TEAM TALK
- Erik Scalavino calls attention to several Patriots who are pursuing advanced degrees free of charge during football’s offseason.
- Angelique Fiske reports how Patriots players volunteered to plant flags in Boston Common for Memorial Day.
- Community: Kyle Van Noy and his wife Marissa treat local foster kids to a day of fun at Splitsville and a tour of Gillette Stadium. (1 min. video)
- PFW in Progress: Leftovers from OTAs, the new kickoff and leading with the head rules, and more. (2 hour program)
- Cover 2 podcast: Don Banks and Nick Stevens are joined by Bill Polian to discuss the new Alliance of American Football League which will be unveiled in the spring of 2019. (53 min.)
LOCAL LINKS
- Michael Hurley presents some numbers that show the team that loses the Super Bowl has a difficult challenge ahead to have an excellent season.
- Staff (FullPressCoverage) The outlook for the last five Super Bowl champions.
- Ryan Hannable thinks Dont’a Hightower’s absence from Tuesday’s Patriots OTA session doesn’t appear to be a big deal. He participated on Thursday.
- Tanya Ray Fox (PatriotsWire) Should Brett Favre’s steep drop-off from age 40 to 41 worry Patriots fans? /Short answer, “Nah”.
- Evan Drellich hears from Kevin Youkilis, Tom Brady’s brother-in-law, that while he doesn’t know what’s going on with his absence from OTAs, he does know Brady’s passion for the game is still as strong as ever. “He’s going to be the most prepared guy out there.”
- Mike Dussault (PatsPropaganda) Tweets of note from Patriots OTAs.
- Nick O’Malley passes along a report from The Athletic’s Jeff Howe that the Patriots were closing in on a new deal with Rob Gronkowski.
- Marcus Kwesi O’Mard tells us Discovery Channel announced Rob Gronkowski will appear on the “Monster Tag” episode of “Shark Week” 2018.
- Tanya Ray Fox (PatriotsWire) Stephen Gostkowski, Ted Karras pursuing master’s degrees in offseason.
- Mike Reiss addresses his Friday Patriots Mailbag: Added intrigue with Patriots’ vote for captains this season.
- Doug Kyed empties his Patriots Mailbag: Should New England pursue LB Mychal Kendricks?
- Ian Logue (PatsFans) Friday Patriots Notebook: Brady spotted working out; Van Noy loses bet with kids.
- Bill Reynolds thinks the Patriot Way needs therapy.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Sean Wagner-McGough (CBS Sportws) AFC East offseason grades: Patriots get C after free agent exodus. Jets get B+, Bills: C+, Dolphins: D.
- Jeremy Willis (ESPN) Best stuff from this week’s OTAs.
- Danny Kelly (The Ringer) The most important thing to watch at NFL OTAs: How injured players are recovering.
- Dan Graziano (ESPN) Answers for the five biggest NFL questions left in the offseason.
- Rodger Sherman (The Ringer) The kickoff isn’t worth saving, but the NFL keeps trying.
- Jonathan Jones (SI) Four more NFL teams that should turn to throwback unis.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Report: NFL owners didn’t actually vote on anthem issue.
- Terez Paylor (Yahoo! Sports) The NBA schooled the NFL on social justice issues this week, but let’s not go overboard.
- Dan Graziano (ESPN) Why the NFL is light-years behind the NBA on social justice front.
- Bob Hille (Sporting News) Giants part with equipment staff involved in Eli Manning memorabilia suit, report says.