New England Patriots enter first preseason contest with lots of questions
Bill Belichick hopes to reverse a troubling trend going into the 2010 season; his New England Patriots have not won a post season contest since the 2007 season when the only game they lost was the Super Bowl.
Heading into tonight’s contest against the defending Super Bowl Champions, the New Orleans Saints, Belichick will be hoping to find the answer to some personnel questions that must be answered if his team is going to repeat as division champions.
New England is a pass first team, but it is not clear how well the team will be able to pass the ball. Wide receiver Wes Welker would be a huge boost to the passing game, but it is not clear whether he is healthy enough to play yet.
Rookie Brandon Tate, a talented wide receiver from North Carolina, could potentially be the one to pick up the slack; he and Tom Brady have been building up a rapport during training camp. Two other rookies, wide receiver Taylor Price from Ohio and tight end Anthony Hernandez from Florida are hoping to continue developing their rapport with Brady as well.
Tom Brady’s pass protection may be suspect as well. Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins has been a holdout and does not appear ready to report to camp anytime soon.
Mankins became a restricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2009 season. Instead of getting the pay day that he had hoped for the Patriots only tendered him an offer for $3.26 million. The team eventually dropped it to $1.54 million prompting Mankins to request a trade.
Brady has been frustrated at times with the play of his offensive line during training camp, at one point referring to them as a bunch of fat cows during practice.
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