Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots - August 9, 2019: Patriots/Lions Recap; Guest: Thomas Murphy

Episode Date: August 9, 2019

Thomas Murphy of Sports Infusion and One Patriots Place Podcast joins host Mike D’Abate as they break down the Patriots 31-3 win over the Detroit Lions in Preseason Game One. Stidham, Meyers, Skipper, Collins and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

and hello to all the Foxborough faithful and welcome to your Friday 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, and we have a great show for you today. Thomas Murphy will join me, and we're going to break down the Patriots preseason opener from Detroit and provide a little insight on what to watch for this week, both in Foxborough

and as the team transitions to Nashville for joint practices and a Saturday night date with the Tennessee Titans. But before I welcome in my guest, I want to bring you your Locked On Patriots lead story, and we begin in Detroit, where the Pats began the 2019 preseason in the same fashion in which they ended the 2018 season, with a win. Albeit it's preseason as opposed to a Super Bowl, I do understand that. However, a win is a win, and Patriots Nation is feeling pretty good this morning.

The defending Super Bowl champs opened the preseason on Thursday night with a decisive and dominant 31-3 victory over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. There were a few standouts from last night's contest. In particular, Jacoby Myers, the undrafted free agent wideout, caught two touchdown passes, looked very impressive. Rookie quarterback Jarrett Stidham looked pretty stellar under center. He finished the night going 14 of 24 for 179 yards. So all in all, an impressive debut for both Stidham and Myers.

However, there were plenty of reminders that this is indeed the preseason. Let's not forget, folks, neither Tom Brady nor Matthew Stafford started a quarterback for the Patriots or the Lions. Marquee names such as Julian Edelman, Stephon Gilmore, Danny Amendola, Trey Flowers, none of them were in uniform last night. However, those that did see action on Thursday, they made the most of their opportunities, as they should. Myers particularly stood out for New England, and he's been highly touted for a reason. He caught two scores, one from Brian Hoyer in the first quarter

and then another from Jared Stidham in the second quarter, finishing the night with six catches for 69 yards. Now, Myers has been really the camp darling thus far in Foxborough, and there's been reason for that. He's picked up the playbook very quickly. He's looked very comfortable running routes and being able to catch passes from multiple pass throwers in New England. We saw his chemistry build with Hoyer and with Stidham last night.

He's had great chemistry with Tom Brady in some of the practices we've seen both at Gillette and in Detroit for the past couple of weeks. So Myers will continue to grow. He did have a great game last night. It's going to be interesting to see if he continues to receive those snaps in the preseason as we head forward and the remaining three games. Still expect to see a lot from Jacoby Myers and really impressed from what I've seen from him so far. We mentioned Brian Hoyer, and I think he did his best job of trying to let everyone know that he's still here. He's not going to vanish without a fight, as President Whitmore said in Independence Day. He's there to fight, and he looked like he was doing so last

night. As a matter of fact, in my recap, I put reports of his demise are greatly exaggerated. Hoyer went 12 of 14 for 147 yards and two touchdowns. He looked crisp, operating the offense, looked to be very much at home. And that's something to keep an eye on because a lot of people have speculated that rookie quarterback Jared Stidham might be able to step in and take over Hoyer's job as Tom Brady's primary backup. I don't know if we've seen enough to necessarily anoint Stidham the new savior. However, he did have a pretty standout night last night. I think a lot of it was in regard to a very solid game plan by Josh McDaniels, really showcasing the talent that Stidham has

and putting him in the best position to succeed. But give him credit. He's had difficulty in preseason and in training camp holding on to the football too long. I think he's gotten a little bit better with each practice I've seen and also did a very good job of getting rid of the football fairly quickly last night. So I want to give him some credit there to Stidham. However, I think that we need to pump the brakes just a little bit

before we fit him for the red jacket in Foxborough and the Patriots Hall of Fame. He very well may end up there someday, and I'm not saying that he won't. However, at this point, I think it's a little premature to start saying that Stidham could step in and be the quarterback of the future for the New England Patriots right away. He's still a rookie. There's still progressions that need to be made. And don't forget, he did this against a lot of Lions backups last night. It's going to be interesting to see as he gets into some of the deeper preseason games, primarily game three, if he gets any time against some of the starters to see exactly what he can do

if they are in fact showcasing him for the opportunity to take over Hoyer's position. On the flip side, the Lions just were unable to find their footing. After wide receiver Jermaine Kearse was carted off the field early in the first quarter with a leg injury that was later reported as a broken leg, the Lions seemed like they just never, ever found a rhythm following that. And as for Kirst, you definitely, your thoughts go out to him. Five snaps in and the guy suffers an injury that likely is either going to end his season or put a severe, severe dent in it. You never want to see situations happen like this.

Ian Glendon from Full Press Coverage joined me yesterday. And we were talking about how you didn't want to see situations happen like this. Ian Glendon from Full Press Coverage joined me yesterday, and we were talking about how you didn't want to see injuries derail what this team was capable of doing, either on the Patriots' side or on the Lions' side. So definitely wish Kirst the best, and hopefully he'll be able to recover fairly quickly. But the Patriots definitely showed a lot of explosiveness on defense last night, and the linebacking core and the defensive ends in particular came to play, folks. Juwan Bentley, Chase Winovich, Jamie Collins, Byron Cowher,

all from the linebacking and defensive end core had sacks, and they really took turns in being able to knock some of these Detroit quarterbacks off of their feet. Looked very impressive, and this core is going to be fun to watch. Both really are going to be fun to watch, the linebacker core and the defensive end core as well. One guy that stood out particularly to me was Derek Rivers. And Derek Rivers has been a guy that a lot of people have been wondering whether or not he could crack this roster.

In my early roster projections, I actually had Rivers on the cutting room floor. I'm starting to rethink that a little bit. Rivers looked pretty impressive last night. He had two sacks, looked like he was explosive, getting after the quarterback, and looked comfortable within the system. So look for him to have a very heavy dose of playing time in game two. I think Rivers is really making a push for this roster, and I, for one, hope he does it.

I loved when they drafted him a couple of years ago, and hoping that he gets the chance to showcase what he can do. But the Patriots are now going to return home to Foxborough for a team practice on Monday. The team is expected to travel to Nashville on Tuesday for joint practices with the Titans, and then the two teams will battle in preseason game two on Saturday, August 16th. There were a couple of health concerns that you might want to keep your eye on this week in practice. Wide receiver Nikhil Harry, who is a first-round draft pick, again, very highly touted, looked great, very athletic on a couple of grabs from a Hoyer pass in the first quarter, but he walked gingerly off the field, really kind of strained the hamstring that he had been nursing earlier on this week.

It'll be interesting to see how he's practiced this week, if he does miss some time or if they bring him along slowly. Another guy to keep your eye on is tight end Matt Lacoste. Lacoste left the game in the second quarter with an apparent leg injury. Still waiting for some details on that, but these are two guys that you want to see how their workload's going to be managed, and that really I think is going to be telltale in terms of whether or not we'll see them this week or if they're going to be brought, not a whole lot. It's the preseason, and in-game action, really among mostly backups, is not always translatable to the regular season, and certainly not the playoffs. However, there were some standouts, both good and not so good, last night for the Pats,

and helping me to break it all down is my guest this morning. You know him as a featured columnist for DieHardBostonSports.com. He is the co-host of the Sports Infusion and One Patriots Place podcast, which really is truly one of the best casts in the region. He shares hosting duties with Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com. They do a tremendous job, and I love that podcast. He is my main green man and the incomparable Thomas Murphy. Welcome to Locked On, Patriots, this morning, Murph.

Thank you for joining me. Mike, thanks for having me, man. Thanks for having me. What a great transition from host to host you guys are doing here. It's just a fantastic job and I'm thrilled that you asked me on.

Well, thank you, buddy, and it's my pleasure to have you on this morning and thank you for the kind words. Mark sets the bar pretty high and I'm so glad that he did because it forces me to get better each and every day. So I'm honored that you're joining me this morning, and let's get right into it. I know our fans are definitely clamoring to hear your take on exactly what happened in Detroit last night. Some high spots, I kind of covered them a little bit going into the intro today. Jacoby Myers, obviously, Jarrett Stidham, Maurice Harris, I didn't mention in the initial intro going into this game.

Those are some of the guys that really stood out on the defensive side, definitely Derek Rivers, Juwan Bentley, Chase Winovich. A lot of people had their eyes on them last night as well. Who stood out to you on the offensive side and on the defensive side, both in a positive and a negative manner? On the offensive side, in a positive

manner, I've got to really take my hat off to my man Braxton Berrios. As I like to call him, Honey Nut Berrios. He was really amazing. This is a guy that a lot of people wrote off last year. I was not one of them. I was thrilled with the Pats picking him up,

and they kind of stashed him on IR for the entire year. He kind of had a Patriots flu, and he's had an up and down kind of camp but he showed last night what he's capable of doing in if put in the right situation and nobody does that better than Bill Belichick I thought he was fantastic out there uh he's out there for punts and kickoff returns he was catching passes he was just he was all over the field every time turned around, there's another bowl of Honey Nut Berrios, and I loved it. I did as well. On the downside, now a lot of people are giving him a lot of credit today, and after the game, I am not one of those people,

and that is, why am I searching for a name right now? I believe Dan Skipper is the name you're looking for. Yes, Dan Skipper is who I'm getting at. Thank you, the Skipper and Gilligan. Dan Skipper did a serviceable job last night against a non-pass rush, is what I'm saying. Folks are really pumping his tires this morning. What I saw from Dan Skipper was a guy who was able to bully around people because he was much bigger than them.

I don't like his technique at all. This is a guy who's out there, and he actually looks like a T-Rex. There's no extension to his arms. There's no bend to his knees. It was something that I feel the left tackle is still going to be a problem going forward if he is more than a swing guy on this team. I just don't like it. I don't want him protecting the blind side of Tom Brady for this season, please. Not more than a handful. So that's the good and the bad in my aspect, in my point of view from the offensive side. From the defensive side, what I loved was the resurgence of one Jamie Collins.

Oh, my God. It is great to see Jamie Collins sporting number eight. I think everybody was wearing number eight last night. And I thought he did a fantastic job. He's basically the strong side linebacker in base. He wasn't out there for long, but when he was out there, he really made his presence felt, didn't he? Absolutely.

I couldn't agree more. And, you know, Jerry Thornton of Barstool Sports put on there last night, and he said this could be the greatest sequel since Spider-Man 2. And you and I both know a great deal about sequels, so we're not going to get into that right now. We're going to go all about what holds the mantle for the greatest sequel of all time. But seriously, when it comes to Collins, you really see now the patience. And something that you didn't see early on, he still got that explosive burst.

And you saw him a couple of times burst out of the backfield, the defensive backfield for a linebacker, and get after the quarterback. He still has that athleticism that really made fans fall in love with him here in Foxborough for the first go-round that he was here. Second tour of duty seems more disciplined. He seems like he gets it a little bit more. He's more willing to be coached, and he's more willing not to kind of go rogue, which was, I guess, the knock on him when he was here,

that he would essentially go off and do his own thing. He looks very disciplined, and if this guy is locked in, and I think he is, I agree with you. I think this resurgence of Jamie Collins is really going to be a great, great addition to the Patriots' defense this year, particularly the linebacking core, definitely. If you liked what you saw last night, you are a football fan, and you are somebody that believes in this kid,

and I've always believed in this kid. I think his first go-around, he was looking to cash in a little bit, and Bill wasn't going to have that. He wants somebody on his team that's about the team and not about themselves, and right now it seems he's focused on team. I really like it. On the bad side of it, uh probably i've got i i hate to do it but i've got to hang hang a a frowny face on duke dawson he's still having a hard time understanding football

yeah i'm sorry go ahead no He missed a couple of assignments. He was a little crossed up on a play or two when he thought he was going to get some help, and he ended up running into some of his own players and causing a little traffic jam there. Yeah, Duke Dawson was probably my downside on the defensive side of the ball. With regard to Dawson, I actually am glad that you mentioned that, and I kind of do agree with you when it comes to that as well. There's so much competition in the Patriots secondary this year. The cornerback position, the safety position are loaded,

and you've seen guys that are really stepping up, playing very well. Terrence Brooks has been a guy that's really opened a lot of eyes since coming in as a free agent signing. Obi Mellenfo was really, I think, a guy that a lot of people had wondered whether or not he was going to be able to stay healthy and stay on the field. He's looked great so far in practice. Didn't see a whole lot of him last night, and I think that's a good thing because it allowed him to be able to transition

and be that type of player that they allowed him to be able to transition and be that type of player that they need him to be. Dawson right now is competing in a very stacked secondary and cornerback position. Keon Crossan's definitely come on and showed that he deserves a spot on this roster because of his special teams prowess. I think that's really one of the things that makes him one of the better guys in that group. So I do. I think that Dawson does have a little bit of a learning curve here. I think you're going to see a heavy dose of him in game two. I don't know if you agree with me

on that, but I think they're really going to put him out there, see what he can do. They have to really trial by fire with him and see what they're capable of with Dawson because there have been times where he's shown flashes of that explosive ability that made him a pretty high pick in last year's draft and showed that the Patriots had a lot of faith in the job that he was able to do coming out of Florida. But at this point, he needs to translate that on the field, and I agree. I don't necessarily think he's done that yet. No, he really hasn't. He needs to get on page with everybody else. It almost seems as if this game moves a little bit too fast for him. And after being in your sophomore season, I don't know if you can overcome that and be on a squad that, quite frankly,

is probably one of the deepest defensive backfields that I've ever seen. I don't want to put it in the same sentence as Seattle's Legion of Boom, but it's right up there. It really is. Absolutely agreed. And, I mean, it's funny to mention that because only a couple of years ago we were talking about with regard to the Patriots secondary as to how it was really one of the weaker points of their defense.

And the job that they've done being able to bring guys in that are capable of playing at such a high level uh starts really i mean with stefan gilmore we didn't see gilmore in the game last night but you know really emerged as one of the best if not the best corner in the league i mean there's some that make that argument and i really can't necessarily disagree with him on that you know gilmore's really really stepped up his game and then you flank guys on the outside such as jcC. Jackson. We saw him make a couple of explosive plays last night.

Jason McCourty's been a really forgotten guy in the secondary. No kidding. He was a very key cog last year in the Patriots making the big Super Bowl run. So you talk about depth in the secondary, not something that the New England Patriots really have to worry about. It's really more how do they get the guys in here that they think are going to round out this core most effectively, and cut down is going to be a very, very difficult position for them. It really is. It really is. What they're going to do with all this, I'm expecting

some very hard cuts and maybe a trade or two because I do believe that the talent is at a level where somebody else might be interested in it. You mentioned trades, and trades I think are definitely an interesting part of what the Patriots may do going forward. They're definitely not afraid to pull the trigger on trades, maybe more so than any other team in the league. And cornerback is definitely a position that they've looked to target in the

past via trades. We've seen Akeem Tlaib come in here during the trade deadline and positions that they've looked to improve. As we move forward and as roster cutdowns start to become more of a reality and we start to see this roster trimmed a little bit, is there a particular position now on offense that you think they may target in terms of trying to bring in a veteran? Is it going to be a wide receiver? Is it going to be a tight end?

We saw Cameron Meredith come in, obviously. He's on the NFI list, and he'll continue to make progress toward possibly getting on the field. Josh Gordon, obviously, is a wild card. The Patriots can't make any count on him to be a part of this roster this year. We all hope that he gets on the field and that he's healthy and in a good place to be able to do that. However, it's not something that they can count on.

So do you think they're going to target anybody on the offensive side of the ball? And if so, is there anybody you have your eye on? I'm really not sure about that. We have to really sit back and wait to hear what happened with Matt Lacoste today. Everything was kind of iffy, and he came off the field last night after an injury. If that's something significant with Ben Watson being out for the first four games, I can see them doing something there. But at left tackle, things are really thin on this offensive line as to who is going to be there.

If there's a trade to be made and they can do it and they can pull off a solid left tackle to come in here and spend a year. Somebody who's on short money, who is a proven professional, I could see them going in that way. But I do not think they're going to be doing anything at the wide receiver spot. I really love what we saw last night from everybody. We didn't see Elemental, of course. He was on the sidelines in a t-shirt. But I like what I saw from Inman, Nikhil Harry, Jacoby Myers was fantastic.

And I said Braxton Berrios got my game ball for last night. Yeah, and Berrios just was excellent in terms of being able to run routes. He looked quick, very formidable in the return game as well. I love what he brings to the table. So he's making a good push. I agree with you. And our good friend Dave Brown of the Concord Monitor, who's going to be joining me next week here on Locked On at one point,

made a good point last night in saying, I can't understand how people think this wide receiver court is thin. Look at the talent that's out there. And I agree with that. I think that's a great point. And really, I think that's going to be another area that's going to be a very, very difficult cut down for the Patriots moving forward. Murph, I really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me this morning on Locked On Patriots.

You will definitely have a home as a guest here any time that you want. I look forward to having you on. I know our listeners always look forward to hearing your takes on the team. Before I let you go this morning, can you just let me know, let our listeners know, too, where they can find your great work and where they can find you on social media? Oh, sure, guys. You can follow me on Twitter at TeamERF207. You can read all my stuff at diehardbostonsports.com. And of course, you can listen to my podcasts. You can listen to One Patriot's Place every Tuesday with my partner Steve Balistrieri. And, of course, the Sports Affusion with the one and only Pamela Michelle.

Thank you very much for having me here. If you find Damian Harris out there anywhere, please let me know. I was wondering where the hell he was last night and why we're wasting Brandon Bolden on a first-time, you know, made him look like a rookie, sending him out there in game one of preseason so much. But thank you very much for having me, and I'll talk to you soon. Oh, my pleasure. And you know, bottom line is, I knew we weren't going to get through this podcast without mentioning Brandon Bolden at least once.

Couldn't do it. I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to mention him a little bit more, but we will the next time that Murph comes on here. And I appreciate having you on this morning, buddy. Thank you so much for joining me. As for me, I will be back on Monday morning with a solo edition of Locked On Patriots. I've been sitting on a lot of opinions lately

regarding the Tom Brady extension, where he might be next year, and what will happen going forward. It's going to be something, if you're a Brady fan, definitely going to be something that you want to listen to, and I welcome feedback as to whether or not you think I'm right on the money or whether or not you think I'm wrong.

I'm not going to tell you which way I'm leaning. I'm going to ask you to download the show on Monday. So on behalf of myself, I really want to thank, once again, I really want to thank Thomas Murphy for coming on this morning. And again, I will be back on Monday. Make sure to join us each and every day on the Locked on Patriots podcast. And please subscribe to Locked on Patriots via your favorite podcast provider or visit us at lockedonpatriots.com.

Thank you so much for listening. Have a great weekend, everybody, and I'll see you next week.