Ya know… it’s a Sunday morning on a holiday weekend. I wait until around noon-ish to capture all of the news before publishing, and then this happens a half hour later. Interesting though. Wonder why they waited a day.

No one is safe—ever—and they know it. Sure, there’s a cut-down day. But the job is on the line all the time. What’s disgusting, at least to my eye, is that a guy with the talent Chad has never bothered to learn the playbook, or learn how to come out of his breaks, or read the defense, or how to finish a route. Like I said during the gamethread, Chad acted like he had a spot on the team, not like he was fighting for one. Both Ventrone and Jones out-performed Chad in every one of the preseasons games. I suspect the same was true in practice.

I want comment too much on the process as I’m not a football insider, but Mike Reiss called this one very early. In a 5 Questions with Mike Reiss story I did in June, he had this to say:

There’s been a lot written about Chad Jackson and his return to full time play. Do you think he could be the Donte Stallworth replacement we’re looking for?

Reiss: Yes, but I don’t have the highest confidence at this point. Maybe it’s that I caught out of the corner of my eye Jackson running the wrong route in the weekend mini-camp, when there wasn’t a defense on the field. I don’t want to base my opinion solely on that — it would be short-sighted to do so — but I also know there needs to be a trust and bond that develops between quarterback and receiver and that doesn’t seem to be there at this point with Tom Brady and Jackson. That’s what training camp is for, and it’s probably fair to say that’s why Jackson will be one of this camp’s most intriguing stories to follow.

There is a serious concern about the age of our players. This past draft saw an infusion of youth on the defense (5 of 7 draftees were defensive) – all made the 53 man roster. You mentioned Manning so I’ll draw a correlation to Brady. Our newest QB Kevin O’Connell could very well be the “heir apparent”. He survived the QB Backup battle and has made some nice plays during preseason. And he’s WAY more mobile than Brady.

As far as the AFC East, I hear ya. It’s getting tougher by the week. A guy who runs a fantasy site did a podcast interview with me and surprised me with the question, “Who do you think is the fantasy sleeper?” Off the cuff I picked Chad Pennington. I may be more right than I realized.

I wouldn’t count out the Pats, though. Belichick is ruthless about keeping or cutting players; there’s very little nostalgia in that man’s head and he’ll always build a strong team.

Sure this chapter of the Brady-led Patriots empire will end at some point, but, preseason aside, they haven’t keeled over just yet.

The strength of teams and divisions in the NFL can swing from one end to the other over the course of a few years or especially over a decade. In 1981 the Patriots and Colts played each other the last game of the season, both teams finishing with a 2-14 record. I’m well aware it could go back there again.

Keeping on top means keeping the right mix of veterans and rookies as well as of course, always having a star quarterback on the roster and a kid in the wings willing to take over when the time is right. Belichick’s efforts could be akin to trying to stem the tide with sandcastles, but how ‘bout if we give the patient at least until mid-season before reporting it’s decline and pronouncing it dead.