Patriots wide receiver Nelson Agholor missed New England’s win over Cleveland because of a hamstring injury. After sitting out Thursday’s practice, he was back on the field Friday. Paul Connors/Associated Press
FOXBOROUGH — After missing Thursday’s session with a nagging hamstring injury, Nelson Agholor returned to the practice field Friday afternoon.
The Patriots wide receiver suffered the injury against the Lions and missed last week’s 38-15 win in Cleveland. He practiced all last week, so Thursday’s absence was a bit perplexing. The veteran may have suffered a setback in his rehab.
During the media window at Friday’s session, Shaun Wade was the only player not spotted.
Wade wasn’t listed on Thursday’s injury report, so it’ll be interesting to see why the team says he was missing. Because the Patriots are playing on Monday Night Football, they’ll be practicing again on Saturday afternoon; Friday’s practice is their normal Thursday one, everything is just pushed back a day.
The Bears are expecting Patriots Coach Bill Belichick to make things difficult on them as New England seeks a third straight win.
“He’s able to take away a guy’s strengths and make you play left-handed,” Chicago Coach Matt Eberflus said. “That’s his whole motto of what he’s been able to do. We’ve seen it in the Super Bowls, seen him in playoff games do it, and even when he was defensive coordinator of the Giants, we saw him do it there. It’s been a stellar career and he’s been able to do that over the long haul.”
DEFLATEGATE HAPPENED almost a decade ago, but one Bears defensive lineman believes the Patriots are tampering with footballs in 2022.
This week, veteran defensive tackle Justin Jones was asked the first thing that comes to mind when he hears the name Bill Belichick.
“Deflated balls,” Jones replied.
The Bears will visit Gillette Stadium for Monday Night Football, and Jones said he’d be checking the footballs when he’s on the Chicago sideline.
“I hear (Deflategate) is still going on, I am so serious,” Jones said. “I am for sure checking. Play this game with honesty man, you know what I’m saying?”
Jones reiterated that he wasn’t joking and he’d actually be checking the balls.
“I’m gonna check ‘em though,” Jones said. “Hand it to the ref, ‘Hey ref, what’s up with this?’ I’ll pick the ball up and press it down.”
THE PATRIOTS PLAYED the Monday Night Football music to open their first practice of the week, a reminder their next game will carry a little extra flare, even as they prepare for the lowly Bears. Even Belichick drew on childhood memories Friday, when asked what Monday Night Football meant to him.
“Usually you waited up till halftime, watched the highlights and then went to bed. At least that was my routine, if you could make it that long,” Belichick said. “Great part of the development of the National Football League and football. Certainly, put a lot of excitement into Monday night, that probably wasn’t there before.”
This Monday, the Patriots are expected to handle the Bears, who will visit Foxborough as 8.5-point underdogs. Naturally, Belichick has played up this year’s Chicago team as a reincarnation of the 1985 Bears, who famously crushed the Patriots in Super Bowl XX. Whether or not pumping the Bears’ tires works, Patriots players seem to have found motivation in the primetime spotlight and the opportunity to leap above .500 before a national audience.
“That’s a big game. Everybody watching, all eyes on you. But you’ve gotta prepare … the eye in the sky never lies,” said outside linebacker Matt Judon. “It’s just going to be a lot more film, a lot more cameras, a lot more media people at the game, and a lot more people talking about it just for one night.”
Patriots safety Devin McCourty noted that after that one night, players and coaches will be a day behind on their preparation for their next game at the Jets, a division game that will carry more weight in the standings than Monday’s showdown versus Chicago. McCourty also said that’s something he’s cared about more as a veteran, when recovery takes longer. However …
“Any time you get to play Monday it’s cool,” he said.
Fellow captain Deatrich Wise agreed.
“It’s exacting. The world’s watching, so it’s pretty cool. Being a kid watching Monday games or any time of night football, it was always cool just to hear that theme song play,” Wise said. “I won’t personally hear it on the field, but I’ll know it’s being played. And it’s just awesome playing Monday night, so I’m looking forward to doing that.”
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