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Review/Preview: 5 Things We Watched and 5 Things to Watch

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Patriots Super Bowl 36Before we review preview, one thing I’m monitoring:

No contract extensions… … …

First, I love that Bill Belichick gets extensions done with players that strengthen the overall team in the least evaluated area of the game, special teams. It reminds me of the moment before Super Bowl XXXVI when they were announced as a team and that gives me chills and anything that does that is good. The Patriots for a decade and a half have been the ideal of a working organization, each piece doing their part (or job, to turn a phrase) to serve the greater goal.

But the marquee extensions of Matthew Slater (1-year) and Jonathan Freeny (2-years) don’t exactly make me feel good about the most important unit of this football team, the defense. Jamie Collins and Hightower (and Sheard and Butler) are huge cogs that play their parts extremely well in what could be an all-time Patriots defense and I’m beginning to fear we’re going to lose one of them. There’s always the chance that if nothing materializes in contract talks, one of them is on his way to Jacksonville or Detroit for a 1st or 2nd round pick. At this point, the best-case scenario is to hang on to them and go the compensatory pick or franchise-tag route.

All I can say is, I’ve got my prepper kit and a season’s worth of provisions in the bunker in anticipation of the Huckster Hurricane should Belichick pull the trigger. I urge Jim Cantore to get his LL Bean parka because level-5 “Shaughnessy Shitstorm” is building strength off the Atlantic coast.

On to the Review/Preview…

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Preseason Week 1 Rookie Report: Mitchell, Grugier-Hill, Lucien

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The first preseason game is always exciting, as it is a return to football…even though you know going in that it will probably be a sloppy game, and most of the players that get playing time will be seeing most of the time on the field are (likely) getting most of the NFL playing time that they’ll ever receive.

The players I was excited to watch in some capacity were all rookies: Malcolm Mitchell, Kamu Grugier-Hill, and Devin Lucien.

The first quarter was rather uninspiring for the remaining three, as the only time any of them saw on the field was Kamu Grugier-Hill getting some special teams reps. If Grugier-Hill continues to play early on special teams, he has a good shot of making the roster, regardless of other factors.

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5 Patriots Who Could Break Out Tonight

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After six long months (and change), the New England Patriots football team finally takes the field once again tonight to start their journey on the 2016 campaign. Ah, it felt good to write that. And I can’t lie, the loss in last seeason’s AFC Championship to Denver is still really chapping my ass. Maybe that’s because it’s the second time in three years that’s happened (along with a Super Bowl win of course), or more likely it’s because I still can’t believe the Patriots lost to that anemic offense, that they missed a gaddam extra point that cost them at least overtime and that Peyton beat Brady the last time they’d play.

Whatever. The new season is here and it’s time to really turn the page. The Patriots have certainly evolved this offseason, though half of that battle was just getting some of their important pieces back fully healthy. Still, there are plenty of new veterans, young players looking to make their mark and rookies who are about to get their feet wet for the first time.

While we can’t read too much into any preseason game, there’s always something special seeing our favorite team take the field and bang heads with an opponent.

With that in mind, here are five Patriots I’ll be most curious to see.

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Pats Posits: Patriots Minicamp Wrap

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I’m back in the blogging saddle after a few days on Cape Cod celebrating the life of my 90-year old grandma who passed away. Looks like there was plenty I missed from Patriots minicamp, but the good news is that there’s plenty of time to catch up.

Here are a bunch of quick-hit posits about the reports from those who were there watching the action:

— Yes, Aaron Dobson led the team in catches over the three-day period and was saying all the right things in interviews, knowing that the biggest thing for him is stay healthy. This isn’t the first time Dobson has impressed when everyone’s in shorts, so I’m not quite ready to start believing he’s going to suddenly break out in his fourth year. He did show some promise as a rookie, but since then I’ve seen little development from Dobson when everyone has pads on. The biggest problem I have is his inability to make plays with the balls in his hands. Go back and look at any of his catches the last two seasons and I’ll guarantee he falls down right after catching just about every single one. He also seems to always be double catching the ball, often with his arms. Maybe he’ll turn a corner on those things, but until I see him streaking down the field after making a clean catch, dodging would-be tacklers and picking up extra yards, I continue to view Dobson as a long-shot unless Edelman and Amendola are PUP candidates to start the season.

— Maybe the most interesting news to me was that Rob Ninkovich was playing middle linebacker, however I think this is purely a depth move, giving Ninkovich some experience in the spot should he ever be needed because let’s face it, Jonathan Freeny was a liability at MLB last year. The other interesting related aspect to this is Shea McClellin playing with the defensive ends. Since he’s new to the system I don’t think this a depth move. He needs to learn the defense first. But with Ninkovich he can play defensive end for the Pats’ system in his sleep. This does however raise a question of what the Pats “regular” four defensive back package looks like up front, especially at the MLB spot. Still haven’t totally ruled out that McClellin, Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins are all chess pieces in regular with no set formation for offenses to key on.

— DJ Foster tweaked a hamstring during camp, but he stood out once again as being the most explosive running back on the field. Makes you wonder how the Dion Lewis (recovering from an ACL tear), James White and Foster can all fit together, and why Belichick seems far more interested in small receiving backs than early-down pounders. Perhaps it relates to the pure size the Patriots offensive front can put on the field — if you have a true Double Y tight end offense with Gronk and Bennett, along with James Develin, the holes should be there, no matter how big the running backs are. Again, all I don’t want to see is for the Pats to be a purely passing team at the end of the season like they were last year. Injuries played a huge role in that of course, but I’m curious how it will all fit together this year.


— Malcolm Mitchell is also off to a good start, a huge plus for a rookie wide receiver even if he’s had limited snaps with Brady. The biggest thing is for him to stay healthy in these early days. So many of the rookie wide receivers that have failed to click with Brady were hit with injuries in their first training camp and/or regular season. If Mitchell can avoid the injury bug this first year, his odds of carving out a role in the offense increase.

— Michael Williams tore his ACL in camp, luckily the only major injury. I had Williams on the bubble, trending toward not making the roster so I don’t think this opens up an unexpected spot on the 53-man roster. But it should mean more reps for guys like Clay Harbor and AJ Derby.

— Kamu Grugier-Hill popped up with an interception. Anytime you’re hearing any rookie’s name it’s a positive sign, even in a teaching camp like this where the rooks haven’t really been thrown to the wolves yet. I like Grugier-Hills to slip into Tavon Wilson‘s old roster spot/special teams role. I don’t like typing “Grugier-Hill”.

— All three quarterbacks impressed and that’s a good thing to see, especially with the improvement that Jacoby Brissett already showing at this early stage.

— Thought this nugget from Andy Hart was interesting:

At the end of every practice, when the team gathers to stretch in position groups, Dante Scarnecchia has returned to his tradition of making his linemen line their helmets perfectly straight on a yard line. He checks it and players have to fix any imperfections, as Marcus Cannon had to today, before they get to their stretching.

— Finally, I must leave you with this…