With Judon & Gonzalez Likely Out For Rest Of The Season, Bill Belichick Brings Back J.C. Jackson

    By any measure, Sunday's game at Dallas (3-1) could not have gone much worse for New England (1-3) as they got embarrassed 38-3-the worst loss of Bill Belichick's head coaching career-in front of a national TV audience. It was so gross that I did not feel like writing about it afterwards since how many different ways can you get the obvious point across that they suck? The pain from that debacle will last for a long time since the two best players on the Patriots-defensive end Matthew Judon (bicep) and cornerback Christian Gonzalez (shoulder)-each suffered what seem to be season-ending injuries that will both require surgery. Facing a brutal 1-3 start for the third season in a row, Belichick worked the phone lines and came up with a cornerback that we all know very well: J.C. Jackson. This morning, LA traded Jackson to New England along with a seventh-round pick in 2025 for a sixth-round pick in 2025. Sweetening the deal for Bill is the fact that the dopey Chargers are paying almost all of his salary ($9.33 million) for the rest of the season with the Pats only on the hook for $1.5 million. 

    Back in the good old days when the Patriots were one of the best teams in the NFL every season (you know, because they had Tom Brady), a move like this would be universally lauded. Instead, this is a frustrating move now for a couple reasons: 1) I understand that New England's defense just lost two standout players but Bill spends way too much time and money on that unit to begin with while he completely ignores the offense. 2) If the Chargers did not pay most of Jackson's money, is there any chance that Belichick would pull the trigger on this deal? Nope, because he loves cheap deals more than actual talent which is totally backwards if you want to win championships. Jackson is still only 27 years old and in his sixth season in the league (4 in New England and 2 in Los Angeles) but he has become the latest poster child for a guy that rightfully cashed in on a career season (he was an All-Pro his last season with the Pats and second in the NFL with 8 INTs) but he has done nothing since then.

    He ended up only playing seven total games with the Chargers after hurting his knee in Week 7 last season and in Week 3 a few weeks ago, things got so bad that he was a healthy scratch. After accumulating 25 interceptions as a Patriot and becoming an unlikely star who was undrafted out of Maryland, he only snagged one pick with LA. His monster deal in free agency-5 years, $82.5 million-runs through 2026 so you can bet that no matter what, New England will not want to pay that so he will probably be gone from Foxborough once again when this miserable season comes to an end. It is also troublesome that Belichick only appears to be interested in hiring coaches (Bill O'Brien) that he has already worked with or getting players that have previously played for him. If you only surround yourself with familiar faces and players that nobody else wants, how are you supposed to grow and gain new knowledge? 

    For this and many other reasons-quarterback Mac Jones had the worst game of his life against the Cowboys-the Pats are clearly at another pivotal moment in their franchise history. They host the Saints (2-2) on Sunday (1, CBS) at Gillette Stadium. New Orleans' quarterback Derek Carr (shoulder) is banged up so even if he plays or if goofball Jameis Winston is the starter, this should be a winnable game. However, other than the Jets, it is tough to favor New England against anyone else at the moment. They have so many holes on their roster which was mediocre at best to start the year. Judon was a legitimate Pro Bowler and Gonzalez looked like a steal and an early favorite for the Defensive Rookie of The Year. They are in such rough shape that we all hope that Jackson starts on Sunday after only being back here for a few days. Have you seen fellow cornerback Myles Bryant try to play football? Even if the Patriots win a rock fight against the Saints, it is hard to see them getting the requisite nine or ten wins that it will take to reach the playoffs this season.

For The First Time Since 2000, The Patriots Have Started 0-2 At Gillette Stadium This Season

 

    Today's 28-13 loss by the Patriots (1-2) to the Saints (2-1) at Gillette Stadium was a bad enough result on the surface but more troubling is the fact that it could have been much worse. New Orleans' kicker Aldrick Rosas missed a pair of field goals which hardly mattered since New England's sputtering offense never got in gear. The lack of playmakers on both sides of the ball for the Patriots is getting downright scary, where are you Stephon Gilmore? Rookie quarterback Mac Jones (30-of-51 for 270 yards, TD, 3 INTs) had his worst day as a pro but it wasn't all his fault since Pats tight end Jonnu Smith gifted a pick-six right to Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins that went back 34 yards on the first play of the second half. At 21-3 in favor of the visitors it was all but over even with that much time left on the clock. 

    This was one game against an NFC opponent so I don't want to be super negative about everything but New Orleans is nothing more than a slightly above average team this year. You kept waiting for the Saints' bozo quarterback Jameis Winston to make his usual fatal mistake except he threw a pair of touchdown passes and he never turned the ball over. The Patriots sacked him three times (2.5 from linebacker Matt Judon) but they also allowed a combined 118 yards (89 rushing & 29 receving) to New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara-the guy that everybody knew was the only offensive player that Pats head coach Bill Belichick and Co. had to gameplan for. 

    Former legendary New England receiver Julian Edelman was honored at halftime and honestly he deserved better in terms of the poor effort that unfolded in front of him by his old teammates and coaches. The Saints had the only points in the first quarter, an 11-yard touchdown pass from Winston to a wide open Kamara. New Orleans doubled its lead late in the second quarter as Winston threw the ball up to the back of the end zone and somehow a very covered Saints receiver Marquez Callaway came down with it for a seven-yard touchdown catch. New England avoided being shut out in the first half by virtue of a 45-yard field goal by Nick Folk with 34 seconds left in the second quarter. 

    Down 18 in the third quarter (and with James White sidelined with a hip injury), Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels thought that was the perfect time to let special teamer Brandon Bolden get a few red zone carries. Shockingly that drive stalled out with the Pats settling for a 26-yard field goal by Folk that cut it to 21-6 Saints late in the third quarter. New England briefly made it competitive in the fourth quarter with Jones repeatedly connecting with wide receiver Kendrick Bourne (6 catches, career-high 96 yards) including a sweet 22-yard touchdown catch on the sideline where Bourne was able to keep his balance and stay inbounds before reaching the end zone. This was the same player who had a combined three catches and six targets his first two games as a Patriot, I don't know maybe find a way to get him a little more involved? Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (9 catches, 94 yards) is the only other trustworthy option for Jones since New England's expensive tight end signings Hunter Henry and Smith thus far are each looking like busts. 

    To close it out, the Saints played keep away with the ball (for nearly 7 minutes) from the Pats and they let backup quarterback/battering ram Taysom Hill deliver the final blow-a 7-yard touchdown run. Earlier on that drive he had hurdled over Patriots safety Devin McCourty. Hill is a good player but I'm pretty sure if he does that to you, you have to retire on the spot. Yeesh. We all dreamed of New England being 3-0 or 2-1 with Tom Brady and the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers (2-1) coming to Foxborough next Sunday night (8:20 p.m., NBC) but that's not how it turned out. To make matters worse, the Bucs lost 34-24 in LA this afternoon against the impressive Rams (3-0) as if TB12 needed any more juice in his first return to face Belichick and the franchise that he put on the map. The whole region and most of the sporting world will be tuning in but I fear that it is going to be a very ugly night for the Patriots. 

UPDATE 9/29: ESPN's Adam Schefter reported this afternoon that White will miss the rest of the season with a hip injury, ugh poor guy. 

Welcome To Foxborough (Other Will Smith Voice)

The Patriots made a very Patriots move this afternoon, signing veteran defensive end Will Smith to a deal (terms weren't disclosed). The former Saint and first-round pick in 2004 (18th overall out of Ohio State) played all 10 of his NFL seasons with the Saints (winning a Super Bowl in 2010) and racking up 8.5 sacks three times including a career-high 13 in 2009. So why was one of their best players in franchise history available in early May? He's coming off a torn ACL suffered last preseason that forced him to miss all of 2013.

We've seen this story before: New England signs a washed up defensive end (think Shaun Ellis) who put together a nice NFL career before he comes to the Pats and does basically nothing. All we can hope is that it's a different story with Smith who turns 33 on July 4. The Patriots certainly could use another pass rusher to go with Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich who are both very good players in their own right but understandably were worn down by the end of the season after playing over 95% of the defensive snaps.

Smith is fourth in Saints history with 67.5 career sacks. Along with that, he's piled up 320 solo tackles, 133 assists, forced 20 fumbles, recovered seven fumbles, made two interceptions (haha really?) and deflected 25 passes. You can't say that he's injury prone since he played 14+ games including 16 six times before 2013. In 2012, he played in all 16 games and had 58 combined tackles with six sacks and one fumble recovered.

As you can almost always conclude with most free agent moves by the Patriots, this is a low-risk and high-reward signing by them. Smith is a winner-a defensive captain with the Saints-and a big guy (6-foot-3, 282 pounds) so there is plenty to like about seeing him in a Patriots uniform this summer.

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Just When You Think The Patriots Can't Suffer Another Devastating Injury, They Do

I can't remember the Patriots ever getting bombarded with so many serious injuries-to key players no less-this early in the regular season. That troubling trend continued tonight as reports surfaced on Twitter that linebacker and defensive captain Jerod Mayo had surgery on a torn pectoral muscle so he's not expected to play for the rest of the season. Ah! It happened last in Sunday's improbable win against the Saints and comes only a few days before they face the Jets (3-3) on Sunday (1, CBS) in New Jersey.

This is absurd, it's fruitless to whine about injuries since every team in the NFL gets them but are you kidding me right now? After only six games, the Patriots have lost Shane Vereen, Danny Amendola (multiple times), Matthew Slater, Vince Wilfork, Tommy Kelly and now Mayo. Oh and Rob Gronkowski has been the most talked about player in the NFL (or so it seems around here) the last few weeks but he has yet to step foot in an actual game. Ugh.

New England (5-1) has been able to survive this raft of injuries so far but at some point, this will all eventually catch up with them. Nobody has the type of depth to withstand losing all these vital players for significant periods of time. Replacing Mayo (55 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 pass deflected) with Dont'a Hightower is OK if not ideal. When you start talking about untested rookie Jamie Collins or special teams hero Dane Fletcher stepping in for the two-time Pro Bowl and 2010 All-Pro, well then you have a problem.

If nothing else, this unfortunately will prove to us one way or another if Mayo was overrated or not. Many people maintain that he piles up inflated statistics but never really makes game-changing plays. I'm not firmly in that camp but I will say that if you're looking for a big play linebacker, Mayo isn't necessarily your first or second option in the NFL. Still, I think we can all agree that he's a very effective player and a guy that has fit in with the Pats seamlessly from day one.

PS how miserable must it be to cover the Pats? Anytime there is a big story like this, it is broken by a national outlet (in this case Yahoo). You spend all that time covering the team but you can't build any good sources so in turn you get scooped every time for the most important stuff that people want to know. Yikes. I'll stick to just blogging about the Patriots thank you very much, no wonder why a majority of their beat writers are so beaten down.

UPDATE 10/16: The Pats publically acknowledged Mayo's injury today, putting him on season-ending IR and re-signing defensive tackle Andre Neblett.

UPDATE 10/17: Devin McCourty regained his captaincy with Mayo gone and the Patriots signed cornerback Travis Howard to their practice squad.

UPDATE 10/18: Rob Ninkovich was also named a captain, in place of Vince Wilfork.

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Patriots Stun Saints, 30-27 on Brady's Last-Second TD to Thompkins

For many reasons, tonight was a throwback to better days (yes I know we're very spoiled) for the Patriots as they beat the Saints 30-27 at Gillette Stadium. Tom Brady (25 of 43 for 269 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Kenbrell Thompkins (3 catches, 45 yards) with five seconds left as New England (5-1 overall, 3-0 home) completely stole a win from New Orleans (5-1 overall, 2-1 away) 30-27.

With no Rob Gronkowski plus injuries to Danny Amendola, Jerod Mayo, Aqib Talib and Dan Connolly, this looked like a game the Pats would lose because they simply ran out of healthy bodies and decent players. Oh and the Saints played well on the road for about 58+ minutes and they should have won but they couldn't close it out.

New Orleans went ahead 24-23 on Drew Brees' (17 of 36 for 236 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) 34-yard touchdown pass to rookie Kenny Stills with 3:29 left in regulation. After New England turned it over on downs, the Saints added a 39-yard field goal for 27-23 lead. Keenan Lewis intercepted Brady on New England's next play so by then, it had to be over. Except it wasn't. The Patriots forced the Saints to punt after a 3-and-out and Brady had one last chance starting at his own 30 with 1:13 left.

It only took seven plays to get the clutch score; the big plays were a 23-yard catch by Julian Edelman (5 catches, 57 yards) plus a 15-yard catch and 9-yard catch by Austin Collie (his first two receptions as a Patriot). Brady's touchdown to Thompkins was vintage stuff, the likes of which we haven't really seen for years. The Patriots picked up a clutch win against a formidable opponent facing long odds and many key injuries. Sound familiar?

New England actually built a 17-7 halftime lead thanks to two touchdown runs by Stevan Ridley (20 carries, 96 yards rushing; 14-yard catch) and the first of three Stephen Gostkowski field goals (35, 54, 23). New Orleans predictably tied it up in the third with a 28-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley and 3-yard touchdown run by Khiry Robinson. Gostkowski's last two kicks put the Pats up 23-17 midway through the fourth.

Eight Patriots caught passes today and nine were targeted. It will take that type of approach if they are going to survive another long absence from Amendola who appeared to get knocked out on a vicious hit in the second half. Aaron Dobson (6 catches, 63 yards) had a good performance and even Michael Hoomanawanui (4 catches, 57 yards) played like an NFL tight end for one game.

Kyle Arrington also had a gift interception after Brees tried to call timeout, didn't get it then was forced to chuck it up for grabs. Before he left with a hip flexor, Talib held Jimmy Graham (the NFL's best tight end, sorry Gronk) without a catch. His teammates picked up the slack too as Graham (who also was hobbled late in the contrest) had zero catches.

After playing marquee games against quality teams, it'll be tough to re-adjust to the slop of the AFC East. New England goes to the Jets (3-3 overall) on Sunday (1, CBS). New York lost 16-9 at home this afternoon to the previously winless Steelers (1-4).

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Week 6 Injury Report: Patriots vs. Saints

Let's get right to it since I think my brain will melt if I listen to one more word from an ill-informed sportswriter about Rob Gronkowski's health. As has been the custom the last few weeks, early in the week reporters indicated that this could be the week when he returned. Now, he's listed as questionable on the injury report for Sunday's game (4:25, Fox) vs. New Orleans (5-0) which is no surprise but it sounds like he might be out again. Ugh, who knows?

What can say for sure is that Tommy Kelly (knee) and Leon Washington (ankle) are both out for New England. It's nice to see those guys hold up for a full season, oh wait. Saints safety Roman Harper (knee) and defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker (knee) were also declared out.

Besides Gronkowski, six other Patriots are questionable for this big showdown: Matthew Slater (wrist), Stevan Ridley (knee), Brandon Bolden (knee), Danny Amendola (knee), Ryan Wendell (concussion) and Tavon Wilson (hamstring). Ridley and Amendola are the biggest names on here but Wendell's injury is new plus he's the starting center so I'd say that he's important too.

Props to New Orleans for playing the same stupid mind games as the Pats (most opposing teams don't bother with this bullshit), they also list seven players as questionable: defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley (calf), tackle Zach Strief (ankle), running back Mark Ingram (toe), cornerback Keenan Lewis (knee), wide receiver Lance Moore (hand), linebacker Ramon Humber (calf) and safety Malcolm Jenkins (neck). I don't follow the Saints closely enough to know how serious they are with their injury reports; off the top of my head, I feel like Strief, Lewis and Jenkins would be the most important guys with Moore also being solid.

UPDATE 10/12: In case you were wondering if the NFL has changed their misguided priorities, they haven't. Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes was fined $7875 for wearing red cleats last week. Apparently the Pats only are allowed to wear blue and white cleats. Who cares?

This afternoon, Pats promoted defensive tackle Marcus Forston from the practice squad and released defensive tackle Andre Neblett who they signed earlier this week.

UPDATE 10/13: Patriots inactives are Kelly, Slater, offensive lineman Chris Barker (still not sure he exists), wide receiver Josh Boyce, Gronkowski, Washington and Wilson. The Saints inactives are Moore, Ingram, cornerback Rod Sweeting, Harper, Strief, Walker and linebacker Martez Wilson.

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The Only Thing Notable On Thursday Night At Gillette: Dane Fletcher Tore His Left ACL

Like every other red-blooded American, I know that the NFL is king and I am thrilled that the regular season starts in one month. However, stories from training camp and viewing preseason games is about as interesting to me as watching paint dry then talking about it for weeks on end.

New England opened its 2012 preseason tonight at Gillette Stadium against New Orleans and though the Patriots won 7-6, that's the furthest thing from my mind. The only thing I will takeaway from this exhibition is that linebacker Dane Fletcher is likely done for the season after reportedly tearing his left ACL.

He got hurt playing special teams so if he misses 2012, that means that Bobby Carpenter, Jeff Tarpinian and Mike Rivera all have a better shot of making the 53-man roster. Fletcher is entering his third season and he would have been a valuable reserve since he can play middle linebacker (where he started tonight) and special teams. Still, he had 32 tackles last season in 10 games (5 starts) so he's certainly replaceable. I'm not ripping the guy at all but if he's the biggest injury the Patriots suffer in the preseason, that's great news.

The other guy banged up in the game was wide receiver Britt Davis, who caught a 3-yard touchdown from Brian Hoyer in the third quarter. Late in the fourth quarter, he appeared to hurt his shoulder after a Saints defender fell on it after tackling him to the ground. There is basically no shot that he will make the team so this has no impact whatsoever. Still, I hope he's alright.

Bill Belichick has already given the team tomorrow and Saturday off since they don't play again until Monday, August 20 vs. Philadelphia. That game is back at Gillette and it is the second of four preseason games. Ugh, the real games can't come soon enough. Preseason football is terrible to watch with all the scrubs doing what they do (not much) on the field.

UPDATE 8/13: Ouch, both Fletcher and Davis were waived today by the Patriots.

UPDATE 8/14: Fletcher cleared waivers so he went back to the Pats who put him on IR.

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Something To Do In The Dog Days Of Summer: Watch The Patriots & Saints Practice Together

You know it's the 2012 MLB All-Star break (aka the slowest sports week of the year) when the thought of a Patriots practice in August makes you downright giddy. Anything to take our minds off of boring old MLB and specifically the Red Sox.

The news today is that New England will hold joint training camp practices with New Orleans on Tuesday, August 7 and Wednesday, August 8 in Foxborough, MA. That comes ahead of the Pats' preseason opener on August 9 at Gillette Stadium against the Saints.

The Saints' website says August 8 will be a walk through so if you are part of the masses that will head down there, I'd recommend August 7 since you will be much more likely to see some real action.

This is the part where I throw in a lame Spygate or I guess more relevant in this case Bountygate joke. New Orleans head coach Sean Payton won't be there since he's suspended for the 2012 season and the team also has to agree to a deal with quarterback Drew Brees before Monday's deadline for franchise tags. He said he doesn't want to play on a one-year deal. Wes Welker's camp is supposedly trying to get a long-term contract done by then too.

These teams had a similar couple days in 2010 when the Saints were also in town for practices then a preseason game.

I just read a Tweet from the Boston Globe's Shalise Manza Young that said the Patriots are doing the same thing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-who they visit on Friday, August 24-for the third preseason game. Stay tuned for more details on that.

UPDATE 7/20: Finally confirmed today that the Patriots and Bucs will practice on August 22 & 23 before their preseason game on August 23. The joint practices will be held at Tampa Bay's facility.

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Saints are for real, Patriots are not

With one game, the New Orleans Saints proved to the NFL that they are the best team (forget Indy) at this moment. Similarly, with one pathetic performance, the New England Patriots raised many questions about their abilities when they play good teams.

In the Bill Belichick era, it's hard to remember a more thorough beating than the one the Saints (11-0) threw the Patriots (7-4) last night at the Superdome, 38-17.

Drew Brees (18 of 23, 371 yards passing, 5 TDs, perfect QB rating) completely tore apart New England's secondary. Marques Colston led New Orleans with 121 yards receiving and a touchdown while Devery Henderson had 116 yards and a touchdown and Robert Meachem added 69 yards receiving and a touchdown.

Tom Brady (21 of 36, 237 yards, 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions) never looked comfortable and his main weapons, Randy Moss (3 catches, 67 yards) and Wes Welker (6 catches, 32 yards) were neutralized. The offensive stars for the Patriots were Laurence Maroney (64 yards rushing, 2 TDs) and Sam Aiken (7 catches, 90 yards) which is never a good sign.

After Jon Carney's 30-yard field goal gave the Saints a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, New England took its only lead of the game on Maroney's 4-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1.

New Orleans went up 10-7 after Pierre Thomas' 18-yard catch and run. At least four Patriot defenders whiffed at tackling him. Even more depressing than that was the blown coverage on the next Saints drive that allowed Henderson to be wide open for a 75-yard touchdown.

Stephen Gostkowski's 36-yard kick cut it to 17-10 but you can't settle for field goals against the Saints. Brees closed out the first half with a perfectly threaded 38-yard touchdown pass to Meachem.

Maroney gave New England some life with a 2-yard touchdown to start the second half but the Saints came right back with a touchdown 1:22 later. Brees hit third tight end Darnell Dinkins for a 2-yard score. All that was left was a 20-yard touchdown pass to Colston in the fourth quarter and the Saints' quest for a perfect season look very good.

More relevant to me is where do the Patriots go from here? They'll be favored in and should win their last five games (no guarantees) but where is their signature win? They'll win the AFC East and make the playoffs. But how can anyone take this team seriously when they completely crumble against the best teams?

They go to Miami on Sunday to try and sweep the Dolphins this season.