{"id":9250,"date":"2016-11-20T05:00:04","date_gmt":"2016-11-20T10:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=9250"},"modified":"2016-11-19T22:44:14","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T03:44:14","slug":"new-england-patriots-news-11-20-afc-east-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2016\/11\/20\/new-england-patriots-news-11-20-afc-east-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots News 11-20, AFC East Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, here are\u00a0Sunday\u2019s Patriots news 11-20<\/strong>, and AFC East Notes for this week.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Ty Law<\/strong> for being a semi-finalist for the 2017 Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Law may not make the cut this year\u00a0but he\u00a0certainly belongs. His numbers speak for themselves. His 53 career interceptions are tied with Deion Sanders. Durable, tough and a key cog on three Super Bowl winning teams. He was a big reason that Bill Polian lobbied the rules committee [of which he was a member] to have the PI rules changed after Law, beat up on the Colts WRs and picked off Peyton Manning three times in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Classy move by Tony Romo this week. How tough was that to admit, that you don’t deserve to be the starting QB for the Cowboys down the stretch. He’ll probably wear orange next season….just a guess but we’ve seen that before.<\/p>\n

Bennett Trade Proves Smart with Gronkowski Injury:
\n<\/strong>The news that TE Rob Gronkowski wasn\u2019t going to travel this week and therefore not play in today\u2019s game against the 49ers wasn\u2019t a shock. Gronk took a thunderous, but legal hit from safety Earl Thomas in last week\u2019s loss to the Seahawks and had a chest injury, some called a perforated lung. Whatever it was\/is, he didn\u2019t practice this week.<\/p>\n

But the trade that brought Martellus Bennett to the Pats is proving to be a valuable one. Bennett filled in nicely during the first four games of the season when Gronk missed the first two and was slow to work his way back in the next pair.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019ll be asked to be the primary tight end in the passing game and with Chris Hogan also out this week [back], his importance in the game plan will become even more pronounced.<\/p>\n

Belichick Isn\u2019t a fan of Advanced Metrics:<\/strong>
\nIn one of the more colorful press conferences this fall, Bill Belichick made his feelings known about advanced metrics. Asked on Friday if a quarterback’s quick release had always been a focal point of his offense, or whether it became more important after the rise of advanced metrics websites, Belichick unloaded.<\/p>\n

“What the hell is that?” Belichick said. “You can take those advanced websites and metric them wherever you want. I don’t know. I have no idea. I’ve never looked at one. I wouldn’t even care to look at one. I don’t even care what they say.”<\/p>\n

But he wasn\u2019t done there, he broke it down into the simplest terms and preached a team concept on an effective quarterback and offensive play. Remember this is the coach who loudly preached in 2009 that, \u201cStats are for losers.\u201d<\/p>\n

“It’s timing, decision making, execution by the entire offensive team, that’s what the passing game is,\u201d Belichick said. \u201cReceiver’s got to get open and catch the ball. The quarterback has to read the coverage, make the right decision, make an accurate throw.<\/p>\n

“All the metric pages and all that, I have no idea. You’d have to ask that to a smarter coach than me. I’m sorry.” While typically Belichick-ian in his response, essentially Bill said the same thing while kinda thumbing his nose at the guys from PFF.<\/p>\n

More Intrigue with the Defense, Did Sheard Stay in NE?
\n<\/strong>While the Patriots were over the skies en route to San Francisco, Jabaal Sheard [or someone using his account], sent an Instagram post from the Celtics game on Friday night. Sheard wasn\u2019t listed on the injury report this week. So, if he indeed stayed home then one would have to assume that he\u2019s going to be a healthy scratch for Sunday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Such a move would show a definitive dissatisfaction with the big man\u2019s play. Big things were expected this season from Sheard, who moved into the starting lineup with the trade of Chandler Jones. But his play this season hasn\u2019t matched up to that from last year where he had 8.5 sacks as a sub-package plugin. He played a season-low 16 snaps against Seattle last week, giving way to Trey Flowers on the depth chart.<\/p>\n

As we write this [Friday evening], we\u2019ll watch for updates and confirmation from SF to find out if he indeed stayed home this weekend. \u00a0If so, then that won\u2019t bode well for the 27-year old who is in a contract year.<\/p>\n

***UPDATE***\u00a0<\/strong>Sheard was indeed left in New England and won’t play for performance reasons this week. If that is the case, the chances of them bringing him back next season are about nil now. The team will definitely be in the market for an edge rusher.<\/p>\n

Patriots May Ease Dion Lewis Back into the Mix Today:
\n<\/strong>In a bit of good news this week, Patriots running back Dion Lewis made the team\u2019s flight out to San Francisco and could make his season debut against the Niners today. Lewis was dynamic a year ago out of the backfield for the Patriots before tearing his ACL on a non-contact play against the Redskins.<\/p>\n

Lewis activated from the PUP to the active roster last week but was inactive against the Seahawks. Could he see his first action this week? It would appear so. The Patriots have wisely taken a cautious approach with Lewis, allowing him to work his way back from the serious leg injury.<\/p>\n

And with good reason, James White has had a very good 2016 season thus far and has become a valued, trusted member of the offense. Both are equally good at catching the ball out of the backfield. Lewis had the innate ability to make people miss and is the most elusive of the two. How will they ease him into the mix and how will he be used more down the stretch?<\/p>\n

Look for Brady to put him in motion and flex him outside creating mismatches on linebackers. It was an area where they created quite a bit of production last season and something they haven\u2019t done much with White this year.<\/p>\n

Good Acting? Or Was Brady Sending a Message?
\n<\/strong>The recently released and quickly gone viral video for Footlocker that Tom Brady did this week was a hilarious view on Deflategate by the Patriots QB.<\/p>\n

The never-mentioned but thinly veiled shot at Roger Goodell and the NFL over Brady\u2019s suspension over ignoring of the Ideal Gas Law quickly struck a chord with Patriots fans. But now it begs the question\u2026. Was it good acting or was Brady venting his true feelings after nearly two years? Watch it one more time and you be the judge.<\/p>\n