The Patriots have until Nov. 26 to activate Michel; otherwise, the 2018 first-round draft pick will be ruled out for the remainder of the season. When Michel was placed on IR at the beginning of October, his injury was not considered to be season-ending.
Advertisement
Even if Michel does return to action, his role certainly has been muddied during his absence. Second-year player Damien Harris has proven himself as New England’s top back, rushing for an average of 78.5 yards over the past six games, including a career-high 122-yard performance Sunday night against Baltimore.
In addition to Harris, the Patriots have veterans James White and Rex Burkhead — both of whom are also known for their pass-catching abilities.
Asked about the challenge of reintegrating Michel into a crowded backfield, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels didn’t seem hard-pressed by the situation.
“When you have good players at one position, I think that’s always a good thing for the team,” McDaniels said. “Sony has always been a positive contributor to our offense, so we’ll figure out how exactly we’ll want to handle all those things when everybody’s healthy and back. It starts with practice and what we’re able to do there on the practice field.”
Prior to his injury, Michel appeared in three games. The first two were underwhelming showings. The other was a breakthrough against Las Vegas in Week 3, when he eclipsed 100 yards for the first time in a regular-season game since December 2018.
Advertisement
Given the emergence of Harris, along with the versatility of Burkhead and White, finding a place for Michel in the backfield is no easy task. But McDaniels emphasized that competition should bring out the best in all players.
“I think we have a competitive group of backs,” he said. “I think that only makes the players better. They work hard in practice, and they compete to try to find roles during the course of the week for the game. That’s always been a really important thing for our program and our offense is to compete in practice. It makes you better and makes our team better.”
Upon further review . . .
The positive reviews about quarterback Cam Newton continue to roll in.
McDaniels, who has been effusive in his praise for Newton this season, raved extensively about his leadership amid the team’s 4-5 record.
“I think Cam’s a tremendous example of what a leader’s supposed to be,” McDaniels said. "Leadership isn’t easy. Being out front and playing quarterback in the National Football League is certainly a challenge. There’s a lot of highs and lows that you’re going to experience. But Cam, he’s never wavered from his work ethic, from his attitude, from the way he approaches practice, the effort that he gives on a daily basis, whether it be a meeting, a film session, a walkthrough, or any part of what we’re doing on the field.
Advertisement
“He is unselfish. He is accountable for any mistake that he makes. He’s incredibly honest. Communication with Cam is literally the exact kind of communication you’re looking for when you’re a coach. You ask a question, you get an honest response. If he made a mistake, he tells you what it was, which, again, there’s no better example for younger players than to see a guy do that.”
Davis asks for a second take
New Patriots defensive tackle Carl Davis wanted a word with ESPN on Tuesday morning.
As part of Davis’s player profile, ESPN used an image of a fellow “C. Davis” as in Patriots safety Cody Davis, instead of one of Carl. The mixup prompted Carl to take to Twitter in order to request a correction.
“Can everybody retweet this until ESPN realizes this is not me and changes this,” he tweeted with a screenshot of the incorrect photo. “Thanks.”
ESPN later replaced the image with the correct “C. Davis.”
Nicole Yang can be reached at nicole.yang@globe.com.
The Link LonkNovember 18, 2020 at 01:21AM
https://ift.tt/3nyimHr
Sony Michel running in place as he waits to come off IR - The Boston Globe
https://ift.tt/2ZeUDD8
Sony
No comments:
Post a Comment