Yeah, I mean, the Cincinnati Bengals offense is not one most teams want to replicate schematically, ie, relying heavily on skill players to win a high rate of 1:1s, especially in high leverage spots.
Pats Training Camp - News, Notes, Discussion
- Thread starter tims4wins
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Stange left with a knee injury today, no real updates
https://nesn.com/2023/07/cole-strange-suffers-injury-in-patriots-training-camp-practice/
https://nesn.com/2023/07/cole-strange-suffers-injury-in-patriots-training-camp-practice/
He's back with his helmet standing with his teammates per reports on Twitter. Doesn't look to be seriously hurt.
That's great news, thanks for the update. I hadn't seen any other updates. But I rarely use Twitter. Haha
From Lazar:
Then Cole Strange got tangled up with Lawrence Guy during a blocking drill and appeared to suffer a left knee injury. He spent a lot of time with medical personnel, did some light running and work on a blocking sled, but did not return.
Sounds like the O Line had a tough day overall. No Brown or Onwenu either and the D Line had their way.
https://www.patriots.com/news/day-5-blogservations-young-running-backs-get-chance-to-shine
Then Cole Strange got tangled up with Lawrence Guy during a blocking drill and appeared to suffer a left knee injury. He spent a lot of time with medical personnel, did some light running and work on a blocking sled, but did not return.
Sounds like the O Line had a tough day overall. No Brown or Onwenu either and the D Line had their way.
https://www.patriots.com/news/day-5-blogservations-young-running-backs-get-chance-to-shine
More notes from Lazar on yesterday's practice:
From this viewpoint, McDermott was the Pats best participating offensive lineman in Monday's padded practice. He's a sturdy, large body who can anchor against power in pass protection, maintain his leverage on base blocks, and move defenders off the line of scrimmage when working combination blocks.
Murray sometimes had issues keeping better interior pass-rushers in front of him. But he's a mean dude who plays through the whistle, blocking with impressive power in his lower body and knee bend to get underneath defenders' pads on a few occasions. He was one of the standouts among the offensive linemen in the one-on-one leveraging drills, holding his ground against Christan Bamore on one notable rep in Monday's practice.
Godchaux's been putting the Pats interior O-Line on skates by pushing the pocket with his bull rush, while Wise is picking up where he left off in a breakout season a year ago.
Jennings remains the sturdiest edge-setter out of this bunch, with Uche still looking like a situational player. There were a few times where Uche struggled to post-up on his edge during the one-on-one drills referenced earlier.
Patriots TE Matt Sokol is Making a Strong Early Push for the Roster. At 6-5, 258 pounds, Sokol has the body type to be the valuable in-line blocker in the running game that the Pats might need in certain situations.
https://www.patriots.com/news/trench-report-seven-takeaways-along-the-line-of-scrimmage-from-patriots-camp
From this viewpoint, McDermott was the Pats best participating offensive lineman in Monday's padded practice. He's a sturdy, large body who can anchor against power in pass protection, maintain his leverage on base blocks, and move defenders off the line of scrimmage when working combination blocks.
Murray sometimes had issues keeping better interior pass-rushers in front of him. But he's a mean dude who plays through the whistle, blocking with impressive power in his lower body and knee bend to get underneath defenders' pads on a few occasions. He was one of the standouts among the offensive linemen in the one-on-one leveraging drills, holding his ground against Christan Bamore on one notable rep in Monday's practice.
Godchaux's been putting the Pats interior O-Line on skates by pushing the pocket with his bull rush, while Wise is picking up where he left off in a breakout season a year ago.
Jennings remains the sturdiest edge-setter out of this bunch, with Uche still looking like a situational player. There were a few times where Uche struggled to post-up on his edge during the one-on-one drills referenced earlier.
Patriots TE Matt Sokol is Making a Strong Early Push for the Roster. At 6-5, 258 pounds, Sokol has the body type to be the valuable in-line blocker in the running game that the Pats might need in certain situations.
https://www.patriots.com/news/trench-report-seven-takeaways-along-the-line-of-scrimmage-from-patriots-camp
Lazar on Day 6:
Throughout the first week of camp there have been many comments from offensive players regarding the difficulties presented by their teammates on defense. With a variety of experienced players to use, the defense has made life tough during the vast majority of the full team periods through the first six practices.
That was the case again on Tuesday,
"They put a lot of stress on the defense with their multiple looks and that makes communication tougher," Phillips said of the offense. "If you're not communicating well you don't want to be seeing guys popping open 40 yards downfield. We have done a good job – whether it's me, Dug, JMills or Peppers – of being to switch the communication based on field position. We have the ability to do some of those things."
The results thus far have been impressive.
Injuries:
Throughout the first week of camp there have been many comments from offensive players regarding the difficulties presented by their teammates on defense. With a variety of experienced players to use, the defense has made life tough during the vast majority of the full team periods through the first six practices.
That was the case again on Tuesday,
"They put a lot of stress on the defense with their multiple looks and that makes communication tougher," Phillips said of the offense. "If you're not communicating well you don't want to be seeing guys popping open 40 yards downfield. We have done a good job – whether it's me, Dug, JMills or Peppers – of being to switch the communication based on field position. We have the ability to do some of those things."
The results thus far have been impressive.
Injuries:
- The first padded practice led to several Patriots dealing with injuries and some of those players were unable to take part on Tuesday. Cole Strange was present but did not take part in practice after dealing with a left leg/knee injury suffered on Monday. A Boston Globe report indicated that the issue is not believed to be serious. In addition, Jalen Hurd, Brad Hawkins and Chasen Hines all missed the practice. Hines and Hawkins did some conditioning running but Hurd was not spotted. Tight end Scotty Washington spent most of the day working out on the rehab field as well. Ty Montgomery missed his fourth straight practice while Terez Hall missed his second straight. Jake Matthews returned to practice after missing the last two workouts.
Retirement was probably the reason he left the team. Worth a flyer, but obviously too many injuries that kept him off the field his entire career.
I was listening to the last Patriots Unfiltered and was taken aback at how down Evan Lazar seemed on Mac Jones and the passing game, citing his indecisiveness and unwilligness to challenge NFL windows deeper down the field while opting to check down too often with guys running open. He went as far as calling for Zappe to get some reps with the 1s. The other guys agreed with the sentiment as well. Evan is a "Mac guy" and a lot of people talked about yesterday's practice being a good one for him, so I wasn't expecting that. Guess the over reliance on short passes and dumpoffs that I had seen reported by the beat wasn't necessarily by design and that maybe the lack of separation issue by the receivers could fall a bit on a QB that might be a bit gun shy.
I heard the same thing and was coming in to post their comments. I'm not sure what to think now.
Could the checkdowns also be influenced by 3/5 of the starting O line being out? I can't imagine any of the QBs have time against at Pats starting D with the O line they are trotting out.
Lazar specifically said there were opportunities down the field and Mac just chose not to take them. So I'm going to guess it wasn't in plays that Mac was hurried and had to make something happen quickly.
Meh, I just think maybe some of these guys aren't really the best at expressing what they are really trying to say. Is he really *down* or just talking about what they're working on and how it's coming along?
If he's really down after a week of training camp, installing a new offense while going against a top 5 defense, with his OL not fully functional, then I think he's missing the point.
View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1686747757623590912?s=20
Sounds like Douglas has been turning heads in camp so far. Seems like we might have something here.
Sounds like Douglas has been turning heads in camp so far. Seems like we might have something here.
Lazar's running mate had this to say:
Patriots training camp notebook: Down to details on Day 6 (985thesportshub.com)
So, one could read that as they're working their way up--eliminating mistakes, red zone, short game, and now the deep passing game. They've only had 6 practices.
Patriots training camp notebook: Down to details on Day 6 (985thesportshub.com)
Not hating on your post, as we should have some level of concern for Mac after last season, but it's the beginning of camp and they're in the early phases of installing the offense.
Apparently things are looking better today though:
View: https://twitter.com/tkyles39/status/1686756930469961728
I don’t envy these beat guys their task, you have to report SOMETHING on a daily basis so you’re gonna get day to day swings like this:
View: https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/1686758296236011521?s=46&t=1S4eWjX_rzBBrpPNddRPAg
View: https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/1686758296236011521?s=46&t=1S4eWjX_rzBBrpPNddRPAg
Pats Pulpit last week had an article stating exactly this-- the focus was getting out of the huddle quickly, no false starts, etc. Getting rid of all the things that killed so many promising drives last year.
This was it
He was 100% down. You're free to listen to the episode and confirm whether I'm misrepresenting what he had to say. They were even joking about how Lazar had sent Mike Dussault a text saying "I wanna see Zappe" after a particular throw. On the other hand, he's really high on BOB and the concepts they're trying to implement on offense, he just doesn't feel Mac is taking full advantage of opportunities that are there. Or at least that's what he thought yesterday, we all know these reactions are fluid.
Edit: there we go, seems as if execution was much better today.
While not sufficient in and of itself, eliminating those types of errors is absolutely necessary. And speaking of unforced errors, it's beginning to look like if they can keep all their players from gambling they'll have an advantage, there, too.
For what’s it’s worth from JuJu - he confirmed they are moving beyond installs on the offense
View: https://twitter.com/tkyles39/status/1686773130444914695
View: https://twitter.com/tkyles39/status/1686773130444914695
Lots of Lazar tweets in the thread. What is the consensus for the validity of his reporting? Is he more trustworthy than, say, Reiss?
He just puts out a lot of information. He's not the only one saying the offense was good today though.
Speaking of Reiss, here's his take:
Thanks. I watched the Reiss report too. I just wasn't sure if Lazar was reporting for clicks or reporting what he saw. First week and all that.
He really watches the practices closely and he’s quite knowledgeable. The catch is he’s not quite as smart as he thinks he is. The other issue is that he has strong views about what sort of players the Pats should get and he’s very much in the “BB is a moron if he doesn’t get big name skil position players” camp
I think that is why I asked. I remember some of the takes when Hopkins was not signed and wondered if any biases are evident given his first week of reporting. Click reporting, as it were.
Nice to see Reiss agree with today's practice. Still, first week and all that.
Nice to see Reiss agree with today's practice. Still, first week and all that.
Evan Lazar and Deuce have been tremendous pick-ups for patriots.com/PFW/PU – Fred is really nailing the free agents in a way that I wish the F.O. would when it comes to offensive weapons. The PFW/PU rebuild has been really excellent. Lazar has brought a new angle to the crew over on the website. Feels fresh, informative and analytically sound.
It's funny how when the talking heads around here rant on and on about how Mac Jones has no really good WR's, just a bunch of 3's/JAGS, this kid's name never gets mentioned.
Not saying he's the next coming of anything, but they can be so dismissive when they are trying to make a point.
It's like they are in their glory shitting all over this team/organization day after day.
I find his video analysis post game to be very insightful, so that's made me trust his other reporting. Reiss feels like he's more of an insider reporting guy.
I second this. I listen to Lazar regularly and think he's smart, articulate, knowledgeable, and with little ego. Disagree with Shelterdog on the "BB is a moron if.." take. True, Lazar badly wanted DHop, and he's been gently critical of BB's disinterest in paying for a #1 WR. But he's respectful and doesn't try to make himself the story, a la Felger. Frankly, I think he's the best local Pats reporter.
To be fair, Boutte has yet to catch a single official NFL pass in anger. Thornton looked great at this point last year.
Personally, I am hopeful that BB found some gems in this past draft in Boutte and Douglas, both of whom are getting some positive reviews so far. But it's a long way to go before we know if either one is better than any of the veteran receivers on the roster.
Understood, the negativity gets to be a bit much.
Mike Giardi is over the top, he just drones on and on about how bad they look to him.
I don't think Giardi is considered a credible source regarding training camp practices. Reiss and Lazar are much better in terms of breaking down the various drills, etc. We'll learn a lot more during when the joint practices start.
Terez Hall released with an injury designation per Reiss.
View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1687205354227257345?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/1687205354227257345?s=20
Man, I try not to do this because I've been burned several times before, but I'm really starting to get excited about Douglas. His quickness and ability to get open in short space is precisely what this team needs. I wonder why they've seemed to stray away from that sort of jitterbug receiver in the slot recently, but I think that kinda guy could still eat in this offense. Really hoping he pans out.
Yeah- based on the reports out of camp so far, he sounds like he could at the very least replace Marcus Jones on the offensive side of the ball (with the added benefit of actually being able to run routes).
Lazar had quotes from the Shrine Bowl director saying the same thing back in May. Talked about some similarities with Zay Flowers as well.
I wonder how the WR room is going to shake out once we get to the final 53 cutdown.
It seems like Parker and Schuster are locks (barring injury). But after that?
It seems like Parker and Schuster are locks (barring injury). But after that?
- Can Bourne get out of whatever apparent doghouse he was in last year? Was that a Patricia thing or a BB thing? A lot of $ to be saved in a cut.
- Can Thornton get on the field enough to pick up where the preseason promise from last year was? His cap hit would be worse if he was cut, which suggests he makes the squad even if he ends up being weekly inactive.
- Can Douglas and/or Booute show enough to bump Bourne or Thornton?
I’m starting to worry about Thornton. I love his talent but he’s done like…nothing so far.
Parker
JuJu
Bourne
Douglas
Boutte
That would be an interesting group with Boutte being the real wild card. Obviously loads of talent but big question marks as well.
The three vets would have the leadership roles, and they’re all good players too.
Parker
JuJu
Bourne
Douglas
Boutte
That would be an interesting group with Boutte being the real wild card. Obviously loads of talent but big question marks as well.
The three vets would have the leadership roles, and they’re all good players too.