FOXBOROUGH — Can you believe we have a football game Thursday night? That escalated quickly. I can’t promise it will be good football, and who knows if that turf holds up (what are we doing?), but there will be something resembling a pro game at Gillette, and we will have it covered. In the meantime, some thoughts on the roster after 14 days of training camp.
I think the running back pecking order is established. Rhamondre Stevenson is the between-the-tackles guy, and until proven otherwise, the most reliable back on passing downs. That’s not just for his blitz pickup, which is superior to Treveyon Henderson’s, but he’s surehanded and has continued to flash that this summer.
Terrell Jennings is, in my mind, far and away the best of the rest. He knows what he is and runs that way. Lan Larisson has been just a guy, and the two rookies, draft pick Jam Miller and UDFA Myles Montgomery, have shown a flash here or there and will get plenty of run in these preseason games.
As for Henderson, I told you I haven’t seen much improvement with his vision and patience, but I don’t have access to practice film. Mike Vrabel does, so I asked him for his thoughts.
“He had a few nice cuts, and again, I think I’ve always said that the best receivers have the ability to play at different speeds and not just be fast all the time, but being able to play at different speeds. I would say that for a running back with his speed, sometimes it’s important that he sees it, and much like linebackers, that no step is better than a bad step.
“I think by understanding the front that’s out in front of the run or what it may look like at the beginning, whether there’s movement, and then what his adjustments are, I think some of that is starting to slow down for him and being able to see the picture of what it looks like and then potentially what it could look like a couple strides into the run. So, he continues to work at it, and the only way to improve at it is to work at it and see it, and he’s getting a lot of different looks from our defense in the run game as well.”
In other words, it’s a work in progress.
How many receivers is too many? Vrabel is on the record that if they feel like carrying 7 makes sense, they’ll do it. They did that a couple of years ago, but that’s because their roster was a wasteland. This group is light years ahead of that, and I’m not sure I’d want to squeeze a spot where I’m thin in favor of keeping a player who won’t ever be on the gameday roster.
You know what I believe will happen with the Kayshon Boutte situation, but if he does stick around, then what? Would the team put Efton Chism on waivers, with eyes on getting him back on the practice squad? I think he would get