Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots - August 13, 2019: Tight Ends, Corners and Wideouts

Episode Date: August 13, 2019

Joining Mike D’Abate on this episode of Locked On Patriots is Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com.  The duo discuss roster competition at the wide receiver and cornerback positions, as well as what the Pats may do with the tight end position in 2019.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

and hello to all you Foxborough faithful and welcome to another edition of Locked On Patriots, your daily home for news, notes, analysis, and the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champion, the New England Patriots. Locked On Patriots, as always, is a part of the Locked On Podcast Network. My name is Mike DeBate, and I cover the Patriots for FullPressCoverage.com, which is where you can always find my written work, and you can also reach out to me on Twitter at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-F-P-C. And we have a great show for you on tap today. Steve Balistrieri of

PatsFans.com is going to join me in just a moment to break down Patriots training camp, and we're also going to take a quick look ahead towards Saturday's matchup against the Tennessee Titans. However, the news of the day first off, the Patriots were back in action on the practice fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. I know that's a mouthful, but that's exactly how it's described in the media guide, and we'll continue to do that here. The Patriots were back in action in practice yesterday,

and notably absent were two names that were of concern at the end of Thursday's preseason tilt with the Detroit Lions. That were tight end Matt Lacoste, and we'll get into Lacoste in just a little bit, and the other was wide receiver Nikhil Harry. Now, Nikhil Harry pulled up a little bit. He had been hampered with a hamstring injury earlier last week and we thought it might affect his play during Thursday's game against Detroit didn't look like it affected it that much at the beginning but then he did pull up and eventually was held out of game action for the rest of the game

Dr. David Chow on his Twitter page did advise that Harry might be suffering from turf toe. Now, we're still waiting for confirmation as to exactly what is going on with Harry's injury. However, right now, that is something that bears watching within the next few days because it might mean the difference in Harry being held out just from Saturday's game or possibly beyond that. So definitely keep an eye out for Harry's health and any word from the Patriots on that. Of course, Julian Edelman, Demarius Thomas, Yannicka Juice

still remain on either the PUP list or the non-football injury-related list, so they were held out of practice yesterday as well. But two familiar faces did make their return, and that was safety Nate Ebner and cornerback Ken Webster. Both came off of the pup list, and they practiced yesterday, which the Patriots took place in full pads, full contact practice yesterday. So this was a full-on in anticipation for Saturday's game. Some of the notable news and notes from yesterday, and we're going to get into a lot more with Steve in just a minute, but tackle Isaiah Wynn worked on the left side with the first-team offense yesterday.

And this is significant and part of the news of the day, simply because right now the fact that he's playing at full speed and the fact that he's taking first-team snaps is a sign that Wynn may be beginning to get back to full strength and might be able to go in, you know, obviously some preseason tilts, but obviously in week one, and this is big because the Patriots have very high hopes for Wynn. They want to keep him on the offensive line, and they want him to be the starting left tackle, so obviously this is good news if you're a fan of Isaiah Wynn, obviously, but also the offensive line, because Dan Skipper continues to play well on that line. However, Wynn is the guy, and if he's going to be able to go, there's pretty much

no doubt that he'll be the guy penciled in as the week one starter. Another issue that the Patriots have kind of dealt with the last couple of days is the fact that we didn't see a whole lot of running backs in Thursday's game against Detroit. I think that's going to change this week against the Tennessee Titans. You saw Rex Burkhead get some reps yesterday, and he looked like he was getting some time with the first-team offense as well in competitive situations and in walkthroughs. So that's big because he is jockeying from playing time.

I have him identified as a guy who's actually fighting for a roster spot, if you can believe that or not, considering the couple of years' success that Burkett has had here, sans some injuries, he's been very effective on the field. That goes to show you how deep the running back core is. And, of course, running back Damian Harris. Didn't play in preseason week one. However, he was participating fully in practice yesterday.

I anticipate that you're going to see a lot more of him on Saturday night when the Patriots take on the Titans. In roster news, as reported by Field Yates of ESPN yesterday, the Patriots have placed cornerback D'Angelo Ross on injured reserve. And at that point, the injured reserve list actually puts him on waivers. If he clears waivers, he will be eligible to be signed onto the injured reserve. However, he's technically out there right now and could be claimed by a team. It's anticipated that he will end up probably on injured reserve,

but there's always a chance that a team could pluck him off of that. We've seen teams do it before, notably the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick keeps a very close eye on those types of waivers and has done that in the past. To fill that roster spot, the Patriots loaded up a little bit on offensive line depth from a familiar face, and that is Cole Croston. Cole Croston was back actually at Gillette yesterday. He was participating in team drills, knows the offensive line, so it will be interesting to see now if he ends up taking a roster spot or getting some reps, and we may see him probably in Saturday's game and beyond. Another roster issue that is right now plaguing the new england patriots is tight end matt lacoste and we mentioned lacoste earlier in the uh in the podcast and the reason why he has been held out of

practice and wasn't present yesterday is because he has been diagnosed with a sprained ankle that was reported yesterday by jim mcbride of the Boston Globe. Per league source, he's not going to be playing Saturday night. So at that point, the expected recovery from a high ankle sprain, such as the one he has, is usually about two to four weeks. That means that Lacoste starting at week one is not guaranteed. In order to be able to make sure that the Patriots have a functioning tight end core, they made a trade yesterday, and they made a trade for Eric Sauber, who was traded from the Falcons to the Patriots.

The Falcons are only getting a conditional seventh-round pick, which means they were probably about to place him on waivers, and the Patriots are last in the waiver order as being Super Bowl champions. They were willing to give the Falcons at least something to get him before another team do. Saubert is somebody that has a decent amount of talent. He's not a blockbuster acquisition, but he does have experience in what the Patriots need. He's a pretty adept blocker, and he should compete for a roster spot at tight end because of the fact that obviously Rob Gronkowski has gone from retirement.

Ben Watson is going to be serving a suspension for the first four games of the season, and especially if Lacoste's health is in question, Saubert gives them an opportunity to be able to pencil that in because Lance Kendricks right now is still fighting his issues with injury as well. So it should be interesting to see how some of these roster moves and how some of the health of these guys helps as they're trying to get toward a roster spot and move toward week one in September. So before I welcome my guest in today, I wanted to take a few moments to address the guys out there. And in a subject that is often sometimes taboo but always relevant, and that is bedroom activities. Guys, remember the days when you were always ready to go? Well, now you can increase your performance

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You know his great work from patsfans.com, as well as being the co-host of two amazing podcasts, Patriots 4th and 2, and One Patriots Place. It's my honor this morning to welcome in my friend Steve Balistrieri to Locked On Patriots. Steve, thanks so much for joining me today. Oh, Mike, my pleasure, and thanks for that wonderful intro. You should work for me as my PR guy. Well, you know, I'm thinking about it, Steve.

It would be a great, great opportunity for me, and who better to represent than one of the best in the business? And I truly mean that. Steve and I go back a ways and we are definitely friends. There's no question about it. But Steve is someone I admire so much in terms of his work and what he brings to the table. Opinions, analysis, in my opinion, second to none. So it's my honor to welcome you in the show today. Well, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. And And you know, I always love talking football with you. Absolutely. And we do it well. With public practices coming to an end today at Gillette Stadium, there have been several storylines that have dominated media coverage. You know,

players like Maurice Harris, Jacoby Myers, Jarrett Stidham, Jake Bailey, all of these guys and a lot of others, but those just to name a few, they've all made headlines on social media and in written pieces. In your opinion, who to you has really stood out in the time that you've spent evaluating training camp? I know you've been up at Gillette an awful lot looking at these guys, breaking down what they can do on the field. To you, who stood out?

Is it one of those names? Is it someone I haven't mentioned? And if so, if that player that you've identified is someone that could possibly end up being a surprise inclusion on the 2019 roster? Hey, Mike, I believe that it's Jacoby Myers. I mean, you know, when I look at the guys that came here, he was an undrafted guy. You know, it was looking like he wasn't going to, you know,

be a viable NFL prospect because everyone thought his 40 time was too slow. But what we've seen is, you know, this is a guy who broke Torrey Holtz, NC State record with 92 catches a year ago. He's just, he has a knack for finding the open spaces. He's very athletic. You know, he's quick off the line and maybe not straight line speed, but he makes contested catches.

I think this kid is really going up well in the practices. You know, he has a built-in chemistry already with Tom Brady. One of the things that stood out to me prior to them going to Detroit was the fact that Brady, when he was throwing the ball to Myers, was throwing it before Myers went into his breaks. And that's something that we know that he doesn't do unless there's that level of trust. Absolutely.

No question about it. We've seen Tom have difficulty getting the ball to guys that were in their route at the time that were either going to run the wrong way. Brady is one of the best in the league and always has been one of the best in games history at knowing exactly where to put the ball when you need to in my podcast yesterday i mentioned his accuracy and his ability to be able to make the throws that he needs to make when he needs to make them the fact that he's developing this type of chemistry this early with a guy like jacoby myers i think is so telltale and i happen

to agree with you i really do believe barring some really unforeseen circumstances, that this kid is as close to cementing a place on this roster as you can get. And it keeps the dream alive. He's an undrafted free agent. The Patriots love to get an undrafted free agent on the roster. And I think they do that again this year with Myers. With regard to the rest of the wide receiver crew, and I know a lot of people have made,

I've heard some people claim that the wide receiver crew is thin at this position. I quite frankly just don't see it. I think that there is a lot of depth here that maybe some people are not aware of or maybe just not really paying attention because there's not really a huge name on this wide receiving crew. But in terms of guys like Maurice Harris, Philip Dorsett, there are so many players that are vying for that spot. Who might be a surprise chopping block candidate in this wide receiver core

that a lot of people thought was a shoe-in beforehand, but based on the way training camp is shaking out, might end up being on the outside looking in? Well, I think you'd have to look at Dontrell Inman. You know, he had a rough start to mini camp, and then he was, you know, he kind of got dropped way down on the depth chart at the beginning of training camp. Now, he did show, I thought he showed up pretty nice in

the, you know, the practices in the preseason game with Detroit, but I think he has a lot of real estate to make up, and when I look at him, he still doesn't have that chemistry with Tom Brady that I thought he'd be able to have. You know, when I saw him at the end of last year with Andrew Luck, it looked like he was Luck's go-to guy at the end of the season, and I thought he'd be able to have. You know, when I saw him at the end of last year with Andrew Luck, it looked like he was Luck's go-to guy at the end of the season, and I thought he might be able to parlay that into working the same deal with Tom Brady. I haven't really seen that from him. I think he's still on the outside looking in. Yeah, I tend to agree with you on that with Inman.

I had high hopes of him when he was signed. Mutual friend of ours, Brian Snow, who hosts Snowman and Friends, I guest on that show periodically. And we had mentioned Inman because he's very closely connected to the Indianapolis Colts and had a lot of high hopes for him coming into New England. It just seems like there's a little bit of a learning curve that he hasn't quite leapfrogged yet when it comes to guys like Maurice Harris and even somebody like Philip Dorsett, who's been on the roster now for a couple of years and has a little bit better chemistry with Brady. So I think you're absolutely right on that, and we'll see what happens with Inman. It's telltale about this wide receiving core that someone as talented as Inman right now is on the roster bubble and likely won't make the roster, and I think that proves a lot about the guys that they have coming in camp. I'm going to flip side, and I'm going to go on to the defensive side of the ball, and your column from yesterday on patsfans.com chronicling this practice I thought was brilliant,

and one of the things that you mentioned was cornerback Jonathan Jones in the slot absolutely giving fits to Braxton Barrios. And it seems like Braxton just hasn't been able to get any separation or any lead time to be able to make any effective plays against him. Jones is an interesting case study to me because a lot of people have written him off at different points. It almost feels a little like the Jordan Richards situation. And I'm not saying that it's the same thing, because I think Jonathan Jones is a better player, and I think he's much more locked into the way the Patriots do business, and he's a much tougher cut than a Richards would be. But Jones always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

I don't think it's accidental. I think that's by skill. But it's such a deep cornerback crew this year, really all throughout the secondary, cornerback and safety. And when you look at this team, again, like the wide receivers, I think you're going to see some very talented players on the chopping block. Has anybody in camp done anything to be able to unseat Jonathan Jones and possibly put him on the roster bubble? And if so, who is that player that maybe a lot of fans haven't seen yet or might not be aware of?

No, I think Jones is a rock-solid lock for this 53-man roster. He's been outstanding. You know, he's kind of been the overlooked guy his whole career because he was undrafted. And you look at the way he's played, and then he's totally outplayed Duke Dawson, who was the second-round pick last year, in the slot. I think Jones' spot is very secure right now. And he has been giving Braxton Berrios fits. And then Berrios went to Detroit, and you saw what he's capable of.

He was given the Lions' fits. He comes back to Foxborough yesterday, and Jones pretty much had his way with him once again. Absolutely. I completely do agree with that. And I think in a lot of ways it's kind of a comfort to know that Jonathan Jones is going to be there. He seems to find his niche in big games.

He really came up huge in the playoffs last year. And you don't hear the name an awful lot. But for a defensive back, that's usually a good thing. If you're hearing defensive backs' names an awful lot, it usually means one of two things. Either one, they're an interception machine, which in that case is absolutely a blessing. But if you're hearing a defensive back's name a lot, it's usually because they're either blowing coverage or they're having difficulties. And you don't hear Jonathan Jones an awful lot in that respect.

So I agree with you. I think he's a rock-solid roster lock. I've seen some reports out there that may think that either his roster spot was shaky or because of the depth of the position, they may look to go elsewhere. But especially a special team's prowess and what he brings to the table in the slot, I absolutely think that he's going to be on the roster this year. We are looking ahead toward a game on Saturday, and I know we're a few games away. The team is still practicing this morning at Gillette. They will be traveling out to Nashville for joint practices with old friend Mike Rabel and the Tennessee Titans. Heading into this game, is there anybody in particular

that you have your eye on? I mentioned Damian Harris earlier, and that's been a lot. I've been getting a lot of questions about him this week. Why didn't he play on Saturday? I think it was just a game plan situation. I think you will see a lot of him, excuse me, on Thursday. I think you will see a lot of him on Saturday coming in to this week. Is it Harris that you're going to be looking out for, or is there a particular set of guys that you're going to be looking for to see what type of playing time they get

on Saturday's game? Well, I think Harris is one of the guys, because as you know, and we discussed this before on another podcast, was that I love the pick of him. But this week week I think we'll see a lot more. Well, no, maybe not a lot, but we're going to see the starters get to show what they have.

And I'm really intrigued to see what this Patriots defense looks like when the starters get in, because we saw what a lot of the backups can do last week in Detroit. And now this will be a bigger test, I think, with Michael Bennett, you know, Daunt Hightower, Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins looks like a beast this year, you know, Stephon Gilmore, we can go on and on and on. I think this defense has so much potential this year.

I am really looking forward to seeing what they can do with some of the snaps they'll get on Saturday night. Yeah, and I completely agree. And I think it is definitely going to be interesting to see. Last question before I let you go. In terms of the health of some of these guys, we've seen the tight ends now kind of go through some of their issues. Matt Lacoste now looks like he's fighting a high ankle sprain. I stated earlier on in the podcast. Lance Kendricks has had his health issues, and now they're bringing in Sauber,

and it's going to be interesting to see how they are able to put this team together. I had originally thought that they would carry only two tight ends to go into the season, knowing that Watson Fulwell would be back after game four, after he serves his four-game suspension. Do you still see them doing that, or do you think that they might look to carry an additional body at tight end, knowing that they might be a little bit thin when it comes to the depth chart? Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, I think right now Ryan Izzo is kind of a lock because of his blocking prowess. He's not the most gifted receiver, but I could see them possibly carrying an extra tight

end just for the time being until they know what they have. Kendricks is still in a red jersey, so it's going to be really difficult for them to, you know, to come up with a viable package, I think, you know, when you're in the passing game, at least for the first month of the season. Now if Lacoste heals faster, that will definitely help things. But other than that, I'm not seeing a lot of help with what they have right now.

Yeah, and I think that's really probably an accurate assessment when it comes to that. Tight end is not going to be the prolific, you know, pass-catching, productive position that we've seen in years past with the New England Patriots. I think they're going to get more out of the tight ends than people think, but you have to kind of clear your head of that Rob Gronkowski type of cachet and that Rob Gronkowski type of production from that because I think it's

going to be difficult for them to see that. I think they go with more blocking, and I think they look for situational pass-catching opportunities, and you're right. If they do go with an extra body, I think that will be the reason for it. Steve, what can I say? I appreciate you coming in and always lending your wisdom and counsel to Locked On. Your analysis is always spot on and gave some great, great opinions this morning, and I do appreciate that.

Before you take your leave, my friend, I just want to give you an opportunity to let our listeners know where they can follow you on social media and where they can find your amazing work. Well, thanks, Mike, and I appreciate all the kind words. And anytime you would like to talk, you know I'm always here. You can find me on Twitter at SteveBSFG, and you can find my work at PatsFans.com. That's where all my written stuff is. We also do a podcast there, which we call Patriots 4th and 2.

And as you know, I do another podcast with our buddy Thomas Murphy, and we call that One Patriot Place, of which you've been a frequent guest on that. So you can always find me at those locations. Absolutely. And there's no greater fun than joining you and Murph on the microphone, I'll tell you. I always say when I go on, I feel like I'm going home, and that's always the case. It's just basically like three guys sitting around talking. He truly is.

He absolutely is. Murph is a great one, and he joined me on the hosting couch on Friday. So always grateful to him, always grateful to you, Steve. And I will definitely take you up on that in terms of having you back on here to, again, to lend your wisdom and counsel to our listeners. Once again, thanks to Steve Balistrieri for joining me today. As for me, I will be back tomorrow and will continue to preview Pat's Titans at the end of the week. Also have a special guest lined up for tomorrow, so pay attention to social media. I think you guys are really going to like the guest that we're going to have tomorrow,

as you love the guest that we had today. Make sure to follow us each and every day on the Locked On Patriots podcast, and subscribe to Locked On Patriots via your favorite podcast provider. Thank you so much for listening. Once again, I am Mike DeBate, and have a great day, everybody.