What to Watch For: Jaguars vs Patriots
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
What to Watch For: Jaguars vs Patriots
"They're a good football team. They can run the ball, they have explosive players in the passing game, the quarterback is athletic, so we've got to stop everything. It's not a one-man band - they did it all against Miami, got the ball at the end of the game what they had to, drove it down the field, ran the ball, mixed some passes in there, got it down into field goal range and made the winning kick. So, I think they're well balanced - 33 runs, 33 passes - whatever it was. We've got to stop everything," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in his Friday press conference.
See What to Watch For When the Patriots Host Jacksonville in the slideshow below.
Familiar Face
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Jaguars come into town with a new head coach in Gus Bradley. Bradley was formally the linebacker coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and last season was the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, who the Patriots beat in the Super Bowl. As Bill Belichick has pointed out on several occasions this week, Bradley has brought many of his defensive schemes with him to Jacksonville.
"Their fronts are similar, their coverages are similar, the type of players that they have acquired or assembled there. You can definitely see the roles. Obviously each player's skills are different, but they have a lot of good players on their front," Belichick said of the Jaguars.
What the Jaguars Bring
Jacksonville brings a young and hungry team that is coming off of a win over Florida rival Miami last week into Gillette Stadium.
"They're young. They're very athletic. I mean, you've got guys like [Allen] Robinson just going up and taking the ball away from people. Like I said, the front, they just keep coming at you," Belichick said.
The Jaguars are led by quarterback Blake Bortles and running back T.J. Yeldon. Against Miami, Yeldon carried the ball 25 times for 70 yards and was targeted four times in the passing game.
"He's definitely shown he can be a workhorse. That game last week, it was very hot. There were a lot of players who couldn't finish the game with cramping and dehydration issues and so forth. They just kept giving him the ball. He ran hard. He's a powerful guy. He's got good speed, gets the ball outside, catches the ball," Belichick added.
What to Watch For
Just a week before thier bye, the Patriots face a young and hungry Jacksonville Jaguars team at Gillette. The game features a number of things to watch for including Rob Gronkowski going up against a familier foe, Tom Brady going for a milestone and an interesting battle at the running back position.
For more on those things and everything else to watch, see the what to watch for slideshow below.
What to Watch For When the Patriots Host Jacksonville
Gronkowski vs Brown
Last season, Sergio Brown played for the Colts and after Gronkowski completed a block that sent Brown deep into the sidelines, Gronkowski said "I threw him out of the club," after the game.
"Emotions were flying high that day. I've got nothing but respect for Sergio. He's a great player. We've just got to go out there and worry about the Jaguars as a whole," Gronkowski said earlier this week.
Brown now plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars and will find himself matched up with Gronkowski at some point during the game.
Gronkowski has four touchdown catches on the season for the Patriots.
Bradley Fletcher
While the secondary in general is a concern, cornerback Bradley Fletcher is raising above the concerns.
Last week he struggled in coverage and gave up a huge play to Sammy Watkins that put Buffalo right back in the game.
Throughout his career, Bradley has had points where he struggled and when he left Philly this offseason, they were not sad to see him go.
Running Back Snaps
Last week was not a great measuring stick because the Patriots game plan going in was to throw the ball... a lot. New England didn't want to run the ball against a tough Buffalo front line. Patriots only ran the ball 15 times in the game and three of those came from Brady.
Something to watch going forward will be the balance between Dion Lewis and LeGarrette Blount who will be in better game shape this week.
So far this season, Lewis has rushed 22 times for 109 yards, has two fumbles and one touchdowns. Lewis has also been a weapon in the passing game with 10 catches for 149 yards.
Asked about Lewis, Belichick said "Dion has been very productive with the ball in his hands, and he's been very dependable when he hasn't had the ball. That's really the bottom line. Being able to, in the passing game protect, run routes, catch, in the running game read blocks and make good decisions and make yards on his own."
Tom Brady 400
Quarterback Tom Brady is one touchdown pass away from 400 for his career. Brady would become only the fourth quarterback in NFL history to reach 400 touchdown passes.
"I've played with so many great players, and I think anything that's ever been achieved by me as an individual is just a reflection of what our team has been about. So, I've been blessed to be on, to me, the greatest team, organization in sports and played with so many great players and teammates," said Tom Brady during his Wednesday media availability.
So far this season, Tom Brady has been on fire, completing 63 of 91 passes for 754 yards and seven touchdowns.
Brady carries a quarterback rating of 76 and a completion percentage of 69.
No Let Down
The Patriots are 2-0 coming off a big win on the road over Buffalo last week with their bye week coming up next week.
The Jaguars are not expected to be a great team this season as they continue to rebuild, however, they will be playing inspired football after beating Miami last week and young quarterback Blake Bortles is still trying to prove himself.
New England is already a double-digit favorite to win so it would be nice if they are able to put Jacksonville away early and keep them away. Not let them climb back in like Buffalo did last week.
