TEAM TALK
- Andy Hart Wednesday minicamp Blogservations: Offense struggled when the target was not Rob Gronkowski; Scott Chandler was held out after an issue with his 'rib cage area'.
- Press Conference - Bill Belichick transcript (plus 10.03 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Stars stand out as Patriots conclude minicamp. (2.41 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Jake Bequette: Making the move from defense to offense. (video)
LOCAL LINKS
- Karen Guregian says the target on the Patriots' back has never been bigger, and opposing teams want to take them down now even more than before.
- Mike Reiss reports Bill Belichick canceled the team's final practice Thursday and seemed pleased with the offseason workouts when chatting with reporters at the end.
- Mike Reiss Patriots minicamp: Malcolm Butler against Julian Edelman has been one of the more spirited competitions in OTAs.
- Mike Reiss explains why Bill Belichick sent the entire Patriots offense, including coaches, on a penalty lap: He's the Boss.
- Christopher Price explains why this offseason has been unique for Rob Gronkowski.
- Ryan Hannable notes Tyler Gaffney is looking to put his "pretty frustrating" injury behind him and compete for a RB roster spot.
- Rich Thompson notes Bryan Stork has won double titles, but his focus is on getting ready for this season.
- Mike Reiss notes Jimmy Garoppolo is learning to move past mistakes and not let them spiral.
- Ben Volin talks about which running backs he feels will emerge from the crowded Patriots backfield.
- Mark Daniels reports Dominique Easley is looking to improve on his bumpy rookie season.
- Mark Farinella talks about the responsibility Dominique Easley feels towards helping his younger sister who suffers from fibromyalgia.
- Erik Frenz notes the Patriots are still sorting out their secondary.
- Mike Petraglia and Chris Price talk Matt Flynn, Brian Tyms and minicamp highlights. (13.45 min. video)
- Tom E. Curran reports the NFL's credibility on Brady and the Patriots continues to deflate as a chorus of deflategate skeptics put a blowtorch to the Wells Report.
- Tom E. Curran ranks the top 50 players of the Bill Belichick era: No. 41 Aqib Tallib.
- Jeff Howe Patriots Notebook: DT Malcom Brown is not Vince Wilfork and Brown smartly avoided that comparison yesterday; Belichick canceled the final day of minicamp for the 3rd time in recent years; Players will return in 6 weeks for Training Camp; Jake Bequette -still a long shot to make the roster - caught a pass from Tom Brady; Best moment: Red Zone work with TEs finished with Brady catching a TD from Gronk and celebrating by peeling the football like a banana and pretending to eat it.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Patriots call off Thursday's practice.
- Jared Dubin (CBS Sports) Bill Belichick made the entire offense (coaches included) run laps.
- Oliver Thomas (247 Sports) Jake Bequette focused on adding tight end to 'toolbox'.
- Erik Frenz (Bleacher Report) Patriots: Full position breakdown and depth chart analysis at WR.
- Oliver Thomas (247 Sports) Patriots' Brian Tyms: 'I still got a long ways to go'.
- Mark Schofield (Inside the Pylon) Super Bowl XLIX Recap: Drive one - Finding Tharold Simon.
- Mark Schofield (Inside the Pylon) Super Bowl XLIX recap: The Patriots second TD drive.
- Slideshow (Fox Sports) A look at the NFL's 16 greatest upsets of the Super Bowl era.
- Jim Wyatt (The Tennessean) McCourty brothers raising money to fight Sickle Cell.
- Chris Wesseling (NFL.com) 15 Things to know from Wednesday's minicamps.
- Jim Reineking (NFL.com) Five best NFL draft classes by team of last 10 years.
- Kenneth Arthur (Sports on Earth) Rising and falling from the middle.
- Peter King (The MMQB) The MMQB 100 most influential people: Nos 81-90, and Nos 71-80.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Baseball hacking scandal is another FIFA-style warning to the NFL and its teams.