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Seeing yellow

For the second day in a row, officials worked practice today. They made liberal use of the yellow flags they carry with them.

The officials called a number of penalties, most on the defense and several of those on Rodney Harrison, who obviously is back to being his aggressive self.

``You try too hard sometimes and you make mistakes or you get out of position, you get tired and you make dumb penalties,’’ Mike Vrabel said before heading back to the locker room. ``That will cost you in the regular season, it will cost you in practice. The type of effort we had today probably wasn’t one of our better ones.’’

Other features of practice included more good work from Jabar Gafney.

The wideout, who was singled out by coach Bill Belichick earlier in the day for having a good camp, caught three touchdown passes in a 10-play stretch as the Pats worked on their goalline offense. He had others, too, from both Tom Brady and Matt Cassel as the Pats worked in pads in 11-on-11 drills.

Tedy Bruschi on new linebacker Adalius Thomas:

``Versatile,’’ Bruschi responded when asked about Thomas. ``In three downs when a guy’s got his hand down, then he’s playing linebacker stopping the run and then he’s dropping back into coverage. You don’t see that type of player a lot. That’s what he brings.’’

``I think he’s a great locker room guy,’’ Vrabel said when asked about Thomas. ``I get along great with him

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Post-practice wrap

Hey all --

The Patriots have wrapped up training camp practice number nine, and will be back on the field tomorrow for two sessions, beginning at 8:45 a.m. and then again at 5:30.

Here's some things we saw out there:

Matt Cassel wasn't super sharp. The third-year quarterback floated a pass that looked like it was intended for Benjamin Watson, but safety James Sanders, who was in front of Watson, ended up with the interception. Cassel also had a few balls batted down, by Mike Wright and Ty Warren.

Rodney Harrison drew a couple of flags from the officials on hand, and was not happy with the penalties. On one, he was caught holding Watson on a pass attempt from Brady, and as he was on the grass, Watson implored the officials to throw the flag.

Laurence Maroney was dressed and on the field, but he didn't participate much in the afternoon's drills.

One of our favorite things about camp is after practice, seeing the players play with their kids and their teammates' children. Matt Light, Josh Miller, Rosevelt Colvin, Ty Warren and Sammy Morris were some of the players hanging out with their families today.

Ellis Hobbs was "racing" Colvin's oldest son, Light was throwing his youngest in the air, Warren was cuddling with his three adorable daughters, and Morris' kids helped out some fans. A group of autograph seekers standing near the friends and family area began chanting "Sammy! Sammy!" and Morris' children began pushing him toward the crowd. He made a show of it, but went on over and signed for a little while.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Moss injured?

Randy Moss left practice early this afternoon, apparently because of a problem with his left hamstring.

The wide receiver went deep straight down the middle chasing a bomb thrown about 60 yards in the air by Tom Brady late in passing drills. As the big crowd at practice roared in anticipation, Moss pulled up short and the pass landed in the end zone, over his head.

Rather than going back to the huddle, Moss headed to the sideline where he was treated briefly and stood as a a wrap was placed on his left upper leg. While no one from the Patriots was available to talk about the incident _ as all Pats fans know that would not have made a any difference since the team does not talk about injuries _ there was every indication that Moss had a hamstring problem.

Moss was able to move on his own, so it did not appear to be serious. He waited on the sidelines for several minutes, at one point speaking briefly with Brady who came over to see him. Moss then left practice and did not return.

The injury problem for Moss came after he had once again been one of the stars of practice, catching a number of passes from Brady, including a deep one on the first play of passing drills.

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Moss leaves the field

Receiver Randy Moss has just walked off the practice field. He was spotted on the sidelines with an ice wrap on him left hamstring. After a few minutes, the ice came off, Moss approached coach Bill Belichick and spoke with him briefly, then got his helmet and walked off the field on his own power.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

The Jabar show

The last segment of Patriots training camp was brought to you by Jabar Gaffney. In 11-on-11 drills in the red zone, Tom Brady looked to Gaffney in the end zone on consecutive plays, with the same result.

On one play, Brady threaded a pass in to Gaffney at the back of the end zone with Tory James and James Sanders in coverage. Rodney Harrison, standing just outside the end zone, was not happy with the play.

Then Brady hit Gaffney with a quick pass in the right corner with rookie Mike Richardson covering. It looked as though Richardson had no idea the ball was coming.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Practice attendance

Hey all -

The day's lone practice session is underway, and the usual suspects aren't here:

Chad Jackson, Eddie Jackson, Donte Stallworth, Troy Brown, David Thomas, and Richard Seymour - all on the PUP - as well as Asante Samuel, Rashad Baker, Garrett Mills and Kyle Brady.

Mel Mitchell, taken off the PUP earlier today, is on the field.

Laurence Maroney, Junior Seau and Eric Alexander remain in red non-contact jerseys.

Players are in full pads.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:34 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Mid-day Bill chat

Before leading today's only practice (2:30 - 4:30) Bill Belichick hit on a few points in his media session.
He said that in a competitive race at wide receiver, holdovers Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell should benefit from playing in Foxboro last season. Both are under the gun after the Pats brought in Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth and Kelley Washington in the off-season.
``It's definitely an advantage that they played in the system and played with Tom (Brady),'' Belichick said. ``We had 100 or so practices and 23 games. Sure, I think that's definitely an advantage.''

Asked about the off-season personnel activity, Belichick said there was no special impetus for the big free agent signings and trades but conceded, ``There's always a sense of urgency. That's what this league is.''
``We do the same thing every off-season. We evaluate our team and as opportunities come up, we make decisions that we think can help our football team.''

For the second time in a week, the coach waxed poetically about the passing of Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh. He considers Walsh a true innovator and a coach whose work ``has infiltrated the whole league,'' through the work of legions of assistants who've gone on to become outstanding head coaches in the NFL and college.
Walsh has written two books, the second of which Belichick regards as ``the Bible for running a football organization. He's got it all there, from A to Z. It's like an encyclopedia.''

Look for more Blog updates after today's practice.

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Coach Bill Speaks

Bill Belichick just finished his daily media briefing.

He announced that safety Mel Mitchell has been activated off the PUP list. Mitchell was lost for the 2006 season in training camp due to a arm injury.
Besides that, the coach commented that the `dog days of camp' are setting in. Finding players who stand out under that stress will help the coaching staff properly evaluate the roster.
``It's a good time to evaluate your football team,'' Belichick said. ``It's now about consistency. We'll see how they come out and produce every day in a difficult environment.''

More soon..

KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments 0