Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - And Then There Were Four? Patriots bring back Hoyer; 2021 Record Predictions — 5/18/2021

Episode Date: May 18, 2021

The New England Patriots are reportedly bringing back a familiar face to an already crowded quarterback room for the 2021 NFL season. Brian Hoyer is returning to Foxboro on a one-year deal. What does is mean for the Pats this season? Joining host Mike D’Abate is Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com. The duo discuss Hoyer’s return, New England’s plans to hold joint practices during training camp and they try to predict the Patriots’ possible record in 2021.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.NugenixText now, and they’ll include a bottle of Nugenix Thermo, their most powerful fat incinerator ever with key ingredients to help you get back in shape, absolutely free! Text DRAFT to 2-3-1-2-3-1.WealthfrontTo get your first $5,000 managed for FREE, for life, go to wealthfront.com/LockedOnNFL Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. You are now locked into the Lockdown Patriots podcast. It is Tuesday, May 18th, 2021, and it's time for our weekly dose of reason here on your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. And today, after listening to this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast,

check out my colleagues, NFL analyst Brian Peacock and former NFL scout Matt Williamson, as they host Locked On's Peacock and Williamson every Monday through Friday. Brian and Matt give you the national perspective all around the NFL, covering all the latest news and insight on every team, every draft pick, and every move around the NFL, covering all the latest news and insight on every team, every draft pick, and every move around the NFL. This and so much more every weekday with the Peacock and Williamson Podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network.

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Greetings and Tuesday salutations, Patriots Nation, and thank you for joining me here on the pod. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which, of course, is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And, folks, because it's your team every day, which means your questions, comments, and feedback

are always welcomed and appreciated. So share that feedback, send it to the Internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there doing some Tuesday traveling through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, Tuesday is a day of reason here on the pod, and luckily for us, our resident voice of reason is ready to join us here again on the hot seat. Steve Balistrieri,

my Patriots Paisan of Patsfans.com joins me here today where we will discuss the latest reports might just be ready to re-enter the world of joint practices during this year's training camp. The team is reportedly in discussions with both the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Football Giants for joint practices during training camp this summer, practicing with the Eagles in Philadelphia and the Giants up here in New England. And Steve and I have had the pleasure numerous times of covering joint practices up at Gillette Stadium. How much of an impact do they have on the team's preparation? Well, it might be even a little more significant than you think, and Steve and I will discuss that point today. We'll also take a look at the Patriots' schedule.

They're almost a week removed from the release of the 2021 NFL schedule and now that Steve and I have had a chance to really digest the schedule, take a look at the matchups, we prognosticate on how many wins the Patriots might walk away with, and whether your favorite football team in Foxborough is headed back to the playoffs this year. Already an action-packed agenda on the pod, but the Patriots took it one step further when it was reported that the Patriots would be bringing back a familiar face to an already crowded quarterback room for the upcoming season. Per an announcement from his own agency, JL Sports, quarterback Brian Hoyer is apparently

returning to the Foxborough fold. Jim McBride of the Boston Globe was the first to report that the 35-year-old signal caller is coming back to Foxborough on a one-year deal. And this news surprised some Patriots fans and media alike. I'll be honest, it raised my eyebrow the first time I saw it. A lot of us thought that we had seen the last of Brian here in New England, especially having returned last year to New England in the 2020 offseason in the wake of Tom Brady's departure. Hoyer actually clawed his way in the 2020 offseason in the wake of Tom Brady's departure, Hoyer actually clawed his way to the number two position on the quarterback depth chart behind starter Cam Newton. But we all remember Hoyer's struggles in week four against

the Kansas City Chiefs. That's a game in which Newton was forced to miss as he recovered from COVID-19. Bryan was then designated to third string behind Jarrett Stidham, and he became a healthy scratch for the Patriots' final 12 games, finished 2020 by completing 15 of 24 passes, 130 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception. That's not going to endear Bryan Hoyer to Patriots Nation, and it's certainly not enough to make him a significant upgrade at the backup position. But keep in mind, folks, that he has a tremendous amount of scout team acumen, and the Patriots may look to utilize that, meaning they may look to the wisdom and counsel of Brian Hoyer for a little help during training camp and spring practices. I think the move makes more sense

than people are given it credit for, but what does Steve have to say about it? After all, he's our resident voice of reason, and he'll take a reasonable approach to this. So sit back, Pats fans. Settle in as my Patriots Paisan, Steve Balistrieri, prepares to join me here on the Locked On Patriots Hot Seat to talk Patriots training camp, Patriots schedules, and the return of Brian Hoyer when this Tuesday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, get all the latest news, odds, and info for all of your sporting needs, including Major League Baseball, the NBA, NHL, all of your UFC, MMA action, and of course the NFL with the only place that has you covered and the only place we trust. Bet online.

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here on Locked On Patriots one of the best and most knowledgeable columnists that you'll find anywhere in Patriots media you know is great work from patsfans.com as well as being the co-host of two amazing podcasts Patriots fourth and two and one Patriots place with its new home soon to be on E2G sports as you found out yesterday from our good, great mutual friend Thomas Murphy. This man is my Patriots paisan, and despite what he'll tell you, he's worthy of all the praise he gets and then some. Steve Balistrieri joins me here today. Welcome back to Locked On, Patriots, my friend.

As always, buddy, it's a great pleasure to talk football with you anytime i don't know how great the wisdom will be today but we'll give it a shot the wisdom and counsel is always at a high level when you join us here on the microphone but so never ever fear for that um i have no fear of it and uh we know that when tuesday around, we always have the reason. We always have the resident calm that comes over us here after the big man gets us all fired up on Monday. I'm kidding. Great stuff. And, you know, I love I love Tuesdays almost as much as I love Mondays. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. You guys you guys have equal places in the heart. Believe me. But, steve there is never

a shortage of things to talk about with the new england patriots you know that uh they added a little more fodder to the fire last night when we found out that the pats were bringing back old friend brian hoyer on a one-year deal this surprised some within the fan base and i'll admit it raised my eyebrow when i first saw the news when j McBride of the Boston Globe first reported it yesterday evening but when you think about it it makes sense and I know a lot of Patriots fans thought it was a waste or they're not happy about it but this does make some sense Hoyer lives in New England he knows the Patriots offensive system as well as anyone out there it's a one-year deal. Don't know exactly the financial terms yet, but you have to imagine it's for little money. Hoyer has a great scout team acumen.

We've talked about that several times here on the pod and in other avenues. Players on that Super Bowl 53 squad continue to sing his praises about how well he was able to mimic Patrick Mahomes leading up to that. Jared Goff, especially in the Super Bowl, that can really be an asset to someone like Matt Jones, who's starting to learn the system and really kind of trying to develop a rapport with Josh McDaniels, Bill Belichick, and really learn the ways of Foxborough football here in New England. But bottom line, bud, we know the Patriots are not going to carry four quarterbacks this year. So Hoyer is likely to be the odd man out, barring injury or a trade, that is.

And we'll get back to that in a moment. Steve, I think this is a pure depth move. I think it's an extra arm for training camp, spring practices, someone to run the scout teams while Mack and Cam and maybe even Jared are taking reps with the first or second team. But am I missing something? Because I don't think Brian Hoyer makes the 53-man roster, but is there a scenario in which you believe that Brian ends up on the regular season roster?

Well, you know, it was funny. I was out of the loop all day yesterday. So when I got your message about the Patriots signing Hoyer, that's the first I had heard of it. So I was a little taken aback by it. And then I didn't have a chance to read anything what Jim wrote, but I started going through some scenarios in my mind, and honestly, none of the scenarios in my mind are good for Jared Stidham. I think there's actually a really good chance for Hoyer to make the roster, and I'll give you a couple of scenarios where that might happen. One, as you said, he's excellent at knowing the Patriots' offense. So as a sounding board for a young quarterback like Mack Jones, I think he would be perfect for that because, you know, eventually they're going to run the offense more like they did with Tom Brady here.

And Hoyer knows that offense backwards and forwards. So I think that, number one, he's going to be a great sounding board. But number two is I'm going through some scenarios in my head, and I'm like, well, if the Patriots are bringing Mack along slowly, which we both assume that they will, what happens if he's not really there yet to be

the backup? I'm talking about Mack Jones. What would the Patriots do in case of Newton getting hurt or possibly not playing so well? I think they would go with Hoyer, especially, you know, we saw that last year. I mean, Hoyer was their

first choice after, you know, Newton got COVID. I think the other scenario would be, okay, maybe Newton made it clear, like, hey, I understand that he's just a rookie, but if you guys decide he's going to be ready to start, I don't want to be the backup. Just go ahead and release me. So in that aspect, they would be like, okay, we need that veteran backup kind of guy. And again, he'd be a great sounding board for a young quarterback named Matt Jones.

So again, none of these scenarios are really good for Jared Stidham because I think there's actually a chance Hoyer could end up making the roster. Yeah, and you make an interesting point. And I think a lot of Patriots fans, when they saw this, and again, myself included into this mix, looked at it and said, I don't see Hoyer being able to come in here, especially after what we saw last season against Kansas City and the difficulties that he had and essentially being demoted to third string and really being a healthy scratch for the remaining 12 games after that in the season, that Brian Hoyer is going to come in here and he's going to beat out Cam Newton

or he's going to beat out Mac Jones for the backup position or that he's even going to be able to beat out Jarrett Stidham. But when you look at this objectively and you look at the potential scenarios, first of all, health is always the great equalizer. Murph and I talked about that yesterday. If there is a health issue when it comes to Cam Newton or when it comes to Mac or Jarrett, you can never predict injury.

So those types of things always give you caution. If you're in the Patriots organization, if you're in any NFL organization, you always want to make sure that your bases are covered. With a guy like Brian Hoyer, because of his knowledge of the system, I agree with you. He would be an excellent tutor for someone like Mac Jones, someone who can come in, show him the ropes, show him how it's done here in Foxborough. And again, his knowledge of the system is phenomenal. You can make the argument that he may know the system better than anyone else on this roster right now other than Bill Belichick and

Josh McDaniels so there's you know a good amount of synergy and a good amount of experience he brings to the table if in fact Mack has a blockbuster training camp and again I don't think this is going to happen but if Mack comes in totally outplays Cam and it's obvious that Cam's not going to be the guy for the Patriots moving forward or even this season, then you're looking at a scenario where Cam may not want to take a back seat and be a backup here to Mac Jones. He may want to go elsewhere and tell the Patriots, look, you know, cut me loose. I'm going to take my chances elsewhere. Then if that's the case, do you roll with just Mac Jones and Jarrett Stidham? That's a slippery slope. So having Brian Hoyer at the ready

is a smart move for the New England Patriots. And whether he takes a regular season snap or not, you can definitely appreciate the option that the Patriots took in trying to at least get some insurance at the position. And look, if the scenario plays out the way I outlined last night, if the Patriots decide that Hoyer is the odd man out and they want to go ahead

and let him, you know, loose, there's a possibility he may end up either sticking around on the practice squad if he clears waivers, or there's a possibility that maybe he joins the coaching staff and comes in and is possibly a mentor or an advisor on that coaching staff to help along Mac Jones. So a lot of possibilities with Brian, but I don't think Patriots fans need to read the tea leaves too much here. I don't think there's a lot of reason to be scared that Brian Hoyer is going to be taking the majority of your regular season snaps. I think this is a depth move and we'll see. We'll see what happens. But you laid out an interesting scenario and you know what? I'll definitely give you all the kudos in the

world, buddy, if this ends up coming to fruition. Because you're right. It doesn't look good for Jarrett right now. But who knows? You know, stranger things have happened in the NFL. I was just looking at it. You know, I looked at that signing last night. It's just like a Josh McCown type of situation where, you know, he, he's that, you know, that savvy veteran,

he might not have all the ability anymore, but it's still up between his ears and, you know, he would be such a great sounding board for a young guy. If Mac Jones ends up being the starter, when he comes off the field, Hoyer can see everything on the field just like a coach and I think you made a great point I think the Patriots might be grooming him for a position you know when he does decide to hang it up and what better way than to have him you know right there on the sideline talking to him as he comes off the field yeah absolutely you hear that a lot

about potential Patriots that might make great coaches someday. And Matthew Slater consistently comes up in that conversation, not so much because of the football acumen, but just how he's able to bring together a locker room. And Matthew is one of the greatest guys in the world. I've had the great fortune of being able to interview him one on one and speak with him and just one of the great guys that you'll meet in this or any business uh but two guys that are consistently listed as new england patriots on this current roster that a lot of people feel may make great coaches on the field someday are brian hoyer and teddy caris it's interesting that bill belichick brought them both back this year uh caris i think has a few more years left in his arsenal hoyer maybe in

that twilight of his career uh but at the same time, it could be an interesting fit if Bryant doesn't end up making the 53-man roster and playing for the Patriots this year. May still be with the team in another capacity. Speaking of training camp and spring practices, Bud, reports are starting to circulate out there that the Patriots might be looking to re-engage in joint practices this summer. That's something that's served them well throughout the years. Of course, last year, COVID-19 put a wrench into that, and they weren't able to engage in those. But ESPN's Mike Reese reporting that Patriots have known their opponents for quite some time. Joint practices with the Eagles and the Giants could be finalized. One possibility discussed, but it's not official at this point, having the Patriots and Giants practices in Foxborough,

even though the game is actually going to be played in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Steve, we've covered joint practices in Foxborough before several times together. These can be invaluable learning tools for rookies, new faces, and really a great chance for the Patriots to scout some players, maybe even potential future Patriots to scout some players, maybe even potential future Patriots. They've done it before, folks. They love to keep a sharp eye on the potential competition. And Bill Belichick is as good at this as anybody. But when you look at joint practices and the potential return this year, how might that help the Patriots,

especially with a good number of new faces on this roster? I think you just hit the nail right on the head there, Mike. I mean, with all the Patriots, especially with a good number of new faces on this roster? I think you just hit the nail right on the head there, Mike. I mean, with all the new faces, I mean, not just with the draft, but look at all the guys they brought in through free agency. It's going to be tough to get a really good look at these guys in just regular practice against your own team. And, you know, especially when you're dealing with a lot of veterans who's, you know, as we all know, their snaps in preseason games tend to be limited.

So these guys will acclimate so much faster if they're practicing against a team like the Giants or the Eagles for like three or four days, you know, and as we saw, they're great tools for the coaching staff and the players because it gets them more in a game-type situation than when they just go against their own, you know, teammates. So, you know, the intensity tends to ratchet up a little bit. You know, I think the competition is good. The change is good. Because after they've been playing against each other, you know,

for a couple of weeks, things tend to get a little stale. And this will definitely ratchet things up. I think it's great. We both know the Patriots love joint practices because they get so much out of it. So, you know, with the Giants and Joe Judge, you know, hey, I could see that happening. And the

Eagles have been here before. So, you know, with the Patriots going down there and maybe practicing with the Eagles, I think it'll be a great thing for this team. I think it'll show Bill Belichick a lot more of what this team possibly can be, because we both know it'll still be very early in the process, but it'll give them a better

look at how these pieces are all going to fit together. And for the players, I think it'll be invaluable. Absolutely. I believe it'll be invaluable as well. Joint practices are one of the things that I think make Patriots training camp special. I believe it'll be invaluable as well. Look, joint practices are one of the things that I think make Patriots training camp special. It makes it interesting. Not that training camp isn't interesting in and of itself, folks. I'm not saying that, but it adds a new element. It adds a new level to the Patriots development, especially with all the

new faces. I think it is a good move. You mentioned the Eagles and the fact that the Patriots have had joint practices there in the past. We know the coaching staff is different since those practices, but Howie Roseman is still running the football operations for the organization, so there's a lot of synergy still there. So this could be interesting, Patriots going into Philly and doing some joint practices there. As for the Giants, you hit the nail on the head. Joe Judge, eight seasons in New England as an assistant coach, special teams, coach of wide receivers.

So we know that there is a great deal of knowledge there as well. And if he's going to come to Foxborough, that would really be interesting. And you or I would definitely love to have front row seats for that. Hopefully we will, and we'll be able to enjoy training camp as we have in years past but ultimately I completely agree with you that with the new faces on the roster joint practices are only going to enhance the Patriots ability to improve and to prepare for this upcoming 2021 season but again your wisdom and counsel your reason you always bring us back to a level headed place here on Tuesdays. That's why we love having you here on the pod. But folks, we're not

done yet because the 2021 NFL schedule has been set for nearly a week now. In just a moment, Steve Balistrieri and I will examine the schedule as a whole. And we're going to try to read the tea leaves a little bit. We're going to take a look at what the Patriots' finished product might be. And will the Pats return to the playoffs in 2021? Find out our thoughts when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, when it comes to repairing or maintaining your vehicle, why would you spend 30%, 50%, even 100% more for the exact same auto parts at a chain store or a new car dealership?

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rockauto.com Pats fan Steve Balistrieri joins me here today on the pod and steve when we last spoke here last week on locked on patriots the 2021 nfl schedule had actually yet to be released uh we were about a day removed from it and we talked about some of the potential matchups when they might take place talked about when tom's coming back up and bringing Rob and the whole Buccaneer crew out of Tampa Bay back up here to Foxborough. We know now when these matchups are going to take place. And according to many sports media outlets,

the Patriots are projected to have the 19th toughest schedule in the NFL. And most of those projections have them either tied or hovering around teams like the Jets and the 49ers. Steve, we know this is never an exact science, especially at this time of year. Rosters haven't been set. There's no way to project injuries or even team chemistry. But yet, here we are. We're talking about it. So we're going to give it its just due today.

As you look at the 2021 schedule for the Patriots, do you believe that there are more potential wins than losses here? And if so, do you think double-digit wins is a realistic expectation for this team? I do. I looked at the moves they made in free agency and then during the draft, and I just have to be honest, I'm not looking at it with just rose-colored glasses. I don't like the moves they made this year. You know, they addressed a lot of the holes that they had. You know, we look offensively at tight end.

You know, a lot of people were poo-pooing their moves at wide receiver because they were like, well, they settled on these guys. They actually didn't settle. They targeted those guys early in the free agency process. So they obviously have the feeling that these guys are going to fit. And, you know, no one ever knows until the players get on the field whether or not that's going to be true. But if you look at the overall team as it stands right now compared to the team

that ended the regular season on a whimper last year, this is a much, much better football team. I think double digits are entirely within their grasp. Of course, it will depend on injuries and, you know, like you said, team chemistry. But looking at things, I don't like it. I like it a lot. Absolutely. I like it a lot, too.

And look, bottom line, you look at the Patriots' schedule, week one through week 18, obviously taking out week 14, which is their bye week. I don't see a place on this schedule where I look at it and say, that's a game the Patriots absolutely cannot win. I just don't see it. And maybe I'm looking through things through rose-colored classes. Maybe the Foxborough filter is finally clouding my judgment. But I don't look at any one of these games and saying the Patriots absolutely cannot win this game. Now, are they going to win all these games? No, this is not a team that I think is going to go 17 and 0. This is not a team that probably is going to go 15 and 2 or 14 and 3. I don't

necessarily think that they're at that level, but I don't see a game that they're incapable of winning, including week four against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay, obviously the defending Super Bowl champions. Yeah, you can make the argument their offense is clicking on all cylinders. Their defense is seasoned. Maybe they have the edge on both sides of the ball. But I'm not counting Bill Belichick and his coaching staff out of that game. They know Tom Brady as well as anybody. Tom knows the Patriots as well as anybody as well, which is why I think this is going

to be a hell of a chess match between both sides. But I don't even look at that as a guaranteed loss. It's a likely loss, but I don't think it's a guaranteed loss. And you look at the other teams that are on the schedule. All right, the Buffalo Bills, you've got to figure Patriots are probably going to drop at least one to those, but it's theoretically possible that they could drop the game at home and win up in Orchard Park. We've seen them do it before. Cleveland is not a guaranteed loss. The Chargers I don't think is a guaranteed loss, even though it's out on the West Coast. Tennessee Titans is going to be a very tough game.

But again, Patriots could pull that out. So when you look at this team from top to bottom, I don't see a guaranteed loss. And realistically, I think double-dig digit wins uh the 11 win mark maybe even the 12 i don't think is being a a blind homer when it comes to what this team is capable of doing i think it's well within their capabilities and you know who knows maybe they're going to raise some eyebrows and surprise some people and the strength of schedule is working to their advantage this year as well last but but certainly not least, Bud, pulling on what we just talked about, we know the AFC is still a stacked conference. I just

mentioned some of the teams that the Patriots would be facing. Some of them are AFC opponents. Kansas City Chiefs, they're still the defending AFC champions. The Titans, we mentioned, they're going to be in the mix. Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, without any question. They, I think, can be one of the most formidable teams in this conference. Indianapolis Colts, a lot of people are high on them. Baltimore Ravens always hang around. I haven't even named everybody, but those are just a few. They're all considered in the mix.

I think the Patriots are in that mix, too. And while there are teams that are clearly above them, and we've talked a little bit about why that is, this team, the way it's put together, I think can play with anybody. That being said, they're also facing stiff competition in their own division, as well as the conference. Steve, even if this team does crack double digit wins, meaning 10, 11, it actually may not mean a guaranteed playoff spot this year. You've got the extra game.

Teams are very well positioned to be able to put together wins and make the playoffs. So a guaranteed playoff spot is not something that Patriots fans should just expect. In your early estimation, my friend, do you believe the New England Patriots, as currently constituted, are a playoff team? I think they can definitely be a playoff team. And I'll tell you, you know, when I looked at the way the schedule played out, they don't play Buffalo until late in the season.

And that's the time where Bill Belichick's teams traditionally play their best football and they start putting it all together. You know, those two games against Buffalo are going to loom huge, not only for the division, but also, you know, for their playoff hopes. And by them having both Buffalo games later rather than earlier in the season, I think that's a, you know think that's a plus for New England. I think if they played Buffalo earlier in the season,

I would look for the Bills to easily beat them because, again, you're looking at a lot of different new faces on this team, and we've traditionally seen the first month of the season, they don't really gel yet. They're just kind of putting things together. We're looking at those two build games, bills, excuse me, late in the season. I think that that works to their advantage, and I think there's a very good chance, again, this is way too early. We haven't seen anybody on the field yet. But just on paper, I think this could be a playoff team,

and they might be able to surprise somebody. Yeah, I think they could surprise people. And look, the prowess that they can show on offense, I think is going to be more impressive than people are giving them credit for. I've been reading an awful lot about, oh, their offense is still terrible. Take a look at what they've added. They've added a tremendous two tight end set, two guys that complement each other very well.

I've got a Twitter DM the other day from someone, oh, you're acting like they got both Kelsey and Kittle in the same lineup. No, they don't have Kelsey and Kittle in the same lineup. What they have is a traditional tight end that's able to run routes able to get out and make the type of plays he needs to make in the open field and hunter henry and what they also have is a great red zone threat someone who's capable of even running the jet sweep at times in john who smith these guys complement each other very well and that 12 man personnel that the patriots can run with the two tight end sets it's going to be very impressive this year you mentioned Nelson Aguilar and you mentioned Kendrick Bourne earlier I like

the two signings because I think Aguilar is going to surprise some people I think he's going to be an effective weapon on the outside he can come in and play the slot if the Patriots decide that they want to focus more on the slot and focus more on the middle of the field he can do it at the same time i think kendrick bourne is really that's one of the reasons why he was brought here really to kind of take some of the sting off of losing julian edelman so the patriots do have some offensive firepower but at the end of the day steve this is going to be a smash mouth defensive team that we've not seen the last couple of years but we've seen elements a of years ago, the boogeymen and all that, Patriots defense was riding high. I think they got a little exposed in the second half of the season

because they had difficulty setting the edge. They had difficulty stopping the run. Those two work hand in hand. We've talked about this several times. Last year, they pretty much had that problem for a better part of the season. They were good at times but they really consistently could not set the edge and because of that they were vulnerable to a very good ground game patriots have upgraded significantly in that department clogged the

middle with some good solid players in the interior of that defensive line they've got solid edge contributions now rejuvenated in the linebacker position, and enough pop in the defensive backfield to still defend stoutly against the pass. So that's why I think this is a playoff team. I think they'll score enough points to be able to be competitive, but it's their defense that I think is going to carry them to a playoff spot this year. And I think a lot of people are going to enjoy watching this team play defense. Bill Belichick's gone back to basics a little bit,

and I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch. For football purists that love a good defensive team, this is going to be a Patriots team that I think you'll enjoy watching. But what can I say? I always appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule joining me here on Locked on Patriots to talk ball. The time just flies by when you're on the microphone with me, but we always treasure

it and we always welcome it. And we already can't wait to talk football with you next Tuesday here on the pod. But in the meantime, please let our listeners know where they can find you, your great work, and what you have coming in the coming days from the great Penn and the great voice of Steve Balistrieri. Thanks, Mike. As always always i appreciate the invite to come on every week it's something i look forward to and uh you know it will be uh looking to do a podcast of our own on uh patch fans and talk about some of the uh otas that are upcoming and you know obviously we'll be talking about the quarterbacks but you but there's so many other pieces that are involved in this 2021 team. We're going to be looking at a lot of these new faces because, as you said,

this defense should be much, much improved, and that's going to really help things along, and that's what we're going to be looking at. Excellent, and we can't wait for it, folks. I always say, whenever this man puts pen to paper or puts voice to microphone, listen, read, absorb it.

You'll always be a smarter football fan. You'll be a better football fan and you'll just be a better person in general. Steve's writing and everything just enriches every part of your life. And it's one of my greatest honors to share the microphone with you each and every Tuesday

here on Locked On Patriots. Stay safe and well in the meantime, my friend, and we look forward to talking ball with you right here again next Tuesday. Thanks for coming on today, my friend. And so, Pats Nation, we are almost halfway through your work week, but we've just scratched the surface on Patriots coverage here on the pod. And even though Locked On Patriots has you covered for all the news notes and analysis you need from Foxborough, get all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes with the

Locked On Today podcast. Host Peter Bukowski updates you on the latest news in every major sport with the help of our local experts. Follow the Locked On Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And as for your New England Patriots, to ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action, follow the Locked On Patriots podcast on platforms such as the Odyssey app, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts,

wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you are staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Steve Balistrieri for his time, his insight, and his appearance on today's pod. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to

see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.