PatsBlog: A Patriots Blog

Lots of things to report from last nights game. The Patriots played all backups last night, and instead of doing a recap, I’ll just highlight some players who are trying to earn roster spots.

Le Kevin Smith – Played well, recorded 3 SACKS, and was wreaking havoc all night. He was constantly in the backfield disrupting things against Lorenzen and Droughns. I would look for him to get some significant playing time in the regular season.

Bam Childress – Lined up at running back as well as receiver. At receiver, brought in four passes for 39 yards, and a TD. At runningback, picked up 27 yards on three carries. Bam is one of my favorite players, and has been since 2005. Hopefully his versatility could earn him a roster spot, but I doubt it.

Kelvin Kight – Also racked up a lot of receiving yards. But does he have the versatility of Childress or Jones?

CJ Jones – Was very impressive in the return game as well as the receiving game. Practice squad lock, and a consideration for a roster spot.

Marcellus Rivers – Fumbled once, but after a one handed catch. Over the course of the preseason, he was surprisingly impressive. I think he may have earned a roster spot over Garrett Mills.

Dante Wesley – Had tight coverage, and it paid off with an INT on a deflected pass. With Mike Richardson out, he might be worth keeping on the roster.

Chris Hanson – Was impressive, pinned his opponents within the five twice.

Matt Gutierrez – looked good leading the offense in the fourth quarter. Finished off with a touchdown pass to a wide open Bam Childress. ALSO PLAYED ON THE KICKOFF TEAM!!!

Matt Cassel – 10/14, 99 yards. He also lead the team to a touchdown. He looked like he had total control of the offense, which is a good thing coming from your backup quarterback.

Vinny Testaverde – Despite a badly thrown interception, he still showed some poise in the pocket, and made some nice throws.

Brandon Meriweather – played safety, and was just flying around there like a torpedo.

Corey Mays – Stepped in for an injured Oscar Lua on the first drive. Although he didn’t seem too strong tackling, he made some nice stops.

Eric Alexander – Very solid tackler, likely locked up a roster spot.

Chad Brown – Wreaking havoc behind the line. Showed that he might have a little left in the tank. I’d say he’s got a 50-50 shot at a roster spot.

The Patriots have cut punter Danny Baugher, and signed punter Chris Hanson.  Hanson, 31, has been on a steady decline in punting average over the last several years, including being only a touch over 40 last season, when he played for the Saints.  The Patriots however, are expected to bring back Baugher.  I am dissapointed, because I thought Baugher had real potential.  The only thing I can say, is BRING HIM BACK!

Mike Reiss reports:

WR Troy Brown, WR Chad Jackson and CB Eddie Jackson have been moved to reserve/PUP. That means these players can not come off the physically unable to perform list until at least after the sixth week of the season. The Patriots can “start the clock” on any of these players between Week 6 and Week 9 of the regular season and then would have 21 days to decide whether to place the player on the active roster or on injured reserve.

Meanwhile, rookie cornerback Mike Richardson was placed on injured reserve with a hand injury. This means Richardson is lost for the season, but the Patriots retain his rights.

The team has 76 players on the roster. Teams must cut to 75 today but the Patriots have been granted an exemption for Asante Samuel.

I’m really dissapointed that Mike Richardson was placed on IR, I was looking forward to seeing him play in the regular season, as I believe he warranted himself a roster spot.  The Chad Jackson move was expected, however, I thought Troy Brown was just taking it easy being a longtime veteran and all.  Maybe the Patriots are putting Brown on PUP so that they can avoid releasing him.

The Providence Journal this morning reported that Asante Samuel is signing the franchise tag deal and is reporting to camp this morning at Gillette. I think we can all be happy about that although not a completely surprising report by now.

 It looks like Asante Samuel won’t be holding out past Asante Samuel after all.  John Tomase of the Boston Herald reports:

  According to a report on the NFL Network – and confirming what a source close to Samuel told the Herald more than a month ago – the cornerback is expected to sign his $7.79 million franchise tender this week and report to Foxboro to join his teammates.

 Samuel’s agent, Alonzo Shavers, stopped short of confirming the report, which he initially referred to as “speculation.”

“I’m sure he’ll definitely be around in the near future,” Shavers said. “I just don’t want to speculate because he hasn’t given me an inkling one way or another. I’m sure when he’s ready, he’ll tell me. He’s not given me the green light, so I can’t confirm or deny anything.”

When asked how close Samuel was to reporting, Shavers said, “Well, the season is about to start.”

 If he is indeed reporting now, Samuel gives himself two weeks to prepare for the Sept. 9 opener against the Jets. The source said Samuel was concerned about starting the season rusty and wanted to spend enough time on the practice field to get back to game speed.

Despite the reports, the long and bumpy road with Asante Samuel hasn’t become smooth yet.  What we know, is that Asante will once again be playing for a contract.  And that’s the thing, he still working for a contract, and the Patriots need to be the team that signs him.  The good news is, also according to sources, Asante and the Patriots were nearing an agreement before the deadline, so they may be able to work with that to get an extension completed.  Also, their ability to near a new contract may have also convinced Asante to sign his franchise tender.

Tom Brady has left Massachusetts to visit his new born baby boy.  Congrats Tom!  Hopefully being a father won’t detract too much from his on the field game.  I am confident it won’t and hopefully it will onliy make him a more content player.

On an unrelated note I can’t help but feel confused as to why Asante Samuel hasn’t shown up at camp yet.  It seems as though he is only shooting himself in the foot by not practicing with the team, playing a losing game with management while they have the upper hand.  If he returns after the tenth game of the season it would be hard to imagine that he would play at the same level as the receivers he’s covering.  This must hurt his credentials as a free agent, which he would be only if he isn’t franchise tagged again for 2008.  Maybe he’s hoping he’ll stink bad enough that they won’t franchise tag him.  I suppose he is just betting on being traded like Deion Branch and working out a contract with another team that way.  Much of the say in what happens to Samuel seems to be with management, so I am pleading with him to just show up already! 

Also, listening to WEEI Patriots Monday this week when Dale and Holly interviewed Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour and Rodney Harrison one could hear the tinge of sadness in the players’ voices when released Safety Artrell Hawkins was mentioned.  It seemed as though they had nothing but glowing reviews for the guy and Harrison in particular seemed grateful for Hawkins filling in when he was injured.  There has been talk of Hawkins trying his hand with broadcasting but hopefully he’ll make his way back to Foxboro some day soon.

Today, Danny Baugher was essentially named as the team’s punter after his competition, Tom Malone was released.  Baugher, 23, has never kicked a regular season punt, but has performed very well in the preseason thus far.

Veteran defensive lineman Kenny Smith (along with Malone) was also released. 

I’m going to try to start posting links on here as much as I can.  If I miss any links, you can tell me, or if you want to help me find links daily, you can email me at thebusnamedgak@aol.com 

Providence Journal - Earning a Roster Spot Hardly Breeze For Kight

                             Unease Again By Kicker

Boston Globe – No Safety net: Hawkins is Released

                    Punter Baugher Hoping to hang with Patriots

Worcester Telegram – Smith Makes Strides Up front

Fox Sports – Testaverde Returns for 21st NFL Season

Throughout training camp, Patriots top runningback Laurence Maroney has donned a red non-contact jersey.  Maroney has been recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, to heal an injury that hindered him late last season.  Today, Maroney took a giant step for his full recovery, as he was no longer wearing the red jersey at practice, according to Mike Reiss:

Running back Laurence Maroney has shed his red, non-contact jersey, a positive sign that indicates progress in his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery.

Linebacker Eric Alexander (shoulder) also shed the red, non-contact jersey for the first time.

So hopefully, Pats fans may get to see him in action this Friday for the first time in around eight months.  Now, the questions are:

- Will the offseason shoulder surgery cut Maroney’s production:

- Now that he is getting healthy, will he be able to handle the duties of being an every down back?

Today at his press conference, Bill Belichick announced the signing of 21 year veteran quarterback Vinny Testaverde.  The move was expected, as Testaverde told the Sporting News Radio that he planned to sign with the team after two-a-days several weeks ago.

It will be interesting to see what affect the Testaverde signing will have on Matt Gutierrez.  Gutierrez has played well until this point, and has given the Patriots plenty of reasons to want to keep him on the roster.