PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Stork, Washington Latest Patriots Casualties

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Significant news this morning as the Patriots released (PM update: traded to Redskins) Bryan Stork, their third-year center who started Super Bowl 49 for them. I can’t say this is a total surprise, as earlier this week I projected Stork to be cut with David Andrews winning the starting center job. This was one of the most interesting starter battles in training camp.

Stork showed a lot of promise as a rookie, but has had four concussions (at least) in his first two years. He was also a little unpredictable, taking a unnecessary swing at one of the Bears last week in joint practices and getting kicked out of practice. When the Patriots jettisoned Logan Mankins, Stork brought hope that another bearded mauler would rise from the ashes. In 2014, he largely lived up to that.

But ultimately Andrews was just the more steady of the two, staying healthy and under control. Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald also reported that Andrews was Brady’s favorite of the two. So now the job is Andrews, and he’ll be backed up by Josh Kline and perhaps rookie Ted Karras who has also taken snaps at center.

The Pats also cut Nate Washington, which could be packaged with the Donald Brown cut from earlier this week. Both players were the kind of free agents the Patriots give chances to, to see if maybe they can find some magic in New England near the end of the career. Neither could and both were jettisoned with enough time to potentially catch on with another team.

Things are starting to shape up as the Pats’ roster now stands at 79. They’ll have to get down to 75 on August 30th, but have some flexibility should they want to bring anyone in for a look before then.

Patriots Cutting Vets, Sheard Out 2-4 Weeks

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The crappy injury news from Sunday has spilled over into the week as Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald is reporting that Jabaal Sheard has a sprained MCL and will be out 2-4 weeks. That would put his return somewhere around the season opener in Arizona on September 11th, but is there really a need to rush it? Your season isn’t made in Week 1, especially to an NFC opponent.

Now it looks like Chris Long and Trey Flowers could very well be starting against the Cardinals, which I’d kind of enjoy. I’d love to throw a young promising defensive end like Flowers into the fire like that. See what he’s got. However without Sheard I think it makes even more sense to keep Anthony Johnson. You’re going to need every pass rusher you can get and I think Johnson looks more disruptive than Geneo Grissom ever has as an interior rusher.

Granted it was just one game that Johnson flashed. He’ll need to show up this week too, but without Sheard his chances of making the roster seem slightly better.

Afternoon update – Sheard was at practice today, but with the conditioning group, not a full-go. Positive sign regardless. He should probably be ready to go for the opener.

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Tuesday Patriots Catch-Up

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It’s that time again for a random bunch of Pats notes that I’ve been kicking around or getting into arguments about. With so much in motion at this point in the preseason, it’s impossible to cover everything in every article we put up, so here’s some catch up thoughts as we are just 19 days away from the opener.

— Few people pointed out that I was crazy for leaving Vincent Valentine off my 53-man roster so let’s talk about that a bit. First, I have to disclose that I didn’t get the pick then and I don’t get it now. Not that I don’t understand picking a guy because of the Planet Theory, but when you have two pretty well-paid veterans that are roughly the same amount of huge, not to mention a first-round pick from last season who will rarely leave the field and Valentine was already looking uphill at any kind of significant role this season. Then add in that my untrained scouting eye just wasn’t all that impressed with him from the crappy YouTube highlights, nor has he done much of anything to stand out in two preseason games, nor can I recall a single mention from any training camp practices. So yeah, I see a big body that’s hard to find but that’s about all I’ve seen so far. No, he probably won’t get cut, but does anyone want to bet he gets an “injury” sometime in the next two weeks. A red shirt year this season, then see what happens with Branch/Knighton next year and then the time might be right for Valentine.

— DJ Foster and Keshawn Martin were back in full pads on Monday and they’re two guys we should keep a close eye on over the next two weeks. I have Martin as pretty much a roster lock (Yes, I caught some flack for this too on my 53-man). Why? Because he’s a serviceable backup to Edelman and Amendola, can return kicks/punts, and did show some progress in his first year in New England. Martin’s just a classic BB player — no one’s that impressed with him but he sticks around because he can do a lot of things pretty good. The Pats also gave him a two-year, $3 million contract last year. They wouldn’t throw that money around to a JAG.

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53-Man Patriots Roster Projection 2.0

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With yesterday’s injury news on Shaq Mason, Sebastian Vollmer and Dion Lewis, along with two preseason games under our belt, it’s a good time to do a quick 53-man roster projection. The unfortunate bonus of having injuries like those popping up is that they potentially open up two more roster spots. Vollmer and Lewis can remain on the PUP list, costing them a minimum of the first six weeks of the season, but allowing the Pats to hang on to a couple guys they might’ve had to cut.

It’s also important to note that at this point, Monday August 22nd, the Pats have two open roster spots. So additions could be coming that will make these 53-man roster projection a little tougher. And even with the extra spots there’s still some tough decisions.

Here’s where I”m at with the R

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Patriots Injury Buzzkill Sunday

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After two off days, the Patriots had media access on Sunday morning and the Boston Globe’s Jim McBride broke a trio of bad injury news updates concerning Shaq Mason, Dion Lewis and Sebastian Vollmer.

These are the first significant injury blows of the 2016 season with potential long-term ramifications.

Let’s break them each down one by one.

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Pats Posits: Jimmy Lights It Up, Brady Gets Cut

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Okay, Brady got cut with scissors, but if you’re reading this blog you are probably well aware of that already. The Patriots offense came to life against the Bears, with Jimmy Garoppolo turning in an impressive performance (16/21 181 yards, 1 TD), behind an offensive line that didn’t allow a sack (though one was negated by a penalty).

The Patriots defense on the other hand showed some holes early, negating two third-down  stops with penalties on Patrick Chung and Justin Coleman. Still, as they often do, the Pats plugged up the early holes (Hoyer in for Cutler sure helped) and the Pats got a meaningless 23-22 win.

Here are the Posits as we hit the mid-way point of the preseason!

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Long Brothers Reunite on Field in Foxboro

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It will be a family affair at Foxboro on Thursday when first-year Patriots defensive end, Chris Long, squares off against his brother, and three-time Pro-Bowl guard for the Bears, Kyle Long.

Their only previous meeting, in week 12 of the 2013 season, was certainly one to remember. Back when Chris was with the Rams and Kyle was a rookie with the Bears, the two were involved in a wild fracas which resulted in Chris leaving his team’s bench to pull his brother out of a scuffle. Kyle was fined just under $8,000 for his role in the incident.

This week, in a case of history repeating itself, Kyle, 27, was weary of his 31-year-old brother during another skirmish on the football field. After a dust-up in joint practices on Monday, Kyle was quoted as saying, “I was just making sure [he] wasn’t coming to dropkick me. I turned around and, of course, he was making a beeline for me.” Note to readers who can’t detect sarcasm, he was joking. Regardless, it will be interesting to see if there is any sibling rivalry on the field in Foxboro come Thursday.

Neither is expected to see considerable playing time as both project as starters for their respective teams, but hopefully we’ll see some reps where the two square off directly. I went back and watched the tape from the last two times these guys played each other and a couple of things stood out to me:

  • Chris Long looked freakishly athletic at times. Long absolutely decapitated McCown on this play. Long was a problem and drew double-teams all game. Was really fun to watch him work. He is obviously older now and has had to deal with some injuries in his career, but watching this tape you understand why he was drafted second overall.
  • I was hoping to see if Chris would rush to the inside on Kyle in these games, however, Chris lined up almost exclusively over the Bears tackles in this game. I only saw one play where they went head-to-head, and Chris worked off a stunt. To be fair, it totally fooled his brother, although he couldn’t finish with the sack.  Long shot (see what I did there?), but maybe BB will draw something like this up in the game today.

Chris and Kyle’s father, NFL Hall of Fame member, Howie Long, was born and raised in Charlestown, MA and attended high school in Milford, MA. It should be a fun night for the Long family tonight, and certainly a match-up on the field that warrants Patriots fans’ attention.