Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles Joint Practice: Drake Maye, Jacoby Brissett, O-Line

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

The New England Patriots hosted the Philadelphia Eagles for a joint practice session in advance of their preseason matchup at Gillette Stadium. While Jacoby Brissett, Drake Maye and the Pats offense struggled against a tough Eagles pass rush, their offensive line woes are becoming a major concern. Host Mile D’Abate welcomes Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy to discuss the Patriots problems on offense and a decent showing from the defense. #nfl #patriots Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFm... Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-... And follow host Mike D’Abate on X, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans — @mdabateNFL  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply. eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list! FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

A rough day for the New England Patriots in the first day of joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles. But is it time to hit the panic button yet? Stick around, you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England

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And Pats fans, it was time for the Pats to put on the pads and to welcome an old friend of Foxborough. That's right. Day one, day only of joint practices on the fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium. Philadelphia Eagles will visit Gillette on Thursday for a preseason game, but on Tuesday, the two teams got to look at each other. And of course, with these practices, always lots to learn, always a good opportunity to test yourself against NFL level competition, and even a little chippiness come with the

territory as well. All those things happen on the field on Tuesday, but it was not necessarily a great day for your New England Patriots, especially on offense. And here to help us break it all down today is our good friend, the legend himself, the only man that can lend wisdom, counsel, reason, and truth to the matter, our good friend Thomas Murphy. Thank you for coming to me in friendship, and thank you for helping me break down this only day of joint practices on

murph yeah thank god thank god one day there was a couple of scuffles today you know and uh and uh fortunately we're going to push past this for tomorrow this this always happens see i hate joint practices i think they're ridiculous you know more people end up uh um in the penalty box than than helping themselves it seems like but no some good work got done today you know and um you know the the quarterbacks were out there that that's the story everybody wants to hear and i'm sure you know looking over here that's that's what you'd want to know too yeah absolutely i think that's exactly what our beloved faithful here in foxborough want to know about they want to know too yeah absolutely i think that's exactly what our beloved faithful here in foxborough want to know about they want to know what we think about what happened on the

field especially with the quarterbacks because it's the subject everybody's talking about but you mentioned joint practices and you mentioned the chippiness and a little bit of tempers flaring and things of that nature gerard mayo said early on when these were first conceptualized back before even the schedule came out for the 2024 season, that he wanted to limit them to one day as opposed to two or even three. He said by the second day, the third day, these guys are really getting on each other's nerves and it becomes counterproductive. And I think the Patriots made the right move here in limiting this to one day, because I think a little more and there would have been some chippiness out there on the field. But you also mentioned the good things that happened we're going to get to those

folks in just a little bit but as Jerry Seinfeld would say let's start with the bad stuff let's rip it off like a band-aid one motion right off and that's what we're going to do right now all things began pretty well for the Patriots on Tuesday when they took the field, especially for the quarterbacks. Drake May starting 10 of 10, not one incompletion. Jacoby Brissett, I had a 10 of 11 after one 7 on 7 and one 11 on 11 period. All things clicking on all cylinders for the New England Patriots, and they were starting to look like an offense that might be able to surprise some people this year. Well, then, Murph, as they say in the business,

the Pats offense got a heavy dose of reality. Welcome to the red zone. Absolutely. And the Patriots had some of their biggest struggles in the red zone. Patriots receivers struggling to get separation because of that. Receptions dropping. The Pats running game couldn't find any rhythm. This is a very good Philadelphia defensive front,

and that pass rush provided a lot of problems for this Patriots O-line Murph I don't want to steal your thunder when it comes to the O-line I know this is a subject that's really going to stick in your craw and I know you want to get a lot off your chest here so let's start with the tough day for the quarterbacks especially Drake May because everybody's been clamoring to see more of Drake. We saw some of Caleb Williams in his debut for the first preseason game. We saw some of Jaden Daniels, even JJ McCarthy, who now unfortunately due to a torn meniscus is going to miss some time, but these guys got an opportunity to showcase what they could do on multiple series.

Not so much the Patriots with Drake May May put him out there for a series, yanked him back, and for reasons we've talked about that we do understand. But bottom line, Drake had an opportunity to try to showcase a little bit today. And after a hot start, things really started to unravel pretty quickly for the rookie. In his last nine dropbacks, Drake was sacked six times

to end this practice. Let's start with Drake because we'll get into Jacoby in just a minute. But when you look at Drake's mechanics, when you look at his footwork, everything you saw out there on the field today, how much of the blame pie deserves to be placed on him? How much on coaching? How much on the unit around him? I'm going to put 25% on him.

I'm going to put the rest on the unit around him. And, you know, give me 10% on coaching. around them. I'm going to put 25% on him. I'm going to put the rest on the unit around him. And, you know, give me 10% on coaching. All right. Just 10% because they could only show you so many times and then you've got to be able to pick it up. All right. As a coach, metaphorically, you beat it into them and beat it into them. And it's up to them to stop falling back into old habits, you know,

taking the easy way out. All right. This worked for me before it's going to work for me now. It's not going to work for you now. You're starting to understand that Drake May has not spent a lot of time under center. Okay. It does not look good under center. He looks a lot better out of the shotgun than he does under center. And but like Mike said, you know, early on, seven on sevens, it was pretty good. And but this line is just god awful. You know, the Darien Lowe. Come on. Come on.

All right. The Darien Lowe is Drake May's starting left tackle. People, I haven't seen anything else that's going to say anything different. And this can happen. This kid's going to get killed. And I'm telling you right now. Actually, I told you last week that they're not scared of getting Drake May killed out there. They're scared of any injury happening to any one of the frontline starters on this offensive line because there's nothing after it. Nothing. Yeah. You're seeing a lot of struggles

on the old line. And again, it's so tough to criticize what Drake may did today, or even Jacoby Brissett for that matter, without criticizing the offensive line. And again, I know we're going to spend some time on the line because there really is a lot to dissect there. But when it comes to Drake, you also take a look at a lot of the tough luck that he had around him as well. Tyquan Thornton, K.J. Osborne could not get free. They could not get separation. As a whole, this team is struggling to get that type of separation

that especially a young quarterback needs. And that last two minute drill that Drake May ran three sacks and incompletion, um, for sets offense had a really bad finish. You saw penalties, you had sacks and interception. Uh, these are all issues that I think really, um, outline a lot of the problems that this team has, but they couldn't get anything going they couldn't get the running game going because that Philadelphia front is so devastating and so difficult to maneuver around uh they're going to face some very good defensive fronts this year so that's something Patriots fans absolutely have to monitor Jacoby and a couple of 11 on 11s had difficulty he was erratic today he even slipped on a bootleg for that really gave him one stack. And his downfield accuracy was just trash today. It was

god-awful. The offense really just got it handed to them in the latter part of this practice, and it is a concern for everyone. I'm going to give it up to one player though, and this will make Claire happy. Austin Hooper looked amazing. He looked great. Austin looked very good. Austin Hooper looked amazing today. Especially with the absence of Hunter Henry out there. Claire, I'm speaking directly to you now, but I'm also speaking to a lot of us out there. One of the big questions that we asked Gerard Mayo before the Patriots took the field, how's Hunter doing?

He did mention that he wouldn't be out there today, but did advise that he doesn't expect this to be a long-term injury. So hopefully we'll get him back in due time. Hunter will be back out there, I'm sure, for the start of the season. Probably won't see him Thursday either. Yeah, I don't think so. And at this point, maybe you won't even see him in the Commanders game. Again, just a very, very tough day for the Pats. And yeah, the Patriots got some work to do offensively. They really do. You know, games are going to come up quick now. now you know we're staring at the midway

point of of august and before you know it things are gonna get real and this offensive line um even the the starters um do not look fantastic uh and in the back of cod can can somebody just do something with antoni, please, please. Yeah. I mean, I will, I will, I will, I will go down on the backfield with you son and work forever, forever, for as long as you want, you know, just, just, it's, it's, it's scary. It's scary. He's not, it's, it's, you know, Wolf has been in this job less than five months. And I'm really, I'm wondering what the hell Robert Kraft was thinking.

To ignore this offensive line in the way that he has and what he's going to put a young franchise quarterback out there behind and continue to not do anything while we're talking about bringing in number one wide receivers and paying them 35 million dollars a year is is just confounding it really is you know you need to make this deal for for some offensive line depth and you need to do it quick yeah And we saw a lot of that circulating on social media as these practices were unfolding. And as these details were coming in from the beat writers present on the scene and everybody's saying, Oh, how could you ignore the offensive line? How could you ignore and leave this on the cutting room floor?

Murph, these are things that you've been saying on these airwaves really since the draft and even before the draft and free agency. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot that really needed to be done to this line and it just quite simply wasn't done that way. I know a lot of fans were excited about getting the big play receiver in here.

And believe me, that's a big part of what the Patriots are lacking, but you saw that lack of offensive line depth and talent really rear its ugly head at one of the worst possible times because as much as we may either like or dislike joint practices they do bring to the surface a lot of underlying problems that aren't necessarily brought to the forefront when you're watching this team practice against each other when you've got them against live competition and against unfamiliar competition.

It's going to show this Philadelphia front seven really, I think, teed off and had a very easy time getting to the quarterbacks, confusing them and making things difficult in all aspects. And folks, we're going to continue our discussion because a lot of that had to do with poor play along the offensive line. How big of a problem is this? Should the panic button be pressed? And is there a way out?

Folks, we're going to talk about that 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. Locked On listeners, passion, drive, and patience is what brings home that winning trophy you know what it's also what keeps your ride or die alive our good friends over at ebay motors have everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance from superchargers to roof racks to exhaust kits, LED headlights, and so much

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Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots, and we hope that you've made us your first listen each and every day. We encourage you to make your second listen. Our good friends over at Locked On Fantasy Football. The Locked On Fantasy Football podcast helps you get daily insight into the best fantasy draft strategies

so you can win your league this season. Locked On Fantasy Football is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day, just like yours truly here on Locked On Patriots. And today, we're breaking down day one and day only of joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles on the practice fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium.

And of course, the only man who can lend the wisdom, the counsel, and the truth. And boy, I'll tell you folks, whether we can handle it or not, he is our Colonel Jessup today. truth and boy i'll tell you folks whether we can handle it or not he is our colonel jessup today our good friend the legend himself the kind of murphy fisto a legendary thomas murphy but in the previous segment we talked a lot about drake mayne we talked a little bit about jacoby brissett some of the difficulties had by the quarterbacks uh running game couldn't get going today because of its strong philadelphia front seven really had some difficulty with the pass catchers getting open, finding separation. Quarterbacks definitely need some work.

But if we're handing out a reverse game ball, if we're handing out the largest slice here by saying the offensive line was really the key reason why so much of these problems on offense continue to rear their ugly head. Murph, I just wanted to read a couple of different stats to you before we get going. Drake May, in his last nine dropbacks, Drake was sacked six times. Quarterbacks on a whole were sacked on 11 of their 48 dropbacks in team periods today that's about 23 percent of the times that the Patriots quarterbacks dropped back they were essentially sacked now I know in joint practices and in training camp they're not hitting at full speed but this is not good much like professor turgeson in back to school you look at offensive line play and you

hold it sacred. You know, the way a Christian takes the Bible and they hold it sacred. The way some people hold their marriage sacred. That's how he feels about it, folks. So, Bud, I'm going to ask you to dive right in and I'm going to ask you to tell me why, in your terms, the offensive line is struggling so mightily here in 2024. There's right-hand brain people playing a left-handed brain position, and there's left-handed brain people playing a right-brain position. You can't just flip-flop these guys around and expect them to be able to know what to do. Like I said before, you can drill it into them. You can beat it into them. You can beat it into them,

but their brain is going to react the way it has in the past. And we have right tackles over at left tackle. We have right guards over at left guard. We've got centers that have no reason at all to be squatting there in front of a football,, their, their bodies don't know how to react to what their brain is telling them or their brain is not reacting in the right way. Everybody's footwork is off and slow. These guys look old and they're not. Um, I don't want to, this, this definitely goes to, um, to attitude, embracing your new position, and really going out there and wanting it. Because every time a ball was snapped today, I saw indecision, indecisiveness,

and downright clumsy footwork on the part of this Patriots offensive line. And granted, the Eagles have one of the better defensive line units in the NFL. But, I mean, we're not talking about the 86 Bears here. All right? It's a good group. It's a great group. You know, they're all pros all over.

But you've got to do better than this. You've got to do better than this. You've got to do better than this. Or some people who have been, you know, screaming for Joe Milton might get him week two. Because the first two options are in the hospital. Yeah, I mean, obviously no one wants to see anyone injured. And that is a legitimate concern. I think you're bringing up a very good point. If there is a situation where these guys are missing assignments, missing blocks, and they're not able to do their job properly because of either improper mechanics or inability

to play the position, you run the risk of injuring these guys, whether they're a veteran like Jacoby Brissett or whether they're a young signal caller like Drake May who's still learning the pro game and still has a lot to learn in the pro game if he's given if he's thrown out there without the proper protection it could be disastrous and you can't run the ball you know and and these these um running backs are not blocking running backs and that's becoming very evident I'm going to ask you to expound on that in just a moment because I think that's a really key element as to why the Patriots struggled so mightily again on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Eagles is that they had difficulty with the running game. When you look at the blocking that needs to

be done by the runners and especially the blocking that needs to be done by the fellow linemen when you're looking to block for the running game, Did you anticipate these types of problems as well for this offensive line? I did, but not this late, not this late in camp. You know, they, they should have had these things ironed out by now. Your, your pull should be there. Your, um, you know, your assignment should be there. You should know the, the block that you're about to make, because in this, in this system, um, the block that you're making as a guard or a tackle on the run side is predicated by what you're seeing in front of you. And these guys aren't seeing the whole field. It's, it's almost like tunnel vision. So yeah, that's, that's, that's part of the problem. Another part of the problem is the fact that the running backs themselves

have not been patient in waiting for that hole to open up and following that block and then getting through it. That's just my very unhumble opinion. This is twofold. It's not just the blockers, but the running backs simply are not doing their job as well as they could possibly do it either. And another good point, and another very sobering point when it comes to this offensive line and the depths of the problems

that they're having right now. That kind of leads me quite nicely into my final question for you on the subject. But before we try to salvage some of the good that the Patriots did on the field today, when you look at the offensive line, you look at the struggles on the inside, you look at obviously the struggles on the outside. The tackle position right now is a nightmare that really needs to be solved. If you're Scott Peters, if you're Alex Van Pelt, you're Gerard Mayo, you're Elliot Wolfe, all of these guys need to get in a room together and talk about the difficulties that they're having. Can this be fixed in the time that the Patriots need it?

Where do you look now to try to gain some traction? Is this all internal or should they be picking up the phone, looking at the wire and trying to make something happen externally? They should definitely be looking at the wire and trying to make something happen externally. They should, they should definitely be looking at the wire. There should be somebody there on the wire constantly, you know, 24 hours a day, three, uh, 365 days a year, there should be somebody on the wire for this Patriots team. But, you know, also, you know, like I've been saying, DJ Humphries is still out there. Donovan Smith is still out there. These are left tackles. OK, these guys are our season left tackles. They're not pro bowlers, but it's better than what you have on the field right now. All right. Admit that you made the mistake. If you were saving money to get a number one wide receiver, well, you were stupid. OK, and now you're backed

into a corner and you have to make one of these moves because these guys cannot get the job done i think you're seeing that out on the field right now that the patriots do have some talented players along the offensive line players that aren't ready to grow into that talent yet that are still a work in progress someone like caden wallace can be a very solid right tackle in this league-round pick to come in and do this. It's not that easy. The jump that they're making from college to pro has never been bigger. And that's why you see all these teams holding on to their offensive linemen like the Bible.

Like they're sitting in Tergesen's class and they're just embracing them. They keep them at home because you can't find these guys everywhere. And what you're doing now is you're asking a third round pick to come in here and start for you. He got picked in the third round, folks. All right. It's difficult for first round lineman top 10 picks at the offensive tackle position to come in and be great. You know, I told you what you should have done before the draft. All right. I told you what you should have done in free agency. You ignored both and you went with the flashy I'm going to sell jerseys attitude. You needed to fix this line. You did nothing to do it, but put band-aids over it and, and pray. That's it.

Cause that's what, that's what these draft picks were this year. A prayer. You were just praying that they were going to work out and they're not, not, not as quickly as, as you, you, as Elliot Wolf thought they would, or his brain trust. Okay. You know, you need to, you need to start trusting other people. Yeah. as Elliot Wolfe thought they would, or his brain trust. You need to start trusting other people. And again, to compound that problem, you're looking at a very young quarterback,

a developmental quarterback, a quarterback with a tremendous ceiling, but a quarterback that still needs an awful lot of work, footwork, mechanics, all of this needs work, folks. And you're not going to be able to give this kid the time he needs to round into form and give him an offensive line like this and expect it to work out you're not dealing with a seasoned veteran if you've got tom brady under center he can mask a lot of these problems because he knows he anticipates at the line of scrimmage he probably knew what was going to happen before most of the linemen in front of him. Now, that's not to say I'm not disparaging those linemen. He played with some very, very good ones.

But Tom Brady had an ability to be able to see the field better than anyone I've ever covered or I've ever seen. You don't have that in Drake May right now. And it's going to be a couple of years before you have that. If you're going to try to cultivate his talent, you need to put a solid line in front of him. It's not going to happen in a camp. Exactly. It's not going to happen in one camp.

It's just not. He's not going to learn it. That's why I said you're probably not going to see him until week nine. I thought if it was me, he would sit until the bye week. Have the bye week backing up his first start there in Indianapolis. We said it before. We said it leading up to the draft. All three of these kids, you know, had me nervous. All right. Jaden Daniels had me nervous.

You know, Drake May has me nervous. You know, even Caleb Williams had me nervous as to how high these guys were going and to how long that they were going to have to sit and wait. Now, Caleb Williams has looked fantastic so far, you know, and, and, but, but this kid has not played a ton of football. He's definitely not played in a pro style system and it's going to take time and everybody is being impatient with him. The team keeps talking about whether or not they have the weapons to succeed. Okay, you need somebody to load those weapons, and you don't have that yet. You just don't. You're absolutely right. You don't have those guys that are sitting there loading those weapons,

and that's your offensive line. And this is where Elliot Wolf screwed up. I'm going to continue to say he screwed up even when hopefully two years from now, we're talking about why didn't, why isn't Drake May in the Pro Bowl? And there are, there are signs of this kid's ability to be a top flight quarterback. He dropped an absolute gem of a pass into Javon Baker with the second unit early on in the day.

And you're looking at that and you're going, that's it. That was seven on seven. It was. But at the same time, it was a beautiful throw. It was a nice play. It was a great play by Javon Baker to go and make that catch. It gives you optimism. All seven guys are still covered.

And he did a fine job. Exactly. And you look at that and you say, okay, there are seedlings. That's what you can build on. There is the technique. There is the ability. Now let's go in and now let's help with the mechanics. Now let's help with the footwork so he can do it in an 11-on-11 setting.

This is it. Just sit him there and get him into his drills and make this second nature for him. He didn't have that in college. The guys that he had there at North Carolina just, you know, let him go out there and win football games in his way. And his way isn't going to work here because you've got to be under center to run this offense. So either you screwed up bringing in an offensive coordinator,

which some people say was the last man picked. You know, once again, just like Wolf did during the draft, he got the last guy in each run. We've talked about it before, and here I am sitting there ranting again. But you guys know me. This is what I'm going to do. You know, I do. I hold this team sacred. And I think that, you know, the way they're going about building it is, has been completely misguided. Yeah. I'm going to reserve judgment when it comes to, you know, whether or

not these picks or the picks around him were egregious or whatnot. Let's see how the puzzle gets put together. But at the same time, you can't ignore or turn a blind eye to the lack of attention that they paid to the offensive line and the price they're potentially ready to pay because of it that would make us as culpable as them fix it exactly you're absolutely right and i'm so glad that was perfectly said if the patriots are indeed going to have that type of culpability put on their shoulders for not addressing the line the way they should have this team is going to suffer as a result and And I think that's something that New England right now needs to be very mindful of. So bottom line, folks, we'll see what the Patriots look like.

Can they right the ship? Was this a bad day or was this simply a harbinger of a lot of bad things to come? Bottom line, Murph, you know we like to end on a high note. And today's practice wasn't exactly a shining example of ways that you can try to end on a high note and today's practice wasn't exactly a shining example of ways that you can try to end on a high note but there were some defensive gems that i think we can go to and i think we can point to as things the patriots can build on including a little attitude from jabril peppers that honestly bud i kind of liked folks we're going to talk about what the good was for the new england patriots on the defensive side the ball. And we might even get Murph's early look at what may happen in this game coming up

on Thursday against the Philadelphia Eagles when this episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Lockdown listeners, when you're hiring for your small business, you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs has the tools to help find the right professionals for your team to help you do it faster. Here's the best part, folks.

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That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots, breaking down a joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles on the practice field adjacent to Gillette Stadium on Tuesday. Patriots welcome the Eagles again on Thursday for preseason game number two, 7 p.m. kickoff at Gillette Stadium. And it hasn't all been pretty.

We've sounded like doom and gloom today. There's no sugarcoating it. It was a rough day for the offense, a rough day for the quarterbacks, bad day for the receivers, tough day for the running backs, a dreadful day for the offensive line. The only positional group that really kind of balled out on Tuesday was the tight ends. Claire was loving it.

Austin Hooper stepping up big time in Hunter Henry's absence. And Mitchell Wilcox even making a couple of nice catches. But bottom line, Murph, if we want silver linings, we're going to have to look to the defense. And I think that's a common theme. I think that's what's going to happen this year as a whole. I would say a decent day for the Patriots defense. Did have some problems containing Saquon Barkley in terms of the running game AJ Brown did what AJ Brown does he had 10 catches on the day wow

although I do like Jabril Peppers pointing out that if the defensive backs could hit at full strength yeah not all of those would have been catches um I do like the defensive backs kind of showing a little bit of that i know it's bulletin board material i know eagles fans are probably saying it sounds like sour grapes considering how the patriots played but you need that attitude in the defensive backfield to succeed so i'm all for it jabril go for it continue to give that if you can't if you can't if you can't slow j uh aj brown down you know you're not going to stop him. And they can't. The way this is set up, they can't really get at him. And so, no. Well done, Mr. Peppers.

Absolutely. And look, there's no question about it. I don't think there's any disparaging when it comes to AJ Brown. He is very good at what he does, folks. And he had some nice things to say about Christian Gonzalez, who had a pretty up and down-down day, but overall a solid day in being able to defend him. He said that last year he felt he was one of the best defensive backs in the league and stood by that and said he had a very good day today. So there are things to build on when it comes to the New England Patriots

in the secondary, in the front seven. Patriots got a nice little boost. It was great to see christian barmore out there today in street clothes obviously folks we don't know if he's anywhere even close to being considering a return to the field after being diagnosed with blood clots but just seeing him out there was great for the patriots and you know guys like devon godchild were really kind of playing at a heightened level uh you know, to try to make their teammate proud. And really, I think, try to prove that this Patriots defense is still formidable in the front, even without someone like Christian there.

What were your thoughts on the defense, Murph? Is that enough of a silver lining for the Patriots to say, yeah, you know what? Not all bad today. I thought Gonzalez was excellent. He won two of five of his one-on-one matchups today. I thought he played really well. And that was in the middle of the field in one-on-ones. And that's really difficult for a defensive back.

It's really difficult. Very good point. And I thought he stepped up really well today. I'm sure he heard a lot of the things that have been said by some of the media around that he's kind of regressed this year uh he's coming off an injury and trying to get used to his own body and trying to understand even though i know it wasn't a knee injury or a leg injury or something like that um you still have to get acclimated and know what's okay you know yes i can go and do this yes i can stretch it to this, this point. And

he's getting there. He's building up. He was one of the best defensive backs in the NFL last year, not just, uh, rookies, but, uh, all of them. And I fully expect him to ball out this season. Um, and the, and Godshaw was just amazing. You know, the, the defensive front line was really, really good. We talked about the Eagles' defensive line in the last segment. This offensive line is no joke. It really isn't. They built this team really, really well. They went out.

They've spent money on the offensive line. They've spent draft capital on the offensive line. These guys have played together for a long time now, and they're one of the better units in the NFC, if not in the league. And I thought Godchow and the defensive line did really well. Godchow had a sack today, a couple of run stuffs, and he's just balling out.

You know, this is why i said at the beginning that you should have um you should have signed him first i'm glad they got him signed in there somewhere now let's just go take care of judan because as much as i want to tout this defensive line we're still really weak on the edge in my opinion and And they need to get Judon in there, especially with the other injuries and illnesses that they're dealing with now and are going to be dealing with during the season. I'm so glad you mentioned Judon because I thought a very good day for him to chasing down some of the Eagles ball carriers, chasing down some of the other receivers, and really getting after guys up front and putting notable pressure on that front.

That's what you love to see with Matthew Judon. Now, I know for the next couple of days, the trade rumors are going to continue to swirl around him. We saw several outlets reporting that maybe they're trying to shop him quietly. Maybe he's going to end up playing on that one-year deal. I agree with you. I do not think that the Patriots can afford to deal him quietly. Maybe he's going to end up playing on that one-year deal. I agree with you. I do not think that the Patriots can afford to deal him right now. It's too important to what they do.

This team needs a solid defense to remain in games. So keep him here. I would love to see them work out a deal with him and keep him here longer than one year. But if it's just going to be for the year and he's vowed to play on it, folks, I don't think the patriots can afford to jettison him when he brings to the table is too important to ship him elsewhere now and try to uh you know maybe recoup a little bit unless the deal they get in return

three years 50 million 38 guaranteed come on get it done get it absolutely got the money you've got the room just get it done that's. Murph has got the concept. You want the intricate details, folks. Put a call into Miguel. He'll work all the details out. Sign it. Dotted line. Matthew's happy.

The Patriots are happy. The fans are loving it. To me, it does so much for the morale of this team. So I would love to see Matthew back, but I thought he had a solid day. I want to give a tip of the cap to o'shane jimenez who continues to surprise people here murph he's been one of the unsung heroes yeah of this camp you know coming here from the new york giants a guy that didn't have a whole lot of light on him but he's been a solid presence in this front seven especially when it comes to putting pressure on the passer

i love what i've seen from him uh he could end up being a dark horse candidate for a roster spot, folks. So remember the name because O'Shane, I think, has been very, very good. Look for him to be a factor in this game on Thursday night. And again, Murph, I think that leads us perfectly to my final question for you today. When you take an early look now at Pat's Eagles this coming Thursday, offensively, defensively, defensively. What are your must-haves for Murph? I'm not going to ask you for Monster Keys just yet because it's too early for that, but I am going to ask you, what are your Murph's must-haves

in order for the Patriots to keep this one close on Thursday night? Establish the run early. Let this offensive line get their feet underneath them and establish the run early. I want to see a lot of stuff up the middle where this team is at its strongest and then work off a play action there. I want to see more of May than we got in week one, obviously. I would like to see him get at least three or four drives and then see what happens with Zappy and Mr. Milton in the second half.

But the first half should belong to the top two dogs, and we all know who they are. Get the run going. Use your tight ends and see what's going to go from there. There is not a lot of top-end speed on this team, and that's why people keep jumping on my back about the Slim Reaper. But I'd like to see him get some more run this week and see if he can stretch this field a little bit and open things up underneath. Yeah, I don't think anyone questions his speed.

There's no question about it. It's a little bit of the physicality and whether or not he can hold up and be a solid receiver and use the sure hands that we wanted him to have that it seems like he struggled with in order to be able to earn a roster spot on this team. and use the sure hands that we wanted him to have, that it seems like he struggled with, in order to be able to earn a roster spot on this team. If he can prove that, I agree with you. I think his top-end speed is something the Patriots do need in order to be able to succeed. But bottom line, I think it really does begin and end

with the play of the offensive line, whether or not these quarterbacks are going to have time to find these receivers, whether or not they can hit their routes, whether or not they can separate from their defenders. If all these click into place, Murph, yeah, you might see an improved offensive unit and maybe a lot of what we've talked about today might be panic. But if you don't, you're going to see more of the same on Thursday night.

And that's when Patriots fans, I think, will really start to worry about the type of product you're going to see on the field this year for your New England Patriots. But we live in hope, Murph. Hopefully, Gerard Mayo and the Patriots brain trust, they can right the ship in time for kickoff against the Philadelphia Eagles, 7 p.m. this Thursday, Gillette Stadium. Bud, we always appreciate your wisdom, your counsel, your insight when it comes to this team. And you definitely didn't let us down in your insight on training camp. Before I let you go, floor is yours. Where can fans reach out to you, interact with you?

What you got cooking in Murph's kitchen until the next time you join us here on the Airwaves, buddy? Stop by over on Zitter and chat me up at TeamMurph207. I can answer any of your questions there. I never ignore anyone. And always looking forward to being back here with you, Mike. Other than that, man, I'm just Ferris Bueller-ing it. I'm taking a day off.

Absolutely, Bud. And you know what? A well-deserved day off. Bud, thank you for all of the contributions you make to this show. I'm happy to be here. Can't wait to have you back next time. And folks, we appreciate each and every one of you. Do not worry. The mailbag is still in full effect.

They're filled to the brim with amazing questions. And later on in the week, Murph is going to join us once again here. We're going to sift through the mailbag and we're going to go through all of your amazing questions. We could literally do five straight shows of nothing but questions. We could fill the entire week, but we've got other things that we have to contractually get out of the way. Absolutely. we have to contractually get out of the way. Absolutely, absolutely. And with the second preseason game about to be in the books and the Patriots lining up for their final and just a little under a month until kickoff for the 2024 season,

you can bet that we're going to be delving into those mailbags and quite a few mailbags in your future here as everydayers on Locked On Patriots. So stay locked in. You're not going to want to miss a single second of the action. In the meantime, I'm Mike DeBate. And on behalf of my good friend, the Count of Murphy, Fisto himself, a legendary Thomas Murphy, I encourage all of you to continue to stay safe and to stay well and 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 Locked on Patriots.