New England Patriots News 4-5 and Notes Around the AFC East
 Brian Tyms in an interview this week, looks back to his 2014 Super Bowl season and hopes to make a bigger impact in 2015.(Steve Balestrieri Image) |
Happy Easter Sunday morning, here are Sunday’s Patriots news notes and what’s happening around the division:
Ridley Moving On…: Patriots running back Stevan Ridley who is a free agent is expected to move on and sign elsewhere according to reports from Patriots.com Andy Hart. New York Daily News reporter Manish Mehta has stated it looks like Ridley will wind up with either the Jets or the Dolphins.
If he doesn’t return, the bulk of the running game will fall to LaGarrette Blount as he has the most experience of all of the Pats running backs in rushing the football. Ridley the four-year player from LSU had a 1200 yard season in 2012, but fumbling issues in 2013 and a torn ACL injury suffered in Week 6 against Buffalo has curtailed his development.
One likely candidate in free agency remains, Pierre Thomas, formerly of the Saints and the Pats are expected to dig deep into the draft as well.
Tyms Ready For a Bigger Role: Fellow PatsFans.com writer Russ Goldman and I had the opportunity to sit down with Patriots wide receiver Brian Tyms this week in an interview on ProFootballCentral.com. He came across as very forthcoming and down-to-earth and as a man that is appreciative of the chance he’s been given.
He talked about the influence of Randy Moss on him as a person and a player and his team first approach. His description of his first NFL touchdown in Buffalo was really interesting to hear. “We broke the huddle and Tom (Brady), he gives that stare… you guys know… that thousand yard stare and I knew he was going to me. And I knew I had to catch that ball or this whole journey had been for nothing.”
He added, “Stephen Gilmore had perfect coverage and we both got our hands on the ball but I just wanted it more and once I came down with it, all the emotions, things about no one wanting me or giving me a chance came out…”
He’s working out in Florida with a bunch of NFL players including Jets WR Brandon Marshall and Tyms stated, the group was all pushing one another trying to get better and there were zero egos involved.
He stated he wants to win that outside wide receiver role, “that deep threat guy” in the Patriots offense.
Gronk the Cop: Reportedly, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will be appearing on the big screen. Gronk will appear as a cop of all things in the new film, “You Can’t Have It”. Kudos to Gronkowski for cashing in on his Super Bowl victory, he’s been a guest seemingly everywhere since the Patriots victory in February.
Gronk even threw out the first pitch for the Anaheim Angels today. Gronk works and parties hard, and he’s getting in all he can handle before the Patriots begin their off-season workouts on April 20.
Offseason Workouts Announced: As we mentioned earlier in the above paragraph, the Patriots off-season workouts, OTAs and mini-camp dates were announced this week.
Offseason workouts and conditioning begins on April 20, other OTAs take place May 26, 28-29, June 1, 3-4, 8-9, 11-12 and Mini-Camp will take place on June 16-18.
Eastbound and Down…..News from around the AFC East:
Former Pat Zach Sudfeld Building Bridges in Africa: In a great story about helping others, Jets tight end Zach Sudfeld and nine members of his family recently spent time in Uganda on a home building project for orphans. It was his sixth visit to the region assisting Assist International on their humanitarian efforts there. The Sudfeld family has been involved with Assist International for 25 years.
From there the Sudfield family went to the shores of Lake Victoria where Sudfeld and his brothers helped build a sport facility in the town of Jinja a year ago. The Sudfelds including younger brother Nate who is the quarterback for Indiana, played basketball and soccer with the kids from the area.
The family did enjoy a boat ride down the Nile where Sudfeld got a tad close to a big croc on the shore as well as observing hippos and other wildlife upclose and personal.
"Playing in the NFL, you're just grinding all the time. You're always watching film or practicing or studying or going to meetings," he said, adding that his latest African trip "doesn't lessen the importance of football in my life, but it's easy to get caught up in what we're doing. So to be able to get a first-hand look at some real issues going on in the world, it's life-changing stuff. It's refreshing."
Jets Hint at Trading Up for a QB: Jets GM Mike Maccagnan worked out QB Marcus Mariota at the University of Oregon last week and stated that the Jets may not be content with waiting until #6 to draft Mariota on April 30, but move up much sooner.
“Sitting at six is a very good spot to be in,” Maccagnan said. “It does allow us the potential to move up in the draft because we’re not far from the first pick.”
By hinting about moving up to #1, could the Jets be in the hunt for Jameis Winston or just trying to keep Tennessee from grabbing Mariota with the second pick? Time will tell.
Paysinger Aims To Be More Than a STs Ace for Miami: The Dolphins signed four-year veteran free agent Spencer Paysinger to a one-year contract this week. The linebacker was a special team’s ace for the Giants during his stay with New York.
But Paysinger aims to be much more for the Dolphins, he said this week he hopes to carve out more of a role on the team’s defense. In his four-year stint with the G-Men, Paysinger had 14 starts.
He’ll be attempting to get reps as the starting outside linebacker role. With the release of Phillip Wheeler, the trade of Dannell Ellerbe and the loss of Jason Trusnik in free agency, Paysinger will be in the mix in 2015 and he says, that is what attracted him to the Dolphins.
"I did my homework on them before the trip and I saw that they had a few linebackers that aren't with the team anymore and it just looked like an opportunity," Paysinger said to ESPN Miami. "For me, it's all about having an opportunity."
Bills Watkins Had Off-season Hip Surgery: Reports are surfacing in Buffalo that Bills wide receiver had surgery right before the Super Bowl “in an area near his hip”, according to sources.
Watkins was the Bills top draft choice and led the team in receiving yardage (982), and touchdowns (six) and was second on the team in receptions with 65. Although he appeared in all of the team’s 16 games he was suffering from a myriad of injuries including his hip, broken ribs and a balky groin that hampered the second half of his rookie season. He had only one touchdown in the team’s final eight games.
It isn’t known if Watkins will miss significant time during the team’s offseason conditioning program which starts on April 6 or if he’ll be ready for the start of training camp which opens in late-July.
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