have re-read 3 times trying to find that part (the
insightful bit). So far have found:
A bunch (~ 10) of publicly known facts that were not organized in time sequence (re-organized):
"-- Easley tore his left ACL in 2011,
-- Easley tore his right ACL in September 2013,
--
Dr. James Andrews [sic: uh-oh??] conducted the surgery in October 2013.
--Patriots drafted him in the first round of May's draft,
--he took part in the final practice of minicamp in June before he made his training camp debut Aug. 11.
--Easley has missed eight regular-season practices, including six for knee-related reasons.
--Easley also suffered a separated AC joint in his right shoulder during the Pats' victory against the Bengals in Week 5, and he missed two practices and the following game against the Bills.
--[patriots] keeping him out of ... the Week 12 victory against the Lions
--He has been out of both practices this week.
--Easley has 10 tackles, one sack and one interception this season.
SPECULATIONS WITH SOME BASIS BUT COULD BE JUST OPINION:
--Easley has essentially been playing catch-up all season,
--Patriots have worked diligently to maintain his rehabilitation process by keeping him out of occasional practices*
SPECULATION BASED ON AN ANONYMOUS SOURCE:
--considering placing their first-round pick on injured reserve as a means to get him in a healthier position for the 2015 season**
So all things considered (resource Herald, writer-no track history with me for credibility, general media propensity to hype headlines with catastrophic untrue circumstances to get clicks); I didnt find much to give any credence one way or another.
* He missed a total of
8 practices while suffering an AC Separation over the course of 14 weeks of a season. I dont see how that is
'diligently ... keeping him out of practices'.
** the writer says they are "CONSIDERING"; well I could in effect say that about ANYBODY ON THE INJURY REPORT (to include TB) and say I am being 100% truthful. IR is always an option for an injured player. You can consider something and then immediately reject it out of hand or give it a 10% - lets wait and see. either of those are situations that wouldnt get me terribly excited about the loss of Easley.
I think he is a guy who has great potential to impact the pass-rush at least in obvious pass situations (3d long etc). So I hope, as I suspect, that this is just a click generating exercise for the author. Gotta give him credit in any event, he got my click.