Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Scho-Time Analysis for Patriots/Eagles - 11/15

Episode Date: November 15, 2019

The New England Patriots return to the gridiron on Sunday to battle the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Mark Schofield, who returns to Locked On Patriots to offer some strategic and legal wisdom and counsel. The duo discuss the Pats-Eagles matchup and offer their takes on the Browns-Steelers scuffle on Thursday Night Football. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful and welcome to your It's Almost Game Day Friday episode of Locked On Patriots, your daily home for news, notes, analysis, and the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. This episode is brought to you in part by Away. Away creates thoughtful products designed to change how you see the world. For $20 off a suitcase, visit awaytravel.com slash locked on and use promo code locked on during checkout. My name is Mike DeBate and I am your host of Locked On Patriots, which of course is

a part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC and be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter as well at L-O underscore Patriots. Game day is so close, folks. Sunday, 425 p.m. Eastern Time, Lincoln Financial Field in the city of brotherly love, the Cheesesteak versus the Chowda,

the New England Patriots versus the Philadelphia Eagles. And this has the makings of being a great game, folks. And you know what? A great game like the one that we are about to have on Sunday deserves a great guest. And let's face it, folks. The New England Patriots have not played a home game in a while. This will be their second consecutive road game. In fact, there hasn't been a home game at Gillette Stadium since October 27th.

So in that vein, I thought a little homecoming would be in order. Yeah, you guessed it, folks. Mark Schofield returns to the hot seat today, and since taking the reins of the show from Mark back in August, I'm always humbled by the support he continues to provide for me. I love talking football with him, and he's one of the best formations and schemes analysts anywhere on earth. So it's truly my honor to speak with him today. We'll be breaking down Pat's eagles, and I'll also be calling on Mark's legal expertise about what happened last night in Cleveland. And again, for those of you that don't know, the Cleveland Browns' 21-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers last night on Thursday Night Football was egregiously overshadowed by the

actions of Miles Garrett. And it started after Garrett had sacked Mason Rudolph long after the ball had left Rudolph's hands. Apparently, the two started jawing back and forth at one another, some of the Steelers' teammates crowded around, and a scuffle ensued that ultimately ended with Garrett swinging a helmet and landing a shot on Rudolph that, fortunately, did not result in an injury that could have been very serious. Now, you can argue heat of the moment or self-defense all you want. When you use a helmet as a weapon, folks,

that goes beyond what you normally see on an NFL football field. And while I do think it's premature to form an opinion on anyone's intentions or who truly is to blame for escalating the altercation, I believe that what Garrett did is simply indefensible. Bar none. You're a professional football player. NFL helmets are not made of Nerf material. Under no circumstances should they ever be used as a weapon. I don't

care how much you're provoked. Fights happen all the time in professional sports, but that crossed the line. Mason Rudolph especially, but everyone involved, including Garrett, is lucky that blow did not cause more damage, that the helmet did not hit the crown of Rudolph's head. That could have made what's already a dicey situation for the NFL even more difficult, possibly even tragic. So you can bet suspensions are coming, and it probably won't just be for one player, but you can bet a lengthy and a hefty one will be levied on Miles Garrett, and in my opinion, it is definitely well-deserved.

But could there be a legal matter lurking beneath the surface? Well, I will ask Mark that question, but most importantly, we will be entrenched in Pat's Eagles talk. After all, this is Locked On Patriots, and Talking Patriots is what we're here to do. So before I bring my friend Mark Schofield in today, I just want to say attention and listen up to all of you past, present, and future MyBookie players. During Thanksgiving week, MyBookie is offering a risk-free bet on the Bears-Lions game. Simply choose a team against the spread for up to $250. If you win, congratulations. You've got

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You play, you win, you get paid. Today is a homecoming of sorts from my guest this morning as he honorably occupied this very chair for two years and each and every day i'm still trying to get this right in his honor he is an amazing writer for platforms such as inside the pylon big blue view pat's pulpit of sb nation among others his podcast the scho, an amazing listen. I'm one of his biggest fans. I highly recommend you doing so as well. It's my honor to be joined today by my friend, Mark Schofield. Mark, welcome back to the show.

Thanks so much for joining me today. Michael, it's great to be back with you. And I can't say enough about the work you've been doing with Locked On Patriots since you took it over. It's been a fantastic, fantastic show since day one when you took over. I'm incredibly proud of the work that you've done. You've made it. You've taken places I couldn't even dream of.

So I'm so happy for you, bud, and I'm just honored to be back with you again. Well, I assure you, you're probably far too kind when you say that. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. I really do. And as long as we're in the Thanksgiving month and the Thanksgiving mode, the table you set for me made it very, very easy for me to be able to come in and establish a listening public. And I can't thank you enough for the example you provide, because again, like I said, I'm trying to get this right in your honor. And again, that total poster on the wall, never coming down. I bless the reins every day in your honor. I was going to say, Michael,

it warms my heart to still see that up on the wall. It really does. Absolutely. And it will remain there. That's a fixture. That is a part of this. And it always will be as long as I occupy the microphone. So thanks again, buddy.

I appreciate it. Mark, we're definitely going to discuss Patriots Eagles. It's the reason I brought you in today. And you're one of the best in the business of being able to break down. And I've got some good questions for you. And I know you'll give our listeners some amazing pearls of wisdom, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't at least ask you about the skirmish between Mason Rudolph, Miles Garrett, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns last night on Thursday night football. And to me, Mark, what Miles Garrett

did was indefensible. And look, I know how heated things can get in the course of an athletic competition. We all do. But Garrett's use of the helmet here actually has some people talking whether or not Rudolph might press charges. And unfortunately, it always seems like there's a legal matter. Every time you come here to Locked On Patriots to be my guest, we always have something legal to discuss. But I figured you would be the best person to ask this question to because of your history as an attorney. In your opinion, do you believe that there is a legitimate chance that a legal battle

could be brewing here, independent of what we may see from suspensions and fines on the field? You know, interestingly enough, Michael, there's a chance that this could go down the legal road because I honestly, I flashback to my days in law school and there was a case I read in my torts class. And the title of it is Hackbart versus Cincinnati Bengals. It's a case from the 10th Circuit, 1979. And basically, it addressed this question, you know, can a football player, you know, when he suffered an injury, can he then sue the player that caused that injury? And, you know, basically, the long and short of that case, I'm not going to bore people, the reading case law, that's not how people want to spend their Friday mornings. And it's not honestly how I spent my Friday mornings at law school because I would often

sleep through class and then get Burger King breakfast. But what this case basically stands for is the fact that in a sport such as football, which is a violent sport by its very nature, there are things that happen on the field that you assume the risk of, right? If somebody goes low on you and they blow out your knee, well, it might be dirty play. You might say it might get a penalty, but it's within the framework of the game. And you sort of assume the risk that something like that can happen. It becomes different when something that isn't the normal course of football happens on the field and taking somebody's helmet and then hitting someone over the head with that helmet

when they don't have a helmet on that's not something you see every day and so there is a possibility that this could rise to the level of sort of a civil lawsuit and we heard interestingly enough in the aftermath of this game that Cleveland police were in the locker room apparently they met I assume with Miles Garrett to talk to him about this. We saw this morning that Mason Rudolph's agent and his agent's legal team are exploring what they say legal options. And so there could be a civil lawsuit out of this. Now, the bigger picture here, in a sense, is, you know, how did this happen? And a lot of people are trying to, as we often see on Twitter, you know, sort of lay blame at people's feet.

I think last night, in a sense, was a good sort of test case for the idea that you don't always have to have a take. Like, everybody immediately, like, hopped onto Twitter to, like, definitively say who was in the run, and I think this is one of those moments that might make sense to sort of step back and look at the big picture because there's a, you know, playing the closing seconds. Garrett probably started it in a sense by hitting him late after the ball was

out, taking him to the ground after the ball was out. You might say he's making an aggressive play, but you're up 14 with 15 seconds left, like come on. And then certainly Rudolph escalates it by then, you know, trying to take his helmet off when he's on the ground. And so I think there's a sense of both guys were heated in the moment initially but then the helmet swing like that takes it to a different level that i think most people aren't really comfortable with

and unless there's like definitive proof that rudolph did or said something that would really make somebody irate it's hard to justify. And even if he did say or do something, it's hard to really justify taking the helmet and swinging it at someone. Because let's be honest, Garrett is lucky that he hit him with the bottom of the helmet. If he catches Rudolph with the crown of the helmet

on the top of his head, this is a much different conversation. It's a much darker day for the NFL than it already is today. But that's sort of my five-minute spiel on 1979 case law and what happened last night. And again, it's one of those moments. It looks dark. I was talking about it with my family this morning.

My wife was trying to speed through the conversation because we don't want to glorify the fact that some dude got hit in the face with a helmet, basically. And people tweeted out NFL blitz clips. It's a dark day for the nfl i think it truly is and i think the insight that you provide and mark is exactly what our listeners were looking for it's exactly what i was looking for and what i needed quite frankly when it comes to this because i think you made a great point about people taking a step back looking at all of the facts involved before you give an informed opinion. And that's the key word here, informed opinion, folks, because again, everybody knows what it's like to get caught up in the heat of the moment. It's one thing to retaliate. It's one thing for escalation to happen. The provocation of what happened with Miles Garrett and Mason Rudolph

is going to be debated and it'll be debated hotly. And of course, everyone can have an opinion on that where this crossed the line. And I think you made a great point, Mark, is where the helmets came off and then all of a sudden the helmet is used as a weapon at that point. That's a situation where you don't see that every day. And I'm glad you let our listeners know a little bit about some of the legal insight and what battles we could see. So as always, as I like to say, Mark, we keep a sharp eye. We take a look at all the facts involved. And I'm sure as the days progress here, probably midweek next week, we'll have a much clearer picture as to

exactly what's going to happen on the field in terms of suspensions. But that legal battle could just be brewing. So thank you, my friend, for your insight on that. You always, always deliver, and I appreciate it very much. Of course, my friend. Okay. But Mark, at long last, the Patriots are back in action from the bye week. They draw an Eagles team that has the potential to be problematic. And I thought you were the perfect person to bring in to discuss this this morning. And that is the Eagles have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. They have a pretty stacked three-man running attack and also two of the better tight ends in the game today. That allows them to run that 12 personnel look as well as any team in the league. Now, we hear a lot about the Eagles' affection for that run-pass option, those dreaded

RPOs. Patriots fans are still haunted by them frombowl 52. And of course, Zach Ertz, Dallas got her two of the focal points of that offense. But in your latest piece for Pat's pulpit, you made, I thought a great mention of Eagles center, Jason Kelsey. And this is one of the reasons why I brought you in this morning and wanted you to discuss this a little bit at the behest of your good friend, Michael Kiss, who covers the Eagles for bleeding green nation. I did a little digging of my own into, Michael Kist, who covers the Eagles for Bleeding Green Nation. I did a little digging of my own into exactly what makes Kelsey so important to the Eagles offense. And I was really surprised and impressed by both his blend of athleticism and technique

that really frees up the Eagles to run any type of either that gap, the zone, the RPO, or screen concepts that they can draw up in Michael's words. In your analysis, what is it about Kelsey's presence that makes him so instrumental in what the Eagles do offensively? Yeah, it's, it's a great question, Michael. And I'm so glad you started here because you know, in the Pat's pulpit piece that I wrote, I implored people when the Eagles have the football to watch Jason Kelsey as

much as you can, because if you want to see somebody play the center position at an extremely high elite level, this is a guy you want to watch. And what makes him so effective is a combination of awareness and processing speed from the mental standpoint, and then athleticism footwork and brute strength from a physical standpoint.

And we'd often talk with quarterbacks about process and speed and the mental side of the game, but we don't often relay that in terms of offensive line play. But Kelsey is so aware and he reads defenses so quickly that when you bring like a late blitz or a run blitz, or you adjust the front right before the snap, you're not going to confuse this guy. He knows exactly what he needs to do,

exactly who he needs to take on or what zone he needs to block in the zone blocking scheme that you're not going to get that sort of quick interior pressure that sometimes shuts plays down before they get going. And then when you add to that the athleticism and the physical ability that he has, the quickness to get to the second level when he can and to take on linebackers,

the ability to sort of wrestle defenders away from a running lane if it's a sort of an interior gap power design. Even guys that might have the leverage or the shade advantage pre-snap where you have a defensive tackle lined up in the A-gap where you want to run the ball, and it's going to be tough block to turn that guy away from the hole. He's able to do it because of the combination of footwork and upper body hole. He's able to do it because of the combination of footwork and upper body strength. He's a tremendous player to watch. And so if you get a chance, watch him in the interior. He's critical to what they do on the ground. He's critical to what they do in the passing game as well. The mental prowess is so proficient with him. And the other thing I

will mention, you started with that 12 personnel package. They run it more than anybody in the league. 40% of their offensive snaps are in that 12 personnel package. Carson Wentz is 106 passer rating out of 12 personnel, eight touchdowns, just one interception. They're averaging 9.2 air yards per attempt, but running the ball, they're averaging 4.2 per carry out of that 12 personnel package. So I expect we will see that a ton from Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon, especially given the fact that guys like Alshon Jeffrey are probably going

to be out. Sean Jackson is definitely going to be out. They have struggled with their receiver group this year. So we're going to see a ton of 12 personnel from the Eagles on Sunday. Yeah. And I'm glad that you brought that up about the 12 personnel. I think they do run that so well. And it's such a big part of what they do in Philadelphia. Getting back to Kelsey for a second, and I think you articulated that so well, Mark, in terms of the fact that you're not going to confuse him. He's someone that knows exactly what he needs to do. At the center position, that's such a vital part of offensive success,

and I think you're seeing that a little bit this year in New England in the absence of David Andrews. And that's no disrespect to Teddy Karras, who I think has done a fairly admirable job of filling in for a team captain on that offensive line. But that's something that I think the Patriots are lacking a little bit this year. And we will get into that in a little bit when I talk about the Patriots offense, but staying on the defensive side of the ball, Anyone that knows Mark's work, and if you're listening to this show, you are very familiar with Mark's work, I'm sure, to put it mildly. Mark is a quarterback oracle, and the Patriots will be facing a pretty good one this weekend in Carson Wentz. And you mentioned him earlier in the passer rating, how it improves as he's able to operate in that 12 personnel. Earlier this week,

you took a deeper dive into the duality of Carson's style of play for Pat's pulpit. What really caught my eye and ear in both the reading and the listening was your mention of the hesitation and the comparison to the kind of hesitation that the Patriots saw from Jared Goff just recently in Super Bowl 53. And in short, you indicated that there will be opportunities for the Patriots' defense to capitalize. In that vein, how might the Patriots look to contain Carson Wentz and limit his effectiveness on Sunday? Yeah, that's also a fascinating question. And I think it's important to put

the hesitation sort of in context because a lot of what we've seen so far from the Eagles this year, and this is a team that I, in a sense, do cover. I host a quarterback show on Bleeding Green Nation with Michael Kist each week where we talk about Carson Wentz and then the quarterback the Eagles are going to face. And in studying Wentz this season, I have seen him start to lose confidence in those receivers. And early in the season, Michael and I talked about how would we see that happen, and if so, how would it translate to his play on the field? And you're seeing him start to sort of double-clutch at times on routes. You're seeing him sometimes hesitant to get the ball out of his hands

because he's either not trusting his eyes, or perhaps more likely, he's not trusting the guys downfield. And so that's going to be a critical component of this game on Sunday. Do we still see that hesitation from him? Now, there's a way that the Eagles obviously can sort of negate that, and that's relied more on this 12 personnel package, because I'll tell you, when he doesn't hesitate, that's when he's targeting Ertz, when he's targeting Goddard out of, you know, one of the two tight ends. And so if we see a lot of this 12 personnel, that's a way that the Eagles are sort of going to be able to be more effective, I think,

in the passing game. And it sets up a difficult problem for the Patriots, something that they saw and sort of dealt with two weeks ago, is how do you sort of want to defend this? Do you go light, like the Patriots didn't do against Baltimore, at least early, and play with more sub-packages, but then you've got guys like J.C. Jackson, perhaps, on Dallas-Gardner, or Patrick Chun, if he can go, on Dallas-Gardner, and you play him with defensive backs, and then that exposes you to the run game. Or do you stay heavy, but now you've got guys like Hightower and Van

Noy and Jamie Collins on these tight ends. And so that's going to be interesting to watch. The main thing that I think they need to do is do what they didn't do, obviously, in Super Bowl 52, which is they sort of gave them the run reads in that game. They wanted to take away throws and dared them to run the ball. That didn't quite work. And then when they had to make adjustments, that's when Philadelphia started to have success throwing the football. I think they need to be a little bit different here. I think they need to sort of need to put this game into Carson Wentz's hands, in a sense, and that might sound silly. But if you take away some of these running lanes,

you take away some of what they do best, which is run blocking up front, like we were just talking about. And then that plays to perhaps your strength, which is the guys in the secondary right now. So I think they need to sort of put this game into Carson Wentz's hands, see what he's going to do with the football. Then maybe you get some of those hesitation moments and those opportunities to exploit what he's doing right now as a quarterback. Absolutely. I think you articulated that great. And you mentioned that this wide receiving core for the Philadelphia Eagles is banged up. Obviously, Deshaun Jackson is gone for the year. Alshon Jeffrey looks like he might not be able to go. That takes away two

major weapons. Nelson Aguilar has been spotty this year. So if he's going to be your focal point in the passing game, that creates matchups that the Patriots can exploit. So I do agree with you. I think that in terms of Wentz's effectability, it definitely is better to put the ball in his hands and not allow the Eagles to get into that 12 personnel as comfortable as they normally are. That can disrupt things. And I think that's the Patriots' best defensive strategy to be able to move forward on Sunday. Mark, you've given us some amazing insight on the Patriots' offensive strategy and the, well, excuse me, the Eagles' offensive strategy that they might employ this Sunday. Mark, you've given us some amazing insight on the Patriots' offensive strategy and the Eagles' offensive strategy

that they might employ this Sunday, but we're not done yet, folks. Tom Brady and this Patriots' offense has been the subject of some criticism thus far, and we want to know, what we do want to know is what can the Pats do to silence the critics? Now, you know what? Who cares about the critics? What's really important

is what can Tom and the New England Patriots' offense do to put points on the board against this Eagles defense? Mark has the answers, and in just a moment, we will absorb some of his offensive wisdom in counsel when the Patriots possess the ball on Sunday. Again, that familiar voice you hear belongs to Mark Schofield, who I'm honored to welcome back into the seat. He made famous here on Locked On Patriots. And Mark, we've talked a great deal about the Patriots defense and the methods they may employ to stop this Eagles offense. But to win, the Patriots have to score some points. And the running game has been spotty this year. I'm probably being courteous when I say that. And the Eagles defense has been very good at stopping the run. So to me, that might mean very limited use of Sonny Michel this weekend. In that vein, I've been making the argument all week that the Patriots should continue

the up-tempo, no-headle offense that we saw them use Sunday, a couple of Sundays ago, I should say, against the Baltimore Ravens. Spread the receivers. Try to keep the Eagles defense on its heels. Playing devil's advocate for a second which I'll ask you to do should the Patriots do that and if so what might Philly do defensively to counteract that strategy yeah it's I think look at the outset I think they do need to sort of be that up-tempo team I think that's when they sort of got into their groove against Baltimore I think

that might be their offensive identity down the stretch. And so I think they do need, I agree with you right there, Michael. I think that's what they need to do into this game. Now, what Philadelphia might do, it's hard to say because Jim Schwartz is who he is in the secondary. And he relies on playing a lot of single high coverages, bringing some pressure up front, playing sort of off coverage in the secondary, letting you make catches in front of the receivers and then in front of the defensive backs, excuse me, and then rallying and making tackles.

And that's playing into what New England wants to do anyway, because we know what they want to do. They want to be sort of a more ball control passing game. Tom Brady has no problem taking the five or six, seven-yard throws if you're going to give them to him. He'll take that all day long. Now, the fear that I have in this matchup between the Patriots offense and the Eagles defense is they're very weak in the secondary.

They're very susceptible to play action on the second level. Those linebackers, they are just so aggressive coming downhill when they see run action that I think those crossing routes to Sanu, to Edelman, to Watson off of play action are going to be there all day long. I think they might have one or two shot plays downfield off of double moves, which Darby and Jalen Mills, they always get beat on double moves, like period, full stop. So you'll see a couple of those. The thing that does scare me, though, is their defensive front. They've got a lot of quarterback hits racked up this year.

They've got a decent number of sacks racked up this year. They can get pressure with the guys up front. And so it's obviously, it always comes down each week to can the offensive line protect Tom Brady? If they can, I think they're going to score points on this defense. This defense doesn't concern me that much, but if Brady starts to get pressured, that's the way I think the Eagles can sort of get the upper hand in that matchup is if they can continually pressure Tom Brady, because their defensive front is their strength, not their secondary. Yeah, I think you made a great point about the defensive front being the strength of the Philadelphia defense. That secondary is definitely ripe for the pickings in terms of what Brady is able to do. And that really leads me very, very nicely

into my final question for you today, my friend. So many have made the claim that Tom Brady has been devoid of offensive weapons this year and that that's caused him to struggle. I still think Brady's having a pretty decent year and attribute a lot of the throwaways and maybe some of the pressures that he has to some inconsistencies with the pass protection on the offensive line. Now, it is expected that Nikhil Harry should get his day on Sunday, expected to be the rookies expected to be in the lineup. I was in the media room when he was drafted,

and nearly everyone kept marveling at his size, his physicality. But I think it's going to be a couple of weeks before we truly see the impact that he can have, even though a lot of people are expecting him to have a major role in Sunday's game. Do you think he's going to have a significant impact on Sunday's game plan? And going forward, what does his presence do to help Brady and the offense in terms of the weapons

they need to exploit some of the secondaries they'll see, not just Sunday, but down the line as we move toward the second half of the season? Yeah, I don't know if he'll have a massive role on Sunday, but I think his role will certainly increase as we get down the stretch here and hopefully into the playoffs and beyond. I think that when they made the selection of Nikhil Harry, I think the people in the media room that you heard and were talking to had it right. He's a big physical talent, and when a lot of this league right now is matchup-based in terms of

getting the matchups you want when you see so many back shoulder throws you want a guy that can sort of win in a phone booth like they say and that's something that keel harry can do but i think we're primarily going to see him early on out of the slot and the reason for that is this we spent so much time this offseason wondered about how they might potentially replace rob gronkowski into how they are going to actually replace rob gronkowski. Because remember, before Gronk retired, people were wondering, they got to draft a tight end out of this class, right? They might even have to draft two out of this class. It's such a great tight end class. They didn't draft any, you know, because Bill Belichick never does what we expect him to do. And now I've lost probably more money and time

and got more gray hairs as a result of that. But I think when they drafted Harry, he, in a sense, was partially a Gronk replacement. Because if you think about how they use Gronkowski on seam routes, from the slot, from the win, attacking that bracket outside shoulder of the free safety in the middle of the field, that's something you can do with Harry. So I wouldn't be surprised to see him used primarily as a slot receiver as a big slot type use him on seam routes and then use him on some bubble screens and just get him the ball in space because he's fantastic after the catch and that's a way that even as a rookie even as a rookie wide receiver the New England Patriots offense which we know is notoriously difficult to learn, even as a veteran wide receiver,

because of all the route adjustments, the route conversions, and everything that has to happen at the snap and after the snap based on the coverage, it's tough to pick up this offense as a rookie. But you can put that aside because you can just get him involved on a couple of plays like this with bubbles,

with swings, quick routes to the flat, and then seam routes out of the slot. I think that's a way to get him involved early. I think that's a way to get him into the Tom Brady circle of trust early. And I think that's what we'll see early on from him as he starts to learn the playbook. He can do more down the stretch, but I think now that's the way I'd expect to see him. Great. And I love the points that you've made on Harry.

And I think you hit so many that myself, our listeners here at Locked On Patriots have been wondering, I've been getting a lot of questions about Harry all week long. And that's essentially been my assessment is that he will fit very well into the slot, be that big type of receiver that we're used to seeing Rob Gronkowski play that role. And that's not to say, and I'm glad you made the point of not comparing him directly in apples to apples comparison with Rob Gronkowski. He's not going to be that folks. What he is going

to give you is that pass-catching threat that the Patriots maybe haven't had so far this year. It may take a couple of weeks. So if you don't see a lot of the prolific pass plays that you're expecting to see from Brady to Nikhil Harry this week against the Eagles, don't panic. It doesn't mean they're not going to use them. It doesn't mean he's a bust. It doesn't mean they've wasted a first-round pick on him. It simply means that they're trying to put him in a position where he can succeed and move forward and be a very effective weapon for this team, especially toward the playoffs, which is, I think, where they're going to need him most. Mark, what can I say? No matter the topic, no matter the question, I throw it at you.

You knock it out of the park, as always. And I can't thank you enough for that. It's been an honor to share the microphone with you and have you come back here to Lockdown Patriots and grace us all with your knowledge. Before I let you go, my friend, I don't think there's anyone out there in the Patriots universe that doesn't know where to find you or follow you on social media. But just in case we have any newbies that don't know, please let everybody know where they can find your great work each and every day. Well, Michael, again, it's great to be back with you. I love every time we come on and get a chance to chat.

And again, can't say enough about the great work you're doing now with Locked on Patriots. You're doing such great work right now. Really been fascinated following how you've taken the show in a fantastic direction. Really proud of you, buddy. Couldn't be happier that you've stepped into the shoes and done it better than I could have. As for me, if people want to check out the work, at Mark Schofield on Twitter,

but I contribute to outlets like Inside the Pylon, Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, Pro Football Weekly, and three, yes, three SB Nation websites, Big Blue View, Bleeding Green Nation, where I do cover the Eagles with a QB Scos Show podcast with Michael Kiss that comes out once a week. And Pat's Pulpit, where I write for them and do the Scow Show, which comes out around three times a week. And I also even if there happens to be if there just happens to be a Minnesota Golden Gophers fan out there, your Gophers, our Gophers are undefeated. They're ranked. They're coming off a huge win against Penn State.

And I cover the Gophers. Yes, I cover are undefeated. They're ranked. They're coming off a huge win against Penn State. And I cover the Gophers. Yes, I cover Minnesota football for the Rivals Network. I do a scouting notes piece each week where I break down the upcoming opponent, record some audio about it as well. I just got a piece that came out breaking down the Iowa Hawkeyes, so you can check that out. So for the one Golden Gophers fan out there listening to this podcast, I get to cover there too.

Hey, you know what? We might have more than you think. It's good to hear about Minnesota football that doesn't include the name Hayden Fox or the Minnesota State Screaming Eagles. And everyone knows that the coach TV show, I'm probably showing my age, my friend, but you know what? In any case, I'm glad I love, I love the college plug. I try to do it as much as I can here for my beloved Providence College Friars, who are off to a good start in men's basketball and in men's hockey. So, you know, give them a plug, too. But in all seriousness, again, I really appreciate your kind words.

I assure you, in terms of me doing this job better than you ever could, I think that's far too kind. And I think that's, you know, far too over the top in the praise. I appreciate it. And I know it comes from a place the top in the praise. I appreciate it. And I know it comes from a place of sincerity. And thank you so much. Again, folks, Mark, follow him anywhere you can find him on social media. Read anything and everything that comes out. Listen to his podcasts.

You will be smarter as a football fan and probably even a better person for having done so because not only is he one of the most knowledgeable people I know, he's one of the best guys in the business that you'll find anywhere. So thank you, my friend, enjoy the game on Sunday. It's going to be a good one. And we look forward to having you back on here shortly, maybe before the holidays,

maybe we'll get you, you know, coming homecoming for the holidays before, you know, we say goodbye to 2019, Mark. That would be fantastic. I would love to come back for the holiday season and again since you mentioned the holiday season i have to make this point

you can put up the decorations now if you want you can hang the christmas lights now if you want you can hang the holiday lights now if you want but don't forget thanksgiving people okay i see this every holiday season everybody goes goes from Halloween to the holidays, to Christmas, to Hanukkah, and they skip over Thanksgiving, which is a day about family, food, and football. Don't give up on Thanksgiving, people. It is such a great holiday, okay? That's my quick PSA, my little pitch. I've got the Christmas lights myself, hon, but I'm not turning them on until that night, until Thanksgiving night, because we got to eat that turkey first, friends.

Absolutely. I could not agree with you more. Thanksgiving definitely deserves its day, and it should have its day, independent of the Christmas holiday, Hanukkah, and all of the holidays that we celebrate toward the end of 2019. But let Thanksgiving have its moment, folks. Watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and enjoy that day. I could not agree with you more, buddy. There you go. That's a great movie, too. It's Automobiles and enjoy that day. I could not agree with you more, buddy. There you go. That's a great movie, too. It's fantastic.

It really and truly is. And anybody that listens to my show knows I love movie quotes. If you think I'm not going to be dropping lines from that movie all Thanksgiving week, folks, I don't know what to tell you. But in any case, Mark, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Great, great times today. Again, enjoy the game on Sunday. And thanks for all of your help and your wisdom and counsel. You too, my friend. Always a blast.

Thanks, bud. And once again, folks, it's that time for me to make my weekly prediction, and like the Patriots, I am 8-1 on the season in my picks. Score-wise, well, like Vincent LaGuardia Gambini once said, I win some, lose some. But who will win, and who

will lose this week? Well, on the injury front, continue to watch for information on Danny Shelton, John Simon, and Pat Chung. On the Eagles side, keep a sharp eye on Alshon Jeffrey and Jordan Howard. All of these players were listed on their respective teams' injury reports. Each of them play a significant role in their team's game plan. So watch for their participation status in Friday's practice. That will be telltale if any of them will be active or inactive when Sunday's game rolls

around. But as for the game itself, the Eagles' running game will present a huge test for the Patriots' defense, and this game really should come down to the play of the offensive and defensive lines this week. As Mark and I discussed, the Patriots' front seven has to be more aggressive in attacking the running schemes of the Eagles and try to blow up plays in the backfield. Defensively, the Patriots' best bet is to put the game in the hands of Carson Wentz and take away the running lanes.

In theory, that should force the Eagles out of their comfort zone. That's going to make them less effective in the 12 personnel with Ertz and Goddard. On offense, look for the up-tempo, no huddle, and a spreading of the wide receivers. And as I discussed earlier this week with Taylor Kyles, keep a sharp eye out for some trickery. Josh McDaniels loves rolling out some of that, whether it be Julian Edelman dropping back, or Mohamed Sanu, or even Jacoby Myers.

This could be fun to watch, and it's my opinion that at least one of these finds its way into the Patriots' playbook on Sunday. Overall, I believe that the two weeks prep time for both teams will mean a great game this weekend. But Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the Pats use that extra time to get back into the win column. My prediction is the Pats take this one, folks, 27-24.

And as for me, I will be back on Monday to recap Sunday's Pats-Eagles matchup. I'll break it all down for you, and we'll see if I was right in my assessment. As always, make sure to join me each and every day on the Locked On Patriots podcast, and subscribe to Locked On Patriots via your preferred podcast provider. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate. Thanks again to Mark Schofield for his time and insight today, but most of all, I thank you so much for listening. Have a great weekend, everybody, and enjoy the game on Sunday.