B6 Camp Notes - Can I have gravy on my crow? Can someone get Boyce a 5 hour energy?

Brady6 said:

It is no secret that I have never had a nice thing to say about Danny Amendola (as a player) but he appears primed to have me choking down some crow. I was at camp yesterday and Amendola put an Allen Iverson ankle breaking move on an Eagles defender, it was outstanding. This article is a great read:

http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports...ur-patriots-are-lucky-to-have-danny-amendola/

Edelman is having a terrific offseason and camp, LaFell looks like he can be the swiss army knife we lost when Hernandez went rouge, combined with a healthy Dobson at the X-WR, and Amendola doing what he has done in camp this offense is going to be surgical. Oh wait then there is that Gronk character who happens to be the best TE on the planet when healthy.

The defense is getting a lot of love but this offense is primed for a huge season based on what I have seen at the 4 camp days I have attended.

@Joker I hope your fan club is ready to cheer...

On a side note Josh Boyce is going to have a really hard time making this team, he does not show 100% effort, the other WRs attack upfield when they catch the football in drills, I was watching Boyce and he jogs like he is playing catch with his friends. That low effort is very disappointing from a player who has the tools to be a terrific pro...

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KontradictioN said:

If Amendola is looking this good, then we have to pray that he doesn't do what he usually does: get injured. He would have been a weapon here last year but the injury in Week 1 really hampered what he could do and he was never really healthy after that.

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varjao said:

and even though he had a good season with 633 yards , 11 yards avg.

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KontradictioN said:

He did. That's why so many people were jumping on B6. His crusade against Amendola made no sense and it looks like he's finally starting to come around and realize. That said, the team needed more than that from him in the wake of Welker moving on. If he stays healthy, he's a weapon. But that's a big IF.

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patfanken said:

Just like I never understood your animosity about DA, I can't disagree more with your assessment on Boyce. I've been to most of the open practices and if there has been one consistent event at every one its been Josh Boyce beating coverage deep. Even in the few games he played in last season, Boyce consistently beat coverages deep. He's continued to do it this TC and has improved his inside routes as well. I would agree that he's behind Edelman, DA, LaFell, and Thomkins on the imaginary depth chart, but at this point his chances of being on being on the final roster are good (at least to these eyes)

I do agree with your assessment of LaFell. With every practice he seems to be more comfortable, smother and quicker. As long as our expectations remain reasonable, I think LaFell can fill them. He's just another solid NFL receiver on a team loaded with them. No one elite, but solid depth from one to 6.

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mgteich said:

OFFENSE
1) As of now, I still have 3 quarterbacks (giving us 24 on offense plus Tyms)
2) We could use a kick returner, but perhaps this isn't worth a roster spot for Boyce.
3) Wendell is still inexpensive insurance. I'm not sure that Belichick is ready to count on Stork if Connolly were to be injured.
4) I suspect that Bolden may not have a roster spot on the 53.

DEFENSE
4) I have Smith beating out Moore, who isn't ready for prime time. Worthy might be our backup DE in the base.
5) With regard to the DT's, the list is fine, IFF players are healthy. I suspect that Vellano will make the team.
6) We play 2.2 LB on average, and almost all of us have gone from rosters of 4 LB's to those of 6 LB's. I'm not sure why. I'm OK with 15 on the front 7 (and 6 LB's as long as all the backups are STer's. I suspect that 5 may be a better number, especially given the injury situation at DT.
7) Your safeties from earlier in the preseason are cut (Wilson and Swanson) and yet you still want us to keep 6 safeties, while most of us keep 4 or 5. Again, I'm not sure why.

BOTTOM LINE
Our differences, as always, are about veteran backups and developmental players. I lean toward guys like Smith and Wendell. You like players like Moore, and Thomas. You also take a risk at QB that I wouldn't take. So, for me Mallett and Smith instead of Thomas and Moore (plus understanding that Wendell and Vellano are likely to make the 53, but not if everyone is healthy and performing.

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Brady6 said:

My crusade made sense it may have been excessive but it made sense. Amendola was paid very well to replace Welker, his APY was higher than Welker’s APY for his tenure here. Amendola produced 46% of the yards and 45% of the catches that Welker produced the year prior for us. Then consider that he had 357 yards in 3 games (Bills, Steelers, Dolphins) and 276 yards in the other 9 regular season games he played. I do not consider 2013 to be a good season for Amendola, it was not horrible, but I never said it was, but for a player making $5.7M APY it failed to meet expectations. Consistency is a question mark for Amendola, whether that is a result of injuries or just the type of player he is I do not know hopefully we will shed some light on that in 2014.

I will say at practice I saw a player that looks a lot better than the player that I saw last season. So I am willing to eat my crow if I did not consider the groin injury to be as impactful as it actually was. He did some things yesterday in practice that were eye catching, I was impressed, if those things continue when the games are real then it is likely he will have a terrific season. I am not 100% sold, but I do think he has had an impressive camp to this point.

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BobDigital said:

As far as I am concerned you don't need to eat crow until Amendola plays 80%+ of the total games this season. We always knew he had talent but he needs to stay on the field. I hope he does.

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KontradictioN said:

Repeat after me: he... was... injured. Now if you were bagging on the guy for always being hurt and being called in to replace Iron Man, then nobody in their right mind would have had an issue because that would be correct. But you seemed to have expected Welker numbers when the dude tore his groin off the bone in Week 1 and that's just not reasonable. The player you saw at practice is the player Amendola is. The problem is that you rarely get that player because injuries slow him down but 2013 wasn't exactly a horrible season by any stretch of the imagination.

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Brady6 said:

Like I said he has looked good in practice. Let's see how he looks in game action before we determine how much of it was the groin last season. It is very possible you are correct but I'm not going to concede that until I see a few games of proof.

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mgteich said:

OFFENSE
1) As of now, I still have 3 quarterbacks (giving us 24 on offense plus Tyms)

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KontradictioN said:

Repeat after me: he... was... injured. Now if you were bagging on the guy for always being hurt and being called in to replace Iron Man, then nobody in their right mind would have had an issue because that would be correct. But you seemed to have expected Welker numbers when the dude tore his groin off the bone in Week 1 and that's just not reasonable. The player you saw at practice is the player Amendola is. The problem is that you rarely get that player because injuries slow him down but 2013 wasn't exactly a horrible season by any stretch of the imagination.

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I am party said:

Medical question: From what I can gather by googling, Amendola did tear the adductor longus muscle off his pubic bone, but he never had surgery to re-attach it. The doctors said it would heal with rest. How is it possible for a detached muscle to heal with just rest? Don't they have to re-attach it, by going in and suturing or whatever?

I remember something similar happened when Favre had a strained biceps, and to fix it, instead of re-attaching it, they completely severed the tendon, which allowed him to continue playing. That one had me baffled as well.

Aren't tendons supposed to be attached? Any doctors in the house?

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