Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Full Day in Foxboro: Michel Traded, Mac in the New York Groove, Patriots-Giants Joint Practices — 8/25/2021

Episode Date: August 25, 2021

The New England Patriots hosted the New York Giants for the first of two joint practices on Wednesday. On Sunday (August 29), the two teams will face off in East Rutherford, New Jersey for their third and final preseason tilt of 2021. Amidst sweltering summer temperatures, the Pats and Giants took to the practice fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium for a solid day of work for both clubs. Host Mike D’Abate breaks down day one of practices at Gillette, and provides his thoughts on the trade of Sony Michel to the Los Angeles Rams.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. 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 in to the Lockdown Patriots podcast. It is Wednesday, August 25th, 2021, and it's day one of two days of joint practices between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. We'll be breaking it all down for you 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 Pats fans, as you all know, the NFL season is about to begin and nobody covers it like the Locked On Podcast Network. August 30th through September 8th, Locked On's Ultimate Season Preview is taking you through every team and every division with the help of Odyssey's Ross Tucker and Jason Lockenfora. Follow the Ultimate Season Preview 2021 feed on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts to tune in beginning August 30th. And greetings and salutations to all you Patriots fans out there. Thank you for joining me here on this Wednesday episode of the pod.

My name is Mike DeBate and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriot Maven of Sports Illustrated. I am also 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, that means your questions, comments, and feedback are always welcomed and very much appreciated. So share that feedback. Send it to the internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATENFL.

And while you're out there doing some Wednesday wandering through that Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well, at L-O underscore Patriots. Pats fans, it's been an eventful 24 hours in New England, to say the least. The Patriots making a roster addition and quite a few subtractions, heading into two days of joint practices with the New York Giants on the practice fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. Of course, Tuesday at 4 p.m., the deadline imposed by the NFL for teams to cut their

rosters to 80 members passed, and the Patriots had no choice but to cut a few promising players loose. Among them, safety Malik Gant, who was looking for his second tour of duty here in New England, as well as linebacker Cash Malawiah, who was also looking for another shot to make the roster here in Foxborough, alongside wide receiver Devin Ross, long snapper Brian Corey, and offensive lineman R.J. Prince, all cut loose by the Patriots yesterday as part of that roster reduction. Offensive lineman Marcus Martin, a lot of people thought he was included in that cut list.

Little clarification for you on that. He was, in fact, not cut by the team on Tuesday. He was placed on season-ending injured reserve. So, technically, the Patriots reduced their roster by six members instead of five. Well, not for long, because they filled that roster slot with tight end Kahale Waring. And shortly after news broke that the Patriots had indeed parted ways with those five players, it was announced that they had claimed the former Houston Texans tight end. 24 years old, he had been placed on waivers by Houston on Monday, and Kahale actually has a very interesting journey to the NFL. Former water polo player in high

school didn't actually start playing football until his senior year but he ended up putting together a pretty impressive collegiate career at San Diego State. He was drafted by the Texans in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft but he spent the majority of the first two seasons recuperating from injuries, missed the entirety of his rookie season while on injured reserve, had a brief stint on IR in 2020, did come back later in the season, finished the season with three receptions for 35 yards in seven games. A pretty thin professional resume, but Kahali Waring definitely has size that the Patriots are looking for at the position. He's 6'5", 252 pounds, has a great deal of speed and athleticism, and it could serve him well to becoming a versatile player at the pro level.

In fact, the Patriots actually had interest in Waring heading into the 2019 NFL Draft. So, you might say that because the Patriots had their sharp eye on him a couple of years ago, they're getting a guy that they had scouted during the draft process just a couple of years ago. If, in fact, he's able to stick on this roster, folks, he's got the competitiveness to handle run-blocking duties. He's got the talent to line up in the slot. His production statistics are not going to wow anyone, but his quickness and his ball skills could make things interesting for the Pats positional grouping heading into the

final week of camp. He was at Wednesday's practice on the field at Gillette wearing number 88. So again, take that for what it's worth. Even though the Patriots have had some injury problems at tight end lately, they're still adding a player very late in the game, so close to roster cut down. So it'll be interesting to see if the Patriots do have any plans for Kahali Waring. I'll definitely have my sharp eye on him from now until the Patriots are ready to cut down rosters next Tuesday. Things could get interesting there. But that was not even scratching the surface when it came to big roster news for the New England Patriots.

On Wednesday, the Pats bid adieu to a former first-round pick, someone who hasn't exactly endeared himself to Patriots Nation throughout his tenure here, but has been a solid contributor. No, folks, I'm not talking about wide receiver Nakheel Harry, who's still on the shelf nursing an injury. I'm talking about running back Sonny Michel. Sonny is, in fact, on his way to the LA Rams, and I have my thoughts on that, and I will share them with you in just a moment. And to bring it all home today,

I'll share my practice observations from day one of Patriots joint practices with the New York football giants. All this and more when this Wednesday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, it is that time of year again. All eyes are now turning to football as teams are back on the gridiron to start the football season. As always, BetOnline is your number one spot for all the pro and college football action

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Welcome back to this Wednesday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast, Patriots fans. And Wednesday morning, I know a lot of you fans out there were looking forward to hearing a lot about the Patriots joint practices with the New York football giants. A few of you were probably even heading up to Gillette and might have been even getting ready or driving up to Gillette when you heard the news that Patriots running back, or I should say former Patriots running back, Sonny Michel, was on his way to the City of Angels. Yeah, that's right, folks.

The Patriots agreed to send the former 31st overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft to the LA Rams in exchange for what is currently slated to be two draft choices, a fifth round selection and a sixth round selection in 2022. But that's not likely to be the return on investment for the Patriots. That compensation is likely to become a single fourth rounder. The Rams right now are in line to receive a compensatory draft pick for losing safety John Johnson. That compensatory pick is likely to become a fourth rounder.

So ultimately, if everything plays out the way Bill Belichick and company hopes it will, Sonny Michel on his way to Los Angeles for a fourth round draft pick in 2022. And I have mixed emotions on this. Anyone who's listened to Locked On Patriots before knows that I've been an advocate of Sonny Michel's. I have said several times here on these airwaves that I would have kept him around for 2021, especially considering that he was having a strong camp. Sonny looked to be running with more power, more purpose, was starting to catch the ball

out of the backfield again, really coming into his own and making himself a solid number two option. But the Patriots knew that they were probably not going to be able to keep him around beyond 2021. They chose not to pick up the fifth round option on his contract. And with the way Sony was playing, it wasn't likely that the Patriots were going to shell out for the type of deal that Sony could have gotten on the open market. So rather than just keep him around as a depth piece, they chose to ship him off to Los

Angeles for a fourth round pick. And this is actually a pretty good return on investment for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. Now, Sony ends his New England tenure with his share of ups and downs. There's no question about that. Came into New England as the Pats' first round selection in 2018. He played an integral part in New England's run to Super Bowl 53 and the victory they had in that, but injuries and inconsistency always cast some degree of negativity on his time in New England. When Sony was on the field, he was productive for the Pats. In his three seasons here in New England, he rushed for 2,689 yards on 620 carries, found the end zone 20 times, 20 touchdowns for Sony here, but the two sides definitely times, 20 touchdowns for Sony here.

But the two sides definitely appeared to be headed for a split following the 2021 season. And if picking up his fifth-year option wasn't obvious enough, when the Patriots spent valuable draft capital to bring in Ramondre Stevenson as a potential early down back, it really looked like a foregone conclusion that these two sides were ready to split. Now, the Rams were definitely a willing trade partner. It really looked like a foregone conclusion that these two sides were ready to split. Now, the Rams were definitely a willing trade partner. We all know a few weeks ago that their feature back Cam Akers suffered a season-ending injury. Daryl Henderson, who was supposed to take over the lion's share of the snaps for the Rams,

he's now nursing an injury. LA needed to do something, and they needed to do something quickly. And quite honestly, they've got a very good back in Sonny Michel. He's going to an area where he can be the feature. He can definitely help Matt Stafford and that offense. And bottom line, this is a bona fide pro-level player with a dual threat ability, not just to be able to run effectively, but also catch the ball out of the backfield. Sonny was always a model citizen while he was here in New England, and I, for one, wish

him nothing but the best in Los Angeles. But the Patriots didn't do too shabby here for a return. Again, a fourth-round pick that they'll receive in the 2022 draft, and this year's upcoming draft is supposed to be very deep at a lot of different positions. So having that fourth-round draft capital is going to be very important for New England. They also get themselves a little bit of financial relief. And because the Patriots declined Sony's fifth year option, he was set to count $3.06 million against their cap in 2021. $1.83 million of that was

guaranteed. But by trading him, New England unloaded approximately $1.79 million of his salary off its books via the trade, as opposed to an estimated $1.23 million that they would have cleared by releasing him. So the Patriots make a little bit of a move here, and they get a little bit more financial relief heading into the 2021 season. So in a lot of ways, I'm classifying this trade as a rare win-win for both sides. LA gets the running back they desperately needed, and the Patriots get not only a little bit of financial relief, but most

importantly draft compensation that will help them in later years. And this seems to be a bittersweet one for a lot of Patriots fans. I'm looking on social media, some are pretty glad to see Sony go, but most people are starting to understand and appreciate what he brought to the table while he was here. Bottom line, New England doesn't make the run to the Super Bowl that they made in 2018 without the benefit of Sonny Michel running the ball. Yeah, there may have been players that were taken after him in that draft that went on to big time careers. I know everybody's going to invoke the name of Nick Chubb, but Sonny provided a unique type of dual threat ability that Bill Belichick is really enamored with. I think he sees similarities in Ramondre Stevenson, maybe with a little bit more power than Sony

had in his run, maybe even a little bit more speed. That's another big thing that this trade signifies. It really indicates that the Patriots are very high on the progress that they've seen, not only from Stevenson, but also young running back J.J. Taylor. Being that shifty change of pace back that can also be a threat on special teams, now it's going to be up to Ramondre Stevenson and J.J. Taylor to pick up the slack. It also means, and this is going to be great news for my main green man, the green king of Sting himself, Murph, this one's for you because I know you're listening. Brandon Bolin will likely remain a New England Patriot, and that's good news

all the way around for the Pats. Brandon has looked great since coming back from the opt-out in 2020. He's still a very valuable member of this running back core and one of the better special teamers that you'll find anywhere in the NFL. So folks, don't necessarily worry about the Patriots' running back core. They're going to be just fine. It's still a very deep core. And I had to remind myself of that fact as well. About a month ago, I wrote about this for SI Patriot Maven, where I said the Patriots were better off hanging on to Sony and his production

than getting rid of him for either a minimal return or some minor cap relief. At this point, re-evaluating the situation, the Patriots got more than just a minimal return for Sony, and knowing that both sides were probably not going to come to an agreement anyway, it's smart for the Patriots to unload him and get something rather than nothing. So that means on Wednesday morning, the Patriots would take to the practice fields for day one of joint practices with the Giants without Sonny Michel. But Mac Jones was in uniform, and folks, boy was he. It was the Mac in the New York groove show on the Foxborough practice fields, and we'll break it all down.

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Go to RockAuto.com right now and see all the parts available for your car or truck. Make sure to put Locked On in their How Did You Hear About Us box so they know we sent you. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. RockAuto.com. Pats fans, even though Wednesday started out a bit bittersweet with the news that Sony Michelle was going to be traded away, it ended on a high note as the Pats hosted the New York Giants for the first of two joint practices in New England. Of course, we all know this coming Sunday, August 29th, the two teams will face off in East Rutherford, New Jersey at MetLife Stadium for the third and

final preseason tilt of 2021. But Wednesday meant the first of the joint practice sessions, and amidst sweltering summer temperatures, and folks, I was at Gillette today when I tell you it was hot, to say the least. But the Patriots and Giants still took to the practice fields, and both teams really had, I think, a solid day of work. And of course, for the third straight day now, quarterback Cam Newton not visible on the practice fields. As I'm recording this, it is still expected that Cam will return to the practice fields on Thursday. We're hoping to see him out there against the New York Giants for the second and final day of joint practices, but for Wednesday's session, he was

not visible on the field, nor was linebacker Josh Uche or cornerback Justin Bethel. Now, we know that Uche exited last Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Since then, he has returned to the practice fields, but ultimately, he was not out there on Wednesday. Could be part of his workload. Hopefully we'll find out more about Ushe in the coming days. Also absent from the practice fields, Nikhil Harry, Matt Lacoste, Trey Nixon, and Nick Thurman. Returning to the practice field, again Murph, you're listening, bud. Running back Brandon Bolden.

First time in a while that Brandon returned to the practice fields. He was a participant, but was wearing a red non-contact jersey, as was tight end Hunter Henry, that one was for you, Claire, and of course, cornerback Miles Bryant. But if we're being honest, every sharp eye in Foxborough and really all over New England was squarely on Mac Jones. And with Cam Newton still sidelined, the rookie looked solid leading the Pats primary offensive unit. He took 33 snaps against the Giants starting defense. At one point, he completed 18 straight passes. Very impressive for the rookie. In the team drills, 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s,

he looked like anything but a rookie. He looked very comfortable. He looked very poised. And in my opinion, this might end up going down as his best practice as a Patriot to date. Mack was really sharp during the two-minute drills, really saved his best throws almost for last near the conclusion of the practice, the first of which a nice corner route to Jacoby Myers. That got the crowd up and on its feet. It split two defenders. Really great pass by Mack and a great grab by Jacoby. Moments later, he finds James White for the back corner touchdown. Overall, Mack would finish the day completing 35 of 40 passes in a really sweltering Foxborough heat. Again, a very impressive day for the rookie, and he really made the most of his opportunity. As for Mack's pass

catchers, two really stood out to me on Wednesday. The first, obviously, Jacoby Myers. He continues to demonstrate a level of competence, a level of reliability that I think truly sets him above his peers. If I had to select a wide receiver one right now for the Patriots, it would absolutely be Jacoby Myers, and I wouldn't hesitate to do so. He caught seven of eight passes in team drills, including a few crowd-pleasing grabs that really showcased his athleticism, something I don't think Jacoby gets enough credit for. He's definitely a catch machine with reliable hands, but he has athleticism when he needs to run a correct route or go up and make an impressive grab. I thought Myers had a great practice today, and I was very happy to see Hunter Henry look good.

Claire, pay attention. This is something you'll want to listen to. Even though Henry was in a red non-contact jersey, he saw a pretty good increase in his workload on Wednesday. He tested his route running skills in the red zone, had a nice touchdown in the low red zone work with Mac Jones. He ran a flat route and made the catch on the slant. If Henry can continue to show this type of prowess and maybe even get himself a little contact between now and the start of the season, then that 12-man personnel that Patriots fans can't wait to see is going to be something that Patriots fans are going to see often and in abundance. Maybe even as early as week one against the Dolphins. Jono Smith continues to look solid, and if Hunter can round into form, then the Patriots

are going to be just fine at the tight end position. So sleep well, Claire. That tight end positional grouping is going to be just fine. But the Patriots not only had one Jones they were keeping their eye on, they had to keep up with another Jones. No, not Indiana Jones. Danny Dimes himself. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who, despite of what you'll see on social media from a

lot of Giants fans, I thought Daniel actually put in a solid day of work. His two top offensive options, wide receiver Kenny Galladay and running back Saquon Barkley, were both absent from the practice field on Wednesday. But Jones was pretty effective against the Patriots defense. He had his ups and downs. Patriots defensive backs J.C. Jackson and Adrian Phillips each contributed pass breakups. Jones, that's Daniel Jones, actually did throw an interception

directly to Kyle Duggar. Daniel was attempting to find Darius Slayton on a dig route. Kyle made a nice read on it and intercepted the pass. And linebacker Kyle Van Noy notched a would-be sack, because don't forget folks, we're not contacting the quarterbacks at this point. He got to the quarterback during a two-minute drill. But other than that, I thought Daniel Jones looked solid running the Giants offense. What I was more impressed with was the Patriots defense and their ability to pick up exactly what the Giants offensive line was doing for protection

against Daniel Jones. A lot of free shots at the quarterback, and that's something that I don't think was a problem with the offensive line. I thought it was more of a credit to the Patriots defensive line and their ability to read what the Giants were trying to do. This is going to be a fun unit to watch this year, that Patriots front seven, folks. Keep a sharp eye on them. They may be the difference in a lot of the close games that the Patriots lost last year that they might be able to win in 2021. And for those of you that enjoy that sort of thing, there was a little brouhaha, a little melee on the field on Wednesday. Tempers flared up, not as high as the temperatures were on Wednesday, but emotions did

run high and there was a pretty good pileup between the Patriots' offensive line and the Giants' defensive line. It was hard to see from our vantage point, but it looked like Patriots' offensive lineman Corey Cunningham and Giants' defensive lineman B.J. Hill were right in the middle of this. Patriots' offensive line had to run a lap as a result of this. Joe Judge made his unit run a lap as a result of it. Offensive lineman David Andrews would joke later

that they were just talking about baseball, which, take that for what you will, folks, but temperatures are going to flare up in these situations, and it's good to see that these two teams are competitive this late in training camp heading into the 2021 regular season. It's good during this altercation that no one was injured, but there were a couple of injury concerns on the field on Wednesday as well.

About midway through the session, wide receiver Nelson Aguilar and offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn both left the field accompanied by trainers. Now, at this time, it's unclear whether their exits were related simply to the heat or whether or not they're nursing potential injuries. We'll continue to monitor that, bring you the latest here on Locked On Patriots. But neither would return to the field. Wynn was replaced by offensive lineman Yodney Kajust. And we've talked about Kajust's prowess here on Locked On Patriots a few times.

I did a 53-man roster projection a couple of weeks ago and left Yodney on the cutting room floor. He's making me look pretty foolish by doing so. Yodney Kajust has actually played extremely well in the last couple of weeks, and if he keeps this up, it's going to be very tough for the Patriots to let him go. He had a lot of prowess coming out of college in West Virginia. Injuries have kept him off the field, but he's looking like the player the Patriots thought they were getting a couple of years ago and a lot of people said was a potential steal in the third round of the NFL

draft. Now on the Giants end of things, there was an injury that Giants fans need to be concerned about, and that is to newly acquired defensive back Adare Jackson. Jackson apparently injured his left foot or his ankle after getting shaken up defending a Mac Jones deep completion. He left the field on a cart with his left foot heavily bandaged after being immediately looked at by trainers. This happened right at the end of practice, and apparently Adore Jackson, at the time we're recording this podcast, is undergoing additional tests to find out exactly how serious this injury will be.

It's obvious we won't see him on the field on Wednesday. He probably won't be in action on Sunday when these two teams face off for the final preseason game. We all certainly hope that he won't miss any significant time heading into the regular season. Wishing the very best to Adore Jackson. Hopefully, it's a little more precautionary than anything, but the injury didn't look good when it happened, and he was definitely in some pain as he left the field on Wednesday.

But folks, the Patriots and Giants will return to the practice fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium for the second and final day of practices on Thursday. That practice will begin at 10 a.m. and is open to the public. So any of you heading up to Gillette, be sure to bring your sunscreen, be sure to hydrate well, but also be sure to have some fun. Fans that were in attendance today absolutely loved seeing their team on the field. It was a very lively crowd considering the weather and the Patriots are definitely counting on all of you Foxborough faithful to head out.

This will be the final time the Patriots practice is open to the public for the rest of the season. And here on Locked on Patriots, we'll continue to bring you the very latest news, notes, and analysis from Gillette Stadium. So to be sure that you do not miss a single second of the action, download, subscribe to, and follow the Locked on Patriots podcast on platforms such as Spotify, the Odyssey app, Google Podcasts, 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 each and every one of you for listening and for making 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.