TEAM TALK

• Patriots-Texans Thursday Injury Report.
• Erik Scalavino shares his Thursday practice & locker room notebook from Gillette.
• Kerry J. Byrne sees playoff rematches as trouble for the Patriots. Different teams, Kerry, Different teams.
• Tom Brady has been nominated for the FedEx Air Player of the Year. Fans can cast their vote here.
• Press Conferences: Brandon Lloyd (7.39 min. video), Devin McCourty (12.01 min. video) and Logan Mankins (9.17 min. video)
• Patriots Today - Report from the field. (1.30 min. video)
• Patriots Today - Time to talk Texans. (4 min. video)
• Patriots Today - The life of a kicker. (3.17 min. video)
• Locker Room Uncut - Welker, Talib on playoffs. (2.33 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Jackie MacMullen writes a terrific piece on Logan Mankins, still as tractor-tough as ever in his eighth season.
• Matt Chatham believes the Patriots are clearly best served with a two-armed Gronk.
• Karen Guregian examines the Patriots vs. Texans matchups to see how this game will shake out.
• Glen Farley says Tom Brady and Matt Schaub come into Sunday's game from opposite ends of the postseason spectrum.
• Jeff Howe thinks the best recipe for a Patriots win is to quickly jump ahead to another sizeable advantage.
• Field Yates reports that in preparing for the Texans, the Patriots' focus is on themselves - executing game plan and minimizing mistakes.
• Tim Britton notes that the Patriots' quick tempo offense is still evolving.
• Jeff Howe writes about how football and family saved Brandon Spikes from the bad side of life.
• Shalise Manza Young notes three veteran Patriots are making their first playoff appearance this weekend: Brandon Lloyd, Aqib Talib and Trevor Scott.
• Mike Reiss finds Aqib Talib is excited for his first playoff game.
• Paul Kenyon reports Brandon Lloyd has spent his last ten January's relaxing and recovering, but is thrilled to get his first chance to play in the postseason.
• John Powers notes Sebastian Vollmer is the first European-developed player ever drafted in the NFL.
• Michael Whitmer Patriots Notebook: Houston DC Wade Phillips dismissed Wes Welker as "...not AJ. Green, not that big or a real athletic guy."; Phillips said he wants to play the running game and force the Patriots into throwing it; Belichick was confident his running backs could duplicate Arian Foster in practice to prepare the defense; Aqib Talib will be responsible for covering Andre Johnson Sunday.
• Jeff Howe Patriots Notebook: Daniel Fells believes the talent of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski is still underestimated around the league; Aqib Talib has seen the intensity turn up in practice and in meetings; Yesterday's and today's practices will be a tad shorter which may be a sign that the coaching staff is confident with the team's progress through the bye week.
• Jim Lazar fends off fears of revenge in Foxboro, saying the Pats can't be beat in this game, as he makes his Week 19 picks. Pats win 31-20.
• Julian Benbow reports the lopsided loss back in December is what is driving J.J. Watt to do better vs. the Patriots.
• Tim Britton finds that last year's Super Bowl loss still stings. Ya think?

NATIONAL NEWS

• Ben Reiter (SI) Behind Ridley, Pats might have rediscovered missing Super piece.
• Dan Wetzel (Yahoo! Sports) Seven-year championship itch and counting for Patriots' Tom Brady, Bill Belichick.
• Kennedy Ross (Cold Hard Football Facts) Texans-Patriots: Payback's a bitch, but Houston's low on cash.
• Chris Burke (SI) Break it down, Divisional Round: Will Vince Wilfork dominate Houston again?
• Paul Kuharsky and James Walker (ESPN) Double coverage: Texans at Patriots.
• Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) After further review: Will sequels follow the same script or surprise?
• Russell Baxter (Cold Hard Football Facts) 16 mind-blowing facts regarding the divisional playoffs.
• AP Report (Yahoo! Sports) Texans-Patriots preview.
• James Walker (ESPN) Mankins: Watt 'best D-lineman in the league'.
• Peter Schrager (Fox Sports) Top storylines of divisional weekend. No. 2: Can the Patriots neutralize J.J. Watt?
• Jason La Canfora (CBS Sports) Divisional game rankings: Next wave of playoffs might provide upsets.
• Gil Brandt (NFL.com) 49ers, Seahawks, Broncos boast top three remaining defense.
• Peter King (SI) Weekend pickoff: Divisional round picks. Patriots 34, Texans 24.
• NFL staff (USA Today) Weekly picks: Divisional round. All eight pick Pats to win.
• Albert Breer (NFL.com) Divisional Round preview: Houston Texans at New England Patriots. Patriots 31, Texans 26.
• Experts (NFL.com) Divisional round: Analysts unanimously pick Broncos, Patriots.
• NFL experts (CBS Sports) NFL Divisional round picks - straight up. All eight pick the Pats to win.
• Chart (NFL.com) Road to the Super bowl.
• Kevin Fishbain (Pro Football Weekly) 2012 PFW/PFWA All-Rookie team.

VIEW FROM HOUSTON

• Dan P. (Houston Chronicle) It’s Over…The Texans can’t win…unless…
• Dale Robertson (Houston Chronicle) Gronkowski back, but so is Reed; the 'secret weapon' and more..
• Tania Ganguli (Houston Chronicle) Schaub’s deep ball impresses Patriots corner Aqib Talib.
• Justin Boyd (Houston Chronicle) NFL.com prognosticators: Texans won’t reach title game.
• Texans Huddle (HoustonTexans.com) 'Texans Huddle' examines the playoff win versus the Bengals and the next round at New England. (22.13 min. video)
• John McClain (Houston Chronicle) Picks for the divisional playoffs: Patriots roll to AFC Championship.