Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Breaking: New England Patriots’ Star Defender Milton Williams Out

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's a breaking news episode, as Milton Williams will reportedly miss an extended period of time. Let's get into the news and the impact of that loss. This is Lockdown Patriots. You are Locked-on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts network, your team every day. What's happening in? I'm your host, Nick Cattle. born and raised in New England. I've been covering the Pats for the past 16 years. Also, the co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels and a sports radio veteran.

Starting point is 00:00:39 Welcome to Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. On today's breaking news episode, we'll tell you why the impact of Mike Vrable is about to be even more significant. Also, as far as timing, find out why this is not the worst timing in the world for Milton Williams or the Pats. But first, the Milton Williams loss, it's a big one. Today's episode is brought to by GameTime. Download the GameTime at create an account and use code lockdown NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Let's not get this twisted.

Starting point is 00:01:16 This is a huge injury for the Patriots. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Milton Williams could, quote, miss multiple weeks, unquote, due to a high ankle spray. Now, it really depends on the severity of the high ankle sprain, but sometimes guys can be out for five, six, seven weeks with a high ankle sprain. Hopefully, given that Milton Williams did go back into the game against the Jets on Thursday night, hopefully it is not as severe as some of those high ankle sprains that could cost you six to eight weeks. Hopefully we're talking about three to four weeks. Milton Williams, hands down, is your best defensive player. It has not been Christian Gonzalez this year. Milton Williams has clearly been your best defensive

Starting point is 00:02:03 player. It's almost every single week when I rewatch games. Milton Williams has four, five, six, seven impact plays. He dominates. And he not only dominates against the pass. He dominates against the run. That impact is a big, big loss with him out. There's no doubt. Look at the Jets game. The Patriots, we know, they have not consistently gotten pressure on the quarterback over the past few weeks, especially. But on Thursday night against the Jets, you could see it. Without Milton Williams, the pass rush was nearly non-existent until the end when Christian Barmore truly got going in that fourth quarter. Milton Williams, I believe, is your second best player on this team behind Drake May. I would say Drake May is clearly your best player this season.

Starting point is 00:02:56 I would put Milton Williams at number two. So, yes, this is a big injury. It is significant. The impact against the run, the impact against the past. And when we talk about Milton Williams individually making plays, that's only part of his role. Don't forget, Milton Williams, his gravity on that defensive line, opens up opportunities for linebackers and safeties to come streaming downhill to make plays against the run. Christian Barmore is getting double-teamed a lot and he's going to get double-teamed even more now with Milton Williams going to be out for at least, quote-unquote, multiple weeks. So this is going to impact Christian Barmore.

Starting point is 00:03:39 This is going to impact the run game defensively. It's going to impact the pass rush. Ever since the beginning of this season, we've talked about Milton Williams and Christian Barmore on that defensive line being the hard. part of your defense being critical to that pass rush. And Harold Landry, he's not the same guy. He has not been the same guy since that Tennessee game. Kalevon Chase on was somewhat quiet against the Jets. You can't have that.

Starting point is 00:04:07 You just can't have that moving forward. You need your defensive ends to every single week that Milton Williams is not playing a football game. You need your defensive ends to step up. You need Harold Landry to somehow take a magic elixir, rub some aspirin on his ankle. You need Harold Landry to look like the Harold Landry of the first month or so of this season, not since the Tennessee game where he got rolled up on. You need Caleban Chase on to look like Caleban Chase on. He can't have a quiet week. You need both of those guys to

Starting point is 00:04:41 consistently harass offensive lines. With no Milton Williams, the pressure is on everybody else. The pressure is on Christian Barmore. It is on Harold Landry. It is on Caleb on Chase on. they need to stress out those offensive lines and this puts more stress on the linebackers and your defensive backs in coverage because if you're not getting consistent pass rush obviously you need your linebackers your cornerbacks and your safeties to be even better in coverage and I would not anticipate this Patriots pass rush all of sudden catching on fire. I would not anticipate that. Even with Milton Williams, they've had the struggles. But you need everybody else. You need everybody else on this

Starting point is 00:05:33 defense to say, we just lost our best player for at least the next couple of weeks. We need to get in line, step on up, and be better than we've been. Christian Gonzalez was not good enough against the Jets. He needs to be much better than that. He can't be getting roasted on a stutter step by A.D. Mitchell. And I like A.D. Mitchell. But you just can't have it. Christian Gonzalez is considered one of the best corners in football. He now has to play like one of the best corners in football. Every single week that Milton Williams is out. Carlton Davis has to play even better. You can't be getting those tug penalties on the jerseys, the DPI's, the holding. So you need Carlton Davis, Christian Gonzalez, Christian Barmore,

Starting point is 00:06:19 Harold Landry, Caleb on Chase on. You also need Craig Woodson and Jalen Hawkins on the back end to be even more disciplined. It's going to take a total team effort to make sure that you can defend without your best defender. Up next, we'll tell you why if an injury like this was going to happen, this is likely the best time for it to happen. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is brought to you by prize picks. You and I make decisions every day, but on prize picks being right can get you paid. Don't miss any of the excitement of this sports season.

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Starting point is 00:07:44 lineups after your first $5 lineup. That's called Lockdown NFL for $50 in lineups after your first $5 lineup prize picks. It's good to be right. Thanks for making lockdown Patriots your first listen of the day. And thank you for making lockdown the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. And don't forget during this breaking news episode on the

Starting point is 00:08:09 weekend to hit that thumbs up for us on the YouTube channel. Don't forget to like. Don't forget to comment and don't forget to subscribe. We are getting closer and closer, about 50, 60 or so away from hitting 7,500 subs making a statement, Patriots fans. Here with Lockdown Patriots, let's continue to do so. You never want this type of injury. You never want any injury, especially an injury to one of your best players, especially an injury that by nature could have one of your best players miss multiple weeks, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. However, if you're going to have an injury like this, this really isn't the worst timing.

Starting point is 00:08:55 A little bit of a silver lining here for you. A little bit of optimism. Milton Williams gets hurt on a Thursday night, not a Sunday. That immediately buys you a few extra days. the mini bye week, the 10 days between games is going to help this situation. Mike Vrable said after the game on Thursday night when he was asked by Greg Bedard about the seriousness of this injury to Milton Williams and how he went back for a player two or whatever and then eventually set out the rest

Starting point is 00:09:30 of the night. Mike Vrable made it a point and said, look, we wanted to start the treatment. we wanted to start the healing process pretty much ASAP and we figured that it would be best to address the injury and start working on it right away than having Milton Williams get back out there and play in the second half. So first and foremost, as I mentioned in the first segment, the fact that Milton Williams did go back and of course it could be adrenaline, he could have taken a shot, but that does make you feel a little bit better. Now ankle sprains, as you know, if you've ever had one, initially might not be as bad, but then when you wake up, that

Starting point is 00:10:11 puppy might be swollen and the whole world can change. So I don't want to get too far ahead on that thought. But the idea of Mike Vrable saying, you know, we wanted to get to the treatment ASAP, that helps. Getting her on Thursday night and not Sunday gives you those extra days of treatment. I'm sure Milton Williams will be getting treatment throughout the weekend, even with the players being off. I'm sure he's going to stop by the facility and get some treatment. So that helps. The mini by the fact that he got injured on a Thursday night and not a Sunday buys you three or four extra days. And really, if you're the Patriots, what you're looking at here is you got two more games. You got to play at Cincinnati a week

Starting point is 00:10:58 from Sunday. And then you've got to host the Giants for Monday night football. So you even get another extra day there. So you've got two more games. You get through those two games and then you get to your buy. So if you get through Cincinnati, you get through the Giants, then you're looking at your bye week. And so I think in a perfect world, if everything were to fall together for the Patriots here in Milton Williams, you would hope that Milton Williams would be ready by the Buffalo and Baltimore stretch because, of course, when you look at the schedule, you've got your buy week, and then right after that by week, you've got an extra week to prepare for Buffalo who comes to New England, and then you're on the road against the Ravens in Baltimore.

Starting point is 00:11:51 So if you can get through the Bengals and the Giants without Milton Williams, which is looking like it's going to happen you get that buy week so now you've got the buy week you've got the mini buy after thursday night football and you've got the two weeks in between the hope is that i would imagine the aim for milton williams the the date that he's circling on the calendar is December 14th against the buffalo bills at chalet and he doesn't have to travel he can stay in foxborough for the next few weeks weeks, continue to get that treatment, continue to rehab it the way he needs to rehab it, and hopefully you look at Milton Williams being out there against the Bills and the Ravens.

Starting point is 00:12:36 The expectation from me is I would imagine the Patriots are going to take their time with this. Look, you can certainly lose to Cincinnati in that high-powered offense, and now you've got to deal with that high-powered offense without Milton Williams. We all know what Cincinnati brings to the table. we thought when Joe Burrow went down and it doesn't look like Burrow will be playing against the Patriots. But when Joe Burrow went down, you felt much better with Jake Browning as the quarterback to try to slow that offense down. But Joe Flacco, I mean, I'll give him credit. I questioned the trade at the time and wondered why the Bengals would bring Joe Flacko in and give up any pick at that point of the season. But Joe Flacco, I mean, he's been putting up points.

Starting point is 00:13:23 and the Cincinnati offense has been dangerous with Joe Flacco. You still have T. Higgins. You still have Jemar Chase. You still have Chase Brown who got off to a very slow start at running back. But Joe Flacko has really kind of breathed some life into that offense without Joe Burrow. So Cincinnati is going to be, I think, a pretty significant challenge without Milton Williams slowing down that offense. Now, of course, we'll get into it deeper,

Starting point is 00:13:55 but Cincinnati's got their own defensive issues that have not been addressed. But you got Cincinnati, and then you've got the Giants. Now, will Jackson Dart be back for the Giants? How will he be playing? Of course, Brian Dayball is now gone. Cam Scataboo out for the year. Malik neighbors out for the year.

Starting point is 00:14:14 So I think the Patriots can look at this and say, hey, look, I'm sure they're not saying this to themselves, but if you shot him with Truth Serum, you'd say, okay, well, maybe you lose one of those two games and you would lean towards the Sinty game on the road. Maybe you go one and one before the buy, okay? If you split the next two games and you're sitting at the buy at 10 and three in control of your destiny and you can get Milton Williams back for Buffalo and Baltimore after the buy week, you'll live with that. You will absolutely live with that. So I don't think there's, you know, any rush to bring him back at nine and two, given the fact that you have your by week coming up. So this is kind of the, you know, the scenario where the buy week late in the season actually helps you.

Starting point is 00:15:02 And it's going to help Milton Williams. So as far as timing, you never want this to happen. But as far as timing, it could have been much, much worse. You could have lost him early in the year. You know, imagine if you lost Milton. Williams and Christian Gonzalez at the same time to start the season, those first three weeks. So the timing could have been worse, a little bit of a silver lining. The importance of Mike Vrable over the next few weeks cannot be understated.

Starting point is 00:15:32 An opportunity, it's going to knock. That's all next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. The NFL season, it's now full throttle. and honestly, there's nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans, cheering on your team. But let's be honest, getting tickets, it can be a hassle, right? Between queues and login screens and prices jumping at checkout. It's frustrating.

Starting point is 00:15:59 That's why you should use GameTime. The app that gives the advantage back to fans. Game time, it's fast, easy, and backed by the game time guarantee. You always get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time and at the best price. Plus, all fees are included so the price that you see is actually the price that you pay. Pull up game time, just a couple of taps, tap-tappy. You see amazing deals talking about your favorite NFL games as low as $100. And again, honestly, it's faster, cheaper, and less stressful than any other way that you can buy tickets.

Starting point is 00:16:30 Download the game time at create an account. Use code lock down NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that's promo code L-O-C-K, E-D-O-N-N-FL for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go, download game time. today. One of Mike Rable's calling cards as a head coach is that he just gets more out of guys. He finds a way to get more out of players that you don't expect to get as much out of.

Starting point is 00:17:02 And we saw it in Tennessee, and I think you've seen it here in the beginning in New England. He just has that knack to get more out of somebody. He finds a way, whether it's, you know, a mental thing. or it's, you know, something physically on the field that's X's and O's, he just finds away. And you saw it during his Tennessee Titans days. And I talked about this an awful lot when the Patriots hired Mike Vrable. I wasn't working for lockdown at the time, but I was doing my own independent podcast called Everything Pats. And at the time, and I also was working with Greg Bedard, obviously, on that pod.

Starting point is 00:17:43 And at the time, I talked about, you know, you go back to a couple of years in Tennessee. Tennessee, you would not even call it an injury bug. They were absolutely decimated by injury a couple of years under Vrable. And Mike Vrable, even though the team was dealing with so many injuries down in Tennessee, he still got a competitive product out of those teams. And we're not talking about, you know, 15, 20 guys on IR here. We're talking about Milton Williams being out, quote, unquote, could be out a couple of weeks or multiple weeks, according to Jeremy Fowler from ESPN. So we're not talking about a rash of injuries here.

Starting point is 00:18:29 We're talking about one of your most important players, one of the biggest impact players on your team being hurt and being out multiple weeks. But if there's any head coach that you feel could get through this and get more out of guys, to replace that impact player, it would be Mike Vrable. And don't overlook, you know, you go back to this past week, you fly home from Tampa, you've got the short week to play against the Jets on Thursday night. And Mike Vrable talked about this in the post game. You know, he gave all the credit to the nutritional staff, the medical staff, the training staff. and it feels like between the analytics and just conversations with his nutritional and medical

Starting point is 00:19:18 training staff, it feels like Mike Vrable has a really good handle along with John Stretch striker has a really good handle on how to deal with certain injuries and how to deal with veterans and how to get more out of somebody who might be hampered by some kind of injury, some kind of ailment. So I do feel like, you know, Mike Vrable will be prepared for this. And it already started on Thursday night when he already began addressing getting the treatment for Milton Williams. I feel like Mike Vrable, John Stretch Stryker, and the medical staff will be all over

Starting point is 00:19:55 this thing. And on the field, Brable, he'll look at this and say, this is an opportunity. This is an opportunity. because if there's if there's one personnel group of this football team and I've said this before I'll say it again because it has extra emphasis now if there's one deep part of this team

Starting point is 00:20:19 it really is the interior defensive line I would argue the interior defensive line is the deepest the deepest position on this football team I mean yeah Milton Williams has been great but Kyrie's Tonga has been terrific. So now you're going to ask Kyrie's Tonga to take more snaps.

Starting point is 00:20:43 That's not a terrible thing because, again, he's been so good. I've talked about Corey Durden. You know, this isn't me trying to make you feel good about the situation. You can go back for the last several weeks with Kyrie's Tonga, go back to the beginning of the year. I've talked about how he has been an absolute revelation for this defense in this roster. So you got Kyrie's Tonga that you've got Kyrie's Tonga that you're you can put in there. I've talked about over the last several weeks, Corey Durdon being an

Starting point is 00:21:10 absolute find by this front office. And the fact that he has been an impact player, he was once again an impact player on Thursday night. I'm talking about he can get to the quarterback a little bit, and he's also pretty powerful against the run. So Kyrie's Tonga, Cory Durdon, there's opportunity for those guys. Eric Gregory, remember back in late August, right before the season kicked off. The Patriots made a move. They signed Eric Gregory to their active roster. And Eric Gregory got a few snaps on Thursday night. I thought he had one or two good snaps in there. So you've got Eric Gregory. And Eric Gregory was playing because Joshua Farmer was out. If you can get Joshua Farmer back with this mini buy and Joshua Farmer's out there against

Starting point is 00:21:57 Cincinnati, I think Joshua Farmer has shown flashes. So it feels like, Like, you know, if you're going to get an injury, this time of year is probably the best time of year to get that injury. And if you're going to suffer an injury to a personnel group, the interior defensive line is really the best group that can suffer an injury. Mike Rehable's going to go to guys and he's going to sit down with Kyrie's Tonga and Corey Durdin and Eric Gregory and Joshua Farmer. And he's going to say, this is your opportunity, fellas. It's knocking. It's knocking right now. It's time for you to step up.

Starting point is 00:22:37 Milton Williams needs you. This team needs you. This defense needs you. I need you. And that message with Mike Vrable's connection to these players, you feel like it's going to land. Adversity sometimes improves focus and sometimes improves players, you know,

Starting point is 00:22:55 and how they deal with the details of certain matchups and what they're supposed to be doing. And Mike Vrable's message to this team overall, and especially now the defense with Milton Williams and this injury, his message I think is going to be, hey, fellas, we got the job done on Thursday night. We played three games and 12 days. You had the long weekend off. But now it's go time.

Starting point is 00:23:20 And we've got a sprint. We've got a two-week sprint. Let's get through Cincinnati. Let's get through the Giants. And then we get to our bye week. And during the bye week, we can take a big old breath and exhale and say, we're ready for the final month. We're ready for the bills in Foxborough. We are ready for the Ravens in Baltimore.

Starting point is 00:23:45 We are ready for the jets in New York, really New Jersey. And we are ready to finish strong against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough in January. And that's going to be the message. Mike Vrable is going to say we got through a really tough stretch you got the weekend off we got our little mini buy there but now it's time to kind of

Starting point is 00:24:07 refocus and sprint through the next two weeks we get to the buy and then we have that final month with hopefully Milton Williams back in the mix. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer.

Starting point is 00:24:22 Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio and don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel hit that like button and subscribe. And for your second listen, get a double dose of the Lockdown NFL podcast with Tyler the Madman Roland and Tony Wiggins. Find Lockdown NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Starting point is 00:24:40 Have a great weekend, a great weekend. And we will see you on Monday.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Breaking: New England Patriots’ Star Defender Milton Williams Out

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