May 31st, 2007
Final thoughts
Posted by
Albert Breer at 6:17 pm
The Patriots will travel tomorrow to Louisiana as a team, calling off their final days of OTAs to be with the family of Marquise Hill this weekend. Most will return next week for Monday’s golf tournament and the mandatory minicamp in the three days to follow, though players have been given permission to stay in Louisiana past the team’s scheduled return on Saturday.
So going into minicamp, here are a few things to chew on:
– I’ve gotten a couple emails on calling the weak-side linebacker the “Mike.” So let me explain. First of all, the origins of these names come in the first letter of the position each is playing. In a 4-3 defense, it’s relatively easy. The middle linebacker is the “Mike”, the strongside linebacker is the “Sam” and the weakside backer is the “Will.” In a 3-4, the terminology is a bit more convoluted. In some systems, the “Mike” is the weakside inside linebacker with the “Ted” (standing for tight-end side) being the strongside. In others, the weakside inside is the “Jack” while the “Mike” is on the strongside. So in one terminology set, the weakside inside ‘backer would be the “Mike”, and in another the “Jack.” Basically, that’s where Adalius Thomas was seeing a lot of reps, with Tedy Bruschi playing the “Mike” or the “Ted”, depending on what terminology you use. These two positions can switch presnap, so there is a distinction, whereas the “Will” and “Sam”, being on-the-line positions, can’t switch before the snap, so those players generally need the ability to play both the open and closed sides to deal with flipped formations and motion.
– One of the more interesting things to see was
Tom Brady’s command of the offense. More and more, he seems like a coach on the field, getting players in position and helping receivers learn routes and adjustments. Last year, Brady was pretty fiery early on in prodding his targets. This time, he seemed more measured and patient in helping his teammates out. Either way, it’s clear that when one of the guys on the offense has a question, Brady’s the first non-coach he’ll go to.
– This is very important in reading all observations of this camp: It is, indeed, normal for a defense to be ahead of an offense early on. If this was, say, a college spring game, the defense would’ve beaten the offense out there soundly. There are a lot of new pieces on offense, and it’ll take a while for them to come together, as was the case last year. And so problems offensively, and there were plenty this morning, should provoke no sounding of the alarm quite yet.
– That said, what should be an ultracompetitive race for roster spots at receiver got off to a rocky start.
Randy Moss‘ two drops will be magnified, but the truth is that
Kelley Washington and
Garrett Mills had some similar problems. The timing just isn’t there yet, and at times, the group looked lost. Which, like we said, is to be expected.
– There is a big difference, at least at this point, between
Deion Branch holding out last year and what looms with
Asante Samuel this year. In 2006, Branch was under contract and could incur fines for every day he missed. By the time he was traded to Seattle, he’d incurred over a half-million dollars in fines. Samuel, on the other hand, can’t be fined, since he’s not under contract.
– Finally, a word on the players who spoke today on Hill. My feeling was that — and this isn’t any surprise — one quote from
Richard Seymour carried the most weight. Here it is: “I talked to a few of my teammates and I think from that point you go back and you look at in life; we always go through a lot of things, how insignificant they are, maybe have a word or two with my wife or the kids. Ultimately, it’s opportunities and times like this when you look back and reflect and say, hey I’ll take that all day. Spending that time with my family, now for me having four kids, I’m just really trying to spend all the time that I can with them. Like I said, we never know when our last moment is.”
I think that, pretty much, says what we can all take from a tragedy like this.
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