Projo Pats Blog

AP photo / Stephan Savoia
Tedy Bruschi gives Junior Seau a pat on the head as Seau receives attention from the Patriots' medical staff.

To no one's surprise, the Patriots just announced that linebacker Junior Seau and offensive lineman Ryan O'Callaghan will not return to the game. Seau, who was led off the field with a compression cast on his wrist, could be lost for a considerably longer period of time than the rest of this game.

Worth noting from the first half:

-- The Bears had drives of 67 and 77 yards, and failed to score on either. The first ended with a blocked field goal, the second with a fumble.

-- Chicago had 218 total net yards to 176 for New England, yet managed only three points.

-- Tom Brady completed 13 passes to seven different receivers.

-- Bernard Berrian caught 5 passes for 104 yards for the Bears.

-- Asante Samuel was the leading tackler for the Patriots, with six.

-- The end-of-half irony -- the Bears calling a last-millisecond timeout that not only negated a missed field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, but gave Gostkowski a second chance at the 52-yarder that he subsequently made -- was lost on no one.

-- Samuel now has four interceptions for the season, a career high.

-- Richard Seymour blocked the field-goal attempt by Robbie Gould in the first quarter, the fifth regular-season block of his career and the sixth overall.

-- The 10-play, 92-yard drive that resulted in the Pats' touchdown was the second-longest by New England this year, topped only by a 12-play, 93-yarder in the season opener against Buffalo at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 10.

Patriots offensive lineman Ryan O'Callaghan has suffered a neck injury. While he was able to walk off the field, his return, according to the press-box announcement, is questionable.

The Patriots' inactives for today's game are:

DB Eugene Wilson
DB Chad Scott
S Rodney Harrison
LB Corey Mays
T Wesley Britt
DL Le Kevin Smith
DL Marquise Hill

Vinny Testaverde is the third quarterback.

The Bears' inactives:

WR Justin Gage
CB Dante Wesley
DB Andre Lott
FB J.D. Runnels
LB Darrell McClover
C/G Anthony Oakley
DT Antonio Garay

The third quarterback is Kyle Orton.

-- Art Martone

. . . and plenty of action in the Gillette Stadium parking lot, as the FOX studio crew -- I recognized Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson -- set up shop in front of hundreds of early arriving fans. They did several halftime reports, feeding a different show to each market, and the fans waved and bellowed for the cameras each time they were prompted. It helped that they could see themselves on a giant plasma screen set up next to the set.

-- Art Martone

Jim Donaldson will be writing about Tom Brady, who described his practical-joke battle with Matt Cassel in great detail in his postgame press conference.

The complete Patriots-Dolphins report will be posted on projo.com in the next few hours. What you can expect to see:

-- Game story by Shalise Manza Young, focusing on how the Pats' defense was the key factor in the game.
-- Column by Jim Donaldson, in which he says that on a day when the Colts were life-and-death with the Titans and the Vikings had their hands full with the Lions, people shouldn't be too hard on the Patriots for not having an easier time with the Dolphins.
-- Game analysis by Joe McDonald.
-- Feature on the player of the game, Asante Samuel, by Joe McDonald.
-- Discussion of the key play of the game (Samuel's second interception), by McDonald.
-- Story on the Patriots' forced turnovers, which (pun intended) were the turning point of the game, by Art Martone.
-- Another feature by Art Martone.
-- Talking Points by Shalise Manza Young and Joe McDonald.
-- Squib Kicks by Shalise Manza Young and Joe McDonald.

In addition, we'll have an extensive collection of postgame quotes, and a full gallery of photos by Journal photographers Bob Breidenbach and Mary Murphy.

Check back soon; the site will soon be full of live postgame material.

Final game statistics:

FIRST DOWNS:
Dolphins 19
Patriots 17

TOTAL NET YARDS
Dolphins 283
Patriots 213

NET YARDS RUSHING
Dolphins 62
Patriots 79

NET YARDS PASSING
Dolphins 221
Patriots 134

PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETED-HAD INTERCEPTED
Dolphins 41-26-2
Patriots 29-16-0

PUNTS: NUMBER AND AVERAGE
Dolphins 3-41.7
Patriots 5-36.4

PENALTIES: NUMBER AND YARDS
Dolphins 10-81
Patriots 7-59

AP photo
Corey Dillon picks up yardage in the second quarter as Zach Thomas reaches for the tackle.

Statistics through three quarters:

FIRST DOWNS:
Dolphins 16
Patriots 9

TOTAL NET YARDS
Dolphins 249
Patriots 135

NET YARDS RUSHING
Dolphins 43
Patriots 56

NET YARDS PASSING
Dolphins 206
Patriots 79

PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETED-HAD INTERCEPTED
Dolphins 33-21-1
Patriots 21-10-0

PUNTS: NUMBER AND AVERAGE
Dolphins 3-41.7
Patriots 4-39

PENALTIES: NUMBER AND YARDS
Dolphins 8-55
Patriots 6-44

-- The Patriots scored 10 points off forced turnovers in the first half.
-- Mike Wright's block of Olindo Mare's first-quarter field-goal attempt was the first field goal blocked by the Patriots since Richard Seymour's block of a Mare kick in overtime on Oct. 19, 2003 at Miami.
-- The Patriots' 15-play drive, which culminated in a Stephen Gostkowski field goal, took 8 minutes and 12 seconds and was the second-longest drive of the season for New England in terms of plays and time elapsed. The only longer drive was a 16-play march which took 8:15 in a 24-17 win over the Jets at New York on Sept. 17.
-- Asante Samuel's second-quarter interception was the seventh pick of his career.
-- Prior to today, the Patriots were 52-2 in games started by Tom Brady in which they led at halftime.
-- Today's sellout is the 131st consecutive sellout for the Pats, dating back to 1994.
-- The Dolphins had a 13-6 edge in first downs in the first half, and a 205-88 advantage in total yards.

First-quarter highlights:

-- Joey Harrington, making his first start for Miami, completed seven of eight passes for 50 yards.
-- Tom Brady, by contrast, was 3-of-6 for 29 yards.
-- Corey Dillon gained 17 yards on three carries, compared to Laurence Moroney's four yards on three runs.

For those of you who've bookmarked this blog, you'll want to check out the main Patriots page (at http://www.projo.com/patriots) for a complete postgame report., some of which is online already and all of which will be before much longer. If you're coming to the blog from the main page, check it out; from here on in, all material from here on in will go to the page and not the blog.

The report will include:

-- A game story by Shalise Manza Young
-- A column by Jim Donaldson, who thinks the Pats are in for trouble next week if they don't fix some of the problems Buffalo exposed today.
-- A breakdown of the game's key play -- the stop of Willie McGahee on fourth-and-1 -- by Joe McDonald.
-- A quick conversation with Don Davis, the key player on the stop of McGahee, by McDonald.
-- A profile of the game's key player, Richard Seymour, by McDonald.
-- A notebook by Young and McDonald.
-- A profile of Laurence Moroney by Kevin McNamara.
-- A look at the Pats' defense by McNamara.
-- An analytical breakdown by Young and McNamara
-- Game notes from Young and Art Martone
-- Transcripts of Bill Belichick's and Tom Brady's press conferences, courtesy of the Patriots' P.R. department
-- Numerous Patriots and Bills quotes, courtesy of the Patriots' P.R. department.
-- Journal photos
-- Links to all the relevant game stats, courtest of NFL.com.

Tomorrow, Young and McDonald will be reporting from Foxboro. The Pats won't be available until 3 p.m., so check the blog later in the afternoon.

-- ART MARTONE

Today’s game was the Patriots’ 129th consecutive home sellout, dating back to the 1994 regular-season opener.
* * * *
The Patriots have won 10 of their last 12 home openers. Their last loss was in 2001 to the New York Jets, in the game in which Drew Bledsoe suffered a sheared blood vessel in his chest and Tom Brady became the Pats’ starting quarterback.
* * * *
Bill Belichick now has 100 regular-season victories as an NFL head coach. His record in regular-season games is 100-77, and he is the 31st coach in league history to record 100 wins.
* * * *
Today’s win gave the Patriots a .500 record (356-356-9), including regular-season and playoff games, in their 47-year history. At one point (Nov. 6, 1994), the Pats were 54 games below .500 (228-282-9).
* * * *
More to come . . .

-- ART MARTONE

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
The Patriots' defense didn't give Willis McGahee much room to run.

-- The Patriots' offense came alive in the third quarter, gaining 110 yards to Buffalo's 71.

-- Tom Brady also came alive, completing 5 of 6 pass attempts for 75 yards. He raised his quarterback rating from 69.9 to 106.2.

-- Rodney Harrison leads the Patriots in tackles, with 9. Mike Vrabel is second with 7.

-- The Pats have held Willie McGahee to 63 yards on 17 attempts, a hard-earned 3.7 yards per carry.

-- Laurence Moroney, with 71 yards on 11 carries, has an outside shot at a 100-yard game.

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Corey Dillon is tripped up by Buffalo's Nate Clements in the first half. Dillon and Laurence Maroney combined for 89 rushing yards in the half.

-- Tom Brady was 0-for-5 passing in the second quarter and is only 3-for-11 in the game.

-- As a result, the Bills had a 97-3 edge in total passing yards in the first half. (The Pats gained 30 yards on Brady's three completions, but lost 27 yards on the three sacks recorded by Buffalo.)

-- The Pats continued to run the ball well, and have gained 112 yards on 16 carries so far. (Moroney is 5 carries/55 yards, Dillon is 8/34, Kevin Faulk is 2/20 and Brady is 1/3).

-- The only wide receiver to catch a pass in the first half was Troy Brown, for nine yards.

-- Rodney Harrison, in the first game of his comeback, has five tackles.

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Bills quarterback J.P. Losman recovers a fumble in the first half.

-- The Bills had 89 total yards, the Patriots 81.

-- The Patriots averaged 11.7 yards per rushing attempt. Laurence Maroney gained 49 yards on two carries, and Corey Dillon gained 21 yards on four carries.

-- JP Losman was 5-for-6 passing for 63 yards.

-- Losman had a 110.4 quarterback rating in the first quarter. Tom Brady's was 104.2.

-- Both teams fumbled twice. The Bills recovered both of theirs, but the Patriots lost one -- the fumble on the first play of the game that gave Buffalo its first touchdown.

-- The Bills had 89 total yards, the Patriots 81.

-- The Patriots averaged 11.7 yards per rushing attempt. Laurence Maroney gained 49 yards on two carries, and Corey Dillon gained 21 yards on four carries.

-- JP Losman was 5-for-6 passing for 63 yards.

-- Losman had a 110.4 quarterback rating in the first quarter. Tom Brady's was 104.2.

-- Both teams fumbled twice. The Bills recovered both of theirs, but the Patriots lost one -- the fumble on the first play of the game that gave Buffalo its first touchdown.

The inactive list has just been released, and Tedy Bruschi's on it: He won't be playing this afternoon.

Other Pats inactives are WR Chad Jackson, TE Garrett Mills, G/C Gene Mruczkowski, T Nick Kazur, WR Doug Gabriel, DL Marquise Hill and DL Johnathan Smith.

Inactice for Buffalo are CB Ashton Youboty, RB Shaud Williams, S Matt Bowen, OL Brad Butler, OL Aaron Metz, DL Eric Powell and LB John DiGiorgio. The Bills' third quarterback is Craig Nall.

-- ART MARTONE

FOXBORO - Rodney Harrison is on the field and IN UNIFORM for the Patriots. As they stretch, the captains out front are Larry Izzo, Harrison, Troy Brown and Tom Brady.

Expect speculation.

With Deion Branch given the green light to negotiate with other teams over the next six days there will be musing about which teams would be interested in getting him.

This was in this morning's Minneapolis Star-Tribune..."With receiver Koren Robinson possibly facing a yearlong suspension for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy, the Vikings could be among the teams that inquire about disgruntled New England receiver Deion Branch"

Note the use of the word "could" instead of "are" or "will". There's nobody from the Vikes saying they're going to make an offer. So far, it's merely writers on the Star-Tribune staff doing their jobs by finding a situation that may impact their team and bringing it to their readers. Nothing wrong with that, we do it all the time ourselves.

Of course sometimes these things grow legs off a report and the readership reads "could" as "will". Then there's momentum to the story.

We'll keep monitoring the situation on our end. You keep reading carefully on yours.

Tom

What's behind the Patriots' decision to let Deion Branch and his agent Jason Chayut seek a trade to another club and negotiate a new deal? After months reporting on this and looking at it from both sides, here's my take on why it's been done.

1) Enough's enough. Nothing's getting any better. Nothing's getting any worse. Nothing's happening at all. The Patriots want Branch to play for them. This kicks the snowball over the edge of the hill. When it stops rolling, he'll either be in uniform for the team or the team can move on knowing it made its effort.

2) The Pats are calling a bluff. Chayut and Branch believe other teams would pay the holdout wide receiver "Reggie Wayne money" if they could just get to him to make an offer. Wayne signed a six-year, $40 million deal with the Colts in March that included a $13.5 million signing bonus. But Branch has a year left on his rookie deal; Wayne was a free agent.

As a result, the Patriots don't believe anyone's going to dangle huge dough. Allowing Chayut to take offers will, the Patriots believe, help the Branch camp see that the three and five-year deals they extended him which average $6 million a season are good deals. When nobody antes up to that level, Branch is in a sticky spot.

The aim is to make Chayut -- who seems to have convinced Branch there's gold in them thar hills -- look like a boob.

3) Take it to the streets. The fact the Pats are PUBLICLY granting this puts the onus on Branch and Chayut. "You think there's something better out there, go find it. You have one week." The statement also means teams won't have to call the Pats seeking permission to talk to Chayut since there's blanket approval.

4) Low-risk maneuver. There's little risk to the Patriots. Anybody comes to the Pats wanting to make a deal, they squash it. Unless someone's going to send them Jerry Rice in his prime, they won't bite.

We're obviously going to be chasing this story for tomorrow. We'll update if anything comes to us.

Tom

FOXBORO -- Wide receiver Reche Caldwell has been the silent wideout since training camp began. With Deion Branch holding out and rookie Chad Jackson injured, Caldwell has been the team's most talented and experienced receiver. But he hasn't talked. Today, for the first time since the start of camp, Caldwell weighed in on his role so far.

"I’ m just trying to learn (the offense) as best I could," said the free agent signee from San Diego. "I just want to do everything I can do so I can help the team.""

Caldwell dismissed the notion he was feeling pressure as the team's No. 1. "No…I just go out there do my best and do what I can do. I don’t feel no pressure. I don’t feel it or worry about it all. I enjoy playing football. I go out there and play and I block out all distractions."

Caldwell had two catches last week against the Cardinals, but a drop is what lingers from his preseason performance to date. On a slant from the Atlanta 7 two weeks ago, Caldwell had a pass by Tom Brady glance off his elbow.

"I definitely should have caught that," said Caldwell. "Every ball that comes my way, I try to catch it no matter what."

Caldwell's gotten plenty of praise from quarterback Tom Brady during camp. And the Patriots are confident he's going to be fine.

As for his month-long media silence, Caldwell said no harm was intended.

"I'm trying to learn as much as I can and that usuall means I am studying, watching film or on the field," he explained. "It was never me not wanting to talk. I’m just trying to learn and this (offense) is more difficult than what I came from."

ALSO NOTED...

OLB Mike Vrabel with a Minnesota Gophers hat in his locker .strong safety Rodney Harrison giving himself a pseudo-massage by lying on a baseball and rolling back and forth to knead his muscles....Rookie wideout Chad Jackson peeking out of the trainer's room at 11:54 to make sure the media had departed. ... Corey Dillon power-walking (seriously) through the locker room while balancing his lunch on his forearm. ... Ultimately, he reached up into his locker, grabbed a Playstation console and disappeared through the curtains into the team's private rooms and training areas.

Holdout wide receiver Deion Branch gave an interview to CBS-4 in Boston tonight, telling the channel's Steve Burton, "I'm pretty sure everything's gonna work out. Everything's gonna work out."

Branch was at the And1 hoop tour as it stopped in Boston.

Asked if he missed playing, Branch said, "I'm human. I have my days and ups and downs. I realize it's business and what they're doing is business."

Asked if he considered the $14,000 per day he's being fined, Branch joked, "I haven't really thought about it." Turning more serious, he said, "No, you have to (think about it). It is what it is. Hopefully we can do something about it and we can figure out what's what."

Branch said he'd watched the team's first two preseason games and that he believed the offense was running well. It will run better, he added, "When and if I get back."

He then seemed to reassure Burton by saying, "Everything's gonna work out."

FOXBORO - Tom Brady and former Patriots backup Rohan Davey had a brief exchange during warmups. Brady traipsed over the Cardinals side of the 50 to head butt Davey as he warmed up. Davey and Brady embraced and then talked for about three minutes before going their separate ways.

Davey is currently the fourth quarterback on the Cardinals depth chart behind Kurt Warner, John Navarre and Matt Leinart who's been in camp for about 15 minutes.

FOXBORO - We're about 80 minutes from kickoff at Gillette Stadium.

There are currently more Cardinals on the field than Patriots. Among the Cards is rookie quarterback Matt Leinart who signed earlier in the week. He's throwing to tight end Leonard Pope and fullback John Bronson. ... Patriots safety Rodney Harrison is in a t-shirt and shorts. Most of the other Pats on the field are in t-shirts and their game pants as they work out. That's an indication Harrison -- who's still working back from a severe knee injury -- will not play tonight. ... Leinart just left the field. As he was leaving, he encountered Cardinals offensive line coach Steve Loney who was smirking at the TV cameras filming Leinart's departure from the field (they were trying to get the coveted "ground-up" angle on Leinart). Leinart smiled and seemed to try to embrace Loney who was opting for a simple pregame handshake. Fellas, either hug or don't hug but get on the same page. ....

FOXBORO - Junior Seau, acquired yesterday, is in uniform tonight. So is defensive end Richard Seymour.

ON HIS ROLE
"Only time can tell. I can hypothetically give answers but I believe it will be win-win. I will play in the preseason.

WILL HE PLAY INSIDE OR OUTSIDE

I don’t have those answers. What we have is a playbook. And I have a learning curve to figure out.

ON THE SHOCK TO CHARGERS FANS
"We’re all shocked. We can soothe it. The call (from the Patriots) was made Tuesday morning after the (retirement press conference) on a great day. Interest was expressed by the Patriots and we discussed it for two days. (Monday) was my graduation party. I'm going after my Master's now."

Junior Seau aims to play in next week's preseason game at Gillette Stadium.

Seau, who signed with the Pats today after retiring from the game in a ceremony in San Diego on Monday (he called it a "graduation"), spoke with reporters on a conference call just minutes ago.

Some highlights:

(ON WEARING WILLIE McGINEST'S No. 55 WHICH SEAU'S WORN HIS ENTIRE CAREER AND BEFORE McGINEST AT USC)

"I’ll defintely respect Willie and the franchise's wishes here but I will lob a call to him and ask if we can wear that number. That's something needs to be done and something that will be done."

HIS ROLE

"My role is a player on the field at a linebacker position and they do a lot of things. There are two positions I can play and I play them (meaning inside or outside linebacker)."

CAN HIS BODY STAND UP TO THE RIGORS OF PLAYING INSIDE AT 37
"We’ll just have to see. Only time can tell. I won’t promote something that is an unknown."

DID FORMER SAN DIEGO TEAMMATE AND CURRENT PAT RODNEY HARRISON CONTACT HIM
"Rodney put in a couple of calls. He’ll probably get a finder’s fee."

WHY DID HE COME OUT OF "GRADUATION"
"Being the franchise (the Patriots) are forced him to reconsider. Their focus is to win championships and its something we need to seize the opportunity on. It was definitely a thought process in which I talked to family members and (the Patriots) to see where they thought I fit and how they were going to utilize me. When a championship team calls you have to answer it."

"There are a lot of things that come to play when I decide to come into the NFL after two days of retirement. One is that this is a championship team and that they have a role I can contribute in."

WHY DID HE RETIRE
"There wasn’t a team I felt needed me."

Veteran linebacker Junior Seau, who retired from the Dolphins last week, is in Foxboro today working out for and meeting with the Pats.

A yea or nay decision is expected by the end of the day.

Seau's services are needed because of training camp injuries to Tedy Bruschi and Chad Brown. The current Pats linebacker rotation in the 3-4 is Mike Vrabel and Rosey Colvin at OLB with Tully Banta-Cain as the first man in off the bench and Barry Gardner, Monty Beisel and Don Davis fighting for the ILB jobs with minimal effectiveness so far.

Seau can play anywhere in the linebacker corps but he's mostly played outside linebacker during his career.

The 36-year-old played seven games for Miami last season and eight for the Dolphins the year before.

Tom

FOXBORO - Junior Seau is coming out of retirement to join the Patriots according to ESPN News which credits Jim Trotter of the San Diego Union Tribune.

We're checking it out...

ATLANTA - We're just a few moments from kickoff. Inactive for the Pats tonight are fullback Patrick Pass and offensive tackle Nick Kaczur who both remain on the PUP list. Also sitting were wide receivers John Stone and Chad Jackson, corner Randall Gay, safety Rodney Harrison, linebacker Tedy Bruschi, center Dan Koppen, tight end Daniel Graham, defensive end Marquise Hill, defensive end Richard Seymour, defensive end Jarvis Green and outside linebacker Chad Brown. …James Sanders and Artrell Hawkins start at safety. At inside linebacker there's Barry Gardner and Don Davis (checking on Monty Beisel later). Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs are the corners and Mike Wright is in for Seymour up front. ...Steve Gostkowski kicked off to open the game and sent it 1-yard deep.

Tom

ATLANTA - For all I know, airports around the country may right now look like a Who concert (I love this linky thing I learned this week) but my commute from Logan Airport to Atlanta was smooth.

I left my house in Lakeville, Mass (smack dab between Boston and Providence) at just after 7 a.m. for a 10:21 flight on Delta. I have tardiness issues so this was a big victory for me. Anyway, I parked in Central Parking, was out of my car by 8 a.m., made my way to Terminal A and then I saw...no lines. Barely any people.

I don't know if I was expecting to see people frantically riffling through their luggage throwing bottles of contact lens solution, Dry Idea and toothpaste over their shoulders as they trudged to the gates, but I know I wasn't expecting tumbleweeds and crickets.

And when I got to the gate and got ready to board the plane, they didn't check every bag. They were randomly searching folks. The flight got to Georgia on time and everything was splendid. So there's one account of what's going on with air travel in these United States today.

A few links and notes...

We've got a minor flurry of activity around a couple of former USC guys -- wide receiver Johnnie Morton and linebacker Chris Claiborne in addition to former Browns linebacker Orlando Ruff. We're trying to ferret out further information on the team's interest....There's no interest being shown in former Bills linebacker Jeff Posey, probably because he's a little one-dimensional as a pass-rushing specialist. ...

Today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that Falcons rookie corner Jimmy Williams will start tonight in place of veteran Jason Webster...Meanwhile, look for familiar face Lawyer Milloy working in the Falcons secondary. It will soon be three years since Milloy was a part of the Pats. Strange. In some ways it seems like he was just released, yet in other ways it seems like he's been gone forever. Obviously, he was a terrific player but should he be honored by the Pats some day? If the team was to have a Ring of Honor, retired numbers and Hall of Fame, would Milloy be a HOFer? I'd think so. ...John Abraham's also a Falcon in case you been forgetting that fact...

Good news, bad news out of Indy...It should come as no surprise that there's some early-season priapism for AV...(Ring of Honor, retired number, HOF?)....

I'll post more whatnot when I get to the stadium...it's now time for my p.m. pregame nappy-time

Tom

ATLANTA - The Patriots got to their Atlanta hotel around midnight, about five hours after they were supposed to arrive in the Dirty South.

It was not a pleasant trip. Thunderstorms over Atlanta diverted the team plane to Knoxville, Tennessee where it refueled and sat for nearly two hours. When the plane took off, it went up in the thunderstorms that had plagued Atlanta hours earlier.

Pats vice president of media relations Stacey James said that, according to a flight attendant, the plane was struck by lightning.

"The flight was so bumpy and shifting around while we were elevating that (being struck) wouldn't surprise me at all. The flashes were all around on both sides."

James explained that planes are jolted by lightning but don't feel the same impact as a groundstrike because "there's no grounding element and the electricity just moves around you."

He added, "At least that's the assurance I've always gotten."

When it was mentioned that having the plane go down would have been a bad break for the team, James answered dryly, "And it would have been hard from our perspective to spin that positively."

FOXBORO - Tedy Bruschi had wrist surgery earlier today and will miss the preseason. His availability for the start of the regular season isn't yet known. Other inside linebackers on the depth chart behind Bruschi include Barry Gardner, Don Davis, Larry Izzo, Freddie Roach and Chad Brown (who's also been down for the past few practices).

FOXBORO - The Patriots are taking it fairly easy during their final practice before Friday's preseason opener with the Falcons.

During the first portion of practice, the second-team offense ran a few plays against a defense comprised of the Pats starting offense which just jog-walked through the motions. Still, it was kind of funny to see Tom Brady lined up at inside linebacker and Kevin Faulk at corner. The funniest part was when safety Corey Dillon got beat over the top on a long pass to wide receiver Rich Musinski and Dillon, instead of giving chase, waved both hands disgustedly at Musinski and stalked away.

Dillon also dropped a lofted pass during warmups and immediately grabbed the ball on a hop and punished it for not cooperating it by booting it out of the end zone.

Josh Miller threw passes to long snappers John Condo and Lonie Paxton and kicking hopefuls Martin Gramatica and Steve Gostkowski. Gramatica seemed a little suprised when Paxton jammed him off the line.

Trot Nixon is watching practice.

FOXBORO -

Interesting plays: Asante Samuel picked off a short slant pass thrown by Matt Cassel and returned it about 10 yards for a score. Nice play by Samuel; sketchy read by Cassel. ... Recently acquired wide receiver Kelvin Kight ran with the 1's yesterday which underscores how shorthanded the club is at wide receiver at the moment. ... Former Titan and another new acquisition wide receiver Eddie Berlin was on the field running mostly with the 2s. ...Dan Koppen, just back from the PUP is not running with the 1's yet. ... The struggles for third-string quarterbacks Todd Mortensen and Cody Bramlett continue. They just aren't accurate enough to keep around, it seems, which may send the Pats looking very soon for QB assistance.

Some Belichick:
(On subs this Friday)
"We ask that on the sideline during the game: 'When will you change groups?' It just depends on how the game goes. It could be the middle of the first quarter, it could be the middle of the second, it could be at halftime. It depends on opportunities and what they do with them."

(On the news in today's Globe that Tedy Bruschi has a broken wrist and will be out for the preseason and why it was divulged when it was)

"I had new information. I was asked a question so I answered it. Truthfilly. As I did a week before (when the original injury occurred)."

FOXBORO -- The Pats just finished the first of two practice they'll hold today. The team went in shorts and shoulder pads and went for nearly two hours doing a lot of preparatory work for Friday's preseason opener in Atlanta.

For player updates: Daniel Graham was out of his red "no-contact" jersey and in his regular No. 82. ...wide receivers John Stone and Chad Jackson remain on the shelf as do running back Patrick Pass, safety Ray Ventrone, linebacker Tedy Bruschi, tackle Nick Kaczur, wide receiver Deion Branch, defensive end Marquise Hill and linebacker Chad Brown.

Belichick's at the podium now...be back in a few.

T

Looky here! Willie McGinest isn't sure the Pats will have the hosses in 2006...

FOXBORO - So far today, we had a Bill Belichick press conference that followed a team walk-through on the Gillette Stadium field.

No news emanated from the press conference.

The team's afternoon practice (open to the public) begins shortly at 2:30.

Meanwhile, here's a few links...

NFL officials will be sporting a new look this fall. Apparently, the refs will also have their position noted on the back of the uniform. Bad deal for the back judge.

Pats safety Tebucky Jones won't be getting "Mom" tattooed on his arm anytime soon ...

FOXBORO - Richard Seymour said this morning that he is sitting because of a strained quad. He was on the field for a walk-through this morning. We'll have an update on the rest of his media session in a little while.

Tom

FOXBORO - The Q&A with Richard Seymour.

I've been watching a lot of film, doing a lot of studying, having a lot of meetings and I just haven't been able to be out here on the football field but I have gotten the mental reps I need.

(Contract)

No. I signed my contract a while ago. It was just some tightness in my quad. At this point, training camp is tough and grueling, and I didn't want to come out and further re-injure it so I just decided to work with the strength coaches and continue to get better and hopefully I'll be back out soon.

(Play Sunday)

I think the doctor would have to give me some prescriptions and I'd be out there with the guys.

More to come...

FOXBORO - Nose tackle Johnathan Sullivan, who reported to camp in woeful shape and flopped in the conditioning run, is on the field formationing with the defense. He's not wearing his helmet.

FOXBORO - Nick Kaczur and Patrick Pass, two other PUP guys are also on the field in workout clothes taking practice in. And Monty Beisel is now on the field as well, again, just watching. The only guy we haven't spotted is Rodney Harrison. .. Bill Belichick's oldest son was helping with the defensive looks by formationing against the defense.

FOXBORO -- The team is working out in the stadium this morning. The Pats have officials at the practice today. ...Martin Gramatica hit an absolute bomb of a kickoff to the back line of the end zone. ... Rehabbing center Dan Koppen was on the sidelines in shorts and a workout shirt chatting with Brady and Light ... Richard Seymour is on the field without his helmet ...Asante Samuel is on the field after missing some time but Monty Beisel and Tedy Bruschi aren't...more to come

I would say that we are doing things that are specifically geared towards a certain type of defense or certain type of offense and we know we are going to see somewhere along the line, like a four-man line. We basically are in a three-man line most of training camp so far. Our offense needs to see our protections. They need to see some of our runs against the four-man looks. The rules are little bit different. There's a little bit different techniques. At some point we need to start running that. Whether Buffalo or the Jets or whoever plays a three or four-man line, it doesn't matter, we're going to see you soon or later. So as part of the installation and as part of learning our rules and learning our adjustments, running plays against a front like that, we need to do that.

It's the same thing defensively. There are a lot of teams that play a lot more with a true fullback than we do, that have two backs in the backfield, those reads are different for our linebackers, especially in the running game. We know we're going to face that. We need to see that at some point and we need to see it fairly soon, not wait until the week before we play a team. There are certain things like that that you do need to get into your system just so your team can become familiar with them, because you know you're going to see them at some point during the course of the year. It might be week one, it might be week four, but you know you're going to get it.

Q: Tom said in an interview that Deion Branch was the most important player in this team's offense and how important is it to get him into camp. Is that uncomfortable for you guys, when the quarterback is making a public appeal to get a contract situation resolved?

BB: Look, I understand that there is a relationship between players. Who are the players that you would think would be important to a quarterback? The safeties? Every player is important to me on this team. Every player. Whichever the final 53 are, they will be the ones that we feel collectively and I feel can do the most to help us win this season. They're all important every single one of them, so I'm not saying that some won't play more than others and all of that, but I think everyone of them is important. Every decision is important and each role that each player has is important. That's the way I'll try to coach the team. I'm sure not everyone will agree with that. I'm sure you'll be one of the first to write it. I don't have a problem that either. But that's how I look at it and that's how we'll try to do it. I'm sure not everybody will see it the way I see it. I'm not worried about that.

Q: I'm guessing that from the position of Deion that there is a point at which you guys have to say, 'Okay, get Deion to camp?'

BB: I'm not saying anything about any player who is not here. I'm just coaching the ones who are here and we're going to continue to work with them and hope that they will improve. I hope all of our players are here and I hope all of them can practice everyday, but unfortunately that's not the case. We're not 100 percent in those areas but we will work hard to improve the guys who are here and that's all we can do.

Q: Is it starting to hurt you guys yet because he's not in camp?

BB: I'm just trying to concentrate on the guys that are here. Those are the guys that I'm coaching. Those are the guys that I'm working with. I don't know about anybody who's not here.

Q: How did Chad Jackson look to you after his first practice?

BB: He looked like he didn't do much. I hope that he will do more in succeeding practices. I think you have to start somewhere and that's where he started. This is really his first practice and he is 'x' number of practice behind everybody else. We'll take it day by day and hopefully he'll do more this afternoon than he did this morning and more tomorrow than he did this afternoon and so forth. He has a long road ahead of him. I think he has some talent and some ability, but we have a long way to go and today was the first step and I would say a small first step.

Q: How do you evaluate [Rosevelt] Colvin's progress coming back the last few years from his hip injury a few years ago? We tend to look at it like last year was proof that he was back. Do you look at it as more of a stepping stone?

BB: I think last year, even by the end of the '04 season, that Colvin was pretty close to the top of his game. He's like a lot of players in his particular situation. He's right at the prime of his career, age wise, experience wise and all of that. These are probably going to be his best years, like they are for most players. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, somewhere in that range. That's where he falls. He's a good player. He's been a good player and hopefully he'll be able to sustain that level a few more years going forward. He works hard. He's smart. He's in good condition. He's tough. He has a lot of thing going for him.

Q: So you don't have any concerns about his hip anymore?

BB: No. He's played for two years.

Q: He talked today about still being sore, that's why I'm asking.

BB: Believe me, if you go down to that locker room, I'm sure there are a lot of guys that are sore. I don't mean that disrespectfully. I'm just saying that this is professional football. These guys put a lot of physical effort into what they do and they do it against other very physically talented people as well and there's going to be some soreness. There's going to be some bumps and bruises and I'm sure some guys have them in certain spots on a regular basis, one area is a little bit more vulnerable or tender or whatever the word is. I'm sure that some guys are going to be a little bit more sore here or there than other guys. That's football. But he's out there everyday. I couldn't even tell you the last time he missed a practice.

FOXBORO - The Pats practice has been going about 45 minutes here in Gillette Stadium. It's a season-ticket holder only event for the fans and there's probably just about seven thousand fannies in the seats (or about twice as many as the Revs draw).

The south end zone still bears the bruising of the Bon Jovi concert from the other night where the stage was.

The Pats are in a 7-on-7 passing drill right now.

Tom Brady just finished running the first team for about 15 plays with mixed success. He hit Troy Brown and Matt Shelton for decent gains but threw behind Chad Jackson and had a ball glance off Reche Caldwell's fingertips.

At the other end of the field, linemen, tight ends and Todd Mortenson worked out on short drops and matching up on blocking assignments.

FOXBORO - In an 11-on-11 drill, Brady just threw a BB to Reche Caldwell down the seam with cornerback Chad Scott in coverage. Caldwell made an outstanding grab, about a 30-yard gain and then whipped the ball across the turf, an exclamation point.

There was silence in the press box as everyone considered A) A nice throw by Brady, B) a nice catch by Caldwell C) why Scott is always on the scene when someone makes a catch.

On cue, Jerome Solomon from the Boston Globe said, "Poor Chad Scott..."

Scott did follow up by breaking up a pass to Chad Jackson.

Moments after that, Brady led John Stone who made a terrific catch down the field but came up limping with what appeared to be cramps in his leg.

FOXBORO - The highlight of this morning's full-pad practice was an absolute jaw-rattling whack by Freddie Roach out of Al-a-bama on Laurence Maroney during a goal-line drill. Maroney, needless to say didn't get in.

Throughout the full-speed, full contact drill, the defense squished the offense. The first team offense ran three plays with Corey Dillon getting stacked up once, a scramble being whistled dead after Tom Brady was flushed and then Dillon just getting the ball over the line.

The second team offense with Maroney at running back got stacked up on three straight plays with Roach -- an undrafted rookie -- making the big hit in the middle.

*****

Missing from the a.m. practice today were Matt Light, Troy Brown and Jarvis Green....There are new onsides kick rules in place this year. No overloading one side or the other, coverage teams have to balance the number of guys on both sides of the ball. The Pats spent about 15 minutes working on that. ...Both Eugene Wilson and James Sanders were on kickoff coverage...Mike Wright worked out at defensive end a little bit. ... Corey Dillon is having an outstanding camp. He's been at every practice and has run extremely hard. Yesterday was no exception. ...Steve Gostkowski made eight straight field goals to end the practice.

Tom E. Curran

FOXBORO - The New England Patriots removed wide receivers Bam Childress and Chad Jackson from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list today. Both players participated in the Patriots' 8:45 a.m. training camp practice at Gillette Stadium this morning.
Childress, 24, was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent on July 24, 2005 and spent the first 16 weeks of the 2005 season on the Patriots practice squad before he was signed to the active roster for the regular-season finale against Miami on Jan. 1, 2006. The 5-foot-10-inch, 185-pound wide receiver played on both offense and defense in his only NFL game (1/1/06), and led the Patriots with three receptions for 32 yards and also collected five tackles (2 solo) on defense. The Ohio State product was listed among the day-of-game inactives for both of New England's playoff
games last season.
Jackson, 21, was selected by the Patriots in the second round (36th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-1-inch, 215-pound rookie wide receiver attended the University of Florida, where he started 14 of 36 games over three seasons from 2003-05. In his collegiate career, Jackson caught 120 passes for 1,586 yards and 16 touchdowns, recorded 16 rushes for 88 yards and two touchdowns, returned 10 kickoffs for 188 yards and returned nine punts for 35 yards. As a junior in 2005, he tied the Gators' single-season record with 88 receptions, a mark that led the Southeastern
Conference and ranked sixth in the nation.

FOXBORO - Bill Belichick addressed the Tom Brady comments to Sports Illustrated by saying, "I understand there's a relationship between players. Who are the players you would think would be important to a quarterback? Safeties. Every player's important. Every player."

FOXBORO - Tom Brady flaps his gums to Sports Illustrated about the import of Deion Branch getting signed.

Silver says the Pats offer is $19 million over three years.

"I hope he's here another 5-7 years," Brady said, "but that's not up to me. The player-club dynamic has changed so much over the years. I know that Deion's the best guy in the world to have around; I also know that Coach Belichick and [vice president of player personnel] Scott Pioli are very disciplined, and the decisions they make are very black-and-white.

"I have a lot of confidence that this is going to get worked out, I really do. But I'm glad we're not playing a game this week."

FOXBORO - I learned my times tables up to 12. As a result, I bludgeoned the numbers when computing 14,000 x 4 and came up with $90K. Maybe I should use a pencil and show my work when computing.

Either way, if the Pats are fining Deion Branch $14K per day during his holdout (as his agent Jason Chayut says he expects them to) he's up to $56,000 in fines.

Tom

FOXBORO - Bill Belichick spoke with fondness the other day of the down-and-dirty "Oklahoma Drill." So now, it appears, every time two guys square up in a drill we newspaper writin' types are going to call everything the Oklahoma Drill.

Observe from Belichick's press conference today:

Q: What was the name of the drill you were doing when they bounce up? It looked like a poor man's Oklahoma drill.

BB: The tackling drill? It's a tackling drill.

FOXBORO - Tom Brady is sitting out his third straight practice this afternoon. The Pro Bowl quarterback hasn't been on the field since Saturday evening. Sources say there is nothing amiss. Brady is just getting a break while backup Matt Cassel gets a chance to take some extra reps and gain experience.

The team goes again tomorrow morning (8:45 to 10:45) and then there's a season ticket holder event tomorrow night in the stadium which is closed to the general public.

For anyone still skeptical about Brady's condition, put it this way: if he sits out the stadium practice tomorrow night, there's definitely cause for concern.

Also, the Patriots signed veteran free agent defensive lineman Eddie Freeman and first-year free agent wide receiver Kelvin Kight today. Long snapper Lonie Paxton has been activated from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and wide receiver Michael McGrew has been placed on the reserve/left camp list.

Freeman, 28, appeared in 20 games for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2002-03 and played in the NFL Europe League during its 2005 and 2006 seasons. The 6-foot-5-inch, 310-pound defensive lineman has recorded 39 tackles (17 solo) and 4.0 sacks for 27.0 yards in his NFL career.
Kight, 24, played in one game for the Green Bay Packers in 2004 and was originally signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent on April 30, 2004. The 6-foot, 213-pound wide receiver has played in one career NFL contest and did not record any statistics. Kight was waived by the Rams on Aug. 10, 2004 and was signed to the Green Bay Packers practice squad on Sept. 6, 2004. He was signed to the Packers' active roster from the practice squad and played in one game and was listed as a day-of-game inactive for three games before being placed on injured reserve on Dec. 14, 2004. He was waived by the Packers on June 14, 2005 and claimed off waivers by the
Jacksonville Jaguars. He was with the Jaguars for their 2005 training camp and was released in the final preseason roster cutdown on Sept. 4, 2005. Kight spent most of this past offseason with Minnesota after signing with the Vikings on Jan. 26, 2006. He was released by Minnesota on July 26, 2006.

FOXBORO - Sports Illustrated's Dr. Z (aka, Paul Zimmerman, a man who was on the Jets beat when Joe Namath was a kid out of Alabama) has been in Foxboro the past two days. He dined Saturday night at Al Forno in Providence and he said the antipasto was as good as the meal (not that the meal wasn't good), the mint juleps were the best he's ever had and the dessert was a "knock 'em dead" berry cobbler.

FOXBORO - Jason Chayut, the agent for Deion Branch, said yesterday he believes the Patriots will fine the wide receiver the maximum amount allowed by the league for players who fail to report. That's $14,000 per day.

Chayut said he hasn't received a bill yet (that's not the way it works apparently). Nor has their been any movement on a deal getting done.

If the Pats are charging full freight, Branch is up to $90,000 in fines already.

FOXBORO - Tom Brady got the morning off from practice today as the Patriots manage his reps early in camp. This was the second straight practice Brady missed (he sat Sunday afternoon) but sources tell us there's nothing amiss with the quarterback. The team is merely resting his arm (which they did last season as well) and allowing backup quarterback Matt Cassel to run the show.

Tight end Benjamin Watson and wide receiver Troy Brown also took the morning off. Long snapper Lonie Paxton returned.

Head coach Bill Belichick spoke briefly to reporters on the practice field after the morning session but had to skip his daily press conference because of a conference call. He looked heartbroken about that.

The team goes again this afternoon at 2:30 p.m.

FOXBORO - Things got a little tense between rookies Corey Mays and Laurence Maroney during the afternoon session. The two got locked up pretty good in a blocking drill and Maroney’s helmet came off as the two fell to the ground.

Maroney immediately jumped to his feet and looked as if he might get into it with Mays. But then the two just slapped hands and that was the end of it.

``It’s just football,’’ said Mays when asked about the incident later.

-- Carolyn

When Troy Brown missed practice on the first day of training camp, fellow teammate Tom Brady called him ``country club.’’

So what did Brown have to say when the quarterback was not in attendance at yesterday’s practice?: ``I told you, his golf swing is better than mine. You know who spends the most time in the country club. He deserved it. He’s been working hard the last couple days, so he deserved a day off.’’

Tedy Bruschi also was not at practice.

Deion Branch was still missing in action.

Kickers were a topic of conversation during coach Bill Belichick’s meeting with the media this morning.

Stephen Gostkowski, selected in the fourth round (118th overall) by the Patriots, comes out of Memphis where he holds the top three spots on the Tigers' single-season record list for points scored by a kicker, totaling 101 points in 2003, 108 in 2004 and 101 again in 2005.

Belichick was asked this about the rookie and the process he will go through to find a replacement for the departed Adam Vinatieri:

Q: Gostkowski never really had a position coach in college. How appealing was it to you when you were evaluating him that this guy had never really been coached and now you can put him under Brad [Seely's] tutelage and maybe take him to another level?

BB: I think for the most part that's a common situation with specialists in college. Having coached special teams for a number of years in the National Football League, I can tell you that is what most college specialists say coming in the NFL. Even if somebody was responsible for them, they had a coach so to speak, but in college you're limited to whatever the size of the staff is, eight coaches or whatever it is. . . . I think there's more of a priority in college for recruiting and things like that and some bigger picture things than just to coach one or two players on a specific techniques. I would say that's fairly common.

Q: In your experience, you try to simulate those situations where you create distractions for the kicker. Is it really kind of hard to tell no matter what you do, how they're going to react in certain game situations and react to certain pressure situations without actually seeing them in it?

BB: Well, I think the more time you spend around them and the more situations that you put them in, the better gauge you can get and that to me, that is what training camp and the preseason games are for. Fifty practices. Four games. Some situational stuff inside the stadium. That's a lot of plays, at any position, and we'll know a lot more than we know now. And that is true of all of our players. To try to make a judgment on one practice, one kick, two days, you just run a much higher percentage that you're going to be wrong. That's all.

Q: Can kicking to win a job approximate kicking to win a game in terms of pressure situations? Can you see how these guys respond?

BB: Definitely, without one you don't have the other anyway. Yes there is definitely pressure at a position like that, where there are only so many you can keep. It's not like offensive linemen where you can keep 10 guys or nine guys, however many you end up keeping. It's a little bit different at positions like punter, kicker, long snapper, quarterback.

Q: Have you ever gone with two kickers?

BB: Not that I can remember.

The media caught up with Gostkowski following yesterday afternoon’s practice session at Gillette. Here’s what he had to say:

Q: How long were your last field goals of practice today?
SG: They were all about 44, something like that. We back up five yards every time.

Q: How about the experience at the mini-camp when they put you out there on the 43-yard line. If you made it there would be no running for the team and if you missed it there would be running; what was that experience like for you?

SG: It was nerve-wracking. It’s just the kind of situation that kickers go through. I didn’t get mad at the coach for putting me in that situation. We have to be able to handle that kind of situation. He threw it at me and I didn’t know what to expect. I’m glad I concentrated and didn’t let it bother me.

Q: Is that something you could take with you into camp as a positive?

SG: I tried to. You try to live off your last kick, and I made my last kick today, so I feel good going in. You’re only as good as your last kick.

Q: How's (fellow kicker Martin) Gramatica?

SG: He’s good. I can’t worry about what he does. He’s good competition. I think he’s good, but I can’t speak to what he’s doing or how he’s been doing. We all get along out there, and we’re just trying to do the best we can and make the decision as hard as we can for the coaches.

Q: How do you reconcile the way you like to kick as opposed to Brad Seely’s suggestions?
SG: You just talk about it day to day. He tells me what he sees and I tell him how I feel. It’s just a relationship that . . . you have to give and take, so you work on it every day.

Q: Can you talk about your first impression through the first three days of camp?

SG: It's tough. You just have to come out and try to get better everyday. You have to bring the same concentration everyday and that's just what I'm working on: getting better every practice.

Q: How do you feel about the ongoing competition? Is there overwhelming pressure with every kick? Do you know they're watching?

SG: When you're kicking, all eyes are on you anyway. So you never feel good when you miss; you feel good when you make it. You just have to try to be consistent. That's all I'm trying to do right now. If I miss one or two one day, I just have to shake it off and go out the next day. There aren't many kickers that don't miss at all, so I just try to go out there and make a lot more than I miss.

Q: How do you feel it's going so far in the regard? Ones you've made versus ones you've missed?

SG: The ones I've missed I know what I'm doing wrong. It's so early in camp we have plenty of time to go and preseason games. I'd rather miss them in practice than in the games so I'm just working hard everyday.

Q: Do you feel like you are yourself right now or do you feel there are some early camp jitters that you need to get over?

SG: I still think they're a few jitters to get over, but it's expected. I think I've handled it pretty well so far and I feel like I'm doing well. I'm trying to get better and better everyday.

Q: How does it feel to have a coach, a position coach, who knows the ins and outs of kicking probably better than anybody you've ever dealt with?

SG: It's good to have the attention. I try to use what he says and we collaborate together, look at my kicks and I try to take it out there on the field.

Q: How much is it the kicking versus the time? I see him sometimes with the stopwatch; is it more of the form or trying to get the timing down?

SG: It's whether the kick goes through the uprights. You want it to be done in a certain time and to be a certain height, but if it goes in at the end of the day you're not going to complain. That [stopwatch] is just top make sure you have the same time, every time.

--Carolyn Thornton

FOXBORO - (Opening comment)...We'll have one practice today after having two-a-days the past two days then we'll get back on that (two-a-day) track tomorrow. We're getting into some situational stuff -- red area, two-minute -- we're moving along. It's time to string some good practices and consistent improvement together and not keep slipping back and having to repave the same road.

(WHY TWO-A-DAYS BACK-TO-BACK AS OPPOSED TO ALTERNATING DAYS? )
We decided to change it up a little bit this year. A little more time on the field a little less time in the meeting room at this point. We're trying to find the best way to be most productive and I think fundamentally we could use the time on the field to work on fundamentals and basics.

(HOW MONTY BEISEL AND TEDY BRUSCHI WORK TOGETHER INSIDE)
Tedy's played in this system a lot more than Monty has. Tedy's instinctively a very good inside linebacker. He reads plays quickly and he understands our system very well and knows where he fits on everything. Monty does too, he just hasn't had as much experience as Tedy has doing it. It has to become a more instinctive natural thing for him (as it was) for him in Kansas City or playing down in college. It's part of the process. We saw that with Bruschi when Bruschi got here in 1996. Playing on his feet, playing inside from what he was doing in college was a big adjustment. He wasn't very good at it, didn't play very much but it's hard to go from one system to another when they're different. Monty made some progress last year and he's already way ahead of where he was last year.

When you're confident you can be more aggressive and you can be more assertive. When you're less confident, you don't want to make mistakes and it tends to slow you down a little bit. Optimally on the football field you want everybody to know what they're doing, be confident in what they're doing, be confident in what the people beside them are doing so they can just be aggressive and do their job. Whether its a quarterback throwing the ball because he knows where the guy's gonna be because he's done it so many times and he's consistent. Whether it's a linebacker filling the gap or a defensive back jumping a route because he knows he's protected in the coverage. All those things.

I agree there's a growth process with everybody at every spot. I experienced it doing what I do. The more you do it, the better you get at it. The quicker you process it, the better you'll be at it. And then you move on to something else and you continue to get good at another skill and separate them and know when to apply them.

(MORE LATER)

FOXBORO - It was, as Bill Belichick termed it, a "Friday crowd" at his 11:30 a.m. press conference this morning. In other words, only print reporters were in the house (about 10 of them) with no TV cameras.

Belichick was slightly late for the debriefing having spent some time with Sports Illustrated's venerable Dr. Z before the talk.

Some of the items discussed were linebacker Monty Beisel and the topic of playing with instincts, receiver John Stone, roster manipulations for third quarterbacks and kickers, the more intense start to camp and the work (or lack thereof) of defensive lineman Johnathan Sullivan.

The only practice today is at 2:30 p.m.

Lemme do some transcribing now and I'll get ya some Beli-quotes.

Tom

FOXBORO - A fierce rainstorm swept through here about an hour ago (no thunder) hitting just as the players were getting going with their stretching for the 5:30 p.m. practice. Fans scattered but the players stretched on while the coaches walked among them, unimpressed by the rain.

Two rainbows appeared when the rain stopped. And I left my sunroof open.

Troy Brown and Ben Watson were back for the afternoon practice (players were in shells). Matt Light was absent. So were all the other guys who are on the PUP list (scroll down to catch their names).

Bill Belichick spent a long time working with linebackers Monty Beisel and Eric Alexander on a block-shedding drill.

Special teams coach Brad Seely drilled his punt-rushers in getting off the ball low, taking seven steps and then putting their hands at waist-height to block the punt down.

Wide receiver John Stone continues to be the No. 3 wide receiver with Chad Jackson out and Deion Branch holding out.

FOXBORO - The Patriots went for nearly two hours this morning in full pads before breaking practice.

The running backs took time signing autographs on the sides of the practice field after practice for about 20 minutes. Toward the end of their signing session, something caused a few fans to go onto the field to be with a player (it may have been at the players request, we were 100 yards away), which touched off a fan stampede. It was mostly kids just dashing over to players for autographs but it was fairly comical to see the "Hey, if they're all going, I will too..." mentality in action. Probably between 100 and 200 fans hit the field before they were herded off within a minute or so.

Among the talkers were Tedy Bruschi, Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney, Troy Brown, Eugene Wilson (we'll feature him in a Sunday story tomorrow), Ben Watson, Mike Vrabel, Larry Izzo and Matt Cassel.

Vrabel had this to say about his time spent at inside linebacker last year...

"At times it was difficult (but) there's a lot of guys that play a lot of different spots. Chad (Brown) played inside, Chad played outside. I played inside and outside...."

(On what he learned playing inside)
"When there's a good edge outside it allows the inside guys to slow down; I learned that. I went inside and noticed that with Rosey (Colvin) and Willie (McGinest) you can slow down. It's not like you have to fly outside because the ball will eventually come back in. I said that to Tedy (Bruschi) and he said, 'That's what i think when you're out there.' When i moved inside I realized how important that is to the defense."

(Explanation: the "edge" is where the defensive end or outside linebacker goes to help turn sideline running plays back inside. When setting the edge, the OLB in the Pats defense anchors himself at the end of the line and turns in toward the center of the field, funneling everything back to the defensive linemen, inside linebackers and safeties. During camp, Bill Belichick and the rest of the coaches are often heard exhorting players to set a good edge).

(On whether versatility they were forced to build in '05 helps the Pats be more complex)
"You'd like to do what you (base defense) is then expand on that instead of trying to get all crazy. Just work on pad level and using your hands and getting off blocks etc. (before worrying about complex formationing)."

(On the team drafting two tight ends)

"I always wach draft day. Since I've played that gimmick tight end position, we've taken Graham and Watson in the first round, now Thomas in the third and Mills in the fourth. They're trying to keep me out of there the best they can."

***
Larry Izzo on special teams...

"If there are breakdowns it will hurt you. There were some breakdowns last year. Some early in the season, some later. (This season) there are a lot of new faces and a lot of bodies. Everyone's fighting for a job. And whoever's there at the end of the day is who's going to be there. It's pointless to do predictions because there's so much that can still happen."

(On losses like Matt Chatham, Christian Fauria and Tim Dwight)

"We lost people. Which is normal. People come and go every year in the NFL. The organization will find somebody to get the job done."

***

Belichick brushed off questions about Deion Branch by saying, "I'm talking about the players that are here."

He also praised Matt Cassel and Vince Wilfork's development so far.

More to come from Beli later...The team practices again at 5:30 p.m. and has one session tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.

FOXBORO - A little more than halfway through the first of two practices today, here are some quick-hit observations.

* Defensive end Marquise Hill left the field limping about 20 minutes ago, going down during a short-yardage drill.

* Ellis Hobbs didn't fare particularly well in a few 11-on-11 plays. One in particular came when Reche Caldwell scorched him on a wide receiver screen (one juke and gone).

* Eugene Wilson continues working out primarily at corner instead of safety. Yesterday, he and Asante Samuel were the first pair of corners on the field in the 11-on-11 drill (Artrell Hawkins and James Sanders were the safeties).

* Players not on the field: Bam Childress, Chad Jackson, Randall Gay, Patrick Pass, Rodney Harrison, Patrick Cobbs, Garrett Mills, Lonie Paxton, Dan Koppen, Nick Kaczur, Troy Brown, Daniel Graham, Deion Branch, Ben Watson and Richard Seymour.

We'll check back after the Beli-Conference.

Tom

Q&A with Tom Brady after the first practice of training camp

Q. How did it go on your first day?

TB: It's our fourth day for quarterbacks. Hopefully all of the rust is off and it's nice to be out here. It's nice to have all the veterans here, all the familiar faces. We're all working. It's going to be a hard camp. It sets the tone. It's going to be tough.

Q: Have you communicated with Deion Branch? What's the latest?

TB: I talk to him. You know, he's one of the favorite guys that I have on the team. I hope he gets here soon. It's not up to me, but I wish that it was.

Q: As a quarterback you must want him back, but as a player you understand what he's going through?

TB: That's exactly it. I'm there to listen to what he says. But he's a great guy. I love Deion. He's such a fun guy to be around and you definitely realize when he's not here. But like I said, it's out of my hands, it's out of my control. It's between the club and Deion. It's not like it doesn't happen so you just go with the flow and roll with the punches.

Q: Short a tight end, short a receiver, how much does that hurt what you're trying to do?

TB: You do what you can and you try to do your best with what you got. We did some good things today. Reche (Caldwell) did some good things. I'm glad he's here. He's an exciting player. And Ben (Watson) stepped it up and the younger tight ends have done good. We continue to build and I think it starts with the first practice today, second practice. You know we're all going through this "Groundhog Day" type of camp.

Q: $14,000 a day. Did you talk to him (Deion Branch) about that?

TB: I know. I know. They sprung that rule on the players like a week before camp. But like I said it's part of what we deal with as players and it's really only on the players and Deion and the club and that's what we'll leave it at.

Q: What about the new receivers learning the system?

TB: There's quite a bit of learning through the season. You learn all the way through the year. A guy like Deion (Branch) and Troy (Brown) have been here for years and they're still learning. You put in new offenses and you face new defenses, and there are new routes and techniques. You just try to get up to speed as fast as you can.

Q: Have you worked with Reche Caldwell or any of the other guys in the offseason?

TB: Yeah, we've been getting together for probably three months now. The only way to do it is to work at it. You communicate and watch the film and talk about what you did and what you are going to do.

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Pats quarterback Tom Brady tries to decide on the right direction as fans clamor for the popular quarterback's autograph during the first session of training camp today in Foxboro, Mass. Browse a gallery of photos here.

Q: Tough offseason? Bitter taste from last year?

TB: Yeah it was. It was terrible. The goal is to play all the way through the end like we have and once you experience that, you're right, anything short of that is not very exciting, especially when you see other teams out there playing. This team has a great opportunity ahead. We have a tough division with a bunch of new coaches and players, and the nice part is that we're all starting at the same point. Whoever works the hardest, whoever sustains the high level of play that it takes to get to the playoffs and win a championship. We're trying to accomplish that.

Q: Is Deion Branch not being here hurting you?

TB: Well, Deion is a very unique player. When he shows up he'll be ready to go. I mean I'm not worried about him getting here and being ready. I'm sure Deion's further along than all of us. For the guys that are here, we just have to make improvements.

Q: If he's not here how do you do what you need to get ready?

TB: He's pretty good at picking that all up when he does get here. I mean there is learning but he can get up to speed pretty quick. I remember a few years ago in the Kansas City game he hurt his knee in the Arizona game, this was like two years ago, he came back and had nine catches for 100 yards and you were like it doesn't even look like he missed a day. Like I said, I wish it was up to me because he'd be here, but it's not.

Q: Lot of turnover on the roster?

TB: Yeah a lot of change. You know it's like that for every team. Every team there's a lot of movement and scheme changing. This year there are all new coordinators in our division. That's very unique for that to happen but its part of it. Since I've been here, guys come and go, but you do you're job and you play your role. That's really all you can worry about and you try to get everybody else to do that too. This team has a style of play, has a philosophy that we think is very important to championship football and the guys that come here to the program, they are part of that program to learn and assimilate to and that is what we're all trying to accomplish.

Q: Where was Troy Brown?

TB: Troy is country club like Willie (McGinest) was last year. I guess when you play like 27 years you can miss a practice. He'll be out here though. He'll be out here this afternoon.

Q: Talk to David Givens?

TB: We've missed each other a bunch of times. David was a big part of this team but he moved on and he's excited with his opportunity and we're excited for his opportunity. He's a great guy and a great friend and he always will be.

Q: When you saw #87 today how did it feel?

TB: When I walked out and saw #87 I flinched a little. But there's a new guy in that spot, and Reche can take advantage of that opportunity. He's very exciting and is going to be a really great playmaker for us this year.

Q: Young quarterbacks behind you. What is it like now to be the veteran?

TB: Yeah, we were joking the other day that we probably have the youngest quarterbacks room in the league with the players and the coach. We have had veteran players here, but I'm kind of the veteran now and I expect that responsibility. Hopefully the younger guys can come in and learn and work hard. They're expected when they go in to play well. That's what I expect of them and that's what the coaches expect of them. This offense really relies a lot on the quarterback and the decision making that we're a part of. If our fundamentals are lacking or our confidence is lacking, then that carries over to the whole offense.

Q: You said it was going to be a hard camp but aren't they all hard camps?

TB: They are. Coach seems like he's setting a different tone. They are no excuses, no breaks. Bare down and fight through it. Maybe that's something we lacked last year. I'm not saying that we don't have tough guys, I'm talking mental toughness.

Q: What's it like getting the new guys on to the high level that they're probably not used to?

TB: You come here and you get in shape and you shake the rust off from months of not having football pads on. You come here and you work hard. This is our job. This is what we do. We show up and there are 5,000 people cheering us on. I don't think that the UPS man has someone cheering him on. That's what makes it fun for us. It's work but it's still a lot of fun.

Q: What does Benjamin Watson bring to the offense?

TB: He's made significant improvement. In the last year, from last year at this time to now, he has so much more confidence in himself. He's been here and we've been throwing and he's just a different player. He's going to need to be because he is going to be relied on heavily to make plays. When you lose guys like Tim Dwight and David Givens and Andre (Davis) and Bethel (Johnson), guys that you're familiar with and Ben (Watson) is one of those guys. He's got to produce and I am very confident in him.

Q: How are Ben Watson's hands?

TB: Very good. Very smooth athlete. Very smooth runner. He's so big and strong. He's freakish.

Q: Anxious to see the faces that you will be throwing to most regularly come back?

TB: You'd love to be able to build continuity between us. Last year, we had a bunch of guys that were here one day and then they got a bunch of injuries and guys are out. In preseason games some guys didn't play and I didn't play in one preseason game so we just didn't build up that continuity between us. I think that is why we started off 2-2 and then 3-3 and 4-4, we couldn't recover toward the end of the year. This has to be the place where you build your foundation, you go through your learning curves and you talk through mistakes. Preseason games are warm-ups to the real things and if you don't make those mistakes and correct them then they're just going to keep popping up through the year.

Q: Is it then a measure of concern that you need to see those faces?

TB: Like I said, you love for everyone to be out here, you'd love for injuries not to be part of the game. I learned that you just need to deal with. You'd love to have everyone there every week but that's just not the reality. What do you do? You've got to change the scheme. I've got to learn my reads and go through my progression. I have to be that much better when I'm playing with guys that I'm not as familiar with. Maybe that helps me out too. With Deion not being here maybe other people get the ball too. Now you're forced to throw to other guys and really get to know them.

Q: Will it take long to get back on the same page when Deion Branch gets back?

TB: I don't think it will take long, I really don't. Like I said, I'd like for him to be here today. But when he gets back, he's going to be excited to be here and I'll be excited to have him here. He's a big part of our team, a big part of our success.

Q: He talked about getting Reggie Wayne money. Is he in that same category to you?

TB: I mean Deion is a terrific player. I can't compare him to those guys because I never played with them. I can only compare him to guys that I've played with. There are a lot of great receivers on this team, with Reche Caldwell and Troy Brown, Ben Watson, all these guys can play. When he comes in, he just adds another weapon for us. He does things that no one else can do. But that's a role that everyone has.

Q: Is the holdout justifiable?

TB: You do everything you can to come here and show up. Sometimes the circumstances, you make decisions that you don't ... I'm not in that situation. I've never been in that situation so it's hard for me to relate. When he gets here we'll all be excited to have him, and I mean he's just an awesome player. He adds a lot to this team. We'll love seeing him. It's going to be a great year for us.

Q: Is kicker a position that you're concerned about?

TB: Adam (Vinatieri) was a great player for such a long time. Who can come in and be Adam Vinatieri? I mean those are tough shoes to fill. Whoever it is, I hope not to leave it up to field goals. Hopefully we are winning by 30 at the end of these games. If it does come down to a kick we have to have confidence.

Q: Do you think that you may try to over compensate for not having Adam Vinatieri and force it in there a little bit more knowing that you don't have someone to kick a long field goal?

TB: I'm always trying to score. It's (Bill) Belichick that is pulling us off. If it were up to me, I'd pass on every play. He says 'we're going to run it here, we're going to run out the clock,' and I go out and run the play. Hopefully we're not leaving it up to a 48-yard field goal no matter who is kicking.

Q: How do you keep you concentration in the game with a lot of bodies flying around you?

TB: A lot of practice. A lot of praying. I guess that you practice it so much that it is almost easier in the game. When you're out here (at practice) there is so much going on, and when you're out there (in the game), you're just so focused. The focus from knowing exactly what it is that you have to do. The way I prepare is by becoming as confident as I can by preparing as hard as I can. I know I'm prepared and I know whatever the defense is going to do then I have a lot of confidence. I can be extremely focused, I can drop back in pressure, read the coverage, read my progression and make the throw.

Q: Reche Caldwell impress you out there?

TB: Yeah, he made a nice catch. He's been doing that all spring, so hopefully there is much more of that. I'd like to put it to him in stride so he can catch it and then run for a touchdown. He made me look good today.

Q: Any impressions of him (Reche Caldwell)?

TB: He's very athletic. He's smooth. He's fast. He's got good hands. He's quick. He's really going to be an asset for us this year.

Q: With 10 guys unable to perform, what's it like going into a season like that?

TB: When certain guys aren't out here, aren't practicing, other guys have to step up. That's why they're in meetings and part of this team, because if they couldn't help us then they wouldn't be part of this team. Those guys have to go out there and do what they do and hopefully it is good enough.

Q: What is step one with building a relationship with a receiver? Getting to know him personally or throwing with them?

TB: It is personal. A lot of it is that you have to build a rapport. You have to gain a level of respect. I talk to him and he talks to me. Respect in that he is doing his best to help and I'm doing my best to help the team. Because your goals are aligned, your working towards the communication of things and getting things right and there is never any hard feelings or hurt feelings. Then you come out here and you practice. You throw the ball and if it isn't right, Reche for example, I say 'Reche I need you to go to the 14-yard line if it's 13 yards then it's going to be behind you. When you're going on the post get your left arm up so I know where to throw it.' It's what we try to do. For him he might say hold on to it for a little longer. That's how you develop it.

Q: You turn into a receiver coach in a sense?

TB: Sure. The quarterback sees everyone and sees the whole play develop. One guy runs an under and the other guy runs deep, I know that we're trying to create a high-low on a certain player. If one guy is too deep and the other is too short, then you don't get that high-low. We're able to communicate because we know exactly what we want. It's like a coach. I hope I build enough credibility with those guys so they respect me.

Q: You ever use the line 'I'm Tom Brady?'"

TB: No, never. I don't think it would go very far.

Q: Have you got to the point where you know what routes he (Caldwell) runs particularly well?

TB: Yeah, it's like Deion (Branch), it's like Troy (Brown). You put them out there and watch them run routes and once you find routes that are good for them you say, 'hey these are your routes.' There are certain routes that we had for David Givens that we never ran before. Deion (Branch) the same thing. We've created probably 20 routes for Deion. They're all part of our terminology. If someone else comes in and can do them, then you do them, if not you don't run them. That's how you develop those strengths and weaknesses, and hopefully you develop an offense where everyone is doing something that they're good at.

Q: What did you do in your offseason?

TB: I tried to get some rest. Catch up with family and friends.

Q: Did you travel?

TB: Not much this year. I just stayed here and tried to stay in good shape and be as prepared as I could be for this year.

-- Journal sportswriter Tom E. Curran

FOXBORO - After the very first practice of the Patriots 2006 training camp,Tom Brady said a different tone was being set.

"There are no excuses and no breaks," Brady said after the team worked out in semi-oppressive heat for 90 minutes this morning. "We're going to build toughness which is maybe something we lacked last season. I'm not saying we didn't have tough guys, but I think we need to build some mental toughness."

From Vince Wilfork's de-cleating of Corey Dillon on the first 11-on-11 play of camp to Tedy Bruschi's meet-and-greet wallop of Laurence Maroney about 20 minutes later, there were certainly occasions of solid contact.

Several came during a one-on-one drill called Oklahoma where players attack each other in a small square area.

"(It's a drill) you start doing it in high school, college. That was kind of the 'who is the man?, step up, who's tough?, who is going to hit somebody?' [drill]. Put everybody in a close box and you're going to have some contact. So let's see the pads crack."

***

Reche Caldwell made the best catch of the morning practice, hauling in about a 35-yard throw from Brady on an out-and-up route past Ellis Hobbs.

***

There was no word on why both Troy Brown and Daniel Graham weren't on the field during the morning practice. Belichick merely said that players are at different stages in rehabs and in their careers and that each player is "practice to practice."

***

The Pats signed veteran tight end Walter Rasby and released rookie corner Jjarvis Herring.

***
Asked about holdout wide receiver Deion Branch, Belichick said, "I'm here to talk about football and coach the team. I'll talk about the players that are here."

***

This is Ryan Claridge's reaction to being released by the Pats on the eve of training camp. http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jul-28-Fri-2006/sports/8746948.html.

Folks are saying that newly acquired Johnathan Sullivan didn't do a wicked awesome job during the team's conditioning run Thursday http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

-- Journal sportswriter Tom E. Curran

Check here often for up-to-the-minute news from Patriots training camp, beginning Friday. Projo.com will have bloggers posting regularly throughout camp. Journal sports writer Tom E. Curran will get things started with reports from Friday at Foxboro.

The Patriots haven't finalized a deal with first-round running back Laurence Maroney, the 21st overall pick in April's draft. ,The Patriots open camp tomorrow and the rest of the rookies already in but there's still confidence the deal will get done. Negotiations have not been described as acrimonious. Neither side has divulged what the holdup in negotiations is.

Meanwhile, the Pats agreed to a one-year deal with linebacker Chad Brown, 36. Brown signed with the Pats in May of 2005. His role figured to be as a pass-rusher but the losses of Tedy Bruschi and Ted Johnson pressed him into regular duty inside.

Given Bruschi's return and the hope that Monty Beisel or Ryan Claridge can make an impact inside, Brown now gives third-down depth at outside linebacker -- something the team needs with Willie McGinest gone.

On 2005:

It is what it is, it was what it was. I dealt with injury the whole year. But that's last year. I'm healthy. I'm ready.

OFFSEASON

This is the best I've felt at this point in time in the past three years. I feel good about where I'm at. I'm still not close to where I want to be and hopefullu by training camp, I'll be ready to go.

ON BELICHICK CALLING HIM BEFORE DRAFTING MARONEY

He didn't have to. I think Bill's a good...a very, very great coach. I think out of respect he just wanted to give me the heads up. And that's what he did. We talked about golf. Any great coach would do that. Give his player a call and let him know the situation. I wasn't in the war room, I didn't know what was going on.

ON HELPING SHOW MARONEY THE ROPES

Why not? What kind of person would I be...I have all this knowledge and experience in this league ....(what kind of person would I be) if I didn't share it? I'd be a (jerk) and I don't want to be a (jerk).

WHAT KIND OF STUDENT IS HE?

A quick one. Great student. He's going to be ok?

DO YOU LIKE TO BE FIGHTING FOR A JOB AT THIS STAGE OF YOUR CAREER?
Fighting for a job? I been in this league 10 years. And it's an honor to be in this league 10 years. There's not too many players who can say, 'Hey, I've been a running back in the National Football League for 10 years. And pretty damn good. You guys want to bring up age, OK, 31. Though I'd appreciate it if you guys ain't gonna give me a gift, don't bring it up. Ain't too many people have been where (I've gone). I'm proud about it. It's an honor and a privilege.

WAS LAST YEAR PURELY INJURY
Well, due to the fact I was limping for a month and a half, I don't know.

DO YOU STILL HAVE PASSION FOR THIS GAME
I do. Or I wouldn't be here. I'm a straight-shooter. When I'm done, I'll let you know. I will be out of here.

WHEN WAS THE INJURY
I might get in trouble. We got a meeting at 1:15 and I don't want to hear about last year but it was sometime in October. That's the last I'll talk about last year. It wasn't good.

DO YOU FEEL THE MEDIA WAS UNFAIR TO YOU LAST YEAR?
They're unfair now. I feel real disrespected. I feel I have accomplished zero. Not even a grain of salt in this league. And that's terrible for a guy of my status. To be crossed up with...hey, I don't care. I sleep real good at night. I know who I am. Maybe other people can't gauge who I am.

WHY DOES ONE GUY GET PUT ON A PEDESTAL AND ANOTHER DOESN'T
I don't know. I don't get it. It's been this way since '97 since I started. I don't expect nothing different. I don't expect no love story from somebody, no family bio. I don't care about that. I've been dealing with it for 10 years.

DO YOU THINK YOU'RE MISUNDERSTOOD
What's not to understand about me. I come to work. I do what needs to be done and I go home.

DO YOU FEEL YOU'VE BEEN TREATED MORE HARSHLY HERE THAN IN CINCY
The way it's coming now, I don't know. Y'all are running neck and neck.

DID YOU DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT THIS OFFSEASON?
I switched it up a little bit. I'm getting a little bit up there so I'll switch it up and do some different things.

ARE YOU DOING MORE FLEXIBILITY?
If I give you that information, I gotta whack you. That's top secret stuff. I switched it up a little bit and this is the best I've felt in a couple eyears.

WAS LAST YEAR ONE OF THE MOST FRUSTRATING?
No. I think the last one in Cincinnati takes the cake. Last season wasn't good but it was bearable. I didn't like it though.

EVALUATE MARONEY
A nice young talent. He's gonna be ok. He'll be ok in years to come. He's gonna do big things for us.

DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE TO BRING HIM ALONG?
Hey. I got two daughters. That's enough teaching. I'll share what I know. If he has any questions, he can ask me. We have a good relationship and it ain't what people are making it out to be.

HOW MANY MORE YEARS OF PRO FOOTBALL WILL YOU PLAY
If you see me, you'll know I'm here. If not, you'll know I called it a day.

WILL YOU NEED TO BE TOLD WHEN IT'S OVER?
Nobody's going to need to tell me nothing. I'll walk away on my own.

DID YOU FEEL BADLY FOR THE WAY EMMITT SMITH'S CAREER ENDED IN AZ.
Man, he's a competitor. He felt in his heart, mind and body he could get it done. All you can do is tip your hat to that guy.

IS IT EASIER FOR YOU TO GET UP KNOWING YOU'RE ON A GOOD TEAM?

Why not? We're the Patriots. Long as I got Tom Brady, I'll be ok. I'm always energized and ready to go.

YOU SEEM PRETTY HAPPY RIGHT NOW.

What do I have to be down about?

DID YOU WANT TO COME IN A LITTLE HEAVIER THIS YEAR?
I want to come in about 270. And work my way down from there. Build up some strength. I'll be pretty quick at 270. Naah, I'll come to training camp where I need to be at 230.

SO THIS IS THE TIME YOU RATCHET IT UP, NOT MINI-CAMP.
C'mon man. We're talking about mini-camp. Mini-camp.

FOXBORO - Day 2 of Patriots Minicamp brought another day of "That jersey makes him look fat..." conversations from those charged with chronicling the exploits of the great franchise.

During Bill Belichick's press conference, a writer asked Bill Belichick if linebacker Monty Beisel had put on some muscle during the offseason. Belichick said no, nothing worth noting.

The writer mentioned that Beisel himself said he'd put on more than a dozen punds. Belichick differed about said beefiness and said he'd check the weigh-in numbers but didn't think that was the case.

This was all very civil, by the way, it was just getting to be kind of funny. Then the writer said he thought Beisel looked a little more "cut." Which would be hard to tell because the fella was fully clothed. Instead of a shrug, though, Belichick said he thought Beisel was pretty "cut" last year.

At this point, i started staring at my shoes because the whole thing had gone two exits past amusing and entered into awkwardly hysterical.

Had the writer not folded his tent we might still be there talking about body fat and lats.

Ironically (or coincidentally...or maybe even interestingly) yesterday, I noted that Corey Dillon looked like he had something approximating his old explosiveness during practice. I thought he looked in fine fettle. My buddy from the Herald and Boston's ESPN Radio 890 thought Dillon looked out of shape.

Not only did Mike and I see Dillon differently, I commented on the fact that Johnathan Sullivan's 315 pounds were well distributed.

Felger called Sullivan a "fat tub of goo" (bonus points if you know what circumstance first made that phrase famous).

So I said to Felger today, "You thought he was fat?"

"Yeah, did you see his face?" he answered.

"Well his head alone probably weighs 44 pounds but other than that he didn't look fat to me."

Anyway, I pledge to cease all commentary on player physiques for the remainder of minicamp.

And "fat tub of goo" was used by David Letterman to describe Dodgers reliever Terry Forster way back when. You can Google it to get the right date, I don't feel like it.

Tom

Perhaps your loyal scribe needs a refresher on what constitutes full pads. For whatever reason, I said the Pats practiced with all equipment yesterday. They didn't. They had on shoulder pads, helmets and shorts.

As Robert de Vicenzo once said, "What a stupid I am."

Also, as my mother often said, ""Pay some (goshdarn) attention!"

FOXBORO -- The Patriots mini-camp opened today with a 10 a.m. practice on the fields used for training camp.

Wide receiver Deion Branch was a no-show as expected.

Bill Belichick said during his press conference: "I'm not going to talk about anybody that's not here other than to say that (wide receiver Deion) Branch's absence is unexcused."

Belichick said there were no other unexcused absences and that he would not discuss whatever discipline was going to be handed to Branch for his absence.

On recently acquired defensive lineman Johnathan Sullivan, Belichick said, "He does a lot of things we ask our defensive linemen to do. We thought (Sullivan for wide receiver Bethel Johnson) was fair value in trade. We gave up something and got something -- an inside player with some position flexibility."

On his players' condition?

"I think it's June. I doubt any player is in top physical condition at this point."

On Chad Jackson:

"Chad's worked hard. He's been here since the middle of May. Overall as a group they're picking it up pretty well. (Players) have a long ways to go and things that can't (be practiced) until you see them on the field."

On Hurdles for Laurence Maroney to clear.

"The biggest thing for any rookie running back is the passing game. Routes. Coverages. Protection. We do blitz pickup everyday. It's (a lot different from college)."

On Monty Beisel: "He's much further along than he was last year. I don't think there's any doubt that the second year in a system helps the player."

FOXBORO -- Some excerpts from an interview with Patriots inside linebacker Ryan Claridge, who missed all of his rookie season in 2005 after having shoulder surgery. Claridge, 25, is still dealing with the death of his older brother Travis in February. Travis Claridge was 27.

WHAT HE MISSED THE MOST LAST YEAR AND WHAT HE'S LEARNED...

"Being a part of the team. That’s what I need the most. Just being around the guys – (Tedy) Bruschi, (Larry) Izzo, Don Davis – just seeing from a distance how they do things, I’m an idiot if I don’t follow those guys (so closely) that I run into their backs. What they do works. They know everything and I can take information from them every day.

Had surgery back in Las Vegas. Did first rehab there coming here so figured follow the same protocol because I came back 100 percent from the other one so same thing.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN UNLV'S 3-4 and NEW ENGLAND'S

"It’s like apples and oranges. I'm just trying to learn a new system and it’s taking a lot of time. There’s a lot of stuff to it but it boils down to playing football and in the end, you have to react. The hard part is translating it from the board to performing it on the field.

ADVICE HIS BROTHER GAVE HIM DURING HIS INJURY

"He (said) keep your nose clean because you don’t have a lot going on. Your job is to get healthy. That’s it. You have no other job but to get your body in shape and be healthy. And I think that’s pretty good advice."

FOXBORO - The Patriots plunged into the second day of the 2006 draft taking Tulsa fullback Garrett Mills (106 overall), a glue-fingered TE/FB/H-Back type who caught 87 balls for a NCAA record 1,235 yards and nine touchdowns (14.2 YPC average).

He gets the most out of his ability according to reports and is far more a receiver than a blocker. He'll also be used on special teams extensively.

Steve Gostkowski (119 overall) -- the most prolific kicker in this year's draft (70 career field goals) -- is an excellent get. He was 22 for 25 in 2005 for the Tigers and has a more than adequate leg.

FOXBORO - With the third round complete and the Patriots devoid of a defensive move in Day 1, here's a look at some fourth-round possibilities for New England.

The Pats hold the following picks on Sunday: 106, 118, 136, 152, 191, 205, 206, 229.

SAFETIES
Pat Watkins, Florida State. 6-4, 211, 4.5. Huge and smart flows to ball
Ko Simpson, South Carolina, 6-1, 209, 4.46 (sophomore). Young, good athlete.
Greg Blue, Georgia, 6-2, 215, 4.65. Huge hitter, near linebacker size. Not smart.
Calvin Lowry, Penn State, 5-11, 200, 4.58. Disciplined, smart and good on teams

DEFENSIVE ENDS
Ray Edwards, Purdue, 6-5, 273, 4.82. Great build, questionable attitude.
Mark Anderson, Alabama, 6-4, 255, 4.65. Good attitude, a little light, solid motor.
Parys Haralson, Tennessee, 6-1, 253, 4.84. Nasty, explosive rusher. Fast off edge.

All right, that's the end of that little exercise. Belichick just came out. Here's what he had to say (full transcript posted tomorrow).

ON CHAD JACKSON
He's a guy we were considering in the first round. As we got into the second, we were able to move up with the trade to Green Bay. We spent a lot of time with him down there and up here. We're looking forward to working with him. We think he's got some good things to work with.

ON DAVE THOMAS
He comes from a good program. He's very well thought of in all aspects of his game. He brings value on all four downs.

MORE ON JACKSON
He understands passing concepts. We (give a playbook excerpt to) a lot of players. We talk about it some then bring them back up and see what kind of recall they have.

ON HOW THE DEAL WITH GREEN BAY WENT DOWN
We looked at the draft charts and we were sitting there with two thirds and two fourths at 52. We talked to teams in that range. Denver was at 38 and we thought they might be interested in the receiver. Denver, Oakland, those were teams we felt we needed to get up above. Scott handled the whole trade scenario and did a good job with gettng that worked out. We just barely got the pick in before time expired.

ALSO
Belichick said that while Jackson has an excellent feel for the passing game, it doesn't quite measure up to the level of Deion Branch's when Branch came out of Louisville.

Also, the Pats expect to do some moving tomorrow with seven picks in hand.

FOXBORO -- The Pats are next up on the clock after a long, long wait. Smells like Alan Zemaitis, corner from Penn State to me.

FOXBORO - This is the conference call transcript of the conversation with Patriots first-round pick Laurence Maroney.

Q: Give us your impression of the Patriots and what you know of the organization and the team.

LM: I feel they have a great, great team going on right now. They have a nice little dynasty they started and they just have great players and a great coaching staff. I'm fortunate to come into a great situation.

Q: For people who haven't seen you play, can you compare yourself to someone who is in the NFL right now?

LM: I'd have to say in the NFL my style is somewhat like Edgerrin James.

Q: Who [from the Patriots] called you and what did they say?

LM: Actually I was in the bathroom. My sister had my phone and one of the little kids ran into the bathroom and said 'The phone is for you' and I picked up the phone and the guy was like, 'We're on the clock right now. We're thinking about drafting you. How do you feel about that?' It caught me off guard.

Q: So did they tell you they were going to draft you?

LM: He just said 'Stay on hold. We're thinking about drafting you, so stay on hold.' I was on hold for a minute and I was just looking at the TV screen and there were a lot of commercials on, so they must have been talking about it. Then he came back and [Coach Belichick] came on and was just breaking it down to me, you know, 'We drafted for you to come in and compete and help the team out.' And he was like 'How do you feel about being a Patriot?' And I said, 'I feel good about it.' Then it came across the TV that New England drafted me and it was a great feeling.

Q: Was it at all frustrating over the last three years that you always had to split carries and that you maybe could have won a Heisman if you hadn't?

LM: I never looked at it like that because I am a team player first of all. I want to come in and help the team win in any way possible. I don't mind coming off the bench and helping the team. I don't need to be in the spotlight. I just want to help the team win. In the situation with me and Marion [Barber], we both knew that we could bring something different to the table and we could both help the team win. We never once complained about who was getting the ball more, because I always felt like it's what you do with the carries you do get. And I felt like if I can be productive with the carries I do get and I help the team win, then I'm happy.

Q: What has coach told you about your upcoming role this fall?

LM: He just basically told me he was bringing me in to compete and that's all I can do. Just give me the opportunity -that's all I ask for- to compete and at least show what I can do on the next level and that's basically what the Patriots [did is] brought me in to compete.

Q: How do you feel about your ability to block blitzing linebackers? Where do you think you are in terms of your progress of sticking your nose in and doing that job?

LM: I'd say I'm very good with sticking my nose in now. I'd say the main thing that I have to learn is better technique. I feel like sometimes my technique is not the best but I've never had a problem with sticking my nose in there.

Q: Bill Belichick was talking about how the scheme for you is a little different this year with the opportunity to catch a lot more passes.

LM: That was never an issue for me. There were a lot of questions -people always wanted to ask- can I catch the ball? I feel really comfortable catching the ball. I feel I have good hands. It was just a situation that [running backs] weren't used as a receiver in the passing offense at the University of Minnesota. I know I can catch. I feel really comfortable about catching.

Q: What about playing with Tom Brady?

LM: He's a great quarterback. I'll love to play with him. I feel like I can get along well with him. I met him when I came down to visit. He was a great guy.

Q: There were some concerns about the pad level you play at, that maybe you run a little too standing up. Are you going to work on that or do you think that's just the way you run and you're going to stick to it?

LM: I feel like I run low at times. A lot of times... It's something that, I always feel like there is always room for improvement. I'm not the best that I can be right now. There's always room for improvement. If they feel like I'm running too high, yes I can improve on that if it's going to help better me.

Q: What type of pre-draft interaction did you have with the Patriots and Coach Belichick?

LM: I met him at the combine and then I met him again once I took a visit out there. He was just a great guy. We had a great conversation. He was just basically talking about football and how I feel- like do I see myself fitting in this offense. And I feel like I fit real well into this offense.

Q: Did Ben [McDaniels] tell you anything about [Offensive Coordinator] Josh McDaniels' offense up here?

LM: I met him once. His brother coached the defense at my college so I met him once. He came to visit me after my combine and he worked me out a little bit and we sat down and talked football, so I really got a feeling about the Patriots offense.

Q: What were your expectations coming into today? Did you expect to be the second back drafted?

LM: To tell you the truth, I really didn't. I try not to read and see what people say on the Internet, but the whole time I was fluctuating between the third and fourth running back taken. It was just basically coming in I was going to be the third or fourth back taken so I was just sitting patiently.

Q: What changes do you expect to see in the pro game coming from such a ground-based offense in Minnesota?

LM: I don't see me making too big of a change, because sitting down... when I had a meeting with Coach McDaniels, I felt like the offense was almost somewhat alike. It was worded differently, there were little small differences, but I feel like I can learn from camp and just practicing.

Q: When you thought about where you might go, was this the kind of team that you wanted?

LM: I didn't really know where I was going to go. I had no clue where I was going to end up. That's why I was excited, just to see where I was going to end up. This offense and this team, I feel like it was a perfect fit for me.

Q: Who were some of the teams that showed an interest in you?

LM: Denver called a lot and showed a lot of interest. The Ravens. Jacksonville. The Vikings. A lot of teams showed a lot of interest. I figured that one of them might get me, but once they picked I was like, 'I really didn't know where I'm going to end up.'

Q: You played many of your games in a dome stadium, and college teams don't play in January unless they're in a bowl game in a warm weather climate. It's very cold here in the late season. How do you think you'll adjust to that?

LM: I feel like... I had to go to class in this cold weather, so I... there were a couple of games in the Big 10 we had outside in the cold weather, and so it shouldn't be a problem. I've been in the cold weather the last three years so I'm pretty much used to it.

Q: What's the biggest thing you think you have to learn?

LM: Basically just the offense. They call things differently and do things a lot different. I basically just need to learn the offense and just watch the older folks and learn from them.

Q: How do you feel about competing with Corey Dillon for the starting job here?

LM: I feel good about it. I feel like competition only brings the best out of everybody so I feel like competing against him -because he's a great player and I feel like I can be a great player one day- so I feel like competition is the best thing for me.

FOXBORO - Excerpts of San Francisco coach Mike Nolan's press conference after his club drafted OLB Manny Lawson.

Manny ... has a lot of measurables that are very positive, the height, weight, speed and all that is there. The next two things which are most important are that he is a very good football player and also a great character person.

Q. Is Manny stout enough to line up as a Defensive end in a 4-3 scheme?
A. In certain schemes yes, and in all 4-3 schemes no, but in several he can.

Q. What does Manny do for the pass rush?
A. I’m hopeful he helps us quite a bit. I am looking for him to be a three down player, it is also safe to say I’m looking for him to be a four down player. If he can play on special teams too that would be great. I believe he will on the field for 2nd and 3rd downs. He will add something to our rush. We have a very good 3rd down package that a lot of people have been studying, it may have been the only thing other people have been studying that we do well at. That is something Manny will play quite a role at. Manny gives us versatility and is a unique player, He gives us size and speed and great awareness.

Q. How much of an impact does he have on Mario Williams and vice versa?
A.I think he had a pretty big impact on Mario. One of the things that impressed me was in the campus work out the guy that led all the drills was Manny Lawson. There was no question during the drills, setting up the drills, preparing for the drills, guy’s kind of moseyed into position, but there was no moseying in front of Manny. It was always Manny is going to lead the drill, which meant a lot. As you will talk to him you will find he is very intelligent, very bright, and articulate, but most importantly he has some command about him as far as a football player goes with other players. ”

Q. Was Manny overshadowed by Mario Williams after watching film on NC State?
A. I didn’t think tremendously no. I noticed there was a competition between the two, but in a good way. They are entirely different players one is a defensive end in Mario Williams.”

FOXBORO - Bill Belichick announced at the start of his press conference that he hasn't seen or spoken to Green Bay wide receiver Javin Walker. Walker's agent said Friday that the disgruntled wide receiver was headed to Foxboro to visit with the Patriots.

FOXBORO - Wide receiver Chad Jackson was slipping down the board until the Patriots stopped his slide by trading up to take him with the 32nd overall pick. The Pats sent Green Bay their second-round pick (52 overall) and one of their two third-round picks (75) to get Jackson.

The Pats have had good luck at 36. In 1996, they selected safety Lawyer Milloy at that spot and in 2003, they moved up to take Eugene Wilson.

FOXBORO - Maroney carried the ball a ton at the start of 2005, carrying 21, 26, 20, 46, 16, 36, 43 and 25 times in the Gophers first eight games respectively.

FOXBORO - The Patriots are up and they have their pick of NC State defensive end Manny Lawson, corner Richard Marshall, wide receivers Santonio Holmes and Chad Jackson, running backs Laurence Maroney and DeAngelo Williams.

Funny stuff...Chiefs coach Herman Edwards just popped up on the big screen to speak about his pick at 20, Tamba Hali and the Jets fans at Radio City Music Hall booed Edwards visage lustily.

FOXBORO - The Patriots selected Laurence Maroney from Minnesota, a running back who's 6-0, 217 pounds and ran a 4.4 40-yard dash. He's a St. Louis native.

>> Continue reading: DRAFT DAY '06: It's Maroney

FOXBORO -- The Chargers took Florida State corner Antonio Cromartie at 19. In a quick ESPN interview, it appeared Cromartie was set to go to California -- he had Frank Poncharello (CHIPS) style shades on.

FOXBORO - Surprisingly, this draft is just zooming by, through 17 picks in just three hours.

The Jets went with one of the surest picks on the board yesterday, taking Virginia offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson with the fourth overall pick to protect the blind side of whichever Jets quarterback winds up playing this year.

For the Patriots, that means plenty of matchups between Ferguson and Richard Seymour (and Rosevelt Colvin) over the next half-dozen years. Those should be epics.

Buffalo, meanwhile, went safety taking Ohio State's Donte Whitner with the eighth overall pick. The Bills truly needed secondary assistance, especially after the release of Lawyer Milloy. And Whitner figures to be on the field plenty given the general disarray the Bills offense will be in.

Miami shored up their secondary too, taking Tennessee's Jason Allen, an outstanding prospect that worried some teams because of a dislocated hip suffered in October. He's looking like he's back but, recalling how long it took Rosevelt Colvin to get his burst back, Allen may take some time to turn into the player he'll one day become.

With six picks to go, some talent lies on the board for New England, particularly Manny Lawson.

Here's the list of the guys left of note to New England.

Manny Lawson
Chad Greenway
Bobby Carpenter
Santonio Holmes
Johnathan Joseph
Richard Marshall

Florida State's tremendous defensive end headed to OLB Kamerion Wimbley just came off the board to Cleveland at 13 (after a trade down with Baltimore).

This pick was somewhat expected as the Browns were figured to take Wimbley, Manny Lawson or Haloti Ngata (who went to Baltimore).

Been Blogging Since the Start of the Draft but I just got logged in....don't ask...

High intrigue at the top of the draft. After the Texans took Sam Bowie (drafted ahead of Michael Jordan in 1984) off the hook by passing on Reggie Bush and signing Mario Williams Friday night, the heat was on the Saints.

I was driving to Gillette with the Saints on the clock and listening to The Fan (660 am out of New York), the hosts were absolutely drooling at the prospect of the Jets dealing up for Bush. When the Saints drafted him, you could actually hear the air go out of them followed by a “Well…no big splash for the Jets…”

By the time I got to the stadium, the Titans had effectively ended the Jeff Fisher Era by drafting Vince Young. ESPN’s Sal Palontonio then announced that the Jets – who were on the clock at the time – were facing a “public relations nightmare” because they looked like they were going to draft D’Brickashaw Ferguson of Virginia. Hmmmph. Perhaps the only absolute sure thing in the draft aside from Bush is Ferguson. Ironically, when the Jets took him, the Jets-centric fans at Radio City Music Hall were pleased.

Ron Jaworski on USC quarterback Matt Leinart who’s in the process of rapelling down the board: “There’s no question he’s ready to play in the …NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE. Which is a plus, because he just graduated and all.”

Chris Berman just announced the “Oakland Leinart” were about to make their pick.

Poor Jay Cutler. The ESPN camera just swung to him with Buffalo on the clock. He looked like he was ready for sentencing. Then he banged his mother on the elbow and stuck out his palm to request his Blackberry. Ma Cutler complied. Then, when the two of them noticed the camera on them, they grinned like they were having the time of their lives.

The back-to-back selections of safeties Michael Huff (7 to Oakland) and Donte Whitner (8 to Buffalo) were eyebrow raisers. Huff was a definite top 10 but the Raiders figured to take a quarterback. As for Whitner, he was figured to be on the board when the Pats selected at 21. Not so fast, my friend. The Bills take him to replace Lawyer Milloy.

With the Patriots - and many other teams - considering the merits of Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter this week as a possible first-round pick, Bill Belichick can think back to Carpenter's dad, Rob Carpenter, who played for the Giants when Belichick was the defensive coordinator there.

"Damn good runner. Could really find holes and he had good balance. He wasn't real fast - decent speed - but he had good balance and great vision. As an inside runner, he was outstanding. Tackle to tackle he was great. He almost always made yards."

The Sporting News ran a mock draft yesterday in which their correspondent from each team made the first-round selection for the team they cover.

Interesting results. There was no trading. For what it's worth, I when I got an e-mail from Vinny Iyer at Sporting News updating the first 16 picks, I made a short list of guys still on the board the Pats would consider.

They were: Bobby Carpenter, Chad Greenway, Antonio Cromartie, Jimmy Williams, DeMeco Ryans and Kamerion Wimbley.

Carpenter, Greenway and Cromartie went right after that leaving the Pats with Wimbley who may be the most promising of the guys.

1. Texans -- Reggie Bush, RB, Southern California
2. Saints -- D'Brickashaw Ferguson, OT, Virginia
3. Titans -- Vince Young, QB, Texas
4. Jets -- Mario Williams, DE, North Carolina State
5. Packers -- A.J. Hawk, OLB, Ohio State
6. 49ers -- Vernon Davis, TE, Maryland
7. Raiders -- Matt Leinart, QB, Southern California
8. Bills -- Brodrick Bunkley, DT, Florida State
9. Lions -- Michael Huff, S, Texas
10. Cardinals -- Ernie Sims, OLB, Florida State
11. Rams -- Manny Lawson, DE/OLB, North Carolina State
12. Browns -- Haloti Ngata, DT, Oregon
13. Ravens -- Winston Justice, OT, Southern California
14. Eagles -- Chad Jackson, WR, Florida
15. Broncos -- Jay Cutler, QB, Vanderbilt
16. Dolphins --- Santonio Holmes, WR, Ohio State
17. Vikings -- Chad Greenway, OLB, Iowa
18. Cowboys -- Bobby Carpenter, OLB, Ohio State
19. Chargers -- Antonio Cromartie, CB, Florida State
20. Chiefs -- Jonathan Joseph, CB, South Carolina
21. Patriots -- Kamerion Wimbley, OLB/DE, Florida State
22. 49ers -- Demeco Ryans, OLB, Alabama
23. Buccaneers -- Marcus McNeill, OT, Auburn
24. Bengals -- Mathias Kiwanuka, DE, Boston College
25. Giants -- Gabe Watson, DT, Michigan
26. Bears -- Tye Hill, CB, Clemson
27. Panthers -- Laurence Maroney, RB, Minnesota
28. Jaguars -- Leonard Pope, TE, Georgia
29. Jets -- Nick Mangold, C, Ohio State
30. Colts -- DeAngelo Williams, RB, Memphis
31. Seahawks -- Kelly Jennings, CB, Miami
32. Steelers -- LenDale White, RB, Southern California

Tom Brady - that guy who plays quarterback for the Patriots? - he co-hosted a Sirius NFL Radio deal on Sunday in NYC...some of the excerpted highlights dutifully e-mailed to me from the folks at Sirius and now passed on to....you...

On Rodney Harrison:
Tom Brady: “I don’t think there’s any player on our team that works harder than Rodney and Rodney was out there the other day running and cutting. It’s been a tough injury for him but if there’s one guy who can come back from that injury its Rodney Harrison. He’s a great leader, a great captain and he’s a great person. I’m excited about his return and I’m excited about what he can bring back to our team. I know we could use him. We could have used him last year.”

Co-host Steve Cohen: “He’s one of those guys that make 30 other GMs around the league kick themselves and say, ‘Why didn’t we sign him when the Chargers let him go?’”

Brady: “I can’t believe that the Chargers would ever let him go. He’s the best defensive player I’ve ever played with. When we beat the Eagles (Super Bowl XXXIX), Rodney Harrison was the MVP of that team, he was the MVP of that Super Bowl. I know Deion [Branch] won it and believe me there’s nobody who loves Deion more than me but Rodney Harrison, if you were a Patriots fan, you knew who the best player on the team was. It was Rodney Harrison, without a doubt.”

On losing teammates to free agency:
Brady: “[Adam Vinatieri] is a great teammate. The most clutch kicker in NFL history. A future Hall of Famer. He’ll always be a good friend. I hate to see him go to the Colts. I hate to see him go anywhere other than kick for us but that’s part of what this league is built on. We’ve just got to try to regroup, try to fill that void and obviously we wish him the best of luck.
“Everybody wanted David Givens back and everybody wanted Willie McGinest back and Tom Ashworth. But I think those guys had great opportunities in other places and they decided to explore those opportunities. That’s their right and that’s what they’ve earned and it is hard for me, as a player, to say, ‘Guys, you shouldn’t do that. You should have stayed with us.’ Because they wanted to go on. They wanted to test the free agent market and hopefully they are happy with where they’re at.”

On Richard Seymour and his contract extension:
Brady: “There’s nobody like Richard. I think Richard has more respect from everybody than any other player on our team. He’s such a young man in age but he’s so mature and so professional. He’s had a lot of tough things happen in his life. His father passed away a few years ago and he came to training camp and was as determined as ever. He’s had some injury problems but nothing has really de-railed him. He’s a great man. He’s got a great family. There is no better player in the league to represent the New England Patriots than Richard Seymour.
“I know how thrilled I was. He’s one of my closest friends on the team. I know how thrilled our coaches were and our owner. It’s really a great thing for all the Patriots fans, too. He’ll be a great guy to root for.”

Kamerion Wimbley, a 6-3, 248-pound defensive end from Florida State is a fast-riser on NFL draft boards.

Fast off the edge with a terrific motor and hard-working attitude, he's seen as an ideal outside linebacker for 3-4 defenses.

He's drawn comparisons to Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware who wound up going 11th overall last year to Dallas and had a solid rookie year despite coming out of little Troy State.

Wimbley is a player who'd fit nicely with New England. If he lasts until the 21st overall pick.

We caught up with him this morning by phone.

Pro-Jo: Have you enjoyed the predraft process?

Kamerion Wimbley: I have. I've had the chance to go different places, meet a lot of different people -- influential people in the NFL, college players. It's been very busy. I really haven't had a chance to take a breath and a breather. But I'd rather be busy than not.

PJ: What's surprised you about the process?
KW: All the people involved and the behind the scenes scouting that makes it work. I never realized the number of coaches, scouts and staff. It's much more like a business, a real company with the managers, executives and staff. Its run just like a regular business and football is the product.

PJ: How do NFL teams compare to Florida State in terms of how they're run?
KW: There are a lot of similarities. Becase of FSU's success in sending players to the league, they set our college program up to be similar. Some of our have been in the NFL and a lot that haven't sent players to the league so they understand that aspect.

PJ: Which teams have you visited?
KW: Cleveland is the only place I went to. I think a lot of teams gathered all their info at the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine and at our workouts.

PJ: Do you monitor mock drafts and the rising and falling stock of prospects?
KW: Not so much anymore. Initially I did because I had a lot of ground to make up. (Wimbley suffered a sprained knee near the end of FSU's 2005 season). After I hurt my knee, my stock dropped and I didn't think there was an accurate assessment of my ability. I wanted to see how far I dropped and how much work was ahead of me. But right now (the draft is April 29-30) there's nothing you can do.

PJ: You got good reviews on your work against Virginia's D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the best lineman in the draft). What was it like to play against him?
KW: I don't know if this applies, but if I was an offensive lineman, I would be similar to him. Long arms, explosive, smooth but not overly big. He was definitely a competitor and someone I enjoyed going up against. It was kind of like a chess match.


PJ: Have you played any linebacker and do you feel comfortable dropping into coverage?

KW: I played defensive end the whole time (at FSU) but we dropped sometimes in games and I would cover a back out of the backfield or a receiver sometimes. I feel very comfortable (dropping in coverage). To me, there's not too much difference (playing on the edge) whether my hand is down (like a defensive end) or up.

PJ: After being a defensive end during your college career, do you have mixed emotions about being projected as a linebacker in the pros?
KW: I embrace it. It's a great opportunity for me to do something new. I like new challenges. I heard early on could that I move to linebacker in the league and I liked the fact I was going to be looked at for two positions. It gives you more exposure rather than just being a defensive end. If I go higher as a linebacker than I would as a defensive end, that's fine with me. That's what you want. If I train the whole time as a defensive end and then I move, I'm fine with that.

PJ: You've been called an outstanding worker with exceptional character (by Pro Football Weekly). How important are those traits to you?
KW: The work part, I'll always have that. And that's not hard to maintain. I'm always trying to get better and not be satisfied. I haven't accomplished anything I want to accomplish. In the NFL, you can make the Pro Bowl, win the Super Bowl, be MVP -- you can always have higher goals and there's always something else to accomplish.

As for character, I look back on teammates I had at FSU who've gotten in trouble - great players and athletes who dropped their stock with bad decisions I've realized the importance of taking care of busnienss. Teams have no doubts if you do that, they're not scared to touch you. I try to stress that to guys still in school now, "Don't get in trouble and get arrested."

PJ: Have you seen DeMarcus Ware play?
KW: I have never seen him play but a guy named Brian McFadden (a former FSU corner who's now with Pittsburgh) came back from the Senior Bowl last year and told me I'd be the next DeMarcus Ware because of my ability to play in space and my size. I guess he was right from what I've heard.

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