Main page | August 2, 2006 »

Snippets from the Beli-Conference

I would say that we are doing things that are specifically geared towards a certain type of defense or certain type of offense and we know we are going to see somewhere along the line, like a four-man line. We basically are in a three-man line most of training camp so far. Our offense needs to see our protections. They need to see some of our runs against the four-man looks. The rules are little bit different. There's a little bit different techniques. At some point we need to start running that. Whether Buffalo or the Jets or whoever plays a three or four-man line, it doesn't matter, we're going to see you soon or later. So as part of the installation and as part of learning our rules and learning our adjustments, running plays against a front like that, we need to do that.

It's the same thing defensively. There are a lot of teams that play a lot more with a true fullback than we do, that have two backs in the backfield, those reads are different for our linebackers, especially in the running game. We know we're going to face that. We need to see that at some point and we need to see it fairly soon, not wait until the week before we play a team. There are certain things like that that you do need to get into your system just so your team can become familiar with them, because you know you're going to see them at some point during the course of the year. It might be week one, it might be week four, but you know you're going to get it.

Q: Tom said in an interview that Deion Branch was the most important player in this team's offense and how important is it to get him into camp. Is that uncomfortable for you guys, when the quarterback is making a public appeal to get a contract situation resolved?

BB: Look, I understand that there is a relationship between players. Who are the players that you would think would be important to a quarterback? The safeties? Every player is important to me on this team. Every player. Whichever the final 53 are, they will be the ones that we feel collectively and I feel can do the most to help us win this season. They're all important every single one of them, so I'm not saying that some won't play more than others and all of that, but I think everyone of them is important. Every decision is important and each role that each player has is important. That's the way I'll try to coach the team. I'm sure not everyone will agree with that. I'm sure you'll be one of the first to write it. I don't have a problem that either. But that's how I look at it and that's how we'll try to do it. I'm sure not everybody will see it the way I see it. I'm not worried about that.

Q: I'm guessing that from the position of Deion that there is a point at which you guys have to say, 'Okay, get Deion to camp?'

BB: I'm not saying anything about any player who is not here. I'm just coaching the ones who are here and we're going to continue to work with them and hope that they will improve. I hope all of our players are here and I hope all of them can practice everyday, but unfortunately that's not the case. We're not 100 percent in those areas but we will work hard to improve the guys who are here and that's all we can do.

Q: Is it starting to hurt you guys yet because he's not in camp?

BB: I'm just trying to concentrate on the guys that are here. Those are the guys that I'm coaching. Those are the guys that I'm working with. I don't know about anybody who's not here.

Q: How did Chad Jackson look to you after his first practice?

BB: He looked like he didn't do much. I hope that he will do more in succeeding practices. I think you have to start somewhere and that's where he started. This is really his first practice and he is 'x' number of practice behind everybody else. We'll take it day by day and hopefully he'll do more this afternoon than he did this morning and more tomorrow than he did this afternoon and so forth. He has a long road ahead of him. I think he has some talent and some ability, but we have a long way to go and today was the first step and I would say a small first step.

Q: How do you evaluate [Rosevelt] Colvin's progress coming back the last few years from his hip injury a few years ago? We tend to look at it like last year was proof that he was back. Do you look at it as more of a stepping stone?

BB: I think last year, even by the end of the '04 season, that Colvin was pretty close to the top of his game. He's like a lot of players in his particular situation. He's right at the prime of his career, age wise, experience wise and all of that. These are probably going to be his best years, like they are for most players. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, somewhere in that range. That's where he falls. He's a good player. He's been a good player and hopefully he'll be able to sustain that level a few more years going forward. He works hard. He's smart. He's in good condition. He's tough. He has a lot of thing going for him.

Q: So you don't have any concerns about his hip anymore?

BB: No. He's played for two years.

Q: He talked today about still being sore, that's why I'm asking.

BB: Believe me, if you go down to that locker room, I'm sure there are a lot of guys that are sore. I don't mean that disrespectfully. I'm just saying that this is professional football. These guys put a lot of physical effort into what they do and they do it against other very physically talented people as well and there's going to be some soreness. There's going to be some bumps and bruises and I'm sure some guys have them in certain spots on a regular basis, one area is a little bit more vulnerable or tender or whatever the word is. I'm sure that some guys are going to be a little bit more sore here or there than other guys. That's football. But he's out there everyday. I couldn't even tell you the last time he missed a practice.

Posted by   at 7:41 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Nighttime in the Stadium

FOXBORO - The Pats practice has been going about 45 minutes here in Gillette Stadium. It's a season-ticket holder only event for the fans and there's probably just about seven thousand fannies in the seats (or about twice as many as the Revs draw).

The south end zone still bears the bruising of the Bon Jovi concert from the other night where the stage was.

The Pats are in a 7-on-7 passing drill right now.

Tom Brady just finished running the first team for about 15 plays with mixed success. He hit Troy Brown and Matt Shelton for decent gains but threw behind Chad Jackson and had a ball glance off Reche Caldwell's fingertips.

At the other end of the field, linemen, tight ends and Todd Mortenson worked out on short drops and matching up on blocking assignments.

Posted by   at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Poor Chad Scott

FOXBORO - In an 11-on-11 drill, Brady just threw a BB to Reche Caldwell down the seam with cornerback Chad Scott in coverage. Caldwell made an outstanding grab, about a 30-yard gain and then whipped the ball across the turf, an exclamation point.

There was silence in the press box as everyone considered A) A nice throw by Brady, B) a nice catch by Caldwell C) why Scott is always on the scene when someone makes a catch.

On cue, Jerome Solomon from the Boston Globe said, "Poor Chad Scott..."

Scott did follow up by breaking up a pass to Chad Jackson.

Moments after that, Brady led John Stone who made a terrific catch down the field but came up limping with what appeared to be cramps in his leg.

Posted by   at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Morning practice notes

FOXBORO - The highlight of this morning's full-pad practice was an absolute jaw-rattling whack by Freddie Roach out of Al-a-bama on Laurence Maroney during a goal-line drill. Maroney, needless to say didn't get in.

Throughout the full-speed, full contact drill, the defense squished the offense. The first team offense ran three plays with Corey Dillon getting stacked up once, a scramble being whistled dead after Tom Brady was flushed and then Dillon just getting the ball over the line.

The second team offense with Maroney at running back got stacked up on three straight plays with Roach -- an undrafted rookie -- making the big hit in the middle.

*****

Missing from the a.m. practice today were Matt Light, Troy Brown and Jarvis Green....There are new onsides kick rules in place this year. No overloading one side or the other, coverage teams have to balance the number of guys on both sides of the ball. The Pats spent about 15 minutes working on that. ...Both Eugene Wilson and James Sanders were on kickoff coverage...Mike Wright worked out at defensive end a little bit. ... Corey Dillon is having an outstanding camp. He's been at every practice and has run extremely hard. Yesterday was no exception. ...Steve Gostkowski made eight straight field goals to end the practice.

Tom E. Curran

Posted by   at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Bam and CJ in da home

FOXBORO - The New England Patriots removed wide receivers Bam Childress and Chad Jackson from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list today. Both players participated in the Patriots' 8:45 a.m. training camp practice at Gillette Stadium this morning.
Childress, 24, was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent on July 24, 2005 and spent the first 16 weeks of the 2005 season on the Patriots practice squad before he was signed to the active roster for the regular-season finale against Miami on Jan. 1, 2006. The 5-foot-10-inch, 185-pound wide receiver played on both offense and defense in his only NFL game (1/1/06), and led the Patriots with three receptions for 32 yards and also collected five tackles (2 solo) on defense. The Ohio State product was listed among the day-of-game inactives for both of New England's playoff
games last season.
Jackson, 21, was selected by the Patriots in the second round (36th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-1-inch, 215-pound rookie wide receiver attended the University of Florida, where he started 14 of 36 games over three seasons from 2003-05. In his collegiate career, Jackson caught 120 passes for 1,586 yards and 16 touchdowns, recorded 16 rushes for 88 yards and two touchdowns, returned 10 kickoffs for 188 yards and returned nine punts for 35 yards. As a junior in 2005, he tied the Gators' single-season record with 88 receptions, a mark that led the Southeastern
Conference and ranked sixth in the nation.

Posted by   at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Belichick in the a.m.

FOXBORO - Bill Belichick addressed the Tom Brady comments to Sports Illustrated by saying, "I understand there's a relationship between players. Who are the players you would think would be important to a quarterback? Safeties. Every player's important. Every player."

Posted by   at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Brady squarely on Branch's side

FOXBORO - Tom Brady flaps his gums to Sports Illustrated about the import of Deion Branch getting signed.

Silver says the Pats offer is $19 million over three years.

"I hope he's here another 5-7 years," Brady said, "but that's not up to me. The player-club dynamic has changed so much over the years. I know that Deion's the best guy in the world to have around; I also know that Coach Belichick and [vice president of player personnel] Scott Pioli are very disciplined, and the decisions they make are very black-and-white.

"I have a lot of confidence that this is going to get worked out, I really do. But I'm glad we're not playing a game this week."

Posted by   at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments 0