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Final throws

Quarterback Tom Brady gets in a few passes today at Gillette Stadium during the Patriot's final day of training camp.

Posted by Rich Lee  at 7:46 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Seau to the Pats?

FOXBORO - Junior Seau is coming out of retirement to join the Patriots according to ESPN News which credits Jim Trotter of the San Diego Union Tribune.

We're checking it out...

Posted by   at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

IT ENDS QUIETLY

Other than the interest in Tom Brady's association with Greg Anderson, the final Patriots' practice open to the public went quietly.

The crowd was one of the larger ones. Overall, those who have been here for the four years since trainining camp moved here from Bryant University, felt crowds were about the same as they have been in the past.

In the final open practice, the Pats did most of their work in the kicking and passing games. There were no new additions to the absentee list as Tedy Bruschi, Chad Jackson, Monty Beisel and Chad Brown remained among the missing.

Most of the veterans were not worked too hard, with one major exception. Troy Brown was all over the place, as he seems to be so often.

Brown continues to amaze as he goes on and on. With the Pats' lack of proven depth at wideout, Brown and Reche Caldwell have been far and away the biggest targets when the team has gone to wide receivers. The tight ends, most notably Ben Watson who has looked outstanding through camp, also look poised to be abigger factor than ever in the team's offense.

Perhaps the most interesting development over the past two days has involved rookie Willie Andrews. The seventh round draft pick out of Baylor is a defensive back. At least he has been until the last two days. He spent the day in a white jersey, signifying an offensive player, again yesterday and made at least one catch for a long gain.

_Paul Kenyon

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Brady addresses Balco questions

Tom Brady long since has become accustomed to drawing crowds, but even by his standards yesterday was big. And this was not one of his most pleasant sessions.

As soon as the Patriots finished practice this afternoon, television camera people set up in a circle in the interview area to get position for Brady. The Pats' quarterback knew what was coming, knew what everyone wanted to ask about. He greeted the crowd with, ``Nice day today, nice of you to come out. All right, so who wants to start?' ''

As expected, the focus immediately was on Brady's name coming up on a list people who have had contact with Greg Anderson, the trainer at the center of the Balco investigation in San Francisco.

``Any time, as an athlete, you're even mentioned in something like this, it's disappointing,'' Brady said. ``But it was long time ago. I was back in the Bay area. I wanted to work out for a day. I knew he had a gym. I called, he wasn't around. That was about it. That was the first of it and the last of it. Five years later, I guess it's a big deal. That's kind of the entire extent.''

Brady said he was not aware his name had come up in the investigation until this morning.

``It's just one of those things. I don't make anything of it,'' he said. ``Something like that is not what I stand for. I represent a lot of things. Certainly fair play and me trying to be a role model is what I'm all about.''

-- Paul Kenyon, Journal sports writer

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Be prepared for changes

It's an hour to the start of the scheduled practice, and the Patriots are out, in t-shirts and shorts, on the Gillette Stadium field doing walk throughs in preparation for Saturday night's game against Arizona.

Inside, Stacey James, the team's executive director of media relations, has asked us to let everyone know about changes in the parking situation for this season. In preparation for more construction adjoining the stadium, parking lot P-9, one of the main parking areas, will be closed.

To replace the needed spaces, lot P-10, on the other side of Route One across from the stadium, has been expanded and will be able to pick up the slack. Simply because there are changes, Pats officials expect some confusion Saturday.

Ticket holders have been notified and maps will be e-mailed to let everyone know of the new plan, James said. Parking lots will be open four hours before game time (4 p.m.) and stadium gates opened two hours before kickoff (6 p.m.)

The game will be the first NFL Network.

_Paul Kenyon

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Jobs are open

More on Belichick's press conference today. . . this one about jobs.
The coach was unusually candid in response to a question about whether he has his mind made up on his 53-man roster for this season. On the last day of training camp, he said he is not nearly ready to make final decisions yet.
``I think we've probably got 40 guys we're pretty sure of, not only who they are but what their roles will be,'' he said. ``Then, after that, you've got a lot of options.''
One of the big questions, one coaches on every team have to grapple with, is whether to keep an older player who is better able to help right now, or go with a younger player who shows potential, but still has a lot to learn.
``He has a chance to move ahead of the other guy,'' Belichick noted as he spoke of young players, ``but then he might not get there.'' For now, everyone with the team has a shot, according to the coach.
``If there was a player who was in over his head, at this point we wouldn't keep those guys,'' he said.
The bottom line often is not how good a player is, but what position he plays.
``You have to determine what roles you need,'' the coach said. ``You can't fill them all. You can't have depth everywhere. You only can keep 53 players.''

_Paul Kenyon

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

The proof is the seeing

In football, perhaps more than any other sport, it is difficult for a fan to recognize progress for an individual player.
In baseball, basketball and virtually ever other sport, players are in the open, their work easily visible to the fan, much of the time. With 22 bodies hitting each other, it's a lot harder to recognize what'is going on in a football game. Coaches, on the other hand, can do that by breaking down tape. They know.
While he often is reluctant to discuss where his team stands, Coach Belichick made it clear today that he can see his team progressing. He all but proclaimed training camp a success.
``We don't really have a specific goal,'' he responded when asked whether he was satisifed with training camp. ``It's a day by day process.''
That sounds like typcial Belichick. But then he added, ``I think we've definitely improved. . . We've established a good base. . . It's coming. We've got a long way to go, but it's coming.''
``It's not a vibe,'' he added. ``It's what we can see on tape. I do think you can see it. At least I saw it.''

_ Paul Kenyon

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

The finale

Coach Belichick asked for a Mulligan today. Considering his track record, we'll give him one.
The coach was late for his final press conference of training camp, nearly a half hour late.
``Do I get a Mulligan on this,'' he asked. ``We're kind of scrambling today.''
His session revolved more around his view of training camp, which concludes with a 2:30 practice today, more than worry about Saturday night's game against Arizona. His central theme, if there was one, was that he was generally satisfied with the way camp has gone.
Reflecting the many new faces on the team, Belichick spoke about how he and his staff spent more time on individual instruction this year.
``There's been a little less team or group work in order to accomodate the individual teaching,'' he said. ``If you concentrate 24 minutes a day to individual drills rather than 16 minutes, cumulatively that's a lot more time on fundamentals.''
We'll have more as the day goes along.

_Paul Kenyon

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments 0