Pats Posits

Pats Posits: No. Not Edelman.

August 25, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Injuries. For the 2017 Patriots, they’re all that stand between them and another Super Bowl run, and in Friday’s preseason win over the Detroit Lions, their championship hopes might’ve taken a significant a hit.

Julian Edelman went down in a play eerily reminiscent of Wes Welker‘s non-contact fall in Houston 2009. Now, we wait for official word with an estimate of how long he’ll be out.

There’s plenty to unravel if Edelman’s lost for long. But at least on the surface, with Chris Hogan and Brandin Cooks leading the way, the passing attack is somewhat prepared to absorb this.

Otherwise it was the tale of two halves. Both the Patriots starting offense and defense played a complementary and often dominant first half. Then the back ups and roster hanger-ons stunk the place out in the second half.

It’s hard to talk about the good and the bad without a depressing undertone from seeing the engine of the offense go down in a non-contact heap. But let’s do our best to figure out what it all means in the Posits.

Brady to @ChrisHogan_15, Part II. pic.twitter.com/eBXRiwvwpI

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 25, 2017

Pats Posits: A Last Minute Drive in Houston Finally Falls Short

August 19, 2017 by Mike Dussault

The Patriots and the Texans played a preseason game on Saturday night that came down to the final play, with Jacoby Brissett fumbling what was almost the game-winning touchdown pass.

It might’ve been thrilling if it weren’t the preseason…

But it is the preseason and how this game ended or what the score was matters not. What matters is how well the 2017 Patriots are coming together and who looked good, bad and injured in their second preseason game of the summer.

The headliners? Rex Burkhead‘s arrival, some defensive struggles but with some individual improved performances that could really help, and Stephen Gostkowski putting us all at peace.

Despite some more big plays allowed, I feel pretty good about the team right now after the second preseason game. Elandon Roberts appeared to be the only significant injury, while some of the guys who really needed to start playing well did so.

Of course we got to see Tom Brady play (meaningless, don’t tell him) football, so it was a good day no matter what.

Here’s them Posits as we inch closer and closer to the start of the regular season.

Pats Posits: Who Limped Off, Shined and Stunk vs. Jags?

August 10, 2017 by Mike Dussault

The Patriots completed their first game of the 2017 preseason, “losing” to the Jaguars 31-24.

Yes, no one cares about who wins or loses preseason games but there was still plenty to unpack from the contest, including some great performances by some young weapons and some dreadful performances from some young veterans who are supposed to be taking a positive step forward this season.

Let’s start with the only thing that truly matters after a preseason game — injuries. Yeah, guys can play good or bad, but ultimately there’s a long way to go and no roster spots were won or lost after one preseason game. But injuries can kill a season in an instant.

Dietrich Wise — Oh that rookie that everyone was abuzz about this preseason? He was kneed in the head and left the game in the first half. I feel weird saying “luckily it’s just a concussion” given what we know now. In the olden days this would be written off with a “he just got his bell rung.” Now it’s a “shit, I hope this doesn’t mean he’s donating his brain to a study someday but… he’ll probably be back soon.” Of course if you’re choosing between getting his leg broken in half and getting kneed in the head, the choice is obvious, but I still don’t feel good about it.

Elandon Roberts — Limped off, but one of those tough as nails guys. I think he’ll be okay. Looked like an ankle thing.

Okay, injuries are out of the way, let’s talk the good, the bad and the whatever.

Pats Posits: New Numbers, Butler to Slot? Lewis and more…

May 9, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Things might start to get a little slow here on the blog in the next few weeks due to my impending move back to Boston, especially in the first two weeks of June. Between packing up my entire house to be shipped across the country and this quiet portion of the NFL offseason, I just can’t bring myself to concoct fluff pieces just in the name of posting new content.

You know, random nebulous rankings, or barely-Patriots-related off field stuff like “Guess what Tom Brady posted on Instagram? (Don’t just go to his Instagram, read my post with his Instagram post embedded in it for maximum insight!)” or the like.

As I always say, this is a football blog and there’s not a whole lot of real football stuff going on so I’m not going to force it. I will drop my third annual season preview book with blurbs about all 90 Patriots training camp players, depth charts, statistical analysis and game-by-game breakdown plus plenty more by June 1st, when I’m due to hit the road and drive across this wonderful country, including a stop at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Until then here’s some Pats Posits on things I’ve been kicking around.

Pats Posits: All In – Do the Patriots Finally Want to Win the Super Bowl Now?

May 1, 2017 by Mike Dussault

With the draft now in our rearview mirror, we’re quickly approaching The Void, aka the deadest time of the NFL offseason where everyone goes on vacation and it’s all quiet on the football front. Before that though the Patriots will have a number of organized team activities that will give us a brief glimpse at the rookies and new guys, as well as some brief relief for our football obsession.

Here’s the list of OTAs coming up in the next couple months before everything goes dark in the lead up to training camp:

5/22 — Patriots Organized Team Activity (closed to the public and media).
5/23 — Patriots Organized Team Activity (closed to the public and media).
5/25 — Patriots Organized Team Activity (closed to public, open to media).
5/31 — Patriots Organized Team Activity (closed to the public and media)
6/1 — Patriots Organized Team Activity (closed to the public and media).
6/6 – 6/8 — Patriots Mini Camp (closed to public, open to media only).
6/12 — Patriots Organized Team Activity (closed to public, open to media).
6/13 — Patriots Organized Team Activity (closed to the public and media).
6/15 — Patriots Organized Team Activity (closed to the public and media).

Let’s dive into some thoughts on the Pats draft and the state of the team as it looks like most of the 2017 roster is now in place.

Pats Posits: What Does It Mean!!??

April 4, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Sorry for the delayed action around here the past few days. Not that there’s really been all that much to talk about, but I was back in Boston getting everything ready for the move-back in June. The great news is that it looks like I’ll be living right around the corner from Gillette Stadium and well, you get what that means. I am looking forward to being able to take the site to another level. We’ll see how that all plays out this summer.

Otherwise, while I was in Boston the Patriots news was dominated by the report that Adrian Peterson was visiting the Pats. That, of course, was going to set off plenty of talking points, and it was even worse than you might expect because there’s nothing else to talk about.

Peterson left without a deal and you get the sense there might not be one coming. With Peterson’s past it’s easy to see why many people don’t want him on the Patriots, especially given Robert Kraft’s comments last week about the team not being interested in those with domestic violence in their past.

But I think the thing everyone forgets is that visits can be for a number of things. Most of the draft prospects the Patriots visit with they don’t even draft. So just because someone visits you can’t jump to the conclusion the Patriots are definitely considering signing them. Maybe they were considering Peterson, but I also know that Belichick spends time at just about every college Pro Day he can get to because the guy just loves football and football players.

Pats Posits: Brady Jersey Recovery Means a Butler Speculation Break

March 20, 2017 by Mike Dussault

We’re lucky this morning that the rash of speculative Malcolm Butler-to-the-Saints articles have been knocked to the background, if for only a day, because Tom Brady‘s Super Bowl 51 jersey has been found! And crazy enough, they found the Super Bowl 49 jersey with it.

Here’s the scoop from Jay Glazer:

So here’s actually what happened. The FBI and the NFL security, along with Patriots security and the Houston PD, they actually went through all this video to try and track somebody down, and they zeroed in on somebody, a person of interest.

That person of interest, from what I’m told, is an international member of the media. I don’t believe he’s actually a member of the media, but he was posing as a member of the international media. Got credentialed, it’s been going on for quite some time.

And he actually, from what I’m told, they have him going into the locker room right behind Bill Belichick as if he’s with the team. Goes in there, loiters around a little while and is seen leaving the locker room — this is the video they’re trying to look at right now — seen leaving a little bit later with something under his arm.

Just another bit more lore for Tom Brady and his Super Bowl aura, and really, in what is slowly developing into the quiet lull in between free agency and the draft, this is just the kind of offseason story to break the monotony. Because let’s face it, we could be hanging on Butler-to-the-Saints for another month since Butler doesn’t have to sign his tender until late April.