Who will step in for Adalius Thomas? - New England Patriots Forums

VJCPatriot · 11-13-2008, 01:34 PM

Is it going to be Pierre Woods? We know that Crable is out with an injury. Have we called up anyone from the practice squad?

***BelichickFan*** · 11-13-2008, 01:40 PM

It's Woods. At some point they could move Mayo or Guyton. I hope not but if they do it won't be on a short week. Vince Redd is on the PS but he remains there for now.

DGameguy · 11-13-2008, 01:40 PM

I think Pierre Woods will man the position tonight, HOWEVER, tonight I think they make up for AD's pass rush with some nice inside pressure from Mayo. BB has been keeping him from pass rushing, not wanting to overload him, but I think tonight is the night he takes the training wheels off.

***mgteich*** · 11-13-2008, 01:44 PM

As far as reps at OLB, Pierre Woods will take those reps.

As far as a roster spot on the 53, there is no open roster spot. Thomas has not been put on IR. Neither has Wheatley, Alexander, Lew Sanders or Jordan. Any of the five could be put on IR at any time.

Vince Redd should be activated from the Practice Squad for the Miami game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VJCPatriot

Is it going to be Pierre Woods? We know that Crable is out with an injury. Have we called up anyone from the practice squad?

BradyManny · 11-13-2008, 01:44 PM

Felger has - again - a surprisingly accurate and appropriate take on the matter:

Quote:

Pierre Woods is a pretty good story, a guy who made the team as an undrafted free agent in 2006, played all 16 games in 2007 and every game so far this year. This past preseason he was one of the Pats’ better players, so he’s clearly made strides. But there’s no getting around the fact that the drop-off between Thomas and Woods is huge, and that’s nobody’s fault. There aren’t many guys like Thomas who are 270 pounds and can run like a tight end. Thomas can do so many more things and play so many more roles, but that lost versatility isn’t even the worst of it. It all comes down to the pass rush. Thomas was pressuring the pocket better than any Patriots player not named Richard Seymour so far this year, and there’s just no way to replace his burst and athleticism. If the Patriots are going to surprise people come December and January, they’ll probably need some game-changing plays on defense. Something on the order of what Thomas did to Jets running back Leon Washington and quarterback Brett Favre in Week 2, or what Thomas did to the Rams three weeks ago (eight tackles; two sacks).

Woods figures to be a starter now in the 3-4, but if you’ve been watching the defense recently you’ve seen the Pats haven’t exactly spent a lot of time in their base defense. So it’s possible you won’t see a ton of Woods even if he starts. Perhaps Thomas’ loss will mean more snaps for linemen like Jarvis Green, Mike Wright or Vince Wilfork in passing situations. Maybe the coaches won’t have Seymour on the bench quite so much. Maybe we’ll see the 4-3. In other words, don’t expect Woods to step directly into Thomas’ shoes and play all his responsibilities. It will be divvied up. Again, I’ll be looking to see if anyone can pick up the slack on the rush. The top candidate should be Mike Vrabel, who hasn’t had a sack since Week 1 and has just one hit on the QB over the past eight games.

satz · 11-13-2008, 02:54 PM

Once thomas went out woods came in and played every down .so now not 1 have notice the drastic drop in production during last game.

He has been in rotation all year and i think its time for him to step up. how many low draft pick and udfa will we label as scrap even though we get proved wrong every week.

Bunta played a year as starter and woods is better than bunta .

***ALP*** · 11-13-2008, 04:05 PM

woods will take over for AT, we'll need Redd as a backup, so hell be brought up at the expense of someone else (prob not AT)

also, i think about the pressure up the middle is a good point, but hte way i see it, mayo will be playing coverage underneath ont he rb and te, b/c no other LB can do it just as good, and guyton will be used as the guy go pressures up the middle

***DarrylS*** · 11-13-2008, 04:30 PM

It is expected that the Jets will use the hurry up, so the pats cannot get into their "sub" packages.. so Woods will have to step up big time..

***reflexblue*** · 11-13-2008, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VJCPatriot

Is it going to be Pierre Woods? We know that Crable is out with an injury. Have we called up anyone from the practice squad?

Man I fell bad for Crable, this would have been his chance to show what he has. I know he wouldn't have started,but i think he would have been out there splitting time with Woods.

***BelichickFan*** · 11-13-2008, 04:34 PM

Unless Mayo, Guyton or Bruschi is going outside in a 4-3 it's not an issue. We lost an OLB not an ILB. Going to a 4-3 doesn't help unless you also move an inside guy outside.