Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Cole Strange Returns to Practice, Pats Grades in Week 11 Loss to Rams

Starting point is 00:00:00 For the second straight week, a New England Patriots lineman is back in action at practice. But will it help the Patriots improve upon a dismal grade report in week 11? Stick around, 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. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country.

Starting point is 00:00:43 Reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. You can also catch me over where the skies are blue on BlueSky at MDABATENFL.BSKY.SOCIAL and as long as you're showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style, flip

Starting point is 00:00:59 back over to X and show us some love at LO underscore Patriots. FanPats fans, today's episode is brought to you by PrizePix. Go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use the code all lowercase locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. Pats fans, it is almost time to turn our attention away from the Patriots 28-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, dropping your beloved New England Patriots to 3-8 on the season. A lot of lessons to be learned, but the only way you're going to learn is to know what you did wrong. Here today to help the Patriots figure out what they did wrong and where

Starting point is 00:01:40 improvement is needed for their next examination is our Patriots professor, who just happens to be my Patriots Paisan, as well as being a columnist extraordinaire for Patsfans.com, as well as being a co-host on one of the great Patriots podcasts out there, Patriots 4th and 2, alongside the great Derek Havens. He is Steve Balistrieri. Steve, welcome back to the pod. Thanks for joining me today, Paisan. Oh, my pleasure to the pod. Thanks for joining me today, Paisan. Oh, my pleasure as always.

Starting point is 00:02:06 It's, you know, always a good day to talk football with you. And unfortunately, we didn't have good news to talk about two weeks in a row. So it's back to the drawing board and we'll see what happens this week. Yeah, unfortunately, the grades this week are going to be more evil dean wormer rather than benevolent dean wormer and we're going to get to those grades in just a moment because the unit that may be under the most fire maybe the unit that didn't even take a snap on the field on sunday yeah folks talking about the coaching staff we're going to get into that coaching staff in just a moment but steve i thought we'd start with the big news of the day we're recording this obviously wednesday afternoon patriots hitting the practice fields on wednesday morning and they

Starting point is 00:02:49 were joined by one cole strange the patriots first round pick number 29 overall in the 2022 nfl draft seeing the field for the first time all year don't forget folks back in may we heard that strange was going to be sidelined with a patellar tendon injury. He has not seen any practice time. He has not seen any game time, but he's back out on the field now, Steve, and it's very early, way too early to determine whether or not he could be activated within the next couple of days, within a week. He's got 21 days now to return. That window is open with his return to the practice field on Wednesday. Before we get into the logistics of what this may mean for the Patriots on the field,

Starting point is 00:03:30 how surprised were you to see Cole back on the field? What are your reactions to his being back in action? I think it's a great thing for the Patriots as a whole to get one of their guys back. I mean, he's been a starter. So, you know know getting him back is always a good thing i know the players rally around you know guys who are banged up and you know trying to rehab because you know they've all been there and so you know uh when it comes to just the overall feeling i think you have to be happy that he's back. We want to get into particulars.

Starting point is 00:04:09 I think Michael Jordan has struggled a little bit the last couple of weeks. You know, I know he's a big dude, but he seems to be, I don't know, getting overpowered at times, especially in the running game. So that's something to keep an eye on if Cole Strange is ready to go who knows yeah stranger things have happened Steve no pun intended by the way there you know bottom line I think a lot of people are looking at this now and saying okay it's good Cole's getting back out there Patriots obviously need help along the offensive line I don't think there's any question about it um and having a professional lineman out there is always a good thing but there's a large

Starting point is 00:04:51 section of this fan base steve you know as well as i do that look at cole strange as a bus they look at him as the selection number 29 overall first rounder in 2022 a lot of people believe they should have used that pick on a wide receiver or should have used that pick, you know, at a more dynamic skill position player. But we've said several times before, this is the type of system that he is designed to succeed in. He is not a type of lineman that's going to have a lot of success in those gap heavy schemes that the Patriots have been deploying the last couple of years. He thrives in an outside zone offense, and that's what Alex Van Pelt and Scott Peters are implementing and are running in New England right now.

Starting point is 00:05:33 So before anyone tries to pour too much cold water over these hot Coles right now, keep in mind that we may not yet have seen the true potential of Cole Strange in a Patriots uniform. That was a great point, man. And I mean, the whole time you're saying this, I'm like, kudos. Because, yeah, I mean, you know, when he was drafted, a lot of people said, you know, he's not the kind of interior offensive lineman

Starting point is 00:06:01 the way the Patriots operate. And now they're operating in a system that he should fit much, much better in. And, you know, I think, you know, we just have to wait and see. It might take him a while to get back in football shape. You know, he's been out for about a year, you know, but I think, you know, that's why getting him back now, you know, there's no bad thing about him coming back now because you're out of the playoff hunt.

Starting point is 00:06:36 So you get to see, you know, what he looks like in this type of offense. Granted, you know, you get to give him a little bit of time to get back up to speed. But I think they should, as soon as he's able, they should start working him in and seeing what he's got there. Because I think, you know, I totally agree with you. I mean, he's tailor fit for this type of offense. And we'll see what they got in him.

Starting point is 00:07:05 I know he wasn't a great fit before. He struggled a lot. We all saw it. But, you know, there's a new coaching staff, a new offensive philosophy here, and it's time to see how he fits in with it. And I think it could be a great thing for the offensive line. Without question, absolutely. with it and I think it's it could be a great thing for the offensive line without question absolutely and you look at the deficiencies along this offensive line Steve right now and

Starting point is 00:07:31 I think Cole fits into them very nicely where are the Patriots having difficulty they're having difficulty in run blocking particularly blocking against power runs this is where Cole Strange thrived when he was at Chattanooga he's a a tenacious run blocker, got pretty good quickness to be able to generate the impact that you need on power runs, especially that type of immediate impact and getting these guys before they hit their stride. So having him in the lineup is automatically going to improve their run blocking. I think he's got a little bit of a bad rep when it comes to pass protection maybe he does need to hone into his skills a little bit more when it comes to being a pro but he's still able to use that upper body strength that he's got got pretty good hands pretty good arms good size in terms of being able to keep his um opponents at bay and he can get defenders in pass protection so i like his

Starting point is 00:08:22 abilities to be able to fit in, maybe upgrade the Patriots pass protection a little bit. He can seal defenders on zone runs. Again, that's a strong suit. And when he needs to mirror his opponent, I think he's got better movement, more fluid movement that he gets credit for. So I've always liked Cole Strange as a player. Whether or not his draft position was commensurate with his abilities i still think is arguable and i understand where the patriots fan base is coming from when they see that but i really encourage all of you out there give this kid a fair shake let's see what he looks like in an alex van pelt offense because this is what he was brought in to be able to facilitate cole was brought in to be the zone

Starting point is 00:09:01 blocker on this unit and hopefully we'll see him reach his full potential. And it's going to be up to the coaching staff to scheme him properly and give him the opportunity to do that. And Steve, I think that's a perfect place for us to segue and start when it comes to your grade report, Professor, because the Patriots coaches, especially on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, came under a lot of fire. Questionable decisions, inability to make adjustments, and undisciplined play continue to plague this team. How would you grade the Patriots coaching staff and their performance on Sunday? What needs to be done to improve if they're going to have a prayer down in Miami?

Starting point is 00:09:41 Well, last week I said, you know, the Patriots coaching staff, they pantsed the Bears, right? Well, this week they pantsed themselves. They rated a D-minus today or last week, you know, against the Rams because, you know, it was polar opposites. And, you know, they were ultra aggressive on defense. They blitzed Matthew Stafford 18 times, and then they never got home, which is like, as I wrote, that's a recipe for disaster.

Starting point is 00:10:22 When you blitz a veteran quarterback and you don't get home, you're playing with fire and you're on the wrong end of it. They went with cover zero blitz four times, and Stafford was four of four for 92 yards and three touchdowns. Three touchdowns off of cover zero and the other one was the the fourth one that wasn't a touchdown was that key um um third down conversion near the end of the game so i mean he ate them alive and you know when we looked at the defense, I mean, they had Gonzalez on the perimeter. After a couple of series, the Rams realized they weren't moving him.

Starting point is 00:11:13 So they moved, you know, Nakua and Cooper Cup to the other side. And the Patriots did not. They didn't adjust. They left him out there. I mean, he covered them a couple of times. But, you know, the big thing to me was why aren't they adjusting? They keep coming after him, which is great if you're getting home. But they weren't.

Starting point is 00:11:41 And, you know, the adjustments just wasn't there. And, you know, the adjustments just wasn't there. And, you know, I get it. Demarcus Covington, he's basically a rookie defensive coordinator. And, you know, Sean McVay is a very experienced, excellent offensive mind. He's an excellent head coach as well. And McVay schemed him up. And, you know, Covington and Gerard Mayo, they were taking to school. You know, offensively, once they get inside the 20 on the red zone,

Starting point is 00:12:18 they get ultra conservative. And, you know, overall, I thought AVP called a great game. But they got to take the shackles off this kid when they get, you know overall i thought avp called a great game but they gotta take the shackles off this kid when they get you know in in the red zone because it's it just always seems like once they get close you know they start running on first down every single time and you know mix it up i mean i i just thought it was frustrating to watch because i thought jones had a tremendous game and and you know when it came to the coaches after the game when when mayo said i never really felt like they had control of the game i felt like we had control and i was like i i quoted dick enberg oh my you know yeah because it's like

Starting point is 00:13:09 yeah they were behind for the final 36 minutes of the game and you you're you proved you could not stop that offense and so i'm looking at it how did you think you had control just because you know the time of possession advantage but you know the rims had touchdown drives of one play and two plays and that will take a lot of time off of their own clock but you know they're putting six seven points on the board you know time of possession doesn't mean anything then. Yeah, it's true. It really is. I mean, I just thought the coaching staff really let the players down because I didn't think they put the defense in the position to be successful.

Starting point is 00:13:57 I think they shorted Drake Mason points. You know, when you're fourth and two, you know, fourth and goal from the two-yard line, I should say, you know, you're having trouble stopping the Rams. They hadn't stopped them all day. You have to go for six there, you know, because as we've seen, you you know with other great quarterbacks you score three then they go right down and score six you know you're not you're not catching up and that was you know

Starting point is 00:14:36 my rant for the coaching staff this week no and i think you're i think a lot of patriots fans would echo that sentiment because look i think what a lot of us came away from, whether you're a member of the media, whether you're a fan, or whether you're a casual that keeps an eye on the Patriots, you're coming away looking at this coaching staff and saying, okay, well, lack of adjustments really are the big story here when it comes to New England. win. They're not adjusting to their opponent's weaknesses. They're not attempting to divert themselves away from the mistakes they're making and that their opponents are able to capitalize on. It's usually for three reasons. One is a lack of ability. The other is a lack of contrition. And the last one is unawareness, a lack of awareness. If you're not adjusting because of ability, that's something that unfortunately you know you can't manufacture players you can't put talented players out on the field if you simply don't have the personnel will be able to do that I know the New England Patriots are still years away from being

Starting point is 00:15:37 a solidly talented football team in all three phases but I think there's more talent on this team than to just say we can't adjust because we don't have the players to do it. You've got Christian Gonzalez. You've got Kyle Duggar, even though he was banged up a little bit in this game. You've got Christian Barmore back in the lineup. There's still a lot of talent on this defense that would allow you to be able to make adjustments, even if it's just to take someone like Christian Gonzalez and put him on a Puka Nakua or a Cooper Cup when things aren't working. That to me is not due to a lack of ability. That may be a lack of contrition. Maybe they doubled down on their game plan and said, hey, you know what? It worked against the Bears. We rolled the dice. We took our chances against the Rams. It didn't work. We'll know better next time.

Starting point is 00:16:20 That's a gamble that you can take. I guess when you are a three and eight football team, you can take those types of gambles and not have too much in terms of consequence but at the same time if it's a lack of awareness and I think you hit on this earlier Steve if this is a lack of awareness that's a soul search moment but it's not all about the coaches the players on the field needed to come up bigger than they did, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Steve and I are going to stay on the preventive side as he provides his defensive grades. Who scored a 0.0?

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Starting point is 00:19:45 More than words can say. And if you have, please make your second listen to our good friends over at Locked On NFL, who will bring you all of the latest information from the NFL Shield. And just like Locked On Patriots, Locked On NFL is free and available on all platforms and a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network. And here today to provide his grades for the Patriots' Week 11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday is my good friend and Patriots professor, Steve Balistrieri.

Starting point is 00:20:13 Steve, in the previous segment, we talked a lot about the New England Patriots coaching staff, but you know as well as I that you can only blame the coaching staff for so much. The players have to be held accountable for their play on the field. When you look at this defense, starting with the defensive line and that defensive front, where did they fail on Sunday where they had success on the previous Sunday against the Bears? Well, I thought that the Rams' offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage.

Starting point is 00:20:45 I thought the Patriots lost the battle in the trenches there. You know, I was watching the game. I rewatched it. And the Rams offensive line, I thought, played a really, really good game. You know, and I think the Patriots had a lot of problems with all the motion that Sean McVay brings. And that's a big issue because the only team that uses more emotion than Sean McVay is Mike McDaniel, who they faced this weekend in Miami. And I didn't think the Patriots did a really good job of, of, you know,

Starting point is 00:21:27 of, of reacting to the motion. There was, I thought there was a lot of mistakes off of that, but, you know, basically in, in the defensive line, I thought they lost the line of scrimmage game.

Starting point is 00:21:39 I thought Keon White had a good game, you know, but overall it, it wasn't a great day for the defensive linemen. It was great to see Christian Barmore back. Very much so. Yeah. I didn't think he'd play as much as he did. I think it was 18 snaps in the game, but I didn't think he'd play that much.

Starting point is 00:22:02 But he'll only get better. I mean, he's been out since the second day of training camp, so he actually hasn't played in a game since really January, you know. So, you know, it's going to take him a little bit to get back to where he normally is. But, you know, once they get him back, it's going to be all the way. I mean, you know, it's going to be all the way i mean you know it's going to be such a big boost for the defense because he's such a great you know guy against the run he can penetrate he can blow plays up in the backfield he gets after the quarterback um you know with

Starting point is 00:22:41 interior pressure which they uh really need right now you you know, so, you know, it just wasn't a good day for the defensive line. I felt the same way for the linebackers. You know, I think there's ball linebackers that they're struggling, I guess you could say, and the run defense, you know, Christian Ellis has, God knows the guy, he goes all out on every play, but, you know, he's, he's been struggling and, you know, once Taki Taki is completely healthy, I think he'll see more snaps, and I think that would help. But, you know, Anthony Jennings was okay. He had – I think it was just two tackles,

Starting point is 00:23:37 but he had a quarterback hit and a run stuff. So they just – the front seven did not have a great game. They couldn't get any pressure on Stafford. I mean, no sacks. I think they only had three or four quarterback hits. So, I mean, they lost the battle at the line of scrimmage, and I think that, more than anything, really doomed them in this game. Yeah, absolutely.

Starting point is 00:24:08 Only six quarterback pressures, believe it or not, for the New England Patriots on Sunday, and that is certainly not going to be sustainable if you want to have a winning defense. And it does start up front, but there were problems that the secondary had, Steve, with the pre-snap motion. And you pointed this out in your grade report, and I thought it was brilliant

Starting point is 00:24:26 because on my second and third watches, it really leaps off the page. It was something that seemed like it was a difficulty for New England on your initial watch, but once you delved back into it, you could really see the difficulties that the New England Patriots had. The secondary never got a feel for it.

Starting point is 00:24:44 It led to a lot of confusion, and credit Matthew Stafford, who is a professional veteran quarterback. He made them play. Patriots are going to be facing another professional veteran quarterback this Sunday against the Miami Dolphins in Miami Gardens in Tua Tagovailoa, but we'll stick with this for just a moment. When you look at what the secondary had to overcome, especially the misuse, and I'm not going to mince words. That's exactly what I mean, folks. The misuse of Christian Gonzalez being on the perimeter

Starting point is 00:25:15 and not being directed toward one of the Rams' primary offensive weapons. How would you grade this secondary in terms of their performance on the field? Yeah, and again, you know, the players struggled. I graded it a C minus because I didn't think it was all on them. I just thought the coaches didn't put them in a good position to succeed. And that's, you know, I mean, I respect the heck out of Sean McVay. I think he's a great coach, especially offensively. And, you know, when the Patriots take their best player on defense, basically out of the game, you know,

Starting point is 00:26:01 you're giving him free reign to just cut loose because, you know, they didn't, you know, the Rams didn't take Gonzalez out. Patriots did. You know, I thought they should have been moving him around. Move him around. Say, hey, you know, whatever the call is, you're going to stick with Nakua. You know, I mean, he just ate them alive. But getting back to the pre-snap motion, I just thought that was a huge issue for them.

Starting point is 00:26:32 And, you know, again, at first watching the game as it's live, I was like, man, they can't cover, you know, nosebleed today. Well, then you look back on it and that motion really confused them. I thought far too often. And, you know, there was times when guys were messing up, you know, when they're supposed to pass off. It happened with Naku a couple of times. And, you know, they had two guys going with Cup

Starting point is 00:27:01 and one guy running all alone with Neku. You know, Neku was running alone in that intermediate area of the field, and they just ate them alive with that. But, you know, I thought Jonathan Jones, God bless him, I love him to death, but he had a rough game. Yeah, he did. Yeah. Three of the touchdown passes were his responsibility.

Starting point is 00:27:25 And I mean, you know, that was just a really bad game for him. I know on the 69-yard touchdown, when they came with the zero blitz, he stumbled. And all it takes is that one step, and then Kup was all alone, and that was just a layup touchdown for stafford because he saw that right away and he just lofted it out there for his guy to catch it and you know that's that's how the cookie crumbles but you know again i i i thought the secondary i mean i didn't say that they weren't good okay but i just thought the coaches didn't do right by them, you know,

Starting point is 00:28:08 because they took their best player out of the game. And, you know, by leaving him on the perimeter, you know, sometimes on the wrong side of the Rams' two best wide receivers. Yeah, absolutely, Steve. This was a winnable game, and they left one out on the field. However, Patriots offense actually graded higher than the New England Patriots defense this week. Our Pats professor is going to tell us why and what he saw from the offense that may lead us to believe there's some blue skies ahead for the New England Patriots. Steve provides his final grade report when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues.

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Starting point is 00:29:56 to register. hillsdale.edu. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on a great report day on Locked On Patriots. And if we're providing your Patriots Week 11 report card in their 28 to 22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, there's only one man who can deliver that report. The man who cuts the grades himself, our Patriots Paisan, our Patriots professor, my good friend Steve Balistrieri. Steve, in the previous segments, we talked about

Starting point is 00:30:30 the coaching staff. We talked about the defense and their deficiencies. When you look at this offense and what the Patriots were able to do against the Rams defense, what did they do on Sunday that gave you a cause for believing that maybe the best is yet to come for this club? Well, I mean, you know, they had their best day of the season easily. I'd have to go back to several of the last games last year, but I mean, they had almost 400 yards of offense. And, you know, when you're putting up 400 yards of offense and, you know, you've got your balance back, I mean, that's all positive signs.

Starting point is 00:31:17 Okay, I mean, you know, may pass for 282 yards, 257 net because you take away, you know, the sacks. But, you know, they ran for 125. It wasn't great. But, you know, when you factored that into the passing game, you know, you got that balance that you're looking for. And, you know, the offensive line wasn't good, but I thought it was okay enough. You know, I know he was under a lot of pressure, but he was able to handle that.

Starting point is 00:31:55 And, you know, I know some of our readers on Pats fans took me to task for some of the offensive grades. They didn't think they were worthy of the ones that I gave them. But, you know, I just looked at it from an overall perspective. And, you know, they did score 22 points. They should have scored more. You know, and I'm sure we'll talk about that here in a moment. But, you know, almost 400 yards of offense,

Starting point is 00:32:25 and I think your quarterback was looking fantastic. Yeah, he definitely was. I mean, we've talked a lot about what Drake May does well and the areas where he does need improvement. And look, Murph and I actually had a little bit of a disagreement on Monday about whether or not this was his best game as a pro. I happen to argue that it was, and I do stand by that. Set season highs at passing yards with 282, 30 completions. The dropback success rate of 63% was, I thought, a very good step in the right direction. It shows what he's able to do. He can read coverages, quick decision

Starting point is 00:33:02 making. All of this was on display on Sunday. Unfortunately, I know a lot of people are going to be hopping on that final throw. Look, if you're going to miss, and I do agree with Murph on this point, if you're going to miss, you're better off missing long in that situation than missing short because if you miss long and you overthrow everybody, it's an incompletion. You live to fight one more down. If you miss short in that situation, it can be intercepted. And it was, these are rookie moments that the kid is going to have.

Starting point is 00:33:30 And unfortunately it happened at the worst possible time for the New England Patriots, but to take away all the good that he did in this game because of that decision at the end, I think is a little bit of a disservice. So I think that leads me quite nicely into what my final question is going to be for you today, my friend, in that the offensive line looking for a little bit of a boost, if Cole Strange is indeed going to suit up, not necessarily this weekend, but subsequent weeks down the line, even if it's after the bye week, do you look at the type of impact he can have on this line as something that could improve the offensive output? Or is it really just about strengthening the line at this point and building brick by brick? I, you know, I'm optimistic to the point of cautiously optimistic, you know, what he could possibly do.

Starting point is 00:34:28 You know, because, again, you know, when he was drafted, you know, a lot of people correctly pointed out that, you know, he doesn't thrive in the system that they had. But, you know, the system that they now have is what he played so well at in college. So, you know, I'm optimistic, again, of what he could help them with, especially in the interior, because if they get the running game going in the interior and their pass protection improves just a little, this offense is going to go places. I mean, think of the limitations they have right now,

Starting point is 00:35:11 both with the offensive line and their wide receiver room. You know, you add a couple of pieces to each, and this offense is going to be, you know, it's going to be intriguing to watch, and I think it's going to be fun to watch. It already is, even with the guys that they have, because I think May brings so much to the table. But I'm, like I said, I think especially, you know, Michael Jordan has played well for the Patriots.

Starting point is 00:35:37 I'm not taking anything away from him. But, you know, I thought he had some issues with the Rams big guys. I thought they kind of over with the Rams big guys. I thought they kind of overpowered him a few times. And it is what it is. That illegal formation penalty that took away that big first down, I think that was on him and not on Vardarian Lowe because Vardarianien low lines up how he, you know, looking at Jordan,

Starting point is 00:36:08 how Jordan is aligned. And if anyone was behind the line, it was Jordan. And, uh, it is what it is. Right. But I thought, you know,

Starting point is 00:36:17 they had their best balanced offense of the year for the first time. They had everything clicking. I thought they ran well uh you know they passed well and you know most impressive for me offensively was may's work underneath because as you know i mean uh when may was coming out of the draft, everyone said, guy's super athletic. He has a cannon for an arm. He has very good accuracy in the deep game.

Starting point is 00:36:54 But he struggles in the short game. And, you know, you watch this game, and he ate the Rams up in the short game. You know, as you pointed out, his decision-making, quick reads. You know, he doesn't get flustered. All of those things came into play. And I thought, you know, he was fantastic. Unfortunately, you know, he had the strip sack and, you know, that final pass.

Starting point is 00:37:24 Who knows what the play call was, but him and Demario Douglas definitely weren't on the same sheet of music for that one. Steve, what can I say? I really appreciate you stopping by the pod today, lending your wisdom, your counsel, and your grades, that grade report that only you can provide, Professor. Before I let you go today, please let everyone know where they can reach out to you,

Starting point is 00:37:46 where they can interact with you, and what you've got marinating in La Cucina Balistrieri between now and next week when you deliver your great report on Patriots Dolphins. Well, as always, my friend, you're the man over here. You do such a great job. And I'm always honored to be part of it, you know, whenever the call comes out.

Starting point is 00:38:09 So I'm glad I'm able to do it with you. I miss doing it in person with you. Absolutely. Yeah, but we get it done. You can find me on Twitter at SteveB7SFG. All other social media outlets at SteveB7SFG. All other social media outlets at Steve Balistrieri. I write for PatsFans.com.

Starting point is 00:38:30 For the kitchen, as you say, in La Cucina, Balistrieri, I got some friends coming over. The sauce has been simmering all day. Nice. Making chicken parm tonight. Oh, very good. Yep.

Starting point is 00:38:43 Steve, just make sure, add a little bit of wine and a little bit of sugar, and that's my trick when it comes to the sauce, but what can I say, my friend? Thank you once again for all of the contributions you make to Locked On Patriots and for your friendship, most importantly. Folks, don't forget, we may be pivoting away

Starting point is 00:38:58 from the Patriots-Rams, but now it's time to focus on the Miami Dolphins and a trip to Miami Gardens, Florida this Sunday when your New England Patriots take on the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. Crossover Thursday, tomorrow, here on Locked On Patriots. Kyle Krebs, host of Locked On Dolphins, joining me as we cross the streams and we come at this one from a Pats perspective and a Dolphins perspective. In the meantime, on behalf of my good friend Steve Balistrieri, I'm Mike DeBate,

Starting point is 00:39:24 reminding all of you to stay safe, to stay well, to be the change 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.

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