NFL.com's network of reporters hooks you up with the hottest news and notes from Super Bowl LII Opening Night in Minneapolis on Monday as the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots prepare to square off for the Lombardi Trophy:
Nelson Agholor on his turnaround. After two disappointing seasons, Philadelphia fans were ready to kick Nelson Agholor out of town.
The 2015 first-round pick compiled 648 yards on 59 receptions with three scores in his first two years. Agholor struggled with drops and mental errors, eventually getting benched late in 2016.
Then came 2017. Agholor more than doubled his production: 62 receptions, 768 yards, 8 TDs.
Agholor credits getting back to basics with his turnaround.
"Hard work. Hard work. 100 percent hard work," he said. "To grind, grind, grind and just keep on getting better and really trust your grind. Understand that you've put the work in and be confident in who you are as a player because you've put the work in."
Improved quarterback play also played its role. But perhaps the biggest change was the Eagles moving Agholor to the slot receiver position full-time. With Philly adding outside receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith in free agency, it allowed Agholor to torture cornerbacks from the middle of the field.
"One thing is space," Agholor said of the benefits of playing more from the slot. "Playing inside with so much space and guys having to chase me around the whole field, not just a third of the field. And I think what I love about it is it gives me an opportunity to use speed, start-and-stop, and kind of give guys misdirectional moves because they don't know where it's going, there's a lot of field they got to cover."
Agholor took advantage of that space, and in return re-earned the love of Philly fans.
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Comments on Brady's daughter draw Kraft's ire.Tom Brady made clear he wasn't happy with a radio personality's comments about his young daughter. Neither was Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
"You don't talk about someone's 4-year-old child, no matter who the adult is," Kraft told a small group of reporters at Opening Night. "And by the way, I happen to know the child -- and she's awesome. She's vivacious, loving, terrific."
Brady reiterated his displeasure, but he said he hopes WEEI employee Alex Reimer isn't fired.
"I just think any parent is really protective of their kids, and I've never stayed away from criticism," Brady said. "I understand that criticism is part of sports, but I certainly don't think that my children, or any other children, deserve to be in that. So that's how I felt."
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McDaniels plays coy regarding future. Josh McDaniels is widely expected to become the next head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.
Is this a reality the Patriots' offensive coordinator is willing to admit? Absolutely not.
"I don't know. I don't know," McDaniels said about his future during Monday's Opening Night festivities.
"I know that I'm excited for this week. That's what I know," McDaniels said with a laugh. "I can't wait for Sunday. I'm looking forward to enjoying every step of the way this week. I know our team is and our staff. I'm excited about what we're doing."
"But fans love you," a reporter blurted out, in what sounded like a last-ditch pitch to keep the talented play-caller in place for one more season in Foxborough.
"And I love them," McDaniels replied.
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On the value of failure. Josh McDaniels' next job as head coach (he had his second interview with the Colts) will be his second go-around after a failed stint in Denver that saw McDaniels, who had personnel control there, draft Tim Tebow. McDaniels said he had no complaints about the NFL's hiring cycle, which forces coaches whose teams are still alive in the playoffs to wait to officially sign on for new jobs until their season is over. "As coaches, we naturally multitask a tremendous amount every day."
McDaniels said he has learned from all of his job experiences -- he was the offensive coordinator in St. Louis after he left Denver and before he returned to New England. He said the Patriots held a meeting just before Opening Night, and he thinks he probably learned something from that, too.
"Sometimes I think failure is the best teacher," he said. "You try to do it better as you move forward. I still learn to this day. I'm nowhere near a finished product as a coach myself."
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Rejecting the Rocky narrative. With the underdog Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, some have compared the matchup to Rocky Balboa taking on Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV."
Patriots left tackle Nate Solder had a quick quip in response to that link:
"I think that's a silly comparison," he said, laughing.
"I like the Rocky movies," Solder added. "I think they're all good, from the original all the way through. I've seen them all, and I enjoyed every single time Sylvester Stallone stepped onto that course."
This time around, though, Solder isn't rooting for the plucky underdog.
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Shooting down talk of drama in New England. Josh McDaniels on Monday night came across as a man at ease with his present and his future.
He took a handful of heat-seeking queries, including the inevitable question about whispers of in-house turmoil between ownership, coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.
"I don't even know what you're talking about," McDaniels answered. "We have blinders on. I think this ... I think there's been a lot of people that have tried to do that for a while, you know? If you listen to everything that comes in and out of the building, and all the rest of it, you can get distracted really easily.
"I think we've got a culture that's about the next day and trying to win the next day and be the best we can be. And that's really what our focus has been on all year. It's what it stays on every year. I think that's a compliment and a testament to what Bill's built here. The players, the coaches, the staff, the personnel people, ownership. Stay focused on the goal each week and try to do our job the best we can. And if it doesn't have anything to do with me, then I don't really have much to do with it. That's really been the way we've operated."
McDaniels was then asked if there was any chance Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady might be slowing down.
He giggled at the thought, saying: "No."
McDaniels continued to field burning parcels of curiosity, asked if Belichick -- under any circumstance on Planet Earth -- might be doing something other than coaching the Patriots next season.
"Bill?" McDaniels asked. "No. I mean, you'd have to ask him, but NO."
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Burkhead enjoying first trip to big stage. For most Patriots players, Opening Night and the Super Bowl festivities have become old-hat. Running back Rex Burkhead, who spent four seasons in Cincinnati before signing with New England, is one of the few playing for his first Lombardi Trophy.
"It's great to be a part of. It's something you dream about as a little kid, so now to be here experiencing this, it's really cool," Burkhead said.
The Super Bowl newb can lean on a plethora of teammates who have been around for three championship games in four seasons.
"Just enjoy every moment of it, take it all in, because you never know when you're going to be back again," Burkhead said of the advice he was given by teammates.
As for the practice accident that caused stitches to Tom Brady's throwing hand before the AFC title game? The running back said he hadn't gotten a ton of comments or questions about the incident.
"Not as many as I thought," he said, chuckling.
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Hoyer at home in return to Pats. Philadelphia's Nick Foles isn't the only Super Bowl quarterback who left his current team -- only to wind up back home.
Back in Foxborough with the Super Bowl-magnet Pats, Hoyer on Monday night sounded like a man at peace, dishing on his rekindled friendship with Tom Brady after years away.
"I wouldn't have learned the things I've learned without being around him. To be away for a few years and come back and see him still doing it, arguably even better than he was before I left, has been a real treat for me," Hoyer said. "Just to be in that room, see his intensity, see his passion. Those are unmatched to anyone else that I've ever met. It's refreshing to be around. Like I said, it's been a whirlwind for me, but to be here with him and with this team is really a great way to cap a crazy year off."
