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.
A few quick notes before we kick things off…
—One of the big winners of this offseason? Braxton Berrios. The young slot receiver, who didn’t see the field at all last year, saw another challenger for the backup slot role fall by the wayside on Wednesday when the Patriots cut Bruce Ellington. New England has tried to build depth at the position a handful of ways over the course of the last couple of months, but whether it’s been Ellington’s situation, the failed pursuit of Adam Humphries, or the fact the Patriots didn’t land any slot guys in the draft, things are starting to look good for him. There’s a lot of time between now and the start of the regular season, but right now, Berrios is well-positioned as Julian Edelman’s backup, and maybe chip in on special teams as well.
—N’Keal Harry is going to meet the media at Gillette at 3:30 this afternoon. It was also announced the Patriots’ assistant coaches will be available to the media on Friday at noon.
--Have a couple of good stories on the way today, including one where a coach was so excited to talk to me he called me back from half a world away to discuss a new member of the Patriots he used to work with in college.
Now, on with the links…
1. Andy Benoit has a really good look at the Rams and Sean McVay’s thought process in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, a stretch where he coach suffered from paralysis by overanalysis. “In the back of my mind, (when making the Super Bowl game plan back in L.A.), I operated knowing I had another week,” McVay said. “That urgency to completely finalize the gameplan wasn’t quite there, and that led to me watching so much film that you can almost water down your thought process.”
2. Ellington was let go with an injury designation.
3. Mike Reiss went 1-on-1 with cornerback Jonathan Jones.
4. The Patriots rookies are coming to town this week, but don't forget about the class of 2018.
5. Adam Rank of NFL.com has a look at one player from each team to root for in 2019. When it comes to the Patriots, he picks Harry. “I’m not one of those people who hates the Patriots just for the sake of it,” Rank writes. “I can appreciate them as a football team, and I love that they drafted Harry, who spent time in St. Vincent as a young child before moving with his grandmother to Arizona, then eventually played for Arizona State.”
AFC and NFC divisional odds, via @betonline_ag. pic.twitter.com/VPRaRlzcas
— Christopher Price (@cpriceNFL) May 8, 2019
