When Drake Maye should start & Rhamondre Stevenson interview | Pats Interference

[Music] okay big episode today we have two new guests as promised back earlier this summer I'm excited to talk with a guy directly in front of me but first we are going to tease rander Stevenson coming on at the end of this episode another 4minute drill football questions non football questions he was awesome uh we have a new mail fan segment haven't done one of those a while and of course Derek claw and the aforementioned man in front of me quarterback expert to help us reset recalibrate the Drake M conversation which has got very interesting here especially locally the last couple of weeks but first some housekeeping number one I had a complete journalistic failure with randr not asking about his viral moment with Steve Burton in one of the world's most awkward preseason interviews you will ever see he actually gave me for it for not asking uh afterwards up air but he was great number two small change of plans I'll be back recording Sunday with a 53-man roster rejection no talk about the preseason finale you'll watch it we'll discuss it but you want to know who makes the team we'll learn on Tuesday this will be my last and best guest number three we had a couple new reviews in apple thank you couple more emails mostly positive but either way that feedback helps us grow and is always appreciated so please keep those coming if you have a second Spotify Apple reviews ratings are always a big big help and uh if today's episode sucks no it will not be our next guest fault Derek Clawson again as mentioned as far as the worst intro you've ever had and you've done plenty of shows where does that one rank no listen learning I was going to be on the same episode as Rand Stevenson is good enough for me I love that guy so I'm good he's a great dude all right Derek Clon in case you were not familiar uh with his work new co-host of the athletic football show you have heard him on the meia K show with Lenny seen his work on Bleacher Report the 33rd team reception perception with Matt Haron and back in the day as I found out very quickly uh NFL Spin Zone where in 2014 there were headlines like what's next for Brian Hoyer which I've really appreciated a time where we could all read and watch Brian Hoyer then NFL starter and wonder what's next for him and you explored it pretty well back in the day have you thought about that piece in a while d i I probably have some headlines from back then on stuff that I've just I've written so many things now that I've forgotten what I've written I I think if you asked me have I written about Brian hoer before I probably would have said no so I it's almost news to me that that headline exists yeah no I have plenty of those and someone who got his career started writing for ASP Nation specifically covering Yukon football uh with a lot of film review that is some depressing ass work let me tell you so I will not dig up any further headlines of yours to avoid anyone doing the same to me because it was long it was not good but hey we both uh we made it so Drake may you and I are in the fan club I don't know where you're sitting in the hype train that was going long before he became a New England Patriot but I I appreciate your your work on quarterbacks it's always reasonable it's is rooted in good facts there's data obviously tapework people who don't follow you should QB uh k s so I just want to zoom out first before we get into the Mana what are one or two things when you hear people talk about Drake may you read them WR about Drake May that you think are just missed as someone who spent a lot of time studying who he was in college and so far the little Peaks we've seen from him in the NFL yeah I would say the first thing is I it almost seemed like the first thing anybody brought up with Drake May during the draft season um and even now is footwork and the it was always a frustrating conversation to me because I think there are legitimate criticisms that you can have with Drake May's footwork I think his specifically his dropback footwork like going one to two to three as soon as you get the ball and being in a clean position to throw quick game Throw flat route throw hitch route whatever it is some something simple he's not great at that but I think people kind of took that to think that the rest of his footwork was bad but I just don't think that that's the case I think the longer he holds the ball the longer he velops in a play he actually does do a really good job of resetting in the pocket understanding where he needs to move getting himself into a better throwing position and I think you saw that a lot at UNCC um and especially behind a bad offensive line that kind of made him have to move around and get off his spot a lot I think you actually saw him play pretty in control the longer he held the ball it's just I think some of those instances early in the down um kind of like I said made people think that his footwork on the whole was bad and needed to be reworked the other thing about his footwork is you know he would do some drifting around in the pocket you know kind of anticipating where rushers would come from people took that as him having bad or skittish footwork and just doing stuff for fun but if you really watch it like nine times out of 10 he's doing a really good thing to buy himself space in the pocket so again I think people just kind of misunderstood him there I also think people a little bit misunderstood him too in the sense of thinking he's more of a chaos playmaker than he probably is and I think this was actually true of Caleb too I think the thing was just when you have the guys who are this talented this athletic who can make every throw on the field and they're playing at programs as bad as us USC and UNC were yeah man they're gonna go do some stupid stuff sometimes like they're gonna go try to win the football game and what I said about Drake and Caleb for a lot of the draft season was I think when you get him to the NFL where they're going to have a more structured system things are going to be a little bit more put together they're probably going to play a little bit more put together and I think we've seen that from both Caleb and Drake so that those to me were like the two biggest things that always frustrated me with the discourse about May so again if you're not familiar with Derek that to me in in Reading you and listening to you perfectly encapsulated your approach of like hey there there's some Nuance here in the footwork here's why and then there's an acknowledgement of like yeah some casual understanding and empathy for the quarterbacks in bad situation they're going to do stupid stuff and that's okay it's not like all Hellfire and brimstone with the negative plays or ascribing it entirely to that player's shortcomings or lack of courage or character or competitive itive fire or whatever it's just sometimes that's a situation you're in which is not an excuse it's just what it takes to evaluate as you do properly to the footwork point I I I appreciate again that you you dove into that and I will say this it's a good thing not to Broad brush in that way because in the same way you might trust uh a grandmother as being a good driver she'll get you from point A to point B but and you'll get there safely but if you need her to be in a hurry to shave some time off of your ETA not the best driver that you have there right like in a certain space she's very functional Drake may you know just needs to tidy up um stopping at stop signs and knows most of the time he can turn on red but not always and kind of deciding when that is and paying attention to signs that's that's all that it is when you saw his preseason though specific let's just stay with the footwork for a second the dropback footwork and then the stuff you believe he had taken care of did you see any meaningful difference in those four drives against Philly we'll just ignore the one against Carolina because Carolina wasn't playing at starters but what did you see with respect to the footwork in the preseason I I mean I think you kind of see most of the same issues you saw at UNCC um and again I want to clarify it's mostly just a drop back issue it's when he goes to one to two to three and he gets to that very top of the drop and then he's throwing right off of that that's where I think sometimes his footwork can get weird you know he had that one flat route I think it was maybe his second throw of the game um you can see him his lead foot is like too tight to his Target um so you know the the target is like on the left sideline his front foot is inside of where his aiming point should be and that just kind of disrupts how your rotation is with your hip and it makes the torque really weird and so you see him like finish the throw kind of awkward and that's why it sails the way that it does he just kind of does that like I said on those short throws like it's just something he needs to clean up he had another throw I think to to Baker on like a little spot route maybe in the third quarter where he he kind of does the same thing his footwork is just a little bit too tight to the Target he ends up missing for that reason but then on the flip side the longer he holds the ball in a play The Cleaner his footwork is I mean look at the throw to Baker uh on that that third down where he's just as soon as his back foot hits and he knows he has to Hitch up and transition elsewhere that's clean because he's like getting himself off of that immediate throw thing he's he's re he's allowing himself to reset and so when he resets like that he he looks great so I I think it's just the longer he holds the ball the better his footwork is and I think some of the early stuff of just cleaning up that quick transition from end of drop back to throw that can get cleaned up whereas I think his more natural feel for sliding in the pocket and knowing when to Hitch and all that other stuff that's harder to teach and he's already good at that stuff so I'm I'm perfectly fine with some of the growing pains with some of the quick game stuff and I think too that's the important another important delineation is the stuff that had everyone so excited about him as a prospect to go not only does he look like all the best quarterbacks in the league now it's he's got this kind of innate feel and talent that's much harder to teach the stuff that he needs to clean up you get old school West Coast guys like Alex vanel who's still doing drills from Paul hacket in the 70s to fix that footwork it might take some time it could be frustrating you go why the hell was that flatball seven yards over Quan booty head oh he still grabbed it anyway great he counts as a completion but that that seems to be the big line right the stuff that he needs to fix he can the stuff that he's great at you might never get out of even some above average quarterbacks that's exactly it and that's why I was so willing to bet on him like you just see some of the pocket movement the talent it's just that's the stuff you can't teach and this even logic applied to like when I loved Anthony Richardson as a prospect you know they're slightly different Dr May is a little bit further along but it's the same idea of you know the some of the stuff he struggles with we can get him there some of the stuff he already does at a high level there's maybe a dozen of those guys in the league at best so that is why I'm willing to bet on May and I just thought there were so many examples in this game where you could just see how fast Drake operates and that to me is the most impressive part again that that third down throw to Baker where he is what's so impressive to me is if you watch a lot of the best quarterbacks as soon as they hit their final drop step they're not like sitting there for a second and then moving on to whatever their hitch is or their next read they are taking that drop step and literally bouncing off that back foot into their hitch or into their next read you saw may do that three or four times in this game and I was like man if he's already there that's the type of stuff that I saw from like Joe burrow as a rookie where you were like oh yeah he's he's ready to go already we don't have to worry about this and so the fact that Drake is doing it you know only preseason but was still really impressive to me yeah not to mention those throws were third down too so it's not like the eagles are spinning the dial though I think fangio played uh on the Deep B to Baker to get like super in the weed some of this empty like poach coverage you know where the the the safety closest to Baker and the Deep ball that we all you know just absolutely bleeped our pants over was you know the safety was looking in the opposite direction like he was looking at the number three the innermost slot on the opposite side so it was a good route it was a good play call and he puts it on the money but Drake understood that in a way that was okay I'm going to have one-on-one here even though there's a safety over the top he's not going to be paying attention and maybe he'll fall for the kind of Nod that Baker gave him his post um and put the ball on the money now that said I was very Rosy about his performance last week after doing my own film breakdown and then made the point so this guy goes five of 10 for 24 yards outside of a 23 yard flow screen that was very well blocked and executed with some bad defense by the Eagles and we are all celebrating and then explain why but in rewatching the game again Derek like there are a couple things that I would hone in on for him where I think he has been eager to throw the ball deep because that's who he is and it's not someone we really saw in the first two three weeks of camp but literally half his practices had one attempt or fewer over 10 yards and he's living within this kind of checkdown Charlie realm but he seemed to be married to Baker almost predetermined on that deep incompletion and the one where Baker was out of bounds and then the defensive pass interference call did you see any of that because to me longterm that's an issue um but I don't know if it's just a kid who's finally scratching in itch that he's been resisting for three weeks in practice I I think it's a little bit more of that um because you know I think Drake May is naturally a guy who he wants to make the coolest throw on the field and he's willing to do some of the more you know buttoned up stuff like there was the play action call they had where he gets to the top of his drop one hitch and as soon as the hitch is over and he knows his guy's not open checks it down it's like okay he can do that and I know he knows in the back of his mind that making those plays is the right call but there is some part of him where he's like I'm just going to throw it up sometimes and again I don't think this is the worst thing especially um if you really trust your receiver in that way like again not to bring up you know Joe burrow a million times but like Joe plays this way he'll make the simple quick throws when they're there and stuff but there are two three times a game where it's like it might not be open to T or to Jamar Chase but he's gonna throw it anyway because he's like ah my gu's there and you know if we can get generated an explosive here then we're going to do it and may is obviously more than talented enough to make those throws consistently so especially in the preseason I'm not too worried about like stylistic stuff maybe if this this hang over into the season when he starts playing and he's just consistently too aggressive and passing up some of the easy stuff then maybe I'll be a not concerned like longterm but like hey man let's let's dial this down a little bit but for now I think I'm okay with him scratching the itch a little bit yeah and I think too the other part about this and you know he'll live and learn it was his second freaking preseason game in some instances the second third fourth fifth Drive of his entire NFL career you know they had a drive concept which for the folks at home it's a shallow cross underneath with the dig over the tops of 12 yards and then in cut over the middle of the field the kind of high low action and then instead he just threw to Baker on the opposite side deep down the sideline that dig or deep over was open to Mitchell Wilcox shockingly uh in the first instance of the Baker incompletion and they had another possible first down throw to him or the shallow in the third quarter when it said he just saw a single cover and was like I'm gonna give it up because Joe burrow has Jamar Chase and T Higgins and that's the big difference it's like he's working with Javon Baker whose routes are as rough as mine might be if I went out there at least today and he's a much betterer but I think like May learning to harness his talent were there other nitpicks that you had because again like it's it's the completed 48 y would have made all the difference in the world but I think most of us understood that and that's why we wrote positively if you were going into the quarterback's room within the next day what are you saying hey we got to address this first in practice next yeah you know mostly it would just be the two quick game foot uh footwork examples I brought up I think those were his worst plays I will say too there was that stretch there kind of at the end of him playing where he had uh the two throwaways back to back the first one I actually thought was a really good decision um because they play this like man coverage where they didn't actually have a center fielder they their like free player uh their free zone player was more of like a rat kind of watching May everybody's covered up and he just kind of tries to get out of the pocket realizes nobody's open throws it away cool that one's good the second one the the Right Guard kind of loses immediately and that's where May is opening to his right side Right Guard loses immediately he's going to make the throw but it's all covered because the defensive lineman's in the way and then he kind of like panics for a second he's like oh no I don't know where to go now on this play um and I think he started to try to run realized that wasn't going to be open and then he kind of bailed again and kind of got a little skittish I think if he had like backed up just for a second in the pocket gave himself time to look left somebody would have been open and somebody was open so that was really the only other play so again I would say the two footwork mess ups that he had early and then maybe that second throwaway where he could have been a little bit more patient but I I think otherwise it was a pretty encouraging performance for me okay uh let's go big picture again I know you've not been at practice every single day and even if you were you understood you know as much context as I try to deliver around oh he was eight of 11 here today it was only 7 to 12 the other day like it matters where the misses how deep what's the coverage like so many much more Nuance but whether it's from what you've seen from him specifically in the preseason or just going down rookies like him historically what are the next checkpoints or boxes you want to see him check before we really get into uh he's in the starting conversation unless you're there already I mean I'm there already um and that's that's not even necessarily to say that right now today he's a better quarterback than jacobe brassette you know I think jacobe brassette when he's got the right stuff around him he's playing well he can be like you know in the low 20s of quarterbacks you know quarterback 22 or whatever which isn't fantastic but when you know when you're a player of his caliber that's pretty good I think he can be that kind of guy or the New England Patriots right now would take quarterback number 22 the last three years after having like 30 and 39 last year yeah I would say that's good um but you know for me I think it's more just that he some of his skills lead me to believe he's a guy who's going to be fine if he has to play early like his pocket presence and his pocket movement leads me to believe okay he can already handle one of the hardest parts of the game right now I think his processing speed even if he isn't you know like we said he's a rookie he's not going to make the right decision every single time and maybe he'll take a couple shortcuts like that uh sideline throw to Baker but generally I think he processes at a pretty high level for a rookie that's a good start and then the physical tools kind of just are going to give him this margin for error that rookies you know kind of need um just because of how athletic he is how good his arm is so and the other thing is May kind of seems like a crazy person um in the right way which is to say that I don't think him having some rookie failings where if he's going out there by week eight and they're two and six and he's getting beat up I I really don't think that's going to have the worst um you know I don't think that's going to ruin him especially with how much I kind of like this staff and trust this staff to like keep him even killed so I to me he's a guy you just throw into the fire and and and hope that he can figure stuff out by week eight week 10 well let's St in this staff because I I haven't talked about Vel I think for a couple months in the way that I thought the scheme fit was was really positive the Browns League the league in air yards it's all deep play action shots off of an outside Zone uh base Run game but they do enough kind of Duo and some counter Concepts to sprinkle it in there but it's just downfield downfield downfield what what else gives you confidence or why why are you confident about the staff with Drake May it's not even fully the offensive staff it's gerod Mayo I I just he seems like the guy who who just gets it to me and I think he's going to kind of be the type of guy who keeps everyone understanding what the goal is and kind of having a good long-term outlook on stuff and not like if they're one and five uh you know by week six like everybody's panicking I think Mayo is the kind of guy who can kind of keep guys um in line a little bit almost like Dan Campbell was able to do with with the Lions a few years ago when they were just absolutely terrible um I I expecting some sort of similar effect there so that's what a lot of it is to me I will say what I'm curious about with Van Pelt I know it's supposed to be kind of a Zone running thing but I'm almost more think that a like Duo and counter and power that style of play action actually kind of fits May a little bit better um just because I think it it it allows for a little bit more I think when you get into that world uh so like when you're in the zone world I think rollouts are a little bit better all that sort of stuff but I think when you're in the hard play action world with power and counter and Duo I think you get some more access to like dig throws and some of the seam throws and some of the stuff like that Drake is really really good at throwing those and so I kind of think that that is more the world that they should live in but either one's going to work so it's not a huge deal well and for folks who are going okay what the hell is the difference between that world of you know more man block runs and the play action that that's afforded with the pulling guard but it's actually not a run even though they pulled a guard and it's a play action throw that's what you watch with Tom Brady for 20 years those were the throws the seams to grank the digs to even Brandon lefel if you want to go back 20 like 10 years that was the world that he lived in I'm with you I do think though the boot game at least for me would simplify what a lot of like a three LEL reads as you know kind of coming to one side of the field if it's not there throw it away and we even saw an instance of his uh speaking about Drake may now second reaction ability when he's on that naked right after the big dig completion to Baker and it's first and and Nolan Smith just says hello immediately and he's got to flip it into the flat which before would have sent M Jones and Billy zappy just down into a puddle and rightfully so Nolan Smith the big menacing guy who wants to take your head off May hops backward flips it around him and I just go that's the stuff that I think works with the outside zone game but maybe they get to a little bit of both years they kind of find their offense yeah and again I I don't think that stuff's going to be bad I think bringing up that play is a perfect example like May will be good at the roll out stuff um I just think purely as a passer it's you know and I'll say this selfishly it's just cooler to watch a guy hit a DI out or a seam route I mean it's why watching Brady was so cool where some of the roll out stuff can be sometimes it's just wide open and it's not as fun um but no on that roll out him being able to get to those arm angles too is you know more and more guys are able to do it in the League now but it's kind of is a requirement to be able to do it uh you know maybe 10 years ago only five or six guys were able to do that consistently now it's probably closer to a dozen but you got to be one of those dozen and and may certainly has that which is just another feather in his cap do you watch the NBA at all Derek not not really not really okay so the reason I ask is because there's like I don't know the last time he was in the booth but Mark Jackson when he was calling all the NBA finals and would you know reach into the same bag of four cliches or analysis when you were watching Steph and LeBron go at it in like Warriors Cavs three years in a row was a uh great defense but better offense and I feel like when we talk about the arm angles and the second reaction ability in the playmaking that to me is where we're at a level of where these quarterbacks can see the perfect defensive call the defense got what it wanted Nolan Smith one-on-one unblocked against Drake May and his playmaking was the better offense to that great defense in a way that I think that's the next level of when Tom Brady had a perfectly defended play he just had to throw it away like he was he is the greatest quarterback of all time but was missing that playmaking piece that I think now is more common like you're seeing across the league with the arm angles that there's just no answer for that because I will either buy more time or I will do something off schedule that you can't anticipate because you did anticipate the play call and you got it right but the play is not over yet no that's so right I mean there's going to be I think in the modern NFL you know defenses are better than they were a long time ago I know there was that little scoring run for uh you know maybe five six years ago where offenses were putting up a ton of points but I think the players are much better and I think especially over the past couple years defenses have really honed in on what offenses are doing you have to be able to you know there's going to be probably eight plays a game out of your you know 34 35 dropbacks where the defense just has you smoked and you have to go make a play and what percentage of those eight plays that you can actually make over the defense kind of determines what quality of quarterback you are and may is May is to me the quality of quarterback fact that on a good day can make six of them out of eight and that's that's when you really start to have a guy who is special so to answer my own question five 10 minutes ago whatever it was what are the next checkpoints that I want to see from him uh he's he's getting closer to being more aggressive downfield which I think is a sign of comfort and understanding timing and just the offense in general which is which is good he's getting there the protecting the ball I think was well overblown in college like you understood when you watch those turnover worthy plays why he was doing that some of them were bad decisions like just not here to excuse all of them but the rate of turnover wory plays in college did not have me concern does not have me concern in the NFL and even then he's 21 he's going to do stupid things what I want isn't even necessarily tied to him aside from just get better be more consistent I want them to settle the situation around him which isn't to say pick the receivers pick the offensive line and go but they haven't done that yet secondly we don't know how defenses are going to attack them and they will have a buffet of options Derek when we get to the regular season of what stunts you want to run which lineman you want to attack how much man coverage you want to play 90 or 100% and how can the Patriots combat that so I think once the Patriots understand the lay of the land when it comes to their offense versus NFL defenses and you understand Laden Robinson's going to start for us he's just been that good as a rookie or Kaden Wallace or whoever it might be then I want May to be able to step into it not because he can't handle the pressure his sack avoidance has been better in in Camp than jacobe bretts is statistically I test all of it but I just want things to be a little bit more stable than they've been and that that to me I think is the biggest concern because not only is he just young and he can handle the pressure he's building new habits and to go back to the driving analogy of like you know forget your grandma for a second but if you were on the highway after getting your permit as a 16-year-old and all this hectic masshole drivers around you like that's going to screw with you and you're just general mental state going on a two-lane road going 40 m an hour like you need to understand how to handle different situations if you're thrown into the fire immediately I don't want any kind of regression from the habits he's building footwork or reads or anything because he just needs to survive instead of Thrive which is ultimately what you want no that's a great Point um and you know for me I'm less worried about the receiver core and more about the offensive line you know the receiving core is not great but I at least look at these guys and it's like there's a role for everybody right and it makes sense to me like Baker can be kind of your vertical X um pulk is is kind of just a Do-it all but he's got I think going a feast over the the middle of the field and he can do a little bit with the ball in his hands um obviously a guy like pop Douglas can kind of be your underneath uh Yak type of guy so like everyone's role at least makes sense to me so it's like okay they can put something together here that's not going to look janky the offensive line is where I get a little bit I just don't know what the construction is going to look like because you know I know at first the the idea was Kaden Wallace was going to come in and play left tackle but I don't think he looked very good at left tackle but then at right tackle he actually looked pretty comfortable um and so it's like what are they actually going to do with him shocking a guy who played four years at right tackle and go n 40 college starts at right tackle doesn't look good at left tackle who would have known um so I I actually that's my question to you what what is the starting five supposed to be if you were to guess right now so and the other player we haven't mentioned yet is chumo cor for who finded starting right tackle for the Steelers uh for six years you know so so adequate signs for one one year 4 million bucks before free agency doesn't test the whole open market they say yeah he's our left Hackle he did it in college I go okay there are a lot of stuff I did in college I cannot physically do now um and he started Camp there for two practices he's not been back since except for a little bit here in there the last couple of days so this is a long way of saying I don't know and right now they're counting on Vian low at left tackle City s at left guard David Andrews at Center Michael W still at Right Guard and maybe a core for maybe Kaden Wallace at right tackle the one thing I will say is this because I've been banging the mic on one at right tackle drum one he's 350 pounds self-reported uh I don't know if they want him playing it that weight at right tackle number two when they have started to rotate the last three four days in practice and this is notable to me they pull sa from left guard who's had a pretty good camp and then a core for right tackle a core for I get plug in Kaden Wallace maybe he's better we'll see but if sa's right now your top three lineman that to me says we're putting Leen Robinson who's a college Right Guard over the left side as opposed to just keeping leaden at Right Guard where he's comfortable and moving Mike on one out so as much as I might might want say that five more times I might want Mike at right tackle they don't want to do that they're pulling one of their better offensive lineman moving a rookie to a new spot and that might be the starting five which is to say they don't know so how could I that would confuse me too because I will say leaden Robinson he he might have something man he good yeah and I I don't again I don't know how they're going to fit him into the lineup because you know C so is kind of an ass kicker too and anenu obviously when he's playing guard is really good so I'm I might be with you maybe just move on oneu to back to right tackle you know I think he's played pretty well there when he's had to it's just I don't know man I I will say too the reason I said more of I want more Duo counter power that stuff just look at the offensive lineman they had that's what these guys do like that's what they're built for so they can probably be fine on the Zone run stuff but let's let's just go Maul some people and put them in the ground yeah and I I've heard them say in press conferences like Hey we're still finding our identity and we're gonna figure this out that's something people just say in August in the NFL and I think largely it's true uh but you need to know quickly what you're good at because that list that menu is going to be very small just based on your talent and then stick to it and find what you know appropriate number of counters to keep the defense off balance and just live in that world live in that space and I don't I don't think they have yet they are still majoring in zone uh but we'll see because they're going to learn a lot Cincy Seattle the Jets then the ners like these are defenses who are not not messing around uh which brings me to my last question and this would you know get you on Boston Sports Talk Radio if you ever want to join that hellscape time same thing we've been talking about for the last two months when should Drake may start and you watched a preseason it sounds like you're ready to start him now but we agree like the situation around him is so fluid I I want to wait personally at least six weeks where do you land on this yeah so I I think he's the type of player as an individual who could play week one like I said I think even with a less than ideal situation I think he's just the kind of guy who has the talent who has the makeup to to where he's probably going to be fine by the end of the season but I think you've kind of sold me on the idea that it's not so much about him it's about can we find a starting five that we like can we really lock down these receiver roles and and make sure everybody is on on the same page about where everyone needs to be and what roles everyone is playing and as an offense we understand what we're supposed to be so I think that would make sense I think the trickiest part of it is you know usually with rookie quarterbacks you try to find like oh what's the week four five or six game where you know maybe you're not playing a great team you can put that's just not on the table for the Patriots this year they play like a murderer row of defenses almost every single week um and so waiting for the perfect opportunity to put him in just just doesn't really exist you know maybe like Miami what is it week six or seven is like of that stretch the most easy but even then it's probably still an above average defense so this is there are no slouches so um yeah good luck man I think I think the timing of when I think the timing of when they throw him in doesn't matter it's more just kind of like you said can they stabilize the rest of the offense a little bit and and make sure everyone's solidified I like making this joke in the podcast that we need to print the shirts and you've had two phrases that I would make shirts out of good luck man the 2024 Patriots and then doesn't look that janky the 2024 Patriots receiv receiving SC because that's just uh that's just where we're are actually I lied I'll get you out on this because I'm actually writing a piece uh later this week and it's it's it's wellp spirited it's not negative it's not making fun of anyone it's not sarcastic it's just acknowledging Patriots fans have not watched a rebuild since bill bellich got here in 2000 and they went 5 and 11 a do you have a team who do you root for and then what would your advice be to fans who are about to witness a team that's actively rebuilding okay so this is not going to be the answer I think you were expecting as far as NFL I don't have a team I root for anymore I used to be a Ravens fan you might love this answer that you know that pick Flo through on the left side in like the 2014 2015 AFC Championship game he threw it like right at the left pylon I don't remember who picked it off but he threw that this was towards the end of the game right at the pylon yes it was Don Haron he picked it off and I was like I just don't really care anymore so I so I just stopped being a fan basically the other thing I the only other sport I'm a fan of actually is is Le I watch professional League of Legends a lot um and I'm a 100 thieves fan and so I started watching again in 2018 the first year they were awesome they went to the title they ended up losing it but like they were a really good team the next two or three years was like this massive rebuild of like all right we're bringing in young players we're trying to see how all this stuff works so to me it's just cherished the little moments where the young players actually look like they can be building blocks um because eventually you can put together a team like that was kind of the hunter theves thing is they eventually found one or two players that were like all right this is a building block and then they brought in a bunch of veterans to kind of clean it up and actually make a good team you you just got to pray that you find one or two of those building blocks and you know obviously the quarterback should be one of them so I nodded and gave a because I'm a polite host but now I'm going to be a rude host can you explain I've heard of legal Legends very quickly what that is like what we were just listening about not isn't a criticism it's just like to inform what we're talking about I think the themes you mentioned young players sheres the little moments absolutely spot on cosign I think that's great advice I might steal it for this column um but just just a little more insight there yeah so it's a it's a five on five uh computer game uh it's kind of like a top down you know maybe people are maybe more familiar with like Starcraft it's a little bit similar to that in terms of the look um but basically there are just three lanes on the map and different characters go into the lanes and the goal is to just push them as far as you can get into the enemy base and and explode the Nexus so there's a bunch of different characters that do a different a bunch of different things and you know they interact in different ways but that's pretty much the gist of it it's in terms of the pacing is probably closer to like soccer or something or or basketball maybe so it's not as like set play as football but that's probably my closest analogy it's the best I can do close for no that was well said I got I have a picture in my head I understand we had a comparison that uh that definitely works uh Derek this has been awesome first conversation we ever had I hope I hope to have you back on the show listen to him at the athletic football show co-host read him definitely plenty of places as you continue to do great work specifically on the quarterbacks and follow them at QB K Derek thank you man thank you so much for having me I appreciate it the NFL regular season is almost here but you don't have to waste your time watching more preseason outside of the Patriots you can play prize picks all summer America's number one daily fantasy sports app has over 5 million active viewers and unlike other apps you guys you know this by now you don't play against anyone you just pick against the numbers if you pick more or Less on two to six player stat projections you watch the winnings roll in even taking 10 bucks going all the way to 1,000 so sign up today and get $50 instantly when you play for just five bucks you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus it's guaranteed and then when football does roll around man if you think Tyreek Hill is going to go for over 90 yards in the season opener Miami does pretty well in their season openers uh that's an easy win if you think the Patriots defense is going to show up and hold down Joe burrow and Cincinnati take the under on Joe burrow it's that simple it's that easy you've heard me talk about this for the Red Sox God willing they'll be playing in October you can do all kinds of sports but get ready for football with prize picks it's available in more than 30 States across the country so download prize picks today and use the code clns for a different bonus this first deposit match is up to a 100 bucks that's right just put in CNS on prize picks for deposit match up to $100 prize picks run your game okay it's been a couple months but we have uh another mail fan segment Joe shotti first three-time member of the mail fan club this is how it works you guys know by now hopefully if you like to submit mailbag questions first of all I appreciate it second of all you can take that question and come on the show and answer it yourself for five to 10 minutes we can go back and forth if you show me proof of receipt or donation a dollar or more to Boston Children's Hospital Joe has done this on multiple occasions that's why Joe is back and Jo Joe has a question here today uh but first I have a question for you because because we just chatted off air do you think we should change the format of the male fan segment where I ask you your own question and then you answer then we go back and forth because I feel like you after me probably should have the most say in this and that you've been on this segment more than anybody else except for myself oh geez lot of pressure well first off thanks for having me on again um I will say I think a lot of times that the questions I'm I'm not going to you know put up on a pedestal in the sense that you know more than us and I would love to I'm happy to answer my question but um you know I don't know if anyone really cares about my opinion at the end of the day um uh so I'm happy to answer the question and I think that's you know it's great to have fan perspective and I think that's a benefit of this podcast where you're not just it's just two beat writers talking or two insiders talking so um that's not really an answer to your question but I was going to say that's the longest mil mouth yes I've ever heard so we are uh I'm going to take your feedback but I am not going to apply it today we are going to continue with the form but I'll think about it later and I'll I'll ask you your question which in essence was uh in two in two parts right you know Gerard Mayo first year coach inexperience still just year six of coaching for him period in any kind of capacity is he maybe escaping a little bit of the criticism or some scrutiny right there's no real reason to criticize him yet except for what he says in the media uh which I did on occasion in the offseason then of course people get upset but is he flying fing under the radar maybe for the talk radio TV sense and number two is there anything that I've seen that would either encourage me or discourage me about what happens se so I'll let you go on number one because I think there's like a media aspect to this right like and and we should be you know open season on us at all times just like the coaches and players we work in the public eye so do you think he's flying under the radar unfairly I don't think I don't think it's unfair definitely not unfairly I think it's if anything it's a benefit to him where I'm thinking of a scenario if the if the kind of grand plan had worked out where Bill gets his wins and he kind of rides off into the sunset and Mayo transitions on and there's a scenario where M Jones is the franchise quarterback and where really this offseason is about or next offseason is about the Gerard Mayo era and instead of you having to chart how many you know botch snaps there are it's you're doing a tick tock of everything that Mayo is doing at practice oh he's over with the offense he's over with the defense oh he's doing this he's doing that so I think he's going to benefit from the fact that his words are getting parsed but they're not getting every single word is getting parsed he's not getting compared to um Bill in every sense he's his Ops he's allowed to be a coach a little more than just um being kind of the the new face in town he's not the only new thing there's so much other things to focus on I do think once the season starts and if the offensive line gets settled at least they have a starting five that they're they're stuck with and brassette starting a couple games and the focus will turn to him and the first time that he calls a timeout at the wrong point or forgets to call a timeout or mismanages the clock you know there will be attention on him but I think for now he's probably benefiting a bit from the fact that he's not the only story in town he seems to be the fourth or fifth Story right now which is probably a good thing for for him allowing him to focus on the team yeah his job right I I think point is is a sound one there's so much newness around this team and in in very key spots right it's not just the head coach it's the quarterback it's the offensive coordinator it's a whole offensive staff the offensive line is still a concern uh even the quarterback competition it's not just Drake May right jacobe brette is relatively new came back obviously from his rookie year so all of that attention has gone over Mayo who all he needs to do so far right now this feels like very early campaign where in an election year right like your earliest stops are more style than substance he doesn't have to talk policy yet in a way that could be measured or criticized in a substantive way but you get into the season okay you need to roll out like how you're actually going to govern if you're running for let's say president or whatever and so once we get into that stuff then I think to your point like yeah it's going to be open season but he can uh smile in front of the bikes he can crack jokes and that's not to say this is at all disingenuous it's just who he is but there haven't been serious decisions the ones that we've gotten on him for I say we I exclude myself in this majority but it was majority oh my God only one preseason Drive for Drake May well what are the stakes of that okay like if he had played two or three more are we really learning that much more because he was not going to play more than a quarter or a half in that game so um to your second point about is there anything or second part of your question is there anything I've seen the the only thing I would highlight because in- game management doesn't really count in the preseason y ya is the buyin from the veterans and it helps when you stuff a ton of money in their pockets Allah Hunter Henry and jel peppers and Devon goo and all these guys on the way down but they appreciate the change he made in a way that's not just all right our workday is a little bit easier oh we've got an Xbox now and a PS5 it's they believed in him before he was a head coach and that's only grown since after so that to me is important because as you know if you have like a crappy boss I'm sure I don't know if your boss is crap you're not but you can you can imagine this if a if it's a particularly hard day and you like your boss you're a little bit more willing to get through the crappy parts of that day or whatever the project might be uh because of your respect for that person if you don't you're more likely to just watch the clock and try to run the day out am I wrong yeah for sure 100% how do you like your boss I I don't think he listens or this person listens to this podcast is it is okay you're more new mayo or they more Bill uh I work for my my family business so uh I uh probably don't want to put too much well I mean this is kind of family business right they kept Elliot wolf who was in the front office uh D May offic came up in the system so this is the parallels here um I don't want to ask about the family spending that might be something you know for for another day top of ownership a little stickier uh what what do you think last and we'll get you out on this just things that you've seen from mayo or maybe something you want to see from Mayo early on that would Inspire your confidence as a fan as an outsider but someone following this team pretty closely yeah I I would say like you said in game management you can't really say can't really do much in the preseason it's what happens with I guess you know I look at it I'm I'm a Notre Dame football fan and and Demarcus rean was a new coach pretty similar kind of trajectory to Mayo at the end of the day a young defensive coordinator kind of unexpectedly coming into the team as the head coach buying from the players and his first year there were times when you're like oh wow this team wasn't ready for the second half or this team got really up amped for one game but they came down they played down to their next opponent and in game management oh gosh did they sequence it right at the end of the half so that they can get an extra possession or something like that so I think there are very there are things that he can practice he's probably doing it during pre trying to do it during preseason games during PR during practices in terms of just kind of game management you know everyone in the back of their head has that Nathaniel hacket kind of like oh no could be that bad yeah exactly you don't wanna don't want to bring that uh that aura over here but you know you don't know I don't again I wasn't following the Broncos that much but I don't think immediately everyone was like oh my gosh he doesn't know how to coach for lack of a better term um and we're not going to know this I don't think that's going to be the case but it's just getting the Reps obviously bill was the head coach for 25 years across two franchises he knows he's seen everything so he knows how to how to sequence how to make halftime adjustments and the question is is that there's there's no place where Mayo is going to be able to do that year one there's I don't think anyone is expecting that but it's showing that in game five versus game 15 hopefully there's some improvement yeah you want to see progress same with the young team which is what this is now same with the young players a quarterback a receiver on the offensive line couple on defense that you just want to see them get better and I think to just a Dismount here it will be rough for stretches may always going to blow some game management bad timeouts different challenges game plans that just put them in a 20 Z hole immediately because that's what rookie coaches do and the thing is to your point you want to see them learn from it I don't know if he will I I categorize this as a worthy gamble when he was hired based on the things that I had known at that point in time which is all you can go off of though the crafts apparently knew after three years they wanted him to be the new coach in this magical trip to Israel but the point is before it gets good it's he's he's a rookie it's going to be rough and I think everyone will have to endure it and he'll get criticized and he knows that's coming I will just be very curious how he is uh in a public sense if and when they're two and six which we all expect and that's not being unfair to them what's it like then and what's it like in the locker room does he still have guys going the extra mile for him when you know their highest hopes and dreams and they might think some of them that they can push with the playoffs who knows uh but that's that's the time where a coach really needs to be a head coach in a way that we don't always see on Sundays all right here's Joe shotti don't ask him about his boss it's family business but otherwise you could talk to him about the Patriots anytime I'm sure we'll have you back in a little bit uh thank you for donating thank you for being on the show and I'll uh we'll keep in touch all right absolutely thanks for having me Andrew so one of the parts about being a Patriots beat writer you get a lot of people especially this time of year starting to ask you hey do you get access to tickets uh no I have a press pass it's got my name only it's for one seat that's it but if I were going to go get you tickets I would be happy to and you know where I would go game time the number one place for tickets to the Patriots NFL college football concerts everything you want to find because at game time there is a lowest price guarantee where if you find a lower price elsewhere they will refund you 110% of the difference not only that when you're on the app as you've heard me talk about going to socks games this year I want an individual seat view because at Fenway they're obstructed but most places they're not if you want to know what it will be like to sit in that seat before you buy the ticket you can do that with the game time M plus all in pricing no more late fees that you find out at checkout and again the lowest price guaranteed or game time will credit you 110% of the difference so take all the guest work at a buying tickets two football games baseball games or concerts with Game Time download the game time app today create an account and use the code CNS that's clns for $20 off your first purchase terms do apply again all you have to do download the game time app create an account and redeem code CNS for $20 off that's $2 fre for you at game time download game time today for last minute tickets in the lowest price guaranteed back here with the four minute R MRE Stevenson our third guest uh I don't know if that offend if you're honored to be here following Hunter Henry following pop Douglas I just gave you the rundown it's 4 minutes straight football questions alternated with non-f footb questions I'm going to start the clock and then we're going to go all right yes sir oh and the Only Rule is everyone knows unlike a real 4minute drill you cannot run out the clock so we got to go a rapid fire talk real all right ready set first one today essentially marks the end of training camp next week is a regular season style prep week if I give you a little bit of truth serum how happy are you that you're done with Camp uh very happy you know it's a M to you know get through camp and it's a you know it's a long grind so to be done with it know it feels good all right very good so you told me a story I think last season maybe two years ago about working at a Walmart once we were talking about odd jobs and there was this giant milk palet that spilled everywhere in the Walmart you told me you had some sort of milk phobia can you update us on the milk phobia can you not smell it do you not want to see it obviously you don't want to drink it right I haven't I haven't even drank milk in so long and probably a couple years I don't eat cereal too too much anything like that so after that that uh pallet of milk fell it was a wrap cuz it was a smell right it just over with all right glad to be at of Walmart back in sometime Las Vegas uh let's go back to the field the hardest hit you've taken in a game I need the who the when and how to happened feeling good bro this clout he used to play here uh a Landon Roberts ooh yes dark grind yeah it was actually he hit me twice I ain't going to lie my two hardest hits I took from a Landon so uh my first game he hit me you know we played him twice a year the second game he hit me so Miami 21 right the season opener yeah exactly yeah don't go look at the receipts either just believe me uh did you see him in Pittsburgh at all did he hit you at all when he was with them no no all right that's two football questions in a row we're already breaking the rules here in the four-minute drill um Mayo has talked to us about this new Players Lounge you got an Xbox in the there there's a PS5 there's pool give us a moment in there take us inside I don't know if you're playing but somebody else just take us inside the lounge yeah just what yesterday uh me and Kevin Harris uh last week I ain't going to lie he beat me South Carolina against Oklahoma I was Oklahoma of course he's South Carolina but yesterday I got him back uh beat him with some plays we run in practice so it was It was kind of fun okay playing some NC I still need to get that but I also like my free time cuz I feel like I would just get home and get sucked into it um all right two players in the locker room one who would make the best roommate and someone who you would guess would make the worst roommate best roommate I would say I'll say KB okay he just get you ready in the morning bring that energy and get you ready for your day I feel like and you said the worst yeah the worst roommate uh I don't know if you're a neat guy you don't mind a little slob or they're up late but let me think uh we got 90 seconds I'm running the running the clock out yeah yeah you're going to get delay game where where's ruin I'll say uh pop Douglas bro he play too much he's just too playful he going to be trying to you know talk mess all day I'm not with that I'm just trying to chill po he's off the wall okay all right uh next question going off the field now how does Remer Stevenson deliver the bad news of breaking up with someone are you are you a good breaker uper uh I'm not I'll just ghost you to be honest really yeah man that's disrespect I know all right let's look ahead week one you're playing you haven't seen these guys in a while since 22 just give me one thought an actual real thought not can like pod maner about facing the Bengals uh I know they have a great defense uh just how they fly around it's not even the people not even like the individual just their defense as a whole you know they play they play really nice together and they fly around so hopefully we could uh match that on offense would you play tomorrow if you could like they just of course yeah my body feel ready and I'm ready all right last one we got 20 seconds left uh this is a staple on the 4minute drill what's your least favorite media question least favorite media question uh when y'all ask me about the quarterbacks cuz you don't know what to say you don't want to get in trouble yeah I don't know what to say like I'm out there with him but like I'm not a quarterback right I just know when he hands me off the ball it's a good hand though cool all right well I'm going to hand it back to Jackson our producer here that's four minutes with reminder Stevenson appreciate you bro yes sir thank you [Music] [Music]