New England Patriots Links 1/08/16 - Return of Injured Players Raises Morale

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino shares some notes from Patriots practice and the locker room buzz.
• Bryan Morry reports The Hall at Patriot Place will host Playoff Huddle Q&A on Saturday, January 9, featuring Dante Scarnecchia and Mike Reiss.
• Media availability transcript: Rob Gronkowski.
• Press Pass - Gronkowski, Patriots discuss bye week. (3 min. video)
• How they got here: New England Patriots. (2.06 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Kevin Duffy tells us the story of Matt Patricia as an engineer, before he became one of the most sought-after NFL head coaching candidates. /Great read.
• Mike Reiss notes Rob Gronkowski will take advantage of the bye to watch the playoffs, and he says Julian Edelman is working hard to be back by the divisional game.
• Erik Frenz gives us five reasons to remain confident in the Patriots.
• Jeff Howe notes Malcolm Butler has moved past Super Bowl heroics from last season, wants to show what he can do this year.
  
• Mike Cole highlights Greg Bedards's behind-the-scenes Texans story in SI, that gives us a glimpse of Bill Belichick's coaching style.
• Mike Reiss notes Steven Jackson likes the view behind the curtain with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
• Kevin Duffy notes RB Steven Jackson is getting up to speed with his new team before the playoffs. On playing with Tom Brady: 'You understand why they win around here.'
• Doug Kyed reports Rob Gronkowski says he's 'so excited' to have Julian Edelman back in the offense.
• Mike Reiss reports special teams ace Nate Ebner has his right arm in a cast. /Booo!
• Mark Daniels notes Devin McCourty sees a rise in morale as the team gets more injured players back.
• Ryan Hannable picks the top ten moments from the Patriots' 2015 regular season.
• Doug Kyed Patriots Mailbag: James White to finally be unleashed for playoffs?
• Jim Donaldson posts a New England fan's guide to NFL Wildcard Weekend.
• Ron Borges thinks the Bengals are the Patriots' most dangerous opponent in the next round.
• Jim Lazar reports on fans filing a missing persons report on the Pats, and makes his Wild Card picks.
• New England Tailgate: NFL Wildcard picks. (3.41 min. video)
• Michael Hurley makes his Wild Card Round picks.
• Matt Dolloff wonders which AFC Wild Card team has the best chance to pull an upset?
• Mark Daniels suggests Pats fans should cheer for Pittsburgh and Houston this weekend.
• Felger & Mazz guest Greg Bedard gets hit with 10 questions from around the NFL, including his picks for Wild Card weekend.
• CBS Boston breaks down the Patriots' three potential opponents.
• Kevin Duffy previews potential Patriots playoff opponents: Kansas City Chiefs.
• Nick O'Malley explores which teams might hire Matt Patricia or Josh McDaniels.
• Matt Dolloff reports the NFL [claims it] has been conducting random PSI tests all season, but they won't say whether they'll do it in Minnesota where it will be below-zero.
• Chad Finn points out how the media is looking the other way, with the Peyton Manning HGH story -- completely inconsistent with how they handled deflategate.
• Danny Picard discusses Peyton and HGH: Like it or not, it IS a story.
• Jeff Howe Patriots Notebook: Devin McCourty said he feels 'probably as good as anyone feels about this time of year' when asked about his high ankle sprain; Edelman's 7-game absence will end next week; Dont'a Hightower raised $25K for the American Diabetes Association; Nate Ebner has a cast on his right arm that extended to his thumb.
• Mike Reiss mentions that six former Patriots players will be in action this weekend.
• Fitzy (Townie News) posts a Patriots playoff hype video 2016: The Force Awakens. (2.16 min. video)

NATIONAL NEWS

• Oliver Thomas (247 Sports) Tom Brady lands third in Pro Football Focus' QB ranks.
• Erik Frenz (Bleacher Report) What a healthy Julian Edelman would mean for Patriots offense.
• Steve Serby (NY Post) How Patriots will run through playoffs for shocking 5th ring.
• Bob Snowdon (Goal Line Gazette) Patriots: What needs to happen before the playoffs.
• Ryan Glasspiegel (The Big Lead) What did Bill Belichick mean when he downplayed football analytics?
• Gregg Rosenthal (NFL.com) QB Index: Year-end rankings.
• Oliver Thomas (247 Sports) Sizing up Patriots' potential divisional-round playoff opponents.
• Bill Barnwell (ESPN) Eight teams, eight surprising wild-card weekend facts.
• Robert Mays (The MMQB) Unleash it deep: Three of the NFL's best offenses are taking a different tack.
• Rocky Boiman (Football by Football) Top NFL Playoff contenders & pretenders.
• Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) How every NFL playoff team can win Super Bowl 50.
• Mike Tanier (Bleacher Report) Wild Card round: Game previews and score predictions.
• Staff Report (USA Today) 50 things we look forward to in NFL's wild-card weekend.
• Greg A. Bedard (SI) Blanket Coverage: Who could emerge as unlikely postseason heroes?
• Staff Report (USA Today) NFL experts (mostly) pick Cardinals over Patriots in Super Bowl 50.
• Greg A. Bedard (SI) Best-laid plans: How Texans crafted plays for their season's biggest game.
• Editors (Inside the Pylon) 2015 All-underrated NFL offensive line team and awards.
• Matt Bowen (ESPN) Seven ways NFL players keep from freezing.
• Douglas Pucci (Awful Announcing) Ratings buzz - 2015 network viewership rankings: ESPN experienced 11% decline.
• Oliver Thomas (247 Sports) Former Patriot Ty Law not among Hall of Fame finalists for 2016.
• Elliot Harrison (NFL.com) Hall of Fame finalists: Brett Favre a lock; Terrell Owens in top tier.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) NFL won't say whether PSI will be tested in Minnesota on Sunday. /I call an integrity violation.
• Dan Wetzel (Yahoo! Sports) How low will game balls' psi drop in frigid Seahawks-Vikes game?
• Gabriel Arana (Huffington Post) Here's why ESPN didn't break the Peyton Manning story.
• Sarah Latimer (Washington Post) House Democrats seek records relating to alleged NFL ‘veto power’ in NIH concussion study.