New England Patriots links 9/06/16 - Patriots depth in secondary provides room for creativity

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino shares some news, notes and locker room buzz from Monday's practice at Gillette.
• John Rooke View from Above: Running down the season schedule, and JR says his Magic 8-ball has a bold prediction - pain.
• Press Conference Transcript: Bill Belichick.

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss explains why the Patriots kept CB Jonathan Jones over CB Cre'Von LeBlanc.
• Jeff Howe sees enough depth in the secondary for Beilcihick to get creative in defending the Cardinals, who have one of the league's best spread offenses.
• Mike Reiss says the Patriots are facing arguably the toughest opening game in Bill Belichick's tenure.
• Christopher Price gives us five things to know about the Cardinals: Arizona looks to take the next step toward greatness.
• Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) 5 First impressions of the Cardinals. 1. Arizona has "Super" aspirations and a loaded roster.
• Matt Dolloff sees Carson Palmer as the engine that makes the Cardinals offense hum., so the Patriots defense looks to slow him down.
• Jeff Howe notes Bill Belichick is impressed with Cardinals 2nd-year RB David Johnson.
• Mike Reiss reports the Patriots made the decision to leave on Friday for their cross-country trip to Arizona, which was welcomed news in the locker room.
• Kevin Duffy reveals what Clay Harbor did to make the roster, and gets Harbor to describe the intense competition at his position this summer.
• Phil Perry points out rookie CB Cyrus Jones has his new locker where Darrelle Revis had his, and Jones feels 'blessed' to be around the veterans.
• Mike Petraglia clears it all up: Bill Belichick doesn't stay up late at night worrying about the beautiful science of locker room assignments.
• Kevin Duffy reviews the WR position as it stands and tells us what we can expect from Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan this year.
• Kevin Duffy ranks the Patriots position groups from weakest (RB) to strongest (TE).
• Doug Moore gives his thoughts on the Patriots 53-man roster as it stands after final cut-downs.
• Tom E. Curran goes 1-on-1 with Matthew Slater about Brady's suspension's affect on the team, the final 53 and more. Patriots have "plenty of motivation" to start the season. (2.06 min. video)
• Mike Reiss previews the Patriots 2016 season: Tom Brady will still be the difference in the AFC East.
• Mike Dussault (PatsPropaganda) Patriots 2016 game-by-game prediction.
• Doug Kyed and Zack Cox share some summer superlatives.
• Mike Petraglia looks at what the waiver wire and practice squad tell us about the Patriots depth.
• Christopher Price reports the Patriots officially add eight to the practice squad.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Jonathan Soroff (Improper Bostonian) Going Strong: Patriots’ linebacker Jamie Collins tackles his flying fears, track & field bona fides and life after football.
• Kent Somers (AZcentral) Five most important games for the Cardinals. 1. Patriots: A victory will come with an asterisk: *Tom Brady didn't play. Lose to the Patriots with Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback and the cries of concern from Cardinals fans will be loud.
• Gil Alcaraz IV (NFLSpinzone) 5 Final predictions for the New England Patriots’ 2016 season.
• Alex Marvez (Sporting News) Five bold NFL predictions: Packers pounce, Redskins repeat and more. 5. NE vs. GB for SB LI
• Melissa Jacobs (SI) Predicting 10 storylines the 2016 NFL season will reveal. 9. Suspended, but not forgotten. (SI will debut some form of a Brady tracker too.)
• Eric Edholm (Yahoo! Sports) NFL Preview Week: 10 make-or-break players for 2016.
• Kyle Hightower (AP) Patriots enter season with injuries, no Brady.
• John Clayton (ESPN) Ranking NFL teams most handcuffed by injuries, suspensions. No. 1 Patriots.
• Video (ESPN) Saturday not worried about Pats with Garoppolo as QB. (1.53 min. video)
• Jimmy Kaylor (Cheatsheet) Who has the toughest schedule in 2016?
• Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) Monday Musings: Trouble spots for 10 contenders, Bradford swap a win-win.
• Cameron DaSilva (Fox Sports) One staggering stat shows how important undrafted players are in the NFL.
• Cameron DaSilva (Fox Sports) Top 7 NFL Rookie of the Year candidates.
• Mitch Goldich (SI) Game 256: Which matchup will be flexed to prime time in Week 17?
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) PFT’s Week One Power Rankings. Patriots No. 3.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Bill O’Brien would like to see a shorter preseason.

DUMPSTER DIVE

• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Curran: Tom Brady didn’t know about missing NFL logo on helmet.
• Stephen Hewitt reports Patriots long snapper Joe Cardona respectfully disagrees with Colin Kaepernick.