Updated Jan. 15, 2014http://bleacherreport.com/tb/dfMAq?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=new-england-patriots
Foxborough, Mass.
Ahead
of their playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts last weekend, the
New England Patriots signed to their practice squad someone named Reggie
Dunn.
Dunn is an undrafted, unheralded
wide receiver. But he also is roughly the same height, weight and speed
as Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton, who had scorched the Kansas City Chiefs
with 13 catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns in the wild-card round.
Scott Pollack
As a practice-squad Patriot, Dunn was
charged with imitating Hilton, giving New England's defense a head
start. Apparently it worked: In a 43-22 win over the Colts, the Patriots
held Hilton to four catches for 104 yards.
The
Dunn hiring illustrates a little-known scheme that Patriots coach Bill
Belichick employs for slowing down opponents: He clones them, stacking
his practice squad with replicas of some of the NFL's most dangerous
players.
"I don't know where he finds
these guys," said former Dallas Cowboys executive Gil Brandt. "Every
week, they bring in someone. Same height, same speed. It's like they
practice against your twin brother."
To
prepare for Sunday's AFC Championship Game in Denver against the
Broncos, the Patriots in recent weeks signed to their practice squad
6-foot-3-Greg Orton, a doppelgänger for 6-foot-3 Broncos receiver
Demaryius Thomas.
"It's something Bill
does," said Patriots safety Duron Harmon. "To (practice against) a guy
with the same height, weight, speed, it helps a lot."
Video
It is pretty much accepted that New England Patriots
Coach Bill Belichick is brilliant. But is he happy? The Count takes a
look at the number of times Belichick smiled turning the 2013 regular
season. It's not a lot.
Before the playoffs began, the
Patriots prepared for a possible matchup against Kansas City by signing
undrafted running back Sam McGuffie to the practice squad. At 5 foot 10
and 200 pounds, McGuffie is identical in height and weight to Chiefs
running back Jamaal Charles, while their 40-yard dash times are
separated by just four hundredths of a second.
Belichick's
rotating-cast-of-ringers approach relies on a mostly overlooked element
of NFL roster construction: the practice squad.
NFL
teams are permitted to keep just 53 players on their active rosters.
But they also have a practice squad of up to eight players who are
eligible to participate in midweek practices, though unable to suit up
for games.
Most teams use the practice
squad as a means of keeping hold of competent backups who are familiar
with their systems and can step in as ready-made replacements in case of
injuries.
"A lot of teams just see it
as eight more practice bodies," said Russ Lande, a former NFL scout.
"But the Patriots are one of the few teams that understand how to
manipulate the practice squad. They're using those guys to fill specific
roles based on their opponents."
To be
sure, a long-standing NFL custom is to sign an opposing team's former
player in advance of a big game in the hope of gaining trade secrets. On
Tuesday, the Broncos announced the signing of veteran defensive back
Marquice Cole, whom the Patriots released last month.
Five
days before their playoff game in New England, the Colts signed former
Patriots receiver Deion Branch to their roster. He wasn't activated for
last weekend's game.
League insiders
say that New England's ringer strategy reflects a broader Belichick
obsession with improving the quality of team practices.
Since
2011, the league's collective-bargaining agreement has limited the
number of practices a team can hold, particularly in full pads. But
within those constraints, Belichick has remained committed to practices
that simulate game conditions.
By
bringing in players who are the same size and speed as upcoming
opponents and instructing them to run plays the coaches have identified
from film study, the Patriots say they are able to get an accurate idea
of how to attack or defend a specific player. The team also can try out
different blitzes and coverages.
"Our
big thing is taking the practice field and bringing it to the game,"
said Patriots safety Kyle Arrington. "The saying here is 'practice
execution means game reality.'"
Belichick's grand strategy is consistent with his philosophy of taking away what an opponent does best.
Lande,
the former NFL scout, said that Belichick has long been known for
drawing up game plans that focus on stopping his opponent's most
valuable player—usually a running back, receiver or tight end—and
forcing them to put the ball in the hands of less heralded players in
clutch situations.
"If they don't have
anyone on their roster that can emulate that particular player in
practice, they're going to bring somebody in for a week, or even two if
it's a big game, to give them that look," Lande said.
Before
their last playoff meeting with the Broncos following the 2011 season,
the Patriots added a 6-foot-3 receiver named Britt Davis to their
practice squad to simulate Thomas. In a New England victory, the Denver
receiver had six catches for 93 yards.
Ahead of last season's divisional-round matchup with the Houston Texans,
the Patriots signed wide receiver Andre Holmes to their practice squad.
At 6 foot 4, Holmes is less than an inch taller than Texans star Andre
Johnson, and they have identical 4.40 times in the 40-yard dash. In a
Patriots victory, Johnson was held to 95 yards.
The strategy is inexpensive: Practice-squad players cost as little as $6,000 a week.
Not
surprisingly, "Silent Bill" declined to talk about this strategy or its
origins. One theory is that Belichick happened upon this approach while
facing the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. To
practice defending against Rams running back Marshall Faulk, Belichick
was able to lean on a replica in his own backfield: Kevin Faulk, the
superstar's cousin.
In winning that Super Bowl, the Patriots held Marshall Faulk to 76 yards rushing.
"That's Bill for you," said Brandt, the former Cowboys executive. "He's ahead of the curve in about 99% of the things he does."
Write to Jonathan Clegg at jonathan.clegg@wsj.com and Kevin Clark at kevin.clark@wsj.com
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