Only Bolden and White aren't at practice Wednesday; 11 players limited

[slash83]

Pouha's been struggling with injury this year. It's made a huge difference.

Any chance you've heard about him playing this week?

 

[supafly]

Great to hear Lloyd seems fine.
On the topic of Bolden it just highlights the Vereen disappointment. His injury had a major negative effect on the run game Sunday as Ridley was mostly ineffective. Why can't the guy get reps whatsoever, at the very least he should be able to return kicks where we probably have one of the worst KR games in the league.

My assumption is that they still feel way more comfortable with the other options over Vereen, particularly in the hurry up too.

I think he is still behind in learning the nuances of the offense, as it is obviously quite complex.

Blitz pickup is certainly another issue, but IIRC he was supposed to be halfway decent in that aspect of his game..

The KR game is something that I honestly expected to improve. McCourty and Woodhead both look kind of tentative coming out from the endzone to me, of course that may just be my personal opinion too. It just doesn't seem like they hit their stride with much authority.

 

[supafly]

Of note, Pryor returns so clock is ticking for badly needed help in interior pass rush.

I don't believe that the clock is ticking on Pryor yet, as I don't believe that he was taken off the PUP list yet.

I could be wrong of course, apologies if so.

 

[doesntmatter1]

My assumption is that they still feel way more comfortable with the other options over Vereen, particularly in the hurry up too.

I think he is still behind in learning the nuances of the offense, as it is obviously quite complex.

Blitz pickup is certainly another issue, but IIRC he was supposed to be halfway decent in that aspect of his game..

The KR game is something that I honestly expected to improve. McCourty and Woodhead both look kind of tentative coming out from the endzone to me, of course that may just be my personal opinion too. It just doesn't seem like they hit their stride with much authority.

I still have faith in vereen. Also, our KR game would improve if Slater would actually let somebody run it out for once lol. I love slater(look at the punt return after he got hurt), but he would shut down devin hester if he was our kick returner as well.

 

[JMarr]

Surprised to see the Jets 28th in the league in run defense.

NFL Stats: by Team Category

Wouldn't mind seeing Bolden in there, do some damage. Wear 'em down with the 1-2 punch.

Bolden has been pretty crucial to this offense so far. Ridley isn't the same back when he has to carry the load himself. He may already be wearing down a bit and was definitely easier to tackle on Sunday than in previous weeks.

Having that bowling ball 1-2 punch we had going in the running game will be more crucial to the team's future success than anything else. The New England Patriots will not be denied if they have a dominant running game and Bolden is a crucial element. Until Vareen shows up and does anything i don't count him as one of our options at tailback.

Get well soon Mr. Bolden. I do not want to see Brady attempting 50 passes again anytime soon.

 

[PatsFan2]

Jeff Howe with clarification

Quick note: Pryor can watch practice w/o being activated from PUP. If he participated today, the clock would start. Otherwise, it hasn't.



So basically the Pats can activate him off PUP at any time now, but the window as to when they must make a decision to either activate him or leave him off the roster for the remainder of the season has not yet begun, as I understand it.

Strange thing with Dt Myron Pryor everytime he gets a sack he ends up on IR.

 

[supafly]

I still have faith in vereen. Also, our KR game would improve if Slater would actually let somebody run it out for once lol. I love slater(look at the punt return after he got hurt), but he would shut down devin hester if he was our kick returner as well.

I hear what you're saying, but from what I understand, that is one of Slater's responsibilities as a ST vet/captain.

If the ball is deep enough in the endzone, he is supposed to tell the KR to stay there, as opposed to trying to run it out.

I am guessing that may be what Belichick and/or the ST coach wants him to do in that situation, if not he likely would Tell Hester to down it in the EZ

 

[JackBauer]

I didn't like the 2 RBs in 2 consecutive picks thing (I had 5 positions of need that I thought each merited a high selection) and, if they wanted to double up on a position, they could have drafted two of the Titus Young/Torrey Smith/Randall Cobb trio and essentially rebuilt the WR corps in one swoop.

Titus Young kinda sucks, no?

 

[Deus Irae]

Titus Young kinda sucks, no?

Titus Young caught 48 passes, as the WR3 and the 4th passing option on his team, as a 22 year old rookie.

 

[signbabybrady]

I was responding specifically to what patsinthesnow, which was about the "glaring hole" from round 2 of 2011, and the team sure didn't need to draft 2 RBs. Other positions had obvious needs, as well. As people here are so very fond of saying, you can get lucky with a running back in any round.

My mentioning the receivers, though, was just to point out that the entire corps could have been made over. This team could currently have a group of

Welker
Smith/Young
Cobb/Young
Edelman
WR5/WR6(?)

for example, which would not only be solid for now, but would be strong for the future, as well. Instead, we've got Dowling and Vereen, two players who have been more brittle than flowers dipped in liquid nitrogen.

Just as a note on the conversation had they avoided two backs then we likely would not have Ridley as they targeted Vareen first. For what its worth you could use this to support your argument or the other as we took two and at least got one out of the deal or we could skipped the 2 got a better player and still got Ridley later.

 

[thenepatsrule]

I heard A Hern was not at practice today (source PFT)

 

[supafly]

I heard A Hern was not at practice today (source PFT)

Neither was Logan Mankins.

Just another way of properly managing injuries and keeping guys fresh and well rested.

They were both limited yesterday too, and I'd expect them to be limited tomorrow as well. As long as they both play on Sundays, I couldn't care less if they never practiced again to be honest with you.

Belichick does a good job managing guys who are either fresh off of an injury like Hernandez, or those who are dealing with more nagging injuries like Mankins.

I'd expect the bye week to be coming at the right time, which is always nice when you have it 1/2 way through the season like that.