Teams New England Patriots - The Pats

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Pro Football Focus' Doug Kyed reports a source indicated WR Nelson Agholor "could be the odd man out" in the Patriots receiver room.​

Per Kyed: "A source close to the situation expects one of the Patriots’ veteran wide receivers to be traded or released, and that source believes Agholor is the prime candidate. Agholor counts for $14.9 million against the salary cap this season. New England would save $9.9 million by trading him and $4.9 million by cutting him." Appearing on a Good Football Show on Monday, NBC Sports Boston's Tom Curran also indicated that he doesn't expect Agholor to play much of a role for the Patriots this season. The question at this point is if the Patriots could actually get another team to take on Agholor's $9 million base salary. Kyed notes that a "personnel executive of a wide receiver-needy team" did not believe the Patriots would be able to find a team willing to take on Agholor's contract, making the 29-year-old a potential release candidate. Ultimately, the Patriots may decide to hang onto the eight-year veteran, but Agholor is firmly off the fantasy radar.

 

[Turkey Tom]

Patriots practice observations: Defense keeps dominating, this time against the Panthers

Paywalled - Patriots defense keeps dominating in joint practice against the Panthers

"In the first of two joint practices between the Patriots and Panthers, New England’s defense stole the show with a thorough beatdown of the Carolina offense. While the Pats defense has outplayed its own offense throughout training camp, that only seemed to generate concern about the offense, not raise optimism around the defense."

"The Patriots’ new offensive scheme seems to rely on a lot of two-tight end formations. But the idea of that continuing could be in jeopardy without improved play from the players at the position.

Hunter Henry has played well (though he left Tuesday’s practice early), but No. 2 tight end Jonnu Smith had another drop on an easy pass and No. 3 tight end Devin Asiasi dropped one pass and fumbled after catching another."

"After Tuesday’s practice, nearly every member of the Patriots defense could be singled out. But it’s worth mentioning rookie Marcus Jones, the third-round pick whose dominant play makes him seem like a shoo-in to become the starting nickel corner."

Also a couple of fights broke out and all players involved were ejected from the practice.

 

[Exe Gesis]

 

[Exe Gesis]

Patriots rookie receiver Tyquan Thornton suffers collarbone injury​

Posted by Michael David Smith on August 20, 2022, 12:26 PM EDT


Patriots receiver Tyquan Thornton will miss the start of his rookie season.

Thornton suffered a collarbone injury last night that will cause him to miss some games, but not the entire season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The Patriots took Thornton out of Baylor in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft, and he was one of the Patriots’ few offensive bright spots in training camp, and caught a touchdown pass in New England’s first preseason game. He’ll be missed when he’s out.

With Thornton out, the Patriots will hope that DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor can give them a deep group of receivers for quarterback Mac Jones.

 

[Exe Gesis]

NFL Network's Mike Giardi reports Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton (collarbone) is expected to be out around eight weeks.​

Thornton, who has been New England's best wideout during training camp, suffered a serious injury during the Patriots' preseason game against Carolina Friday night. The rookie speedster was a favorite to start for the Patriots; without him, the team will likely be forced to use Jakobi Meyers, DeVante Parker, and Kendrick Bourne as its top three receivers. Bourne, meanwhile, has reportedly tumbled down the New England depth chart this month. Thornton can be left undrafted in seasonal leagues.
SOURCE: Around The NFL on Twitter
Aug 20, 2022, 4:38 PM ET

 

[ausbacker]

With Season 2022 upon us, I must confess, I have no idea how it will play out for the Patriots. The preseason looked worrisome but I'm hoping it was little more than BB playing possum. As always, it'll come down to how the Pats perform in the trenches.

 

[Memphis]

With Season 2022 upon us, I must confess, I have no idea how it will play out for the Patriots. The preseason looked worrisome but I'm hoping it was little more than BB playing possum. As always, it'll come down to how the Pats perform in the trenches.

It is going to go exactly how you feel.

 

[ausbacker]

It is going to go exactly how you feel.

It's strange. While the result didn't go our way, I don't think the game was as bad as the scoreline reflected. 3 turnovers and one busted coverage killed the Pats but Miami, by any stretch, wasn't impressive. While Rham gets the headlines, Harris should shoulder the load as he's a heck of a RB. I'd like to see more scheming toward the Tight Ends and Bourne has to play more (I don't care for BB's message bullshit anymore, we don't have that luxury).

I'm not expecting much against Pittsburgh but you never know in the NFL.

 

[Turkey Tom]

The Athletic summary of their game summary. Paywalled:-

Why a vanilla offense was the main culprit in Patriots' Week 1 loss to Dolphins

Why did the offense struggle so much? A look into what the numbers reveal. And what was the one positive to take from Sunday's loss?

theathletic.com

• Vanilla offense - they used only two personnel groupings in the entire game.
• Cole Strange was the team’s best offensive lineman in pass protection, not allowing a single pressure on 29 passing snaps.
• Kendrick Bourne sat on the bench till the fourth quarter. (some issue there!)
• DeVante Parker - underwhelming debut.
• Pass rusher Deatrich Wise was a positive.

 

[Turkey Tom]

Well, a win is a win I suppose. Lucky to win it, mainly thanks to great catch by Agholor, a muffed punt by Pittsburgh (thanks Gunner! ), and a dropped certain interception on a Jones sling and hope.

Maybe Jones was affected by the back injury from last week? But IMHO Trubisky looked the better QB....and he was very average, even though the stats say Jones was better.

 

[ausbacker]

Well, a win is a win I suppose. Lucky to win it, mainly thanks to great catch by Agholor, a muffed punt by Pittsburgh (thanks Gunner! ), and a dropped certain interception on a Jones sling and hope.

Maybe Jones was affected by the back injury from last week? But IMHO Trubisky looked the better QB....and he was very average, even though the stats say Jones was better.

Mac looks like he's playing too fast atm. Perhaps he'll come good as the season progresses and familiarity with the new scheme develops but right now, the gap between him and the league's best seems large.

As for the game, the defence looks to be above average and I'm glad the team went back to rolling with Harris. He's a very good player.

 

[Turkey Tom]

Paywalled -

Why more play-action passes could help the Patriots offense

The Patriots have run play-action passes on early downs at the lowest rate in the NFL despite Mac Jones' success on those plays.

theathletic.com

Summary:-

• changes from last week - "more shotgun plays to give Jones additional time to identify blitzers and keep his eyes downfield." and "running game worked better"
• "Another positive sign for the offensive line was its ability to pick up the blitz."
• "The Patriots offense has also largely ignored run-pass options so far. It’s an area where Jones has thrived in the past." "But after experimenting with the play in the preseason, Patricia and the offense seem to have ditched it. Through two weeks, they’ve yet to run an RPO that ended in a pass."
• "One of the stranger takeaways from the Patriots’ first two games has been their lack of success with tight ends."
• Deatrich Wise continues to play well
• "Myles Bryant, who is listed at 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, had one of the toughest matchups of any Patriots player Sunday, tasked with frequently covering 6-foot-4, 238-pound receiver Chase Claypool.

Yet despite the size mismatch, Bryant played well and surrendered only three catches for 15 yards."

 

[ausbacker]

I'm beginning to have reservations about Mac being the guy. He's on a bad decision making regression path.

 

[Constantgin]

I'm beginning to have reservations about Mac being the guy. He's on a bad decision making regression path.

Help his progression if he actually had an offensive coordinator not the crap he has now that is clueless.

 

[Cockliff38]

I'm beginning to have reservations about Mac being the guy. He's on a bad decision making regression path.

Granted I haven't watched every game this season but I'm still on the fence whether these early-season struggles are on Mac or the coaching staff... penalties and dumb mistakes (fumbles, not finishing routes) leads me to think it's the latter but nonetheless agree Mac has been poor.

 

[Memphis]

Any news on how long Mac is out for?

 

[ausbacker]

Granted I haven't watched every game this season but I'm still on the fence whether these early-season struggles are on Mac or the coaching staff... penalties and dumb mistakes (fumbles, not finishing routes) leads me to think it's the latter but nonetheless agree Mac has been poor.

Bit of both but the ill advised throws are on Mac. To me, it looks like he's playing way too fast.

 

[Bostonian]

Still enough games left for Hoyer to win league MVP and lead us to a SB victory.

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports tests showed Mac Jones suffered a "pretty severe" high ankle sprain in Week 3 against the Ravens.​

Jones' injury looked like a potential season-ender on the replay, making today's news about the best we could hope for. Pelissero said the team hopes Jones' injury won't require surgery, but that it's hard to imagine him playing in Week 4 against the Packers. Brian Hoyer will likely see the start next week if Jones is out, but fantasy managers can leave him on the waiver wire. Hoyer could be a desperation add in 2QB and superflex leagues.

 

[Cockliff38]

Most fun game in a long time. Too bad we couldn't get the result. Definitely a character building game that could set up the rest of the season.

Jack Jones is going to be a helluva player after 1-2 years of decent coaching. A lot to work with there. Might be curtains for Wynn though

 

[Cockliff38]

We're rolling nicely now, with a friendly patch in the schedule to come. Thornton looks a nice player, but his emergence might spell trouble for one of Agholor/Bourne.

Wynn not getting any better

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Surely the trainers tell Jones he isn't healthy enough yet. Might not be healthy for the rest of the year if Zappe keeps it up. Hes getting better every week.

 

[srobbo]

Zappe’s spreading the ball around nicely & with Stevo balling on the ground (with Harris back next week) we’re in good shape. I’d be pretty flat if Mac’s given the nod straight up when his form was putrid prior to the ankle.

 

[Exe Gesis]

 

[Exe Gesis]

Mac Jones Rumors: QB's Attitude Irking Some Members Of Patriots

Mac Jones' penchant for in-game outbursts reportedly has bothered some members of the New England Patriots -- but not players.

nesn.com