Patriots coach Bill Belichick (noon) and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels (12:15 p.m.) held conference calls with the media today, and both were informative from an Xs and Os perspective. Here were a few of the highlights:
1) McDaniels on Cassel’s growth in feeling the pass rush. By many accounts, quarterback Matt Cassel’s performance was one of the bright spots of the Patriots’ loss to the Colts. McDaniels was asked what he felt was one of the best parts of Cassel’s effort, and he responded by saying: “I thought he really had a good sense of timing as far as the pass rush was concerned, and that’s something we’ve been working hard on, in terms of just trying to feel the right time to leave the pocket or stay in the pocket.” McDaniels pointed to an 11-yard comeback route to Jabar Gaffney in the second quarter (3d and 4) as one example of Cassel stepping up in the pocket, and hitting a second or third read.
2) Belichick talks Gary Guyton. Rookie linebacker Gary Guyton was the subject of a few questions, such as what has contributed to his increased playing time, and why he might have gone undrafted. Belichick mentioned that the Patriots considered taking Guyton in the sixth round (but they went with Bo Ruud instead). Belichick reflected on the scouting process and noted that it might have been tough for some teams to project Guyton to a specific position. “Is he a 4-3 middle linebacker, is he a 4-3 outside linebacker, is he a 3-4 outside linebacker, is he big enough to be a 3-4 inside linebacker? He kind of has a little bit of everything, but I don’t know if he was the prototype in terms of size, speed, and all that for any of those positions,” he said. Belichick detailed many of Guyton’s strengths, lauding his growth as a player. Later, while answering a different question, Belichick pulled out one of his old favorite lines. “Going back to Guyton for a bit, let’s not fit him for the [Hall of Fame] jacket just yet,” he said.
3) McDaniels details red-zone struggles. The Patriots were 1 of 4 in the red zone and McDaniels was asked if he viewed a common thread in the team’s struggles. “On two of those trips, we had a zero-yard run and a negative pass,” he responded. “Any time you get into a third-down-and-long scenario in the red zone -- you already have a short field to work with – it’s tough to run a lot of patterns past the sticks unless you’re going to throw it to the back of the end zone and we all know those plays are lower percentage anyways. I think in our minds, if we stay ahead on the down and distance and get positive plays and get into third-and-short down there in the red zone, then you have a greater chance to succeed. In two of those trips we fell into third-and-more-than-10. You only convert third-and-10-plus maybe eight or 10 times a year in an entire season, and to try to convert them in the red zone it makes it more difficult.”
4) Belichick: Trent Edwards would have been on draft radar. The Patriots had traded out of the third round of the 2007 draft while on the clock with that pick, but if quarterback Trent Edwards (who went one pick later in the third round) had slipped further, Belichick indicated the Patriots would have been interested. “We were a little surprised that he lasted as long as he did,” he said. “Had he been there when we took Kareem Brown [in the fourth round], I’d like to think we wouldn’t have passed him up, but …”
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“Going back to Guyton for a bit, let’s not fit him for the [Hall of Fame] jacket just yet,” he said. "
classic BB, we need to keep things in perspective.
That is a Classic BB line LOL
Mike, have heard anyhting about Wheatley? It didn't look good him leaving the field the other night.
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