Hail on Three
Three fans, two continents, one team. Hail on Three brings together Josh Edwards, James Barker and Lee Edwards to talk Washington Commanders football—the good, the bad and the downright baffling. Expect game talk, guests, hot takes and plenty of side tangents. Whether we’re winning or rebuilding (again), we’re along for the ride.
Weekly preview and recap shows throughout the season. Hail.
Hail on Three
Preseason 'loss' to Patriots with Brett Chats Sports!
James and Josh discuss the latest from Commanders training camp (including 'Jacory watch') before being joined by Brett Walker from the BCS Podcast to discuss the preseason game against Brett's New England Patriots.
@HailOnThreePod
He, he is relatively important, but not, not the most important person in the world. Yeah. All good. All right. Do not disturb.
How would you describe the culture surrounding this football team? You know, the culture is actually damn good. Daniel looking, moving to his left under pressure, stays on his feet. Uh, now he falls the end zone. It is caught for a touchdown by.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Welcome to another edition of the Hail on Free podcast. I'm your host, Josh Edwards, joining you from a sweltering southeast London. Today I'm joined for the first half by James across the capital. James, how are you doing, mate?
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:Yeah. Good, thanks. We are back in the thick of the sun.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah, baby.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:although you've been in the sun for a week in Portugal, which I'm sure is a bit more enjoyable, but welcome back to you.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Thank you.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:there was no podding in between. Me and Lee are not savvy enough to put that together without our, our leader here. So, good to have you back.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Thank you. You are, you are both very organized. I've, I've noticed in the last few weeks though, the planning has been in full swing for the rest of the off season and the start of the year, so I was pleased to see that. But yeah, I'm glad to be back. It well, I'll say that I'm, I'm not really, but I'm glad to be back. Podding talking about Washington Commanders, everything. Washington football. Second half of this pod, we're gonna be joined by a guest. Brett from Brett Chat Sports podcast, who's a Pats fan, and we're gonna talk about the preseason opener and a little bit about. Brett's thoughts on the Pat's upcoming season and his reflections on, on our season last year as well. But I'll save that for the second half. First off, we'll chat about any updates from camp and any other kind of things that we wanna talk about Washington specific. Lee won't be able to join us, but he has sent a bit of a voice note. You'll be pleased to hear James and his thoughts on the preseason game, so we'll get to that later as well.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:Yeah, I, I will be interested because I believe he did watch that in real time.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Did he, God,
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:so I'll be interested to see what his, his thoughts were.'cause he obviously went through the whole thing so,
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:that's some dedication. Are we gonna rotate? Are you gonna have to watch the Bengals game in in real time?
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:I'm in the midst of some dis zone issues, so, I, I had to settle for YouTube highlights. I won't go into. We've had discussions about them.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:You've had discussions with their lawyers.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:they yeah, they, they took my money without any reminder of the it being due
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:full season amount rather than give the option of the monthly thing as well. So I want to cancel it. I'm still waiting for the refund, actually. And then I will renew it and do the monthly thing at some point, but I'm just waiting for that to kind of clear up.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:limited access. But,
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:no, no worries. I.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:with D Zone, and I'm sure there'll be an update from Ian Rappaport on how that goes with me and D Zone
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah, the zone watch another, we can have that as another segment. Yeah, they, they've mucked around a bit, haven't they? With, with people doing that. And they've put the price up as well a bit. And they also have like different tiers of membership. Now, just to confuse Matt as well, so it's all a little bit annoying, but thank, thankfully, like there's a bit of a gap. So we, we, you, I'm sure you'll be sorted for the start of the season, and if not, you can always come over to the sofa or we can meet out somewhere, right?
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:yeah, I'll, I'll be on there. It's just yeah, it's not been great ever since they took it over, to be honest. I mean, we can maybe even do a whole episode on that, but they're not showing hard knocks on there. I'm pretty sure they got all the old ones on there. But I'm pretty sure I read somewhere it's not gonna have the new one, which is not ideal considering how much they charge. You can't even get
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Well, that's.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:hard knocks on there.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah, that's really annoying because that was gonna be my plan later on tonight was to start watching that. I think, I guess I can get it on Sky or,
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:Well, I try to use Sky Go.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:yeah.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:steal my parents sky. And it wouldn't let me use it on demand, watch it, on demand on Sky Go. So,
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:All right, so you can watch it live maybe. I dunno.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:the only way is if I can watch it live, basically. So I'll have to find a workaround for that.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Okay. God. Oh, nightmare. Oh yeah, that'd be good.'cause Lee loves a bit of hard knocks, doesn't he? So I'm sure he's started watching it. We should probably talk about that next time.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:hot takes on that.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:He will.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:I did listen to another part spoke about it. They said it was a bit drab to start.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Hmm.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:They're just like, everyone's kind of just nice and like, see, they all seem like organized. That's what happens when you've got the bills. Usually it's a team that's in disarray, which I guess maybe
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:tends to make a bit more interesting. So we'll see how this one goes, I guess.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah, I did wonder if it's just gonna be less good telly once they mucked around with the rules and. Made it possible for decent teams to be on there, but hopefully we'll get some characters emerge. Anyway onto commander stuff. Let's, actually, let's start with Terry McClure'cause we can get out the way. No news is not good news, but there has been no news right since the last time we putted. I don't think there's been anything substantial come out. Obviously there's been no signing and there's been no escalation. At this point. There really can't be from Terry's side, I guess. After having asked for a trade, but. Clearly there's nothing progressing on the trade front.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:Yeah, I mean, it's our weekly update, but as you say, we'd done our emergency pods when it first came out, and I don't think there's anything particularly newsworthy since then. It's all just kind of talk out there from. reporters about what he's after and things like that. But as you say, he's played his final card really apart from saying he's gonna sit out, which I don't see, and it seems like, well, you dunno what's going on behind closed doors, but
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:I.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:are we just kind of just gonna sit and wait?'cause Lee has mentioned, and Washington has all the leverage here,
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah. Oops.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:yeah, we're just, it's just a waiting game at this point.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yep. What.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:there's no news really.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:No, no news. We'll jump on If there is, there is substantial news. Maybe another emergency pod two on the same subject. Who knows? Fingers crossed he does sign and fingers crossed it's soon to minimize any disruption. We'll come on to that. I guess a little bit in terms of what the impact has been. And we talk about the preseason game. I doubt he would've played anyway, obviously, right?'cause we rested a lot of stars. But there has been some talk about. Leverage and, and if anything's changed. So we'll come onto that later. But what did you wanna talk about in terms of camp? Have you got anything for me from your camp watch any turning heads segment stuff on Twitter or
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:No, no, no. Nothing out of the ordinary. I'm obviously very much zoned in on Croskey merit, so I've got nothing new to add there. It's, there's promising clips coming out every day.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:I.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:And obviously there's the preseason game where saw some snaps, which we'll touch on on. One snippet I did see, it's not related to the game, but I've forgotten what reported it was now, but. they Washington believe they literally got the steal of the draft. So that tells you what they think of him at the moment.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Mm-hmm.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:and I expect we've spoken about a situation where he didn't play last year. I suspect we'll continue see, to see a fair bit of him in the preseason to get him ramped up.'cause he's really not had any games. So it'd be good to see more of him throughout the preseason. I guess something that stood out yesterday was we worked out 14 new players, off the back of the preseason game, which we'll go into more detail on, but we got trounced by the Patriots. It was all backups. And the Patriots probably want to make a, they didn't want to get embarrassed at home with the. Brady statue unveiling Abel's first game. So nothing to worry about and no big surprise, but quite like that they've just brought in a load of players on the Mondays to just say, you know, that's not, that's not good enough. I dunno if any of them have signed off the back of that yet, but we did release fifth round draft pick from 2024 Dominic Hampton. so that's the first pick from that draft last year, I believe that's been cut.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Okay.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:I dunno an awful lot about him, but noteworthy for this time of year, I guess.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah. Interesting one. I I, you, you mentioned this before we started recording and I had to Google'cause there wasn't someone I was that familiar with, which tells a story, I guess he didn't play much last year. It looked like they tried to convert him from safety to linebacker. And then he tried to, to. Play that role and, and it was a disaster. So they said, Nope, that's enough. So I kinda like the ruthlessness of that. I think fourth round and above you, you raise your eyebrows a bit, maybe when someone's cut, but fifth round, down, down past that is kind of like, yeah, fine, whatever. No problem. Obviously not any money or anything really to be worried about. So that's interesting that we did bring in that many players though, like you say freshen things up a bit. Get some. Competition in there for some guys that thought they might not be having a chance to compete.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:And on a side note, I saw a lot of kicker chatter. I only sort of 15, 20 minute highlights of the preseason. I know Gay Mr. Kick. And I saw Dan Quinn, the presses yesterday was getting asked questions about bringing in another kicker, which seems premature for him to be under pressure. But I dunno, maybe you know a bit more than me about, I was quite surprised to see some of that talk yesterday.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:I think it's a bit of his sort of avoidance of, of answering questions directly more than it is that they're worried.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:Yeah, but I was more, I was more surprised the questions even being asked.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:yeah, fair point. I guess it's just sort of people being burnt over the last few years and just gonna, just gonna ask that question early because so many kickers have been shy and had problems and I dunno, do you know who asked it actually, of interest?
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:No, I don't,
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:All right, no worries. It could be someone who's a bit less sec clued in, maybe. Who knows? Or just loves kicker, kicker talk, you know, one of those guys. Interesting. Yeah, I, I, I had a little bit on my guy Trey Amos from the draft pre, so before we, we played the pre-season game that we'll talk about with Brett a bit more detail later. We did scrimmage with the Patriots and we've done that a few times with them over the last. 10 or so years. I think it's, they've obviously got a bit of a relationship there for this sort of thing. It's not that far, I guess, up the coast. But I think Amos, who was, who had been standing out in camp also stood out in that scrimmage, which is really good to see.'cause that's the first time he's against people he doesn't know and the system or kind of roots that he, he doesn't really have an idea of what's gonna happen. And it's a little bit, it's a little bit closer to what you're gonna get in. Real game scenario. And, and Lamore in particular called out how impressed he was with Amos. So he said he is got really good technique and whoever taught him that, it's showing out there already his footwork and his hands and his fast and instinct. So they're kind of just like all round. Good praise for him. And a couple of the Patriots beat reporters also. Pointed him out when asked about are there any players on the Washington side that stood out rookie wise. So that's really good to see. It's kinda exactly what you want from at this point. Right. You just don't, you don't want any negative stuff or any Oh, it doesn't look like he should be out there.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:Yeah. And it sounded like he came up against Stefan Diggs a few times and held his own. So that's a good test for him as well.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:I, I actually forgot about the joint practices because of the game that actually happened. It sounded a bit chippy. Mike Abel ended up at the bottom of a, of a scrum and coming up with a bloody nose I think was, that people were tweeting about on the day. I think that was started by, I think it was Travion Henson actually going in quite hard on Von Miller. So fair played to him as a rookie going Von Miller like that.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:But it sounded like it was a, good joint practice, good spirit, but a few, a few scraps in there as to be expected.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah. And with these two coaches, it's kind of not. Unexpected, I guess like Ray and Quinn are both sort of quite big, big imposing figures who he likes to get involved right, in their practices that not the opposite of sort of Jay Gruden types and I can see why, why, he'd wanna sort of physically defend his own team, team players. So interesting. Yeah, I, I, I didn't have anything else. In terms of our camp, we haven't had any injuries, everyone touching wood, cross their fingers and stuff. Nothing major's come out there in terms of, of injuries, which is brilliant. Especially given by this time in across the league. I've had WhatsApp messages from friends chargers, supporting friends in particular who who've had. Disastrous season ending injuries to, to pro bowl alignment and stuff, and we haven't had any of that yet, which is brilliant.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:I've seen a Landon Dickerson scare. But sounds like it was the best case scenario for them.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Oh, okay.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:it was sounding like he might have been out for the year, but it sounds like he might now, he might be okay for week one.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Okay.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:obviously I wish him the best.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah. And then outside of the division, but in the conference, the Matt Stafford kind of, injury news saga sort of rolls on and no one really knows what's happening with his back by the looks of it.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:Yeah, there's, there's always a back problem with him, I swear. And I saw some picture of him in some, like, someone took a picture hi of him entering some chamber. dunno if he's being flown off to space just to retire for good. But one of our group chats, miles has said Kurt Cousins, you are an LA Ram off the back of that. So that, that's definitely something to monitor. But I don't think it's particularly anything new for Stafford over. Recent years, so,
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:No, probably just precautions.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:But just, just quickly, quickly spinning back to Washington. It's just something that's kind of crossed my mind. Jayden Lane.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Hmm.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:I'm getting some, this is maybe a hot take, getting some Terry McClarin vibes because of the way I feel like he's being kept under wraps a bit. we'll talk about the preseason game in a bit, but he had very few snaps. For a rookie
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Hmm.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:and I'm wondering if they're trying to hide him a bit. I dunno if you remember, they did that with Terry throughout the preseason and he
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yep.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:kind of came out all far from week one. So to keep an eye on there because I feel like it's, you're hearing some bits about him making plays and then a, a bit quiet. Not, not, you know, you'd expect him to see some reps in that game. So. Something I just picked up on anyway.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah, that's a good shout. I do remember that happening with Terry and people, people kind of, getting excited about that at the time when beat reports and stuff are saying it in practice, he just clearly was better than where he was drafted and he wasn't just gonna be a special teams guy. If, if we get a bit more of that chatter from those folk in the next few weeks, I'll, I'll start to get excited. That would be brilliant.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:Yeah, I guess we'll see how the next, what the next preseason game looks like. You know, it could have been something like he just wasn't fully fit or, you know,
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:But something to keep an
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:I.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:maybe.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah, and the next preseason game is next Monday night. Monday night, football on the 18th, not last night, which is what I thought it was, which just clearly shows you how discombobulated I was from my holiday when we only played on Thursday night.
james--mister-_1_08-12-2025_132957:you caught me by surprise there. I was two, two games in three nights. I know the NFL was a bunch of these games together more often now, but I thought that would've been a bit of a stretch, Josh.
josh_1_08-12-2025_132956:Yeah, yeah, that would've been, I was just excited, you know, excited for more preseason football. The second one is the more interesting one as well right now'cause that's when you might get to see a bit more of the stars. And then the third one is just like two or three roster spots, maybe making decisions based on that. But yeah, we look forward to that next Monday. I think we'll leave it there then for the first half of the pod. We'll have a quick break and then when we come back we'll be joined by Brett to talk all things Patriots and the preseason game from last week.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:And we are back for the second half of this episode, talking about now specifically the commanders in inverted comm loss to the Patriots last week in preseason. And we are joined by Brett Walker from Brett Chat Sports Podcast. Brett, thank you so much for joining us. How are you this evening?
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I am very well, thanks. It's, it's absolute joy to be joining you and James. Shame that we can't be with us, but a nevermind.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah, he's here in spirit and some of his views might, maybe they'll find their way into the pod later on. I think we've got a clip from him. We are gonna play before the end of the last segment. But Brett, I actually just wanted to take this moment to thank you in retrospect, because when we started this podcast, as James might not know this, actually, when we had the idea to start the podcast, I did reach out to you for some advice because your podcast has been going a little bit longer.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Hmm.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:And I've really enjoyed some of your podcast chats, sports politics, reached out and asked you kind of general advice about it, and it was really, really useful. Gave us the kind of confidence to kick off. So I wanted to thank you first for that and say hopefully you've inspired a half decent effort from us.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Well, I think you are, you, you are being too kinder. I think the, the advice, the useful advice I gave you was minimal, but you've then taken the advice and created what is a very good podcast that I enjoy listening to, even though I'm not a Commanders fan.'cause yeah, like it's, as I was saying, offer, it's, it's nice to listen to a podcast where I know one of the hosts, but one of the things that my, my podcast suffers from is. There isn't I don't have anyone regular to bounce off of, whereas the three of you, you've known each other a long time. That's very clear from the interactions that you have, and that makes it all the more enjoyable to listen to the three of you.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Top man. Much appreciated. Let's get into a bit of chat about the New England Patriots. And I actually don't know this backstory because we've generally chatted a bit more about baseball in the past and a little bit less about football. So I wanted to ask you kind of straight out why you're a Pats fan, how long you've been a Pats fan. Tell us a bit of the story about why you follow the New England Patriots.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:So, I mean, I, I have to say I'm a basketball fan first and foremost. I'm, I'm old enough to remember. The 92 Olympics and saw all the craze about the dream team. So I really got into basketball. American football was then a, a, a nice progression from basketball. And when I was a kid we had Sky Sports when I was a kid and when watching American Football in the late nineties and I just got this very, you know, vivid memory of watching the New England Patriots playing the Minnesota Vikings. And Adam, Adam, then a Terry score to walk off field goal to win the game. And you know, I'm from, I'm not just from Magor, I'm from the home of rugby league you know, so Kickings very important in rugby league. So I really value the kickers as a kick. So you see someone like automatic Adam doing what he always did. And it really, it really resonated with me as someone that, comes from that kind of background where rugby league was king when I grew up, as much as I loved proper football as well.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:You've done a really good job there of mentioning a player but not aging yourself, because I think TII kicked for like T over 20 years in the league,
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Yeah.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:it could have been at any end of that spectrum as. Face.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:we're talk, we're talking late nineties,
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Okay.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:the thing, the thing that I always say is I was a Patriots fan. When drew, we so was the quarterback, and Pete Carroll was the coach. You know, I, I, I, I, I, I hold nothing against anyone that came into American football from like the naughties onwards and so attached themselves to, you know, the dynasty. But yeah, I, I'm very proud to say that I was a Patriots fan before we drafted Tom Bray, and then just got very lucky with what then happened over the next 20 years.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah. Nice. And that's an interesting one when you mentioned bled, so that's a guy I'd completely forgotten about. But when I first started watching. At the time the Redskins Bledsoe was the quarterback for the Cowboys in 2005. I think he finished his career in Dallas for like a couple of years.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I mean, and he was, and it has to be said, he was a wonderful quarterback for us. Like we drafting him, we drafted him, number one overall before I even started watching football. And he was a really good, solid quarterback. Nothing should ever be taken away from the stuff that drew, we so did to make the Patriots better again. Then because, and that, that's where I came in, it was like, oh, this is, this is a good team. They're, you know, they're not super great, but the, you know, the puck younger dogs at times and there's certainly talent there. So, you know, that along with the feat of someone like automatic Italian is, is certainly what got me attached to the Patriots. And that's, that's you know, the love that I have for those guys in the late nineties. So, like, I, I can remember there was an episode of my podcast last year where I was talking to a, a Seahawks fan, and we had a lovely chat about how much we both really admired and, and respected Pete Carroll.'cause my, you know, my, my OG Pat's coach. And yeah, it was, I mean, don't get me wrong, it was good to see the Patriots beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl 10 years ago. But, you know, I, I felt a little bit bad for Pete Carroll.'cause you know, like. you know, genuinely a lovely human being. Like from all, from all of these public interactions with the media, you can tell that that's a, know, not just a great football coach, but a solid human being as well.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah, good shout. And it's good to see him back in the league, actually. And ironically, a team where Brady is a minority owner as well.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Yeah.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:but yeah, it's also refreshing to hear you became a Pats fan because of a kicker rather than Tom Brady.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Well, I mean, well, I mean, I, I, I have to admit, in the late nineties, I was still a kid, and so I didn't fully un understand American football. But yeah, I mean, I, I picked it up pretty quickly. But yeah, automatic I was was certainly the was certainly the in, but I needed to go. Right. Patriots, my team, let's go.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:I do.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:some.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Think we as, as Brits and, and, and Europeans generally, do tend to have a bit of an affinity with kickers more sometimes than people in the States who just kind of see it as, as literally the add-on to the end of plays and stuff. Just because like you said, either of a rugby connection or of. A soccer connection. I've always been like a lot more interested and invested in kickers than most people. They just kind of go, yeah, yeah, not too bothered, right? If he's a disaster, then obviously a nightmare, but otherwise, kind of forget about it. We've had a good, good amount of kicker chat on our pod, even in the, in the short time that we've been recording. So I guess, James, that we are gonna let Brett off then. He is not a bandwagon Pats fan and we're gonna, we're gonna take him seriously for the rest of the pod. It could have gone two ways, I think.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:You are very kind.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Let's talk in about last week the inciting incident to, to have you on the pod, Brett, which was the preseason game, the opener between the commanders and the Patriots in Foxborough. What were your overall thoughts leading heading into the game? What were you expecting and, and were there any surprises for you?
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Well, for me it was a, it was just the first opportunity to see how Mike Vrabel. Set the team up, you know, like what, you know, what could we expect? Obviously you go into a first preseason gaming and you think that you're only gonna see you know, the guys that are gonna make the practice squad. But I mean, it was a, it was an unexpected treat that we got one quarter you know, full strength pats and, and yeah, I mean, it was, it was yeah, expect. What I expected versus what we got was very different.'cause I, you know, I, I said to you before the game, I fully expected that the Patriots were not gonna win. And, you know, not only did we win, we, we won convincingly.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah, a surprising score for me to wake up to, it was 48 18 was the final score. Is obviously at this point worth us pointing out our caveats from a Washington perspective which we'll briefly do before we talk a bit more about some of the specifics about what you liked from a Patriots perspective. We rested. Everyone rested, absolutely everyone rested. 30 starters. And really didn't have many. People out there that we are likely to start in week one or really see the field much this season that we think about. That was a bit of a surprise. I do think we might see a few more people out there certain positional battles and things like that, but I guess it is obviously early. We only have three preseason games now, which does change things a bit. So since COVID, I think we used to have four right? Going back years, we had more than that. So I think the second game is when we are more likely to see some starts from a Washington perspective. But kind of that that caveat aside, James, what were your overall thoughts on the game before we go into sort of some more specifics? I.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:I was a bit surprised at the score, as you say, the manner of it, which I know Dan Quinn hasn't been very happy about. Yeah, I mean, it is what, it's, there was a lot of penalties and it was very sloppy. But bear in mind I did not watch the whole game. I watched a 20 minute YouTube highlights unlike Lee watched it in in real time. But from what I saw it was pretty sloppy and it was hard to figure out who was doing what.'cause it was very, it was. When you watch it back as Patriots commentators. So they're not really talking about who's got the ball for the commanders, that sort of thing. yeah, it, it came across really sloppy. There was a couple of nice runs from my boy Croskey Merri who we've been talking about all the time you've been shown out in camp. So it's good to see him get some run some nice showing some of those quick cuts that they've been talking about in camp. And I know, I think our leading receiver was actually Lee's boy. I've got his name now, Jacory Brooks, five for 59. But yeah, Josh Johnson obviously looked a lot better than Sam Hartman. If there is a third QB competition going. I think Josh Johnson's in the lead for that. You could tell how Dan Quinn felt about it because as we mentioned earlier in the pod, he brought in 14 players to work out yesterday. So, I don't think they were too happy with it
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:yeah, that sounds about right. It's funny, I, I watched the 20 minute highlights as well and I was a bit bleary eyed on holiday in the morning watching them. You know, when you put something on and, and you kind of. You are half watching or you're half interested at the start. That was me until I saw the opening kickoff. Talking of running backs, having good games.'cause,'cause our guy did have a good game. Trayvon Henderson went a hundred yards to the house, barely touched on the opening kickoff and looked pretty special, right.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Just on Henderson. I was gonna say Brett, I was talking about him nonstop before the draft, which Josh can attest to. So very jealous of that one. And then when I saw the first plays taking it to the house yeah, I was a bit jealous.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:You did.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:am, yeah, Hemon was definitely the one that I, I was glad that we drafted because you know, Ramon scheme maybe had a little bit of a down year last year. You know, like we, we didn't see enough from Antonio Gibson last year, which was why I was so happy to see what he did in the preseason game because, you know, we know from Antonio Gibson's days that the commanders, but that guy can produce, he knows what he's doing. He is a very good running back. You know, so it was, it was a shame, but we only really saw glimpses of it. Last season. So if we can get Trayvon Henson, Antonio Gibson and Ramon Grace Stevenson working, working in Tang as a, as a good strong running back trio for us this season. I think that that helps to solve a lot of the problems that we had last season. Although I, I would say we still need to we do still need to improve the O line a bit, you know, like drape may certainly needs a bit more protection. I think our run protection's very good, but. so much on the past protection. We certainly need to improve on that. So if we can have free effect, really effective running backs to, you know, to kind of counter the fact that our past protection maybe isn't as strong as it needs to be still, then yeah, that's a, that's certainly something that I'm very glad about going into the season, I would say.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah. And I think those guys kind of do compliment each other as different styles of backs as well. Right. So, Gibson who was originally a college wide receiver and sort of transitioned to running back is excellent outta the backfield and catching the ball. And Henderson is, is a home run hitting. Back, like James talked about in, in in our lead up to the draft, we had two or three episodes where he was, he was heavily mentioned because we were obviously looking at running back, potential of a running back. And Stevenson, a bit of a bruiser and a goal line back. I think it's probably fair to say maybe so, yeah, I think those three could work. I, I mean, relying on a good run game and, and sort of shoring up the offensive line when you've got a second year quarterback makes a hell of a lot of sense. I think we are even trying to do similarly, even with the kind of height. Of play that Daniel's achieved last year. So it's a, it's a good formula for sure. Just going back to the game, Brett, was there anyone else from a Pat's perspective that, that stood out for you at all?
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Hmm. Well, I mean, I'm, I'm
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:I.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I'm liking the fact that liking the fact that Drake may score in all the rushing touchdown.'cause I think that's, that's something that we're gonna need some lean on a bit. The fact that Drake may, can actually run, you know, we, we'd not had that in the past as, as one before, as Tom Brady was. In many regards, he was not the. know, he was not you know, he wasn't Michael Vick. He wasn't Cam Newton, you know, he was very much reliant on the arm strength thing. We were just, well, yeah, we were, were bathed in riches with Tom, Tom Brady's throwing arm for 18 seasons. So yeah, the fact that we've got someone in Drake may now where he can clearly throw the ball, we can give him a bit more pass protection. We'll see even more of that class, hopefully. But he can also run with the ball in. We, you need a, you need a quarterback in today's NFL that can do both. And yeah, Drake may certainly look like someone that can do that,
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:yeah, absolutely. So let's move on then to your hopes and expectations for the season. You kind of led into it a bit there with the Drake may chat because I suppose a hell of a lot probably hinges on his performance. What are your hopes and what are your expectations for this coming season for the Patriots?
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Well, I will say that in Mike Vrabel, we have got the coach that we should have got last year. I, I've, I have all the respects in the world for Robert Kraft, that he kept his word to Jar Mayo and he made Jar Mayo, the new head coach. You know, I respect that immensely. But Mike Vrabel was who we should have brought in as head coach last season. So I think a lot of. lot of what we do this season is gonna be off the back of the fact that Abels come in. We know what it, we know what he can do. We know we can get, we know we can get an unglamorous group of guys into the playoffs, which is what I would say this, a lot of this Patriots roster is now. It's, it's solid, steady, reliable guys who know they don't, you know, they don't get the name up in lights at the end of the game a lot, but you know that they can do a job. And the fact that that's who we brought brought in a lot of, in terms of our free agency signings, it matches that profile of what Grable has at the Titans. And so in terms of what I hope for, I don't think it's, don't think it's completely unreasonable to think that we could maybe get second in the AFCs and you know, if that could potentially be enough for a wild card even better. But. Ultimately, I'm just looking for progress on last season, which should not be difficult given that we only won four games last season. But if, I mean we can take a leap and actually maybe, possibly get a wild card slot, then even better.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah, I'd, I'd really fancy you guys to finish second above Dolphins and Jets this year. Obviously, you know what the jets are. The Dolphin, the Dolphins, I just have a bad about with their. Him. And you guys, I like, I like your coach. I like Drake May and you've surrounded him with quite a few weapons it seems. I know you brought digs in. I know he had his controversial moments earlier in the preseason, but if he's back to full health, then obviously he's a quarterback's best friend. And I did wanna ask you about, if you know much about the rookie Kyle Williams. I've seen a few. A bit of chat about him in camp and I I did him in Dynasty, so I'm curious to see if you know how he's getting on.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I mean, I've gotta be very honest with you, James. The only, the only stuff I've heard about Carl Williams is what has come up. On the the page, which YouTube channel. So I, it's, I'm, I can't sit here and pretend to be an expert, you know, like give me a few weeks into a regular season once I've seen what he's actually doing on an NFL field dur when, during regular season when it masses, and then I'll have an opinion and I'll suddenly become an expert. But yeah,
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:S
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I, I don't wanna I don't wanna plant my flag on Carl Williams just yet, but yeah, certainly what. Certainly what I've seen, certainly what I've heard from people who are far more knowledgeable than me on, on the the Patriots YouTube channel. There is a, there's a lot of excitement there and yeah, I just hope that that translates into the regular season.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Sounds good. Who else have you got there in the receiver room? I can't, there's often a few guys that are bouncing around, but I can't remember who else is there.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:so I would say our receiver room's a little bit weak currently because, Stefan Digsy is still coming back from the ACL. Polk. I
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah,
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I, I, I was, I wasn't convinced about him, but he's, he's injured currently. Kendrick Bnes
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:that's the one.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:some injuries.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Hmm.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I mean, we do have people like De Mario Douglas show last season, showed the season before that. But he can, he can produce, I think he just needs, he just needs to be getting better throws from, from his qb. And given that. May's gonna have a bit more protection this year. Again, you know, certainly better than last season.'cause our, our offensive line last season was terrible, you know, so, Drake May's certainly gonna have more past protection, but I, I still think it needs to be better. So, Mario Douglas, I certainly think he can produce. I'm not massively convinced about Ma Matt Collins, but he had
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Hmm.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:productive season. In 2022 at the Raiders, when Josh McDaniel was the head coach,
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Okay.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:now the o, he's now the offensive coordinator for the Patriots again. So may maybe we get, maybe we have a good, good solid second,
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Hmm.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:there in Matt Hollins. And then it's, it's, we're kind of reliant on rookies, like we've got F on Chm, who, I'm all, I'm entirely reliant on what I've seen on the the Patriots YouTube channel, but. he could have some standout moments and Yeah, like again, receivers, little bit weak on the ground'cause we're dealing with some injuries and that big marquee free agent signing digs is, you know, chief among those injuries.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:we're pro we're not gonna see him until into the season, I think.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Okay.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:yeah, we we're, we're backed up by some, a couple of good tight ends, at
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:in terms of res receiving
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:got, who have you got? So you still got Hunter Henry and,
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:So we got Hung Hang. He's, he's dealing with some injuries currently, but I really like the connection he's built with Drake. May
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Hmm.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:he, I think he was a, he was a bright spot for his last season was know what Hung Hangry was doing. Austin Hooper got better for his last season. And we've still got him. And then we've got a couple of rookies in Ja Jaheem Bell and Jack Westover as well. So, you know, there's certainly a, a decent, tight end rumor in terms of like the, the first two options. And Jaheem bell's look decent as well, I would say.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:And I guess you'd expect the defense to bounce back. This year to more traditional patriots defense being pretty sound, especially with Vrabel back there because I think they're a little bit, not their normal Patriots defense that you expect last year. So, I'll be keeping a close eye on them'cause I've actually had a good feeling about them throughout this off season. So, yeah, it's been good to how you feel about it as well.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I think, I think we had a, we, I think we had a decent defense as always. Last season. The problem was we didn't have any depth for all, you know, we were dealing with injuries and then because there wasn't any depth there, there was certainly a couple of games last season where we lost it by one score and we just had some more bodies on the sideline. That could rotate in and make sure that there was some fresh legs and some fresh muscle on the defensive line for us. You know, we, we could, we could have won at least a couple more games last season, I think. But yeah, defense is certainly working better. You know, as you say, you, you would get spent enough in less from Abel giving. He's a, he used to be a linebacker and yeah, I'm certainly, I'm certainly optimistic in that regard, but we, we've brought some good. We brought some good defensive reinforcement things, something someone like Carlton Davis on one side, one cornerback and know, Christine Gonzalez on the other cornerback position. Matt's, that should be good. You know, we've got a very, we've got some that vrabel trusts immensely in Harold Landry in our defense now, and I've no doubt that he'll set the tone on the pitch and make sure that it's a, a variable defense. So, yeah, I'm, I'm. I'm, I'm optimistic, like I say, when it comes to our defense this
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:the.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I think that should, that should scan us in good ska and maybe get us, get us through some tight games.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:The, the mention of Christian Gonzalez was certainly Royal Lee up. He was someone Lee really wanted in the draft and instead we drafted Emmanuel Forbes, which as we all know, did not work out very well. So.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Yeah. Yeah. Love Christian Gonzalez. It was just, it really was a shame that he got injured. In that rookie season, but then, you know, we saw more of him last season and as I say, you know, him, him and Carlton Davis, on opposite sides of the field was cornerbacks. I think, you know, that should stand us in good season.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Well, that sounds like quite, quite an optimistic and positive lead into the season, Brett, which is good to hear. Talking of optimistic leadings to the season we're, well, I certainly was in our. Last in the last show that we did a preview or a guess on the schedule this coming season and kind of where we think we'd finish. I think I had us 15 and two for the commanders at the end of the year, which I'm not yet willing to back off from.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Very optimistic,
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:yeah.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:but you know, I, I, I respect the ambition.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah. Why not? I mean.
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:and me and Leni fell off our chairs, I think.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah. Yeah. Prob
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:time.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:people probably would've forgotten if I hadn't brought it up. Actually. Maybe I'll cut that out. No, I, I wanted to ask you, Brett, I mean, I, yeah, thanks, thanks for chatting. You know, so knowledgeably about the Pats, I mean, it's a, it's a team that, and we've played a number of times over the last sort of 15 years, but obviously never in, in the playoffs.'cause that would have to be the Super Bowl. But we, we have. Scrimmage together and had preseason games. And obviously the amount of success that you guys have had in the Brady era has have meant that you've been a re really relevant team across the league for us to follow. And I mean, recent years a bit less so. So it's nice to have someone on again to kind of talk about. The Patriots in detail, but that's probably enough of that. I, what I would like now is if you could have a bit of a, a, a chat on, on the commanders and kind of, as a, as an outsider, I guess, a different conference and division, what you thought of, of our season last year and, and if you're as confident as I am about Washington this season.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I don't think anyone can be as confident as you are, Josh,
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Good point.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I will, I, I mean, I would say that, you know, from the outside looking in, the commanders look like a team who are on the rise. You've got a very steady hand in Dan Quinn as head coach. You know, we know. We know that this guy can get a, can get a team to the Super Bowl. The only reason I'm mentioning that though, is because he gets the team to a Super Bowl, but then the opposing team has the greatest Super Bowl comeback of all time when Dan Quinn's in the Super Bowl. So, sorry, just had to get that in. But
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:That's a fair point.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Very, you know, solid head coach. You've obviously got a new ownership and you know, we've, we've talked about this privately, Josh, about how happy you were to see the new ownership, and I agree with you. Let's, you know, let's see what Josh Harrison is and he's, he's fellow, his fellow backers in that regard. But I mean, certainly the thing that came to my mind when I was preparing to come on was. And I think I said this to you at the time was I, I only saw a couple of commanders games live last season, but one of them was the regular season game against the Eagles, and I was really impressed by what I saw from the commanders. Like I, I'd seen my highlights, I'd heard all the hype about Jamie but I saw the fact that you beat an Eagles team who. You know, let's be honest, deservedly won the Super Bowl last season, you know, absolutely fantastic team, and yet the command has beaten and that kind of convinced me of, all right, okay. The commanders all legit. They've got a bit of, they've got a bit of guile about them, they've got a bit of toughness about them. They've got. They're not wilting from the challenge. So yeah. You know, off the back of that, off the back of what else I saw from the Commanders last season, you, to me, you are a team that is on the rise. I was, I mean you are in a very tough division though. You know, I wait, I know from when he was our offensive coordinator, Brian Day Ball is not gonna stand for the Giants being as bad this season as they were last season, and they. They drafted well again, so I think the Giants are gonna be a bit more of a challenge for you guys this season. Obviously the Eagles are the Eagles and they've, they've retained a lot of last season squads, Cowboys of a cowboys. There's, you know, there's a, a fantastic, there's a fantastic offense there in terms of some of the weapons that they have. Obviously the defense is gonna be a bit. You know, uncertain, given my passings is saying that he wants to leave now, and he is has made that equivocal, unequivocally clear that he wants to go. So, I think you are a, you are a good team. That is, everything's looking up, but you are in a tough division. And so depending on how the other three teams in that division do. You may or may not make the playoffs. And I know that you've got some good guys on defense'cause you've took, you've taken a couple of Aller guys in Jonathan Jones in Dietrich Wise, and I know that they're both solid defensive players.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:I really hope Jonathan Jones is. Because we need some help at cornerback. I mean, even though we, we drafted Remos, who's one of my guys and I think could be a really good player this season. There's still a big question mark over Marsha on Latimore and his injuries so if Jones can kind of hold down a bit of a spot for us, that'll be great. But yeah, that sounds like a really reasoned and, and kind of fair assessment, of the season,
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:to hear Super Bowl contender, but I'll, I'll take it.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:well,
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:that's the ceiling.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:I, I, I won't go that far'cause like I say, you've got, I think you are in a tough division. You know, I think
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:No, we are, we are. I agree.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:are. You are in a tough division there, and that is, you can, I mean, you look at someone like the Cincinnati Bengals last season, they, I mean, well, they. I mean, they started the season badly'cause they lost to us and then they kept losing all these won score games. But they had like an NV MVP caliber season out of Joe Burrow and still didn't make the playoffs. So, I mean, if that's happening, if, if that's happening for them, then it's, I think there's. As, as good as your guys could be this season, it could happen, it could happen that you guys miss out on the playoffs because of in, what's
james_1_08-12-2025_180338:Hmm.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:you in, in your division, but also, you know, in, in the wider, in the wider conference.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Yeah, that's, that's absolutely fair. Brilliant. Brett, thank you so much for coming on, for chatting Patriots and Commanders and NFL. Do you wanna do a quick plug for your podcast while you're here?
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:Yeah, so I mean I have, I have the Bcha Sport podcast. I abbreviated to the BCS podcast'cause honestly, the only reason I said called it Brett Chats Sport is'cause I couldn't think of anything better and I already had Batch Twix handle. So yeah, Brett Chats Sport podcast. I do 10 episodes, a a series release, one episode every two weeks. I just put out an English Premier League season preview edition on Monday. The next, the next episode will come out in, well, it's gonna be about just less than two weeks time now. I'm gonna keep it under my hat, what that episode's about, but it's something that I've been working on for a while and I certainly hope the end result is one that I can be very proud of.'cause it's a, it's this. It's a sports related issue that needs to be spoken about more and more, like needs to be shared on it.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:Oh, great tease. Unfortunately, the, the pre, unfortunately, the Premier League podcast is a little less relevant for us now, dipshit fans after last season, but maybe next year.
brett-walker_1_08-12-2025_180337:ask you to, I did ask you to come on last year because, you know, I really wanted to chat about Iwi Town while we were in the Premier League, but we, we couldn't, we couldn't make it work, Josh. And I think that's a real shame'cause I think me and you could have asked. We could have had a really good conversation about bits switch.'cause you know, they were, you know, yes there was a bit of a lack of a qual quality of the tho, but, you know, I think every neutral wanted them to do well because they were, they were, they were set up well under Kira McKenna. And, yeah, it's just, it's, it's, that's the kind of team that as a neutral, you wanna see them do well.
josh_1_08-12-2025_180338:I appreciate that. Maybe it's calmer for me not coming on that we got relegated.'cause what?'cause I came onto the NFL preview show was really bullish and then Commanders had a great year, so I'd have to come on every time if I can make it happen. Alright, brilliant. Brett, thank you so much. Me and James are gonna close out after a brief clip from Lee and take a break here.
Hello lads. Just wanted to drop a quick voice note in for Tuesday's podcast. I'm sorry I can't join. I know we have some scheduling and time zone challenges during the work in week. I did watch the game on Friday. Uh, look, it wasn't pretty New England, to be fair, came out with some good energy. I think maybe they wanted to put a bit of a, a show on with Brady in the house and the kind of bit of hoopla that was surrounding that for the evening. But look, from a washing point of view, we had. Chris Moore dropping balls from Sam Hartman. I don't think that's gonna be much of a concern in September. So look, I think we just need to brush that one off and forget about it. It was a bit sloppy to be fair and I don't think Quinn would like to see that, um, even if it is a preseason game. So hopefully it puts a bit of a rocket of their ass for the next few weeks in training camp. Couple of positives for Jo Newton Mason plays, he look good. And James, I really want to hear your views on our Jaco watch. I saw Brooks went five for five, albeit against third stringers, but he was moving the chains and some nice cutback from Crosby Merri as well. So yeah, looking forward to the Insights boys. Have a good show and looking forward to listening later. Cheers.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:Good to hear from Lee. James', initial thoughts mental that he watched the whole game live.
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:Yeah. Yeah. Also not surprised though. I think he had the day off that day, so I think he was on a bit of a sports day with our football team playing earlier on. But yes, Lee, I did catch the Croskey merit runs. He looked good, as you say. Those quick cuts we've heard all about. And yes, I did see your boy Brooks did lead us in receiving. Good insight, Lee, on. From Lee there on Newton obviously from watching the highlights and re pick up on, on that. So that's something good to hear. I dunno if you saw anything similar to Lee when you were watching time. Probably didn't see.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:I didn't see it on the highlights, but I did then go on Twitter and do a kind of search through all of the beat reporters stuff and what they're retweeting, and someone had clipped together three or four Johnny Newton highlights where he'd gone into the backfield and beaten. People off the first step and looked, looked quite quick off the line, which is good because I think he was maybe missing that last year and come back for the injury. So yeah, that was really positive. Good, good shout from Lee there.
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:Yeah. And yeah, good shout from Lee. I, I, I think they're obviously pretty up for it, their end. I think both teams maybe viewed the game differently. Obviously we'd still want a performance, but obviously we viewed it as a way to kind of look at some other players. And for the Patriots, they're probably looking to set the tone a bit with a new coach and home game of Brady Avenue Statue unveiled. So spot on from Lee. Glad to hear he, he, he stuck it out for the, for the crew, the hell on three crew and watched the, the whole game.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:Yeah. Nice one.
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:yeah, he, he did complain to me separately that it was a bit of a pain in the ass because he couldn't tell who was who was who because you just have the local commentary and obviously it was Pat. So he was struggling to figure out who, who was doing what on our side.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:Ah, see what, what he needs to do is go on X and go on, like Ben stand's account and he'll tweet out the, like the jersey numbers before the game and then Lee can really pause it, you know, and do some proper in game analysis next time. But no,
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:yeah,
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:only joking around.
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:yeah, let's hope for something. Yeah. Let's hope for that next time, Lee. Next Monday night, straight after work. Let's have some in-depth analysis on that one.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:Yeah, absolutely. I do think just generally my last, my last point on the game if we're gonna have really shitty, sloppy performances where everyone's a bit all over the place, that's when to do it. It's also a complete mishmash of players that won't be playing of each other and. But we don't have any leaders on the field and we're not playing proper defenses or offenses in terms of our scheme yet. So basically if anyone is panicking, then you take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror basically after the, I did see a bit of that on Twitter and I started to get a bit pissed off, so
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:I did. Yeah. I,
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:ridiculous.
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:and I'm, I am a classic over actor in a negative fashion from games, and even I wasn't, so, yeah,
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:Yeah, you are a good litmus test actually on that.
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:yeah,
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:And Lee actually both, I
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:and
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:think. Yeah. Emotional initial reaction
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:yeah.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:and, but, and I didn't wake up to any kind of crazy takes or, or frustrations or anything. Just some positive stuff about Jacori watch on both counts, which is good to hear.
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:That's going strong. Going very strong.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:Absolutely.
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:yeah, hopefully see more both of them. Both of them. I suspect we will.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:Yep. Not too long now. We were just having a chat on one of our WhatsApp groups earlier today about a red zone booking for a London Sports bar for the 7th of September, which is three weeks. This coming Sunday I've got a week off. On the 22nd or 29th as well. So like, it's gonna come around quickly, which is great. I think we're gonna have a couple of pods in between. Definitely of the week of the game. We're gonna have Jake Giants fan on to talk about the Giants and kind of their off season hopes as a game preview episode. And I believe half the press we're gonna have mailbag Matt from site press at some point as well.
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:We've secured the deal with his agent. We've got mailbag, Matt, coming on, hopefully. Yeah, it should be next week. So, we've got that all penciled in and he's gonna talk about, softy draft season with fantasy now is who's gonna talk about some of his favorite picks, the upcoming draft. Hopefully we'll be able to get a few sleepers out of him even though we are in the same fancy league. Let's see how willing he is to to dish those out. And I think he'll kind of touch base on some Washington players see if he still, still feels the same about them as he did a few months ago when we first caught up. So looking forward to that.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:Excellent. That'll be really good. Yeah. And it will be interesting now we're much closer to draft how, how open he is about his thoughts now. Sure, sure. It would be really useful. Great. Any last thoughts on the that or can we put that Pat's preseason game firmly in the rear view mirror?
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:Hi. I'm done with that.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:Good, good stuff. Well it's great to have Brett on really good chat from a Patriot's perspective. James, where can people get in touch with us?
james_1_08-12-2025_184433:Yep. We're on X at on three pods we do still have the email open, even though. Well, actually the inbox is overflowing with emails, so do get them in. It's hail on three pod@gmail.com. So any comments, any questions, even if you wanna jump on the pod, just give us a shout, whether it's on the email or, or on x as well.
josh_1_08-12-2025_184433:Yeah, and actually just wanted to shout out one of our biggest fans on x Allard from Wales, who's consistently retweeting and engaging with us. Really appreciate you listening. Even wish me a happy engagement, which I thought was very nice. So top, top man. And yeah, if you ever want to come on, just give us a DM or a shout. More than happy to have fellow Washington fans on to have a good. Maybe he could join us for the RI years podcast, the Lost podcast potentially. But yeah. Thank you for that Allard. Cool. We're gonna play out with what I thought was a brilliant clip that you sent me, which was actor John Bernthal, who was at Commanders' training camp the other day, having a whale of a time enjoying himself. And I thought it was quite indicative of how positive the kind of. The world is in, in Commander's Nation nowadays, so gonna play that out. Bit of fun to finish and until next time, hail.
It feels so good, you know, to be, to be a Commander's fan, and, and it just, it, it, it feels like it was back in the day, 83, 84, 87 92. And, and you know, these guys are not just incredible athletes and this team isn't just so beautiful. You know, for me as a father, just to see that the, the quality of men these guys are, and the role models that they can be to these kids. You know, my son's a quarterback and for him to, for Jayden to take the time and say hello to'em. Sam throw the ball with him on the field. It's just, uh, incredible. And you see'em, they're all out here with all these fans and, uh, you know, it is, uh, it's truly a wonderful thing to be a Commander's fan and, and this team and this culture. It's the absolute truth. I'm, I'm just so excited for this team and, uh, I believe in'em with all my heart.