FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Bill Belichick provided a notable soundbite on Thursday night when asked how he balances the playing time of starters in the preseason against the injury risk that comes with that. "You can't take out insurance on players," he said in explaining why quarterback Tom Brady played all 39 snaps in the first half of a fourth preseason game. "I don't know how you get better playing football without playing football."
Belichick's approach, however, isn't shared by all. In fact, it struck me how the team's season-opening opponent, the Arizona Cardinals under fourth-year coach Bruce Arians, is closer to the opposite end of the spectrum.
Consider some of these contrasts:
Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones played just 35 snaps over three preseason games, while Patriots defensive end Chris Long, who is a projected starter replacing Jones in New England, played 36 snaps in the team's first preseason game and 116 overall.
Cardinals top linebacker Deone Bucannon played 35 snaps over three games, while first-unit Patriots linebackers Dont'a Hightower (103) and Jamie Collins (97) were much more active in playing all four games.
Cardinals top defensive lineman Calais Campbell played 29 snaps over three games, while Patriots top defensive lineman Malcom Brown totaled 62 snaps over four.
Cardinals top cornerback Patrick Peterson played 18 snaps in two games (he was held out with a minor ankle injury in the third preseason game), while Patriots top corner Malcolm Butler played 83 over four.
Quarterback Carson Palmer played just 40 snaps over three games, which Brady almost matched in one. Jimmy Garoppolo played 113.
Does more football played mean better football performance come Sept. 11?
The Patriots sure hope so.
2a. What was Tom Brady doing Saturday in the hours before he began serving a four-game suspension at 4 p.m. ET? He was on Cape Cod with the rest of his teammates as owner Robert Kraft and his family hosted players on an annual cookout before the season.
2b. Michael Hurley of CBS Boston first uncovered and brought to light what might be a silent protest by Brady, who didn't have the NFL decal on the back of his helmet during the two preseason games in which he played. And here is a nice recap on the situation from Business Insider, which highlights the work of Paul Lukas of Uni Watch and notes the NFL decal wasn't there throughout the spring.
3a. Something to file away on the Cardinals: Arians said last week that their running game has been as good as it has been in his four-year tenure, in part because of a revamped right side of the offensive line with tackle D.J. Humphries (2015 first-round pick) and veteran guard Evan Mathis. Add a deep stable of rushers in David Johnson, Chris Johnson, Andre Ellington and Stepfan Taylor, and I expect to hear a lot from Patriots coaches about the importance of run D this week.
3b. Along those lines, the Patriots will hold their first practice of the regular season Sunday at 4:15 p.m. ET, with media conference calls with Bill Belichick (10), defensive coordinator Matt Patricia (10:15) and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels (10:25) earlier in the day, followed by media access to the locker room at 12 p.m.
3c. Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu, who tore his ACL on Dec. 20 last season, didn't play in the preseason, but Arians said he expects him to play the entire game in the season opener.
4a. Sixth-year offensive tackle Marcus Cannon is a key player for the Patriots this season as he steps in for Sebastian Vollmer on the right side. Vollmer could miss the season with a nagging hip injury and Cannon, despite a few struggles in the preseason finale Thursday against the Giants, has mostly been solid in the preseason. So what has changed for him after struggling noticeably at times the past two seasons? In his pregame interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Bill Belichick highlighted something that has caught his eye: Cannon's conditioning. "I'm sure you noticed in training camp how fit he looks. He's really in good shape. This is the best condition he's been in since he's been here," Belichick said. "Not that he's ever been in bad condition, but I'd say he's in real good condition now, and I think that's certainly helped his overall play and stamina."
4b. The Patriots aren't known as much for their running game, but in sharing his thoughts about Cannon, Belichick sounded pleased with the team's work in that area in the preseason. Specifically, he thought the unit performed well against a tough Carolina run D in the third preseason game, and he said Cannon is a big part of that with his ability to get movement at the line of scrimmage and cover up defenders.
5. The Patriots started chipping away at parts of their 2017 free-agent class by reaching extensions with linebacker Jonathan Freeny (through 2018) and special-teams captain Matthew Slater (through 2017) last week, which were moderate deals on the salary cap. From what I understand, those weren't the only two players the Patriots were negotiating with, so it wouldn't be a surprise if there's another domino or two to fall on those types of mid-to lower-range deals, which are different from the big-money negotiations ahead for Hightower, Collins and Butler.
6. On the fourth day of training camp, Belichick called the team's wide receiver competition "probably as good as it's been" in his 17 years as coach. If Belichick really believed that, he ultimately had to be disappointed at the way it unfolded in training camp and preseason because no one stepped up to win a job after the team's four locks of Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola and Malcolm Mitchell. Thus, the team kept only four on its initial roster, which is one fewer than the norm.
7. During his pregame interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Patriots president Jonathan Kraft carefully answered a question on the 10th anniversary of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell taking the job. Kraft framed his answer in the context of the commissioner post's history, noting that Pete Rozelle (1960-1989) was a "world-class marketer" who helped the NFL grow, and his successor, Paul Tagliabue (1989-2006), was a lawyer "who was the right guy at that time" because of all the anti-trust litigation that was swirling. Kraft then said that when Goodell was hired, the league didn't need a marketing whiz or top-notch lawyer as much as a "world-class business person to take this incredibly strong foundation and modernize" to keep improving the product. That seemed to suit Goodell, who had grown up working in the NFL. "Each of them in succession has played an important role for what the need was at the time," Kraft said, later highlighting his disagreement with how Goodell handled Deflategate. When I listened to Kraft's remarks, and thought ahead to what might be the most important role for the next commissioner, helping rebuild trust with players was near the top of the list. So perhaps a former player like Matt Birk would be a consideration.
8. Watching Rob Gronkowski accept the Ron Burton Community Service Award on Tuesday night, it had me thinking back to how much he has grown in his time with the club. It seems like yesterday he was jumping on the stage at the NFL draft with his family.
9. Never letting an opportunity pass itself by, Belichick had tight ends coach Brian Daboll calling some plays in Thursday's fourth preseason game, as well as linebackers coach Brian Flores. That reflected how they seem to be next in line behind coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia. The experimentation trickled down to the officiating crew as well, which as part of a pre-determined plan, had referee Gene Steratore step aside at the start of the fourth quarter as the crew worked one man down to prepare for the possibility of an inseason injury. Every officiating crew across the NFL did that in the preseason finale.
10. Linebacker Akeem Ayers, whose career was revived by the Patriots after they acquired him in a 2014 trade, was released by the Rams on Saturday after just one season. The Rams had signed him to a two-year contract with a maximum value of $6 million. With Ayers due a $500,000 roster bonus on Monday, the Rams cut him instead to save $3.3 million in cap space. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Ayers wouldn't have signed that contract had he not been traded in 2014 to the Patriots, who utilized him in a way (e.g. nickel edge rusher) that helped him thrive and become more valued in the marketplace. Two years later, albeit with a slightly different twist, I see the same story unfolding with newly acquired linebacker Barkevious Mingo.