Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Cunningham’s ‘Malik Magic,’ Keion White, Offensive Line Struggles vs. Texans

Starting point is 00:00:00 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. Welcome to the Lockdown Patriots Podcast. We are a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. So subscribe or follow for free on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts to get the latest episode as soon as it's available. I am your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated.

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Starting point is 00:01:51 sounds a little flowery there, Steve. But you know what? Bear with us, folks. It is a Saturday. There were some drops of promise for the home team. And, yeah, there were a little concerns as well. So helping us here to break it all down and lend a reasonable take on the current state of your new england patriots is our resident voice of reason columnist for patsfans.com along

Starting point is 00:02:13 with being the co-host of patriots fourth and two alongside derrick havens my patriots by john steve balistrieri welcome back bud thank you for joining me here this weekend. It's always a pleasure to talk football with you, my paizan. So, you know, yeah, it wasn't a great performance per se, but they had some good moments. They had some, you know, some intriguing possibilities show their face out there. And, you know, one of the issues that we've been talking about all spring and summer kind of reared its ugly head, and I'm sure we're going to get into all of that. Oh, absolutely, without any question.

Starting point is 00:02:58 The good, the bad, and the no other way to say it, Steve, the ugly play of the offensive line at times. But do we really need to be that concerned about it? Steve has a reasonable take, and we are going to get to that in just a moment, folks. But Steve, we'll start with the hot topic of the week, the hot topic of the weekend, and the one that badly needs your reason here. We need your wisdom and counsel on this, bud, because the exciting play of quarterback slash receiver Malik Cunningham has turned into Malik magic, Malik mania, Malik mayhem. I've heard

Starting point is 00:03:34 them all. A lot of alliteration going on, so you know Claire's loving this, but bottom line, I think when you look at what Malik Cunningham did on the field on Thursday, you have to be excited by it. You have to be encouraged by it if you're a Patriots fan, seeing this type of athleticism come out of a position that we haven't seen here maybe since Cam Newton took the ball a couple of years ago. So in that vein, when you look at Malik Cunningham and his performance, what are your takeaways from what he did on the field against the Texans on Thursday well we all knew he was fast athletic you know elusive he was all of those things on Thursday night he was electric and you know when he was on the field and let's it, the Patriots offense on Thursday night needed a little bit of electricity. I mean, you know, so many three and outs and, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:31 just stuck in neutral all game long. So, I mean, granted, he was all of those things. But I just have to feel like we need to tap the brakes on this right now because this is a guy, and i'm not taking anything away from him he may have a stellar career in the nfl we don't know yet but he's barely played quarterback he came into the game with just five minutes left with most of the guys he was facing let's face it probably be unemployed in a few weeks. You know, and I just think like, hey, it was great.

Starting point is 00:05:11 And I think he's going to be a valuable part of this team this year because where they're facing so many mobile quarterbacks, this will be good for the Patriots to have a scout team quarterback like him on the field. So I'm sitting here telling you, I'm kind of talking on both sides of my mouth here, but I think he's going to be very valuable. But, you know, fans can be fickle.

Starting point is 00:05:44 We heard all last season, all spring, that Bailey Zappi was the man. We had Zappi fever, whatever it was. And, you know, we heard so much about a quarterback controversy this year. There isn't a competition. There's no controversy. But I know a lot of fans after the game were calling for Zappi to be moved down to the third spot and Cunningham to be elevated to the backup. I even saw some folks on social media saying he should be the starter instead of Mack, and I just have to call time out there.

Starting point is 00:06:18 Yeah, I think that we desperately needed that voice of reason to kind of calm us all down here in Wingman because it is exciting and we had a chance to talk to malik after the game and he did say that you know he walked into the huddle and said hey look we haven't found the end zone yet on we're going to go down and score um automatically you start thinking like oh that's that sounds tom brady like in a lot of ways you know i mean like this is what we're going to do you know it's easy to get caught up in that type of rhetoric, mostly because myself included, colleagues in the media, we're going to feel that rhetoric because it definitely makes for a nice copy and a good story.

Starting point is 00:06:51 But bottom line, you did put a lot of things in perspective. This is against a third string at best Texans defense. Malik's mostly aligned at receiver. Did some work at quarterback the last couple of days prior to that game. So we knew we were probably going to see him in some select packages. But, you know, incorporating a zone read, incorporating an RPO, especially coming out of the empty. This was something where you could see what the Patriots were building towards. And look, I'm taking nothing away from what Malik did on the field.

Starting point is 00:07:22 I thought he was brilliant, completing three of four for 19 yards. He rushed five times for 34 yards. Had his helmet taken off by Jacob. I mean, you want to talk about everything happening to a quarterback on a drive. Jacoby Francis, I mean, and I say this tongue-in-cheek, but it really isn't a tongue-in-cheek situation. Malik is very lucky that his athleticism and his body control reacted the way it did that could have been a very scary situation uh with his helmet just coming off like that but he bounces back throws a bolt to uh to Trey Nixon which probably should have been caught that should have been a touchdown pass Nixon continuously not coming up in those situations and that's probably a conversation for another day but then you look at what Malik did to cap the drive evading two defenders lowering his shoulder

Starting point is 00:08:10 getting into the end zone exactly like you would see a seasoned pro do it it's easy to get caught up in that but one thing that I think Patriots fans need to realize is that the Patriots have an opportunity to use this type of weapon this year to their advantage in select situations. And if Malik Cunningham is playing his way onto this roster, and I think he's making a strong case, not just as a quarterback, but as a potential receiver as well, this gives them a lot of options, especially now with that third emergency quarterback that they can have at the ready at all times. To have someone with a versatile skill set like that could be an asset so keep an eye on uh malik cunningham for a potential roster spot but he's not unseating mac jones at this point i don't think he's unseating bailey zappy as your backup either i think this could be a solid very exciting number three option that gives you a lot

Starting point is 00:09:01 of different looks in the playbook folks but is there a scenario that you can envision where if he continues to play and continues to show this that he gets more looks at the quarterback position not necessarily in a game setting but in the practice setting to maybe even set up for next year i think it could be set up for this year as well i mean uh you know he could be a special gadget uh quarterback this year kind of like it's not really the same but like kind of like how the uh saints use taste of health you know he comes in for a few gadget plays keeps the defense honest because they don't know whether he's going to run or pass. You know, you go empty, put him in there, and now they're trying to figure out what's he going to do.

Starting point is 00:09:52 So I could envision just for a few plays, I'm not talking about extended, you know, kind of snaps like, but just somebody that could, you know, especially if the offense starts to bog down in a game, you know, loosen it up a little, bring him in for a couple of plays and maybe get, you know, everything flowing again. But, you know, I, again, I thought he was fantastic. I'm not taking anything away from him. Actually that pass you, you mentioned to Trey Nixon in the corner,

Starting point is 00:10:26 that was an absolute dime. I thought that was – Very impressive. Yeah. One of the two best throws of the game, the one, you know, Zaffy made to Tyquan Thornton in this one. I thought those were two absolute dimes, but I was very impressed with that throw, you know.

Starting point is 00:10:45 And it should have been caught, as you said. But, again, that's a story for another time. But that seems to me, I mean, it's so frustrating because Trey Nixon, I know we're not talking about him right now, but, you know, we mentioned him. He has all the tools to be really good, and he just can't seem to put it together. You know, it's frustrating to see. I'm sure he is, too. Yeah, it is.

Starting point is 00:11:13 And it's so disheartening because Trey is one of the hardest workers on the field. Each and every day he takes a practice field, whether it be in OTAs, whether it be in minicamp, whether it be in training camp, or the snippets that we're able to watch before regular season practices, before regular season games, Trey is always engaged. He's always out there doing everything he can to improve. And it just seems like one way or another, putting the whole package together just has not clicked yet. Maybe it's still out there.

Starting point is 00:11:42 I think there's a lot of talent still there, you know, brimming below the surface with Trey. But eventually you need to see it if you're the New England Patriots. And if they don't see it soon, you know, I'm afraid that, you know, the Patriots may look at the depth chart that they have at wide receiver now and say, well, you know, we've only got so many spots here and we have to go with the guys that produce. But bottom line, getting back to Malik Cunningham, I think you're right. I think there is a niche that he can find within this team. So we'll wrap up our discussion on Malik with my question to you, Steve. With everything he brings to the table, in your opinion,

Starting point is 00:12:16 is this worth a roster spot on the 53-man roster this year? You know, that's going to be the difficult question for the coaches, because as I said, I think he'd be an excellent scout team quarterback. I really do, you know, at least for this year and then see, you know, where his development goes. I know he's been playing mostly wide receiver, but that's going to be the, you know, $64,000 question there is, is he worth that roster spot? And honestly, after Thursday night, I don't know if he'd pass through waivers now. Probably the most impressive thing was seeing Lamar Jackson's,

Starting point is 00:13:00 I don't know if you saw that on Twitter. Oh, I did. Yeah, his comment on Malik, I mean, that just fueled the fire even more, right? Oh, absolutely. You're talking one Louisville guy to another. I mean, there are similarities in the way that they play the game. Now, I'm not ready to put Malik Cunningham in the single category. That's Lamar Jackson.

Starting point is 00:13:19 No one is. Lamar's in a category all of his own in the pros right now. But you can start to see some of the seedlings of the type of quarterback Malik could become. And I agree with you. I think the Patriots are going to have a big-time difficulty trying to stash him on the practice squad. Now he's got a lot of light on him. If the Patriots are serious about wanting to keep him around, I think they're almost going to have to roster him at this point.

Starting point is 00:13:41 Steve, it wasn't all about Malik magic on Thursday night. There were a few defensive players that really, really stepped it up, one of whom I know you have been proponing up for a good long time, Anthony Jennings, having a great game, proving his worth, but exciting rookie Keon White, who is absolutely bringing the bump back to the Patriots pass rush. He is really, really doing an amazing job. Steve and I are going to talk the Patriots pass rush. He is really, really doing an amazing job. Steve and I are going to talk the Patriots defense, how impressive they look. We're going to talk a whole lot of Keon White. When this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues right here on the Locked

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Starting point is 00:15:23 That's underdogfantasy, promo code LOCKEDON, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, promo code LOCKEDON for underdogfantasy.com. Patriots fans, thank you once again for taking time out of your weekend to join us here on this preseason game one breakdown hot topic stories here on Locked On Patriots. And, of course, helping to lend a voice of reason to all of the excitement and the overreactions that myself and so many people are engaged in right now is our good friend, Steve Balistrieri, my patriot, Faison of Patsfans.com.

Starting point is 00:15:58 And Steve, we got a little bit of that Malik mania out of our system last segment. But I think we would be uh doing our job a disservice if we didn't talk about the impressive performance of the Patriots defense for the most part a lot of guys stepping it up uh I wrote about Jalen Mills solid first half performance uh looking good in the safety position making a nice read on CJ Stroud and getting the interception setting the tone early. A guy that you have been a proponent of for quite some time, Anthony Jennings, had a great game on Thursday. But I will say this, if we're talking defensive standouts, it's hard not to mention Keon White and a great game that he had on Thursday night.

Starting point is 00:16:45 Steve, I know you were a fan of this pick when the Patriots made it, same as myself. What was your reaction to Keon's big night? How excited were you to watch him out on the field? I was watching the game, and I was just like, wow. You know, I mean, you talk about speed to power, you know, and watching him just wreak havoc on one snap. I'm trying to remember the exact time and place, but he just kind of ragdolled offensive linemen to the ground and just got after it.

Starting point is 00:17:17 And all the hype we've been hearing about him has been, at least for week one of preseason has been justified I think this guy was an absolute stud on Thursday night I mean he was just all over the place and you know when he was on the field um it was just like I I gave up watching the play. I was just watching him after a few snaps, and he looked really impressive. You know, he was quiet in the spring in the first week of training camp where there's no pads because you really can't – a physical-type player, you can't really judge him until the pads come on.

Starting point is 00:18:06 And when the pads came on Thursday night, this guy was, he was a human wrecking ball out there. And you mentioned Anthony Jennings. I thought he was outstanding as well. So I think those two guys, Daniel Kweli chipped in with a sack. Absolutely. Got to give him a lot of credit too. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:18:24 And those guys were, it makes you excited because you know they have Josh Uche, Matthew Judon. Now, if they give these guys a little bit of a rest, you know, these younger guys can step in. And we can see that they can play. I'm so excited for Ke Keon White. And I know I'm going against what I just said about Malik Cunningham to slow it down a little bit, but I was this way from the time he was drafted and I still can't believe that they got him in round two.

Starting point is 00:18:59 It's amazing. It really, really is. And you think back to draft night and you think of Patriots fans reaction to Keon White being drafted. And I know everyone was clamoring for a wide receiver in this spot because you've got the cornerback that you really wanted in Christian Gonzalez. And there was a need for that. I think Patriots fans recognized that he was the top player on the board when the Patriots took him. So everyone generally was united behind this pick. But there was a little uneasiness when Keon White was the selection. A lot of Patriots fans liked it. You and I loved it immediately, but there were a lot out there that figured that the Patriots weren't doing enough to help the offense.

Starting point is 00:19:35 And there's some truth to that. I guess there was a definite need for the Patriots to get wide receivers in this room. But when you look at what Keon White does in a Patriots defensive setting albeit in a pre-season matchup this kid not only brings the power like you said I mean that hit on CJ Stroud on the bootleg is something that'll continue to be a highlight reel no matter what you're looking at uh that was just that was a pro level hit that was a seasoned veteran hit um on a young mobile quarterback. That is a very, very impressive thing to do, but great physical size, great athleticism,

Starting point is 00:20:12 and that versatility to move all over the defensive front. You can put him at outside linebacker. You can align him at defensive end. You can give him the duties of even dropping back into coverage because he not only has the power and the athleticism but also the speed to hang with a lot of these guys it really is uh amazing uh what this kid can do and he i think you're going to see that he's also very good against the run when they originally drafted him i thought that's where you were going to see him make his biggest impact

Starting point is 00:20:39 this year is as a run defender i think he's proving that he can definitely do it against the pass and you mentioned judon and ushe and you know when you think of defensive playmakers on this team steve you automatically think of matt judon and kyle duggar i think the two probably most prominent defensive playmakers on this team but when you've got guys like now Keon White and Anthony Jennings and Daniel Aquale stepping up and making plays, besides the plays that you know that guys like Dietrich Wise and Josh Uche can make, it gives you so much versatility and so much uncertainty. This is going to be a very, very difficult defense for teams to play against this year. Even the most seasoned and the most proficient of offenses,

Starting point is 00:21:24 I think are going to have second thoughts about wanting to play this defense this year. Yeah. And they need it because they're facing a lot of good quarterbacks this year, and they're going to need that consistent pressure and setting the edge against these teams. And the one thing that I found most refreshing for a young guy like White, and we know he's all business, you know. I mean, you just look at him.

Starting point is 00:21:53 We learned that on draft night. Yeah. And they were talking about, I mean, he's, you know, he looks like a seasoned veteran, you know, when you saw him on the sideline and he plays like one, but he was so self-aware of his own game. Cause I noticed a couple of times, you know, when he lined up in a two point stance, he was a tad slow off the snap. And he said right after the game,

Starting point is 00:22:20 he thought he was kind of over-processing things and overthinking it, and he just needs to put his foot forward and take off. I'm paraphrasing here, but that was the thing that stuck out to me, and I was like, you don't see that with a young guy. Now, most young guys after a game like that, they'd be talking about how they put a hit on the quarterback and they were ragdolling an offensive lineman. He was so self-aware and so all business that he picked up on that right away. And I thought that was super impressive. It was. The official quote that you're looking for is, just want to play faster. I just need to play fast, put my head down, and go. For a rookie that really kind of arrived on the scene, albeit in a preseason setting,

Starting point is 00:23:12 this is their opportunity to shine. It's their first opportunity to make a first impression, and Keon White made a phenomenal first impression, folks. Definitely exciting for the Patriots defense, and now you're going to start to see exactly what the Patriots were thinking when they brought him in in the second round. It's a guy that clearly had first round talent, Steve. So it's not a reach here. A lot of people were talking Keyon White in the first round, and I think nobody would have batted an eyelash. 54 total tackles, 14 for loss, seven and a half sacks at Georgia Tech last season. That clearly proves that this kid was ready to arrive on the scene in the pros,

Starting point is 00:23:49 and he's proving it every time he steps on the field. Not just in a game setting, but in practice too, folks. This is the type of energy Keon White brings every single day. Just a joy to watch and a lot of fun. And yet another layer onto that rookie cake that the Patriots are going to be serving this year. A lot of exciting rookies, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But Steve, it wasn't all fun and games for the Patriots on Thursday night because it was a 20-9 loss. And one of the big reasons why was their inability to move the ball on offense, especially when it

Starting point is 00:24:23 comes to the offensive line. Steve and I will talk offensive futility and whether or not it was really a big deal after all when this episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Lockdown listeners, today's episode is brought to you by our good friends at LinkedIn Jobs. And these days, every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. You want to be 100% certain that you have access to the best qualified candidates available. And that's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team to help you do it faster. And here's even the best

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Starting point is 00:26:14 those questions in, folks, because Murph and I will be diving in to what I'm sure is going to be a robustly filled mailbag this coming Monday right here on LockedOnPatriots. But for today, we are continuing to regale your weekend with a little wisdom, a little counsel, and a whole lot of reason with my good friend, Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com. And Steve, we've talked Malik Cunningham and the excitement. We've talked Keon White.

Starting point is 00:26:39 It's been very positive. You would never know that the Patriots suffered a 20-9 loss by the way we've been talking. But that is exactly what happened on the field on Thursday night. And one of the big problems that the Patriots had was moving the football on offense. Once again, Steve dealing with a makeshift offensive line. All the starters sat out this game. Connor McDermott at left tackle. Antonio Mafia at left guard. James Ferentz at center,

Starting point is 00:27:06 Cody Russo at right guard, City So at right tackle. None of these guys are going to be plugged into the starting lineup. I guess the only one I would say that I think has a legitimate chance to be a starter early is Connor McDermott, and he struggled a lot on Thursday night. When you look at the offensive line and you look at the difficulties they've had, Steve, is this more about a vanilla game plan and not wanting to show your hand and essentially taking it very slow to incorporate these guys into the game plan? Or should we be expecting more out of the Patriots backups at this point? I think it's a little bit of both. I mean, Bill O'Brien held his cards close to his vest. I mean, he didn't unleash anything.

Starting point is 00:27:50 It was so vanilla. And I think that's a good thing because you don't want to show too much in the preseason for teams to have, you know, any kind of film on your offense. Now, that being said, you know, any kind of film on your offense. Now, that being said, you know, we know that none of the starters, you know, played. Connor McDermott could be a starter on the right tackle position. Him and Riley Reif are battling it out, and they gave Reefer the night off,

Starting point is 00:28:25 and McDermott played left tackle, and he was not good. But none of the guys were good. And I will say this, you know, this isn't a new issue, you know. The offensive line has been banged up all preseason, all training camp, you know, so back to the spring. And if these are your top backups, they didn't put a great foot forward on Thursday night because individually and collectively, you know, the pass protection wasn't good. The running game, you know, they weren't opening lanes for the backs to go in.

Starting point is 00:29:07 And it sounds like 2022 all over again. Now, again, you caveat it by saying, you know, this was a very vanilla game plan, but the offensive line has to be better. Just know ifs, ands, or buts. They have to play better. Yeah, without question. And at some point, you want to see the starters get back in there and start playing meaningful minutes. Now, Trent Brown, we talked about him a little bit last week. When Trent spoke to the media earlier this week, he did indeed confirm that there are injury reasons why he is taking a slow approach

Starting point is 00:29:42 and getting back to the field. That being said, you understand that. And I think the Patriots are wise in that regard. You don't want to risk anything happening to Trent Brown early on that's going to make him miss more time later. So you're better off giving him this time to rest than not. Cole Strange continues to deal with an injury, and Michael Wainu still continues his stay on the physically unable to perform list. So you're talking David Andrews,

Starting point is 00:30:07 and you're talking a combination of either Connor McDermott or Riley Reif. I've been very complimentary about Connor because I think he's looked great during OTA, minicamp, and even in the training camp. He did struggle on Thursday night without any question. Roosie had a difficult time as well. You hope that he's going to be okay saw him go down with an injury that did not look too promising immediately headed back to the locker room and folks we don't have regular injury reports coming out uh they're not required to be

Starting point is 00:30:35 published by any team let alone the patriots so we're going to continue to try to monitor that situation even as much as russi struggled he's still a very solid reserve option for the patriots and a versatile one that can play center guard and tackle if necessary but steve i think you hit the nail right on the head i mean the unit struggled all night long to provide adequate pass protection adequate run blocking new england was only able to muster 3.7 yards per play on average with only 3.1 yards per rush a lot of that was because of the final drive of malik cunningham otherwise you're looking at a situation where those numbers are probably down into the twos at the half they were both hovering around the 1.9 1.7 area that is not good folks you cannot win anything if you're going to do that and that leads me quite

Starting point is 00:31:26 nicely into my final question for you my friend and that is Patriots running backs had an awful lot of problem finding their footing on Thursday night Pierre Strong Kevin Harris simply could not get it going Bailey Zappi had difficulty being able to play behind that makeshift line very nice completion to Taequann Thornton that was a a great pass by Bailey, a great catch by Taequann. But other than that, not much. What do the Patriots have to do here from a skill position level to maybe rise above it if the offensive line is going to be slow in getting out of the gate?

Starting point is 00:32:00 You know, it goes back to that question of last year, the same thing. I mean, it's hard to evaluate the running backs when they're consistently getting hit in the backfield. I mean, I don't care who's back there. If they're getting hit, you know, behind the line of scrimmage, it's really tough to get anything going. And, you know, watching the film or watching the game, I need to rewatch it, but it looked like some of the receivers were getting open. It's just that the quarterbacks had no time to throw. And again, it wasn't the chicken or the egg. I think it all goes back to the, you know, I don't think it's the skill position, guys, as much as it's the offensive line.

Starting point is 00:32:45 They have to do a better job. And, you know, if they give the quarterbacks a little time to throw that, you know, we saw the pass Zappi made to Thornton. You know, I think they can do those type of things. I'm not saying they're going to light it up, but they can be very good. Absolutely. Yeah, and I but they can be very good. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think they can be, and look with the proper amount of protection and with the right scheme in place, this offense is going to start to open up a little bit. Uh, we did see Bill O'Brien and the

Starting point is 00:33:16 imprint that he's going to put on this offense. We saw an awful lot of horizontal passing on Thursday night. I think it really plays into his philosophy. I think it really plays into his strong, his skill set as a coach to coach a team that is very good at being able to draw defenses in, lead your team under the defense, and then get yards after the catch. So that's where he's clearly going to stand out. But one thing that gave me a little bit of hope that there might be some diversity here in the Patriots offensive game plan. We're seeing Taequann Thornton rise to the occasion, go up and make an aggressive catch on a very good pass by Bailey Zappi. We haven't seen that that much from Taequann. We've seen flashes of it, but we haven't necessarily seen a whole lot of it. This training camp, it was good to see him make that catch. So if Taequann can start to come on and prove that he

Starting point is 00:34:03 has that vertical capability of stretching the field a little bit, it's going to give the Patriots so much more in terms of diversity. It's going to give them a lot more uncertainty for opposing defenses, because now all of a sudden you have to account for a player downfield that's going to be able to give you a whole new dimension. And it's going to open up so much underneath for the New England Patriots as well and really allow them to hit their targets where they like to. So, Steve, even though we said we were going to be a little negative in this segment, we still tried to find some positivity. And we hope it added a little positivity to your weekend, folks. There is a lot of work to do on the offensive line and the offense definitely needs to step it up but there are seedlings there that lead you to believe that we're still going to be a lot better off as Patriots fans watching this team offensively this season than we were in 2022 and I think we can all

Starting point is 00:34:55 agree on that but my friend thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join me here today and lend your voice of reason that we all needed, whether it be Malik magic, whether it be defensive prowess or overreactions on the offensive line, you've done that. So in that vein, please, before we let you go, let everyone know where they can reach out to you, consume your great work and what we can look forward to in the coming week from the great pen, the great voice of Steve Ballestrier. Well, thanks again for having me, Mike.

Starting point is 00:35:25 It's always a pleasure talking with you. I miss hanging out with you up there. I know, I know. We miss you up here too. We do. That meeting at 10 is not the same. It just isn't. But you can find me on Twitter or X,

Starting point is 00:35:40 whatever they're calling it these days, at SteveB7SFG. I still have the bird next to my name. So, you know. But my Sunday column and a shameless bit of self-promotion will be out tomorrow. And I'm addressing a lot of these same things that you and I talked about, you know, today. So we'll take a look at that. And later on this week, I'm going to have a second crack at putting together a 53-man roster and see, you know, where the chips fall on this one.

Starting point is 00:36:15 Absolutely. You know, great minds think alike. I think all of us here in Patriots media are kind of feeling that this week. And you're going to see a lot of 53-man roster projections popping up. Check out every single one of them, folks. I can't recommend any of them highly enough. We've got a great beat here in New England, a lot of great writers that really take an awful lot of time and a lot of insight into what they do.

Starting point is 00:36:35 So check each and every one of them out. But who knows, Steve? Maybe next Friday we'll have a little dueling 53-man roster projections here on Locked On Patriots as the two of us break them down. In the meantime, folks, once again, I thank my good friend Steve Balistrieri for all of the wisdom and counsel and support he lends to Locked On Patriots. But most of all, I thank each and every one of you for all of the support, everything that you do for Locked On Patriots each and every day. Truly honored, truly humbled by all you do. So once again, folks, in that vein, on behalf of my good friend, Steve Balistrieri, I am Mike DeBate reminding you to stay safe, stay well, and most importantly, be the change

Starting point is 00:37:15 that you wish to see in the world. And what's also important, folks, is that you get your questions in for hashtag Mailbag Monday. Murph and I can't wait to dive into the mailbag and we'll be back with you here on Monday on Locked on Patriots to do just that. Have a great weekend, everyone, and we'll see you back here to begin the week on Locked on Patriots.

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