NFL Notebook: Handing out some midseason awards for Patriots

In this week’s edition of the NFL Notebook, we have a few leftovers from our two sessions with the Patriots’ assistants this week, three numbers that jumped off the page for us this week, and the thoughts of the Sunday Night Football crew on Sunday’s Patriots-Packers contest. But first, at the halfway point of the 2018 regular season, we hand out a few awards.


1. Halfway through the regular season, we’re handing out some midseason awards. Call them the BSJ "Middies." You already know who we’re picking when it comes to team (and presumably offensive) MVP, so we’ll dispense with that one and go right into the rest of the honors.

Defensive MVP — Trey Flowers: It’s a different team when he’s on the field. His ability to get after the passer and his burgeoning run-stuffing talents have made him the most valuable defensive player for this team over the first half. He beats out Stephon Gilmore, who is having a really good year.

Best Rookie — Sony Michel: Honestly, not much of a choice when you have almost all of your rookie class on IR. The Georgia running back has struggled with injury, but he’s been the best of the bunch so far with 95 carries for 422 yards and four touchdowns. Honorable mention goes to J.C. Jackson, who has worked his way into the rotation at cornerback, and while he leads the team in penalties, has carved out a nice niche on the depth chart.

Best Newcomer — Josh Gordon: Not sure anyone saw this coming in the summer, but the receiver has gone from being a peripheral part of the offense to having a central role in the passing game. He has 17 catches for 266 yards and a touchdown in five games. He still has his share of errors, but all in all, he’s done as well as could be expected acclimating to New England at this point.

Coach of the Year — Chad O’Shea: Since the spring, players like Malcolm Mitchell, Kenny Britt and Eric Decker have all left, while new faces like Corey Coleman have rotated through, and other newcomers like Gordon and Cordarrelle Patterson have stuck around. That’s all set against the backdrop of Julian Edelman’s suspension. No coach on the staff has had to deal with that sort of positional turnover over the last six months or so, but O’Shea has handled it all nicely.

2. As we said earlier, O’Shea has had to deal with a constant rotation of players through his meeting room since the offseason, but has managed to keep his head throughout the process. O’Shea said the credit for keeping things steady at the position has gone to holdovers like Chris Hogan and Phillip Dorsett, who have helped when it comes to stability.

“I think it’s been very rewarding when you have a group of guys who work hard, does what we ask them to do,” he said. “Regardless of the combination of who those players are, it’s really been a fun group to work with. The guys who have been here through this whole thing — the Chris Hogans, the Phillip Dorsetts, the guys who have been here through the whole thing through Julian’s suspension — have really handled everything so well. They’ve really been so receptive to any of the new guys.

“They’ve always treated them with a lot of respect and really been very helpful in the transitions to not only our offense but the organization itself. It says a lot about the character of the guys in our room who are very unselfish. It’s not about them, it’s about the team. They’ve been very receptive to any new player who comes in our system, and I think that’s been a great thing about that group.”