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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…