WEEI.com: Wednesday OTA report

[Christopher_Price]

Hey guys ... got a quick thumbnail report from today's OTA session.

It Is What It Is Wednesday OTA report: Bright sunny skies and plenty of Kevin O’Connell

I'll have quotes from a bunch of players in a bit. FWIW, O'Connell looked real good.

As always, gimme a shout with any questions. And sorry I wasn't able to post that Burgess story -- kind of a last-minute thing that's kept me busy the last few days. Talked to a few people about him yesterday, and they all believe that if the Patriots use him in a very specific fashion (he's not an every down linebacker any more), he can have a great impact on the New England defense.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

Hey guys ... got a quick thumbnail report from today's OTA session.

It Is What It Is Wednesday OTA report: Bright sunny skies and plenty of Kevin O’Connell

I'll have quotes from a bunch of players in a bit. FWIW, O'Connell looked real good.

As always, gimme a shout with any questions. And sorry I wasn't able to post that Burgess story -- kind of a last-minute thing that's kept me busy the last few days. Talked to a few people about him yesterday, and they all believe that if the Patriots use him in a very specific fashion (he's not an every down linebacker any more), he can have a great impact on the New England defense.

Looking forward to what else you have to say about todays OTA and more about whats going on with Burgess. Keep up the good work Chris!:youtheman:

 

[Jimke]

No Navy players at OTA. I think they will have trouble getting

permission to attend these activities.

Got the answer. Graduation is May 22nd. They cannot attend until their class graduates.

 

[MetalBleachers]

Hey Chris. I know it's not easy, but could you do a quick linebacker and DB rundown of what you saw out there today? Thanks!

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Hey guys ... got a quick thumbnail report from today's OTA session.

It Is What It Is Wednesday OTA report: Bright sunny skies and plenty of Kevin O’Connell

I'll have quotes from a bunch of players in a bit. FWIW, O'Connell looked real good.

As always, gimme a shout with any questions. And sorry I wasn't able to post that Burgess story -- kind of a last-minute thing that's kept me busy the last few days. Talked to a few people about him yesterday, and they all believe that if the Patriots use him in a very specific fashion (he's not an every down linebacker any more), he can have a great impact on the New England defense.

If there is one thing I don't want to see this year is O'Connell looking good in the regular season because you know what that would mean ....

 

[Christopher_Price]

No problem. However, it wasn't easy to pick up a lot of what was going on with the two of those groups -- for the most part, they were practicing on the other side of the field, a good distance from us. (We got closer looks at the wide receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen. The other groups were on the far field.) Honestly, my assessment was there was really all that much to report. There was a lot of teaching going on -- the drills were really few and far between, mostly 7-on-7s in shorts and helmets.

I know Crable was active, and showed some good mobility in the 7-on-7 drills. He was asked to cover receivers, and appeared for the most part to keep up with them nicely. One other LB who stood out for me was Ciurciu, who was inside for many of the drills. A veteran special teamer, there was more than one reporter who remarked that the former BC product could conceivably work his way into the mix as a replacement for Larry Izzo.

Hope this helped!

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

If there is one thing I don't want to see this year is O'Connell looking good in the regular season because you know what that would mean ....

SHUT UP:nono:SHUT UP:beatingcoming:SHUT UP:spygate: dont jinx the team!!!!

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

No problem. However, it wasn't easy to pick up a lot of what was going on with the two of those groups -- for the most part, they were practicing on the other side of the field, a good distance from us. (We got closer looks at the wide receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen. The other groups were on the far field.) Honestly, my assessment was there was really all that much to report. There was a lot of teaching going on -- the drills were really few and far between, mostly 7-on-7s in shorts and helmets.

I know Crable was active, and showed some good mobility in the 7-on-7 drills. He was asked to cover receivers, and appeared for the most part to keep up with them nicely. One other LB who stood out for me was Ciurciu, who was inside for many of the drills. A veteran special teamer, there was more than one reporter who remarked that the former BC product could conceivably work his way into the mix as a replacement for Larry Izzo.

Hope this helped!

I notice the Patriots.com roster has Ciurciu listed at 240 and NFL.com has him at 235, perhaps if you get a chance to chat with him you can ask if the team wants him to play a little heavier then he played in Minny and Carolina. I'll be interested to see how he does at ILB because he may prove to be more effective as a 3-4 ILB vice 4-3 LB. His bio notes he was a FB at Clemson who converted to LB at BC and that he filled in at MLB for Dan Morgan at Carolina for four games - sounds more like a 3-4 ILB when I read those notes. Peraps you can get him to open up a bit about how he was used in the base defense for his last two stops... Thanks for the info Chris, please link us to you man's article when he gets it done. :singing:

 

[Christopher_Price]

I notice the Patriots.com roster has Ciurciu listed at 240 and NFL.com has him at 235, perhaps if you get a chance to chat with him you can ask if the team wants him to play a little heavier then he played in Minny and Carolina. I'll be interested to see how he does at ILB because he may prove to be more effective as a 3-4 ILB vice 4-3 LB. His bio notes he was a FB at Clemson who converted to LB at BC and that he filled in at MLB for Dan Morgan at Carolina for four games - sounds more like a 3-4 ILB when I read those notes. Peraps you can get him to open up a bit about how he was used in the base defense for his last two stops... Thanks for the info Chris, please link us to you man's article when he gets it done. :singing:

All great questions, Box. I will make sure to request some time with him at next week's session to get to the bottom of it. He certainly is an intriguing player -- seems to embody the versatile approach put forth by the Patriots' organization, which believes in the idea, "The more you can do, the more you can do."

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

All great questions, Box. I will make sure to request some time with him at next week's session to get to the bottom of it. He certainly is an intriguing player -- seems to embody the versatile approach put forth by the Patriots' organization, which believes in the idea, "The more you can do, the more you can do."

Thanks Chris! If you get the chance, Bussey's pre-draft experience with NE would be interesting too - it would also be interesting to know what position(s) Dante's had him taking his reps at so far.

 

[efin98]

Chris any indication about what they are doing with Jermail Porter yet? Have they started trying him out on the defensive line or are they still working him out on the offensive line?

And has any of his mechanics improved since the try out or is he still coming along slowly?

 

[jczxohn1]

Hey guys ... got a quick thumbnail report from today's OTA session.

It Is What It Is Wednesday OTA report: Bright sunny skies and plenty of Kevin O’Connell

I'll have quotes from a bunch of players in a bit. FWIW, O'Connell looked real good.

As always, gimme a shout with any questions. And sorry I wasn't able to post that Burgess story -- kind of a last-minute thing that's kept me busy the last few days. Talked to a few people about him yesterday, and they all believe that if the Patriots use him in a very specific fashion (he's not an every down linebacker any more), he can have a great impact on the New England defense.

IIRC, this guy is 30? What sort of specific fashion are we talking about here? All he can do is pass rush? He can't cover? or set the edge? Why do we need a one-trick pony taking up space that could be filled by Woods, Crable or Redd?

 

[Christopher_Price]

IIRC, this guy is 30? What sort of specific fashion are we talking about here? All he can do is pass rush? He can't cover? or set the edge? Why do we need a one-trick pony taking up space that could be filled by Woods, Crable or Redd?

Pass rush. He's still considered an above-average pass rusher by many people around the league. I think they'd go after him if they believe Crable isn't ready to take on a lot of snaps in what is essentially his rookie year. The way it was described to me, he should be used specifically on passing downs.

 

[Christopher_Price]

Chris any indication about what they are doing with Jermail Porter yet? Have they started trying him out on the defensive line or are they still working him out on the offensive line?

And has any of his mechanics improved since the try out or is he still coming along slowly?

You bring up a good question. He was at Wednesday's OTA. If memory serves, he worked out in a group with the younger offensive linemen. It was tough keeping up with everyone on the field, but in the brief time I saw Porter, he looked like he had a nimble step and wasn't falling behind in any of the drills. (O-line coach Dante Scarnecchia has a rep as being someone who isn't shy about dressing down someone for a mistake, and we in the media didn't hear any negatives directed toward Porter, so he had that going for him. FWIW, Damane Duckett wasn't so lucky--he had to run a lap after a false start.) Porter's number (91), certainly suggests he could be flipped over to the other side of the ball sooner rather than later, but at this point, he looks like he's with the o-linemen.