2018 Training Camp - Day 2 (7/27/18)

[BUSTAMOVE]

Long punts are not always good punts. If you outkick your coverage team the return makes up the difference anyway (and possibly worse).

Agree with out kicking your coverage. I think Allen does well in pinning punts inside the 20 yard line

 

[Ross12]

Have we seen anything on Sony Michel yet? Excited to see how he’s progressing. Very cool to hear about Patterson and Dorsett doing well, Hollister and J.McCourty too.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Have we seen anything on Sony Michel yet? Excited to see how he’s progressing. Very cool to hear about Patterson and Dorsett doing well, Hollister and J.McCourty too.

Probably won’t know more until tomorrow when they are in pads.

 

[Uptown]

Actually he just needed time for the defense as a whole to stop having breakdowns and everyone incorrectly blaming them all on him.

Yeah, that too

 

[maineman209]

I'm not holding my breath

Well, neither am I. Terribly unhealthy to do that, from what I hear.

 

[maineman209]

They cut Niklaus and brought in a WR...

Now it is Gronk, Allen, and Hollister. Not seeing Tye, Izzo, and Wimann making it now.

Gronk/Allen/Hollister certainly seems most likely so far, especially with both Allen and Hollister appearing to have made improvements receiving. But that's just 1/2 of the TE job.

The blocking part is where Hollister was especially deficient as a rookie, mostly in terms of understanding his assignments, from what I saw. The pads are on for Day-3, so we may find out more about where Hollister stands in that regard compared to the other three TE candidates.

Or, we may find out very little, depending on whether or not the sports-media Twitterverse is paying attention to TE blocking. They typically don't.

 

[DarrylS]

Michel's #51 is easy to spot, looked quick with no pads..

Amendola seems as quick as he usually is, his knee does not seem to be an issue..

Trent Brown is a massive human being..

Stephen Belichick seemed more vocal at practice than I noticed before..

For most of practice Ernie Adams was very close to BB and they were talking throughout the morning...

It was more than warm yesterday.. massive crowds... TC is becoming more of a haven for day camps and group homes, why not?? It is a cost effective way to spend a summer's day...

Searched for evidence of Brady vs. Belichick conflict, did not seem much of anything, BB seemed less communicative with players and focused more on observation and talking with position coaches and the Coordinators..

Danny Ettling is treated like the "red headed stepchild", give very few reps... but give him credit as he was first on the field and last off, work ethic does not seem to be an issue right now..

Always amazed at the crowds and how many are knowledgeable about the Patriots and their inner workings, if there was a way to quantify their intelligence in the NFL the results would be either at or near the top, all of this despite the hysteria and hyperbole of sports talk radio..

 

[Mike the Brit]

Michel's #51 is easy to spot, looked quick with no pads..

Amendola seems as quick as he usually is, his knee does not seem to be an issue..

Trent Brown is a massive human being..

Stephen Belichick seemed more vocal at practice than I noticed before..

For most of practice Ernie Adams was very close to BB and they were talking throughout the morning...

It was more than warm yesterday.. massive crowds... TC is becoming more of a haven for day camps and group homes, why not?? It is a cost effective way to spend a summer's day...

Searched for evidence of Brady vs. Belichick conflict, did not seem much of anything, BB seemed less communicative with players and focused more on observation and talking with position coaches and the Coordinators..

Danny Ettling is treated like the "red headed stepchild", give very few reps... but give him credit as he was first on the field and last off, work ethic does not seem to be an issue right now..

Always amazed at the crowds and how many are knowledgeable about the Patriots and their inner workings, if there was a way to quantify their intelligence in the NFL the results would be either at or near the top, all of this despite the hysteria and hyperbole of sports talk radio..

Thanks for the report! Always great to hear from those who were there.

Here's a nice round-up from Phil Perry.

Postcard from Camp, Day 2: Signs of progress
​

Look at this photo of Malcolm Mitchell:



That's why it will break my heart when (yes, "when", not "if") BB ships him out.

And more confirmation that poor Mike has been compressed:

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Amendola seems as quick as he usually is, his knee does not seem to be an issue..

..

Julian?
We know who you meant......

 

[Uptown]

 

[Love The Drake]

My binkie Hill

 

[luuked]

I can agree they were okay but not great despite their ppg ranking.

Their biggest weakness all year long was covering RB’s out of the backfield which finally got exposed in the Super Bowl. Hopefully that will change with Hightower and Van Noy coming back. Would also like to see some contribution from Sam and Bentley.

If they fix that, they will be fine. An improved pass rush would be nice as well.

No it wasn't.

The run defense in general was 70-80% of the issue last year. If Branch would have had an average season instead of hanging out at Panda Express this would have been a top 5 defense in many stats in addition to points despite the substandard set of LBs that ended up playing the majority of the season. Go back to how efficient they were to defend the run in sub a year ago and thats all you need to know.

The RBs out of the backfield is a red herring that people love to bring up when opponents hit it a few times a game but it rarely matters and can be scheme'd away if the other team starts to really abuse it. What you can't scheme away is a leaky run defense because for that you have to make concessions in other places which opens up holes in multiple all around.

Getting this defense to the SB might have been Patricias best coaching job in his entire tenure here.

 

[captain stone]

It will be interesting to see what happens.. Hang time doesn't matter much if the ball goes deeper than it's supposed to and ends up giving the other team Touchbacks..

It is for that same reason that I would like to see published a metric which takes yardage lost by Touchbacks into account. Such a comparison should help weaker-legged Punters like Allen.

 

[captain stone]

Slater not practicing has nothing whatsoever to do with the current overall state of health of the WR position. Mitchell, on the other hand...

 

[Hyped]

Gronk/Allen/Hollister certainly seems most likely so far, especially with both Allen and Hollister appearing to have made improvements receiving. But that's just 1/2 of the TE job.

The blocking part is where Hollister was especially deficient as a rookie, mostly in terms of understanding his assignments, from what I saw. The pads are on for Day-3, so we may find out more about where Hollister stands in that regard compared to the other three TE candidates.

Or, we may find out very little, depending on whether or not the sports-media Twitterverse is paying attention to TE blocking. They typically don't.

Last year, I thought Hollister did the most with his limited chances...including some really tough catches. There simply isn't a complete TE in the NFL other than Gronk and a handful others (Kelce, Ertz, etc..)..so I like the skill sets that both Allen/Hollister bring to the table.

The thing is...Allen was a decent pass catcher in the past with at least 3 seasons of 50+ targets along with receptions of 45, 29, 35 in 2012, 2014, and 2016 respectively. Maybe he is one of those "even years" dudes.....if so...2018 bodes well!

 

[long distance]

I know it is early in training camp and we have not seen any pads yet, but the mccourty twins look slow on the field.

Something to watch as training camp progresses.

Wholeheartedly agree w first part of your first sentence..

 

[long distance]

Look at this photo of Malcolm Mitchell:​

That's why it will break my heart when (yes, "when", not "if") BB ships him out.

Yep, MM is a heartbreak waiting to happen. And its not going to hurt any less. This bizz waits for no one and less in NE.

 

[DarrylS]

Julian?
We know who you meant......

Thx... for knowing who I meant, #11.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Thx... for knowing who I meant, #11.

After all those years of reading your posts in the now defunct political forum, you know how people think......