Patriots Pregame Thread We're on to Miami... again.

[Mack Herron]

If he could just snag 3-4 balls it would go a long way. I’m skeptical.

Agree. Something missing there. Possible, though still unlikely, with Allen, who has been trending up (snap count, BB praise). More likely Cooks, DA, White, Burkhead, hopefully Hogan. Lots of Lewis on the ground.

 

[supafly]

It seems like Brady doesn't target him (Dorsett) much. Anyone know why? Never open? 4th read? Dropsies (although I don't recall this being an issue)? It sounds like Hogan will be back for this one.

It just doesn’t appear as though they’re on the same page on a lot of reads. When asked about his progress, Brady gave a very generic answer of “he’s getting there.” I don’t think there’s any other reasonable explanation for why he hardly gets targets with Edelman, Mitchell, and Hogan all out of the lineup. He was never going to be a focal point, but it would’ve been nice to see him catch 20-25 balls this year.

Understanding that these things take time, Dorsett has the opportunity to put in an offseason of hard work and be a nice part of this system for 2017, but it would be great to get him a few looks here and there, should the need arise later on this season.

 

[Uptown]

Phil Perry on Twitter

Belichick at the podium now. Talking Jay Cutler and Jonathan Freeny to start. Freeny does have some on the line/off the line flexibility, Belichick says.

 

[PP2]

It just doesn’t appear as though they’re on the same page on a lot of reads. When asked about his progress, Brady gave a very generic answer of “he’s getting there.” I don’t think there’s any other reasonable explanation for why he hardly gets targets with Edelman, Mitchell, and Hogan all out of the lineup. He was never going to be a focal point, but it would’ve been nice to see him catch 20-25 balls this year.

Understanding that these things take time, Dorsett has the opportunity to put in an offseason of hard work and be a nice part of this system for 2017, but it would be great to get him a few looks here and there, should the need arise later on this season.

I don't agree that Brady and Dorsett aren't on the same page. From what I can tell, Dorsett hasn't messed up on his routes or you would have seen Brady cuss him out or yell at him after the play becomes dead, or you'd have seen him accidentally cluster with another player in the all-22 (which I have yet to see). He is just the dead last option, and more than a handful of times, he has been open.

The spat between Brady and Josh McD was over Dorsett being wide open for an easy TD. The play was designed for Cooks and Brady was locked on him from the get go. See below, where Dorsett is circled at the top of the screen with the high safety shaded the other way to account for Gronk who is about to step into the EZ. If Brady had led Dorsett, the high safety would have had very little time to flip his hips and run the other way.

 

[Kontradiction]

If he could just snag 3-4 balls it would go a long way. I’m skeptical.

I'm also skeptical that Dorsett will put together half of his production for the entire season in one game.

 

[IllegalContact]

line play........DT's are banged up for the fish as well the OL

run the ball, stop the run........game over

 

[tasmlab]

Winning makes it a hat and t-shirt game. I wonder if they even bother giving Brady one at this point.

 

[supafly]

I don't agree that Brady and Dorsett aren't on the same page. From what I can tell, Dorsett hasn't messed up on his routes or you would have seen Brady cuss him out or yell at him after the play becomes dead, or you'd have seen him accidentally cluster with another player in the all-22 (which I have yet to see). He is just the dead last option, and more than a handful of times, he has been open.

The spat between Brady and Josh McD was over Dorsett being wide open for an easy TD. The play was designed for Cooks and Brady was locked on him from the get go. See below, where Dorsett is circled at the top of the screen with the high safety shaded the other way to account for Gronk who is about to step into the EZ. If Brady had led Dorsett, the high safety would have had very little time to flip his hips and run the other way.

There have been examples of Brady being frustrated. He just had to take a time out last week or the week before because Dorsett couldn’t line up in the right place. As a matter of fact, even the announcers pointed it out.

They are building their gameplan around the best way to attack and mask weaknesses. I’m sure they’d like to get the WR2-3 the ball more (in Hogan’s absence, depending on the alignment and personnel). He just went a 10 week stretch with one total reception. Obviously, he’s not on the same page, even if he was one of three receiving options that was open in your screenshot. Maybe it will come during the offseason. Maybe not.

 

[PP2]

There have been examples of Brady being frustrated. He just had to take a time out last week or the week before because Dorsett couldn’t line up in the right place. As a matter of fact, even the announcers pointed it out.

They are building their gameplan around the best way to attack and mask weaknesses. I’m sure they’d like to get the WR2-3 the ball more (in Hogan’s absence, depending on the alignment and personnel). He just went a 10 week stretch with one total reception. Obviously, he’s not on the same page, even if he was one of three receiving options that was open in your screenshot. Maybe it will come during the offseason. Maybe not.

I don't recall this forced timeout. Perhaps you or someone could point it out to me (specific game/time)? I do remember him reaming out a WR for not aligning the way he wanted, but I'm not sure it was Dorsett.

 

[supafly]

I don't recall this forced timeout. Perhaps you or someone could point it out to me (specific game/time)? I do remember him reaming out a WR for not aligning the way he wanted, but I'm not sure it was Dorsett.

The announcers pointed to Dorsett not moving up/over when they changed the play at the LOS, forcing Brady to call the TO, but I don’t know if it was the Bills or Dolphins game. Maybe someone else will know the time that it occurred. I believe that is also when they quoted Brady on Dorsett’s progress as saying “he’s coming along.”

 

[WaterfallJumper]

I see no reason for this trend to stop when matched up against Miami's underperforming defense:

 

[RobertWeathers]

The announcers pointed to Dorsett not moving up/over when they changed the play at the LOS, forcing Brady to call the TO, but I don’t know if it was the Bills or Dolphins game. Maybe someone else will know the time that it occurred. I believe that is also when they quoted Brady on Dorsett’s progress as saying “he’s coming along.”

Crap so he still doesn't know the plays? Hes getting a lot of reps these last few weeks

 

[supafly]

Crap so he still doesn't know the plays? Hes getting a lot of reps these last few weeks

I think it’s safe to say that he and Brady are still working on building that chemistry together. I think that’s a fair assessment.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think it’s safe to say that he and Brady are still working on building that chemistry together. I think that’s a fair assessment.

I think so. I'm still having flashbacks to Ocho Stinko, Joey Galloway, Chad Jackson and Donald "Don't know the plays" Hayes

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Gronk Out?

21 Pers please.

Burkhead/White & Lewis.

 

[supafly]

I think so. I'm still having flashbacks to Ocho Stinko, Joey Galloway, Chad Jackson and Donald "Don't know the plays" Hayes

My personal expectations have been low for this particular season, simply due to the complexity of the system and the low likelihood of an outsider contributing much, but I think you’d have to be fooling yourself a bit if you think that Dorsett is on the same page as Brady and the rest of the offense.

Hopefully, he puts in a strong offseason of work and shows up big in his 4th NFL season next year. He obviously has some raw talent and speed that would work out well, here. He seems to be willing to block and put in the work. Fingers crossed.

 

[RobertWeathers]

My personal expectations have been low for this particular season, simply due to the complexity of the system and the low likelihood of an outsider contributing much, but I think you’d have to be fooling yourself a bit if you think that Dorsett is on the same page as Brady and the rest of the offense.

Hopefully, he puts in a strong offseason of work and shows up big in his 4th NFL season next year. He obviously has some raw talent and speed that would work out well, here. He seems to be willing to block and put in the work. Fingers crossed.

I agree. No offseason. No OTAs. No TC. No preseason. He was waaaaaaaaay behind.

I think he has talent. We'll see what happens.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I fly out of Boston tomorrow AM for the game...we picked MIA for our away game this year. Pumped. Let's do it

 

[Mack Herron]

My personal expectations have been low for this particular season, simply due to the complexity of the system and the low likelihood of an outsider contributing much, but I think you’d have to be fooling yourself a bit if you think that Dorsett is on the same page as Brady and the rest of the offense.

Hopefully, he puts in a strong offseason of work and shows up big in his 4th NFL season next year. He obviously has some raw talent and speed that would work out well, here. He seems to be willing to block and put in the work. Fingers crossed.

Michael Floyd had 4 receptions in 2 games. Probably twice as many targets. I think I remember a couple drops. Brady seemed to give him more looks with fewer practices.

 

[Ring 6]

Crap so he still doesn't know the plays? Hes getting a lot of reps these last few weeks

Lining up wrong on one play, IF that actually happened (because we are discussing this based on one poster thinking he remembers it) is not “he doesn’t know the plays”.