BB called out Meriweather beginning of the year

[Hoodie]

The LA times article quoted BB as openly criticizing Meriweather for saying that Welker is "one of the best slot receivers in the league".

He was quoted as saying "How the eff does Brandon Meriweather know that ....you're a rookie, keep your mouth shut!", at a team meeting.

Kind of swinish if you ask me. There are all sorts of ways to motivate people, some people don't take well to being treated with such contempt. Having someone remind him that management doesn't like rookies talking would work...no need for such nastiness.

Maybe Meriweather is just sulking and disgusted at the whole thing, feels a little unwelcome.

Where the hell have you been for the past 7 years? That's they way NFL coaches coach. Don't you remember Parcells calling Terry Glenn a "she," Nick Saban made a player cry. Humble Pie baby. Players eat it BB dishes it out.

 

[NEPat]

I never said "I had motivational techniques", or that they would "work". I was guessing that treating rookies that way is a technique of sorts. Whether it is good or bad is kind of the point of discussion. I could see it working well in most cases and not at all in some cases.

I think this is pretty common though among coaches. They get on their players, and they especially get on the rookies. Rookies never get treated nicely.

As for NE, if Merriweather was the only guy getting called out by Belichick, then maybe you have a point. Somehow though, I doubt it. It seems that the NE rookies all get the same treatment-keep your mouth shut or you're going to get it from BB and/or the vets. We've heard plenty from the rookies over the years about how they can't answer media questions or they'll get in trouble with Bill. My guess is Belichick has given plenty of the rookies the same rough treatment.

I remember Asante saying once how in his rookie year he was playing cards or something with Ty Law in the locker room. Belichick came up to them and barked some question to Asante about that week's game plan. Asante said Belichick never said a word to Law. I imagine now Belichick doesn't say a word to Asante. Clearly, there are different rules for the rookies and the vets, and everyone falls in line.

I imagine this is kind of the standard in an NFL locker room, and maybe even more so in NE because the vets have been through so much together through the years and they are the clear leaders.

 

[sebman2112]

Meriweather is currently behind Baker on the depth chart. That is significant.

Was Meriweather the victim of the CB vs. S. debate, or did BB switch him to CB because Meriweather was not cutting it at S??? And then move him back to S due to injuries???

Everything I saw of Meriweather was in the preseason and he did not look to terribly comfortable in the defense at that point in time

They played him at CB while Samuel was holding out, then later switched him back to Safety. For the record he made a very good tackle against TJ in the backfield, and put a nice hit on CJ against the bengals earlier this year. His playing time has gone down of late, but I wouldn't take that as him being a "bust" or a "dissapointment". Some guys take a little longer to develope, NE's defensive scheme isn't among the easiest, and BB likes experience on his defense. Hopefully they are just giving him a season to learn the system, which is what I think they are doing. Incidently, Meriweather has won at least one black jersey during practices, and during training camp Brandon was often one of the first to the next drill. This would prompt BB to call out "Brandon's here, where are all the other rookies?" So, it would at least seem he's working hard, and BB seems to like the kid.