FOXBORO -- The upside of all these NFL related media streams springing up everywhere?

More opportunity for giggle-inducing player comments.

This one came to us from the folks at Sirius Satellite Radio, Apparently, Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith was asked by Sirius radio host Shannon Sharpe about the dustup he had in the Super Bowl 38 with Pats corner Tyrone Poole.

"I was hot. I was very hot," said Smith. "There's a lot of people I have respect for. Tyrone Poole, he's not (one of them). He's like Nike and I'm like Reebok. I don't talk to him. I got nothing to say to him."

According to Smith, here's what happened.

"In the Super Bowl, first play, he kinda jams me and busts my lip. So I said, 'Okay, you're trying to get physical.' Next play he comes and I stiff-arm him to the ground. So, it was a physical match. Then he started calling me names. He's a Christian and he wasn't cursing at me but he was just calling me some names that in my book was cussin' still. So I said, 'Look here, Dog. You're gonna shut up and I'm gonna make you shut up.'

Smith accused Poole after the game of spitting on him. Poole acknowledged he verbally jousted with Smith but said that if the receiver got moist in the exchange it was because he sprayed when he spoke. He didn't spit on purpose.

Either way, Smith pointed out that, 'I’m gonna whup his (bottom) on the field. That’s all I gotta say.'

The Pats and Panthers meet in September in Carolina.

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The Patriots released the kid they brought in to replace tight end Andy Stokes. Tight end Matt Brandt got the gate yesterday morning.

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The Pats have a pair of practices today. This morning they went in full regalia. Rodney Harrison sat out. Tom Brady had a compression sleeve on his right elbow and didn't throw much in the second hour of practice.

Also on the sidelines were: tight end Ben Watson, wide receivers Bethel Johnson and P.K. Sam, Ty Warren, Ryan Claridge, Chad Morton, Tim Dwight and Andre Torrey.

Mike Vrabel and Chad Brown got a lot of reps at inside linebacker as Bill Belichick and his staff keep working through different combinations to see which players complement each other at different spots.

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The team is now fully into game prep for the Bengals on Friday night. I'll have a story on Rohan Davey being at a career crossroads and a look at Cedric Cobbs development in the passing game for tomorrow.

Unless something breaks later today, I'll hit you back tomorrow after Belichick's press conference.

The boy has his first football practice in pads this afternoon. Over-under on times he says, "My head hurts" from the helmet? 14.

Take care,

T