New England Patriots links 12/20/24 - Week 16 Pats at Bills: Matchups, Keys to Victory, More!

Daily news and links for Friday.

TEAM TALK

• Patriots-Bills updated Injury Report.
• Statement from the New England Patriots on DL Christian Barmore.
• Evan Lazar reports rising star Christian Gonzalez has his sights set on earning All-Pro honors and more.
• Press Conferences: Alex Van Pelt - DeMarcus Covington.
• Side of Mayo: Jerod Mayo talks with Scott Zolak about dealing with criticism. (1 min. video)
• Community - Gifts from the Gridiron: Drake Maye & Patriots players shop for gifts with local kids in need. (1 min.)
• Patriots Unfiltered on TV: Cardinals recap, Bills preview. (22 min. video)
• Patriots Catch-22: Evan Lazar and Alex Barth’s 3 up/down vs. Cardinals, Bills preview, NFL Draft talk. (2 hours)
• Patriots Unfiltered: NFL Week 16 picks, Bills preview, Thursday practice report. (2 hours)

LOCAL LINKS

• Murph serves up this week’s Monster keys to a Patriots victory over the Bills. 1. Open up the Kitchen. Yes folks it’s time to let Drake Maye cook.
• Andrew Callahan’s Friday Five: 1. Patriots potential coordinators in 2025; More.
• Lauren Campbell notes safety Kyle Dugger (illness, ankle) returned to practice yesterday.
• Mark Daniels spotlights five players who are future building blocks for the Patriots: Drake Maye, Christian Gonzalez, Christian Barmore, Keion White and DeMario Douglas.
• Doug Kyed feels the Patriots could use more players with Antonio Gibson’s mindset.
• Alex Barth passes along the report that Christian Barmore has been placed back on non-football illness list.
• Mark Daniels talks about why the Patriots defense is no longer a top-10 unit.
• Doug Kyed relays DC DeMarcus Covington suggesting we not ‘read too much into’ the defensive dropoff. /Wut??
• Doug Kyed reports Alex Van Pelt hasn’t met with the Krafts since the viral clip of them criticizing the play-calling.
• Karen Guregian explores whether OC Alex Van Pelt is about to walk the plank.
• Scott Zolak & Mark Bertrand questions whether they’d like to keep everyone on the Patriots staff or fire everyone.
• A Clare Perspective podcast: Clare welcomes Phil Perry to talk all things Patriots. (22 min.)
• Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike D’Abate joins Joe Marino (Locked On Bills) to preview Pats-Bills in Week 16 and give us their keys to victory for both teams. (33 min.)

NATIONAL NEWS

• Charean Williams (ProFootballTalk) Christian Barmore returns to non-football illness list with recurring symptoms from blood clots.
• Sal Maiorana (Democrat and Chronicle) Bills vs Patriots prediction, keys to AFC East matchup.
• NFL Nation (ESPN) NFL Week 16 picks, schedule, odds, injuries; More.
• Sean Leahy (Yahoo! Sports) NFL injury tracker Week 16.
• Andrew Brandt (Si) Business of Football: Bill Belichick’s move to UNC tracks with the professionalization of college sports
• Karl Rasmussen (SI) One stat to support each NFL contender’s Super Bowl case as payoffs near. No Pats.
• Tom Blair, et al (NFL.com) Week 16 NFL picks. Five of five pick Bills to win.