Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Christian Gozalez Wins Rookie Award, Daniel Ekuale, Cole Strange Injuries, Micah Parsons and More

Starting point is 00:00:00 One month down in the regular season and one rookie award already won for New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez. And guess what, folks? It is not going to be the last award this kid's going to win. Stick around because 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.

Starting point is 00:00:45 Thank you once again for making Lockdown Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Don't forget, Lockdown Patriots is a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Subscribe or follow for free on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts to ensure that you get the latest episode as soon as it's available. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on Twitter, on X, the Bird app, whatever you want to call it these days, at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-N-F-L. And while you're out there showing some love to the Lockdown Patriots through social media,

Starting point is 00:01:24 please follow our account there as well at LO underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, today, joining me here on this Cowboys prep but gonzo appreciation day is my good friend, my Patriots paisan, a columnist extraordinaire for Patsfans.com. He is also the host of another amazing podcast alongside Derek Havens, Patriots fourth and two, and he's here to lend his wisdom, his counsel, and his voice of reason as he always does when he shows up in the guest chair. My good buddy, Steve Balistrieri. Steve, welcome back to the pod. Oh, it's great to be here. Thanks for asking me, as always. And, you know, what better way to enjoy a beautiful fall day than talking football with you, my friend?

Starting point is 00:02:10 Absolutely. And the New England Patriots are enjoying a beautiful fall day as we speak out on the practice fields. But one particular Patriot, a little limited in his action. We're going to talk about that, folks, in just a moment. And some of the Patriots' injuries having an impact on this weekend's matchup with the Dallas Cowboys but Steve we'd be remiss if we did not begin today's

Starting point is 00:02:30 episode without giving a tip of the cap and a nod to the gods the Patriots rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez the 17th overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft living up to the hype and then some Christian was named defensive rookie of the month for the month of September, and what a month he's had. Three games played, 100% of the Patriots snaps were taken by this kid, 16 tackles, three pass breakups, a sack, a tackle for a loss, and an interception. Christian now becomes the fifth player in franchise history to take home that monthly rookie honor.

Starting point is 00:03:05 Before him, Mac Jones did it in 2021. Steve, I thought Mac Jones couldn't play offense, but apparently there are awards that are given to these guys. So there we go. You know, in 2021, Mac Jones, yeah, he had a pretty good month that year. Defensive end Chandler Jones did it in 2012. Linebacker Gerard Mayo in 2008. And wide receiver Deion Branch going all the way back to the early days of the Brady Belichick era, doing it in 2002. Steve, Christian Gonzalez continues to exceed expectations.

Starting point is 00:03:37 I don't want to ask, is this award well-deserved? Because we both know the answer to that question. But what's impressed you the most about Christian in the early days of 2023? Well, just the fact that, you know, we were wondering, I mean, he got thrown right into the fire, right? I mean, you look at the wide receivers he's facing, you know, the guys with the Eagles, the guys with the dolphins, you know, Garrett Wilson with the jets. the Eagles, the guys with the Dolphins, Garrett Wilson with the Jets.

Starting point is 00:04:06 I mean, he hasn't had a break, and it's not going to be a break this weekend. He gets CeeDee Lamb. I mean, it's been right into the fire and the frying pan, whatever you want to use there. But he's been so good in his temperament you know a lot of people have been comparing to uh stefan gilmore which i think is a really good comparison because they have that same temperament they don't get too high they don't get too low they're very confident they're able to let if they have a bad play they let it go and they're right on to the

Starting point is 00:04:44 next one this guy's been outstanding i mean we were all wondering if you know it was going to be too much too soon for him but he's more than answered the bell i think and you know as it just goes to show sometimes the draft can be a little too over analytical a lot of people were down on this guy. I remember just before the draft or just after the draft, people were saying, oh, the reason he fell is because they're worried about he's not very demonstrative. He's not a good tackler.

Starting point is 00:05:18 You know, they were worried that his temperament wasn't going to be good for the NFL. I think everyone missed the boat on that one. So their loss is a gain for New England. I think this kid, you know, he's only going to get better in time. And, you know, yeah, I mean, it is very well deserved. But I think he's been really outstanding and somewhat of a steal, even at 17. Without question. You know, they say, watch out for the quiet ones. Still waters run

Starting point is 00:05:52 deep. All of those colloquialisms that you can throw in there to talk about Christian Gonzalez and Bill Belichick talked about this earlier this week saying he was like the quiet assassin, basically very similar to what Stefanon Gilmore was here. Stephon wasn't an overly demonstrative guy. He led by example. He led by his actions on field. And you want to take a look at statistical output in the first three weeks that Christian Gonzalez has worn a Patriots uniform against, and you alluded to this just a few moments

Starting point is 00:06:22 ago, the likes of A.J. Brown, Devontae Smith, Jalen Waddell, Tyree Kill, Garrett Wilson. and you alluded to this just a few moments ago the likes of a.j brown davante smith jalen waddle tyree kill garrett wilson that is a gauntlet that's a trial by fire if i've ever seen one for a young rookie cornerback with a lot on his shoulders with three prominent members of that secondary out now either through injured reserve or being held out as a game day inactive. You're talking the three Joneses. Gonzalez is carrying that load plus everything that he brings in as a Patriots first round pick.

Starting point is 00:06:53 And I want to give another tip of the cap to Evan Lazar, who did a great job of charting this out. When you look at the 74 routes that Christian has followed these wide receivers, these big time wide outs on various other teams that the Patriots have played. He's allowed 10 catches for 102 yards, an interception, a sack, and a pass breakup. And the other stat that I thought was amazing is he's allowing opposing wide receivers to get open on just 23.1% of their routes against him. That's phenomenal. I mean, when you're talking about any receiver and any cornerback,

Starting point is 00:07:28 those are good numbers. When you factor in that Christian is a rookie and he's doing it against top competition, wide receiver ones out there, the WR ones, the weapons that so many Patriots fans want their team to have on their side, Christian is shutting them down. It really is a remarkable thing to see. Yeah, it's great.

Starting point is 00:07:47 And he's been, everything is advertised and then some, you know, from day one. He's been out there. He's been a sponge. He's learned from the veterans. And like you said, three of the top four cornerbacks right now are injured. So the onus is all on him. And it hasn't been too much for him. No, it hasn't.

Starting point is 00:08:07 He's been fantastic. And, you know, a lot of people were poo-pooing last week with Garrett Wilson saying, well, Zach Wilson. Well, what are you going to say about Tyreek Hill, you know, and Jalen Waddell because they're quarterback-led. And, you know, those numbers against Miami don't look as bad now, do they? Defensively, overall, after seeing what they did to Denver last weekend, which was amazing.

Starting point is 00:08:36 I mean, 70 points in an NFL game? That's crazy. Those were crazy numbers. So when you look back at that, they helped Tyreek Hill, which I saw a lot of people saying he's virtually uncoverable. Well, he only had 40 yards against the Patriots. And a lot of that had to do with, you know, with our rookies. So. Absolutely. And Christian was drawing the praise of Tyreek Hill even after that game. You know, these guys don't dole out compliments to the opposing team

Starting point is 00:09:06 especially after the game is in the can and for tyreek to actually say that and to really uh you know go above and beyond to praise christian gonzalez shows that he was impressed and i truly believe him in that situation and that's again well deserved and it goes back to the hand and glove fit that christian is for this defense even. And again, I know you mentioned about some of his detractors saying he didn't have the temperament or there were questions about him. It still makes me laugh that anyone would question how Christian could fit into this defense. Because if there's one thing that history has taught us over the last few years is that

Starting point is 00:09:40 Bill Belichick's defense has evolved into that heavy man coverage and single high safety scheme. That's exactly what he loves to employ. And that's exactly where someone like Christian Gonzalez fits in well. The outside corner in this case is Christian. He's going to be left to play off inside help, and he's going to get that inside help, but he's going to take the opponent's top receiver one-on-one down the field. That could put a lot of strain on a cornerback without any question and really the strain on the entire depth chart. And that's why the Patriots defense is at its best when that guy that's shadowing that top wide out or the number two wide out employ a lockdown corner to cover the number one

Starting point is 00:10:21 receiver. When you've got a player with the size and the speed that Christian has, 6'1", he's in the 40 at a 4.38 speed, explosiveness. That to me is a hand and glove fit for this team. And I still can't believe that he was there for the Patriots taking at 17. Yeah, it's not a very good day for the Bill Kent draft crowd. I know a lot of you out there want the weapons and a part of me agrees with you that the Patriots need to do a better job cultivating that side of the ball through the draft, but anyone arguing with Christian Gonzalez at number 17 is just not seeing the forest from the trees, folks. This was a well-deserved award. Absolutely. Steve, the Patriots will take the field against this Dallas Cowboys team on Sunday,

Starting point is 00:11:04 and the Cowboys are as formidable on both sides of the ball as any other team in the league. Don't let last week's loss to the Arizona Cardinals fool you folks. Probably an anomaly and not exactly the rule when it comes to the Cowboys, but there are ways for the Patriots to actually challenge this team and maybe even give them a run for their money on Sunday. But their task is going to be a little bit tougher by a deficiency in the defensive line. And that's a reserve along the defensive line. Daniel Laquale, folks, is now on injured reserve.

Starting point is 00:11:33 It's going to put a strain on the interior, especially of the Patriots defensive line. How will they compensate for it? And who's going to step up? Steve and I are going to talk about that and more in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Locked On listeners, our partners over at eBay Motors have teamed up with Locked On fantasy football host Vinny Iyer to bring you some of the best fantasy picks each week all season long. Whether

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Starting point is 00:13:32 rubber not cash keep your ride or die alive at ebay.com motors ebay guaranteed fit only available to us customers eligible items only exclus Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. Locked On listeners, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us here on Locked On Patriots. And of course, joining me today is my Patriots bison, Steve Balistrieri, columnist extraordinaire of Patsfans.com. Steve, we talked a lot about Christian Gonzalez, but it's time to switch our attention to the

Starting point is 00:14:05 Dallas Cowboys. And Marcus Mosher, host of Locked On Cowboys, joined me here yesterday on Locked On Patriots for our weekly crossover. And we talked a lot about potential matchups that could give either side problems. And one of the problems that Marcus had brought up was Dallas's running game being able to get on track against the Patriots' defensive front. He believes the Pats' defense is going to get on track against the Patriots defensive front. He believes the Pats defense is going to be able to keep the Patriots close. Now, he didn't quite go above and beyond and pick the Patriots to win it, but he did believe that the

Starting point is 00:14:35 defense gives them a chance to keep it close. I think the defense will keep this game close. Although, if you listen to yesterday's show, you know which way I picked in this game, and a lot of you were not happy with me about that but i'll stand by it i definitely will take my lashings if the patriots come out on top here look no one wants them to be victorious in this game more than me but at the same time i think that task is going to be a little bit more difficult with daniel out of the lineup he might be a reserve he might not be a household name, but his impact as a sub rusher on this team has been invaluable to this defense. And he plays such a key role. You're an expert when it comes to defense, Steve, how did the Patriots compensate for Daniel's loss here,

Starting point is 00:15:17 starting with this matchup on Sunday? Yeah, I mean, that, that is a tough loss. And again, I think you hit the nail on the head. He's not a starter, but he plays a valuable role. And that's the Patriots love guys who can do that. You know, he's a sub package rusher. He's done very well at it. I think this week we'll probably see a little bit more Sam Roberts. But, you know, if I'm Bill Belichick during certain passing situations, I might be inclined to move a guy like Keon White, who's very physical,

Starting point is 00:15:54 very fast and athletic for a guy that his size. I'd probably be more inclined. I know he's more of a, end or edge guy, but you couldn't do too badly by adding a guy like him into your interior pass rush. I think he'd probably do very well at that. And it's something that they're going to need this week. I think they'll be able to slow down Dallas's running game but you know if they're going to be successful and and win the football game I think they're going to have to really bring pressure on Dak Prescott and a big question is the health of Dallas's offensive line we've been

Starting point is 00:16:35 saying all season you know that the Patriots offensive line hasn't been together you know they've been injured or it you know ill or whatever and the fact that you know they three of their guys right now are banged up three of their starters so a lot will depend on if these guys are available to play but you know back to the question at hand I would like to see Keon White in there I think you're right and I think this is an opportunity for Keon White to show his versatility. Look, through the first few games and even throughout the preseason and through training camp, we kept hearing a lot about Keon White's ability to get after the passer, that

Starting point is 00:17:15 nonstop motor, being an asset in the pass rush, very similar to the way that the Patriots are using Dietrich Wise. I think Keon Waite's ability to defend the run is something that we saw so often at Georgia Tech and something that I think you're going to see from him this week and beyond, but especially this week against Dallas's line, because let's not forget, you know, they've got guys like Smith and Beatus that are going to be banged up. Even if they are goes for this game and they are able to play, they're not going to be at 100%. So it allows the Patriots front to be able to take advantage of some of those mismatches. And Pollard has been effective running the ball. He's one of the better dual threat backs in the

Starting point is 00:17:55 game, but he can be contained. If you allow the interior of your defensive line to be able to stop the run, the Patriots second level level and those linebackers were very good. A big bounce back game for the Patriots defensive front seven against the Jets. Both the linebackers and the D-line came up big and that was big for the D-line because they were missing Devin Godchild in that game who also Steve is not a go for this game. He's not a slam dunk. He's out there practicing but he's still listed as a limited participant you wonder how much of him you're going to see in this matchup coming up as well that could have an impact on the run defense oh absolutely i mean godchow is their big you know piece in the middle and you know he eats up uh those double teams at the point of attack over the center so you, you know, they need that big guy in there.

Starting point is 00:18:49 If he's not able to go, they might have to change up, you know, how they line up. Instead of, you know, the three-man front, they might have to go to a four-man front, depending on, you know, how they feel they match up with Dallas. It's going to be a good chess match because I like the Patriots to be able to slow down. I'm not saying shut down the run, but slow it down enough where, you know, the Cowboys are not going to be in that comfortable zone all the time, third and one, third and two. It's going to be in those middle ranges, third and four, maybe third and five sometimes or better.

Starting point is 00:19:23 So I think it's going to be a really good football game. And yeah, missing a quality is a big loss. But, you know, again, I think Keon White will be up to the task. Steve, we have not finished up yet because we still have not solved the main question that is on the minds of a lot of Patriots fans and that is how do you solve a problem like Micah Parsons not an easy task folks but we've got the resident voice of reason here to talk us off the ledge a little bit and give us some insight

Starting point is 00:19:58 on how the Patriots might attack this monster of a football player and I say that with every bit of reverence. One of the best in the business, and the Patriots have a tall task in shutting him down. Can they do it? We'll talk about it next, right here on the Locked On Patriots Podcast, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

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Starting point is 00:21:30 resident voice of reason is here to lend that wisdom and counsel that we need so much here in Locked On Patriots, here in Patriots Nation, and that is my good friend Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com. Steve, we've talked Patriots defense an awful lot. We've talked about

Starting point is 00:21:46 the opportunities that the Patriots will have to showcase Christian Gonzalez and how he's emerged and how he faces a difficult task this week in CD Lam and kind of giving him his well-deserved kudos for his Rookie of the Month award. We've talked about how the Patriots might adjust to the loss of Daniel Laquale to this offense, but the Patriots might adjust to the loss of Daniel Laquale to this offense, but the Patriots offense itself faces maybe one of their more difficult tasks of the season on Sunday, and that is trying to neutralize the impact of Micah Parsons, who continues to be one of the best defenders in the league. You do not need to be a football expert, or you do not need to be an insider, folks,

Starting point is 00:22:25 to see what type of an impact Parsons has on this Dallas defense. Four sacks, 20 quarterback pressures through the first three games. You can make the argument, Steve, that this guy is the most disruptive defender and the one that's going to test the Patriots offensive line the most in terms of his versatility and things he can do. If you're the New England Patriots, how do you try to neutralize that problem that is Micah Parsons? I'm glad you asked that because I just finished writing about it. So I guess I'm giving away part of my column for tomorrow for the keys to the game. The way that you, you know, block Micah Parsons

Starting point is 00:23:08 from becoming the major factor in this football game is to take him away, not by blocking him, but by going the other way with this. I think how you neutralize him is by running the football right up the middle. The Arizona Cardinals did that very well last week. And, you know, when you have two edge rushers like DeMarcus Lawrence, Micah Parsons, you don't want to get in those third and eight situations because they'll eat you alive all game long.

Starting point is 00:23:44 It'll be a long afternoon. How you do that is you run downhill and the Patriots have two very good downhill runners and Ramond Ray Stevenson and, and Ezekiel Elliott and Elliott will probably, you know, have taken his Flintstone vitamins for this game. You know, he's playing his old team. I think he wants to, you know, make a point. And I think you run right up the gut against this team. You know, I watched the tape of that Cardinals game,

Starting point is 00:24:14 and they did a very good job of, you know, I'm not going to say exposing the middle of the defense, but I think if you're looking at this front seven, the weakest part of it, and not saying that they're weak, but the weakest part of it would be their tackles. And I think, you know, for the Patriots this week, is just don't play that game where we're going to try to beat him by doing this. We're going to beat him by running away from him right up the middle.

Starting point is 00:24:47 And that way he's not the factor in the football game. You know, if you get to those third and one and third and twos, he can't just pin his ears back and take off, which he probably will anyway because he's so fast. And I think the Patriots can do this. You know, Dallas's defense isn't built on size. It's built on really fast athletic players. They have a ton of speed in that defense. So the way to negate that is to run right at it and use your big heavy guys to create a gap where,

Starting point is 00:25:20 you know, your downhill runners can thrive in that. I think if you're coming into this game and you're saying, Mac Jones is going to pass 40 times in this game, it's probably not going to end well. If you can keep him 25 or 30 passes and you're able to run the football fairly effectively, you have a puncher's chance in this game. You absolutely do. And I'm glad that you mentioned limiting Mac Jones' throws because conventional wisdom right away,

Starting point is 00:25:52 when you see that Trayvon Diggs is no longer in that secondary because he's on IR. Patriots fans are saying, oh, you've got to attack that. You've got to go after it, you know, throw the ball, test the secondary. No, that is not the way to beat this Dallas Cowboys team, folks. There is still a lot of talent back there, including a guy who knows Mac Jones' tendencies. He knows what the Patriots do in those regards,

Starting point is 00:26:14 and that is Stephon Gilmore. I think it was comical earlier this week that so much was made about Will Greer and Ezekiel Elliott being interrogated, Steve, with some Jack Bauer-esque type interrogation session. Yeah, they're being waterboarded by Bill O'Brien. Yeah, exactly. And Bill O'Brien and Bill Belichick are standing and going, tell us what you know.

Starting point is 00:26:35 You know, it's just not going to happen that way, folks. Stefan Gilmore can actually offer a lot more intel because into the mind of Bill Belichick, because those two were so like-minded when it came to defensive strategy. So you know that Stefan knows exactly what the Patriots are looking to do. And he's been around the league several years. I mean, he didn't play under Bill O'Brien when he was here, but he knows the O'Brien type offense and what needs to be done to defend it. And guys like Deron Bland can step up and be effective on the opposite side in that

Starting point is 00:27:07 cornerback room. So there's still a lot of talent in that secondary that you don't want to test and run to the well too many times. The key to being able to neutralize it is utilizing the run to set up play action, just like the Patriots did last week. They did a much better job. They need to continue that. We need to see more Mondre

Starting point is 00:27:25 and we need to see a good amount of Zeke on this game. Cassidy under center this week. Absolutely. And that was one of the keys that Murph and I talked about last week is get Mac back under center. He was under center for a better part of this game. And you saw play action in that O'Brien and really open right up. And I'd also like to see Farrell Brown, that run blocking role. who knows maybe it'll open up a seam for him to get another catch I think I think the Cowboys are going to be watching for that this week they're not going to be caught off guard the way the Jets were last week but still Farrow is very good at being able to block uh for the run so keep an eye on that

Starting point is 00:27:59 but it all comes down to what you said Steve use your big eyes big guys up front. Use that offensive line to your advantage. Trent Brown is going to have to have another near flawless game the way he did on Sunday against the Jets. Did not allow a pressure. I don't necessarily know if that works this time around, but Marcus and I talked about this a little bit yesterday here on the show as well. Do you send Micah around the other side and test the right side of that line, knowing that there are some uncertainties there

Starting point is 00:28:27 and for Darian Lowe, maybe he gets the start again. I think he will probably in that tackle position is the left weekend now by Cole Strange. Thursday's practice did not give us a whole lot of encouragement that Cole's going to be able to be out there. He was very limited in the action that members of the media saw early on in that practice.

Starting point is 00:28:48 How much does that change anything if Cole's not able to go in this one? Oh, I think it's a big change. I mean, you know, then you have to put one of the rookies in there and you know, they, they, well, we're not even sure city sow isauer is going to be 100% himself. So, you know, then you have to put Maffie in there. And he struggled, too. I mean, he's still a rookie.

Starting point is 00:29:13 And that Jets front, you know, that Jets front line is really good, as we know. And Dallas's front is right there. I mean, it's another very good defensive line. And again, they're built on speed and quickness, and they have to be aware of that. Again, I think you mentioned Farrell Brown. I think that's a great idea because if you put a big guy out there

Starting point is 00:29:42 as an extra blocker at times, maybe you neutralize one of those, you know, edge rushers for a play or two. I'm not saying you're going to do it all game long because we know those guys aren't going to be held in check for the entire game, you know. But, again, I think Mack needs to get rid of the ball quickly, and I think they need to use play action. And, you know, I think they can do that. I mean, it's going to be a really tough game.

Starting point is 00:30:13 Dallas is a tough place to play in. I was there when the Patriots first visited the new stadium. I think it was 2015, and that is a really loud place. You have 100,000 people in there, and, you know, their fans right now are, you know, they're high on this team. When I was there, they weren't too high on their team that year, but they're high on this team now, and they're excited because they have a legitimate shot to go deep into the playoffs this year.

Starting point is 00:30:46 Yeah, without question. And that stadium is going to be full of Cowboys fans. And like you said, it's loud. It's a very raucous environment. It's a very good home field advantage for Dallas. This is a nationally televised game, so all eyes at 425 are going to be on Dallas and the Patriots. So a big opportunity for the Pats

Starting point is 00:31:06 to show what they can do as well for all the national naysayers out there that don't believe that this team can compete with anyone that they play against. I think this is a very good opportunity for them to prove that whether they win this game or lose this game, it's going to be a good opportunity for them to showcase what they can do against one of the league's elite teams. So Steve, as always, you lend the wisdom the wisdom you lend the counsel but most of all you lend the reason and that's something that we always lack here in new england from time to time to help restore it each and every time you take the microphone with me and i can't thank you enough for it so but before i let you go please let everyone know where they can find you absorb all

Starting point is 00:31:43 of the great work that you're doing, and what we can look forward to in Pat's coverage in the coming days from the great pen, the great voice of Steve Balistrieri. Yes, and thanks again for having me, Mike. It's always a pleasure. My pleasure. And thanks for all the kind words. You can find me on Twitter at steve7sfg,

Starting point is 00:32:01 at patsfans.com on Twitter for my writing stuff. As I mentioned earlier, I'm just finishing up my keys to the game for Sunday against Dallas. And I just finished writing about that, of how they tried to get the passing game going. They need more chunk plays this week. And I think play action is the way to get them. Definitely, it's on the mind of a lot of Patriots fans, but it's on the mind of a lot of Patriots players as well. Mac Jones mentioned the quote-unquote chunk plays a couple of times in his remarks to the media on Wednesday. Does it translate into the game plan on Sunday? We're

Starting point is 00:32:40 going to continue to talk about that each and every day here because we still have a lot of coverage left before the end of the week here on Locked On Patriots. So be sure to stay locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast for the very latest on the Pats and Boys coming up from Big D on Sunday afternoon, 425 p.m. kickoff from AT&T Stadium. But in the meantime, I want to thank my good buddy Steve Baustustrieri, for dropping by the pod today, as always. But most of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. On behalf of my good friend, the Patriots bison, I'm Mike DeBate, reminding you to stay safe and to stay well and to be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Locked on Patriots.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Christian Gozalez Wins Rookie Award, Daniel Ekuale, Cole Strange Injuries, Micah Parsons and More

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