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July 30, 2007

Afternoon wrap

Hey all --

Thunder and lightning have descended on Gillette Stadium, the threat of which chased us off the field as the media was wrapping up player interviews.

It was an active practice session today, the sixth of training camp. In the early going, Bam Childress muffed a punt and immediately dropped to the turf and did some push-ups, to the delight of the crowd.

Tom Brady also played to the fans, who clapped when he and quarterbacks Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez walked toward the north end of the field. Brady put his arms above his head and applauded back.

As an aside, Gutierrez seems to be working extremely hard. Even though he's a longshot at best to make the active roster -- especially considering reports that say Vinny Testaverde will be back once two-a-days are over in a couple of weeks -- we've noticed that he's been the last player off the field every day. We wonder if he's watching tape of himself run the scout team like another former Michigan rookie...

Reche Caldwell, fighting for his job despite leading the team in receptions last year, made a nice one-handed catch from Cassel along the sideline; Kevin Faulk made a great downfield catch as well, with Ellis Hobbs and Tedy Bruschi in coverage. Faulk may not have landed inbounds had the play gone to review, but it was pretty regardless.

Oscar Lua update: it seems the rookie linebacker is a fan favorite, and today we tried to keep an eye on him. He was in a group of players working on punt blocking (along with Larry Izzo, Kelley Washington, Larry Anam, Corey Mays, Sammy Morris, Pierre Woods and Justin Rogers) and when he was on the field with the sub defense, he lined up at both inside linebacker spots. During 11-on-11 drills, he got stood up and sealed twice on run plays.

Junior Seau, lined up over Matt Light, jumped offsides and immediately raised his hand and took off on a punishment lap. Seau also spent a great deal of time about 30 yards behind the line of scrimmage when the first-team defense was on for 11-on-11, trying to get a good view of what was happening.

Brady completed a long pass to Randy Moss downfield. Gemara Williams seemed to have good position on Moss, but as Moss is at least 8 inches taller, he simply reached over Williams' head and grabbed the ball. On another play, Moss cut inside for a post route and Brady threw to the sideline; the ball fell dead.

Tomorrow is another day with two sessions planned, beginning at 8:45 a.m.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 5:06 PM | Permalink