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August 21, 2006

Pats trade Gorin

The Patriots have traded offensive lineman Brandon Gorin to the Arizona Cardinals for an undisclosed draft pick.

Gorin, 28, started the final eight games of the regular season and both playoff games for New England last year at right tackle and played in 14 games overall. He was not a starter in Saturday's preseason game against the Cardinals and was flagged for one false start.

Arizona will be Gorin's third NFL team; he was originally drafted by San Diego in the seventh round in 2001 (Gorin played collegiately at Purdue) but was released after training camp in `02 and signed to the Patriots' practice squad. He was signed off the practice squad in Jan. 2003 and had been a regular contributor since.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

More from Belichick, Players on Cardinals win

Bill Belichick gave his players the day off today before the team jumps into preparations for its third preseason game, Saturday at Gillette Stadium against the Washington Redskins.

As a result, there was also no media availability today, but here is some more of what Belichick had to say in yesterday’s media conference call:

Q: Was there a line of thinking in having Junior Seau dress last night even though he wasn’t going to play? [The veteran linebacker, who played 14 seasons with the Chargers and 3 with the Dolphins, came out of retirement and signed with the Patriots late last week.]

Journal files/Bob Breidenbach
Jason Seau

BB: He was healthy enough to dress, so he dressed and warmed up and went through the process on the sideline. Going through adjustments and things like that, that’s all part of the whole process.

Q: Was a big part of it just maybe giving him a feel for the team and how it works from that vantage point?

BB: Yeah, well what we do in a game…right, that’s what he did. He experienced kind of the way we manage the game on the sideline. He got some exposure to that and I'm sure that there were some things that he saw that he can relate to whenever he starts playing in terms of how we do the signals and substitutions and sideline adjustments and all of those types of things.

Q: How much of the team’s success on third down last night might you attribute to Kevin Faulk and his various skills?
Kevin Faulk.JPG
Journal files/Glenn Osmundson
Kevin Faulk

BB: I think last night’s third down numbers were attributable to a couple of things. One was that the distance wasn’t too long. For the most part we had very manageable third down situations where we didn’t need a lot of yardage and therefore pretty much every skill player on the field was a possible option to get that yardage. On third-and-three, you could run it or you could throw it to any of the five eligible receivers and they could pick it up. On third-and-16, realistically, you’re probably only going to be able to get two guys, maybe three at the most, that would even be able to get far enough down the field to even get the first down. It just gives you a lot more options and then of course it always comes back down to execution. I thought that the execution on the third down runs by the offensive line - Dante [Scarnecchia] and those guys have worked really hard on that - there were some positives there. In the passing game, we had receivers and you try to spread the field and make it hard for the defense to match up on all of them, so you have one or two, either, good matchup situations or situations where the defenders just get out-leveraged by the route. Good routes, good throws by the quarterback and catches and you know you have a chance to convert some of those short-yardage situations. Keeping it short and staying out of negative plays and third-and-longs, that is a big key to giving yourself and your team more options.

BB: I think Tom is a pretty fundamentally sound player, but we’re in training camp. We’re halfway through the preseason schedule, so I think that everybody has a lot of room for improvement and I'm sure that he’ll be better with another week or two of practice than he is now, just like he’s better now than he was a couple of weeks ago when he hadn’t spent as much time on them. It’s just refining your skill and your technique and everybody on the field is doing that.

Journal files/Bob Breidenbach
Tom Brady

Click here to read more about what the players had to say about Saturday's win.

Tully Banta-Cain, Linebacker
(On playing with the first team defense)
“It felt good playing with the first stringers. I tried to take advantage of the opportunity.”

(On how he felt he played compared to last week)
“I think I made a little improvement from last week, just overall playing the run and playing the pass. There are still some things that I need to work on, but overall I think I did okay. I missed a sack on [Matt] Leinart one play, so that is something that is definitely keeping me honest. Next time I get that opportunity, I have to take full advantage of it.”

(On whether he heard the praise Coach Belichick gave him last week about his camp thus far)
“My fiancée told me a little something about it. I look at that as credit to me being focused this year and really trying to take full advantage of the chances I have been getting. It is working out so far.”

(On whether he feels he as improved)
“Yes, definitely. I don’t think I’m where I need to be, but I think I have made big strides and every week I’m just trying to get better.”

(On whether he thinks he can be a starter in the NFL)
“Definitely, no question. I have always had confidence in my abilities and being able to showcase them this year is what I have been all about going into this year. Hopefully I will get that chance.”

(On the defense compared to last week)
“I have to go back and watch the film and see everything, but we did hold them to three points and I think that is a credit to the way we played. I think there are definitely some plays that we are going to have to go back and see how they beat us because they did make some plays in the pass game and a couple of the runs they got. We are going to look at the film and see what we have to do.”

(On the defense’s playmaking ability tonight)
“We wanted to improve on last week. Guys are trying to make this team and make an impression on the coaches. There were guys out there making plays and that is going to help their status on the team.”

Logan Mankins, Guard
(On the matchup against the Cardinals and the success of the run game)
“Every week is a tough test. We just tried to put a hat on a hat and get a little bit of a push. We have really good running backs here and they find the holes. They will make people miss and run through arm tackles.”

Kevin Faulk, Running Back
(On the play of the offense)
“We improved from Week 1 and that was our main goal. Each week we are just trying to improve as a team.”

(On the versatility of the running backs)
“We have always had three or four running backs that have versatility and have different running styles. Laurence [Maroney] has come in and improved each and every week. That is what we are trying to do as an offense.”

Eric Alexander, Linebacker
(On his forced fumble on the kickoff return)
“That is what they like around here and that is what we try to do every time. We try to have a dominating, physical presence on special teams. It looked like it was a sideline left and I just read my way over there and happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

(On whether this is a big year for him)
“Definitely. My first two years I have spent on the practice squad, so this is definitely a defining year for me. There are no more years on the practice squad. I have to make the team here or try to make it somewhere else.”

(On what motivates him)
“This is the only way I can really be evaluated, besides practice. They want to see how you perform on game day. You definitely want to give a good performance and show them that you can play.”