Projo Pats Blog

A report out of Nashville says that the Patriots and tight end Alge Crumpler are close to a deal.

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The Sporting News is reporting that five teams, one being the New England Patriots, will conduct a private workout with former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. The other teams scheduled to workout Tebow in the coming weeks are: Buffalo, Seattle, Cleveland and Washington.

FOXBORO - Brandon Meriweather made his first Pro Bowl last year.

Now the Patriots star safety who they drafted in the first round (24th overall) in 2007 out of the University of Miami has loftier goals.

Meriweather said that he is on a mission next season to lead the AFC in interceptions. Meriweather corralled five picks last season, and he has nine interceptions in his career.

"That's pretty much my goal this year - to lead the AFC in picks and have a better year than I did last year," Meriweather said.

Meriweather said that he got the idea to make that his goal from Baltimore six-time Pro Bowl defensive back Ed Reed, who also went to the University of Miami and who has taken Meriweather under his wing.

"It's great to have somebody like that to learn from and to talk to about the good and the bad," Meriweather said.

Meriweather said that he owes a lot of his success on the football field to Reed.

"A lot of things that I do to make plays, I would have never did if he would have never told me to try it," Meriweather said. "Other than Ed, a lot of it goes to my college coaches and Bill [Belichick]. Bill [taught me] a lot."

Meriweather said that it was important for him personally to participate in the Patriots voluntary offseason program so that he can become the best safety that he can be to help his teammates out. He also plans on taking his leadership role to another level next season.

Meriweather said that he has been watching a lot of film this offseason, and when the secondary gets together this summer to train, he will relay all of the good and the bad that he saw from his film sessions to the rest of the Patriots secondary.

He said that watching film makes him a better player, and that he is happy that the Patriots re-signed cornerback Leigh Bodden so that the Patriots will have their secondary intact once again.

"That was very important [to keep the secondary together] because now [we know] how to deal with certain people," Meriweather said. "You can't coach everybody and treat everybody the same. Some people you have to be lighter on. Some people you have to be harder on so I think with a year under our belts, we know how to talk to each other and we know how to deal with each other. We know how to respond to each other when we give criticism."

Meriweather said that it is good for the Patriots to get that bad taste out of their mouths from how last season ended, but "you also want to embrace that feeling so you can try your best to try not to feel like that again. For me personally, I'm just trying to build on what I did last year. I don't want to stay the same. I don't want to have the same numbers, the exact same stats. I want everything I do to be that much better."

Profootballtalk.com says that the Patriots will play at Ford Field in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day.

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