The Road To Mistakes

The Pats lost to Green Bay last night in their first preseason game, but the score doesn't really matter. As Coach Belichick said, a lot of players were on the field. They got valuable experience.

There is competition for many positions. The games give the coaching staff more feedback on each player. Some of them will be evaluated on only a few snaps.

Every team makes wrong decisions when it comes to keeping or releasing players. It happens every season.

The Pack Is Back In Town

It's less than two hours before kickoff for the first preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. How much action will Tom Brady see tonight? Most of the starting offensive line is injured. It's almost pointless to put Brady out there.

Coach Belichick really needs to get a good look at Jimmy Garapollo, but the Packers will have their second and third string defense on the field.

The only goal tonight for both teams should be to keep players from getting hurt while giving snaps to those who really need them.

Those Crazy Jets

The New York Jets continue their "No Ring Circus" with their latest nonsense. QB Geno Smith will miss 6-10 weeks after having his jaw broken by LB Ik Enemkpali in a locker room fight.

The issue involved a $600 airline ticket which Smith owed to Enemkpali. Coach Tod Bowles compared the situation to a bunch of sixth graders, but Jets fans must wonder if the coach has control of his team.

The Jets immediately released Enemkpali. In a touch of irony, Rex Ryan signed him up today for the Buffalo Bills.

Ryan Fitzpatrick moves to the starting role. Where does this leave Smith? This was a critical year for him. He was already on a short leash. Smith might not get back on the field if Fitzpatrick does well.

Mick Tingelhoff

The selection process for the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio seems flawed at times. Great players, especially from the past, get overlooked. The committee tries to rectify it by selecting a couple annually.

Mick Tingelhoff of the Minnesota Vikings is a great example. He waited 37 years for his induction. It came at the age of 75 while he has been battling health issues, including memory loss.

At the last minute, he decided to have former teammate Fran Tarkenton speak for him. It lasted a little over a minute and got a standing ovation.

Tingelhoff played in 240 consecutive games over a 17 year career. He never missed a start or practice. Players back then got concussions on a regular basis, but stayed in the game.

We see the long terms effects on a player like him. The late Junior Seau already had signs of CTE in his brain before he committed at 43 in 2012.

It would have been nice if Tingelhoff gave his own speech, but he was not up to it.

Not Ready For Canton

Players need to have confidence if they plan to survive in the NFL. Vikings RB Adrian Peterson went over the top with his recent boasting about wanting to be the greatest player ever and getting to the Hall of Fame.

With 10,190 career yards, he ranks 28th on the all-time list. He has a chance to make it into the top ten if he stays healthy and gains 2,000 more yards.

He turns 30 this season which is old for his position. Peterson is a great player, but probably won't make it to Canton.

Surviving Camp

The Pats are like most teams around the league with too many players on the injury report. They had 22 players with limited practice participation. Coach Belichick has voiced his concern about having everyone on the field.

The league needs to find the right balance for contact practices. Teams are going into the regular season without being fully prepared.

The goal of training camp is to evaluate players while installing their offense and defense. Every team will lose a couple of players to Inured Reserve in the process. It happens all the time.

A Real Injury

Pats fans never really know the extent of player injuries. Coach Belichick does a great job in keeping it private.

We heard that RB Legarette Blount suffered knee injury at yesterday's practice and will miss a few of the exhibition games.

I was at practice yesterday and saw the whole thing. Blount got tangled in a group and fell to the ground clutching his knee. He remained on his back for about five minutes while in obvious pain. He looked like someone who just realized his season was over.

He has been diagnosed with a knee sprain. Hopefully, that is the extent of his injury. It looked real bad to me.

Private Tom

Just when Deflategate couldn't get any crazier, we are seeing the release of Tom Brady's emails and texts that reveal the private side him. Many of them have nothing to do with football.

His comments about Peyton Manning will live forever. Maybe they will laugh about it some day.

Down Goes Foster

The recent injury to RB Arian Foster of the Houston Texans shows how precarious training camp can be. The Pats saw it yesterday when Julien Edeleman got banged up on a play and sat out the rest of practice.

The goal of every team should be to get through training camp and the four preseason games without losing anyone to IR, but that rarely happens. Most teams lose at least one or two players before the season starts.

Foster will have surgery on his groin and be placed on IR with the stipulation to return after the first eight weeks of the season. It remains to be seen if he returns to form.

Brady Is Now 38

Tom Brady turned 38 yesterday and left fans wondering how much longer he can play. Other than his knee injury in 2008, he has stayed healthy.

Very few players ever make it to their 16th season. He is definitely playing on borrowed time. He always says he wants to play until he is 40. Can he last three more seasons?

Rex and the City

Rex Ryan is taking the Buffalo Bills fans by storm. He is just what they needed after missing out on the playoffs for the last 15 seasons.

During a press conference, he all but said that GM John Idzak and owner Woody Johnson were not on board during his final season with the Jets.

Rex is not making any ridiculous claims like he did in his rookie coaching season, but he is entertaining like always.

Banner Days

It started on the first day of training camp when a small plane flew a banner over the practice field that said "Cheaters look up". On the next day, there was a pro-Brady one.

Now, someone just flew over Roger Goodell's house in Maine with one that told him to go home.

The banners are funny, but childish. It's someone who wants to draw attention. These flights aren't cheap.