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Friday's injury report: Five listed as questionable

FOXBORO -- Five players -- guards Stephen Neal (shoulder) and Billy Yates (shoulder), safety Eugene Wilson (ankle) and wide receivers Kelley Washington (hamstring) and Donte Stallworth (knee) -- were listed as questionable for Sunday's game on the Patriots' latest injury report, which was released moments ago.

All had limited participation in practice.

As he has been every week since 2003, quarterback Tom Brady (shoulder) was listed as probable. He participated fully in practice. Brady has never missed a start since becoming the Patriots' starting quarterback in 2001.

Posted by Art Martone  at 4:01 PM to Billy Yates , Donte Stallworth , Eugene Wilson , Kelley Washington , Stephen Neal , Tom Brady | Permalink | Comments 0

Projo PatsTalk: Putting the controversy behind

Click here to listen to projo PatsTalk with Art Martone and Shalise Manza Young. Today's topics: a relaxed attitude leading up to Sunday's game; practice attendance and possible injuries; the league closing the books on the video investigation; the players moving on; more reaction to the win over San Diego; and the next media circus that we can anticipate.

Here are some excerpts from Shalise's comments:

On the team's demeanor this week: "It's just a relaxed kind of atmostphere. They know that they made a very big statement last sunday ... Obviously, Bill [Belichick] is going ot make sure that they are focused, because as we well know, it very well could be that the Bills pull off an upset, because the Bills are generally a challenge for them."

Is the case against the Patriots really over? "That's what the league is saying, that there won't be any more penalties, and I guess to them anyway, the case is closed. The implication by some people that the defensive linemen were wearing microphones and things like that -- the league has said that there is no proof of that, and there is no way to prove that happened."

The next big controversy: "After the Cincinnati game [on Monday, Oct. 1], Rodney Harrison can come back. So I'm sure that will bring another media circus -- people wanting to question him on what happened. ... I'm sure he will stand in front of the reporters and discuss it as much as he wants to, or doesn't want to -- he'll recognize that people will have questions for him."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:54 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Friday wrap from Gillette

Hey all --

The atmosphere at Gillette today is fairly relaxed, as New England puts its finishing touches on its preparations for Buffalo.

Bill Belichick was asked for his reaction to the NFL deciding to take no further action against the Patriots after the team handed over videos and notes on opposing teams dating back to 2000; the league destroyed the items.

Not surprisingly, Belichick said his only reaction had to do with how his team was doing to get ready for Buffalo.

But the coach did give some praise to Bills' rookie linebacker Paul Posluszny, Patriots safety James Sanders and backup defensive lineman Santonio Thomas, who is seeing his first game action as a professional after spending most of the last two years on the practice squad.

"Like Vince (Wilfork) and Kareem (Brown), all the defensive linemen from Miami, its a different system than what we do here," Belichick said. "(But) he never stops working and trying to get better."

Belichick was at his best when he was asked about the fullback position, and how it has changed over the years in the NFL. He said that the I-formation is really the reason that the fullback has become a blocker, whereas years ago, Jim Brown was listed as a fullback.

In the locker room, Wilfork's old Miami jersey was hanging in Ty Warren's locker, as Wilfork's Hurricanes upset Warren's Texas A&M Aggies last night. There was also more tape-basketball, with Wes Welker draining at least five in a row at one point, and Laurence Maroney howling when he noticed that the trash can "hoop" had been pushed back a few feet.

We'll post the injury/participation report as soon as we can, and then unless there's breaking news, we'll be back on Sunday morning.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 12:46 PM to James Sanders , Laurence Maroney , Santonio Thomas , Ty Warren , Vince Wilfork , Wes Welker | Permalink | Comments 0

Friday: perfect attendance

The Patriots are on the field in shorts and shells for their final practice before Sunday's game with Buffalo.

Once again there was perfect attendance during media access, which was stretching and some kickoff work orchestrated by the always-entertaining Pepper Johnson.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments 0