Ex-Bobcat receiver released by one NFL team, picked up by 2nd

Two days after being released by the New England Patriots, former Ohio University star wide-receiver Taylor Price was picked up by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday.

That evening, the Jaguars got routed by the San Diego Chargers on national TV, 38-14. The signing didn't become official till Tuesday, so Price didn't suit up for Monday's loss.

In two years with the Patriots, injury-plagued Price was inactive for 21 out of 28 games, and played sparingly in the ones for which he was active.

While the lack of playing time for the second-year player had been blamed on a nagging hamstring injury, various New England and national news stories and blogs about the Patriots waiving Price hardly mentioned his injury issues. Rather, they said the third-round 2010 draft pick had difficulty "meshing" with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady or the offense in general, and/or wasn't practicing properly.

Similarly, an article in the Taunton (Massachusetts) Daily Gazette on Tuesday, basically laid out the argument Tuesday that Price is one of the Patriots' worst-ever draft decisions. Yet, the piece only used about five words in casually mentioning Price's injury history. While persistent injuries can retroactively condemn a team's draft-day decision, the articles seem to take great pleasure in implying that it's Price's fault that he didn't work out in New England, that somehow a lack of talent, poor chemistry with quarterback Tom Brady, or poor work habits doomed him in New England rather than a lack of playing time because of injury. Notably, much of the same sports press was going ga-ga over Price after his solid performance in the first pre-season game (five catches, 105 yards, one TD).

"With the selection of Price in the third round of 2010, the Patriots flat-out dropped the ball," the Daily Gazette article stated. "If that wasn't apparent from Day One of the wide receiver's arrival in New England, it became quite apparent during the course of Year One. Saturday's Price-cutting measure by the Patriots simply served as reaffirmation of another bad draft investment by Bill Belichick." — Athens NEWS Editor Terry Smith