Morning sports update: Bill Belichick talked about Jakobi Meyers and Chase Winovich in WEEI interview
"He's smart, he understands what he needs to do."
The Red Sox begin a two-game series against the Phillies today at Fenway Park. Tonight’s game gets underway at 7:10 p.m.
The Patriots continue preparations this week ahead of Thursday’s third preseason game against the Panthers at 7:30 p.m. The game will be played at Gillette Stadium.
What Bill Belichick had to say about a pair of Patriots rookies: During his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria,” Bill Belichick was asked about the impact of two noteworthy rookies: Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and defensive end Chase Winovich.
“Chase is very aggressive, fast and has a relentless motor,” Belichick said of Winovich, a third round pick. “So all of those things are good. He lacks some experience and there are some things that he definitely needs to work on and improve on, but he’s a hardworking kid.
“He’s smart, he understands what he needs to do,” Belichick continued. “We’re asking him to do some things he’s never really done before, or didn’t do at Michigan. I’m not saying he can’t do them, but making an adaption and adjustments. But he’s worked hard at that, definitely gotten a lot better. So we’ll see where all that goes.”
Meyers’s story is different from Winovich. An undrafted player, Meyers has had to impress throughout the preseason to even be in contention for a roster spot. And while stats from preseason games aren’t always indicative of actual performance, Meyers is currently second in the league in receptions. More than that, he’s showed consistent ability in practice.
“Jakobi has done some things really well and there are some other things he needs to work on,” Belichick explained. “I think he showed some improvement from Detroit to the Tennessee game. That is a good thing. We’ll see how that goes over the next couple of weeks or so, and we’ll try and evaluate that. He’s making progress.”
Trivia: Adam Vinatieri led the 2003 Patriots in scoring. The player who came in second scored six touchdowns that season. Who was the team’s second-leading scorer?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He totaled an impressive seven touchdowns over eight career playoff games.
More from Boston.com:
- Here’s what happened during Josh Gordon’s return to Foxborough
- Red Sox shut down Chris Sale for rest of regular season
- Patriots to release punter Ryan Allen
- WEEI’s Alex Reimer is leaving sports radio to work in politics
- Patriots notebook: Julian Edelman practices in pads for first time this summer
- Jimmy Garappolo shaky in preseason return from torn ACL
- ‘He had to fight his battle’: Bob Cousy discussed politics, race, and Bill Russell in NBA.com Q&A
- Red Sox release 2020 spring training schedule
- Kliff Kingsbury talked about what he learned under Bill Belichick
Projecting the Patriots’ 53-man roster
: The Patriots have already made some roster decisions (such as the recent decision to cut punter Ryan Allen). Still, many roster spots are still up for grabs. Here’s a breakdown of the latest predictions from Ben Volin of The Boston Globe.
Rob Gronkowski posted photos of his Seaport workout:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1XMGouhfe_/?utm_source=ig_embed
A kicker made a tackle:
This is not the kicker you want to mess with 🙅♂️
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/burfoOATeW
— ESPN (@espn) August 20, 2019
On this day: In 2008, Usain Bolt won gold in the men’s 200 meter sprint in the Beijing Summer Olympics. It was the first of his three consecutive Olympic sweeps in both the 100 and 200 meter races.
Daily highlight: Paul DeJong of the Cardinals hit a towering home run on Monday night. The ball was hit so hard it got stuck in the Big Mac sign:
He hit the Big Mac sign! 💪 pic.twitter.com/1jtP7SOd7q
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 20, 2019
Hey Mac, you’re going to pay for that! pic.twitter.com/h93D5lwXQq
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 20, 2019
Trivia answer: David Givens
