Our own New England Patriots wunderkind, Mr. 50 TD pass record holder for 2007, and the NFL's MVP Tom Brady is back on the practice field.  As reported by Mike Reiss:

The media-access portion included stretching, some light throwing for quarterbacks, and Brady handing off to running backs. Brady did not appear to be limited in his movements.

Read that last sentence again - did not appear to be limited in his movements.  Now it's not, as of yet, time to schedule the ticker tape parade in Foxboro center.  More importantly, noone has said whether or not Brady will see reps against the Eagles this weekend.  My opinion?  Unless he absolutely needs the reps, let him watch from the sidelines or the comfort of his living room.  He needs to be rested for the regular season and, more importantly, the long haul.  If I were to be a homer, I'd say, "No problem.  Tom's ok and we're all set."  But, I'm not feeling that way right now.  Given the pre-superbowl foot issues as well as this past week's escapade, I'd rather he let the darn thing heal.  Oh, and there's that issue of the QB backups not fairing so well, especially #2.

The bottom line, however – and most likely the primary source of all the criticism he’s received – is he’s yet to lead the team to a touchdown, which will be a major point of emphasis in his next appearance, presumably Friday night if Brady isn’t ready to return.

He needs to come out against the Eagles and make some plays.  Between 2 preseason games and countless hours in training camp and OTAs, Mr. Cassel has had enough time on the field and with these players to come up to speed.  Brady was only doing 1 practice session for a long time which left the field to the backups, and Cassel was the main guy.  Matty, for the sake of the team, I hope you do well.  I'll be rooting for you to do well.

When it comes to safeties, I'm still depressed about Tank Williams.  I was so looking forward to seeing him jump into nickelback or safety/linebacker hybrid roles when teams start fielding 3 or more wide outs.  That's when things get exciting on a defense, in my opinion.  But nooooooooo!  He's on IR.  Now I'm REALLY depressed.  Until, in walks John Lynch.  Rodney and John have become fast friends and have respected each other for many years:

"I’ve always had tremendous respect [for him]; our careers have kind of paralleled each other in that we’ve played the position of safety – he’s going into his 15th, I’m going into my 16th [year]," he responded.

In case you're wondering what kind of a hitter John Lynch is:

Ouch!!  Oh, and there's more.  Check out Youtube and you can get a plethora of "School's in session" hits from Mr. Lynch. 

On to shoaring up the O line, the Patriots worked out Center and Guard, Mike Flynn.  Mike has played his entire career, from 1997-2007, with the Baltimore Ravens.  A hometown boy hailing from Springfield, MA, Mike is excited about the prospect of coming to New England.  He will most likely see time as a backup to right guard Stephen Neal given that Neal and his backups Hochstein and Yates are banged up.  JHR, thoughts?

Every time I hear that monicker for a swashbuckler I think of the old joke my father used to tell me:

Father: Where are your buccaneers?
Me: I don't know.
Father: On the side of your buccanhead.

Bahdum, ssssss.  Thank you very much - I'm here all weekend.

Ugly is my word for this game.  Ugly, messy, stinky.  There were very few bright spots in what was an abysmal showing.  However, as I've mentioned before, relax.  This is preseason and it's not about winning, although winning would be nice.  It's a science experiement.  It's about putting players in situations and examining the outcome.  It's about getting as many players on the field as possible.  And it's about getting a look at players so coaches can decide who to send home.  A few rambling thoughts:

• A most excellent observation by standingpat during the game thread, the defense was "bend don't break" and very generic, as if BB was purposely "hiding" his good stuff.  This was evidenced by CB Ellis Hobbs playing very soft for the first part of the game.  Bucs QB Brian Griese made the same observation.
• Adam?  We heart you and thanks for the rings, but DANG!!  G-man spanks a 53 yarder.  2 games in a row he's money.
• Welker looked like he'd shaken off the rust from a post season groin injury which put him on the PUP.
• Cassel stretched out Moss midfield and I thought he was going to get crushed.  Brady never does that as it spells disaster for tall skinny guys like Randy or little skinny guys like Wes.  2 de-merits, Matt.
• Speaking of Cassel, he's in the fight of his career and he's losing.  No excuses at this point, because the vets were on the field.  Matt can't blame "The Chad" or CJ Jones for his woes when Moss and Welker were on the field for a crapload of snaps.  He managed only 3 points in 6 drives.  Not good.
• S Brandon Meriweather appeared to be in considerable pain when he left the game in the first quarter.  If it's serious, batter up - John Lynch.
• Kevin O'Connell, after looking pretty good in his first NFL outing against the Ravens, throws an interception on his first play against Tampa Bay.  Later, he admits he forced that one and the ball should've ended up in the stands.
• ILBs weren't plugging the gaps during Tampa Bay running plays.  Even veteran Bruschi was having a tough night.

General observations: There were some glaring individual mistakes on the field.  But, this is where I gotta say Belichick is smarter than me.  He's playing very basic, vanilla offenses and defenses.  There's nothing exotic nor is there anything special about what he's putting on the field.  It's all about evaluation in a "live" situation, against someone wearing a different helmet.

Buccanhead...I kill myself.

I always laugh at this stuff.  The scrutiny placed on the health and welfare of professional athletes, especially a team's stars, is nothing short of ridiculous.  Remember how fast pictures of Brady's booted foot spread through the blogosphere?  Here's the word straight from our record breaking wonder:

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady spoke on WEEI this morning, answering questions about the leg injury that kept him home while the Patriots traveled to Tampa Bay.

While he didn't give details, Brady said the current injury he has isn't the same ankle injury that dogged him in the Super Bowl. "Same side of the body, and same leg, but not the same injury," said Brady. He said it also wasn't related to an Aug. 2 bump during practice, when running back Sammy Morris accidentally kicked him during a drill.

"I spent some time this weekend getting treatment on it, and hoping that it responds quickly like it usually does," said Brady.

"The key is not to go out there and aggravate anything when I'm not ready to go," said Brady. Obviously I'd love to be out there with my teammates, but Coach made the decision that that's not the smartest thing to do right now."

The quarterback wasn't sure about his status for Friday's third preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I'm not sure," said Brady. "I'm trying to get treatment this week, and I'm feeling better every day. It's going to be up to Coach, what he wants to do. I think he's been coaching long enough to know that the first game in September is the most important game for us."

Given the abysmal performance of Cassel and the rookie mistakes by O'Connell, one could assume we're in serious trouble.  Relax.  If we go 0-4 in the preseason Tom can rest his foot for the really important stuff, you know, like the regular season, that's fine by me.  We have 3 backup quarterbacks.  Lambs to the slaughter.

Yes, New England Patriots fans, preseason game number two is upon us.  For your viewing pleasure, tune in to The NFL Network or WCVB / Channel 4 @ 8:00 PM.  I'll have the game thread opened up around 6'ish as well.

After preseason game number one against the Ravens, I have a few things I'll be looking for, so here's a breakdown:

Quarterbacks - Matt Cassel did not have a good game.  Communication with wide receivers was off, despite a lot of reps in training camp.  Hopefully Belichick and the coaching staff worked on that aspect of Cassel's game and he comes out with a little more polish than we witnessed.  Matt Gutierrez wasn't much better, but he's backup to the backup; I'm less concerned about him.  Kevin O'Connell was a welcomed surprise and I hope to see more of the same.  Tom Brady did not make the trip to Tampa Bay due to a sore foot.  Which foot it is has not been revealed.  Happy place...happy place...ohhhhmmmm.  Seriously, relax.  Preseason is not the time to push an injury, especially with your star quarterback.

Wide Receivers - After Welker got off the PUP a few weeks back, he commented how it'll take some time to get back in the swing of things, that he was working to get his timing back with the QB's, specifically Brady.  Apparently, it didn't take long.  Mike Reiss has reported that the triumvirate is looking as sharp as ever.  Look for more playing time from Moss, Welker and Gaffney.  C.J. Jones is fighting for his job.  He did not have a good showing and will need to step up.  "The Chad" is another that needs to amp it up a bit.  I really hope he succeeds; we could really use the skills he projects to have.

Running Backs - LaMont Jordan was killer against the Ravens.  At this point, I really feel like he could own the redzone/goal line RB job.  I think Maroney and Morris will see more playing time as well as Faulk.  I'd like to see a few successful options to Kevin before a feel better.

Offensive Line - JHR is the guru, but overall the O-line struggled against the Ravens and has been hampered by injuries.  Barry Stokes has been IR'd and the boys are getting older.  A younger OL is a necessity, IMO but we needed to fix linebacker first.  Let's just hope we don't need Kevin O'Connell scrambling skills all around.

Linebackers - An area focused on so heavily, the linebacker corps appear to be shaping up nicely.  OLB draftee Shawn Crable is really looking good while ILB Jerod Mayo is turning into a stud and Pierre Woods was an animal against the Ravens.  OLBs Mike Vrabel and Adalius Thomas will see more reps as will ILB Tedy Bruschi.  I think if this lineup proves successful, fan favorite ILB Junior Seau will retire.  I'd like to see ILB Victor Hobson do well.  He's been struggling after moving from OLB for the Jets.  Rookie ILB Gary Guyton continues to impress.

Cornerbacks - Hobbs and Bryant continue to be the starters in my mind and rookie Terrence Wheatley has really gotten himself noticed in a field of 10.  Why so many?  Belichick's looking for something, some secret sauce that'll spell disaster for opposing teams.  With that many cornerbacks on the roster, this says to me he thinks this will be a key position for 2008.

Safeties - The Denver Broncos released veteran John Lynch and Belichick promptly snatched him up.  Lynch is known for being a super hard hitter and has signed a one year deal with the Patriots.  This appears to be a direct response to the loss of Tank Williams, the hybrid safety/linebacker guy who was such a good fit for the nickelback position.  I'll be watching John.

Defensive Lineman - Jarvis Green is back and Richard Seymour is feeling pretty good.  An interesting note: Belichick had the guys practice switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3.  A 4-3 is a good overall defense, but is very effective against the run so look for it during an obvious running situation.

Howdy faithful.  I just did an interview with Fantasy Football site, Dynasty Rogues.  This is a very cool Fantasy site and, much like SBNation, is making a name for itself.  You can find the podcast with me as well as other SBNation bloggers.

Whenever I listen to my recorded voice I inevitably say, "I sound like THAT?!?!"  At any rate, hopefully I didn't come off like a complete dork.  Please be kind.  Seriously.  My ego bruises easily. ;-)

A bunch has happened in the last few days, so let me see if I can break it down:

• Recent signings of veterans Jeff Shoate and Ade Jimoh have swelled the cornerback ranks to 10.  In addition, the Patriots have been talking to veteran safety John Lynch and have put him through a physical.  I can only assume our team from Foxboro is carrying so many defensive secondary players so they can find that elusive combination, that pot of gold that will prove to be unstoppable.  In particular, the loss of safety Tank Williams to a knee injury in our preseason opener with the Ravens leads me to believe Belichick and Pioli are looking for that hybrid cornerback/safety player who can fill the nickelback role.
• Ellis Hobbs and Fernando Bryant project to be the starting CBs with rookie Terrence Wheatley as third.  I'm psyched for Wheatley.  With a crowded field of cornerbacks, this draftee is getting noticed.  Can you imagine how good he'll be with more NFL experience?
• ILB Jerod Mayo is the standout of the rookies.  He was supposed to be eased into the rotation, but it appears he's going to see more snaps than originally expected.  Given we were hammered in 2007 for an aging linebacker corp, I'm really stoked about this one.  This will be the first undergarment put on by opposing running backs:

• Trio of Brady-Moss-Welker looks really sharp (See Ogor?  It wasn't just about Wes. ;-))  I think this is the most dangerous QB/WR combination in football.  They literally carpet bombed opposing teams in 2007 and I see more of that in 2008.
• When asked about Belichick's history with the penalty lap, he was quoted as saying, "Maybe the guy who made the mistake gets some advice from some of the guys who are running – but don’t feel like running,” Belichick said, which yielded some laughter from media members.
• Brady will see some time in this Sunday's preseason game @ Tampa Bay.  The game is on NFL Network / WCVB Channel 4 at 8:00PM.
• Finally, public training camp practices have been extended by one day.  Friday's practice, starting at noon, is open to the public.