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Video of Malcolm Butlers great pass breakup via @SteveBalestrieri (via Butler great breakup – YouTube)
Somewhat reminiscent of the one in the Super Bowl that Kearse caught on his back. Not that I needed to be reminded of that. It’s the one play that still scares me whenever I re-watch the Super Bowl, which is frequently.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/video-of-malcolm-butlers-great-pass-breakup-via/
As expected things have been made a little easier with some of the injuries, or more specifically the injury news, that we’ve gotten over the first week-and-a-half of training camp.
Here’s where I’m at on my 53-man, and I think it’s important to mention that this isn’t just about who makes the team, it’s about who you want to protect and who you want to guarantee salary to.
OFFENSE
QB (2) T.Brady, J.Garoppolo – Brady misses zero games.
RB (5) B.Bolden, J.White, T.Cadet, J.Gray, James Develin (Blount gets roster exemption for suspension) – Develin in, Gaffney out.
WR (5) J.Edelman, B.LaFell, D.Amendola, A.Dobson, M.Slater – Dobson’s got another injury. If he misses extended time they might be done with him. On the fence with Gibson and Tyms.
TE (3) R.Gronkowski, S.Chandler, M.Hoomanawanui – Pretty safe bet this is where we end up unless Chandler misses a lot of time and they need another vet.
OL (8) B.Stork, T.Jackson, S.Mason, R.Wendell, M.Cannon, N.Solder, S.Vollmer, Fleming: Considered keeping Kline but I think they have enough versatility to manage with this eight.
DEFENSE
DE (5) R.Ninkovich, C.Jones, J.Sheard, G.Grissom, T.Flowers – Exciting group who can be moved all over the place.
DT (5) S.Siliga, A.Branch, Z.Moore, M.Brown, D.Easley – Moved Moore here, I think he’s an interior tackle guy now, at least on passing downs. Antonio Johnson is a good story, I think his fate is tied to Branch. We’ll see if either stand out in preseason.
ILB(3) J. Mayo, J.Freeny, J.Morris – Fletcher will be on the PUP into the season (out 6 weeks), Freeny is a good veteran presence with special team value while Morris sneaks on the roster.
OLB(3) D. Hightower, J.Collins, D.Fleming – Fleming is one to watch on Thursday. Should play a lot and could take a big step forward this year.
CB (5) L.Ryan, T.Brown, M.Butler, M.McClain, D. Roberts – Fletcher’s a tough cut, but Brown has emerged. Roberts grabs one of the last roster spots. Jean is a good practice squad candidate as well.
S (6) D.McCourty, D.Harmon, P.Chung, J.Richards, T.Wilson, N.Ebner – Wilson having too good a camp to cut, he has special teams value too.
ST (3) S.Gostkowski, R.Allen, J.Cardona – Yup.
Total players: 53
Created with Pats Picker: http://patsfans.com/patspicker
Brandon Bolden has emerged as leader for Shane Vereen’s role
I don’t love Bolden in this role, at least in the long term, but he’s reliable, great on special teams and is a pretty balanced back. My problem with Bolden is I don’t see a playmaking upside. He’ll get what’s there and not much more. However this will be only his fourth year in the league, it’s still too early to write him off, especially when he hasn’t gotten many extended opportunities.
Still, I think James White and/or Travaris Cadet will be a bigger part of the passing-down role by December.
I’m not sure who I want to change their facemask more – Flowers or Malcom. C’mon guys, what is this? (via Patriots Training Camp – 8/10/2015 | New England Patriots)
https://www.patspropaganda.com/im-not-sure-who-i-want-to-change-their-facemask/
The Patriots were off yesterday and it appeared a chance for them to reset their roster a bit and decide what changes needed to be made after a rash of injuries late last week had left them a little thin at a number of positions. Even the top gambling site reviews won’t like the Patriots chances in September if they’re without so many key players, so they’re protecting themselves with solid moves now.
They announced two moves earlier today, the first swapping out Matt Flynn, who still hadn’t passed a physical for former Cardinals quarterback Ryan Lindley. Obviously if Brady’s suspension sticks, they need a backup for Jimmy Garoppolo who can actually hit the field. It’s sure to be a steep learning curve for Lindley, but let’s hope we never have to see him take a snap outside of the preseason.
They also traded fifth-round pick Matthew Wells to the Bears for guard Ryan Groy, who started some games last year as a rookie. Obviously with Wendell still on PUP, they needed some experienced depth because while Tre Jackson might step in and start from day one, Shaq Mason probably needs some more experience in the passing game.
The Pats did get a boost today with a number of guys returning, including Julian Edelman, Brian Tyms, Matthew Slater and Alan Branch.
Here are the tweets of note from practice…
Scene setter: CB Malcolm Butler broke up a Tom Brady long bomb down right sideline, w/ impressive timed leap & swat-away. Crowd cheers.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) August 10, 2015
Jerod Mayo just laid a pretty good lick on Rob Gronkowski. Audible “oooohs” from fans and media.
— Erik Frenz (@ErikFrenz) August 10, 2015
Malcolm Butler jumped Josh Boyce’s crossing route to make a “did he really just do that” one-handed INT of Brady.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 10, 2015
Brady to Boyce with a terrific ball deep down the middle of the field. Maybe the best connection of camp between QB & WR on a long pass.
— Christopher Price (@cpriceNFL) August 10, 2015
Nate Solder left the field with an apparent injury. He didn’t return.
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) August 10, 2015
Malcolm Butler making these big plays is incredibly encouraging. It appears like he and Tarrell Brown are the favorites to start on the outside, though I expect we’ll see everyone get a chance to show what they can do, even in January.
Let’s just keep an eye on Solder, that’s a big injury to monitor…
WEEI/Jerry Thornton: 8 ways Patriots defenders have been proven right
Nobody can sum it up better than Jerry Thornton, but the problem is that there’s a huge population of “fans” who checked out right after Mort’s 11 of 12 report. As far as they were consider Tom Brady was a cheater at that point and nothing he could say would change their opinion. Of course, they then poked their heads up when they heard he “destroyed” his cell phone and said “Yup, Mort was right, what a cheater”.
Now with each new bit of evidence that comes out, you know where the NFL is caught red-handed putting out false information to smear Brady’s credibility, those fans who already decided he was guilty are “tired of deflategate”. They wonder why Brady won’t just accept four games so they don’t have to hear about Deflategate anymore because it’s clogging their sports-watching enjoyment or something.
The problem for them is Deflategate is just getting started. I think it’s about 65-35 that Brady’s suspension gets thrown out by Judge Berman and then we’ll start in on the NFL’s appeals.
Those who are sick of Deflategate better start paying attention again because, as Jerry lays out, this hasn’t just been the same old stuff recycled over and over. It’s a near-constant barrage of new information and each new bit makes the NFL look vindictive, petty and agenda-driven.
That’s the real controversy of Deflategate.
