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FOXBOROUGH Womens Adam Butler Jersey , Mass. (AP) — The Patriots are the defending Super Bowl champions.That’s the good news in New England.The bad news is they lost one key player to retirement and have others that are winding down their careers as well.Rob Gronkowski’s decision to hang up his cleats last month didn’t come as a total surprise after he hinted at it following each of the past two seasons. But it did create yet another need to address as New England prepares for the NFL draft.With holes on both sides of the ball, unlike in recent years it could mean a busier than usual three days for Bill Belichick and his staff. They have 12 picks overall, including four in the first seven rounds.Belichick is being predictably coy about his plans for them.“We have a lot of draft picks as we sit here today. I don’t know that that necessarily means that they will or won’t be there on draft weekend,” he said. “We’ll see how all of that goes. Just evaluate situations as they come up and try to make the best decisions, we can for the football team.“There’s no set goal in mind as to how many picks to have or what to do with them. We just want to try to make good decisions at every opportunity we can to improve our team in whatever way is possible and that includes everything.”The offense has some big holes at both receiver and at left tackle.Receiver Julian Edelman is Tom Brady’s most trusted and experienced pass catcher. But the reigning Super Bowl MVP will be 33 when the regular season starts.Chris Hogan signed with the Panthers in free agency, leaving Brady with Phillip Dorsett as his No. 2 receiver on the depth chart behind Edelman.Dorsett was much more comfortable in his second full season with New England http://www.patriotslockerroom.com/authentic-mike-gillislee-jersey , catching 32 passes and three touchdowns. But with Josh Gordon still suspended, the Patriots need some other options. The signing of veteran Demaryius Thomas was certainly a start, though an addition of youth couldn’t hurt.The same is true defensively.New England took the first step in filling the void left by edge rusher Trey Flowers‘ departure to Detroit by trading for veteran Michael Bennett. The Patriots also need to replace the production of defensive tackle Malcom Brown as well as add some general depth on the defensive line.Some other things to know about the Patriots heading into the draft:REPLACING GRONKThe Patriots did sign veteran tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins to join a group to replace Gronk that also includes youngsters Jacob Hollister and Matt LaCosse. Though considering how integral the tight end is to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ schemes, it’s very likely they will use a high pick to snare one of the top prospects.Some possible names to watch include T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant, both former standouts at Iowa known for their blocking and pass-catching abilities.PROTECTING BRADYFor the second consecutive offseason New England is in the market for a left tackle. Trent Brown left in free agency for a big payday with the Raiders. And the Patriots can’t afford not to have a capable replacement guarding the blindside of Tom Brady, who will be 42 when the 2019 season kicks off.One option is Isaiah Wynn James Develin Jersey , the Patriots’ first-round pick last year who spent 2018 on injured reserve after tearing his Achilles tendon during the preseason.The O-line could also use some depth overall. LaAdrian Waddle was able to fill a lot of those gaps over the past few seasons, but he signed with Buffalo.BRADY’S SUCCESSORWhile he’s not backing down from his desire to play until age 45, the Patriots could use this draft to again to try to identify Brady’s successor.Patriots scouts are very high on former Duke quarterback Daniel Jones. Other possible names to watch for include Will Grier (West Virginia) and Brett Rypien (Boise State). The Patriots gave up their first points since the first half of Week Six on Sunday, but the wait for their first loss of the 2019 season will go on at least one more week.New England forced three early turnovers to build a 17-0 lead and then scored 10 straight points in the second half on their way to a 27-13 win over the Browns. The victory is the 300th of Bill Belichick’s head coaching career over the regular season and postseason with the first coming as the Browns coach against the Patriots in 1991.In addition to making that history, the win also leaves the Patriots 8-0 with a trip to Baltimore next on the schedule.Those three turnovers turned into 14 points as Dont'a Hightower returned a fumble for a touchdown and Tom Brady hit Julian Edelman for a score a few plays after Lawrence Guy picked off a Baker Mayfield shovel pass. That touchdown drive was only 11 yards and the Patriots would put together a more elaborate 84-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter after the Browns closed within a touchdown.That drive was something of an outlier as the Patriots offense struggled to find their way into the end zone for much of the afternoon. Tom Brady was 20-of-36 for 259 yards, including a screen to James White that turned into a 59-yard gain that set up Edelman’s second touchdown of the game in the third quarter.Wide receiver Mohamed Sanu had two catches for 23 yards in his Patriots debut while Edelman led the way with eight catches for 78 yards.The offense didn’t overwhelm the Browns and kicker Mike Nugent had one field goal blocked while missing another Womens LaAdrian Waddle Jersey , but the defense made sure neither got in the way of the Patriots winning the game. They sacked Mayfield five times and he got up from the last of them with a grimace on his face.One of those sacks came on a fourth-and-16 from deep inside Browns territory in the fourth quarter. There’s nothing odd about going for it while down three scores at that point, but the Browns initially lined up to punt and false started before putting the offense on the field.Tracy Wolfson of CBS said the team false started on purpose in order to protect their only remaining timeout and head coach Freddie Kitchens will surely be asked about that after the game. He’ll likely be asked about the lack of discipline shown by 13 penalties, two failed replay review challenges and what he plans to do to stop the bleeding that his team has done over the course of their current three-game losing streak.Answers to the last one would be most welcome for a 2-5 team, although one imagines Kitchens would have already provided them if they were close at hand.