Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your Tuesday. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
For a young reporter, few things were as terrifying as losing your train of thought while talking to Rodney Harrison a few days after a blowout.
The Patriots had lost to the Bills a few days earlier, 31-0. That morning in the locker room, I found myself facing Harrison, by myself, trying to figure out a way to ask the question: How do you go about bouncing back from a blowout? Only problem was, I lost my nerve, and I sort of danced around things: "Uh, how do you ... is it possible ... can you..."
He stepped in: "How do you come back from getting your ass kicked?"
Thank you, I thought. "Yes. Yes. That. How do you bounce back from ... that?"
"Got to come in the next day, put the time in. Go to work. There are no shortcuts. I'm confident we can do it. It's just a matter of getting it done."
Of course, they got it done, just like Rodney said. You can watch the highlights and see the big hits and look at the stats, but for me, covering Harrison on a daily basis from 2003 through 2008, that was pretty much Rodney in a nutshell: No BS -- putting in work, getting the job done, and yielding results. And always something interesting to say along the way.
7. Gregg Rosenthal has a look at the projected starting lineups for all four AFC teams on both sides of the ball, and has Harry and JoeJuan Williams as starters. The strength of this team? The secondary. "The Super Bowl was a showcase for the Patriots' secondary depth, and the depth chart looks even better now," writes Rosenthal. "The nickel package above doesn't even have room for Super Bowl starter Jonathan Jones, safety Duron Harmon, undrafted find J.C. Jackson or last year's second-round pick, Duke Dawson. Few teams will be able to match up to specific receivers and handle spread offenses better than Bill Belichick's crew."
Congrats to Rodney Harrison on being elected to the #Patriots Hall of Fame #WBZ pic.twitter.com/rAEO1FUOO9
— Joe Giza (@JoeGiza) May 6, 2019
