Good morning, here is your Sunday Patriots news 11-24 and AFC East notes this week.
Gameday! The Patriots are back home to face the Dallas Cowboys later this afternoon.
Quick Hitters For the Pats and the NFL:
Bill Belichick – As part of the NFL’s Top 100 Panelists, is it any wonder that Bill would rave about one of the last of the two-way specialists, Earl “Dutch” Clark who played for the Portsmouth Spartans? Last full-time player to drop kick. On Jim Brown, Belichick said, “I’d still put him in there on 3rd and 1.”
Rob Gronkowski – Is holding a beach party on Super Bowl Sunday… that was his big announcement on Tuesday. If you expected anything else, shame on you. He’s made it clear that he’s in a good place with his retirement. He just hints around that he may not be done just yet. It is sinking the hook into a fanbase that is desperate for him to return. As I said earlier this week on the Pats UK Podcast, if he was coming back, the Patriots would have announced the press conference.
Look, he put up with a bunch of injuries and surgeries and was always the good, loyal soldier who busted his tail for the team and the league. If he can use his fame to further his own business ventures….more power to him.
AB – Now that Gronk isn’t coming back, Patriots fans are clamoring for AB to return. It is really a panic move as they’re convinced that the Patriots can’t win #7 without bringing AB back to the offense. Brown’s apology looked suspiciously like Drew Rosenhaus wrote it up, right down to the semicolon.
4th & 2 Podcast – If you’ve haven’t checked out our PatsFans.com podcast, “Patriots 4th & 2” in a bit, Please do check it out.
Myles Garrett Suspension Upheld:
The NFL has upheld the Browns player’s indefinite suspension. One interesting tidbit was that Garrett in his appeal said that Mason Rudolph uttered a racial slur towards him in the moments immediately before Garrett ripped off Mason’s helmet and swung it, hitting the Steelers QB over the head with it.
The Steelers were justifiably ticked that Garrett used this ploy to lessen his suspension now when prior to his hearing, he hadn’t said a word about this, which makes it quite unbelievable.
In fact, when he apologized to the Steelers and Rudolph on the day after the game, he didn’t utter a word about this. “Last night, I made a terrible mistake. I lost my cool and what I did was selfish and unacceptable. I know that we are all responsible for our actions and I can only prove my true character through my actions moving forward. I want to apologize to Mason Rudolph, my teammates, our entire organization, our fans and to the NFL. I know I have to be accountable for what happened, learn from my mistake and I fully intend to do so.”
The NFL replayed its on-field audio and could find no such thing was uttered by Rudolph. Timothy Younger, Rudolph’s attorney made the following statement: “According to ESPN, in his appeal, Myles Garrett falsely asserted that Mason Rudolph uttered a racial slur toward him, prior to swinging a helmet at Mason’s uncovered head, in a desperate attempt to mitigate his suspension. This is a lie. This false allegation was never asserted by Garrett in the aftermath of the game, never suggested prior to the hearing, and conspicuously absent in the apology published by the Browns and adopted by Garrett. The malicious use of this wild and unfounded allegation is an assault on Mason’s integrity which is far worse than the physical assault witnessed on Thursday. This is reckless and shameful. We will have no further comment.”
Isaiah Wynn Will Return Today, Coaches Confident on His Impact :
Isaiah Wynn has been activated and should see his first action since September later today against the Cowboys. While we believe he’ll definitely help the Patriots offense, we have tempered our expectations a bit. But the Patriots coaches are having no such thoughts. In fact quite the opposite.
Running back coach, Ivan Fears, normally a man who gives faint praise, surprisingly was quite confident. Asked how much Wynn could help, he said: “A lot,” running backs coach Ivan Fears replied. “We were just talking about it. Isaiah is a very good football player. He’s a talented athlete that’s got a great love for the game and he’s got a little nastiness, which is what you need. Having him back in there will make a world of difference when it comes to making some of the blocks that we like to see that guy make — and I think he’s capable of doing that stuff. That’s probably going to open a hole here or there.”
“ I think right now, what we’re seeing is a guy that’s really, completely healthy. Stronger than he’s been,” said Dante Scarnecchia. “We thought he was a good player when we went into the season and we still think even that much more of him now.”
“I really like Isaiah,” Scarnecchia added. “I like the person. I like the player. We all like the person and we like the player. We’ve just gotta keep him out there. That’s really important.”
Bill Belichick chimed in as well. “Isaiah always works hard,” Belichick said. “He did a lot of scout team work to get his timing back and all of that, so working against a defense. But yeah, he works hard and he’s always ready to go.”
Sanu and Dorsett Are Questionable Today:
As the Patriots get ready to play Dallas this afternoon, they are physically beaten up and have 12 players listed on the injury report. QB Tom Brady headlines the list with an elbow injury that just popped up on the report, but he’s expected to play. Right now, however, the big names that are questionable are WRs Mohamed Sanu and the Phillip Dorsett.
With a Patriots offense that is struggling to move the ball consistently and score in the red zone, losing both of those players will really put a damper on the offense if they can’t play today. Sanu injured his ankle returning a punt against the Eagles and Dorsett suffered a concussion after he was drilled in the aftermath of his touchdown catch.
The Patriots listed as questionable to play include: QB Tom Brady (right elbow), RB Damien Harris (hamstring), WR Mohamed Sanu (ankle), WR Phillip Dorsett (concussion), WR Julian Edelman (shoulder), WR Matthew Slater (hamstring), OT Marcus Cannon (illness), DE John Simon (elbow), LB Ja’Whaun Bentley (knee), CB Jason McCourty (groin), S Patrick Chung (heel/chest), S Nate Ebner (ankle/back)
NFL Schedule Week 12, Who Are Your Winners:
How are you feeling about the games this week? We have a post on our PatsFans Forum where our readers can predict the slate of games for that week. I did it on our weekly Sunday column here and will post it up below. Here is the link if you’d care to pick your own: https://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/picks/
Last Week: 13-1
Season:105-56-1
TNF Houston over Indy 1-0
Seattle over Philadelphia
Detroit over Washington
Oakland over NY Jets
New Orleans over Carolina
Cleveland over Miami
Pittsburgh over Cincinnati
Chicago over NY Giants
Buffalo over Denver
Tampa Bay over Atlanta
Tennessee over Jacksonville
Dallas over New England
SNF 49ers over Green Bay
MNF Baltimore over LA Rams
Bye week: Arizona, Kansas City, Minnesota, LA Chargers
Week 13 Thanksgiving Day Football
Detroit over Chicago
Dallas over Buffalo
New Orleans over Atlanta
Eastbound and Down AFC East Notes:
Bills Have a Tough Four-Game Stretch Upcoming:
The Buffalo Bills are 7-3 and off to their best start in 20 years, but although the defense is playing very well, the offense can’t seem to get untracked or find an identity. Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll is trying to find a package that works. But after the Bills game against Denver today, they have a very tough four games that may define their season.
The Bills go to Dallas, come home against the Baltimore Ravens and then go back on the road in back-to-back weeks against the Steelers and Patriots before closing out at home against the Jets.
How the Bills fare in those four big games, with three of them on the road will go a long way in determining if they are playing in the playoffs or going home. The Bills have only made the playoffs once in 20 years and that was a one and done 10-3 loss.This year’s Buffalo team seems much better designed and constructed to handle tough games down the stretch.
Dolphins Facing a Browns Defense Missing 6 Week 1 Starters:
The Miami Dolphins are taking on the Cleveland Browns today and the Browns have a bunch of players who are missing. Morgan Burnett injured his Achilles and is out this week. Both Myles Garrett (suspended for the remainder of the season) and Larry Ogunjobi (suspended 1 game) are both going to be missing for their roles in the melee at the end of the Steelers game.
But the Browns have had a slew of injuries on their defense. Sunday they could be without six of their original Week 1 starters on defense. That could play into the hands of Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins offense.
Or will it be Josh Rosen? With Miami not going anywhere this season, there is some noise about replacing Fitzpatrick with Rosen to end the regular season and build for the future. Will that hold Rosen? Or will they look to the draft (still Tua?) to find their franchise QB?
Jets Face Big Test in the Raiders At Home:
The New York Jets have built up a little bit of momentum winning their last two games against the Giants and Redskins but now face a much tougher test against a Raiders team that is in the playoff hunt. And the defense will be looking to set the tone.
The Raiders have a very tough, physical offensive line and running back Josh Jacobs, the league’s 4th leading rusher has run for 100 yards or more in four of his last six games. But the Raiders have also given up six sacks in their last two games and that may be a key to a win today.
While Derek Carr is completing 72 percent of his passes thus far this season, look for Gregg Williams to attack the Raiders with blitzes and over-pressure to force the issue. “We don’t catch and react. We’re an attacking defense and you’ve got to do a really, really, really good job on not letting them get outside,” Williams said.
“When you let them get outside, it’s a tough game to play because now you’ve got to match up with them in space. If your athlete isn’t as good as their athlete – they do a good job. Tom Cable, Jon Gruden, that staff is a really, really good staff on running the football and we’ve got our work cut out for us this week.”
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“Yeah, we’ll share it when the injury report comes out after practice. I’ll make sure you get a copy. No point in guessing on it. Might as well go out and practice, see what they can do, and make an accurate report. I’m not going to sit here and try to ouija board it here this morning, tell you how a guy is going to feel before he’s gone out and done anything. I mean, that wouldn’t be responsible on my part.”– Bill Belichick being asked if he had a sense on the status of Sanu and Dorsett. When pressed if he’d share, this was his answer.
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“So, how was your week?”
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A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)
