Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Puttin’ on the Pads, Jake Bailey Extension and More from New England Patriots 2022 Training Camp

Episode Date: August 2, 2022

The New England Patriots entered the ‘next phase’ camp practices. Pads were worn for the first time during camp on Monday, as the Pats amped up the competitive vibes heading into day five of their practices. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy of E2G Sports. The duo discuss the takeaways from padded practices, the contract extension of punter Jake Bailey and the potential emergence of safety and camp standout Joshuah Bledsoe.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DaveDownload the Dave app from the App store right now for an Extra Cash account and get up to 500 dollars instantly. For terms and conditions go to dave.com/legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve. Member FDIC.BetterHelpIt’s not a crisis line, it’s not self-help, it’s professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide. And they have a special offer for my listeners: get 10% off your first month at Betterhelp.com/LockedOnBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Pats are putting on the pads. Your New England Patriots begin padded practices today in Foxborough. What does it mean for the Pats in the long run? Stick around, because you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage

and also your first listen every day. Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you as always for making Locked On Patriots a part of your dailyed On Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you, as always, for making Locked On Patriots a part of your daily Patriots coverage. And don't forget, free and available on all podcast apps, including YouTube, so smash that subscribe button on YouTube

and download, subscribe to, and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your audio podcasts. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse, follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. And folks, as you can see, it is hashtag Locked On Murph Monday.

The legendary Thomas Murphy himself will be popping in here right in a moment to help us break down all your training camp action. But first, today's episode, folks, is brought to you by BetOnline. BetOnline has you covered this season with more props, more odds, and more lines than ever before. BetOnline, where the game starts. Pats fans, the first week of training camp is now in the books for your New England Patriots, and week two has kicked off.

Padded practices began on Monday in Foxborough. Some unexpected surprises are already starting to pop a bit, and what to expect when you do put on those pads? Well, joining me here today to help break it all down is truly one of our favorites on the pod, the only guest with his very own branded hashtag. That's right, folks. It is hashtag LockedOnMurfMonday, which means the legendary Thomas Murphy of E2GSports.com is here.

Thank you for coming to me in friendship, and thank you for joining me today, Don Murph. It wouldn't be Monday if we didn't get together a couple of times. Absolutely. It would not be Monday if we didn't get together a couple of times. Absolutely. It would not be Monday unless we did. You know, I almost feel like we could do this again, Murph. I almost feel like we could just completely do this again, day after day. Groundhog Day doesn't mean anything to us. We're happy to relive it because if it brings us Lockdown Murph Monday each and every day,

we're happy here at Locked On Patriots. Buddy, before we dive into padded practices, hot off the presses early this morning, according to ESPN, punter Jake Bailey and the Patriots reaching an agreement on a four-year, $13.5 million contract includes $6.5 million fully guaranteed running through the 2025 season. Jake remaining in New England. And this new deal makes Bailey one of the league's three highest paid punters. Murph, this contract extension, this news, kind of seems like it's a foregone conclusion, almost like it was inevitable that this was going to happen.

But earlier in the offseason, there were some people that were a little skeptical of that, myself included. We talked and invoked the name of Matt Ariza here on Locked On Patriots several times, a highly touted punter, the punt god, so to speak. Off in Buffalo, very painful, but we don't want to talk about that right now. We still have a great one here in New England, and it's a battle-tested punter. We know what Jake Bailey can do. Truly one of the best at his position. When you look at Bailey's contract extension, first of all, what are your thoughts on Bailey remaining in New England?

And what do you think this means for the Pats in the long term? Well, I love it. I love Bailey staying here in New England. It immediately gives Bill a little more cap space to go chase down some refugees from cutdowns. And as for Bailey himself, he had a bit of an off year last year, and that's why we were talking about Matt Ariza and bringing in some other guys to maybe make it a little more competitive this year. But it seems more like there were some injury issues maybe last

year with Bailey that he was dealing with that a lot of people didn't understand or didn't know about, and he's kicking the ball well. So Bill knows when he's kicking the ball well and he's feeling good that you don't get much better than Jake Bailey. You don't. I have literally watched, everybody knows the quarterback game where you sit there and you drop back and you try to throw balls into garbage cans at the corner of the end zone at the end of practice. Just screwing around.

I've seen Jake Bailey do that with his foot. Okay? I've seen Jake Bailey hit that freaking garbage can with his foot. So this is a guy that deserves the money. I love him. I'm glad he's here for next year. Go out and get your Jake Bailey jerseys now, folks. Go out and get them now.

Kickers count, people. Nobody on the planet flips the field the way Jake Bailey does. Nobody pins anybody inside the five-yard line the way Jake Bailey does. And I anybody inside the number inside the five yard line, the way Jake Bailey does. And I'm just thrilled. Yeah. Those crowd pleasing, aesthetically pleasing, uh, punts by Jake Bailey in training camp are definitely something to marvel at our good friend, Alex Barth of 98, five, the sports hub does an amazing job of chronicling Jake's hang time. Uh, and really, I think, uh think uh you know putting it together better than anybody if you haven't followed alex on this please do so folks uh he's the best in the

business of dead tracking jake bailey um absolutely but i completely agree with you i mean when you look at what he's done here in his first three seasons in new england 185 punts, 8,632 yards. That's a lot of leg Murph. That is a lot. I haven't walked that far in the past three years. Absolutely. It's true. It really is. I mean, you know, really, I mean, you think about it,

it really is just absolutely amazing. 46.7 yards per punt. 2020, obviously his flagship season. He's named, you know, a first team all pro, earned a Pro Bowl selection. So, you know, really, I think, and he's named, you know, a first team all pro, earned a Pro Bowl selection. So, you know, really, I think, and he's also very good at kickoffs, too. I think people forget about that. They just, they focus on the punts, and rightfully so.

I mean, these things are absolute rainbows. Our good buddy Steve Balistrieri and I sat in that sweltering, you know, heat in the Patriots media tent covering training camp, watching Jake just moonshot these punts, you know, through the roof and beyond. Some of them actually probably haven't landed yet. One of them actually may be entering his airspace, you know, this afternoon. It's stuck in a bubble. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, got to go get the stick to pop it out, Murph. But no, all kidding aside, as a kickoff specialist, averages 53.7 touchback percentage, 227 career kickoffs in the last three years. So when you look at Jake Bailey and you look at his prowess, there's no question about it, folks. He's got it. People look at the three block punts last year, maybe not the same type of pin experience.

And I think that's why people were a little, maybe a little early to talk about this kid possibly uh you know not seeing the future here in new england and then you look at the four mil the four plus million dollar cap hit all of a sudden things started to make a little sense but the patriots lower that with this extension and i think they clearly made the right move here yeah those those black punts were not on Bailey. They weren't. They were on special teams coaching. They were on guys missing assignments.

That was not on Jake Bailey. Yeah, absolutely. I completely agree with you. And, you know, does this spell the end of undrafted rookie punter Jake Julian here in New England as a possibility? You know, a kid out of eastern Michigan came in as a UDFA. A lot of people think that maybe there's a chance he sticks on the practice squad. I wouldn't definitely discount it. I mean, this kid's got a leg as well. He averaged 43.4 yards per punt across his career.

He's a right footer from Canada. But at this point, I mean, there's no question about it. Jake is your starter. He should be your starter. He'll remain that. This is a good financial deal too, Murph. And I think we kind of alluded to this. We danced around it a little bit, but his cap charge went from four plus million down to 1.85 million, according to Mike Reese of ESPN. With the Patriots' savings now, they're going to have in excess of $4 million available,

anywhere from four and three quarter million $5 million in Mike's estimation. So this is a good deal for the Pats. It gives them wiggle room when it comes to operating costs, maybe even dipping their toe back into the free agent market at the end of camp when you get a lot of those veterans that are cut loose. The Patriots may be able to swoop in, or maybe even before that, bring in another veteran body here to get to know what's going on if the Patriots feel thin at any position. So all the way around, great job for the Patriots by locking up Jake. He was all smiles after practice on Monday, as you can imagine. He's getting well paid, but he loves

being here in New England and you can see it. And it's something that is really heartwarming. So kudos. That's important. You know, guys that want to be here, people that want that, enjoy this environment and can thrive in it. Not everybody can thrive in it. People we've had we've had Hall of Famers come in here as free agents and walk out a week afterwards. Yeah, absolutely. I'm going home. I'm too old for this. This is This is not for me. They just work too damn hard. Absolutely. So having this kind of guy here and in the locker room long term, it's fantastic. There's no doubt in that. Absolutely. And you know the Patriots play such a premium on special teams, especially the specialists. They got a couple of good ones in Nick Folk and in Jake Bailey. The kicking game is well in hand with the

Patriots. And of course, you can't forget Joe Cardona as the long snapper. He's a big part of that game as well, folks. So definitely good on the Pats. And we're glad to keep Jake here in the fold long term. But Jake Bailey wasn't the only story on Monday, Murph. The Patriots put on the pads and a couple of Patriot defenders and offensive linemen put on a little bit of a show. Murph and I will talk about what it means to put on the pads in Foxborough for the New

England Patriots when this Monday episode of the Locked on Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, level with me. We've all been in a situation at some point in our lives when we might be a little bit light on cash. Maybe you could only afford to put a few gallons of gas in the car. That is something that I think a lot of us can relate to right now. Maybe you've got another save the date and you're wondering how you're going to afford another wedding gift.

Well, that's where Dave can help. Dave is the banking app that can help you get up to $500 instantly with extra cash. There's more money to fill your tank, buy a wedding gift, or help catch up on bills. You can finally tackle those expenses that have been stressing you out without any further hangups. There's no interest or no credit check needed, and millions of people have already downloaded the Dave app to get the financial relief they need with extra cash. So if you're in a pinch and you need some extra help, download Dave and think of it as a helping hand from the future you. Download the Dave app from the App Store right now.

That's D-A-V-E and sign up for an extra cash account and you get up to $500 instantly. For terms and conditions, go to Dave.com slash legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve, member FDIC. That's Dave. Future you will thank you. I think I'm going to get a new beer fridge with that. You see, you've got to love it.

It really lends itself into, you know, and the app pays for itself, folks. Definitely, if you're in any type of need, Dave is definitely a great app, and I highly recommend it. And see, if you need a new beer fridge, Murph is your guy. He can recommend several great models, folks. You know that. I have one in every room.

Absolutely, yeah. We are not surprised by that, Murph, and that's something that, yeah, you know what? We all aspire to it. Why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you have one in every room? You should. Absolutely. Always an endless affair.

You drive around on tag sale day and you find one. That's right. Absolutely, folks. As you can see, it is hashtag LockedOnMurphMonday. Talking punters, beer fridges. We are off to a great start here on LockedOnPatriots. But Murph, the big story of the day. All respect to Jake Bailey

and congratulations to him on a great contract extension. The pads came on. The Patriots are putting on the pads. And no, I'm not going to do the young Frankenstein thing. I will not. I can't do that all that Peter Boyle did.

That is iconic. And I'm not even going to try to attempt it. But they did put on the pads on Monday and the New England Patriots now are amping up their practice regimen. The physicality was a little bit higher. The mood in the room was a little higher. Matt Patricia addressing the media beforehand says, finally, we really get to see what's going on here.

You know, Bill Belichick alluded to it last week. Real football begins. The pads are on right now and several Patriots stood out a little more and we're starting to get a little bit of a clearer picture as to how these how this team may come together. But when you think of pads coming on, Murph, and you think of the padded practices, what are the first things that run through your head? What are you looking for? What should Patriots fans be looking for? It might be a little different than what they saw last week. You focus on the big round guys that you couldn't focus on last week.

You know, that's what you do, people. The guys that are built like me. This is when we finally get to hit somebody, when we finally get to make a move here or there, when our footwork becomes uh first and foremost as to the success or failure of a football team yeah it's about the offensive line and a little bit more about the uh more than about the defensive line but no this is all about the offensive line once the pads come on and we actually get to start seeing some, pardon me, actual football.

Because until then, it's just flag football. That's all it is. It's beer league football. And everybody oohs and aahs about shots down the field and who went up over who to grab a 50-50 ball. And, you know, grab a 50-50 bar for all I care. Now, right now, I just aged myself a whole lot right there. I got it. But right now, that's what you want to see.

You want to see how this offensive line comes together and how they're interacting with one another because there are a lot of pieces that have been moved around. There's a new piece in there. And we just want to see how that's going. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, in a lot of ways, we got a chance to see how that's going a little bit on Monday. First padded practices.

But, yeah, Robert De Niro form, you saw it a little bit. A little bit. This is where you start seeing us take laps. Absolutely, yes. We didn't have to take laps on the first day. That's just evil. It is. It's just evil.

But the guys are out there, and they're taking laps for false starts and jumping off sides. And, you know, oh, God, man, take a lap, Murphy. Take a lap. I'm tearing my sleep. Absolutely. And, you know, you talk about the 50-50 jump balls, and you talk about the battles between defensive backs and wide receivers,

because really I think that's what the first few days of training camp are all about. We heard a lot about Terrence Mitchell making a big step. We heard a lot about Devontae Parker and Mack Jones kind of developing that synergy. There was some of that on Monday. There are the one-on-one drills with the defensive backs and the receivers, and we got a chance to see that. But what my sharp eye was focused on is the offensive line and their continued work we are seeing a lot of that new zone-based run concept that shanahanian concept that murph discussed way back when and called this and nailed it right on the money um there were there were some pretty good run

stuffs today we saw you know we saw some good stuff um in terms of the offensive lineman michael wainu i think stood out to me uh he held his position well on the majority of his reps i think trent brown delivered the offensive line headline of the day uh josh uche tried to speed rush him trent was not having it he he uh he uh how shall i delicately put this uh he uh he placed him on the ground to put that. And I thought Uche made a great move. It's just, I mean, that's the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. Trent just said, who are you kidding? Who are you kidding?

Sit down. Sit down right there. Don't get back up. You know, fake a toe injury, something, just because you were just embarrassed. Absolutely, without any question. And, you know, the defensive side of the ball, there was some good, you know, highlights there as well. Devon Godshaw, I thought, really stepped up, and especially in light of the recent contract extension. A lot of people have been saying, oh, well, he's not worth it.

He was terrible last year um while I think calling him one of the best defensive linemen in the league could be considered a stretch uh I understand where Bill's coming from and I think I do I will say that I will definitely say that and I think the potential is there so I don't think it was as egregious as some people are saying um but at the same time he showed why he's worth that type of contract extension really showing off his strength really showing off his push and he's doing it against david andrews and say what you will david andrews has been to the puppet show he's seen the strings murph this guy has seen it all done it all and when you can hold your own against david who competes hard no matter what snaps he's taking. It doesn't matter if it's practice.

It doesn't matter if it's training camp. David's playing as hard today as he will in November. That's just the way he is and the way he's wired. You're doing that against David Andrews. That says a lot to me. So tip of the cap to Devon Godschow today and Christian Barmore again. Yeah. I'm sorry.

These talking heads that are running down the Godshau signing, they don't watch football. They watch the game. They sit in their Barker lounger and they watch the game. They don't see him taking up A gaps with two offensive linemen in front of them and forcing running backs to jump to the B gap and somebody else to go in there. It wasn't Barmore's fault.

I mean, it wasn't Gottschalk's fault that this linebacking core was too slow to fill that gap or, you know, over pursued. And that's where those those terrible numbers came against the run. It wasn't Devin Gottschalk. Yeah, absolutely. He really impressed me today. And this is coming from someone who said last week that maybe he's not the answer in the middle part at the nose.

Maybe he's better suited at one of the wings on the defensive end or defensive line, excuse me, defensive tackle. I don't know what I saw from him today. And if I keep seeing the same thing, small sample sample size i want to see it a few more times but if this continues on uh the patriots may have their uh their answer uh in the middle part of that defense and if they do yeah and if they do uh devon gotcha hears it too don't worry he he hears it he understands what's going on and he showed up today like he did and like he had something to prove and again christian barmore uh i labeled him as the possible x factor in this defense last week and he is not disappointing me uh won the majority of his battles and pass rush drills uh he looked great uh getting better of colestrain on occasions um

henry anderson got it got in there a little bit as well i was glad to see that because uh we've been on his train maybe the last the last three in the region that still remember that Henry's on the team and that he can be a significant contributor. But he's showing why the Patriots invested some good money in him last year as well. So good stuff out of the Patriots offensive and defensive line. I liked the workout of Strange today. Great footwork. There's no question about it. This kid's agile. He definitely

can get into position. He's got a lot of athleticism. He needs to work on his hand placement. He tripped himself up a couple of times with some hand checking and some hand fighting, but if he's able to control that, Patriot's got a solid guy over at the guard position as well on the left side. Ended up taking

a lap, but what are you going to do? It is. That's it. It is. It's not his first lap. It's not going to be his last one. well on the left side so ended up taking a lap but you know what are you gonna do yep it is that's it it is it's not his first lap it's not gonna be his last one it's true let's hope it's not gonna be and uh that's the uh the the case for it so definitely good stuff when the pads come on murph and we're excited to continue to see the pads all week long and now continuously out here in new england but who's standing out at training camp? Well, Murph and I are going to discuss one name that not a lot of us had on our list of guys that could stand out in camp, but is making the most of the reps that he's being

given. Safety Joshua Bledsoe trying to crack the roster in a very crowded defensive backfield for the Patriots. Can he do it? Murph and I will discuss that in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first folks, if you're looking to use your sports knowledge and your sports love, then maybe enhance your pocket just a little bit.

You definitely want to do it with our good friends at betonline.net, your number one source for all of your sports betting needs and information. Find all of the latest developments, league reviews, and news at BetOnline.net because they are your continued source for all sports wagering information, including live betting, esports, and scores. BetOnline is the fastest, the easiest way to check on all of your favorite sports and events, including MMA, boxing, and golf. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the action.

Bet online where the game starts. Get a bigger beer fridge. Absolutely. And Bet Online can help you do that, folks. Folks, we are ready to wrap things up here on Locked On Patriots with the legendary Thomas Murphy, columnist extraordinaire from E2GSports.com. Folks, anything and everything Voss Sports and really sports related, definitely check out.

Murph does amazing work, as do all of the great columnists and writers over there at E2GSports.com. If you're not following them already, give them a follow. Trust me, you will thank me. Great coverage and great stuff. And, of course, the legendary buddy myself here, I always, always, always recommend his stuff. Murph, speaking of recommendations, there are some players that get a chance to be labeled training camp darlings or training camp standouts.

Typically, it's a wide receiver. We've seen this in the past where guys come in, you know, they have a really really good training camp a lot of people think that they're putting their best foot forward toward getting a roster spot and then things start to tail off toward the end and they either have to settle for the practice squad or there is eventually cut loose we've seen guys like that come in here uh that's a tight end we saw zach sudfeld years ago that was one of the names um you know uh maurice harris came in here had a great camp early on and then found himself on as a tight end. We saw Zach Sudfeld years ago. That was one of the names. Maurice Harris came in here, had a great camp early on,

and then found himself on the cutting room floor. Last year, it was Christian Wilkerson who came in, had a good camp. Not quite enough to get the roster spot, but stuck on the practice squad. This year, believe it or not, the camp darling so far is on the defensive side of the ball, and that is safety Joshua Bledsoe. Former sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL so far is on the defensive side of the ball and that is safety joshua bledsoe former sixth round pick in the 2022 2021 excuse me nfl draft out of missouri um hard hitting a lot of speed a lot of athleticism um did not see the field that much last year due to uh you know being on the non-football injury list you know so obviously there were that kept him out but so far bledsoe's made some headlines especially thursday where he stood out had three pass breakups had two the day before he's been

really catching the eye of a lot of people in our profession when you look at joshua bledsoe is this something where maybe we haven't necessarily seen everything because the pads aren't on or is there something to be had here with this kid? No, I believe there's something to be had here with this kid. If you can remember back to that draft, I wanted Tyra Gillisby, the other safety out of Missouri that year, so I was a little upset over this pick. But no, this kid has something to offer.

He's a lot more versatile than i had seen in his college tape you see him come down and cover the slot he's a hard-hitting guy he's a smart football player and he's somebody that that has one gear and that one gear is a high gear and that's what you want out of your uh out of your safeties. I think the only difficult thing is the mountain that this kid has to climb and how many safeties bill is going to end up keeping on the roster and whether or not he's still considered a safety when the final cutdowns come and not just a different and, and bill is putting together defensive backs and not

specifically safeties and corners great points great great points especially when you look at the insurmountable hole that he's probably facing to try to make it on a safety depth chart that already includes devin mccourty kyle duggar ad Phillips, Jabril Peppers. Jabril back out on the field today. It was great to see him. I'm really looking forward to seeing him now in padded practices to see what he can do. A lot of hard hitting there, great speed, great athleticism. You can't imagine any one of those four guys not making the roster. So if Joshua was going to try to crack the roster, it's probably going to be as a versatile

defensive back. If Joshua was going to try to crack the roster, it's probably going to be as a versatile defensive back. Like you said, someone that doesn't necessarily have the S next to his name or the CB next to his name. He is a defensive back. And I think that's where Joshua really kind of has the opportunity to do something. From what I've seen from him, and I've been keeping my eye on him, I've been specifically to watch him closely during camp

because he is someone that's intriguing to me. The ideal fit for him would be in the D-gap or in the slot, that big nickel-heavy defensive scheme where he's playing man-to-man coverage assignments, maybe even getting some snaps up close to the line of scrimmage because that's where this kid can really do his damage. He did that at Missouri when he was healthy. So if you can incorporate him into the rotation and maybe he takes a leapfrog over guys like sean wade joan williams miles bryant i mean there are a lot of

good talented corners and safeties on this team hybrid defensive uh backs that can really make the type of leap that he needs to do if josh Joshua was able to show that he can hang with these guys as much or even better, and he does it sustained over a period of time, Patriots are going to have an interesting decision. This kid looks like the real deal to me. Again, it's very early, and there could be a situation where he does end up tailing off. But from what I've seen this year year he's got the right attitude we talked to him uh over the weekend on saturday uh very humble very uh focused um and very great very grateful for the opportunity that he's been given yeah at the end of the day he could take justin bethel's spot or somebody yeah that nature you know they could be on the outside looking in to keep this

kid on the roster because he can do so much. Yeah, and that would say something. I mean, Bethel being one of the best special teamers in the league and really, I think, such a key cog in what this team does. He really is. Between Bethel and then you've got Cody Davis as well, who's technically listed as a safety, but we all know he's a special teamer. There's only so many spots to go around. So the more press that Bledsoe gets, the less likely it is that he can slip through the cracks and get to the practice squad.

Maybe in a perfect world, that would be the best case scenario. But if he keeps playing at this high level, he's not going to be an easy gut for the Patriots. And it may mean more difficult cuts elsewhere in the roster. I think you make a great point, bud. You know, I'm sorry. I love Justin Bethel. I love what he does on special teams. But when you need that extra guy, we saw the way injuries decimated the secondary last year.

And there was just nobody to step up. This kid might be somebody that could take that step up that Bill needs. He could be that next man up. Without question. And that is ultimately what these next few days are going to be about. Next man up. Who takes that step now that the pads are on and who's going to catch the sharp eye of the Patriots coaching staff? Because in the long run, buddy, as important as you are to the Patriots and as

insignificant as I am, our opinions don't mean much in the grand scheme of things to Bill Belichick. He's going to dance to the beat of his own drum, and it's going to be who catches his eye and the Patriots' brass eyes in order for them to see who is going to make the 53-man roster, and that journey continues each and every day in Foxborough. We here at Locked On Patriots will keep boots on the ground, bringing you up to date on the latest news notes and analysis from Foxborough, but in the meantime, I thank my good friend, Keanu Murphy-Fisto himself, for joining me here each and every Monday the way he always does.

Folks, follow Murph. If you haven't already done so, on Twitter, at TeamMurph207. You catch all of his great work at E2GSports.com each and every day. Great piece out on there right now on Deshaun Watson. I highly recommend all of you go out and check that out. And of course, I thank each and every one of you every day for making Locked On Patriots

a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage, as well as your first listen every day. So now that you've made us your first listen, go and check out the folks over at Locked On NFL. Make them your hit listen of the day. All the NFL news and notes that you need, including the Deshaun Watson looming suspension and the fallout from that, all being covered by our great guys over at Locked On NFL. So give them a follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In the meantime, Murph, it's been fun. It's been great. We enjoyed it so much. We're going to do it again next week as we always do. Always honored, always humbled by your presence, my friend. Thank you so much for having us here. Folks, One Patriot's Place will be on Wednesday this week at 10 o'clock in the morning. We've got Pat Lane joining myself, Steve Balistrieri, and Klazzy Clare for the day. We're going to have some great stuff from camp for you there.

Absolutely. And Pat is great, the great coverage that he provides for Pat's Pulpit. Keep that name in mind, folks, because I'll be joining Pat and the guys on Pat's Pulpit on Wednesday evening for their podcast as well. So we're all part of the family here. It's Locked On Familia here on Locked On Patriots. But in the meantime, folks, continue, please, to stay safe, stay well, be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll continue to keep you

covered on the latest on your New England Patriots right here in Foxborough. Have a great day, everyone. Peace.