Monday's New England Patriots Links 8/1
The players have today off, but there's already been some news of note this morning.
The Patriots have reportedly brought Matt Light back into the mix, with the veteran agreeing to terms on a new contract.
Karen Guregian reports that bringing back Light allows them to work Nate Solder into the mix, and points out that even though the Patriots had success with Sebastian Vollmer, he had the luxury of all the minicamps and OTA's to get acclimated.
Mike Reiss has his "rapid reaction" to Light's return, and feels "the Patriots have to be thrilled" to have him back in the fold for this season.
Erik Scalavino of Patriots.com also has his thoughts on the agreement, and feels that Light's signing "isn't the worst thing to happen" to Solder.
Mark Farinella of the Attleboro Sun Chronicle has a notebook this morning which features Vollmer, and feels he's been a source of guidance so far through the first few days of camp.
Greg Bedard and Shalise Manza Young also filed their notebook, which included some good notes on Brandon Spikes - who they wrote was all over the field yesterday.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald also has an article on Spikes, who he writes was making some big hits over the middle during practice Sunday.
Rapoport also has an article on director of player personnel Nick Caserio, who hasn't gotten much sleep recently.
“At some point we’ll worry about catching up on sleep,” said Caserio, pointing out everyone is in the same situation. “But I’d say we really caught up on sleep enough during the summer — we had enough time off. I think everybody is just happy to be here.”
Paul Kenyon of the Providence Journal writes that New England isn't worried about the free agent market and is instead focusing, for now, on getting their own players back.
Paul Flannery of WEEI.com looks at 5 Potential Remaining Free Agents for the Patriots, including Matt Roth and Braylon Edwords.
Karen Guregian has an article on Chad Ochocinco, who has spent some time with teammates trying to get acclimated with the offense. One of those players has been Deion Branch, who said the veteran wideout has picked up quite a bit so far since being acquired last week.
“I think he’s picked up a lot of things,” Branch said. “The stuff they’ve thrown at him, I think he’s done a great job of picking it up. The stuff that he’s sliding on, we’re going to do our best to pick him up when we can, and when he needs it. So far he hasn’t been needing it and that’s a good sign.”
NESN also has a video report on this topic, which includes more from Branch.
Jerry Greene of ESPN's Page 2 is surprised that Albert Haynesworth passed his physical yesterday, and feels the Washington Redskins should ask for a recount.
Monique Walker of the Boston Globe writes that Haynesworth's return to practice livened things up, with the veteran defensive lineman's size making him hard to miss during yesterday's session.
Glen Farley of the Patriot Ledger writes that so far it appears that Haynesworth is already ahead of his pace from last year after passing his physical yesterday.
Ian Rapoport also wrote that you couldn't miss Haynesworth, with the veteran lineman giving fans a smile after receiving some cheers as he took the field yesterday.
Mike Reiss also gives his take on Haynesworth, saying that veteran looked like a man among boys.
A sidenote I just came accross - Ian Rapoport reported via Twitter that the Patriots are bringing in former Bear Tommie Harris for a workout on Monday. He's played primarily in a 4-3 defense, which considering recent events, likely means they're headed in that direction.
NESN.com has a video this morning from NESN Daily featuring Shalise Manza Young and Jeff Howe discussing what we should expect from Ochocinco from a personality standpoint this season.
Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com has an entry this morning that includes photos from yesterday's practice of Celtics star Rajon Rondo, who was on hand to take in the sessions. Rondo's become friendly with Vince Wilfork, who was at quite a few games last season.
And finally, in case there are still any fans out there of former Patriot tight end Daniel Graham, the Tennessean reports that Graham is headed to the Titans. He's reportedly agreed to a 3-year deal, worth roughly $8.5 million.
That's it for this morning. We'll have more throughout the day, so be sure and check back for updates. You can also follow me on Twitter @ianlogue.
