Thursday New England Patriots Links 2/24
Today is the first day of the NFL Scouting Combine, and there are some interesting stories this morning, so let's get to the headlines.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald has an article on today's event, pointing out the process of how things will unfold, along with some recent comments from Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Mike Reiss is at the combine, and offers up some insight as to how the Patriots may approach things during this event.
Reiss also points out some top Patriots players who weren't even invited to the combine who are certainly playing quite well here in New England.
WEEI's DJ Bean offers up an "incomplete list" of guys to keep your eye on during the next couple of days.
ESPNBoston's Mike Rodak has his own look at how the Patriots approach the combine, and talks about the process New England uses to determine the talents of each of these players.
Reiss also an article this morning comparing the Patriots' and Jets' drafts over the past five years.
He also has an article pointing out a recent mock draft by SI's Don Banks, and gives his analysis on the selections.
Rapoport also has an article on runningback Kevin Faulk, who told him should there be a lockout, he'll have to head back to LSU to finish continuing his rehab. Faulk also pointed out that with a lockout players will have no contact with staff members or the coaches.
“See, nobody even thinks about that part of it,” said Faulk, who added that he’s “pretty sure” a lockout will happen.
Monique Walker of the Boston Globe writes that Ron Brace is continuing to recover from a torn elbow ligament which placed him on injured reserve. After failing the conditioning test during training camp he told Walker he's planning on coming out strong this season and doesn't expect to make the same mistake again.
“Basically, I just had to learn what was going on,’’ Brace said. “I feel like I’m better educated now, so that same situation won’t happen again.’’
NESN Patriot beat writer Jeff Howe is putting together this week's mailbag and giving fans a chance to submit a question, which can be done via this link.
Tom Curran of NECN has an article this morning looking at Pittsburgh right tackle Willie Colon, and wonders if he could be on the Patriots radar.
And finally, Frank Mortimer of the Attleboro Sun Chronicle writes that an NFL lockout would leave the town of Foxboro in serious trouble, with Finance Director Randy Scollins saying it "would basically wipe out Foxboro's capital budget."
That's it for this morning. With the Scouting Combine underway we'll have periodic updates throughout today, so be sure to check the front page of PatsFans.com for new content.