Loss of Revis/Browner impacts Patriots' offense, too

It could have been the quarterback... but it also could have been the cornerbacks.

New England Patriots receiver Brandon LaFell is coming off the best season of his career, something he partly attributes to the work he got in practice--against a pair of top-notch cornerbacks no longer with the team.

“You have to go out there against those guys and play to another level every day in practice,” LaFell said on Sirius XM NFL  radio last week, via ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss. “When it came to game time, you [practiced] against Revis, who I feel like is the best corner in the NFL, or a guy like Browner, who I feel like is the most physical in the NFL, [so] you pretty much can get open on anybody.”

LaFell said Revis and Browner were two of the best players he's faced in his career, and that both had a lot to offer on the practice field in terms of preparing wideouts.

Now that Revis is back with the New York Jets, LaFell will use practice preparing to face Revis rather than preparing with him.

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Browner thought they'd run it: 'Fortunately, they didn't'

On the game-deciding play of the New England Patriots' Super Bowl victory last Sunday, no one thought the Seattle Seahawks would pass the ball on the 1-yard-line. However, their personnel dictated the New England Patriots' defensive package.

Count Patriots cornerback Brandon Browner, who helped in Malcolm Butler's interception effort, as yet another skeptic of Seahawks coach Pete Carroll's horrendous play-call.

"I thought like everybody else that they would run it, but their personnel was set up for pass, so we had three cornerbacks on the field," Browner told The Dan Patrick Show Thursday, via CSNNE. "...On the 1-yard line, you'd think they'd turn around and hand the ball to best running back in the game [Marshawn Lynch] but fortunately, they didn't."

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Patriots' Browner wary of 'dope' Colts TE Fleener

As he did two months ago, New England Patriots cornerback Brandon Browner will have his hands full defending Indianapolis Colts tight end Coby Fleener, who amassed 144 yards on seven catches (and seven targets) against New England.

Browner paid Fleener some big respect this week in talking to CSNNE about what it takes to defend against his receiver-at-tight end style. Their respective teams face off this Sunday in Foxborough for a trip to the Super Bowl.

"He's dope," Browner said, adding that "You gotta change it up on him. Keep him off balance. Play off sometimes. Get up in his face sometimes. I'm not out there on an island anymore. I have to come inside the box, key the run, key him. It poses its own challenges [versus defending an outside receiver]."

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Watkins can't wait to face CB duo of Revis, Browner

BY DAN BEGNOCHE

It's well established that the transition from college to the NFL isn't always a smooth one. A bigger stage, thicker playbook and faster overall game can take time to adapt to, even for the most talented of players.

One youngster seemingly unaffected by the differences thus far is Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who sounds ready for a trial by fire.

Interviewed for NFL.com's rookie confessional, the former Clemson star hit on topics from training camp to his move to Western New York. It was his comments about a pair of New England cornerbacks, however, that really showed where the 21-year-old is setting the bar for this season.

Sherman hopes Patriots let Browner do his thing

BY DAVID HEIM

The New England Patriots are familiar with loud-mouth cornerback Richard Sherman—see Week 6 of the 2012 season.

The Seattle Seahawks superstar has opened his mouth again, but this time praising the Patriots and their newest additions to the secondary--cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and former Seahawk Brandon Browner.

Sherman made it a point that he's not concerned about Browner's ability to catch on quickly with his new team, as long as the team lets him be himself.

Pats haven't talked to Browner about playing safety

BY DAVID HEIM

The New England Patriots followed up the Darrelle Revis signing last week by bringing in another physical cornerback in Brandon Browner.

And despite early speculation -- given the release of Steve Gregory, the instabilities of Adrian Wilson, the inexperience of Duron Harmon and the fact that the team has two rising cornerbacks in Alfonzo Dennard and Logan Ryan -- the team has no intentions of moving the 6-4 defensive back to safety.

“They haven’t talked to me about playing safety. I’m here to play corner,” Browner said rather bluntly in a recent interview with Paul Perillo of Patriots Football Weekly.

Browner 'honored' Patriots have acquired his services

BY NICK ST. DENIS

Darrelle Revis wasn't enough. The New England Patriots were still cornerback-hungry.

Two days after the blockbuster signing of Revis Wednesday, New England acquired the services of the somewhat troubled but versatile defensive back Brandon Browner, formerly of the Seattle Seahawks, to join Revis in the Patriots' defensive backfield.

He'll do that, of course, after serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy -- his second of such offenses in two years.

CB visits: Patriots hosting Browner, Jets Munnerlyn

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The New England Patriots made a big splash Wednesday night in signing cornerback Darrelle Revis, but that doesn't mean they're done at the position.

Per multiple media reports, the Patriots are hosting former Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl cornerback Brandon Browner Thursday.

Browner peaked in 2011 but had run-ins with the league's substance abuse policy in each of the past two seasons. No matter where he ends up, he'll miss the first four games of 2014 serving a pending suspension.

Patriots look to use Seattle CBs' size to advantage

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The Seattle Seahawks' cornerbacks are tall. Two of the New England Patriots' top receivers aren't.

Brandon Browner stands at 6-foot-4, 221 pounds, and Richard Sherman is a slimmer 6-foot-3 at 195 pounds. Receiver Wes Welker, whose team will be up against the duo Sunday, is 5-foot-9, 185 pounds. Fellow Patriots receiver Deion Branch is also 5-9, and Brandon Lloyd is 6-0.

"Obviously, they're bigger guys, taller guys with longer arms," Welker told reporters Thursday. "They do a good job of being patient and staying square to the line. But you've got to get them moving, you've got to do some different things to them and try to get their body weight going and try to work them in different ways like that." 

The Seahawks' defense is extremely aggressive, and their cornerbacks are no exception. Both Browner and Sherman are in the top six on the team in tackles and combine for three forced fumbles and three interceptions.