EN ROUTE FROM JACKSONVILLE TO BOSTON -- 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.
Operating on very little sleep, here are a few quick thoughts on Sunday's game:
--OK, so based on the last two games he's had against the Patriots, if I'm New England, I stop saying, "Well, we'll put the game in the hands of Blake Bortles and see if he can beat us." Not saying he's going to the Hall of Fame, but he made some great throws on Sunday, including the one to Keelan Cole in the end zone.
--I wrote a lot about this in my story (check the link below), but there didn't seem to be a lot of worry coming out of the Patriots' locker room after the game. Maybe that's false bravado. Maybe that's because they've been here before an awful lot over the years. Only time will tell which is which. But in my experience, they handled this pretty much the same way every New England team has handled these sorts of early-season setbacks: We'll watch the film. We'll make the adjustments. And we'll get better.
--Want to really dig into the film, but at first glance, Eric Rowe may have played himself into a backup role on Sunday (to his credit, he sounds self-aware enough to know why he was benched), while Ja'Whaun Bentley looked an awful lot like a rookie at times. James White? He was nails in the big moments ... again.
--It was crazy hot in Jacksonville on Sunday. I covered the Patriots in a lot of those early days of the Tom Brady Era when they seemed to play a lot of Miami games in September, and this was legitimately hotter than any of those games.
--Interesting that one of the Jacksonville PR guys said at the end of the night to some New England reporters, "We'll see you guys in January."
Monday’s schedule
11:30 a.m.: Conference Call with Bill Belichick
4-4:45 p.m.: Approximate time for player availability (locker room)
Now, on with the links...
1. Let's talk about what happened Sunday afternoon in what is sure to be an epic Q&A. Get your questions in now.
2. Greg has a column you have to read all the way to the end. Seriously. There's a lot going on there, including some really interesting comments about the Patriots from Jacksonville tight end Austin Seferaian-Jenkins.
3. Greg's game report breaks down everything from Sunday's contest on both sides of the ball, including this passage: "The Jaguars scored touchdowns on three of their four first-half possessions, and none of the drives went for less than 50 yards." Yikes.
4. As I hinted, after Sunday's loss, the vibe from the New England locker room was something approaching a quiet confidence. That's not to suggest the Patriots didn’t take what happened Sunday in Jacksonville seriously. It's just that while no one in the locker room afterward uttered “We’re on to Detroit,” the lack of panic/worry/concern coming out of the New England locker room after the game was palpable.
5. We have video from a bunch of different corners New England locker room, including Kyle Van Noy, Duron Harmon, Rob Gronkowski, James White and Chris Hogan.
6. There weren't a lot of candidates to choose from when it came to the Stay Covered Defensive Play of the Game, but we'll go with Van Noy's fourth-quarter interception, a pick that initially looked like it was going to change the momentum of Sunday's contest.
7. Greg spent some quality time after the game talking with the fellas on the 98.5 Patriots' Postgame Show.
8. My notebook led with a look at the fact that despite the fact it was the hottest game in franchise history, Brady believes the elements didn't play a role in the loss. There are also tidbits in there about the debut of Sony Michel, as well as some thoughts from Gronkowski and Hogan.
9. Mike Reiss says the Patriots' defense took a step back on Sunday.
10. Judy Battista of NFL Media says the Jaguars showed their growth in the win over New England. "You have to be realistic," defensive tackle Malik Jackson said. "They're still the team at the top. It's only Week 2, but we did a great job of putting ourselves in position to take that over."
So, it’s a touch toasty here at TIAA Field. ???#Patriots pic.twitter.com/xiHnn3qhv5
— The Camera Guys (@NBCSCameraGuys) September 16, 2018
Belichick? Smell-ichick.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) September 16, 2018