Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your Friday. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
Four preseason games are in the books. Now? It's time to make the cuts.
Like every other team in the league, New England needs to be at 53 players by Friday at 4 p.m. They'll also need to put together a 10-man practice squad by the following day. We'll keep up on everything here at BSJ on what is traditionally one of the busiest weekends on the NFL calendar.
Three things stood out for us that we didn't get a chance to write about late Thursday night:
--One, the Patriots didn't appear to be in a real hurry to clear out after the game. There were a ton of players who had friends and family there, including Danny Etling, and it was nice to see the backups and the third-string guys enjoy the moment after a game like that. (Bill Belichick was also spotted smiling and chatting with his old buddy Carl Banks.) Basically, it was a pretty relaxed group.
--Two, wide receivers coach Chad O'Shea was on the offensive headsets for the second straight preseason finale as the offensive play-caller. A nice honor for O'Shea, who is entering his 10th season with the Patriots. It was good to hear Belichick give him a postgame shout-out for the playcall on the Etling 86-yard touchdown.
--And three, it sounds like Brady might have been traveling back to Boston on his own.
Just heard a very loud security guys walkie-talkie outside the Giants locker room. “TOM BRADY’S CAR IS ON THE LOADING DOCK.”
— Christopher Price (@cpriceNFL) August 31, 2018
DANNY VICKLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!pic.twitter.com/i6hlcoFa2v
— Prime Bam Childress (@fearthe_beard11) August 31, 2018