They won't practice until Wednesday, but point taken on tomorrow being the trade deadline.
2019 Pats: In-Season Roster & Injury Discussion
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
Oh, right. The Monday game is so forgettable that I have my week screwed up.
Though, we still might see about Harry on the transaction wire, I think.
I think one of the issues with Michel early this season is that he seemed to have no ability to make something out of nothing; for example, he went down quickly after the first hit.
From my highly unreliable eye test, he seems to have gotten better lately; maybe he was working through an undisclosed injury issue early on. Either way, they are not adding an RB. But they do have issues at the OL that will need to be addressed one way or another. Newhouse is not the answer; neither is Ferentz.
Thuney, Karras, and Cannon have been good. I actually was surprised that Ferentz held up as well as he did playing every offensive snap. It was good to to get him in game reps in a win, because he is going to be a major depth piece.
It’s all going to come down to injuries. Wynn, Mason, Cannon, Thuney, Karras, with Ferentz and Newhouse as depth looks a lot better on paper than Cannon, Ferentz, Newhouse, Thuney, and Karras, with Newhouse out of his dominant position.
They could really use a blocking tight end too. Tomlinson did a little better yesterday, but he’s still a work in progress and might not make it another week. Poor James White is getting clobbered back there. He’s so underrated. He takes on three or four full speed pass protection blocks per game. Sometimes by corners but occasionally 280 pound guys running full speed.
RapSheet says the Pats are re-signing QB Cody Kessler. That will fill the last spot on the 53 man roster.
Given that he can practice fully with the team, seems like the Patriots should wait until as late as they can before the game to activate Harry. If it's true that Kessler was brought in partly to provide another QB in practice and reduce reps on Brady's body, they could swap out Harry and Kessler at the last second.
The DE Calhoun came up gimpy at one point towards the end. Not sure I can recall anyone else needing the trainers to come out to the field.
Also White looked like he was pulling at his left groin area on the sideline after his big screen pass. Either a pull or cramp.
Edit - White looked uncomfortable but hard to say if it was something significant that will linger or just the perils of gameday bruises.
Hey, Cody, you want to come back and practice for a few days for another $43,000? I mean, I know the guy wants to play in the NFL, but being the Patriots occasional 53d man with very little chance of ever being activated for a game, and making $43,000 a week, is not a bad gig.
They'll need a roster spot for Harry by next Tuesday at the latest, I believe, if he's going to come back this year. I wonder if the Kessler signing means they are planning to give Harry through the bye? Or whether it means bad news for Tomlinson? Or maybe Gordon will be released this week.
It seems to suggest that a trade for a draft pick is slightly less likely since they'd need to clear a roster spot for it.
I think Kessler is back this week to play the role of Lamar Jackson as scout team QB.
As Harry is eligible to practice, I believe the Pats have until Friday to add him to the active roster for the Ravens game. If they don't add him by then, then they just need to add him by Tuesday. It would be very surprising if he is not added to the active roster by next week.
Here's the full exchange. Not much to read into it:
Q: Do you plan to start practicing with Isaiah Wynn this week?
BB: I think he's eligible. It's a possibility. We'll see how it goes.
From 2016-2019 Bryant is 138-142 on PATs (97.2%) and 77-83 (92.8%) on FGs inside 50 yards (20-28 on 50+, 71.4%)
What is his % kicking outside? Hate bringing in warm weather dome kickers mid-season just as we enter our cold season. Especially one that appears washed up at 44.
83.7 and 98.1 on xp. Football reference doesn't break it up by distance, and, of course, he's so old that many of the extra points were the shorter distance.
What makes you think he's washed up?
It is hard to find splits by both distance and inside / outside. Career around 87.5% FG inside vs. 83.5% outside. All of his games so far this year were indoors.
Edit: he is 7-8 on FG under 50 yards this year. 2-6 on 50+. Not sure he is washed up.
Well, the "outdoor" kicker wasn't working out very well and also appears to be washed up at 37.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/bryanmat01/splits/
XP% is pretty close (99.3% vs. 98.1%), but that includes many years where the PAT was from the 2. FG% is lower (83.7% outdoors vs. 87.5% inside), but not hugely so.
Thank you BB for bringing him on in the first place. So glad Koo will get another shot in the NFL & not sure if it would have happened without Belichick.
He is 9/14 on the season. Not all his misses were last week.
Just doesn't look like he has the leg strength anymore. I'd be very concerned about him kicking outdoors in NE.
Not saying Nugent is the answer, just don't think Bryant is much of an upgrade. I'd rather take a shot on someone else. It will be ironic if we end up with Bryant who is being replaced by the guy (Koo) who couldn't beat out the guy Bryant would be replacing.
I’m guessing Bryant asked for his release or the Falcons, recognizing his age, decided to get a jump on looking at a possible long term replacement.
Here are Bryant's FGA this year:
50 G
50 NG
34 G
32 NG
42 G
35 G
29 G
44 G
52 G
50 NG
51 NG
53 NG
47 G
37 G
14/15 XP
I watched the latest game, where he missed a 51 and 53 yarder and he had plenty of leg on both of them, and if I'm remembering right, one was a very near miss. Neither was shanked. I seriously think if he were 3-6 instead of 2-6 on the 50+, we'd be thinking about him very differently.
Dude's a real NFL kicker and he's got a leg and he's cheap at vet minimum. He's kicked in the playoffs.
50 G
50 NG
34 G
32 NG
42 G
35 G
29 G
44 G
52 G
50 NG
51 NG
53 NG
47 G
37 G
14/15 XP
I watched the latest game, where he missed a 51 and 53 yarder and he had plenty of leg on both of them, and if I'm remembering right, one was a very near miss. Neither was shanked. I seriously think if he were 3-6 instead of 2-6 on the 50+, we'd be thinking about him very differently.
Dude's a real NFL kicker and he's got a leg and he's cheap at vet minimum. He's kicked in the playoffs.
Timing of Nugent cut is interesting. You would have expected to hear they have signed a kicker but perhaps they are waiting until after 4:00 to keep a spot open in case there is any last minute opportunity, they won't need to make a corresponding move. They can sign whatever kicker they are going to sign tomorrow, but presumably they have a handshake deal with an agent or they wouldn't have cut Nugent.
Have to believe that their next kicker’s name will rhyme with ‘Matt Bryant’.
BB also seems (for good reasons) to have adapted to a strategy of very rarely kicking from 50+ anyway. Neither Ghost nor Nugent kicked from 50+ this year. Ghost was only 2/5 on those kicks last year. There will be circumstances in which you have to kick from that distance, such as the end of a game/half or if you're facing 4th and 20 or something. But just going for it otherwise isn't really a problem. I think the biggest thing they want out of a kicker is a guy who will be consistent and trustworthy on the gimmes and you can make a good argument for Bryant on that count.
Timing seems to say yes, and certainly I've been banging that drum for a couple of days, but would it really be shocking if you heard that the Patriots had signed Kai Forbath?
Of course not. Nothing surprises me with that team. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that they grafted one of the Ventrone brothers’ legs onto the other Ventrone for the purpose of creating a ‘super kicker’. Really, could be anyone, but I’d have to guess that Bryant has the inside track We will know by tomorrow.
Yup, good points. I thought it was really interesting how on the fence he was about whether to kick the 41 yarder to win the game in the Super Bowl, as opposed to trying to get the yard. It was a really hard decision, and you really don't ever see Super Bowls come down to that kind of decision, where so much is on the line. But I think 5 years ago, pretty much every coach in the NFL kicks there without even thinking about it. Maybe most still do. But I think, even though kicking is actually better, coaches think differently about them. (Or, at least, some do -- others seem to waste the last minute of a game just to have a chance to kick a long field goal when they are losing.)
Anyway, for completeness, here's Nugent's kicking during his tenure here:
14/15 xp
37 G
23 G
40 NG
34 G
20 G
29 NG (blocked)
29 G
34 NG
I was thinking the most fun "oh, those Pats" would be just eschewing the kicker. Go for two every time, go on fourth down. Let the punter kickoff. Like Carter High School in Friday Night Lights!
I’ve read the rule book through twice carefully and it doesn’t seem like shooting someone out of a cannon is explicitly prohibited. Seems like they could get away with it against Baltimore at least before the loophole is closed.
Did we even see Tomlinson in the second half last week? I don’t recall seeing him and I took that as a sign that his days might be numbered.
