2019 Pats: In-Season Roster & Injury Discussion

Apr 24, 2019
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There was, of course, risk in letting DT go for a few days, but multiple reports had the Patriots and Thomas with a clear understanding that it was a procedural move. He wasn't leaving.
 

joe dokes

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I wouldn't make this assumption based on one preseason game against the dregs of the Giants roster. If they thought he really did have that much left, they wouldn't have run the risk of releasing him and losing him; they would have used some other piece of flotsam to get down to 53 originally
Whatever arrangement they had with him, I wasn't *that* impressed with Thomas. Maybe he's still rusty, but all he seemed able to do was be bigger than the guy guarding him. That's not nothing, but I'd like to seem him getting open against real NFLers.
 

E5 Yaz

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Whatever arrangement they had with him, I wasn't *that* impressed with Thomas. Maybe he's still rusty, but all he seemed able to do was be bigger than the guy guarding him. That's not nothing, but I'd like to seem him getting open against real NFLers.
Yep
 

snowmanny

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That fumble on the end-around was pretty f’ing ugly. The technique was just lazy. I know it’s just one play in pre-season but do that in an actual game and the site will crash.
 

BigSoxFan

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Whatever arrangement they had with him, I wasn't *that* impressed with Thomas. Maybe he's still rusty, but all he seemed able to do was be bigger than the guy guarding him. That's not nothing, but I'd like to seem him getting open against real NFLers.
He is still healing from a major injury. He has shown enough to be worth a look to see if some explosiveness returns.
 

tims4wins

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It's fair to wonder whether the Pats handled the injury situation with Harry correctly. If he was not fully ready to go against the Lions, why did he play?
I was thinking this yesterday. That seemed to be an unforced error, unless the injury was completely unrelated.
 

Mystic Merlin

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It's fair to wonder whether the Pats handled the injury situation with Harry correctly. If he was not fully ready to go against the Lions, why did he play?
Wasn’t the report that he suffered a different injury on that catch in the DET game? If my recollection is accurate, then did he suffer the injury in the game as a result of the other injury? I have no idea.
 

SMU_Sox

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The reporting on his current injury is ankle so I think @Mystic Merlin you are correct. It’s also possible he aggravated the hamstring along the way again. Disappointing that he has missed a large chunk of the season and the ability to practice and work on his flaws.
 

Harry Hooper

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Wasn’t the report that he suffered a different injury on that catch in the DET game? If my recollection is accurate, then did he suffer the injury in the game as a result of the other injury? I have no idea.
Harry was working with a strained hammy. The defender then fell on the back of his legs and caused a lower leg injury, possibly a high ankle sprain (speculation based on the geometry of the collision).
 

SMU_Sox

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The bright side is that if they make it to the Super Bowl again he gets an extra 5 weeks of practice.
 

lexrageorge

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Doesn't this make him ineligible to practice for six weeks? The injury must be more severe than we thought.
He cannot join team practices for at least the first 6 weeks. However, he can still join team meetings, use team facilities, and work out on his own or under the supervision of his coaches. It's not ideal, but he apparently missed a bunch of training camp practices as well.
 

BigSoxFan

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He cannot join team practices for at least the first 6 weeks. However, he can still join team meetings, use team facilities, and work out on his own or under the supervision of his coaches. It's not ideal, but he apparently missed a bunch of training camp practices as well.
Is he allowed to watch practice or is it a complete ban?
 

Pandemonium67

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Too soon.

I'd rather Harry be healthy and playing from the get-go, but I don't hate giving him more time to get fully healthy, learn the playbook, and watch the experts while we wait for the inevitable attrition.

Then he can come back as a mid-season pick-me-up for the O, be fresh all though January, and peak in February.

How's that for rosy glasses?
 

dcmissle

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Too soon.

I'd rather Harry be healthy and playing from the get-go, but I don't hate giving him more time to get fully healthy, learn the playbook, and watch the experts while we wait for the inevitable attrition.

Then he can come back as a mid-season pick-me-up for the O, be fresh all though January, and peak in February.

How's that for rosy glasses?
Perfect. The attrition will be, as you note, inevitable.

And it was just way to much to ask for Harry to get a clean full season ride. THAT never happens to us at this position generally, much less with a rookie. Much more likely full season IR. So I will take this.
 

lexrageorge

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Is he allowed to watch practice or is it a complete ban?
He is allowed to watch, much like the PUP folks were sometimes spotted watching practices during the start of training camp. It's different from a league suspension where a player is not allowed to have any contact with the team.
 

Garshaparra

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As far as roster crunches go, they handled this one pretty much perfectly. With the exception of JE11, this team is built around big possession receivers that can block in the running game. DT will fit that mold perfectly, even if he's lost a step. Let Harry get healthy, help to eliminate the rookie wall, and it'll all work great. The TE situation remains a much bigger problem.
 

DJnVa

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Whatever arrangement they had with him, I wasn't *that* impressed with Thomas. Maybe he's still rusty, but all he seemed able to do was be bigger than the guy guarding him. That's not nothing, but I'd like to seem him getting open against real NFLers.
He practiced against them every day. In front of people that made the decision to bring him back.

I think it's safe to assume he's got something left.
 

snowmanny

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He practiced against them every day. In front of people that made the decision to bring him back.

I think it's safe to assume he's got something left.
If you’re saying Belichick knows something I don’t I’m seriously not sure what to tell you.
 
Apr 24, 2019
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There’s a lot of talk on Twitter that this is just temporary, including from legit sources like Reiss. For this week the team is more comfortable having Ferentz, who is more steeped in the system.

Typos
 

Granite Sox

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Could this also be a salary cap/guaranteed money play, such as the scenario described about D. Thomas as well (i.e. if not on roster for week 1 salary is not guaranteed or some such thing)?
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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Game 1 is in the books and the Patriots now need to make room on the 53 for Antonio Brown and Lance Kendricks (completed 1 game suspension). There's also the question of whether they'll be re-signing Russell Bodine, whom they cut less than a week after trading for. Fortunately, there weren't any injuries that appear to necessitate an IR spot to open up a roster spot.

QB: Brady, Stidham,
RB: Michel, White, Burkhead, Bolden, Harris, Thomas
FB: Develin
WR: Edelman, Gordon, Dorsett, Meyers, Gunner
TE: Izzo, LaCosse
OL: Wynn, Thuney, Karras, Mason, Cannon, Cunningham, Eluemunor, Ferentz

DL: Bennett, Wise, Butler, Cowart, Guy, Shelton, Simon, Winovich,
LB: Hightower, Bentley, Collins, Van Noy, Roberts, Calhoun,
Safeties: McCourty, Chung, Brooks, Harmon, Melifonwu
CB: Gilmore, Jones, McCourty, Jackson, Williams,

ST: Gostkowski, Bailey, Cardona, Ebner, Slater

Injured Reserve (Eliglble to return): Harry
Suspended: Watson, Kendricks

Game 1 Inactives: Van Noy, Thomas, Williams, Melifonwu, Harris, Cunningham, Cowart

It seems pretty unlikely that the Patriots will keep 3 TEs, so one of Kendricks, Izzo or LaCosse is likely to get dropped. If Bodine is re-signed, you have to assume that would be in place of Ferentz who was his last minute replacement with familiarity of the team and system.

The biggest question is still what do they do for Brown? It seems their options boil down to: Drop Gunner, Meyers, Thomas or roll with one TE until Watson is back from suspension.
 

Gambler7

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It's amazing the only negative at this point is the roster is so deep it is hard to make these decisions.

I would prefer they trade D. Thomas (if there is a market) or go with one TE over any other options. I would hate to lose Meyers or Gunner for Brown and then he goes off the deep end in a week and you've lost a young guy for nothing.
 

Oppo

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Still need to hear details on the Cannon injury, not the way you want to open a roster spot tho
 

lexrageorge

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I think both Gunner and Meyers secured their positions last night. Gunner looked natural fielding the punts, and having a player that allows the team to avoid having Edelman do it is worth a roster spot. Meyers looked solid in securing the one pass thrown his way, and the training camp reports on him were glowing. And he's also 6'2". Too much was made of his disappointing performance in one preseason game; he caught Brady's passes fine during the joint practices. It's doubtful either one would make it through waivers and on to the practice squad.

With Devlin able to run block from the backfield, they can probably get away with one TE. Thomas was inactive last night and wasn't missed, and he was already below Dorsett and Edelman and Gordon on the depth chart. Great player, and probably could have still helped them, but he's 32 and already showed signs of decline last season prior to getting hurt.
 

InstaFace

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you'd really think we'd trade out of our WR depth to get some OL depth, somehow. You can't wave a magic wand and replace someone like Andrews, but I have to imagine it's easier to get an OL up to speed in our system than, say, a LB.
 

BaseballJones

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you'd really think we'd trade out of our WR depth to get some OL depth, somehow. You can't wave a magic wand and replace someone like Andrews, but I have to imagine it's easier to get an OL up to speed in our system than, say, a LB.
Actually trading Thomas for OL help is probably a perfect move. They’ve gotta cut someone to make room for AB anyway, and everyone else looked good last night. DT showed that he still can play so someone could probably use him.

Probably an ideal move right there all things considered.
 

DJnVa

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Okay--I'm gonna need pics of AB showing up this morning...
 

Ale Xander

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When Harry comes back do you move him to TE like that guy Tim we use d to have (forget his last name)? He's big and blocks well
 

snowmanny

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you'd really think we'd trade out of our WR depth to get some OL depth, somehow. You can't wave a magic wand and replace someone like Andrews, but I have to imagine it's easier to get an OL up to speed in our system than, say, a LB.
Not a big fan of the eephus hikes?
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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When Harry comes back do you move him to TE like that guy Tim we use d to have (forget his last name)? He's big and blocks well
I think there's a pretty good chance we don't see Harry again this year and they treat it essentially as a redshirt season. That might change if AB or Gordon blow up but as it stands its hard to see him working back into the mix midseason.
 

InstaFace

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Not a big fan of the eephus hikes?
As funny as that is (and as much as you're joking), I'm actually not as bothered by that as I am the role Andrews had in setting the protection, instinctively knowing when and where he had to help... and not nearly as much as I am about the prospect that Cannon misses a lot of time. OL has been our achilles heel in more almost-made-it seasons than I care to think about.

Brady getting the snaps at nose level rather than chest level is funny, and probably drives him bananas, but at the end of the day it's not going to cause turnover mayhem the way that skipping them on the ground would. We have bigger fish to fry.
 

DourDoerr

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Brady getting the snaps at nose level rather than chest level is funny, and probably drives him bananas, but at the end of the day it's not going to cause turnover mayhem the way that skipping them on the ground would. We have bigger fish to fry.
I found this pretty concerning. Soft-pedaling the ball has the potential of robbing Brady of precious milliseconds to read and react. It also requires him to add a wrinkle to his mechanics. Brady's a well-oiled machine back there, but it all starts with him receiving the ball crisply and on target. You mess with that, you may be throwing some sand in the gears. These snaps may not lead to mayhem, but all it takes is for, say, a KC DL to split a gap as the ball floats back to perhaps change a game. Hopefully, this is correctable. I don't know.
 

ZMart100

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Is Obi practice squad eligible? He was on it last year wasn’t he?
He was active last year. After the Pats signed him in November following a release for Oakland's IR, he appeared in 2 games for the Pats.

From wikipedia:
A player cannot participate on the practice squad for more than three seasons; he is eligible for a third season only if the team has at least 53 players on its active/inactive list for the duration of that player's employment, or have no prior accrued seasons in the NFL (an accrued season is six or more games on the active roster); or if he has accrued a year of NFL experience on a club's 53-man active roster. If the player was on the active list for fewer than nine games during their "only accrued season(s)", he maintains his eligibility for the practice squad.
He appeared in 5 games in 2017 for Oakland (following IR-DTR), 2 last season for NE and none this season. So I think he's eligible (under the 1 accrued season, but less than 9 games on active list rule), but I'm not positive.
 
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