Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots May 23, 2018 - OTAs Begin, The Countdown of Top Defensive Plays Begins, and "Friday Night Lights"

Episode Date: May 23, 2018

Mark Schofield has thoughts on Day One of OTAs, begins the countdown of the top defensive plays from 2017, and talks about "Friday Night Lights." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good morning and welcome into Locked On Patriots for Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018. Mark Schofield back in the big chair for this Wednesday installment of one of your favorite Patriots podcasts. Reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Follow the work over at InsideThePylon.com where I'm one of the lead writers. You can follow the work over at Pro Football Weekly doing some work over there on quarterbacks

and scheme breakdowns. Had a couple of pieces in the past few weeks on some quarterbacks looking to rebound under perhaps new offensive coordinators in the year ahead. Working on a piece right now about Deshaun Watson and Carson Wentz and what to expect from those guys as they come back from knee injuries. What's on tap today? Going to do a couple of things. Football and film will roll on. Got another big movie to talk about. Again, another fantastic football film that I'm sure many of you saw.

This story is a triple threat. Let's put it that way. We are going to start our breakdown of the top 10 defensive plays of the Patriots 2017-2018 season. Yes, I was able to find 10 plays. I know. Surprised me too. But first, we got to start with day one of OTAs. That's right. We are now back with players on the field.

Rookies, veterans, everybody. Well, not everybody. Because as we talked about yesterday, Robert Gronkowski, Tom Brady, not in attendance at the voluntary OTAs. Although they were nearby because both Brady and Gronkowski went in for their daily sort of treatment at the TB12 clinic. Close enough perhaps to see the action, but not close enough to partake in the action. Of course, as you might expect, Bill Belichick was asked about this when he addressed the media. And as you might expect, Belichick

gave your standard Belichick response. I'm not going to talk about the people that aren't here, Belichick told reporters when he was asked about this and whether he's spoken to Tom Brady about his absence. The guys who are here are improving. They're working hard. Those are the guys I'm going to focus on. Not a surprise that Belichick was tight-lipped about Brady and Gronkowski's absence. But again, it's a voluntary thing. Both players are seeking new deals. Both players seem to want new contracts, contract extensions done. And with respect to Gronkowski, there was actually some talk yesterday and a little bit in today on the timeline that a contract restructure is being worked on. Tweet from James Palmer from the NFL Network,

at James Palmer TV, a national reporter for the NFL Network who is in Foxborough right now. He actually tweeted out a very hilarious picture of the Patriots' current roster. If you're a rookie, still no number for you. But according to James Palmer's tweet, a contract restructure with Rob Gronkowski is currently being worked on. If it has incentives like last year, per NFL rules, it can't be done until May 24th, one year from when he restructured his last deal. That's a date to keep an eye on. Patriots' third OTA is also on May 24th. So that's one sort of piece of positive news.

And if you've been listening to the show and reading the work and watching or listening to other shows, the Gronkowski contract was sort of an issue. I talked about the numbers on this show that while he is one of the higher paid tight ends in the league, not in terms of guaranteed money. When you look at tight ends across the league and you look at what they're being paid, there are players like OJ Howard, like Evan Ingram that get almost all of it, if not all of it, in guaranteed money. Gronkowski is basically middle of the pack or even in the bottom third of tight ends when it comes to guaranteed money as a percentage of their contract. Now, guys like Ingram and Howard, they're under the sort of newer rookie deals. So they do see more guaranteed money. But still, if you're Robert Gronkowski, this might be

your last contract. You do want to maximize the dollars and cents there. And you do want it sort of guaranteed. You want that money. You want to make sure it's coming to you. And so I think that's the Gronkowski issue. The Brady issue, again, I think we're seeing a player that knows this is going to be his last contract. So he's using the cards that are available to him to sort of try to position himself for one more deal. Now there is speculation. You know, Ben Volan over at the Boston Globe wrote on Monday

that his absence might partially be about his contract, but it's mostly about his unhappiness with Bill Belichick and the Patriots' way. Looking at this piece from Ben Volan, available on the Boston Globe, you can check it out as well. And basically, you know, his absence might be partially about his contract, but it's mostly about his unhappiness with Bill Belichick and the Patriot way. He's the only quarterback in the NFL skipping OTAs.

Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Russell Wilson, Phillip Rivers, they're all working with their teammates and getting ready for the season. And while the collective bargaining agreement may give Brady the right to stay away, he forever has to deal with the court of public opinion. And Voland does mention that Brady has missed OTAs before, between 2008 and 2010 when he was mostly living in California in the offseason. But he's been a dedicated offseason participant every year from 2011 to 2017.

And what's amazing about this piece is, you know, Volan does write that Brady's putting himself on the hot seat. And I think there is something to that, you know, by not attending. And Volan writes, I can already hear Stephen A. Smith rattling one off the takes. If Brady gets off to a slow start this fall, it's because he wasn't as dedicated this offseason. If he miscommunicates too frequently with Jordan Matthews or Braxton Berrios, he didn't put in the time with his receivers and OTAs. If Brady's body breaks down at the end of the 2018 season,

he didn't trade hard enough in the spring. That may be a bunch of hooey, but Brady is signing up for this constant second guessing because he himself has told us time and again how important this time of year is for building championship teams. So it's going to be an issue. Again, as I said yesterday, I'm not that worried about it. I don't think it's something to really concern ourselves with right now because this is a voluntary portion. And as Voland stated, the history is Brady hasn't always done this. He's been a consistent participant since 2011,

but before that, he wasn't. And so I think we all sort of have to calm down. It's become a big story. It will be a big story until he shows up. I don't think it should be a big story. What should be a big story is what we're starting to see on the field. Mark Daniels from the Providence Journal had a great series of tweets breaking down OTA action. I definitely recommend following Mark at MarkDanielsPJ. He thought Danny Etlin had a solid practice and he may have been the best quarterback on the field. Keon Crossan, he stuck out today.

He intercepted Brian Hoyer at one point, deflected two passes from Danny Etlin. Ryan Lewis saw some time opposite Stephon Gilmore at cornerback. Now, Lewis, that's an interesting player, acquired last year by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Pittsburgh. He was waived and then signed to the practice squad by the Cardinals, but then he was signed to the practice squad by the Cardinals, but then he

was signed to the Patriots practice squad. A free agent deal now for the New England Patriots. And this is somebody that, you know, a little bit of an undersized corner, 5'11", you know, not that six-foot type corner, but he's seen some first-team practice reps for New England early in OTAs. Now, whether there's something to that, whether this is something we'll see, whether he just, you know, for one reason or another decided to get him some run today, that remains to be seen. But very interesting to see Ryan Lewis getting some sort of first team action on the first day of OTAs. That's been a sort of quick recap of day one of OTAs. We're back at it. Imagine that. Up next, we're going to start counting down the top 10 defensive plays of the 2017-2018 season. And a little bit later, a look at our next movie in the football and film segment.

That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you right now And Gonna do something a little bit different for me If you know me You know my work You follow me on Twitter Etc, etc, etc You know I'm a quarterback guy Talking about quarterbacks

The passing game Route concepts Reading defenses in the secondary That's sort of my bread and butter That's my sweet spot And I'm somebody that Firmly believes in sort of staying in your lane. You don't hear a lot of detailed offensive tackle breakdowns from your boy because there are smarter

people out there breaking down offensive tackles. I can do some stuff. I generally know what I'm talking about. When it comes to the nuance, however, that's a little bit trickier. So now I'm faced with the task of counting down the top 10 defensive plays of the Patriots 2017-2018 season. And that forced me to sort of take a look back at a lot of these games, revisit a lot of moments, revisit a lot of plays, situations, you know, moments in the Patriots season when maybe things weren't looking great. And so I think we're going to have some fun with this because I'm pretty sure that the list I came up with is an okay or a pretty good list.

And there might be plays that I missed, plays that I left off, plays that for one reason or another aren't on this list. And so as always, you know, and I'm not just saying this because it's something you say. I truly mean it. Hit me up on Twitter at Mark Schof, if there's a play you disagree with, if there's a play I missed, whatever the case may be.

I think that this is your show. I'm just sort of the caretaker of the Locked On Patriots podcast. And if I'm screwing up, I want to hear it. I also want to hear what I'm doing well, too. So subtle reminder, leave reviews on iTunes. So let's get into it. And yes, I did find 10 plays. Yes, there will be a play from Super Bowl 52. Let's just leave it at that. We're going to start back in week two. Obviously, the Patriots did not get off to the start

they had hoped for that Thursday night, open a night debacle against the Kansas City Chiefs, kind of get beaten, beat badly in that game. You know, that's one of those games you look back, and the defense, there were defensive breakdowns. I broke them down on here, on this show. The long touchdown pass to Kareem Hunt and how the Patriots were able to get, I mean, excuse me, the Chiefs were able to get Eric Rowe to rotate back and play sort of a free safety.

And so you're coming off a bad defensive performance. Now you're going down to New Orleans. You're going up against Drew Brees. Little do we know. Let's think back to week two. Patriots coming off a loss. Saints coming off a loss on that Monday night up in Minnesota where Sam Bradford looked like an MVP type candidate. Saints were struggling as well. Little do we know that the Saints were going to end up being the team they were. Little do we know how Alvin Kamara was going to explode the way he did. But back then, these were two, you know, 0-1 teams. And the numbers historically on teams that start 0-2,

even just making the playoffs, aren't good. So this was sort of a, you know, gut check, almost must win situation for both teams. Now the Patriots did emerge victorious and a player that stood out in that game and had some moments throughout the season, this won't be his only appearance on this countdown, was Jonathan Jones, the sort of unheralded corner for the New England Patriots who took on even more of a role over the course of this past season. Corner out of Auburn, signed as a free agent, spent his time with New England. And he had two very good plays in this

game. He had a breakup on what looked to be a touchdown pass early in the game from Drew Brees to Ted Ginn Jr. He's in the slot over Ted Ginn. They run the slot fade route. Brees has a chance to hit him, but Jones is able to get his hand there. Miami, Miami. Miami, Miami. Miami. Ready.

Shot, shot, shot, shot, shot. Lady. It's Josh Hill's attention. Tight end as he goes toward the end zone. And it's knocked away at the last moment. That is Jonathan Jones taking it out of the hands of Ted Ginn. That'll bring out Lutz for a field goal attempt. Drew Brees gets into the perfect play.

Calls it out before the snap. And the ball's right there. Maybe wants a little more on it so the DB can't get in there. Jones, it's really just a good defensive play. They teach you right there. You don't go up and hit the guy or do anything. Everyone gets antsy and wants to hit him. Wait for the ball to touch his hand.

Rip it out. Good job by Jones. Jim Nance, Tony Romo there on the call for CBS. And what's amazing about this play is that it's a prime example of the Patriots and one of their players executing exactly what they're told to do on the practice field by their coaches. First of all, there's a great account that you need to follow on Twitter, James Light, at James A. Light on Twitter. He's an assistant coach for a high school, but he does a lot of stuff when it comes down to breaking down the X's and O's.

And recently, he posted a video back in January of Matt Patricia at a coaching clinic. And one of the things he was talking about was how they teach, how the Patriots teach their defensive backs to play sort of in and out of phase. Phase meaning you're basically with the defender out of phase, meaning you've been beaten and now you need to recover. And in that sort of situation, when you've been beaten, you need to recover, they teach you never to turn your head, and I know that drives Patriots fans crazy, but no, if you turn your head, you're going to continue to lose contact with that receiver. He's going to continue to extend his separation, and he might even get a push off on you, which won't get called. That's number one, and number two, you stay focused. You read his eyes and his hands.

You try to catch up. once the hands go up once the eyes look for the ball that's when you attack up through the pocket that's the way he terms it you don't sort of swipe it right down because that all that's going to do is really help the receiver make the catch you come up through the pocket and then rip the ball away and that's exactly what Jones does here it's a perfect example of what Matt Patricia was talking about at that coaching clinic. And it wasn't the only sort of play like this that Jones made in that game. Later in the third quarter, they've got Breeze looking for Brandon Coleman on a crossing route, and it's the same exact thing.

Coleman has a step on him, but Jones comes up through the pocket, breaks the pass up. It's a perfect throw from Breeze. Nance and Roma are saying it should have been caught, but again, Jones with a tremendous job sort of ripping the ball away exactly the way he's been taught by his coaches. So there you go. Your top 10 play.

Number 10 on the defensive side of the ball from the Patriots, Jonathan Jones and those two pass breakups against the New Orleans Saints. Ahead, we're going to revisit football and film. We're going to talk about a story that has become a triple threat in media. You probably know where I'm going with this. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.

It's real simple. You got two more quarters and that's it now most of you have been playing this game for ten years and you got two more quarters and after that most of you will never play this game again

as long as you live now you all have known me for a while and for a long time now you've been hearing me talk about being perfect well I want you to understand something. To me, being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It's not about winning.

It's about you and your relationship to yourself and your family and your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn't let them down because you told them the truth.

And that truth is that you did everything that you could. There wasn't one more thing that you could have done. Can you live in that moment as best you can with clear eyes and love in your heart? With joy in your heart. If you can do that, gentlemen, then you're perfect. I want you to take a moment and I want you to look each other in the eyes.

I want you to put each other in your hearts forever because forever is about to happen here in just a few minutes. I want you to close your eyes and I want you to think about Boobie Miles who is your brother, and he would die to be out there on that field with you tonight. And I want you to put that in your hearts. Boys, my heart is full.

My heart's full. My heart's full. Ivory. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our... Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gaines in Friday Night Lights. And as I said, this story has become a triple threat in media. We know the TV show. We're going to talk quickly about the movie here. But remember, it began as a book. An absolutely, absolutely amazing book by H.G. Bissinger. Following the 1998 Permian High School Panthers.

It came out in 1990, and I remember reading it right when it came out because I'm a freshman in high school in the greater Boston area who has a dream of being the quarterback of the football team, who has a dream of leading his team to a state championship. And this book just blew me away then. And I've probably read it four or five times since. And then it gets adapted into the movie. Then it gets adapted into the TV show,

all of which have just gone in slightly divergent directions. The book, obviously, I mean, in the movie, obviously a little bit closer to the book. TV show goes in a little bit of a different direction, but still all great work all around. And this movie, very well done. Thornton is amazing in it as the head coach. A lot of the players are amazing in it.

And it's pretty true to the story overall. And obviously, if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about there, that scene where halftime speeches, they're always huge in movies like this, halftime speech of the championship game. Other star turns in this, Tim McGraw as Charles Billingsley,

the dad of Don Billingsley, a tremendous, tremendous job from him. Connie Britton plays the wife of Coach Gary Gaines. She goes on, obviously, to play in the TV series. Lucas Black plays Mike Winchell, the quarterback. And I want to talk briefly now about him because, as I said, when this book came out, Mike Winchell, for me, was a person that I always sort of identified with because I'm a quarterback and was a quarterback back then. And obviously, two divergent, completely different backgrounds growing up, believe me.

But there were parts of Winchell's sort of personality, the sort of introvert that were in the book that were also sort of present in the movie that I certainly identified with. And there's such a powerful scene in this movie that I want to just play now. It's when the team loses Boobie Miles and they've lost their next game and Coach Gaines is obviously concerned about Winchell, his quarterback, having to put more on his plate because they're not going to just focus on the running game now. And he goes to visit Mike Winchell, who's already lost his dad, and his mom is sick, and it's just an amazing, amazing, powerful, powerful scene. Can you get the job done, Mike?

We're pretty small. I didn't ask you if you think we're small. I asked you if you think we're small. I asked you if you think we can get the job done. I think so. Well, you're gonna have to do better than I think so. Is that clear? It's clear. Now I'm gonna assume that by now you've learned that the world's not fair, and sometimes you get to shore it in, that's all you get.

And if you don't do something personally to fix it, then that's all you're ever going to get. Yes. Yes. Mike. Do you want to play college ball? Do you want to get out of this town? I think so. Well, why aren't you doing something about it?

My mind's not right. One of these days, you're going to have to get out of this house. You're gonna have to leave her. Yes, sir. You gotta accept the fact that people have to take care of themselves, and that includes you. You understand that? Yes, sir. Okay. Okay.

The truth is, against some pretty overwhelming odds, if you do decide to accept that, look at me, Mike. If you decide to accept that, you're going to seriously fly, son. Thornton and Lucas Black as Mike Winchell there in that scene. And there are two aspects to that scene that get me every single time. First is that moment where Thornton sort of looks into the other room and all you see are the legs of Winchell's mom,

who's laid up in bed, obviously dealing with an illness. And Winchell is basically, you know, with the loss of his father, with a, you know, estranged brother situation. He's basically become the main sort of caregiver and man of the house as a kid in high school, which is a tough ask to begin with. And now, in a sense, he has the sort of hopes of this entire town on his shoulders. And a coach coming to him asking him if he can even get the job done.

And when you juxtapose that with Winchell sitting on his childhood bed, and he's playing with a matchbox car in his hands. And it's just that imagery of a kid who still wants to be a kid in a sense, but being asked to basically be an adult and handle adult situations. And the juxtaposition and the imagery in that always really struck me.

Just an incredible scene. And so many great scenes in this movie. I've just highlighted two here. I'm sure you've seen it. It's well worth your time if you haven't. Friday Night Lights, one of the best, and I'm sure people can make the case, the best football movie that we're going to talk about during this entire off season here. And so that's a quick look at Friday Night Lights. I probably didn't do it justice, although I tried my best because it's just a fantastic, fantastic movie and a fantastic, fantastic story.

That will do it for our Wednesday show. Thursday, we'll do a little timeline takes because it's always fun to see what's going on in the timeline, especially in the offseason. Sometimes I wonder if the timeline is a little bit worse in the offseason than it is in the regular season. But that's why I'm here. I'm here reading the timeline so you don't have to.

We'll continue the countdown of their top 10 defensive plays. We'll have a play where we see an AFC East rivalry game and an unheralded name stepping up yet again. And we'll have another movie from our football and film series. Until next time, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.