Bill Belichick talks with the media about the challenges presented by the Cleveland Browns.
Well, we are starting to dig into the Browns here and they have played a lot of good football teams and they've really taken them all right down to the wire, of course other than New Orleans – they handled them. It was a very convincing win over New Orleans, which is kind of scary in itself, of course, down in New Orleans. [They are] a real physical team, tough, hard-nosed, running football team. [They are] tough on defense, good in the kicking game, have some young players that have stepped up. [Josh] Cribbs is a major threat, of course. They don't give up a lot of points. [Peyton] Hillis has done a real good job for them, running the ball, breaking tackles, keeping them in short-yardage situations with his first and second-down carries and then converting on third down.
They are going to play very competitively. They are a good, tough football team. It is going to be a challenge for us to go up there and deal with this type of team, playing at home, coming off a big win they had against the Saints. I'm sure they will be ready to go with the extra week of preparation and the momentum they had from that big win last weekend.
Nick Caserio talks a little bit about the return of Logan Mankins to the team and how it might affect players like Dan Connolly who have picked up the slack in his absence.
Logan's been a good player for us. He's been solid. He's been reliable. I think he has a lot of the traits and characteristics that we look for in players. It's good to have him around here in the building.
Anytime that you have players in the building, they've spent a lot of time together, they've worked together. Logan's been a good player for us, so that's something that players deal with and coaches will deal with. So we'll do whatever we feel is best for the club. All the players understand that; all the coaches understand that. And that's our modus operandi, so to speak. And that's what we'll do.
We've had a lot of good players. We've had a lot of players that have played well for us to this point, but the more good players you have in your program, the more good players you can get on the field, I think that's certainly a positive for the team. And hopefully we can continue moving forward.
TEAM TALK
- Game Preview - New England Patriots at Cleveland Browns: Broadcast info, series history, team connections and more.
- The New England Patriots announced today that G Logan Mankins has reported to the team.
- The Patriots 28-18 victory over the Minnesota Vikings drew the highest ratings of the week nationally and the highest ratings of the football season locally.
- Ask PFW: Moss hysteria.
- Tuesday Conference Calls: Bill Belichick (8.59 min.), Nick Caserio (7.18 min.) and Ivan Fears (9.56 min.) Plus transcripts.
- Patriots Today - Coming up this week... (1.23 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Belichick on WEEI. (2.34 min. video)
- Patriots Today - 25th Anniversary of the 'Wild Ride'. (9.08 min. video)
LOCAL LINKS
- Shalise Manza Young reports Logan Mankins rejoined the Patriots yesterday, ending the longest New England holdout of the Belichick era.
- Karen Guregian tells about on the big welcome from the team for Logan Mankins on his return.
- Mark Farinella discovers the Patriots are happy to have Logan Mankins back. All that stuff that was said last summer? Never mind.
- Ian Rapoport reports the patriots will receive a two-game roster exemption for G Logan Mankins.
- Brian MacPherson says make no mistake, the Patriots are thrilled to have Logan Mankins back on board.
- Karen Guregian catches up with Jerod Mayo as he served up plates of spaghetti & meatballs to kids at the Chelsea Boys & Girls club yesterday.
- Greg A. Bedard says Belichick and the Patriots are on a roll, with everything falling right into line.
- Mike Reiss discusses how the Patriots really "lucked out" with Woodhead.
- Mike Reiss looks at the "target percentage" charts for the season, noting Danny Woodhead finished with a team-high five receptions in Sunday's win.
- Mike Reiss' P.A.T: On Mankins, Moss and more. (2 min. video)
- Mike Reiss reports Brandon Spikes has moved into second place on the team's tackle leaderboard.
- Shalise Manza Young notes Sports Illustrated named several members of the Patriots in its midseason honors.
- Mike Reiss reports Bill Macatee (play-by-play) and Rich Gannon (analysis) will be the CBS broadcast team calling the Patriots-Browns game Sunday at 1PM.
- Chris Gasper concludes that it turns out Randy Moss needed the Patriots more than they needed Randy Moss.
- Rich Levine looks at whether the Patriots really are a better team without Moss.
- Mark Farinella talks about the Vikings' quagmire and the similar organizational antics of the Sullivan-era Patriots.
- Tom E. Curran reports Jerod Mayo said Randy Moss would be received back on the team "with open arms" if he rejoined the Patriots.
- Troy Brown on SportsNet New England says it could be worth bringing Randy Moss back to New England if the Pats can promise him he's in their long-term plans.
- Tony Massarotti writes that Bill Belichick appears to have here, unlike last year, a collection of mentally tough, competitive, disciplined football players.
- Mike Reiss answers his weekly reader mailbag.
- Mike Reiss looks at the special teams leaderboard, with Tracy White leading the pack with 8 tackles.
- Mike Reiss and Mike Rodak report the Patriots picked up a third QB, signing Jonathan Crompton to the practice squad.
- Shalise Manza Young notes Wes Welker showed up on the Sports Illustrated list of most underrated players in the league.
- Karen Guregian Patriots Notebook: Patriots organization won't speculate on Randy Moss scenarios; RB coach Ivan Fears hopes Fred Taylor will be back soon; BenJarvus Green-Ellis nominated for the FedEx Air & Ground player of the week award; Browns haven't named a starting QB yet; Belichick praised Ron Brace for his role in a pivotal play Sunday.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Tim Graham (ESPN) AFC East High Energy Player of the Week. BenJarvus Green-Ellis gets the nod this week.
- Mayne Event (ESPN) Preview of Sunday's segment: Bieber takes on Brady. (30 second clip)
- Dan Wetzel (Yahoo! Sports) Moss fiasco makes Belichick look good.
- Eric Edholm (Pro Football Weekly) Moss returning? If so, Belichick is a genius.
- Tim Graham (ESPN) Do Moss or Merriman fit in AFC East?
- SportsCenter (ESPN) Team-by-team interest in Randy Moss.
- Andy Kent (NFL FanHouse) Brandon Marshall implores Dolphins to 'Go get' Randy Moss.
- Albert Breer (NFL.com) Rift between Childress, Vikings players goes way back.
- Tim Graham (ESPN) Vote yay or nay on Head Coach approval ratings.
- Patrick Hruby (ESPN Page 2) Randy Moss wants Bill Belichick back.
- Jerome Bettis (SI) Inside the NFL: Moss-less vikes not contenders, the Cowboys' malaise, and more.
- Peter King (SI) MMQB Tuesday Edition: Redskins have long-term concerns about McNabb; Mailbag.
- Gregg Easterbrook (ESPN) Brett Favre's ego and battered body need to take a seat on the bench.
- Sean Leahy (USA Today) NFL MVP watch: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning could be in head-to-head face off.
- Sporting News NFL Midseason Report. Only one Patriot gets a mention, and only for 2nd place.
- Tiki Barber (Yahoo! Sports) - Is New England the best team in the NFL? "New England doesn't play great but doesn't play bad enough to lose." Unselfish play is key to Belichick's teams (2.32 min. video).