Tuesday Patriots Headlines: August 31st

Mike Reiss talks about New England's injury situation, as the team is fairly banged up heading into this week's game against the Giants. Reiss writes that the severity of a couple of those injuries may come into light when the team trims the roster from 80 down to 75 later today for the first set up mandatory cuts.

With their final preaseason game coming up Thursday night down at the new Meadowlands against the Giants, Christopher Price of WEEI talks about the annual event that is guessing whether or not the starters will play, pointing out that the last time Brady played in a preseason finale was back in 2003.

Meanwhile Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald writes that Brady told WEEI yesterday that he and the rest of the starters expect to play Thursday night, although whether or not that's really true won't be known until then.

Glen Farley of the Patriot Ledger talks about the fact that as the Patriots head to the new Meadowlands, they'll likely use this opportunity to scout the facility so that they have a better idea of what to expect when they come back and play there in week 2 against the New York Jets.

Christopher Price of WEEI.com writes that the new facility will bring new challenges for New England, with head coach Bill Belichick discussing some of them during yesterday's press conference.

Mark Farinella of the Attleboro Sun Chronicle also discusses the new stadium, and the article also features a photo from one of the recent preseason games played there.

Speaking of the Jets, former Patriot Rodney Harrison points out that while New England really has tried not to say too much, they're not impressed with the Jets trash talking and they've got that game circled and plan on going in and making a statement.

Shalise Manza Young reports that the Patriots took an earful from head coach Bill Belichick on Friday when they sat down to go over film from the Rams game, with Tom Brady telling WEEI yesterday that Belichicks served up plenty of "Humble Pie" during the meeting.

Robert Mays has a good article this morning on defensive lineman Mike Wright, who has stepped up recently following the injury to Ty Warren and appears poised to be a solid contributor on defense this season.

Jeff Howe of NESN.com feels that wide receiver Matthew Slater is facing a small chance of surviving today's first round of cutdowns, but that he still may face an uphill battle should he get through this one as he's missed the last month with a calf injury.

Sam Aiken apparently has the same fear, and expresses his concern in an article in today's Providence Journal.

And finally in a story I didn't expect to stumble accross this morning, it appears that linebacker Brandon Spikes is about to suffer some embarrassment after a video has apparently surfaced of Spikes naked during his college time at Florida. I haven't seen it (nor do I want to) but this article discusses what went on in it, and it's unfortunate because it's likely going to be a bit of a distraction for him heading into the Patriots first game against Cincinnati.

OTHER NFL HEADLINES:

The Indianapolis Star has an article about Colts QB Peyton Manning, who is still worried about the umpires after being flagged twice last week for illegal snaps. In the article he mentions how had this rule been in effect last year, they may not have had time to come back to beat the Patriots after they overcame a 31-14 fourth quarter deficit.

Meanwhile BobKravitz, who also writes for the Indianapolis Star, feels that moving the umpire may not be a bad idea after the officials were hit 100 times last season, with three requiring surgery and two ending up with concussions.

Fox Sports has an article this moring about former Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas, who by joining the Jets could "tweak" New England should he elect to sign there. One would have to believe that if Rex Ryan does offer to sign him, Thomas would end up there since team's haven't exactly been banging down his door this offseason. To this point it also doesn't appear he has any other options, so that would likely be his destination.

That's it for this morning. Hope everyone has a good day, and we'll have updates later on.