Shots Heard 'Round The Web - Links for 8/30/08

The Patriots cut four players yesterday in anticipation of today's 4:00 pm Final Roster deadline, releasing  (NT) Steve Fifita, (G) Jimmy Smith, (CB) Jeff Shoate, and (TE) Jonathan Stupar.  Eighteen more players will have to be let go this afternoon.

Mike Reiss offers some player perspectives on the sharp cuts to come, what it's like to lose a teammate who's become a friend, or for a player to know that his own efforts might not have been enough to stay. 

Reiss's Blog presents his 53-Man Roster Prediction, some "Ups and Downs" following the final preseason game, and some "Bits from Belichick" which include his thoughts on using the defensive headsets.

It's the day for Pats to decide who stays, goes  The Providence Journal provides their own speculations by position on the final roster.

The Boston Globe is reporting that Kevin Faulk may be suspended for one game by the league "for being detained with marijuana on his person in his home state of Louisiana in February."  Nick Kaczur may face punishement as well for his off-season activities.  The article also mentions how John Lynch requested to stay in the Giants game longer than expected. 

The nine-time Pro Bowler, who has been a Patriot for only three weeks, figured he needed all the repetitions he could get to get up to speed prior to the regular season. So there Lynch was, with players fighting for their NFL lives.

Former Patriot Roosevelt Colvin was released by the Houston Texans yesterday.

The Texans signed Colvin in June after he was released by the Patriots. They had hoped he could be a situational pass rusher, but decided he wasn't valuable enough to take up a roster spot.

"The bottom line was to have a player on your team to just play nickel, he would have to be special," coach Gary Kubiak said. "We had to sit there and weigh him against players who could play special teams and do some other things for our team."

Lastly, while waiting for the final roster to be announced, archived interviews from this past week are available from WEEI on the Patriots website.  This week's interviews include Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, Matt Light, Logan Mankins, Jarvis Green, Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, Tom Brady and Ben Watson.