Conor Roche Articles - Page 21

FOXBOROUGH – Mac Jones knows that the Patriots offense has to improve following their disappointing showing in training camp and the preseason. Jones played in seven drives over the final two preseason games with New England scoring in just two (a touchdown and a field goal) as the quarterback only found success when working out […]

FOXBOROUGH – Cutdown day has come and gone in Foxborough. The Patriots made a handful of roster cuts, parting ways with 24 players and placing two more players on injured reserve on Tuesday to bring their number down to 53 players. None of Tuesday’s moves brought the buzz that last year’s cutdown day brought when […]

Another New England Patriots early-round draft pick has been shown the door in Foxborough. Per Dov Kleiman, tight end Devin Asiasi was released by New England as it cuts its roster down to 53 players on Tuesday. #Patriots cut former 3rd round pick TE Devin Asiasi. Belichick used two 3rd round picks on TE in […]

Mac Jones showed his frustration on the sideline when things weren’t going his and the New England Patriots’ way in their preseason loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday. After the Patriots’ second three-and-out, the second-year quarterback slammed his tablet once he returned to the bench. When the Patriots’ promising red zone drive stalled […]

The New England Patriots haven’t been strangers to playing deception. They might be doing it again with their offensive coaching staff. Patriots senior advisor and offensive line coach Matt Patricia appeared to be the de facto Josh McDaniels replacement, being the primary offensive play caller during New England’s three preseason games. Yet, Patricia said not […]

The New England Patriots’ performance in the 2022 preseason was underwhelming, to say the least. However, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick isn’t giving a final assessment of their performance. In his weekly interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” Belichick was asked how he would grade his team’s performance after the starters on both sides of […]

It wasn’t a pretty end to the preseason for Mac Jones and the New England Patriots. The starting quarterback completed 9-0f-13 passes for 71 yards, but threw an interception and led New England to just one scoring drive in the four possessions against the Raiders’ backups in Friday’s 23-6 loss. Jones went three-and-0ut in two […]

Bill Belichick was understandably upset with his team’s performance in Friday’s preseason finale. Not only did the Patriots lose to the Raiders, 23-6, but they also played most of their starters for a quarter-plus and failed to do much against Las Vegas’ backups. When starting quarterback Mac Jones left the field for the final time […]

The preseason is over for the Patriots, and that might not be a good thing. New England lost to the Las Vegas Raiders, 23-6, on Friday night. The Patriots played their starters for the opening few drives on each side of the ball, but didn’t do much to lessen any concerns fans or the media […]

Malcolm Butler’s second stint in New England is officially over before he even played in a regular season game. The Patriots released the veteran cornerback on Thursday. Butler was placed on injured reserve on Aug. 16 and while the team didn’t say what his injury was, Butler reportedly had a hip injury. With Butler on […]

After weeks of grueling practices in the sun and a pair of games at home, the New England Patriots’ preseason Week 3 matchup comes against the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday. Ahead of the Patriots-Raiders game, we’ll be making our Patriots preseason Week 3 predictions. The two joint practices earlier in the week weren’t full […]

Jakobi Meyers was Mac Jones’ top target, by far, in Patriots training camp this year. The second-year quarterback targeted the shifty slot receiver far more than anyone else in the Patriots’ 15 practices, with Meyers typically leading all receivers in receptions on most of those days. Wednesday’s joint practice with the Raiders was no different. […]

Patriots quarterback Mac Jones clearly left a good impression on Josh McDaniels during their one season working together in New England. Ahead of Friday’s preseason game between the Patriots and the now McDaniels-led Raiders, Jones’ NFL offensive coordinator had high praise for him. “Love that kid. I really do,” McDaniels said Wednesday. “And spent a […]

Entering his second season with the New England Patriots, a lot of NFL analysts thought Kendrick Bourne was primed to breakout following his career year in 2021. So far, things don’t look too promising for the Patriots’ 27-year-old wide receiver. In terms of performance, Bourne’s mostly finished each practice with no more than one reception during […]

FOXBOROUGH – As the New England Patriots are in the final week of the preseason, most of the starting positions seem to be set. The log jam at wide reciver mostly seems to have figure itself out. So has the situation at corner, with Jonathan Jones likely starting on the outside opposite of Jalen Mills. […]

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been taken aback by the Las Vegas Raiders’ relatively new facilities in Vegas. On Monday, the longtime coach gushed over how he hasn’t seen anything like the Raiders’ facilities before in football. Belichick gushed over them again on Tuesday. “Facilities here are incredible. This is the Taj […]

For every team each preseason, a surprise player seemingly comes out of nowhere to either push for a roster spot or even make their way onto the 53-man roster entering the regular season. Lil’Jordan Humphrey is that player for the New England Patriots this preseason. The fourth-year wide receiver has stood out in both of New […]

The New England Patriots could be shipping out their other first-round pick from the 2018 NFL Draft. Right tackle Isaiah Wynn has been the subject of trade talks in the leadup to cutdown day, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported in his column on Monday. Breer wrote that the Patriots are “probably going to trade” […]

The saga that is the New England Patriots’ offensive play-calling situation hits the road for the first time of the 2022 season this week. But as the team heads to the new home of their old offensive coordinator this week, Belichick is slowly sharing a bit more on how they’re replacing Josh McDaniels. In an […]

FOXBOROUGH – The recent injuries to Tyquan Thornton and Kristian Wilkerson created even more intrigue in the battle for possibly the final receiver spot on the New England Patriots roster. If there is an open competition for it, Lil’Jordan Humphrey has certainly shined in the opportunity. In the Patriots’ preseason opener against the Giants, Humphrey […]

FOXBOROUGH – With the likely starters making their 2022 debut, the New England Patriots had a pair of surprising players inactive for Friday’s preseason game against the Carolina Panthers. Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and starting left tackle Trent Brown both didn’t play in the Patriots’ 20-10 win. Bourne’s absence raised some eyebrows considering that he […]

FOXBOROUGH – The process of determining who’s the next Patriots offensive play-caller is still ongoing, according to coach Bill Belichick. Senior advisor and offensive line coach Matt Patricia appeared to be calling the offensive plays for the entirety of the Patriots’ 20-10 preseason win over the Panthers on Friday. Patricia had the headset on, conversed […]

FOXBOROUGH – Mac Jones is already using a moment from his NFL career as motivation. The second-year quarterback was arguably the top gunslinger out of his draft class, leading all rookies in passing yards, touchdown passes, and passer rating. Jones also led the Patriots to the playoffs, where they were crushed by the Bills, 47-17, […]

FOXBOROUGH – The Patriots got their first win of the season, sort of. New England defeated the Carolina Panthers, 20-10, on Friday night, playing its starters for much of the first half. “It’s just another step in the process,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said following the win. “We’ve just got to keep grinding.” Here are […]

FOXBOROUGH – The New England Patriots are playing most of their starters in their second game of the preseason. However, a few are missing, likely due to injuries suffered recently in practice, while another is surprisingly out. Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne is out for Friday’s game against the Panthers. Bourne’s been active at every practice […]

FOXBOROUGH – After two fight-filled joint practices, gameday between the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers is finally close. New England hosts Carolina in a game where it’s expected to play a majority of its starters for the first time in the preseason. Here are four bold predictions for Friday night’s game. 4 bold predictions for Patriots […]

FOXBOROUGH – There’s been a lot of bad blood between the Patriots and Panthers this week. But Mac Jones has stayed away from the ruckus. Numerous fights have broken out, leading to several players getting kicked out of the joint practices on Tuesday and Wednesday. Jones is one of the very few players that hasn’t […]

FOXBOROUGH – The New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers had another fight-filled practice on Wednesday, which saw a few players get ejected for the second straight day. As for what happened outside of that, here are five Patriots observations from Wednesday’s practice. 5 Patriots observations from training camp with Panthers Nelson Agholor gets consistent top […]

FOXBOROUGH – It was fight night (or in this case, morning) again between the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers at joint practice on Wednesday. A couple of the same players were involved in Wednesday’s fracas, too. Patriots receiver Kristian Wilkerson, who was at the center of Tuesday’s fight, was on the wrong end of […]

FOXBOROUGH – DeVante Parker was the Patriots’ biggest acquistion this offseason. Nearly three weeks into training camp, he’s been responsible for some of the biggest plays. That started on Day 1, when Parker made multiple leaping touchdown grabs that drew “ooohs” and “aaahs” from the crowd. That hasn’t been the case every day for the […]

FOXBOROUGH – The Patriots might have had their strongest practice yet in training camp on Tuesday. That wasn’t the biggest story from the first of two joint practices with the Panthers, though. Three fights broke out during Tuesday’s practice, with one of them escalating to the point that three players were ejected. Patriots receiver Kristian […]

FOXBOROUGH – New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler’s return from retirement is already over – at least for the 2022 season. The Patriots placed the veteran corner on injured reserve Tuesday, ending his season. It isn’t clear what Butler’s injury is. Butler was active for much of training camp and played in the Patriots’ preseason […]

FOXBOROUGH — The New England Patriots ramped up the physicality in their first practice of camp, literally. New England hosted the Carolina Panthers for the first of two joint practices on Tuesday before Friday’s preseason game. Here are seven observations from Tuesday’s practice. New England Patriots Practice Observations Fights galore Tuesday was the first practice […]

FOXBOROUGH – Training camp and the preseason are starting to ramp up for the New England Patriots. After what’s been a relatively light two-plus weeks of camp, New England welcomes the Carolina Panthers for a pair of joint practices on Tuesday and Wednesday before Friday’s preseason game. With an important week about to take place, […]

New England Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne has been picked by many experts around the league to be a breakout player in 2022. Looking at Bourne’s 2021 stats, it’s easy to see why that could be the case. In his first season with the Patriots, Bourne posted career highs across the board. He had 55 […]

FOXBOROUGH – Christian Barmore has arguably been the best player so far in Patriots training camp. The second-year defensive tackle has won many of his battles against New England’s offensive linemen in 1-on-1 drills, which Barmore said is his favorite thing about training camp. Barmore’s also played a role in the offensive line’s struggles in […]

FOXBOROUGH — The New England Patriots hit the practice field again on Monday, their first practice since their preseason-opening loss to the New York Giants. Monday’s practice was actually sandwiched between last Thursday’s game and a pair of joint practices with the Carolina Panthers on Tuesday and Thursday. Here are seven observations from Monday’s practice. […]

FOXBOROUGH — New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick made it clear that the team is going through a process in determining who calls the offensive plays after Matt Patricia and Joe Judge split those duties in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Giants. The process isn’t a competition, though, at least according to Patricia. “I mean, […]

FOXBOROUGH — While the New England Patriots fell to the New York Giants in their preseason opener on Thursday, they opted not to play many of their starters in what resulted in a two-point loss. The decision to rest key players gave several players opportunities to shine on Thursday. There were a few who are […]