saintz08

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Pats\' depth being tested by injuries


Associated Press

©Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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FOXBORO, Mass. — Ted Washington played dominoes in the Patriots\' locker room Monday with his broken left leg in a knee-high cast and his crutches on the floor beside him. He won\'t be involved in more strenuous games for a while.

The 365-pound nose tackle joined other New England defensive starters on the sidelines when he was hurt on the sixth play of Sunday\'s 23-16 win over the New York Jets.

\"It\'s crazy, man,\" center Damien Woody said. \"I\'ve never seen anything like this.\"

At least Washington may play again this season. Linebacker Rosevelt Colvin and offensive guard Mike Compton won\'t after they were placed on injured reserve Monday.

The Patriots lost linebacker Ted Johnson for at least half the season with a broken left foot in their first game, then lost Colvin with a broken left hip in the second.

So when Mike Vrabel left Sunday\'s game with a right arm injury, the only starting linebacker from the season opener who was still playing was Tedy Bruschi.

\"I\'m numb to it because I have to be,\" Bruschi said. \"I can\'t let it affect my mentality. I can\'t let it affect my play.\"

Two other injured starters, Compton with a foot injury and fullback Fred McCrary with a knee injury, didn\'t suit up against the Jets. Then wide receiver David Patten left the game for good with a right leg injury in the first quarter.

Combined with the injuries on defense, that meant the Patriots finished the game without seven of the 22 players who started their opener.

The only injury update Coach Bill Belichick gave Monday was that Washington would be out \"for a while.\"

Two other starters played after being hurt - quarterback Tom Brady, who left the field clutching his right elbow after being hit by linebacker Sam Cowart, and cornerback Ty Law, who stayed on the ground several minutes after hurting his ankle.

\"You just see so many guys drop like flies around here,\" said Woody, who moved from center to guard in place of Compton. \"It\'s just really frustrating because these guys that are dropping are key guys.\"

On Monday, the Patriots re-signed running back Patrick Pass, who was released in the last round of training-camp cuts, and offensive lineman Wilbert Brown, claimed off waivers from Washington.

The Patriots won their last two games with former starters Roman Phifer and Willie McGinest filling in at linebacker and fullback Larry Centers playing more than usual.

The biggest loss is Washington.

\"A middle linebacker\'s best friend is a big man in the middle and he was our big man in the middle,\" Bruschi said.

Rick Lyle, who spent most of his previous nine NFL seasons as a defensive end, was Washington\'s primary replacement against the Jets and figures to see plenty of action Sunday against Washington.

But at 6-feet-5 and 285 pounds, his style is more dependent on mobility than Washington\'s.

\"It\'s a tough situation but it\'s part of life,\" defensive end Richard Seymour said. \"It\'s a difference when you don\'t see big Ted in the middle and you look to the outside and Colvin\'s not there and look behind you, Ted Johnson\'s not there.\"

The healthy players, many of them rookies, must go on.

\"We\'re going to try to keep this thing moving because the league stops for nobody,\" Woody said. \"So we\'ve just got to go get ready with what we\'ve got.\"

\"Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn\'t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed.\" - George S. Patton
On another note, I\'ll take a bite of that crow 08. - Saintfan
Brooks is a moron!! - Halo

BillyCarpenter1

Well, 08. Now, that article you posted has changed my mind about injuries. No longer will I look at injury reports for our team and the opponents. Obviously, I have just been wasting my time. I\'m glad you showed me the light. Now I feel much better about playing the Falcons if Vick is back at QB.

nocloning

Injuries can effect the outcome of a game. Alright.
There are no \"if\'s\" in football, but which game would we have won with our starters on defense (and the beerman)? Seahawks? Who was out at that point despite Mel Mitchel and Darren Howardl? Don\'t think they could have pulled this one out. Titans? A simple no. Colts? Not even gonna go there. Panthers #1? Maybe. But I still doubt it. Panthers #2? I would consider the Saints relatively healthy going into the game. 10 of 11 starters return on the offensive side, a defense that should have \"gelled\" by now ...
It\'s the 2 Panthers games that could have been turned around, but they seem to find a way to win this year.

For Haslett to keep his job, we would have to make the play-offs. Simple as that.

One more thing: Losing Vick certainly was a big blow for the Falcons, but now they get exposed as a terrible football team. Their defense will still suck when the messiah returns. You can only hide behind injuries so much.

\"What is Wal-Mart? Is it like they sell wall stuff?\"

tweeky

Weak 08, very weak and transparent.
1. You pick one team who lost 7 starters from both sides? Dude, we lost 6 on one side of the ball. Apples and oranges.
2. You also pick one team who arguably has the very best coach in the NFL, and everyone is still shocked at how they\'ve overcome injuries.
3. You pick a team who won the SB 2 years ago and was loaded with talent to begin with.
4. If injuries weren\'t a big deal, then why did the AP do a 1000 word\'s on how NE has miraculously overcome devastating injuries.
5. Every coach and player in the league will say the exact same thing about injuries whether they believe it or not. Its the same as \"taking it one game at a time\".

You remind me of a friend of mine. No matter what the topic, he takes the opposition and tries to back it up with spurrious correlations, 1/2 truths and fuzzy logic, just to be disagreeable.
You should have been a democrat politician.
Hmmm...
Are you Bill Clinton?

[Edited on 28/10/2003 by tweeky]

Whether we agree or disagree; its all for Him.

tweeky

Seahawks-maybe Mitchell and Howard were HUGE
Titans-Maybe, who knows?
Colts-IMPOSSIBLE to tell with 6 freaking starters out. I think Manning destroys all 31 team\'s 2nd stringers just as he did ours.
Panthers#1-Definately, without a doubt.
Panthers #2-Maybe.
This Saints team with \"typical\" injuries suffered by other teams would be 5-3.

NFL Football is nothing but IF\'s
How can anyone blindly say there are no IF\'s in football.
IF a team plays well and IF the other team plays bad...
IF a player misses a block, no gain, IF he makes a block, TD...
IF a player catches a ball...
IF a player gets clipped by a QB in pre-season...
IF the official gives you the right spot...
IF the official gives you a bad spot...
IF you blitz on a screen pass...
IF IF IF.

THE NFL IS NOTHING BUT A SERIES OF IF\'S.

IF the official calls Brady\'s forward pass a fumble, the Raiders go to the SB in 2001.
Man I could go on for 6 years on IF\'s in football.

Whether we agree or disagree; its all for Him.

saintfan

Hey ya\'ll. Saintz08 doesn\'t think injuries effect football teams. Stop laughing...really, he doesn\'t think so. No, really, beleive me, he doesn\'t. Read up in this thread, I SWEAR I\'m not lying. He doesn\'t even think the injury to Michael Vick hurt the Falcons this year.


....no, really, I freakin\' SWEAR he thinks that way. It\'s beyond the Kool-Aid people, this guy is totally loopy.

BillyCarpenter1

Your right. There are no \"ifs\" in football that is going to change the win/loss column, but there are \"ifs\" that change the outcome of a game.

Darren Howard being out is huge. I\'m not saying that we would have won but having your best pass rusher out can affect your whole defense scheme. It\'s not how many players you have out sometimes -- It\'s who you have out


Now how could you consider us relatively healthy? We had 5 starters out on defense. I think we easily win that first game if we have those players.


I\'m leaning that way, but it\'s not that simple in my mind.

tweeky

For Haz to keep his job...
Play good football through the end of the season.
If thats 8-8, 9-7, 10-6 so be it. But as long as we play good football and show improvement, he gets another year.

For Haz to lose his job...
Another collapse like last year. 5-11, 6-10 (bad football).

saintz08

Tweeky:
For Haz to keep his job...
Play good football through the end of the season.
If thats 8-8, 9-7, 10-6 so be it. But as long as we play good football and show improvement, he gets another year.

For Haz to lose his job...
Another collapse like last year. 5-11, 6-10 (bad football).

So tweeky , you are willing to settle for a standard that was not good enough in Tampa Bay and San Francisco ????

BillyCarpenter1

While we\'re on the subject of firing Haslett. Firing Haslett might be the thing to do. However, it is most certainly not the only good option we have. It\'s amazing to hear some of you guys. Most of you that are calling for Haz to be fired are the same folks who were blaming Brooks for all the problems. Oh, and you\'re also the one\'s that were saying to cut Jay Bellamy. Jay\'s played pretty damn good this year, hasn\'t he? Yeah, but y\'all wanted to cut him. Not move him to his natual postion, but CUT him. Some of you have already labeled Jonathan Sullivan a bust. I\'m glad that Benson didn\'t let y\'all cut Bellamy and Brooks.

Instead of firing Haslett, we could get a new general manager and a new defensive coordiantor. You want to fire McCarthy too? Not me. Yeah, our offense has struggled some this year, but it sure ain\'t all McCarthy\'s fault. Is this all some of you know? FIRE -- CUT -- FIRE -- CUT-- FIRE -- CUT !! When does it stop?



[Edited on 28/10/2003 by BillyCarpenter1]