Offense: Chief concern
Defense wary of weapons Hunt, Hill, Kelce
PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK
FOXBORO — Guarding against the element of surprise can be half the battle when defending a potent offense, and the Patriots are prepping for that this week in the lead-up to Thursday night’s season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Even though the Chiefs have a signature offensive style under coach Andy Reid, that does not mean coach Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia always will know what’s coming.
“We know what type of offense they can run,” defensive end Trey Flowers said. “But we know that they can have some kind of play we haven’t seen before, some play that they probably schemed up just for this game, waiting for this game to show us. I think we just gotta plan for what we’ve seen so far and what we haven’t seen, just play the basic fundamentals of it and be physical with it. Hopefully we can stop it or find a way to stop it.”
The offense the Chiefs run is unique in that it uses more jet sweeps and screens than the norm. The short-to-intermediate passing game takes precedence over the vertical one, and the amount of misdirection can keep a defense on its heels, as Flowers knows.
“You’ve always got to be aware,” Flowers said. “You play a game, you do your job, but you’re aware of the back coming to your side. ... You’re on a high alert for when plays like that come about.”
Even with the loss of running back Spencer Ware to injury, the Chiefs have a solid stable of ball carriers for quarterback Alex Smith to hand it to in rookie Kareem Hunt, C.J. Spiller and Charcandrick West.
They also feature one of the league’s best tight ends in Travis Kelce and one of its fastest wide receivers in Tyreek Hill.
Safety Devin McCourty said the Pats will have to monitor those two at all times.
“A guy like (Hill) is hard because (the Chiefs) use him so many different ways,” McCourty said. “So it’s not like you can just be prepared for him when he’s here or he’s there. You kind of need to know where he is all the time. It’s not just pre-snap. It has to be throughout the snap and post-snap of knowing where he’s at.
“That goes the same with Kelce. Both of those guys make a ton of big plays, plays that really change the whole game that you have to know where they’re at and where they’re moving at every down.”
Squad goals
It was a wild afternoon for the Pats, who built their practice squad and lost several key players on the waiver wire.
Running back D.J. Foster, defensive end Geneo Grissom, linebacker Trevor Bates, receiver Cody Hollister, safeties David Jones and Damarius Travis, offensive linemen Ted Karras and James Ferentz and defensive lineman Darius Kilgo cleared waivers and agreed to join the Patriots practice squad.
That group of nine leaves the Pats with one spot to fill.
However, the Patriots lost an NFL-high four players through waivers after they were released, including wide receiver Austin Carr (Saints), tight end James O’Shaughnessy (Jaguars), cornerback Kenny Moore (Colts) and tackle Conor McDermott (Bills). Moore initially believed that he cleared waivers and was going to rejoin the Patriots practice squad before the official word came down from the Colts.
The Patriots were not awarded anyone from the waiver wire. It’s not clear if they placed any claims.
No doubt about it
One of the most surprising cuts on Saturday was Karras, which made room for undrafted rookie free agent Cole Croston.
But bucking conventional wisdom is nothing new to the University of Iowa product. In fact, coming out of high school, Croston did not have a single Division 1 offer and walked on with the Hawkeyes at just 225 pounds. The offensive lineman currently is listed at 6-foot-5, 315.
“I owe that all to (strength and conditioning) coach (Chris) Doyle at Iowa,” he said. “So I came in at 225, then I lost a couple pounds during camp. So it was a 15-pound-per-year-type thing. Until my fourth year I was about 280 and I was finally able to get into the rotation there. Playing in the Big Ten, there’s some big guys there: big offensive line, big defensive line. I was finally able to get into the rotation, gain some strength. But honestly, I still need to get stronger, and I need to get bigger, as well.”
His adjustment to the Pats has been a smooth one. Belichick and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz always have had a good relationship, and Brian Ferentz, Kirk’s son, was an assistant with the Patriots from 2009-11 and was Croston’s offensive line coach with the Hawkeyes.
“The funny thing is, in Iowa meeting rooms, we always heard a lot of ‘Do your job,’” Croston said. “And that’s the same thing you hear around here. It’s really prepared me for this level, because coach Belichick says those things every single day. Brian instilled that in me at the collegiate level, so it’s helped me a lot.”
Speed kills
With Phillip Dorsett ready to join the Pats after being traded from the Indianapolis Colts for quarterback Jacoby Brissett, his speed will be his top asset going forward.
McCourty faced Dorsett in 2015, and knows exactly what the wide receiver can bring to the table.
“As a defense you always want to know the guys that can go vertical, that can make plays,” McCourty said, “even on reverses or different things like that, guys that can catch a 5-yard pass and because of their speed be able to take off.
“It’s exciting ... any time you get new guys in here to see how they can help the team. I think we do a good job of just welcoming guys and trying to bring them along and get moving forward as fast as we can.”
Dorsett certainly moves forward fast. He ran a 4.33 40-yard dash at the combine coming out of the Miami. Last season, he caught 33 passes for 528 yards (16.0 yards per reception) and two touchdowns.
With Dorsett, fellow receivers Brandin Cooks and Chris Hogan and tight end Rob Gronkowski, the Pats now have four players who ranked in the top 15 in the league in yards per catch in 2016.