Brady’s 2009 May Be In Jeopardy

Photo Courtesy Boston Globe

Tom Curran, formerly of the Providence Journal, and currently of MSNBC, reports an NFL league source tells him Tom Brady is far from ready to rehab his knee.

The 5 Stages of Grief for a Pats’ Fan

STEP #1: SHOCK AND DENIAL

“Tom’s fine, he may have sprained his knee or something minor like that. I think Belichick is just jerkin the league around and hopes that he can remove the target off of New England…………………………no way is Tom Brady out for the year, uh-uh, no way.

Maybe a lesser man-ning couldn’t have their knee hyper-extended like this and bounce back to find #84 23 times this season…..but we all know that Tom Brady was born on the planet Krypton and is invincible.”

STEP #2: PAIN AND GUILT

“I should have been there, I should have been there to block Pollard……….I would have thrown all 5 and a half feet and 146 pounds of me into him. I may have died in the process and left nothing but a stack of bills for my wife and three kids to pay, but at least Tom would be okay. At least my kids would have Tom Brady to watch every weekend until the cable was shut off and child services took them. Oh god, no more number 12 out there behind center, no more sweet long balls to Moss, no more sticking it to the Bills and the Jets.”

STEP #3: ANGER AND BARGAINING

“Goddamned Pollard…..and what the hell is Morris doing…..you take the penalty and keep your QB healthy…….and why did we have to go get Randy Moss, huh? If he couldn’t stretch the field and our offense was dink and dunk, Tom never would have held the ball so long and Pollard could never have stuck his helmet right through Tom’s knee and the collective hearts of Pats’ fans everywhere. Why? Why did this have to happen? Maybe if we still had Reche Caldwell things would be okay. Sure we would get freaked out everytime there was a close up of him, but seeing this……………

Is a helluva lot easier than seeing this……….

Okay God…..I know I just got a little irrational back there, but if you could please make Tom Brady able to play all season, I will stop dr–I mean my brother will stop drinking and unwrapping those magazines at the local Rite Aid and read them while standing in line only to tell the cashier that you aren’t buying because someone unwrapped it………huh, whaddua say? Do we have a deal?”

STEP #4: DEPRESSION

“Oh god, he’s really gone and he is not coming back…..nothing I can do can make him come back. What will I do without seeing Tom on our annual Fall, Sunday dates? Who is going to remind me that with all the evil-doers out there like the Mannings and LT that there is still some good to believe in? I know I’ve got school and my career, but what does that matter without Tom? I don’t care about the rest of the team…..don’t give me that sh*t, we don’t have Tom……and Tom is more valuable than 100 USC QBs. What good is Randy Moss without Tom huh? Wes Welker isn’t going to be the man in the middle without Tom. You can’t convince me that the team will be fine…..we might as well be Jets fans, they don’t have a decent starting quarterback either.”

STEP #5: ACCEPTANCE

“You know, Matt Cassel isn’t Tom Brady…..then again who is……..but we’ve got talent around him and the defense is solid. Now maybe if Ellis Hobbit learns to cover someone the secondary won’t be that much of a concern. And hey, we’ve got about 1,000 running backs on the roster……not to mention the greatest coach in the history of the NFL. Now I am not saying Super Bowl, but there is still a chance for the AFC East and maybe a run to the Conference Championship….then who knows. Man, I am going to go buy supplies for Sunday…like the Sox said 4 years ago when things were looking bleak:

IT’S TIME TO COWBOY UP

Monday Morning’s Painful Quick Hitters

Well is there any other story, really, that matters to most of the NFL world today. Here is a round-up of stories regarding Tom Brady and his apparent ACL tear. Sirius NFL Radio reported and confirmed that Chris Simms and Tim Rattay are heading to Foxboro Monday.

Boston Globe Patriots Page
Boston Herald Patriots Page
ESPN Story
Yahoo Sports
Ron Borges of WEEI.com
Adam Schefter of The NFL Network

Well now to the game. The Matt Cassell era has begun in a 17 – 10 win over the Chiefs.

Former BC Eagle Matt Ryan throws a 62 Yrd TD pass on his 1st NFL attempt on the way to an Atlanta Falcons stomping of the Detroit Lions 34 – 21.

The Buffalo Bills special teams lead the way to a 34 – 10 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Brett Favre’s debut goes well in Miami, with a 20 – 14 win over the Dolphins.

Reggie Bush and Drew Brees combined to lead the New Orleans Saints over the Tampa Bay Bucs 24 – 20.

The Pittsburgh Steelers pound the Houston Texans 38 – 17.

The Tennessee Titans beat the Jacksonville Jags 17 – 10, but lose QB Vince Young.

Baltimore Ravens rookie QB Joe Flacco leads his team past the Cincinnati Bengals 17 – 10.

Jake Delhomme connects with Dante Rosario in te last seconds of Sunday’s game against the Chargers for a late win, beating the Bolts 26 – 24.

The Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers 23 – 13.

The Dallas Cowboys wallop on the Cleveland Browns 28 – 10.

I saved a little sunshine for last….

The Chicago Bears christened Lucas Oil Stadium, beating the Indianapolis Colts 29 – 13.

As all of New England is distracted by Tom Brady’s injury, the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 7 – 2 behind Paul Byrd and Big Papi. The win combined with Tampa Bay Rays 1 – 0 loss to the Blue Jays, leaves the Red Sox just 1 1/2 games out of 1st place.

The AL Central stayed the same Sunday as the White Sox lost to the California Angels 3 – 2 and the Minnesota Twins lost to the Detroit Tigers 7 – 5.

The New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies split a day night double header keeping the Mets lead over the Phils at 2 games in the NL East.

The Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers both lost on Sunday, so the Cubs lead over the Brew Crew stays at 4 games. Chicago loses to the Reds 4 – 3 and the Brewers lose to the Padres, as Chris Young loses a perfect game bid in the 8th inning, 10 -1.

The Loas Angeles Dodgers go 1 1 /2 games ahead of the Diamondbacks by beating Arizona 5 – 3.

Brady Update-Welcome to the Matt Cassel Era

A Patriots Players has told ESPN’s Trent Dilfer that “Cassel is our QB for the rest of the year”

Pro Football Talk is reporting Brady has a torn ACL

There is a rumor out there now that Brady will have an MRI tomorrow, however I don’t think a Pats player would make a comment like that. I do not know if Gillette has an MRI machine, but let’s put it this way, I doubt we see Brady again this year….

UPDATE:From WEEI.COM

An NFL source close to the situation has told WEEI.com’s Ron Borges that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has a torn ACL in his left knee. — Rob Bradford (Aug. 7, 7:24 p.m.)

The Nut Kick Stomach Cramps

Today’s causes of Nut-Kick Stomach Cramps, because nothing hurts worse-

-Tom Brady’s knee injury
-Vince Young’s knee injury
-The Panthers last second win against the Chargers (I took the Panthers to win straight-up, but I am sure Chargers fans and people who took SD on the money line had some cramps)
-Cleveland fans watching their defense

Thursday Morning Quick Hitters

Little Dusty does it again. Dustin Pedroia homered in the 7th to start the 4 run rally and newly acquired Mark Kotsay had a triple to drive home runs in the 5 – 4 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Lil Dusty is hitting an astounding .618 in his last 8 games.

The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays once again in Tampa 8 – 4. A HR by A-Rod was the 1st time that video replay was used in MLB History. The Rays are only 3 games up on the Red Sox in the AL East.

The Minnesota Twins lost a game in the AL Central race and the Wild Card race, losing to the Toronto Blue Jays 5 – 4 in 11 innings.

The Chicago White Sox avoided a sweep by the Cleveland Indians, beating the Tribe 4 – 2.

The New York Mets finished off a sweep of NL Wild Card leader Milwaukee Brewers 9 – 2.

The Chicago Cubs lost their season longest 5th game in a row, bowing to the Astros 8 – 0. Houston has won 8 in a row and now are 6 games back in the Wild Card race.

Adam Dunn drives the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4 – 3 win over the St Louis Cardinals.

The LA Dodgers stay 1 1/2 game behind the D-Backs with a 6 – 4 win over the San Diego Padres.

THE NFL SEASON OPENS TONIGHT! Sorry, that deserved all caps.

And the Rudi Johnson era begins with weirdness in Detroit.

Baltimore Ravens starting QB, Kyle Boller, out for season.

Tom Brady Sr discusses Juniors injury.

The New York Jets players elect Brett Favre a captain.

Carolina Panthers backup QB Matt Moore breaks leg.

It’s official, Oklahoma City Thunder. Steve Martin is VERY happy!

ESPN’s Marc Stein reports GSW Monta Ellis may have some ‘splainin to do.

Brady to miss "some time"

I spoke to a source close to the New England Patriots that states Tom Brady will miss “some time” with a foot injury. The source would not confirm type of injury, any specific treatment, specific timetable or anything else other than to say expect some time to be missed to the injury. Deadspin reports Brady will miss a month, and Tom said Live at 6:15AM on 95.5 FM WEEI in Portland today that he”sure hopes so” to be ready to play Sunday, “if the doctor’s let him” and “how you feel and what you say on Monday doesn’t (have meaning) to what is done on Friday”. Brady said he was “told to stay away” from the pre season games to “avoid standing for 5 hours”

Not Time to Panic….Yet

The Pats dropped another pre-season game last night, this time to the Philadelphia Eagles 27-17. It was an all around disappointment. Donovan McNabb carved up a Pats’ defense that could not generate a consistent pass rush while the secondary looked just bad as the maligned Phily QB went 13/17 with 180 yards and one TD toss. The special teams allowed two returns for a touchdown while the offense managed just three points through the first three quarters of play until Matt Gutierrez came into the fourth and led the Pats to two scores.

This has been the story throughout the pre-season as the offense has posted a mere 42 points in 3 games while the defense has surrendered 54 points in the last two. The defense was expected to have some hiccups along the way as a bevy of new faces attempt to learn the defense and blend in with the holdovers from last year (though some could say they are having more than just a few hiccups in pre-season). What was suppose to make this learning process somewhat easier was the return of the most prolific offense in NFL history…….hard to do that with your MVP QB on the bench.

Tom Brady’s injury has been something of a mystery, as they usually are with the Pats, and no timetable has been set for his return. While it is disconcerting that Brady has missed substantial time during training camp, like Peyton Manning, Brady knows the offense so well and has his full compliment of receivers returning that missing time in camp should not negatively impact the offense (remember that Moss missed much of training camp and he and Brady gelled from the start) , so there is no need to panic……yet.

Alarm bells should ring if Brady were to miss the first few weeks of the season, however. New England has their first three games at home, including a week 1 matchup with the Brady Croyle led Chiefs and match-ups against AFC East rivals Jets and Dolphins. Without Tom Brady under center, the Pats’ offense goes from elite to mediocre, and the Chiefs, Jets and Dolphins could expose that. The Jets, with their revamped offense, will also test the new faces in New England’s linebacking core and secondary and Larry Johnson is capable of taking over a game. Most importantly the Pats do not want to give the Jets, a team with question marks on both sides of the ball, the confidence that they can compete with New England and make it a race in the AFC East.

It is only the pre-season, the status of Tom Brady is still not certain, and regardless of what happens against the Giants on the 28th the Pats will start the season 0-0. Despite this, the Pats look like a shell of the team went to 5 AFC title games in the past 7 seasons without Mr. Brady.

Patriots Preview 2008

Maybe He Can Play on the O-Line?

With the bitter taste of Super Bowl 42 still lingering, it is time to look ahead at the upcoming 2008 NFL season. A year ago at this time many Patriots’ fans were wondering how the new receiver core would mesh, would the aging line backing core hold together, what (if anything) would we see from Richard Seymour and could the Pats return to Super Bowl glory. The same number of questions exist this year with one “giant” addition….how can a team comeback from arguably the biggest upset in Super Bowl history? One would think that a team as a professional and seemingly unable to be phased by Spygate and other distractions would have little problem rebounding….but it is a fair question.Super Bowl failure aside, the Pats face some uncertainties in 2008. Brady, Moss and Welker return to an offense that rewrote the record books last season, but this off-season saw starting guard Stephen Neal undergo further surgery and starting tackle Nick Kaczur face legal troubles after being arrested for drug possession. Also facing the Patriots is the issue as to whether their maligned running attack can get going in 2008.On the opposite side of the ball the defensive line looks solid, but that is the only unit that make that claim. While the Pats drafted LB Jerod Mayo and Shawn Crable to infuse some youth into a unit that is filled with 30 year olds, one has to wonder how much of an immediate impact two rookies can have in such a complex defensive system. An even bigger question mark is a secondary that saw Asante Samuel, Eugene Wilson and Randall Gay leave via free agency. In their absence the Patriots have drafted and signed more than a half a dozen players in an attempt to retool a secondary that was exposed at times last year. Here is a quick overview of the 2008 Patriots.

QUARTERBACK:The key is simple….Tom Brady cannot get hurt. With little to no experience behind him, any long term absence of Mr. Brady would put the Patriots in a very dire situation. While none of the back ups are Tom Brady, Matt Gutierrez seems to be a more reliable back up than Matt Cassel. Kevin O’Connell is getting ready for a few riveting years of holding a clip board.

RUNNING BACK:Laurence Maroney says that he is ready to breakout this season…the Pats hope he is right. In case he isn’t the Pats went out and recently signed LaMont Jordan. Jordan is a solid back who can chew up yardage and catch the ball out of the backfield. New England will also have Sammy Morris who was having a very productive season before being injured in the game against Dallas. Behind this three headed monster are Heath Evans, all purpose back Kevin Faulk and Kyle Eckel.The biggest criticism of Maroney is that he will not hit the holes hard and gain the 4 or 5 yards that are there. Instead, Maroney will dance move laterally more than north and south, very often not progressing down field beyond his blockers. With Jordan and Morris behind him though, it would seem the Pats will find production from someone on their roster.The production of this unit will be predicated as much on their abilities as New England’s commitment to the running game. McDaniels and the Hoodie seemed to fall in love with the passing game last year….and why not….but the lack of a running game cost them dearly against the Giants and almost cost them in back to back games against the Ravens and Eagles.

WIDE RECEIVER:With Welker, Moss and Gaffney back, the Pats receiver core is solid with the only need to find a 4th WR. Kelley Washington, who was an outstanding special teamer last season, is expected to get a look as are speedster Chad Jackson and possibly Matt Slater (although Slater will probably fill Washington’s role on the special teams). Sam Aiken was expected to also get a look before being injured and it has been reported he is done for the season.The unit is in good shape and I would expect Chad Jackson to take the 4th receiver spot, but he did not look too impressive against the Ravens and it was reported he was guilty of running the wrong route on a few occasions.

TIGHT END:Ben Watson returns for his 5th season as one of the best pass catching tight ends in the league. The Pats also hope to have David Thomas healthy after injuries limited him to one catch in 2007 and added veteran Marcus Pollard and journeyman Stephen Spach. Thomas and Pollard are very good pass catchers, but none are considered to be outstanding blocking tight ends.How this unit is used will be directly linked to how much of commitment the Pats make to the running game.

OFFENSIVE LINE:Super Bowl aside, this unit is also a concern. With the aforementioned issues concerning Neal and Kaczur, one has to wonder who will fill in to the right of Center Dan Koppen. However, the Pats have no shortage of candidates with Russ Hochstein, Billy Yates, Ryan O’Callaghan and Wesley Britt leading all candidates, however there is a reason why all are backups and not starting elsewhere. While all are capable backups, there is a concern that if Kaczur or Neal were to miss substantial time how would their replacements fair over 16 games.The Pats have won in the past with less talent on the offensive line, but regardless of the talent starting opposite Logan Mankins and Matt Light, the Pats need that unit to gel before the regular season kicks off as last season also showed that the Pats have difficulties against attacking teams that employ complex blitz packages (Ravens, Eagles and Giants), and that trend continued in the early parts of their pre-season game with the Ravens as Matt Cassel was a man under fire. Though it is early, the line does not look like the same group that kept Brady upright for most of last season.

DEFENSIVE LINE:Outside of the QB position, this is the most stable unit on the team and perhaps the most talented DL unit in the league. Richard Seymour is finally healthy and reported to camp lighter and in better shape than in years past, while Pro-Bowl NT Vince Wilfork and the underrated Ty Warren return. Jarvis Green, who filled in so well for Seymour to start last season, could start for most teams in the league but for the Pats he will again work his way into the rotation as the 4th DL. Mike Wright will also see a fair amount of snaps when Wilfork is off the field. With an inexperienced secondary and questions regarding the ILB spot, the DL needs to shine this season while things behind them get sorted out.The issues at the ILB spot could alter the face of the DL. We saw at times last year the Pats deploy a 4-3 scheme to their usual 3-4 system, although given their personnel it seems unlikely that they would run a 4-3 on a more routine basis.

LINEBACKERS:You go from stable to somewhat shaky in a hurry when you go from the DL to the LB core. The linebacking core showed its age down the stretch last season and needed an infusion of youth. They got it in the form of Shawn Crable and 1st round pick Jerod Mayo. Mayo will be the more important of the two as he is an ILB and the Pats hope that his development can lessen the number of snaps Tedy Bruschi plays. The Pats also added veteran ILB Victor Hobson to a unit that already had ILB Eric Alexander, who has shown some promise in years past but has little experience. There is also speculation that Junior Seau will sign with the Pats near the end of training camp. New England had also hoped FA Tank Williams would be able to contribute at ILB before being injured in their first pre-season game.If the Pats struggle to find someone to play next to Bruschi on the inside then Mike Vrabel would more than likely be shifted to the inside either on a permanent basis on as part of a rotation. After his play last year on the edge you would like to see him stay there opposite Adalius Thomas. Behind Thomas and Vrabel the Pats have the aforementioned Crable who has shown some promise during training camp, as well as Pierre Woods, whom BB has been very high on since mini-camps.This unit is the key to the success of the D. The best case scenario is that Seau re-signs while Mayo progresses enough where a permanent rotation of Mayo, Seau and Bruschi can develop allowing Vrabel to stay on the outside. Thomas seemed to struggle at times adapting to a new system after playing in the blitz happy defense of Rex Ryan, but expect him to rebound and have a very solid season for the Pats.

SECONDARY:This unit saw more turnover than any other on the team. In response to the losses of Wilson, Samuel and Gay, the Pats drafted corners Terrence Wheatley and Jonathan Wilhite, while signing CB Fernando Bryant, CB Jason Webster, CB Lewis Sanders and S/ILB Tank Williams. Meanwhile, the only returning corner who has substantial playing time under his belt, Ellis Hobbs, has been dealing with a lingering wrist ailment. The two rookies have seen time with the first unit in practice while Sanders saw substantial time in the Ravens game.The Safety spot is a bit more settled with former Pro-Bowler Rodney Harrison returning along with the young and promising James Sanders and Brandon Meriweather. Sanders has seen action in 31 games with 21 starts over the past two seasons while Meriweather saw his role expand as last season wore on. The Pats lost some depth when Tank Williams went down with a season ending knee injury.This is easily the biggest question mark on the team, but fortunately they play behind one of the better front sevens in all of the league. The key will be whether the corners can learn the system quickly enough and well enough to avoid being exposed. Getting solid safety play from Harrison, Meriweather and Sanders will help cover up inexperience at the corner spot, as it has in years past, but the idea that BB can plug anyone into the system and they will succeed is a myth. You need talent. It would appear that the final corner spot opposite Hobbs will come down to Bryant and Wheatley, while Wilhite figures to see a lot of snaps when the Pats deploy their Nickle and Dime packages. However, despite heading into his 4th season, it is hard to believe that as injury prone and inconsistent as Ellis Hobbs has been that one of the off-season acquisitions could not play their way into his starting spot. (Editor’s note: John Lynch has joined this secondary as well)

SPECIAL TEAMS:The usual cast of characters return to this unit; Larry Izzo, Lonnie Paxton, Stephen Gostkowski and Chris Hanson. However, the make up of the rest of the unit will be predicated on what happens at the other positions. As mentioned, Kelley Washington is getting a look as the 4th WR and the loss of Sam Aiken would make moving Washington to the offense permanently difficult. As we saw against the Ravens, the coverage team needs some more work.The return situation will be interesting for a few reasons. First, with Hobbs being um, hobbled with injuries in each of the pass two seasons, the Pats may do best by him and not have their number one corner returning kicks. Next, I also find it hard that the Pats will want to continue to use Maroney and Welker back there returning kicks as well…although the addition of Jordan will lighten the load for Maroney as a running back and Welker is the only true punt returner on the roster. Meanwhile, Matt Slater looked unimpressive in his first NFL action while CJ Jones is getting a look in camp as a punt returner and could be used to spell Welker, Hobbs and Maroney of their return duties.

OUTLOOK: The Pats are once again Super Bowl favorites, although they are going through a bit of a transition period in a couple of areas. The line faces uncertainty while the linebackers and secondary try to incorporate several new faces. However, there is enough experience at those positions to think that this transition period will meet few bumps along the way.The biggest wild card is Josh McDaniels. He did a fabulous job of getting an entirely new receiver core and getting them mesh with an offense that became the most productive in NFL history. However, as the running began to sputter the offense also became very one-dimensional, thus predictable and susceptible to the blitzes. McDaniels failed at times to adapt….most notably in the Super Bowl.I like the Pats to get to another Super Bowl….after that is anyone’s guess.

MB Ice is the Central Maine Sports Blog’s newest contributor. He works solely for beer, and it must be in a brown bag.