Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Takeaways and Tight End Injuries: Patriots Prep for Philadelphia — 8/16/2021

Episode Date: August 17, 2021

The New England Patriots are in the City of Brotherly Love to prepare for their second preseason game of 2021. New England is set to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday at 7:30pm ET at Lincoln Financial Field. Prior to their matchup, the Pats and Eagles will partake in joint practices on Monday and Tuesday. Joining host Mike D’Abate is fan-favorite Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy. The duo discuss the injuries affecting the Patriots’ tight ends, additional takeaways from Thursday’s win over Washington and a quick look ahead to Philly this Thursday.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built 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.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.StatHeroStatHero, the FIRST Ever Daily Fantasy Sportsbook that gives the PLAYER the ADVANTAGE. Go to StatHero.com/LockedOn for 300% back on your first play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. You are now locked into the Locked On Patriots podcast. It is Monday, August 16th, 2021, and Patriots Red, White, and Blue is being mixed with Philadelphia Eagles Green. And if we're talking green, you know what that means. Hashtag Locked on Murph Monday right here on your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. Pats fans, do you have fantasy football questions you need answered before your draft? Well, don't miss Locked on Fantasy Live

on Wednesday, August 18th at 9 p.m. Eastern, streaming on the Locked On NFL YouTube page. Subscribe now so you don't miss it. Our stable of fantasy experts will answer your questions live or submit them ahead of time on Twitter at LockedOnNetwork. Greetings and salutations, Patriots Nation,

and thank you for kicking off yet another work week here on the Locked On Patriots Podcast. My name is Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriot Maven of Sports Illustrated. I am also your host of the Locked On Patriots Podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, comments, and feedback are always welcomed and very much appreciated.

So share that feedback. Send it to the internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there doing some Monday meddling through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, preseason game one is in the books for your New England Patriots. The Pats are in the city of brotherly love for two days of joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles. Of course, that's in anticipation of Thursday night's preseason game two matchup with the

Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field at 7.30 p.m. in Philadelphia. And these joint practices in particular are going to be a very good test for the New England Patriots. Philly has a very strong front seven, an excellent run defense, and they're a lot better on offense than people give them credit for. Jalen Hurts has the ability to be a very good NFL quarterback, and even though neither team is going to tip their hand too much as to what their game planning is going to be in the regular season, Hurts and the Eagles are going to give that prolific Patriots defense some different looks than they're used to seeing.

And I think it'll be a good test, especially for the corners and the young defensive backs on this roster. On the offensive side of the ball, it's a great opportunity to get both Cam Newton and Mac Jones the ability to see some different looks on defense than they're used to seeing. It also gives the Patriots a chance to test one of the deepest running back cores in the AFC against a very good run defense. One thing that we might not see a whole lot of over the course of the next couple of days, unfortunately, is the Patriots instituting, or I should say reintroducing, the 12-man personnel into their offense. The reason being is the Patriots' tight ends are a little banged up.

Hunter Henry already on the shelf with a shoulder injury. Albeit not serious, he's still expected to miss some time. For the past couple of days, including Monday, he's been showing up for walkthroughs, but hasn't been a participant in organized team drills. On Sunday, Jonu Smith suffered an ankle injury that did scare Pats Nation for a little bit of time, but thanks to ESPN's Mike Reese, we now know that the injury is not considered serious. The Pats and Smith will take a wait-and-see approach on this one, but he isn't expected to miss any meaningful time into the regular season. That's good news for both Smith and Henry once the regular season gets going, but we all know that the best way to build an offense is with repetition and practice,

and unfortunately, with both Smith and Henry on the shelf right now, it makes things a lot more difficult. Now, it is true that Devin Asiasi is back on the field. He missed nine practices while being on the COVID reserve list. You could say that Josh McDaniels might get some experience or at least some teaching moments in giving the ball to Asiasi and veteran Matt Lacoste. Well, unfortunately, Lacoste also went down on Monday. Per the reports of those Patriots media that are in Philly this week,

Lacoste was running a shallow cross route which led him directly into Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett. Barnett apparently leveled him with a very aggressive hit. Lacoste immediately went down, removed his helmet, was examined by trainers for about 90 seconds on the field before getting up, walking off under his own accord. He did not return to action. At this time, there's no further information on exactly what Lacoste is dealing with, but if it is indeed a head injury, there will be protocols that need to be followed. That means that the Patriots currently have only two fully healthy tight ends on the roster right now. Devin Asiasi, who, don't forget, is only a few days removed from coming back from the COVID-19 list,

and Troy Fumagalli. Veteran tight end David Wells was released by the team on Sunday, so what looked to be a position of strength now all of a sudden is looking a bit thin for the New England Patriots. So what does this all mean for the Pats? Will it affect their plans for the week, and will it have a profound effect on the product that we see on the field this coming Thursday when the Pats take on the Eagles in preseason game two. Well, these sound like monster questions.

And, as I'm sure you've figured out by now, folks, we have some monster green wisdom and counsel in the house today to bring it all home. My good friend, the monster green master of disaster, the green king of sting, the count of Murphy, Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy is back here for his weekly appearance on hashtag LockedOnMurphMonday. And we will discuss the health of the Patriots' tight end depth chart. We'll also talk a little bit about what Murph observed on the field this past Thursday when

the Patriots defeated the Washington football team 22-13. Last but certainly not least, we'll look ahead to this Thursday, August 19th, and Murph will tell us his thoughts on what we should expect to see on the field when the Pats take on the Philadelphia Eagles. An action-packed agenda, lots to get to on the docket as we kick off yet another hashtag Locked on Murph Monday when today's episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, when it comes to repairing or maintaining your vehicle, why would you spend 30%, 50%, even 100% more

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car will ever need rockauto.com patriots fans it's a new dawn and a new day here in pats nation preseason game one is in the books and now the patriots have taken to the city of brotherly love for two joint practice days. And, of course, a showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles this coming Thursday in preseason game two. If the Patriots are in Philly, you know they're going to be seeing a lot of green. Well, the color green anyway. But luckily for us, we have the right kind of green with us today. The green wisdom and counsel of the legendary man himself.

Time for some green wisdom and counsel, folks. He's here. He's ready to roll. Your favorite and mine, my benefactor in this business, of course, the only guest on this pod with his very own branded hashtag, the Count of Murphy Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy is back for his weekly appearance here on Locked On Patriots. Thank you for coming to me in friendship.

Thank you for joining me today, Don Murphy. Always my pleasure. And that introduction is the reason why. All deserves. Thank you, my friend. It is always too good to be here. Back in the old chair that has my butt permanently imprinted in it, and I can tell if anybody else has sat in it.

Once again, nobody has. Nobody wants to take it. Oh, man. That's it. I come here for wisdom, counsel from you, my friend, and, of course, to gaze up at the lovely poster of Toto that was left behind. Absolutely. Absolutely, and it's left in uh in uh honor not

uh you know in uh in honor and in tribute to my my good friend and predecessor mark scofield of course uh but you're right about the chair you know there's a deleted scene in the godfather murph and i know you've seen it but for the benefit of some of our listeners that may not have seen it it's right after the don is shot and sunny goes to tell his mother the news and uh maybe you haven't seen the scene i think no i have um yeah sunny goes to tell his mother that the don has been shot and you know she's been through it before she takes it in stride says okay we have to go to the hospital um and that's exactly what she does and sunny takes off for his father's office and he knows that he's going to assume the role of the Don.

He looks at his father's chair and gives it a glance and decides to pull the chair next to it over to the side of the desk. And that's where he grabs his father's phone, starts making phone calls and taking care of business. Great scene. I really wish that had made it into the final cut because it really shows that heavy lies the head that wears the crown. And heavy is the head that wears the crown. And in that respect, he wasn't quite ready to assume that level. I find that with a lot of guests here on Locked On Patriots. They look at Murph's chair and they don't quite need that responsibility.

They don't quite want that responsibility just yet. So they take the side chair, do a fine job, but at the same time, it's a very, very big shadow that cast. And I mean that figuratively, my friend, because you really do bring the wisdom and counsel as only you can. But that wasn't a big person joke. Don't, don't, don't. 11 feet tall and 1,400 pounds is a big-ass chair. That's right. Oh, man, let's dive into it. And you feel it well.

Absolutely, because we make Mondays fun here, bud. It is hashtag LockedOnMurfMonday. And we're going to get into your thought process on what we saw last Thursday and how that's going to relate to what we might see this Thursday. But the news of the day, Claire, turn the volume up. You might want to listen to this one. The news of the day, Claire, turn the volume up. You might want to listen to this one. The news of the day is tight-ended. Obviously, some injuries are biting the Patriots in an area that everybody thought was going

to be the most improved area on the roster. And I still think that's going to be the case. Looks like the Patriots, at least to their top two options, have avoided serious injury. But Hunter Henry goes down with a shoulder injury a couple of weeks ago he hasn't been able to find his way onto the field although today in philly um obviously uh you know the reporters that are present that made the uh the road trip have indicated that he was on the field wearing pads still waiting for some practice reports as to exactly how he did but yesterday sunday janu sm Smith pulls up a little bit

with an ankle injury. We find out that the injury is not that serious for the Patriots prolific tight end. He looks like he's going to be OK with a little bit of rest. He did make the trip to Philly, wasn't in pads or practice gear today.

So the Patriots are obviously taking a wait and see approach with him. And then on the field in Philly, Matt Lacoste apparently was laid out by a Philly defender, left the practice fields, we're still waiting on some news from him. And obviously the Pats wanted that 12-man personnel to be able to come through this year, Murph. That was really the reason for bringing in guys like Sean O'Smith and Hunter Henry. And even Matt Lacoste could be a nice fill in. Devin Asiasi even missed time with the COVID-19 pandemic and obviously the COVID-19 diagnosis.

He was on that reserve list. Murph, bottom line, my friend, this is going to be very tough for the Patriots to put in practice time on that 12-man personnel when you have a dearth of tight ends on the roster that are capable of playing. How much does this affect the New England Patriots moving forward in terms of their game planning and what they'd like to get ready for for the 2021 season? It affects it a ton.

A series of unfortunate events, this little lemony Snicket's thing with tight endage that's going on right now. If you can't work it into the game plan for the preseason, especially when there's only three preseason games, when you can't use the sets that you want to work on in these joint practices, it's a big deal. Not a massive deal, but a big deal. We've got a quarterback that is trying to get on the

same page as new moving pieces, pieces that are going to be a huge part of this offense, as we all think going forward. And another quarterback that is just trying to get his bearings on the NFL right now and build a relationship with all the guys that are on the field. And if they're not on the field, that's a deal. Yeah, absolutely. It really is. It is a deal. And look, you're not talking about two tight ends that have played in the system for a number of years here in New England that know each other very well, that might be able to adapt to maybe missing some time together

because they can pull off a previous experience. Jono and Hunter are two of the more talented tight ends in the league right now. You put them both on the same team, all of a sudden that tight endage room looks excellent, but they need time together on the field to be able to gel. What we've seen from them on the field has been very good, but it's been a while since they've both shared that type of environment. So yeah, I agree with you i think this is going to be an issue uh you know for them if these guys can't get back on the field to do it

but the one saving grace about john who smith and hunter henry is these two guys are pros uh without any question um they know their own skill level they know what they can bring to the table and from hearing some of the comments firsthand from John O'Smith and from Hunter Henry, when they've had the opportunity to meet with the media this month and the last couple of weeks, they've been very forthcoming about how they feel and how they see themselves complimenting each other on the field. That's a positive. So if I'm Josh McDaniels, I'm taking that away and knowing that these two guys, when they are ready to share the field again, they'll come back and they'll come back strong. One quick question on the tight endage room before we move on to your thoughts on Thursday's game and your thoughts upcoming this week.

When you look at some of the injuries that these guys have had, especially Shon and hunter henry henry's had you know he's had injuries in the past there have been you know leg injuries that he's had to deal with genre has had two mcl injuries that you know some people may not be well aware of one of which kept him out of the rest of the season in uh tennessee back in 2017 these are injuries that uh you know definitely uh have been concerns in the past. When you look at these two guys now being up a little in the preseason, does it worry you at all about their potential health this year moving forward, especially considering that the Patriots are putting a lot into making these guys a focal point of the offense?

No more than it did the day that they signed. There was a pause at the length of the contracts, at the amount of money that was being handed out. And yeah, I thought about it. I did. I'm not going to lie. It gave me pause. Henry and Smith are both guys that have had to deal with this type of thing in the past. But what we've seen this week I don't think is a precursor to anything that would give me a deeper sense of worry. These guys are not from the small Italian island of Fregile. They've had injuries. This happens.

This is football. And no, I'm not really worried about it. The Patriots did their due diligence when it came to Smith's knees. We all know what Hunter Henry has had to deal with. And, you know know a low ankle sprain and a banged up shoulder you know these are a week to 10 day type things that I don't think are going to creep up during the season these are both as you said seasoned professionals they are both hard-nosed football players and these are injuries that you know during the season believe me in in the the vein of zeus

hightower hightower they will shake it off and be there on sunday yeah without any question and look we're also talking about two guys and murph i think we're very comfortable being able to say this um neither one of these guys are fighting for a roster spot on this team their roster spots are secured folks these are two guys that are going to be a big part of what the Patriots do at tight end, not just in 2021, but beyond. And they did do their due diligence on the injury histories, both with Henry and with Smith. The injuries they're fighting right now are not related to anything that they've fought before. Smith's ankle injury is a low ankle sprain.

It's not a serious injury. It will be something that he will be able to come back from. He needs to, you know, obviously give time, reduce swelling, give the opportunity for him to get flexibility back. Once he does, he'll be back on the field. The same thing with Hunter Henry. I mean, these are isolated injuries that players have had, but I did a piece for Sports Illustrated last week on Hunter Henry

and essentially letting people know thank you very much i appreciate that um because i watched this kid in los angeles and in san diego and the one knock on him is oh he can't stay on the field he's never played a full season well take a look at his record with the exception of the full season that he had to miss with the acl injury he's been back on the field and he's played 14 game seasons. He's played, you know, a good percentage and he's been on the field. One of the very few tight ends that has actually seen more than 70% of his games played, you know, within a, within a timeframe,

within a short period of time. So I don't think there's any long-term concerns here. I'm sorry, Mike. I didn't mean to jump on it. This man has missed less time in his years in the NFL than Rob Gronkowski did in his first five years in the NFL. It's overplayed. It really is. Injuries happen. This man is a gamer. He's going to be on the field. Don't worry about it. I'm more worried about Devin Asiasi getting homesick during the season than I am about Hunter Henry.

And, you know, Devin actually does have a good opportunity. He's one of the few healthy tight ends right now that's on this roster. And even he coming back from being on COVID reserve will give him a little bit of an opportunity to kind of flex his muscle and show what he can do moving forward instead of kind of easing him back in. But again, folks, don't read too much into Smith or Henry being injured. I think these guys are going to be ready to roll once the regular season rolls around. And ultimately, Bud, that's what we all want to see. Well, speaking of the regular season rolling around, one preseason game is in the books and another is on tap for this coming Thursday.

My good friend in just a moment here on the pod will provide his thoughts on what we saw on the field on Thursday for the Patriots against the Washington football team. Is there anything that he took away from this game that he believes will impact this Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Find out when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, get all the latest news, odds, and info for all of your sporting needs, including Major League Baseball, the NBA, NHL, all of your UFC, MMA action, and of course the NFL with the only place that has you covered and the only place we trust. BetOnline.

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That's promo code LOCKED15 for 15% off at Bilt.com. Murph Monday and loving every minute of it on this end of the microphone. And Bud, last week, the Patriots took the field, a 22 to 13 victory over the Washington football team in preseason game one at Gillette Stadium. A lot of highlights in this game. I know a lot of people made a great deal of, I don't want to say hoopla, but I guess that's the best term that I can put with Matt Jones' appearance and his performance in this game. A lot of people keeping two sharp eyes on his performance, as well as Cam Newton's, you know, taking snaps with the opening, you know, with the starters in the opening moments of that game. Obviously, Ramondre Stevenson stealing the show with a 91-yard run for a touchdown. A lot of people loving what this kid, exactly, A lot of people loving what this kid can do.

And a little stick it with the bell there. You've got to love that. The competitive nature flowing through the veins of one William Belichick right now. So, you know, got to love it. Got to love Sato. I love it. I do. But, you know, Quinn Nordine obviously continues to catch the eye of a lot of people going three for three on field goals.

Yeah, he makes the extra point, folks. But he's been impressive so far. So those are some of the big storylines coming out of this game. Obviously, the defense being a big key as well. A lot of great individual performances. Murph, when you watched Thursday's game, digesting it now from start to finish, we've had a few days to kind of really absorb what we saw. What were some of your takeaways and what impressed you most with this team? Well, first of all, you know, when Bill Belichick is

set to take a knee at the end of a game after a break of a two-point conversion, take, you know, allow him to do it. Don't call timeout because that's just going to piss Bill off and he's going to run that play. Sorry. What really stood out to me was the second half. The first half kind of went on script. Newton got the start and he played his two series, and then the kid came in to his standing ovation.

But what happened in the second half with Jones was really impressive. McDaniels went up-tempo to start the second half, and Jones ran a beautiful 53-yard scoring drive, running no huddle all the way down, well, half the way down the field. But it was impressive. It was really impressive what he was able to do. He was accurate. He was on time.

He made the throws that he had to make. Josh McDaniels was thrilled with what happened there. Another thing that stood out to me was the crowded backfield and how things are going to get split up this week. Damian Harris looked, you know, Damian Harris-ish when he was in there. He got four carries. He averaged four yards a tote. Sonny Michel had six. He averaged four yards a tote.

J.J. Taylor had two carries, pulled off ten yards, but he caught five passes out of the backfield. I thought that was really important. Not in so much the sense that it's pushing James White. We all heard what Bill said this week about James White. James White will be a Patriot for as long as he wants to. He got 22 yards on a couple of catches. James White is on this team. But how things are going to

get split up this week is really telling because this room is really crowded at the moment. And I do think that if we see a lot of Sonny early, it's a showcase and they might move him. Yeah, I mean, I think that's definitely a possibility. And in my 53-man roster prediction that I just recently published, I kind of gave the nod to them keeping Sonny and putting Nikhil on the trade block. That may not be looking so good right now. From the reports we're getting in Philly after day one of joint practices, he's looked very impressive in one-on-ones.

So it'll be interesting for me to see uh if he's targeted uh you know a little bit more uh this week than he was last week and we'll get to this week in just a moment but i think you make a great point about the running back room look there is a ton of talent up and down every single one of the running backs that remain on this roster right now from top to from top to bottom have the chance to be on and really deserve to be on an nfl roster and they really deserve to be on this nfl roster i left jj taylor off the list uh of my final uh cuts i know the patriots roster in favor of brandon bolden and i don't regret my choice no no no no i'll give you my reasons i'll give you my reasons uh but no all

kidding aside i mean brandon's special teams prowess uh definitely tips the scales but also he's looked good in camp in the time that he's been out there on the field he looks great after taking right here off he's not showing any field rust and that's one thing that i wanted to see in brandon is he still making the cuts as sharp Is he still hitting the holes as hard as he can? He absolutely is. And that, to me, makes him invaluable. J.J. Taylor is such a great change of pace back. He really does it so well, Murph.

It's so tough. And the special teams ability that he can bring in the return game. Ricochet rabbit out there. Oh, my God. Absolutely. So, you know, with Sony. I just aged myself there didn't i just dated us and all these kids out there what's a ricochet rabbit and they're all google it's all

right don't worry about it i got it i got it i got the uh the reference and a lot of our listeners will some won't but a lot of them will uh but uh with sony entering the final year of his deal now knowing that the patriots are not going to pick up that 50-year option, you know, could this be, you know, a trade? And maybe he's, you know, showcasing himself because Sony has looked good. He's running with a lot more power, a lot more purpose, and he's really resurrected his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. So maybe that's appealing to a team,

and the Patriots can get some pretty good value in return and that'll solve their problem but ultimately I think this Thursday is going to be a pretty good barometer to find out exactly where the Pats think they are roster wise on a lot of these guys mentioned Nikhil Harry earlier was on the field for 36 snaps he was targeted only once so I look for that to increase or maybe I'm just you know pie in the sky hopes here when it comes to Nikhil. Maybe he won't be. There's a lot of, you know, thought process that we may see a little bit more of some of the first string defenders.

Henry Anderson surprised me a little bit that he was, you know, taking snaps with the twos into the second half for someone that I believed was a complete roster lock. I still believe that, by the way, folks. I don't think Henry's going anywhere, but it'll be interesting to see how these guys match up and what the Patriots think of certain guys here on the roster. When you look at Thursday's game, Bud, what do you expect to see from the Patriots in terms of offense, in terms of defense, or just from what you saw this past Thursday against Washington, can we expect to see any building on some of these performances? Yeah, I'm expecting to see more Cam Newton this week.

I do believe that week one he will be the starter. Bill is not going to feed him to the Sharks. I wrote last week that weapons were untested. I do believe that in Kiel we'll see more targets this week. A lot of the time last week, folks, if you go back and you watch that game again, there were moments where he was open, open enough, open to the point where you need to throw him that ball and let him go get it. I do believe with Cam in there, that will happen. Mack was taking what was given to him. He ran a very smart game. He was a game manager, and I don't use that in a bad way at all. He managed the game, and the Patriots won.

So, yeah, I'm expecting that. Unfortunately, we aren't going to see the two tight end sets that we were hoping for. I was really looking forward to that this week. So, yeah, there's going to be a little more usage this week, I believe, of the, what, quote-unquote, the weapons, the guys that catch the ball. We're going to see a lot more of that this week going up against this Philadelphia defense than we did last week against Washington. Yeah, absolutely.

I completely agree. And look, bottom line, when you look at what this team is possibly going to do this week as opposed to what they could do last week, it begins and ends with more playing time for Cam Newton. Nelson Aguilar, I expect to play in this game. Didn't play last week. And I think that's something that Patriots fans that may still question whether or not Cam can get the ball to a receiver take a look at the connection that these two are budding i've seen it in camp it's looking phenomenal so far uh it really i think in a lot of ways uh is continuing especially from the notes that we're seeing from philly's joint practices that these two continue to hook up uh very effectively i really like the synergy that cam is building with n, and I think it could be something special this year. I look for that to kind of be something that may catch the sharp eye of Patriots fans and maybe get some of the fan base that's not quite warming to Cam yet a little bit off his back.

I think Cam's going to look sharper. The other thing we need to keep an eye on is Christian Wilkerson. I want to see if he can build on what he was able to do last week. He caught six passes. He had nine targets. Let's see if that keeps up for another week, and let's see if that happens with the first unit the way it did with the second unit against Washington.

Absolutely, without question. And in a lot of ways, I completely agree with you on offense that's something that i'm looking for uh will ramondre stevenson continue to get an increased look it looks like that there are some uh you know some indications that he might be getting extra reps in practice he definitely you know look to be a little more active uh you know yesterday on the field for the patriots on sunday uh down in philly they're reporting that he's still getting a little bit more action down there as well so that'll be interesting to monitor on the defensive side of the ball i'm looking at the cornerbacks i'm looking at jc jackson taking a little bit of a step thank you jalen mills got

beat a couple of weeks a couple of weeks ago a couple of times last time that was a little bit of a mismatch can he step up against his former team? You know he's going to be motivated to do that, and I think this is an opportunity for maybe him to show what he can do there. So Jalen Mills is going to be someone I'm keeping my sharp eye on as well. The front seven continues to look good, especially the linebacking core. This linebacking core has really, really made some strides. Great stuff for the New England Patriots. Just one note on the

defensive line. More Devin Gottschall, please. Oh my God. So well said. Oh my God. I need more Devin Gottschall like some people need more Cowbell. Absolutely. It was just phenomenal for what he was able to do on the field. It was just fantastic. And I understand, folks, it was just a couple of series. But this might be, you know,

we've talked about the best signings in the offseason. But Godshaw on a two-year deal, it was fantastic. He made three tackles. He ate up the line in front of him. Lawrence Guy is probably out buying him a Mercedes right now for the help that he's going to get that he needed last year. Bill went out and made sure that he got it, and chow is is a god send yeah what a solid beautiful i love it god chow is a god send i was almost gonna you know close up today by saying murph's got a fever it's got a fever and the only description is more god chow i like it i really do like it as my bad christopher walken impression folks i'm sorry about that

anybody that's listening to me on FPC Radio Live, I sometimes fall into that character, but it's all good. It really is, and I agree with you on Godchow. Just a true presence in the middle of that defensive line. The interior definitely is in good hands with Devin and with Lawrence Guy, and then you throw either Henry Anderson or Chase into the mix or Dietrich Wise to kind of help that three-man front. That's going to be an interesting development and I think a great opportunity.

You mentioned the linebackers. I mean, seeing Matthew Judon every day in practice has just been a joy. It really has been. Seeing him on the field and really focusing on what he brings, I have no idea what baltimore was thinking i would have found the way i would have found a way to pay this man and bring him here another steal another great move by the man who who's who's uh gm prowess keeps getting um raked over the colts and yeah i was just gonna say yeah but uh i thought he's saying he's not

a good gm he doesn't make good moves he didn't get the weapons yeah he didn't get the weapon he can't draft the wide receivers you know nobody just can't he can't draft a receiver why can't you draft an all-pro wide receiver in the seventh round are you what what are you talking you know god god take your six super bowls people take your six Super Bowls and clutch them and hold on to them because this is the man that did it. It wasn't just Bill the coach. It's also Bill the GM and, of course, Tommy. Absolutely, yeah.

Can't forget the guy that wore number 12 up here for a number of years. There's a lot of credit that deserves to be thrown his way. But, folks, there's a lot of credit that deserves to be thrown his way, but folks, there's a lot of credit that deserves to be thrown Bill's way as well. You do not amass the resume this man has amassed by simply being a push-button passenger. He's ready to roll this year, and I like some of the moves they've made, and

I think Patriots Nation is going to be happy with some of those as well, but the one good thing that I can say, Bud, is that we will continue to talk about it all season long here on Locked On Murph Monday because Mondays are for Murph here on Locked On Patriots, and I, for one, wouldn't have it any other way. Folks, please follow my good friend, the Count of Murphy, Fisto himself, on Twitter at TMurph207. If you do, you'll realize why he is Familia, the true Don of Locked On Patriots.

The content that this man continues to put out on E2G Sports on a daily basis, point, click, learn, enrichment material. It really makes you a smarter football fan. It makes you a better person. Just read what the man has to say. You'll never regret it. And, of course, never miss an episode of One Patriot's Place with Murph, our great mutual friend Steve Balistrieri,

who will be joining me here tomorrow on Locked On Patriots, and of course, how can I forget, new nickname for her, the Empress of Tight Endage herself, Miss Claire Clazzy Claire Cooper. Buddy, what can I say? Thank you so much for joining me today. Honored and humbled, as always, by your presence.

Oh, Bud, it is always a pleasure. It is always my thrill. Yeah, folks, check out One Patriot's Place this afternoon. Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal will be coming on and sharing his opinions on everything that's happening at camp. And, Michael, I am always here for you whenever you need me, whenever you call. Call.

I will pick up the phone and be here. It is, without a doubt, my favorite half hour or so that I spend every week. Thank you, my friend, for having me here. And for the visual folks, for those of you that know, Murph did do the phone hand gesture very similar to Mr. Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off when he said that, Ferris, if you need anything, call. So on that note, my friend, stay safe, stay well, have a great week. We look forward to doing this all again right here next week on Hashtag Locked on Murph Monday. Thanks a ton, buddy.

Anytime. I'm going to go wrap a hot towel around my head. Wrap a hot towel around my head? Get some soup. Get a nap. And so, Pats fans, that's one of the books here on your work week for Patriots coverage. But fear not, because we are just scratching the surface when it comes to Patriots talk leading up to Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

So, to ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action, download, subscribe to, and follow the Locked On Patriots podcast on platforms such as Spotify, the Odyssey app, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you are staying locked into Locked On Patriots. And for those of you that are interested in making a little something extra while watching your NFL action this year, betting on football does not have to be a guessing game if you listen to the new Locked On Bets podcast, hosted by your boy Q and handicapping expert Lee Sterling.

Get daily picks, blowout specials, wrong team favorite picks, and Lee Sterling's lock of the day. Follow the Locked On Bets podcast brought to you by betonline.ag, wherever you get your podcasts. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Thomas Murphy for his time, his insight, and his appearance on today's pod. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for continuing to make Locked On Patriots

a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.