PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Five Patriots to Watch vs. Texans

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The Patriots will play their second preseason game of the summer on Saturday night against the Texans, returning to Houston, where they were last seen winning Super Bowl 51.

It’s a good bet we’ll see more of the starters this week after Bill Belichick gave just about every top line player the night off in the first week of the preseason against the Jags.

The headlines for the Patriots, as they are for most teams, are all about overcoming injuries. Nate Solder has been out for a couple weeks, while one of his backups, LaAdrian Waddle had to leave joint practices with then Texans for medical evaluation back in Boston. Rookie left tackle Tony Garcia has also been missing time, leaving just Cam Fleming and Marcus Cannon, two players who should be protected as much as possible.

Tackle isn’t the only spot the Pats are dangerously thin. Defensive end Derek Rivers also had to return home to get his knee looked at and rookie Deitrich Wise continues to recover from a concussion he suffered in week one.

Simply put, the team cannot afford another injury at either of these two vital positions, but they can’t let that stand in their way of setting a baseline of performance against Houston. Between this week and next, the starters will get most of their work in. So it’ll be exciting to finally see some of the top end guys in action.

Here are five players that I’ll be keeping a close eye on.

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Five Trade Bait Patriots

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WIth news of Derek Rivers being flown back to Boston for an MRI on his knee and Kony Ealy getting banged up (but returning) in joint practices with the Texans, the Patriots already-precarious and inexperienced depth just took another blow. They’re down to Trey Flowers and Geneo Grissom as their only two fully healthy ends.

Could the Patriots explore a trade to bring in needed reinforcements at the position? Of course it will depend on the prognosis for Rivers and Deatrich Wise, who suffered a concussion in the first preseason game. Though even with those two fully healthy and in the mix, Ealy’s disappointing camp has still left something to be desired from this important position.

The Patriots never stand pat with their roster. As much as we want to do 53-man roster projections and think that that will be the 2017, the team is constantly tinkering with their players, bringing guys in off the street and via trade.

But to bring someone in via trade the Pats would have to give up something. Let’s take a look at five Patriots who could be trade bait.

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Coffin Corner: The Ringer’s “Patriots Week” Sucked For Patriots Fans And It Matters

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Let me be upfront, I love Bill Simmons, I know it’s lame, but I love him. I love the Ringer, I loved Grantland. I love his editors. I love their podcasts. I love the Maester, I love Mallory Rubin. I love Tate. When my wife and I had our son, our brains were so stupid that we watched our first and last season of the Bachelor like a junkie needing a fix because of Juliet Litman’s hilarious Bachelor Party pod. The Ringer also has one of the best and most expansive rosters of writers on the Internet. It’s amazing!

So when Simmons announced on his podcast that they’d be running “Patriots week” on the gloriously insufferable “25 greatest Patriots wins” podcast, I was thrilled. Like an Indiana Jones fan going to a midnight screening of Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull, I was left sneaking out before the Q & A with a stoned Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg.

“Patriots Week” Sucked. For Patriots fans at least.

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

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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.

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Tuesday Patriots-Texans Tweets of Note

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The Patriots and Texans are off on a good ole times camping trip in West Virginia, in what should be a competitive set of training camp joint practices.

After slicing up the Jags last week, the Texans should provide a more formidable practice partner. Houston is a young team and should be looking to set the tone for their season with this week’s work against the team that sent them packing twice last year, including in the AFCDG.

Houston has to go New England again in Week 3 so these teams know each other pretty well, both on the field and off it. A few practices together… another preseason game… This is blossoming into a strange frenemy rivalry and you wonder if BO’B can ever figure out how to crack BB.

There’s also something fascinating about Mike Vrabel now being the defensive coordinator charged with stopping Tom Brady…. but there will be plenty of time for that once the bullets are real.

Here’s the tweets that stood out from practice #1 vs. Houston.

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Concern Over Patriots Front Seven Turnover?

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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:

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Patriots Tweets of Note: The Final Training Camp Practice Open to Fans

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The Patriots closed out the public portions of their training camp practices on Monday, with developments on the injury front.

Now the Pats will head to West Virginia to practice with the Texans, whom they’ll play in Houston on Sunday. It’s like one big former Patriot reunion camping trip in the mountains!

It should be a fun week. I’m excited to see new Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel. He should speak to the media at some point. Vrabel never disappoints with a great quote or two.

Here’s what those who were there saw at Monday’s practice.

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