Some news and notes on this Thursday:
1) Father and son reunite: The New England Patriots made a move to enhance their scouting department this week, which appears to have a nice little storyline behind it.
According to MassLive’s Mark Daniels, the Patriots have hired A.J. Highsmith to replace Pat Stewart, who left this offseason for the general manager position with the University of Nebraska.
The new addition is the son of senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith, which will now see the two have the opportunity to work together in New England’s front office.
The younger Highsmith brings plenty of experience, having worked in the league for 11 years, including with the 49ers, the Bills, and most recently, the Titans. He was recently let go by Tennessee after new Titans GM Mike Borgonzi began reshaping their front office.
The two have had separate paths throughout their respective careers, and Daniels noted this will be the first time the two have worked together in the NFL.
The elder Highsmith has been a close friend with current Executive Vice President of Player Personnel, Eliot Wolf, with the two working together going all the way back to their time in Green Bay. They also worked together during their respective tenures with the Browns, before reuniting again here in New England when Alonzo came aboard in 2024.
Highsmith will reportedly be the team’s director of pro scouting, becoming a part of a personnel department that is hoping to continue building a young foundation for the future after two straight 4-13 seasons.
2) Tomlin led the push on Pickens: Everyone recalls the selection of Tyquan Thornton over George Pickens in the 2022 Patriots Draft, which led to some frustration given how things ultimately turned out for the former Baylor wideout.
However, it appears that all might not have been rosy had the club selected Pickens.
The former Georgia receiver was traded to Dallas this week, removing a player who sounds like he may have been an issue in the Steelers’ locker room. However, the even more interesting twist in this story is the fact that Mike Tomlin was apparently someone who helped that deal come to fruition.
According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tomlin was indeed involved with GM Omar Khan to get Pickens out of Pittsburgh.
Anyone who watched Hard Knocks knows that mentally tough and Pickens weren’t exactly two terms that went well together.
The two had some interesting moments last year, with Pickens taking a shot at the Steelers following their final 28-14 loss in Baltimore against the Ravens in the Wild Card round.
When asked if he had seen signs of growth with the offense, Pickens told reporters, “I’ve seen signs of growth for sure, from the first year I’ve been here, just way more growth, for sure.” However, when asked if that makes him optimistic for the future, Pickens replied, “Uh, Nah.”
And for anyone who watched the Steelers last season, the other side to this story is the fact that Pickens has had moments during games where Tomlin has had to pick him back up.
One scene from the HBO series showed Tomlin having to pull Pickens aside following a battle against the Bengals’ Cam Taylor-Britt in Week 13. On the play, Taylor-Britt hampered Pickens coming into his route, with Pickens losing his footing as Russell Wilson threw him the football.
Pickens slipped and fell, and with the Steelers’ wideout on the ground, Taylor-Britt stepped in front and took the ball back 51 yards the other way for a touchdown.
Pickens came off the field hanging his head, and Tomlin immediately pulled him to the side.
“I need you to stay with me,” implored Tomlin, who has his hand around the shoulder of the young receiver. “This s**t ain’t going to define the outcome for the game. It ain’t going to decide the outcome of the game.”
Pickens kept his head down as Tomlin spoke, but Tomlin kept sending the message.
“Look at me!” said Tomlin. “You all right?” he asked, with Pickens finally saying, “Yes, sir.” Tomlin then gave him a hug and said, “OK, let’s go.”
That moment essentially tells you a little about Pickens’ mindset. It also shows you that Tomlin went the extra mile to try to make things work.
Had New England taken Pickens instead back in 2022, it’s doubtful Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia, or Bill O’Brien would have given Pickens the same encouragement, so it’s hard to imagine that one working out here.
Instead, by taking the player the Steelers were rumored to be targeting in Thornton (even despite how things ultimately played out), they still appear to have dodged a bullet. With Pickens, the initial thrill of his production would have just added to the frustration with a talented guy they would have had to ship off.
3) Brady ‘Foggy’ On Final Drives of 28-3 Comeback: Everyone remembers being on the edge of their seat during New England’s 28-3 historic Super Bowl comeback win by the Patriots over the Falcons to cap off the 2016 season, but there’s a new wrinkle that makes it even more amazing.
Brady recently appeared on the latest IMPAULSIVE podcast, where he talked about a variety of topics, with the former QB revealing a new bit of information that only further cements how incredible that victory was.
“I just remember after the game, I was exhausted. I took a pretty big shot on our last drive,” said Brady. “I got hit in the head pretty good, and I was on autopilot from the last drive in the fourth quarter and in overtime. There were two drives that were really foggy, and I remember after that game, I was just exhausted and probably didn’t understand what exactly happened. Because look, you’re in the moment. You’re not seeing it from the fan’s perspective. You’re seeing it from your perspective, and then it takes you a little while to decompress in a game.”
“And then when you watch it, you’re like ‘Holy sh**, how did I do that? How did we make that play?’ or ‘How did we make that stop?’ It all kind of comes back to life for you.”
That’s pretty unbelievable, especially when you take into account that had Brady come off the field and they had gone on to lose, it’s possible that given his ugly first half, which included a pick-six that put them down 21-3, there might have even been some doubt about his future given where things were with then backup, Jimmy Garoppolo.
The Patriots are no strangers to possible game-turning head injuries. The shot Julian Edelman took late in the game in the Super Bowl victory against Seattle is another that was discussed, and that one could also have gone differently had Edelman not been able to finish that one.
Fortunately, both players did enough to win those championships, capping off an incredible era for two of the best to ever wear the uniform.
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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.
I believe it was known from his college days that Pickens was a bit of a non-professional type. The Steelers have drafted a lot of guys like that. Divas. Problems. And gotten rid of some like Plexico Burress, Antonio Brown and more. So the Pats probably did not have Pickens on their draft board. But many here in pats land went crazy that we passed on the guy. Michelle Bundchen mentioned that TB12 had a bunch of head injury issues. ATL superbowl sounds like one of em based on this story? You wonder how many concussions didn’t get logged. I… Read more »
Sounds like TB12 got rocked and he has admitted to memory loss. I know the feeling. I’m doing what I can to take care of myself and I hope his is as well.