Patriots vs. Jets Week 6 Preview with Will Parkinson

We're going to remove entitlement from our football team. This is 6 Rings and Football Things. Hey, everybody. Welcome to another special game preview episode of 6 Rings, Patriots, Jets edition. Today, our guest is Will Parkinson of Turn on the Jets and In The Trenches. Will, thank you for joining us. These are two teams, traditional rivals that are coming off winning weeks. I'm just going to ask you right off the top. Do the Jets think that they have a real shot in this game against the Patriots when they look back at the way that the Patriots season started and their offensive woes? Yeah, I think there's some quiet optimism. I think they're pretty aware of like they haven't, they haven't won a meaningful game in the regular season in New England in 18 years now, since Brett Bart won on Thursday night football. So, it's been a long time. Do I think that they're much more confident? I mean, they've, they've been competitive all year outside of the Chicago game. They're a much different team than they were a year ago. And Gary Wilson said yesterday, he's like, this is a big ass game. Like, we know we need to like start winning games in the division. Jarvis Brownlee was like, it's like, just whatever. He's a walking quote. But yeah, I don't think they're sitting there like this is going to be a walk over. But I also think they're like, we have a shot if we play the brand of football we want to play, which is kind of punching the math a little bit. And get Garrett Wilson and playmakers of football. It wouldn't be the first time Gino Smith went into Gillette and won a big game. He's won back to that game two years in a row. Yeah, he's done it a couple of times now. A lot of the Patriots yesterday were mentioning that when watching the tape of this Jets team, they see a different team compared to years past. I'm curious just from your perspective, what are those biggest differences? Yeah, I mean, I think, yeah, two Hall of Famers and Minka and DiMario who come in and they just, the physicality they play with DiMario is like, I've never seen a human being with more energy in my life. He just does not stop talking. It's great. From a Minka perspective, I mean, the hit he put on KC Concepcion last week, well, it was entirely legal, so I don't know what Brown's fans are going off about. They were going crazy about it. Yeah, it's crazy because Jared Vance launched himself off the ground and headbutted Gino Smith after the play. But again, that wasn't even a flag. So my thing with Minka though, is like the physicality he plays with back there. I think that's just a different group. They brought in a ton of young players. They had three first round picks a year ago. They have another three this year. D'Angelo Pontius hasn't really even played yet. There's another top 50 pick. And on top of that, just like, it's just a different brand of football. Like it's Aaron Glenn's guys. He brought in guys like Oniyomada, who he coached in New Orleans. Again, Demario, obviously, he had in New Orleans. Minka, who they brought in Brian Duker to be there, like quasi defensive coordinator. He had Minka last year in Miami. So it's like, it's a new group fueled with, you know, just a different energy. I think they all kind of bought into the messaging. They all, whether Glenn ends up keeping his job or not, these guys definitely, at least at this point in the year, kind of have his back. So, yeah, the last time the Patriots saw the Jets was like a JV squad, and they rightfully blew them out, like as they should have. This, I'd be pretty surprised if this ends in as big of a blowout. Maybe this isn't Patriots win by 10, and it's like a comfortable 10, but I would be pretty surprised if this is not a, the competitive level is just is very different from this group. I'd love to pick your brain about the differences in this year's defense versus last year, because last year, that's a defense that finished 25th in yards allowed. Right now, it's early in the season, but they're sitting at 4th, and they're tied for 3rd in sacks. For someone like Drake Maye, who struggled handling defensive pressure earlier in the season, that's a little bit scary, especially when the offensive line for the Patriots is banged up. It looks like left tackle Will Campbell is certainly not going to be able to go on Sunday. What are you seeing from the defensive front, the pressure that they can bring, the blitzes? But also in the secondary, famously the Jets went the entire last season without a single play. It's finally over. They had 4 interceptions against the Bears and 3 got called back for penalties. 2 weeks ago, it was like this would make a drop, like the easiest interception I'll ever have last week too. But no, the pressure has been different. So week 1 was a lot of group pressure where they got after it. Similar with week 2 where, again, Tim Andre Sweat's been a big addition. He just eats blocks. Joanne Briggs, who they acquired last year, had a quietly good year. He's a potential extension candidate at the end of the year. Again, not a big money guy, but he's a guy who will probably keep around. And then they drafted David Bailey number 2 overall. And Glenn's changed up the scheme. Last year's scheme was just a mess, to say the least. They had a lot of guys going rogue and not doing what they're supposed to do. It was just not a good group. They kind of found their stride last week against Cleveland, where Bailey had 3 sacks and 9 pressures. He just has relentless energy. I said this to Mike Giordano. I don't think he's a great matchup for Morgan Moses. Morgan's a really solid veteran, but Bailey's first step is one of the best in the league. And he just has this relentless, youthful energy, where he just plays a million miles an hour the whole time. Now Morgan might be able to just kind of get him with a veteran mindset, but Bailey looks like a different player now. I started to have kind of a past-rush plan. Then you guys like Will McDonald, they used as a spy last week. I wonder if they do the same thing with Drake Maye, where you want to try to not allow him to come and move to his right, where he does a lot of his damage. So yeah, this group, they bring a lot of pressure with guys like Demario and Sherwood in the middle. They bring Jarvis Brownlee a lot on these kind of on these nickel blitzes. I don't know if they're going to be as pressure happy in this game though. I'm kind of curious if they go with the like build a wall and make Drake get impatient and try to drop 6 in coverage at times, 7 in coverage, 8 in coverage even at times. They dropped Bailey in coverage at times this year. So I'm curious how they approach it because against the blitz and against man coverage Drake Maye has been really good the last couple of weeks. Cover 6 and Cover 8 famously kind of destroyed him a little bit. No, no, no. Patriots fans haven't had to hear about that in two weeks. Well, we have heard about that in a while now, yeah. I think you'll see some of that on Sunday. So yeah, I think they're going to have to mix and match coverages and mix and match when they blitz because again, you don't want to get to like two blitz happy against this group unless you're getting home early. Again, we'll see how Lomu looks. He looked good last week. We'll see how like, I don't know what we're going to do at right guard here and AVT's revenge game, the whole thing. So yeah, yeah, really quick. What do you think of him? I love AVT as a person. I love AVT as a person. He was like, great to me. I think it was like it got to be a mental thing with the Jets. It was three times in five years, really, it was four times in five years where like, I mean, who tears their tricep twice? It was freaky injuries. His pec, his achilles, it was like, I think it was like just a clean like what happened here. And again, I think losing kind of gets to you. And so I think AVT means well, I just, I think he was kind of done with like, every year I keep seemingly get hurt. He was amazing in camp last year. He was like, wow, this guy's a captain. He's going to get an extension. Glenn talked about it. He's like, he's our next guy to get an extension. And tires his tricep in a walkthrough. Like, so I was at impossible in a walkthrough. I just, I don't know. I genuinely wish. Yeah, they were just like doing one on one, like individual drills and pops the tricep the week before the season. So yeah, I have a lot of respect for AVT. He's an awesome player. I will say the last two times, and Quincy Williams did it a week ago. He had played great, but they lost. And then all of the Titans guys were like, oh, screw the Jets. And they both lost. So like maybe AVT takes the approach of just, we say nothing and we keep it moving here this week. That's what he's been doing in the locker room. I tried to bait him on it a little bit yesterday. And he was like, mm-mm. Yeah, he got himself, when he signed, he said something. I don't know. He said something about like kind of this mindset of everyone he wants to win and in New York, it's not the case. And Jets fans got after him a little bit. I will say, I did not realize that. So I quoted him back to himself yesterday. And the look in his eyes was like, I'm running, I'm running a hundred miles away from what I said this spring. And I was like, oh, I did not realize, I should have, that the Jets fans on social media were probably rabid with those comments. Yeah. I mean, I get destroyed and I'm covering the team. So I can only imagine being a former player. Quincy Williams, to his credit last week, he requested a trade last year. So spare me with the like, they didn't resign me thing. You requested a trade and they trade your brother, but he forced three fumbles and had like 18 tackles. So good for him. But yeah, I'd be curious how ABT, if this game was a home game and how it would be received, they'd probably get some boo-birds. I want to keep it with the offensive line and just circle back to Bailey. I know he's mainly lined up on the right side, but could you see him lining up on the left a little bit? We've seen that at various times throughout the year where Will Campbell has been matched up with guys who have primarily lined up on the right side and Lomu struggled a little bit last year when they did meet in college. Bailey was able to generate some pressure. Could you see them mixing that up a little bit? Yeah. I think they're going to have to throw every wrinkle in this game. This is a pivotal game for them. They're two and three right now. They've got two games. They'll be likely favorited at home in Miami and Vegas following. This is one of those like they lose the Green Bay game and no business losing. In a year, you usually have to steal two or three of no business winning, and this is one of those ones. This has to be a kitchen sink game, whether it's trick plays, whether it's different schematic things, you're going to throw out somebody moving Bailey around. Again, it's not the worst thing in the world. He's able to do it. I think they'll use Will McDonnell a little bit. Kingsley and Bari has had a really, really good start to the year. He usually lines up on the strong side of that offensive line. But yeah, if I was the Jets, I'm moving Bailey around as much as possible because, again, he's a guy who's going to chip the bunch, and especially come off a three-sack game, the Patriots can be very aware of where he is at all times. I want to ask about Garrett Wilson's game. At first, I'm very curious about the setup that he's in right now, because Aaron Glenn comes back for another year. It seems like from the outside, there are natural questions about how long his leash is going to be after an unsuccessful year last year. You say things, the vibe is very different in there. Guys are buying into the message. Garrett Wilson is such an obvious talent on the team. He's playing with a veteran journeyman guy in Geno Smith. He's fine, but at this point, there was a little bit of a Geno renaissance, so then it went away. He's not exactly going to have the timeline of Sam Darnold, say, with the Seahawks, where all of a sudden, you find yourself in a Super Bowl, and it's more about the defense than your quarterback. For Garrett Wilson, do you think that before we get to the matchup on Sunday, that he's going to be long-term for the Jets? Or is there a feeling there of the clock is going to be ticking unless they put together a true offensive foundation to hold on to him, and get the contract and the stats here? Yeah, it's a fun... Kay Adams had on her show, one of the Niners guys, like, oh, for a first-round pick, I was like, they're moosies blocking your number, unless they're... That's... They did just sign Garrett to an extension last year. I think, you know, he's the most... It feels like coming into the season and camp, and even throughout the year so far, he's been the most, like, at peace, I feel like, he's been where the offensive coordinator is, letting him kind of run routes the way he wants to run routes. For all Gino's, Gino's not a perfect quarterback by any means, but Gino gets him the football. And, like, that was a huge problem last year with Justin Fields. Him and Rodgers did not see eye to eye, especially when Devontae got here. And it just feels like, at least for right now, Aaron Glenn's kind of been like, you're going to be one of our couple of core guys. It's going to get us through and get us on the other side of this thing. Garrett's still, I believe, 26 years old. So, yeah, I don't... I think we're too... I mean, maybe it's wishful thinking. We're two or three years away from that. And if they're still losing at that point in his career, it would make sense. He's going to likely move on. But his extension just kicked in this year. So it's a pretty difficult to trade contract on top of that. And I just... I don't know. I feel like he's just in the spot where, again, he feels a little bit at peace. He seems like the smile on his face even on Sunday when they won. It makes you feel like he's on the extension here knowing what was going on and using tricks. For me, at least, partly, I feel like it's... He had to know what the situation was. And so I know there's a lot of like, I feel bad for Garrett. It's like, yeah. When a guy signed the extension, you know what's kind of the result. At least the next three-ish years is going to look like. Yeah. It's just interesting thinking about it really quick, Justin. Two years from now, these contracts explode off season after off season. They're going to have to sign up another extension in two years. When he's 28 years old, and if the Jets are still where they are football-wise, and from our perspective, in terms of the whole foundation, he's got to be. I totally get it. To me, they've done everything to keep him happy. I think they're going to get a quarterback in the draft this upcoming year. I think that resets the clock again another 12 to 18 months. And if we're looking at, it's 2028 and, you know, Garrett's, they've continued to suck and they're on another head coach and the young quarterback looks like Zach Wilson. I think it's a different conversation, but for right now, at least, I think he's not going anywhere. Has he changed his approach at all after not being named a captain? Like, I know that's not something that people really look into, but for whatever reason, when he wasn't named a captain, it was like a huge deal or not. It's fans who are upset about it. I think part of what happened there is like, the Jets part of their issue has been, they bring these young guys in, they're like, go figure it out. No veteran leadership around them. They're asked to be vocal. Garrett's a vocal guy in his own way, but he kind of just wants to play football. That's his thing. He's a leader for them, no doubt about it. But he's not the raw, yell-in-your-face guy. I think part of the issue is so many of the sauce and all these different guys last five years have been like, hey, you're a young player. You're the best player. You should be a captain. That culture in general, I cannot stand because there's nothing to do with being a good leader. Matthew Slater was never the best player in the Patriots. He was just a great leader in that locker room. They brought in a lot of veteran guys, Minka, DeMario, Harrison Phillips, Joe Titman was named the captain. When it was one of the offensive linemen, Gino obviously is your quarterback. There's your five right there. To me, I think maybe for a day, it bugged Garrett, but I almost think it took this pressure off him of having to be this vocal leader that had to go above and beyond and be outside of his skin now. He's just going out and playing football. He's got Tim Patrick as a veteran in the room. He does the talking and stuff like that. Now Garrett can just be one of the guys with Cooper and AD Mitchell. I'm like, just be a receiver and play football and not have to worry about it. I took a little bit of a different approach. My suspicion is like deep down, he was like, okay, I don't have to do this stuff. I can just be a captain because I can do it. Yeah, people just look at me as a leader as opposed to having this anointed title. Especially with this tenure, he's got to be one of the longest tenure Jets. Yeah, he's crazy. He got trapped in 2022 and it's like, they've turned over two staffs and that's just the rosters turned over twice and the Rogers thing blew a hole in the middle of it. So yeah, I mean, he's, if not the most respected guy at the DiMario on the roster, he's one of the two or three. And so he's looked at as a leader. I think it's just people, there's the jump scare he was in the captain, but then he really looked at the roster and it does make sense as to why he wasn't. I have a outside the box question for both of you guys, because the way that you started talking about Garrett Wilson is the way that I find that we describe a lot of this generation of athlete, which is he's not a rah rah guy. He's not in your face, but he's himself and he's a professional. So he leads by example. We say that with Drake Maye, we say that with Christian Gonzalez, who is not a captain even though he's the highest paid guy now going forward. Is that a generational thing? When you sit down there and think about it, even just around the NFL, like who are the rah rah in your face guys who are between, let's say, 23 and 29, who are the ones, I think about it because last year in our wide receiver group down at Gillette, it was Stefan Diggs and Stefan Diggs was a rah rah guy. Now, he's in his early 30s, a little bit older. He was the guy who was in everyone's face all the time, and the guys in the locker room did love him. So I'm just wondering, is that guy disappearing from the league? Because I like that guy. That guy is interesting to cover from our perspective. You don't want to be the corny guy. No, I mean, like Demario, like I was just saying, Demario is like, it's insane just the way he is. He's 37 years old and he spends $2 million a year in his body. Everything is about football and faith. That's it. No, I think some of those guys, if you're not around them enough early in your career, that doesn't come out of you. I think Garrett can be rah rah if you want him to be, but I think just in general, unless you're around the right leaders in college, and around the right leaders in early on in the NFL, you just don't see it as often. Yeah, I think those guys exist. But again, I think you have to watch somebody else do it a little bit and take on your own blend of that as opposed to if you're just never taught, you just become, it never comes out of you, I guess. For the Patriots, it feels like it's Morgan Moses and Kevin Byard, they're not nearly as rah rah as the older guys. I think it comes with time, I guess, and it goes back to who you're around as a leader. But it is interesting because you see it across sports too. Younger players now don't necessarily have that. You look across any sport, you won't really see it. It is just becoming more and more rare. Yeah, no, 1000 percent. I don't want guys to be afraid to be corny. Well, they're afraid of getting cooked online. That's probably what it is. I think Tyler Schruck has been a guy in New York City. He's an older prospect, but you watch him as a quarterback. He's leading the huddle in the middle. I just, like I said, I think it's just Jalen Walker is that guy. There's just certain college programs are coming from the Oklahoma's, the Georgia's, Indiana. Some of those programs where these guys come from programs with like alpha male head coaches that kind of instill that like mindset in you as opposed to, I mean, I'm a USC fan, but like a lot of the USC guys and stuff where it's like Lincoln Riley is not getting you to that come out of you. So I think it's a little bit about that as well, just kind of what you're experiencing in college. I want to just real quick on Ms. Gino Smith. Kevin Byard was talking yesterday about Gino and the fact that he hasn't turned the ball over. He noted that he's really making an effort not to turn the ball over at Lev League interceptions with 17 last year. But Byard was saying that that provides the opportunity for pass rushers to get to the quarterback and get sacks or force fumbles, whatever it may be. Do you think that has contributed to the Jets allowing so many sacks and force backs this year? Yeah, he's held the ball forever. No, I think it's also partly in fact that four of their six top playmakers have been out pretty much since week two. Like I think that plays a big role and the guys that Juno got chemistry with over the off season all have been out, like whether it's Mason Taylor, whether it's AD Mitchell, Bruce Hall, Omar Cooper, Kenny T. All these guys have been hurt and that plays a factor. The rain, they've played it monsoon after monsoon, that plays a factor. But yeah, I think Juno's probably held the ball an extra half a second, extra tenth of a second, which sometimes you just can't do. I think he'll push the ball a little bit more in this game and kind of going forward again, they'll get Omar Cooper back, they'll get Siddiq back. But yeah, I mean, I think Juno's been more cautious with the football for sure. I think he's not 24 year old Juno anymore. Like he'll pick up a couple of first downs a game with his legs, but he's not picking up 20 yards, he's picking up like five and a half yards on third and five in their man coverage. So yeah, I think like he's had two horrible fumbles this year that almost cost him the Lions game in the final drive, and then it almost cost him the game against Cleveland. So yeah, I mean, he's not a quarterback who's difficult to sack at the moment. But at the same time, Detroit started bringing a ton of pressure and they hit him a lot, and then he got in a heater in the second half and threw for 330 and three touchdowns and 85 percent completion. He has that in him. It's just, if you get to him early and he's not seen it well, he definitely can get a little skittish, pushing the ball down the field as much as he normally does. I want to ask about, again, we talked about Garrett Wilson and his place in the franchise and in the team, but you talked about how he's being allowed to run routes the way that he likes right now. A brutal time for you guys to catch the Patriots because Christian Gonzalez was out the last two games and now he's back. I would assume that that's going to be his assignment there for at least most of the game if they continue to go the way with Christian that they did after the first game, that he'll just be locked on him. When you say that he's running routes the way that he wanted, how is that different than the Garrett Wilson that you saw in past offenses? Yeah, past offenses, Rodgers wanted you to run a route a specific way. Garrett's one of those guys if he takes his own route. He moves in a very different way. He has his herky-jerky movements. People come out of the drafts and he takes one too many steps coming out of his comeback routes. It's like, yeah, but he also is a 45-inch vertical and moves in a unique way where he gets you off your spots. It doesn't matter. He just is a different kind of a route runner where JSN is the most fluid route runner in the league. He's a unique type of guy in himself. Devontae is all about his footwork at the line of scrimmage more than anything. Garrett, he just has these different movements in his routes where a 12-yard dig might be able to be if Rodgers wants you at 12 on the hash at a certain time where Garrett might take an extra tenth of a second, but he's going to create an extra tenth of separation. So that's why it just Frank Reck's like you run routes the way you feel best and we'll get you the football as opposed to Rodgers kind of put him in a box and then obviously with fields and Zach Wilson, it didn't really matter. It was a choose your own adventure. Yeah, it was not going to happen regardless. So yeah, it's been a little bit cleaner this year, especially when Garrett's open, he's getting the football and he's getting open at a better rate than anybody in the league. Switching to the run game real quick, Vrabel made sure to highlight that yesterday when looking ahead to this game. What have you seen from that group? Obviously, it's a little bit different with Brees Hall dealing with the quad injury. But what have you seen from what they've been able to do? I was laughing yesterday. Glenn, at his presser, Vrabel was like, Kevin said he's talking about Brees Hall's yards per carry. I'm like, Brees isn't playing. Yeah, it's week to week, which for Glenn means there's no shot. Braylon Allen last week was amazing. Like if he's that version of Braylon Allen this week, I mean, that's a totally different ballgame. He hit 88 yards after contact. He's not a good pass catcher. That is not his game. But he's 6'4, 260 pounds. He looks like Derrick Henry. It's a bowling ball. Yeah, he is. And when he gets his feet going and he's not... He gets downhill a little bit, he'll run you over. And then Isaiah Davis is another... Their running game has been a little up and down this year. It's been a little basic, especially between the tackles, but they've had some success running outside. Braylon, again, was really good last week. So this feels like a group where Detroit didn't run the ball well at all, but they threw for 350, so it didn't really matter. They ran the ball well against Chicago, they just didn't have the football at all. So it's just been up and down with them. I do think they need to have some presence on the ground to win this game, but I also don't think they can go to first down and run, second down and run, third and seven pass. That's not going to get the job done here. So they're going to have to be creative about it. They're going to have to put in some, whether it's some jet sweeps with Sadiq or Isaiah Williams, is it two back sets with Davis and Braylon Allen? They just have to be a little creative here. I know Williams and Barmore haven't been excellent all year against the run, but they're still really hard to run against on an every down basis. So I would guess that most people from the outside would look at this matchup and say, the Jets path to victory is going to be by keeping this ugly low scoring defensive game. If the Patriots score more than 24 points, they're coming off a 45 point victory. If they get over 24 and they get near 30 or above, how does the Jets offense contend with that? Do you agree with that? What do you think is your prediction for how this game is realistically going to go? I think it's more to me turnover battle, special teams, some of the field position stuff. Just because, again, I don't have it necessarily is keeping it ugly. The Detroit game wasn't an ugly game. The Jets were horrible on special teams. Detroit started three drives inside basically at midfield. That's just possible to try to beat Detroit's offense when you do that. So yeah, I think this feels more like a 28-24. Maybe it's a backdoor cover. It's 28-17 and the Jets score with two minutes left and don't get the football back. I think this is going to be closer than not a single soul on the planet. At times, I'm going to pick the Jets. I'm very fairly certain the Patriots are 7.5, 8-point favorites at home. They're getting guys back. But I think this Jets seems a much more competitive group. Again, they were bad against Chicago. That was the worst they played all year. But on the other side of that, they lose to Detroit on the last second touchdown. They lose to Green Bay over time in a monsoon. They won the other two. It's a much better team than the Patriots until proven otherwise. They're a better team. To me, this is like you're going to need Gino to be, maybe not Detroit Gino from early in the year, but more like Tennessee Gino where he took care of the football. Didn't get sacked. If he got sacked, it was only a minimal amount. He's able to push the ball down the field for a little bit. If not, Zach can call me. They're going to light Gino up a little bit with pressure. Any final questions there, Justin? I think we covered it all. Okay. I think we're all three agreeing that we think it's probably going to be a Patriots win. I like hearing that the Jets are more competitive. I think it's fun and feisty if it doesn't just come down to two teams in the division. We haven't gotten a glimpse of the Dolphins yet, so haven't taken a deep dive. They're not missing much. Doesn't seem that way. You said it, not me, but that's where I was going. I like when the Jets are feisty. I think it makes for a more fun division. Hopefully, next season or the season after that, when we talk again, it'll be a little bit of a different prediction, a little bit of a different, hey, this could be a coin flip of a game. But thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, of course. Will Parkinson. Will, where can everyone check out your work? Yeah, WillPA11 on socials and then In The Trenches pod with Damian Woodie, and Turn on the Jets for all stuff Jets. Patriots fans are always welcome. We talked some paths. Do you want to win a couple of Super Bowls to the Pats? It's not just the Jets pod. Okay. All right. Thanks so much. Thanks Will. Thanks guys.