OXBOROUGH - After a first-round playoff loss to Jacksonville, the Patriots front office conducted a two-week evaluation period and backstair interviews with players before announcing that Pete Carroll was still the coach. Almost a year later, the same topic is the hot issue after the Patriots tumbled to 7-7 and out of the playoffs for the first time since 1995.
Rumors about Pete Carroll's job security persisted throughout the season. (Jim Davis Photo)
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But, then, they should have known this wasn't going to be their year when Robert Edwards, who rushed for 1,115 yards in '98 as Curtis Martin's rookie replacement, suffered a potential career-ending knee injury in a beach flag football game during Pro Bowl weekend at Honolulu last February. The lack of a running game has often been blamed for their recent stumble.
The Patriots also continued to feel the bite of the salary cap, having to let center Dave Wohlabaugh, linebacker Todd Collins, punter/backup quarterback Tom Tupa, and safety Willie Clay walk away. But on the flip side they inked cornerback Ty Law to the richest contract ever given a Patriot, a seven-year, $50 million deal complete with a $14.2 million signing bonus.
In April, they went to the draft and came away with better players than they had the previous two seasons under Bobby Grier's watch, taking Damien Woody with the 17th pick overall - a must pick (after losing Wohlabaugh) who showed promise in the middle of the beleaguered offensive line. Five slots later, they tabbed colorful Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer, who stepped right into the starting lineup when starting middle linebacker suffered a biceps injury for the second straight year and missed most of the season.
When they finally took the field in September amid predictions that they were a fourth-place team, the Patriots surprised everyone by jumping off to a 4-0 start - including an opening-day, last-minute win over the hated Jets. New England was sitting pretty at 6-2 going into the bye week, Drew Bledsoe enjoying an MVP-like season. But then it all fell apart. Suddenly, defenses were all over Bledsoe, who threw just five touchdown passes and 16 interceptions in the next six games as the team fell to 7-7 and fourth place, leaving Carroll and more than a few others on shaky ground.
As the Patriots' playoff hopes faded, Willie McGinest looked for a place to hide. (John Bohn Photo)
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The season had plenty of distractions. Wide receiver Vincent Brisby complained about not being active for the first few games, and perennial Pro Bowl tight end Ben Coates was angered when he went without a catch in a 27-3 win over Arizona Oct. 31 and asked out if the Patriots weren't going to use him. Second-year tight end Rod Rutledge was involved in a late-night, high-speed automobile accident returning from a Providence strip club, and Lawyer Milloy and Brisby got into a fight - during a benefit for the Big Brothers and Boys Clubs at a Saugus nightclub - that spilled over into a team meeting on Thanksgiving Day. That same morning, Terry Glenn was late for the team meeting after being caught speeding through Walpole, and later he was hit with a civil suit stemming from an alleged incident with a woman after that Saugus function.
But with a new stadium on the horizon after the Massachusetts legislature finally approved infrastructure funds and the town of Foxborough approved zoning, the Patriots are hoping to find better days ahead. They just don't know who'll be leading them there.
