New England Patriots Links 1/24/12 - Players Switch From Celebration to Preparation

by Marima on Jan 24, 2012 10:21 AM EST in New England Patriots Links

BenJarvus Green-Ellis scores a TD against a tough defense Sunday.

Matthew Slater talks about how much of the day Monday was spent switching from celebration to preparation.

"I think the switch was slowly being turned over today. I think we're still enjoying what we did yesterday but we know that it would be a terrible feeling to come all this way and not finish the job. I think that switch will be fully on tomorrow and we'll realize, ‘Hey, we have to prepare for the Giants."

Julian Edelman is asked about the team realizing it has to improve after [the Ravens] game.

"After any game you find that out, especially when you break down the film. We obviously won the game but we obviously have to improve - that's what we're going to do this upcoming week in practice. That's what you do every week - you break down the film, you look at the plays you didn't do too well in and you try to go after those plays."

BenJarvus Green-Ellis is already looking forward to the next opponent.

"[The regular season loss to the Giants] is in the past. We can't do anything about our past. We have to do something about our future moving forward and how we prepare for those guys. We know they're a good team so we have to be ready."

"I'm sure some of that [familiarity] will come into play but at the end of the day it's all about what goes on once the ball is kicked off; we have to go out there and execute."

James Ihedigbo responds to a question about whether Bill Belichick re-emphasized the importance of using two weeks for preparation.

"Yeah, of course. You're preparing for the Super Bowl so your preparation is everything and the time off that you get in the midst of the chaos is going to be important. It's my first time and it's the first for a lot of guys but really just being smart with your decisions. When you have that time off, you watch extra film, studying things that you need to study whether it's practice or whatever it is. It's great but we're going to enjoy it. It's our once in a lifetime opportunity that you have to play this game and we're definitely going to enjoy it."

TEAM TALK

Monday Press Conference: Robert Kraft (9.33 min. video)
Player Interviews: BenJarvus Green-Ellis (1.38 min.), Julian Edelman (2.06 min.), James Ihedigbo (2.30 min.) and Matthew Slater (2.07 min.)
Patriots Monday Locker Room Quotes.
Patriots Today - Patriots-Giants... again. (3.29 min. video)
Patriots Today - Brady, Patriots' D, and more. (2.55 min. video)
Patriots Today - Wilfork and D-Line dominate. (2.20 min. video)
Patriots Today - Locker room chat with AFC Champs. (3.40 min. video)
Patriots AFC Championship Trophy ceremony. (3.54 min. video)
Patriots Today - Celebration on the field. (1.53 min. video)
Patriots Today - Inside the Patriots' locker room. (1.08 min. video)
Patriots Today - A victory for Myra (1.28 min. video)
Locker Room Uncut - Edelman, others talk SB excitement. (3.19 min. video)
WEEI Patriots Monday: Tom Brady (19.02 min.), Deion Branch (13.47 min.), Vince Wilfork (15.20 min.) and Bill Belichick (21.36 min.)

LOCAL LINKS

Shalise Manza Young notes Patriots players and coaches will be turning the page to the Giants after taking 24 hours to enjoy their victory.
Tom E. Curran says the Patriots and Giants are more alike than we think: Lucky and good, flawed and brilliant.
Tim Britton asserts this Super Bowl may be a rematch, but the teams are not the same.
Jackie MacMullan agrees the Pats need to forget the Super Bowl loss to the Giants, but it won't be easy.
Gerry Callahan holds up Eli Manning as that rare athlete who gets better when the games get bigger.
Craig Meyer calls Giants-Patriots the "anti-Rex Ryan Super Bowl".
Tom E. Curran notes that finally, after 23 seasons combined, Brian Waters and Gerard Warren will play in a Super Bowl.
Mike Reiss charts the snaps played by Patriots defenders and offers his analysis. Wilfork's 70-play total blows everything away.
Ian Rapoport touches again on Vince Wilfork's herculean efforts against the Ravens Sunday.
Ian Rapoport details Vince Wilfork's top five plays against the Ravens Sunday.
Christopher Price contrasts the Ravens 'muddled mess' in the waning moments of Sunday's game to the collective composure of the New England Patriots.
Christopher Price shares the thoughts of NBC's Sunday Night Football crew, on the Super bowl XLVI matchup.
WEEI highlights Bill Belichick on the Big Show, explaining why he didn't try to freeze Billy Cundiff.
WEEI highlights Boomer Esiason's guest appearance Monday morning. "The Giants should be favored instead of the Pats."
Michael Hurley thinks Tom Brady and Bill Belichick survived the most unnecessarily stupid decision of all time, and other leftover Patriots thoughts.
Rich Levine lists The Tuck Rule, David Tyree and now (maybe) … Sterling Moore, as "The Play" that changed the game.
ESPNBoston posts the Mayne Event clip featuring Ross Ventrone, who set up "Occupy Gillette" after his 20th transaction of the season. (1.36 min. video)
Dan Duggan warns fans that so-called 'highlights' from Super Bowl XLII will be replayed endlessly from now until February 5th. Yeesh.
Tedy Bruschi posts the transcript of his weekly online chat.
Shalise Manza Young has the latest from Gillette Stadium where the Patriots have shifted their focus to the Giants. (3.10 min. video)
Ricky Doyle notes Rob Gronkowski attempts to speak Spanish during an ESPN Deportes interview, and says, "I am party". I love Gronk. He IS party.
Steve Buckley reports Stephen Gostkowski shows professional courtesy on the Billy Cundiff question.
Jerry Spar notes Terrell Suggs refused to let ESPN's Skip Bayless twist his words and create a controversy. Good block.
Ian Rapoport Patriots Notebook: Rob Gronkowski will be ready for the Super Bowl; Robert Kraft "believes in this team big time"; Belichick explained his decision not to ice the Ravens' kicker; It was a stunning reality to see Julian Edelman playing man-to-man on star Anquan Boldin on that last drive; Patriots will wear their blue jerseys at the Super Bowl.
Shalise Manza Young Patriots Notebook: Ankle sprain won't keep Rob Gronkowski from playing in Indy; Tom Brady regrets his decision to throw deep to Matthew Slater; Brady was still feeling the physical effects of his 4th quarter TD dive; Bill O'Brien will be at Penn State until tomorrow and says balancing both jobs leaves him with only 3-4 hours of sleep per night.
Ron Borges grades the Patriots in his AFC Championship Report Card.

NATIONAL NEWS

Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Four years later, Giants and Patriots are much different.
Alex Marvez (Fox Sports) Super Bowl sequel isn't the same game.
Lynn Zinser (NY Times) Giants-Patriots: The old, the new and the familiar players.
David Steele (Sporting News) the Patriots are lucky and good. Don't forget that.
Peter May (NY Times) Patriots defense improves by yards, if not a mile.
Dan Wetzel (Yahoo! Sports) Giants' Super upset a blemish on Brady.
Michael Lombardi (NFL.com) Patriots have become the tough-minded team Belichick desired.
Ryan Wilson (CBS Sports) Giants-Patriots is a SB XLII rematch in name only.
Chris Burke (SI) Super Bowl matchups: Vince Wilfork vs. Giants' O-line.
Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) Super Bowl XLVI matchups: Giants vs. Patriots.
Scott Kacsmar (Cold Hard Football Facts) Special mistakes set up Super rematch.
Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Billy Cundiff: Everything kept speeding up.
Matt Vensel (Baltimore Sun) Terrell Suggs says there was miscommunication before Billy Cundiff's missed kick.
LaVar Arrington (Washington Post) There's a reason they call them "special" teams.
James Walker (ESPN) Reaction to Sterling Moore's big play.
Mike Freeman (CBS Sports) The Patriots' playing for owner's late wife shows their best side.
John Clayton (ESPN) Super Bowl Q&A: Brady's revenge?
Dan Daly (Washington Times) Goats give us Super Bowl rematch.
Woody Paige (Denver Post) Super Bowl rematch set up by terrific theater.
Lindsay H. Jones (Denver Post) Brady vs. Manning an old rivalry in new Super Bowl setting.
Game Day Final (NFL.com) Super Bowl advantage. (1.48 min. video)
NFL Total Access (NFLN) Vince Wilfork with Willie McGinest. (5.16 min. video)
Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) The full list of Pats and Giants Pro Bowl replacements.
Staff Report (Fox Sports) Super Bowl XLVI: New York Giants-New England Patriots storylines.
Warren Sapp, Brian Billick and Willie McGinest (NFL.com) If Tom Brady wins his fourth Super Bowl, should he be considered the best QB ever? (3.22 min. video)

VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Mike Lupica (NY Daily News) Eli Manning is not only in Tom Brady's 'elite' class, he is a superior player this season.
Steve Serby (NY Post) Giants' Miracle Mann refuses to lose.
Gary Myers (NY Daily News) NY Giants, behind Eli Manning, will beat Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.
Bernie Augustine (NY Daily News) Patriots' Tom Brady still irked by Super Bowl XLII loss to NY Giants, says he can't watch game highlights.
Brian Costello (NY Post) Pats' previous losses to G-men don't matter.
Mike Vaccaro (NY Post) Nation again must deal with Boston-NY rivalry.
Mark Cannizzaro (NY Post) Mental toughness defines Bowl foes.
Roger Rubin (NY Daily News) Justin Tuck has a feeling NY Giants can finish season with Super Bowl XLVI championship.
Bart Hubbuch (NY Post) Tuck credits Rex's Jets for 'Big' turnaround.
Mark Cannizzaro (NY Post) New England favorites to win title... again.

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Comments

How about certain media outlets making TFB reaching out to Tom Martinez an issue?

Martinez has been there for Tom his entire carreer, pointing out simple mistakes that he makes in his mechanics. I don’t think he can prevent TFB from making the poor decisions he made against the ravens. He’s a perfectionist, and I’m sure doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned prior to the big redemption game.
If Eli outplays Brady we’ll never hear the end of it. But if the D steps up and wins it in spite of Brady having a sub-par performance then the “Worst Deffense” to make it to the superbowl will hopefully shut up all the foolish mediots out there.

GFY

by TFBismywingman on Jan 24, 2012 11:01 AM EST reply actions

Odd, but I was thinking about Martinez this morning

and whether or not Tom Brady would fly him in for a tune-up and confidence-boost before the big game. Did he actually call him? I didn’t see anything about it while scanning the links this morning.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Jan 24, 2012 11:13 AM EST up reply actions

something about a text or tweet I'm not sure.

First Take opened the show with it.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/story/2012-01-23/inside-slant/52762486/1?csp=34sports&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomNfl-TopStories+%28Sports+-NFL-+Top+Stories%29

GFY

by TFBismywingman on Jan 24, 2012 11:17 AM EST up reply actions

Tom Martinez is a genius, but he sure does love to talk with the media

It’s great news. Brady’s throwing motion could be off because of his sprained AC joint in his non-throwing shoulder.

I love the idea that he’s more than willing to get the opinion of a man he trusts, to figure out exactly what he’s doing wrong and how he can correct it.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Jan 24, 2012 11:32 AM EST up reply actions

thats what the 2 weeks of waiting are for

healing up some bruises- hopefully vollmer plays in the super bowl

Tedy Bruschi- "How do we feel about being AFC Champs?"
Team- "Aww Yeah!!!"

by freeland1787 on Jan 24, 2012 11:37 AM EST up reply actions

Yes

I hope Vollmer plays, too.

And I hope that AC joint heals, too. I didn’t even think about that during the game. I’m not a fan of making excuses for players on teams I like who do poorly, but it was pretty much talked about all week prior to the game until it was said Brady would play. Surely it’s something to consider on why he couldn’t hit a wide open Gronk. Maybe he even hits Slater deep, since I actually noticed he threw to the side where the defense was at.

Go Pats. Celtics. Red Sox. Bruins.
Brady. Pierce. Thomas. How you doing?

by Tai on Jan 24, 2012 12:12 PM EST up reply actions

You'd have to think he has to

Why else would they not have put him on IR, oh, way back when? This is the very last game. It would shock me if he didn’t play at least somewhat. That’d be a big question mark for the coaching staff for wanting to truck an injured player along the rest of the season on a valuable roster spot with no intention of seeing the field again.

Can I Scream?

by Adam Fox on Jan 24, 2012 1:27 PM EST up reply actions

yeah, what a terrible mistake

I mean, it ruined the season. Reminds me a little of when they wasted a roster spot by keeping 4 QB’s in 2000. I mean, why would they do something so dumb?

by furiousd on Jan 24, 2012 2:48 PM EST up reply actions

Adam is just saying that

the Patriots brass would have had to think that Vollmer could play late into the playoffs, or else they would have IR’ed him to make room for someone else. He’s not saying that it’s a mistake to have kept him whatsoever.

It matters not how strait the gate, nor charged with punishments the scroll:
I am the Master of my fate. I am the Captain of my soul.

by BigRussNovak on Jan 24, 2012 3:10 PM EST up reply actions

Yes. This.

As precious as the roster spots become late in the season, it would be far more valuable to carry a healthy player who can see the field at least a little bit over one who won’t see the field at all.

That being said, Sebastian Vollmer is an incredible talent at RT, and absolutely worth the roster spot if he ends up seeing the field for the Super Bowl.

Can I Scream?

by Adam Fox on Jan 24, 2012 4:18 PM EST up reply actions

I know of course i was kidding

but our O-line is playing so well, i almost don’t want to mess with the chemistry. Hopefully he can get 2 weeks of -practice in, and even though he’s bound to be rusty, can make a solid contribution.
I don’t know if it can be said enough, how well our line played Sunday, and has played in the playoffs. If we can continue this against the Giants, I like our chances.

by furiousd on Jan 24, 2012 6:48 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah, Tom was definitely off.

He was throwing high, then throwing low, then lofting balls. He didn’t look crisp on anything. Edelman pulled in one that had gotten away from Tom. The best catch I’ve ever seen by Edelman. I was so proud of him.

The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
Some people can learn from the mistakes of others, while some people need to pee on the electric fence themselves.
Belichick is looking for a new name for his boat: VI Rings sounds pretty good.

by SlotMachinePlayer on Jan 24, 2012 12:13 PM EST up reply actions

He was off

but he also made some great pinpoint throws as well. He just wasn’t the near perfect passer we are used to.

The first interception was actually thrown on the money. It was just a great play on the ball. Maybe he shouldn’t have thrown it but, it was right there and probably a 20% chance or less it’s picked off. The guy made a nice play.

I also remember Welker in the endzone on one play, kind of eased up on his route – possibly from being bumped a little. If he went full speed, the ball is in his hands with a perfect throw from Brady.

The Gronk overthrow was bad – but many a QB have come out throwing high early in games due to not being in rhythm, combined with high adrenaline.

So, he was off but he didn’t play that bad in my mind. He needs to put in a stellar game vs. the Giants though.

by iLikeStuff on Jan 24, 2012 12:32 PM EST up reply actions

Welker got pushed backward by Ray Lewis in the endzone.

The side view showed he had to run a bit extra, and by that time Ray knocked the ball down.

If we’d have had Hochuli, it might have been called PI. I’m glad we had a crew that let both teams play.

by SlotMachinePlayer on Jan 24, 2012 4:50 PM EST up reply actions

so, did this Ac joint happen in the Denver game?

i don’t remember him getting touched in that game. And he looked pretty good in that one.

by furiousd on Jan 24, 2012 2:49 PM EST up reply actions

Of course "Douchebag" Bayless had to make some negative remarks about it.

#WinItFourMyra

"There's no place like it, and it's ours." - Stephen King on Fenway Park

by 808BostonSportsFan on Jan 25, 2012 3:09 AM EST up reply actions

Manning is a superior player this season?

Horrible article. I read it anticipating stats comparison or something with substance. All he could point out was Eli had tons of 4th quarter comebacks. If he didn’t suck in the previous 3 quarters, maybe he wouldn’t need to come back?? The Patriots led almost every game by the 4th, so Brady didn’t need to come back. Which means he was more consistently good instead of hot and cold.

Then he says Eli is tough because he kept getting hit and getting back up. Holding the ball too long isn’t the best trait – but I do give him credit for making things happen under pressure. Brady holds the ball just long enough and usually gets it out quick – which makes the defense frustrated.

Eli had a great year and great playoffs, but you can’t say he was the superior player.

by iLikeStuff on Jan 24, 2012 11:52 AM EST reply actions

I know - stupid

The Denver papers did the same thing when comparing Tebow with Brady before the games. They picked the fourth quarter to base their arguments on.

Funny thing is there were plenty of writers who also thought Brady shouldn’t have stayed in the game in the 4th quarter against Denver in the Divisional Championship game. Boy, that would have skewed his numbers even more for next year’s comparisons.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Jan 24, 2012 11:56 AM EST up reply actions

Prepare to be bombarded with even more asinine stories by the New York media over the next two weeks

It’s kind of their calling card

by bbismyhero on Jan 24, 2012 12:13 PM EST up reply actions

I will warn you to not listen to all of the stupidity that will be out there in the next two (incredibly long) weeks.

There will be some that will make your head spin (and possibly explode). It is media circus time, and every one of them crawls out of the woodwork.

I’ve even considered holing up in a fishhouse on the lake and enforce a media blackout – oh, and maybe catch some fish.

by SlotMachinePlayer on Jan 24, 2012 12:20 PM EST up reply actions

no more ice drinking for you :(

GFY

by TFBismywingman on Jan 24, 2012 12:22 PM EST up reply actions

This made me laugh:

Michael Hurley

—Would someone get Steven Tyler off the damn stage during the trophy presentation? Why are musical guests treated like kings when they visit Foxboro? And how confused does Brady look to be talking with him? Brady’s smile says “I’m happy to be talking with you,” but his body position and eyes say, “Who the hell is this lady?”

by SlotMachinePlayer on Jan 24, 2012 12:01 PM EST reply actions

He's not wearing pats scarf?

It’d be awesome if he tied it to a mic stand

GFY

by TFBismywingman on Jan 24, 2012 12:21 PM EST up reply actions

Yo

13 days can’t fly through fast enough. : (

I’m glad Brady’s not leaving anything to chance. Talk to your mechanics guy if it means you don’t overthrow anymore wide open receivers. It’s one thing to say every point counts in the conference championship game, but in the Super Bowl? It speaks for itself.

Go Pats. Celtics. Red Sox. Bruins.
Brady. Pierce. Thomas. How you doing?

by Tai on Jan 24, 2012 12:15 PM EST reply actions