New England Patriots News 5-31 and Notes Around the AFC East
 Bill Belichick has put 2014, the Super Bowl and Deflate-gate in the rear-view mirror and is focusing soley on moving forward to 2015. (USA TODAY Images) |
Good morning, here are Sunday’s Patriots news notes and what’s happening around the division:
Belichick Has Moved On To 2015…and So Have the Patriots: Patriots coach Bill Belichick in his first public comments since the punishments for Deflate-gate were handed down refused to discuss the controversy, the loss of draft picks and the Tom Brady suspension. Belichick has made it clear, all of that is in the rear-view mirror, including the Super Bowl win and it is time to look ahead.
After the OTA session on Friday, Belichick said, “That was a long time ago. We’re on to next year. It’s 2015...You can forget about last year; that was last year. Nobody is looking back, nobody is looking ahead. We’re just coming out here trying to get better day by day.”
Not surprising, even given the circumstances, Belichick has always kept his and the team’s focus on the task at hand. That has to have been the mantra driven home to the players during the off-season workouts, as none of them will discuss Deflate-gate, or the Brady suspension.
Patriots – Saints Hook Up Again For Joint Practices: It has been announced that the Patriots and Saints will hold joint practices at the New Orleans training camp site in Greenbrier, West Virginia prior to their pre-season game on August 22 in New Orleans.
The teams have conducted joint practices on two other occasions, in 2010 after the Saints won their Super Bowl over Indianapolis and in 2012. Now the teams will meet up after the Patriots latest Super Bowl win.
Both previous joint practices were held in Foxboro with Sean Payton and Bill Belichick getting a lot of good practice sessions in with each team benefiting greatly from them. It is a fan favorite and the workouts in Foxboro were really crowded with fans from both teams packing the stands and hills on the side of the practice field.
If Patriots fans are looking to go down to West Virginia for the sessions, it appears it may be best to make plans quickly. According to Saints beat writer and former MassLive reporter Nick Underhill, there are only three hotels in the immediate area and all are apparently already full.
 The Patriots and Saint will conduct joint practices for the third time this summer. (SBalestrieri Images) |
OTAs, Time For Players To Shine: With the first time the Patriots as a team were on the field in 2015, there were a lot of missing faces. It is always a difficult proposition to monitor who’s missing for New England as they don’t wear jersey numbers in OTAs. It is even more so in 2015 as the numbers on the back of helmets as well as on their shorts were removed.
But it is reported that Jerod Mayo, Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins, Chandler Jones, Sealver Siliga, Malcolm Butler, Sebastian Vollmer, Brandon LaFell and Matthew Slater were among the missing on Friday.
With the notable absences, it was time for the younger guys to get some valuable reps, among them rookie 6th round draft pick Matthew Wells, Brandon Spikes and 2nd year cornerback Daxton Swanson reportedly getting significant snaps. Brian Tyms and Aaron Dobson also got a lot of work as well with LaFell absent.
With the Brady suspension looming, he and Jimmy Garappolo split the reps at QB nearly 50/50. Brady has always been notoriously stingy about giving up practice reps but the team obviously has to ensure Garappolo is prepared in the event that Brady’s appeal fails. Speaking of which….
Brady’s Appeal Set for June 23: The NFL has finally announced the date for Brady’s appeal of his four-game suspension. He’ll appear before Roger Goodell on Tuesday, June 23 and it has already been announced that they’ll continue it if necessary on Thursday, June 25.
The Patriots off-season workout program ends with mandatory mini-camp on June 16-18 before training camp begins in July.
The NFLPA and Brady’s legal team has asked Goodell to recuse himself from hearing the appeal as they plan on calling him as a witness. But the Commissioner sounded adamant that he wants to hear from Brady directly during the appeal process.
Asked on Friday if the team were prepared to move on with Jimmy Garappolo if Brady’s appeal fails, Bill Belichick deadpanned, “We're just going day by day right now. Everybody's working hard trying to get better. That's what we're all doing.” Brady didn’t speak to the media Friday both at the team’s OTA and his Best Buddies touch football game for charity.
Navy LS Joe Cardona Cleared for 2015: The Navy has spoken and it appears that Patriots long-snapper Joe Cardona a 5th round draft pick from the Naval Academy has been granted permission to pursue his football career for at least this season.
Most service academy graduates incur a five-year military obligation but the Navy in this case looked at Cardona as a possible recruiting tool and cleared him for 2015. The Navy also cleared a soccer player, Joseph Greenspan who was drafted by the MLS permission to play in 2015 as well, assigning him to recruiting duty.
No official announcement has been made by the Patriots yet, but should be forthcoming soon. Cardona was at OTAs this week.
Eastbound and Down…..News from around the AFC East:
Jets Sweeten Deal For Brandon Marshall: Before even taking a snap for the Jets, WR Brandon Marshall has gotten a new deal giving him some extra guaranteed money. According to the New York Post, Marshall’s new contract which runs through 2017, increases in value to $26 million from $24.3 million, while fully guaranteeing an additional $1.3 million.
Marshall will make $9 million guaranteed this season, up from the previously scheduled $7.7 million in salary and bonus. Marshall has reportedly been living with QB Geno Smith and the two are supposedly working very closely together.
Dolphins Rookie Parker Turning Heads At OTAs: The Dolphins wrapped up their OTA this week and there are holes to fill as yet at the offensive line position and at linebacker but with the new look wide receiver position, Miami is going with a bigger, more physical group bringing in Greg Jennings and Kenny Stills.
But it is rookie DeVante Parker that’s turning heads as he gains a rapport with QB Ryan Tannehill. Speaking with Dolphins beat writer Antwan Staley earlier in the week, he stated Parker has been one of the best players on the field, making difficult catches look easy and beating corner Brent Grimes on a couple of occasions.
Bills Cut QB Tuel, Bring in Matt Simms: With already three quarterbacks on the roster fighting for reps with Matt Cassel, E.J. Manuel and Tyrod Taylor, the Buffalo Bills cut QB Jeff Tuel who was brought in under the Doug Marrone regime.
But the Bills wasted little time in replacing him with QB Matt Simms who played for Coach Rex Ryan on the Jets. Simms was placed on waivers by the Jets this week.
Simms, the son of former Giant QB and NFL analyst Phil Simms, went 19-39 for 195 yards with one touchdown and one interception in two NFL seasons. He’s still considered a long-shot to make the Bills roster.
Cassel was considered the front runner for the job but in recent weeks, Taylor’s name has been surfacing as a potential threat to be the starter for Ryan and the Bills this season.
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