nashvillepatsfan

silly 'nut'. you know this is what we do best on this board

ctpatsfan77

But let's not forget that he was stuck behind two first-round draft picks his rookie season.

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"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots

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signbabybrady

wait and see...with this team we may wait and still dont see. So speculation now is as good as speculation in a few days.

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Urgent

Tight end is especially thin on this team - the riskiest it has been since 2001.

Watson has had his share of injuries, and is not an elite blocker. He's also been hot and cold as a receiver.
Thomas has been injured his entire tenure here.
Pollard is past his prime.
Then there are a couple unheralded undrafted rookie types.
No big blocking back, which the team has used well.

Presumably with Welker this Patriots team uses less two-TE formations, but it has still been an important offensive grouping, especially for dealing with teams that follow the Giants blueprint.

I would watch cuts around the league. I would not be surprised to see the Patriots pick up a new third tight end, someone that is a blocker first, and has proved durable. I don't see the right mix on this team.

ctpatsfan77

I don't know why I keep having to correct this point (and not just on this board), but . . .

NO HE HAS NOT.

He was active in 15 of 16 RS games his rookie season, mostly on special teams. The only reason he didn't get much playing time was because there were two first-round draft picks ahead of him on the roster.

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"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots

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PatsFan37

Wow, listen you guys. He was out one season, so was Watson. Both starting TEs are coming off injuries, naturally they're going to be careful, esp. since they've got 1 starter and 3 backups to take the practice snaps.

My concern is that about both TEs, that they're both coming off injury. It is a general concern and I try not to panic when someone WALKS off the field.

Compare it to Woods, say, who pulled up and then continued to practice. Woods is fighting for a job in a crowded field. Probably has one but no guarantee. He needs to stay out there.

Thomas is fighting for a job as well, but it hinges more on his health than on beating out competition. He needs to make sure he's okay. Different approaches for different players.

NoCal Patriot

If the Guy can't stay on the field ,I don't see what value he is to this team.It's time for Him to suck it up and play.

Dagg

A breakout year for DT would be practicing for a week staright without getting injured.

Baby steps DT, baby steps...

Real World

This guy is real brittle. It's a shame too because he has some real ability as a receiving TE. What's amazing about his injuries is that they're always season ending. It's not even as if he misses 4 weeks, or half a season even. This guy shows up, gets tackled, and then gets carted into storage for next year.

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

ctpatsfan77

To borrow an appropriate smiley from the Planet:



Thomas had no injury issues in college, and no injury issues his rookie season.

He broke his foot during the OTAs last April/May (someone here posted that he dropped a weight on his foot or something). For reasons I don't understand, the Pats were so anxious to get him on the field that instead of putting him on PUP, they activated him and left him inactive for the first few weeks; he somehow reaggravated the injury, and the Pats then put him on IR. I think if the Pats had kept him on PUP and then activated him around Week 9 or so, he wouldn't have ended up on IR. [Note: this is obviously speculation, but not an unreasonable one.]

So posts like this one are the perfect example of Overgeneralizing from Small Sample Size Theatre.

__________________
"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots

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