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October 18, 2007

Thursday locker room report: Maroney speaks; Welker dodges reporters

It 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.
Jackson, drafted by the Patriots in the second round (36th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft, is coming off the physically unable to perform list and said that he has
something to prove. He said that he can help out an already explosive Patriots offense if he is given the chance.

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  at 12:48 PM | Permalink