Rob Ninkovich's immense impact on the Patriots was obvious to anyone in attendance for his retirement press conference in the media workroom at Gillette Stadium Sunday afternoon.
One look at the unprecedented full room of New England coaches and players, including Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, was a good indication just how special a player, teammate and person Ninkovich was in his time in Foxborough.
The Boston Globe has the news story of the Ninkovich retirement. The Globe comes up with 11 things we learned from Ninkovich’s emotional press conference. With Ninkovich moving on, the Globe looks at the Patriots youth movement at defensive end.
The Globe Patriots notebook writes about camp competition heating up. New defensive lineman Lawrence Guy is competing for a role, and he tells the Globe he’s cool with that. The Globe says Brady sizzled in the two-minute drill on Sunday.
The Boston Herald *writes that Ninkovich was both emotional and thankful during his retirement presser. The *Herald says that the pressure is now on Trey Flowers and the rest of the Patriots pass rushers. The Herald talks to wide receiver Brandin Cooks about the deeper meaning of his trademark touchdown celebration. The Herald says James White – who totaled 100 receptions over the last two regular seasons – is ready to build off his huge Super Bowl LI performance.
The Providence Journal *declares that Ninkovich goes out on top. The *ProJo also takes a closer look at third-year defensive end Geneo Grissom, who's been filling the LDE spot in practice early in camp.
ESPNBoston.com details Belichick’s attention to practice detail. ESPNBoston.com breaks down the history lesson the Patriots got this week watching old boxing matches with Marvin Hagler, who visited practice on Sunday and later addressed the team. ESPNBoston.com describes Ninkovich’s “unique, special" retirement.
With Ninkovich gone, WEEI.com wonders who will replace him on the Patriots defense? WEEI.com declares that Ninkovich set the gold standard for an NFL retirement announcement.
CSNNE.com's Mike Giardi displays his real inside knowledge and gets some anonymous scouts to answer a bunch of Patriots-related questions. CSNNE.com talks to former Patriots left tackle Matt Light about Ninkovich’s impressive career…and beard. CSNNE.com has Ninkovich saying his body just wasn’t responding as he tried to get ready for another football season.
