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.
--Monday is the next to last day of open camp practices. We’re scheduled to hear from Bill Belichick at 8:45 a.m. on Monday, and camp is set to run from 9:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. on the fields behind Gillette Stadium. As always, if there’s a question about practice, you can verify times by calling 508-549-0001 or by visiting visiting www.patriots.com/trainingcamp.
--Happy Birthday to Devin and Jason McCourty, who turn 31 on Monday.
--I've got a Live Q&A that should kick off around 3 p.m. Monday. Get your questions in now, because it's going to be epic.
Now, on with the links…
1. My weekend notebook looked at a variety of stuff, including whether or not there’s a possible overcorrection on the part of Belichick, the New England defense readying to face more RPOs this season, some of our favorite preseason streaks, and more.
2. Greg also has his first 53-man roster projection of the summer, which has a few surprises.
3. Greg’s practice report from Sunday broke down what happened during training camp session No. 12, an afternoon that saw a lot of work for Tom Brady.
4. Greg also updated our Live Coverage page throughout Sunday afternoon.
5. Spent some quality time talking to some of Trent Brown’s old coaches, including Mike Summers, the former offensive line coach at the University of Florida, who shared this story about Brown as a collegian. “We’re in Florida,” said Summers. “And we get a lot of these pop-up thunderstorms. Everyone, when they would hear the thunder roll, would huddle around Trent because they figured lightning would strike him before it would strike the rest of us.”
6. Miguel says he wouldn’t expect Brady’s new incentive-laden deal to have a major impact on the Patriots’ salary cap.
7. Miguel also notes the offseason workout bonuses will actually lower the Patriots’ cap space number by close to $500,000.
8. I spent part of my Friday night talking Patriots with Christian Arcand of 98.5 The Sports Hub.
9. Greg has his film breakdown on both sides of the ball from the preseason opener — offense and defense.
10. I’ve also got the three biggest takeaways from Belichick’s Friday conference call, a session where he admitted playing late into the postseason can sometimes impact the following year. “Our overall schedule and situation is what it is,” he said. “There isn’t really much we can do about that, and playing late into the season the year before is definitely what we want to do, so (we’re) not complaining about that. But, it does affect the following season, there’s no question about that.”
Extra Point:
9/9/79 - New England pummels the Jets 56-3. Steve Grogan was a QB who was best known for his running ability, but check out the DIME he lays on Harold Jackson at the 0:48 mark. pic.twitter.com/BSX1DybKmY
— Ƒunhouse (@BackAftaThis) August 11, 2018