Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots OTAs and the Lazar Lowdown: Mac Jones, Bill Belichick, O-line and More — 5/27/22

Episode Date: May 28, 2022

With a re-imagined offensive coaching staff, some key veteran additions via free agency, and a rookie class which features a controversial first-round pick, the New England Patriots have their share of storylines heading into the next phase of the preparatory process for the 2022 season. As the team moves deeper into OTAs, host Mike D’Abate welcomes Patriots beat writer Evan Lazar of CLNS Media. The duo discuss the development of QB Mac Jones, the rookies in the defensive backfield and the decisions to be made along the offensive line.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!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” 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!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

rookies taking the field mac jones bill belichick that's right folks otas are in full swing in foxborough and today here on the locked on patriots podcast we got the bizarre lowdown to break it all down for you unlike debate you're about to be locked into the locked on patriots podcast you are locked on patriots your your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Also, your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots, free and available on all platforms.

So download, subscribe to, and follow Lockdown Patriots wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube, so smash that subscribe button. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. Also your host of the Lockdown Patriots podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. And you heard in our opening today, folks, we're going to be talking OTAs with one of the more brilliant minds in the business.

And it's truly my honor and privilege every time he comes here and joins me on the microphone here on Lockdown Patriots. It's been quite a while since he's graced our presence, but you know what? We are happy to have him. He is a columnist and Patriots analyst extraordinaire of CLNS media, one of the true brilliant minds on the Patriots beat. You can check out his great work at clns.com. It is great. Evan Lazar joins me today here on the pod. Evan, thank you so much for joining me. Welcome back to Lockdown Patriots, my friend. Thanks for having me. It's one of my favorite

places to be as a guest is Lockdown Patriots with you, Mike. So I love coming on and I'm happy to be here. Let's do it. Absolutely. And we're happy to have you. And like I said, it's been a little too long since we've had you here, but that's going to change this year. Lots to talk about. I've said before, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria. I love that Pete Venkman quote, but I mean, it really is what the Patriots are all about when it comes to coverage and the fan uh you know interaction and ota being in full swing now evan is really something that i think patriots fans can now sink their teeth into because we're getting closer to these teams taking field especially here in new england obviously with the patriots fan base. They're getting closer to seeing what this team may look like on the field.

And earlier this week with media access to OTA, you had the chance to be there in terms of seeing what this team is going to look like, what some of the maybe alignments are going to be. It's very early, but there is still an opportunity to get a chance to see a lot of this stuff. Before we get into some of the formal questions that I have for you today, what were some of your observations, OTAs, what this team may look like? Living up to expectations yet? Maybe not, or is it way too early to tell? Yeah, it's probably too early to start setting expectations, but I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was the number one conversation is obviously around the offensive

coaching staff and who's going to be calling plays and who's going to be the coordinator or take on coordinator responsibilities with Josh McDaniels in Vegas, obviously. And although the coaching staff has some uncertainty and certainly is feeling skeptics right now outside of New England and even inside of New England in the media. I would say that offensively, they are pretty well put together. They have pretty much everything figured out. They have guys returning in a lot of spots from the team last year that won 10 games and was pretty good offensively with a rookie quarterback. They have Mac Jones doing all the right things going into year two, which is maybe the most important thing out of anything that we talk about today is Mac's development and where he's at in his career and the fact that he's trimmed body fat, working on his mechanics,

putting in a lot of extra time in the off season. Those are all positive things for the Patriots. But you look at the depth charter, like I like to look at the two deep depth chart, right? Who's your starter and who's your backup at every single position? The Patriots on offense, I can probably put together here on May 27th, a very, very good offensive depth chart. That's probably going to be pretty accurate to what we're going to see in week one versus on defense. There's a lot more uncertainty roster wise, you know, who's going to start at linebacker. Who's going to start at corner. I think that there's a lot more holes to fill and unanswered questions about

the defense side of the ball. I'm optimistic about this offense and you look at some of the skill players that we saw out there on Monday, Devante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, I think is going to be in for a bigger second season. Johnny Smith hopefully hits the ground running a little bit more in a year or two. And this skill position group, if you will, is a lot better than what it's been over the last couple of seasons. Going back to 2019, 2020, I was out there at all those OTAs and mini camps and training camps as well.

And we were trying to hype up Maurice Harris and Demir Bird and get excited about some of these guys. And now you see the difference. It's definitely, it's palpable that you can see how much better some of these veteran receivers are talent-wise than what the Patriots have been working with over the last couple of years. Absolutely. I'm so glad that you mentioned the supporting cast because we will get into Mack in a little bit and obviously the impact that Bill Belichick can have on him. You mentioned this in your column earlier this week, and I think we can flesh that out a little bit and

have a pretty good discussion on that. But the supporting cast is so vital. And yes, I agree. Kendrick Bourne is going to be someone that I believe Mac will indeed rely on. You have that synergy. You have that familiarity. These two guys are building a nice budding relationship and you'll love to see it from quarterback to receiver. But there are different options this year that they didn't have last year. Devontae Parker, for all intents and purposes, I know some people are looking at him as a replacement for Nikhil Harry, I guess in terms of a roster spot.

That's an upgrade in every sense of the word. I don't think anybody can argue that. I was intrigued by Ty Montgomery taking some, you know, reps with the pass catchers this week. Obviously James White coming along slowly. We're still waiting to see what his prowess is going to be. The return from a hip subluxation, not the easiest injury to come back from. We know James is doing well, but we're looking to see exactly how much he can do. And it's probably a little early before we know, before he's really tested. But Ty getting reps early on shows that the Patriots

targeted this kid and that they went after him. He wasn't an also-ran or a secondary signing. They clearly saw something in him and a dual-threat capability that I think could be a big-time benefit for the team this year. So excellent insight as always, Evan. something in him and a dual threat capability that I think could be a big time uh you know benefit for the team this year so excellent insight as always Evan and of course you dropped some pearls of wisdom that I'm going to grill you on a little bit more in just a moment folks because as I said

we do have the Lazar low down here on locked on Patriots and it's always our honor and always our privilege to hear what the man has to say. More with Evan Lazar in just a moment. But first, folks, today's episode is brought to you by the great folks over at Athletic Greens who put out a fantastic product that I literally use every day. Let's face it. Summer months are coming. You can make the argument they're already here. Last weekend in New England, 90 degree temperatures. That time of year is here.

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always will be. I'm always awed by his wisdom, his counsel, his information, and his presence. And a good friend as well. And I really can't ask for anything more. Seven, thank you for joining me here today. We talked in the previous segment a little bit about some of your observations with OTA. And obviously, with the New England Patriots getting into the swing of things, all eyes are going to be on Mac Jones and the quarterback position and how he is developing. I'm going to

wait on that for just a moment, if it's okay, because what we'll do is we'll talk about a few of the other observations that I know you had earlier this week. And folks, if you haven't had a chance to check out some of Evan's's columns earlier this week particularly his lazar notebook uh for clns media you're definitely letting some of the best coverage in the business pass you by i thought it was brilliant and really uh i think captured so much of what this team is looking to uh to utilize and particularly your insight on a couple of the big-time rookies that the patriots are going to be having their eye on. One of them is obviously arguably the most high profile in terms of their first round pick Cole Strange and the other is cornerback Jack Jones. So I want to start with Cole Strange because I thought you made some good observations of his involvement and a plug and play type role

that he played at left guard in the first open practice on Monday. Obviously the Patriots drafted this kid in the first round, high hopes, high expectations slotted in at left guard, which is where most of us thought that he would come in. And with Shaq Mason now in Tampa Bay with Ted Karras now in Cincinnati, the Patriots had a clear need there. Whether you want to argue the validity of the pick or not, probably a discussion that we've had here, maybe a discussion for another day, but it looks like Strange is at least going to get the opportunity to compete for that position. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And in that regard, I think in a lot of ways, what this does is it casts some

light. I don't want to say doubt, but it casts some light on the rest of the offensive line. And I think you also pointed out something very interesting this week in that Isaiah Wynn's absence from this week's practice can also have a ripple effect. In terms of Trent Brown now playing a little bit more left guard, we saw him slot in there on Monday, maybe a little bit more confidence that the coaching staff has in Justin Harone. Offensive line is going to be a big part of this team's success this year, Evan, or it's

going to make or break, basically, I think, in terms of how this team is able to progress. What were your thoughts on the offensive line, specifically Strange, and maybe a little bit on Wynn's situation that might be flying under the radar right now. Yeah, we can start with Strange. I think when you go out there with these types of practices, it's the first time that we get to see them in a little bit up close and personal, right? Obviously, we're a little bit far away, as you know, Mike, but we still get to see them in the flesh and maybe a little bit different

as than watching it on tape or looking at him against college guys at the combine and things like that. So I would say that he's lean, you know, he's, he's tall enough. He definitely fits that mold of this athletic, lean offensive lineman. And I think that when you look at it in terms of, does he pass the eye test? Absolutely. Somebody that really stood out in Monday's practice with his athleticism. Obviously, there's no pads at these practices, so it's difficult to judge offensive linemen to begin with because there's no contact. But in terms of athletic ability, getting up to the second level or getting outside the tackle to get out on those outside runs that they were drilling and his overall movement it definitely pops right out at you as it did off the tape at Chattanooga

where he's really smooth and really explosive getting out of his stance and can make a lot of different blocks on the move which obviously the Patriots do whether it's zone we'll see you know that's I think something that we'll wait and see on. But specifically with their gap runs, they still do pull a lot of guards. They climb to the second level a lot of the time. And at that left guard position, they've notoriously had a more athletic left side than the right side. The right side's typically where Shaq Mason, Marcus Cannon, Trent Brown, that's the mauler side. Mike Onwenu, that's the big guy's side. The left side has usually been a little bit leaner,

a little bit more athletic, a little bit more explosive. And you certainly see that with Cole Strange. When they drafted him, a lot of people compared him to Logan Mankins. I see more Joe Tooney when I watch a guy like Cole Strange. And I think that that's still a cop. Tooney is a really, really good athlete. Can get into space, make blocks on screens, polls, whatever you want him to do.

And I think Cole Strange stood out in that regard in Monday's practice. And it almost felt, you know, calculated in some sort of way that they were drilling all these outside runs and they kept on drilling them to the left side to be like, Hey, look at, look at Cole strange run guys. Like this guy can run. Right. And I think they wanted to make a little bit of an emphasis to use that, not necessarily to show them off to the media, but more so that's going to be an emphasis all season long. I think is he, we have a really, really good athlete at left guard. So let's get him out in space and let's let him lead block on the move and allow him to use some of that athleticism that we loved and why we

drafted him. In terms of Isaiah Wynn, there were some other guys that weren't at OTAs on Monday. Nikhil Harry was a big one. Matthew Judon, Lawrence Guy, Adrian Phillips. But by far the biggest name on that list, I guess, is Isaiah Wynn. I was shocked that Isaiah Wynn wasn't out there. I know last year he didn't participate in the voluntary portion of the off-season program, came into training camp at the end of July out of shape, had a slow start to the season in September and October. The Patriots were not very thrilled with it. They, internally, they were not very jazzed it. Internally, they were not very jazzed up by the fact that Isaiah Wynn didn't come to OTAs and didn't work out in the offseason

and did come in out of shape. So you look at that, you look at the fact that it's the last year of his contract, you look at the fact that there's $10.4 million next to his name on the salary cap table, and you start to wonder, now it's a difficult contract to move, right? Some team is going to have to be convinced that Isaiah Wynn's going to be a starting left tackle for them this year to pay him $10.4 million. But you start to think about the way the Patriots operate, not only from a salary cap perspective, but also just from a work ethic perspective and a buy-in perspective. And I think there's a very good chance that if Justin Heron has a good summer and is very good in

training camp and in the preseason, that they're going to look at it and say, we're going to get the same production out of Justin Heron, who has been here since April, who's bought into everything that we're putting down, who's really worked his butt off to get here. And he's a fraction of the cost of what Isaiah Wynn is costing us. And for a team that has $500,000 in cap space right now, it would be an easy move to free up the rest of the cap space they're going to need to operate the rest of the season by moving on from Isaiah Wynn. So if I'm Isaiah Wynn and I care at all about my job security, when we get out there on Tuesday, I'm there. Like, I'm sure that I'm there so that we were all report and say Isaiah Wynn was present at OTAs.

I can't imagine any other reason other than some sort of personal matter or family matter that he had to attend to. That was a reason why he wasn't out there during these practice sessions. I know they're voluntary and I always caveat everything I say with that. It is voluntary and it is up to every individual, but it's one thing to have Matthew Judon, who's probably one of your best players, if not your best player, especially on defense, sit this out and say, to me, Matthew Judon, it's like, okay, we'll see you in min camp, like whatever. Like, I don't care if you want to come to may practices, you know, you don't necessarily need to, to be at the, out at these practices. We'll see you in mini camp. Like heck with Matthew Judon, I'll see you in training camp. Like once the pads come on Matthew,

like you come and show up and play football, right? Like that's the way I look at it with players like that. I'd say the same with Adrian Phillips, Lawrence Guy. Those guys don't need these reps right now. Isaiah Wynn could use a little bit of a better start to the season, certainly. And I think that that starts for a lot of guys in May and in June and not necessarily coming in in August and then have to catch back up to everybody that's been on the moving train already. Absolutely. And I think you make a great point. And again, on Wynn, you mentioned the $10.4 million

that's next to his name. That's not going to be an easy contract to move. However, if the Patriots can find someone to bite, they stand to inherit $9.7 million in cap space by moving Wynn. So that could be a hell of a motivating factor as well. obviously I think the Patriots are going to be more motivated by what he can bring on the field and like you said when he's healthy one of the better left tackles in the league but it's going to be a situation where he's going to stay on the field and he's going to stay proven and dedicated to being able to improve his craft if he does I think he sticks but I agree with you he has to be out there on Tuesday unless there's an extenuating circumstance that we're not aware of at the time. And if there is, obviously the team will give consideration to that.

But if this is a little bit more on the voluntary situation, even though technically they can't penalize him for not being out there, those notes are being taken. That information is being processed. And especially if guys like Heron and Strange comes along a little bit quicker albeit not the same position but if they can find solid production out of swing tackles yeah it's going to be an interesting time uh in new england heading into the season in terms of what to do with him i did want to just touch one more a little bit about the offensive line because earlier this week evan i thought once again you wrote eloquently about the Patriots decision or may not, I want to say decision because no decision has been made folks. Let me

be very clear on that, but an observation that the Patriots may look a little bit more towards zone blocking this year, especially with an athletic guard, like you said, like Cole strange really show off his athletic ability. That doesn't necessarily tie into bigger, lumbering offensive linemen like a Trent Brown or a Michael Wainu. It's not so much their style, but you've outlined a situation, I think brilliantly, where that could work to the Patriots' advantage, including maximizing the talents of those guys. How is that something that the Patriots could incorporate while still getting production out of their big guys? Yeah, look, if they are not going to be more zone heavy this year, then they certainly pulled on a fast one on us on Monday because they spent the entire team portion of practice on Monday drilling outside zone concepts. zone is what you see from Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, and that entire coaching tree where the

linemen are stepping out horizontally towards the sideline and running towards the sideline and trying to create those creases for cutback lanes and things like that up the middle of the field. And I look at their top three picks in the draft, Mike, and you see Cole Strange, a super athletic offensive lineman that really ran a lot of outside zone at Chattanooga. Taequann Thornton, his offensive system at Baylor under Jeff Grimes, who's basically known as the outside zone doctor or guru in college football right now. He's one of the bigger proponents of outside zone bootleg action at the college level. So he's a big outside zone guy and Taequann Thornton ran a lot of those deep post patterns or verticals off of outside zone action, which is obviously

what the Patriots would like to do with him in the future as well. And then you look at their fourth round pick and Pierre Strong, 4-3-7 running backs thrive in one cut and go systems, right? Like that's the way that you want to use that type of running back. And you look at some of the other systems that run this way, McVay, Shanahan, McVay, he, you know, has always employed guys like Todd Gurley, track star, right? A 10.500 meter guy, Raheem Mostert in San Francisco,

another track guy. Like you want speed at that running back position to run these outside zone schemes. So we were out there at practice on Monday. We all run periods. They're outside zone, outside zone. And then we get into the passing periods and they're running bootlegs. They're running hard bootleg action with Mac Jones and having him move out the pocket and make throws on the move. And on the one hand, you talked about the offensive lineman, and I think that's a factor. Trent Brown, Mike Onwenu, ideally you want those guys coming off the ball and knocking

guys over like they're bowling pins, right? You want them coming downhill. You want them running power gap schemes, double team blocks, combos up to the second level, pulling. Those are the types of things that you typically see with hulking linemen, 340 plus pound guys are not necessarily known to have the foot speed. When you look across San Francisco or even down in Atlanta, which I think is a really good one too with Arthur Smith, they typically draft linemen that look like Cole Strange, very lean, very athletic, because that scheme needs guys that can get out of their stance and get on the move.

But I do think that they can get the same production or they can get those guys to fit the scheme. Trent Brown, an outside zone, the whole idea is you're trying to pin the defense down. You're trying to have them overflow to the outside and pin those guys down. So Trent Brown, you can use him on play side kickout blocks and get him to kind of fold down that side of the line and then cut it back up the field. Mike Onwenu, there are those interior combination blocks that I think that he would be good at and could be able to have a knack for. When I've talked to Dante Skarnecchia over the years in the Patriots offensive line room,

they always talk about how the Patriots like to make sure that their gap techniques and their zone techniques have a lot of carry over to one another. So if they call a zone run, it's not a complete foreign technique for the offensive lineman because it's a lot like the same footwork that they might use on something like duo, which is another double team concept in the gap scheme. But it resembles a lot of the things that you run an inside zone. It's very similar footwork and technique. So they try to have some overlap there, which covers up for the fact that maybe they've been a little bit more gap heavy in the past versus man heavy. I do wonder, you know, the horizontal stretch, I think is a big factor here. The defense are trying to hit some more of those crossers or

horizontal patterns. You look at a guy like Johnnie Smith, he would probably thrive in that type of system where they can use him like a Kyle Juszczyk slash Debo Samuel type of player near the line of scrimmage as a ball carrier. And then you have those speed guys, Aguilar, Thornton that can take the top off and occupy the post safety and allow Myers and Bourne to work that intermediate level. So I see where they're going with it. If that's the plan, I am a little bit surprised from a Mac Jones perspective that that would be the best offense they would see fit for him. You look in the Jets, for instance, with Robert Sala have adopted this the Shanahan scheme. They draft Zach Wilson because he's got the biggest arm in the draft.

The Niners draft Trey Lance because he's got the second biggest arm in the draft. Right. And they went for these bigger armed athletic quarterbacks because they know that they're going to try to chuck it down the field. So I'm not necessarily sure that it's the best fit for Mac. I mean, I guess we'll see. It's not that Mac can't run that offense. You know, Jimmy G ran that offense, Jared Goff ran that offense. So certainly guys that are more known for touch passing and accuracy have been able to succeed in that system as well. But typically when you think about those big, elongated bootleg drops, seven, even sometimes nine steps drop back into the passing system, you think about some of the guys that have bigger arms that can really push the football down the field.

But regardless of that, it is an interesting way to go. And I think those first three draft picks really were all guys that thrived and played in very zone heavy systems. So if you're trying to read tea leaves, you have Monday's practice, you have the draft picks. A lot of this is starting to line up to the fact that maybe they're going to start to borrow some Shanahan type stuff. Interesting stuff.

Great, great stuff. And again, I haven't outlined a lot of this in his column for CLNS Media. Definitely check that out. But wisdom and counsel, man, that you always bring to the table, you break the needle off every single time. And folks, we're not quite done yet with Evan Lazar of CLNS Media because in just a moment, Lockdown Patriots becomes keeping up with the Joneses, meaning a couple of rookie Joneses that will take the field on the cornerback position. Mentioned Jack Jones earlier. We're going to get Evan's thoughts on Marcus in a little bit.

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Patriots fans, the great Evan Lazar of CLNS Media has joined us for this weekend episode of the LockedOnPatriots podcast. Evan, we always appreciate you coming on and you, again, put forth amazing amounts of wisdom and counsel when it comes to just your OTA

observations. Talked a little heavy about the offensive line in the previous segment but now we catch up and keep up with the Joneses and other than just making life difficult for the equipment manager who's going to sell all of these initials now onto these jerseys well maybe either that or we just have to learn the numbers but there's quite few joneses in that defensive backfield now for the new england patriots john jones rookie came back from a shoulder injury last year we know he's going to be back out there on the field but i want to spend a little bit of time talking about the rookie joneses particularly jack you had some interesting things to say in your notebook this week in your observations with OTA. Obviously, Marcus is being described right now as a lot of people's favorite pick in this draft because of his versatility. The return

game, that prowess, obviously that's going to be exciting to watch. He has the ability to play the cornerback position, maybe in the slot, a line outside, the blistering speed, which allows him to be able to play the position a little bit bigger than the 5'8 that he's listed at and also you know his ability to maybe even line up for a trickery wide receiver play every now and then we've seen him do that before but Jack is an intriguing cornerback to me as well because I believe a lot of what made him slip in this draft were off-field concerns as opposed to what he can do on the field you saw firsthand what this kid can do on the field. He spent a lot of time with some of the more prominent members of that defense,

especially in that secondary this week. When you look at the cornerback position, especially what these two rookies can bring to the table, does it help for you anyway to quell some of the concern around what a lot of fans are saying is still a position with some holds? Yeah, I think if Jack Jones in particular is going to develop as quickly as it seems he has so far, because he's been out there already in OTAs as a rookie, first OTA, and he's out there with the starting defensive backs, right? And that's certainly a good sign for his developmental track

in that maybe he's even ahead of schedule of where you would think a fourth round pick would normally be. And to your point that he might've been a higher draft pick if it wasn't for the off-field concerns that teams had about him. Well, maybe the Patriots see now, well, we can put him out there because he really was a top 50 pick in

this draft. But because of the off field stuff, he fell to us in the fourth round. The Patriots did a lot of homework on Jack Jones. I'm sure a lot of that was around the off field stuff and his character and looking into his background and off the field, making sure that he was going to fit the program. But they spent a lot of time with him in the lead up to the draft. And this was probably the most predictable draft pick that the Patriots had because of all of the meetings that they had with Jack Jones prior to the draft in April. So we all kind of saw this coming that they were interested in him.

I think the things that you look out for on the field with him, other than the fact that he's out there, which is a great sign is the footwork and the fluidity and his hips and his ability to mirror and match receivers basically inside and outside. So I look at him as a type of player that a little bit like Malcolm Butler in his prime, where he was able to take these Z receivers that run routes inside, run routes outside, and are very good, quick, shifty route runners through the break point and stay glued to those guys across the field which is obviously not easy to do and I wouldn't necessarily go out there and put them out

against Gabriel Davis against Buffalo but once you get to the Buffalo he is the type of defensive back and I'm getting a little ahead of myself here but he is the type of defensive back in terms of his playing style that would go up against a Stefan Diggs, right? Somebody that is more of a technician and is just a filthy route runner and not necessarily that big bodied pass catcher in a Gabe Davis mold or Devante Parker mold. So I think that that's the optimism with Jack is that he has that ability to hold up in man coverage and really be able to put the straps on guys. And that's something that the Patriots have always loved at corner, whether it's Malcolm Butler or, you know, go on right down the line, Stefan Gilmore or whoever. So I think they're really

optimistic about what they have in Jack Jones. And if he's somebody that can contribute right away and maybe even have a somewhat full-time role as a rookie, it makes you feel so much better about the defense as a whole, assuming that he plays well in that role, obviously. It makes you feel so much better about the defense as a whole that they hit on one of those draft picks at corner. With Marcus, he's small. I mean, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. He's really, really small. I mean, I'm not going to like sugarcoat it. He's really, really small. And when you see him out there against other NFL players, it really puts into perspective that 5'8 really stands out.

And I think for him, returning is probably going to be the role that he's going to have as a rookie. I think the one area of the roster that he might push on defense is he could potentially push Miles Bryant for the backup nickel spot behind Jonathan Jones as a rookie. So maybe when they play certain teams like Miami, when they have Tyree Kill and Jalen Waddell out there, Marcus Jones could contribute in games like that as a fifth or sixth defensive back. But in terms of defense as a rookie, he's going to have to learn how to play to his size, you know, in the NFL. And I think that that could take some time and take some development. He probably contribute right away as a returner, but I don't necessarily see Marcus contributing right away as a defender,

unless like I said, he pushes Miles Bryant out and he's the backup to Jonathan Jones. Him and Miles Bryant are basically the same size. You know, it's not like he's the backup to Jonathan Jones, him and Miles Bryant are basically the same size. You know, it's not like he's that much smaller than, than Miles Bryant. So if he plays better than Miles Bryant, then I think he's got a good chance there to win that backup nickel spot. But it was great. You mentioned Jonathan Jones. It was great to see Jonathan Jones out there too. You know, not maybe the same level of injury as James White, but the Patriots absolutely need Jonathan Jones to be the old Jonathan Jones this year, especially with all the cornerback departures. So the Joneses, yeah, it's going to be interesting to see. But I think Jack is going to have a chance

to play maybe a little bit sooner than all of us thought. And there is precedent in the Patriots playing younger corners. They're not a team that has always stayed away from that. JC Jackson played a little bit as a rookie. Malcolm Butler obviously played a little bit as a rookie. So there are instances in Bill Belichick's past where he has leaned on rookies, especially when the secondary has been a little bit thin. I go back to even guys like Alfonso dinner, you know, in the 2012, 2011 Patriots, he played, I believe as a rookie or early on in his career too. So I think it is possible that Jack Jones could be contributing year one. Yeah.

One thing that I think everyone needs to remember, and sometimes we all lose sight of that fact is that Bill Belichick is going to do what he feels to be best for the football team. He's not going to worry about appearance. He's not going to worry about, well, this is a rookie. I've got to bring him along. He's going to have a task in mind. And if he feels that a player can be beneficial to him out there on the field, he's going to do it. Obviously there are preferences and how he likes to develop rookies, bring them along. No one's arguing that, but if he sees something in Jack Jones and feels that my team's going to be better by putting this kid out there.

That's exactly what he's going to do. So it will be interesting. And that leads me quite nicely into my final question for you today, my friend. And that is Bill Belichick's role in the development of the other Jones. The Jones that we've been talking about kind of in a periphery all show long, but haven't really honed in on him. And that's Mack. Obviously building on a stellar rookie season last year is something that all Patriots fans hope Mack will be able to make that next leap and already we're seeing signs that he's taken the offseason as a serious step toward doing that. You reported earlier this week that he has been working with Tom House which is

excellent news I think for all Patriots fans that have concerns about his ability to throw the deep ball, arm strength, all of that. Tom is a guru in being able to work with quarterbacks and maximize their potential. He's gotten leaner. We've heard several of his teammates say that. I think Kendrick said earlier this week that he lost the stomach. He's looking, you know, much more like an NFL-ready quarterback. We heard even Max saying that, I wanted to take the weight off first,

now I can put some muscle back on. And the leadership capabilities that this kid is showing is also something that is striking his teammates. But a lot of people are still worried about the coaching and what that is going to do. Is he going to be able to have the relationship with Joe Judge that's going to cultivate and move forward his progress? Or is the loss of Josh McDaniels too heavy to overcome?

It's been argued by me, the defense, that having Bill Belichick out there is something that is going to be beneficial to Mac Jones. And that ultimately is like the safety net that I think the kid is going to need. You wrote something similar this week for CLNS Media. What are your thoughts on Mack and his progression as we head toward 2022? Physically, he's doing all the right things, right? We knew he had to get into better football shape. That was a big one when he was coming in draft, a little bit doughy, a little bit, he got a little bit of a stomach, got to get rid of all those types of things and buy in. I think the biggest thing is in terms of his physical development is it's just great to hear if you're a Patriots fan that he's also getting educated on nutrition and diet and workouts and sleep patterns and all the things that he was

talking about the other day. That is very Brady-like, right? You hear that, that he's trying to get smarter about how he takes care of his body and all these types of things. And that's what you want to hear out of your starting quarterback is that this is a 365-day-a-year commitment for a quarterback to buy into the entire program, not only the football side of it, but the nutrition and the workout side of it as well. So the fact that he's doing all those things, it bodes really well. And with Belichick, Tom Brady himself has gone on numerous platforms.

Man of the Arena, I think, was the biggest one in terms of when he talked about it in the most length about Bill Belichick and his hand in Tom Brady's development as a young quarterback. I think the biggest thing that you see with Belichick and the advantage that you have with somebody like that is when you have this defensive mastermind, you can almost reverse engineer the game plan that the defense that they're going to be facing is going to be throwing at you. So I think in a lot of ways, Bill Belichick acts week to week, like he's the defensive coordinator for the opponent, and he comes up to Mac Jones and he says, they're going to play this coverage, they're going to play that coverage,

they're going to rush this passer, that passer, and they're going to do this, that, and the other thing, and this is how we're going to respond to it. And he helps these guys prepare. And even Cam Newton talked about it, said that he had a magic eight ball, that he just is able to predict the future of how the game is going to unfold and how teams are going to attack you schematically. Brady has also talked a lot about Bill Belichick's Tuesday meetings

with the quarterbacks, their game plan meetings with the head coach where they go and break down film. And if you want to go back and watch one of my favorite Patriot segments of all time is from the 2009 Football Life with Bill Belichick, where Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are in his office breaking down Ed Reed tape together and discussing ways that they can avoid throwing the ball to Ed Reed, essentially, and where he lines up and how he plays and things like that. Those types of in-depth breakdowns, I think, get lost because everybody just assumes that Bill Belichick's working with the defense and the defensive game plan and installing that. I would actually say that over the years, Bill Belichick has probably worked more with the

quarterback than he has worked with the defense. And I think that really does get lost. And I'm not just talking about with Mac Jones, with Brady, with Cam, with all the quarterbacks that have come through New England, you know, Matt Castle in 08, like whatever you want to talk about. I think that Bill Belichick's involvement when he has guys on the defense side of the ball, two coordinators that are veteran coordinators or guys that he trusts on that side, it becomes even more of an emphasis for him to work with the quarterback. I know Dean Peace, who's the Patriots defensive coordinator about a decade ago, longtime DC in the NFL.

He was on a podcast a couple of years ago where he said that he never saw Belichick, that Belichick was always with Brady and he was always with the quarterback. So I think Belichick spends a ton of time with the quarterbacks. Now, with that being said, my biggest concern with the coaching staff has nothing to do with Joe judge and Matt Patricia ruining Mac Jones. I think if you have that take, you are way overblowing what Joe judge and Matt Patricia are going to do to Mac Jones. Like people that think that this is going to be a Baker Mayfield situation or a Daniel Jones situation where Mac is going to completely crumble because Joe judges his quarterbacks coach.

I don't think that that really gives enough credit to Belichick. And I don't really think that gives another enough credit to Mac and his mental toughness and his trust in him and his confidence in his abilities. The concerns that I have with the coaching staff and with the offensive coaching staff in particular is more about the chess match with the other coaching staff, the DC on the other side. I think when they go up against Buffalo, Sean McDermott, Leslie Frazier, two of the best defensive masterminds in football, and now you have Joe Judge and Matt Patricia trying to win the chess match and put the guys in the right

places and adjust on the fly. And I think the biggest thing is that they'll probably miss Josh McDaniels with is those in-game adjustments because McDaniels did a great job of, okay, this is what they did to us in the first half. This is how we're going to come out in the second half. And he was able to just completely flip the script a lot of the times. Once he got a feel for what the team is doing, oh, you're going to run this front, you're going to run this coverage. Well, this is the answer to that. And he was such a great job of knowing where all the answers were all the time.

And I think when you look at guys that are maybe not as brilliant as Josh McDaniels when it comes to calling offensive plays, you have concerns about whether or not they're going to be able to adjust as well as he could on the fly. And those are the two things I think that they'll miss McDaniels with the most is adjustments on the fly, sideline demeanor, sitting down with Matt Jones and going over the still frames on the sideline and talking through things and keeping everybody calm and collected. We'll see what it's like on game day, but in terms of the practice field and all that kind of stuff, they're not going to ruin Mac

Jones, guys. He's going to be fine, but we'll see what happens with the actual schematic chess matches that go on on Sundays. That's the bigger concern. Absolutely. Well said. Very, very well said. Folks, he's Evan Lazar of CLNS Media. He knows the questions. He knows the answers.

Can't add any commentary to that because I wouldn't be doing it any justice. He's absolutely nailed it as usual, my friend, and I do appreciate you taking the time out today to join me here on this weekend episode of Locked On Patriots. Before I let you go and I give you your weekend back, and I promise you I will in just a moment, please let all of our listeners know where they can find you, where they can absorb your great work, and what you have coming in the coming days and weeks from the great pen, the great voice of Evan Lazar.

Yeah, so you can follow me at EZLazar, L-A-Z-A-R, on Twitter and on Patriots Press Pass on YouTube and clnsmedia.com is where you can find all my written work. And we'll be back out there on Tuesday, Mike. I'll see you on Tuesday. So that will be fun. For OTA number two that's open to the media the following week, we got three days of media availability out at minicamp. So this is the best part of the offseason, I guess, is that we actually get out there and are able to watch practice a couple of days and be able to see what's going on

with the Patriots behind the scenes. So clnsmedia.com and Patriots Press Pass, please, once you subscribe here to Locked On Patriots, go over to Patriots Press Pass and subscribe there as well. Thank you, my friend. I really appreciate you saying that. And folks, if you are not following Patriots Press Pass and subscribe there as well thank you my friend i really appreciate you saying that and folks if you are not following patriots press pass and the great work that evan does on

clnsmedia.com definitely be sure to check that out press pass is one of my favorite watches one of my favorite listens uh he and alex do a tremendous job alex marth another good friend of the program i look forward to seeing you guys again on tuesday getting out there and watching this team come together at ota you're right it is one of the best times of year for us because we really get a chance to see from the ground level up what the foundation is going to be for this team and then how they're going to build from here on in so folks thank you so much for tuning in today and making locked on patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Again, smash the subscribe button to YouTube, on YouTube, for Locked On Patriots, and download, subscribe to, and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. I thank my good friend, Evan Lazar of CLNS Media, for joining me here today, lending

his wisdom and counsel the way only he can. But once again, I thank you very much for tuning in and for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Until next time, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, be the change that you wish to see in the world. On behalf of Evan Lazar, I'm Mike DeBate. Have a great weekend, everyone.