Here is a button where you can subscribe to this newsletter now, if you have not previously done so. I hope you enjoy it.
Saturday, January 24, 6:45 a.m., Gate A21, Logan Airport. It was quite the scene.
DENVER — I’ve landed in Colorado. Been a bit of a week, but I’m excited for Sunday’s game.
Anyway, I’ve covered the Patriots for an awfully long time. In no particular order, here are my picks for my favorite guys to talk with. I compiled this list using my own conversations with players over two decades, and measuring them on accountability, quotability, general good humor, blunt honesty, and a fifth category we’ll just call intangibles.
Matthew Slater: The gold standard. He was approachable and engaging early in his career, but as a special teamer, it was tough to justify including his quotes in most stories. He eventually grew into the sort of well-respected guy who you wanted to chat with to assess the state of the team at any given time. Always had time to talk, and was always thoughtful, smart, and never shy about being critical when the moment called for it. He was always one of the last guys to get dressed after a game, but you always waited for him because he’d bring something worthwhile to the table. (Still amazed at the thought of him sharing a house with Julian Edelman when the two were young players just breaking into the league. There’s a 30 for 30 there.)
Slater (and Chris Long) celebrate in the locker room after Super Bowl 51.
Devin McCourty: In the same class as Slater. You never really know the guys you cover, but McCourty and Slater were two dudes you could always count on. Smart, engaging, fundamentally decent guys who would do well even if they didn’t have football fun their lives. (Other than the fact that McCourty always jokingly reminded me that I wasn’t a fan of the pick when he was drafted in 2010.) No surprise he landed a high-profile TV gig.
Rodney Harrison. When he was playing for New England, he always talked about working as a referee when he was done. But the fact that he did so well with us in the media was probably a tip that he was headed for something different. Bottom line? No shock he’s working with NBC now. He was one of the only guys who you could ask him a question, and he would say, “I can’t talk about that. What I can tell you is…” Smart and insightful, he taught me a lot about how players view the media. It helped me become a better reporter.
It’s Week 2 of the 2003 season. I am still relatively new to the beat. I approach Rodney tentatively for a story on how a team can bounce back from getting stomped like they did in Week 1 to the Bills. I am screwing around trying to find the right words to ask about the 31-0 loss. Suddenly, Rodney says, “You mean how do you bounce back from getting your ass beat?” Yes. Yes. How do you do that? “You go back to work. You find out what you did wrong, you make the corrections, and you get back on the practice field.” Done and done.
Logan Mankins: Was incredibly soft-spoken early in his career, but the older he got, the more comfortable he became with us. You always had to wait him out after games, because you knew he would offer you the straight truth, win or lose. I have no problems copping to the fact that I was a Mankins apologist. That’s even after he gave me a hard time on multiple occasions — including once in a press conference — for keeping track of the penalties committed by players over the course of the season. (The first time he called me on it, I had to track him down in the locker room a few days later. “Are we cool?” I asked. “Yeah, he responded with a big smile. “I was just giving you shit.”)
Vince Wilfork. I first knew that Vince was going to be special when I spoke with him in the training camp following his rookie year. I asked him, after speaking with some guys around the league, what made the New England locker room different than other places. He looked right at me and said, “We don’t have a lot of buttholes on this team.” OK then. Wilfork’s words also had some gravitas. When Vince talked, everyone listened. His favorite terms? “Point blank,” which punctuated plenty of his statements. He also talked about the dangers of getting too laid back, or “blasé blasé.”
Kevin Faulk. By his own admission, he wasn’t always the best quote in big group settings with 15 cameras and reporters around him. But you could get him in one-on-one settings and ask him direct questions, and he would never bullshit you. He was one of a handful of guys you could stand there and put away your notebook and say, “OK, what am I seeing here?” when it came to a specific question, and he would give you a good answer. He was smart enough to not give away any state secrets, but also help you out. Like Harrison, speaking with Kevin in a one-on-one situation could help improve your knowledge of the game.
Martellus Bennett. Best one-and-done guy in terms of being a quote machine in franchise history. At the start of the 2016 season, the Patriots were prepping to start Jimmy Garoppolo at the start of the year because of Tom Brady’s suspension. A group of us asked Bennett what it was like trying to build chemistry with two different quarterbacks simultaneously. He laughed and said, “Shit, I’ve dated two girls at the same time. That’s the old Martellus, though.” Funny and smart, he knew how to fill up a notebook. Every sportswriter should be lucky enough to have someone like Marty come into their lives at least once in their career.
Garrett Bradbury: Just showed up this past offseason, but he was strikingly accommodating all year. No wonder that he ended up winning the Media Good Guy Award. Another guy who checks all the boxes when it comes to being smart, insightful, and accountable. Made me sad when he got whacked in the throat late in the December win over the Jets; he had played every offensive snap of every game dating back more than a year. Extra points for deftly handling the pressure of stepping in for a legend like David Andrews, both as a leader and a player.
Bryce Baringer: The lesson here? Always talk to the special teamers. Baringer is the only specialist left over from the 2023 and 2024 seasons, and his ability to recall the occasional dysfunction that derailed those two teams has been invaluable when it comes to putting this season in perspective. Plus, he’s accountable in both wins and losses, and frequently his own biggest critic.
TreVeyon Henderson: There are a bunch of guys who are among my favorites from that far corner of the locker room near the side door, including James White, Roman Phifer (who was often too polite to sneak out the door), Rhamondre Stevenson (as I explained here), and Chad Ryland. But I’m partial to Henderson, who immediately distinguished himself as someone who is wise beyond his years when it comes to dealing with the media. Early in the year, when people were clamoring for the team to play him at the expense of Henderson, he could have easily slipped up and said the wrong thing that would have alienated his older teammate. But he answered every potential trap door of a question with aplomb. He’ll stop and consider the question before answering. He’s also savvy enough to differentiate between reporters who are down there every day and part-timers who are parachuting into Foxborough for a quick sound bite.
Cool stuff I did this week.
• Two editions of “The Patriots Report” for your ears this week! (Am I a swell guy, or what?) One, Hogan and I connected for our weekly show, where we took a quick look back at the divisional round victory over the Texans, but spent the bulk of the show looking ahead to the AFC Championship Game against the Broncos. What sort of impact will the change at quarterback have for Denver? What are the keys to victory for New England? And what about the NFC title tilt?
• Hogan said the one-handed grab by Boutte in the end zone against Houston was an “incredible” reception.
• (One important thing: The Broncos ruled J.K. Dobbins out with a foot injury on Friday, so please disregard all of the Dobbins talk that took place in various conversations I had over the course of the week. Thank you!)
• I also spent some quality time talking about the Broncos with Bri Maestas from KOA Radio in Denver. What’s the level of confidence that the Broncos have in Jarrett Stidham as opposed to Bo Nix?
• Spent Tuesday morning shootin’ the breeze with the fellas from “Tohcher & Hardy” on 98.5.
• I also did a bunch of radio, both in New England and elsewhere. Talked Patriots-Broncos with KMA Radio, as well as the fellas from “The Drive” in Maine. And don’t forget Reid Wilkins and Jay Milne in Edmonton. (Where I snuck in some Whalers’ talk.)
• And last, but certainly not least, hung with the gang from “Boston Has Entered The Chat” on NESN.
• Cornerback Carlton Davis had quite the week. First, he was in the middle of all the action in the divisional round win over the Texans, making plays and drawing DPI flags. By the end of the week, he had passed through concussion protocol, and was (apparently) good to go for the AFC Championship Game.
• Mack Hollins also progressed through the week. He wasn’t out there on Wednesday, but by Friday, it looked like he was going to give it a go Sunday against the Broncos.
• If the Patriots are going to get past the Rocky Mountains and reach Super Bowl LX in San Francisco, the ground game will have to play a sizable role in Sunday’s AFC Championship game against the Broncos in Denver. That’s where Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson come in. (They need a good nickname, something like “Shake & Bake” or “Thunder & Lightning.”)
• Mike Vrabel had a simple answer when he was asked if the Denver defense will be the best one the Patriots have faced all season. “They’ll be the best defense that we’ve played to date, because it’s the next one,” he explained. “That’s just how this goes.”
• Alex Kemp is going to serve as the referee this weekend. Why this matters.
• MAILBAG! This week, there are questions about Mack Hollins, Drake Maye’s ball-security issues, the thin air of Denver, and more. Let’s get to it.
Looking ahead.
• I think they’re going to beat the Broncos, which means it’ll be another couple weeks of craziness. If not, we’ll all drift off into the postseason. All I know is that because of the impending snowstorm, I had to push my return trip back a day, so I’ll be getting back to Boston on Tuesday. If anyone has any suggestions for killing a few extra hours in Downtown Denver on a random Monday in January, holler at your boy. Stay tuned.
One last thing.
Wanted to thank everyone — commenters and e-mailers alike for the nice words about my recent Stevenson feature, as well as the Substack follow that addressed some of the stuff that was left on the cutting room floor. Got some great messages. Just know I read ’em all, and I really appreciate you guys taking the time to share your thoughts.
Until next time.
At just about every Friday practice this season, the Patriots have played “Friday” by Sir Charles Jones during their stretch. This was a small slice of what it looked like this week.