Wednesday Patriots Headlines

If this was a Boston Celtics site you'd have plenty to read this morning, as the Boston media is all over the disappointing 91-84 loss last night at the Garden. The loss puts the Lakers up 2-1 in this best of seven series.

There were plenty of Patriots at the game last night. Quarterback Tom Brady was there, and according to the Boston Globe was sitting with billionaire businessman Ron Burkle, along with teammates Wes Welker, Fred Taylor, Julian Edelman, Eric Alexander, Tully Banta-Cain, Leigh Bodden, James Sanders, Brandon Meriweather, and ex-Pats Ty Law and Daniel Graham.

Unfortunately they didn't get to see the game turn out quite like they had hoped. The series resumes Thursday night with another game in Boston.

In the meantime here are the rest of the headlines that are running this morning regarding the Patriots.

The Patriots got another draft pick under contract on Tuesday, inking one of the more intriguing players they selected during April's draft as tight end Aaron Hernandez agreed to terms with the team yesterday.

According to most published reports it's a four year contract, although the terms have yet to be disclosed. Hernandez has been reported as looking very good by everyone who has had the chance to observe him, and is considered to be one of the "steals" of this year's draft after falling two rounds in the draft due to a failed drug test. He was projected as a 2nd round pick, but the Patriots were able to get him in the fourth round.

Here are a few of the stories covering his signing:

Pats 'fan' signs on - Boston Herald

Patriots Sign Up Tight End Hernandez - Boston Globe

Patriots Reel in Rookie Hernandez - Tom Curran

Sean Crowe of the Manchester Examiner talks about Brady's contract situation, noting the complexity other similar deals have had. He also points out that the veteran QB's current status isn't that unusual - and talks about other players dealing with the same issue.

Former New England Patriot Troy Brown was on hand for a Celebrity Golf Tournament on Tuesday, and WBZ.com has a quick article on the subject.

Jeff Howe of NESN.com reports that after missing OTA's to this point while working on his degree at Texas A&M, Ty Warren will be in Foxboro Wednesday to speak at a charity event. He was not reportedly in attendence on Tuesday, but as Howe points out should Warren participate on Thursday that will leave just Logan Mankins as the lone player absent to this point.

Chris Price of WEEI offers up a terrfic article, focusing on the positional battles at both inside linebacker and the safety position. Jerod Mayo told Price that competition is just part of the job.

"To be honest with you, I go in with the mindset that we're all battling," said Mayo. "There are no starters, as Coach says each and every year. I think we're all battling, and we're all getting better. We're all out here competing."

In a question that hasn't been asked in a while - but typically is at least a few times a season - Tim Graham of ESPN takes a look at the ongoing debate of who is/was a better coach, Bill Belichick, or Bill Parcells and offers his own opinion on the subject:

My selection is Belichick based on the number of Lombardi Trophies and the fact that without his work as defensive coordinator, nobody can say for sure Parcells still would have won his pair.

Tom Curran takes runningback Laurence Maroney to task in an interesting article, where he confronts Maroney and asks him if he's going to take this upcoming season more seriously than in years past. Maroney talks about his demeanor and why he seems more easy going than he really is.

"I don't like to be upset all the time," said Maroney. "I don't like to get pissed off about too much stuff because when you get pissed off, it messes your game up. You're too busy being frustrated about one situation and can't focus on the next one. I like to keep everything fun, everyone smiling. That's the way I deal with stresses. I like to joke it off, play it off. It keeps my body relaxed and my mind open so I'm not dealing with no mental blockages."

Meanwhile Michael Felger takes a look at Brady's contract situation, and claims that Brady's silence last week on the subject speaks volumes and that he's caught in the crossfire of a bad labor situation. It's a controversial piece - but an interesting read nontheless.

In the meantime we'll leave you with Mike Reiss' mailbag from yesterday in case you missed it. As usual Reiss does a great job, taking an in-depth look at a variety of topics that were definitley interesting yesterday, including the fact that he doesn't feel confident in an extension coming together for Mankins.

That's it for this morning. We'll have updates later on should they become available.