new england patriots

Bedard’s nuggets, click it out. He keeps bringing up Justin Francis as a defensive player to watch. I’ll be curious to get a good look at him in the preseason, but Bedard seems high on him, and I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt it’s not just because they share Rutgers as their alma mater.

Interesting piece below, not much room for error in the secondary, especially if you’re not making plays.

The most significant personnel change – and, again, it’s early so it probably doesn’t mean anything – was that Sterling Moore took all of Dowling’s snaps in nickel defense. Guessing the Patriots continue to like Moore’s ball skills. Dowling hasn’t really made any plays. Also interesting to note, after playing left cornerback for the first time on Tuesday, Dowling received even more reps (if not more) on the left side. As a rookie, he was only a right cornerback. Could be preparation for Devin McCourty to do some safety work down the road if Dowling proves ready to take on more.

As you can imagine I really feel terrible about hurting the Giants feelings. You’ve beaten us three straight times, two of which in Super Bowls, and you think we’re going to just let your best tight end pass by us in the night? BB don’t play that. Especially since the Pats are one of the few teams who actually compete with a long-term vision.

The Giants might’ve won the first two Super Bowls we’ve faced them, but we’re still just one Lombardi away from epic greatness unseen before by a coach/quarterback combination. We’re not done yet!

Must Listen Alert! As someone who left Hightower off his Big Board it makes me feel slightly better that Cosell wasn’t quite sure of his Pats fit either. Still, that’s no excuse, he should’ve been on there.

On New England Patriots first-round LB Dont’a Hightower: “Hightower was a guy I struggled with a little – there were some games I watched when I thought, ‘Oh, this guy has a chance to be a good player,’ and there were other games in which I thought he just didn’t move quite that well. If they played a 3-4 and [Brandon] Spikes and Hightower were their inside linebackers … to me, neither guy moves quite well enough. But obviously, Bill Belichick knows more than I do, and what Hightower does give you is versatility. He played almost every linebacker position, and in addition, he put his hand on the ground when they went to their sub-packages, and rushed the quarterback. There’s a versatility element with this kid. He’s had some injuries that he’s coming back from, so maybe he improves.”

Couple nuggets of note from Field Yates:

Without the pads on, it’s hard to accurately gauge a receiver’s ability to separate, but Brandon Lloyd continues to display steady hands.

Rookie cornerback Alfonzo Dennard made another pass-breakup this afternoon, dislodging a pass thrown down the sideline for Jabar Gaffney. That’s the second consecutive on-field session that he’s flashed ball skills.

At this point it’s futile to try and project where Dennard could fit in, but the last couple practices leave me feeling positive he could make an impact this year.

My best guesstimate how the Pats might want things to work out in the secondary?

Dowling and McCourty on the outside, with Arrington playing a significant role in the slot. Chung at safety with Gregory and Allen rotating in various roles. After that it could come down to Dennard and Sterling Moore for that final spot, but that’s the role Edelman was in at times last year and clearly one that needs to be improved.