Agreed. I like Ridley and his loss hurts, but I think a lot of the love he's getting is because he's a high success rate guy vs. Vereen who has been all over the place this year. He runs hard but he doesn't break off a lot of long runs and I cannot see his loss throwing a wrench in things nearly as much as Mayo's. Ultimately we're probably still going to be able to run the ball over the teams we were going to run over with Ridley, and still struggle against the Broncos, Bills, etc, unless the line gets stronger.RedOctober3829 said:
Injuries
- Thread starter ivanvamp
- Start date
nazz45 said:
This was my first thought as well. With the secondary being the deepest of the defensive units, it would make sense to get the most skill on the field.
First, I wouldn't read too much into Bolden's performance against the Bills. The Pats had to patch together the OL on the fly, and the run blocking seemed to generally take a hit; also, Buffalo's front seems pretty decent at stopping the run. Even Ridley did not have the greatest day running the ball. If the other RB's on the roster can keep the defenses honest enough that Brady can run the play action, the team will survive the loss of Ridley.
Mayo will be much tougher to replace. However, last season it was the combination of losing 3 defensive starters in the front 7 that killed them, not just Mayo. I can see the defense adapting over time; both Collins and Chris Jones seem to be improving as the season goes on. Wilfork also seems to be getting better, even if he's not close to the Wilfork of old. Like to see Hightower step up as well; he's looked OK this season, and by some accounts he was close to returning Sunday. But there is no longer any margin of safety from further injuries, and it seems wildly optimistic to just assume that the team will suffer no more major injuries going forward.
Mayo will be much tougher to replace. However, last season it was the combination of losing 3 defensive starters in the front 7 that killed them, not just Mayo. I can see the defense adapting over time; both Collins and Chris Jones seem to be improving as the season goes on. Wilfork also seems to be getting better, even if he's not close to the Wilfork of old. Like to see Hightower step up as well; he's looked OK this season, and by some accounts he was close to returning Sunday. But there is no longer any margin of safety from further injuries, and it seems wildly optimistic to just assume that the team will suffer no more major injuries going forward.
I see Bolden at this stage as primarily a special teams guy. If the plan is for him to carry more than 1-2 times a game in spot duty we are barking up the wrong tree. I really miss Blount right now and when the weather gets bad in a month or two I'm going to be downright miserable when Bolden gains a yard on 2nd and 3.
Can someone refresh my memory? Cincy let BJGE go because he looked cooked in the preseason right? Not because they've invested in younger running backs?
I guess though you could do worse on a short week for a veteran if they plan to go with gray but need more time.
I guess though you could do worse on a short week for a veteran if they plan to go with gray but need more time.
TheMoralBully said:
I can see both sides of the argument, but I think you inadvertently make the point here...that the drop-off btw Ridley and Vereen is steep. And then Bolden is JAG, and then we're talking about White, who has done very little. And then about a PS guy, which shows the lack of depth. It's certainly true that RBs are rightly considered less and less important -- that's due to their lack of longevity and how replaceable they are. But that's a bit misleading in term of this immediate situation. Ridley's shorter career span doesn't matter for the rest of this year, nor does his being easily replaced when, unfortunately, the Pats don't really seem to have anyone to replace him with right now. No doubt over the long term Mayo is much more valuable for the Pats. But unless Jonas Gray comes out of the blue, the Pats running game just took a major, major hit. He's the only guy on the squad who hits holes hard and turns 1 yard into 3 and 3 yards into 6 consistently. The Pats turned things around by emphasizing the run game and the drastically underrated Ridley. Now they'll be very dependent on the pass game.
I can't see the Ridley side of the argument. I understand the components of the argument, but I cant understand looking at what Ridley does and what the Pats can do to replace him, look at what Mayo does and what the Pats can do replace him, and deciding Ridley is the bigger loss.
Its not good to lose Ridley, I don't think he's fungible and his loss will limit certain game plans, but its way easier to work around than losing Mayo.
Its not good to lose Ridley, I don't think he's fungible and his loss will limit certain game plans, but its way easier to work around than losing Mayo.
I seem to recall that there were a couple of games middle of the 2012 season where Bolden actually ran fairly well, including 136 yards against the Bills, and followed that up with a decent game against Denver. Then he got hurt, and was suspended 4 games by the NFL as well. Last season he was behind both Blount and Ridley in the depth chart and never really got an opportunity. I wouldn't give up on him just yet; both Blount and BJGE were surprises when they took over the starting jobs.
The running game goes as the Oline goes regardless of which RB is in there. Getting Stork and Connolly back is more important for the running game. Maybe Bolden isnt as good as Ridley, but Vereen just ran for 90 against the Bengals last week. The Oline will be the key going forward.
Collins seems talented and Hightower looks better, but they arent as good as Mayo in the middle.
Collins seems talented and Hightower looks better, but they arent as good as Mayo in the middle.
Tony C said:
I don't think that's really true though. The Bengals are 28th against the run, and thus the Pats likely game planned around running it. Ridley only had 23 yards on 10 carries before he got hurt against the Bills, albeit that the other rushers weren't having much success either.
I'd go with Deonte Skinner as the MLB in base 4-3 to keep Hightower and Collins on the outside where they can play to their strengths.
Im not sure he's been good, but I had that thought too if the cost is minimal given TB is going nowhere. They'll probably try the guys they have first and the cost would really have to be minimal, like flipping the pick they got from the Mallett trade.
Ridley and Mayo are declared out for the game, the others just missed "practice". There wasn't a practice today but since they are playing Thursday the teams needed to put out an injury report today.Stitch01 said:
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/the_blitz/2014/10/patriots_rule_out_jerod_mayo_stevan_ridley_for_thursdays_game
There's confusion whether the others being declared out other than Ridley and Mayo are actually out or if they were just out for a hypothetical practice today.
RedOctober3829 said:
That only leaves six OL and you need to dress seven at a bare minimum (and even that is really tight) so they'll have to activate Barker or Martin from the practice squad.
This would be the third straight game that Fleming will miss with a finger injury. I hate to be the guy calling out a player on the internet from his desk, but this kid has a golden opportunity to get playing time with the OL banged up and he's going to sit in the hot tub for a month with a finger injury?
Yeah.Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
He hasn't even practiced since getting the injury (ditto Ebner). I'm not sure what kind of finger injury means an OL can't even practice, but I'd have to think it's pretty serious.Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Super Nomario said:
You'd think it must be broken.
Interesting that they're about to put an RB and LB on IR (one would assume), but one of the replacements will definitely be a OL. Do they go light at RB or LB while waiting for the OL to get healthy?
White's been a healthy inactive most weeks anyway, so they can live with 3 RB for a bit. I also wouldn't be surprised if they go DL over LB given the depth issues there (Easley, Siliga, and Vellano cut).MainerInExile said:
Is this good? Because it doesn't sound good.
Mike Reiss @MikeReiss 11s12 seconds ago
Filed to ESPN: Source says RB Stevan Ridley tore his ACL and MCL.
Mike Reiss @MikeReiss 11s12 seconds ago
Filed to ESPN: Source says RB Stevan Ridley tore his ACL and MCL.
Byrdbrain said:
https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/521774782430609409"]11s12
link to tweet seconds ago[/url]
Filed to ESPN: Source says RB Stevan Ridley tore his ACL and MCL.
That sucks.
$10
FieldYates Field Yates
The Patriots worked out 5 linebackers today, per source: Justin Anderson, Kaelin Burnett, Tim Dobbins, Mario Harvey, and Paul Hazel.
The Patriots worked out 5 linebackers today, per source: Justin Anderson, Kaelin Burnett, Tim Dobbins, Mario Harvey, and Paul Hazel.
Super Nomario said:
I guess so. You hear a lot of stories about guys taping up broken or dislocated fingers and going back on the field during games so if its kept him out of the game completely for multiple weeks you'd have to imagine either its an unusual finger injury or he's not a big fan of playing through pain.
No one practiced today, but you have to list those who would have missed "if you had practice". So I can't believe two players with finger injuries are declared out for the game that isn't being played for 3 days. More than likely BB having his liberties with the out/limited/full list. Of course finger could be a broken arm with Bill, he'd argue they can play with a broken bone but the thumb is still swollen and useless.Super Nomario said:
I wonder if it's a broken thumb? If you have a broken finger you might be able to tape it to the next one, but if the thumb is broken I don't think there's a heck of a lot you can do. I don't know whether listing a "thumb" injury as "finger" would be kosher or not.Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
That's a great question, what was Alvin Mack's injury? Torn ACL, broken leg?Mark Schofield said:
Super Nomario said:
Yeah, that would make sense. I'd also imagine that having no use of your thumb is a lot more debilitating in terms of hand technique for an OL than just having your ring finger broken and taped to your middle finger or something like that.
I don't think it's correct that Stork is out. If the concussion protocol runs its course, he should be ready by Thurs. Of course, maybe it was a real bad one, etc -- no way to know for sure. But if it's your standard concussion (and this is his first concussion, if a quick google search is correct) then a better than even chance he'll be ready by Thursday.
If so, then it's Solder/Connolly/Stork/Kline/Vollmer -- with Cannon randomly wandering in on occasion at OT for no discernible reason that I can tell, and Devey as a back-up. I know PFF disagrees, but I thought Kline looked very solid yesterday against tough competition. Devey again looked poor to me.
The Jets have a ferocious DL, but don't have the speed demon type like Hughes who seem to give Solder fits, so that at least might make for a better match-up.
If so, then it's Solder/Connolly/Stork/Kline/Vollmer -- with Cannon randomly wandering in on occasion at OT for no discernible reason that I can tell, and Devey as a back-up. I know PFF disagrees, but I thought Kline looked very solid yesterday against tough competition. Devey again looked poor to me.
The Jets have a ferocious DL, but don't have the speed demon type like Hughes who seem to give Solder fits, so that at least might make for a better match-up.
Any "source" is going to think that a season-ending injury that requires surgery is "bad". Because it is. But a torn patellar tendon is not a career-ender.Corsi said:
Can't you just cut a new patellar tendon out of someone else and put it in Mayo's knee? What do we pay you for around here?DaveRoberts'Shoes said: