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TEAM TALK
- Erik Scalavino shares his Wednesday practice and locker room notes from Gillette. Pats practiced outdoors yesterday.
- Patriots finish 12-4 and earn second seed in AFC Playoff field.
- Paul Perillo tackles the Ask PFW mailbag: Playoff edition.
- Press Conference: Bill Belichick (11 min. video).
- Patriots Today - Previewing the potential matchups. (3.31 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Back to practice for the Patriots. (1.36 min. video)
- Locker Room Uncut - Bye week chatter. (3.19 min. video)
LOCAL LINKS
- Karen Guregian writes Brandon Spikes needs to get his wham back for the playoffs.
- Jeff Howe reports Devin McCourty has grown into his role at safety while still switching back to corner to cover for injuries.
- Greg Bedard analyzes how the Patriots have improved their defense. (3.17 min. video)
- Mark Daniels reports the Patriots are using the bye week as time for improvement, not just rest and healing.
- Field Yates highlights some player comments after Wednesday's afternoon practice. The theme of 'it's not a week off, it's a week to get better' resonated.
- Field Yates notes the Patriots are prepping for three possible opponents. If the Texans win Saturday, they will come to Foxboro on Jan. 13th.
- Christopher Price analyzes whether teams need an elite pass rush to win the Super Bowl.
- Bill Reynolds tells us to enjoy the Pats in the playoffs because this great run has a shelf-life.
- Paul Kenyon points out that for the Patriots, the No. 2 seed has grown into three Super Bowl titles.
- Tony Massarotti says the Patriots got lucky with getting the bye week, and now it's time for them to be really good.
- Mike Rodak tells us who earned the practice player of the week honors following Sunday's win over the Dolphins.
- Jeff Howe Patriots Notebook: Equipment manager Don Brocher's death leaves a void in the Patriots locker room; Belichick and Aqib Talib belong to the mutual admiration society; Talib won't talk contract until the season is over; Tom Brady, Rob Ninkovich and Dont'a Hightower sat out of Wednesday's practice; Marquice Cole (finger) returned.
- Field Yates passes along Bill Belichick's touching remarks on the recent passing of longtime equipment manager Don Brocher.
- The ESPN Boston crew revisits their preseason projections of how the team's defense would fare this year.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Kerry J. Byrne (SI) Momentum means a lot in the playoffs, but who has it?
- Alex Marvez (Fox Sports) NFL playoff players under pressure. No. 11 The NE Secondary.
- Howard Ulman, AP (Yahoo! Sports) Proud Patriots focus on themselves during bye.
- Kevin Fikshbain (Pro Football Weekly) 60-second rant: New year, same AFC East.
- Peter Schrager (Fox Sports) Cheat sheet: All eyes on the QBs.
- Clark Judge (CBS Sports) Got something to prove this month? So do these four quarterbacks.
- Joe Fortenbaugh (Nat'l Football Post) Gut-check time.
- Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Posts) Does the 'cross-country' trip impact NFL playoff teams?
- Gregg Rosenthal (NFL.com) NFL will look at New York Jets delaying media session.