Rejoice, New England Patriots fans. Training camp is almost here.
The Pats will return to the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium for Day 1 of camp on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET. As they prepare to get back to work, our insiders Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry are back in the podcast studio to get you up to date on the biggest Patriots storylines heading into training camp.
It all starts with third-year quarterback Drake Maye, who will look to build off his NFL MVP runner-up campaign with even better numbers now that he has a true No. 1 receiver in A.J. Brown. Then, there are some not-so-fun storylines, such as second-round linebacker Gabe Jacas remaining unsigned and star cornerback Christian Gonzalez still looking for a lucrative contract extension.
Curran and Perry cover it all in the latest Patriots Talk Podcast:
The next step for Drake Maye
Of course, the center of attention at Patriots training camp will be Maye. After leading New England to a Super Bowl appearance and finishing second in MVP voting, Maye could be even more dangerous this year with more weapons at his disposal.
The Patriots traded for superstar wide receiver A.J. Brown and signed ex-Green Bay Packers wideout Romeo Doubs to strengthen their passing game. At camp, it’ll be worth watching how Maye builds chemistry with his new receivers while taking on an even larger leadership role with a crowded WR room.
“You’re gonna have, with Drake Maye, an onus on him to be the lead person,” Curran said. “(Offensive coordinator Josh) McDaniels can do it, wide receivers coach Todd Downing can do it, Mike Vrabel can do it. But really, it falls to the guy in the huddle to assuage concerns among A.J. Brown or Romeo Doubs or Kayshon Boutte or DeMario Douglas about their touches, because there’s gonna be a lot of guys who are saying, ‘Where’s mine? What’s mine? What’s my role?’ because there are new roles being established.
“I think the onus is on him in Year 3 of his career to begin to have that leadership that (Tom) Brady took on with his wideouts to get in their ear and say, ‘Relax, you’ll get plenty of balls.'”
Perry believes Maye’s focus will be on the satisfaction of his new No. 1 wideout.
“I think the one guy he has to concern himself with in that regard would be A.J. Brown,” Perry said. “I think having that experience that they had last year with Stefon Diggs will help (Maye) a lot. I think his confidence, just the comfort that he has in his own skin will allow him to continue to deal with guys who are producing at a superstar level.
“If Kyle Williams starts barking at him or Kayshon Boutte if he’s here starts chirping at him in the locker room … like, sorry guys, you’re not at that level. And Drake Maye’s at a level now where he’s runner-up in the MVP where he can kind of look at them and say, ‘Are you serious right now?'”
The Gabe Jacas dilemma
Patriots second-round draft pick Gabe Jacas still hasn’t signed his contract with training camp looming. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said on Early Edition that the young linebacker is “inching toward a redshirt rookie season.”
Who’s to blame for this situation?
“I think I’m going to begin with Jacas,” Curran answered. “It seems as if the agitation is with a surgery based upon some Mike Reiss reporting that he had in the offseason on his shoulder. There was a knee issue prior to that, and he also had a shoulder injury that was surgically repaired.
“What Mike reported was that the hangup was the Patriots had something in a waiver for him to participate in the offseason prior to signing his full contract that he didn’t agree to. So I’m feeling like the first shot was fired by a surgery that seemingly, the Patriots may not have had knowledge of. But resolution has to happen with a guy who was supposed to, I’d imagine, contribute this year.”
Perry is left perplexed by how the ordeal has unfolded with no apparent solution in sight.
“I wonder how long this is gonna go, because Gabe Jacas is posting on social media all sorts of clips of him moving around at a pretty good rate,” Perry said. “And so, is he physically unable to do anything right now? Is he 90 percent not 100 percent, and he’s holding himself back? I don’t know. … He’s still the only draft pick who’s unsigned. … It makes it a very unusual situation for all of us covering it.”
Also in the episode: A Christian Gonzalez contract update, the best day to attend training camp, and more.
Check out the full Patriots Talk Podcast episode below:
