Merriweather and Seymour on PFW

[Rob0729]

From Pro Football Weekly:

Following the season-ending knee injury suffered by CB Chad Scott early in training camp, word from Patriots camp is that rookie Brandon Meriweather is adapting well to the CB position and may play the position exclusively this season. We hear that Meriweather preferred to play safety because he likes hitting people, but that he has been coming around to the idea of playing cornerback since his chances of earning more money and having a longer playing career are much better at the CB spot than at safety. Meriweather, a 5-11, 195-pounder who would?ve been a bit small at safety, has displayed the speed, smooth hips and ball skills to play corner. With Asante Samuel still holding out (as of this writing) and Randall Gay penciled in as the starter opposite Ellis Hobbs, Meriweather has been getting lots of reps as the slot or nickel corner.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/default.htm?mode=afceast

Word from New England is that DE Richard Seymour is not seriously hurt and was put on the preseason PUP list to give him more time to heal from offseason knee surgery. The Pats also hope the extra rest will help Seymour be a little fresher when the season starts.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/Whispers/2007/whispers2207.htm

Good to hear Seymour will be ready and rested for the season.

 

[37Harrison]

From Pro Football Weekly:

Word from New England is that DE Richard Seymour is not seriously hurt and was put on the preseason PUP list to give him more time to heal from offseason knee surgery. The Pats also hope the extra rest will help Seymour be a little fresher when the season starts.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/Whispers/2007/whispers2207.htm

Good to hear Seymour will be ready and rested for the season.

I am wondering more about how they got word out of NE about an injury to a player rather than Seymour being ready to play the season opener. Is that backwards?

 

[zippo59]

If Meriweather does go to cornerback exclusively, I hope it is because that is where he will be most successful and not because it is out of necessity.

 

[Rob0729]

I am wondering more about how they got word out of NE about an injury to a player rather than Seymour being ready to play the season opener. Is that backwards?

LOL! It is funny. Pro Football Weekly seems to get more info on players at times than many of the local guys not just here, but on a lot of other teams.

I'm guess is that since they do not focus on the Pats, they can print some of the juicier nuggets without much fear of being cut off access to Patriots sources. If the local guys printed everything they got from their sources, they might risk drying up that source and being denied certain access.

I have heard several of the beat writers talk about this. They sometimes have certain pieces of information that is news worthy, but is asked to sit on the information. They honor the request because they know that they will be in better position to get an even better story or exclusive later.

 

[Rob0729]

If Meriweather does go to cornerback exclusively, I hope it is because that is where he will be most successful and not because it is out of necessity.

The general consensus of the reports I have seen so far is that he has the hip-movement and instincts to be a CB. He is really impressing people primarily working at CB.

Wilson was moved to safety because of neccessity, and at least his first two years, enhanced the team and was a contribution to two Super Bowls. So why can't a Merriweather move to CB out of neccessity turn into a huge bonus for the team. If Wilson can return to his 2004 form and resigns for the Pats' price, Merriweather may be more needed after this season at CB than safety. It is doubtful that Samuel is in our long term future.

 

[zippo59]

The general consensus of the reports I have seen so far is that he has the hip-movement and instincts to be a CB. He is really impressing people primarily working at CB.

Wilson was moved to safety because of neccessity, and at least his first two years, enhanced the team and was a contribution to two Super Bowls. So why can't a Merriweather move to CB out of neccessity turn into a huge bonus for the team. If Wilson can return to his 2004 form and resigns for the Pats' price, Merriweather may be more needed after this season at CB than safety. It is doubtful that Samuel is in our long term future.

If Samuel does report it will be interesting to see if whether Meriweather sees more time at safety.

 

[BritPat]

I'm just glad we have some depth on the D-line, less intelligent and more desperate teams might have been pushing their star man back in to action sooner than is ideal.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

If Meriweather does go to cornerback exclusively, I hope it is because that is where he will be most successful and not because it is out of necessity.

Sounds like a combonation of both. Although Merriweather has been adapting well at CB, he may be a little small to play safety. Also, Samuel is holding out and Chad Scott is on I.R.. If Samuel returns, Merriweather will be able to play both positions which always helps.

 

[Rob0729]

If Samuel does report it will be interesting to see if whether Meriweather sees more time at safety.

It will probably depend on when he reports. I think if Merriweather plays the entire preseason at CB and Samuel shows up a week or two before the season, it may be counter productive for Merriweather to switch him to safety at that point.

We seem to be better off at FS than CB even with Samuel. We have a legitmate starter in Wilson and a solid back up in Hawkins. At CB, there are still a lot of questions about the depth even with Samuel. Gay can't be trusted to play an entire season and James could be a risk although it was reported that he is starting to emerge in the starting rotation.

Either way, I see Merriweather starting this year playing primarily nickelback no matter which position he ends up in.

 

[RobertWeathers]

There aren't that many rookie CBs that kick butt their 1st year but if the kid is producing and BB thinks he can handle it both physically and mentally, why not play him there? If he hits some bumps, fine. If he hits some bumps, we move Gay there and make a call to Asante and tell him this foolishness needs to end so sign the tender.

I do trust BB in identifying where people can play/can't. If you recall, Tebucky Jones played CB under the Grier/Carroll regime and was awful. After the 3rd day of camp, BB moved him to SS and played pretty well there for a couple of years.