After reading the article (which actually is pretty insightful regarding Easley), it seems sensible to shut him down. Apparently, he just wasn't able to fully rehab and at the same time prepare physically/mentally for the rigors of an NFL season. I thought he was having more of an impact than just 10 tackles and one sack thus far.
have re-read 3 times trying to find that part (the
insightful bit). So far have found:
A bunch (~ 10) of publicly known facts that were not organized in time sequence (re-organized):
"-- Easley tore his left ACL in 2011,
-- Easley tore his right ACL in September 2013,
--
Dr. James Andrews [sic: uh-oh??] conducted the surgery in October 2013.
--Patriots drafted him in the first round of May's draft,
--he took part in the final practice of minicamp in June before he made his training camp debut Aug. 11.
--Easley has missed eight regular-season practices, including six for knee-related reasons.
--Easley also suffered a separated AC joint in his right shoulder during the Pats' victory against the Bengals in Week 5, and he missed two practices and the following game against the Bills.
--[patriots] keeping him out of ... the Week 12 victory against the Lions
--He has been out of both practices this week.
--Easley has 10 tackles, one sack and one interception this season.
SPECULATIONS WITH SOME BASIS BUT COULD BE JUST OPINION:
--Easley has essentially been playing catch-up all season,
--Patriots have worked diligently to maintain his rehabilitation process by keeping him out of occasional practices*
SPECULATION BASED ON AN ANONYMOUS SOURCE:
--considering placing their first-round pick on injured reserve as a means to get him in a healthier position for the 2015 season**
So all things considered (resource Herald, writer-no track history with me for credibility, general media propensity to hype headlines with catastrophic untrue circumstances to get clicks); I didnt find much to give any credence one way or another.
* He missed a total of
8 practices while suffering an AC Separation over the course of 14 weeks of a season. I dont see how that is
'diligently ... keeping him out of practices'.
** the writer says they are "CONSIDERING"; well I could in effect say that about ANYBODY ON THE INJURY REPORT (to include TB) and say I am being 100% truthful. IR is always an option for an injured player. You can consider something and then immediately reject it out of hand or give it a 10% - lets wait and see. either of those are situations that wouldnt get me terribly excited about the loss of Easley.
I think he is a guy who has great potential to impact the pass-rush at least in obvious pass situations (3d long etc). So I hope, as I suspect, that this is just a click generating exercise for the author. Gotta give him credit in any event, he got my click.