TEAM TALK
- Briana Palma talks about Tom Brady making the NFL's best dressed of 2015.
- Press Conference Transcripts: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
- Press Pass: Patriots on Postseason preparations. (3 min. video)
LOCAL LINKS
- Jeff Howe reports Tom Brady, Dont'a Hightower and Chandler Jones were among those present for Wednesday's walkthrough.
- Mike Reiss reports Julian Edelman represents the first domino to help the Patriots' offense return to form.
- Mike Reiss notes Bill Belichick's praise of Steven Jackson: 'He practices hard, he runs scout team, does the things he needs to do to improve.'
- Ryan Hannable reports DE Jabaal Sheard is ready for his first playoff experience.
- Glen Farley hears from Danny Amendola, who admits there's a different outlook to a week in which there is no opponent to prepare for.
- Mike Reiss notes Alan Branch says it won't matter who the Patriots play if the team doesn't improve.
- Jeff Howe says healing is the top playoff priority, with the understanding that everybody coming back has to play good football.
- Bill Reynolds writes how weeks ago the Patriots seemed to be chasing history, and now it seems all about survival.
- Jen McCaffrey says that with the bye, the Patriots are expected to have the weekend off to recharge.
- Tom E. Curran notes Brandon LaFell has had a down season by all accounts, but still has time to change some minds in the playoffs.
- Mark Daniels reveals Brandon LaFell is still battling back from offseason foot surgery.
- Josh Brown (Boston's TitleTownTalk) Belichick got spooked with Gronk injury.
- Karen Guregian looks at the revival of Rob Gronkowski as the key to the Pats' postseason success.
- Tom E. Curran mentions the difficulty of getting a read on Tom Brady this season, and how it's clear he has taken measures to ensure his mental balance isn't threatened.
- Tom Curran and Mike Giardi detail how Tom Brady's trainer Alex Guerrero will help him recover from his high ankle sprain. (3.12 min. video)
- Rich Thompson says that as a veteran leader, Tom Brady knows his way to the big game and his role in setting a good example for the players.
- Rich Garven tells us about Brandon King's road from team barber to special-teams standout.
- Lee Schechter (About Sports) Biggest threats to the New England Patriots this postseason.
- Mike Petraglia notes Bill Belichick on analytics: 'It's not really my thing.'
- Kirk Minihane has had enough of Chris Mortensen, and makes the case for him to be let go.
- William Hyland (Boston's TitleTownTalk) The national media's favorite QB.
- Pat Bradley tells us why the Patriots loss in Miami might actually be a good omen, at least historically.
- Doug Kyed looks at the next two likely coordinators for the Patriots if Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia leave for head coaching jobs; TE coach Brian Daboll and LB coach Patrick Graham.
- Jeff Howe Patriots Notebook: CB Tarell Brown, put on IR since Oct. 17, has been at Gillette Stadium every day to rehab his surgically-repaired foot; Brown hopes to stay with the team next year; Tom Brady will play on his sprained ankle next week; Rob Ninkovich appreciates the Patriots' run of success; He's one of nine players on the active roster who has been around for each of the Pats' NFL-record six consecutive first-round byes.
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Bryanna Cappadona notes that in the Brady-Bündchen house, Gisele keeps a basket of Ugg slippers for guests. /Of course she does.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Kyle Schroeder (The Sports Quotient) NFL Playoff Preview: New England Patriots.
- Oliver Thomas (247 Sports) Bill Belichick: Brandon LaFell has 'pushed through'.
- Oliver Thomas (247 Sports) Durable Rob Ninkovich a Patriots constant since 2009.
- Oliver Thomas (247 Sports) Top 10 Patriots pass-catchers at season's end.
- Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports) 2015 NFL All-Pro team: Panthers dominate again.
- Peter King (The MMQB) The 2015 MMQB Awards. No Pats.
- Report (Fox Sports) NFL season-end awards.
- Peter King (The MMQB) The Wild-Card Mailbag.
- Alex Marvez (Fox Sports) 3 reasons each AFC team can win the Super Bowl even though Denver has the top seed.
- Darin Gantt (ProFootballTAlk) A bottom-half-of-the-league referee will be working the playoffs.
- Ross Tucker (Sports on Earth) 3 Key ingredients to a playoff team.
- NFL Total Access (NFL.com) Kurt Warner's Top 5 QBs of 2015. (2.33 min. video) No. 2 Tom Brady.
- Kenneth Arthur (Sports on Earth) Playoff teams can end droughts now.
- Jacob Kornhauser (Rant Sports) Power ranking NFL playoff teams based on their head coach.
- Bill Bender (Sporting News) Ranking NFL quarterbacks by postseason resumes.
- Will Leitch (Sports on Earth) Peyton Manning's legacy in flux.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) NFL reminds teams of importance of sportsmanship in postseason.
- Andrew Brandt (The MMQB) Settle in for a long winter.
- William C. Rhoden (NY Times) NFL owners find fault, take action and steer clear of blame.
- Kevin Draper (Deadspin) ESPNers can't help Tweeting out deceptive ads.
- Timothy Burke (Deadspin) Pro-Domino's pizza Tweets from Adam Schefter & Chris Mortensen were—you guessed it—ads.
- Doug Farrar (SI) Off the Grid: Two views of Concussion, a Q&A with Leigh Steinberg and more.
- Roundtable (Wired) What the NFL will look like in 50 years, from VR to helmet-less play.
- Michael McCann (SI) Do Zimmerman, Howard have case against Al Jazeera over PED story?
- Dave Zirin (The Nation) Why they pardon Peyton.
- Bruce Allen (Boston Sports Media) Brady vs. Manning - Rivals even in media hypocrisy.
- Jenny Green (Indy Star) Key questions about Peyton Manning accusation: live updates.