mgteich

The purpose of the preseason is NOT to show the fans how much we should expect from our veterans in the regular season. There is no reason for any returning veteran to play other than to protect the franchise or to help the coaches evaluate folks within a reasonable offense or defense. I wouldn't even expect to see much playing time from Taylor. Belichick knows what he has.

Some non-youngsters do need to be evaluated: Galloway, Lewis, Alex Smith, Walter, Burgess, Ninkovitch, Lenon, Springs, McGowan, Tank Williams, Ciurciu, Jones.

PatsFanSince74

It's a great topic...

Brady has said (without drawing a conclusion) that he wonders if his injury would have happened if he'd played in the pre season last year, so it seems that there's some perceived value in pre season play for veterans as well...Ben Roethlisberger said something similar at halftime of his pre season game last week...he actually said that without it "players sometimes get injured on opening day"...

I don't want to turn this into a Big Ben debate (we have enough of them), but when the two QB's who've appeared in six of the last eight or so SB's raise the issue, I think we at least have to take it seriously...

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MrBigglesWorth

so you don't think any of our returning veterans are fighting for jobs right now?

you don't think maroney is being evaluated for a possible trade?

or perhaps they're being evaluated to see if the pats need to pull a trade to shore up a spot light ted washington.

i think some elite vets don't need to be evaluated but to say all our vets are safe is too all inclusive.

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JD10367

I think the preseason works pretty good the way they usually do it. First game, starters play a few series or the 1st quarter; second game, they play the first quarter and some of the second; third game, they play until halftime, and maybe one more series in the third; fourth game, they play around the same as in the first game.

Some coaches get a little creative. Belichick played with the 4-3. Haley sent in the backup WRs with Cassel, then put better guys in with the backup QBs. Some coaches like to see their 2s against another team's 1s.

The purpose of the preseason is to try some new things, and mix-and-match some personnel to see how things work. It's also to shake the rust off the old guys and make sure they remember what to do--and, in some cases, for a few of the old guys, to see if they still CAN do it. It's also to see what some FA pickups have to offer and, of course, to test out the rookies.

It is what it is.

patchick

One thing I don't think the preseason is for: scheming, game planning and playcalling for victory. I know that sounds obvious, but I've seen posts praising O'Brien's playcalling against Philly....

mayoclinic

I agree with your statement given the emphasis on "for victory". Obviously, there's tremendous value to experimenting with schemes and plays in order to evaluate personnel and in preparation for the regular season.

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patchick

Oh, absolutely. And on defense in particular there are a lot of players, new and old, getting used to new roles and techniques this year. But as for comments on how O'Brien "mixed it up nicely" against Philly...

Deus Irae

No

Not unless they think Burgess can't get it done

Given that Taylor was the example, I'd say that it's likely Mgteich was referring to the sort of 'grizzled' veteran with skills and abilities that are already fully known by the coaching staff.

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Gwedd

In the Navy, we used to call it a "shakedown cruise". Take the ship out for a week or two prior to a deployment, and see how everything and everyone runs. Go through the emergency drills, test all the weapons and sensors. Let the crew see how they and the ship work together.

Pre-season is exactly the same. Except we didn't have excess crew to get rid of...

RayClay

They're certainly using it to test new defensive schemes and personnel possibilities (Myron, TBC Burgess pass rush).

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