Patriots defense won't bite on talk from Falcons' Devonta Freeman

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots, to nobody’s surprise, weren’t biting.

On Friday, Falcons running back Devonta Freeman told Pro Football Talk: “We can do whatever we want.”

The Patriots, he said, like almost every other defense Atlanta has faced this season will have to “pick your poison.”

While that could fall into the category of bulletin board material, the Patriots looked the other way.

“I don’t know anything about that,” linebacker Rob Ninkovich said after the team’s workout on Sunday. “And I’m really focused on getting ready for this game and having it be a hard-fought, physical football game. That’s what we’re trying to get our minds right for.”

“Pretty much, I don’t have nothing to say,” cornerback Malcolm Butler said. “(Super Bowl) Sunday will tell it all. So we’ll see then.”

The Patriots defense doesn’t need a war of words to know it already has its hands full trying to stop the NFL’s No. 1 offense, which averaged 33.8 points per game in the regular season and 40 in their two playoff wins.

So they said all the right things.

“It’s very difficult,” said Ninkovich. “They got very explosive players, a great quarterback, great coaching, so it’s definitely a challenge for us.”

Practicing against its own offense can help New England’s defense.

“Well, we’re No. 2, so I think our offense is great,” Ninkovich said. “We got a great quarterback and our receivers are very good. So, it’s definitely good to practice against our guys.”

“(Atlanta is) just very good. So you go against a good offense every day, it helps going against another good offense.”

It helps – but that doesn’t minimize the difficulty.

“A big challenge,” said Butler. “They got guys other than (wide receiver) Julio Jones. They got two good runnings backs, they got a good quarterback, they got a good system.”

And, for now, an empty bulletin board.

Nate Ebner, Stephen Gostkowski return for Patriots

The Patriots got two of their weapons back for practice on Saturday.

Special team member Nate Ebner, who had been sidelined with a concussion since the Patriots AFC Championship Game win over Pittsburgh on Sunday, returned as well as kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who missed the previous two days with an illness. That gave the team 100 percent attendance at practice. Ebner was at the Patriots walk-through practice on Friday.

Ebner, who got a late start with the Patriots after playing on the US Olympic rugby team in Rio de Janeiro in August, had a team-leading and career-high 19 special teams tackles in 16 games this season, tied for the league lead (with Miami’s Michael Thomas). He was a second team All-Pro this season.

Gostkowski tied for eighth in the league this season with 127 points.

The Patriots will practice Sunday morning at Gillette Stadium before leaving for Super Bowl LI in Houston on Monday morning.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/patriots/2017/01/28/super-bowl-2017-patriots-trash-talk-devonta-freeman-falcons/97190946/