Notebook: Branch, Burkhead not spotted at start of Patriots practice

Defensive lineman Alan Branch and running back Rex Burkhead were the only two players missing from the start of Patriots practice on Wednesday.

Branch injured his knee in the loss to the Dolphins earlier this month, and was sidelined for Sunday’s win over the Steelers. As for Burkhead, he sustained a knee injury in the victory against Pittsburgh, but according to a report from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, it’s not expected to be a long-term issue.



Gronkowski gains another honor

It’s been quite a month for Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.

He was suspended for a game in early December for a late him on Buffalo cornerback Tre’Davious White, and his absence was palpable in a road loss to Miami. But in his return to action Sunday against the Steelers, he was transcendent, finishing with nine catches for a career-high 168 yards. The performance was good enough for AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors, the league announced on Wednesday. It marks the second time in his career that he has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week. He first earned the award in Week 14 of the 2011 season.

Wrolstad back for another Pats’ game

Craig Wrolstad will work as the official for Sunday’s Patriots-Bills game. Wrolstad, who is in his fourth season as a referee, will be working his second New England game of the season — his first was back in Week 2 in New Orleans. In that contest, the Patriots were flagged for nine penalties for 66 yards. For more on his work as an official, check out his page at Pro Football Reference.

More on Mason, Flowers

Following up on our story from Tuesday on Shaq Mason and Trey Flowers being potential Pro Bowl snubs, our pals at Pro Football Focus have some updated totals on their production over the first 14 weeks of the season:

Flowers' pass rush productivity rating of 10.7 ranks 11th among 4-3 defensive ends and his 53 total pressures are the 12th most at the position. In addition, he is one of just five 4-3 defensive ends who have at least 18 total pressures from both the right and left sides. As for Mason, he has the seventh-highest run blocking PFF grade with 85.2, and gave up just one sack all season while playing 556 pass blocking snaps, which is tied with Joe Thuney and Brandon Brooks for the seventh-most among guards.

This is 40: Brady nearing Favre’s marks

Throughout the season, we’ve been comparing Tom Brady’s season against other 40-year-old quarterbacks, and with two games to go, here’s how he stacks up against other 40-year-old signal-callers. (This is sorted by passer rating, via Pro Football Reference. If you want to sort by other categories, check out the page here.)



For what it’s worth, it appears he’ll be able to beat Brett Favre’s mark for passing yards, but needs five touchdowns and no picks in the last two games to tie Favre’s TD-to-INT ratio. He also needs a bit of a bump to surpass Favre’s passer rating for the season. We’re also not wild about using wins to define a quarterback’s success or failure, but wins in his last two games would give him the most regular-season victories in one year for a 40-year-old quarterback.