Some Patriots news and notes on this Thursday:
– Several current and former Patriots players took some time to speak with kids at the Ron Burton Training Village on Wednesday, with past winners Matthew Slater, David Andrews, Nate Solder and Devin McCourty among the group that visited. The players took part in various activities and enjoyed spending time with the children who were on hand for the event. “When you can every day do your best you’ll see the growth, you’ll see yourself get better and it’s been fun watching them and cheering them on,” said McCourty via Rachel Holt of CBSNews.com. The event also included some help from Jordan’s Furniture, who delivered 20 bunk beds and 40 mattresses for the recently renovated staff and dorm rooms at the facility.
– Various people have talked about Rob Gronkowski not mentioning the Patriots during his most recent retirement announcement but the former tight end felt the reaction has been overblown. Gronkowski told NESN that he already went down that road the first time when he retired, so he doesn’t understand the outrage. “I think it’s a little blown out of proportion,” said Gronkowski via Richie Witt of NESN. “I mean, I kind of did it when, you know, my first retirement. There’s no doubt I love New England. I love all the fans here in New England. There’s no doubt. But I felt like that speech or whatever, the time and place I did for the first one was great, and I was just kind of giving it for that retirement for the two years I had in Tampa. But I think it was blown out of proportion maybe a little. But I love New England, love everything about it.” Gronkowski made the comments while he was recently in Boston attending Ice Shaker’s Boats, Bottles and Bros media event while promoting the brand of his brother and former Patriots teammate, Chris Gronkowski.
– Former Patriots defensive tackle Richard Seymour will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame next month and he recently talked about the high bar set by himself and his teammates, which he credits for their continued success during his tenure in New England. “Once you’ve tasted success on a higher level, you can’t go back to, ‘hey, we’re not making the playoffs’, so for us it was a drive,” Seymour said via Sophie Weller of MassLive.com. “We had a bond with teammates and they were like brothers, and we felt a sense of responsibility to one another. And, I think when you have a culture like that and it breeds success, and it breeds winning, that’s really what it’s all about.”
– Colin Cowherd has always been a little over the top with some of his opinions, but his latest one is a little frustrating. He made a comment while talking about how he feels Bill Belichick “has too much power”, but he was quick to dismiss Mac Jones, who outperformed every rookie in his class in his first season while winning 10 games and taking his team to the playoffs. “We are just two years removed from all that culture built up, all those Super Bowls, all those wins, all that momentum, sellouts… and now the Patriots, in an offensive-leaning league, have no number one receiver, arguably no number two, have a ‘meh’ quarterback who can’t make plays with his feet, and Matt Patricia is their new offensive coordinator,” said Cowherd. “Was Tom Brady the crutch that took Belichick’s wobbly offensive-skilled drafting and scouting to another level? Not saying it’s true but it feels like it.” From what we saw last season, it’s tough to call Jones a “meh” QB, especially considering the last two Super Bowl winners won due to their arms and not their legs. Add in the fact that it’s also probably safe to say 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan probably would also take Jones in a heartbeat knowing what he knows now. It’s been written here previously but it’s amazing how the second-year QB continues to get little recognition nationally and it’s going to be fun to see how he plays this season.
– Meanwhile, getting back to Belichick’s “too much power” take, here’s what Cowherd had to say there. “Some people have a better ‘feel’ for things, and it seems like [Tom Brady] and Josh McDaniels were the ‘feels’ in New England and they’re both gone,” said Cowherd. “In 2022 you said ‘ehhhh, I’m just gonna make Matt Patricia the offensive coordinator!’ Man, that feels like you’re mailing it in, does it not? Imagine if Sean McVay was like ‘ehhhh, I got a buddy on offense, I’m just gonna make him the defensive coordinator!’ Wouldn’t Les Snead and Stan Kroenke go ‘um, can’t we have a meeting over this? That’s not really the structure we’re looking for.’ This is what happens when you give a coach too much power. Pete Carroll had too much power, look at the Seahawks drafts the last seven years. This last draft was their best. Why? Pete had less power, he had been criticized for his draft leverage. Belichick has had weird drafts. Why? Too much power. The Matt Patricia move is beyond arrogant, thinking you can just move a defensive coach to offensive coordinator. It’s WEIRD.” Obviously, the two moves with Patricia and Joe Judge will be the ones everyone will be watching this season, so it’s a take with a valid concern. In a results-driven league, how things go will determine if it’s the right move or not but to dismiss Jones and write off this group this early definitely feels a little premature.
NFL NOTES:
– In an interesting story from Ben Strauss of the Washington Post, it sounds like Adam Schefter‘s departure from NFL Network when he moved to ESPN was fairly contentious. According to Strauss, the league’s media network not only wouldn’t let him out of his contract for the remaining six months, but they reportedly locked him out of his office and wiped all his contacts from his phone. “When Schefter’s NFL Network contract came up, the sides played hardball. Schefter signed a new deal with ESPN, but NFL Network wouldn’t let him out of his contract,” wrote Strauss. “Instead, it kept him off the air for six months, locked him out of his office and, worst of all, wiped all of his contacts from his phone. Before he could break any news in his new job, he had to rebuild his contacts.”
– One interesting bit of information was the fact that Belichick also has a lot of trust and respect for Schefter. Strauss also went on to write that as Schefter grew as a reporter and established relationships, his trust was conveyed from other coaches to Belichick. “Schefter parlayed his good relationship with [Mike] Shanahan into more relationships, including with New England Coach Bill Belichick,” wrote Strauss. “Shanahan said he called Belichick to tell him that Schefter was a reporter he could trust; a few years later, Belichick called back and confirmed Shanahan was right.” That obviously provides some insight into things considering some of Schefter’s past reports.
– Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com brought up an interesting thought on Jimmy Garoppolo‘s future, which definitely made a little bit of sense. Given former Patriots director of Player Personnel and now Texans GM Nick Caserio‘s familiarity with Garoppolo, Florio believes that the Texans are a landing spot that would potentially make sense. “The Texans have shown that they know how to slow play a situation, in order to get the best outcome. They did it with Deshaun Watson. And it worked. Which makes them even more likely to keep their heads low and their mouths shut as to the possibility of getting Garoppolo, moving at the right time to get Garoppolo at the rights terms and the right price,” writes Florio. He adds that Caserio was one of the people behind Garoppolo originally. “Sure, Nick Caserio was setting the table for Bill Belichick at the time. Regardless, there’s a relationship there. There’s ownership there. There’s familiarity there.” It makes sense as it gets Garoppolo out of the Conference to a team that wouldn’t potentially be a threat to San Francisco. However, Shanahan and company continue to hold on to him so it remains to be seen if/when a move might happen but sending Garoppolo to Houston would seemingly make a fair amount of sense.
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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.
