Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots - August 27, 2019: Gronk, Andrews and More

Episode Date: August 27, 2019

Guest Joy Manning joined host Mike D’Abate to discuss the latest business venture for Rob Gronkowski, the health and future of David Andrews and the New England Patriots roster prospectus for 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 I am your host Mike DeBate and I cover the Patriots for fullpresscoverage.com which is where you can always find my written work, and you can reach out to me on Twitter at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-F-P-C, and while you're at it, be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter as well,

at L-O, excuse me, underscore Patriots. Today's show is one I have been looking forward to for a while. Joy Manning, a.k., aka the Boston Sports Chick, joins me today, and we're going to be talking about the Patriots' roster moves, their prospects for 2019, and also the great work that Joy does for her site Time Out for Charity. This should be a great show, and I really hope that you will enjoy it, and I'm sure you will. However, before I welcome Joy to the show today, we begin with some news items of the day. And breaking news this morning, just a little over maybe 20 minutes ago, former Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski held a press conference and he announced

that he would be partnering with a CBD company called Abacus Health Products to develop CBD products. Now, Gronk says that he's advocating for pro sports to allow players to use CBD products for recovery. For those that don't know, CBD is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid found in cannabis. Now, Gronkowski did address his future on a football field as well. A lot of people were speculating that this could have something to do with his future football plans. And Gronk didn't fully close the door to a return. He did say that he did not see it within the foreseeable future. However, he did leave the door open for a return if his body fully heals.

So to recap what Rob Gronkowski's press conference was about this morning, he will be partnering with Abacus Health Products to develop CBD products for the express purpose of athletes being able to heal. The news was not so good yesterday for Patriots captain and starting center David Andrews. Yesterday evening, Jeff Howe was the first to report that Andrews had been hospitalized with blood clots in his lungs. Around 10 p.m. on Monday, Jim McBride of the Boston Globe reported that Andrews had indeed been released from the hospital, but confirmed Howe's earlier report that he wrote in The Athletic, stating that he was treated for a blood clot in his lung. Now, Andrews had been attending practice sporadically as of late. That prompted reporters, even yesterday, to ask offensive line coach Dante Skarnecchia

about his status. When Skarnecchia was asked specifically about Andrews' health on Monday, Skarnecchia about his status. When Skarnecchia was asked specifically about Andrew's health on Monday, Skar responded, we'll find out. And that response ended up being as telling as it was cryptic. The ramifications for Andrew's long-term health are unclear, but he could miss the entire season, according to the report. At the very least, it looks like he'll be missing significant time during the 2019 season. Now, Andrews has been one of the most durable players on the Pats roster. He won the starting job in his rookie season in 2015 over then-incumbent Brian Stork, and he's been New England's starting center ever since.

That's a period that includes three Super Bowl appearances and two victories. He was named team captain in 2017 and is among the most respected players in the locker room. So needless to say, this is a tough blow for the New England Patriots. Aside from the obvious concern over Andrew's health, which is always first and foremost, it's also presenting a challenge for the Patriots, considering his rapport with quarterback Tom Brady on the field in the 2019 season, about to begin in just under a week or so. Backup lineman Ted Karras is assumed to be taking over the starting center duties in Andrews' absence.

The report indicated that Karras would most likely be the choice. And he's entering his fourth season as a backup. He's been a spot starter on the interior line with the Patriots. He has filled in for not only Andrews when he had to miss time in 2017, but he also started a couple of games in 2018 for right guard Shaq Mason. The Patriots' top option to replace Andrews at center is definitely Karras. However, if Karras struggles, rookie fourth-round pick Yelda Frohold, veteran James Ferentz, and undrafted rookie Tyler Gothier could be options as well.

Doug Kyatt of Nesson detailed a lot of this last night in a piece that explained what the Patriots could do and who they might look to. Now, Karras has played a ton of snaps at center this preseason. He's only let up two pressures. We actually heard Dante Skarniecki say that yesterday, that Tom Brady had played with a number of centers during a training camp. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels reiterated that as well. So with these guys, they do have options on the offensive line. It's unlikely that they would look elsewhere, meaning beyond the organization, for any type of offensive line help to help right away. Now, that's not to say that

they might be in the market for guys to add for depth positions. We'll see. However, there are drawbacks. Frohold does have an upside. He's a fourth-round draft pick, but offensive line coach Skarnecchia said yesterday that this was probably going to be a work in progress with Yelda. He needs to start playing with more discipline. He has four holding penalties in three preseason games, and he's let up a sack in three hurries, so he does need to play with a little more discipline. Ferenc has never started a game since coming into the NFL in 2014. He's played center and guard, but he has had some issues with letting up sacks. He's allowed a couple of quarterback hits and a couple of hurries.

And Gothier is somebody that doesn't have a whole lot of experience playing in the Patriots system. He's still getting his feet wet, so to speak, with that. So it is going to be a difficult road for the Patriots to replace David Andrews. However, the one thing Patriots fans can take solace in is Dante Skarnecchia is the offensive line coach. There is not a better guy equipped to handle difficulties on the offensive line than Skarnecchia. He'll have a plan in place, and he will put it into action. Without question, all of Patriots Nation is hoping for the best for David Andrews. He was deservedly named a captain the past two seasons.

He's one of the most respected members of the Patriots locker room, as I previously stated, and he's a true fan favorite. The images of him shirtless on a duck boat in February for the Super Bowl 53 parade in Boston are indelible. But health scares like this transcend football, and it's a reminder of just how fragile life can be at times. On behalf of Locked On Patriots, I would like to wish David a speedy and complete recovery, and we hope to see him back on the field someday soon. My sincerest hope is that he continues a long, bright, and healthy future alongside his family for many years to come.

Now, in just a moment, I will welcome my guest, Joy Manning, to join me today, but I first wanted to take a moment to remind you all about DoorDash. Have you had a long day at work? You still stuck at the office? Well, open the DoorDash app and choose what you want to eat, and your food will be delivered to you wherever you are. Right now, our listeners can get $5 off their first order of $15 or more when you download the DoorDash app and enter promo code LOCKEDON. That's promo code LOCKEDON. My guest this morning not only has a strong passion for Boston sports, but also a gift for insight and analysis that make her reads some of my favorite in the region.

You know her work from the sites BostonSportsschick.com and Time Out for Charity, which brilliantly centralizes information on some of the most popular and successful charity events in New England. It's my pleasure to welcome my friend Joy Manning to Locked On Patriots. Good morning, Joy. Thank you for joining me today. Good morning, Mike. Thank you for having me. Oh, my pleasure. Absolutely. And something, like I said, that I've been looking forward to for quite a while and we definitely have a lot to talk about this

morning there is no question about it uh whether it be the information on rob gronkowski and david andrews and not to mention the fact that the patriots also do have a preseason game this week that uh you know they need to play play on Thursday in order to get ready for their season opener on Sunday, September 8th against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I guess I'll put you on the spot very briefly this morning just regarding the Rob Gronkowski news that just broke just a little while ago. Were there any expectations on your part that this could possibly be an announcement about football or some sort. Most people were kind of negating that.

They were saying that Gronk's announcement was mostly going to be about something that he was going to be doing in his personal life or professional life that didn't involve a football field. And based on his statement, do you possibly foresee now, are you a little more optimistic about maybe seeing him back on the field someday? I wasn't really totally surprised, I guess, but I was actually, I liked what he came out to talk about because I'm also, one of my big interests is natural medicine. I've always, I think last year before we knew he was going to retire,

and I thought in my head maybe he'll retire but then he'll come back. But then once that became so popular, I kind of stepped away from that idea. Right. But now when he had said maybe take a year off, that kind of goes along with him letting his body get a lot smaller, not in football shape, because, you know, with back injuries, one of the things that they always want the patient to do is to lose weight. You know, just because it's muscular weight doesn't make it any easier

for your back to actually try and heal and to get your discs and vertebrae where they're supposed to be. muscular weight doesn't make it any easier for your back to actually try and heal and to get your discs and vertebrae where they're supposed to be. So I'm very intrigued by what he had to say, and we'll have to see what happens in the future. Yeah, I was as well. And I mean, I'm looking on just on social media and on Twitter and some of the reactions that people are getting, and they say, oh, well, CBD and Gronk, it's a real, it's a match

made in heaven. But when you take a look at natural say, oh, well, CBD and Gronk, it's a real, it's a match made in heaven. But when you take a look at natural medicine, and I'm glad that you brought that up, it does seem to be a very good fit. In terms of what Gronk has had to deal with in his career, whether it be the back injuries or whether it be leg injuries, this guy's really gone through a lot within the course of his young career. So it's definitely good to see that he's seeking as much relief and as much treatment as he possibly can and using the platform that he has to be able to give back.

And CBD is definitely up and coming. I know the company that he's partnering with is called Abacus, and I talked about that in my opening monologue. But essentially, this does give him the opportunity to ascend to a further level and be able to do what he's doing, at least on a professional basis. And he did leave the door open for a return. So you know that people are going to be chomping at the bit to see when he might be back on the field. I'm still not convinced he's totally going to be back, but I feel a little more optimistic this morning

than I have in a while about the prospects of seeing him back someday. Staying on Patriots' health and the health of their players, either retired or current roster, I know that you were probably as surprised and as disappointed as I was last night to hear the news about David Andrews. And seeing Jim McBride's report around 10 o'clock that he had been released from the hospital was definitely good news and a step in the right direction. But David faces a pretty steep recovery and a very long recovery for injuries of this type.

What are your thoughts on David? Do you believe that there's a possibility that we could possibly see him back on the field this year? Or do you think 2019 is pretty much lost for him right now? I think 2019 is pretty much lost. I actually, my boss went through the same situation a couple of years ago and it was rough on him and he wasn't trying to play football. So this is just, you know, this isn't like any injury where, I mean, all of us that played sports probably have some aches and pains from some injury back then. This is, you know, this is your life. This is breathing.

This is essential. You can't, you know, you can't chance that. Yeah, absolutely. And I completely agree with that. And having him possibly one of the biggest treatments that they use for blood clots is having you on anticoagulants or blood thinners. And I can't imagine someone in a position of being an offensive lineman charged to protect guys like Tom Brady and guys like Sonny Michel

and having to step in front of these defensive linemen that are just these wrecking machines, essentially, to be able to protect these guys. The hits that he would take while on an anticoagulant would just be life-threatening, and he cannot and will not be on the field while taking those. But even when he does come off of them, assuming he can come off of them sometime within the not-so-distant future, your body still has to build back up to being able to take hits like that. So I agree with you.

I think 2019 is likely lost for Andrews. Football aside, and I said this earlier, you wish him the best in terms of his health and in terms of what he's able to do. He really is one of the more stand-up guys on that roster, and it was definitely disappointing to see him go down the way he did. So I agree with your assessment on Andrews and just hope that we'll see him back on the field pretty soon. Switching gears a little bit, Joy, your site, bostonsportschick.com, I've always been a big fan of this, even before we had a chance to meet and get to know one another. And you offer some of

the most insightful pieces around, and I always enjoy reading them. At present, you're running actually a roster competition contest that's generating some buzz on social media. And I was hoping that you could take a moment to maybe update our listeners on what that contest entails, how you might enter,

and also an opportunity to drop some of your pearls of wisdom as to what might happen with the Patriots roster because we've seen some comings and goings as of late, some players that we thought were roster locks are now no longer here. So it's difficult to really predict what Bill Belichick and company are going to do. So the floor is yours if you want to just give us a little bit of background on that contest and also take a moment to talk a little bit about the Pats roster in general.

Oh, thank you. The contest that I'm running basically comes from the past couple of years, really, since people have really taken to Twitter to talk about sports and people who just like to give their two cents on who's going to make the roster, who isn't, people all through the summer. This is my roster as of June. This is my roster as of July. This is my roster.

So it's a fun thing to do. And I just figured this was a good opportunity to have people have the opportunity to give a roster and have the opportunity to also give to charity if they choose. So the contest I put together is twofold. One thing everyone does need to do if they want to enter is come up with a 53-man roster. Don't give me 54. A 53-man roster and then to try and break some ties that may occur.

After that, give me your next person to break the tie that may be on the roster, your second person, and your third person. Hopefully, if there is a tie, it can be broken by those picks. The rosters

are due by this Friday at noon. On my website, it tells you where to send them to. My email address that you send it to is joymanningnfl at google.com. So if you want to enter the contest, you just need to send your roster

there. If you want to just take the Patriots roster and highlight your people and then number one, two, three, and take a picture, that works for me. You definitely don't want to have a mistake because you typed Tom Brady's name twice. It only gets to count for once. So if you enter and you don't feel like possibly donating to charity or winning some money, you have one free entry which the winner will get a painting that I will do for them because I also do like to paint. So you tell me what you want me to paint, generally sports related, and I will paint that for you and get it delivered to you.

If you do want to donate to charity, then there's a $10 entry fee. And it's going to basically be a 50-50. Whoever has the closest roster to Bill Belichick will get 50% of the money that's taken in and the other 50% is going to go to one of the Patriots charities. I may have the winner decide which one they like the best. As always and that's awesome. I actually didn't know that about you about about the paintings and the artwork that you do, and that's amazing and really such a great opportunity not only to interact and kind of get your information out there and take a shot at being able to predict the Patriots roster. I know all fans really love to do that. Roster predictions are some of the most read articles across the

sports media landscape. I always have a difficult time putting a lot of stock into roster predictions simply because you can never really predict what Bill Belichick and company are going to do up in Foxborough, but it is definitely a good opportunity for fans to be able to do that, and I think you're giving them such a great platform. And also, really, the thrust of this is being able to donate some much-needed funds for charity. And staying on that subject for a second, I just wanted to go ahead and to commend you for some of the great work that you do with Time Out for Charity. And charity and sports really

seem to go hand in hand. We see so many events which athletes donate time and money to support so many great causes. And the thing that I love so much about your site, Time Out for Charity, is it does an amazing job of centralizing each of these events. And you provide great coverage for so many of them that occur throughout the year. I just want to put you on the spot again just to give our listeners an opportunity to tell us a bit about the site and what are some of the events that are coming up and some of the things they can expect to see when they visit timeoutforcharity.com.

Thank you. The Time Out for Charity website is basically a calendar that I update whenever I find out about an event that has to do with charity and local New England athletes. So in the summertime there's a lot of golf tournaments that happen that you can sponsor, be involved in a foursome. Some of them you can pay to just go watch. So there's kind of something for everybody's price range. There's actually something I thought of years ago when I think I saw Tom Brady's

Best Buddy football event as it was going on. I'm like, oh, geez, I wish I would have known that was happening. And I kept thinking someone should make a website, someone should make a website. And about a year and a half ago I decided, well, why don't I do it? So I go through just basically searching for events, and sometimes people will send me one, and I just add it to a calendar that keeps it updated. Some of the really fun ones that are coming up is on September 9th, Dante Hightower holds one of the most amazing events.

This one is a little more expensive, but you get your money's worth. It's $500 to go watch Monday Night Football with Dante Hightower and some of the other Patriots. I believe there's tickets still available. This goes for American Diabetes Association. And when I told people what this event was like, I said, it's like going to a wedding and the other family is the Patriots. It's basically that.

It's basically you're sitting around eating and you can just go up and talk to the different players and you get opportunities to get autographs. It's just really phenomenal. Also with the Patriots, there used to be the Mayo Bowl, which was bowling,

and that has been given over to James White, Sweet Feet for Strikes. That's going to be September 16th. Again, that's another great event where you can get the opportunity to bowl. I think some of the bowling opportunities, there may not be many of those left because it's right around the corner, but you can also just go and visit and watch. And that one I think is like, I believe it was maybe $50. So like I said, lots of great opportunities for everyone's price range. There are definitely, like I said, different ones if you have a company where you can get involved with it, or if you're just an individual.

And I always look at it. These are great events to look forward into the calendar. And when you're that hard to buy for person, take them to one of these events. That's going to be so much better than giving them a $50 gift card to their favorite store or the restaurant where this gives you just a great opportunity. It is. And the opportunity to give back is really so poignant in today's society. And like you said, rather than a $50 gift card, you spend time. It's a night that you'll never forget or a day that you'll never forget, depending on when the event takes place, and you're giving back to charity. And again, like I said, I think centralizing these and the work that you do covering

these and sending out information on social media is excellent. It brings so much awareness to these causes and these great charity events. So definitely between Boston Sports Chicken, Time Out for Charity, check out the great work that Joy has done here and you definitely will not be disappointed. Joy, before I let you go today, I did not want to let you leave the hot seat without you being able to give your opinion on some of what the Patriots roster might look like this year. You offer great insight and great analysis on the New England Patriots,

and I always value your opinion. In terms of what we're seeing at the skill positions and a little bit even on defense, who are some of the guys that you have your eye on to be possible roster additions? And we've already seen some surprise cuts between Mike Pennell, Maurice Harris, who did clear waivers, so he's reverted to IR. Technically, he's back on the Patriots IR. But we've seen some guys that we thought were definitely going to be a part of this roster

that aren't going to be in 2019. What's your thought process on this? And who might we be missing under the radar here that could end up being a contributor to the Patriots in 2019? Obviously, with last night's news and a little bit of a shakeup that's going to happen with the offensive line, along with Brandon King's injury, that makes me really think that I need to pay a lot of attention to this Thursday night's game, which usually is one that there's not so much that you're looking for. So my roster is not complete.

I do have a couple spots open for those last-minute guys that may make their way in via special teams. Some surprises that I'm thinking, I wrote about it last week. I'm thinking we may go with two quarterbacks, and Hoyer may be the odd man out. I did have a theory on that. I mean, I don't think they would trade him. I just feel like he's done so much for the Patriots, and we don't have an obvious need of someone we could go get. So to trade him for a pick, again, we have a lot of picks. I just don't think they would force him to go somewhere. I think by cutting him, that gives him the opportunity to choose his next move

and possibly just saying, you know, we can't keep you on the roster, you know, stay in football shape. If we need you, you will be the guy we're going to call. If a great opportunity arrives for you and you want to, you know, displace your family and go for it, then, you know, the ball's in your court. I just, I don't know. I just have a feeling that may happen.

I'm also feeling like Berrios, he's kind of more so in the bubble than most people may think. And I'm liking Gunner. I'm liking Gunner. I mean, I don't know if it's just because I love his name, and he plays a lot of special teams, or I'm liking what I'm seeing from him. He really is. He had

a tremendous game on last Thursday against the Carolina Panthers, running and doing punt returns, and selfishly, I'm hoping that Gunner makes the team, because every time he makes a move, I get to trot out one of my favorite internet memes with Dark Helmet from Spaceballs basically with him leaning into Colonel Sanders and saying, who made that man a gunner?

So every time I look at that, I always hope so. I'm hoping that he makes the team for that reason. No, I'm just kidding, folks. Gunnar Roschelski's done a lot to be able to make this team this year, and if he does earn a spot, it will be well-deserved, independent of my stupid sense of humor and liking Spaceballs memes. But I do agree with you on a lot of aspects. I think Hoyer could be a cut like you said, and I think it would have to be the most ideal situation if they were to trade him.

I think they would probably get his input, to be honest with you, to find out if that was going to be a good fit. We saw them do that with Harris, and we saw them do that with Ryan Allen, and some of the guys that they really, really respect, trying to get them the opportunity to fit into a system that they not only are like and comfortable with, but also give them the time to do it before the massive cutdowns this weekend, and then it's like the market opens up all of a sudden,

and it's like free agency all over again. So interesting insight. We'll see if you're right, and we'll be on the lookout for Joy's roster predictions shortly, you know, over the next couple of days, and we look forward to it. So, Joy, thank you for joining me today. I can't thank you enough for coming on and lending some of your insight, not only with the websites that you have, but also the analysis that you do for the Patriots.

Before I let you go today, I just want to give you an opportunity to let our listeners know where they can find you on social media, and also just a reminder of where they can find your great work. Yes, where they can find me on social media, probably best, most interactive would be my Twitter account which is obviously at BOSsportscheck. And like I said, both my websites do link to each other.

So if you find one, there will be a link to the other. My blog is www.bostonsportschick.com, and the timeout for charity is www.timeout4charity.com. So those are probably the easiest ways to reach me. And like I said, they do link to each other. Awesome. And like I said, I definitely recommend not only following Joy on Twitter because of her analysis and insight, but she's an entertaining Twitter follow as well. Some of the comments that come out of her Twitter page are definitely entertaining.

Highly recommend that. And definitely the websites, timeoutforcharity.com and bostonsportschick.com definitely check those out you will absolutely be glad that you did and again joy i thank you for taking the time to join me today as well as for me i will be back tomorrow as we continue to take a look ahead to pre-season game four on thursday as the patriots take on the new york football giants at gillette stadium as always make sure to join us the Patriots take on the New York football Giants at Gillette Stadium. As always, make sure to join us each and every day on the Locked On Patriots podcast

and subscribe to Locked On Patriots via your favorite podcast provider. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate and on behalf of Joy Manning, I thank you so much for listening to us today. Have a great day, everybody.