TALK & WALK
Edelman owns his suspension; Brady chat turns on Guerrero query
Bill Belichick likes to get the Patriots playing their best football in December and January. As the popular adage goes, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
To that end, we’ve seen a few slow starts during the Belichick era. The Pats have started 3-2 five of the last 10 seasons, including last season (in which they lost the Super Bowl) and 2014 (in which they won it). This season, however, it would behoove the Patriots to change the script and come out of the gates flying. Not having Julian Edelman the first four games won’t be a suitable excuse.
If the Patriots start poorly, it’ll all fall back to Belichick’s benching of Malcolm Butler in Super Bowl LII, Tom Brady’s decision to skip OTAs and all the offseason drama. Those issues will get magnified — not only by the fandom, but internally.
“I think there’s some truth to that,” former Patriot Damien Woody, an ESPN analyst, said when reached Friday. “The one thing that happened during the offseason, things that (have) been bubbling under the surface with the Patriots spilled out for everyone to see. That’s very unusual for them. Usually everything is locked up tighter than a drum.”
Usually, the Patriots are also champions at ignoring the noise, but this might be different.
The respective “gates” were issues brought against them. If anything, they fostered an “us against the world” mentality. This is more internal.
It’s about trusting the coaches’ decision making in the wake of an unexplained call that might have cost them the Super Bowl. Depending on a quarterback who might hit the wall at age 41, or might not be as invested.
Several players attempted to put the Butler situation to bed on Thursday, offering what amounted to politically correct responses when asked.
“It’s over with. What’s the point? It’s doesn’t matter anymore,” said safety Duron Harmon, sounding a lot like his head coach “We’re on to 2018.”
Dont’a Hightower echoed the sentiment. noting “ain’t nobody worried about last year right now.”
Belichick, of course, is very
good at getting everyone to turn the page. Many of these same players were supporting Butler with tweets after the Super Bowl. Start out 1-3 and we’ll see if they continue to spout the company line.
Then there’s the Brady part of the equation. Fair or not, he left himself open for criticism by not attending any of the voluntary workouts and OTAs. What if all of sudden he starts playing more like his age, or looks especially out-of-sorts with the new personnel, in the early going?
With former heir apparent Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco and no real successor in place, that’s a bad look that will seem even worse if the Patriots stumble out of the gate.
“It’s valid if Brady gets off to a slow start. If he looks like he’s 41, they’re going to say he didn’t come in, he didn’t work,” said Sirius XM Radio NFL analyst Solomon Wilcots when reached last week. “Then if you have Garoppolo over in San Francisco playing great, if that’s the scenario, that would be a difficult one to overcome. It’s a dynamic you’ve never had before, because 41 doesn’t get younger in October, November and December as those hits start to come.”
Wilcots noted the numbers prove Belichick “builds his teams as he goes,” making poor or slow starts easily shrugged off.
“They’re like a Ford assembly line,” he said. “It looks like it’s scattered in the beginning, but at the end of that assembly line, you’re going to get your Model T. You’re going to get a consistent product.”
This year, it might be best to change it up. Start strong and don’t look back. Just eliminate Butler and second-guessing the coach from the equation by winning.
Woody makes the point that if any of the teams in the AFC East are even remotely competitive, one might use the friction between Brady and Belichick to help unseat the Pats.
“It could be there for the taking,” he said, who stressed he wasn’t doubting his former team would be good this season. “They’ve taken some hits this offseason, but what helps the Patriots is the teams in their own division. They feast off them every year. I know, this is the first offseason we’ve seen stuff like this from New England. I’m just not sure the other teams from the AFC East are going to be able to capitalize.
“We’ll see.”
Dante’s the difference
Mammoth Trent Brown has occupied the left tackle spot in the early days of camp. That’s 380 pounds worth of left tackle.
Whether it’s Brown or rookie
Isaiah Wynn who winds up in the spot, former Patriots tackle
Sebastian Vollmer says he’s not worried.
Why? Dante Scarnecchia.
“As long as Scar’s there, I wouldn’t panic. They’ll work it out, they always do,” Vollmer said during a recent conversation. “Nate (Solder) tore his biceps, and I had to replace him. I got hurt plenty of times, they put someone else in there. They find a way. Maybe they have the guy in the building, maybe not. As a former player, as a friend of some of those guys, I’m not really worried.”
Woody on Jets: ‘Not yet’
The level of hysteria in New York didn’t quite hit seismic proportions with Sam Darnold missing the first practice of Jets’ camp. The third overall pick had not signed his contract as of Friday, but fans figure it’s simply a matter of time given how rookie salaries are slotted under the current CBA. Gang Green’s quarterback of the future will eventually be on board.
Still, the hope is Darnold beats out Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater for the starting job. It’s hard to do that missing vital camp time.
“He’s expected to compete to be the starter,” said Woody. “And, I think the Jets really want him to be the starter. They’ve added some pieces, but everything is centered around Darnold. They want him to win the job.”
Woody believes the Jets are an improved team with a top 10 defense, but are still not a contender.
“I’ve told people before, it’s a three-year process,” he said. “The first couple years, they tore it down and traded picks to get the quarterback. They’ll be better this year, but for the Jets, it’s about 2019.”
From Grafton to Gruden
Oakland defensive back Obi Melifonwu, a Grafton High and UConn alum, was in town a week ago taking part in a football camp with Marquis Flowers and Brandon King at the Manning Bowl in Lynn.
Melifonwu enjoyed teaching the kids and being back in the area, but he was also looking forward to getting back to work. He indicated being impressed with his new coach, Jon Gruden.
“It’s been great. He’s a guy that brings energy to our team. He loves to practice. He loves the game of football. He’s a guy that preaches effort and finish,” said Melifonwu. “That’s a coach you want to be around, a guy that can get everyone on the same page, buying into one culture. I’m just excited to play for him.”
The four-year starter for UConn was placed on injured reserve to begin last season, then appeared in five games before getting injured again.
“They always say availability is more important than ability,” said Melifonwu. “Being able to get healthy after my injury was important to me. I felt like I could play a big role. I feel I could help the team wherever they need me. Being healthy now is definitely something I’m excited about. I’m excited to get back out on the field and run around with my teammates.”
Ben’s moving on
Ben Roethlisberger is trying to take a page from Belichick’s book and not dwell on the past.
“I was asked about the Jacksonville loss, I’m over it, you move on. You have to. I think earlier in my career I would dwell on it, hold it inside and use it, but I’ve been doing this for such a long time that you have to move on. That’s what I’ve done,” Roethlisberger told the Steelers media last week. “That goes for everything from last year, the distractions if you will, the discipline things. Whatever it is, you have to move forward. It’s a new team, new year. There will be new problems at some point.”
The quarterback still believes the Patriots are the team to beat in the AFC, no matter what’s going on in Foxboro.
“I think you have to look at who won it. The Eagles are the team to beat in the NFL. The Patriots won the AFC, so they’re the team to beat,” he said. “I’d like to think we’re a good enough football team to be talked about as a team to beat, but when it comes down to it it’s all about the team that won it last year.”
Paid for the pressure
During his press briefing Thursday, Dolphins coach Adam Gase was asked about the pressure that comes with the quarterback position, and, adding in expectations, if it was fair to have a lot of that fall on Ryan Tannehill.
“That’s what they get paid to do. He knows the job description and he understands the expectations and the amount of pressure that goes at that position,” said Gase. “I don’t think that’s something that he loses a lot of sleep over.”