Patriots place Jeff Demps on Injured Reserve

[supafly]

I think one of the main things to remember regarding Demps is that he was a #5 RB who would not have contributed on much/if any level at all throughout the year.

While we thought that he could help on kickoffs, Belichick probably disagreed due to the fact that he could not justify a gameday active status for only that purpose, as Demps really offered nothing else and had no knowledge of the offense.

This move allows Demps to be a part of our future here, and gives him a redshirted season to work on his football body, attend meetings, and pickup the scheme of the offense.

If he were going to miss even 3-4 games then I can understand why Belichick would make this move--and for those like Mike Florio from PFT who "smell something fishy" the move is not anything out of the ordinary. Belichick chose to not want to use a precious roster spot on a guy who was likely going to miss at least a few/several games. It makes perfect sense.

It certainly isn't worth saving him until Sept.4th to put him as our 1 special IR designation when a much more contributing player may need to utilize the new rule.

In the big picture of things Demps is here for the future, and really wasn't going to offer much to the 2012 specific team other than KOR duty.

 

[Joker]

almost exactly how I viewed this from the start this afternoon....we got a taste of his athletic ability...we will see it next season after a full year in the system...maybe not a popular move for some of the fans but it's the smart play...I have to believe the Pats have a strategy for this, the first season of the new agreement...I mean, just look at the confusion that reigned right here this afternoon and evening...it took some digging by Mo and others before this move was properly analyzed.

 

[UK_Pat37]

Re: Demps to IR

Called this. The hype train left way too early.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

Re: Demps to IR

Maybe he had too much wear & tear on his body from his Olympic training to handle the rigors of a full NFL season?

 

[strngplyr]

Re: Demps to IR

Maybe he had too much wear & tear on his body from his Olympic training to handle the rigors of a full NFL season?

or maybe he didn't have a body rigorous enough to handle the wear and tear of an nfl season

 

[BTTA]

Re: Demps to IR

A red shirt year. So next year, as part of our draft, we get this guy after he's had a year to learn the system and build his body the NFL way rather than the sprinter way. And it doesn't cost us a draft pick.

Would have been nice to have him as a returner, but this is a pretty good deal.

 

[BTTA]

Re: Demps to IR

And I'm curious - what kind of medical evidence does a team have to provide to justify an IR spot? Anything to anybody outside the team?

 

[Kontradiction]

I think one of the main things to remember regarding Demps is that he was a #5 RB who would not have contributed on much/if any level at all throughout the year.

While we thought that he could help on kickoffs, Belichick probably disagreed due to the fact that he could not justify a gameday active status for only that purpose, as Demps really offered nothing else and had no knowledge of the offense.

This move allows Demps to be a part of our future here, and gives him a redshirted season to work on his football body, attend meetings, and pickup the scheme of the offense.

If he were going to miss even 3-4 games then I can understand why Belichick would make this move--and for those like Mike Florio from PFT who "smell something fishy" the move is not anything out of the ordinary. Belichick chose to not want to use a precious roster spot on a guy who was likely going to miss at least a few/several games. It makes perfect sense.

It certainly isn't worth saving him until Sept.4th to put him as our 1 special IR designation when a much more contributing player may need to utilize the new rule.

In the big picture of things Demps is here for the future, and really wasn't going to offer much to the 2012 specific team other than KOR duty.

The ironic thing about this post is that many people here have made arguments for players in lesser roles on offense or defense to make the roster just because of their special teams abilities. Then Belichick puts Demps on IR and suddenly the argument is that BB doesn't feel his special teams expertise are worth being game day active.

And Demps doesn't need to "work on his football body". Sproles is 5'6" 190 lbs and Demps is 5'9, 180 lbs. That ten pounds of muscle weight could have been added without IRing him. So that doesn't make much sense either. IMO, if you ask me, I think that he's simply more hurt than what was first reported.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The ironic thing about this post is that many people here have made arguments for players in lesser roles on offense or defense to make the roster just because of their special teams abilities. Then Belichick puts Demps on IR and suddenly the argument is that BB doesn't feel his special teams expertise are worth being game day active.

And Demps doesn't need to "work on his football body". Sproles is 5'6" 190 lbs and Demps is 5'9, 180 lbs. That ten pounds of muscle weight could have been added without IRing him. So that doesn't make much sense either. IMO, if you ask me, I think that he's simply more hurt than what was first reported.

More hurt and more raw than anticipated. He had very little return experience in college. He also had ball security issues. And the best adjective Fears could muster to describe his blocking was courageous. He needed development time on a PS but healthy he'd have never made it through waivers. They were likely prepared to carry him on the 53 before Wednesday happened. Once it did they were probably going to have to waive him injured and that made it less likely he would pass through waivers and revert to them only if he did they would then have been limited to IR-ing him or giving him an injury settlement and release and watching someone else scoop him up as a UFA in 3-4 weeks.

 

[supafly]

The ironic thing about this post is that many people here have made arguments for players in lesser roles on offense or defense to make the roster just because of their special teams abilities. Then Belichick puts Demps on IR and suddenly the argument is that BB doesn't feel his special teams expertise are worth being game day active.

And Demps doesn't need to "work on his football body". Sproles is 5'6" 190 lbs and Demps is 5'9, 180 lbs. That ten pounds of muscle weight could have been added without IRing him. So that doesn't make much sense either. IMO, if you ask me, I think that he's simply more hurt than what was first reported.

I don't know if keeping a rookie who was going to miss at least a few games was worth it to them when roster spots are so precious. Justifying a spot for Demps who likely wasn't going to do too much of anything this year is one thing in itself, but justifying a spot for him when he is going to miss a few games is something entirely different.

If someone like Edelman, White, Koutouvedes (realizing they aren't all on the roster anymore) were injured in their rookie season I would expect the same move to be made, and that's being gracious as they may have outright cut at least 2 of those players.

Yes, roster spots have been argued for lesser known ST only players, but did these arguments actually occur in their rookie seasons? On top of that did they occur when said players hadn't even been playing much football as of late? I think it's a specific issue that only applies to Demps, and in my opinion they made the right move.

As far as your personal assessment that it was simply a worse injury then first reported, I don't really believe that, especially with multiple sources reporting, but you may very well be right.

 

[supafly]

Then Belichick puts Demps on IR and suddenly the argument is that BB doesn't feel his special teams expertise are worth being game day active.

And just FWIW--my argument was that Belichick did not see the one IR exemption as being fit for using it on Demps.

You're making it seem like I totally disagreed with having him here in the first place and kind of putting words in my mouth. I liked Demps just as much as you did and I could justify his roster spot easily.

What I could not justify, and apparently Belchick couldn't either, was using the one IR exemption on such a non-contributing rookie player, when we would likely need it on someone much more known and important. That is precisely what the conversation was about, so your comments aren't really even too relevant when looking at it in my context.

You totally missed the entire bolded sentence in my post and did not back read to see what we were discussing.

 

[moosekill]

If you are a promising rookie coming into the program, with basically no training camp to learn anything. It would be tough for you to contribute much to a team like the Patriots that are one of the best teams in the league. Couple that with an injury to your knee that required an MRI,(hint here, they don't MRI your knee if it feels fine), that probably will mean you miss the rest of the preseason and perhaps a number of games, any coach would have to start wondering how much you would really contribute this year.

All this coupled with the IR rules, that in this case, allow the Patriots, because of his injury, to keep him with the team, allow him to heal up, learn the system, and get into shape, it truthfully seems the best possible outcome, except for the possible loss of his possible contributions this year.

Kick off returns seem to be what everyone talks about, mostly because of his lack of time to learn the system and a number of good running backs already on the team, but 16 games is a really short time. If you take those 16 games and figure, what 4 returns a game average? Then let's say he missed 4 of those games because of injuries, you are down to 48 plays all season? Seems like a small amount of production to spend one of your 53 player slots on.

This doesn't even get into the question of how valuable a kick off returner truly is with the changes over the past couple years in the kicking game. I would love to see where the average starting point is, league wide after kick offs, with penalties and fumbles and poor returns, are we talking about the 30 or the 25, or the 20? Even if it is the 30, how much is 10 yards 4 times a game really worth, vs taking a knee in the endzone?

 

[Patstopia]

The one and only thing that would make me think BB has turned to the "dark side" would be if they put Bolden in to return kicks.

 

[BelichickFan]

I am very disappointed in this. I do think Demps was brought in to replace Woodhead next year as Woodhead will be a FA - and having three smaller backs in Demps, Woodhead, Vereen was a little much but Demps looked like he could have helped in a limited role.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

there is no way Demps is coming back. Since he was not on the 53 man roster that was submitted to the league, he cannot be placed on the short term IR list. I think he was IRed because they didn't want to cut any of their other RBs....

 

[PP2]

As soon as I heard the news, this story popped into my head....

"Basically, the Patriots would put a player on IR, knowing it meant he couldn't play in a game or practice with the team for the remainder of the season. By skirting the rules and practicing him anyway, it allowed them to develop his skills during the year. A side benefit is that they were also able to give some of the older players less repetitions and, therefore, additional rest."

Tucker agrees with Walsh: Patriots practiced with IR players

Isn't that why they built the bubble?

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I hope that someone who knows more about this than I do can help me here.

What is the difference between "Olympic Sprinter Shape" and "NFL Shape?"

There have been comments that Demps shed a lot of muscle weight from his NCAA days to condition himself to sprint 60 to 100 meters at world class levels, a task at which he clearly succeeded. He's listed at 5'7", 175. I know every runner is different but every Pats RB is listed at over 200 and a quick scan of other productive runners around the league has everyone at over 200...and it ain't from donuts.

Is it possible that they took a look at him in practice and on the field v. the Giants and concluded that "This is a guy who has to bulk up and get into NFL shape. He has a minor injury, so we can IR him for a few weeks. If we don't IR him now, he'll end up there anyway."

To the point that this would not be SOP for Belichick, I guess I would say that this could qualify as a unique case.

 

[unoriginal]

And Demps doesn't need to "work on his football body". Sproles is 5'6" 190 lbs and Demps is 5'9, 180 lbs. That ten pounds of muscle weight could have been added without IRing him. So that doesn't make much sense either. IMO, if you ask me, I think that he's simply more hurt than what was first reported.

BIG difference between 190 and 180 lbs. when the 180 lbs. guy is also 3" taller. Normally the guy who is 3" taller should be at least 10 lbs. heavier. So if Sproles is 5' 6" and 190 lbs., Demps should be around 200 lbs.

Is it possible that they took a look at him in practice and on the field v. the Giants and concluded that "This is a guy who has to bulk up and get into NFL shape. He has a minor injury, so we can IR him for a few weeks. If we don't IR him now, he'll end up there anyway."

To the point that this would not be SOP for Belichick, I guess I would say that this could qualify as a unique case.

Well, the Patriots did cut Kareem Huggins before he even got on the practice field early in camp this year because at 5' 9" and less than 200 lbs. they felt he wouldn't be able to stay safe out there.

 

[Patstopia]

I know everyone is positive that Demps is gone for the year, but I have this one thought before you shout me down and assault me.

Does Demps name have to be on the active roster list, or can his name just be submitted as the designated IR player and his roster spot left open until Sept 4th?

 

[Mack Herron]

I know everyone is positive that Demps is gone for the year, but I have this one thought before you shout me down and assault me.

Does Demps name have to be on the active roster list, or can his name just be submitted as the designated IR player and his roster spot left open until Sept 4th?

BostonHerald.com - Blogs: The Blitz» Blog Archive » Bill Belichick confirms Jeff Demps is out for the season

BB has confirmed he is done for the year. Very disappointing as he was an instant improvement in KR and the only big play speed on offense.