I'm not that Pats fan (I do have O-line concerns, mostly related to depth). But the hope is that Mankins will be back by the regular season and that Waters has some kind of arrangement with Belichick to come back during the last week before the regular season starts (that's right around the time they signed him last year, and he still had a Pro Bowl season). That doesn't address the issue at RT and LT, though. Solder got schooled last night and looked like he was playing the position for the first time. Volmer is out with back issues (again) and hasn't stayed healthy at the NFL level since he came into the league. No one else has really impressed anyone at camp. The only reason for Pats fans' optimism is that regardless of what's happened in the past - injuries, roster changes, etc - the line has always been above average at worst. They're well-coached by Scarnecchia and have taken no-name guys cast off by other teams and made them serviceable players (Russ Hochstein, Dan Connolly, etc). So the thought is that they've got work to do but that they'll work it out, as they have just about every time it's happened in the past. And if it continues to be as bad as it was last night, and they can't fix the line enough to protect Brady, it will show in the offensive play-calling. Lots of runs up the middle, WR screens, etc. Quick stuff where the defense won't have enough time to hit the QB. We'll see. Solder will now have a microscope on him for the rest of preseason, and after last night the o-line has got to be a concern for BB and his staff.
Well according to Cimini its possible the Jets were trying to trade Ducasse Maybe the Pats want him to be their new LT
They may still bring Faulk back if they decide these guys can't pass block. I actually thought the RBs were a bright spot. Both Ridley and Vereen ran well. Harder to tell with Vereen because he ran against the 3rd stringers...
Solder looked brutal and thats as nice as i can sugarcoat it but they rolled out a OL with 2 projected starters and Connely playing out of position, 3 former pro bowlers out , Waters will be back he didnt show up last year till the preseason was over..
Yeah, bringing back a guy who was on the roster last year is the same as bringing back someone who retired years ago. They also have a couple of FBs in camp they can plug in to block.
i could watch this glorious footage all day hopefully theres many more of these to come during this season.
Each week the media asks Bill about Waters and he says nothings changes. Excused absence. The guys who cover the team also seem to be under the assumption that Waters will be in at some point.
OK - are there also retirement rumors? I'm sure he could just be doing the same thing as last year, but it doesn't sound like a sure thing to me.
Yeah, it doesn't seem like a sure thing but I would say it's very realistic. The guy has had 6 months to decide on retirement. He most likely is just a vet who doesn't want to go through training camp. I guess you can hope, right?
I am not saying that it's unreasonable to expect him back. I was mostly trying to figure out what the deal was, then with a bit of googling saw there were retirement rumors too. Sounds like he will be back, I just don't believe it's a sure thing. I hope he retires.
True, he could still retire. He hasn't said anything, in fact he said that it was between him and the team at this point.
Waters coming back isn't as much of a sure thing as some of my fellow Patriots fans would have you believe. The truth is no one knows what's gonna happen with him, we're all just gonna have to wait and see. But I'm actually not too concerned about the interior part of the line, I think we have enough guys there to survive the season. It's the tackle situation that has me worried, Vollmer and Solder come with previously stated questions, but what's worst is that there are no reliable backups. With that said, I wouldn't advise any of you to get your hopes up too much, this offense is gonna score a ton of points one way or another.
I would be worried about your backs blocking as well, that was clearly an issue. The offense is gonna score points, absolutely But the big question is could this take years off Bradys career Because he IS the Patriots And he seems to have surgery or an injury 4 outta 5 years
