Erik Scalavino shares the practice notes and locker-room buzz from Wednesday at Gillette: Preparing for Mack attack.Angelique Fiske reports Dont’a Hightower spoke to elementary school students about the importance of staying active and eating healthy.Belichick Breakdown: Top plays against the Chiefs. (7.32 min. video)LOCAL LINKSMike Reiss has a nice piece on Tom Brady as the closer: Now tied for 3rd-place all time in game-winning drives Joe Thuney Jerseys 2019 , his confidence in those situations inspires his teammates.Ryan Hannable calls attention to all the ways Tom Brady’s play has slipped so far in 2018.Kevin Duffy examines why Rob Gronkowski isn’t getting his usual looks in the red zone.Darren Hartwell notes Rob Gronkowski has a plan to improve his surprisingly nonexistent red zone production.Karen Guregian points out that in Sunday’s shootout win against the Chiefs, the Patriots actually employed more running plays than passing plays.Doug Kyed hears from RB Kenjon Barner about the difficulty of learning the Patriots offense. Barner picked up 16 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per carry in Sunday night’s win.Evan Lazar runs through how Matt Nagy’s offense is similar to Andy Reid.Matt Dolloff gives us five questions to get ready for Pats-Bears. 2. Can Matt Nagy hang with Bill Belichick for 60 minutes? Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Pats-Bears, Week 7 key matchups: Who has the razor’s edge?Matt Dolloff says Pats-Bears could simply come down to QB Mitchell Trubisky.David Latham (LastWordOnSports) Stephon Gilmore key to stopping suddenly successful Mitch Trubisky.Doug Kyed talks with the cornerbacks to find out what it’s like covering Josh Gordon in practice.Phil Perry notes Chicago head coach Matt Nagy says Trey Flowers may not be a “quote-unquote big name guy, but he’s the big name guy amongst the coaching world,”Rich Thompson notes Bill Belichick expressed wariness of Bears’ speedy receiver Taylor Gabriel.Nick O’Malley says the Pats offensive line has been great but will face a huge challenge vs. the Bears.Kevin Duffy believes the Patriots will have their hands full with Bears LB Khalil Mack.Zack Cox notes LaAdrian Waddle is gearing up for a potential Khalil Mack rematch.Phil Perry thinks Marcus Cannon’s availability will be key vs. Khalil Mack and the Bears.Mark Daniels reports former Patriot Akiem Hicks is thriving in Chicago.Evan Lazar’s Film Review: Josh Gordon emerging as versatile threat in Patriots offense.Tom E. Curran calls out how the Patriots kick-return coverage has gone from great to gross.Ryan Hannable passes along a report that the Patriots worked out several defensive players yesterday.Robert Alvarez (PatsFans) Best of social media: Chiefs vs. Patriots.Russ Goldman (PatsFans) Patriots Fourth and Two podcast: Chiefs vs. Patriots recap and Bears preview. (65.20 min.)NATIONAL NEWSJason Owens (Yahoo! Sports) Bill Belichick and Lawrence Taylor agree: Khalil Mack’s not as good as LT.Terez Paylor (Yahoo! Sports) 5 Things I Liked in Week 6: Flying to the football White Michael Bennett Jerseys , Steelers’ nasty blocking and Matt Nagy channeling Andy Reid.Andy Benoit (SI) Deep Dive: How to remake NFL defenses? The Ravens have a blueprint. “Bears fans need not worry.”Jonathan Jones (SI) Morning Huddle: Bills smartly shifting to veteran QB Derek Anderson over interception-prone Nathan Peterman.Jenny Vrentas (SI) Five takeaways from the fall league meeting. 1. Concern in L.A.?Charles Robinson (Yahoo! Sports) NFL owners take a knee, leave national anthem policy alone.Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) NFL adds Jimmy Haslam to Compensation Committee.Staff (Bleacher Report) Expert consensus Week 7 NFL picks. Two out of three pick Pats to win; Consensus: Patriots 28, Bears 23.VIEW FROM CHICAGOPatrick Finley (Chicago Sun Times) Will ‘experience factor’ matter when the Bears’ Matt Nagy faces Bill Belichick?Colleen Kane (Chicago Tribune) Can the Bears beat the Patriots on Sunday? Check the numbers.Larry Mayers (ChicagoBears) Patriots will provide measuring stick for Bears.Colleen Kane (Chicago Tribune) Were the Bears’ defensive struggles Sunday just a blip? Tom Brady and the Patriots will help the evaluation.Adam L. Jahns (Chicago Sun Times) Brady Barometer: Bears QB Mitch Trubisky excited to compete with all-time great.Mark Potash (Chicago Sun Times) Kyle Long feeling Bears spirit: ‘Every week feels like the playoffs around here.’Staff (ChicagoBears) 9 Questions to test your knowledge of the Bears-Patriots history.Patrick Finley (Chicago Sun Times) Matt Nagy: Bears OLB Khalil Mack ‘day-to-day’ with ankle injury.Brad Biggs (Chicago Tribune) Bears Q&A: Do future opponents have a template for slowing the pass rush? Why has Jordan Howard fallen out of favor?Dan Wiederer (Chicago Tribune) ‘That’s a big moment for our guys’: Bears offense showing significant growth, even after tough loss to Dolphins.Brad Biggs (Chicago Tribune) Arrival of colder weather ushers in kick return season, and the Bears are ready. CINCINNATI (AP)Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict had his NFL suspension reduced from five to three games Wednesday for his egregious hit on a Chiefs running back during a preseason game. During the second preseason game, Burfict leveled running back Anthony Sherman on a pass play when he wasn’t the intended target. The play wasn’t penalized Michael Bennett Jerseys 2019 , but the league can impose fines or suspensions after reviewing plays. Burfict originally got a five-game suspension but challenged it. Appeals officer James Thrash reduced it to three games on Wednesday. Burfict will miss home games against the Ravens and Texans and a road game with the Packers. He’ll be eligible to return for a game in Cleveland on Oct. 1. It’s the second straight season he’s suspended for the first three games. He was punished last season for his hit to Antonio Brown’s head during a 2015 playoff loss to the Steelers. That punishment was due in part to his history of egregious hits. Burfict’s hit on Brown moved the Steelers in range for a last-minute field goal and an 18-16 victory in the opening round of the playoffs. The meltdown left the Bengals without a playoff victory since 1990, the sixth-longest streak of futility in NFL history. In a letter to Burfict notifying him of the latest three-game penalty, the league noted his pattern of hits on defenseless players, including one on Ravens tight end Maxx Williams that drew a $50,000 fine. ”This is not your first offense with respect to illegal hits to defenseless players,” wrote Jon Runyan White Danny Shelton Jerseys , the league’s vice president of football operations. ”To the contrary, this incident is consistent with your pattern of egregious safety-related violations, including your hit on a defenseless player during the 2015 wild-card game and your hit against a Baltimore tight end away from the play on Jan. 3, 2016. ”When players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, and particularly when the violations carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player … you must be held accountable for this continuing unacceptable conduct.” The Bengals have staunchly defended Burfict. They supported his appeal of the suspension, contending his hit on Sherman wasn’t a technical violation of the league’s player safety rules. In response Danny Shelton Jerseys 2019 , the league cited its rules banning unnecessary contact against defenseless players and those who aren’t involved in the flow of the play. Sherman was coming out of the backfield on a throw down the field to a different player when Burfict lowered his shoulder and leveled him. In defending Burfict on Tuesday, coach Marvin Lewis said the linebacker has changed. Lewis cited several other plays in the same preseason game when Burfict followed the rules. ”On the very next play, the quarterback scrambles, Vontaze runs over and jumps over Alex Smith when he slides,” Lewis said. ”The very next play after that, the back goes to the flat and he’s going down for a first down. Vontaze is in coverage and instead of diving in or `spearing’ in White Josh Gordon Jerseys , he touches him down and jumps over him out of bounds.” —