Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys Recap: Bill Belichick, Mac Jones and the Mental Shanks, Christian Gonzalez, Matthew Judon Injured

Starting point is 00:00:00 Does Mac Jones have a case of the mental shanks? Well, we're breaking down all the bad from the Patriots lost to the Cowboys, so 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 Lockdown Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage

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Starting point is 00:01:43 your job for free in terms of conditions apply. And Pats fans, it is a little more than a melancholy Monday here on Locked On Patriots. We can probably categorize today as a monster mad Monday. The New England Patriots absolutely demoralized by a 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, dropping the Pats to 1-3 on the season,

Starting point is 00:02:09 outclassed in every facet, and the Patriots did a lot of beating themselves on Sunday afternoon. And here today with me to help break it all down is the man who Mondays were created for here on Locked on Patriots. It is a Monster Mad Monday. It is a Mailbag Monday, and we'll get to that in just a moment. But of course, it is hashtag mailbag monday and we'll get to that in just a moment but of course it is hashtag locked on murph monday so please join me in welcoming a legendary conor murphy fisto himself thomas murphy of e2g sports.com thank you so much for joining me today on what

Starting point is 00:02:38 i'm sure is going to be a tough one for you don murph yeah Yeah, it was a tough one to get through yesterday. There was a tough wake up this morning. It was a tough weekend. Before we get started in all of the mayhem that we witnessed yesterday in Dallas and condolences out to Tim Wakefield, MLB pitcher, Red Sox pitcher who passed away this weekend. And also this morning, the very sad news that Russ Francis has passed away. Russ died yesterday afternoon in a plane accident. Russ died doing one of the many loves of his life. I just wish that he had picked surfing yesterday and not going out in his plane. Please keep them in your prayers, their families in your prayers. And, and wow, this is, it's,

Starting point is 00:03:35 it's just a rough Monday, just a rough Monday. So well said. And we join obviously all of you and all of Boston sports and really all of the sports universe in mourning the loss of Tim Wakefield. Truly one of the great guys in this business, Murph. One of the very few that is as nice off camera as he appears to be on camera. The same guy that you saw on the mound, the same humble, generous, and very heartwarming type of individual that you expected Tim Wakefield to be. He always met your expectations and exceeded them. Of course, Boston Red Sox fans are always going to remember his 17-year tenure with the Sox, an All-Star in 2009, World Series champion in 2004 and in 2007,

Starting point is 00:04:18 won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2010, and of course a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. All of that pales in comparison to the impact that tim wakefield had on his friends his family and his fans will truly be missed our real force our deepest condolences to the wakefield family and russ francis of course a member of the patriots family taken from us way too soon of course the plane crash that murph alluded to occurring near lake Placid, New York. Russ was only 70 years old, 13 seasons in the NFL, eight of which came with the New England Patriots.

Starting point is 00:04:58 First round draft pick by the Pats out of Oregon in 1975, a two-time All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowler, and a member of the Patriots All-Decade team and a member of the Patriots 35th anniversary team. So heavy hearts here in Foxborough and in New England and all over Boston Sports Nation this morning with the loss of two legends here in New England. New England's performance on the field yesterday, Murph, didn't exactly warm the hearts of Patriots Nation. Far from it. And we're going to discuss all of that today, folks. Laying the blame at Bill Belichick's doorstep, crushing injuries to two of the Patriots' best defensive players. These are all major stories, and we're going to cover them all today for you here on Locked

Starting point is 00:05:38 On. But we probably would be remiss if we didn't start with the major story of the day, and that is the performance of mac jones uh completed only 12 of his passes for 150 yards three costly turnovers that really cemented this dallas cowboys win even falling short on one quarterback sneak which could have given the patriots new light on a fourth down murph we've seen Mac struggle before this is not anything extremely new uh this is not out of the ordinary or out of the blue it's atypical for Mac he has more good games than he has bad but we've seen him have bad games before Mac Jones was uncharacteristically

Starting point is 00:06:18 though careless with the football yep um poor in his decision making and confused a lot of times whether he was under center whether he was scrambling out of the pocket. Mack looked completely and utterly unprepared and unsettled yesterday. And that is the uncharacteristic part of all this. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm a big fan of the movie Tin Cup with Kevin Costner, Cheech Marin. I know some critics and fans of Pan. Some people love it. I've always been a big fan

Starting point is 00:06:45 and there's one scene where roy mcavoy kevin costner yep he's finally lived his dream he's at the u.s open he's taking practice shots and lee henson is there and he's really really feeling it and roy cannot help but you know just like drive ground balls uh not even straight ground balls i mean he's actually hitting guys on the side of him a disease that all golfers know as the shanks it's the the yips the shanks well it started me thinking about this movie as i was watching mac jones yesterday because a lot of what we saw in the difficulties that he was having to me seem more mental than physical i know people are going to start screaming about the arm.

Starting point is 00:07:25 We'll talk about the arm in one moment, folks, because I don't think you're off base there. But despite the arm strength, I still think the root problem of all of this is mental. Does Mac Jones have a case of the mental shanks right now? He does. And he needs to put all his change into his left pocket. He needs to tie his right shoe into a double knot

Starting point is 00:07:43 and figure this the hell out. Mack Jones had no confidence under center yesterday. Every time he dropped back, he was, as you said, he was just going through too much in his mind. The guys out in front of him, look, folks, you can either be a great athlete that separates or you can be a great route runner, okay? If you're neither, and nobody on this team yesterday, with the exception of Pop Douglas, was, you need to be one or the other. And it just did not happen. Max Geis did not come open. They ran terrible routes. They couldn't get to the sticks when they needed to.

Starting point is 00:08:30 When Mac was, was actually completing passes, they were in front of the sticks instead of behind them to, to keep things matriculating down, down the line. And, you know, sometimes you, you think a little bit too much of your own talent. And that came to fruition when we saw Mack try to throw that second cross field pass. He doesn't have the arm strength for that. He doesn't. Got lucky the first time around.

Starting point is 00:09:01 The second time around, he threw the pick six. He did not take care of the ball. He was more worried about making a play than actually making a play. Okay? He didn't take what was in front of him. And he looked, it was almost as if social media got into his head and decided that, you know, he needed to be more than a game manager. The things got away from him and it just snowballed. And Bill probably should have pulled him sooner.

Starting point is 00:09:39 Yeah, I think there's an argument to be made there. And we're going to talk about Bill Belichick in just a moment, folks, because if you think the dirt on Mac Jones's uniform uniform is pretty thick and it is uh the dirt on bill belichick's hoodie right now is even thicker uh in patriots nation and we'll discuss whether or not that is justified but staying on mac for a moment uh you look at the mental mistakes scrambling out of the pocket in order to attempt to extend the play this is on the fumble i'm talking about um poorly protecting the football it's not something you see mac jones typically do um dante fowler made a nice strip sack and i'm not going to take away from his ability to get in there and pop the ball loose layton van der esch right there recover the fumble the quick touchdown uh right there six points on the board that did not need to be there uncharacteristic for mac j Jones to show that type of nonchalant

Starting point is 00:10:25 attitude in getting himself into a position to extend the play. There's exhibit one. Exhibit two, I think, was the more egregious of the two. You do not throw across the field once. You definitely don't do it twice. Matt did it yesterday, and Teron Bland made him pay the price. He's too good a corner to try that stuff against. Kendrick Bourne was well covered, read the miscue 46 yards the other way, and you get yourself a pick six. These are the type of mental mistakes that Mack really needs to correct. And he needs to spend time absorbing them and understanding them. It's one thing to take accountability for these.

Starting point is 00:11:01 You're hearing Mack do it. He's saying the right things, but he needs to be shown over and over again how egregious some of these and they were some of these miscues were mac needs to understand that the inexcusable will never be excused right and once you get to that point then you can start to move forward and i think that's where the new england patriots are and he almost threw another pick it's like he couldn't even see the field in front of him, not seeing the forest for the trees. It was a terrible mental day for Mac Jones. And Mac Jones, when his best tool in the belt is his mental capacity under center and you leave that on the sideline, this is what happens.

Starting point is 00:11:43 It's understandable that Bill Belichick would pull the plug with 341 left in the third quarter and go to Bailey Zappi but Bill Belichick right now is saying that he doesn't anticipate any changes in the quarterback room this week that he simply felt there was just no need to leave Mac Jones in the game any longer 38 to 3 with time winding down in the third quarter. This one was already out of reach. Are you reading anything more into this, or are you taking Bill at face value for this? It was simply just get our guy out of there before he gets injured or causes more irreparable

Starting point is 00:12:15 mental damage, cut our losses, and then hit hard in week five. It was. It was cut our losses and play for next week. That's all it was. There's no quarterback controversy here. Mack is, you know, 10 times the quarterback that Bailey Zappi is. It was just time for a change right then. Bill was trying to stop the bleeding. There was a lot of that going on yesterday. And speaking of bleeding, Murph, maybe not that type of degree of injury, but two injuries were absolutely devastating to

Starting point is 00:12:47 the New England Patriots yesterday. And we're talking about the injuries to Christian Gonzalez and to Matthew Judon. Patriots may be without two of their best defenders, arguably their two best defenders for an extended period of time. And this is not good news for a unit that is predicated on winning with the prowess of their defense. Murph and I are going to discuss those injuries and the impact of those injuries on the field, what it's going to mean for the Patriots moving forward when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast

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Starting point is 00:14:19 That's linkedin.com slash lockedonNFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on LockedOn Patriots. Melancholy Monday or Monster Mad Monday, however you're feeling in Patriots Nation, we feel it right along with you. A 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. A decimation in every sense of the word in all three phases and Murph in the previous segment we talked about Mac Jones and we talked about his

Starting point is 00:14:50 inability to get the job done on Sunday and what it may mean for him why we saw some of the issues that we saw we're going to get to whether Mac is the guy moving forward because we're also going to talk a little bit about Bill Belichick's future and what all this means for the immediate and potential long-term future of the franchise. But in the short term, the New England Patriots right now find themselves in a very difficult position without any question about it. They may have suffered more than just a mark in the loss column in their 38-3 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Patriots are potentially facing two devastating injuries to both Matthew Judon and Christian

Starting point is 00:15:31 Gonzalez that really could cause long-term issues for this team in 2023. Let's start with Matthew Judon's injury first because it's the first one that we found information about. Of course, folks, Judon leaving the game with 13.45 left in the fourth quarter. Looked like he was attempting to make a tackle on Deuce Vaughn in that fourth quarter, on second and 11 at the Dallas 25. It looked like Matthew got his shoulder caught on a defender, or at least his arm caught on a defender. He immediately falls to the ground.

Starting point is 00:16:01 Did not look good when it happened. He was down on the turf took him right into the blue medical tent immediately almost was escorted back for further evaluation in the locker room and then of course we start to get the reports that judan's injury is going to cause him to miss some time and then of course espn's adam shepard reporting an apparent lower bicep tendon tear uh undergoing an mri on on Monday to determine the length of his absence from the field. But Murphy, your reaction to this and what it means for the Patriots moving forward? It's devastating for the Patriots. My reaction to this was I threw hard objects at my

Starting point is 00:16:36 television last night. There is no next man up that can replace what Matthew Judon does on this side of the ball. We hear it time and time again. Well, next man up. Well, next man. There's no next man. There's no next man that can fill this man's shoes. And unfortunately, if it is a bicep tear, that's it for the season. And I can't see Bill going out there.

Starting point is 00:17:02 You can't even make a trade to bring somebody in that is going to fill the spot that Matthew Judon does on this roster. You know, both on the sideline, on the field, and in the locker room. I'm so glad that you mentioned that, that there really is no next man up here. Because if you look at the Patriots roster from top to bottom, there is talent at the linebacker position, folks. They will logistically fill Judon's slot on the team. Josh Uche is probably the most likely candidate

Starting point is 00:17:33 with maybe Anthony Jennings taking the spot on the starting unit. But these guys are more, I don't want to say role players because I think that gives them a disservice. So much of what they do feeds off of what Judon does so well, either acting as a decoy or a facilitator. The space that he eats up, the attention that has to be given to him, you know, on each and every snap that allows other players to look as good as they are. He's the straw that stirs. Yeah, he is are. He's the straw that stirs.

Starting point is 00:18:06 Yeah, he is. He absolutely is that straw that stirs. And because of that, you're going to regress in that middle part of that defense. That front seven is not going to be as effective without Matthew Judon in the lineup. That's not a revelation. That's a very blunt and very simple statement. And I think even the biggest Patriots optimist can come to that conclusion that this defense is in trouble without one of their top stars.

Starting point is 00:18:31 Now, Keon White is being rumored to maybe take a larger role in terms of attitude, in terms of motor, in terms of energy. Keon seems to be the most logical fit to try to fill what Judon does on the field. I think he's the only three down player that's capable of playing that linebacker role that Judon plays so well. But even that, that's a lot to put on a rookie's shoulders. Right, exactly. I'm glad you brought that up, Michael. It's just too much to bring on a rookie's shoulders.

Starting point is 00:18:59 You know, I've sat here and written, you know, said and written ad nauseum that I want to see more of him on the field. This isn't the way I wanted it done. You know, I wanted him there next to this man, not replacing him or trying to fill his shoes. A big loss for the Patriots, not just logistically on the field, but also emotionally in the locker room. Judon is one of the more upbeat vocal leaders in that locker room. And someone these guys look up to not just for inspiration not just for words of wisdom but for positivity and right now you're a one in three team dominated

Starting point is 00:19:31 in all three phases by a clearly superior team on Sunday you need that positivity to be able to bounce back and defend your home field against the New Orleans Saints coming in here on Sunday so Judon's loss is going to be felt without any question about it. And the Patriots have some big shoes to fill there. But it goes beyond Matthew Judon. Murph, that's enough of a loss. But Patriots also dealing with the loss of rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez,

Starting point is 00:19:55 reigning defensive rookie of the month for the month of September. And unfortunately, this is not looking good either. Mike Kadlik of WEI reporting late Sunday night that Gonzalez sustaining a dislocated shoulder, undergoing an MRI upon returning to New England to determine the severity of the injury. Dislocated shoulders rarely give you less than a three to four week recovery time. We're probably looking at more than that, unfortunately. This happened when Christian was

Starting point is 00:20:25 trying to tackle Tony Pollard on a first and 10 from the New England 25 early in the game, awkwardly jamming his shoulder. He immediately went to the blue medical 10 back to the locker room and was ruled out just after halftime. Right. Once again, Murph, the Patriots dealing with an insurmountable hole at cornerback, and they're already thin at this position. Could this be even a worse loss for the Patriots in the secondary? Yeah, this was devastating. When he went down in the first quarter, you completely saw the wind come out of the Patriots' sails. Everybody felt this.

Starting point is 00:21:03 Everybody knew what was going to happen next. And it did happen next. Where, where did the, where did Dak Prescott go with his next pass? You know, he, it was, it was terrible. It was, you know, we'll just go pick on the weakest link. And that's where it was. And as you said, you know, the, the Patriots are already thin without the Joneses, but, you know, they have three of them, um, returning from injury. Jack Jones, uh, is, is set to come back. Uh, the,

Starting point is 00:21:35 the other Joneses are, uh, have been, been working their, their way back into shape and back onto the field. So hopefully they can step up and step in there. It's, it's just Bill needed this hit in the draft. He needed to hit in this pick and he really did. He hit a home run and we can, we can only hope that, that he's going to be able to come back and do some, but Sean Wade was the, was the guy that they went and picked on for the rest of the day. And, and, you know, what are you going to do? When you take away your defensive spiritual leader and then you take away the rock star that this kid is,

Starting point is 00:22:23 and he really is, he's a quiet rock star. He's that rhythm guitar guy that's just back there doing his job that nobody seems to notice until you have to notice it. And the kids played phenomenal. We can only hope that this isn't something that's going to need stabilizing surgery. I'm not a doctor. I don't even play one on TV, but these are things that go through your mind when you hear about injuries like this. It's a brutal loss, and hopefully Jack Jones and Marcus Jones can come back and stabilize what was on in week two and going back into training camp, the real depth of this Patriots defense. You're absolutely right.

Starting point is 00:23:09 It really was so vital to the Patriots' preferred method of defense to have Christian Gonzalez out there on the field. We talked about this on Friday, Murph. The Patriots' preferred method of defense is man coverage and single high safety. They love to play it. And that is so predicated on having a lockdown corner because it puts a lot of pressure on the cornerback. So you need one of them there to shadow or cover the other team's top wide receiver. When you don't have that, it automatically starts to break apart. And you were absolutely right. Where did Dak Prescott

Starting point is 00:23:42 go when Christian Gonzalez was down right to see the lamb 20 yard touchdown and bam the Cowboys are off and running without any question I want to give a tip of the cap or at least as much of a tip of the cap as I possibly can to Miles Bryant Sean Wade on the outside and then Jalen Mills spending time in the slot when the Patriots did have to defend against some of the Cowboys three receiver looks. These guys did the best they could under the circumstances yesterday. They're already decimated and then they lose their alpha in the room. It's hard to expect a whole lot of performance out of those guys more than what they gave you.

Starting point is 00:24:15 So, you know, I think a little, at least a little appreciation should be thrown their way for those guys giving it their best effort. But Bill Belichick corroborated this after the game. He said, this caused us to change our game play. He was asked the question, did it cause you to change your game strategy? And he says, yeah, it absolutely did. And it allowed Dak Prescott greater ease to complete his passes. And one of the big reasons why he's finishing the day 28 of 34, throwing 260 yards and a

Starting point is 00:24:44 touchdown against the secondary that, again, folks, was without a star rookie and without a trio of potent Joneses out there. Yeah, we definitely do. Back next week because I'm wholeheartedly, if they're not in the lineup, I'm wholeheartedly concerned about getting a W at home against a team that they should manhandle it's hard to envision them being able to be successful without that help in the secondary jack jones right now eligible to come off of ir this week that's one to watch folks we'll continue to monitor that here you hope jonathan jones is going to see the field at some point bill belichick making an interesting point on monday when speaking with reporters saying that DeMario Douglas is going to start returning punts this week that does not bode well for Marcus Jones folks so he may be out a little bit longer but hopefully the Patriots can get two out of

Starting point is 00:25:34 three back and get a little depth back into the secondary but wishing the best to Matthew Judon wishing the best to Christian Gonzalez hope to see you out there on the field, both of you out there on the field, sooner rather than later. Murph, ultimately, losing is never a good thing. Patriots fans are not happy. The Patriots players are not happy. The coaches are not happy. But it hasn't stopped the members of the media from assigning blame pie.

Starting point is 00:26:01 And I know you and I hate doing that, but a lot of it is being dropped on the doorstep of head coach Bill Belichick. Belichick has often said the buck stops at his desk. Is this the one time that we should take him up on that? Murph and I are going to discuss that and more on a monster mad melancholy Monday here on Lockdown Patriots. We do so in just a moment when our show continues right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Lockdown listeners snap into action this NFL season with FanDuel, America's number one sports book. Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet.

Starting point is 00:26:39 That's $200 in bonus bets, win or lose. If you've been thinking about joining FanDuel, there is no better time to get in on the action. The app is so easy to use, and there's a wide range of betting options, including spreads, player props, over-unders, and so much more. So visit FanDuel.com slash locked on and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, official partner of the NFL. Patriots fans, thank you once again for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us here on your Monday, helping you cope, break down,

Starting point is 00:27:15 whatever you need to do when it comes to the Patriots 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday in Week 4. Patriots dropped to 1-3perate need of a win on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. And we're going to turn our attention to the Saints in due time. But for now, we're still trying to cope with the loss to the Cowboys.

Starting point is 00:27:35 And Murph, one of the things about a loss like this is it's naturally going to draw the ire of the fan base. It already has, understandably so, justifiably so. People are pointing the finger at Mac Jones in a terrible performance and saying he's no longer the guy. You got to get him out of there. Patriots need a new quarterback. I don't think they're getting one this year. So Mac Jones is your guy, folks. You have to right the ship for now, and it doesn't make any sense at this point to tank. A lot people are blaming the personnel the old line is not doing well bill o'brien is not coaching this offense the way he should adrian clem's done nothing for this offensive line michael wayne who their best offensive lineman

Starting point is 00:28:15 had three penalties yesterday um receivers aren't getting open we're hearing all the excuses but the one thing that continuously comes up in social media circles is the job that Bill Belichick has done. So many people are so quick to write his epitaph. I'm not saying that Belichick is without blame, but I think saying that he's going to be out of a job is a little ridiculous. But our good friend LJ weighed in on the subject, and I think he did a very good job of balancing anger of the Patriots fan base without going as far as to say

Starting point is 00:28:45 that Bill Belichick never deserved any of the credit that he's got right believe me there are detractors out there that are saying that right now let's take a look at what LJ had to say because you and I did dive into the mailbag late last night and we found LJ's question which is a poignant one for all of us here one of the main issues with the Patriots isn't Mac Jones. It is the personnel. The lack of talent on both sides of the ball, especially the offensive end. You can have a game plan, but talent is needed to properly execute the plan. That's solely on Belichick. Murph, when it comes to building a team, when it comes to putting this team in place, how much blame deserves to be on

Starting point is 00:29:25 the doorstep of Bill Belichick this morning? 100, 100%. All right, I'm going to go there. The way this question was framed by LJ and by you to me, I have to give 100% of it to Bill Belichick. He's the head coach, the buck stops with him. He's the man who made these choices to ignore the offensive line and go with older, established veterans that are past their prime. I have forever been a champion of Jacoby Myers. But I didn't mind the Patriots letting Jacoby Myers walk away because they needed more than what Jacoby Myers brought to the table. But Juju Smith-Schuster was not the answer. A guy on the downside of his career with a banged-up knee was not the answer.

Starting point is 00:30:24 He could have gone out and addressed the offensive line and spent money there. Bill chose not to. These are where the problems are in this Patriots roster building procedure. I don't want to say that Bill has lost a step or he's the game has passed him by i just think that that he he expects everybody that he brings in to be rodney harrison and that hasn't been the case yeah very well put when you look at the check and you look at the job that he's done building the roster since tom brady's departure emphasis has definitely been on defense. We've seen some very good defensive pieces added here. So I don't mean to pile on Bill and make it seem like all of a sudden Brady left and he forgot how to coach football. That is

Starting point is 00:31:13 not the case, folks. But the offensive buttons that he's pressed have not worked. There have been some questionable decisions and you hit the nail on the head on one of them and not addressing the offensive line or adequately addressing the offensive line this team needed top talent at the position they needed nfl ready talent yeah they could have bought it exactly you're absolutely right okay everybody who's talking about the fact that bill didn't draft um uh offensive tackles where they wanted those players weren't there those guys are gone in the first 18 picks. Do you not want Gonzalez? Do you not want Keon White?

Starting point is 00:31:51 Who are you putting on this offensive line right now that is starting over Marty Mapo? Not starting over Marty Mapo, but starting on this offensive line when Marty Mapo is probably a game-changing defender. Those guys just weren't there. The problem was the fact that they didn't, whether it was Bill or whether it was Robert, they didn't want to spend the money on the free agents that were out there. And sometimes you can say these guys were overpaid, but that's the world that we live in.

Starting point is 00:32:35 And if you don't like filling holes through the draft with what's available to you in the draft class, then you've got to spend the money. It's one or the other. They should have looked at this draft class and said, yeah, there's nobody here that's going to fill the need that we have. I, you know, people, people like to, um, to get on bill for, for the Cole strange pick. Well, I mean, folks, Cole strange was drafted to, to run a different offense, to be, to be a guard that that's in a different offense than the one that's here. Also, this kid has not been playing the entire year. He's been injured all year. he hasn't gotten the reps so please get off colestrain's back he's a fine young guard and but you've got to spend the money or you've got to use the draft capital and the way that this draft dropped bill got a a stud that should be here for the next 10 years, knock on wood, in the first round.

Starting point is 00:33:31 And that's where game-changing tackles are found. He would have had to trade up from 15 to find that offensive tackle that was going to come in here and do anything this year. Yeah, so well said. I mean, you think about the talent that the Patriots come in here and do anything this year. Yeah. So well said. I mean, you think about the talent that the Patriots brought in via this draft, and I still think history will look at this 2020 draft as being very kind for the New England Patriots, even beyond Christian Gonzalez.

Starting point is 00:33:57 I love right on white. I love Martin in this system. I think with another couple of years, he'll blossom into one of the top defenders in this. All pro. Yeah, exactly. You know, you, you look down the bottom, I think with another couple of years, he'll blossom into one of the top defenders in this realm. Ryland will be an all-pro. Yeah, exactly. You look down the bottom, DeMario Douglas should be here for years contributing. The fact is, they're depending on these rookies.

Starting point is 00:34:16 Bill didn't want to have to depend on rookies, but he whiffed on a couple of guys on this side of the ball that he thought would play a bigger role and play a smarter role and play a more pivotal role. They pivoted the wrong way. That leads me quite nicely into my final point for you today, my friend, is a lot of people talking about the weapons around Mac Jones contributing to his poor performance. His detractors will say Mac simply doesn't have the arm to be an NFL quarterback, but some will say that surrounding Mac with the proper talent, that the Patriots have not done an adequate job of that in utilizing his strengths. Where do you lie on this in terms of the future of Mac Jones under center and how much of that needs to be put

Starting point is 00:35:05 on Bill's shoulders? Um, a ton. I, I'm not going to put a percentage on it. We'll just go with a ton. It's not a metric time. It's just a ton. Um, but no, the, the, these are guys we, we talked about it earlier that you, you either have to be a great route runner or you have to be a great athlete that creates separation. Time and again yesterday, these routes were run short. These guys did not get to the sticks. They did not give Mack an opportunity to get first downs. This is not a group of individuals that would ever set the world on fire. But you look across at the other side and Dak Prescott.

Starting point is 00:35:56 Now, I consider Dak Prescott a top 10 or a top 12 quarterback in this league. I do not consider him a top five quarterback in this league. There are three to five quarterbacks in this league that can take the ball and win you games. Everybody else is out there not to lose you games. That's it. They're there not to lose you games. They're there to run the program, do what's happening. Now, Mack has been hindered this year by the offensive line, whether it's been pressure or whether it's these guys getting Ramondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott some lanes

Starting point is 00:36:26 to run in which did not happen yesterday um I think that the longest run that that Ramondre had yesterday was 10 yards and that was called back on a penalty by Mike Unwayu your best freaking you know offensive lineman um that's where it starts if he gets the protection if he feels comfortable and he hits these guys because you know it's just it's not going to happen if you guys are waiting for him to be tom brady or if you were waiting for him to even um to i don't know, to pick a name out of the hat. You know, one of the greats of all time. This is not him. You have to put the talent around him.

Starting point is 00:37:13 And if the talent isn't there, you have to coach it up. And, you know, he doesn't get a lot of blame or credit. But when are we going to put a little bit on the wide receivers coach here? You know, when is Brown going to get his due? Why doesn't that get talked about? These guys are not running proper routes. They are not getting to the sticks. They are cutting stuff off short, and that goes to Troy Brown. Yeah, I think that's an interesting point, and not one that's brought up an awful lot, and I'll may have help on that.

Starting point is 00:37:56 I hardly ever bring up his name in terms of blame pie that needs to be served around, but the Patriots coaching staff has an awful lot of soul- to do. I know the fan base right now is upset about what they saw from Mac yesterday and not being able to make a play or not being able to complete a pass. Folks, I think Murph said this perfectly. Yes, there are quarterbacks out there in the league that might be able to make plays where Mac commits a turnover. There's about a handful of them, and you'll still have fingers left over on one hand of guys that can do that. The vast majority of quarterbacks in this league are guys that are meant to facilitate your offensive system. Mack is no different than that. When you don't have

Starting point is 00:38:35 the tools around him, receivers that are not able to get the ball while they're leading themselves under the defense and then getting yards after the catch you're not maximizing what this kid does well that's on bill belichick obviously for not putting the team in place it's on bill o'brien for not coaching up what we have all been touting as quote-unquote his offense yes there's a good chunk of it that belongs on max shoulders as well but then it goes to the pieces around him and the pieces around him if they're not talented enough need to be coached up. I think you're absolutely right on that. There needs to be accountability from this offensive coaching staff, from Belichick to

Starting point is 00:39:12 O'Brien and all the way down to Troy, to Clem. Everyone on this staff really needs to do a lot of looking in the mirror this week to right this shit, because if they don't, this is really going to go off the rails very quickly. If this team drops to one and four, the army of pitchforks is going to be out very soon. Right. Just think though, folks. I mean, even back to his days in Seattle, Russell Wilson was never a game-changing quarterback. Okay.

Starting point is 00:39:41 He really wasn't. The talent was put around him. When you look at guys, he's never going to be Patrick Mahomes. He's not even going to be Josh Allen or Jared Goff. But you look right now, Mack Jones is fifth in this league, even after being pulled yesterday, in attempts. That's not the way that this team was set up. That's not what you want.

Starting point is 00:40:07 That's not what you want to ask out of Mac Jones. Okay, this team predicates on its run game. That has not gotten going. That goes on Adrian Clem. This team is predicated on receivers hitting their spots, hitting their breaks in the right time, and being able to throw those balls and throw those guys open. That's on Brown.

Starting point is 00:40:29 That's on these wide receivers. The coaches across the board need to do better if this team is now going to finish above 500. I said this was a 12-5 team because I thought the defense was going to carry them. We have not seen this defense, even as, as good as it's played, play as well as it did last year. It was almost like the, the, the Dallas Cowboys took my keys from Friday. They read it and they said, Hey, that's a good idea. Let's do that. And we got to pick six. We got to scoop. We got to scoop and score. We limited the laundry, all the things that that i i preach

Starting point is 00:41:06 every single week you know and a couple others that get changed up they did and the patriots did not that goes on the coaching staff bill's going to read the riot act so you know i i don't know what more you can expect out of him in in making sure that these guys are prepped and ready for next week. Absolutely. And they need to turn the page quickly, but they also need to spend some time on the page as well, folks. All four, burying the game ball, putting this away, and not really dwelling on mistakes of the past.

Starting point is 00:41:39 But this is one rare time where those mistakes were so evident and so prevalent that the Patriots coaching staff needs to do a good job of getting this team prepared to move forward. And you can only do that by knowing what you've done poorly in the past so you can learn from it and then put those improvements into action on the field. That's the challenge that the Pats coaching staff has this week. That's the challenge that the Patriots players have. And we'll see if they're ready to rise to it here in week five as the New Orleans Saints get ready to head to town this Sunday. But Murph, in the meantime, what can I say, bud? Thank you so much for lending your wisdom, your counsel, and all of your insight to Lockdown

Starting point is 00:42:19 Patriots each and every week, multiple times, my friend. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for always being there for the handoff. Always my pleasure, man. Before I let you go, please let everyone know what they can expect from the great Penn, the great voice of Thomas Murphy, this week in Patriots Nation. Well, of course, you can find my monster keys every Friday. I'm going to be writing a few Red Sox pieces this week over there for E2G Sports.

Starting point is 00:42:42 You can just check it out. Check me out on the Zitter app, the Bird app, whatever you're still calling it, at TeamRoof207. And just ask yourselves, folks, when you're sitting here ripping apart Bill Belichick, somebody that I consider the greatest coach in NFL history, what did Chuck Knoll do when he didn't have a Hall of Fame quarterback? What did Mike Ditka do? What did Tom Coughlin do?

Starting point is 00:43:05 What did Bill Parcells, Don Shula, or Tom Landry do when they didn't have a Hall of Fame quarterback under center? It takes time. I'm tired of hearing about the record without Tom Brady. In the meantime, we continue to plot forward here on Locked On Patriots. We'll continue to break down the Patriots' loss to the Cowboys. And of course, keep it right here to Locked On Patriots. We'll continue to break down the Patriots' loss to the Cowboys, and of course, keep it right here to Locked On Patriots for all the very latest on the injury

Starting point is 00:43:29 futures of both Christian Gonzalez and Matthew Judon. We'll bring you those as they happen. Thank all of you, especially all of you everydayers, all of you Locked On loyalists for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. On behalf of my good friend, the counter Murphy,

Starting point is 00:43:46 Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike DeBate reminding you to stay safe and to stay well and to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone. We'll be back here again tomorrow on Locked on Patriots. Jamarco Jones, make the call, make the call.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys Recap: Bill Belichick, Mac Jones and the Mental Shanks, Christian Gonzalez, Matthew Judon Injured

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