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Photo: Bruschi and his young 'backers

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Tedy Bruschi and his sons Rex (yellow shirt) and Tedy Jr. push the blocking sled today after the Patriots' practice at Gillette Stadium.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Officials' take

As we told you earlier, a team of NFL officials, headed by referee Larry Nemmers, a motivational speaker in his 23rd year as an official (his 17th as a referee), are here today to go over the new rule changes with the Patriots players and staff.

The media screened the same video the players did earlier, which talked about the new rule changes for the 2007 season as well as the points of emphasis. Several times it was mentioned that the safety of the players is paramount; we also noticed that more than once players were told that their behavior and conduct -- on and off the field -- are what helps make their game great.

One of the new rules is that spiking or throwing the the ball after a down is over -- except after a touchdown -- will draw a 5-yard penalty. According to the video, having the officials retrieve the ball was a delay of game, and it wasn't very sportsmanlike.

It is also now a 15-yard personal foul is a defensive player makes a below-the-waist block or tackle on an eligible receiver when the quarterback is in the pocket and the ball has not left his hand. This was a 5-yard penalty before.

The competition committee voted to keep the maximum time allowed for an officials' review at 60 seconds and to keep down by contact as a reviewable play. These were on a trial basis last year and are now permanent.

Points of emphasis include taunting, illegal contact and defensive holding, roughing the quarterback and an airborne runner at the goal line.

With roughing the quarterback, it will no longer be called if a quarterback "is shoved to the ground as part of one continuous act by the defender while attempting to tackle him." But if it is a late hit or done as punishment, it will still be called.

The airborne runner goes to what is or isn't a touchdown and will become consistent with rules already in place with regards to the sideline.

Per the rulebook:

"Currently an airborne runner has to get any part of his body to pass over or inside the pylon before he touches out of bounds to be awarded a score. This is not consistent with spotting the ball anywhere else along the sideline. The Competition Committee recommends that an airborne player must get any part of the football to pass over or inside the goal line pylon before he touches out of bounds to be awarded a score."

Interestingly, Nemmers said he likes the NFL's defensive pass interference rule, which spots the ball at the point of the foul rather than in college, where it is a 15-yard penalty maximum. Patriots fans remember that a highly questionable pass interference call against Ellis Hobbs in the AFC title game led to a Colts' touchdown.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Morning wrap

Hey all --

Training camp session number 7 is in the books, and as always there are a few things that stood out to us. Besides the ultra-annoying little flies that were flitting all over the place in the morning humidity, that is.

With Kyle Brady again missing practice and David Thomas still on the PUP, Matt Kranchick is getting more reps -- and not doing a lot with them. At least twice this morning he was chewed out by the coaching staff, the second time for being lined up in the wrong place.

There were some chuckles of surprise during the AFC title game when Heath Evans was being thrown to in the flat, but it's become clear since camp started that seeing him come out of the backfield this season won't be much of a joke. The gregarious fullback has gotten a lot of chances both to carry the ball and to make catches.

The Pats did a lot of work in the running game today, particularly in the red zone.

It looked to us like Ryan O'Callaghan got the majority of snaps at right tackle when the first-team offense was on the field. Of course today, the first-team offense was mostly run by Matt Cassel, as it was a pseudo-day off for Tom Brady.

Rookie defensive lineman Kareem Brown (somewhat surprisingly) spoke with the media, one day after joining the team on the field. A team-imposed suspension kept Brown off the field for the first three days of camp. Smartly, he wouldn't get into specifics on what led to the suspension -- reportedly a violation of team rule -- but he said he should have known better.

Aside from missing the opening five practice sessions, what really got to the fourth-round pick was when team captain and perennial Pro Bowler Richard Seymour said he was disappointed in him.

"Coming from a guy of his status, that took a toll on me as a rookie. He said it's a learning lesson and I've got to move on and it would make me stronger," Brown said.

Brown also mentioned that Ty Warren , in addition to Brown's former Miami teammate/big brother Vince Wilfork, has really taken him under his wing and is constantly giving Brown tips.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Morning session

Hey all -

Morning practice has begun, with the players now stretching to the melodic sounds of Lil Jon.

From what we can see, the PUP guys as well as Kyle Brady, Garrett Mills and Rashad Baker are all absent.

But the referees are here today, which is one of favorite days of the media contingent. Personally, this will be our first time looking at video with the zebras and we're looking forward to it.

As for fan attendance, there's a smaller crowd this morning than the previous days.

Players are in shells and shorts.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments 0