PATRIOTS TRAINING CAMP Training Camp Day 5 - July 28

[RobertWeathers]

I think he's still available... I was thinking about him as well. Especially after Minor got into it..

Always worth a look but i'm not sure how much he has left.

Might be a end-of-camp-if-things-get-desperate kinda signing.

 

[signbabybrady]

Seems like Dial has moved ahead of Bolden. That's too bad. I had hopes that Bolden would finally make the leap to be the #3 CB over Austin.

Dial seems decent though

 

[Patsfan1645]

Always worth a look but i'm not sure how much he has left.

Might be a end-of-camp-if-things-get-desperate kinda signing.

Dude will be 35 this year and would be the oldest corner in the league. I think he would simply be a liability at this point.

 

[mike_usagisan]

Is Malcolm available?

 

[patfanken]

Hopefully Gonzo is OK. Hammys need rest and rehab.

How guys like BB and Vrabes wear warm up jackets and vests in his hear is beyond me.

We have to worry about a LOT of players' development in this camp. Gonzo ISN'T one of them. His absence the next 2 or 3 weeks (if necessary) is not something I'm going to waste a second being worried about. To me, it just means that meaningful snaps are going to be available to those who DO need those snaps. Just let him be healthy come September.

 

[Joey007]

We have to worry about a LOT of players' development in this camp. Gonzo ISN'T one of them. His absence the next 2 or 3 weeks (if necessary) is not something I'm going to waste a second being worried about. To me, it just means that meaningful snaps are going to be available to those who SO need those snaps. Just let him be healthy come September.

That last part is my major concern. If there’s any sort of actual strain, mild tearing, I don’t feel great about him staying healthy this year. I do think a veteran presence would be wise.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Dial seems decent though

I like Battle's size and athleticism but hes raw.

 

[RobertWeathers]

We have to worry about a LOT of players' development in this camp. Gonzo ISN'T one of them. His absence the next 2 or 3 weeks (if necessary) is not something I'm going to waste a second being worried about. To me, it just means that meaningful snaps are going to be available to those who SO need those snaps. Just let him be healthy come September.

I'm not worried about Gonzo's development. I'm worried about his heath.

With that said keep in mind he has all of 20 NFL career games and is in a new defense. He does need reps but to your point I'm not concerned he can't pick up the defense.

 

[n1997y]

Gonzo has that Ty Law, Asante Samuel vibe.. he knows he doesn't have to give 100% in TC or preseason, he's already at that level of ****iness and confidence that he's that good to turn all-pro when the practices & games matter. I'm not saying he's lazy, but even last year there was all kinds of concerns with him looking slow and getting tricked, then the games started.

He’s just doing his part helping build confidence in our WRs

 

[Ring 6]

Yeah, to my untrained eye I thought he played well with his limited snaps last year. He actually had one of the higher PFF grades of all the DBs on the Patriots, and had decent coverage stats. I thought he'd be pushing for more playing time.

Well he played 60 snaps all season and 55 were against the Bills when they were trying to lose and playing Mitch Trubisky and Mike White, so I’m not sure any of that tells us anything.

 

[PatsFan2]

 

[patfanken]

Just a couple of comments after going through most of this thread.

I can't understand why ANYONE would be shocked to see that the defense is ahead of the offense at this point. We all agree that we have the potential to be a top 10 defense this season. And they are playing against an offensive group who are having its first live practice learning a brand new offense and all that entails. The OL was having its first live practice together, and we all know that one on one OL drills are always going to be slanted in the defense's favor.

BTW- it would appear that Campbell's flaw in his loss to White was getting bull rushed At least we know that tera dactyl arms had no bearing on the outcome.

BTW- I find it interesting how news is getting back to us about state of our WR room. Polk, Baker and Boutte all showed well today (Polk even showed me quickness on the rep I saw which was even more impressive to me than the one-handed catch)

You see the thing is that I have always believed that the deepest position in EVERY draft are the WRs and even the camp guys who have no chance of making an NFL are wildly skilled athletes. The difference shows up on who can execute on game day. Polk DIDN'T last season. No sugar coating it. BUT does he have the "potential" to be a successful WR in the NFL. NO DOUBT he does. That is by no means a guarantee of success, but last season's debacle isn't a guarantee of failure either.

I think our WR group CAN be capable of enough to fuel that part of the offense adequately with what we have in the room right now. As good as any of the WR rooms we had during all those Superbowl hits and near misses during the glory years. (with the exception of 2007)

Potential I said. It will be up to the players and coaches to get them to REACH that potential. But I believe the potential is there. And if they don't reach it and all our worst nightmares are realized, there will be a crop of 20+ more draftees that will be available and full of potential next April. WR's are the position of unending resources unlike QB's, LT's and great DT's

Finally, I was looking at the picture of the team dressed in pads and I got to thinking about big Should pads I used to wear, or even the ones they wore 20-30 years ago and wonder if the game would be better if we went back to some version of them. Wouldn't the players be safer, more willing to tackle with their shoulders. I can still remember the CRACK that was made when the ball was snapped and the lines engaged. You don't hear that sound anymore. If I were an owner wouldn't mind seeing all my multi-million dollar investments wearing knee pads too. Just thinkin'...

 

[Kdo5]

Hope Gonzo is okay. Getting a bit concerned about him being an injury prone player. Our depth isn’t fantastic at corner so his health is majorly important.

 

[PatsFan2]

Hope Gonzo is okay. Getting a bit concerned about him being an injury prone player. Our depth isn’t fantastic at corner so his health is majorly important.

Let's just hope he's ready by Game 1.

 

[PatsFan2]

So Polk hit the ground running...if he shows I can see them moving on from Bourne and Hollins.

 

[Kdo5]

So Polk hit the ground running...if he shows I can see them moving on from Bourne and Hollins.

Wasn’t his TD catch a wide open play action? That’s like…good job you didn’t have an embarrassing drop.

 

[Love The Drake]

So Polk hit the ground running...if he shows I can see them moving on from Bourne and Hollins.

At least one of polks tds I read was on a trick play where he got open.

Wasn’t that similar to his TD last season?

 

[slash83]

Gonzos injury dampers the entire day.

 

[slash83]

Hope Gonzo is okay. Getting a bit concerned about him being an injury prone player. Our depth isn’t fantastic at corner so his health is majorly important.

He played all of last year but a meaningless last game.

 

[n1997y]

I am not personally too worried about Gonzo at the moment. Based on the video, I'm guessing it's a hamstring. Those are usually (usually) relatively short recovery times, but also have a tendency to linger and/or re-occur. I'm going to guess they just let Gonzo take most of the rest of camp off to heal and be completely sure he's ready to go for Week 1. He's extremely smart and talented so I don't think he will really lose much by not being in practice - he'll take mental reps and be in the meetings. It also lets some of the other guys competing for a job get more reps. D.J. James so far seems like a guy who is doing good work when called upon, he probably will appreciate more reps.

I’m trying to be realistic, which means recognizing all possible outcomes. It’s just too early to know anything.

That said, I’m influenced by the thread about Milton causing me to review Dak Prescott’s injury last year. That was a week 9 hamstring injury leading to season ending surgery.

It seemed to me that Gonzo’s reaction indicated it was fairly serious, grabbing his hammy as he was walking off and then reportedly going to the ground on the sideline. I guess that could be the way he would react to a bad cramp. I’m suspicious that a bad cramp in midstride would cause damage before he pulled up. I think he pulled up instead of going to the ground in the middle of the play, so that’s possibly a hopeful sign.

Optimistically Gonzo could be ready to go week 1. Worst case he could be lost for the season. I think realistically it will be somewhere between those extremes. I would not be surprised to see him start the season on IR, hopefully returning a month or so into the season.

One thing that concerns me is the propensity of hamstring injuries to linger or reoccur. Makes me think perhaps the recovery time is longer than usually allowed. I really hope that they give him all the time it takes for this, whatever it was, to heal completely. If that means holding him out longer than usually allowed that’s a good tradeoff IMO.

This will give the young CBs a chance to show up. Will be watching and hoping to see if Dial or Bolden or DJ or Mr Irrelevant or anybody else grabs the opportunity.