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Brady wins AFC offensive PofW again

Tom Brady was named the AFC's offensive player of the week today for the second consecutive week and third time this season.

In case you hadn't heard, his stat line from Sunday's win in Miami went like this: 21-for-25, 354 yards, franchise-record 6 TDs, no interceptions, perfect passer rating (158.3).

Brady was also the conference's player of the month for September.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 5:26 PM to Tom Brady | Permalink | Comments 0

Wednesday participation report

The Patriots have released their first participation report of the week:

Did not participate
LB Eric Alexander - knee
S Mel Mitchell - groin
RB Sammy Morris - chest
TE Benjamin Watson - ankle
S Eugene Wilson - ankle

Limited participation
QB Tom Brady - right shoulder

*Note that Laurence Maroney (groin), Kelley Washington (hamstring), Donte Stallworth (knee), Adalius Thomas (ankle) and Randall Gay (thigh) have all been removed from last week's list.

For the Redskins:

Out
G Randy Thomas - triceps

Did not participate
RB Rock Cartwright - quad
OL Stephon Heyer - hamstring

Limited participation
S Pierson Prioleau - coaches' decision
CB Carlos Rogers - knee
CB Fred Smoot - hamstring

Full participation
OL Casey Rabach - groin
LB Marcus Washington - hamstring

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Scoring change

In Sunday's game against the Dolphins, New England had three sacks of Cleo Lemon -- one by Rodney Harrison, one by Junior Seau, and one which was credited as a team sack.

Upon further review, it has been decided that the team sack is awarded to Mike Vrabel. Vrabel now has 4.5 sacks for the season.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:39 PM to Mike Vrabel | Permalink | Comments 0

Practice peek

Hey all -

We've just been kicked out of the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse, where the Patriots are holding their first practice of the week in full pads.

The news of the day is the return of Richard Seymour, and also that safety Eugene Wilson was among those not on the field.

Wilson, who did not play many snaps against Miami but was not on the injury list, was one of five players not spotted. The other four: Benjamin Watson, Sammy Morris, Eric Alexander and Mel Mitchell.

Interestingly, there were no players in jerseys, leading to the assumption that no one was named practice player of the week.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Seymour on the field

As hinted at earlier by Bill Belichick, Richard Seymour has indeed returned to the field, meaning the team is opening the 21-day window for the defensive lineman to practice.

Seymour has been on the PUP list after offseason knee injury. The team now has three weeks to either activate him or place him on season-ending injured reserve.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 12:57 PM to Richard Seymour | Permalink | Comments 0

A. Thomas: "Calling me a coward...goes to something personal"

Hey all --

Well those of us looking for a juicy storyline with these Patriots have one, in the form of Ray Lewis vs. Adalius Thomas.

In last week's Sports Illustrated cover article, Thomas was quoted as saying that in Baltimore, "People sought out the limelight," starting with head coach Brian Billick.

Thomas's quote went on: "It was a star-studded system. Here [New England] it's about as different as you can get. Everybody here shies away from being the star guy. Nobody on this team beats his chest. They just all go about their business. And win."

Apparently, Ray Lewis found a way to take offense to that.

Speaking on his weekly radio show Tuesday, the linebacker called Thomas "a coward" for the comments quoted in SI, and implied that Baltimore had to change their defensive scheme to fit Thomas into it.

(As an aside, generally, if you're claiming that the man's supposed to be like a brother to you, you usually know how to say his name. Lewis repeatedly calls Thomas "Ad-a-LEE-us" and it's "A-day-lus." But we digress.)

Thomas took offense to being called a coward, and then pointed out how Lewis -- in the same interview -- took shots at Brian Billick's play calling.

"I said I played with Hall of Fame players. That was not in that quote," Thomas said. "I named names, Ray Lewis was one of the names I named, one of the players that was (among) great players. The only problem I have is the 'coward.' You know, call me a coward, you got my phone number. You can call me. And I will can Ray personally myself.

"As far as calling me a coward I think that goes to something personal, I don't like it. I will address that with Ray myself, but to attack my integrity, as far as that goes, and say that you had to make a scheme up for me, I didn’t know they made up outside linebacker. I didn’t know that. I know that you [Lewis] were crying about having a big man in the middle to keep blockers off you. I don’t know if that’s a scheme."

The great part is that Thomas said he didn't want to go back and forth with Lewis through the media, but then snuck in that bit about Lewis crying about wanting help in the middle. And in true Bill Parcells form, Thomas said he wouldn't engage in "he said/she said," when we think he could have easily said he said/he said...

Made for an unexpectedly interesting day in the locker room, that's for sure.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 12:35 PM to Adalius Thomas | Permalink | Comments 0

Projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young: Backup quarterback the Achilles heel?

Click here to listen to today's edition of projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young. The topics: Randy Moss' latest receiving exhibition; is Matt Cassel still the backup quarterback? Washington's outstanding secondary; the state of the running game; and the endless buildup to the Colts game.

Following are some excerpts from Shalise's comments.

On Moss: "The most amazing thing to me about him is that he waits until the last possible second to put his hands up to catch the ball, and just throws the defensive back off. Some receivers stand there with their hands up, and if everybody in the park knows that the ball is coming to them, then the defensive back might be able to make a play. But Randy, he waits until the last second, and he puts his hands up and there's the ball."

Is Cassel still Brady's backup? "I think that's something that's yet to be seen. ... Matt Gutierrez showed well in training camp. He has a really strong arm, and I haven't heard any rumblings about him having a hard time picking things up. ... That's the one thing that could derail this team this year -- if something happens to Tom Brady. If Matt Cassel can't handle it, then their undefeated season goes out the window."

The state of the running game: "What hurts them is: We really saw a good pairing with [Laurence Maroney] and Sammy Morris, and not having Sammy -- which I would be very surprised if he plays this week -- I think that's a really good one-two punch for them. We haven't seen yet that Maroney's able to carry the offense because of the way that Morris came in and showed that he can be a good guy in a two-headed monster kind of scheme."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments 0