New England Patriots news 12/30/21: Patriots players and coaches reflect on John Madden

TEAM TALK

• Mike Dussault opens the notebook to illustrate how Bill Belichick and the Patriots remembered John Madden.
• Angelique Fiske shares some of the best social media moments of the year.
• Patriots Unfiltered previews the Jacksonville Jaguars and has updates from practice on Wednesday. (Audio)
• Patriots.com outlines how the organization is offering their first commemorative NFT for the Jacksonville game.

LOCAL LINKS

• Jeff Howe (The Athletic) dives into how Josh McDaniels’ stock is soaring once again despite his history. ($)
• Ricky Doyle (NESN) revisits how John Madden’s call at the end of Super Bowl XXXVI introduced the New England dynasty.
• Zack Cox (NESN) chats with Adrian Phillips on John Madden and the Madden video game franchise.
• Chris Mason (MassLive) shares how Mac Jones and Trevor Lawrence have a history dating back to their high school days.
• Danny Jaillet (Patriots Wire) breaks down how Josh McDaniels was not on the initial list of head coach candidates for the Jaguars.
• Chris Mason (MassLive) on the return of Rhamondre Stevenson from the COVID-19 reserve list.
• Chris Mason (MassLive) speculates on who would replace Bill Belichick if he were to somehow land on the COVID-19 list. (Fascinating idea for a piece, but let’s hope it never becomes necessary).
• Joan Vennochi (Boston Globe) has praise for the reporter who asked Bill Belichick about his New Year’s resolutions in the aftermath of the loss to the Buffalo Bills.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Seth Walder (ESPN) predicts the playoff picture. (New England finishes as the sixth seed).
• Joe Broback (Pro Football Network) drops his latest mock draft. (New England addresses the secondary in this mock).
• Jason Owens (Yahoo) on the latest rumors regarding Aaron Rodgers and retirement.
• Jarrett Bell (USA Today) writes about the legacy of John Madden.
• Bill Shea (The Athletic) points out that the NFL dominated the NBA on Christmas Day. ($)
• Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) makes his picks for Week 17 of the NFL season.
• Travis Gibson (News 4 Jacksonville) dives into the clown movement taking over Jaguars Twitter. (This is why your Twitter timeline might look different these days).
• Sydney Hunte (Saturday Down South) shares how Connor Barwin believes Cincinnati can beat Alabama on Friday night.