The Boston Globe - 27.08.2019

TaraSullivan

Receivers must see

what QB sees, or else

Sports

THE BOSTON GLOBE TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019 | BOSTONGLOBE.COM/SPORTS

D

TVHIGHLIGHTS

Tennis: US Open, noon, ESPN
Tennis: US Open, 7 p.m., ESPN
Baseball: Red Sox-Rockies, 8:40 p.m., NESN
Listings,D6

Drawn-out process
Patriots safety Chung’s season
should not be affected by indict-
ment of cocaine possession.Volin, D3

Serena rolls
Williams shows form in easy win
over Sharapova at US Open.D5

BC to open with bang
Eagles play ACC foe Virginia Tech
in Saturday’s season opener.D6

INSIDE

WLPct.GB

Cleveland 76 55 .580 —

Oakland 75 55 .577 —

Tampa Bay 76 56 .576 —

Boston 70 62 .530 6

Texas 64 68 .485 12

ALwild-cardstandings

Christopher L.

Gasper

Brady’s

testis

pass,fail

The Red Sox are out
of sight, out of mind
out West as they
continue their
seemingly inexora-
ble march to Octo-
ber irrelevance. The
Patriots are less
than two weeks
away from the unveiling of their
sixth Super Bowl banner and the un-
veiling of their 2019 team against
the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette
Stadium. Football has moved to the
forefront of the Boston sports con-
sciousness.
With that in mind, I’m dusting off
a few Patriots thoughts and dot-dot-
dots (yeah, I know they’re called el-
lipses) as the season fast approaches.

1. We’ve seen the last of Tom Bra-
   dy until the season opener Sept. 8
   unless Bill Belichick is feeling, in the
   words of Baker Mayfield, “danger-
   ous.” Brady played in only the third
   preseason game, last Thursday
   against Carolina, and finished with
   three drives, 12 pass attempts, and
   eight completions.
   Tommy Legend doesn’t need the
   work. We know that. But some of the
   newbies could’ve used more work
   with him.
   The reality of the Patriots offense
   for pass catchers is that it doesn’t
   matter how hard you study or how
   much you memorize the playbook.
   You must see what Brady sees in real
   time at game speed to carve out a
   role. The only playbook that matters
   is the one in Brady’s brain. The pass-
   ing game bends to his will and his
   Circle of Trust.It wasn’t a coinci-
   GASPER,PageD2

Holt,Soxfacingdecisions

By Peter Abraham
GLOBE STAFF
DENVER — Brock Holt has been a
member of the Red Sox for parts of
seven seasons now. He has contributed
to four playoff teams, earned two
World Series rings, and made the All-
Star team along the way.
He also was the only Sox player
who stayed in Boston last offseason,
choosing to ride out the winter with
his wife, Lakyn, and 2-year-old son,
Griffin, because it’s where they feel the
most at home.
“I like shoveling snow because we
don’t get that in Texas,” he said. “My
neighbor thought I was crazy.”

But at 31, Holt will soon have choic-

es to make for the first time in his ca-

reer, and not necessarily comfortable

ones.

Holt will become a free agent when

the season ends, and while he hopes to

stay in Boston, it’s not certain that will

happen.

The Sox negotiated contract exten-

sions for Xander Bogaerts and Chris

Sale at the start of the season and put

their other free agents on hold. In the

time since, Holt missed 44 games with

injuries and since returning has had to

compete for playing time.

Ultimately, Holt could find a better

deal elsewhere.

“I want to be somewhere where me

and my family are happy,” Holt said.

“Obviously I love it here and I would

love to stay here. But free agency is

something I haven’t experienced and I

REDSOX,PageD5

SchoolsportsparticipationupinMass.,downnationally

By Dan Shulman
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
For the first time in 30 years, the
National Federation of State High
School Associations has reported an
overall decline in high school sports
participation.
But Massachusetts remains among
the top states for overall participation,

ranking 11th in 2018-19 with 227,267

total athletes, a slight increase of 221

from the previous school year, accord-

ing to the NFHS’s latest participation

survey, which was released Monday.

“It’s great that our overall numbers

are up,” said Dennis-Yarmouth princi-

pal Paul Funk, who was formerly the

school’s athletic director and varsity

football coach. “That speaks for all the

parents deciding that athletics is cru-

cial to their child’s education and we

are one of the most highly educated

states in the nation.”

Several Massachusetts schools have

actually increased the number of

sports they offer. Braintree, for exam-

ple, is one of five Massachusetts high

schools to offer boys’ gymnastics and

has 76 sports teams across all levels.

“Sports are no longer extracurricu-

lar, they’re co-curricular, and everyone

needs to have that mind-set,” said

Braintree athletic director Mike De-

nise.

“There’s a lot of emphasis on well-

ness for students, and much of that im-

provement is through athletics.”

Nationwide during the 2018-19

school year, 7,937,491 high school ath-

letes participated in a sport — a de-

cline of 43,395 from a record high in

the 2017-18 school year.

The biggest declines were in 11-

player football and girls’ basketball.

PARTICIPATION,PageD6

JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF

Brock Holt, a free agent in 2020, hopes to stay in Boston but over the

last four years the Sox have increasingly viewed him as a platoon player.

Massachusetts ranked

11 thnationwide in

2018-19 with 227,267

total athletes, accord-

ing to the NFHS’s latest

participation survey.

913

Football lost the most

participants in Mass.

in 2018-19, losing

913 athletes (907

boys and six girls.

7 , 937 , 491

Nationwide during the 2018-19

school year,7,937,491high school

athletes participated in a sport — a

decline of 43,395 from a record high

in the 2017-18 school year.

1 , 006 , 013

168 schools added 11-player

football in 2018, but participation

fell by 30,829 to1,006,013,

the lowest total since the

1999-2000 school year.

5

Braintree, which has

76 sports teams across

all levels, is one offive

Mass. high schools to

offer boys’ gymnastics.

Andrews hospitalized

Patriot treated

for blood clots

in his lungs

By Jim McBride

GLOBE STAFF

FOXBOROUGH — David Andrews

was released from the hospital Mon-

day night after the Patriots center was

treated for blood clots in his lungs, a

league source confirmed.

Andrews’s season could be in jeop-

ardy because of the ailment, as first

reported by the Athletic. Andrews has

missed the Patriots’ last two practices

after playing with the starters for

most of the first half of New England’s

preseason victory over the Panthers

on Thursday night.

A captain since 2017, Andrews has

been a very durable player through-

out his career and has started 46 of a

possible 48 games over the last three

seasons.

Andrews, one of the most popular

Patriots in the locker room with both

his teammates and the media, missed

the first few practices of training

camp this season but returned and

quickly rounded into form.

An undrafted free agent out of

Georgia in 2015, he started the first

10 games of his rookie season — all

wins — because incumbent center

Bryan Stork started the season on in-

jured reserve. Andrews quickly

earned the respect and trust of Tom

Brady and the coaching staff.

Andrews beat out Stork for the job

in 2016 and has been a mainstay

since.

The Patriots top backup interior

lineman is Ted Karras, who probably

will assume Andrews’s role. Karras

started two games at center in 2017

when Andrews was out. Andrews

ANDREWS,PageD2

FILE/BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF

Center David Andrews played with the starters most of the first half of last Thursday’s preseason victory.

ToughLuck?Noquestion,andheiscourageous

Andrew Luck is

brave.

He stared

down mam-

moth defensive

linemen hur-

tling his way,

delivered pin-

point passes

while being pummeled to the

ground, took brutal blows to his body

as he pushed for 1 more yard of turf.

He proved his bravery many times

across 86 games as the Colts quarter-

back, a litany of debilitating injuries

evidence for anyone who, for whatev-

er unimaginable reason, might need

to be convinced.

As an NFL player, Luck has been

paid handsomely for his bravery,

earning about $97 million over seven

years. Yet nothing can mitigate the

physical price he pays in a game so

punishing one Patriot told me this

weekend is like you or I being in-

volved in a violent car crash every

other week or so. That takes bravery,

and Luck, the NFL’s Comeback Play-

er of the Year a season ago following

a return from a shoulder injury so se-

vere he missed the entire 2017 sea-

son, had it.

Yet it all pales in comparison to

the courageous step Luck took late

Saturday night, walking away from

the game that has defined his life for

so long, choosing his health over the

fortune, fame, and fun football has

provided.

Luck stunned us all with a late-

night postgame news conference

whose ripple effect of shock is rooted

in his relatively young age (29), his

outstanding skills (four-time Pro

Bowler), and his seemingly bright fu-

ture.

But to hear him talk after that

preseason game was to hear a man

smart enough to know his own mind

and body and, yes, brave enough to

listen to what they are telling him.

Calling retirement “the hardest

decision of my life” but one that “is

the right decision for me,” Luck

pulled back the curtain on the pain

of football in ways we in the public

SULLIVAN,PageD2