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Brady voted FedEx air player of the week

Voters at nfl.com have chosen Tom Brady as the FedEx air player of the week and Minnesota rookie Adrian Peterson as the ground player of the week.

From the release:

Brady and Peterson were selected from among finalists in air and ground categories. The other FedEx Express NFL Player of the Week finalists were quarterbacks DREW BREES of the New Orleans Saints and DAMON HUARD of the Kansas City Chiefs, while running backs MAURICE JONES-DREW of the Jacksonville Jaguars and LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON of the San Diego Chargers were the other finalists for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week.

Fans voted for more than their favorite players. The weekly FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Awards are also a win for the local community. Along with the player awards, FedEx is awarding Children’s Hospital of Boston and University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview, the children’s hospitals in each of the winning markets, each a check for $5,000.

The children’s hospitals in the two season-long winner’s markets, announced at Super Bowl XLII in Arizona, will be awarded $25,000 each. That means that FedEx will deliver nearly $250,000 to local children’s hospitals around the country in recognition of the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Award winners.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 8:52 PM to Tom Brady | Permalink | Comments 0

Patriots must focus on stopping Miami's Ronnie Brown

FOXBORO -- If New England is going to be successful on Sunday, the Patriots will need to find a way to slow down Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown, who Patriots coach Bill Belichick said is the "best player I’ve seen this year offensively.”

Brown ranks third in the NFL in rushing with 526 rushing yards. He has rushed for at least 100 yards four games in a row. Brown also has a team-high 34 receptions, putting him on pace for 91 which would break O.J. McDuffie’s team record of 91.

“He’s having a great year and offensively they move the ball, they score points, and they create a lot of problems for you both in the running game, the passing game and the play-action game as it certainly sprouts off the running game, so they’ve gotten a lot of big plays on their play-action passes,” Belichick said.

“They can throw the ball to their backs, their tight ends, their receivers and the quarterback is athletic. They have, I think, pretty good balance on their offense and I think that’s shown up in the production.”

The Patriots have had success stopping Brown in the past. In three career games against the Pats, Brown only has 124 yards rushing on 39 carries.

Brown has a lot to play for this time around. Not only is he trying to lead the Dolphins (0-6) to their first victory of the season, but with a 100-yard game against the Patriots, he would become just the second Dolphin to post five straight 100-yard rushing games, joining Ricky Williams, who did it in Weeks 10-14 in 2002.

Brown said that the Dolphins are playing for pride.

"We're sitting her at 0-6, but you still have to come out and compete, and that's what this game is about -- being competitive," Brown said. "A situation like this shows the type of character you have."

Check out tomorrow's Providence Journal for more news on the Patriots.

-- Robert Lee

Posted by Rob Lee  at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Thursday's injury report

The Patriots released their Thursday injury report and there are no changes from Wednesday.

Linebacker Eric Alexander (knee), running back Sammy Morris (chest), and tight end Benjamin Watson (ankle) did not participate in practice.

Cornerback Randall Gay (thigh), running back Laurence Maroney (groin), safety Mel Mitchell (groin), guard Stephen Neal (shoulder), receivers Donte' Stallworth (knee) and Kelley Washington (hamstring), and linebacker Adalius Thomas (ankle) had limited participation in practice.

Posted by Rob Lee  at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Thursday practice report

The New England Patriots held a walkthrough in the Dana-Farber Field House today.

The players wore shorts and T-shirts. The media was present for a special teams drill.

Posted by Rob Lee  at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Thursday locker room report: Maroney speaks; Welker dodges reporters

It was a typical Thursday in the Patriots locker room where few players were available to speak to the media.

One big surprise was that injured running back Laurence Maroney (groin), who missed the last three games, was available to talk to the press.

Maroney said that while he hopes to be back on Sunday, especially with Sammy Morris out of the Patriots lineup, he added that he isn’t going to rush back too quickly and he isn’t going to play just because Morris is out.

He said that it will be the Patriots coaching staff, not him, who will have the final say on whether he plays or not, but added that he feels “good.”

“I feel better than I did two weeks ago,” Maroney said.

Chad Jackson and Junior Seau also had a large media contingent at their lockers.
Jackson, drafted by the Patriots in the second round (36th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft, is coming off the physically unable to perform list and said that he has
something to prove. He said that he can help out an already explosive Patriots offense if he is given the chance.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said at the morning press conference that Jackson has matured a lot from last year to this year.

Seau, who was voted to the Pro Bowl in 12 consecutive seasons, from 1991-2002, said that he is excited to go back to Miami and face his former teammates. Seau played for the Dolphins from 2003 through the 2005 season.

He said that the Patriots just need to continue to do what they have been doing in order to be successful in Miami, a place where New England only has one victory in the history of the franchise in the months of September and October.

When former Dolphin Wes Welker was approached by the media he said that he had to go eat and then get ready for practice so he couldn’t talk.

Posted by Rob Lee  at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments 0