Morning sports update: NFL Network analyst gives Andy Reid the coaching edge over Bill Belichick
Rick Porcello was hit with his league-leading 16th loss of the season, while the Patriots continued to make changes to their roster.
Former NFL running back and current NFL Network analyst Maurice Jones-Drew gave Andy Reid the coaching edge over Bill Belichick: While breaking down the upcoming New England-Kansas City matchup, Jones-Drew told his colleague Heath Evans that he thinks Reid has the advantage in Thursday’s kickoff game.
“On Week 1 and on bye weeks, Andy Reid is 26-10. He has a winning record,” Jones-Drew said. “I know he’s going against Bill Belichick, but I feel that Andy Reid always has—when he has extra time to prepare for a team, he knows how to pull out all the stops. I gotta go with the Chiefs.”
Evans responded in jest: “26-10? Did you care to look up Bill’s? He’s 172-0.”
https://twitter.com/fearthe_beard11/status/904523529462284288
Speaking to The Boston Herald‘s Stephen Hewitt, former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers lauded Danny Ainge’s series of offseason moves. Rivers had nothing but nice things to say about Boston’s president of basketball operations, calling his recent decisions “the best job [he’s] seen in sports in a long, long time of rebuilding. Maybe ever.”
Here’s what else he had to say:
I think Cleveland and them are obviously the two teams to beat in the East, but this tells you why I think Danny and I were successful together, and it’s why Danny and Brad, they’ll be successful, is because they’re never scared to make moves or changes.
You think about it, they won the East last year and they have six or seven or eight new players, and they really have changed their identity. No Avery [Bradley], no [Jae] Crowder. That’s their heart and soul of their defense.
They went out and got talent, man. That’s gonna show. I think what they’ve really done, to me, what they didn’t have in the past, and I think every team has to have it, you have to have closers. You can be as good as you want to be, and at the end of the game you need to have guys who are going to close the game for you. Now they have those. I don’t know if they’ve had that in the past, and now they do.
Blue Jays tag Rick Porcello with 16th loss, beat Red Sox 10-4:
Boston lost for the fourth time in five games. Its lead in the AL East was trimmed to 2 1/2 games over the New York Yankees, who beat Baltimore in the afternoon. (Boston.com, via AP)
Here’s what Tom Brady had to say 3 days before the season opener:
Yeah, I mean, the opener’s always pretty – you know, everyone’s pretty amped up for this one. It’s been waiting a long time for this. But yeah, starting the season and I know they’ve got a lot of events planned, so probably families are coming in. It’s a big game and it’s an important one. You know, we’re playing one of the best teams in the AFC. Last year, they were the second seed. They try to make this game big. They get good teams playing, and we know we’re going to have to play a great game in order to win. (Boston.com)
Patriots bring back Brandon Bolden after putting Shea McClellin on injured reserve:
Teams can bring back two players from IR this season, but they must be out at least six weeks before returning to practice. Per NFL rules, McClellin could return from IR only if he is on the 53-man roster for a day, so the Patriots kept him on the roster through cutdown day. (Boston.com)
Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola assumes role of locker room DJ: According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Amendola has a black speaker next to his locker he uses to set the vibe for the day. Appointed by Tom Brady, the 31-year-old has received mainly positive feedback from his teammates.
“It’s a different energy,” Stephon Gilmore told Reiss. “He switches it up with a good selection.”
“I like it. It’s a little mix-up,” Chris Hogan added.
