Today in Patriots History
Threads and Columns
From the 2020s
June 20, 2020:
June 20, 2021:
The best social media postings from the New England Patriots honoring and celebrating Father's Day.
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Julian Edelman shares his funny reaction to Tom Brady being named a "Madden NFL 22" cover athlete.
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Ernie Adams breaks down the huddle following the final practice of his New England Patriots career, Kyle Van Noy dedicates a Twitter tribute.
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But Belichick is at his best when he’s teaching. He’s the best coach in the NFL And his methods are always fascinating to watch.
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Ernie Adams: Wednesday the Patriots bid a fond farewell to longtime Patriots staffer and an even longer friend of Bill Belichick, Ernie Adams as the wrap of minicamp also marked the end of his career as he’ll enter retirement.
And Bill Belichick, to honor Adams, put his friend where he is least likely to place himself…right out in front. Adams has been a hard-working and loyal lieutenant for Belichick but has never sought the limelight, and insisted to the media that he is “no man of mystery.”
Belichick turned over his regular press conference to Adams who answered “most” of the questions posed to him. One question that he left to mystery, was what the infamous “Pink Stripes” that was written on a whiteboard behind him during a “Do Your Job” video that the team filmed a few years ago.
“Well, I go back to my Wall Street days,” Adams said, “when everything we did we said was proprietary trading information. So, I’ll leave it at that’s strictly an inside joke and proprietary football information.”
Then at the conclusion of practice, Belichick once again turned things over to Adams and had the team give him an emotional send-off. (More below)
Vince Wilfork: Sad times for the Wilfork family this week when it was reported that Wilfork’s son, D’Aundre Holmes-Wilfork, 23, was arrested and charged with stealing $300,000 worth of Wilfork’s jewelry and selling it, including two of Wilfork’s Super Bowl rings.
Stephon Gilmore: The Patriots’ Defensive Player of the Year from 2019 is coming off of quad surgery and on the last year of his contract. Tongues were wagging (and rightfully so) when he was a no-show at not just voluntary OTAs but the mandatory minicamp that just wrapped up this week.
June 20, 2022:
New England Patriots news for Monday 6/20 along with NFL notes.
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– Rookie defensive back
Jack Jones remains one of the more interesting players to watch this preseason, as Jones looked impressive during OTAs and made a solid first impression. The knock against Jones is his size, with the rookie reportedly coming in at 177 pounds and he’ll need to put on some weight heading into camp. But he’s a scrappy player, entering Arizona State at 158 pounds and quickly establishing himself even despite his size. So far, he’s off to a good start here and he looks like he could potentially end up being one of the most pleasant surprises of 2022.
– By now, most people know Jones’ story and his inspiring turnaround. His former college coach,
Herm Edwards, took a chance on him after Jones was dismissed from USC due to academic ineligibility, which later saw him arrested for burglary after breaking into a local restaurant. However, even Edwards had a tough time with him. He suspended Jones indefinitely along with teammate
Aashari Crosswell in November of 2020 for a “team conducted related matter”
and even told ESPN’s Mike Reiss recently, that the rookie had “been a handful”. However, football seems to be what keeps his mind right, and Edwards added that being in Foxboro is “a good spot for him” and he believes good things are ahead.
Anyone know why we are still carrying a punter with a 4M+ cap hit??? Seems like a perfect opportunity to lower a cap hit with free agent signing. Would have been even better to draft a punter instead of wasting draft picks on 5th RB or 3rd string QB, but I digress... Jake Bailey Contract
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Anyone know why we are still carrying a punter with a 4M+ cap hit???
Seems like a perfect opportunity to lower a cap hit with free agent signing. Would have been even better to draft a punter instead of wasting draft picks on 5th RB or 3rd string QB, but I digress...
Jake Bailey Contract
June 20, 2023:
Some Patriots news for Tuesday June 20, 2023.
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Could Jack Jones Play in 2023?
As Jack Jones reportedly gets set to be arraigned today in Massachusetts, looking at past player situations, the possibility exists that Jones could, in fact, suit up for the
New England Patriots this season.
The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport appeared on the Pat McAfee show on Monday and discussed Jones’ situation, and he pointed out that given the amount of time this may take to play out from a legal standpoint, it’s possible that Jones could be on the field for the club in 2023.
“I read all the charges, there’s a lot of them,”
said Rapoport. “Now it’s possible timing-wise, this is pushed a little bit. The legal system plays out in forever, so it’s possible he could play this year. But this is bad, and this is not a football issue.”
Rapoport believes that barring a move by the team, while Commissioner Roger Goodell could theoretically make a move to keep Jones sidelined, he doesn’t believe anything is coming to prevent Jones from seeing time.
Jones’ incident was clearly just bad judgement and a gross oversight, which certainly now has him in quite a bit of trouble.
As for how the team apparently feels about the situation, it sounds like they’re extremely upset.
According to the
Athletic’s Jeff Howe, who appeared on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s
Toucher and Rich on Tuesday, the team is ‘livid’ about the allegations and Howe believes Jones’ time with the team could be in jeopardy.
“Legally, we’ll start with the Patriots,”
said Howe as transcribed by the station. “I mean, the team is understandably and obviously livid over the situation. Putting himself in a position like this is at any time of year, But really like after breaking minicamp and all that stuff, it’s just… they’re livid.”
“Moving over to the legal side, just from conversations I had with some friends who are much smarter with that stuff than I am… Looking at the charges and kind of breaking down what he’s facing. I mean, if he’s convicted, he’s looking at a mandatory 18-month sentence and there’s a likelihood of a two-year enhancement on that 18 months because the weapons were allegedly loaded.”
“Just right off the bat, there’s a strong possibility that if convicted, he’s looking at a minimum of three and a half years. You bring that back over to the team side. Everything that Robert Kraft has done since Aaron Hernandez. I would be very, very surprised if he were a Patriot much longer.”
*IF* you moved away for any reason, does your spirit soar when you land at Logan (or Manchester?) for a visit?
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*IF* you moved away for any reason, does your spirit soar when you land at Logan (or Manchester?) for a visit?
June 20, 2024:
Which Patriots veterans are fighting for their jobs at Training Camp? Here are 8 players I believe will have a hard time making the team.
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Juju Smith-Schuster
Juju admitted he was nowhere near 100% last season and that showed. He was a shell of his former self, making just 29 catches on 47 targets, 260 yards, 9.0 YPC, and just 1 TD. Rookie Wide receivers Jalyn Polk and Javon Baker are going to push out two veterans. Smith-Schuster is a slot receiver and the Patriots have too many players in this position. He will not be able to stretch the field from the wideout position, which is what the team needs. I was surprised that Smith-Schuster was not a June 1st cut for salary cap purposes.
Last offseason obviously saw the addition of former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, which turned out to potentially be one of the club's best moves.
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PFF Likes Pats RBs…Sort Of
Last offseason obviously saw the addition of former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, which turned out to potentially be one of the club’s best moves.
While Rhamondre Stevenson was clearly the
New England Patriots’ lead back in 2023, Elliott ended up making a massive impact in an offense that was anemic at best last season. He finished as the Patriots leading reception leader after hauling in 51 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 642 yards on 184 carries, including three touchdowns.
Stevenson finished right behind him with 619 yards on 156 carries along with four touchdowns, but gave way to Elliott late in the season after he suffered an ankle injury that ultimately saw him end up on injured reserve to finish off 2023. Stevenson was also fourth on the team in receptions, with 38 catches for 238 yards.
In the
latest running back rankings by Pro Football Focus, the Patriots came in at 25th overall, and their reasoning appears to be a little flawed.
One big question heading into 2024 is going to be whether or not Jerod Mayo and the new coaching staff will be able to pull off the little nuances that often were the difference with this New England Patriots team.
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Colin Cowherd was clearly trying to stir the pot on a question where he asked Brady if, under Belichick, the club might have been ever been too tight at times ahead of a big game, asking the former quarterback if he ever felt like he needed to step in as a leader and “lighten this room up.”
Brady actually admitted it was in fact, just the opposite. He said the preparation was generally so good that it gave players confidence heading into the game.
“I think the answer would be no, and I think that’s where Bill was actually so great,” said Brady. “And no one saw him in those moments like we did. And Saturday night, we were so prepared and so focused, we were the opposite of tight. We were always relaxed because we had the answers to the test. I knew that … I went through the call sheet. Let’s say we had 150 calls on the call sheet. There was a squad meeting at 8:00. I would meet with the quarterbacks starting at 6:30 and the offensive coordinator. We’d go through every single play on the call sheet, and we’d do exactly what we do. We do exactly what we did. ‘Okay, this is the play, this is the run. What’s the one thing that could mess this run up? Oh, a safety blitz off the right side. Okay, great. What do you want to do if that happens?’”
Rhamondre Stevenson recently said he and the New England Patriots were close on a new deal, and Thursday saw the two sides finally come to an agreement.
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Stevenson has certainly impressed since the club
drafted him in the fourth round back in 2021. The former standout from Oklahoma made noise during his rookie season, but broke out in his sophomore season,
rushing for 1,040 yards on 210 carries along with five touchdowns that year.
That performance clearly impressed the coaching staff to the point where they were comfortable to let former Patriots running back Damien Harris leave last offseason, with Stevenson emerging as the club’s starter.
Like the player but don't love paying running backs.
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Like the player but don't love paying running backs.
June 20, 2025:
We are in the dead zone before the start of Training Camp. This part 1 of the roster analysis in anticipation of the start of Training Camp on July 23rd, I will break down the 91-man Training Camp Roster. Today I will look at QB/RB and WR.
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Cam McCormick Hired as Scouting Assistant
Cam McCormick, who famously had nine years of college eligibility and went undrafted this year, has been hired by the Patriots as a scouting assistant.
Ja’Lynn Polk faces tough competition for a Patriots roster spot. Plus: Maye’s interception debate, camp preview, and a look back at Edelman’s 2014 breakout.
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1) This is certainly going to be a competitive
New England Patriots training camp, and one area that remains curious is going to be how things play out with this group of receivers.
One player in particular has even more riding on how he performs when things kick back off just over a month from now.
Second-year receiver
Ja’Lynn Polk is going to have plenty to prove when he hits the field in the coming weeks, especially coming off what was definitely a disappointing rookie season. He was highly touted by both analysts and the team’s front office, but things didn’t quite pan out for him in what was a difficult year all around offensively for this football team.
What’s crazy about Polk is that he actually kicked off 2024 with a fair amount of momentum. Polk caught 5 of his first 6 targets over his first three games, with the young receiver hauling 31 yards along with a touchdown to kick off his rookie campaign.
But from there, Polk caught just three passes on his next seven targets the next week against San Francisco, and just one on six targets the following week for 13 yards against Miami. He also caught just one on four targets the week after that in what turned out to be
Drake Maye’s first NFL start.
He knows that this is likely the only contract he will ever have based on the average career length of a NFL RB. I applaud him for holding out but this is a reminder that the Pats should have never selected a RB that high to begin with IMO.
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He knows that this is likely the only contract he will ever have based on the average career length of a NFL RB. I applaud him for holding out but this is a reminder that the Pats should have never selected a RB that high to begin with IMO.
