FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quick-hit thoughts/notes on the New England Patriots and NFL:

1. Patriots starting defensive tackle Alan Branch faces a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, pending appeal. No date has been set for the appeal, which means Branch will continue to play, but the Patriots could lose him later in the year, possibly into the playoffs. One person familiar with the situation expects the appeal to be heard within the next month or so. This sparks the question of whether Branch would be helping the team by accelerating the process and accepting the suspension now so he is definitely back for the stretch run. While one could make that case, Branch has told those close to him that he feels he didn’t do anything wrong.

2. For all the spotlight shined on Patriots defensive end Jabaal Sheard not making the trip to San Francisco last weekend along with a few other healthy inactive players, not to be overlooked is one player on injured reserve who did travel: rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett. The Patriots want him around the team to learn all the nuances of the position, and now it seems to be only a matter of time until he officially returns to practice once cleared medically from a right thumb injury. Each NFL team can designate one player on IR to return to practice after six weeks, and that player then can be added to the roster after eight weeks. Brissett was placed on IR on Oct. 7, and two days later Bill Belichick said on 98.5 The Sports Hub, “The sooner we put him on, the sooner we get him back. It’s a long season.” With Tom Brady limited in practice, if he’s practicing at all with a knee injury, Brissett’s expected return in the coming weeks will be timely.

3. Sheard did something that others don’t always do last week: He faced the music and answered every question from reporters about being a healthy scratch for the first time in his career. That was one indication that he hasn’t checked out, and along those lines, it is topical to point out that he made the trip with teammates for this week's game against the Jets. Sheard might not get his starting role back immediately -- Trey Flowers has been productive as his replacement -- but the Patriots know they will need Sheard at some point down the line, and losing him mentally would have been a no-win scenario for all parties.

4. Two storylines that sparked passionate, mostly negative reaction from Patriots followers over the last two years -- Darrelle Revis’ free-agent departure to the Jets following the 2014 season and offensive tackle Marcus Cannon’s two-year, $9 million contract extension and subsequent struggles -- look a lot different now than they did at the time they happened. Revis has proven to not be worth the big-money deal, which is timely to revisit with the Patriots visiting the Jets. And Cannon’s rebound season (aided by the return of line coach Dante Scarnecchia) has positioned him as a strong candidate for another extension, as he's a free agent after the season. They are two good examples of how time can change perception sharply in our instant-analysis media culture.

5. When the Rams lost to the Dolphins at home last Sunday, and No. 1 pick Jared Goff had a so-so debut at quarterback, it eliminated the possibility of next Sunday’s Rams-Patriots game being flexed into prime time. So the game remains at 1 p.m. ET and will be the Patriots' only 2016 regular-season game broadcast on Fox, which currently plans to have Kevin Burkhardt (play-by-play), John Lynch (analysis) and Pam Oliver (sideline) on the call. Fox’s top team of Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Erin Andrews is scheduled to call the network's national game of the week: Giants at Steelers (4:25 p.m. ET).

6. Cool feature on the weekly Patriots All-Access program this week with former backup quarterback Damon Huard, whose behind-the-scenes perspective on the 2001 transition from Drew Bledsoe to Tom Brady is interesting to revisit at a time when the franchise is set to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of its Super Bowl XXXVI appearance next Sunday. Huard told this story from the hours before the Super Bowl: “In the locker room, it’s a long time after you’ve come in after warm-ups waiting for all the fireworks. I remember Tom looking at me before that game and saying, ‘Damon, do you have any idea how it’s going to feel to be world champs in three hours?’ I was like, ‘Man, let’s go!’” No doubt, Brady was exuding confidence and leadership that had others following him even at that early stage in his career.

7. My biggest takeaway from Josh McDaniels’ comments last week about his head-coaching aspirations, and Belichick’s thoughts on the topic: McDaniels isn’t necessarily waiting around to possibly succeed Belichick in New England, and there is obviously an open communication and understanding between McDaniels and Belichick about his mindset. Belichick probably also appreciated the opportunity to publicly counter what he might have perceived as an anti-Patriots bias, with McDaniels reportedly being left off a preliminary list of head-coaching candidates produced by an NFL-based committee. Usually, Belichick does more of that work behind the scenes. For example, past assistants such as Bill O’Brien and first-year Lions general manager Bob Quinn have talked about how supportive Belichick was of them as they pursued career advancement, and this was another example.

8. National anthem protests aside, what has happened to Colin Kaepernick as a pure quarterback? Patriots followers can recall his promise from the 2012 season, when he brought the 49ers into Gillette Stadium and threw four touchdown passes in a 41-34 victory over New England. But fast-forward to this past Sunday, and Kaepernick’s sporadic accuracy and overall poor play in a loss to the Patriots had me wondering how much he truly cares about his craft. What a regression.

9. When the Patriots were formulating their initial 53-man roster at the end of the preseason, three of the final cuts were claimed on waivers: linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill (Eagles) and cornerbacks Darryl Roberts (Jets) and Cre’Von LeBlanc (Bears). Today, the Patriots should see plenty of Roberts, their 2015 seventh-round pick out of Marshall, as he is the Jets’ No. 3 corner. Said Jets coach Todd Bowles, “Physically, he has a lot of tools. Mentally, as he gets the system down, he starts helping us more and more. He has potential to be a decent corner in this league.”

10. Did you know: If the Patriots win Sunday, it will mark the 200th victory of Tom Brady’s career (including playoffs), tying him with Peyton Manning for the most all time. Brady will have accomplished the feat in 261 games. Manning did it in 292 games.