Foxboro Forum

For the first time since the 2005 NFL season opener - Tom Brady is not on the injury list or practice participation list.  As most fans know Tom has been on the list for years with a shoulder ‘injury’ and most recently with a foot injury.  But as of Thursday he is no longer listed on the reports.  Miraculous recovery - should be good to go for Sunday.

After the Patriots cut Fernando Bryant from the 53-man roster it looked as if they would be a little thin in the cornerback position - you had to know a move was coming.  We didn’t need to wait long for that move - this afternoon the Patriots signed 2-time Pro-Bowl Corner Deltha O’Neal.  O’Neal played the past 4 years with Cincinnati and the 4 prior to that with Denver.  Due to the inexperience at corner for the pats O’Neal could end up being a starter alongside Ellis Hobbs once he gets comfortable with the team.

You can read more on Deltha O’Neals stats here at ESPN.

John Lynch and Chad Jackson were both cut yesterday from the Patriots 53-man roster.  It sounds like its a possibility that John Lynch may end up in a Patriots uniform - Coach Belichick said he would not rule anything out in the future as far as bringing Lynch back.  As far as Lynch was concerned he also sounded open to the idea. 

For me cutting Chad Jackson was a big surpise - all the hype surrounding Jackson last year and the excitement of having him learn from Randy Moss.  I thought he was going to be here for a while.

I was also surprised to see the Pats didn’t cut any quarterbacks - keeping 4 on the 53-man roster could be taking valuable depth from another position.  We’ll have to wait and see what the waiver claims bring.

More Reading -

Safety Latest Big Name Veteran Signed, Dropped by Patriots  - ESPN
Lynch, Jackson Cut as Patriots Bide their Time - Boston Globe

Interesting read over at  NFL.com - Spagnuolo’s plan has NFL playing follow the leader

For a quick overview -defense coordinators have figured out that QBs like Brady and Peyton will kill you if given the time.  To slow them down you need versatile defensive backs and need to prevent the long pass play.  Seems like common sense - but who has the personnel to do it?  The article mentions a number of teams that are working on a similar defense scheme but they still need the personnel - not even the Giants have the personnel to do what they did last year.

I hope the added depth at running back this year will counter any changes in defensive scheming the Patriots will see throughout the season.

Word is Brady won’t be playing tomorrow - not that thats a surprise - but it sounds like he’s not even on the East coast. According to the Boston Herald he’s on the West Coast dealing with a ‘personal matter’. No big deal there - Brady’s confident he’ll be playing Week 1. On the injury front there are bigger questions like how is Matt Light? We know he’s been practicing the week but at what level? And is his he ready to contribute? Where is Wes Welker? He’s got a rib injury but not much more information has come out of Foxboro this past week.

Hopefully we’ll get some answers this week about running backs - Kyle Eckel has already been cut - does this mean Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, and Lamont Jordan are sticking around? If the Patriots do I think the depth in the backfield will be a great addition to the air attack.

I don’t know how much more we’ll know about the backup quaterback position - we all know Matt Cassel has had a rough time this preseason but Coach Belichick seems to like him. Hopefully tomorrow night he’ll show us something.