Injuries Heading into Camp

Not to be an alarmist but just so expectations are reasonable :

James Christensen ‏@NEPatriotsDraft 4m
From what I'm hearing, the Patriots will be nowhere close to full-strength roster-wise until well until training camp.

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 2m
Hearing Same RT @NEPatriotsDraft: From what I'm hearing the Patriots will be nowhere close to full-strength roster-wise until well into camp

Well that's a given. Dobson..dennard..wilfork...Kelly..gronk may miss some time.

Let's just hope that they can avoid something like last year when the games count in 6-7 weeks, and even more, into the postseason.

Missing OTAs, minicamp, and a chunk of training camp is not a recipe for a 2nd year leap. Hopefully Dobson is there a week from now.

"Nowhere close" sounds like a fair amount of players. Who are we talking about here? I looked up who missed some or all of OTAs: Mallett, Dobson, Dennard, Easley, LaFell, Tommy Kelly. Limited were Gronk, DJ Williams, Justin Green. Easley showed up at the end (the one session closed to the media after warm ups). Anyone else? Doesn't strike me as that long a list. Maybe there will be some surprises. Either way, yes, as much as you'd like to see everyone at camp right at the start, the long view is what's important.

The player I'm most worried about is Dobson. He's missed time and foot injuries are no joke for WRs. I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy here but he's not an established player like Wilfork or Gronk and he needs to be on the field learning. Studying the playbook is one thing but it's not everything. I hope he's out there for TC and stays on the field.

Easley showed up for the one OTA because he was finally under contract. He couldn't participate prior to that.

DaBruinz said:

Easley showed up for the one OTA because he was finally under contract. He couldn't participate prior to that.

Click to expand...

Is that true? I thought it was training camp that rookies can't participate in unless they have a contract. For instance, Manziel didn't sign until June 17 but he participated in all their OTAs. Is it a Patriots rule?

DaBruinz said:

Easley showed up for the one OTA because he was finally under contract. He couldn't participate prior to that.

Click to expand...

That's incorrect. You can participate without a contract in the OTAs

Reiss' chat today re: Dobson:

Yikes, kind of a bummer. Sounds like no one's really expecting him to be ready for the beginning of camp, which would be a shame. He stands to benefit more from time with Brady/the offense than anyone, IMO.

BelichickFan said:

Not to be an alarmist but just so expectations are reasonable :

James Christensen ‏@NEPatriotsDraft 4m
From what I'm hearing, the Patriots will be nowhere close to full-strength roster-wise until well until training camp.

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 2m
Hearing Same RT @NEPatriotsDraft: From what I'm hearing the Patriots will be nowhere close to full-strength roster-wise until well into camp

Click to expand...

Im not mad that some of them will be coming in later in camp especially the older veterans. Less of a chance of injury or wear and tear in my opinion. But the young guys Easley, Mallett, Dobson etc., need to get in here faster to be competitive pieces for this team.

BradyFTW! said:

Reiss' chat today re: Dobson:

Mike (11:07 AM)


Mr. Lucky, if Dobson isn't on the field by the END of camp, that would be a major disappointment. Lost season might be a bit extreme, but he needs to practice to take full advantage of the desired jump from Year 1 to Year 2, and so much happens in training camp from an installation/building trust standpoint. If they start him on active/PUP, as long as the absence isn't too deep into camp, he should be OK from my view.
​

Yikes, kind of a bummer. Sounds like no one's really expecting him to be ready for the beginning of camp, which would be a shame. He stands to benefit more from time with Brady/the offense than anyone, IMO.

Click to expand...

You do realize, however that they are just guessing, right?
Its funny how on this board the number of uninformed stories that speculate about something the more they are treated as fact based.

AndyJohnson said:

You do realize, however that they are just guessing, right?
Its funny how on this board the number of uninformed stories that speculate about something the more they are treated as fact based.

Click to expand...

Uhh... yes. I do realize that. Hence "sounds like" and "expecting".

I am not worried about any player missing the first week of camp. I am sure there will be plenty of veterans who will be held out of training camp as a precaution until the dog days of camp are over like Wilfork, Kelly, Gronk, and possibly 1-2 others.

It will suck if Dobson misses a week or two of camp, but it isn't as big as some are making it out to be. If he misses more, then it becomes an issue.

BradyFTW! said:

Reiss' chat today re: Dobson:

Mike (11:07 AM)


Mr. Lucky, if Dobson isn't on the field by the END of camp, that would be a major disappointment. Lost season might be a bit extreme, but he needs to practice to take full advantage of the desired jump from Year 1 to Year 2, and so much happens in training camp from an installation/building trust standpoint. If they start him on active/PUP, as long as the absence isn't too deep into camp, he should be OK from my view.
​

Yikes, kind of a bummer. Sounds like no one's really expecting him to be ready for the beginning of camp, which would be a shame. He stands to benefit more from time with Brady/the offense than anyone, IMO.

Click to expand...

You're reading too much into that. Mike was giving a worst case, ie, he would be worried when and if he wasn't on the field by the end of campe. His stance all along though has been that he thought there was a pretty good chance he'd be ready for the START of camp.

rochrist said:

You're reading too much into that. Mike was giving a worst case, ie, he would be worried when and if he wasn't on the field by the end of campe. His stance all along though has been that he thought there was a pretty good chance he'd be ready for the START of camp.

Click to expand...

It was widely reported this week by a couple of different sources that Dobson would NOT be ready at the start of training camp in 6 days. This is likely why Reiss has changed his stance.

I agree with him. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that as long as he's there about 1/2 way through TC, that he can't still see some kind of productive season. Let's just hope that in 3 weeks or so, we're close to seeing him.

I am not that worried about all the absences. What calms me down is that none of them should be a surprise for the coaching team. Internally, I think they have a pretty good estimate on Dobson and the others.

As long as I dont see any sudden injuries or panic mode FA moves, I assume that everything goes according to whatever plan that has been in place since early this year.

luuked said:

I am not that worried about all the absences. What calms me down is that none of them should be a surprise for the coaching team. Internally, I think they have a pretty good estimate on Dobson and the others.

As long as I dont see any sudden injuries or panic mode FA moves, I assume that everything goes according to whatever plan that has been in place since early this year.

Click to expand...

Agreed, but on the other hand, I personally was having the (apparently incorrect) feeling that we were somewhat healthy heading into TC, so this comes as a bit of a surprise to some of us.

I suppose I was feeling more optimistic due to the situations of Wilfork, Kelly, Easley, Gronk, Amendola, Mayo etc--who seemed to be heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, there's always another group to take their place. Hopefully, it won't be nearly as bad as last year, and hopefully, we'll see a healthier group heading into the end of August.

supafly said:

It was widely reported this week by a couple of different sources that Dobson would NOT be ready at the start of training camp in 6 days. This is likely why Reiss has changed his stance.

I agree with him. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that as long as he's there about 1/2 way through TC, that he can't still see some kind of productive season. Let's just hope that in 3 weeks or so, we're close to seeing him.

Click to expand...

Well, googling, the most recent stuff I can is all from the same day. I get the following leads (which is pretty damn fun in and of itself):

Aaron Dobson optimistic for training camp return

Patriots' Aaron Dobson unsure of training camp status

Patriots hopeful on Aaron Dobson for training camp ...

Aaron Dobson Tentative for Patriots Training Camp - Pats ...

Aaron Dobson Could Return To Field For Patriots Training

Those are all from July 9th. As far as I can tell, they're based on nothing really other than a brief interview with Dobson in which he said he was optimistic.

I do know that were at the far end of the projected recovery time and as far as I can tell, there haven't been any set backs.

rochrist said:

Well, googling, the most recent stuff I can is all from the same day. I get the following leads (which is pretty damn fun in and of itself):

Aaron Dobson optimistic for training camp return

Patriots' Aaron Dobson unsure of training camp status

Patriots hopeful on Aaron Dobson for training camp ...

Aaron Dobson Tentative for Patriots Training Camp - Pats ...

Aaron Dobson Could Return To Field For Patriots Training

Those are all from July 9th. As far as I can tell, they're based on nothing really other than a brief interview with Dobson in which he said he was optimistic.

I do know that were at the far end of the projected recovery time and as far as I can tell, there haven't been any set backs.

Click to expand...

We'll know soon enough (5-6 days), but the recent reports that I've heard have him starting the training camp period on PUP (TC PUP, not reg season PUP). Since they were from twitter and coming from local beat writers, I am assuming that they may not be able to be found through a normal Google search.