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.
Back to regular-season football this weekend. Finally.
--Going to be interesting to hear what Tom Brady might have to say today in his first availability of the regular season.
Today’s Schedule
11:30 a.m.: Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick Press Availability (Media Workroom)
12:10 p.m.: Media Availability at Practice Until Team Drills (Lower Grass Field)
1:45 p.m.: Approximate Time for Player Availability (Open Locker Room) and Patriots QB Tom Brady Media Availability (Media Workroom)
Now, on with the links...
1. Greg delivers his gameplan points for Sunday's matchup. So much good stuff here.
2. I talked with an NFC scout who has taken a look at the Patriots and Texans, and he has a few thoughts as to how things are going to break down. He also talked about the challenge that comes with coaching the first month of the season, where no matter how well you prepare, things can be a bit of a crapshoot.
3. Ton of stuff in the notebook, including news that Patriots' second-round pick Duke Dawson is going on injured reserve. (Maybe next year New England just takes a pass on the second round?) There are also practice/injury updates. But we lead with a look at the captains for 2018. Does it matter at all if Rob Gronkowski and Dont'a Hightower were not names captains for 2018?
4. Because you guys asked for it, the NFL Power Rankings are back for another year. We've given the Eagles the top spot, but check out where we have the rest of the field at the start of the new season.
5. Spent some quality time Thursday talking Patriots-Texans with Matt Thomas on SportsTalk 790 in Houston. He asked me a good question -- come Monday, what's going to be the primary topic on Boston sports talk radio -- Astros-Red Sox or Texans-Patriots?
6. Greg and I have our Week One picks, and we also have predictions for the season from me, Greg and Miguel.
7. On the new episode of "America's Game" that dropped earlier this week, LeGarrette Blount said he was bitter about the way things ended with the Patriots . "The way things ended there was uh, not to my liking," Blount says. "I had told them how bad I wanted to be there, and how much I wanted to stay there and I didn't want to leave, and, you know, they couldn't get a deal done for me. I just feel like they didn't respect me, you know, at all."
8. Texans tight end -- and New England native -- Ryan Griffin said he's tired of losing to the Patriots.
9. When it comes to the Texans, Week One and New England will be an excellent litmus test to see if they're for real, writes ESPN's Sara Barshop. "Houston has not beaten the Patriots since the regular-season finale in 2009 (0-7 since) and has never won at Gillette Stadium. An early victory against New England would show the league that this Texans team not only can compete for a playoff spot, but it can be among the best in the AFC."
10. Pro Football Focus previews this week's action. When it comes to the Patriots-Texans, the focus for New England will be on the wide receivers, and one new guy in particular. "The wild-card here will be offseason acquisition Cordarrelle Patterson, who is known for his breakout speed but has never really put it together at receiver."
Extra Point(s):
What does 70-year-old offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia do before a walkthrough practice? Crush the stationary bike, of course. pic.twitter.com/X7q7iAy4WP
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) September 6, 2018
Haven't seen the @Rodney_Harrison #AFootballLife yet but I hope it has the best hit he ever made #WBZ @STEVEBURTONWBZ #Patriots pic.twitter.com/B4fmTe6QKo
— Joe Giza (@JoeGiza) September 27, 2016