Projo Pats Blog

July 2005 Archives

FOXBORO - Two great quotes from Bill Belichick's press conference this morning.

First, on the subject of limiting playing time for veterans in preseason games, Belichick said, "Who knows, maybe if (Colts running back Edgerrin) James played in the preseason, he wouldn't have fumbled(in the season opener at Foxboro last year). Or maybe if he played (in the preseason) he would have fumbled eight times instead of two."

The other came from a Japanese television reporter who asked, "What's the most important thing to be a perfect football coach?"

Belichick adroitly restated the question inserting the word "good" for "perfect."

Things like that are interesting. It shows how on-guard Belichick is. By restating the question his way, he can't be accused of being so presumptuous of knowing what the "perfect" football coach needs to do. Because the Japanese reporter asked the question with deference and wasn't trying to "trap" Belichick, Belichick re-framed the context delicately and almost imperceptibly. He likely would have been irked at the phrasing if he was asked that question by a "local."

PRACTICE SHOTS

Cool and cloudy. Full Pads. 2-hour workout. Linebacker Monty Beisel missed his third straight practice with a leg that "tightened up." Willie McGinest is still watching as well.

The team spent a fair chunk of its fourth training camp practice on red-zone offense and defense yesterday.

Defensively, they spent a lot of time working on the passing game inside the 10 with the first defense going against a dummy offense made up of defensive players and quarterbacked by Larry Izzo (a lefty whose three-quarters delivery isn't quite Stablerian).

On the other side, tight ends Christian Fauria and Jed Weaver strung together a few really nice red-zone grabs -- Fauria taking a leaping one-hander from Tom Brady; Weaver with a diving grab of a Doug Flutie dart. Weaver had another really good practice.

Second-year back Cedric Cobbs looks a whole lot more comfortable in the passing game than he did last year when he sometimes looked like he'd never seen a football in the air before.

Rookie Ellis Hobbs brought back some kickoffs yesterday. So did CObbs. Still no sign of Chad Morton, Bethel Johnson or Tim Dwight who are all on the PUP list.

The first-team defense was LDE Ty Warren, NT Vince Wilfork, RDE Jarvis Green; LOLB Tully Banta-Cain, LILB Chad Brown, RILB Mike Vrabel, ROLB Rosevelt Colvin; LCB Asante Samuel, SS Rodney Harrison, FS Eugene Wilson, RCB Randall Gay.

In the 11-on-11, Brady hit Troy Brown on a nice deep crossing pattern but soon after he threw a semi-desperation pass downfield that was picked easily by Tyrone Poole.

Wide receiver David Terrell and corner Hank Poteat got into a mild jam during practice. This made Harrison and Wilson very excited on the sidelines as they urged on their secondary colleague.

Doug Flutie looked solid in the two-minute drill until drilling a pass directly into the hands of the cornerback Hobbs.

THE MANY SHADES OF ANT...WHAT!?

With Antuan Edwards now running around in a Patriots uniform, the Pats have had almost every conceivable spelling of that first name pas through. Consider, Antowain Smith, Antwan Harris, Antoine Womack. If there's a God with a sense of humor, somewhere a kid named Auntjuan is destined to pass through Foxboro someday.

Mike Vrabel on rookie first-rounder Logan Mankins.
"He's a hillbilly. He's a good kid. I like the handlebar mustache. He holds like all of them."

FOXBORO -- There's just one practice today.

Perfect weather, about 75 degrees, very light wind.

There's probably about 2,000 people here -- well-attended but not banged out.

The Pats did some quick review work on some running plays offensively then appeared to be installing some passing plays.

Daniel Graham, who left practice a tad early Friday night with a possible leg issue, did not dress for practice.

Willie McGinest didn't dress out either. CHad Brown, Rodney Harrison and Christian Fauria -- who all were out of Friday's p.m. practice -- were dressed yesterday.

Players were in full uniform

The quarterbacks did a lot of throwing to stationary targets. For instance, an assistant would stand at the right hash on the 10-yard line with arms outstretched, the quarterback would drop back from the 25 and try to hit the assistant's hands. All four QBs threw really well (they should, they're in the NFL).

The wide receivers worked on sealing corners off on running plays. Troy Brown is still good at that. Some of the special teams players -- Dexter Reid, Kory Chapman, Ray Ventrone -- worked on getting back and in position to block on kick returns.

It's cool to watch the drills that are used to teach these things.

Two practices tomorrow...I'll wrap this up so I can finish up my stuff for tomorrow's paper.

T

FOXBORO -- Here's how Bill Belichick described the phase of camp the Patriots entered yesterday.

"We're in it right now. There's no light at the other end of the tunnel. You just put your head down and keep going."

A sparsely attended morning press conference allowed Belichick to be expansive on a few topics.

One of which was training camp itself.

"With the Giants (in the 1980s), our teaching and installation schedule would sometimes be three weeks. Now it's more like one week. The difference is that now we covered a lot of those things in spring camps. ...Now it's more of a review than the first time they're hearing it."

On the duration of camps in the past:

"My first training camp with the Colts opened July 5. Our first regular season game was September 21st. So it was 2 1/2 months of training camp -- six preseason games and we scrimmaged the Redskins three times so that was another three games. It was like really playing a full 10-game, 9-game schedule, what would amount to a college schedule before the season even started.

"The burnout was...you really had to pace yourself. And when you're a rookie which I was, I got to Spetmeber and felt like I'd gone two seasons and we hadn't even started yet."

And on the evolution of injuries and diagnosing:

"Somebody had to have torn an ACL back then (but we'd never head of one). I remember my Dad was in camp a couple of years ago after practice we were sitting in my office and the trainer came in and said, 'This guy's got a dislocated elbow."

I said, 'So what's that mean?'

He said, 'Well he's probably going to be out about eight weeks.'

My Dad looks at him and says, 'Are you kidding me?! Eight weeks? I dislocated my elbow in college and I didn't miss a game. I played the whole season with a dislocated elbow. Couldn't bend it. But I played with it.' "

On high ankle sprains:

"Didn't seem like we ever had 'em before (10 years ago). I guess we must have but it seemed like everybody had a low ankle sprain. But that caught on like bell-bottom pants."

In tomorrow's paper, I'll have a story on the Patriots resilience in the Belichick Era. How have they weathered so much?

I'll also have a Journal noting things from afternoon practice and any news on the contract front.

T

FOXBORO - Getting the housekeeping out of the way early, Bill Belichick was asked at his 11:30 press conference if Richard Seymour was on hand.

"I haven't seen him," Belichick replied.

When pressed at the end of the press conference for a little more information on the Pro Bowl defensive end.

"Here's what we'll do, OK? You don't need to ask the question every day. If there's something, I'll lead right off with it, OK? I'll tell you right off the bat, 'This is what's new.' Alright? But right now I'm focused on the players who are here. That's what I'm going to do is do my best to coach the players who are here."

In theory, that's a reasonable request.

In practice, it's hard to pretend you're doing your job gathering pertinent information on the football team if you don't ask questions about subjects that -- however uncomfortable they may be -- are pretty important.

Even at the risk of irritating a guy who, three minutes later, you'll ask to articulate his views on another topic for a story you're working on.

On the other hand, if you already know what the answer will be, why bother asking the question and irking him so that the press conference goes cantankerous on everyone.

Slippery decisions. That's why this job is so staggeringly arduous.

I need to go get a fajita now.

Practice is at 2:30 and I'll hit you with some info from that and some other Belichick nuggets from this a.m.

T

The Patriots afternoon practice got going at 5:30 this evening.

They're going in shells (helmets and shoulder pads with shorts).

A couple of highlights from the 7-on-7 passing drill, Asante Samuel and Matt Chatham combined to break up a long Tom Brady throw down the middle of the field. Duane Starks and Chad Scott were working with the second group of corners. Randall Gay and Asante Samuel were with the first group.

David Givens and Deion Branch were the first two WRs on the field followed by David Terrell and Ricky Bryant.

Tight end Jed Weaver looked good in the passing game in both practices while Rohan Davey, who struggled with accuracy somewhat last training camp, looked very good yesterday.

There's a lot of mixing and matching of personnel going on right now so one player running with the perceived "1s" doesn't necessarily make him a soon-to-be-starter.

Willie McGinest appeared to be the only veteran that was out of both practices. Rodney Harrison and Christian Fauria didn't partake in the p.m. session.

I'll be back with something tomorrow by 1 p.m.

T

FOXBORO - It's officially a holdout. Richard Seymour wasn't on the field for the first practice of training camp yesterday morning.

When asked about Seymour's absence at his 11:30 a.m. press conference, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said he'd only have comment on the players who were actually in camp (echoes of Bill Parcells comment when once asked about an injured player: "I only deal with the living.").

In addition to the guys on the PUP lists (Bethel Johnson, Chad Morton, Tim Dwight most prominent among those) Willie McGinest also didn't practice.

The team went in full pads under bright skies with a light wind.

Chad Brown and Monty Beisel worked almost the entire practice at the inside linebacker spots.

Dan Klecko spent most of his time at nose tackle.

Tom Brady, who may not have had a pass hit the ground until late Aguust during 2004 camp, didn't seem as accurate as usual in the first session. He threw shoulda-been picks into the arms of Chad Brown and Duane Starks. They both dropped them.

Brady said afterwards he wasn't sharp. Rookie Matt Cassel, meanwhile, threaded a ridiculous 15-yard slant to diving wide receiver Ricky Bryant through a forest of waving arms.

Doug Flutie and Rohan Davey both threw well in the first session too.

One funny moment, on about the fourth play of the 11-on-11 session, Rosevelt Colvin was lined up over tight end Ben Watson. Watson must have jumped because Colvin reached out and shoved the second-year tight end back on his can.

NOTES

Ty Law's No. 24 has been given to safety Dexter Reid. Given that the team still has Drew Bledsoe's No. 11 on ice, giving away Law's number so quickly seems a little hasty. But maybe that's me.

In addition to Mike Vrabel getting a new deal, it was reported that defensive end Jarvis Green got a five-year contract that could net him between $12 and $18 million depending on how well he plays.

The team's next practice is at 5:30 tonight and is open to the public. Tomorrow, they go at 2:30 p.m. (the day's only session).

I'll check back in tomorrow after Belichick's press conference around noon.

T

Richard Seymour was not seen on the field . . . I will update after Bill Belichick's press conference later this morning.

Tom

Richard Seymour did not report on Thursday. I'll update in the a.m.

Chad Morton, Bethel Johnson and Tim Dwight will all begin camp on the PUP list.

Tedy Bruschi was placed on PUP as well, meaning the window is cracked for him to return if he happens to change his mind.

Tom

It's not humanly possible to dislike Ted Johnson. There's not a shred of pretense to him. He's more regular than any regular guy except for the 20-inch neck.

His stunning retirement announcement means there's one less terrific guy to deal with for me, one less talented, selfless, hard-nosed player to root for for you.

I'll miss him because he was so darn articulate and patient. And I also liked his playing style a lot.

I just got off a conference call with him.

He explained that doctors warned him it was time to walk away. His head has simply been hit too much.

"I ignored it for a long time," he said. "My mind and spirit want to (keep playing) so bad but my body knew it wasn't going to get done. It was strongly urged and suffested that I should consider the ramifications of continuing my career."

I'll have a full story on Johnson's announcement and career with teammates reaction in tomorrow's ProJo. I'll also have a story looking at the start of training camp (first practice is at 9 a.m.).

ALSO

No word yet on whether defensive lineman Richard Seymour reported today as he was scheduled to.

We'll be back tomorrow morning soon after 9 a.m. to let you know if he's on the field.

The other day at the beach, my son Dan was collecting rocks and shells and putting them in a bucket.

Most things he would pick up, investigate briefly and then drop in for more extensive examination later.

But a few things gave him extra pause. He felt these things required prompt attention and discussion. Or maybe Dan just felt someone should know he found them.

"Dad," he'd call up to me, holding something that demanded clarity. "What's this?"

"Dad, look at this skipping rock."

"Dad, this is like that thing we saw last year."

"Dad, this looks like Squidward."

The point? Some things warrant in-depth investigation. They need to be spread out on a table and analyzed. Sometimes, you need to call in other viewpoints. But there are some things that deserve immediate discussion or scrutiny.

Every 7-year-old on the beach knows that.

This season, in our daily Patriots blog, I'll get you information that needs to be known, discussed or scrutinized more quickly and immediately.

Why? Well, first off, because I can. I have the means to do it. Secondly, I need to. Our paper (to the best of my knowledge) comes out every morning.

News, unfortunately, doesn't wait for the paper and something that happens with the Patriots at say, 10 a.m. on a Wednesday gets reported on websites, hashed out on radio, blurbed on the news and analyzed on ESPN before our paper hits your doorstep Thursday morning.

My son Dan wouldn't want his brother telling me about the horseshoe crab Dan found. And if he did, punches would likely be thrown. I can't throw punches (effectively) but I can beat others to the punch. Or move to prevent others from landing first.

The blog will not be as in-depth or developed as the features, columns and notebooks that will appear in the Journal every morning. I view it the blog as a complement, not a replacement; a place where things can be a little less formal.

In addition to quick-hitting news and nuggets from the Patriots, I'll also have a few other recurring features: a quote of the day, trivia, links of note, announcements.

I also want this to be a means for connecting and I encourage questions and comments and intend to post them regularly. E-mail me at tcurran@projo.com with whatever you have.

My aim during training camp is to post each day by 1 p.m. that I'm down there (which will be most every day). I'll get something up immediately if it's breaking news. Fair enough? Good. Let's wrap this little intro up.

I have a chat today at noon on www.projo.com and may have an update to the blog later this afternoon depending how my phone calls go.

Tom