FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Some picked-up New England Patriots pieces from the NFL draft:
Setting up Day 2. The Patriots have three selections on Friday -- their second-rounder (No. 64) and two third-rounders (Nos. 96 and 97). They also have the 101st overall pick, in the fourth round, that will come early on Saturday's Day 3. "We’re in a little bit of a unique situation," Bill Belichick said. "We have those three picks there together, [if] we want to, maybe those picks are movable [in a trade], maybe they’re not, I don’t know. It’s kind of unusual to have three picks like that clustered together. We’ll have to talk about that situation. It’s still 60-some picks until we even get to that point, so there are a lot of ‘what ifs’ but we’ll just talk about that situation and look to where we’d be here in the second round here at 64. [It’s] kind of the same as [Thursday] -- a lot of teams are going to pick before we’re really even close to getting up to bat. We’ll do the best we can when we get our opportunity to go."
Brown's reaction to the pick. Asked his reaction to being selected by the Patriots 32nd overall, defensive lineman Malcom Brown said, "Very anxious, a very long day and a very long process. I was just ready to get off the board and I just couldn’t wait. All the animosity was building up and it was just all coming down to that last pick, the last pick of the first round." Brown watched the draft with his family in Austin, Texas, as he said that was more meaningful to him than attending the draft in Chicago.
Not going to feel the pressure. Brown was asked if he feels any added pressure coming to the defending Super Bowl champions. "I don't," he said. "I came to Texas as a five-star recruit. When I got here, I knew I wouldn’t get anything easy. So I’m not going in thinking I’ll get anything easy. I know I have to work for anything. I’m not just going to take this and just sit back and lay back on it. I’m going to work, I’m going to do what I do going into every year of football. I’m going to give it my all and you’re going to get my all."
Spending time with Matt Patricia at pro day. Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia spent time with Brown at Texas' pro day on the scouting trail. "I met with him the next day, watched some film," Brown recalled. "I liked his attitude and defense."
Malcolm and Malcom. In a lighter moment, it was pointed out to Bill Belichick that the Patriots seem to like players with the first name Malcom, a reference to Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler. "It's coincidence," he said, smiling.
Never been to Boston. Brown said this will mark his first-ever trip to Boston. Asked what he knows about the city, he said, "Celtics. That's about it."
Sense of humor shines though. In a light moment, Brown was asked if he had any friends on the team. "Not really," he said, taking a long pause before adding: "Tom Brady!"