Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Are the New England Patriots a “Soft Football Team?” Pats Loss to Jaguars Has Fans, Jerod Mayo Upset

Starting point is 00:00:00 Perhaps the more important question Patriots fans should be asking is, why are the Patriots considered a soft football team? Stick around, you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. 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. And thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots

Starting point is 00:00:32 a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Athlon Sports. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style, please follow our account there as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:01:05 And Pats fans, it is not exactly the best of times in Foxborough. Your New England Patriots still feeling the sting from a 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in the UK, the second straight year the Patriots have lost on international soil. And questions continue to surround this team here today to help us break it all down, to help us absorb and examine each and every aspect of this is our good friend, the legend himself, Thomas Murphy. Thank you for coming to me in friendship.

Starting point is 00:01:39 And thank you for joining me today on this Melancholy Tuesday, Controvers controversial Tuesday episode. Don't Murph. Oh, always happy to be here. Always happy to be here. Happy banner day out there in Celtics nation. Absolutely. Okay.

Starting point is 00:01:54 And happy anniversary Patriots nation. It was one year ago today that the Patriots won their last football game in Foxborough. Over the Bills. Yeah. I think that sums it up, doesn't it? Yeah. That basically sums it up.

Starting point is 00:02:14 You know, why did I have to start with that downer? Because Sunday's game was a downer. It was terrible. Once again, you cannot stop the run. And I'm tired of hearing about Barmore being out or anybody else being out. Make the tackle in front of you. We talked about this on the Monster Keys episode on Friday, Friday, Saturday. You have to stop the run.

Starting point is 00:02:40 You have to control time of possession. And the Patriots did not do that again this week in London in London yeah absolutely and Murph let's face it it led to a lot of commentary being given on this game post game a lot more than we're used to seeing here in Patriots nation first of all the players are frustrated you're hearing guys like Kendrick Bourne you know speak up you've heard Danny Laquale you've heard Devon godshaw all of these guys speaking their mind and saying that players are playing for themselves players are being selfish they're not playing the play in front of them uh they need to worry more about being in the game rather than being outside the game these are things that concern me as a patriots fan and i

Starting point is 00:03:20 think it should concern all of patriots fans because it does get at an underlying theme here. And I think the culmination of all of this was Gerard Mayo taking the postgame podium on Sunday and saying, we're a soft football team across the board. Yep. Now, some will argue that this is benign. Some will argue that it's semantics. In my humble opinion, Murph, I think this hits harder than people are giving it credit for. Yep. To me, the term soft has a profound impact and we're going to get into that in just a moment but I do want to quote Gerard verbatim here and present it from all sides because he did walk

Starting point is 00:03:55 his statement back a little bit on his weekly appearance on the Greg Hill show Monday morning on WEI and he says I felt like we just went out there and played soft we're playing soft at the moment and when I say playing soft, that means stopping the run, being able to run the ball, and being able to cover kicks, which we weren't able to do. To correct what I said, it's not that we have a soft football team. We're just playing soft over the past few weeks. And it's hard to argue with the evidence.

Starting point is 00:04:20 The empirical evidence is there. The New England Patriots had 38 yards on the ground that is not going to cut it they surrendered 171 rushing yards that's certainly not going to cut it and they allowed a 96-yard punt return and this team is having difficulty tackling so when you look at what the patriots are doing yes that is a bad performance right before I get into the terminology that Mayo used and why I believe it's more damaging than not um in your opinion Murph what is it about this team right now that is coming off as quote unquote either soft or not up to the challenge why is this team struggling so much this team is struggling so much for the same reasons that people in this town complained over the past decade.

Starting point is 00:05:09 You know, the fact that the next man up is not there. Now, what they complained about over the last decade, folks, was the fact that Bill Belichick overpaid the second and third string players and did not overpay and did not keep superstars around. Okay. He wasn't willing to keep paying all these, uh, these guys. And there was rollover. There was change. There were guys that were, there are guys in this line on this roster right now that folks are complaining about that Bill Belichick brought in, you re-signed and,

Starting point is 00:05:45 and, but bill brought them in to play 18 snaps a game, 26 snaps a game. All right. And now they're being asked to step up and play 50. And that's not who they are. That's not who Sloan Takitaki is. Okay. That's, that's, that's not who they are. That's not who Sloan Takitaki is. Okay?

Starting point is 00:06:06 That's – so the skill level is not there. But still, I go back to basic football, and that's holding your gap. All right? Not freelancing and making the tackle in front of you. So, yeah, it's true. This team is soft, but it's soft because guys are out missing and the guys that are the next man up can't compensate at at the same level for the same amount of time on the field. Good point. Very good point. And look, I think that in Gerrard's clarification of his statement and what he made on Sunday, as opposed to how he presented it on Monday morning, I do think he was speaking more of their play on the field than their part. But I will say this, using the term soft in post-game, whether it's in the heat of the moment whether it's a freudian

Starting point is 00:07:06 slip whether it's an ill-fated way to try to send a message it does convey the wrong point yep and i think that it is something that gerard is going to have to struggle with this week because look when you come out and you tell your team they played soft right you're insinuating whether it's your intention or not that word insinuates that you're playing with no heart right and that's about the worst thing that you can tell a player it's one of the reasons why Bill Belichick said what he said on the Pat McAfee podcast and went on Jim Gray's podcast and says I would not use the terminology soft people are salivating at the point that Bill weighed in on this now because right now all of a sudden right the over eager twitter accounts are going to look and say oh there we go that's the opportunity to hop on this

Starting point is 00:07:50 let's make this a bill problem um you want to attack bill for the job that he did in managing the roster the last couple of years that's a different argument and i'm not going to sit there and tell you you have an invalid argument i think there are arguments on both sides, but you can make the argument. I understand that. But if you're looking and saying, okay, well, Bill was ruthless to his players too.

Starting point is 00:08:11 What Gerard did was nowhere near a problem. Yeah, folks, it is a problem because when your authority figure, right. And that's what Gerard Mayo is right now. When your authority figure questions your heart, it's going to send reverberations through that locker room.

Starting point is 00:08:25 And there's nothing wrong with that. There's absolutely nothing wrong with taking your team to task when you're in the locker room. Right. When you're standing in front of the board. In front of the media. And this was a huge gaffe on his point. I have no problem with him walking into that locker room, slamming a few doors, grabbing a chair and tossing it across the room. You know, but what he did was terrible.

Starting point is 00:08:51 You don't do that. You know, and right now, you know, I'm telling you guys, you know, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it. This is a move that could totally backfire on him, and he could end up losing this entire locker room. Yeah. All right? This is what loses you respect with your players. All right? When you come out and things are going to be different,

Starting point is 00:09:14 and I'm going to be everybody's best friend like I was when I was an assistant coach. I'm just going to bring all that positivity. Where's the positivity? All right? That's the positivity? All right. That's what you want to see on the, I want to, I want to, I want a head coach that's up there saying we got to coach better. We got to play better. Yeah. That's it. And then turn around, go back into the locker room and read the riot act. Yeah, exactly. And I think you make a good point. When things like this come out and statements like that are made hardly ever or at least in a situation where you're in a sound organization sound operation yeah it hardly ever comes from the head coach murph you and i are

Starting point is 00:09:51 old enough to remember 1984 i was four years old at the time but i do remember seeing clips of larry bird calling out his locker room his boston celtics after being humiliated on the court by the los ang Angeles Lakers saying that his players did not play up to the challenge. They were playing soft. He used some terminology that would not be too acceptable today. But folks, if you're old enough to remember that, you know what Larry said, go ahead and look it up.

Starting point is 00:10:18 And it challenged these players. And I remember guys like Cedric Maxwell and Kevin McHale saying that did not sit well with us at all. We looked at Larry and we had a negative opinion of him that day for lack of a better term and what did they do they go out this is the game where you see Kevin McHale nearly take Kurt Rambis's head off with a clothesline they were going to prove everything they possibly could that they were not soft they were not um a team that could be pushed to the side so that comes from your captain that comes from someone in the locker room that has that type of ability to do it you're going to call teammates out and you're going to do it publicly i agree with murph

Starting point is 00:10:55 that can't come from the head coach it has to be done behind closed doors and again what it does i alluded to this to open the show today i think it takes away from the true question that Patriots fans should be asking right now and not who's responsible and not who's making them play soft it's why are they playing so right why is this team playing soft why are they surrendering chunk plays on the ground that put this team on its heels into holes that they can't climb their way out of it's just it's impossible and that to me is the real question that Pats fans should be asking right now. And that is regarding this team. That's regarding this current group, this coaching staff, this organization, this front office, this ownership, and these players on the field. Not last year, not three years ago, not five years ago, not even 10 years ago. That's where the focus needs to be if the patriots are going to dig their way out of this they can't live in yesteryear they've got to hit this now and they've got to hit it head on before like you said things start to unravel in a hurry and at one and six we're at that point that's it no i i can't add anything to that that that would be more brilliant thank you i appreciate

Starting point is 00:12:01 that that was very very nice of you buddy i mean, I also will clarify, and I will say that I think the calls to have Gerard Mayo fired after seven games are not. I mean, that is ridiculous. No one is questioning whether or not he had the qualifications to become head coach. At least in my opinion, I believe that he did. In Mike's opinion, not in my opinion. I didn't know. I'm sorry. I don't know anybody, anything. And I never thought Gerard Mayo had done enough to become the head coach of the New England Patriots. But he's here and he's not going to get fired after eight games. to a player i'm going by the experience that he has on this staff and look there is an opportunity for him to turn this around this talent is in this locker room to turn this around but i also think it's fair criticism murph to say that there is enough talent in this locker room to be playing better than a 1 and 16. yeah this team could easily have two more wins right now but it's it's not that's not what we're saying that's not what this conversation is about yeah without question so before uh you know so to clarify no one is questioning gerard mayo right

Starting point is 00:13:12 now and saying that his job is in jeopardy or that he should be ousted even after the end of this season you've got to give him an opportunity to put his stamp on this team but what we're trying to say is that words do have an impact and he has got to be the main guy in this room that is going to write this ship. He's got to give these guys some discipline. He's got these guys some accountability and he's got to do it in a way that's going to reach this team. Calling them out publicly is not the way to do it. No, it's not the way to do it. I thought that, um, that things were, were pretty run pretty well during training camp. You know, they were out there working middays, you know, in the heat,

Starting point is 00:13:49 you know, every single day they were hitting. I thought, okay, this is a tone that we're going to set. And he took his foot off that gas again to be, you know, everybody's friend and now he's got to turn it around. It's not easy. It's not – I thought he was going in the right direction and he, you know, he became that easy players coach really quick. And it's really difficult to do a one 80 off of that. It really is. It's always easier to get easier, you know, to, to be, to be the nicer. And he stepped in a pile of it at that podium on Sunday morning.

Starting point is 00:14:29 It was still morning. Yeah, it's true. It really was. Well, morning our time anyway. And, folks, bottom line, I know the soft comments have kind of taken the attention of Patriots Nation away from what went wrong on the field on Sunday. And Murph and I haven't forgotten. No, as a matter of fact, on the contrary, we're going to talk about all the problems

Starting point is 00:14:49 that the Pats had on the field. And in keeping with our tradition, Murph, we're going to end on a high note. And that high note is young quarterback Drake May, one of the only bright spots for the Patriots on Sunday. We will end on a high note, but not before traveling to the depths when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Hey, NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel,

Starting point is 00:15:20 America's number one sportsbook. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game you can check out the latest stats view live play-by-play and so much more on the same page where you place your bets you'll get started with 200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first five dollar bet so if you're feeling pretty good about the chances of your favorite New England sports team, you can test your intuition and make the most of it with FanDuel.com. That's FanDuel.com. Lockdown listeners, when you're hiring for your small business,

Starting point is 00:15:58 you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs has the tools to help find the right professionals for your team to help you do it faster. Here's the best part, folks. They help you do it for free. Because LinkedIn isn't just a job board. LinkedIn helps you hire professionals you can't find anywhere else.

Starting point is 00:16:19 Even those who aren't actively searching for a new job but might be open to the perfect role. In a given month, over 70% of LinkedIn users don't visit other leading job sites. So if you're not looking on LinkedIn, you're looking in the wrong place. And on LinkedIn, 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours. Hire professionals like a professional on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at linked.com slash LockedOnNFL. That's LinkedIn.com

Starting point is 00:16:50 slash LockedOnNFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on LockedOnPatriots, making us a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. And a special tip of the cap to all of you everydayers who make Locked On Patriots your

Starting point is 00:17:08 first listen. We couldn't do this show without you, and we appreciate your support. If you make us your first listen every day, again, we implore you, make your second listen our good friends over at Locked On NFL. All of the major storylines across the NFL shield brought to you and analyzed by the great team of analysts we have right here on the Lockdown NFL channel. And of course, just like Lockdown Patriots, Lockdown NFL is a proud part of the Lockdown tribulations of your New England Patriots still suffering the sting of a 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, dropping the Patriots to 1-6 on the season.

Starting point is 00:17:52 Murph, the hopes for 2024 are all but gone, and I don't think they were all that high to begin with. But bottom line, the New England Patriots have serious problems to solve, and they need serious problems to solve. We talked about the emotional impact of what these losses are meaning for the pats and the importance of the head coach to right the ship when it comes to terminology and it comes to engagement but there are a lot of problems on the field for this team and most of them it's funny to say this but most of them on sunday i think we're most glaring on the defensive side of the ball the New

Starting point is 00:18:25 England Patriots surrendering 171 rushing yards this run defense no longer has the personnel to fit the current scheme that DeMarcus Covington is running right now so when we look at things that went wrong Murph I put the defense right on the top of the list of problems that the Pats had why is this team having such difficulty trying to stop the run or trying to be formidable in the front seven? You know, I'm really scratching my head on this because they do have the players to be better here. Devin Gottschall was on the field for 50 snaps on Sunday, 50.

Starting point is 00:19:02 He had one tackle. That's one more than I had, folks, one. This team is playing not good fundamental football. They're getting manhandled on both sides of the line of scrimmage. If you looked at the other side, the guard play was awful on Sunday. It was just terrible. It was abysmal. But sticking with Mike's topic here, yeah, they're fundamentally

Starting point is 00:19:31 challenged. That's it. That's the only thing I can say. And this goes to Demarcus Covington. I think he's gotten a pass over the last three weeks with how poorly this team has played on defense. And if he had just done his job and had these guys prepared, then then that wouldn't be the issue. A lot of the issue is the fact that they aren't adjusting. You know, they're having success early in a game and then, you know, an offense adjusts to them and they're not adjusting. But but basically it comes down to playing poor fundamental football.

Starting point is 00:20:12 Yeah, absolutely. And they are playing poor fundamental football. And look, I think we'd be remiss also if we didn't mention the personnel up front. I mean, I know that Christian Barmore being out, Juwan Bentley contributes to some of these problems, but it's not the only reason the Patriots are averaging or yielding an average of 167.7 points per game in the last five games. But when you're looking at a guy like Jacqueline Roy and our good friend, ESPN's Mike Reese, one of the best in the business, arguably the best in the business. Mike made a point very shortly after the game had concluded that when you're relying on a player who first came into this facility on September 10th and counting on him to be your nose tackle does set a tough expectation.

Starting point is 00:20:55 Yeah, they're going to need more help. And it highlights the fact that they don't have that many stout two gappers up front. They definitely missed on arm and watts that was you know that was a signing an ill-fated signing that unfortunately just did not work out uh the patriots have had a lot of personnel problems but i also commend you for calling out the scheme and the lack of adjustment because that does account for a lot of this you can't just lay this all on well barmore is out and bentley is out and peppers are out and Peppers is out. Yes, I agree with you. Those players would make a major difference. But let's face it, it's not like this team hasn't faced major injury before.

Starting point is 00:21:31 You have to be able to overcome that. I called for Mann for a reason, because you would have that extra guy down in the box. And it still didn't help. Okay, so now you have to go to, why are you missing your gap? Why are you leaving your assignment? Why are you not making tackles? All right. The scheme was okay to start, but you didn't adjust as the game went on and, and that killed

Starting point is 00:21:54 you. But I, I will, I will die on this Hill. These guys, these guys are not, are fundamentally poor. All right. That's not soft. It's fundamentally poor. That's not soft. It's fundamentally poor. Right. Exactly. And I think, again, you talk about semantics and you talk about word choice. I agree with fundamentally poor a lot more than I agree with soft. And I think that's why it had

Starting point is 00:22:17 such a visceral reaction because right now people are looking at that and they're wondering how to interpret it. I think you've done that and I think you've articulated that very nicely, my friend. So tip of the cap to you. Thank you for making that point. Before we take our leave of the defensive struggles right here, Murph, team is still, you know, there are, there are elements in the secondary that do make me believe that this team does have some talent there that can come alive.

Starting point is 00:22:42 Marcus Jones flashes that every now and then. I hear people getting on Christian Gonzalez for his physicality and his tackling. I think he's gotten a lot better with that. There are still issues in his game that he's working out. Obviously, the big touchdown surrender, you've got to give your tip of the cap to Ryan Thomas Jr. on that. That's just a phenomenal play. Christian was there. You can't criticize him for that. Kyle Duggar, 11 tackles, one pass defended. I think he was one of their better players on the field on Sunday. If the Patriots are to dig themselves out of this hole,

Starting point is 00:23:12 is it going to have to be the secondary that does it on the defensive side of the ball? Yeah, it really is. The pass rush just is not there. You can't continue to put Mr. White out there in every situation when he goes off script as often as he does and is not setting an edge. So I understand that maybe we can coach him up a tad bit and help out the secondary a little. But a lot of that, the problem starts up front and whether or not the secondary can keep up before things break down and quite frankly you know if the uh they're not getting that push up the middle like i asked for last week you know it's just killer to those guys in the secondary that have to make these hits and make these stops when guys are at a full uh head of steam absolutely can't clog the middle you know

Starting point is 00:24:04 guys are going to torch you. That's it. Absolutely. And that's exactly what you're seeing on the field from the Patriots. And a lot of work to do this week. But there is one thing the Patriots fans can look forward to, and that is the play of young Drake May at quarterback. The rookie is looking to be everything that's fans hoped him to be.

Starting point is 00:24:22 And you certainly can't hang that loss on Sunday on his shoulders. Murph and I are going to talk about the silver lining. And no, we're not just talking about the silver fans, folks. We're talking silver linings of a Patriots loss and otherwise demoralizing Patriots loss in London on Sunday. More Drake May talk when we wrap up this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast, a proud part of the Locked Patriots podcast, a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team.

Starting point is 00:24:49 Lockdown listeners, we've all been there. You want tickets to the big game on the gridiron, or maybe you want to check out some early action on the hardwood or on the ice, or simply be there when your favorite music or comedy act comes to town. Well, Game Time is

Starting point is 00:25:03 your best destination to help you make your memories. GameTime is the fastest and easiest method I've ever used to buy tickets. And GameTime has a new feature called GameTime Picks that makes getting tickets for your favorite live events even easier. GameTime Picks filters out all of the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. Game Time Picks filters out all of the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. I especially love their zone deals where you pick the section and Game Time picks the seats for big savings.

Starting point is 00:25:36 So don't delay. Do it today. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply, so again, create an account and redeem the code LOCKEDONNFL, that's L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-F-L, for $20 off. Download game time today. What time is it? Game time. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots, and we continue to break down the Patriots 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at

Starting point is 00:26:17 Wembley Stadium. We've talked about the Patriots being a soft football team, and the comments made by Gerard Mayo and the aftermath of what that's gone through. We've also discussed what the Patriots being a soft football team and the comments made by Gerard Mayo and the aftermath of what that's gone through. We've also discussed what the Patriots have done wrong on the field, mostly from a defensive standpoint. But Thomas Murphy joins me here today. And every time Murph joins me, we always like to try to end on a high note. And Murph, we're going to do that today because young Drake May continues to exceed expectations or at least meet expectations maybe that's a little bit too over aggressive on my part but i'm excited by what i see from the kid went 20 of 33 passing for 243 yards and three touchdown in his debut last week against the

Starting point is 00:26:59 houston texans he followed that up with a 26 for 37 day for 276 yards and two more touchdowns on Sunday against the Jaguars. So far through two games, 519 yards, five touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 65.7 completion percentage. that is a pretty good debut considering the problems that you have going on around you when you look at drake's performance specifically in this game murph what leads you to believe this kid can help bring the patriots out of the darkness that they're in right now composure he was so composed in the pocket it was unreal he really was he was he was better under pressure than anybody i've seen under center with the patriots and i don't know how long he had pressure in his face all day and he just shook it off he just shook it off and made a pass he missed a couple of them he missed a couple of those passes um the junior wasn't perfect but uh he the composure that he shows in the pocket with the chaos going on around him is what gives me hope for the future, which is going to keep me tuning in.

Starting point is 00:28:16 Believe me, folks, this is not the Drake May that walked onto a field in Foxborough back in June. Okay. This is not the same man. He needed this time. He really did. And I will credit Alex Van Pelt for, for listening to me. And he, Drake was more in the shotgun.

Starting point is 00:28:39 We even saw some pistol. Who called for that? Who called for that? All right. I heard things. I heard some things. Yep. Heard some things. And so that I do, I applaud him for keeping him in a more comfortable environment as he grows and learns to excel and learns to win. And that's going to happen. This kid is going to learn to win, hopefully, sooner rather than later. And it might not be, you know, this year.

Starting point is 00:29:13 We might not see, you know, more than two more victories this year out of the Patriots. But, you know, I called for three at the beginning of the season anyway. They had – so this move was made at the right time. I thought it was a little premature. A lot of people thought that it was late, but I'm telling you right now, folks, in week one, two, three, and four, you wouldn't have seen this kind of output from him. It just, it wasn't there yet. And yeah, he was thrown into the fire a little bit. I would have liked to have happened, you know, after the Colts game and going into the bye and, and all that and give him a little more, but Jacoby was just awful.

Starting point is 00:29:54 And they had to make the move and, and it's so far it's worked out. And I like what I see. It was fantastic. He threw guys open. He hit, he hit open many yeah he sailed a couple what are you going to do i mean that happened they didn't land in somebody else's chest yeah exactly and you know murph as long as we're being honest i mean this was the knock of him in north carolina i mean there are errant throws that happen there all the time and

Starting point is 00:30:20 we knew those were going to happen folks this is why alex van pelt and the patriots offensive brain trust were so adamant about working with drake and refining his mechanics this is why it's important that your feet match your eyes and the footwork is so important in that area uh it's important to maybe compact your throwing motion a little bit maybe not make it so spread in order to be able to control the football when you're a little bit too wide the ball can sail wide on you you lose control of the football these are the types of mechanics that will help drake be able to hone that in and you'll start to see those errant throws go down and down and be only the occasional snafu rather than something that's happening regular but when he's locked in and he's doing his thing and he's following the blueprint this coaching staff had set for him yeah i think he's doing some very very good

Starting point is 00:31:09 things so for all the um vitriol that we're throwing at the coaching staff today on this show and there's been a lot of it that is one thing that i do believe van pelt uh tc mccartney and his team do deserve credit for um i think the development plan for Drake May has been a solid one, and you're seeing the results on the field. It has been, and it would have been better, even better, three weeks from now, but I'm really enjoying this. I really am. It's fun watching this.

Starting point is 00:31:36 I even like his little – I want to know if Drake May played shortstop in high school. I do. I want to know if he played shortstop because you get that shortstop freaking fling happening. And it's a beautiful thing. His touchdown passes were really nice. I like the way he threw guys open. There was good anticipation there, which also goes to, you know, steps forward that the white some of the wide receivers are making because Drake understands where they're going to be and where they're supposed to be, and they're getting there. Absolutely. And that's, I think in a lot of ways, Patriots fans are looking at that

Starting point is 00:32:11 and saying, yeah, you know what? That's where this team should be headed. We heard it a lot on Sunday on social media as this game was unfolding. Why are you deviating from the plan that happened that worked so well in the first couple of drives? You know, that offense looked like it was clicking on all cylinders. And you could not run the ball. Exactly.

Starting point is 00:32:30 So that's when you have to show. I don't need Drake May. I've got sneakers older than Drake May, for God's sakes. Let him throw the ball 55 times. I don't care. Yeah, exactly. I don't care. You can't get guards that aren't going to be, you know,

Starting point is 00:32:43 pushed back behind Drake May to get this running game going. Mike Unweyu is going to, I don't know, just check out, jet lag, whatever, out there playing right tackle, just unhappy maybe. Sling it. Go ahead and sling it. And that's a good point as well, because once again, folks, as we talked about earlier, Drake May's play can help to mitigate some problems along the offensive line. And for all of the progress that this line has made at times on Sunday, they once look, they once again look like a unit that has its problems. I'm not saying that their performance was as abysmal as we've seen it.

Starting point is 00:33:20 That wasn't the worst we've seen this line on Sunday against the Jaguars. But Murph had a good point about Michael Winn, who this was not his best game by any stretch of the imagination. We're seeing a decline in the output of City. So I don't know if it's because of the injury or because of a sophomore slump or whatever that might be, but we are seeing these players not be able to do what they need to do in order to block for the run. So if that's the case, you've got to put the ball in the rookie's hands. I think on Sunday he proved that he can handle that load. We'll see if the Patriots decide to give him a little bit more output this week

Starting point is 00:33:54 and allow him to throw the ball more and see if the game is in his hands, if he can take it. It's a tough defense to do it against. The Jets are definitely going to be licking their chops. A lot of them aim to go on that offensive line on Sunday, um it's a tough defense to do it against the jets are definitely going to be licking their jobs a lot of them to go on that front uh that offensive line on sunday but you know most of it's got to go on and weigh you he's he's the leader he's the veteran guy that's still out there and uh and he needs to step up and do his job yeah absolutely yes he does need to step up and do his job and

Starting point is 00:34:22 hopefully after the game the talk about this being a soft football team will indeed be dissipated even if the fundamental problems are still there hopefully no one questions this team's heart to me this is going to be the essence of the season and the essence of whether or not Gerard Mayo still has this locker room if this team comes out and plays hard for him and they give it everything they have and leave it all out there on the field then I think you can feel optimistic about this new england patriots team if there's a lackluster effort and you continue to see the same problems guys hanging their heads players that are not playing where they need to be or you're seeing fundamental breakdowns if you're not seeing this patriots team execute them or at least give their best effort to execute

Starting point is 00:35:04 them yeah then there's going to be a lot of reason to question the leadership on this team not seeing this Patriots team execute them or at least give their best effort to execute them, yeah, then there's going to be a lot of reason to question the leadership on this team right to the top. And Murph, what can we say? We're going to continue to break down this team's performance, good or bad or indifferent, right here on Locked on Patriots. But what can I say? I always appreciate your candor, your honesty, and your insight, second to none as far as I'm concerned. Before I let you go, buddy, please let me know where Patriots fans can interact with you

Starting point is 00:35:29 and where they can absorb all of your great content. Until the next time, you come here and you grace our presence here on Locked on Patriots. Yeah, you can check me out on Zitter at TeamRF207. You can read me over at DieHardBostonSportsFans.com. And of course, don't forget to keep it locked here to Locked On Patriots because we're not quite done breaking down the loss to the Jaguars yet. A great report still to come here on Locked On Patriots, and we all know who provides those.

Starting point is 00:35:55 And of course, my good friend and I, John Buchko of Locked On Jets, are going to cross the streams on Thursday as we get set for the second of two matchups between the New England Patriots and the New York J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets. Going to be a lot of fun here on Locked On Patriots all week long, so be sure to stay locked in.

Starting point is 00:36:13 But in the meantime, I want to thank my good friend Thomas Murphy for joining me here today in friendship, as he always does, Don Murph, and of course, all of you for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Have a great day, everyone. And we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Locked On Patriots.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Are the New England Patriots a “Soft Football Team?” Pats Loss to Jaguars Has Fans, Jerod Mayo Upset

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.