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This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now, you're multitasking, but what if you could also be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers you save by switching save nearly $750 on average, and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. So multitask right now, get your quote now at progressive.com, Progressive Casualy Insurance Company and affiliates, national average 12 month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary discounts not available in all states and situations. What were you feeling in that tunnel coming out? I was hoping I wouldn't have to make a decision about whether they carry a flag or not. Because I was probably going to be the only guy that wouldn't. I am a stitches, maybe not superstitious, but I think I would have passed on that. Aaron Rodgers talking about his first game in MetLife Stadium since the night he ran out with the flag and lasted four snaps and that was it for the season. So no flag duty last night for Aaron Rodgers. PFT live duty for the first time as a co-host. I have known this man since 2009. I can't believe it's been 15 years. He probably can't believe it anymore than I can. He is the great Patriots Hall of Famer, Rodney Harrison, Rodney, well, what a introduction. How much do I owe you for that? Y'all said to you the bill later. I thought of you this week. I thought of you this week. See you haven't done this and I'm sure you've never watched. But we usually kill a little time at the top just talking about whatever. I thought of you this week for one specific reason. Did you see the video after Sunday night's game of Texans quarterback CJ Stroud trying to give advice to Bears quarterback Caleb Williams? Did you see that video? I did, Mike and a lot of people. Well a lot of people criticize Caleb Williams because he's being disrespectful. He's acting disinterested and I said, no, he's just miserable because he lost. And that's how you're supposed to be. And over the years I've heard from Rodney Harrison many times when guys are out there smiling and trading jerseys and you just lost the game, at least one of you did. Get to the locker room and be upset. You should be upset. You shouldn't be out there having a good time. You just lost. At first, Mike, when I saw it, I thought he was kind of bit dismissive and then I had to go back into the mindset of a winner like him and say, you know, he wasn't being dismissed. If he was just really upset that they lost the game, that he didn't play particularly well and he was listening to CJ Stroud, definitely. I believe that he just, it was just a, you know, one of those touchy moments. So you know, you look at Caleb Williams and you know, you ask all the front office people all the players and he said he is, he is like coming as a perfect rookie, he's been humble. He's done a great job of communicating. He works hard. He doesn't put himself on a pedestal. And those are the things that you look for when you have a number one pick. And this guy just, he's been the right type of person, obviously the football aspect of it has to get better and it will. Once they correct some issues on the offensive line, but at the end of the day, man, I like this kid. I think none of the positive things about him, like, oh, I do too. And I like the fact that he's got the Rodney Harrison trait of when you lose. I don't want to talk to anybody. I don't want to trade jerseys with anybody. I don't want to stand in here and smile. I'm miserable. We love. I can't listen to this, Mike. All week you bust your tail coming in early five 36 o'clock in the morning, you're practicing, you're sacrificing, you're working out, you're doing all the things, you're staying late, you get home around seven to eight o'clock, you see your kids, you're making sacrifices to win football games. And it's a lot of work that you put in every single day. So after the game, if you beat my, if you beat my head and I'm not going to sit there and smile and trade jerseys, no, get the heck away from me. I want to go in a locker room with my teammates and I want to figure this thing out. That's right. And that's the right way to do it to each his own, but Rodney's way. That's what the fans want. The fans want the players to be upset because the fans are upset. You're invested. You've put a lot into it. You put a lot into it as a player. The fans put a lot into it. And when it's a loss, it doesn't feel good. And Patriots fans this morning now feeling very good after what happened last night at MetLife Stadium 24 to three. The first time the Jets beat the Patriots there since 2015 when Ryan Fitzpatrick was the quarterback Aaron Rogers and we'll start positive. A lot of times I want to get pulled toward the, the negative and breaking down what went wrong. But what went right, Aaron Rogers looked like Aaron Rogers last night, didn't particularly look like Aaron Rogers week one, not much more like Aaron Rogers week two. Last night, he looked like Aaron Rogers. Mike, he looked absolutely fantastic and you know, the thing that you look for is there any limping? Is there any glitches as he's running? And he, it wasn't. I mean, he was, he was smart. He was accurate. He was quick. He was decisive. Um, I love the fact that he moved around, got the ball out of his hands quickly. And this looks like the old vintage Aaron Rogers just running, making plays. He looked so patient and so in control of everything that he was doing. And in that particular, particular play, he saw the smaller corner back on Allen Lazar. He changed the play and he, you know, he called it to Allen's guard, ends up as a touchdown. But look how quick he's getting the ball in there. Look how accurate it is to leadership. Everything's spreading the ball around. This is just fantastic. And if he continues to play like this, if they can protect him with that run game, they're going to have a chance in this division, Mike. The ball comes out like a missile. It makes that sound. I've, I still haven't finished it yet, but I've been reading it, you know, counter biography of Aaron Rogers. And that's been a characteristic of his entire career. The ball sounds different when it comes out. I mean, you've been out there on the field with it. I assume I'm even though you would have played him over once every four years. Well, no, wait a minute. He didn't become a starter until your last year. Did you ever cross paths with him? Just as a broadcaster, I have, you know, I've covered him a long time plan. But as far as plan, I don't think I've ever played against Aaron. No, because it was your last year was his first year. And when you've, if you've been down there on the field before the game to like hear that because I just hear from so many different people, you, the ball makes a sound that they've never heard before when it comes out of his hands. It's like a whistling sound, kind of what you're talking about. And you know, a lot of times those receivers of those ball catches up the same and you don't have to throw it so hard and he'll say, Hey, I'm not going to throw it that hard. I mean, it is amazing and it's something that's just you're born with and yeah, you'll work at it to get the most out of it, but you either have the ability to fire a rocket like that or you don't. And he's clearly gotten the most out of it over his years. Did you see anything from him that you want to see him improve on? I didn't, but you got the better eye than I do when it comes to that kind of stuff. I just say this, Mike, the thing that really impressed me was his leadership once again. It was genuine leadership. When he talked, when he was directing traffic, when he was trying to bring guys in and explain to them, they listened to him. And you know, a lot of times I look at the reaction of the teammates because I want to see how much respect you have in this guy. How much do you value this guy? Are you listening to what this guy is saying? And the guy has so much knowledge and information. You will be a damn fool not to listen to Aaron Rodgers. And I was just really proud of the way he was directing traffic, the way he was engaging with his teammates. That's big. And that just shows that level of closeness and that trust. And if you're Garrett Wilson, don't seem at times irritated because Aaron Rodgers is in your ear. Okay, because remember, he helped Devonta Adams get reached the level that he's reached. Now he's going to be a first ballot hall of favor. So Garrett Wilson, if you're listening, just listening to Aaron Rodgers, do all the little things that he's asking you to do. And he's trying to elevate your game, not only for yourself, but for the entire team. It's easier to run your offense and be loose and relaxed when you know your defense is stifling the opposition. The halftime numbers were jarring, 252 yards in the first half for the Jets, 40 for the Patriots for the game, 400 to 139. The Jets had the ball just over 40 minutes. The Patriots had it just under 20. That defense of the Jets and that was kind of the narrative coming out of last year. They held it together through struggles at quarterback because their defense was so great. And that's what was alarming, Rodney, the first Monday night of the season. They got steamrolled by the 49ers, like, uh oh, maybe the defense isn't what we thought it was going to be. But when the defense is that good, and Aaron Rodgers is looking like Aaron Rodgers, you have balanced something that we rarely see in today's NFL, true balance between offense and defense. But the defense, defense plays like that every week, they're not going to lose many games. Yeah, and I was the most thing I think I was impressed with is just how they were flying around, just making plays, being aggressive. This defense is a good, it's a good defense. I don't see it being a great defense because if you get a team like a San Francisco that can run the football, I think they're vulnerable to a certain degree. But I look at the Patriots defense and what Rodgers was able to do against them. Remember coming into the season, we said, hey, if they run the football, if they play good defense, they'll have a chance in most of these games. And they did that against Cincinnati, it didn't work out last week against Seattle. But for the life of me, the Patriots, they have to be able to run the football with that offensive line, and they just can't. And then you look at the wide receiver position for the Patriots, they just don't have anybody. You're going into the season with Taekwam, Thorne and DiMario Davis, those guys are third receivers. They're not first and second type of receivers. So, you know, if you're a Patriots fan, you have to be disappointed in the offense and their production. Well, once it got to 14, nothing last night and credit to the Patriots, they went down the field, moved the ball, they didn't give up, they didn't surrender, but that's not the kind of game that they're made to be in. Coming back from two scores down, they got to keep it close and grind it out and wear them down and get either lucky or just kind of bend it their way at the end. Going back from 14-0 with the offensive line injuries last night, an offense that wants to run the ball and run the ball and run the ball, you're not going to be able to carve into that big lead. And we saw that the rest of the way. They kept trying their damnedest, but it's impossible, especially when the Jets offense can continue to move the ball and score points. Now, look at Jacobi Brissette, and he looked like he had no idea that the blitz was coming. And they were basically, perimeter blitz is coming from the outside, and you as a quarterback, you have to be able to look and recognize and acknowledge those safeties. And when those guys start moving and start creeping down towards the line of scrimmage, you have to be able to see that. And you have to say, check, check, check, alert, alert, alert, change the protection. And I didn't see that from Jacobi Brissette, and I had maybe 20 text messages, "Hey, man, is it Drake May's time?" I said, "There's no way I'm putting Drake May behind that offensive line." You talk about, you want to see Bryce Young, 2.0, put him behind that offensive line. That's one of the worst decisions you can make. And I thought that was the right decision, putting at least a veteran like Jacobi Brissette, but he has the quarterback. I mean, he's got too much experience, he has to do a better job of picking up the blitzes. And we ultimately did see Drake May later in the game. I want to get to that later for now. It was an incident, and I think it was overblown, but it was everywhere. And Aaron Rodgers was asked about it after the game, so we need to check that box and at least delve into it. After the first touchdown of the night, Aaron Rodgers comes to the sideline, and it wasn't exactly Kirk Cousins and Mike Zimmer pushing and shoving each other. There was a little two-handed shove, and Solid goes in for the hug, and Rodgers kind of gives him a little look. But Rodgers gives everybody that little look. I don't know that. I said, that's just how Rodgers looks at everybody, just a little bit half pissed off. Sorry, London. But here's Rodgers after the game, explaining what happened there, because it was something that everybody was talking about. It was that ball for an exchange with you and Robert, you appeared to push him away. No, I was not on the awkward at all. He was pushing away, no one. He went to hug you. What happened? I didn't know he's not a big hugger, usually, so I didn't know he was going for the hug. He likes to do the two-hand chest push as well, but he talks a lot about two-score leads, so I just kind of gave him a push and said, "Two-score lead." That's what happened. That was after the second touchdown, then not the first one. Regardless, that was something that became a thing. Mike, why is that a thing? Because there's cameras everywhere, there's cameras everywhere, and everybody's looking for something to stir it up, get some engagement on social media, and so you see something like that. I didn't think anything of it when I saw it, but that's how it becomes a thing, because people want to read something into it. Yeah, I don't think anything of it either. I just thought that it was kind of their competitiveness, their playfulness. A lot of things happen in the locker room on the practice field that we don't know about out, and it ends up being exposed on the game field, but I don't think this was anything serious. I'm just in a Rogers heavy time of his life. He's having the time of his life, Mike. He's healthy. He's playing on a team that he likes. I mean, he really likes the coach. He has the offensive coordinator like, "What else could he possibly want?" I mean, he's in a great situation now. Well, that's right, and it's the thing that he thought he was going to have last year. It got ripped away from him on the fourth snap of the season, and now he's getting a chance to live it. And after that first night of the season, it didn't go their way. They're two-in-one. They got the Broncos coming up with a couple of extra days to get ready for it. They should be three-in-one when they head to London to face the Vikings on Sunday morning coming up in just about a week and a half. So things are going well for the Jets. Here's Salah and Rogers talking after last night's 24-3 victory over the quarterbacks performance for the night. Cool thing was he showed the mobility that we've been seeing throughout training camp and, like I said, he may not be what he used to be, but he still has plenty in those legs and his arm is still 30 and his mind is still operating at a high level, but he was definitely impressed today. After everything that he went through last year seemed at this kind of moment tonight, too. Is that mean something to you? Yeah, you're always happy for your guys. You know, you'd probably be more of a question for him, but any time any of our guys has success or just excited for them, I felt good pregame and you know, I've been progressing. I said to you guys after week one, you know, it's going to be a process of continuing to extend plays once I feel more comfortable and this was kind of the first step in playing like I know I'm capable of playing. I felt like I was, you know, myself, quite a few years ago. It had to feel good to see it working because we all know that everybody's under pressure. Playing with the head coach, Aaron Rodgers, if it's a disaster this year, likely won't even have the chance to be back next year, even if he wants to be. So they needed to see it working. And last night, I think the biggest and best news for the Jets Rodney was we saw it working. It's working the way they intended. Jets fans, I know, were thrilled. They haven't seen anything like this where the offense is functional and scores points and it combines with a defense that suffocates the opposing offense. And this is the glimpse of what they can be if they can keep doing it. But I think last night was the night that we saw a team that can be a real contender and save a lot of jobs. I look at Aaron Rodgers and watched him last night, you kind of hold your breath a little bit every time he kind of takes off. But I have to point to the fact that I have so much respect for this man because of the type of courage that he's shown to be able to to go out there on that football field after 10 year Achilles last year and to at 40 years old and work as hard as he worked to get back to put him in the cell, put himself in a position to go on that football field man. Nothing but props to Aaron Rodgers takes a lot of work. This man has made a ton of money on he doesn't he doesn't he doesn't have to do this. And at the end of the day, man, just all the work that he put in all the sacrifices. Pan off and the biggest thing for the Jets is you got to you got to be able to protect this guy. And I see some breakdowns on the offensive line. They look better run blocking than they do past blocking Mike and that's still a big concern and really the lack of big plays down the field is something because if I'm a defensive coordinator, first thing I'm saying, hey, we're going to play a lot more tight man to man coverage. We're not going to sit back in these soft zones and allow Rodgers to pick us apart with the quick passing game. We're going to get in their face. We're going to take away those easy passes and we're going to force him to throw a ball more down the field. We're going to force him to hold the ball a little bit more. And I think that's what you have to do when you're facing Aaron Rodgers. You can't let him get rid of the ball quickly. Let him run the ball, set up play action, all the different screens. You have to dictate the game to him. And even if all that works, he's still got that lightning release that he's always had that makes it hard if you're trying to cover a guy to get to the ball or get to the player before he makes the catch because the ball just gets there faster. The faster the ball gets there, the harder it is for the defense to do their job. And you mentioned the adversity that he's experienced. I go back to that biography. He's had doors slammed in his face his entire life coming out of high school. Nobody wanted him. He goes to junior college, only Cal wanted him, fell all the way into the 20s on draft day, sat for three years, and then just flourished when he finally got the chance. And we're seeing that same kind of a flourishing now at this stage of his career after I don't want to say he's been written off, but after what happened last year, it's like we just have to see it. And Rodney, when you consider that he had played four snaps of football in a regular season setting, since losing to the Lions at home to cap the 2022 season, and then they go from the ninth to the 19th of September with three games. I wanted to see a 40 year old in three months to be 41 year old Aaron Rodgers could withstand that. And you're right. Every time he starts running, you kind of hold your breath. And maybe after last night, we see he's completed this gauntlet of three games from the ninth to the 19th. He looks great and off they go. Well the key, as you said, three games, well, they have 14 more games left. It's a long season. And that's going to be the big question. Ultimately, can he can he hold up, you know, because yeah, this week three, I feel good. I feel fresh. Haven't played a lot in the preseason. My body feels good. But when you get to week eight, week nine, and you've traveled and you've been knocked around and, you know, and you're 40 years old, you get up and, you know, six AM doesn't feel like six AM. It feels like four AM like somebody had just hit you with a truck. Those are things that I'm worried about with Aaron Arod. But at the end of the day, he does a great job of taking care of his body. The main thing is he doesn't take those big kids. If he can avoid those big kids, then he's got some guys like Mike Williams, who's starting to show up big receiver. You know, if he can stay healthy and you know, Alan Lazard and Garrett Wilson and those guys. So I love the fact that he got the tight end more involved. I think this is a really underrated tight end. He can block. He can catch really good teammate. But I like I like the direction in which they're going. I mean, this is a good defense that they face to charge. I mean, the Patriots defense was a defense that we said, hey, they could potentially be a top 10 defense in this league. And they just went up and down the field as they please. And he just picked them apart. You mentioned Tyler Conklin. He led the Jets in receiving last night. Five catches on six targets for 93 yards with a long of 22. That was that laser that Rogers fired down the middle of the field. All of his throws were impressive last night, the one that he's going to Conklin down the middle of the field. That thing is like you didn't even blink and it was from point A to point. With the five dollar meal deal in McDonald's, you pick a McDouble or a McChicken, then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four piece McNuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Price and participation may vary for a limited time only. First of all, congratulations on becoming the official grilling bar sponsor of the National Football League. How does it feel to serve up the NFL? Man, it's a real dream come true. I'm glad we'll be able to serve up some extra heat this season. Do you have any plans to celebrate? Absolutely. We're going to serve up America's favorite bonus wings for just 50 cents each to kick off the season. One of our sources, whether it's in restaurant or to go, it don't matter, is all 50 cents all the time. Are you worried at all about any competition this season? What competition? Limited time, price, participation, and selection may vary, tax and gratuity excluded. This time of year, Saturdays mean one thing and one thing only. College football, with Sling, you get access to hundreds of games and the biggest network starting at $40 a month, that's just $40 a month. Sling takes your love of college football to the next level. It's a no-brainer, streaming games and saving on them too and it's not just college football. Sling has live sports news, entertainment channels you love, and less are the ones you don't. So you save hundreds of dollars on live TV. Sling also lets you choose and customize your channel lineup so you can choose the channels you actually like to watch. Sling's cloud DVR lets you record your shows to watch on your schedule. There's no complex technology, no long-term contracts, and no hidden rigmarole. Get rewarded for watching college football. Sling lets you do that. Visit sling.com/play to learn more and get started at sling.com/play/play/play/play. And as to the grind of the season, you mentioned week eight and nine. That's when they do the Sunday, Thursday turnaround again. The NFL changed the rules in 2023 to not limit a team to one Sunday, Thursday turnaround. They're going to do it again in the first half of the season. So you're right, it is a grind. He's made it through the first three games, played 10 days apart, and now the grind continues with 14 games. When I was a kid, 14 games was the whole season. So there's a lot of football left to be played, and that by is still nine weeks away. And we're going to see Aaron Rodgers twice on NBC. You'll see him in person in Pittsburgh, week seven, and you'll see him at MetLife State in week 11 against the college. You get to hear that ball whistling, and you know, we'll see if he looks the same as he did last night when he's in prime time on those two occasions. This schedule looks pretty tough. I mean, you got a couple little games up in there that they can probably get by, but that's a pretty tough schedule as I'm looking at it. Well, they got a bills game on Monday night two, six days before they go to Pittsburgh for that Sunday night game, and you know, you try to figure out who's going to compete with the bills in the AFC East with the Dolphins now dealing with the two talking about lower concussion and the Patriots. They got a long way to go. It's going to come down to the bills and the Jets, by all appearances. So that Monday night game will be a key one to see if the Jets can challenge. And again, if Rogers plays like he did last night and the defense plays like it did last night, it looks like it could happen. Before we move along, that early season schedule, we're talking about this grind and especially the grind to start the year. Here's both Robert Salle and Aaron Rodgers from last night talking about that early season schedule. I felt like we were flying around really looking forward to watching the tape, but on the field, it felt like we were flying around and we were a step ahead. And like I said, I credit to the guys and I mean, they attacked the heck out of it in terms of regen and taking care of their bodies and putting in the right fuel in their systems and it felt like our guys were moving around pretty good. We had to benefit a plan at home. It's easier at home on a short week, but the schedulers made it difficult for us the first three weeks, three games in 11 days. And although we'd love to be three and oh, I think if you said two and one, going into the many by, you know, we'd be feeling pretty good about things. Obviously, we got a nice little long break here and then Denver and then London game. There's not a lot of like normal seven day week schedules for us, so let us get down proud of our guys. I thought we played a lot more energy tonight. That is the key. This schedule is just weird, the first 11 games of the season. They're all over the place. No normalcy to it. I know coaches would love every game to be one o'clock Eastern on Sunday. You have the same routine, the same schedule, the same pattern. Their pattern this year is every week is going to be something different, Rodney. Yeah, I think the thing is you can acknowledge it, but don't make it in such a big deal. Everybody's got a weird schedule. You're planning that for football league. There's going to be games overseas. There's going to be games on Thursday, Monday, Sunday. It's just all part of the deal. And for me, the thing that always kept me focused was I would never get really far ahead. I never go to week four and five and say, "Okay, we're playing over here on the West Coast." I didn't care. It was always a week to week deal with me, so I can stay focused and honed in to the task at hand and not worry about something three, four, five weeks, but that's something for head coaches and quarterbacks. They're always looking ahead. Well, I know from talking to Devin McCordy on this show a couple of weeks ago, as some Eagles players were grumbling about going to Brazil to start the season, Bill Belichick would say, "Nobody cares." If you don't like it, if you do like it, nobody cares. You do what the schedule tells you to do. You go where you're told to go, you play when you're told to play, and if you start getting injury issues, nobody cares about that either, and that's the one small caveat. We don't know what Morgan Moses' status is, but the right tackle took a leg to the back of his knee. He was down at first. It was one of those things that at first it's like, "Oh, this doesn't look good." Then he got up and walked off. Last night, Robert Salas said that he'll be evaluated today, didn't have an update. Moses in the locker room seemed to suggest, according to Mike Darifolo of NFL Media, that it's not serious, but that's the one thing you want to watch for the Jets. They've got a lot of veteran players with injury issues, injury histories. Obviously, you want to keep Rogers healthy, but you got to watch and see if the rest of the infrastructure of the team can hold up, and that was the one thing last night. If you don't have Morgan Moses, that makes it harder to protect Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, and he's a really good locker room guy. I remember every time we covered Baltimore Ravens last year, I would talk to him. This is a really good guy, was always healthy, always made himself available, and it's just a really good solid veteran player, and that's a big loss in my mind. Let's do this. I'm not used to breaking this early, because usually we have two hours, but since we only have one hour on Fridays, because we play the Chris Sims Unbutton PFTPM PicsPod for the second hour, I want to pause. And then, let's focus on the Patriots last night. We talked about the quarterbacks. We've talked about the running game, the defense, et cetera. It's kind of unpacked where New England is after three games as they move forward, and whether or not, Jacobi Perceter Drake may should be the quarterback moving forward. We'll do that next on this Friday morning edition of the Olympics Talk. Draft King Sportsbook is the number one place to bet touchdowns, and new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly download the app and use promo code PFTLive when you sign up, Draft King Sportsbook, if found is yours, please as always wager responsibly. All right, so let's get back to talking about the Patriots. Rodney has changed locations. He didn't like the lighting inside, and before he sat down, the view behind you, Rodney, it brings to mind one of Chris Sims' favorite sayings, "Can't hide money." Yeah, that means a lot coming from you, Mr. Nine Acres. Hey, you can get nine acres in West Virginia for a bag of corn and a mule, so it's a different cost to living up here. All right, let's get to it. The New England Patriots. Let me just ask you just generally, I mean, how weird is it for you to watch a Patriots game and not see Bill Belichick anywhere on the screen? It's definitely different because, you know, that's been a staple of the Patriots. You know, coach Belichick walking those sidelines, but you know, it's really been weird. People constantly texting me. It's almost like they're excited about the Patriots downfall, because the Patriots have been so successful for so long. All the Super Bowl championships, all the wins, 21 games in a row, going undefeated. There's so much Patriot hate out there, and I get it, you know, people text me all the time. And when I look at the Patriots, I think that Gerard Mayo, overall, I think he's really doing a great job. I think he's made that locker room, locker room friendly. I think guys aren't afraid to go up to him and communicate and talk. Just the atmosphere, it's more enjoyable. It's more relaxing, and Gerard is not afraid to get in your face, Mike, and hold you accountable. I mean, those guys respect him, but he's a guy that's smart. He comes in to work every day, and he's a no-nonsense guy. I like Gerard. I like him a lot. I think that was an extra pick for Brad. One point that Devin McCordy has made is physically, it's maybe a little more demanding, but mentally, it's not as overwhelming as it was when Bill Belichick was just kind of beating everybody down and keeping everybody, you know, going after Tom Brady, going after this person in the film or whatever, that weight isn't there, that guys would feel all the time where they're maybe like walking on eggshells constantly and never know when you're going to get ripped. And I was interested last night to hear Robert Kraft before the game. He said, and I hadn't heard this before, that he had decided five years ago that Gerard Mayo was going to be the next coach of the team. Now he didn't know when, but five years ago, and there was a time where I remember after one season, was Gerard Mayo going to leave, is he going to interview, and it all settled down quickly and he got a new contract, and that was kind of the moment where maybe we should have realized they've already pegged this guy to be the next head coach. It's just a question of whenever Bill Belichick moves on. Yeah, you don't get many guys like him that could walk through that door. I mean, when he came in as a rookie, I was there, and he was a professional. He was very humble. He was quiet. He listened a lot. He asked questions. He was able, he had Bruce G. Braebel, he had all those pros, Willie McGinnis, those guys that could really sit down and just teach him, and he learned, and he was a heck of a player. He worked extremely hard, he was smart, and once again, he knew how to relate to people. And that's what gets me excited about Gerard, and once they start investing in this offensive line and start, the quarterback has no chance if you don't have an offense line. I was at the Patriots in '03, for a very long time, Mike, the staple of the offense has always been the offensive line, but a life of me, you know you're drafting a young quarterback, why don't you put in pieces the right offensive line? I mean, give this guy an opportunity, you already have average weapons. These guys aren't number ones, and I'm not trying to talk about them. It's just you have an opportunity to go out and get a brand in IU. He doesn't even want to come to the Patriots because he doesn't see that there's a future. So you have to find a way to get free agents in there, and you got to find a way to rebuild this offensive line because the defense has showed you last night, yeah, they're a solid defense, but they're not going to be able to hold up against really good offenses the entire season, it's just not going to happen. And Rodney, that's the only way that I can make any sense of the fact that Drake May isn't already playing, because if you're going to use the third overall pick in the draft, a pick that you don't want to be making on a regular basis that high, if you're going to do that, you want to use that pick on somebody that's going to play, and it's going to help you turn it around right away, but wait, he's not playing. And I think the main reason he's not playing the offensive line isn't good enough. And you mentioned Bryce Young earlier, yeah, you don't want to throw the guy into the fire, have him struggle, have him not play well, and then we all think it's him. I think that's one of the most unfair things that happens in football, but it just happens. The quarterback struggles, we think it's him, there's so many other pieces and parts to it. If you're not getting time to make decisions and get rid of the football, that is a bad situation for a guy to start his career because he's going to get that stigma that it's him, that he's a bust, and maybe he never gets another chance anywhere else to prove that it wasn't him, that it was the lack of help around him. No rookie quarterback should be playing the first year. They just shouldn't. If they don't have to play, he shouldn't play. You get a chance to see the game from a different perspective when you're on the sideline. You get a chance to talk to the starting quarterback, to see what he sees. You get a chance to see the entirety of the offense. You just get a chance to breathe and really absorb the speed of the game. The speed is different, and that's why I just love the fact that what Atlanta did. I love the fact that Atlanta when I got two quarterbacks because their main problem was quarterback, not being able to finish in the fourth quarter. So if Kirk gets hurt, if he's not ready, then you can bring in a young guy, but you can't tell me that Pinnox right now is not sitting on the sideline, learning a ton of information, seeing the speeds of the defense, seeing the speed of the game, seeing all the different coverages, the disguises. I mean, this is a perfect situation for the Atlanta Falcons, and you want something like that to happen with the New England Patriots where when Drake May comes in, they've done a better job of securing him up front because I'm going to tell you, when you drop back, I don't care if you're Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, if you don't have guys up front protecting you, you're going to be more concerned about that. You're going to panic, and it's not going to look good. So if you're the Patriots man, protect this young man, do whatever you have to do for the offense line. If you have to keep six, seven guys in and only take two guys out on pass routes, do that. But protection is number one, Mike. Yeah, you know, that was one of the things Baker Mayfield and I talked about after the Lions lost to the Bucks on Sunday, he got sacked four and a half times by Aidan Hutchinson. You know, at what point are you just like focused on Hutchinson and not able to even process anything else? And you've got to adjust on the fly. Can I get rid of the ball fast? Well, if I get rid of it too fast, the guy's not even going to be open or he's not going to be looking for it. What can we do to slide protection of that guy that's wreaking havoc? And if they're all wreaking havoc and you just have no time at all, again, the quarterback is the one that gets the blame because that's the guy that most people focus on because we follow the ball. We tend to follow the ball. So the guy with the ball isn't getting it done. Well, he's not getting it done because all the other guys in front of him aren't getting it done and he's gobbled up before he has a chance to do anything. But I was kind of surprised last night to see him play it all. Gerard Mayo said after the game, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. But you're still putting them out there behind a beat up and ineffective offensive line. The Jets did not call off the dogs. They wanted to keep that score 24-3. And I almost, it's like they just treated it like a little pre-season exhibition drive. They weren't trying to score. They didn't use their timeouts. They got the ball down near the goal line. They didn't call a timeout to try to take a shot to the end zone. I was surprised that they didn't at least try to cap his initial drive with a touchdown. It's like, you know, we got some plays to run. Let's just run them with the rookie so he can get a little experience running plays. It was just a weird kind of a vibe when he came in. Well, it was a real, it was a different type of vibe when I was watching the Patriots play. It just, it seemed like they were still tired from their game on Sunday. It just didn't seem like they came out with a lot of fire, a lot of intensity. It was like they were going through the emotions. And that's what, that's what I noticed. And, you know, when the young kid gets in, obviously, you know, I mean, he's, that's not a great situation for him to be in. But if you can put him in that game situation where he can go and he can see, okay, there's Quinn and Williams. There's Quincy Williams. There's Sauce. There's this guy. There's that guy. Now he's in real live game action. He gets a chance to experience it for a few plays and, you know, of course he didn't get injured and he was able to come back out. But, you know, you look at the Patriots, man, it just, they just don't have a ton of talent. You start thinking about, they're not paying up, you know, anybody $50 million a year at the quarterback position. You got to go out and get talent. That's the thing that wins football games. You had to ride males a good coach, but he would be a better coach if he had better talent. He mentioned something that I hadn't thought of, the Patriots being tired. Remember it's been seven or eight years ago. They reduced overtime from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. And the big reason they did it, it was in the aftermath of, I think the Buccaneers played a game almost all the way through to the end of overtime against the Raiders, I think it was. They had a Thursday night game after that against the Falcons and they just got blown off the field. And the NFL at the time was very invested in making Thursday night football work. And one of the criticisms is, hey, you're expecting teams to turn around and play on Thursday when they just played on Sunday. The Patriots played five minutes and 19 seconds of overtime on Sunday against the Seahawks. Now, you know, half of an overtime period on top of that game, turning around and play on the road on Thursday night, maybe that's why they were tired. Maybe you know, sometimes, sometimes the explanations for things are fairly obvious. They went to overtime, played more than half of it, hard fought game, tried to beat the Seahawks and maybe they didn't have enough left when it was time to go play. That's exactly what it looked like, Mike. I think this spot on. I mean, you go and you play a tough physical game versus the Seattle and you have to come back and travel and all the media scrutiny, you're asking questions, you really feel like you didn't get a time to recover, not just physically, but emotionally, mentally. And now you got to go on a road, it's a high-profile game, nationally televised game. And I just didn't think they had the maturity and really the players to be able to make that quick turn around. You got to have really good players and good players aren't just the guys that can go out and make plays. It's mentally too. You got to have guys that are strong mentally will that can play on Sunday and still have that same excitement throughout the week and practice in meetings and try to bring joy on Thursday when you get a chance to play. What used to be Thanksgiving was the only time we saw the Sunday, Thursday turn around and there would be one Thursday night game around the time of the World Series because the NFL didn't want to compete with the World Series. It's funny there was a time the NFL actually worried about baseball or the World Series, but then 2006 it became back into the season, Thursday night after you retired it became basically every week. How many times did you have to do the Sunday to Thursday turn around? I know players are all over the place. All they like the mini buy on the back end, but it's still it's got to be a lot, especially the way a guy like you played. It's got to be a lot to get yourself ready to go with only Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday between games. I say this, those guys didn't experience training camp the way we experienced training camp. Back when I played we were hitting every single day and even if we had pads on in the morning and had shoulder pads on in the evening, we still hitting the morning. There was always that physical element and that's the biggest difference and that's why I say teams are making huge mistakes when you don't play in a preseason because when you don't play two or three games in a preseason, now the first month of the season is basically your preseason. You're trying to get in shape and that's what happened to the Jets last week. I went back and I watched last night the Jets and the 49ers and the Jets were getting blown off the ball defensively because they weren't in shape. Look at Quinn and Williams who I have so much respect for, the very first play of the game, he gets double team, he gets flat put on his back on his back and then he comes back and he has a decent game but they were tired man and that's a big point that no one's talking about. These guys, they're not in shape. This is only the third week of the season. The first month of the season right now is being used to work out a lot of those wrinkles, Mike. That's one thing Chris Sims was focused on as the season began. Out of the team's fair that did play their starters in the preseason and how do the teams look that didn't because for those teams the first month of the regular season is basically the preseason. Absolutely and that's the thing that our coaches would always push us and we would beg to get in the game. Hey coach, I know you said two series. Can we get another series? We just want to, we need that. We need to get our breathing now. We need to get the speed. We need to get our communication up. Now guys are like don't want to play preseason. Guys are sitting back like coach. I'm chilling. I don't want to play preseason. I don't want to get hurt but for me I never had that mindset. I always felt like it was a direct preparation for me to get ready for the season and all our players felt like that and it was an opportunity to get reps to show not only your team but other teams what you can do. I don't understand when guys, I'm begging like please give me an opportunity to go out there and play a preseason coach. And I do need to just add a little caveat, a little extra to what you said earlier about when you played for the Patriots. We hit in pads in the morning. We hit in pads in the afternoon. Some of you guys I think were hitting when it was walkthroughs. Somebody might have been hitting anybody any chance they got maybe in the meeting room. Even a guy wasn't expecting it. I've heard stories. Sometimes you just got to bring that physical element no matter where you're at. You got to set the top line. What do you think they should do now going forward? I think I know the answer given what you've already said but after the game they asked Gerard Mayo about quarterback going forward and he said I don't know we'll evaluate it every day. At some point this year they want to make Drake May the starter. I don't think the time is now and I suspect you don't either. I don't think the time is now for him to be able to go in there and get a few reps. That helps build his confidence but to put him in there behind that offensive line with those weapons there's no way that I'm doing anything like that. I would say give it another month of the season get through this gauntlet of games and kind of reevaluate where he's at his progression in practice has he gotten better is he a lot smarter when it comes to blitz pickup does he does he feel more comfortable under center does he feel more comfortable in the shotgun all those different things and once they find that out maybe in the next month or so but I wouldn't put him in the game right now no way. Yeah and look it's it's going to be a long season for the Patriots they're they're working through some things. Have some players that Bill Belichick drafted developed acquired who are good but there just isn't enough especially on the offensive line as you said 100% right they need to invest their resources in getting more offensive linemen who will allow this guy that they thought enough of not just to draft him at third overall but to not trade out of that spot with the Giants and get more picks Vikings reportedly were interested in coming up the number three to get Drake May could have got more picks that way more pieces to make your team better they really believe in Drake May and they want to be careful to not to not make him into as you said earlier Bryce Young do you believe in Drake May do you believe that he was he was deserving of a top three pick I you know I defer to Chris because Chris does the deep dive and looks at all of the incoming quarterbacks and he was not a believer in May he thought there was a lot of mechanical stuff that needed to be cleaned up and I've spotted some things that have improved his his left foot was all over the place early in the preseason he's gotten that under control I don't know how much you can really change on the fly but it looks like whatever they're doing to coach him up he's taking in one thing that mayo said recently Rodney he's getting significant first team reps in practice like it's not Jacobo for set all the time they're getting may out there they're getting him ready they want him to be ready to the left foot's not driving forward so maybe he's gonna never mind never but you know I think how hard it's got to be it up to break bad habits and and it just shows you how coaching at the college level you know if they don't spot your bad habits and start working on them they get baked in and you know you go out there and you're just playing football you can't be conscious of everything you're doing but he's got to do that that left foot gets a little too loose he could just drive a lot more get a lot more force and power on the ball if he's using the right mechanics so he's still got more to do thing that gets me nervous about these young quarterbacks too is when you're trying to coach them a lot of times they become robots you know and that's what I love about patching my homes I mean his you know the way he does things and I know he's one of one but he's not a robot Josh Allen they're not robots they're willing to you know do some crazy things throw across their body yet they have the freedom and the protection to do that but this kid I just don't want him to fall in that where he's thinking about every single thing that he does I was able to watch CJ's trial last week up close and personal and it was just really cool watching him play watching him take control on the first read and he's going through his progression first read is covered comes back to the second read and then all of a sudden he just automatically drops it off to the third read but this is the progression that these really good smart young quarterbacks are making and you know of course he can make it because he has an offensive line that he trusts in it that protects him but that's something that is a major concern for me will Drake may be able to go through his progression with this offensive line will they be able to consistently run the football to take a little pressure off the passing game and I like I said Mike before I just don't see any weapons man when you when you're when you have a young quarterback you have to get him weapons and I like to tie it in I think they're big targets I think they're very athletic good soft hands but you need a number one receiver you need someone that can say hey I can get this first down come to me and they just don't have that that's right it's a great point got a build from the inside out but at some point you need that outside weapon that's gonna be a difference maker and make it easier for the quarterback to move the chains let's take a break when we return our Friday staple in season show me something draft for week three that's next on PFT live I feel good about the track we're on trust me I know where we are but I feel good about the track we're on and I feel good about the players we have we'd love to have some of those guys from Ohio State too so if they want to transfer on down we've got a tutor a tutor's biscuit NIL all you can eat so if any of those guys that run really really fast at Ohio State like tutors biscuits I promise you all you can eat all day if you transfer here we've got a tutors biscuits in town they will fill you up baby they are good come on down Buckeyes we got biscuits forget the buckets that's fun oh it was Marshall plays Marshall plays Ohio State this weekend and they're gonna get the crap kicked out of him because Ohio State's got the money to go buy all the great players and that's how college football is now so that's how it goes alright show me something week three and Rodney this is good bad otherwise a guy that you want to see something from on Sunday it's not a guy it's a group of guys it's the Baltimore Ravens I mean you don't want to fall to or in three plan against the Cowboys and what I've seen from the Reagan's the Ravens this is not the same team this is not the same team that was hungry a team that it just seems like this team comes out with a certain level of arrogance Mike and just think that okay on paper we got all these guys we got the MVP and Lamar and you know we could just show we can just show up and win the football game and that's something there's no sense of urgency they're missing their defense coordinator and I committed to running the football I don't know what's going on with the Ravens but I'm watching them closely show me something will love us and don't show me more of those Carson Wentz plays he's had one of those every week it's a killer for a team it's a ticket to the bench and they got likely Malik Willis the former Titans quarterback coming to town this weekend for the Green Bay Packers to take on Will Levison company alright Rodney I didn't do a good job budgeting time we only got one pick each in the show me something draft but I'm going to say thank you very much for joining me on Fridays thank you in advance for continuing to do it on Fridays even though once you get a taste of dealing with me you might change your mind you forget what it used to be like to sit next to me in the viewing room you might remember saying I've had enough of that guy you know what that means that means that means rural alright thanks everybody for some of your time Rodney excellent enjoy the game this weekend Chief Falcons Rodney will be there on Sunday night football picks podcast next don't get to lie everybody's talking about shrinkflation companies are now giving you less for the same prices before at Domino's we're giving you more mix and match any two medium to topping pizzas and we'll upgrade one to a large for free that's more flation and that's Domino's for dinner prices higher for some locations select online only offer through September 29th prices participation delivery area and charges may vary to item minimum PAM pizza extra exclude specialty pizzas only one medium to topping pizza will be upgraded to a large the official grilling bar sponsor of the national football league how does it feel to serve up the NFL man it's a real dream come true I'm glad we'll be able to serve up some extra heat this season do you have any plans to celebrate absolutely we're going to serve up America's favor bonus wings with just 50 cents each to kick off the season any of our sources whether it's in restaurant or to go it don't matter it's all 50 cents all the time are you worried at all about any competition this season what competition limited time price participation in selection may vary tax and gratuity excluded
