Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots - November 12, 2019: Seeing Green for Patriots-Eagles?

Episode Date: November 12, 2019

It’s time to get back to business for the New England Patriots. To begin previewing the Pats matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, fan favorite Thomas Murphy joins host Mike D’Abate, as the duo discuss the Patriots biggest obstacles for a successful second half, and Mike provides his take on the probability of Rob Gronkowski’s return to Foxboro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all you Foxborough faithful and welcome to your time to get back to business Tuesday episode of Locked On Patriots, your daily home for news, notes, analysis, and the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. This episode is brought to you in part by Peloton. Peloton is offering a limited time offer. Get $100 off accessories when you purchase the Peloton bike and get a great cardio workout at home. Go to OnePeloton.com and use promo code LOCKED

to get started. My name is Mike DeBate and I am your host of Locked On Patriots, as always part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC and be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter at LO underscore Patriots.

Folks, we're on to Philadelphia. The bye week is done. The loss to the Ravens has faded from the rearview mirror, and it's time for the home stretch. Seven games remain on the New England Patriots schedule, and it starts this Sunday, 425 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field, as the Patriots take on the Philadelphia Eagles. And, you know, Philly fans, Philly media, they're starting to chirp a little bit, folks,

and they are hoping to paint the city of brotherly love with a green brush. But guess what? Here in New England, we've got a green weapon of our own, and he invented the color green. That's right, folks. You guessed it. My main green man, Thomas Murphy, joins us for another Locked on Murph episode. And we will ask him exactly what his concerns are heading into this matchup with the Eagles. And you know his opinions and analysis will be entertaining and accurate as they always are.

But first, we start with the news of the day. And the Patriots were back at Gillette Stadium on Monday after four days off. They were practicing in shells, knocking the rust off a little bit, and getting an early start on preparing for the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, Pat's safety, Patrick Chung, was the lone player not spotted at the media access portion of practice yesterday, so continue to keep a sharp eye out for that. Don't forget, Chung has been dealing with a heel injury and a chest injury. It's likely that his absence was more the result of workload management,

but health is always a concern, and we'll continue to monitor that throughout the week. But all in all, the Patriots' return to the practice field means a return to Patriots football. All eyes are squarely on the 5-4 Eagles, who have been a little streaky this year. They're alternating between two wins and two losses for the last eight weeks. They've shown the ability on offense to be very productive, on defense is where they've struggled. But if head coach Doug Peterson has his team playing the same kind of fearless game plan that they had for Super Bowl 52, the Eagles really can give the Patriots all they can handle. Their offensive line is among the best, if not the best, in football. And that concerns me, folks, considering the Baltimore

offensive line was able to consistently win that physical battle with the Patriots defensive front. That led to some big ground gains for Baltimore. And look, the Eagles come in with Jordan Howard, who can run the ball. Carson Wentz has 15 touchdowns to four interceptions. He'll need to continue to play it safe with the ball to avoid letting the Patriots linebackers and the secondary dictate the game. Playing on the road in one of the most hostile environments in the NFL, that's going to be an excellent test for the Patriots team coming off of a bye

and coming off of a pretty bad loss. But look, folks, make no mistake about it. There is reason for optimism this week as well. Don't worry. The Patriots have had two weeks to prepare for the Eagles, and they will be ready. And to give all of us something to look forward to, the rookies should be ready to go, folks.

In all likelihood, Nikhil Harry should be ready to return to game action. That's going to give the Patriots offense another option in the passing game and add to a pretty good core of wide receivers. And I know, to listen to it around the league, you'd never know it. But think about it. Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, Philip Dorsett, Jacoby Myers, and now Nikhil Harry? Isn't all that terrible, folks? I'll take it.

And I think the Patriots will as well. Even if he doesn't have a lot of catches for a lot of yards, Harry's presence alone will help the Patriots spread the offense and help to put up points on a Philadelphia defense that can be scored upon. That's their Achilles heel. The one concern that the Patriots continue to have on offense is their offensive line. And look, they're going to have to wait another week before getting the reinforcements they will need to help keep Tom Brady clean and upright.

Isaiah Wynn is expected to be back from injured reserve just in time for the November 24th game against the Dallas Cowboys at Gillette Stadium. In the meantime, they'll have to press on with what they have, and that means guys like Marcus Cannon, Shaq Mason, and Marshall Newhouse need to step their game up. If you're looking for a silver lining in the offensive line, help is on the way and so is a reinforcement. But one reinforcement the Pats fans keep hoping for continues to remain a topic of discussion, and that is Rob Gronkowski.

And I just wanted to take a moment to address that subject with you today. And a lot of Pats fans have their eyes on the 30th of this month. And that stems from a piece published by Ian Rappaport of the NFL Network that reminded all of us over the weekend that the last day for Gronkowski and the Patriots to agree to grant him an official return to the roster will be Saturday, November 30th. And that's the day before the team's Week 13 game against the Houston Texans. Because he's on the injured reserve list, if he doesn't come off it by then, he's not eligible to play. And look, Gronkowski has not turned in his retirement papers yet, folks, which gives people that Lloyd Christmas, so you're

telling me there's a chance feeling. Especially when Rappaport pointed out that Robert Kraft, when Rob Gronkowski cleaned out his locker after announcing his retirement earlier this spring via Instagram, that he wanted him back for the stretch run. And of course, as you can imagine, the news exploded with this. And with the exception probably you can imagine, the news exploded with this, and with the exception probably of Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski is probably the hottest name that you can attach to a story to get it spread quickly and throw out a large portion of the media. Even Pat's wide receiver Mohamed Sanu was asked about it yesterday by Nesson's Doug Kide.

Sanu indicated that he'd be more than happy to welcome Gronk back into the fold, and look, let's face it, who wouldn't? Rob Gronkowski is one of the most prolific NFL talents to ever put on shoulder pads. There was also some chatter about Gronkowski working out with Red Sox legend David Ortiz. You start to put all these pieces together, and it seems possible, folks. But here's where it becomes problematic to believe that Gronkowski is going to return to the Patriots this season. Quite frankly, he just simply hasn't given any tangible indication that he's ready to return.

Now granted, there is some reading between the lines to do with the media. Look, Rob himself has continued to help cultivate this. He's posted some cryptic messages on social media. There were the comments he made during his debut appearance on Thursday Night Football and the Patriots game against the Giants, where he said he always leaves the door open to return. But Rob Gronkowski continues to pursue endeavors beyond the football field. There's his partnership with the CBD company,

signing on with the Fox Network to become an NFL analyst. To me, what really is the deciding factor here is that Rob seems to give indications at every turn that he simply needed a mental and physical break from the game of football. We know his injury history, and he just seemed worn down in all aspects when it came to playing in the NFL. It's hard for me to imagine that just the few months that Rob has spent off is enough of a mental and physical break from the game to miss it enough to return. And I know a lot of you continue to hold out hope. And look, folks, it's possible. But based on all the evidence we've seen, would I say it's likely? No. And I would add that it's highly unlikely. But as long as

there's a chance, the talk will remain. And though it's possible, the time is ticking on this one, but to me, it just doesn't seem probable at this point. But as I always like to say, keep a sharp eye. But that being said, it's a new week in Pats Nation, and what do the Patriots have in store for us on Sunday and even beyond? Well, I'm going to ask Murph that question and more when I welcome him in in just a moment. But first, I just wanted to take a minute to address those of you that have been crushing it at work. Those of you who are laser-focused on beating that boss level.

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I've decided to stop introducing this man as my guest, simply for one reason, he's family. And as I said when I opened the show, folks, did you really think the Patriots were going to play a team that claims the color green as its own without talking to the man that invented the color? It's true. There is no green without this man. He is a columnist extraordinaire for diehardbostonsportsfans.com,

along with another fellow member of the lockdown familia here at lockdown patriots steve balistrieri he compiles one half of the hosting tandem of one patriots place which next to lockdown patriots of course is my favorite patriots podcast he is my main green man thomas murphy murph welcome back to the hot seat my friend well thank you man and if it ever rang true that it's that you can't pick your family on the warning sign, thank you for having me back. Oh, without question. This is one family member we are glad to be able to choose. And you always, always bring the heat, and I appreciate it. And Murph, I can't thank you enough for always coming on and making our show a little brighter

and look a little bit better. My friend, it's been a week without Patriots football and a week without your insight. So I'm all about giving the people what they want here. And who am I to argue when they say they want more Murph's wisdom and counsel? And I start today with my friend by saying that, you know, we do have a game on Sunday without question. It's on the schedule. And, you know, we do have a game on Sunday without question. It's on the schedule, and you know we're going to talk a little bit of Pats Eagles today, but I start with the Pats 37-20 loss to the Ravens, and we've all heard the national narrative about how the Patriots were exposed and how they're frauds, you know, the defense isn't that good, the offense is anemic, Brady's old and being carried. We hear this every year, buddy, and yet this weekend, the Chiefs,

the Bills, the Saints, the Niners, all suffered losses. Ravens beat up on an abysmal Bengals team. Yet no one's saying that the Ravens win didn't count. No one's saying that these teams over here, no one's writing their obituary just yet. Now, my opinion is that it's simple pandering to the majority of the nation that just wants to see the Pats in turmoil.

But you see things that most of us don't. Is there any credence to the narrative that the Patriots' loss to Baltimore might have pulled the curtain back on this team and that maybe they're more problematic than we thought? No. No. Now, this wasn't a team that was ill-prepared or was uninspired to play that day. They simply saw something that they haven't seen in quite some time, something that even the Ravens hadn't really rolled out of the garage in all its glory until that day.

Now, a lot of people, like you said, are coming out of the woodwork saying, you know, I told you this team shouldn't be talked about like the 85 Bears or the 2,000 Ravens. Go back and look at the Ravens' schedule from that year. You know, everybody gets a pass on one game. And I'm glad that this game wasn't the Super Bowl, because we've all been through that before. So I would rather have them lose in Week 8 than lose in the biggest game of it all. They saw some problems. I'm sure they'll get it fixed over this week.

While we saw earlier in the year teams really running on the Patriots, I believe that was more by design than it was anything else, than it was the Patriots getting burnt by that. They wanted to allow teams to run. It didn't work this week. And, you know, the Pats did a couple of things that aren't usually indicative of Patriots teams.

You know, there, there's a fumble that happened. There's, you know, a pick that I, it's, it's let it,

let it go, folks, let it go. I fully expect to see the defensive juggernaut that we have in the past seven weeks that prior to last week's game come back to fruition this week when they take on the Eagles. Yeah, I'm glad that you mentioned a couple of things there in terms of no, not jumping off Tobin, as I like to put it, about one Patriots loss. I think that it does show situations where the Patriots may have struggled in this game,

and they did. The Ravens credit the Ravens. They took it, too, without any question. But at the same time, I also believe that the problems that the Patriots may have had in this game are not unfixable problems. They're not problems that are going to completely lead to their downfall. And that actually leads me quite nicely, as you always do, into my next question, buddy. And that is, the Patriots have had plenty of bright spots this season, but they have had, you know, some,

you know, the narrative surrounding this team has been negative. And we've talked about some of those. Two of the negatives that the Patriots have been pigeonholed for is the play of their offensive line and something that you touched on in your last response, which was the run defense and their inability to defend against the quote-unquote those RPOs, those run-pass options that they seem to have difficulty with, especially in last Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens. If there is a fatal flaw in this team, and again, I think it's far too early to declare one, will it be the offensive line, even though Isaiah Wynn is earmarked to return,

not this week, but next week, against the Dallas Cowboys? Or do you think it will be that Pats run defense being just porous enough to put more pressure on the Pats offense than it can handle this year with Tom Brady at the helm? No, it is going to be the offensive line. It is not going to be this defense. Like I said, some of the things that we saw during the game last week, two weeks ago now, is some really terrible tackling by the guys at the second level. It just did not happen. There were so many guys that were getting away from tackles.

And that's something that can be shored up. That's a concentration thing. We're not getting enough men to the ball and swarm and gang tackling people to get them to the ground, these bigger runners. That can be played out. What can't be fixed with much more work or getting on the same page is this offensive line. If Tom Brady is kept clean, if he gets his 2.5 seconds, this team is going to score. There's a lot of help coming, and Kiel Harry will be back this week. I do believe he will be active and he will be on the field. That clears up, hopefully, a problem that the Pats have had in the red zone

in punching it in because things have not been good in the run game down close. I think that's the major issue that needs to get fixed here, is the fact that while the Patriots were out finding toys for Tom Brady to play with that haven't worked out, they didn't spend more money on the offensive line, which is where they should have done it, and maybe franchised a guy who's playing in Oakland right now and playing really, really well.

Yeah, definitely. And I'm glad that you mentioned a couple of things there with the offensive line. First of all, I always, I don't want to say I scoff at it, but I always smirk a little bit when people say, oh, Brady doesn't have the weapons around him this year. He doesn't have those guys. I think he still has a decent array of weapons at the wide receiver and the running back position. Tight end, maybe you can make the argument that it's not as prolific.

I do like Benjamin Watson as a player. I always have. Granted, he's not Rob Gronkowski, and no one's ever going to be. Lacoste is, though, been a little bit of a disappointment on that end as well. But the offensive line, to me, is where the Patriots have struggled. And I think that that is their Achilles heel rather than saying it's going to be the defense. We've kind of talked about that in your last response, and I agree with you. I think those problems will be fixed.

The O-line win will definitely help. There is no question about it. But I think people forget a lot of times that they have a guy playing left tackle, which is a very key part of this offensive line that is not a true left tackle. He's not even really a true starter. You said this. Steve said this. Balistrieri on your show several times. And I I've paid attention and I've listened, my friend,

and it's true. He's not a natural starter in this league, and you can't put all the blame on his shoulders. Guys like Marcus Cannon, guys like Shaq Mason have not played up to their capabilities and have not played up to their level. So those things are going to have to change, and I do agree. If Brady does have the time to be able to do it, he has the weapons to get completed passes. Really does. I also, yeah, I do. And I think with McKeel Harry coming back this week as well,

that's only going to add another dimension. We've seen a lot of film on this kid. We haven't seen any practical game experience, but boy, I tell you, if this holds true and he can go up and make some of those contested catches, especially with being a rookie and not having to be a focal point of this offense, then he can really add another dimension. Lastly, my friend, the Patriots and the Eagles this weekend in the city of cheesesteaks. And you know, a lot of fans are expecting the revenged, scorched-earth Patriots to storm the castle here. But my early assessment is that this could be a very tough game for the Patriots. I'm impressed with the Philly offensive line.

And if they can employ similar production to what we saw with Baltimore, Eagles running game, Jordan Howard, even Carson Wentz at times, they can start to get going a little bit. As you look at this game, Murph, is that the Pats' biggest issue this Sunday, or is it maybe something under the radar that we're not seeing yet? Yeah, you know, something that's under the radar that people aren't talking about, this team still continuously, year after year, has difficulty defending opposing tight ends. I think they're going to have to

take a good look at what Zach Ertz has been doing, what Dallas Goddard has been doing, and make sure that these guys do not burn them. I understand that Jordan Howard is a fantastic talent. Miles Sanders, even Darren Sproles, who is still in this league doing a little bit of damage, are going to be a focal point. Do not forget about the other guys. I have no problem with locking down Alshon Jeffrey. I have no problem with Nelson Angelo and Deshaun Jackson. I think these guys are going to

Is Jackson out now? Yes, Jackson is out, yeah. Yeah, he's done. Old friend Jordan Matthews has returned to the fold, though, so you never know. Yeah. You never know a little bit of him in this game. A little bit of Jordan Matthews.

Do not let the other guys, the guys that you're not thinking about, end up taking this game from you. The way it happened with Doyle with the tight ends down in Baltimore last week, that's what the Patriots can't lose focus on. And I think they did in the last game just a little bit. It's the other guys that you are really going to have to pay attention to and make sure that they don't burn you. And Zach Ertz is the type of talent that can do it. Other than that, I say keep doing what you're doing. I love the zero blitz scheme that they've been doing. I am not a huge fan of Carson Wentz. I never have been.

I still to this day would have much preferred to face him in that Super Bowl a couple of years ago. I think Bill will have a good plan for him. I don't see them coming out of a bye week and losing this game, losing two games in a row, even though the national narrative will say that that's what's going to happen, I don't believe it. Yeah, Bill Belichick having two weeks to prepare for a team

is usually a recipe for disaster for his opponent. And, you know, there's always circumstances that arise where that may not end up coming to fruition, but I just don't see the Patriots taking a loss 37 to 20 like they did and Bill not coming out and having a game plan so I agree with you I think they'll be able to contain Wentz I don't see him being able to have a huge game and hurt them the running game that could be an issue especially with their offensive line the Eagles boast one of the best offensive if not the best offensive line in football.

So that does concern me, but I'm so glad that you mentioned the tight ends because that's something that I don't think a lot of people are talking about and something that could give them issues, whether you look at Ertz or whether you looked at Goddard. I think those are guys that definitely need some attention on the defensive side of the ball, and I think Bill Belichick will have been hard at work devising schemes to be able to contain them. At least we hope so here in New England. That'll be a big feather in their cap if they're able to shut that part of their offense off. I think that opens up an awful

lot because the tight ends are so productive in that Philly offense. Really quickly, my friend, before I let you go today, I wouldn't be doing my job unless I asked you this question. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much fun is Lane Johnson going to be having this weekend? We all know Lane wants to have fun. It's going to be a 2. Lane will have fun when he goes into the locker room at halftime and he has the oranges that Mom sliced for him.

But other than that, it's not going to be a fun day for Mr. Johnson. I can see him getting worked over quite a bit come Sunday. And it's going to be a lot of fun for the Patriots and Patriots Nation to watch. Keep an eye out on Lane and just, you know, look at his facial expressions. Because we all know that, you know, fun is what's most important to Lane Johnson. That's right. He loves his fun. Lane just wants to have fun.

He keeps saying it over and over again, and you always bring it. Murph, you mentioned mom's orange slices. Speechless. My friend, I am without speech. And you lend your wisdom and counsel like no other, and that's why you have a reserved seat at this table. The familia of Locked On Patriots is truly yours. Buddy, I thank you for joining me today.

Thank you for having me. You're welcome. Please follow the man on Twitter at TMurf207. The columns, including the monster keys each and every week. Folks, this is a must-read for game time. Do not go into the game watching it without having read Murph's keys. They are

always, always entertaining and very, very, very spot on in almost every aspect. I mean, mostly he nails it more often than not. Never miss an episode as well of One Patriot's Place with Murph and Steve.

Murph, I bid you adieu, but we know you're going to be back soon, so I say to you, my friend, thanks a lot, and we look forward to having you back probably within the week or so. All right, buddy. You guys take care. Go Pats. All right, absolutely.

Go Pats. And as for me, I will be back tomorrow with Crossover Wednesday with my friends at Locked On Eagles, and we will tell you what to watch for in Sunday's matchup at the link between the Patriots and the Eagles. So stay tuned for that. As always, make sure to join me each and every day on the Locked On Patriots podcast and subscribe to Locked On Patriots via your preferred podcast provider. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate.

I thank Thomas Murphy for his appearance today, but most of all, I thank you so much for listening. Have a great day, everyone.