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There's some interesting commentary in the article. Here are a few points:
Time to communicate - Christopher Gasper's Blog - Boston sports news - Boston.com
We have seen uncharacteristic breakdowns from the Patriots this season in just about every phase of the game, and now we're witnessing a breakdown in communication between Belichick and some of his players.
Belichick can't just dictate to his subservient subjects, not when the team is 7-5, and has lost three of four for the first time since 2002, and not when he has a team chock full of impressionable young players and veteran hired guns who didn't reside on Patriots Way when it was the path to three Super Bowl titles earlier this decade.
There has been an undercurrent of ferment in Foxborough all season long. It started with the team's decision to exile outspoken defensive end Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders on Sept. 6, eight days before the season-opener against Buffalo. That trade was an eye-opener to a lot of the Patriots' rank-and-file, a reminder that what is in the best interest of the team doesn't necessarily take into account their interests at all.
Throw in the fact that nose tackle and defensive captain Vince Wilfork, the team's best defensive player, is being held to a bad, six-year rookie contract and has been unable to come to terms on a new deal, and that the Patriots are a team with a lot of Hessian soldiers like Thomas, the most expensive free agent in team history, who have experienced NFL life as members of less totalitarian teams and the Patriot Way has given way to the Patriot Wayward.
The reality is that not everyone in the locker room is simply downing the Patriot Kool-Aid without looking anymore. Some guys are grabbing the cup, sniffing it, and pouring it out when no one is looking.
Time to communicate - Christopher Gasper's Blog - Boston sports news - Boston.com