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Injury report

With the regular season comes the fabulous Wednesday injury report.

New England Patriots (0-0)

Bruschi, Tedy LB Questionable (Wrist)
Jackson, Chad WR Questionable (Hamstring)
Kaczur, Nick OT Questionable (Shoulder)
Brady, Tom QB Probable (Shoulder)
Gabriel, Doug WR Probable (Hamstring)
Neal, Stephen OG Probable (Ankle)

Buffalo Bills (0-0)

Bowen, Matt S Questionable (Lower Leg)

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

One man's opinion... and mine

NFL.com contributor Pat Kirwan posted a thoughts column this week, and one of them concerned Deion Branch. Here's what Kirwan wrote:

"2. THE BRANCH SITUATION
Deion Branch has been fined all summer to the tune of $14,000 a day and has incurred fines upwards of $420,000. Now the regular season is upon us, and if he threatens to hold out until the 10th game and forfeit 10 game checks, which adds up to close to $600,000, then his million-dollar salary is gone. If he returns for the final six games in order to record an accrued season so he can become a free agent in 2007, he faces the reality that the Patriots could slap the franchise tag on him. Branch doesn't seem to hold the cards in this poker game.

Branch is the No. 1 receiver on a division championship football team and a former Super Bowl MVP. He reportedly was offered a $33 million deal over five years with close to 50 percent of it guaranteed. He wanted more money, and consequently he wants out of New England if they aren't willing to pay. The club gave him the right to seek a trade, and he was unable to come back to the Pats with the compensation the new club would have to surrender for the player.

I asked three front office executives from other clubs what they would want for Deion Branch if he were their property, and all three felt a first-round pick was mandatory, especially at this late date. As one GM said, "There is no way I trade the guy in my division unless I got extra compensation beyond a first and a good player."

My favorite analogy of the situation came from an old school personnel man who said, "I never thought I would live long enough to see a player determine what the appropriate value was for himself to be traded." The third exec said before the Super Bowl in 2005, Branch was playing like a second-round pick: 28 starts in three years, 135 receptions and nine touchdowns. But the Super Bowl and the 2006 production (78 receptions, five touchdowns -- which led the team) upgraded the guy.

My advice to the talented wide receiver is fight battles you can win and be patient when you're in a situation you can't win. Right now you're losing money, damaging your reputation, and you may be a Patriot for another two years before you can hit free agency. Don't blame the Patriots for asking for what they think they deserve, but ask why no team has offered what the Pats want to trade you."

That last line is very true. Deion wants to be paid like a franchise wideout (though not given the franchise tag), but he doesn't want the Pats to be compensated for giving up a franchise player? It's a wacky way of thinking.

It seemed like this could be fixable if Deion remains in New England, but with the news that he may take the team to arbitration seeking damages to get more money for this season if he loses his grievances, we may have reached a point of no return.

From what I've seen of him, Deion is a great guy. But here's the thing that I think he and his agent, Jason Chayut, are not getting:

You. Are. Under. Contract.

You signed it four-plus years ago, you agreed to those terms. Whether you deserve more money or not given how you've performed since you've signed that contract is immaterial. The Patriots were under no obligation to re-negotiate with you, and Chayut laughed in Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli's faces when the team offered two deals, one for three years and one for five.

Tom Brady's base salary in 2004 -- after he had already won two Super Bowls and was leading New England to a third -- was $535,000. Given that, it's hard to feel bad for someone who is slated to make just over $1 million this year and isn't nearly as important to his team's success.

(My thanks to Dana up in Bailey's Island, Maine, for calling my attention to the Kirwan article yesterday. I suppose you can also blame him on getting me into that rant as well.)

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Buffalo's take

Bills coach Dick Jauron and running back Willis McGahee spoke on conference calls.

Jauron, who was named one of the top 10 high school athletes of the 20th century by the Boston Globe after a standout career at Swampscott High, spoke a lot about his days in Massachusetts and said he'll never forget his roots here.

After a difficult five-year stint as head coach in Chicago (1999-2003), Jauron spent the last two years with Detroit before getting another chance to be a head coach with Buffalo. The Bills gave Jauron his first chance in the NFL coaching ranks, as a defensive assistant in 1985. Patriots coach Bill Belichick actually coached Jauron in 1976-77, when Belichick was an assistant special teams coach and Jauron was a standout safety.

"First and foremost, it's great to be back in the National Football League," Jauron said. "There's only 32 of these (head coaching) jobs in the world and this is a real opportunity. We have a young team, we're certainly hopeful...we know this is going to be a very difficult start for us."

McGahee said it took him until the end of last season to feel 100 percent after suffering a torn ACL to end his career at Miami, though he clearly was feeling good against the Pats in game seven, when he gained 136 yards on 31 carries.

McGahee said the last thing to come back was his ability to sustain a long run, and he finally did that in the Bills' last preseason game, in Detroit.

"It was a weight off my shoulders," McGahee said of the 20-yard scamper. "I waited three years for it to happen. It happened in the preseason, but it counts in my book."

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

The forgotten men

Forgot to say that guard Stephen Neal missed practice, a new addition to the wounded.

Rookie Chad Jackson also missed practice, as he has nearly every day since training camp began.

The injury report comes out at 4 p.m. today.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Locker room & practice

Since the workroom was packed for Bill Belichick's press conference, that meant the locker room was packed as well, and a couple of players got bombarded.

You know, it's amazing sometimes to watch from afar. There were no fewer than a dozen television cameras in the locker room today, and all of those cameramen also mean a reporter and sometimes even an intern. Add in another half a dozen or so radio guys plus reporters from papers that cover Portland, Maine to Hartford and all points in between, and you're talking about at least 50 people.

And when you're a media-friendly guy, like Rodney Harrison or Rosevelt Colvin, nearly every one of those people crowds around your 3 1/2 by 8 foot locker, pressing you back until you can't go any further, microphones under your nose, and bright camera lights in your face. And a lot of the camera guys are standing on step stools to get up high enough to get a better look.

Can you imagine all of that?

I have to say, I'd get grumpy sometimes too if I was a player facing that. Heck, I get grumpy when I'm trying to do my job like everyone else and a camera guy is trying to push me out of the way or make me twist in ways I just don't bend so he can get a shot.

That's why I tend to wait until the crowd has dispersed. Less pushy, and often less smelly. And a lot of the times, better quotes.

So now you have an idea of what it's like in there.

Anyway, most of the questions to Harrison, Colvin, and Brady focused on the first game and how eager they are to get the real season underway.

Corey Dillon said not much has changed as he begins his 10th NFL season, and that he's "anxious and ready to play."

Out at practice, it was the usual suspects out: tackle Nick Kaczur, linebacker Tedy Bruschi and wideout Deion Branch. Asked earlier if he had an update on the Branch situation, Belichick said, "I sure don't."

Ty Warren was back at practice after missing Monday and not playing in last Thursday's game against New York. Laurence Maroney was at practice and running drills, still with a light brace on his left knee. We also noticed a brace on Brady's left knee. Rookie tight end David Thomas was at practice without the red no-contact jersey he had been wearing the last couple of practices.

Today is the day we welcome Joe McDonald into the fold; fans of the Bruins, Red Sox, P-Bruins and PawSox already know Joe's work. He is now working the Pats beat with me and we are focused on trying to bring you the best Patriots coverage in the area.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Wednesday first look

Hey all --

With the first game of the season on the horizon, Tom Brady making his weekly appearance, the conference calls with Bills coach Dick Jauron and running back Willis McGahee, and free lunch (!) on the docket today, the media workroom here at Gillette has been packed.

Lunch, by the way, was a cookout featuring the new Patriots Gridiron Grillers hot dogs, sausages and bratwurst. Perhaps you've heard that New England will be serving them at concession stands at Gillette and they're also available at your local grocery store?? They're threatening to banish us if we don't spread the word, so please make sure you let Mr. Kraft know I did my part.

Okay, on to the events of today: Bill Belichick was asked about the emphasis he put on fundamentals during training camp, the progress of Doug Gabriel and Jonathan Smith in learning the offense, the importance of divisional games, being a special-teams coach and the benefits of the two tight end set, among other things.

About Gabriel and Smith: "They've worked hard; they're practically living here. We got a cot for them (laughter from the media). They've spent a lot of time with Brian (Daboll, receivers coach) and the offensive coaches. There's progress, but there's a long way to go. Seeing things in the meeting room and on the field are two different things. But they're both smart, they work hard, they have a good idea of football concepts."

On special teams coaching: "It's an interesting position, in that you deal with every position on the team, except quarterback. You deal with different personalities, different learning styles. You're trying to fit everything together a certain way for plays that are relatively disorganized once the ball leaves the kicker's foot.

"Being a special teams coach is probably one of the best learning things I had to (prepare to) be a head coach. It's a great position on the team because you're working with a degree of autonomy. I think being a special teams coach prepared me to be a head coach better than being a defensive coordinator in a lot of ways."

One of the advantages of the two tight end set, he said, is that it makes things tough for the defense because they can't overload one side for the strong side, since there are three-man sides on each side of the ball.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments 0