Here’s what Ryan Cowden had to say during his press conference on Tuesday, August 19, 2025.
On how camp has been from his perspective:
“Yeah, it’s great. I think this is a unique space, the way you’re able to set this up and the fans’ engagement. That’s been really awesome to see just how many people are here and want to consume the product. There’s really been some good energy there. I think every year, the excitement of camp and the real start to the roster building and the competition for spots, it’s always an exciting time.”
On the fact it’s been a strong summer so far for the rookie class and what he’s seen from the draft class so far?
“I think the baseline that you expect for those guys is just to compete. You’ll hear coach talk about it and talking about earning a role. That’s what the expectation for each one of those guys is. Each of them may have a different role, whether that’s a starter, a backup, a special team’s player. But the idea is you want to see those guys come in and compete and earn a role on the football team. Right now, a large majority of that group, that’s what we’ve been excited about, both the drafted players, the undrafted players.”
On the fact there’s been a lot of rotation at the left guard position and how he views the competition for that spot with just a couple of weeks to go before the season:
“Sure. I think it’s always about, I think the guys spoke to it yesterday a little bit about finding the right combinations. What is the best thing for our football team and up front to be able to execute the things that they need to do? That goes into both physical ability, communication and I think there’s always, just like every position group, there’s battles to be won, and nothing’s ever given here. It’s going to be earned. And so, it’s no different than every other position group, in my opinion.”
On the fact it’s only been 17 practices and two preseason games, but what’s the most important thing that he’s seen or changed the most from when they started camp to where they are now:
“It’s ever shifting, right? As you see things happen, as you get injuries at certain spots, you may think you had depth in one area, and then all of a sudden, you’re thin. I think it’s a shapeshifting process. If any one area has been better or worse than expected, I don’t really think of it in that terms. It’s just constantly looking at each position room and going, ‘Are we good enough in this room? Is the fifth guy in that room good enough? Do we need to go outside help? Do we feel like we can be competitive in each of those rooms?'”
On how much of his job right now is not only paying attention to what’s going on here, but the rest of the league. With hundreds of names becoming available in the near future, what the difficulty is to keep up with that, and how much time he’s spending on that part of it right now:
“For me, in my process, is really just kind of, you shift straight to the pro. Sometimes it’s balancing in Pro, College, your own roster. Right now, as colleges are getting off and running in camp, this focus really shifts through the preseason and all the teams. Our pro staff does a great job. We just met this morning on some things already, just constantly talking about what’s out there. You’re trying to predict who’s going to be available, maybe some bubble players. Are there going to be guys available for trade? It’s that constant communication with our pro staff just to deal with the volume of players. Can we be incrementally better at any one spot? That’s the goal.”
On what the biggest challenge is of building depth, finding guys that Mike [Vrabel] likes that fit the system and what they’re trying to build right now:
“I think with Coach’s vision, along with all the assistant coaches, we take a lot of value in their input. We want to be able to be on the same page about… Is it always going to be perfect? No, but we want skill sets to align with what they’re going to be asked to do. So as we look for depth, we’re going to take stock of what we have and then what are some complementary pieces that are going to help us and help that position room? So I think you’re just always looking at what you have and what compliments that based on what we’re going to ask them to do offensively or defensively or even in the kicking game.”
On the fact, and Eliot [Wolf] talked about it yesterday, we hear from fans all the time and a lot of the questions that we hear is, why if there’s a great player available like a Terry McLaurin, can’t you just go out and do what it takes and send a two and send a three and send a player and get that guy in here that will help this team, and how he would respond to those fans that think that way:
“I think Eliot put it in a good sense yesterday. There’s so many layers and complications and little nuances about every deal, whether that’s a little deal, whether that’s a big deal, whether it’s a backup player or maybe an elite player. Our job is to constantly come up with ideas, brainstorm, suggestions about players at all levels. The acquisition of those players isn’t as easy sometimes. It takes certainly two sides. Sometimes the player has say and we have to be really intentional about moves we make because any move we make sends a message to the rest of the football team. I think that’s something that, trust me, we go through scenarios constantly multiple times a day to keep everything alive because in the end, how can we make the football team better? How can we go get wins on Sunday? That’s what we all want to do. So, it’s just a constant process that involves a lot of layers.”
On given his experience at this time with only few days left until cuts, if he feels like he has a good sense of the market for the players that other teams might be calling about doing the same exercise as you are:
“Yeah, right. That’s the other side of this, is do you have assets that people are inquiring to you about? Take stock of how that affects your team. Are you deep enough in a position to be able to move on from that player? What’s their offer going to be? So the back and forth between those two things, whether it’s inquiring or whether it’s somebody calling us to inquire about our own, I think that’s a constant communication with our staff.”
On if it typically changes when it comes to the answers teams would give him now versus Monday or Tuesday of next week, and if he feels like throwing names like Kyle Dugger and Anfernee Jennings, if he feels like he would know what they would fetch on the market come Monday or Tuesday:
“With any player, it’s going to change based off of a potential team’s needs and those could change within a practice, within the last game. They’re not static over their rosters. As that changes, the market could change for any player.”
On if he feels confident when all is said and done, that he’ll be able to adequately fill the holes and the voids that have presented themselves over the course of the last month or so:
“I do. I know we’ll fill them to the best that we’re capable. As a personnel person, I may have said this to you guys before, you never feel comfortable at any position. Whether or not you think you have a bunch of starters, but maybe, as I said earlier, maybe you’re fifth person in the room, you want to be a little better. Do I feel like we’re going to be able to roll a unit out there, and the 53 guys plus the practice squad players, that’s going to allow coaching a chance to win a game? I do. I think that’s our job is through this process of this cut down of whether it’s some of our own guys or whether it’s from outside teams, providing that depth that we can go be competitive on Sunday against the Raiders.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This transcript was done based on the available footage and is subject to typographical errors. If you spot anything, please let me know in the comments below.)
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
