If the first and second day of training camp for the Patriots was clearly 1-1 between the defense and offense, then Day 3 was more of a tossup. There was some good and bad from both units as things continue to progress towards the first padded practice on Monday. The Pats have one more practice this week on Saturday morning (9:30, open to the public) before the first day off…
Depth Chart: EDGE, Matthew Judon, MLB, JaWhaun Bentley, MLB, Raekwon McMillan, SLB Mac Wilson, SLB Cameron McGrone, MLB Harvey Langi, EDGE, Ronnie Perkins, EDGE, Josh Uche, EDGE, Anfernee Jennings, MLB, Jahlani Tavai, EDGE, DaMarcus Mitchell Breakdown: The Patriots go into training camp with some new faces at linebacker. One of the objectives of the off-season was to get faster at linebacker after getting run out of Buffalo in the Wild…
Prior to positional drills starting on Wednesday morning during Day 2 of mandatory mini-camp, linebacker Matthew Judon was belting out the words to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” grabbing teammates by the shoulder pads, trying to get them to join in. Judon wasn’t around for the voluntary OTA’s, but over the last two days he’s brought the energy early and often. Now in his second year with the Patriots,…
FOXBOROUGH – So much for the full day of rain. It turned out to be a beautiful day at Gillette for the second of three mandatory mini-camp sessions and once again, there was some positive signs in all three phases. Here’s what stood out throughout another lengthy two-hour practice on Wednesday… -Coach Belichick met with the media before practice donning a green Celtics hat and opened with a message: “Start…
There was a slight first day of school vibe on the lower practice field behind Gillette Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Mandatory mini-camp began and aside from a few excused absences, just about everyone was in the house for the first of three straight practice days. There was definitely a bit more tempo to the near two-hour session compared to the optional OTA’s and we even got a small skirmish at…
After two open practices where almost everyone – but not everyone – was in attendance, the Patriots are set to begin three days of mandatory offseason mini-camp on Tuesday. For the first time, we should get at least a small taste of what the 2022 Patriots are going to look like. The entire defensive unit, the offensive line, quarterback Mac Jones, the receivers and the new staff should all benefit…
Okay, so none of us thought the Patriots would be in this position back in August, right? Sure, once Mac beat out Cam for the starting job and it was clear he was going to be the guy moving forward, a lot of people believed he’d have what it takes to help lead this team to something better than the 7-9 finish a year ago. But, no one could have…
PHOTO: Bob Donnan – USA Today Sports Don’t look now, but the season that seemed destined for failure just a few weeks ago is suddenly looking more and more like one of Bill Belichick’s career masterpieces in the making. I believe 2001, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2018 will stand as his best work given different circumstances in each of those seasons, but with a third straight win on Sunday,…
PHOTO: JUSTIN REX/AP It wasn’t very pretty, but 2-3 looks and sounds a hell of a lot better than 1-4. Mac Jones continued to show is toughness behind a patchwork offensive line who did its job admirably on Sunday and Nick Folk buried a 21-yard field goal with 15 seconds left to give New England a 25-22 win. The defense continued to struggle as Texans rookie quarterback Davis Mills threw…
All preseason long, we’ve seen what type of chaos this defense could create. We saw it again at times on Sunday, but when the unit needed a stop the most in a 17-16 loss to the Dolphins, Miami was able to do whatever they wanted. Matthew Judon and Josh Uche were as advertised, making big boy plays that made your jaw drop. On the flip side of that, the secondary…