New England Patriots Links 10/08/15 - Pressure Cooker: Patriots Supersize Defensive Line

TEAM TALK

• Patriots-Cowboys Wednesday Injury Report.
• Andy Hart highlights Bill Belichick on the 'explosive,' unfamiliar Cowboys.
• Andy Hart highlights Tom Brady's brief Q&A with the media.
• Erik Scalavino tells us what the players talked about Wednesday at Gillette.
• Locker Room Uncut - Rob Ninkovich (5.19 min. video) - Jabaal Sheard (2.22 min. video) - Malcolm Butler (2.20 min. video) - Akiem Hicks (2.55 min. video) - Nate Solder (1.50 min. video) - Matthew Slater (5.23 min.video)
• PFW in Progress recap 10/7: Patriots-Cowboys preview.
• Conference Calls Transcripts: Bill Belichick with the New England media and the Dallas media.

LOCAL LINKS

• Karen Guregian believes Tom Brady will have the last laugh on 'creepy message' Greg Hardy.
• Adam Kurkjian talks up Tom Brady's durability, as Sunday marks the first time in NFL history a QB makes it to 100 straight regular-season games twice in his career.
• Mike Reiss notes Sunday will be his first experience playing at AT&T Stadium, so he plans on tweaking his pre-game plans to get a feel for it.
• Jeff Howe notes Jimmy Garoppolo has returned to game-prep mode after a week of self-reflection during the bye.
• Tom E. Curran finds Nate Solder is well aware of the huge challenge that Greg Hardy presents.
• Mike Reiss observes that with a tough four-game stretch ahead, the Patriots supersized their defensive line in a span of 24 hours.
• CBS Boston notes Tarell Brown is limited (foot) for the Patriots, Sean Lee doesn't practice for the Cowboys and the Patriots look rather healthy heading into their Week 5.
• Ricky Doyle mentions how Rob Gronkowski can help the Patriots' defense prepare for Jason Witten.
• Rich Garven reported Akiem Hicks credits his father for his outstanding work ethic.
• Jared Chandler notes Cowboys DE Jeremy Mincey has great respect for Bill Belichick, who drafted him in the sixth round in 2006.
• Ricky Doyle notes Jason Garrett can't help but marvel at the season Brady is having at age 38.
• Ryan Hannable writes a nice piece on how for Josh McDaniels, everything he does he traces back to his dad.
• Jeff Howe throws out this stat: after three weeks the Patriots have only trailed for 5 minutes, 58 seconds; They've had a lead for 144 minutes, 4 seconds of 180 minutes played, or 80 percent of their time on the field.
• Rich Garven points out the Cowboys offensive line is widely regarded as the best in the NFL.
• Mike Petraglia & Chris Price preview Patriots-Cowboys and talk Jason Witten vs. Rob Gronkowski. (8.27 min. video)
• Mike Reiss recounts Bill Belichick ribbing him in Wednesday's news conference when asked about Cowboys LB Sean Lee.
• Ben Volin writes about Roger [The Dodger] Goodell facing the media for the first time since Tom Brady's deflategate suspension was vacated, and found he said little of substance. 
  
• Michael Hurley offers his take on Roger Goodell expressing no regrets for the treatment of Tom Brady in deflategate. "Goodell’s own rules do not ever apply to Goodell himself."
• Beth Teitell has a story about the Patriots trains that have been running from Boston since 1971.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Chris Trapasso (CBS Sports) Tom Brady is nearly unstoppable but here's a plan to try and slow him down.
• Chris Wesseling (NFL.com) Witten joining Belichick's opponent Mt. Rushmore.
• Oliver Thomas (247 Sports) Rob Gronkowski following in Jason Witten's footsteps.
• Bill Bodell (Goal Line Gazette) Patriots defensive line against Dallas offensive line.
• Oliver Thomas (247 Sports) Brandon Weeden recalls 'a pro' in former teammate Jabaal Sheard.
• Todd Archer (ESPN) Jason Garrett wants to build program like New England's. /First, you need 'stable' ownership...
• Staff Report (ESPN Production Analytics) Patriots lead the way in NFL FPI playoff projections.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Tom Brady takes high road in response to Greg Hardy remarks.
• Melissa Jacobs (SI) Dallas’s Jerry Jones has odd reaction to Greg Hardy’s media session. /Odd indeed.
  
• Katie Nolan (YouTube) Garbage Time: Why Greg Hardy's return to the NFL is a problem. (3.32 min. video)
• Peter King (The MMQB) The Week 5 Mailbag.
• Inside the NFL (NFL.com) Top 5 units in the NFL. (4.39 min. video)
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Goodell says NFL will continue to improve replay review.
• Diana Moskovitz (Deadspin) The daily fantasy nightmare is here because the NFL made it so. /Why are we getting more thorough investigative stories from Deadspin than the MSN?.

VIEW FROM DALLAS

• Jon Machota (SportDayDFW) Bill Belichick: Cowboys have NFL's 'best offensive line' and defense is 'sound'.
• Bob Sturm (Dallas News) Offense report: Cowboys in a bind; Terrance Williams among worst in key stat.
• Bob Sturm (SportsDayDFW) The truth about the Cowboys defense and missed plays.
• Bob Laufenberg (SportsDayDFW) Why Cowboys' most critical defensive need isn't likely to be a factor vs. Pats.
• Staff (SportsDayDFW) National reaction to Hardy about Brady's wife, coming out 'guns blazing': Hasn't learned; 'worst possible metaphor'.