{"id":14588,"date":"2017-12-24T05:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-12-24T10:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=14588"},"modified":"2017-12-24T07:29:25","modified_gmt":"2017-12-24T12:29:25","slug":"new-england-patriots-news-12-24-afc-east-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2017\/12\/24\/new-england-patriots-news-12-24-afc-east-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots News 12-24, AFC East Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, here are your <\/span>Sunday\u2019s Patriots news 12-24, & AFC East Notes.<\/b><\/p>\n

RIP to Dick Enberg, one of the best announcers we\u2019ve had the pleasure of listening to. He had a style all of his own and was universally lauded as one of the great guys in the game. We miss his signature \u201cOh My!\u201d during the games. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Patriots and Bills are playing in a playoff game today. The Pats need this game to keep their hold on the #1 seed for the AFC. The Bills are trying to hold off Baltimore et al that are chasing them for the 6th and final playoff spot. A Buffalo win could \u2026 conceivably set up a third meeting of these two teams down the road in a few weeks. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, one thing to keep in mind today is that Buffalo has only defeated Brady once in Foxboro. That was in the season finale of 2014. The Patriots rested most of their starters and Brady, whose primary target that day was Brian Tyms, played only the first half of the game. <\/span><\/p>\n

Brady, Belichick, and Guerrero Aren\u2019t (IMHO) The Big Story It is Being Portrayed:<\/b>
\n<\/b>We got a few messages this week and asking why we haven\u2019t had more about the ongoing saga which we feel is way overblown on the Alex Guerrero story. Look, I don\u2019t blame the bigger site Pats beat writers, they have editors and they\u2019re being told to ask the questions, and that\u2019s what they get paid for. But to us\u2026 there isn\u2019t enough information to accurately come up with enough of a narrative to publish anything that isn\u2019t all conjecture. And for me personally, it isn\u2019t that big of a story. But it won\u2019t go away so, here\u2019s our two cents.<\/span><\/p>\n

We do know that Tom Brady swears by Alex Guerrero and his training methods and says publicly that Guerrero is the reason that his career has stayed so productive at an age where he should be retired. Now Rob Gronkowski and several other players are going to Guerrero as well. No harm, no foul there. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the one issue. Guerrero\u2019s methods differ from the Patriots training staff, there was a blurb last week where the team\u2019s training staff told a player to do squats and while meeting with Guerrero he advised against it. The player refused to do them. Now, the training staff is hired by the team and there certainly has to be a bit of jealousy there. And\u2026 they are being evaluated for their own jobs on how they produce with the players. Something has to give. Belichick can\u2019t allow Guerrero on the sidelines because it opens the door for other players to want \u201ctheir guy\u201d on the sidelines as well. For Belichick, there can be only one voice on the sideline, the team\u2019s and so he nipped it in the bud. <\/span><\/p>\n

Players aren\u2019t forbidden to see Guerrero or seek his advice right next door at the TB12 Clinic in Patriots Place. But while they are in the building, they\u2019ll take their direction, all of it from the team. End of story. <\/span><\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t in the room on Friday but watched it live on the Pats’ website, while I wouldn\u2019t characterize Brady\u2019s reaction as testy, I bow to the guys who were. I took it as being a bit frustrated. Testy was the Deflategate BS. <\/span><\/p>\n

My concern with this\u2026 not someone per se in the Boston media but we all know that other media markets (a few hours south of here) will try to take this in a different direction. And if the Patriots are successful in the next four weeks, seeing a story come out say January 21 around 9 p.m. that Guerrero\u2019s secret with Brady and Gronkowski is centered around PEDs. It isn\u2019t a stretch to foresee that happening. <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why T.J. Houshmandzadeh\u2019s take on Colin Cowherd\u2019s show was so important. Houshmandzadeh stated he went to Guerrero while a very young player in college when his trainers couldn\u2019t figure out what his muscle problems were. He spent about four sessions with Guerrero and poof, issues gone. Cowherd right away asked if it was anything pill or medicine related and he said no. Guerrero\u2019s method was strictly working directly on the muscles with stretching etc. <\/span><\/p>\n

You can see the <\/span>entire clip here: <\/span>
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