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Patriots Huddle: Sunday's News, Notes and Links 7/27

Ian Logue
Ian Logue on Twitter
Jul 27, 2014 at 8:37am ET







Saturday ended up being a rough outing for quarterback Tom Brady against Darrelle Revis.
(USA TODAY Images)

Some news and notes for this morning:

REVIS SHINES ON DAY THREE:

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is all too familiar with having to go against Darrelle Revis after battling him twice a year for several seasons against the New York Jets, but he may be getting tired of facing him every day in practice after what happened on Saturday.

Revis got the better of Brady a couple of times during yesterday's session, picking off the veteran quarterback twice on pass attempts to Julian Edelman.  He also made a great play against newly added receiver Brandon LaFell on a deep pass play during the team's 11-on-11 drills.

Brady has already said that having Revis there is great for the team because having to go up against him will make everyone around him better.  Saturday was another great look at two top players battling it out and unfortunately for Brady, Revis was the one on the better end of that match-up.

PATRIOTS CB LOGAN RYAN PLAYING WELL:

After coming off of a solid rookie campaign second-year cornerback Logan Ryan seems to be off to a good start after the Patriots finished their third day of training camp on Saturday.

So far Ryan has been a bright spot for the Patriots defense and on Saturday made two leaping plays that broke up two passes to receiver Danny Amendola and also held his own against wide receiver Julian Edelman.  He also picked off quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on a pass attempt to receiver Wilson Van Hooser.

It's tough to get overly excited three days into camp, but Ryan showed great instincts in his rookie year and the expectations are high for him to be just as effective in 2014 after he finished with a team high five interceptions last season.  However, it appears he's doing the right things early on in camp and hopefully that continues over the next month as the team continues working toward getting ready  for their upcoming campaign.

TOMMY KELLY RETURNS:

Some good news on Saturday after veteran defensive tackle Tommy Kelly came off off the PUP list and participated in his first session of 2014.  The veteran was limited during the team's first full-pads practice, with the team obviously taking it easy as he continues returning from a torn ACL that he suffered last season.  He's a player that will definitely be someone to watch in the weeks ahead, as having both he and Vince Wilfork together for an entire season is something that should allow them to continue a lot of the success they had together early on last year before the two went down in back-to-back games due to injuries.

SO FAR, SO GOOD FOR VINCE WILFORK:

For anyone who had doubts about Wilfork, he's looked pretty good early on in training camp and doesn't seem to be showing any ill-effects coming off of his ruptured Achilles that knocked him out just three games into last season.

So far he's been a full-participant and on Saturday he appeared to have another good outing.  That's a good sign and we've also seen good things from defensive tackle Sealver Siliga, who played well while taking over some of the reps after Kelly was limited in his first practice back.

However, the health of each of those two players will be something to keep an eye on.  But should Wilfork and Kelly both manage to head into this year healthy it should make for a pretty good group up front for New England.

RB JAMES WHITE IMPRESSES:

Running back James White drew some praise earlier this week from coach Ivan Fears and in the team's first padded session of the year went out and looked impressive.

He got some work in with the first team offense on Saturday and showed some pretty good quickness and change of direction.  So far he appears to be as advertised and will likely continue to be a formidable competitor at that position for a roster spot.

GREG ORTON LIKELY GONE FOR 2014

According to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald, wide receiver Greg Orton, who was carted off the field on Friday, appears to have suffered a torn Achilles.

That's bad news for Orton as it likely ends his season before it even got started.  He just signed with the team on July 23rd having already been with them previously on their practice squad.  Unfortunately he appears to have suffered the team's first significant injury of the year, which has to be disappointing for him.

PATRIOTS SING 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' TO CANCER-STRICKEN BOY:

In what was certainly the most touching moment of training camp on Saturday, the Patriots gathered at midfield and sang happy birthday to a young boy who is battling cancer.

The team huddled around Danny Nickerson, who turned six on Friday and is suffering from an inoperable brain tumor.

On a more inspiring note, Nickerson recently made a wish of having birthday cards mailed to him and the response was apparently massive, with the Boston Globe reporting that over 100,000 cards passed through the Foxborough post office.

It's definitely great to see and hopefully it was a moment that will live on in the memories of a family who is enduring something well beyond the scope of what any parent or loved one should ever have to go through.


SATURDAY'S MEDIA OBSERVATIONS:
Here's a collection of media links with recaps of what went down during Saturday's practice session:

PATSFANS.COM:
Saturday Observations 7/26 - Derek Havens

BOSTON GLOBE:
Saturday’s Patriots practice report: Revis steals the show - Ben Volin

BOSTON.COM:
Patriots Training Camp Notes: Trench Battle Ensues In First Padded Practice - Erik Frenz

BOSTON HERALD:
Practice observations: Darrelle Revis intercepts Tom Brady twice in first padded session - Jeff Howe

ESPN BOSTON:
Patriots Camp Report: Day 3 - Mike Reiss

Observations from Patriots camp: Day 3: Mike Reiss and Lee Schechter

NESN:
Patriots Training Camp Observations: Darrelle Revis Excels Against Tom Brady- Doug Kyed

PROVIDENCE JOURNAL:
Training camp observations: Darrelle Revis shines in day three - Mark Daniels

WEEI:
Saturday Notes: Danny Nickerson Celebrates Belated Birthday With Patriots - DJ Bean


ADDITIONAL LINKS
Note - you can also CLICK HERE to find an expanded edition with additional links

BOSTON HERALD:

Patriots defense might be over-ruled - Karen Guregian: Guregian has an article on the fact the changes this season by the league in terms of what's permitted by defensive backs could be a problem for the Patriots.

Darrelle Revis a big hit on first contact day - Jeff Howe: Howe has an article on Revis and the fact that so far he's made a big impact with players who really look up to him.

Patriots Notebook: Garoppolo learns to handle bumps - Jeff Howe: Howe files his notebook from practice yesterday, which leads off with the fact that Jimmy Garoppolo didn't have his best outing in front of the massive crowd of over 13,000 people on Saturday.

Rookie running back James White justifies love - Adam Kurkjian: Kurkjian has an article on White, who so far has looked good this training camp.

BOSTON GLOBE:

Patriots sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to boy with cancer - Shalise Manza Young - Manza Young has a good article on Danny Nickerson, whose family had a cool experience after the team invited him to Gillette Stadium and the players sang happy birthday to him.

Staying healthy ultimate goal for Patriots in camp - Ben Volin: Volin files his "On Football" column for this morning, noting that trying to "get in shape and don't get hurt" is obviously the team's overall goal of this training camp.

Free agent Roy Finch hopes special skills pay off - Shalise Manza Young and Michael Vega: The two file their notebook for this morning, which leads off with the fact Finch is glad to be getting an opportunity as he got some work in on special teams on Saturday.

Punishment wasn't enough for Ravens' Ray Rice - Ben Volin: Volin files his Sunday Football Notes column, which leads off with his thoughts on the Ray Rice situation in Baltimore.

ESPN BOSTON:

Quick-hit thoughts around NFL, Patriots - Mike Reiss: Reiss files his weekly Sunday notes column, which includes some interesting topics as always.

Spotlighting potential niche Pats players - Mike Reiss: Reiss looks at a variety of players who are trying to carve out a spot for themselves on New England's roster.

WEEI:

Sunday NFL Notes: Bill Belichick Poised to Climb Wins Ladder in 2014 - Christopher Price: Price files his weekly notes column, which leads off with the fact Bill Belichick is one regular season win away from 200.

PROVIDENCE JOURNAL:

Rookie QB Garoppolo has rough moments in adjusting to bigger stage - Mark Daniels: Daniels has an article on Garoppolo, who had another rough day on Saturday after getting picked off repeatedly and fumbling a snap.


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