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October 31, 2007
Brady to be named AFC offensive player of monthThe Season of Brady continues, as he'll be named AFC offensive player of the month for October tomorrow...he was also named AFC POM for September. In five October games (counting the Monday night football game in Cincinnati, which technically was in week four, but the league didn't count it in his September POM stats), Brady was 128-for-179 (71.5 percent) for 1,544 yards, 20 touchdowns and one interception.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Vrabel named AFC Defensive Player of the WeekMike Vrabel won his first-ever AFC player of the week award today, garnering the honor after his 13-tackle, three strip-sack performance against the Redskins on Sunday. His three forced fumbles were all recovered by Patriots' teammates, leading to 17 New England points. The Colts' Joseph Addai was named AFC offensive player of the week and San Diego punter Mike Scifres the special teams' player of the week.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young NFL coaches on running it upThese quotes come courtesy of Sirius' NFL Radio: John Fox, Carolina Panthers: “Typically in this league when you have the game in hand you do call off the dogs a little bit but not to the point where you could lose the game. You never can relax too much.” Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars: “You play to win. If you can score, score. Your job, as a defense, as an opponent, is to slow them down. Offensively you want to score. Obviously, late in the fourth quarter you’re going to make sure your starters don’t get hurt and things like that going forward but you still keep playing football.” Herm Edwards, Kansas City Chiefs: “I just think that obviously [the Patriots] are going at a pace right now, they’re just playing. They’re having fun playing football. You’re caught in a bad situation there when you have a lead like that. All coaches have been in that situation. Sometimes you’ve been the guy that had the lead and sometimes you’ve been the guy on the other side of it. And that’s what’s great about athletics. People always look into things, trying to figure out is there something that he’s trying to do or say. The coach that is winning, does he run the ball on fourth down or does he pass the ball on fourth down? I don’t know what to tell you. It’s just one of those deals. There’s a lot being made out of things and at the end I think the thing you’ve got to realize is this. You’ve got a team that is playing very very good, setting all kinds of record. When I watch those guys play, they’re having fun. They’re just having fun playing football.” Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings: “You’re talking about the Washington Redskins and one of the highest paid coaches in the National Football League and a staff full of head coaches and they’re coaching, too. Games can get left-handed like that, unfortunately, and New England has a way of making you be left-handed.” Lane Kiffin, Oakland Raiders: “Coach Gibbs, I believe, said he had no issues with it. It’s so hard to win and so hard to score I don’t think that there really is running up the score. You’re just playing your players and trying to get better. In this league your backups do have so few opportunities to play that, from my perspective, if we were ever in that situation we would definitely run plays and put in some of our younger guys that otherwise don’t play.” Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers: “We’re responsible for keeping their score down. They aren’t. That’s just being competitive. That’s what this game is about. That’s what any game is about. I have no comment or opposition to them ringing up as many points as they’re capable of.”
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Wednesday participation reportNew England has published its first participation/injury report of the week: Did Not Participate Limited Participation Indianapolis has not yet submitted its report.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Doggie mistakeHey all -- In Sunday's "Up Close" with Bam Childress, we wrote that he bred bull mastiffs, and it turns out there was a little misunderstanding there. Childress breeds American bullies, which he said are a cross-breed of pit bulls and American Staffordshire terriers. Apologies for the mix-up. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Doesn't He Read The New England Papers? Bob Kravitz, a columnist for the Indianapolis Star, this week wrote that the Patriots are "the least lovable champs since Sonny Liston," and called them the "New-Age Oakland Raiders." Which is understandable, given the way the Pats have been piling up points against overmatched and overwhelmed opponents, the VideoGate scandal, the acquisition of the controversial Randy Moss, and coach Bill Belichick's unfriendly demeanor.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Practice peek: No Asante, no TroyHey all -- We are just in from the week's first practice, held in full pads. Team owner Robert Kraft was taking in the session, yet another sign of how big Sunday's game is. As for who was there and who wasn't, Benjamin Watson made his return after missing two weeks with an ankle injury. However, Sammy Morris (chest), Eugene Wilson (ankle), Mel Mitchell (groin), and Eric Alexander (knee) remain on the list of absentees. Joining them on that list is corner Asante Samuel, who was not spotted during media access. And Troy Brown was not out there either, which is meaningful because this is the last week that the Patriots have the option of opening the window for Brown. As he is on the PUP list, teams can choose at any time between weeks six and nine to start practicing and open a 21-day window for them, by the end of which time they must either activate them to the 53-man roster or put them on season-ending injured reserve. After Sunday's win over Washington, Bill Belichick said it had been his team's best week of practice to that point, and it showed in the high number of practice player of the week jerseys -- we counted 10, with rookies Brandon Meriweather and Kareem Brown, Larry Izzo, Ray Ventrone, Pierre Woods, Antwain Spann, Le Kevin Smith, Rashad Baker and Tim Mixon all sporting the black jerseys. Interesting that none of the award winners were from the offensive side of the ball. We'll be back with more shortly.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Pats-Colts is latest ever matchup of unbeatensOct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- This weekend's game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts marks the first time two undefeated teams have played this late in a National Football League season, the league confirmed. Two teams with records of 7-0 or better never have played in the league's 88 seasons, the NFL said in a news release. The 8-0 Patriots are favored to beat the 7-0 Colts in Indianapolis on Nov. 4 by six points, according to Las Vegas sports books. The Patriots have won three Super Bowl titles since 2001. They are scoring a league-leading 41.4 points a game and have outscored opponents by an average of 25 1/2 points. The Colts won last season's Super Bowl and have won 11 straight games dating back to last season. Indianapolis has beaten New England in three straight games.
Posted by Mike McDermott Colts look like "live 'dogs" Let's see...
Posted by Jim Donaldson Projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young: Bulletin board material from DungyClick here to listen to today's edition of projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young. The topics: Good versus evil?extra motivation on both sides; does Peyton Manning have Bill Belichick's number now? the x-factor for the Patriots; improvements to the Colts' defense; Shalise's prediction; and why the Colts don't want to lose this one. Here are some excerpts from Shalise's comments: Motivational factors: "The other thing to remember is the bulletin board material. Who uses bulletin board material better than Bill Belichick? And when the spygate punishment was handed down, Tony Dungy went on the record and said that it was a sad day for the NFL. Bill Belichick is going to bring that out this week. Tony Dungy compared Bill Belichick to Barry Bonds, of all people." The Colts' three-game winning streak against New England: "One thing to remember is that ... there was an x-factor in those games. Rodney Harrison did not play in any of those last three games. He started the regular-season game here in New England last season, but that was the one where he broke his shoulder blade on the first drive of the game, I think it was. ... Rodney Harrison is a ferocious, fierce competitor. There's a lot to be said, I think, for the fact that he did not play in those games." Shalise's prediction: "41-27 Patriots. I just think that there's so many things that the Patriots are going to look at. Nobody feeds off disrespect or old losses like they do, and I just think the offense that Brady has this year -- and the defense showed last week that they had something to prove, and I just think that they're going to keep going with that this week."
Posted by Mike McDermott October 30, 2007
Brady, Vrabel nominated for online awardsHey all -- Another week, another potential award for Tom Brady. At least one of his teammates Mike Vrabel is one of five nominees for the GMC defensive player of the week for his 13 tackle (11 solo), three strip-sack, one offensive touchdown performance against Washington. Also nominated are Philadelphia's Trent Cole (8 tackles, 2 sacks vs Minnesota), San Diego's Antonio Cromartie (2 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 touchdowns vs Houston), Jacksonville's Aaron Glenn (4 tackles, interception returned for touchdown vs Tampa Bay) and the Titans' Travis LaBoy (three tackles, two sacks, forced fumble vs Oakland) . Brady has been nominated for the FedEx Air player of the week honor, and is going against the Saints' Drew Brees (31-for-39, 336 yards, 4 touchdowns in win over San Francisco) and the Packers' Brett Favre (21-for-27, 331 yards, 2 touchdowns, including game-winner seconds into overtime) for the honor. Against the Redskins, Brady was 29-for-38 for 306 yards and three passing touchdowns (plus two rushing). Fans can vote at nfl.com.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 29, 2007
"Randall's entitled to his opinion"Bill Belichick was asked this morning about some of the Redskins' complaints that New England was piling it on yesterday. At first, Belichick said he didn't know what the questioner was referring to, but when Randall Godfrey's name was brought up, Belichick had an answer. "Randall's entitled to his opinion. If you ask him, I'm sure he'll give it to you." As reported by nbcsports.com after the game, Washington linebacker Godfrey confronted Belichick on the field after the final gun, and told him he was disrespecting the game by running up the score. And as blog reader Mike points out, Godfrey had a grand total of one tackle in the game...
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Belichick: "It's the next game."Hey all -- Despite the hard-to-swallow 38-34 loss New England suffered to Indianapolis in the AFC title game in January, and despite the fact that both teams are undefeated coming into Sunday's game at the RCA Dome, Bill Belichick -- outwardly, at least -- isn't treating this game any differently than the eight before it his team has played this season. "It's the next game." As much as we'd like to postpone the barrage of showdown talk for at least a day, it wasn't exactly possible given today's press conference with Belichick. But there was some talk of Sunday's win over Washington, with Belichick praising everyone from his assistants to all 45 players that took the field against the Redskins and the scout team, saying they all played a big part in the victory. Heck, Belichick couldn't even cite too much when asked what improvements he'd like his team to make coming off the Skins game, mentioning the four false starts the offense was flagged for and a slightly bogged down return game. And the coach congratulated Terry Francona and the Red Sox for their "impressive" World Series win, calling their eight straight Series wins "awesome." Eight straight wins? Belichick knows something about that.... shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Practice squad transactionAs expected, defensive lineman Santonio Thomas has been re-signed to the Patriots' practice squad. He was cut from the 53-man roster on Friday to make room for Richard Seymour. As New England's practice squad was at its eight-man limit, center Pat Ross was cut so Thomas could be re-added.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 28, 2007
Godfrey confronts Belichick?Old friend Tom Curran writes on nbcsports.com that Redskins linebacker Randall Godfrey confronted Patriots coach Bill Belichick after Washington got blasted off the Gillette Stadium turf. "I said something to (Belichick) after the game," Godfrey said. "I told him, 'You need to show some respect for the game.' You just don't do that. I don't care how bad it is. You're up 35 points and you're still throwing deep? That's no respect." "You look at all the great head coaches ... I'm just disappointed," he went on. You gotta show some class, show some respect. Joe Gibbs? We wouldn't have done that. Bill Walsh? You wouldn't see those types of guys doing that stuff. I've never seen nothing like that. Most teams, you get up like that you sit on the ball and try to run the time out. They're up 30-some points and they're throwing deep. That was blatant disrespect. I hope we can see them again, definitely. You don't see Joe Gibbs doing that. You can't even imagine that kind of stuff coming from him. Joe Gibbs. Bill Walsh. Bill Parcells. This isn't like college going for power rankings. This is the pros you show some respect, show some class." Godfrey was a member of the San Diego Chargers last season, when the top-seeded Chargers were upset at home by the Patriots.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young POSTGAME: Postgame notes, courtesy of Pats' P.R. departmentEIGHT STRAIGHT GAMES WITH 34+ POINTS OFFENSIVE OUTPUT IN CONTEXT BRADY TIES NFL MARK FOR MOST CONSECUTIVE GAMES WITH 3+ TD PASSES BRADY SETS NEW CAREER HIGH WITH 30 TOUCHDOWN PASSES IN 2007 VRABEL SCORES EIGHTH CAREER REGULAR-SEASON TOUCHDOWN VRABEL: THREE STRIP-SACKS BRADY SCORES TWO RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS BRADY: THREE-PLUS TOUCHDOWNS, 100.0-PLUS PASSER RATING AND 300-YARD GAME COLVIN: FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN CASSEL: RUSHING TOUCHDOWN MOSS: 11th TOUCHDOWN CATCH OF THE SEASON FAULK MOVES INTO SIXTH ON PATRIOTS’ ALL-TIME RECEPTIONS LIST SOLID DEFENSIVE EFFORT SINGLE-GAME TEAM RECORD: MOST FIRST DOWNS BRADY-TO-WELKER SAMUEL RECORDS 20th CAREER INTERCEPTION STARTING STRONG GOSTKOWSKI’S SUCCESS STREAK RECORD PERFORMANCE HOME SELLOUT STREAK REACHES 143 INTERCEPTION-FREE STREAK HIGH OCTANE MATCHUP
Posted by Art Martone POSTGAME: Redskins postgame quotesCasey Rabach, Offensive Line (On the Patriots and Tom Brady) Anthony Montgomery, Defensive Tackle (On Tom Brady) Santana Moss, Wide Receiver Reche Caldwell, Wide Receiver Phillip Daniels, Defensive End (On Tom Brady) Ladell Betts, Running Back (On what he thinks the problem is right now) (On if he thought the Patriots were running up the score) Todd Wade, Offensive Lineman (On if the defense was better than they expected or if the Redskins just couldn’t get it going) Ryan Boschetti, Defensive Tackle (On if there was a big gap between the Patriots and the Redskins) James Thrash, Wide Receiver (On Patriots going for it on 4th-and-1 late in the game) Pierson Prioleau, Safety (On whether New England ran up the score)
Posted by Art Martone POSTGAME: Jason Campbell's interview transcriptDo you see anybody coming on those strip sacks? I didn’t see those coming. On those plays I was looking downfield, keeping my eyes downfield, trying to read my receivers and throw to the open guy. They did a great job of breaking in and making a play on the ball. One thing I have to do as a quarterback is go back and look at the film this week and try to find ways to protect the ball better when I’m getting hit that way. Do you feel that this game was at all a step back for you in your progress, personally? No, today is just one of those days. Everyone has their bad days and their great days and, unfortunately, today was one of those days. What we have to do as a team and by myself is to just put it behind us quickly and just learn from it and make sure that we never feel this ever again. You’ve got to come out next week and it’s all about moving on to the next week now. There’s nothing we can do to change the outcome of this game. The only thing we can say is that we got beat by a great team and we didn’t have our best game today and we’ve got to move on. What was the most impressive part of what the Patriots were doing offensively? They’re very dynamic in everything that they do. They’re very precise in their offense and their defense, everything’s very sound. They make plays. That’s one thing that they’re doing is making plays. Right now, they’re just clicking on all cylinders in all three phases of the game. They’re a team that is just about what their record says they are. What kind of struggles on third down did you have tonight? It’s just something we need to continue to improve on. We started the season hot on third downs and we kind of fell off the last couple of weeks for whatever reason. We’ve got to find a way to pick it back up and do whatever I have to do in practice to help the situation and do what I need to do to improve myself. It’s one game that we had a minor setback. We’ve got to move on next week, including myself. It wasn’t one of my best games of the year, but at the same time I’m not going to get down. I’m going to learn from it and move on to next week. Are there points when you feel like your letting the defense down because you’re putting them out there against their offense again? When we do that, we’re putting ourselves in a bad position, offensively, because we’re not able to get into a groove. When we started the game, we were moving the ball pretty well and we’ve just got to finish those drives. Like I said, they’re a great team, but at the same time the score did not indicate the type of team that we are. We’re a lot better team than we were today. We just didn’t do the things we needed to do to win. When you see Tom Brady on the other side, do you feel like you need to step your game up at all? Anytime you’re playing against a guy like that it’s not about Jason versus Tom. It’s about the Redskins versus the Patriots. Today, like I said, watching from the sidelines, he did an outstanding job. He was very precise in everything that he did and one thing that I can do is to learn from some of the things he’s been doing and just continue to try to grow. It might have been one minor setback in my growth, but I’m going to come back next week and compete. Coach Gibbs mentioned about troubles hearing in the headset. Was there any problem for you? Today, it wasn’t a problem. Before the game we were trying to get them turned up, but during the game it wasn’t that big of a deal as it was in the Green Bay game. Communication wasn’t big on the outcome today. One or two plays we had to try to rush it. Other than that it was pretty straight forward. Do you think they were running up the score at all? I don’t know how to answer that one. They were going for it on fourth downs, but like I said, that’s an NFL team and we have to stop it. We’re all in the NFL and we’re all here to make plays. One thing you have to remember about this level is no one is going to give you anything. Anything you get, you have to earn it. One thing I’d say is that we’d probably have a little chip on our shoulder. We’ve just got to get back and do what we need to do to win games. Does it tick you off a little bit that they were running it up? You know, when we’re in those situations we tend to back off a little bit because that’s just what we do. Their motto might be different. They might have a different approach in the way they do it, but we’ve just got to put this one behind us and move on. It’s not a pretty feeling when they’re moving up and down the field and scoring that way and we’re not completing third downs or not getting into a groove to make plays offensively. It’s kind of a frustrating day all around. What was your sense from the guys in the locker room after the game? I think we’re going to bounce back strong. The reason why is because everyone understands that wasn’t us today. We’ve just got pick our game up a little bit more and [that’s] what it’s going to take to win when we’re playing one of the top two teams in the NFL and we want to get to that level. Now I think we know what we’ve got to do on a week-in and week-out basis and definitely that’s not the game we wanted it to be and things just didn’t go our way. A big part of it is now what you’re going to do. You can look back and just feel bad about it, but you’ve just got to move on to the next week and get ready because the NFL’s a long season. Is there anything about Tom Brady that you’d like to emulate as you grow? He’s very in control in everything that he does. You can tell right now that he’s very comfortable and one thing that he does is just to take what the defense give him. He’s an outstanding quarterback and he’s been doing it for a long time. He’s everything that people say about him and there’s nothing bad you can say about the guy. You just try to do those things and hopefully one day I grow through the process that I’m able to do those things. Did the defense do anything to trick from what you saw on film? One thing that they did do was they played very hard. They tried to sit on a lot of our routes, try to re-route some of our passes. Overalll, they’re a very good defense and they play together. They’re always in the right places at the right times. You’re playing against a team that one thing you have to do offensively is when the chances are there you’ve got to hit them.
Posted by Art Martone POSTGAME: Joe Gibbs' interview transcriptOn his thoughts about the game On if he thought that Patriots were running up the score On if he considered pulling his starters On if the Patriots were better than he thought On this being a learning experience for Jason Campbell On how the Redskins will respond to today’s loss On if he thought the Redskins should’ve been able to move the ball around more On communication problems on the field or with the headsets On if he’ll explore different options in the running game On Tom Brady On such a devastating loss On if he thought the Redskins defense would respond better On what he said to Coach Belichick after the game
Posted by Art Martone POSTGAME: Patriots postgame quotesRichard Seymour, Defensive End Rosevelt Colvin, Linebacker (On if there is an extra incentive to win next week because of last year’s playoffs) (On the return of Richard Seymour and his performance today) (On the statement made to the Colts after this win) Heath Evans, Fullback (On Maroney’s performance today) (On Tom Brady running the ball) Asante Samuel, Defensive Back (On the coach saying that the defense needed to play harder and tackle harder and if they took it as a challenge this week) (On what they did to get them off the field as many times as they did today) (On the Colts game and if he thinks that the game is on the secondary) Ty Warren, Defensive end (On his two fumble recoveries) Rodney Harrison, Safety (On whether or not today’s win was the best all-around performance for the team this season) (On whether or not he was disappointed that the defense didn’t get the shutout) (On whether the win sent a message to the Colts) Kevin Faulk, Running Back (On if the play of the backs showed another way the offense can put up points) (On if today’s game was the Patriots’ best all-around performance of the season) (On what next week’s game against the Colts mean, having two unbeaten teams play each other this late in the year) (On if he knew he became the Patriots’ sixth-leading receiver of all time) Donte’ Stallworth, Wide Receiver (On what the screen passes to him and the backs opens up for the offense) (On whether the quarterbacks ran well)
Posted by Art Martone POSTGAME: Tom Brady interview transcriptDid you ever think you would put up 52 points against the Washington Redskins, a team you had yet to beat? They presented some different challenges so I think we made quite a few good plays out there. The important thing was to really stay on track and get positive plays. [We] had the one turnover, which was unfortunate, but for the most part it was a good day. You’re not used to running in touchdowns. No. I don’t want to be running. Trust me. Can you talk about the two you ran in? And of course your backup, Matt Cassel, ran for one as well. I think mine were just about as far as I could go so anything longer than that I’m not trying to run it. But Matt’s was a great run, he really showed a lot of determination this week to getting back to his style and his preparation. I thought it was really exciting for the team to see him make that play and make a few great throws. It takes everybody and everybody puts a lot of work in and everybody was really proud of Matt. Was it good to see the fake spike work? Yeah, we tried it last week and I screwed it up so I tried to redeem myself this week. If you just throw it up to Randy [Moss] he usually catches it. How about throwing it up to Mike Vrabel? Mike was pretty open. I think it was a good sell by the offensive line, he just slipped out there and another touchdown catch for him. I just try to throw to guys that are open. Looking ahead, any thoughts on the Colts? They’re a great so we know we have our work cut out for us. They’ve beaten us the last three times and they’ve won 12 in a row, I guess. And they’re a great team [and] it’s tough to play them in that dome. We’ve got a long week and a lot of preparation. [They have] a great offense, great defense, great special teams, great coaching, great confidence, everything you’re looking for in a great football team. You witnessed some great rivalries growing up. What’s it like to now play in one that’s getting to be like that when you play the Colts? They are always meaningful games when you play them, that’s the way it seems the last bunch of times we’ve played them. Last game it was a real tight game, the previous couple of times it wasn’t so tight [and] they really got the best of us. We know it’s going to take our best effort. We know you can’t make a lot of mistakes against theses guys. When you turn the ball over against the Colts it’s usually seven points. When you punt it to them it’s usually seven points. You just have to find ways to be productive and be efficient and not turn the ball over, certainly that’s always a big key. I’m happy we’ve got seven days to prepare because I think we’re going to need each and every hour of that week. I think we’re always finding ways to improve. It’s been a good eight weeks, but it really doesn’t mean anything. 8-0 is great but it really doesn’t mean anything, [it] doesn’t guarantee us anything. You have to keep improving through the entire season and the second half of the season is upon us and I hope we perform better than we did in the first half of the season. That’s usually what good teams do. There’s a lot of room for improvement and we’re going to spend this week trying to make improvements on the things we screwed up this week and try to continue to build on that. Should be a good week. What could you guys do better in the second half? We can be more efficient. There were plenty of plays out there where the communication train [between] me and the receivers wasn’t what we needed it to be. We got a lot of penalties out there. We got a strip-sack. Fortunately, our defense saved us like they’ve been saving us all year when we turn the ball over. So we can’t turn the ball over, we’ve got to be productive when we throw it, continue to run the ball well. I think the positives [are that] the offensive line is playing great, the receivers are getting open, the tight ends are playing their role, the backs are holding onto the football. There are a lot of positives but there are also things we can improve. I know you guys all eat the humble pie, but at what point to do you realize you have something special here? Have you realized that? I haven’t realized it. Just trying to get better each day. Just trying to take these games and make improvements each week and try to put our best out there each week and build on the stuff that we screwed up. Build on the stuff that we’ve done well, and improve the things we screwed up the previous week. It’s a long season. It’s not even November yet, and we’ve got a lot of room for improvement left and we’ve got a long half of the season ahead. Can you talk about your receivers and their ability to make yards after the catch? They all run well after the catch. They’re all very elusive. Donte’ [Stallworth] is very powerful, Wes [Welker] is very elusive, Randy [Moss] is a threat every time he gets the ball. The backs did a great job today, I thought, of making guys miss. I think that run after catch was awesome today, especially against a defense like this that’s very fast and aggressive and they’re all good tacklers and big hitters in the secondary. London Fletcher is one of the best middle linebackers in the league. They’ve got a great pair of safeties that rush the passer well, [Phillip] Daniels and Andre Carter did a great job. I just think we were trying to get the ball out quick because we knew that rush was coming. Back to that Vrabel touchdown. Every pass he’s caught has been for a touchdown. He gets wide open. You said it was a great sell by the offensive line, but how does he get that open? He’s caught ten touchdown passes. If they’re playing the pass and you run it then they’re screwed, and if you try to make it look like a run and he slips out for a pass then you leave him open. He’s very good at evading defenders and getting off the line of scrimmage. He’s very quick [and] he uses his hand well. He’s got good hands when he catches it.
Posted by Art Martone POSTGAME: Bill Belichick interview transcriptBB: I thought that was a solid performance by our team today. I thought the players really did a good job. We had probably our best week of practice that we’ve had all year, especially defensively. I thought the guys really went out there and played well. We had a lot of guys step up, a lot of guys make good plays today, so it’s hard to single anybody out, but I thought obviously Dean [Pees] and Josh [McDaniels] and all of assistant coaches did a great job having the team ready to go. I thought we played hard from the first series for 60 minutes and that was a lot better than we did last week. The players did a good job. They played hard, they made a lot of plays and I thought it was a good, solid effort for us. We’ll take that one and move on. Can you comment on the next game on the schedule, the Colts, and the anticipation? Can you comment on the play of Mike Vrabel? [Is it an] important step, getting Richard Seymour out there, just [to] ease him back into game action? Were you aware that Washington was having some communications problems in the first half? Did you have to turn your -- How would you rate Richard Seymour’s job in his first day back? Is there any plan you have in some of these games where you’re leading so much as far as getting out your starters? At 38-0 you went for it on 4th down, on 45-0 you went for it on 4th down. What was the philosophy there? I didn’t want you to do anything. I’m just asking what the philosophy is. Could you talk about the play of Laurence Maroney? He seemed to get some of his explosiveness back. It seemed like you focused on trying to work screen passes from receivers and running backs today. Can you comment on how you utilized Randall Gay today? It seemed like it was a little different than what we’ve seen from him in the last two games. Playing the safety role?
Posted by Art Martone Final score: Patriots 52, Redskins 7After opening the season with second consecutive lopsided wins, the Patriots handed out their worst beating yet today at Gillette Stadium. And with a 52-7 win -- the second-largest margin of victory in franchise history -- the team made yet another emphatic statement to set up what is sure to be the most hyped regular-season game in memory. Next week, they head to Indianapolis to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Colts, the only other undefeated team in the league. The Colts shook off a slow start today to rout the Carolina Panthers, 31-7, in Charlotte. Tom Brady continued was 29 of 38 for 306 yards, three touchdowns (to Mike Vrabel, Randy Moss and Wes Welker) and no interceptions. He also scrambled for two short touchdowns. Rosevelt Colvin scored a touchdown after recovering a fumble by Washington quarterback Jason Campbell, and backup quarterback Matt Cassel capped New England's scoring with a 15-yard scoring scamper. Laurence Maroney had a productive game, carrying the ball 14 times for 75 yards and catching two passes for 37 yards. The 45-point margin of victory was second in Patriots history only to the team's 56-3 win over the Jets on Sept. 9, 1979. We'll have complete coverage of the game throughout the night on projo.com's Patriots page, including all of our game stories as they are filed and a photo gallery. For now, we invite you to post your predictions for next week's Patriots-Colts game.
Posted by Mike McDermott Brady ties career markTom Brady's touchdown pass to Mike Vrabel (have the Redskins never seen that play before??) was his 28th of the season, tying his career high in just the eight game of the year. (We were having server issues, but we're back online now...)
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Seymour on the fieldRichard Seymour is on the field for the start of the Redskins' second drive, teaming with Vince Wilfork and Mike Wright on the first play of the possession.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Game inactivesFor the Patriots: S Mel Mitchell As expected, the five players who did not practice this week are inactive. For the Redskins: QB Mark Brunell - third QB
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Welcome to GilletteHey all -- We are here in Gillette Stadium, where the skies are a gorgeous blue and it looks like a great fall day for football. In case you haven't heard, the Patriots have activated defensive lineman Richard Seymour off the PUP list, and it is expected he'll be on the field today against the Redskins, working into game shape in anticipation of next week's Biggest NFL Game Ever (this week) against the Colts. Apologies for not posting it last night when the news came down; I was dealing with one of the worst headaches of my life and it was all I could do to scratch out what was in the paper/online today. It's pretty quiet here at the moment; as things get going, we'll update you on the happenings. Quick poll: How many of you are hoping the Colts lose today? Or do you want the Pats to be the ones to knock them off? shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 26, 2007
Friday practice peekWe've been kicked off the practice field for today, and the same five players who have been missing the first two days of practice were missing again today - Eric Alexander, Sammy Morris, Benjamin Watson, Eugene Wilson and Mel Mitchell. The players were in shells and shorts/pants. After a couple of kickoffs on the windy practice fields, Stephen Gostkowski and punter Chris Hanson moved inside Gillette Stadium. Troy Aikman and the rest of the Fox crew calling Sunday's game were on field as well.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 25, 2007
Brady voted FedEx Express player of the weekFan voters at nfl.com have chosen Tom Brady as the FedEx Express player of the week, over Houston's Sage Rosenfels and Denver's Jay Cutler. Brady was also chosen as the AFC's Offensive player of the week for his 21-for-25, 354-yard, six-touchdown performance against Miami. It is the second consecutive week that Brady has won both the FedEx and the AFC player of the week awards; along with the FedEx honor, the company will donate $5,000 to Children's Hospital in Boston on Brady's behalf. Cincinnati's Kenny Watson was voted the FedEx Ground player of the week.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Thursday participation report: No changesThere were no changes to New England's Thursday participation/injury report: Did not participate Limited Participation A couple of players were upgraded for Washington: Out Did not Participate Limited participation Full participation Indicates change in status
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Practice peekThose of you who have been out and about today can attest to the fact that fall is finally here, with a chill in the air that we (fortunately) have been without for the last week or so. At any rate, the Patriots were back outside for practice today, and Richard Seymour was out there once again. The same five players that were missing yesterday -- Eugene Wilson, Sammy Morris, Benjamin Watson, Eric Alexander and Mel Mitchell -- were not spotted again today. And after there being no players sporting the black practice player of the week jersey yesterday, there were two this afternoon: QB Matt Gutierrez and LB/special teamer Larry Izzo.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Thursday at Gillette: Watching & worryingHey all -- It was a pretty quiet day here at Gillette Stadium, as New England continues its preparations for Sunday's game against the Redskins. In the locker room, Junior Seau spoke about his constant concern for his family back home in San Diego. Seau owns several homes in the area, at least one of which has been consumed by the wildfires burning in southern California. "I'm on it every minute of the day," the veteran said. "My mom and dad are there, my kids are there.... it's just sad." Seau flew home from Miami on Sunday to help his parents move from their home to his beach house; his sports bar, Seau's, in Mission Valley not far from Qualcomm Stadium, is being used as a shelter. Bill Belichick was asked about Seau's use as a fullback in some of the Pats' goal-line packages this season, and said it's something the two talked about at the 1998 Pro Bowl, when Belichick was there as a member of the Jets' coaching staff and Seau was with the Chargers. Seau didn't get used as a fullback in Hawaii, but he did line up at tight end. In the locker room, he said there was one play when he was wide open and John Elway didn't get him the ball. As for Richard Seymour, having him on the practice field for the first time yesterday "was a start," Belichick said. "It's good to have everybody on the field that we can." Practice is outside again today; we'll post an update around 1 p.m. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 24, 2007
Brady wins AFC offensive PofW againTom Brady was named the AFC's offensive player of the week today for the second consecutive week and third time this season. In case you hadn't heard, his stat line from Sunday's win in Miami went like this: 21-for-25, 354 yards, franchise-record 6 TDs, no interceptions, perfect passer rating (158.3). Brady was also the conference's player of the month for September.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Wednesday participation reportThe Patriots have released their first participation report of the week: Did not participate *Note that Laurence Maroney (groin), Kelley Washington (hamstring), Donte Stallworth (knee), Adalius Thomas (ankle) and Randall Gay (thigh) have all been removed from last week's list. For the Redskins: Out Did not participate Limited participation
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Scoring changeIn Sunday's game against the Dolphins, New England had three sacks of Cleo Lemon -- one by Rodney Harrison, one by Junior Seau, and one which was credited as a team sack. Upon further review, it has been decided that the team sack is awarded to Mike Vrabel. Vrabel now has 4.5 sacks for the season.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Practice peekHey all - We've just been kicked out of the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse, where the Patriots are holding their first practice of the week in full pads. The news of the day is the return of Richard Seymour, and also that safety Eugene Wilson was among those not on the field. Wilson, who did not play many snaps against Miami but was not on the injury list, was one of five players not spotted. The other four: Benjamin Watson, Sammy Morris, Eric Alexander and Mel Mitchell. Interestingly, there were no players in jerseys, leading to the assumption that no one was named practice player of the week.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Seymour on the fieldAs hinted at earlier by Bill Belichick, Richard Seymour has indeed returned to the field, meaning the team is opening the 21-day window for the defensive lineman to practice. Seymour has been on the PUP list after offseason knee injury. The team now has three weeks to either activate him or place him on season-ending injured reserve.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young A. Thomas: "Calling me a coward...goes to something personal"Hey all -- Well those of us looking for a juicy storyline with these Patriots have one, in the form of Ray Lewis vs. Adalius Thomas. In last week's Sports Illustrated cover article, Thomas was quoted as saying that in Baltimore, "People sought out the limelight," starting with head coach Brian Billick. Thomas's quote went on: "It was a star-studded system. Here [New England] it's about as different as you can get. Everybody here shies away from being the star guy. Nobody on this team beats his chest. They just all go about their business. And win." Apparently, Ray Lewis found a way to take offense to that. Speaking on his weekly radio show Tuesday, the linebacker called Thomas "a coward" for the comments quoted in SI, and implied that Baltimore had to change their defensive scheme to fit Thomas into it. (As an aside, generally, if you're claiming that the man's supposed to be like a brother to you, you usually know how to say his name. Lewis repeatedly calls Thomas "Ad-a-LEE-us" and it's "A-day-lus." But we digress.) Thomas took offense to being called a coward, and then pointed out how Lewis -- in the same interview -- took shots at Brian Billick's play calling. "I said I played with Hall of Fame players. That was not in that quote," Thomas said. "I named names, Ray Lewis was one of the names I named, one of the players that was (among) great players. The only problem I have is the 'coward.' You know, call me a coward, you got my phone number. You can call me. And I will can Ray personally myself. "As far as calling me a coward I think that goes to something personal, I don't like it. I will address that with Ray myself, but to attack my integrity, as far as that goes, and say that you had to make a scheme up for me, I didn’t know they made up outside linebacker. I didn’t know that. I know that you [Lewis] were crying about having a big man in the middle to keep blockers off you. I don’t know if that’s a scheme." The great part is that Thomas said he didn't want to go back and forth with Lewis through the media, but then snuck in that bit about Lewis crying about wanting help in the middle. And in true Bill Parcells form, Thomas said he wouldn't engage in "he said/she said," when we think he could have easily said he said/he said... Made for an unexpectedly interesting day in the locker room, that's for sure.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young: Backup quarterback the Achilles heel?Click here to listen to today's edition of projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young. The topics: Randy Moss' latest receiving exhibition; is Matt Cassel still the backup quarterback? Washington's outstanding secondary; the state of the running game; and the endless buildup to the Colts game. Following are some excerpts from Shalise's comments. On Moss: "The most amazing thing to me about him is that he waits until the last possible second to put his hands up to catch the ball, and just throws the defensive back off. Some receivers stand there with their hands up, and if everybody in the park knows that the ball is coming to them, then the defensive back might be able to make a play. But Randy, he waits until the last second, and he puts his hands up and there's the ball." Is Cassel still Brady's backup? "I think that's something that's yet to be seen. ... Matt Gutierrez showed well in training camp. He has a really strong arm, and I haven't heard any rumblings about him having a hard time picking things up. ... That's the one thing that could derail this team this year -- if something happens to Tom Brady. If Matt Cassel can't handle it, then their undefeated season goes out the window." The state of the running game: "What hurts them is: We really saw a good pairing with [Laurence Maroney] and Sammy Morris, and not having Sammy -- which I would be very surprised if he plays this week -- I think that's a really good one-two punch for them. We haven't seen yet that Maroney's able to carry the offense because of the way that Morris came in and showed that he can be a good guy in a two-headed monster kind of scheme."
Posted by Mike McDermott October 23, 2007
Brady on target for record seasonBY ROBERT LEE FOXBORO – Tom Brady’s career is like something right out of a Hollywood script. From being drafted in the 6th round, to being thrust into the starting lineup after quarterback Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury, to dating super models, to leading the Patriots to three Super Bowl victories. Things like that just don’t happen in real life. At least they aren’t supposed too. But Brady has been defying odds time and time again ever since he entered the NFL. Brady is having the best year of his life on the football field and if he continues to play at the pace that he is, he will have one of the best seasons by an NFL quarterback in league history, statistically speaking. Brady needs just one more touchdown pass to tie his career mark of 28 (2002, 2004), and the undefeated Patriots have only played seven games. His 27 touchdowns are the most thrown by a quarterback through the first seven games in the history of the NFL. He is on pace to throw 62 touchdowns which would shatter the NFL record for touchdowns thrown by a quarterback, 49, which was set by Peyton Manning in 2004. Brady, who has a 73.8 completion percentage (169-for-229), is on pace to break the single-season completion percentage NFL record of 70.55 percent which Ken Anderson from Cincinnati set in 1982. He’s on pace to obliterate Manning’s 2004-single-season quarterback rating record (121.1) with a 137.9 QB rating so far this year, and he’s on pace to finish second on the on the NFL all-time list for single-season passing yards, a position which Kurt Warner currently holds with 4,830 passing yards (2001, St. Louis). Dan Marino threw for 5,084 yards (317.8 yards per game) for Miami in 1984. Brady has thrown for 2,125 yards so far through the air, averaging 303.6 yards per game, which would give him 4,857 at the end of the regular season. His latest victim was the Dolphins. Brady, who had a quarterback rating of 68.2 in his previous six meetings with Miami, completed 21 of 25 passes for 354 yards and a career-high and team-record six touchdowns in a 49-28 rout of the Dolphins. His quarterback rating of 158.3 was also a career-high. If Brady can throw four touchdowns passes on Sunday against Washington, he will be only the third player in NFL history to throw four touchdown passes in three consecutive games. Marino (1984) and Manning (2004) are the other two to accomplish that feat. Brady has given a lot of credit for his success this season to his teammates. “It makes my job easy when those guys are making those plays,” Brady said of his receivers. “It’s easy as a quarterback if you have people open and every time you throw it they catch it. It’s not like they are making many mistakes. I think they are probably more in the zone than I am. They feel great about what we’re doing.” Miami had no solution for Brady and his receivers. “They're stacked, and they spread the ball all over the field,” Miami linebacker Zach Thomas said after the game. “Today Wes and Randy Moss, they just ate us up. When Brady was in there, we couldn't stop them. They are stacked, and they gave Brady didn’t have a go-to receiver last season because Deion Branch left for Seattle after the 2005 season. In the offseason, the Patriots signed former five-time Pro Bowler Randy Moss, who leads the league in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns with 44 catches for 732 yards and 10 TDs, which includes his four catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns performance on Sunday. “He’s something else,” Brady said of Moss. “…Randy’s two touchdown catches were awesome.” Said New England coach Bill Belichick of Moss, “He’s got great ball skills. It's not just the long balls. He does a good job on all of them, and we've seen him do it before.” With Moss opening up the field, Wes Welker, who the Patriots also singed in the offseason, has thrived with his excellent route-running skills in the underneath routes. Welker has a team-high 47 receptions for 524 yards and five touchdowns. He caught nine passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday. The Patriots also signed Donte Stallworth prior to the season. Stallworth provides another deep threat. He has 22 catches for 367 yards and three touchdowns, including three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. Stallworth is averaging 16.7 yards per catch this year. “Those guys are making the plays,” Brady said. “I’m just throwing it and they’re catching it and they’re making the run after the catch…The receivers [do] a great job. [They] makes my job awfully easy, I’ll tell you that.” Throw explosive tight end Ben Watson (18 catches, 222 yards, five touchdowns) and running backs Laurence Maroney, Kevin Faulk, and Sammy Morris catching passes out of the backfield into the mix, and Brady has become the most dangerous passer in the NFL this season. ---- Robert Lee
Posted by Rob Lee Brady nominated for FedEx player of weekTom Brady has a chance to win another honor this season, as he is one of three players nominated for the FedEx Express player of the week award. The winner is selected by fans voting on nfl.com. Brady outdid himself yet again in Miami, completing 21-of-25 passes for 354 yards (16.9 yards per completion), a franchise record six touchdowns and no interceptions. The other nominees are Denver's Jay Cutler (22-for-29, 248 yards, 3TDs in a win over Pittsburgh) and Houston's Sage Rosenfels (22-for-35, 290 yards, NFL record-tying four fourth-quarter TDs).
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Parking changes at Gillette StadiumFOXBORO -- If you're planning on going to Gillette Stadium this weekend and haven't yet been to a game this season, there have been some changes to changes to Gillette Stadium's parking configuration since last season that you should keep in mind before you arrive. Due to construction, the majority of spaces available have moved across Route 1, away from the stadium. If you’re coming from the North: Save yourself time by staying to the right and parking in P10. You’ll have more time to tailgate with easier access to and exiting the stadium. You will have to cross Route 1 at the marked pedestrian crossings, but P10 is still your best bet. If you’re coming from the South: Because of the newly-built median on Route 1, you’ll have to decide on which side of Route 1 you will park prior to the Pine Street intersection (near the Seasonal Specialty Stores and The Lafayette House). If you want to park on the left side of Route 1 (P10 or P11), stay to the left of the median. If you want to park on the stadium side of Route 1, stay to the right (P8 or P7).
Posted by Rob Lee October 21, 2007
Patriots 49, Dolphins 28Tom Brady threw a Patriots franchise record six touchdown passes, five of them in the first half, as the 7-0 New England Patriots rolled over the 0-7 Miami Dolphins, 49-28, today in Miami. The win gave the Patriots their best start in franchise history. Brady threw two touchdowns each to Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and one each to Donte Stallworth and Kyle Brady. He did not throw an interception, leaving him with 27 touchdowns and two interceptions on the season so far. He completed 21 of 25 passes for 354 yards. Brady left the game after completing New England's final drive of the third quarter, but returned after backup Matt Cassel -- on just his third play of the game -- threw an interception that Jason Taylor returned for a Miami touchdown, making the score 42-21. Brady promptly led the Patriots on a four-play, 59-yard drive that ended in a 16-yard touchdown toss to Welker. Third-string quarterback Matt Gutierrez finished things up for the Patriots. Willie Andrews, a second-year backup cornerback, had his proudest moment as a pro, returning a short kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter, after Miami had pulled to within 14-7. It was Andrews' first NFL touchdown. Projo.com will have much more Patriots coverage all night long. We'll post game reports from Miami as we get them, with our full report online by about 8:30 tonight. We'll also bring you a gallery of Glenn Osmundson's photos. For now, we invite you to answer this question: Were the Patriots trying to humiliate the Dolphins today?
Posted by Mike McDermott Matt Gutierrez gets the ballIn news that cannot be good for Matt Cassel, Bill Belichick has decided to pull Tom Brady once again, but this time it is undrafted rookie Matt Gutierrez under center and not Cassel. Gutierrez showed pretty well during the preseason, and has just completed his first NFL pass, to Donte Stallworth for a first down.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young NFL Record for TD passes in a gameMIAMI -- In case you were wondering, the NFL record for TD passes in a game is seven, shared by five players -- most recently Joe Kapp, who did it for the Vikings in 1969. Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears was the first to do it. The others were Adrian Burk (Eagles), George Blanda (when he was in the AFL, with the Houston Oilers), and Yelverton Abraham Tittle (N.Y. Giants).
Posted by Jim Donaldson Record For BradyMIAMI -- Tom Brady, who came back into the game after his backup, Matt Cassel, threw an interception that Jason Taylor returned for a touchdown, set a franchise record by throwing for his sixth TD pass of the game -- a 16-yarder to Wes Welker that capped a 4-play, 59-yard drive and made the score 49-21. For the game, he has completed 21 of 25 passes, for 354, and the team-record six TDs.
Posted by Jim Donaldson So THAT'S Why Brady Was Still In The GameMIAMI -- Finally going into the game in relief of Brady with 11 minutes left to play, Matt Cassel's first pass attempt was incomplete, and his second was intercepted by Jason Taylor, who returned it 36 yards for a touchdown to trim New England's lead to 42-21. That prompted Bill Belichick to send Brady back into the game with 9:30 remaining.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Perfect passer ratingTom Brady has finally come out of the game, making way for Matt Cassel. Brady's incredible day: 19-for-23, 327 yards, five touchdowns, one sack...and a perfect passer rating of 158.3, the first time in his career Brady has posted a perfect rating and the second time this season he's exceeded 150 -- against Buffalo, Brady's rating was 150.9.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young "Let's go Red Sox!"With it pretty clear that New England's football team will claim victory today, the heavily pro-Pats crowd left here at Dolphin Stadium have turned their attention to the region's baseball team. Chants of "Let's go Red Sox!" have broken out.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Worst Loss in Patriots HistoryMIAMI -- Lest you're starting to feel sorry for the winless Dolphins, or think that the Patriots were running up the score with their successful, two-minute drill just before halftime, be reminded that the most one-sided loss in Pats history came at the hands of Don Shula's Dolphins -- a 52-0 drubbing in the old Orange Bowl in 1972. That was the year Miami went undefeated, beating the Redskins in the Super Bowl. The Patriots finished 3-11 that season.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Scoring Record
MIAMI -- The 42 points put up by the Pats in the first half is a franchise record for points in any half. The previous, single-half record was 41, on Oct. 29, 1978, in the first half of New England's 55-21 romp over the Jets in Foxboro. The Patriots led that game at halftime, 41-7.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Why Is Brady Still In The Game?MIAMI -- I don't get this. Never have. Never will. The only way this spectacular Patriots season can go wrong is if QB Tom Brady gets hurt. So why, with an exceedingly comfortable, 42-7 lead midway through the third quarter against a totally overmatched Dolphins team is he still in the game? And taking a big hit from Jason Taylor after throwing a pass. Why not put in Matt Cassell and give him some playing time in this blowout?
Posted by Jim Donaldson That's Just SickMIAMI -- When Tom Brady capped a 71-yard, 6-play scoring drive that took only 1:06 with a 14-yard TD pass to Wes Welker just 25 seconds before halftime, it was his fifth scoring toss of the afternoon, tying the franchise record for a single game for the second week in a row, although he need four quarters to do it in Dallas. Brady heads into the locker room with 16 completions in 19 attempts for 291 yards and the 5 TDs.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Willie Andrews; Doing It On DefenseMIAMI -- Willie Andrews isn't resting on his laurels. Having returned a kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter, he downed a Chris Hanson punt on the Miami 1-yard line with a little more than four minutes to go 'til halftime.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Randy over Worrell -- every timeMIAMI -- Cameron Worrell was lining up the first interception of his five years in the National Football League as Tom Brady's long, lofted pass began to plummet from the sky toward the end zone. He was in position, the ball was headed his way, and he had just jumped up to get it when Randy Moss jumped higher and snatched the ball away for a TD. Originally signed by the Bears as an undrafted free agent out of Fresno State in 2003, Worrell came to Miami as unrestricted free agent in March. He was burned again, on a similar play, later in the second quarter. This time, the 6-4 Moss outleaped not only the 5-11 Cameron, but also the 5-11 Renaldo Hill to pull down a 50-yard TD bomb from Brady. Brady now has thrown for at least three touchdowns in every game this season, extending his NFL record, and is on pace to throw 57 TD passes, which would smash Peyton Manning's single-season mark of 49. And it's not even halftime yet.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Willie Andrews info
MIAMI -- Willie Andrews, a seventh-round pick of the Pats last year out of Baylor, has been a regular on special teams. Andrews tied for the team lead in special-team tackles last season as a rookie, with 15. He didn't return a kickoff until the Monday Night Game in Cincinnati three weeks ago, when he had a 24-yarder in the second quarter. Today's 77-yard return, off a short kickoff by the Dolphins' Jay Feely, was only the second KO return of Andrews' NFL career.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Last Time It HappenedMIAMI -- Willie Andrews' 77-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was the second KO return the Pats have had this season. Ellis Hobbs had an NFL-record, 108-yard TD return against the Jets in the season opener. The last time the Pats had two KO returns for TDs in a season was in 2002, when Kevin Faulk ran two back for scores. The last time two different Patriots returned kickoffs for TDs was in 1961, when Ron Burton and Larry Garron did it. In 1977, Raymond Clayborn set a franchise record by returning three KOs for TDs.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Pats score first - againMIAMI -- As they have in every game this season, the Patriots scored on their first possession. Following the opening kickoff, the Pats drove 80 yards in 9 plays and 5:09, scoring a touchdown on a 30-yard pass from Tom Brady to Donte Stallworth. Stallworth broke three tackles on the play. New England now has scored first-possession TDs in the last three games, and has four TDs and three FGs on its opening possessions this season.
Posted by Jim Donaldson New game, new celebrityHey all -- Boston native and die-hard Red Sox fan Matt Damon is here at the game, and was chatting with Patriots' owner Bob Kraft a short while ago. We're told Damon was initially sporting a green Sox hat but Kraft made him switch to a Pats hat. Last week in Dallas, actress Kate Hudson was in Kraft's box. She has been filming a movie in Boston for a couple of months.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Photo: Pats fans in Dolphin country
Posted by Mike McDermott Maroney not among inactivesThe game inactives have been released, and Laurence Maroney is not among them for the Patriots, though if we were to guess, we'd say Kevin Faulk will still be the primary and Maroney getting a few carries. New England inactives Miami inactives
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Dolphins QB Trent Green on I.R.MIAMI -- Local TV stations reported last night that the Dolphins had placed QB Trent Green on the Injured Reserve list -- meaning he's out for the rest of the season -- in the wake of his suffering a severe concussion two weeks ago at Houston. The Dolphins had made a concerted effort to sign the 37-year-old Green, obtaining him in a trade with Kansas City in June (for a conditional, fifth-round pick in 2008) after finally agreeing to contract terms with him and his agent. Green was brought in to replace Daunte Culpepper, who had been signed in 2006 by former Dolphins coach Lou Saban, who left for the University of Alabama after last season. Miami will be starting 28-year-old Cleo Lemon, who was undrafted out of Arkansas State. He was in training camp with the Ravens in 2002, and spent the '03 season on the Chargers' practice squad. He was on San Diego's regular-season roster in '04, but was inactive for all 16 games. Nor did he see any action in '05, when, after six games, he was traded to Miami in exchange for quarterback A.J. Feeley and a 6th-round choice in the '06 draft. He appeared in four games last season for Miami, starting one -- the final game of the year at Indianapolis, where he was 18-for-36 for 210 yards, with one TD pass and one interception, in a 27-22 loss that left the Dolphins 6-10. Taking over for Green at Houston, he was 15 of 27, for 151 yards, and threw an interception. In last Sunday's 41-31 loss at Cleveland, he was 24-for-43, for 256 yards, with two TDs and two INTs.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Just Wondering, about J.D. Drew, and the DolphinsMIAMI -- Since J.D. Drew, the $14 million man who went from April 22 to Sept. 11 without hitting a home run at Fenway Park, came through with a grand slam in the first inning of Game Six last night, does that mean the winless Dolphins, 16-point underdogs, can upset the undefeated Patriots this afternoon? Which, I wonder, would be the more surprising development to New England sports fans? Lest we forget, Tom Brady has lost four of six career starts here, including last year, when the Dolphins whitewashed the Pats, 21-0, holding New England to a mere 189 yards total offense. Sammy Morris ran for 123 yards and a touchdown that day -- one of the reasons the Patriots signed him as a free agent. Unfortunately, Morris, who had back-to-back, 100-yard games against the Bengals and Browns, will be out for several weeks after suffering a chest injury early in last Sunday's game at Dallas.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Six-and-Oh versus Oh-and-SixMIAMI -- Leave it to Harvey Greene, the longtime Media Relations Director of the Dolphins, to provide the answer to the question I was asking myself on the way to the stadium: When was the last time in the NFL that an undefeated team played a winless team this late in the season? The answer:1984. And it was in Miami, when the 8-0 Dolphins played the 0-8 Bills on Oct. 28, in the old Orange Bowl. Not surprisingly, the Dolphins won easily, 38-7, as Dan Marino completed 19 of 28 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw three interceptions, although they obviously didn't hurt the Dolphins.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Good Morning From MiamiMIAMI -- There were a surprising (at least to me) number of Patriots fans in Dallas last weekend and -- not surprisingly, considering that Dolphins fans are frustrated by the fact the Fins are 0-6 -- there should be even more New Englanders (transplanted, or just down for the weekend) in the stadium this afternoon, given the willingness of Dolfans to part with their tickets. There were lots of Pats fans outside, even three hours before kickoff, including one with a sense of humor, who put a Patriots baseball cap on the statue of Miami's Hall of Fame QB, Dan Marino, and then had a friend take a photograph of him, with his arm around the statue. There's also a statue of legendary coach Don Shula near the one of Marino. When the Pats put up a statue of Belichick, will he wearing the grey hoodie?
Posted by Jim Donaldson October 20, 2007
Five players downgraded to OUTThe Patriots have announced that five players have been downgraded to OUT for tomorrow's game with Miami: LB Eric Alexander - knee
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Belichick named Coach of the WeekNFL fans voted New England coach Bill Belichick as the Motorola NFL Coach of the Week for games played on October 14-15. Bill Belichick coached the Patriots to a 48-27 win over the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday in a battle of unbeaten teams. Behind quarterback Tom Brady, who threw a career-high five touchdowns, the Patriots controlled the ball for 38:15 and totaled 448 yards. The Patriots scored their most points in 23 years to beat the Cowboys in Dallas. Belichick was selected as Motorola NFL Coach of the Week from among three finalists by voters on NFL.com. The other finalists were head coaches Jack Del Rio of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints.
Posted by Rob Lee October 19, 2007
Friday practice: Deja vuPractice today, held under a very grey sky, looked mighty similar to the previous two days, at least from an attendance standpoint. Eric Alexander, Benjamin Watson, Sammy Morris and Mel Mitchell were not on the field during media access, the same quartet that's been missing all week. The players are in shells and shorts; Bill Belichick, when asked about yesterday's walkthrough practice, said it was for mental emphasis of things and indicated today's practice might be longer to make up for it.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Friday wrapup: Fun n' games...and 'Air Coryell'?Hey all -- With the Red Sox in the ALCS and a less-than-imposing opponent on the Pats' schedule this week, today's media contingent at Gillette Stadium was the smallest we've seen in a couple of years. Because of that, there were some off-the-beaten-path questions asked of Bill Belichick, with several focused on the "Air Coryell" offense Don Coryell and the Chargers used around 25 years ago. Belichick was also asked about the recently-passed NFL trading deadline, and how much activity there really is. Because of the intricacies and differences in systems, Belichick said, it's hard to bring a player in and get him integrated and effective for the 10 remaining weeks of the season, and that's why there aren't many trades. In the locker room, it was the typical light Friday, with a lot of music and singing and Laurence Maroney taking center stage. The running back, who always seems to have a smile on his face and something to say, was joking with reporters. There was also a lot of dominoes and activity at the game table. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 18, 2007
Brady voted FedEx air player of the weekVoters at nfl.com have chosen Tom Brady as the FedEx air player of the week and Minnesota rookie Adrian Peterson as the ground player of the week. From the release: Brady and Peterson were selected from among finalists in air and ground categories. The other FedEx Express NFL Player of the Week finalists were quarterbacks DREW BREES of the New Orleans Saints and DAMON HUARD of the Kansas City Chiefs, while running backs MAURICE JONES-DREW of the Jacksonville Jaguars and LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON of the San Diego Chargers were the other finalists for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week. Fans voted for more than their favorite players. The weekly FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Awards are also a win for the local community. Along with the player awards, FedEx is awarding Children’s Hospital of Boston and University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview, the children’s hospitals in each of the winning markets, each a check for $5,000. The children’s hospitals in the two season-long winner’s markets, announced at Super Bowl XLII in Arizona, will be awarded $25,000 each. That means that FedEx will deliver nearly $250,000 to local children’s hospitals around the country in recognition of the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Award winners.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Patriots must focus on stopping Miami's Ronnie BrownFOXBORO -- If New England is going to be successful on Sunday, the Patriots will need to find a way to slow down Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown, who Patriots coach Bill Belichick said is the "best player I’ve seen this year offensively.” Brown ranks third in the NFL in rushing with 526 rushing yards. He has rushed for at least 100 yards four games in a row. Brown also has a team-high 34 receptions, putting him on pace for 91 which would break O.J. McDuffie’s team record of 91. “He’s having a great year and offensively they move the ball, they score points, and they create a lot of problems for you both in the running game, the passing game and the play-action game as it certainly sprouts off the running game, so they’ve gotten a lot of big plays on their play-action passes,” Belichick said. “They can throw the ball to their backs, their tight ends, their receivers and the quarterback is athletic. They have, I think, pretty good balance on their offense and I think that’s shown up in the production.” The Patriots have had success stopping Brown in the past. In three career games against the Pats, Brown only has 124 yards rushing on 39 carries. Brown has a lot to play for this time around. Not only is he trying to lead the Dolphins (0-6) to their first victory of the season, but with a 100-yard game against the Patriots, he would become just the second Dolphin to post five straight 100-yard rushing games, joining Ricky Williams, who did it in Weeks 10-14 in 2002. Brown said that the Dolphins are playing for pride. "We're sitting her at 0-6, but you still have to come out and compete, and that's what this game is about -- being competitive," Brown said. "A situation like this shows the type of character you have." Check out tomorrow's Providence Journal for more news on the Patriots. -- Robert Lee
Posted by Rob Lee Thursday's injury reportThe Patriots released their Thursday injury report and there are no changes from Wednesday. Linebacker Eric Alexander (knee), running back Sammy Morris (chest), and tight end Benjamin Watson (ankle) did not participate in practice. Cornerback Randall Gay (thigh), running back Laurence Maroney (groin), safety Mel Mitchell (groin), guard Stephen Neal (shoulder), receivers Donte' Stallworth (knee) and Kelley Washington (hamstring), and linebacker Adalius Thomas (ankle) had limited participation in practice.
Posted by Rob Lee Thursday practice reportThe New England Patriots held a walkthrough in the Dana-Farber Field House today. The players wore shorts and T-shirts. The media was present for a special teams drill.
Posted by Rob Lee Thursday locker room report: Maroney speaks; Welker dodges reportersIt was a typical Thursday in the Patriots locker room where few players were available to speak to the media. One big surprise was that injured running back Laurence Maroney (groin), who missed the last three games, was available to talk to the press. Maroney said that while he hopes to be back on Sunday, especially with Sammy Morris out of the Patriots lineup, he added that he isn’t going to rush back too quickly and he isn’t going to play just because Morris is out. He said that it will be the Patriots coaching staff, not him, who will have the final say on whether he plays or not, but added that he feels “good.” “I feel better than I did two weeks ago,” Maroney said. Chad Jackson and Junior Seau also had a large media contingent at their lockers. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said at the morning press conference that Jackson has matured a lot from last year to this year. Seau, who was voted to the Pro Bowl in 12 consecutive seasons, from 1991-2002, said that he is excited to go back to Miami and face his former teammates. Seau played for the Dolphins from 2003 through the 2005 season. He said that the Patriots just need to continue to do what they have been doing in order to be successful in Miami, a place where New England only has one victory in the history of the franchise in the months of September and October. When former Dolphin Wes Welker was approached by the media he said that he had to go eat and then get ready for practice so he couldn’t talk.
Posted by Rob Lee October 17, 2007
Wednesday participation/injury reportThe first report of the week has been released: NEW ENGLAND Limited Participation Full Participation * Alexander, Morris and Watson are additions from last week's list; Matt Light (flu), Dan Koppen (ankle), Asante Samuel (foot) and Wesley Britt (personal) were all removed from the list. MIAMI Did Not Participate Limited Participation
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Belichick nominated for the NFL Coach of the WeekNew England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been nominated for the Motorola NFL Coach of the Week for games played Oct. 14-15. Belichick's Patriots defeated the Dallas Cowboys 48-27 to remain undefeated at 6-0. Behind QB Tom Brady, who threw a career-high five touchdowns, the Patriots controlled the ball for 38:15 and totaled 448 yards of offense. The Patriots scored their most points in 23 years to hand the Cowboys their first loss of the season. Fans are encouraged to cast their vote on NFL.com --- Courtesy of the Patriots media department
Posted by Rob Lee Practice reportHey all - As previously posted, Eddie Jackson and Chad Jackson were on the field with their teammates for practice today, meaning the Patriots have opened the 21-day window for both. Within the next three weeks, the two players can practice and the team must decide by the end whether to activate the players (and make a corresponding move) or place them on season-ending IR. Also at practice, held in shorts and shells, Benjamin Watson, Sammy Morris, Mel Mitchell and Eric Alexander were missing, and tackle Wesley Britt made his return after a week tending to personal issues. Marcellus Rivers, Pierre Woods and C.J. Jones were all in black jerseys for being named practice players of the week. It is the second consecutive black jersey and third of the season for Jones, a practice squad receiver.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Jacksons backWe're here at practice, and PUPers Chad Jackson and Eddie Jackson are both on the field. More shortly.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Wednesday at the Razor: Miami whuppin' still smartsHey all -- You could see this one coming from a mile away, but just because the Patriots are 6-0 and decimating every team that gets on the field with them does not mean Bill Belichick has forgotten the 21-0 loss New England suffered in Miami last year. "That was a low point for us," Belichick said this morning. In that game, Tom Brady was 12-for-25 for 78 yards and took four sacks. The Pats had just 12 first downs and 189 yards of total offense that afternoon. Belichick acknowledged that Miami's offense under new head coach Cam Cameron is the same offense Cameron ran as San Diego's offensive coordinator -- "only the jerseys are different," he quipped -- and with the same defensive coordinator, Dom Capers, running the show, things aren't very different there either. As for the players on the PUP list, Belichick said, "We'll let you know when we make those moves," and said that the player's situation as well as the team's situation dictates when the player begins to practice and/or is activated. In the locker room, Tom Brady, Ellis Hobbs, Kevin Faulk, Rosevelt Colvin and Kyle Eckel had considerable media attention today. We're out at practice shortly, and will check in with a report after we're kicked off the field. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young: Unstoppable?Click here to listen to projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young. The topics: Could we have seen this offensive juggernaut coming? If the blitz doesn't work, how do you defense Brady? Can Miami's defense have any of the success they've had in the past against New England? Should we be concerned about the health of the running attack? How does the team feel about the way the defense has played? Here are some excerpts from Shalise's comments. Did you see this kind of offensive production coming? "I don't think anyone really expected that. Maybe Bill Belichick did. It's not that easy to score in the NFL, but they make it look pretty easy. ... Especially when you look at this Dallas game -- they had no running game, 75 total yards -- but yet somehow they managed to hold on to the ball for 38 minutes. So that just underscores how really good this team is offensively." Could Miami's defense present problems again? "Jason Taylor has always had good success [against Tom Brady] ... They could have some success, but the Miami defense is starting to look old. I've always looked at the Miami roster, and I've been like, 'Gee hasn't Zach Thomas been in the league forever?' and it just seems like they've been around a long time. Well, they're starting to get to that point where, yes, they have been around a long time, and it's starting to affect them. ... The other thing is, if the offense isn't on the field for a long time, then the defense is out there for a long time, so they're being asked to do a lot more." Injuries to the running game: "Last week Bill said that [Laurence] Maroney was going to be a game-time decision ... he may be a game-time decision again this week. They certainly will need him, because there's a report that [Sammy]Morris will be out a month, I haven't been able to follow that up yet, and I also have seen that they brought in Kevan Barlow for a workout this week."
Posted by Mike McDermott October 16, 2007
Brady named Player of the Week againHey all -- Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week following his five-touchdown, zero-interception, 388-yard performance against the Cowboys on Sunday. It is the second time this season Brady has received the honor and ninth of his career. He was also named AFC offensive player of the month for September.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young See and hear the projo Play of the Week: Brady's five TDsWe're a little late on it this week, we realize, but here it is. Click the play button at the bottom of the photo to see more pictures and listen to the narration. Click here to see other Plays of the Week.
Posted by Mike McDermott Dallas News: Phillips' goal was to stop Pats' running gameWriting in The Dallas Morning News, Tim Cowlishaw reports that Wade Phillips remains unapologetic about his strategy for defending the Patriots in Sunday's game, even if the strategy sounds almost absurd now. "Phillips acknowledged at his Monday news conference that the Cowboys' approach was to stop Sammy Morris and make Tom Brady beat them," Cowlishaw says. Later, he writes: "In other words, he's walking Julio Lugo and Coco Crisp to get to Big Papi and Manny." Good comparison. Click here to read the rest of the column.
Posted by Mike McDermott October 14, 2007
Patriots' postgame notesFrom the New England PR staff: HIGHEST POINT TOTAL IN 23 YEARS The Patriots scored 48 points today, marking their highest point total since 1984. The last time the Patriots scored 48 points or more was on Nov. 18, 1984, when they defeated the Indianapolis Colts 50-17. The 48 points are tied for the sixth-highest single-game total in franchise history.
BRADY SETS CAREER-HIGH WITH FIVE TOUCHDOWN PASSES, TYING FRANCHISE RECORD In his 100th career start, Tom Brady set a career high with five touchdown passes today, tying the Patriots single-game franchise record and becoming the first New England player to achieve the feat since Steve Grogan on Sept. 9, 1979. Vito “Babe” Parilli also threw five touchdowns in a game for the Patriots on two occasions – on Oct. 15, 1967 and on Nov. 15, 1964. Brady had previously thrown four touchdown passes in a game on six occasions, most recently on Sept. 23, 2007 against Buffalo.
BRADY SETS NFL RECORD WITH THREE OR MORE TOUCHDOWNS IN FIRST SIX GAMES By virtue of his five touchdown passes today, Tom Brady has set a new NFL record by becoming the first player in league history to throw for three or more touchdowns in each of a season’s first six games. The previous record was set by San Francisco’s Steve Young, when he threw for three or more touchdowns in each of the first five games of the 1998 season. Brady has totaled 21 touchdown passes through six games in 2007. Brady has now thrown for three or more touchdowns 25 times in his regular season career and his six three-touchdown games in 2007 set a new career-high, besting his five three-touchdown games in 2002. Last season, Brady threw for three or more touchdowns in a game on two occasions.
BRADY’S 388 YARDS ARE HIGHEST NON-OVERTIME TOTAL OF CAREER Tom Brady totaled 388 passing yards today, marking the second highest total of his career. His yardage total against the Cowboys trails only his career-high 410 yards in an overtime game against Kansas City on Sept. 22, 2002. Brady’s 388 yards against Dallas stand as the highest non-overtime total of his career. Brady was 31-for-46 on the day, and his 31 completions are his highest in more than a year, dating back to when he also completed 31 passes against Denver on Sept. 24, 2006.
BRADY: 21 TOUCHDOWN PASSES THIS SEASON, 167 FOR HIS CAREER Tom Brady’s career-high five touchdown passes raised his season total to 21 touchdown passes and his career total to 168 touchdown passes. With his fourth touchdown of the day – a 1-yarder to Kyle Brady in the third quarter – Tom Brady passed Drew Bledsoe (166 touchdown passes) for second place on the Patriots’ all-time list. Steve Grogan is the Patriots’ all-time leader with 184 touchdown passes. Brady’s 21 touchdown passes this season mark the sixth consecutive season he has exceeded 20 touchdown passes. Brady’s six straight seasons with 20 or more touchdown passes is the longest streak in Patriots history, topping Drew Bledsoe’s three straight years with 20 or more touchdown passes from 1996-98. Brady’s single-season career high is 28 touchdown passes, achieved in 2002 and 2004. Last season, Brady totaled 24 touchdown passes.
STALLWORTH HAULS IN 69-YARD TOUCHDOWN PASS Donte’ Stallworth caught a 69-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady in the fourth quarter to give the Patriots a 38-24 lead. The touchdown was the longest touchdown completion for the Patriots in nearly four years. The last time New England had a touchdown catch that long was on Oct. 19, 2003, when Troy Brown hauled in an 82-yard touchdown from Brady in overtime at Miami. Stallworth’s 69-yard play was the longest play from scrimmage for the Patriots this season and was the longest play from scrimmage for New England since Sept. 18, 2005, when Troy Brown caught a 71-yard pass from Brady in a game at Carolina. The 69-yard touchdown catch was Stallworth’s second of the season and the 30th of his career. STALLWORTH TOTALS SECOND-HIGHEST YARDAGE TOTAL OF CAREER Donte’ Stallworth recorded his first 100-yard game in a Patriots uniform, totaling 136 yards on seven catches (19.4 avg.). The yardage total is the second highest of Stallworth’s six-year career, trailing only his career-high 139 receiving yards (on six catches), for Philadelphia on Nov. 12, 2006 against Washington.
SEAU SETS CAREER HIGH FOR INTERCEPTIONS With his fourth-quarter interception of Tony Romo, Junior Seau set a new single-season career high with his third interception of the season. Seau’s previous single-season high in his 18-year career was two interceptions, achieved six times, most recently in 2000. Last week against Cleveland, Seau tied his single-game career high with two interceptions.
WELKER SCORES TWO TOUCHDOWNS Wes Welker set a career high with two touchdown receptions today, doubling his career total heading into the game. He hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady in the first quarter to give the Patriots a 14-0 lead and then grabbed a 12-yard scoring pass to give the Patriots a 21-10 lead in the second quarter. The touchdown catches were the second and third of the season for Welker, who also snared an 11-yard scoring reception to cap off the Patriots’ opening drive of the season against the New York Jets on Sept. 9. Welker’s touchdown catches against the Cowboys raised his career receiving touchdown total to four. He also scored a touchdown on a kickoff return with the Miami Dolphins in 2004.
WELKER SETS CAREER HIGHS FOR RECEPTIONS AND RECEIVING YARDS Wes Welker had a career-high 11 receptions for a career-high 124 yards, recording his first career 100-yard receiving game. His previous career high was 97 yards (on three receptions), achieved on Oct. 16, 2005 with the Miami Dolphins in a game at Tampa Bay. Welker’s 11 receptions are tied for the sixth-highest single-game total in Patriots history and are the most by a Patriot since Troy Brown caught 11 passes on Nov. 10, 2002 against the Chicago Bears at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. Welker's previous single-game career high for receptions was nine, acheived with the Dolphins against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 8, 2006.
FAULK MOVES INTO TOP TEN ON FRANCHISE RUSHING LIST With his 50 rushing yards today, Kevin Faulk moved into 10th place on the Patriots’ all-time rushing list, passing Craig James’s total of 2,469 yards from 1984-88. Faulk finished the game with 2,498 rushing yards for the Patriots.
MOSS SCORES EIGHTH TOUCHDOWN OF THE SEASON Randy Moss gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead on a 6-yard touchdown reception from Tom Brady on the Patriots’ opening drive of the game. The touchdown was Moss’s eighth of the season, making him the first Patriot since Ben Coates in 1997 to have eight or more scoring catches in a single season. The score was the 109th receiving touchdown of Moss’s career, a total that ranks fifth on the NFL’s all-time list. Moss has now caught a touchdown pass in five of New England’s six games this season.
BRADY-TO-BRADY TOUCHDOWN Kyle Brady hauled in a 1-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to give the Patriots a 28-24 lead with 4:56 remaining in the third quarter. The touchdown pass was Tom Brady’s fourth of the day (tying his single-game career high) and was his 20th of the season. For Kyle Brady, the touchdown was his first of the season and his first in a New England uniform after joining the team as a free agent in the offseason. Kyle Brady’s last touchdown came on Nov. 20, 2005 while playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee. The score raised Kyle Brady’s career touchdown total to 23, achieved with the New York Jets (1995-98), Jaguars (1999-2006) and Patriots (2007).
HARRISON IS ALL-TIME DEFENSIVE BACK SACK LEADER Rodney Harrison sacked Tony Romo for an 11-yard loss on third down in the first quarter, moving the Cowboys back to their own 8-yard line and forcing a punt on the next play. The sack raised Harrison’s career total to 29.5 sacks, a mark that is the highest in NFL history for a defensive back dating to when sacks became an official statistic in 1982. Carnell Lake ranks second among NFL defensive backs with 25.0 career sacks. Harrison, who has also recorded 32 career interceptions, is the only player in NFL history to total at least 25 career sacks and at least 30 career interceptions. QUICK HITS Ø Fullback Kyle Eckel scored his first career touchdown, on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter that made the score 48-24. Ø The Patriots converted 11-of-17 third-down chances, totaling a 65 percent conversion rate. Ø The Patriots converted four-of-four third-down attempts on their opening drive of the game as they went 74 yards in 14 plays, ending in a 6-yard touchdown catch by Randy Moss on third down. Ø Vince Wilfork tackled Julius Jones in the backfield for a 1-yard loss on first down in the first quarter. Ø The Patriots have outscored their opponents 58-7 in the first quarter through six games this season, including their 14-0 performance against the Cowboys today.
GOSTKOWSKI’S SUCCESS STREAK Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter to give the Patriots a 31-24 lead. He has hit eight of his nine field goal attempts this season (88.9 percent) and has nailed 29 of his last 32 attempts (90.6 percent) dating back to Nov. 5, 2006, including a perfect 8-for-8 performance in last season’s playoffs.
STARTING STRONG The Patriots scored first, taking a 7-0 lead on a 6-yard touchdown reception by Randy Moss in the first quarter. New England has scored on its opening drive in each game this season. New England has scored first in each of its six games this season and has achieved the feat in nine straight regular season and playoff games dating back to Jan. 7, 2007.
With Wes Welker’s two-touchdown performance today, the Patriots have had a receiver catch a pair of touchdowns in five consecutive games. Last season, the Patriots did not have a player with two or more scoring catches in a game. Randy Moss caught two touchdowns on Sept. 16, Sept. 23 and Oct. 1. Benjamin Watson set a career high with two touchdown receptions last week against Cleveland. Before Moss’s two-score performance on Sept. 16, the last Patriot to catch two or more touchdowns in a game was linebacker Mike Vrabel, who hailed in two scores against the New York Jets on Dec. 26, 2005.
SIXTH STRAIGHT GAME WITH A 100-YARD RECEIVER With 100-yard receiving days for Donte’ Stallworth and Wes Welker against the Cowboys, the Patriots had a 100-yard receiver for the sixth consecutive game, adding to a team record. The previous team record was four straight games with a 100-yard receiver — from Nov. 23 to Dec. 21, 1975, when Russ Francis, Randy Vataha, Don Calhoun and Andy Johnson each broke the 100-yard mark one time in a four-game span. In addition to Welker’s 100-yard game against the Cowboys, Randy Moss exceeded the 100-yard mark in each of the first four games of the 2007 season and Benjamin Watson achieved the feat last week against Cleveland.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Words From Wade IRVING, Texas -- The Patriots certainly impressed Wade Phillips.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Patriots 48, Cowboys 27With the running game weakened by injuries, Tom Brady took to the air, throwing a career-high five touchdown passes as the Patriots rolled to a 6-0 record. We'll post game stories and a photo gallery from the game tonight on projo.com. In the meatime, click here to see the box score and here to see the play-by-play from projo Stats.
Posted by Mike McDermott Cowboys and second-half leadWith that touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton, that put Dallas up 24-21, Tony Romo and the Cowboys are the first team this season to have a second-half lead on the Patriots.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Patriots' halftime notes
Courtesy of the New England PR staff: BRADY SETS NFL RECORD WITH THREE OR MORE TOUCHDOWNS IN FIRST SIX GAMES By throwing three touchdown passes as of halftime today, Tom Brady has set a new NFL record by becoming the first player in league history to throw for three or more touchdowns in each of a season’s first six games. The previous record was set by San Francisco’s Steve Young, when he threw for three or more touchdowns in each of the first five games of the 1998 season. As of halftime, Brady has totaled 19 touchdown passes through six games in 2007. Brady has now thrown for three or more touchdowns 25 times in his regular season career and his six three-touchdown games in 2007 set a new career-high, besting his five three-touchdown games in 2002. Last season, Brady threw for three or more touchdowns in a game on two occasions. His three touchdowns give him 166 for his career, tying him with Drew Bledsoe's Patriots total for second on the team's all-time list. Steve Grogan is the franchise leader with 182 touchdowns.
WELKER SCORES TWO TOUCHDOWNS Wes Welker set a career high with two touchdown receptions today (as of halftime), doubling his career total heading into the game. He hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady in the first quarter to give the Patriots a 14-0 lead and then grabbed a 12-yard scoring pass to give the Patriots a 21-10 lead in the second quarter. The touchdown catches were the second and third of the season for Welker, who also snared an 11-yard scoring reception to cap off the Patriots’ opening drive of the season against the New York Jets on Sept. 9. Welker’s touchdown catches against the Cowboys raised his career receiving touchdown total to four. He also scored a touchdown on a kickoff return with the Miami Dolphins in 2004.
MOSS SCORES EIGHTH TOUCHDOWN OF THE SEASON Randy Moss gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead on a 6-yard touchdown reception from Tom Brady on the Patriots’ opening drive of the game. The touchdown was Moss’s eighth of the season, making him the first Patriot since Ben Coates in 1997 to have eight or more scoring catches in a single season. The score was the 109th receiving touchdown of Moss’s career, a total that ranks fifth on the NFL’s all-time list. Moss has now caught a touchdown pass in five of New England’s six games this season.
HARRISON IS ALL-TIME DEFENSIVE BACK SACK LEADER Rodney Harrison sacked Tony Romo for an 11-yard loss on third down in the first quarter, moving the Cowboys back to their own 8-yard line and forcing a punt on the next play. The sack raised Harrison’s career total to 29.5 sacks, a mark that is the highest in NFL history for a defensive back dating to when sacks became an official statistic in 1982. Carnell Lake ranks second among NFL defensive backs with 25Harrison, who has also recorded 32 career interceptions and is the only player in NFL history to total at least 25 career sacks and at least 30 career interceptions. STARTING STRONG The Patriots scored first, taking a 7-0 lead on a 6-yard touchdown reception by Randy Moss in the first quarter. New England has scored on its opening drive in each game this season. New England has scored first in each of its six games this season and has achieved the feat in nine straight regular season and playoff games dating back to Jan. 7, 2007.
With Wes Welker’s two-touchdown performance today, the Patriots have had a receiver catch a pair of touchdowns in five consecutive games. Last season, the Patriots did not have a player with two or more scoring catches in a game. Randy Moss caught two touchdowns on Sept. 16, Sept. 23 and Oct. 1. Benjamin Watson set a career high with two touchdown receptions last week against Cleveland. Before Moss’s two-score performance on Sept. 16, the last Patriot to catch two or more touchdowns in a game was linebacker Mike Vrabel, who hailed in two scores against the New York Jets on Dec. 26, 2005.
QUICK HITS и The Patriots converted four-of-four third-down attempts on their opening drive of the game as they went 74 yards in 14 plays, ending in a 6-yard touchdown catch by Randy Moss on third down. и Vince Wilfork tackled Julius Jones in the backfield for a 1-yard loss on first down in the first quarter.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Original 81 vs. Other 81IRVING, Texas -- T.O. matched Randy Moss' earlier TD when, with the Patriots blitzing Dallas QB Tony Romo, he caught a crossing pass over the middle and ran into the end zone from 12 yards out to cut New England's lead to 21-17 with 46 seconds left in the first half.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Brady sets markWith that touchdown pass to Wes Welker -- Welker's second TD of the day -- Tom Brady has broken the record he shared with 49ers QB Steve Young. With three touchdown passes in the game, Brady is now the only player in league history to record three or more passing touchdowns in six games at the start of the season. Brady tied Young's mark at five games last week against the Browns.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Running To Set Up The Pass IRVING, Texas -- Many times, teams struggle to pass the ball if they're not running well. That's not the case this afternoon for the Patriots.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Record-setting RodneyIRVING, Texas -- Rodney Harrison's first-quarter sack of Tony Romo at the Dallas 8-yard gave the veteran strong safety a career total of 29.5 in 14 NFL seasons. He is the league's all-time leader in sacks by a defensive back.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Original 81 vs. Other 81IRVING, Texas -- For those keeping score at home, in the early going at Texas Stadium, Randy Moss, aka The Other 81, has a TD catch. Terrell Owens, aka T.O., aka The Original 81, has a drop.
Posted by Jim Donaldson First Possession Success
IRVING, Texas -- As they have in every game so far this season, the Patriots scored on their first possession.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Dallas inactivesHere are the Cowboys' inactives: S Courtney Brown * Hoyte's absence means that Providence native and UConn product Deon Anderson will serve as Dallas' starting fullback.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Patriots complete inactivesIn addition to Laurence Maroney, here are the rest of the Pats' inactives: QB Matt Gutierrez - third quarterback While Maroney is out, the good news is that C Dan Koppen (ankle), LT Matt Light (flu) and LB Adalius Thomas (ankle) are all active.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Maroney among inactivesSo Laurence Maroney is indeed a game-time decision, as Bill Belichick indicated on Friday, as the running back is on the list of today's inactives for New England. Maroney had been on the field in early warmups, wearing uniform pants, and running sprints with members of the strength and conditioning staff.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Texas Tales IRVING, Texas -- Does it strike anyone else as at least mildly amusing that America's Team plays, not in Dallas -- the fabled "Big D" -- but in Irving?
Posted by Jim Donaldson Belichick strolling the fieldAs several of his players have begun their warmups, Bill Belichick is walking on the field here at Texas Stadium, still clad in his "travel clothes", a light-brown suit and tie, hands in his pockets. He walked over to Matt Light (questionable, flu) and was chatting up the left tackle before walking off the field.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young UPDATE: Maroney on the field - in uniform pantsIn what can only be viewed as a positive sign, Laurence Maroney is on the field here -- in silver Patriots' uniform pant -- taking a lap around the field. Bill Belichick said on Friday that the running back, who is dealing with a tender groin, would be a game-time decision. UPDATE: After doing some sprints the width of the field, Maroney chatted with the three members of the Pats' strength and conditioning team -- Mike Woicik, Harold Nash, and Don Davis -- and then ran a sprint a couple of sprints with Nash and Davis. From where we are, Maroney looks like he's moving well...
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Welcome to Big DHey all -- We are here inside Texas Stadium, and frustrated because the wireless internet was so slow that we didn't get to make changes to our fantasy team in time. But, the lilmamas are 0-5 in the Passaic County league (old college friend), so it's up for debate whether the changes would have mattered... Anyway, there's not much happening inside the stadium right now; there are no players on the field just yet, just game ops people and security personnel. We'll be back with more shortly. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 13, 2007
Mitchell, Britt outSpecial teams ace Mel Mitchell (groin) and backup tackle Wesley Britt (personal) have both been downgraded to out for tomorrow's game. Britt's status leaves New England thin at tackle; Matt Light is questionable for the game with the flu.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 12, 2007
Kraft hangin' with HenryHey all -- Sitting here watching the Red Sox games as I try and get some of my Sunday stories done, and Fox just flashed a shot of John Henry in the owner's box at Fenway Park. And who was next to Henry on his left?? Bob Kraft.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Madden likes the PatsJohn Madden appeared on Sirius' NFL Blitz program this afternoon (hosted by Syracuse grad Adam Schein), and while Madden believes Dallas, and particularly QB Tony Romo, will play better than it did against Buffalo on Monday night, he favors New England in the matchup of unbeatens. Some excerpts of the conversation, courtesy of Sirius: Madden: “I’d like to be there. I’d like to see this one. I think that Tony Romo used up all his interceptions Monday night. When you’re a good team and you can play a lousy game where you have so many turnovers and still win I think you can learn so much from that. Usually, when you have a lot of turnovers, your QB throws a lot of interceptions, you lose the game and everyone’s down. Here you can say, ‘Well, we dodged a bullet there. I was really lucky and I’m never going to let that happen again.’ So I think that was a big, big plus that they could have so many things go wrong and still win because as a coach you can really get on your team now. It’s not one of those things where everyone’s celebrating and pouring champagne on their heads because they played lousy.” Schein: “What’s the challenge for Tony Romo and T.O. and Jason Witten and company going up against that Bill Belichick defense?" Schein: “How about the challenge for the Dallas defense going up against Tom Brady, Randy Moss and the New England Patriots offense?” Schein: “As you go over match-ups in this game, are there match-ups, when Tom Brady has the football, that favor the Cowboys?”
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Friday injury/participation reportHey all -- Well apparently the flu bug has hit the Patriots' locker room a bit early, as that is the reason given for Matt Light's absence from practice today. The left tackle is one of 10 players listed as questionable for Sunday's game. Dallas cornerbacks Anthony Henry (ankle) and Courtney Brown (biceps) have both been declared out for the contest. Here's the full injury list: NEW ENGLAND Probable Britt, Light and Mitchell did not practice; Gay, Koppen, Maroney, Neal, Samuel, Stallworth, Thomas and Washington had limited participation; and Brady had full participation. DALLAS Doubtful Questionable Probable Henry did not practice; Brown and Hoyte had limited participation, and Davis and Burnett had full participation.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Friday practice peekThe number of missing players increased to three today, as Matt Light joined Mel Mitchell (groin) and Wesley Britt (personal reason) as absentees at today's practice session. Practice was held inside the Dana Farber Fieldhouse; players were in shells and shorts.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young See and here the projo Play of the Week: A strip and a touchdown for Randall GayWe're a little late on it this week, we realize, but here it is. Click the play button at the bottom of the photo to see more pictures and listen to the narration. Click here to see other Plays of the Week.
Posted by Mike McDermott Friday morning wrapHey all -- Bill Belichick's love of football history is well-documented, and he was at his best this morning when asked about former New England coach Chuck Fairbanks, who address the Patriots yesterday at practice. Belichick went on for several minutes about Fairbanks as a coach and general manager, admiring the talent he was able to acquire when Fairbanks was in Foxboro, and the core of players he signed became the strength of the Pats' Super Bowl XX squad. Oh, and you might be interested in this one: the coach said that Laurence Maroney is making progress, and that he'll be a game-time decision. We're headed out to practice. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 11, 2007
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Thursday press conference, Tony Romo 'can beat you a lot of different ways'We’re moving right along. We’re getting into some situational stuff today and more of it tomorrow. The more I look at Dallas the better they look. They’re very good at everything. They have a good third down package on both sides of the ball. Good punt return. Good punting game. They’re pretty good. Pretty good. Jason Garrett is new as a coordinator for them. How do you go about preparing for him since you only have a few game tapes on him? With [Laurence] Maroney and [Marion] Barber, was it impressive to see those two out of the backfield in college? How did they play off each other? What the mot dangerous part of Tony Romo’s game? Do you see any parallels between Tom Brady and Tony Romo as far as how quickly they’ve had success since they began their careers? Do you see any parallels between Tom’s career and any other quarterback? What are your first impressions of [DeMarcus] Ware? You mentioned a few weeks ago that it helps your DBs in practice to go up against a player like Randy Moss because it helps them prepare for similar receivers. Would Terrell Owens fall into that category? Like a Randy Moss. Can you use Bill Parcells at all this week? Are you happy with the offensive ball security? So you’ve seen examples of where you haven’t lost the ball, but fundamentally it could be held on to better? Can you pick one word to describe Mike Vrabel? Do you challenge your linebackers with references to those Giants teams that you coached before? Is that applicable to every linebacker though? Is that something you maybe couldn’t have done with a guy like [Junior] Seau or Adalius Thomas? Could you reference that? Have you seen Brandon Meriweather get more comfortable in the defense? Is his versatility one of his strengths? Because of his role being a backup? Has he struggled with that at all? Are there any plays that have surprised you this year on offense where you call the play, the defense shifts and then you think to yourself that the play won’t work? Has that ever happened to you? Are there many surprises when you coach against Wade Phillips? How many times have you coached against each other? Do you think he might be under appreciated as a head coach? Does going inside hamper the preparations at all? Would you have gone inside anyway? You’ve had good fortune with the weather for this to be the first time you go inside. Wade said he wanted to get Roy Williams playing closer to the line of scrimmage this year. Have you seen that?
Posted by Art Martone Practice peek: Fairbanks addresses teamWe're just in from the first indoor practice of the regular season, which was attended by team owner Bob Kraft and former coach Chuck Fairbanks. Fairbanks, who was 46-40 as head coach in New England from 1973-78, addressed the players after they stretched. We couldn't hear what he was saying, but about two-thirds of the way through, the players had a big laugh, and at the end, they applauded the 74-year old longtime coach. On the field, it was once again Mel Mitchell (groin) and Wesley Britt (personal reasons) who were absent; the players were in shorts and shells. As Bill Belichick addressed ball security this morning, the running backs worked on holding onto the ball with coach Ivan Fears, trying to strip the ball from one another, and waving their hands in each other's face when Fears threw a pass their way.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Thursday wrapHey all -- On a rainy Thursday, things were pretty subdued here at Gillette as well. Bill Belichick began his press conference by saying that the "more I look at Dallas, the better they look," in all facets of the game. The coach was asked about Cowboys' running back Marion Barber, who shared carries at Minnesota with Pats' back Laurence Maroney. Belichick said it was easy to see how the Gophers were so successful with the Barber-Maroney tandem running the ball. Though New England has turned the ball over just three times this season, Belichick isn't completely happy with the team's ball security: "The numbers are OK, but I think we can do a better job with ball security. I really do," he said. "Guys don't secure it as well as they could." And if that's not corrected now, it could be a problem later. Belichick also seemed pleased with the development of first-round draft pick Brandon Meriweather, whom he said has gotten better on a per-play basis, both in practice and in games. In the locker room, backup quarterback Matt Cassel filmed a short bit for ESPN, working off yesterday's Kenny Mayne skit premise about Tom Brady's weekly appearance on the injury report. Cassel, looking dejected, said "every week they give me hope, and every week they take it away," and threw a water bottle to the floor in disgust. Pretty funny. And new practice squad cornerback Tim Mixon backed up former Cal teammate Ryan O'Callaghan's claim that Buffalo running back Marshawn Lynch was fibbing when he said the offensive lineman's nickname was "Big Baby." "I don't remember that one," said Mixon, who was signed earlier this week. O'Callaghan so wanted to defend his good name -- or nickname -- that he led two reporters over to Mixon's locker to have him dispel Lynch's story. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 10, 2007
Wednesday participation reportThe Patriots' first participation/injury report of the week is out: Did Not Participate * Samuel and Thomas are new additions to the list; Rosevelt Colvin (ankle) has been removed. For the Cowboys: Out Did Not Participate Full Participation
Posted by Shalise Manza Young T.O. has zipped his lips -- for nowWho ever thought that Dallas' Terrell Owens would shun the spotlight??? But when reporters went into the Cowboys' Valley Ranch practice facility locker room today, there was a laminated, signed note from Owens which said he wouldn't be talking until after Sunday's game. Owens typically holds Wednesday press conferences. In his note, which you can see right here (scroll down), Owens says: "Dear Reporters, Due to the magnitude of this week's game and high volume of questions for the Original 81 about the other 81. I will be taking all questions immediately following Sunday's game. Sincerely, Terrell Owens p.s. Getcha Popcorn Ready" It looks to us like he's taking a swipe at Randy Moss with his reference to the "other 81" comment...
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Wednesday wrapHey all -- While inside the Patriots locker room Sunday's game with Dallas is looked at as a big game mostly because it's the next game on the schedule, the national media don't feel the same way. ESPN had four personalities here today -- Kenny Mayne doing his thing (he asked Bill Belichick was his inspiration was for the cutoff gray hoodie was), Wendi Nix, Rachel Nichols, and all-around good guy (and former Boston Globie) Michael Smith, as well as the cameramen and sound guys to go with them. The Dallas Morning News and Ft. Worth Star-Telegram have reporters here to get things for Cowboys' fans, and the New York Times and nbcsports.com's Tom Curran were also on hand. Bill Belichick always touts the strengths of Pats' opponents, but today he was particularly effusive when discussing the Cowboys in his opening comments: "They’re a very, very impressive football team. I think they really do everything well. They’re very physical on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Statistically just about any stat that you want, they have. They can run it. They can throw it. They make big plays. They turn the ball over. They sack the quarterback. They have the most interceptions in the league. You could just go right down the line. They have a lot of great players," he said. "They’re a complete team. They’re solid all the way around. They’re well coached. Wade [Phillips] has a very fundamentally sound defensive football team, but they don’t give you much. You have to earn it and they haven’t given up much. It will be a big challenge ahead of us this week." In the locker room, Tom Brady talked more about the challenge Dallas poses, as did Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel, Rosevelt Colvin and Wes Welker. Vrabel addressed the charge from Browns' guard Eric Steinbach that he's "classless," which Steinbach claimed on Monday for a last-second play in which Vrabel fell onto Cleveland left tackle Joe Thomas and Thomas fell into quarterback Derek Anderson. Steinbach felt Vrabel was intentionally going for Thomas' knees. "I'm going to say this one time: I'm sorry they feel that way. I don't play that way," Vrabel said. Harrison quipped that the only thing dirty on Vrabel is his underwear. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Transcript: Tom Brady's Wednesday press conferenceHow much are you looking forward to this matchup of the unbeatens? What kind of challenge does their defense present for you? Is this your first time playing in Texas Stadium? How much better do you feel you’re playing this year? You’ve had four-interception games before yourself. How do you bounce back from a game like Tony Romo had on Monday? What do you have to do to put that behind yourself, quickly? Sunday’s game would mark your 100th career start. Is that amazing to you? How similar are these defenses? Say of the Cowboys this year and the Chargers last year when you look at them on film. What do you take from the last time you played the Cowboys in 2003 [a 12-0 Patriots’ win? Did that game at all spur to become better as the season went on? With both teams being 5-0, obviously the fans are going to pay a lot of attention to two teams being 5-0. Do you get caught up in that at all?
Posted by Art Martone Transcript: Bill Belichick's Wednesday press conferenceWe’ve spent the last couple of days here working on Dallas. They’re a very, very impressive football team. I think they really do everything well. They’re very physical on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Statistically just about any stat that you want, they have. They can run it. They can throw it. They make big plays. They turn the ball over. They sack the quarterback. The have the most interceptions in the league. You could just go right down the line. They have a lot of great players. Defensively, they’re outstanding up front. They’re physical. The linebackers run well. They have a bunch of playmakers in the secondary of course headed by [Terrence] Newman, who they got back last week, and [Roy] Williams. Offensively, that offensive line is as big and powerful and explosive as I’ve seen in a long time with [Flozell] Adams and [Keith] Davis and [Andre] Gurode there. They’re very powerful. The tight ends are great. [Jason] Whitten is a great player, probably the best all around tight end that I’ve seen in a quite a while. [Tony] Romo is a very athletic quarterback. The play that he made against St. Louis where they snapped the ball over his head and he’s running around 35 yards behind the line of scrimmage and still scrambles and picks up a first down kind of epitomizes his playmaking ability. Both backs are outstanding. [Marion] Barber is having a terrific year. He’s really a hard guy to tackle. Both of them are good in the passing game. Of course they have a lot of big play receivers. You can’t underestimate guys like [Patrick] Crayton and [Sam] Hurd just because they have T.O. [Terrell Owens] and Whitten. [Anthony] Fasano. They all get involved. They’re good in the kicking game. We saw that Monday night. A couple of big kicks there at the end. They cover well. [Leonard] Davis and [Patrick] Watkins and those guys are hard to handle in coverage and they return the ball well. They’re a complete team. They’re solid all the way around. They’re well coached. Wade [Phillips] has a very fundamentally sound defensive football team, but they don’t give you much. You have to earn it and they haven’t given up much. It will be a big challenge ahead of us this week. We don’t know these guys very well. Haven’t played them in several years and they have a lot of new players since then, a lot of young players who have developed, especially guys on the defensive line and linebacker group. They’re a very athletic team. They’re a very tough team. They’re a physical team and they’re hard to score against and they score a lot of points. Those second half numbers are pretty impressive - what they’ve done in terms of outscoring their opponents in the second half. They’re a team that kind of looks like they wear people down and they just keep coming at you. They’re pretty good. Will [Tom Brady] see action this week after being on the injury report this week? Does it help that Dallas just played your division opponent? Is that helpful in any way? You mentioned Dallas’ second half coring. They haven’t really scored in the first quarter. Does that affect your planning at all? Defensively, is last year’s film a little irrelevant with Wade coming in? Do you see them using Ware the same way Wade used [Shawne] Merriman? How much better is Tom Brady this year than he was last year? Do you think nationally he’s been under appreciated? Has he become a better self-evaluator? In last week’s game where both teams didn’t play their best football, as a coach, are you concerned about the breakdowns or are you encouraged that you didn’t play your best football and still won the game? How has Tom’s performance this season been influenced by the infusion of new receivers around him? What is the origin of your sweatshirt?
Posted by Art Martone Wednesday practice lookHey all -- We're just in from practice, and there are two absences to report: special-teamer Mel Mitchell and guard Wesley Britt were not on the field today. Britt, we've been led to believe, is tending to a personal matter. But Dan Koppen and Laurence Maroney, the starters who missed Sunday's game, were on the field, and both were spotted in the locker room today, which is generally a good sign for the player. The practice players of the week were practice-squadders Dan Connolly, an offensive lineman, and receiver C.J. Jones. It is Jones' second black jersey this year.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Rivers re-signed; C. Brown releasedIn an expected move, the Patriots have re-signed tight end Marcellus Rivers. To make room for Rivers, veteran linebacker Chad Brown has been released. Brown had been inactive for the last three games.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 9, 2007
Practice squad transactionsThe Patriots added two players and subtracted one from their practice squad today, signing center Pat Ross and cornerback Tim Mixon. Defensive lineman Zach West was cut. Ross' signing could raise eyebrows because Dan Koppen missed Sunday's game with an ankle injury, and Ross' arrival may be a sign that Koppen will be out for a longer amount of time. Russ Hochstein started at center against Cleveland. Ross, like Koppen, played at Boston College -- he took over the job after Koppen graduated; he spent all of last year on Seattle's practice squad. Mixon, an undrafted rookie from Cal, is a 5-foot-9, 184 pound corner; he has spent time with the Bears and Browns.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 8, 2007
Monday locker room lookHey all -- It was a sparsely-attended locker room this afternoon, as most of the players headed home after team meetings. But Troy Brown, who hasn't been spotted in several weeks, did walk through the room. Ellis Hobbs was rocking Red Sox regalia -- a road jersey and a red Sox cap, though the jersey bore the number 18 and the name "Damon." "Don't read too much into it," Hobbs said. "I went to a game my rookie year (and that was the jersey he bought). I'm all about the fashion, that's all." Hobbs also had Sammy Morris' Texas Tech jersey hanging in front of his locker, and will have to wear it around the facility on Wednesday since Morris' Red Raiders beat Hobbs' Iowa State Cyclones last weekend. There were also Tennessee windbreakers hanging on Richard Seymour's locker and on the back of Benjamin Watson's chair -- left there by Donte Stallworth, whose Volunteers upset Georgia. Chad Scott was also in the room for a few minutes, and said he's feeling pretty good as he rehabs the knee injury suffered on the first day of training camp. As tomorrow is an off day for the players, we're going to take a mental health day as well, so unless news breaks, we'll talk to you again Wednesday morning. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Belichick: Turnovers made the differenceHey all -- Bill Belichick has wrapped up his Monday morning press conference, and said that upon second look (and probably third and fourth), his initial thoughts on yesterday's game with Cleveland were validated -- New England had some problems schematically with some of the things the Browns did, the fourth-quarter scoring drive that ended with Benjamin Watson's second touchdown of the day was a big one for the Pats, and the four turnovers the defense had -- combined with the offense's ability to hold onto the ball -- made a big difference in the game. Belichick also gave a lot of credit to Browns head coach Romeo Crennel and his schemes for containing Randy Moss (3 catches, 46 yards), and said that Cleveland played a big part in the Pats' offense converting just two of 12 third-down opportunities. And Russ Hochstein, who started at center in place of Dan Koppen, got a tip of the cap, along with the entire offensive line, which once again kept Tom Brady upright for much of the game. Through five games, Brady has been sacked just three times -- on pace for just 10 takedowns for the season, which would be the fewest by far in Patriots' history, and one of the best in NFL history. The locker room is scheduled to open around 3:30 this afternoon, and we'll check in with more after that.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 7, 2007
Patriots postgame notesFIVE STRAIGHT WINS BY 17+ POINTS TEAM-RECORD FIFTH STRAIGHT GAME WITH A 100-YARD RECEIVER FIFTH STRAIGHT GAME WITH 34+ POINTS; 182 TOTAL POINTS MORRIS IS THIRD STRAIGHT 100-YARD RUSHER FOR THE PATRIOTS BRADY TIES NFL RECORD WITH THREE OR MORE TOUCHDOWNS IN FIRST FIVE GAMES SCORING STREAK WATSON SETS CAREER MARKS FOR TOUCHDOWNS, RECEIVING YARDS TWO INTERCEPTIONS FOR SEAU INTERCEPTION IN THREE STRAIGHT GAMES FOR SAMUEL FUMBLE RETURN FOR A TOUCHDOWN BY RANDALL GAY TWO SACKS FOR BRUSCHI QUICK HITS STALLWORTH SCORES STARTING STRONG GOSTKOWSKI’S SUCCESS STREAK
Posted by Art Martone Transcript: Tom Brady press conferenceHi guys, how are you doing? Small crowd. How does it feel to be 5-0? The defense helped out with turnovers and setting you guys up. On the Donté Stallworth touchdown, what was he on your progression? Was he three, four, two? It seemed like you checked off on all of the guys, which also speaks to good coverage. What read was he? Was he fourth or fifth? How nice is it to have Benjamin Watson as an option for you catching the ball? Did you happen to see Junior Seau’s interesting football move? What kind of luxury is it to have Watson and Stallworth being a third and fourth and fifth option when these are one and twos on other teams? I saw Adalius Thomas with the t-shirt. Will Bill Belichick have trouble coming up with humble pie on Monday? You had a lot of three-and-outs, especially in the second half. Did you have trouble finding a rhythm in that second half? What was that? You share an NFL record with Steve Young, with two touchdown passes in five games in a row. Does that mean anything to you? What was it like seeing Willie McGinest on the other side of the ball? Did you talk at all during the game? What are your thoughts on Dallas? Will today’s performance be enough against the Cowboys? What are your thoughts on them in general? They’re the best team in the NFC, scoring at a similar clip to you guys . . .
Posted by Art Martone Transcripts: Patriots postgame quotesRosevelt Colvin, Linebacker (On the first quarter red zone stand) (On Junior Seau’s interception run) (On Junior Seau’s energy throughout the game) Junior Seau, Linebacker (On if he thought about lateraling the ball) (On the defense’s turnovers) (On where his energy comes from) Rodney Harrison, Safety (On the positive support from the fans Sunday) (On whether or not he was surprised about playing as much as he did) (On playing more in the second half than in the first) (On playing special teams Sunday) Ellis Hobbs, Cornerback (On getting the win despite playing inconsistently) (On Junior Seau’s move during his interception return) Benjamin Watson, Tight End (On what the defense’s turnovers mean to the offense) (On the mindset of the offense during Sunday’s game) Adalius Thomas, Linebacker (On the “Humble Pie” t-shirts) (On Junior Seau’s second interception) Asante Samuel, Defensive Back (On his interception) Donté Stallworth, Wide Receiver (On the depth on the team) (On what happened in the second half where the offense slowed down)
Posted by Art Martone Transcripts: Browns postgame quotesWillie McGinest, Linebacker (On his homecoming) (On Brady) Daven Holly, Cornerback (On the game) (On controlling Moss) (On Benjamin Watson) Brodney Pool, Defensive Back Andra Davis, Linebacker (On the game) Jason Wright, Running Back (On being down 20-10 in third quarter) (On first drive ending in an interception) (On being ready to fill in for Jamal Lewis) Braylon Edwards, Wide Receiver (On being David versus Patriots “Goliath”) Ryan Tucker, Offensive Line Kellen Winslow, Tight End Tim Carter, Wide Receiver (On the turnovers) Joshua Cribbs, Wide Receiver (On the lateral)
Posted by Art Martone Transcript: Derek Anderson press conferenceYou had to deal with a little more pressure in this game. Is that something you had to adjust to after not getting that pressure in the first few games? Can you talk about your first drive and the ball that got batted? How deflating is that; to move the ball down there, especially early in the game when you’re looking for something positive to happen, and have it end like that? Can you talk a little about the interceptions? Which one was the poor decision? What about the fade to [Joe] Jurevicius? I think it was first down on the goal line. You just didn’t put enough air under it or what? You’ve gotten really good protection this season, but their pass rush -- what is it they do that they’ve gotten pressure on you? It seems like you’re up, you’re down, one week you win, one week you lose. I know it is part of everything you guys have to go through, but how frustrating is it to go through that process? You’re exceptionally good at making adjustments. In the second half you guys looked pretty good. What was the process of adjustment because you didn’t have the big back to really batter them with? I think you got hurt on that one sack and called time out. Was it that there was no way you were coming out of the game? Was that the reason for that? What happened to you physically? Your right shoulder?
Posted by Art Martone Transcript: Romeo Crennel press conferenceWe came up and played a good football team here at their place and we did not do enough things to win the game. We had a good first drive, drove it all the way down into great scoring position and came up with no points, and I think that hurt us in the first half. That kind of set a tone for the first half. Then, also we threw some turnovers. They intercepted some balls in good field position, and when you give Tom Brady good field position he is going to hurt you. Sometimes when you give him bad field position he is going to hurt you. So, we didn’t do enough against a good football team to win. Those guys did a nice job, and when I say those guys [I mean] the Patriots. They did a nice job. They have a good football team. I think they are going to be hard to beat. But our football team, we still learn a little bit each week about ourselves and about what it takes to play in this league and to be successful in the NFL. Our guys did try to rally up in the second half a little bit and try to make a little comeback to make the game a more competitive overall. So, we are just going to go back and keep working. We still have a lot of games to play and try to get back on a winning track is what we need to do. So that is what we are going to try to focus on and get done. I know Jamal [Lewis] had an injury and we will take a look at that later on and they will let us know what the prognosis is there. Also Joe Jurevicius had a knee and we will find out about his prognosis and see what happens there. I think Brodney Pool got hit in the thigh and got a little contusion and we will find out about that. But, everyone else played in the game. A couple guys got some nicks and bruises and the doctor is going to look at that and he’ll let us know if they are serious or not. But, we are not satisfied by any means because we lost the game. We wanted to win and I thought that we would play a little bit better than we played. So we have to go back to the drawing board and get ready to play a game at home against the Miami team. I think that will be an important game for us. So we are going to try to put everything we have into that game and try to get back on track. What is the proper etiquette at the end of the game when a team is so far ahead? Do you throw it in the end zone in that circumstance like Belichick did? How did not having Jamal Lewis for basically the whole game affect what you were trying to do? It looked like many of Derek Anderson’s interceptions came on tipped balls. Were those poor decisions or bad throws? What about the third-and-one play on the goal line? Yes, it was tipped. It seemed like he didn’t get enough air under that pass to Jurevicius earlier in that sequence on the goal line. You were able to control Randy Moss today, but Benjamin Watson and Sammy Morris had big games. Do they just have too many weapons? One of those players was Donté Stallworth. What was your take on that 34-yard touchdown? This isn’t the first game where Derek Anderson has had one good half and one bad half. How important is it for him to develop consistency? Is that all part of the growing process? What was the plan with Ryan Tucker and how did he look? Did you plan on playing him the second half? I didn’t see him out there. You coached both Jarvis Green and Richard Seymour. How impressed are you by how seamlessly they can slide guys in and out of there and not miss a beat?
Posted by Art Martone Transcript: Bill Belichick press conferenceIt’s good to win. It’s always good to win and be 5-0. I don’t think that was either team’s best game out there today, but in the end we were able to make a few more plays. We’ll take it and move on to Dallas. It was a physical game. There was a lot of hard hitting out there. I just don’t think on our end it was executed the way we are capable of. But, as I said, in the end we made enough plays, and that was good, but we left some out there too. I think we just have to do a better job all the way around in all three areas of the game, and the coaching, and I think we can play better than that. Give Cleveland credit. They’re tough. They can move the ball, like we talked about all week and they showed that today and they gave us some problems defensively. Can you talk about the roles of turnovers, especially early in the game? Did you figure going in that it might be a little bit different with the game plan in terms of using [Donté] Stallworth a little bit more early? Ben [Watson] got involved later. How satisfying was the first red zone stop? What are your thoughts on Rodney [Harrison’s] performance there being his first game back? Do you like how your team answered after they closed it to 20-10? Overall, Junior Seau just seems to sort of turn back the clock. He’s running all over the field. Can you comment on the energy that he’s been bringing to the defense? You said during the week that it was basically [Jamal] Lewis who had carried the ball for them all year and they lost him early. Did you see that affect the offense for them at all? Can you talk about that goal line stand and how it kind of got your defense going? Did Junior think he was in the end zone on that one interception where he threw his hands up? How did you like the kickoff coverage? Junior is pass coverage, have you noticed an improvement at all? After 18 years in the league, I don't know if he could improve. Is Watson’s production directly connected to the wide receivers around him? Were you impressed with some of the things that the Browns were able to do stop, something other teams haven’t been able to do, stop Moss? When a team has six turnovers coming into a game, on paper do they look vulnerable? As games following Monday night go, how do you change your expectation level about efficiency performance, etcetera?
Posted by Art Martone Brady Ties Record When TOM BRADY threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ben Watson a little more than five minutes into the fourth quarter, it was his third TD toss of the afternoon -- his second to his big tight end -- and tied an NFL record.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Watson Targeted
Tight end BEN WATSON'S 7-yard touchdown catch from Tom Brady in the second quarter was his fourth in five games this season. He now has TD receptions in six of his last nine regular-season games, dating back to last year.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Scoring Streak Ends The Patriots failed to score in the third quarter this afternoon -- marking the only quarter this season in which they have not put up any points. They had scored in all 18 quarters this year, and 37 in a row (including playoffs) dating back to last season.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Franchise player Cornerback ASANTE SAMUEL, unhappy to have been designated the Patriots' "franchise player," even though that meant he'd be paid $7.79 this season, continues to make a case for an even bigger payday next year.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Seau Stars
Veteran linebacker JUNIOR SEAU had two interceptions in the first half. It was the third time in his 18-year, NFL career he's had multiple picks in the same game, the last time coming against the Chiefs in 1996, when he was playing for San Diego. Prior to this afternoon, Seau's last interception was in 2002, against Houston, when he was with the Chargers.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Tedy tops 30That six-yard sack of Derek Anderson was Tedy Bruschi's second of the day, and gives him 30.5 for his career -- Bruschi is the 13th player to record 30 or more sacks in a Patriots' uniform.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Hang onto that one, Donte
Donte Stallworth just recorded his first touchdown as a Patriot, and it was a nice one -- he came back for the Tom Brady ball, jumped over corner Leigh Bodden, then wove his way into the end zone. Not surprisingly, the good-natured receiver ran off the field holding the ball aloft.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Harrison enters the gameRodney Harrison just played his first down of the 2007 season, coming on for Cleveland's first down try from the New England 12. He showed good wheels, too, going across the field to try and stop Jason Wright.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Sanders gets the startThough Rodney Harrison is in uniform and will likely see a bunch of snaps in today's game, he is not starting. Third-year man James Sanders is starting alongside Eugene Wilson. It's not much of a surprise, given that Harrison has been away for four weeks. Asante Samuel was held out of the starting lineup for the first two weeks of the season, though he saw extensive playing time in those games before starting opposite Ellis Hobbs for game three against Buffalo.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Willie gets big ovationThe Cleveland defense was just introduced, and former Patriot Willie McGinest was saved for last. When his named was called, he received a great ovation from the Gillette crowd, and McGinest acknowledged the cheers with a wave.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Harrison's warm welcomeThe defensive backs just ran onto the field for warmups, and did the customary lap around the field. Rodney Harrison was at the front of the line, and the cheers from the few people in their seats was a sign that the fan base certainly is glad to have the safety back.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Game inactives - Maroney, Koppen outRunning back Laurence Maroney is once again listed as an inactive for today's game, the second game he's missed due to a groin injury. Center Dan Koppen (ankle) is also out, meaning Russ Hochstein will likely serve as center. Other inactives: QB Matt Gutierrez - 3rd QB By the way, we saw Marcellus Rivers in the media dining area with other inactive and practice-squad players, so it's a safe bet that he'll be re-signed this week. Cleveland inactives: QB Ken Dorsey - 3rd QB
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Traffic trouble . . . againBY JIM DONALDSON FOXBORO -- I've been driving to Patriots game here for 29 years now, and never have I so consistently encountered traffic problems as this season. A huge problem, for those coming up Route 1 from the south, is that there is only one -- that's right, one! -- lane from which access to the lots on the east (stadium) side of the road is allowed. In years past, two lanes have been allowed to turn into those lots. But not this year, as I found out to my dismay this morning. There is plenty of parking for fans west of Route 1, and, from reports I've heard, it's easy to get out and on the road after the game. Certainly, on the way in, the two left lanes of Route 1, heading north, move much more easily than the irritating backups on the right. So, unless you have to park on the stadium side of Route 1 (as media members do), you're better off staying left, if you're coming from the south, and parking on the west side of the highway. My colleague, Ms. Manza-Young, our Patriots beat writer, came down Route 1 from the north, and she also encountered serious traffic, even though she was getting to the stadium three hours before kickoff. She'll describe her traffic troubles in her pregame blog. While the Patriots clearly now how to design pass patterns, they obviously don't have a clue how to manage game-day traffic patterns.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Welcome to GilletteHey all -- For today at least, the beautiful weather we've been enjoying has left the area, as it's cool and cloudy with a threat of rain here in Foxboro. That has not stopped the masses from making their Sunday pilgrimage here, popping up their tent/shelters and starting their parties. We hit Route 1 traffic before we even got off of Route 95, and coming down Route 1 south was a long and arduous process. Oh, and to the guy who was riding with what looked to be a 6-year old in his lap -- what are you thinking?? I don't care if it was stop and go traffic or not -- and judging by the fact that your car was crammed full of people, I'm guessing he was only on your lap for the crawl down Route 1 -- that's the height of stupidity. On the field, there's a lot of orange -- Browns players in their team shorts and security folks in neon parkas -- but Stephen Gostkowski, Chris Hanson, Mike Vrabel and Benjamin Watson are getting their warmup on for New England. We will be back with more as things get going. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 6, 2007
Harrison activated; Rivers cut againHey all -- The Patriots have lifted the exemption they were granted for safety Rodney Harrison, and have once again released tight end Marcellus Rivers to make room for Harrison on the roster. New England had received a one-week exemption for Harrison, who served a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Rivers was re-signed this week after David Thomas was placed on injured reserve; without him on the roster, the Patriots have just two tight ends for tomorrow's game with Cleveland, Benjamin Watson and Kyle Brady. Rivers could be back this week, however.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 5, 2007
Friday injury reportThe Patriots have submitted their injury report in advance of Sunday's game with the Browns: Questionable LB Rosevelt Colvin - ankle * The above players were reported to have limited participation in practice today. Probable QB Tom Brady - right shoulder * Brady had full practice participation.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Friday practice reportHey all -- For the second day in a row, the Patriots had 100 percent attendance at practice, which consisted of stretching and special teams play (kickoff return) during the media portion of practice.
Posted by Rob Lee October 4, 2007
No surprises here - Brady officially named player of monthAs foreshadowed in a PatsBlog post yesterday: Tom Brady has been named the AFC offensive player of the month for September after leading the NFL with 79.5 completion percentage and a 141.8 quarterback rating in the first three games of the season. The Patriots QB completed 70 of 88 passes for 887 yards with 10 touchdowns. He set a new career high with a 150.9 passer rating and tied a career high with four touchdown passes in week three against Buffalo. He also threw three or more touchdown passes in three straight games. His 10 touchdown passes are the highest three-game total of his career. Brady helped the Patriots to become the league's most formidable offense in September, scoring 38 points in all three games. -- The Associated Press
Posted by Andrea Panciera Injury reportThe Patriots just released their Thursday injury report. Dan Koppen, who yesterday was listed as "did not participate in practice," is the only change. Limited Participation in Practice: Full Participation in Practice
Posted by Mike McDermott Thursday practice: Koppen returns; perfect attendancePractice today returned to having perfect attendance, as center Dan Koppen (ankle) returned after missing the day entirely yesterday. That meant that the Patriots had perfect attendance for the session, which was held in shorts and shells on an exceptionally warm October day. (No complaining here, though.)
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Belichick: Winslow similar to GatesHey all -- Bill Belichick was in good spirits this morning, as a smaller media corps (thank you, Red Sox) was at his daily press conference. He spoke about Cleveland tight end Kellen Winslow, whom he was asked to compare to San Diego's Antonio Gates. Belichick said the two are asked to do some of the same things, and that Winslow "has good speed, excellent hands, is a good down-the-field receiver like Gates." Like it is with Gates, part of the challenge in covering Winslow is finding him before the snap. He's not in motion that much, but still lines up at five or six spots at the line of scrimmage. Belichick also talked about his own tight end situation -- David Thomas was placed on IR yesterday, and Marcellus Rivers re-signed. Belichick said Rivers is able to process information quickly, and jumped into things nearly from the first day he was originally signed, during training camp. He has skill as both a blocker and pass-catcher, Belichick added. Practice begins around 12:40 p.m., and we'll have a practice look after that. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young It's all about humble pieHey all -- So the media went into the locker room today and nearly every player was wearing the same t-shirt: on the front it said "I eat it" and the back said "humble pie." Turns out, they were printed up by Adalius Thomas, and are a not-so-subtle reminder for he and his teammates to stay humble, in football and in life. "It's just a fun thing and the guys like it," Thomas said. "You always want to be humble, not be egotistical. (You should) humble yourself every day rather than have someone else humble you." Words to live by when you're 4-0 and the talk of football.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 3, 2007
Brady named Offensive Player of the MonthThe NFL will announce tomorrow that Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady was named AFC offensive player of the month for September. Really, the decision was about as easy as winning a one-man (or -woman) race. In guiding New England to a 4-0 record (yes, technically the Bengals game was in October), Brady completed 95 of 120 passes, a 79.2 percent completion rate, for 1,118 yards, 13 touchdowns and just two interceptions. His QB rating is 134.7. Brady has been named player of the week eight times, including after his performance against Buffalo in week three, but this is his first player of the month honor.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Sammy Morris nominated for awardFOXBORO -- For his impressive 21 carry, 117 yard, one touchdown performance in New England's 34-13 victory over Cincinnati, Patriots running back Sammy Morris has been nominated for the FedEx Ground Player of the Week. The Colts Joseph Addai (136 yards, one touchdown) and Oakland's Justin Fargas (179 yards) have also been nominated. Fans can vote for their favorite player at www.nfl.com.
Posted by Rob Lee Wednesday participation reportThe Patriots have released their first participation/injury report of week 5. There is only one addition but several deletions from the list: Full Participation * Eugene Wilson (ankle), Billy Yates (shoulder), Vince Wilfork (shoulder) and Mike Wright (knee) were all removed from the list. For the Browns: Limited Participation Full Participation
Posted by Shalise Manza Young D. Thomas to IRWhen Marcellus Rivers showed up at the Patriots' practice today, it became clear that David Thomas' injury - he left Monday night's game - was going to keep him out for a while at least. But Thomas' season was ended today, as the Pats announced they have placed him on injured reserve with a foot injury. Thomas suffered a broken foot during offseason workouts; it is unknown at this time if this is the same foot. The team officially announced the re-signing of Rivers to fill Thomas' spot on the roster.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Wednesday practice lookWe're just off the field for the first practice session of the week, and Rodney Harrison was back in his familiar number 37 jersey, working out with his teammates. However, center Dan Koppen and tight end David Thomas were not on the field. Tight end Marcellus Rivers was working with the tight ends, which could be a sign that Thomas' injury will keep him out for a while. Practice squad players Antowain Spann and CJ Jones were in black jerseys, denoting them as practice players of the week. The players were in shells and shorts.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Harrison: "I don't want to talk about the past"Hey all -- Today marked the first time in a month that we in the media have seen Rodney Harrison, as he re-joined the Patriots yesterday after serving a four-game suspension for admitting to purchasing and using human growth hormone. We'll admit upfront that the crush of reporters in front of Harrison's locker made it hard for us to hear a lot of what he said, but here are some points that he hit on: * He did not want to elaborate on the past nor share his thought process on what led him to purchase HGH * Asked if the time away gave him some perspective on his career, Harrison said, "I've always had perspective on my career. Life isn't football, and I have a lot of life left." * He said people make mistakes, there are consequences to every decision one makes, and that he can't go out of his way "to change everyone's opinion of me. I know what kind of person I am." * Harrison wanted to get everyone to focus on what's in front of him, not what's behind, noting that he has Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. and the rest of Cleveland upcoming and he's getting ready for that. Tom Brady also chatted in front of his locker, and he said the same thing about Cleveland that his coach did: that the Browns are a field goal away from being 3-1. He praised the Cleveland secondary, and doesn't want the Patriots to become one-dimensional against them because they'll get beat. Bill Belichick opened his press conference by talking extensively about the Browns, saying that they've gotten better every week, can move the ball down the field in a hurry on offense, have good young players in the secondary, and a standout punt and kick return man in Joshua Cribbs. He said Harrison would absolutely be on the practice field today, and that the team will work him into things day by day. New England has been granted a one-week exemption for Harrison, going until Oct. 8, but if he is activated for Sunday's game, thereby ending the exemption, there will need to be a corresponding roster move. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young October 2, 2007
ONLINE ONLY: Pats welcome Harrison's return this weekBY JIM DONALDSON CINCINNATI -- Rodney Harrison returns this week after serving a four-game suspension for using Human Growth Hormone and the Patriots will be happy to see him. ''That's going to be big,'' linebacker Rosevelt Colvin said last night. ''Everybody's missed him.'' Despite the absence of hard-hitting, veteran safety Harrison, as well as five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard Seymour -- who's on the Physically Unable To Perform List at least through Week Six -- the New England defense hasn't missed a beat. The Patriots haven't given up more than 14 points in any of their first four games and are yielding an average of just 12 points per game.
Posted by Jim Donaldson ONLINE ONLY: Brady agrees Pats are tough to stopBY JIM DONALDSON CINCINNATI -- The way the Patriots are playing, they're tough to stop. The way Randy Moss is playing, he's almost impossible to stop. ''If we continue to run the ball well, and throw it on our terms, we're tough to stop,'' Brady said after leading the Patriots to their fourth straight lopsided victory in as many games, this latest a 34-13, Monday night trouncing of the Bengals. It says something about how well the Patriots are playing that the 21-point margin of victory was their smallest of the season. Although top running back Laurence Maroney was sidelined with a groin pull, Sammy Morris -- signed as a free agent from the Dolphins during the offseason -- stepped in and rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. With the Patriots grinding out 173 yards on the ground, Brady was able to throw for 231, completing 25 of 32 passes, three of them for touchdowns, with one interception. He threw to seven different receivers, not counting the ''catch'' that guard Logan Mankins was credited with when he illegally touched a ball that popped up in the air when Brady was hit just as he let it go. ''When you keep everybody involved in the passing game,'' Brady said, ''that's makes it tough on a defense.'' No receiver was more involved in the New England passing game last night than Moss, who again put on a spectacular performance, catching 9 balls for 102 yards and 2 TDs, giving him a total of 7 on the season. He outjumped Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph to make a 7-yard scoring grab in the second quarter, then zipped past a would-be chuck at the line of scrimmage by overmatched rookie corner Leon Hall to haul in a 14-yard yard TD pass late in the fourth quarter. ''I was aiming for the third row in the stands,'' Brady laughed, when asked about his high, TD toss to Moss in the second quarter. ''He just leaped up and grabbed it. He's tough on DBs. He's 6-4, has a 35-inch vertical leap, and great hands.'' What impressed Brady most about that catch was not that Moss was able to go high into the air, over Joseph, to bring the ball down, but that he also was able to keep both his feet in bounds after making the catch. ''That was great body control,'' Brady said. Brady went on to note that Moss has great body language, enabling a perceptive QB to see where he's going. ''He's easy to read,'' Brady said. And very hard to cover. ''This is his 10th year in the league,'' said Brady, ''and he's run every route in the book. He doesn't drop many balls. He commands a lot of double-coverage, but finds ways to beat it. When he gets single coverage, he's always a threat to go deep.'' Because the Bengals were obviously concentrating on preventing Moss from beating them deep, said Brady, he was consistently open on shorter routes. Moss also creates openings for the other New England receivers. Donte Stallworth had a season-high four catches, for 49 yards, and Wes Welker had three receptions, for 22 yards, as well as running 27 yards on a reverse in the third quarter. ''Donte played his best game,'' Brady said, ''and Wes continues to do great things.''
Posted by Jim Donaldson ONLINE ONLY: Pats' tight ends ask for same chances on defense that Vrabel gets on offenseBY JIM DONALDSON CINCINNATI -- Turnabout, Patriots tight end Ben Watson believes, is fair play. Since linebacker Mike Vrabel gets to come in near the goal line and catch touchdown passes, Watson wants a chance to rush the passer. ''I want to come in on third-and-long,'' he said, smiling broadly. ''I want to come in when it's third-and-20, when everybody's knows the quarterback is going to pass, and get a sack.'' Watson, still smiling, added that the tight ends get ''a little jealous'' when Vrabel gets the ball thrown to him in the end zone. ''Whenever we see Mike coming in,'' said Watson, ''we roll our eyes and say: 'Oh, man!' '' The tight ends try not to let Vrabel slip into their meetings during the week. ''He tries to sneak in,'' Watson said. But they can't keep him out of the huddle when coach Bill Belichick sends him in. And, it appears, opposing defenses can't keep the versatile Vrabel from catching the ball in the end zone. He has caught nine passes since coming to the Patriots from Pittsburgh as an unrestricted free agent in 2001, and all of them have been for touchdowns. Two of them were in Super Bowls -- one against Carolina, one against the Eagles -- and his latest TD catch came last night in Cincinnati, when he hauled in a 1-yard toss from Tom Brady in the final minute of the first quarter that put the Patriots on top, 10-0. ''Mike's a great threat down there,'' Brady said. ''He's very elusive and has good hands.'' ''His eyes light up,'' Belichick said, ''when he sees the ball coming.''
Posted by Jim Donaldson October 1, 2007
FINAL: New England 34, Cincinnati 13The New England Patriots ran their record to 4-0 tonight with a 34-13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The storylines are much the same as they have been through the first three games: Tom Brady and Randy Moss continued their show, and Moss continued to get his shine on on Monday nights: in 12 career MNF games, Moss now has 68 catches for 1,166 yards and 13 touchdowns. The defense kept the vaunted Bengals' defense out of the red zone, allowing them one touchdown in their two chances inside the 20, and the special teams helped out with good field position. The Bengals fall to 1-3 with the loss, having lost three straight.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young The Pats' first red zone stopAsante Samuel's interception of Carson Palmer with Cincinnati at the Pats' 20 was the first time that New England has stopped a team in the red zone this season. The Bengals had made it 6-for-6 on opponent red-zone scores with their earlier touchdown.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Vrabel: nine catches, nine TDsMike Vrabel's one-yard touchdown catch was his ninth score of his career and put New England up 10-0. Vrabel has nine catches, and every one has been a score.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Paul Brown Stadium CINCINNATI -- Paul Brown Stadium, the eight-year-old home of the Bengals, is located on the shore of the Ohio River and is named in honor of an NFL coaching legend.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Maroney OUT; Wright to playRunning back Laurence Maroney, listed as questionable with a groin injury, will not play in tonight's game. A report on ESPN had said the running back would play, returning to the site of his first career 100-yard rushing game. Mike Wright is not listed among the Patriots' inactives, leading the way for him to get his first game action of the season. The rest of the inactives for New England: QB Matt Gutierrez, third quarterback **Also, New England today waived linebacker Corey Mays and signed fullback Kyle Eckel off the practice squad. For the Bengals: QB Jeff Rowe, third quarterback
Posted by Shalise Manza Young AFC East outlook CINCINNATI -- With each passing week, it becomes more obvious that the Patriots are in a class by themselves in the AFC East.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Come, Watson, the game is afoot CINCINNATI _ With regular running back Rudi Johnson sidelined by a hamstring pull, Kenny Watson will start a game for the first time since 2002, when he was playing for the Redskins.
Posted by Jim Donaldson Welcome to CincinnatiHey all -- We're settled in at Paul Brown Stadium, where we believe it rained earlier in the day; a weather report we saw last night said there was a chance of showers early tonight. But we're looking at blue skies almost as far as the eye can see, and it was warm walking here from the parking area. The usual warm-ups are happening down on the field -- Eric Alexander, Pierre Woods and Kyle Brady are doing some stretching, Matt Gutierrez and Matt Cassel are throwing the ball near midfield. On the plus side for New England, Randall Gay is out there, headphones on. Gay was listed as questionable for the game with a thigh injury; he isn't in uniform pants, but he does have his uniform socks on as he walks around the field. Kevin Faulk, who was on the injury report after missing practice Friday (listed as a team decision) and then taken off yesterday, is in his cleats running on the field. The ESPN tent is set up on the concourse of what we'd guess is the south end zone; the PTI guys broadcast from there, and now the pre-game show is going on. We'll be back with more throughout the night. shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young Queen City Culinary Treat CINCINNATI -- No visit here is complete without enjoying a plate of ``5-way'' chili -- a Cincinnati specialty.
Posted by Jim Donaldson By The Numbers CINCINNATI -- The numbers don't add up for the Bengals heading into tonight's Prime Time matchup with the Patriots.
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