First and 10: Decision day on Malcolm Mitchell, get to know the Jaguars

Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of (mostly) Patriots-related links you need to start your day:



It's set to be a big day in Foxborough, and not just because of the free media lunch at noon.

Wednesday is the deadline for the Patriots to activate wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell. The young pass catcher, who has been dogged by a knee injury all season, has been on injured reserve. He returned to practice on Dec. 27, which started the clock on a three-week period for the Patriots where they needed to make a decision on whether to activate him on the 53-man roster or lose him for the rest of the year. The last day for that window is Wednesday.

It's debatable how much he would be able to bring to the table at this point in the season, but as a rookie, he distinguished himself as a reliable target, catching 32 passes for 401 yards and four touchdowns. In Super Bowl LI, he had six catches for 70 yards.

Here's the schedule for the day:

12:15 p.m.: Media Availability at Practice (Location TBD).
1:15-1:25 p.m: Conference Call with Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone (Media Workroom).
2:15-3:00 p.m: Patriots Press Conferences carried live on NFL Network (Media Workroom) with Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater and Bill Belichick.
Approx. 3:30-4:15 p.m.: Patriots Player Availability (Open Locker Room).

Now, on to the links...

1. Greg has a dynamite breakdown of the Patriots’ divisional playoff win over Tennessee.

2. Get to know the Jags — with this complete statistical breakdown of the Patriots’ opponent.

3. I got some great questions and (hopefully) provided a few good answers in my weekly Q&A.

4. Leonard Fournette was involved in a minor car crash on Tuesday.

5. This is a really fun story — Conor Orr watched Patrots-Titans and scouted the game using Steve Belichick’s legendary manual.

6. Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated has a breakdown and prediction of the AFC title game.

7. Pro Football Focus has an early look at both championship games.

8. The Vikings are moving past the Minnesota Miracle.

9. The Eagles special teams are a major weakness heading into the weekend.

10. What would this guy have done if his team lost?

Extra Point: Per the NFL’s Next Gen Stats Dept — The Patriots led the league in "coverage sacks," or sacks taking longer than 4.5 seconds from snap to tackle, in 2017. They recorded four more coverage sacks on Saturday vs. Tennessee.

ONE TAKE PRICE WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
I don’t know if I’m thinking more about it because the seed was planted a couple of weeks ago by our scout friend Matt Williamson here, or the fact that more and more people seem to be talking about it as the game gets closer. But I’m starting to buy into the idea the Jaguars might use cornerback Jalen Ramsey on Rob Gronkowski for a sizable portion of Sunday’s game. Some guys who have cornerback skills have had some success against Gronkowski over the years. Besides, the 6-foot-1, 209-pound Ramsey is Jacksonville’s best corner. It almost seems like a waste to put him on anyone other than the Patriots’ biggest and best pass catcher.