Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 10/5/16- What's up with Gronk? Is Brady going to be rusty?

Episode Date: October 6, 2016

Join us today as we discuss Gronk and his hammy issues and Brady knocking the rust off his 39-year old arm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thanks for coming in, Mr. Mahoney. Do you have your member ID card? Yep, I have it right here in the FEP Blue app. See? Great. Can I... It's awesome. The app can also help me find a provider and keep tabs on my deductibles. Okay. Can I see... Oh, yeah. And my out-of-pocket spending and visit limits. And I can call the nurse line. I'm really glad it does all that, but I only need to see your member ID card. Oh, that's it? Why didn't you say so?

Fearless is just one tap away. With the new FEP Blue app from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, you can access your health benefits on the go. Download it now at fepblue.org. Hi, I'm Chris Semino, your host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Wednesday, October 5, 2016, and we are just four days away from seeing Tom Brady take the field as a quarterback of the Patriots.

Needless to say, this has been a fun week in Foxborough, and if Sunday goes as planned, the fun is just beginning. We have a fully loaded docket for tonight's show, so let's get down to business. We'll start it off with Patriots news. The Patriots signed rookie offensive lineman Chase Farris to their practice squad today. They released linebacker Quentin Goss, also a rookie from the practice squad, to make room for Farris.

Farris is a former Ohio State Buckeye. He began his career as a defensive tackle, and then he was moved to right offensive tackle, where he started as a senior with the Buckeyes. Goss played his collegiate days for Rutgers. He was a very productive player, but it just hasn't worked out for him in the NFL. I swear that when

Belichick has to release a Rutgers player, he dies a little inside. He just loves the players from that program, but in this case, it just didn't work out, so they've moved on. Tom Brady and Rob Ninkovich returned to practice today, but it wasn't as if it was hail to the king being played over the loudspeakers.

For the Patriots, it was business as usual, and after their embarrassing loss against Buffalo, there's a strong focus on beating the crap out of the Browns, so they're not too worried about the return. Brady and Ninkovich actually have not even been activated because Belichick has until Saturday to do that, which makes sense to wait to release a player or two when an injury could occur that makes the decision for them.

I'm sure somebody from the national media will accuse Belichick of cheating, and most likely Chris Chase of Fox. Chase is in the belief that Belichick is dirty for forcing teams to return kicks. That's the type of stuff that makes the media look bad. So, Chris, be better. Just be better at what you do. It's ridiculous. There are three players absent from practice today. Running back Brandon Bolden, linebacker Shelly McClellan,

and rookie defensive tackle Vincent Valentine. All three players have some value. Bolden's good on special teams. McClellan's actually been pretty good defensively, and he was a setter today. And Vincent Valentine has been a pleasant surprise playing early and getting in there often. LeGarrette Blount, who is now nursing a hip injury, was also added, as was rookie

guard Joe Tooney. Two new additions to the injury report, and that situation bears watching because they've been two of the best players on the Patriots offense to date. Dante Hightower continues to be limited with a knee issue, an issue that clearly took away from his effectiveness on Sunday, and he just hasn't looked right, so that's something that Bears watching. Let's take a minute to hear from our sponsor. Football is back. The Seat Geek is the smartest, easiest way to find tickets for the games you want to see,

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Enter promo code LPATRIOTS That's L-O-P-A-T-R-I-O-T-S LOPATRIOTS SeatGeek will send you $20 after you've made your first ticket purchase Download the SeatGeek app and enter promo code LOPATRIOTS today So it's time for our second session of Q&A with our Patriots fans. Our first question today comes from Chris R. of New York, formerly of Massachusetts. Big Patriots fan.

His question is, we'd love to hear our thoughts on the long-term signing of Ryan. That'd be Logan Ryan over Malcolm Butler. Butler just doesn't seem to cover. He recovers. That's pretty clever. While Ryan appears to be a better cover corner. Who should they pay? Well, after last week's debacle, people are going to think I'm nuts to say this. I'm going to have to get my head checked.

But I actually think Logan Ryan is the guy they need to keep. He does struggle in zone. He's not a zone corner, but he is one of the better man-to-man corners in the NFL. He's proven it. Last week proved that the Patriots have to play a lot of man in the secondary because that fits their corner skill set. But when you have that talent, you can also create pressure

and not give up big yardage like they do when they play their zones. Unless they plan on going back to the weak secondary days of allowing 300-plus yards per game in the air, they need to take care of business, get Ryan signed to a deal that works for both sides. And as far as Butler, he's talented, don't get me wrong, but he does give up his fair share of plays. Now fans need to realize that New England has all the leverage in this situation because

of restricted free agent status, so he's going to need to stay patient and healthy. I get the feeling he can end up being traded in the long run because there's no way that Belichick's going to pay him top-end money for a corner, just the way that I see it. So, thanks for the question, Chris. That was a good one. The second question we have is kind of a funny one, but this is from Kevin in Northborough,

Northborough, Massachusetts. Will the Patriots beat the Browns by 74 points this weekend? Well, no. I don't think they're going to put 74 on the board, but I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest bit if this game did get extremely ugly. I do have to admit one thing. This feels a little bit like a trap game.

Is Tom going to be able to jump out there with players that have been playing for a month and play like he's used to playing? It's a valid question. If he does struggle, this game might be a little bit closer than anyone ever imagined. But I do think in the end, he'll start slow, and then sometime in the second quarter, he'll get hot, and the Browns will be doomed, so 74, no, I don't think so, but maybe 40, that's a possibility, thanks for the question, Kevin, thanks for making me laugh, so, I had my own question, and this is a question that everybody's been asking around here.

What's the deal with Gronk? So, many fans throughout New England and the country have been asking the same question, especially the fantasy football players out there. What is the deal with Rob Gronkowski? It's a great question, and it doesn't really have a straight answer, but I will do my best to explain what the situation appears to be. Gronk, to put it nicely, has dealt with some injuries throughout his career. I don't want to call him injury prone, but, you know, kind of the shoe fits. He missed a senior college with

a back injury that prevented him from being the top ten pick like he should have been, and while he's been in the NFL, he's had a ton of issues, you know, breaking his forearm on an extra point, just, he's never really had luck, and he's a big the NFL, he's had a ton of issues, breaking his forearm on an extra point. He's never really had luck, and he's a big guy, and he gets in harm's way, and harm occurs. But it really hasn't stopped him because he's put together the best five-year run for a tight end in the history of the NFL. So when he's right, he is uncoverable.

Teams try to double and triple team him, and then Brady just picks him apart with the other open receivers. Eventually they just go back to trying to cover him single, man up, and it doesn't work. So he is a special player, but he is very fragile. But again, the question has always been the same. Is he going to be healthy enough to play? So now he's dealing with another hamstring injury that occurred during the joint practices with the Bears. But it's not like it's kept him off the field the whole season.

He did play against Houston and Buffalo, but he was a complete non-factor in the passing game. He was a factor in the running game. He still was able to block, but he was in uniform getting his reps, but basically he was just nothing as far as the passing game was concerned. Some think the Pats are just being careful with him until Brady gets back, which does make sense, but the last two weeks have been strange. He can run block, but he can't run routes because he might get hurt.

I don't know. That doesn't make a lot of sense, but I think we'll learn the situation with Gronk this Sunday when he takes the field with his protective quarterback slash big brother, Tom Brady. You can't tell me there's a hint of big brother going on there because Brady takes care of him. He knows that Gronk struggles a little bit.

Another question, too, is, you know, is Brady going to be rusty? Yeah, I think he's going to be. He's going to be rusty to start the game. 39-year-old quarterbacks that miss four weeks are bound to have some struggles to start, but Brady will get into a groove eventually after a few series, and when he does, it's going to be fun to watch. One thing to watch for is who Brady is throwing to, though, because that's going to be telling us how well he's seeing the field in his first game back. Belichick will probably try

to get the running game going early, so Brady does have play action to fall back on. If, and this is a big if, the passing game looks great in practice this week, Belichick and McDaniels may just let it fly, considering that the offensive line has been together for a month already. But with Joe Tooney injured, that could change anything. So the weapons are in place, but let's see if they have the offensive line to be able to hold up.

So Brady will have a little bit of rest to knock off, but he's going to get into a groove at some point, and then the onslaught will begin. Let's take another minute to hear from our sponsor. Football season is here and in full swing, so it's time to get in the action and play like the pros at MyBookie.net. We'll be right back. Live in-game odds updated in real time, so it's never too late to make a play. MyBookie.net is optimized for smartphone users for non-stop action on the go. So what you need to do is go online, type MyBookie in your browser, and sign up today. Use promo code PATRIOTS, that's P-A-T-R-I-O-T-S, to be entered into their million dollar prize pool or call 844-722-2387 that is 844-722-2387

showing the thousands of online players already playing only the biggest, only the best only at mybookie.net sign up today I want to thank everyone for joining us tonight be sure to tune in tomorrow as we take a deep dive into the Cleveland Browns season to date and try to decipher exactly how the Patriots do the plan to attack them on Sunday.

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