New England Patriots links 10/13/21 - Ivan Fears: Only way to change fumbling reputation is during play

TEAM TALK

• Patriots K Nick Folk named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
• Mike Dussault identifies 5 burning questions facing the Patriots after five games. 1. Can they eliminate bad football? Key Stat: Nine giveaways (t-30th)
• Mike Dussault’s Notebook: Better starts on McDaniels’ priority list.
• Paul Perillo’s NFL Notes: Run defense comes up big.
• Mike Dussault tackles this week’s Patriots Mailbag: Assessing Pats improvement, weaknesses and building blocks
• Press Conferences: Josh McDaniels - Steve Belichick - Jerod Mayo - Cameron Achord.
• Coffee with the Coach: Bill Belichick on Seahawks “double punt” play. (1.44 min. video)
• Belichick Breakdown: Top Plays against the Houston Texans (6.05 min. video)
• Sights and Sounds: NFL Week 5 vs. Houston Texans. (4.41 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Zack Cox offers his Patriots snap count analysis: Jamie Collins made a big impact in cameo.
• Evan Lazar’s Notebook: Even with 4/5ths missing, the Patriots O-Line wasn’t half bad.
• Dakota Randall says the Patriots are brutally thin at cornerback and the team’s struggles in Houston underscored the risk of the Stephon Gilmore trade.
• Ryan Hannable notes Ivan Fears was upfront about his unit’s fumbling issues to start the season: That’s our reputation now.
• Isaiah Houde (PatriotsWire) Patriots RB coach Ivan Fears confident Rhamondre Stevenson will ‘turn it loose’.
• Dakota Randall highlights RB coach Ivan Fears unfiltered thoughts on Damien Harris’ fumble woes.
• Andy Hart notes that some of the numbers for the Patriots defense through five games are pretty impressive. But the unit, expected to be a strength for New England, hasn’t been consistent enough. Inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo has faith better days are ahead.
• Ryan Hannable relays Josh McDaniels discussing how he coaches Mac Jones, especially in games.
• Dakota Randall notes Steve Belichick finally offers some thoughts on his face becoming a meme.
• Alex Barth reports the Patriots hosted veteran safety Sean Davis for a free agent workout.
• Dakota Randall brings up Chris Gasper’s so-called “informed speculation” suggesting that Belichick wants to trade Mac Jones for Deshaun Watson so he could catch Don Shula’s win record sooner rather than later. /Sounds exactly like something Belichick would let slip to someone who would let it slip to Gasper, doesn’t it?
• A Clare Perspective podcast: Clare Cooper and guest Nick Stevens discuss that Bucs game just a little bit, the Texans game a lot more and of course tight ends. (35 min.)
• Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike and Murph break down the Pats victory in Houston.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Josh McDaniels: We’re getting closer to finding our offensive identity.
• Grant Gordon (NFL.com) Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, Buccaneers QB Tom Brady lead Players of the Week. Nick Folk named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
• Mike Tannenbaum (ESPN) NFL quarterback rankings 2021: How all 32 teams’ QBs stack up and weekly big takeaways. Mac Jones 19th.
• Cody Benjamin (CBS Sports) NFL Week 6 QB Power Rankings. Mac Jones 23rd: His pick was bad against the Texans, but he was sharp otherwise. The future is bright, even if the Patriots’ present isn’t nearly as promising [-3].
• David Carr (NFL.com) Offensive Player Rankings, Week 6: Five QBs under 30 I’d want to build a franchise around. No Pats.
• David Fleming (ESPN) The agony of the feet: Why turf toe is such a dreaded injury in the NFL.
• Staff (NFL.com) Three German cities in discussions to stage NFL regular-season games.

EXTRACURRICULAR

• Albert Breer (SI) Jon Gruden’s facing more consequences than Daniel Snyder shows us the NFL’s priorities.
• Charles Robinson (Yahoo! Sports) The NFL denies leaking offensive Jon Gruden emails, but it definitely benefited from them becoming public.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) NFL contends it released no Jon Gruden emails. /I smell something.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) It’s time for NFL to release all information from the Washington Football Team investigation.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Lawyers representing former WFT employees call for investigation findings to be released.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Plenty of people are nervous about the Bruce Allen emails.