The Boston Globe - 19.09.2019

C2 Sports The Boston Globe THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

Globestaff’spro picksWEEK 3

LasVegas

line

Jim

McBride

Nora

Princiotti

Ta ra

Sullivan

Scott

Thurston

Ben

Volin

Lastweek 9-7 6-10 9-7 8-87-9

Season 14-17-113-18-1 15-16-1 17-14-1 14-17- 1

Bestbets 1-1 1-1 0-2 0-1-1 1-1

Te nnessee

atJacksonville

Tennessee

by 1½

Tennessee JacksonvilleTennessee Jacksonville Jacksonville

Selections are againstthe pointspread.Staffrecords are calculatedusingthe final spread for eachgame,

which may differ from the lines above.

Blind side can’t be a blind spot

The Patriots are alreadyin

all-in-at-all-cost modewiththe

(distasteful) addition of Anto-

nio Brown. Rather thangetting

Brady killed,they shouldem-

brace overkill and theirrole as

dreadedNFL overlordsby trad-

ing for disgruntledWashington

Redskins tackle Trent Williams.

The seven-time Pro Bowler, en-

trenched in a protracted hold-

out, could be the latest Hoodie

Hessian. He’s fed up with life at

FedEx Fieldand a Redskinsor-

ganization that is moredys-

functional and less effective

than Congress.

Left tackle is not a position

you leave to chance. The Patri-

ots tooka windingroadfilled

with retirements and injuries to

reachthis pointat left tackle.

That doesn’t matter now. What

doesis making surethat the

blind side doesn’t become a vis-

ible weaknesson a teamwith

few if any of them.

Reportedly miffed about his

medicaltreatmentand his

monetary compensation,Wil-

liams has refused to play for the

Redskins.Or maybe he just

likes to boycott bad football.

The obstinate Sons of Daniel

Snyderhave refusedto deal

him. It’s a bitter standoff, and

the Patriots can step in and

reap the benefits.

Full disclosure: When Wil-

liams’s name was floated as be-

ing connected to the Patriots

backduring the summer, I en-

dorsed... passing on a deal for

the pass protector. The Patriots

needed to see whether Wynn, a

2018 first-rounder, could man

the fort and stay on the field.

Williams is 31 and wouldn’t

comecheap— in termsof ei-

ther compensation to acquire

him or pay. (He carries a $10.85

million base salary for this sea-

son.)

Williamsis widelyregarded

as one of the best left tackles in

the game. His ability is not in

question.His availability can

be, however.

He hasn’t played all 16

gamessince2013.He has

missed13 gamesin the last

threeseasons because of injury

and suspension.He has twice

beensuspended four gamesby

the NFLfor violatingthe

uGASPER

ContinuedfromPageC1

league’s substanceabusepolicy,

althoughhis most recent ban in

2016 was for missing, not fail-

ing, a drug test, according to

the Washington Post.

But circumstanceshave

changed, and theseare venial

sins in comparison to Brown’s

considerablebehavioral bag-

gage. The AFC field looks weak-

er than a wet tissue. Even by

theirlofty standards,thesePa-

triots look indomitable. They’ll

be sweeping the leg all season

long.

Fort Foxborough needs to

fire all of its gunsin pursuitof

Lombardi Trophy No. 7 be-

causethere’s no guaranteeBill

and Tom’s Excellent Adventure

extends to a 21st season. Or

that Mr. Wynn can stay healthy.

Why leave anythingto

chancewitha teamthis good

on paper?

Well, because the Belichick

Patriotscan get away withit.

They’ve survived withLogan

Mankins,Marcus Cannon,and

LaAdrian Waddle taking emer-

gency stints at left tackleover

the years.

That’s the downside of the

dynasty. You can always make

do for double-digit wins even

when you shouldpursuea

morestable fix.

The Patriots, already with-

out starting right tackle Can-

non (shoulderinjury), perse-

vered with New England neo-

phytes MarshallNewhouse and

Korey Cunninghamat left and

right tackle, respectively, on

Sunday. They couldhave put

Richie Cunninghamat tackle

and dominated against the in-

ept Fins.

Gruff assistant coachDante

Scarnecchia is an O-line alche-

mist. That’s one of the reasons

out-of-work tackle/guard Caleb

Benenoch chose to join the Pa-

triotsTuesday for a careerres-

urrection.

But do the Patriotsreally

wantthe fate of theirseason

and their42-year-old franchise

quarterback resting on the

shouldersof recycled offensive

linemen?Do they wantto shift

theirbest lineman,Joe Thuney,

to left tackle and potentially

weaken two spots, especially

withThuney serving as a Sher-

pa for backup center Ted Kar-

ras?

Too much change is a bad

thingwhenyou’re missing 40

percent of your intended offen-

sive line.

Belichick has often said that

when you move a player from a

spot where he excels to pluga

holeat anotherspot, you can

end up weakeningyourteam

twice.

Thuney received lots of reps

at left tackle during the offsea-

son and training camp.He can

do it, but in his absence in the

interior, the floodgates might

openup the middle,which

would be a bigger issue for Bra-

dy.

The Redskins have to realize

by now that Williams isn’t com-

ing back. Persistent scuttlebutt

out of the nation’s capitalhas

already indicated that the Patri-

ots checked on Williams over

the summer.

New England has to create

the cap room.The Patriots have

about $2.04million in cap

space.Williamshas a $10.8 5

millionbase salary. But that

amount would be prorated by

however many weekshe is on

an active roster.

Williamsis signedthrough

2020, but he has no guaranteed

money left. So the Patriots

could walkaway after this sea-

son. They also could lower Wil-

liams’s 2019 cap hit by convert-

ing some of his salary to guar-

anteed bonus money and

prorating it over the remaining

two yearson his deal, a win-

win.

In terms of trade cost, Wil-

liamswould be a pricey rental.

It might take a first-round pick

— a steep price for an over-30

player withjust two years of

teamcontrol.It wouldrequire

at least a second-rounder, un-

less Belichick can fleece Wash-

ington.

But history and another

Lombardi are priceless. The Pa-

triotsare too loadedto let a

pass-rusherunloadon Brady

while they workout a left tackle

solution.

Trent in the trenches for the

Patriots needs to happen for

winning themall to be a side

dish topicat the Thanksgiving

table.

Christopher L. Gasper canbe

reachedat [email protected].

Acclimating Brown takes time

of a lack of time.
As Belichick explained
Wednesday morning, it’s a bal-
ancingact whenit comesto
adding plays tailored to a new-
comer’s skill set.
“There’s things we can uti-
lize [Antonio]for, or Josh, or
anybody else. It’s just a ques-
tion of volumeand, again, time
and reps,’’ said the coach.“You
can’t put in 20 new plays when
we have, call it, 90 plays in
practice overthe course of a
week.You can’t put in 20 plays
and expect to be ableto rep
thoseand get themrightand
thendo all of the other things
you have to do. You have to be
selective.’’
That selectiveness has a lot
to do withwhat needsto be
worked on during the week
when there’s only three practic-
es (with just one in full pads)
and a walkthrough. If too much
time is spent in one area, other
aspects of the gameplan could
suffer.

uPATRIOTS
ContinuedfromPageC1

“If you wantto put in some-

thing new, then how much time

can you allocate to it? How

much are you going to use it?

How effective is it going to be?’’

said Belichick. “Do you really

want to put in a play that’s go-

ing to gain 5 yards and waste 10

percentof your practice reps

during the week on that? I don’t

know. I’d rather work on a play

that’s going to gain 50 yards.

You just have to decide how you

want to do it, so can you expand

it? Sure. It’s not infinite.’’

It’s why training campis so

valuable.Timeis on a team’s

side.

“We’ve got to get ready for a

game, so there are other consid-

erations with other parts of the

team and players on the team

that you just have to try and

balanceandall that,’’ said

Belichick.“I’m sure eachweek

we can add a little morewith

new players, whetherit be

[Marshall]Newhouseor Korey

[Cunningham],or Antonio, or

Josh, or Matt LaCosse — there’s

anotherguy that hasn’t played

muchfootball. Those guys, as

they get moreback into, in this

case,the offensive flow, yeah.

It’s not limitless. We just don’t

have that many opportunities.’’

Brown was back at work

Wednesday afternoon, going

throughstretchingand individ-

ual drillsduring the portion of

practice media was allowed to

observe. All signspointto

Brown making his first home

appearancefor the Patriots

Sunday against the rival Jets.

New York coachAdamGase

said the Brownhe saw on tape

against the Dolphinslooked

like the same player teams have

been game planning against for

the last decade.

“I thinkit’s probablyabout

what all of us expected as far as

production,’’ Gasesaid.“You

see the quickness, see the

speed, see the hands.I mean,

he’s one of — if not the best re-

ceiver — one of the best receiv-

ers in the league.’’

JimMcBride canbe reached at

[email protected].

Bruins’ Vaakanainen is making strides

ByMatt Porter
GLOBESTAFF
PHILADELPHIA— Check-
ing in fromOld City, a short
SEPTA train ride fromwhere
the Bruins take on the Flyersin
theirsecondpreseasongame
Thursday (7 p.m., Wells Fargo
Center):
The Bruins returned to
practice Wednesday after a day
off. PatriceBergeron (groin)
and Joakim Nordstrom(foot)
wentthrough a full-contact ses-
sion.Two youngplayers, defen-
seman AxelAnderssonand
winger ZachSenyshyn, did not
participate. “Minor bumps and
bruises,” coach BruceCassidy
told reporters afterward. “They
won’t play [Thursday], for
sure.” BothAndersson and Se-
nyshyn played in Monday’s pre-
seasonloss at New Jersey, nei-
thermakingmuchof an im-
pact.
RUrho Vaakanainen, despite
his overtimegiveaway that led
to the decidinggoal in that 4-3
loss,looked like Boston’s top

prospect. He’s not flashy. His

shotis decent, and will likely

improve. He’s not a drag racer

on skates, thoughhe moves

well. For now, Vaakanainen is

calm and reliable defensively,

playing a tight gap and wisely

deploying both stick and shoul-

der. Offensively, he makes

smart stretch passes that lead

to easydefensivezone exits,

and is improving as a transport-

er of pucks. His fitness— he

skated a game-high24:53 on

Monday — is a majorplus. It

helpsthe Bruinsthat he may

not be neededimmediately.

RThe Bruins wanted to lock

up bothCharlie McAvoy and

BrandonCarloto long-term

deals, but couldn’t find com-

monground. The good news:

Both wantto be in Boston. “I

didn’t reallyhave any expecta-

tions for it,” Carlo saidafter

signing a two-year, $5.7 million

dealTuesday. “In my heart,

from the beginning, I was look-

ing hopefully for the longer

term,but I’m absolutely fine

with[this]... just to be a part

of this organizationfor any

length of time.” If Torey Krug

extends his run, the Bruins will

be in good shape withKrug,

McAvoy, Carlo, and Matt Grzel-

cyk as a post-Zdeno Chara de-

fensivecorps,especiallyif Vaa-

kanainen, Connor Clifton, Jere-

my Lauzon, and Jakub Zboril

keep improving.

RThe Bruins are close to the

salary cap now, and several

players will be due raises before

next July 1. Krug ($5.25mil-

lion), Charlie Coyle ($3.2 mil-

lion), and Jake DeBrusk, com-

ing off his entry-level deal,will

command the largest figures.

Grzelcyk ($1.4 million) is cer-

tain to deserve a boost. Where

the Bruinsmay needto make

tough calls: howto proceed

with Kevan Miller ($2.5 mil-

lion), Chris Wagner ($1.25 mil-

lion), Brett Ritchie, and Nord-

strom ($1 million each). All ex-

cept Ritchie have proved to be

valuabledepthplayers.Over-

paying for depthis like taking

an expresstrain to cap hell, es-

pecially when young players are

pushing to be in the lineup.

RCassidy wants to keep

Coyle as the third-linecenter,

since his combination of size,

skating, puck protection, and

offensivetouch in that role is a

matchup issue for most oppo-

nents. But he wants to see if un-

provenPar Lindholm can fill

the fourth-line centerrole, and

if Sean Kuraly makes good on

another crack at centering the

third line.That would allow

him to try Coyle as David Krej-

ci’s right wing. If Coyle brought

a protect-and-shoot mentality

to that line, he couldbe a good

fit. And put more cash in his

pocket, next July 1 or before.

RDoes Ritchielook like a fit

for Krejci’s line? Perhaps not for

the whole season, but maybe in

spurts. He showed a few of his

positive attributes in Monday’s

game,particularlyon one se-

quence in which he protected

the puckdownlow, separated

from a defender, and drew a

cross-checking penalty. His

size, strength, and willingness

to finishchecks couldmake

him a good bottom-sixeron the

right side. “The puck didn’t find

hima ton,unfortunately,”

Cassidysaid after the game. “I

think he’s the type of player that

will be better when it does.” Not

pegging Ritchie to any line, but

just saying:There are few better

than Krejci at distributing.

RWagner’s assessment of

Jack Hughes,the No. 1 overall

pick who scored a pair of goals

on Monday: “Skilled. Really

skilled.Shifty. He was good. He

was noticeable,at least. I don’t

knowif that’s going to be the

same game in the regular sea-

son, but for now, he was pretty

good.” Hugheswill likely do a

lot of damage on the power

play, in 3-on-3 and 4-on-4, but it

remains to be seenhow the 5-

foot-10 inch, 170-pound rookie

handles himself in heavy battles

— or if teams can force him into

them.

ROskar Steen’s favoriteplay-

er growingup: Peter Forsberg.

An excellentchoice.The Swed-

ish legend had few holes in his

game,otherthannagging foot

woes. Credit Steen for doing his

YouTube homework, sincethe

21-year-oldwastoddling

aroundwhenNo. 21 was at his

physical, playmaking peak.

RNot everyonecaresabout

such aesthetics, but I’ll miss the

old yellowseats at TD Garden,

whichwererippedandre-

placed by cushier, all-black ver-

sions. Seat upgradeswere a

necessary part of a much-need-

ed renovation for the 24-year-

old barn,but at first glance,the

sea of blackno longer recalls

the Old Garden, and all its gold-

en memories. On the other

hand,I supposeall that dark-

ness is a better visual backdrop

for the overhauled 4K-resolu-

tionvideoboardhangingat

center ice... and all thoseban-

ners hanging aboveit.

Follow Matt Porter on Twitter

at @mattyports.

No charges for Brown in Pa.

JONATHAN NEWTON/WASHINGTON POST

DisgruntledRedskinsleft tackleTrentWilliamswouldbecostlyforthePatriotsto acquire.

ByTravis Andersen
GLOBESTAFF
New England Patriotsre-
ceiver Antonio Brownwill not
face criminal charges stemming
froman alleged 2017 sexual as-
sault of a former trainer in
Pennsylvania that the accuser
has describedin a pending
Florida lawsuit, prosecutors
said Wednesday.
Allegheny County, Pa., Dis-
trict Attorney Stephen A. Zap-
pala Jr.’s office confirmed the
developmentin a brief state-
ment. The news was first re-
ported by ESPN.
“Ouroffice, along with the
Allegheny County Police De-
partment, madecontact with
counselfor the plaintiff in the
federal lawsuit involving Anto-
nio Brown,” the statement said.
“Procedurally, it appearsthere
is a statute of limitationsissue
in moving forward with any in-
quiry involving the Allegheny
County allegation mentioned in
the lawsuit.”
Brown’s lawyer declined to
comment.
The federal lawsuit, filedin
the SouthernDistrict of Flori-
da, alleges Brownsexually as-
saultedBritneyTaylor,agym-
nasthe met while they were
bothattendingCentral Michi-
gan University. Brownlater
hired Taylor as a trainer.
In her lawsuit, Taylor alleges
Brown sexually assaulted her
twice during training sessions
in June 2017.

TaylorsaysBrownfirstas-

saulted her in 2017at his Pitts-

burgh-area home, the incident

referenced in the statement

fromZappala’s office. Taylor ac-

cused Brownof sexuallymo-

lesting her again in 2017 and

rapingher in 2018,bothtimes

at his Florida residence.

The alleged assault in Penn-

sylvania, in which Taylor says

Brown exposed himself to her

and later grabbedand kissed

her withoutconsent, occurred

in June 2017.The statute of

limitations for an indecent as-

sault of an adult in Pennsylva-

nia is two years,accordingto

the Rape, Abuse & Incest Na-

tionalNetwork, a victim advo-

cacy group.

That suggests the clock

would’ve run out in June on the

Pennsylvania incident.

Brownhas deniedall the al-

legations in Taylor’s lawsuit

through his attorney, Darren

Heitner, who’s accused Taylor

of suing Brown after he rejected

her request to invest $1.6 mil-

lion in a business project.

The NFL completed the first

step of its investigation into

Taylor’s allegations Monday,

withleagueofficialsmeeting

with Taylor for 10 hours, an

NFLsourceconfirmedto the

Globe. One source said it might

be several weeksuntil the NFL

has any updates.

Brownremains eligible to

play Sunday. An NFLspokes-

man said Wednesday that there

was no update on Brown’s sta-

tus because “the matter re-

mains under review.”

Neither Taylor’s lawyer nor a

Patriots spokesman immediate-

ly responded to requests for

comment.

The NFL’s personalconduct

policy allowscommissioner

Roger Goodellto placeBrown

on the exemptlist (the equiva-

lent of paid leave) whilethe le-

gal process plays out, but only if

criminalcharges are filed,or

following an NFL investigation.

“In caseswherea player is

not charged witha crime,or is

charged but not convicted, he

may still be found to have vio-

lated the Policy if the credible

evidence establishes that he en-

gaged in conduct prohibited by

this Personal Conduct Policy,”

the policy states.

Taylor isn’t the only woman

accusing Brown.

An artist, who wishes not to

be identified, told Sports Illus-

trated that in 2017 she was in

Brown’s homekneelingwhile

working on a mural he had

commissioned when she turned

to find him standing naked be-

fore her with a small towelover

his genitals.

Heitner tweeted Monday

that Brown “denies that he ever

engaged in suchactivities”de-

scribed in the SI article.

BenVolin, Christopher Price,

andBob Hohler of theGlobe

staff contributedto this report.