Socci On Toucher & Rich: What's Going On With Dobson, Thompkins?
BOSTON (CBS) - The Patriots sat six healthy players on Monday night, including second-year wide receivers Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins.
Why the Patriots chose to sit, in theory, two healthy deep threats remains a mystery. The voice of the Patriots Bob Socci joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich show Tuesday morning to try and provide an explanation.
"It's three games out of four now where Aaron Dobson has been presumably a healthy scratch. I say presumably because we don't know if there's some lingering issue with his foot. Nonetheless, he was healthy for that final preseason game as well as a couple weeks ago. For Kenbrell Thompkins it's been two of the last three games he's been inactive. You can perhaps draw the conclusion that the Patriots wanted to load up, be more physical and run the ball, but the stats didn't bear that out [Monday night]."
Socci can't help but wonder if something is going on with these two behind the scenes.
"The concern becomes, now in their second year, why haven't these receivers progressed to the point where they're on the field, and have to be on the field to make an impact for this team? You wonder about how they're performing in practice, and if they're able to get open in games, which, they haven't been able to do on a consistent basis. What about in practice? Have they been able to separate themselves to put themselves in the game plan for the coming week? We don't know the answers to that right now. But you certainly wonder about those two guys. Dobson had 500-plus receiving yards last year, and Thompkins had his moments -- especially early in the season, and certainly appeared to have Tom Brady's trust throughout preseason and training camp."
Listen below for Bob's full analysis, as well as what to expect from the Bengals Sunday night:
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