{"id":30652,"date":"2020-05-17T05:00:22","date_gmt":"2020-05-17T09:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=30652"},"modified":"2020-05-17T20:50:56","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T00:50:56","slug":"new-england-patriots-news-5-17-3rd-qb-battle-will-be-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2020\/05\/17\/new-england-patriots-news-5-17-3rd-qb-battle-will-be-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots News 5-17, 3rd QB Battle Will Be Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, here is your <\/span>Sunday Patriots news 05-17 and AFC East notes<\/b> this week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is tomorrow the day we start seeing stuff re-open? I would hope so, but we\u2019ll all have to be patient and do the right thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Baker and Dunbar: <\/b>The Giants Deandre Baker and the Seahawks Quinton Dunbar could be in a heap of trouble…and not just from the league after the pair allegedly committed multiple counts of armed robbery in Miramar, Florida with a firearm\u2014a charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The pair also face charges for aggravated assault with a firearm, a conviction for which carries a possible five-year prison term on top of any other charge. Tough start for Joe Judge in NY.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

James Harrison:<\/b> Another Bounty-Gate? Don\u2019t hold your breath. Harrison admitted on\u00a0 a podcast last week that after his big hit on Cleveland\u2019s Mohamed Massaquoi that resulted in a $75,000 fine by the league, he was handed an envelope by Steelers\u2019 Head Coach Mike Tomlin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Harrison\u2019s quote, \u201cAnd I ain\u2019t gonna lie to you, when that happened, right? the G-est thing Mike Tomlin ever did, he handed me an envelope after that. I ain\u2019t gonna say what, but he handed me an envelope after that.\u201d That was an attention-getter, however, the Steelers denied it ever happened and the league\u2026 refused to comment. Don\u2019t be surprised.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sean McDermott: <\/b>The Bills head coach, isn\u2019t having any of the talk proclaiming the Bills as the favorites in the AFC East this year. With his team just learning how to win and still coming together, McDermott wisely took some of the heat off of his players by saying that the Patriots are still the favorites to win the division\u2026smart move by a very smart coach. However, my money this fall is still on Buffalo with that defense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brady\/McDaniels Rift: <\/b>First we had the Brady-Belichick rift, and now we have the Brady -McDaniels rift? Is anyone buying this? Brady came out very strongly in public (which is unlike him) and denied it. But at this point, does anyone really care? It is past the time to move on.\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. Last week we recorded a regularly scheduled podcast with our original co-host Damian Jarrett. The band is truly back together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Patriots Hall of Fame Needs a Revamp… And Russ Francis:<\/b><\/h3>\n

After the announcement that Richard Seymour was elected (and quite deserving) to the team\u2019s Hall of Fame, many media types quickly beat the drum and chastised fans (more to this below) for not electing former coach Bill Parcells into the team\u2019s Hall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And one quick note on this, the narrative that the franchise was a perpetual loser before Parcells arrival is simply not true. They had plenty of losing teams to be sure, but in the 33 years before the Tuna, 15 of those, less than half were sub.500 teams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, one suggestion that Robert Kraft needs to have either a Veterans Committee or just make a command decision to enshrine some older players or coaches who won\u2019t be able to compete with the players of this generation. Many of those voters have never seen many of those older players on the field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Parcells and Chuck Fairbanks are the two coaches that immediately come to mind that deserves mention. And one player who ISN\u2019T in there bogs the mind every year when I see the names come up: Russ Francis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Francis was one of the most dominant tight ends of his era. He and Dave Casper of the Raiders changed the way the position was targeted, as they frequently became deep threats at the position which was never done before. The Ben Coates and Rob Gronkowski of the future owe a great deal of debt to Russ Francis as he was a dominant blocker and pass receiver in the Patriots \u2018ground and pound\u2019 years. The fact that Francis isn\u2019t in the Hall is a head-scratcher.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n