Patriot Special Teams: Ongoing in-season discussion

Saints Rest

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I thought it might be useful to have a place to talk about the Pats special teams as they progress over the course of the season. Much like we did pre-season, but now the games count, and the players are known and fully involved.

I was a bit surprised that Folk took over kicking duties for Nordin. Will he hold onto it all season?

I was also very shocked to see Brandon Bolden returning Kickoffs. Gunner got one, but I think that might have been a miskick by the Phins Kicker. But I think I woudl rather see Gunner back there than Bolden. But I would really prefer to see JJ Taylor dressed and back there. OTOH, I'm surprised that any returner ever takes the ball out of the end zone on a return.
 

tims4wins

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Someone theorized this elsewhere, but it seems likely they will use their practice squad call-ups for Folk the first two games, then release Nordin and get him back on the practice squad, with the idea that teams will have their kicker situation shored up by week 3 and won't want to sign Nordin directly to their active roster, so you'd get to keep him for the future.
 

Cotillion

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Jun 11, 2019
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I wish there were kangaroo courts fines for any return guy that takes the ball out of the end zone of 10K per yard short of the 25.
If you catch it right in the end line sure, but if you are more than a yard deep, just take the knee and the 25 yard line.

especially with all the different ways you can get penalized now with blindside blocks, below the knee blocks, etc.
 

tims4wins

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Jul 15, 2005
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I wish there were kangaroo courts fines for any return guy that takes the ball out of the end zone of 10K per yard short of the 25.
If you catch it right in the end line sure, but if you are more than a yard deep, just take the knee and the 25 yard line.

especially with all the different ways you can get penalized now with blindside blocks, below the knee blocks, etc.
I've written this many times but I often wonder if teams would be better off on balance taking every touchback possible and also fair catching every punt. On balance you might lose some field position over the course of the season, but you'd also avoid turnovers, and I would bet the loss in field position wouldn't be too significant given that you'd also be avoiding penalties (like the dumb Judon one on Sunday, or any block in the back, etc.).
 

Over Guapo Grande

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Someone theorized this elsewhere, but it seems likely they will use their practice squad call-ups for Folk the first two games, then release Nordin and get him back on the practice squad, with the idea that teams will have their kicker situation shored up by week 3 and won't want to sign Nordin directly to their active roster, so you'd get to keep him for the future.
Hi (How can anyone ever be over guapo grande?)
 

Over Guapo Grande

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I wish there were kangaroo courts fines for any return guy that takes the ball out of the end zone of 10K per yard short of the 25.
If you catch it right in the end line sure, but if you are more than a yard deep, just take the knee and the 25 yard line.

especially with all the different ways you can get penalized now with blindside blocks, below the knee blocks, etc.
I was about to bench Bolden myself after he took the kickoff from 5 yards deep in the endzone- getting it out to the 18, then a half the distance penalty added in.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Two punts blocked. Arguably, yesterday's happened because BB's "run the punt unit on quickly" thing is stupid. With the clock running down, the punt rushers can better time the rush. BB could have called a time out (or thrown the challenge flag over the bad spot - he wouldn't have won but he would have given the punt unit a better chance). He could have left the offense in for Mac to to the hard count into delay of game thing.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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I just don't think that the quick change had anything to do with Tavai missing a block. I think it was just...The 53rd guy on the roster missing a block (He was replaced on punt pro by Bentley after that).
 

E5 Yaz

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3. Bailey's pay bump: Patriots punter Jake Bailey would have been scheduled to earn a base salary of $965,000 this season, but due to his 2020 Pro Bowl selection, he qualifies for a proven performance bonus that ups his salary to $3.98 million. In terms of average salary per year, it makes Bailey the NFL's highest-paid punter and sparks a question of how Bill Belichick views the contract from a value perspective. Bailey wasn't as effective in 2021, but part of that might have been due to a knee injury. It wouldn't be surprising to learn the sides are exploring the possibility of an extension, something that wouldn't have been as time-sensitive had Bailey not earned the proven performance bonus.

https://www.espn.com/blog/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4824948/inside-the-visit-by-patriots-defensive-coaches-to-boston-college-practice