Seems like the Pats have a habit of sneaking bad news out late Friday nights. If you groaned at Tedy Bruschi's 2006 wrist injury, you're getting a minor stomach punch in the form of Nick Kaczur's (in the words of Mike Reiss):

 "Significant back injury that could sideline him indefinitely, potentially threaten his season"

Sweet. Somewhere Logan Mankins probably has a smile on his face. How big of a smile depends on how much he likes Nick Kaczur. But Mankins should be expecting his phone to ring if Kaczur is indeed done for 2010. Of course whether the Patriots call depends on how much they like Dan Connolly.

We will probably know pretty quick if the Pats up the offer for Mankins. Why wait? Get him into camp, and back into the flow asap.

However the hold out of Deion Branch in 2006 proved that the Patriots won't necessarily compromise their economics, even when they need a player as badly as they needed Branch.

Do they need Mankins that much? That all depends on Dan Connolly, Rich Ohrnberger, and Eric Ghiaciuc (I'm not even gonna attempt to pronounce that one).

And let's not forget that Stephen Neal has only averaged eleven games the last four seasons since the last time he played all sixteen, 2005.

Kaczur's injury definitely makes things interesting. I'm hoping Mankins is in camp Monday.