Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 10-12-16- Martellus Bennett said WHAT about the Bears?!?

Episode Date: October 13, 2016

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Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. Good evening. I'm Chris Simino, your host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Wednesday, October 12, 2016, and as always, there is plenty going on in Patriots Nation. Let's get this party started. Today in Patriots news and notes, the Patriots have been pretty busy this week filling out their practice squad and trying to acquire more depth. On Monday, they worked out three players, but they didn't sign anyone from that group.

Yesterday, they did sign an offensive lineman, Ian Silberman, to fill the 10th spot they had available after they signed Woodrow Hamilton to the actual roster. And today they decided that they weren't done. Today they signed wide receiver Shaq Evans, a receiver with excellent speed. He was drafted by the Jets in the fourth round of the 2014 draft. And after being cut by the Jets, he spent 2015 with the Jaguars, again following his release from the Jets, he spent 2015 with the Jaguars, again, following his release from the Jets. There wasn't an opening on the practice squad, so New England was forced to release fullback Clay Gronkowski.

Gronkowski had Devlin in front of him on the depth chart and carrying two fullbacks in today's day and age in the NFL, this is too much. Even with one on the practice squad, that position could be saved for D lineman or offensive lineman or anything of that nature, something that they could use in an emergency. Fullbacks is something that if they didn't even have one, they'd be able to make do. This is how the current practice squad looks.

The running backs, Bishop Sankey, who they picked up from Tennessee, he's a good guy to have on the practice squad because he's not a bad guy to pick up off and sign if something happens. Wide receiver Devin Lucien, who I also think is pretty talented. Wide receiver DeAndre White, guard Chris Barker, who's been in the program for some years now. Guard Chase Ferris, who they picked up last week. Defensive end Gino Grissom, who is a fourth, I can't believe, I think he was a fourth-round pick. All I know is he's a draft pick, and the kid can play a little bit,

so it's good to have him on the practice squad. And as goes for defensive tackle, Anthony Johnson, another surprise for the Patriots this year, who also has squeaked his way through the practice squad. Safety, Vinny Sinceri. Offensive lineman, we spoke of earlier, Ian Silberman. And again, wide receiver receiver Shaq Evans. So pretty diverse and talented group there.

Notice there's three wide receivers there, so if they do have to go that route, if they have any injuries, they're definitely making sure they have their bases covered. Again, like I said, Sankey's a talented player, so don't be surprised to see him before the end of the season. In other Patriots news, Patriots Titan Martellus Bennett, who's been making funny news on the field with the way he's played, as everyone knows, he's never been afraid to speak his mind.

And there's an E60 that's being released today, and we hear just that. He teed off on his former Bear teammates and the Bears organization as a whole, and he wasn't very shy. He said that the Bears struggled during his three years because they were, quote-unquote, a bunch of bitches, and the coaches liked bitches. Yeah, that's being quite blunt. He also attacked Jay Cutler, the most overrated quarterback, in my opinion, of the last 15 years.

His comments about Cutler were 100% on the mark, though. He said, quote, Some guys that you want to be the leader, that's not the guy. That's a leader. Everyone in the locker room knows that this is not the leader, but this is what you want the face of the team to look like. Obviously, these comments aren't going to win Bennett and any fans in Chicago, but I guarantee you that half the guys that are in the locker room still

are glad that someone at least spoke the truth, regardless of being a former player or not. You know, these guys, it's a fraternity in the NFL, and Ben and I have been helping out some guys that are there still, so at least they know what the real situation is. And Chicago, I've heard some bad things over the last couple years, and I've always been saying it's their offensive line and this and that. And Arthur over at the Chicago Bears podcast isn't going to like this,

but there's something up with that franchise. There is something. Something's not right. I heard Brandon Merriweather today in an interview talking about how, you know, coaches and nobody else is allowed in that locker room. And sometimes that can be an issue, you know, players are policing the locker room on their own. They don't have the right leaders in there to do that. So, I don't know, I think it's a deeper problem in Chicago that they need to deal with.

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we sent out a tweet asking fans of the show to send us their questions no matter how crazy they may be sorry if we didn't choose your questions this week we promise we'll get to you guys next week there was a few of you guys that we just couldn't get to because we don't have enough time but don't let that stop you from reaching out to the show

alright, let's see what the questions of Patriots fans have for week 6. First comes from Bo P. from Acton, Massachusetts. Give me a sec here, Bo. Lost your question there. Bo had a very funny question, actually. Bo was wondering if, and this is an interesting one again, was I forget that Kevin asked us last week about a Patriots going 74 points. Yes, I'm stalling because I lost my place here.

So Bo asked, who wins, Patriots versus a Hurricane, but the Hurricane's name is Bill? Okay, well, it's good to know that our listeners do have a sense of humor again because we like to keep it a little bit laid back here on Lockdown Patriots, unless we're discussing Spygate or Deflategate, then I get quite animated, but we're not going to talk about that right now. The only Hurricanes the Patriots will be able to beat reside in Miami,

the college team there, and if the Hurricane's name is Bill, you know it's going to attack everyone's weaknesses. It'll be the worst storm of all time, but if Belichick had a hurricane named after him, conspiracy theorists would still find a way to rope the Patriots into a cheating scandal and people would eat it up. You know, pro football talk, Fox Sports.

There you go. This is a story for you guys. Let's see if you get some hits on it. Sorry, I had to go there. Every time there's something that comes up with either one of those stories, they're all over it. It's just unfortunate. Our second question comes from Jesse C. of Hopedale, Mass. This is a question that a lot of Patriots fans are asking.

I've heard a lot of this on different radio shows this week. He asks, Hightower, Collins, and Butler, who is staying, who is going in free agency? Well, I personally look at this question, and I say that Hightower, Collins, and Ryan are the ones that I'd like to stay. Malcolm Butler, he's a restricted free agent, and if the Patriots put a first-round tender on him, the team's going to have to pony up a first-round pick, or possibly more, to sign him. Is Butler worth a top-end contract right now? No way. I don't think he is.

He's got a lot to prove. He hasn't started enough NFL games. I know he made a great play in the Super Bowl back when they won it in 2014. That was a great play. And he's got some stars, but he's only started, what's it, 23 NFL games so far including playoffs he's not there yet and they're not going to pay a guy like that top dollar just because he had a great super bowl play and he had just slightly above cornerback play as a good

friend of the show chris said in question in the first show he doesn't cover, he recovers and sometimes he recovers well and he gets there but he needs to get a little bit better in his coverage skills and not lose on this guy before he can talk about getting paid top dollar because he's just not there yet so I just don't think he is worth that money and I think he still has a lot to prove look at Logan Ryan, that's why I replaced Ryan instead of Butler

because I think he's the guy they have to sign. Yeah, he had a bad game against the Bills, but he is one of the best man-to-man corners in the NFL, and he's an unrestricted free agent after this season. That's the thing. Everyone remembers the Buffalo game, and he struggled because that's all everyone remembers is the mistakes. People don't remember the good games that he has,

and when you notice that he's taking away top receivers, or if you notice receivers aren't picking up any yardage, that's because Logan has them locked down. So I just think that that's a player that they drafted. They drafted him in the first round knowing that he was going to be good. They like him. They like these players out of Rutgers. It's time to get Logan Ryan re-signed. He's,

again, one of the best man-to-man corners in the league. Every defense wants to go man-to-man. If you have the athletes to do it, that's what you want to do. And right now, they have two guys that they can do it with, and even if they were to trade Butler, we'll get to that in a minute, if they keep Logan Ryan, no matter who they bring in as a second corner, they'll still be able to go man, and they'll be able to be pretty good at it too. Going man frees things up as far as the pass rushes, and it also makes them able to be a little bit more creative in what they do. So I would say, you know, if I were to go in order of importance

and projecting the growth, you have to look at the player, his growth as a player, and you have to go in order of importance in projecting the growth, you have to look at the player, his growth as a player, and you have to look at the health too. I would go in order. Number one has got to be Jamie Collins. He's just a stud, and you need him. You need a guy that can cover and get sacks and turnovers and you name it. He is just an all-around great defensive player that you need to have. Number two, you know, and I say this tentatively because of the injury factor,

I'd say it's Hightower. Hightower changes things out there defensively. He is just a beast. But I don't think he is a very convincing number two over Logan Ryan. I think it's 2A and 2B when it comes to those two because you need all three of them. I actually think you need all four of them. It would be nice to keep Butler too if possible,

but you definitely need Collins, Hightower, and Ryan. They're all in their 20s. They're all heading into their prime. You want these guys for the next four or five years to run your defense. This is going to be the core of your defense, these three, and you're going to build around it. They already have guys like Malcolm Brown and some of these young kids

that they've been able to find and get lucky because of other teams' mistakes. Don't be like those other teams and make the mistake of giving up on a Collins or a Hightower or a Ryan. And if you are going to get rid of Butler, you better get a good ransom back for him. And like I said, they can afford to sign all three. They can afford to sign all four if they wanted to. But the thing is, Butler would have to take a deal that fits what he is. If he wants to stop dollar rating happening, he doesn't deserve it.

But you've got to remember, too, there's always teams out there that are willing to spend big bucks like that. And if they're willing to pay the freight, I can't knock the guy for leaving. So keep it in mind. So my answer to this question, I say Hightower gets signed, Collins gets signed, and I think Ryan's going to get re-signed, and then ultimately the public is going to get traded because he's not going to accept what he's worth. But again, that's perfectly fine if you know someone that is willing to pay that freight.

Like I always say, though, buy it, beware. Our third question comes from Brian S. of Oxford, Mass. Brian asks, Chris, can Cincy somehow sneak up on the Patriots? Well, that's a good question, Brian, and although last week I felt like it was a possible trap game, this one's worse because the Bengals have talent and a quarterback. But keep in mind that this is a Marvin Lewis-led Bengals team, so a team that is known for choking in big games

doesn't really give me as much of a fear as to sneak up on New England as some may think. If this game was in Cincinnati, I actually would like the Bengals. But because they're in Foxborough, Brady's first game back, place is going to be going nuts. He's going to be all fired up. He's going to have everyone focused. I just don't see the Patriots losing focus.

Another reason for my lack of faith in Cincinnati is their passing game. It's not the same passing game or lack thereof. Dalton has put up some decent numbers, but most of it comes in garbage time, and the loss of Marvin Jones is huge. I really wanted the Patriots to sign him. I thought he was a guy that could have really came here and helped out, but unfortunately he went to Detroit, and he's the top guy they're replacing Calvin Johnson, which is some big shoes to fill, and he's doing a heck of a job doing it.

Tyler Eifert has also been out, and his status is up in the air for Week 6 too. So in short, yeah, they can sneak up on New England because they have talent, but they also have a coach who's never improved, a quarterback who's never won on the clutch, and their passing game is reliant basically on two players, and Belichick can take both of them away, that being A.J. Green and Giovanni Bernard. So I would say take the Patriots. They're going to win going away in Week 6 here.

Our fourth question of the night comes from Danielle S. of Hudson Mass. Danielle asks about possible uniform changes. Yeah, that's right. We talk about uniforms here on the show. We'll talk about anything. So she says, when do you think you'll see a new uniform design? Well, it's an interesting question from our fan base, but this question's actually been answered. The Patriots wore their Color Rush uniforms against Houston,

and although they looked more like the Texans than the Texans did, they were actual Patriots jerseys. I personally would love to see the Patriots logo and uniform, but we only see those occasionally during the throwback games. We haven't seen a throwback to those ugly blue socket unit looking uniforms of the late 90s. Those things are disgusting. But I'm sure at some point we'll see them. I'm actually surprised there's no plan to see those uniforms this season considering that this is the 20th anniversary of the 1996 season when

New England beat Jacksonville to win the AFC Championship. Coldest game I've ever been to. Don't expect anything crazy anytime soon, but keep an eye on the subtle details because they always change over time. The changes will be clear.

Just keep an eye on those uniforms. Watch the logo. Watch a couple stripes here and there. The next thing you know, you're going to look at it and go, wait a minute, those uniforms are completely different than they did six years ago. The Patriots are smart about that. They make subtle changes to their uniforms so that way it doesn't overwhelm the fans. And then all of a sudden, a couple years go by and you look up

and they have a different uniform altogether. Look at your jerseys. If you buy jerseys, look at the one from 2003. Look compared to the one you have now. I guarantee you they look a little different. You'd be even surprised. Our fifth and final question of the night comes from Steve M. of Key West, Florida.

Steve asks, so the game plan will involve shutting down A.J. Green, obviously. Could the Bengals' running back stand up and deliver this week? Who covers Bernard out of the backfield? Do the Patriots go up quick in the running game? Well, these are great questions, Steve, and I appreciate you listening to the show. After watching New England completely shut down the Browns' top rushing attack last week, I'm pretty confident that they can shut down a banged-up Jeremy Hill

and Gio Bernard, who is talented, but he's not every down back, so I'm sure they can shut him down too. He's definitely the guy that will give the Patriots more headaches, there's no question about that, but they have the team speed to keep him in check. As far as coverage in the passing game, I would expect to see a mix of Jamie Collins and Patrick Chung when they're in man, and Collins will probably take the lion's share of the coverage duties.

They can't allow him to get outside. He has to be hemmed in and kept in check in the screen game, and also the dump-offs to the flats where he does damage. Bernard is the number two threat. Like I said earlier, he's the number two threat, and the Patriots, he's the number two threat. The Patriots are absolutely going to try to take him away, along with A.J. Green. So thank you, everybody, for the questions this week. And, again, we're going to get back to that next week.

Tomorrow we're going to be heavily focused on the Bengals game, so we're not going to do too many questions. But over the weekend we'll be doing some of them early next week. So definitely make sure you get those in. And again, sorry if we didn't get to you this week. We'll definitely get to you next week. Thanks again. So I do have some final thoughts about the Browns game from this past Sunday.

I promise you this is it, and then we're going to be moving 100% on to the Bengals. So here are some of the observations I had after watching the game film. First and foremost, Alan Branch is an absolute beast when he is healthy, of course. He was manhandling offensive linemen, and he is so good defending the run that teams are afraid to run to his side. He's been just an excellent pickup for this team. He got released from Buffalo after a DUI during training camp, and, yeah, it was a mistake. He definitely made a mistake, and he had some issues early on in his career,

but the Patriots stuck with him. They picked this guy up when he was not at his best moment, and he's rewarded them. I really like to see when that happens because it doesn't happen all the time. The Patriots are one of those teams that give a lot, a lot of guys opportunities. And everybody rips on the Patriots for this and calls them cheaters and this and that. And they're a dirty organization.

It's all just not true. You know, and you see a guy like Branch who had the DUI situation. You know, he came here all set. Cleaned up his act. He's good to go. You know, everybody makes mistakes. And the Patriots realize that. So that's why when you come here with a clean slate, as long as that slate stays clean, you're good to go.

So good for Allen Branch and good for the Patriots. Another thing I noticed from the All-22 was the run defense. They really came to play on Sunday. After LaShawn McCoy ran through them like he was three years ago and looking like Barry Sanders, it was pretty clear that the focus was on shutting down Isaiah Crowell in the Browns running game, and they did it impressively. It's very impressive how Belichick is able to take away a team's best attribute and sometimes not even a best player.

He'll take away an entire thing. He'll take away your running game. Whatever he decides he's going to do happens. It's amazing. And lastly, offensively, Brady's. His second pass of the game was absolutely ridiculous. And the catch by Gronkowski was really impressive. It actually brought me back. It reminded me of when Larry Bird stole the ball against Detroit back in 87 and made past the DJ who made an incredible layup to put the ball in. Everybody talks about the steal, which was incredible, but nobody talks about how the layup was.

Well, Brady made the incredible throw, but nobody's going to talk about how tough a catch Gronkowski made on that too. So Gronk overall was dominant, catching the ball, running with the ball, and he was killing people when he was in the run blocking. He is just so good. And Sunday's talent was on full display. It was fun to watch. And Bennett, of course, the three touchdowns, that was just, it was a blowout in the biggest proportion. It could have been a lot worse, and it's going to get worse for another bad team that faces the Patriots down the line because once Brady's been in the league playing again for about five weeks,

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Be sure to tune in tomorrow as we take a deep dive into the Patriots and Bengals week six matchup. Good night, Patriots fans. Is democracy in danger or decline? Condoleezza Rice, William Galston, and Carlos Gutierrez and others take on this question in the fall edition of The Catalyst, a journal of ideas from the Bush Institute. Surveys show Americans place less trust in institutions like the media and business. Others contend America has faced far more challenging periods and emerged strong. Leading policymakers, Bush Institute experts, and respected journalists take on this debate. Read about it at bushcenter.org slash catalyst.