The Patriot Way – New England Patriots News 11/14
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87). Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
The big question for the Patriots right now seems to be “will they sign Ed Reed?”. So let’s start there in our whip round of today’s big Pats news and opinion.
Rant Sports have been calling ‘Reed to the Patriots’ a “no brainer“, though our own Jed Ober is less convinced by the potential contribution the 35 year old safety could make to the team. Meanwhile over at NESN, they’re quoting Willie McGinest and Heath Evans saying that it makes sense to sign the veteran, given coach Belichick’s opinions about the former Raven.
In non-Reed player news, Rob Gronkowski is up to his usual tricks. Now that the giant tight end is back healthy, it seems that ‘Gronk doing something dumb’ stories are back too. Firstly there’s the story of him mocking Asian fans at a Q&A, then there’s a rumour of him being involved in the Entourage movie playing some variation of himself.
And of course, no Gronkowski news round up would be complete without him doing something bizarre on camera, so here we have it: Gronkowski rapping. Yes, you read that correctly, rapping – and here’s the video. You’re welcome. Yahoo Sports seem less amused, and are wondering how long the team will put up with the off-field distractions that Gronkowski can cause. With that in mind, Rant Sports are wondering whether the team could look at drafting another TE in the spring, ostensibly to replace Hernandez as well as offer an alternative if Gronkowski can’t stay on the field.
There is some more serious player-related news out today, including Bleacher Report looking at how the Patriots special teams sprung Julian Edelman for that great punt return against the Steelers, and how the return game has shown up at key times during the season.
Looking ahead to the Panthers game, BR have given their spread analysis and pick prediction, for those of you interested in gambling. The Boston Herald are also looking at how the Patriots get hot in the second half of the season – hopefully a record they can keep up this week, and against the Texans in a few weeks, which has been flexed out of a big game television spot.
Finally, here’s a league-wide piece, looking at the issue of falling attendances at NFL games, and how the league hopes to address it.
That’s all the day’s big Patriots news. Now go back and watch that Gronkowski rapping video again. Just because.