Tuesday Patriots Headlines - August 24th
When I posted Tom Brady's thoughts on the front page of PatsFans.com yesterday, the headline was meant to grab some attention and to get a laugh from a few people - as it's not very often you get to hear an NFL quarterback say they "hate" a rival team. I didn't think it was earth shattering by any means, but since it was a quiet news day, I thought it was at least somewhat interesting.
Well, apparently his interview was also a little more interesting to the rest of the world who learned of his quotes on WEEI yesterday, and it certainly took off, and even into this morning dominates most of the headlines.
I don't think his interview was worthy of national media attention, and after trying to sift through all of those "Brady Hates The Jets" stories, here are the rest of today's Patriots headlines.
Mike Reiss has some comments from other players inside the locker room yesterday regarding the 'Hard Knocks' show and Brady's comments, including Jets head coach Rex Ryan's reactions to Brady's quotes.
Jeff Howe of NESN.com has a great article this morning where he points out that after watching the HBO Series, so far it would give the Patriots that much more motivation to stick it to them when the two finally meet this season.
Josh Alper of NBC New York probably sums up yesterday's "Brady Hates The Jets" nonsense the best in this terrific column this morning, and it's overall a great read purely from an entertainment value.
There may not be an easier way to define a slow news day than to read that quote and then type Tom Brady and Jets into Google and start counting the results. If this story was a meal it would have the nutritional value of pixie sticks, yet it was covered with a disturbing level of intensity. Hopefully this hearkens a new day for American journalism where they will use the same kind of searing spotlight to uncover the truth about the economy, the wars and myriad other things that, you know, matter.
Some good news from the National media, after Fox Sports had an article yesterday looking at the Patriots, with Alex Marvez writing that after watching the first two preseason games, Brady & Co. definitely don't look like an AFC East Division winner on the verge of slipping any time soon.
WJBD Radio out of St. Louis reports that Patriots fans will get an up close look at Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, who is expected to get the starting nod Thursday night over the injured AJ Feeley. Bradford was the number one overall selection this year, and is facing high expectations in a city that's looking to get back to being an NFL contender.
Glen Farley of the Patriot Ledger takes a look at some of the reinforcements New England added, after five of the eight defensive players who were inactive for Thursday night's game against Atlanta returned to action yesterday.
Mark Farinella also has more on the Patriots getting healthy, which as we head into the final two weeks of the preseason is obviously good news as they've already lost defensive lineman Ty Warren for the year, with offensive lineman Nick Kaczur seemingly on the verge of joining him.
Jennifer Toland of the Worcester Telegram writes that cornerback Leigh Bodden was among one of those players returning to practice, and he's glad to be back and told the newspaper it 'felt like months' since he's been out there after injuring his knee back on August 5th.
Also joining Bodden yesterday was linebacker Gary Guyton, who in his absence saw rookie Brandon Spikes step up and play well, which may now leave him in a battle to win back his starting role.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald also has more on Guyton's battle, as both he and Tully Banta-Cain practice at full capacity yesterday in Foxboro.
Monique Walker of the Boston Globe takes a look at the Patriots offensive line, who with all the injuries and Logan Mankins' holdout find themselves in the midst of a shakeup as they try and figure out who will not only start in place of Mankins, but also who will play behind each of those players.
Christopher Price also has an article on the offensive line, with Matt Light telling fans not to worry, saying that, "Us trained pigs will be just fine".
Rapoport of the Herald has an article on Logan Mankins, who friends say that it's doubtful fans should count on seeing him this season.
And finally MassLive.com has an article this morning on runningback Laurence Maroney, who Ron Chimelis writes that his role in the offense should become clearer soon.
That's it for this morning. Hope everyone has a good day and we'll have more later on.
