- \n
- With now-former New England Patriots<\/strong><\/a> tight end Devin Asiasi being waived on cutdown day last week, it closed the book on the former 3rd round draft pick who just couldn’t quite carve out a role for himself after his time with the club and his departure left little depth behind starters Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It’s unknown whether or not the Patriots had any intention of bringing him back, but after being claimed by Cincinnati, his father, Dave Asiasi, thanked Bill Belichick on Twitter for giving him his NFL opportunity.\u00a0 “Thank you for believing in my son and developing his game,” wrote Asiasi<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 “Forever indebted to you sir and the Patriots Organization.\u00a0 Alofa atu coach.”<\/p>\n
The former standout from UCLA played in just 10 games, finishing with just 2 catches for 39-yards and a touchdown.\u00a0 He’ll now see if he can revive his career with the Bengals, who apparently went with claiming Asiasi via the waiver wire over adding veteran O.J. Howard.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Quarterback Mac Jones was asked about the progression in New England’s offensive line, which was definitely inconsistent during the preseason. Jones said he’s been pleased with what he’s seen recently and believes if they can put together a full 60-minutes of good football, they’ll be fine.\u00a0 ” I think it’s been good. I think we’ve ironed out a lot of things and it’s good that they’re happening now,” said Jones. “I feel confident in what we’re doing. We just have to go out there and do it for 60 minutes, and that’s just play-by-play.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- \n“Obviously during practice, same thing, play-by-play, go out there and execute it and once you turn on the game film and you look back and there’s 45, 50 good plays then hopefully you come out on top. But that’s more about executing it and doing your job individually. If we all do that, 11 guys do it close to right every play, then you’ll have a good play.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- Jones said this week that one of the most difficult parts of roster cuts is getting used to the fact that player movement is just a reality, which he’s still getting used to.\u00a0 “So I know that’s a tough part of the business, but my first months here I remember meeting people and then they’re not on your team anymore so it’s kind of weird,” said Jones.\u00a0 “But I hope the best for all those guys that aren’t with us anymore and the guys on the practice squad. I know they’re happy to be back and we’re happy to have everybody.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- Saturday was a day of conflict.\u00a0 Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who has been at the forefront in past Patriots cheating allegations – including claiming shenanigans over the headsets at Gillette Stadium – spent today rooting for his son Dino<\/strong><\/a>, who is a wide receiver for Boston College.\u00a0 Obviously, most fans in New England will root for Tomlin and BC throughout the season, but it’s going to be odd rooting for the wideout while hoping his father loses as many games as possible, especially in Week 2, throughout the 2022 season.\u00a0 Tomlin and the University had a rough outing, dropping a tough one against Rutgers on Saturday, 22-21 to start the year 0-1, with the wideout not recording a reception.\u00a0 Pittsburgh opens the season on the road next Sunday against the Bengals in a 1:00pm start, before facing the Patriots in Week 2.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
WISE RECEIVES WELL-DESERVED HONOR:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Congratulations to Deatrich Wise Jr., who was honored this week by receiving the Ron Burton Community Service Award at the Patriots Premiere.<\/p>\n
Wise Jr. was recognized following his years of off-the-field work in the community which typically goes unnoticed, but while the recognition was nice, Wise said it’s bringing smiles to peoples faces that he enjoys the most.<\/p>\n
“You don’t go out in the community for the gratification. You just do it because it’s in your heart to do,” Wise said via Patriots.com.<\/p>\n
“It’s an honor to win an award of this prestige and to be in the same group as everybody who’s won that before and have my name with the Burton family.”<\/p>\n
The veteran defensive tackle has been a staple in the team’s endeavors off the field, which has included visiting children and veterans in hospitals, as well as various other events within the Patriots Foundation.<\/p>\n
His latest award comes at a time where Wise’s impact on the field has grown, with the veteran also having received a bigger role in recent years after being drafted by the team in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.\u00a0 He finished last season tied for 11th on the club in tackles with 41 including 3 sacks, 9 QB hits, 4 passes defended and a forced fumble.<\/p>\n
He’s under contract with the club through 2024 after having signed a 4-year extension last offseason.<\/p>\n
SALEH IS CONFIDENT IN WILSON:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Meanwhile, down in New York, as Zach Wilson continues recovering from his knee injury where he seemingly avoided disaster, suffering just a torn meniscus and bone bruise to his right knee in the preseason opener.<\/p>\n
The timeline for Wilson still has questions, but the likelihood of him being out on the field by the time the Patriots face them in Week 8 appears to be a potential possiblity.\u00a0 With that in mind, Saleh talked about his QB this week and said that he was pleased with what he saw prior to the injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the injury, he was way ahead of where he was a year ago,\u201d said Saleh via the New York Post<\/strong><\/a>. \u201cI know that first preseason game, people put a lot of stock into those series, which is warranted, but that first preseason game isn\u2019t even close to what he\u2019s been showing throughout OTAs and training camp and the way he communicates even now that he\u2019s not a part of the practices, and he\u2019s just in meetings.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo [I\u2019m] really excited about him getting the chance to get back to the football field to show how far along he\u2019s come. As far as the development and the course that he\u2019s on, we\u2019re excited about it, and we\u2019re excited about his future.\u201d<\/p>\n
It will be interesting to see how Wilson has progressed since last season.\u00a0 In New England’s first meeting against him in Week 2 of last year, Wilson finished the afternoon 19-of-33 for 210-yards and 4 interceptions during a 25-6 rout by New England<\/strong><\/a> at MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n
The second meeting didn’t work out much better in Week 7, with Wilson getting knocked out of that game with a knee injury during a 54-13 beating<\/strong><\/a> at Gillette Stadium.<\/p>\n
It will be a while before the two clubs face off this season.\u00a0 Their first meeting isn’t until Week 8 at MetLife Stadium in a 1:00pm match-up, with the two teams meeting up again at Gillette Stadium a few weeks later in Week 11.<\/p>\n
The latest the two clubs have faced off in recent years was Week 9, which happened in 2020, also at MetLife.\u00a0 The Patriots came away with a 30-27 win<\/strong><\/a> in that one.<\/p>\n
HOW WILL THE 2022 PATRIOTS SEASON PLAY OUT?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
With the season obviously set to start next week for New England, the big question is clearly whether or not the team will take a step forward following last year’s disappointing playoff exit against the Bills.<\/p>\n
The consensus within the media is that the club will have a tough time, with NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran believing that this year could go either way for Bill Belichick’s football team.<\/p>\n
Curran said during he and Phil Perry’s most recent podcast<\/strong><\/a> that this season is definitely one with some big questions and that a rough start is certainly possible.<\/p>\n
“0-4 is the mix, which would be jaw-dropping,” said Curran.\u00a0 “I’m not saying it’s happening, I’m just saying it’s on the table.\u00a0 And then 4-4 is definitely in the mix too.”<\/p>\n
Curran’s biggest concern isn’t so much how they start, but how they finish.\u00a0 He believes a strong finish by the club would be a win if the “arrow is pointing up”, as the team will have quite a bit of cap room next offseason to work with and he feels that the goal is to see the team grow this season.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s an 8-9 season for the Patriots,” said Curran. “But it can still be an encouraging and optimism-filled season if the close looks better, if you’re better at the end against the Bills.\u00a0 I don’t know how Cincy’s going to be, they could be 8-9, who knows?\u00a0 Teams regress too after Super Bowl appearances, we’ve seen it for about three decades.\u00a0 But if you can compete with those teams, and if the wobbly branch that you walked out on with the coaching staff doesn’t snap and Mac Jones, Pro Bowler last year, kinda looks like a better version of Mac Jones by the end of the year, not at the beginning, but at the end, and Jonnu Smith and Nelson Agholor have given you return on investment, and the speed of the defense has helped and the team looks better at the end, even if they’re 8-9, that to me is a successful season.”<\/p>\n
“Because I do think it’s a bridge [year] and I do realize how much cap space they have in 2023.\u00a0 So that to me would be patience rewarded, Bill’s got the arrow pointing up, which he hasn’t had at the end of the last three years, and that’s how the Patriots can have a successful season even if they don’t get that playoff win that Robert Kraft is agitating for.”<\/p>\n
It’s tough to say how Kraft would react to a sub .500 season, especially if the club has stayed healthy because they’re not necessarily devoid of talent by any means.\u00a0 How everything ultimately plays out will obviously be a big factor and Jones’ development will clearly play a big role.\u00a0 His emergence last season was a key factor in New England’s return to the postseason, and his growth in year two will likely be pivotal to whether or not they can earn a spot at redemption in January.<\/p>\n
It’s a long season and anything can happen.\u00a0 And it’s clear that not many people are giving them much of a shot, especially given how the preseason went.<\/p>\n
![\"Mac](\"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/USATSI_18896365_168390408_lowres-450x300.jpg\")
Is Jones ready to get the Patriots back toward becoming contenders? (Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nSOME THOUGHTS AFTER GETTING DESTROYED ON WEEI ON FRIDAY:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Having posted a blog entry on Friday on how the club could potentially surprise people with a 13-win season<\/strong><\/a>, it’s safe to say the last thing I expected was to end up as a segment on WEEI on the afternoon drive program with Merloni Fauria and Mego<\/em>, which saw my name and this site mentioned on air, which essentially saw me get completely eviscerated by the trio of Lou Merloni, Nick “Fitzy” Stevens, and Andy Hart.<\/p>\n
I don’t normally get bothered by that sort of thing, albeit it’s probably the first time it’s gone down like this.\u00a0 The more irritating part was the fact some things got misinterpreted and also badly misstated. Worse, they led off with this to begin the segment which means it was planned, so the fact they felt the need to demolish me without even reaching out to talk about it is disappointing.<\/p>\n
Worse, I haven’t been shy about mentioning my irritation with Felger and Mazz<\/em> since they’re the masters of stirring the pot in a negative way, which often makes the tenor among fans difficult, which includes members on our board. <\/p>\n
That’s basically led me to always been a supporter of WEEI, especially considering our friends Chris Price and Ryan Hannable both ended up there (Price is now with the Boston Globe, while Hannable has moved on to BetMGM). <\/p>\n
Glenn Ordway was also been a supporter of ours over the years prior to his retirement, both mentioning Miguel and the board on-air and it’s something I’ve always appreciated. Christian Fauria is also terrific, and having been at this since 2000, he was also a fun player to watch. He was off on Friday, so he wasn’t part of this. <\/p>\n
I’ve also been a fan of Merloni who has typically been a voice of reason in the past (and he was a hard-working player who was fun to root for during his time with the Red Sox) and he also often mentions Miguel. Fitzy is someone I have a lot of admiration for, having worked his way from a local news outlet and he’s really worked hard to get to where he is. Hart is also a good guy, having been a terrific writer and personality with the Patriots prior to joining the station. There are other people at that the station who are great as well, but I’ll keep this on point.<\/p>\n
All this being said, to get texts from friends and relatives about the segment Friday afternoon and to later listen to what happened was both really frustrating and extremely disappointing.<\/p>\n
Having been around for 20+ years along with the fact we do have a relatively good relationship with most writers, it’s probably the first time in more than two decades that I’ve been a little bothered. Had it been an organic conversation that went south, that would have been one thing. However, they started off with it, which means they knew ahead of time they were going there.<\/p>\n
HERE’S WHAT WENT DOWN:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
I’m going to preface things by saying when I wrote it initially on our forum back in June<\/strong><\/a> and modified it relevant to now. I went week-by-week looking at how I thought the season would play out and didn’t even look at the record until the end, which ended up being 13-4. Obviously, when you talk about an overall record, that total sounds a little nuts until you start going through it week-by week pondering various scenarios based on past seasons. Then, it’s not necessarily quite as crazy.\u00a0 More on that later on.<\/p>\n
- Saturday was a day of conflict.\u00a0 Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who has been at the forefront in past Patriots cheating allegations – including claiming shenanigans over the headsets at Gillette Stadium – spent today rooting for his son Dino<\/strong><\/a>, who is a wide receiver for Boston College.\u00a0 Obviously, most fans in New England will root for Tomlin and BC throughout the season, but it’s going to be odd rooting for the wideout while hoping his father loses as many games as possible, especially in Week 2, throughout the 2022 season.\u00a0 Tomlin and the University had a rough outing, dropping a tough one against Rutgers on Saturday, 22-21 to start the year 0-1, with the wideout not recording a reception.\u00a0 Pittsburgh opens the season on the road next Sunday against the Bengals in a 1:00pm start, before facing the Patriots in Week 2.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Jones said this week that one of the most difficult parts of roster cuts is getting used to the fact that player movement is just a reality, which he’s still getting used to.\u00a0 “So I know that’s a tough part of the business, but my first months here I remember meeting people and then they’re not on your team anymore so it’s kind of weird,” said Jones.\u00a0 “But I hope the best for all those guys that aren’t with us anymore and the guys on the practice squad. I know they’re happy to be back and we’re happy to have everybody.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n“Obviously during practice, same thing, play-by-play, go out there and execute it and once you turn on the game film and you look back and there’s 45, 50 good plays then hopefully you come out on top. But that’s more about executing it and doing your job individually. If we all do that, 11 guys do it close to right every play, then you’ll have a good play.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Quarterback Mac Jones was asked about the progression in New England’s offensive line, which was definitely inconsistent during the preseason. Jones said he’s been pleased with what he’s seen recently and believes if they can put together a full 60-minutes of good football, they’ll be fine.\u00a0 ” I think it’s been good. I think we’ve ironed out a lot of things and it’s good that they’re happening now,” said Jones. “I feel confident in what we’re doing. We just have to go out there and do it for 60 minutes, and that’s just play-by-play.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/USATSI_17555486_168390408_lowres-660x440.jpg\")