Patriots tune in to new rule Listen up: Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas, who could be one candidate to wear a headset on defense, chats with rookie Shawn Crable at training camp yesterday in Foxboro. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>FOXBORO - Defensive headsets are supposed to simplify the act of getting a play onto the field. But for a team like the Patriots [team stats], they may end up being a hindrance. For the first time in the NFL, a defensive player will be tuned in to hear play calls from the coaches. Offenses have long done so with the quarterback, but that position is unique, because the QB never leaves the field and all plays run through him. Coach Bill Belichick has a host of concerns over how the new rule will be implemented. On a team like the Pats, there’s no obvious candidate to wear the earpiece. While starting corners generally play every snap, they’re not in the best position to communicate outside of the huddle. The linebacker who was on the field the most last year, at least anecdotally, was Mike Vrabel. Otherwise, the Patriots substitute pretty liberally. “That’s one of the many problems that we have to address,” Belichick said yesterday. “Since there is only one person out there, if he doesn’t have it, then we’re going to have to signal them (by hand) anyway.” The rule is slated to work much like the one on offense. The players with the headset will have 25 seconds to get the call, with the mikes shutting off 15 seconds before the play clock expires. The wrinkle is that two players will be designated to wear radio receivers, though only one can be on the field at a time. This means that the designated players must bring two helmets to each game - one with an earpiece (marked with a green sticker) and one without it. “If one of those players was to leave, you could put the helmet on Player B,” Belichick said. “There is no Player C.” This isn’t much of an issue for a team like the Baltimore Ravens or Chicago Bears, who boast every-down middle linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher, respectively. But it is for the Patriots, especially when their sub packages start running on and off the field. Pats cornerback Fernando Bryant said he wouldn’t be thrilled about wearing a headset. “It’s not something I’d particularly want to do,” Bryant said. “I’m not a signal-caller. Corners most of the time are locked in. That would take something away from my game as far as being focused on one side of the field, one wide receiver on that play. Me personally, I wouldn’t want to do it.” Then there’s the issue of durability. It’s one thing for a quarterback to wear the earpiece, because he’s not absorbing vicious contact on every play. But defensive players are paid to hit and hit hard. Could the sensitive equipment even take the pounding? “That’s something they’re going to have to look into,” Bryant said. “Quarterbacks don’t get hit too often. They might get slung to the ground but never across the head unless it’s a penalty. They’re going to have to look into that, because linebackers and safeties come up pretty hard. You could have some problems with that in the beginning.” Then there’s the fact that defensive players don’t always initiate contact; sometimes they absorb it. “I didn’t even know defensive players were getting headsets,” running back LaMont Jordan said. “That’s not something I have to worry about, but hopefully someone will come to hit me, and I can knock a couple loose.” It may actually be simpler for the Pats to just stick to hand signals. At the very least, the players are going to have to know them. “From the coaches that I’ve talked to in the league, defensive coaches and the head coaches, I think that everyone feels you’d better be prepared to signal,” Belichick said.</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticKing @ Jul 29 2008, 01:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Then there’s the fact that defensive players don’t always initiate contact; sometimes they absorb it. “I didn’t even know defensive players were getting headsets,” running back LaMont Jordan said. “That’s not something I have to worry about, but hopefully someone will come to hit me, and I can knock a couple loose.”</div> LOL, Lamont Jordan, Mr. Glassjaw I-can't-get-past-the-dlinemen, is talking about putting a lick on a defender!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Thoth @ Jul 30 2008, 01:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>But, I'm the only one who ponied up and asked the $64,000 question.</div> You are in our subconscious, not our conscious.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Return of the Raider @ Jul 30 2008, 01:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Thoth @ Jul 30 2008, 01:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>But, I'm the only one who ponied up and asked the $64,000 question.</div> You are in our subconscious, not our conscious. </div> Collective effort or not; its my money.
