Main page | November 6, 2007 »

Belichick: Clock will start on Troy this week

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in his press conference this morning that the team will "start the clock" on veteran Troy Brown, meaning he will officially start practicing. Brown probably won't get a lot of on-field time this week, however: New England will hold team meetings tomorrow and then will be off until Monday morning.

Brown has been on the PUP list since training camp began thanks to offseason knee surgery.

Once the team notifies the league that it has started the clock on Brown, it has 21 days to determine if it wants to activate him to the 53-man roster or place him on injured reserve.

Along those lines, a decision will have to be made on both Chad Jackson and Eddie Jackson by the end of this week; the team started the clock on those players after week 6.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 4:39 PM to Chad Jackson , Eddie Jackson , Troy Brown | Permalink | Comments 0

NFL: No extra crowd noise; Colts release statement

Since we were on a plane home for the early part of the day, we've been catching up on this whole artificial crowd noise issue.

Apparently, Patriots' team president Jonathan Kraft approached NFL NFL Vice President of Security Milt Ahlerich, alleging that the Colts were pumping in artificial crowd noise at the RCA Dome when the Patriots were on offense. During the telecast (which of course we didn't see or hear), there was a strange noise, like a CD skipping, at one point when New England had the ball, which led some viewers and website profootballtalk.com to surmise that the Colts' "noise" was having issues.

CBS, which broadcast the game, took blame for the issue, saying it was a feedback problem in the broadcast truck, and the NFL has apparently closed the issue.

The Colts, meanwhile, found it necessary to release a statement on their website:

In reference to questions regarding the audio transmission of yesterday’s game, please refer to the following statement from the NFL:

“CBS has informed us that the unusual audio moment heard by fans during the Patriots-Colts game was the result of tape feedback in the CBS production truck and was isolated to the CBS broadcast. It was in no way related to any sound within the stadium and could not be heard in the stadium.”

We trust this will put an end to the ridiculous and unfounded accusations that the Colts artificially enhanced crowd noise at the RCA Dome in any way.

As if there weren't enough drama between these two teams. Who needs "Days of Our Lives" when you have Bill Polian?

Now, we were obviously at the game, and the RCA Dome has an open press box (we media types aren't behind glass), and it was extremely loud in there. We were wishing we had earphones, and photographers on the field needed headphones because, as one told us, "It was like being at a concert."

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Pats-Bills to be "flexed" to prime time

The NFL just announced that the first game to be moved under "flexible scheduling" is the Nov. 18th Patriots-Bills game from Ralph Wilson Stadium.

With New England undefeated and the idea that they could go 16-0 seeming less ridiculous in the wake of yesterday's win over Indianapolis, the league and NBC want to capitalize.

Thus, the 1 p.m. game will now be played at 8:15 p.m., and becomes the sixth prime-time game on the Pats' schedule -- they've already played Sunday night against the Chargers, Monday night in Cincinnati, and have a Sunday night game with the Eagles, Monday night game in Baltimore, and Saturday night season finale against the Giants still to go.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Pats-Colts to be re-aired Wednesday

Hey all --

NFL Network will re-air Sunday's Patriots-Colts showdown on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on its "Replay" show, which condenses choice games down to 90 minutes.

Tomorrow night at 8 p.m., the Network will feature Adrian Peterson's record-setting 296-yard performance in the Vikings' win over San Diego -- which also featured a 109-yard missed field goal return for a touchdown by the Chargers' Antonio Cromartie.

At 10:30 p.m. tomorrow, Brett Favre and the Packers' come-from-behind win over Kansas City will be on Replay.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments 0