Now It Starts to Get Real in Foxborough for the 2014 Patriots

This next week is one of the most important in any NFL season: rosters are cut down to 75 players on Tuesday then 53 on Saturday. With the third preseason game in the books, the Patriots have gotten a head start on their cuts by releasing veteran defensive linemen Tommy Kelly and Will Smith along with linebacker James Anderson this afternoon.

New England head coach Bill Belichick (and any football coach worth a damn) does this for older players earlier so that they have a chance to catch on somewhere else before the 2014 regular season starts in two weeks. See, he's not completely heartless!

None of these moves were particularly shocking, especially since Kelly and Smith (who are both 33) were each coming off torn ACLs last season. Plus Anderson (who is 31) was signed in June, showing you how little interest he had around the league. The positive way I would spin this for the Pats is that if they are getting rid of quality (albeit washed up) players like this, it says something about what their 53-man roster should look like.

I'll never understand why there are four preseason games in the NFL since the last one is completely devoid of meaning; as always, New England wraps up with the Giants on Thursday (7:30, CBS) in the Meadowlands. Don't expect to see any good/important players in that one, how teams charge anything for that charade is beyond me.

Stay tuned particularly on Tuesday and Saturday for what should be some more interesting moves. Keep in mind that the practice squad has been expanded to ten players this season which makes sense to me given all the injuries picked up during a 16-game season plus the preseason.

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Week 8 Injury Report: Patriots vs. Dolphins

This weekend marks the unofficial halfway point for all the NFL teams playing their eighth game of the regular season, crazy right? New England (5-2) hosts Miami (3-3) on Sunday (1, CBS) at Gillette Stadium in their first of two meetings between the AFC East rivals (and I use that term loosely). Both teams really need a victory, the Pats have lost two out of their last three sandwiched around an improbable comeback win over the Saints while the Dolphins have lost their last three games after a nice 3-0 start.

Today the injury reports came out and for our purposes, Miami's is irrelevant because they didn't list anyone at less than probable. Haha that's no fun guys! On New England, Leon Washington and Tommy Kelly continue to be out making you wonder when they'll return this season and if they'll have any impact (well at least Kelly already did, Washington not so much).

Seven Patriots are questionable: Michael Hoomanawanui (knee), Brandon Bolden (knee), Tavon Wilson (hamstring), Danny Amendola (concussion), Aqib Talib (hip), Marcus Cannon (shoulder) and Julian Edelman (thigh). Amendola and Talib obviously are the most important, I'm assuming that Edelman is playing since he hasn't missed any action yet (shocking I know), and they both returned to practice this week which is always a good sign.

We'll have to wait until Sunday to see who else will join Kelly and Washington on the sidelines, keep in mind seven players are deemed inactive on gamedays from the 53-man roster.

UPDATE 10/27: Dolphins inactives-DBs Jamar Taylor and Will Davis; QB Pat Devlin, RB Mike Gillislee, OT Dallas Thomas, OGs Danny Watkins and Will Yeatman. Patriots inactives-Talib, Josh Boyce, Steve Beauharnais, Kelly, Washington, Jake Bequette (how is he still on the team?) and Chris Barker.

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Week 7 Injury Report: Patriots at Jets

I don't want to jinx it since it has been such a long time coming, but it appears that Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will finally make his 2013 debut on Sunday (1, NBCS) vs. the Jets (3-3) then home vs. Denver on Sunday Night Football. Today's injury report came out and both teams are banged up.

Danny Amendola (concussion), Tommy Kelly (knee) and Leon Washington are all out for New England while former Patriot/Invisible Man Greg Salas (knee) and Santonio Holmes (foot) leave New York with some pretty grimy options for rookie Geno Smith to pass to. Aqib Talib is doubtful (hip) so I'd be shocked to see him on the field on Sunday.

There are many things to loath about the Jets: their players, coaches or fanbase all make it way too easy for others. What I'm trying to say is that despite all that, I admire how New York doesn't screw around with its injury report. Salas and Holmes are the only guys they mention that aren't probable.

The Patriots were not impressed with that refreshing honesty as they piled eight guys that are questionable onto the report: Michael Hoomanawanui (knee), Dan Connolly (concussion), Brandon Bolden (knee), Matthew Slater (wrist), Julian Edelman (thigh), Marcus Cannon (shoulder), Tavon Wilson (hamsting) and Gronk (back). It's interesting to note that they don't mention his arm anymore.

I learned my lesson from Week 2's ugly ugly win by the Patriots that while they own the Jets at the moment, they always seem to have tight games vs the Jets for whatever reason. Stay tuned as I update this while the weekend goes by.

UPDATE 10/19: Wilson and Talib are out but the good news is that Gronk made the trip to NY/NJ so he appears to be playing tomorrow. We shall see.

UPDATE 10/20: Patriots inactives are Wilson, Talib, WR Josh Boyce, OL Chris Barker, Amendola, Kelly and Washington. Jets inactives are Brady Quinn, Holmes, Salas, LB Troy Davis, G William Campbell, T Ben Ijilana and T Oday Aboushi.

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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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All of New England's Problems Come To the Surface In Ugly Loss To Bengals

We all knew that the Patriots' 4-0 start this season was more a product of a favorable schedule than the makings of a powerful team. Still, it was disconcerting to have all those fears realized this afternoon at Cincinnati's (3-2 overall, 3-0 home) Paul Brown Stadium where the Bengals survived for a 13-6 victory over New England (4-1 overall, 2-1 away).

Former Patriot BenJarvus Green-Ellis (67 yards rushing) recorded this slopfest's only touchdown-a 1-yard run up the gut in the fourth quarter-where Vince Wilfork would have been-and New England's struggles on offense, particularly in the Red Zone or tough situations continued. This being the Bengals though, they weren't content to seize the game so instead they kept giving New England second and third chances (dumb penalties, bad clock management), but Tom Brady (18 of 38 for 197 yards, 1 INT) couldn't take advantage as he had one of his worst performances in recent years.. Adam Jones picked him off on a terrible deep ball to end it.

Danny Amendola (4 catches, 55 yards, 9 targets) returned but he was predictably rusty with a couple key drops. With no Stevan Ridley, LaGerrette Blount got the chance to be the top running back but he flopped gaining 51 yards on 12 carries but also losing a fumble (a tribute to Ridley?) that caused him to be briefly benched.

That wasn't even the worst turnover of the game as Andy Dalton (20 of 27 for 212 yards, 1 INT) threw across his body, easily picked off by Brandon Spikes (12 tackles, 7 solo, 2 tackles for loss, 1 pass deflected) in New England's red zone. Cincy also lost a fumble when rookie Giovani Bernard (62 yards rushing) got popped by Devin McCourty and Jerod Mayo (11 tackles, 7 solo, half a sack, 1 pass deflected and 1 quarterback hit) recovered it.

After a scoreless first quarter (when does that ever happen in today's NFL?), the teams traded field goals. Mike Nugent hit from 39 and Stephen Gostkowski received a gift-a 42-yard kick thanks to three straight runs and a punt by the Bengals right before halftime. Nugent's 50-yard field goal in the third were the only points in the frame. By the time Green-Ellis rumbled in from a yard out early in the fourth, I felt like a two-score deficit to overcome given New England's offensive struggles and Cincinnati's excellent defense was too much to ask for.

Gostkowski's 19-yard field goal provided the final points as the Patriots couldn't punch it in and took the points instead. A scary moment for the Pats occurred when Tommy Kelly went down with an apparent knee injury when he was chasing Dalton and nobody touched him. The good news was that he returned to the game shortly thereafter.

New England will have its hands full on Sunday (4:25, Fox) as they play one of the three remaining unbeaten squads in the NFL: Saints (5-0) at Gillette Stadium.

UPDATE 10/8: Yesterday the Pats re-signed Marquice Cole and waived the Kannoris Davis and Ja'Gared Davis. There are two open spots on the practice squad with their names on it.

UPDATE 10/9: The Davis brothers (just kidding, they're not related but they might as well be) were re-signed to the practice squad) and New England signed defensive tackle Andre Neblett to the 53-man roster.

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Beating The Bills Doesn't Mean Much, The Patriots Have Plenty of Work To Do

You know that as a fan base we are truly spoiled when we can look at a season-opening win on the road, against a divisional opponent that featured a last-minute drive and think, man the Patriots really played poorly. Such is the world we live in where 23-21 victories over the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium fill us with more frustration and anger than joy. Stephen Gostkowski's clutch (for him) 35-yard field goal with five seconds left was the difference.

This is more than us being miserable bastards, after all of New England's recent history of being regular season heroes then losing in the postseason, these games take on a more sterile look and feel. A function of being in the AFC East (one of the worst divisions in pro sports) is that the Pats are basically a lock to win it and/or make the playoffs every season that Tom Brady (29 of 52, 288 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) and Bill Belichick are employed in Foxborough.

It was a sloppy contest with both teams combining for five turnovers and Buffalo getting whistled for 10 penalties (75 yards). New England started off well, leading 10-0 after the first quarter, and ended strongly (outscoring Buffalo 6-0 in the fourth quarter) so it was the second and third quarters that were bizarre even by wacky opening day standards.

I will resist the urge to draw final conclusions off of one game but there were certainly some trends to keep an eye on. Danny Amendola (10 catches, 104 yards) might be made of glass but when he can drag himself onto the field, he has great hands and Brady already seems to have built a connection with him. Conversely, preseason All-Stars Kenbrell Thompkins (4 catches, 42 yards; 14 targets) and Zach Sudfeld (0 catches, 1 target) looked like the undrafted rookies they are rather than the preseason standouts that everyone went overboard praising.

Bills rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel (18 of 27, 150 yards, 2 TDs) was predictably up and down. He showed the ability to run (19-yard carry) and sling it (witness the beautiful 18-yard TD pass to Stevie Johnson) but he also lacked touch on some of his easier throws.

Bigger picture, three of New England's obvious storylines coming into this season only got further muddled: 1) their defense got no pass rush (0 sacks, 4 QB hits); 2) Stevan Ridley (2 fumbles, 1 lost) has a case of fumbilitis that might be fatal; 3) outside of Amendola, who can Brady confidently throw to?

Julian Edelman (7 catches, 79 yards, 2 TDs) and Shane Vereen (101 yards rushing; 58 yards receiving) were the unexpected (but not really) workhorses for the Patriots. New England's defense looked solid (albeit against the Bills and a rookie QB that nobody fears), it's not a leap to say they only really gave up seven points since the Bills got a 74-yard fumble return for a TD by Da'Norris Searcy and a gift interception (off Sudfeld's stone hands) that set them up with a short field for another 18-yard touchdown pass-this time to rookie Robert Woods. Jerod Mayo had 15 tackles (12 solo) and Kyle Arrington forced two fumbles that were recovered by Tommy Kelly and Rob Ninkovich respectively.

To state the obvious: Brady really missed Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. The good news is that the former should be back in a few weeks when the competition ramps up (sorry Jets and Bucs). Amendola's groin injury is a worry heading into Thursday's (8:25, NFL Network) home opener vs. Jets (1-0). Playing two divisional games on such a short schedule to begin the season seems cruel but I'm not Adrian Gonzalez so I won't complain.

The Jets should be 0-1 but thanks to an all-time bonehead penalty, they were able to kick a last-second field goal of their own for an 18-17 win vs. Buccaneers that they didn't deserve. Oh well, the Pats will face another rookie quarterback-Geno Smith-who started his pro career by going 24 of 38 for 256 yards, one touchdown, one interception and 47 yards rushing. The Patriots and Bills won't cross paths again until Week 17 at Gillette Stadium, you know by then that Buffalo will be playing for nothing but pride and a high draft pick.

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I'm Sad To See A Good Young Player Like Kyle Love Released, Especially For This Reason

He will never make a Pro Bowl, an All-Pro team or many highlights on Sportscenter but Patriots fans could see over the last few seasons that Kyle Love had developed into a solid defensive tackle in the NFL. That's why the news that he was released by New England this afternoon came as such a surprise.

Love made the team as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State in 2010 and he put together two good seasons in a row in 2011 and 2012 (when he played all 16 games in the regular season plus playoffs). In fact, during last season the Pats rewarded him with a two-year deal. Apparently, New England cut him because he has Type 2 diabetes. I'm not a doctor, my name isn't Doc Slate and I don't play one on TV so I won't pretend to know the ins and outs of Type 2 diabetes. From what I read today, there have been plenty of other athletes that have played through it and had productive careers.

I can understand where the Patriots are coming from, they were clearly worried about Love's health going forward but at the same time, it seems pretty heartless (this is the NFL after all) to show him the door right away. I hope that Love can soon feel like himself again and hook on with another NFL team quickly. Haha I just hope that it's not another AFC East team since he'll certainly be extra motivated if he ever plays the Patriots.

The timing of this move was strange too since the Pats just released fellow defensive tackle Brandon Deaderick on Monday (claimed by the Jaguars on Tuesday). Other than Vince Wilfork-who is still one of the cornerstones of the franchise-New England's defensive line is looking mighty thin (no pun intended) with Tommy Kelly and Armond Armstead (CFL pickup) expected to replace Love and Deaderick. I think this means that the Pats will invest in another big body between now and training camp.

UPDATE 5/16: Today Love was also claimed by Jacksonville. The Patriots signed rookie cornerback Logan Ryan. He joins former Rutgers teammates safety Duron Harmon and linebacker Steve Beauharnais who are the other two 2013 draft picks to sign with New England. They have four more guys from the draft to agree to terms with in the coming weeks or months.

UPDATE 5/17: New England signed their top pick, second round draft pick Jamie Collins (a linebacker from Southern Mississippi).

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The Patriots Love Their Washed Up Defensive Linemen That Used To Be Great

It wouldn't be a typical offseason for the Patriots under Bill Belichick without them picking up some seemingly over the hill defensive lineman/fat slob that they can park next to Vince Wilfork. The problem is that the last few times they've tried this predictable method, it hasn't worked (see: Albert Haynesworth and to a lesser extent Gerard Warren).

This afternoon, they signed former Raiders defensive lineman Tommy Kelly to a two-year contract. The poor guy had played his entire career in NFL hell aka Oakland after being undrafted in 2004 out of Mississippi State. He follows the familiar New England pattern of a guy that is low risk but potentially high reward. He's 32 and won't be 33 until December, keep in mind that the fat guys can last longer since they were never in peak physical shape to begin with.

Of his full seasons in the NFL, last year was statistically the worst and who could blame him since must have been very frustrated on that pathetic team. In 2012, he had 46 total tackles (25 solo, 21 assists) with 1.5 sacks and one fumble recovered. I assume he has something left in the tank since he was awesome in 2010 and 2011 for an interior lineman: 7 sacks in 2011 and 7.5 sacks in 2012.

A good sign is his durability, he's played all 16 games in seven of his nine NFL seasons including the last five in a row. Being undrafted has to play into that since that gives anyone a chip on their shoulder. He is 6-foot-6 and 325 pounds so no matter how unathletic he is, he should be a load to move when they play him with Wilfork.

Like most moves with the Pats, this isn't flashy and it won't get any headlines but it could be a steal for the next few years if he's motivated. I have to assume he will be pumped to be on a Super Bowl contender with a playoff spot a foregone conclusion. Those are a little different expectations than the neverending circus in Oakland.

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