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'Moment won't be too big' for Jarrett Stidham, his former coach says

Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:

1. Ready to seize his chance: Becoming a starting quarterback in the NFL is hard enough. Filling the void created by Tom Brady’s free-agent departure makes it that much harder.

Jarrett Stidham is the leading candidate to fill that role, and his former coach, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, believes he has the makeup to succeed.

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn says his former QB Jarrett Stidham is good at building relationships with his teammates. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

2. Transitioning to post-Brady life: Patriots defensive tackle

3. Dugger breaks the mold: The Patriots’ selection of Division II Lenoir-Rhyne safety Kyle Dugger with their top pick (No. 37, second round) broke the mold in more ways than one. Of the 255 players selected in the draft, 246 were from Division I schools. Also, having turned 24 in March, Dugger is easily the oldest player coach Bill Belichick has selected with the team’s top pick — falling into a rare category of overage Patriots draftees that includes offensive linemen Nick Kaczur (26 in 2005 third round) and Sebastian Vollmer (25 in 2009 second round). For context, receiver N’Keal Harry was 21 when the Patriots made him their first-round pick in 2019. One reason Dugger fits well for the Patriots: They have used five defensive back packages — often with three safeties — more than most teams in the NFL in recent years.

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Coe — “He can play inside. He can play outside. He can play off the ball. He’s an athletic dude. Strong. He’s probably as talented out of anybody that came out of this draft; he has to be up there. He had a few things this year that I really think he’ll overcome and grow and all that. He could be one of those diamond-in-the-rough type of players.”

Hastings — “He was a walk-on kicker, an onside kick specialist. I think he went 0-for-2 when he got here, and so in the spring, we needed some receivers. I knew his high school coach — Will had played receiver there — and it took probably just a couple practices to figure out, ‘Hey, he may be able to help us.’ The first year, his first game right off the bat against Clemson, he played real well. He owns the school record in the 5-10-5 in the ‘L’ drill (aka three-cone drill). He’s unbelievably quick, and as good a double-move guy as I’ve ever seen. He can get open on those option routes. That’s a real good fit for him with that [Patriots] system.”

Receiver Jeff Thomas is a big-play threat with a chance to make New England’s roster. Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire

6. Could Thomas be this year’s Jackson?: Cornerback

Patriots 2010s All-Decade Team: pic.twitter.com/t89ZYqOpo5

— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) April 29, 2020

9. Parcells, Seymour and Vrabel down to the wire: This is the final week for fans to vote on the one inductee for the Patriots Hall of Fame, and all three finalists are deserving — Bill Parcells, Richard Seymour and Mike Vrabel. These were the three finalists on my ballot. Throughout the process, I’ve been struck by the lack of public buzz for Seymour, who was one of the franchise’s most talented players. Belichick wrote a letter supporting Seymour’s candidacy for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where he has been in the final 10 the past two years, which should only strengthen Seymour’s chances to earn a red jacket in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

10. Schedule release: Barring a change, the NFL expects to release its 2020 regular-season schedule by May 9, and everyone will be crossing their fingers that a full season actually takes place. The first thing I’ll be looking for with the Patriots’ slate is if any of their long-distance road games are stacked back-to-back — similar to 2008 and 2014 when they stayed on the West Coast between games. Players cited the team-bonding aspect of those weeks.

2020 road opponents: Chargers, Chiefs, Rams, Seahawks, Texans, Bills, Dolphins, Jets
2020 home opponents: 49ers, Cardinals, Broncos, Raiders, Ravens, Bills, Dolphins, Jets

NFL

How should the Bucs treat the GOAT? Lessons from Tom Brady's ex-teammates

TAMPA, Fla. — For the first time in over two decades, six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady is the new kid on the block — playing for a new team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in a new offense with new teammates. Well, mostly new teammates.

Brady will have longtime favorite target Rob Gronkowski to ease the transition. But to help Brady’s new squad get better acquainted with him, ESPN spoke to a number of former teammates for tips on how best to work with Brady.

Lesson 1: Don’t get caught ‘Brady-watching’

Former linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who was with the Patriots for four seasons before Brady’s arrival and played with the quarterback from 2000 to ’08, cautioned against falling into the trap of believing Brady can be the savior every Sunday, or what he calls “Brady-watching.” You can see it when a receiver drops a pass or a safety gives up a touchdown early in the fourth quarter but doesn’t feel a sense of urgency.

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“They need to get over Brady-watching. Because they get to the sideline and all of a sudden it’s like, ‘It’s OK, Tom will bail us out.’ That’s what I call Brady-watching,” Bruschi said.

Brady’s 45 game-winning drives from 2000 to ’19 are the most of any quarterback in history.

“I’ll be watching that early on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, if they’re Brady-watching or if they feel themselves as a team that everything is important, and not just when that guy right there is under center and everything is gonna magically happen,” Bruschi said.

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But multiple former teammates emphasized that just because some Bucs players grew up with Brady posters on their walls and don’t remember the NFL prior to Brady winning a Super Bowl, they can’t be in awe of him.

Tedy Bruschi, right, who played with Tom Brady for nine seasons, says his new teammates have to be careful not put their new QB on a pedestal. Jim Rogash/Getty Images

“I’ll say this right now,” Bruschi said, “if those players see him as that four-letter word, they better get over it. The four-letter word is a word I will not use to describe him. It’s that farm animal, it starts with G. I don’t do that. Because that’s almost like putting him on a pedestal. It’s like, dude, you’re still the same guy I intercepted in practice and took 20 bucks from. Come on, now.

“That’s my one advice to his teammates right now. He is on a level plane as you, because he’s gonna make mistakes, but he’s also gonna make you better. And it can’t be done without you. Don’t look to him to do it. Our teams never did.”

Lesson 2: Rookies need thick skin

When Gronkowski came to the Patriots as a second-round draft pick in 2010, the notoriously intense Brady rode the fun-loving Gronk hard.

“He used to be mean to me,” Gronkowski said in 2018, believing that he needed a “breaking-in” phase and to understand the expectations.

Their shared passion for winning ultimately made them one of the top quarterback-tight end tandems in the NFL for nine seasons. It’s why Gronkowski expressed an interest in reuniting prior to his signing with Tampa Bay, despite retiring because of injuries after the 2018 season.

“He just brings that fire to the table,” Gronkowski said after his trade to the Bucs was finalized. “There’s no time when you’re gonna be out at practice where he’s not gonna be vocal, the intensity level’s not gonna be high. You’re always gonna be learning with Tom.”

Lesson 3: Brady needs honest feedback

Brady might be a six-time Super Bowl winner, but tight end Christian Fauria, who played with Brady from 2002 to ’05, said he needs unfiltered feedback from his teammates in order to learn their preferences and tendencies, especially from skill players such as wide receivers

In a video to Buccaneers fans, Tom Brady expresses his happiness with being in Tampa Bay and makes a joke about getting kicked out of a park.

Brady also needs to know what players are seeing from the defense. If a safety is cheating on a high corner route, Brady needs to know the tight end won’t be able to run that route but could instead run a bench route.

“Take ownership of your role just as much as he takes ownership of his role,” Fauria said. “He’s gonna hold you accountable, but you need to hold him accountable. … It’s not a dictatorship, it’s a partnership. … He’s on a new team with new players and it’s their offense — it’s not his offense. … He’s gonna have to learn just as much from them as they’re gonna have to learn from him.

“There needs to be a lot of compromise and understanding and patience with how this relationship is developed. It’s not a one-way street. … There is a level of expectation and excellence that I think everybody strives for, but the fact is, he can’t do it by himself. He’s never done it by himself. … The more you work at it and practice it and understand what he wants you to do when you both see it the same way — that’s how it develops into a championship mentality.”

Lesson 4: Brady demands perfection from teammates and himself

For former guard Rich Ohrnberger, who was a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in 2009, every practice felt like a game. You were expected to compete the way Brady did, and if you made a mistake, he would point it out.

“There was an expert at all things football just feet behind you,” Ohrnberger said. “If you were having a lackadaisical day, he’d pick on you, he’d find you and make life tough for you.”

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Tom Brady has been known to get too fired up with head-butts before games. Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Lesson 6: Watch out when Brady gets too fired up

Running back Kevin Faulk tried to warn Stallworth prior to their first preseason game in 2007.

“He goes, ‘Stay away from Brady before we walk out,'” Stallworth said, assuming it was to give Brady some quiet moments to himself. “And he goes, ‘He’s gonna head-butt the s— out of you. He’s too fired up. Stay away from him, man.’

“I had kinda forgotten about it until he walked up to me and I’m like, ‘S—.’ And he like head-butts the hell out of me,” Stallworth said. “And I’m like, ‘This dude is like serious.’ I didn’t know that he was as competitive as he was. When people talk about [Michael] Jordan being as competitive as he was, that’s the same thing with Tom Brady.”

At the end of warm-ups at games, Brady has a ritual of running down to the end of the field on the home side of the stadium. He yells to the fans, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” In the AFC Championship Game following the 2017 season,

NFL

Reid: Let legal process play out on Breeland first

Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he’s talked with cornerback Bashaud Breeland and seen the video of his arrest on multiple charges Tuesday in South Carolina. He said the team would wait before deciding whether to take any measures against Breeland.

“We’ll let it play out with the law enforcement side of things and evaluate it from there,” Reid said.

Bashaud Breeland faces five total charges, including resisting arrest and drug possession, after he was seen smoking marijuana in a car late Tuesday. The Chiefs say they will let the legal process play out before any action by them. Rich Graessle/PPI/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

“Let’s see exactly what went on,” Reid said. “I know there is video out there. I’ve seen the video. I’ve talked to the kid. Let’s find out what the pace of this was and what caused everything to take place. I’m curious to see that part, as we all are, and then we’ll evaluate it from there.”

TMZ published a video from one of the witnesses to Breeland’s arrest at a gas station in Fort Mill, S.C.

Breeland, 28, faces charges of resisting arrest, having alcohol in a motor vehicle with the seal broken, having an open container of beer or wine in a motor vehicle, possession of 28 grams or less of marijuana or 10 grams of hash, and driving without a license.

He was released from the York County jail on $2,362.50 bond on Tuesday night.

NFL

Source: Bears reach deal with WR/returner Ginn

The Chicago Bears have reached a one-year deal with free-agent wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr., a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday.

Ginn ranks 25th in NFL history with 15,685 all-purpose yards — including 5,702 receiving yards, nearly 10,000 kickoff and punt return yards and 42 total touchdowns.

Although his career got off to a slow start with the Miami Dolphins as the No. 9 overall pick in the 2007 draft, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Ginn has maintained his reputation as one of the NFL’s fastest players throughout his 13-year career with the Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints.

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Before he played football at Ohio State, Ginn was a national champion in the 110-meter hurdles in high school and he was part of a 4×100-meter relay team his senior year that beat a team anchored by Usain Bolt.

The 35-year-old Ginn became expendable with the Saints after they signed Emmanuel Sanders in free agency.

Ginn’s production has dropped off over the past two years, thanks in part to a 2018 knee injury that sidelined him for 11 games. Although he played all 16 games for the Saints in 2019, he caught just 30 passes for 421 yards and two touchdowns.

Before the injury, however, Ginn had the best three-year stretch of his career — after the age of 30 — with the Panthers from 2015-2016 and with the Saints in 2017. He averaged 50 catches, 759 yards and six touchdowns over those three seasons while serving primarily as a deep threat.

ESPN’s Mike Triplett contributed to this report.

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