Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your Thursday. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
Before we get things started, here are a couple quotes of note from Wednesday's locker room session.
--Dont'a Hightower seemed to hint he was trying a few new things when it came to rehab and attempting to stay as healthy as possible.
“The biggest thing was, I tried to hit those small muscles that I don’t always hit, treat those more in a different rehab routine, more acupuncture and soft tissue (treatments) that I’ve been educated on since the injury," he said. "I feel good now and am going to continue on that throughout the year. Hopefully it’ll help me.
“Within those first couple of days of training camp, psychologically getting that comfort back, I felt good,” he added. “I’ve been running with that and staying on top of this rehab. So, it’s been keeping me busy, but I’m going to do what I can to stay on the field.”
--Trent Brown -- who is a man of few words -- was back on the field after missing a pair of practices.
“I came back and feel like I didn’t miss a beat,” he said after practice.
—Today’s schedule
12:25 p.m.: Media Availability at Practice Until Team Drills (Empower Field House)
3 p.m.: Approximate Time for Player Availability (Open Locker Room)
Now, on with the links...
1. I provided a full-on scouting report of the Patriots' newest practice squad wide receiver, Jace Billinsgley. He looks an awful lot like Danny Woodhead, his teammates at Detroit called him "White Thunder," and he once had a 104-yard return as a collegian. Interesting background.
2. The notebook from Wednesday covered a bunch of stuff, including what went down in the "Tom vs. Time" epilogue, as well as practice and injury report and some analysis.
3. We have some good video of the edge defenders honing their pass-rush skills at the start of Wednesday's practice, as well as Hightower's meet-and-greet with the media on Wednesday afternoon.
4. Greg made his regular-season debut with the fellas from "Felger & Mazz" on Wednesday afternoon.
5. Mike Reiss has the story on the Patriots' "broken-play coach."
6. Tom E. Curran says "Tom vs. Time" was a peek inside a mild midlife crisis.
7. JJ Watt says he's ready to let loose against Brady and the Patriots on Sunday. “I’m very excited,” Watt said. “I’m sure there are a lot of people who are cautiously optimistic. Obviously the last two years we’ve said the same thing. So, I’m just looking forward to going out there and playing football, letting it loose, having fun and letting the chips fall where they may.”
8. Former Patriots' defensive back A.J. Moore is getting up to speed as a member of the Texans. "I felt very thankful for the opportunity the Patriots gave me," Moore said. "I gave it my best shot up there. They released me, so I'm here and thankful for the Texans for picking me up and I'm coming here to do whatever they ask me do to and be a great teammate."
This is how #Patriots try and prepare for Deshaun Watson’s scrambling ability! Have a running back force the D Line to keep contain on the move! Not easy! #settheedge pic.twitter.com/I0E5Rcjgdf
— The Camera Guys (@NBCSCameraGuys) September 5, 2018