Patriots Blog: New Numbers, Welcoming Salas, & Focus On The Titans
FOXBORO (CBS) - The Pats have now solidified their roster, and if you are keeping track at home, there are now some players with new numbers. Here's an update:
WR Greg Salas is number 17
WR Sam Kirkland is number 19
FB James Develin is number 46
LB Mike Rivera is number 59
LB Donta' Hightower is number 54
OL Matt Tennant is number 69
OL Thomas Austin is number 72
TE Visanthe Shiancoe is number 80
DE Jake Bequette is number 92
DE Justin Francis is number 94
DT Marcus Forston is 98
Couple of things here: Hightower taking Brian Waters' old number could mean he's not coming back.
Also no one took 84 which could mean Deion Branch is still out there and ready to come back after week one.
WELCOME GREG SALAS
With his head in the playbook while sitting at his locker, that is how we all were introduced to Patriots new wide receiver, Greg Salas. Salas was acquired over the weekend from the Rams for a late round pick in 2015. This is a cram session for the youngster but after playing for Josh McDaniels last year, he says he can pick up this offense.
"It's good," Salas said. "He was my coach last year, offensive coordinator. He's offensive coordinator here, so I have familiarity."
Salas played his college ball at Hawaii and there they had a wide open passing attack. He says that has helped him catch on in the pros.
"I think it helped out a lot with reading defenses and adjusting routes on the go," he said.
FOCUSED ON TENNESSEE
Time to get down to business. Today Bill Belichick did not want to hear about training camp or roster moves, his focus was Sunday and Tennessee. Coach was geared up for the first game of the season.
"Today is really our first big full day on Tennessee, kind of like a normal Wednesday would be for us," he explained. "We'll try to catch up on all three phases of the game here. Tennessee is a well-balanced team. Very good. Well coached. They have a lot of young players on their team, but they also have a good sprinkling of veteran players that are very good and consistent. They do a lot of things well in all three areas, and we know it will be a great atmosphere down there, a lot of intensity down there, against a good football team. We'll start getting ready for it here, with things like the noise, to try to prepare our team the best we can for what we'll see on Sunday."
He talked about Titans starting quarterback Jake Locker and in true Bill Belichick fashion, made it seem like the second year pro, will be the most athletic player they will ever face.
"We did work on him coming out of the draft in 2011, and I think he's pretty much the same player that we expected to see -- athletic, good arm, smart guy. He can certainly get the ball down the field and he's a hard guy to tackle. He's elusive."
Coach was also really impressed with Tennessee's defensive line and how they get after the quarterback and stop the run.
"Certainly Kamerion Wimbley is an experienced guy and he gives them a good edge presence. They have a young defensive line and they get a lot of pressure from everywhere, really. Karl Klug gave them a lot of pressure inside last year [7 sacks]. They have good edge rushers. They have good inside rushers. They're athletic. They're quick. They don't stay blocked very long, whether it's the run or the pass. It's a very active defensive line. They have good depth. They roll those guys through. They play a couple groups in there, so whoever is active I'm sure we'll see most of them."
