Camp Opens

Patriots’ training camp opened last month after the four month ill-conceived lockout ended. This year, preparations for camp have been compressed so there is a lot to be accomplished with precious little time to assemble a football team for the upcoming season. Without the benefit of off-season OTA’s, teams are forced to use camp time for activities that would’ve already been installed. Rookies and new players are also at a disadvantage without the benefit of learning the playbook and basic packages during spring practice. Teams that have established coaches and systems in place would seem to have a competitive advantage over those teams (Panthers, Browns and Broncos) that are starting over with new coaches, staffs and a blank slate.

The new CBA has also done away with those dreaded two-a-days and the number of full padded practices has been curtailed. Pre-season football camp at any level is a brutal but necessary rite of passage though dropping the extra daily practice may lead to fewer collision injuries. Ironically, fewer padded practices may cause other types of injuries as the players won’t be in “Lombardi football shape” either. All of the teams are in uncharted territory in this regard so we’ll just have to see how it all shakes out.

After a couple of quiet days, the Patriots made a couple of puzzling moves in acquiring DT Albert Haynesworth from the Redskins and Chad (Johnson) Ochocinco from the Bengals. If there is one player who would appear to be the antithesis of “The Patriot Way” it would be Haynesworth. Just a cursory review of his past reveals that Haynesworth is a world-class cretin. It’s hard to see how this guy would fit in Belichick’s system let alone being a player about which fans could cheer.

Sure, Belichick has brought in other players with troubled pasts in Corey Dillon and Randy Moss and they did perform well as short-term reclamation projects but they were boy scouts compared to Haynesworth.

On the other hand, if one looks at the picture for “attention whore” in the encyclopedia, there would be Chad Ochocinco. Unlike Haynesworth, there’s no question about Ocho’s work ethic. But if he pulls another “Hall of Fame Jacket” stunt, his career with the Patriots will be brief. Ocho does not possess the malignant tendencies that have plagued Haynesworth’s public life, but he does seek the limelight. The Patriots have been successful under Belichick’s tenure because the team is the focus, not the individual players. It remains to be seen how well Ocho will blend in to his new environment.

On the first Friday of camp (7/29), the team made a number of surprising cuts including Ty Warren (on IR last year), Nick Kazcur (big salary), Alge Crumpler and Tully Banta-Cain (recovering from surgery).

On the positive side, Logan Mankins signed his franchise tender and the team re-signed tackle Matt Light to a two-year deal. As camp began in earnest on the 30th, the team brought in DT Tommie Harris (Bears) and OLB Matt Roth (Browns) for visits. Harris wound up signing a one-year deal with Indianapolis and Roth later signed with Jacksonville. In the second week of camp, they signed pass-rushing DE Mark Anderson, who had 12 sacks for the Bears in 2006 but hasn’t done much since then.

By the second week of camp, fans were hungry for every bit of information regarding the daily practices. On August 6th, Light and Kevin Faulk were placed on the PUP list and Haynesworth missed practices from the 5th through the 9th for unknown reasons. On the seventh, the team announced that they had signed DE Shaun Ellis from the Jets (and Rex was none too pleased!) as well as DE Andre Carter from the ‘Skins. So it appears as if Belichick is intent on fixing the pass rush deficiencies that plagued the team on third downs last year.

On the day before the Jacksonville game, the Pats announced that Logan Mankins agreed to a six-year, $48MM extension with $22MM in guarantees. This was most welcome news as Mankins is one of the team’s core players. Last year, Mankins and the team were embroiled in a nasty contract dispute and based on the reports from Mankins’ agent this day looked like it never would arrive. Mankins didn’t show up until midway through last year and he was really missed. In addition, the team also announced that Ocho and Haynesworth restructured their deals with the team.

The big story of the first 10 days of camp was the incredible number of injuries and guys on the PUP. Even though there are 90 players in camp, most of the projected starters on both lines will be unavailable for Thursday night’s exhibition opener against Jacksonville.

This first game should be no more than a glorified scrimmage. The healthy starters will probably get one or two reps before turning things over to the subs.

The First Game v. Jacksonville (8/11/11):

It was a perfect night for football at Gillette and the stadium was about half full. Tom Brady was held out of this game, which was probably a good idea considering that the team is struggling to find its rhythm. David Garrard was unavailable for this game so first-round pick Blaine Gabbert from Mizzou started for the Jags at quarterback. On the Jags first drive, they moved the ball from the 20 to the Pats’ 33 before Josh Scobee knocked in a 41-yard field goal. Of note, Jermaine Cunningham had a sack but the run defense looked sloppy. Brian Hoyer started for the Pats and threw a pass to Aaron Hernandez, who promptly fumbled and the Jags recovered at the 26. Mike Thomas dropped a perfectly-thrown ball on third and 7 so Sam Swank popped in a short field goal and the Jags took a 6-0 lead. The Pats went three n’ out on their next drive that featured two rushes by Danny Woodhead. The Pats’ D stepped up on the Jags next possession with Landon Cohen picking up a sack of Gabbert on third down. The Pats started out their next drive at midfield and, after Woodhead rushed for a first down, Hoyer hit Hernandez on a 21-yard gain over the middle at the 19. On third-and-2 from the 11, Hernandez caught another ball over the middle at the 1. He dropped the ball again but recovered his fumble. From there, Stevan Ridley banged in the ball off left tackle for the touchdown. After Matthew Slater made a terrific tackle on the kickoff, the Jags started at the 10 and went three n’ out. The Pats took over at the Jags 32 after the ball took a wicked backward bounce. On the final play of the quarter, Hernandez picked up 19 on a pass to the right flat.

On third down from the 11, Hoyer found Taylor Price in the back of the end zone and Price made a nice toe-tap catch for the touchdown. The extra point attempt was fumbled away. AJ Karim returned the ball all the way back to the Pats’ 18. From there, the defense held and Scobee kicked a field goal to make it 13-9. On first down, Slater made a terrific leaping catch at the 40. Gostkowski then banged in a 46-yard field goal to make it 16-9. On the Jags’ next series, Gabbert was sacked by Darryl Richard. As the half came to a close, Hoyer was able to move the ball to the 28 on pass completions to Hernandez and Ridley. From there, Gostkowski kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

Ryan Mallett took over at quarterback to open the third quarter. On third down, Mallett connected with Price on the left sideline and Price raced to the Jags’ 30. On fourth and 3, Mallett hit Farnham over the middle at the 14. Ridley banged the ball twice up the middle down to the 2. From there, Ridley spun off right tackle and into the end zone. With the point after the Pats went up 26-9. Todd Bouman took over at quarterback for the Jags but couldn’t move the sticks and Price had a great return that was wiped out by a block in the back. Ridley went around right end on a pitch for 21 yards. Mallett then hit Farnham in the right flat and Farnham churned it down to the 21. On second down, Mallett looked to the left and found Ridley who high-stepped it into the end zone. On the Jags’ next series, Richard Murphy carried the ball four straight times and was able to move the ball into Pats’ territory. Darryl Richard then sacked Bouman. Murphy then made a nice catch over the middle for 16. Matthews then picked up a first down at the 19 as the third quarter came to a close.

The Jags kicked another field goal to open up the fourth quarter. Price made a nice catch in traffic but then Mallett threw an interception, but a helmet-to-helmet hit against the Jags gave the Pats the ball back. On fourth-and-2, Mallett rushed up the middle for a first down. Mallett then completed two passes down to the 18. Ridley then went off right tackle down to the 3. From there, Richard Medlin took it up the gut for the touchdown. With the point after, the Pats went up 40-12. Buddy “Two Way” Farnham intercepted a pass on the Jags’ next series. Medlin then carried twice inside the 5. Two plays later, Medlin took it to the house and it was 47-12. It was already garbage time by the time the Pats got the ball back and all Mallett did was hand off the ball to Medlin and kill the clock.

In the big scheme of things, the first exhibition game doesn’t mean a great deal since most of the starters played very little, if at all. But some of the young players and guys on the bubble acquitted themselves well. The players who were out there executed well for the most part.