FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quick-hit thoughts/notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. My biggest takeaway from Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio’s interview with the team’s website from the NFL combine was his acknowledgement that Dave Ziegler has been elevated to director of pro personnel, filling the void created by Bob Quinn’s January departure to become Detroit Lions general manager. Ziegler had spent the past three years as Quinn’s assistant, and like Caserio and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, is an alumnus of John Carroll University. The 38-year-old Ziegler broke into the NFL with Denver in 2010 (under McDaniels), and those who have worked closely with him in the NFL describe him as an attention-to-detail-type grinder with a knack for understanding a player’s strengths and weaknesses while not sitting on the fence in his evaluations.