Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Week 12 Grades vs. Miami Dolphins; Jabrill Peppers Returns

Starting point is 00:00:00 Another New England Patriots player makes his return to the practice fields, but is it enough to raise what have been dismal grades for the Patriots? 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. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots country. So reach out to me.

Starting point is 00:00:42 Let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. You can also find me where the skies are blue over on Blue Sky at MDABATENFL.BSKY.SOCIAL. And of course, if you're looking to send some social media love to Lockdown Patriots, please do so via our X account at LO underscore

Starting point is 00:01:02 Patriots. And Pats fans, today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. You can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a $5 bet, and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. Visit FanDuel.com to get started. And Pats fans, as we continue to wallow through the mire of the patriots 34 to 15

Starting point is 00:01:28 loss to the miami dolphins in week 12 dropping your beloved new england patriots to three and nine one of their top defensive players making his return to the practice field what does it mean for the pats and of course if we have to relive the Patriots 34-15 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday, what better way to do it than with the man that cuts the very grades for that performance, our resident voice of reason, my Patriots fison, Steve Balistrieri. Steve, thank you for joining me today. Welcome back to Locked on Patriots. Well, thanks for having me, as always.

Starting point is 00:02:02 We're having a little laptop issues today, so we're doing this via my cell phone. So everything seems to be working, except I have to keep my hands steady. Yeah, when you're an Italian, you know how that is. Absolutely. Talking with you. I'm almost mute. I have to keep my hands still. Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:02:24 Talking with your hands is a necessity. It is a must, folks. And bottom line, we know that Steve may be able to keep the camera steady, but he's also keeping the New England Patriots steady. And that is not an easy task. This was not an easy week to grade, my friend. You have my sympathies in having to write this one up. Yeah, folks, this was definitely a Dean Wormer's worst list when it

Starting point is 00:02:45 came to your New England Patriots this week. And we're going to talk a little bit about the Patriots' performance on both sides of the ball. But Steve, I figured we'd start off with the news of the day, really the news of the last couple of days. Monday evening, NFL transaction wire indicated that Jabril Peppers has indeed been reinstated from the commissioner's exempt list. Now, for the benefit of those of you that may not know all the details surrounding this, Jabril had been placed on the commissioner's exempt list in early October following his arrest on assault and drug charges. Because of that status, he was effectively barred from the Patriots facility.

Starting point is 00:03:21 He was neither allowed at practice nor allowed to participate in any games. And of course that arrest of which we speak when it comes to Jabril Peppers took place just ahead of the Pats week five matchup against the Miami Dolphins. Now his reinstatement does mean that he is allowed to return to the Patriots 53-man roster. He can resume in all team activities including practice, playing in games. He was on the practice field on Wednesday Gerard Mayo said that they're continuing to monitor the situation and that they're also looking at Jabril's health according to Jabril himself he was a little banged up prior to the Dolphins game in week five so he's still working his way back onto the field this is going to be a real interesting one

Starting point is 00:04:00 Steve neither of us are legal experts so I don't think it would be fair for either of us to comment any further on Jabril's legal situation, but when it comes to an on-field perspective for the Patriots, this is definitely a welcome addition. The secondary has had problems. Kyle Duggar, I think, had one of his worst games as a Patriot in Week 12 against the Dolphins. I'm assuming that when he's ready to go, the Patriots are going to have him out there. I don't think they have any choice. I think they need Jabril Peppers in this lineup. Oh, absolutely.

Starting point is 00:04:31 I mean, you know, we loved his game last year when he was back fully healthy, you know, after recovering from a myriad of injuries, you know. It took him a while. We saw a little bit, you know, the year before. And then I thought last year he was one of the best defenders on the field. And, you know, his toughness, his ability to lay the lumber out there, especially, you know, down in the box. I think you can't talk about that enough, especially the way they've struggled for much of the year defending the run.

Starting point is 00:05:16 He excels at that. He's very versatile. He can do a lot of things. I think as soon as he's able, he needs to be out there on the field. And I think it would be a big, big boost to the defense. Oh, absolutely. Without any question. He's someone that gets out there. He can hit hard. He can lay the lumber, but he's also someone that is aware of everything that's going on on the field around him. One of the smarter players on this roster in terms of knowing where he needs to be and where his teammates need to be. And that's very

Starting point is 00:05:49 important. You're not seeing a whole lot of that in New England right now, folks. The secondary is struggling along with the rest of the team. And I think having someone like Jabril Peppers back in the lineup will help that entire defense. It's going to help the pass rush without question. They're going to be able to get after, but I really think it's going to help the run defense. That middle part has struggled without their best player, their best middle player in the lineup, in the secondary. Getting Jabril back is going to be a big thing for them because not only is this guy good at being able to do what he does on the field, he's a warrior he's one of the very few players that you'll always see routinely at the top of the leaders when it comes to snaps taken i've played 15 of 17 games in 2023 so you know that he can definitely stay durable and he's versatile he's someone that can be moved all around the

Starting point is 00:06:37 formation obviously he's most comfortable in the box safety role but he can play free he can play wide uh he can play the slot he can even play. He can play the slot. He can even play that hybrid linebacker and even get up and take some snaps along the defensive line. So all the way around, Steve, I agree with you. This is a positive for the Patriots and something that I think may help give them an emotional lift on the field because Jabril plays with a lot of emotion. And that's something I think a team that's struggling like the Patriots right now desperately needs if they want to move themselves forward. Absolutely. And, you know, I think his being reinstated by the league there

Starting point is 00:07:16 couldn't have come at a better time because the defense, you know, and we'll get into that, I thought they took a huge step back. And what better way to bring in an established vet, a guy with a lot of respect in the locker room, and if I'm not mistaken, a team captain this year. So, I mean, you know, bringing a guy like that back in, you know, he can look around and say, hey, you know, we need to start tightening up. And they could really use that kind of guy right now because they're getting,

Starting point is 00:07:50 I don't want to say abused, but yeah, they're getting abused when some of these teams throw the ball across the middle. When Peppers is out there, you're going to be aware of his location really quick. Absolutely. peppers is out there you're going to be aware of his location really quick absolutely anytime you can add someone not only with the football acumen that your bro peppers has but also that strength and that ability that he brings and that swagger that he brings to the secondary yeah it's a good thing for the new england patriots and they need a lot of that because as we said, their performance against the Miami Dolphins last Sunday was dismal. And it also continues in a trend that we've seen over the course of the last couple of

Starting point is 00:08:31 weeks with the defense on the decline. Steve is always very prudent in his grading, but did he see any improvement in the defense from last week to this week to make those grades a little bit better? Well, we're going to delve into Steve's grade report in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Listen up, Locked On listeners. When it comes to daily fantasy sports, PrizePix is the best place to get real money sports

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Starting point is 00:12:00 to all of you out there, all of you everydayers who make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. We appreciate you and we thank you for your support. And joining me here today to help break down the Patriots 34-15

Starting point is 00:12:14 loss to the Miami Dolphins as well as drop in some of his wisdom and counsel when it comes to the return of Jabril Peppers, my good friend Steve Valastrari. And Steve, as we talked about in the previous segment, any type of addition you can make to this defense that could help their play on the field

Starting point is 00:12:31 is certainly a welcome addition. Jabril Peppers will help this team, but he is not enough to cure everything that's wrong with this Patriots defense. And it sounds weird to say that because the defense was supposed to be the strong suit of this team. defense was supposed to be the strong suit of this team they were supposed to be the top unit the primary unit offense was going to try

Starting point is 00:12:51 to tread water and keep up but the defense was what was going to keep the Patriots in every game they played the last couple of weeks has not been that way let's start with the defensive line because I know you had some interesting things to say about this Patriots front seven, including the linebackers as well. I guess we can throw that in there. When you look at the Patriots defensive front, how did they grade this week in the loss to the Miami Dolphins? Yeah, well, from front to back, it just kept getting worse, I guess you could say. The defensive line this week, I thought, graded out at a C-. Now, they got, other than Christian Barmore,

Starting point is 00:13:34 they got nothing in the way of pass rush out of these guys. However, they did do a great job against the run they were holding miami to very just 2.7 yards per carry yeah so i mean you you can't fault them for that part so it was kind of a mixed bag but ultimately miami was trying to throw the ball a lot, which they did, and they weren't able to affect very much Tua all day long. He pretty much, you know, could do whatever he wanted. He had plenty of time to go back there and survey the field. Again, Christian Barmore, you know, he's just finding his feet.

Starting point is 00:14:24 But I thought he had a pretty good game. You know, he generated pressure. He stuffed a couple of runs. He's only going to get better as he finds his feet after missing all summer. So, you know, as far as he was concerned, you know, I thought he had a pretty good game. But the rest of the unit, I thought, you know, they let the team down a little bit. Linebackers, they rated a D, I thought, because they were abused in coverage. And I was worried about that before the game. I think you and I might have even talked about that

Starting point is 00:15:05 because Miami likes to put guys in motion and throw over the linebackers, and they weren't getting near enough depth on their drops. It showed. John O'Smith had pretty much a career day on them. So the front seven did not have a good day. No, they didn't. They really didn't have a good day at all.

Starting point is 00:15:33 I'm glad that you mentioned some ability to stop the run because there was indeed some brightness along that defensive front. But when it came to aiding or even participating in any type of pass defense yeah this team definitely did not do their job very tough observations to hear when you're in New England Patriots fan but very accurate observations to hear and we appreciate your candor uh and always being real with New England Patriots nation we kind of need a lot of that right now they need a lot of that in that coach's room and in that locker room and I think they're getting a dose of that this week but uh, Steve, obviously the secondary was much maligned throughout this entire game, with the exception of Christian Gonzalez, who did not play a perfect game.

Starting point is 00:16:14 But Murph and I talked a little bit about this yesterday here on Locked On Patriots. I don't think anyone that is criticizing him or coming at him for playing a poor game really watched him all that closely i think christian was the sole bright spot on this defense if you can say that but again too many breakdowns in coverage too many guys getting beat i think a very disheartening amount of miscommunication going on in that secondary right now. Perhaps the return of Jabril Peppers may help some of that. But overall, Steve, I thought a very, very bad day for the New England Patriots secondary.

Starting point is 00:16:51 Oh, the secondary. I mean, I haven't seen them abused that badly. I was trying to go back, you know, and I think it goes all the way back to that 2009 game against the Saints when Drew B breeze just kept throwing the ball all over the field and they looked powerless to stop it and that was the game that bill turned to tom brady and was shaking his head i just can't get this team to get on the same sheet of music and and i i had that feeling from um this last. I mean, Tua, you know, he threw for four touchdowns.

Starting point is 00:17:31 It was 327 yards, something ridiculous. And, you know, they just got no pressure. Again, the motion just absolutely befuddled these guys. Watching the game take back, you know, a second and third time. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment. Occupational hazard, right, Steve? Yes, but you could see the issues they were having with, you know, when they would go in motion, constant miscommunication issues where guys weren't passing off the way they were supposed to. You know, or two guys would go with one and they'd leave the other wide open.

Starting point is 00:18:15 And, you know, I thought Kyle Duggar had his, as you said earlier, I think it was his worst game as a Patriot. The same with Marcus Jones. I mean, boy, he had a rough, rough day. Overall, the secondary, well, as I said, it gets worse the farther back you go. C minus D, secondary rated an F here. And I don't like handing out Fs to the Patriots, but that was deserved. Yeah, it was deserved. And you mentioned guys that really did not essentially have their best game.

Starting point is 00:18:55 I think you're putting it very diplomatically, and I appreciate that, because there is a lot of vitriol being hurled in the direction of the Patriots' secondary. But yeah, I mean, Kyle Duggar struggled mightily to the point where he actually made it a point post-game to say to Patriots Nation that they deserve better and that he would perform better. You know, we heard something similar from Kendrick Warren a couple of weeks ago, and then he came out and really snapped back. My question to you at this point, Steve, is with the return of Jabril Peppers looking likely, whether it's this week or not, obviously, I mean, the Patriots are getting him back out on the field. Maybe they'll wait until the bye week is finished up before they put him back out there.

Starting point is 00:19:34 But at some point, he will be back out on the field. How much of a big deal is this? What type of impact do you think it's going to have when it comes to Kyle Duggar, who has really struggled a lot lately, independent of just being injured? His game doesn't look like it's where it really should be for a player of his magnitude. Do you think Pepper's return is going to help to elevate him? I'm hoping so, because I know Duggar's been banged up with his ankle and he probably, if, if, um, if peppers had been on the roster the whole time, I bet he probably wouldn't be playing now, but you know, there just seemed a couple of plays that, um, I think that was the second touchdown, uh, by Miami where it was like, I thought the play, I think it was to John O'Smith where they scored a touchdown going across the middle

Starting point is 00:20:35 and I thought it was on the linebacker and I actually posted that on X during the game. Excuse me. And somebody said, no, they were in man. That was his guy because he was so slow to react to it. And I found that really curious because that's not typical for him. So maybe he needs more time off and he's thinking too much about his injury. But that was just a terrible game for him.

Starting point is 00:21:10 Yeah, it truly was. And people were saying, oh, well, you know, this is what we're going to get from Kyle now. He's going to take the money and run because he signed his extension in the offseason. I don't buy that for one second. I've had the opportunity to get to know Kyle a little bit over the course of the last couple of years since he was drafted. And one of the things that you take away from this kid when you do speak with him is that he doesn't take anything for granted. He realizes as a Division II prospect from Lenoir Rhine that a lot of people weren't sure if he was going to be able to do his job at a pro level. He came in and not only proved that he could do his job, but he could do it

Starting point is 00:21:43 better than most. This is a pro bowl caliber player when he's locked in, folks. So I would definitely encourage you to give him the opportunity to get healthy, to get right. It's not in his nature to take his foot off the accelerator because he's got his contract. This guy's going to continue to play and play hard. I think it's just a matter of maybe him being off his game right now. And injuries do contribute to that. There's no question about it. um with the return of Jabril Peppers maybe it will help to invigorate him a little bit or maybe it'll just give him the opportunity to get some much needed rest uh because something needs to be done in order to bring his game back Steve before we take our leave from the defense I know we're going to talk about the coaches in the next segment, but I thought this would be a good opportunity for us to segue into that discussion.

Starting point is 00:22:30 Demarcus Covington once again showing, I hate to say inability, but it's either an inability or an unwillingness to adjust to what his counterpart over on the opposite side of the field is doing, whether it comes to an offensive coordinator or in this case, really, I mean, let's face it, that Miami offense is the product of Mike McDaniel. When you're looking at his performance this week, what do Patriots fans need to see in order to believe that the defense is in good hands moving forward? Because right now, the product on the field just does not look good. No, it doesn't right now. However, you know, again, he's, you have to look at this from maybe a player perspective. Okay. He's picture him as a rookie coming in and he's facing a wily veteran McDaniel and McDaniel is going to throw a lot of stuff at him and see what he can do. And right now he's overmatched.

Starting point is 00:23:28 Does that mean he's not going to be a good defensive coordinator? No, but right now he's just really struggling. The adjustments just aren't there. And, again, I think they're always a little reluctant to pull the trigger. You know, they see that something's wrong. I mean, these coaches are smart guys. They didn't get to where they are by not being a smart person. But I think they're just gun-shy to try to do something, you know,

Starting point is 00:24:01 other than, hey, this is what we planned. Let's stick with the plan. We'll make it better. And right now, it's not. And the question marks surrounding this team, Steve, continue to circulate, and they'll continue to surround this club until things do improve. And one of the ways that they hope,

Starting point is 00:24:18 one of the ways Patriots fans hope they will improve is on the field offensively and get the Patriots back into some sort of rhythm. Drake May continues to show signs that he is the right guy for the job, just doesn't have the right supporting cast around him right now, and maybe not the optimal level coaching that he needs to really showcase what this kid can do with a solid supporting cast. Steve and I are going to talk offensive grades, and we're going to talk a little bit more

Starting point is 00:24:44 about that coaching staff, including head coach Gerard Mayo, when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Locked On listeners, get ready to tackle NFL action with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win. The FanDuel Sportsbook app gives you everything you need to place live bets on the NFL all in one place. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play, and so much more

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Starting point is 00:25:48 partner of the NFL. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots as we continue to break down the return of safety Jabril Peppers to the lineup and we take our leave finally of the Patriots debacle in Miami the 34 to 15 loss to the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday in week 12 dropping

Starting point is 00:26:13 the Patriots to three and nine on the season Steve I think we can all agree that there's really no humiliation in losing to a team that most expected to win this game. Miami came in obviously struggling because of the loss of Tua Tagovailoa a couple of weeks ago, but now this team is showing what it's capable of and how they're capable of playing. And if we're being brutally honest, they're just better than the Patriots in all three phases of football. So it's not so much the loss that I think has Patriots fans disappointed, but it's the way it happened and the aftermath of what happened and the malaise with which this team seems to be taking the losses right now. Murph and I talked about this a little

Starting point is 00:26:57 bit yesterday and we talked about accepting defeat and how it could be a very big problem for a team, even a team that may not be playing for much this year, but trying to show that they can compete next year. It sends the wrong message. And I worry about that. And I know some Patriots fans do as well. But before we get into the offensive side of the ball, because obviously your grade report is being provided here today on Locked On Patriots, which we greatly appreciate.

Starting point is 00:27:29 I didn't want to take leave of the coaching staff without discussing the performance of Gerard Mayo, Alex Van Pelt, Scott Peters, and that offensive brain trust that really, I think, is also struggling to make adjustments for their counterparts over on defense. This team had 10 accepted penalties against it, Steve, on Sunday, a vast majority of which came on pre-snap when it came to the offensive line. Players get out there and ultimately the accountability has to lie with them, but you also have to be able to do a better job of coaching this team in the time you have with them before they take the field. So when you look at this coaching staff, even though some are willing to chalk this up to, well, the players just have to execute,

Starting point is 00:28:09 how much blame pie does the coaching staff deserve for their performance on Sunday? Oh, I think the vast majority of it comes down to, look, if you get beat physically, right, you're going against Tyreek Hill, you've got a guy back there that's your fastest guy and tyreek hill beats him you just have to say tip your hat to the guy and you know because he beats you um you know you gave it everything you have and his speed is a

Starting point is 00:28:41 little bit better than yours and and you can live with that because, you know, sometimes that's just going to be the way it is. But, you know, when you see all these pre-snap penalties, and they always seem to happen really early in games, it tells me there's a confidence issue with these guys coming in, and it tells me it's a coaching issue because these guys coming in and it tells me it's a coaching issue because they're not prepared to go out there i mean how many times does it have to happen early in game and we saw it in the first half they they had so many penalties in the first half and then

Starting point is 00:29:22 it's like okay they get into the rhythm of the game in the second half and there was still quite a few but it was not anything like the first half and they actually played i'm not going to say a lot better but a little bit better and i think that all comes from coaching and preparation and i just don't feel like this team was prepared to go out and function the way they should be able to. We've seen this team play much, much better than this. Granted, Miami's a good team. They always give the Patriots the devil down there.

Starting point is 00:30:02 Even back in the Brady years, I mean, you know, they did not, you know, dominate Miami down there. They always struggled, even with Brady. So, you know, I'm looking at it, and I think a lot of it comes down to coaching. I mean, I'm sorry. I know Mayo's a rookie, too. He has all rookie guys on his staff and, you know, they're going to get better. How much better? We don't know yet, but, um,

Starting point is 00:30:36 you have to take it for what it is. And, you know, I just thought Miami completely were more prepared. They had an excellent game plan. You know, last week I think the Rams used 82% motion on their offense. Miami used like 93%, I think, this week. So they knew what they had to do, and they knew where the patriots struggle with it and they did it and mayo and his staff they're not correcting things you know in game and they have to start doing that yeah i think one of the big reasons why

Starting point is 00:31:17 the coaching staff continues to come under fire is we're seeing a lot of these issues as repeat problems uh they're not being fixed, and their adjustments, quite frankly, Steve, are just not being made. We talked about that a little bit in the previous segment when we talked about Demarcus Covington. I think in a lot of ways the offensive line and the lack of discipline that you're seeing along this line right now in having all of these pre-snap penalties continues to be a problem.

Starting point is 00:31:44 And the Patriots unfortunately had more than just that for problems on Sunday especially with this O-line the tackles neither tackle I thought had a good game again in the interest of being brutally honest Steve I thought both of them had terrible games I thought Vidalian Lowe played one of his worst games of the season I thought Demontre Jacobs struggled mightily against Chop Robinson, a matchup we talked about on Friday that could actually be one of the most problematic matchups on the field for this team. It not only was, it ended up being even worse than we had hoped.

Starting point is 00:32:18 Yeah, things are definitely looking down on the offensive line. I know your grade wasn't a pretty one. How would you grade this line this week when it came to the job that they did on Sunday? Yeah, I just gave it an F because, I mean, what else could it be? I mean, you know, May, the only reason he wasn't sacked more was because of how athletic and quick he is i i thought that he was under fire for much much of this game and you know they they couldn't block anyone on the edge um the running game was okay but again you know, and we'll get to this in a minute, but I didn't think the backs were bad in this game.

Starting point is 00:33:11 You know, Ramondre Stevenson had a rough game, but eight carries for 13 yards. But, you know, when you're looking at the big picture with this, you know, when the score got so out of hand in the first quarter, they couldn't continue with the running game. I mean, it was just... Then early in the second half, it's 31 to nothing, so now you're really behind the eight ball. I just thought that the offensive line was a big, big part of that.

Starting point is 00:33:44 Mace protection was terrible. They weren't picking up blitzers. Again, communication issues. How many times did they have a free blitzer coming in on May, and nobody picked him up? Very true. Very true. And I think that does.

Starting point is 00:34:03 That feeds in quite nicely into your grade for drake may overall this week uh not the greatest game uh maybe one of his weaker games as a pro but he can't put a lot of blame on his shoulders considering everything that was going on around him drake finishing 22 of 37 for 222 yards touchdown and interception uh but bottom line uh and also five rushes for 26 yards. I don't want to forget that. And like you said, Steve, showing some ingenuity to be able to use his legs to get out of certain situations, extend plays with his legs a little bit.

Starting point is 00:34:35 The seedlings and the building blocks are certainly there, but you got to wonder, you know, how frustrating things must be for him at this point with just a lack of being able to get anything going around him. How would you grade Drake's performance this week against the Dolphins? Do you think this gives him any added motivation? Or what do you think it does for his psyche heading into week 13 against the Colts? Yeah, I think he was, you know, and the beat writers mentioned this, he was pretty down after the game because he takes everything very seriously. And I just looked at his game.

Starting point is 00:35:21 It wasn't his best game by far. He had a bad interception at the end, but he rated a C- because I thought he was just a little bit under average. I thought he was far under average for what he can do. But you have to take into account that the offensive line was what it was. I didn't think he was bad i didn't think uh the um the running backs were bad i mentioned that earlier i thought the tight ends were excellent yeah wide receivers not so much right you know yeah bottom line my friend i want to thank you for

Starting point is 00:36:00 coming here today and lending your wisdom your counsel and as always your grade report your grade report that, in my opinion, is the best in the business. Before I let you go, please let everyone know where they can reach out to you, interact with you, and what you got marinating in La Cochina Balistrieri between now and Thanksgiving when we welcome you back here next week to provide your grade report on Pat's Colts. Yeah, you can find me on Twitter at SteveB7SFG. I write for Pat'sFans.com. You can follow me there for all of my writing and then all the other social media at Steve Balistrieri. But, you know, we'll be looking at the Colts game and how they can right the ship this week.

Starting point is 00:36:44 They need a much, much better defensive effort than they got these last two weeks. So there's nowhere to go but up, at least right now for the defense. Offensively, I think they can play a lot better. You know, the offensive line really took three steps back this week. You know, when it looked like things were solidifying a little bit, not greatly, but, you know, it looked like they were putting it all together a little at a time. We'll have to see.

Starting point is 00:37:18 Cole Strange could make his debut, you know, against the Colts, and that would be a welcome thing to see him back on the field. make his debut against the Colts. And that would be a welcome thing to see him back on the field. Yeah, it definitely would. And hopefully it would provide the Patriots with a little bit of stability, especially on that left side. I know a lot of people are wondering if he may get snaps in the center. I think once again, I think the Patriots proving the left guard is a liability right now without Cole in that lineup.

Starting point is 00:37:45 And I think that's where he'd be best suited. He did return to the practice field on Wednesday, folks. With the time you're listening to this, maybe even a little more information comes out regarding Cole's availability for the weekend. But I think Steve is right on the money. And once again, my friend, I want to thank you for all of your contributions here to Lockdown Patriots. A special tip of the cap and a pre-happy Thanksgiving to you, my friend.

Starting point is 00:38:05 And definitely looking forward to having you back here on Locked On Patriots next week so we can talk about Pat's Colts in the bye week. That's right, folks. Don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the Patriots will have a bye week coming up and we'll have a lot of action-packed great stuff for you here on Locked On Patriots. So stay locked in. You will not want to miss a single second of that action. In the meantime, on behalf of Steve Balistrieri,

Starting point is 00:38:29 I'm Mike DeBate reminding all of you to stay safe, to stay well, to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone. And we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Locked on Patriots.

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