationary bike in the second half during the Raiders game, it feels like this is a grade one MCL and he's week to week. I would not be surprised if he sits against the Jets but is back against Chicago for Thursday night football. All right, let's get to your mailbag questions. Am J.A. underscore D. Do you think the Pats use this week as a ramp up for A.J. Brown? so he's ready after the short week for the Bears. This is obviously the biggest question of the week.

Starting point is 00:03:37 Clearly, does A.J. Brown return this weekend against the Jets. Let me start with what I would do, J. If I were the Patriots, I would not play Brown this weekend. I would not play him on Sunday. I would get him ready for Thursday night in Chicago. Now, here's the argument. Number one, you should have enough to beat the Jets at home. without Brown.

Starting point is 00:04:02 Now, I don't think it's necessarily going to be easy to beat the Jets. The Jets are better than all of us expected them to be. But I still don't think they're a very good football team. And I still think, given what you did against Buffalo, given what you did against the Raiders, the Jets defense will be tougher than both of those teams and probably by a wide margin. But still, I still think you're a better football team without Brown

Starting point is 00:04:28 than the Jets are. and you should be able to win at home against that team. That's number one. I'm not going to show the urgency as if this is a huge game with all sorts of stakes. Number two, I'm not playing Brown because, you know, not playing him, buys him four more days to get ready for Chicago, in Chicago. I think that game at Chicago, now that it looks like Caleb Williams, will be back this weekend for the Bears.

Starting point is 00:05:03 That game is much tougher. That's a much bigger challenge. On the road, Thursday night, short week against the Bears. You have a pretty good feeling that the Bears with Caleb Williams back will be able to score some points, maybe not as many points against the Patriot defense as other defenses, but that's still a very, very dangerous offense with Ben Johnson and all the weapons that they have. You're going to need your offense to be as full tilt as it can be in Chicago. on short rest in short prep.

Starting point is 00:05:34 So if I'm looking at those two games, I'm saying, let me not rush Brown to play the Jets because I need him more for the bears. I'm also just not a huge fan of looking at the plan of playing Brown twice in five days. He's 29 years old, which is obviously not ancient, I've used obviously way too much already in this episode. He's 29 years old, which is older in the NFL. And he's coming back from a high ankle sprain, which is not an easy injury to come back from. It's an even more difficult injury to come back from when you are a receiver because of all the cutting and moving you have to do.

Starting point is 00:06:25 And I think, you know, you bring them back too early and he takes the wrong cut. you could have a setback. And I don't want any setbacks. When Brown comes back, I want him to be 100%. I want him to be completely comfortable, cutting and moving. And I'm sure the Patriots will make sure that he's healthy. I don't think they're going to rush him back if he's not healthy. But I just like the idea of taking the extra time.

Starting point is 00:06:50 With that said, Jha, I don't think playing him against the Jets would be some egregious decision by the franchise or the coaching staff. He's not going to play unless he's healthy enough to play. And I know some people on Twitter were tweeting at me saying, oh, A.J. Brown's a dog. He's a dog. He's going to want to play. But the franchise, the coaching staff, your responsibility is to not leave that decision to the player.

Starting point is 00:07:20 Because the player is always the vast majority of the time, I should say, because not every player wants to play through injury, but the vast majority of players, they want to be out there. They want to help their team. And a guy like Brown who has the resume that he has, playing through injuries, playing through a bunch of, you know,

Starting point is 00:07:38 situations where he's dinged up. He's going to want to be out there, but it's up to the coaching staff. It's up to the organization to make sure they do right by the player. This is not AJ Brown's call. But I don't think, as long as he's saying,

Starting point is 00:07:54 healthy to play. I don't think it's some unbelievable swing and miss by the team to play him against the Jets. I don't think it's a bad call to play him against the Jets because there is the argument for getting him conditioned. And as Jah puts it, you know, do you ramp him up? There is the reasonable idea of playing him against the Jets, but manage his snaps, get him a little bit loose, get him used to the live bullets again, and then when you get to Chicago, he will be more prepared to help you win that game. And I get that. I get that. Manage him, but get him some work. So I would not consider it a mistake, but ultimately, I would not play him against the Jets. But you trust the team. They know how he feels. He knows how he feels. So,

Starting point is 00:08:49 it will continue to be the question until we find out if he's going to actually be taken off IR. And if he's taken off IR, you would imagine he will be playing against the Jets. And as I've said earlier this week, the fact that Matt Collins was placed on IR and the Patriots did not make a move at wide receiver, it does feel like Brown is more likely going to return than not this weekend against the New York Jets. All right. Coming up next, rising stars on the 53 man. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:09:30 Welcome to your most rewarding NFL season ever only on Fandul. How rewarding are we talking? More rewarding than a touchdown with time expiring. About more rewarding than an 18-point comeback, maybe even more rewarding than a big old offensive lineman catching a touchdown. 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, check the Fandul app to see what is waiting

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Starting point is 00:11:40 We appreciate every single solitary one of you. All right. Let's jump to our next mailbag question from Toby Hawke. who has been your rising star so far that no one is talking about right now. Well, Toby, it is almost impossible with all the content creation that happens in 2006 to say that quote unquote, nobody is talking about that guy. It's incredibly difficult. And myself, I've covered a lot of the guys that I would consider, you know, rising stars and

Starting point is 00:12:17 we've talked about them, you know, some of the guys who are rising that I would mention here since you asked the question is first and foremost a no-brainer, Elijah Ponder. Elijah Ponder, I think we have to fully appreciate what's going on with Ponder here. He was an undrafted free agent. Now, Ponder's not going to be the first undrafted free agent to do some special things in the NFL in his first couple of years, you know, put some stats up and be considered a quote-unquote steal. He's not going to be the first guy. He will certainly not be the last guy. But what Ponder is doing as an undrafted free agent just one year ago is pretty bananas.

Starting point is 00:13:05 And the value the Patriots are getting, I mean, he's going to make what, a million bucks this year, the value, the production that he's bringing to this football team for the money that he's making, he's going to end up being one of the top steals in the NFL this year. There's no doubt when you look financially compared to the production and what he means his significance to this team, especially with Harold Landry still out. And Landry, by all what we know is he's not coming off any type of list anytime since. soon. Who knows if when Landry comes back. So the importance of Ponder for this roster, it's just unbelievable. We're talking about a guy who is tied for fifth in sacks in the entire

Starting point is 00:13:54 NFL. He's got the fifth most sacks in the league. I checked out next gen stats before recording this episode. And Ponder is in the top 25 in pressures for linebackers in the NFL. And again, we need to appreciate the fact that he's not only a UDFA. He's a UDFA from just last year. We're talking about somebody who's played, you know, 20 games in his NFL career. 20 games. That's nothing. Usually a player doesn't have it fully figured out until like year three,

Starting point is 00:14:31 the middle of year three. If you're a quarterback, sometimes it takes a little bit longer because you're learning so many different defenses and coverages. But I mean, usually at some point towards the tail end of year two, beginning of year three, is when you feel like that player is coming into his own. It's the beginning of year two. And he's there. Top five in sacks.

Starting point is 00:14:54 Top 25 in pressures at his position. I mean, he's there already. And shout out to Mike Smith, the outside linebackers coach and pass rush specialist. You know, he talked a big game regarding ponderance. in the off season. We said, hey, is he going to walk to walk with all the talk that's happening? And he is walking the walk. And Smith has done a fantastic job with Ponder, and he's off to a great start with Gabe Accus. I get a lot more thoughts on the, you know, fast risers, rising stars on this roster. I'll get to those in just a minute. But first, don't forget, if you're watching us on YouTube,

Starting point is 00:15:30 click that thumbs up, give us a like. Don't forget to comment as well. So the likes in the comments, help us with the algorithm. That's why I ask for them. I don't want to be a broken record. But in this day and age, it's a necessity. So don't forget to give us that thumbs up. Don't forget to comment. And don't forget to subscribe again. I said it a few minutes ago, but I truly appreciate every single one of you. Rising Star might be a tad strong, Toby. But I'm optimistic about Jared Wilson's first five weeks. His past protection has really been steady. You know, he had that bad game against the Steelers. but I think he's put it together to have a pretty, pretty, pretty good sophomore year five games in.

Starting point is 00:16:14 And what I think of, the word I think of when watching Jared Wilson is just promise. He's got a promising future. He looks like the guy who could be your starting center for the next 10 years. And so Jared Wilson, his athleticism stands out. I posted on Twitter, the Hunter Henry screen. where, you know, Wilson is 12 yards down the field, blocking a dude completely out of the play, helping spring Henry free for a 25 plus yard gain.

Starting point is 00:16:45 It's that athleticism, which is pretty special. We talked about Wilson's athleticism after he was drafted, the relative athletic score I always talk about around draft season. I mean, his numbers were sky high when it came to athleticism. And you see that on the field. He gets to the second level on screens. He gets to the second level in the run game. And let's not forget, he's dealing with a new left guard next to him.

Starting point is 00:17:12 He's never played alongside with Elijah Verit Tucker. So that should get better. And on the other side at right guard, he's playing alongside what, right guard three, right guard four? One last guy I would talk about. And you might say, Nick, you're biased. And I am biased. And I think Rising Star is a bit much.

Starting point is 00:17:31 It's way too early. But I do think that Eli Rairden is ahead of the developmental curve that I anticipated. And you guys know that I was high on Rairdon when he was drafted, right? I mean, I was doing cartwheels when the patch drafted Eli Rairden. And I think he's off to a terrific start considering the position he plays. Usually we talked about this around draft time. Usually it takes, you know, three years for a tight end. Some tight ends don't really get cooking until three and a half years, four years.

Starting point is 00:18:02 into the league. It's a tough position. You've got to know everything, right? You've got to know the run game. You've got to know the past game. And Rairden, you know, he's being used as a blocker. So he's got to know everything with this offense. And I don't think this was the plan. I think Julian Hill and Hunter Henry was the plan. And they were going to slowly bring along Rairden. But because of the Julian Hill injury, Rairden had to learn and learn pretty quickly. And I think he's ahead of the curve. He's been a competitive blocker. It's still up and down, but I would say mostly up than down.

Starting point is 00:18:43 And we talked about Wilson's athleticism. Same thing with Rairden. McDaniels, Josh McDaniels is doing a really good job of utilizing Rairden's tools, so to speak, right? We saw it on the wheel route against the Raiders. That's what that guy can do. And I think as he continues to get comfortable and confident, and as Drake May continues to build chemistry with him,

Starting point is 00:19:05 and as McDaniels continues to build upon this offense, Rairdon is going to continue to be a part of this offense, and eventually we're going to be talking about him being a pretty significant part of the offense. I mean, you think about 11 personnel with Rairden at tight end. That's a headache for defenses. And he's a guy who can make noise at all three levels. hurt you with the screen game at the line of scrimmage. He can obviously hurt you intermediate.

Starting point is 00:19:37 And we saw with the wheel route, he can hurt you downfield. It's one of the major reasons why I loved the pick at the time because he is a guy who can bring chunk plays to this offense out of the tight end position. And he has the athleticism to do things that I don't think Henry, as good as he is and as much as I like him, he can't do at his age. So he can attack you at all three levels. I think they're going to be attacking down the scene, the more they use this play action.

Starting point is 00:20:05 And once he gets going, I think he's going to be pretty tough to stop with this offense. So I'm pretty excited about Eli Redden and where he's at right now compared to where I expected him to be a month or so in. Up next, Caleb Lomu could have his opportunity to upend the O line. This is Lockdown Patriots, It's part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

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Starting point is 00:22:36 Download the app today and use code Lockdown NFL to get $150 instantly in lineups. If you win your first $5 lineup, again, the code is Lockdown NFL. Prize picks, run your game. Thank you for being here with us at Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. back to the mailbag we go Brady boy, bunch of numbers. How might it change things if Caleb Lomo plays at an elite level at left tackle? Let me start here.

Starting point is 00:23:14 I am not. Underline not. Put it all in caps, put it in bold, not expecting elite level play at left tackle from Caleb Lomo. I am not expecting that. And I don't want people to clip me. I don't want people to take me out of context. I do not expect elite play from Caleb Lomu. He's still raw.

Starting point is 00:23:40 He still needs to develop his strength. I thought he played fairly well against the Raiders. I thought he also got a decent amount of help, especially in past protection from Josh McDaniels. Also, I would say with the Will Campbell update at the top of this episode, I don't think Lomu is going to have enough time. to win a starting gig. And I know Brady Boy had sent this question well before we found out the news from Tom Pelliserro.

Starting point is 00:24:09 But this is a hypothetical. It's a mailbag. So let's treat this as a hypothetical. Let's live in the world that Caleb Lomu plays at an elite level. Let's say Campbell's out for the next two, three weeks. And while Lomu is in there, he's outstanding. He is sensational. He looks like a franchise left tackle.

Starting point is 00:24:31 I still would not expect them to move Will Campbell to another position. No. I mean, maybe you would talk about it next year, the year after, but in the middle of a season, I don't see it. I just don't see it. To ask Will Campbell to switch from the left side to the right side at tackle is difficult. To move him to a position that he's never played before, offensive guard, that to me would be insane.

Starting point is 00:25:03 So I just, I don't think you move your starting left tackle in the middle of the year, especially, you know, Campbell's been good this year. Yes, he was not good. He was unquestionably not good against Buffalo and Greg Rousseau, one of the best pass rushes in football this year. But the other, you know, games that he's played, the other four plus games he's been in, he's played good football. So I just don't think Mike Vrable will say, man,

Starting point is 00:25:33 Low Moon knocked our socks off those two or three weeks. We're moving Campbell to right tackle or we're moving Campbell to guard. I just don't see that. Not in the middle of a year. The left side of the offensive line, frankly, is in mostly good shape. If Campbell comes back quickly, which it sounds like he's going to, if he gives you his level of play aside from that Buffalo Bill's game, I feel good about Campbell at left tackle,

Starting point is 00:26:01 Elijah Veritucker at left guard, and Jared Wilson at center as they continue to build more chemistry with reps. I talked about Wilson last segment. Elijah Verit Tucker's been pretty darn good since week one. Week one was a disaster for him, but you can understand he hadn't played a game in more than a year. That mattered, right?

Starting point is 00:26:22 He played out joint practices and stuff, but that was a completely different world in a completely different challenge in Seattle against that defensive line, not playing in an actual game for more than a year. You understand the rust factor. Since week one, ABT's been good. So Campbell's been good on balance. You know, each guy had one bad week, really.

Starting point is 00:26:48 Like, Will Campbell didn't play well against Buffalo. Verrett Tucker didn't play well against Seattle. Wilson didn't play well against Pittsburgh. but they played five weeks. The other four games, those guys have played some good football. I think the more likely move, Brady Boy, would be putting Caleb Lomu at right tackle

Starting point is 00:27:09 to supplant Morgan Moses. You know, Moses, to me, he has struggled the last two out of three weeks. He was bad against Jacksonville, and again, he got hurt on the second snap of that game, but he was bad against Jacksonville. I don't think he was very good against the Raiders this past weekend. 35 years old, a lot of mileage.

Starting point is 00:27:33 So if you're going to move anybody, I would think that, you know, Lomu would end up playing right tackle and Moses would end up becoming your sixth offensive linemen and jumbo, your swing tackle who could play left and right, hopefully, fingers crossed. Of course, Moses has pretty much been exclusively a right tackle. but I could see, you know, the possibility of Campbell, Veritucker, Wilson, Brown, and Lomu.

Starting point is 00:28:01 But I don't see it. I don't even see Lomu playing right tackle, at least not right now. Mike Vrable's going to give Moses every chance that he can get to get the train back on the tracks. Like, Vrable, how he handles veterans, he's very mindful. of it, right? And frankly, Moses deserves that. Like, he hasn't been great to out of the last three weeks. He's dealing with an injury,

Starting point is 00:28:31 but he was good, if not really good last year. And before the injury, he was kind of the same old, same old solid Morgan Moses. He's also a captain. And I think you've got to think about that as well. Like, are you willing to sit a captain

Starting point is 00:28:49 who has played through some injury and on balance has given you some really good football at right tackle. Are you going to sit that guy because your rookie tackle had a couple of good weeks? Or, I mean, in this hypothetical, he was elite, but it was a couple weeks. So I think, you know, if you make that, if you did pull the trigger on, all right, we're going to put Lomo at right tackle. Like if Lomu then kind of takes a step back, now you're juggling, you got to get more. Moses back in there and, you know, how much has he played and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Starting point is 00:29:26 So I just, I think it's more likely he would go to right tackle when Campbell came back if he played at an elite level. But I don't think, I just, I don't think Mike Vrable would pull the trigger that quickly on somebody like Moses in what he's meant to the program. He might eventually get there, but I don't think it would be Lomo over there, Moses out, Campbell back. in here we go baby i i don't see that happen all right that wraps up this edition of locked on on 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 locked down to the patriots every day check out the locked on patriots hit your daily hit of espresso on the team you love quick strong five minutes or less find locked down patriots hit on youtube or wherever you get your podcast thanks for

Starting point is 00:30:16 me next up we'll have the crossover for you peace

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Waiting: Patriots’ A.J. Brown Status Sparks Debate | Rest vs Jets?

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