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Baker Out, Bethel In

FOXBORO -- The Patriots announced officially that wide receiver/kick returner Bethel Johnson has been taken off the PUP list.

The team also released wide receiver Eugene Baker, a five-year pro from Kent State who was really just roster fodder.

Johnson, meanshile is dressed for the game and running around out there in warmups as we speak.

Other guys dressed and on the field currently include: PK Sam, David Terrell, Bam Childress, Andre Davis, Doug Flutie, Randall Gay, James Sanders, Ray Ventrone and Guss Scott. No "regulars" are on the field yet.

T

Posted by   at 7:14 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Vrabel

FOXBORO - A little more than two hours before the Patriots preseason finale against the Giants kicks off.

Linebacker Mike Vrabel -- who sat last week against Green Bay -- was with a group of five Patriots sprinting from sideline-to-sideline a few minutes ago. He ran without any signs of discomfort.

Also, Tom Brady, Dan Koppen, Dan Klecko, Grant Steen, Adam Vinatieri, Doug Flutie, and Larry Izzo are on the field. Nobody is doing very much.

No word back from sources close to Peerless Price on whether or not he's leaning toward signing with the Pats.

Check back in before the game.

T

Posted by   at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Reports: Price in New England yesterday

The Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that Peerless Price was in New England yesterday.

Price's agent, Tim McGee, didn't return messages I left for him yesterday.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-dolnotes01sep01,0,47174.story?coll=sfla-sports-front

The former Falcon and Bills receiver is in Miami today and headed to Dallas tomorrow, apparently.

Meanwhile, as we alluded to in our last blog entry, Bethel Johnson is back to the active list after missing nearly all of training camp with a leg injury.

T

Posted by   at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

My Mess of a Roster Story

Well, it appears I effectively mangled my mathematics when doing my roster projections story for today's print edition.

Thanks to the posters at patsfans.com who noticed it.

Clarifying: I stated there were 70 active players. When I wrote it, there were. Bethel Johnson has been moved from PUP to active so now there's 71.

That means the Pats need to cut 18 players to get down to 53.

Anyway, in today's piece - for whatever reason - I then subtracted the three specialists (kicker, punter, long-snapper) from 70 leaving me with 67 and then I theorized the Pats needed to cut 14 more guys.

What? Subtracting the three specialists from 70 was like cutting them. Dope.

Anyway, I'll do the math again here for you (adding in Bethel).

The Patriots have 71 players on the roster: 33 on defense, 35 on offense and three specialists.

The Pats need to cut 18 players to get down to 53 for the Oakland game.

After breaking down the roster, comparing it to last year and assessing this year's needs, these 21 players are close to the edge:

* Offensive linemen Billy Yates, Victor Leyva and Jeff Roehl.

* Tight ends Joel Jacobs and Christian Fauria.

* Running backs Kyle Eckel and Kory Chapman.

* Wide receivers David Terrell, P.K. Sam, Bam Childress, Andre Davis and Eugene Baker.

* Defensive linemen Mike Wright and Tom Sverchek.

* Linebackers Wesley Mallard, Grant Steen, Eric Alexander and Andre Torrey.

* Cornerbacks Duane Starks and Chad Scott and safety Ray Ventrone.

So we have 21 guys for 3 spots.

Front-runners for those spots are probably Chapman, Mallard, Alexander, Davis and Scott.

The next group would be Fauria, Starks, Torrey, Wright, Sam, Terrell, Yates and Roehl.

Who's pretty much gone? Sverchek, Leyva, Jacobs, Steen, Eckel, Baker, Ventrone and Childress.

Anyway, nice mess by me. Sorry for the confusion.

Posted by   at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments 0