After a quick spin around the internet this morning, here are today's top stories:
Monique Walker of the Boston Globe has an article on Dan Koppen who ended up on injured reserve on Wednesday. The veteran center hadn't missed a start since 2007, and is in the final year of his contract.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald also writes that Myron Pryor joined Koppen on injured reserve yesterday, which thins out New England's defensive line.
Rapoport also has his "notebook" for this morning, which leads off with a mention on the fact Tom Brady wouldn't talk about the fact Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips potentially faked an injury on Sunday after he suddenly went down holding his leg following four straight no-huddle plays by New England - only to later return to the game. Rapoport points out that Phillips wasn't even mentioned on the team's injury report yesterday. It's a hot topic right now because the league released a memo yesterday threatening potential suspensions and even loss of draft picks if a team is caught doing it.
"It's not really bothersome," Brady said. "The hard part is somebody really may be hurt, so you hate to see injuries in football and if a guy is down, you take it pretty seriously. Whether that's a strategy, I have no idea. Coach (Bill) Belichick has never coached that for us or anything like that. If it is (faked), you just deal with it; you play through it, play with a little mental toughness and try to go out there and execute. Everyone's going to have different ways to try to slow down teams."
Shalise Manza Young of the Globe has her "notebook" for this morning, which leads off with the fact Patrick Chung underwent surgery on his injured thumb this week, leaving his status for Buffalo unclear. He missed practice on Wednesday.
Michael Whitmer has a closer look at Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is a former Harvard quarterback and 7th round pick for Buffalo and has won 6 of his last 9 starts for his team.
Karen Guregian of the Herald also has an article on Fitzpatrick, who has his team averaging 39.5 points per week coming into Sunday's AFC East showdown.
Guregian also has a great article on Brady and his ability to read the defense pre-snap, which is how the veteran quarterback does a great job inflicting so much damage.
Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal has an article on the fact that so far Brian Waters has done a great job fitting in with the Patriots since joining the team just before the start of the regular season.
Ian Rapoport has an article on first year strength and conditioning coach Harold Nash, who after not being able to work with the players during the offseason, seems to be doing a good job and had his first bright moment after watching his team close out Miami a couple of weeks ago while the rest of the Dolphins team was cramping late in the fourth quarter.
"The fourth quarter is one of the barometers that you look at and say, 'OK, where are the guys' conditioning levels?' " Nash said yesterday. "But you look at them and you develop your own criteria. It's a week-to-week thing, a day-to-day thing. Obviously, that is personal for me. We definitely take pride in that, because that's my area. And I like to do my job. I like to do it well, and I like feedback from the guys. So far, we're headed in the right direction."
CBSSports.com has a preview of this week's game, which includes five keys for this match-up.
Mark Farinella of the Attleboro Sun Chronicle that Sunday's trip to Ralph Wilson Stadium is 'all business' for New England.
Farinella also has his "notebook" for this morning, which leads off with Brady being named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week again for the second straight week.
Larry Brown has an article on Brady, who admitted recently in an interview with Westwood One that he's not always honest with the media in order to avoid creating controversy.
Erik Frenz has an article this morning on NESN.com that talks about the fact Brady's statistical dominance is becoming a trend the team can count on after overcoming the fact the defense has given up 958 yards and six touchdowns through the first two games of the season.
Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com has some comments from the Bills, which includes some thoughts by Fitzpatrick on Patriots receiver Chad Ochocinco.
"I really like Chad," said Fitzpatrick. "He's a fun guy to have around. He's obviously a real talented receiver. I haven't really paid too much attention to the Patriots' offense or his role or what they've been doing. I know that he's a talented guy. He's also a dedicated guy. He's a guy that's going to commit himself 100 percent to what he's doing. I'm looking forward to seeing him and saying hi on Sunday."
Rich Garven of the Worcester Telegram writes that while the best team in football may be debatable, the best quarterback isn't - and he feels that Brady runs away with that distinction.
John Lynch of FoxSports.com has an article on how to beat Brady, and lists off what Buffalo needs to do in order to improve to 3-0.
Meanwhile off the field, according to Kate Bowers of "Women's Wear Daily" (NOTE: For the record - before there's any question - I just find the links, I don't actually read that site) Brady spent Tuesday night promoting Ermenegildo Zegna's move from Newbury Street to a slightly larger store at Copley Place. According to the article Brady showed up dressed in Zegna Sport's lambskin black jacket, dark jeans and Zegna shoes - and there's a photo of him included in the article.
Jason La Canfora has an article this morning on former Patriots runningback Laurence Maroney, and is puzzled that he hasn't had one single workout with an NFL team. Maroney recently beat a recent marijuana charge after being cleared of any wrongdoing.
The Attleboro Sun Chronicle has an article on the current counterfeit problem with fake tickets, which has launched an FBI probe after fans were turned away at the gate last weekend after purchasing them on Craig's List.
Tonight marks the second part of "A Football Life", which is the documentary on Patriots coach Bill Belichick. I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Eckstrom at a recent event, and he has an article this morning on the fact that the 2009 team apparently disgusted him enough to begin making the changes we see today.
And finally - because you guys always click on this stuff for some reason - the Inside Track has an article on Gisele's run in with the law over the weekend and writes that Tom didn't even know she'd been pulled over. They write that apparently Gisele must have slipped into something 'sex-ay' from Victoria's Secret and kept that fact to herself.
That's it for this morning. We'll have more later on so be sure and keep an eye on the front page of PatsFans.com for updates not just from us, but from all the local media outlets - which are located underneath the main window and updated every five minutes.
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