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.
The bye is here -- the Patriots held their last workout Wednesday afternoon before leaving for a few days off. A chilly session outside, everyone (including Rob Gronkowski and Shaq Mason) was there except for Dwayne Allen, who is nursing a knee injury. We had a chance to talk with Tom Brady and James White at the podium in the media workroom, but after that, the locker room was pretty much cleared out. Players are expected back in the building on Monday -- that's when the stretch run really begins. Both Brady and White sounded a positive note Wednesday when asked how this team might respond the rest of the way.
"It’s really a long season, and you’ve got to be playing your best at the end of the year and that’s what we’re coming up on," Brady said. "So it’s a lot of urgency our coaches put on us to be able to do that, and we’ll see what we do. I think it’s one thing to say it. It’s another to go do it. And I think we have a great intention to go out there and do it."
"Coach always says football doesn't start until after Thanksgiving, so you've got to play your best football when it comes around," added White. "We have a lot of division games (the rest of the way). I think guys will come back fired up and ready to go and have a lot of energy, because it's the most important part of the season."
Now, on with the links...
1. I talked to a handful of guys over the last two days about their road woes this year, which stands in stark contrast to the job the team has done the last two years away from home. Phillip Dorsett gave it to me in a nutshell. “It’s definitely it’s slow starts,” he said. “It’s hard to come from behind in this league. We have to play better on the road. Simple as that. We came out phenomenal when we’re home, but we have to take more pride in playing better on the road. That’s what it’s going to take. We got it done last year. We have a handful of road games left, and we have to win away from home.”
2. Greg takes one last look back at the debacle in Nashville, a game that saw the Patriots struggle in all three phases. This passage really stood out for me. "There is nothing wrong with Brady’s arm," writes Greg. "His issues are with his footwork, which is either some sloppiness creeping in or he’s compensating for some kind of injury and he doesn’t want to get hit. When Brady gets on the balls of his feet and steps toward his intended target, he still very much has his fastball. Why isn’t he doing that consistently? That’s the million-dollar question."
3. Video: Brady stopped by the media workroom on his way out of the stadium to talk about the bye week, and what lies ahead for the Patriots.
4. Video: Matthew Slater also talked with us after practice, and one of his biggest themes was the fact the Patriots need to have a "great sense of urgency" the rest of the way. (Also, a shout-out to Slater -- he's the team nominee for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, which recognizes an NFL player who best demonstrates good sportsmanship, fair play, respect and integrity.)
5. The notebook touches on the chilly practice conditions, as well as the good news that Gronkowski and Mason were at practice. We also got to the bottom of the mystery man who was wearing No. 50 at the start of the session.
6. Mike Reiss says that according to ESPN's Football Power Index, the Patriots have the second-easiest schedule in the rest of the league over the last six weeks of the regular season.
7. Phil Perry asked Brady about the stat that had him as the worst quarterback in the league against the blitz this season. Brady said he hadn't seen the stat yet, but said he wanted to get out of the basement ASAP. "Any time you're last in the league in anything, that's probably not very good," Brady said. "I haven't studied that as much. I think if they blitz, it gives us great opportunities to make plays. If we're not doing that, then we've got to figure out how to do it."
8. Turns out , Brady really likes "Hamilton." Same for Slater. Although Slater thinks Brady might struggle if he was part of the cast.
9. On Wednesday, Dion Lewis gave a little more context to his "cheap" comments in the wake of Tennessee's win over the Patriots. “I’m a feisty guy -- everybody knows that,” Lewis said, according to Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline. “I have to be that way, I’m (5-foot-7). So I have to carry an edge or chip, so that’s just how I am and that’s what’s gotten me to where I am. So it’s nothing personal, that’s just the type of person I am, the player I am.”
10. If Kevin Clark is writing on the Patriots, I'm reading it. And you should be too. As always, Kevin provides a really smart and thoughtful piece about the state of things in New England. Kevin is great at avoiding the broad-brush narrative favored by a lot of national writers. Always a good read.
Extra Point:
We go deep with #Patriots captain/Pro Bowler Matthew Slater on who helps him avoid the temptations of ?,?,?. The @TB12sports method helps, but we don’t know how he can resist? pic.twitter.com/mJaOhCNeQp
— The Camera Guys (@NBCSCameraGuys) November 14, 2018