new england patriots

Only a couple more days until it all begins, and then we can stop speculating and talking about last season and focus on new, real information. Yay. Couple thoughts I’ve been kicking around…

– While the receivers will be a huge focus as far as the training camp battles go, I think the fate of the 2013 rests in the hands of the defense taking the next step. They have a lot of players who have (or had) potential, now is the time for a few of them to take a big leap.

– I don’t know why but I’m not overly optimistic about Chandler Jones becoming the next JPP or Demarcus Ware this year. I’m not usually one to worry, but I’m concerned that Jones isn’t quite the player we all thought he would be based on the first two months of last season. Hope I’m wrong.

– On the other hand I’m not concerned at all about Dont’a Hightower and think he’ll be a real force on the edge this year. If the Pats do use more 3-4, I think Hightower could really flourish, though he’s a good fit at SLB too in the 4-3. The big question is how much he plays on passing downs.

– Suddenly seems like everyone is high on Shane Vereen being a huge weapon. I’m a little more guarded in my optimism, and his injury history and ability as a blocker still concern me. Again, I hope I’m wrong, but I still wouldn’t be surprised to see Leon Washington out there in passing situations this year.

– Armond Armstead has been penciled into just about everyone’s intial 53-man roster, but he ended up on the PUP list with a non-football sickness. Not sure what this means, and how it might relate to his heart attack, but he seemed okay last season in the CFL, so it’s hard to know what’s going on. But the Pats definitely need him and if he can’t go Marcus Forston and Joe Vellano better be ready.

– Josh Boyce is not on the PUP list and that’s great news. Something tells me we’ll be hearing his name a lot in the next couple weeks.

– Finally had to write a Tebow article last week and I was shocked by how defensive some of his supporters can be. I have no Tebow bias either way, and was simply laying out an X and O plan of how he could carve out a role. Not good enough for Tebow-heads. Apparently anything less than him beating out Brady for the starting QB job is an unacceptable projection.

– Really not looking forward to when the injuries start coming. There’s nothing worse than losing guys in August, and it makes truly projecting the team almost impossible at this point. Some of the best Pats teams have made it through the season relatively healthy, let’s hope this year’s version can do the same.

– BB’s presser should be entertaining, but I think at this point even the media members are unsure what BB can even say regarding Hernandez at this point. I’m sure that won’t stop some of them from pressing the issue once BB is done talking about it, and that’s when the fun starts.

New podcast coming later this morning, hope you join us!