Pre-game notes
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August 2006 ArchivesAugust 31
Hey all -- This may be my only entry tonight -- despite the fact that *three* professional teams (Giants, Jets, RedBulls) call this stadium home, they don't have high-speed wireless here... it's dialup only (!) We're about 40 minutes from game time, and both teams are on the field for warm-ups. Tom Brady is not in uniform; neither is Laurence Maroney, though Corey Dillon is. Dillon was spotted on the stationary bike behind the New England bench before most of the rest of his teammates came out for warmups. Rodney Harrison and Dan Koppen are on the field. Here is the list of inactives: On the other side of the field, however, just about every Giant is in uniform -- Eli Manning, Tiki Barber, Michael Strahan and Amani Toomer are all warming up. New York coach Tom Coughlin said this week that his regular starters would go about a dozen plays. The New York inactives: shalise 
August 29
Running back Corey Dillon divulged tonight that it was his helmet, not some lineman's big 'ol finger, that caused his eye injury against Washington last Saturday. At the team's Kickoff Gala tonight, Dillon said his helmet was too big, and moved when he hit the turf during a first-quarter run, swelling his eye. Though he did not return to the game, Dillon has been on the practice field this week. Also at the Gala, emceed by Brown alum and ESPN legend Chris Berman, Jarvis Green received the Patriots' Ron Burton Community Service Award; Pats owner Robert Kraft said he "trusts" Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli in regards to the Deion Branch situation, and Tedy Bruschi was on hand (no pun intended), with a soft cast on his surgically-repaired right wrist. The Gala is an annual event for season-ticket holders that raises money for the Patriots Foundation; it also gives attendees the chance to meet all of the players. Tom Brady had the longest line for autographs; rookie back Laurence Maroney, wearing a three-piece suit that would make Michael Irvin jealous, seemed to be enjoying himself, cracking jokes and laughing quite a bit. have a good night
So I'm going to go out on a limb and say we'll be seeing a whole lot of Matt Cassel and maybe even some Corey Bramlet under center come Thursday night. Brady wasn't on the field during the media access period for the second straight day, leading me to that thought. (I know, I'm brilliant ;) Also not on the field today: RB Laurence Maroney, S Tebucky Jones, WR Reche Caldwell, DL Dan Klecko, LB Chad Brown; they are in addition to the usual absentees, WR Chad Jackson, S Guss Scott, LB Tedy Bruschi and WR Deion Branch. DL Marquise Hill practiced for the second straight day, and T Nick Kaczur was back on the field after missing yesterday. All-purpose Willie Andrews, LB Corey Mays and TE David Thomas were all sporting the red no-contact jerseys. Practice was again in pads and shorts/pants; because of the rain, the session was inside the bubble. Before we media types got kicked out, the Pats were doing work on special teams. shalise
Afternoon all -- The Pats announced their roster cuts before Bill Belichick began his press conference and there were no major surprises: CB Hank Poteat, LB Freddie Roach, WRs Rich Musinski and Keron Henry, C Brian Barthelmes and G Nick Seitz. Poteat was the only true veteran of the group; he was signed in Jan. 2005, to help the depleted secondary the week before New England's playoff game with Indianapolis, playing in that game, and seeing more significant time in the AFC title game against Pittsburgh. In 15 games (5 postseason) with the Pats, he made 29 tackles(24 unassisted), had a sack and two passes defensed. Belichick praised Poteat's professionalism and the way in which he handled a stressful situation, coming onto the defending Super Bowl champions at the beginning of another championship run. "He's a great kid, a good player to coach. He played in some big games; I have no issues at all with Hank. It was tough this morning," Belichick said. The Patriots announced that DL Jarvis Green will receive the fourth annual Ron Burton Community Service Award at the team's Kickoff Gala this evening. Green is one of five New Enlgland players from Louisiana and has done a great deal to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina in his home state. He also participates in numerous fundraising and charity events in Massachusetts. Belichick was asked if the team will be carrying just two quarterbacks to start the season, since the third QB on the roster, rookie Corey Bramlet, has yet to step on the field in the preseason. Belichick said that he and his staff will do what's best for the team, but added that it's also more important to get #2 -- in this case, Matt Cassel -- reps in game situations than it is to get #3 some time. We'll have more after we come back from practice. shalise
August 28
Thanks in advance for letting me indulge in a little Allen Iverson. Anyway, there were some interesting players on the field -- and not on the field -- for New England during the open media period. Not seen: Taking part in practice for the first time in quite a while was DL Marquise Hill; RB Corey Dillon was also out there after apparently getting poked in the eye durihg Saturday's game, though he wasn't talking much during the locker room access period. DL Jarvis Green was back out there after missing much of last week. Rookies David Thomas and Willie Andrews were both wearing red no-contact jerseys. Thomas missed practice last Thursday and did not take part in the game against Washington; Andrews did play Saturday. The players were in pads and shorts. shalise
Hey all -- Just back from the locker room access period, which followed coach Belichick's press conference. As Belichick noted, with the Patriots playing their final preseason game on Thursday against the Giants, the team is trying to fit seven days of work into five. Belichick said he had no roster moves to report, though the team has to cut 10 players by 4 p.m. tomorrow. He also said -- through pursed lips -- that there was no update on the Deion Branch situation. About the team's red zone play (New England was seven-for-seven Saturday): Getting to as many situations as possible during preseason: Belichick said Tebucky Jones, who seemed to suffer a leg injury Saturday, and Corey Dillon, who was poked in the eye, are "day to day," as is rookie receiver Chad Jackson, who has not practiced in several weeks. More when I get back from practice. shalise
August 27
The Tacoma News Tribune is reporting that the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will play a preseason game in China next year, which would be the first-ever NFL game in the world's most populated country. According to the News Tribune report, NFL officials are discussing a plan whereby the Patriots would spend a week in Seattle, with the teams possibly playing an exhibiton game at Qwest Field. The Pats and Seahawks would then travel to China for practices, public appearances and another game in Beijing. Outgoing NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who is schuled to hand the reins to Roger Goodell on Friday, said earlier this year that the league was targeting China. A game next year could serve as the beginning of the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Olympics, which will be centered in Beijing. Interestingly, the Patriots were the first NFL team to have a Chinese-language team website. The NFL has not yet made an official announcement. The league has held preseason games in other countries since 1986, though there were none this year. Last October, the first regular-season game was played outside the US, with Arizona and San Francisco playing in Mexico City. shalise
Patriots' coach Bill Belichick had a day-after conference call this afternoon; here are some excerpts from the chat. As always, he stressed that the team did some things well but still has things to work on as it looks toward its regular season opener against Buffalo on Sept. 10. Q: Were there certain things that really encouraged you when you were looking at the tape (of the Redskins game)? Q: What did you see from (Junior Seau) overall last night? BB: He was in on a few plays and is starting to get the communication and playing with guys, the fits in the running game. Playing some drop-back pass responsibilities and stuff like that, built in from the practice reps. That's a start. Q: How does Johnathan Sullivan look? Is he improving? BB: Yes, he sure is. He definitely is. I think every game he has played better and he’s practiced better. Q: Will you be making any roster moves before the cut down date? BB: We’re probably going to talk about that a little bit later this evening. In any case, it has to be done by Tuesday at four. We’ll just have to see how it goes. I couldn’t commit to anything right now one way or the other. Q: What do you say to fans that think from watching the game last night that the offense is a juggernaut? BB: Well, as I’ve been saying, this game was a step in our preparations, it was part of the process. Some things were okay and hopefully we can continue to build on those. Other things were a little less than okay and they need to be corrected and improved and that’s what the process is, so that’s what we’re going to do. We'll have more tomorrow after Belichick's morning press conference and the locker room access period. have a nice night,
New England coach Bill Belichick addressed the media after the team's 41-0 whitewash of Washington, as he always does after games. Excerpts from his opening statement: "It was good to see some players back out there that hadn't played in a while [safety Rodney Harrison and center Dan Koppen]. We took a step forward, we executed better than last week, but we still have a long way to go. But there are some positives and hopefully we'll continue to build on those." Belichick finished the statement by saying he'd answer any questions about the game and players that played in the game -- in other words, don't ask about Deion Branch and the statement the team made on Friday that it would allow Branch and his agent, Jason Chayut, to seek a trade or new deal for Deion until Friday. shalise
August 26
The game scratches have just been announced. For the Pats, the following players are not expected to play: Junior Seau was just announced as a starter, as was Rodney Harrison. For the Redskins: The game forecast: cloudy and cool with a game-time temperature of 67 degrees; humidity is 64 percent and winds are coming from the southeast at 5 MPH.
Evening all -- As the players continue to prepare on the field, Patriots owner Bob Kraft walked across the field, nearly to the Redskins sideline, to greet Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. The men initally shook hands and then embraced and continued to chat for several minutes before once again hugging and parting ways. Kraft also shook hands with a couple of the game officials as he headed back toward the New England sideline. shalise
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
August 25
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
wrote, Good for the Pats. Who does this jerk think he is? A decent receiver who looks better than he actually is due to Tom Brady... Read the rest, write another...
In an unusual move, the New England Patriots have posted on their Web site a two-sentence statement saying that they are giving wide receiver Deion Branch permission to seek a trade and negotiate a contract with another team. The statement says that the permission is granted to Branch through Sept. 1. Branch, the Patriots' top wide receiver, is under contract but has been holding out for a richer deal.
wrote, The guy is a disloyal bum, not only to the Patriots, but to Tom Brady who made something out of this nothing. I believe he... Read the rest, write another... August 24
Just in case you were planning on drafting WR Erik Davis for your fantasy team, don't -- the undrafted rookie free agent from Vanderbilt is a man without a team. The Pats cut him today. Davis, 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, played in both preseason games and had one reception for 15 yards. shalise
Hey all -- Just in from practice -- aka watching the players stretch -- and there were few surprises on who was and wasn't there. The newest player to miss practice was rookie tight end David Thomas. Also not seen on the field: WR Chad Jackson, LBs Tedy Bruschi, Chad Brown and Freddie Roach, DLs LeKevin Smith, Dan Klecko, Marquise Hill and Jarvis Green. FB Patrick Pass remains on the PUP and Deion Branch still has not come to his senses. More later...
August 23
The New England Patriots released veteran kicker Martin Gramatica, who was signed four months ago as a possible replacement for Adam Vinatieri. --- Bloomberg News
Martin Gramatica, 30, was signed by the Patriots as a veteran free agent on April 6, 2006. The 5-foot-8-inch, 170-pound kicker is in his seventh NFL season after spending his first six years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1999-2004) and Indianapolis Colts (2004). He was selected to the Pro Bowl following the 2000 season. Gramatica has converted 137-of-179 career field goals (76.5 percent) and 181-of-183 career extra points (98.9 percent). In seven career playoff games, he has converted 11-of-12 field goals (91.7 percent) and all 15 extra point attempts. The Kansas State product was originally drafted by Tampa Bay in the third round (80th overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft. He holds Tampa Bay’s all-time career records for scoring (591 points), field goals made (137) and field goals attempted (179).
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.
Hey all -- Just in from practice and there wasn't too much to see -- especially since most of the media access time was watching the players stretch. Anyway, kicker Martin Gramatica was one of the players not on the field, along with receiver Chad Jackson, linebackers Chad Brown and Freddie Roach, defensive linemen Jarvis Green, Marquise Hill and LeKevin Smith, and of course Tedy Bruschi (wrist surgery), Patrick Pass (PUP list) and Deion Branch (foolish holdout). On the field for the first time in two weeks was receiver John Stone; tackle Nick Kaczur, off the PUP list yesterday, safety Rodney Harrison and linebacker Monty Beisel also were on the field. shalise
August 22
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."
Where to begin.... while between-games media sessions can often be tedious, today has been anything but, with several items coming out of Bill Belichick's press conference and the locker room access period. * With last night's trade of offensive lineman Brandon Gorin to Arizona for an undisclosed draft pick, Belichick was asked if that meant second-year tackle Nick Kaczur, who has been on the PUP list since training camp began, is ready to get back on the field, and if that, coupled with rookie Ryan O'Callaghan 's development made Gorin expendable. "I would expect Nick to be on the field today," Belichick said, later adding that the Ontario native had been put through some tests yesterday and responded well enough for him to begin practicing today. Kaczur somewhat reluctantly spoke with the media about his return from a shoulder injury and said he's happy with his progress "so far." This was the first injury of the 6-foot-4, 315 pounder's career. As for O'Callaghan, though Belichick did not say so, it appeared that the fifth-round pick out of California had supplanted Gorin on the depth chart and started Saturday's game against Arizona. Gorin played with the second unit and was whistled for a false start in the fourth quarter on a second-and-goal play from the Cardinals' one-yard line. * Junior Seau met face-to-face with the media for the first time since signing with New England last week. The 37-year old had spent the first few months of his "graduation" -- he refused to call it a retirement at his press conference just eight days ago -- learning how to surf and said that sport is more difficult than football. "Without a doubt. It's a different wave every time; you can't watch film," he said. Seau is wearing number 55, Willie McGinest's number with the Pats, and is in McGinest's old locker. McGinest has been quoted as saying he "reluctantly" agreed to let Seau wear the number when Seau and the Patriots called him. But McGinest came to wear number 55 because Seau was the player to wear the number before him at USC... so it's all part of the circle. * Patrick Pass was also seen in the locker room, generally a sign in these parts that a player is going to practice, though Belichick said the fullback is "day-to-day." With Kaczur coming off the PUP, Pass is the only player still on the list. * Belichick is making his acting debut tonight on the FX series "Rescue Me." He makes a cameo with former Bruins great Phil Esposito. Belichick is a mourner at a funeral who tries to strike up a conversation with Esposito, who is playing a fire chief. Belichick said the opportunity came about because he is friends with show co-star Lenny Clarke and a fan of the show; Clarke told Belichick to visit the set, and when he did, he ended up in a scene. Was it the first time Belichick has worn makeup? "Unfortunately, no," he said with a smile. "They glopped it on at the Super Bowl this year [where Belichick was a TV analyst]. That's the hardest job in football -- making me look good." Clarke and show star Dennis Leary are both Massachusetts natives. shalise
August 21
The Patriots have traded offensive lineman Brandon Gorin to the Arizona Cardinals for an undisclosed draft pick. Gorin, 28, started the final eight games of the regular season and both playoff games for New England last year at right tackle and played in 14 games overall. He was not a starter in Saturday's preseason game against the Cardinals and was flagged for one false start. Arizona will be Gorin's third NFL team; he was originally drafted by San Diego in the seventh round in 2001 (Gorin played collegiately at Purdue) but was released after training camp in `02 and signed to the Patriots' practice squad. He was signed off the practice squad in Jan. 2003 and had been a regular contributor since.
Bill Belichick gave his players the day off today before the team jumps into preparations for its third preseason game, Saturday at Gillette Stadium against the Washington Redskins. As a result, there was also no media availability today, but here is some more of what Belichick had to say in yesterday’s media conference call: Q: Was there a line of thinking in having Junior Seau dress last night even though he wasn’t going to play? [The veteran linebacker, who played 14 seasons with the Chargers and 3 with the Dolphins, came out of retirement and signed with the Patriots late last week.]  Journal files/Bob Breidenbach Jason Seau BB: He was healthy enough to dress, so he dressed and warmed up and went through the process on the sideline. Going through adjustments and things like that, that’s all part of the whole process. Q: How much of the team’s success on third down last night might you attribute to Kevin Faulk and his various skills? BB: I think last night’s third down numbers were attributable to a couple of things. One was that the distance wasn’t too long. For the most part we had very manageable third down situations where we didn’t need a lot of yardage and therefore pretty much every skill player on the field was a possible option to get that yardage. On third-and-three, you could run it or you could throw it to any of the five eligible receivers and they could pick it up. On third-and-16, realistically, you’re probably only going to be able to get two guys, maybe three at the most, that would even be able to get far enough down the field to even get the first down. It just gives you a lot more options and then of course it always comes back down to execution. I thought that the execution on the third down runs by the offensive line - Dante [Scarnecchia] and those guys have worked really hard on that - there were some positives there. In the passing game, we had receivers and you try to spread the field and make it hard for the defense to match up on all of them, so you have one or two, either, good matchup situations or situations where the defenders just get out-leveraged by the route. Good routes, good throws by the quarterback and catches and you know you have a chance to convert some of those short-yardage situations. Keeping it short and staying out of negative plays and third-and-longs, that is a big key to giving yourself and your team more options. Q: How sharp are Tom Brady’s fundamentals right now? BB: I think Tom is a pretty fundamentally sound player, but we’re in training camp. We’re halfway through the preseason schedule, so I think that everybody has a lot of room for improvement and I'm sure that he’ll be better with another week or two of practice than he is now, just like he’s better now than he was a couple of weeks ago when he hadn’t spent as much time on them. It’s just refining your skill and your technique and everybody on the field is doing that.
August 19
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 - Junior Seau, acquired yesterday, is in uniform tonight. So is defensive end Richard Seymour.
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. ....
August 18
ON HIS ROLE 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
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 DID FORMER SAN DIEGO TEAMMATE AND CURRENT PAT RODNEY HARRISON CONTACT HIM WHY DID HE COME OUT OF "GRADUATION" WHY DID HE RETIRE
FOXBORO, Mass. -- The New England Patriots' exhibiition game tomorrow night will not be shown on local TV. Instead, the game against the Arizona Cardinals will be carried nationally on the NFL Network. The 8 p.m. home game will be carried by Boston's Channel 5 in Massachusetts, which the NFL considers the extent of the team's home market. "This is an NFL decision. We don't like it. But they are pretty much going to do what they are going to do.'' said Jay Howell, president and general manager of WPRI-TV and Fox Providence, Channel 64. Viewers in Rhode Island may be able to get Channel 5 with an antenna. NFL Network is available on at least one of the satellite services and on Cox Digital Cable, channel 137. "The Patriots tried to get us this game,'' said Howell, adding that the team's last two exhibition games will be carried on Channel 64.
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.
August 17
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...
The crowd was one of the larger ones. Overall, those who have been here for the four years since trainining camp moved here from Bryant University, felt crowds were about the same as they have been in the past. In the final open practice, the Pats did most of their work in the kicking and passing games. There were no new additions to the absentee list as Tedy Bruschi, Chad Jackson, Monty Beisel and Chad Brown remained among the missing. Most of the veterans were not worked too hard, with one major exception. Troy Brown was all over the place, as he seems to be so often. Brown continues to amaze as he goes on and on. With the Pats' lack of proven depth at wideout, Brown and Reche Caldwell have been far and away the biggest targets when the team has gone to wide receivers. The tight ends, most notably Ben Watson who has looked outstanding through camp, also look poised to be abigger factor than ever in the team's offense. Perhaps the most interesting development over the past two days has involved rookie Willie Andrews. The seventh round draft pick out of Baylor is a defensive back. At least he has been until the last two days. He spent the day in a white jersey, signifying an offensive player, again yesterday and made at least one catch for a long gain. _Paul Kenyon
Tom Brady long since has become accustomed to drawing crowds, but even by his standards yesterday was big. And this was not one of his most pleasant sessions. As soon as the Patriots finished practice this afternoon, television camera people set up in a circle in the interview area to get position for Brady. The Pats' quarterback knew what was coming, knew what everyone wanted to ask about. He greeted the crowd with, ``Nice day today, nice of you to come out. All right, so who wants to start?' '' ``Any time, as an athlete, you're even mentioned in something like this, it's disappointing,'' Brady said. ``But it was long time ago. I was back in the Bay area. I wanted to work out for a day. I knew he had a gym. I called, he wasn't around. That was about it. That was the first of it and the last of it. Five years later, I guess it's a big deal. That's kind of the entire extent.'' Brady said he was not aware his name had come up in the investigation until this morning. ``It's just one of those things. I don't make anything of it,'' he said. ``Something like that is not what I stand for. I represent a lot of things. Certainly fair play and me trying to be a role model is what I'm all about.''
It's an hour to the start of the scheduled practice, and the Patriots are out, in t-shirts and shorts, on the Gillette Stadium field doing walk throughs in preparation for Saturday night's game against Arizona. Inside, Stacey James, the team's executive director of media relations, has asked us to let everyone know about changes in the parking situation for this season. In preparation for more construction adjoining the stadium, parking lot P-9, one of the main parking areas, will be closed. To replace the needed spaces, lot P-10, on the other side of Route One across from the stadium, has been expanded and will be able to pick up the slack. Simply because there are changes, Pats officials expect some confusion Saturday. Ticket holders have been notified and maps will be e-mailed to let everyone know of the new plan, James said. Parking lots will be open four hours before game time (4 p.m.) and stadium gates opened two hours before kickoff (6 p.m.) The game will be the first NFL Network. _Paul Kenyon
More on Belichick's press conference today. . . this one about jobs.
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