Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, Hunter Henry and ‘Clare-Voyance’

Episode Date: October 13, 2022

As the New England Patriots continue to savor their victory over the Detroit Lions, questions still remain over who will start at quarterback in Week 6. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Clare ‘ClazzyClare’ Cooper of Pats Propaganda. The dynamic duo discuss whether Bailey Zappe’s performance gives the Pats an opportunity to rest Mac Jones until he is ready to return from injury, the re-emergence of tight end Hunter Henry and Clare lends her ‘Clare-Voyance’ in looking ahead to the Cleveland Browns.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/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt 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.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.BetterHelpIt’s not a crisis line, it’s not self-help, it’s professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide. And they have a special offer for my listeners: get 10% off your first month at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are zappy days here for the foreseeable future, or are we about to say look out, Ol' Mac is back? Stay tuned, folks. 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, and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. Smash that subscribe button, download, subscribe, and follow wherever you get your podcasts. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp.

It is not a crisis line. It is not self-help. It's professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide. And they have a special offer to my listeners who will get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com slash locked on. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here on the pod today. It is Wednesday, and we are ready to make that midweek transition from a tremendous victory for the New England Patriots, 29 to nothing over the Detroit Lions, as they now

head to the Midwest, sort of Midwest, to Cleveland, Ohio to take on the Browns this Sunday. And here today to help us break it all down is our esteemed Wednesday guest. She is the Countess of Clas herself, the Empress of tight endage, and one of our definite favorites here on the pod. Claire, Clasie Claire Cooper of Pat's Propaganda, and of course, the host of her own Patriots podcast, The Claire Perspective, one of the best listens in anywhere in Patriots realm, folks. Definitely be sure to check it out. Claire, thank you for joining me today from across the pond. Well, thank you, as always, for having me back, Mark. As always, we always look forward to, you know, getting your wisdom and counsel on all matters related to New England Patriots.

And today, Claire, we actually have something interesting to talk about. Because as we all know, there are a lot of zappy feelings here in New England. I promise, folks, I'm going to keep the zappy comments to a minimum and the puns. But, you know, we've got to get him in while we can. And apparently we do have to get him in while we can because Bailey Zappi helped lead the Patriots to the 29-0 victory over the Lions on Sunday. Not taking anything away from the kid. Great performance, great poise, unflappable. Really, I thought, put out a good performance for a rookie quarterback making his first start. However, Mac Jones is still the de facto starter on this team and as much as people want

to try to stir up a quarterback controversy doesn't look like the patriots are buying into it as a matter of fact espn's jeremy fowler reported early on wednesday that not only is mac looking likely to play this weekend of course he's not confirming that but he's hearing things out of patriots camp that says that mac may play this weekend he actually came very close to suiting up on Sunday against the Lions a lot closer than people may think so when you look at this situation Claire the way Bailey performed on Sunday the way Mack has performed up until this point it's almost I don't I don't want to say a foregone conclusion but it's almost a situation where you're looking at it saying let Mac take his time coming back let's not rush him back because we know Bailey Zappi can carry the load especially

with the Patriots schedule the way it is coming up what are your thoughts on this situation and knowing what you know now about Jeremy's report, what does that say to you about possibly rushing Mac back and taking Zappi out a little bit too early? How do you think this all plays out? Well, one of the things that I picked up on that you said there was how Zappi had poise. This is something that has kind of really been hit home by everybody I even mentioned it in my game recap for Pat's Propaganda because it was something that has been repeated during the game after the game since the game how Zappi had poise I mean he was a rookie who went in

suited up for his first full game I know that he had to go in the week prior but he suited up for his you know knowing that it was it was going to be his game and he although obviously he didn't you know light a fire under anything he managed the team he managed the win he managed to keep himself kind of cool calm and collected and i know that's really kind of the theme of it when people are talking about him. And I think that's a very good thing. Now, in regards to Mac coming back, yeah, I'm no medical professional, have no medical background, nothing like that. But just as an individual looking at it with some common sense, shall we say, it's not an easy, you know, it's not a mild injury. It's not a small thing that he's dealing with from what we understand so to have him come back so quickly is a little bit of a concern for sort

of us outsiders with no real medical knowledge because you just look at it and it's the sort of thing that people are out with that players are out with you know sports players are out with quite considerably for longer than just a couple of weeks a high ankle sprain is normally something that may even require surgery we heard things like that so for him to be coming back so soon i personally have the opinion of it sounds a little bit concerning we've seen that zappy can play okay so again he was there's all the excuses the yeah buts when they who they played against in regards to the lions but he himself looking at the individual in a vacuum looking at the quarterback you know he played well he didn't take any unnecessary risks he stuck to the play

calling that kind of thing what they wanted him to do kept the ball safe reasonably safe you know these these are all things that are really key and it was even said I think Phil Parry was the first individual that sort of reported on this but I know it's kind of it's gone out there since of how Mac was coming back off the field and describing what he'd seen describing different things and then the coaches would look at the tablet and he would be spot on with everything that he said that they were seeing. So, you know, he's displaying some significant sort of football smarts, if you like, and great recall. And that's something that isn't necessarily teachable. It's something that's in them.

And I think it's something that's very Patriot centric when it comes to quarterbacks. The quarterbacks that they have seem to be With the Football smarts as they like to say So he's ticking Those boxes in regards to that So we see that we've got some quality I mean he's technically The third run quarterback anyway

He isn't even your backup So to have a third run quarterback With his sort of With his talents, with his skill set with what we've seen from him so far quite considerable we should count ourselves reasonably lucky that we haven't got you know an absolute bleep show of a third string quarterback and because i know that there's some teams out there in the nfl that will probably give their right arm for a decent second ring quarterback let alone third so looking at at it from that perspective, we've got something that seems workable,

seems successful. So why rush the future of the Patriots back? We know that Zappi isn't knocking Mack off his perch for number one quarterback. Yes, he's got some positive skills. And like I said, know we've got um a decent quarterback uh backup quarterback for the future perhaps um to look at it from you know like that so I don't really see him knocking Mac off Mac has got sort of more than Zappi's got at this stage as far as we know so looking to see it from from that aspect of let's not ruin the future

for the present in that respect because we've got somebody, as I said, Zappi, we think he can do what we need him to do. Obviously, it was against the Lions, so we need to sort of see a bit more to really be certain. But he nursed it well, and to he seems like you know a good option why rush risk making things worse for Mac when you've sort of got a guy who can sort of nurse the team to to a victory and let's sort of let's see a few more games you know I feel it's worth the risk of a few more games to sort of see exactly what Zappi's got and to give

Mac that that rest period that chance to recoup recover mend whatever is really is needed so that like I said you aren't trading in the the future for the present right very good point very very good point and I like the fact that you brought up the difference between what you see on the field in a given moment as opposed to the bigger picture. And I think that's something that a lot of fans have to keep in perspective right now. Bailey Zappi looked good on Sunday. And you mentioned that, you know, he was very impressed by the way the kids saw not just what the play that was going on but plays two or three plays ahead that's poised beyond your years that's wisdom beyond your years so that's a very good trait for a quarterback to have and you know the patriots are enamored with something like that where i think it becomes a little bit of let's say that social media filter is the win the win is always going to put a filter it's always going to put rose-colored glasses on something that you watch in terms of a performance so Zappi's performance is always going to look better in hindsight because of the 29 to nothing victory one thing

that I point out and one thing that I always come back to and Greg Bedard did a great job of breaking this down for the Boston Sports Journal is the the Winkler Patriots had four red zone opportunities where they had first downs at the Detroit 21, actually the 21 twice, the 19-yard line and the 17-yard line. All red zone, all scoring opportunities. They didn't throw into the end zone once in those opportunities. That to me says that you're looking to not just manage the workload of your quarterback but that the confidence level and being able to execute some of these plays might not be as high as maybe the fan base thinks it is or maybe that you know teams think that uh that they're going to see from players like zappy so to me that's where bringing Mack back in might actually make more sense than or initially thought because my thought process like you is a high ankle sprain two weeks maybe

not enough time to really convalesce probably going to need a little bit more than that don't rush the guy back let him take his time let Bailey Zappi continue to move the offense along and then you can bring Mack Jones back in but at the same when you look at what Zappi continue to move the offense along and then you can bring Mac Jones back in. But at the same, when you look at what Zappi did against a porous Detroit defense, I mean, let's be very honest, this is a bad defense. It might make sense that they want to ingratiate Mac a little bit more while he has the opportunity to get his legs back in, then throw him back into the fire against a very difficult defense which after a little bit of a respite on this schedule Patriots do have some pretty good defenses coming up that they have to

tack on but that's a point you know the future that they've got the schedule that they've got for the future it just kind of in theory gets more difficult so why rush him back and the other point to make is when when you were discussing the sort of the red zone opportunities that they missed out on don't forget it's not zappy in a vacuum that's different in this offense it's not just the fact that they've got a third ring quarterback in there they've got a you know an offensive coordinator a play caller whatever title or you know that you want to put around what they're supposed to be they're new they're learning they're developing and you've got pieces within within the offense that's kind of either in its second year of development or in its first year from being a

rookie so it isn't just zappy in a vacuum as i've said that's new in in the system there's a lot of little teething problems that they need to kind of get right. And I don't know if just putting Mac back in suddenly blanket solves all those issues. And like I said, it risks kind of making him worse for the future for the, for the more difficult opponents that they've got going forward. So that's kind of my two cents and my sort of common sense on the matter. No, I think that's great common sense and i think it's a great point and eventually the new england patriots will make

their decision they hit the practice fields on wednesday we'll see what max workload looks like i fully expect him to be out there he has been out there for the last few games or games excuse me practices folks still clearing the cobwebs from a bad sinus infection folks believe me you do not want to wish that on anyone uh and yes and yeah definitely lack of caffeine definitely deals with it as well but uh we will see what his workload looks like on the field he'll be at practice and we'll see if he continues to be limited or if it looks like he's compromised at all in my opinion that's the point where you draw the line and say, okay, now Bailey Zappi's more than capable, throw him in there.

But if Mack is looking like the Mack of old, it could be a very interesting week for the New England Patriots in terms of decision-making as to who takes snaps on the field. Claire, it is always fun to talk about these matters with you, but we're going to talk about a subject that's very near and dear to your heart in just a moment, folks, because when Baileyiley zappy needed to get things going on offense what did he look for he looked for tight endage and he found it in the form of hunter henry with a scene that kind of broke open and broke the ice uh on sunday in a lot of ways for bailey zappy

is that the resurgence of the prolific tight end that is a favorite of my guests today? Well, we'll talk about that in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Now, a word from our sponsor, BetterHelp. Folks, we all know that it can be tough to train your brain to stay in problem-solving mode, especially when you're faced with one of life's many challenges. But when you learn how to find your own solutions, there is no better feeling, and a therapist can help you become a better problem solver, making it easier to accomplish your goals no matter how big or how small. Folks, we live in complex times, and whether it be emotional stress, financial stress, health-related stress, or social stress,

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today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash locked on today. B-E-T-T-E-R-H-E-L-P dot com slash locked on today b-e-t-t-e-r-h-e-l-p.com locked on Patriots fans once again we are joined by the illustrious Claire Cooper of Pat's Propaganda and a Claire Perspective of Patriots podcast and Claire in the previous segment we talked a little bit about Bailey Zappi and his ability to command the offense.

We also talked about the possibility that Mac Jones may end up back in under center or back in the hot seat, however you want to put it, on Sunday, as early as Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, because he's making great progress in his recovery from a high ankle sprain. But one of the things that I've noticed is a quarterback will feed off of momentum, just like any athlete. You make a big play, you go for a big score, you try to make the moment happen, and you can feed off of that. And it really is infectious when it comes to a player playing well.

One of the catalysts for Bailey Zappappy getting going on sunday was a nice little you know a nice little break that uh that he got up the scene for a reception to hunter henry and i gotta give a tip of the cap to my guy murph because he called it in his keys prior to the game so you know i'm naturally i'm sitting there going yeah he did it again. But at the same time, I also thought of you because naturally tight endage. Hunter Henry looked a lot more comfortable in this game than he has in quite a while. This was his best game of 2022 so far. Five catches, 54 yards receiving, looked like he was not only doing his job blocking, but also becoming a little bit more comfortable being a receiving tight end once again, and being an option in the open field claire you always see things us mere mortals don't when it comes to

tight ended so i was excited because i'm naturally a fan of hunters and i want to see him do well uh loved covering him with the chargers and i'm glad that he's he's here in new england but he's had some dirt on his uniform this year because he hasn't been performing up to up to par and I've had to defend him on several occasions but again you are dialed into this type of situation and you're always dialed into these types of productivity what were your thoughts on Hunter and are we seeing the return of 2021 Hunter Henry prior to the difficulties that the Patriots had last season at the end of the year well I think this is quite interesting and I touched upon this with Alex Bath in our One Patriots Play Show on Tuesday because I posed the question to him if with regards to the fact

that the Patriots have been using or trying to utilise Jonu Smith this season, it seems that they've been trying to make him fit and work him around and get him kind of in. And as an offshoot of that, the sort of productivity, the usage of Hunter Henry has kind of gone to the wayside. They haven't been utilising him the way that he sort of naturally would perform in the offence like he did last season, as you mentioned. And Alex sort of

kind of agreed with me and sort of his development of that was how it says it's now I'm paraphrasing I'm not quoting him now so please kind of you know don't kind of come back at me or let Alex know that I've sort of you know said it wrong because I am paraphrasing because my memory recall isn't good enough to to quote him I'm afraid but yeah he's he's sort of his opinion of that matter which I fully agreed with was that the Patriots were kind of making the use of the Titans in the way of Jonu Smith's skill set and obviously that's not the same the way that he was used in Tennessee sorry and that's not really the way that that Hunter Henry works and we know that because we've seen how he does work and it's almost as if they can't get once they can't get or aren't sort of grasping utilizing each one individually because obviously it doubles and triples the playbook

because you've got different plays for different individuals so then you've got more and more plays that you can utilize and whilst that's a good thing when you've got young quarterbacks that are developing whether it be Matt Jones or whether it be you know Bailey Zappi you're trying to limit the playbook a little bit because you're trying to make it a little bit easier for the individuals so in in that aspect to me it looks like now that they haven't got to try and work out how Jonu Smith needs to work in the inence, it's almost like, oh, well, we know how to use Hunter, so let's just use him. And to me, it felt like that in this game. It felt like a sort of, oh, yeah, we know how to use him.

Let's just kind of get on with that. As if they were sort of too caught up in trying to make Jonu Smith work, you know, the square peg in the round hole sort of thing. And now that he's on injury, which is terrible, do not get me wrong, but now he's out injured, they're utilising the tight end the way that feels maybe, you know, I'm loathe to say it, but maybe more natural in this Patriots offence, in the Patriots offence. And whilst they're doing that, and like you said,

Hunter was utilised blocking because he's not a bad blocker. The other thing was, the other Patriot tight end that they had was they elevated Matt Sokol from the practice squad. And really one of his main traits is to be a good blocker because he's quite a solid sort of individual. So they're utilizing Sokol as a blocker. It releases Hunter Henry out there to do hunter henry kind of things when he when it's needed and you know or pulling coverage when it's needed because we

know that he's you know he's not completely undynamic when it comes to a playmaker he's just not one of the top ones so i think it's a combination of things as to why we're seeing the resurgence from from hunter it's lovely because i love to see the dynamic between a tight end and a quarterback i mean i've recently been reading the the fabulous blood and guts book by tyler dunn and that really kind of encapsulates all different things in regards to the tight ends and so if you haven't read you know go out and pre-order that by the way so a little plug for my friend tyler there go out and order his. But it's magnificent when it comes to describing how the tight end has evolved. But the dynamic between the quarterback and the tight end,

which is the point I'm trying to get to, and sort of how the relationship can be so tight. Now, it can be in regards to quarterbacks and wide receivers. Don't get me wrong. I'm not sort of saying, oh, it's very special to QBs and TEs. It's not. But when you've got that sort of almost telekinetic, I think that's the right word, relationship with them

and they know sort of what they're thinking, you bring up all the sort of success within the team. And we've seen this because we've seen this Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, you know, the major successes from both of those individuals was together. Now, I'm not comparing any of this to Rob and Tom, don't get me wrong. I'm just sort of trying to sort of put it in parallel to sort of explain what I'm trying to get to, so that everybody can understand me. So yeah, I think a lot of the success in regards to Hunter E is them being able to utilise him the way that they used to,

the way that feels very Patriots way. And as I said, the blocking was so cool. So yeah, not to repeat myself, but yeah, that's really what is sort of key. And what I'm hoping for is that when Smith does come back off injury, they've had the time to work out the kinks, to see how they utilise Hunter and carry on doing that. And they kind of are starting to develop of how they need to utilise Smith, you know, initially in the first few games and do that.

And rather than have them as two separate things, that they kind of only seem to be one or the other, they can integrate the two. And maybe later in the season, we see some much more of the kind of two tight end play that we've kind of really been clambering for for the last few years yeah I think there's something to be said about forcing 12 man and then trying to incorporate 12 man and I think you're seeing um maybe an uneven balance for the Patriots in the first

part of the season maybe trying to force that a little bit too much and I think you articulated that perfectly Hunter's route running his ability to get into the open field, and also his blocking assignments looked a little bit more natural, a little bit more organic on Sunday. And I think that really is a return to basics when it comes to what the Patriots do well. And it all starts really, I think, along the offensive line. You have that jumbo tight end now to put in, and Marcus Cannon declaring declaring himself eligible and I thought the offensive line from top to bottom including Isaiah Wynn folks which I know I've given Isaiah a little bit of flack on here at times but I thought he was great on Sunday as well I know he had the penalty and I

know people are going to point to that but this was a step in the right direction for him who I think you know for the last few weeks has looked really disengaged when it came to the New England Patriots. I think he looked good. So putting Cannon up there as well allows the tight end to not have to be such a force along the offensive line to help the offensive line. They really didn't need much help on Sunday. And that all helps to cultivate a tight end to play his natural position. I think that's one of the reasons why hunter looks so good and again i thought you articulated that perfectly oh thank you but it's almost like something that

that you mentioned in regards to canon it feels a little bit like the pressure has been released a little the offensive line seems to be clicking a bit better they seem to work out what they need to do a little bit more um with bringing in canon stuff like that. And the elevation of Sokol, I think, may have been a bit of a key as well. But yeah, it just seems to be that maybe a few things clicked. Maybe the pressure was off a little bit. Maybe it's got nothing to do with the fact that Smith, you know, is out. Maybe this would have happened naturally anyway. Maybe they've just got to that point now in the offence that they sort of know how they need to do these things so that's what I'm hoping when he comes

back we sort of see the integration more with both of them but you know fingers crossed as a tight ended girl absolutely and again Claire you are the perfect person to talk about this subject with because you see things us mere mortals don't see. And because of that, folks, we're going to take advantage of Claire's ability to prognosticate. That's right. We hinted at it a little bit last week. We're about to introduce a new segment here on Locked On Patriots called Claire Voyance. And Claire is going to take a look into her Belichickian crystal ball and tell us her early thoughts on the Patriots' upcoming week six opponent, the Cleveland Browns.

And we will do so when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up in just a moment. But first, folks, when you want to maximize your sports fandom, you need to do so with our good friends at betonline.net, your number one source for football betting this season.

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You want to check that out. MMA, boxing, golf, BetOnline has a beat on all of it. So head to BetOnline.net or use your mobile device to learn more. BetOnline, where the game starts patriots fans once again the countess of class the illustrious claire a classic claire cooper of pat's propaganda and a patriots and a clear perspective a patriots podcast joins me today. Claire, I've been wanting to do this for a week. You know that when I get a dumb thought in my head, I am always, always willing to put it out there and exploit it for all of the cheesiness that it has. But in all actuality, it really is. It gives me the opportunity to give you

the platform to be able to show your prognosticative skills which are second to none by the way folks and i say that without jest claire is definitely good at being able to see the future she's even clairvoyant you might say so folks we are starting a new segment here on locked on patriots today each and every time claire joins me on the microphone a little clairvoyance for you and forgive me we don't have some of the animations that i'd like to have just yet but we are going to uh take a look into the belichickian crystal ball countess and we're going to talk about the patriots upcoming opponent the cleveland browns now obviously deshaun watson is not going to be under center old friend jacoby brissett will be and strong running game but this is a defense that

can be had as well so in a lot of ways things are lining up almost like they did in week five but folks don't take that from me we want to hear the Claire voyant opinion on this situation so Claire take a look into that Belichickian crystal ball and let us know your thoughts on the Patriots' upcoming opponent, the Cleveland Browns. Well, if we're really going to run with this crazy, which is crazy. You're using a coffee cup? That's great. I like it. I'm looking on tea

leaves. The tea leaves. Yes. Oh, the tea leaves. Yes. I'm sorry. You know, old Yankee habits die hard. Yes. Read the tea leaves. Oh, yeah. If only. Really. I wish. But yes. Okay yes okay we're gonna roll with this we're gonna roll with this but yeah but seriously as you said the one thing in regard to the cleveland browns is yeah i mean pff have got them as the fifth ranked defense and the sixth

ranked offense which i don't know i found a little bit surprising i didn't realize the defense was sort of quite as up there from things that i've seen things that i've heard things that i've read they do seem to be possibly a team that is actually quite decent when it comes on paper i mean they've got that word that some individuals love to use weapons oh i'm just i'm just really not good with a weapons thing but anyway yes they have weapons on offense they have the likes of kind of the the titans of no joku and you know brian harrison you know um but nick chubb duh and they've got um who's the other one amari cooper wide receiver i mean you drop in names really that are considerable um that have been sort of moneymakers, if you like.

So it's not that they're lacking when it comes to weapons, as people like to say, and their defence is ranked really good. But they just seem to be a team that kind of are out there beating themselves. It just seems that way, that when you see what they've done sort of so far in the season and they're two and three. And, you know, there was a couple of losses that really seemed to hinge on an interception by Brissett. You know, it just seemed to be it just really kind of crumbled after the interception. And those three interceptions resulted in the three losses.

And I mean, if that had kind of slightly gone another way, they could possibly have been a four and one. However, we can say that about a lot of things when it comes to the Patriots in regards to the Green Bay and the Steelers game. You know, there are key elements there that if you could slightly twinge, then things would really spin on an axis. So it seems to be that the coach likes to play a

bit a little bit fast and loose maybe um you know maybe the this is what's kind of gonna be what's sort of the thing that is making them beat themselves if you like so the Patriots seem to be a team that sort of a history so we don't really know if the team right now is the team that we're thinking. But generally speaking, a team that can let you beat yourself. They're a good team, good football smarts. And that's what's there to let you beat yourself. So I foresee, I foresee, yeah. Wait, let me just check.

Oh, I foresee. Okay. Generally, my common sense is if this is the case of this is a team that have got some weapons but the Patriots is a team that's got a good defence we've got a really good defence and I stand by that because I believe that we do so if the Patriots

can step it up and they can bring that defence to quash the offence I reckon that they can kind of sit back a little bit and let Cleveland beat themselves. And I think that's going to be a key. If I did keys, that would definitely be one of my keys, is be very Patriots and let this team beat themselves.

Because I think that's a high possibility. So that's going to, I'm throwing that out there as my clairvoyant thing, is the Patriots are going to step it back and let Cleveland beat themselves. I think the defence are going to be another significant part of this game I think going forward to the season in my in my clear perspective opinion the defense are going to be sort of see defense wins you titles is that the cliche that they like to throw around but I think kind of in the Patriots situation particularly this year with what they've got

in regards to young quarterbacks, Matt coming in and out, or, you know, utilising Bailey Zappi, I think keeping the defence stable, solid, performing well, which I think, you know, the boogeymen are coming back. I love that.

I know some people don't like it, but I do. I have the t-shirt from the original, so I'm ready to kind of bring that one back out and rock that sort of thing. So yeah, bring the boogeymen back because I love it and I do think that they've got some talent on defense I hope that Lawrence Guy can fix mend feel better soon so we can bring him back because that that was a key element of that and the Cleveland Browns have got a good run game

and we need a good run defense against a good run game so they need everything that they they can bring back when it regard when it comes to Nick Chubb so yeah fingers crossed they can let them beat themselves and the defense can come in and I mean who doesn't love a defensive uh touchdown oh let's see let's see another one of those shall we absolutely from your lips to God's ears I think that's definitely something that the New England Patriots would love to see, especially with the active type of defense that they played on Sunday. And a special shout out to Matthew Judon, who was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week. And that's definitely something that I think players always, always love.

And Matt definitely deserved it. He was a total beast on the field on Sunday and just continues to be the Patriots most dynamic defender. I know Jack Jones and Kyle Duggar definitely get, you know, some looks in that as well. But Judon has definitely been one of the most, one of the most, you know, you know, consistent players on that defense all season long. But I'm glad that you brought up the run game, because to me, this is going to be the key matchup. And we'll get into this, folks, a little bit more as the week progresses here on Locked On Patriots.

But Evan Lazar of Patriots.com, our good mutual friend, had a tweet on Tuesday night, I believe. And he tweeted out that the Patriots up next, a Browns defense that is ranked dead last in rush DVOA, just gave up 238 rushing yards to the Chargers last week. That, to me, is something that the Patriots can't exploit if they're smart and being able to do it. The Chargers utilized Austin Eckler very well last week. Patriots, you know, they're going to be looking to get Ramondre Stevenson going

because Damian Harris will assumedly be out for this game judging by the reports that came out yesterday. So Ramondre is going to be in, you know, he's going to be in the hot seat. Are the Browns going to sell out to stop the run? And does that open up play action for the New England Patriots? To me, if they can exploit that, that's going to be a big key for the Pats to be able to try to score against this Browns defense which you're right on paper they're ranked pretty highly so you look at it and say well what do you mean that the defense is going to be a little bit difficult it's because they are able to let up big time run and if then if that's something that they have to sell out to stop, that may be a problem for the New England Patriots, but for the Cleveland Browns,

but the problem for the Patriots is stopping Nick Chubb. And we all know that the Patriots have had difficulty stopping the run. They looked excellent doing it against the Detroit lions and they held your ball Williams to almost, you know, a futile stat sheet on Sunday, but Nick Chubb is a different type of player. He's just, he's in a different bracket.

And when he gets going, you can blame broken tackling all you want to for some runners getting sprung. A lot of it is based on skill and is based on strength. And Nick Chubb is at the top of those lists in every category. So Claire, I appreciate the clairvoyance before you leave the tea leaves behind is there anything else

that you'd like to add countess uh before we uh we close up the clairvoyance shot for the week let me just say oh I don't know it's it's looking a bit murky but on one page it's place I did sort of say because I know that you know that the run is going to be quite predominant still I reckon my my crazy clairvoyance shall we say we'll call reckon my crazy clairvoyance, shall we say, we'll call it a crazy clairvoyance. I like that. That's much better. A crazy clairvoyance,

because it's probably not going to happen, is maybe JJ Taylor finally steps up and steps into and sort of is significant because I've kind of been championing for him for a few years now, and it's probably very futile because he's a little guy and he maybe hasn't quite got the blocking ability. But I'm really kind of hoping that in this sort of key significance,

they're going to bring him up and we're going to see him really kind of scuttlebugging, as Mike Dussault likes to say from PU. Yeah, scuttlebugging around. So I'm hoping that they're bringing him up because I think he's got it. So, and I'd like to sort of see, yeah, if that's the case. So fingers crossed on that one. So yeah, my,

my crazy clairvoyance is JJ Taylor comes up and, and, and does me a solid so that I can tell Murph. See, told you so. That is, that is a little crazy, but it's sensei crease would say,

but I like that. I like that. I actually do like that because this is a game where JJ Taylor could make an impact. He's a good little, you know, dual threat back out of the backfield. He can receive, he can run, he can definitely, you know, find the seams and find the holes that he needs to. That could be interesting.

So folks keep a, keep a sharp eye on JJ Taylor. If he is called up from the practice squad this week, uh, because you also have Kevin Harris on the practice squad and Pierre Strong is also a rookie waiting in the wings on the active roster. So Patriots are definitely going to have their options at running back but if J.J. Taylor breaks for a big one you heard it here on clairvoyance first and give all the credit to that side of the screen folks Claire it is always an honor always a privilege to share the microphone with you uh Wednesdays are some of my favorite days of the week uh there are not too many of them, so

to be on that list is definitely something that definitely makes our listeners feel good, and I always enjoy talking ball with you here on Locked On Patriots. Before I let you go, please let everyone know where they can find you, what you have coming up on the horizon, and just anything that you'd like to

inform our adoring public for when it comes to what Claire Cooper is going to be up to in the coming weeks leading up to week six against the Browns. Well, if you need to find me, as ever, on at Klaas E. Claire, so you see it down there. So yeah, patspahaganda.com. You will find my game recap early next week, usually on a Monday. If the Patriots play on a Sunday, it's usually on a Monday.

So yeah, it's usually within 24 hours after the game within 24 hours after the game so yeah Monday you should see my my game recap so yeah patspropaganda.com also where you can get the the tight-ended t-shirts there folks so just head over there and check out the works that are on the lovely blog there as you mentioned Eclair Perspective my podcast last week's was with the the lovely senator himself phil perry so that's still obviously available for where you get your podcasts from but um hopefully i'll be putting one out the end of this week fingers crossed trying to get weekly now that it's in season i was kind of like every two weeks every three weeks in the off season but i am really trying to get weekly but obviously guests are really busy because it's now the on season so yeah hopefully fingers crossed you will you will hear my dulcet tones again by the weekend so keep

an eye out for that as they like to say and as you mentioned uh thomas murphy and steve balistroi of course we are one page it's placed live here for you each and every week so yeah you'll catch us probably on tuesday so if you do want to listen to the crazy clairvoyance that is Classy Claire, you will find me here, there, and everywhere. Absolutely, folks. And who wouldn't want to turn into some crazy clairvoyance? Now you've got me going and I can't even talk. Folks, it is a blast. And all kidding aside, I always, always enjoy sharing the microphone with Claire. Who would not want to take part in some crazy clairvoyance or definitely pay attention to all the great written work and all the great podcasting that she does. It's always a home run when it comes to information, when it comes to entertainment, and when it also comes to being spot on and giving you exactly what you need in Patriots of War when it comes to Pats football.

Claire, thank you so much for joining me today. I look forward to next week when we gaze more into those tea leaves or the Belichickian crystal ball for more clairvoyance. But in the meantime, folks, we thank you very much for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also, hopefully, your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, as is what should be your second listen, which is our good friends over at Peacock and Williamson. My good friends and colleagues, Brian Peacock and Matt Williamson,

bring you all the latest when it comes to all the comings and goings in the NFL. So check them out as well wherever you get your podcasts. Smash that subscribe button on YouTube. Until tomorrow, foxborough faithful stay safe stay well be the change that you wish to see in the world have a great day everyone