Disaster (apparently) averted

It appears we won't have a 2008 redux.

The latest Tom Brady news to shock the Patriots fanbase is reportedly not severe. He has a sore shoulder, but according to an unnamed source with the team, there is no damage to it beyond that.

Brady was hurt in the midst of a 27-24 victory over Washington on Friday, when he was hit and driven to the ground by mammoth Redskin tackle Albert Haynesworth after releasing a third-down throw to Greg Lewis.

Three-hundred and fifty pounds brought Brady down with his arm still extended, causing an awkward landing more on his underarm than on his forearm. Brady got up, went to the sideline, stretched his arm, and went to the locker room for halftime. When the second half started, Brady came back, threw a few passes, and left with a team doctor.

The injury overshadowed what was a truly impressive showing for Brady, who was in command and dominant, shredding the Redskins defense for two touchdown passes to Randy Moss. He was poised, composed, accurate and even looked willing to move in the pocket again, and for the first time since last September, minds were finally eased about his knee.

But then the Haynewsworth hit happened, and any concerns turned into panic when Belichick refused to give any information on how severe the injury was, or if Brady had received X-rays. All Bill said was that it was "bumps and bruises just like everybody else has," and left it at that. He said removing Tom was due to a desire to see backups Kevin O'Connell and Andrew Walter, not due to injury concerns, but many fans weren't buying it.

Brady will be held out of the final preseason game against the Giants, but it looks like he'll be ready for the season. After the news from last year, that should be music to any New England fan's ears.

Selflessness embodied

You want another reason to like Tom Brady?

After Eli Manning received a lucrative extension (six years, $97 million, $37 million guaranteed), and Philip Rivers (six years, $93 million, $38 million guaranteed) got one too, Tom Brady's relatively modest six-year, $60 million deal (of which two years remain) is starting to appear cheap.

But here's the thing: Tom's not complaining.

Brady recently said he's focused on winning, not money, and that contracts work out in the end. He obviously feels comfortable in negotiating with the Krafts, and doesn't feel a need to resort to complaining to ESPN reporters about how he feels disrespected.

True, it can be argued that Brady shouldn't have much to complain about when he's throwing to the league's best receiving corps, while under the supervision of the league's best coach, but this is still a stand-up move on his part.

There isn't much difference between the comfort of a life on $50 million and a life on $100 million, but athletes don't know that. They view money has an evaluation of talent, and less money than an inferior player is regarded as a slap in the face.

It's nice to know that someone can take the high road - even if he can expect to cash in again in an offseason or two.

The return

Tom Brady is back. And everything is just the way it was before.

Well, not everything. There was one difference.

The difference wasn't in Brady. Tom looked every bit the quarterback Patriots fans remembered, going 10-for-15 for 100 yards and two touchdowns. With the exception of one floated pass to Randy Moss that was picked off, Tom was Terrific. He stepped up to pressure, looked poised, and looked confident. And the stat sheet showed it.

The difference was in where most of those 15 passes were going. With Randy Moss catching only three passes (albeit for 54 yards) and Wes Welker sidelined, Brady found undrafted receiver and former Kent State quarterback Julian Edelman five times for 37 yards, and new tight end Chris Baker for two touchdowns.

It appears Brady's confidence is not an issue, whether it be with himself or his new targets. Even considering the small sample size, that means good things for the Patriots' offense in 2009.

Pass rush gets a boost

Earlier in the offseason, the Patriots' pass rush weaknesses were brought to the national stage with their pursuit of Panthers star Julius Peppers.

On Thursday, the Pats plugged some of those holes. And they didn't need to spend $16.7 million to do it.

New England made a trade with the Oakland Raiders for defensive end Derrick Burgess, adding a player who, as evidenced by his 16 sacks in 2005 and 11 sacks in 2006, provides an instant improvement to a beleaguered pass rush that saw its leader (Mike Vrabel, four sacks) leave for Kansas City.

Here's a breakdown of the acquisition:

Positive
Burgess is a legitimate player, and at 30, he should have stuff left in the tank. The defensive line, with Richard Seymour, Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork, was already stout, but Burgess provides it with an extra dimension. It also allows the linebackers to help more in pass coverage, an area where the Patriots were burned last year, because they won't have to contribute a man to the rush as often. If Burgess is helping to disrupt the passer, the linebackers' pass coverage won't be compromised.

Negative
This could be Deltha O'Neal all over again. Burgess is a two-time Pro Bowler, one who also had eight sacks in a season in which he didn't make the Pro Bowl, but he missed games last year, and saw his numbers decline sharply. Also, the fact that he was essentially given away by the Raiders raises questions. O'Neal was the same way last year; a former Pro Bowl cornerback who was picked up off the Bengals' scrapheap to rediscover his form and shore up the secondary. It never worked, and O'Neal turned in one of the more miserable seasons by a Patriot defensive back in the Belichick era. Will Burgess have similar problems?

Overall
This appears to be a good move for the Patriots. While the O'Neal signing was a desperation move to fix an urgent need, Burgess appears to be a player that the Patriots like. They didn't sign him, but traded for him, meaning they were willing to make an effort to get him, and therefore must see something in him that was worth the cost. The Patriots have earned praise for consistently getting players that fit Belichick's scheme, and this appears to be another instance.

Thoughts on Vick, Part II

In an earlier post, I commented that the hypothetical signing of Michael Vick would ultimately be a bad idea for the Patriots.

Now, after a press conference given by Bill Belichick on Friday, I maintain my stance. Because it might not matter.

In typical Belichick fashion, when asked several questions about Vick, Bill didn't give a yes, no, maybe, or anything of the sort. What he did do, however, was give a revealing amount of nothing:

Q: Have you and the organization ruled out signing Michael Vick?

BB: Have we ruled it out? I don’t know that it’s ruled in or ruled out.

Q: Some teams have said, ‘We are not going to sign him.’

BB: Well I’m just answering your question and I’m saying I don’t think it’s ever been put that way, so I can’t really answer it.

Q: Are you interested in signing Michael Vick?

BB: We are coaching the players that we have on the field right now, so that’s who’s here. So anybody who isn’t here, is there a potential that they could be here? Yea, there probably is, but right now they’re not. We’re coaching the 80 players that are here, so until we get somebody else we are coaching them. If we get somebody else in here, which I am sure at some point we will, then we’ll coach them [with] the players that are here. Who that’s all going to be, right now it’s the 80 players that are here. That’s all I can tell you.

Q: It sounds like you’re not ruling that out?

BB: Karen [Guregian], I am coaching the players that are here, that are on this team. I am not coaching anybody else. I’m sure at some point somebody else will be here, I don’t know who that’s going to be. If I knew they would already be here.

Q: Is that something you need a couple weeks to assess?

BB: I don’t think there is any time frame or any set criteria, no. We signed players a couple days ago. We signed players last week. Last year we signed a player or two at the beginning of camp. I don’t know. If we need somebody and we feel like that player can help our team and puts us in a better situation than what we had, then we’ll do it. If we don’t than we won’t.

Belichick is not one to affirm or deny anything. Had either of those reporters asked if Tom Brady was going to start at quarterback, he'd answer "Every position is up for grabs." Had they asked if he was hoping for a Super Bowl victory, he'd answer "We're not thinking that far ahead."

So with something like a potential Vick signing, whatever he says has to be read between the lines. And that seems to show a coach intrigued with the possibility of adding a fallen NFL superstar to an already potent mix.

If Belichick were absolutely not thinking of signing Vick, he would have used the opportunity to protect another aspect of his strategy: dispelling rumors. But considering that he was told that other coaches have flat rejected the idea of signing the former Falcon, and he still remained vague, implies that he's not denying anything because, simply, there's nothing to deny.

There's nothing to affirm, nothing to deny. Welcome to Bill's world.

The only reason that this looks like more evidence towards a Vick signing is that this is the routine Belichick and the media go through with every Patriot target. Whether it be something like the Randy Moss trade (which the Boston Herald reported was a possibility months before it was done) or the Rosevelt Colvin-Junior Seau signings in the second half of last season, the shtick is the same.

Belichick doesn't tip his hand, and when the deal is done, it's always a surprise.

It's too early, way too early, to say that Vick is busy getting on the next flight to Logan Airport. But there's a lot in Bill's seemingly nothing response that implies the New England brain trust is thinking of him. Sometimes, a compelling indication can be nothing at all.

Thoughts on Vick

As the storm of speculation over where Michael Vick is headed has been growing by the minute, seemingly every organized football team has been included as a landing spot.

With Brett Favre now retired (again), the Vikings have been mentioned consistently, as have teams like the Jaguars, the Dolphins, the 49ers, every team in the fledgling UFL...

And the New England Patriots.

Don't believe me? Check it out. And don't worry, I didn't believe it at first either. Because, simply put, it doesn't make sense.

Don't get me wrong, the thought of getting Vick is an exciting one, and even two years removed from the game, there are few in the NFL that can match his pure, blinding speed and athletic gifts.

The thought of Vick running a Wildcat scheme with Sammy Morris and Tom Brady is tantalizing, and the idea of No. 7 simply standing on the same field, in the same uniform, as Randy Moss is frightening for defensive coordinators.

Despite all of these highs, there is one reason for Patriots fans to be very, very low on Vick. And it has nothing to do with dogs.

It has to do with our cleft-chinned, knee brace-wearing Wonderboy.

Any team that signs Michael Vick will be signing a quarterback. Pure and simple. They won't be signing a running back, or a wide receiver, or some freak combination in the Kordell Stewart mold from the mid-90s.

Vick can't play those positions. He has the talent, but not the body. Fans in Atlanta would hold their breath every time he took off past the line of scrimmage, in fear he would suffer an injury like 2003's fractured ankle.

You think that sounds like a guy who should be catching 40 passes a season?

Instead, Vick still has the rocket arm. He still has the leadership qualities. He still has the sense in the pocket from playing quarterback all his life. He IS a quarterback.

If the Patriots signed Vick, his most significant role on the team would be as the backup quarterback, and over time, questions would rise as to the point of having a marquee QB like Vick on the depth chart if the starter is entrenched in his spot.

Nobody in the NFL has more job security than Tom Brady. The idea of signing Vick is doomed to failure.

So Patriots fans can still dream of a Brady-Vick tandem tearing up the league the way the Dolphins did last year. They can still hope to see Vick sprinting down the field, catching an arcing pass from Brady, and burning everyone else into the end zone.

But that won't happen for long. Vick will realize his roots. You can't teach an old quarterback new tricks.

Buzzkill...for now

On Monday, the NFL Network provided the spark to the Julius Peppers-to-New England rumors. On Tuesday, it provided the water.

A day after Vic Carucci reported a deal for Peppers was developing and almost imminent, his colleague, Adam Schefter, pulled the plug on the topic of major conversation in New England.

"This trade is not gonna happen," Schefter said on the WEEI radio station. "Julius Peppers will not be a New England Patriot next season."

Schefter is renowned around the league and in the media for being a reliable source with often breaking news about injuries and transactions, and his definitive words seem to be a severe blow to any hopes of landing the four-time Pro Bowler.

At the same time, Carucci, a senior columnist, has access to the best sources around, and it's unlikely his reporting would be based on anything but an insider's true word.

With two opposite statements, it's clear someone is telling the truth. The other is admirably misled.

Carucci's reasons for the deal made sense. Carolina doesn't want to pay first-round pick money, especially when they can get a player only two picks away from the opening round (No. 34 overall) for a bargain price. Not to mention, Peppers wants a defense like New England's, and New England wants a rusher like Peppers.

Schefter's doubt in the deal's possibility makes sense. Carolina doesn't want to give up a franchise player for a single second-round pick. Not to mention, New England wants Logan Mankins and Vince Wilfork back, and Jason Taylor as a free agent, more than Peppers.

This is nothing new to the way the Patriots operate. New England rarely broadcasts its retooling plans, and its business can be difficult to follow and interpret.

In February of 2007, the Boston Herald reported that the Patriots had serious interest in acquiring Randy Moss from the Raiders. Over the next two months, other media outlets contradicted the rumor, and killed off any speculation of the move occurring. The Herald even came full circle, reporting Moss was headed elsewhere.

On draft day, Moss became a Patriot.

Even last summer, the Patriots made John Lynch a late preseason cut, sparking belief in the media that the move was a salary tactic, and that Belichick intended on having Lynch back.

Lynch remained on the free agent wire, and retired. Months later, hampered by injury, the Patriots were again expected to make an emergency offer to the former All-Pro safety. Didn't happen.

Now, with the Patriots seeking ways to prepare their team for 2009, the media again is as mixed as a Brandy Sour. This time, the subject is Julius Peppers. Once again, the outcome may be a surprise.