Thursday Patriots Notebook 6/27: News and Notes
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Some Patriots news and notes for this morning:
There continues to be a lot of buzz on New England Patriots defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, who remains a key player to keep an eye on ahead of training camp.
Godchaux was present during minicamp, but didn’t take part in the sessions after wearing his helmet but not his jersey. It was a similar stance that Matthew Judon took the previous offseason, before the club eventually accelerated part of his contract and guaranteed that portion of his salary ahead of the 2023 season.
Whether or not the Patriots either extend him or opt to go in that direction with Godchaux remains to be seen, but it’s clear that a resolution is going to be needed to ensure this doesn’t linger in the coming months.
Most fans don’t appear to be overly concerned with Godchaux’s situation, not realizing that he’s been pretty valuable up front of a defense that was fairly stout against the run last season.
New England finished fourth in the NFL in average rushing yards (93.2) in 2023, with Godchaux certainly playing a key role in that. He and Christian Barmore carried the load among the Patriots’ defensive linemen, with Barmore leading the team with 64 tackles, while Godchaux finished with 56.
But where Godchaux excelled was on early downs. He led all Patriots defensive linemen in tackles on first down in 2023, totaling 30 tackles, including one quarterback hit and a tackle for a loss. That early down success was key as it often put opponents in long-yardage, which played a big role as the team held teams to a 36.3% third down conversation rate, down from 40.2% the previous season.
It’s that kind of dirty work that often goes unnoticed, and Godchaux said as much in a Tweet Monday night by NFL writer Dan Kelley, saying he’s hopeful a deal gets done before camp starts.
“Hopefully we can get something done that’s fair to me and my team before camp starts!” wrote Godchaux. “I love NE, I would love to retire here but it’s has to make sense for us! What I do on the football field in the trenches most of time doesn’t show on the stat sheet but turn on the film you will see it if “U know” ball! Would love to finish my career here in NE but it has to make sense to me and my team!”
This is likely one of the final contracts Godchaux might see, with the 29-year old heading into the final season of the 2-year deal he signed in 2022. That’s why Godchaux will probably continue to dig in his heels until something is done.
That’s not exactly great news for a Patriots team that has a new offense continuing to take shape and will need its defense to perform at or above what we saw last season.
That’s why solidifying Godchaux next to Barmore will be so important. It’s also why Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo still have business to attend to during what’s normally one of the quietest periods of the NFL offseason.
One area that hasn’t gotten much attention is the fact that a key difference between rookie quarterback Drake Maye and Mac Jones is certainly the contrast in arm strength between the two players.
There’s been some talk about the way quarterbacks utilize the middle of the field versus the perimeter, which is a stark contrast between the two players.
Jones at times had success in the middle of the field. But his lack of arm strength hampered him with getting the ball outside, leaving teams often crowding the middle of the field and narrowing the throwing lanes.
Jones didn’t have the arm to fire it into those windows, and watching him last season, the additional moments he held onto the football likely stemmed from a lack of confidence in firing it in there.
The numbers back it up. Jones regressed on deep perimeter throws (attempts of 15+ yards) over the last two seasons.
On deep throws to the left, he went from completing 36% in 2021, to just over 26% in 2022, and just 20% last season. On the right, he went from nearly 45% in 2021, to 44% in 2022, to 20% in 2023.
Clearly, part of that was certainly personnel. But the other part is simply the fact teams began getting wise to what Jones could and couldn’t do, and it obviously explains the drop off.
With Maye, that probably won’t be an issue and a lot of what he’s capable of was on display this spring. There were balls he fired in where there wasn’t a lot of room, yet he put enough zip on it to slip it past defenders and his guy made a play.
That part was evident during the team’s red zone work, and looking back at last season, that was an issue with Jones. There were multiple situations in 2023 where Jones had a player open in the end zone where a window came open, but Jones hesitated, likely questioning whether or not he’d be able to get it past defenders who were in the area.
Maye’s arm and his ability to use the whole field drastically changes the landscape, and his arm strength when he’s on the run is also significantly above Jones, who struggled from that standpoint.
Jones didn’t have a lot of zip on his throws when he was on the move, often holding the ball longer than he should have. That extra half-second of hesitation is generally the difference between a throwaway or a turnover, and we saw enough of it last season where it led to the Patriots turning the page.
Arm strength certainly isn’t an issue for Maye, who is also familiar with adversity. He had a fair amount of times at North Carolina last season where things broke down, yet his athleticism and his arm helped him overcome it.
Needless to say, that’s an area that should be fun to watch given some of the plays he made during his college days. With the entire field now in play, it should also be interesting to see how much things begin to open up for a New England offense that has looked limited the past two years.
For now, it’s been a busy few months for the rookie, who admitted that when the bullets start flying for real next month, that’s when he’ll really have a better idea of where he’s truly at.
“I’ve made some progress,” said Maye a couple of weeks ago. “I feel like I have. At the same time, I think I got a lot of work to go. I still haven’t been touched out there. I’m a quarterback in a red jersey. It’s different taking hits from those guys. Some big dudes up front, but I’m looking forward to seeing what we got. I think the closer and closer we get to the season, the more you kind of feel like, ‘Man, these Bulls are flying.'”
Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus gave his insight on New England’s defensive line, which he believes will be an area to watch now that Bill Belichick is no longer here. “No Bill Belichick this season means we will get a new view of the Patriots’ defensive line,” writes Monson. “His departure could completely change how we examine the roster personnel. Christian Barmore got paid this offseason, coming off a career year, and Matthew Judon is a very consistent player on the edge. Josh Uche re-signed as a very useful situational rusher in the offseason, but arguably the most interesting player to watch is Keion White in Year 2, particularly with no Belichick shepherding his development.” … Rob Gronkowski recently appeared on the latest Games with Names podcast with Julian Edelman, talking about his favorite memory of Tom Brady. “My favorite Tom memory, man, I’ll always remember the time I first met him in the locker room. You brought it up during your speech, he just came up to me, I was getting my ankle taped by the great [Patriots Trainer] Jim Whalen,” explained Gronkowski. “And he was taping my ankles, and Tom just came cruising by, I was just a good old rookie, and he just walked up to me, and he goes, ‘Hey, I’m Tom Brady,’ and I go, ‘Very nice to meet you Tom Brady. I’m Rob Gronkowski,’ And then he’s like, ‘Let’s get after it this year.’ And then he walked away. And I just, was like, shook. I was like, ‘Man, Tom Brady just came up to me and introduced himself as Tom Brady. Like, ‘Of course I know who you are, Tom Brady.’ But that was just one of the coolest moments I would remember for the rest of my life and we just got to work from there on out.” … Gronk also said that when it came to Brady, what we’ve heard is truly how Brady was in terms of how he operated in the building. “He was all business, right from the beginning,” said Gronkowski. “He really was. Like we said. What he puts on, his persona, what he shows, he truly believes in. And he was all business 24/7 when he was in that building.” … In the same podcast, Julian Edelman talked about what it was like to play defense during that 2011 season, where the club was forced to put him at defensive back due to all their injuries. Edelman said his knowledge of what receivers ‘hated’ helping play a role in terms of how he operated. “Because of the situational football, I knew. Like on third down, you could kind of see what their concepts were going to be, and I knew what receivers hated,” said Edelman. “So I would just grab for five yards as much as I possibly could and try to f**k up their timing, and then you just react. It was so much more reactive than playing on offense.” Someone compiled a video of Edelman playing defense on YouTube, which is fun to watch for anyone who wants to relive it.
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While Maye’s arm can work the whole field and Jones had some limitations, a big issue with 15+ yard throws the last two years was blocking the play up front. It’s a team game. It’s hard to gauge or grade the skill players when the line is struggling. Coaches aren’t calling down field throws as the success rate blocking isn’t good enough. But certainly, Maye is a huge physical upgrade. Jones started hot his first year, full of confidence, and many blamed OC’s the second year, but he really imploded last year with Bill O’Brien as well. That isn’t BOB’s… Read more »
One could not design a better way to ruin a QB’s confidence and waylay his development than what happened to Jones in NE. Losing/Changing a top OC and replacing him with OC’s without offensive experience. A very poor and porous OL hindering both the passing and running game and taking away the ability to run option plays or fake handoffs. No WR weapons to speak of. No 3rd down RB. A head coach who didn’t trust him. A GM who made very poor personnel decisions. Changing OC’s again. Did I miss anything?