A snapshot of the culture in the Patriots locker room

As Brian Waters held court with reporters for 20 minutes this morning, one couldn’t help but think of some of the solid characters the Patriots added this season. It’s worth making a disclaimer that reporters are only allowed the in the locker room for a designated 45-minute time frame most days, so there’s no way of having a full grasp of what goes on behind the scenes. But the media obligations are part of being a professional athlete and players that accept that responsibility tend to be the same guys that provide leadership in other aspects. The Patriots approach to dealing with the media hasn’t changed much during the Bill Belichick era, but there have certainly been some bad apples (Adalius Thomas, anyone?) and teams with less maturity than others. This year’s team has been bolstered — on and off the field — by the addition of a strong group of veterans. Waters, defensive end Andre Carter and safety James Ihedigbo, have stood out in th...