Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Drake Maye Debut, Defense Struggles in Week 6 Loss to Houston Texans

Starting point is 00:00:00 The New England Patriots may have fallen to one in five on Sunday, but the future looks bright with Drake May a quarterback. Stick around. You're about to be locked into the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful.

Starting point is 00:00:32 And thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. And also, and hopefully, your first listen each and every day. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots. For Patriots Country of Athlon Sports, reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind on X at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-N-F-L.

Starting point is 00:00:48 While you're out there showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style, please follow our account there as well at L-O underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, on the docket today, the New England Patriots fall to 1-5 after a 41-21

Starting point is 00:01:04 loss to the Houston Texans at home. Under normal circumstances, it would be dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria, but all eyes are on the quarterback position and on the debut of Drake May. Relatively impressive debut for the kid. We're going to break it all down for you here today, including a performance around him that wasn't necessarily up to the task especially by the defense positives and negatives splintered all over this episode and here today to help me break it all down is my good friend the legend himself that counter murphy pisto thomas murphy thank you for coming to me on this pats Texans post-game reaction show. Don Murph. Could you be more optimistic about a team that lost by 20 points, Mike?

Starting point is 00:01:50 Could you? It's hard. You try to think back into recent memory for the New England Patriots, and it just doesn't seem possible, Murph. I mean, a 20-point loss is a reason for Patriots fans, for any fan base, to be upset, to be angry, to be disheartened by what they've seen. But we're seeing just the opposite, and that is the impact of one Drake May.

Starting point is 00:02:10 And that's going to be the focus of our conversation today. So stick around, folks. You are not going to want to miss a single second of the action. And of course, please remember, today's episode is brought to you by PrizePix. Go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use the code all lowercase locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. Murph, Drake May's first career start can be summed up as a future positive among the present negative. going 20 of 33 for 243 yards three touchdowns two interceptions led the team with 38 rushing yards on five attempts so he's not shy about extending plays or making plays overall how impressed were you with the rookie despite everything going on around him what were your

Starting point is 00:02:58 thoughts on drake extremely i i was extremely impressed with how he handled the huddle, with how he handled things at the line of scrimmage, with how he looked off the easier throw to find a streaking bootay down there for a touchdown. Because he had stuff open underneath. But no, this kid took the chance and took the shot. He knew the clock was running down. Uh, we could have gone, well, yeah, we'll, we'll go here, hit a timeout and at least get three on the board. Nope. He went for broke and, and I loved it. I really did. But what, what yesterday showed me the most was that the Patriots were smart and letting this kid, uh, simmer before he, you know, you let him into the kitchen to cook. The pot was simmering for five weeks.

Starting point is 00:03:51 I thought that it should have been longer, but maybe I was wrong. We don't know. We've got more games coming up. Some people say that it would have been a softer landing spot last week against the Dolphins than it was against this formidable Texans defense. And I don't know about that. I really don't. I think the defense let him down quite a bit on Sunday. Gerard Mayo said so in his press conference afterwards, but I liked what I saw from Drake May. He moved the chains with his feet when he had to. I would have liked to have

Starting point is 00:04:28 seen him move those chains a little bit more on purpose, but that goes on Alex Van Pelt and not necessarily the rookie that I could be expecting too much to maybe do a little more. Yeah, I think that's a very good point. And I'm glad that you mentioned Drake's poise, his determination, maybe even his toughness in the face of adversity. These are all qualities that quarterbacks need to have in order to succeed at any walk of football on the gridiron,

Starting point is 00:04:56 whether it be high school, whether it be college, especially in the pros, because as everyone knows out there, mistakes are going to happen. Isaac Shea joined me here on Friday and we talked a little bit about the quicksand effect on Drake and whether or not one thing going wrong after another, after another,

Starting point is 00:05:12 would have a detrimental effect on the product that we saw on the field. I was very pleasantly surprised to say that we didn't see that from Drake May. There wasn't a quicksand effect. Yes, there were mistakes. There were times where he looked like a rookie on the field. You go back to the fourth quarter, holds onto the ball a little bit too long,

Starting point is 00:05:30 attempts to screen to Antonio Gibson. That's tipped. And then there you go. And Will Anderson and Eric Murray turn that into an interception. That's a mistake that rookies are going to make, that Drake is going to have to learn from. But you never saw him hang his head. You never saw him look like he was defeated as a result of that.

Starting point is 00:05:48 And those are things that, especially for a rookie in their first start, is going to be very, very difficult to shake off. I was very impressed by the way Drake seemed to be able to have what a lot of people call a short memory. And that's an important thing for a rookie to have. You don't want to dwell on your mistakes. You want to be able to move past them. I thought he did a very good job when it came to that.

Starting point is 00:06:08 I love the pass to Kayshaun Booty. I thought Booty ran a good route, but I thought Drake showed an awful lot of confidence in his own ability to put the ball where he needed to have it. Look, Derek Stingley is right on his tail. That's one of the best cornerbacks in the league right now. And Drake basically said to Kayshaun, you know what? I'll put it there. I'll lead you to the end zone.

Starting point is 00:06:27 You go get it. And a credit to Kayshaun Booty. He went to get it. But a big credit to Drake May for making that pass in that regard. So a lot to like when it came to the New England Patriots rookie. Murph, in terms of mechanics, you're going to see better anticipation, better timing when it comes to Drake's game. But in terms of the intangibles that he brings to the table, arm strength, off script ability,

Starting point is 00:06:49 the things we knew he had, um, anything in that bucket yesterday that stood out to you as saying, okay, yeah, that's the Drake that we drafted. Um, no, honestly, because this isn't the Drake that we drafted. It really isn't. Um, the, the things that Michael had just mentioned, honestly, because this isn't the Drake that we drafted. It really isn't. The things that Michael had just mentioned, yes, they're there. But what I was most impressed with was what he was able to do with the line of scrimmage, what he was able to do under center yesterday. I had called for a lot of shotgun and a lot of pistol. But we didn't see as much of it as I thought we probably would. Him being, you know, Alex Van Pelt maybe running home to mama and, you know, doing more of the spread stuff, more of that shotgun and pistol because Drake would be more comfortable with it.

Starting point is 00:07:37 No, he went with his offense and what let him down was the lack of a running game. And turnovers. Okay. The biggest drawback to this game was I tweeted last night that was turnovers and short fields are what lost this game. It was not Drake May. All right. For 20 years, the Patriots lived off of turning their opponents over and getting short fields for and translating that into success. Yesterday afternoon, we saw the opposite side of that coin. That's what Texas

Starting point is 00:08:18 was able to do with, that's what the Texans were able to do against the patriots and they turned it into their first w up here in foxborough i'm glad you mentioned the lack of a running game because everything leading into this matchup this week murph had been predicated on the patriots being able to use the run heavily lean on the run run first take the pressure off the kid allow him to be able to lean on those running backs and then be able to make plays. When you take Ramondre Stevenson out of the equation, all respect to Antonio Gibson, who I think gave his best effort yesterday, everything he could, but he is more of a third down weapon. He's more of a complimentary back. So you think we would have seen even more

Starting point is 00:09:01 out of Drake yesterday with a healthy Ramondre in the lineup. Oh yeah, without a doubt. You know, the running game was, as I like to say, pepto-abysmal yesterday, and that has a lot to do with play calling. It had a lot to do with the offensive line that was out there. If you take out Drake May's footwork, the team had 44 yards on 21 carries 44 yards on 21 carries that's that's just like two little more than two yards per rush all right um gibson hasty uh terrell jennings got got bumped up for the game where the hell is kevin harris very good where's where's kevin harris people? Why was Harris not called up for this game? Harris is, I thought, had a very good camp. He did. I was really shocked that he was released.

Starting point is 00:09:53 And then, you know, even more shocked that he wasn't picked up by somebody else after the good camp that he had. And this is a game yesterday where Kevin Harris could have been used. He could have been used in the Ramon Dre type role in those off-tackle, off-guard runs. If you weren't going to go with the outside stretch zone stuff, you needed somebody that was going to be able to bang it up in there. And that's Kevin Harris, people. Yeah, without any question. I had Kevin making the 53-man roster coming out of him.

Starting point is 00:10:22 So, yeah, I think that a lot of people were surprised that we haven't seen him called up just yet. And I thought yesterday's game, obviously, with Ramondre Stevenson out of the lineup would have been the opportune time. And he's a veteran presence on this team, on that field, someone who knows what it takes to get across the line of scrimmage, to get across the goal line when you're a New England Patriot. Yeah, I think that's definitely a question that should linger this week. And I'm definitely glad that you brought that up. And again, just to come back to Drake May for just a second, it goes beyond the statistics. And I think we've articulated that well here today, Mark, or at least tried to.

Starting point is 00:10:56 I know you have. I've done my best to do it as well. To me, the most encouraging takeaway is the growth within the game that you see within Drake May. And you talked about this, his presence at the line of scrimmage, his ability to make the call of which play to push it, which play not to push it, making plays within structure because we saw him do that a lot yesterday. But the one thing also is that off script ability that we know and love from his time

Starting point is 00:11:21 in North Carolina. That's a big selling point. And that's something that I think needs to remain a part of his game. I saw a nice blend yesterday, and I think that's going to continue to meld together in a positive setting. He was able to do yesterday with his feet and extending plays allowed for a lot of receptions to be made. When you extend plays, it gives wide receivers that may not have the separation

Starting point is 00:11:47 ability early in a route to extend that route. And it gives them more time to get open. And you end up finding guys like Hunter Henry over the middle. You end up finding the Keishon Bouttes down the sideline or, you know, at the second level. That wasn't happening when over the past year and a half. It definitely wasn't happening over the first four or five games of this season. Yeah, very good point. And again, going back to the well after it's come up dry one, you know, just the time before that. Those things are the types of things that rookie quarterbacks can build on. Mrs. DeMario Douglas on that crosser earlier, that leads to an interception.

Starting point is 00:12:33 You would think a rookie quarterback would say, I'm never doing that again. I'm not going near that again. He does it again. And this time he hits DeMario Douglas in stride for the 35 yard touchdown. How great did he pop up yesterday? He did. With a quarterback that's willing to utilize his strengths, Demario Douglas proving that he is an explosive playmaker on this team,

Starting point is 00:12:51 and he may just have a beautiful friendship budding with one Drake May, and you'd definitely love to see it. Folks, a lot of positives to be taken from the field yesterday, not just when it comes to Drake, but all the way around when it comes to the offense. Of course, there were a lot of negatives too. And a big negative, surprisingly enough, Murph, was the play of the Patriots defense. We were told this was supposed to be the selling point of this team.

Starting point is 00:13:14 However, the Patriots defense egregious yesterday, a lot of missteps and Murph and I are here to break them all down for you in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Listen up, gentlemen. Your sex life is important. And let's face it, when it comes to the bedroom, nothing is worse than feeling off your game. But your schedule is busy.

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Starting point is 00:15:53 There's no cost, and it's easy to get started. Don't delay. Do it today. That's hillsdale.edu slash locked on to register. Hillsdale.edu slash locked on to register. Hillsdale.edu slash locked on. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots. Breaking down the Patriots 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans. That's falling to 1-5 on the season. Murph, one of the things that I think a lot of Patriots fans expected when Drake

Starting point is 00:16:25 May got out there was when you look at the offense, the way it's played, and you look at the defense based on what we were promised this defense was going to be, it was almost supposed to be an evening of the balance scales. The offense was finally going to be able to give this defense an opportunity to make plays, knowing they could hand the ball back to the offense and maybe get some points out of the deal. Drake May, for the most part, held up his end of the bargain. I don't think anyone expected all the problems to be cured in one game, but he looks like a quarterback that's going to be able to do that in due time. But right now, this Patriots defense is showing a lot of cracks in the

Starting point is 00:17:07 foundation I guess is the best way for me to put it after the game Devon Godchild says we have to get back to the standard of playing great defense 41 points is embarrassing yep Murph when you look at this defensive performance yesterday against the Texans top to bottom, understandably knowing what the Texans are, what about this defense was specifically embarrassing on Sunday? We couldn't stop the run. I was wholeheartedly disappointed in the effort of everybody except Devin Gaucho. It was awful. It was just downright awful to not be able to. I don't care if you're the first string guy or somebody called up from the practice squad.

Starting point is 00:17:54 Make the tackle in front of you. Please make the tackle in front of you. I thought that was awful. I also thought that, that Gonzalez took a step back in, in his, um, in his, uh, ascension as one of the, the better cornerbacks in, in the league. It was, uh, God, man, uh, the Texans wideouts had, uh, six of seven catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. And, you know, I'm talking about Stephon Diggs and beat Gonzalez badly over the middle in the end zone for a score. It was terrible. He should have never lost that inside leverage there.

Starting point is 00:18:39 He only had three tackles on the day. It was not a good day for the secondary either. So, you know, as a whole, you can go down and take a look at Jonathan Jones. Tank Dell is a talented kid, but I expected the Patriots to be able to man up against this Texans offense and hold their own, and they just didn't. Yeah, Jonathan Jones, final stat line on him, allowing five catches on five targets, 71 yards with the touchdown, and as you mentioned, you know, it's Dell that steps up, not coming into this game playing his best football. I think Dell did not seem like the same receiver that we saw

Starting point is 00:19:25 last year that we're seeing on the field this year, obviously taking a major step back with the presence of Stefan Diggs. Not only that, but you also see the presence of someone like Nico Collins, who has emerged in one of the league's top roles, statistically coming into yesterday's game, the league's top receiver. So Tank definitely took a little bit of a step back but he showed that he's still a formidable pass catcher digs obviously doing his due diligence against christian gonzalez this may have been gonzalez's i don't want to say his worst performance as a pro but it was a tough one to watch for him uh six catches on seven targets 44 yards allowing the touchdown this according to pro football focus folks their preliminary stat tracking so bottom line the new england patriots defense especially their

Starting point is 00:20:10 secondary struggled yesterday you know wondered all week long are the houston texans going to try to challenge that patriot secondary knowing that your grill peppers is not going to be in the lineup knowing that kyle duggar is nowhere near full strength and CJ Stroud and that Texan offense did test it and when you're ripping off 59 yard runs as a compliment right there's no way to be able to that's it it's not all on them um I I thought the uh that you know it's it starts with what they were able to do on the ground but then there was absolutely no pass rush yesterday none yeah Dietrich Wise had a terrible game. Okay, both stopping the run and getting to the quarterback.

Starting point is 00:20:49 It just did not happen. There are a lot of – there's a lot of slices to this blame pie. Yes, it's really tough when you keep having to face a short field, but you've got to do your job. You've got to do your job. You've got to do your job. Wise didn't do anything to make Stroud hesitate or just think twice about any play. The pass rush was just terrible.

Starting point is 00:21:19 Terrible. Absolutely. It definitely was. And look, there's opportunities there for a quarterback as talented as C.J. Yeah, it definitely was. And look, there's opportunities there for a quarterback as talented as CJ Stroud to be able to play through that and be able to exploit that. The Patriots played man coverage in 52.9% of Houston's passing plays yesterday. Stroud threw all three of his touchdowns against man schemes. When you're going through those types of progressions and you're seeing that and the pass rush is allowing you to be able to get away with it, yeah, you're going to take advantage of it. There's too much talent on that Houston offense not to do that.

Starting point is 00:21:52 And the return of Joe Mixon was huge in this game for Houston as well. When the Texans are getting 59 and then 54 yards on the ground in order to set up some big plays, naturally, I mean, things are going to go downhill. I know there were defensive pass interference calls that set up short fields, like you said. Devon Godshaw, to his credit, after the game said, that's not an excuse, and it's not. You have to, like you said, Murph, you have to be able to do your job. Patriots defense simply did not do it yesterday.

Starting point is 00:22:20 No, it simply didn't, and I don't want to hear, take out the long run of 59 for Mixon, take out Pierce's 54-yard run, and then you can't do that. You can't do that, people. You know, they didn't make the stops when they needed to. The stops were there to be made, and you just olayed it. Absolutely. Yeah, that's a very good point. Olay. Yeah, I do. I love the major league reference in there. But we're a family show, folks.

Starting point is 00:22:51 We're not going to go on full on with the quote, but if you're a fan of Lou Brown the way we are, you know exactly how that one ends. But bottom line, Murph, moving forward now, Gerard Mayo, defense is his strong suit. Yep. Demarcus Covington he's the defensive coordinator got Brian Belichick you've got Pellegrino you've got all of these coaches now that need to get

Starting point is 00:23:10 into a room to try to fix what we saw on the field yesterday from the Patriots against the Texans where is ground zero where do they start what is going to be the primary topic uh in that defensive coaches strategy leading into this game against the Jaguars this weekend stop the run What is going to be the primary topic in that defensive coach's strategy leading into this game against the Jaguars this weekend? Stop the run, don't over-pursue, and make your tackles. That's it. We, you know, again, running home to mama, Bill Belichick would constantly pound into his defensive front,

Starting point is 00:23:46 you know, stay in your lane, good pad level, don't get behind the play. And that's what they need to be able to do. That's the focus for this defense next week is to be able to stop the run. If you can't do that, you can't win in the NFL. Yeah, no, you absolutely can't. And you're not going to, whether you're the one in five New England Patriots or the five

Starting point is 00:24:09 and one Houston Texans, that type of formula is not going to work for any team. On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots made it very easy for the Houston Texans to make that an early track meet and dig themselves a hole they simply could not crawl out of. Folks, the defense was obviously a big negative for the New England Patriots, but there weren't all negatives to be taken from the field. There were some positives that don't include quarterback Drake May. Some players and some units that stepped it up a little bit and made you believe that maybe brighter days are ahead. Maybe even as soon as this Sunday in jolly old England at Wembley Stadium. Murph and I are going to talk some positives and some negatives

Starting point is 00:24:46 and remaining thoughts to be taken from the Gillette Stadium field in week six when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Listen up, Locked On listeners. When it comes to daily fantasy sports, PrizePix is the best place to get real money sports action. With over 10 million members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings, PrizePix has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all.

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Starting point is 00:26:17 Pats fans, thank you very much for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots as we continue to break down the Patriots 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday at Gillette Stadium. And of course, joining me here to break it all down is my good friend, the legend himself, Thomas Murphy. And of course, folks, if you're making Locked on Patriots your first listen today, we appreciate you. And we always give a tip of the cap to all of you out there that support Locked On Patriots, especially all of you everydayers. We could not do this show without you. Thank you so much.

Starting point is 00:26:50 And if you are making us your first listen, please make your second listen, our good friends over at Locked On NFL. All the major storylines all across both conferences broken down and analyzed by the great team of analysts we have right here on the Locked On Podcast Network. And of course, just like Locked On Patriots, Locked On NFL comes at you courtesy of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. And Murph, bottom line, we opened the show today by saying that a 41-21 loss is usually enough to send a fan base into either anger or just malaise negativity when it comes to losing a game like this on your home field.

Starting point is 00:27:32 Before we get into the positives to be taken from the field, because you know we love to end on a high note, and we're going to end on a high note today. When you look at this team, what are still some of the things that are not sitting right when it comes to what you watched yesterday um your negative takeaways uh that you're continuing to harbor uh from this week six loss to the texans um jalen polk needs to hold on to a ball okay um i have was not high on the uh the drafting of jalen Polk. We've been over it over time and time again, but for two weeks in a row, he's trending down in my estimation. He started out well,

Starting point is 00:28:15 but no, Jalen Polk needs to be able to hold on to a ball. Polk had one catch for four yards on four targets on Sunday. I think he had two drops on the day. I'm not sure. I don't have that number in front of me. Uh, but he's, it, he needs to be able to pull in the targets that he gets. The targets that he gets are important. Um, he's expected to do more. He's a second round pick and no, I'm not going to hang a bust on him. He is what he is. Uh, but no, that that's, that's one of my, that's one of my downs for, uh, for yesterday, uh, Austin Hooper. Um, what the hell are you doing? You know, um, you know, you know, the, the, the fumble that, that he gave, I mean, credit for, for trying to get up and get a little bit extra, but you got to hold onto the ball there. There was another, you know,

Starting point is 00:29:08 short field that the, uh, the, the Patriots, uh, gave to them. So it's really difficult, you know, no, it's not difficult to say that, you know, even though the, the Patriots, um, uh, passing, uh, has not looked better in three years than it did yesterday, that it could have looked even better than that. Very good point. And I know a lot of fans right now are uneasy about Jalen Polk. And I agree with you, Murph. I really do believe that there has to be better hands there because this is one of the selling points that Jalen had coming into the NFL.

Starting point is 00:29:41 Excellent at the point of attack. Excellent at the point of catch. Yeah, you need to see better fundamentals. The good news is, folks, and I think Murph articulated this well, he's a rookie. You will see him make improvements, and he will end up being a solid receiver. So not a great day for him yesterday, clearly on the negative side when it came to his performance, but I think more positive days lay ahead. To me, the most egregious thing to take from the field yesterday from the New England Patriots is they are still penalizing themselves. I understand, folks, that the argument is going to be made that this officiating crew did a terrible job. We're going to get into that in

Starting point is 00:30:14 just a moment, because there was one that clearly was not the fault of the New England Patriots, and this actually angers me, Murph, but you had nine penalties yesterday. Once again, nine times. Nine times. The Patriots are penalized. You got a couple of false starts on the offensive line. Those have to be cleaned up. Defensive offsides by Dietrich Wise Jr., who did not have his best game yesterday. It was.

Starting point is 00:30:38 I mean, when you have 12. Right. Last week was over 100 yards in penalties. This week, they cut it in half. So let's do that again. Exactly right. I guess in that respect, see, Merce always thinking glass half full, folks. I'm thinking glass half empty here. We're reversing

Starting point is 00:30:54 roles on Locked On Patriots. But you know what? In all actuality, I agree with you. I mean, things are getting better, but they need to clearly get better. You cannot continue to dig yourself holes and allow yourself to get put into positions that make it more difficult for you to win. As the late great Herb Brooks would say, portrayed by Kurt Russell in Miracle,

Starting point is 00:31:15 gentlemen, you do not have enough talent to win on talent alone. This is what the New England Patriots have to remember. When you dig holes like that, you're not going to allow yourselves an opportunity to make things happen. Murph, specifically, before we move on to the positives and end on a high note, we talked about the officiating. And I think everyone is going to look back on early in the third quarter, Texas defensive end Mario Edwards clearly committing a face mask penalty, grabs Antonio Gibson's face mask before pulling him to the ground.

Starting point is 00:31:47 Anyone that's seen the replay of this, I don't, I don't know how it's clear to everyone. How did the official miss this? Pat's fans were incensed by this. Uh, so were you and I and our colleagues in the media. I mean,

Starting point is 00:31:59 you really heard a lot of criticism heading toward the officials on this. This is a case of grin and bear it for the New England Patri patriots right now but plays like this in my opinion should be reviewed if you're making your case to the league i'd show them this video thankfully gibson wasn't seriously hurt on this he could have been this to me is an example of why these plays should be reviewed just i i just don't understand how this goes uncalled in a professional football game. You know, it's impossible for a player to criticize officiating without getting a serious fine these days. I don't care about the 15 yards. I really don't.

Starting point is 00:32:39 I care about whether or not officials are picking these up. And across the board. I forget who tweeted it yesterday. These calls are being missed game in and game out across the league. Very good. Not just against the Patriots. Yeah. This is not a Patriot-centric thing.

Starting point is 00:33:02 The Pats never get that call. Nobody is getting this call. Right. No one. That is such a great point, Murph. I'm so glad that you made that because folks, it's about player safety, not just Patriots player safety. There's got to be a level of accountability. They've done and made great strides, not perfect strides, but great strides in trying to be able to mitigate head injuries. Neck injuries can be just as devastating, if not more devastating. You need to absolutely make sure that your players are being protected. Yeah, that was an

Starting point is 00:33:30 egregious miss yesterday for the officials, and they deserve the criticism they're getting for missing that. But Murph, you know, in the interest of ending the way we started, I think it's good to end on a high note. Drake May obviously provided a great high note for the New England Patriots, and Pats fans are optimistic about the future, but it wasn't only Drake's play that allowed Patriots fans to believe better days are ahead. When you looked at this team yesterday, could have been on offense, could have been on defense, could be special teams. What was a bright spot that you think Patriots fans should be taking from this game that doesn't necessarily focus squarely on Drake May? I want to say that the play of Marty Mapo, but you guys all know me and you know where

Starting point is 00:34:16 I come from. So, you know, hats off to Ben Brown. Good. I love it. Hats off to Ben Brown. Good. I love it. Hats off to Ben Brown. The guy who came in off the street three days earlier, I think he signed on Wednesday and he didn't get his first practice in until they didn't allow a single pressure. Not one. We're talking about the center. And I

Starting point is 00:34:39 love it. And I've got to tip the cap to Ben Brown. He also called the game yesterday I mean that's pretty impressive considering yeah he finds out on the morning of the game that you're going to be the starter because Nick Leverett was not able to go uh our good friend our mutual friend Doug Kyatt of the Boston Herald wrote that he came in on the red eye from Las Vegas to New England on Thursday and he's thrust right and you want to talk about a trial by fire I understand that Drake had that and of course quarterback is going to get the major headlines here and rightfully so I'm not arguing that but I'm so glad that you mentioned Ben Brown because

Starting point is 00:35:16 he is definitely someone that I believe deserves a lot of credit for the job that he did and want to talk about guys that can be there. Next man up. Ben Brown defines next man up this game. Finally found a next man up. Exactly. I'm so glad that this offensive line was able to find that little bit of help that they needed because you don't replace David Andrews. You try to mitigate his loss.

Starting point is 00:35:38 Ben Brown is doing an admirable job and I hope he continues to do that. In terms of my high note that I want to end on, I want to give an awful lot of credit to Kayshaun Booty, who in my opinion is rounding into a starting caliber player, Murph. He's running routes more crisp. He's showing sure hands. He's giving you that burst of speed that we knew that he could have if you need to take the top off a defense,

Starting point is 00:36:01 not something he's going to do regularly. He doesn't have that breakaway, that blitzing type of speed. But Booty, to me, is showing all of the elements of being a starting caliber receiver. And you'll love to see it. I think you want to talk about, we talked earlier about beautiful friendships forming between he and Demario Douglas. I think Keyshawn Booty is going to be a go-to guy for Drake May in the coming weeks as well. Don Murph, thank you so much for your wisdom, your counsel, your insight, your candor.

Starting point is 00:36:28 We appreciate all of it. Before I let you go, Bud, please let everyone know where they can reach out to you, interact with you, and watch you get marinating in Murph's kitchen between now and the next time you grace our airwaves here on Locked On. You can check me out on Zitter at TeamMurph207. I write for DieHardBostonSportsFans.com. You can check out all my work over there. From the former, you can find the latter. Whenever the man has wisdom and counsel to lend,

Starting point is 00:36:52 we're going to accept it, and we're going to bring it to you the way only we can here on Locked On Patriots. And, of course, we want to thank all of you, each and every one of you everydayers out there, all of you casual listeners, and those of you joining Locked On Patriots for the first time. We had several first-time listeners

Starting point is 00:37:08 over the weekend that checked us out to hear our thoughts on Drake May. We absolutely thank you. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, a big tip of the cap, and thank you for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Folks, a lot still to come here on Locked On Patriots when it comes

Starting point is 00:37:24 to breaking down the loss to the Texans and getting ready for the trip to London and the Patriots taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium this Sunday morning. In the meantime, on behalf of my good friend Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike DeBate, reminding all of you to stay safe, to stay well, to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Lot on Patriot.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Drake Maye Debut, Defense Struggles in Week 6 Loss to Houston Texans

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