Saturday New England Patriots Links 9/10
This will be a brief entry - had to head into work earlier than normal this morning so I was limited for time putting this together and ended up holding it back to add a few more things.
As game time continues to creep a little closer, here are this morning's headlines on this Saturday.
With Sebastian Vollmer missing his third straight practice, all signs are pointing to roolie Nate Solder getting his first NFL regular season start Monday night, and Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe leads off with that topic in her "notebook" this morning. Solder would likely start at right tackle, which since he was a left tackle in college would be a slight transition for him - but Bill Belichick feels he shouldn't have any issue handling it.
“I think Nate is a pretty versatile guy,’’ Belichick said. “He seems very flexible - athletically, his footwork, and so forth. He seems to be very comfortable wherever we put him.’’
Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston has a similar piece this morning, but at the top of this is a video with Hannah Storm interviewing Robert Kraft that's worth checking out.
Starting on the other side will obviously be Matt Light, with WEEI.com having audio from his appearance on "The Big Show" on Friday.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald has an entry on Brady, who told him that the fact that Peyton Manning is injured means 'it's going to suck' not seeing him out there.
Speaking of Rapoport, there was an interesting situation that came up last night on Twitter. Manish Meta of the New York Daily News Tweeted last night that the Jets offered ex-Patriots Safety Brandon Meriweather a 1-year, $1.2 Million deal, citing a source. Rapoport retweeted it, and Meriweather immediately interjected, tweeting, "that's not true about the jets".
You've got to love Twitter for moments like that - although he didn't elaborate.
Meanwhile Ian Rapoport held his first chat of the year yesterday, and touched on a variety of interesting topics you can read the full transcript here.
Andy Hart published his "Friday Six Pack", with six key points to Monday night's game - including the fact that they'll need to keep Tom Brady upright against what should be a tough front seven from Miami.
Rapoport also has a full notebook and leads off with Brady feeling Manning's pain and knows how difficult it is having to sit out and watch his team play without him.
Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe has an article on the fact that Branch is comfortable with however many passes Brady throws his way after not catching a ball in the preseason.
Young has a notebook which includes a note on the fact that Wes Welker was surprised to see the signing of Dan Gronkwoski, which gives the team a tight end duo that now includes two brothers.
“I thought it was going to be very interesting, like I was going to have two idiots right next to me on both sides, but the other one is actually pretty bright,’’ Welker said of Dan, who was signed Wednesday. “I was actually surprised.’’
Rich Thompson of the Boston Herald has a good article on Mike Wright, who could see his first full game action against Miami after missing the rest of last season with a concussion.
Mike McCarthy of USA Today writes that the Jets have passed New England for the most expensive ticket.
And finally, Aaron Wilson of Scout.com reported that The New England Patriots tried out former Carolina Panthers defensive end Everette Brown, citing a league source.
That's it for this morning. We'll have a couple of entries from the other guys in a bit, including two great interviews with two reporters from Miami - so check the front page of PatsFans.com frequently to see them when they appear.
