Contents of Original Post:

Hey, fans. Welcome to the Thread of the Week. Comment on any and all that you wish. Just remember to abide by normal BBS conduct rules.

* Please keep in mind, this thread will be seen by the players, coaches, and Patriot's staff members. Please keep your responses proper, thoughtful and specific. Crude remarks within a post will cause that post to be deleted.*

TOTW #1: On the main BBS the hot topic seems to be the QB situation. Should Drew play hurt, should Coach Belichick play Bishop or Brady, et al.? Someone even commented that at 3-9 we are still in the run for the playoffs! A joke? Maybe, but in all reality this season is over. What are your thoughts as to who should play the QB position, when and why?

Go to the Bulletin Board and ask away! So, there it is, fellow Patriot Fans. Let's have some good participation!

TOTW #1: Bledsoe is a grown man who has played hurt in the past and will probably play hurt in the future. Two years ago he played with a pin in his finger against the Steelers and got us into the playoffs with a gutsy road win.

The decision on whether he plays or not should not be left entirely to him as it isn't fair. Left to his own judgment, Drew Bledsoe will always decide to play even if he is 50%. He is the leader of the team and he is setting the tone.

If the doctors think playing presents a serious risk to his career, then the coaching staff needs to step in and make the decision to protect him from himself.

If it isn't Bledsoe playing, then it should be either Bishop or Brady. I don't see any problem with them splitting the duties as neither has ever started a professional game. You can start with one and if they are playing poorly you can change horses. If neither of them gets it done, then you can send in Friesz to stabilize the situation.

Even if this is rebuilding, your quarterback of the future is Drew Bledsoe and the guys who crack the lineup ought to get experience playing with Drew for it to be worth anything. And they ought to feel good about winning if they can manage a victory and Drew still gives them the best shot.

TOTW #1: I back Drew BUT I wonder if playing is detrimental to his health.

Let's be honest, who do you pay to go see? Drew. He is our starter and he will play as long as he can stand upright. He is the heart and soul of the Pats and seemingly a good guy off the field which counts for something in today's sports. The guy wants to play. I thought I saw a tear shed when he was benched for the last offensive plays of the turkey day rout! He always wants to win. You all must know by now I am a Drew Believer BUT I don't want him to end up like Grogan, always hurt. He was phenomenal with the broken finger and can play with pain. It was a mistake putting in Zolak in that playoff game in'98. Even though we have no playoff shot, Drew should be the QB if he will not ruin his long-term career with the Pats by playing hurt.

TOTW #1: I guess I just want to see some movement in the offense, and it certainly hasn't been moving in the right direction this year. The bottom line is that no matter how good the defense, you simply can't win scoring 9 points a game. Try anything different, while there's not much to lose. We need to see some new looks, so Drew should gracefully let that happen.

TOTW #1: We, the fans, have no clue as to the intricacies of daily life at the Patriots'"camp." Only the players and the coaches really know. I, for one, TRUST Coach Belichick to make the right decision.

TOTW #1: Bledsoe will want to play unless forbidden to do so. If the doctor gives an O.K., he should play. After all, he IS our quarterback.

If the doctor pulls Bledsoe, I'd like to get a look at both Brady and Bishop. However, if the starter is doing a decent job and we stand a chance of winning, they shouldn't switch quarterbacks just to "get a look". Obviously, a win for us would be more important than getting to see what BOTH the back-up quarterbacks can do - more important than getting to see what EITHER of them can do. With that in mind, I hope Bledsoe is able to play.

TOTW #1: The NFL is an entertainment industry. I can watch Drew stand in there and get killed all night but it's not really entertaining. Besides why risk the franchise QB when he's already hurt and we have nothing to gain? Until we supply him with a supporting cast he's just going to keep getting beat up. We all know this team needs a large influx of talent to turn this team around and neither Brady or Bishop are a tradable commodity until they play. Bishop would certainly be more entertaining, would give me a reason to stay up and watch and may provide a show for the fans who will have to fight traffic to and from the game and won't get home until 2:00 am. (Please no more Monday night games!) Besides, he doesn't seem to fit in with this team and/or coaching staff. That makes me assume he will be the odd man out next year. That's fine, but if he's leaving we need to play him so we might at least be able to get something for him. We will need a lot of draft picks to turn this team around. If Bishop is staying here and not leaving in the offseason then maybe we should think about playing Brady with the idea of trading him. We have too many holes to be worrying about developing a backup QB. Play a kid, either one, give me a reason to watch and hope he turns in a good performance so we can trade him for a decent pick. I know everyone says that there is little demand for either of them right now but in a league that has Jake Plummer, Shaun King, Scott Mitchell, and Jim Harbaugh starting games there will be demand if they show some potential in these last few games. Either entertain me on Monday night or make the best maneuver to ensure I am entertained next year, because with the large ticket price increases (82% since Drews rookie year) I'm going to need to be more entertained to keep shelling out for my season tickets.

TOTW #1: I think if Drew is capable of playing, he should play. In my opinion, he is the best chance we have to win when he is playing. Comparing him to Bishop / Brady is just ridiculous. That is my opinion. However, if Drew is hurt, and his injury is affecting his play and potentially causing long-term damage, he should sit. There is no sense in causing long term damage for this lost season. We all know he is tough and he can play hurt. He has nothing to prove as far as that goes.

If Drew can't play, we may as well play Bishop or Brady to get them some experience in a real game and see their capabilities against a real 1st string defense. At this point in the season, it does not really matter since we are playing for draft picks at this point anyway. Obviously, we should still be playing to win every game but since the playoffs are out of the picture, a loss is not really a devastating issue at this point.

For what it's worth, I hope Drew is OK and I hope he will re-sign next year so he will retire a Patriot. In my opinion Drew is the best QB this team has ever had.

GO PATS

Author's comments:

With this season being a wash, I think not only Bishop but any other backups should be seeing gametime. Where it concerns Drew is the fact that all season long he's been getting nailed, getting drilled into the ground. He was sacked some 50 odd times last year. I don't think we should make a run for that record again. The more Drew gets sacked, the more time is taken off his days in the NFL. If the Patriots plan on keeping Drew around, they MUST commit to keeping him safe. With the poor Offensive line of current, there's no way the team can keep him safe. Which brings me to a thought, a thought most fans will dread to hear. But consider what Coach Belichick did while in Cleveland.....does the name Kosar ring a bell? Is it possible that Drew could be traded? Sure, why not? Nobody is untouchable. If a trade will benefit the team more than not trading him, you bet it can happen, it's a business folks.

At this point I just think the backups in all positions should be out there playing for a few downs, just to see what they can do for either next year or for trading. Consider the rest of the season an extended "pre-season".

Fan Since '64