Belichick blasts the field at Reliant Stadium
by MaPatsFan on Jan 4, 2010 9:44 PM EST
in Opinion/Analysis
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I'm usually on the "Bill Bandwagon". What he says goes because he was pretty much conceived, born, and educated on a football field. He's the smartest man in the game today and should be carried onto the field like Xerxes or something. Anyway, my latest rant has to do with Belichick's suggestion that the field conditions on Sunday were the cause of Wes Welker's injury:
In his paid appearance on WEEI, Patriots coach Bill Belichick pointed to the Reliant Stadium turf as perhaps being the cause of Wes Welker's knee injury.
"The turf down there is terrible," he said. "To me player safety starts on the surface that we play on ... the quality of the field I thought was poor.
Ok, I get it, but the team plays in rain, snow, and heaven knows what else. I'd think they'd have little trouble taking care of business on any surface, especially when almost every other guy on the field didn't think it was an issue. Safety James Sanders, in what will surely get him a reprimand for contradicting the head coach, had this to say:
There was a couple slick spots, safety James Sanders said. Our job is to show up and play on Sundays, no matter what the conditions are. The footing wasn't that bad. It really wasn't too, too bad.
It was a little soggy, wide receiver Julian Edelman said. The grass was a little soggy. But it wasn't too bad. It was a little damp.
Julian Edelman, too. Well he needs him now, so I can't see Edelman riding the bench. ;-) At any rate, I think it's a stretch to say the field caused the injury, so maybe it's just Belichick lashing out in frustration, or his version of it. I find it hard to believe a player with Welker's experience would succumb to field conditions when no one else did.
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The Patriots have been accused of poorly maintaining their field as well
Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.
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they use field turf not grass since 06
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum!
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
WHAT???????
You must be kidding me. That coach (far from a football god) blames the field? How about tapping games because you are so good!!!! He is a cheater and always looking to blame someone else. Wake up people he sucks because the blame is always somewhere. Next he will blame Bon Jovi for making songs for him. What a joke he is. Real coaches like Lom bardi, Shula, Dikta, Bryant, Paterno, Tubby Raymond, do you here any of these guys blaming a field for a player. Lets get real this is football injuries happen. Wow a bunch of idiots you are.
so u troll in here just after u created an account...stfu and go home
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum!
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
What's "northest?"
As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in pie. And there's an "I" in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I don't know what he's talking about. --Shaun of the Dead
by JohnHannahRules on Jan 5, 2010 9:56 AM EST up reply actions
theres a difference between poor weather and a poor field
some turf laid fields are not laid completely flat and if they are old have dips and stuff that can definitely cause a player to get a bad plant foot stuck. its totally different from sloppy field conditions from weather where the weather actually makes it less likely to get hurt because plant feet will slip out from underneath a player instead of causing injury. y’all just patriot haters
by DrJgopatsgators on Jan 4, 2010 11:10 PM EST reply actions
I thinkt he field might have contributed
but the injury it self was nothing more than a fluke. I mean he wasn;t hit and his knee blew it out…personally that to me it was only a matter of time wes would had the injury. the field might have just made it sooner, if there were holes or bad spots on the spot where welker stepped into and got his cleets caught or slipped on.
The Field Conditions
were probably lot poorer than what most football players might want due to the Texas Bowl being played in Reliant earlier this week. I can easily see this being a definite concern for a coach who just lost a very talented receiver right before playoffs. If the field conditions were crappy (As well they could’ve been) then Belichek would have a right to be upset.
Texans fan.
I was about to say the same thing....
and Im a Texans fan too. The Texas Bowl was played two days before the Texans/Pats game and that probably contributed to a poorer field than normal.
Also, the field itself is composed of 5 foot by 5 foot palettes that are supposed to grow together as they sit in the form of a field. Its a different system than most fields and personally I have wanted the Texans to switch to a field turf surface but they have given no indication of that yet.
The field on sunday was probably worse than it should have been, but it wasn’t horrible. On horrible fields players slip but that wasnt the case on sunday. Welker took a bad step and got hurt, that can happen on any field.
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I was watching Julius Edelman
make the same cuts that Welker does and I never saw him slip. And Edelman was making some sharp cuts.
True
All you really need, though, it the field to be bad in the one spot you planted your foot. If Wes had been 1 yard left, it might have been all right.
Not saying the field caused the problem. Just saying it could have.
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 Jan 5, 2010 10:31 AM EST up reply actions
Context?
Not sure if it was a full-on lashing or just a throw-away line. Hard to tell about the injury, as it didn’t seem like he (Welker) stepped in anything. If it was one of the seams in the turf that caused (or helped to cause) the injury, then certainly he’s got a point.
Nevertheless, this is something of a crack in the facade IMO. Unlike BB to do or say anything that might add to distractions before a playoff game, so I’m guessing that he and everyone else are in fact a bit anxious and angry about losing Wes. Hope he can focus the team more than he focused himself for that show.
As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in pie. And there's an "I" in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I don't know what he's talking about. --Shaun of the Dead
I heard Belichick on the radio last night
He didn’t “blast” the field conditions or Houston or anything like that. He truly “suggested” that it might have caused the problem and it’s no wonder the coach doesn’t talk with the media – the headlines in this case certainly were blasted out of context.
Keep the faith!
I had a hunch.
Happens all the time. I heard an interview w/ Reggie Bush last year where he listed being in the Pro Bowl as a motivator. The next day, Jim Rome (whom I usually enjoy) was blasting him for guaranteeing a pro bowl slot when he’s basically a 3rd-down guy. This year, I heard an EEI guy in the evening griping about Mankins’ saying he’d like a new contract, making it sound like Logan was beefing out the team in the press. Then you read the story and it’s basically, “Yeah, you’ll have to ask those guys — I have no idea.”
The press are lazy, and we’re desperate for Pats news so that’s what you get, I guess.
As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in pie. And there's an "I" in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I don't know what he's talking about. --Shaun of the Dead
by JohnHannahRules on Jan 5, 2010 11:59 AM EST up reply actions
I've played soccer (same running style as Wes) on very poor fields
The number of blown out knees and ankle tweaks goes up considerably. You don’t notice it as much running straight away, but the quick cuts require a solid plant foot. If you drop into a hole or the field slopes the wrong way, you put a lot of weight on joints in a way they weren’t designed to handle it.
It’s not as bad if your foot slips, but when it gets caught you get injured. I don’t know how bad the field is; I wasn’t running on it. I do know that lousy surfaces can cause injury.
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 Jan 5, 2010 10:29 AM EST reply actions
Also saying that only 1 player injured means the field was OK, implies that everyone was running in the same way in the same square yard of turf.
Just because one guy catches a rut, doesn’t mean everyone will.
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 Jan 5, 2010 10:33 AM EST up reply actions
The field very well could have been the case but
as was pointed out in another conversation by I believe Marima, this kind of thing could have happened at practice. So its hard to say if the field contributed but I’m willing to bet they Pats played in far worse this year.
by dolphinsinbuffalo on Jan 5, 2010 1:19 PM EST reply actions
If the field was such an issue
Why did he keep all the starters out there? Don’t buy that for a second.
Brian Billick refused to play
one preseason game in Philadelphia because the field was so bad. The Eagles agreed and the game was cancelled. But that was preseason, and Billick says he wouldn’t have been able to do that in a regular season game.
Remember the Steelers mud bowl a few years back with the field completely pockmarked with loose chunks of turf? Coaches can complain, and they do, but they still have to go out there and execute their game plan.
It puts both teams at risk, but the home team has the advantage as they’re more accustomed to the slippage and feel of it. The Texans turf had just been used for a college Bowl game and the brown patches were spray-painted green for the cameras. By the way, I think I’ll trust the opinions of the people who were actually there, than your eagle-eye armchair assessment.
Keep the faith!
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