Friday Patriots News Links
We were fortunate enough to finally have some news out of Gillette Stadium this week as the Patriots held their Organized Team Activities, so here are some stories from around the local media outlets this morning that you may want to check out.
Kraft: Early signings business as usual - Boston Globe
The interesting part of the above article was a quote by Robert Kraft who sounded pretty confident that Logan Mankins and Tom Brady will definitely be sticking around, and that a contract will come together for both at some point.
“They are two young men that will be on this team,’’ he told the newspaper. “They are important to our future.’’
Tate aims to step up in his second year - Patriot Ledger
Holt Set for New Start With Patriots - Nashua Telegraph
Derrick Burgess: Veteran voice - Boston Herald
There were also some interesting stories from yesterday, with the first being an interview with Patriots defensive lineman Ron Brace who struggled in his first season in New England. The former second round draft pick was active for just six of the first 13 games last season but was outplayed by teammate Myron Prior. Brace told the Boston Globe his first season was "overwhelming", but has worked hard in the offseason.
“Definitely,’’ Brace told the newspaper when asked if his first year was overwhelming. “For someone coming straight out of college straight into the real world, you have this job where everybody’s yelling at you to do something and you don’t know what you’re doing and you basically have to catch on quick and then catch up with the pack.’’
Meanwhile in the same article wide receiver Brandon Tate acknowledged that he's received plenty of praise coming into this year, but feels he hasn't done anything just yet to deserve it.
“For me, I feel like I haven’t done [anything], to tell you the truth,’’ he told the newspaper. “That’s why I’m taking this whole offseason, trying to get everything back down pat, and hopefully I’ll be out there when the season starts.’’
Another feature from the Globe takes a good look at defensive back Terrence Wheatley, who is aware that he'll be under the gun with all the competition at his position this year.
“I’m going to go out there and do what I need to do, go out there and work hard every day and the rest of it will take care of itself," Wheatley told the Globe. "I’m not really worried about what could happen or what might happen, what didn’t happen — I mean, that crap is out of my control."
Kevin Faulk aslo acknowledged yesterday that head coach Bill Belichick obviously feels the need to turn things up during the preseason to try and hopefully guys in the locker room get the message.
“Hopefully it changes the outlook of what this year means to us as a football team,” Faulk said. “Hopefully guys see how serious coach (Bill Belichick) is about this season.”
Lastly, the guys behind the new PatsCast - which is a terrific podcast breaking down the Patriots - released another episode this morning. Be sure to add it to your Ipod on your way out the door - as usual it's another great show and very informative.
That's it for now. We'll have more throughout the day so be sure to check back for updates.
