Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots June 12, 2018 - Edelman Redux, Gilmore's Hang Time and "The Blind Side"

Episode Date: June 12, 2018

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Hello and welcome to Lockdown Patriots for Tuesday, June 12th, 2018. Mark Schofield back in the big chair for this Tuesday edition of your favorite Patriots podcast. Before we dive in, a reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. You can follow the work over at InsideThePylon.com, where I'm one of the lead writers. You can follow the work at ProFootballWeekly.com, Bleacher Report's NFL 1000 project, and a host of other places.

On tap for today's show, we're going to have our top defensive player of the 2017-2018 Patriots season. We're going to talk Michael Orr, Le'Anne Tsuie, and the blind side. But first, I was all set, ready to go. I had some topics locked and loaded and ready to break down, to continue in our storyline series. We're going to move to the AFC South, which should be a fun division this year, but it's time to revisit the Edelman suspension. And what's amusing, at least to me right now, is when people ask me, you know, friends, family members, other people, you know, what are you going to be talking about? You know, and you're doing basically a daily Patriots

podcast over the summer. What are you going to be talking about each day? And I'm like, well, something will come up and stuff keeps coming up. News coming out Monday afternoon, Monday morning, actually, that the substance that Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman was suspended for has scientists analyzing it because they essentially don't know what it is. Albert Breer, a Monday morning quarterback, wrote that, quote, I know what Julian Edelman posted on Instagram in the wake of the suspension news came off as a little weird, but there is an explanation for it. I was told Edelman's result was triggered by a substance that wasn't immediately recognizable,

and there are scientists analyzing it. Breer continues, and as to the timing, the test did happen during the off-season a couple of months ago, which means it's not for any kind of stimulant. You might remember the rash of players saying that they got popped for Adderall. The rules have changed now so that off-season use of stimulants falls under the substances of abuse policy rather than the PED policy. Now, as we know, Edelman has appealed the suspension. And I don't want to have to put the lawyer hat back on, but I will for a moment and say this, if they can't figure out what it is and they're analyzing it, you might see a case where Edelman could have an argument that if you can't tell what it is, how can you

suspend me for it? So that's one issue. Another issue is when this sort of first broke, my initial thought was, could this be more of a masking agent than anything else? And as you know, the NFL, they do test for masking agents. There are also situations where you can get a positive test if it's a diluted sample. The reason being there, look, if you actively do things to dilute the sample, consume tons of water, consume other types of masking agents that dilute the sample, we can suspend you for that as well. Because if you've taken that active affirmative step, then well, look, there's probably something to hide. But it doesn't seem like, at least in here right now, that that's the issue. Could there be a new type of supplement, a new type of herbal thing or whatever that the NFL hasn't caught up with? And that's something also to remember with instances like this, is that the test in science always lags behind the supplement and enhancement science.

As testers, as test and agents, you're always chasing down and playing catch up. So there is still the possibility that Edelman did something here that is probably suspension worthy, but it's going to take some more time to figure it out. It's just, this offseason continues to be crazy. And this is just one more instance of, it's never clear. It's never cut and dry. Life is filled with gray areas. And it seems like with respect to the New England Patriots, another one is upon them. Now remember, the Patriots faced the potential of being without Edelman for the first four games of the season. Houston, Jacksonville, Detroit, and Miami.

As I talked about when this suspension was first announced, that's a tough stretch. You don't want to be without one of your best players for any stretch of games. But now he's going to be missing potentially the first four of the season, four tough matchups, and that would be 20 games without Julian Edelman. 16 regular season games. Actually, more than that because you've got the 16 regular season games and the playoff games last year, well, two years ago now.

So they might be without Julian Edelman for a long time, which, as I also mentioned, has some benefits to it. He's coming back from injury. It gives him more time to recover. He's coming back from injury. It gives him more time to recover. He's 32. A lot of mileage on those legs for the Patriots slot slash Z type receiver. So the chance to get him rested up,

there are some benefits to that as well. It continues to be a crazy situation. And of course, we here at Locked On Patriots will stay on top of it. Other than to note, of course, the rumors about Robert Gronkowski, they are still sort of swirling about. I talked about that a little bit at the start of yesterday's show.

Adam Kirchhen, who broke those rumors, that rumored trade, perhaps vetoed by Tom Brady. He broke that on Friday. He was on WEI and other outlets on Monday defending his report. And I will again reiterate this. And Alex Reimer over at EEI, he wrote something which I think touched upon this as well. Adam's not going to go live with this for fame and glory. Because in this sort of media market right now, in this sort of high, fast-paced Twitter age, a story like this that blows up

might get him a couple thousand more followers on Twitter. At what cost, though, if he does indeed make it up? So the idea that Adam's going to basically torch himself, I just can't buy it at all. Think about it for a second. If you were in Adam's shoes, that's pretty much if you make up a story like this and go out there with it with nothing to stand on and basically lie like that, you know, you might start looking for a career change. So I can't imagine for the life of me that that's what Adam did here. So there you go.

Start to the show. All sorts of fun room is, as always, here in Patriots Nation in Foxborough, and having talked a little bit about enhancing performance, let's do a little bit more of that, my friends, and as you know, this show is all about helping people. We talk about help all the time, helping Tom Brady, helping each other here on this show, whether it's reaching out to people, whether it's book club stuff, movie stuff, recommendations, all sorts of things. We're always about helping people. So guys, let's talk here

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And again, that's bluechew.com, promo code LOCKEDON to try it free. Blue Chew is the better, cheaper, and faster choice for you. We thank them for sponsoring the Locked On Patriots podcast. Remember, bluechew.com. Use the promo code LOCKEDON to try it free today. Ahead, we're going to talk our top play of the Patriots 2017-2018 season, as well as the blind side. That's all ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.

It's man-to-man. All three receivers over here. All three corners over here. Stepping up and throwing, and it is knocked down by Gilmore! What a play by Gilmore. You're going to see him step up. The safety's right here.

He gets behind him. And Westbrook has a step. It's really a pretty good ball by Bortles. Gives him a chance. It's just an incredible defensive play by Gilmore. Just an incredible play. It was a good throw. Bortles did a great job.

Stepped up. Bortles saw for just a moment it looked like it might be there. And there was pass interference. Look, there was a million things. Just an unbelievable play by Gilmore to time it perfectly. Jim Nance, Tony Romo, and Stephon Gilmore there delivering, at least as according to yours truly, your top defensive play of the 2017-2018 Patriots season. That, of course, the fourth down pass breakup by Gilmore covering DeeDee Westbrook

late in the AFC Championship game. And as you heard, this was just an incredible individual effort by Stephon Gilmore. It was sort of outlined there a little bit by Tony Romo when he was doing his analysis, but Jaguars come out pre-snap and they put three receivers to the left and Gilmore is on that side of the field. He's covering the inside trips receiver, as it were, who's D.D. Westbrook. And Westbrook runs a deep cross and route from the left side of the formation all the way to the right. And what that does is it forces Gilmore to have to cover a long way across the field. Football is on about the 44-yard line. Gilmore's standing at about the 40-yard line when the play is snapped.

And he breaks this pass up down by the 10 on the other side of the field near the sideline. That is a long way to run. That's about a 35 plus yard sprint. And then to be able to sort of leap time it. And he hangs in the air. If you watch the replay on this, it almost looks like he jumps perhaps a split second too early. But he's still there, has the hang time to get his hand on it and knock this away. What's also fascinating, Patriots show two safeties pre-snap. And the safety over towards that side of the field is Devin McCourty. He jumps down a little bit. They play basically a cover

one buzz, cover one robber type, where McCourty jumps down basically to the first down marker right in the middle of the field to try to help on any sort of route that's going to break in. But Westbrook's route takes him over the top of that. And even though Harmon is on the other hash as that other safety, he only gets sort of to the middle of that. And even though Harmon is on the other hash as that other safety, he only gets sort of to the middle of the field. Gilmore basically has no help here. And he's probably not really expecting any help given the coverage. So he knows this is my responsibility. I have to stay on his pocket, on his hip, in phase, time this route. If you're the Jaguars, until Gilmore breaks this up, you're thinking this play has huge play all over it for us.

Bortles does a fantastic job. He gets pressured off the edges, but he does a great job sort of climbing the pocket, something we talked about. You know, you've got Dietrich Wise getting some pressure on him, James Harrison getting some pressure on him, forcing him to climb. He makes his throw sort of off-platform as he's getting hit by Trey Flowers. But Westbrook does have a step, and he puts it basically looking like it's going to drop right in the bucket. But Gilmore just hangs long enough in the air to swat it away.

Just an incredible, incredible play, covering him the length of the field almost. And for all of those reasons, that's why for me, this was the top defensive play, because you look at it from snap to finish, from a scheme standpoint, from an athletic standpoint. And then of course, remember, AFC championship game is on the line. A trip to the Super Bowl is on the line. Yes, that big play against Pittsburgh won them a game that perhaps got them the chance to play this AFC Championship game in Foxborough. Sure. But they still had to win that game. And Gilmore's play was a huge reason why.

So putting it all together, that's my top defensive play of the Patriots past season. Up ahead, we're going to talk briefly about The Blind Side, a good book, perhaps an even better movie. We'll talk about that as well. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots. You got 100 pounds on, Collison. You can't keep them out of our backfield. Hold your block until the whistle blows.

Hold it. All right, let's go. What's with the camera? Michael always does better when he sees what he's supposed to be doing. Holding. Left tackle. Michael, come on. Four.

Come here, son. You gotta hold him. Hold him inside here between the tits. You got it? Will you look at me, son? If you grab him outside here like this with that horse collar thing you just did, you're gonna get flagged and I'm gonna be pissed. You hear me?

All right, let's go. Baby, wash my stuff, all right? Okay. Well, at least it looked good coming off the bus. They'll be terrified till they realize he's a marshmallow. Looks like Tarzan plays like Jane. Give me a minute, Bert. We're in the middle of practice, Leanne.

You can thank me later. Michael, do you remember when we first met and we went to that horrible part of town to buy you those dreadful clothes? And I was a little bit scared and you told me not to worry about it because you had my back. Do you remember that? Yes, ma'am. And if anyone tried to get to me, you would have stopped them, right? And when you and S.J. were in that car wreck,

what did you do to the airbag? Stopped it. You stopped it. You stopped it. This team is your family, Michael. You have to protect them from those guys. Okay? Listen.

Okay. Tony here is your quarterback, all right? You protect his blind side. When you look at him, you think of me, how you have my back, how you have his. Okay? All right, Tommy, go back. All right. Oompa Loompa here is your tailback.

When you look at him, you think of SJ and how you've never let anyone or anything hurt him. You understand me? All right. Go back. Got it? What about Collins and Mr. Toole? Fine. They can be on the Collins and Mr. Toohey? Fine.

They can be on the team, too. Are you gonna protect the family, Michael? Yes, ma'am. Good boy. Then go have some fun. Yelling at him doesn't work, Bert. He doesn't trust men. In his experience, they pretend to care about you till they disappear.

Want to run a play? SJ, you're going to want to get this. Okay. Boom. Yeah. Okay. Go on, Michael. Watch your toes! Roger! Cover left! Cover left! Okay.

Go! Alright, Michael. Come on! Good boy! Good boy! Watch your feet! Watch your feet! Good. Go! Alright Michael, come on! Woo! Yes! Michael! Alright, way to go, wow! Way to go! Yes! That a boy. Hey, get over here. Let's go.

Okay. What did you say to him? You should get to know your players, Bert. He tested 98% in protective instincts. I said you could thank me later. It's later, Bert. Sandra Bullock as Leanne Toohey from the 2009 movie The Blind Side, which tells the story of Michael Orr and the Toohey family. Michael Orr, who obviously we all know went on to be drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens.

When he was younger, you might not have expected that sort of ending for him. He was bouncing from foster family to foster family, living a very impoverished lifestyle. In early days in high school, when the Tzuyu family decided to take him in, he was basically going to be sleeping on the streets. You know, his mother was gone. She had battled drug addiction. His father had passed away. And the Toohey family, Leanne Toohey, as portrayed

by Sandra Bullock, decided to take him in and try to help him become the person, the student, and the athlete that he could become. And, you know, the scene that you heard there, it was from one of the practices as portrayed in the movie where the head coach of the team was struggling to try to get Michael Orr to live up to his athletic potential at the left tackle position. But Leanne Toohey, as portrayed by Sandra Bullock, having learned about him some more,

having gotten to know him, having that testing done that showed him that he was a very protective person, stormed onto the practice field to talk to Michael, to basically tell him that the teammates, his quarterback, his running back, and all those guys, they're family, and he needs to protect him. And as you can probably gleam from what you heard after that, he learned to do that. The movie does a great job of telling the story itself, but also telling the story that Michael Lewis wrote about in the book, The Blindside Evolution of a Game. Just another one of the great stories that we've talked about throughout this football and film series. This

one, obviously a real story with a real happy ending because Orr goes on to become a first round draft pick and realizes the potential. And if you see interviews or read interviews with Leigh-Anne Toohey and the Toohey family, Michael helped them. This wasn't just a one-way thing. Michael helped them become a better, stronger, more closely connected family. And so it's a fantastic story all around. It's a really well-done movie. Sandra Bullock obviously went on to win an Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh-Anne Toohey. This movie was also nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Sandra Bullock swept a bunch of awards for this. She won Best Actress at the Golden Globes, Best Actress at the Critics' Choice Awards,

Best Actress at the Screen Actors Guild, the People's Choice Awards. I mean, basically, you name an award for Best Actress at the Critics' Choice Awards, Best Actress at the Screen Actors Guild, the People's Choice Awards. I mean, basically, you name an award for Best Actress that year, Sandra Bullock won it. And again, it was also nominated

for Best Picture. So a well-done movie, an incredible story, and definitely something that if you haven't seen it, check it out. That will do it for today's show. I will be back on Wednesday.

Hopefully, we get back into storylines. As for the other stuff we're going to talk about, I've got some other things on Wednesday. Hopefully we get back into storylines. As for the other stuff we're going to talk about, I've got some other things up my sleeve that we can get into. That's all coming up next time.

Until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield and Locked on P.