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Brady wants Branch back

While Patriots coach Bill Belichick is adamant about discussing only ``the players that are here,’’ quarterback Tom Brady found himself deluged with questions about Deion Branch and an article published on SI.com Tuesday that stated Brady is ``mad as hell about the contract-related absence of’’ the wide receiver.

Saying that the situation ``has maybe gotten overblown a little bit,’’ Brady yesterday clarified some of the comments that were made in the piece written by Michael Silver.

``When you build a relationship with someone for a long time _ and as coach said, the quarterback-receiver relationship is a little different _ he’s one of my favorite guys,’’ Brady said following the afternoon practice session at Gillette Stadium. ``Sometimes when I speak I do get a little emotional about things, but I love Deion. I love him as a person and as a player. The thing about it is I don’t make any decisions here, and I don’t lobby for things. I don’t go into Coach Belichick’s office and mention anything to him. He makes his own decisions and he and [Vice President of Player Personnel] Scott (Pioli), they do probably the best job of anybody in the league.’’

In speaking with the local media last Friday regarding Branch’s absence on the first day of camp, Brady similarly identified Branch as being one of his favorite players and spoke about the importance of the team establishing a sense of continuity as quickly as possible, pointing out that the Pats weren’t able to do that last preseason because of injuries.

But that’s where he stopped on the issue, saying ``I’ve learned that you just need to deal with it. You'd love to have everyone there every week, but that's just not the reality.’’

Brady was more outspoken in the SI article, written following Silver’s interview with him on Saturday. He was quoted as saying: ``Deion is the most important player on our offense. When I look at the elite receivers in the game, he is second to nobody. He doesn't get a lot of the credit, because we do spread the ball around here, and he doesn't feel a need to promote himself like so many guys at that position. But he is that good."

Brady, who has remained in constant contact with Branch, said he felt the need to come to his teammate’s defense when Silver implied that Branch wasn’t as good as some other receivers in the league and insisted he was not trying to use the SI story to help Branch’s situation by giving it some national visibility.

``I don’t come here with motives or plans or anything like that,’’ he said. ``You guys know me. I just speak my mind. This one I think just got a little overblown.’’

Branch, entering the final year of his five-year rookie deal, was reportedly offered a 3-year extension worth nearly $19 million by the Patriots, which he rejected. The team can fine him up to $14,000 for each day he misses camp.

Asked which side he was most upset with _ Branch for holding out or the Patriots for not being more proactive _ Brady said it’s really neither.

``Honestly, I don’t think I’m upset at anybody,’’ he said. ``I know that was probably characterized in the article and I didn’t ever say I was angry or anything like that. But no, I’m not angry. It’s totally out of my control. It’s in the control of the people that I want it to be in the control of _ my coach and the general manager of my team _ and like I said, they make great decisions, so I don’t have to worry about those. I just have to come out and try to play, and when Deion gets here, my job is going to be to get him going and get him up to speed and get our continuity back. And I’m excited when he does, and actually I’m very confident he will. I know Deion very well and he wants to be here as bad as anybody.’’

Brady spoke more about his connection with Branch: ``He’s a special player. In the biggest games, in the Super Bowls, he’s been my target. He’s been the guy I’ve been throwing to. I can’t say enough good things about him. He knows how I feel about him, and like I said, when it’s your quarterback and your receiver . . . (during the season) I see him more than I see my friends, my parents and my girlfriend combined.''

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 7:32 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

It's raining, it's pouring . . . and thundering, oh my!

A downright scary thunder and lightning storm is passing over Gillette Stadium as we speak.

In a scene eerily reminiscent of War of Worlds, barrels are strewn throughout the parking lot, portable toilets are knocked over, all of the goal posts on the practice field are now slanting to the left and one tent next to the field is completely demolished.

One bolt of lightning momentarily knocked out power, causing the scoreboard to light up like a Christmas tree when power was restored.

The rain was coming down so hard at one point, we couldn't see the football field which is right outside the press window.

We can hear all kinds of sirens, and there appear to be some lightning-strike fires off in the distance.

We're fully expecting to see Belichick bring the players back out on the field for more practice - you know, just in case such a storm ever breaks out on game day.

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Purely precautionary

Back at practice today, quarterback Tom Brady shrugged off any suggestions that he has not participated in a few of this week’s practices or was wearing a brace on his left knee today because there is something seriously wrong.

``Yeah, knee’s fine. I just don’t want to hurt it,’’ he said. Missing the practices, ``I think it’s just preventative. Same as like the knee brace, you just try to avoid injury before _ what do they call it, pre-therapy or whatever the trainers call it. Just trying to be a little bit more proactive and try to take care of yourself. You see all of these quarterbacks, whose left knees get hurt _ [Cincinnati Bengals QB] Carson Palmer and [Chicago Bears QB] Brian Griese _ and the last thing you want to do is hurt your knee, so I figured I’m slow enough as it is. This thing (brace) can’t slow me down much more.’’

More to come on Brady's reaction to SI article and his comments re: Deion Branch. . . . .

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

I must be in the front roooooow

If you could somehow stand this heat - which according to my car's temperature gauge coming down Route 1 read 100 degrees - this would be a great day to be at training camp.

At least you'd have your pick of just about any seat in the house. Fifteen minutes into practice, the stands are still very sparsely filled.

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Patriots ``grinding through camp''

Some additional exerpts from Bill Belichick's morning press conference:

Belichick's opening remarks
``We’re grinding through camp. Two yesterday. Hit one today. We’re back to two-a-days the next couple days after that. We’re starting to get into some more situational things as each day goes by, and hopefully by the end of the week, we’ll have the majority of our basic systems involved, installed, but also we’ll have covered a lot of the situational things that come up in a game, so that we’ll be kind of ready to start preparing for the next preseason game next week.''

(The Patriots first preseason game is Aug. 11 at 8 p.m. against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome.)

Belichick was asked if the extreme heat would affect how he conducted practice this afternoon.
BB: You know the games that are scheduled we’ve got to play. So I don’t know what those conditions will be. Some will be hot. Some will be cold. Some will be windy. Some won’t be. We’ve got to play through it. So I don’t think we might do anything that will take any undue risk, but our players are well-conditioned athletes and they’ve trained and we’re going to practice.

Are you expecting Richard Seymour - who opened training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list - back today?
BB: He’s day-to-day
Is the fact he hasn’t been out at practice, is that at all linked to his contract status?
BB: That doesn’t have anything to do with it. Nothing.

And with Tedy Bruschi, can you confirm that he might have had an injury to his wrist?
BB: He’s day-to-day. . . . His wrist is probably sore. I’m sure he’s got a lot of other sore body parts. Day-to-day.

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Confidence breeds confidence

During Bill Belichick's press conference with the media this morning, he was asked if he thought corner Ellis Hobbs was an overconfident player and if his position calls for a particulary self-assured player?

Belichick's response:
I’d say he’s confident. I’d definitely say he’s confident.
I think it certainly helps at corner, but I think it helps at every position. Confidence leads to more aggressiveness and confidence leads to a certain level of confidence to your teammates. So if you walk out there and the guy beside you is confident at what he does . . . assuming he can go out there and perform . . . that gives you a confidence.
Even if a guy’s a skilled player and he goes out there and you know that in his mind he’s not very confident, he doesn’t think he can do it . . . even though you know he’s a talented player, you’re walking out there saying, `I don’t know about this one.’
I don’t think there’s any position where (confidence) is really a negative. The only way it really hurts a player is if he’s just so confident that he doesn’t work hard and prepare and do the things that he needs to be a good player. He just kind of relies on his ability and says, `Well, I’ll get it done.’ But ultimately there’s a lot of other good players in the league that are going to catch up to that player and pass him.

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Pats practice time pushed back

The New England Patriots have announced that today's practice session will start at 3 p.m., not 2:30 as originally scheduled. The practice will still conclude at 4:30.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments 0