New England Patriots links 6/18/19 - How high are expectations for Jamie Collins?

TEAM TALK

• Touchdown in Israel III gets underway: Robert Kraft welcomed aboard Patriot players of past and present as they made their way to Israel. (2.08 min. video)
• Highlights: Patriots players had a friendly competition and spent the day playing paintball. (30 second video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Karen Guregian thumbnails the top five new players she believes will have the most impact in 2019, beginning with the honorable mentions.
• Ryan Hannable counts down the 15 most important Patriots players for 2019. No. 15 Jamie Collins.
• Christopher Simoneau (FullPressCoverage) Meet the new Patriots: DE Chase Winovich.
• Luke O’Brien, Adam Myers (FullPressCoverage) Patriots undrafted free agent profiles: TE Andrew Beck - WR Jakobi Meyers.
• David Latham (LastWordOnSports) Patriots X-Factors: WR Josh Gordon.
• Ethan Roy, Robert Marcello (FullPressCoverage) Patriots training camp battles: Running Backs - Defensive Backs.
• Karen Guregian takes another early crack at projecting the Patriots 53-man roster. This time around, WR Jakobi Meyers edges out Braxton Berrios.
• Darren Hartwell notes Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph says there was never ‘any real opportunity’ with Patriots.
• Nick Goss talks about Pro Football Focus’ finding that Ben Roethlisberger has the highest overall grade against the Patriots since 2006. /Which begs the question, if the Pats usually win the game, does it even matter?

“Sure to upset the #QBWINZ crowd, Roethlisberger comes out as the top-graded player against the Patriots despite being just 4-8 against Brady and company. The tape shows, however, that the subpar record hasn’t been his fault. Big Ben’s touchdown to interception ratio of 18-to-10 doesn’t overly impress, but his big-time throw to turnover-worthy play ratio of 28:8 is much more impressive. The discrepancy indicates that luck hasn’t been on his side in the matchup, but that doesn’t detract from him playing at a high level.”

• Jacob Camenker notes Devin and Jason McCourty congratulated Josh McCown on Twitter, and it prompted a pretty funny response from McCown.
• Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) Chris Hogan explains why Tom Brady, Cam Newton are ‘totally different players’.
• Isaiah Houde (PatriotsWire) Pro Football Focus: Patriots recorded second-highest team coverage grade in 2018.
• Kevin Duffy looks at where Boston’s 2018-19 year ranks among the all-time best by a single city.
• Report (AP Patriots’ Robert Kraft to receive warm welcome in Israel.
• Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) Packers, not Patriots, claim TE Michael Roberts on waivers.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Albert Breer (SI) Monday Afternoon QB: Josh McCown’s farewell (for now), Todd Gurley’s knee, Michael Thomas’s looming payday and more NFL notes.
• Jason La Canfora (CBS Sports) Sorting out another Texans mess: All eyes on Houston as it stumbles ahead with no GM, or seemingly a plan.
• Darin Gantt (ProFootballTalk) Report: Nick Caserio wants out of New England. “According to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe...” /Take this as you will.
• Scott Barrett (Pro Football Focus) Rob Gronkowski: A Eulogy, and what his loss means for Tom Brady.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Tom Brady rakes in another $2.35 million in royalties.
• Staff (Buffalo News) Bills propose a wedding at halftime of Patriots game. /Married life can only go up from there.
• Vahe Gregorian (Kansas City Star) Why Mahomes 2.0 will be better even if his statistics are less gaudy.
• Pete Grathoff (Kansas City Star) Chiefs’ Travis Kelce on Kareem Hunt: ‘It ripped our hearts out when he got released’.
• Charean Williams (ProFootballTalk) Ben Roethlisberger ready for “normalcy” after “crazy” few years.
• Analysis Team (Pro Football Focus) Second-year offensive tackles set up for success in 2019. (7.16 min. video)
• Analysis Team (Pro Football Focus) 10 NFL players who just missed PFF’s list of the 50 best players entering 2019.
• Brent Sobleski (Bleacher Report) 2019 NFL offseason’s biggest winners and losers so far. Patriots: Losers. /Um, yeah....
• Brett Anderson (CBS Sports) Which NFL team could become the next Patriots-style dynasty? Here are the most likely candidates. / : P Pfffttttt...
• Tadd Haislop (Sporting News) Ranking the NFL’s best rivalries in 2019: The most heated of the hatred. No. 5 Patriots-Chiefs.
• Michael Renner (Pro Football Focus) Very early MVP Candidates ahead of the 2019 NFL season.
• Report (SNY) Giants QB Daniel Jones hears boos at Yankee Stadium: Fans not giving first-round pick much of a chance.
• Gregg Rosenthal (NFL.com) NFL Division Power Rankings: NFC North stands above the rest. AFC East 8th.
• Nate Davis (USA Today) Which NFL team is closest to winning its first Super Bowl? Ranking the 12 contenders.

EXTRACURRICULAR

• Logan Ulrich (NFLTradeRumors) Josh McCown retiring from NFL, joining ESPN as analyst.