Tuesday Patriots Notebook 8/21: Richards Still Confused By Penalty; Belichick Not Tech Savvy

Here’s a look at today’s top stories

Richards remains confused by new helmet penalty – Patriots safety Jordan Richards learned first-hand that the way NFL officials may end up calling this new helmet penalty this season will likely remain a work in progress after being flagged for it Thursday night against Philadelphia.

Richards came in and seemingly put a hit on tight end Dallas Goedert and wrapped him up, dropping him to the ground. However, he apparently lowered his head a little too much and instead was flagged, giving up another 15-yards.

Looking at some of those penalties over the first couple of weeks, the only thing we know so far is that there will likely be some unexpected and possibly frustrating moments this season as there has yet to be any consistency to those calls. Richards said on Monday that it’s just something players are going to have to adjust to.

“I think it’s going to be one of those things, similar to crews that are more proactive to OPI, DPI and some crews let the guys on the outside play a little bit more,” Richards said via SouthCoastToday.com. “Some crews will be pretty strict on the holding on the offensive line. I feel like this call will be something similar to that. You just have to play the game how it’s being officiated. In that case, that’s how they felt so the penalty came afterwards.”

It sets up a potentially annoying future when it comes to NFL defenders making tackles. The notion of defensive players having to hit guys standing straight up would be a frustrating thought, yet re-watching Richard’s tackle, it’s hard to try and figure out how he couldn’t have done things much different when going up against a player with Goedert’s 6’5″ frame.

At the end of the day, Richards was just trying to do his job but now that moment will likely stick in his mind moving forward until this new rule starts to make a little more sense.

‘Obviously, I’m trying to get the guy on the ground,” said Richards. “I felt like I kept my head up, but he felt otherwise.”

Belichick Doesn’t Know How to Use Netflix – For any fans who are familiar with Bill Belichick’s struggles with technology, it appears they extend well beyond the social media networks that he’s scoffed at over the years.

While making his weekly appearance on WEEI, Belichick told Ordway, Merloni and Fauria when asked about whether or not he had a Netflix account to watch in his spare time that it’s not something he’s familiar with.

“Linda does,” he said of his significant other, Linda Holliday, via WEEI. “I don’t have one. I’m not very tech savvy.”

“Getting it on the screen would be very challenging for me. You’ve got to go to a certain thing, have a pass code. It’s not like you can just flip from Ch. 53 to Ch. 108. I can handle that. But yeah, we have it.”

Belichick went on to say that without help, “Netflix, Snapface and Pandarama” would be a challenge. Given that he’s coined the phrases, “Snapface”, “InstaChat”, it appears you can now add “Pandarama” to the list of Belichick-isms.

Just when you thought you heard all of them, Belichick, as usual, comes through again.

High praise for Cardona – Long-snapper Joe Cardona has been one of New England’s most consistent players and a favorite with Belichick, with Cardona being a model player and citizen in the locker room.

The former fifth-round pick and Navy reserve was entering the final year of his contract and received a four-year extension this offseason thanks to his body of work. But Belichick said on Monday that he’s not just a good player, but also a great person.

“Yeah, Joe’s a very impressive person on a lot of levels. He’s just an outstanding example for all of us. His contributions and service to our country, his commitment to our football team and just his overall personal character and how good of a friend and teammate he is to everybody on the team.”

With Cardona now part of the team for the foreseeable future, Belichick is glad he’s in the fold.

“He’s a tremendous individual and I’m glad we have him,” said Belichick. “Glad we were able to work out an agreement with him to extend it.”

Odds and Ends:

– After spending time with the first-team defense against the Eagles last week, Keionta Davis feels confident his time has come and that things are going well so far this season. “It’s going good. It’s my first time doing it but I work on it every day in practice,’’ said Davis via the Boston Globe. “Just trying to be versatile. Anything I can do to help the team — whether it’s rushing outside, rushing inside — playing inside on early downs. Just trying to be reliable and versatile.”

– Following a season where he was placed on injured reserve, Vincent Valentine credits his faith in helping him push through after what he said was “a dark time” during his rehab. “It was hard; a tough time in my life, a dark time, but I was able to press through,” Valentine told the Boston Herald. “My faith pushed me through.” The defensive tackle also admitted that the whole experience makes him view things differently. “I’m thinking different, my mind is clearer, my vision is clearer,” Valentine said. “I already knew what I wanted, but you know how from your first year to your second year you can get a little comfortable, especially from the year we had, winning the Super Bowl, so I think that whole year just changed my whole perspective on everything.”

– After sitting out the first two preseason games, Rob Gronkowski admitted that it’s not up to him whether he’s out there but if the coaching staff needs him to be on the field, he’ll be ready. “It’s always a coach’s decision on whether or not I’m playing in these games or not,” Gronkowski said via Boston.com. “I’m ready at all times. Whatever it is this week, I don’t know the situation, but I’m ready to play. If I have to play, I’m ready to do whatever I get asked. I’ll prepare all week like I’m going to play, like I do every other week.”

The Patriots will take on Carolina on the road this Friday night at 7:30pm.

About Ian Logue

Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.

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