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A couple of things to get into tonight . . .
Former NFL executive Mike Lombardi, now with “The Ringer” website, said this week, “To me, this is not a good Patriots team. I have been saying it all year. They struggle to make explosive plays. Josh Gordon doesn’t look as fast as he once was. I think he’s been covered up.”
Lombardi used to work in the Patriots’ personnel department.
I’m not sure all of you know this, but Mike Lombardi’s son, Mick Lombardi, is a Jets offensive assistant, who is very involved in developing Sam Darnold.
So the Jets probably get a little break here, because this probably keeps the critical comments about the Jets from Mike Lombardi, during this rough year for them, to a minimum.
But as far as his comment about the Patriots, remember, he said this after perhaps their worst game of the year for New England, with the Tennessee Titans beating them 34-10. The Titans have a better defense than the Jets, and also, they are coached by Mike Vrabel, who like Detroit’s Matt Patricia, who beat New England earlier this year, knows a lot about Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s secret sauce.
I think this is a good Patriots team, perhaps not a great one, but a good one, and are going to be an enormous challenge for the Jets on Sunday . . .
Sam Darnold didn’t practice today.
To me, it’s a long shot to think that Darnold, a rookie QB, can play without a full compliment of practice reps.
I think he’s a terrific prospect, but it’s been a struggle for him, which is totally understandable – he’s only 21 and played just two years in college. Sam is a smart kid, but it’s a huge mental challenge for any rookie.
You sometimes hear about banged-up NFL players, or long-time veterans, who teams feel can play on Sunday without practicing during the week.
Those usually are prominent veteran starters, who are well-versed in the system, and have a ton of NFL game experience.
Antonio Gates only practices once a week with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Darnold needs every rep he can get to prepare for Sunday, and even when he does get all the reps, Sunday can be a struggle for him, as he figures out the whys and wherefores of playing NFL QB. So to think he can be successful, with limited reps during the week, is kind of flawed thinking.
And honestly, the Jets need to try and win this week, or at least play a heck of game and come up short, to quiet some of the noise around this team, about the coach’s future, which is becoming deafening.
If McCown starts, he should be a lot better than the Buffalo game, against the NFL’s #1 defense, in his first action in a year.
Jets, losers of four games in a row, and playing very sloppy in recent games, could us a big upset win this week.
The odds of that happening against Bill Belichick’s defense, with two weeks to prepare, with a rookie under center, who didn’t a full compliment of reps during the week, isn’t realistic.
Going back to him for the next game, against the offensively-challenged Tennessee Titans, where he won’t have to come back and light up the scoreboard, is a much more pragmatic time-frame for Darnold’s return . . .
November 21, 2018
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