New England Patriots Links 12/10/09 - Message Sent Loud And Clear

by Marima on Dec 10, 2009 10:16 AM EST in New England Patriots News

Tom Brady leading by example, shows up at Gillette after the birth of his son.

Albert Breer notes the players are getting the message, from Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

"I think it would’ve been laid down at any time of the year, regardless of whether we lost. That’s not acceptable here," linebacker Tully Banta-Cain told me, after I presented him with the news of the day. "That’s Bill’s deal, and I think in general, everyone’s sense of urgency is a little higher now. We’re in that part of the season where it’s a four-game season. "The antennas are way up. I think if anything it just brings the sense of urgency up even higher."

"Even more guys are coming in, watching more film," Banta-Cain continued. "We’ll see what we can do in practice today, and I think everyone’s got that gameface on right now. They’re not waiting til Sunday to put it on. I think Tom is a guy we definitely look to for that type of leadership, and I’m pretty sure everybody will respond to it."

Tom Brady was asked about overcoming adversity, showing fight and if the team can do it over the next 4 weeks.

Well, I think a lot of it, you know, you've got to bring awareness to what we, as leaders, and what our coach thinks are issues on the team - issues that we face as a team, individually, collectively. It's not about playing hard on Sundays. I mean, we do that. That's three hours a week that you have to show up and really commit yourself to. I don't think that's too much to ask of anybody and guys do that. It's not like we think we're not fighting out there in the game. I think what coach tells us and what I was alluding to was probably more of just the other six days of the week. We've got to make the commitment to each other. And if it's Monday and it's Tuesday and coach wants us to come in on Monday and work or stay for a two-and-a-half-hour practice on Wednesday and Thursday, then with no bitching and complaining, just doing the job.

I think at times we all feel a little bit sorry for ourselves an you're beat up and you're tired and you're sore and it's the end of the year and you go, ‘Why is he doing this?' But in the end, you're either gaining ground on a team or you're losing ground, and I always prefer to be gaining ground and getting ahead and staying ahead over the course of the week through walkthroughs, through meetings, through post-practice film, through you're film study on Tuesday, through all of the treatment that you've got to do. There's a lot that goes into it. I think that if we can keep adding that 10 percent, 20 percent, whatever it may be - probably everyone's got to look at themselves differently. I know what I need to add, and that's obviously what I need to commit to do for myself and for this team.

TEAM TALK

Patriots sign DL Titus Adams, place DB Bret Lockett on IR.
Erik Scalavino Bleary-eyed Brady engages in baby-talk; Wed notes from Gillette.
Wednesday Pressers: Bill Belichick (15 min. video), Tom Brady (14:23 min. video). Plus Transcripts.
Patriots locker room quotes.
Patriots Today: Back to work on a Wednesday (9:04 min. video).
Patriots-Panthers Wednesday practice participation and injury report.

LOCAL LINKS

Karen Guregian feels the late players may have been the proverbial straw that snapped Belichick, as the last player to get high-profile discipline from him was Terry Glenn.
Christopher Price notes Kevin Faulk's reaction to Belichick's disciplinary action and Brady's statement. Faulk has his own leadership role on the team, keeping Tom Brady accountable.
Shalise Manza Young writes it's yet to be determined if Belichick's stand with the players will inspire or backfire.
Monique Walker reports the players understand why Belichick did what he did, and why Brady said what he said, and know they have to practice better to play better.
Eric Ortiz says not even a note from the Pope could have saved Moss, Thomas, Guyton and Burgess from the wrath of Belichick. They were late, and Belichick wanted to send a message to the rest of the team.
Chris Gasper notes the Patriots defensive problems aren't so much a personnel failure as a system failure, and Belichick's two-gap scheme is outmoded for today's NFL.
Shalise Manza Young says Moss is obviously a big part of New England’s air attack, but wonders if teams have figured out how to shut him down.
Ian Rapoport wonders why the tight ends aren't seeing the ball more, especially with recent opponents focusing on shutting down Moss and Welker.
Albert Breer reports the Patriots added QB Jeff Rowe and WR Darnell Jenkins to the practice squad.
Adam Kilgore says Steve Smith understands what Randy Moss, Adalius Thomas, Gary Guyton, and Derrick Burgess are feeling today, and John Fox understands where Bill Belichick is coming from.
Monique Walker notes Brady welcomed his new baby son into the world and then reported to Gillette after being up all night.
Ron Borges hunts down ex-Patriot Richard Seymour to pound home how his presence would have helped New England's anemic pass rush. "They wish it was that easy to replace me, but it’s not."
Mike Reiss breaks down the weekly Patriots penalty leaderboard, with Logan Mankins and Tom Brady tied with 7.
Mike Reiss looks at the Patriots record when leading at the half. This year is way, way off the norm.
Boston Herald Patriots Notebook: Panthers' WR Steve Smith is having a quiet year; QB Jake Delhomme didn't practice yesterday (broken finger) and the Panthers might go with QB Matt Moore again; Tully Banta-Cain had the team's one and only sack Sunday and knows they have to try harder.

NATIONAL NEWS

Tim Graham (ESPN) Michael Smith calls the New England Patriots a 'team in crisis'. (1:25 min video).
Tim Graham (ESPN) How will Patriots respond to trouble?
Tim Graham (ESPN) Did stress of new baby affect Brady's play? I noticed he was carrying kind of low.
Alex Marvez (Fox Sports) NFL's biggest rip-offs.
Ross Tucker (SI) Teams should follow Bengals' example in utilizing practice squad.

VIEW FROM CAROLINA

Charles Chandler (Charlotte Observer) For QB Matt Moore, the job is all about trust.
Darren Gantt (Rock Hill Herald) Panthers' Moore focusing on making better choices, trusting himself.
Charles Chandler and David Scott (Charlotte Observer) Smith says he'd "probably get in trouble" if he spoke out about the passing game.
Darren Gantt (Rock Hill Herald) Panthers' Peppers draws glowing praise from Belichick.
Steve Reed (Gaston Gazzette) Delhomme still unable to grip the football.

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Comments

Defensive Backs

Someone should tell the defensive Backs that staying with the receiver in coverage is good but not just as an escort service. They have to look over their shoulder to see where the ball is and if it is coming in their direction so they can either put up their hands to breakup the pass or proceed to the area of the field where the ball was thrown or move over to stop the receiver who caught the ball so he doesn’t run unmolested to the end zone. Lately the Dbacks have been working as just an escort service.

by Root1Man on Dec 10, 2009 12:55 PM EST reply actions

Unfortunately, those "escort services" get paid pretty well.

My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.

by SlotMachinePlayer on Dec 10, 2009 1:00 PM EST up reply actions

I don't think the message was received "Loud and Clear" at all

Adalius Thomas is having some trouble receiving it.

Thomas said that he believes the incident will be a big topic in the media, regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s game against the Panthers.

“I think it’s more than what it should be, so, you know, your focus should be on Carolina, but instead, it’s on this whole topic of being late and whatnot,” he said. “It will be determined on Sunday after the game — [if] we play well, it will be this whole great thing, and if it doesn’t, then you guys will come back to this whole thing and say it’s a distraction.”

Some questions for you, Adalius. Did you hear the speech on Monday about putting in extra time? Did you hear about the impending storm on Tuesday? Is this the first severe weather situation you’ve ever dealt with? Most importantly, why can 57 players (including the practice squad and the QB whose son was born the night before) make it on time, and you can’t? You still trying to butt heads with Belichick after doing less than nothing this season?

I thought you would be one of the leaders this year, but you need to take responsibility before you can be a leader. Epic fail on your part.

My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.

by SlotMachinePlayer on Dec 10, 2009 3:59 PM EST reply actions

actually, he's right

He’s just commenting on how the MEDIA will use the incident.

If they win – the MEDIA will say it was because of the decision by BB to send the guys home (message to the team, focus, discipline, rah rah rah).

If they lose – the MEDIA will say it was because of the decision by BB to send the guys home (resulted in distraction, unfairly singled guys out, causing them to sulk, created an unnecessary rift, yada yada yada).

The MEDIA is of course, clueless about the reality of how the team’s inner dynamics play out, but that’s how they’ll spin it.

I’m not saying, SMP, that Adalias isn’t failing on his own responsibilities to the team. But his comment above, which is about the MEDIA, is actually spot-on.

by mmmmm on Dec 10, 2009 4:51 PM EST up reply actions

I agree his comment is right. I didn't quote the other part.

I disagree with his “Woe is me” demeanor. He was trying to get in at normal time, the storm slowed him, and he was late.
Bill said Monday that they should get in there early.

Instead of looking at it as a responsible adult and ask, “Is there anything I could have done to prevent this from happening?” He was ranting about how unfair it was when he could have and should have prevented it from happening. It just wasn’t that big a deal to him. He gets paid either way.

My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.

by SlotMachinePlayer on Dec 10, 2009 5:00 PM EST up reply actions

I dunno

I get what you are saying -but I have mixed feelings about Bill doing this.

I can understand the idea of sending a message to your team that its time to get serious. And its easy to invoke the ‘57 other guys got here on time – why can’t you?’ argument.

But the truth is that it WAS a snow storm and it WAS dangerous and unpredictable to get in to work. I know MOST people got to work at normal times, but a lot of people (including yours truly) did not. Most of those people aren’t going to chime up an defend the fact that they were late to work as anything to be proud of, but I know that if I got singled out and reprimanded for it on a day like yesterday, I’d be a little peaved.

I am a professional and don’t need school-age discipline to be motivated and I would resent being cut out of putting in a days work as a ‘lesson’. It sounds like Thomas feels that way.

You ask “Is there anything I could have done to prevent this from happening?” Well, the answer is “No”. It happened. You don’t get do-overs cuz the clock cannot be reset.

A better way to look at it is to de-personalize it. Say to yourself, “Okay – coach wants to send a message to the TEAM – it isn’t about me, because being late to a Wednesday morning meeting is NOT what has cost this team wins. The coach wants to send a message to the TEAM about toeing the line and meeting responsibilities in OTHER STUFF. Thus, I’ll go ahead and take it (the punishment) as an example to my teammates that I am not exceptional and I am subject to the same rules and that I believe in the team.”

Of course – doing that would mean keeping your mouth shut to the media – which Thomas did not. do So maybe you are right.

Like I said, I have mixed feelings about the incident.

If I were Bill, and decided to do this sort of thing, I would have first called the 4 guys into my office and clarified to each that it wasn’t about them or them being late but I wanted them to help me send a message to others on the team about how serious I am about other things by hitting them on this one (otherwise trivial) thing and that I was giving them the day off – i’d implore them to be tough and ‘take one for the team’ in the media by not saying a thing. This technique co-opts the culprits into being accomplices with the head coach rather than putting them at odds. It is an offering of trust that binds.

by mmmmm on Dec 10, 2009 5:44 PM EST up reply actions

Bill did handle it personally

but it was about them being late. If they weren’t, we’d be talking about the Panthers right now.

I don’t like confrontation, and don’t like obvious unease and discomfort in any group – be it family or work or a team setting – but that doesn’t make me a “peace-at-any-price” person either. There are limits and thresholds and Belichick reached his Wednesday (for the first time since 2000).

Players have been late under Belichick before and have been issued team fines for the transgression. He doesn’t issue a press release and the incident is kept in-house. Thomas chose to make this public so the media could sympathize with how wronged he was. It is my opinion that he knows media attention is the last thing Belichick wants and chose that route to take a dig at him.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Dec 10, 2009 6:09 PM EST up reply actions