June 2013
“I think as an offense we felt like we slipped up, especially at the end of the season, the way the season ended. Going into OTAs, that was our focus,” Vereen said, referring to the AFC Championship Game when the Patriots were held scoreless in the second half. “There is still a lot we need to work on, there are a lot of new faces, it’s still a younger offense, and so we have a lot of jelling to do. But I think we’re on the right track.”
—Vereen: ‘O’ motivated by ‘12 ending - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston
Rounding Up the Latest Offseason Buzz Surrounding Patriots →
bleacherreport.com
Here’s our latest B/R piece, not quite the Hoodie epic, but taking inventory of the latest developments as we start the long, cold period of the offseason.
“First, like Jackson and Madden, Belichick trusts his men to be men, and treats them as such, and they respond with loyalty in kind. Second, he’s smart enough to appoint an elite sub-team within his bigger team who report the temperature of the locker room to him. Third, he strives to simplify, right down to the binary if need be — as in, “Look at the other team’s formation, wherein they’re going to either do this, or they’re going to do that.” Even if you’re only slightly smarter than a bag of hammers, you’ll be right more than half the time.”
—The rebel sports fan should love Bill Belichick. | SportsonEarth.com : Peter Richmond Article
Cutting off the Sleeves: The History of Bill Belichick and His Hoodie →
bleacherreport.com
One last time in case you missed this one, got a lot of great responses. Now we’ll just have to keep the hoodie database updated until BB hangs ‘em up.
Quick-hit thoughts on NFL, Patriots - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston →
espn.go.com
The absence of Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes from voluntary offseason workouts might prove to be a forgotten storyline in 2013, especially if Spikes brings his trademark physical style of play and improves his work in pass coverage. But when it comes to considering a contract extension for Spikes for 2014 and beyond, I don’t think Bill Belichick will forget that he was the only player not to show up, before Spikes explained his absence this way: “I do things a little different from everybody else. Honestly, if everybody in this world was a [conformist], it would be one boring place.” Safe to say that’s not the message Belichick wants his younger players — especially 2013 top pick Jamie Collins (working at linebacker) — to hear. It’s hard for me to imagine Belichick rewarding that mindset and approach with a contract extension, in part because of the message it would send to others.
The Best of PatsPropaganda: First Void Weekend Edition
The void is upon us with the end of minicamp and OTAs, there will be no new Patriots news to discuss in the next weeks. Instead it will be a re-hash of everything we’ve talked about this offseason, and how well the Pats have filled their holes in free agency and the draft.
There’s no question, the Patriots’ defense is in position to build off of two seasons that saw them slightly more successful on the field than on the stat sheet (we all know which one really matters), while on offense they’re taking a step back to hopefully take two big steps forward by the end of the season.
For the first time since 2007, the offense will truly be an unknown until the first snap of the regular season. Personally, I kind of enjoy that.
Until the numerous position battle articles start rolling in, here’s the best of the last week.
Cutting off the Sleeves: The History of Bill Belichick and his Hoodie —> extremely proud of this one, must-read if I do say so myself.
A Brief Appreciation Of Bill Belichick « CBS Boston —> Enjoyable read from Mike Hurley
The 5 Games that will determine the Patriots’ fate —> Another one from yours truly.
PatsProp & Frenz Podcast —> New show, lots of Tebow talk, click at own risk. There’s a Colts troll that calls in too, but I was nice to him.
Amendola and Brady finding some synergy —> Good news for the Pats offense.
Momentum Builders from OTAs —> Don’t get too excited but Ras-I is on there.
Tim Tebow’s Last Chance —> The only Tebow article from last week worth reading.
Who will be the breakout player in offense. Who will it be on the Defense. Also who will underachieve on offense and defense.
On offense the breakout player has to be Amendola. If it isn’t, the Pats could be in trouble, because a receiver HAS to break out this season. Amendola should get plenty of passes thrown his way, and if he stays healthy he should be fine.
On defense, I’m going with Dont’a Hightower. I just think he’s in position to make a big jump, and really be a force on the edge of the defense.
As for underachievers let’s go with Aaron Dobson. I think his development will be slower than most would like, and won’t be surprised to see him make a minimal impact this year. But I do think there will be a rookie receiver who makes an impact, with Josh Boyce, Kenbrell Thompkins, and Mark Harrison being the other candidates.
On defense, it kills me to write this, but it could very well be Chandler Jones. He could go either way in my book, and I’m not sure why I’m feeling down on him, but I’m glad the Pats have good defensive end depth in back of him.
June/July = Time for Dreaming. If Sudfeld pans out as TE is there any way the league could stop the offense of Hernandez, Gronk, Sudfeld with either Vareen+Amendola or Vareen+Ridley? I'm dreaming of switching from power running to 5 wide sets in an instant. Also, never forget Hernandez can run with the ball. 3TE sets For The Win. :)
And don’t forget about Jake Ballard, let’s just go four tight ends and either a running back or Amendola. Seriously, I wouldn’t rule it out inside the 20 yard line.
But let’s see how good Sudfeld is once the hitting starts. Still, I think the Pats are well-prepared to run their tight end-based offense this season. Between all those guys and Fells and Hoomanawanui they have plenty of insurance for Gronk despite the talent drop-off. Just hope the offense doesn’t become too plodding. They’ll need some explosion from the young guys.
Do you prefer Gronk to start in PUP or be limited the first few games of the season.
At this point it seems to make the most sense to just PUP him and get him as healthy as possible. It mitigates the risk a little bit, he’ll only miss two division games, and three of the first six are out of conference, so it’s favorable to the Pats if they stumble a bit.
Win the war, who cares about the early battles.
