What is the template for how we do preseason differently this year as opposed to last?

_sturt_

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Just reading some discussion about our three QBs, and curious what thoughts are out there since last preseason seemed to get away from us, and the first regular season game at Carolina really became the first real playing time for some guys if I remember correctly.

To the point, is the conventional Game 3 dress rehearsal+Game 4 players-on-the-roster-bubble-competition template the best... and if not, what's a better way?
 

Irvin88_4life

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I think the first preseason game starters just get a couple series. 2nd preseason game a quarter, 3rd play the first half and 4th game should be bubble guys.

Not playing staters at all is not a good plan and even Zeke needs to play. I think Garrett changed after the Romo injury against Seattle in the pre-season
 

Captain43Crash

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It is so friggin simple. Do what Belicheat does! He played his starters way more than we did last year. Did our Offense look ready for the season last year vs Carolina? Hel_ no!
NE played their starters for a quarter and a half in the 1st preseason game, about 3 quarters in the 2nd and 3rd preseason games and sat their starters in the last preseason game.
Our slow Offensive start last year was all on the genius Garrett!! Dak, Gallop, Williams, Looney, etc. all needed the playing time in preseason and DID not get it.
 

glimmerman

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We got a few injuries last year and JJ yanked everyone and it showed early in the year. Elliot never played a snap. This year I would do the regular. Game 1 do a few series. Game 2 a quarter. Game 3 is dress rehearsal and play them a half. Then shut it down.
 

JayFord

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We don’t have the depth at key positions to play our starters a lot until the third game an injury to the receiving or qb or secondary lbs and were done

We’re going to start off slow anyways so why not just slum it through preseasons
 

DanA

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1. Design pick plays, they work
2. Design multiple plays from the same look that require different responses
3. Give Dak the ability to alter/adapt what he's doing base on what he sees on the field.
4. Put the ball in the best players hands more often (Don't repeatedly target Noah Brown in the RedZone)
5. Disguise defensive plays, don't telegraph them by always aligning the same way for certain plays
6. Remove the hubris of "tone setting", no play is ever meant to send a message saying we don't care if you know what we're doing, we'll just do it better.
7. It's not next man up, everybody is an individual, each play should be designed to maximize each individual's talents on the field accordingly.
8. Use 21 personnel, 12 personnel, and 10 personnel more often.
9. Motion more often to see if opposition is in man/zone coverage
10. Practice sniffing out blitzes and setting the LOS to block them

This is the year Dak has to take on more responsibility. He can't just practice his deep ball this pre-season. He's got to learn to properly run the offense, he was sacked way too often last season which IMO was related to not seeing where the blitz was coming from and not adjusting the line to accommodate. That's something Frederick was able to help with in previous years but a large part of it should be coming from Dak.
 

CouchCoach

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Just reading some discussion about our three QBs, and curious what thoughts are out there since last preseason seemed to get away from us, and the first regular season game at Carolina really became the first real playing time for some guys if I remember correctly.

To the point, is the conventional Game 3 dress rehearsal+Game 4 players-on-the-roster-bubble-competition template the best... and if not, what's a better way?
There is no better way until the owners agree not to punish the HC's for losing a key player in the pretend season. Every HC reacts to another losing a player in a meaningless game by being very careful with his starters because I have little doubt that the unwritten agreement to not game plan in preseason now includes backing off with the starters.

For every Trent Green to Kurt Warner story there are dozens that go the other way. We can debate the Romo to Prescott one but I'd rather not.

The opening weekend and actually into the second week is some pretty sloppy football and the risk of losing a player is the same as in the pretend season but it just seems like a total waste when it happens before it gets real. Just ask Steve Spagnuolo in his first and only HC gig when he lost not only his two starting CB's in preseason but the first backup. And then lost his job even though his own players were opposed to that and didn't think it fair. Neither did the press but that didn't help him.

I know there was a lot of comments off how the team looked and particularly Prescott to start last season but we got real lucky when we lost the previous starting QB in a pretend game.
 

Irvin88_4life

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It is so friggin simple. Do what Belicheat does! He played his starters way more than we did last year. Did our Offense look ready for the season last year vs Carolina? Hel_ no!
NE played their starters for a quarter and a half in the 1st preseason game, about 3 quarters in the 2nd and 3rd preseason games and sat their starters in the last preseason game.
Our slow Offensive start last year was all on the genius Garrett!! Dak, Gallop, Williams, Looney, etc. all needed the playing time in preseason and DID not get it.
Thats a big reason the offense failed at first. No chemistry with a new receiving group. What's crazy is the instant chemistry Dak and Cooper had, Tennessee didn't go will but Cooper did score. If Dak can develop that same chemistry with Gallup he will finally break the 30 TD mark. I think they will get that chemistry as he hit Gallup better towards the end of the season. Still had a couple misses in the playoffs though so developing still needs to happen.
 

_sturt_

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New thought that I admit I haven't completely thought through...

Why not coordinate with the opposing team that my offensive starters play versus your defensive non-starters for one half in each game, and my defensive starters play versus your offensive non-starters in the other half...

After all, a lot of what you're trying to accomplish is simply timing and getting used to hitting.... wouldn't it serve both teams' best interests that their top players are not actually playing against other top players, who presumably are more capable of causing injuries? Whaddayathink?
 

cowboyec

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we def have better depth on the off line...so these games should be fun.
 

Hawkeye0202

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We're a vet team......#1 preseason priority, stay healthy. Even at the cost of a slow start to the regular season.
 

xwalker

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Just reading some discussion about our three QBs, and curious what thoughts are out there since last preseason seemed to get away from us, and the first regular season game at Carolina really became the first real playing time for some guys if I remember correctly.

To the point, is the conventional Game 3 dress rehearsal+Game 4 players-on-the-roster-bubble-competition template the best... and if not, what's a better way?

Garrett won't change; therefore, it really does not matter if there is a better way of doing it.

My preference would be to make the final preseason game the starters dress-rehearsal game. Just treat that game as if it's game 1 of the regular season.
 

DFWJC

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It is so friggin simple. Do what Belicheat does! He played his starters way more than we did last year. Did our Offense look ready for the season last year vs Carolina? Hel_ no!
NE played their starters for a quarter and a half in the 1st preseason game, about 3 quarters in the 2nd and 3rd preseason games and sat their starters in the last preseason game.
Our slow Offensive start last year was all on the genius Garrett!! Dak, Gallop, Williams, Looney, etc. all needed the playing time in preseason and DID not get it.
Ironically, New England generally starts the season slow and builds from there.

The started the season 1-2 last year, for example.
 

jazzcat22

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Do we have a dress rehearsal game anymore. Sure does not seem like it.
I would hope they play them more than before to get the reps with this "new" offense Jerry been talking about.

But yet, I don't see any changes to the approach. Not sure this staff can be that creative. :muttley: J/K

They don't have to change anything up other than playing time for the starters.
 

Captain43Crash

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Ironically, New England generally starts the season slow and builds from there.

The started the season 1-2 last year, for example.
That’s true, but it wasn’t because their starters didn’t get playing time. It worked out in the long run. I’ll bet Belicheat continues to give his starters plenty of playing time this preseason too.
 

Captain43Crash

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We're a vet team......#1 preseason priority, stay healthy. Even at the cost of a slow start to the regular season.
First of all, we are one of the youngest teams in the league and we only have 16 games. Why in the world would you want another slow start. Often 1 game makes the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs. Yeah, let’s loss the first game because we are working our starters into playing form!
 

jnday

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Garrett won't change; therefore, it really does not matter if there is a better way of doing it.

My preference would be to make the final preseason game the starters dress-rehearsal game. Just treat that game as if it's game 1 of the regular season.
This would certainly improve the team’s level of play going in to the first couple of games. The offense as a whole needs to improve so that they don’t struggle to pass for 200 yards a game anymore.
 

TwoDeep3

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It is so friggin simple. Do what Belicheat does! He played his starters way more than we did last year. Did our Offense look ready for the season last year vs Carolina? Hel_ no!
NE played their starters for a quarter and a half in the 1st preseason game, about 3 quarters in the 2nd and 3rd preseason games and sat their starters in the last preseason game.
Our slow Offensive start last year was all on the genius Garrett!! Dak, Gallop, Williams, Looney, etc. all needed the playing time in preseason and DID not get it.

This.

Play them more, not less. Find the rhythm of the offense.

Do you risk injury? Maybe. But going ninto the first game of the season as if that is the first scrimmage of training camp is a terrible idea.
 

Silly

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I hope that since this is Moore's first season that he will game plan some and open up the playbook just to get some experience. Has Moore ever called a game before? They better make hay when the sun is shining .
 

_sturt_

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New thought that I admit I haven't completely thought through...

Why not coordinate with the opposing team that my offensive starters play versus your defensive non-starters for one half in each game, and my defensive starters play versus your offensive non-starters in the other half...

After all, a lot of what you're trying to accomplish is simply timing and getting used to hitting.... wouldn't it serve both teams' best interests that their top players are not actually playing against other top players, who presumably are more capable of causing injuries? Whaddayathink?

24 hours later, I see no downside to this.

But why hasn't it already been long since standard operating procedure.

Dunno.
 
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