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New England Patriots Links 10/11/11 - Belichick Respects Toughness of Team

By Marima
<em>Andre Carter familiarizes Mark Sanchez with the Patriots pass rush</em>.
Andre Carter familiarizes Mark Sanchez with the Patriots pass rush.

Bill Belichick responds to a question about Tom Brady's earlier comment on WEEI about how 'a lot of guys played really tough,' fighting through sickness Sunday.

I think everybody has something. We've played what, nine games now. A lot of practices, a lot of games, I'm sure a lot of guys are banged up. We have them, the Jets have them, everybody has them. That's just part of the game. I think we have a lot of tough guys on our team. We have guys that are out there practicing that are less than 100 percent. We have guys that are playing that are less than 100 percent. They're working hard and they're playing hard, so I have a lot of respect for that, both physically and mentally, the toughness that they showed in a tough game. There was a lot of good contact in that game yesterday.

I'm sure every team has that, too. But I respect what our guys are doing and the way they did it yesterday, both through the week of practice and out there in the game.

Tom Brady was happy with the win Sunday but thought the offense could have played better, including himself.

... I expect a lot out of our team just like our coaches do and all the players do, but I thought we were capable of playing better than we did yesterday. Even though we won, yeah I feel great about that. Believe me, I know how tough it is to win and how much it sucks to lose. We played a good team yesterday that has been a tough opponent for us and is a tough opponent every single time we play them, but I thought that we made it a little tougher than we needed it to be.

TEAM TALK

LOCAL LINKS

  • Tom E. Curran reminds us the Dallas defense is called by Rex's twin brother Rob.
  • Shalise Manza Young warns last year with the Browns, Rob Ryan's defense held the Patriots to just 283 yards of offense.
  • Christopher Price notes that with Dallas looming, the Patriots offense looks to sharpen things up this week.
  • Mike Reiss tells us Sunday's home game will be broadcast on Fox, with Thomas Brennaman (play-by-play) and Troy Aikman (analysis) calling the game.
  • Ian Rapoport notes the Patriots are double Gronk'd once again with the re-signing of TE Dan Gronkowski.
  • Mike Reiss reports the Patriots waived OT Thomas Welch. Welch is eligible to return to the practice squad if he clears waivers.
  • Chris Forsberg says that a smiling, talkative Belichick can only mean one thing, the Pats must have beaten the Jets.
  • Ian Rapoport writes about how the Patriots defense was able to hold their ground and get off the field on third downs against the Jets.
  • Ian Rapoport breaks down the numbers behind the Pats' seven key third-down stops Sunday.
  • Chris Forsberg offers some quick-hits from a quiet Patriots' locker room during Monday's media access period.
  • Tedy Bruschi says the Pats shut down the Jets, but how they handle Cowboys will be the true test.
  • Tom E. Curran gets Bill Belichick's explanation of why, on third down, a receiver would ever run a pattern short of the first-down yardage.
  • Mike Reiss breaks down the kickoff coverage that was one of the downers in Sunday's win over the Jets.
  • Mike Reiss charts the hits on Tom Brady through five games. Brady was sacked a season-high four times by the Jets.
  • Christopher Price breaks down the Patriots penalties through five games.
  • Jeff Howe thinks Patrick Chung and James Ihedigbo compliment each other's performance after their first start together.
  • Mike Rodak re-watches Sunday's game and offers some observations and insight into the game: First Quarter - Second Quarter - Third Quarter - Fourth Quarter.
  • Chris Forsberg reports Bill Belichick noted the fans were definitely into the game [Sunday] with the loudness of the crowd at Gillette.
  • Mike Reiss answers his weekly reader mailbag: Too early to call them busts, but time to shift expectations for Ocho & Albert.
  • Tom E. Curran says the Ochocinco signing has been a bust.
  • Mike Reiss catches us up with former Patriots who were with the team in the 2011 Training Camp and how they're doing with their new clubs.
  • WEEI Patriots Monday highlights: Tom Brady.
  • WEEI highlights Boomer Esiason's appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Monday morning. Patriots ignited a firestorm on NY talk radio after running through the Jets D.
  • Shalise Manza Young Patriots Notebook: Belichick details the value of preparation and making the most of each chance to study, practice and improve before the game; Tom Brady joked that Wes Welker might take some heat for being run down by Darrelle Revis only 7 yards before the end zone; Patriots released OL Thomas Welch.
  • Ian Rapoport Patriots Notebook: Belichick ponders what is meant by 'a good week of practice.' It's good, but only in relation to how your opponent's week of practice goes; Brady wasn't into joking around last week in midst of intense preparation for Jets; TE Dan Gronkowski returned to the roster after the release of OT Tom Welch; James Ihedigbo earned his first start against his old team, making six tackles with two third-down stops; The film showed Pats D fared pretty well stopping the run on a team that planned to run at will on them.
  • Ron Borges grades the Week 5 Patriots, noting this was far from a dominating win but it was an important one. 'Patriots can play hard ball if they have to.'
  • Kirk Minihane grades the Patriots in his Week 5 Report Card. He'll take Welker over any other receiver in the NFL every time.
  • Jeff Howe issues his Patriots Report Card: BenJarvus Green-Ellis is the most underrated player in the NFL.

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