The Patriot Way: Saturday, 1/25/2014
By Hal Bent
Nov 24, 2013; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) talks with head coach Bill Belichick (middle) and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels during warm-ups before the game against the Denver Broncos at Gillette Stadium Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to the Patriot Way, your daily dose of the best links to stories to keep you in the know about the New England Patriots. With a surprising amount of news coming out of Foxborough, MA after the Patriots loss to Denver last Sunday, let’s get right to it.
The big news out of the Patriots camp this morning is the surprise interview of New England’s Director of Player Personnel, Nick Caserio, for the division rival Miami Dolphins’ General Manager position. It set off a flurry of activity in the media with stories from all the major media outlets such as NESN, Adam Schefter at ESPN, NFL.com, and the Boston Herald. This was definitely an unexpected move particularly with Caserio turning down an interview request with Indianapolis just two years ago. Talk radio had callers screaming it was a sign that coaches (Dante Scarnecchia, George Godsey, and Pepper Johnson) and executives are jumping ship in advance of Bill Belichick stepping down. Sounds more like wishful thinking out of Miami, New Jersey, and Buffalo. For a take from the Dolphins media perspective, the Miami Herald has their piece on the interview here.
Field Yates, a rising star in the ESPN Boston media, took a look back at the New England Patriots second year players and whether they improved, declined, or remained stagnant in their sophomore season. The piece is here. Personally, I would add that 2nd and 3rd round draft picks Tavon Wilson and Jake Bequette are early roster bubble candidates for 2014. With two high draft picks New England got zero production out of the safety and defensive end. Bequette was drafted to get after the quarterback and has hardly stepped foot on the field. Wilson was replaced in the rotation by 2013 draft pick Duron Harmon when injuries struck Steve Gregory and Devin McCourty.
Over at MassLive, Nick Underhill is taking a look at the Patriots pending free agents and touched on linebacker Brandon Spikes. Underhill looks at Spikes play in New England, why they will or will not re-sign him, and looks at similar contracts to see what his cost may be.
While the news of an assistant coach retiring is often not big news, Peter May had a nice tribute to “Coach Scar” at WBUR’s website. The NPR affiliate had an interesting look at Scarnecchia’s staying on through multiple coaches and his short stint as interim head coach while May covered the team.
MusketFire.com co-editor Cyrus Geller chimed in with a look at the upcoming NFL Draft and Five Players They Should Draft. Prepare your mental list and check in and see if it matches up with the five Cyrus believes should be in the Patriots’ radar (yup, definitely a Texas Longhorn in there!).
Finally, as always when the Patriots lose a big game, there is the requisite story of the pre-printed New England Patriots AFC Championship t-shirts (and an opportunity to see the 19-0 shirts) and their donation to the World Vision, the humanitarian aid group that distributes them to families in need of clothing in other countries. This time it was the Worcester Telegram who had the story of the “coulda’been” commemorative clothes and how in the end it still does good.