Not Giving Up Hope

Living in Rochester, I've grown a resentment towards the city of Buffalo and the fans of it's sports franchises as Rochestarians are treated as second class citizens of western New York. However, they have offered shelter to my Toronto Blue Jays since last year.

While it's nice to know that with the Blue Jays playing an hour away, and that I might actually be able to attend a game, it's just not the same as the Blue Jays playing in Sky Dome. Yes, I know the name has changed but it will forever be the Toronto Sky Dome to me.

Mark Shapiro and the front office are still holding out for the team to be able to return to the nest in Canada. However, Canada has been slow to allow travel from the United States across it's borders.

Being an American, I get many of my countrymen are entitled and irresponsible. I have read and heard statements from my fellow citizens that, "My liberties come before your life because I have the right to be happy," when talking about mask and social distancing mandates. Business owners have even said they "got into business to make money, not to be socially responsible." So again, I get it. Allowing people to come up from America poses a risk to the Canadian people.

However, Shapiro is still clinging to a chance. Saying, "Just focus on the border, recognizing anything around that is going to be a challenge -- not impossible -- but a challenge. But the only clarity exists around the border being open."

On June 1st, the Associated Press wrote, "On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his nation won't be rushed into reopening its border, which has been closed since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020. Canadians returning to their homeland are required to immediately spend 14 days in self-quarantine."

Whither it's popular or not, Trudeau has a duty to keeping his people safe. That includes the irresponsible ones bitching because they're country is in lockdown and they have to wear masks and et-cetra. 

While the players are focused on trying to put themselves in a position to make the playoffs, the front office has divided focus. As getting the team home is a top priority. Shapiro won't give a guesstimation of when he thinks that will be.

Shapiro said, ""We want to get home. I think that's the overarching feeling, that desire to be back in Toronto. But it's hard to answer that hypothetical."

Shapiro would later add, ""We'd gladly endure hardship and burden to get home."

Whenever the Blue Jays do get home, Trudeau and the entire nation of Canada needs to make it a national holiday just for that year. The Blue Jays are Canada's team. Even if hockey is the major sport on the northern side of the great lakes.

Injuries And Surprise Performances At OTAs on Friday June Fourth

I watched Patriots Press Pass on YouTube tonight. Evan Lazar and Alex Barth were talking about Friday's OTA session in front of the media. Cam Newton apparently injured his throwing hand and the extra reps supposedly went to Jarrett Stidham. The two CLNS personnel said Stidham did enough to say it should be a three way competition instead of two. So I had to look into it.

Some of the writers I quote might say the same thing but there will be at least one writer at some point who shared something the others didn't when talking about the day. So don't quit before the article is over.

Mike Reiss of ESPN wrote the following Friday afternoon, "The Patriots are scheduled for four more voluntary OTAs next week and then three days of mandatory minicamp after that, and Newton could be shut down for those as the team looks ahead to the start of training camp in late July, according to a source."

Reiss also said that the injury was to Cam's throwing hand and that while he sat out, "first-round draft pick Mac Jones, third-year player Jarrett Stidham and veteran Brian Hoyer taking the quarterback repetitions in his place."

Little before 8pm on Friday, CBS Boston published the following statement. "Patriots quarterback Cam Newton did not finished Friday’s OTA session in Foxboro after suffering a slight bone bruise in right hand. The injury is not considered serious, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, but it will likely keep Newton out of practice until training camp begins in late July."

Now before I continue, that means the other three quarterbacks are going to get a lot more reps in practice. We saw how the 'neck and neck' competition was awarded to Newton last season due to the Stidham injury, so even though he has time to comeback, it's a blow to Newton.

CBS did confirm that Mac Jones and Jarrett Stidham did indeed get more reps with Newton out. CBS then quoted Mark Daniels' tweet where Daniels tweeted the results of the day, 

"11v11s

Newton: 2/3 (sack) 

Jones: 3/5 (sack, two tips including a dropped INT by Van Noy)

Stidham: 9/10 (only INC was a drop)

Hoyer: 4/9

7v7s: Jones: 5/6

Stidham: 4/4

Hoyer: 3/4"

It's just one camp but those numbers don't look good for Mac Jones. Stidham going 13 of 14 on the day, not including bucket drills is pretty impressive since Jones is supposed to be the most accurate quarterback in the group. Reminder that Jones was the best quarterback last week and Hoyer made the best throw.

Jason Patt of Clutch Points touched on today's events saying, "Stidham ruled the day among these quarterbacks, but obviously most of the hype right now is surrounding Jones after the Patriots drafted him in the first round."

Thomas Carannante of musket fire wrote, "Stidham was nearly perfect on the day, too, with his only blemish being a drop. That being said, he wasn’t exactly shredding apart the Patriots defense because he was unable to get the ball down field, which isn’t surprising because this is one of the best secondaries in the league.

As for Jones, he was apparently dealing with a calf issue, which may have contributed to Stidham’s ability to “shine.” Hoyer, as expected, wasn’t particularly impressive, but like we said, his potential presence on the roster is for his knowledge and experience, not physical capabilities."

Carannante would add, "It’s still an uphill battle for Stidham here, but he’s at least off to a much-needed positive start."

The eliteness of the secondary has to be mentioned because they might be the best secondary in the league. Which means the quarterbacks are going to want to pick on the linebackers if they can during any practice session.

Doug Kyed wrote about Jones, "He's a rookie. He looked like one Friday as the Patriots try to ramp up the intensity in practices, and he looked like a veteran last week..."

Kyed would add, "It was actually third-year pro Jarrett Stidham who stood out at the quarterback position. He went 9-of-10 in 11-on-11 drills and 4-of-4 in 7-on-7s. The Patriots quarterbacks, as a whole, only completed 10 passes to wide receivers on Friday, and Stidham alone had five of them. While Jones and Brian Hoyer looked more gun shy, Stidham was willing to open it up at times."

Kyed Acknowledged that it's still Newton's job but said, "it’s anyone’s guess how the depth chart will sort itself out in three months. There’s still time for a QB to pass Newton. The Patriots would probably like Jones to be the first- or second-stringer. He’s the first-round pick, and he’s the presumed starter of the future. But Stidham showed Friday he can still make things competitive with the rookie. Hoyer will probably only stick around in a backup or third-string role."

What Kyed rights is painfully true. Newton is one of the top three or four rushers on the team. Something that makes up for the fact that he's a subpar passer due to being the least accurate of the group.

Andy Hart of WEEI wrote, "Newton was far from the only notable story at the quarterback position, though, as third-year former fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham had a very good day throwing the football on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium, arguably the best offensive player on the field during the workout that lasted a little shy of two hours under gray skies."

Hart noted, "Stidham had the best throw of the session with a deep in-cut on the left hash to Isaiah Zuber, who also had a solid practice."

Hart would continue, "(besides Stidham) overall it was a lackluster day for the new-look passing attack and Newton’s status after missing most of the workout is the key takeaway. But, Stidham was relatively impressive in his chances."

Henry McKenna of Patriots Wire wrote, "Stidham was accurate and quick with his delivery, completing 13 of 14 with the only incompletion being a drop. You might argue that he was too quick, with none of his passes traveling more than 15 yards. But with Newton hurt and Jones struggling, Stidham showed a refreshing level of competence in the offense."

McKenna would also say, "(Jones) was noticeably conservative in those reps after Newton’s injury, checking down on four consecutive passes over the course of two series. When Jones finally pushed the ball downfield, he held the ball too long and sailed a pass over the head of receiver Jakobi Meyers."

McKenna is leaving out some details when calling out how fast Stidham got rid of the ball. Keep reading and you'll find out what I am referring to. 

Brian Mazique of the Heavy wrote, "Newton had been taking all of the QB1 reps through the other days, but after he was injured, third-year pro Jarrett Stidham and rookie Mac Jones shared the responsibility.

Both players had their good points, according to multiple observers. Although, according to Howe, Stidham won the day with his accuracy and decisiveness."

Now details are everything, and Greg Bedard points out something that nobody else mentioned. There was a lot of talk from the previous writers about how bad Jones looked, with the occasional praise of the defense. Bedard gives a possible reason for why Jones had a bad day.

Bedard wrote, "Without their top three tackles, the offense could barely hold up from the onslaught. It had a trickle-down effect as Mac Jones had a rough practice, and I'm not really all that alarmed about that. Jarrett Stidham did much better, and looked like he gained a lot of confidence. Maybe this could be a turning point for him. Had a really nice in-cut to Jakobi Meyers."

We saw how the Patriots looked in 2019 without Isaiah Wynn and David Andrews. We saw how little time Brady had to get rid of the ball. Three top offensive linemen did not practice. Against the improved Patriots pass rush, All the quarterbacks should've had a  ad day. So the fact that Jones had a bad day shouldn't be a surprise but the fact that Stidham had a good day is huge because he looked scared under pressure last year.

Evan Lazar would write, "Stidham’s two best throws came on dig routes against two-high structures. After a vertical route cleared out the middle, Stidham zipped completions to Jakobi Meyers and Isaiah Zuber. He also completed a pass along the sideline on a deep comeback route to Kendrick Bourne. All three throws qualified as “NFL-level” passes, and Stidham was fired up after the dart to Zuber. As the forgotten man in the quarterback room, Stidham at least put up a fight against Jones on Friday, earning the final two sets of reps in 11-on-11s over the rookie."

The quarterback competition is sure to be interesting with Cam Newton not expected to practice until just before the start of the preseason. This was just one day but while missing linemen, Stidham showed more poise than Jones under pressure, getting rid of the ball quicker and with accuracy. 

Besides the quarterbacks, undrafted free agent kicker Quinn Nordin is still generating a lot of Buzz. He has a career long of 57 but was reportedly kicking field goals from the 50 today. With people noting that his leg is good but there's still a little concern over accuracy. However, That's what they pay coaches for.

The Patriots have seven more practices scheduled before Cam Newton is expected to return. This is the NFL, so things can change. However, this is also the Patriots who do things a little differently.

Barmore Is A Good Pass Rusher But Needs A Lot Of Development Against The Run.

The Patriots took Christian Barmore in the second round of 2021, trading up to secure the defensive lineman. Barmore is supposed to be the best defensive lineman in the draft class. While Barmore is one of the better pass rushers, Patriots fans maybe setting themselves up for a huge disappointment unless Barmore can improve as a run stopper this offseason.

Patriots Fans are comparing Barmore to big Vince Wolfork, yet many analysts say Barmore will play mainly on 3rd downs as a rookie. If Barmore was a Big Vince clone, wouldn't he be primarily playing on first and second down? You know, the running downs.

Fans are looking at Barmore with beer goggles. Let's revisit some of Barmore's scouting reports and see if I can help clear up where his run stopping abilities lie.

First, let's look at what Phil Perry said about Barmore. Perry wrote in April, "Barmore is an ideal fit for what Bill Belichick wants in a 3-4 defensive end. We identified Barmore as the best player at that spot when it came to fitting Belichick's wish list of traits laid out for Browns scouts all the way back in 1991."

That sounds more like Richard Seymour than it does Vince Wilfork. I don't recall anyone saying Wilfork was a defensive end but let's see what others have to say, and I did include one quote from the Patriots organization. So stay tuned.

Jeff Howe of the Athletic wrote, "With the Patriots clearly planning to run a 3-4 base defense, Barmore can play defensive end in the three-man front and inside in sub-package four-man fronts..." 

Howe seconds what Perry said about Barmore playing defensive end, and says Barmore will see some time as a rotationary piece on the defense but wasn't finished there. 

Howe added, "He has some good punch as a pass rusher, so expect him to get some early chances on third down before earning snaps on run downs. Don’t be surprised if Barmore is the second-best pass rusher behind Guy among the Patriots’ defensive tackles."

Alex Barbour if Prime Time Sports Talk compared Barmore to Cameron Heyward and said with development he could be great.

Here's what Barbour said about Barmore's run stopping ability, "This was a surprise. Barmore has very little impact in the run game. His push is negligible, and there is little done to shed blocks. This will heavily limit his potential as a nose tackle, but that should not be his role in the first place. There are some plays that show the tools to develop into a good run defender. The issue is that those tools are seldom found. Given his lack of experience, this could easily be mitigated. The ceiling is sky high on Barmore."

Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun said, "Dub him one of the top boom-or-bust prospects in this year’s draft. Other scouts have picked at him for failing to establish consistent leverage advantages against the run..."

Sravan Gannavarapu of the last word wrote about Barmore, "His timing can be off, and as a result, he can get overmatched by stronger offensive linemen. Though his initial burst is top-notch, his closing speed can be questionable at times, and as such, he ends up opening a lane for the offense instead. It can be fixed with coaching, but it will take the right system to thrive. His upside may be tremendous, but it all comes down to coaching."

Big Vince was known for clogging lanes. I don't ever recall anyone saying that Wilfork opened lanes for the offense to run through but let's continue to see what else is out there.

Alex Barth of CLNS Media wrote about Barmore, "They could try him inside, or move him to 3-4 end. While he develops his overall game, expect to see him as a pass-rush specialist, in a similar role to the one Adam Butler played last year."

Barth wasn't done adding, "Depth should allow the Patriots to be patient with Barmore as he develops, but also provides the opportunity for quite the rotation once he’s ready."

Mario Tovar of Raiders Ramble wrote, "What stands out as far as PFF’s concerned, is Barmore’s ability to get to the quarterback from his position. Boosting the Raiders’ pass rush from the inside should be of the utmost importance. For the 2020 season, Barmore has a 90.3 pass-rush grade. Unfortunately, he’s seen as a liability against the run, PFF gave him a 65.8 grade.."

Tovar added, "Barmore’s weakness is in stopping the run and you can (see it) in some highlights below. Be that as it may, his knack for getting to opposing signal-callers would be a welcomed boost."

Athlon sports wrote about Barmore, "He has the length, strong hands and upper-body power to do more, but he has yet to show he can harness it. In the run game, he’s sometimes late to locate the ball, getting caught up in battling a blocker or running himself out of the play."

Arnav Sharma of Sports Illustrated praised Barmore's ability to draw double teams but against the run he wrote, "Conversely, Barmore's tape against the run is difficult to watch. He is regularly moved back 2-3 yards and often loses sight of his gap. While he is occasionally able to make plays against zone runs where he is single-teamed, this is once again due to his lateral rush ability. Seldom does Barmore show any kind of pure vertical push or penetration."

Like most of the sources on this list, the Game Haus praised Barmore's pass rushing ability but against the run they they weren't as kind.

Game Haus wrote, "Barmore can play with too high of a pad level. When he plays too high, he loses all of his leverage and power. While he has good strength, it doesn’t matter in these situations because players with less strength, but more leverage can win the rep. The end result sees Barmore pushed backwards on running plays and being stifled on pass rushes."

Zach Goodall of Sports Illustrated also chimed in, writing, "His power will also need to improve against run blocks when blockers attack him vertically, in order to maintain gap responsibility and make his way to the ballcarrier to create plays in the backfield."

Goodall would add, "Barmore should not be an immediate starter with his first NFL team. He would benefit from beginning in a late-down, pass-rushing role while developing his run-stuffing ability behind the scenes. A year in a depth role behind accomplished defensive ends/tackles could teach Barmore a lot and turn him into a productive, all-around starter in year two."

Eric Edholm of Yahoo sports wrote, "Can vacate his gap and run himself out of the play with wide rush angles or freelancing style. Requires more discipline in his approach. Not a reliable tackler yet — lets runners get out of his grasp too often."

While like many on this list, Eric praised the pass rush abilities of Barmore but like most people in this article, he had more criticism to add to his rushing abilities.

Edholm added, "Fails to locate the ball at times — sucked in on draws and screens. Can be stubborn to make his initial rush work, even after it has been stalled. Will get half-manned and turned sideways on tandem blocks. Doesn’t always win leverage battles vs. the run. Tends to play high, so his pad level can be improved."

And I saved the best for last, writer for the Patriots Mike Dussalt wrote about Barmore. Here's what Dussalt listed as his weakness.

Dussalt wrote, "Ceiling will be determined by how disciplined he can stay against the run… At his best on the move, must continue to develop two-gap ability but has all the necessary traits to do so… Holding up against double teams will a be key area for development in New England…"

The main thing I wanted to show is Barmore is nowhere near Vince Wilfork at this point in his career. Maybe he can be developed into a run stuffer but at the moment he's a hybrid tackle-end pass rusher. Who likely won't plug many wholes against the run early in his career. 

Fans should expect to see more of Barmore on third down and in passing situations, where he is most valuable. 

The Patriots didn't have to worry about developing a run stopper until Vince Wolfork left in 2015. They went three years before acquiring Danny Shelton. And it took a year to develop Shelton and then after his second year, they let him walk in 2020. 

The Patriots saw a freeway sized hole open up through their line for running backs to run through. It's fair to say people shouldn't expect Barmore to be on the field in early downs consistently until the 2022 season at the earliest. And with Barmore's abilities, when he is on the field, expect that he might not even be playing tackle.

McDaniels Opens Up About Newton And Jones.

At one point this offseason Jarrett Stidham was the only quarterback on the roster. Jake Dolegala's future contract hadn't kicked in, and both Brian Hoyer and Cam Newton were free agents. Flash forward to June third and Cam Newton is barely quarterback one. And rookie Mac Jones is quarterback two.

On June third reporters got to speak with McDaniels about the top two guys on the quarterback depth chart. The media asked some good questions and McDaniels seemed to do his best to give real answers, while not breaking the Patriots way.

McDaniels validates some of Cam Newton's excuses for his struggles during the 2020 season. 

McDaniels said, "When he got here, that was a unique situation having really no experience and exposure to our system prior to training camp starting. I honestly can't remember another time in my career where we've had a player that has done that. So it was a unique scenario.

He worked his butt off last year to do it, and then he came back certainly this year at a much different position. He has a different grasp of the offense, a different understanding of the terminology. Now we're working on refining the precision, the details."

The details like accuracy and mechanics? Newton's reportedly still looking the same but what's McDaniels think about Cam's commitment to improving his mechanics? 

With that McDaniels said, "he's worked really hard at it. We’re going to continue to work really hard at it with the days we have left in spring to refine his and everyone else’s at the position as well. Because I don’t think it’s ever a finished product.”

Let's be honest, Cam Newton has never been an accurate passer. His career completion percentage was below sixty when he arrived in New England. The Patriots worked on his throwing mechanics in 2020 but Newton's accuracy was all over the place. He threw the ball to bubbles, he threw it in the ground, and many times he threw it out of the reach if his pass catchers. 

His high completion percentage is credited to his pass catchers, just look at their true catch percentages. So McDaniels is right, they need every day they can to fix Newton's accuracy but can they change a 32 year old's accuracy? That's still to be determined.

From rookie minicamp to last weeks OTAs, Mac Jones has been reportedly impressing the Patriots roster and staff. So of course McDaniels was asked about what he liked in the Patriots number fifteen pick draft selection.

McDaniels said, "He won a lot of games in the last year-plus at Alabama. He played in some big games, some pressure situations. He takes care of the football. He's demonstrated an ability to function at a pretty high level in their system and offense, with their terminology. He competed in a league that is widely regarded as one of the top conferences, if not the top conference, in all of college football.

He certainly stood out in obvious ways relative to throwing the football, command, protecting the ball and not hurting his football team. There was a lot to look at and digest as you studied him.”

As for the quarterback competition in New England, and let's face it, there's one for the start and one for the third string role. What's McDaniels have to say about it?

McDaniels said, “The best thing about coaching these guys, and we have four great guys in the room, is you coach all of them hard and coach them all fairly and coach them all to what they need. One of them might need a kick in the butt once in a while and one might need a pat on the back. But what all of them need is good, honest communication and constructive criticism.

We need to teach every day and I’m not taking anything for granted. I’m making sure we cover everything A to Z and giving them an opportunity to make a mistake, fix it and come back and try it again. Giving them all the opportunity this spring is invaluable. It’s a great opportunity for us to make progress in that room collectively to prepare them to compete in August.”

Obviously some of the quarterbacks on the roster are guaranteed right? I mean their spot was a gimme when the Patriots acquired them. McDaniels said about his quarterbacks, "I don't care what quarterback you're talking about, there's always work to be done."

Phase Three, Special Teams Battles Should Not Be Ignored

There's quarterback competition in New England and all eyes are on Cam Newton and Mac Jones. There are some depth charr competitions at receiver, running back, offensive line and linebacker to distract people also. Which is why people are ignoring special teams again. 

First there's the kickoff return man. Gunner Olszewski seemed to return every kick including those 9 yards deep in the endzone. Gunner is now competing with anyone and everyone for that position. Devin Smith, IsaIah Zuber, Tre Nixon, who knows maybe even Brian Hoyer takes the spot. Joking but you get what I'm saying. It's a spot the Patriots must have someone lockdown.

Then there's the kicker battle. Nick Folk is back but he turns 37 in November. I know, who cares about age with kickers but there's more to it with Folk. His entire career, he's bounced between the upper 70s and lower 80s in field goal accuracy percentage. 2020 was only the second time Folk reached over 90% and third time he got over 85% in his 13 seasons. Coming off a career year, Folk is sure to regress.

The Patriots also have Roberto Aguayo, the Buccaneers 2016 second round draft pick. That's pretty high to take a kicker.That year he went 22 of 31 and has been bouncing around the league Since. The 27 year old Aguayo's 71% as a rookie was a big drop from his 88% accuracy in college. He's been a camp body since.

Then the Patriots signed 2021 undrafted free agent Quinn Nordin from Michigan. He's a cold weather kicker but he only made 72% of his kicks in college. Nordin was the top rated kicker in the country heading into college during 2016 and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh thought he was good enough to have a sleepover to make sure Nordin signed. Belichick has respect for the Harbaugh brothers, so if Jim went that far, Nordin has to be something special. Will Nordin continue the undrafted player streak of making the roster?

The last position to watch is the long snapper. The Patriots drafted Joe Cardona in the fifth round of the 2015 draft. Long snapper isn't normally a position people think about but Cardona is on his seventh season and the average career length for the position is only six years. Cardona is now on borrowed time. Thus we can now expect a yearly camp battle.

This off season the Patriots signed long snapper Wes Farnsworth. At first glance, the Patriots are having a kicking competition, so it makes sense to have a second long snapper in camp but with Cardona now exceeding the career average, it has to be monitored. Farnsworth came into the league in 2019 and has been nothing more but a camp body for the Dolphins and Broncos, losing out in both his competitions. 

The 24 year old is on his third team, entering his third season. The third strike is the charm but it's also theee strikes and you're out. So depending on if you're a pessimist or an optimist will be how you look at Farnsworth.

How one determines when it's time to move on from a long snapper, I don't know. Which makes this one of the more interesting battles to watch.

Rememer there are three phases of the game and Belichick values special teams more than other coaches. There are other special teams players to keep an eye on. Brandon Bolden, Justin Bethel, and Matthew Slater are three just to name a few. Bolden is an opt out player, so that might be enough to see him cut. With the hungry young bloods on the roster, which veterans will get devoured and which will send the whelps crying back to their mothers? 

Belichick's Not Going Anywhere Anytime Soon.

There's a lot of talk about Belichick's successor lately. From Matt Patricia to Josh McDaniels, to names like Jared Mayo and Mike Vrabel. Seemingly since Brady left, people seem to be trying to push Belichick out the door but Peter King says don't hold your breathe.

Peter King wrote, "“The way Belichick is, I doubt sincerely he’d leave the Patriots with a dim future. He’ll view as part of his legacy the shape he left the franchise. That’s why Mac Jones falling to New England at 15 this year was so important to New England’s long-term future—it allows Belichick to feel like there’s a good chance the team now has its quarterback for the post-Brady period.”

Could Belichick be planning to stay until the Patriots are legitimate again? It's possible. He's also not far off from beating Don Shula's record and taking that away from Shula would be a way for Belichick to slap Shula in the mouth, for all the things he's said about Bill. 

Then there's getting a ring to show he can win one with Brady. Brady won one in Tampa and so even though Belichick is the greatest head coach of all time, winning one without Brady would just go to prove his greatness that much more. The Patriots are probably two to three seasons away from being contenders, depending on what happens at quarterback this year.

Now there is another scenario that I've thrown out from time to time and Matt Johnson of Sportsnaut touched upon it recently.

Johnson wrote, "There’s another aspect to Belichick’s desire to hang around football. Both of his sons, Brian and Steve Belichick, are on the Patriots’ coaching staff. Steve serves as a defensive assistant and could be a future head coach, while Brian coaches New England’s safeties."

I have said that Steve Belichick should be the defensive coordinator many times and a candidate to take over for Belichick when he retires. The longer Bill takes to retire, the more experienced Steve becomes. I have also said that I believe Belichick won't retire until both his sons have moved up into bigger roles in the NFL, whether they're both for the Patriots or someone else.

Brian Belichick is still probably four or five years away from being a candidate for any coordinator position. If I'm right, Belichick may coach past 2027. It's doubtful Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia, or Jared Mayo will be with the organization then. However, Steve and Brian might be due to job security and the chance to learn from their pops. So when and if Belichick is lucky enough to walk away on his own terms, it will be years from now.

Could Mac Jones Emerge As The Starter Versus Miami?

There's been a lot of talk about how good Mac Jones looked and how much the same Cam Newton looked at Patriots camp on Thursday, May 27th. With Nick Quaglia, Marv Ezhan, and Mike Molyneaux of CLNS's patriots round table warning that the Newton bandwagon are coming out swinging on twitter against any criticism of the Patriots 2020 starter. So beware if you criticize Cam.

Mike Reiss of ESPN is one of the people praising Mac Jones. Reiss is impressed with how quickly Jones is appearing to pick up the Patriots playbook. Everyone knows the Patriots have one of the toughest playbooks. Last season it was said to be like learning calculus.

Reiss said about how quick Jones was learning the Patriots system, "This is uncommon for rookie Patriots quarterbacks who are adjusting to the volume of information, and also the fast pace in which coaches teach it. It's a lot to process, and that doesn't even factor in how a simple shift by the defense can require a reaction from the quarterback that changes everything in an instant.

Along those lines, every throw from Jones in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills Thursday seemed to go to the right place. There was little, if any, indecisiveness. He's probably further along than any Patriots rookie quarterback, at this point, than anyone who came before him."

Now before the Newton bandwagon gets their torches and pitchforks, Reiss did say not to give up on Cam. But as for Mac Jones, Reiss says, "It was one day in shorts and T-shirts in May, which is critical context. But those seemed like encouraging signs for the Patriots."

Now this isn't the first time there's been reports about how well Mac Jones was doing. Back on May 16th, there was a lot of buzz coming out of Patriots rookie minicamp about how well Jones was doing.

Justin Ramos of Patriots 247 news tweeting, "Patriots QB Mac Jones is having an “amazing” Rookie Mini Camp, per source Coaches & teammates have been “blown away” at his leadership, knowledge, accuracy, film study, and decision making”

What did Belichick have to say about Jones? After the media got to watch Jones, Belichick said, “Mac dove into the playbook and continues to do that, like everybody out there. We all have a lot of things we’ve got to work on. That includes everybody. So that’s what he’s doing. That’s what everybody’s doing.”

Mac Jones is giddy about just being there, so Belichick doesn't have to sugarcoat his words or shower Jones with praise to keep him happy. The rookie is just there to work hard and knows he has to be at his best to take the job from Cam Newton.

On May 27, Phil Perry Tweeted about Jones, "Mac Jones, to me, was as advertised. Consistently accurate, putting the football on people’s faces. Threw with anticipation. Moments where he had the football on targets as soon as they came out of their breaks. Caught Matt LaCosse by surprise with one up the seam."

As Mike Reiss said the quarterbacks worked on 7 on 7, 11 on 11, and other passing drills. So we know Cam threw four passes during the 7 on 7 but how did he look for the day as a whole?

Phil Perry tweeted, "Know folks are interested, but hard to ID much in the way of mechanical changes from Newton. Not a QB coach or kinesthesiologist. Throwing motion looks similar to what we saw last year. Not many opportunities for him to open up and rip it today so we’ll see as OTAs roll on."

Greg Bedard said about Cam, " Throwing mechanics, I don't think they're a whole lot better. Um we talked about in the last podcast about the picture we posted. It looked exactly like Cam from last year and he threw it like Cam from last year. Sloppy foot work..."

Bedard continued about Cam, "They would each take three or four reps throwing to different parts of the field (bucket drills) and when it got to the sidelines, that's when cam got a little bit squirrelly. You know, especially to his right which is what we saw last year because he steps left, he throws right. And when you do that, hell I'm a soft ball and a baseball coach. I know what that does, I coach my kids on this all the time. If you step towards, if you're looking at home plate from the pitcher's mound, and your pitching home and you step towards the first base side, you know either your balls gonna fly to the right or you're gonna pull it into the ground. And that's what Cam did last year, and it's what he did yesterday. It wasn't as pronounced, it was okay."

That's two saying Newton looked the same from last year, and I'm sure you can find a handful of other sport media people that were there, that will say the same thing. There's also three that are saying how impressive Jones has been thus far in quarterback development at a Patriot. I'm also sure you can find at least a handful more that will collaborate what people saw about Jones.

Here's what Belichick said about Cam, notice the tone difference from Jones.

"“Cam’s been here all the way through,” Belichick said. “He was here at the beginning and has been a consistent participant, continues to give us the usual leadership and energy that he brings to the field and to the workouts and practice.

Cam’s very professional, and I’m sure that he’ll continue to work hard and do his best out there like he’s always done for us. It’s never been anything but that from the day he got here.”

Belichick's comments look like one they're trying to quiet the criticism towards Cam down in the media but it also comes off like he's trying to stroke Newton's confidence. With Newton, Belichick's always gave more praise than he normally would with any other player. 

Whether it's so Newton continues to put in the effort or it's so that there's no issues at camp, that's unclear but the way Belichick always seems to shower praise in Newton's direction since coming to the Patriots, even with the other guys on the roster doing well, is uncharacteristic of Belichick over the last 20 years.

With the early praise which is to be taken with a grain of salt because there's only been a limited amount of practice, Jones has a fair chance to beat out Newton for the job. What makes that chance a little more fair is when Belichick said, "we’re starting everybody at the same point like we always do at this time of year.”

Now if Tom Brady was here, nobody would believe that but the one thing Newton supporters have reminded the rest of the fan base time and time again is, "Newton's not Brady!" And with that very comment from Cam's supporters mouths, is why when Belichick says "everyone is starting at the same point," even though he said Newton is the starter until he's beaten out; Jones is right there with Newton at this point of Camp with a reasonable chance to beat him out.

No matter how good Cam can run but inaccurate quarterbacks with bad mechanics will normally get replaced with the more accurate passer. Newton must show drastic improvement this offseason.

Although Tyrod Taylor doesn't have Newton's arm strength or willingness to throw the ball into coverage downfield, if Newton was as good a passer as Taylor; Mac Jones wouldn't be a threat to Newton's job this season. 

Is Matt Patricia Heir To The Belichick Throne?

The Patriots have certainly had an eventful offseason. The team signed two premiere tight ends and drafted a quarterback in the first round for the first time since the king of Foxboro, Drew Blessoe in 1993. So now everyone is hopping on board the Julio Jones trade. Talking about Julio Jones is like people who buy lottery tickets and start talking about their spending before they win. Yeah, it's great to dream but until it happens, I'm not devoting anymore time to it.

Now there is another subject I would like to talk about. People think Matt Patricia is being groomed to be the next general manager because he helped out in the draft and in free agency. I partially disagree, and believe he is being groomed to take over for Belichick completely. While I think Steve Belichick would be a better coach, we don't always get what we want. So let me explain why I think Patricia will be the next man to rule over the Patriots kingdom.

Patricia went to Detriot to install a "winning" culture, and his players rejected it. It's the comments that came out that lead me to believe that Matty P. was treating the Detroit Lions exactly like Bill Belichick. There was a lot of negative talk in the media about Matt Patricia and how nobody wanted to play for him but as Patriots fans, we all heard how much people wanted to actually play with Belichick, so keep that in mind. As I will look to discredit it.

Bleacher Report's KALYN KAHLER quoted a source in Detriot in November 2020 as saying, "Listen, we all want to replicate the Patriots' success, but the track record of guys that come out and seem to try to replicate it is tough among front office and coaches. Authoritarian, very hierarchical organizations, whether they are in football or otherwise, that's what you get: You don't get people to develop their own way." 

The Patriots teach players how to be their best by using them to their strengths. Cassius Marsh complained about that same thing. He didn't get to play and train how he wanted. He had to do things the 'Patriots Way,' and he was miserable because in New England football is treated as a corporate job. Martellus Bennett couldn't get out of Green Bay and back to New England fast enough because he missed the structure Marsh bitched about.

Former Lions quarterback turned analyst Dan Orlovsky said this about Patricia, "To come in and say you had a lot of work to do is completely false. It's a bunch of trash. Because that wasn't the case in Detroit. We were a good football team. Matthew Stafford was playing as good as he has in his career. That was because of Coach Caldwell. And we were an organization that was ascending."

Under Caldwell the Lions went 7-9, 11-5, and two back to back 9-7 seasons. Caldwell appeared to have the team stagnant at a game above .500, so the ownership made a change at head coach and brought in Patricia. The ownership and general manager would've known the culture Matt Patricia was bringing into Detriot and would've had to agree with him on a need for a culture change before hiring him.

Running back Zach Zenner said the following, "We really weren't that bad! We had a good thing going. We had … made the playoffs [in 2016]. It wasn't like he was starting from scratch."

The NFL is about what have you done for me lately. What you did two, three, or even six years ago doesn't matter. That's a major part of the Patriots way. The Patriots won a superbowl in 2018 but nobody on the roster thinks they're a superbowl team in 2021.

Yeah, they may have win the superbowl but for coaches the work begins about a week after the superbowl and for the players at the latest, by OTAs. The time to relax and enjoy the victory is short. The last season becomes irrelevant for the Patriots regardless of what they did. That's something Matt Patricia tried to install in Detriot.

Kahler wrote about the 'Patriots Way' saying, "That Patriot Way is a structure defined by physical practices and post-practice conditioning that former Lions and Patriots player Ricky Jean Francois referred to as 'gruesome.' Head coaches rule more like dictators than democratic leaders, and they have a tendency to call out players in full-team settings, putting guys on the spot to quiz them or identify unwanted behavior.  Players are expected to fall in line, and any resistance or too much self-expression is not tolerated. "

Authoritian and dictatorship has been thrown around to describe the Patriots by many former Patriots, many who had short careers with the Patriots. While players who had success in New England agree regardless of how short saying otherwise. With players like Francios saying that playing for the Patriots is grueling work. Many more also said it's the ring ceremony at the end makes it fun.

Throughout her article, players talked about resisting Matt Patricia's culture change. With Kahler even writing, "Bleacher Report spoke to seven players who spent time on the Lions in 2018, and they all agreed that Patricia's attempts to bring this culture to Detroit were unsuccessful that first year. The result was that not enough players bought in, and because of that, they couldn't achieve the on-field success needed to encourage the buy-in."

It's no secret that Matt Patricia believed in working hard, studying, and practicing. Matt Patricia's former defensive lineman Mike Dainels said about playing under Patricia, "You definitely were going to practice, that was a must. It was mandatory; I'll put it to you like that." 

Players in the nfl are getting paid anywhere from tens of thousands to tens of million dollars to play in the NFL. It's a business what did the Lion's players expect, a street game of shoot'em up bust'em up in the local grocery store parking lot?

Matt Patricia brought in Danny Amendola to help instal a work ethic and the Patriots culture in Detriot. Amendola was no Rob Gronkowski but he was still a critical part of the Patriots superbowl runs. Hence the nickname Danny 'playoff' Amendola.

Amendola had the following to say about playing for Matt Patricia in May of 2020. "The way I operate as a football player and the product that I put on the field in relation to the business that I conduct, I want it to be as tough as possible in practice so when I get into the games I've been there before. I understand what it feels like to be tired in a game because I was tired in practice, and I understand what my body can go through and how I can push my body mentally and physically, and that's something I really relate to. That's something I look for.

This is my sixth NFL team in 13 seasons, and played for all different types of coaches and in all different types of offenses and methods. So this is, what Coach Patricia has to offer is something that I eagerly look for because I know I'll get the best version of me."

Kahler quoted another former Lions player of Matt Patricia as saying, 'There were guys that weren't used to that more blue-collar, hard-work type of style, and so they had something to say about it and they didn't want to conform to that. Those were the type of guys he was getting out of the building, and trading them or releasing them and then bringing guys that were used to hard work." 

Matt Patricia was building a team in Detriot, part of team building is getting rid of guys who don't have the right mindset, who hinder the progress and development of the culture you want installed. Bill Belichick was lucky in his early days as a head coach with the Patriots. There were many players still left from the Bill Parcels days, when Parcels was allowed to build that culture. Matty P. was having to start from scratch.

Francois the former Patriots who played under Patricia in Detriot criticized the players and the assistant coaches. Inferring that neither were doing their job or took it seriously. 

Francios went on to say, "A lot of guys there couldn't adjust to the New England culture. Everybody was still used to the Detroit Lion culture. ... Guys were just so laid-back, they were used to just chill. They didn't have the urgency, they didn't have the urge to get on the football field and go after people." 

Francois continued, "I just don't believe people are staying in the facility long enough. ... When you buy in, you lock in. It's a guarantee."

Players on the roster questioned what buying in meant, especially the players left over from Caldwell who heard what Francois had to say. They just apparently didn't get it. With former safety Glover Quin saying, "Obviously guys are going to gripe and complain, I am not going to sit here saying I didn't gripe and complain. Because some things you are just like, 'Man, what are we doing this for?' But at the end of the day, we did it."

The players had no faith in Matt Patricia, they didn't want to work, and they didn't want to change. When a manager, a coach, a company is dealing with that kinda mindset, the only thing that can be done is to clean house as quickly as possible.

Glover Quin added, "Everybody that had some kind of ties to the last regime, some kind of leadership role, every last one of those guys are gone except for Matt Stafford."

There were guys who tried to rebel and Matt Patricia did his best to get rid of them. Guys who rebel are a cancer to the culture and the locker room. There's no place for them.

Kahler wrote in 2020, "One Lions source says Diggs was turning the locker room against Patricia, which played into the team's decision to deal him to the Seahawks last season."

Trey Flowers said about his time with Patricia in Detroit, "I tried to give as much insight as I could as far as what was the expectation or what was the demand and why is the demand for excellence so high. Coach Patricia, he's a guy who has always been about winning. And so however he can get that out of guys, he demands highly of them and expects highly of them and his standards are very high no matter what environment he goes in."

Flowers spoke about some of the guys that didn't buy into the system saying. "(They) obviously was accustomed to a different style or a different type, and that's just how business goes. Some people like it and some people don't. That's just how any business you go in, you're going to have people that agree with things and don't agree with things."

The biggest problem in Detriot under Patricia was lack of patience. It started from the front office above him and it trickled down to the players under him. Everyone wanted instant gratification or Matt Patricia's installment of the Patriots way in Detroit was a failure. It takes business three to five years to install a culture change. That's what a football team is. If Patricia had stayed on to coach a fourth season in Detriot, changes would've started showing themselves.

Running Zach Zenner said, "It's all the hard work and not the rings. You go to [New England] to win a ring, and you work hard and you earn it or you go deep in the playoffs. And you go to Detroit, you do that same thing, but you just lose. People don't want to lose, and people especially don't want to work way harder than everyone else to have a worse record than people who work half as hard." 

That mindset is what hurt Patricia, it's a misunderstanding from people who don't know the Patriots history. It took Bill Parcels 4 seasons to get the Patriots into shape to appear in superbowl 31. Parcels left after the 1996 season. When Bill Belichick took over in 2000, he had one transition season because of the sheer number of players left over from 1996 AFC championship team. The culture was still there, players just needed a review.

After the firing of Patricia in Detriot some of the players were upset about the coach being let go. Michael Rothstein tweeting, "Reggie Ragland said it's been tough not having Patricia out there because He came to Detriot to play for him." 

Former quarterback Matt Stafford said the following about his former head coach, “He and I had a good relationship, no matter what anybody wants to say. I could go into his office and talk to him, he could get me on the phone whenever he needed to. I think we both grew in that relationship. I have a lot of respect for him and who he is, as a football coach and an unbelievable mind.”

Stafford admitted to Detriot Free Press that when leaving Detriot that he wanted to win now and that's why he didn't want to play in New England, that it had nothing to do with Matt Patricia. Part of me questions if playing in Brady's shadow had anything to do with it.

It just goes to show, what Patricia was doing in Detriot was working. Players wanted to go to Detriot to play for him. Like the Dolphins with Chad O'shea, the Lions caved either due to the player personnel or to inpatients. Regardless of the reason, the lions gave up on Matt Patricia too soon. 

There was enough being said in public to give credence that there's praise behind close doors for Patricia from players he coached in Detriot. We all know good players say things behind closed doors so not to cause rifts in the locker room. 

There's reasonable doubt to question if Patricia would've of had a good season in 2021. He was making progress slow and steady as a head coach because like Rome, the Patriots weren't built overnight, and the Lions weren't going to be any different.

With players Belichick has respect for, that still have respect for the Patriots organization coming out to defend Patricia, it's understandable why Bill rehired him. Why he might be in line to be the next general manager, or even head coach of the Patriots, and successor to Belichick.

The Quarterbacks Threw More Than The Handful Of Passes From The 7 on 7 Drill.

The media was allowed into the Patriots camp for a day of OTAs in Thursday the 27th. The team did their workouts and the media gave their opinions. There has been criticism over Cam Newton and some fans are saying "he only threw four passes", going off the 7 on 7 drill numbers.

Now it is true that Cam only threw four passes during the 7 on 7 drill, while Hoyer threw only two but that wasn't the only passing drills ran in front of the media.

Phil Perry of NBC wrote, "Patriots QBs did some bucket drill today. Stidham and Jones threw the best-looking deep balls. McDaniels also had QBs do a who-can-hit-the-target-quicker drill. From "hut" to the receiver's hands, who wins? Hoyer beat Jones 2x. Stidham and Cam won one each. Hoyer and Cam tied."

There's no way Brian Hoyer threw only two passes and beat out Jones in a drill. Phil Perry wasn't the only member of the media there, let's look at a second source.

Paul Perillo of Patriots.com wrote, "*Always fun to watch the quarterbacks taking part in bucket drills and we caught a glimpse of that on Thursday. All four alternated throwing deep fades from the 20 into the back left corner of the end zone. The quartet went around six times and none managed to sink one. At one point Hunter Henry joined in on the fun and tried a few throws of his own, but he met similar results."

Since Henry threw, his numbers would've been part of the stats released, especially if he completed more than Hoyers two passes. But these throws weren't part of the 7 on 7 drill and weren't recorded. Did any of the media report any other drills? Yes...

Ryan Hannable of WEEI mentioned the bucket drills and 7 on 7 but included, "There was some 11-on-11 work late in the practice, but that was pretty much a walkthrough."

Hannable doesn't get into a lot about the 11 on 11 and this is voluntary OTAs, the entire practice is a "walkthrough. " Now unless you played football, you might not have a full understanding of what a bucket drill is but yes for quarterbacks, it's throwing to a bucket.

Here's is the definition of a quarterback bucket drill according to the Jerry Campbell football. "Each quarterback throws up to 30 passes during the drill. The buckets are moved to various spots on the field on different days so that the quarterbacks can practice a variety of passes. One day, it might be a 15-yard out. The next day, it could be a 15-yard in, or a deep post..."

So here's the thing. It's okay to be fans of players, and maybe the 7 on 7 drill was the only passing drill that mattered but don't ignore the entire body of work done in front of the media. The media got to see more than 3 or 4 passes from each quarterback.

Seeing as the Patriots ran bucket drills and some 11 on 11, to go with the 7 on 7. The media may have seen around forty to fifty throws. It's fair to say they have an early idea of how each quarterback is actually looking.

So if some are saying Newton is looking the same as last year or that one of the other quarterbacks was looking good, they probably know what they're talking about for at least the first day of OTAs with media. Remember this is where players work on improving, so that when the preseason comes, they don't all look like out of shape bums. 

Is Mac Jones The Spark Plug The Patriots Passing Game Has Been Missing?

Between 2018 and 2019, I criticized McDaniels for playcalling. I even started calling him McVanilla. Fans quickly came to his aid, saying "who does he have to work with."

Someplace midway in 2019 I noticed Brady seemed to have lost accuracy and started throwing to bubbles, throwing at the pass catchers and not to where he should've been. I wasn't sure if Brady was phoning it in or of he was starting to lose it. Fans came to his defense saying, "This is Tom Brady you're talking about!", "cut him some slack he's earned it!", but the next one was my favorite, "we don't criticize Tom Brady ever!"

2020 was the most boring the offense had looked, and it wasn't the play calling. I'd watch the game and had huge issues with the quarterback / quarterbacks on passing plays. I'd notice poor ball placement or guys being open, among other things. 

Paraphrasing a little here but fans said, "The poor ball placement was due was apparently due to not having any weapons. And everything else was due to the issues brought on by the pandemic."

The Patriots drafted Mac Jones in 2021. Some people in the media are saying Cam Newton is still looking like he did in 2020. They're also saying at the moment Mac Jones looks like he knows how to operate the offense already and that the competition between Mac & Cam is closer than what people thought it was.

In 2020 Josh McDaniels added some option runs to the offense but ran the "Brady" passing game. Several people in the media are saying, there won't be a different offense for Cam. That the Patriots are going to continue to run the "Brady" passing offense.

Because there was only one day of open practice, it's too early to know what's going on. However, I will say this. If the Patriots are going to run the passing offense they ran the past few years, Newton's mechanics, accuracy, and anticipation must greatly improve. If Jones and the offense moves the ball better than Cam, Jones will start week one.