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Bam's out...Bam's in...Bam's out...Bam's in...

... sort of. The revolving door has swung again for Bam Childress, the second-year wide receiver/sometime corner back.

Cut from the 53-man roster yesterday, Childress was re-signed to the practice squad. Before New England's game with Buffalo on Sunday, Childress was signed off the practice squad after the team cut Jonathan Smith. Smith was re-signed to the team yesterday, forcing the cut of Childress.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 7:07 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Wednesday injury report

For the Pats:
QUESTIONABLE: Tedy Bruschi (wrist), Chad Jackson (hamstring), Nick Kaczur (shoulder), Garrett Mills (flu).
PROBABLE: Tom Brady (right shoulder), Doug Gabriel (hamstring).

All but Brady were reported as missing a portion of practice today.

For the Jets:
DOUBTFUL: Trey Teague (ankle)
QUESTIONABLE: David Barrett (hip), Tim Dwight (thigh), Pete Kendall (thigh)
PROBABLE: Matt Chatham (foot), Trevor Johnson (neck), Derrick Strait (chest)

Teague and Dwight missed a portion of practice.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Practice Sights

During the 15 minutes the media is allowed to view practice, star defensive end Richard Seymour was not spotted. No reason to be alarmed. He may have been late or given a day off for an unknown reason but nothing will be confirmed until tomorrow. Tight end Garrett Mills was also not seen.
On the positive front, both WR Doug Gabriel and Chad Jackson were out and running routes with the offense.

Posted by Kevin  at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Replacing Deion Branch

With Deion Branch gone to Seattle, the Patriots' number one need clearly is better play at wide receiver. Building depth in that position is the first way to get things moving and after lining up with only three WR's last week (Troy Brown, Reche Caldwell, Bam Childress) the Pats need help. Childress was waived on Tuesday, showing how valuable the team thinks he is.
The candidates to help out at WR include Jonathan Smith, Doug Gabriel and rookie Chad Jackson. Asked about Gabriel, coach Bill Belichick said the big (6-2, 210) four-year veteran is working up to speed after being acquired via a trade with Oakland on Sept. 2.
``He's a smart guy,'' the coach said. ``He spent a lot of time with our coaching staff (last week). In terms of learning it and understanding it, we do a lot of things different than other teams but he's getting it. He understands how to get open.''

Tom Brady was asked about the WR position as well.
“The more guys we can have out there healthy, the better it’s going to be. So the more guys that are out there who are able to contribute, especially (Gabriel and Chad Jackson) guys who can really do some things for this offense, that's good. When I look at last week’s game, we didn’t perform as well in the passing game as we would have liked, and there were a lot of factors that went into it. Certainly, it starts with me. I have to play better. I have to make better reads and better decisions and throw the ball more accurately. I think it will show up a lot better if I do those things better than I did last week.”
Finally, Brady was asked about building a relationship with a key receiver like he did with Branch.
``That takes a lot of time. It doesn’t happen overnight,'' he said. ``Even with a guy like Ben [Watson], we’re continuing to develop that. Kevin Faulk. Troy Brown, it's going on my seventh year. There’s a lot that goes into that. It’s not as easy as a guy showing up and learning his plays and saying ‘all right, this is how we’re going to do it.’ You have to go out and read his body language, see how he runs certain routes and the timing coming in and out of breaks. That’s what we go out and practice for every day. The more we can practice together, the more these situations come up in practice, hopefully the better we’ll do in the game.”

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 1:05 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

Tom Brady says goodbye to D.Branch

Tom Brady just finished his weekly press briefing and the topic of the day was clearly the trade of Deion Branch. Brady and Branch grew very close over the last few years, both on and off the field. He clearly was pulling for the team to sign Branch and said throughout training camp that he felt the two sides would come to an agreement.
Here are some of Brady's words on the subject

Asked if he was `happy' that the stalemate has been resolved, he said, “I don’t think happy is the word, but at the same time, that’s what I’m dealing with and I’m ready to move on. Certainly those thoughts of mine are in the past. I appreciate everything that Deion and I have done together and what Deion has done for this team, but part of what I’m here to do is to lead this team and to do the best job I can do. That’s dealing with the guys that are here who are working hard to help us improve. I think as we saw, last week wasn’t our best effort. I take a lot of responsibility there and I realize that I have to do a better job, as quarterback, as a leader, as a captain, to get us to play better football.”
Brady said his play in last week's win over Buffalo was effected by Branch's situation.
``I think everybody would have wanted Deion here, certainly myself knowing what kind of person and player he is,'' he said. ``But as coach kind of said to us, 'it didn't work out.' I think I speak for myself and I'm a very emotional person and over the last four or five months, it's been draining. In a sense, I think I learned a valuable lesson last week. When something is really out of your control, you can't let it drain you. At least I feel like now I can move on and I know he's moved on. I wish him luck. This team now has to really look forward, and with the guys we have do the best we can."

``He meant a lot to me as a person and as a player he meant a lot to this organization,'' he said. ``Last week, I spent a lot of energy thinking about it. You look at the end of the week, it really wasted a lot of my time and a lot of my energy. It was a big mental drain and I think it affected the way I played. I just didn’t feel like I brought as much to the table as I normally could. That’s why I’m excited about this week – hey, I learned a good lesson, I’m going to go out there and try to do the best I can do.”

Asked where he thoughts things broke down in the talks, Brady answered, ``I have no idea. I wasn’t privy to a lot of the things that went on. I knew some of the things. Like I said, there is give and take from both sides. I do know that in any negotiation some people have to give, some people have to take. Who is pointing fingers, I don’t know. Like I said, I wasn’t that involved. I’ve been in those situations that Deion is in, I know where the club stands, but who’s fault it is, I don't know. It’s done. We have to move on and go out there and try to beat the Jets.”

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

Mangini on Patriots' tampering charge

The Patriots have reportedly filed a grievance against WR Deion Branch seeking payment of the $500,000 in fines he accrued while holding out of training camp this summer but also repayment of 20 percent of his original $1 million signing bonus. Branch signed a six-year, $39 million deal with Seattle that includes $13 million in signing bonus.
The Pats have also filed tampering charges against the Jets on the Branch case. The Pats contend that they gave Branch permission to discuss terms of a contract with any new team, and not what a team would offer the Pats in return. Branch and the Jets apparently violated that in their discussions before he was traded away to Seattle for a first round draft choice.
``That issue is a league issue and that's where it'll be addressed,'' said Mangini. ``At all times, I expect every team to do what's in their best interest and give them the best chance to succeed. We're going to do that here and every team is going to do that around the league.''
Mangini rejected the theory that the Patriots' claims of tampering against the Jets in the Branch case are part of a intradivisional rivalry.
``I view it as just business. Each team is going to operate in their best interests and we're going to do that here,'' he said. ``I think it's important that that's the approach we take. That's just the way it works.''

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Eric Mangini's 1st Patriots Game

Eric Mangini spoke to the New England press today and offered a bit more than Bill Belichick did on their history and relationship. Here are a few of the first-year Jet coach's words.

``I'm excited about the game because it's a division game and it's against a good opponent. I really don't view it as going up against Bill. I view it more as Jets-Patriots and this is the next game that we're scheduled to play.''

``I took away a ton of things from both of those guys (Belichick, Bill Parcells). It was a great learning experience to work under both of them and see how they approach things. I also had the benefit of working under Ted Marchibroda, who was different stylistically than those guys. And I've also had the advantage of working under Kirk Ferentz, Charlie Weiss, Romeo Crennel and so many good assistant coaches and what I've tried to do is draw from each of those experiences and put together the best plan for the Jets.''

``I see no change (in his relationship with the Patriots' front office). That's the nature of the league. People move on and get promoted and change jobs. That's part of the business and the friendships that I have will always be the friendships. When it comes time to play, you'll do what you can to beat those friends. When it comes time to enjoy the friendship part of it, that's what I'll do.''

``It isn't about Eric. It's not about Bill. It's about the Jets and the Patriots. That's all its about. I think Bill is a great friend and will be for a long time. That's completely the way that I view things.''

Posted by Kevin  at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Bill Not Biting

Bill Belichick was asked several times about his feelings for first-year Jets coach Eric Mangini today but let's just say that the Pats' coach wasn't in a touchy-feely mood.
Mangini was the Pats' defensive coordinator from 2000-2004 and worked with Belichick in Cleveland as well.
``I don't sit around the league and cheer for everyone else. I cheer for the Patriots,'' he said. ``It's not like Charlie (Weiss, at Notre Dame) or Kirk (Ferentz, at Iowa) or some other guys. In this league, I'm worried about the New England Patriots. On Sundays, I cheer for the Patriots. Just like a lot of other people around here.''
Asked if Mangini was ready for the jump to head coach, Belichick wasn;t exactly doling out the praise.

KEVIN McNAMARA
``I don't know what owners are looking for. I try not to get into that,'' he said. ``That's not my decison to make. What the outside world sees, that's up to them. It's not anything I have any control over.''

Posted by Kevin  at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Busy Wednesday in Patriots Land

We're here for you Patriots fans on a busy Wednesday at Gillette Stadium. We'll have snippets from press conferences with Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Jets coach Eric Mangini over the next few hours.

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments 0