C4 Sports The Boston Globe MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2019
they’re mentally reacting the
way that they would want to re-
act in a game, if they were actu-
ally in there playing.”- With Isaiah Wynn finally
ready to get the start at left
tackle, Dan Skipper functioned
as a swing tackle Saturday
night. Skipper started at right
tackle, then moved back to left
tackle once Wynn’s night was
over after three series. The Pa-
triots lost backup LaAdrian
Waddle, who could play both
sides, to the Buffalo Bills dur-
ing the offseason and need
someone like Skipper to fill that
role. - Based on reactions from
many fans and some media
members around the league,
Belichick’s terse statement re-
garding Josh Gordon’s rein-
statement was taken in some
parts as an effort to throw wa-
ter on the idea that Gordon will
be a major player for the Patri-
ots. Not so, in this view.
Belichick released the state-
ment so he could refer to it as a
means to add nothing further
when questioned. Nothing
more, nothing less. See his half-
time interview with WBZ’s
Steve Burton from Saturday for
evidence. Asked if he had any-
thing to add to the statement,
Belichick gave a one-word an-
swer: “Nope.” - It’s strange to watch the
Patriots offense function with-
out a strong presence at tight
end. Without Rob Gronkowski,
the Patriots offense was always
going to be less tight end-cen-
tric this season than it has been
in years past. Right now,
though, with Matt LaCosse out
with a leg injury, the degree to
which that’s the case is alarm-
ing. - Apple’s Autocorrect func-
tion has it wrong with Byron
Cowart, whose last name it al-
ways tries to change to “Cow-
ard.” The Patriots’ fifth-round
pick is a fearless player who has
showed off some pass-rush
moves. He put Titans starting
left guard Rodger Saffold flat
on his back easily and steam-
rolled into the backfield for a
sack of quarterback Marcus
Mariota early on Saturday
night. Nick Caserio, the Patri-
ots director of player person-
nel, called Cowart “more of a
run player” on his draft night,
but Belichick said Sunday that
that was more of a reflection of
uPATRIOTS
Continued from Page Chis past production and the sit-
uations he was in than his over-
all potential.
“In the college scheme that
he played in at Maryland, I
wouldn’t say there were a lot of
pass-rush situations,” Belichick
said. “It was a little hard to
evaluate that, so again, you can
only go on what you see, and
probably 75 percent of the
plays — maybe more — that he
played were either running
plays or running situations.”- A dining tip learned after
a few Patriots-related trips to
Nashville in the last year: The
South knows what to do with
its vegetables. The “Plate of
Southern Vegetables” at criti-
cally acclaimed Husk and
“Wood Roasted Summer Vege-
tables” at Henrietta Red were
exceptional and totally satisfy-
ing. Added bonus: The ability
to walk, not roll, out of the din-
ing room after a meal. - Jonathan Jones has had
an excellent training camp so
far. Because of the Patriots’
depth at cornerback, it’s been
posited that he could be trade
bait. Everyone has a price, but
if he were being actively
shopped, wouldn’t the Patriots
have played him a little in the
first or second preseason game
as a showcase to drive up inter-
est? - This reporter’s English
teacher mother made it known
that she disagreed with a re-
cent Globe headline describing
an Instagram comment from
Tom Brady as “snarky.”
The comment in question
was from Brady to rookie Chase
Winovich, who posted a photo
with a caption from Shake-
speare’s “Julius Caesar.” “Study
your playbook,” Brady respond-
ed.
Mom’s take, as texted Sun-
day morning: “I thought it was
a fun pun and also supportive.
Chase was quoting the best
playbook of all. But maybe the
Pats playbook is right up there!
That’s the pun TB was making
whether he knew it or not!”- Danny Etling is a quar-
terback again. Falcons coach
Dan Quinn told reporters in At-
lanta Sunday that the former
Patriots QB-turned-WR will go
back to his old position. That’s
a good thing for Etling, who
was claimed off waivers by At-
lanta after the Patriots waived
him last week. - After watching two
weeks of joint practices and
two preseason games, one take-
away is that the joint practices
are far and away a better prod-
uct for spectators than the pre-
season games.
They’re competitive, the
starters actually play. and there
are great, close-up vantage
points to be had.
...
Wide receiver Dontrelle In-
man requested and was grant-
ed his release from the Patriots,
per a league source.
Inman, who was signed by
New England in May as a free
agent, had been stuck at the
bottom of the depth chart this
offseason.
According to a league
source, Inman was prompted
to request his release when he
saw his situation grow more
complicated by the league’s re-
instatement of Josh Gordon
from an indefinite suspension
late last week, and by the emer-
gence of rookie Jakobi Meyers,
who has made strides through-
out training camp.
Inman, 30, has played five
seasons in the league. Last year,
the 6-foot-3-inch, 205-pounder
caught 28 passes for 304 yards
and three touchdowns for the
Colts.
Christoper Price of the Globe
Staff contributed to this report.
Nora Princiotti can be reached
at [email protected].Ten takeaways from a perfect trip
2013, and he was a productive
outside threat, catching 40
passes for 720 yards, three
touchdowns, and a team-high
18.0 average.
By all accounts, he was
staying clean, and dealing
with his demons. Until he
wasn’t. On the Thursday of
Week 16, Gordon surprisingly
announced that he was step-
ping away from the Patriots to
deal with his mental health. A
few hours later, the NFL an-
nounced that Gordon was
once again being suspended
for violating the league’s sub-
stance abuse policy. Because of
a confidentiality agreement in
the policy, neither the league
nor the Patriots are allowed to
say what Gordon did to earn
the suspension.
Gordon went to Gaines-
ville, Fla., for his training and
mental health counseling. And
after eight months, he felt
good enough to give his foot-
ball career another shot, ap-
plying for reinstatement earli-
er this month.
Gordon’s reinstatement is
part of a new philosophy by
Goodell and the NFL. Instead
of banishing substance abus-
ers and casting them out on
their own, as happened with
former receiver Justin Black-
mon, Goodell wants to try to
help them instead.
If Goodell were playing by
therules,Gordon’sfootballca-
reer would have been finished
years ago. Instead, not only is
Gordon back, he doesn’t have
to serve any additional sus-
pension. Goodell gave him
credit for “time served” last
year, when Gordon missed the
last two regular-season games
and all three playoff games.
Goodell figures that if Gordon
is going to turn his life around,
having the support system of
the Patriots is helpful.uON FOOTBALL
Continued from Page CBut as Goodell acknowl-
edged, the success of Gordon’s
return to football hinges on
Gordon’s ability to stay sober,
which has been a major chal-
lenge for him. Part of Gordon’s
reinstatement is “subject to
appropriate progress on clini-
cal care and other arrange-
ments,” per the NFL.
“Everyone shares in that
hope and will continue to sup-
port him to every extent possi-
ble,” Goodell said. “But as Josh
acknowledged, ultimately his
success is up to him.”
The Patriots are taking a
cautious approach with Gor-
don as well. Bill Belichick’s
statement on Friday did little
to add to the hype.
“When Josh returns to our
program, we will evaluate the
entire situation and do what
we feel is best for Josh and the
team,” Belichick said.
On paper, this feels like a
major addition for an offense
that has a lot of uncertainty.
Add Gordon to a receiving
corps that includes Julian
Edelman, N’Keal Harry, and
Phillip Dorsett, and the Patri-
ots could have one of the best
wide receiver depth charts in
the NFL. They now have a lit-
tle bit of everything — size,
speed, quickness, physicality.
Gordon will have two weeks to
get ready for the season,
though Belichick could always
keep him inactive early in the
season.
Undrafted rookie Jakobi
Meyers still looks like a good
bet to make the roster, but
Gordon’s addition is probably
bad news for Braxton Berrios,
Maurice Harris, Gunner Olsze-
wski, and others fighting for a
roster spot.
But the Patriots know to
write Gordon’s name in pencil,
not ink, and that whatever
they get out of him this year is
a bonus. They prepared as if
they weren’t getting Gordonback, adding a multitude of
tall, physical receivers similar
to Gordon in the offseason —
most notably Harry, who was
drafted in the first round. If
Gordon gets suspended again,
the Patriots won’t have to com-
pletely retool the offense on
the fly, as they did last year.
Gordon is due a $2.025 mil-
lion salary this year — more
than he made from 2013-
combined (about $1.7 million
in total). But none of it is guar-
anteed. Gordon will make ap-
proximately $119,000 for ev-
ery week he is on the Patriots’
roster. They can cut him at any
time. And he can be suspend-
ed at any time.
The Patriots may be better
suited to help Gordon this
time around. We don’t know
what they did for Gordon last
year, other than giving most of
those responsibilities to Jack
Easterby, the team’s character
coach and chaplain. Easterby
watched over Gordon carefully
and tried to be a positive influ-
ence.
Easterby left for Houston
this offseason. But in May the
NFL announced a new mental
health initiative that requires
each team to have a behavioral
health team clinician at the fa-
cility for at least 8-12 hours
per week, conducting manda-
tory mental health education-
al sessions for players and
coaches.
Gordon may be able to re-
ceive all the help he needs
without leaving Gillette Stadi-
um.
So Gordon’s reinstatement
is a great sign that he is in a
positive place with his mental
health and substance abuse.
But there is no need to cele-
brate yet. Gordon is still at the
starting line, not the finish.Ben Volin can be reached at
[email protected]. Follow
him on Twitter @BenVolinGordon gets reprieve with Pats
Saturday night game
New EnglandTennessee ....................................... 0877—228900—Ten — Walker 11 pass from Mariota (Mariota First Quarter
run), 4:31.
Second Quarter
NE — Bolden 1 run (Meyers pass from Hoyer),
14:26.Ten — McNichols 15 pass from Tannehill (Bar-
nard kick), 10:01.
Ten — safety, 4:37.
Third Quarter
NE — Brossette 1 run (Gostkowski kick), 9:49. Fourth Quarter
NE — Patterson 23 pass from Stidham (Gost-
kowski kick), 4:12.
A — 63,362.
NE Ten
First downs ........................................25 20
Total yards.......................................363Rushes-yards............................. 32-123 23-100 306
Passing..............................................240 206
Punt returns................................... 2-25 0-
Kickoff returns .............................. 3-69 2-
Interceptions ret............................. 0-0Comp-att-int .............................20-27-1 17-33-01-
Sacked-yards lost........................... 1-8 2-
Punts ............................................ 3-51.7 6-47.
Fumbles-lost .................................... 0-0Penalties-yards ........................... 12-99 10-770-
Possession.................................... 32:15 27:
RUSHING — New England, D.Harris 14-80, Bros- INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
sette 9-19, Stidham 3-18, Inman 1-2, Hoyer 1-2,
Bolden 4-2. Tennessee, Barnes 7-42, Hunt 4-23,
D.Lewis 4-16, McNichols 6-13, Woodside 2-6.PASSING — New England, Hoyer 6-8-1-55, Stid-
ham 14-19-0-193. Tennessee, Mariota 6-9-0-63,
Tannehill 7-11-0-84, Woodside 4-13-0-72.
RECEIVING — New England, Meyers 6-82, D.Har-
ris 4-23, Kendricks 1-28, Patterson 1-23, Izzo 1-21,Brossette 1-18, Inman 1-17, Saubert 1-10, Beck
1-9, J.Johnson 1-9, Olszewski 1-6, Bolden 1-2. Ten-
nessee, Wick 3-42, McNichols 3-24, Firkser 2-32,
Taylor 2-27, Walker 2-26, Jennings 2-18, Raymond1-21, C.Davis 1-20, D.Lewis 1-9.
MISSED FIELD GOALS — New England, Gost-
kowski 40. Tennessee, Barnard 41.Patriots 22, Titans 17ASSOCIATED PRESS
Andy Ogletree was in dan-
ger of being blown out of the
US Amateur final. He kept his
poise — and his confidence —
and came back to win, rallying
to beat John Augenstein, 2 and
1, at Pinehurst, N.C.
Ogletree was 4 down early
in the morning round of the
36-hole final at Pinehurst’s
renovated No. 4, but won four
of the final seven holes on the
No. 2 course to claim the
championship matchup of 21-
year-old college seniors.
‘‘I showed a lot of resilience
out there and never gave up,’’
Ogletree said. ‘‘Kept telling
myself I'm going to win this
tournament and always be-
lieved that. Even when I was 4
down through six [holes], I
just kept telling myself...
keep hitting fairways, keep hit-
ting greens and it'll eventually
go your way.’’
The Mississippian is the
third Georgia Tech player to
win the Amateur, joining 1997
winner Matt Kuchar and five-
time champion Bobby Jones.
He ended it on the 17th,
sticking his tee shot on the
par-3 hole on the green and
two-putting for par. Augen-
stein placed his tee shot on the
left fringe and four-putted for
a double bogey.
Augenstein, from Ken-
tucky, was the first Vanderbilt
player to reach the final since
Luke List in 2004. At No. 38 in
the world amateur ranking, he
was the highest-ranked player
to reach the semifinals and the
only one in the top 100.
Ogletree stayed within
striking distance and was nev-
er worse than 2 down during
the afternoon round. He
squared the match on the 13th
hole after landing his second
shot within 5 feet of the flag-
stick and tapping in for a bird-
ie, then took the lead on the
14th after Augenstein pushed
a short par putt wide left.
Champions— Doug Barron
became the 13th Monday
qualifier to win a PGA Tour
Champions event, holing two
15-foot birdie putts after a rain
delay to beat Fred Couples by
two strokes in the Dick’s Sport-
ing Goods Open.
Making his second senior
start, Barron had a 6-under 66at En Joie Golf Club to finish
the wire-to-wire win at 17-un-
der 199 in Endicott, N.Y.
With Couples in the club-
house after a 63, Barron re-
turned from the delay to hole
the first 15-footer on the par-
15th to break a tie for the lead,
then doubled the advantage
with the second one on the
par-3 17th.
Woody Austin was third at
13 under after a 67. Scott Mc-
Carron (69) matched Colin
Montgomerie (66) at 12 under.
European— Thomas Pieters
shot a 3-under 69 to become
the first golfer to win the
Czech Masters for the second
time, beating Adri Arnaus of
Spain by one stroke at Vysoky
Ujezd, Czech Republic.
Pieters took a three-shot
lead after a birdie on the 7th
only to bogey the 8th. The
overnight leader added a bird-
ie and a bogey on the back
nine in the final round to fin-
ish on 19-under 269.
Arnaus birdied two of his
last three holes to post a 69.
Andrea Pavan shot a 7-under
65 for a 16-under 272 to tie for
third with Sam Horsfield (68).GOLF ROUNDUP
Ogletree takes US Amateur title
CLIFF HAWKINS/GETTY IMAGESJustin Thomas punctuates his win with a birdie putt on 18 at the BMW Championship.
By Doug Ferguson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEDINAH, Ill. — Justin
Thomas had more stress than
he wanted and answered with
the shots he needed Sunday at
Medinah to win the BMW
Championship and claim the
No. 1 seed going into the Fed-
Ex Cup finale.
Thomas watched a six-shot
lead shrink to two in a span of
three holes around the turn
until he regained control with
two great wedges, and two piv-
otal putts. One last birdie gave
him a 4-under-par 68 and a
three-shot victory over Patrick
Cantlay, who gave him a battle
to the end with a 65.
‘‘I was really nervous today.
It’s hard to play with a lead,’’
Thomas said. ‘‘You don’t know
how often things like this will
happen, and it feels great.’’
The victory, the first for
Thomas since the World Golf
Championship at Firestone
last year, gives him a two-shot
lead starting the Tour Champi-
onship next week as the top 30
players in the FedEx Cup chase
the $15 million prize.
The field will have a stag-
gered start based on their posi-
tion in the FedEx Cup, mean-
ing Thomas starts at 10-under
par.
The top 30 who advanced
includes Lucas Glover, who
went bogey-double bogey late
in his round until finishing
with a par to wrap up his first
trip to East Lake in 10 years.
It will not include Masters
champion Tiger Woods, the
defending champion.
Woods was a long shot go-
ingintothefinalroundto
crack the top 30, and he closed
with a 72. East Lake was his
first victory in five years, cap-
ping his return from four back
surgeries, a special moment
replaced some six months lat-
er by his Masters victory.
‘‘It’s disappointing,’’ Woods
said. ‘‘Last year culminated in
a pretty special moment for
me and would have been nice
to go back there.’’
Hideki Matsuyama took
the 36-hole lead with a 63 un-
til falling back with a 73. He
responded with another 63 to
finish alone in third, making
him one of three players who
moved into the top 30 to reach
East Lake. The other was Ja-
son Kokrak, but only after J.T.
Poston made bogey on his fi-
nal hole.
The US team for the Presi-
dents Cup didn’t change, with
Bryson DeChambeau holding
down the final spot. Tony
Finau would have needed to
finish alone in third. He closed
with a 69 to finish fourth, un-
able to keep up with Matsuy-
ama.
Nothing changed for the In-
ternational team either, as Ja-
son Day failed to earn one of
the eight automatic spots.
Both captains, Woods and
Ernie Els, will have four picks
on Nov. 5.
With so much at stake, the
one certainty going into the fi-
nal round would have seemed
to be the winner. Thomas had
a six-shot lead, and only seven
players dating to 1928 had lost
a lead that big on the PGA
Tour.Thomas didn’t hit a fairway
until the fifth hole. He still had
a six-shot lead when his chip
from across the green on the
par-5 seventh nearly went for
eagle.
And then it turned quickly.
Cantlay made an 8-foot
birdie on No. 7, followed with
a 12-foot birdie on No. 8 and a
6-foot birdie on No. 9. Thomas
then helped out by hitting his
second to the par-5 10th un-
der a tree, hitting lefthanded
to get it out and making bogey.
Cantlay made his fourth
straight birdie, and the lead
was down to two with eight
holes remaining.
That’s when Thomas came
to life with a wedge to 2 feet
for birdie. ‘‘The birdie on 11
was huge,’’ Thomas said. ‘‘That
propelled me for the rest of the
round.’’
He followed with two key
putts, and the most important
might have been for par. He
drove into the right rough and
had to play some 65 yards
short of the green, hitting
wedge up to about 12 feet.
Cantlay had a 15-foot birdie
putt, and a two-shot swing
would have cut the lead to one.
Cantlay missed. Thomas
made his par putt, stepping
forward with a fist pump.
Thomas finished at 25-un-
der 263 — seven shots lower
than what Woods shot at Med-
inah when he won the 2006
PGA Championship — and
earned $1,665,000. Even more
money is at stake next week,
though this was a burden lift-
ed. All he cared about was win-
ning.BMW CHAMPIONSHIP
VictoryputsThomas
No. 1 in FedEx Cup