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Analysis

What Happened With Ealy?

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When the Patriots acquired Kony Ealy this offseason by moving down eight spots in the draft, it was a low risk move that made a lot of sense.

With the departures of Chris Long and Jabaal Sheard, New England had a need at defensive end, no matter how nebulous that position name is within their defense. The retirement of Rob Ninkovich only furthered that need, which made Ealy’s slow start to camp, when he was missing in action the first day, even more troubling.

Ealy was remarkably unspectacular in the training camp practices I witnessed. In early preseason game action he looked just as bad. Yes, he started to make some plays here and there but it just wasn’t enough and Ealy was released after the Patriots third preseason game.

He was slow off the ball, unable to defeat blocks and was just generally ineffective and not impactful.

What happened? How can an experienced pro who was a standout in Super Bowl 50 get completely untracked in New England? When Bill Belichick says it just didn’t work out, no hard feelings, what’s at the root of why it didn’t work out?

Most of it fits into New England’s defensive scheme, which is unique. It’s not the first time a promising veteran defender hasn’t been able to do what the scheme requires, with Terrence Knighton being the latest example last season.

Let’s look a little deeper at what the Patriots ask their defensive ends/outside linebackers/edge players to do, and why it can be difficult for some players to grasp.

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2017 Pats Will Need Some New Clutch

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With the retirement of Rob Ninkovich and the injury to Julian Edelman, the 2017 Patriots must replace two players who came through in some of the biggest moments over the last few season. Whether it was Ninkovich’s timely takeaways or Edelman’s clutch catches, the team would not have two more Super Bowls if not for those two players.

Even Chris Long and Jabaal Sheard had their moments, as did Martellus Bennett. Taken altogether and it’s clear the 2017 will have a different flavor to them, and nowhere will it be more apparent than in the biggest moments. Because as we learned the difference between 42/46 and 49/51 were whether or not our players made the plays with the season on the line.

Will a new crop of players be able to step up and into then spotlight? Let’s take a look at some Patriots who need to find their “clutch”.

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Five Patriots Things to Watch vs. Lions

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The Patriots take on the Lions tonight in their third preseason game of the summer. While there are plenty of players to keep an eye on, it’s important not to get too worked up about what happens tonight (outside of major injuries). Because let’s face it, you’re more likely to hear a Patriots fan praise the work of Roger Goodell than you are to see the Patriots miss the playoffs this season.

Still, the stage is set for plenty of individual players to show what they’ve got and there are still expectations of what we’d like to see from the team before things get real.

Here are five things to watch tonight as the Pats can hopefully get through one final preseason game without a significant injury before turning the page to what is surely shaping up to be a scrubfest next week against the Giants.

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5 Do or Die Patriots in Detroit

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We’re just two weeks away from the kickoff of the 2017 regular season, but those two weeks are going to be jam packed with two more preseason games and plenty of roster moves, at least a couple of which should make our collective heads spin.

The immediate focus though is on week three of the preseason, the most hyped game of the summer where we can expect to see the starters play into the second half. Disclaimer — don’t get carried away with the results. The Patriots have had good week threes and bad week threes and neither result ever really told us anything about how the team would be in the regular season.

However, for individual players, there’s a lot on the line in Detroit.

Let’s take a look at five Patriots who are very much on the bubble and could solidify their position on the roster (or depth chart) based on their showing in this game.

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Pats Welcome Some Important Injured Players Back

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwpIJF26_U0

I had a feeling there would be some injured players returning to practice today as the Pats lock in on their most-hyped third preseason game in Detroit this Friday and I was right.

The headline is Dont’a Hightower coming off of the PUP list, rocking some Ninja Turtle socks and going through drills with the defensive linemen (?). Others to return to the padded practice included Nate Solder, Mike Gillislee, LaAdrian Waddle and Deatrich Wise.

Obviously it’s always good news to get players back from injury, especially now as we’re closing in on the regular season kickoff in just a little over two weeks. Most of the starters should get a half-plus of work against the Lions before the team shuts just about everyone of importance down for next week’s preseason finale against the Giants.

However it wasn’t all great news, as Rex Burkhead and Malcolm Mitchell were both new absences from practice. They join previously missing players Matthew Slater, Shea McClellin, Matt Lengel and Tony Garcia.

Incredibly, Elandon Roberts, last seen getting carted off in considerable pain with a rib injury, was at practice but rocking a red “no contact” jersey. No question, Roberts is old school tough. This makes multiple times he appears to sustain a significant injury in a game only to be right back out there shortly thereafter.

Injuries become more and more important to monitor at this time of year. There are some extremely important players amongst those dealing with something at this point, none more important than Solder and Hightower, so today has to be seen as a positive step forward.

 

The Curious Case of Belichick Praise

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Every now and then Bill Belichick sings the praise of an individual player. Usually he deflects specific player questions into team generalization. You know the drill. A reporter asks about a certain player who’s struggling or shown promise and Belichick responds with something along the lines of “the player did some good things, needs to improve on things, we all need to improve on things, including the coaches.”

If you’re like me you just tune these responses out by now. Not that they really bother me. I get it. All of Belichick’s answers are well-crafted, not for the reporter, but for the specific player and for the team. Belichick doesn’t coach through the press, at least in a negative sense.

But every now and then Belichick throws some glowing praise at a player and more often than not it’s some random guy you never really gave much thought to.

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Monday Morning Pats Regroup

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We were scheduled to shoot our second episode of Patshow this morning, unfortunately a sick kid is forcing us to reschedule to Wednesday. I’ll post a full announcement in the next day or so with all we have planned for Patshow. First episode was a total blast, excited to start cranking them out twice a week during the season. Big things planned!

In the meantime, we’re just a little over two weeks away from the season opener and plenty is going to go down in that timespan, including at least one or two jaw droppers.

I remain underwhelmed by the Texans preseason game and these last two “games” on the schedule only reinforce how there are way too many games in the summer. The hardest part of the NFL season is battle against attrition and four preseason games only makes it harder.

The weather’s getting cooler and I just want real football!!

Here’s a bunch of regroup thoughts on where the Pats are at…

 

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