Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Game Plan: Will Drake Maye’s Injury Alter the Patriots Super Bowl Strategy?

Episode Date: January 30, 2026

Drake Maye's shoulder injury could force the New England Patriots to tweak their Super Bowl game plan—will Josh McDaniels play it safer with designed quarterback runs, or will Maye’s trademark mob...ility still be on display when it matters most? Nick Cattles unpacks the latest updates around Maye’s status, Mike Vrabel's cautious approach, and what these developments mean for New England’s offensive strategy heading into the biggest game of the year.The episode also spotlights Christian Gonzalez's postseason surge, cementing his future as a top Patriots defensive playmaker, and examines how the team’s quiet trade deadline move—choosing belief in their roster over splashy deals—set the stage for their Super Bowl run. Get insights on New England's draft capital, cap space, and how Vrabel’s calculated decisions have built both short-term opportunity and long-term promise for the Patriots.Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPatriots?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL#patriots #newenglandpatriotsEverydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclubSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!TurboTaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28.  Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.Rocket MoneyLet Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at http://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDONFanDuelIf you’re a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in Bonus Bets if you win. Make it count — because after the Super Bowl, the season is over. Last call for football on FanDuel, an Official Sportsbook Partner of Super Bowl Sixty.Rocket MoneyLet Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at http://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDONPrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.RobinhoodTrade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin.Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firmIndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/lockedonnfl.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The latest on Drake May's shoulder situation and why I think it could cause the Pats to tweak their Super Bowl game plan. This is Locked on 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? I am your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, been covering the paths for the past 16 years. Also the co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cappell. and a sports radio veteran. Welcome to Lockdown Patriots, my friends,
Starting point is 00:00:39 part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. On today's show, stick around for the third segment as we go back to November to highlight one of the smartest decisions this team made.
Starting point is 00:00:55 In the second segment, the idea of Christian Gonzalez not being in New England for the long term is fading away with his post-season play. But first, the latest on Drake May's shoulder and how it could impact the big game. Today's episode is brought to by Fandul. It's the last call for football on Fandul.
Starting point is 00:01:13 If you're a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in bonus bets if you win. Drake May was at practice on Thursday. He was out there. Only stretching in front of the media. The media did not see any throws from Drake May or any other quarterback. We have some more information as well. and we also will tell you what Mike Vrable and Drake May himself had to say about his shoulder situation. But first, Phil Perry, NBC Sports Boston wrote that Drake May was dealing with a right shoulder issue prior to the AFC championship game.
Starting point is 00:01:50 It had not limited him in practices or games, but he was not 100%. The Talanoa Hufanga hit, which resulted in May landing hard on his right side, did not help. Greg Bedard, Boston Sports Journal, wrote this about Drake May. As I reported previously, the injury is not believed to be serious and should not affect him in Super Bowl 60. A third source confirmed that on Wednesday, Drake May sore but not believed to be injured. The last three games, he's played 20 games now against tough, physical, and hard-hitting defenses and cold weather have taken a toll so the Patriots wanted May to take it easy for a few days. If it's still an issue at the end of the week, then that would be something. but that is not expected to happen.
Starting point is 00:02:35 Mike Vrable met with the media on Thursday. Doug Kide posted. Mike Vrable says Drake May's right shoulder injury is new and was not preexisting. Otherwise, it would have been on the injury report before. Now, of course, you could play some semantics games here. I don't think Mike Vrable is going to come out and say, yeah, it was a preexisting condition that we did not put on the injury report because he'd be tattling on himself and his organization.
Starting point is 00:03:00 So was there a little bit of an injury or at least Drake May felt banged up according to the reports? Yes. Now, did that rise to the level of him having to go on the injury report? No, because again, it did not limit him, according to Phil Perry. It did not limit Drake May at practice or in games. So there is some gray area here. As far as the level of concern from Mike Vrable and May's right shoulder, Rable said, quote, unquote, not much.
Starting point is 00:03:35 Brable also said, I think we're going to operate as we normally would here on a Wednesday. Now, of course, the Thursday was the Wednesday. That's what he means. Evan Lazar posted. Drake May says he doesn't think he'll be affected by his right shoulder injury. He added that he threw at practice like normal on Thursday. So Drake May met with the media after practice, said he doesn't think he will be affected by this right shoulder injury. he told the media that he threw at practice like normal and he said, quote,
Starting point is 00:04:05 looking forward to being ready to go, unquote. So that is the latest on Drake May's shoulder and what's going on. I fully expect him to play. There are absolutely zero rumors of any imaging that has been done. There is zero out there about this injury being something of significance. Drake May will have an extra week, of course, to prepare for the Super Bowl, which will help the Patriots can take it as easy as they want with Drake May as long as they can. They could have him throw a few times this week.
Starting point is 00:04:38 They could have him thrown out at all. Now, of course, he did throw on Thursday. So they can really measure this thing out, given the extra week of preparation. But my question is, will this change the Patriots offense for the Super Bowl? Will this change their approach? Because, yes, I believe May will play. Yes, I believe. healthy enough to play. But that doesn't necessarily rule out Josh McDaniels and company saying,
Starting point is 00:05:06 okay, we need to tread a little bit more lightly here with our quarterback because we saw what happened in Denver. And if he gets hurt early in this game, we don't want Joshua Dobbs out there with a chance to win a Super Bowl. Doug Kide mentioned on Twitter that Mike Vrable, when talking about Drake May scrambling, said, quote, it's something we'll have to continue to use unquote. I do think that Drake May will scramble on Super Bowl Sunday. The question is, how much, how much of that will we see? I don't think it's out of the question that the offensive operation will make some changes or some tweaks. They will talk to Drake May about his shoulder. Like, how much will you run him? I don't think it's crazy to believe that they
Starting point is 00:05:55 will run Drake May less. If you had any ideas for designed runs with your quarterback, you might take a few of those off the play sheet. You might say we're not going to run him on four or five designed runs. If that was a plan, you get to the low red zone area like we saw against Denver with the quarterback keeper out of the shotgun. You know, will you run that play again? You might, but you might not.
Starting point is 00:06:21 You might want to try to keep your quarterback as much out of the middle. of the field and in traffic as humanly possible. So if Josh McDaniels has been keeping quarterback design runs in his back pocket all year long to throw it out there for the Super Bowl, if that's a possibility, then he might be less apt to call those designed runs now because he's got a quarterback that has a banged up wing, so to speak. So I think this could tweak the game plan. I don't think it's going to be a massive change.
Starting point is 00:06:55 I don't think they're going to sit there and tell Drake May that you can't run with the football. I think given the situation, certain scenarios, you could call a quarterback design run. What look do you get? Get them to the sidelines, those types of things. But I don't think it's crazy to sit back and say, well, maybe he will run a little bit less because of this situation. Maybe they, if they had designed runs on the play sheet or wanted to put those on the play sheet, maybe they will have less of them on the play sheet. Maybe when you get into the low red zone,
Starting point is 00:07:28 you lean on your running backs more than you might if you were planning on using Drake May's legs in the low red zone like you did against Buffalo and like you did this past weekend in the AFC championship game. In short yardage, you might be less likely to call a quarterback sneak. You know, if you're looking at a third and one, if you're looking at a fourth and one,
Starting point is 00:07:50 maybe you give it to Ramandre Stevenson. Maybe you play some games at fullback and give it to a fullback. Maybe you don't want Drake May launching himself and launching his shoulder into a defensive line. So maybe you're less likely. I would think you're less likely to call a quarterback sneak in that type of scenario. I don't think they're going to take away the long developing shots from this offense because it is a critical part of the offense. I would expect Drake May to continue to throw the football down the field. Now, when May decides to run with the ball, because inevitably he's going to,
Starting point is 00:08:28 will we see any hesitation to run with the ball in the middle of the field? We've seen May take advantage of defenses run straight up the gut. He did it against Denver, that 28-yard scramble. That began going right through the middle of the offensive line. Now, is that going to make him think twice? Is he going to say to himself, you know, it might not be the greatest idea. in the world to run through the middle of the football field when my throwing shoulder has been sore the past couple of weeks. We'll see if this changes anything about his game.
Starting point is 00:09:00 I don't think it will. I think May is very confident. I think that he understands what he has to do to win football games. And I believe that the Patriots will say, look, we're not going to be overly cautious. And I also think the later the game goes, you start to empty that tank a little bit more because you're not playing another football game after this one. So, you know, you might see a little bit of caution early in the game, but as things get cranking and as you get closer to the end, you might see Josh McDaniels open it up a little bit more and you might see May be more open to the idea of, all right, I'm going to tuck and run because this game's about to be over and we got to empty the tank. We got to do everything we possibly can to win this football game. And that includes
Starting point is 00:09:47 me maybe taking a risk here. And I think you will see that if this is a close game. And ultimately, I trust Mike Vrable. I think Mike Vrable puts his players in position to succeed. I don't think he would do anything silly to hurt his starting quarterback. But if you ask me, can we see some tweaks? Can we see maybe a little bit of less? Drake May running with the football? I would not be surprised by that. And make sure that your protection plan is super solid because you don't want him taking a lot of hits in the pocket, especially from the blind side. The longer this postseason has gone, the more likely Christian Gonzalez has become a part of this team's future.
Starting point is 00:10:28 We'll talk about that next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Tax season doesn't have to take over your life. This year, TurboTax is making it easier than ever to just hand things off and move on with your day. With TurboTax full service, you can have your taxes done for you by a trusted local Start to finish without the stress or guesswork. Instead of spending hours trying to figure out forms, you can meet with a local
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Starting point is 00:13:05 Also, don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. If you're watching on YouTube, even if you listen in other places, head on over to YouTube, give it a like, give the video, a little bit of comment action. And don't forget to subscribe. we are building the Lockdown Patriots community brick by brick since I became the host back in April. And fun fact, I'll keep saying it. Fun fact, every year I've hosted Lockdown Patriots, the team has gone to the Super Bowl. So you're welcome. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe.
Starting point is 00:13:39 All right, six to eight weeks ago, I think there was a question of whether or not Christian Gonzalez fit with what Mike Vrabel's defense wanted to do. We saw more zone than we expected. We saw cornerbacks not traveling, not playing the cat coverage. I got that cat, you get that cat. We didn't see a lot of that during the regular season. But this postseason run changes a lot. When we talk about Christian Gonzalez's future, it is much more difficult to envision a future without him being in New England.
Starting point is 00:14:17 Christian Gonzalez is playing some of his best football at the most important time of the year. NFL researcher on Twitter, who is a senior researcher at the NFL, posted this about Christian Gonzalez. Lowest passer rating allowed in the fourth quarter during a single post season in the next gen stats era. You go back to 2018, our friend Stefan Gilmore, 0.0. This year, Christian Gonzalez, pass a rating, fourth quarter in the postseason, 0.0. And it's even eerie. I know this has been online, social media,
Starting point is 00:14:59 but you take a look at the pick that Christian Gonzalez had in the AFC championship game and compare it to the pick that Stefan Gilmore had in the Super Bowl against the Rams. I mean, I wouldn't say they're identical, but they are pretty, pretty close. Nick Goss of NBC Sports Boston wrote about Christian Gonzalez this week. When targeted in coverage during the fourth quarter of the playoff run, Christian Gonzalez has allowed only two receptions for 12 yards.
Starting point is 00:15:29 That's it. He has played in three postseason games. And in the fourth quarter, he's given up two catches for 12 yards. Of course, he's given up zero touchdowns, and he has one interception. So eight targets, if you're wondering, eight targets, Two catches, 12 yards, zero tuttees, and one pick. That's been Christian Gonzalez in the fourth quarter of this post-season run. He has tallied six tackles, one sack, one-pass breakup in the pick against the Broncos.
Starting point is 00:15:59 And when you look at the playoffs overall, Christian Gonzalez has 15 tackles, one pick, one sack, one forced fumble, in four-pass breakups. He has been, without a shadow of a doubt, an impact player for this. defense. I think he's brought an extra level of physicality. I think we've seen more emotion from Christian Gonzalez, which is nice to see. I think we've seen more energy this postseason. Now, I know Mike Vrable came out during this week and said, you know, Christian Gonzalez, he thinks he's been a different guy the past six or seven weeks. Christian Gonzalez said, I think I've been the same guy. When you see him, it does feel like Christian Gonzalez is playing with a little bit more edge than he has
Starting point is 00:16:43 in the regular season, which would make sense. You get to the postseason, you're healthy, and you only got so many games left in your year. Go hard. And it feels like Gonzalez is doing that. He hasn't been perfect, obviously. The 50-plus yard catch Marvin Mims. Now, I thought he was looking for help over the top from Jalen Hawkins.
Starting point is 00:17:07 Other people say, that's not the case, that Jalen Hawkins was trying to play the underneath route there, and that was more on Christian Gonzalez. He hasn't been perfect, but he has been really, really, really good for most of this postseason. And if you're going to bet, if you're putting money on this, if Fandul was having a bet on this, I think you would put money on Gonzalez getting some kind of contract extension with the Patriots. I don't know if it's going to happen this offseason. He is eligible to get that extension this off season.
Starting point is 00:17:39 I don't know if it's going to happen in the next few months. but I just think when you look at Gonzalez, you've got to say to yourself, if you're the Patriots, cornerback ones are not easy to find. You're not just going to roll out there and find a number one cornerback just like that. I know the Patriots have had incredible, incredible cornerback ones. You know, I mean, you go back to the Thai laws of the world, obviously Daryl Revis for that one year, Stefan Gilmore and others, right? Malcolm Butler before the Philadelphia Super Bowl debacle.
Starting point is 00:18:15 So they've had some really good corners, Akeeb Taleb. But, you know, to find a young cornerback one that can be part of your program for the next eight years, nine years, ten, not easy to find. And when you find those guys at a premier position, you keep them, you hold on to them. Unless you're part of some kind of crazy rebuild, you might pull a Jets trading sauce Gardner.
Starting point is 00:18:39 but when you have a true legitimate number one, I mean, Christian Gonzalez has top five talent at the position. I don't think he played like a top five corner this year. He played like a Pro Bowl corner. I think he was kind of right there on the edge of, you know, five, six somewhere in that range. But he still has the talent. I mean, he was a second team all pro last year.
Starting point is 00:18:59 So you're talking about a top talent. And if you're the Patriots, you're looking around. And the fact is, even though, and we'll talk more about this in the next segment, even though you're in the Super Bowl, you still have holes that you have to fill with this roster going into the offseason. You still have a number of guys that are a little bit older.
Starting point is 00:19:18 Do you really want to create another hole in the next year or two? Do you want to create a massive hole at outside corner one? And don't overlook the fact that Carlton Davis, he has a potential out in his contract after the 2026 season. So it is possible, if not probable, that Carlton Davis is not a patriot going into 2027. So do you really want to start from scratch aside from Marcus Jones at Corner? I wouldn't. Like to me, the plan is, all right, we already got Jones extended.
Starting point is 00:19:56 If you're the Patriots, you're saying we already got Jones extended. Let's try to hammer out an extension with Christian Gonzalez. Let's lock him up. And then you have Carlton Davis for 2026. He's going to be a bridge. And in the meantime, try to find a young cornerback to that you can develop and groom. So when you say goodbye to Carlton Davis most likely after 2026, that young guy is ready to take over. And then you have that young guy with Gonzalez and Marcus Jones.
Starting point is 00:20:27 That's the plan that would make sense to me. Coming up, the Patriots made a lot of right decisions leading up to this moment, but one of the biggest was actually doing nothing. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. If you've ever hired someone who looked good on paper but wasn't the right fit, you know how important that is. When you want candidates who truly match what you're looking for, trust indeed sponsored jobs. Hiring, Indeed is all you need.
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Starting point is 00:21:42 Terms and conditions apply, hiring, do it the right way with Indeed. Don't forget to like. Don't forget to comment. Don't forget to subscribe. And I hope all of you have an awesome weekend. This has been just a ridiculously magical run by this football team. I've been calling it the magic carpet ride throughout this post season. And it continues to the Super Bowl.
Starting point is 00:22:07 And you don't get to the last game of the year without making a lot of smart decisions, smart decisions by the coaching staff, smart decisions by the players, smart decisions by the front office. And I want to go back. I want to go back a couple of months ago because at the time of the trade deadline, we were all talking about in early November hysteria over the trade deadline and what should the Patriots do? What should they not do? Did they mess up by doing nothing? There were a lot of people frustrated. There were some people angry that the Patriots didn't do anything at the trading
Starting point is 00:22:46 deadline. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I thought that they should have done something small, added a piece to the team, not give up a ton. But I didn't think it was the end of the world. Here we are now. Fast forward, almost three months later, in the Patriots, are on the precipice of playing in the Super Bowl. And I think you go back to the decision, you know, in early November at the trading deadline. And there are a number of reasons why that you look back at that decision to do nothing and you say, man, it looks like they got it right.
Starting point is 00:23:26 Because by doing nothing, and I said this in real time, this to me is not, you know, armchair quarterback here. By not doing anything at the deadline, you were inevitably telling the room that you believed in them. And the message has been clear all season long from Mike Vrable. You know, we all we want, we all we need.
Starting point is 00:23:50 You know, and when you're looking at, when you're looking at telling your players that, hey, all we need is in this room. That's all we need. We don't need anything else. You know, we all we got, we all we need is the message that I think has echoed throughout that locker room all year long through the postseason. And it will certainly be said an awful lot over the next week and a half as we get ready for this Super Bowl. And the ultimate belief, you can say that, you can talk about it.
Starting point is 00:24:22 But as they say, don't talk about it, be about it. And the fact that the Patriots did not bring anybody from the outside at the trading deadline. Because they decided to do that, that was the action. That was being about it. That was telling the guys, we do believe in you. And when we talk about having all that we need, we're not going to go out and get anything more than what we have because we don't need it. This is the team, ride or die.
Starting point is 00:24:55 We're with you. And I think that belief helped spur some of what we've seen this. year. The message has been consistent. The belief has been real. Secondly, by not acquiring anybody before or at the trading deadline, the Patriots banked on their coaching staff. They banked on their scouting department. And they said, no, we believe. We believe that we can develop the players that we have. We don't feel like we have to go out and get a pass rusher or overpay. Don't get it twisted. They talked to teams, but they didn't feel like they needed to pay the ultimate price for a pass rusher
Starting point is 00:25:37 because they believe that Elijah Ponder would be able to help them. Elijah Ponder in the AFC championship game had what, three or four pressures, beat Garrett Bowles off the edge. So Elijah Ponder has helped. They didn't go out and get a defensive end. They said, no, we're going to actually hold on to Anthony Jennings. They traded Kyle Dugger, as we know. They traded Keon White. but they said, no, we're going to keep Anthony Jennings.
Starting point is 00:26:02 And they obviously developed him more and they got him comfortable with the system. And now Anthony Jennings is making plays. They bet on their staff. They bet on the development. They bet on their scouting department. They bet on guys like, no, Corey Durdon is going to develop and be even better by the time this year is towards the end of its existence. They sat there and said, no, we're going to go out and we're going to sign guys like Leonard Taylor out of nowhere because we know that he can help this football team. they not only believed in the guys in the locker room,
Starting point is 00:26:30 they believed in themselves, from the coaching staff all the way up to the front office. And now, because they did nothing in November, and because they're sitting on the precipice of a Super Bowl appearance, you have the opportunity, if you're the Patriots, to get the best of both worlds, my friends, to get the best of both worlds. The Pats have the opportunity to win a championship
Starting point is 00:26:57 while not giving up any of their future assets to get there. They have a chance to win a Super Bowl and walk into this draft in April with 11 draft picks. Now people might say, oh, 11 draft picks. That's, you know, what are you going to use all of them? I don't care. You got 11 picks. And now that you're going to the Super Bowl,
Starting point is 00:27:22 you're going to draft at the very end of the rounds, right? you're either drafting 31 or 32. You're at the very bottom of every single round. You don't think quantity of draft picks help you? You don't think being able to package a couple of picks to maybe move up and around isn't going to help. Of course it is. Of course it helps you. So the quantity, having 11 draft picks does actually mean something when you're drafting at the bottom of these rounds.
Starting point is 00:27:49 By the way, it's not just the draft. The Patriots have the 10th most cap space, according to over. the cap this off season at $31 million. And we know that you can always play some cap games and create extra space. So, I mean, when you're sitting down and you're thinking about this game against the Seahawks, and we are all focused on this game and we should all be focused on this game. And the most important thing in our football lives and sport lives right now is the Patriots winning the Super Bowl against the Seahawks.
Starting point is 00:28:20 But in the back of your head, in the back of your mind, think this. The best thing about this run is that you can enjoy the present with an opportunity, a chance of watching the team that you love win a Super Bowl, and you still have all sorts of hope for the future. And that's pretty great to think about. And it all goes back to November, making the right call to not overpay, believing in your team, believing that this team, as it's constant, constituted could make a run. And that's exactly what they have done. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listening for being an everydayer.
Starting point is 00:29:09 Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Don't forget to hit that thumbs up. Helps us with the algorithm. And don't forget to subscribe. And if you're looking for a gift for someone, make it easy. Check out the Everydayer Club. Add free episodes of this show, exclusive Discord server access and more.
Starting point is 00:29:28 And don't forget until the Super Bowl, Subscribers can use code Super Bowl to get one month free of the Everydayer Club. Subscriptions can be gifted through lockdownpatriots.supercast.com. Have a great weekend, and we will see you on Monday.

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