The Patriots’ First Shot

Good morning! The First Shot provides you with a healthy helping of links to the top Patriots-related stories around the internet to get your day started. Enjoy your breakfast, your coffee, put off your work (just keep an eye out for the boss), and get your early morning football fix. The links begin after the jump…

• Here are my first impressions of last night’s 31-14 Patriots preseason victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• Chad Ochocinco had 2 catches for 14 yards and a touchdown. He admitted after the game that he’s not up to speed with the rest of the Patriot offense.
• Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston lists 3 players who are up and 3 players who are down after last night’s game.
• Bucs DT Gerald McCoy explains (in a somewhat comical way) what went wrong on defense playing Tom Brady and the Patriot offense.
• Tom Curran of Comcast Sports Net offers his own “Best and Worst” of last night’s game.
• NESN’s Jeff Howe writes about the defense’s exceptional play last night, and how they will likely improve.
• The Patriots will be working out former Ravens/Rams WR Mark Clayton today.