New England Patriots Take It To The Washington Redskins For The Second Day In A Row
By Cyrus Geller
I know it’s only a joint practice, but man, the New England Patriots are really beating up on the Washington Redskins. I was excited to see how this group would react to new competition, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic at the results thus far.
There were no new changes to the attendance report, which is a good sign, showing there were no significant injuries sustained in yesterday’s session.
Now on to the big storylines. For the second straight day, Tom Brady‘s offense absolutely lit up this defense. Whether he was slinging it to Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell, or even Mathew Slater at one point, Brady had his offensive humming, and there was no stopping him. This is exactly what we need to be seeing from this unit at this point in training camp. Yes, Washington’s secondary isn’t exactly top notch, but when you move the ball like Brady has been doing, you know the offense is on the right track, regardless of opponent. This also gets them ready to face tougher defenses in the future, so essentially, you could call these practices a tune-up for New England’s offense.
Here are a few tweets from the media in awe of the Pats’ offense:
There was not nearly as much praise handed out to the Patriots defense, but rest assured, they did just fine as well. It was noted yesterday that the Skins weren’t used to such physicality from the cornerbacks, which highlights how different this New England secondary is. They are big, talented, aggressive, and physical, and they will be looking to make an impact in 2014.
Just Revis being Revis.
However Robert Griffin III and company did win a few battles of there own, as it wasn’t nearly as lopsided as the Pats offense versus the Skins defense was. I think this speaks more to the Washington offense than the Patriots defense, as the Skins’ offense is simply better than their defense. Nothing more than that. One last note I want to make on the Pats’ defense:
A lot has been made about Darrelle Revis playing strictly on the left side so far in camp, and it has people thinking he may just stick to one side, much like Richard Sherman does. But the common belief among the media is once the season starts, Bill Belichick will let go of the reigns, and allow Revis to shadow different players. I believe that is where Revis is at his best, and that is where he should be playing all year long.
Tomorrow the two sides will be in shells for a much more laid back practice. Then, they square off Thursday night for their first preseason tilt of the 2014 season.
Here are some extra nuggets I want to pass along:
Danny Amendola was among those that had a great day. The Pats will need his production come September. Brandon LaFell was also lauded for his work.
Sealver Siliga left practice with a hand injury, although he later returned to the sidelines.
To show you how much Tom Brady loves perfection, Mike Reiss said Washington media was amazed at how hard Brady takes every incompletion.
Rookie signal caller Jimmy Garoppolo continues to struggle.
After the epic three hour practice, the Pats began to do conditioning sprints in order to get in game shape.