Morning sports update: Dwayne Allen admits he hasn’t played up to his potential
The U.S. men’s national team lost to Trinidad & Tobago and was eliminated from World Cup contention, while the Red Sox cleaned out their lockers on Tuesday.
Dwayne Allen admits he hasn’t played up to his potential: The tight end has had a rather disappointing start to the season, headlined by his zero receptions to date. Allen recorded 406 receiving yards on 35 catches and six touchdowns for Indianapolis last year.
“I certainly haven’t played up to my potential,” the 27-year-old told reporters on Tuesday.
“It’s kind of hard,” he continued. “The role that I’m in right now, I don’t get as many passing opportunities, but that’s part of the game. You own up to your role, you embrace it, and you continue to get better. It’s all about the team winning at the end of the day.”
The former Colt also noted the importance of player chemistry: “The non-verbal communication between quarterback and receivers, certain things Tom [Brady] expects, when you’re not able to execute those things, you’re not out there as much.”
His low numbers won’t be discouraging him from continuing to put in work in practice, however.
“It’s one of those things where I go out to practice every week, and continue to prepare, and continue to improve week in and week out,” Allen said.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels echoed this sentiment in a conference call on Monday, adding that Allen is not the only one who’s in this type of situation.
“Dwayne’s learning and adapting to our system and what we do each week. He’s only played five games in our offense and continuing to work hard to try to get better,” McDaniels said. “There’s a lot of guys that I would say you’d put in that same group, and they’re still learning and processing how we do things and what we do.”
“We’re working hard and he’s working hard and we’re trying to get better.”
Dustin Pedroia contemplates surgery, and his future: Pedroia said after Monday’s season-ending loss that he would be examined Tuesday to figure out a proper course of action, including whether knee surgery might be necessary. That said, the potential procedure sounds like one that could affect his availability in 2018.
“I’m going to go talk to the doctors about that,” Pedroia said. “Obviously we had to try and find a way to do what we did so I could be out there. But if you were to get it fixed, the recovery is a long time, so I have a lot of things to weigh in with the doctors and figure it out.” (The Boston Globe)
US out of World Cup contention with 2-1 loss at Trinidad:
‘‘We let down an entire nation today,’’ said defender Omar Gonzalez, whose 17th-minute own goal attempting to clear a cross started the collapse. (Boston.com, via AP)
https://twitter.com/JogaBonitoUSA/status/917910156582760448
Dolphins reportedly hire former Patriots coach after offensive line coach resigns following white powder video: The Miami Dolphins are bringing in former Patriots offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo to help replace Chris Foerster, according to multiple reports Tuesday. Foerster, the second-year offensive line coach, abruptly resigned Monday after a video surfaced on social media of him snorting lines of a white powdery substance. (Boston.com)
Tom Brady reportedly suffered a joint sprain in his left shoulder: After Tom Brady missed Tuesday’s practice at Gillette Stadium for an undisclosed reason, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has reported that Brady is suffering from an acromioclavicular joint sprain in his left, non-throwing shoulder. (Boston.com)
#Patriots QB Tom Brady suffered what is thought to be an AC joint sprain in his left, non-throwing shoulder, source said. He said he’ll play
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 10, 2017
Trump says ESPN’s ratings are down because of Jemele Hill: President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that ESPN ratings have ‘‘tanked’’ because of Jemele Hill, the anchor suspended for making political statements on social media.
While NFL viewership is down slightly, ESPN remains among the most popular cable networks, averaging 3 million viewers in prime time. The network has suffered subscriber losses over the last few years as some viewers have moved to streaming services from cable television. (The Boston Globe, via AP)
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/917701841466593280
