Patriots Super Bowl week Thread: Practice Notes, Injury Updates, etc.

[BobDigital]

Reiss said Brown was walking around the locker room with no apparent limp smiling. Maybe im wrong, but sounds like with a bye week they are being cautious with him.

Brown was on the field on the last defensive running down of the game. He went off without being injured. I have zero doubt Brown will play and be effective.

If anyone is worried that Brown will not play then please stop worrying as there is no need to from all the information we have.

 

[Froob]

Epic roast

 

[Huckleberry1]

This.

Draft results are more an indication of consensus popularity than they are any purely objective ranking of "talent", regardless what any fan thinks. And, any college prospect acquired during draft weekend immediately becomes an NFL rookie, so their draft status doesn't (or shouldn't) matter anymore except with regard to their cap hit (although it seems to matter a great deal for a few other teams - especially for the perennially bad ones).

Historically, prospects who are signed as UDFA have had, percentage-wise, better NFL "success" rates than 7th-rounders in terms of total games/snaps played in all three phases (plus statistical contributions). The prospects who were drafted in the 7th were simply more popular at the time among the 32 teams than the guys who went undrafted.

Of the 63 players who have played active roster snaps with the Pats this season and helped them get back to the Superbowl for the 2nd consecutive year ...
-- 20 were originally drafted in the first three rounds (regardless who drafted them)
-- 21 were originally drafted in the 4th thru 7th rounds
-- 21 were originally undrafted

*** This roughly 33%/33%/33% ratio is typical of every NFL roster, every season.

The current active Pats players who were originally UDFA include:

Ryan Allen
Amendola
Andrews
Bademosi
Adam Butler
Malcom Butler
Develin
James Harrison
Hogan
Hoyer
Jon Jones
King
Eric Lee
Waddle

*** EDIT:

Just to be clear, "typical" wasn't intended to mean absolutely every NFL roster, every year - just on average. For example, the Eagles roster breaks down as follows:

23 players drafted in the first three rounds
21 players drafted in rounds 4-7
10 UDFA
(total 54 players who are listed as having been active for games this season).

Really good post, as usual.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Epic roast

Props to the Steelers, they reached their goal yet again this season.

 

[RIpats88]

sounds like both gronk/wise are in step 4. if no symptoms that means next step is full contact practice, then cleared.

Sounds like both will be good to go in the superbowl.

 

[Kid~Brady]

Someone put a Tom Brady jersey on the Rocky statue in Philly....riots to begin in 3...2...1....

 

[mosi]

Someone put a Tom Brady jersey on the Rocky statue in Philly....riots to begin in 3...2...1....

Now, that will get someone killed. The only thing more dangerous would be wearing a Pats jersey to the wing bowl.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Someone put a Tom Brady jersey on the Rocky statue in Philly....riots to begin in 3...2...1....

Link? That has to be fake...

 

[Huckleberry1]

Someone put a Tom Brady jersey on the Rocky statue in Philly....riots to begin in 3...2...1....

I liked it when all the high rises in Seattle made #12 with their lights, great tribute to the Super Bowl MVP.

 

[Deus Irae]

Link? That has to be fake...

I make no claim to the validity of the actual story, but the links are there

Patriots fan defaces ‘Rocky’ statue using Tom Brady jersey | The Sports Daily

Patriots fan defaces ‘Rocky’ statue using Tom Brady jersey

 

[maineman209]

ICYMI ...

Barry Church fined $24,309 for hit on Rob Gronkowski
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...arry-church-fined-24309-for-hit-on-gronkowski
Nearly as much as his game check for the Divisional Round.

 

[Mack Herron]

ICYMI ...

Barry Church fined $24,309 for hit on Rob Gronkowski
Nearly as much as his game check for the Divisional Round.

Jaguars safety Barry Church received a $51,000 share for playing in the AFC Championship but had $24,309 taken away as part of a fine for his hit on Rob Gronkowski.

Still a good chunk.
James Harrison is 'Not Done'

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Nothing new here but Eagles D line planning on making Brady uncomfortable, not necessarily sack him.

Eagles' D-line plans to crash Tom Brady's Super Bowl party

But the Eagles are also grounded in reality, and recognize the easiest way to make him play like a mortal is to put him on his back. Veteran defensive end Chris Long, a member of the 2016 championship Patriots team, knows it as well as anybody. So it's no surprise that he decided to address the defensive line during meetings at the start of the work week.

His message?

"Let's go out there and make him uncomfortable," he said, according to standout defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.

I could see the pats counter this by having Brady in shotgun most of the night and dump off quick passes to amendola, cooks, lewis and white. Very similar to the offensive game plan of SB 49.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Nothing new here but Eagles D line planning on making Brady uncomfortable, not necessarily sack him.

Eagles' D-line plans to crash Tom Brady's Super Bowl party





I could see the pats counter this by having Brady in shotgun most of the night and dump off quick passes to amendola, cooks, lewis and white. Very similar to the offensive game plan of SB 49.

Very worrisome, I don’t think Brady has ever faced a defense that wanted to get to him before, let alone in the Super Bowl. He may not know what to do?

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Very worrisome, I don’t think Brady has ever faced a defense that wanted to get to him before, let alone in the Super Bowl. He may not know what to do?

that's why i prefaced my comments by saying "nothing new here." the article was just FYI.

 

[BTTA]

Very worrisome, I don’t think Brady has ever faced a defense that wanted to get to him before, let alone in the Super Bowl. He may not know what to do?

Yeah, this highly aggressive idea of "let's make him uncomfortable" is revolutionary. Once Vegas sees this, the odds may switch on the game.

Plus, it is such a motivational rallying cry: "Let's go cause discomfort!"

The League safety committee should look into this. Does that kind of thing have a place on the football field? It is a violent sport, yes, but we aren't savages!

 

[RayClay]

from Reiss:

The Patriots will be practicing at the Vikings' facility in Eden Prairie, while the Eagles will be at the University of Minnesota facility, which is more in the downtown area. Bill Belichick traditionally practices outside regardless of the elements, and it will be interesting to see how he handles things next week. Temperatures are expected to be cold, and the game will be played indoors.

The Patriots could have the advantage by practicing outside. Then again, they could be frozen solid by game time.

 

[maineman209]

that's why i prefaced my comments by saying "nothing new here." the article was just FYI.

Schwartz doesn't blitz very often, but the Eagles blitz and blitz-fakes have been fairly effective.

I have to wonder how McD and Brady would respond if Schwartz sent the house out of coverage formation on the Pats first two or three snaps.

 

[long distance]

The Patriots could have the advantage by practicing outside. Then again, they could be frozen solid by game time.

from Reiss:

Bill Belichick usually has the Patriots practicing outside over the course of the season, thinking that the team can benefit from working in various conditions. That has held true even in weeks when the Patriots were preparing to play a road game at an indoor venue. But Belichick has informed players that every practice this week in Minnesota leading up to Super Bowl LII -- which will be held at the indoor U.S. Bank Stadium -- will be indoors, so they don't have to bring their cold-weather gear.

 

[sambam94]

The Patriots could have the advantage by practicing outside. Then again, they could be frozen solid by game time.

why do you think this? My initial reaction was why practice outside in the cold when the game is in a dome. Wouldn't it be better to practice in game like conditions?