PatsBlog: A Patriots Blog

A lot of Patriots news today.  First up is the release of Reche Caldwell.  It seemed like he had a roster spot locked up (as he made the final cut), but then he was cut today, according to ESPN and the Boston Globe.

His release may have been triggered by the appearance of Randy Moss at practice.  Moss was present for the first time since August 1 (excluding walkthroughs).  Moss said he was with the team the whole month, and the only difference (he went to team meetings, walkthroughs, etc.) was that Moss didn’t actually play (and he claims he desired to do so).  When asked if he would play in Sunday’s game, Moss responded:

I guess nobody is telling you anything, so I’ll just hold it a question mark too. My thing is that I want to play. Will I play? I don’t know. We’ll just leave it at that.

We’ll have to wait until Wednesday to see the injury report, but my guess is even if Moss had surgery to remove his injured leg, Belichick would still list him as questionable on the injury report.

There were yet another two returns to the practice field today.  Asante Samuel made his first appearance on the field, since signing his franchise tender.  David Thomas was alos on the practice field for the first time this season. 

In roster moves, the Patriots signed fullback Kyle Eckel to the practice squad.  If you remember, Eckel was with the team in 2005, and looked amazing in the preseason as a fullback/halfback hybrid.  The Patriots ended up cutting him, with the likely reason being his obligations to the Navy.  I have to wonder if he has served his full duty, and could start playing full time now.  It will be interesting to see if he can make the roster at some point in the season. 

The Patriots also signed tight end Jason Rader to the practice squad, which now stands at seven players, leaving room for one more.

And for those  who were wondering, that picture was Reche Caldwell after he dropped the potential game winning touchdown.  Just thought I’d point that out.

I guess I’ll start out with the bad news.  Three players that were released (and were definate practice squad additions) have signed with other teams.  Tight end Garrett Mills signed with Minnesota, and OLB Justin Rogers was also claimed off of waivers.  I personally thought that Rogers had some nice 3-4 potential, but he’s gone now.  Also, Gene Mruczkowski was claimed by the Dolphins.

The Patriots also filled their two remaining roster spots.  First, they resigned tight end Marcellus Rivers, one day after releasing him.  I guess this means David Thomas won’t be ready for their opener.  The team also signed Minnesota Viking’s rookie linebacker David Herron.  Herron was a rookie free agent, and picked up 6 tackles in three preseason games for the Vikings.

The Patriots also began the process of filling out their practice squad yesterday, filling out five of the eight spots.  The Pats resigned Clint Oldenburg, Bam Childress, Santonio Thomas, C.J. Jones, and Corey Mays.  Apparently, Bam received interest from other teams, but chose to remain with the Patriots.