{"id":15708,"date":"2018-02-11T05:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-02-11T10:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=15708"},"modified":"2018-02-11T06:05:17","modified_gmt":"2018-02-11T11:05:17","slug":"new-england-patriots-news-2-11-afc-east-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2018\/02\/11\/new-england-patriots-news-2-11-afc-east-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots News 2-11, AFC East Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, here are your <\/span>Sunday\u2019s Patriots news 2-11, & AFC East Notes.<\/b><\/p>\n

It has been a long week but not short for news when it comes to the Patriots. After a thrilling Super Bowl where the team came up short, the team officially lost Matt Patricia who signed to become the Head Coach of the Detroit Lions. Then Josh McDaniels did an about-face and decided to return to New England to become the official \u201ccoach-in-waiting\u201d for Bill Belichick\u2019s retirement. McDaniels\u2019 decision, brought the ire (and understandably so) of the Colts. Then the Tom Brady non-story that developed\u2026 We\u2019ll get to them all, but as we say all the time, the Patriots could be considered many things, but boring is never one.<\/span><\/p>\n

And perhaps the biggest possible news is that Rob Gronkowski is contemplating retirement to become a Hollywood action star. While we’d want to see him remain here in a Patriots uniform, he made a great Russian “heavy” in a James Bond film. <\/span><\/p>\n

We’ll have to wait and see how this plays out before we actually see this having a definitive conclusion. Gronk did have a cameo in an action film about a year ago. (Pictured below)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Borges Saga, A Sad Sign of the Times:<\/b>
\n<\/b>If you were up late on Thursday night, no doubt you saw the shocking story penned by the Herald\u2019s Ron Borges that said that he, (Borges) had sources close to Brady that said that the Patriots QB was fed up with being paid like a middle of the road QB and that after seeing the big money deal that his former backup Jimmy Garoppolo signed with the 49ers (5 years, $137 million), that he\u2019d hold out and not show up to OTAs until he was paid a similar amount. <\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately other Patriots beat writers started hitting their own sources. Doug Kyed on NESN very soon after Borges\u2019 column hit, published his own saying that it was false. Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston posted that his Patriots sources said that the Borges report \u201cwas off the reservation.\u201d Why the discrepancy?<\/span><\/p>\n

Borges believed that his \u201csource\u201d was none other than Brady\u2019s agent, Don Yee himself. Except it wasn\u2019t. Borges was duped, \u201ccatfished\u201d is the term that is bandied about today and was taken in. Somehow, one of the trolls that are everywhere on the internet found out Borges\u2019 number and began texting him, pretending to be Yee. The elaborate hoax was played to the hilt, although to a lesser degree, these incidents are quite common. And this is the time of year where the fake Twitter accounts abound.<\/span><\/p>\n

Between the NFL Combine and the 2018 NFL Draft, every day, multiple fake accounts claiming to be ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter or NFL.com\u2019s Ian Rapoport will tweet out fantastic trade scenarios or breaking news that will inflame the masses for a few fleeting moments. But this one went much deeper. <\/span><\/p>\n

Borges, a veteran writer (I won\u2019t say ink-stained) thought he had an exclusive from Yee. And was completely duped. And the vast majority of Patriots fans were just fine with it since Borges has always been a target of vitriol from fans due to his perceived negative spin on everything Patriots, rivaling only perhaps a Boston Globe writer who constantly harps on the negative. <\/span><\/p>\n

Borges is hardly without fault here, yes he was duped, but should have known better. But he fell for the all-too-common trap today of wanting to be first on the story instead of accurate. An all too common occurrence in today\u2019s news. Plus the fact, you can see by his text messages, he wanted that story to be true. So, he ignored the fact he should have confirmed it and ran with it. The Herald put it on its back cover of their Friday morning edition. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Herald was forced to issue a retraction of the story and suspended Borges.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA column by Ron Borges in today\u2019s Herald regarding Patriot Tom Brady\u2019s salary discussions was based on information which proved to be false,\u201d the paper said in a statement. \u201cThe Herald apologizes to Brady, his agent Don Yee and the Patriots, and to our readers for this erroneous report. Borges\u2019 column has been suspended pending further review.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps more puzzling was the reception that the con artist received on-air with WEEI host Kirk Minihane. Minihane was doing his over-the-top schict on this and stopped just short of announcing that he and this person set up Borges. <\/span><\/p>\n

WEEI can hardly point fingers here, they hired the biggest dupe in Boston sports history in John Tomase. Tomase was catfished into believing a \u201csource\u201d that the Patriots taped the Rams walk thru of \u00a0Super Bowl XXXVI. That was quickly proven false but the truth was lost somewhere and now that is repeated so often, that most people in the U.S. believe it to be truth. So much so in fact the Eagles ran a fake walk thru prior to this week\u2019s Super Bowl, \u201cin case the Patriots were watching.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And while Tomase is a regular on WEEI\u2019s airwaves, no one is allowed to question him at all about his false report. Yet Minihane went on a rant about Kyed for apparently stealing his thunder, when Kyed had called it false a full 8-hours before. Bad look.<\/span><\/p>\n

There were no winners here, only losers. One has to truly feel for excellent Herald Patriots beat writers Jeff Howe, Karen Guregian and Adam Kurkjian who will have to deal with the aftermath of this mess. <\/span><\/p>\n

McDaniels Situation, While Great for New England, Could\u2019ve Been Handled Better:<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u201cOh what a tangled mess we weave\u2026\u201d While the Patriots were preparing for the Super Bowl, the Colts thought that the oral agreement that they had with Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels to become their next head coach was firm. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then on Sunday, Colts GM Chris Ballard had to deal with tragedy as LB Edwin Jackson and his Uber driver Jeffrey Monroe were killed on the side of the road by a drunk driver. Rumors were swirling that McDaniels was having second thoughts during the game but nothing was said publicly. <\/span><\/p>\n

On Monday the Patriots did their exit interviews, on Tuesday, the Colts were preparing to send a plane to pick up McDaniels for him and announced his introductory press conference. That\u2019s \u00a0when it all fell apart. <\/span><\/p>\n

Robert and Jonathan Kraft, along with Bill Belichick made a concerted effort to McDaniels to keep him and become the next coach after Belichick retires. That along with a significant raise and a long-term commitment, tipped the scales. <\/span><\/p>\n

McDaniels called Ballard at 7:15 that night and broke the news, Ballard said that he was blindsided at the altar, and rightfully so. They thought they had an agreement and although nothing was signed, the Colts wanted McDaniels and assumed vice versa. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Colts are now back to square one and forced to go back and interview prospective coaches. Ballard had even signed assistant coaches, who are the real ones out on a limb here. While Ballard has every right to be mad at the jilting he got, he probably, in hindsight should not have signed any of the assistants until McDaniels put the pen to paper. <\/span><\/p>\n

McDaniels could have definitely handled this in a better manner although it seems the Patriots didn\u2019t make a concerted effort to retain him until the 11th hour. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Patriots were set to lose three coordinators, Patricia, McDaniels and STs coach Joe Judge who was set to follow McDaniels to Indianapolis. But now McDaniels is remaining and Judge is supposedly working on a deal with the staff. <\/span><\/p>\n

Brady\u2019s Detractors Jump at the Super Bowl Loss, But the Numbers Don\u2019t Lie:<\/b>
\n<\/b>The Super Bowl was barely over before the same naysayers that follow Tom Brady around like gum on your shoe were out in force. Despite the fact that Brady threw for a SB record of 505 yards and 3 TDs with 0 Interceptions, it was conveniently dumped on Brady\u2019s lap that \u201che choked.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When you reach the Super Bowl, there are no more doormats to pad your stats against. The two finalists are the best teams in each conference…right? So we went back to the last three Super Bowls and looked at Brady\u2019s numbers. And compared them to two of his contemporaries that he\u2019s most often compared to, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning. To be fair, we included Rodgers\u2019 one Super Bowl and his last two conference championship game appearances. We included all four of Manning\u2019s Super Bowl appearances so that no one could use the excuse that one was left out that tipped the scales. <\/span><\/p>\n

Peyton Manning<\/b>\u2019s four Super Bowl appearances: 1001 yards, 3 TDs, 5 Interceptions.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Aaron Rodgers<\/b> (1 SB, 2 Conf.CGs) appearances: 769 yards, 7 TDs, 3 Interceptions<\/span>
\n<\/span>Tom Brady <\/b>(SB XLIX, LI, LII) appearances: 1299 yards, 9 TDs 3 Interceptions<\/span><\/p>\n

These last three SBs are at the age (37-40) when Brady is supposed to be approaching \u201cthe cliff\u201d and his numbers are anything but. In the Super Bowls, Brady has completed 101 of 160 passes (63 %), for 1299 yards (8.1 ypa) for 9 TDs and 3 INTs for a 99.5 QBR. Those numbers compare quite favorably to his peers when on the biggest stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brady Takes to Instagram to Thank Fans:<\/b>
\n<\/span>Tom Brady has stated that he is jetting down to Costa Rica to get some family time in and get some beach time as well as attend a family wedding but before he did, he wanted to thank the fans for all the support this season. <\/span><\/p>\n

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It has taken me a few days to reflect on our SB loss as well as the great season our team had. There are many emotions when you come up short of your goal. And they are all part of learning and growing in this journey of life. Learning turns everything into a postitive. And the number one feeling I have had the past 4 days is gratitude. Gratitude to my teammates for the incredible effort given all season regardless of the challenges we faced. Gratitude toward my coaches for the effort and sacrifice they make to put us players in the best position to win. Gratitude to the NEP organization for supporting us on our very challenging and difficult journey. Gratitude to the Philadelphia Eagles team and organization for bringing out the best in us and being gracious winners (as well as congratulations on winning the championship) Gratitude toward our fans who showed up every week to cheer us on and commit their time and energy and love and support to what our goals are. And gratitude to my family and friends who continue to love and support my dreams. Thank you all. I love you all. Best, Tom<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Tom Brady<\/a> (@tombrady) on