New England Patriots Links 9/25/09 - Brady and Galloway - It's All Good

Adalius Thomas says life isn't good after a defeat.

"Everything is better after a win," Thomas said. "Your car drives better. Your girlfriend or your wife looks better. Your mood is better. You don’t want to lose, especially a game you could have won. That’s always the feeling if you’re competitive. You always have that strange feeling that, I want this taste out of my mouth."

Monique Walker looks at defending the Falcons, noting with all of the options available to Ryan, the Patriots’ D-linemen don’t want the team to have to rely on the blitz to create pressure.

"I think we want to be able to get to the quarterback with just four guys,’’ Banta-Cain said. "If we have to blitz great, but . . . we take a lot of pride in knowing that we’re one of the better D-lines in the league and we have been for a while. So the onus is always every week on us to try to maintain that, solidify this. Hopefully that four-man rush is all we need.’’

The key to generating more of a pass rush will begin with getting ahead, said Banta-Cain.

"Hopefully, the scoreboard will help us do that. Getting ahead of guys and make them have to throw the ball and play from behind. I think that’s the key to any pass rush,’’ said Banta-Cain, who had two sacks against Buffalo in the opener. "Other than that, any other opportunities that you get, you just got to keep going and getting better at what we’re doing.’’

Troy Aikman says "Tom Brady is still rusty within the pocket, still feeling his way around.  That's not unusual."

Another part of it is that Tom has raised the bar so high. You could take a picture of every quarterback in the league every Sunday throwing off his back foot at one time or another. But Tom is being held to his own extremely high standards. "It raises your eyebrows when he makes a bad throw or a mistake, because you’re just not used to seeing it. Plus, at this time of year, two games into the season, everything is exaggerated.’’

TEAM TALK

• Patriots-Falcons Injury Report for Thursday.
• Patriots re-signed C Ryan Wendell to the practice squad, releasing T Patrick Brown to make room.
• Erik Scalavino notes slow start hasn't dampened Joey Galloway's spirits. Plus news and notes from the Patriots locker room and Thursday's practice.

LOCAL LINKS

• Ian Rapoport reports it was a good sign seeing Wes Welker at practice yesterday, but he's still iffy for Sunday.
• Chad Finn notes Fox will be the destination station this weekend, with the Sox-Yankees game on Saturday and Patriots-Falcons Sunday.
• Christopher Price says Joey Galloway continues to build a bond with Brady.  "It’s been a learning curve. It’s taken time. We have a lot of work to do."  "We’ve worked extremely hard — we do every day. And we communicate a lot. As time goes on, we’ll get better."
• Michael Vega focuses on Joey Galloway, who came here to win.
• Steve Buckley catches up with Joey Galloway, who refers to Brady as "a great coach" and says "Tom is different than probably 99 percent of the guys I’ve played with."
• Ron Borges reviews new book, Total Patriots: The Definitive Encyclopedia of the World-Class Franchise, a 4-lb labor of love written by obsessed fan Bob Hyldburg.  I know what's on my Christmas list!
• Glen Farley notes the smooth transition Matt Ryan has made from BC Eagle to Falcon.
• Steve Buckley says Shawn Springs made the call that Tom Brady was the model for Matt Ryan.
• John Beattie reports that the NFL will not suspend Tom Brady for alleged gunfire at his April wedding.
• Laura London captures the handshake between Rex Ryan and Bill Belichick with her blackberry camera.  Much has been made of the quick exchange, with criticism unfairly put on the Pats' head coach, and her point is a valid one:  "I really don't see how it's possible for the coaches to have a proper handshake with all of those people in between them. I mean, who are they, where did they come from, and what are they doing there in the first place?"

NATIONAL NEWS

• Mike Reiss (ESPNBoston) Base defense vs. sub package: McGowan in linebacker role for a lot of game.
• Mike Reiss (ESPNBoston) Reeves on Patriots-Falcons: Former Atlanta coach breaks down Sunday's game.
• Mike Reiss (ESPNBoston) Q & A with Isaiah Stanback; Plus ESPN Boston chats Patriots-Falcons Transcript.
• Jason Whitlock (Fox Sports) NFL Truths: Brady will always hear the footsteps.
• Michael Rosenberg (SI) Tom Brady's had a storied career, but what if he never gets back?  IT'S WEEK 2!
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Take your pick: Patriots or Falcons O?
• Charles Robinson (Yahoo! Sports) Tampering accusation against Jets worse than spygate if true.
• Chris Chase (Yahoo! Sports) Teams shouldn't be playing back-to-back prime-time games.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Is icing the kicker a waste of time?

VIEW FROM ATLANTA

• Jeff Schultz (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Weekend Precictions: Falcons stun the colonies!
• D. Orlando Ledbetter (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Ailing RB Jerious Norwood misses Falcons' practice; might not be available to play.
• Mark Bradley (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Matt Ryan: The absolute right man at the absolute right time.
• D. Orlando Ledbetter (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Belichick praises Dimitroff's work with Falcons.