Post-Brady Pats open camp
Team faces many questions in camp, regular season
For 20 years, the Patriots lived by a set of beliefs that shaped their identity and forged a dynasty.
In time, they grew to trust that no opponent was too tough to beat, no deficit was too large to overcome, and no Lombardi Trophy was too far to attain.
That has been the unwavering motto in Foxboro, the calling card of the Tom Brady era.
Led by the greatest coach to ever walk the sideline, and the best quarterback to ever lace ’em up, winning has been the Patriots’ mantra. Their mindset: anything was possible.
So what will the post-Brady era bring?
More dominance from the dynasty? Just the same old, same old from the team that’s won six Super Bowls?
Perhaps, but not likely.
Maybe nothing will change from a competitive level. Or from the perspective of being the smartest, most prepared team every week.
The team that turns the page on Brady, however, will have a new look, as well as a different vibe and aura. That will surely be evident as media members get their first up-close look at the Patriots on the field for Monday’s padded practice.
For starters, beyond Brady, the Patriots also lost eight players who opted out due to coronavirus concerns.
Most notable among the group were linebacker Dont’a Hightower and defensive back Patrick Chung, who have been a part of three championships.
The defense still has an elite secondary, but not having Hightower leading the front seven is a devastating blow, especially with no viable replacement. He was the lifeblood of that defense, making huge plays at the biggest moments.
As for Chung, he has always
been a Belichick favorite, for all the positions he can play in the secondary, as well as the front seven. His versatility, toughness and leadership is hard to replace.
Young players are going to have to take the training wheels off early to help keep the defense a strength heading into a new era. Quarterback?
It’s certainly possible the Patriots will maintain their winning ways with Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer under center. But there’s no guarantee — not like it was with Brady.
With the four-time Super Bowl MVP, there was always an unspoken air of confidence, and it permeated throughout the locker room. It will take time before that kind of inner faith and belief is restored, if it ever is.
For different reasons, Newton and Stidham, the frontrunners to assume Brady’s mantle, enter training camp as question marks. Newton because of his injury history, and possible inability to adapt with such limited time, and Stidham because of being untested, and possibly not being good enough to make it in the NFL.
Those are unknowns, questions that need to be answered in the coming weeks. And, the drama will play out under unusual circumstances, with a much different training camp, and no preseason games as a precursor to the regular season.
Rodney Harrison, speaking with the Herald recently, thought it was tough to get a firm handle on the identity of the post-Brady era just yet, but has a feeling where it’s headed.
“For so long, they’ve had stability at the quarterback position. This is the first time in two decades they haven’t had that,” said the Patriots Hall of Fame safety. “They have new guys that have question marks, question marks about whether they can play. Can Cam stay healthy, and still play at the level everyone is used to seeing him play? And there’s questions about the young kid (Stidham). Can he play at all?”
Harrison believes no matter the quarterback, the team will still rely on its strengths. And most of them are the same strengths typically seen during championship runs, although the defense has issues to work out with the loss of significant personnel.
“I know this: Bill’s going to have a tough defense. He’s going to put more emphasis on defense,” said Harrison. “They’re going to go back to running the ball, and he’s going to have a lot of emphasis on fundamentals, not having penalties, not turning the ball over and doing things right on special teams.
“That’s really the foundation of the Patriots,” Harrison went on, “doing things right, not hurting yourself with penalties and turnovers, and playing good defense and special teams.”
True. But it was also a foundation enhanced by a quarterback who made everyone around him better, and played at a supreme level for an unprecedented period of time.
Brady was the face of the franchise through six Super Bowl wins. Now that distinction is up for grabs. Newton is the leader in the clubhouse to inherit the role, if the hype video the team put out shortly after his arrival has any meaning.
For now, he’s the player who is going to move the needle and move the Patriots into a new era.
“When you first meet him, just his stature (stands out),” wide receiver Julian Edelman, said of the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Newton. “The dude is large, put together well and he’s got a great energy. He’s got a great energy about himself. I was really impressed with his work ethic and his mindset.”
Between Newton’s style of play, and his fashion style off the field, the look couldn’t be any more different than the GOAT.
While the defense is going to continue to be molded by Belichick’s genius — with its confusing looks and elite secondary — the offense will morph into something better suited to take advantage of Newton’s ability and mobility.
That added element opens the door to so many other possibilities for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
“It’s certainly not something I’m accustomed to using a great deal,” McDaniels said of utilizing a mobile quarterback, “but you use whatever the strengths of your players that are on the field allow you to use, to try to move the ball and score points — so whatever that means relative to mobility at the QB position.”
That doesn’t mean Brady and Newton are opposites in every way. Aside from both being NFL MVPs, there’s another common factor: the sizable chip on their respective shoulders.
Being a 6th-round pick, No. 199 overall, and sixth quarterback taken in the 2000 NFL Draft, Brady has always been motivated to make others pay for that snub, even if he’s got nothing to prove.
Newton, meanwhile, also comes in with a score to settle. He’s on a mission. He wants to stick it to all the teams that passed on him in free agency. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s able to back it up like Brady has done.
ESPN analyst Damien Woody, for one, believes Newton will make good on his revenge tour.
“I think Cam Newton feels disrespected. I think he’s hungry, and I think from all signs, he appears healthy,” said Woody. “And a healthy Cam Newton is a damn good quarterback.
“A lot of people don’t remember in the first eight games of 2018, Cam was on his way to his best statistical year as a quarterback. Then he got hurt. I just think if you’re getting that Cam, that’s a hell of a player.”
If Newton resurrects his past greatness, that will go a long way toward keeping the Patriots contenders and restoring the air of invincibility prevalent during the Brady era.
But getting to that rare place, amid a pandemic, seems unrealistic, leaving the immediate phase of the postBrady era looking more like a baby trying to take its first steps. It leaves it in a place where wins are much tougher to come by.
While life with Brady was easy to describe, it just might be impossible to replicate going forward. Their confidence level in terms of winning, and ardent belief that no situation was too difficult to overcome, can’t possibly be the same. At least, not right away.
“I think Cam is the key,” said Harrison. “And not just if he can stay healthy. He has to play well for them to have a chance.”