Patriots News-week Of 5/19

[Gunzlingr]

PLEASE POST PATRIOTS NEWS HERE!

[Gunzlingr]

Pats attack goes long

It's only May, but it's already obvious that the Patriots' passing game is getting younger and faster.

We are,'' said coach Bill Belichick after watching his team go through the first day of its passing camp yesterday. ``We definitely are. But let's be real. There's a long way to go.''

Everyone wants to see the Pats' air attack become more vertical and push the ball down the field, especially quarterback Tom Brady. He hopes a confluence of factors - from the development of youngsters like Deion Branch and Daniel Graham to the drafting of Bethel Johnson to the improvement of Brady himself - will accomplish just that.

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[Gunzlingr]

Brady wings it during passing camp

He says shoulder is 'feeling fine'

By Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff, 5/20/2003

First things first: Tom Brady's right shoulder is fine. The Patriots quarterback underwent 5 1/2 months of rehabilitation after slightly separating the shoulder in the season finale, and yesterday he participated in the first day of spring passing camp at Gillette Stadium. He believes he's close to 100 percent.

''The shoulder is an interesting part of the body,'' said Brady. ''It's amazing all of things you do that involve your shoulder besides passing. But it's feeling fine. It's come along well.''

Brady said he probably went back into the weight room too soon after the injury, and maybe he shouldn't have played golf at Pebble Beach as soon as he did. So he had to take a step back and make sure the healing process truly had begun before starting to throw.

In a stiff wind at the ''Quarterback Challenge'' in Santa Monica, Calif., last month, which will be shown July 19 and 20 on CBS, Brady won the longest throw competition, tossing a ball 62 yards to Jeff Blake's 55 yards. If there was any doubt Brady's shoulder was fine (or whether he can throw the long ball), the questions were answered then

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[Gunzlingr]

Pat to sign Ward

He's not going to make the Patriots' receiving corps any bigger, but Dedric Ward will certainly make it deeper.

The free agent receiver was en route to Boston last night and is expected to sign a contract with the Pats today, according to a source close to Ward. It's believed the seventh-year veteran, who spent the last two years with the Dolphins, will receive a deal at or near the veteran minimum.

The source said Ward (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) is eager to resume his relationship with Pats offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, whom he played under with the Jets from 1997-2000. Ward had his best year in 2000, when he started all 16 games for the Jets and caught 54 passes for 801 yards and three touchdowns.

Ward signed a free agent deal with Miami the following offseason but never became a featured part of the offense for the Dolphins. He had just 40 catches combined over those two years and never scored a touchdown.



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[PA Season Ticket Holder]

Patriots to sign Dedric Ward

The Patriots had taken a look at another former Dolphin, Oronde Gadsden, but were never willing to offer anything more than a minimum-level deal. Gadsden will likely re-sign with the Dolphins (the Jacksonville Jaguars are another possibility).

The only size option the Pats currently possess is rookie free agent Chas Gessner (6-foot-4). While Gessner looked good in last month's rookie minicamp, the jump from the Ivy League to the NFL is a huge one. Gessner also suffered a leg injury during the rookie camp.

Otherwise, second-year receiver David Givens (6-0, 212 pounds) stands as the biggest receiver on the roster. The rest of the depth chart is filled out by Troy Brown (5-10), David Patten (5-10), Deion Branch (5-9) and rookie Bethel Johnson (5-11).

Ward and Gessner will likely have to beat out one of those players in training camp.

The Pats made finding a bigger wideout a priority last offseason but missed badly with free agent acquisition Donald Hayes. This year, the Pats have been careful not to go after a big player just for the sake of saying they added size.

http://www2.bostonherald.com/sport/patriots/pats05222003.htm

[Gunzlingr]

Keep up the good work! I am going to move this to the Beasts of the AFC East forum.

[Gunzlingr]

Ward right at home: New Patriots receiver reunites with Weis

FOXBORO - Dedric Ward hasn't played a down for Charlie Weis in four years, but when the free agent receiver ran onto the field for the final day of Patriots passing camp yesterday, he said it was just like old times.

``It was almost like I'd never left,'' said Ward, the former Jet and Dolphin who officially signed with the Pats yesterday. ``There are a lot of familiar faces here, too. I've kept up with the offense over the past few years, just standing on the other sideline. So right now I'm definitely confident in the system.''

Ward arrived in Boston from his offseason home in Las Vegas at 1 a.m. yesterday. By the afternoon he had reunited with Weis, the Pats offensive coordinator who coached Ward with the Jets. That familiarity pushed Ward to the Pats after he talked with other teams. It is believed Ward signed a one-year deal close to the veteran minimum of $530,000.



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[The_Philster]

Ward has a handle on Patriots' system

FOXBOROUGH - On Dedric Ward's first day on the job, everything seemed like familiar territory to him.



Barely 24 hours after agreeing to contract terms with the Patriots, the former New York Jet and Miami Dolphin wide receiver was running pass patterns in Foxborough and, unlike departed Donald Hayes, having little trouble understanding the demands of Charlie Weis's offense.

''Having played for [head coach Bill] Belichick and Charlie Weis [with the Jets], I felt New England was the best fit for myself and my playing style,'' the 28-year-old Ward said yesterday. ''I like the way they try to get the ball into your hands by throwing high-percentage passes where you have a chance to make a play. I think what I do complements what they want to do.''...
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[The_Philster]

Andruzzi not hurting for answers

FOXBOROUGH - Pain is a byproduct of professional football. It is as much a part of the job as bellowing coaches, jeering fans, and too-tight pants. You learn to tolerate it and go on or you become consumed by it and go home. There is no other choice.



Few people have a higher tolerance for that aspect of pro football than Joe Andruzzi, the Patriots' hardscrabble right guard whose knees look like a road map of the Alps. This spring, his right knee is aching as he works to recover from a procedure called microfracture surgery, which sounds like it hurts precisely because it does.

It is a fairly innovative procedure that convinces the knee to regenerate cartilage by shaving some of the bone, removing the original (damaged) cartilage, and hoping blood drains into the opening and forms new cartilage that will serve as a cushion to prevent the arthritic pain born from the constant rubbing of bone against bone. It has been used on a number of professional football players with varying degrees of success, so it remains a gamble, but it is one Andruzzi took willingly to prolong his career.
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[The_Philster]

Belichick & Co. will stand Pat

The opportunities for improvement are dwindling for the Patriots. The draft is done and free agency signings have all but dried up. The post-June 1 castoff market is approaching, but that won't be much help this year because the list of quality players to be cut loose is expected to be tiny.

The Pats will certainly tinker with personnel between now and the beginning of training camp in July, but most of that movement will come at the bottom of the depth chart (see Dedric Ward). The avenues for substantive moves no longer exist.

Conclusion: When it comes to the Pats roster, what you see right now is pretty much what you'll get in September. Time will tell whether that's a good or bad thing, but it's clear there are still two very important holes to fill....

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