Pats Dodge a Bullet: Darius Fleming Clears Waivers and Signs Back on PS

Jeff Howe @jeffphowe
Practice squad, by the way RT @jeffphowe:
LB Darius Fleming has cleared waivers and will rejoin the Patriots, per source.



They are going to need this guy. Our LB corps is really only 3 deep.

I too am glad that Fleming made the Practice Squad.

I would note that Belichick seems to think that Skinner is indeed a linebacker, more worthy of defensive reps than Fleming.

I am still trying to wrap my head around cutting him for Skinner.

Watching the preseason games and training camp practices, nothing stood out about Fleming to me. He seems to fall in the Eric Alexander, Piere Woods.. category. I think there are better players on other teams practice squad that can be signed if there is a need, e.g. Max Bullough(Texans), Shayne Skov (49er)..

More of a rubber bullet, really. I'm also not clear on what Skinner brought to the table that Fleming did not. They both look like they are readily beaten by play action.

I think the answer lies in potential. Belichick's comment on Skinner suggested that he sees improvement, and believes he will continue to improve, or at least has the potential to continue to improve, through additional repetitions.

Bill Belichick via Mike Reiss said:

"Deontae has had a couple good weeks on the practice squad and in practice. It is an opportunity for him and I think he was mentally ready to take advantage of it. Sure he will get better as he continues to play. He hasn't played a lot of football for us this year."

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I hope Skinner can learn speed because he was keeping up the tradition of Slow As Molasses #55.

Something to keep in mind about Darius Fleming is that he was a DE/OLB in college and we seem to be trying to convert him to ILB like we did with Dane Fletcher and Tedy Bruschi. Tedy's journey actually started at OLB and then ILB by his third/fourth years. Sometimes that transformation can take a while and Fleming red-shirting his first two years in the pros due to ACL tears probably doesn't help.

In the long run I have way more hope for Fleming than I do for Skinner, regardless of what BB says.

Im not sure why the pats dodged a bullet here....

TommyBrady12 said:

Im not sure why the pats dodged a bullet here....

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I suggest thinking about it for a day or two. The answer will come to you.

Um...wasn't it just that Skinner seems more capable of inside LB play and that that was what the next few games would focus on more from that position? So he swapped out Fleming and Skinner, assuming he could likely get Fleming back? This is just roster games, per usual. Why are people breathless about it?

it's all sky falling bawksters 24/7 these days, J.C.

we seriously need a halfway decent backup linebacker. Fleming just a guy who will bounce between the 53rd spot and the PS several more times this year.

meatface said:

we seriously need a halfway decent backup linebacker. Fleming just a guy who will bounce between the 53rd spot and the PS several more times this year.

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Which, if true, may answer the question why the Patriots "dodged a bullet".

meatface said:

we seriously need a halfway decent backup linebacker. Fleming just a guy who will bounce between the 53rd spot and the PS several more times this year.

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I thought James Anderson was the guy, but damn. He's still a FA while Skinner starts, so he must have just been terrible in camp.

Dingleberry said:

I am still trying to wrap my head around cutting him (Fleming) for Skinner.

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OLB vs ILB

With Jamie Collins injured and going to be inactive, the Patriots needed another player to fill in for one game. Skinner is better in coverage, in case the Pats needed a player to fill that role.

For the most part the Patriots went with a two-linebacker formation, but when a third LB was needed (when the Vikings went with 1 RB and 2 TE), Skinner was out there. He was a better option than Fleming against those formations.

BradyFTW! said:

I thought James Anderson was the guy, but damn. He's still a FA while Skinner starts, so he must have just been terrible in camp.

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Not sure what happened there as he was supposed to be a coverage specialist and had a huge amount of tackles for Chicago last year...

BradyFTW! said:

I thought James Anderson was the guy, but damn. He's still a FA while Skinner starts, so he must have just been terrible in camp.

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He looked pretty bad in pre season.

jmt57 said:

Skinner is better in coverage,

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If true, that's a brutal condemnation of Fleming's coverage skills.

TheBostonStraggler said:

Which, if true, may answer the question why the Patriots "dodged a bullet".

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It appears that they dodged a bullet because they released a player and were able to sign them to a practice squad without another team signing them. Singing him to the practice squad implies that they currently value that player's services more than any of the other options available. In other words, they didn't lose an asset that they had left exposed.

Fencer said:

If true, that's a brutal condemnation of Fleming's coverage skills.

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Amen! The Vikings' opening touchdown drive was mostly just throwing to Skinner's assignment. I remember one play when Mayo lined up to Skinner's left pre-snap, the TE comes from the left across the middle to catch the ball. Not only did Skinner not get close to covering the TE, but Mayo had to come from further away to make the tackle, with Skinner still 5 yards behind. He looked lost and slow.