Sunday's New England Patriots Links 8/14
A bit of a late start on this Sunday morning, but here are this morning's links:
YESTERDAY'S TRAINING CAMP NOTES:
Mike Rodak has 16 observations from yesterday's practice session, including the fact that newly signed Zach Roth was carted off the field on Saturday.
Greg Bedard of the Boston Globe has his rundown from yesterday's session, and writes that Ryan Mallett got the majority of the reps with the second team, although he feels it was likely to give Brian Hoyer a bit of a break.
Erik Scalavino of Patriots.com has his notes from yesterday, and writes that part of the focus was on special teams - which was an area where New England didn't perform well on Thursday night.
Paul Perillo of Patriots Football Weekly also has his practice notes from yesterday, and writes that BenJarvus Green-Ellis got some work in yesterday with New England's passing game.
Nick Underhill of MassLive.com writes that some of the notable names missing from practice yesterday were Taylor Price, and Danny Woodhead, among others.
DJ Bean of WEEI.com files his notes from yesterday here.
Jeff Howe of NESN.com writes that Tom Brady and the Patriots offense had one of their better practices yesterday, and looked impressive.
THIS MORNING'S TOP STORIES:
Mike Reiss has his "quick hit thoughts" for this morning, and points out that former Patriot Laurence Maroney remains without a team.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald has an article on Jerod Mayo, who says he's being moved around quite a bit as the team continues to tweak the defense.
Rich Garven of the Worcester Telegram has an article on Matt Light, who returned to practice yesterday but was extremely limited.
Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe also has a piece on Light, who admitted that after having shoulder surgery he has to be careful with how hard he goes in practice early on to make sure he doesn't suffer any setbacks.
“Unfortunately, I can’t just jump back into it given what surgery I had in the offseason, so right now a lot of it’s mental,’’ he said. “Trying to keep the physical side of it going to what extent I can and hopefully be out there full tilt sooner than later.’’
Mike Reiss also has an article on Light's return, which includes a video from his interview at the top of the piece. Light said that the light workout he did during his first practice in pads was the "right way to do it".
"This process was the right way to do it. I’ve had shoulder [injuries] in the past and the protocol is the same every time," he said. "You want to feel how it goes. You want to do some drills without the ... when you’re hitting a live body, it’s a whole lot different than hitting a bag, so it’s better to break in easy than blow something up on Day 1. We’ve got a little bit of time here and like I said, hopefully sooner than later I can get out there and do the full deal."
Garven also has a piece on Steven Gostkowski, who continues to settle back in after suffering a torn quad muscle last season.
Mark Farinella of the Attleboro Sun Chronicle has an article this morning on Dane Fletcher, who admitted that he's much more comfortable on the field this year than he was last year during his interview with the media yesterday.
"Yeah, (Patriots' coach Bill) Belichick kind of put in a good summary when he said I didn't even know where the field was last year in my first game," the second-year linebacker said, "so I've made a little leap from last year to this year and I need to keep making those progressions and keep taking it one step at a time."
Glen Farley of the Enterprise News has more on Fletcher, and writes that the football education of the young linebacker continues as he looks to take on a bigger role this season.
Tom Curran of CSNNE has an article on Jerod Mayo, who when asked whether or not Mayo could become an outside linebacker, Belichick had a strange response, which reminded fans that he won't be around forever.
"Yeah, I mean, I don’t really see that," said Belichick. "Maybe the next coach can put him there, I don’t know. But I think he’s going to play off the line of scrimmage and he’s going to play in the tackle box somewhere."Whatever front we’re in – over, under, 3-4, 4-3, 2-4 – I mean, he’s going to play in the tackle box (and) off the line of scrimmage; that’s what he’s always done," Belichick added.
Nick Underhill also has a piece on Mayo, and feels that Belichick sees him as a middle linebacker - and nothing else.
The Patriot Ledger has yesterday's full transcript from Belichick's press conference here.
Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald has an article on Shaun Ellis, and feels the Patriots made a solid move when they signed him, and also gave him much more 'financial respect' than the Jets did.
Greg Bedard of the Boston Globe has a good "Football Notes" column this morning, and writes that the Patriots signing of Logan Mankins was all part of the plan, with Robert Kraft also saying earlier in the week that the deal couldn't have happened had they not started planning for it prior to the lockout.
Tim Britton of the Providence Journal has an article on some of the younger guys, and writes that Taylor Price, Steve Maneri, and Fletcher are all making strides in their sophomore seasons.
Garven also has more notes for this morning, and has comments from Bill Belichick on the new booth reviews following a touchdown.
Mark Daniels of the Boston Herald writes that Leigh Bodden is "ready to rock" now that he's back in the line-up after sitting last year out with a shoulder injury.
Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports has a scouting notebook from Thursday night's game against the Jaguars.
Monique Walker has an article on the Patriots runningbacks, which includes a bunch of young guys who are trying to do enough to stand out and make the team.
Mike Reiss looks at the new kickoff rule, and wonders what it means for the future of Brandon Tate.
And finally Christopher Price of WEEI.com has a good feature on tight end Will Yeatman, and wonders if he will do enough to force his way onto the roster.
That's it for this morning. We'll have more later on, so be sure and check back for updates. You can also follow me on Twitter @ianlogue.
