Patriots Part Ways With Cam Newton Starting The Mac Jones Era For Now.

In a shocking move, the New England Patriots cut 2015 league MVP Cam Newton. Newton started  15 games for the Patriots in 2020, ending with a 7-8 record. Newton was also pulled several times in 2020, mainly due to pour play.

In 2020, Cam Newton showed off that he was still a dangerous runner. Newton rushed the ball 137 times for 592 yards and 12 touchdowns. If Cam was a running back, it would be good enough to say he should still be around but Newton is a quarterback and his job is to throw the ball.

As a passer, Newton threw 368 times for 2657 yards with 8 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Newton was also sacked 31 times and according to pro football sports reference, Newton also fumbled the ball 6 times.

Here are some reasons Newton's job was on the line besides Mac Jones. According to player profiler Newton was ranked 19th in danger plays, 17th in interceptable throws. His pass catchers were ranked 13rd in the league in separation which was listed at 3rd few months ago. Het he was ranked 24th in true completions, throwing an incompletion 28.82% of his throws.

Newton was 28th in play action completion, 28th in redstone completion, 34th in pressured completion, 18th in clean pocket completion throwing 25.81% incomplete. Probably his worst ranking was his 37th rank in catchable passes. Throwing an uncatchable pass 26.89 percent of his throws. Accuracy is a trait the Patriots prize and Newton wasn't even on the same page as the rest of the league's starters in terms of accuracy.

Add to that in camp that while Newton was showing improvement in some areas, he was still looking like last year's version in many others and wasn't looking like the clear cut starter. While his rookie competition made it look like they were equals. And then the last week where Cam was out and Jones got to play against the Giants starters in practice. Some will say but the Patriots didn't let Newton run. The Patriots didn't care this preseason if Newton could run. The cared if he could pass better than Jones. He was not better than Jones as a passer. 

With Newton not being vaccinated this past week showed the Patriots just how much of a liability that he could be. That may have had something to do with it.. They lost Newton for a game in 2020 due to covid. The league was too worried about ratings or it would've been two.

A good portion of the fanbase thought that Cam would lose the job during the season. While several writers said it was just hindering production of the team to start Cam if the Patriots already felt that way. While the move made sense and there was evidence that Cam would be replaced in the end, we're all still in shock but until we hear otherwise this is classic Bill Belichick.

There is speculation of why Newton got cut. One theory is because the 49ers will be cutting Jimmy Garoppolo and that the Patriots feel he's a better fit to be a bridge. Personally I wonder If this was a Kraft decision. Everything is speculation until the Patriots say otherwise, or until a book is written.

Patriots Training Camp From Monday to Thursday

It's been a few days since I wrote, life got hectic and this started feeling like work, so I took a few days off. It's all good thought, I got the entire joint practice thoughts coming for you, as well as my final overall thoughts on camp. So let's get into this.

Monday 23

Reported Cam Newton placed on 5 day covid protocol list for failure to understand protocols regarding testing. It was reported that 5 days would be Thursday if he had two negative tests in that span. Did he get put on the list Sunday or is he being let off early for good behavior? Vaccinated players aren't affected by this rule.

Would think that a guy who had the virus would be up to date on league policy with clear understanding but he opens the door for the team to develop Jones more.

Mac Jones went 17 of 36 and would've had a multi sack day. The story of the quarterback competition for both quarterbacks, the incompletions weren't all on Mac. After a slow adjustment period against the number ones. Jones made solid throws and put the ball in safe spots. Jones also reportedly ran a good two minute drill.

Gilmore was reportedly listed as day to day. I've stood by this since the end of the season when all the trade talk was happening. The Patriots need him. So what does day to day mean. Is it in terms of health or contract?

The Front seven reportedly had a good day, which is double edged because it means they're beating our offensive line. During practice you want a stalemate between the two. 

Gunner had a good day beating JC Jackson on one play. Gunner appears to have better connection with Mac throughout camp then with Cam and it showed again today. He's showing he belongs on the depth chart as a wideout.

Bourne made a nice one handed catch and caught two more. Agholor caught four passes.

Although he got be by Gunner Olszewski, JC Jackson reportedly had a good day. 

Yodney Cajuste had a solid day. 

Nick Folk returned, went 3 of 5. Reportedly didn't look good. 

Jake Bailey had another good day, kicking boomers.

Tuesday 24 

Belichick admitted that Newton not practicing hurts him. Belichick basically said everything round Newton depends on Thursday. However for the second straight day it meant Mac Jones can get extra development in. 

Mac Jones reportedly looked better than he did the previous day. Miscommunication with Gunner lead to interception to D-Mac. He had thirty plus throws. Jones should good ability again to read a defense and to know what was going on. His decision making and ball placement skills were on display. Zack Cox at said Jones  was "26 of 30" for a brief time.

Mac had two good touchdown scoring two minute drives, showing he can lead the Patriots in clutch situations.  Although he had a good day, he did nothing to show that he should start week one. 

Meyers had another good day, moving towards the number one role. And showed why he should be a Z receiver. 

It was clear that of the receivers, Harry is the only big bodied wide receiver jump ball guy and was sorely missed. Henry and Smith are tight ends, before someone asks about them.

JC Jackson made two good plays for an Interceptions and was all over. Jackson is good but what level he's at is questionable. He'd be better with Gilmore on the field.

Yodney Cajuste had a good day. 

Quinn Nordin went 3 of 5 kicking between the  narrow goal posts. Ryan Hannable implied the he would've been better with normal posts.

Stevenson, Taylor, and Dugger returned kickoffs.

Patriots cuts Devin Ross, Malik Gant, R.J. Prince, Cassh Maluia and Brian Khoury. 

Marcus Martin placed on injured reserve.

Patriots claimed developmental tight end Warring off waivers.

Wednesday 25

Sony Michel was traded for a 2022 6th and a 2023 4th round pick. Michel wasn't worth a 1st but I though he was worth a third. Question for me is , is a 4th and 6th equal to a third? This also says to me that JJ Taylor is now in a good position to beat out either James White or Brandon Bolden, if not both. 

Mac Jones went 21 of 26 in 11 in 11s. And 35 of 40 for the day.  At one point it was reported he "completed 18 passes in a row". That includes against the starters. He shined with presnap reads, adjustments, quick game, and ball placement. Jones looked like the franchise quarterback. Reportedly even more so than Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. Had at least three good throws. 

Was another good day of chemistry building between Jones and the pass catchers, as he killed the Giants with paper cuts. Even though Jones had a good day, he still hasn't taken the job yet. Jones has also apparently done enough to comfortably say he has mastered the Patriots no huddle offense.

The Patriots remaining backs look complete to an extent. They can catch at different levels, they can run and they showed they can help in pass protection. Stevenson had a good day in that area.

Is the Patriots defense really that good or was Daniel Jones that bad. JoeJaun Williams looked like a number two outside fill in on the day. It's good he can step up but that's not his role and he will get beat.

Yodney Cajuste stepped and played well when Wynn went out at left tackle.

Gunner is showing the ability to get separation and the ability to run option routes. He continues to develop into a depth receiver. 

Meyers continued. to look like a number one beating Jonathan Jones. He caught all four targets in 11 on 11s. Overall Meyers and Bourne Caught 12 of 13 passes from on the day.

Wilkerson caught all five of his targets on the day.

JJ Taylor caught 8 passes on the day.

Christian Barmore had a good day as a passer and looks more like Seymour as camp progresses. Definently going to provide the pass rush the team needs. 

Jake Bailey continues to kick boomers.

Nick Folk went 3 for 3 on the day.

Jakob Johnson ran routes and wants the Patriots to use his versatility.

Thursday 26

Newton came back and completed 6 of the 10 passes he threw. Although he did have one pass that would've been intercepted in a game. He looked reportedly looked good and again ran with the starters.

Mac Jones went 11 of 23 on the day extended by 4 or 5 drops, one a clear touchdown to Olszewski. He hit a perfect NFL throw in the end zone to Bourne. Jones threw a pick and although he admitted he needs to make better decisions but with his level of awareness he's shown, he had to of seen the offsides before making the throw. The Giants fooled Mac and gave a clear reason to why he should continue to sit. He needs to learn a few more NFL defensive schemes and concepts.

Nordin got the chance to kick and had no issues making the one kick but only one kick?!?

Agholor caught only one pass on the day.

Josh Uche was reportedly the best defensive player of the day. 

Final thoughts on camp and the team. The Patriots are a power run / play-action team that is going to rely on the defense to win games. How heavy the run game is will depend on who's under center. The team has holes still that seemingly can only be addressed via development unless the team can get lucky with snatching a cut player.

Cam Newton looks improved from last year but he is still making the same mistakes as last year. He throws to the area his guys are in on a consistent basis but places the ball in the right place inconsistently. He did not lose the job due to missed time from covid protocol. That might not be the case during the season as Mac Jones looks ready to start, and seems to have got his emotions under control.

Mac Jones still has some learning to do but he looks like a starter at the moment. My concern which hopefully he's fixed is controlling his emotions when things go wrong. The passing game looks better with him and the pass catchers appear to get better productivity.

The quarterback competition actually starts week one, and it's Cam versus Cam and not Cam versus Mac. They are not keeping Jones on the bench due to him only playing 13 games in college because even if he only starts a handful of games this year, he will have to eventually play 17 games, so that's just prolonging his getting used to that length of schedule.

The only way Mac starts at the moment is if Cam beats himself and that includes by not getting vaccinated and not being able to play the way he wasn't able to practice the past few days or like week four last season where he was out two weeks. Although the NFL basically made the Patriots wait for Cam to get healthy before they could play, denying Stidham the chance to start due to ratings and not really player safety.

The NFL is having a small covid outbreak and NFL rules make players who choose to opt out of the virus a liability, players like Cam Newton. Alex Barth of 98.5 the sports hub said, "2.2% of untaxed players have covid at the noment." He also said there are like "200 unvaccinated players," and that "Cam Newton is 7 times more likely to catch covid" than a vaccinated teammate.

The running backs look set to play by committee. They all can run, catch, and block. Which makes the Patriots decision hard. Add to that Bolden, Taylor, and Stevenson been getting special teams looks. The Patriots will lose Taylor, White, or Bolden if they cut them.

Gunner Olszewski has made his drops but looks to have solidified his spot as the number four receiver on the roster. Looking at the Ability of him and Meyers, as he develops he will eventually take over the slot even if it's not this year and Jakobi Meyers will then be the team's true flanker (Steve Largent ) Z-receiver but should currently be their number one receiver altogether.

What's up with Agholor, he started camp well but has been slowly fizzling before out eyes like Mo-Harris. Meyers and Smith have been solid in camp, Gunner, Bourne, and Wilkerson have been alright but nothing too special, Henry's been hurt, Harry's been inconsistent and I already said my piece on Agholor. It's a good thing the Patriots offense utilizes the backs in the passing game because although the pass catchers have improved, they might not be as improved as fans want. The 2021 issue is going to be drops.

Depending on the roster build, the Patriots may have a tough decision between Wilkerson and Harry.  Wilkerson has chemistry with Jones but Harry is the only big guy with experience outside.

The Patriots need to make sure they have depth at offensive line. It might be just their defense but there is reason to be considered at depth levels. Interior offensive lineman and UDFA Taaga Tuulima is still available and would provide good depth.

They should also make sure they have depth at tight end. I honestly think the Patriots should only keep four receivers and put Wilkerson on the practice squad, along with Nixon and Zuber.

The front seven looks versatile and should create havoc. Whether it's Richard Seymour version 2.0, Christian Barmore, Vince Wolfork light Devin Godchaux, or the freak Matthew Judon the Patriots front seven are ready. Add in Hightower and and the retering guys and the Patriots have a multiple front in their front seven. Consistency is all the defense has to string together.

The Secondary needs not only Gilmore back but it needs to develop or sign a number two caliber outside man to man guy in case things go wrong. JC Jackson is only one man and without Gilly, the otherside of the field is a liability. JoeJaun Williams looks like he belongs but he's a number three corner. The Patriots have a bunch of middle field guys and just acquired another one in ware. At the moment it looks like the Patriots secondary is built more for a 3-2-6 than a big nickle. An interesting concept by the Belichicks and Mayo.

Nordin has been inconsistent. Folk is day to day due to his back. He went 3 for 3 on monday but later went 3 of 5. Nordin has to take advantage of any opportunity he gets. I'm gonna point out that free agent Jonathan Song is still available for a workout. The Patriots need to have an option in case Nordin chokes and Folk can't go.

The special teams should be good this year as long as they can find a clear return specialist on kickoffs. Some of the special teams guys are getting old and the Patriots need to develop new guys on the depth chart into special teams players. Jake Bailey should have another all pro year.

Patriots Blowout Eagles 35 - 0, Who's Having Fun Now?

The running back and check down king Cam Newton would lead the New England Patriots against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philly. After the meh performance from week one's victory, how would the Patriots look in their second preseason game and would those nicknames come back to bite the Eagles?

Keep in mind about this performance is the Eagles played mostly number twos against Cam Newton. He played against the guys Mac Jones should've been playing against. Cam went 8 of 9. Newton moved around and reportedly showed good overall command. He had a good pass to Jakobi Meyers for 28 touchdown but he also had a pass thrown high that was saved by James White. He had good pocket presence and stayed in the pocket today. It's probably gotten in Newton's ear that he needs to improve as a pocket passer if he wants to fend off the rookie this season. Consistency from Newton is needed, as a few reporters stated that Newton bounces in camp back and forth between the guy we saw tonight and 2020 Cam Newton. 

Mac Jones also looked good and continues to show poise. He had options when he dropped back to pass and there was at least one play where he could've gone to the outside guy but chose a higher percentage throw over the middle. Jones's best throw was a deep ball to Harry that landed incomplete. Asiasi also dropped a would be touchdown pass. Jones finished 13 of 19 (3 drops, 1 spike) but should've finished 16 of 19 with 2 touchdowns and a spike. After two games, Jones has showed he has almost mastered the Patriots two minute offense and can lead them down field if need be. Jones threw with velocity which is good because some have said his fast ball is too slow for the NFL. And as for those who are saying Jones's foot speed is "too slow for the nfl," stop hating! The two big questions are, what's up with the brace. His slide was awkward and some said he got up favoring that leg. And did he play well enough against what he was going against with the talent he had to work with? It's the same question one has to ask about Cam.

J.J. Taylor had a good night, just under 100 yards on the ground and another 18 via the air, catching all 3 targets. It may be a bit lofty but Taylor reminded me of a second rate Barry Sanders tonight. Taylor also averaged 11.3 yards on punt returns. I'll say it again, Taylor may push White off the roster and is his play enough to help push Bolden off as well?

Sony Michel while it wasn't the greatest night statistically, he showed he was an all around back finally. Catching all 4 targets. Michel's performance adds to what I said about Taylor, and the two of them are going to leave Belichick with a hard decision.

Jakobi Meyers went 3 catches for 56 yards and a touchdown. Meyers was targeted 3 times. Whether or not he's the number one, he's definitely not lower than the number two on the depth chart.

Gunner Olszewski was targeted 4 times catching all 4 for 57 yards but he averaged a measly 7 yards on two punt returns. After watching the past two games, Gunner should have the number four depth chart spot locked up.

Kendrick Wilkerson caught all 3 targets for 36 yards. Wilkerson is looking like one of the quarterbacks favorites and should he a lock for the Patriots fifth spot if they keep five guys, especially with the Harry injury.,

Harvey Langi had a good night with an interception and sack. He almost had a second interception as well.

Matthew Judon continues to be the defensive star for the Patriots. And appears to be the best signing at the moment for the Patriots this offseason.

Chase Winovich finished with a solid night that included two sacks and a forced fumble.

Jawhaun Bentley had a good night recording 6 tackles on the day. Bentley has been forgot about this offseason which could allow for him to have a good season.

Cassh Maluia had for tackles and a sack.

JoeJaun Williams had the daunting task of covering Devonta Smith and should of been out matched but he did a good job of holding his own against the Eaglea receiver. With Mills struggling last week, this was a much needed showing from Williams. This was a huge game for the former second round pick.

Rookie running back Stevenson may have had two touchdowns on 1 yard runs but for Belichick, ball security is everything and negates the two scores, I can almost guarantee it.

Damien Harris ran it 6 times for 14 yards and a touchdown. Harris was nothing special. His long run was a 5 yarder. He averaged 2.3 yards per carry and looked like the number four back behind former first rounder Sony Michel, J.J. Taylor,.and Stevenson. It's a good thing the Patriots run by committee. 

Quinn Nordin had a rough night. He went 1 for 2 on field goals and 2 for 4 on extra points. The best thing that can happen for the rookie kicker is for Folk to miss the final preseason game. Not yet personally worried about Nordin yet.

Conversions: The Patriots went 5 of 9 on third down. It's decent, not great but still an improvement. That's something good to see them over 50%.

Penalties: The Patriots had 9 penalties last week, another 8 this week for 74 yards. 3 were for first downs. Even if it's backups, it's unacceptable.

The Eagles struggled to move the ball through the air against the Patriots. I would say the Patriots defense had a good night but we know there's concern in the depth area for the Patriots on defense, so instead I ask is the Eagles passing game really that bad? Jalen Hurts didn't play, so even though the depth played good only allowing 2.6 yards per pass, They weren't playing the Eagles starter. Joe Flacco is the MVP he once was and he is the perfect example as to why Newton fans should no longer use the MVP as a defense.

Targets People are making a big deal out of pass catchers not getting targets but there were several plays where the quarterbacks had their choice of targets and only had one ball to go around. Don't make too big deal out of this, even if Agholor is making more than Wilkerson, Meyers, and Olszewski.

N'keal Harry got hurt on the deep ball at the end of the first half. People were blaming Harry for not protecting himself as he was landing. Ryan Spagnoli tweeted the play at 902pm, give it a second watch. After watching the play a second and third time, Harry didn't brace for the fall because he was still trying to make the catch at the point he hit the ground. If Harry had caught the ball he'd be met with sympathy instead of frustration over his injury. Harry felt he needed to dive to make the catch, did he or does he not trust his wing span to reach out and make the catch? Harry left Philadelphia with his arm in a sling with speculation of a possible separated shoulder.

Josh Uche was also injured during the game, no word on the seriousness of his injury at the time of writing this article.

The Patriots will take the weekend off. They have to cut five players on the 24th and Then play the Giants on the 29th before cutting down to 53 on the 31st. Place your best now on who's getting cut on Tuesday. 

Who's ready for the season to begin? The NFL should really just convert the preseason to the regular season with an initial 90 man roster and rules on how long starters can play the first month of games before having a cut down. Imagining how much more exciting the games would be if preseason stats and backups actually mattered.

Patriots have decisions to make with the roster moves.

The general consensus is that the New England Patriots offense is going to run through the tight ends and running game. That's been the consensus since both Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith were signed back in the spring. Yet people are talking about keeping a plethora of receivers, while getting going thin at the other two positions. 

Before Dalton Keene got injured I had the thought of the Patriots going heavy at both Running back and tight end, while only carrying four receivers plus Matthew Slater, while loading the practice squad with extra receivers. My thoughts were to try to prevent the situation they're in now. 

Although the Patriots have Jacob Johnson who played tight end for the Stuttgart Scorpions in 2018 and put up decent numbers, Devin Asiasi is viewed as the only true tight end. How is the offense supposed to flow through the tight ends versus Philadelphia when they only have one healthy but they have like four or five extra receivers? The Answer is, it cannot regardless of how well Asiasi plays versus Philly, unless Johnson is going to.be truly used as a tight end. And then it's still unlikely.

Smith and Henry are said to likely be healthy come week one but what happens if they both go down again during the season, will the Patriots find themselves in the same situation?

Before Dalton Keene got placed on injured reserve, I posed the roster question to Evan Lazar and Alex Barth. Lazar said he also thought about it. And said, "it all comes down to the development of Gunner Olszewski. If he can show he's capable of being the number four receiver, then it makes sense, if not then the Patriots have to carry at least a fifth receiver." Barth really didn't say much if anything.

The reviews on Olszewski have been mixed. Some have said he looks like he's developing, even though he didn't get many targets against Washington. Others have said he's a bum and sight the failed catch on the overthrow versus the WFT as an example.

I've said several times that if the offense gets away from the running game, tight ends, and play action and has to rely on the receivers that the team is screwed. Especially with Cam Newton being the quarterback. To expect another middle of the pack season.

Let's be real, in a run heavy offense or power run, Newton is a threat with his legs and just good enough with his arm to lead the team. If the team has to switch to a more pass centric offense, Newton becomes a liability. And while Mac Jones is a superior passer than Newton, he's still not ready. The Patriots can start him but there's going to be growing pains and there's no way to guarantee he'll improve or them like Bledsoe did after his rookie season.

At the end of the day, it makes sense to do one of two things, if you're the New England Patriots. Go heavy at the other two positions or adjust the offense now to be more receiver friendly. Meaning less multiple tight end sets and more three receiver sets. It may even require more shotgun and pistol formations. Basically become a hybrid of the 2020 Patriots and the Auburn style passing offense. That's not something I wanna see and I doubt it's something majority of those who watched the Patriots offense over the last twenty plus years want to see.

The Patriots have to decide what style of offense they wanna be going into the season and build the initial team towards that. Everyone is hyped about how Newton will do with the new tight ends but if they're down and the cupboard is bare, does anyone trust him to find success with the receivers? If they do, they're in the minority. The clock is ticking ever so closer to opening day. Sometimes it gets hard to say but in Bill We Trust.

Patriots Eagles Practice Day Two, Are The Patriots Worse Than Pats' Media Says?

What happens when Bill Belichick leaves clips for Mac Jones and Cam Newton that says "Jalen Hurts is the better quarterback of the three"? The Answer is they put on a clinic together going 26 of 29 against an Eagles defense, making sure the offense finds it's way to put points on the board multiple times. Jalen Hurts would put on another strong performance however.

So how did the Patriots quarterbacks do? 

Andrew Callahan tweeted, "Newton 13/15, Jones 13/14, INT. - Both QBs threw just 2 passes in 11-on-11s, the rest were red zone 7-on-7s." 

Good or bad, it was a lot of smart paper cuts. If you like that sort of offense, then today was the camp for you. If you like the more reckless abandonment gun slinger style, than today would've bored you. 

Future Franchise Guy Mac Jones:

Mac started good going through his progressions. Shortly after, he tried to force the ball to Asiasi for an interception. It's a learning experience for Jones but a mistake nonetheless. Jones would go seven of eight during this periord. 

Zack Cox would write, "was flawless from there on out, closing 7s with 10 consecutive completions and going 3-for-3 in 11-on-11s."

Phil Perry would write, "Mac Jones hit Devin Asiasi for a score, handed to Brandon Bolden on a jet sweep score, and handed to James White for a score."

Jones ended things on a good note and celebrated with his teammates after the play according to Mike Reiss.

Mike Reiss tweeted, "Mac Jones’ TD pass to TE Devin Asiasi in his final red-zone drill, on play-action, had him fired up. Jones pumped his fist, pointed to Cam Newton, and the two leaped into the air in celebration." 

Jones took a handful of snaps behind presumed starters as well. Jones may have held the ball too long a couple of times but continues to show good pocket presence and movement.

Jones forced a pass to Asiasi. People got on Jones for making that throw. Jones has to learn what's open and what's not. N'keal Harry is a fifty-fifty ball receiver. Jones needs to learn in the NFL when to make throws into coverage. Otherwise the Patriots could go and get an elite fifty-fifty guy and Jones may be too scared of a turnover to throw to them. The good thing is Jones appears to be learning from his mistakes.

Starter Cam Newton:

Newton started good but there were some areas for concern that stats don't tell. Some of the media was kind enough to let fans know.

Andrew Callahan tweeted, "Callahan initial team drills - Newton 8/8, Newton had 1 poor rep. An Eagles DL reached him for a would-be sack, then his pass hit a linebacker's hands, bounced to Kendrick Bourne."

Callahan was backed up by Bernd Buchmasser who wrote  "he did get lucky on one pass that ended up in Kendrick Bourne’s hands rather than that of an Eagles linebacker."

Newton was near perfect with the starters, his only incompletion was a drop by Wilkerson. Newton even found the end zone on a run. Newton had a solid day overall as stated by Zack Cox.

Zack Cox wrote, "Cam Newton went 11-of-12 in 7-on-7s, opening with 11 straight completions before a Kristian Wilkerson drop in the end zone. He was 2-of-3 across a few brief 11-on-11 periods, completing a short pass to Kendrick Bourne that was nearly intercepted and a screen to Sony Michel. Newton’s lone incompletion was batted down by a linebacker."

World nation news desk wrote of their player of the day Cam Newton, "Two dropbacks, it looked like Newton was tracking for more trouble. Entering Tuesday, he threw an interception in three straight competitive practices, and three potential picks were dropped by Eagles defenders the day before. His second throw hit linebacker Eric Wilson Squire on Tuesday, then took a lucky bounce off Kendrick Bourne.

This was the last chance the Eagles’ defense had against him."

Things weren't all great for Cam, as Newton held the ball too long again. He had Agholor open but by the time he threw the ball, the defender was able to make the play. If the Patriots are hoping to have Newton run an offense based on timing and anticipation throws, they're screwed but it doesn't make sense to install Newton's offense just to change it later this season or next offseason.

Newton also would've had a few sacks on the day. Newton had a lot of completions but it seemed to a few like he was scared to test the Eagles secondary and even got the nickname 'the check down king.' The good thing is Newton took what was given. Later, the Eagles started calling Cam a running back as an insult.

Offensive line

Onwenu and Brown  showed solid performance but the problem thus far has been with depth guys.

Kicker competion:  Nordin made 3 of 4 attempts with a long of 44. His competition Nick Folk is still barely an after thought.

Pass Catcher shine. Meyers, Harry and Asiasi had good days as pass catchers. although Asiasi had a drop. 

Speaking of drops, The Patriots receivers had decent one on one drills but Agholor continued his case of the drops. The guy is making a lot of money to be looking like Mo-Harris. 

Wilkerson had another drop and some have said it's reason to cut him. Drops have been something to plague all the Patriots pass catchers this offseason, so how much different is a drop today from Wilkerson and a drop earlier in the day from Agholor? I mean other than Agholor's drops come with a bigger salary.  Singling out one player while not acknowledging another players flaws seems to have become the new 'Patriots Way.'

Tight Ends: Jakob Johnson and Justin Herron worked as tight end. The Patriots are getting created at tight end. Although he lost weight to get faster, Ray Rauth of News Break suggested "Harry convert to tight end, with the depletion of the core."

Gunner Olszewski showed off receiving and blocking skills as he makes a push for the number four spot on the depth chart and is sounding more and more like Welker and Edelman who came before him.

Mike Kaye of NJ.com wrote, "Patriots WR Gunner Olszewski is a fun player to watch. Nearly every pass thrown to him leads to some sort of drama. Olszewski is very comfortable diving and sacrificing his body for a completion. He’d be a fixture of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” if the Patriots were the subject."

Kickoff return: Bolden, Taylor, and Dugger fought for the kickoff return position. No clear winner reported

Cuts: Fumagalli was cut to get down to 85.

Final thoughts, Phil Perry and I believe Evan Lazar have talked about how people score practices differently. Here's a scoring from the World Nation News Desk.

WNND wrote, "Note: The passing statistics below were only tallied during the competitive 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods. Full training camp statistics are in parentheses.

Cam Newton: 13/15 (108/168, 8 INT, 6 drops)

Mac Jones: 13/14, INT (125/190, 4 INTs, 12 drops)"

These stats continue to show what we already know, the offense is more balanced under Jones, Newton is a bigger turnover liability under center, and the team has a drop problem. We know the Patriots aren't perfect but are they worse than we want to believe?

The two days of joint practice did not seem to impress the Eagles media and one member of the Philadelphia media writer Jimmy Kempski said the Patriots fans should be worried. Kempski doesn't trash the Patriots in his assessment of day two, so his overview of the Patriots was interesting.

Kempski wrote, "Over the last two days of practice, I have not been impressed at all by the Patriots' play. Their roster is pretty weak, with some major question marks at quarterback, in my opinion, and they might struggle this season."

Elliot Shor-parks tweeted, "The Pats ran 14 straight plays inside the 20 without scoring vs the #Eagles"

As far as weak roster, there are players out with injury but honestly how does the depth really look? How does the roster really look overall? Intelligence and ability can trump ability but but players still have to execute.

Now there is no love loss between the Eagles and the Patriots, so this could be just Eagles media sticking it to the Patriots but since it's not the Patriots homers, it's not a favorable biased opinion on the Patriots from Patriots media. We should take what the Eagles media saw with some value and reasses what we've seen thus far.

Are the Patriots worse off then we initially thought? Only time will tell. If we go by how the Patriots were viewed prior to the Raiders game of week three, then yes because last year the team was viewed with rose colored glasses and reality slapped us in the face. Are we making the same mistake heading in to 2021?

Patriots And Eagles Practice Day One.

The Patriots had a joint practice with the Eagles in Philadelphia on Monday. There were questions as to how the Patriots would look against another team in practice. Reports from the day were the Patriots lost on all three phases to the Eagles. As far as the quarterbacks go, they still faced a decent defense and dealt with drops. With Andrew Callahan reporting Newton had "six" and Jones had "ten." There was no word on Nordin, who is the other big story.

Phil Perry wrote that Cam was the starter. You can go read his article to find out the reason but between the two quarterbacks on Monday, he declared Jones the victor of the day. 

Here's what Perry said, "Where Jones won the day was that while his relatively inaccurate throws were sometimes still caught, and sometimes for explosive gains, Newton's often seemed to find the mitts of opposing defenders."

This has been a consistent theme going back to OTAs, Jones wins the day but Newton doesn't do enough to lose the job. Even though Jones had his two meltdowns, he's showing more and more leadership. How many days does he have to win before Newton's week one start gets called into question? That's the million dollar question. As most everyone is positive that he will start at some point this season based on both quarterbacks. With that here's Monday's overview.

Cam Newton

If I had to give four words for what I read on Cam's performance on Monday, it would be: drops, inconsistency, inaccuracy, unreliablity. Some will say I'm being too hard. Newton is the starter, and yes I hear the excuse "he's a former MVP" but so was Joe Flacco. And I don't hear calls for Flacco to start for the Patriots. Newton was a former MVP six years ago. A lot has changed since then, mainly he's aged and his body has taken more abuse.

The offensive line has been inconsistent with pass blocking. And Newton continues to hold the ball too long and be oblivious to his guys getting beat. This has been happening since minicamp and it leads to the fact that Thursday wasn't just about Young beating Wynn. It's about Newton's pocket presence being suspect.

Mike Kaye of NJ.com Wrote about Newton, "Newton, when he wasn’t targeting WR Nelson Agholor (more on him later) or N’Keal Harry (also, more on him later), seemed to struggle with his accuracy and timing. During several reps, Newton’s clock in the pocket tended to go over the four- or five-second mark."

Mike Giardi tweeted basically the same thing Kaye said. Giardi tweeted, "Cam Newton was riding the struggle bus all practice long..."

If one looks at Newton's stats they look pretty good but reportedly by many, his stats are an illusion. Newton was 13 of 21 with turnovers and sacks while primarily practicing with the starters. He also had a few passes knocked down at the line. Newton's goal line and red zone accuracy was seemingly his worst.

In the two minute drill Newton started good with Mike Reiss saying it was his "best stretch of work" but once again failed to close the drive and seal the deal as it appeared he started throwing to Eric Wilson. Conflicting reports on if that was on him or the pass catchers.

While Evan Lazar agreed with Reiss, he also wrote, "He had three passes broken up, two that were nearly intercepted, was sacked twice, and then threw an interception to end his practice." 

Phil Perry wrote, "It wasn't Newton's play that gave him the look of a starter. He was hesitant to throw at times. He threw into traffic. There was the 'gotta have it' moment that yielded an interception. There were four more throws -- including two near-picks by linebacker Alex Singleton in 7-on-7 work -- that were broken up by the Philadelphia defense."

I sure hope not because if that's what made Newton look like the starter, then the team is in trouble. The reason Phil said Newton was the starter, is the same reason people who watched the game against the Washington Football Team would say is why Newton is the starter.

One more thing before I go on to Mac. I've been saying Newton's accuracy and ball placement were a liability. And Newton helped make my case on Monday. Not just with pass breakups and turnovers. Everyone is saying Cam Newton led LaCosse into Barnett, for a nasty collision. Many fans are going after Barnett. Phil Perry said of the play, "Barnett, going after the football, couldn't turn in time to get out of LaCosse's way, it appeared." It's easier right now to go after Barnett for Patriots fans then to admit Newton's passing ability got his player hurt.

Mac Jones

Jones was 17 of 25. He got to work a little with the starters but it was primarily the second and third string units playing with him. Jones was quicker to get rid of the ball than Cam, which is good because of the offensive line play. Accuracy and ball placement started good on the day but fell off around the midway point but ended on a high note with a two minute touchdown to Harry. That's been a problem with Jones, consistancy. He has only had one or two complete days from start to finish.

Jones's showed off his pocket presence by moving in the pocket and hitting Agholor down the sideline. He also avoided pressure to find Bourne for a completion. He made his share of good throws on the day but Jones also had Wilkerson and Olszewski deep but it looked like he was throwing to the deep defenders instead of his pass catchers according to Patriots media.

Mike Giardi tweeted, "Mac Jones rode a bit of the roller coaster today. He did lead Nelson Agholor for a deep TD in 7-on-7s and later, in 11-on-11, did something similar with N'Keal Harry. He was nearly picked 2x during his final drive, including an ill-advised deep ball to Gunner."

Jones reportedly had a bad two minute drill, with a near turnover and a pass breakup. Zack Cox called Jones's two minute drill "sloppy." Little bits of Newton's passing game seem to be rubbing off on Jones and not in a good way. Jones is clearly the better and more accurate passer between himself and Cam Newton but at times he channels Newton. Most of the time fortunately it's not gonna hurt the team,  unlike his mentor.

Zack Cox wrote, "He had poorly placed or ill-advised throws to Kristian Wilkerson, Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski and Sony Michel."

Phil Perry also pointed it out writing, "he appeared to be late or behind on several of his competitive reps. Three in a row in 7-on-7 -- a throw behind Wilkerson, a late attempt to Jakobi Meyers, a deep ball to Nelson Agholor that was completed but slightly behind -- were just off."

While they can't make contact with him, the Eagles defense isn't going to go as easy on Jones as his teammates would. Mike Reiss wrote, "overall, seemed like a challenging day for Jones."

There's been a lot of talk about if Mac Jones should start week one. He appears to be working on controlling his emotions but before Mac Jones can start week one, he needs to show he can consistently play from start to finish throughout training camp. 

Receivers: Harry, Bourne, and Agholor all won on the day. Meyers, Wilkerson had bad days according to several writers. Gunner was some place in between. And yes, receiver's coach  Lombardi was in their ear for all those drops and miscues. If the team has to rely on this bunch due to injuries at tight end, the team is going to be a middle of the pack team again.

One quick thought, everyone seems to be freaking out about all the injuries to the tight end position. It is not as bad as it seems. While Jakob Johnson has played fullback exclusively thus far, the international player was a tight end for the Stuttgart Scorpions in germany prior to coming to the NFL. People have been worried about Johnson getting replaced by a tight end, Johnson is more versatile than people give him credit for. McDaniels and Belichick need to see what they have in him besides a few emergency swing passes.

A Light Practice Before Heading To Philly.

Sundays practice may of just been about fundamentals if anything. It was to make sure the team was read for joint practice and that they weren't making dumb mistakes. There wasn't a lot to report for the day.

Mac Jones

Jones found Zuber for a touchdown with Bethel in coverage. Then Jones went to what seemed to be his favorite target of the preseason game, Kristian Wilkerson for a couple of passes. He also threw to Bolden (drop). Jones continues to show connection with Olszewski who dropped another pass with Ross in coverage.

Jones was able to find Harry in coverage as well during a two minute drill for a touchdown. Jones doesn't mind "fifty-fifty" balls in practice, the Patriots got to get him willing to make those throws in game day. LeCosse was also targeted by Jones.

Returning starter Cam Newton worked with the number ones, he also did some two minute drill work. Cam Found Agholor, he also found Meyers and LeCosse who dropped it. The main focus over Cam is his Instagram post about loyalty that came Friday morning.

Kyle Van Noy picked off Hoyer, go figure right? As backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham is still on the pup. Another player to watch maybe Justin Bethel who had an uptick in reps after Mills's bad game as number two corner. Mills was signed to be a hybrid and not a stationary piece and we saw why against Washington.

Jonnu Smith suffered a minor ankle injury on Sunday. After Hunter Henry went down, It was kinda surprising the team didn't put Smith in bubble wrap. We know the Patriots like to down play player's injuries. Take Sanu back in 2019. He had an upper ankle injury. It was fine according to the Patriots but after the season, we learned it was actually a season ending injury and he played through it. Edelman that year also had a season ending injury and played through it. With how little the Patriots have to release, watch this. Smith spent 10 minutes in the medical tent.

Henry, Barmore, Winovich, Joe Cardona, and David Andrews all returned to camp today.  Nick Folk was out again, no biggie though. He's only in the middle of a kicking competition.

Roster cuts have begun. The Patriots have cut Marvin Hall, David Wells, Jerald Hawkins, and Rashod Berry. I expected Berry to be cut after the final preseason game, so this one was a head scratcher. The Patriots apparently still have knee cut to make to get down to 85.

The Rule Is You Play Til The End, If You Don't Like It, Put Unofficial Rules On Paper And Make Them Legal.

We hear it all the time in sports, "play to the final whistle," 'play to the horn," "play to the clock reaches zero." "Hustle, Hustle hustle!" Every sports fan regardless if you've played sports or not has heard and knows that but unwritten rules pop up all the time, especially in football.

There's an old phrase and it's also embedded in football. "Just Win Baby," coined by the late Al Davis. In football if you don't win, you get fired. Sometimes winning isn't even enough, as some owners demand championships or bust, which is why the Chargers fired Marty Schottenheimer. 

On Thursday night the Patriots got the ball back and kneeled down with a little over a minute left in the game. The Redskins were down by only two points and so head coach Ron Rivera called a timeout. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was visually not happy with that call. Belichick then abandoned the victory formation. The Patriots still ran the ball, looking to kill the clock but it's not how the legendary head coach wanted to end the game.

In September 2012 Tampa Bay took on the New York Giants. Then Buccaneers head coach Schiano had his players blitz the victory formation. Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was furious and after the game gave his remarks.

Coughlin said, ""I don't think you do that at this level. You don't do that in this league. You don't jeopardize the offensive line, you [don't] jeopardize the quarterback. Thank goodness we didn't get anybody hurt, that I know of, a couple of linemen were late coming in [after end of game]."

Schiano replied, ""I don't know if that's not something that's not done in the National Football League, but what I do with our football team is we fight until they tell us game over. There's nothing dirty about it and there's nothing illegal about it. We crowd the ball -- it's like a sneak defense and you try to knock it loose. Watch Rutgers, they would know if they watched us that's what we did at the end of the game."

Defensive linemen are still told to push the offensive linemen back on those plays, incase there is a fumble. So if you're worried about injuried why have any contact at all during the victory formation. And if there's no contact at all, why line the defense up during the victory formation. Lastly if the defense isn't going to be on the field, why even bother with the kneel down, why not just call the game at what ever the time clock is? It's hypocritical hogwash. It's a double standard in coaching. "Play for 60 minutes but not if you're with in at least tying the score within the final 2 minutes, under those circumstances you are to quit." That's what your telling players, and what coaches are leaving fans infer from their statements.

In 2012 the league agreed with Schiano, even though Coughlin was upset about the unwritten rule being broken saying, "There is nothing further on the incident at the end of the game. There were no violations on the play or afterwards that would require follow up from our office." And even though Belichick won't publicly call out Rivera at the podium, the league would side with the loser again. 

Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick are good and respectable coaches. Bill is arguably the greatest coach of all time. But you don't teach a rule and then put an exception on it, the way the NFL has apparently done. Either the game gets called immediately in the final two minutes when a team kneels or they play until the clock reaches zero. Preseason or not, it doesn't matter, there is no room for an unwritten rules when a coach can get fired for any loss, including a preseason one. Period.

And one more thing, to anyone who says it's just preseason, Bill Belichick actually gave a real answer to the importance of the preseason in 2019, and how much he valued the games as a head coach. In New England we say, "In Bill we trust," so why would we now doubt Belichick on the importance of the preseason? It's trust him or don't, right? If we start questioning his decisions and logic, then we clearly don't trust him and the phrase means nothing. It's simple logic, and there's no room for unwritten rules in sports even when talking about the trusting the greatest coach of all time. 

Here's part of what Belichick said, “I think when you look at a 90-man roster, there is a lot of discrepancy from let’s call it 1-90 on what those individual players need. Take (Jarrett) Stidham for example, it would be a good example, when are you going to play him? If you don’t have any preseason games, then when are you going to play him? How do you evaluate players like that? You only have one quarterback, it’s not like the offensive linemen where you can play a tackle at guard, or a guard at center, of something like that. If you want to evaluate that position, which everyone thinks is an important position, if you don’t have games to do it, when do you do it? I think those are questions as a team you try to balance..."

You get the point, The preseason matters. You can find the rest of what Belichick had to say about the preseason in the link below. The point of the matter is Belichick values preseason just as much as the post season. And so do owners. Winning is everything, and to put unwritten rules to attempt to stop coaches from winning is asinine and needs to stop, especially when it's how their jobs are evaluated. Now I know some are going to say If you value Belichick's opinion on the preseason, then you should value them on the end of the game. The difference is, it's not illegal to play until the final whistle, just like it's illegal at the moment for a team to choose to skip a preseason game. So although Belichick may not like it, Rivera & Schiano both played with in the rules and that's something Bill has made a career of exploiting.

https://www.audacy.com/weei/blogs/ryan-hannable/bill-belichick-discusses-importance-of-preseason-games

Loyalty In Football, In Sports Doesn't Exist As Far As Players Are Concerned.

Earlier this year Cam Newton posted "Loyalty is everything." It was unclear who that post was directed at. On Friday Newton posted, "I'm far from perfect but loyalty, I deserve it." Again leaving the world puzzled. To make matters worse, there are pictures of Newton's facial reactions going round, directed at either McDaniels or Jones that don't look good or happy.

Now, if Cam Newton is talking to the fans, he's missing something. Carolina fans could've looked back at what he's done for them and ignored last season. However, the members of Patriots nation only have 2020 to go on. And regardless of what excuse or reason he has, he wasn't that good for 13 games. There's no reason for a fan base to stay loyal to a guy who played average to below average at best over his career with a team.

Now, if Cam was referring to the franchise he plays for that's another can of worms. First, taking grievances public is a bad thing in New England or at least it was. N'keal Harry is still here, so maybe there's a change in the Patriots' way.

Second, like with the fanbase, the team is about what have you done for me lately. It's about next man up, best man up. Newton didn't look good last year and made a lot of mistakes. Thus far in the offseason, Newton hasn't done anything to lose the job but he hasn't done anything to prove he should be the guy over Mac Jones. 

In fact majority of the media is now saying Jones should either start at some point this season or start in week one, based off what they're seeing in camp and from what they saw against Washington. The sports media owes a loyalty to the truth, not to any athlete, coach, team, or league. While starting week one maybe too early, it's a sign that Newton needs to up his game. Forget playing his game, he needs to show he can play quarterback and be a passer for the Patriots that they want him to be, and not expect McDaniels to change the passing concepts for him.

We all know from the D.T. situation in 2019 that Belichick will make agreements with players and then change or break them based on circumstances. We have no idea what conversations have been had between Newton and the Patriots, so we just don't know what's actually going on.

The fact is regardless of who the posts were about, loyalty is a thin fragile line and the qualifications for one to profess loyalty to another is very thin. While some fans & players have professed undying loyalty to Cam for various reasons that I won't get into, at the end of the day loyalty for a player goes as fast as the average career. Newton is a former first rounder and all pro, so his average career is only expected to be about a ten to eleven years. And whether he likes it or not, he's been Cam Kent (clark kent) the past few years and not Supercam. An ordinary Cam just isn't good enough to swear allegiance to.

Patriots Quarterbacks Avoiding The Fifty Fifty Passes.

Last season the Patriots pass catchers overall had a high true catch percentage rate. They also were ranked third in separation. I know, it's not what we saw on television but those who paid for coaches tape saw it and reported it. Cam Newton threw what was considered an uncatchable ball around thirty percent of the time. So what am I getting at with this?.

What I am getting at is something Alex Barth and Evan Lazar kinda touched on but didn't really. Last nights game, N'keal Harry had one target. They called Harry a "fifty-fifty" guy and said the quarterbacks would rather make a "higher percentage" throw, than throw to Harry. Last night when watching the game, all I thought Harry did was block, and that's not the case.

After watching several post games live streams and videos, along with a few highlights, what I saw was guys getting open, including Harry and the quarterbacks went elsewhere. Being a "fifty-fifty" guy if another guy is wider open, you're not getting the ball. I don't like "fifty-fifty" throws because it means throwing into coverage. At one point even Tom Brady said he didn't like making those throws.

Throwing into coverage requires two things, a receiver who can catch and a quarterback who can put the ball where that pass is maybe tilted sixty-forty in favor of the pass catcher. Mac Jones is accurate but he strikes me as a guy who doesn't want to throw that kinda ball unless he has to. That's not a knock on Harry, it's intelligence and or caution by Jones.

Newton however is a guy who throws an uncatchable ball about thirty percent of the time and that's to an open target. Now you want Newton to throw a catchable ball to a covered pass catcher, who if Newton throws it accurately has only a fifty percent chance of catching it? Newton's a bubble thrower and is likely to throw an interception. He knows this and I'll bet he's scared to make that throw. 

Mac Jones is a cerebral quarterback. He's a timing and accuracy quarterback. Where as Cam is a mobile gun slinger. Newton is the guy one would expect to throw passes into N'keal Harry's direction with reckless abandonment. However, Newton is playing for his job. He has to make smart decisions and protect himself. That hurts Harry because even if Newton's doing well, Harry's not getting passes he normally would.

If I am correct, Harry may shine in practice where the quarterbacks aren't afraid to throw to him because turnovers don't matter but on game day, he's not gonna see many balls. This hurts Harry drastically,  I mean what value does a receiver have that doesn't get targets? The Patriots quarterbacks are not going to allow Harry to be used again as the way he should be. I agreed with Harry that he wasn't getting fifty-fifty passes thrown his way in 2020. Because After Edelman went down Newton basically stopped throwing to him. 

And Harry was still open twenty five percent of the time he was on the field but didn't get twenty five percent of the targets. That there shows even when he was open the ball was going elsewhere. That's all one needs to know about 2020, when it comes to N'keal Harry. Either the quarterbacks didn't have faith in him to get open, or they weren't looking in his direction on passing plays.

Add to that, his bread and butter is supposed be catching fifty-fifty balls, even if they're from the slot. And he wasn't getting those passes either, Harry is in my opinion only about thirty five percent responsible for his lack of production in the Patriots offense. Harry needs to be moved because the Patriots are going to waste him because the quarterbacks are more worried about incompletions and career longevity, over throwing it to a guy who makes his money catching passes in coverage.

Feel free to tell me I'm wrong but I'm just saying what logic dictates.

Tunnel Vision And The Initial Eye Test

The New England Patriots played their first game last night. There was a lot of complaints from the fanbase that some of the pass catchers didn't perform during the game. After watching some highlights that's not true. Plays were just overlooked.

Last night Evan Lazar talked about two times N'keal Harry was open when Mac Jones was on the field. That wasn't the only time he was open, and he wasn't alone. There were plays when Wilkerson and LeCosse were open also along with the backs. The problem is the quarterbacks went to someone else on those plays with the ball who was also open. 

At first glance it's easy to point fingers. It's also easy to look at stats during and after the game and to say people didnt do their job. However, once a second look is taken when we're not invested in our emotions to the game; we can see things we missed. Often we will find our initial reactions were wrong or stretched from the truth. That's what happened last night for many. As a whole, the fanbase could really get in the habit of rewatching games or highlights at the the least before we cast judgement on what we saw.

Patriots Beat Washington 22 to 13.

The New England Patriots had a lot of questions going into the game. How would the quarterbacks look. Are the pass catchers improved. Can they stop the run. How would they look without Gilmore. Can they convert. We would get to see how they would look without giving up too much tonight.

Here's my drive recap with halftime and end of game thoughts.

First half:

Patriots defense does well on the first drive. Only giving up 34 yards on 5 plays.

Patriots offense fails on their first drive, going 3 and out. Wynn beat by Young.

Washington second drive, Miles Bryant beat on 3rd down due to lack of awareness. Judon looking good before knee injury. Looked worse than it was as Judon was back out after a play.

Washington gets rejuvenated after the timeout. Fitzpatrick dissects the defense but Washington misses a field goal on a 10 play 43 yard drive.

Patriots move the ball well on second drive, smith with costly holding penalty. Patriots offense stalls. Cam fails to connect with White in a screen on third down. Nordin Field goal. Penalty and questionable failure to execute a conservative play on third kill 9 play 54 drive. 

Washington drive, Patriots pass rush fails to get to Heineke as he makes a gets ball away to make a 3rd and 5. Washington has Patriots beat owners down but fails to connect on deep ball. Good stop on a 4 play 17 yard drive.

Patriots robbed on  a short pass from Jones to Meyers on 2nd down, as clear catch ruled incomplete. Jones converts next play. Sony looking good. Wilkerson fails to catch a well defended deep ball down sideline. Washington tightening up pass coverage. Patriots fail to convert on 3rd. 10 plays 43 yards. Nordin another long field goal. 

Washington drive, Patriots beat on 3 straight runs, but bower gets a sack on 1st and 10. Two more good passes and a solid run to the outside. Another good pass from Hienkie on third down. Spot challenged, first down Washington. Another good run up the gut followed by a jump ball into double coverage and an overthrow thanks to good pass rush. 11 plays 40 yards and a punt.

Patriots drive, short pass to Taylor for first down. Second play, Patriots penalty replay first down. Wilkerson short cross route on 1st and fifteen. Short swing pass to Johnson on second and 7, 4 yard pickup. Patriots bad spot on third. No challenge again. False start on 4th down. Punt, patriots 4 plays 15 yards.

Washington Patriots cant stop the run on back to back plays, then give up big pass to Patriots 30. Follows up with short pass for five. 3 yard run. Quick pass complete to the 13, followed by a quick pass to the 7 ruled incomplete. Touchdown pass dropped. Followed by good diving catch by Patterson at the 2 & half. Run up the middle on stopped at the 1. Incomplete pass. Touchdown Redskins, uche injured. 7 - 6 Washington on a 12 play 64 yard drive.

First half thoughts. Patriots running game moved the ball well. Both quarterbacks looked good but were inconsistent on third downs going 1 of 5. Nordin looked good. 

Patriots defensive depth still has issues stopping the run and inconsistent pass coverage, allowed Hienike to pick them apart. Washington ran 41 plays in the first half against the Patriots. And went 7 of 11 in third down. Washington had the ball for over 18 minutes 11 seconds.

Sloppy penalties hurting Patriots. 4 plays 25 yards.

Second Half:

Patriots opening drive paper cuts by Jones to Wilkerson. Finds Taylor on a pass as well. Harry good blocking on screens. Washington stuffs the inside runs but Taylor has a good run to the outside. Jones shows good awareness to avoid the sack getting rid of the ball. Patriots fail to convert 3rd down. Nordin field goal on 13 plays 53 yards.

Washington drive, two runs for 7 yards. Montez has pocket close, tries to scramble but is tackled by Davis. Punt 3 and out.

Patriots conservative drive. Two straight runs with Stevenson up the gut for 6 yards, sony 3 yards on the outside. Solid run defense by Washington. Punt. Questionable play call on third down and four.

Soft coverage completion, long run, stuffed run, poor tackle on softcoverage, soft civerage 1st down, run, dropped pass soft coverage, flushed out incomplete in tight coverage. Missed field goal, 9 plays 29 yards. Patriots playing conservative defense.

Patriots ball false start repeat first down. Wilkerson drop, pocket completely collapses Jones Sacked, Jones overthrows Gunner deep by about a hands length, 4th down. Another failed conversion.

Washington short 7 yard completion, 1 yard run up the middle. Soft coverage 3rd down converted. Washington had catch ruled incomplete. Screen for two. 3rd and 8, tipped ball by Washington (84) interception Williams. 

Stevenson 9 yard run, false start on 2nd & 1, Stevenson 5 yard run, Stevenson 4 yard run, stevenson 5 yard run, stevenson touchdown. Nordin Missed extra point. 5 plays 19 yards.

Washington 4 yard run up the gut, 7 yard run up the gut. Patriots playing conservative. Short pass for 4, run stuffed as left side of the line collapses, Incompletion, well covered, punt and holding by Patriots. 5 plays 13 yards.

Patriots ball Hoyer pass dropped by zuber, zuber quick curl 3rd and 1, Stevenson stuffed but offsides, Incomplete to Zuber, stevenson run for 4, taylor 3 yard dump catch. False start on fourth & 1, punt with block in back on Washington. 5 plays 18 yards. 

Incompletion knockdown Williams, first down on short pass over the middle, Patriots soft D, 2 yard run, incompletion bad pass, Montez flush from pocket 15 yard run, pass first down down seam, bryant shaken on shoulder tackle to thigh, swing pass for 7, short pass, quick pass first down, 4 yard run, 5 yard pass, screen pass for 5, short pass 8 yards,  swing pass 6 yards, Montez flushed touchdown pass back corner, 2 point fade pass. Tie game. After bad review play overturned. 

Penalty Block in back on return, hoyer kneel, timeout Washington. Stevenson 2 yard run,  Stevenson 91 yard toss play touchdown, extra point with cheers. 3 plays 93 yards

Washington ball 6 yard run, 6 yard run,  clock expires. 2 plays 12 yards.

Overview and final thoughts:

Bad call on two point conversion changed the urgency from Belichick at the end. Patriots appeared to be going mercy until Rivera showed he wasn't quitting calling timeouts at the end with a minute twenty left. 

Patriots played conservative defense in second half. Allowing Washington to keep the ball for over 16 minutes. Patriots defense gave up 60% on third down, while the offense only converted on 33%. Patriots yards per carry inflated by the 91 yard rush. Patriots defense gave up just under 4 yards per carry, giving up over 120 yards on the ground. The Patriots were 1 for 2 in the Redzone. While washington was perfect 2 for 2.

The entire team looked good for the most part.  With exception to one offensive drive, McDainels was on point. The quarterbacks didnt look bad with exception to the strip incompletion. The defensive play calling the second half was suspect as the Patriots basically played a soft defense the entire second half, there was no urgency from the play calling. The only real issue was penalties. The Patriots committed 9 penalties for 58 yards.

The Patriots have somethings to work on before they head to Philadelphia but overall the team looks good for it's first preseason game. Expect the Patriots coaching staff to get a short night sleep as they analyze game film of what they did wrong. The next time we will see the Patriots on play is August 19th. 

No shame to the Washington Fans, one bad call changed the game. And the team looks like it has potential going forward with lots to build off of.

Early Comparisons can have a negative impact.

A decade ago, the Patriots had probably the greatest tight end tandem in NFL history, with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. For a couple of seasons, they made the Patriots offense almost unstoppable due to their contrasting play styles.

Gronkowski was an inline blocker that over his Patriots career, could be lined up on the line, out wide or in the backfield. His blocking was often under appreciated due to his pass catching abilities. He was a bully.

Hernandez wasn't as good on the line, although he could line up there. Hernandez was more of a move tight end that could also play the H-back / fullback position really well. Hernandez was dangerous from the slot but he was also dangerous in the backfield. Hernandez was the ultimate mismatch.

In 2021 the Patriots signed two elite tight ends. And thoughts went back to Gronk and Hernandez for the entire fanbase. Those tight ends were Hunter Henry, and Jonnu Smith. Henry has always been a receiving tight end and Smith appeared to be more of a well rounded guy. So like many, I assumed we had Henry to replace Hernandez, and Smith to replace Gronkowski.

Since the signing, people in the fanbase, and in the media have been saying Smith is the second coming of Hernandez, that Smith will do everything that Hernandez did. That's great but it left me with a big question. And I am sure it left others asking it as well.

Henry is a lesser blocker than Smith, and if Smith is the Hernandez of the two, who is the Gronkowski because it's not Henry? And thus what the hell is Henry, An oversized receiver? That's the problem with making comparisons to legends. They are too quickly thrown out and aren't always capable of living up to unreasonable expectations.

If neither guy can do what Gronk does, even if they're not as good, than the Patriots might have a good tight end group but they don't have anything near the historical duo of a decade ago. And fans are going to be sorely disappointed when they see it on the field because they're going to be expecting that duo.

Henry will get the blunt of the blame because if the media has declared Smith Hernandez, then Henry must be the same inline blocking style pass catching tight end that Gronkowski was. 

Once again, living in the past may have a negative impact on the team. We saw what media and fan criticism towards Cyrus Jones did to his confidence due to his inability to field a punt early in his Patriots career. How's the negativity going to effect the two tight ends when the fan base turns on them for not being the Dynamic Duo?

Patriots Camp For August 10th Is In The Books, We're On To Thursday Night's Game.

Patriots camp for August 10th is in the books. The quarterbacks have been the focal point for the fanbase and that will continue until the position is no longer a worry. The kicker battle has also been interesting, although under the table.

Quinn Nordin went 4 for 4 on the day. On Friday, he went 10 for 10. His first couple of days were said to be questionable but since than he's been lighting it up. Nick Folk has been out for unknown reasons and the Patriots have even had Nordin doing kickoffs. This is good for the young kicker, although Folk was in workout clothing today.

David Andrews picked the right time to get hurt. As it allowed him to be there for the birth of his son. Congratulations to Andrews, and welcome to the newest member of Patriots Nation.

The Patriots had a light workout day and so the media decided to really not report anything. The same guys that been working on kick returning and coverage got some work in. How good they did is left to speculation.

As for the quarterbacks, Stidham was in person wearing workout clothing and Mac Jones might ditch the number 50 for the number 10. Jones and Newton got some work in with Hall, Meyers, Bourne, and Olszewski.

Surprised some people aren't talking more about how Gunner's coming along as a wideout.

Brian Hines wrote, "Gunner Olszewski continues to look like a better overall wide receiver this summer. He was busy in team drills today, catching five-of-six targets from both Cam Newton and Brian Hoyer. The lone incompletion was a misfire by Hoyer."

Hoyer was the guy under center for most of today. Reports are he looked good, even though he threw an interception. He's not gonna start but he looked like a serviceable backup.

Jake Bailey got some work in and got to show off his all pro punting abilities. Showing he's ready for Thursday night.

That's pretty much it. Not much reporting going around coming from Patriots practice. Other than Gaffney getting cut and Gant being signed it appears to of been a quiet camp just before the teams first preseason game. Hopefully, the team is ready to take on Fitzmagic and the Washington Football Team. It's days like today, that If I was getting paid to write, I'd be loaded with anxiety because there's nothing going on. 

One Player I Wish Had Played With The Patriots

In 2005 the New England Patriots had Deion Branch who caught 79 passes, and David Givens who caught 59 passes. After that Troy Brown caught 39, and Ben Watson and Kevin Faulk each had 29. The rest of the pass catchers weren't that impressive.

Troy Brown's 39 receptions brought in 466 yards and 2 touchdowns. The next receiver on the list was Tim Dwight. Dwight had 19 catches for 332 yards and 3 touchdowns. I can assure everyone that in 2005 Jerry Rice was still a better receiver and athlete at age 43 than what Dwight was. 

In 2005 Jerry Rice retired from football. In 2004 he played for two teams. During that season, Rice caught 30 passes for 429 yards and 3 touchdowns. Rice played with Kerry Collins who barely completed 53% of his passes and was traded to seattle after week six. Rice got an upgrade at quarterback it was still Matt Hasselbeck, who completed 65% of his passes.

At the age of 42 Jerry Rice put on one of the greatest games in Monday night football history. During that game, Rice had 9 targets. He caught 8 of them for 145 yards and a touchdown. It wasn't just that Rice put on a clinic that game, he also showed he was still clutch. The problem was Rice was a member of the 9-7 Seahawks.

In 2005 Rice signed on with the Denver Broncos but decided it wasn't worth the work to be a depth chart piece for them. He would've been their number five guy.

The Patriots were the defending superbowl champions. And with Bill Belichick knowing how to use people to the best of their abilities, added to that the intelligence of both Tom Brady and Jerry Rice, Rice would've put up respectable stats in 2005 and I dare to say would been the number three guy on the depth chart by mid season, as I believe he was a better receiver than Troy Brown at that time. 

Rice might have even found a way to drag out his career for another season or two. Rice was always clutch in big games and if somehow he had been the number four or five guy during the Patriots undefeated season, it's fun to think about if he would've added just enough to be the tipping point for the Patriots. Over the last 20 years, Jerry Rice is the biggest would've, could've that never happened but the thought of one regular season with an aged Jerry Rice and young Tom Brady still leaves one curious and disappointed that it never happened.

Patriots Training Camp Monday August 09th.

It's Monday August 9th, 2021 and another day of Patriots training camp is in the books. The Patriots have been developing Mac Jones, while giving Cam Newton inconsistent amount of reps for a starter who claimed the previous season decline was due to lack of offseason reps prior to the season. How would the two quarterbacks fair and would there be any news on the kicking competition?

It needs to be noted that both quarterbacks are still going up against an elite pass defense, and the pass catchers are still having a case of the drops. An area the Patriots were one of the better teams in last season.

Cam Newton

Newton led off on every drill, going 11 of 17 on the day. 6 of 12 against the starters. Newton finally had more reps than Jones after having a lighter work load the past three or four days. He did throw an interception but there's conflicting reports over if it was a bad pass or a good defensive play.

Newton's best throw was an over the shoulder throw to James White. Red shirt rule prevented sacks a combined three times from Deatrich Wise & Josh Uche and allowed Newton to get rid of the ball. Newton also went 2 of 5 during the two minute drill. I'll give my thoughts on that later.

NESN's Zack Cox wrote, "Newton tossed the only interception of practice, with safety Adrian Phillips picking off a pass that was thrown slightly behind tight end Jonnu Smith. Newton also had a couple of underthrown passes in receiver/defensive back 1-on-1s that resulted in pass breakups, and he skipped a pass to wideout Kristian Wilkerson during the final period of practice."

Newton reportedly threw with good touch and zip on the day but he also held the ball too long and his decision making was occasionally questionable.

Evan Lazar wrote, "As we write every day, Newton’s overall process and accuracy are better than last year, but some moments leave you hoping for more."

This isn't just something being written by Lazar. There are plenty of writers saying Newton is showing some improvement but either at times he looking to much like last year's quarterback or his improvements just aren't that great of improvements. Then there are some writers completely ignoring the bad from Cam & the entire team, both in print and on camera or radio.

Lazar noted a couple of things but one play in particular was a deep pass that Newton missed on.

Lazar wrote, "In 11-on-11s, he (Harry) blew by cornerback Michael Jackson on a deep post and should’ve scored (the ball was overthrown by Newton)."

Again ball placement has been a big issue throughout camp, and it was a big issue last season. It won't matter how improved the pass catchers are if Newton cannot find them, and it definitely won't help these young guys develop. How many great catches have we read about from the pass catchers, when Newton was the quarterback this offseason so far?

Mac Jones

Jones went 11 of 14 on the day. He had good command and continues to glide around the pocket. Jones's play of the day was a deep pass to 2018 first round draft pick Sony Michel. Jones reportedly ran the two minute offense better than Newton, completing every pass. Jones also reportedly played well against the first team defense but Jones didn't just go against the first team defense.

Tom E. Curran wrote, "When Hoyer was done, the first-team offense came back on the field and Jones led it back the other way."

The Patriots also had Jones on the move, again showing that anyone who thinks the Patriots drafted a statue underestimated what the young quarterback is. He's not Cam Newton but he's also not Peyton Manning.

Phil Perry noted that the day wasn't all good for Jones, as Perry wrote about how Jones started his day. 

Perry wrote, "It was a herky-jerky start to Jones' day. Working against air, throwing slants to wideouts, Jones was a tick off. He threw behind his targets. He threw low. His foot slipped on one attempt and his oomph-less pass landed incomplete."

Jones has been getting some work here and there against the first team but it's been primarily against the backups. And Jones's play has been getting brushed off. There are people in the media getting annoyed with that because fans and some personalities ignoring the progress being made.

Evan Lazar wrote, "Some people want to write off scout-team reps, and that’s fine. But the reality is that the Pats’ first-rounder looks the part." 

Both quarterbacks had good days but Jones reportedly from many, had the better day and was the more consistent passer between the two. Jones is always going to beat Newton in passing drills, as to where Newton is going to win on mobility drills. That's why I am holding off on saying Jones was the better quarterback, although I do prioritize the ability to pass over the ability to run and move.

The area of concern is once again when it mattered, Cam Newton struggled in pressure situations. Today during the two minute offense he couldn't get it done. Whether it's throwing incompletions or interceptions, when Belichick has run the two minute drill or gotta have it plays, thus far this offseason including the spring, Newton has been inconsistent at best and it's fair to say unreliable. Is he the guy the team wants the ball in the hands of when the game is on the line?

This is one of many reasons thus far this offseason to be worried about Cam Newton, when people are saying to "be excited over Newton." It's like last season after watching the first two weeks, there was reason to be cautious about signing Newton long term but people were screaming "extend him for five years." If that's you, take a step back and make sure you're not missing anything, that you don't have blinders on.

Newton is still the starter and I'll support Belichick's decision but I still believe Newton should start. It's great that Jones is showing more confidence but how is his emotional maturity when things aren't going right? That is a red flag that has to improve before he gets the keys to the franchise.

Quick Notes

•The running backs once again continue to get a good deal of targets. Overall, While all the backs had decent days, Sony Michel may have been the best back on the field.

•Although he returned, Barmore spent sometime in the medical tent with a foot issue.

•Wilkerson, Hall, Harry, and Olszewski all had good days at camp on Monday. Although Gunner going to make the team, The number four and five spots on the depth chart are still not locks.

•Jake Bailey continues to kick field goals with Gunner Olszewski as his holder. It might be nothing but it could be something with the camp that Quinn Nordin has been having. With Folk out, the Patriots maybe preparing to move on from him. Wouldn't be the first time we saw a kicker or punter that was a lock miss time and get unseated. 

•Hall, Taylor, and Olszewski all worked on return duty today. With no winner insight for the role yet. Harry had been working with the kickoff group ad both a return man and a coverage guy but I didn't see anything about him in those areas today.

•Stidham has been at camp back to back days to observe. While the Patriots cut quarterback Jake Dolegala to bring in a long snapper while Cardona is out. Dolegala wasn't doing much of anything besides playing catch with Newton to keep him loose while Jones got extra reps.

NFL players are getting paid but at what cost.

The NFL is in a dangerous place where quarterbacks are making a huge percentage of their team's salary cap. Some are making up to 40% of the league Salary cap. Josh Allen is set to make $43 Million, Aaron Rodgers is set to ha e a $33 Million cap hit, and next year Mahomes has a cap hit of $35 million. The NFL salary cap is only around $200 Million.

No NFL player should make more than 15% of the team's salary cap. In fact I don't like paying any one player more than 5% of the Team's salary. The team has to pay 53 players plus the practice squad guys. If a player is making that much or more, they better be able to carry the team with a bunch of garbage players. Not saying they'll have to but they better be able to.

On average players should make .65% - 1% of the team's salary, and practice squad players should make .15% - .25% of a teams salary. That leaves money to pay a few players more than the rest, just because some players have a me before team attitude and don't care about winning a ring.

I know I'd be a horrible GM but making sure the team doesn't go broke or end up in the basement due tl paying one or two players would be a top concern of contract negotiations. I know not every player is Tom Brady when it comes to getting paid. Then again not every so called "elite" player is capable of going to go to ten superbowls. Hell, half aren't good enough to lead a team to one. Before anyone says it's a team sport, that's exactly why one player shouldn't be allowed to eat up majority of the team salary. 

The NFL is floating close to the elimination of the salary cap era, which will put smaller markets out of contention, just like it has in the MLB. The NFL needs to put a cap on how much an individual player can make. Every team should have at least 1 franchise player that makes a little bit higher salary than the rest but no player should make two fifths to half of a teams salary cap. The cap should be one fifth a teams salary because it's doubtful the NFLPA would agree on one tenth. I don't know, it's just a thought.

Both Quarterbacks Light It Up On The 11 On 11 Drills but Injuries Are The Big Story.

It's Sunday, and although the New England Patriots didn't have a game today, they did have practice. It's August and every practice counts for something. How much so varies but they still matter. We know the defense has been playing well, we also know drops have been plaguing the pass catchers and both continued on Sunday. So what happened between the quarterbacks today? 

Starter Cam Newton

The first thing I read about today is Cam threw and Interception because he was oblivious to where and what Devin Mccourty was doing on the field, and put the ball behind his target where McCourty had favorable odds of catching it. As we all know and hopefully can admit, field vision and accuracy were something that plagued Newton in 2020, and was part of the reason why the pass catchers struggled.

Newton continues to lead off in reps for the Patriots offense and went 14 of 17. Newton showed off his arm strength, hitting Wilkerson on a 50 yard over the shoulder bomb. Newton also completed 80% of his passes against the starters compared to Jones who was at 78%.

A sack by Hightower on a must convert goal line play had Newton and the entire offense run a lap. This is becoming an issue as this is now the third time Newton has failed in these situations this offseason. Uche would also get an apparent sack later on Newton. Due to lack of reps,

Newton played catch with Jake Dolegala, instead of finding any pass catcher to throw to. Newton needs improvement. He didn't have a full offseason and that was supposedly why he struggled last season, and he's the starter and not getting reps after lack of offseason reps being his problem? Something strange about that. If he needs the full offseason work to have success, why are they limiting him like he doesn't? Maybe it's just me.

Newton still has some issues he has to work on, many of them we all saw last year but there is some good news that Evan Lazar pointed out.

Lazar wrote, "Newton’s timing and consistency in the offense are improving, and he hasn’t done anything to lose the job..."

Newton could improve more if he got more reps. While many think that the uptick in reps for Jones is a sign that there's a competition, at the moment I wouldn't hold much stock in there being a competition. Not saying that Jones can't start later in the year but it's unlikely at the moment that Newton doesn't start week one.

First round draft pick Mac Jones 

Like with Newton, the first thing I read about is Mac throwing an interception to Michael Jackson due to poor ball placement on the throw. Jones is known for his accuracy. So I hope this wasn't a sign of things to come. It's also to be noted that it was a good play by Jackson.

Mike Kadlick wrote, "Jones impressed when taking command of a two minute drill during 11’s. Not with his arm strength, but with using his voice to get the team lined up properly and getting the ball into the right guys hands. He set up Quinn Nordin for a long field goal, which he drilled."

Jones went 20 of 26. His anticipation throws continue to shine, with his best throw being an out route to Meyers. Everything wasn't all good as Uche also got a sack on Jones.

Mike D'abate wrote, "Once again, he was impressive in his ability to lead his receivers to open areas on the field."

Jones continues to get the ball out quick, going through his progressions, finding the open pass catcher and putting the ball where it. needs to be.

Jones makes improvements everyday and continues to look good running the offense. Again, he's still learning to play at an NFL speed and more than that, in my opinion although things may look close; it's his lack of emotional control when things go south that will see him sit for part if not all of 2021.

Other notes

 Harry continues to have a solid camp with another good day including on special teams, and the quarterbacks finally found Meyers.

Injury prone Hunter Henry is out, David Andrews is also out, and Dalton Keene reportedly had surgery, whichbis probably a good thing, seeing how stacked the Patriots are at tight end. Cardona and Hawkins were also injured on the day. Agholor wasn't at camp.

Stidham came to observe and soak up things mentally, it was also his birthday. And Ted Karras was healthy enough to practice. And Richard Seymour 2.0, Christian Barmore returned to camp.

Folk continues to miss camp, losing ground to the rookie kicker.

Are The Patriots Looking To Improve The Backs Ability To Catch On The Play Action, Or Are They Looking To Replace White?

On March 17th, the Patriots failed to extend running back James White. That was the start of free agency. On March 24th, the Patriots signed James White to a one year deal. Why did the Patriots wait a week to re-sign White, and with all the money they had, and with White's hands being reliable, why did they only sign him to a single season?

Kevin Faulk played started in 1999 and played until 2011. He had 531 targets and was the receiving back of the team for a decade. In 2011, the Patriots drafted Shane Vereen and Steven Ridley. Some have said they both were pass catching backs they both weren't.

Ridley was a guy who could pound the ball but not a pass catcher. Sure maybe they ran the play action with him on the field but he wasn't a pass catcher. The team also keeps utility backs who can do everything but aren't great at anything. So I decided to see how the Patriots used the running backs (fullbacks not included) in the passing game, starting in 2011. Take a look at the last decade when it comes to the running backs in the passing game.

2011

Woodhead, Targets 31

Green-Ellis, Targets 13

Faulk, Targets 9

Ridley, Targets 5

Vereen, Targets 0

2012

Woodhead, Targets 55

Ridley, Targets 14

Vereen, Targets 13

Bolden, Targets 2

Hillard, Targets 0

2013

Vereen, Targets 69

Bolden, Targets 29

Ridley, Targets 12

Blount, Targets 5

Williams, Targets 1

Washington, Targets 1

2014

Vereen, Targets 77

Bolden, Targets 6

Steven Ridley, targets 5

White, Targets 5

Ridley, Targets 4

Blount, Targets 4

Gray, Targets 3

2015

White, Targets 54

Lewis, Targets 50

Bolden, Targets 30

Blount, Targets 7

Jackson, Targets 1

Cadet, Targets 1

Losefa, Targets 0

2016

White, Targets 86

Lewis, Targets 24

Blount, Targets 8

Bolden, Targets 4

Foster, Targets 2

2017

White, Targets 72

Burkhead, Targets 36

Lewis, Targets 35

Gillislee, Target 1

2018

White, Targets 123

Burkhead, Targets 20

Michel, Targets 11

Barner, Targets 1

2019

White, Targets 95

Burkhead, Targets 38

Michel, Targets 20

Bolden, Targets 11

Harris, Targets 0

2020

White, Targets 62

Burkhead, Targets 33

Michel, Targets 9

Harris, Targets 7

Taylor, Targets 2

Going back a decade which is the most relevant, the Patriots have kept one true pass catching - third down back on the roster, with 2015 being the exception for how they used their backs. Don't get me wrong, sure the Patriots may have lined backs up out of position but there's a difference between a play action back and a receiving back. 

This offseason the Patriots are seemingly throwing the ball to all the backs. The Patriots may just be looking to see who's the best play action backs. Then again, they could be looking to replace James White as the receiving back. Although it be nice to be able to line a guy up out wide like White does, it's not necessary to replace him. 

All the Patriots need is a guy who can get out of the backfield, catch the ball with a high percentage, and be able to get yards after the catch. And be able to do all that in a consistent basis. If they have a guy who can do that, they can replace White. Burkhead and Lewis had the potential to replace White but they couldn't stay healthy enough.

Now targets don't show everything, like who's covering them but they show a lot. Pass catching backs are a staple of the offense, they're a security blanket. Woodhead, Vereen, and White have been that for the Patriots over the last decade. Are the Patriots looking to have the next guy take over. It's been pretty much a surprise, each time their guy has been allowed to go. So is another surprise on the way in 2021? That's the question only the Patriots know at the moment.