So Coach Belichick, Tom Brady, Kevin Faulk, Rodney Harrison, and Tedy Bruschi have all strongly defended Randy Moss. I don't put a lot of stock in Coach Belichick or Tom Brady's defense of Randy (even though I admire both greatly for doing so) because I believe they would defend him under almost any circumstance. I do put some stock in Faulk's defense because he's been willing to be critical of things in the past and was even criticial of the decision to send the late players home and spoke out on it. I put a TON of stock in Rodney and Tedy having great things to say about Randy Moss. Neither of these guys has been afraid to criticize former teammates or Coach Belichick since joining the media. Tedy has even criticized Randy a few times. I have no doubt that if Randy was this terrible guy who often gives less than 100%, both of them would have said something.
Some things to consider: Randy had a terrible game against Seattle (also in the rain) while with the Vikings. This came right after another "distraction" which I believe was the traffic cop incident. Whether it was the rain or the distraction, both games were very similar. Randy has been repeatedly praised by the staff and teammates(both in New England and elsewhere) about being a great practice player who goes hard. He's been praised by Terrance Nunn this year and CJ Jones in previous years for giving them a lot of help even though they were unlikely to make the roster. Earlier this season, during one of the CBS games Phil Simms remarked that the Patriots strength coach (who Simms knew personally) told him that Randy was the hardest working guy in the weight room.
We know Randy has had shoulder and back injuries this year and nobody outside the lockerroom knows whether or not he's injured now. I posted after the Jets game a few weeks ago that Randy looked terrible and was blasted for it. At the time I said I hoped he just had a bad game and was not injured. He looked VERY stiff in his movements in that game to me.
I have a lot of respect for Tom Brady taking blame for the interception yesterday, but that was clearly Randy's fault. I know Tom claimed miscommunication, but Randy was taking that play off because he knew he was the 3rd or 4th option. He picked the wrong time to take a play off and there is no excuse for it. Every WR takes plays off (according to Cris Carter, Tom Brady, Brad Johnson, Deion Sanders and others who have weighed in on the situation), but Randy cost us a turnover on that play.
One huge issue with Moss is the "Moss cam" the cameras follow him on every play and every move he makes is magnified. As an example, Steve Smith made a very questionable effort for a ball over the middle in the 2nd quarter yesterday. He reached one arm up and the ball hit his hand and went incomplete. Nothing was said. On the flip side Moss goes up high for a ball over the middle and can't bring it in, and Breer calls it a "drop" in his column.
I don't have any reason to believe that Tom didn't yell at Randy. I believe something like that would hurt Randy from what I know from following his career. However, I doubt it would be something that was still bothering him weeks later. If anything, I think the fact that he called Tom and let him know (allegedly) that it bothered him was progress compared to what Randy would have done/said earlier in his career.
I think Randy deserves criticism for playing a poor game yesterday. Maybe he was disinterested, maybe he was injured, maybe he knew Tom's injuries would prevent any chance at him getting any deep passes, maybe it was being sent home...who knows. Bottom line is he played a poor game. I don't believe he deserves to have his intergrity questioned as has been the case by some "journalists" and posters. I do feel it's fair to question his focus and criticize his play from the game.
I'd love to see a WR screen to Randy to open up the Buffalo game. Get him something really easy even if it gains little. Get him involved earlier in the game and hopefully the results will be better.
Some things to consider: Randy had a terrible game against Seattle (also in the rain) while with the Vikings. This came right after another "distraction" which I believe was the traffic cop incident. Whether it was the rain or the distraction, both games were very similar. Randy has been repeatedly praised by the staff and teammates(both in New England and elsewhere) about being a great practice player who goes hard. He's been praised by Terrance Nunn this year and CJ Jones in previous years for giving them a lot of help even though they were unlikely to make the roster. Earlier this season, during one of the CBS games Phil Simms remarked that the Patriots strength coach (who Simms knew personally) told him that Randy was the hardest working guy in the weight room.
We know Randy has had shoulder and back injuries this year and nobody outside the lockerroom knows whether or not he's injured now. I posted after the Jets game a few weeks ago that Randy looked terrible and was blasted for it. At the time I said I hoped he just had a bad game and was not injured. He looked VERY stiff in his movements in that game to me.
I have a lot of respect for Tom Brady taking blame for the interception yesterday, but that was clearly Randy's fault. I know Tom claimed miscommunication, but Randy was taking that play off because he knew he was the 3rd or 4th option. He picked the wrong time to take a play off and there is no excuse for it. Every WR takes plays off (according to Cris Carter, Tom Brady, Brad Johnson, Deion Sanders and others who have weighed in on the situation), but Randy cost us a turnover on that play.
One huge issue with Moss is the "Moss cam" the cameras follow him on every play and every move he makes is magnified. As an example, Steve Smith made a very questionable effort for a ball over the middle in the 2nd quarter yesterday. He reached one arm up and the ball hit his hand and went incomplete. Nothing was said. On the flip side Moss goes up high for a ball over the middle and can't bring it in, and Breer calls it a "drop" in his column.
I don't have any reason to believe that Tom didn't yell at Randy. I believe something like that would hurt Randy from what I know from following his career. However, I doubt it would be something that was still bothering him weeks later. If anything, I think the fact that he called Tom and let him know (allegedly) that it bothered him was progress compared to what Randy would have done/said earlier in his career.
I think Randy deserves criticism for playing a poor game yesterday. Maybe he was disinterested, maybe he was injured, maybe he knew Tom's injuries would prevent any chance at him getting any deep passes, maybe it was being sent home...who knows. Bottom line is he played a poor game. I don't believe he deserves to have his intergrity questioned as has been the case by some "journalists" and posters. I do feel it's fair to question his focus and criticize his play from the game.
I'd love to see a WR screen to Randy to open up the Buffalo game. Get him something really easy even if it gains little. Get him involved earlier in the game and hopefully the results will be better.