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Patriots offensive lineman Logan Mankins spoke with reporters at the Joe Andruzzi Foundation Golf Tournament at TPC-Boston, talking about his interaction with first-round pick Nate Solder and his own contract situation. Mike Reiss filed this video report, and to read more on Mankins, click here.

NORTON, Mass. -- Patriots offensive lineman Logan Mankins might be at odds with the team on a contract extension, but that hasn't stopped him from lending a helping hand to rookies.

Mankins said he has spoken with first-round pick Nate Solder, the big offensive tackle from Colorado. The Patriots gave Solder the number to reach Mankins, who was happy to take the call.

"He seems like a great guy and I gave him a little advice and tried to help him out the best I can in the situation that we're in right now," Mankins said Monday at the Joe Andruzzi Foundation Golf Tournament at TPC-Boston. "I'm more than willing to help any young guy that needs anything. He's in a tough situation right now, he doesn't know what's going on. He has no coaches to talk to. He's just trying to make it in this league and if I can help him, I will."

Mankins is also pulling for fifth-round pick Marcus Cannon.

"I read the story of how he has cancer so hopefully everything works out great for him," he said. "That would be a great story if he has a full recovery and can play and have a nice career."

As for his contract situation, Mankins was asked if it was naive to think he could reach a long-term deal with the Patriots at this point.

"I don't know, we'll see. Shoot, the NFL and the players can't agree on anything right now, so we'll worry about that once they can strike a deal," he said.

Mankins was asked if he has thought about whether he'll sign the franchise tender -- which would be a one-year deal for around $10 million -- once there is football.

"A little bit, but I'm not going to say anything right now," he answered. "When we know there is football, that will be the time to make a decision."

All-Pro guard Logan Mankins doesn't think he'll return to the New England Patriots next season, according to a Boston Herald report Friday.

Mankins feels as though the team isn't willing to lock him up to a long-term deal and says there hasn't been any talks on a new contract, and the only way he sees himself back in a Pats uniform is if they place the franchise tag on him, the Herald reported.

"No, I wouldn't be happy about [a potential franchise tag], if that's what they chose to do, to be dealt that kind of hand," Mankins said Thursday after Pro Bowl practice in Hawaii, according to the report. "But we'll see what happens."

Mankins' contract with the Patriots is up and, contingent upon the rules set forth in the new collective bargaining agreement, almost certainly will be an unrestricted free agent.

To read the complete story, CLICK HERE.

Tom Brady was unanimously selected to the 2010 AP All-Pro team Monday. Brady was joined on the team by two Patriots -- guard Logan Mankins and inside linebacker Jerod Mayo.

Click HERE to read more about the 2010 AP All-Pro team

With the Patriots racking up 168 yards with nearly a 5-yard per carry average on Sunday and having allowed just two sacks over the last four games, Tom Brady was asked this morning if the addition of Logan Mankins to the offensive line has made the difference. In his explanation, Brady compared Mankins to a Patriots Hall of Famer.

“The offensive line is always collective,” Brady explained during his weekly interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI. “No doubt Logan adds a hell of a lot to that collective because he’s so powerful, so strong, so athletic, so tough, so mean. He’s everything you look for in an offensive lineman. He’s a John Hannah-type player. He’s just mean, he’s tough, he sets the tone for that group. You add him next to Matt Light, to me there’s not a better guard-tandem in the league.”

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft came on Boston sports radio station WEEI on Monday morning and strongly rebuffed an ESPN report that the team was close to a deal with offensive lineman Logan Mankins that was killed by Mankins’ unwillingness to publicly apologize.

Below is the full transcript of Kraft's comments on Mankins:

"There is a misconception that we have had a deal with Logan Mankins," Kraft said. "We have never had a deal with Logan Mankins.

“I hate violating a private conversation but I think it’s worthy because it speaks to this issue that -- I got a call three weeks go, maybe, something around that time, from Logan -- and he apologized to me for the comments that he made in the public media. He said that he regretted he did it. He knew in retrospect that they were not true. And I accepted his apology because he is a high quality guy.

“I also said to him, ‘You know Logan, it would be nice if that was made public because I'm hoping we do a deal with you. And I don’t want people to think that the way you do a deal is to say something that’s not true or involve ownership.’

“And I also want to be clear about this: Ownership of the New England Patriots does not get involved in the negotiation of contracts or make commitments to players. We bless the deals but we are not involved, we never make commitments.

“He understood that and he said ‘Look, Mr. Kraft, I feel bad. I will correct what I said either when I sign with the New England Patriots or if I get traded and sign somewhere else.' And he said that ‘My hope and intention is that I'll be a Patriot and go into the Patriots hall of fame.' And I said the same thing to him. And then there's been a negotiation but we have never had a deal.

“I’'ll just say this. We did make offers, and we don’t normally do this, but I want our fan base to be focusing on our team, not on misreports, misperceptions that are put out there. We made an offer that would allow him to be paid very well, like a Pro Bowl guard, I'm not sure his people felt it was appropriate. I know it was comparable with Nick Mangold’s salary.

“And I understand there is a back and forth and each side has to do what they think is right for their side and that’s part of this business. But at no time, and that’s what I want to stress, at no time have we ever had a deal with Logan."

When WEEI host Michael Holley asked Kraft to clarify his comments in regard to ESPN's report that the sides were close to a deal similar to the seven-year, $56.7 million contract that Pro Bowl guard Jahri Evans signed with New Orleans in the spring, and that the deal fell apart over the apology aspect, Kraft responded:

"That is a bold-faced fib," Kraft said. "We have never had a deal with Logan. We don't discuss the details, and I am doing this only because this is the beginning of the season. We have a lot of reasons to be elated. We do business in over 80 countries in the world. When we make a commitment or we do a deal, we have the same people we're doing business, It's word of mouth and we live up to our commitments. We've never had a deal here."

ESPN analyst and former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi shared his thoughts on the contract beef between offensive lineman Logan Mankins and the Patriots, saying he thinks things could get ugly between the player and the team.

“Logan doesn’t say much, so when he speaks, he means it,” Bruschi said in the clip above. “And when he talks about keeping your word and how you treat people, these are strong words from a strong-minded man. I don’t anticipate seeing Logan Mankins in a Patriots uniform anytime soon.”

ESPN's Tedy Bruschi says Pro Bowl lineman Logan Mankins is a crucial part of the Patriots' offense and that his decision to skip voluntary organized team activities until a contract agreement is reached is understandable.

"This is a player that deserves that contract," Bruschi says (video above).

ESPN football analyst Tedy Bruschi, who contributes his analysis weekly on ESPNBoston.com, shares his thoughts on the Patriots' 31-14 win over the Jets.

A few points that he highlights, which could be easy to overlook, include the role of running back Kevin Faulk providing blitz relief and the standout performance of linemen Vince Wilfork and Logan Mankins. Bruschi also tips his cap to Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis in his matchup against Randy Moss.

With left tackle Sebastian Vollmer leaving the game with a head injury early in the second quarter, and his return questionable, the Patriots are down to six blockers on their 45-man game-day roster.

Mark LeVoir enters as the left tackle. If LeVoir or right tackle Nick Kaczur are injured at any point, it would require a reshuffling along the line.

The likely scenario would have left guard Logan Mankins kicking out to tackle, with Rich Ohrnberger entering the game at guard.

FOXBOROUGH -- Bill Belichick has addressed Patriots players about disparaging remarks made by Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter and reminded them, "That is not our fight; our fight is on the field."

So those expecting the Patriots to respond publicly to Porter's latest comments will be disappointed.

"We'll do what we've always done, and that's do our talking on the field," running back Kevin Faulk, the team's longest-tenured player, said Friday.

On Thursday during an interview on NFL Network, Porter brought up the Patriots' past videotaping procedures that resulted in the loss of a first-round draft choice. He also said there was "no question" that quarterback Tom Brady received preferential treatment from referees.

"When a guy can tell a ref when to throw a flag and he gets it and stuff like that, he got his own rules," Porter said. "They made the whole [rule that you] don't go at the legs because of Tom. So when he feels that someone is coming at his legs, he just points at the ref and he gets a flag. So you've got to honestly say that he got his own rules."

Asked Friday how Porter's remarks have been received in the Patriots' locker room, left guard Logan Mankins said: "We don't worry about them. That's Joey. The only thing we worry about with Joey Porter is what he does on the field, and he still does a lot of good things. That's what we're focused on."

Asked whether the Patriots expect such remarks from Porter at this point, Mankins said: "That's just Joey. I don't know why he does it; maybe he wants to be on TV. It doesn't bother us. We don't care what he says."

The Patriots have often used opponents' remarks as motivation and later reminded the player that they heard what he said. Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, for example, mimicked Porter's sack dance last year in Miami.

So while running back Laurence Maroney said there is some motivation to quiet Porter, he added that's not the primary goal.

"The main goal is to go out and play 60 minutes, play hard, play strong, play physical, play smart and get a win. You know which teams are going to do the talking, and want to start back-and-forth controversy, but you really can't get off into that."

It's a challenge for the casual fan to assess the play of offensive guards. With that in mind, we asked former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi about the contributions of starters Logan Mankins (left guard) and Stephen Neal (right), both of whom earned game balls in Sunday's 27-21 win over the Ravens.

"When you're looking at the TV copy of the game, it's a sideline copy and that is the best way to recognize their contributions in terms of the running game," Bruschi said. "Some of the Patriots' best running plays were draws or pump draws, and they had the short-yardage situations, like fourth-and-1, that they converted. When you look, you can see the movement of the offensive line at the line of scrimmage, specifically inside from the center and two guards. On those draw plays, there were holes and movement as they created room to make yardage."

A look at the game-ball winners from the Patriots' 27-21 victory over the Ravens:

Eric Alexander -- Core special teams player made an immediate impact by forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff

Jarvis Green -- With four tackles, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit, he played more snaps than any defensive lineman, lining up at end and moving inside in some passing situations.

Brandon Meriweather -- Safety played every snap, led the team with nine tackles and had two deflected passes.

Logan Mankins -- Starting left guard held up at the point of attack against the Ravens' big, physical front

Sammy Morris -- Running back converted in key short-yardage situation again, rushed for a 12-yard touchdown, and added five catches for 35 yards in a versatile effort

Stephen Neal -- Starting right guard held up at the point of attack against the Ravens' big, physical front

Ty Warren -- Defensive end came up with big third-and-1 stop in the fourth quarter, had two quarterback hits, and continued his overall consistent play.

Mike Wright -- Defensive lineman led a pressure-based attack with a strong interior rush, totaling two sacks and three tackles (one for a loss)