Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 12-2-16- Talking Gronk and The Rams Offense vs. The Patriots Defense

Episode Date: December 2, 2016

Chris Simoneau gives his take on the Rob Gronkowski situation and also breaks down the matchup between the Patriots and Rams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That's for my crazy day. My packed commute. All those unread emails in my inbox. But I'm getting stronger, faster, and pushing myself further every day. I don't care if I'm not like everyone else. This punching bag is the best way to end my day. Fearless is knowing yoga isn't your style. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program.

Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. Good afternoon, I'm Chris Cimino, Patriots Inside of a Scout.com, and also your host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Friday, December 2nd, 2016. We have plenty to talk about today, especially after the news came out yesterday regarding Rob Gronkowski and his back surgery that he had this morning in Los Angeles. We're going to address that situation first and foremost because it's the most important news in Patriots Nation. And then we're going to update you on some other Patriots news and notes. And lastly, we'll break down the Rams' inept offense versus

the Patriots' almost getting their inept defense. Before we get to all that, I just want all my listeners to know that I can be found on Twitter under the handle Chris underscore Simono, and that's C-H-R-I-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. I just say it like it's an easy last name. I definitely have to spell that one out for you guys. That's a tough one. Again, that's Chris, C-H-R-I-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. That's me on Twitter.

And if you have any questions for the show, be it about the Patriots, myself, Patriotsinsideofascout.com, or if you're advertising here on Locked On Patriots, email me directly at chrissimusc at yahoo.com. That's C-H-R-I-S-S-I-M-U-S-C at yahoo.com. If you are a member of Patriots Inside of a Scout, you can contact me directly on the site via message.

Okay, let's get to work because we've got a lot to get to today. Well, there's plenty of news that we could have started with today. That's a joke. There isn't plenty news that we could have started with today. That's a joke. There isn't plenty of news we could have started with today. I know what you guys are all thinking about. You're all thinking about Rob Gronkowski, and you have good reason to. The Patriots didn't just lose the best tight end in the game. And many people that know from listening to the show and reading my material,

how I feel about him, they lost the best offensive weapon in football. And although they could still win a Super Bowl without him due to their impressive depth, it will be considerably harder to get the job done at this point. Yes, today some are holding out hope that he can be back for a late playoff run, but he had the surgery today, and eight weeks from now is the week between the conference title games and the Super Bowl. And this is a guy that, A, doesn't like to return until he's 100% healthy, and B, has had three back surgeries in the last seven years. He's also had all types of other major injuries,

the knee and the elbow. He's had the forearm. Sorry, not the elbow, but the forearm. He's had major injuries throughout his entire body, and he's only 27 years old. You guys really think that Drew Rosenhaus is going to let him come walking back in here knowing that he'll probably have to fight to get him a final deal that will take him to the end of his career?

Hell no. Rosenhaus convinced Manny Ramirez to tank when the Red Sox were on a playoff run back in 2008. You really think that he's not going to be able to do that with Gronk? There's no doubt that he can convince Gronk to sit out until next season, and that includes no training camp in 2017. I've heard some people bringing up the the R word, you know, retirement. I just don't see it happening. He's 27. He's still in impeccable shape. I mean, the kid's a monster, and if the doctors give him a clean bill of health, which they will, because I guarantee the Patriots are already telling

them to tell them to give him a clean bill of health. Why hang it up at that point? You only get to play football or professional sports or sports in general for a short amount of time. Why retire when you know that the issue that you have has been fixed? You know, this kid works out so hard that people are like, well, he's not going to be able to walk when he's 40. I call bull crap on that not going to be able to walk when he's 40. I call bull crap on that. He'll be walking just fine when he's 40. Yeah, he's going to deal with some back stuff, just like

a lot of people do at that age, but I'm telling you right now, with the way this kid takes care of himself, I'm sure when he's retired, he'll probably get down on the bulk a little bit, and he'll do some of the CrossFit stuff, like a lot of these announcers and stuff you see, where they're not quite as big anymore, but they're still in great shape because they just have a different way of working out to take care and manage their bodies.

Gronkowski's not going to be one of those guys that when his NFL career comes to an end is going to say, all right, I'm going to sit back, eat potato chips and sit in my Zubas and watch football and drink beers all day. There's a chance that he's going to drink beers a lot and he's going to eat his potato chips and wear his Zubas, but when he's done doing that, he's going to be in the weight room. That kid is a weight room addict. That's not going to stop. He loves it. He's going to be in good shape. So I'm not worried about the retirement thing. I'm not sitting here saying he's got to play until he's 35 or anything like that because that would just be foolish.

But I'd be shocked if he didn't play at least five more seasons. That would bring him to 11 total seasons in his career, and that would be a good number for a guy like him, and if he does that, he's going to probably finish as, well, he already is the best tight end that's ever stepped on a football field, but statistically he's going to be up there in every category too if he lasts for five more years, regardless of the games that he does miss. Now, if he does happen to hurt that back again, well, that's a different conversation. But as of right now, he's in his prime, and every time he returns from an injury, he's still effective. The other question I keep hearing is this.

Are they going to trade him? I have a pretty simple response for that. Why? Why would they trade him? As far as his contract, the Patriots hold all the leverage because Gronk is hurt again. So there's really no reason to get rid of the guy. It's an injury that scares teams away. It's not like he's sitting here with a pulled quad or something like that.

He's had three back surgeries. So why would any team at this point want to trade for him? It doesn't make any sense. And at the same time, why would the Patriots want to trade him? The Patriots hold all the leverage now because Gronk is hurt again, and it's an injury again. I said it before. It scares teams away.

So there's really nothing they should do at this point. At this point, and this is why I think Joe Rosenhaus is going to be concerned, is they hold all the leverage and now they can just let him play out the deal. You know what I mean? Are you going to trade away the best-headed in football one on a very manageable contract for a second-round pick? Hell no. Why do that?

The best thing to do is to hold on to him, have him play out the rest of his deal and then revisit the situation when he's an unrestricted free agent again. If at that point they decide to let him walk, then so be it. Who knows? Maybe Gronkowski will ask for an extension, but he'll be smart enough to realize that he has to ask for guaranteed money other than salary, or he's going to have to get incentive clauses in his contract in order to earn the money that

he deserves. He can get those incentive clauses because you know the Patriots will be willing to give them to him because there's a good chance that he's going to get those incentives because of the numbers that he puts up. But it's going to come down to his health, which that's on him. And I think at this point in his career, he's not a young kid anymore. He still is, but he's 27. He's starting to get it. He's going to realize, do I want to go to another team? Do I really want to do that and go off and play with some other team

that's not even close to what the Patriots are going to bring him as far as competition every week and a chance to go to the Super Bowl every year? No. He's been smart with his money throughout his NFL career, so there's no reason to worry about money. And I know his father and his family are great about that, so not too concerned about the money situation. So maybe it makes sense where the guy looks at it and says,

maybe I stay in New England, get a little bit more guaranteed money, and finish up my career there. I just think that that makes the most sense. All I know is this. There's no reason to give a guy away that makes your team an immediate contender when he's on the field, regardless of his extensive injury history. They knew what they were getting when they drafted him in the second round, which is why he was available in the second round,

and he's been absolutely terrific besides the injuries. The Patriots have no right to be mad about what's going on and bitch about what they got when they drafted, and Gronk has no reason to bitch because he's an injury-prone player, but the Patriots pay him very well. So in a nutshell, I don't think he's going to be back in 2016. I don't think he'll be traded or released in the offseason, and I don't think he's going to be at training camp next year

because the hamstring side of this whole mess, and they're going to have to manage him. They've always managed him, and now they need to be on top of him even more. It's worth it to keep a player of his ability. Again, I understand the injuries are frustrating. I know a lot of fans out there, they get this mentality now where it's kind of funny to watch. I'll just get rid of him. We got rid of Jamie Collins and we keep winning. We got rid of this guy. We got rid of this guy. Well, you know what? It's

going to add up eventually. And I think the trade of Jamie Collins had a real negative effect on the defense. And I don't even think it's as far as his overall ability. I think the trade of Jamie Collins had a real negative effect on the defense. And I don't even think it's as far as his overall ability. I think from a mental standpoint, that's messed with them. So if they trade away Gronkowski in the offseason, you're talking about gutting a roster here at this point. No way. You keep him.

You deal with him. It's worth it for a player of his ability. So speaking of injuries, on to some other players here. Matthew Slater, Woodrow Hamilton, and Jordan Richards were not present at practice today. Obviously, neither was Rob Gronkowski, because he was receiving back surgery all the way 3,000 miles away from Foxborough, so he wasn't going to be there either.

Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, and Martellus Bennett did practice for a second straight day. New England's going to need all hands on deck as they attempt to overcome this major injury to Gronk, so it's good that Bennett and Edelman and Brady are out there because they're going to really need them this week. On Wednesday, we discussed Glenn Raventrone-Gronkowski, and the main topic was his revolving roster spot on the team. I had some people email me saying, you know, it's not right what they do to him, and how can they do that to this guy? They keep signing him and cutting him and signing him and cutting him.

It's actually been four times now that he's been back on the roster. Well, he's back. Glenn Gronkowski is back on the practice squad. This time he took the place of Kanag Backman. I'll tell you this. They must like what they see to keep him coming back. They have to like what they see. My guess is he's probably pretty good in practice.

The Gronkowski guys, you know, they love football. And that's a big Belichick thing. You've got to love football in order to be a Patriot. I just think they like the kid. And I think they're going to keep bringing him back. And eventually, he may never roster spot on this team because fullbacks don't last forever. And who knows?

I like the kid. I liked him in college, and I'm glad that they keep taking a look at him because he could be the type of guy that, you know, he could be a pretty good player for them. So we'll see how that all works out, but it's just an interesting thing to see that Gronkowski is, that Glenn Gronkowski has come and gone four times,

similar to our old friend there, and the Patriots have found themselves a new binky that they really like. So let's take a few minutes to talk about one of our sponsors. SeatGeek is one of the smartest, easiest ways to find tickets for the football games and any other game that you want to see. There's nothing like being in the stadium for the biggest plays of the year. You get that electric feeling.

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that is the best website to go to to get tickets. I've used all different ticket brokers in the past. I've been doing this for a long time as a fan and now in the media. SeatGeek is definitely the best as far as availability of tickets, price of tickets, and ease of use on their website. They're awesome. So go check them out. So this week, the Los Angeles Rams.

Kind of feels cool to say that. I'm 40 years old, so I grew up watching Eric Dickerson and Jim Everett and the Los Angeles Rams. The St. Louis Rams, Ray, they just weren't what I watched. St. Louis was the Cardinals to me. Still, when I see Arizona, I still think the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Rams, I'll always think Los Angeles. Even the Raiders, I still think Los Angeles, so it's kind of cool.

I'm happy to see them back there again. All right, enough nostalgia. Let's take a look at their disgusting numbers. The Rams' offense is absolutely terrible. I can't be any more blunt. It's gross. They average 15.5 points per game, which is 32nd in the NFL. There are 32 teams in the NFL. You do the math. They are giving up 200 and actually, I'm sorry, they are picking up, giving up, they're picking up 295.1 total yards per game. That's also 32nd in the league of 32 teams.

They are averaging 212 yards passing per game. They moved up the ranks a little bit on this one. They're 29th, again, in a 32-team league. And they average 83.1 yards rushing per game. Also 29th in the league. And they have Todd Gurley on their roster, so that's not a good sign. Patriots defense is still doing pretty good in the points allowed department, 17.9 points

allowed per game, third in the league. Total yards, they've given up 353.2 total yards per game, which is 14th in the league, kind of middle of the pack there. Passing yards, they've dipped below the middle of the pack. They've given up 253.6 passing yards per game, which is 18th in the league, and they've given up just under 100 yards rushing per game at 99.5 rushing yards per game, which is good for 13th in the league. All in all, the Patriots' defense is pretty average. Their points allowed per game is a product of multiple things. You look at their red zone defense,

and it's not that good as far as their percentage of scores allowed, but they still find a way to keep teams out of the end zone, and you've got to give them some credit for that. One of the other reasons why they keep teams out of the end zone is because teams have to drive so far to get there. Their special teams coverage has been so excellent this year, and they kick the ball deep, and they pin teams between the 10 and the 20, that makes them have to drive 80 to 90 yards the length of the field

every time they pick up a touchdown. And no matter how sketchy the Patriots' defense may be right now, that's a hard thing to do when you're facing a team that does have talent on the defensive side of the roster. I'm not going to sit here and say the Patriots defense doesn't have any talent anymore because that would just be a blatant lie. They definitely have some players. So I think the Rams are going to have a lot of trouble moving the ball this week.

So last three games, San Francisco, actually it was Seattle, San Francisco, and the Jets, Patriots defense has been embarrassed. They won two out of those three games, but they've given up big yardage. It's one thing to give up something to Russell Wilson. It's another thing completely to give it up to Colin, I'm not in game shape, Kaepernick, and Ryan, I throw an interception every three passes, Fitzgerald.

That's ridiculous. Those two tore them apart. That can't happen. They've got to fix that up. This week, Jared Goff, rookie quarterback, second start, comes to town, and everybody's like, oh, rookie quarterback, Belichick's going to really mess with him. Well, not necessarily, unless Belichick puts a uniform on and goes out and can play corner and cover somebody.

I don't see how he could have as much of an effect as people think. Now, I know people are sitting there saying, oh, you're an idiot, Chris. Of course Belichick's going to have an effect. He's got a game plan. He's ready to go. I'm sure he does. I'm sure he has an excellent game plan

that would completely stifle any rookie quarterback. But if you don't have the jimmies and joes to be able to execute your game plan, it doesn't matter how good the game plan is. And like I just said, they do have some talent, so they'll be able to slow these guys down. They do a good job when they decide to focus on stopping the run. The Rams do a good job of helping teams not run because they stink at it, which is amazing because Gurley is such a good talent. We'll put that on the offensive line and lack of

quarterback. That's where it's at. Eight in the box, which is what the Patriots will be able to do on Sunday. Patriots defense has a very, very, very large advantage in this game. I just think that the Rams are going to have a lot of trouble coming up here. Playing in the cold.

You're traveling all the way across the country. You're pretty much out of the playoff picture. Your coach is kind of a lame duck right now. You don't have much going on the offensive side of things. Defense has some talent. There's no question about that, but we're not talking about that today. We're talking about that tomorrow.

So make sure you check us out on tomorrow, our Saturday edition. We're going to talk about the Rams defense versus the now suddenly undermanned Patriots offense. Actually, I won't say undermanned, but they're just not what they were. But today is Rams offense versus Patriots defense day, and I think this is a very, very, very big mismatch. So the Rams are averaging 15.5 points per game, which is disgusting. Patriots are averaging 17.9 points allowed per game.

Now, if the Rams had been able to move the ball a little bit, I'd probably say, you know, I think they're going to score some points on Sunday. But not only are they not scoring, they're not moving the ball. 295 total yards per game. That is pathetic. They deserve to be last in the league. And the Patriots, you know, they give up big chunk plays here and there, but they're still only giving up 353 total yards per game. That's in the top half of the league. And the Patriots, you know, they give up big chunk plays here and there, but they're still only giving up 353 total yards per game. That's in the top half

of the league. And their passing yards are a little up. I think their passing yards are actually, their rank will improve after this week. It should. But again, they're middle of the pack as far as rush yards allowed, total yards allowed, and they're just below middle of the pack for pass yards allowed. So it's not like the Patriots are ranked in the 20s with anything. Well, they are actually on third down conversion rating and also red zone conversions, but they're doing enough to be able to win games, which is why they're 9-2. So when I sit here and I add all this up and I take a look at a rookie quarterback and a talented running back who struggled, but you know the Patriots are going to key on him. I just don't

think, I don't see the Rams scoring a lot of points. I just don't see it happening. I think the Patriots are going to come in here motivated. That's one of the things that happens with this team. When they lose a player like Rob Gronkowski, they understand that motivation needs to come up. They need to play better and they do. They just get motivated. They really do handle adversity well. So my prediction is the Rams will score 13 points on Sunday. I think the Patriots will hold them to 13 points at home on Sunday. Again, I'm not going to get into what the Patriots' offense is going to do yet because that's just not how I roll.

That's not how I roll, and you guys know that by now. We break down day by day, day by day, so you guys can absorb it, get an idea of what we're thinking, think about it for a second, say, yeah, that makes sense. You know, 13 points, they're only scoring 15 points a game. The Patriots typically hold teams down. You know, there is a formula to what I do here when it comes to the offenses versus the defenses and what they've done so far in the season

and third down conversions and all that good stuff. So, again, Rams offense, absolutely terrible. Patriots defense, pretty average. But, again, with their special teams added to it and the fact that they're going to pin the Rams back a lot and not give them, you know, good field position, that's going to go a long way towards keeping their points way down and go a long way towards helping the Patriots get the win in this game.

So again, I want to thank you all for joining us on this Friday edition of Locked On Patriots. Be sure to go to iTunes and subscribe to our show today, as in like right now. Go do it. Don't wait. And make sure you go tell your friends about us. Again, go to iTunes, subscribe to our show.

What are you waiting for? We're part of the fastest growing podcast network in the world. I never thought I'd be able to say that, but we are. It's awesome. So go check us out. Again, I talked about it on Wednesday. I'll say it again today. We are a nut and bolts show, meat and potatoes. We're going to give you all the information you need to know as much about football as some of the coaches out there. You're going to learn a lot if you listen to this show. We talk about missed blocks. We talk about missed tackles.

We talk about the things that matter on a football field. We don't worry about all the hoopla and worry about having great music to come into and all that other type of stuff. What we're worried about here on Locked On Patriots is getting you all the most important Patriots news and notes, giving you our opinion on those news and notes and how they can negatively or positively affect the team, and then we like to break it down, either

the All-22, the Studs and Duds, the Patriots opponents, and then when the season's over, you just wait until we start getting into upcoming draftees. That's when it's going to get really fun. So, again, I'm Chris Simino, your host of Locked On Patriots. I want to thank you all for joining us tonight.

Be sure to listen to us again tomorrow when we discuss the Patriots offense versus the Rams defense. Have a great Friday night, Patriots fans. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. What you doing? Ran out of space on my phone, so I'm deleting some stuff. Bye, singing dog. Bye, goal.'m deleting some stuff. Bye singing dog. Bye

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