{"id":28438,"date":"2020-05-03T05:00:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T09:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=28438"},"modified":"2020-05-03T05:07:48","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T09:07:48","slug":"new-england-patriots-news-05-03-afc-east-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2020\/05\/03\/new-england-patriots-news-05-03-afc-east-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots News 05-03, AFC East Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, here is your <\/span>Sunday Patriots news 05-03 and AFC East notes<\/b> this week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sad that we\u2019d be talking about the first appearance of the Patriots draft picks in Foxboro normally this week as well as discussing rookie minicamp. But due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, everyone is still at home. Hopefully soon this will all change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other than that, we hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>Quick Hitters For the Pats, and the NFL:<\/b><\/h3>\n

Andy Dalton: <\/b>Jeff Howe reported over a month ago that the Patriots weren\u2019t interested in Dalton. But as soon as reports surfaced that Bengals were going to release him, Peter King said he\u2019d be a good fit and that turned into \u201cthe Patriots are interested.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And social media being the sewer that it can be at times, then had all kinds of screwy scenarios that the Patriots and Jaguars were in a \u201cbidding war\u201d over Dalton. Really? With $1.6 million in salary-cap space…it must be pretty boring bidding there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

***Update***<\/strong> Dalton was signed by the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, thereby taking him out of the talk for New England<\/p>\n

Justin Rohrwasser: <\/b>\u00a0The team did what they could to diffuse this “tattoo situation” by having WBZ sports anchor and host of Patriots All-Access Steve Burton conduct an interview with their new kicker Rohrwasser to give him a chance to explain himself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was pretty clear that despite what some pot stirrers on Twitter were saying, he is neither a racist or white supremacist. But it isn\u2019t going away, even after he covers his tattoo. He\u2019ll be hearing about this all summer and into the season once the regular season when the team travels. If he starts shaking kicks, the noise will get louder<\/span><\/p>\n

Melifonwu, Davis Released: <\/b>The Patriots announced that they released DL Keointa Davis and DB Obi Melifonwu. Melifonwu, the uber-athletically gifted safety was originally a 2nd round pick (56th overall) of the Raiders in 2017. Injuries caused him to be released and the Patriots signed him in 2018, but he never really caught on, despite showing flashes here and there.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Davis was signed by the Patriots as a UDFA out of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2017. He spent his rookie season on the non-football injury reserve list. He made the 53-man roster in 2018 and appeared in six regular-season games and posted six tackles. He spent the 2019 season on injured reserve.<\/span><\/p>\n

New Uniforms Unveiled: <\/b>In a word… Yuck. Nuff said. A week later, my opinion is unchanged.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4th & 2 Podcast<\/b> – If you\u2019ve haven\u2019t checked out our <\/span>PatsFans.com podcast, <\/span><\/a>\u201cPatriots 4th & 2\u201d in a bit, please check it out. This week we did a draft recap podcast, so be sure to check that out soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

No Surprise, James Develin Retires:<\/b><\/h3>\n

As much as we hate to see a man\u2019s career cut short, we were happy to see that James Develin had decided to hang it up and retire, albeit prematurely due to his injury. And those neck injuries are very unforgiving. Another one could have potentially put him in a wheelchair. It was too big of a risk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In an interview with Jeff Howe of The Athletic, Develin said about his injury, \u201cSo it\u2019s not like I can tippy-toe around and try not to use my head\u2026It was just one of those things, I wouldn\u2019t be able to approach the game the same way and play with a relentless abandon that I had grown to play with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Develin, 31, is a three-time Super Bowl winner with the Patriots whose value went way beyond carries, yards, or catches. As the Patriots fullback, he created holes for the running backs to run and when he missed the 2015 season with a broken leg suffered in the preseason, and last year with his neck injury, it was easy to see how badly the team missed him. James White referred to Develin as a \u201cprotector\u201d and that is exactly what he did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More on Develin from Bill Belichick below…<\/span><\/p>\n

Seymour Gets My Vote for the Hall\u2026 Tuna Still Gets a Pass:<\/b><\/h3>\n

Sorry, for me Bill Parcells\u2019 omission from the Patriots team Hall of Fame isn\u2019t \u201cridiculous\u201d and \u201cembarrassing\u201d as the Shank posted in the Globe, nor are Patriots fans stupid as Tanguay said on NBC. And as much as I like Tom Curran, I disagree that Parcells belongs in the team\u2019s Hall. There are others who are more deserving first.<\/span><\/p>\n

And before we go any farther, I am a diehard Parcells fan, I loved when he came to the team and think he\u2019s one of the great coaches of all time. But in the biggest week for the franchise, with a chance to win a Super Bowl, he didn\u2019t spend his week, trying to game plan to beat the Packers. He spent it on the phone with the Jets trying to get the hell out of Dodge before the team even got home. He then tried to screw New England at every turn for the next few years with the J-E-T-S. So, sorry, I can forgive but not this year, not until another coach gets in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the excellent book \u201cPatriot Reign\u201d by Michael Holley, Bill Belichick\u2019s words ring very true when he describes Parcells actions that week before the Super Bowl.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI felt [was] totally inappropriate. How many chances do you get to play for the Super Bowl? Tell them to get back to you in a couple of days. I’m not saying it was disrespectful to me, but it was in terms of the overall commitment to the team.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Even he has stated that how he left New England was wrong, “I regret leaving New England. Had we done things differently … ” Parcells said a few years ago. “I had a good young team there. I hated to leave that team, because I knew what we could do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was absolutely too headstrong. I think both Kraft and myself, retrospectively, would have done things a little differently.\u201d A little?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And this media misrepresentation (by some) that because Parcells is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the fact he isn\u2019t in the Patriots is an embarrassment? That\u2019s total …horse hockey. The Tuna is in there for what he accomplished with the Giants. And deservedly so.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The other coach that deserves to be in the Hall is Chuck Fairbanks. Of course, Fairbanks has a snowball chance in hell of ever getting in. Even those of us who are diehard fans of his recognize that. When he took over in 1973, the Patriots were the worst drafting team in the NFL and he changed all of that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Parcells, Fairbanks drafted two members of the Pro Football HOF (John Hannah, Mike Haynes) and added a slew of outstanding Patriots, many of whom are in the team\u2019s HOF. Darryl Stingley, Sam Cunningham, Sugar Bear Ray Hamilton, Sam Hunt, Steve Nelson, Steve Grogan, Russ Francis, Andy Johnson, Tim Fox, Pete Brock, Raymond Clayborn, and Stanley Morgan…among others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I do agree with Curran that Kraft needs to get involved and make a command decision. To add Fairbanks and Parcells…in that order.\u00a0 But for this year, it is a no-brainer. Richard Seymour deserves a bust in Canton and HE made his bones by dominating for nearly a decade in Foxboro.\u00a0 But vote for who you decide belongs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gronk Was Just Kidding\u2026 Really, Nothing to See Here:<\/b><\/h3>\n

Oh,\u00a0 how times change. Imagine if you will (Rod Serling voice) had Rob Gronkowski been a member of the Bucs and signed with New England and then said what he did?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During a Bud Light Seltzer \u201cDrafterparty”, Gronk spoke up about No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow studying the Cincinnati Bengals playbook weeks before the draft, which prompted the big guy to say that he was studying the Bucs playbook before the trade with the Patriots. That is the textbook definition of tampering.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was in a Tampa Bay Buccaneers playbook four weeks ago, and I wasn\u2019t even on the team,” Gronkowski said<\/span><\/p>\n

Do I care? No\u2026 but as I said, if the situation was reversed? We\u2019d have weepy ex-QBs whining about the loss of confidence in the game, Roger would remove himself from his basement and give us a sermon on the \u201cintegrity of the game\u201d while Ted Wells and his flying circus of junk science buffoons would be rubbing their hands with glee over the prospect of doing another long investigation building up those billable hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But wait, Gronk had a (lame) excuse\u2026 or maybe it wasn\u2019t. He was joking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThis is seriously a story?\u201d Gronkowski posted on Twitter. \u201cLOL! I was just joking around with Sage as I was pretty much the whole time that time when I was co-hosting the show.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWowsers, my co-hosting skills on point!! Lol!! I actually just received my team-issued Surface today from the Bucs and it\u2019s still in the package, and hoping it is all pictures and drawings. I\u2019m pumped to open it one day hopefully soon and follow the arrows to learn where to run too. Gronk run Gronk catch ball. No playbook needed. Hehe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But not to worry, Park Avenue has spoken, nothing to see here. It is probably a good thing. Because if the Bucs had been found guilty of tampering, how would have Goodell found a way to strip the Patriots of draft picks?<\/span><\/p>\n

Eastbound and Down AFC East Notes:<\/b><\/h3>\n

Bills Have a Great Draft Weekend:<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Buffalo Bills had a heckuva of a 2020 NFL Draft weekend. Despite not having a 1st round pick, which they traded for Stefon Diggs (which is already a big addition for their offense), they got some impact players with their picks and set themselves up quite nicely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 2, pick 54: <\/span>A.J. Epenesa<\/b>, <\/span>DE, Iowa<\/b> –
\n<\/span>Round 3, pick 86: <\/span>Zack Moss, RB, Utah –
\n<\/b>Round 4, pick 128: <\/span>Gabriel Davis, WR, UCF\u00a0 –
\n<\/b>Round 5, pick 167: J<\/span>ake Fromm, QB, Georgia –
\n<\/b>Round 6, pick 188 (from Browns): <\/span>Tyler Bass, K, Georgia Southern –
\n<\/b>Round 6, pick 207 (from Ravens thru Patriots): <\/span>Isaiah Hodgins, WR, Oregon State –
\n<\/b>Round 7, pick 239 (from Vikings): <\/span>Dane Jackson, CB, Pitt –\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Epenesa should be an immediate contributor to an already stacked defense. Moss is a physical back who should provide a nice counter to Devin Singletary. Davis is a big-bodied WR who can work the sideline and stretch the field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Getting Fromm was a really nice move. They have their franchise QB in Allen, but Fromm\u2019s biggest attribute was his head, he\u2019s smart and sees the field like a coach. Having a good quality back-up QB who can help the starter is a very smart move.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And Bass was our #2 kicker in the draft\u2026 Very good weekend in Buffalo.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dolphins Use Draft Capital Wisely:<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Miami Dolphins entered the 2020 NFL Draft having a ton of holes to fill and they did a very good job of doing just that. They may have found their franchise QB of the future with Tua Tagavailoa, and then with #18 (as we predicted on our draft podcast), they found a tackle to protect him and then added a very promising corner who is just scratching the surface of his potential, all in the 1st round.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I love the addition of Davis for their interior DL which was a weakness in 2019, although I\u2019m not entirely sold on Jones the safety out of Texas, but the later additions of Strowbridge and Weaver in Round 5 were good quality additions.<\/span><\/p>\n