The Patriots' underachieving offensive line has been a point of intense discussion locally in the last few days, and new offensive-line coach Dave DeGuglielmo -- who stepped this year as the replacement for the retired Dante Scarnecchia -- has come under some scrutiny.
And, apparently, that scrutiny is not entirely misplaced.
"I think it's fair game," Greg Bedard, senior NFL writer at SI, said today on Felger & Mazz. Later, Bedard went further:
"I'll add this: The chatter that I'm hearing from around the Patriots is that he is not exactly popular with the players, and that it may have a factor in [Logan] Mankins saying, 'No, I'm not renegotiating my contract.' "
"That Mankins didn't want to stay and work with this guy?" asked Michael Felger.
"I've heard that from people who would know," replied Bedard.
"But everybody's got to be a professional," he continued. "Just because he's not [Scarnecchia] doesn't mean you can't work with him . . .
"The thing that impressed me about Scar, and you heard this from players, is he's a very good communicator. Yeah, he might be on you, but you know exactly what you're doing wrong and what you need to do to correct it . . .
"I have not talked with [DeGuglielmo], I haven't been around him; I don't know if he's the same way. But, you know, [Bill] Belichick put a lot of faith in him, and right now it doesn't look so good."
http://www.csnne.com/new-england-patriots/bedard-new-o-line-coach-unpopular-patriots-linemen