Projo Pats Blog

He may be off the field, but he's not out of the game. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick revealed yesterday that Tom Brady was in on the team's quarterbacks meeting on Saturday, and that Brady will be around Gillette Stadium as he rehabs his left knee to dispense advice to Matt Cassel and the team's other novice signal callers.

Maybe Brady's advisory role helps explain the Patriots' seamless offensive transition back to their 2001 selves, when Charlie Weis was using the short pass as an extension of the running game. (Boston.com) So far in two games, the Patriots' yards per completion average is 10.9, identical to 2001 and the team's lowest since 2002 (10.1). The average yards per completion for the team has been more than 12 yards in three of the last four seasons, topping out at 12.8 in 2004.

MARATHON MAYO: Adalius Thomas, Jerod Mayo and Rodney Harrison each played all 50 defensive snaps for the Patriots against the Jets on Sunday. Mayo has now played every snap in each of the Patriots' two games this season. (Boston.com)

THOMAS IN CLEVELAND: Defensive lineman Santonio Thomas, released recently by the Patriots, has been signed to play for the Browns, who recently placed Robaire Smith on injured reserve. (rotoworld)

PLAY IT AGAIN: Bill Belichick said that he wanted his team to savor its victory over the Jets on Sunday, but "savor" does not describe what Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano was doing Sunday night. What he was doing: Watching replays over and over again of his team's 31-10 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals. If his next round of film watching is going to be any better, it will have to be because of better production from the flawed collection of players Sparano employed against the Cardinals, because he didn't decide on any lineup changes for Sunday's Patriots meeting. (Miami Herald)

IN ED'S CORNER: The NFL Referees Association has come out in support of embattled Ed Hochuli, whose actions on what should have been a decisive fumble by Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler enabled Denver to eventually win its game against San Diego. (projo) Meanwhile, Yahoo! Sports' Mark Kriegel agrees that the call was bad, but he's tired of hearing the 0-2 Chargers (who had only themselves to blame for blowing their season opener against Carolina) complain about it.

NO NEED TO START THE SHAUN ROGERS FAN CLUB: Steelers coach Mike Tomlin strongly denied an NBC report that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a separated shoulder, saying that the shoulder is sprained -- probably as a result of a hard hit from Rogers, the huge Cleveland Browns defensive end. In other words, it's not exactly a case of karma catching up to the classy Pittsburgh fans who got their jollies from Tom Brady tearing two ligaments in his knee.

NOT TOO FAR FROM HOME: Tomlin, irritated by the NBC report, asked reporters to tell him the source if anyone knew it. According to Profootballtalk.com, the source is Big Ben himself.

SPEAKING OF LIGAMENTS: Chargers superstar Shawne Merriman faces six to seven months of rehab following successful surgery on two torn ligaments in his left knee. (Profootballtalk.com)

THE YEAR OF THE ROOKIE: Darren McFadden. Jonathan Stewart. Chris Johnson. Matt Forte. First-year players are having an unusually profound impact around the league, writes Sports Illustrated's Bucky Brooks. The two quarterbacks in Monday night's shootout at Dallas, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo, are Brooks' early favorites for MVP.

WHAT A WAY TO START: One rookie who has not made a good impression: Buccaneers cornerback Elbert Mack, who has been suspended from this week's meeting with the Bears after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan. It was the second violation of league safety rules in Mack's brief career; he was cited for unnecessary roughness following a preseason hit on Houston quarterback Alex Brink. (Tampa Tribune)

COLTS DEFENSE TAKES A HIT: Bob Sanders, the NFL's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, has a high ankle sprain and could miss up to six weeks, according to Indianapolis team president Bill Polian. (Indy Star)

A BIG VOID: Philadelphia Pro Bowl guard Shawn Andrews, the biggest chunk of the league's biggest offensive line, had an MRI on his back yesterday and was struggling to do much of anything after hurting himself in Monday's Cowboys game. (Trenton Times)

KICKED TO THE CURB: The Jets had to scramble to find a replacement for place kicker Mike Nugent after he was injured in the season opener at Miami (how'd that Jay Feely work out for you?); now they have released punter Ben Graham and find themselves in the market for a new booter. (Newyorkjets.com) Feely will still be doing the field goal kicking against San Diego on Monday night. (N.Y. Post)

THE RAIDER WAY: The bad news continues for Oakland in the week following the team's first victory. Well-compensated defensive lineman Tommy Kelly has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence. (Sacramento Bee)

SPEAKING OF SUCH MATTERS: The Seattle Seahawks are desperate enough for options at wide receiver that they have turned to former Seahawk Koren Robinson, whom they released following the 2004 season because of his drinking problems. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

BACK WHERE HE DOESN'T WANT TO BE: Former Giants receiver Mark Ingram, who has already served two prison terms since leaving football, has received a sentence of more than seven years for money laundering and bank fraud. (projo.com) Ingram had pleaded guilty to laundering money he believed to be proceeds from drug sales and bank fraud for using counterfeit checks.

SHAPE UP OR ELSE: Rams owner Chip Rosenbloom said there will be changes will be made if his team does not improve on its embarrassing play of the first two weeks. That can't be good news for head coach Scott Linehan, who is 11-23 since taking over in St. Louis. (ESPN)

THAT'S HOW THEY DO THINGS IN TEXAS: The Detroit Free Press is reporting that former Texas Longhorns and Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson is about to sign with the Lions -- the paper's source is a member of the Austin City Council. Meanwhile, unemployed former league MVP Shaun Alexander worked out for the team. (Detroit News)

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