New England Patriots links 1/30/23 - Championship weekend; TEs & CBs; Scouting the Shrine Bowl

TEAM TALK

• Evan Lazar’s Shrine Bowl Notebook: Bill Belichick, Bill O’Brien very involved in Day One of practice in Las Vegas.
• Evan Lazar reports Boston College WR Zay Flowers impresses with Patriots West squad at Shrine Bowl.
• Press Conferences: Troy Brown (6 min. video) - Matt Groh (7.27 min. video)
• One-on-One with Bill O’Brien. (1 min. video)
• Shrine Bowl: Day 1 recap (2 min. video) and Day 2 recap. (2 min. video)
• Patriots Catch-22: Zay Flowers breakdown, Shrine Bowl Day 2 prospects that stood out, Coaching staff takeaways. More. (45.42 min. video)
• Patriots Catch-22 podcast: Patriots coaching staff takeaways, Prospects who stood out at Shrine Bowl Saturday practices. (1 hour)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss shares some quick-hit weekend thoughts: ‘I’m practically living the dream’: Patriots’ Bailey Zappe preps for Year 2 after solid rookie season; Slater’s presence; Ted and Thuney; More.
• Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Sunday Patriots News: Shrine Bowl, Possibilities for OL coach; Disorder on offense worse than we thought; More.
• Karen Guregian’s Sunday NFL notes: Ex-Patriots love the Bill O’Brien hire in New England; More.
• Andy Hart’s Sunday 7: Bill Belichick’s new type of assistant coach; Belichick still hands-on with prospects; More.
• Mark Daniels analyzes the cornerback position and how they performed in 2022: Do the Pats lack a shutdown cornerback?
• Tom E. Curran believes it’s time for New England to start getting a better bang for its buck at the TE position.
• Keagan Stiefel notes Bill Belichick is entering his 49th season in the NFL, but it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down at 70. Belichick is being lauded for his hands-on coaching at the Shrine Bowl.
• Andy Hart doesn’t get how anyone can still blame Mac Jones for the Patriots’ dysfunction.
• Chris Mason passes along a Mike Reiss report that Matthew Slater has remained ‘a regular’ at the Patriots facility this offseason .
• Andrew Callahan highlights Bill O’Brien in his first public comments after being hired by the Patriots.
• Khari Thompson notes ‘people on the ground’ at the Senior Bowl have already noticed a major difference between the Patriots’ offensive coaching staff with Bill O’Brien in town and Matt Patricia’s and Joe Judge’s coaching last year.
• Karen Guregian relays Patriots personnel head Matt Groh, who spoke with reporters following Saturday’s Shrine Bowl practice with the West team.
• Zack Cox highlights Troy Brown learning these ‘valuable’ lessons as Shrine Bowl head coach. ‘It puts me in a spot where I’ve never been before’.
• Daniel Flick (Patriots Country) Patriots Shrine Bowl: Bill Belichick’s Band-aid, Bill O’Brien’s arrival.
• Mike D’Abate (Patriots Country) Patriots Shrine Bowl scouting: 3 to watch.
• Dan Flick (Patriots Country) Patriots Shrine Bowl practices Day 2: West standouts?
• Mike D’Abate (Patriots Country) Patriots prospect Zay Flowers reveals why he missed Shrine Bowl practice. Zay Flowers projects as one of the top slot receiver prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft.
• Robert Alvarez (PatsFans) Julian Edelman remembers the 2018 AFC Championship.
• Robert Alvarez (PatsFans) Julian Edelman addresses NFL future, Bill O’Brien hiring on “Pardon My Take” podcast.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Albert Breer (SI) NFL Championship Sunday Takeaways: 49ers considered Wildcat, Aaron Rodgers’s contract complicates trades; Plus, what Nathaniel Hackett’s hiring means for Aaron Rodgers, Bill O’Brien’s impact on Mac Jones, the Bills’ championship window and much more.
• Nick Shook (NFL.com) 10 crucial takeaways from Championship Sunday.
• Peter King (ProFootballTalk) FMIA Conference Championships: Eagles rout Niners, Chiefs outlast Bengals to set Super Bowl LVII stage.
• MMQB Staff (SI) Championship Game standouts.
• Staff (The Ringer) Winners and losers of the NFL’s Conference Championship games.
• Staff (Football Zebras) Championship games Liveblog: Bengals at Chiefs and 49ers at Eagles.
• Jared Schwartz (NY Post) Confusion over late whistle during Chiefs-Bengals AFC Championship game.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Key play included a missed holding penalty by Orlando Brown. “It happens too often to be brushed off as gross incompetence. Between consistent failures to call holding and a rash of tackles starting into their pass-block set a split second before the snap without being called for illegal procedure, officials are making it easier for quarterbacks to operate by balancing out the simple fact that, currently, defensive linemen are bigger, faster, and/or stronger than the men trying to stop them from hitting the quarterback.”
• Kevin Patra (NFL.com) Kyle Shanahan explains decision not to challenge DeVonta Smith catch in 49ers’ loss.
• Dan Parr & Eric Edholm (NFL.com) Draft order: 29 of 31 first-round picks locked in; Bengals hold 28th selection.
• Ben Austero (Football Zebras) NFL is scouting the officials at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.