Watching the Jones: Dazed & Confused

joe dokes

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Why does the fact that Ball was signed to the ps necessarily mean that he's not the guy who will replace Blount? Isn't it possible that's just a roster housekeeping situation that could be resolved Saturday by signing him to the 53? I mean, they're not likely heading into the Titans game with just two RBs on the game day active.
Since anyone on the PS can be signed to another team's 53, is Ball technically "exposed" until the Patriots actually put him on the roster? Put another way, just how big a dick *is* Rex Ryan (Although I assume a player can say "no thanks, I'd rather stay here?)
 
Apr 7, 2006
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Well, that's true but Ball wouldn't have to sign. In the past players here have opted to stay on the N.E. ps rather than go elsewhere. In this case there could be a wink wink arrangement, whereby Montee has been explicitly told he will be called up to the 53 just as soon as the roster management is dealt with.
 

bsj

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Well, that's true but Ball wouldn't have to sign. In the past players here have opted to stay on the N.E. ps rather than go elsewhere. In this case there could be a wink wink arrangement, whereby Montee has been explicitly told he will be called up to the 53 just as soon as the roster management is dealt with.
Also could be tied to conditioning. Team may want to give him a couple weeks to drop a few lbs on the PS.
 

Tony C

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Edelman looking decent is certainly a good sign.

In watching about 2 minutes of Football Insiders at the gym, some talking head said that DMC is somewhere btw questionable and doubtful for this week. Is there any basis to that? To me it counts as good news if there's even the possibility that he'd be questionable.
 

DJnVa

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DMC doesn't need to play this week and should really sit out until the divisional round. Let Chung, Harmon, and Richards take care of things.
I don't understand the "let these guys sit 5 weeks" and then hope they're not rusty if Antonio Brown or AJ Green or the Broncos WRs come to town.
 

reggiecleveland

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High ankle sprain requires rest above all else as I understand it, else it can linger
They are one of the nastiest injuries. A guy can walk around normally even jog no problem, but any strenuous effort can aggravate it and it hurts like hell. I can't see him playing until the last regular season game or later.
 

RedOctober3829

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Yes, Red, of course I would.

Seriously, you know that wasn't my point. Don't sit him out just to sit him out. If he needs to sit out that's one thing, but if he's cleared to play because he's healthy enough to play, then he needs to.
Drew, the thing I'm saying is that the next 2 weeks he probably won't be healthy enough anyway. If they take care of business and happen to clinch HFA( if Denver loses to Pitt or Cincy) there's no way he plays at Miami. That's why I'm saying just sit him out and get healthy.
 

DJnVa

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That's fine. But your first post didn't really say that. It said he didn't "need" to play, which made me think you were saying that cuz the Titans suck.

Of course if he's not healthy he should sit. But if he's healthy, to me it doesn't matter if everything is wrapped up, he should get some run.
 

mwonow

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BB said something in an interview recently to the effect of "if a player is injured, he doesn't play, that's a medical decision. If he's cleared by the medical staff, the coaches decide if he'll play, that's a football decision."

I think the idea (Red's) is that this is a medical-type decision. If Edelman is cleared, I think (to Drew's point) we'll see him - BB generally believes that players should play when they're able. He does take more precautions with Gronk, but I can't think of anyone else who is likely to sit if healthy.
 

Tony C

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Sure, but there's a grey area between medical and football decisions. If the med staff clears a guy as healthy enough to play, that can still mean that player is dinged in some way, and that exposing that ding to real ball hits will worsen it. Per your suggestion that BB takes precautions with Gronk, there's clearly a consideration of medical issues. Collins, Hightower and DMC may not be as important as Gronk, but even after they are medically cleared to play I'd definitely take into consideration medical precautions to make sure they are as healthy as possible for the playoffs.
 

Stitch01

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They also highly value live game reps, as we've seen from the numerous "why is Brady still playing in this blowout episodes", so its a balancing act.
 

bakahump

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Sure, but there's a grey area between medical and football decisions. If the med staff clears a guy as healthy enough to play, that can still mean that player is dinged in some way, and that exposing that ding to real ball hits will worsen it. ...

Maybe.....or maybe there is a standing order to "not medically clear them unless they can take real hits and have a zero (or other extremely low) probability of aggravating it/making it worse."



BB seems like the type of person who limits grey areas. Wouldnt surprise me he installed a fail safe I mention above. Saving the grey areas for true difference makers like Gronk... and then weighs risk vs reward and big picture.
 

Red Averages

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Belichick covers this in A Football Life around the 29:00 mark in the video below. He talks about wanting to sit Moss and Welker in the '09 season because they are the entire offense. In addition, Welker was taking 6-8 big hits a game and didn't need to get him killed in a meaningless game. Of course Welker ended up playing and tore his ACL...

 
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Harry Hooper

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Stork refusing to play with new shoes, waiting for the repaired pair to come back from the cobbler?
 

Tony C

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:)

I tell ya, I know we all follow this team obsessively so maybe it's just a result of that, but doesn't it seem that the Pats have about 10 times the weird shit going on compared to other clubs? From Lombardis to "scandals" to supermodels to way too many injuries and way too easy of a time finding replacements (sometimes), to weirdly debilitating illnesses, and to shoes and cobblers just a never ending parade of stuff. And a never ending parade of wins, too, making it all okay.
 

soxfan121

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:)

I tell ya, I know we all follow this team obsessively so maybe it's just a result of that, but doesn't it seem that the Pats have about 10 times the weird shit going on compared to other clubs? From Lombardis to "scandals" to supermodels to way too many injuries and way too easy of a time finding replacements (sometimes), to weirdly debilitating illnesses, and to shoes and cobblers just a never ending parade of stuff. And a never ending parade of wins, too, making it all okay.
The Rams might move out of St. Louis, fired the first year offensive coordinator, and had a player shot in the head. Twice.

It's the NFL. There's ridiculously weird shit going on in every city. The only thing the Patriots have that those other cities don't is the "never ending parade of wins."
 

DeadlySplitter

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Hightower's knee was tweaked, came back to sideline, unsure how severe it is

Chung suffered a hit to the hip, looked kinda severe
 

DaveRoberts'Shoes

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Hightower was moving around pretty well on the sideline. Chung looked pretty gimpy, probably a bad hip pointer. Looked like Amendola reaggravated the same knee and couldn't work through it. Gronk looked a little stiff, like his back was tight
 

soxhop411

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“@MikeReiss: Patriots center Bryan Stork has been grieving after the loss of a close family member. Explains "coaching decision" to have him inactive.”
 

Garshaparra

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Reading through Reiss's report of snaps taken, Bostic saw the field a grand total of two times. He managed to both mess up a tackle and injure Chung as he was trying to make the tackle, leading to a touchdown. If Chung's really hurt, does Bostic get released this week?
 

DJnVa

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If he gets released it's because he fucked up his assignments, not because he hurt someone.
 

joe dokes

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If he gets released it's because he fucked up his assignments, not because he hurt someone.
Bostic must be some kind of kick-ass special-teamer. It's as though BB would play with no linebackers before he puts Bostic there.
 

amarshal2

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Kyed says that Chung, Amendola, and Hightower are all present at practice. Phew!


Edit: obviously I'm not reading much into Edelman missing practice. I continue to assume he's back week 17 at the earliest -- and if the #1 seed is locked up perhaps he misses that, too. He missed all or most of the pre-season games and then dominated in the opener. No sense in risking him against the Jets this week.
 
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Apr 7, 2006
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The only thing I've heard is guesswork from Fred Kirsch's game chat - looks like a bone. Definitely out for the game, likely for the season, but who knows?
 

soxfan121

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Either he broke the ankle or it is the worst-looking high ankle sprain I've ever seen. Even if it's the latter, he'll miss more than a month, so...yeah. Probably done for the year.

 

soxhop411

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“@kguregian: According to a source, Sebastian Vollmer is ”hopeful it’s a sprain“ but will know more after tests tomorrow”