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First day of camp full of PUP’s

The New England Patriots first day of training camp was met by a rain and a lengthy list of players physically unable to perform (PUP’s). Unfortunately for fans, practice was closed to the fans due to the rain, and camp was held inside the Dana Farber Field House practice bubble. One of the most notable things to come out of training camp was the unusually large amount of players on the Active Physically Unable to Perform list, which topped out at 12. Being on the Active PUP list does mean that players can practice as soon as the training staff and doctors feel they are ready to practice, whereas being on the Reserve PUP list would mean the player would have to sit out the first 6 weeks. A few players not on the list also missed some practice time. TE Ben Watson missed the morning session but was there in the afternoon, while Richard Seymour and TE Marcus Pollard were present in the morning but absent in the afternoon.

The PUP list included “cornerback Ellis Hobbs (labrum, groin), safety Rodney Harrison, linebackers Mike Vrabel and Bo Ruud, wide receiver Wes Welker, guard Stephen Neal (shoulder, knee), defensive linemen Mike Wright (foot) and Jarvis Green (shoulder), tackles Nick Kaczur and Oliver Ross (triceps), center Ryan Wendell and running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis.” Any one of these players could return to the field tomorrow or we may not see them until Week 7 (or never this season). Hobbs, Welker, and Neal were no surprise as they had off-season surgery and had not participated in the mini-camps earlier this year. Nick Kaczur can return at any time, but his problem is more of the legal issue than a physical one. The two major surprises were Vrabel and Harrison. Hopefully they will not be out for any significant amount of time, as they are an integral part to the Pats’ defense.

With Hobbs on the PUP list and last year’s other starting corner, Asante Samuel, bolting for money in Philly, free agent signings Jason Webster and Fernando Bryant lined up as the starting corners. It’s way too early to pencil them in as starters for Week 1, but they fared well on Day 1 of camp. Webster, an under-the-radar signing, was listed on patriots.com as “Who’s Hot” for the morning session of practice.

“He made a nice breakup of a pass intended for Randy Moss on a deep out early in practice and generally was tight to his man when the ball came his way.”

With Hobbs being the likely starter at one cornerback spot, Webster is battling for the other starting position. While he is a long-shot to start, he may prove to be a solid nickel corner. Fernando Bryant was equally as impressive in the afternoon practice session, as he was able to run stride-for-stride with Randy Moss in full pads and covered him well enough for a long ball to fall incomplete.

The inside linebacker position battle, as Brent noted in a previous article, is one of the key position battles in camp, and Day 1 of camp provided a glimpse into some of the things the Pats are looking at. Tedy Bruschi is likely a starter, while his inside partner is somewhat of a mystery at this point. First off, the Patriots signed their first-round draft pick and the 10th player selected overall, Jerod Mayo, earlier today and he joined his teammates in the afternoon session. Mayo is likely to see alot of time playing on the inside, rotating in with player-to-be-named-later. However, should he stand out in training camp, he may start Week 1. One interesting player that has been mentioned during mini-camps and has become more prominent now that training camp has begun is S Tank Williams, or perhaps now I should say S/LB Tank Williams. Tank took all of his snaps with the linebackers today and may play inside on 3rd downs or obvious passing downs, much like Rodney Harrison did last season. Harrison did a phenomenal job covering coming out of the linebacker spot, and this nuance kind of flew under the radar for the most part. Coach Belichick had this to say when asked about Tank playing LB:

“Certainly, Tank is a very versatile player. He has played in the secondary, he has played close to the line of scrimmage, he’s been productive in the kicking game, he can blitz and he can cover. How that will all work out, we will just have to see, but he can do a number of different things and we will work with him in those different roles.”

Some more quick notes from Day 1:

• Brady did not throw during the morning session but participated in other drills, but threw in the afternoon session. Tom Terrific noted that he feels throwing twice a day at this point isn’t completely necessary, and all it leaves him with is a sore arm. This will be something to follow throughout camp and the preseason. It will be interesting to see if Brady and his receivers are off in the first couple of preseason games if his reps increase.
• With RG Stephen Neal and RT Nick Kaczur on the PUP list, Russ Hochstein and Wesley Britt started at RG and RT, respectively. This is not the right side of the line the Pats will carry into the regular season (hopefully).
• Chad Jackson Watch: Chad and Brady didn’t seem to be on the same page today. As most Pats fans know, this is a make or break year for Jackson. However, it is way too early in camp to get worried about Chad. Fans should keep in mind that this is the first camp that has been healthy enough to start on the first day and his injuries have cost him alot of field time. Let’s see where he is after the third preseason game before we cast a final judgment (not that we really have a say in these things).

Hopefully the weather will allow Pats fans to take in practice. Weather permitting, I’ll have an update later tomorrow night on Day 2 and I’ll try to post some pictures as well. Practice tomorrow is scheduled to start at 2:30 and end at 4:30.

Go Pats!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 8:52 pm and is filed under Patriots Training Camp. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.