Rob Ninkovich to retire?

[Ring 6]

They do play a ton of nickel.

Y'know I was just commenting on Chung playing a ton and I wonder if they might ease up on him a little and play more 4-3 but have 4 CBs out there (Gilmore, Malcolm, Rowe, DMC)

The number of combinations they can throw out there is sick

Don't see playing less nickel.
I always believe football players play football and resting hurts them more than helps them.
I don't see Rowe as a safety.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Don't see playing less nickel.
I always believe football players play football and resting hurts them more than helps them.
I don't see Rowe as a safety.

Rowe would play man and zone coverage. Not safety per se. Similar to what DMC does when he plays in coverage/zone.

I agree football players play but the trend I'm seeing is BB easing up on players and ensuring they are fresh down the stretch.

With that said he played guys like Branch, Chung etc a ton and they were fine.

 

[Ring 6]

Rowe would play man and zone coverage. Not safety per se. Similar to what DMC does when he plays in coverage/zone.

But if you are playing 4 dbs whether it's man or zone 2 need to play he safety roles.

I agree football players play but the trend I'm seeing is BB easing up on players and ensuring they are fresh down the stretch.

With that said he played guys like Branch, Chung etc a ton and they were fine.

I haven't seen BB value rest except when there is nothing to play for.
Other than Miami in 2015 and I am sure he will regret how he coached that game until the day he dies.

 

[RobertWeathers]

But if you are playing 4 dbs whether it's man or zone 2 need to play he safety roles.

Which he did at times in Philly. We can question how well he did it but he did do it.

I haven't seen BB value rest except when there is nothing to play for.

Thats been his philosophy no question. However how he has been managing DA and with the positional and schematic flexibility throughout the roster has me wondering if he is modifying his approach. Who knows.

 

[luuked]

We have Daniels clearly stating that Ninkovich didn't think about retirement last week when he interviewed him:








Which at least sounds more informed to me than Farley just pulling possibilities out of his ass..

 

[RobertWeathers]

We have Daniels clearly stating that Ninkovich didn't think about retirement last week when he interviewed him:








Which at least sounds more informed to me than Farley just pulling possibilities out of his ass..

I think he just told Bill he wanted to stay home and watch the 192 straight hours of Shark Week.

 

[Tony2046]

Which he did at times in Philly. We can question how well he did it but he did do it.




Thats been his philosophy no question. However how he has been managing DA and with the positional and schematic flexibility throughout the roster has me wondering if he is modifying his approach. Who knows.

I felt he handled Hightower differently last season. But , as you say, who knows.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I felt he handled Hightower differently last season. But , as you say, who knows.

He might be in a different category as he was banged up.

 

[Kontradiction]

It wouldn't shock me if he did. Those legs of his have logged a ton of snaps and he's 33. There seems to be enough depth at the position to cover it if he does decide that he's no longer fit for a rotational role in 2017. If he retires, though, the Pats will need to sign another white DE/OLB to wear #50 to at least keep up with appearances.

 

[luuked]

I think he just told Bill he wanted to stay home and watch the 192 straight hours of Shark Week.

Something definitely is a bit weird. Unless that concussion story got to him I am not sure what else -- except something family related -- can make someone do a 180 within a few days. Weird.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Something definitely is a bit weird. Unless that concussion story got to him I am not sure what else -- except something family related -- can make someone do a 180 within a few days. Weird.

Clearly something is up. Retirement would not shock me. Could genuinely be a personal issue or a death in the family.

I'm not sure what it means that he did go through with the conditioning run- and passed. Could mean zip but maybe if he is contemplating retirement but still not sure. Something contractually required and did it just in case he decided not to retire?

Because Nink has BBs respect as a vet, maybe BB knows what he is going though and encouraged him to get the run out of the way, be on record as showing up to camp (as opposed to a did not report designation) and eligible for any medial or $. Once he passed the run, he told Nink to take a week or so to think it through and decide what he wants to do.

Again, pure speculation.

 

[Mike the Brit]

The role I liked best for Hightower was how we starters the season in I think it was 2013(?)

We were really a 43 but we made it look like a 34 by having nink or c Jones stand up when they were on the strong side and be down on the weak side. Hightower plays OLB on the weakside and wrecked havoc.

We had injuries that took us out of that (mayo maybe, memory slow today) but I'd love to see Hightower doing some of having.

audioBoom / 114: Behind the scenes stories on Belichick and the Patriots with Jerod Mayo​

Don't know whether you've listened to this, but Mayo is v. interesting. I remember he is excited to have Harris in the linebacker corps, because he can anchor the defense and leave Hightower to be moved around to catch the offense off balance. Just the way that they liked to use Mayo himself when he was in his prime.

 

[Deus Irae]

He's far from the only one. Several have already thrown in the towel on the Ealy project... two days into camp. And they say millennials are the "I want it NOW!!!" generation.

Don't kid yourself. Ealy may not be as useless as Mingo, but that's faint praise. Hopefully, BB can find a Chung kind of role for him, so the suck can be limited, and the talent can shine through. But, if the team is relying on Ealy to be a starter, we've found the first position to be really worried about.

 

[patsinthesnow]

New England Patriots 2016 Snap Counts | Pro-Football-Reference.com

1,718 snaps last year between Long, Sheard, & Ninko. Pats probably will increase their 3-4 looks even more from the playoffs & may make sense to transition to it more often with Flowers, Brown, Guy, Wise available as 3-4 DEs.

If Ninko retires 4-3 DE could definitely be a problem. Atleast in the 3-4 Flowers is attacking in the interior & Hightower is attacking at OLB.

Might as well wait until we learn whats up with Ninkovich but EDGE looks like BB's yearly trade target. We could really use a Mark Anderson type on the roster - someone who blows vs. the run but is solid vs. the pass & can play situationally.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Don't kid yourself. Ealy may not be as useless as Mingo, but that's faint praise. Hopefully, BB can find a Chung kind of role for him, so the suck can be limited, and the talent can shine through. But, if the team is relying on Ealy to be a starter, we've found the first position to be really worried about.

Hes way beyond Mingo.

DEs on this team only play 40-60% of the snaps anyway.

Only Flowers will play more because of his versatility to play inside.

In CAR less was more with him

Ealy is a rotational guy. He might start a few games but hes not getting 90% of the snaps here.

 

[Deus Irae]

Hes way beyond Mingo.

My grandmother is way beyond Mingo.

DEs on this team only play 40-60% of the snaps anyway.

Only Flowers will play more because of his versatility to play inside.

In CAR less was more with him

Ealy is a rotational guy. He might start a few games but hes not getting 90% of the snaps here.

They're already thin at the spot. If Ealy is starting, they're thin and bad.

 

[Kontradiction]

Don't kid yourself. Ealy may not be as useless as Mingo, but that's faint praise. Hopefully, BB can find a Chung kind of role for him, so the suck can be limited, and the talent can shine through. But, if the team is relying on Ealy to be a starter, we've found the first position to be really worried about.

I'm giving him a shot simply as rotational rusher. I don't think the team is doing any sort of relying on Ealy to be the guy given their other moves in the offseason. Just saying that it's too quick to abandon hope on the project after two practices.

 

[PatsBoy12]

It wouldn't shock me if he did. Those legs of his have logged a ton of snaps and he's 33. There seems to be enough depth at the position to cover it if he does decide that he's no longer fit for a rotational role in 2017. If he retires, though, the Pats will need to sign another white DE/OLB to wear #50 to at least keep up with appearances.

You think we could lure Vrabel away from HOU?

 

[Deus Irae]

I'm giving him a shot simply as rotational rusher. I don't think the team is doing any sort of relying on Ealy to be the guy given their other moves in the offseason. Just saying that it's too quick to abandon hope on the project after two practices.

Ok, but can we still say that JAG has gotten too old, and it's time for him to retire?

 

[PatsBoy12]

Hes way beyond Mingo.

DEs on this team only play 40-60% of the snaps anyway.

Only Flowers will play more because of his versatility to play inside.

In CAR less was more with him

Ealy is a rotational guy. He might start a few games but hes not getting 90% of the snaps here.

You know what worries me, even if only slightly, about this? I'll be watching to see if he has a Sheard-like drop off from when he could be categorized a rotational guy to being categorized a starter type. Remember how awesome Sheard was in 2015 when he was not counted on to play every down or most downs? He had most, including me, believing he'd be a monster in 2016. And for TC, preseason and the first few games, it looked like things were going according to plan. Then we saw him be more-or-less a non-factor for a period. Then he was benched. And then there seemed to be a bit of a resurgence with him. I believe he'd probably still be here had last season played out a bit better and he continued to build on what looked like a promising 2016 campaign. Do we see something like that with Flowers? I hope not, but it is something that I think I'll be paying some attention to this season overall.

And for the record, I'm a huge Flowers fan. I even predicted he'd be a difference maker in the SB and he damn sure was, so I am not criticizing him in any way, shape or form.