Official Rookie Mini Camp Thread

[Remix 6]

well 38 i guess isnt really a # that Meriweather wants

27 wont be open but 29 might depending how the rest of the DBs and ST perform witout Eddie Jackson

like i said before:
24 and 29 might be the only 20 #s avaible by start of season

 

[gomezcat]

Fine for Coach to say that this weekend there's no evaluating going on, just teaching.
Doesn't mean it has to remain that way for us.

From what Mike and Breer tell us:
o Moss' locker adjoins Brady's. Waddaya know.
o Corey Hilliard will not be with us come September. It's not that he can't get into shape by t/c
... it's that he isn't smart enough to realize that he had to be in shape TODAY.
o Remarkable how everybody seems to be ogling Oscar out of the corner of their eyes all the time.
Mark Lua an early favorite to stick.

Yeah, Hilliard's lack of fitness doesn't bode well for him. I thought BB said something in the press conference, which should be essential listening for all draftees. He said that some rookies come to camp, able to do sprint drills and great broad jumps, but lacking game fitness. He said it at about 12 minutes into the conference.

 

[drew4008]

29? Damn. That's an awful number. I hope somehow he doesn't get it.

 

[shirtsleeve]

Thanks, Pats 1, Mike, et.al. for bringing the story to us before its even released by the press. Outstanding as always.

 

[DefenseRules]

http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=latestnewsdetail&pid=25224&pcid=41

Meriweather took the field for the first time. While there wasn’t a lot to go by, Merriweather was smooth in his backpedal and displayed good change of direction in drills. He also showed some leadership skills, barking out assignments to other players on the field and pointing to where they should line up.

I found that last part very intriguing. Rodney MIGHT be able to take a break during games this year and let the rook take over from time to time.
Merriweather has a long way to go, but it's good to know that he has these leadership skills. You never know when we might need him to step up.

 

[Remix 6]

http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=latestnewsdetail&pid=25224&pcid=41


I found that last part very intriguing. Rodney MIGHT be able to take a break during games this year and let the rook take over from time to time.
Merriweather has a long way to go, but it's good to know that he has these leadership skills. You never know when we might need him to step up.

i've said it all along. What makes Meriweather better than Nelson is he understands offenses very well and he knows defenses very well. He calls the shots and hes a leader. If you didnt watch Miami games, you've missed it but Senior Bowl was evident too. Who was the young man hollering in the secondary adjusting people and getting people pumped up? Thats right.

 

[BelichickFan]

http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=latestnewsdetail&pid=25224&pcid=41


I found that last part very intriguing. Rodney MIGHT be able to take a break during games this year and let the rook take over from time to time.
Merriweather has a long way to go, but it's good to know that he has these leadership skills. You never know when we might need him to step up.

Eugene Wilson surely couldn't step it up when Rodney was out. As intriguing as this makes his leadership skills, I'm equally happy that it sounds like he must have spent some time learning the defense.

 

[DefenseRules]

i've said it all along. What makes Meriweather better than Nelson is he understands offenses very well and he knows defenses very well. He calls the shots and hes a leader. If you didnt watch Miami games, you've missed it but Senior Bowl was evident too. Who was the young man hollering in the secondary adjusting people and getting people pumped up? Thats right.

I guess I should have listened to you. I was one of the doubters. But the more I get to know this kid, the more I like him. I can't wait to see him in action during preseason.

 

[The Gr8est]

BB and SP don't make mistakes in the 1st round and this kid is no exception. Considering how far the Pats went to ensure themselves that Meriweather didn't have any character issues, you can see that they really liked his game and wanted him badly. We know how much BB loves Ed Reed, this pick supports those posters here who have been making that comparison.

I love this pick, and I think quite a few teams are going to regret passing up Meriweather, just as they now regret missing out on Reed. Our future is looking soooo good!

 

[Remix 6]

BB and SP don't make mistakes in the 1st round and this kid is no exception. Considering how far the Pats went to ensure themselves that Meriweather didn't have any character issues, you can see that they really liked his game and wanted him badly. We know how much BB loves Ed Reed, this pick supports those posters here who have been making that comparison.

I love this pick, and I think quite a few teams are going to regret passing up Meriweather, just as they now regret missing out on Reed. Our future is looking soooo good!

Eagles are pissed..they were on the phone with Meriweather. 2 great organizations wanting a thug? What has NFL come to [/SARCASM]

 

[Warren94]

nice!

LOL

 

[zippo59]

Here are some more notes that I didn't see posted. Some new stuff, some is the same.

The Patriots didn’t have enough players on hand to participate in 7-on-7 drills, so they spent the practice stretching and doing positional drills.

-The Patriots had four players in for tryouts. Receivers Chris Dunlap (Georgia Tech) and Chris Baker (Rutgers), running back Chris Vincent (Oregon) and safety Denny Poland (Air Force) all did their best to impressive the coaching staff on Saturday.

-Hall of Famer John Hannah was present to get a look at the Patriots new crop of players.

-One of the bright spots on Day 1 was center Mike Elgin. The seventh-round draft pick performed well in all the drills. Despite being the smallest offensive lineman on the field, Elgin displayed the most power in strength drills. Elgin plays with tremendous leverage and really uses his hands well. He’s a guy to keep an eye on in the coming months.

-While it was a good day for Elgin, the same can’t be said about sixth-round selection Corey Hilliard. The young offensive lineman needs to get much stronger and get into better shape before training camp rolls around. Hilliard had a lot of trouble with the blocking sled and drew the ire of Patriots coaches throughout the day. It got so bad that Hilliard needed to excuse himself from practice because of poor conditioning.

-Bill Belichick spent a lot of time working with the linebackers. After a drill, Belichick would give some individual instructions to each player and even showed off his arm by tossing a couple of nice spirals to Oscar Lua.

-Matt Gutierrez threw the ball with good velocity and was accurate for the majority of practice.
Gutierrez was particularly impressive throwing out routes towards the sideline. Being the only quarterback in camp, Gutierrez is taking all of the snaps under center.

-Justin Rogers played defensive end at SMU but looked good in space during his first day at linebacker. Rogers appears to have the physical skills that are needed to make a successful transition to outside linebacker.

-Running back Justise Hairston had trouble catching the ball out of the backfield, dropping a number of passes. Even when Hairston did hang onto the ball, he bobbled it a little before making the reception. That’s something Hairston will need to work on if he plans to win a roster spot.

-Linebacker Justin Warren spent most of practice on the sideline riding a stationary bike.

http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=latestnewsdetail&pid=25224&pcid=41

 

[Pats Fanatic]

Wow Corey Hilliard didn't exactily start on a good note did he.

 

[Pats726]

Some info on the 4 tryout players

---Denny Poland played as more of a rover in the hybrid 5 DB Air Force D. Was all over the field making tackles, which might translate well to a SS position. A year out of football though.
---Chris Baker is a tall and fast wideout. Was on the Rutgers track team. Also was a UDFA in San Fran and didn't make it there.
----Chris Dunlap is a versatile Wide receiver that also played special teams, both on D and returns. he's also quite young.
----Chris Vincent is another of the larger type running backs/full backs. he also played some D in Oregon.
I wonder if any will be signed?? All look interesting.

 

[sebman2112]

Eddie Jackson I believe.

Funny, I created Meriweather in Madden '07 and I gave him 29, forgetting that was Eddie Jackson's number, then the next day (like a week ago) I remembered Jackson has that number. I think maybe Meriweather will get 29 from Jackson, or maybe he'll take 24 if Mitchell is cut. I'd rather see him in 24.

 

[sebman2112]

http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=latestnewsdetail&pid=25224&pcid=41


I found that last part very intriguing. Rodney MIGHT be able to take a break during games this year and let the rook take over from time to time.
Merriweather has a long way to go, but it's good to know that he has these leadership skills. You never know when we might need him to step up.

That's what I said about him during the draft process. He has good leadership skills, was a team captain, and he gave out assainments. He doesn't bite on play fakes like Griffin either.

 

[sebman2112]

Eagles are pissed..they were on the phone with Meriweather. 2 great organizations wanting a thug? What has NFL come to [/SARCASM]

I completely agree, and I really think within a few years he's going to be one of Patriots fans favorite players.

 

[strongside]

Obviously Im thinking 5 steps ahead. If Merriweather is capable of starting at FS alongside Rodney, could Wilson transition back to being a corner? He has shown a weekness in coverage the past couple years and I belive his corner days are behind him.

Also, Im really hoping one of these young LB's can step up and contribute. I don't like Lua' size but he played at a high level his senior year at SC.

 

[sebman2112]

Obviously Im thinking 5 steps ahead. If Merriweather is capable of starting at FS alongside Rodney, could Wilson transition back to being a corner? He has shown a weekness in coverage the past couple years and I belive his corner days are behind him.

Also, Im really hoping one of these young LB's can step up and contribute. I don't like Lua' size but he played at a high level his senior year at SC.

It's not really five steps ahead, since it's already been discussed. Anways, if Meriweather takes over at starting FS (which I think he will) I could then see Wilson being used more at CB. Dean Peas hinted to as much.

 

[BelichickFan]

It's not really five steps ahead, since it's already been discussed.

LOL, it's been discussed every offseason since Wilson first moved to Safety.