Quick-hit thoughts around the New England Patriots, NFL – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN
Always a Sunday must-read with Field Yates filling in for Reiss this week and pointing how close Reiss’ contract predictions for McCourty and Gostkowski were.
Darryl ‘Swagg’ Roberts brings confidence, athleticism to Patriots secondary
Darryl ‘Swagg’ Roberts brings confidence, athleticism to Patriots secondary
Another in a long list of interesting in-depth looks at Patriots players from Mark Daniels. Roberts is the most talked about “under-the-radar” guy of hte offseason. He was getting plenty of run with the first team in OTAs and is this year’s potential Malcolm Butler. One to watch in camp who could see a significant role this year.
I worked up in New England, I know a lot of coaches, people in the front office, and basically they’ve been in awe of Malcom Brown and what he’s done through minicamp, OTAs.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/i-worked-up-in-new-england-i-know-a-lot-of/
Mike, you take your family on a nice vacation and as you head to dinner you forget your cell phone in your hotel room so you head to the elevator to go back to your room to get it. Suddenly, the Hoodie himself walks in. He notices you’re wearing some Patriots gear, and in a strange turn of events he asks you, “If you could go back to any time in my entire stint here in New England and change a decision I made, what would it be and why?” Have a great weekend, Mike! Almost back to real football!
Clearly there is only one choice: DON’T WEAR THE RED HOODIE FOR SUPER BOWL 42!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You’ve got way over $100 million in the bank. You’ve got a beautiful wife. You’ve got a beautiful family. The natural tendency would be to say, ‘I can lie in my silk sheets and just enjoy life now. I don’t need football.’ But I’m telling you: This is the best thing that could have happened to Tom Brady. This will rejuvenate him. The rest of the league better look out. This year, he’s going to make everybody pay for what’s happened.
Rodney Harrison
How the Deflategate controversy will motivate Tom Brady in 2015 | The MMQB with Peter King
https://www.patspropaganda.com/youve-got-way-over-100-million-in-the-bank/
How do you see the guard position working out, I’ve penciled in Jackson the minute he was drafted but I can’t figure out the other guard position
Few different ways I can see this playing out, but a big part of it is whether or not Jackson can play the left side. If he can the easy starting place is Wendell back at RG and Jackson at LG.
Wendell is no lock. And Josh Klein, Shaq Mason, Cameron Fleming and Caylin Hauptmann will all get long looks inside, perhaps into the start of the regular season like we saw last year. Klein seems under the radar, but has done a good job filling in over the last two seasons in spot duty. That’s a similar route that Connolly and Wendell took before they stepped into the starting lineup.
I’m very intrigued by Mason just because he’s so undersized but such a mauler. Excited to see him in preseason.
All we know for sure is that there will be plenty of different combinations inside, but I think of everyone Jackson is the most likely lock for a starting spot…assuming his knees hold up.
Do you think Sheard will overtake Ninkovich?
This is one of those storylines that I can’t ignore as much as I love Ninkovich. Let’s face it, Sheard is bigger and generally more talented (on paper) than Ninkovich. But that has never stopped Ninkovich before and how can we rule him out after he hasn’t missed a snap due to injury since the 2010 playoffs?
But we must remember in the first game last season, with all the linebackers healthy, that it was Ninkovich who was coming off the field in passing situations. That quickly changed when Collins then Mayo went down, but the writing on the wall would appear to say that the Patriots will prefer the more athletic linebackers to Ninkovich if and when they’re all healthy.
Sheard brings plenty of versatility and seems tailor-made to the left defensive end spot in the Pats four man front. He can set the edge, he can drop into coverage and he’s a strong pass rusher.
How it plays out will largely depend on the health of the front seven, but if everyone gets and stays healthy, it’s not impossible to see a world where Ninkovich’s role is reduced a bit this season. And really, after playing more snaps than anyone else the last two seasons, that might be something that actually helps Ninkovich extend his career in the long run.
