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Callahan: The Patriots’ preseason finale shouldn’t dampen a successful summer

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Callahan: The Patriots’ preseason finale shouldn’t dampen a successful summer


The Patriots’ to-do list at the start of the summer was longer than a grocery list coming back from vacation.

In order, those to-dos were: elevate Mac Jones. Install a new offense. Restore the trust that fractured last year across the locker room and coaching staff. Refine a defense that will face virtually every elite quarterback in the league this season. Determine whether any of the rookies can start, let alone contribute.

All told, over close to 20 practices and three preseason games, most of the boxes on Bill Belichick’s list have been checked. The cupboard is largely full.

It’s mission, mostly, accomplished.

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This summer, Jones sprayed completions all over the field during some of his best practices as a pro. He shredded defenses in Foxboro and Green Bay, where he dominated the Packers for long stretches of back-to-back joint sessions. Teammates already believe he’s “way better.”

Jones is calm and confident, a stark departure from the exasperated quarterback who bailed at the first sign of pressure and spooked himself into sacks last year. And that wasn’t even limited to the regular season.

I mean last August, when Jones’ miserable performance in the team’s preseason finale at Las Vegas foretold a disastrous campaign to come.

Patriots’ preseason finale attendance include three surprise absences

But now, Bill O’Brien’s offense has afforded him every answer again, specifically against blitz pressure. The system is sleek and fits its available talent. O’Brien has stocked the cabinets with RPOs and a play-action scheme that mirrors his run game.

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Imagine that.

Jones’ weapons, while largely unspectacular, look to be nearing their ceiling. The Patriots might actually roster six receivers, including rookies Demario Douglas (already a made man) and Kayshon Boutte. The slim and speedy Tyquan Thornton could get shelved on injured reserve, but unlike in 2022, that won’t dramatically curb the dynamism of the offense.

The Pats have Douglas or Mike Gesicki or JuJu Smith-Schuster to spice up their Sundays and frustrate defenses. All of those newbies have bought in, a reflection of the improved messaging and coaching. Part of that is the collaborative dynamic O’Brien has introduced to the offensive meeting rooms instead of the shut-up-and-do-as-you’re-told ways of former offensive assistants Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.

“I can’t state more emphatically that these guys have done a great job of learning and working with us, and we work with them,” O’Brien said earlier this month. “And I think it’s just really been a good process to this point.”

Relatedly, the Pats have wisely played the long game with their best players; specifically resting Rhamondre Stevenson to start training camp instead of running him into the ground. Before Christmas Eve last year, Stevenson averaged 51 rush yards after contact per game. That fell to 27 yards over the last three weeks, all must-win games where the Patriots instead went 1-2.

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Left tackle Trent Brown and edge rusher Matt Judon were also kept on pitch counts as they dealt with injury and contract issues, respectively, at the start of camp. The Patriots realize they’re no longer the team that famously plays its best after Thanksgiving, and haven’t been since 2017. To turn back the clock, they must work smarter, not harder.

The Patriots even got Stevenson some help, signing Ezekiel Elliott last week. Elliott still hasn’t seen a snap of game action, since Belichick sat most of his best players for Friday’s finale at Tennessee. But he has eaten more off his practice plate, specifically snaps at the goal line and on passing downs during 11-on-11 periods.

The Pats are playing to Elliott’s remaining strengths: short-yardage running and blitz pickup. Another shrewd move.

Defensively, it’s possible the Patriots could field their best pass rush of the Belichick era. Second-round rookie Keion White has reinforced a defensive front whose backups gave the Titans’ starters problems Friday night. Between him, Judon, Josh Uche, Christian Barmore and Deatrich Wise, third-and-long – maybe even medium – figure to be a nightmare for opponents.

The Pats defense might ascend again to a top-5 ranking. But that’s only if first-round rookie corner Christian Gonzalez proves to be a capable starter. And if Jonathan Jones returns to health. And if Jack Jones, who still faces several felony gun charges, isn’t suspended or placed on the Commissioner’s exempt list before the opener.

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Patriots’ offensive line suffers another apparent injury in preseason finale

Corner is the only lingering question for Belichick’s pride and joy. And a significant one at that, with two of the NFL’s best receiver duos – A.J. Brown/DeVonta Smith and Tyreek Hill/Jaylen Waddle – waiting in Weeks 1 and 2. Naturally, uncertainty stretches across the line of scrimmage, too.

Riley Reiff, the Patriots’ projected starting right tackle, has been playing right guard for two weeks. His replacement is a fourth-round rookie playing out of position with the top offense. Oh, and Reiff got banged up in Friday’s preseason finale, when none of the Pats’ backups could sustain blocks for much longer than a blink.

The roster remains flawed in a way that was predictable as far back as early May. O’Brien has been laying a foundation to work around that offensive line for weeks, if not months.

But in that time, the Patriots have fought to find themselves, to better themselves and begin to reclaim their standing in the league. Most of what they’ve learned – especially against the backdrop of last year – should encourage. It’s been a good summer.

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Now, camp is over. The time has come to go back to real life.



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Boston, MA

Constantine Manos, photographer for landmark ‘Where’s Boston?’ exhibit, dies at 90 – The Boston Globe

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Constantine Manos, photographer for landmark ‘Where’s Boston?’ exhibit, dies at 90 – The Boston Globe


Constantine Manos, “Los Angeles, California,” 2001. (Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos)Courtesy Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos

Among Mr. Manos’s books were “A Greek Portfolio” (1972; updated 1999), “Bostonians” (1975), “American Color” 1995) and ”American Color 2″ (2010). Mr. Manos’s work with color was notably expressive and influential.

“Color was a four-letter word in art photography,” the photographer Lou Jones, who worked with Mr. Manos on “Where’s Boston?,” said in a telephone interview. “But he was making wonderful, complex photographs with color, and that meant so much.”

Yet for all his formal skill, Mr. Manos always emphasized the human element in his work. “I am a people photographer and have always been interested in people,” he once said.

That interest extended beyond the photographs he took. He was a celebrated teacher. Among the students he taught in his photo workshops was Stella Johnson.

“He’d go through a hundred of my photographs,” she said in a telephone interview, “and maybe he’d like two. ‘No, no, no, no, yes, no.’ Costa really taught me how to see. I remember him looking at one picture and saying, “You were standing in the wrong spot.’ Something like that was invaluable to me as a young photographer.

“He was a very, very kind man, very generous. But he was very strict. ‘How could you do that?’ He was adored by his students and by his friends, absolutely. We were all lucky to have been in his orbit.”

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Cellist Samuel Mayes and conductor Charles Munch during a Boston Symphony Orchestra rehearsal at Tanglewood, July 25, 1959. (Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos)Courtesy Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos

Mr. Manos, who moved to Provincetown in 2008, lived in the South End for four decades. The South Carolina native’s association with the Boston area began when the Boston Symphony Orchestra hired him as a photographer at Tanglewood. He was 19. This led to Mr. Manos’s first book, “Portrait of a Symphony” (1961; updated 2000).

Constantine Manos was born in Columbia, S.C., on Oct. 12, 1934. His parents, Dimitri and Aphrodite (Vaporiotou) Manos, were Greek immigrants. They ran a café in the city’s Black section. That experience gave Mr. Manos a sympathy for marginalized people that would stay with him throughout his life. As a student at the University of South Carolina, he wrote editorials in the school paper opposing segregation. Later, he would do extensive work chronicling the LGBTQ+ community with his camera.

Mr. Manos became interested in photography at 13, joining the school camera club and building a darkroom in his parents’ basement. After graduating from college, Mr. Manos did two years of Army service in Germany, working as a photographer for Stars and Stripes. He joined Magnum in 1963. This had special meaning for him. Mr. Manos’s chief inspiration as a young photographer had been Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of Magnum’s founders. He was such an admirer he made a point of using the same equipment that Cartier-Bresson did.

That same year, Mr. Manos entered a seafood restaurant in Rome that was around the corner from the Pantheon. Prodanou, his future husband, was dining with friends. Noticing Mr. Manos, he gestured to him. “Would you join us for coffee?” The couple spent the next 61 years together, marrying in 2011.

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“Lining Up for the Shriner’s Parade, South End, Boston,” 1974. (Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos)Courtesy Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos

Mr. Manos lived in Greece for three years, which led to “A Greek Portfolio.” He undertook a very different project in the Athens of America. Part of the city’s Bicentennial tribute, “Where’s Boston?” was a slice-of-many-lives view of contemporary Boston.

Located in a red-white-and-blue striped pavilion at the Prudential Center, it became a local sensation. The installation involved 42 computerized projectors and 3,097 color slides (most of them taken by Mr. Manos), shown on eight 10 feet by 10 feet screens. Outside the pavilion was a set of murals, consisting of 152 black-and-white photographs of Boston scenes, all shot by Mr. Manos.

“The most important thing I had to do was to keep my picture ideas simple,” he said in a 1975 Globe interview. “Viewers are treated to a veritable avalanche of color slides in exactly one hour’s time.”

In that same interview, he made an observation about his work generally. “I prefer to stay in close to my subjects. I let them see me and my camera and when they become bored they forget about me and then I get my best pictures.”

Among institutions that own Mr. Manos’s photographs are the Museum of Fine Arts; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; the Library of Congress; and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

In addition to his husband, Mr. Manos leaves a sister, Irene Constantinides, of Atlanta, and a brother, Theofanis Manos, of Greenville, S.C.

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A memorial service will be held later this year.


Mark Feeney can be reached at mark.feeney@globe.com.





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Boston, MA

Below freezing temperatures again today

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Below freezing temperatures again today


The winds are still going Wednesday, but the air temperatures remain at respectable levels. Highs will manage to weasel up to 30 in most spots. It’s too bad we’re not going to feel them at face value. Instead, we’re dressing for temps in the teens all day today.

Thursday and Friday are the picks of the week.

There will be a lot less wind, reasonable winter temperatures in the 30s and a decent amount of sun. We’ll be quiet into the weekend, as our next weather system approaches.

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With mild air expected to come north on southerly winds, highs will bounce back to the low and mid-40s both days of the weekend.

Showers will be delayed until late day/evening on Saturday and into the night. There may be a few early on Sunday too, but the focus on that day will be to bring in the cold.

Highs will briefly sneak into the 40s, then fall late day.

We’ll also watch a batch of snow late Sunday night as it moves up the Eastern Seaboard.

Right now, there is a potential for some accumulation as it moves overhead Sunday night and early Monday morning.

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It appears to be a weak, speedy system, so we’re not expecting it to pull any punches.

Enjoy the quieter spell of weather!



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Boston City Councilor will introduce

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Boston City Councilor will introduce


BOSTON – It could cost you more to get a soda soon. The Boston City Council is proposing a tax on sugary drinks, saying the money on unhealthy beverages can be put to good use.

A benefit for public health?

“I’ve heard from a lot of residents in my district who are supportive of a tax on sugary beverages, but they want to make sure that these funds are used for public health,” said City Councilor Sharon Durkan, who is introducing the “Sugar Tax,” modeled on Philadelphia and Seattle. She said it’s a great way to introduce and fund health initiatives and slowly improve public health.

A study from Boston University found that cities that implemented a tax on sugary drinks saw a 33% decrease in sales.

“What it does is it creates an environment where we are discouraging the use of something that we know, over time, causes cancer, causes diet-related diseases, causes obesity and other diet-related illnesses,” she said.

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Soda drinkers say no to “Sugar Tax”

Soda drinkers don’t see the benefit.

Delaney Doidge stopped by the store to get a mid-day pick-me-up on Tuesday.

“I wasn’t planning on getting anything, but we needed toilet paper, and I wanted a Diet Coke, so I got a Diet Coke,” she said, adding that a tax on sugary drinks is an overreach, forcing her to ask: What’s next?

“Then we’d have to tax everything else that brings people enjoyment,” Doidge said. “If somebody wants a sweet treat, they deserve it, no tax.”

Store owners said they’re worried about how an additional tax would impact their businesses.

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Durkan plans to bring the tax idea before the City Council on Wednesday to start the conversation about what rates would look like.

Massachusetts considered a similar tax in 2017.

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