Matthew Slater is in the midst of his 13th NFL season. With the Patriots currently spending a week on the West Coast, the California (and UCLA) product is appreciating what could be the final homecoming of his career.
“I don’t know how many more chances I’m going to have to play football in California, where my dreams started as a kid. It certainly means a lot,” Slater told ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “For our team, it’s another game, and they’ll be the two biggest games of the season. It certainly carries a little extra significance for me, especially the second one, needless to say.”
Yesterday’s game against the Chargers marked Slater’s first game in Los Angeles since his final season at UCLA in 2007. As Reiss notes, Slater’s father, Jackie, spent 19 of his 20 NFL seasons playing in Los Angeles for the Rams.
The 35-year-old special teams ace has spent his entire career on the opposite coast in New England. Slater has earned three Super Bowl rings, eight Pro Bowl appearances, and five first-team All-Pro nods. He also earned a spot on New England’s 2010s All-Decade Team.
Some more notes out of the AFC East…
- One of Slater’s teammates won’t be returning to the field very soon. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that wideout Julian Edelman is “still a couple of weeks” away from rejoining the Patriots. The 34-year-old landed on IR back in October after undergoing knee surgery, and he was recently placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Edelman, who has 21 receptions for 315 yards this season, is still planning to play again in 2020, according to Schefter.
- A surprising name has popped up as a potential suitor for the inevitable head coaching vacancy with the Jets. WFAN radio host Boomer Esiason suggested that former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher could be an option for New York. “He was saying to me yesterday, he’s the one that told me the Jets job is going to be really attractive, and they could hire whomever they want, and he told me he loves [G.M.] Joe Douglas,” Esiason said (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). Cowher hasn’t coached since the 2006 season. He currently holds a 149-90 record, and he won a Super Bowl championship with Pittsburgh in 2005.
- The Dolphins auditioned running back Elijah McGuire recently, according to Schefter (on Twitter). The former Jets sixth-round pick has bounced around the NFL a bit, including a stint on the Cowboys practice squad that ended back in October. The 26-year-old has appeared in 24 career games (five starts), rushing for 591 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also added 36 receptions for 370 yards and two scores.
If Bill Cowher gets the Jets job I’d be shocked. Very happy,but shocked
That pats have to have the most expensive special teams in the NFL now matter how smart or good Bill is he needs to take that money and build a WR core and a front seven on D stop with ST players and all the CB and Safety’s
Where are you getting that? Spotrac says they’re 25th in special teams spending this year. But also, the number one team is under ten million. That’s not why the Patriots have mediocre receivers. Drafting a running back in the first round when there were good receivers on the board didn’t help. Drafting Harry ahead of AJ Brown, Deebo Samuel, and DK Metcalf didn’t help either. And their CB and safety spending has largely been a big help to the team. When a position group is bad, you don’t blame it on a position group that’s good.
Bill Cowher is not coming back to coach….. He has nothing to gain or prove….
I still do not understand why the NFL allowed the Patriots to stay on the west coast for their back to back games, yet The Raiders were not allowed to stay on the east coast for their back to back games.
I think it has to be because the second game is a Thursday game. Just a educated guess here.
Excellent question given that the 49ers stayed in the New York area for their back-to-back NY games.
Same w/ The Dolphins last yr when they played the Giants & jest in consecutive weeks
It’s strange to me that the NFL has a say in so many individual decisions teams make. What does it matter where a team chooses to stay on a road trip or for how long? They’re the ones who may be hurt by being away from the facility, not the league. If someone knows the answer, it’d be good to know.
My only thought would be something COVID related with the place of stay.
Neither did Joe Gibbs. And really, how much did Jon Gruden really have to prove?
It appears Boomer Esiason is still suffering from a concussion.
Cowher’s wife is a big Jets fan- maybe just maybe this has legs lol…..