By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies staff writer
It’s no secret that New England Patriots quarterback loves throwing to Randy Moss and Wes Welker. This season, however, Brady has found a new toy in rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez.
The Patriots do spread the ball on offense and a lot of guys get their share of touches, but Hernandez is not only gaining more targets per game (two in Week 1, six in Week 2, and seven in Week 3), he is also encroaching on the balls that Moss and Welker are getting their ways. Last week the former Florida Gator even led the team in targets.
Hernandez is earning Brady’s trust. He has led the team in receptions the previous two games (six) and yards (101 against the New York Jets and 65 against the Buffalo Bills). Even though he only had one grab in the opening weekend, he made it count for 45 yards.
He hasn’t caught a touchdown pass yet and isn’t a prime look on goal-line situations, where fellow rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski gets the nod, as will running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Hernandez also isn’t expected to do much blocking, but he does create a lot of matchup problems.
He’s a tad [...]

By Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
The weak link gets weaker.
Coming into the season the New England Patriots running backs posed the biggest question on the team, at least for the offense.
A group plagued by injuries, turnovers and inconsistency made the position a revolving door of inadequate performance.
After Week 1, the Patriots finally gave up on Laurence Maroney. The former first-round pick showed flashes of good play, but for the most part he was either putting the ball on the ground or not even making the active roster.
He never ran for 1,000 yards in a season, never played all 16 games, and he fumbled quite a bit in the red zone.
So he was cast off to Denver in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
Instead of giving the ownership justification for trading away Maroney, the rest of the group—Kevin Faulk, Fred Taylor and BenJarvus Green-Ellis—ran for measly 52 yards on 20 carries. Faulk, was the leading rusher with 22 yards on five carries, yet was put on IR after the game because of a torn ACL.
The Faulk loss will be hard-felt. While the running game has not been a stable form of production for the Pats, Faulk has [...]

By: Jess Lander, YawkeyTalkies Editor
The media had a field day when Tom Brady got in a car accident earlier this week, even though Brady and his teammates reassured everyone that he was not only fine, but even made it to practice on time.
I didn’t want to be that kind of media. What could I have possibly said that you didn’t already know? HE WAS FINE.
But, now that some time has passed and now that Brady played the kind of game that makes you wonder if he got in an accident at all, I would like to make light of the subject.
Now, my first thought was thank god he’s okay. The last thing we need is to lose our Golden Boy even earlier into the season than we did in 2008. Man, how ironically horrible would that be? Like a first-quarter-of-the-season season-ending injury wasn’t devastating enough. And just after we got out OTHER golden boy back from surgery.
My second thought, was whoever ran that red light is DAMN lucky Brady’s okay because the city of Boston would have been out for his head or his balls or something. He’d be excommunicated to Serbia.
Yesterday, Brady finally spoke with the media. And he [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
With the start of training camp comes the start of a new NFL season. It’s a bit cliché, but every team starts 0-0 and with optimism that they could pull everything together and win the Super Bowl.
Some teams can be more optimistic than others. The New England Patriots are one of them. The Patriots have the talent and organization to be set up to win now.
That said, they are far from a perfect squad. The team is undergoing a youth movement on the defensive side of the ball, have some early injury concerns, and still have some off-field business matters to take care of.
Here are some of the Patriots’ biggest questions that need to be answered for the team to have a successful season.
1. Who will start at cornerback opposite Leigh Bodden?
Leigh Bodden’s five interception season earned him a new contract with the Patriots, but who will the team partner with him?
The two leading candidates are second-year corner Darius Butler and first-round draft pick Devin McCourty.
Butler played in 14 games last season, registering 33 tackles and three interceptions, including returning one for a touchdown.
McCourty is extremely versatile and could play a big role on special [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
The Patriots 2010 draft class is certainly an interesting mix. There are no sure-thing stand-out studs, but there are quite a few solid players that certainly merit their respective selections. Still there are questions with a number of prospects as well as if the Patriots did enough to address their needs.
The Patriots again traded down in the first round, twice. Then with the 27th pick they selected Rutgers cornerback Devin McCourty. The pick surprised a lot of people who were expecting a defensive end or outside linebacker. McCourty also wasn’t projected to be a first-rounder.
However, after the McCourty pick, of the next 23 picks four cornerbacks were taken as well as three safeties. With such a run on defensive backs, it’s likely the Patriots would have been unable to obtain any of them, let alone McCourty, the man they targeted and desired.
So they selected him, without much fanfare. But he’s a good overall corner, an incredibly smart player and person, a good locker room guy, and he can also contribute immediately on special teams. Not to mention the Patriots don’t have the greatest secondary to begin with. He will fit in right away with New [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Heart.
You can’t measure it in the combine. It doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. But it’s a big thing, maybe the biggest, that coaches look for in players.
Many criticized the New England Patriots for not having enough of it last season when they were trounced by the Baltimore Ravens in the first weekend of the playoffs, even though the Pats were AFC East champions and the home team.
One Patriot has it though. That guy is Tom Brady’s understudy, Brian Hoyer.
There has been a lot of talk recently about the possibility of the Patriots selecting quarterback Tim Tebow, one of the most decorated college players in the history of the game, in the upcoming draft.
With Brady firmly entrenched as the starter, a Tebow arrival could put the less-known Hoyer in a difficult predicament.
What does he have to say about the situation?
“Bring him, let’s go,” he told reporters after an off-season conditioning workout Thursday. “He’d be great to compete with.”
Tebow could take his job away, but Hoyer is welcoming the addition?
It seems strange but if you took notice of what Hoyer did last year, you’d know his fight was his greatest asset.
Hoyer, coming out of Michigan [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
The NFL Draft is fast approaching. The New England Patriots have four picks in the first two rounds of what is considered a fairly deep pool.
Some positions the Patriots need help at include the secondary, pass rushing defensive linemen and/or linebackers, and tight end.
One player that Head Coach Bill Belichick likes, however, is quarterback Tim Tebow.
Tebow is arguably one of the best college football players of all time as well as being the most publicized prospect in the draft.
Would the Patriots and Tebow be a good fit though?
New England would be a great spot for Tebow to land.
The Patriots already have a starting quarterback, the one and only Tom Brady, so Tebow would have time to sit, learn, and develop.
The man he would be learning from would also be one of the top two quarterbacks in the league. Brady would take a ton of attention away from Tebow, especially since many have doubted his ability to be a starting NFL quarterback.
There are advantages for the Patriots to select him as well.
One of Tebow’s strengths is his ability to run the football. Currently, Brady isn’t much of a mobile player and sometimes neither are the Pats [...]