Thursday's New England Patriots Links 11/3
Here are this morning's top stories:
BOSTON HERALD:
Eli Manning rates star status - Ian Rapoport
Rapoport has an article this morning on Eli Manning, who doesn't regret his comments from the preseason where he felt he deserved to be named in the upper echelon of quarterbacks.
Giant test for Wes Welker - Ian Rapoport
Rapoport writes that Welker, "still leads the NFL in receptions and confidence" heading into Sunday's game against New York.
Not a giant distraction - Karen Guregian
Guregian writes that despite his off field issues, Julian Edelman wasn't seen in the locker room yesterday, and the team is focused on the task at hand - beating the Giants.
Pressure's on Tom Brady, offense - Karen Guregian
Guregian writes that the Giants pass rush should be tough to deal with, and Tom Brady acknowledged that fact yesterday during his press conference.
“They get pressure probably better than anybody in the league,” Brady said yesterday of the Giants. “Damn near every guy on the D-line can rush the quarterback.”
Patriots not thinking about Super loss to Giants - Ian Rapoport
Rapoport writes that the Patriots aren't thinking about that game in Arizona from a few years ago, and are focused on taking care of business this Sunday when the Giants visit Foxboro.
BOSTON GLOBE:
NOTEBOOK: Coach has their back - Michael Vega
Vega writes that Bill Belichick wouldn't throw his cornerbacks under the bus yesterday after being grilled about the performance of Atwaun Molden, who was later replaced by Phillip Adams during Sunday's loss to Pittsburgh.
Tight-lipped team - Michael Vega
Vega writes that the Patriots had little to say on the Julien Edelman situation, and has quotes from an exchange between Bill Belichick and a TV reporter, who was obviously there to cover the Edelman story and pushed him vehemently on the subject.
Tom Brady: 'We're all pretty much in a bad mood' - Steve Silva
Silva has comments from Tom Brady, who told reporters yesterday that he and the teammates are still not happy about losing to Pittsburgh Sunday as they get set to battle the Giants this weekend.
ESPN BOSTON:
Patriots ready to crank(y) it up - Staff
Patriots runningback Kevin Faulk admits he never watched New England's Super Bowl loss to the Giants, nor will he.
"I never watched the game; never seen the game," he said. "Let's just talk about us playing them on Sunday -- us trying to play better and win a football game. That's what we want to do right now as a football team."
Belichick's future: One game at a time - Chris Forsberg
Forsberg has comments from Bill Belichick, who when asked if he could coach until he's 70 said he's taking things one game at a time.
"I don’t know, long term for me is Sunday afternoon against the Giants," said Belichick. "I haven’t thought too much past that and that is keeping me busy right now. I am just going to try to do the best I can to have our team ready on Sunday. We are playing a good football team that I know is well coached and well prepared. They are playing well and hot right now. They have won a bunch of games. We are going to have to do a good job and that is really the extent of my long-term future."
Penalty watch: False starts add up - Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss looks at the updated penalty numbers, and notes that the offensive line's false starts on Sunday gave the Patriots 14 false starts on the year.
NESN:
Stevan Ridley, Kevin Faulk Among Four Patriots Gearing Up for Historic LSU-Alabama Showdown - Jeff Howe
Howe writes, "with No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama set to square off Saturday in Kevin Faulk and Stevan Ridley (both LSU Alumns), along with Brandon Deadrick, and Mark Anderson (both Alabama Alumns) are all looking forward to watching that match-up and it should lead to a little extra rivalry in the locker room.
WORCESTER TELEGRAM:
Patriots' Albert Haynesworth isn't comfy - Rich Garven
Garven has comments from Albert Haynesworth, who admitted yesterday he's still knocking off the rust after essentially not playing football for two years.
“The more comfortable I get in the situation, the more production,” Haynesworth explained before going on to say, “I'm trying to learn the scheme and how we play it.”“I mean, I'm still knocking off rust,” he said. “I still haven't really played for two years, so it's a step-by-step process.”
Patriots secondary not primary problem - Rich Garven
Garven has an article on the secondary, and has comments from Bill Belichick, who said that the cornerbacks weren't exactly the major problem during their loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday.
“I think they played competitively in the game, yeah,” Belichick said. “I would say of the problems we had in the Pittsburgh game, I wouldn’t put that (cornerback) at the top of the list.”
Julian Edelman, Patriots quiet on charges - Rich Garven
Garven writes that Julian Edelman and the Patriots are in full lockdown mode after Edelman ended up in court thanks to the incident he was involved in at a nightclub recently.
WEEI.COM:
Pressure Points: Which New England defenders have done the best job getting after the quarterback through seven games? - Christopher Price
Price has a good breakdown of the Patriots pass rush, and notes the number of quarterback hits, along with the total number of sacks for each player.
Measuring the impact of Albert Haynesworth on the Patriots defense - Christopher Price
Price has a good article on Albert Haynesworth and his impact with the defense, which to this point has been limited due to his lack of time on the field.
Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Faulk focusing on the here and now - Mark Farinella
Farinella writes that Kevin Faulk doesn't think about the Patriots last meeting against the Giants out in Arizona, and he's focused on trying to get re-acclimated on the field and hopefully build on Sunday's performance.
PATRIOT LEDGER:
This week above all others, Patriots aren't looking back - Glen Farley
Farley has more comments from Kevin Faulk and the fact that the game out in Arizona doesn't say on his television long if he's flipping through and sees that it's on.
“For instance, say like I’m flipping the channel and, like, (it’s on) a Classic: ‘Doot,’” said Faulk, mimicking the noise a remote control might make. “Commercial? The catch? ‘Doot.’"
