Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots - August 26, 2019: Good Night and Good Luck

Episode Date: August 26, 2019

After a weekend of roster moves, host Mike D’Abate is back to break down some of the comings and goings for the New England Patriots on-field personnel in 2019.  He also offers his take on Andrew Luck’s surprising retirement and what it may mean for the Pats going forward.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And hello to all you Foxborough faithful and welcome to your Monday 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. I am your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover the Patriots for bullpresscoverage.com which is where you can always find my written work and you can also reach out to me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC and be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter as well at LO underscore Patriots. I hope that everyone had a great weekend and since Locked On Patriots wrapped for the weekend on Friday there has once again been plenty of news regarding your New England Patriots as well as across the NFL landscape

wideouts Josh Gordon and Demarius Thomas are back in pads they're ready for action Maurice Harris well the team felt that he was not a wartime consigliere and he is out in New England via the injury designation release and for those that don't know, that Consigliere comment was a reference to the Godfather, and to be honest, I'm surprised it took me this long to fit in a Godfather reference into my opening monologue. But it's a safe bet, folks, that it will be the first of many. And last but not least, shocking news out of Indianapolis on Saturday night regarding the retirement of Andrew Luck, which I will be addressing today, including how this might affect the Patriots as well. So settle in, grab some coffee, and I hope that you enjoy the show today.

But first, we start with the news of the day, and that means roster watch in New England. Starting with some breaking news this morning, as first reported by Mike Reese of ESPN. The Patriots have informed veteran defensive tackle Mike Pennell, one of their top free agent signings in the offseason, that he is indeed being released on Monday. This came to Reese from a league source, which he later confirmed. Pennell had signed a two-year deal with the Patriots and had a base value of $5 million on that contract back in March. It's obvious that the Patriots had high hopes for Pennell, as a contract like that reflects how the team projected he would definitely be a part of

their roster. However, the emergence of incumbent Danny Shelton pushed the 28-year-old Pennell down the depth chart. And also, 2019 fifth-round pick Byron Cowart and third-year player Adam Butler have had flashes in the preseason. So Pennell looked to be the odd man out. And unfortunately, his playing deep into preseason game three against the Panthers on Thursday was not a good sign. But Pennell is not likely to be unemployed for long. He's 6'4", 330 pounds. He's a strong run stuffer and is definitely expected to command immediate interest from teams on the open market. So once again, defensive tackle Mike Pennell is out in New England.

But that's just scratching the surface of the Pats roster news this weekend. On Saturday, it was announced that tight end Lance Kendricks, who has been nursing some injuries as of late, has been suspended without pay for the first game of the 2019 regular season. And this stems from violating the NFL's policy and program on substances of abuse. Now, last month, Kendricks had received probation for a 2017 marijuana charge, for which he pled no contest. He is eligible to participate in all remaining preseason practices, and apparently he is

out there on the practice field as we speak, and also the team's final preseason game. He is eligible to return to the Patriots' active roster on Monday, September 9th, following the team's Week 1 game versus Pittsburgh. Now for the Patriots, this is upsetting, but it's not catastrophic news. Kendricks is at best on the roster bubble right now. And as, again, Mike Reese from ESPN pointed out, Kendricks has played a total of 48 snaps in preseason with two catches for 39 yards. Unfortunately for Kendricks, his highlight, or I guess if you want to call it a low light, was his getting called for a holding

penalty in the Pats' August 17th game against the Tennessee Titans. That penalty resulted in a safety. So at this point, there's no guarantee that Kendricks is going to serve that suspension in a Patriots uniform. However, if he is retained on the Patriots roster, he will miss the season opener on September 8th. So all in all, it'll be very interesting to keep a sharp eye on Kendricks playing time this week in practice and also whether or not he sees a ton of action in the Patriots preseason game on Thursday night against the New York Giants. If he does, it could be a sign that they might be willing to try to put him into the mix. If he doesn't, or if he's seeing time and it looks like he's laboring, it could end

up being a very brief stay for Lance Kendricks here in Foxborough. But the roster news wasn't all negative over the weekend. There were some good pieces of news as well, and we'll mix those in now. After spending Saturday at team owner Robert Kraft's home in the Cape, the Pats were back on the practice field on Sunday, and all eyes were on wide receiver Josh Gordon. Gordon showed up in full pads, and that sent Pat's social media into a frenzy. And this basically all but confirmed that Gordon was removed from the non-football injury list, and that paved the way for him to be a part of the team's game plan for the September

8th opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The news was confirmed on Sunday evening, and as was the news that he is also eligible to play in the Patriots' preseason finale against the visiting New York Giants on Thursday. Remember, Gordon was conditionally reinstated by the NFL on August 16th. The day after Gordon was reinstated, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said they would, quote, evaluate the entire situation and do what's best for Josh and the team, unquote. So apparently the team and the league have liked what they've seen from Josh thus far, and that's a good sign for everyone involved. So everyone in Patriots Nation is happy to see Josh Gordon return to the field, have liked what they've seen from Josh thus far, and that's a good sign for everyone involved.

So everyone in Patriots Nation is happy to see Josh Gordon return to the field, and we look forward to seeing what he can contribute to this team early on and beyond. Looks like he'll be able to start the season, and that is great news for Josh, great news for the Patriots, and bad news for the rest of the league. But at this point in New England, we're concerned with what happens at one Patriot place in Foxborough, and that's how we're going to continue to monitor this. Now, Gordon's return caps a pretty eventful week in the life of the 2019 Patriots wide receiver depth chart. One week ago today, fan favorite and Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman was activated from the non-football injury list, and he had been nursing a broken thumb. Looks like he is ready for action, and he should be ready to go on September 8th.

And on Tuesday, the day after, veteran wideout Demarius Thomas was activated from the physically unable to perform list after sitting out last year with a torn Achilles. Now, that kind of raised the eyebrow a little bit of some people that thought Thomas might spend some time stashed on that physically unable to perform list. Now that proves two things. One, it proves that Thomas is healthy

and that's great news for the New England Patriots and their wide receiver core. They can definitely use someone of Thomas's size and experience and partnering with Tom Brady is definitely a great way for Thomas to quote unquote ease back in to action after missing some significant time last year. But the other thing that it proves is that the Patriots do have plans for Thomas. It's not something where they're looking to stash him on that pup list. They're looking to either get him into game action and see what he can do, or I guess there is a possibility that they might be showcasing him either for a trade or a release or anything of that type. However, I don't see that happening with Thomas. I think the pedigree that he brings to this team will allow him to remain as a member

of that franchise. However, as everyone knows, in Foxborough, they dance to the beat of their own drum in the Patriots organization. And with Gordon and Thomas re-emerging as legitimate options in the Patriots offense, they faced a numbers crunch in that wide receiver depth chart and that came to a head on Sunday when the team announced that it would be releasing receiver Maurice Harris. ESPN's Field Yates was the first to report that. Now Harris was one of the standout performers in spring practice and generated a lot of early momentum in training camp but he did sustain an undisclosed injury on August 14th

during a practice with the Tennessee Titans, and he hadn't practiced since, and we hadn't seen him in any type of game action since. So Harris is out in New England, and as I previously stated, he was released with the injury designation. So it gives the Patriots the option, if he clears waivers, to put him on IR or possibly release him with an injury settlement once he clears IR as well. So this will be interesting to see what the Patriots do with him. All indications were that the Pat's Brass was very high on Maurice Harris, and in a lot of ways, I think they probably still were. But his injury, coupled with the fact that there just seems to be a logjam at the position now, made him the odd man out.

So, wish Maurice Harris definitely the best, because his versatility and his work ethic were something that were brought to minicamp and really rubbed off on a lot of the players, and he really did make a pretty good impact there. But Harris was not the only player that was waived with the injury designation over the weekend. Defensive end and hybrid outside linebacker Keontae Davis was also waived on Sunday with the injury designation. Now, Davis was originally signed with the Patriots as a rookie free agent out of Tennessee

Chattanooga back in 2017. He's got some size, 6'4", 280 pounds, and he did spend his rookie season on the non-football injury reserve. He made the 53-man roster coming out of training camp last year. Davis appeared in six regular season games last year with three starts and posted six tackles, showed some promise. However, he was inactive for 10 regular season contests and was inactive for all three playoff games. So again, a numbers crunch at those positions spelled the end for Davis in New England. And lastly, the Patriots made it official on Sunday,

placing core special teamer and linebacker Brandon King on injured reserve. Of course, everyone saw that King had injured his quadriceps in Thursday's win over the Carolina Panthers at Gillette. The Boston Globe's Jim McBride had reported that King missed the 2019 season with the injury on Friday morning, and on Sunday they made that official. Now, I hinted in the opening that the Pats weren't the only ones with roster news happening this weekend, and the headlines were definitely dominated by Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts, and rightfully so.

And today I wanted to take a deeper dive into what this might mean for the Patriots as the 2019 season is set to begin. However, before I proceed with that, I wanted to take a minute to address all you guys out there. And ladies, you'll appreciate this too. Now, this is a topic that's often taboo, but always commands your attention, and that is performance in the bedroom. Remember the days when you were always ready to go, guys? Well, now you can increase your performance and get that extra confidence in bed.

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Very, very late Saturday night, as the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears were actually playing a preseason game, in fact. Adam Schefter took to Twitter to announce that quarterback Andrew Luck would indeed be retiring from the NFL at age 29. Immediately, folks were scrambling to determine whether or not this was a fake account, whether or not it was inaccurate information, whether or not people were being hoodwinked, or however you want to colloquialize exactly how he was breaking this story. But eventually it came out that this was in fact true. Andrew Luck, at 29 years of age, was indeed retiring from the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts, citing the rigors and difficulties of not only the physical aspect and the toll that injuries

had taken on him, but also the emotional and mental toll that having to rehab from these injuries had taken on him all of these years. Without question, Andrew Luck is a generational talent. Since being drafted number one overall by the Indianapolis Colts in 2012, he came in with a great deal of hype. He was the guy that could not only win you games with his arm, he could extend plays with his legs. He was multi-talented and multi-faceted. He's a four-time Pro Bowler. He's the NFL passing touchdown leader in 2014. He finishes his career with 171 touchdowns, 23,671 passing yards in just six seasons worth of work. However, it is unfortunate that Luck's legacy may

be determined by the words, what if? It shouldn't be the case, but it probably will end up being the case because people are going to constantly wonder what if Andrew Luck had not had the health problems that he had over the years? Could he have gone down in history as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time? It seems that he had the talent to do so without question, but unfortunately his body didn't cooperate. And you saw on Saturday night when he had to deliver a press conference that it looked like he wasn't ready to deliver on that night. The emotion, the raw emotion of someone that loved the game, but unfortunately was just failed by his body, which had simply suffered too many

injuries for him to handle any longer. You saw a guy that had been through so much in his NFL career, not just with injuries, but also the criticism that he took with injuries as well. People questioning his toughness, which I think is absolutely ridiculous when you take a look at the laundry list of injuries that he's had to endure. It's my opinion that Luck has demonstrated toughness beyond belief in this case, but perhaps fittingly, he showed some vulnerability and even tears in a moment of heartbreaking candor during his retirement speech as he moved on from the game, cited his wife, his family, and a desire to be able to spend time with them and do so in good health and happiness. And I don't think anybody can begrudge Andrew Luck for wanting to do that.

Some will criticize the fact that he did step away from the game in August as opposed to doing this in February or March or even April. August is a very difficult time. You're setting your roster. You're wanting to go ahead and move forward with the guys that are going to be able to lead you into the season. And lost in all this is the fact that the Indianapolis Colts were very heavily touted as a potential suitor in the AFC this year. A lot of people were saying that with their defense,

with their improvements, that this was a team that could challenge the New England Patriots for the AFC crown this year. Now it's looking a little bit unlikely, although I still think they may be able to keep the ship afloat with Jacoby Brissett, a former New England Patriot that will now be their starting quarterback. Personally, though, I'm not going to attack or criticize Andrew Luck for stepping away from the game when he did. I don't think this is a guy that made a decision to intentionally injure or hurt his teammates

emotionally, I mean, or walk away from the team, leaving them high and dry. I think he legitimately tried to do everything he could, and his body and his mental capacity just could not answer the bell this time around. That being said, I've never played the game on the level of Andrew Luck or some of the former players that are criticizing him a little bit for this timing. So again, there will be a knock on Luck for choosing to retire in August, but ultimately to question this guy's toughness or his ability and say that he walked away and quote unquote being soft, I think that's absolutely ridiculous.

Andrew Luck is far from being a soft football player. He's far from being a soft human being. Here are some of the injuries that Andrew Luck has had to play through throughout his career. In September 2015, suffered a sprained shoulder. In November 2015, he suffered a lacerated kidney and a partially torn abdominal muscle, and he continued to play through this. In January 2016, there were reports of a torn cartilage that he had suffered in his ribs. He was playing through significant pain. He was going through a lot, receiving numbing injections at the time. In November 2016, he actually suffered a concussion. He returned to action one week later,

which was a Thanksgiving matchup against the Steelers, returned shortly after that. And then in January 2017, obviously, was the shoulder health, the torn labrum. It eventually shut down his season. In November 2017, he was officially placed on injured reserve and shut down, and he did have to miss that campaign. When he did come back to action in August of last year, it took him a little bit to get going, but luck showed signs that he could be the quarterback of old. He looked to be moving around well in the pocket. His arm strength was good. He was extending plays with his legs and looked like he had rebounded

from a very difficult situation. And then this past offseason, he suffered a calf strain. Started in March of this year in 2019 and seemed to just completely linger through mini camp and eventually through training camp. And it was that plus a lower leg injury combined with his knee that ultimately just made it difficult for Andrew Luck to suit up, put on the cleats and take the football field for one more year of action. So based on that, Andrew Luck walking away from the NFL at age 29 is surprising, maybe a little bit shocking, but it's understandable. And on a personal note, there's not always a lot of pleasantries

between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts, especially among the fan bases. There's the whole Deflategate thing. There's the whole rivalry between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. So there's a history between these two franchises, and it goes back a ways. But Andrew Luck is one of those guys I always enjoyed seeing compete on the field. He brought his game every single time he was able to do so on the field. And the way he played the game is truly something that the NFL is going to miss. Personally, again, I wish Andrew nothing

but the best of health, happiness in his future endeavors. And the game will miss him, but the game will move on. So the question really on all of your minds is, how does this relate to the New England Patriots? What does this mean for our team in Foxborough? How is this going to impact the New England Patriots moving forward? Well, it could definitely affect the team both on and off the field, starting with the fact that it seems to at least weaken the possibility that the New England Patriots would have another suitor for their AFC crown. The Indianapolis Colts, again, were very highly touted and put in that echelon of being a team that could potentially dethrone the Patriots in the AFC. Now, without Andrew Luck

under center, the Colts have to rely on Jacoby Brissett, and Pat's fans are very familiar with Brissett. He was a backup here for a little while, admirably filled in a little bit while Tom Brady was serving his suspension. But let's not forget that Brissett is first and foremost a backup. After all, the Colts acquired him in 2017 for the simple purpose of Andrew Luck having difficulty because of the shoulder injury. Brissett had two weeks to learn the playbook before taking over as the starter for the final 15 games of the 2017 season, and he actually did it pretty admirably. That was Chuck Pagano's last year as head coach. The Colts did go 4-11 in those games, and he's 5-12 as a starter overall, but he did throw for 3,500 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 7 picks in his career as a

starter. Now, there is reason to be optimistic for Brissette being better this time around. He has two advantages that he did not have in 2017. First of all, he does have the coaching of Frank Reich, which, with all due respect to Chuck Pagano, I consider an upgrade in that department. He will benefit from Frank Reich's coaching style, and he should see an immediate impact on Reich's game planning and strategy within the game itself. The other benefit is a significant upgrade from the abhorrent offensive line that the Indianapolis Colts have been putting out there for the last few years. Now recently they've made significant

upgrades to their offensive line. In fact, in 2019 they're actually fielding one of the best, if not the best, offensive lines in all of football. However, there were problems that existed long before Frank Reich and Chris Ballard took the reins. Under Ryan Grigson, a lot of people will argue that they never did enough to upgrade the offensive line. But this time around, Brissette will benefit from having a very, very stout offensive line

protecting him, and that may help in his productivity and what he's able to do on the field. Despite all of this, there is still rampant media speculation that the Colts will look for an immediate upgrade to their quarterbacking position, and we've already heard some names out there that are being rumored or bandied about. One of them is Teddy Bridgewater out of New Orleans, Ryan Fitzpatrick from Miami. One of them is Teddy Bridgewater out of New Orleans. Ryan Fitzpatrick from Miami. Because of the emergence of Josh Rosen, there's a possibility that they may look to bring him in. We've even heard rumblings about Eli Manning in New York, with Daniel Jones having

a pretty good preseason so far. A lot of people have speculated whether or not he might be expendable in the Meadowlands. None of these are likely to come to fruition, but there's always a possibility, and some of them are pretty to come to fruition, but there's always a possibility, and some of them are pretty intriguing. One possibility that directly affects your New England Patriots is the possibility that Brian Hoyer could end up in Indianapolis. Right now, the Patriots are carrying three quarterbacks. Tom Brady is the starter, folks. He's not going anywhere. He's entrenched. But a lot have speculated that because of the emergence of rookie quarterback Jared Stidham, that the Patriots might be looking to move on from Hoyer. A lot of people have speculated that he might be cut. But trading is also an option,

and the Patriots are not afraid to swing a deal. Don't forget, they traded away Brissette right around this time in 2017 to the Indianapolis Colts. It would be so ironic if they traded away another backup to them again to help them with their quarterback position. But Hoyer is an intriguing option. He does know the system that Frank Reich and the Indianapolis Colts employ. It's a short passing game based on quick reads, and Hoyer is very adept at being able to run a system like that. And he also brings

a good amount of veteran leadership, as well as game experience, that will help in tutoring Brissett as he prepares to be the Colts quarterback, if not in the long term, then definitely in the short term. And Brian Hoyer is a very good fit as someone that could help Brissett do just that. Ultimately, however, the Colts would have to show interest. They haven't done that just yet. We don't know if that's going to happen, but it's definitely an intriguing option. But in the final analysis, this does impact the Patriots when it comes to potential suitors in the AFC. The Colts were up there, and right now it's looking like they might struggle to even make

the playoffs at this point. I still think they're a playoff team. I still think they're a division contender. But in terms of being a contender for the AFC crown as a whole, that might be out. And it leaves the Patriots with one fewer suitor to challenge their crown. But remember, folks, they play the games on the field, not on paper. And if Brissette can show promise, or if the Indianapolis Colts are able to bring in a quarterback that is able to lead them as effectively as Andrew Luck could, this is a team that is definitely well-equipped to still be able to contend. So keep a sharp eye on the Indianapolis Colts.

They are probably the most intriguing team in the AFC as we speak. And lastly, before I wrap up today, I just wanted to take a moment on behalf of Locked On Patriots to congratulate Patriots Special Teams Captain Matthew Slater and his wife Shahzad on the birth of their third child, which was a baby boy. He joins their son, Jeremiah, and their daughter, Hannah. And I wish the Slater family the warmest of wishes of health and success for their newborn and many, many years of happiness ahead. As always, I will be back tomorrow as I take a look ahead to preseason game four on Thursday as the Patriots take on the New York football giants at Gillette Stadium.

Joy Manning of Time Out for Charity and Boston Sports Chick will join me to break it all down. So be sure to tune in tomorrow and make sure to join us each and every day on the Locked On Patriots podcast. And subscribe to your Locked On Patriots via your favorite podcast provider. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate. I thank you so much for listening today and have a great day, everybody.