Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your Monday. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
Welcome back from the weekend! Have a few quick notes before we get things started this morning.
--Mandatory minicamp kicks off Tuesday, and based on comments from the owner and the tight end, I'd now expect it to include Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. (From reading all the signals, at this point, it'd be a surprise if they weren't there.) The three practices will be open to the media -- here's how things will break down the next few days. (Team BSJ will be in attendance):
11 a.m. — Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick Media Availability (Practice Field)
11:25 a.m. — Practice
1:30 p.m. — Approximate End of Practice and Start of Player Availability
(UPDATE, 11:40 a.m. -- According to sources, both Brady and Gronkowski are at the stadium Monday morning.)
--We're obviously going to be keeping a close eye on Brady and Gronkowski to see how they look, but one other guy we're going to be looking for is Malcolm Mitchell. The young receiver, who missed all of last season, has been off the radar for much of the spring. The Patriots are clearly managing his reps, but it's not a good sign for someone who was out for all of 2017. There are some questions about how the depth chart at receiver shakes out, but a healthy Mitchell would go a long way toward clarifying things and provide another dependable set of hands for Brady and the passing game.
--Happy 26th birthday, Geneo Grissom.
Now, on with the links...
1. In this week’s edition of the NFL Notebook, we've got a ton of stuff, including a brewing battle around the league between scouts and coaches, some ex-Patriots who are trying to make a go of it in the CFL, and Reggie Wayne explains why he really left New England. But it leads with Brian Flores looking more and more like a man in command of the Patriots' defense.
2. Gronkowski and his "erotic arms" are ready for mandatory minicamp. “I’ll be there this week. I’ll be full go,” he said. “Looking forward to it — can’t wait to get back. Get back to work. I’m excited.”
3. It was so much fun talking to former New York Giant Mark Bavaro. Here's Part Two of my conversation with Bavaro, which looks at home growing up in Danvers, his street-hockey days, his friendship with Eck and what it was like to win the "Onion Bowl." There's also a lot of good stuff in there about his Giants' days. "It wasn’t always fun playing — I knew some guys who played for (Bill) Parcells who ended up in therapy after their careers were over," he said. "But it was fun winning as much as we did. When you’re talking about how short an NFL career is, you can put up with some misery for a few years."
4. Greg had an awesome Friday afternoon Q&A. Check out the transcript here.
5. I know you still have questions -- I've got a Monday afternoon Q&A that will start at about 3 o'clock. Get your questions in now, because it's going to be epic.
6. In Mike Reiss' weekend notebook, there's an update on Shea McClellin, who said his two years with the Patriots were the best of his career. McClellin also said that if you haven't played for New England, the culture isn't really something you'd understand. "I would say a lot of guys don't know what they're talking about, because they haven't experienced it," he said. "When you have a winning culture, everyone is going to hate on it. That's what comes with it, it's the way it is. It's hard for someone who hasn't been in the situation to say, ‘Oh, it's like this, it's like that.' It's a winning culture and you're going to get slander and hate -- that's just the way it is. From my standpoint, I absolutely enjoyed my time there -- from the coaches to the owners, players and trainers."
7. This is a good tongue-in-cheek piece from Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal about the Patriots, Belichick and fun. "The key takeaway from New England’s dominant run is not Brady’s greatness, or Belichick’s grouchy mien, but this: everyone is replaceable," Gay writes. "That’s at the core of the Patriots success, and it is an essential truth of every workplace. Every human, no matter how skilled, can be replaced." Bonus points for the Mad Men ("That's what the money is for!") clip, which makes perfect sense within the context of the column.
8. Brady played in the "Best Buddies" football game on Friday night at Harvard, but didn't take part in the bike ride, according to our pals at the Cape Cod Times. Julian Edelman, James White and Troy Brown were all in attendance.
9. The Patriots OTA drama involving Brady and Gronkowski pales in comparison to what's going on in Pittsburgh, where Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger have missed some or all of the OTAs to this point in the spring. Oh, and the Steelers are doing this all while working with a new offensive coordinator.
10. Our buddy Albert Breer has a look around the league, and he includes five thoughts on where the Patriots stand heading into minicamp. On the absence of Brady and Gronkowski to this point in the offseason: "Ideal? No. But the work that got done for the others hasn’t changed much, because the competitive phase of the Patriots’ offseason really starts in July. In essence, the absences of Brady and Gronkowski up until this week were treated as if those players were unavailable with an injury."
Extra Point:
Adam Richins/Boston Sports Journal
Patriots
First and 10: Mandatory minicamp starts Tuesday -- Brady, Gronkowski expected to show (UPDATED: They're there)
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