Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - “Much Dog” in Mac — New England Patriots and Mac Jones Poised for a Big Year in 2022

Episode Date: June 30, 2022

As the New England Patriots march closer to the start of the 2022 NFL Season, quarterback Mac Jones is the subject of great expectations. Luckily, his teammates are seeing some extra swagger, and ‘so much dog’ in the Pats’ second-year signal caller. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Clare ‘ClazzyClare’ Cooper of Pats Propaganda. The duo discuss tight end Jonnu Smith’s recent comments on Jones having some ‘dog’ in him, and why Mac is poised for a better year in 2022. They also provide their thoughts on why Cole Strange’s rookie contract provides good financial value for the Patriots.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Could that someone be Mac the dog? Well, that's what one of his teammates seems to think and also seems to think that we're going to see a better, tougher Mac Jones on the field for 2022. Talking Mac Jones today here on the pod, I'm Mike DeBate, and you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Lockdown Patriots

a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I am your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. I am also your host of the Lockdown Patriots podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every

day. Folks, Lockdown Patriots is free and available on all platforms including YouTube, so download, subscribe to, and follow the Lockdown Patriots podcast on all platforms, and also smash that subscribe button on YouTube. If you want to interact with me, let me know what's on your mind. Drop me a line on Twitter at MDABATENFL.

And while you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, as I said to open the show today, we're going to be talking a lot about Mac Jones and recent comments by tight end Jonu Smith. Mac's got a little dog in him. Well, he meant that in a good way, folks. And actually, it means good things on the field

for the New England Patriots. And yours truly was in Foxborough for OTA and minicamp. Starting to see that a little bit, and I'll talk my observations, but not just my observations, folks, because as you know, today is Wednesday, and that is the day reserved for the esteemed lady of Lockdown here on Lockdown Patriots. She is a columnist extraordinaire for Pat's Propaganda. She is also one of the best podcast hosts out there in Patriots Twitterverse or universe or whatever kind of verse you want to put her in.

She holds her own and does an amazing job. She is the Countess of Clas herself, and it's always my honor to welcome her in today to talk Mac Jones, little John O. Smith tight endage, and even a little cold strange, the esteemed Clasie Claire Cooper. Claire, thank you so much for joining me from across the pond today. Oh, no, thank you. The pleasure is all mine, Michael. Well, I don't know about that. It's definitely my honor, my privilege to share the microphone with you each and every Wednesday. It always gets better and better here, Claire, when we join each other on the microphone.

And today is no shortage of topics to talk about as i said we're going to get into mac a little bit we're even going to talk a little tight endage alongside it because as you know folks we're contractually obligated to do some tight endage talk when claire joins us so no matter what the topic we've got to inject a little in there but we're going to talk another one of your favorite subjects in patriots lore, Claire, and that is offensive line. Cole Strange is now in the fold, signed his rookie deal last week, one of the last dominoes to fall with the Patriots rookie class. Tyquan Thornton followed suit. Bailey Zappi followed suit.

Patriots now have all of their rookies under contract. And yesterday here on the pod, Murph and I talked a lot about Cole Strange's prowess on the field what he brings to the table why I believe he's going to be the most impactful rookie for the Patriots this season some agreed some didn't agree some agreed with Murph that that's going to come from the defensive side of the ball or maybe even from the running back position but I think the fact that Cole is being groomed for the starting position means he's ready to make an impact right away well I don't think the impact that Cole Strange has on the Patriots on the field is going to be his only impact because yesterday according to Ben Volan of the Boston Globe we found out details about Cole's rookie deal and it's an affordable deal I mean there's no question about

it four years about 12.23 million dollars sorry Miguel I know I'm rounding up a little bit there but that seems to be the annual average value of the four years all combined together all of that guaranteed which is a trend we're seeing throughout the league right now Claire so good for Cole he's getting the guaranteed money. That's his. And he's going to earn every penny of it because you know the Patriots are going to be working him hard over the course of these next four years. Minimal cap numbers, including just $2.23 million

against the cap in 2022. Here's why I think this deal makes sense for both sides. First of all, Cole's getting a good rookie deal. He's getting his guaranteed money. That definitely, I is more than more incentive than you need to sign a deal like this but patriots also stand to have a benefit from it as well because they're actually paying less for their offensive line this year than they were last year and the patriots feel pretty confident that they can get similar output on that. I know you're a student of this as well. I know you love to follow the offensive line almost as much as you love to

follow the tight ends. When you took a look at this contract, what were your thoughts on Cole signing it and what were your thoughts on the way this is structured? Do you believe that there is some additional benefit to the New England Patriots other than just signing a lineman to a rookie deal now well sure and I mean being a first round draft pick you'd sort of expect that he was going to get signed he isn't the sort of you don't usually look at that kind of particular and sort of worry that he isn't going to be signing unless you know something some terrible skeleton comes out of the closet but I, it sort of navigates back to the whole trading of Shaq Mason situation.

And I'm one for being kind of up in arms of that because he was an elite offensive lineman. But you're looking at kind of the trading of Shaq Mason, moving Michael Owen you to sort of the right slotting Cole Strangin. It gives them a significant financial benefit in regards to the kind of like the nine million for just this year that they're sort of benefiting in in that so does it the cost saving

is you know it speaks for itself really mason's full guarantee was something in the region of 23.5 million now i'd refer to miguel for the exact. You know, that tends to be who I quote. But so that, you know, looking at that initially, it's like that's a significant, not to use the same word, but that's a significant saving in regards to that. So, as you mentioned, 2.23 against the cap for Cole Strange. Money talks, people. And unfortunately, it has to. And that's where we're kind of looking at now. So, I i mean one thing

that i discovered and i found very interesting and this was courtesy of actually over the cap 37 offensive linemen in the nfl now make at least 11 million in average salary so looking at cole strange for 2.23 you look at there's a lot of difference granted you you're not looking at kind of performance in that, you know, you're not taking performance into consideration. We don't really know what this guy's got. So you can pay 2.2 for anything. You know, what you get is what you need to get is value. So you need to see what the guy's got.

But being a first round draft pick, there must be something that they already see in him. So that's going to be significant. So yeah, you're definitely looking at saving money aren't you when you when you come into that respect the other thing is more money means more options for the team in general so not just taking into consideration the advantage of having cole strange in in the system is also what the the money then makes available for the rest of the team. And it's actually kind of going back now quite a way, but I was talking to Phil Perry a while ago on a perspective,

and we discussed in regards to the signing of Janu Smith and how he wasn't utilised significantly, so maybe they didn't get full value for money in regards to him. And if they hadn't have signed Janu Smith, they would have had an element of extra cash that maybe they could have put into the defence, which, you know, sort of wasn't significantly invested into last year. And how that cost saving could have really sort of gone roll forward

and how it could have really improved the defence. Now, I'm not saying that that's what they should have done. I'm not saying that I've got an issue with Johnny Smith signing or his money or anything like that. I'm just looking at it as a particular of if they hadn't have done this in regards to spending all this much money, maybe they'd have had it to move around here, there and everywhere sort of thing. So this is definitely what you're looking at when you're looking at the whole Shaq Mason, Cole Strange situation is they didn't they they utilise the money significantly by you sort of moving on from Shaq Mason.

They were able to put a little bit into Cole Strange, but they're able now to move the rest of it around and maybe that in itself is going to be a significant impact so you can really look at it from that respect of yeah that the cost benefit the cost saving of of keeping of having call strange how the effects the ripple effect can be within the team with the ripple effect of the cost saving going forward and what it can what it can do for what they can they can add in regards to that absolutely and i think that's a great point and look bottom line when you look at the average annual salary of a guard throughout the league uh approximately and ben pointed this out on boston globe.com yesterday and also on twitter that the average annual salary for the guard is about $16 million per year.

So if you look at that type of commitment that the Patriots would ultimately have to make for Shaq Mason when he comes up on a deal, Shaq has had a tremendous career. He's going to command big money. Offensive linemen that are in demand always are able to command that type of money and your guards are not the same as tackles but at the same time they're still getting highly paid these guys are in the trenches they're battling each and every week and they deserve the money that they're able to get strange's annual salary average equates to about 3.06 million dollars the patriots are saving tremendous amounts there when you take

a look at having him in there you also look now at michael wainu which i looked at michael wainu's contract and i hadn't done a whole lot of looking into his deal he's carrying a salary cap number in 2022 of only 945 617 dollars don't forget mike is a sixth round pick. So when you look at that, and you look at now that they have only about a $2.23 million cap hit for Cole Strange, and you're looking at only a $945,000 $946,000 cap hit for Michael Wayne, who for your two guards, that's a significant cost savings. And now with the Patriots trying to stockpile cap space that's going to be freed up for 2023 now you can understand where the logic came into place i get it cole is going to have to earn this uh i guess the best way to put it is he's going to

have to earn this kind of reprieve that he's been given for cost savings he's going to have to earn his value on the field there's no question about it that's where he's going to earn this contract he's got to go out there he's got to perform and he has to perform at a high level because of the left side of the of the the offensive line it's either he and isaiah win i know i caught a little flack earlier this week for saying that i still believe isaiah is going to be the left tackle and that trent is going to end up aligning on the right murph disagreed with me he thinks they're going to switch so I agree with Murph you agree with everybody right now oh my gosh nobody agrees with me on this no nobody agrees with me on this but you know what I told I told our listeners and I will continue if Isaiah Wynn

is taking snaps on the right when it comes to training camp, and if Trent Brown is taking snaps on the left, I definitely am not going to question it. Bill Belichick's forgotten more football than I'll ever learn. But at the same time, I'll step up and I'll admit that I was wrong. I'm not saying I'm absolutely 100% right, but the way these guys were trending toward the end of minicamp, it just looked like that was this that was the situation like this was something the patriots were trying but not necessarily pushing

and you also have to be careful of what you see in minicamp but conversation for another day stay on point right now regardless of who is going to be his side mate when you look at the offensive line whether it's going to be isaiah win or Trent Brown Cole Strange needs to be able to play that position and play it at a high level I see elements of Joe Tooney in him he's not going to be Joe Tooney this year folks maybe not even next year but down the line that's the type of player I think that you're going to see Cole emerge into that athletic type of guard that really is able to show his athleticism and provide great coverage. So maybe the Patriots truly do get a bargain here for Cole Strange under contract for four years, and maybe they get four great years out of this kid.

We'll see. It all begins in training camp, folks, in just a couple of weeks. And the one thing that Cole Strange is going to have to do better than he's ever done in the past is protect an NFL quarterback uh it's a little bit of a different game when you're trying to protect a quarterback at the NFL level Claire and apparently the quarterback that he'll be protecting our very own Mac Jones may have a little extra added a little extra added spice in uh in him this year. Jono Smith, someone that you know very well from your coverage of tight endage seems to

think that Mac's going to have a little dog in him. Well, we're going to discuss that in just a moment, exactly what did Jono mean by that? And whether or not Mac will be playing with a little extra spring in his step this year, we'll do that when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, it might be a little bit of a lull right now in pro sports, but there is still

a lot of pro sports out there to keep you satisfied as we head toward training camp and as we head toward the meaty part of the MLB season. If you want to maximize your sports watching and maybe make a little on it, then you need to visit our friends at BetOnline.net. They are your number one source for all of your sports betting needs and information. Find all of the latest sports developments and league reviews at BetOnline because they're your continued source for all of your sports wagering information, including live betting,ports and scores bet online remains the best spot for all of your sports scores podcasts news and everything else related this season they are the fastest and easiest way to check on all of your favorite sports and events including mma boxing and golf head over to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the

action that online where the game starts. Patriots fans, the illustrious Claire, classy Claire Cooper of Pat's Propaganda and A Claire Perspective, a Patriots podcast, joins me here today for her weekly appearance on Locked On Patriots. And Claire, we always seem to gravitate toward quarterback talk. Even when you're on and we discuss all of the great tight endage coverage that you provide, it always ends up coming down to the signal caller one way or another.

It's just the nature of our business. It's the way things work. And Mac Jones this week came under the microscope in a good way. When someone who you cover extensively, maybe not as extensively as Hunter Henry, but Jonu Smith appeared on Good Morning Football this week. And he talked a little bit about his own journey and how he feels that he's ready to make that next step into the Patriots offense this year, really ingratiate himself.

But he had some great things to say about his quarterback. And you'll love seeing it if you're a Patriots fan because you want to see tight ends, wide receivers, running backs, offensive linemen, you all want to see them on the same page and have a good amount of respect for your quarterback, and that's Mac Jones. Jono said something very interesting about Mac, and I'm going to read his quote verbatim because I thought it was very poignant of the way I think the fan base

sees him, maybe the way people nationally see him. But most importantly, you've got a little insight about how his teammates see him. And that to me is ultimately what's going to determine his success. John, who says, and I'm quoting, honestly, just the way he can turn it on. Mac is probably one of the goofiest guys in the locker room, to be honest. But when we step on that field, he's just a different character. He's got so much ability, so much dog in him. I like that comment. Once he flips that switch, he's a whole different character.

Some guys don't know how to cut that on and cut that off when it's time to do it. He's so young. He's poised. He's got a little slagger swagger to him that to me i think encapsulates what we've seen in mac jones the last couple of years i've had the opportunity to watch him in practice we've all had the opportunity to watch him on the field mac does exude that type of confidence maybe a little goofiness at times i say that with reverence. I don't, that's not a knot. I say that with, that's levity. You know, you need that on the, you know,

on the sidelines, but he also does have the ability to turn that on. I'm seeing it a lot more this year than I did last year during training camp. When you read Jonu Smith's comments, what does that mean to you in terms of Mac Jones's development and also you know what were your feelings when you saw that and how this looks to be a relationship that could be better this year than it was last year meaning the relationship between Mac and Jono well that right there that comment that you've just made I feel is quite significant because I do sort of feel that last season obviously you only see what you can see on the field. We only see what's reported.

You know, you don't even get a lot of sideline sort of visuals, if you like, but it became to an obviousness, to a degree, that there wasn't a major connection between Mac and Jonu. Now, the reasons and the implications for that were going to be quite many because it could have been anything from the lack of his time in training camp at the initial start of the season to the play calling by Josh McDaniels. You know, there's a rainbow of different reasons of why we didn't see the sort of the bonding that we saw between Mack and Hunter Henry. And, you know, it comes down to the different people as well.

So there's always the multitude of those reasons. But to see those kind of things, to see a relationship evolving a little bit more, a connection being created a little bit more, it just sort of makes you sort of see the team as coming together that little bit more under Matt Jones. He's out of his rookie first year. You know, he's still not going to be, he's not a veteran still. He's still a very young guy in a complex organisation, leading a team that was led by the greatest quarterback of all time for such a long period of time. That is another thing that you've kind of got to look at in perspective is Matt Jones is a young quarterback.

As Janu said, he's a young guy. He's only in his second year in the NFL and he's captaining. And when I say captain, I mean kind of more of the metaphorical than like a literal perspective. A team that has been, you know, a significant, words are escaping me, entity for so long a very powerful entity for so long a complex entity for so long that was that was run by a guy who was in his 30s you know into his 40s obviously yeah there was a start when brady was in his 20s but for such because he was with the team for such a long period of time he grew older in in in the team so they had a leader who was life experienced as well as NFL experience that kind

of thing so for Mac to be able to step up and be called a bit you know for those things to be said about him so young I do think he's significant and the whole yeah they're like the dog the in regards to the comments that Johnny Smith made're like the dog in regards to the comments that johnny smith made um yeah the dog in him was quite amusing the things that i sort of kind of made a point of the things that really stood out to me more was that he's so young but he's so poised yeah he has swagger he has this kind of he's going to have the mentality of a quarterback because you need an element of arrogance when you're to be a leader, because they need to have that winning mentality, that confidence in themselves.

The last thing you need is a wishy washy quarterback because you need him to have that, you know, for want of better phrases, dominance, arrogance, you know, the confidence, as I said, to be able to tell big-ass grown men that are like twice your size wide what to do. He's there standing there in the midst of all these guys in an NFL, in a very professional situation, having to tell them what they should be doing. And when they don't you know when when johnny smith runs the wrong route or whatever matt jones needs to be the one barking at him you did it wrong dude i mean i'm not saying johnny smith will but i'm just trying to put you in a perspective of johnny smith is a big athletic mildly scary looking guy and matt jones although

not small himself he needs to be able to have that sort of inner arrogance inner confidence to shout him out to call him out because it's going to be the success of the team for him to need to so it isn't just the kind of it's nice that we see the goofiness as fans you know taking myself out and being a fan it is pleasurable to see that you know, taking myself out and being a fan, it is pleasurable to see that, you know, the players that you sort of are in awe of or, you know, support, love, adore, you know, whatever you want to say. In those kind of humane situations of he is a bit of a goof. He likes, you know, he doesn't take himself too seriously

when he doesn't need to. And that's the whole switching on and off thing that I think is also a significant. He doesn't take himself too seriously when he doesn't need to. You know, he comments in interviews that he loves ice cream and his girlfriend's trying to get him to not eat ice cream and stuff like that. And you see that humane side of him because at the end of the day,

he's a guy who plays a sport. And it's lovely that you still see that but then the ability to switch that side of him off and the professional side of him on the serious focus side of him on and that's that's the poisonous you know that's the the the swagger as well I suppose you could say so all these comments, whilst lovely to hear and amusing and stuff, I think it's very key. It's very enlightening to see that you've got a guy who's maybe struggled a little bit in the system. It was a little bit of a rocky start for Jono Smith, as we said, for possibly a multitude of reasons. And to have those sorts of comments. Don't forget, Jono Smith's been, you know, he's been in the league for a while now.

I think, oh, I haven't got it written in front of me, so I'm going to quote it wrong, but I think it's something like six, seven years that he's been in the NFL for now. So you're talking a veteran guy. You know, you're not talking a fellow rookie who's got love for his fellow rookie. You've got a veteran who's been around the block a little bit,

got more life experience looking at this kid. If we want to, you know, if we want to put a phrase saying, well, you know, he may be a kid, but he can switch it on and he's got that poise. He's got that swagger. So, you know, it's great and it's significant because it's team building as well. So we're not just looking at it through a microscope of well that's Johnny Smith and Matt Jones yeah that's great but it kind of also sets a good scene a good picture for the rest of the team because you've got a veteran saying that about it hopefully it kind of feeds out into the rest of the team and if he is the head of the team you know for one of a bit of right you know one of a better phrases it's going to be to have someone like jonah smith say those sorts of things really kind of sort of fills you with the confidence that it's going to be sort of team-wide as well absolutely very very well said and you know

for all intents and purposes jonah's comments were definitely they were amusing i you know cracked up and i even said that i like the dog comment. I always liked that because it shows camaraderie. And I think it's important for Mac and John to get on the same page and have that type of relationship because everybody, including the two of us have talked a lot about his relationship with Hunter Henry and how that is a very close relationship. Two of them know what each other is going to do. That type of relationship is very important from a quarterback and a pass catcher. And if Jono can get on the same page with Mack this year, I think that shows it well. So kudos to Jono for going on and really kind of talking up his quarterback a little bit. You'll love seeing it. And it only cements the point

home that these guys in the locker room like each other and they're going to play hard for each other. Independent of whether you like each other or not, I've known some successful teams where there's been a lot of tension in locker rooms. But when you have that harmony in a locker room, it really only helps. It never hurts. So that's a good thing to see, especially for a young team that's trying to find its identity like the Patriots. But to hear him say the words like he's got a little bit of dog in him, to be honest with you, Claire, it did not surprise me at all. Right after Mack was drafted, right before training camp last year, actually right around

this time last year, I had the good fortune to talk to Christopher Walsh, who writes for SI's Bama Central. And he covered Mack throughout his entire career at Alabama. And the first thing that he said to me was he said, this kid is the ultimate patriot. He says that the Patriots really nailed it. They got a guy that gets it before he even walks in the door. And naturally, I wanted to pick his brain on that a little bit and find out what he meant by that.

Well, he said, well, first of all, watch him during the workouts. He's a planner. He's deliberate. He's going to take everything seriously. And he's going to be one of those guys that's really going to draw in his teammates right from the get-go. We saw that last year. We're seeing it a lot more this year. And naturally, Mack knows he's the starter this year. He did not know he was going to be the starter last year in training camp, still competing with Cam Newton. Mack knows this is his team. So he's going to come in with a little bit more assertiveness. He's going to come in with a little bit more assertiveness.

He's going to come in with a little bit more spring in his step, as I said, to open the show. And that's something that you love to see. And these guys that are either offensive skill position players or linemen, they're going to be drawn to that. They're going to be drawn to the confidence. It's one of those things that allowed someone like Tom Brady to come in and win over an offensive line and a skill position group that was staunchly loyal to Drew Bledsoe. Those guys love Drew. I think that's something that's not really publicized enough is how much they loved, you know, protecting and playing alongside Drew Bledsoe. And Brady came in and was able to get their confidence right away because he had it. And he knew that if he showed them that he was going to get everything

of himself out there on the field every single day, that's infectious. That's something that the teammates are going to do. And that's exactly what we're seeing Mac do. And you see him be more assertive on the field in practice. The other is being able to take the shots and be able to come back. Now, we saw that a little bit last year on the field but something christopher told me about mac jones in practice there was an off-season workout in alabama uh during i believe it was either the junior or senior year i i

apologize to christopher i'm not sure i think it might have been going into his senior year where mac just absolutely got drilled in practice inadvertently they really weren't trying to they were going through the progression and I guess just something happened where Mac just took a pretty decent shot popped right back up bloody knows all he comes right back in the huddle and he's like all right let's go you know nothing to that effect nothing like oh my god you know you just hit me what's going on nothing to that effect Mac just used it as fuel his teammates and Christopher said it he says you could look around and you could see his teammates looking at each other like wow you know it's this this is a guy we want to follow this is a tough kid and that's the type of toughness you want to

see in your quarterback so when John who says he's got a little dog in him I thought of this story right away and I can picture Mac you know being able to win over his teammates now thankfully folks we haven't seen anything like that happen in Foxborough yet I haven't seen Mac take a bad shot in practice hopefully we won't do that uh but that's just the type of guy that he is he's not going to let anything rattle him he'll take the hits and he'll keep coming back and to me i think that is what jana was trying to encapsulate when he said that and i think it only spells good things for the new england patriots this season um and i'm looking forward to seeing what uh i'm looking

forward to seeing that little extra dog that mac has got in him because i think it's going to translate to something better uh than what we saw last year and maybe give our friends up north and western New York a little something to bark at during the season which you know I'm always for folks but if Mac Clare is going to make that next step he also has to do it on the field and Mac is doing a lot of things behind the scenes to make sure that he is physically ready to start the season and complete is doing a lot of things behind the scenes to make sure that he is physically ready to start the season and complete the season as strong as he starts it how is he doing that and will Mac be better on the field this year than he was last season well Claire

and I'll discuss that in just a minute when we wrap up this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast but first folks summer is here and it is the time for family outings getting out of the house getting out and seeing the world it's been a tough couple of summers the last couple of years but you want to venture out problem is every time you look at the fuel pump it's not exactly conducive to that but there are ways to save when it comes to your automobile and that's by saving time and money when you do business with my good friends over at rockauto.com why choose to spend 30 50 even 100 more for the same parts from a chain store or a car dealership rockauto.com is a family business serving do-it-yourselfers like me for 20 years rock auto's prices are reliably low and they're

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and put a bow on this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast. As always, each and every Wednesday, I have the esteemed honor, the esteemed privilege of being joined by the Empress of Tight Endage herself, the Countess of Clas, Ms. Claire Classey, Claire Cooper of Pat's Propaganda, and a Claire perspective of Patriots podcast. Claire Clasie, Claire Cooper of Pat's Propaganda, and a Claire Perspective of Patriots podcast.

Claire, we talked a little bit about Cole Strange to open the show, and we had some fun talking about Mac Jones in the previous segment. But ultimately, if Mac Jones is going to display that dog in him that John O. Smith, you know, seems to think that we're going to see this year. I think it's obvious that Mac has to do that type of talking on the field. And we're already seeing in a lot of ways that Mac has taken that challenge. I guess there's no better way to put it. He's taken that challenge and put it into action.

Revamped his diet. Mac looks leaner. He looks a little bit stronger. He actually looks a little bit quicker. So he's putting in the physical work to make sure that that gets done. He's putting in the logistical work on the field during OTA, during mini camp. He's always among the last, if not the last to leave the field, working with coaches, working with his teammates. He's taking this seriously. He's also doing things behind the scenes to kind of clear up some of his deficiencies. And I'll get at that in just a moment. But when you look at Matt Jones, you look at the performance that he put out last year.

Yeah. Best rookie quarterback in terms of statistics and in terms of accuracy in the league last year, led his team to the playoffs. Good rookie season, but there were some issues that we all know he had to work on into this coming season. Based on what you know from Mac, based on what you've seen and what you've heard in terms of his progression this year, are we going to see a better Mac Jones on the field this year, or are Patriots fans maybe in for a little bit of a surprise what do you expect out of Mac this year uh as training camp is set to open in

just a little over two weeks well Mike he's a lean mean non-ice cream eating machine now so it's going to be some major improvements I like it I like it but no but in all seriousness I mean I kind of want to rewind a little bit back to last year I mean his approach to last season even when he had the competition he was against the MVP of Cam Newton and he didn't know that it was his team he was still himself and he was still authentic and that's significant and I think that's kind of does sort of go back to what we discussed in the earlier segment of Johnny Smith and and like the dog in him and stuff and I think that's only going to drive him towards improvement I mean there's no way that you'd look at someone like Tom Brady and now I know it's a comparison that

people don't really want to make but I just want to make it in the general personality way of Brady was a very driven quarterback and maybe the reason that Matt Jones fits in the Patriot way is because he's got a very similar way about him now I'm not saying Matt Jones is Tom Brady so please you know before we get kind of the the mailbag full of any kind of negativity so i'm not sort of saying i'm just saying there's there's some similarities there that we can sort of appreciate and that you know brady wouldn't settle for a first year of being you know making the playoffs he strove to you know to improve and and you can really see that in mac james i believe that you can see that even from the outside even from all the way over here across the pond in you know in the great UK

you know I can see that sort of sort of in him and you can't see him settling for you know no improvement and and I think that that's a key is you know he's very self-driven and that's very important so i mean everything points to improvement in general you've got team improvement because you've got individuals that have got their second year in so you're talking all second year jump and stuff like this and you know you've got more members of the team in regards to you've got all these new linebackers that okay could you know could fail but we don't know so you've you've got the elements of they managed to make it to the playoffs last season and there's new elements and there's new improvements. So you would sort of anticipate that that's where they're going to be at least this year. Now, you know, it could any indication of, as you said,

all the work that he's been doing, the way that he has been in the offseason. And we aren't even at training camp yet. So you've got to put that in perspective. We haven't even got there yet. And he's still looking at ways of making improvements to himself, you know, which is only going to then reflect out into sort of the way he is with the team and the way he pulls it together. Because as we aforementioned in the previous segment,

he is the leader of this team and he is stepping up and being a leader of this team. And as we said, veterans like Johnny Smith are commenting on that. So we're being told it already. You know, you can also, you can almost say we're already being told that matt jones is in for an improvement year from last year because of all the things that we are being told now obviously it depends a lot on on the performance of other individuals and you know not getting injured and those sorts of things but he's taking ownership of the offense he's embracing this starting role that

he's got and he's actively making you know plans making steps to improve himself from like as you mentioned conditioning not eating ice cream or whatever to being the last one on the field you know being involved in the team so I can't really see that as I said not to repeat myself but I can't really see that he's the kind of individual the kind of personality to just settle on his laurels and be like yeah you know what I had a really good rookie year I can lead the team I know that I can because I've done it then you know I don't need to push I don't need to and besides if he was that sort of individual I don't really think he'd still be here because that's not the Patriots way shall we say so I definitely sort of see some improvement

now there's lots of unknowns in regards to the rest of the team so he just because Mac has it kind of in the mindset ready you know the dog with the bone ready to make the improvements ready to take the team but i'm just trying to get as many cliches in here as i can possibly but seriously it isn't just up to matt jones to to carry the team it isn't just up to matt jones to make the improvements in the team it's up to the team as a whole so you know you can always say well the best of intentions and everything but from what we see from what we told from what we read and from what we hear as we talked about with johnny smith is that matt jones is focused and he's poised and he's got the confidence he's got that dog in him you know he's got everything that you would hope for he's got the sort of maybe it's only on paper so you

know you're only saying well you know if you were to write a list of the qualities you know he's got them all there and it's like it's one thing having them and it's only on paper. So, you know, you're only saying, well, you know, if you were to write a list of the qualities, you know, he's got them all there and it's like it's one thing having them and it's another putting them into practice. And we fully appreciate that. Like you said, maybe we'll see more during training camp. So it's still stuff that we're going to see. And it's going to take us until the actual season when NFL games are actually in play to sort of really see these improvements,

to really see the impact of what he's working towards. But from what we're privy to, if you like, it does look like, you know, that we should be confident in 2022. Matt Jones himself is looking to make improvements and hopefully by a result that will be an improvement within the whole team as well. Absolutely. 100% agreed. And look, for all intents and purposes, you know, we're not sitting here, neither one of us are going to sit here and say,

oh, Mac's got tons of stuff to work on. There's all this. Mac had a tremendous rookie season. And I think, you know, statistically, logistically coming in under the circumstances that he did as well, taking over the reins of a team that was just one year removed from saying goodbye to the greatest to ever put on shoulder pads is not easy to do.

And that's why I will always have a lot of respect and a lot of reverence for the job that Cam Newton did in 2020. When he came in here, very few people have the charisma the ability and the wherewithal to be able to withstand replacing tom brady as the quarterback of a franchise that you might as well say is always going to be eternally his you know when people think of the patriots it's going to be like the 49ers with montana it's going to be like you know these these franchises that they have indelible quarterbacks and that's just naturally what you think of Brady is going to be that guy with the New England Patriots he always will regardless of who wears shoulder pads here so

for Mack to come in and be able to perform the way he did under those circumstances and also having to replace a guy like cam newton that is arguably you know on his way to a hall of fame career had a tremendous career himself really one of the best quarterbacks in the league at the time that he was playing it's tough it's tough to do that mac did and he did it well so the attitude and the perseverance describe that a little bit in the previous segment that's what also helps you but if there is one thing that he's had criticized not so much by people in New England because I think we see him more on a regular basis when it comes to the media I think the fans see him on a regular

basis and they're much more educated to speak on this than other national or other beats out there against the Patriots. I know there are some TikTok videos out there where, you know, people want to pander to their own fan bases and talk about arm strength and, you know, give like this, you know, breakdown of how there's some big time arm strength expert. I'm trying to be nice here. The guy that I'm going to believe when it comes to arm strength is the guru when it comes to quarterbacks, and that's Tom House.

We've received notification in the offseason that these two might be working together. They appeared at an event, and, you know, Mac was liking some of Tom House's comments on Twitter. Well, Mac confirmed in minicamp that he has, in fact, worked with Tom House this offseason. And for everyone that thinks that arm strength can't be worked on, that you either have it or you don't. And if you don't, you're going to be a rag arm for the rest of your career. That's simply not true. And anyone telling you otherwise is either trying to wish it into reality or they just

don't know what they're talking about house went on with tom curran earlier this year in january on nbc sports boston's podcast and he described jones as an efficient passer said he was an accurate passer but truly believed that he had not maxed out his genetic capacity to throw and those are tom's exact words that he had not maxed out his genetic capacity to throw. And those are Tom's exact words that he used to describe Mac Jones. I don't know the farthest that Mac has ever thrown a football, but I guarantee you we can train him to throw it farther than he has been. He wanted to get him to a point where he said, I want to be able to go up to Bill Belichick and say,

if he needs to throw 60-yard throws consistently, he wants to look Bill Belichick in the face and say, if you need him to throw four or five of those in this game, he can do it for you. If Tom House sees that type of potential in Mack Jones, then Mack's, first of all, going to see it in himself. But second of all, the rest of the league is going to see it. And we haven't quite seen Mack air the ball out that much yet, but I can tell you that his passes have a little more zip on them,

still has the same accuracy, but he's delivering them with a little bit more authority, I like to say. And because of that, I think you're going to see that this year. And I think you're also going to see maybe some of the play-calling restraints that he went through last year maybe taken off, and Mack's going to be unleashed a little bit. That sounds like I'm taking a shot at Josh McDaniels. I'm not, folks.

I think Josh handled Mac very well last year. As a rookie, it's important to protect your quarterback's psyche as it is to protect their stats and their performance on the field. So I think Josh was right in line with what he did with Mac last year. But now it's time to wean those training wheels off a little bit. It's time to test out what this kid can do. And if he's been working with Tom house and he's been getting that type of velocity out of his arm,

that the rest of the NFL, especially the teams in the AFC East, one of them in Western New York that really, really hopes that he doesn't get that type of velocity. I think you're going to see a really strong Mac Jones this year on the field. And I think that it's going to lead to some big things. So I have high hopes for Mac this year. And I, for one, cannot wait to watch him throw the football in a couple of weeks when we see him in training camp,

because that's when I think you're going to start to see the fun that Mac Jones may have this year. But you're also going to see the business side of him too. And I think that's where he's ready to make that jump. The Countess agrees, see? And when the Countess agrees, you know that you've done your job, folks. What can I say, Claire? It's always my honor, always my privilege to have you join me here each and every week on the Locked On Patriots podcast.

Yes, folks, we do owe you a mailbag. My memory is not that poor yet, and we will be delivering a mailbag here. Special day coming next week. A little bit of a different schedule for Locked On Patriots next week, so definitely stay tuned to Twitter. We're going to be letting you know

when you can expect to see the Countess and all of the great guests that we always have here on Locked On Patriots. Stay tuned and be aware of that coming as well. But in the meantime, I want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time out to spend with us today and also for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and hopefully your first listen every day. And now that you've made Locked On Patriots your first listen every day,

do yourself a favor, folks. Make your second listen to the Locked On NFL podcast. Great hosts, great guests. Insight you'll find only here on the Locked On podcast network across the NFL landscape. Anything and everything happening in the NFL, our guys have it covered. So smash that subscribe button and download Locked On NFL wherever you get your podcasts and also be sure to smash that subscribe button for unabashedly my favorite listen in patriots folklore and that is a clear perspective a podcast you can find anywhere you get your

podcast when i tell you folks you will not find a finer or more enjoyable listen other than lockdown patriots of course um you will definitely enjoy that uh you know i kid i kid count it's i kid but no all kidding aside definitely check it out you will not be disappointed claire uh before we take our leave uh do you have any parting words of wisdom for our adoring public out there today well when you said you asked me to agree and i was just like nodding because i didn't realize you actually wanted me to comment so for those of you listening on podcast i was just nodding in agreement so my apologies but it's because i'm mildly distracted myself with the fact that that i can imagine that come in come training camp the opening bars of who

let the dogs out might actually be playing at foxborough now so i'm just mildly distracted myself while I was on camera so yeah look yeah let's look out for that so yeah I'm looking forward to hopefully hearing that then the great Mike Reese of ESPN is always our playlist guru when it comes to training camp and practice playlists so I'm sure Mike is going to capture that if it's played and he'll tweet that out and I'll make sure that he shouts you out Claire because I know I know he uh he loves to shout out Claire when it comes to tight endage, but if he knows you have an affinity for that song,

he'll have a special air out for that as well. Folks, again, we will be back here next week. The Countess will be back here again next week. We will indeed employ a mailbag for all of your tight endage questions and all of your positional preview questions. So get those in and make sure that we will get those to those next week here on Locked on Patriots. In the meantime, please continue to stay safe, stay well,

always be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and thank you once again for all of your great support of the Locked on Patriots podcast.