The Patriots have released their Friday injury/participation report, and only one player is on it (guess who?) - Tom Brady, probable, right shoulder.
Much like last week, when Jarvis Green practiced only on Friday and played Sunday, Kevin Faulk (thigh) missed Wednesday and Thursday's sessions but practiced today and has been removed from the list.
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Friday press conference
Ron Jaworski this week had comments about Randy Moss and a perceived, on his part, lack of effort against Philadelphia running complimentary routes. How would you characterize his effort against Philadelphia, specifically in that category?
I think, like all of us, Ron’s a football guy. He’s entitled to his opinion and so is everybody else. [I] just think that Randy’s done a good job for us. He’s been a good leader, been a good player, been very productive, and I’d say the same thing I’d say about Randy as I’d say about myself and every other player. He’s not perfect. There are things he could do better. I make plenty of mistakes; so does everybody else. Is every play perfect for any of us? No. There’s room for improvement by all of us. I put everybody in that category.
Is that category - effort on complimentary routes -- a particular area that --
No, I’m just saying I think there’s plays in every game that any player could improve on. There’s plays that could be better coached or better called or better officiated or better anything. It’s a competitive game, so there’s always room for improvement for everybody, and that includes every player and every coach on our team. I can’t speak for any other ones.
So in some way you agree with his assessment?
I never said that. I said Ron’s entitled to his opinion. So is everybody else.
Want to talk more about Ed Reed?
Bring him on.
Tom [Brady] said you wanted to adopt him earlier this week.
That might be stretching [it] a little bit. Ed’s a great player. He’s a great player. [A] former Player of the Year, and deservedly so. He does a lot of things that very few other players at his position can do. He’s got a big impact on the game and there’s not a lot of defensive players you can say that about, but he’s one of the elite.
You’ve often talked about how you’re always going to prepare for every player and every team’s best game. Do you prepare for that bull’s-eye as your profile increases each week?
That’s the way it’s been all year. That’s the way it’s been every year. I mean, did you think the Jets were pointing for us? Did you think San Diego was pointing for us? Buffalo? Right down the line. Those were big games for us, they’re big games for them. Everybody’s putting out their best preparation and best game.
Can you see an increase as the season goes on?
It’s there every week. That’s what we try to do every week [and] I think that’s what our opponents try to do every week. That’s the National Football League. We have 16 games, not 162. Once a week, we play. If you can’t play once a week your best game, then…Every two weeks? Every three weeks? I don’t know. Believe it or not, we try to play [well] every week. I know it doesn’t look like it, but we do try to play [well] every week. I’m sure our opponents do, too. There are a lot of other great players and coaches in this league doing the same thing as we are, working just as hard, putting in just as much time, that have just as much experience. It’s a very competitive league and there isn’t much sometimes that decides winning and losing a game, so you’d better be able to do all of the little things, do them at the right time and any play can make the difference.
Junior Seau is in his 18th year and when you look at his career you’d say he’s a run-stopper, but here he’s kind of a third-down guy.
I wouldn’t say that. I think Junior has played on all three downs his entire career, and been productive on all three downs his entire career. In San Diego, I can’t remember him ever coming off the field and at Miami, Zach [Thomas] was really their every-down linebacker, but I don’t think it was because Junior couldn’t do it. I think that was just the role that they had him in down there for a couple of years. He’s played on every down for us.
Of those two aspects, is he better at one?
I think he’s [a] pretty well-rounded player. He’s big, he’s fast, he’s physical, he can tackle, he can run, he can cover, he can blitz. He’s [a] pretty versatile player. He plays up in the line, plays back off the line. I don’t see him as a one-dimensional player at all. I think he has a lot of versatility, more than probably most middle linebackers that have played in this league. I’d certainly put him in the top 10 percent of that group.
Is his productivity sort of surprising to you at this point in his career?
I think it is, if you look at the numbers. If you just look at how many 30 - whatever it is, [38, 39], however old he is, the number of those linebackers and what their production [is] - But, I mean, you look at Junior [and] just look at the man, there he is. He doesn’t look old, he doesn’t play old. He looks just like everybody else does that’s a veteran player. He’s got a lot of energy, he can run, he’s quick, he’s explosive, he’s got a high energy-level, he’s smart, he’s on top of it. I don’t want to say he doesn’t look his age, but [when] you watch him on the football field, you don’t look at him and say, wow, there’s an old man. It looks like he’s getting ready to retire. I don’t think anybody thinks that. You just don’t see it. You don’t see it on the practice field, you don’t see it on the game field. I think he has as much energy out there as anybody. I wish we had more that had the same kind of energy he does, to be honest with you, that are half his age or not much more than that.
Knowing how important football obviously is to you and talking about still getting butterflies on game day, can you talk about what the kids are going to feel on Saturday at the MIAA Emass Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium?
I’m sure it will be an exciting day for them and their families. When you look at high school athletes, so many of them, that’s their last game. And then there’s a fraction of them that go on and play in college and then there’s a fraction of them that go on and play professionally. But in a lot of cases, the kids that play in high school, that’s going to be their last competitive football game. And for some it isn’t, but for probably the majority, it is. I’m sure it’s an exciting experience for both them and their families and their school. It’s something that I’m sure that they’ll always remember. You remember the rivalry games and the big games that that they play within their conference or their rivals or whoever it was, but to play in a championship game, I think probably any athlete or coach, no matter how old you get you always remember the championship games you were in. There’s only so many of them, and that I’m sure will be, I think, a memory that all of those kids bring with them. It’ll probably always tie them together. I know a number of my friends that were involved in championship teams, even at the high school level, they have their reunions, they come back or an undefeated team or whatever. I had that in high school at Andover. We were undefeated in ’71 - or, I’m sorry, it was the fall of ’70. We still have those reunions every once in awhile for an undefeated team or that kind of thing. So, it is, you’ll always be connected to those - to your teammates and to that group of people, whoever they all encompassed - the coaches and everybody else that’s associated with the team. It’s a life-long memory. I think it’s great that we have the facilities to handle it and I’m sure it will be a memorable experience for all of those teams involved.
Have you had a chance to scout Dartmouth-Everett?
I haven’t seen them yet. Maybe we’ll see them Saturday.
You’ve had nine turnovers on offense, which is the fewest in the league. Where does that start, in terms of ball security? Does it start in practice or with the quarterback…?
It’s every player’s responsibility who handles the ball. When you handle the ball, you carry the entire fortunes of the team with you. No matter who it is - center, punter, quarterback, running back, defensive player on a turnover, returner - whoever it is, there’s nothing more important than possession of the ball, so it’s a tremendous amount of responsibility and anybody that has it needs to understand what the importance of it [is], and the importance of doing all that they can to secure it. It could cover a lot of different areas, from decision-making to technique and so forth, but yeah, it’s critical and everybody that touches it is part of it. It’s something that we emphasis. I know every team does. It’s important to us, and it’s an accountability that the players have to - whoever handles it has to accept. Hopefully we can keep those to a minimum. That’s important, especially this week against a turnover-driven team like the Ravens who’s record is so closely tied to the turnover ratio, like most games in this league are, but the Ravens in particular, they’re pretty heavily tilted towards their advantage in turnovers and their winning percentage.
Transcript: Defensive coordinator Dean Pees' Friday press conference
Mike Vrabel has 9.5 sacks, one of the top marks in the league. When you look at his performance do you see him playing better than he has in the past seasons that you’ve been here?
It’s always hard to say whether a guy is playing better. I think Mike is doing the things we ask of him. I think he’s playing well. The thing about Mike is he is a really smart football player, maybe one of the most intelligent players that I’ve coached and we’ve got a lot of them. I just think he’s playing well right now and I think, being in the same spot, the thing that he’s provided for us in the past is his versatility to move around, which has helped us as a team. This year, we haven’t had to move him like that as much, which I think has helped him as an individual. I think he’s playing well. To say that he’s playing better, I’ve seen him play pretty good at times in ’02, ’04 and ’05 so I think he’s playing well right now.
How are these linebackers going to shake out now with Rosevelt Colvin out?
Well, as always, it seems like everybody has to go through it and we’ve gone through it in years past. You’ve got to just deal with injuries and that you hope somebody… When somebody else has a problem or is injured, it provides an opportunity for somebody else so you hope that somebody else can step up. The thing that happens with every team -- and it’s also with us -- is that you’re always concerned about depth. Whenever you lose somebody, like when we lost Rodney [Harrison] in the secondary or [Richard] Seymour up front, you lose depth, too. Somebody’s got to just pick up the slack and we’ve got to keep going and guys have got to fill in, the depth thing always concerns you.
How necessary is it to have that five-man rotation at that position?
I think it was important prior, even before Rosevelt got hurt. It’s always good if you can - up front, especially in the front seven - have a rotation to keep guys healthy as much as you can and try to keep them fresh. It’s even going to be more so. We’re going to need to try to find somebody that we can rotate in there now. That’s always good for the front seven to be able to rotate guys in, if you have them. If you don’t, you don’t. You’ve got to play with who you have.
Where is Chad Brown at this point? Is he ready to step in?
He’s on his way back. I mean he’s only been here two days, but it’s always great to have an older veteran guy who’s been in your system. You can get an older veteran guy that comes in and has not been in your system, he might as well be a rookie -- Sometimes it’s worse. But in Chad’s case, it’s great to have a guy that was out there, that was available to come in at short notice and know a little bit of something about our system. To be fair him, to say after two days of practice, Boys, he’s ready to just jump in there, [isn’t fair]. He’s working hard at it and I’m really happy that we have him.
Is Adalius [Thomas] going to slip outside now?
Well, you know us. We have the ability to play 3-4 and 4-3 and 4-2 and 2-4 and whatever you want. That’s always going to be a game-to-game thing. He slides outside; he can play inside. We’ve had the ability with guys like him, that’s one of the versatilities that those guys have. You’re always going to see a multiple [number] of defenses from us week-in and week-out.
Do you expect teams to try to attack you with the in-cuts like Philadelphia did last game?
Philly wasn’t so much the in-cuts. Sometimes it was the seams of the field. There’s a little difference. But one thing I give a lot of credit to [are] the Eagles and to [A.J.] Feeley, he had a good game. He threw a lot of passes when he was under duress and getting hit and put them on the money. At the same time, we need to play them better. The thing that got us a little bit in [trouble] the last game, and we’ve tried to work on it this week, is just fundamentally we got a little bit lax at times and let things happen that just shouldn’t happen. There are other plays that they made: He made a good throw, they made a good catch. And that’s football, but there were other times that we got caught kind of watching the rush, expecting that guy to get sacked and he didn’t get sacked and maybe we were out of position a little bit.
One of the things that some players mentioned was that maybe the pre-snap communication was maybe a little bit off. Did you see that at all?
Not particularly. They would be the better ones to ask on that because they’re the ones out there doing the communicating. I can’t always hear it from the sidelines, especially when the crowd’s into it. I didn’t see that as a big concern, but that would have to be something that they would answer.
How about Pierre Woods, a second-year player who could potentially see more time with Rosevelt Colvin going out? Can you just talk about him a little bit in his progression from year one to year two?
Well, again, he’s a guy that’s been a legitimate backup and he’s a guy that we are hoping that we can get in the mix. He’s done a great job on special teams for Brad [Seely]. You know, he would certainly… he’s working hard and he’s getting better all the time and we’re hoping that he just keeps progressing like that and, if he does, then he’s certainly going to give us some depth where we need it.
Can you also talk about Eric Alexander a little bit in his progression?
It’s kind of the same way. What’s set Eric back has been being hurt and being out for 4-5 weeks and not being involved in some things, but it’s kind of the same thing as Pierre. We just need him to keep progressing and getting better so hopefully we can use him in some kind of rotation to help balance it out a little bit, too. Again, he’s working real hard. He’s coming off that injury and both of those guys have been working real hard this week to try to get themselves in the mix.
How concerned are you about limiting wear and tear on Tedy Bruschi and Junior Seau?
Well, I’m always concerned about all the players. I mean it’s not only those two. We have a few other guys back there too that you’re always trying to take reps off of them, if you can. One of the things that would help us do that is if we got off the field on third downs, which we were doing for the first 10 games. We did really well and that helped limit the number of plays that we were in the game. Now, we didn’t play a lot of plays in the Eagles game, but we could have played a lot less if we would’ve done a better job on third down. It’s always a concern on any player that has been around for a while. But, hey, we’ve got to play with the guys that we have and they know that and they’re ready to do that.
If the Patriots-Colts game in Indianapolis was Super Bowl XLI-1/2, then let's call last night's Packers-Cowboys game in Dallas Super Bowl XLI-1/4.
Why XLI-1/4?
And why not XLI-3/4, since we're getting closer to Super Bowl XLII in Phoenix in February?
Because neither Dallas nor Green Bay is better than the Patriots. Or the Colts, for that matter.
But the Cowboys, after beating the Packers, 37-27, now are the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl against the winner of what just about everyone outside of Pittsburgh and San Diego is expecting to be a rematch of the Colts and Pats in the AFC championship game.
Which this time, thanks to New England's, come-from-behind, 28-24 win at Indianapolis, is almost certain to be in Foxboro.
If you're a Patriots fan, who should you have been rooting for last night?
Well, for starters, it was probably easier to pick a favorite between the Cowboys and Packers than it was between the NFL Network and the cable companies that refused to air last night's battle for NFC supremacy.
There is no sympathetic choice in the tussle between the greedy owners of football teams and the greedy owners of cable companies. The league wants cable operators to include the NFL Network in basic cable packages. A number of cable companies -- including those doing business in Wisconsin and Dallas -- insist that, if they're going to pay extra for the NFL Network, then so are their customers, and want to make it a premium purchase.
And so it was that, amidst cries from Dallas owner Jerry Jones for Cowboys fans to drop their cable services, less than 40 percent of America's households were able to watch what was a highly-entertaining game.
The Cowboys, with young QB Tony Romo looking sharp, jumped out to a 27-10 lead and, when veteran Green Bay QB Brett Favre went to the sidelines early in the second quarter with an injured elbow, it seemed as if Dallas would win as easily as, well, as easily as the Patriots have won most of their games this season -- including a 48-27 victory in Big D in mid-October, when both teams were undefeated.
That game with New England remains the only blemish on the Cowboys' record this season. Green Bay also had lost only once going into last night, so the winner was likely to wind up as host of the NFC championship game come January.
And if you don't think it makes a huge difference to the Cowboys whether they play the Packers in Dallas in January, or in Green Bay, well, you've never seen a playoff game played on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.
Not that it will matter much to the Patriots. (Or Colts, if you insist on including them.)
Although the Cowboys' 10-point margin of victory may look reasonably comfortable, it wasn't if you saw the game.
It was only because of a very questionable pass interference penalty that Dallas was able to open up a 34-24 lead against a Green Bay team which continued to move the ball effectively agains the Cowboys, even with backup QB Aaron Rodgers calling signals.
Rodgers ralled the Pack from 17 points down to within three with five minutes to go in the third quarter. After Dallas increased its lead to double-digits following the costly pass interference penalty against the Pack, Rodgers brought Green Bay to a 4th-and-1 at the Cowboys' 35 with just over five minutes remaining.
Instead of trying to pick up the first down, the Packers kicked a 52-yard field goal. But Romo and Cowboys answered that with a drive into the shadow of the goal line in the closing minutes that led to a field goal.
It was a good win for the 'boys, but not one what should strike fear into the hearts of Patriots fans. If Favre, who has started every game for the Packers since Sept. 27, 1992 -- a remarkable streak of 248 consecutive starts -- finally has to go to the sidelines, then Green Bay's chances of getting another crack at the Cowboys is severely compromised, despite how well Rodgers played filling in for Favre last night.
Dallas, now 11-1 clearly is the best team in the NFC, and, with likely home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, is in the fast lane for Phoenix and Super Bowl XLII.
But, if the Patriots can stay healthy down the stretch, it doesn't seem likely that the Cowboys can outscore New England's prolific offense.
If you're a Patriots fan should make Patriots fans feel good that the Cowboys had more trouble beating the Packers last night in Dallas than the Pats did beating the 'Boys.
All-around good guy Ty Warren recently re-launched his personal website, and in addition to audio blogs from Ty and slick graphics, he's going to feature monthly giveaways like autographed items.
But from now until Dec. 12, you can logon to tywarren94.com and enter to win a pair of tickets to Super Bowl XLII in Arizona. You can enter the random drawing as many times as you'd like -- just as, as he says on the front page, you can vote for him to go to the Pro Bowl.
Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis just held his conference call with the New England media, but it was not the energetic, talkative Ray Lewis most of us expected to talk with. Lewis is mourning the death of Sean Taylor, whom he called one of his best friends, and didn't want to blow off his commitment to the conference call but didn't want to talk about football either.
Lewis said Taylor's death is bringing make old wounds, those that came when his roommate at Miami, Marlin Barnes, was killed in their apartment before Lewis' junior year with the Hurricanes. And it has made him realize, again, that football is a game and life is precious, and that you only get but one.
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Thursday press conference
We’re moving along here on Baltimore. [This is our] situation day [when] we start to get into all the situations that -- One-play type situations or shorter ones, like red area, third down, short yardage, goal line, all of those types of things. The Ravens defensively, as we know, lead the league in the red area. They’re real good in those third down situations and in short yardage they’re tough, so we have a lot to get ready for. We’re moving along. If we didn’t have to play them it would be fun to watch them play on defense, but we have to play them, so it’s not too much fun.
Are they doing anything differently with Willis McGahee than the Bills did?
Well, they run their offense, so their offense is their offense. Buffalo’s offense is Buffalo’s offense, which is, as you know, kind of the San Diego, a cousin of the San Diego offense. So they do it similar to what they did when Jamal Lewis was there. It’s those plays.
All teams have good safeties and good players. What is it from your perspective that sets Ed Reed apart?
He’s really good at everything. He has great speed and quickness, which is a good combination, [is] very smart, understands and anticipates plays well, reads the quarterback probably better than anybody that I’ve ever seen or that I can remember seeing, great hands, gets the ball [and] runs them back for touchdowns. He’s a hard guy to tackle, he’s a big-play guy but he turns those big plays into even bigger plays. He takes some chances, but they’re calculated and he’s usually right, so he’s a little bit of an unpredictable guy. That makes it hard, too, because you don’t know exactly what he’s seeing or where he’s going to be. But he’s usually in the right place. He does a lot of things well and he has so much range back there that I think he enables their defense to not really need to play a lot of split-safety coverage. They can just put him back there and he can handle the whole deep part of the field, which is rare to find a guy that can handle it as well as he can.
Teams have their offense and their way of doing things. Is he the type of player that can alter your plan, or do you go ahead with it but have to be aware of where he is?
You better know where he is. You better know where he is. Absolutely. When that ball leaves the quarterback’s hands, the quarterback better know where he is. I think to some degree you have to look at what your plays are and decide how you think they’ll affect him or not affect him, based on what defense they’re in. But whatever you play you call and whatever defense they happen to be in, when you let it go, you better know where he is.
Yesterday you talked about Haloti Ngata playing linebacker. Is that a pre-snap thing or does he drop back? How does that work?
No, they line him up off the ball, five, six yards deep. Last week they had him hiding behind the umpire. Haven’t seen that in awhile. But yeah, he lines up off the ball, moves around back there. You don’t see a lot of 350lb guys walking around five, six, seven yards off the line of scrimmage.
Does it work?
Well, you know, they bring him in different spots. You don’t know exactly where he’s going to come from and when he does come he’s got quite a bit of momentum and speed, so no matter who gets in front of him, he’s quite a load coming up in there. He can run some people over. It just forces you to handle your protections. You need to decide who’s going to block him, how you’re going to handle it. Is he a linebacker? Is he a lineman? Are you going to zone it? Are you going to man it? What are you going to do with it? It’s just another rock on the pile. It’s already a big pile anyway, and it’s just another rock on the pile.
I know a couple years ago Rex Ryan said he was going to implement some of his father’s 46 defense. Do they still use that at all?
Very little. Very little. [They] run it in short yardage a little bit, but they haven’t run a lot of it this year. Most of it’s been in short yardage. I mean, they have used it, but on a percentage basis of very low percentage - two percent, one percent. But it does show up in short yardage.
Talking about Ngata a little bit again, are they able to use him on all three downs? Even at that size, can they use him on third down?
He’ll be out there. You’ll be able to see him - you can’t miss him. You can’t miss him. He plays the three-technique in the regular defense. They kind of flip-flop their line. He usually plays the three-technique, [Kelly] Gregg plays on the nose or the one-technique and then on third down he lines up - They have a lot of different third down packages. They probably have, I don’t know, four or five different sub combinations and he’s in on some of them, he’s not in on some of them. Again, it’s, like I said, more rocks on the pile. They don’t always do it, but they sprinkle some of that stuff in there. So he’s not always in on third down, no, but he is in one third down in some of their packages.
With he and Gregg, are they like five years ago when they had Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa in the middle?
Different style players. Gregg is probably one of the best defensive line technique players that we’ve played against in several years. He’s quick, he’s strong, he has a real good motor and he’s a very good technique player. He uses his hands well, he’s got great balance, he plays laterally down the line of scrimmage extremely well. He’s a much bigger version of a guy like Jim Burt that we had at the Giants. He’s extremely hard to block, and if you block him it’s very hard to get to Lewis, who plays behind him. That’s a lot different than the way Goose and Sam played. Ngata is a mountain of a guy, but has good mobility and so he plays on the three-technique. Again, it’s the same thing - if you double him or if you spend too much time blocking him, then you can’t get up to the next level to get to [Ray] Lewis and [Bart] Scott. If you leave too quickly to get up to Lewis and Scott, then you leave him standing on the line of scrimmage and it’s hard to get by him. It’s the same thing with Gregg. So that’s the problem with those kinds of guys. You can get one of them, but it’s hard to get the other one. It’s like in the 70’s when you had Joe Greene and Jack Lambert. You could never leave Greene to get to Lambert. If you did, you’re leaving Greene there, plus they had [Ernie] “Fats” Holmes. But that was such a combination that it didn’t really matter what you did. It’s like Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks down at Tampa. Those two guys played behind each other. You couldn’t leave Sapp to get to Brooks; If you did, Brooks makes 30 tackles. Whichever one you choose is usually a bad choice, so it’s a good setup for them. If you gave half of every one of Ray Lewis’ tackles to Gregg, then that would give you an appreciation for what Gregg’s production is. He probably doesn’t make [as many tackles], but what he does to free up Lewis, or in some cases Scott, but probably more Lewis than Scott, if you gave half of those to him, then you’d get a sense of what - How many tackles does Lewis have? He must have 150 tackles. Whatever it is. So you can give a lot of those, an assist or whatever you want to give, to Gregg.
How bad were those conditions the last time you guys played?
About as bad as they can get. I’d say by the end of the first quarter it was a full-out mud bowl. I can’t think of - I mean, we haven’t had a game worse than that. I don’t even think we’ve had a game that I would compare to that. That was significantly worse than any other game that we’ve had here - and we’ve had some muddy games, but that was in a class by itself.
Does it make it hard to look at the tape and get anything off that?
Well, yeah, but a lot of things have changed since then. It gives you some perspective, but there’s a lot of things that are different. Just as a comparison, I think there was a lot more carry-over between the Eagles game, last week’s Philadelphia game and the Eagles game in ’04 than what there was in the Baltimore game. Didn’t we play them in ’04, too? Having watched them back-to-back, I would say there was more carry-over, if you want to call it that, from that match-up than this one.
When you’re playing a team that presents the defensive challenge that Baltimore does, do you spend more time on your offense during that week in preparation?
You only have so much time, so whatever time you have, you have the same time every week. That’s what the offense works on. The defense works on what the Ravens do, just like they worked on what the Eagles did. Are you talking about me, personally?
As a coaching staff.
No, I think, believe me, as a coaching staff the offense works on whoever they play against defensively the whole week, and so does the defensive staff. And so does the special teams. That’s what you do - you prepare all week for it. And really, that’s a full-time job. It really is. Again, when you get into a lot of situational football, especially at this point in the year, we have 11 games, not counting last year’s games or previous games where we might have played a team, things like that. You have 11 games just from this year. Like with the Ravens, there’s games that [Kyle] Boller played. He hasn’t played all that many this year, so you might want to go back and look at him from last year, or even preseason when he did play. [Todd] Heap’s another guy that has been in and out, so if you want to see Heap, if all you watch is the last four games, all you’re going to see him in is that first quarter against Cincinnati. The last five games, whatever it was. So if you want to see Heap, you have to go somewhere else to look at him. When you start adding all of that up, you don’t feel like, well, I’m just sitting here, I have a lot of extra time. You just don’t feel that way. The same thing with [Jonathan] Ogden. There’s another guy who really hasn’t played much this year, so you could watch him in the last couple of games. If you really want to see him, you go back to last year.
Do the MIAA EMass Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium tomorrow interrupt you at all?
We haven’t ever had that before, but as we look at it going forward, not really, no. We think it should be all right. We’ll stay on our own schedule. But we’ve never really been through that, so maybe that’s a good question for next week. We’ll see how it goes.
Tom Brady joked yesterday that you want to adopt Ed Reed and maybe even kidnap him sneak him onto the plane with you on the way home Monday night. Should Ed be running?
I think Tom’s stretching it a little bit there. We can’t do that. We can’t do that. I have tremendous respect for Ed as a football player, and as a person. He was a guy that I had an experience to coach for a week last year and it was a great experience. He’s everything that I had heard he was at Miami, in terms of the way he sees the game, his intelligence, his instinctiveness, just all of those kinds of things. He’s a great guy to coach. You tell him something out on the field, he understands it, he can give you feedback on it. He plays football at a high level intellectually and also athletically. We have some pretty good players here. We have some good safeties and all of that. I’m not taking anything away from Rodney [Harrison] or James [Sanders] or any of our players. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying I had an opportunity to spend some time with him and we competed against him in the past. I think he’s pretty good. I mean, real good. Not pretty good - real good. Like I said, I think he’s a special player because he allows their team to do some things that I’d say most teams in this league just aren’t able to do in the passing game.
We've just been kicked out of the Pats' locker room, where it was a funny day -- a lot to observe, but not a lot of players talking.
Injured tight end David Thomas chatted briefly with a couple of reporters, and said the upside of being hurt means he gets to spend time with his newborn son. Thomas still has a walking boot on his right foot. Running back Sammy Morris also made an appearance, walking through the room in his street clothes.
Brandon Meriweather talked about his friend and former teammate, Sean Taylor, who Meriweather said "helped me with everything" at Miami. "He helped me take my game from a 'C' to a 'B,' with the playbook he sat me down and helped me learn it."
Meriweather said he last spoke to Taylor, who died early Tuesday morning, just before New England played the Redskins.
Troy Brown also talked to the media, and is glad to be back on the roster: "I'm always excited to be around this game. All I can do is take it one day at a time, one play at a time," he said.
We're headed out to practice shortly, and will post an update then.
On today's sports cover, Patriots writers Shalise Manza Young and Jim Donaldson discuss the potential impact of the loss of Rosevelt Colvin. Paul Kenyon reports on URI's victory over Northeastern, and Joe McDonald gets Jon Lester's reaction to winning the Tony Conigliaro Award.
The New York Jets have claimed rookie Kareem Brown off waivers. The defensive lineman was released by the Patriots yesterday to make room for Troy Brown; he had not been active for any of the team's games this season.
Brown is not happy about leaving New England; he was hoping to remain with the team on its practice squad. He and Brandon Meriweather are good friends from their days at Miami and Brown looks to fellow Hurricane Vince Wilfork for big brother-type guidance.
After coming close to being voted in last year, former Patriots LB Andre Tippett has once again been chosen as a semifinalist for the 2008 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class.
Tippett is one of 26 modern era semifinalists named today; the list will be narrowed to 15 in the coming weeks before the Class of '08 is chosen during Super Bowl week. The Hall's Board of Trustees voted this year to increase the minimum and maximum number of players that can be chosen each year to 4 and 7 (from 3 and 6), and also there are now 44 selectors, up from 40.
A member of the Patriots Hall of Fame, Tippett recorded 100 sacks in his 151-game career.
The hardware keeps rolling in for the Patriots, as Asante Samuel has been named AFC defensive player of the week for his two interception performance against the Eagles.
Samuel returned his first pick of the night 40 yards for a touchdown, and now has six on the season, tying him with San Diego's Antonio Cromartie for the league lead.
It is the second player of the week award for Samuel in his career and the eighth time this season a Pats player has been named player of the week.
Bill Belichick opened his press conference this morning with the following statement:
"First of all I’d like to on behalf of our team extend our condolences, thoughts and prayers to Sean Taylor’s family and his extended families with the Redskins and the University of Miami. Of course, we have a number of players from Miami on our team and some connections there. It’s a terrible tragedy. There’s no way to really explain it, obviously, it’s just our sympathies go out to them."
Transcript: Tom Brady's Wednesday press conference
Are you happy to have Troy Brown back?
It’s great. It’s great to see him. I know he’s excited. He’s been working very, very hard. [He’s] played a long time and it’s great to have him up and available. I sure hope he makes a big impact on the team. He always does, just with his leadership, his ability to bring people together and he always has positive words. He’s a great leader. He’s a great teammate and everybody loves having Troy Brown.
Because Troy has been around so long and he knows what to expect, does that make it easier for him to come back and produce?
Yeah, and he’s been in our offensive meetings however as long the season has been going on. Even though he hasn’t been out on the practice field, he’s been keeping up with the meetings and so forth. I know he’s excited and he can do a lot for us. He can play receiver. He can play DB. He contributes on special teams. He really does whatever this team needs.
The Ravens are a team, like the Eagles, that you aren’t that familiar with. Talk a little bit about the Ravens.
Yeah and I think you’re right. It’s a team that we haven’t played in a bunch of years. They’re very experienced and very battle-tested. They were one of the best teams in the AFC last year. We really have our work cut out for us. It should be a fun week. It’s a great defense that we’re facing, led by a bunch of great players on that defense in Ed Reed and Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs and they can all really play - Bart Scott. It’s a very challenging defense to face. I know that hopefully we can present those same challenges to them, but on a Monday night, that’s kind of what that teams live for.
Tedy Bruschi said after Sunday night’s game that he anticipates more tough games like that this time of the year. Do you agree with that?
I think you have anxiety before every game. You sit in a locker room just before you run out and really it’s the unknown. You just don’t know the way the games are going to go. You always hope for the best and you try to prepare for everything and, really, however they play out, whether you win 56-10 like in Buffalo, or this past weekend when it came down right to the end, you have to really be mentally tough and prepare for both. I think you always prepare for the tough ones and if it ends up not being as close as expected then you deal with that, too. That’s a good thing to deal with, but we’re always expecting whatever is the team’s best performance and what they’re capable of. Really, that’s what we expect.
Bill Belichick raves about Ed Reed --
He wants to adopt Ed Reed.
Yeah, he does.
It’s going to be Ed Belichick.
How does [Ed Reed] change what you look at in terms of their defense?
I know he coached him at the Pro Bowl last year and I think, as a defensive coach, you look at a player like that who’s such a game-changer. [Belichick] coached Lawrence Taylor and he knew what the impact on the game that Lawrence Taylor had when he was coaching. I think Ed Reed is similar, in different ways, but [he’s] really a game-changer. He’s a ballhawk. He covers so much ground back there. He’s really smart. He’s really aware. He loves football. He’s got all the great qualities of a great defensive player. I tell you, he better run after the game is over because Coach is going to try to bring him back on the plane with us if he could.
Personally, do you like the games that are close as opposed to the games that are really out-of-whack like some of the games you’ve had?
Yeah, we’ve had some games that in the fourth quarter haven’t been much of a game, not like this last one. I think we’ve showed some mental toughness in Dallas and in Indianapolis and [against] the Eagles, where we’ve been down the second half you have to find ways to make plays under pressure and I think this team has done a good job -- Whether we’re up or down we’re focusing on doing our job. A lot of it is composure and poise and it’s tough environments you’re playing in. Two of those games were on the road with the crowd really into it and we found ways to pull it out in the end. Anyway, the goal is to win. That’s what we approach every week as and, whether you win by 30 or you win by three, you’re trying to win the game. Everyone was happy we won this last game and it’s really going to be a challenge for us to get to 12-0.
Are you sick of all these night games?
I’m tired of them. I look around at all these tired faces today and I think everyone is just dragging a little bit. You don’t get home until late and it feels like you’re always trying to get caught up throughout the week so I’m glad we’ve got the extra day. It’s not a Sunday night game so it’ll be a long week this week I’m sure. Four days of practice, we can use each and every day of that to get ready for this team and, hopefully, put our best out there.
Is it a disadvantage for you guys because you’re like bats, you don’t the see light of day because you’re always playing at night --
(Laughs.) That’s the first I’ve heard of that.
And you’ve got so many in a row that it’s got to be tough.
It is and you play when they tell you to play and I think most guys in the NFL, you love Monday night games. The fun part about Monday night is just before the game at 8:00 when you’re ready to go out there and the bad part is about 11:30 as soon as the game is over. It’s fun to play on Monday night, but I think most guys would love to play Sunday at 1:00, every single week. That gives you the most time to let your body rest and your mind to get focused on those weeks ahead. Coaches love it because they get - on the Monday night games they get the extra day to practice you, which a lot of the older players don’t like so much. But we play when they tell us to play.
What are some of the particular challenges this defense poses to you?
They challenge you in a lot of ways. I think they have very athletic pass-rushers. They have a bunch of different packages that they run with different types of D-lineman that have different abilities. Some rush the passer. Some play the run really well. They get you in a lot of long-yardage situations. I think they’re very creative with what they do up front and [you] just can’t go to sleep on them. If one guy isn’t focused and concentrating and their job, it’s going to be a negative play. A guy like Ed Reed, or Ray Lewis, or Bart Scott, or Chris McAlister, they’re all looking to make interceptions. Not only that, they’re trying to return it for a touchdown. They’ve got a bunch of play-makers and we’ve got to be able to focus on every play and make sure we’re really aware of what they’re doing so we can really stay on track.
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Wednesday press conference
First of all I’d like to on behalf of our team extend our condolences, thoughts and prayers to Sean Taylor’s family and his extended families with the Redskins and the University of Miami. Of course, we have a number of players from Miami on our team and some connections there. It’s a terrible tragedy. [There’s] no way to really explain it, obviously, it’s just our sympathies go out to them. On our end of it, we unfortunately had to put Rosie [Colvin] on injured reserve yesterday. He’s worked awfully hard this year, as he always does and I feel badly for him, as I do for the other players that are on IR - Sammy [Morris], Chad Scott, Dave Thomas and all of those guys. It’s unfortunate. [We] re-signed Chad Brown who, of course, has been with us and gives us some depth and experience at the position, as well as activated Troy [Brown] from the PUP roster. So we’ll as usual go into the game with the players that we feel like from the 53-man roster that give us the best chance to compete against the Ravens and we’ll make that decision at the end of the week. I don’t want to lead anybody in any direction other than that one and so that’s where we’re at, as far as the Ravens go. This is in a lot of ways similar to the Eagles that we talked about last week - veteran team, veteran coaches, a team that’s won, that’s played very well at home, that’s played in a lot of big games and won them, especially at this time of year, very good defensively, outstanding return game, good kicker, big play-makers on offense, especially at the skill positions, a lot of outstanding players, a lot of outstanding talent and a team that we have a lot of respect for. I know going down there playing Monday night it’s going to be a very energetic environment for us to go in to, so we’ll have to really be sharp on everything that we do, especially as it relates to snap counts and communication and things like that. We have a lot in front of us. [It’s] a team we haven’t played in a while. [There are] a lot of good players we have to get ready for, a lot of difficult schemes that they run. It’s probably good that we have the extra day. I’m sure we’ll be able to use it.
You guys rarely see the sun. This is your third night game in a row.
We’re so excited about that.
Does it take some special preparation to play at night?
I don’t think it’s [so] much the preparation for the night game. I think where it gets you is at the other end, is coming off the night game and you sort of lose more of Monday than you normally would on a 1:00 or 4:00 game. Then it kind of pushes you back into Tuesday, but at this point in the year I think everybody deals with short weeks and long weeks and all that. We’ve been through a lot of football and a lot of games and a lot of meetings and a lot of preparation, so you just make those adjustments and go on.
Is it in any way better to have them back-to-back so that they are the same week, rather than having a long week and then a short week?
I’m personally not that excited about it, but whatever. There’s things we don’t have any control over. I just don’t think there’s any sense in worrying about it. You just make whatever adjustments you make and move on. Everybody’s got to deal with something.
Having five linebackers playing four spots has worked pretty well for you so far. Is there any concern of especially Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi having to play more snaps than they had previously?
Yeah, well, sure. We certainly didn’t want to lose Rosie, but that’s where we’re at so we’ll just move on with what we have. We’ve added Chad. Like I said, Chad gives us a level of depth and experience that [we’re] probably fortunate to be able to have at this time of year. He knows our system, he’s been here, he’s played here. [He] played in one regular season game, played in some preseason games, was with us for a lot of practices, so I think everybody has a lot of confidence in Chad, as we should, and our other players. Whatever we feel like is the best thing to do, we’ll use those combinations of people and - Yeah, it’s certainly not the optimum situation, but that’s what we have.
Chad played a lot of inside here but was an outside guy primarily in his career before he got here. Do you see him better at one spot or is he a guy that has flexibility?
Yeah, well he’s done both. He’s a pretty versatile guy. He’s played inside, he’s played outside, he’s played defensive end for us in passing situations in the sub, he’s played off-line, he’s played on the line. I think he definitely has versatility. Like I said, it’s a big advantage for us to have a player like that at this point in the year, who has that kind of flexibility, knows our system, who’s played in it. He’ll just have to work hard - I know he will - to get back up to speed with the different things that we’re doing since he was here last in the first Buffalo game and get caught up on some of that stuff, but it’s a lot further along than we would be with a player who was totally new to our system. Plus, he has a lot of experience in the league and he’s played here.
Your kick coverage has been pretty strong all year, with Kelley Washington and guys mixing in with guys like Larry Izzo, the old core guys. Can you talk about the way that group has performed?
I think our kickoff coverage is certainly improved over a year ago. That’s a combination of the kicking and the coverage. We’re up against another real good returner this week in [Yamon] Figurs - well, Ed [Reed]’s been back there some, too, but I assume it would be mostly Figurs doing the punt and kickoff returns - but another fast, quick, elusive guy with good running skills and good vision. Those guys work hard on that. Larry, of course, is our special teams captain and he gives us great leadership in the entire special teams unit. Those guys spend a lot of time watching film, meeting, talking together. Like I said, the coordination of those coverage units is so important - the proper lanes and leverage, and any time you’re doing something a little bit different whether it’s twisting players or changing coverage lanes or picking to try to get somebody else free to try to get a better release off the line of scrimmage on punts - all of those little things, there’s really a lot of teamwork and communication involved. It may not seem like that to the average fan, but there’s a game within a game going on there and they’ve done a good job with it. Overall, our force players have done a good job. One thing you don’t want to have happen on those returns is let the guy get the ball and run down the sideline. Then it’s just a lot of easy yardage. No one really has a shot of them if they get outside. There’s nobody left. At least if you can force them back inside, you have other people who have a chance to make the play. It was a big play last week on the last punt when [Brian] Westbrook was back there, which didn’t surprise me, that he was in there in that critical situation. Pierre [Woods] kind of had him, but I don’t think he was really down. I don’t think they called him down, and Kyle Eckel was kind of heads-up and came in there and made the tackle so he didn’t spin out of that one. [We’ve] been getting good hang time on the punts, and Steve [Gostkowski]’s done, on the balls that haven’t gone out of bounds, done basically a pretty good job of kicking off and our coverage units have been pretty solid, other than the long kickoff return against Dallas.
Obviously you have great depth at wide receiver. What kind of a role do you envision Troy Brown in now that he’s back?
We’ll determine that on a week-to-week basis, same as we always do. Troy is a versatile guy for us. He’s done a lot of different things around here. He’s played on offense, defense, special teams and obviously [is a] very experienced player, a guy that has done a lot of different things, and I think has the opportunity to fill different spots for us. We’ll see how that works out on a game-to-game basis and that’s the way it’s been here for a while. That’s the way it will be this week, that’s the way it will be next week.
Is it possible he would see time in all of those areas, or would you rule out --
No, I wouldn’t rule anything out. Anything is possible. We’ll do whatever we need to do. I’m not going to sit here and say we’re not going to do something we think will help us win. Whatever it is, we’ll do it. That’s what we’re here for.
So it’s possible he could play defense as well?
It’s possible he could do anything that we need him to do to help us win.
Chris Hanson hasn’t had to punt much. How would you assess his performance? Is it tougher for a guy to get in a rhythm when he’s only punting twice a week? I know you don’t want him to be punting a lot.
No, that’s right. We don’t want him to punt nine times. We’re trying to avoid that. You know, we’ve talked about it many times. Punting is a lot like golf. It’s not like standing on the driving range and hitting all drivers out there as far as you can hit them. I’d say probably well over 50 percent of a punter’s punts are situational punts, either based on what the return team is doing or based on field position or the game-situation that dictates do you want the punt directional, do you want it with hang time, they’re rushing, you have to kick it a certain way, you’re trying to kick away from - You have a key that they’re going to run right-return, you’re going to punt the ball to the left - Whatever it happens to be. A lot of it is situational punting, like using all of the clubs in your bag that a golfer would do. I think that Chris is a very good athlete. He handles the ball well, he’s got good hands and he does a good job of getting the ball off and placing it and doing the things that we ask him to do from a situational standpoint. He’s given us some real good kicks in clutch situations where we needed the ball down the field and changed field position a little bit. Like last week against Philadelphia, kicking out of the end zone, we had the false start penalty and we were backed up on the, whatever it was, four, five-yard line or whatever, and he gave us a great field position punt and Kelley gave us a big tackle on that for little or no return, whatever it was. That was a big play. Sometimes that’s what the situation calls for. Sometimes it’s getting the ball down inside the five, 10-yard line and Chris does a good job of that. Sometimes it’s, like I said, directionally kicking or utilizing some type of wind or return key or whatever it is to get the ball. I think he’s been effective for us. Is there room for improvement? Of course. But I think he’s been effective for us.
A couple of years ago before you played the Ravens, I remember you saying that you felt Ed Reed was probably playing better defensively and was the defensive MVP at that point in the season. How is he playing now? Is there slippage?
No. No, Ed Reed is an awesome football player. To me, he’s one of the best football players in the league. I think he’s the type of guy that allows the Ravens to do some things defensively that you wouldn’t ordinarily be able to do. I would say that in a lot of cases - in most cases - just common sense would tell you that you could protect the deep part of the field better with two deep safeties than with one deep safety. I’m not sure that’s really the case. I think that probably Ed Reed by himself back there can control the deep part of the field better than any two guys can, because the other guy isn’t as good as Ed Reed, no matter who it is. So whichever side he’s on, whoever the other guy is doesn’t have the same kind of skill that Ed Reed has. To me, when he’s in the deep part of the field, it’s hard to throw in the deep part of the field with him being back there, and then that allows them to do whatever they want with the other 10 guys, which they have a lot of creative schemes and he’s a tremendous play-maker. Not only does he come up with a lot of balls, but as we’ve seen, when he has it in his hands he’s a threat to score, whether he runs it back or laterals it or does something creative to not only turn the ball over but have it find it’s way into the end zone on your end. He’s a tremendous football player. I really enjoyed working with him for a week in February and I got to spend a little more time with him on a person level and really talk to him a little bit about football and some of the things that we were doing. I mean, it was an all-star game, but still, he’s really, really good, as good as anybody I’ve ever seen.
You had him and Champ Bailey together on that. How good was that secondary?
Pretty good. Yeah, pretty good. Those two guys were real good - at different positions, so it’s an appreciation, but we had [Chris] McAlister out there, we had [Bart] Scott. I mean, they have a lot of good defensive players. Really, everybody’s good - their outside linebackers are, [Terrell] Suggs, we had him, he’s a tremendous pass-rusher, [Jarret] Johnson has done a great job for them, Scott and Ray Lewis inside. Their down-guys are good, [Dwan] Edwards has played well for them. [Haloti] Ngata blocks out the sun. He’s an enormous guy that plays linebacker a good part of the time, which is…You don’t often see 350lb guys playing linebacker, but he’s back there [and] plays it quite a bit. [Kelly] Gregg is one of the best defensive technique linemen in the league. He’s outstanding on the nose. They have great corners in [Samari] Rolle and McAlister. [Dawan] Landry has done a terrific job for them at safety, playing with Reed. I think that’s an excellent safety tandem. For a rookie, he came in and played great last year and he’s having a terrific year this year. Big kid, big hitter, but he’s got good coverage skills. I couldn’t say enough complimentary things about Ed Reed as a football player - his intelligence, his skill, his play-making ability, his ability to do things back there that…I mean, I’ve seen some good free safeties and they may have some elements of his game, but I think he pretty much has it all.
A little off the subject -- this weekend is the Army-Navy game. What makes that game so special for the people involved?
It’s kind of a season within a season for those teams. I think no matter what the record is, that game means more than all the other ones put together, if that makes any sense, so in some respects it’s probably better to go 1-11 and win that game than to go 11-1 and lose that game. I’ve kind of seen that from both sides of it. One of the things they do, they have such esprit de corps with the brigade and the corps of cadets and the brigade of midshipmen, is a lot of times the team that wins that game, the superintendent gives all the other members of the brigade special privileges, like an extra night out or they knock off the demerits or whatever it is as kind of moral-booster thing. So a lot of times that game means a lot more than just what meets the eye. I know there’s a couple kids, Max Lane and Kyle Eckel and [Roger] Staubach, but those kids aren’t playing football to be professional football players. They’re playing football because they’ve chosen a career in the military and that’s what’s really important to them, so to compete against their rival military academy, it’s a tremendous tradition that goes back forever, even back into the great Army-Navy teams in the 40’s and 50’s and 60’s where they were ranked in the top 10 on a pretty regular basis and [had] Heisman trophy winners and all of that, as well as guys going on to be great leaders of this country. The tradition in that game just flows. It just drips with tradition. But really, there’s a lot at stake within the brigade, within the institution, that is a little bit special relative to just another college football game. You know, you walk around there in March or April or May or whatever and there’s signs all over of “261 days until we beat Army” or “173 days until we beat Army.” I mean, literally, a lot of times the calendar in that Navy football office is just reflected on how many days to the Army-Navy game. When my dad was there, there were a lot of years when he would scout the opponent that Navy was going to play next. So if they were going to play Pitt, he would go to Pitt. If they were going to play BC, he’d go to BC. But then there were other years when the only team he scouted was Army. He would watch them play all 11 games. So if that gives you any sense of what that game meant, that you just put one guy on it the whole year, that was not uncommon. And Army would do the same thing.
The Patriots are holding practice outside today on the upper practice field behind Gillette Stadium. "New" guys Troy Brown and Chad Brown were out there for the full pads session; the only player who was missing was running back Kevin Faulk.
Offensive lineman Billy Yates and Bam Childress were the men in black as practice players of the week.
It's not good news that, on the heels of a disappointing defensive effort against the Eagles -- who, with backup QB A.J. Feeley starting for the first time since 2004, put together four long scoring drives Sunday night -- the Patriots have put outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin on the Injured Reserve list for the remainder of the season.
A highly-effective speed rusher, Colvin led the team in quarterback sacks the past two years (he had 8.5 last season, 7 in 2005). He had four this season, along with an interception, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.
His absence will be a blow to New England's highly-effective, but elderly, linebacking corps. Mike Vrabel is 32, Adalius Thomas is 30, Tedy Bruschi is 34, and Junior Seau will be 39 in January. With Colvin out, those four older players now will have to spend more time on the field, further wearing them down and increasing their own chance of injury.
There isn't much behind them on the depth chart. The backup at outside linebacker is Pierre Woods. Inside, it's Eric Alexander. To replace Colvin, the Pats today signed 36-year-old Chad Brown.
The Patriots have been fortunate, compared to many other teams, in having had relatively few significant injuries this season.
The New England Patriots today activated veteran Troy Brown off the physically unable to perform list and placed linebacker Rosevelt Colvin on season-ending injured reserve.
Additionally, the Pats re-signed linebacker Chad Brown and released rookie Kareem Brown.
Troy Brown is returning from offseason knee surgery after being hurt in the AFC Championship game. He has played 191 games with New England and is the team's longest-tenured player.
Colvin was announced to have suffered a foot injury in Sunday's game with the Eagles, though on television it appeared that trainers were working on his arm.
Kareem Brown was New England's fourth-round draft pick this year out of Miami; he has not been active for any of the team's games this season. The Pats are likely hoping he will clear waivers so he can be retained on their practice squad.
FOXBORO – Jabar Gaffney and Donte Stallworth had extra motivation for beating the Eagles last night, as both had been dismissed by the team.
Gaffney signed with Philadelphia as a free agent before last season, only to be released at the start of the regular season. Five weeks later, he was signed by New England, which was thin at the position.
After playing the role of fourth fiddle for much of the season in the Patriots’ revamped offense, Gaffney had a big game last night, with six catches for 87 yards and a touchdown.
“It’s always good to beat the team that you were with, being able to catch a touchdown and make some key grabs,” Gaffney said.
“He played well,” said Stallworth, whose trade from New Orleans to Philly during training camp last year may have played a role in Gaffney’s release. “He wanted to play well too because he was there with me for a bit last year.”
Stallworth finished with four receptions for 54 yards.
FOXBORO – Donte Stallworth was one of the last players out of the Patriots’ locker room last night, and as he dressed and walked between his stall and the trainers’ room, songs from Alicia Keys’ newest album was coming from the small speakers inside his locker.
Stallworth took at least 10 minutes getting himself together before he faced the cameras and microphones, but before he did, he joked he’d be collecting $5 each from the gathered reporters for the privilege of listening to his “concert.”
When one media member joked that the quality of the speakers was sub-par, another quipped that the collection would actually go toward a better pair of speakers, not a concert charge.
FOXBORO – Asante Samuel got things off to a rousing start for the Patriots last night, intercepting the Eagles’ A.J. Feeley on the third play of the game and returning the pick 40 yards for a touchdown.
The interception was the 21st of Samuel’s five-year career, tying him for 10th in New England history with Don Webb. Ty Law and Raymond Clayborn are tied for the franchise lead with 36 each.
Samuel now has six interception returns for touchdowns in his career, including an NFL record-tying three in the postseason. His three regular-season return TDs are third-best in team annals.
*****
Tom Brady’s season-long streak of games with three or more touchdown passes came to an end last night, as he threw just one against the Eagles, but the quarterback still found a way to get into the record books this week.
By throwing for 380 yards, Brady passed 25,000 yards for his career, making him just the third quarterback in Patriots’ history to do so, after Drew Bledsoe (29,657) and Steve Grogan (26,886).
With 39 touchdowns this season, Brady is still on pace to throw 57 for the season.
He also:
- Led New England to a fourth-quarter comeback win for the 26th time in his career;
- Upped his record to 28-5 in games where the margin of victory is seven points or less and 19-4 when the margin is four points or less;
- Is 21-3 when throwing for more than 300 yards;
- Is 33-2 on artificial turf;
- And is 41-8 on Thanksgiving or later
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By scoring 31 points last night, New England now has 442 points for the season, setting a new single-season franchise record.
The previous team record of 441 points was established in the 1980 season, when the Pats went 10-6.
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Randy Moss’ 11-yard reception in the second quarter was the 744th catch of his 10-year career, putting him 25th all time in NFL history.
Moss passed Andre Rison (743 receptions) to move into the top 25. Jerry Rice had a record 1,549 catches in his 20 year career.
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Wes Welker’s 13 receptions tie the franchise record for catches in a non-overtime game. Both Deion Branch (at San Diego, Sept. 29, 2002) and Terry Glenn (at Cleveland, Oct. 3, 1999) had 13-catch games with New England.
The single-game team record is Troy Brown’s 16 receptions on Sept. 22, 2002 in an overtime win against Kansas City.
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Patriots’ receiver Jabar Gaffney and Eagles’ cornerback Lito Sheppard are cousins, and spent most of their early football years as teammates.
Gaffney and Sheppard both attended Raines High School in Jacksonville, Fla., winning a state title in their first season together, and both played at the University of Florida.
Gaffney’s father, Derrick, also attended Florida, and played in the NFL with the Jets.
*****
With a touchdown on its first possession of the game, New England has scored points on its opening drive in 10 of 11 games this season.
It was only against the Colts that the Patriots did not score on their first possession.
*****
New England boasts the best home record in the NFL since 2002 (the year Gillette Stadium opened) as well as the best home defense in the league.
The Patriots are 41-9 at Gillette, just ahead of the 40-10 mark Indianapolis has at the RCA Dome over the last five-plus seasons.
They also allow just 15.64 points per game to the opposition over those 50 games, ahead of the 16.26 points Baltimore gives up to visitors to M&T Bank Stadium.
First-time visitors to the Stadium are 4-23, with New England winning 19 of the last 20.
*****
The Patriots are now 26-4 against NFC teams since 2001, a run that includes their three Super Bowl wins.
It also includes a current streak of 10 straight which began on Oct. 9, 2005 against Atlanta. New England’s last loss to an NFC team was in the second game of the 2005 season, 27-17 in Carolina.
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Last night was the first time New England has hosted Philadelphia in a regular-season game at Gillette Stadium, and the first time the Eagles have traveled to Foxboro since Nov. 29, 1987, a 34-31 overtime win for Philly.
The teams’ last three regular-season meetings were in the City of Brotherly Love, in the 1990, 1999 and 2003 seasons.
With the Eagles’ near 20-year streak without a Foxboro visit now ended, the Carolina Panthers now have the longest period of not playing in New England, at 12 years. The Panthers will visit Gillette in 2009.
Carolina, Arizona, Atlanta and St. Louis are the four remaining teams who have not visited Gillette Stadium since it opened in 2002.
*****
The inactive players for the Patriots were: Matt Gutierrez (third quarterback), receiver Chad Jackson, safeties Mel Mitchell and Eugene Wilson, guards Wesley Britt and Billy Yates, and defensive linemen Le Kevin Smith and Kareem Brown.
For the Eagles: quarterback Donovan McNabb, safety Quintin Mikell, running back Tony Hunt, guards Max Jean-Gilles and Scott Young, and defensive linemen Kimo von Oelhoffen, Victor Abiamiri and Montae Reagor.
Nine of the Patriots' first 10 wins this season were blowouts.
Although they won again Sunday night against the upset-minded Eagles, the Pats almost blew the game because of their inability to contain Philly's backup quarterback, A.J. Feeley, who threw for 345 yards and three touchdowns and had his team -- 24-point underdogs in Las Vegas -- on top, 28-24, in the fourth quarter
"You're not going to be able to play your best game every week," New England's veteran strong safety Rodney Harrison said. "The thing that's encouraging is that we were able to pull it out, in spite of us not playing particularly well."
"You have to win like this sometimes," said Patriots wide receiver Jabar Gaffney, who caught Tom Brady's only touchdown pass. "You're not going to blow everyone out."
Brady had ignited those blowouts by throwing for at least three TDs in each of the Pats' first 10 games. Although he passed for 380 yards against the Eagles, completing 34 of 54 attempts, he had one TD toss.
"Everybody could have played better," Brady said. "But we won. We clinched the AFC East championship, we've won 11 straight games, and there's a lot to be happy about."
That was the prevailing feeling in the New England locker room after subduing the stubborn Eagles.
"We want to win the game, period," linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. "No matter how we do it -- whether it's one point, or 20 -- as long as we get that victory at the end of the day, that's all we care about."
"Everything's not going to be a blowout," said Adalius Thomas. "We're happy to get the win."
How happy the Patriots will be when they sit down to review the video of the game with coach Bill Belichick is another matter entirely.
"Philadelphia gave us a number of problems in all three phases of the game," Belichick said. "But we had a couple of big stops defensively at the end, and we made a couple of key plays offensively when we needed to make them."
FOXBORO – Tedy Bruschi wants his youngest teammates on the New England Patriots to remember last night.
Wants them to file away that feeling of having to scratch and claw, to embrace that fear, no matter how small it might have been, that the Patriots might lose to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Wants them to know that the 31-28 win New England edged out over the Eagles is not the aberration – it is the 30- and 40-point wins and the luxury that they afford which are the aberrations.
“I hope a lot of the guys that are new here know this is how it is. This is reality. This is how you win in November and December,” Bruschi said, his brown eyes wide. “We’ve squeaked out games before – I know I’ve been a part of all of ‘em. The blowouts are the aberrations to me.”
The veteran linebacker knows better than almost every other player in the New England locker room what it takes to tip the scales of victory into the Patriots’ favor and has been a part of tight games throughout his dozen years with the team.
He also knows that championship teams are forged through victories like these.
That is a feeling shared by Asante Samuel, who was the star of the game for New England, running back an interception on the Eagles’ first possession to give the Patriots an early 7-0 lead, and ending a potentially dangerous drive at the end of the game with an end zone pick.
“I know what it feels like, a lot of us know what it feels like to pull it through at the end,” he said. “It was kind of close but we never gave up. We never give up.”
Samuel received the ultimate compliment from coach Bill Belichick after the game: Without Samuel’s two interceptions, Belichick said, “I don’t know if we’d have won. Probably not.”
The franchise cornerback picked off Eagles’ starter A.J. Feeley on the third play of the game, plucking Feeley’s wobbly ball and running it back 40 yards for his fifth interception and first touchdown of the season.
The free-agent-to-be – New England has agreed not to franchise him again in 2008 if the team wins 12 games or if he plays in 60 percent of the defensive snaps – then ended a successful drive for the Eagles, who had picked up 58 yards in seven plays. On second-and-4 from the New England 29 and around four minutes left to play, Feeley looked to the end zone rather than trying to run down some clock or get close enough for an easy game-tying field goal.
Whether it was a bad read by Feeley or a bad route by receiver Kevin Curtis, the ball was thrown way over Curtis’ head and Samuel was there at the back of the end zone for the touchback.
Samuel’s now-infamous tattoo may not actually say “Get Rich,” but the cornerback certainly is going to be just that after his performance last night.
“Asante, to me, is the best corner in the league,” Rodney Harrison said. “Week in and week out, he makes plays.”
Before Samuel’s second interception basically sealed the game, the surprising play of Feeley had been the story of the night.
Though Feeley ended the night with three interceptions (James Sanders picked him off at the end of the game), anyone who came here to Gillette Stadium thinking of all the ways the New England defense would pick apart the Eagles offense with him at the helm wound up being disappointed.
Making his first start since Dec. 26, 2004 with Donovan McNabb suffering from both ankle and thumb injuries, Feeley was efficient and decisive for much of the game, spreading the ball around to eight different receivers and completing nearly two-thirds of his passes.
One of the biggest wins in Feeley’s seven-year career, much of it spent as a backup, came against the Patriots, a 29-28 come-from-behind Monday Night Football win on Dec. 20, 2004 when he was with the Dolphins. Miami scored twice in four minutes in that game, and Tom Brady forced a throw as he was being sacked that was intercepted and led to the game-winning score.
Clearly Feeley was channeling those good vibes again last night.
“I thought he did a heck of a job,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “I know he threw a few picks there, (but) he stayed aggressive, got the ball out fast and made a couple plays down at the end there. He took a shot at the end and gave it everything he had on that last one and (Samuel) snagged it. He stayed aggressive and stayed competitive.”
But when Feeley needed to be at his best, it was the New England defense that was at its best, as has been the case so many times before.
The Patriots, though, were more than willing to give Philadelphia credit for its play. The Eagles’ defense, led by coordinator Jim Johnson did a good job in getting pressure on Brady, and their West Coast offense was run with a crispness that had the Pats on their heels.
“When there’s pressure, you can’t sit back there and hold the ball and we knew that. They hit us with some blitzes we hadn’t seen from them,” receiver Donte Stallworth said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be one of those games we’ve been fortunate to play (this season).”
No aberration here, just a nice, “normal” win for New England.
FOXBORO – Little Wes Welker continues to come up, not just big, but huge, for the New England Patriots.
The Pats would not still be undefeated this morning if not for what Welker did last night in a surprisingly tough, 31-28, victory over the Eagles in which New England trailed heading into the fourth quarter, and Philly had the ball inside the Patriots’ 30-yard line in the final four minutes.
Although he didn’t score a touchdown, Welker made six catches in the second half for first downs – three of them on the Pats’ game-winning drive.
With the Patriots passing on almost every play throughout the game, the Eagles blitzed Tom Brady almost as often.
Forced frequently to get rid of the ball quickly, Brady repeatedly threw to the quick and elusive Welker, who consistently found open areas in the Philadelphia secondary.
It wasn’t just that the 5-9, 185-pound Welker had career highs in both receptions (13) and yards (149) that was most impressive, it was the situations in which he caught them.
Of his seven catches in the second half, six of them were for first downs, and four of those came with the Patriots throwing on third down, needing a completion to retain possession.
“I found him a bunch,” Brady said. “He did a great job of getting open.”
Welker’s performance was reminiscent of another undersized Patriots receiver who has made clutch catches throughout his career – popular veteran Troy Brown, who has been on the Physically Unable to Perform list throughout this, his 15th season in New England.
“They’re very similar-type players – great quickness, great awareness, smart, great hands,” Brady said last night. “They’re both great leaders.
“They have a lot of similar qualities. They’re both 5-7, or 5-8, or whatever they are. They’re very nifty in the slot, very comfortable. It’s a great matchup for us.”
Actually,.Welker against the Philadelphia secondary was more of a mismatch.
His 13 catches tied the club record for receptions in a non-overtime game. Deion Branch had 13 at San Diego in 2002 and Terry Glenn caught 13 at Cleveland in 1999. Brown holds the team mark for catches in a game with 16, set in an overtime win over Kansas City in 2002.
What Welker lacks in height, he more than makes up for in quickness and savvy. He knows how to get open, rarely drops a ball that’s thrown his way, and has a knack for eluding tacklers after making the catch and picking up extra yards.
He’s also modest. Rather than talking about his own considerable accomplishments last night, Welker preferred to talk about the way Brady threw the ball in the face of repeated blitzes by the relentless Philly pass rushers.
“They gave us a lot of different looks,” Welker said. “You have to hand it to the Eagles, the way they played. But Tom never loses his poise. He’s always on top of things.”
The Eagles were determined to put as much pressure on Brady as possible.
“We blitzed quite a bit,” said Philly’s defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson. “At times, we covered well and, other times, we didn’t cover as well as we would have liked. But at least we were getting pressure.
“They went a lot with four wide receivers. We felt that, anytime they did that, we would pressure them. Basically, that was our game plan. We felt that, every chance we had, we had to bring pressure. Even if we didn’t get to (Brady), we had to throw off his timing and move him around in the pocket.”
The Eagles did that, but Brady still was able to find Welker, threading his way through the Eagles’ secondary.
“He’s tough on all that underneath stuff,” Philly head coach Andy Reid said of Welker. “He’s got great quickness.”
FOXBORO – After last season’s explosive performances in the playoffs where he led New England in receptions and receiving yards (21 catches, 244 yards, two touchdowns), becoming the only player in NFL history to record back-to-back playoff games with eight or more catches for 100 or more yards in the same postseason, Jabar Gaffney figured this would be his breakout season.
Unfortunately for him, the Patriots signed five-time Pro Bowler Randy Moss, and talented receivers Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth in the offseason, and Gaffney has gotten lost in the shuffle as the Patriots fourth receiver.
Last night it became clear that Tom Brady has not lost confidence in him.
Gaffney caught a season-high six passes for 87 yards and a touchdown to help the Patriots defeat the Eagles, 31-28.
“It always feels good to beat the team that you were with and being able to catch a touchdown and make some key grabs felt real good,” said Gaffney, who was signed by the Eagles in March of 2006 before being released by them in September of 2006.
Gaffney grabbed five of his catches in the first half for 71 yards and a touchdown. He hauled-in a 32-yard grab on the Patriots first possession of the game which helped set up a one-yard Heath Evans touchdown run.
“We needed a few yards and I just went down the middle and [Brady] put it up there and I was able to go up and grab it,” Gaffney said. “It was a nice ball, real nice.”
Gaffney’s 32-yard catch was his longest of the season and his second-longest since joining the Patriots in 2006, trailing only a 33-yard catch against the New York Jets on Dec. 12, 2006.
Gaffney’s final catch of the first half was a 19-yard reception in the back of the end zone that helped give New England a 24-21 lead with eight seconds in the half.
The reception shifted the momentum of the game into New England’s favor and it was his 10th career touchdown catch. It was his first touchdown since scoring against Buffalo on Sept. 23. Gaffney now has nine catches for 131 yards and a touchdown in his last two games.
Gaffney’s father Derrick played in 100 games over eight seasons as a wide receiver for the Jets (1978-84, 1987).
FOXBORO – Asante Samuel played like a franchise defensive back last season, intercepting an NFL-best 10 passes during the regular season and then two more passes in the playoffs.
So with a new contract looming, Samuel figured he would cash in like San Francisco cornerback Nate Clemens did. Clemens signed an eight year, $80 million contract this season.
Instead, the Patriots slapped him with the franchise tag. He waited until Aug. 28 to sign his one-year, $7.79 million contract – more than a month after training camp began.
Despite missing training camp, Samuel never missed a beat when the regular season arrived. He entered last night’s game leading the team in interceptions (four) and passes defensed (12), while often covering the opposing teams’ best wide receiver.
Last night against Philadelphia, Samuel intercepted his fifth and sixth passes of the season. The first came on the Eagles third play from scrimmage. He ran the pick back 40 yards for a touchdown.
“It was a quick drop,” Samuel said. “[Philadelphia quarterback AJ Feeley] tried to throw it out to [Brian] Westbrook and I just read it and broke on it. I saw him behind me a little bit so I had to try to speed it up a little bit and scored a touchdown.”
Samuel’s second interception ended a potential Philadelphia game-winning drive when he hauled-in a Feeley pass in the back of the end zone with 3:52 remaining in the game as New England held on to defeat Philadelphia, 31-28.
“I tracked it and I made sure that [Philadelphia receiver Kevin Curtis] was not coming up on me and I’m saying, `don’t drop this ball. This could win the game,” Samuel said. “That’s all I did. I tried to play the ball good, stayed focused and caught it.”
Samuel said that he was surprised that Feeley challenged him again after he nearly picked him off six plays earlier and returned it for a touchdown. Samuel, however, dropped the interception.
“I was kind of upset about that one,” Samuel said. “I dropped it. It was another touchdown but I made up for it.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said that without Samuel’s two interceptions the Patriots might not have won the game.
“He came up with a couple of big plays,” Belichick said. “He got us to a good start and of course on the deep ball at the end there he just had good position on the receiver. Asante has great hands, good instincts and he doesn’t let too many get through his hands. That’s really what a good playmaker in the secondary does – they catch the ball well and they’re able to turn those mistakes by the quarterback into turnovers instead of just foul balls and batted down [balls].
“He’s been very good at that since he’s been here and obviously did a good job of it tonight. Those two big plays, I don’t know if we’d have won without them. Probably not.”
“That’s a great compliment coming from my coach,” Samuel said. “I’m just out here trying to make plays for my team and to help my team win.”
Samuel’s interception return for a touchdown was his first touchdown of the season and his third interception return for a touchdown in the regular-season which ranks third on the Patriots’ all-time list, trailing only Ty Law (6) and Tedy Bruchi (4).
It was also his team-leading 21st of his regular-season career, tying him with Don Webb for 10th place on the Patriots’ all-time list. Samuel has also returned three interceptions for touchdowns in 11 postseason games. Samuel’s combined six interceptions returned for touchdowns rank second in franchise history to Ty Law’s seven.
“I’ve said it before, Asante, to me, he’s the best corner in the league,” fellow defensive back Rodney Harrison said. “Week in and week out he proves it. He makes plays and that’s what guys do that are the best. He makes plays all over the field. Two picks, what can you say, he’s a baller.”
Samuel agreed with Harrison’s statement, saying that he is the best cornerback in the league.
“No doubt about it,” Samuel said. “I always believed that in my mind and that’s how I feel. I never brag about it. I’m a humble guy…but I do feel that way.”
In addition to his two interceptions, Samuel made three tackles and had three passes defensed.
Samuel gives a lot of credit for his success to the Patriots coaching staff.
“The coaches do a great job. They get us well-prepared for the game. They tell us what to expect and I pay attention. Once they tell us what to do it’s our job to go out there and make the plays and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Laurence Maroney's 4-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter not only regained the lead for the Patriots, 31-28, but also enabled the Pats to set a franchise record for points scored in a season -- 442, with five games still remaining.
