Bryan Stork is placed on DTR reserve

Chiuba E. Obele said:

Yeah, the D-lines in our division are vicious

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They are all one one injury away from being meh.

This sucks but this is a good move. The Pats need to be careful with Stork.
I hope that he will be ok.

well that sucks, also a good indicator of why they kept andrews

robertweathers said:

Ugh...

Part of me would like to see Wendell at LG and Andrews at C. I liked what he did in preseason.

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Whatever keeps Wendell at guard (not center) and Kline at NOT ON FIELD works for me.

This is very unfortunate. Hopefully the time off helps Stork recover.

In the meantime, I wonder if they will plug Wendell in at center? IIRC, he struggled at the end of 2013 against the bigger DTs. Furthermore, Solder struggled early last year without an experienced LG next to him.

Perhaps they will consider Andrews at C and Wendell at LG instead of Wendell at C and Mason at LG?

Be that as it may, I think the staff is more confident in the OL this year as opposed to last year, when Solder was coming back from a health scare and they dealt Mankins to Tampa a couple of weeks before the opening game.

Well that's a gut punch.

Looks like a Solder-Mason-Wendell-Jackson-Vollmer OL to start the season?

Well, at least he helped us win a SB.

So he would be eligible to return after week 8?

New blocking scheme for Suh, Dareus and Richardson

TommyBrady12 said:

they should have signed evan mathis to shore up that interior

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With what cap space?

Brady6 said:

The good news is he only misses 7 games, having him and LaFell coming back at mid-season will be huge for us.

As far as the OL goes I think Belichick is going to roll with Mason and Jackson at the guards, they may struggle early, but the experience will only help develop them. I expect Solder to be better this season than last now that he is in good health.

Solder – Mason – Wendell – Jackson – Vollmer

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I think people tend to forget, looking back at Solder last season, that he spent the offseason dealing with cancer. I understand viewing him as a bit of a question mark, but it's a question mark where I'm a lot more inclined to be optimistic than not.

Tough break.....he makes such a difference for us, now two of our interior positions are weaker. I'm guessing Wendell at center(no Andrews, please) with Kline and Mason rotating at guard.

ctpatsfan77 said:

With what cap space?

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If money was the factor, they could've created the cap space to sign Mathis. Getting rid of Branch and Hoomanawanui, for instance, would do it, as would not paying Reggie Wayne $450K for a week and a half of preseason.

For better or worse, I think either the Pats didn't want him for the money he cost or he didn't want to come here.

Can someone go over the timeline of storks issues? When did they creep up and when did this latest stage start?

BTW, just a few years ago if you'd told me that a concussion was an injury that could keep someout for for 11 weeks, I wouldn't have really believed it. Amazing how quickly the sentiment around them has changed, and a good development for the players in general. Granted, this all might just be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic as far as a fatal, systemic issue that can't be managed away, but I definitely prefer taking this stuff seriously to not.

robertweathers said:

He missed the Jets game last year b/c of a concussion.

He had a couple of concussions at FSU.

Hate to be pessimistic but clearly with his history the team is taking a ultra-conservative approach- which they should.

Hope he is ok.

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Didn't know about his concussion history, very serious no good for having a long career. I agree, don't take chances with his long term health.

That's definitely not good. Shades of Mike Wright.

I think we will see all dressed Olinemen playing tomorrow at some point. The question is will it be 7 or 8. If memory serves, I believe they typically dress 7 and if so:

Solder, Vollmer, Cannon - pretty much a given

Jackson, Wendell, Andrews, Kline, Mason - one would sit, my guess is Mason for this game

I NO like. NO like at all. Get well soon champ.

Jeff Howe ‏@jeffphowe 10m10 minutes ago
Shaq Mason gave up 1 sack and 2 pressures in the preseason. His pass blocking issues are based on his college reputation, not his NFL work.