New England Patriots: The Train is Moving on the Offense
The New England Patriots completed another day of training camp and the tempo on the offensive side of the ball is truly starting to show that the rookies need to speed up a bit as Patriots Football Weekly Paul Perillo noted that the offense was not necessarily terrible or that the new receivers weren’t doing their job well, but you know-when-you-see-it that things appear to be out of sync. In addition, Tom Brady’s body language made one wonder if he was upset at himself because of a poor throw or read, or just losing patience. And you must know that if Brady isn’t happy, coach Bill Belichick more likely is not happy either, and that was enough to have Belichick re-run a team period at the end of the session.
Jul 30, 2013; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throws a pass during training camp at the practice fields of Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports
As coach Belichick stated earlier during his press conference pre-practice of Day 7 of training camp, focus would be directed to putting the pieces together on the level of team aspects of a game in preparation of next week’s joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles. But the matter of fact is, Belichick is really planning one event ahead of the next, and that would be the first preseason game next Friday. A sign of relieve on Paull Perillo’s observation is that Belichick is just being Belichick by usually making the most out of practice and putting in the extra work. But it also opened the interpretation that the offense is not where it needs to be at this point of training camp, which is expected given rapport among the rookies and Brady still in the process of getting better.
I think it will really depend on how the rookies react in relation to their mistakes. If they take it as a motivation to get better and make the plays as Brady believed he was going to make the team when he was a rookie, then we should see good results on the field. While Aaron Dobson is explosive in making big plays going over a defender; Josh Boyce is a dynamite in agility resulting in separation from defender, and Kenbrell Thompkins has good hands, speed and run precise routes. As Brady said when asked about unavoidable mistakes, “You’ve got to try to eliminate as many bad plays as possible, but they’re going to happen and part of the challenge is being mentally tough enough to come back the next play and do a good job.”
The physical toughness and athleticism they certainly have. It’s the mental toughness, NFL pace and Patriots system terminology that they need to sync in together with what they already know. I have high hopes for our new rookies.