Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 8/4/17- Updates From Today's Intrasquad Scrimmage

Episode Date: August 5, 2017

Chris Simoneau, Patriots Insider for Scout.com, updates you on all the developments from training camp, including the intrasquad scrimmage held this morning. #patriots Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, it's Jamie, Progressive number one, number two employee. Leave a message at the... Hey Jamie, it's me, Jamie. This is your daily pep talk. I know it's been rough going ever since people found out about your acapella group, Mad Harmony, but you will bounce back. I mean, you're the guy always helping people find coverage options with the Name Your Price tool. It should be you giving me the pep talk.

Now get out there, hit that high note, and take Mad Harmony all the way to nationals this year! Sorry, it's pitchy. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Good evening, I'm Chris Simino, Patriots Inside of a Scout.com, and also your host of Locked On Patriots. Today is Friday, August 4th, 2017. As we've discussed pretty much the last four or five shows, what training camp is rolling right along. Today the Patriots actually have an inter-squad scrimmage today,

so we've got a lot to get to. We're going to get you guys caught up on everything that's newsworthy that has happened over the last 48 hours, and we'll update you again on today's scrimmage from this morning. Before we get started, I just want my listeners to know that I can be found on Twitter under the handle Chris underscore Siminoe at C-H-R-I-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. If you have any questions for the show, be it about the Patriots, myself, Patriots Insider,

or if you're looking to advertise here on Lockdown Patriots, you can email me directly at siminoe.christopher5 at gmail.com. If you are a member of Patriots Insider on scout.com, you can contact me directly on the site via message, which is probably the best way to get a hold of me. So Tom Brady celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday. It's pretty amazing to see that he's still going this strong. His career started when I was 24 years old,

one year older than Brady was when his career began. To think all the things that have happened over the 17 years, to think of my reaction and my friend's reaction when Brady was drafted. In fact, one of my better friends is a huge Michigan fan, and he was excited. Most of us were like, Brady, you've got to be kidding me. Well, we were wrong. To see that Brady, he's the constant as that Patriots quarterback

and holding up down that position, it makes you realize how great he has been and continues to be. I think football fans need to enjoy this. This is not the, I don't think he's going to be the first person that plays this long, but I think he, I don't think he's going to be the last, but I think he's the first person. I think he's a pioneer to be this good at this age. And I know Brett Favre was good when he was 40 also, but he fell off pretty quick.

And Brady doesn't look like that because he doesn't play the same type of game. So he's more of a precision passer, and he doesn't, you know, have to throw the deep stuff to win. And I just don't think Brady's going to fall off a cliff. I've talked about that on the show, and, on the show I definitely think he's a bit of a like I said, a bit of a pioneer in his system of working out and eating habits and I think a lot of pro athletes

you've already seen Rob Gronkowski do it it may change the way that the athletes approach things so it's just something to keep in mind Tom Brady, he's kind of changed the game in many ways and I think he's changing it now from a nutrition perspective too. And it's funny, I recently saw a tweet from, I can't even think of who it was, somebody that's not really that well known but questioning Brady and PEDs and things like that. But then Greg Bishop from Sports Illustrated, I believe it was Greg,

has been doing the actually going to Brady's nutrition center, and he lost 16 pounds in two weeks and said he's never felt better in his life. So clearly there's something there that they're doing that works. So I don't think it's PED related. I think Brady does everything possible to take care of his body, and he works harder than everybody else. This is the result, okay? You know, again know again i've said it i'm 41 years old i think if i had treated myself my body the same way brady does i don't not a pro athlete but i guarantee i'd be in terrific shape 40 is not

that old anymore it's different it's different people take care of themselves in different ways it's a different world so i don't know I just don't think that he's done yet, and I think he's going to taper off slowly, and I just think we've got a couple more good years left. He's 40, but it's not over yet. So happy belated birthday, Tom. We didn't get a chance to record last night. Had some Wi-Fi issues up in Maine here,

so couldn't really get that done. Some non-Patriots news, but AFC East news, speaking of quarterbacks, this is not a happy birthday celebration, though. This could be a problem. Apparently Ryan Tannehill, and everybody's seen it, was non-contact. Suffered a non-contact knee injury in practice yesterday, and he might be over the year. I haven't heard anything updated in the last hour or so,

but that's a huge blow to Miami. I know they could take a look at Kaepernick, and they could take a look at Jay Cutler because he's got familiarity playing with Adam Gase and things of that nature, but I don't know. That Miami team is getting better, and Tannehill isn't great, but he seems to be getting better, and Tannehill isn't great, but he seems to be getting better, and the continuity within the lineup makes a big difference, and he doesn't have that continuity anymore.

So I just feel bad for Miami in a way, but I don't because, you know, some of the things that they say, it's like, come on, seriously? So, you know, I do feel bad. Who I feel bad for the most is Ryan Tannehill because that's unfortunate. You never want to see a guy hurt his knee. So Miami's in trouble, and Tannehill is the reason why. Belichick was his usual cheery self. He always is these days.

Saying today that, quote, yeah, that's good. He's talking about the guys, the quarterbacks getting hit in the head with the pads. I mean, look, if they can't handle it from us, they're in a lot of trouble. They're going to get a lot bigger, stronger, faster, more explosive guys more than we have on the coaching staff. We hit the receivers with bags and try to knock the ball away from them and make them catch through contact, make the quarterbacks avoid a rush and stuff like that.

Look, if they can't handle us, it's going to be a long year. And he didn't sound as cheery as I did when I said it, but he's right. You know, it's a good thing for these quarterbacks to get tested. You don't want, you know, these guys, you can't just go through practice and not get hit at all because what's going to happen, like he said, you're going to go into a game and you're going to get killed. So, you know, I like that they prepare them for all things game, and that's one of the reasons why we talked about the fight that happened

in practice the other day. One of the reasons Belichick tosses the players in practice, it's not because he's mad at them for all things game, and that's one of the reasons why we talked about the fight that happened in practice the other day. One of the reasons Belichick tosses the players in practice is not because he's mad at them for fighting. Everything is a game situation in his practices, so he's saying, alright, well you fight in practice, you're out. Because that's what's going to happen in a game. So, something to keep in mind. So, speaking of having no mind, Skip Bayless, never one to be afraid to say whatever he can to get people to react. He stated he believes Brady's going to be gone before the 2018 season, and he thinks the Patriots will come to regret it. Now, I will say this. Skip Bayless is a known Patriots supporter.

He definitely loves everything that they do. He's a big Patriots guy. But if Brady's still good good they're not going to let him go they're not going to because i don't think garoppolo has shown enough to make them comfortable to make that move so listen assuming brady is the same next year he's not going anywhere if there's a significant drop off that they see then maybe we'll talk skip bayless though man stop just throwing everything out there and then then when it's right, go, look it, I said that. But when you say everything crazy, eventually you're going to get one right. I don't think this is going to be the one, though.

So Dwayne Allen, tight end the Patriots picked up during the offseason from Indianapolis, a guy that we were really excited about, we talked a lot about here over on Locked On. He's starting to look good, which means he's starting to learn the which means he seems to learn the offense and if they can keep Gronk and Allen healthy which that's a big that's a big question mark with those two you know they keep him healthy all the year it would be a boost to the passing game but it would also be a huge boost to the running game because that's again I've talked about Gronk being like a guard

out there Dwayne Allen's not much different he's a great blocker too so hopefully Allen really does take off in this offense. I know he drops the ball sometimes, but again, as far as his run-blocking techniques and his run-blocking ability, he's a great guy to have around. So good for him to start to pick up because he struggled there in many camps back in June. Bill Belichick gave the veterans a day off yesterday.

I thought, you know, having the intra-squad scrimmage today, they got Jacksonville coming in next week for some practices. This is probably a good day. Yesterday was a good day to give them all a breather. Today's intra-squad scrimmage is a way to get them kind of ready. You know, you've got to get them organized before they go out and start to play against other teams, even in practice. So, you know, they've been in pads for the last five days, which was a nice, you know, a good way to get them a break. But at the same time, it also gives them this opportunity to have today's intra-squad scrimmage.

So Tom Brady had some things to say about the acquisition of wide receiver Brandon Cooks. Quote, he's been great. I mean, just so fun to be with, so fun to work with. Comes in every day with a great attitude, wants to work hard. He's unselfish. He's been out here practicing, working on different things. He says he and I are building up a rapport, but that takes a lot of time to build. He really adds a lot to a great group of other receivers that I've been fortunate enough to play with for a long time.

So, you know, he only had, Cooks only had one catch on Friday, but it was probably the best catch of the day. Stephon Gilmore was on him, and he's kind of, Gilmore's looked really good, and he's actually blanketed Cooks a little bit when he's been on him the last few days. He broke up a pass and said to Cooks, and then Cooks turned around and redeemed himself in the next play. He made a catch over Gilmore and triple covered for a 40-yard play. It was awesome. So even Brady said, you know, quote, that was a great catch. You know, I tried to draw them off sides, and we got them. So it was kind of a

free play. I think I've seen some of the teams do that. You know, to take a 50-yard play or however far that was, those are the kind of plays we need. If we can build those things into our offense and make some of those down-the-field plays, that takes some of the pressure off all the other parts of the offense. You know, certainly guys are making plays that are far down the field. They've got to cover, and they've got to respect it, you know.

I've always said I try to throw it where they're not so if you're deep you throw it short if they're short you throw it deep throw it side you throw it inside if you throw it to where they're not so that was a great example today of what we're trying to do so you know it's pretty interesting to hear those things out of brady because he's basically saying we needed this deep threat because this is going to open things up underneath he's saying it right to you that's what he means so if anybody's understanding in layman's terms that's what it is right there he's explaining that's how it's going to work so you know that it's very interesting just to see the way that he talks about and the way he just you know he eats it up he loves it but he loves Brandon Cooks because he knows he's got a

guy to take the top off now and stretch his defense out a little bit. And that's Gronk and Dwayne Allen are going to just kill it on the seams. Guys like Deion Lewis are going to really take advantage of it. Guys like Edelman, who play a lot and make plays on the knees, are going to take advantage of it. James White's going to take advantage of it. The running game's going to take advantage of it.

They're going to be able to run play action. It changes everything when you have guys that can go down the field and you have to respect and you have to cover, and that's what the Patriots have now. Tom Brady also received some questions about his concussion. He said, quote, I don't want to get into things that happened in my past, certainly medical history and so forth. I really don't think that's anybody's business.

He said that after practice yesterday at Gillette. He said, you know, what happened last year, I'm focused on this year and I'm working on things I need to get better at. So basically he said, I'm not telling you anything. It's none of your business. Shut your mouths. I agree with him. Nothing was on the injury report.

It's his life. He knows the deal. I'm sure he got a little dinged up, but he doesn't get hit. He doesn't get anything compared to what these offensive and defensive linemen get with the repeated hits, so I'm sure Brady's going to be fine. Dante Hightower, still on the pup list. Alan Branch, still on the pup list. Andrew Jelks, still on NFI. Cody Hollister, out. Matthew Slater, out. Nate Solder, all held out of practice.

So, I don't expect to see Hightower or Branch until about week three of the preseason. And Solder was excused Belichick allows Solder to actually have his practice excused when he has to take his son in for his checkups as we all know The history of a son who had cancer So there's a very good chance that that's what he was doing today If he misses any more practices, they can be more to the situation. We'll keep you guys updated on that Joe Tooney left practice today with an injury. He did not return. Left with the trainer.

I hope this isn't a major injury because he's a starter that is getting better and better. Every game last year, he gets a lot of flack from some of the media, and they're wrong. They're just flat out wrong. He's a good player. We're also going to keep an eye on the situation, too. We'll keep you guys updated. Brady, again, excellent in the scrimmage today. Working a little short-handed due to the

veterans being held out because of different issues, mainly health. It's not a good idea to get guys hurt in an inter-squad scrimmage, especially this early in the year. Edelman, Amendola, Malcolm Mitchell, and running backs Mike Gillisley and Rex Burkhead. Let me get that one out.

And third string tight end James O'Shaughnessy were all out today for the offense. They were present for practice, and they stretched with the team before everything started up, but they went down to the lower field for conditioning when everything got rolling. Jimmy Garoppolo struggled today, but, you know, the truth is, it's mainly due to the lack of weapons he had to work with. He's trying to get it to Deion Lewis as much as possible, but the white team, which is Brady's team, and the defense that he was working with keyed on Lewis,

and they just slowed him down, and there was just nothing that Garoppolo could really do. Got him down the field, they kicked four field goals, they ended up losing 20-12 to Brady and Brissette's team. Brady played most of the game. Brissette came in and actually threw a 50-out touchdown. Garoppolo, he's been better in camp than some of the media outlets are reporting. So I think everybody needs to go a little easy on that. I've heard some things about punching the clock and this and that. Go easy. He's been pretty good. So I think Garoppolo is a guy that, he is

a gamer, but I think he's been better in practice because one of the things people don't really realize, and I think the coaches tell him to do this, is he takes a lot of chances. You know, he's trying to become the starter, and he wants to win a starting job. So he's going to show the staff that he's not afraid to throw anywhere, and he'll put the ball in places where a lot of guys can't. So he's not going to get demoted.

The only thing that could really happen is he gets traded so for me the way i look at this jimmy garoppolo is out there taking chances because jimmy garoppolo wants to show the coaching staff that he hasn't has no fear too so nothing to worry about there on the garoppolo front everybody needs to relax so we're not going to go too long tonight because we got a lot to talk to you about tomorrow but we definitely want to get you guys updated on everything. Our final thought of the day, though, I wanted to talk about Devin Lucien. He's starting to establish himself at camp, and he's one of those players here,

we at Locked On Patriots and over at Scout.com, that we really liked heading into training camp. I wrote an article about him on Scout. We talked about him a lot. So Lucien caught two 50-odd touchdowns today, one from Tom Brady during the one that Sardis were out there, which he was out there, and another from Jacoby Brissett. So with all the receivers seemingly battling some form of injury, I think Lucien is starting to show that he can play in the NFL

and maybe have a shot to make this team. I don't know who it's going to be at the expense of, but, you know, you just can't ignore the fact that this kid's got an NFL talent, NFL body, he's got the look, he's got the ability, he's showing it in practice, he's making catches, 50-odd touchdown catches, one from Brady and one from Bissette, and he's been doing it all camp. So I really like Devin Lucey, and I think this is a guy that could have a chance to make this roster, so keep an eye on him as a wide receiver. So before

I let you guys go tonight, I know, like I said, we're doing a little bit of a shortened show, but I want to talk to you a little bit about some of the things that, some of the changes we've had over at scout.com. So if you're a subscriber To Patriots Insider on Scout.com Well You know what's going on CBS Has bought us out

So You know It's a good thing Because now we're on a huge platform So now When you log on to the CBS website You look up on the top banner You're going to see

24-7 sports Which They do a you're going to see 24-7 sports, which they do a good job too. I think 24-7 sports, in fact now we work with them, I think they get great content. But right next to 24-7 sports, you see scout.com. So, go on to scout.com and register, and I'm going to tell

you why. If you aren't, you're missing out totally on the biggest treasure trove of terrific material on the internet. not only do you get real local coverage of the patriots the celtics the red socks and all college teams which you really don't get good coverage of around here we don't have the bruins as good as what i think some other media people do around some other outlets do around here but we do have it to the patriots the celtics, the Red Sox, BC, UMass, UNH, everybody, all the college teams. You also get tremendous access to every NFL and NBA, Major League Baseball, and NCAA team, including breakdowns and ratings of top high school prospects across the country.

Not only do you have access to the entire Scout.com network, you also have access to discounted NFL, nba mlb and ncaa tickets plus you get discounts to movies concerts amusement parks and up to 20 off your purchases at fanatics.com you get all this for five dollars per month or 49 for the year so think about this why waste your money on a site that only has local coverage you know who i'm talking about there's a new site out there and they get all types of subscribers and that's all great there's no advertising oh it's so pretty it's clean you know what else it is you're paying for four teams you're not going to get any analysis of any other team you're getting analysis of the new england teams yes you're going to get a little bit

of analysis when it comes to head-on-head matchups and things like that. But don't you think you're going to get better analysis of those teams by going on to those teams' websites with a lot of their beat writers on Scout.com? I've mentioned Mile High Huddle before. Kansas City Chiefs have a great site, too. The Cleveland Browns have an excellent site. You should see the stuff that they have on there. It's one of the best sites on the Internet.

You sign up for Patriots Insider on Scout.com, you have access to all of this. All of it. So, I would strongly, strongly suggest signing up. Again, it's $5 per month, $49 for the year. Don't waste your money on a site that only has local coverage of just the Boston area. Spend your money on a site that has the local coverage of the Boston area, and

the ability to earn money back on tickets. So, go to Scout.com slash NFL slash Patriots and sign up today. No brainer. Go to scout.com slash NFL slash Patriots. Sign up today. Sign up tonight. Go do it. If you haven't done it yet, you're really missing out,

especially if you're going to go to Six Flags this summer. If you go to Six Flags and you bring a family of four, you're going to save yourself $100. Those $100 can pay for that. $50 for the year and $50 for parking. Just something to think about. Scout.com slash NFL slash Patriots. Sign up today. I want to thank you all

for joining us today on this Friday edition of Locked On Patriots. Be sure to go to iTunes and subscribe to our show today like as in right now. In fact, if you're on audio, boom, there's a little banner right to your left there. You see that? Click on it, okay? That's subscribe. Click on the banner. I'm telling you, there's some big things coming down the

pipe. You gotta subscribe. You gotta be a part and you gotta join now. And make sure you tell your friends about us too. Here at Locked On Patriots, we're all about getting Patriots fans the most info you need to be the most in the know Patriots fans. Have a great night, everybody. We're going to have plenty to bring for you guys tomorrow.

A lot of reports from the inter-squad scrimmage as far as injuries, things that haven't been reported yet, things that haven't been released yet. We'll get you updated on that. And maybe talk a little bit about the offensive line because that's something that I want to talk about in depth. So have a good night, everybody. We'll talk to you tomorrow. What you doing?

I'm running out of space on my phone, so I'm deleting some stuff. in depth. So have a good night, everybody. We'll talk to your memories. Switch to MetroPCS and get two free LG K20 Plus phones with 32 gigs when you switch two lines. MetroPCS. Wireless. Figured out. Coverage not available in some areas. Sales tax not included in phone price. Excludes numbers on the T-Mobile network. See store for details and terms and conditions.