PatsFans.com Menu
PatsFans.com - The Hub For New England Patriots Fans
New England Patriots > Patriots Blog

Thursday Patriots Notebook 3/26: Belichick Uses 'Choice Language' After Rule Change, Bedard Reveals Scary Hernandez Interaction, More Notes

Ian Logue
Ian Logue on Twitter
Mar 26, 2015 at 7:12am ET


Hernandez showed a lot of promise, but legal troubles have seemingly ended his NFL career. (USA TODAY Images)

An interesting note on MMQB.com from former Boston Globe writer Greg Bedard, who recently attended a court session for former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.

Bedard painted the picture of the day pretty well, while reflecting on the contrast of seeing Hernandez in the locker room with his teammates and now seeing him on trial for murder.  He also confirms part of Ron Borges' Rolling Stone cover story on the tight end, who felt in danger after signing his $40 million contract extension from a gang back home in Bristol, Connecticut, who was apparently making demands from him.  As a result Bedard writes that Hernandez flew in to Indianapolis at the scouting combine to discuss the possibility of a trade out of New England to get him away from them.

But that was a weekend where Hernandez seems to have shown his true colors, with Bedard revealing a scary interaction between the two after he ran into him Sunday night at a local bar while he was with some fellow NFL writers.  Hernandez "exchanged pleasantries" with their group and even bought them a round, and as the only Patriots writer there the two chatted about the Patriots and teammates who might be leaving during free agency.

Bedard says that was the end of their conversation, but later that night, he was forced to get involved after seeing Hernandez "urinating on a running taxi cab".

That was the extent of our interaction until later that night, when I looked out the front window of the bar and saw Hernandez urinating on a running taxi cab, with the driver yelling at him. All I could think was, Great, Hernandez is going to get in trouble, and I’m going to have to write about this nonsense. I asked a confidant of his if he might want to go get his friend. “He won’t listen to me,” the confidant said, “so why don’t you go get him?”

For some reason I didn’t think this to be unreasonable. I went outside, walked up to Hernandez and suggested he should probably use the restroom inside unless he wanted to get arrested. No response. Then I lightly touched his elbow to guide him back into the bar and said, “Aaron, come on. This is stupid.” At that point Hernandez whipped around, got in my face, unleashed a stream of expletives and concluded, “I’m not a child! You’re not my dad!”

I replied, “Well, you’re acting like a child right now. Fine, do what you want to do.” Then I went back inside and joined some friends at a table.

A while later, Hernandez came back inside, shot me a My bad glance and joined the conversation. I remember him stating his desire to move to receiver full-time in the Patriots’ offense (something he had pleaded for with receivers coach Chad O’Shea, who probably didn’t take the request seriously). Hernandez was back at the bar when it was time for me to call it a night. I shook his hand and said, “I heard there’s some stuff going on with you and your family. Hope you get the resolution you’re looking for. See you later.”


It's a scary glance into a player who had shown so much promise and seemed to have a future.  Fortunately it wasn't any worse that night, and even now, Bedard's still trying to reconcile the dual images he has after covering Hernandez for the two seasons he was here.

NFL CHANGES RULES ON FORMATIONS:

The NFL made more changes to the NFL rulebook on Wednesday, opting to make the use of ineligible receivers illegal outside the tackle box, which obviously takes away the ability for teams to be innovative and challenge defenders while they try and understand who they should be able to cover, and who to leave uncovered.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh lost his mind when New England pulled the move against them back during the Divisional round of the playoffs in January, screaming at the officials and throwing a fit despite the fact the team reported Shane Vereen, who was the player in question, lined up out wide in the slot to the right.  The officials had even told Harbaugh not to cover him, but he continued to yell and was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

“It’s not something that anybody has ever done before,” Harbaugh said after the game. “They’re an illegal type of a thing, and I’m sure that [the NFL will] make some adjustments and things like that.”

Unfortunately he got his way, and after the ruling was announced, the Ravens took to Twitter to let their fans know of the change.

As for Belichick, he's not too concerned.

"Whatever it is, it is," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said via ESPN Wednesday. "It would affect a lot of other plays, the spread punt formation and stuff like that. Whatever the rule is, it is."

The bad news for the Ravens is, while Harbaugh may likely be feeling some satisfaction in the rule change, it doesn't change the fact that at the time the rules were still the same for everyone and Belichick got the last laugh as Harbaugh was clearly out-coached on that day.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

- According to the Boston Herald, Darrelle Revis confirmed the Patriots weren't even close in their attempt to keep him in New England.  “I’m not going to speak the numbers, but I had the option, the $20 million option, that they could’ve exercised and they didn’t,” Revis told the Herald. “We tried to work on a deal, and we felt that it wasn’t in the ballpark of what we were looking for. We just moved on and they moved on, too. I had a great conversation with Bill (Belichick), and we moved forward just like they did. That’s how you look at it.”

- The Herald also reported that changes may indeed be coming to increase the level of difficulty in regards to extra points, although the league, for now, has decided to table the vote for about a month.

- Saints coach Sean Payton had some nice things to say about newly acquired running back Travaris Cadet, who joined the Patriots in free agency this offseason.   “(Cadet’s) a real smart player,” Payton said via the Boston Herald. “He’s exceptional as a receiver. His ability to run routes other than just from the running back route tree, he is someone that can jump in the receiver line and run out-routes and run comebacks and actually has experience doing that. So when he came to us as an (undrafted) free agent in ’12, he came the first week or two and was in receiver meetings and receiver drills.  I would say his hands and his football IQ are exceptional.”

- Apparently Belichick wasn't pleased with the NFL this week after the league opted not to add cameras down in the end zone to give officials better angles on replay reviews.  According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, who cited a league source, said that Belichick used "choice language" during the meeting with NFL head of officials Dean Blandino, expressing the fact that while the league is willing to send the Pro Bowl to Brazil and play regular-season games in London every season won't spend the money to pay for the extra cameras it would take to cover all end zone angles.

- Rex Ryan continues running his mouth this offseason as he continues talking about the Patriots and his desire to overtake them in the AFC East.  “I don’t know how wide open it is when you have New England on top who have 12 of the last 14 division titles,” said Ryan via BuffaloBills.com. “We’re going to find out. I can’t wait for it. I know I’ve got a long way to go. There’s a lot of work left to be done, but we’re coming after them.”  Ryan also doesn't believe they're as strong as they were last season after losing Revis and Vince Wilfork.  “I said the league got better and New England didn’t because they’re the world champs,” said Ryan. “It’s hard to get better than that. So I think I made an accurate statement when I said they’re not better than they were. They can’t be. I hope they’re not anyway. They lost some good players. You lose Revis, Vince Wilfork and what they mean in the locker room besides their play. Hopefully it catches up to them. But Brady is still Brady and Belichick is still Belichick so those two are going to make them the favorites again.”

- Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke on Ted Wells investigation into the "deflate gate" debacle and despite the fact that if Wells is able to dig up enough dirt to find the Patriots guilty of some wrongdoing, which would then in theory potentially cost them a draft choice, one would believe the goal would be to conclude the investigation before the upcoming draft.  However, according to the Boston Globe, Goodell claims there's no timetable in place on the investigation.  “We have not put a time frame on Ted Wells,” Goodell said. “We have asked him to be thorough, complete. And when he’s finished with that, he’ll give that to us and to the public in general.”  As it stands right now it's 65 days in, two months to figure out what Bill Belichick figured out in a few days.  It's unbelievable.


More News Headlines:

MORSE: 5 Thoughts as Wolf Underwhelms with Patriots Free Agency Class

MORSE: 5 Thoughts as Wolf Underwhelms with Patriots Free Agency Class

By: Mark Morse
The final straw broke the camel’s back.  When Tyron Smith signed a one-year deal with the NY Jets, this transaction spelled the doom of rookie…
10 hours ago
Monday Patriots Notebook 3/18: News and Notes

Monday Patriots Notebook 3/18: News and Notes

By: Ian Logue
While there has been some speculation that the club might be willing to entertain offers for the #3 overall pick, it sounds like New England…
12 hours ago
Patriots Add Vikings WR Osborn

Patriots Add Vikings WR Osborn

By: Ian Logue
The Patriots may be having a tough time attracting high-end talent when it comes to wide receivers, but that hasn't stopped Eliot Wolf from trying…
1 day ago
Patriots News 3-17, Free Agency, The Dynasty, Mock Draft 1.0

Patriots News 3-17, Free Agency, The Dynasty, Mock Draft 1.0

By: Steve Balestrieri
The only way I wouldn’t stand pat at #3 is because I’d have serious concerns about either Maye or Daniels being “the guy”
2 days ago
Friday Patriots Notebook 3/15: News and Notes

Friday Patriots Notebook 3/15: News and Notes

By: Ian Logue
The Vikings are among several teams who have been pondering a move up the draft board, but a move on Friday signals that they may…
3 days ago

Search For Links: - CLOSE
For searches with multiple players
add commas (Ex: "Bill Belichick, Devin McCourty")