Funny but 10 years late Bledsoe is closing in on 50,000 yards. Couch sucked and has been out of NFL for 2 seasons and Carr is on his way to major bust. At least now Parcells/Ireland are buying groceries and will work with Palmer - not against him......
Patriots: Bledsoe will be under close scrutiny
Associated Press
Aug. 1, 1996
Smithfield, R.I. -- The Patriots are hoping Drew Bledsoe's offensive potential is resurrected after a disappointing 1995.
There will be a lot of eyes on the young quarterback Friday night, but none will be more sharply focused than Chris Palmer's.
The New England Patriots' former receivers coach is now in charge of Bledsoe's progress as an NFL quarterback, and he has been helping the fourth-year veteran get ready for Friday night's preseason opener against the Packers in Green Bay.
"He's only responsible for just my position, so he's watching every single throw," Bledsoe said Wednesday at Bryant College. "If I throw a bad one, he can say, "Well, listen, that time your foot was here and you dropped your elbow,' and things like that, so that's been helpful."
The resurrection of Bledsoe's offensive potential became an offseason priority for the Patriots after the former No. 1 draft choice slipped from 4,555 yards passing in 1994 to 3,507 last year. He also slipped from a 57.9-percent completion rate to 50.8 percent.
Palmer, in his seventh NFL coaching season, had last coached quarterbacks for the USFL's New Jersey Generals in 1985, tutoring Doug Flutie and Brian Sipe. The idea with Bledsoe is to work out the bad habits in his throwing motion that developed after he suffered a separated left (non-throwing) shoulder in last season's third game, at San Francisco.
Patriots' head coach Bill Parcells does not allow his assistant coaches to speak to the media, but Bledsoe said he has already seen an improvement from Parker's tutelage.
"Now that I look at it with the help of Chris Palmer to determine the areas I need to work on, it's pretty easy to see where it's going to help," Bledsoe said. "It (the shoulder injury) no longer has any effect. I worked with Chris on a few mechanical things with my release, but it should be cleared up.
"I've had a few bad practices, which you tend to have in training camp, but for the most part, I think I'm taking steps in the right direction," Bledsoe added.
Parcells was not quite as certain that he's seen improvement in his quarterback.
"I don't know if I can say yes to that right now," he said. "Friday night will be a good indication of that."
Parcells was unclear how much Bledsoe would play against the Packers, other than to say that he would play three of his quarterbacks (presumably Bledsoe, Scott Zolak and Jay Barker) for a third of the game apiece.
Bledsoe said he had some specific goals for the preseason.
"I want to be very effective in my passing game, I want to have better than 60 percent completions, and I want to get the ball in the end zone," he said.
One of his newer weapons may not see action in the Green Bay game. First-round draft pick Terry Glenn has a slight hamstring pull in his left leg and may not play.
"I don't think it's serious," Parcells said. "But I don't know ... he's been hurt three times, a shoulder, concussion and the hamstring, and that kind of worries you a little bit."
Parcells said he was most worried about Glenn falling behind in the learning process.
"He's missed three days and today's four," he said. "With him it's one step forward and two back. He could practice from now to October, and he'd still be learning."
uke: Chris Palmer
