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Tuesday Pats Update

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Of course, I am coming down with a cold during the bye week, why would the Hoodie above grant me full health on the one week I’m not knee deep in trials and tribulations of being a Patriots super fan?

Oh well, we’ll power through it to report some developments from today’s practice.

– First and most important, ROB NINKOVICH was at practice today so we can all breathe a big sigh of relief. It’s one of the first bullets we’ve dodged all season. The rest seem to all be hitting us dead in the chest or head.

– Steve Gregory has a broken thumb and is out a few weeks. Again, that’s decent news considering how many guys have been going on IR. Gregory was playing well so it’s a little disappointing, but I am curious and excited to see Duron Harmon get some snaps. Of course, this means we’ll have a rookie on the back end against Peyton Manning so uh, let’s get hope that maybe Gregory makes it back by then. 

– Pats signed two guys, running back Cierre Wood to the practice squad and wide receiver LaQuan Williams to the 53-man roster. Seems like Austin Collie might be the latest addition to IR.

– Had a chance to re-watch the game last night and the offense was even more impressive this time around. Something about watching the game without the stress of uncertainty that allows me to focus better.

– Excited to see Dane Fletcher playing well. Always felt like he deserved a chance like this. It’s too bad it had to come at Mayo’s expense, but I like what he’s doing out there and think we could see his role increase.

– Dont’a Hightower was a lot better in coverage in this one, that’s a positive sign.

– Alfonzo Dennard hasn’t gotten enough praise this season as all the CB love has gone to Talib, but he’s having an impressive second season. He might make occasional mistakes but he always seems to bounce back with solid plays.

– More to come once we get a look at the All-22 to get a better sense of coverages and route combinations…

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Newly acquired nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga played 26 snaps and two of the best came on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 to end the Steelers’ fourth drive of the game. On the third-down play, Sopoaga got his hands into right guard Guy Whimper and knocked him into the offensive backfield, impeding the path of running back Le’Veon Bell for no gain. That was a good snapshot of Sopoaga’s power. He did the same thing to center Fernando Velasco on the next play, winning at the line as Bell was dropped for a loss of 1 yard to turn the ball over. At 6-foot-2 and 330 pounds, Sopoaga gives the Patriots a powerful nose tackle that they didn’t otherwise have on the active roster. Based on those two plays, it sure looks like he still has something to offer.

Picked-up pieces from 2nd-quarter review – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston

https://www.patspropaganda.com/newly-acquired-nose-tackle-isaac-sopoaga-played-26/

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https://www.patspropaganda.com/9117/

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On the Rob Ninkovich sack of Ben Roethlisberger that ended the Steelers’ first drive, on a third-and-2 play, it was a good combination of rush and coverage. We’d give an assist to linebacker Brandon Spikes, who faked a blitz, then backed out to help in coverage on running back Felix Jones over the middle. That was Roethlisberger’s first read, but when he spotted Spikes, he held on to the ball longer than he wanted to and by that point the rush arrived. It might not always look pretty, but just as he did against the Bengals on Oct. 6 with an interception, Spikes showed he can compete at times in pass coverage.

Picked-up pieces from 1st-quarter review – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston

https://www.patspropaganda.com/on-the-rob-ninkovich-sack-of-ben-roethlisberger/

It Is What It Is » Bill Belichick doesn’t think ‘anybody has lost any confidence’ in Kenbrell Thompkins

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It Is What It Is » Bill Belichick doesn’t think ‘anybody has lost any confidence’ in Kenbrell Thompkins

Good stuff from BB…

I wouldn’t say we go into the game and, ‘OK, well this guy is going to get a lot of opportunity here for ‘X’ amount of time and then we’re going to shift it to somebody else.’ Or, ‘We’re going to get this guy ‘X’ number of carries and then the next guy ‘X’ number and the next guy ‘X’ number so they all get the same amount over whatever, a quarter, a half or whatever fixed period of time there is.’ We just don’t do it that way. It’s much more of a, when this grouping is in the game, these players in the game with that grouping, these are the matchups we’re trying to attack on their defense. A lot of that is sometimes a function of what they do. If they’re back showing a lot of coverage, maybe we run the ball more. If they have everybody on the line of scrimmage, maybe we throw it more. If it’s different blitzes, then those might either cause an audible or it might cause more of a change in the play-calling style, which again, gives you the same effect. I get a lot of the same questions every week and it’s kind of the same answer every week. You can pick out any player you want and say, ‘Well, this guy got a lot of things or that guy didn’t get very much of it.’ We just usually don’t go into the game saying, ‘We’re going to throw the ball to this guy 15 times and we’ll only going to throw to this guy twice.’ Or, ‘We’re going to get this guy 15 carries and this other guy is only going to get two.’ I think that’s just not the way we do it. We try to attack the defense, we try to move the ball, we try to score points, we try to win. If that’s one player getting the ball 10 times and another guy getting it once, and we’re efficient doing it, then that’s OK. If it’s spread equally, that’s OK too. It’s just trying to find a way to be productive, move the ball and score points. It’s not about trying to create stats or any of that. The only stat we’re interested in is points and wins, because points are wins.

when a player is a healthy scratch, does that mean he is on the sidelines? Just wondering what’s going on with KT and when he will be back on the field.

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No, I don’t think you’ll find those guys on the sidelines very often. As for KT, it’s a long season. I wouldn’t write him off yet. It’s clear that Dobson has progressed quicker than KT did, and KT had a huge chance to show what he could do early in the season.

Sometimes just taking a step back slows the game down a bit and then he can move forward. Now with Collie possibly hurt we could see Thompkins (or Boyce) back in the mix after the bye.

One thing you can count on is that the Patriots will dive head-first into self-analysis this week and find out how they can better use their weapons. So don’t be surprised to see KT back out there in a significant role before the season is over. But he has to show some improvement, because he didn’t show enough through the first half of the season.