TheSolderKing

Jermaine Cunningham - LB - Patriots

ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss singles out Patriots OLB Jermaine Cunningham as someone who is having a disappointing camp so far.
Reiss says Cunningham is being "blocked easier than I thought he would be" in rush drills, and that he was expecting the second-year linebacker to "flash a bit more to this point." That's not good news for a player the Patriots are hoping can nail down a starting job.
Source: ESPN Boston
Aug 7, 8:33 AM


not good news at all

Quick-hit thoughts around NFL & Pats | Mike Reiss | espnBoston

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stinkypete

Vince Wilfork had a second year slump too.

aluminum seats

Well, it's early--don't know we have to call it a second year slump yet. It would be good to have a guy we're hoping will step it up this year not burst out of the gate, but it's only early August.

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HowardRoark

I also recall reading somewhere that he "did not add any pass rushing moves to his arsenal during the off-season" or something of sort. The guy really impressed me last year, disappointing he's having a slow start this year. But hey, it's extremely early. He barely had a camp last year and he ended up doing well.

Elijah

How does one have a second year slump if the first year wasn't impressive in the first place?

NEGoldenAge

I trust Reiss for his informational reporting, but have learned to take any analysis he offers with a grain of salt.

PatsBoy12

I was just about to start a thread about this. Reiss' report is NOT the first I've read that suggests Cunningham is struggling a bit in these early stages of camp. He was one player, among many, who I think we were all watching with special interest because there is such a need to pressure the passer on this team. It's a bit discouraging to hear that he may not have taken that huge step that we were all hoping he'd take.

With all that said, I think we should step away from the panic button for now. It's still very early, as the team hasn't even played its first preseason game. He showed flashes last year, so he is far from a lost cause. He may just need to get a bit stronger and add some more moves to his repertoire.

DaBruinz

I love Mike Reiss when he focuses on reporting the facts. When it comes to actually offering his opinion, he tends to been more miss than hit. This is plainly evident in his draft reviews..

It's only the 1st week of practice. There were no OTA. No Mini Camps. No supervised training. To expect Cunningham to miraculously gain new pass rushing moves by Osmosis is really setting the expectations unrealistically.

Unlike someone like Tom Martinez, I don't know of a D-line "GURU" who regularly goes out of his way to help players.. If there is one, I've never seen it reported. I'd love for there to be one... I'd write a letter to Cunningham telling him to look that person up.

patchick

I hear you, but all the reports on Cunningham have to be considered disappointing, given that he missed most of his rookie camp with injuries then started to develop during the season. He seemed like a natural candidate to take a big step forward.

On the flip side, the many reports of Eric Moore "dominating" are far more than I could have expected.

cstjohn17

The guy was mentioend as the next big time pass rusher but in reality he is likely to be just a pretty good player not dynamic in any special way. McGinest was a top 5 pick, Vrabel was the all time sack leader at Ohio State, Colvin was a prized free agent.

Cunningham was a 2nd round pick without much of a pass rushing resume. IMO he will evolve into a dependable starter but nothing special.