Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Henry, Pitts and Tight Endage: Patriots-Browns Wrap-Up, On to Atlanta — 11/16/2021

Episode Date: November 18, 2021

As they continues to bask in the glow of their 45-7 beating of the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, the New England Patriots look ahead to their Week 11 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Clare ‘ClazzyClare’ Cooper, as the duo discuss the Pats-Browns matchup, New England’s upcoming game against the Atlanta Falcons, and tight ends Hunter Henry and Kyle Pitts.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.GetupsideJust download the FREE GetUpside App and use promo code TOUCHDOWN to get up to 50¢/gallon cash back on your first tank.  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 Tuesday, November 16th, 2021. And it's Tuesday. It is tight endage Tuesday 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 once again, thank you for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots, as all of the great Locked On Podcast Network podcasts, are free and available on all platforms. Greetings and salutations, Patriots Nation, and thank you for joining me here on this Tuesday 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, your comments, your team every day. And folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, your comments, your feedback, they're always welcomed and they're very much appreciated. So share that feedback. Send it to the internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATENFL. While you're out there doing some Tuesday traveling through that Twitterverse, please

be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, as we all continue to savor the 45-7 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday in Week 10, we are reminded that there is a very quick turnaround time and fast approaching is Week 11 and a Thursday night showdown between the Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. And there is a lot to cover with regard to the Patriots and Falcons coming up this week, but we're still not done dissecting the Patriots' Week 10 victory over the Cleveland Browns just yet. Yesterday on the pod, we were fortunate to be able to discuss that win with the great Thomas Murphy, And we talked a lot about the Patriots running game. We talked about quarterback Mac Jones.

We talked about that Patriots defense and how great they've been over the course of the last couple of weeks. One thing we didn't talk much about was tight end Hunter Henry and the rest of the Patriots tight endage. Well, there's a reason for that because our expert on the subject joins us here today on the hot seat my good friend the countess of class herself claire clazy claire cooper joins me today and we will talk about hunter henry's prowess and what he's meant to this offense and why he was one of

the keys to the patriots victory on sunday we'll also flip the script and start to look ahead to the atlanta falcons who have a prolific tight end of their own. Rookie sensation Kyle Pitts has become the focal point of the Falcons' offense. How will the Patriots' defense look to control him? Well, Claire has some theories on that, and we'll also take a quick look ahead to the Falcons' Patriots' tilt on Thursday as these two teams face off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 8.20 p.m. Folks, a lot to get to, tons to cover, so without much further ado, let us welcome in

the Empress of Tight Endage herself, Claire, Classy Claire Cooper, joins the hot seat when this Tuesday episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast continues. Hello again, Patriots fans. This is Mike DeBate with an incredible app everyone who buys gas needs to know about. GetUpside. My listeners are making up to 25 cents for every gallon of gas every time they fill up. Just

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Use the code TOUCHDOWN when you download GetUpside. code touchdown to get up to 50 cents per gallon cash back on your first tank. Use the code touchdown when you download GetUpside. Locked on listeners, in life, we're all bound for different things. With BeachBound.com vacations, you could be bound for adventure, bound for passion. Maybe you're bound for discovery or bound for togetherness, perhaps even bound for immersion, bound for rejuvenation, or you may just be bound for encountering the unexpected. Personally, when I'm at a beach resort, I'm bound to end up at the poolside bar, walking along the shoreline, kicking the breaking waves, or maybe even creating my own taco flight.

As long as I've got a good view and a good drink in my hand, I'll be as happy as I can be. With BeachBound.com, you can be. With beachbound.com, you can find the perfect beach vacation for you no matter what you're looking for. What are you bound for? Visit beachbound.com today. Patriots fans across the region and beyond, we all continue to savor the Patriots 45-7 beatdown of the Cleveland Browns. That's sitting at six and four and rising rapidly in the national rankings. Our rankings released all over the NFL and the Patriots are cracking the top 10 in a lot of national outlets.

Is it enough for them to carry that momentum into a playoff spot? Well, here today on Locked On Patriots, we're going to talk about the Patriots' victory over the Browns. We're going to talk about an integral part of that victory. And we're also going to start to take a brief look ahead to the Atlanta Falcons. Two of the components that are going to be very big topics of conversation today are explosive tight ends. And if we're talking tight ends, that's right, folks. you know who our guest is going to be the voice the accent the giggle that you know very very well from west midlands in the uk a phenomenal patriots writer for bats propaganda the third voice and probably the voice of calm

on one patriots place alongside murph and our good friend steve Balistrieri and once again a special contributor and columnist for full press coverage Patriots where she also hosts her very own podcasts the true definition of must listen folks a Claire perspective the podcast is a great listen Claire kills it when she gets tremendous uh guests each and every week I always look forward to it please definitely subscribe and download wherever you get your podcasts. I highly recommend it. It is my honor to welcome back the Countess of Clas herself. Claire, Clasie Claire Cooper joins me here on this Tuesday Hot Seat on Lockdown Patriots.

Thank you, Countess, for joining me from today from across the pond. Oh, you're welcome. Thank you very much for having me, Mike. It's great to be here with you guys. Well, it's always great to have you back. And we're making this a weekly thing here on Locked on Patriots. Yeah. Judging from the feedback that I've been getting,

that's a very good thing. Everybody loves having you on the show. I definitely do. It's always a lot of fun when we get a chance to get together and talk football. And Claire, there's a lot of positives to talk about in New England right now, without any question. Patriots coming off of a very impressive victory over the Cleveland Browns,

really dominant on both sides of the ball. And I wrote about this a little bit earlier this week, saying that I think this is the Patriots' most impressive win of the season, not just because of the final score, but because of the way they were able to take what Cleveland did well and stifle it on both sides of the ball. They didn't allow them to get on track in the running game, took away Baker Mayfield's passing lanes on defense. They were able to really contain some of the prowess that they have at wide receiver and at tight end. The two tight end sets. Obviously we're going to talk about some tight ends today on offense.

The Patriots look much more efficient. Mac Jones is becoming much more comfortable in this role. He's, you know, their Patriots are running the football much better. There's just a lot of positives to take away in your estimation. When you look at this game and you look at the Patriots and the Cleveland Browns on Sunday,

what were your takeaways and your thoughts from Sunday's game? And what has you optimistic about the rest of the season? Well, you're quite right there, Mike. I mean, the list of positives really is quite high up there, particularly, I think, probably the best of the season, really. Specifically with numbers and that kind of thing. But I think something that hasn't really shown up in the numbers that I know people have been talking about and I mentioned it extensively in my game recap for patspropaganda.com is the role that Nikhil Hari played now I know that Nikhil Hari has been a very controversial subject in New England and you know I'm not going to deny that I

have kind of flew the flag for him because I didn't really. I've always been very kind of meh. I was never very in, never very out. Just meh. See what he does. Meh kind of thing. So that was always my attitude towards it. And I was never concerned if they did cut him and I was never concerned that they kept him.

That kind of thing, really. But this game, he really stepped up significantly in regards to the blocking and in regards to particularly the blocking of Myles Garrett. Now, going into the game, that guy was going to be an issue. You know, they'd lost a lot of their running game. They'd lost in regards to Chubb and that kind of thing. So they'd lost their, in vertical terms, weapons. But there was still that concern of how they were going to contain Myles Garrett. And if you'd have told anybody before the game,

oh, it's okay, don't worry about Garrett. Nikhil Harry's got this. I don't think anybody really would have believed you. Maybe they're really, really high up Nikhil Harry fans, but I don't think anybody would have believed you. And this kid just threw that guy out the club and he didn't put in anything significant into the, as in the Garrett, that is,

put anything significant into the game. And I was he was something that he was going to be like one to watch that kind of thing and Harry just shut it all down and I think that opened up the game for the Patriots in a significant way as well and so you've kind of got to give the kudos to that guy. And I wanted to mention that right off the bat, because I definitely think that he increased his value. Now, you don't necessarily want a, you know, first round pick wide receiver to be, you know, a blocking piece in your offense. But in all fairness, that really helped with this game and if that is the case if going forward you use that guy in that way and it means you win games to the extent that we that they won you know how can you deny that it's it's not he's really maybe his initial position in the team but he was of such value to the team in during that game that I think it's just something that you can't deny, really.

Absolutely. You definitely can't deny it. And it's funny that we mentioned Nikhil Harry earlier this season. Murph and I had toyed with the idea of lining up Nikhil in tight end settings because he's got that build. He's got great physicality. He's got great size, can go up and make the contested catches. I know you and I both see it all the time.

We all see it all over social media. You mentioned the keel Harry's name and you see the vomit emojis start popping up and people start going, you know, always either that or the trash can or, you know, I mean, it really, I mean, yeah. And they've dealt with it. And the keels dealt with a lot. All right. I'm not going to get into the fact that yes,

he did bring on some of it himself with the trade request. I don't know if that was more driven by his agent than Nikhil himself. Nikhil has always been very much steady when it comes to his response on that, that he's in New England, he's happy to be a patriot. And whatever opportunities arise in the future as a result of just a normal course of doing business happened to come forth he'll be able to roll with it and deal with it but you have to wonder if maybe some of that was agent driven a little bit more maybe they thought they were going to be able to get into a situation where he would get more touches i don't know but he's definitely making his presence felt as of late you mentioned his ability as a run blocker and just to give you a little bit of background on that, folks, played 35 of possible 67 offensive snaps on Sunday. 23 of those snaps came in the form of

a run blocker. This is a part of the Patriots game that really, really had to be solid as a rock on Sunday, especially with guys that can rush the passer and get after the passer in terms of, you know, somebody like a Miles Garrett, even Nikhil's ability to be able to get in and disrupt him at times, like you mentioned, Claire was really impressive. So I was very much impressed by that as well. I'm glad to see Nikhil be able to get a little bit of positive press on that as well, because again, he's, he's been someone that's been much maligned. I have been called an Akil Harry apologists several times. Uh, people always, uh, you know, criticize,

I was considered a Sony Michelle apologist while he was here. And then all of a sudden, when he wasn't here anymore, fans were clamoring for him once again, but, um, I'm not going to get into that right now. That's a different conversation for another day. Uh, but, uh, Nikhil definitely did play well, and I was glad to see him play well um before we move on to a subject that I know you're just chomping at the bit I have more notes I have more notes exactly that's what I wanted to uh to get into um besides uh Harry uh at this point when you look at what the Patriots did well do you have any offensive defensive highlights takeaways that you think fans should be spending time on stuff they're either talking

about right now that they should continue to feel good about or maybe even something we haven't talked about what are your continued takeaways from the game I think the list is significant I don't think we've quite got enough time you you know, in this episode. We could really go over in just really sort of discussing positives. Not to be a 99% glass full girl, which I have been called, which I don't have an issue with because that's fine. I like being positive. But yeah, it was a game to take a lot of positives away. There was there was still some issues. It wasn't a you know, it wasn't a perfect game. They did have a shaky start against the run so there is no denying that there's still work to be done but that's the sort of thing that Bill would say

anyway and you know that's fine if there's work to be done they will do it and you know that's not an issue the one thing that was still I found I found interesting as someone that's kind of not necessarily a sports media person but sort of involved within sports media because of writing that because of podcasting I noticed that we've all sort of complained about the penalties um this season so far because there's been quite a lot because the penalties you know they've showed up and and it's not really a very sort of Patriots behavior to put up so many penalties and I noticed that this game they still put up about an average of penalties that they've been doing in every game I think it was it was six six for 46 yards now

that's pretty average for this season so it wasn't significantly low but it's not really being mentioned the fact that you know they're still putting out the penalties the same as as they were and the the one individual that I know had a very good game so I'm not I'm not slighting this but I never slight players anyway you know I don't like to be excessively negative on players I just try and sort of say as I see it um and if they haven't done such a great job in one game then you know I will say it type thing but it doesn't mean that I think that individual's trash. I never think a player's trash anyway.

So, but Isaiah Wynn did have a good game and I've heard plenty of people say that he had a good game and I'm not denying it, but he did still have penalties called against him. He is still sort of maybe not playing to the full best of his ability, if you like, because he's one of the players that is racking up penalties on a regular

basis and it's it's not the best thing because it shuts down when when they when they um when they gain something penalties is the thing that takes that away and it's just if you've got a repeat offender shall we say not that I really want to say that but then you know it's not great and it's just hoping that it's something that he'll he'll work on sort of thing but he did have a good game so as I said I'm not slighting slighting that guy the other thing that was interesting was the the sort of the benching of a menu for one to the better phrase it was sort of surprising because he's been one of the best offensive linemen that they have got this season. But it still clicked. And I can't decide if that was a good or a bad thing.

I know that he was he lined up eligible as a tight end so that, you know, that was something that worked for them as well. And with Trent Brownback, everybody wants Trent Brownback or most people do. And that's great. And he played good and things like this. And I liked the fact that they didn't take Karras out um because when he's been in the offensive line I think it's been it it seemed to maybe have clicked better maybe to be that little bit better I'm not sure it's sort of the season's still you know we're just only just halfway so it's something to watch kind of thing the offensive line but we're surprised I don't think I was the only one to be surprised of his benching inverted commas, but they worked well. And I think that's good.

It's confusing really the problems that they've had with the offensive line to then bench on when you, and still work really good is mildly puzzling, you know, fairness. So keep a sharp eye on that, as you like to say, but it was still, it was a positive. The offensive line played good. And that's what we needed because I think that was a very cause for concern in this season was going into the season we all kind of thought oh it's great you've got Trent Brown you've got when you you've got Andrew's back you've got Karis there as a backup it's like what we're swimming in great offensive linemen and then all of a sudden it just really didn't

work and it was like oh hang on wait what what's going on here kind of thing so the fact that it is good is I'm just like okay put whoever you want in that's fine as long as it's good then that's good the older guys they looked like I say that very very tongue-in-cheek because the older guys are all probably yeah considerably younger than me in this case but they looked better I liked the fact that McCordy, Hightower, Van Noy, sort of seemed to be getting back to the plays that we know, as Patriots fans, the plays that we're used to watching, I guess. And there was that. I did notice on social media, I don't know if other people noticed this, but Van Noy, I'm sure I saw a tweet yesterday or something,

something to do with Van Noy saying maybe hinting at recovering from injury now or something. So whether or not he was really dealing with it, whether or not it's just a bit of smoke and mirrors, you know, you know, that kind of thing. But I think unfortunately,

Paul McCord, if he'd just made that one handed catch, we might be, you know, we'd be, what was it? 45 to seven is a, is a great number,

but 45 to 0 is like a better number. And I think I've misquoted now. Was it 45? Did they get 45? It was 45 to 7. I'm looking at my pieces of paper thinking, I think I've got the wrong numbers here. But, yeah, so, yeah, if he'd have made that one-handed catch,

maybe we'd be looking at a sort of they'd put no points out and that's just you know even even better on the books but no definitely take 45 to 7 very very good I mean every week when I put out as some people may know put out my game recap and I've been repeating myself recently and I can't help it and I but I won't apologize for it because the reason I've been repeating myself is because Barmore, Judon and Jakob Johnson have been brilliant every week. So consistent in a sea of inconsistency that the team has had this season so far, the ups and downs that they've had. Christian Barmore, Matt Judon and Jakob Johnson have been, I mean, Judon particularly. I think he's won everybody's MVP every week in all fairness.

This guy is all over the place all over everything and it's it's great to watch and I mean with Jakob Johnson blocking he he he's had um a few past catches and things like that so and and that kind of thing so Jakob Johnson has really for me put on the map to make everybody remember that the the value of a fullback because I know a lot of teams don't line it up I think it's 14 out of the 32 teams of the NFL line up with a fullback at some point I think the rest don't even have one on their roster I may be wrong now that was a figure that I um researched kind of before the season when I was looking at putting out some pieces. So it may have differed now. So I apologise. But he has really shown the Patriots utilisation of a fullback.

And that position is still worthy. It's still good. And it still can be used really to a T, particularly with a coach like Bill Belichick. So before I kind of wrap up, because I know kind of I'm going on a little bit now and we are you know time time limits in this situation but I just want to quickly mention Stevenson Ramondre Stevenson wowzers this kid I mean his numbers were good if you look at it from a statistical perspective I got through that time um then yeah he did really great. But I urge people to watch him because that is how you will see how great this guy is as a player. His sheer power and ability on the field was what sort of had me put him in my recap,

you know, had me put him on my positives for this week. It wasn't just his numbers. Yes, his numbers were significant. His numbers were key to the game, that kind of thing. But the way this kid plays, it's just phenomenal to watch and I just think I urge people if you said you know kind of what to look out for please don't just look at his numbers do look at how he plays as well because it's a beautiful thing and I mean we all love we all love the beautiful game I haven't mentioned Hunter Henry because I know that it's going to be something that we touch on

in a bit so talking of beautiful plays and stuff like that I'm just going to kind of leave you to it to let you to to lead on to the next bit to do with the tires what a great dynamic light in that was I I love it it really really was just leading me right into where we needed to go and look again folks, folks, spot on analysis. Claire is always good. She brings it to the table every single day. That's why we love having her here. Spot on analysis on Isaiah Wynn. Although I will say that when you look at what Wynn brings to the table, the fact that he spent significant time matching up on the left side against Miles Garrett and seeing what he was able to do, the solid day protecting the passer, two total thrashers, one quarterback, hurry one sack. Yes.

There are still areas in, you know, communication where I think he needs to line up. But again, we see the trash bucket and everything associated with Isaiah win. And yeah, when you watch the broadcast on TV and I get this and I'm not coming at fans, I've been accused lately of really like thumbing my nose at the fans lately. I want to put that out there that I don't, I completely understand where you're coming from. When you watch the TV broadcast,

it's so much different looking at what the perspective is from either the CBS crew or the Fox crew or whoever's broadcasting the game, because they're showing you one angle and it does make it look like, Oh, this guy just completely missed an assignment where there are communication issues sometimes that lead to these broken coverages so in that respect i do uh you know want to give some uh you know much deserved kudos to win like you did there are still issues that he needs to uh to shore up but i think they're more of the communication um ilk rather than a lack of skill or a lack of ability to play oh completely yeah

i'm not knocking his skill not at all you mentioned on i and i know you're not and that's why i'm glad that you mentioned that and i know you mentioned mccordy uh near interception yeah that would have uh got a little less dirt on the uniform of my guy adrian phillips i saw him take some lumps for that coverage and i'm like did you just see the play two plays ago where he knocked the ball out of nijoko's hands i mean he can't do that every single time, guys. And have you seen that fight end? Exactly. And Austin Hooper is just, I mean, he's in another world when it comes to athleticism.

But Patriots have a prolific tight end of their own. Once again, a threat in the red zone. And Claire, I know you've been absolutely chomping at the bit to talk about this so I'm going to give you the floor in just a minute um Hunter Henry is someone that I've praised several times here on Locked On Patriots going back to when he wasn't a Patriot and he was a member of the Chargers and we would do Chargers crossovers with my guys over at Locked On Chargers so I'd have Fernando Ramirez here uh talk about the Chargers in a crossover. I always pine very much to have Hunter Henry in a Patriots uniform, and he's showing why

this is such a hand-in-glove fit here. Very similar to what Adrian Phillips did last year and is continuing to do this year. They fit the Patriot mold so well, and Hunter is just taking that ball, and he's running with it like you can can't imagine strong blocker, reliable pass catcher. Um, one of the pleasant surprises for the, uh, the Patriots, uh, in the offense so far and his effectiveness and his synergy with Mac Jones has been something to watch Claire. When you watch Hunter Henry and you look at what he's bringing to the table, some people are comparing him to Rob. And I think that's very premature as much as I love Hunter Henry, Rob Gronkowski is in another stratosphere when it comes to tight ends. There's still a lot that needs to happen to get him to that level. But have the Patriots found their guy? Is this going to be the new hot tight end combination a la Brady Gronkowski or Bledsoe

Coates back in the day? Have the Patriots found their guy here I have one word for you I'm sorry I have two words for you oh yes more more more of a um more of a sound and a word I guess oh yes completely I mean as you mentioned the the thing that is the that kind of puts the icing on the cake that puts the cherry on top that kind of thing is icing on the cake, that puts the cherry on top, that kind of thing, is the dynamic that is building between Mack and Hunter. And those sorts of things are kind of why fans are so enamoured with the game as well. When you see that kind of thing, I'll just touch back on when Myers had his touchdown

and the whole team are in the in the end zone that kind of thing and andrews is lifting him up it's it's a lovely heartwarming thing to see that kind of thing and i think when you've got individuals that are clicking as well i mean of course about the tight end i am oh my gosh i am in my element i'm loving my quarterback anyway i wanted him they picked him that was great and then they brought me a fantastic tight end I was you know I wasn't displeased when they signed Smith but he he isn't quite that traditional tight end that I have got that little extra affection for now I'm not saying he's not really good or anything don't get me wrong it's nothing against him he just kind of he he is more of that athletic kind of guy and Hunter Henry is more as as you

call it the white eye and that kind of thing so and and that's where I'm at because of it because my affection originated from Ron Gronkowski so I'm always going to sort of tend towards that kind of player because that's where my initial affection that's where my first stuff is and Hunter Henry just epitomizes that like you said the comparisons to Gronk are premature to me a player is a player I'm not big into the comparisons myself just because I sometimes feel it takes away from the player that you are comparing with so you're taking away from Hunter by comparing him to Gronk because he's he's a tight end in his own right and he's really blossomed this year. And we all know that Coach Bill has had a bit of a thing for him for years. And now I can see why.

We can all see why because he's really sort of brought it, and not to repeat myself, but the dynamic with Matt Jones has, I think it's really helped sort of on the field and off the field. And it's really great to watch and not field and off the field and it's really great to watch and not to sort of throw stats out but I just wanted to just to say that I don't just love I do know some of the numbers as well and he's brought sort of 42 targets with 31 receptions and I mean that in itself is quite a considerable figure to to then bring down seven touchdowns and no drops courtesy of pff.com.

You know, really good figures. Shout out to Chizzo's. Thanks for the info through PFF. Unfortunately, Smith just hasn't really, he hasn't had the time to bring it into show, his numbers. I think he's another thing that Hunter Henry's got over Smith at the moment he's Henry's had that time he's had that time to build that dynamic and I know that Hunter said himself that in the spring missing the spring it really affected the beginning of the season because he hadn't had that time and I think the sort of the lower production of Smith is proving how important that is to how increase the development

within the team and yeah I mean Hunter's just he's being an all-round everything tight end force at the moment with the catching blocking red zone target you know he's ticking all the boxes and he's brought he's brought seven touchdowns so yeah kind of what how can how can you not how can you not be enthusiastic and excited how can you not love how can you not want this tight endage really well some are a little more and I will leave you to your own volition as to who that might be you can hear the wild giggling on the opposite end of the microphone and you can pretty much tell. Yeah, folks, Claire is excited, but I think everybody should be in New England without any question. And I think you've articulated it perfectly. Look, bottom line, one of the things that really helps to build team chemistry is when players

have that type of camaraderie that allows you to not only play well with each other and respect each other's ability, but when there's a genuine like for your teammates, it makes things so much easier. And I've seen several colleagues of mine in the media downplay that. And yes, I know there are teams, teammates, players that couldn't stand one another that played well together and still found a way to make it work. There's no question as to whether or not it's possible. It is. But when you have teammates that genuinely really like one another, they will go to the wall to try to protect that player. They'll go to the wall to try to help that player. You saw it with

Jacoby Myers. Like you said the other day, everybody was so excited for him getting the touchdown. But the synergy between Mac and Henry is really becoming that type of relationship that you can see budding off the field as well as on the field. Max spoke to the media yesterday, and he said that, you know, Hunter is really becoming like an older brother to him. They really spend a lot of time talking about football, talking about life and just getting a chance to get to know each other, you know, and really become good friends. Those types of bonds are so difficult to break. And it means an awful lot when you have a tight end that has the capabilities and the route running ability of Hunter Henry and a quarterback like Mac Jones, it's a hand in glove fit. Bill Belichick talked about it yesterday when he spoke

to the media early in the morning saying that, you know, the option routes that, you know, we deploy Hunter on can change. They can vary from time to time, but ultimately you want to get guys that are running those option routes that know when to adjust. There is a nuance to running an option route. It's not just like, oh, well, here's the option you run it. And if you run smack dab into somebody, then, well, who cares? You know, just do what you have to do to get it. There are ways that you can adjust on the fly. And Hunter is so good at doing that because he's one of the better route runners I've ever covered, whether it be a tight end or whether it be a wide receiver.

I put Hunter Henry in that top upper echelon of route runners that I've covered. And I've covered some good ones. Keenan Allen, obviously, over in Los Angeles and San Diego, had a chance to cover him. Rob Gronkowski was a brilliant runner here in New England and things of that nature. So you look at what these players are able to do. And Hunter has just been such a hand in glove fit that prototypical wide tight end that can do it all, put his hands in the dirt, be an effective blocker, but really be a red zone threat has been a breath of fresh air.

And I'm not saying that it's a surprise to me, but it's been one of the pleasantries of me for the 2021 season is seeing him come into his own. And for anybody that's down on Jonu Smith right now, I think Claire hit the nail on the head, folks. Remember, this is a kid that has not enjoyed great health this season. He's had the shoulder issue. That definitely is bothering him.

This is another kid that really is ready to break out. And I'm rooting very hard for Jono. Good kid, good guy. And I really think there's a lot that could be unleashed when he's healthy and he's ready to contribute. So folks don't give up on Jono Smith. I'm telling you, there's a lot there under the surface. And if these two guys start clicking at the same time, this offense is really going to be a lot of fun to watch yeah exactly I'm so glad that you said that because it's like if we think it's kind of good now then holy heck Glenn just you know just wait the possibilities could be endless and I and I'm really glad what you said about Hunter because

I didn't get a chance to mention that I'm really glad that you made the point in regards to the option routes and that kind of thing because it's been said how he is there and he's he his experience is is key and I think the fact that we've got such a rookie quarterback but with such a kind of experience and I think it's just making that bond that bit stronger because it's just sort of it's the it's helping Mac to develop and if we can kind of keep that going if that can sort of keep moving forward I think that it's really got something that we can build that sorry that they can build the the offense on and I just think not to compare it because I know that you sort of didn't want to compare it to Gronk and Tom Brady I want to compare it in a way of that relationship that they have is really good

and it's so good because obviously and moving forward we can see it because they've took it to they've took it to Tampa so you know that kind of thing if Mac and Hunter can have a similar sort of bond of relationship you can see what that kind of relationship can do and you can see how that can put sort of strength within the team and I just I can't help but be excited yes I am a tight-ended enthusiast so I am excited anyway but I sort of can't imagine that any sort of standard regular but you know run of the male patriots found that we all are cannot be excited by seeing that unfold in front of our eyes and just be able to root for it and it's just it is it's a beautiful thing absolutely it really is a beautiful thing tight-ended just something we love talking about and that 12-man

22-man personnel that the newland patriots had talked about was raved about heading into the season by yours truly and by claire and a lot of others murph included we all talked about the prowess of what that was going to do and how joshDaniels was going to love dialing up these plays we're starting to see it and folks when you know you do see someone like John O'Smith get healthy and you start seeing Jacoby Myers and you know Nelson Aguilar and Kendrick Bourne who was phenomenal I wrote about Kendrick yesterday for Sports Illustrated he's been great this is going to be a fun offense to watch, but there is still a game to be played on Thursday. Quick turnaround time this week, Claire. Late game, very late game for you in the UK. Late game here for us on the east coast of the United States, but the Patriots will travel to Atlanta and take that 28-3 baggage with them

alongside Mac Jones, Bill Belichick, and crew taking on the Atlanta Falcons in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Falcons employ a pretty explosive tight end of their own. Rookie Kyle Pitts coming into his own, really becoming the focal point of that offense. How will the Patriots be able to take a look at Pitts and maybe help to contain him as well as Claire's thoughts on the Falcons when this Tuesday tight-endage episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, Bilt Bar, the most delicious, healthy protein bar you've ever tried,

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Bet online, the fastest and easiest way to bet all of your favorite sports. Bet online, your online sportsbook experts patriots fans the countess of clads the baroness of blockers the queen of te and the empress of tight endage folks if you're scoring at home that's one more nickname than Murph. I know Murph's going to be upset. But right now, that is the moniker handle that we're putting on Claire. My good friend, Claire Classey. Claire Cooper is here today on Locked On Patriots to talk some tight endage. And we've done that.

We cleaned out the junk drawer when it came to Patriots Browns, but we're onto Atlanta now, Claire, and the Patriots are coming into this game six and four red hot winners of four in a row. You know, so there's a lot that goes into what the Patriots have done to be able to get on this streak. Now, conversely, the Atlanta Falcons are coming off of a difficult loss and I'm probably being diplomatic when I say that they're coming off of a difficult loss, and I'm probably being diplomatic when I say that. They're coming off of a very difficult loss. The Dallas Cowboys did not look good on either side of the ball. So naturally, people are rubbing their hands together in New England and saying, this has the potential to be a bash, but not so fast. Atlanta, first of all, it's a quick

turnaround time. So regardless of what, things can happen, and it's so difficult to maintain that type of momentum heading into a Thursday night game. But the Falcons can make things happen offensively. We've seen them do it. Matt Ryan is still a very effective quarterback. He does have weapons around him. Now, Cordero Patterson, it looks like,

will not be able to suit up for this game if that is indeed the case. And we don't know that for sure yet. But if that's the case, that is a big break for the Patriots. Cordero is one of their dual threat weapons, not just as a running back, but also as a pass catcher. We saw that capability here in New England when he was here for a season. Bill Belichick even talked about that yesterday. But what that means is a heavy emphasis on rookie tight end Kyle Pitts. Claire, we talked about this in the offseason, even when we were doing a lot of draft analysis

here on Lockdown Patriots. Pitts was that surefire tight end that the Patriots would love to have employed if they possibly could, although I think they did a phenomenal job of addressing the position in free agency like we talked about earlier. But Pitts has really sort of come into his own. He touches the ball an awful lot. He's a physical tight end. I don't think he gets enough credit for that, but he is very explosive in the open field.

He's got 40 receptions, 606 yards, one touchdown. He's averaging 15.1 yards per attempt. So when you look at Kyle Pitts and what he brings to the table what impresses you about him being the expert of tight endage that you are and how do you think the Patriots might try to neutralize him on Thursday? Well you touched on a couple of things there in all fairness but in regards to Kyle Pitts he is I think for Atlanta for this game I think he's the you know he is the prime weapon he's a weapon anyway but I think he's the prime weapon because that as you mentioned

they're suffering from sort of such a loss of weapons you know Calvin Ridley's out on IR slash personal stuff now Patterson goes down that kind of thing I mean they've got Mike Davis and Gowan but you know the cream of Atlanta if you like is out and so Ryan has pits and I think that that might be the key is to contain him and put pressure on Ryan and I think if they can if if the Patriots can dial that up reasonably easily or relatively quickly I I suppose I should say, then I think they can shut Atlanta down quite easily. And I think that is probably why a lot of people are sort of thinking that this game might be a bit of a shoo-in in all fairness,

because I know what you said in regards to momentum and it's difficult, difficult to keep it going. It's difficult to say, difficult to keep it going. But in regards to their coming off they're coming off a loss Patriots coming off a win you know can it be more that they've already got the momentum going because it was such a positive game so can they take it forward or is kind of sort of being worn out going to play a significant part and that's something that you

sort of really aren't going to tell until until we suit up and see the game easily um i think if they can contain pits then i think maybe this this is a game that they they have got and i am being one of those sort of positive thinking yeah they can roll with this one and if they can shut him down then then that's key i even joked on i think it was on one patriot's place saying well let's bring in nikhil harry Harry to contain him. He's a big guy, you know, you know, stick him wherever kind of thing. Get him to shut down pits, you know, just because it's defense, offense, whatever. Honestly, yeah, that's pretty good. I like that, first of all.

You know, we like versatile players on the Patriots, you know. That's it. That's it. You know what? A little two-way action doesn't really, you know, that's good. You know, you show your versatility as a ball player to be able to do it. I like it. But, you know, bottom line, I think the New England Patriots have a good amount of prowess in their defensive backfield to be able to contain him. And I'll get into that in a moment. But I also think that what you said definitely is worth repeating. There's no question about it that if Cordero Patterson is not able to go in know, out for, uh, you know, for the foreseeable future, you know, dealing with a lot there and we wish Calvin the best, one of the good guys in this, uh, in this game and, uh, you know, kudos to him for, uh, for doing what he needs to do to take care of himself. Um, but, uh, it does open some, you know, holes in the, um, in the Falcons

offense and, you know, you go, I mean, you've got gauge, you get sharp. Those guys can get open. Zaccheaus is another one that can be a little bit of a threat there as well, but let's face it. I mean, without Patterson in the lineup, it's really going to be all about Kyle Pitts. Now, if I'm the Patriots, how do you do that? You do the same thing that you did against the Cleveland Browns. The only difference is the Browns had two capable tight ends. We can make the argument.

They had three capable tight ends that were really, you know, that really had the option to make things very difficult. You didn't just have David Njoku. You didn't just have Austin Hooper. Harrison Bryant is pretty good at getting open and making plays happen as well. So the Patriots swarmed the defensive backfield, utilizing the safeties to be able to cover tight ends. I look for Adrian Phillips to be in the mix, but the guy that I'm looking for is Kyle Duggar. And Duggar has really emerged into that defending tight end type safety, that strong type of role that Patrick Chung played here for a number of years. If they can utilize the strengths of somebody like a Kyle Duggar, maybe drop down someone like a Miles Bryant in the slot to help in that situation.

Keep Pitts away from being able to get into his runs. You can even chip him at the line of scrimmage. The defensive ends and the defensive linemen are going to hold a big role in that as well. Who's going to come up and be able to stand up against the young tight end. So Patriots can make things happen there in the defensive backfield to try to contain him. But I agree with you. If they're able to find a way to neutralize him, and you know Bill Belichick does this as well as anyone, take away what your opponent does best. It's going to be tough for the Patriots to be able to, it's going to be tough, excuse me, for the Falcons to be able to make something happen against the Patriots defense right now that is clicking on all cylinders. And that leads me quite nicely into my final question for you today, Countess.

And that is, there is a game to be played on Thursday. And regardless of the tight endage, there is still an offense and a defense that has to match up both teams right now kind of heading in opposite directions but Thursday night football is always the great equalizer and I never take anything for granted I know it's a little early but what are your thoughts on this game and what are you looking for from the Patriots from the Falcons how do you see this one playing out I think I might be one of the kind of slightly overly confident fans in regards to this game because I am sort of looking at the matchup and it to me looks like I'm thinking get pressure on Ryan contain pits those are the

significance and and they've almost done that in the Browns game I know obviously different because the Browns are more of a running game but like you said they shut down their three tight ends so if they can shut down this one tight end then you know I think going forward this this this is the game that I think they can win now as you said Thursday night football that they're coming in it's a short week that kind of thing so all these things add up against you know fairness and it's an on the road game although they're on the road record this year has been has been really top so I think it's I'm looking at as an easy win and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be an easy win it's easy to say difficult to do but my personal opinion my fan my fan perspective my clear perspective is I think the Patriots have

got this one from what we've seen in the Browns game if they can take the majority of that to atlanta then they'll be fine and i think i got down to something along the lines of atlanta 10 patriots 30. not bad not bad folks she's even given a game prediction score we love it and it's always a lot of fun i'm still a couple of days away for given a game prediction score. We love it, and it's always a lot of fun. I'm still a couple of days away for offering my game prediction score, but let's just say Countess and myself may be a little more simpatico on this one this week than we have been in weeks past, and I share your positivity, and I share your curiosity

as to how this one's all going to shake out. And again, folks, I'm not overlooking anything, but Patriots just looking like they're drawing a great matchup here and catching the Atlanta Falcons at the right time. Of course, that will all change if Cordero Patterson ends up making a little bit more strides this week and turns that pessimism into optimism in terms of him playing. Then I think that the Patriots need to be atlanta to have a puncher's chance

in this one but without him i just think it's going to be too much even as good a player as kyle pitts is he can't carry that offense all by himself and ryan might be in for a difficult night especially with guys like matt judon and christian barmore that can get after the passer it's going to be a tough one it will be but it's going to be a fun one in It will be, but it's going to be a fun one in Atlanta. And this was a fun one here today on Locked On Patriots because anytime the Countess of Clas, the Empress of Tight Endage, joins me here on the pod, she always lightens the mood here and makes it a lot of fun to record these podcasts.

So, Countess, thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me here today on Locked On Patriots. Folks, again, anytime Claire puts pad to paper, anytime pen to paper, excuse me, anytime she puts voice to microphone, it is point, click, learn material. And you really will be not only entertained, but most importantly, you'll be informed. And that's really the key for all of our business. Claire, for the benefit of our new listeners, please let everyone know where they can find you, interact with you on social media, and what you have coming in the days and weeks heading into the home stretch now of the 2021 season. Well, yeah, I mean, I

appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me. Lovely, kind words there. If you want to get hold of me, you'll find me on Twitter at Clazzy Claire, which is C-L-A-Z-z-y-c-l-a-r-e you'll find me at pats propaganda propaganda.com that's pats propaganda.com every uh i do my game recap so you'll find my recap after the game there um this this week i will be doing it through sleep deprivation so if there's a lot of coffee references then i apologize you know it's tough for me when the game starts at like 20 past one in the morning so yeah you can find me on there you'll find me each and every week with the lovely Stephen Murph on One Patriots Place and you'll also find me at fullpresscoverage.com so the full press coverage patriots and that's where as you mentioned my eclair perspective the

podcast is also held which is you know wherever you can download your podcast from basically so my latest episode was out last week and that was with the lovely paul perillo from patriots.com so that's still around to catch that so i hope you that you uh like to catch up on that so everything else just you know thanks ever so much for having me and for listening and go pats absolutely claire thank you so much for lending your wisdom and counsel the way only you can here on lockdown patriots we look forward to talking ball with you again here very soon on the airwaves here at lockdown patriots but until then continue to stay safe stay well and enjoy the game on thursday thanks so much mike