Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your Tuesday. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
So Tom Brady landed the top spot for the second straight season on the NFL Network's "Top 100" countdown.
Simply the greatest.
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1⃣ 1⃣ 1⃣
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Congratulations to @Patriots QB Tom Brady, this year's No. 1 player voted by the players! #NFLTop100 pic.twitter.com/Fkqq9avlfA
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) June 26, 2018
There are quotes from current and former teammates like Matthew Slater, Dion Lewis and Brandin Cooks (“It’d be insane if he wasn’t No. 1. Let’s just say that”) but it’s also interesting to hear the quotes from opponents.
Derek Carr: “When I look at him, it’s the same kind of mindset I try to get myself into from just watching him. He stays calm and he just does his job. ‘Let’s lock in on just the little things: Let my feet be right. Let my accuracy be right. Let my read be right.' And when you just keep watching him over the years, doing those little things over and over again, it’s not some crazy thing. He’s just doing the little things right, when it’s hard.”
Kirk Cousins: "He’s No. 1 because of the production, the individual statistics. He’s had a revolving door in terms of the supporting cast around him from year-to-year, and yet, he doesn’t miss a beat. When we were preparing for the Saints, we watched the Patriots against the Saints (and) some of the plays he made … he threw a touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski ‘off schedule,’ just hanging in the pocket. I see that as mobility. I see that as extending a play. It may not be running around. In fact, sometimes, running downfield, he may look like a baby giraffe. But he finds a way in the pocket to keep his eyes downfield when there’s chaos around him and deliver throws time and time again, especially in the big moments.”
Russell Wilson: “He’s the greatest of all-time.”
Taylor Lewan: “Tom has been slaying it. That’s (the) easy belt-taker right there.”
Mike Evans: “I wanted to beat him really bad, because of the inner kid in me, being a Peyton Manning fan. But it’s awesome to share the field with greatness.”
One thing that was kind of cool? One of the examples of what makes Brady Brady in the segment above was his execution when it came to the game-winner from last September to beat the Texans. Not to toot our own horn, but we highlighted the same throw as one of his best from 2017 in our position by position review year and the end of the season. (For more on that, check out our look back at the QB position last year here.)
--No updates yet on Julian Edelman, who had his appeal heard on Monday. It's always hard to tell how long these sorts of things take, but when Richard Sherman had his case, it took about a week between when the appeal process started and the ruling that ultimately cleared him.
Anyway, let's get to the links...
1. I had a terrific Q&A on Monday afternoon with a lot of Malcolm Mitchell talk. The thumbnail version? I'd like to be optimistic about where he is at this stage of the process, but it's getting awfully hard to stay upbeat. I still see him starting camp on PUP, but that's still to be determined.
2. Brady tried to pitch Denver pass rusher Von Miller on a possible position change.
4. Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr thought Russell Wilson should have won the MVP last year, not Brady. "No offensive line, no running game, can't name three receivers on his team and he just makes plays," Barr said of Wilson.
5. A few days late on this one, but I enjoyed this story from Mike Reiss on who is going to retire first, Brady or Adam Vinatieri. I'm going Vinatieri, but not by more than year or so.
Extra Point: From Raiders rookie -- and Massachusetts native -- Maurice Hurst.
Hurst: "It'd just be crazy to get a sack on Tom Brady. I mean he's been playing since the early 1900's. So I mean just getting that opportunity to sack someone that could be my grandfather is very exciting." pic.twitter.com/IVe7SJ07tI
— Chris Reed (@ChrisReed_NFL) June 23, 2018