Wednesday New England Patriots Links 11/17

The biggest news of yesterday was the release of Patriots linebacker Shawn Crable, who was waived by the team despite his performance Sunday night where he finished with half a sack on Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.

Ian Rapoport has a mention of the transaction in this morning's Herald, with Crable's strange career in Foxboro coming to an end once again - unless they re-sign him to the practice squad.

Offensive lineman Stephen Neal missed Sunday night's game with a shoulder injury, and according to the Boston Globe remains "day-to-day" heading into Sunday afternoon's match-up against Indianapolis.

"I'm going to treatment every day, trying to improve and trying to be the best that I can,'' Neal said. "The great thing about our coaching staff is that whatever the best situation is for our team, that's what's going to happen. Whatever they tell me is what I'm going to do.''

Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com reports that James Sanders has earned AFC Defensive player of the week, an honor that likely came from his performance Sunday night. Sanders played well, and also returned an interception for a touchdown which basically sealed the win for New England against Pittsburgh.

There's been plenty of talk so far this week regarding Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, who called the Patriots Super Bowl rings "fake championships". Former Patriot Troy Brown responded to the comments yesterday on NECN.com

"This is the same guy who gave up, what, a 20-point lead to the Patriots a few weeks ago? (EDITOR'S NOTE: The Ravens blew a 20-10, fourth-quarter lead in losing to the Pats in overtime at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 17.) 'The best defense alive,' and that type of thing?

Mike Reiss charted out the defensive snaps for New England and looks at the numbers this morning, with Kyle Arrington, Jerod Mayo, and rookie Devin McCourty playing in every snap Sunday night.

Rich Garven of the Worcester Telegram takes a look at this week's game and wonders which Patriots team will show up on Sunday when Peyton Manning and company visit Foxboro this weekend.

Greg Bedard of the Boston Globe also has a similar column this morning, and also pointed out that Belichick made some comments after the game about some things the Steelers said following New England's 39-16 win Sunday night.

"I think actually after the game, they talked about how they didn't really see anything that they hadn't seen before,'' Belichick said Monday. "I'd have to agree with that.''

Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald takes a look at the Colts defense, who have an imposing pass rush that tackles Matt Light and Sebastian Vollmer will have to be wary of this weekend.

"It's kind of scary when they're all that good and they all look the same," Belichick said. "It's a very fast, athletic group and you certainly have to be aware of those guys. They can strip sack you and ruin the game on one play if you're not careful."

Guregian also has a good article on Brace, who spent his day off in the film room yesterday as he continues working hard to improve and be an important part on the defense.

Jonathan Kraft sat down and did an interview that appeared on MyFoxBoston.com, discussing a variety of topics. The video is available here for anyone interested.

Mike Reiss takes a look at Patrick Chung's production Sunday night compared to the team's leaderboard in tackles for the season thus far, pointing out that he made up a lot of ground thanks to his play against the Steelers.

And finally Jeff Howe of NESN.com has his "19 Other Thoughts" for this morning, which contains some interesting topics that you may want to check out.