Scouting Report
2 - New England PatriotsCan Drew Bledsoe flourish under his fourth offensive mentor in as many years? That's the biggest question facing these Pats, but not the only one
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After a sophomore slump, Glenn is determined to silence the critics who question his durability.
(Damian Strohmeyer)
| First there was
the toughness of Ray Perkins, then the fatherly prodding of
Chris Palmer, then the stay-the-course
stoicism of Larry Kennan. Now it's the quiet but precise approach
of Ernie Zampese, who becomes the fourth offensive guru to
work with quarterback Drew Bledsoe in the last four years.
"I'm murder on coaches, huh?" Bledsoe says as he
smiles through the
perspiration.
Bledsoe is pedaling hard. He's sweating bullets on this hot
morning, pumping the exercise bike after a training-camp
practice in Smithfield, R.I., as he considers what the wave
of coaching changes means to him and his team. Ever since
the
all-controlling Bill Parcells jumped ship after the 1996 Super Bowl
season, Bledsoe has been the key to anything this team
accomplishes. There's talk of a hundred other factors that
might determine New England's fate in '98—whether the
running game will be too thin
with the departure of free agent Curtis Martin to the Jets,
whether moody franchise wideout Terry Glenn will come to
play, whether a weak secondary can hold up—but what is
most critical to the Pats' chances of winning a third
consecutive
AFC East title is
how the marriage between Bledsoe and the
well-traveled Zampese works out. After all, it was Bledsoe who
led this team to 4-1 finishes in each of the last two
regular seasons when Martin was
either injured or not his usual spectacular
self.
Under Zampese, who becomes the Patriots' offensive
coordinator after four years with the Cowboys, Bledsoe's
biggest adjustment will come in his timing. "The ball
will be out quicker now," Bledsoe says. "I've got
to get the ball in receivers' hands
faster. It's more of a precision offense, and I like it because
you force the defense to commit quicker. It's kind of like
the West Coast offense in the slants and quick reads, but
you maintain a lot of the elements of the regular pro-style
offense too.
Having worked on it for a few months, I can see why Ernie's been
so successful. I can't wait to use it in games. I think
it's going to make us, and me,
better."
Zampese, however, arrived in New England in a slump.
Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman might be the league's best
marksman—"He's the most accurate one I've
seen," Zampese says—but in terms of completion
percentage (56.4), last year was his worst since
1989, his rookie season. Blame injuries if you want, but the
feeling among NFC East
coaches is that Zampese's offense
became all too
predictable.
"Drew will have to speed up," Aikman says.
"He can do it. But everything he's always done is
deliberate, and now he'll have to get it out sooner so he
can sync his game with the receivers. Everything with Ernie
is timing. It'll make him a better player.
My first year under Ernie, I think my
mechanics improved
dramatically.
"Ernie is a great coach. He was good for me, and I
know he'll be good for Drew. His offense is
proven. We won three Super Bowls with
it."
Zampese, who returns to the
AFC for the first time since he was the Chargers'
offensive coordinator from 1983 to '86, welcomes the change of
scenery. "It's something new and fresh," he says.
"It'll be fun going against a new division and a new
conference. We still have to find a running back,
though."
| Schedule |
| Sept. | 7 | at Denver (Mon.) |
| 13 | INDIANAPOLIS |
| 20 | TENNESSEE |
| 27 | OPEN DATE |
| Oct. | 4 | at New Orleans |
| 11 | KANSAS CITY |
| 19 | N.Y. JETS (Mon.) |
| 25 | at Miami |
| Nov. | 1 | at Indianapolis |
| 8 | ATLANTA |
| 15 | at Buffalo |
| 23 | MIAMI (Mon.) |
| 29 | BUFFALO |
| Dec. | 6 | at Pittsburgh |
| 13 | at St. Louis |
| 20 | SAN FRANCISCO |
| 27 | at N.Y. Jets |
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Right. Aikman
wouldn't have won those three Super Bowls without Emmitt
Smith. The Patriots
didn't have a viable backup last year when Martin was
sidelined in December with various injuries, forcing them
to go with untested first-year men Derrick
Cullors and Sedrick Shaw in the playoffs. First-round draft pick
Robert Edwards looked like the real deal
early in training camp. He's a
5'11", 218-pound bull with the shake to get away from
outside linebackers. But he was slowed at Georgia by a
broken foot and ankle sprains, and he'll have to prove he's
durable.
If the running game fails, Bledsoe must get big production
from Glenn, who vows he's up to the challenge after an
injury-plagued 1997 season. Glenn was a more frequent
participant in off-season workouts than he had been the
previous summer, and
that—along with Zampese's
offense—may help him put to rest the
notion that he's too fragile to be a bona fide
NFL star.
"I've been in a lot of offenses, and I think this
one's going to be a real nice one," says Glenn.
"Last year I think I got caught up in all the hype of
trying to beat my rookie season [of 90 catches]. This year
I'm not thinking numbers. All I'm thinking
about is being my best on the next
play."
If Bledsoe and Zampese can get on the same page, chances
are that Glenn and the Patriots will play into
January. —Peter King
By the Numbers | Inside Slant | Lineup
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