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.
--Had a different feeling in the locker room on Wednesday, as more and more national media showed up. Smart move on their part -- they'll get a piece of the Pats before things get really crazy in the week before the Super Bowl when everyone is on site. But it all added some extra buzz to the proceedings in Foxborough on Thursday, and served as a reminder the madness will only start to ramp up going forward.
--Looks like New England is still a 2.5-point favorite, at least as of Thursday morning.
--The Patriots didn't practice, but they have a clean injury sheet -- here's the report for both teams from Wednesday:
--Couple of workdays for the players loom for the Patriots as they want to get some stuff done before they leave for Atlanta over the weekend.
Thursday’s Schedule
11:30-11:45 a.m.: Bill Belichick press conference (media workroom)
12:30 p.m.: Media availability at practice
3:30 p.m.: Approximate time for player availability (locker room) and Devin McCourty, Rob Gronkowski and Patrick Chung (media workroom)
Now, on with the links...
1. On Tuesday, Patriots defensive line coach Brendan Daly compared Trey Flowers to James Hall, a defensive end who played 12 years in the league. On Wednesday, I tracked down Hall to ask him what he thought of the comparison.
2. It's been a quotable season, and while there's still another week-plus to go, I've had the good fortune to hear a lot of funny, insightful and all-around memorable things from guys like Cordarrelle Patterson, Tom Brady and Gronkowski. Here are some of my favorites.
3. Greg spent some quality time with the fellas from Felger & Mazz Wednesday, while I talked Patriots with ESPN 590 in Omaha.
4. Shaq Mason was one of a few guys who stopped by the media workroom to talk on Wednesday, and the offensive lineman discussed a bunch of stuff, including the logistical challenge you face as a player when it comes to tickets.
5. Here are the podium transcripts from Mason, Kyle Van Noy and James White from Wednesday afternoon. (Van Noy was pretty good, particularly when it came to him describing his first meeting with Tom Brady.)
6. Mike Reiss looks at the balanced Rams' offense, and tries to figure out what the Patriots might be inclined to try to take away.
7. Regardless of who New England decides to target, the defense is trending in the right direction heading into the Super Bowl. "Just trusting each other on the back end and those guys getting pressure up front," said Stephon Gilmore. "Everything goes hand-in-hand and we're just trying to play fast and aggressive."
8. The Rams feel the same way about the direction of their defense heading into the Super Bowl. "They've played consistent," Rams coach Sean McVay said of the defense, led by DC Wade Phillips. "It's a credit to those guys."
9. Bill Plaschke of the LA Times calls the Patriots the perfect football villain. "Nothing quite raises the ire of the Los Angeles sports fan like the sight of anything Boston," writes Plaschke, "and here comes another one of its stinking teams, resurrecting all kinds of recent nasty memories."
10. So it turns out McVay and Julian Edelman played against each other twice in college when McVay was at Miami of Ohio and Edelman was at Kent State. Our Twitter pal @ftbeard_17 put together a great series of video clips from one of the games. A really fun thread.
Extra Point:
Ex-#Bucs coach & #OSU DC Greg Schiano is here in Mobile to explore his NFL opportunities. Nothing is done, but the spot that appears likely is the #Patriots in a top defensive role, sources tell @JamesPalmerTV and me. With Brian Flores taking the #Dolphins job, Schiano slides in.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 23, 2019