After four days of practice action in front of massive crowds at Gillette Stadium, Bill Belichick's team had a day off from practice on Monday.
But that didn't keep the defending champs out of the news. Many of today's top headlines come from interviews that Robert Kraft, Belichick and a number of Patirots players did over the weekend with Sirius NFL radio.
The Boston Globe has the Patriots owner Kraft talking with Sirius about the possible location of the team’s fifth Super Bowl banner at Gillette Stadium. The Globe also looks at the idea that three-plus years into the job, Jimmy Garoppolo still isn’t used to being a backup quarterback. The Globe notes that Rob Ninkovich called New England “forever home” in an Instagram post a day after announcing his retirement.
Boston Herald columnist Steve Buckley says that a 2016 PED suspension is a footnote in Ninkovich’s retirement tale. The Herald writes that Dion Lewis is ready to show that he can still be an electrifying running back now more than a year removed from a torn ACL.
The *Providence Journal *says that 2016 practice squader Devin Lucien is still trying to catch on in a very crowded Patriots receiving corps.
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ESPNBoston.com declares that Belichick sees more versatility and unpredictability in his revamped group of running backs. ESPNBoston.com notes that David Harris felt “blindsided” when he was released by the Jets in June.
Less than a week into training camp, WEEI.com offers up a Patriots 53-man roster projection, with safety Jordan Richards one of the more surprising cuts. WEEI.com passes along Belichick telling Sirius radio that this will be an interesting year for No. 3 quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
NFL.com passes along Riddell’s Blaze Alternate Collection Patriots red helmet. All of the 32 helmets in the collection are pretty interesting.
ESPN says that while 19-0 usually sounds crazy, that’s not the case with this Patriots team.
MMQB.com has Garoppolo declaring yet again what he’s said so many times, that he wants to be a starter.
247Sports has NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell confirming that he’ll be in Foxborough for the Patriots season opener on Sept. 7.
NESN.com also jumps on the Belichick “unpredictability” story from his Sirius radio comments, even if the coach had a simple, dismissive "we'll see" response when asked about his backfield in a press conference last week.
