Patriots Football Weekly Blog

From the Hart: Welker wants to be at Pats mini-camp

Last month Wes Welker made it sound like there was a good chance he might not be at the team’s veteran mini-camp at Gillette Stadium on June 12.

Monday the franchised receiver sounded a bit more upbeat about the possibility that he could be on the practice field.

“We’re still kind of waiting, but I’d really like to be there,” Welker told WEEI radio. “I don’t know. To say I’m going one way or another right now, I’m not going to say definite or anything like that. But I would definitely like to be at those minicamps for sure.”

Welker clearly wants a lucrative long term contract after playing out the five-year, $18 million deal that brought him to New England in 2007. As it stands today, he is scheduled to play under the Patriots franchise tag, which would pay him a guaranteed $9.5 million at whatever point he might decide to sign that tender.

Some have wondered if Welker might stay away from the team and miss regular season games if he doesn’t get the contract he so covets. But it doesn’t sound that way.

“There’s 9 1/2 million reasons why I wouldn’t miss any regular-season game,” referring to the franchise tag. “So, I don’t have to worry about that.”

Overall the tone of the interview seemed rather optimistic.

“I think we’re all on the same page,” Welker told WEEI. “And we’re all trying to collectively come together and make something happen. I think everybody just needs to know that. We’re all on the same page and we’re trying to work toward something.

“We’re just kind of moving along. I have a great relationship with coach [Bill Belichick] and Mr. Kraft and with the front office and everybody else. I don’t think there’s any sort of hard feelings on my side or their side. I think we’re all looking forward to the 2012 season and hopefully do some big things there.”

Welker is in New England for the Wes Welker Football Clinic that takes place this weekend in Peabody.

For the entire audio from the WEEI appearance click here.

What do you think of Welker’s comments? Do they make you feel better about his future with the team and the 2012 season? Let us know with a comment below!

Which Patriots player ranks 61-70 on NFL Network?

The NFL Network will air the latest installment of the “Top 100 NFL Players of 2012” on Wednesday night at 8 pm and a member of the Patriots will be included somewhere in that grouping between 61 and 70.

A little good ol’ fashioned analysis should be able to narrow us in on who that player might be in this ranking of top talent as voted on by other NFL players.

First, it’s probably safe to say that while Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker are all clearly locks to be represented on the list, they also should find themselves much higher in the top 100. Brady, who was No. 1 overall a year ago, should remain near the top spot. Coming off the greatest season in the history of the league by a tight end, Gronkowski could be in the top 10 or 15. And another 100-catch season leading the NFL could have Welker in the top 20 or higher, after coming in at No. 50 last year.

So for this year’s 61-70 grouping, who are some other Patriots in that next tier of top NFL talent? Let’s start with the team’s other Pro Bowl players from last season. That includes Vince Wilfork, who was already on the list at the No. 81 spot overall after coming in 35th on last year’s list.

Eliminating Wilfork as a possibility leaves Logan Mankins (39 in 2011), Brian Waters, Andre Carter and Jerod Mayo (62 in 2011).

Two guys not invited to the Pro Bowl who had very impressive 2012 seasons also need to be pondered – the recently-retired Matt Light and Aaron Hernandez.

Since Light didn’t get a Pro Bowl nod a year ago, which includes player votes, let’s eliminate him. Hernandez was an alternate for the Hawaii all-star game, even if overshadowed a bit by Gronkowski. Hernandez ranked t-15th in the NFL in receptions and 14th in yards. Those would be great numbers if he didn’t play with Gronkowski and Welker.

Waters and Carter also had great years in their first season in New England, so they could be legitimate options here as well respected veterans basking in the attention of playing on a Super Bowl team late in their careers.

But if I had to guess, I’d go with Hernandez due to the overall success of the Patriots offense and the attention that the passing game gets in today’s NFL.

Now it’s your turn, which Patriot do you think will hear his name called Wednesday night as one of the Top 100 NFL Players of 2012? Voice your opinion below!

Click here to vote on a mobile device.

From the Hart: Brady in MMQB

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady makes himself scarce to reporters in the offseason, when he rarely talks to anyone other than the national media. That’s the case this week when he chats up Sports Illustrated’s Peter King for his Monday Morning Quarterback, in part to promote No. 12’s annual participation in the Best Buddies charity.

King kicks off the piece with the revelation that Brady is the last of the 90 active players remaining with either team from his first career start against the Colts back in 2001. (King notes that Reggie Wayne, who’s still with Indy, was inactive that day.) Matt Light, who officially announced his retirement last week, had been in that mix as well.

And Brady, who’ll turn 35 in training camp, doesn’t plan changing teams or jobs anytime soon.

“My wife [Gisele Bundchen] said to me, ‘When I met you [in 2006], you said you wanted to play 10 more years. How come that number never goes down?’ It’s that I love the game. I love the game. I’m going to play until they tell me they don’t want me anymore,” Brady relayed to MMQB.

Brady also said he met with Bill Belichick last Thursday, presumably in Foxborough.

“I still feel like I’m in my first year trying to prove myself,” Brady said. “There’s no entitlement around coach Belichick. I’ve got to be the best guy for him to keep playing me. When I’m not, someone else will play.”

Talking about his arm strength, Brady brought up former 40-something QB Brett Favre and nearly 50-year-old pitcher Jamie Moyer as guys who could still throw at the required velocity at an advanced age.

The Best Buddies fund raising weekend includes a June 1 touch football game that includes Brady and a number of teammates at Harvard. Then there is the June 2 100-mile bike ride.

“For as long as I’m here in Boston, and beyond, I’ll spread the message,” Brady told MMQB.

For more information on Best Buddies and the Brady-hosted June fundraising weekend, go to http://www.bestbuddies.org/

From the Hart: Bolden not Benny 2.0

The final line of the “negatives” section of Ole Miss running back Brandon Bolden’s bio in the Pro Football Weekly 2012 Draft Preview says that, “Character needs to be investigated.

Bolden, a team captain as a senior, had been suspended for a game against Alabama for violating team rules.

Now in New England as an undrafted free agent at rookie mini-camp, Bolden had a simple answer to those wanting to investigate his character.

“Come investigate it,” Bolden said with a confident edge. “Just come investigate it. Just watch me. I really don’t have an answer for them.”

Bolden lands at Gillette Stadium looking to follow the footsteps of another former Ole Miss running back. BenJarvus Green-Ellis was also undrafted out of the school before earning a job as a free agent player and finally developing into a 1,000-yard back.

While Bolden has heard the stories of Green-Ellis in college and now in New England, he’s looking more to make his own bones at this point.

“Ben was at Ole Miss for the four years before I go there,” Bolden said. “He was walking out the door I was coming int. Great guy. Great running back. Watched a lot of film on him.

“Honestly I haven’t paid much attention to it. Ben did what he did because that’s what Ben does. I’m coming in to try to make it as he did.”

Bolden’s best season in Oxford came as a junior when he ran 163 times for 976 yards (6.0 avg.) while also catching 32 passes for 344 yards. A hairline fracture in his left ankle in last fall’s season opener cut into his production and playing time as a senior in 2011. He played in 10 games with four starts, tallying 462 yards on 96 attempts (4.8 avg.).

Not exactly the same resume as Green-Ellis who had multiple 1,000-yard seasons in college. Bolden also fumbled eight times in 562 touches, compared to zero fumbles in the Law Firm’s life.

But at this point the comparisons with Green-Ellis are irrelevant. Bolden is just another young body on the practice fields, trying to throw his hat in the ring for a role in New England’s relatively young backfield committee.

“It’s a lot of young guys,” Bolden acknowledged of the Patriots running back depth chart. “Everybody is trying to prove the same point. Why not throw my two-cents in as well. I’m just here to make them better, to push them as well as they’re going to push me.

“I’m just coming in here trying to make my spot. I’m a guy that looks forward. The injury happened. Everything happens for a reason. Just keep moving.”

As an undrafted player Bolden could have chosen to pursue his pro dreams anywhere. While many probably assumed he choose New England in some way due to Green-Ellis’ success, that’s not the case.

“It just felt like the right thing to do,” Bolden said.

Although the team’s winning history and organizational respect clearly had something to do with it.

“Watching from since maybe 2000, it’s a great organization,” Bolden concluded. “You hear everyone talking about the owner and how good of a coach Coach Belichick is. Just kind of wanted to find out for myself.”

Like all the rest of the rookies, that’s exactly what Bolden is doing this week on the practice fields of Foxborough.

From the Hart: Vrabel says Ebner is able

Mike Vrabel knows a little something about what it takes to make it in New England. He also has some perspective on developing from an unknown commodity into a key contributor.

As such, the former Patriots star and current Ohio State defensive line coach probably has the best viewpoint from which to judge New England sixth-round pick Nate Ebner.

Ebner is of course the world-class rugby player who walked on for the Buckeyes football team. By the end of his time in Columbus he was a key special team presence and leader for the Ohio State squad. Add in an impressive Pro Day, and he earned himself a draft spot in New Englnad.

Beginning this week Ebner will be at Gillette Stadium trying to prove he has what it takes to make it in the NFL. Vrabel not only thinks that Ebner has a chance to make it as a core special teamer at the professional level, but that given the hours he’ll have now to devote to the craft that he may even develop as a contributor on defense.

“I think if they’re looking to develop a talented player into something that they think can play a bunch of different spots, then I think it’s the right fit. I hope it’s the right fit,” Vrabel said of Ebner landing in his own former NFL home. “Certainly the way they develop people, the coaching staff’s ability and understanding how to develop a talented player that maybe doesn’t know all the techniques, doesn’t have all the experience, they’ve proven it’s a good place to start in New England.”

While Ebner is just starting his career in Foxborough, he’s finishing up a time at Ohio State that ended with him as one of the most respected members of the at times troubled program. Nothing showed that respect more than Ebner being chosen to carry the flag and lead his team out onto the field last season during a special ceremony to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

“He just led because of his style of play,” Vrabel said. “People respected it. Our players respected the way he played the game. He was a major contributor. Now people look at that and say, ‘well how many touchdowns did he have or how many interceptions or how many sacks?’ People who know football don’t look at it like that. They look at the contributions that he made on special teams and on the practice field and in class and his work ethic. He was a major contributor for our football team.”

Clearly Vrabel is pulling for his former pupil turned Patriot, who he expects to be a fan favorite from day one in New England.

“I would hope he’s going to work as hard and hopefully he becomes as savvy as Larry Izzo on special teams and he can find a way to block punts and find a way to cover and do a lot of those things,” Vrabel concluded.

To read more of Vrabel’s thought’s on Ebner and a profile of each of New England’s draft picks, check out the current issue of Patriots Football Weekly that’s on newsstands now. To subscribe call 1-800-494-PATS or go to PFWonline.com

From the Hart: Revis calls out Belichick, Brady

Earlier this offseason Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis responded with “jerk” when asked about Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in a word association game he played on SportsCenter alongside New England tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Revis expanded on that comment on Thursday and stood by his original sentiment. And then some!

“I gave my honest opinion,” Revis told the New York Daily News and other New York reporters. “You guys know me very well. This isn’t the first time me speaking what I need to speak about something. I talked about the Randy Moss stuff… It’s just how I felt. That’s how I feel. I feel that people let him slide when he says his smart remarks (on) certain things. He says comments about us like he never coached here…. He did. That’s just how I felt. So they told me to sum it up. I gave one word. He can take it how he wants. He can say (whatever) he wants to say back.

“Even if he says something back,” Revis added. “I’m not going to get into a jawing (match) with him. I said what I had to say. He still has to coach and I still have to go out there and play.”

Revis claimed to respect Belichick, but that he was unhappy with the coach’s comments after beating the Jets last season.

“I have respect for him. Winning is winning,” Revis told the Daily News. “But sometimes things are disrespectful. When you say certain comments about the Jets, some stuff is disrespectful. It’s okay to have a rivalry. It’s okay to compete. But when it gets personal, you’re getting disrespectful. I didn’t start this battle. The smart remarks sometimes he says are ignorant. It’s ignorant to this organization.”

He would not specify the comments that irritated him.

“I don’t know… Talking about the best defense … All that stuff. That’s just ignorant. Why go there? You won fair and square. Hey, we shook your hand after the game. We’ll see you in New England or wherever in the playoffs, ok. But when you start saying stuff like that… no… it gets too personal. You don’t have to say that. … Did anybody else say anything like that? No… not from our side. Bart (Scott) said his thing… “Can’t Wait” thing. But he still didn’t disrespect. He just said that they feel like they’re better than us. That’s okay. It’s personal. It’s disrespectful.”

Revis also seemed to agree with teammate Antonio Cromartie’s past “ass”-essment that Tom Brady is an “a—hole.”

“Sometimes he do (like that that) on the field,” Revis said. “That’s his personal opinion about him. If that’s how he acts on the field. That’s how he acts. He wants to throw a touchdown and point at our sideline. That’s disrespect, man. That’s not sportsmanship. Now do people say words on the field to each other? Yeah… that’s in between the lines. But then when it’s getting out of hand…  Come on, man. Come on. Sportsmanship.”

If the rivalry and all-out border war with the Jets needed any extra fuel, Revis seems to be doing his best to stoke the fire.

From the Hart: Cunningham on the clock

Heading into his third season, former Patriots second-round pick Jermaine Cunningham is clearly at some sort of crossroads in his career.

After starting 11 of 15 games played as a rookie in 2010, last fall was a lost season for the former Florida Gator. He played in just nine games, with no starts. He was inactive for three games and then landed on injured reserve in December.

Amazingly, he finished the year with just a single tackle as a non-factor for a defense that seemingly needed all the help it could get for most of the season.

That’s why Pro Football Weekly (you know, the other PFW!), put Cunningham atop its list of “Third year AFC East players entering a crucial season.”

“This could be Cunningham’s last shot to make the squad…” the fake PFW writes.

I completely agree with them. Though the defensive end/outside linebacker spot remains a bit thin, the additions of Chandler Jones, Trevor Scott and Dont’a Hightower along with the possible return of Andre Carter could leave Cunningham on the outside looking in.

Bill Belichick has a history of cutting former second-round picks in their third NFL season, and Cunningham will have to prove something this summer if he’s going to avoid being the next name added to that list.

What do you think of Cunningham? Will he make the team? What’s his future hold? Let us know with a comment below!

From the Hart: Jones Daoust with praise

Patriots rookies will hit the practice fields in Foxborough this week (and the media will get a chance to watch some of the workouts on both Friday and Saturday) as they embark on their professional careers in New England.

Obviously one of the players with the most attention on him from now right on through the regular season will be top pick Chandler Jones. Beyond simply being the team’s first first-round pick, he’s also the first playmaker on the edge that Bill Belichick has taken atop the draft.

Theoretically, he fills the team’s biggest need. The comparisons to Willie McGinest and Jason Pierre-Paul are already being bandied about. And Jones himself says he models his own style after Julius Peppers and Aldon Smith.

Pretty high expectations for a guy who had just 10 sacks in his Syracuse career and never had more than five in a season. But according to his position coach with the Orange, the expectations should be pretty high. In some ways Tim Daoust came to the realization of just how good his now former player was in the pre-draft process as Jones’ stock was on the rise.

“The more phone calls that rolled in and the more tape that I reflected upon watching Chandler, I said, ‘Holy smokes, maybe we didn’t know how good we had it.’ Because he was certainly a great player for us and a dynamic young man. I think NFL teams saw what we saw, that he’s a kid that’s going to continually get better,” Daoust said.

Daoust knows that Jones will have to take everything to a higher level in the NFL. That includes things like maturity and work ethic off the field, as well as getting stronger and better with his hand placement and technique on it. But the coach has little doubt that Jones is up to the challenge.

“I think every time you jump from level to level, from high school to college and from college to the NFL, there is a whole other level of maturity that’s demanded of your on the field and off the field. And I think Chandler has the tools do that and getting into a model franchise like New England I think that will be demanded of him very quickly and get around guys in that locker room that will help him do that. He’ll have to take his work ethic to another level,” Daoust said.

“But Chandler, one of his strong points is his ability to learn and take coaching. If you tell him something, ‘hey, Chandler you need to improve this,’ he will take to it immediately and get to work on it.”

That work begins this week in Foxborough. And everyone — from Todd McShay and Mike Mayock to his college coach – agree that the sky is the limit for Jones.

To read much more from Daoust on Jones, check out the most recent Patriots Football Weekly on newsstands now. To subscribe to PFW call 1-800-494-PATS or go to pfwonline.com

Just how good do you think Jones can be? Which comparison for Jones’ potential do you think is most apt? Let us know with a comment below!

From the Hart: Gronk on reality TV!

According to Entertainment Weekly, Patriots frat boy, fun-loving All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski is among those taking part in FOX’s new celebrity dating show “The Choice.”

Other notable NFL names to appear include Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and NFL Network analyst Warren Sapp.

The show, which has already been taped, debuts on FOX on June 7, just three days before New England’s veteran mini-camp in Foxborough. Five episodes will include male celebrities, such as Gronkowski, going on dates with female contestants. One episode will feature female celebrities, including Carmen Electra.

From the Hart: Another lopsided trade

On the clock for what would have been their final pick of the 2012 NFL Draft, the Patriots traded down yet again. New England sent the 163rd pick back to the Packers in exchange for the 197th pick, the 224th and the 235th selections. Put simply, New England traded a fifth rounder for a sixth and two sevenths.

According to the trade value chart the deal sent Green Bay back its original pick worth 27.2 points, with the Patriots getting a total of 15.5 points back. That’s a 40-plus percent trade deficit.

Looking back on last night’s trade with Green Bay, New England essentially traded the 62nd pick (284 points) for picks 90, 197, 224 and 235 (total of 158.5 points). That’s a 125.5-point trade deficit in the overall value of the two trades, or the value of a late third-round pick.

Clearly the Patriots simply wanted to trade down to acquire more late-round picks on the final two days of the draft. And clearly the Packers were the only team willing to trade with New England, but would only do so in deals that didn’t come in anywhere near equal value.

Do you like the trades to add late-round picks, or would you have rather New England had just made the pick in the second round – even if it was Jake Bequette at the point – and called it a draft?