Brady calls LaFell phenomenal, says he is one of toughest Patriots ever

[gettlemanjack]

NFL @ nfl 21h

"One of the toughest guys I've ever played with." Tom Brady wasn’t talking Ty or Tedy (or Mankins etc). Nope:

NFL.com article on Lafell

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000459594/article/brandon-lafell-draws-praise-from-tom-brady-bill-belichick

ESPN: LaFell's rise crucial to Pats' success

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?storyId=12175801

highlights (that ESPN one is loooong):

-Brady praises LaFell as a "phenomenal player" and "one of the toughest guys I've ever played with"

-Devin McCourty praised LaFell's toughness (which he called a very big thing on this team) battling through injuries, earned everybody's respect

-LaFell has caught for 1,015 yds, 8 TD

-since Week 4, LaFell has averaged 5.4 receptions and 69.2 yards per game and has scored 8 TDs

-In Weeks 1-3, LaFell played 51.9% of snaps

-Since Week 4, LaFell played 87.7% of snaps

-LaFell says he was"shell-shocked" by how the Pats offense is "very complicated," and the "playbook is so long." Say Belichick is "tough," makes you study playbook on your days off

-Belichick recently did a film review for the press where he said "I love coaching (LaFell)" and highlighted how LaFell blocks his man and then a 2nd defender resulting in a TD

-Marty Hurney said LaFell runs precise routes which made him "a perfect fit" in NE

-great quote from LaFell on Smitty ("When I first got to Carolina, he told me, 'If you're not catching balls and blocking, I'm not talking to you.'")

[ecu88]

NFL @ nfl 21h

"One of the toughest guys I've ever played with." Tom Brady wasn’t talking Ty or Tedy (or Mankins etc). Nope:

NFL.com article on Lafell

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000459594/article/brandon-lafell-draws-praise-from-tom-brady-bill-belichick

ESPN: LaFell's rise crucial to Pats' success

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?storyId=12175801

highlights (that ESPN one is loooong):

-Brady praises LaFell as a "phenomenal player" and "one of the toughest guys I've ever played with"

-Devin McCourty praised LaFell's toughness (which he called a very big thing on this team) battling through injuries, earned everybody's respect

-LaFell has caught for 1,015 yds, 8 TD

-since Week 4, LaFell has averaged 5.4 receptions and 69.2 yards per game and has scored 8 TDs

-In Weeks 1-3, LaFell played 51.9% of snaps

-Since Week 4, LaFell played 87.7% of snaps

-LaFell says he was"shell-shocked" by how the Pats offense is "very complicated," and the "playbook is so long." Say Belichick is "tough," makes you study playbook on your days off

-Belichick recently did a film review for the press where he said "I love coaching (LaFell)" and highlighted how LaFell blocks his man and then a 2nd defender resulting in a TD

-Marty Hurney said LaFell runs precise routes which made him "a perfect fit" in NE

-great quote from LaFell on Smitty ("When I first got to Carolina, he told me, 'If you're not catching balls and blocking, I'm not talking to you.'")

So Smitty talked sometimes with LaBlock when he blocked (LaFell's specialty) and not talk to LaDrop after a pass was thrown towards him, makes sense.

[Mol3m4n]

I do miss LaBlock.

[CelibatePimp]

Get Cam some weapons... lol

[pantherj]

Couldn't care less. We need dominant WRs, not brick hands.

[TheAmericanDream]

What the hell is Brady smoking?

One of the toughest guys

My ass!

[PhillyB]

maybe our offensive system sucks and we play sentimental favorites in picking coaching staff and can't develop receivers

[Mother Grabber]

maybe our offensive system sucks and we play sentimental favorites in picking coaching staff and can't develop receivers

I thought prohel was supposed to be the greatest WR coach ever to grace the earth, at least that's what I've read on here.

[RelaxImaPro]

Lol Steve needs to go to the Pats this season if Brady thinks LaFell is one of the toughest players he's ever played with.

 

Smitty would probably blow Tom's mind... right before he knocked his ass out.

[Jackofalltrades]

I never saw a reason to question LaFell ' s toughness, he took some brutal hits and got right back in the action. I liked him, just hated has inconsistent hands and untimely drops, which always seemed to come in pivotal times.

Glad he's doing well in NE.

[Davidson Deac II]

Helps when you have one of the best passers in the history of the NFL throwing the ball to you.

 

That being said, New England just throws the ball a lot more than we do, so its to be expected that Lafell would get more catches. New England threw more than 600 passes this season, while we only threw it 470 times last year. 

[jackson113]

Maybe if we deflated the ball he would have caught more passes.

[PandaPancake]

I don't think anyone here has ever claimed LaFell wasn't tough. We all had a problem with his hands

[rodeo]

I also think people forget that there were several times when LaFell led the NFC in least drops. It was either 2012 or 2013 where he only had 1 drop in like 10 games or something ridiculous like that.

 

The issue became that when he did have drops, it was in a crucial, game changing moment, and almost always bounced off his hands into a DB's.

 

He was like the reverse KB. Caught all the easy ones but was completely non-clutch when it mattered.