Daily Recap: New England Patriots News and Notes 8/28

Derek Havens

Aug 28, 2011 at 4:15pm ET

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My colleague Ian Logue helps start you off each day with his daily links entry, so in an effort to help fellow Patriots fans get caught up at the end of each day on what’s gone on with this football team, I’ll be offering a daily entry at the end of each day to help keep up with any news you may have missed. You can also follow me on Twitter to learn when it’s available.

The Patriots wrapped-up another chaotic week in the NFL, as they played their third pre-season game against the Detroit Lions on Saturday night. After a tough loss 34  - 10 loss, there is certainly a lot to digest.  Here are some notes on the team and around the league on Sunday:

• On Friday morning I posted a highlight video of Patriots tight-end Rob Gronkowski. The video clip was mixed together by Jesse Dampolo. If you have a couple of minutes, be sure to check it out!

• My Patriots Roster Prediction 2.0 was posted earlier this week. I made a few changes from my first edition, but the evaluation process is still on going. Never the less, I feel like I have narrowed down the tough decision areas for the coaching staff. Check out the post and share your thoughts.

• Wes Welker left the Lions game with a neck injury on Saturday night. After Tom Brady threw an interception, Welker made the tackle that left him shaken up. Early reports are that the injury is not that serious but I will post an update when more details are revealed.

• Patriots quarterback Tom Brady really struggled on Saturday night. Brady completed 12 of 22 passes for 145 yards and a 44 yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker. Unfortunately, he was also got sacked twice, fumbled once, and threw an interception. In Brady's defense, he did not have the greatest protection. After the game, Brady commented on his performance:

• On an interesting note, wide-receiver Deion Branch is the only starting receiver that has not registered a catch in two pre-season games. Ian Logue goes more in-depth about this topic in his latest post.

• It was another quiet night for Chad Ochocinco and some fans are beginning to get anxious. Possibly for good reason though as the chemistry between Tom Brady and Ochocinco is not where it needs to be at this point. The receiver was targeted four times last night and did not have one reception. Luckily, the two have more opportunities to get in sync but, time is not on their side.

• For what it's worth, the Patriots say they will not be practicing tomorrow.

• One of the Patriots top rivals, the Indianapolis Colts, have an interesting situation worth monitoring early in the season. Peyton Manning's neck injury seems to be more troublesome than the club led spectators to believe. After acquiring veteran quarterback Kerry Collins and reportedly inquiring about Matt Hasselback when free agency began, one has to think the team is very concerned about their franchise leader. If the Colts are not the usual contender, there could be a power shift in the AFC Conference.

• The Patriots final preseason game is on Thursday at home against the Giants, giving the team a very quick turnaround. After a very disappointing outing from the club on Saturday, i'm not expecting to see too many of the team’s starters in action when they face the Giants. I believe the coaching staff will now start to shift the players focus to the regular-season opener, Sept. 12 against the Miami Dolphins.

• The first league-wide roster cuts will be taking place on Tuesday, Aug. 30th. This is when the rosters will go to 80 players, decreasing from 90. Initially, Aug 30th was suppose to mark the day when teams reduce the rosters to a maximum of 75 players, but the league office made that change earlier this week. Sep. 3rd marks the day where final cuts are made.