Team Notes Week 19 2017

As the Associated Press put it, "Recharged and rankled are the New England Patriots, who await a visit from the Tennessee Titans in the AFC divisional playoffs (this) weekend. ..."

The Titans (10-7) are coming off their first playoff win in 14 seasons, a 22-21 thriller at Kansas City in the wild-card round Saturday that left the Chiefs winless at Arrowhead in the postseason since 1994.

The Patriots (13-3) are fresh off their eighth consecutive first-round bye as they seek their third title in four years.

They're not only refreshed but fired up after a report suggesting a fractured relationship that could break up the franchise's three most important pieces in Tom Brady, head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft.

The Patriots have won 11 of 12 after stumbling to a 2-2 start but the buzz around Boston isn't about their usual dominance but whether that excellence could be coming to an end soon.

Brady, Belichick and Kraft released a joint statement this weekend dismissing as "flat-out inaccurate" an ESPN report detailing an array of tension in New England between the triumphant triumvirate responsible for decorating team headquarters with five championship trophies.

In addition, Belichick told reporters on Monday he "absolutely" intends to return as Patriots coach next season despite the reported turmoil.

Belichick said Monday he had nothing to add to the joint statement from the three.

Asked about another report of his interest in coaching the New York Giants, the Patriots coach said he is focused on New England's playoff game Saturday night.

The ESPN story highlighted purported disputes concerning Brady's personal body coach and a supposed difference between Kraft and Belichick over the decision to trade backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The story implied Brady has taken issue with a lack of praise from Belichick this season.

Brady also addressed, during a Westwood One interview on Saturday, his thoughts on the ESPN article.

"I see it as I've seen it for the last 18 years: that we're all there to do a job, and that's to go out to do our best and help the team win," Brady said in the interview, which aired at halftime of the AFC wild-card game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Titans. "That's been very consistent here. That's been a big reason why our team has been so successful, and I don't see that any different going into this week."

One of the focal points in the article was the trade of Garoppolo to the 49ers last October, which was painted as a decision made at the behest of ownership with an eye on allowing Brady to remain the starting quarterback. That has been specifically disputed by Kraft and Brady disputed that he "seemed liberated" and "especially excited" the day after the trade.

"In 18 years I have never celebrated when a player was traded or cut. It is such a poor characterization, it's disappointing to hear," Brady said on WEEI Radio on Monday.

Brady also took issue with the notion that he was upset with Belichick about not receiving Patriot of the Week this year -- "there is no basis for it" -- and called Belichick "a great coach and mentor."

Worth noting, however, Brady took the additional step of addressing the issue via social media.

Attached to a photo the QB posted of the Patriots facing the Falcons on a foggy night in Foxboro is this quote: "Fate whispers to the warrior, 'You cannot withstand the storm.' The warrior whispers back, 'I am the storm.'"

Their collective responses are further evidence of the team's ability to navigate negativity.

Last year they overcame the loss of tight end Rob Gronkowski to win it all and they're trying to do the same this year without receiver Julian Edelman and linebacker Dont'a Hightower, two of their biggest stars.

Meanwhile, Brady said on Saturday night that he was excited to find out the Titans were this week's opponent.

As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss notes, the Patriots had already faced the other two teams that were possibilities -- the Chiefs and Buffalo Bills -- during the regular season.

So in the fresh-slate playoffs, they truly start with a fresh slate against a team they don't know much about. The last time the Patriots played the Titans was Dec. 20, 2015, when New England won 33-16 at home -- a game that was never in doubt. Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota left that game early with a knee injury, giving way to Zach Mettenberger.

So this will be the first time the Patriots get an extended look at Mariota, and given his athleticism and mobility, the defense should be tested.

Still, the Patriots are heavy favorites, and rightfully so.

If there's reason for concern, Reiss suggested it might be that the Titans come to town with absolutely nothing to lose (the Patriots open at 13.5-point favorites).

Clearly, stopping the Titans' rushing game will a challenge for a Patriots defense that finished 31st in the NFL in yards allowed per opponent rushing attempt. Tennessee is a team with an old-school feel, built around running it on offense and stopping the run - the No. 4 rush defense in the regular season - on defense.

Mariota helped carry the Titans to the comeback win in Kansas City in a variety of ways. He actually caught his own touchdown pass on a ball batted back to him at the goal line by Chiefs cornerback Darrelle Revis. He then had a huge block to spring Derrick Henry - who rushed for 156 yards - for a 22-yard game-sealing run in the final minutes.

While the Titans' run defense is near the top of the league, the Patriots Brady-led passing attack should find room to work against a pass defense that ranked 25th in the league. Though the Patriots haven't played the Titans since 2015, Brady and his offense have a history of success against Tennessee defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and his schemes, dating back to his time leading Pittsburgh's defense.

"You get familiar with the scheme and the players at the same time," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said of the first step in the week's preparations. "So you're just digesting as much as you can, really getting a feel for their identity, what the players do well, what they do within the scheme, what the coaches put them in position to do, how they create an impact in the game and then all the types of things that they do during the course of the situations that you're going to run into during the game.

"So, there's a lot of things that you have to do and tackle, but it's just part of the normal process that we go through. ..."

If experience matters, this one won't be close.

Brady will play in his NFL-record 35th career postseason game on Saturday, adding to a long list of playoff records that he owns.

As Profootballtalk.com noted this week, just by taking the field against the Titans Brady will add to his record, and he'll also add to his own career records with every attempt, completion, yard gained and touchdown. Here's a look at Brady's career postseason marks:

Games played: Brady now has 34 career playoff games played and has moved comfortably ahead of his old teammate Adam Vinatieri, who is No. 2 in NFL history with 30 career postseason games. No. 3 is Jerry Rice, with 29 career postseason games, while in fourth place are Peyton Manning and former Cowboys linebacker D.D. Lewis, with 27 career postseason appearances. Brady's Patriots are 25-9 in the games he's started; no other quarterback has been on the winning team more than 16 times.

Pass attempts: Brady has thrown 1,325 passes in the postseason. Peyton Manning is next, with 1,027, and no other quarterback has even thrown 800 playoff passes. This is a record no one will approach for many years, if ever: Ben Roethlisberger, with 618 career postseason passes, is second among active players, and he's not even halfway to Brady's total.

Pass completions: Brady owns the record with 831 postseason completions, 182 more than Peyton Manning. Again, no active player is close: Roethlisberger is second among active players with 385.

Yards gained: Brady has 9,094 postseason passing yards, which is nearly 2,000 more than Peyton Manning. Roethlisberger is the No. 2 active player with 4,787.

300-yard games: Brady has 12 games of at least 300 yards passing, three more than Peyton Manning. Drew Brees is next among active players, with seven.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 63 touchdown passes in the postseason, easily better than No. 2 Joe Montana, who threw 45. Aaron Rodgers is second among active players with 36.

One piece of bad news for Brady: In last year's Super Bowl he also set the all-time postseason record for interceptions, when he threw his 31st. Brett Favre has the next-most, with 30. Play long enough and you're going to break some bad records, too. ...

The Titans should get their hopes up too much over that last one, but interceptions have been a bigger issue for Brady this season than they were the previous two years. ...

On the injury front this week. ... The Patriots held their first practice of the week on Tuesday and Malcolm Mitchell's continued absence put into question whether the wide receiver will remain on injured reserve or be moved to the 53-man roster.

Mitchell, the second-year receiver from Georgia, had been designated to return from the injured reserve list two weeks ago. He participated in five practices, and when asked about his progress on Tuesday morning, Belichick said, "We see him out there trying to get back into practice and do the things he's asked to do."

When asked how he's doing with it, because it seems he has a long way to go, Belichick said: "Exactly. That's the way I would characterize it."

According to Reiss, Belichick's tone didn't sound optimistic when it came to Mitchell, but it's not like the receiver position has a shortage of depth.

Beyond that, the Patriots are expected to have Chris Hogan, who missed seven of the final eight games of the regular season, back for Saturday's game. He would join Brandin Cooks atop the depth chart, with Danny Amendola, Phillip Dorsett and Kenny Britt rounding things out.

Hogan, Rex Burkhead (knee) and James White (ankle) were all limited. Running back Mike Gillislee (knee) remains out of practice. He hasn't played since Dec. 24 against the Bills.

Worth noting, Boston Herald staffer Jeff Howe reports that Burkhead is still heavily favoring his injured left knee.

Howe went on to suggest if he is available Saturday against the Titans, it appears he’ll be limited, barring a rapid turnaround in the coming days.

Burkhead had a brace on his left knee and couldn’t complete most of his stretches that pertained to the left leg on Wednesday. He favored the knee while lunging to that side and also couldn’t pull back his left foot while stretching his quad.

Howe stressed this doesn’t necessarily mean Burkhead won’t be able to play or that he can’t be effective with treatment prior to the game, but it was easy to notice the knee remained an issue Wednesday as the Patriots prepared for a fully padded practice.

We'll be following up on the status of all the above in coming days; check the News and Views section for more through the inactive announcement. ...

And finally. ... As Profootballtalk.com put it, the band is going to be breaking up, but not in the way that some envisioned. Citing a source with knowledge of the situation, PFT's Mike Florio reports the Patriots are bracing for defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to leave, most likely to become the next coach of the Detroit Lions.

Patricia, who has a degree in aeronautical engineering, joined the Patriots in 2004. He became the defensive coordinator in 2012.

Regarded as brilliant in all matters, Patricia also is believed to be more than ready to take over a team of his own. He has, Florio is told, a very good relationship with Lions GM Bob Quinn, who previously worked for the Patriots.

Of course, the Lions will have to wait until the Patriots' season ends before hiring Patricia. The longer the job remains open, the more obvious a candidate Patricia will become, like Kyle Shanahan last year in San Francisco and Dan Quinn three years ago in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, it appears to be down to the Giants, Colts and Patriots for McDaniels.

The Chicago Bears, one of the three teams who interviewed McDaniels last weekend for a head coaching vacancy, named Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy their new head coach Monday.

DEPTH CHART
QBs: Bailey Zappe, Mac Jones
RBs: Rhamondre Stevenson, Ezekiel Elliott, JaMycal Hasty
WRs: DeVante Parker, Demario Douglas, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Kayshon Boutte, Matt Slater, Kendrick Bourne
TEs: Hunter Henry, Mike Gesicki, Pharaoh Brown