Pats must slow down Kamara
RB has touched ball on nearly half of Saints’ snaps this year
FOXBORO — Before every Patriots’ defensive snap Sunday, flip a coin.
Heads, the ball will go to Alvin Kamara.
Tails, it travels elsewhere.
PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK
Through two weeks, a coin-flip split is how the Saints have distributed the ball without All-Pro wide receiver Michael Thomas. Kamara has touched the ball on 48.6% of New Orleans’ offensive snaps to date. It’s been the Alvin Kamara Show featuring the Saints, not the other way around. And for good reason. “I feel like if you were to try to build the perfect back, he essentially has everything you need,” Pats linebacker Dont’a Hightower said Wednesday. “Vision, balance. He’s strong, he’s tough. However you want to give him the ball, you can give it to him.”
As one of the NFL’s best play designers, Saints coach Sean Payton has fully weaponized Kamara since he entered the league as a thirdround pick in 2017. Kamara’s made four straight Pro Bowls, catching at least 80 passes and averaging more than 1,500 yards from scrimmage per year. He leads New Orleans in rushing and receiving this season.
Though keying on Kamara — who aligns and sees touches all over the formation — isn’t as easy as it sounds.
“They use so many different formations and personnel groups that it’s really hard to predict who’s going to be in the game, and it’s definitely even harder to predict who’s going to be where,” Pats coach Bill Belichick said. “So you have to have a real awareness of where their guys are and what they do from those spots. Sean’s very, very good at creating those situations with the defense in conflict, and they go fast and they get on you quick, and a lot of times you just recognize it just a split second too late.”
The Patriots have faced Kamara only once before, a 36-20 win at New Orleans in 2017, the second game of his career. The 26-year-old finished with 54 total yards on three catches and one carry, working then as a backup to Mark Ingram and Adrian Peterson. Now, Kamara might need only one play to cover 54 yards — or more.
“You can hand off a ball to him and expect maybe a three or four-yard run, and he’ll turn it into a 75-yard touchdown,” Hightower said. “He’s just that type of player.”
Last week, the Panthers held Kamara to 30 total yards on a dozen touches in a shockingly dominant defensive performance. No surprise, the Saints offense went down with him, managing only a late touchdown and 128 total yards, the fewest ever recorded under Payton. A similar showing by the Patriots, who are slated as 3-point home favorites Sunday, should turn their next game from a coin flip to a surefire win.
Judon out at practice, Van Noy returns
The Patriots returned one linebacker at practice Wednesday and lost another.
Matt Judon sat out his first practice of the season with a hurt knee, while Kyle Van Noy hit the field for the first time in a week after overcoming a recent throat injury. Judon was spotted during initial stretching and positional drills with all other members of the 53-man roster. He was the only player to miss practice, while offensive tackle Trent Brown (calf ) and running back Damien Harris (finger) were limited.
It’s unclear when Judon suffered his new knee injury. If he cannot practice today, it is unlikely the Pats’ highpriced pass rusher will play against New Orleans.
Wilfork nominated for Hall of Fame
Former Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork was nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday in his first year of eligibility.
Wilfork was one of 10 firstyear eligible players nominated for the Hall’s modernera class of 2022. The initial list of candidates consists of 122 players, including former Patriots wide receivers Wes Welker and Troy Brown, tight end Ben Coates, offensive guard Logan Mankins, defensive lineman Richard Seymour, linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Willie McGinest and safety Rodney Harrison. backs Former Pats, running
CoreyDillon FredTaylor and Steven Jackson, fullback Larry Centers, wideouts Torry Holt, Chad Johnson and Reggie Wayne, offensive guard Brian Waters and cornerback Asante Samuel were also nominated.
The list of modern-era nominees will be reduced to 25 semifinalists in November and 15 finalists in January, before the Class of 2022 is selected shortly before Super Bowl LVI in early February.
Wilfork signed a one-day contract in August 2017 so he could retire as a Patriot. Wilfork won two Super Bowls and started 10 seasons over his 11-year career in New England, before playing for the Texans in 2015 and 2016. He was a widely respected leader in the Pats’ locker room and a key piece of several of the franchise’s best defenses.
Belichick called Wilfork one of the best two-gapping defensive linemen in NFL history at his retirement press conference. Wilfork finished with 560 tackles, 16 sacks, five forced fumbles and three interceptions in 189 regular-season games.
Practice-squad OL signed by Pats
The Patriots signed freeagent offensive guard Jake Eldrenkamp to the final opening on their practice squad Wednesday.
Eldrenkamp, 27, spent most of last season on the Colts’ practice squad. He appeared in two games for Indianapolis, but did not start and was later waived in August. Prior to signing in Indy, Eldrenkamp spent the spring of 2019 in New England, where he lasted just four months.
Before joining the Patriots, he was a member of the Browns and Rams’ practice squads over three seasons. Eldrenkamp entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Washington in 2017 and didn’t see any game action until last year.
He wore No. 62 during Wednesday’s practice in Foxboro.