The Patriots gathered back at Gillette Stadium on Monday for some meetings and the players were on hand to answer some questions about the Chargers in the locker room.
After a week off, the attention was all on the visitors from Los Angeles, who many of them expected to be the opponent all along.
As for matchups in this game, Bill Belichick believes the Patriots will have their hands full dealing with the big Chargers receivers. The Boston Herald says both teams have had success throwing to their backs. NBC Sports Boston wonders is Los Angeles will continue to rely on extra defensive backs on Sunday. The Boston Sports Journal believes the Patriots offense will need to answer some lingering questions on Sunday. MassLive.com says the Patriots are preparing for a much better Chargers team than the one they beat last season. According to WEEI.com, Sunday's game is strength against strength but the history is on the Patriots side.
The Boston Globe looks at some of the things that have changed since the last time the Patriots and Chargers met. The Globe says in order for the Patriots to win they must let the Philip Rivers lose it. The strength with the Chargers is their mental toughness, as evidenced by their near-perfect road record.
The Los Angeles Times looks at the Chargers decision to activate tight end Hunter Henry, who has been on injured reserve all season after tearing his ACL in May during OTAs.
ESPN.com catches up with Ty Law, who says Stephon Gilmore is doing his old No. 24 proud.
NBC Sports Boston points out the fact that the Patriots and Colts are each a win away from going against each other in the Irony Bowl.
On his regular appearance on WEEI.com, Tom Brady said he was up all Sunday night watching film of the Chargers. Brady also isn't surprised that Kliff Kingsbury is garnering coaching interest in the NFL.
Boston.com offers a recap of an interview with Belichick and long-time friend Nick Saban, who detailed their relationship.
The Athletic profiles the special relationship between Matthew Slater and his Hall of Fame father, Jackie.
While it's not really on anyone's mind at the moment, the Boston Sports Journal details the Patriots expected compensatory picks in the 2019 draft.
