Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots August 14, 2018 - Swinging With Wynn, Belichick Speaks and Hightower on the Young LBs

Episode Date: August 14, 2018

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Hello everybody, welcome to Locked on Patriots for Tuesday, August 14th, 2018. Mark Schofield back in the big chair, locked and loaded here for this Tuesday installment of your favorite daily Patriots podcast. Reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Check out the work over at places like InsideThePylon.com, where I'm one of the head writers. Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, MattWaldmanRSP.com, where I'm a contributor over there.

Got a look at Lamar Jackson, went up last week. Big Blue View, part of the SB Nation Network, covering the Giants. I broke down Davis Webb's 2018 preseason debut and tried to find a silver lining and struggled mightily in that effort. Also, other places such as thescore.com, profootballweekly.com, and a host of other football websites. Basically, like I said, if they're right at the bottom, chances are I'm right for them. Big show for you today. Like always, we're going to talk Belichick and some of his recent comments in the media that he made on Wednesday, getting into the linebackers as well as tackling an

issue that we identified in our recap of the Thursday preseason opener against Washington. Belichick had some thoughts on that. Also, we're going to talk to Dante Hightower, some of his comments about the young linebackers, Christian, Sam, and Jawan Bentley. We're going to open it up, though, with some odds and ends, some stuff that caught my eye about the New England Patriots in the past day or so. And I'm going to start with taking one on the chin a little bit. As you all know here, I am one to, you know, if I need to take a loss,

I take a loss. If I need to own up to something, you know, I will own up to something. And I had to do that in the past couple of days. Well, past couple of hours, actually, with my buddy Murph. He is one of my favorite guys to follow on Twitter. He's at T-M-U-R-P-H-2-0-7.

He's a co-host of One Patriot's Place, a show that I've been on. I've got to get Murph on this show sometime soon. I owe you, buddy. I'll reach out to you soon for that. And he reached out to me because, as you all know, hopefully you know, if you don't know, then you might want to go back and listen to yesterday's episode where I did my roster projections 1.0,

and I left Brandon Bolden off. And I'll admit, it pained me, and I talked about it in the episode. I basically came on and said it's a numbers game, but when you sort of look at Brandon Bolden over the years, the Patriots have placed a lot of faith in Brandon Bolden over the years. They love him on special teams. They love what he contributes as a blocker in the backfield.

They trust him in pass protection situations. They trust him in the backfield in those types of moments. They trust him protecting Tom Brady, which as we all know, look, make no bones about it, protecting Tom Brady is job number one for this New England Patriots offense. And so there's a lot to like about Brandon Bolden, and there's a lot to think that he can contribute to this offense, both from a special teams perspective, as well as, you know, as a running back in what is a crowded running back room. And if you want sort of any indication as to how the Patriots feel about Brandon Bolden. Look at the end of the first half against Washington. The Patriots down 17-0.

They get the ball back on their own 10-yard line after a punt, looking to go two-minute. And the running back in that game at that moment in time was Brandon Bolden because they trust him in those kind of situations. And that drive began with a screen pass to Brandon Bolden because they trust him in those kind of situations. And that drive began with a screen pass to Brandon Bolden. And these are the types of moments that the Patriots look to Brandon Bolden to contribute. And let's not forget, the starters were basically out there.

The starters for that game were basically out there at that point in time. And so I think Bolden certainly has a potential big role to play on this team. You know, my concern comes in terms of numbers, you know, given issues at other spots. Now, I might have been wrong with other spots. Remember, I had Braxton Berrios making the team. You take Braxton Berrios off, there's easily a spot for Brandon Bolden. And so to my buddy Murph, you know, it was 1.0. Perhaps by the time they get around to the third preseason game,

we'll really start to see, you know, personnel groups, lineups start to come together. Maybe I'll have to revisit that. So if I've got to take an L on it, I'll take it at the time that I need to take the L. But, you know, thanks to my buddy Murph for reaching out on that. Other thing to talk about, and this is something we touched upon with our good friend Taylor Kyles on last week's sort of game day show, Isaiah Wynn.

Now let's think for a moment about the numbers game in the offensive line room. You know, there's a thought that you would keep Wynn, and you would also keep Adrian Waddell as perhaps your swing tackle and Wynn sort of a guy that you can plug and play at different spots. Numerous beat reporters, Kevin Duffy, Doug Kayed, Noah Princiotti, pointed out that at the Patriots practice on Sunday Witt worked in spots at right tackle

including getting some work with the first team at right tackle coming in for La'Adrian Waddell and this gets to a point that I was making with Taylor on that game day edition show is there a thought that instead of La'Adrian Waddell being your swing tackle, that it's Isaiah Witt?

And then you look at Ted Karras as your swing guy inside. And that sort of frees up if you have to keep just seven offensive linemen instead of the eight that myself and others have been looking at as you include Waddell in that group. That's another way to free up a spot. And again, Isaiah Wynn, a guy that played left tackle in the SEC, he's got the ability to play left tackle in the NFL, but you've got Trent Brown who looks to be the guy that's locking down that spot.

And if you're comfortable with Joe Thune at left guard, you don't have to kick Wynn there. Maybe Wynn starts this year as your swing tackle type guy in case Cannon goes down on the right side or Brown goes down on the left side. You've got your swing tackle. And then you've freed up another roster swap because you don't have to keep a swing tackle type Isaiah Wynn

and an interior swing type guy as well. So that's something to watch as well. I thought that was a notable thing to come out. Again, it's just one practice. We'll see if the Patriots work him into preseason games at the right tackle spot, but that's definitely something to watch going forward. One other notable thing that I wanted to talk about just briefly, ever so briefly, from Monday's practice. And that's Tom Brady. There was a note from Jeff Howe, at JeffPHowell on Twitter.

Tom Brady, frustrated with a high incompletion, asked for the ball back and punted it into the stands. Which I thought was just funny, because honestly, I've been there, most notably on the golf course, throwing clubs, throwing balls. Never threw a bag. I thought about throwing a bag at one point in my day, but never went that far.

But I get it. And what was interesting in the wake of that little tweet from Jeff Howell, that little observation from Jeff Howell, was how people instantly sort of, there were some that sort of glommed onto him and be like, you know, good athlete like Tom Brady does something like that and people think he's fiery. Guy that people don't like does something like that and people think he's a head case.

And we've seen some of that before when Odell put up that video of him and Brady and both of them having some sideline antics and how people treated them differently. And you know that I kind of agreed with Odell. You can go back. You can play the tape. I kind of agreed with Odell that, yeah, they are treated a bit differently. I'm okay with guys being a little fiery in moments like that,

in moments of frustration. It's an emotional game. A wise man once told me, deny emotion and you deny a part of the game. Football is an emotional game. A wise man once told me, deny emotion and you deny a part of the game. Football is an emotional game. When you make a mistake, sometimes you've got to let off some steam. And so to see Brady, even if it's just practice,

that's what's made him great over the years. His anger, his fire, his ire, his desire to never lose, to never throw incompletions, even if it's a random Monday practice at the start of August. The great ones are always a little bit crazy. Don't forget that. Up next, we're going to talk Bill Belichick. We're going to talk Dante Hightower. Some of those guys addressed the media recently had some interesting insight that I want to get into. But first, week one is fast approaching. You want to be there at Gillette for that week one game,

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The NFL is back, and Vivid Seeds wants to help get you to the game. Up next, Bill Belichick, some thoughts on tackling, some thoughts on the young linebackers. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you on this Tuesday installment of Locked On Patriots. And before we get into Bill Belichick, I do want to let people know we've got some incredible stuff going on over here at the Locked On Podcast Network. First, Locked On NFL has become Locked On NFL Experts.

Matt Williamson hosts Locked On NFL. He's got a brand new lineup every Monday. It will be the Locked On Local Experts on Big Stories. Then he's going to have Mike Renner from Pro Football Focus every Wednesday. ESPN's Mike Sandoz is going to be joining on Thursday. That's a great lineup, so definitely check out Locked On NFL with Matt Williamson. Also, Locked On NFL Drafted Show, I've been on a couple of times. Trevor Sikama, John Ledyard, they do great stuff.

We've also brought back draft dudes. The Draft Network, Kyle Krabs, Joe Marino, Trevor Sikama, John Ledger, they do great work over there. Joe Marino and Kyle Krabs, they're bringing the show Draft Dudes over to the Locked On Podcast Network. So check that out as well. Grow in the Locked On Podcast Network. We're adding college shows.

So there's a ton of stuff going on. Whatever show, whatever team you like, whatever sport you like, chances are there's a Locked On Podcast show that covers it. Now let's dive into Bill Belichick and some of his recent comments to the media. He did address the media in the wake of the Patriots' preseason opener against the Washington Redskins. I don't want to dwell on that too much, other to point out that the first question he was asked

was about his impressions of Riley McCarron and Braxton Berrios in the return game. He said he thought it was about what he expected. He thought it was about what they had practiced. They haven't been able to practice at a full speed tempo as they had in the game, but he thought it was about where it would be. He said that they needed to clean up a couple of things and coordinate the block, and then the returner set out the block. So they have some work to do, but he thought it was pretty close to about the way they wanted to be done. He was also asked, when you're evaluating guys like McCarron and Berrios, how much of it is their individual performance and how much of it is dependent on the particular unit,

especially in the preseason when you have so much personnel you're trying to evaluate. Belichick thought that was a really good question, said that it was a good question. It's hard to play one guy for somebody else's mistakes. We'll credit one guy when another guy is really the one who made the play possible. So you kind of have to take those into consideration. One guy for somebody else's mistakes will create one guy when another guy is really the one who made the play possible. So you kind of have to take those into consideration. I thought that was some interesting insight from him on a battle that you know I'm watching,

that Riley McCarron-Braxton Berrios battle for perhaps the last wide receiver roster spot. But I want to get to his comments to the media on Monday. Belichick addressing the media again. And he was asked a lot of questions about the young linebackers, and that's sort of going to be the theme of the rest of today's show. He was asked, when you're working with young linebackers

who don't have much experience in coverage, what sort of things do you work on to help them build that skill set? Belichick's response, the techniques that they use on different coverages and against different types of pass patterns and different types of receivers, because at that position, you could end up covering a receiver,

a tight end, a running back. The whole thing about pass coverage is we have more guys than they do in pass coverage most of the time. So there's help somewhere. So it's knowing where your help is, knowing how to use it, and when to help that extra person can provide for who, deep, short, inside, outside, whatever it is. So the coordination of all that is really there's a lot of teaching there. And that's a great answer from Belichick. And I want to build on that a little bit, particularly with Juwan Bentley, because as you all know, he was viewed by myself and others as sort of your two down thumper. You know, your guy that's

sort of a throwback to, you know, the era when football was three yards and a cloud of dust. And you were looking to have a guy that can play downhill against the run. Obviously, that's not really the MO of a lot of football these days. A lot of football is spread offenses. A lot of football is up-tempo. A lot of football is RPOs and getting guys into the space. And football is also so specialized that when you can, you get guys off the field that are your downhill thumpers. They're now viewed as two-down linebackers in the NFL, not a lot of three-down linebackers in today's NFL. So pass coverage was going to be an issue

with Bentley, but we saw him take some steps in that area, particularly into the first preseason game. I know I've talked about it before, that short pass to the flat. He was on a third and short situation. Maybe he was beaten technically on the route, but Bentley was right there in position to make the tackle. And what was great about the way he broke down on that play was he had the sideline as his help in other words like Belichick said you'd know where your help was on that particular route he wasn't going to get beaten back to the inside he was going to use the sideline as an extra type of defender and he made the play and that play really sort of stood out to me and so I think we have sort of seen some strides from a guy like Juwan Bentley in that area

Belichick of course was not done talking about the linebackers. He was asked a little bit later on some questions about the linebackers and getting what he can out of those guys. But I want to switch gears here to Isaiah Wynn. We just teed up in the opener about whether Isaiah Wynn could be that swing tackle. He was asked a couple of questions in the Monday presser. What have you seen from Isaiah Wynn in terms of his versatility and ability to grasp the offense at different positions on the line? Belichick's answer. We asked almost everybody on our team to do multiple things. So sometimes

that manifests itself during the year, and sometimes it doesn't. But I would say almost everybody, with the exception of a couple of players and a couple of positions, have multiple roles. Follow-up question, how has Isaiah Wynn done over the spring and summer? Belichick, I mean, he's a smart kid.

He picks things up well. So a little bit of love there from Belichick to the rookie first-round offensive lineman out of Georgia. And Wynn's ability to serve as a swing tackle, provided he can do that, and we'll see over the next couple of weeks. But if he can, it frees up a lot of roster space, even if it's just one spot for this team,

for a team that has a number of crunches at a number of different positions, wide receiver, defensive back, running back. We've talked about Brandon Bolden. We've talked about the wide receiver room. So if Isaiah Wynn can live up to that part of his ability to be versatile across the offensive line, that will be huge, huge for this team. Finally, what Belichick talked about that i want to address tackling you know we see this a lot with teams right now tackling for two reasons really is an area where

teams are going to struggle one because the cba and the practice rules you don't do it a ton and two the new rules i mean there's obviously referees, they're still sorting out how they're going to be calling these tackles here. But you do wonder if tackling is going to be a bit of a lost art because of the CBA and the practice rules and the fact that guys are going to be more worried about getting flagged than making tackles. You're seeing some of what we used to think were textbook tackles now being flagged under these new

leading with the helmet, leading with the crown type rules. And so tackling is going to be a focus for a lot of teams. And Belichick was asked, can you evaluate tackling after the first preseason game? Is that a big milestone to see tackling in that setting? Belichick's answer, well, running and tackling are two skills that you don't work on from the end of the season

until pretty much the first preseason game. You can do a little drill work, but it's not quite the same. So any player that's involved in any of those, running or tackling, might have done it before, but they haven't done it recently, and they haven't done it at the timing and the speed that occurs in the game. So there's an adjustment, a break-in period for all of us, and that's part of what preseason games are for. You simulate it in practice, but it's just not quite the same. So live tackling, there's a lot to learn from that. We can all get better at it. We can improve our tackling. We can certainly improve our running and breaking tackles. So that's part of the process. Tackling is going to be something to watch. We saw it in this preseason opener. Patriots missed a lot of tackles in that game.

There are a number of tackles that, missed tackles that come to mind off the top of my head. You know, most notably, the long catch and run on one of Washington's scoring drives where it was Demarius Travis. Safety rotated it over on that cover two look. Couldn't make the tackle. You know, that's a position, that's a role,

that's a moment as a safety, as a field safety in that moment. You have to make that tackle. And he missed it. And it might cost him a job. And so tackling in a moment like that, tackling in general, is important. That's why you want to see crisp form tackling

in these preseason games because this is really the only chance you're going to get to work on that stuff, as Belichick alluded to there. So some interesting tidbits from Belichick's press conference on Monday that I wanted to pull out for you up next. We're going to talk another press conference, Dante Hightower,

his thoughts on Juwan Bentley and Christian Sam, sort of the veteran linebacker opining on the two young guys. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with me now to close out the show, talk a little bit Dante Hightower, veteran linebacker heading into his eighth NFL season. Obviously, missed the bulk of last year, virtually all of last year,

with knee injuries coming off of that. And now, Hightower has now sort of taken on the role of more of a veteran, lawn-on-the-tooth, wise sage. And that was something that he addressed in his recent comments to the media he was actually asked you turned into the old guy quick and he's like a lot quicker man they're trying to get me a rocking chair in there i'm not that old but he did have some thoughts on the two rookie linebackers christian sam and juwan bentley we've talked a little bit about juwan bentley we're going to dive back into him a bit more because he was asked about him a couple different times

first question was asked in his press conference, it seems like Juwan Bentley is a pretty impressive kid. What do you like about everything he does behind the scenes? And Hightower responded, he's a smart kid, eager to learn, fast learner, big kid, quick on his feet, he's going to be a good wall player. And he's asked another question about his performance on Thursday night, Bentley's performance. And you can see that the thought on Bentley's ability or perceived inability to cover has even seeped into the minds of guys like Hightower because the way he responds gives that away. The way he plays is the way he practices,

so he's definitely one of the guys who literally takes the practice execution, which becomes game reality to that extent. Like I said, he's a young guy. He's eager to learn, very smart in the classroom, always asking questions. And here we go. I mean, he can cover. He can do a little bit of everything. He's still obviously got a ways to go being a rookie or whatever. But I mean, every day he's wanting to get better. And that's a great way to start. So there you have it. You know, this isn't just Mark Schofield, guy on the couch, watching tape.

This is Dante Hightower, veteran linebacker, heart of this defense, talking about how Jawan Bentley can cover. So it's clear that this is sort of seeped into the minds of not just the coaching staff, but the players themselves. Can this guy, is he going to be more than sort of your two-down, downhill, thumper-type linebacker? And we're seeing it start to play out. Hightower's comments definitely illustrate the fact that this is something this team has been cognizant of and that they're sort of working on. A couple of things more that he says, you know, on Bentley again,

because I'm the first dude in the classroom, last one out, always asking questions, eager to learn a guy that has become a sponge. The more we hear about Juwan Bentley, the more it seems like this might pan out to be a very, very good pick for the New England Patriots. And it seems like he's not just played himself off the bubble into perhaps a guy that's going to make this team, but he might be a solid contributor for this team as a rookie. Now, as for Christian Sam, the more athletic of the two rookie linebackers, Dante Hightower has asked a question about taking him under his wing. He had been spotted talking with Sam as they were headed off the field earlier this week on Sunday.

Hightower's response, he was just asking me about my transition my first year, asking for a little advice. That's one thing we're good on this, not just this defense, but this team. We wanted to help one another, whether it's young or old. We're all able to learn from each other, from different techniques to different experiences and examples. I just kind of gave them my experience and how it was when I came in and the older guys I had with guys like Brandon Spice and Gerard Mayo,

just how that transition from OTAs to training camp to preseason, how all that stuff kind of affects you. Sam's a good kid. He's obviously good at learning and willing to ask those extra questions. So, you know, anything I can do for these young boys, and I guess I'm the old head, which leads into the question about Hightower and a rocking chair, how we opened this up. But there you have it. Dante Hightower sort of illustrating some of the things that these two rookie linebackers can do well, showing that both of these guys seem to have a willingness to learn, to contribute, which as you all know, is of the hallmark of the Patriot way,

or at least one of the hallmarks of the Patriot way. And so it's nice to see that about these two rookie linebackers. Again, I like Sam. I think he makes his team. Maybe he's more in the bubble. But I think at least with respect to Bentley, he's certainly played himself perhaps off of that bubble and into more of having a solid spot locked up. Maybe not locked up.

Maybe that's too fine a point to put on it right now. But at least in a good position to sort of have himself a shot at making this team and contributing as a rookie. Before we go, I want to mention one last thing. Good friend of the show, John L Lamarakes, reached out to me. He is at John, J-O-H-N-L-I-M-B-E-R-K-S on Twitter,

so give John a follow. Reached out because he was wondering if there are any good fantasy draft guides out there. Which one, two, three would I recommend? He's looking to buy

a couple of, you know, draft guides, fantasy draft guides. He wanted to check them out. So I wanted to give John a couple of heads up on a couple of things that i use one is pro football weekly you know they do a draft a fantasy draft magazine which i would highly recommend i did not work on it but working over there being involved with the people over there i think that's one to check out another draft not guide but app that strongly recommend. I got a chance to play around with this before last year.

Got a little more insight on it this year. Perhaps teasing something a little bit. Football Guys. FootballGuys.com, their draft dominator app. It is fantastic, fantastic stuff. Get your hands on it. Has all sorts of stuff that you can use for your drafts, whether it's dynasty, redraft, however you're approaching it, auction stuff. They've got ADPs and all that stuff updated to

the minute. Believe me, when something happens, like, for example, today, it was rumored that Antonio Brown limped off of practice. That was immediately updated over the Draft Guides app, the Football Guys Draft Dominator app. So if you're really hardcore, hardcore, hardcore into fantasy football, check out the Football Guys Draft Dominator app. It is a fantastic product that they're always working on, fine-tuning. They've got an incredible, incredible staff of guys over there pulling together football information from across the internet, making sure you're ready for your draft.

So those would be two, John, that I would highly, highly recommend. That will do it for today's show. I will be back tomorrow, probably do something more of the timeline takes variety for Wednesday and then when we get into a game day edition Patriots back at it Thursday night little Super Bowl 52 rematch I'm not sure that people are really eyeing it as a rematch because it is just a preseason game but we'll probably expect to see a little bit of Tom Brady in that game so we get a better flavor for the the Patriots offense is at going up against the defending Super Bowl champions. That's all ahead this week. We'll have a

recap show on Friday. Again, we are in it now. We are in the weeds. We are back into game week mode now and it's fantastic to see. So that was it for today's show. I will be back tomorrow. Until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield and Locked on Patreons.