1. Patriots rookie punter Jake Bailey is off to a tremendous start this season, averaging 46 yards on his 22 punts with a long of 63, in addition to having a 46 percent inside-the-20 rate. Some may think punting is punting, but Bailey detailed the differences between college and the pros. “There’s different rules that come along with special teams,” he said. “In college, when the ball is snapped everyone can go downfield and cover the punt immediately, where as in the NFL only the two gunners can go down. There’s different rules that come along with that and hang time is more valued in the NFL. That is the biggest difference I would say.” Punting in New England is also more difficult than say Stanford, California. “Different things with the wind is always a challenge up here,” he said. “Just getting used to (Matthew) Slater and how he prefers it, too. There’s a lot to work on.” It appears Bailey will add more to his plate this week handling the kickoff duties with Stephen Gostkowski on injured reserve and Mike Nugent joining the team.
2. Bailey came to the Patriots with everyone raving about his massive leg, but it’s been his directional punting that has been even more impressive through the first four games. Speaking on Ordway, Merloni & Fauria earlier in the week, Bill Belichick acknowledged it was something the team didn’t know much about when it drafted him. “I wouldn’t say that is something he did a lot of in college, so we’ve done it more as he’s got better at it,” he said. “He’s performed well doing it, so I think anytime you have a specialist whether it be a place kicker or a punter, or a quarterback, whatever it happens to be, you play to that player’s strengths. I would say he’s shown this is one of his strengths. I am not sure we knew how good it was or wasn’t just because he hadn’t done a lot of it. We knew he had a good leg and could put a long of hang time on the ball. His directional punting has been really good and so we’ve seen that over the course of the spring, training camp and now into the regular season. I think we are all gaining confidence in him.”
3. There were some interesting numbers relating to the Patriots running backs that were dug up this week from NFL Research. The offense has passed on 25.3 percent of Sony Michel’s snaps, the lowest pass rate of any skill position player in the NFL. Meanwhile, the offense has passed on 89.3 percent of James White’s snaps, the highest pass rate of any skill position player in the NFL. This is clearly something that needs to be addressed, especially for Michel since defenses can load the box with no real threat of the pass.
4. On Monday, Duron Harmon's Karaoke Night: Singing for Autism raised $80,000 for Autism Speaks and other nonprofit organizations that support Autism. The event was held at The Grand in Boston and a number of his teammates attended and performed. The biggest stars from the night were Phillip Dorsett, Joejuan Williams and Deatrich Wise. Here’s a video from Patriots.com of the night.
5. There’s been a lot of chatter when it comes to the Patriots potentially trading for a wide receiver at the deadline, but it is important to note their cap space. As of now, they have just over $2 million in cap space, which is certainly not enough to bring in a player like Stefon Diggs. Many will just say they can find ways to create cap space, but that would require extending players. Do the Patriots really want to extend Dont’a Hightower and/or Devin McCourty -- two players who reportedly considered retirement last offseason? There just aren’t many players left to extend and spread out the cap hits. Thank Antonio Brown for this because the Patriots were in fine shape before bringing him aboard.
6. First-year Patriots cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino has an interesting story, as he played lacrosse at Johns Hopkins and that is actually how he got connected with the Patriots for a summer internship before his senior year in 2014. “I’ve always been a football guy my whole life,” he said on a conference call this week. “I played lacrosse in college. I had an opportunity to internship here due to my head coach at Johns Hopkins, Dave Pietramala (who is close friends with Bill Belichick)," he said, "And I walked in the building, just did as much as I could to help around. I was going to come back and do the same kind of internship. Luckily, great people here gave me an opportunity and I’m just trying not to let them down every day.” Pellegrino actually doubled up by playing in the Major League Lacrosse League on the weekends until he retired following the 2017 season.
7. This will be a short week for the Patriots with them hosting the Giants on Thursday night. There’s already a good amount of intrigue with Daniel Jones at quarterback and could it even more intriguing if Saquon Barkley is able to play. Although, the Giants may play it safe and give him the extra 10 days before coming back in Week 7. Another thing to keep an eye on is if the Patriots are up big, will Belichick pull his starters earlier than usual knowing there’s a Thursday game on tap.
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