Today in Patriots History
June 17 Columns
From the 2020s
June 17, 2020:
“It’s not just talk, not with the Patriots. It’s a chip you carry in the weight room, room... it’s a chip that motivates you,”
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Bill Belichick is the master manipulator and motivator. He can take a team that won a dozen or so games for a decade and make them believe that nobody believes in them. Giving a team that underdog, “us against the world” mentality, keeps a team fresh, on edge, and never lets them get complacent, which is the kiss of death in professional sports.
And Belichick never had a student of that line of thinking, better than Rodney Harrison. “Hot Rod” always totally bought in with that line of thinking and motivation, so when he sat down with the Boston Herald and began talking about Belichick’s motivational plan for 2020, it is time to sit up and take notice…he knows what he’s talking about.
“He might bring up a couple of articles … everybody saying it’s over, Brady this, Brady that,” Harrison said in the interview on Tuesday. “Of course he’ll say something about that. But at the end of the day, whether he makes the point or not, he knows the team will be motivated to prove they can win without Tom.”
Chase Winovich releases the second part to “Wino On A Quest” with a visit to a Boston Firehouse in his North End adventure.
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June 17, 2021:
New England Patriots news for Thursday 6/17 and NFL Notes.
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2) One player who has stood out during these sessions is linebacker Josh Uche, who apparently has been spending a lot of time honing his skills heading into this season.
According to Nicole Yang of the Boston Globe, Uche attended Von Miller’s fifth annual pass rush summit prior to minicamp, allowing the former Michigan standout to be a part of the same event he’s been watching since middle school. He actually Face-Timed with Miller the night he was drafted, with the two staying in touch since that night.
He was one of just 12 players to participate, with Uche getting instruction from both Miller, along with pass-rushing coach Chuck Smith and Super Bowl 50 champion DeMarcus Ware.
It appears to have paid off, as his name came up quite a bit as a player who was pretty disruptive on the defense and he looks like he could be ready to take the next step heading into this season.
Uche said that he believes that being successful requires working hard, which is something that he has continued to do because it’s simply part of who he is.
“This isn’t something you can turn on and off, in my opinion,” Uche said. “Football is something I try to work on year-round, whether it’s watching film, watching old games, or just continuing to be involved in football and what it is we do here at the Patriots.”
June 17, 2022:
New England Patriots news for Friday 6/17. The Patriots made a massive leap in average offensive time of possession on offense in 2021.
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– The team released photos of each of their players in uniform on Thursday and one notable thing that stood out was the fact linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley looks slightly trimmed down from where he was in 2021. With the team moving to more speed at linebacker, Bentley’s experience is going to be key given the number of younger players who will potentially see action in 2022, and if he’s able to gain an extra step, even better. He was quietly an impact player last season, leading the defense in tackles by a significant margin after combining for 108, with the next closest player being safety Adrian Phillips, who had 87. Bentley also finished with one sack, 5 quarterback hits, 5 tackles for a loss, 2 passes defended, and 3 forced fumbles.
– The team made some of their recent transactions official on Thursday, announcing that Jakobi Meyers, Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, and rookie Pierre Strong Jr. are officially under contract. Meyers signed his restricted free agent tender earlier this week, while Humphrey’s signing was reported on Wednesday. Strong Jr.’s deal is the most recent one, with Field Yates reporting that he agreed to terms on a 4-year deal worth $4.37 million with $714,428 guaranteed.
This week we will conduct the review of the WR group. The group is better but only slightly.
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Tyquan Thornton
There are a lot of critics of the selection of Tyquan Thornton as a 2nd round pick. His slight build did not excite many observers at camp and he was running with the scout team players. He is currently WR5. If he can’t contribute on Kickoffs, he may not make the 46-game day roster. We are looking at a Redshirt year for Thornton. I believe he is having a difficult time with the playbook and route running responsibilities. He is not the first to have these problems as many high-caliber veterans had trouble picking it up as well (Chad Johnson, Demaryius Thomas, Malcolm Floyd, Marquise Lee, and Reggie Wayne). Thornton has the speed to separate, but can he get his responsibilities down? A Redshirt year will also give him a year with the nutritional and weightlifting staff. He will be one to watch in camp. Nelson Agholor has taken Thornton under his wing to mentor him.
June 17, 2024:
The New England Patriots will be immortalizing Tom Brady next season, with owner Robert Kraft announcing during Tom Brady's Patriots Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony last Wednesday night that the club has already commissioned a 12-foot statue of their beloved quarterback.
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The
New England Patriots will be immortalizing Tom Brady next season, with owner Robert Kraft announcing during
Tom Brady’s Patriots Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony last Wednesday night that the club has already commissioned a 12-foot statue of their beloved quarterback.
No exact date has been set, but Kraft said a 12-foot bronze statue of Brady will be placed outside Gillette Stadium at some point during the 2024 season.
The news wasn’t really much of a surprise to fans, as the retired Patriots legend provided nearly 20-years of unbelievable memories during his tenure as quarterback here in New England.
New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson hinted last week that he and the team were "pretty close" to getting an extension done, and these next six weeks will likely be key if the club hopes to lock Stevenson down for the foreseeable future.
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Key Stretch For Stevenson
Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson hinted last week that he and the team were “pretty close” to getting an extension done, and these next six weeks will likely be key if the club hopes to lock Stevenson down for the foreseeable future.
Stevenson has certainly impressed since the club
drafted him in the fourth round back in 2021. The former standout from Oklahoma made noise during his rookie season, but brokeout in his sophomore season,
rushing for 1,040 yards on 210 carries along with five touchdowns that year.
That performance clearly impressed the coaching staff to the point where they were comfortable to let former Patriots running back Damien Harris leave last offseason, with Stevenson emerging as the club’s starter.
Now, as he heads into the final year of his own rookie contract, he’s hopeful that whatever faith they have will see him get rewarded. He finished last season with a 156 carry, 619-yards, and four touchdown performance before the ankle injury he suffered late in the year saw him miss time over the final month of the season before he ultimately ended up on injured reserve.
Fortunately, that injury seems to be behind him. Stevenson is now focused on having a big year, spending this offseason seemingly slimming down. Several reports said Stevenson looked lighter, but the veteran said he’s actually the same weight as he’s been. Instead, he claimed he’s simply been eating better, and it helped him lower his body fat while getting to a “better weight.”
He said last week the goal was to make sure “my body’s ready for the whole season.” He’s probably hopeful that a new contract will come before camp begins, but despite the ongoing negotiations, things sounded fairly positive.
June 17, 2025:
As the Patriots eye roster upgrades, names like McLaurin and Hendrickson surface. Plus: Zolak praises Vrabel, and thoughts on 25 years of PatsFans.com.
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1) We’ve got a long way to go before the start of training camp, and while the pre-camp roster seems relatively set, the club currently has a roster opening thanks to
last week’s retirement of
Wes Schweitzer.
How they might decide to fill it is certainly an interesting question. There are still various players in a state of unhappiness around the league, with each one sitting in a standoff with their current clubs.
Washington’s
Terry McLaurin is one of those players, with the wideout frustrated and looking for a new deal coming off the 82 receptions, 1,096 yards, and 13 touchdowns he put up last season. That was McLaurin’s fifth consecutive 1,000-yard campaign, which played a key role in Washington’s playoff run.
More importantly, he’s obviously a key part of a Commanders roster that needs to try to keep its nucleus intact around second-year quarterback Jayden Daniels, who had an outstanding rookie season in 2024, largely thanks to his veteran wideout.
Cincinnati’s
Trey Hendrickson is another unhappy player, with the edge rusher having watched
Joe Burrow force the Bengals’ hand on offense after both
Ja’Marr Chase and
Tee Higgins each get contract extensions.
The Bengals appear to be a mess, and it feels like they’re a team teetering on implosion, with ownership seemingly being the biggest issue
given a recent piece written by Mike Florio on ProFootballTalk.com. Keeping Hendrickson seems to be in their best interest, especially considering their defense ranked 25th in yards per game in 2024, including 36 sacks, also 25th in the NFL.
Joining McLaurin is Pittsburgh’s
T.J. Watt, with both sides dug in and no progress reportedly being made on that front. The Steelers reportedly want to extend him as he enters the final year of his deal, but
Myles Garrett’s four-year, $160 million deal that averages $40 million per season appears to be the benchmark.
June 17, 2026:
The Patriots' wide receiver room is under review, highlighting AJ Brown, Demario Douglas, and key battles. The Gabe Jacas controversy adds intrigue.
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Gabe Jacas Story Takes Another Twist
Mike Reiss reported on Sunday that Gabe Jacas had knee surgery shortly after the draft. It appears the Patriots front office, coaching staff, and medical staff knew nothing about this “Cleanup Procedure”. The Patriots would not offer him a contract or a guarantee until after he had passed a physical. This situation is becoming unusual and much messier than it should ever have been. Jacas would not attend off-season workouts or meetings without some type of guarantee that the Patriots would pay him the equivalent of his drafted position should he get hurt in practice.
The Patriots wouldn’t give him that. Somewhere during the draft process or the spring, Jacas had a procedure on his knee, according to Reiss. We knew that Jacas was dealing with a lingering hamstring issue that wouldn’t allow him to participate in the combine. He did have a private Pro Day on April 2nd and ran a 4.68 40-yard dash, which was exactly as predicted. However, Mike Vrabel
announced in a Press Conference that Jacas had a procedure. The question here is whether the Patriots knew that Jacas had this procedure, and if not, why he did not inform the team.
Savage Sports said, “Reiss also reported this morning that Jacas has not been in the building because the Patriots have not offered him a good-faith assurance that if he were injured at camp, his contract would still be signed with guarantees. The Patriots are not happy with Gabe Jacas. They are not happy that this knee procedure was undisclosed, and they are not happy that he is currently missing voluntary activities and mandatory minicamp.”
