Dobson's Benching A Crack In The Locker Room? Not So Fast...
Aaron Dobson was reportedly benched due to a conflict with OC Josh McDaniels.(SBalestrieri photo)
Just when things seemed bad, they took a turn for the worse for the New England Patriots. Reports have surfaced from the Boston Globe’s Shalise Manza-Young that Patriots 2nd year wide receiver Aaron Dobson was inactive for the past two games for “mouthing off” to Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels.
That may explain the curious, decision to inactivate both Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins for the game on Monday Night Football on a night where the team elected to go to a spread offense without two of their best outside the numbers threats.
This left the Patriots with only three wide receivers (STs Captain Matthew Slater being a 4th) on a night when the Patriots offense struggled in throwing the ball.
Dobson, who caught 37 passes as a rookie had off-season foot surgery but seems fully recovered. However he’s been active for only one game in 2014 and has one reception on only two targets, very low numbers considering the Patriots spent a second round draft pick (59th overall) on him in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Manza-Young’s sources are usually impeccable and if true show a troubling sign of potential cracks in the Patriots normally solid locker room. However our own sources say that the allegations are not true and that it is news to the Patriots coaching staff that Dobson’s benching had anything to do with a personality clash.
This will definitely be a situation to monitor going forward.
