Notebook: Brendan Daly says Alan Branch has 'worked his tail off' despite dip in playing time

FOXBOROUGH — It has been an odd year for Alan Branch.

His two most memorable moments? This quote, and when he was benched for a contest earlier this season at Tampa Bay. It broke his consecutive games played streak — one of the longest on the team — and left people wondering if the 32-year-old was in danger of souring on the season?

But he’s bounced back over the last couple of weeks, flashing the same style of play that caused Dont’a Hightower to call him one of the most valuable defenders on the team last year. Defensive line coach Brendan Daly said Wednesday that regardless of playing time this year, Branch has maintained a positive attitude.



“He’s managed it. I would say it’s not been an easy thing for him,” Daly said of Branch’s up-and-down year. “He’s faced a number of challenges there from a mental to a physical (standpoint). Varying degrees. I would say that this — he’s a mentally and physically tough guy. He’s handled it as well as he can, and he’s worked his tail off every day and comes in with a good attitude and tries to do whatever is asked of him. You can see some results from that.”

In contrast, one guy who has seen his stock climb pretty steadily this season is Cassius Marsh. The edge player, who was acquired from Seattle shortly before the start of the season, has filled multiple roles this season with the Patriots and has impressed Daly with his attitude, his intensity, and his work ethic.

“Cassius has a unique skill set. He’s a guy we evaluated in the draft process and had a very high opinion of. A lot of times when that happens, you don’t get an opportunity to work with that guy, and fortunately we’ve been able to,” Daly said of Marsh. “He works really hard. He’s a smart player who understands schemes and learns schemes fairly quickly. Plays extremely hard. High effort, high motor guy. Has made a number of plays for us in pursuit.”

Patriots keeping emergency lists updated

The Patriots had outside linebacker Jayrone Elliott (Toledo) and tight end Gabe Holmes (Purdue) in for free-agent workouts on Tuesday, a league source confirmed. Elliott is a 6-foot-3, 255-pounder who has suited up for the Packers (2014-16) and Cowboys (2017). His best season came in 2015 with Green Bay, when he had 24 tackles, three sacks, two passes defense and an interception. He was dealt to Dallas prior to the start of the season, but he was waived on Sept. 19 and went unclaimed. As for Holmes, he’s a 26-year-old who has spent time with the Raiders (2015-16), Seahawks ('17) and Ravens ('17). The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder has never caught a pass in an NFL regular season game.

McCourty, Brady among Patriots’ snap count leaders at halfway point

We’ve kept a running tally of snap count leaders throughout the first eight weeks of the season, and while there are no more defensive players capable of going wire-to-wire this season — linebacker Kyle Van Noy was the last man standing — there are four offensive players who have played at least 100 percent of the snaps through the first half of the year: quarterback Tom Brady, center David Andrews and guards Joe Thuney and Shaq Mason. (For what it’s worth left tackle Nate Solder has missed just three snaps this season. And wide receiver Brandin Cooks leads all offensive skill position players with a 92 percent playtime rate after eight weeks.) On the other side of the ball, Van Noy (96 percent) trails only Devin McCourty (99.9 percent) and Malcolm Butler (96 percent) when it comes to the top three defensive leaders.