Logan Mankins: "I'm Back and Ready To Go"

[IcyPatriot]

As long as he stays off the SI cover we will be all set and stronger.

 

[Kontradiction]

I don't think he's VASTLY superior to Connelly.

If his attitude is so good and he loves playing with the guys, then why the bizarre holdout for absolute top dollar?

Mankins is a top five guard in the league while Connolly is a third stringer. Yes, Mankins is VASTLY superior to Connolly.

 

[Grizzafted]

anyone else think that moss speech played a role in his coming back so quick?

"hey....he's right! i miss those guys!"

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Why would you be pissed about the team VASTLY upgrading the LG position? And why would the locker room be pissed? Both are now in an open competition with Connolly having an eight week advantage on Mankins. If Connolly is the better of the two, he'll earn the starting nod. If not, it will go to Mankins.

Exactly. I'm pretty pissed at Mankins like the rest of you but if Belichick is willing to give him a role no way would I object to that. At the very least, now we aren't totally screwed with another injury or 2 on the interior OL with Kaczur going on IR.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Yeah, me too. My dad served in the Army for 22 years and it peeves me every time one of these guys talks about "going to war."

Get real...they need to keep their mouth shut. They have no idea what kind of sacrifices actual "warriors" make for far less pay, and at REAL risk to their lives.

Football is a game. It's not even close to war, and I don't care how tough these guys think they are. They aren't as tough as someone who's been to Vietnam or Iraq. Not even close. When they say "this is war" before an NFL game, I just want to throw up. Athletes are way, way over-glorified in our country. It's insane.

First of all, thanks and respect to your father for his service. My dad was in WWII and I come from a family whose military service dates back to Gettysburg and Fredericksburg.

I disagree, although respectfully, with your view on using military analogies in everyday speech.

I think that using analogies from one field of endeavor to communicate something about another field is appropriate and that one can do so without diminishing the more noble field or blurring the very real lines that exist.

For example, business people often use football analogies to describe what they are doing ("OK, everybody, it's important that we move the ball down the field with this client today.") No one is suggesting that sitting at a meeting in a comfortable chair in a heated conference room is anything at all like getting sacked into the mud by a 350 pound lineman on a cold, rainy December evening, but the analogy just helps people talk and communicate about what they are doing.

So, too, with military analogies. I think we can use them without suggesting that playing football is really anything like facing live fire.

Thanks for listening to my opinion.

 

[furley]

Mankins' timing is great, albeit calculated timing.

@PIT - James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons
IND - Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney
@DET - Kyle Vanden Bosch, Ndamukong Suh, Cliff Avril and Julian Peterson
NYJ - Shaun Ellis, Calvin Pace, David Harris and Jason Taylor
@CHI - Julius Peppers
GB - Clay Matthews

 

[Peachhead]

Mankins is a top five guard in the league while Connolly is a third stringer. Yes, Mankins is VASTLY superior to Connolly.

The only category where Mankins is "VASTLY superior" is in committing false start penalties at the worst possible time. Oh yeah, and calling out the owner in the Boston press.

I must have missed the game this year when the O-line sucked. IMO it's been pretty good so far this year.

 

[Deus Irae]

The only category where Mankins is "VASTLY superior" is in committing false start penalties at the worst possible time. Oh yeah, and calling out the owner in the Boston press.

I must have missed the game this year when the O-line sucked. IMO it's been pretty good so far this year.

1.) The O-line is 5 players, not 1

2.) The O-line has had its problems on more than one occasion this year

3.) You must have missed the game where Connolly got benched in favor of Wendell

 

[ausbacker]

The only category where Mankins is "VASTLY superior" is in committing false start penalties at the worst possible time. Oh yeah, and calling out the owner in the Boston press.

I must have missed the game this year when the O-line sucked. IMO it's been pretty good so far this year.

On career accomplishment and perceived quality Mankins is superior to Connolly. That said Connolly's improvement this season has been tremendous and appears to be a reason why the offensive line doesn't look to have missed a beat without Mankins playing.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I guess Mankins is using the Pats so he can become an UFA. That's the ONLY reason he came back now. Let's use him like he used the Pats, make him work his ass off to help the team, and Connolly replaces his ass next year. Let Mankins blow his knee out on the last play of the year, when Brady takes a knee the last minute of a SB victory. F*ck Mankins. And I don't care who gets mad at that comment, I hate Mankins.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Logan's checklist:

Crops harvested
Barn stocked with hay
Hogs & cattle fattened
Tractors winterized
Nuthin left to do on the farm
Time to go play OG for the Patriots!

That's probably the most bizarre part of this whole episode. He never left...has been here since April, periodic hissies to the contrary. Been golfin and dinin with his guys. God only knows what happened to the cattle over the last several months, that must truly be one self sufficient farm...

 

[Kontradiction]

The only category where Mankins is "VASTLY superior" is in committing false start penalties at the worst possible time. Oh yeah, and calling out the owner in the Boston press.

I must have missed the game this year when the O-line sucked. IMO it's been pretty good so far this year.

The San Diego game comes to mind where the interior O-Line has had it's issues. So does the Jets game. As does the Vikings game. Mankins addition not only helps out Light, but it also helps out Koppen (who has been struggling this season). Connolly has been better than most have expected, but has still seen his share of struggles this season. As another poster mentioned, he was benched in the second half of the San Diego game. If Kaczur was here, he'd still be sitting on the bench. With all of that in mind, I don't even think it's a question. A Mankins in football shape is vastly superior to Connolly at this point.

 

[PatriotsInGA]

Am I excited to see him play? Yes

Am I happy to see him get his job back? No

 

[TruthSeeker]

Totally agree with this point. I think fans take a different approach to players then management. I think players, coaches, GMs, etc. view Logan sitting out as it being all within his rights of doing so. It is in the CBA that he can sit out as leverage against the team.

In the CBA? I thought we lived in a free country? He was a guy without a contract. Do you think that some arbitrary person was supposed to be able to tell him what he (or you) should do?

So many fans seem to think that Logan Mankins owed the Patriots something because he's a restricted free agent. No, he didn't owe the Patriots (or the fans) anything; he's a guy without a contract. Now that he's a signed a contract, however...

 

[TruthSeeker]

Yeah, the mans a real role model. The last player to show up for work in the entire NFL. Kind of guy you'd want in the fox hole with you.

Excuse me, he showed up the same day he signed a contract. Did you want him to show up a couple weeks before there was a signed contract.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Not sure how many other fan bases would be outraged about getting a Pro Bowl LG back into their line-up, but I'm glad he's back. We didn't have to break the bank to get him here and we got him a few weeks earlier than expected.

Love him or hate him, we're a better team with him than without.

 

[patman12]

I guess Mankins is using the Pats so he can become an UFA. That's the ONLY reason he came back now. Let's use him like he used the Pats, make him work his ass off to help the team, and Connolly replaces his ass next year. Let Mankins blow his knee out on the last play of the year, when Brady takes a knee the last minute of a SB victory. F*ck Mankins. And I don't care who gets mad at that comment, I hate Mankins.

Mankins is using the Pats just as much as they are using him. Symbiotic and all that. It's the business side of football. Not sure why people struggle so much with this concept.

 

[shmessy]

The San Diego game comes to mind where the interior O-Line has had it's issues. So does the Jets game. As does the Vikings game. Mankins addition not only helps out Light, but it also helps out Koppen (who has been struggling this season). Connolly has been better than most have expected, but has still seen his share of struggles this season. As another poster mentioned, he was benched in the second half of the San Diego game. If Kaczur was here, he'd still be sitting on the bench. With all of that in mind, I don't even think it's a question. A Mankins in football shape is vastly superior to Connolly at this point.

$7 million per year better?

 

[Ring 6]

I guess Mankins is using the Pats so he can become an UFA. That's the ONLY reason he came back now. Let's use him like he used the Pats, make him work his ass off to help the team, and Connolly replaces his ass next year. Let Mankins blow his knee out on the last play of the year, when Brady takes a knee the last minute of a SB victory. F*ck Mankins. And I don't care who gets mad at that comment, I hate Mankins.

I know he's just like that other guy who pulled this crap on the Patriots, John Hannah.

 

[Gwedd]

I know he's just like that other guy who pulled this crap on the Patriots, John Hannah.

Square in the black. I don't have to like what's been going on, because I am just a fan, and nothing more, but this is still a business, and this is the nature of Professional football. Mankins was NEVER under contract, so he NEVER had to report unless he wanted to, except for the final few games so he could gain his free agent status. I will never begrudge him that. That doesn't mean that I have to like it, or agree with it, but this is between Mankins and the Team. He is still playing within the rules, and it is what it is.

V/R