New England Patriots links 2/10/22 - Matt Judon: Freelancing led to free-falling

TEAM TALK

• Patriots 2022 Mock Draft Tracker.
• Tamara Brown shares five fun facts from Hunter Henry’s Instagram Q&A.
• From the NFL - Munich to stage first-ever regular-season game in Germany; Frankfurt also to host future games.
• Jerod Mayo: Takeaways following head coaching interviews, Bill Belichick’s influence and more. (8 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Hayden Bird highlights Matthew Judon on what he thinks went wrong for the Patriots defense in the unit’s late-season slide. Judon thinks that players started freelancing “instead of just playing within the defensive scheme.”
• Justin Leger relays Matt Judon sharing his take on why the defense struggled late in the season and in the team’s season-ending loss to the Bills. For reference, Judon tallied 12.5 sacks before the Week 14 bye and zero after it.
• Phil Perry is in sunny Los Angeles this week, so he’s channeling his inner Hollywood screenwriter by forecasting what moves would constitute an ideal offseason for the Patriots.
• Phil Perry considers whether the Patriots can follow the blueprint of the Bengals’ offensive shift.
• Tom Westerholm relays Brandon Bolden giving high praise to Bill Belichick, then comparing him to Darth Vader, and talking about Tom Brady potentially returning to the NFL.
• Mike D’Abate (PatriotMaven) Deflategate data; Destination Deutschland and More — What Roger Goodell’s Super Bowl press conference bullet points mean for the Patriots.
• Ian Logue (PatsFans) Patriots and NFL Notebook: Stevenson excited for 2022.
• James Bartlett polls readers on when they think the Pats will return to the Super Bowl.
• Michael Hurley writes how Roger Goodell was asked about psi data collection in 2015 and “instinctively went into autopilot, which involves stacking lies and denial on top of lies and denial. That will always be the league’s final stance on the matter, no matter how much time passes.”
• Andrew Callahan calls shenanigans on Roger Goodell pleading ignorance on the NFL allegedly expunging post-Deflategate data that could have exonerated the Patriots.
• Alex Barth recaps Roger Goodell’s inadequate response to the latest report on the Deflategate saga.
• Ian Logue (PatsFans) No surprise, Goodell deflects Deflategate data questions.
• Mike D’Abate (PatriotMaven) A “New England guy” – Jerod Mayo’s return is Patriots’ gain.
• Darren Hartwell highlights Jerod Mayo sharing an honest reflection on his latest quest to become an NFL head coach. ‘Mayo is aware he lacks the experience of other head coach candidates. The 35-year-old joined the Patriots’ staff in 2019 and has just three years as a position coach under his belt.’
• Andrew Limberg (Audacy) LeGarrette Blount says he didn’t have a secret deal with Belichick before joining the Patriots. /You don’t say...

NATIONAL NEWS

• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Jerod Mayo sees the frustration that sparked the Brian Flores lawsuit.
• Albert Breer (SI) Mailbag: Will Brian Flores coach in the NFL again? Plus, Russell Wilson’s 2022 home, the likely top-five picks, Joe Judge’s vague title and why Kirk Cousins will probably stay a Viking.
• Joel Corry (CBS Sports) Agent’s Take: Super Bowl 2022 participants with expiring contracts who could cash in during free agency.
• Eric Eager (PFF) The road to Super Bowl 56: The statistics behind the Cincinnati Bengals’ and Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl run.
• Will Brinson (CBS Sports) Ranking every Super Bowl, 55-1: Bucs-Chiefs considered a ‘good’ blowout as we rank every big game ever played. /The order is up for debate, but I won’t argue with No. 1.
• Staff (NFL.com) Super Bowl LVI picks: Will Los Angeles Rams or Cincinnati Bengals win Lombardi Trophy?
• Experts (ESPN) Super Bowl score predictions: Rams-Bengals, MVP of the game.
• Staff (PFF) 2022 NFL Draft: Pros and cons for PFF’s top draft prospects.
• Michael Renner (PFF) 2022 NFL Draft Big Board: PFF’s Top 150 prospects.
• Staff (PFF) 2022 NFL free agency rankings for every position.
• Around the NFL (NFL.com) Munich to host first-ever regular-season NFL game in Germany during 2022 season; Frankfurt also to host future games.
• Andrew Limberg (Audacy) LeGarrette Blount says he didn’t have a secret deal with Belichick before joining the Patriots. /You don’t say...
• Tim Kelly (Audacy) Buccaneers plan to retain Tom Brady’s rights, rather than releasing him.
• Tom Pollin (FootballFromAtoZ) The list of 15 Modern-Era Finalists for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is loaded this year. Only five can be selected. Who gets busted?
• Adam Rank (NFL.com) Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022: Predicting the five modern-era inductees.
• Tyler Sullivan (CBS Sports) Takeaways from Roger Goodell’s State of the NFL address. /Need a shovel for that.

EXTRACURRICULAR

• Kevin Seifert (ESPN) Commissioner Roger Goodell says NFL ‘fell short’ in hiring of minority head coaches.
• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Roger Goodell on Washington Commanders: A team can’t investigate itself. /Wait...
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Washington hires investigator to explore Tiffani Johnson allegations and to make findings public. “Get ready for another not-so-independent investigation.”
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) NFL says investigation of Washington Commanders will be conducted by the league, not the team. /Is there a difference?
• Curtis Crabtree (ProFootballTalk) Alvin Kamara’s attorney says they will do own investigation into battery allegations. /”That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works”.