Albert Haynesworth, still the same headache?

[wdleehi]

Getting to watch him the past two season in DC (without the pain of being a Redskins fan), I could only laugh at how he was so happy to waste his talent now that he had his big contract.



I was shocked when he was traded to NE.  But, they have a good track record with head cases and they were switching their defense to match his skills and likes.


So, why isn't he practicing? 

[Chris]

So, why isn't he practicing? 

I suppose with a guy like him, you always have to wonder.  But I think it is pretty much SOP for the Pats to hold out these guys if they are even slightly nicked up at this point in camp. 

[wdleehi]

So, why isn't he practicing? 

I suppose with a guy like him, you always have to wonder.  But I think it is pretty much SOP for the Pats to hold out these guys if they are even slightly nicked up at this point in camp. 

Maybe.  I just heard them talking about it on the radio and they never mentioned anything about injuries, just the the Pats were saying nothing about it. 

[Fafnir]

Plus given the short offseason it seems teams are being extra cautious.

[Chris]

So, why isn't he practicing? 

I suppose with a guy like him, you always have to wonder.  But I think it is pretty much SOP for the Pats to hold out these guys if they are even slightly nicked up at this point in camp. 

Maybe.  I just heard them talking about it on the radio and they never mentioned anything about injuries, just the the Pats were saying nothing about it. 

Well that's the Pats.  They don't say anything about it.  

I guarantee if he were kicking and screaming about something, it would have leaked by now.  

There are a ton of guys who have been missing practices so far with little mention of why.  

[wdleehi]

So, why isn't he practicing? 

I suppose with a guy like him, you always have to wonder.  But I think it is pretty much SOP for the Pats to hold out these guys if they are even slightly nicked up at this point in camp. 

Maybe.  I just heard them talking about it on the radio and they never mentioned anything about injuries, just the the Pats were saying nothing about it. 

Well that's the Pats.  They don't say anything about it.  

I guarantee if he were kicking and screaming about something, it would have leaked by now.  

There are a ton of guys who have been missing practices so far with little mention of why.  

Yep.


He just has created himself such a reputation. 

[Rondo2287]

I read that during the past 3 offseasons he has gotten injections in his knees which are equivalent to some extra knee fluid after passing the condition tests and participating in some early practices.  This could be the issue

[Cman]

I read that during the past 3 offseasons he has gotten injections in his knees which are equivalent to some extra knee fluid after passing the condition tests and participating in some early practices.  This could be the issue

yeah, Reiss had a piece on this recently:
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4699500/thoughts-on-haynesworth-practice

I don't think its anything to worry about.

[greenpride32]

The man hasn't changed; only the uniform has.

[Chris]

The man hasn't changed; only the uniform has.

Now, this I agree with.  However, I also don't think the man changed when he went to Washington.  He was the same man when he was arguably the best defensive lineman (and perhaps defensive player) in the league in Tennessee.

At that point, he was still a pretty abominable human being, but for whatever reason he was motivated to play well, and in a system that used his strengths.

So, whether he has changed is not the question.  The question is whether he will be motivated and effective.  That remains to be seen.

[Donoghus]

The man hasn't changed; only the uniform has.

Now, this I agree with.  However, I also don't think the man changed when he went to Washington.  He was the same man when he was arguably the best defensive lineman (and perhaps defensive player) in the league in Tennessee.

At that point, he was still a pretty abominable human being, but for whatever reason he was motivated to play well, and in a system that used his strengths.

So, whether he has changed is not the question.  The question is whether he will be motivated and effective.  That remains to be seen.

My wishful thinking on this is that the guy has to realize that this is his last shot at redemption.  If things don't pan out well for him with the Pats, is he really going to get another chance down the road in the NFL (Raiders excluded)?

So I expect him to be motivated and be pretty solid out there this year. 

[Kane3387]

Big Redskins Fan Here. I mean a die hard just like I am a Celtics fan. Lol even a memeber of HogsHaven the Redskins SB Nation blog. The way we look at it is that Snyder just spent 60 million dollars for a 2013 5th round pick, and if he wants to do that with is money so be it.

Let me tell you about Albert though. He is the definition of contract year success. His two best years in Tennessee were when he was Franchised. He knew he was playing for the biggest amount of money he would ever receive in his life. He accomplished his goal and was satisfied. Snyder and his puppet Cerrato made the mistake of giving this guy all the money up front and he had nothing to play for.

Fat Albert doesn't love the game. Period. He loves what the game has brought him. Once he got paid all he did was get into trouble and complain about everything in D.C. When he played the 4-3 the first year he whined about how we used him as a DT. After receiving 21 million he whined about being a NT in a 3-4. We tried to use him as a DE and he flat out didn't want to do it.

The guy at this point is not going to be the difference maker he was. He will be a rotational player that likely plays 11-13 games. He is on the wrong side of thirty and doesn't have anything to play for. I've already heard he is fatter this year then he was with us. Heard he looks like Ted Washington actually. Sad.

This guy came in using the name Reggie White. He was all talk. My advice is temper your expectations because this is not Corey Dillion and Randy Moss. They loved football. This is a guy who is looking for a check and a check only.

Read this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/post/jim-haslett-on-albert-haynesworth-he-doesnt-want-to-do-anything/2011/06/08/AG0VV7LH_blog.html

“He just didn’t want to play in this scheme. He didn’t want to play in the 3-4. He didn’t want to do the things we wanted. Then we said, ‘Okay, if you’re not going to do it, let’s not do it. Let’s play nickel, play the 3-technique.’

“Then, it got to the point where he said, ‘I don’t want to play first- and second-down nickel. I just want to play third-down nickel.’ Oh my God, you’re relegating yourself to 10-15 snaps a game. Then after that he didn’t want to do the blitzes, he just wanted to rush.”

[Jeff]

I hear ya Kane3387, and my expectations are set to "low" until I see something on the field to warrant otherwise.  With that said, my hope is that he's got something to motivate him once again. 

In essence, every year is going to be a contract year now because he knows the Pats won't screw around - they'll cut him if they think that he's not a good value anymore.

That isn't to say that he'll be able to get back to pro-bowl stature again, but even if you account for him being a despicable person, he's still going to be greedy enough to want to earn more money.

So we've got that going for us at least

[Kane3387]

I hear ya Kane3387, and my expectations are set to "low" until I see something on the field to warrant otherwise.  With that said, my hope is that he's got something to motivate him once again. 

In essence, every year is going to be a contract year now because he knows the Pats won't screw around - they'll cut him if they think that he's not a good value anymore.

That isn't to say that he'll be able to get back to pro-bowl stature again, but even if you account for him being a despicable person, he's still going to be greedy enough to want to earn more money.

So we've got that going for us at least

Hi Jeff,

I think it's a low risk high reward move for the Patriots. You're wise to temper your expectations on this guy. The Patriots are the best organization in Sports imo. They have the best coach possibly ever in any sport in the last 80 years. Bellicheck is an Alien lol. That man is incredible. So I think he has the best chance to get a guy motivated from a coaching standpoint. Tom Brady won't hurt either.

Still I think it comes down to Love though. You have to love football to want to play it more then any other sport because of the beating your body goes through. You have to love football to put in the work to take care of your body as you get older. Look at TO. He loves the game and cares about his place in it. The difference between a guy like TO and Fat Al. TO cares about his place in history. For him it isn't about the money as much as it is getting a SuperBowl and maybe more importantly padding his stats as much as he can so he doesn't get jobbed out of the HOF. He will get there but I don't think he wants to be like Art Monk and wait almost 20 years.

Fat Al is about the money and if he gets the chance to play for essentially one year contracts then depending on how much money those deals are worth, it might bot be worth it to him. It will only get harder for him to take care of his body as he gets older, and if he is as big as they say he is now... Well let's say he is not off to a good start in what is potentially a make or break year. I do think he will be ready to Kick our butts if he is active late in the year.

I don't think it matters though. You guys picked up Stroud, Ellis, and added Andre Carter (who I like) and added them to Wilfork and others. You guys are deep at D-Line and should create pressure and stop the run. I would like to see you guys play more 4-3 actually with two DTs. I think you will too. I like this Patriot's team a lot on paper, but it's all about January for them.

[Overrated]

So if the Pats win the Bowl, does Albert get a ring?