New England Patriots links 10/18/18 - Working to get Gronk open in the red zone

TEAM TALK

• Patriots-Bears Wednesday Injury Report.
• Erik Scalavino shares the practice notes and locker-room buzz from Wednesday at Gillette: Preparing for Mack attack.
• Angelique Fiske reports Dont’a Hightower spoke to elementary school students about the importance of staying active and eating healthy.
• Belichick Breakdown: Top plays against the Chiefs. (7.32 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss has a nice piece on Tom Brady as the closer: Now tied for 3rd-place all time in game-winning drives, his confidence in those situations inspires his teammates.
• Ryan Hannable calls attention to all the ways Tom Brady’s play has slipped so far in 2018.
• Kevin Duffy examines why Rob Gronkowski isn’t getting his usual looks in the red zone.
• Darren Hartwell notes Rob Gronkowski has a plan to improve his surprisingly nonexistent red zone production.
• Karen Guregian points out that in Sunday’s shootout win against the Chiefs, the Patriots actually employed more running plays than passing plays.
• Doug Kyed hears from RB Kenjon Barner about the difficulty of learning the Patriots offense. Barner picked up 16 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per carry in Sunday night’s win.
• Evan Lazar runs through how Matt Nagy’s offense is similar to Andy Reid.
• Matt Dolloff gives us five questions to get ready for Pats-Bears. 2. Can Matt Nagy hang with Bill Belichick for 60 minutes?
• Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Pats-Bears, Week 7 key matchups: Who has the razor’s edge?
• Matt Dolloff says Pats-Bears could simply come down to QB Mitchell Trubisky.
• David Latham (LastWordOnSports) Stephon Gilmore key to stopping suddenly successful Mitch Trubisky.
• Doug Kyed talks with the cornerbacks to find out what it’s like covering Josh Gordon in practice.
• Phil Perry notes Chicago head coach Matt Nagy says Trey Flowers may not be a “quote-unquote big name guy, but he’s the big name guy amongst the coaching world,”
• Rich Thompson notes Bill Belichick expressed wariness of Bears’ speedy receiver Taylor Gabriel.
• Nick O’Malley says the Pats offensive line has been great but will face a huge challenge vs. the Bears.
• Kevin Duffy believes the Patriots will have their hands full with Bears LB Khalil Mack.
• Zack Cox notes LaAdrian Waddle is gearing up for a potential Khalil Mack rematch.
• Phil Perry thinks Marcus Cannon’s availability will be key vs. Khalil Mack and the Bears.
• Mark Daniels reports former Patriot Akiem Hicks is thriving in Chicago.
• Evan Lazar’s Film Review: Josh Gordon emerging as versatile threat in Patriots offense.
• Tom E. Curran calls out how the Patriots kick-return coverage has gone from great to gross.
• Ryan Hannable passes along a report that the Patriots worked out several defensive players yesterday.
• Robert Alvarez (PatsFans) Best of social media: Chiefs vs. Patriots.
• Russ Goldman (PatsFans) Patriots Fourth and Two podcast: Chiefs vs. Patriots recap and Bears preview. (65.20 min.)

NATIONAL NEWS

• Jason Owens (Yahoo! Sports) Bill Belichick and Lawrence Taylor agree: Khalil Mack’s not as good as LT.
• Terez Paylor (Yahoo! Sports) 5 Things I Liked in Week 6: Flying to the football, Steelers’ nasty blocking and Matt Nagy channeling Andy Reid.
• Andy Benoit (SI) Deep Dive: How to remake NFL defenses? The Ravens have a blueprint. “Bears fans need not worry.”
• Jonathan Jones (SI) Morning Huddle: Bills smartly shifting to veteran QB Derek Anderson over interception-prone Nathan Peterman.
• Jenny Vrentas (SI) Five takeaways from the fall league meeting. 1. Concern in L.A.?
• Charles Robinson (Yahoo! Sports) NFL owners take a knee, leave national anthem policy alone.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) NFL adds Jimmy Haslam to Compensation Committee.
• Staff (Bleacher Report) Expert consensus Week 7 NFL picks. Two out of three pick Pats to win; Consensus: Patriots 28, Bears 23.

VIEW FROM CHICAGO

• Patrick Finley (Chicago Sun Times) Will ‘experience factor’ matter when the Bears’ Matt Nagy faces Bill Belichick?
• Colleen Kane (Chicago Tribune) Can the Bears beat the Patriots on Sunday? Check the numbers.
• Larry Mayers (ChicagoBears) Patriots will provide measuring stick for Bears.
• Colleen Kane (Chicago Tribune) Were the Bears’ defensive struggles Sunday just a blip? Tom Brady and the Patriots will help the evaluation.
• Adam L. Jahns (Chicago Sun Times) Brady Barometer: Bears QB Mitch Trubisky excited to compete with all-time great.
• Mark Potash (Chicago Sun Times) Kyle Long feeling Bears spirit: ‘Every week feels like the playoffs around here.’
• Staff (ChicagoBears) 9 Questions to test your knowledge of the Bears-Patriots history.
• Patrick Finley (Chicago Sun Times) Matt Nagy: Bears OLB Khalil Mack ‘day-to-day’ with ankle injury.
• Brad Biggs (Chicago Tribune) Bears Q&A: Do future opponents have a template for slowing the pass rush? Why has Jordan Howard fallen out of favor?
• Dan Wiederer (Chicago Tribune) ‘That’s a big moment for our guys’: Bears offense showing significant growth, even after tough loss to Dolphins.
• Brad Biggs (Chicago Tribune) Arrival of colder weather ushers in kick return season, and the Bears are ready.