Patriot Maven Notebook: Cam Achord’s ‘Mea Culpa’, Joshuah Bledsoe Impresses Coaches and More
The New England Patriots have their attention squarely focused on Week Sixteen and a matchup with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Gillette Stadium in. Foxboro, Massachusetts. The teams are set for battle in a pivotal game which will have significant implications on the race for the AFC East division title, as well as AFC playoff-seeding. From a promising rookie safety impressing his coaches to special teams woes, here are the latest Pats news and notes, courtesy of the Patriot Maven Notebook
Bledsoe Shows Resilience in Return From Injury
Patriots rookie safety Joshuah Bledsoe has had quite the journey to the team’s 53-man roster.
Last week, the 22-year-old was activated from the non-football injury (NFI) list. Bledsoe first joined the Patriots on the practice field in late November, after spending the entirety of the season to that point on NFI with a wrist injury. The Missouri product had suffered a broken wrist at this year’s Reese’s Senior Bowl, an injury for which he required surgery to repair.
However, Bledsoe’s road to recovery was a bit harder than originally known.
When speaking to the media on Tuesday, Patriots safeties coach Brian Belichick revealed that the Pats’ sixth round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft had not only one, but two surgeries to repair his wrist.
“It’s been a long, long road since he got here,” Belichick said. “He had two wrist surgeries in 2021. So, he’s had a lot of recovery, which can be a difficult position as a rookie…especially when you’re trying to learn a defense where you don’t get [the chance] to go on the field and practice in person. So, it really forces you to be engaged in the classroom and trying to get mental reps, you know, trying to take yourself through the film. So, he’s been in the meetings all year and he’s been staying engaged. I’ve tried to keep him learning it because I knew at some point he’d be back and would get out there.”
Belichick went on to praise Bledsoe’s work ethic and ability to quickly adapt to the Pats defensive style,
“And, fortunately, he stayed on it enough so that when he did get out there, he played fast and he showed that he could hang out there. And that was encouraging. It’s been a pleasure to work with him. He’s been showing up every day, no excuses about having to rehab and all that stuff. He’s worked and hard and he’s stayed after it. And it’s good that he’s been back on the practice field the last couple weeks. So, nice to have him out there.”
Though he was inactive for Saturday night’s matchup with the Indianapolis Colts, Bledsoe remains hopeful that his 2021 season debut is yet to come.
Achord Takes the Blame for Special Teams Woes
It is far from a stretch to say that the Patriots were not exactly at their best in Week Fifteen against the Colts. From costly penalties to breakdowns in run defense, several factors contributed to New England’s 27-17 loss on Saturday night.
However, the most uncharacteristic of Patriots’ struggles may have come on special teams.
Special teams stalwart Brandon King committed a costly offsides penalty, negating a 46-yard missed field goal by Colts’ kicker Michael Badgley. With a second-chance, Badgley connected from 41 yards, thus adding three points to Indy’s lead.
Most notably, Indianapolis’ linebacker Matthew Adams easily evaded Pats’ fullback Jakob Johnson to block Jake Bailey‘s punt. Fellow linebacker E.J. Speed recovered in the end zone for the touchdown. It was the third blocked punt allowed by New England thus far in 2021; the highest total among all NFL teams. In fact, only nine teams have yielded more than three blocked punts in a single season.
Knowing that improvement is urgently needed, special teams coordinator Cam Achord spoke to the media Tuesday morning and took responsibility for the team’s recent special teams struggles, especially Bailey’s blocked punt.
“In all honesty, that starts with me and just doing the fundamentals, techniques and making sure the guys are understanding what I am asking for, looking for, and just executing our techniques better," Achord said. "It goes back to me and making sure I am stressing that and coaching that effectively. As long as we can start doing that and improve on our fundamental techniques, we should be able to handle the punt protections.”
He later added: “It goes back to just us and doing our fundamentals and techniques. Like I said, it’s going to go back to me and I have to get that part fixed. I have to do that. In all honesty, it falls back on me and not the guys.”
For an organization that places such a premium on top-level special teams’ performance, Achord and the Pats are expecting a much better output as the team takes the field for its Week Sixteen matchup with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Keene Removed from COVID-19/Reserve
Amidst the growing concerns surrounding the recent surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the league, the Patriots removed tight end Dalton Keene from the COVID-19 reserve list on Tuesday, as confirmed by the NFL transaction wire. The 22-year-old had been on COVID/Reserve since December 13.
Keene will still remain on season-ending injured reserve, however, after undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus injury.
Selected in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft at No. 101 overall, Keene appeared in six games during his rookie season. He took 140 offensive snaps and finished with three receptions for 16 yards on five targets.
On Monday, the Patriots placed wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and linebackers Harvey Langi, Ronnie Perkins and Cameron McGrone on COVID-19 reserve on Monday. Running back J.J. Taylor has remained on the list since Nov. 29, while offensive lineman Yasir Durant was also sent to the list last week.
The Patriots and Bills will hit the practice fields on Wednesday, in anticipation of their post-Christmas duel at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts on Sunday, December 26, 2021 at 1:00pm ET.
