Phil Elliott
Well-known member
The fact that you'd prefer the Davis pair tells me all I need to know.
Looking at the Patriots - 2021
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TyLawsPick6
Well-known member
I don't prefer them at all. Why would I say that and where did I say that? I used them as an example because the Davis family actually stands up to the commissioner when being treated unfairly and I like that part.
Season tix in the family since '78. Will inherit them one day. Names on the seats. Went to the first ever title game in Foxborugh on January 12, 1997. Still have the stub. One of the few I've kept through the years. A diehard fan of 40 years and very appreciative of what he's done on the macro scale. He forever changed the landscape of Boston sports, too. Arguably the greatest NFL owner ever. I would shake his hand tomorrow and thank him.
It doesn't mean I can't disagree with some of his very questionable decisions and I thought it was incredibly dumb of him to publicly bash the younger players recently drafted during a flippin' pandemic. Again, another bad decision, IMO. It has to be awkward walking by them in the locker room right now.
I have a right to an opinion.
Also, the fact you haven't disputed the issues I've had with him in recent years is telling. No fan should have liked watching him be bent over the sink by cheating owners and Sheriff Goebbels like that. It's never been done in sports history. I can only imagine what might be discovered if Congress keeps pushing for transparency with this WFT thing. I can only imagine what discovery would bring in terms of seeing how these teams have cheated ours with lies.
Can only imagine it.
TyLawsPick6
Well-known member
Umm, I've criticized BB plenty throughout the 20 years. The problem is, there isn't a ton to actually criticize.
Mazz22
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.
Welcome to my camp.
I'm waiting for Shaun Wade personally. I think that kid could be a real stud.
I agree. He looked good in very limited action. It seems they're really slowly trying to ease him in, but when he's ready I feel he's going to be productive a la Jon Jones, JC Jackson.
aloyouis
at least generally aware
Nah. Rebuild first quarter.
BB betting he can move his QB1 along just fast enough to stay in the playoff picture and then bust ass in December/January.
IIWII
Flagg the Wanderer
Mourning Algernon
Welcome to my camp.
I hope so, too.
I'm waiting for BB to trade for WR Brandin Cooks, though. He can separate! He's available, Houston is having a Fall Fire Sale. He'd cost less $2M for the rest of this year. Include Harry.
Cooks at X
Agholor at Y
Meyers/Bourne at Slot
Henry at Inline TE
Jonnu at H-Back.
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Mazz22
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.
Bill trade for a WR? After what he spend on the skill group this off-season? Bahahahaha!
Just like old times.
Flagg the Wanderer
Mourning Algernon
I can see the appeal of going to get Cooks, buy I think Nellie is getting it and will be what we need him to be. It'd be a win to have both for sure, but not sure it's worth what it would likely cost.
That said, any particular reason you think Cooks might be on the block? Or just wishing?
Mazz22
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.
Exactly. You trade for Cooks and you are basically telling Nelson you are giving up on him after what Bill just paid him. I would rather see Bill get a CB. That's what we really need moreso than a WR.
Most everyone on the team is up for grabs especially those on short term contracts.
Agholor has the dropsies and isn't near the deep speed/threat that Cooks is. Cooks doesn't want to be in Houston.
View: https://twitter.com/patscap/status/1453533356323393538
View: https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1453484836673499139
Gumpboy45
Well-known member
what is your agenda here? I mean really what makes you keep posting? you know it all so why bother? you bored?
Since I have her on ignore I'll guess what she said. "Why do we want Cooks back?"
Answer:
Because he was good while he was with us but $$ got in the way. He's still good, he's fast and he can catch. Plus, he's cheap again.
Mazz22
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.
Love the debate. Don't know it all. Far from it. Just like to call out the hypocrisy here of wanting to trade for Cooks given how much he was eviscerated here when we traded him a few years ago. That being said, Bill IMO might trade for a CB as that is the pressing need and IMO I don't think he would do that to Nelson. Also, I think any trade is predicated on us beating the Chargers as if we don't and fall to 3-5, I don't see Bill giving up draft resources for this season.
From the Athletic on Hunter Henry. Lots in here you probably didn't know.
theathletic.com
When Bret Bielema finished his introductory press conference after taking the head-coaching job at Arkansas, he walked off stage and called Hunter Henry. At the time, Henry was a few days shy of his 18th birthday, the No. 1 tight-end recruit in the country and at the top of Bielema’s priority list. Bielema did everything he could to make sure Henry would follow in the footsteps of his father, mother and grandfather and become a Razorback.
On the first day of NFL free agency this year, Bill Belichick showed similar urgency, signing Henry to a three-year, $37.5 million contract with $25 million guaranteed. Those who know both Belichick and Henry considered this to be an inevitable match, a player and coach perfectly suited for one another. When Bielema was on Belichick’s staff two years ago, Henry came up in conversation. Bielema told him, “Coach, this guy is the definition of a Patriot.”
Early on, that assessment looks accurate. Henry has caught touchdowns in four consecutive games and has earned the trust of his neighbor, Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones. He has 24 receptions for 264 yards and has played 72 percent of the Patriots’ offensive snaps.
“He’s tough, smart, dependable times 1,000,” Bielema said. “It’s in his genes, in his DNA. Just everything about him is what you want.”
When Belichick was discussing Henry’s early impact on the team this week, he noted two plays that didn’t show up on the stat sheet. One was the opening kickoff against the Jets. They kicked the ball in the opposite direction the Patriots were expecting and sent the ball into the sun. The Patriots flipped the direction of their return on the fly, and Henry flew across the field to make a key block. A few plays later, Henry’s route drew coverage away from Jonnu Smith, who had open field to run with a screen pass.
“It’s little things like that that Hunter does,” Belichick said. “They’re little things that become big things.”
Henry has been doing those little things ever since he was growing up in Little Rock, Ark., the oldest of Mark and Jenny’s four children. His father is a pastor, and Bielema described his mother as “having a stronghold on that house.” They raised their children to be tough but gentle.
By the time Henry got to Pulaski Academy, he was ready for the rigors of playing for Kevin Kelley, who Belichick has described as the best high school football coach in the country. Henry started off as an offensive tackle, because Kelley noticed his size. Henry’s father was a standout offensive lineman at Arkansas. Kelley wondered whether a ninth-grader would be able to handle playing in the trenches on varsity against kids two and three years older than him. It didn’t take long for him to realize he had nothing to worry about.
“He wasn’t scared,” Kelley said.
What Kelley also realized after that season while watching Henry dominate on the basketball court was that Henry moved too well to play offensive tackle. The team wasn’t using him right. So he called Henry’s dad and said he thought he should move to wide receiver.
“Whatever you think will help the team,” Mark told him.
It was apparent right away just how much Henry helped the team as a receiver. Transitioning there in Pulaski’s passing offense, which was complex by high school standards, wasn’t simple. But Henry absorbed the playbook faster than most and caught 45 passes for 748 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore.
“I brought him along slower than I probably should have,” Kelley admitted. “We had so many guys in the past that really struggled with it. I’ve had guys that have gone through their entire career and never picked it up … He picked it up so easily for a guy that had never done it before. That really gave him a jumpstart.”
Henry only got better from there. He had 64 catches for 1,093 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior and finished his career by catching 107 passes for 1,449 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior. He was ranked as the No. 1 tight end in the country by some recruiting services. That’s why Bielema knew he had to call him the second he got done with his introductory press conference. Oklahoma and Alabama were among the schools after Henry, and Bielema didn’t want to let him leave the state.
In the end, as enamored as Henry was by Oklahoma and Alabama, Arkansas wasn’t a hard sell. It was in his blood. Plus, he saw what Bielema had done with tight ends in the past at Wisconsin. The family was sold by Bielema’s honest approach, and Henry had a desire to continue his family’s legacy.
“The Henrys are Razorback royalty,” said Barry Lunney Jr., who played quarterback at Arkansas and was later Henry’s tight ends coach before becoming the offensive coordinator at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Lunney was four years behind Henry’s parents at Arkansas and met them through a campus ministry in which Mark was involved. Lunney became the tight ends coach at Arkansas right as Henry arrived. He was on the ground floor of Henry’s development from high-school receiver to first-team All-American tight end.
“He just had that proverbial ‘it factor,’” Lunney Jr. said. “He had an ability to relate to his teammates and garner respect as a freshman both through his words and his actions.”
When he arrived at Arkansas, Henry hadn’t been in a three-point stance since that freshman season as an offensive tackle. Bielema said the coaching staff “had to teach him everything about playing tight end.” The growing pains were there, too.
During Henry’s freshman season, Arkansas traveled to Florida. Henry ended up blocking a linebacker one-on-one in space and got rag-dolled. The next day, Bielema pulled him into his office and showed him the play.
“My friend,” Bielema told him. “Before you leave here, you’re going to be on the other end of this play.”
Sure enough, two years later, the Razorbacks were back at The Swamp playing the Gators. Henry got another blocking opportunity against a linebacker and tossed him over a pile. He had developed into a complete tight end. Lunney said blocking for tight ends often comes down to desire, and Henry never lacked that.
Arkansas didn’t just keep him on the line to block, though. Before Henry’s junior season. Bielema told his coaching staff he thought Henry was the best tight end he’d ever coached. He didn’t want to get to the end of the season and wish he had thrown him the ball more.
“We scripted out eight targets per game, if not more, that we wanted to make sure we got the ball in his hands,” Bielema said. “I believe that year he didn’t have a drop on the season. Not one.”
Drops were so rare for Henry that when he dropped a pass in practice prior to Arkansas’ bowl game his junior year, the whole practice field went quiet. Bielema had to crack a joke to lighten the mood.
“I had to get everybody laughing so that it wouldn’t crush the team,” Bielema said.
Lunney remembers every time Henry made a mistake, whether it was the rare drop or fumble, he focused so intently on correcting that error and making sure it didn’t happen again. Listen to enough stories about Henry’s work habits, and it’s obvious why he’d gravitate to playing in New England under Belichick.
“His work ethic has always been there,” Lunney said. “So it’s not surprising at all that he would not even flinch about (going) somewhere where he’s coached hard and where the standards are high and that gives him an opportunity to win because that’s really who he is.”
Added Bielema: “He feeds off success and he loves structure.”
The connection between Henry and the Patriots was an easy one to make. Belichick knows his high-school coach and employed his college coach. Current Patriots tight ends coach Nick Caley was even a graduate assistant coaching defense at Arkansas when Henry was a freshman.
“He always had the right head on his shoulders, even back then,” Caley said.
The Patriots travel to Los Angeles this week to play the Chargers, the team that drafted Henry and let him walk in free agency after five seasons. Henry said there were some “bittersweet” feelings leaving Los Angeles after all the relationships he and his wife had formed. But he’s found himself right at home in New England. Henry’s friendship with Jones is starting to translate into the production the Patriots envisioned when they signed him, too. As those who know him suspected, Henry is right where he belongs.
“I have a feeling that it was probably a perfectly made batch of cookies on many different levels, from the organization to the player to the personnel fit,” Bielema said.
'The definition of a Patriot': Why Hunter Henry has been a quick fit in New England
As those who know him suspected, Henry is right where he belongs — being coached hard and held to high expectations with the Patriots.
theathletic.com
When Bret Bielema finished his introductory press conference after taking the head-coaching job at Arkansas, he walked off stage and called Hunter Henry. At the time, Henry was a few days shy of his 18th birthday, the No. 1 tight-end recruit in the country and at the top of Bielema’s priority list. Bielema did everything he could to make sure Henry would follow in the footsteps of his father, mother and grandfather and become a Razorback.
On the first day of NFL free agency this year, Bill Belichick showed similar urgency, signing Henry to a three-year, $37.5 million contract with $25 million guaranteed. Those who know both Belichick and Henry considered this to be an inevitable match, a player and coach perfectly suited for one another. When Bielema was on Belichick’s staff two years ago, Henry came up in conversation. Bielema told him, “Coach, this guy is the definition of a Patriot.”
Early on, that assessment looks accurate. Henry has caught touchdowns in four consecutive games and has earned the trust of his neighbor, Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones. He has 24 receptions for 264 yards and has played 72 percent of the Patriots’ offensive snaps.
“He’s tough, smart, dependable times 1,000,” Bielema said. “It’s in his genes, in his DNA. Just everything about him is what you want.”
When Belichick was discussing Henry’s early impact on the team this week, he noted two plays that didn’t show up on the stat sheet. One was the opening kickoff against the Jets. They kicked the ball in the opposite direction the Patriots were expecting and sent the ball into the sun. The Patriots flipped the direction of their return on the fly, and Henry flew across the field to make a key block. A few plays later, Henry’s route drew coverage away from Jonnu Smith, who had open field to run with a screen pass.
“It’s little things like that that Hunter does,” Belichick said. “They’re little things that become big things.”
Henry has been doing those little things ever since he was growing up in Little Rock, Ark., the oldest of Mark and Jenny’s four children. His father is a pastor, and Bielema described his mother as “having a stronghold on that house.” They raised their children to be tough but gentle.
By the time Henry got to Pulaski Academy, he was ready for the rigors of playing for Kevin Kelley, who Belichick has described as the best high school football coach in the country. Henry started off as an offensive tackle, because Kelley noticed his size. Henry’s father was a standout offensive lineman at Arkansas. Kelley wondered whether a ninth-grader would be able to handle playing in the trenches on varsity against kids two and three years older than him. It didn’t take long for him to realize he had nothing to worry about.
“He wasn’t scared,” Kelley said.
What Kelley also realized after that season while watching Henry dominate on the basketball court was that Henry moved too well to play offensive tackle. The team wasn’t using him right. So he called Henry’s dad and said he thought he should move to wide receiver.
“Whatever you think will help the team,” Mark told him.
It was apparent right away just how much Henry helped the team as a receiver. Transitioning there in Pulaski’s passing offense, which was complex by high school standards, wasn’t simple. But Henry absorbed the playbook faster than most and caught 45 passes for 748 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore.
“I brought him along slower than I probably should have,” Kelley admitted. “We had so many guys in the past that really struggled with it. I’ve had guys that have gone through their entire career and never picked it up … He picked it up so easily for a guy that had never done it before. That really gave him a jumpstart.”
Henry only got better from there. He had 64 catches for 1,093 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior and finished his career by catching 107 passes for 1,449 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior. He was ranked as the No. 1 tight end in the country by some recruiting services. That’s why Bielema knew he had to call him the second he got done with his introductory press conference. Oklahoma and Alabama were among the schools after Henry, and Bielema didn’t want to let him leave the state.
In the end, as enamored as Henry was by Oklahoma and Alabama, Arkansas wasn’t a hard sell. It was in his blood. Plus, he saw what Bielema had done with tight ends in the past at Wisconsin. The family was sold by Bielema’s honest approach, and Henry had a desire to continue his family’s legacy.
“The Henrys are Razorback royalty,” said Barry Lunney Jr., who played quarterback at Arkansas and was later Henry’s tight ends coach before becoming the offensive coordinator at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Lunney was four years behind Henry’s parents at Arkansas and met them through a campus ministry in which Mark was involved. Lunney became the tight ends coach at Arkansas right as Henry arrived. He was on the ground floor of Henry’s development from high-school receiver to first-team All-American tight end.
“He just had that proverbial ‘it factor,’” Lunney Jr. said. “He had an ability to relate to his teammates and garner respect as a freshman both through his words and his actions.”
When he arrived at Arkansas, Henry hadn’t been in a three-point stance since that freshman season as an offensive tackle. Bielema said the coaching staff “had to teach him everything about playing tight end.” The growing pains were there, too.
During Henry’s freshman season, Arkansas traveled to Florida. Henry ended up blocking a linebacker one-on-one in space and got rag-dolled. The next day, Bielema pulled him into his office and showed him the play.
“My friend,” Bielema told him. “Before you leave here, you’re going to be on the other end of this play.”
Sure enough, two years later, the Razorbacks were back at The Swamp playing the Gators. Henry got another blocking opportunity against a linebacker and tossed him over a pile. He had developed into a complete tight end. Lunney said blocking for tight ends often comes down to desire, and Henry never lacked that.
Arkansas didn’t just keep him on the line to block, though. Before Henry’s junior season. Bielema told his coaching staff he thought Henry was the best tight end he’d ever coached. He didn’t want to get to the end of the season and wish he had thrown him the ball more.
“We scripted out eight targets per game, if not more, that we wanted to make sure we got the ball in his hands,” Bielema said. “I believe that year he didn’t have a drop on the season. Not one.”
Drops were so rare for Henry that when he dropped a pass in practice prior to Arkansas’ bowl game his junior year, the whole practice field went quiet. Bielema had to crack a joke to lighten the mood.
“I had to get everybody laughing so that it wouldn’t crush the team,” Bielema said.
Lunney remembers every time Henry made a mistake, whether it was the rare drop or fumble, he focused so intently on correcting that error and making sure it didn’t happen again. Listen to enough stories about Henry’s work habits, and it’s obvious why he’d gravitate to playing in New England under Belichick.
“His work ethic has always been there,” Lunney said. “So it’s not surprising at all that he would not even flinch about (going) somewhere where he’s coached hard and where the standards are high and that gives him an opportunity to win because that’s really who he is.”
Added Bielema: “He feeds off success and he loves structure.”
The connection between Henry and the Patriots was an easy one to make. Belichick knows his high-school coach and employed his college coach. Current Patriots tight ends coach Nick Caley was even a graduate assistant coaching defense at Arkansas when Henry was a freshman.
“He always had the right head on his shoulders, even back then,” Caley said.
The Patriots travel to Los Angeles this week to play the Chargers, the team that drafted Henry and let him walk in free agency after five seasons. Henry said there were some “bittersweet” feelings leaving Los Angeles after all the relationships he and his wife had formed. But he’s found himself right at home in New England. Henry’s friendship with Jones is starting to translate into the production the Patriots envisioned when they signed him, too. As those who know him suspected, Henry is right where he belongs.
“I have a feeling that it was probably a perfectly made batch of cookies on many different levels, from the organization to the player to the personnel fit,” Bielema said.