FOXBORO, Mass. — An assortment of New England Patriots notes from a jam-packed Wednesday at Gillette Stadium:
— First things first: Because it’s AFC Championship Week, the Gillette media room was given a makeover ahead of Sunday’s game between the Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Asked about the new decor during his morning news conference, Patriots coach Bill Belichick deadpanned, “I know, it’s so exciting.”
— The Patriots are largely healthy heading into this weekend’s showdown, but they do have two wide receivers who are nursing lower-body injuries. Malcolm Mitchell missed Saturday’s divisional-round win over the Houston Texans with a knee injury, and Chris Hogan left that game during the third quarter after injuring his thigh.
Hogan’s absence should be brief. He practiced Wednesday — albeit in a limited capacity — and a source told NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport the wideout is expected to play against the Steelers.
Despite the injury, Hogan had one of his best games of the season Saturday, catching four passes for 95 yards in the Patriots’ 36-14 victory. He called the injury “a minor setback” Tuesday and said he could have returned to the game if necessary.
Mitchell, meanwhile, remains a question mark for Sunday. He also was limited in practice Wednesday, and when asked about his status for this weekend, he said he’ll “take it day by day.”
“I’ll go out there (Wednesday) and work as hard as I can, prepare as if I’ll be in the game and go from there,” the rookie said before practice.
— Running back Dion Lewis had a career game against the Texans, scoring three touchdowns in three different ways.
The Patriots have yet to lose with Lewis in the lineup, winning all 15 of the games he’s played in over the past two seasons.
“We have a lot of great players, so I’m not the only reason that’s like that,” Lewis said, deflecting credit for his undefeated record with New England. “It just happens to be that way. But we’ve got a great team, great coaches, and everybody works hard, so it’s not because of me.”
Belichick frequently has praised Lewis since the 5-foot-8 back returned from a torn ACL in Week 11, but the coach did throw a bit of shade his way Wednesday afternoon.
During the portion of the cold and rainy practice that was open to the media, Belichick could be heard telling his players: “Great day for ball security. Right, Dion?”
Lewis fumbled twice in New England’s win over Houston, losing one.
— Patriots safety Devin McCourty brought a bit of throwback style to Wednesday’s proceedings, rocking a Boston Patriots hoodie during his news conference.
— The use of social media in the NFL has been a hot topic this week in the wake of Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown’s controversial locker-room live stream.
Asked how Belichick feels about the matter, McCourty pointed to the coach’s long history of using terms like “Snapface” and “Instaface.”
“I mean, I think you know from how he addresses social media,” McCourty said. “I don’t think he has ever gotten one of the social media names right. So I think you know from there that he’s not a huge fan of the whole social media world nowadays.”
McCourty echoed several of his teammates in saying he couldn’t envision a Patriots player ever broadcasting private team conversations.
“I think we all understand each other’s privacy,” he said. “Once we’re in that locker room, it’s something that we value. Guys just don’t do it. But I think in today’s age, it’s just not that serious. Everyone does things different. We do a lot of things different here. You might go somewhere else, and it’s not run that way. So we really don’t think about, it and we just go about our business.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler III/USA TODAY Sports Images
