Quote of the Day

[MrBigglesWorth]

you know BB told him to say that to needle the situation

 

[Christopher_Price]

Chris - any idea when we should expect to see the injury reports come out?

I'm setting the over/under on "probable" at 15 and total listed at 17

They're out. I'm having trouble logging onto the blog, so here they are

Limited Participation in Practice
Pos. Player Injury
S Rashad Baker Hand
TE Dave Thomas Foot
DL Mike Wright Knee

Full Participation in Practice
Pos. Player Injury
QB Tom Brady Right Shoulder

 

[sieglo]

but why would he? It didn't make him any money nor would it make teams want to sign him to a contract. Maybe that was Mangini's goal but why would Caldwell do it for nothing? This is a business and he has an agent at least who is thinking about what is best for Recjhe. How would this be the best thing for him to do?

Exactly. Betraying your old team for nothing is not the type of behavior that wins you a job (and the trust) of a new employer.

 

[Rob0729]

Come on. The Jets already had their roster in place, with 6 WR's, when Caldwell was cut. Why else would they bring Caldwell in? It's been well documented the levels in which Mangina will stoop to in order to defeat his superiors. Even Reiss suggests Caldwell's only purpose in visiting New Jersey was to give up valuable information.

Why? Because Caldwell played his first four years in San Deigo. The Jets' offensive coordinator is Brian Schottenheimer who was the QBs coach in San Deigo under his father since 2002. Schottenheimer has a relationship with Caldwell and Caldwell knows Schottenheimer's offense. This type of thing happens all the time.

 

[Dragda]

Florida Receivers are not known to be stellar pro players. Caldwell is just another in a long line of mediocre former Gators.

 

[PromisedLand]

Actually, it IS a stretch. The first one was moot. Gaffney caught a TD on the next play.

OK, but the second one was NOT moot, and in the case of the first one it could have worked out differently too. BB doesn't want guys who he can't count on in the clutch. What if Deion had dropped that great catch he made in SB39? Scratch one Lombardi? We'll never know of course, but it is entirely possible. Or what if Troy hadn't stripped what's his name after the INT in the San Diego playoff game last year? Troy is a guy who rises to the occasion, like Brady, and that's the kind of guys BB wants on his team. Reche has never played in that level of game before, and the only data that BB has on his performance under those conditions is: two critical drops of balls which were easily catchable.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Exactly. Betraying your old team for nothing is not the type of behavior that wins you a job (and the trust) of a new employer.

Caldwell has betrayed noone. He's unemployed and looking for a job. I wish him the best in his career, except when he plays the Pats.

 

[ClevTrev]

It must be a slow day in Patriot land if people are making this big a deal out of a tongue-in-cheek quote. Cabin fever, anyone? Sunday better come soon, or we'll be seeing posts on what color uniform undergarments bring each member of the team the best luck . . .

 

[zarakotas5]

That seems like a silly thing to say about a) a former teammate b) a potential competitor and c) the team's leading receiver last year.

I felt sorry for the guy watching him on the sidelines during the replay of the Giants game, knowing his "future" while he goofed around with his now former teammates. But...

Offense and defense, on a team, are really separate entities. In the locker room, less so, but within day to day operations, and more so, in regards to the concept of him being Benedict Arnold for some other team, Vrabel's comment is prolly true.

Out of context, the comments seem cold and untoward. In reality, business is business and people "die" everyday. I often wonder about the strategic aspect of signing players simply for insight into other teams. Caldwell was a receiver. It really is the easiest position to play.

Considering the Pats are frustratingly akin to 7 yard ins for all positions, TE, RB, WO, etc...and are either passing (5 wide, no back) or rushing ( 3 wide, 2 back) they are not about mis-direction.

Although....I suspect the NE offense to be a surprise to us all this year, pre-season be damned.

 

[DaBruinz]

Hey guys ... not to get all Journalism 101 here, but I provided you with context when I offered the question. (A hack would have simply posted the quote without background.) In addition, anyone who has followed my work here on patsfans.com over the last year-plus knows I'm not the sort of person to a) take a quote out of context, or b) needlessly make a player look foolish in the name of stirring the pot. I checked with two other reporters to get the quote and the context correctly. If there's a problem with how I did it, feel free to PM me.

Chris -
I appreciate everything you bring to the boards. I did not mean for you to think that I was doubting your veracity as I have no reason to. I asked for the context because the quote seems very out of character for Mike Vrabel.

In all honesty, do you believe that Vrabel's statements were made in jest or was he serious?

 

[DaBruinz]

What evidence is there that Caldwell gave the Jets the NE playbook? I'm not buying this line of thinking.

Well, when a player is cut, he's required to turn in his play-book.

 

[Isaac]

Chris--you are completely taking this out of context, it was a joke. You should know better.

 

[DaBruinz]

OK, but the second one was NOT moot, and in the case of the first one it could have worked out differently too. BB doesn't want guys who he can't count on in the clutch. What if Deion had dropped that great catch he made in SB39? Scratch one Lombardi? We'll never know of course, but it is entirely possible. Or what if Troy hadn't stripped what's his name after the INT in the San Diego playoff game last year? Troy is a guy who rises to the occasion, like Brady, and that's the kind of guys BB wants on his team. Reche has never played in that level of game before, and the only data that BB has on his performance under those conditions is: two critical drops of balls which were easily catchable.

There is no guarantee that Caldwell would have scored on if he had caught the 2nd one. What people fail to acknowledge is that there was an Indy player running to the spot where Caldwell WOULD be if he'd caught the ball and started running. In all likelihood, Caldwell would have been knocked out of bounds.

Now, if BB is only working from a short list of "critical" situations, then you should give BB some credit and realize that he's NOT going to make a snap judgement just based on that. In fact, its pretty ludicrous to think BB would make such a snap judgement based on only two situations.

 

[patchick]

Common sense tells you that the most likely reason for the meeting was for Caldwell to share info, as suggested by Reiss.

Common sense tells me that the most likely reason for the meeting was for the Jets to try to extract information -- not necessarily for Caldwell to cooperate with a deep unpaid debriefing. I'm really perplexed by the assumptions in this thread (not just by you) that Caldwell was...

...going around, without preconditions, giving rivals our preseason playbook...

And I'm just as perplexed by the idea that he should show any special loyalty to a team that just threw over a veteran AFTER final cuts, the opposite of the Hawkins/Miller courtesy cut. Wouldn't you be pissed if you were Caldwell? (Not to say the Pats were necessarily wrong to do it, just that it's not going to earn them any love from the ex-player.)

And for that matter, I'm perplexed that fans of the team that signed Jonathan Smith just for the week of the Bills game would think of the Jets' efforts as "stooping." The Pats play every angle, their rivals are free to do the same. And a suddenly unemployed football player is free to follow any lead that might get him back on the field.

 

[He Ban Me]

Here’s something to look for on the news tonight. When asked about the release of wide receiver Reche Caldwell and the possibility of Caldwell going to the Jets to help New York, linebacker Mike Vrabel said, “Reche Caldwell barely knew our offense.”

More...

Throwing a FRESHLY former teammate under the bus?? Not in Patriot land!

 

[Va_Pats_Fan]

Throwing a FRESHLY former teammate under the bus?? Not in Patriot land!

Well, at least he was a former teammate...unlike the O-Line that PM threw under the bus...

 

[He Ban Me]

Well, at least he was a former teammate...unlike the O-Line that PM threw under the bus...

A teammate is a teammate, and a bus is a bus. Don't you wonder what people say about you when you are not around? Seriously, if you are Vrabel's teammate, don't you lose a little trust?

 

[Wotan_the_Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Va_Pats_Fan View Post
Well, at least he was a former teammate...unlike the O-Line that PM threw under the bus...

A teammate is a teammate, and a bus is a bus.

Yes, and by this logic, I'll expect Adam V to always kick the ball out of bounds on kick-offs and purposely miss FG when playing against the Pats because teammates, regardless of whether they're present or former, are as you say teammates.

Seriously, if you are Vrabel's teammate, don't you lose a little trust?

Vrabel is known to his teammates and coaches alike as the biggest ball-buster and joker in the lockerroom. Seriously!

 

[sarge]

Not sure that was necessary