Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Tight Ends and Trades on Tuesday…Oh My! — New England Patriots talk with ClazzyClare — 11/2/2021

Episode Date: November 3, 2021

As the New England Patriots begin to turn their attention to Week Nine, and a matchup with the Carolina Panthers, they are still savoring their 27-24 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Clare ‘ClazzyClare’ Cooper. The duo discuss Pats-Chargers, New England’s activity at the Trade Deadline and of course, Tight Endage.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.GetupsideJust download the FREE GetUpside App and use promo code TOUCHDOWN to get up to 50¢/gallon cash back on your first tank.  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 in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. It is Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021. And for the second week in a row, we're going to talk a little tight endage on this Tuesday 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. And of course, thank you, Locked On listeners,

for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms. Greetings and salutations, Patriots Nation, and thank you for joining me here on this Tuesday episode of the pod. My name is Mike DeBate, and 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 encouraged. 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 Tuesday traveling through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, we continue to bask in the glow of the New England Patriots 27-24 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. And as we continue to break this one down,

we're reminded that the Patriots look pretty solid in all phases. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. But it was definitely good enough to win. The front seven looks formidable. The secondary made plays when they needed to, thanks to my guy Adrian Phillips and the big pick six that put the Patriots on top for good. And on the offensive side of the ball, Damian Harris continues to run the ball well. The offensive line is rounding into form, and Mac Jones may not have had his best game, but the rest of the team around him definitely picked him up. That includes the two tight ends, Jonu Smith and Hunter Henry. And if we're going to talk a little tight endage today,

you know there is no better person to talk that subject with than our resident tight endage expert. Claire Clazzy Claire Cooper joins us here today on the pod. And in addition to our requisite talking tight endage, we will also talk about Claire's thoughts on Sunday's game, what it means for the Patriots going forward, and our thoughts on the Patriots' activity at the trade deadline. Folks, an action-packed agenda, tons to get to,

so without much further ado, I introduce the Countess of Clazz, the Baroness of Blockers herself, Ms. Claire, Clasie Claire Cooper, when this Tuesday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Hello again, Patriots fans. This is Mike DeBate with an incredible app everyone who buys gas needs to know about. Get Upside. My listeners are making up to 25 cents for every gallon of gas, every time they fill up.

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we tried a little tight endage Tuesday. And you know what? It was so nice that we decided to do it twice. Two weeks in a row is tight endage Tuesday. And if you're really sharp, you can figure out exactly who my guest today is going to be. For the benefit of those of you listening to Locked On Patriots for the first time, this lady's wit and wisdom are a staple here on the pod. And even if you've never listened to Locked On Patriots before, if you are a Patriots fan, hers is a voice, maybe an accent, definitely a giggle that you should know well.

From West Midlands in the UK, she is a Patriots writer for Pat's Propaganda, the third voice of One Patriots Place, and a special contributor and columnist for Full Press Coverage Patriots, where she also hosts her very own Patriots podcast, A Clear Perspective, the podcast. And folks, when I tell you this podcast is a must listen, it truly is.

Be sure not to miss this week's episode with Patriots.com's Paul Perillo. She is the Countess of Clas herself, and it's always my honor to welcome her here to Locked On Patriots, Miss Claire Clasiclair Cooper. Claire, thank you for joining me from across the pond today. Welcome back to Tight Endage Tuesday here on Locked On Patriots. You're very welcome, Mike. Thank you very much for asking me back. I love it.

Well, we love it too, and the listeners love it. So that's why that you're back here. I always enjoy talking to you. You know that. We could talk football all day long, whether it's on the record or off the record. But at the same time, our listeners love to hear it as well, because you bring the wit and the wisdom the way only you can. And again, folks, I know we say tight endage Tuesday and Claire has definitely got that, you know, moniker attached to to her in terms of how she's able to cover the Patriots.

But I will say this and I say this each and every week. Her knowledge of the game, her intricacies that she brings in terms of insight really have gotten better and better each and every week. And I consider her right at the top of my list of analysts that I'll go to when I need any type of breakdown when it comes to your New England Patriots. And Claire, for the second straight week, we're breaking down or we're analyzing a Patriots victory. It's two victory Mondays in a row with Murph. And then here on Tuesday, we're trying to now break down exactly how the Patriots went about going into the City of Angels and taking it to the Chargers at SoFi Stadium, coming away with a 27-24 victory.

Obviously, a huge victory for the New England Patriots. And they did some good things on offense, some good things on defense. We talked a little bit about them yesterday here on Locked On Patriots. But before we get into some of the other topics of the day, what were your takeaways from Sunday's game? Your overall impressions of the Patriots' victory over the Chargers on Sunday? Well, as I wrote in my recap, as people may have caught yesterday, I put it down as the Patriots grind in LA, baby. And it really was that. It was a bit of a grind of a day. It was a bit of a scrappy performance in all fairness.

I mean, they won and that's great and I'll take it. Mack had a bit of an off game. You know, he didn't necessarily have the best game of the season so far. But I think some of that can be contributed to kind of the LA defense they they kind of threw him off his game in all fairness you know for one of a better phrase so I think some of it was that I mean I must admit they ran a little bit less than I anticipated I know they did run but you know particularly later in the second quarter um there were so many incomplete throws that i just couldn't

help thinking at that point why not do you know a couple of run attempts that kind of thing but in all fairness that is why i am not a coach you know i don't know sort of the ins and outs of everything it was just my perspective my opinion when when those plays were going on and there was the consistent incomplete passes that it was just uh we know that this this defense is is kind of a run weak defense so you know maybe try and plow the ball a little bit but they did and that was successful so you know it's kind of six one half a dozen of the other really I was quite happy to see Jakob Johnson and and it was kind of it was noted upon as well which which I found was good he had a good game and he had some catches and some of his

blocks were so significant for point scoring particularly Harris Harris's scoring touchdown was you know Jacob Johnson pretty much made that hole um and I think it's good that we're recognizing I mean I'm quite a big fullback sort of um cheerleader type thing I know that I look at the tight end and the fullback very very differently I know obviously they train together and stuff so people kind of do tend to lump them in together but I still look at them very very differently and but I'm still much of a fullback fan as I have been for a little while now and it was just good to see that he is proving that that fullback position is a key position I'm glad that it kind of reflects and gives a little bit of a

love for the fullback position because you know it is a you know he's a hard-working guy and it was really good and it was good to see and it's good to see that it's like kind of down on the statistics as you know that he's getting these catches kind of thing I'm wondering at this point if the utilization of Jakob Johnson is a little bit sort of to cover for the fact that they don't have James White now I know obviously completely two different positions but he's a guy that's been in the team for a little while and I'm just wondering if if Max turning to him as a little bit of in in a little bit of a safety blanket-esque kind of way and that's why they've moved towards some

sort of some throws to Johnson so I kind of want to keep my eye on that and I want to say as you say my sharp eye on that that's something that I definitely want to look at and be very specific to watch going forward I'm very interested to see if this means that the full-back position really does get you know continually solidified but I know it's been a key position for the Patriots for a while now you know going back to Devlin and that kind of thing so I I know it's a it's a key there so I'm very interested in that so I was happy to see that um in my perspective I think that the defense did pick it up in the second from the second quarter initially I was a little bit concerned because um

Jackson and McCourty did start the game on my bad list again. Not the first time, but then McCourty had a great tackle and he, you know, tearing out the ball and stuff like that. And then going forward, Jackson did have some great coverage. So he kind of went off my bad list onto my yeah, yeah, he did OK kind of list. I was concerned Hightower was a little inconsistent we haven't seen everything from him that we sort of used to and I don't know if that's sort of not to be a bad reflection on him but maybe the the year out has sort of done a little bit of a number on him I mean don't get me wrong I'm not saying he's he's terrible or anything not at all it's just he

I don't think we're seeing the high tower that we are used to seeing. Although he did then pick it up in the game, as I mentioned. So kind of one of those in all fairness. But rounded off, you know, it was a scrappy game. Interesting to watch, you know, quite frankly. But also, you know, a little bit on edge because we're not sort of used to as much of these scrappy games. You're kind of used to as a Patriots sitting back thinking, yeah, we're going to win this game. And really the last kind of two years now, two seasons, it's suddenly changing your perspective on we're not having these easy wins.

You know, we've got to get used to the fact that we've got a rookie quarterback that we're going to be concerned but the kid's been giving literal blood on his jersey literal blood sweat and possible tears as well but yeah um so yeah good win bit scrappy good going forward on the road um all the I think they've won all the games that they've won so far have been on the road and have actually been against uh rookie quarterbacks as they won against Wilson um Mills and Herbert now I know Herbert's in his second year I know he's not a first year quarterback but all the wins have been against young quarterbacks and that's an interesting perspective to look at and I'm just sort of hoping going forward that it isn't a trend it isn't something that's their weakness

that they can only sort of win against the the young guys and and not the veterans so Carolina may not be the test that it would have been depending on what happens with um Sam Donald because I know that at the time that we were talking, he's out with an injury. So it's not clear yet whether the Patriots will be playing him. So that's another sort of, will they be playing that significant veteran? And also there's another point of how Christian McCaffrey, he was on injury.

He's eligible to come back this week. So that could cause a problem. It might not. He might not be there. So significant going forward. was on injury he's eligible to come back this week so it's that could cause a problem it might not he might not be there so significant going forward let's hopefully take this win and roll with it and and carry on absolutely I think you made a few interesting points and I'm glad that you mentioned uh Mac yeah definitely uh making a habit of getting some crimson on the jersey I got a dm from uh one of my uh fellow writers that said uh you know next year for halloween that could be a mac jones jersey you know there wasn't fake you know blood

on there and you know people put you know and they'll say oh i'm mac jones you know and that's uh that could be that could end up being his uh his trademark i'm sure mac doesn't want to make that a habit but uh you know he is he's playing with a lot of grit a lot of determination didn't have his best game on sunday and he'll be the first to admit it he did admit as such right after the game speaking to reporters and then again uh you know speaking to uh to the media uh he was very forthcoming about not having his greatest day but his teammates were able to pick him up and I'm glad that you gave some love to Jakob Johnson because I do see a trend in the direction of utilizing Jakob a lot more on offense than just being a situational goal line stander or things of that nature. We know his prowess as a blocker, but he's getting more involved in the offense.

He took 22 offensive snaps on Sunday, which is 29% of the Patriots offensive snaps. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you take under account that it's a fullback and usually these guys are there on situational downs, it really does show that he's becoming a member or becoming an integral part of what this team wants to do offensively. In terms of that third down roll, I think you might be onto something there with James White, although I think at the end of the day, the Patriots want to try to reserve that role for either a Ramondre Stevenson or a J.J. Taylor, someone that can receive out of the backfield, you know, make a little bit more yardage. That he might be sort of, you know, that he might be being used as not necessarily positionally, but just sort of generally overall, maybe more of a maybe even like psychologically, but utilising him as that kind of safety, safety net sort of thing. And that's why I know, obviously, the player comparison,

it's a different position. And I appreciate that. It was just more utilising him as a little bit of a go-to because that's what James White seemed to be. You can go to that guy and you can trust in that guy. And I think that's maybe what sort of is something that might be growing, something that might be developing, that Jakob Johnson can be a bit of a go-to guy you know a solid sort of guy one thing I

didn't mention that I'd really like to if you if you don't mind is um there's two things about this game that I kind of just quickly want to mention um the the fact that Matt Doudon is that much of a beast that he doesn't even get penalties called on him that dude is held so much however nobody seems to realize that he that he needs a holding call in all fairness I reckon that the the officials are just know that he's just that tough that they just don't need to call it so I there's there's that many fans that have mentioned holding call on Judon holding call and it just no it just never gets called at all which is quite amazing but he's just a beast and i think that's just really just he's one of the

most significant uh pieces of the of the patriots roster completely you know not even just talking defense just generally the roster completely i think he's very significant um and the one thing that i wanted to add if you don't mind in regards to the game and it's about is I just wanted to kind of talk to or mention to the listeners and you know reflect this I mean I did mention it in my game recap so if anybody has read it then you know you already know this and no spoiler alerts but that one play where Jones got hit really really late it was like moments after the whistle and everybody was just kind of like standing round and then all of a sudden Matt Jones gets slammed to the floor and David Andrews is that he literally he witnesses it he turns around and witnesses it

and he is that quick to step over Matt Jones and get into I think it was Tillery's face I think yeah and to get into his face and just get ready and that look on david andrews face was amazing i think i've got to confess i did in my recap i think i might have to confess on a little bit of a crush on david andrews now because of that yeah i think it's really endeared me to him i mean everybody knows that you know that that i'm that i'm into the offensive line so we say with regards to like tight endage and stuff but yeah I've I liked him before don't get me wrong because he's a you know he's a true patriot and he stayed and everything so he's lovely but yeah I just a little

bit extra now for if you can get somebody to look at you know to to fight for you with that look on their face the way David Andrews did for Mac Jones then you've got a keeper definitely it also shows the level of respect that Mac does carry with that offensive line they will do anything to protect him and any good offensive line will do anything to protect their quarterback but David sprang into action very quickly on Sunday and you like to see that you like to see that type of fire in a team competitive nature in a team to know that these guys will go to bat for one another and that mac in just a very short amount of time has garnered that type of respect from his line and you really have to respect a guy like david andrews who commands that

respect from the rest of the line he sets the tone he is the team captain on that level so to see him get into action you saw the other guys right away get into action and swarm and be able to go over and protect their captain and their quarterback. That's the type of camaraderie that's built on a team. And thankfully, it didn't come to any type of, you know, major stuff. Yeah, but but at the same time, you know, things like that are good. I mean, you know, I looked at it and said, you know, that's a good team building moment. I think that, uh, that really, and Mac was asked about that after the game and he says, yeah, he says it was really, uh, you know, really a pleasant surprise to see those guys come over, uh, and protect me and, and, uh, you know, and try to do what they could for me like that. So that had an

impact on him too. And don't think that won't carry over into subsequent games. Mac's going to remember what that team did for him, that they always have his back. And that's a good feeling for any quarterback. And I am glad that you gave Matt Judon some love before we move on. Just pro football focus. Excuse me, folks. Add Matt Judon finishing the day with two sacks, eight hurries, 10 quarterback pressures. That is a phenomenal stat line for any defensive player, let alone one that's still getting to know a new system here in New England.

He's been a hand-in-glove fit, and in my opinion, by far, the best signing of the offseason for the New England Patriots. That's what I mean, Hunter Henry. But no, I'm not going to upset the Countess, because Hunter has been everything he's advertised as well. But yeah, I think you've got to give jude on the slight edge here really i would yeah completely yeah i would i totally agree exactly and that's not to say that hunter won't uh you know uh endear himself or continue to endear himself to fans because in a lot of ways he's already done that and that leads me quite nicely into my next question for you and that you know

we always bring you on here to talk tight endage and there was no way we weren't going to bring you on without doing so today um the patriots once again balanced their tight end sheet um johnny smith was not playing with any type of restriction when it came to he was limited in practice all week long a lot of people were wondering whether or not he was going to suit up in this game, made the trip to Los Angeles and made it look like that was probably an indication that he was going to play. And then, of course, the inactives list comes out on Sunday. He's back in the lineup. So the Patriots did balance that sheet. Hunter Henry saw 50 snaps. John took 49. As a pair, this tight endage tandem compiled three catches, 46 yards.

Now, that's not going to illuminate the stat sheet all that much, but I really like the way Josh McDaniels is deploying these guys now. He's using Hunter Henry primarily as a route runner, which you and I have talked about several times, Claire. I've said several times here on Locked On Patriots, Hunter is one of the best route runners I've ever covered, whether it's a wide receiver, a tight end. I put him on that short list of guys like, you know, a Rob Gronkowski or like, you know, someone like a Keenan Allen that the Patriots just faced as a wide receiver. Keenan is a tremendously gifted route runner. Hunter is in that echelon. He's in that list. He can run routes with the best of them. But Smith is very good at being able to make the ball in his hands.

He is really kind of being utilized now as a carrier. And I don't necessarily know, and Merck said this yesterday, if that's the plan that the Patriots had in mind when they brought both of these guys in, but it seems to be the best way to deploy both of them and give them both an opportunity to have a significant impact in this offense. Henry, of course, finishing the afternoon, one reception for 33 yards. But, you know, really, I think the highlight of the day for Hunter was recovering the onside kick that secured the game. I mean, how great was this game for the both of us? Just for a minute, let's think about this.

Hunter Henry gets the onside kick to seal the game for the Patriots. Just a few plays prior, Adrian Phillips secures the pick six to put the Patriots ahead for good. So this was really, I think, a great, you know, a great game for the two of us, you know, are the two guys that we, you know, hit the soapbox for more than anybody were the ones that really, I think, shone, you know, brightest on Sunday. But getting back to tight ends, because that's what this is all about. Your thoughts on how the Patriots are utilizing Hunter Henry and John O'Smith. Do you think they're doing the right thing here? Well, significantly, two tight ends like this can really mess up a defense.

But I don't think we've seen it quite to the extent that maybe we anticipated. But I mean, the usage of the tight ends, it's been slightly puzzling. I mean, as it's gone forward, it sort of blossomed into a little bit more expect. But it's less how and actually maybe kind of how much. Now, you've already reeled off the stats. So, you know, I kind of won't bother. But I must admit Hunter was I felt he was significantly covered in this game and quite rightly because the Chargers are going to know what what he can do because he used to be a Charger of course so I mean I think that was quite

um poignant that he was covered so extensively because they knew he was such a as people like to say in the verticals, a weapon. And so they kind of shut him down as best they could because they could anticipate sort of what he was going to do. Now, that one catch that he made and he was so close kind of like to the goal line as such, he was two man coverage. So it took him down. I mean, I think that touchdown really would have been significant for him. And I was really squealing, ready, waiting for it. Yes, just keep going, just keep going. And he just fell kind of short and it was really unfortunate. So I think he didn't really get to sort of sparkle quite as much as we would have liked,

simply because they knew and they covered him. In regards to Smith, I mean, I think he's the one that's not really being utilized as much as expected as you said Hunter is he's a great playmaker he's he's kind of great blocking so he is being utilized to his ability maybe not as much as we would hope because I know that we all want a lot of time production it's not it's not just me and my my tight end enthusiasm and he's just not quite being used as much but as we go through the season, as they get the connection with Mac, as they get the experience going forward, the embeddement into the team, it is coming out significantly.

Smith is a little bit less of the obvious, really, because coming in with his athleticism, I think it was sort of expected that he was going to be utilised very significantly. I think a lot of people had the expectations that going forward, it would actually be Smith's name on the sheet, that we would see plenty more than Henry's in all fairness. And you can see why. He's an athletic specimen. And perhaps that is why he's being utilised more to block and to run the ball. Again, I think a little bit that, as I think I've mentioned before,

I may even mention last week, that I think that significantly the unrest that we've had in the O-line has sort of kind of had a run-off effect onto how they can use the tight ends because they've needed them for the blocking ability because they've needed them to protect the passer, that kind of thing. So I think that has sort of put a key into how they've needed them to protect the passer that kind of thing so I think that has sort of put a key into how they've been using Janu but it as you said it has grown they have been utilizing them more I would have expected them to throw to the tight ends more than they

have um that might be a little bit on play calling a little bit on Mac as he develops so I'm hoping for the latter half of the season maybe we see a lot more of that sort of excuse me tight-ended reception so but it might be that as you mentioned with how they're using Smith it might be how they're bedding in how they want to use him and he is actually sort of more key in the sort of in the carrying the running game um and we know that the Patriots like their running game so having someone with that athletic ability is is is good positive positiveness so I think they're utilizing them differently than maybe we anticipated maybe more as fans obviously but I think they're not utilizing them quite as we anticipated but you know any

tight-ended utilization is is always good in my book. So, you know, yeah, that's how it is for me in any way. Absolutely. And, you know, I mean, let's face it. They were definitely brought to this team to have a significant impact. You don't spend the kind of money that the Patriots spent on tight-endage to bring in someone that is going to be an occasional weapon or someone that can be an occasional, you know, usage on the field. These guys were brought in to be those those primary options that everyone thought that

they would be, especially when it comes to running that 12 man, 22 man personnel. When you employ two tight ends on the field, it does open up so much. And the Patriots really, I think does open up so much and the patriots really i think lacked that so much last year no disrespect to ryan iso again i've said i think ryan was trying to do exactly he was trying to do the job of two guys and he couldn't do it nobody could do it i mean and you know you have to live up to certain expectations it was tough so you know iso is going to continue to get some love on these airwaves here on Locked On Patriots. But bottom line, I mean, you bring in Hunter Henry,

John U. Smith, I think we can both agree that each one of them individually is an upgrade from Ryan Izzo in terms of what he brings to the table on the field. I have to be careful now answering this. See, I thought I was going to trap you, but I didn't. No, see the lunch see the growth maybe a few months ago that might have worked but see now it doesn't but uh you know

because uh you know claire claire is uh she's got that uh that ability to come right back and she knows she's got uh she's got that so very impressive countess uh you never you never cease to amaze me but uh in any case when it comes to tight ends one thing i did want to mention about smith if you don't mind i know that i kind of keep covering little bits but the one thing that i wanted to mention in regards to sort of the downside of him in all fairness is the one thing that i have noticed and this is from a fan perspective this is what i have observed is it seems like he'll make a good play he'll make a good run or that kind of thing for example in the about five minutes into the second quarter he had good yards after the catch which is great which is what we all want and then unfortunately the next play or i think that

not the next play the next one after there's a full start penalty um he initially got us 11 yards and then he lost five and that seems to be a little bit of a trend now it might be a complete coincidence and it's just how things are falling it just seems to feel like we we get something from him in one hand and then he's taking it away a little bit from the other i know that the the saints game was not his best game um and that was just you know really unfortunate he was having a bad day I would another thing that I'm keep my sharp eye as you like to say on going forward not you Jacob Johnson but I want to see the production from Smith end up being production

and not and not kind of the the losing of it on the after fact in all fairness oh very good point very very good point and i think you will continue to see that i think you saw the elements of that against the jets where they tried to utilize smith as that ball carrier that jet suite that electric type of tight end that you saw in tennessee you were going to see that in the jets game if he did not go down with an injury bringing him back kind of i think giving him the opportunity to get back into the swing of things slowly, especially against a very aggressive Chargers front seven. A lot of people talk about, oh, well, that run defense is not something that was very good, but they are very good in being able to get after the passer. They have guys that are aggressive.

So you definitely didn't want to get too cute with that and risk Jono getting injured. I think the Patriots may have managed him a little bit more carefully, even though they gave him a good amount of snaps. You want to be careful how you deploy him. I'm going to be very interested in seeing how they're going to deploy him against the Carolina Panthers, because this is the type of defense on that they're going to face this week that would be conducive to the Patriots maybe being able to get a few more runs here on them. So this is going to be an interesting week for, for the Pats, but an interesting week for tight endage. And we love it here on locked on Patriots.

When we talk tight endage, we get a chance to hear the golden melodious tones of the countess of class herself, but fear not Pats fans, because we are not done just yet. When we return Claire and I will talk about the Patriots maybe being active or inactive in this afternoon's trade deadline. What does Claire think that the Patriots would do and what does she think they should do? Find out when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, in life we're all bound for different things. With beachbound.com vacations, you could be bound for adventure, bound for passion.

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today. Patriots fans, once again, the countess of Clas, the Empress of tight endage, the Queen of T.E. and the Baroness of Blockers. You're really developing a lot of names here, Claire. I got to be honest with you. I'm going to start writing these down. All kidding aside, the lovely Miss Claire Cooper joins me here today on Locked On Patriots. And Claire, we always like talking tight endage. We had a great game to be able to talk about.

Big win for the New England Patriots. But now that they're four and four, and Murph and I talked about this a little bit yesterday, now all of a sudden that awakening has happened in Patriots Nation. Now everyone's looking at this team as a potential playoff team. You look at the power rankings around the league. The Patriots are ranked as high as ninth in some national, you know, outlets this morning. And a lot of people are looking at this team as someone that can at least contend for a playoff spot if not being a playoff team right now.

Part of that is knowing when to improve your roster. And obviously, the trade deadline happening today, by the time you're listening to this, the trade deadline may have already passed. The Patriots may have made a move. They may not have. But bottom line, a lot of Patriots fans are pretty much convinced that the Pats have to make a move here. They absolutely have to do something. I don't necessarily know if I agree with that, but I don't want to steal your thunder. In your estimation, when you look at this team, is this team maybe a minor move away

from being able to push themselves beyond contention? Or at this point, because there's not really that blockbuster deal to be had, do you think Bill Belichick might be better off just staying fat this time around? Well, I think there's two key points to touch on the first one is and I know a lot of people don't think much of the cap but you've got to look at the fact that the Patriots haven't got a huge amount of wiggle room and they did throw down considerable money in the off-season on sort of on veterans or on free agency signing

series what I mean in the regards to Aguilar, Bourne, Smith, Henry, Judon you know there's not a short list of money that they've put out so that you know that that could be a key indication of what they have really that you can look at. second is I'm not much of a fantasy football participant so I know that really helps people league wide in knowledge I'm not sure at this stage personally who is really available the only sort of position that I feel personally my opinion is is possibly cornerback position is our is our most weakened position but I can't really see them letting Gilmore go to then sign someone that's about the same if not less calibre as JC Jackson I don't really think or I don't really I'm not in the full knowledge as I mentioned but there's another sort

of really big significant cornerback out there the only thing is Jonathan Jones I think he's out now injured and the guy that they did bring over in Wade hasn't been seen due to injury if he isn't cutting it I mean is there a chance that they drop um they drop Wade and they look at trading maybe for an uninjured cornerback but again I've got to go back to is there really anything out there that's more than your average cornerback that you've already got sort of sitting on your roster as number two or three sort of thing my personal opinion is I don't think that they're going to really do anything now that's not to say that I don't think that they need to as I mentioned the cornerback position but I just don't really see them set up to to add anything I know a lot of people want a wide receiver one as you'd call it a verticommerce but as much as that may be necessary we don't have

that as such because you know that putting the onus around that wide receiver one we do have receivers that have produced and we do have receivers that they spent money on in regards to Bourne and Aguilar now they're not necessarily what people would signify as wide receiver one kind of thing but ultimately that that's not relevant because they spent the money on them Patriots spent the money on them and when you've got Bourne and Aguilar you've got Myers you've still got Nikhil Harry it's like it's not so much adding something as in they don't think they should it's like but where do you add it because you're gonna drop something and then it's like well they're not gonna necessarily drop Aguilar and Bourne because they've just spent a load of money Myers has been really productive and he's in the system

and he's integrated in the system so you've already got three receivers so are they really going to look for a wide receiver three four sort of thing and what would be the point of spending the last bit of money that they've got on something when they would already have and then you could still sort of argue that Smith is you know a top receiver because being a top tight end sort of thing so as much as I know why people want that I can't see them doing the wide receiver thing I just don't see the space the money and really the the availability of of weapons out there kind of thing so my personal opinion overall generally I would not be surprised one dot if they didn't bring anybody if they just let the trade deadline go and they didn't do

anything that's not to say I don't think they should I just can't really see it myself because of them spending the money in free agency and just sort of who would you lose on the roster to put in place and the other thing on the flip side is what kind of collateral do they have that would be of value to people? I'm not diminishing any guy that's on the roster, but which one would you sort of pluck out and trade away sort of thing? Other than I know a lot of people aren't too hot on Nikhil Harry. You know, I'm kind of swaying either way not you know not not supposed to either way but you know he hasn't got intense significant value because if he did you wouldn't be looking at trading him away so I just can't

see that they have much to give and there isn't that much to gain in all fairness that's just my humble opinion on the whole matter. Well, I think your humble opinion is spot on, and I completely agree with everything that you said. And I wrote about this a little bit for Sports Illustrated last night and into this morning about essentially this being a problem of supply and demand. The Patriots do have some demand.

They could definitely use another outside corner. Jalen Mills is struggling in that role. There's no question about it. And it's not so much a knock on Jalen. He's being asked to play a role that really, I think, is beyond what the Patriots expected when they brought him in. He was going to be a third rotational perimeter corner, someone that could help Jonathan Jones in the slot, be that jack of all trades, maybe even drop back and play safety at times.

He did that very well in Philadelphia. He's being asked to play a number one corner role and be out there for every defensive snap. That's something that's a little bit unfair. So for everyone that wants to talk about Jalen Mills, and I saw a lot of Twitter comments and tweets on Sunday about him being trash and things of that nature. Folks, this kid works as hard as anyone. I've seen him in practice. I know what this kid brings to the table. He's working his tail off, to put it very, you know, in PG terms, to be able to do what he does each and every week. But he's being asked to play a

role that may be a little bit beyond what the Patriots should be expecting of him. So where do you turn at that point? Do you go to a guy like Sean Wade, who's yet to play a regular season snap? Sean had problems of his own on outside corner. He was much more effective in the slot role when he was at Ohio State. People were talking about him as a potential first round pick as a slot corner. Then they moved him over to outside. And I know he had the issue with the turf toe. He had problems being able to be mobile and hang with some of the speedier receivers,

but he had his issues there as well. Miles Bryant is much more of a fit in the slot. You can't really move him to the outside. So where do the Patriots turn there? Maybe somebody, you know, off the street or whatever comes in. I mean, they do have some guys on the practice squad, newly signed Brian Poole, Devontae Bowsby is someone that could possibly uh you know be a a game day call up at some point uh d'angelo ross is still on this uh you know the uh roster as well

so i think those types of moves are more or less what the patriots are going to do to fill that i know the fan base wants a wide receiver i'm not averse to it i've been accused of that people say oh you pour cold water on the wide receiver as well you're just you're just defending bill because he can't bring in a good wide receiver folks there's a time and a place for it and the trade deadline right now is i'm sorry it's just not it when you look at the patriots having only north of 2.6 million dollars in cap space and the amount that they would have to absorb or have a team rework in terms of being able to make a deal work for someone to be able to bring them in, it's simply just not good economics. It's a matter of the supply being more expensive than the demand. And at that point, if you have to start having teams

rework deals, that means their asking price is going to go up and you're going to run into difficulty. And the Patriots simply don't have the tradable assets on this team to be able to make a deal work. And they don't have that bevy of compensatory picks that's going to be coming back for them because they spent big in the offseason to bring in a lot of free agents. So it's not typical times in New England here. If they're going to go after that wide receiver one, they may have to do that after the season. And then at that point, all bets are off. And i would be amenable to that once the patriots know their salary cap situation but right now i just don't see it happening so claire i think you've brought so much wisdom and counsel to the show today and i mean that i really and truly do i think each and

every time we share the microphone it's always a lot of fun. And folks, if you're not following the Countess of Plaths herself on social media and the great work that she puts out, not only when she puts pen to paper, but also voice to microphone, you're missing out on an awful lot in Patriots Nation. I like to call her the hidden gem right now of Patriots media, but not hidden for long. She's making a name for herself out there. And I, for one, could not be more proud or I, for one, could not be a bigger fan of hidden for long she's making a name for herself out there and I for one could not be more proud or I for one could not be a bigger fan of the work that she's doing so I encourage you to check that out because you won't be disappointed countess please before we take our leave from your royal presence today please let everyone know where they can find you interact with you on

social media and what you have coming down the pike in the coming days and weeks from the great pen and the great voice of Klaziklair Cooper. Oh thank you right you're too kind you're always too kind and I can one here well if you guys don't know where to find me I'm at Klaziklair on Twitter which is C-L-A-Z-Z-Y C-L-A-R-E but the best place to find me is kind of like as you said where my work is um I'm very honored to write for Pat's Propaganda which is patspropaganda.com I get to do my game recap um after every game so at the moment it's been like pretty much every Monday so I enjoy that immensely so I really hope that my readers do too so if you haven't checked that out I would ask that you do um you will also find my t-shirts on patspropaganda.com um my I like tight ends and I cannot lie and my

tight-ended t-shirt so if you want a bit of fun for maybe a Christmas present Thanksgiving present if you want to hop on over to patspropaganda.com you will find some fun apparel over there but me you'll find me at fullpresscoverage.com which is where you will find Eclair Perspective the podcast and also some of my written work occasionally there's also one patriot's place with the with the mammoth thomas murphy and steve balistrari you'll find us each and every week courtesy of e2g sports so i think that's pretty much everywhere that you'll find me pretty much patspropaganda.com and fullpresscouriers. You look on those, you'll find me there. Absolutely.

And we can't wait to absorb all of the content that you put out, Claire. Thank you so much for gracing our airwaves today, for coming on, talking a little tight endage, talking a little trade deadline. A lot of alliteration going on there. Trade, tight endage, Tuesday. I love it. Can't think of a better way to end the show.

Thank you so much. Until the next time we talk to you here on Locked On Patriots, which is going to be very soon based on the demand. You talk about supply and demand. We need the supply because the demand is high for the campus of class here. So we're going to make it again very soon. But all kidding aside, in the meantime, stay safe, stay well. And thank you for joining me here today on Locked On Patriots. Oh, you're very welcome.

Thank you so much for having me, Mike. And for listening go Pats. Just like that Patriots nation we are almost halfway through your work week but fear not because there is still a ton of Patriots coverage still to come so to be sure 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, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you are staying locked in to Locked On Patriots and making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend

Claire, Klazzy Claire Cooper, for her time, her insight, and her 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 that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.