Sunday's New England Patriots Links 8/7
My apologies for the late start on this Sunday morning, but here is this morning's collection of links on this off day for the team.
TRAINING CAMP NOTES FROM SATURDAY:
Erik Scalavino has a report from practice yesterday, and has Aaron Hernandez on his "who's hot" list right now after the tight end had a solid performance in the red zone.
During the team period at the end of practice, the second-year tight end caught three touchdowns in red-zone offense. On back-to-back plays, he made great diving efforts in the right corner of the end zone. Later, on the left side, he hauled in a score with one hand.
Paul Perillo of Patriots.com also has his notes from yesterday, and writes that there were 18 players that didn’t take part in the workout, which included notable names such as Albert Haynesworth, Brandon Spikes and Mike Wright. Perillo said the rest of the list included Brandon Tate, Ras-I Dowling, Shane Vereen, Ross Ventrone (his first missed practice), Kevin Faulk, James Sanders, Thad Turner (first), Eric Kettani, Josh Barrett, Marcus Cannon, Ryan Wendell, Kyle Hix, Brandon Deaderick, Matt Light and Ron Brace.
Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com has entry from yesterday's practice, and writes that rookie offensive tackle Nate Solder made a big catch yesterday, with Solder hauling in a high spiraling punt, which helped end the practice session for his teammates.
Tom Curran of CSNNE.com has his entry from yesterday, and notes that Chad Ochocinco elevated his game during practice Saturday.
Mike Rodak of ESPN Boston has 12 observations from yesterday's session.
Greg Bedard also has an entry from yesterday's events.
TOP PATRIOTS HEADLINES FOR THIS MORNING:
Just before I was about to hit submit, there came some breaking news accross the wire of the team making a big transaction this morning:
The big news from this morning (which is a still developing story) is Adam Schefter reports that the Patriots have signed another defensive lineman, adding Shaun Ellis to the roster this morning.
ESPNBoston's Mike Reiss also has his report, which can be found here.
Greg Bedard has more on the story, with the deal contingent on Ellis passing his physical.
We'll have more in a bit, but back to the other headlines from this morning:
Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com has his "quick hit thoughts" for this morning, including the fact he's disappointed by what he's seen so far from Jermaine Cunningham.
Jeff Howe of NESN.com has a good article this morning that focuses on wide receiver Tyree Barnes, who after just fulfilling his military obligation with the Navy talked about the loss of 30 military personnel who died in a helicopter crash Saturday - killing 22 Navy seals.
"That's sad," Barnes said of Saturday's events. "I'm still a service member at heart. I still want to see those guys. Those are still guys that I went to the [Naval] Academy with, SEALs, Marines, everything. Those are still guys who went through the same things that I did, whether they went to the Academy or not. We're still one team, one fight. Even though I have a Patriot uniform on, I'm still a service member at heart, so that's something I definitely cherish and want to make sure they're safe."
Bill Burt has another article of his own, focusing on Tyree and fellow Navy military member Eric Kettani, who Burt writes after all the talk about Ochocinco and Haynesworth, are really the true Patriots on this football team.
Shalise Manza Young and Monique Walker of the Globe collaborate on a "notebook" for this morning, and report that while Bill O'Brien may have finally officially been named the offensive coordinator for the team for this season, not much else has changed.
Mark Farinella also has his "notebook" that focuses on O'Brien, who says he's enjoying watching the battle for the back-up quarterback spot between Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett.
Farinella also reflects on the days of training camp down at Bryant College, which he writes definitely had a much different feel compared to the current ones at Gillette Stadium.
ESPN Boston has a video of yesterday's interview with wide receiver Julian Edelman, who said that despite the late start due to the lockout, the coaches are still expecting the very best out of everyone.
Patriots.com has a transcript from the media's session with wide receivers coach Chad O'Shea.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald has his notebook this morning, and writes that with the shortened preseason, the team is focusing on fundamentals and says don't be surprised if we see a limited playbook during the preseason, and also during the early part of the regular season.
Rapoport also has an article on recently acquired defensive lineman Mark Anderson, who he writes appears to be fitting in well so far.
Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Chicago gives us some insight on the former Chicago Bear in this entry.
Jeff Howe writes that Anderson was humbled by the lack of interest in him during free agency, and is excited to play for his new team.
Mike Reiss writes that Anderson hopes to boost New England's pass rush, and has a video from his intereview from yesterday in this entry.
Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe has an article on the third cornerback spot, which is up for grabs between Kyle Arrington and Darius Butler, among others. Despite losing his spot last season, Butler sounds confident heading into this year.
“I’m not worried,’’ said Butler. “I don’t think you can ever have enough corners in this league and things always happen, somebody leaving or coming or injuries. And I just have to be ready when my number’s called, whenever it’s called, wherever it’s called, and I’ll be ready to get in there and play [well].’’
Farinella also has an article focusing on Arrington, who says that each day, every player is rooting for the other to make a play.
"Depth is good for any group," the third-year veteran cornerback said Saturday at the Patriots' training camp. "When one of us makes a play, we're rooting for each other. We're just out there having fun and when one of us does good, we all do good."
Matt Kalman has his take on Arrington, who is enjoying his battles against Ochocinco so far during training camp.
“It can be a humbling experience at times, because you can’t find a better route runner,” said Arrington after a three-hour practice yesterday. “He’s the best at what he does. It’s just going to make us that much better. Just like (former Pats wideout Randy) Moss — one of the best deep threats to ever do it. It’ll make us better.”
Kalman also looks at the competition at the wide receiver position, which has a talented group that unfortunately will see some good players potentially not make the roster.
Rich Garven of the Worcester Telegram has a good article this morning on Taylor Price, who he writes continues to make progress so far during this training camp.
Mike Rodak of ESPNBoston.com notes a transaction yesterday, with the team waiving cornerback Thad Turner, and offensive lineman Kyle Hix. As of yesterday the transaction put the team's roster at 88, two shy of the 90 man limit.
And finally, ESPN reports that former Patriot and disappointing journeyman Chad Jackson has joined the Oakland Raiders.
That's it for this morning. Today's an off day for the players, but we'll have a couple of entries coming later this afternoon.
