Aaron Hernandez on being at practice without Rob Gronkowski:

"I'd say it's a little boring, but he'll be back out there soon.

Sterling Moore on what it's like to cope with receivers like Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Victor Cruz when they're all healthy:

"It's a challenge. It's a big challenge but that's what we want. Going into this game, we want them all to be healthy; we want them all to be at their best. That's just the type of game we want. It's going to be a struggle but that's what the films are for. We're going to have to do a great job on the film and go out there and play them tough."

Vince Wilfork on the improvement the defense has made, and what it says about the team.

It lets me know these guys listen - through the coaches, through the guys, the veterans who have been around the game for awhile. It's not like we talk to them every day about certain stuff. No, they get it. They knew how important it was for us to get better as a team and what we needed to do to get better as a team. We made those changes, we made those progresses and we moved forward. Like I said, it's a special bunch. At the end of the day, it's going to be a special team. I think everybody in this locker room, they love this game, they love one another, they have the passion. That's one thing to have a football player not have the passion for what they love and what they do but I can honestly tell you that these guys have every passion, everything that you need in a football player, they have and they love it.

Bill Belichick on "one of his favorite topics - injuries".

That would actually be number one. If you had to rank them, I'd move that up there as number one.

How would you describe the progress of Rob Gronkowski?

Good, good.

How optimistic are you that Sebastian Vollmer will be able to go?

We'll see how it goes. He practiced some last week, he wasn't able to play. We'll practice this week and we'll see if he's ready this week. The [crystal] ball is kind of clouding up, I can't see it clearly.

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Prior to the season, the Patriots made waves by dumping two of their top safeties- and letting a third walk. James Sanders departed to the Atlanta Falcons, Brandon Meriweather went to the Chicago Bears, and Jarrad Page signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Patriots were left with a barren cupboard of safeties behind Pat Chung, and the following players have filled in at safety throughout the season:

Josh Barrett

James Ihedigbo

Sergio Brown

Matthew Slater

Sterling Moore

Nate Jones

Devin McCourty

Ross Ventrone

That's not a good carousel of players. The low level of play from the safety position has been a point of contention amongst Patriots fans, as the cornerbacks have not been able to trust the safeties to, well, be their safety net. Devin McCourty's production fell off the map as he had zero help from the safety position and the Patriots became the worst team in the NFL at defending the big play. That's an issue.

Now that it's towards the end of the season, we can examine two different points:

1. How did the Patriots still make it to the Super Bowl, with the low level of play from their safeties?

2. How did the safeties the Patriots did not elect to bring back perform?

Luckily for us, Pro Football Focus has an answer to at least part of those questions.

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Yesterday, the Patriots placed TE Dorin Dickerson on the practice squad injured reserve. Today, the Patriots have announced the signing of TE Carson Butler to the Patriots practice squad.

Butler is a 6-4, 260 lbs tight end who was part of the 2009 NFL Draft class (undrafted). He bounced around the league on numerous practice squads as a rookie. Butler spent the 2010 NFL season with the New England Patriots on the practice squad and was with the Patriots through camp.

Butler has 4.5 40 yard dash speed and will most likely provide insurance if Rob Gronkowski is unable to play the Super Bowl. Gronkowski is suffering from an ankle injury and was noted that he wouldn't have practiced if the team had met earlier this week. Dickerson, the TE placed on the IR, missed practice prior to the Ravens game so the injury isn't too much of a surprise.

Dickerson seems to be a long term project by the Patriots, so placing him on the IR protects him for the season. Also, even if Dickerson could play, he's an entirely different player than Gronkowski. Butler will provide a much closer player to Gronkowski in case of a worst case scenario.

Linda Holliday, Bill Belichick's girlfriend, tweets some good news to fans:

It's official...no red hoodie at Superbowl XLVI!

Ian Rapoport notes neither Shaun Ellis nor Gerard Warren have ever played in a Super Bowl, despite 23 years of experience between them.

"That’s the reason why I came here," Warren said, "the reason why I’m glad to be back. This is what it’s all about."

"I knew we would have an opportunity," Ellis said. "We went to work and everybody just stayed focused. No selfish guys. All for one goal, just all for one goal. To be able to play in that next game, in the Super Bowl, it’s a great feeling. We’ll enjoy this and get ready for next week."

Christopher Price gets some points of emphasis from an AFC scout and NFC scout when it comes to New England's game plan against New York. Here's one:

NFC scout: "The Patriots will have to be disciplined in the pass rush, not because Eli Manning is a scrambler, but because he’s very good at sliding to buy time and giving wide receivers time to create and escape coverage for big plays. The Patriots' inside rushers can push the pocket, while the ends have to be disciplined to not give Eli space."

AFC scout: "What stands out to me about the Patriots off last week’s game against Baltimore was their ability to get around and harass the quarterback with just their front lineman, they got push in the middle of the pocket and were able to condense to get middle pressure. That is key vs. Eli Manning."

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The dream season of 2011-2012 kept rolling this past weekend, and in the most surprisingly way imaginable.

Having rewatched the game in full twice now and the past few minutes even more times, I still feel the same sense of dread and doom when the Ravens are marching down the field on their last drive. I know what the outcome was (is), and I know that Sterling Moore defended that pass against Lee Evans.

But I didn't know when I was watching. I forgot to breathe for the last 2 minutes of the game, while I was watching the Joe Flacco to Anquan Boldin connection dominate Julian Edelman. I've gone back and forth on this, but I really don't think Edelman can be blamed. He was a step slow in coverage, but consistently closed the gap to make the tackle. And what if the fumble he caused had stayed in bounds?

- I'm obviously an Edelman fan, because I've unsuccessfully predicted that he would have his first career sack for the past two games. Even though he didn't register a sack in either, what he did against Baltimore speaks volumes to his versatility- playing an incredible 27 snaps on both sides of the ball. That's 54 total for the mathematically challenged. In an era where every player is a specialist in even their own position, Julian is a throwback to the old days of football. He's the symbol of this year's Patriots team buying in Bill Belichick's coaching.

- I'm also tired of hearing how poorly Tom Brady played. Yes, he threw two interceptions- one of which came at the worst possible time, after Brandon Spikes had reeled in his own interception on the tips of his fingers. But when the team needed Brady the most- when the game, season, and a trip to the Super Bowl were on the line- Tom sacrificed himself and dove into the heart of the Ravens' defense to gain a half-yard. There's no telling what the outcome of the game is if Brady doesn't uncharacteristically choose to go over the defense; however, despite all of his touchdowns to Gronkowski and Randy, and his 50 touchdown season in 2007, that play was the single greatest play I've ever seen Tom make.

- Ed Reed is apparently a Joe Flacco whisperer, because for lack of a better word Joe played magnificently on Sunday. He was confident in the pocket, and exhibited great accuracy and arm strength several times throughout the game. He nearly had 320 yards and 3 touchdowns in an AFC championship, despite being under duress the entire game. No matter the outcome, Joe proved that he deserves a contract, and a starting job for the Ravens for years to come. In his biggest moment, Flacco answered the call.

More condensed notes after the jump

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Neither the New England Patriots or the New York Giants practiced today. Nonetheless, both teams released "projected injury reports.

The most interesting name on the list from a Patriots perspective is tight end Rob Gronkowski. On the report, he was projected as "Did Not Participate." Gronkowski injured his ankle against the Ravens in the AFC Championship Sunday afternoon. I wouldn't look too much into this, as this is simply a "projected" report, and I wouldn't be totally surprised if Gronkowski was limited in participation tomorrow. Of course, the situation bears watching - I just wouldn't even come close to hitting the panic button yet. After all, it was just two days ago that multiple news outlets reported that Gronkowski would be playing in the Super Bowl.

The Patriots listed 13 other players as "limited." This list included the usual "gang," although one name to watch was that of tackle Nate Solder, who was listed as questionable with a concussion.

For the Giants, Hakeem Nicks (Shoulder), Ahmad Bradshaw (Foot), and Tyler Sash (concussion) were all projected in the "Did Not Participate" category. The only other player listed was Osi Umenyiora, who was placed in the "limited participation" category.

The Patriots have made a minor roster move today, announcing that wide receiver / tight end Dorin Dickerson has been placed on practice squad injured reserve:

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced today that WR Dorin Dickerson has been placed on the practice squad/injured reserve list.

Dickerson, 23, was signed to the New England practice squad on Dec. 7, 2011. He is a second-year player who was originally drafted by the Houston Texans in the seventh round (227th overall) out of Pittsburgh in 2010. As a rookie, he played in seven games, mainly on special teams. Dickerson, 6-2, 227 pounds, was released by Houston on Sept. 3, 2011 and was then signed to the Pittsburgh Steelers' practice squad on Sept. 12 before being released on Sept. 15. During his college career, he played at wide receiver, linebacker and tight end.

This is a pretty minor move, but it does leave the Patriots pretty thin at tight end for practice. With Rob Gronkowski nursing an ankle injury suffered in the AFC Championship game, this leaves Aaron Hernandez as the only active tight end on the roster at this moment. Putting Dickerson on the reserve list opens up a spot on the practice squad, perhaps it could lead to the team re-signing Garrett Mills, who plays a similar position to Dickerson and was released from the practice squad last month.

As for Dickerson, he's a big athletic receiver / tight end prospect who still has a significant amount of upside. Assuming his injury situation isn't too serious, I would expect him to be signed to a future contract at the conclusion of the season with a chance to compete for a roster spot in 2012.