New England Patriots Links 11/05/09 - Brady, Patriots Up for Miami Challenge

Vince  Wilfork on the challenges posed by the Miami Dolphins' offense.

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, just to be accountable,” he replied. “When you step on the field, you want to make sure you play at a high level. And this week is a challenge. The Dolphins run the ball well, they have a real explosive offense, good offensive line, good backs, a quarterback who doesn’t make mistakes. So, we need to do a good job of controlling the game up front.

“They’ll do what they do. They want to run the football. That’s a challenge for us up front. If we don’t have our minds right, it’s going to be a long day for us again. It’s another division game, and we want to get out of it with a win.”

Bill Belichick talks up the Miami running backs, Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown.

[Ricky Williams has] got good power. I think Ronnie Brown is the more powerful of the two, but they're both strong, they're both big. They have to be 240, 235 [pounds] - whatever they are. They're strong. They break a lot of tackles with their lower body. Ricky's fast. He's done a good job on the outside plays [and] the screens. He catches the ball well, as Brown does, too. I think either one of those backs could be the back for anybody. They have two of them and they use them both a lot. They run the ball as much as anybody in the league and they try to wear you down in the fourth quarter. I think either one of them could probably do it by themselves and they both have. And together it just puts more stress on the defense, whether they're both in there at once or not.

Only one guy can carry the ball, but fresh backs, running hard with that kind of skill are better than guys that are getting worn down a little bit. But those two guys could go all day and they run hard. They break a lot of tackles, make a lot of yards on their own and they have a good offensive line, too, don't get me wrong. They get them started and those guys break tackles and they pile up the yardage.

Tom Brady talks about what he could have learned about the team from the last two games.

When we execute well, we produce points, we move the ball, we get first downs. When we don't execute well and we don't move the ball, we don't convert on third down, we don't get the ball in the red area. If you're a quarterback, and you drop back, and you have guys open and overthrow them by about five yards, you know you're not going to score points. That's understanding plays that we had where we haven't done what we're coached to do. That's just not the way you can play football. In times that we go out and execute well, like what we did against Tennessee, what we did against Tampa, we scored points. I think it's just a much more concerted effort in practice and the concentration to get those things done.

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino Leigh Bodden and Vince Wilfork share their thoughts about this week's opponent; plus news and notes from the locker room and Wednesday's practice.
• Wednesday Press Conferences:  Bill Belichick (22 min. video) and Tom Brady (13:19 min. video) Plus Transcripts.
• Patriots-Dolphins Injury Report and practice participation.
• Patriots Today: Wednesday update from Gillette Stadium.  (7:27 min. video)
• The Hall at Patriot Place launches its weekly program schedule.
  

LOCAL LINKS

• Albert Breer talks with Alex Guerrero, Brady's personal trainer, who detailed Brady's intense rehabilitation program and provides the answer as to why our confidence in Brady is well placed.  Neat story.
• Shalise Manza Young notes the Patriots have tougher competition ahead than what they've faced the last 2 games.
• Ian Rapoport doesn't know which Tom Brady will show up on Sunday, noting he was pedestrian in the first five games.
• Mike Reiss reports the Patriots empty set is full of opportunities. 
• Adam Kilgore notes Bill Belichick sees Parcells' imprint all over this Dolphins team.
• Mark Farinella talks Tuna and the Dolphins.
• Mike Reiss observes Ty Warren and the DL face a huge challenge in Miami.
• John  Beattie says Chad Henne has developed on the fly in Miami.
• Christopher Price reports the Patriots recognize their Scout Team stars.
• Shalise Manza Young reports Joey Porter still laughingly blames Belichick for his AFC Championship game loss when he was with Pittsburgh.
• Albert Breer repeats Joey Porter's comments about his 'natural hate' for the Patriots and his denial of being one of the dirtiest players in the league.
• Adam Kilgore reports that Vince Wilfork is pumped for this type of game. "I like that they want to hit you in the mouth," Wilfork said. "That's the type of player I am. It's my style of game."
• The Jarvis Green Foundation will host its 3rd annual Wine Tasting Gala Friday, November 6th.  Proceeds benefit single working mothers in disadvantaged, low-income areas affected by tragedy.
• Herald Patriots Notebook: Stephen Gostkowski talks about the kicking game vs. Miami; Wilfork talks about Dolphins' center Jake Grove; Practice updates.
• Christopher Price offers the Press Conference Transcripts of Tony Sparano and Joey Porter.
  

NATIONAL NEWS

• Jason Cole (Yahoo! Sports) Adalius Thomas shoots down strike talk rumors, calling a ProFootballTalk report "a flat-out, bald-faced, capital-letters lie."
• Mike Lipka (STATS) Dolphins-Patriots Preview.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Who makes the playoffs from the AFC East?
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Patriots enjoy that 'empty' feeling.
• Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports) A look back on some of the standouts and lowlights from the season’s first half.
• The Huddle (USA Today) With another Super Bowl win, would Colts edge Patriots and Steelers as team of the decade? Ridiculous.

[To be updated later...]