Wednesday New England Patriots Links 2/2
A little late with this entry this morning, but here are today's New England Patriots headlines.
 Brady was named the AP's Offensive Player of the Year on Tuesday. (PHOTO:Icon/SMI) |
"I've been here for a while, so I've seen our offense evolve," the 11-year veteran told The AP. "We do some different things now than we've done in the past. Ultimately, we're still trying to do the same thing, which is be productive and win games."
Brady finished the season 324-of-492 for 3900 yards and 36 touchdowns, with just 4 interceptions during the regular season with a QB rating of 111.0. He finished 8th in the league in yards, but his QB rating lead all other passers - and his 4 interceptions were the lowest among other NFL starters. He also set an NFL record 335 passes without throwing an interception this season.
Tom Curran of NECN also writes that Brady acknowledged his foot surgery during his interview yesterday, saying it just takes a "little bit of mental toughness" when it comes to dealing with an injury.
"Over the course of the season, a lot of players throughout the league, a lot of players on our team deal with these type of injuries," Brady said. "Part of having a little bit of mental toughness is putting those things aside and still going out and trying to perform your best each week. I have a great training staff and my friend Alex [Guerrero] that works with me weekly. I'm in great hands and they were able to get me out on the field feeling good and I was able to go out there and help our team win the AFC East, which we're all very proud of."
Christopher Price of WEEI.com has the complete transcript of Brady's interview on NFL Network last night.
Meanwhile Erik Scalavino of Patriots.com takes a look at the linebacker position, and has a quick breakdown of his thoughts on how each player performed this season.
Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com has a similar piece, with a "Future Focus" on the inside linebacker position.
Matt Pepin of Boston.com reports that the Patriots were nearly named "America's Team", finishing second behind the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers came in third.
Jeff Howe of NESN.com has an article this morning on the fact he expects Aaron Rodgers to win the Super Bowl on Sunday, along with 19 other NFL thoughts.
Rich Garven of the Worcester Telegram has an article on former Patriots runningback Curtis Martin, who is awaiting his shot at getting into the NFL Hall of Fame. Garven also has some interesting details on how Martin ended up as a New York Jet instead of finishing his career in New England.
“I’m a very loyal person, so I was totally open to staying in New England,” Martin said during a conference call yesterday. “I wanted to stay in New England. It’s funny because out of all of the teams I may have had the opportunity to go to, the Jets were one of the ones I didn’t want to go to.”
Mike Reiss also has an article on Martin, calling him "the one that got away" from the Patriots.
Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe is in Dallas this week covering the football festivities, and has details on what went on during yesterday's media day.
And finally, it's never too early to start looking ahead, and DJ Bean of WEEI.com has a Mock Draft and has the Patriots selecting Ryan Kerrigan, DE/OLB, from Purdue.
That's it for this morning. Hope everyone stays safe on this snowy Wednesday and we'll have more later on.
