Curran: How could Thompkins be expendable?
October 5, 2014, 10:45 am



Kenbrell Thompkins wasn’t released Saturday because of bad practice habits or a bad attitude. He wasn’t released because he’s no good anymore, in decline at the age of 26.

Thompkins’ release is the ultimate “it’s not you, it’s us” story.

Hang with me here as I walk it through the roster gyrations.

The Patriots can dress 46 of their 53 players for the game. Cameron Fleming, a rookie offensive lineman, and Nate Ebner, a key special teams player, are out. Additionally, linebackers Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins are both coming into the game with injuries.

So the team needs a replacement for Ebner on the active roster on Sunday. They also need more depth at linebacker if Hightower or Collins goes down. So Ja’Gared Davis is elevated from the practice squad.

That means someone’s got to come off the roster. An offensive lineman like Josh Kline or Jordan Devey? Can’t do that. The offensive line’s so bad right now, everybody has to be prepared to go in. What about a special teams specialist like safety Don Jones? Well, the Patriots need their special teams guys, even though it might only be for a play or two.

What about Casey Walker, a defensive lineman signed off the Panthers practice squad who was inactive last week? An argument can be made he has less long-term relevance to the team than Thompkins.

But it was Thompkins’ number who came up in what a source explained was a “tough” decision.

And this is where we get into the state of the Patriots offense. Thompkins (and, to a lesser extent, Aaron Dobson) can’t get into the game plan right now because the mere notion of downfield throws to intermediate and deep threats doesn’t exist. Protection is so weak, it’s a short, play-action passing game with screens and dump-offs.

Wide receivers with no special teams value -- Thompkins -- aren’t going to dress. In a league that is more pass-happy than it’s ever been, the Patriots have four wide receivers on the roster (Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell and Dobson). They. Can’t. Throw.

So Kenbrell Thompkins -- an undrafted player who dropped Tom Brady’s jaw with his raw talent in the spring of 2013 and caught the game-winner against the Saints less than a year ago -- is out on the curb. Any team in the league can swing by and throw him in the back of their pickup truck and motor away.

Because in Foxboro right now, the Patriots need wideouts like a college kid needs a typewriter.
www.csnne.com/blog/patriots-talk/curran-how-could-thompkins-be-expendable