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Wednesday injury report, week 4

Hey all --

Sorry I'm a little late here, but here's the first injury report for this week.

PATRIOTS

Questionable: S Artrell Hawkins (thigh), CB Elliss Hobbs (wrist), T Nick Kaczur (shoulder), S Eugene Wilson (hamstring), WR Chad Jackson (hamstring)

Probable: QB Tom Brady (right shoulder), WR Doug Gabriel (hamstring), T Matt Light (knee), T Ryan O'Callaghan (head)

All except Brady missed a portion of practice (Have I written that before??).

BENGALS -- this list is longer than their arrest record

Out: C Rich Braham (knee), S Dexter Jackson (ankle), WR Tab Perry (hip), DE Frostee Rucker (shoulder)

Doubtful: LB A.J. Nicholson (ankle)

Questionable: WR Antonio Chatman (groin), LB Rashad Jeanty (foot)

Probable: DT Sam Adams (knee), WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (foot), T Levi Jones (ankle), S Kevin Kaesviharn (neck), LB Brian Simmons (knee), DE Justin Smith (foot)

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

TO speaks

Hey all --

Just watched the TO press conference. I may get struck down for making light of it, but are we really supposed to believe that everything that was on the police report is false?

And what, the publicist was trying to call 4-1-1 and not 9-1-1?

Okay, I've devoted too many brain cells to this already.

We'll be back with the injury report.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Strange, strange happenings

Hey all --

Just watched Bill Parcells' press conference on ESPN. It was odd that the Cowboys' PR guy said Parcells would make a statement about the Owens situation and would not take a series of questions.... and when Parcells sat down at the dais, he just said, "Fire away" and of course got bombarded with questions. There were so many media members and so many cameras clicking that Parcells couldn't hear most of the questions coming his way.

Eventually -- after taking but one questions not about TO, though ironically it was about Terry Glenn -- Parcells had had enough and got up and walked out of the room.

This whole story is just so strange -- our sister paper, the Dallas Morning News, has reported that Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders went to Owens' condo in Dallas, and of course his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is there as well. You'll remember the hilarious press conference Owens and Rosenhaus held in Owens' driveway last year when Owens ran afoul with the Eagles' brass. With such an interesting cast of characters likely to be in attendance when Owens begins his press conference in about 30 minutes, it is a morbidly intersting version of must-see TV.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Wednesday practice

Hey all --

On a beautiful end-of-September day, there was only one person we didn't spot out at practice for the media portion (which was just stretching) -- Ellis Hobbs.

Corey Dillon, Matt Light, Eugene Wilson and Rodney Harrison, all of whom left the game at some point on Sunday night, were all on the field. And newly re-signed Hank Poteat was also out there.

The players were in shells and shorts.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Locker room look

Hey again --

There were some good conversations in the locker room today, and a lot of it came from (not surprisingly) Josh Miller. Miller expressed sadness at the Terrell Owens situation, saying that he doesn't hold his feelings in because his support system -- namely, his wife and three kids -- is so strong.

Miller also reassured us, just as he has Stephen Gostkowski, that the kicker will be fine -- Gostkowski hasn't missed a kick yet, it's on the players in front of him. But Gostkowski, who fiddled in his locker while he talked, said he takes 100 percent of the blame for the miss in the Denver game.

A bit surprising that Gostkowski spoke, given that rookies are supposed to be seen and not heard from in the locker room. Maybe he'll have to pay the price with his teammates later.

Rodney Harrison heard question after question about Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer and receivers Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry, and finally wondered, "Why aren't you asking about Rudi Johnson, the most underrated running back in the NFL?"

So of course a question about Rudi followed. Basically, Harrison sounded a lot like Bill Belichick and said everyone on Cincinnati's offense is good and dangerous. Even their ball boys are quick, he joked.

We're out to practice now.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Chad Johnson will be here all week... enjoy the veal!

Hey all --

The weekly conference calls with the opposing team are happening now, and Bengals ever-entertaining receiver Chad Johnson is on the line. Johnson just said that he spoke to Terrell Owens on Monday night during the New Orleans-Atlanta game and spoke to someone close to Owens today and that Owens is fine.

"T is fine. He just took the pain medication on an empty stomach. That's all," Johnson said. "Can I ask a question? How did a few pills become 35? If you take 35 pain pills, you know you're dead."

Johnson also made sure to relay a few messages to the Patriots secondary, calling out Asante Samuel, Rodney Harrison and Eugene Wilson. He said he didn't know Ellis Hobbs enough to pick on him before the game "but I'll pick on him when I get on the field." He started to call out Junior Seau as well, but said that he wouldn't.

To Harrison, Johnson said, "Tell 37 I'm gonna knock his helmet off."

To Samuel, who is on his "hit list" that he keeps in his locker, "Tell him he should continue to have help for all four quarters or 22 will look like 55. Isn't that what 22 looks like upside down?"

He warned Wilson not to hit him over the middle like Cleveland's Brian Russell did or the two would be dropping the gloves right then and there. Russell gave Johnson a mild concussion and a gash on his chin after a week two hit.

After his jokes though, Johnson said Harrison has given him a lot of good advice, telling him to keep his head on right and "If your name's going to be in the headlines, make sure it's for something good." Johnson said he has relayed that advice to teammate Chris Henry, who has been arrested four times this calendar year.

"I have Chris under my wing. He'll be fine," Johnson assured us.

More later.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

The morning buzz

Hey all --

There's a lot of buzz in the media workroom this morning about the news that Terrell Owens may have tried to committ suicide last night by ingesting a large number of prescription pain pills.

Have to say though that most of the people in here (cynical media types all) think it's just another cry for attention from the wide receiver given that it seems his publicist was in his house with him when he did it and called 911 about 15 minutes after he reportedly took the pills. Another writer is saying this will turn the public sentiment on TO from disgust to sympathy as everyone thinks, "Oh he has problems, he's not just a jerk."

But no matter why he did it, if he did indeed do it, it's sad and a clear sign that Terrell needs a lot of help. A lot of times we look at athletes -- especially one as physically sculpted as TO -- and assume that their life off the field is as perfect as the bodies they work so hard on.

That's not always the case.

Especially in the NFL, where you *must* perform or your livelihood can be taken away from you. Think about how people have been around here the last few weeks, saying Tom Brady should just "suck it up" and get over Deion not being here. Would you be saying the same thing if his father passed away or if he had depression? Terrell Owens grew up in extremely difficult circumstances, circumstances that fortunately many of us won't have to deal with and the scars from those events don't just go away because you're pulling in eight figures.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Poteat brought back

The Patriots just announced that they have re-signed cornerback Hank Poteat. To make room for Poteat, Randall Gay was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Report: Pats looking at ... Vinny Testaverde?

The Boston Herald reports today that an old, familiar -- did we mention old -- face was sighted at Gillette Stadium yesterday, and that it belonged to quarterback Vinny Testaverde, whom the team had apparently called in for a workout.

Testaverde, 42, played a stint of his 20-year career under Bill Belichick with the Cleveland Browns. In fact, he led the Brownies to a playoff win over the Bill Parcells-coached Pats in January 1995.

The Herald notes that the Patriots regularly work out free agents so that they are prepared in case of emergency. That said, the team is carrying only two quarterbacks on its roster: Tom Brady and the untested Matt Cassell.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments 0