Colts: Julian Edelman makes his return TEAM TALKPatriots-Colts Wednesday Injury Report.Andy
Hart’s Keys to the starting lineup: Keep it rolling vs. Colts.Game Predictions:
Expert picks for Colts at Patriots.Coffee with the Coach: Challenges of facing
the Colts. (4.15 min. video)Get Hyped: Colts vs. Patriots. (1 min. video)LOCAL
LINKSEvan Lazar Patriots Gameplan: Colts head coach and former Eagles offensive
coordinator Frank Reich brought Philadelphia’s playbook with him to Indy.Mike
Dussault (PatsPropaganda) Patriots Gameplan: Once again
Rob Gronkowski Jerseys Stitched , it’s likely up to Sony Michel, James Develin and the offensive line to kickstart the offense.Andrew Callahan gives us his
Patriots vs. Colts preview: Game plans, predictions, point spread, top matchups
and more.Ryan Hannable gives us three keys to Pats-Colts, some fun facts and a
prediction. 1. Get the passing game going.Kevin Duffy tells us five things he’ll
be watching tonight: 1. Hitting the ground running.Karen Guregian believes
Julian Edelman’s return will kick the offense into high gear.Hal Bent
(FullPressCoverage) Week 5 preview: Offensive strategy vs Colts. 1. Keep the
running game going.Hal Bent (FullPressCoverage) Week 5 preview: Defensive
strategy vs. Colts. 1. Third down pass defense.Matt Dolloff sees Andrew Luck as
the Patriots’ biggest QB test yet by far.Rich Thompson reports the Patriots are
expecting the best of Andrew Luck.Andrew Callahan notes that if Rob Gronkowski
misses Thursday’s game vs. Indianapolis, Dwayne Allen insists he’s ready.Matthew
Geagan tells us what he’ll be watching for tonight: 1. Julian Edelman’s
return.Thomas Murphy (BostonDiehardSportsFans) Monster keys to Patriots vs.
Colts. 1. Bring your A game fat people.Chris Blackey (BostonDiehardSportsFans) 5
Patriots to watch against Indy.Steve Atkinson (BostonSportsExtra) Tom Brady’s
history vs. Andrew Luck.Joy Manning (BostonSportsChick) What happens when the
Patriots possess the ball for at least 2 minutes?Matthew Geagan reports the Indy
Star is throwing some serious shade at Josh McDaniels ahead of tonight’s
matchup.Kevin Duffy Patriots Notebook: Rob Gronkowski returns to practice but is
still big question for Colts game.Doug Kyed addresses his Patriots Mailbag: Does
Tom Brady now have one of his best set of weapons?Ian Glendon
(FullPressCoverage) Sights on 500: Tom Brady approaches career milestone.Staff
(AP) Edelman returns, Gronk on the mend for Patriots Thursday night.Staff (AP)
Could this be Adam Vinatieri’s last game at Gillette Stadium?Alex Reimer points
out since the Colts started Deflategate, they’ve been hampered with nothing but
embarrassment and misery.Nicole Yang passes along a report that Julian Edelman
trained at the Celtics’ practice facility during his suspension and he also
played ping pong with Gordon Hayward.Ryan Hannable passes along a report that
the Patriots worked out two defensive players yesterday.Jim Lazar says Josh
McDaniels will be able to see what he’s not missing, and makes his Thursday
Night pick: Patriots win 34-14.NATIONAL NEWSMike Wells and Mike Reiss (ESPN) The
Patriots-Colts ‘rivalry’ in their words: From Deflategate to now.Frank Schwab
(Yahoo! Sports) Colts and Patriots resume a rivalry, if it’s one anymore, on the
Yahoo Sports app.Herbie Teope (NFL.com) Five things to watch for in
Colts-Patriots on ‘TNF’: 1. Is it really a rivalry if recent results produced
one sided results? /No.Terez Paylor (Yahoo! Sports) Sony Michel gives Pats life,
and Mitchell Schwartz shines.Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Rob Gronkowski to play
Thursday night.Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) T.Y. Hilton among seven Colts ruled
out for Thursday.Cynthia Frelund (NFL.com) Game Theory: Why Julian Edelman
changes everything in Colts-Patriots on TNF. (1.04 min. video)Mike Florio
(ProFootballTalk) Tom Brady currently on pace to earn none of his
incentives.Albert Breer (SI) Game Plan: Six reasons for the NFL’s early
offensive explosion.Kevin Seifert (ESPN) Illegal contact penalties triple from
2017 to 2018 through four weeks.Nate Davis (USA Today) Seven questions for NFL
Week 5: Will Drew Brees take Peyton Manning’s career passing record?Jonathan
Jones (SI) Morning Huddle: Early candidates for NFL MVP.Chris Wesseling
(NFL.com) Top ten MVP candidates.David Carr (NFL.com) Offensive player rankings,
Week 5: Pats’ downfield woes over?Gil Brandt (NFL.com) Top rookie-veteran
duos.John Breech (CBS Sports) Saints coach Sean Payton says NFL was pushing to
have him fired after Bountygate.VIEW FROM INDIANAPOLISJim Ayello (Indy Star)
Bill Belichick has a way of bringing out the worst of Andrew Luck.Scott Horner
(Indy Star) NFL Week 5 picks: Colts are huge underdogs to Patriots.Jake Arthur
(Colts.com) Bill Belichick has high praise for Andrew Luck, Adam Vinatieri,
Kenny Moore II.Frank Reich (Colts.com) Three things to watch for: New England
Patriots. 1. “Defensively we have to disrupt Tom Brady.” (1 min. video) New
England had contact with plenty of prospects over the last few weeks."Later
today, the first round of the 2019 NFL draft will take place in Nashville, and
the New England Patriots will be the final team on the clock courtesy of their
victory in the Super Bowl three months ago. Who they will ultimately end up
picking is up in the air given their current needs, draft capital, and the fact
that the club had some form of reported pre-draft contact with dozens of players
throughout all positions.Let’s take a closer look at those positions to find out
which were the most active ones for the Patriots and who they have spoken to
according to our pre-draft tracker — and what this might mean in the grand
scheme of things. (S = Senior Bowl meeting; C = combine meeting; P = pro day
meeting; W = workout; V = top-30 visit)Wide receiver: 16The Patriots were active
this offseason when it comes to upgrading their wide receiver
position
Color Rush Damien Harris Jersey , but as their pre-draft activity shows they are likely far from done. All in all, the team had reported contact with 16
players over the last few weeks — including potential early round targets such
A.J. Brown, Deebo Samuel, N’Keal Harry, Riley Ridley, and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.
Beyond those five, combine standout Miles Boykin and slot targets Andy Isabella
and Hunter Renfrow are names to watch.Defensive edge: 16After parting ways with
both Trey Flowers and Adrian Clayborn earlier this offseason, the Patriots have
shown a keen interest in this year’s edge defender group. Potential first-round
prospects such as Clelin Ferrell and Montez Sweat had no reported contact with
the world champions, however, which could mean that the club would rather invest
in developmental mid-round options.Defensive tackle: 9New England’s defensive
tackle group is solid as it stands right now — despite Malcom Brown and Danny
Shelton no longer being a part of it — but players like Jerry Tillery or
Dre’Mont Jones would still be good additions in rounds one and two,
respectively. As is the case at the defensive edge, however, the bulk of
pre-draft meetings were conducted with more developmental players.Tight end:
8The Patriots need to add talent to their tight end group after losing Rob
Gronkowski to retirement last month — and their list of pre-draft contact
reflects this. While top prospect T.J. Hockenson is not on the list, potential
day one/day two options Noah Fant, Irv Smith Jr. and Jace Sternberger are. All
three would add upside to the group, with Fant a particularly intriguing option
given his outstanding pass-catching abilities.Quarterback: 5The Patriots don’t
need to draft a quarterback with Tom Brady still showing no signs of slowing
down. With the GOAT turning 42 in August, however, investing in a developmental
passer would be a solid decision — especially if done in one of the mid or later
rounds. That being said, spending a day two pick on Will Grier or Tyree Jackson
could also pay dividends for the club.Running back: 5With Sony Michel, James
White
Youth Damien Harris Jersey , Rex Burkhead and Brandon Bolden all under contract, the need to invest in another running back is a small one. Nevertheless, the
Patriots did meet with some potential targets that might become interesting in
one of the later rounds.Offensive tackle: 5While the Patriots face plenty of
uncertainty at offensive tackle after losing Trent Brown in free agency, they
have been relatively quiet when it comes to working out players at the position
ahead of the draft. The biggest name among the five reported meetings certainly
is Dalton Risner, who could come off the board on day one and would give the
Patriots insurance in case 2018 first-rounder Isaiah Wynn is not yet fully
recovered from his Achilles injury.Cornerback: 5Just like running back,
cornerback is a deep position on New England’s current roster: Stephon Gilmore
was an All-Pro last year, while Jason McCourty and rookie J.C. Jackson both
played at a high level. The Patriots also have 2018 second-round draft choice
Duke Dawson and slot corner/core special teamer Jonathan Jones under contract,
which means that the position is pretty set for 2019 and — with the exception of
impending free agent Jones — beyond. The Patriots still took a look at some
cornerbacks during the pre-draft process, however, with Rock Ya-Sin as the
biggest name on the list.Linebacker: 4None of the linebackers who met with the
Patriots this offseason is expected to be drafted early, and it would be a
surprise if the team picked a player at the position in the first two rounds.
After all, New England has a solid and still young core led by Dont’a Hightower
and Kyle Van Noy together with Elandon Roberts and 2018 rookie Ja’Whaun
Bentley.Safety: 4Nasir Adderley, Taylor Rapp, and Johnathan Abram are three of
the top safeties in this year’s draft — and as such players to watch on the
first two days of the event. While different in style, all three would be
intriguing additions to New England’s group as rotational options and even
potential heirs to Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung, respectively.Offensive
guard: 3While right guard Shaq Mason is under contract through the 2023 season,
his counterpart is scheduled to hit free agency next year. Consequently, the
Patriots might opt to invest in a guard early this weekend to find a long-term
replacement for starting left guard Joe Thuney. If doing so, Chris Lindstrom
would be a logical target as one of the best interior offensive linemen the
draft has to offer — a player who could also kick outside to play tackle.The
main question with pre-draft meetings, at least when it comes to projecting what
the Patriots will do
Womens Damien Harris Jersey , is whether or not they mean anything. Let’s take a look back at the last three years to find out how much pre-draft contact
actually led to the team investing a draft pick or free agency check in a
player.Last year, the Patriots drafted nine players — five of them had pre-draft
contact with New England: first-round selection Sony Michel spoke with the club
at the combine, while Duke Dawson, Christian Sam and Braxton Berrios all were
brought in for top-30 visits. Furthermore, Keion Crossen was worked out
privately by the club as well.While the team was in touch with the majority of
its draft picks, it did not have any reported form of contact with a member of
its undrafted rookie class.In 2017, New England drafted a league-low four men
and spoke with half of them before the event: the team brought offensive tackle
Antonio Garcia in for a top-30 visit and worked out defensive edge Derek Rivers
at the Youngstown State pro day. Both Garcia and Rivers were later drafted in
the third round.Besides meeting with the two future draft picks, New England
also had contact with three players who would join the team as undrafted rookie
free agents: defensive backs Damarius Travis and D.J. Killings both met with the
team at their respective pro days, while defensive tackle Josh Augusta was
brought in for a visit.In 2016, the Patriots were more active on draft day and
picked a total of nine players. Of those nine, three met with the team before
the draft: wide receivers Malcolm Mitchell and Devin Lucien as well as
cornerback Cyrus Jones. Tight end Bryce Williams, later signed as an undrafted
free agent, also had pre-draft contact with New England.As can be seen, the
majority of players picked in the two previous drafts never had any reported
meetings with the Patriots. Last year, however, was different as five of nine
draft choices was in contact with the club at one point during the process.
Could 2018 be an outlier or a general change in the club’s pre-draft behavior?
We will find out over the next few days.
