 A recent ESPN Insider article believes Darrelle Revis may help put the Patriots over the top in 2014. (USA TODAY Images) |
Some news and notes on this Wednesday:
DOBSON UNSURE OF STATUS HEADING INTO CAMP:
Patriots receiver Aaron Dobson will likely be a big key to New England's success in 2014, but for now it sounds like it may be difficult to say exactly when he'll be available to hit the field.
According to Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe, Dobson's availability heading into training camp appears to be up in the air after Dobson downplayed his status on Tuesday. The receiver was taking part in his annual football camp for kids at Merrimack College, and just said he's continuing to work on getting healthy after undergoing foot surgery.
"I don't know, it's hard to say," Dobson said. "I'm taking it one day at a time, rehabbing hard, just to get back out there as quick as I can."
The second-year receiver said that he's been trying to work on his strength and doing what he can to stay mentally prepared as well.
"It's frustrating but I'm just trying to stay humble and do what I can do to stay fresh on everything," said Dobson. "Still thinking about plays, upperbody lifting, core, everything that I can do that can help me benefit on the field while I was down, but like I said, I'm just trying to get better every day."
TALIB ON BEING A PATRIOT, "IT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE"
Talib is also taking part in running the football camp with Dobson, and he spoke about his time in New England, saying he learned a lot while he was there.
"It meant a lot," Talib told the Boston Globe. "I learned a lot, learned a lot about just being a professional, learning from Bill [Belichick], seeing how Bill ran his building. It was a wonderful experience for me."
So far he's already been through minicamps as a member of the Denver Broncos, but he said that so far he's happy with how things are going.
"It's definitely good work," he told the newspaper regarding OTAs. "Every day it's either Demaryius Thomas or Emmanuel Sanders coming out there, so it's definitely good work, Peyton [Manning] is the quarterback, man, a lot of fun. Great locker room. No complaints."
JOYNER: PATRIOTS WILL HAVE NUMBER ONE SECONDARY IN 2014
Joyner has a piece for ESPN Insider this morning looking at New England's secondary, and believes that after the additions of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner that the Seahawks title reign may come to a close much sooner than expected due to a strong challenge from the Patriots.
In the article Joyner points out that looking at the metrics, the addition of Revis over Talib will make a dramatic difference in their defense.
A detailed analysis of their relative metrics indicates that replacing Aqib Talib (who signed with the Denver Broncos) with Revis will save the Patriots somewhere in the range of 200 yards this season. Revis is not known as being quite as accomplished a ball hawk as Talib, but that study illustrated how Revis is likely to generate just as many pick chances, and possibly more interceptions, than Talib posted last season.As significant as that upgrade would be, it likely pales in comparison to the impact Browner will have. Browner had a lower YPA than Sherman in 2012 (6.2 for Browner, 7.4 for Sherman) and should provide a huge coverage improvement over Alfonzo Dennard (9.3 YPA) and Kyle Arrington (9.2 YPA). Browner has nearly as many career interceptions (10) as Dennard and Arrington combined (13) and thus could improve the turnover total as well. Any impact will be delayed until at least Week 5, as Browner will start the season by serving a four-game suspension, but that may not be an issue given that New England begins the season with games against Miami, Minnesota, Oakland and Kansas City -- teams that all have issues in the passing game.
One can only hope Joyner is right.
GIRL TRADES FIRST CLASS AIRLINE SEAT IN EXCHANGE FOR GRONK'S BOXERS
File this under one of those stories you wish you hadn't heard, but apparently a girl emailed into Barstool Sports about a recent encounter with Gronkowski.
According to the story, after asking for her first class seats during a recent flight where his ticket was in an extra leg room aisle in coach, Gronkowski was propositioned by the girl who asked, "what's in it for her?" Apparently a pair of boxers and a chance to touch his junk.
"I gave up first class seats to grab gronks d&*k. His ticket was in an extra leg room aisle, I was in first class and he asked for our seats. I told him I'd do it but asked what's in it for me. He signed his boarding pass and gave it to me, we shot the shit for 20 minutes in the air and he gave me his boxers after. Win win, no??"
There are photos from the encounter here - READ MORE.
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
Mike Reiss continues his "Checking the locks" series, and this morning focuses on the linebackers - READ MORE
Erik Frenz of Boston.com believes running back James White is a threat for major touches heading into training camp. - READ MORE
The National Football Post looks at the 10 most expensive tickets for 2014, with the Patriots match-up against Denver in Week 9 among that list - READ MORE
MASSLIVE's Nick Underhill continues his series ranking Patriots players, and has Devin McCourty coming in at number four - READ MORE
James Christensen has his Top 5 Sleepers for the Patriots to watch in camp - READ MORE
Nice piece from Oliver Thomas with a look at Josh Boyce's performance last season - READ MORE
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