NEW ARTICLE: First Look at OTAs and Latest Patriots ‘Cheating’ Incident

[PatsFans.com Article]

First Look at OTAs and Latest Patriots ‘Cheating’ Incident
Mark Morse
This is a compilation of various reports from the Patriots' open media day of the Organized Team Activity.

The post First Look at OTAs and Latest Patriots ‘Cheating’ Incident appeared first on PatsFans.com.

Continue reading...

(If you enjoyed this entry - hit the Thumbs Up/If not, hit the Thumbs down in this thread)

 

[crawhammer]

Mark Morse going on the offensive...

Patriots Cheating

The rules violation that cost the Patriots being docked two OTAs and Bill Belichick fined $50,000 was strictly the responsibility of Special Teams coach Joe Judge. Bill Belichick took responsibility for it at the Press conference on Wednesday. However, all he would say about it is that we are past it and moving on.

I do not agree with Greg Bedard’s assessment that this was just a mistake and that Judge is an easy target now that Matt Patricia is not in town anymore. I believe Judge should have been swept out the door along with Patricia. He was as much to blame for that disaster last season, one that may ultimately ruin a promising young QB.

According to Bedard, “because Belichick, via assistant Berj Najarian, reminded all coaches of the offseason rules less than a month before the infraction.” Bedard tries to play this off as an “aggressive mistake”. Judge knew better and did it anyway. This type of disregard for the rules can’t be tolerated anymore. Judge needs to go. He was a former head coach and knew exactly what he did.

“The punitive nature of the punishment likely reflects the Patriots, meaning Judge, being careless with an NFLPA monitor on hand, and then not self-correcting quicker — like they/he was ignorant of the infraction, or simply didn’t care. That’s a ”big mistake” states Bedard.

Judge created another rules violation situation for Belichick even though Bill had nothing to do with it. Bill took full responsibility in his press conference.

Is this another example of Belichick not being on top of things like he used to be?

Bill is now losing his coaching staff the way he lost the locker room last year. This violation was reported by a player, probably an NFLPA rep like special teams long-snapper Joe Cardona. Perhaps in the past, this minor issue would have been overlooked. Not today.

Jack Jones could have been the whistleblower. Because of his suspension at the end of last season, he may hold a grudge against the Patriots. It will be interesting to see how he is used in the pre-season. Will his suspension affect his status as a potential starter? I have him penciled in as the RCB starter.

This type of “Cheating” needs to stop! Judge needs to be made an example of and dismissed from the team. If it was a player making this kind of mistake, Belichick would cut him loose in a heartbeat. The Patriots need to clean up their name and right now Patriots=Cheaters.

Maybe it's not so much a question of 'has Belichick lost his fastball?' (which is entirely evident) but did he ever really have one?

 

[State]

Get well, Mark. You’re gold.

 

[holyredeemer]

Sorry to hear you’re fighting through some **** Mark, but glad to see you’re still fired up about our Pats! Hope you start feeling better soon.

 

[Scotty]

Best wishes and hope you are better soon.

 

[50-yard-line]

Hope you're doing better, Mark, and good article (mostly). I always enjoy your work.


The second half of this one, not so much. "Cheating" is way too strong a word, and way too loaded a word, for what happened. This type of thing happens all the time under the stringent rules of the way things have to be done, and particularly happens with teams that have "old-school" philosophies in a league that's determined to create an unrecognizable product based on brand and individual superstars.


It wasn't a nothingburger, but you'll see bigger fines levied for a hit in a game, and the Pats routinely cancel days of OTAs.


Aside from that, this part of your piece is based on supposition and bad feelings. We don't know who, if any player, blew the whistle - there was an observer on site.

"Bill is now losing his coaching staff the way he lost the locker room last year. This violation was reported by a player, probably an NFLPA rep like special teams long-snapper Joe Cardona. Perhaps in the past, this minor issue would have been overlooked. Not today."


And the beginning of that paragraph regarding losing the coaching staff is a complete flip from your own descriptions and every other report regarding the practice that was viewed by the press, where words like "clockwork" were thrown around and talking about how this year was a complete reversal of last year's crapshow.

Reiss is right: Judge is an easy target for people now that Patricia is gone. And I'll say again: if he coaches he special teams and they perform like they did before he left for the Giants, then I'm glad he's there.

 

[captain stone]

Judge Joey is a national Embarrassment, and is one of the reasons that certain free agents (i.e.: those with Real choices) have refused and will continue to refuse to sign here unless they are massively over-paid for the privilege.

It should be considered nearly a sin that ownership is throwing away money in this fashion, at Bill's insistence.

Sic semper franchises that care less about winning than about other matters... Just ask the other 3 residents of Loserville USA.

 

[paco130]

Mark Morse going on the offensive...

Patriots Cheating

The rules violation that cost the Patriots being docked two OTAs and Bill Belichick fined $50,000 was strictly the responsibility of Special Teams coach Joe Judge. Bill Belichick took responsibility for it at the Press conference on Wednesday. However, all he would say about it is that we are past it and moving on.

I do not agree with Greg Bedard’s assessment that this was just a mistake and that Judge is an easy target now that Matt Patricia is not in town anymore. I believe Judge should have been swept out the door along with Patricia. He was as much to blame for that disaster last season, one that may ultimately ruin a promising young QB.

According to Bedard, “because Belichick, via assistant Berj Najarian, reminded all coaches of the offseason rules less than a month before the infraction.” Bedard tries to play this off as an “aggressive mistake”. Judge knew better and did it anyway. This type of disregard for the rules can’t be tolerated anymore. Judge needs to go. He was a former head coach and knew exactly what he did.

“The punitive nature of the punishment likely reflects the Patriots, meaning Judge, being careless with an NFLPA monitor on hand, and then not self-correcting quicker — like they/he was ignorant of the infraction, or simply didn’t care. That’s a ”big mistake” states Bedard.

Judge created another rules violation situation for Belichick even though Bill had nothing to do with it. Bill took full responsibility in his press conference.

Is this another example of Belichick not being on top of things like he used to be?

Bill is now losing his coaching staff the way he lost the locker room last year. This violation was reported by a player, probably an NFLPA rep like special teams long-snapper Joe Cardona. Perhaps in the past, this minor issue would have been overlooked. Not today.

Jack Jones could have been the whistleblower. Because of his suspension at the end of last season, he may hold a grudge against the Patriots. It will be interesting to see how he is used in the pre-season. Will his suspension affect his status as a potential starter? I have him penciled in as the RCB starter.

This type of “Cheating” needs to stop! Judge needs to be made an example of and dismissed from the team. If it was a player making this kind of mistake, Belichick would cut him loose in a heartbeat. The Patriots need to clean up their name and right now Patriots=Cheaters.

Maybe it's not so much a question of 'has Belichick lost his fastball?' (which is entirely evident) but did he ever really have one?

I agree that Joe Judge should be gone!