Before we discuss topics and news across the league, I have some thoughts about the Patriots' 14-13 loss Thursday to the Eagles.
1. The first-team offense needs more work. Friday morning, Jerod Mayo indicated how he'll manage this group heading into the preseason finale on August 25th in Washington.
"I think the entire offense definitely needs to play, continue to gel," he said.
This makes sense. With the extra week off between that game and the regular season opener in Cincinnati, they most certainly need to get the ones snaps against the Commanders. Jacoby Brissett, in particular, had a rough joint practice Tuesday (along with everyone else on offense) and followed it up with an uninspiring performance against Philly (3-of-7, 17 yards) that included a red zone interception on a ball intended for Austin Hooper.
"Lot of room for growth, obviously," said Brissett. "Operations getting cleaner, and you don't want those errors, the picks, for instance, to happen, but it gives you a chance to look at it and be like, 'hey, this is what I was thinking here.' It opens the room for communication because even when Hoop (Austin Hooper) came back to the sideline, me and him were talking - we just haven't been in that situation before. So it's going to be good to learn from a lot of this stuff."
2. The offensive line was, dare I say, not terrible. Of course, it came against the backups, so there's a healthy qualifier there, but Brissett and Drake Maye were kept relatively clean until Maye got smoked by Nolan Smith to end his fourth and final drive early in the third quarter. The clean(ish) pocket was primarily kept by what we'd consider the first line (from left to right): Lowe, Sow, Andrews, Onwenu, and Okorafor, though Andrews was out when Maye got drilled.
"There were definitely some ups and some downs," said Mayo post-game. "I would say there's a dramatic drop-off, not really physically, but just knowing what to do between the first line and the second and third guys. They have to get better as a whole, as a unit."
Feels like the Pats will be very active around cut-down day to find another body or two to add to the line mix.
3. Settle down with the phrase "quarterback competition." There isn't one, at least not yet. Brissett has been miles ahead of Maye in team work, and while the rookie has been a 7-on-7 all-star, that's not the game you play on Sundays. To that end, last night, Mayo was asked if the line's struggles would factor into a decision to keep Maye out of the lineup (good question, but entirely too premature considering where Maye has been).
"For me, we always talk about competition, and that's at all spots. So, even if Drake beats out Jacoby (Brissett), I mean, he earned that role. We don't really take that into consideration. When he's ready to go, and if he's better than Jacoby, then he'll play; he'll start."
4. Has anyone stepped up at corner with the Jones boys absent? Yes and no. Alex Austin, Marco Wilson, and Isaiah Bolden have all had their moments, but when I asked Mayo if someone had separated from the pack, he smiled and let out a little laugh.
"Yeah, this is the frustrating part," he said, adding, "It depends on what day you kind of look out there. It's up and down, up and down. It's about consistency in this league, as you know, and we're looking for consistency opposite Gonzo (Christian Gonzalez)."
LOST SEASON?
After such a strong preseason debut, it was a bummer to hear that J.J. McCarthy is likely lost for the year with a torn meniscus. McCarthy hit 11-of-17 passes for 188 yards and a pair of touchdowns, responding nicely to an early interception.
"As crushed as I am for our team and the excitement that we had in our building and our fanbase felt the same way, especially after seeing him perform really well the other day at U.S. Bank Stadium, I'm the most crushed for J.J," said head coach Kevin O'Connell. "But, as our fans either have already come to find out or will in the future, this guy is so motivated and so dialed in. As excited as I was to draft him, he's confirmed everything that I hoped to see not only early on through training camp, through his performance last Saturday, but our fanbase and everyone should just be excited about the fact that we've got our young franchise quarterback, I believe, in the building."
After a slow start in training camp, McCarthy had been making great strides. It probably wasn't enough to unseat Sam Darnold, who the team gave $10 million this offseason, but it certainly opened the door for a possible QB change at some point during the season.
McCarthy potentially becomes the first quarterback drafted in the top-10 of the Super Bowl era (since 1967) to miss his entire rookie season because of injury (they haven't placed him on IR yet). Bummer, but O'Connell told the local media that while not ideal, the former Michigan star can still progress while sidelined.
"Maybe the physical reps aren't going to be there in the short term, but this is going to be a small bump in the road," he said. "Other quarterbacks in our league have gone through similar things early on in their journey and came back stronger and better than ever, and that is not only my expectation -- I know that is going to happen for J.J. We will have a great plan for him not only in the quarterback room with those other guys but a process so him and I can continue to build our rapport and make sure there's a day-to-day football process. But early on, most importantly, it's going to be about that rehab and the physical aspect of working his way back. I expect him to make a full recovery."
Is McCarthy's plight a reason for the Patriots to go even slower with Drake Maye, especially considering their issues upfront? No. Injuries can happen every time you step on the field. Tom Brady tore a calf muscle in practice because his shoelace came untied and got stepped on. He needed Alex Guerrero's 24/7 approach to play that weekend and beyond. You can't fear the unknown. Football players play, and Maye is, by all accounts, a tough guy and physically capable of getting hit. It happened a lot at North Carolina. It'll happen a lot here, too. Take the bubble wrap off.
BACK IN BUSINESS
In his second year in the league (2020), Diontae Johnson reeled in 88 passes for 900+ yards and seven touchdowns. A year later, those numbers jumped to 107/1,161/8, and Johnson looked like another in a long line of fantastic wide receiver finds by the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, the drafting of George Pickens that spring and continued mediocre quarterback play (Kenny Pickett/Mason Rudolph) eventually led to a sizeable decrease in production and a significant increase in agitation for the former third-rounder out of Toledo. Mike Tomlin had enough, and the Steelers swapped contracts with the Panthers (CB Donte Jackson) to rid themselves of what they considered a problem.
Well, guess what? Johnson is reborn in Carolina, where new head coach Dave Canales declared the 28-year-old the team's go-to guy this week.
"As we build our offense, we will really try to feature someone - and for us right now, it's 'Where's Diontae Johnson at?'"
That is music to Johnson's ears.
"I liked to hear that," Johnson said. "Now it's up to me to run my routes and get open."
Canales, who did a terrific job reviving Baker Mayfield in Tampa, has been charged with the same task in Carolina, trying to mold former top pick Bryce Young into a franchise quarterback. Young's first season was below average, but so were his offensive line and the weapons the previous regime had surrounded him with. Now, with Johnson in the fold and a first-round pick spent on Xavier Legette (the Pats liked him a bunch), Young might have a chance. You can already see the creativity Canales is capable of, putting Johnson in the backfield and using a ton of motion to give the shifty route runner more space with which to operate.
"I think he's going to surprise some people," said Johnson of Young before adding, "I think this offense will surprise some people."
We didn't see that in the preseason opener in Foxborough, but 31 players - including all the starters - didn't dress for that game. It was bound to be ugly, and it was. Canales and new GM Dan Morgan have raised the talent floor in the last four months. Now, we'll get to see where the ceiling could be starting in a few weeks.
AFC EAST CHECK-IN
The Jets are still Jets-ing. The Haason Reddick holdout is an absolute poop show, with Reddick amassing almost $2 million in fines and publicly asking for a trade this week. GM Joe Douglas immediately released a statement that I should have come with a Dikembe Mutombo finger-wagging meme.
"We have informed Haason that we will not trade him, that he is expected to be here with his teammates, and that he will continue to be fined per the CBA if he does not report. Since the trade discussions back in March we have been clear, direct, and consistent with our position. Our focus will remain on the guys we have here as we prepare for the regular season."
Several reports have suggested that Reddick won't even respond to the Jets' overtures, and now Aaron Rodgers (ultimate team guy?) is saying he will attempt to contact the talented edge rusher to see if he can't convince him to end this nonsense.
If you'll recall, the Jets traded for Reddich in March, even after their initial contract talks with him prior to making the move had failed. In their defense, Reddick did tell him he would show as they worked toward a new deal. But then he didn't, and it's been a mess ever since.
Reddick is due to make $14.25 million in the final year of a three-year contract he signed with the Eagles in free agency, but none of that money is guaranteed. With 27 sacks over the last two seasons, the former Temple star correctly believes he's outperformed the number he's due to get (ring familiar?). It's believed he's seeking somewhere between $25 and $28 million per season. The Jets haven't been willing to go there.
There's been pushback that NY has enough talent defensively to excel without Reddick. Still, they lost Bryce Huff in free agency and traded John Franklin-Myers to Denver, with the latter done to create the room necessary to fit Reddick into their cap. At this point, Douglas would like a mulligan.
In Buffalo, Matt Milano has been working his ass off trying to come back from a season-ending leg fracture suffered in week five last year;. He stayed in Buffalo all off-season to continue work with team docs and trainers, and though his progress this summer has been measured, there was still a strong belief he could return to form as one of the most dominant LBs in football. Instead, heartbreak. Milano tore his bicep during a tackling drill Tuesday. He'll have surgery soon. No official timetable's been given - there was one report suggesting a potential for a December return - but considering Sean McDermott's tone and the history of that injury, it feels like the Bills are approaching this as if they won't see Milano this season.
"If you know the person, this is not going to beat or keep Matt Milano down," said the head coach Thursday before a joint practice in Pittsburgh.
"Matt's a strong, young man. I know he's gonna handle this. It's certainly tough, especially coming off the year he came off of already. The good thing is he's got a good family behind him that's gonna support him, teammates that are gonna support him, as well as the coaching staff and our entire football organization."
So what do the Bills do now? They have a budding star at LB in Terrel Bernard, but Milano's playmaking ability is irreplaceable. Dorian Williams had to step in last year, and the same is expected now.
"Dorian is going to do a good job," said McDermott. "He's been making progress, and it's now not only his time to step up, but all his teammates around to step up. It's not just one person's job to fill the void or try and fill the void left by Matt. You never can replace a player like Matt or Matt's influence. But now it's time for our team to move forward in a resilient manner and pick each other up, and guys like Dorian have to step up."
Meanwhile, all's quiet in Miami. Everybody who wanted to get paid (Tua, Tyreek, Waddle) did get paid. Mike McDaniel has empowered his stars to run the locker room and take ownership of the good, bad, and ugly. So far, so good.
"This isn't Mike's team, this is our team. At the end of the day, that's what it is," said Tagovailoa. "Sort of our mantra of how we go out there and do things is if I go out there and I throw a pick, it's not (pass game coordinator) Darrell Bevell that threw the pick, it's not Mike McDaniel's play call that threw the pick, that's my name on that. That's our offense's name on that.
"All around, we better make sure we all know what we're doing because if something slips up, you best know (that) on this team this year, you're getting called out."
"We already had responsibility on our shoulders," said Hill. "We've been feeling like this. We've got too competitive of a team and too great of guys on this team to not win games, and we all know that, man."
Winning in September, October, and November hasn't been their problem. Unfortunately for them, the season still has a couple more months of play.