Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Why Wynn? Pats-Cats Recap and More New England Patriots Preseason Notes
Episode Date: August 23, 2022The New England Patriots are heading into their final week of preseason action, before turning their attention to Week 1 of the 2022 NFL Season. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Thomas ‘Murph’ Murph...y of E2G Sports. The duo discuss New England’s 20-10 win over the Carolina Panthers on Friday, the likelihood of trading tackle Isaiah Wynn and Murph’s biggest storyline heading into joint practices with the Las Vegas Raiders.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DaveDownload the Dave app from the App store right now for an Extra Cash account and get up to 500 dollars instantly. For terms and conditions go to dave.com/legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve. Member FDIC.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Athletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 yearsupply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NFLNETWORK.BriteCoThe guys at BriteCo Jewelry Insurance made buying insurance for your engagement ring, your watch, or whatever so easy you can get covered in 2 minutes on your cell phone. You won't find a better deal on coverage that's so affordable. Go to https://brite.co/lockedon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Why win and why now?
The New England Patriots back in the trade market rumors.
Why is this the right time or is it the wrong time?
More green wisdom and counsel on the subject in just a moment.
Stay tuned. You're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast.
You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast.
Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful,
and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots
a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage,
but also your first listen every day.
Remember, Locked On Patri patriots free and available on all
platforms including youtube so download subscribe follow wherever you get your audio podcasts
and make sure to smash that subscribe button on youtube i am your host mike debate i cover your
new england patriots for patriots country of sports illustrated i am also your host of locked
on patriots which 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 welcome.
So let me know what's on your mind by reaching out to me on Twitter at MDABATENFL.
While you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots.
Pats fans, a ton in the news for your New England Patriots.
A 20-10 victory last Friday over the Carolina Panthers.
That's evening their preseason slate at 1-1.
Isaiah Wynn is back in the news being a possible trade target.
And joint practice is once again looming for your new england
patriots as they travel to the nevada desert and they take two joint practices with the las vegas
raiders before wrapping up their preseason slate this friday night at allegiance stadium and here
today to help me break it all down yeah you figured it you see them right there it is monday
folks can't get rid of me it is hashtag locked on is Monday, folks. Can't get rid of me.
It is hashtag Locked on Murph Monday.
We can't get rid of him, and we wouldn't even want to try.
He is the legendary Connor Murphy, Fisto himself,
my good friend Thomas Murphy of E2GSports.com.
Thank you for coming to me in friendship.
Thank you for joining me today, Don Murph.
Okay, I'm out.
Let's do a T-bone move and just, yep, I'm out of here.
That's great.
Always fantastic to be here with you, Michael, no matter what time, as long as it's a Monday.
And, yes, we do have the power to move Monday to Thursdays or Fridays, whatever we want to do, people.
It's our show.
Actually, it's Mike's show.
I just show up.
He's just somebody that has me going on. But, no. It's our show. Actually, it's Mike's show. I just show up. He's just somebody that has me
going on.
Great to be here. Yeah, a lot to unpack
this morning.
Absolutely.
Beyond anything, when you have your
very own branded hashtag, my friend,
you have some ownership
stake in that show.
That is very much
a family show here on Locked On Patriots, in more ways than one, folks.
But, of course, bringing Murph on is always, always interesting.
And, Bud, Isaiah Wynn back in the news. I know you love talking big round men.
We're going to talk about Isaiah in a moment, and we're also going to talk about joint practices
out in Sin City as the New England Patriots and the Las Vegas Raiders hook it up
on the practice fields adjacent to Allegiant Stadium.
But first, we can't take a look at the future without first taking our leave of the past.
And on Friday, New England Patriots 20-10 over the Carolina Panthers, victorious in
their second preseason bid.
Bailey Zappi looking pretty good at times, and at times he looked like a rookie.
Absolutely, but more positives than negatives when it came to Bailey. A lot of the roster
hopefuls really stepped up big in this game, and I think it's going to make Bill Belichick's job
of cutting this roster down to 53 pretty damn difficult. Murph, when you look at the game on
Friday, when you look at what the future implications might be for what these guys did on the field,
your thoughts, your observations, what did you walk away from with this victory on Friday?
Little Jordan Humphrey has a job.
He's a good football player.
He has a job.
Didn't get to see a lot of him down in New Orleans. This is a kid that comes to work, especially on game days,
like few others that I've seen around here during camps.
He knows that he's heard that he might be on the roster bubble.
What he's doing, both on offense and on special teams,
has the entire league watching.
There is no way in hell if Bill had any aspirations of sneaking this kid
onto the practice squad, that's gone.
If he doesn't make the cut, he will be playing somewhere else.
Absolutely.
I completely, completely agree.
And look, bottom line when it comes to guys that are on the roster bubble,
I know fans are always interested in maybe keeping the bigger names,
saying, oh, well, it's a smaller name.
They'll slip through the cracks.
You'll be able to sign them to the practice squad.
Folks, it's actually the opposite.
The way things are structured now with veterans now carrying a little bit more weight
about where they can go and how they can get there,
sometimes the veterans may find themselves on the chopping block a little bit more than
guys that are trying to prove it.
Now, I'm not putting, I'm not putting little Jordan into that category because he came
into the Patriots with a unique type of skillset.
His size allows him to play the move tight end position.
And I've heard several guys go back and forth.
You were one of the first to beat this drummer. I remember this a while back when you had said that uh we've heard Paul Porrello of
patriots.com make that argument Levin Lazar made the argument over the weekend so when you take a
look at that and you take a look at what his skill set could be he can definitely be that move tight
end he can also be someone that can really bolster that wide receiver core. And now, yeah, with Taequann Thornton on the shelf,
that really could be a very important position
and someone that can make catches.
We've showed, or I think the Patriots have showed,
that he has a very good rapport and a very good back and forth with Bailey Zappi.
I look for that to be very similar with Mack Jones.
I think they're going to try to cultivate that relationship a little bit this week,
especially in joint practices. Look for the connection between Mac and Lil Jordan.
I'm really looking forward to seeing that on the field, but we'll get to that in a moment.
But I do agree. I think that Lil Jordan Humphrey definitely showed a lot in this game from an
offensive standpoint. The other thing that I took away from this, and we're going to get into this
in a couple of minutes, is the lack of depth on
the offensive line. Both starting offensive tackles were out this week, and it wasn't a
fantastic showing for the guys that are backing them up. And like I said, we will get into it.
Mike hinted at it about the Isaiah Wynn possible move,
and I don't want to tip my hand, but it's kind of thin.
It's kind of Taequann Thornton thin up there on the offensive line
after you get past these starters.
Yeah, absolutely.
And, you know, bottom line, folks, we can't move on
without at least talking about that.
I know we've talked some wide receiver, but, Murph, when you look at now Tyquan Thornton likely to miss eight weeks,
what this is looking like is at least six weeks worth of action, at least six games,
maybe even more as he tries to come back from a fractured clavicle.
Not an easy injury, but it will be something that he can heal from.
But in the meantime, who steps up?
How do the Patriots fill this void?
Because it doesn't just have to be wide receivers stepping up and filling this void.
They can do it with third down receiving backs.
They can do it with tight ends.
How are they going to fill this type of gap that Taekwon leaves?
Because you're never going to replicate his speed.
Right.
And you mentioned the tight ends. I also want to throw out there Ty Montgomery.
Ty's been running a lot out of the backfield. He's somebody that can be split out and play a
wide receiver role. He's done it in the past. And also, I mean, let's not forget the forgotten man,
Kendrick Bourne, who has kind of been in the doghouse here in New
England. And if you want to go back, if you really want to go back, he's probably been in the doghouse
since draft night. All right. If you guys remember, he was at his quarterback's house to watch the
draft. And when the first round pick of Cole Strange was announced,
he wasn't thrilled with it.
He kind of asked Bill, what the hell are you doing, Bill?
What are you doing?
Look at the talent that's on the board here, and you're grabbing a guard.
So, yeah, I don't think that went over real well at one Patriot place.
And I think maybe possibly his attitude hasn't been real great coming into camp.
He thought that he had escaped the Shanahanian system out there in San Francisco that really didn't work to his strengths.
And he was quite happy to be here. He got off to a great start with Mack,
and now he may seem, you know, it may be in the back of his head
that I didn't want to play this system.
Well, you're going to have to now,
and Bill is going to have to give serious thought
to getting him on the field with this injury.
Yeah, and I think in a lot of ways what happened over the weekend
started to fester some trade rumors regarding Kendrick
and whether or not the Patriots had essentially run its course.
There were a lot of things floating around this weekend
by very reputable members of the media.
This wasn't just like a throw this out there type thing where the national guy saw that he
wasn't playing and says,
Oh,
that's it.
He's in the Belichickian dog house.
This was something that started to really gain some traction.
But when you found out that Taequann Thornton was going to be out for that
extended period and knowing the type of synergy that Mac was able to develop
with Kendrick last year,
and even him being able to take some of those jet sweeps,
I think in a lot of ways now it's going to, you know, lend itself into this is it. This is what
we have to do. Let's put our head down and let's move forward. And maybe Bill reset the attitude
a little bit over the weekend. Or maybe, you know, it was a situation where, you know, Kendrick just
needed some time to cool off. And he is out there in Las Vegas this week without any question, and I think he'll be a big part of that.
I do.
I do.
I think he worked so well with Mack last year, and I had been,
I don't want to say shocked.
I was really surprised that he wasn't getting more run
and more looks in the joint practices,
not in the joint practices, but in camp leading up to the joint practices.
We all know what happened with Kendrick during the joint practices.
Absolutely. Yeah, and definitely. And that had a big role to play in this as well.
It truly, it really and truly did. Quickly, before we move on to the next story of the day,
on the defensive side of the ball anything that stood out to you
as a potential storyline uh that uh could end up impacting the patriots as they look toward roster
cut down at the end of the month speed kills speed kills it was so nice to see these younger
faster guys out there uh it really was matthew jud is still Matthew Judon. And I'm going to butcher
his name, Jelani Tavai. Tavai. Okay. Hey, not bad. Dealing with dyslexia here, people.
This kid is something special. And I think he's going to play a huge role on this team. I mean, he was out there more and longer and before Mack Wilson.
It was really fantastic to get a good look at this kid,
and now I see what Bill was talking about all the time.
Absolutely.
Very impressed with Jelani Tavai, no question about it.
Very impressed with Sam Roberts. Reallyavai, no question about it. Very impressed with Sam Roberts.
Really, the last couple of games.
Had a very, very quiet training camp,
and a lot of people were wondering, where does he fit in?
Oh, he's destined for practice squad.
Folks, do not be surprised to see him crack the 53-man roster.
A lot of playing time for a preseason game.
A lot of action in practices recently,
but very, very impressed by what I saw from him on
Friday. Three-yard tackle for loss
as well as the fumble recovery for the touchdown.
That increased usage, I
think, is going to definitely do him
a world of good, and he's proving
that he can be a man among men.
Well done on Sam Roberts.
Should have been two defensive touchdowns.
My God.
Keep the whistle in your pocket.
Okay?
Keep the whistle in your pocket.
You have to review every turnover anyway, so why blow the whistle?
I'm being good here.
That was a good catch.
That was a good catch, folks.
Thank you.
And you know what?
We will continue to catch all of the action right here on Locked on Patriots
because in just a moment, Murph and I will talk about a little more offensive line. We briefly touched upon this,
but we're going to go into a little more depth. Isaiah Wynn might be on the trading block, but
is it the right time to trade him or is it the wrong time to trade him or will he even be traded
at all? Murph and I break down this subject next when the Lockdown Patriots podcast continues.
Folks, picture this.
You're hanging out with some friends, putting back a few drinks, and a few becomes too many.
As the evening comes to an end and people start to head out, you think of calling for a ride.
Nah, when you think that you live nearby you can make it home okay
it's no big deal what are the odds you'll get pulled over anyway and even so what's the worst
that can happen your insurance goes up you lose your license you lose your job you total your car
possibly even kill someone everyone knows about the risks of driving drunk and the results are
tragic and often deadly. However, that still doesn't stop everyone from getting behind the
wheel while under the influence. That's why police officers are out there right now looking for
impaired drivers on our roads. They're doing it to save lives. So if you think you're okay to drive
after a few drinks, think again.
Play it safe and plan ahead to get a ride.
It only takes one mistake to change your life or someone else's life forever.
Drive sober or get pulled over.
Patriots fans, we are always honored on Monday to be joined by our good friend,
the Count of Murphy Fisto himself, legendary columnist from e2g sports.com thomas murphy and murph in the previous segment
we talked a little bit about the patriots 20-10 victory over the carolina panthers
one player conspicuously absent from that game was someone who's been absent from the preseason
slate so far and a lot of what we've been seeing in practice lately and that's offensive tackle isaiah win to say this has been an interesting offseason for
isaiah is probably an understatement but you first of all have him missing all of the offseason
voluntary workout program comes into mini camp two days worth his position gets switched all of
a sudden trent brown is back over on the on the left side Isaiah
is on the right mea culpa humble pie whatever you call it I will eat that I thought that Isaiah was
surely headed back to the left tackle position and that Trent Brown was going to realign at the
right that obviously did not happen uh it's not going to happen uh Trent is firmly entrenched in
the left tackle position which is exactly where he should be
isaiah was getting reps at the right and then all of a sudden he disappeared for an undisclosed
injury from the field now he was present accounted for well within the team so i don't want anybody
to think there was anything going on behind the scenes this was obviously well vetted by the team
but most of us were wondering why isn't isaiah win out there on the field he misses the preseason game against the giants last week not present for joint practices against the panthers
mrs friday night's game as well he did make the trip out to las vegas but he wore a red contact
red no contact jersey right on monday uh when the team did their solo practice now albert breer of
sports illustrated floated the idea this morning in his column that Isaiah Wynn might be on the trading block. When you look at this from a
logistical standpoint, just running over all that I just ran down in terms of Isaiah's offseason
and what that means for the Patriots, how much teeth does this story really have do you really believe that isaiah win could be moved
prior to the start of this season um no i don't i'm sorry albert i don't i'm not saying that that
you're being untruthful i i believe you know what you were saying and that he could be moved
i don't think he will be there's just um we said earlier, it's just too thin at the
offensive line right now. The Patriots have already made too many moves at the offensive
line in the last couple of years, and I don't see them doing one more right now with the way
the backups are playing behind him. Also, he's not doing the Patriots or himself any favors if he does want to be moved.
You know, being injured, not being able to make OTAs,
not being able to participate in the joint practices up to this point,
right now wearing a red jersey, you know, don't touch me. Don't touch me. I'm fragile.
You know, it's not doing him a lot of good if he does want to be moved. And so no, I don't. I think
the return right now would be, you know, 50 cents on the dollar. I understand that the Patriots are
in need of cap space, but there are
other ways to make cap space. You don't have to trade. You're starting right tackle. Now I've
said from the beginning that he was going to be a right tackle this year for the entire year.
All you have to do is look at contracts. He is in the last year of his first year of his first deal. And it was it was a smart move looking forward to move him over to the right side and have Trent move back over to the left side, who you, nobody likes me. Everybody hates me. I'm going to go eat worms. You know, like the song that your mother used to sing when you were pouting in the kitchen
because you didn't get a cookie or something. And it was, I was sure that was it. But like you said,
it's been vetted. He is wearing a non-contact jersey right now. I don't see the upside to
moving him. I really don't. Unless you're getting blown away with an offer, which who's going to blow you away for an injured right tackle,
who quite honestly is not a great left tackle.
That to me is the essence of this argument.
I'm so glad that you brought that up.
And I have no doubt as well that Albert is hearing this from reliable sources and that he's reporting that the patriots are definitely engaged or at least interested in these talks and to tell you
albert albert breer is not dana white okay if albert breer says something i believe it
absolutely and you know what bottom line folks i think the patriots would do this gladly if they
got return fair return on investment i think they feel somewhat confident enough in the personnel that they have on the field.
But look, there's a big reason why they would do this.
$9.798 million in cap space freed up if they trade Isaiah Wynn.
Big tip to the cap there for our good friend, Miguel Benzon, who gave me the exact amount to the penny as he always does.
Truly the Wizard of Benzon. Love the guy. And I amount to the penny, as he always does. Truly the Wizard of Ben Zahn.
Love the guy.
And I thank you, Miguel, for all of that.
But bottom line, they can free up a significant amount of cap space.
But you're right.
Just because you can do it doesn't necessarily mean it's the right thing to do.
You still want to put your best lineman out there on the field,
especially when Mac Jones absolutely needs that protection
this year running the zone run offense but also trying to stop those second and third level blitzes
that really hurt him last year i sound like a broken record on here but it's something that
i think is a real achilles heel for mac when those blitzes are kept in check yeah he's a different
quarterback he's a different guy and most players you know will follow along with that but it's so predicated on what he's able to do and hitting his receivers
in stride giving them the ability to get yards after the catch that's mac jones that's when he's
at his best so if you want to do that you have to get someone that is capable of doing it michael
wainu is a talented tackle but i think he's better suited at the guard position.
I know I'm going to get a lot of disagreement on that.
People will tell you he's better at the tackle position. But I think in this offensive line, I think he's better there.
And I think Isaiah is still a decent enough right tackle where he can get the protection that the Patriots need.
And we saw what Kajus did this week.
Absolutely.
And I don't want to put this out there as a reason
because I thought the Patriots played decently,
but he made his mistakes against second team, you know, second team defenders.
I don't believe he's ready to take up a starting role,
and I don't think anybody is sending anything back here as a starting caliber guy
when that's what you're trading for.
Yeah, absolutely. Or at least you're trying to trade for and look bottom line with yannick adjust i absolutely believe that he
can be a very very good swing tackle a reserve swing tackle or a reserve swing lineman in this
lineup i think he's played himself onto the roster but if you're going to give him that starting
position especially on the right side you have to be able to cut it. And I don't know if he, he, I know he probably wouldn't be able to do the job that Isaiah would be able to do there.
So I agree with you. I don't like on the inside too. I'm not moving him out. It's just,
it's the foundation people. I know that I, I, I harp on this so much. And yes, part of it is
because I grew up in offensive linemen, you know, they,
they, they took one look at me standing over there with the quarterbacks and said, no, no,
you're over there. That's where you are. And, um, and, and that's it. I just think that depth here
is so important. And especially with, with the fact that we do have starting tackles,
these starting tackles have been injured in the past,
and they are serious things.
I mean, just look what's going on right now.
We're not sure what's happening, but it's taken them three weeks.
It's taken them three weeks to just put on a red jersey,
a red no-contract jersey.
Exactly.
So, folks, it's going to be interesting to watch this week, especially as the Patriots head into the start of the 2021 season, how that offensive line is going to shake out. Is that the top storyline heading into joint practices starting tomorrow on Tuesday between On Patriots podcast episode to a conclusion in just a moment.
But first, folks,
Patriots are out in the capital
of the world of maximizing
your knowledge or perhaps your luck.
If you'd like to do either one of those
when it relates to your sports fandom,
you're going to want to do so with our good friends
at BetOnline.net, your number
one source for all of your betting needs
and sports information.
Find all of the latest sports developments, league reviews, and news by following our good friends at BetOnline.net,
your continued source for all of your sporting wagering information, including live betting, esports, and scores.
And BetOnline remains the best spot for all of your podcasts and news this season.
They are the fastest and easiest way to check in on all of your favorite sports and events,
including MMA, boxing, and golf.
Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and
the action.
Bet online where the game starts.
Patriots fans, we're about to bring it all home today on this hashtag Locked on Murph
Monday episode of the Locked on Patriots podcast.
We have been talking to the legendary Connor Murphy Fisto, Thomas Murphy of E2GSports.com,
talking Pat's Panthers, talking Isaiah Wynn, Michael Wainu, all different types of subjects.
But ultimately, if you gaze into that Belichickian crystal ball, folks,
you'll find that in the Patriots' immediate future
is two joint practices with the Las Vegas Raiders, Tuesday and Wednesday,
heading into Friday's finale of the preseason at Allegiant Stadium. Murph, last week it was all
about the fights, and it really shouldn't have been, but it was. That was the big story coming
out of New England and the joint practices between the Patriots and the Panthers. I think
cooler heads are definitely going to prevail this week. I don't think you're going to see the same
chippiness. You'll see a little back and forth, but I don't think you're going to see the same
type of brawling that you saw last week. Obviously, Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick have a tremendous
amount of respect for one another. They know each other very well. These are two teams that I think can have some very productive joint practices.
When you look at these two days coming up, keeping Friday aside for a moment,
just these next two days, what's the biggest storyline that you're looking at?
What is catching Murph's sharp eye as the Patriots head into joint practices
with the Raiders?
Well, whether or not Isaiah Wynn takes off that red jersey,
that's going to be paramount for me.
Also, who's taking Tyquan Thornton snaps?
Is it, you know, that's really going to catch my eye.
Is it little Jordan Humphrey?
Is it somebody else?
If, you know, how the tight ends are going to work into this,
because we didn't hear anything from
them in the last joint practices. Things are going to start to expand right now. Bill is going to get
want to get everybody on the same page for this last preseason game coming up and how things are all working together. Things are progressively moving forward. I think
it's time for Bill to put it into third and fourth gear when it comes to these practices
and getting ready for Friday night. Absolutely. And I agree with you. I think right now,
top stories that the Patriots are going to definitely, or Patriots fans should be watching for and keeping their sharp eye on,
is the offensive line situation, first and foremost, Isaiah Wynn.
But not just Wynn.
You want to see if Justin Heron's going to be able to play his way back into a roster mix,
or as Yadnik just already locked that reserve role up, how are they going to account for uh you know the potential loss of win if he's not able
to go and they're even they hold on to him but he's still kind of nursing that um injury along
who gets those snaps and how do they reshuffle the line uh taekwon thornton absolutely there's
no question about it who gets those snaps who now becomes that deep threat for the patriots that
they thought they would have and it looked like they were going to have for a little while.
Unfortunately, just another crushing blow of bad luck for the New England Patriots,
and we'll see how they're able to come out of that.
On the defensive side of the ball, I think that a lot of the questions that we had
about the speed of this linebacker core, Murph, have been answered.
I really love the speed that I see on this team from left to right.
They've got guys
that can move, get into position and move sideline to sideline. Anthony Jennings has absolutely
played this, played himself onto this team. I credit you and I credit our good friend,
Steve Balistrieri for really honking this kid's horn from the day that he was drafted.
All the credit in the world to Steve on this one. I really, really believe the Patriots have found
a good gem here. And not only that, but you mentioned Tavai alongside Juwan one. I really, really believe the Patriots have found a good gem here. And not only
that, but you mentioned Tavai alongside Juwan Bentley. I think that's a big move. And then,
of course, you've got Raekwon McMillan. You've got Mack Wilson, who I think has played well.
Patriots definitely doing the job there. Cornerback is still a little bit of a question.
I think we've got the perimeter set. Is Jonathan Jones still out there? Is, you know, what's going to happen this week against the ones?
Because he wasn't running against, even though there were some good wide receivers that he was covering downfield.
This is still not a man that is of great stature.
Right.
Okay.
Exactly.
And that's what we're going to be looking at.
I want to look to see how well he handles what's's thrown at him by josh mcdaniels because
we all know what josh does you know he sits there and he finds the weakest links and he pounds it
he does he absolutely does without any question about it and you know i think at the the way
things are shaping up especially with the loss of malcolm butler the loss of you know um you know
joan williams i think mills and jones are probably set at the
perimeter the slot is still a question mark i think both miles bryant and marcus jones are on
this team but how do they divvy up those uh those those snaps uh is it going to be miles taking the
majority of the more is miles going to be predominantly a little bit more of a return guy
and then you've got marcus jones but marcus Marcus Jones is strong suit is return as well so
I really look forward to the juxtaposition of these two guys similar but I think they both
bring a lot to the table one last thing um who does Kyle Duggar uh put on the on their ass this
week you know what I don't care boom yeah absolutely absolutely and of course folks
i know you've all been waiting for it and i'm going to give him the chance to say a word or
two if he'd like murph i know that one guy in particular wearing the silver and black is going
to be in your eyesight it's going to be in your field of vision folks we all know who it is i'm
not going to mention it because I want to
give Murph every opportunity without stealing
his thunder. Scale
of 1 to 10, bud. How difficult is this going
to be on you? This is really going to be
really, oh God.
I've tried to prepare myself
with this, with Andrew Benintendi
being in pinstripes this week
and the past few weeks.
And I just, I can't. And it's just, it's really going to be sickening to see Brandon Bolden
in silver and black this week. Anybody of my age has a deep hatred for the Raiders. You know,
we going all the way back to Sugar Bear
and, of course, the great Daryl Stingley and what happened then.
And I'm an Irishman, folks, and we carry a grudge like no other people
on the planet except for maybe the Italians.
And so there's always been that vendetta.
It is.
It's going to be nauseating.
It is.
I avoid my friends' Twitter feed.
I, you know, I'm just trying to stay away
because I got food.
Food's coming up.
First of all, was Murph right about the grudge thing
that the Italians folks...
But in any case, we know it's going to be difficult for Murph,
but definitely good move for Brandon Bolden.
And I think this gives him an opportunity to be a good part of a pretty good offense out there in Las Vegas.
So we'll be watching with a little bit of a tearful eye,
but we'll also be watching with a lot of pride because Brandon had a great season last year.
And in my opinion,
the Patriots are not playoff contenders without the job that Brandon did. Coming
in and being a very,
very good third down
back, pass catching back, and a great
weapon for Mac Jones in the absence of James White.
So tip of the cap to Brandon Bolin, but
he's wearing the silver and black
now, my friend. It's all about Patriot
Blue, and we will continue to bring you all the latest
when it comes to Patriot Blue right here
on the Locked On Patriots podcast.
Before I let you go, my friend, please let
everyone know where they can find you,
your great work, anything that you have coming up
that the adoring masses here
at Locked On Patriots would be interested in.
I got some
Red Sox stuff up there over at E2G.
Of course, tomorrow, excuse me, on One Patriot Place with Claire and Steve, we're lucky enough to have Matt Chatham on. So we're going to take another look at what he expects to see, what he'd like to see during these joint practices, and what he thinks of Dana White.
Well, you know what?
Advice from the guy who's lived it.
He is a very good friend of our program as well.
So definitely, folks, check that out.
Anytime the professor speaks, you want to hear it.
And, of course, the wisdom and counsel of Steve, Claire, and Murph.
You can't get any better than that triumvirate, and we are lucky enough to have them here each and every week
on Locked On Patriots. So, Don
Murph, once again, I appreciate your
wisdom and your counsel. I thank you for coming to
me today in friendship. And of course,
next week here on Locked On Patriots
will continue as the Patriots
then march toward final
roster countdown.
We're not going to be playing Europe's song. We don't
have the rights to it, folks, but it will be
the final countdown for the New England
Patriots. In the meantime,
thank you so much, folks, for continuing to make
Locked On Patriots a daily part of your
New England Patriots coverage, but also
your first listen every day.
And now that you've made Locked On your
first listen, please make our good
friends over at Locked On Fantasy Football
your second listen.
My good friend and colleague Vinny Iyer with over 20 years experience in fantasy football rankings.
Definitely check that out.
He does a phenomenal job.
And definitely Vinny is one of the best in the business.
So check that out.
But in the meantime, download and subscribe to follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts.
And don't forget to smash that subscribe button on youtube
until tomorrow foxborough faithful on behalf of the legendary count of murphy fisto himself
my good friend thomas murphy i'm mike today stay safe stay well be the change you wish
to see in the world have a great day everyone see you dana