Today is Tom Brady's birthday, which meant there were a couple of serenades of "Happy Birthday" rained down on the quarterback. The first, and best effort, earned a wave from Brady.

After yesterday appearing to tweak his lower left leg, Brady took full part in today's session, as the Patriots continued to work on situational drills, including the two-minute drill.

Some notes from the session, which ended under the threat of a thunderstorm that never came:

** TE David Thomas returned after being injured in last Monday's practice. Missing were CB Jason Webster, S James Sanders, S Rodney Harrison, FB Kyle Eckel, T Ryan O'Callaghan and T Matt Light. Webster and Light have not practiced since last Saturday.

** Rookie LB Vince Redd shed the red no-contact jersey he had on yesterday. Rookie Matthew Slater is now wearing a blue (defense) jersey; before yesterday, he was wearing a white (offense) jersey at the start of practices and donning a blue pinnie later.

** During kickoff work, Slater continued to show his speed, heading left as Sammy Morris was leading him, but then breaking right. He rushed past Antwain Spann, and Brandon Meriweather forced him to the sideline before Stephen Gostkowski pushed him out of bounds. He made it to at least the (defense's) 30-yard line. With Ellis Hobbs coming back from injuries and a valuable member of the secondary, Slater may be the answer as the team's primary kick returner.

** After yesterday's pushing between Shawn Crable and Stephen Spach, another rookie linebacker, this time Jerod Mayo, had a little shoving match with a teammate. It wasn't clear who Mayo was originally involved with. Mayo continued to work alongside Tedy Bruschi in the base 3-4 defense.

** After a few dropped passes yesterday, Benjamin Watson was more sure-handed today. The quarterbacks looked to him several times, and his last catch was an impressive fingertip reception during the two-minute drill.

** It was not the best day for Matt Cassel. He was picked off three times: the first on a pass to Heath Evans that was a bit behind the fullback; Evans tipped the ball up and Adalius Thomas plucked it out of the air and then lateraled it to Spann when Evans wrapped him up. Later, he looked deep for Randy Moss and the ball came down short; Terrence Wheatley was able to rein in the interception. In a third-and-one with seconds to play scenario, a pass for Kelley Washington wound up in Mike Richardson's hands.