With his four-game Deflategate suspension over, Tom Brady was freed to return to the Patriots on Monday.
The Boston Globe passes along Brady doing his weekly Westwood One radio interview and confirming that he was indeed at Gillette Stadium for his first day back to work. The Globe also looks back at some of the key plays in New England’s shutout loss to the Bills on Sunday, while noting that one of the Patriots biggest issues in the defeat was tackling on defense.
Pressed on the decision for Jimmy Garoppolo to be inactive against the Bills, the Globe says Bill Belichick made it clear that it was business as usual with the day-of-game inactives.
The Boston Herald has its weekly Patriots report card and it has more average grades that might be expected after the first shutout loss in the history of Gillette Stadium. The Herald offers up what to expect now that Brady is back atop the New England quarterback depth chart. The Herald Patriots notebook has Brady telling Westwood One it’s “certainly great to be back to work.”
While Brady returns, the Providence Journal notes the Patriots let go of veteran tight end Clay Harbor on Monday. The Pro Jo makes it clear that the Patriots are not questioning Jimmy Garoppolo’s toughness after the third-year backup missed his second straight game to an AC sprain in his throwing shoulder.
ESPN looks at how Brady’s return affects the AFC East.
ESPN The Magazine has a cover story that's the oral history of Bill Belichick’s rise to coaching greatness.
ESPN also has noted Bills bully Richie Incognito taunting Belichick via social media.
ESPNBoston.com has Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater defending rookie returner Cyrus Jones and even shouldering some of the blame for communication issues on kickoff returns.
WEEI.com passes along Rex Ryan admitting his was “BSing” when he told reporters after his team's win that he had a source tell him last week that Jacoby Brissett was going to start all along. It probably goes without saying, but WEEI.com writes that the Patriots offense is much different with Brady back.
CSNNE.com offers up its own Patriots report card, in the much-loved slideshow format! CSNNE.com also declares that Brady’s return is “not a day of celebration.”
The Patriots fell to the No. 3 spot in NFL.com's power rankings after Sunday's shutout loss. NFL.com has an interesting feature on Belichick’s days in Cleveland when he may or may not have written letters to a young, passionate Browns fan who is now a writer.
The Patriots also slipped in the Washington Post's power rankings.
