McKenzie out for season

ugh.

You're supposed to do that AFTER you sign a contract.

Do your rehab watch lots of film and we will see you this time next year.

Type your comment here... terrible news. hope he fully recovers and can contribute next year. just wondering how his salary would be determined now?

This sucks, a player who would have gotten some snaps this year is taken out by a player that won't make the team. I wish him a swift recovery (even though he's done for the year).

My heart goes out to this kid.....he's had a rough journey. Hopefully he'll be healthy enough to make an impact next year.

Mike,

Looks like you can talk about the extra draft pick in your mind for 2010 now. Ha

I had a feeling it was going to be a season ending injury...you just don't grab your knee like that and think everything is going to be fine.

Jason Taylor anyone?

Is he even under contract yet?
Hope he can make a full recovery on join the team for the 2010 season.

What if anything to the Pats owe him for compensation considering he has yet to get under contract? What kind of impact does this have on any deal he may sign? Is it now 10 cents on the dollar compared to what he'd get before?

Hopefully he spends that time constructively, watching tape and learning the playbook. Guess we'll consider him an extra pick next year.

Could be worse for the Pats, since we're pretty decent at ILB. I mean, if someone had to go down w/an injury like this...

It's terrible for the poor kid though. Heart really goes out to him. Speedy recovery Tyrone!

Wow, what a tough break. I hope BB & Co. do the right thing and give him a fair market contract.

This just blows. From everything we heard he could have had an impact this season and been mentored by Bruschi for the future at the very least. How the heck do you blow out your knee in non-contact drills? Every year we lose two or three guys for the season before the games even begin. Larry Foote anyone?

Terrible news - I feel bad for him, especially with what he's gone through in life thus far.

Mike, what's his compensation status as of right now? He was practicing without a contract, does he get financial support for the year he's out?

Cheers,

David

WOW, what a blow for the young guy. Hope he gets well and stronger for next year. But, whenever you talk about knees or ankles it gets tricky. Good Luck Ty

Sometime things happen for a reason. This means that he'll essentially "Red Shirt" his rookie season. It'll give him a year to get used to the mental and business/media side of the game, with no expectations. And for the team, it's like having an extra pick in 2010, albeit one who you only control for three years...

Tough break for a kid I really look forward to cheering for. He's got an amazing back story, and my guess is he'll work very hard to get ready for 2010.

Won't forget McKenzie. He'll be a rock next year. Pulling for the guy - he deserves to make it as a pro.

They must have some sort of injury insurance for this sort of thing, right?

I hope the patriots give him a shot next year. That really sucks. I wish him the best. Sounds like a classy guy.

If he hadn't signed a contract, he wouldn't be at practice...

Shi

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME AGAIN WHY THE PATS THREW MIKE VRABEL AS PART OF THE MATT CASSEL TRADE?

Like it or not, until the Pats get a legitimate OLB that can handle Bill Belichick's defensive schemes this question is NOT going to go away. Jason Taylor may have been on Belichick's wish list, but he wants to return to Miami. Julius Peppers might have been on Belichick's wish list, but he simply costs too much. Maybe Pierre Woods or Shawn Crable will step up, but both are unproven and could become a MAJOR liability. And if the OLB position becomes a gaping hole on the 2009 Patriots, everyone will STILL be scratching their heads over WHY Belichick traded Mike Vrabel WITHOUT a suitable replacement lined up.

Ouch, that sucks for this kid!

McKenzie seems like a good guy whos fought through some advesity. I hope the injury doesn't hurt his chances of getting a contract that is indicitive of a 3rd rounder. What do you think Mike?

Drafted rookies in these mini-camps are not contracted, they get a stipend and the team is expected to negotiate a good-faith contract with any pick that gets injured in the rookie camp. So, Mckenzie will get the same contract he would've had he remained healthy. Yeah, I'm bummed, I feel like this happens to New England every year, a young player with a lot of potential gets busted before he can even play.

Hopefully everything will work out for him. Does anybody know how this works when a drafted player not under contract is injured? I assume the team is still responsible for covering the surgery/rehab etc? I guess we can look at it as we can potentially have two impact rookies in next year's class (Tate and Mckenzie).

Don't Yell. ALL CAPS gets you ignored. Vrabel will be missed, but no one can say how much just yet. I don't seem to remember Vrabel saving the day and sacking Farve or Manning when we needed him to during those tough losses last year. It takes a team.

As for Mckenzie. I think we all will be rooting for him next year. His up hill battle continues. Hopefully he can hang on and at least get a chance.

Can't believe it...I was really looking forward to seeing this kid play. Now we all have to wait.

Its called an injury settlement. Its a fraction of what his salary would have been this year and then the Pats are free of him and any contract. It won't be much either since he was a 3rd round rookie. Still sucks though.

No OLB, No Defense,
The reason they did was to separate the wheat from the chaff. Whining fans like you are nothing but chaff. That's the reason.

Besides it's people like you that make the rest of us seem smarter. No god polish your gick pendant and we'll see you when there's something you can invent to whine about.

Reminds me of what happened w/Leon Powe of the Celtics. Similar backgrounds, similar injuries.

Best of luck and a speedy recovery to T-Mac.

I expect that he will rehab, learn the defense and then come to camp as a red shirt rookie. Folks, there are worse things in life then having a player spend a year learning under a good coaching staff as many college kids simply are not prepared for the complexity of an NFL defense. They need to replace him for one year. Guyton, Mayo, Teddy and a veteran pick up as a back up (which is what this kid was going to be anyway) with Tank Williams as a guy for certain packages.

For the CAPS ninny--McKenzie projects to ILB. There is no need to revisit the Cassel trade every time the wind blows. Take a deep breath. Do some meditiation. Take a nap. When you wake up refreshed and with better awareness it will all make sense to you.

Oh, for...

Sucks for the kid more than anyone. Classy mature kid who has been through enough in his short life, but from what I've read has handled it better than most would have, which is a big part of the reason he was drafted by the Patriots I'm sure. Luckily for him he was drafted by the best org. and I'm sure they will do more for him than they are required. Let him hang out with Tedy for a year and hopefully he'll step right in next year and contribute. Lord knows he deserves it.

Its all good ,, Jason taylor will be here before you know it,,, see ya next year kid,, good luck

With the age of the Pats linebackers they might as well just suit him up and play him anyway. If they don't come up with some kind of plans at linebacker help I think they are in for another season of no pass rush and way too much time for the QBs to be picking apart the new and improved? secondary. Show us your genius Belichick.

What's the deal here? First Fred Taylor, now McKenzie, whose gonna be the third?
Where are the LBs gonna come from? THis just Bites! Already the team has injury problems and we haven't even got to training camp!
Positive side , Tyrone's got a whole season to absorb the D.

Ooooo, is this the Crable of 2009? Or a sandwich pick for 2010? Or the 6th rounder from 2007? Or part of the package that might have moved us up in this year's draft? Or compensation for the Len Bias pick? With all the injuries, shouldn't they all be called "Safties"?

For all the Pats OLB "deficiencies", shouldn't Adalius Thomas be available to start the season? Am I missing something here, or do we need to fill one starting OLB position not 2? The way some people go on its like this GAPING oversight. Guess there's always some that have to find something to gick about.

Shame for the McKenzie kid. I'm hoping the Dalai Lama bestowed his blessing and there's some good karma on the way for him and his family.

The future is now. Start trading those extra picks next year for a veteran LB. Taylor is not the answer. BTW, the Globe ran an article today about cops snooping into the private records of famous people. I remember when I worked for the USPS many years ago. Copies of the paycheck of NYG's Lawrence Taylor were posted on the employee blackboard by someone in the facility. It stayed there for weeks. So don't be naive about privacy.

A certain starting ILB for the Steelers named Foote was released a few days ago due to salary conflicts. Shouldn't the Patriots be interested in a starter on a Super Bowl champion?

F#ckin D#m#it!!!

This sucks! Class act kid who goes down like this. I hope he comes back in 2010 with vengeance. He was the one guy I was anticipating watching this season.

Foote signed with the Lions today! From First to Last! He would've been a nice addition to the team. Anyway its only May and other teams will be releasing players in June. Now we have to compete with Denver and KC and Cleveland for the type of player BB likes to sign. We are lucky as Boston sports fans to have the C's,B's and Sox playing well at the sametime. The C's are shorthanded but don't count them out just yet!

Wow one position that we don't have a starter penciled in for for and all of a sudden they are the New England Lions! What is evryone worried about remember we resigned Tully Mother F'n Banta Cain. All is well at linebacker!
Not too worried about it, if Brady is healthy we will make the playoffs for sure. Stop crying you bunch of pampered pats fans, you are starting to sound as bad as Yankee fans.
Really though, too bad the kid was a class act. Hope he gets to see the field next year. I am sure Kraft will do the right thing and take care of him as he always does.

Questions:
Is he allowed on the practice field (sidelines, I imagine) during this upcoming season - or any of the upcoming camps - or pre-season?
If so, he can learn an awful lot, but if not, he might be left with only film to look at. (are PUPs allowed in the film room?)

Another OT question:
Can we hire Rodney to school our young turks?

The last time I heard so many nice words I was at a wake.

As a Pat's fan living in sunny Tampa, I am familiar with USF and their players. Tyrone is a player, that's for sure. I was excited when the Pat's got him in round 3 and looked forward to seeing him on the field this year. I am sure Mr. Kraft will take care of things and we can expect to see a bigger and faster Tyrone next year. We will need him....Get well Tyrone...

In Rookie Injuries at Minicamp:
Minicamp injury protection is the responsibility of the player and their agent. Players under contract have injury protection built into their contract, but rookies are almost never under contract at mini-camp. They must individually negotiate an injury agreement prior to working out that includes medical coverage and salary.
"“Any player being asked to participate in offseason activity, including the minicamps, should demand that the club agree to the protections contained in a workout agreement before committing to participate,” said NFLPA Staff Counsel/Regional Director Tom DePaso. “The higher the draft choice the more you have to lose by not doing so.” The NFLPA has draft language to help a player and his agent in negotiating the language for this document."

Junior Seau, where are you?

Kids. Chill. You know what the big news is out of Foxborough?

We get Tom Brady back this year. Tom Effing Brady. You don't think BB knows that? We will be going back to playing nickel/dime packages and other teams throw in desperate attempts to keep up with the Patriot "Score At Will" Juggernaut. Brady-Moss, Brady-Welker, Brady-Galloway, Brady-Watson, Brady-Faulk.

That's the news out of Foxborough.

No need to panic.

I know that Mr. Kraft will do the right thing for this wonderful young man.

Brian Toal of BC is out there for the taking and will make some team extremely happy that they gave him a chance.

Just saw this story as I was wondering how he was doing. This is heartbreaking. This is a great kid with class and heart. Rare in NFL these days. He'll overcome this. Its not in his nature not too. New England fans have a great kid to root for. Make sure they support him. Good luck Tyrone... If you see this I'll miss ya down in the "Tunnel" this Hockey Season...