Patriots vs Dolphins Live Stream Folk was 14-for-17 on field goals and was perfect from 40 yards and under and 5-for-8 on kicks 40 yards or more. He was 12-for-12 on extra points, which distinguished him from other New England kickers who’d struggled badly on extra points missing six of 33 tries.
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Tom Brady might be gone, but that’s not stopping CBS from sending its A Team to Foxboro, Mass., on Week 1.
The New England Patriots will kick off the 2020 season at 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 13 against the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium.
CBS on Wednesday unveiled its broadcast crews for Weeks 1 and 2, and it was revealed that their top team will call Pats-Fins. Jim Nantz will handle the play-by-play duties, while Tony Romo will be the color commentator. Tracy Wolfson will be the sideline reporter
After significant turnover on the edges of the defense, veterans Derek Rivers and John Simon are suddenly the most-veteran faces in the position group. Both vets have had different roads to this point — Simon spent time with three different teams before landing with the Pats early in the 2018 season, while Rivers has battled injuries, seeing two of his first three season ending with knee injuries.
Now, both players will be counted on play the biggest roles of their careers, while also helping to fill a second-level leadership void. Rivers was grateful for what Simon has brought to the team.
“John’s a great dude, a great vet” said Rivers after practice via Webex. “Straightforward is the best way to describe John, but he also has so much knowledge of how to play the game and how to play the position.
“I’ve learned so much from him, just having him come over here the last couple years, he’s been such an asset to me and everybody in that locker room he’s awesome.”
Healthy and ready to go, Rivers was taking it all in, spurred on by a comment made by Devin McCourty during today’s up-tempo practice.
“D-Mac said it today after practice, ‘don’t take it for granted, every day that you get to be here’ and that’s true,” said Rivers. “So, it’s just a blessing to still be around these guys playing football.”
Rivers has played just six regular season games in his career, all coming in 2018 with a career-high of 24 snaps against the Bears. He’d also add 19 playoff snaps against the Chargers before being inactive for the final two post-season games.
But this season the opportunity to live up to the promise that made him a third-round pick will be there for the taking. Rivers could already see the intensity rising at practice.
“Whenever we go down to that [lower] field every day, even in camp, it’s like a regular season practice,” said Rivers. “I definitely feel the time crunch being a week away, so it was definitely heightened urgency and it was fun.”
For Simon it still felt like training camp.
“I said it felt like preseason, not yet at least,” said Simon on if the mood had shifted. “We’re still working hard trying to stack these days together right now. Do everything we can to make sure we’re prepared fully by next Sunday.”
“I know B-Flo is getting them guys ready,” said Rivers. “We got to be ready to play the best football that we can play.”
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David Silverman/New England Patriots
Harry ready to go
N’Keal Harry is the most intriguing member of the Patriots receiving corps this season. The 2019 first-rounder battled injuries last season but found a role in the offense as the season progressed. He’ll be looking to make a year-two jump and the offense badly needs him to.
“I think we’re all pretty excited to get the season started,” said Harry. “It was a good feeling today, can’t wait to go out and practice this week and then going into the game.”
Harry could have a nice complement this season in Damiere Byrd, a veteran with good outside speed who could pull some coverage away from him.
“It’s been real great for me,” said Harry of the veteran Byrd. “Guys like that, I like to soak in as much as I can. He’s been helping me out a lot, giving me different perspectives, trying to help me out and think differently with a bunch of different stuff. He’s been really helpful.”
For new-arrival Byrd, he was most taken by the locker room culture in New England.
“Just how close knit the locker room is,” said Byrd of what has stood out most. “There’s a bunch of high-character guys in here. You hear that coming in but when you get here it really shows. Just the leadership and how close knit everybody is.”
For now, Harry’s not getting ahead of himself, focusing on stacking success daily.
“Just going out there every day, making sure I do something to get better every day,” said Harry. “No matter what it is, I just have discussions with Coach, try to discuss what I need to get better at on that particular day and just stack days.”
