Trapped?Page 18 of 18 -- A: Koppen may play a bit at center this week as well. Looks like Mike Compton has a foot injury and that may shift Woody to guard. Koppen has good fundamentals. I don't see a punting change unless he has a couple more bad games.
The few times I saw him on the field against the Eagles, Jarvis Green looked like he got decent penetration through the line and generally held his own. What's your impression of his development? Is he becoming a good change-of-pace DT the coaches can use to spell Ted Washington? Thanks, and keep up the good work. A: He had a good game against Philly. He showed some quickness which is why they put him at nose tackle in the first place. I think he can hold his own against smaller offensive linemen, but he tends to get swallowed up by real big guys. I'd rather see him at end.
Thanks for providing an excellent forum and for allowing us to glimpse what other Pat fans are thinking. Despite a BIG victory in Philadelphia, I'm not feeling optimistic about the season. The TOTAL rushing stats were only 62 yards. And this was in a game where we had a big lead early and should have been running out the clock. Opposing defenses aren't going to overlook this. Although Charlie Weiss was successful this time with a dink-n-dunk offense, Brady will be subjected to greater pressure as the season progresses. I'm reminded of what Drew went through in the 2-3 seasons leading up to the super bowl run. Why does Bill Belichick continue to overlook the offensive line and the running game in the draft and free agency ???? A: I think I addressed the O-line philosophy last week. Bill has a theory that you don't expend high picks for offensive linemen because you can develop them as rookie free-agents or street free-agents in a year or two. He took Klemm in the second round and it's four years later and you still don't see a great player there.
The Pats released Milloy for cap reasons and are now under the cap by 4 million dollars. However they get hit with (I may be wrong) 4.4 million on the cap next year for his prorated bonus. Why don't the Pats try to eat most of the 4.4 million this year instead? Can they do that or are they forced to eat it next year? A: Forced to take it on over a two-year period.
Nick, since NESN has teamed up with the Globe, much like Fox has teamed up with the Herald, why not do a weekly segment on the Patriots like Fox does. I find myself forced to watch even though I consider the Herald to write with poison pens (the real Boston curse) and I'm not sure they're just stirring up controversy. I guess Fair and Balanced only applies to current affairs and not Sports. We love the mailbag and I think you'd be great doing a show from Foxboro. A: Well, we've been doing Patriots reports for two years now. Ron Borges and I alternate. They're aired before Red Sox games on NESN.
Drew Bledsoe should never have been traded to Buffalo (any non-AFC East team would have been acceptable) and Lawyer Milloy should never have been fired six days before the start of the season (next spring would have sufficed). For that matter, Curtis Martin should never have been let go to the Jets and Leon Gray and MIke Haynes should never have...OK, now that I've got that out of my system, I have a question regarding replays: Do NFL head coaches (including our own beloved savior) have real-time access - presumably via the assistant coaches upstairs - to the live network television feed (and consequent replays) during a game, so that they can make an informed decision before they actually challenge a call? Or do they simply rely on the players' representations (e.g., "Coach, I swear on my Momma's soul I had complete possession of the ball and my right little toe was definitely inbounds. And if you don't challenge this one, then I'll tell the press you're no Genius as HC of the NEP")?
A: I think it's the players representation and there's a coach assigned to watch for those types of plays who will recommend to Belichick that the play should be replayed. Normally, the coaches need to react quicker than the replay is available. I haven't seen TV feeds of the game in the coaches booth. |
