Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Playoff Hopes Still Alive? Moving On From Cincinnati, Mac Jones, Marcus Jones and More

Starting point is 00:00:00 just when you thought they were out, they pull you back in. Can the New England Patriots still make the playoffs after a 22-18 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Christmas Eve? Stick around. You're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every day. New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every

Starting point is 00:00:26 day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. Thank you once again for joining us here on Locked On Patriots, making us 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, so please be sure to smash that subscribe button. Download, subscribe to follow Locked on Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. I'm your host, Mike DeBate.

Starting point is 00:01:11 I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. Feel free to reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind. Send me some holiday cheer on Twitter at MDABATENFL. And also, while you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. That's fans. At 7 and 8, your New England Patriots are still alive in the playoff hunt.

Starting point is 00:01:39 And thanks to a key loss on Christmas Day, they might have a little bit of a leg up on the competition. But that still does not change the fact that Saturday's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, 22-18, at Gillette Stadium on Christmas Eve, was a bit of a heartbreaker. And, of course, it's Monday. You're monster mad. You're monster excited. You're monster happy to have the day off. Some of you, we have the legendary wisdom and counsel of the

Starting point is 00:02:05 connor murphy fisto himself columnist extraordinaire really gentleman extraordinaire from e2g sports.com the legendary thomas murphy joins me today and murph the new england patriots just can't seem to either go away or they can't seem to get themselves into gear they've been kind of languishing in limbo all year long. I think that's really a perfect way to describe their performance on Saturday against the Bengals. Yeah, this team just doesn't know how to win. There's not enough experience there.

Starting point is 00:02:36 There's not enough winning experience on this team to push them forward and get these close wins that have eluded them as opposed to the 11 one-score wins that Minnesota has eked out this season and made them look like an upper echelon team. What is scaring you people in the red zone? What? What is it? What scares you?

Starting point is 00:03:09 Why are you gripping the ball a little too tight? Why are you clenching your toes every time you get inside the 20 to keep making these stupid, stupid mistakes that seem to plague this team week in and week out? Yeah, I completely agreed. And it really has become, I think, a real microcosm for the way this season has gone. If you take a look at the way the game went on Saturday, it really does explain an awful lot. Starting slow, sputtering, not a lot of rhythm, not a lot of rhyme. The middle part gets there, and then all of a sudden you start to see flashes of this team

Starting point is 00:03:46 and what they can do when they're locked in. Unintended, folks. But at the end, it just seems like they can't do what they need to do to win, and that may be where we're headed, folks, eventually. Murph and I are going to discuss the Patriots' playoff hopes in just a moment here on Locked On Patriots, but we want to give Saturday's game its just due. And let's start on the offensive side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:04:08 Right. And we'll start with the usual suspect. We're going to start with Mac Jones. Woeful first half performance. Right. You know, I don't think anybody is going to give Mac any gold stars for effort or anything like that. Your quarterback needs to be better in a big game, and he was not in that first half.

Starting point is 00:04:22 But you look at the final stat line 21 to 33 240 yards two touchdowns this is what he was able to do mostly in the second half right and taking the controversial dirty play out of this and folks we're going to discuss that one i'm going to sprinkle that in a moment too but i thought max showed better poise i thought he showed better presence i thought he adjusted to the collapsible pocket a little bit better and did prove that when he hauls it up there, he can complete a deep pass. He's not going to throw the length of the field folks, but he can get the ball down field.

Starting point is 00:04:53 But ultimately I think a referendum on Mac right now is that even with the difficulties he's had, the Patriots scoring troubles run much deeper than their quarterback occasionally missing an open receiver. What say you, my friend? I'm right on the same page with you, not trying to just piggyback or anything, but it was definitely a tale of two halves on the offensive, and we'll get to it on the defensive side of the ball also. Mack came out in the first half hesitant and unable to step up in the pocket again and make his throws.

Starting point is 00:05:29 His reads were rushed up. And this all contributed to a terrible first half on offense for the New England Patriots. It really did. You saw in the second half what he was able to do with a little bit of time, what he was able to do when he got in a rhythm with Kendrick Bourne where the hell's that been all year maddie huh huh you know i aired my festivus grievances for sports illustrated on the night before this game and that was my grievance where has kendrick bourne been let's see more bourne i wanted more of a bourne identity on this team yeah folks i'm full of them.

Starting point is 00:06:05 Their dad jokes are going to be coming today. It's just, it comes with the holidays. I apologize. Born ultimatum was thrown out there on Sunday. That born supremacy was there when, when he scored that touchdown, I tweeted it out. I screamed it out. I've been asking for this all year and it has, it goes all the way back to the preseason where Kendrick Bourne got on the wrong side of Matt Patricia. And Matt Patricia has basically benched him and frozen him out of this offense for at least the first eight games of this season.

Starting point is 00:06:41 He's coming on more now. Yes, I understand that earlier in the season, he had problems with alignment, and there was a couple of false starts, but those are the times that you swallow your pride. When you have a man that is this talented, that can do the things that he does with a football in his hands, and this was the same problem that he had in San Francisco. I still don't understand. It has to be. It has to be personality. There has to be something that rubs coaches the wrong way, because it's definitely not players,

Starting point is 00:07:24 but rubs some coaches the wrong way, cause it's definitely not players, but rub some coaches the wrong way about Kendrick Bourne. Now there are some coaches that embrace this kind of a player. Um, I am one of those coaches, um, you know, somebody that, that, that wants to win so badly that they can't resist speaking out or fighting back or saying something that is going to piss some coaches off i'm not one of those coaches it's obvious that matt patricia is one of those coaches and he's taking it out on this ball player and it's hurt this ball team all year long yeah you have to realize and you have to really um be disheartened by the fact that punitive reasons keeping kendrick off the field appear to be it because there is a great synergy between he and Mac Jones.

Starting point is 00:08:08 Not just that, but his dual threat ability adds such a dimension to what the New England Patriots do offensively. That 29-yard jet sweep that he had, first offensive snap of the second quarter. Longest run from scrimmage. Exactly. I mean, this guy, we've even seen him drop back and throw a touchdown pass yeah i mean this kid can it can do a lot of different things we were comparing him to that swiss army type um threat that really i think kind of has gone to marcus jones and we'll

Starting point is 00:08:37 get to jones in another segment um another brilliant performance for the rookie he's making us look really good right how is he not a Pro Bowl player? Sorry to jump ahead, but please. Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. No, it's true. And we are going to be talking about that in just a moment.

Starting point is 00:08:56 I wouldn't be doing my job unless I got your thoughts on this. Obviously, you know, Max coming under some fire for the fourth quarter slide block in front of Eli Apple. Obviously, Eli's going on the media tour and trying to put that out there. Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk, reporting on Monday morning that the league is actually investigating this play now, that suspension is on the table, although Florio's report does say he believes suspension is highly unlikely. Not happening. But in your estimation, you've seen the replay. I'm sure you probably saw it live.

Starting point is 00:09:29 You've even seen these things happen. Was this a dirty play on Max Park? I don't believe so. I mean, I'm somebody that has watched Rob Gronkowski get knees be doved at for, you know, over a decade here, whether he was a part of the play or not, and no flags called whatsoever. If anything, this is, this is a, a bit of a payback for how coddled quarterbacks are now.

Starting point is 00:10:01 And the fact that you can't hit them at all. And for him to be out there you still had apple still had a had a chance to to you know help that play and he took him out i don't think it was it was a particularly uh egregious uh attempt to try to hurt somebody i thought he was trying to throw a block and it was the only way that he was going to be able to do it a week ago you guys, everybody on the planet is screaming, why didn't you take out Chandler Jones' knees and get him down? And this week, he goes out and he does that to somebody, and here we are. He's a dirty player.

Starting point is 00:10:38 He grabbed somebody's ankle a year ago. Now look at what he's diving at people's knees. You can't have it both ways, people. You can't scream at the man to, you know, to do these things one week and then scream at him for doing them the next. Yeah. Well, I mean, you can basically tell the usual suspects that are hopping on this train, folks. I'm not going to name any names, but just check social media. You'll see who's piling on the Patriots' hatred here. Those with what I like to call

Starting point is 00:11:07 haterade and bile flowing through their veins for this team are going to point the finger, and they're going to point the accusatory responses at Mac Jones. The people who've made their living pointing their finger at anything that the Patriots do. The only reason they have

Starting point is 00:11:23 positions where they do is because they've been doing this. And it's the same people. It's the same people. It's a low hit. There's no question about it. So I do expect a fine to come out of this. I absolutely would be shocked if there would be a suspension here.

Starting point is 00:11:36 But in my estimation, the first time I saw it, and even when I first saw the replay, it looked to me like what Mack was doing was trying to throw a slide block, maybe a little bit lower than he should. I'll definitely acknowledge that. But I think his intention was more a slide block to try to prevent Apple from getting the Taekwon Thornton, who at that point is really the only guy on the field with the speed that could have caught, you know, the runner at that point. You know, maybe I'm making excuses here, folks. If I am, please let

Starting point is 00:12:04 me know. I definitely understand, you know, the vitriol here folks if i am please let me know i definitely understand uh you know the the vitriol that's thrown i would probably feel differently if it was thrown against my team but i've seen enough of mac over the course of the last couple of years that i don't believe this kid is dirty or nefarious in any circumstance if it's a coaching thing or if it's a heads-up thing uh that needs to be on the coaches. That needs to be on Mac's shoulders. But before anybody starts thinking nefariously about this, think twice. Take a look at what really happened on the play, and I think you'll see a clearer picture.

Starting point is 00:12:34 Let's not make Mac Jones out to be Brian Dawkins, okay? You know? Come on. It really is. It really, really is. But uh murph the patriots always seem to find themselves in the crosshairs of teams and they find themselves in the crosshairs of the league as well folks but one thing that they do find themselves in in receipt of some pretty strong praise is their defensive prowess patriots have had a couple of breakdowns over the past couple of games,

Starting point is 00:13:05 but by and large, it's been the defense that's kept this team in games. And it was a defensive play that sparked an unanswered run of 18 points that nearly allowed the Patriots to pull off the victory on Saturday. We're going to talk about the defense. We're going to talk about that big play. And as we just mentioned a moment ago, we're going to be talking some Marcus Jones when we return here on Locked on Patriots on this hashtag Locked on Murph Monday episode.

Starting point is 00:13:34 Folks, it is the holidays and consider this for a moment. You're hanging out with some friends. You're putting back a few drinks. A few becomes too many. And as the evening comes to an end, people start to head out. You think of calling for a ride. You think about it for a moment and then you think to yourself, nah, you live nearby. You can make it home okay. It's no big deal. What are the odds you'll get pulled over? And even so, what's the worst that could happen? You start to rationalize. Your

Starting point is 00:14:01 insurance goes up. You lose your license. Well, how about this? You could lose your job. You could total your car. You could kill someone. Everyone knows about the risks of driving drunk. The results are tragic, and they're often deadly. However, that still doesn't stop everyone from getting behind the wheel while under the influence. That's why police officers are out there right now looking for

Starting point is 00:14:25 impaired drivers on our roads. They're doing it to save lives. So if you think you're okay to drive after a few drinks, think again. Play it safe and plan ahead to get a ride. It only takes one mistake to change your life or someone else's forever. Drive sober or get pulled over Murph it's always always fun talking about the New England Patriots whether the results are good whether they're not this team always gives you something to talk about and in their 22 to 18 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday they did provide a few moments of levity in the second half thanks to a pretty strong defensive effort that allowed the Patriots to move the ball offensively now that was sparked by a 69 yard Rob Gronkowski smiling at that one a 69 yard interception return for a touchdown by who else you do

Starting point is 00:15:20 Marcus Jones has been phenomenal this season really I think a breakout star uh you and I were on Marcus's bandwagon way early in this process in the draft process we both labeled him as our favorite draft pick for the New England Patriots this year and he is paying dividends beyond oh you did I I like Jack so that's right you like yeah I like Jack better but but we we both we both like to pick, but I was on one side of the Joneses. You were on the other side of the Jones family. So take all the credit right there, Mike. Well, we're keeping up with the Joneses. And with all due respect, Jack's been slowed by a little bit of a knee injury problems there. So we don't really know the full potential

Starting point is 00:16:00 of what his rookie season would have been, but a lot of promise. Bottom line, the New England Patriots defensive backfield is in good shape with these Joneses. And according to Bill Belichick, Marcus is staying in the backfield for anyone that wants to see him be a full-time receiver. I think the Patriots love the fact that this kid plays all over the field. And so to me, that really is something special, but I digress. Jones's performance on Sunday again, proves to me this kid's value in this system. Right. Just a tremendous heads up move. He knows where the ball is. He knows where he's supposed to be.

Starting point is 00:16:35 These are things that usually take years to be coached in this system. Marcus is hitting on it right away. Was he your game ball recipient for the performance? Without a doubt, without a doubt. Um, in the first half, it was a little bit rough. The Patriots did not turn the key that, that, that I had cut for them was to be in more cover two on, on this day in the second half, you, you saw more cover to more split zone safety play, And it worked out. On this play, something else that we've been begging for here is a little more cover zero. A little more bring the house. Okay. And the Patriots finally brought the house.

Starting point is 00:17:17 And Jones was sitting back off and reading this play perfectly when he jumped it and ended up going, like he said, a Rob Gronkowski special, 69 yards for a touchdown. This kid has a nose for the football, has an IQ that is completely off the charts when it comes to playing this game. And every single day, like I said, I have no idea how this young man has not been named to the pro bowl as either a special teamer where he leads the league in yards. He's, he's scored a special teams touchdown in punt return. It's, it's off the charts. What this kid has done coming in here of all places as a rookie, because you don't usually

Starting point is 00:18:00 get the run here as a rookie. But he has by circumstance and flat-out work ethic and talent, he has been out there every single down, every single play, whether it's on offense, defense, or special teams. You just sit back and wait for him to do something good or do something great because it's going to happen every single game. Something's going to happen every single game. Something's going to happen. For the first time in 45 years, the Elias Sports Bureau reports that Marcus Jones is the first player to score an offensive, defensive, and special teams touchdown.

Starting point is 00:18:35 That is a special, special. For lack of a better vocabulary at that point, folks, you have to label this kid as special because that is truly what he is. He's been phenomenal and the future is extremely bright we hope took julian edelman his whole career to do this and this kid did it in one in his rookie season absolutely absolutely without any question he deserves all of the accolades he gets and to me the most impressive part of that touchdown return uh for the interception was keeping your footing. You've got Samajit Kareem closing in on you, along with Joe Burrow, who is not a small guy, folks.

Starting point is 00:19:10 He might be a quarterback, but quarterbacks are big guys. They can tackle when they need to. They're trained to do it. They almost brought this kid down at the 30-yard line. Not only did he tightrope the sideline, kept his footing, and then accelerated for another 30 yards. He was skipping a jump in one single play and then accelerated for another 30 yards skipping a jump in one single play and then back to 90 miles an hour you know it was amazing you know i tweeted

Starting point is 00:19:33 out talk about uh walking a tightrope it was unbelievable that this kid was even able to stay in bounds never mind get to the end zone yeah without question and then turn on the jets to get to the end zone which really is impressive and it shows his tremendous speed um just a great play all around and that did spark a lot of what we saw for the new england patriots and then their other big defensive play that really put everything on the map matt judon comes in strip sack of joe burrow who's right there mar. Marcus Jones is there for the fumble recovery. So, you know, really, I mean, that put the Patriots in good position. And once again, what did we say last week? Marcus Jones, Matthew Judon walking back into coverage and not bringing that extra pressure.

Starting point is 00:20:23 When he's dropped back into coverage, good things have happened the last two weeks. And this week, you just can't. You can't talk about how game-changing that play actually was. Absolutely. It really, arguably, should have been the game winner because the New England Patriots drove. And I know we're talking about defensive performances. We've given out the defensive game ball to Marcus Jones. Definitely, you know, well-deserved.

Starting point is 00:20:49 A little bit of a runner-up there to Matt Judon for the play that he made. But we've got to end things on the Bengals situation with the fumble to end the game. When you look at Ramondre Stevenson, I think you know which way I'm going to go on this, but I'm not going to steal your thunder, Murph. Was forward progress stopped on this play? Yeah, it was. But that doesn't excuse losing this ball in this situation. Once again, you know, I back up to the point of what, what is the glitch

Starting point is 00:21:26 once you get in the red zone? All right. This happens far too often where somebody just, you know, it, one synapse doesn't hit, hit the other. And the next thing, you know, there's a penalty or a ball on the ground or, or a timeout called, thank you, Bill, on a scoring play. But no, I think the forward progress had stopped, and maybe they were a little late on that whistle. He was taking steps backwards when that ball was punched out. But still, you've got to do your job, and doing your job there is holding on to that football.

Starting point is 00:22:03 There is no way shape or form I understand you were trying to get a little extra or do a little extra just do your job stop worrying about doing a little extra you had more downs to work with absolutely without any question and you know those types of headlapses in the second half of the game in the clutch moments of the game are a concern they have to be a concern for bill belichick for the new england patriots now credit bill uh we asked him about that on monday morning obviously uh bill is not happy with the outcome but he was not overly critical or was not silent on the issue when it came to remandre stevenson he did mention the forward progress so it leads me to believe that either Bill is trying to use damage control on this kid,

Starting point is 00:22:48 not to damage the ego, or he truly believes that forward progress was indeed stopped and that this should have been. He truly believes it. This kid, he doesn't care about pissing off Ramondre Stevenson. He's got years left on his contract. This was, if this was, this is a contract year, maybe you could say something to that. But it's not. And no, Bill believes that, yes,

Starting point is 00:23:11 forward progress was stopped. I didn't harp on it during the game because you can nitpick away at whatever you want. It should have been a blown whistle. It should have been down. But he should have freaking hung on to that ball. Yeah, no question about it. And he'll be the hung onto that ball yeah no and he'll be the first one to say it the kid will be the first one to say it and remandre was uh post game he was the first to say it that he believes that he should have definitely hung on to the ball he needed to either go down in the situation like that or

Starting point is 00:23:38 he needed to be a little bit more heads up he's learning harsh lessons. And it was thought that that fumble may have ended the Patriots' playoff hopes. But thanks to our friends down in Miami, as Johnny Ola would say, the Wingland Patriots are still alive in the postseason. Murph and I are going to wrap up today's episode

Starting point is 00:24:00 of the Locked On Patriots podcast by talking playoffs. Yeah, the Patriots still have a shot, folks. We'll be back with you in just one moment. But first, wanted to tell you a little bit about our sponsor today, our good friends over at PrizePix, daily fantasy made easy. And let me give you a little background as to how PrizePix works if you're unfamiliar.

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Starting point is 00:25:35 LockedOnMurphMonday, MonsterMadMonday, StillAliveMonday here on LockedOnPatriots and Murph, for all the grief that we can give the Patriots about dropping a heartbreaker to the Cincinnati Bengals, 22-18 on Christmas Eve, the Pats are still alive. And as Hans Gruber would say, it's Christmas. It's the season of miracles here. So when I look at you, my friend, I look at that smile, I look at that grin, I think the biggest surprise

Starting point is 00:26:03 is that despite all of the heartbreaking losses and the headlaps snafus that we've seen but this team is still in the thick of a playoff run now it won't be easy folks but the patriots control their own destiny they win against miami on sunday on new year's day they go up to buffalo and they take care of business up there in a game where maybe we see some starters rested. Who knows? Things can happen. I leave it to you, my good prognosticator or prognosticators.

Starting point is 00:26:31 Is this really possible? Can the Patriots do this? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Because, you know, the Dolphins are going to flip her and, you know, the Bills are beatable. Okay. I'm sorry you know this this bills team is i don't believe it's as good as the one that they had on the field last year i think if the

Starting point is 00:26:53 patriots go up there and are smart that they can uh they can definitely come out with a win now the bills aren't going to rest anybody you know unless Unless they're up 43-0 at halftime, nobody gets rested. They just love beating this team too much, and they're not going to waste a chance to do it. They're looking for home field advantage throughout. Wouldn't that be neat to watch Patty Mahomes have to actually go on the road for a playoff game? But it's personal.

Starting point is 00:27:30 It's too personal for them to do this. And we've seen what's happening down there in Miami. I said it at the beginning of the year when they were riding high. Wait until people get booked on this new offense and see what happens in the second half of the season when when teams have to play them when they have to play teams for the second time uh it's a little rough riding down there right now um mr all world to a tagliavola is uh pointing fingers at everybody hey i'm out here doing my job when's that somebody else going to step up that's that's not the message you want to send that's really not you know people talk about mac jones and what he's saying and doing on the field

Starting point is 00:28:11 this guy's had time to digest everything that just happened and he's throwing his entire offensive team under the bus asking you know when they're going to make a play when they've been basically carrying him all season long and making him look great. No, the Patriots can definitely win these next two games. Let's worry about the Miami trip up here. I think this is the first time that they played in cold weather up here since like 1983. Thank you very much, cheating Don Shula,

Starting point is 00:28:40 who, you know, made sure that his team never went north of Baltimore after Thanksgiving. But no, it's doable. And I'm not buying this. I wrote it in my keys last week. I'm not buying the play, you know, just play the kids and yada, yada, yada. Until they're mathematically out of it, I don't do that. You know, go out, take care of business, get into the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:29:03 Once the playoffs start everybody is zero and zero and see what happens then yeah early uh the uh the again folks just early um forecast right now for the new england patriots and the miami dolphins on sunday uh cloud cover chance of a little bit of rain 54 degrees so it might not be the frozen tundra that we're hoping for but at the same time you know they still have to come up they still have to get the job done in foxborough and it's a little bit different playing up there in foxborough than it is down in miami garden so patriots i agree with you have an absolutely uh decent shot at being able to take it to miami bill belichick on a second run with a team that he's seen already is a different type of coach. He's a different type of strategist. And there is book

Starting point is 00:29:49 on this team. I agree with that. And when you have that, it always gives you an opportunity to plan for contingency. It allows you to be a little bit more prepared. And I think the Patriots will be. That being said, the thing that still worries me is the Patriots ability to cover alpha receivers we saw T Higgins have a big game against the Patriots this weekend we saw Jamar Chase be able to break for big yardage it's still a problem and when the great half they each had a great half they did okay and then they they turned the key and and it seemed to get shut down in the second half, and it's not like they went to the running game. They made adjustments.

Starting point is 00:30:27 These are things that we haven't seen all year long. They didn't get their head down at halftime. They came back out, and they made plays, and I think they can keep doing that. They just have to do it for four quarters. This team is not good enough to do it for two quarters. That is the biggest concern, I think, and I think you articulated that perfectly, and really, I think it eclipsed my concern about being able to defend alpha wideouts. They have figured out a little bit of a system to be

Starting point is 00:30:55 able to do it, but they need to sustain it, just like everything else that the Patriots have to do. They have to sustain offensive prowess as well. Utilize your strengths. Utiless as well utilize your strengths utilize the players around you play the players that can give you the chance to get the job done thank you we don't know what the tight endage room is going to look like this uh this oh man i know our girl claire is going to be really really upset because oh my god henry with a banged up knee we're going to find out a little bit more about him this week johnny smith being evaluated for a head injury we're not sure what that's going to bring scotty washington's going to have a lot on his shoulders this weekend but it might be john smith is just on my list right now just on my you

Starting point is 00:31:35 know he knocked hunter henry out of the game on on a play where where he wasn't even looking to see what happened and now they they he might not be able to play either. So it's, Oh man, it's going to be tough, but they can still do it. Yeah, they can still do it.

Starting point is 00:31:51 Scotty Washington, Matt Sokol may be getting a lot of play at that position on Sunday, but you know what, bud tight endage is probably a conversation for another day, but we're wrapping up our conversation here today with a great, great recap and just great insight, great analysis from you, my friend. I always appreciate you being on here and you staying here on Locked On and really being a key part of what this team does each and every single day.

Starting point is 00:32:20 So my friend, I thank you very much for joining me here today and lending the wisdom and counsel. But folks, we appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule, out of your holiday celebration. Several of you have the week off this week for making and continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen every day. Now that you've made us your first listen, please make your second listen to Locked On Sports Today podcast. All the takes you need, all of the news that you need, they do it all in a compact form, and it's extremely enjoyable. Definitely check that out. Available wherever you get your podcasts, including the Odyssey app,

Starting point is 00:32:57 including YouTube, and every other podcast provider that you can imagine. Locked On Sports Today is available. Folks, on a personal note, I just wanted to thank all of you, the listeners, for getting us above the 1,000 listener mark and subscriber mark on YouTube. A small step for our show here, which has had some bumps and bruises along the way this year, but those of you who have subscribed have hung in there with me from day one. It means an awful lot to me. For those of you joining us for the first time or casually listening,

Starting point is 00:33:27 I definitely encourage you to send feedback. We always look to get better here on Locked On Patriots, and we will continue to do that. But from the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping us end the year on a high note here on Locked On Patriots. And we always end on a high note when my good buddy Murph joins me on the pod. So, my friend, once again, we look forward to doing this next week. I'll see you next year here on Locked On, Patriots.

Starting point is 00:33:50 And in the meantime, folks, please continue to stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and enjoy the week. The Bourne Supremacy.

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