Around The AFC East 6/20/2008
The guys over at SBNation have asked me to participate in a series of running posts that they do, Around the AFC East. Each Friday you’ll get a series of questions asked from each team’s blogger to another. If you are unfamiliar with SBNation’s AFC East sites, The Phinsider, Pats Pulpit and Buffalo Rumblings are all excellent intel for anyone who follows the AFC East Division.
TJB: The passing of Tim Russert last week was a shock to many people who follow politics. The nation lost one of the best even-handed members of the media. What did Russert’s untimely death mean to Bills fans?
Buffalo Rumblings: Simply stated, the city of Buffalo has lost the man that was probably its most steadfast supporter and greatest ambassador. Aside from the fact that the man was a superb journalist, he embodied everything that makes the city of Buffalo great – that hard-working, blue-collar, never-say-die attitude. He was a family man who stood up for what he believed in. Bills fans are like one gigantic family, and that family lost its most public figure last week. He’ll most certainly be missed.
One of our readers, who goes by the handle “MARVelous”, wrote a great perspective piece on Russert that far more eloquently puts into words what Russert meant to the Buffalo community. The state of New York will honor Russert’s passing by re-naming a section of the road near Ralph Wilson Stadium after him.
TJB: The Dolphins faced some “tough sledding” in 2007, what one aspect of the team do you expect to be the most improved come September?
Phinsider: Well I think there are two ways to answer this. The first way is by looking at “intangibles.” Thanks to this new regime and new coaching staff, I think this Dolphins team will be far tougher than last year – both mentally and physically. I also expect them to be much better prepared entering games than in ’07.
But if you’re looking for a position that will be improved, I think you need to talk about the offensive line. Last year’s unit wasn’t terrible, but did struggle over the final half of the season. This year, second year center Samson Satele – who was a pleasant surprise last year – will be better off now that he has experience. The LT/RT combination of Jake Long/Vernon Carey will be far better than last year’s combo of Vernon Carey/L.J. Shelton. And the signing of guard Justin Smiley is an upgrade over Rex Hadnot, who left via free agency. The only question mark will be the other starting guard spot opposite Smiley. Rookies Shawn Murphy and Donald Thomas will battle with inexperienced vets like Trey Darilek and Ike Ndukwe. But whoever wins can’t possibly be any worse than last year’s starter, Chris Liwienski – who, despite starting most of ’07, is still a free agent.
TJB: From scouring the web, it seems that there were a number (more than five) players not participating in the Patriots’ minicamp, is there any sense on who will start camp on the PUP?
Pats Pulpit: As of June 7th, (according to the Boston Globe) the unofficial list of players not participating in mini-camp sessions was: WR Kelley Washington, CB Ellis Hobbs, G Stephen Neal, OT Oliver Ross, WR Wes Welker, TE Benjamin Watson, ILB Bo Ruud, DE Jarvis Green and DL Mike Wright. The were all at Gillette Stadium, but weren’t participating in physical practice sessions. The Patriots organization is notoriously bad at releasing injury data, so alot of this will be heresay and opinions based on poking around a bit. For the most part, I’ll stick with the starters or this post will be pages long. ;-)
WR Wes Welker is, most likely, using the time to recover. As the goto guy for quick yardage gains, he took an incredible pounding on 2007 and will likely benefit from some extra time away from the field. He’s an extremely hard off-season worker, so I don’t see this as an issue and predict he’ll be ready for July’s training camp. Wes Welker is, BY FAR, my favorite Patriots WR. He’s not the flashy seam guy making impossible catches with aerial acrobatics, but he is the guy consistently moving the chains up the field and working underneath.
CB Ellis Hobbs suffered shoulder and groin injuries by mid 2007, both of which required surgery. Not surprisingly, Hobbs is being cagey about attendance at training camp, answering the Boston Herald with, “Time will tell. I’m not going to sit here and make any guarantees either way. We’ll see how it goes. But when you see me out there, I’m going to be enjoying myself.” Hobbs had a tough time constantly being held up against Asante Samuel, a top 5, franchise CB. He also played hurt for the last half of 2007.
G Stephen Neal did not require off-season surgery on his knee, but did for a shoulder injury that’s been bothering him for a few seasons. The Boston Herald predicts Neal will be ready for this year’s training camp. The OL did a good job in the regular season of keeping the fertilizer off of Brady’s uniform, but were beat up bad in the Super Bowl
TE Benjamin Watson had off-season ankle surgery and is projected to not start training camp right off the bat; he may even miss the whole camp. Hopefully he’ll be back for 2008 as he’s a favorite TE target for Brady.
DE Jarvis Green had minor shoulder surgery which hindered him during OTAs, but will, most likely, not keep him out of training camp. He’s a solid DE for the Pats, so let’s hope it’s nothing serious.
5 Responses to Around The AFC East 6/20/2008
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Kip128 says:
I’m 29 years old and the jets have never sniffed a super bowl in my life time. Bills/Phins fans have nothing on us.
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TOON2388 says:
Kip – if 1998, up 10 in AFC Championship with 25 minutes to go does not count as “sniffing,” what does?
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Fonzie/Naples says:
You know I liked Russert:
But he turned out to be a Bush basher. History will provfe Bush was RIGHT -
billvv says:
Fonzie! His approval rating alone puts you in the minority on that one! I fully expected to see a smiley face icon….
Wow, being a Jets fan is tough, but at least I’m not a Bills or Phins fan. They have it rough. The Bills probably won’t exist in the near future as they are already giving up home games in Buffalo for Toronto. Not to mentioned the 4 Super Bowl losses. As for the Phins, the Raven’s must have been paid off to let them win that one game last year. They’ve been sorry for a while and even when the had Dan Marino, they still weren’t that good. Anyway, just seeing their blogsites reminded me of how sorry those teams are.