Tag: bill belchick

Robert Kraft hints at way in which Patriots will utilize versatile CB Marcus Jones

Cornerback Marcus Jones is extremely talented and can play numerous different roles on the field — even offense at times.

Third-round cornerback Marcus Jones out of Houston could turn out to be the best pick in the New England Patriots’ draft.

He’s undersized at 5-foot-8, 180 pounds — but he makes up for it with his speed and ability to make plays in all three phases of the game. Jones totaled nine interceptions, 31 passes deflected and 153 total tackles in his four collegiate seasons while playing cornerback.

Jones averaged 28.4 yards per kick return with six touchdowns in college, along with 14 yards per punt return with three touchdowns — totaling nine scores and 2,956 yards. His senior year at Houston, Jones also had 10 receptions for 109 yards and a touchdowns.

He’s the ultimate Swiss Army Knife and Patriots owner Robert Kraft acknowledged that when reaching out to Jones during the draft.

“It’s great to have you with us,” Kraft said. “I heard you’re a great punt returner, besides being a good inside cornerback.”’

The Patriots lost Gunner Olszewski in free agency this offseason and Jones is the perfect candidate to step in and make some plays. He may not be the best cornerback on the team, but he’ll be a valuable player for Bill Belichick to utilize.

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Bill Belichick pours on praise for Hunter Henry: ‘It’s little things’

Bill Belichick spoke at length about how much he has appreciated Hunter Henry.

Hunter Henry wasn’t the New England Patriots’ first free agency signing. In fact, he was the second big-splash addition that the team made at the position. But it was crystal clear how much Bill Belichick values the veteran tight end after the team’s Week 7 win over the New York Jets.

“He’s a good, smart, tough, dependable player,” Belichick said on Monday.

It’s not just that Henry put together an impressive performance as a pass-catcher, with his fourth touchdown in as many games Belichick admired Henry’s ability to contribute in other phases of the game — even on special teams where he helped spring Gunner Olszewski for a nice kick return.

“Hunter came all the way over from the right side, made a key block and we got the ball in good field position to start the game,” Belichick said during a video conference. “It was a heads-up play by the kickoff return team in a lot of areas, but really Hunter made the key block on that and came the farthest to do it.

“It’s little things like that that Hunter does that really — they’re little things that become big things.”

Henry hasn’t been enormously productive with the Patriots, with 24 catches for 264 yards and four touchdowns. He has increased his role in recent weeks, however, and has been a key blocker in New England’s run game.

“Hunter’s been really good in a lot of ways,” the Patriots head coach said Monday. “He’s a smart player. He can do a lot of things. He’s got a good, versatile skill set. Really, I thought one of the best plays he had (Sunday) was on the opening kickoff where the Jets tried to kick the ball opposite of the way we expected and what the wind would indicate and so forth.

“But it was a play designed to send the ball up into the sun and make it a tough catch and a tough play there. Gunner (Olszewski) handled the ball well, but we had to flip the whole return from going to the right (to) going to the left based on where the ball came down.”

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5 bold predictions for Jets vs. Patriots in Week 7

The Jets have a chance to get back at the Patriots after a Week 2 beatdown. Here are five bold predictions for Gang Green’s Week 7 rematch.

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Week 7 provides a new test for the Jets.

How this team responds coming out of the bye week should indicate how they’ll operate for the rest of the season. Robert Saleh had a long time to evaluate this team and see the things that must be resolved before he and the Jets take on the Patriots this Sunday.

If New York plays well – even in a losing effort – it sets the team up nicely for the rest of the year and the future. But if Gang Green continues to falter or make the same mistakes that plagued the team’s 1-4 start, there will be a lot more questions than answers as New York barrels towards another bad season.

The Patriots rematch is a perfect get-right spot for this Jets team considering the many flaws of Bill Belichick’s young squad. New York could come away with an upset if it exploits New England’s recent struggles.

With that in mins, here are five bold predictions for the Week 7 matchup.

Are the Patriots throwing more at Mac Jones than they did at Tom Brady to start?

“There was a different strategy when Tommy started playing because we were loaded on defense.”

Mac Jones’ path to becoming a starter in the NFL is unprecedented.

The No. 15 overall pick beat out Cam Newton for the role and he’s the first rookie to start under Bill Belichick for the New England Patriots. Even the route he took to fall down to the Patriots in the draft was unlikely. And now, he’s been given the keys to lead the Patriots following an era that consisted of winning and excellence from Tom Brady.

Brady, who’s the greatest player to touch an NFL field, still didn’t have the magnitude of responsibility that’s on Jones’ shoulders when he first became the starter. Former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss joined WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” Friday morning and explained this in further detail.

“There was a different strategy when Tommy started playing because we were loaded on defense. So the way we played at that time, at least when Tommy first started the year, was very conservative,” Weis said. “We were dinking and dunking, everyone was saying, ‘The guy can’t throw the ball down the field’ because we weren’t throwing the ball down the field. Obviously, the Patriots now are doing a lot more of exposing Mac to everything than we did to Tommy at the start of the year.

“Now, by the end of the year the guy is running two-minute to win the Super Bowl. Obviously, we went a long way from when he first went in there. Mac/the Patriots are ahead of the curve as far as all the stuff they are doing with him already in games where probably it took us half the season before we got there with Tommy.”

Following the much-anticipated Week 1 matchup, Weiss believes the Patriots will continue to add to Jones’ responsibilities.

“I think the philosophy there has always been find out what they can do and do that, and then expand from there,” he said. “I think Josh [McDaniels] and the rest of the staff — Josh, Bill [Belichick] and everyone else — is starting to feel comfortable. ‘OK, these things we know he’s comfortable with. Now we can grow from there.’”

Jones threw 29 of 39 for 281 yards and a touchdown, while converting 11 of 16 third downs in the Patriots’ 17-16 loss to the Miami Dolphins last week. He was cool and collective while spreading the ball around and he’ll have an easier matchup this week against the New York Jets.

From the looks of things currently — Jones could look like a true seasoned veteran mid-season.

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Lane Kiffin reveals one way Bill Belichick is more thorough than most GMs

Lane Kiffin pointed out one thing Bill Belichick does that other GMs often do not.

A few college coaches can probably expect calls from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick ahead of the 2021 NFL draft.

It’s customary for Belichick to inquire about the prospects he might draft. He doesn’t call every coach — not even close. But he definitely makes calls to some, particularly those with whom he has longstanding relationships, like Chip Kelly and Nick Saban and, apparently, Lane Kiffin.

Kiffin was asked about how often he hears from NFL coaches, inquiring about prospects ahead of the NFL draft.

“We get some calls. Probably not as much as you’d think,” Kiffin said during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. “No disrespect, I think a lot of people in the NFL think ‘OK, well we’ve got it figured out. We don’t need opinions from college guys.’ That may sound crazy to you, but that does happen.

“The really good ones like him, he’s so smart he’ll call and say — I remember it was a tight end — he was like, ‘OK, I remember you had Zach Miller 10 years ago with the Raiders or whatever it was. How do you compare him to him?’ That’s how smart he is. To be able to remember who you had and players you were around (to) compare them to. That’s why he’s so great at that.”

 

Kiffin, currently the coach at Ole Miss, has worked for Saban and Alabama along with a number of other stops.

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Patriots suddenly have 3rd-most cap space in NFL

The Patriots had an exponential jump in cap space over the past month.

The ever-changing 2020 offseason is continuing to unfold surprises for the New England Patriots.

Tom Brady’s departure felt astronomical in March — and then the coronavirus pandemic happened, Cam Newton signed and the Patriots now have the third-most cap space in the NFL. New England entered the offseason with less than $500 thousand to spend and now they sit at $35.28 million.

It all began with the grievances they settled with Antonio Brown and Aaron Hernandez that freed up nearly $8 million in cap space. They restructured Rex Burkhead’s contract earlier that week and were desperate to make moves that would clear up space.

The Patriots had an NFL-high eight players opt-out and that created a ton of room for the 2020 season. Nearly $28 million of that money came from Dont’a Hightower, Marcus Cannon and Patrick Chung’s contracts. The cap space for these players has been moved to the 2021 season, and fortunately for New England, they’re in solid shape for next year.

The list of free agents is slim and the Patriots could just let the money roll over into next season. Bill Belichick has a decent team to put on the field and he could sign players throughout the year if the Patriots lose depth.

Things have changed significantly when it comes to salary cap and it gives the Patriots much more freedom going forward.

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