Friday, June 14, 2013

New England Patriots on Paper: Hired Geeks

"It was Sunday, and Sunday is a good day for revenge. That was all I cared about, nothing more. Football was in my blood. I am a slave to it."

And....yes.  Aren't we all.

It's no secret that the works of Hunter S. Thompson have been an inspiration to me pretty much my entire life, and the fact that his books are categorized in most libraries in the social sciences section speaks of the reverence that people smarter than me have for his razor sharp insights of the social condition, if not for his style.

He wrote of this condition - from mainstream America to the hippie scene in the Bay area, and just about everything in between.  He hung out with people like Ken Kesey, Allister Crowley and the Hells Angels - and for one brief span in the summer of 1973, with the Oakland Raiders.

An insatiable football fan, Thompson wrote of the culture of the game.  The win-loss records and scores of the games rarely found their way into his columns - his primary focus on the human element, and he told stories of the experience, the atmosphere, the faces in the crowd, the sights and smells, the grace, the power - because he figured that there were enough hired geeks and beat writers to recite numbers....

...and he didn't write about football often - but he did enough of it that I'm certain he would be humored by the media spectacle that is Tim Tebow - particularly now that Tebow is a member of the New England Patriots - and that he would focus on the culture and the experience and bring a bit of responsibility to the media, whose main purpose for living in the offseason seems to be to stir the fan population with a big stick.

So when news of the signing of Tebow by New England broke on Monday and polarized fans and media alike, mouth pieces from every media outlet in the civilized world and Maine had an opinion, to the point that even normally friendly social media chats became contentious as Patriots' fans armed with the opinions of these hired geeks battled with supporters of the signing like circa early 70's anti-war protesters and riot cops.

It's a Renaissance of the dark and dirty days of Thompson's prime, when he would hang out on the Oakland Raiders' practice field and jabbered incessantly at John Madden and drew the ire of Al Davis on more than a few occasions.  Davis was a polarizing presence himself, and there was no middle ground - either you loved him or you hated him.

Except Thompson, who thought he was human scum, but got a kick out of the way he would pace the sidelines during practice and get in the players' faces and make Ken Stabler and his receivers work on patterns for hours after practice had ended, which is what caused Thompson to develop a love/hate relationship with Davis.

Thompson was clearly comfortable hanging out with the Raiders but Davis was not comfortable with him, so the Doctor's experiment with the Raiders lasted about two and half weeks - plenty of time for a football mind like Thompson's to learn everything he needed to know.  Davis was the boss of the Raiders, and he didn't spend one second of his life worrying about what people thought of him or his decisions.

Would Thompson think of Belichick as human scum?  For certain Belichick would loathe the good doctor simply because he was a reporter - and Belichick is a lot like Davis in many respects, and also because he has an intense desire to control his environment, and if he wanted to bring in Tim Tebow and take a look, by God he's going to do it - because he's the Boss of the Patriots.

But maybe we can take the words of the dead scribe, from lessons that he learned from being around the Raiders, being around professional football and being around the scene in Berkeley and Altamont and dealing with more street freaks and genuinely dangerous people in one day than any of us will in a year to understand the mind-set of this situation.

Trying to report on the culture of Oakland and it's suburbs was hard dollar, but he was the kind of writer that, by nature of his self-proclaimed style of "Gonzo Journalism", absolutely had to be right in the middle of it.  He got arrested, tossed out of Raiders' headquarters and nearly stomped to death by the Angels, but he kept going back.

Why?  He was fascinated by the people.  He didn't care about their politics, per se, he cared more about their methods - and this is where we are mired now, in this rainy late spring in New England and at each other's throats - but if we take the time to let his words soak into our brainwashed minds, perhaps we can learn a 40 year old lesson as it relates to Tim Tebow and Bill Belichick - because he had seen enough of these personalities to know.

"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright" Dr. Thompson begins, "Or maybe "stupid" is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me."

This story is much about the base for Tebow's charisma and enormous aura, his outspoken nature and deep faith either alienating or edifying sections of the masses, rarely unifying - there seems to be no middle ground, and as Thompson continues, he presents a pretty strong case for fans trying to find a happy median:

"In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone." he concludes, "They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I... And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."

High spots for the New England Patriots are otherwise known as Super Bowl championships, but even those don't bring personal peace and happiness to anyone because once they are won, the euphoria eventually dulls to pleasant memory, and then it's on to the task of winning another. 

It hasn't happened in these parts for nearly a decade now, even though the Patriots consistently have one of the best teams in the NFL year in and year out, and it always seems like they're one play or player short of nirvana - and who's to say who that player could be, that one guy that could make that play to get to the next high spot?

Bill Belichick, that's who.

He's the Boss of the Patriots, and if he chooses to bring in Tim Tebow and pay him many dollars, that's his choice but he, as well as Tebow, will have to learn to live with the idea that they may never find peace and happiness until Belichick wins another trophy and Tebow realizes that what he covets may not be possible, which will make the tabloidal journalism go away...

...but together, they are going to give it a shot - and if it works, great.  If not, well, that's ok, too.  The Patriots are still an elite team and Tebow was looking for a job when he found this one, so nothing would have changed except the fans at each other's throats will continue to divide Patriots' Nation, until it's too late to pretend that it never happened.

Because, after all, football is in our blood, and we are slaves to it - but if we let this episode in Patriots history define us as a fan base, we will have become slaves to something more sinister than football could ever be: Hired geeks.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

New England Patriots on Paper: Tim Tebow's Big Adventure

If Pee Wee Herman played professional football, he would somehow end up winning everyone over and saving the day.  And getting the girl.

Staff meetings would be in his cozy basement.  Chuck would be in charge of the exercise bikes, Amazing Larry has the orange slices and Large Marge would be in charge of transportation.  Pee Wee would be the quarterback, Francis a tight end and the Satan's Helpers motorcycle gang would serve as his line.

How could he lose?

In his quest to find his stolen bicycle in the film Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Pee Wee encounters the confused prison escapee Mickey, the rail-riding, sardine-eating hobo John, a very large jealous boyfriend named Andy and a group of bikers in bar, the afore mentioned "Satan's Helpers"...

...he hitchhikes to Texas on the advice of a jaded old fortune teller only to find that she jobbed him.  When he finally does find his bike, everything comes together and everyone who were once enemies come to appreciate his dedication to finding something that he totally cared about.

And then Pee Wee and the perpetually enamoured, would-be girlfriend Dottie ride off into the glare of the screen at the drive in, leaving the audience curiously certain that absolutely nothing happened between the two.

And this from a 5' 5", 98 pound bow tie-wearing salad tosser.  If he can find his bike after going through so much, shouldn't a 6' 3", 245 pound Heisman Trophy winner be able to find a job in the National Football League?

Well, he's found one, and the media and fans alike are weighing in on the biggest hot-button topic to hit Foxboro since Bill Belichick fired Wes Welker.

Amid wild rumor and speculation, former Broncos' and Jets' quarterback Tim Tebow was signed by the New England Patriots on Monday, but nobody really knows what to make of it.  On one hand you have the "Mario's Magic Shop" crowd, who think that Tebow could come in and run some Wildcat formations or other trickery...

...while on the other you have the people who laugh out loud at the notion, like when Pee Wee thought the Alamo had a basement, as the fortune teller had told him, and he was forced to endure their scrutiny.

In reality, it's somewhere in between the two, because Tebow's presence alone must be game-planned for, whether on the football field or a quick attempt at an incognito trip to Subway, the logistics of which would be an unmitigated nightmare.

Far from the creepy persona that actor Paul Reubens portrays in the Pee Wee Herman brand of comedy works, Tebow is nevertheless a controversy magnet, his every movement followed like the multitudes following Jesus - so it will be interesting to see how the conservative cloak and dagger, NSA manner of controlling information that the Patriots employ as standard operating procedure is able to shield Tebow from the outside world...

...because that's what he needs.  There is no place in the civilized world or Canada that the charismatically churchy Tebow can go without being recognized - and his spectrum reaches far beyond simple football fandom, which can be very disturbing to people like Belichick who want to control everything.

Which begs the question, why bring him in?  Some speculation goes to the Florida/Urban Meyer connection, doing a solid for his good buddy who thought of Tebow like a son, while still others accuse Belichick as feeding his own ego and signing Tebow just because he could.

Again, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle - but make no mistake: The Patriots do not need Tim Tebow - which is exactly why New England is the perfect place for Tim Tebow, because at the end of the day this is just a good coach giving a guy he respects an opportunity.

Not just an opportunity to make the football team - especially since there really doesn't seem to be a place for him - rather, an opportunity to work on his game and to learn from Belichick and Tom Brady under the secretive umbrella that the tight-lipped Patriots provide.

Because Tim Tebow needs the Patriots - and by all accounts, he's willing to do whatever Bill Belichick asks of him - which speaks to what we already know of the Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Florida, the ultimate team player...

...and somewhere down the road, when a Hollywood producer decides to do a film of the life of Belichick, the Tim Tebow signing will be made into a turning point in the fortunes of the eccentric head coach, where either he's finally gone too far and laughed out of the NFL or he turns the entire football world on it's ear and the Patriots' dynasty regenerates.

Either way, perhaps James Brolin is available to portray Belichick, just as he did for Pee Wee Herman - punching in a cryptologic sequence of numbers into a key pad which sets in motion a series of incandescent lights and switches, the ivy covered wall to the practice facility opening slowly to reveal Belichick's shiny whistle...



New England Patriots on Paper: Belichick stirs the "Haterade", signs free agent Tebow

The polarizing personality in the National Football League is now a member of the New England Patriots.

It doesn't matter what team you root for, what walk of life you hail from or religious denomination you profess, the name Tim Tebow elicits some manner of emotional response from just about everyone...

...and now that he's a member of perhaps the most hated team in the league, the emotional responses should be amplified to that of the fictional rock band Spinal Tap...cranked up to 11.

With mandatory minicamp starting in Foxboro on Tuesday, the already intriguing position battles have momentarily taken a surreal back seat to the signing of the Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Florida, who was drafted by Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels while he was the head coach of the Denver Broncos.

Tebow spent last season as the New York Jets change-up plan that never materialized, a move that was speculated by many at the time that was meant to keep New England from signing him, which was seemingly confirmed as Tebow was seldom used in any capacity and languished on the sidelines.

The move comes on the heels of Bill Belichcik having to defend himself over remarks that he "Hates" Tebow as a football player, which he firmly rebutted:  "for anyone to have represented that is the way I feel about Tim Tebow is completely untrue, baseless and irresponsible. It is unfortunate that something so inaccurate was reported."

and in the same breath Belichick addressed a question from a member of the Boston media about the possibility of signing him, since he didn't hate him, saying, "I wouldn't get into the probability of us pursuing any free agent. Every single player has strengths and weaknesses."

Belichick and Tebow have been connected with each other in the media since the two had dinner together prior to the 2010 draft, and Tebow's name had popped up on occasion as a possibility for the Patriots in free agency.

Ed Werder from ESPN is reporting that Tebow was signed with the intention of competing for a backup quarterback gig, while Mike Freeman of CBSSports states that Tebow will "study a great deal at Tight End" - and this publication believes that Tebow will be used primarily as an H-Back, lining up all over the formation.

It will not be known for sure where Tebow fits in this Patriots' offense, but one thing is for sure:  The hate for the New England Patriots will probably climb to new heights.

New England Patriots on Paper: 4.2 yards and a cloud of rubber tire pellets

It was early in October 1976 and a wide-eyed Bill Belichick stood on the sidelines of the brand new Pontiac Silverdome as his Detroit Lions hosted the New England Patriots...

...this assuming that Belichick has been wide-eyed about anything but cheeseburgers, classic rock or stomping anything that got in his way before or since, so one has to assume that the year 1976 -  when kids just coming out of school were weaned on Led Zeppelin, Bachman Turner Overdrive and Mickey-D's, and were witnesses to the brutality and horrors of the Vietnam War - was smack in the middle of Belichick's formative years and have a great deal to do with his obsession to control his environment, as well as everyone else's.

Belichick, just a year removed from Wesleyan College and earning his stripes as a special teams assistant first under head coach Rick Fazano and then Tommy Hudspeth was in the midst of his second season as an NFL coach and his first with the Lions - a mediocre season which saw them eventually finish 6-8 and afterthoughts in the NFC Central behind the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears...

...it seems like a lifetime ago - and for anyone under 30, it is - but Belichick's memory of the game is crystal clear, intrigued by the size and power of the Patriots as a whole and equally mesmerized by the innovative schemes of Chuck Fairbanks.

Some years later Belichick would proclaim that the Patriots team that the Lions had soundly beaten that day was perhaps the best in franchise history - their size, speed and philosophy on both sides of the ball to physically overwhelm their opponent, to crush their will with violent overtones and cutting-edge design and skill.

At the center of the offensive design were innovators Ray Perkins and Ron Erhardt who along with Fairbanks built a nearly unstoppable balance of force predicated on the size and versatility of their running backs - boasting three backs that topped the 700 yard plateau, Sam "Bam" Cunningham, Andy Johnson and Don Calhoun leading a rushing attack that gained nearly 3,000 yards in 14 games.

210 yards per game average on the ground is unheard of these days, but if Belichick has his way - and he does - the 2013 New England Patriots will attempt to approach that level of ground production.

1976 saw a 6' 3" 225 pound fullback lead the team in rushing. The Patriots carried five backs on the roster, plus the wild card of having the tough as nails Steve Grogan shredding defenses with a 6.6 yards per carry average - Johnson, Calhoun, Horace Ivory and Ike Forte joining Cunningham to pound defenses for an average of five yards per carry...

...which puts last season's 4.2 yards per carry and nearly 2,200 yard effort to shame, but considering that the NFL is now a passing league in which fundamental football has transformed from the run setting up the play action pass, to the play action pass being offset by the run - the Patriots' 136 yards per game was good enough to be the 7th ranked rushing attack in the NFL, but not good enough for Belichick.

At issue was a running game that in its infancy showed an a certain immaturity, a running game that was at times all about glitz and glamour and lacked a killer mentality.  Though it's tough to find fault with Stevan Ridley's 1263 yard effort in 2012, the running game fell into chaos with the rest of the offense when they ran into a gritty Baltimore Ravens' squad in the AFC title tilt...

...Ridley flinched, ducking his head in anticipation of a Bernard Pollard (who else) hit and getting knocked unconscious and losing the football at a critical juncture - a direct result of a mind set that was focused on finesse and technique rather than punishing the defense.

Before Ridley lost the ball, the Patriots were very much in the game and driving - the rest of the game was a comedy of errors and the horror of being dominated, the result was watching the Ravens celebrate the championship on the Patriots logo, which left a very bad taste in Belichick's mouth.

It doesn't matter how dominating the offense was at points in the regular season, because when it failed at the zenith of the season, it counted for absolutely nothing - and the running game was part of that.

His team needed to develop a tough mentality, to exude a confidence that allows for a back to punish a defender, to deliver the hit and run them over, not flinch and absorb the hit and get jacked up and lose the football - and this offseason, the Patriots are accomplishing just that...

The draft day acquisition of LeGarrette Blount from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should have told New England Patriots fans everything they needed to know about the mind-set of the team going into the 2013 season.

Blount is a throwback to an earlier time, to the days of Cunningham, Johnson and Calhoun - and was brought in to instill that mentality into the running game.  A bigger back with a history of physical confrontation, the bad boy from the University of Oregon carries over that attitude with the ball in his hands, not trying to dodge anyone, rather, to run them over - to deliver the blow, to punish the defender.

The message got through to Ridley, who showed up at OTA's looking like Tony Stark had gotten hold of him, truly sculpted and at least 10 pounds heavier than his 2012 playing weight of 220 pounds - the hope being that the transformation will give Ridley the confidence to that he can deliver the blow and punish the would-be tackler...

...not necessarily just to improve upon last year's 4.2 yards and a cloud of rubber tire pellets, but to punish and dominate defenses while they're at it - to break their will and not give them the chance to hang around or sneak back into games.

There are other options in the backfield with speedy Shane Vereen providing a slashing change up to Ridley's hammering style, while Blount, Brandon Bolden, Leon Washington and even Aaron Hernandez will vie for reps in different situations - but the backfield belongs to Ridley...

...and with the entire offense becoming bigger and faster, can the running game approach the violent intent of that fabled 1976 squad?  Only the performance of the backs and the offensive line will answer that question. 

A fullback-sized Blount is game, as is a chiseled Ridley - can a string of brutalized defenders be far behind?


Friday, June 7, 2013

New England Patriots on Paper: Tape cheetahs to their backs...

Taping Cheetahs to people's backs is a phenominon unheard of mere months ago until a popular communications company suggested in a commercial that the practice could cause old women to go faster - so new and weird and innovative is the idea that some are surprised that New England Patriots' coach Bill Belichick didn't generate the concept.

After all, the Patriots have been without elite speed in their receivers corps since a certain Randy Moss was run out of town, and while last year's tandem of Wes Welker and Brandon Lloyd were reportedly faster than old women, it wasn't by much....

...so...Cheetahs.  Not any laws that I can find in regards to taping cheetahs to people's backs, and nothing in the NFL rules books either, but the idea - while provocative - would have too many drawbacks to have long-term success in the league.

For example, what happens when the beast gets hungry during a game?  Cheetahs have a top speed of 75 miles per hour, and there's lots of big, slow meals walking around on a football field, plus they'd knock over the Gatorade trying to get a drink out of the huge vats to wash down snackage.

And things really start to go south when the tailgaters drive into the parking lot only to see vultures circling the stadium, looking for leftovers...so perhaps it's best to leave the idea of duct taping large wild animals to people to a kids' imagination, where things like these aren't discussed...

...besides, Belichick took care of the speed issue this offseason - at least as far as the needs of his Patriots...

The New England Patriots' receiver's corps are going to look much different in 2013 than it did last season - something that shouldn't be too difficult to accomplish.

Gone is last season's tandem of Welker and Lloyd - a fair duo that got the job done every time - except when it really counted - and in their stead comes an intriguing mix of veterans and young greyhounds that in themselves can cause mismatches in the secondary, but when combined with the power and skill sets of the individual tight ends they form an imposing wall of weapons that the Patriots can bring at you in waves.

The popular view is that former St. Louis Rams' receiver Danny Amendola is a replacement for Welker - a job that actually will fall to rookie Josh Boyce if the speedster comes as advertised - and though the skill sets are similar, Amendola's game is more about suddenness and speed as both a slot presence and also a perimeter threat...and he proved to be the guy that coach Bill Belichick wanted all along, as his signing made Welker's agent's whining about money something that the team didn't have to deal with any longer.

And...aw, man...haters...

...Ever since Spygate every hater in the civilized world, parts of Canada and the IRS views the Patriots are cheaters, and said with a heavy Southie accent...you see where I'm going with this?

We can't use Cheetahs - the haters would have a field day with that play on words, and animal rights activists would be up in arms, not to mention that the Hoveround people would be unhappy as well because Cheetahs are much faster and far more dexterous than their machines...

...and if you think Hoverounds take you where you wanna go, wait until you get a load of of one of those big cats slowly coming out of the tranquilizer fog and realizing that its duct taped to a 300 pound man...

So it's good thing that Belichick went all in with receivers this offseason, both in free agency and through the draft - free agent pickups Donald Jones, Lavelle Hawkins and Mike Jenkins represent an odd lot for sure, as either bust or underachiever tags come with all of them while draft picks Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce couldn't be any more different.

While Jenkins has had some success in his 10 years under the shield, many assumed that his best days were behind him, and those days weren't that much to talk about anyway - so who else would have formed an immediate chemistry with Quarterback Tom Brady?

Jenkins earned the unfortunate nickname of "Molasses Mike" due to lack of track speed - which hardly strikes fear in opposing corners - but at 6' 4", 220 pounds he is an imposing target on the perimeter and is a solid blocker,  and seems to have gained favor with Brady, his veteran attitude and work ethic and pass catching skill attributes that instills confidence with the perennial Pro Bowl quarterback.

Hawkins came into the league as a fourth round pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2008 and has started one game and has all of 71 receptions and one lonely touchdown to his credit in five full years riding the pine in Nashville.  At first many thought the Hawkins signing was deemed as bringing in competition in camp, but a $150,000 signing bonus suggests otherwise - the team expects Hawkins and his 4.49 speed to carve a niche in the offense for himself .

Patriots fans will remember Jones as the poor geek that Vince Wilfork decleated in their drubbing of the Bills in Buffalo last season, becoming the the poster child for the Patriots' intimidating defense in the process.  Like Hawkins, Jones is not terribly tall but is quick and served as a somewhat reliable possession-type receiver for the Bills after signing a rookie free agent contract with them in 2010.

In fact, the Bills organization was so enamoured with Jones that they were hoping that with his speed he would take charge of the #1 receiver slot on their roster, but the emergence of Stevie Johnson and the recurrence of IgA nephropathy, a kidney disease that can lead to total, abrupt kidney failure dropped Jones to the status of afterthought with the Bills, who released him early in the offseason process.

While none of this sounds intimidating, it is true nonetheless that Amendola and Jenkins will enter camp as the starters at wide receiver, the hope being that second round draft pick Aaron Dobson will supplant Jenkins and relegate him to a backup role - Dobson is much faster but both are big bodied pass catchers with incredible hands.

Dobson has had some concentration lapses in OTA's while Jenkins has been Johnny-on-the-spot on the other end of Brady's bullets, so Dobson's progress in camp will be one of the more intriguing story lines...

...as will be the status of roadrunner Josh Boyce.  A legitimate speed merchant that Belichick drafted in the fourth round, Boyce owns just about every receiving record there is at TCU.  A bigger slot receiver, Boyce can earn his money using his initial move off the line of scrimmage to gain a step on the nickle corner and his 4.38 speed to run away from him.

It is possible - in fact probable - that all of the afore mentioned will make the Patriots' 53 man roster, Boyce and occasionally Amendola in the slot, though Amendola will be used primarily as a perimeter threat, greyhounds Jones and Hawkins providing speedy depth and big bodies Jenkins and Dobson hauling in the tough catches outside the numbers.

Though there are numerous story lines involving broken and mending tight ends, the x-factor in the Patriots offense is still Aaron Hernandez - an H-back for all intents and purposes, Hernandez has to be included in the mix at wide receiver and in the slot, essentially giving Brady the most diverse and potentially talented group he's ever had in New England...

...Belichick leaving nothing to chance, bringing in the pieces that are versatile enough to play it anyway he wants it, with the size and skill sets to make an injury or two not so devastating, and when one stops to consider that at some point the Patriots are going to be able to field a lineup including names like Gronkowski, Ballard, Hernandez, Jenkins and Dobson as bigs with Amendola, Boyce and either Jones or Hawkins as the speedsters, it is collectively intimidating.

Not even mentioned is Julien Edelman who started to blossom as a regular contributor last season, but has had a hard time staying on the field and has reportedly had a setback in his recovery from a broken bone in his foot and it is unclear what the expectations are for Edelman in 2013, but at this point he looks like loose baggage or a candidate for the IR or release.

So it looks as if Bill Belichick has been able to avoid the whole Cheetah/Duct Tape deal by bringing in a few greyhounds to stretch the field and abiding by the most fundamental rule in all of offensive football, that being to make the opposing defense defend the entire field...

...and if things go as planned, the opposition will find itself being stampeded by all manner of metaphoric beasts downfield - and we haven't even struck on the fine stable of horses in the backfield...

Next: 4.2 yards and a cloud of rubber tire pellets...

New England Patriots on Paper: Juggernaut derailed or just rescheduled?

If the New England Patriots learned anything from the past two seasons, its that even the best laid, even keeled plans can take a sideways turn into the surreal, even as far as to plunge into the maw of the preposterous at times...

...and so as free agency opened and the draft approached, it became very clear that something extraordinary was going to have to happen - and that something was insurance against the injury bug that destroyed yet another trophy run in 2013, just as it had the year before.

And it's not as if there was a need for superstars or starting quality rookies, rather, prudence dictated that obtaining quality depth at every position was imperative, with a focus on the defensive secondary and the receiving corps - and they got both, in abundance. 

It wasn't a flashy draft and free agency was void of top-shelf headline material, but the Patriots covered their bases like no other team could have and came away with pure magic.

Even so, the Patriots offseason has veered off into a weird H. P. Lovecraft-style tale, complete with freakishly large men having their bodies cut open and repaired under total secrecy while the team as a whole is going through a collective strength and conditioning program and a continued emphasis on getting younger and faster and staying healthy...

...which has been a very real issue as several core members of the team missed significant time last season, most notably the tight ends and in the secondary.  Had quality depth been in place, we may well be talking "repeat" instead of relaying our hopes for getting a reasonable facsimile of a full season out of several key players.

There's no denying that football is a rough sport - as physically taxing and destructive as any on the planet and sometimes surgery is the only way to repair the damage, but what the Patriots tight end position has been through for the past 18 months borders on absurd - and it has been just recently in that span that we've learned of many of how broad the scope really was.

Rob Gronkowski has now had four operations on his right forearm and is scheduled for a procedure on his spine within the next few weeks.  Chances are high that Gronkowski will be a candidate for the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list to start the season, becoming eligible to be activated to the roster after six weeks of the season has passed.

Aaron Hernandez had some scope work done on his shoulder and new kid Jake Ballard is coming off microfracture surgery that cost him all of the 2012 season - none of this the kind of news that gives one any sense of optimism going forward...

...and the psychological issue for these players shouldn't be discounted either as there's a certain amount of anxiety that comes with returning to the field after a major injury.  We saw it with Hernandez short-arming balls and favoring his rolled up ankle after he spent three weeks on the skids, also with defensive end Chandler Jones, who clearly did not display the same burst when he returned from his own ankle issues.

But there's not a better example of the effect that a physical injury has on the brain that when the team opted to bring Gronkowski back too early.  When Belichick saw Gronk trying to block as an in line end, that should have been the end for him until the AFC title game - at the earliest.

Giving full effort, the mammoth tight end was reduced to delivering the equivalent of a stiff arm to the defensive end, while holding his broken right arm out and away from his body like a bird would a broken wing...

...sheer brute strength and iron will in play more than technique, unable to protect himself as a blocker without causing further damage to his broken wing - a willing receiver, but the injury forced him into a vulnerability that was a danger to his welfare and he should have been shut down right then, at least until the Super Bowl

Hindsight being what it is, it's easy to sit back and spout off about that now, but the fact is that there were many who felt that way back then - and these are the same people who believe that the Patriots have missed out on at least one more trophy in-part because the athletically gifted tank of a tight end, the very one who creates matchup issues just by stepping onto the field, the one who opens up the field for others and gives Tom Brady a reliable safety valve - was broken and unable to contribute.

Truth.

It's scary to think that the Patriots' offensive philosophy for the past three years in large part took it's parameters from the mismatches that Gronkowski and fellow freakish tight end Hernandez created in theory - a powerful thing to witness, yet we've seen it so seldom the past 18 months that it doesn't even rate a ripple on the NFL seismograph any longer.

Everything on the offense suffered due to their injuries last season, and only the determination of the running game and inspired efforts from Tom Brady and Wes Welker and the stylings of one of the best offensive lines in football had them in the AFC Title game...

...but the wheels fell off as Gronkowski had previously been lost for the season and Aqib Talib came up lame in the first quarter against the Ravens - the result of both injuries were as predictable as the Patriots became because of them, and Baltimore was able to focus on pushing New England's offensive and defensive lines around without having to worry about Gronk trampling them and Talib blanketing them.

Ah, but the secondary is a story all unto itself, and we'll get to that soon enough - right now the focus needs to be on the receiving corps - which has gotten bigger by leaps and bounds, faster and younger by design - a design that has put an emphasis on size to try and protect their oft-injured stars by making the opposing defense defend the entire field.

And that is the point, making the defense defend the entire field.  The Patriots have not been doing this, instead relying on diminutive slot receivers and Brady's arm to move the sticks while leaving their two best weapons, Gronk and Hernandez, on individual islands with zero protection - and when one of them gets hurt, which was inevitable given the protracted number of reps, we get the heartbreak of 2012.  And 2011.

If the Patriots are to have a chance at their 4th Lombardi Trophy, things had to change - and they have, at least on paper - not in the ranks of the tight ends where depth is still an issue, but in the outside targets that in theory will eliminate some of the hazards that have felled the tight ends in recent years...

...the outside speed means that safeties have to cover their deep zones, preventing them from sneaking up in the box to chop their legs and forces the overall defensive scheme of their opponents to go small - in effect, nickle and diming them - and when that happens, we get to see things like running backs sprinting trough gaping holes and the tight ends wide open down the slot.

But chances are that we will not see the athleticism of the tight ends in full effect until after Halloween, what with Gronkowski in Frankenstein mode, but the duo of Hernandez, Ballard, Michael Hoomanawanui and either Daniels Fells or undrafted free agent Zach Sudfeld filling the bill while Gronkowski gets in game shape on the PUP...

...and that should be enough, delaying the juggernaut without midseason injuries cancelling it all together - particularly with the massive upgrade at the receiver positions, which is where we focus next...

Tomorrow: Tape a cheetah to their backs...

New England Patriots on Paper: Sudfeld has big opportunity

Saturday, June 1, 2013

New England Patriots on Paper: Gronk options

The amount of time that New England Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski needs to recover from his twice broken left forearm and housekeeping procedure on his spine will dictate which list the team decides to place him on, if any at all...

...which makes this as good a time as any to review the practice of list designations within the scope of the National Football League, and since the rules regarding the Injured Reserved List have been altered as of last season, it makes the options available to the Patriots a bit more plentiful.

Of course, in the case of Gronkowski the team may not designate him at all, and that thought has merit as well as it gives the team the most flexability in regard to roster availability and there are so many variables in place right now - particularly since he hasn't even had the procedure on his spine - that it makes sense to explore all possibilities:

Option 1 - Act like nothing happened:

Pros: Maximum roster flexibility.  Cons: Limited regular season options in the event of a setback.

If the prognosis is as optimistic as Gronkowski's agent makes it sound, the team may elect to keep Gronkowski on the 90 man roster through training camp in hopes that his rehabilitation goes according to the itinerary, which puts his availability for participation in the preseason for mid-August - keeping in mind that Gronkowski will have a lot of work to do to get into playing shape.

The conditioning issue is causing some to question the timing of the back procedure and lean toward postponing the surgery - and there is merit to their argument.  As things stand at the moment, Gronkowski can participate in some conditioning, though limited - but as the forearm heals, his activity can increase exponentially in a closely supervised some regimen...

...but the back surgery would make that impossible.  The only reason that this option has popped up is that Drew Rosenhaus, Gronk's agent, called it a minor procedure that was being performed in an attempt to "Kill two birds with one stone", leading many to believe that the back issue could be managed until next offseason, when he could have the procedure right after the season and be healed and ready for training camp.

Regardless, if the Patriots choose this option and Gronkowski practices, they lose the ability to use the PUP list designation, which gives them the maximum flexability in regards to managing the injury and the roster should the surgery proceed.

A player who, as a result of football-related injuries, is unable to take part in training camp practices may be assigned to the preseason PUP list. Players can be moved off the PUP list to the active roster at any time, even after one practice. A player cannot be placed on the PUP list, however, once he has taken the field for a practice, even if only for a few minutes.

A player who finishes the preseason still on the PUP list can then be placed on the regular-season PUP list. Such players must sit out the first six games their team plays. At that point, teams have a three-week window in which to allow the player to begin practicing; from the day the player begins practicing, teams have an additional three-week window in which to decide whether to activate the player to the 53-man roster. If either of those deadlines pass, the player must remain on the PUP list for the remainder of the season.[1]

A team may place a player on injured reserve (reserve/injured list) who is "not immediately available for participation with a club". Generally, these players may not practice or return to the Active List for the rest of the season (including postseason games) that they are placed on injured reserve, but are allowed to be with the team.[2]

Starting in 2012, the NFL and the NFLPA reached an agreement allowing one player placed on injured reserve to be brought back to the active roster.[3] Provided the provisions that the player was on the final 53-man preseason roster (A rule exempted for the 2012 season), and that the injury is deemed to keep this player unable to practice or play football for an estimated six weeks, the player may be allowed to practice after Week 6, and be activated to play after Week 8.[4]
Teams may also place a player on injured reserve with a minor injury designation, but the team must release the player once he is healthy.[5]