Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: DeAndre Hopkins to Pats Alive Again? Much Ado About OTAs? Firkser as TE3?

Episode Date: May 27, 2023

In the aftermath of his release by the Arizona Cardinals, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been rumored to be headed to several NFL teams, including the New England Patriots. Host Mike D’Abate offers his thoughts on Hopkins potentially finding his way to Foxboro before welcoming Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy of E2G Sports to discuss the lingering sensationalism surrounding the OTAs fiasco, the signing of Anthony Firkser and the season-ending injury to Raekwon McMillan.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriotsAnd follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG(CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat(CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DeAndre Hopkins is a free agent, but will he be spotted at Logan Airport over the weekend? 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. Welcome to the Lockdown Patriots podcast. We are a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

your team every day. Subscribe or follow for free on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts to ensure that you get the latest episode as soon as it's available. I'm your host, Mike Bate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. So reach out to me.

Let me know what's on your mind on Twitter at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, thank you for joining me here today to help close the week in style. As always, a special shout out to all of you Locked On everydayers out there. What can I say?

Another week. You still continue to join me for the ride here on Locked On Patriots. You make the pod possible. My unending appreciation to you. I'm honored and humbled, as always, by your support. But Patriots fans, today on the pod, our good friend, the counter Murphy, Fisto himself, Thomas Murphy of E2G Sports, to recap the week that was here in Patriots Nation.

Controversy in the offseason workout program, an injury to a talented but injury-prone linebacker, and the addition of a new tight end. So stay locked in because Murph and I are ready to give you the week in review here in just a moment. But first, even though visions of former arizona cardinals wide receiver deandre hopkins wearing a new england patriots uniform had all but disappeared from our collective consciousness here in patriots nation they may have just been

slightly rekindled yeah that's right you heard that correctly folks that is former arizona cardinals wide receiver deandre hopkins because the cards announcing on friday that they were Kindle. Yeah, that's right. You heard that correctly, folks. That is former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, because the Cards announcing on Friday that they were releasing the star right wide out, allowing him to sign with another team. And even though Arizona still had the ability to move DeAndre via trade before the NFL's transaction deadline before p.m. Eastern on Friday, that did not happen the release becomes official on tuesday may 30th and let the games begin folks uh now even though new england remained on the sidelines regarding any trade negotiations it was speculated that their interest in acquiring the

five-time pro bowler was going to be peaked if Hopkins was going to be released by the team and that appears to be the case the Patriots are expected to be in on DeAndre now how in well let's examine it for a moment during an April appearance on the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer reported that some teams believe that Arizona would ultimately release DeAndre Hopkins if they were unable to find a suitable trade partner. And the Cardinals were asking a pretty hefty asking price, folks, initially seeking a second round pick and an additional asset for the veteran wideout. Maybe an NFL-ready player, maybe a couple of prospects.

Who knows? But Arizona definitely dug their heels in and were looking for a pretty good return on investment. You can't necessarily blame them for that, but they also had to consider that if traded, DeAndre's new team was going to have to absorb salary cap hits of $19.45 million in 2023 and then $14.91 million in 2024 when you take that under account and then you got deandre being on the wrong side of 30 and even apparently his recent suspension for banned substances a lot of networks and a lot of outlets are reporting that that was indeed a factor teams just weren't willing to go there so without the team having satisfied their asking price and Hopkins' obvious desire to continue his football journey elsewhere, the two sides decided to part ways. And I don't think it should come as any surprise. The Andre Hopkins market is expected to be robust, to say the least.

Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, all among the most prominently mentioned to be in the mix of interested parties. But the question here on this pod and all throughout the region is where does this leave the Patriots? Well, I start by going back to Burt's comments from April. And in my opinion, what Burt Breer had to say at that point, I think still very accurate. He said, quote, I think this is a really complicated one. They haven't shown great interest. They really haven't been in it up to this point. If his market collapsed completely and he was cut or he was available for almost nothing and is willing to redo his contract, maybe we're talking about something else. Now, I know contractual obligations have lessened a little bit, but

there is still that specter out there that the Patriots feel he's going to be priced out of them even on the open market. But the fact that they don't have to surrender any draft capital and all they really have to surrender is financial capital to get him, I think that's why their interest is going to increase over the course of the next few days. So in that vein, when it comes to the talent that they're getting from DeAndre Hopkins, the Patriots should absolutely have interest. DeAndre has been named to five All-Pro teams throughout his 10-year career,

top of 1,000 receiving yards mark in six of those seasons, 71 total touchdowns. In fact, some of Hopkins' greatest successes on a football field came while being coached by new Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien during their tenure with the Houston Texans. We discussed this on the pod before. All of you everydayers will remember this was a big topic of conversation right around free agency when the trade market was starting to heat up. Even right around the draft, people were wondering whether or not Bill O'Brien and DeAndre Hopkins could coexist. Now, there's still a lot of people that will tell you that's going to be a contentious relationship, but recent reports have indicated that these two might be willing to work together.

I think virtue lies in the middle. Probably still a little bit of ill feelings, but I don't think they're so bad that either side would refuse to work with the other. I think they can coexist. I think they can make it work. And I'm not going to lie to you. Other potential suitors may be a better logistical, a better financial fit for DeAndre Hopkins, but New England is able to offer something that no other team can. And that is the chance to play for coach Bill Belichick. We all know that there is a mutual love fest between Bill and DeAndre. Most recently, as last year, spoke glowingly about the ball skills of DeAndre Hopkins and really went up to him and says, I'm glad we only have to face you a couple

of times, you know, throughout the years. This could be an interesting friendship if DeAndre decides that he wants to play for a top flight coach but don't forget his demands also indicate that he wants to play with a top flight quarterback that he wants to be able to contend for a Super Bowl I know all of us here in New England are trying to be as optimistic as we possibly can but not sure DeAndre or maybe the national pundits see New England in that vein. It's going to have to be a big time selling point. But the good thing that the Patriots do have on their side is Belichick still has that cachet, at least when it comes to DeAndre Hopkins. And I think that could help tip

the scales in their favor if some of these negotiations get close. Now, the contractual obligations, folks, is going to be really where the Patriots either have to win or lose this battle. They've become less of an obstacle now that teams don't have to trade for him, but financials are always a concern. And the Patriots currently have a little bit excess of $13 million in available salary cap space. Tip of the cap, nod to the gods gods to my main man Miguel who always comes up with the accurate figures for me and I appreciate that based on that you would think that adding DeAndre Hopkins to the Foxborough fold is possible some creative fiscal management is going to have to be done but the Pats can make it work now do they do this that's the big question

New England has already made some notable upgrades in their wide receiver core for 2023. I know that a lot of fans are not liking the upgrades they did make, but the Patriots did make some upgrades, especially to their pass catchers. I don't want to pigeonhole it and say it's just the wide receivers because I think the tight ends are going to be involved in that a little bit more, maybe even some receiving backs out of the backfield. But they've added Juju Smith-Schuster. They've added Mike Gusecki.

The team has also added a couple of wideouts by the draft. Talented yet enigmatic is the best way that I can describe Keishon Butte. If he can work out, this kid has next level talent. There's no question about that. It's just the only question that really remains with Kayshaun is can he put it all together and make it work on the field? And to Mario Douglas, a slot weapon that I expect could be a diamond in the rough for the New England Patriots draft class this season. So all of those pieces have been put into place to help make life

easier for Mac Jones or whoever is starting for the quarterback position this year for your New England Patriots. But at that point, the Patriots have to ask themselves whether or not it's worth ponying up and paying some pretty good money to keep DeAndre Hopkins in the Foxborough fold for a year or maybe even beyond. That may be a tall task, but on the other side of that, the allure of adding Hopkins to a group of receivers in which he instantly becomes the top option. And I don't think anybody's going to argue that point.

That may be too great to ignore. So over your holiday weekend, folks definitely keep a sharp eye because whether there is mutual interest in Deandre Hopkins and the New England Patriots is a matter to be determined in short order. They face some stiff competition, but I'm telling you, there's a chance. And in that vein, our main man Murph, he is green, he is mean, and he's ready to give Pats Nation a piece of his mind. We're talking Patriots OTAs, that whole fiasco,

why this is really a big nothing burger, folks, and the injury to linebacker Raekwon McMillan, and are you listening, Claire? Tight endage. We're going to talk the addition of Anthony Berkser, maybe the Patriots' new tight end three, or maybe their new blocking tight end mixed with a little bit of H-back. We know that the NFL loves its 11 personnel, one back, one tight end, three wide receivers. The Adriandre Hopkins onto this offense, folks.

You might see a lot of 11 personnel, but there's still a big-time value in 12 personnel, the one back and the two tight ends. And when you can lean on players who can make big plays in the field while also blocking the C-gap in the run game, you're looking at a very valuable piece that could really help you when it comes to depth. Jerry's still out on whether Anthony Ferkser can do that, but I'm telling you he's better at that

than is being advertised by a lot in the national and local media, and Murph is going to join me here in just a moment to talk the Patriots pressing stories of the week when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, today's episode is brought to you by our good friends over at Bilt. And if you're like me and you want to make healthier snack choices, but you don't want to compromise the taste, I've got just the thing for you. Bilt Bars, Bilt Puffs. Bilt Bars are healthy and they taste amazing. I'm not exaggerating, folks. Seriously, they taste so amazing, you're going to think they're not good for you, but they are. You've got to try these. I'm not sure how built does it, but these bars

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a daily part of your new England Patriots coverage. Don't forget locked on Patriots is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And in that fashion, folks, we are closing the week in style, exactly the same way we open it in style. The Count of Murphy, Fisto, the legendary Thomas Murphy of E2GSports.com joins me here today. Thank you for coming to me in friendship

and for helping me kick off this holiday weekend, Don Merck. Oh, happy holidays to everybody out there. A salute to everybody in the service department. You know, just amazing. When you said style, I started looking around. I wanted to see, you know, maybe my son or my wife was walking behind. But no, it's just me, folks. It's just me.

Thanks for having me back, bud. Styling, profiling, limousine riding, jet flying. Well, we kicked off last weekend with a woo. I'm not going to do that again. But anytime you get to throw in the Ric Flair quotes and start up a show that way, you've got to love it. Murph, let's just talk about the news of the day, the news of the week with the New England Patriots.

This is festering as we knew it would. It's the Patriots, folks, and this is exactly what happens. I'll tell you what, we'll start off with some absolute rock solid fact. That's exactly what we're going to do. Article 21, Section 5B of the NFLPA Collectivepa collective bargaining agreement states that quote players are allowed at the club facility no more than four hours per day no more than four days per week and not during weekends murph apparently a misinterpretation or misunderstanding of this rule has led us to where we are right now the patriots argued that these meetings were voluntary and that no attendance was taken but ultimately the league disagree with

that they use the cba as the basis of its penalty patriots losing two days of otas may 25th may 30th and head coach bill belichick hit with a five-figure fine of fifty thousand dollars now murph at the grand scheme of, this is not a major deal. I mean, penalties have been levied. The price is being paid. There's nothing to see here. But some are choosing to take a look at this a bit deeper, for better or for worse. And I'm not going to judge, but a lot of people are taking the Colonel Jessup approach.

As they say in Few Good Men, there's a what is going on in Bravo Company right now. How does a team known for meticulous attention to detail like the Patriots find itself on the sour end of these situations as of late? So the question is out there, Bud. Is this a blemish

against Bill Belichick? Is this Joe Judge's fault? Do we have a rat in the ranks when it comes to the Patriots locker room? Or is this all just a big misunderstanding? Murph, it's your ball first. Is this violation a reflection of something deeper in the Patriots coaching room?

Or is this much ado about nothing? It's much ado about nothing. I'm disappointed, as a matter of fact. When the news broke that this had happened, I honestly thought that Bill had dropped a dime on himself to not have to practice in front of the media on Thursday. And I thought it was, you know, they were padded up. Guys were hitting in the freaking, you know, out on the fields. When I heard this was a special teams meeting infraction that, you know, they had two hours of special.

That's one day for every hour. I was disappointed. I really was. What I got a kick out of was mostly Patriots fans saying, yes, we're cheating again. Let's go, tongue in cheek, because we all know we're not going to jump in there. But it's much to do about nothing. I have no idea how this got to the league, but it always gets to the league. It really does. I mean, this is not the first time that a team has been banged for keeping guys after class, for hitting, you know, being paddy. You can go all the way back to the Seahawks in, like, 2017,

and then, you know, Dallas got whacked with it two years in a row. I don't know who is calling the league office to let them know who's calling. It could be a player rep, anybody, but it's much to do about nothing. And like I said, I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't big round guys hitting each other, you know, as, as we're waiting for, uh, um, trying to get an early jump on some, some chemistry with the, with the wide receiver group. Well, before we get into what this means for the coaching staff moving forward and what it may mean for Bill Belichick and for Joe judge, because really to me, that's the only pertinent part of this. That's still relevant when it comes to the 2023 new england patriots uh this whole notion of a rat in the locker room

murphy you and i are big fans of the departed and if i could do the jack nicholson face where he talks about the rats sitting at the table with leonardo dicaprio i would do that right now i would absolutely show the clip if we had the ability to do it one of the great scenes you'll ever see in a mob movie or really in any movie but that's kind of how i feel right now when it comes to these discussions because two reporters that we hold in the highest regard bill perry of nbc sports boston jeff howell the athletic came out with some reports at the tail end of thursday to kind of help shed some light on this situation and maybe quell this a little bit,

saying that the NFLPA rep that came in and saw the postings for these meetings on the board, wherever they were posted, was there as a result of a routine visit. Apparently the NFLPA sends representatives to do this every now and then. So it's not a situation where he was tipped off in advance or, you know, there's any kind of espionage going on in the midst of the hallways of one Patriots place at Gillette Stadium. So I'm more apt to believe this was simply just bad timing, bad interpretation of what happened. And the New England Patriots now find themselves, unfortunately, embroiled in. I don't want to say whining yeah yeah I'm just I'm you know what I'm not even going to touch that I'm just going to let that sit because you're absolutely right but bottom line when it comes to something like this

folks and I talked about this yesterday on the pod you're talking the Dallas Cowboys the last two years um the Houston Texans, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Chicago Bears, the San Francisco 49ers. They've all been docked OTA days of practice. They've all been fined for violations. A lot of these are what has happened on the field, pushing the envelope, letting these guys hit a little too early, bringing in the contact before it should be there. Things are going to happen of this type during this period but because it's the patriots it's going to be magnified to the nth degree and i think that's all you're seeing here uh folks really i mean take these reports about there being a rat out there with a big grain of salt um and you know a lot of it is for attention

and i think that's exactly what's what's happening here but here. But it's sad because I think it distracts from what this team really needs, and that is time on the field. They do need cohesion, and they do need to be at work here. And that lends me quite nicely into my next question for you on this. But Bill Belichick obviously may be feeling a little bit more heat on his seat this year than in years past. I'm not saying he's on the hot seat at all. Bill Belichick I don't he's on the hot seat at all. Bill Belichick, I don't believe, is on the hot seat.

No, but personally, he's sitting himself down on a hot plate. Yeah, exactly. How much do you think this derails his ability to regain that ultimate control over the team that really I don't think a lot of people believe he had last year? Oh, I really don't. He's still the man. He's still the face when he walks into the room. There's, there's no, there's in the locker room and on the field, there's absolutely no questions whatsoever. The only time that you get questions is when you turn on certain talking heads that,

that come on the air between two and six o'clock at night. And the, they're terrible carbon copies that are on from six until 10. It's ridiculous. I don't think it derails him at all, but Joe Judge will be picking up the tab at every dinner for the next 12 months that they share. Yeah, that's a good point. And that does lead me nicely into, I know I said my next question, this is probably my last question of the segment. Then I think we'll let this sit because believe me folks, there are other things happening in Patriots nation that Murph and I want to cover to bring you into your holiday weekend. But Joe judge finds himself at the center of this for better or for worse. He's the name that's been attached to this. Greg Bedard of the Boston sports journal yesterday, indicating that this was really where it came from these were judge meetings

um and special teams workshops I believe is how the league uh referred to these Joe had some difficulty last year there was obvious tension between he and Mac Jones I think that was much more palpable than he contrived difficulties that people wanted to fester between Bill Belichick and Mac Jones. I think this was a little bit more overt when it came to the disconnect between Joe and Mac. He's got a reputation as being a tough guy to play for at times and whatnot. We heard stories coming out of Giants camp when he coached there. Do you think this may lessen his credibility a little bit when it comes to the Patriots players in that locker room? Because special teams was very much undisciplined last year. They need someone to come in to light the ship.

Someone these players trust. Can that still be Joe Judge? Yes, it can be and it will be and it is um this goes to show how serious joe judge is about fixing the um the issue uh you know he he took and rightfully so a big hit uh in new york and then you know he took a another one where everybody kind of felt like he tucked tailed and run home to mama, taking the job with the Patriots. But it was obvious last year and the year before that special teams play had gone downhill quite a bit. That, you know, not was all right in the chicken coop there.

And, you know, guys were running around with, with, with no direction whatsoever. And Joe is trying to rein that in now, whether you believe it or not, whether these meetings were mandatory or not. Um, Joe is, is going into this, you know, headfirst and is steadfast that he is going to, to, uh, to get everybody's ducks in a row, get those chickens in a row, and make sure that the problems that the Patriots had, which you can pretty much blame two losses on last year, if not more. But you can definitely get to two losses last year on special teams play that that's not going to happen this season.

So, you know, no matter what happens, you know, Joe Judge is a guy that is going to garner the respect that he deserves in that special teams room because we all know how good the special teams played under him before he went off to New York and before he decided to become a quarterback's coach. And it just really, you know, just did not work out. Yeah. For lack of a better term, folks, it did not work out. But I do agree with you on Judge. And look, if you want to find fault in his coaching style or his attitude or whatnot, there are plenty of people out there that will

support that theory. But at the end of the day, if this guy is trying to get guys in the classroom, giving them optional meetings to attend and try to help this team understand where they are and where they need to be on the field before they start hitting the practice fields for meaningful practices when it comes to the latter part of OTAs, mini camp, training camp. I don't see how you can fault a guy for doing that. This was a misunderstanding. It was unfortunate. Because it's the Patriots, it's going to be a bigger story than it really should be.

But bottom line, at the end of the day, folks, this really is a much ado about nothing when it comes to competitive advantage or anything of that nature. Anyone telling you, and I said this here yesterday on Locked On Patriots, I'd say it again today. Anyone telling you this is a cheating scandal, it is not. Don't buy into it. Don't call for the clickbait. This is not a cheating scandal. This was a rules violation.

That was a very simple fix the patriots have already paid the price which spiky was and move forward absolutely it wasn't even a rules violation and deflating it was a fabrication there's right um yeah we're uh we're looking at these uh proverbial witch hunts in New England. And unfortunately, this is just another rung on the ladder. It's not more than a two-word paragraph. It's the Dallas Cowboys doing it two years in a row or the Bears getting nabbed at it. It's the Patriots, so it's a two-day news cycle. You know, for better or for worse, the Patriots need to move forward.

And they are moving forward. A couple of interesting roster moves were on the agenda for late Thursday evening for your New England Patriots need to move forward and they are moving forward. A couple of interesting roster moves were on the agenda for late Thursday evening for your new England Patriots. As one man exits, another man enters and Murph and I are going to talk about both new tight end Anthony Berkshire and unfortunately the season ending injury, the linebacker Raekwon McMillan. Be right back in a moment when this episode of the Locked on Patriots podcast continues.

Patriots fans, thank you once again for making Locked on Patriots, a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage, your first listen. And folks, we want your first listen coming back from the holiday weekend to be Locked on Patriots. Because after all, it is hashtag Locked on Murph Monday and it is also hashtag Mailbag Monday. That's right. It's a holiday weekend, but no days off here in Foxborough.

We are still taking your questions, your comments, your concerns, and definitely be sure to send those in. Pay close attention to the Locked on Patriots Twitter account at LO underscore Patriots. Murph's going to be soliciting questions. I will be. Anything and everything on your mind, whether it be Patriots offense, Patriots defense, Bill Belichick,

mob movies, anything you want, send them in. Murph and I are your subject matter experts on Monday, and we will do our very best to answer your questions and your concerns. So definitely get those questions in, folks, for hashtag Mailbag Monday. Watched a good one last night.

Sat back and I watched Thief last night. James Conn's Thief. Great James Conn. Yeah. Michael, man. It was just, yeah. Great. Thank you very much.

Yeah, there you go. I'm sorry. There we go. See, this is what happens when you get us talking mob movies. We're an Irish and Italian together. Absolutely, folks. Yeah, a little bit. All right.

In any case, buddy, the New England Patriots made a pair of roster moves yesterday. Welcoming in a new tight end. And this kind of lends us very quite nicely into what we talked about on Monday. So we really are opening and closing the week bookend style here on Locked On Patriots. We'll start with the good news of the day. We always try to start with bad news. We'll start with the good news of the day. And that is tight end Anthony Ferkser signing with the New England Patriots.

In the house, going to be wearing number 86, according to our good friend, Mike Reese. Berkshire's face may be familiar to some of you Patriots fans out there. You remember his touchdown catch, the Tennessee Titans coming in, 29 wild card win, Brady's final game in a New England Patriots uniform. Yeah, it didn't end too well in New England that day, but he's far from a stranger to the region, folks. Berkshire is much more endeared than that moment. Playing his college football for the Crimson, absolutely.

12th all-time in the school's history in receptions, 9th in receiving yards, 6th in touchdown receptions. He can play, folks. He can be a solid tight end three. I like this signing. Murph, when you heard about Berkshire coming in yesterday, is this a move that you think the Patriots needed to make at tight end? And what does this mean for them moving forward now?

It immediately drags us back to Monday's show. All right. Frisker is an excellent blocking tight end. I mean, excellent, folks. He's got an 80.3 blocking grade by pro football focus. That was the ninth best in the entire league for his position. You know, adding him along with Gusecki that they brought back in in March is really going to be an upgrade for this tight ends room.

This is a kid, as we said, he's a Harvard grad. You don't just waltz into Harvard because you're a football player. You still have to make the grades there. And he did. People always say the hardest thing about Harvard is getting in. This kid's smart. He likes to block. He does it well. And like I said, we were just talking about this. Who's going to be the blocking guy in 22 personnel? Who is going to be the h-back guy that that um the this team can depend on he can line up in the backfield too yeah oh he absolutely can yeah absolutely can and he did so at harvard i know a lot of people are pointing out that he's

taking more snaps in the slot lately hasn't been the blocking tight end in the nfl that a lot of people have hoped for bulk up yeah he's been buried on depth charts as well even in tennessee you know playing behind guys like john smith but i go back to his time at harvard university and tim murphy who's been their longtime head coach very big history very rich history no no relation but equal football iq i will point that out thank you um very rich history of molding some of these hybrid weapons that patriots would like to employ we've seen other teams do it yeah you know who's played under his tutelage folks kyle ushek camden great two pretty good protégés right there tim murphy has a tendency to like he loves to run 12 personnel i mean there's no question about it he He's done it. The one back, the two tight ends, Bill O'Brien loves to do that as

well. So I like the fit here. And I think he can be that H back that a lot of the Patriots fans have been looking for. Like you articulated Murph. Is that his niche here? It is. It really is. It's going to be in that role. And he did learn it under a guy who knows how to teach it. Murph up there at Harvard has to do these things. He has to get the most out of his best athletes. And he definitely identified this young man as one of his best athletes and used him in a myriad of ways. Good stuff for the New England Patriots. And we'll see what Ferkser has in store when he hits the field this week coming up for the New England Patriots. But one guy will not be hitting the field for the New England Patriots, Murph, unfortunately, is linebacker Raekwon McMillan. This poor SOB, oh my God. Yeah, the season ended before it even began, and this is unfortunately

something that's happened a few times in his career. Suffered a partially torn Achilles tendon during a recent OTA session, placed immediately on injury reserve on Thursday. Have we seen the last of Raekwon McMillan in a Patriots uniform because of this? Unfortunately, we probably have. I do. I feel terrible for this kid. With this, it's now two of the three seasons that he's been here. He's going to miss because of injury. Um, he had his, uh, tours ACL in his first training camp in 2021. Um, you know, and like I said, there's a chance that, that he gets released with an injury

designation. If this is just not a major, but I can't see him playing anywhere else this year with this kind of injury. And I really don't think that they're going to end up signing him to a new deal after this. He's just, you know, he missed his 2017 rookie season with the Dolphins because of And, and right now he's missed more than 60% of the time that he has been in the league. It's, it's, it's really unfortunate because this is a great kid and a good talent. And it's just, it's just terrible that his body keeps betraying him in the way that it does. Yeah. Without any question. And that begs the question now,

the New England Patriots do have a hole in this linebacker core. I know they've got a lot of bodies to fill it. I look at veterans, Mack Wilson. I look at Chris Ward now all of a sudden, maybe getting another look at linebacker, not just being a solid special teamer, which I think that's going to be his primary focus. But guy we've talked about here a lot, Marte Mapu. Is this his opportunity now to step up, be the off-the-ball guy that the Patriots expect him to be, and maybe turn some heads doing it? Oh, sure, without a doubt. He was there anyway, in my estimation. But he will get more of a look here.

I don't know if they bring in anybody else uh or not i mean let's see mcmillan was was more of a special teamer than he was a a linebacker that you would count on he's the lb3 at his position yeah all right and that's let's just face facts that's just the way it is so no um on the field for three downs, this is not a huge hit because those guys were already there. It's, you know, Jawan Bentley, Tavai, Wilson, Naumapu, Chris Board, Calvin Munson, Therese Hall. There are bodies there that are going to be able to do what the Patriots were probably expecting out of McMillan. It's just more of a personal letdown because you know how hard the kid worked and has worked to come back from injury. And then just to have this happen again before he touches the field. Yeah, without question. I'm glad you mentioned special teams because I think that's where Raekwon

really carved out his role last year. And I think that's an excellent point to make, Murph. 277 of 457 special teams snapped 60.6%. He was a five-unit special team or return coverage teams, kickoff return and coverage, and then the field goal extra point blocking units. He is one of those guys that the talking heads complain about. Why are you paying the special team or so much money because he's really good at it. Yeah, absolutely. And we all remember, of course, you know, last year and getting his first touchdown and that was definitely a big moment for Ray Kwan. And you know, if this does unfortunately mean the end of his time in New England, because Rayekwon is one of those guys that puts in 110% of his heart every time he puts on a uniform and unfortunately his body just hasn't

been able to meet that type of determination and meet that type of dedication but the Patriots will continue to move forward Murph and we will continue to move forward here on Locked On Patriots again folks hashtag Mailbag Monday. Mailbag Monday. Send in those questions. Put that tag on Twitter or drop a note into the YouTube comment section. We definitely check those as well. We had a great poll on Austin Eckler last week from that YouTube section.

So definitely, folks, be sure to use that as well as Twitter to send in all of your questions. But it's time to wrap things up here. Another week that was here on Locked On Patriots. We open and close it together, and I can't think of a better way to do it. In that vein, my friend, I want to thank you for all of your contributions this week to Locked On Patriots. Where would I be without my illustrious co-host? Got to love it. Monday through Friday, we always try to bring you the very latest

coverage that we possibly can. I also want to give a tip of the cap, nod to the gods, to Claire Cooper who joined me here yesterday. Her triumphant return to Locked On Patriots. Bottom line, continue to stay locked into Locked On Patriots. Get those questions in hashtag

Mailbag Monday. And of course, don't forget, it's Locked on Murph Monday. So before I let you go for the weekend, my friend, what can we look forward to in the coming days from the great men, the great voice of Thomas Murphy, as we wait now into next week for our next dose of Patriots coverage? Well, I got a new piece up there at E2GSports.com. You can go check that out.

Nice little Red Sox piece on the return of Adam Duvall. Duvall is hinting that he will be back on June 9th. And I got into the entire rotation of how that's going to work with everybody that's been playing so well out there in the outfield. Jaron Duran's done some pretty good things. He's in a little bit of a slump, a little bit, a little bit of a slump right now, but the whole team is,

the whole team is. And other than that, on, on Wednesday, next week of, of this calendar year, sorry, on Wednesday,

Fitzy's going to be dropping by one Patriot's place to sit down with me and Claire, and we're going to chop up everything that's going on up there in Foxborough. And other than that, you can follow me on the Bird app, at TMURF207, tip of the cap to Mark Schofield. Definitely. And of course, as I always say,

when it comes to Murph, when it comes to Claire, when they put voice to microphone and to paper, folks, it's appointment reading, it's appointment listening, it's entertaining, it's informative. What more can you ask for? Hopefully the same types of feelings you have when you listen and watch Locked on Patriots. And I know you do because they are regulars here, folks. Bottom line, it is always exciting, always entertaining, and always my honor and privilege to share the microphone with you, my friend.

We're going to do it all again on Monday. We look forward to it. But in the meantime, folks, thank you for taking time out of your day, out of your week, to spend here on Locked On Patriots. And a special, special shout out to all of you everydayers out there. We couldn't do the show without you. Thank you for all of your support. Continue to stay safe and stay well. Be the change you wish to see in the world.

On behalf of my good friend, the monster, master of disaster himself, Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike DeBate. Have a great day and a great weekend, everyone. And we'll see you back here on Monday on Locked On Patriots.