The Boston Globe - 17.10.2019

C4 Sports The Boston Globe THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019

Trent Brown named in civil suit

Brookshasexpanded

hisrolewithPatriots

Las Vegas

line

Jim

McBride

Nora

Princiotti

Ta ra

Sullivan

Scott

Thurston

Ben

Volin

Last week 7-7 10-4 8-6 7-7 8-6

Season 41-49-2 44-46-2 47-43-2 43-47-2 47-43-2

Best bets 2-4 1-5 2-4 0-5-1 2-4

Kansas City

at Denver

Kansas City

by 3

Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Denver

Selections are against the pointspread. Staff records are calculated using the final spread for each game, which may dif-

fer from the lines above.

Globe staff’s pro picksWEEK 7

CelticsrookiesEdwards,WatersstatecasesforNBAjobs

fellow rookie point guard Dari-
us Garland, taken fifth overall
by the Cavaliers. Waters, taken
51st, looked like the best point
guard on the floor, and that in-
cludes 2018 first-round pick
Collin Sexton, who scored 20
points for the Cavaliers but had
only two assists.
Waters collected seven as-
sists and two steals.
“He’s just good,” Stevens
said. “I don’t what else to say.
He’s got a shiftiness to his game
that’s unique. His brain moves
as fast as his feet. He really sees
thegameandseeswhat’sgoing
on. So yeah, he’s played well.
Ever since he did a draft work-
out, we were all just kind of
blown away.
“You look at a guy that size

uONBASKETBALL
Continued from Page C1

[5 feet 11 inches, 175 pounds]

and you’re trying to figure out

how he can do it and he just

does it all the time. He’s off to a

good start.”

Despite taking an inadver-

tent shot to the nose by Cleve-

land forward Jarell Martin, Ed-

wards returned to the game

and dazzled with a 26-point

third quarter. Edwards came to

the NBA as a volume scorer at

Purdue, but that was college.

But Edwards, in a short

sample size, has shown the

ability to play without fear and

score in bunches. He’s not

afraid to take a shot. He has

drawn comparisons to Vinnie

“The Microwave” Johnson and,

for the younger generation, Ed-

die House or Isaiah Thomas.

As much as Tuesday night

was a practice game against a

team expected to be one of the

league’s worst, Edwards scored

26 points in eight minutes.

That’s impressive at any lev-

el.Stevens has not assigned

roles yet.

As of now, Brad Wanamak-

er, who has been steady and

more confident this season, is

the primary backup to Kemba

Walker. Edwards is the size of a

point guard but played both po-

sitions at Purdue and teamed

with Waters in the backcourt

Tuesday.

“Seriously, I want to contin-

ue to just work,” Edwards said.

“Trying to make the right plays,

earning a spot on this team. It’s

pretty cool to have this happen.

I just try to make the right plays

and get a rhythm and when the

rhythmisthere...”

Waters and Edwards are giv-

ing the Celtics’ brass some in-

teresting scenarios to ponder.

Waters began his Celtics career

as a long-term project, the plan

was to sharpen his game in

Maine and then eventually be-

come a point guard candidate

in coming seasons.

Edwards wowed basketball

fans with his NCAA Tourna-

ment performances — 139

points in four games, including

a pair of 42-point efforts — but

there was serious question as to

whether that would translate to

the NBA. That doubt probably

caused Edwards to fall to the

33rd overall pick, but he is be-

ginning to resemble another

draft steal for Ainge.

The Celtics have long sought

scoring punch off the bench; a

fearless shooter who can com-

pile points in bunches. There

are specialized roles in the NBA

for players like that, such as the

Clippers’ Lou Williams and

longtime NBA veteran Jamal

Crawford.

Edwards doesn’t lack confi-

dence but also possesses the

humility to understand that

this is only the preseason and

the journey has only begun. But

it’s becoming apparent that he

won’t be just sitting on the

bench and watching during his

rookie season.

Stevens could play him at

both guard positions, meaning

he could pair with Kemba

Walker or Wanamaker as well

as spelling them in certain situ-

ations. His ability to play the

shooting guard position will

open other possibilities for Ste-

vens.

As for Waters, he can offer

Stevens an option as a third

point guard if Stevens decided

to play Marcus Smart as a big

guard or even forward in small-

er lineups. He can only be with

the Celtics a maximum of 45

days because of his two-way

contract. But the brass will

monitor Waters’s progress

closely in Maine and eventually

may be faced with the decision

of converting his deal to a full

NBA contract.

It’s just preseason, but one

night could have helped change

the thinking of the organiza-

tion about how prepared Wa-

ters and Edwards are for sub-

stantial roles.

Gary Washburn can be reached

at [email protected]

Follow him on Twitter

@GwashburnGlobe.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Raiders tackleTrentBrown
has been sued by his ex-girl-
friend for what she says were
multiple acts
of domestic vi-
olence over the
past year.
DiorraMarzette-Sanders
filed a civil suit in Alameda
County (Calif.) Superior Court
on Tuesday accusing him of
several attacks that left her
fearing for her safety.
According to the lawsuit,
Marzette-Sanders accused
Brown, who played for the Pa-
triots last season, of slapping
her, hitting her, and choking
her at different times and
threatening to shoot her in the
‘‘head before you walk out that
door with my son.’’
Marzette-Sanders said the
two began dating in March
2017 and had a son together
last January.

‘‘I am aware that my ex-girl-

friend has filed a civil suit

against me,’’ Brown wrote on

Twitter on Wednesday. ‘‘I deny

the claims. They are false. I be-

lieve in the court system where

I will clear my name. I will not

be making any further com-

ment at this time.’’

Goodell:Ruleworking

NFL commissionerRoger

Goodellsaid the new video re-

view rule for pass interference

is working as expected, with

only obvious mistakes by offi-

cialsbeingcorrected.

The league has had 44 re-

views related to pass interfer-

ence, and the on-field ruling

was reversed seven times.

‘‘I think coaches understood

replay was not going to correct

every pass interference close

call,’’ Goodell said at the close

of the owners’ meetings. ‘‘It’s

not possible to make it perfect,

and we’re not re-officiating

these plays.”

Barkleylooksready

Giants running backSa-

quonBarkleywas a full-go at

practice, increasing the likeli-

hood he will play against the

Cardinals this weekend...

Steelers coachMikeTomlinsaid

thatMasonRudolphwill return

to the starting lineup when he

is cleared to return from a con-

cussion. RookieDevlin‘‘Duck’’

Hodgesfilled in nicely for Ru-

dolph during a 24-17 win over

the Chargers last week... The

Dolphins have again changed

quarterbacks, going withRyan

Fitzpatrickinstead ofJoshRos-

enwhen they play at Buffalo...

Chiefs wide receiverSammy

Watkinswill miss his second

consecutive game with a ham-

string injury when Kansas City

visits the Broncos on Thursday

night.

Letthedefensetakethelead

offensive characters around
him, Belichick made sure his
quarterback knows it. Even
more, he made sure his quarter-
back knows the coach knows it.
Anyone paying attention has
felt the heat of Brady’s flashes
of frustration, has heard how
uncharacteristically blunt he
has been in assessing his team’s
offensive shortcomings. But
why should he hide what is so
plainly true? With an offense
struggling to keep pace with its
standout counterparts on de-
fense and special teams, it’s a
new world for a quarterback
who is accustomed to being the
center of the Patriot universe,
who is used to being the driving
force behind this continually
surging Super Bowl engine.
Surely, he wants to do more.
But the truth is it may be better
if he could be content doing
less.
With a rebuilt offensive line,
a debilitated fullback corps, no
real tight end threat, and as
thin a wide receiver group as he
has ever played with, this
doesn’t look like the year for of-
fensive fireworks. This looks
like one for the defense to lead
the way, with an offense that
just doesn’t mess up too much.
For Brady to get a game ball
on a night he had an 88.9 pass-
er rating (31 for 41, 334 yards,
no passing touchdowns, one in-
terception) was a reward not so
much for the numbers them-
selves, but for compiling them
across a second half that saw
his offensive unit reduced to
one healthy personnel group-
ing, for doing just enough to
win the game while not doing
anything to lose it.
“We, offensively, had to kind
of keep it together here with
some limitations in the second
half,” Belichick said Monday

uSULLIVAN
Continued from Page C1

when asked about the game

ball. “I thought he showed a lot

of leadership and toughness

and just passing ability and ac-

curacy that helped us win the

game.

“Tom’s got great poise on the

field and he’s been in a lot of

critical situations with various

elements: ahead, behind,

weather, so forth. He’s on the

road, at home, you name it.

He’s been in pretty much every

situation you could be in, so his

experience and decision-mak-

ing — we have total trust in him

in all those situations and he’s

come through for us so many

times before.”

Maybe Brady’s vast résumé

will be enough to lift this of-

fense to yet another title, his in-

ternal bank of vast football ex-

perience enough to offset the

relative lack of it among his of-

fensive teammates. If that hap-

pens, if Brady somehow lifts

this thin-as-lettuce group of

weapons to a seventh Super

Bowl win, this season could go

down as his greatest accom-

plishment yet.

What a dividend on his lead-

ership and experience that

would be.

Both Belichick and offensive

coordinator Josh McDaniels

were asked multiple questions

about Brady Monday, particu-

larly about what responsibility

Brady has in the ongoing devel-

opment of the least experienced

players around him, guys such

as undrafted rookies Jakobi

Meyers and Gunner Olszewski,

two of the players that made up

that last-man-standing group-

ing Thursday night. Neither

coach seemed interested in lay-

ing anything especially heavy or

different on the quarterback’s

shoulders, other than to point

out it’s always on him to find

rhythm with his receivers.

“The quarterback and the

receivers need to work on their

timing, execution, and recogni-

tion,” Belichick said, emphasiz-

ing the “and” in the first part of

that sentence.

“I mean, they need to see the

same thing from two different

vantage points and that’s really

what it comes down to is the

quarterback needs to be able to

see what a receiver sees, and

the receiver needs to see what

the quarterback sees and be

able to make the right decisions

on different routes, against dif-

ferent leverage and coverage.

“Same thing that linemen

have to be able to see, only

they’re a little bit closer togeth-

er on that, but they still have to

be able to see the same thing

when five guys are blocking five

guys to get the right five on the

five and handle whatever

stunts, or twists, or however the

play unfolds after the snap. So,

that’s what execution is.”

Asked if Brady’s 20 years of

experience naturally tilt the re-

sponsibility scales toward him,

Belichick didn’t waver.

“We have to see it together,”

he said.

Brady isn’t looking to do it

alone; he has never been prone

to hero ball in the ways of say, a

Brett Favre or an Aaron Rod-

gers. But this year, more than

ever, he might be tempted to try

to do too much. (Two rushing

touchdowns on 1-yard sneaks

Thursday? When Brady is the

best short-yardage rushing op-

tion, you know the pickings are

slim.)

As last week’s game ball

should remind him, though,

sometimes there is reward in

doing just enough.

Tara Sullivan is a Globe

columnist. She can be reached

at [email protected].

Follow her on Twitter

@Globe_Tara.

ELISE AMENDOLA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Defensive back Terrence Brooks, who played mostly special teams while a member of the

Jets, has played nearly a third of the snaps on defense for the Patriots this season.

By Nora Princiotti

GLOBE STAFF

FOXBOROUGH — On Mon-

day night, Terrence Brooks will

face his former team, the New

York Jets, in the Meadowlands.

His role, though, will be differ-

ent than the one he played for

them when he played there.

Brooks, who wasn’t the

splashiest free agent acquisi-

tion the Patriots made this

spring, has primarily been a

special teams player through-

out his career. This year,

though, he’s playing on de-

fense, too. It turns out that’s

something coach Bill Belichick

thought he could do when he

and the Patriots signed him to

a two-year deal in March.

“I think that’s one of the

things that I talked about with

him when we visited him and

signed him — that we use a lot

of defensive packages and our

players play,” Belichick said.

“All the players play, and as you

said, that’s something that he

hasn’t really had a lot of chance

to do in his career. So, he’s real-

ly embraced it. He’s taken on a

number of different roles and

he’s worked very hard to un-

derstand those.”

Brooks has played 29 per-

cent — 107 total — of the Patri-

ots’ defensive snaps this sea-

son. Through six games, that’s

already the second-highest to-

tal of his six-year career in the

NFL. His career high came his

rookie year in Baltimore,

where Brooks played 234 de-

fensive snaps, 22 percent of the

Ravens’ total. He played 27

percent of their special teams

snaps that year as well.

In 2018 with the Jets, he

played 6 percent of the team’s

defensive snaps but 79 percent

of its special teams snaps,

where he made his impact.

Brooks is still playing half

the special teams snaps for the

Patriots, and special teams cap-

tain Matthew Slater told

Brooks he was thrilled to not

have to deal with him on

fourth downs this week now

that they’re teammates. It is no

longer fair, though, to say that

Brooks is near-exclusively a

special teamer.

Brooks said that it’ll feel

strange to go back to Metlife

Stadium as a member of the

visiting team, but he’s not re-

venge-minded. The Jets liked

him enough to trade for him in

August 2017, though the new

Adam Gase regime did decline

to pick up a contract option to

keep Brooks this season.

“That one’s always a little

touchy,” Brooks said. “Honestly,

I’m so grateful for every oppor-

tunity that I’m given, but it al-

ways does feel a little different

and you definitely want to go

out and play a great game

against former teams. For the

most part I’m just focused on

my game and what I need to do

and clean up any mistakes I’ve

had and make

sure I go out

on Monday

and execute.”

That’s re-

gardless of

who’s playing

quarterback

for New York,

Brooks said.

He has famil-

iarity from

last season

with Sam Dar-

nold, who the

Patriots will

face for the

first time this

year after see-

ing backup Luke Falk in their

first meeting with the Jets.

Darnold, who had a great

game against the Cowboys in

his first week back from a bout

with mononucleosis, is clearly

a tougher opponent than Falk,

but Brooks was convinced that

wouldn’t change much for the

defense.

“We go out and execute our

game plan and just stay on

what we need to do, I feel like

it’ll be fine,” Brooks said. “It

shouldn’t even matter.”

It is, of course, far less im-

portant simply to play on de-

fense than it is to play well, but

Brooks has been doing that,

too. Depth is the hallmark of

this Patriots defense, and the

unit hasn’t slowed down when

they’ve subbed in their rota-

tional players.

He isn’t a 1-to-1 sub for any

one other safety, but he has

some similar traits to Patrick

Chung and does often sub in

for him. Chung is currently

dealing with a chest injury,

which could mean additional

work for Brooks.

“We’ve put a lot on his plate

defensively and special teams,”

said safeties coach Steve

Belichick. “We keep giving him

more to do and he keeps com-

ing through for us. So yeah,

been pleased with everything

that Terrence has done.”

The younger Belichick said

that hasn’t been too much for

Brooks, whom he described as

fitting in well with the veteran

safety group.

Brooks said

he has leaned

on all team-

mates, espe-

cially Chung,

to understand

the defense.

The older

Belichick felt

similarly.

“We have

different mul-

tiples in our

defense, and

between the

multiples of

the defense

and different

positions, the wheel can start

spinning there a little bit, espe-

cially for somebody that hasn’t

been in the system for multiple

years like Devin [McCourty]

and Pat [Chung] and Duron

[Harmon] have,” Belichick

said.

“But he’s done very well

with it and has given us a lot of

solid play there as a part of dif-

ferent packages and rotations,

but also for Pat. So, he does a

nice job for us and continues to

contribute in the kicking game,

so he’s been a very valuable ad-

dition for us this year.”

Nora Princiotti can be reached

at [email protected].

Follow her on Twitter at

@NoraPrinciotti.

NFL

NOTEBOOK

‘Wekeepgiving

himmoretodo

andhekeeps

comingthrough

forus.Soyeah,

beenpleasedwith

everythingthat

Terrencehasdone.’

STEVE BELICHICK,assistant

coach, on Terrence Brooks