Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots December 6, 2017 - Prime Listener's Questions and a Chat With Nate Geary

Episode Date: December 6, 2017

Prime Listener's Questions! Plus, a chat with Nate Geary from WGR in Buffalo about yes, Rob Gronkowski.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good morning, everybody. Welcome on into Locked on Patriots for Wednesday, November 6th. Mark Schofield here with you in the big chair as I am five days a week. Going to do something a couple of different things today. First, we're going to do some questions. Solicited some questions on Twitter, on Facebook, all over the place. Got some good ones here that I can dive into. Then a little bit later on the show, we're going to catch up with Nate Geary.

Nate is one of the on-air personalities at WGR up in Buffalo. He's also one of the hosts of Locked On Bills because, yes, we are still knee-deep in Rob Gronkowski discussion. So we're going to talk with Nate, get sort of the viewpoint from Bills fans, from everybody up in Buffalo, how they view what went down on Sunday. I know some of you might be tired of talking about Rob Gronkowski, but a story is a story. So we're going to keep covering that. But first, we're going to do

some questions. And I even got a little bit of an intro queued up for it. Let's fire that up now. Order questions to the Prime Minister, Thangam Debonair. Well, what can I say? I'm a bit of a history nerd. What can I say? I make no apologies for that. That's just a quick little clip from the beginning of Prime Minister's questions over the House of Parliament. What did Robin Williams call Parliament? Congress with a two-drink minimum?

Anyway, so we're going to do some questions now, and let's see what we got here. Question from Kyle Morgan, at NoHuddleScouts on Twitter. Give him a follow. Juju versus Gronkett. Would either or both be deserving of a suspension? Question from CS who is at CSSnyder128. Why did Gronk get the same punishment as Juju. Question from Richard Schrager, who is at R-S-S-C-H-R-A-G-E-R on Twitter. Is it true that Vontaze Burfitt called Gronk and said,

dude, now that was a cheap shot? See, we can't avoid the Gronkowski discussion. So I guess we're going to do this again, aren't we? In the football Twitter world, where the opinions and declarations come faster than a Tom Brady spiral, it takes a dedicated team

to sort through the internet and bring listeners to the Locked On Patriots podcast. Nothing but the freshest of takes. The dedicated men and women of the Timeline Takes division scour the internet to bring you nothing but the hottest football news, analysis, and opinion making. This is a special Robert Gronkowski edition of Timeline Takes. Look, if I went through the time to make that,

I'm going to use it more than once. So, again, here we are talking about Gronkowski. As I said, we're going to have Nate Geary on in a little bit. But in the wake of that Monday night game, we got now suspensions coming down for George Ioka. We got a suspension for Juju Smith-Schuster. And a lot of people have pointed to the fact that, at least with respect to Juju Smith-Schuster,

him getting one game and Gronkowski getting one game sort of equate the two actions. And as I said, I'm surprised that Gronkowski got the one game. Would have thought, looking back at it, that he would have gotten two, maybe gets it reduced to one. And it is somewhat surprising that the penalties are the same, given the fact that Gronkowski did what he did when the play was basically over. I know there's an argument to be made that no whistle had blown, but that play was over.

Meanwhile, Juju was trying to execute a block. Did he go in high? Yeah. Was there helmet-to-helmet contact? Yeah. Was there taunting? Yeah, but I don't think you're suspending a guy for a game for taunting. So I think it's another situation where the NFL is sort of trying to figure it out as they go,

struggling a little bit to do it. But look, those were the first three questions we got, so we had to do a little bit of Rob Gronkowski discussion again. Give those guys a follow on Twitter. Give Kyle a follow at NoHuddleScouts. Give CS a follow at CSSnyder128. And my buddy Richard Schrager. Look, Schrager is a Giants fan.

He's having a bit of a tough year. Give him a follow. He's at R-S-S-C-H-R-A-G-E-R. Give those guys a follow. Send it in some questions. We're going to get to some actual football discussion here. That's coming up right after I remind everybody about the great opportunity that you guys have with draft.com. What's the best part about fantasy football?

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The first one from Derek Benson who's over at InsideThePylon.com does some great work for us over there sending a question. What's wrong with the Chiefs and who wins that AFC West? Let's deal with these in reverse and as far as who wins the afc west let's start by looking at some schedules here

because i don't know if the chiefs hold on in this division you know they've got the raiders this week at home. They have the Chargers in what now looks to be like a huge game at home. They host the Dolphins, and then they travel to Denver to close out the season. So that's a pretty favorable schedule. Chargers, though, they host Washington. Then they travel to Kansas City. They travel to New York to play the Jets and then they host the Raiders so on paper it looks like the Chargers at least have the tougher schedule because Washington

that's trip game where Washington's coming West LA has to go out to play the Jets. Sort of one of those biorhythm games. But with the way that the Chiefs have been playing lately, they just can't seem to get it all together. And that was a near sort of meltdown situation near the end of that game against the Jets. And Andy Reid's given over the play calling. Marcus Peters is losing his mind in the end zone.

You're starting to wonder, is Andy Reid losing this team? I don't think we're there yet, but it just seems like things are spiraling out of control. And the Chargers right now seem to be coming on, seem to be putting things together. And let's remember, this was a team that started with a bunch of losses, but they were all one-score games. You know, they opened their season in Denver. They lose by a field goal. Their first home game against Miami, they lose by two.

Then they lose to the Chiefs by 14. They host the Eagles. They lose by two. That's looking like it's a quality loss, so to speak. But then they start winning. They go into New England and they lose by eight. That's a one-score game. They lose to the Jaguars by three.

I mean, so this is a team that's got some quote, quality losses to their record. They've got a decent resume. And with the way they've been playing down the stretch here, they've won three straight. I wouldn't bet against them. I think the Chargers end up coming out of the AFC West. And a lot of people pick the Chargers preseason.

It looks like their early season takes might end up being right in the end. But I do think the Chargers come out of the AFC West now, given what we've seen from kansas city and in terms of what's wrong with kansas city i wish i knew i can't figure it out they can't figure it out nobody can figure it out but it does seem like the chargers are coming on strong next question from at nick foletto also a very very valued member of the Inside the Pylon family. You can also check out him and Andrew Jordan do shows every week on Facebook.

You go to our Facebook page on Inside the Pylon. You can see them doing some fantasy football stuff. Sit, start, submit. It's a live show that they do, getting you ready for each game. They do some DFS stuff as well. If you're in the playoffs, you'll want to check that out. That Nick Folletto on Twitter, that's at Nick F-A-L-A-T-O on Twitter. And he asks,

Are the Giants a desirable destination right now for a head coach and a general manager? And I think without a doubt, yes. Now, let's look at some of the pieces you have in place on both sides of the ball for the New York Giants. Offensively, look, this is a team that's pretty set at the wide receiver position. You've got Odell. You've got Sterling Shepard, who's a nice slot piece. You'll probably need to figure out X. You know, that split end type.

Can Marshall come back? If not, can Roger Lewis? Maybe he's earned himself a shot at that spot. Running back position still sort of a question mark. Maybe Gallman comes on. I liked him coming out of school. Offensive line, it's struggling, but Flowers is serviceable.

I know he was sort of a punching bag early in his career, but he's been better lately. So you do have some question marks there. Defensively, you've got some nice pieces there as well. A quarterback, you do have Eli Manning. You've got Davis Webb. You've got Gen Webb you've got Gino Smith so there's some guys there you're probably gonna come into a

situation where you're gonna look for the next guy in the draft I do think that you know but this is a team that some people thought might be a playoff team and so there aren't a ton of things that you really need to figure out so I think it's a desirable position for both a coaching standpoint and a general manager standpoint. You know, and Nick goes on to ask, are guys like Eric DaCosta with Baltimore or Elliot Wolfe and Green Bay, those are two sort of assistant general manager

or director of player personnel guys, those two guys, would they be potential GM types? And they're interesting names. It would probably be tough to pry those guys away from their respective teams right now. I think people are looking at both of those guys as the heir apparent, both in Baltimore and Green Bay. I mean, Wolf is, you know, Green Bay lore.

I mean, his dad, Hall of Fame general manager for the Packers. DaCosta, I've got to mention, NESCAC guy. Played at Colby. He was coaching at Trinity the year before I got to Westland, so I didn't get a chance to go up against him. But, you know, now he's assistant general manager in Baltimore. I'd be surprised if you get those guys. But, of course, they're going to be talked to, I'm sure.

You know, the guy that I always mention is Louis Riddick. You know, formerly of Philadelphia. You know, now he's with ESPN. Just a brilliant football mind. Riddick's going to get another job soon. You know, and I think he would be somebody that would be on my list. You know, if I were in the Mara family,

Riddick would be the top of my call sheet. As far coaches i think josh mcdaniels makes a ton of sense you know i'm intrigued by mcdaniels going to either chicago or the giants because i think it's going to be a situation where you get a general manager in place you know the bears might look at the sort of mcveigh and golf model and try to duplicate that with McDaniels and Trubisky. Maybe the Giants do something similar where they bring McDaniels in, let him have some input on the QB spot, who they draft, but not have full control like he did out in Denver.

But I do think the Giants are a desirable spot. And hey, if you're a Giants fan, or in the organization and you need sort of a QB mind, you know, assistant, assistant, assistant general manager with a focus on quarterbacks, let me know. Just hit me up.

But give Nick a follow on Twitter at Nick Folletto. Next question here is from Ian McDonald. I gave Ian a shout out in yesterday's show, but please do follow Ian at I-A-N-C-M-A-C-D-O-N-A-L-D. And he asks sort of a Gronkowski-related question. You know, how will the Patriots sort of move on offensively without Gronkowski? Will they use the running backs to mitigate his loss, both receiving and blocking terms? Will we see more Deion Lewis between the tackles, more Gilleslie?

You know, what's the approach going to be? And I think that looking at Miami, this is a team that you just beat rather soundly a couple of weeks ago. You look at them defensively, they had problems covering the middle of the field. Now you miss some of that with Gronkowski being out, but this is still a bottom-type defense. I mean, they're 28th right now in DVOA overall,

28th against the pass, maybe 17th against the run over football outsiders in their DVOA stat. And they struggle against receivers. They struggle against tight ends. They're fairly decent against backs out of the backfield, at least over DVOA terms. But I still think that we're going to see sort of what we saw against Buffalo. You know, Lewis between the tackles, trying to establish the run a little bit.

They had some success running the ball against Miami. You know, maybe we'll see Hollister take on Moe of Raw as a tight end. But I think we're going to see some 10 personnel with 4 receivers and 1 running back. We might see some 20 with 3 receivers

and 2 running backs with both Burkhead and Lewis in the game. That might be the way they really mitigate it. Go without a tight end. You know, maybe this is a game where we see James White has to do some blocking, has to do some chipping. Burkhead has to do that as well. We might see some 20 personnel with Burkhead and White on the field at the same time. So that's kind of how I think they go about it.

Last question here from somebody I know extremely well well it's from carol scofield my mom at carol sco on twitter and she asks will we see malcolm mitchell come back off of ir and there's a reason mitchell is my mom's new favorite player because malcolm m a book. My mom was a teacher. My mom loves teaching young children how to read. It's what she did for years in the inner city schools in Boston

and Dorchester. So, obviously she's really warmed up to Malcolm Mitchell. She wants to see him come back from IR, but I don't know if we're going to see it. I think it might sort of depend on what we see from Chris Hogan here over the next couple of weeks. Can he get back into the lineup? But it just doesn't seem like they're going to bring him back yet. Maybe they're just going to put him on the shelf for next year because they like what they have right now. Now, guys could always get, you know,

guys could always get hurt down the stretch here, so it's still a possibility, but all things being equal, I don't think we see Mitchell back. But thanks again to everybody for sending in some questions. Really appreciate that. As always, if you've got questions, things you want to answer, hit me up on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Also, don't forget to check out LockedOnPatriots.com. New stuff

up there all the time. Got some stuff going up about quarterbacks because like I said, I'm a quarterback guy. Up next, going to talk with Nate Gary, revisit the Gronkowski thing from the Buffalo point of view. That's ahead right here with me, Mark Schofield

and Locked on Patriots. Okay, everybody, as promised, we're going to dive back into the Affair de Gronkowski. Joined right now by, and I'm serious when I say this, it's weird to say that, you know, there's a guy out there that I haven't even met who I consider a good buddy. This is Nate Geary of WGR, Locked On Bills. Nate, how are you, my friend? I'm doing well. Still recovering from, well, you know, I want to say still recovering, but it's 23-3.

It wasn't super close. You didn't beat us in heartbreaking fashion. So I'm better than I could be, but, you, in perspective, they, it wasn't close. So. Well, I feel I was on the air with you on your show on Saturday, and I feel like your expectations were sort of in the right place for what we're going to see on Sunday. You know, it was going to be a tough game for Buffalo home game chance to win it. You know, I feel like, you know, your heart was, your heart and mind were in the right place is what I'm trying to say. You know what?

Like, if you would have told me before the game, if during that show on Saturday I asked you and you told me that Tom Brady was going to have no touchdown passes and you told me that Tom Brady was also going to be held to nine points in the first half, I would have said, oh, brother, you're in trouble. But, yeah, didn't turn out so well after that. Didn't turn out so well after that didn't turn out that that way but something that of course has caught the attention i'd say of the football world was rob gronkowski going wwe on tredavious white and we've had to talk about it for a couple of shows now this week i wanted to bring you on to sort of get the buffalo viewpoint and you and i have talked before we hit record here there are basically three sort of questions I want to ask you. First, thoughts on what Gronk did from the Buffalo point of view.

Yeah, I think we're, especially as Bills fans, the ramifications of that has, you know, much more to do with sort of how Bill's players reacted to it than maybe the act itself. I think the act itself has triggered this longstanding thing that Bill's players don't stand up for one another. And it goes back to that hit that, you know, Jarvis Landry put on Aaron Williams that essentially ended his career last year. And he was one of the vocal ones about it.

Listen, I mean, it was a really dirty hit. It's, you know, Gronk's a local guy, and I can tell you a lot of people didn't appreciate how Gronk walked into the tunnel at the conclusion of that game. It sort of was fitting of Gronkowski a little bit at times because he's a little bit of a jolt. He's not one of those really witty guys. So sometimes this stuff can kind of go over his head. But it was an embarrassing look for a guy who, you know, torches his team on their home field every, you know, usually twice a year. But with family and friends there and the excuses really afterwards is really what left me a little not only puzzled, but, you know, I felt

embarrassed that just just the way that he sort of respondedled but um you know i felt embarrassed that just just the way that he sort of responded based on you know the fact that true davis white a rookie player in this league who's was holding you that you felt uh beholden to um you know take a shot at his head while he was on the ground i i just think you have to have some some self-awareness in the situation and certainly grok grok did not yeah nate i do want to ask you about that because had gronkowski basically come out after the game and said i screwed up i'm sorry i shouldn't have done it and left it at that would that sort of change things do you think because i feel like when he then came out and said well i've been held for seven years

i was frustrated i had the reaction that i did that almost made things worse i think yeah it definitely did i think i've left a lot of people especially in buffalo because i think a lot I was frustrated I had the reaction that I did. That almost made things worse, I think. Yeah, it definitely did. I think it left a lot of people, especially in Buffalo, because I think a lot of us were sort of expecting him to come out and really just apologize. And, you know, you heard Bill Belichick was talking to Sean McDermott at midfield after the game, and, you know, he acknowledged it. I don't know that it went as far as to say, you know, hey, sorry.

But, I mean, he certainly acknowledged, you know, the BS nature, if you will, of the play. But, yeah, no, I don't know that anything he would have came out and said would have ultimately made people feel better. I mean, Tredavious White's a concussion protocol. We don't know how long you're going to be without him. And the quarterback depth right now in Buffalo is very, very thin as it is. And he's your best defensive back, you defensive back outside of Micah Hyde. So it's a difficult pill to swallow, especially being in the hunt. And I think that's maybe what frustrates Bills fans more is that game was out of hand.

It wasn't some close game where somebody had been putting cheap shots on Gronk all game. A hole's a hole, but at the end of the day, you can't blame the referees and then use that excuse to take a cheap shot on a player like that. It's just unacceptable and not really something that I expected from Grock, to be honest. Yeah, I saw that they had Will Likely in, I think, to work out. So is there any update on White's condition and concussion protocol with him? He is in concussion protocol. I've heard that there's rumblings he probably won't play this week.

And, I mean, if that's the case, that's a huge blow to the Bills. Obviously, it's the Colts, so it's not as big of a loss considering how inept their offense has been. But regardless, I mean, he's your best cornerback. He's your corner one and has been playing really well as a rookie. You could probably slot him in the top 35 role right now across the league. And that's something for a rookie corner. So yeah, it's a big loss and we'll see what happens. I'm hoping it's more of a one week and done

injury, but you know, concussions are a serious thing and I don't know the severity of it. Although I will say 260 pounds with a metal elbow brace into the head shirt certainly I wouldn't doubt if it's two weeks yeah you know speaking of weeks and time away punishment handed down this week of one game you know as somebody that's on the air in Buffalo is the view on that that it was sufficient or insufficient? And building off of that, from what we've seen today with Juju Schuster, is there a feeling still that Gronk didn't get enough time? I think so. And I think that's maybe the sentiment I've seen a lot on Twitter especially.

Yeah, I mean, when you're comparing the hits, in my opinion, they're not comparable because the two fines or the two suspensions that were handed out today, both one game suspensions, were in the active. They were in the sort of realm of the football play where Gronk's was after the play, no relevance to a football, quote, football move. And that's the other thing you know this this wasn't a you know a shot to the top the crown of the helmet to the chin or a crack back block this was a blatant dirty play that isn't made in the you know the realm of a football game so yeah considering the the suspensions that were handed out today I I'm pretty disappointed that they didn't get to two so at the very least, you can always

bring that down to one game, in my opinion. I was surprised they upheld it, to be honest. Yeah. And that was kind of my thinking on it, Nate, was he was going to get to, probably gets reduced to one after the appeal. I was frankly pretty surprised that it was one, especially in the wake of what we saw with, you know, like you said, with Smith-Schuster, you know, it's a block. It's in the course of a game, in the course of a play. Yeah, there's Taunton, but you're not going to suspend a guy for Taunton. It just seems off, like so many things we see with the NFL. It just seems off.

Yeah, and the explanation, it seems off. And I mean, in the case of Juju Smith-Schuster, it's not to take anything away to the fact that, you know, the player he did it out is a notoriously dirty player. I don't think that has anything, I shouldn't play into anybody's thought of the hit. In my opinion, it's a hit on a player. Was it questionably close to the head and chin? I think it was close. In my opinion, I thought in the sort of speed of the game that that was a fairly clean hit. And I don't want to say you want to teach it that way, but if you're a receiver, I mean, that's sort of the name of the game inside the middle there because those guys are teeing off on receivers all the time. I mean, Perfect, you saw him do it a couple weeks ago against a defenseless receiver. So I don't know. It's so hit or miss. I just wish there was some more uniformity to this, something like a template that is actually followable because at this point, it's sort of just a kangaroo court. And I mean, it's been said before, but

concussions are a bad thing, obviously. I mean, I've had a ton of them. But at the same time, you need to have a course of action and there's really no plan to speak of. Okay, Nate, now let's sort of spin this forward because these two teams meet again in a couple same time you need to have a course of action and there's really no plan to speak of okay nate now let's sort of spin this forward because these two teams meet again in a couple of weeks do you anticipate any sort of maybe not retaliation is the word but any sort of action taken towards gronkowski and do you think the fact that there is that question about buffalo players sort of not responding plays into what we might see happen in a couple of weeks? You know, it's a good question.

I think it was Ryan Clark who was on Russillo the other day on ESPN Radio. And Ryan Clark is a former player in the league and worked out with Tredavious over the offseason and said that in a text message said, you know, basically that, I think it was quoted as the hoods after him. So I don't know that it's going to be anything that's going to happen in that Bills game at the end of the year. I think at the end of the day, a lot of people are sort of, I'll use the word privy to now what kind of player Rob Gronkowski is. And I'm in the belief that in football um if you send out a cheap hit at some point it's going to come back to you um but i don't think it's going to be from a

sean mcdermott coach team i i i think a lot like bill belichick um it's one of those things a very tight ship and and that's not the culture he's building here it's it's not a um you know i mentioned kangaroo court it's not a you know the players aren't running this thing, aren't running the show. It's McDermott. And I would suspect that there is no retaliation of any kind in that game. Maybe if it gets chippy towards the end, I could see it. But I don't see any one player going out there because if they do that, I really do think that they won't play again for this team. So that's how I feel about McDermott. We'll see if I'm wrong, but I would suspect nothing happens. He is Nate Geary. He is on the air in Buffalo on WGR.

He is one of the hosts of Locked On Bills. Nate, I'm going to turn it over to you before we go, before I let you go. Let the people know where to find you and anything you might have coming down the pike. Yes. So, of course, you can find me on Twitter at Nate Geary, WGR. It's G-E-A-R-Y. And, you know, obviously we've got ourselves a nice little podcast that's going to be breaking shortly, Intentional Scouting, so keep your eyes out of that. It'll be up at WGR550.com.

And, of course, as the Bills season comes to a close, most of my work is either up there or at LockdownBills.com or CoverOne.net. So I appreciate you having me on, Mark, and I'm sure we'll be talking soon, my friend. Sounds great, buddy. He is Nate Gehry. Please do follow him on Twitter at NateGehryWGR. I'm Mark Schofield. Be back tomorrow for tomorrow's crossover show with Travis Wadenfield of Locked On Dolphins getting ready for Sunday.

Until then, keep it locked right here to be, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.