Shaq Mason benched vs. Jets

With all due respect to Reiss I think he may be reading too much into this one. Mason has played well especially for a rookie. Who knows why he didn't play but I don't think he's in the dog house.

How about getting Andrews back in there and kicking Stork out to guard.

The_Riddler said:

How about getting Andrews back in there and kicking Stork out to guard.

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That's what happened on the TD drive. It was Stork-Andrews-Jackson

The_Riddler said:

How about getting Andrews back in there and kicking Stork out to guard.

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With Stork at left guard, the team drove to its lone touchdown of the day, which naturally leads to the question whether or not Stork should make a permanent move to guard. The 25-year old, who was New England's best interior linemen in training camp prior to injury, has experience at guard, having played the position at Florida State before converting to center. At 6'4, he also has the size to make a move, which would probably leave the Patriots with a Stork-Andrews-Kline interior.

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Should the Patriots Move Bryan Stork to Guard?

Remember that Mason played in a run-heavy system in college. His pass protection needed some work, which was the knock against him. He'll likely improve in that area. But he's a rookie and the Jets have one of the better defensive fronts in all of football. This is not surprising.

IMO, "benched" is the wrong word to use. I haven't seen anything from him to warrant that- the effort and the earnestness is obviously there. I think it's more of putting him in the right situation where he feels like he's succeeding and making good progress and can grow/gain confidence from that.

PP2 said:

IMO, "benched" is the wrong word to use. I haven't seen anything from him to warrant that- the effort and the earnestness is obviously there. I think it's more of putting him in the right situation where he feels like he's succeeding and making good progress and can grow/gain confidence from that.

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Exactly. The Patriots have been rotating bodies in and out of the line-up along the OL all season long. This just wasn't the match-up for Mason.

i have to say that OL has been my headache this season - let's hope they will find the way to protect # 12

One has to wonder what BB will be addressing in the next draft... ( after the Pats win the Super Bowl)

patsinthesnow said:

@MikeReiss
Rookie G Shaq Mason, who didn't finish Sunday's loss to the Jets, isn't on injury report. That clears up his absence - performance-based.

@JMC00 may be onto something with a pass blocking orientated OL.

For anyone that follows OL play closely, was Mason really that bad pass blocking Sunday?

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In my opinion, the 2 rookie OL have been favored based on their performance that week all season with the exception of the weeks we only dressed 6 OL due to injuries. It just went largely unnoticed because Kline was in the OG spot and that was viewed as him getting his playing time. We only noticed Mason being out this week because it moved Andrews to OC and Stork to LG. If Kline had been healthy we would not have noticed Mason being out.

These players are rookies, and both of them are projects, especially Mason who is extremely raw as pass blocker. They are developing them on the fly.



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What happened to BillB's praise on Shaq?

Bill Belichick raves about Shaq Mason: ‘One of the most athletic offensive linemen I’ve coached’

zipster9 said:

What happened to BillB's praise on Shaq?

Bill Belichick raves about Shaq Mason: ‘One of the most athletic offensive linemen I’ve coached’

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I thought the buzzword "athletic" was code for "not very smart but has the physical tools".

archstanton543 said:

I thought the buzzword "athletic" was code for "not very smart but has the physical tools".

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BB supposedly only drafts smart players...if they are dumb as rocks, they usually end up on other draft boards.

VectorPrime said:

Why was Wendell put on IR again?

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I don't think he will ever play in the NFL again. I don't know what is wrong with him but it is not an injury he has some type of illness and I just have a feeling that will be the outcome.

BlueThunder said:

One has to wonder what BB will be addressing in the next draft... ( after the Pats win the Super Bowl)

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He has drafted 5 OL in the last 2 drafts. I am not sure how much more he could address the line.

Solder, Vollmer, and Stork are all top 10 players at their positions when healthy. Cannon is actually a good RT (unfortunately he can only seem to play well there). I expect Mason and Jackson to both be starters long term, I think Mason could be the best OG in the NFL if coached up and he works hard. The guy is an unbelievable athlete.

Health has been a major issue on the OL. Solder, Vollmer, and Stork have all missed significant time.

Where is this report coming from? Mason's not on the practice/injury report. This thread needs some attribution to the New England Patriots, not some reporter. There's no reason why Shaq Mason shouldn't play.

I watched the game again and I think I saw the play that got him benched. Its a play action pass where the whole line blocked hard to the right except the left guard(mason) who rolled left with Brady and blocks whoever doesnt fall for the misdirection. Ive seen this exact blocking design consistently work w/ Wendell doing what was asked of Mason. Mason failed pretty hard and things did slightly improve after he was benched.

Im still not sure how our oline will play out but Andrews and Kline should both be permanent starters. They and Michael Williams have been the most consistent blockers all year.

VrabelJr said:

Scar is a legend but Deguglielmo has done a really good job especially when you factor in injuries and youth.

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Just out of curiousity regarding your take:

When is the last time the Patriots fielded an OL worse than the current version?

The lack of both pass protection AND inability to open up holes for the running game may end up being what does the 2015 Patriots in. Let's hope not, but they're running out of time and the lack of cohesion is really hurting this team.

Sad to see what many perceived as a position of strength turn into such an obvious weakness. Some here were even starting threads about the prospect of trading one of our OL due to what was then believed to be such a strong area. The first and second halves of the season have been night and day different.

If the return of the short passing game from the healthier WRs turn things around and Steven Jackson emerges as some type of realistic option, we should be fine--but those are two big question marks at the moment.

This season there has not been a lot of talk about the O line "meshing" into one cohesive unit, probably because every week there are different combinations used because of injuries... difficult for cohesive line play, particularly as the O line is continually in flux...

The lack of consistency, due to injury, has hampered the individual development of players..