- 17 minutes ago
WEEI Reporter and Host Justin Turpin joined the show to talk about the Patriots. The guys discussed the A.J. Brown injury saga and a potential trade for disgruntled Baltimore Ravens RB Derrick Henry.
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00:00And real quick before we get to the Derek Henry question, Stiz has a question for you.
00:02I did have a question for you regarding A.J. Brown.
00:05Okay, so we've been talking about did maybe Mike Vrabel have rose-colored glasses
00:10when it comes to, you know, trading for A.J. Brown?
00:13You give up a first-round pick for him.
00:15Now, all other teams, medical staff, passed on this guy.
00:19And what he has is a degenerative knee issue.
00:22So to me, and I'm not trying to play semantics,
00:24but to me it doesn't sound like that's like an injury.
00:26That sounds like a condition that is only getting worse.
00:30Like, this is it.
00:31You have it, and it's only going to get worse.
00:34So I just, I don't know.
00:37In hindsight, do you kind of, do you still stand by the pick?
00:41Well, hindsight's 20-20, so it makes it kind of hard to answer.
00:45But, I mean, looking at what A.J. Brown was,
00:47when you have a chance to get a top-wide receiver like that, you have to do it.
00:51Like, those type of players don't grow on trees.
00:53With a degenerative knee issue?
00:55Well, that's probably why he's available.
00:56Like, you don't really see teams move through wide receiver ones.
01:00It just doesn't really happen.
01:01They're usually drafted, and they stay there.
01:03And the Patriots have had real trouble drafting and developing these guys.
01:07So when a talent like A.J. Brown becomes available,
01:09someone that's topped 1,000 yards in six of his seven NFL seasons,
01:13you go out and make that deal for them.
01:15So, yeah, I think the knee thing is worrisome.
01:17And this was a problem that Elliott Wolfe acknowledged
01:19when he talked to Yahoo Sports after the trade,
01:21that they were aware of this, and the medical team signed off.
01:24And I think the Mike Rabel aspect is certainly interesting in this,
01:27but you can't forget the type of player that A.J. Brown was,
01:30the type of player that we saw in the summer,
01:31and what they expect him to be.
01:33I'm going to go with, I'm going to hang in the pocket on this one
01:34and say he'll be back.
01:35I know there are some doomers out there saying he's done for the year,
01:38including Schefter, our guy who was kind of hinting at that.
01:40He said nothing, literally nothing.
01:43He said words that mean nothing.
01:45But let me present a couple facts.
01:47Some concerns as to how long he's going to keep playing here in New England.
01:49Oh, geez, that is terrifying.
01:51However, this is a knee issue that he has dealt with before,
01:54and he mostly played, right?
01:56Right.
01:56So he should be able to figure this out in time for the Buffalo game in December.
02:00That's all that matters.
02:01Get back for the Bills game.
02:03I don't care if he's a decoy.
02:04Get out there.
02:05They would cut him.
02:06They would put him on IR if they had no hope of that.
02:08It's tough to figure out a degenerative knee issue.
02:10You can't figure that out.
02:12Sure you can.
02:12That's what I'm saying.
02:13It's not like an injury.
02:14It sounds like something that just flares up.
02:16That's what happened to this.
02:17Get him a replacement.
02:18Get him some AI treatments.
02:19Is it Matt Collins?
02:20Ted, what do you think?
02:21Is he coming back this year?
02:22Yeah, he's coming back.
02:23I think he's coming back.
02:24I don't know, but a lot of people kind of see it the way Rich does, too.
02:30The crazy thing is he's played through this knee in the past.
02:35He's drained it.
02:36He's managed it, and he didn't miss a lot of time because of it.
02:43It's hard for the – I feel bad because I just think they're probably thinking the same thing.
02:48Well, he's been able to manage it up so far all these years, so why can't he do it again
02:53for us this year?
02:54But every day it would only be getting worse, right?
02:56Every game, every hit, every run.
02:58That's what degenerative means.
02:59Yeah, that's true.
03:00I think they keep him out until after the bye.
03:02That's my guess.
03:03I think he can still contribute, though.
03:05I still think he can give you something.
03:07Just to put him out to pass you right now, I don't think would be the smartest thing.
03:11I would just keep having him work through it until he does get healthy.
03:15Like, to your point, Ken, he can be – if nothing else.
03:17Dude, in the last two games before he got injured, he was still a decoy.
03:20I mean, they were double-teaming him in these critical situations, and that got other guys open for touchdowns.
03:26But can't we say that the time he has played, the half of a game at the beginning of the
03:31season, the two games back,
03:33if you categorized his play during those three games, he was bad.
03:37He was adequate.
03:38I don't know if it's bad.
03:39He didn't catch anything.
03:40His job is to catch the ball.
03:41The first game, I thought he was good in that first half.
03:44I mean, he had two catches on third down.
03:45He drew the pass interference on the goal line that led to their only touchdown in that game.
03:49So I thought he was good the first game.
03:51I thought he was all right in the Jets game.
03:53He just couldn't catch the damn football, which I guess is a pretty important part of being wide receiver five
03:57times
03:57and almost blew the game with him being on the hands team.
03:59But wasn't it encouraging to see that the issue wasn't his ability to get open
04:04and that he was creating separation?
04:05He was putting himself in position to make plays and was just dropping the ball.
04:09Like, that's not what his career typically is.
04:12He's not a guy that has a ton of drops.
04:13It's like, I wasn't really worried about that.
04:15It doesn't mean he was good in the game.
04:16I think the only game he was really good in was the first one.
04:19Well, that's like having a car that can only go in reverse.
04:20It goes in reverse really well.
04:22Better than nothing.
04:23But the point of it is to go, like, drive forward.
04:26The point is to catch passes.
04:27Like, I understand being a decoy is great, but at some point they're going to realize,
04:31dude, this guy ain't catching anything, and he's not going to be as convincing a decoy.
04:35Yeah.
04:36Dude, he's never had issues with drops before, ever.
04:39Like, he's had a bad year with drops, but I don't think it's – I think there's a randomness to
04:45that too, right?
04:46And if he's worried about his injury, coming off of his injury, that might impact how he catches the ball.
04:52If he gets healthy, I don't think that's going to be an issue.
04:54I really don't.
04:55I guess what scares me, Ted, is that what was his final game like with the Eagles?
04:59Everyone points to that playoff game.
05:02Okay, that's one game.
05:03That's one game.
05:04And then the games that he dropped, passes in the Jets game, yeah, but he was coming off of an
05:09injury too.
05:09Yeah, and he hated that quarterback.
05:11He likes this one.
05:11A.J. Brown's been targeted 836 times in his career.
05:14How many drops do you think he has?
05:16Five.
05:16Not many.
05:1731.
05:18All right, that's a pretty damn good number.
05:19How many has he had his last four games?
05:21Five.
05:21He had five against the Jets.
05:23How many has he had?
05:24I mean, jeez, it's like – I mean, your body can get sick.
05:28Your body can get injured, and everything can change.
05:32He has a degenerative knee issue that everybody knew about.
05:36Degenerative isn't something that put a Band-Aid on it.
05:38But no one was talking about the knee for that Jets game.
05:39Everything was about the ankle.
05:41And again, he looked fine in that game in terms of how he was moving.
05:43But we don't know the knee wasn't effing with him.
05:46It just wasn't on the list.
05:49I think it was, like, the ankle.
05:51But, yeah, that's true.
05:51We don't really know because it did just pop up last week.
05:54Yeah.
05:54All right, well, trade deadline-related question with a lock it in.
05:57More likely to return before the end of the season, A.J. Brown or Travion Henderson?
06:03I mean, A.J. Brown.
06:05You, sir, are correct.
06:07I think –
06:08And that means you go out and trade for Derrick Henry.
06:12Let's go.
06:13Let's go.
06:14All right, let's talk about that because we played a clip earlier of Derrick Henry
06:18after that Ravens game, and they are woeful right now.
06:21And I know that they are – they're what?
06:23Three and four?
06:25Is that what it is?
06:25Or they're –
06:26The Ravens?
06:27Four and four?
06:27No, no, they're like four and five?
06:29Oh, four and five.
06:30Okay, four and five.
06:31So, I mean, they're not out of it.
06:33They started off hot, but they've lost, like, three in a row.
06:37They don't have a quarterback.
06:38Jacoby Brissett's there to save the day.
06:41It sounds like things are not getting any better.
06:43Nobody has any faith in this coach.
06:45And Derrick Henry sounds pissed.
06:46Like, he wants to be – he's actually, to be quite honest,
06:49he was as professional as you could be while being as pissed as you could tell that he was.
06:54Like, his words were saying one thing, but the way he said it was completely different.
07:00Do you believe that the Ravens would, A, trade him, and, B, according to one report from A to Z
07:07Sports,
07:07I don't know how reliable they are, they say that the Patriots are interested.
07:11If I'm the Patriots, I probably wouldn't be interested.
07:13I know he's a great player, but he turns 33 in January,
07:16and right now you feel pretty good about what you have at running back with Ramondre Stevenson.
07:20I guess they believe in him.
07:22That's one running back.
07:22But I guess they're saying that all of his money, the majority of his money,
07:26was paid in bonuses already this year, and he would only cost, what was it, $600,000?
07:31Right.
07:31And then next year he has, like, you know, I think it was like – I think it's like $19
07:36million.
07:36But that's also not guaranteed.
07:38So you could cut him.
07:39Like, you could literally just borrow him for $600,000 for the rest of the season
07:43and then cut him, according to all reports.
07:46That, to me, just depends on the price tag.
07:48Like, part of the reason that we're talking about no depth on the team
07:51is because they haven't been able to draft.
07:53And you already gave away a 2028 first-round pick for A.J. Brown.
07:56If you want to throw the later-round pick in there, too, fine.
08:00But part of the reason you haven't been able to build up the depth
08:03is because you haven't been able to draft.
08:04And now you're going to trade away the draft picks for a rental?
08:06A fourth-rounder? You wouldn't give up a fourth-rounder?
08:08A fourth-rounder I would do.
08:09I just don't think a fourth-rounder is getting it done for Derrick Henry.
08:12Fourth and a sixth.
08:12I just don't think it's going to be that.
08:14That got it done last year for Jacoby Myers and for – who went to Seattle,
08:18the wide receiver, the return guy, Shahid.
08:21I don't think those two are comparable to Derrick Henry, though.
08:23Derrick Henry's 32. Those guys are younger.
08:25But Derrick Henry's still very efficient.
08:26He's killing it right now.
08:28I know he hasn't been good the last couple weeks, but he's still a very –
08:31But Jonathan Taylor is the top of the market, right?
08:32He's going to cost significant – I don't think Derrick Henry –
08:34He's going to take a first-rounder.
08:35Yeah.
08:36Someone – like, they're asking for a first-rounder.
08:38Maybe it will be a second-rounder, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone –
08:42Also, if you don't go out, Denver is.
08:44I mean, there will be teams in the AFC that do trade for a running back that help them out.
08:48You don't – I mean, it's kind of – right now you're in a race.
08:50I think you should be buying at this trade deadline.
08:52I think you owe it to the team.
08:53You owe it to the quarterback.
08:54And they always say, like, the easiest time to build a team is when your quarterback's on a rookie deal.
08:59Well, he's going to be making near $70 million next year.
09:01So now would be the time to cash in and try to make it work.
09:04So I think it does make sense to buy at the deadline, but you want to do it with also
09:08having the future in mind.
09:09And I just don't know if Derrick Henry would necessarily fill that – fit that timeline.
09:13Ted, where are you at?
09:14Derrick Henry, yay or nay?
09:16I – it's – man, it's hard not to pass up that – I think he would be a really
09:21good addition,
09:22because I think it helps Drake May in the passing game, believe it or not,
09:25even though he's a running back.
09:26I just think it takes some of the pressure off of him for the short to intermediate game
09:30that they're not very good at.
09:33And so if you can't get a receiver at a trade deadline, a running back –
09:36because the usage rate for Ramond Ray right now has me worried.
09:40They're using him too much.
09:41And he's going to break down because he's a – you know, he's a bull.
09:45And so Derrick Henry along takes some of that pressure off of Ramond Ray.
09:50He's a good – and I guess he's a really good in blitz pickup and protection,
09:54which Travion Henderson was not.
09:57So it takes – it just takes a lot of pressure off Ramond Ray,
10:00and you can almost split up the carries between the two.
10:04And that's going to help your play-action game.
10:06And Drake is passing game because of the protection that he gives
10:11and the yards after contact.
10:13Derrick Henry is the sixth best running back in yards after contact.
10:16He averages over like three yards after contact, which is insane.
10:20How funny is it that Mike Vrabel is running Ramond Ray Stevenson
10:24the way that he ran Derrick Henry back in the day?
10:27Just like running him into the ground, baby.
10:29Let's get those numbers up.
10:30By the way, officially, Micah Parsons is out against the Patriots.
10:33I think we all kind of expected that.
10:35But, you know, that's obviously a good thing.
10:37But, Jerry, you're catching a break.
10:38Like, honestly, before the year we didn't know what –
10:40this was about the time he might have come back.
10:42And he's the elite, right?
10:43Ted, wouldn't you say he's like the top one or two pass rusher in the game
10:46when healthy?
10:46Oh, my gosh.
10:47Yeah, it's amazing.
10:48I used to look at the stats for the Dallas Cowboys defense
10:50when he was on that defense with him on versus with him off.
10:54They're a top five defense with him on.
10:56They're like one of the worst defenses with him off.
10:58He has that kind of impact.