New England Patriots Links 8/16/10 - Belichick: Brady's Finger Injury 'Not Life Threatening.'

Mike Reiss offers some newsy nuggets from Belichick's Q & A with the media following Sunday morning's walkthrough

No major worry on Brady’s fingers. The quarterback was spotted by the Boston Herald with two fingers on his throwing hand taped. Belichick was asked in his press conference if this was reason for concern. "I don’t think it’s life-threatening," he said, smiling. Asked if it was game-threatening, Belichick playfully dodged the question, saying he can’t wait for the team’s first injury report Sept. 8 ("it’s the highlight of my week."). After his press conference, a more serious Belichick said Brady is fine and there is no major worry in that regard.

Logan Mankins update. Belichick helped clear up a housekeeping-type issue with regard to offensive lineman Logan Mankins. Sunday is reportedly the deadline for teams to send a holdout player a letter informing him of their right to place him on the roster-exempt list, and Mankins’ agent Frank Bauer told the Boston Globe over the weekend: "We haven’t got it yet, but it’ll come. … I would expect them to do everything nasty they can." Yet since Mankins is not under contract, the Patriots have no cause to send the letter and this reported deadline is apparently not a factor when it comes to the team’s dealings with Mankins, according to Belichick.

Monique Walker reports Derrick Burgess wasn't staying at his Mississippi home contemplating retirement.

"I just had a personal situation going on," Burgess said. "I had to take time to take care of, and me and Bill [talked] about it, and he just told me to take my time and get my stuff together."

"No reservations," Burgess said. "I'm happy to be here. I'm glad they allowed me to come back after taking care of my personal business."

Bill Belichick talks about CB Terrence Wheatley's progression from last year and how he's playing with more confidence.

"I think he’s playing with good confidence. He’s made plays consistently on the practice field and in the work against New Orleans," Belichick said. "That has been on a regular basis, not just one here and one there. He’s showed up. The play he made on the goal line against New Orleans was a really good play. He actually had a play that wasn’t the same, but had some similarities to that last year, that he didn’t react nearly as quickly on or as well. But that’s just one small example.

"Overall, he’s playing with good confidence and has been a productive player for us through camp. I definitely think he’s way ahead of where he was last year at this time. I’m not saying he’s where he needs to be, but he’s had a good camp and he’s done well. Again, he’s playing with a lot of confidence."

TEAM TALK

• Paul Perillo and Andy Hart offer their Sunday afternoon practice notes.
• Andy Hart reports on Sunday's full-pads practice, the first with Ron Brace and Derrick Burgess participating with the team.
• Patriots Today - Recap of Day 13. (3.22 min. video)
• Locker Room Uncut - Bites from Burgess and Brace. (3.34 min. video)
• Bill Belichick Press Conference - 8/15/10. (12.45 min. video) Plus Transcript.
• Patriots Today - What can we take from Pats' win? (3.53 min. video)
• Patriots Today - Analysis of the win. (4.10 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss offers his quick-hit thoughts from the Patriots and around the league.
• Tom E. Curran considers the taping of Brady's fingers an overblown storyline and notes Ron Brace had been laid low by an abdominal strain. I'll leave that one alone.
• Monique Walker offers some quick hits from Sunday afternoon practice.
• Mike Reiss wraps up the key storylines from Sunday.
• Ian Rapoport tells us what happened at the Patriots Sunday afternoon training camp.
• Christopher Price presents his training camp report from Sunday afternoon.
• Mike Rodak notes Ron Brace participated in Sunday morning's walkthrough and Derrick Burgess was present.
• Monique Walker reports Ron Brace participated in his first official day of practice Sunday and needs to catch up.
• Ian Rapoport notes DL Ron Brace feels happy to be back working out with the team, trying to catch up and getting ready for Atlanta.
• Christopher Price notes a little more confident, more mature and humbled Ron Brace returned to the field yesterday.
• Tom E. Curran shows how Logan Mankins' agent Frank Bauer has backed his client into a corner with bad advice and how he messed up his facts to the press.
• Ian Rapoport notes DL Myron Pryor is quietly carving out a role for himself as Vince Wilfork's backup at nose.
• Mike Reiss shares a conference call with Bill Belichick as he addressed the Patriots' roster moves -- placing Ty Warren on IR and reinstating Derrick Burgess to the active roster.
• Monique Walker talks about rookie TE Aaron Hernandez soaking in tips from Tom Brady and the veterans.
• Mike Reiss notes Bill Belichick feels Gerard Warren has made the transition to the Patriots defense pretty well and "will have a good ability to contribute this year".
• Shalise Manza Young notes Tully Banta-Cain doesn't really care what other people think, he knows what he's capable of.
• Ian Rapoport talks about Devin McCourty and the Patriots return men.
• Mike Reiss breaks down the Patriots' 10-man WR depth chart.
• Mike Reiss explores the possibility of having Wes Welker, Randy Moss and Julian Edelman on the field at the same time.
• Albert Breer discusses the versatility of head coach Bill Belichick.
• Boston Globe Patriots Notebook: The Mankins drama continues; LB Derrick Burgess passed his physical and conditioning test and practiced with the team; Preseason games don't count but the experience does, especially for QB Zac Robinson.
• Mike Rodak, student assistant to Mike Reiss, breaks down the Patriots first preseason game and offers his observations: First quarter, Second quarter, Third quarter and Fourth quarter.
• Ian Rapoport explains precisely how the Patriots allowed the Saints to run a kickoff back for a touchdown.
• Christopher Price reviews the tape from the Pats-Saints game one more time before shifting to the Falcons.
• Mike Reiss takes stock of the defense two days after the Patriots' preseason opener against the Saints.
• Mike Reiss looks at the playing time for defenders in Thursday night's game.
• Mark Farinella takes a stab at the 53-man roster.
• Albert Breer reports Bill Belichick and former QB Bernie Kosar share a good relationship 17 years after their divorce.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Tim Graham (ESPN) Camp Confidential: New England Patriots.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Patriots end Torry Holt's season.
• Eric Edholm (Pro Football Weekly) Patriots' Murrell emerges as strong OLB candidate.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Mankins' agent: Patriots have lost him.
• Adam Schein (Fox Sports) Logan Mankins is out of his mind. (1.04 min. video)
• Dan Pompei (Nat'l Football Post) Building a head coach. What if you could create the perfect leader of a football team?
• Peter King (SI) MMQB: Jets are relishing their new role; Kolb and Tebow growing into theirs.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) List of AFC East players with better basketball pedigrees than Miami WR Brandon Marshall.
• Dan Pompei (Nat'l Football Post) NFP Sunday Blitz.
• Len Pasquarelli (Fox Sports) Will combined practices increase in NFL?
• Kerry J. Byrne (Cold Hard Football Facts) The irrational exuberance of August football.
• Ross Tucker (SI) Preseason Week 1 is rookies' last chance to make a 'first' impression.
• Bruce Ciskie (NFL Fanhouse) LaDainian tomlinson feels jilted by former teammates.
• Mark Riddix (Yahoo! Sports) Five top-paid sports commissioners. Roger Goodell is number 2 behind MLB commish Bud Selig.