Wednesday New England Patriots Links 11/24
The Patriots are headed out to Detroit today as they get set to take on the Lions tomorrow for their Thanksgiving Day match-up. The Lions are just 2-8, but they're better than they appear on paper and have actually been fairly competitive each week. Rookie defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh has played well so far this season for the Lions, and currently has 6.5 sacks. Head coach Bill Belichick talked about him yesterday during his press conference and is impressed by what he's seen.
"He’s a very good player," said Belichick. "He’s strong. He’s very athletic. He’s a big man; he’s a very powerful man. But, he’s athletic. He runs well. He’s got good feet. He gets over and around things easily, but he’s very strong. He’s an explosive guy. He’s a good player. He’s got a great future ahead of him. He plays hard. I think there’s a lot to like about him."
Adam Schefter was on Dennis & Callahan on WEEI this morning, and said during the interview that tomorrow's game won't exactly be an easy one for New England.
"I think that New England is going to have a tough game," he said. "That's not going to be an easy matchup. If you watch the Lions this year, they play everybody — everybody — tough, and they always find a way to screw it up. Always."
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald has quotes from Tom Brady, who talked about watching the Thanksgiving day games growing up and has some good memories of watching football on the holiday. He also has quotes from some of the other players, including tight end Alge Crumpler, who will be playing in his third Thanksgiving day match-up.
“This will be my third time playing on Thanksgiving Day,” veteran tight end Alge Crumpler said. “I enjoy watching it, I enjoy playing on it. It’s tough to have the short week, so we’ve had to turn the page really quickly. But we’re all professionals. The best part about it is they play on Thursday, too.”
Mark Farinella of the Attleboro Sun Chronicle has an article on the team's trip out to Detroit, with Belichick pointing out that once this one's over, they'll get a break because there will be a long week after tomorrow.
Tom Curran has his take on tomorrow's game, and hopes that the team doesn't have a letdown against the Lions.
Jeff Howe of NESN.com has a scouting report and takes a look at Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, who he feels the Patriots should be able to slow down.
Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com takes a look at the defensive snap counts from Sunday, highlighting the fact that Vince Wilfork despite his size was a big part of the defense on Sunday, and also a big part of why they were able to beat the Colts.
Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star takes another look back at Sunday's game and highlights the reasons why he feels those two teams hate eachother.
Jennifer Toland of the Worcester Telegram has an article on the runningbacks, and writes that both Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus Green-Ellis have done a great job so far this season for New England.
Monique Walker also takes a look at the running game, and writes that the team has had a balanced attack for the most part this season thanks to solid play from Green-Ellis and Woodhead.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald spoke to kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who told him despite his injury he expects to be back kicking again in 2011.
Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe has an article on some of the injured players, who are trying to help out as best they can since they can't be on the field.
And finally, we'll end on an uplifting note. Robert Kraft was out on Tuesday distributing turkeys at Goodwill Headquarters last night. Kraft was there with his wife and current and past Patriots players, including Kevin Faulk, Leigh Bodden, Brandon McGowan, Stephen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, Ross Ventrone and Steve Maneri were joined by a dozen alums including Andre Tippett, David Givens, Matt Chatham, Vernon Crawford, Tim Fox, Pete Brock and Ed Ellis.
That's it for this morning. Hope everyone has a good day and we'll have more later on.
