donta hightower

Patriots Should Embrace Palate-Cleansing Loss

September 11, 2017 by Mike Dussault

I usually avoid most of the hot take media, especially in days after losses. No one knows how to overreact quite like Patriots fans and pundits, but after a couple days to sit on the game and review it, I feel like this loss was a nice hit of the reset button that should re-focus the 2017 team on 2017. You can even check the NFL odds by BetOnline to see that yes, the Patriots are still favored in New Orleans against the Saints.

The Patriots aren’t going anywhere. I know it. Vegas knows it. And most of you probably know it too. But for those of you still running around screaming that the Patriot sky is falling, here are some things to keep in mind.

Let’s break down what’s actually worrisome and what we can just chalk up to September being an extension of the preseason.

10 Posits on America’s Game 2016 Patriots

September 7, 2017 by Mike Dussault

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwZo1Qh7h9g

America’s Game: 2016 New England Patriots premiered last night (embedded above until the NFL kills it), marking the final bit of Pats porn that comes as a bonus to winning the Super Bowl. Previously we’ve gotten Three Games to Glory 5 along with Do Your Job II, which were both excellent, revealing so much from behind the scenes about the magical journey that the 2016 Pats had.

America’s Game has turned into the fluff piece of them all. Of course I enjoyed it, but nowhere near as much as I did Do Your Job II. The America’s Games used to have every bit as much unseen behind the scenes stuff as DYJ II, but it was far more down the middle, focused more on the players talking about the team than the team itself. We didn’t learn a lot of new information, but of course it was fun to hear the perspectives of Julian Edelman, LeGarrette Blount and Dont’a Hightower.

Here are 10 Posits on what I liked and what I missed.

Pats Welcome Some Important Injured Players Back

August 22, 2017 by Mike Dussault

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwpIJF26_U0

I had a feeling there would be some injured players returning to practice today as the Pats lock in on their most-hyped third preseason game in Detroit this Friday and I was right.

The headline is Dont’a Hightower coming off of the PUP list, rocking some Ninja Turtle socks and going through drills with the defensive linemen (?). Others to return to the padded practice included Nate Solder, Mike Gillislee, LaAdrian Waddle and Deatrich Wise.

Obviously it’s always good news to get players back from injury, especially now as we’re closing in on the regular season kickoff in just a little over two weeks. Most of the starters should get a half-plus of work against the Lions before the team shuts just about everyone of importance down for next week’s preseason finale against the Giants.

However it wasn’t all great news, as Rex Burkhead and Malcolm Mitchell were both new absences from practice. They join previously missing players Matthew Slater, Shea McClellin, Matt Lengel and Tony Garcia.

Incredibly, Elandon Roberts, last seen getting carted off in considerable pain with a rib injury, was at practice but rocking a red “no contact” jersey. No question, Roberts is old school tough. This makes multiple times he appears to sustain a significant injury in a game only to be right back out there shortly thereafter.

Injuries become more and more important to monitor at this time of year. There are some extremely important players amongst those dealing with something at this point, none more important than Solder and Hightower, so today has to be seen as a positive step forward.

Will Brady’s Guru Magic Work for Gronk and Boomtower?

August 16, 2017 by Mike Dussault

One of the biggest headlines of the offseason that I don’t want to get lost in the shuffle is how both Rob Gronkowski and Dont’a Hightower are now working with Tom Brady‘s healthy guru Alex Guerrero. The duo joins at least Brady and Julian Edelman as players using Guerrero’s methods to prepare their bodies for all that comes with football combat.

If there was one thing I hoped for after Gronk was lost for another season with another back injury, it was that the big tight end might give Guerrero a try. What did he have to lose? The only thing standing between Gronk and being the best tight end of all time (if he isn’t already) was his health.

Imagine Gronk playing into his 30s. Jason Witten has 135 more regular season games, and six less touchdowns. Tony Gonzalez played 188 more games at this point and had 43 more touchdowns.

Gronk will be just 28 this year and if Guerrero can help him squeeze another handful of seasons out of his battle-worn body, there will be no tight end record left that he doesn’t own.

Concern Over Patriots Front Seven Turnover?

August 15, 2017 by Mike Dussault

This is probably as close as you’ll get to a hot take here on the Prop, but a recent commenter pointed out my concern over the front seven so I think it’s worth diving into a little more deeply. Or at least expanding upon my reasoning that there are more questions about this Patriots defense than some might want to admit.

Look, I skew toward the defensive side of the ball and I’ve got to be honest in my analysis, as much as we all want this to be a fanboy blog that does nothing but spew rainbows and sunshine about how awesome the Patriots are.

This isn’t doom and gloom. These are legitimate questions. But we can all agree that the defense remains well coached and has a number of promising young players. That is exciting. But those unproven players will need to step up because this is not an insignificant transition at the most important part of the defense.

And yes, the secondary is awesome. So hopefully that can help as things turn over.

Still, here’s what we’re looking at:

6 Sunday Pats Posits

August 13, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Sorry for the slow couple of days here on the blog, especially after a preseason game. In case you missed it, I was helping launch our latest venture, Patshow. If you haven’t had a chance to check out episode 101 you can get it here in all its glory.

Follow @Patshow6 on Twitter for all kinds of show updates and giveaways. Things will keep ramping up over the next couple weeks.

With over 10K views in the first 24 hours, we’re thrilled with the response and can’t wait for episode 102, coming Monday 8/21. This was supposed to just be a soft launch to work out the kinks, but other than a couple audio glitches on Facebook’s end, things went about as smoothly as could be expected.

Thank you Nick Stevens and Ian and Erin at Mediaboss for their awesome work bringing Patshow to life. We’re all excited to share everything that we have planned, which will include two shows per week once the regular season starts.

Okay, enough about Patshow, let’s talk some actual Pats and get caught up on the fallout from the first preseason.

[Read more…] about 6 Sunday Pats Posits

Patriots Positional Preview: Linebackers

July 7, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Today we’re breaking down one of the most interesting positional groups on the roster this year, the linebackers.

After Jamie Collins‘ shocking trade last season, the Pats had to manage with in-season acquisition Kyle Van Noy, run stopping rookie Elandon Roberts and free agent acquisition Shea McClellin. After Dont’a Hightower, there just wasn’t a three-down linebacker on the roster.

So Van Noy slipped into a passing down role, where he would cover and occasionally rush the quarterback, while Roberts caught attention for his heavy downhill hits in an early down role. It wasn’t as ideal as the Hightower-Collins duo seemed to be, since they never had to leave the field (at least that’s what we thought in 2014 and 2015), but they got the job done.

While heavy reinforcements didn’t arrive this offseason, the addition of David Harris should take enough pressure off of Hightower to help keep him fresh or keep the boat afloat should the captain miss any time. How the rest of the group plays out will be fascinating to watch in camp.

How much of a second-year jump does Roberts make? Will Belichick-favorite Jonathan Freeny step back into a defensive role despite Roberts’ emergence? Can coveted rookie Harvey Langi show enough versatility to carve out a rookie role? Is McClellin on the bubble?

It’s important to note how fluid the edge and linebacker positions have become. Technically Hightower, Ninkovich and McClellan shift between those roles based on the situation, but for the preview purposes we’ll keep them separated. Just know that nothing is set in stone and the ability to move players all over the formation is what makes the Patriots’ defensive front so potent. Just try not to get caught up in the minutiae of positional labels at this point.

Let’s take a closer look at each linebacker.