Bill at it again

[FreeTedWilliams]

He is right, the word "starter" is obsolete in today's NFL, Lewis, Hogan, White, are all not technically starters, same for Rowe, Valentine, Grissom...

BUt with a 45 man game day roster, you really can't rest anyone. Granted once the game is decided, get Brady, Edelman, Hightower and Butler to the bench.

 

[Deus Irae]

He is right, the word "starter" is obsolete in today's NFL, Lewis, Hogan, White, are all not technically starters, same for Rowe, Valentine, Grissom...

BUt with a 45 man game day roster, you really can't rest anyone. Granted once the game is decided, get Brady, Edelman, Hightower and Butler to the bench.

Teams, including the Patriots, rest "starters" all the time. BB knew full well what was meant by the question. He didn't feel like answering, so he gave a needlessly silly respons, and he'd have given a different ****ty answer had the question been asked by using a list of specific names.

We've seen this movie before.

 

[RIpats88]

i think bill remembers last year giving away the number one seed. i understand fans here want to rest everyone to avoid injury

but at the same time there is value in keeping the teams momenum going into the playoffs

do you really want guys like edelman and brady to not play football for 3 weeks and be rusty in the divisional round?

 

[RayClay]

They use a lot of players every game. I can't think of any that don't play except a few Olinemen and special teams, which is playing. Who are the starting DEs? They got almost equal time last week. Who's the starting corner opposite Butler? 3-4 guys have been, I believe. DTs all play and Hamilton did some when he was here. All the receivers play, Engel caught a TD and a tough one. They can change snaps depending how the game goes.

 

[supafly]

He is not screwing with anybody. NFL is not college where you can filled three different offenses. How can he rest his whole starters? Who sits and who plays? Can he fill an O-line with players who don't play?

Bill's main point is that he isn't going to prioritize someone like Lewis over Blount, or vice versa.

He could certainly choose to rest a handful of players on each side of the ball if he wanted to. People have been doing it for years. His point is that it doesn't send the proper message to keep a guy like Chung in the game, but sit Butler or Hightower.

 

[Geezer Butler]

i think bill remembers last year giving away the number one seed. i understand fans here want to rest everyone to avoid injury

but at the same time there is value in keeping the teams momenum going into the playoffs

do you really want guys like edelman and brady to not play football for 3 weeks and be rusty in the divisional round?

Agreed.

This team is going into this post season with a head of steam no matter what. After what happened last year they aren't going to take the foot off the gas.

I expect Brady to play in this game along with all of the other "starters" that don't have significant injuries. Anyone that NEEDS rest will rest. Lets leave the "starter jackets" to teams like Malden High (nothing against Malden High) and Houston

That being said, this game will be a grinder. It's never easy, no matter what the scenario, late in the year in Miami.

 

[patfanken]

I think the best method to use for this situation was stated by Tony Dungy on a clip. In it he was asked about what to do with this situation. Dungy he said he's done it all ways, but he thinks the best way to do it is to tell everyone they are playing it just like any other game. That way everyone prepares for 60 minutes. Then when the game starts they can pull key players as the game goes on. He said the worst thing you can do is have players who aren't hurt, not preparing for the week they are told they are not playying.

 

[jah]

He is right, the word "starter" is obsolete in today's NFL, Lewis, Hogan, White, are all not technically starters, same for Rowe, Valentine, Grissom...

BUt with a 45 man game day roster, you really can't rest anyone. Granted once the game is decided, get Brady, Edelman, Hightower and Butler to the bench.

Hogan and Rowe actually are "technically" starters.