Our own New England Patriots wunderkind, Mr. 50 TD pass record holder for 2007, and the NFL's MVP Tom Brady is back on the practice field. As reported by Mike Reiss:
The media-access portion included stretching, some light throwing for quarterbacks, and Brady handing off to running backs. Brady did not appear to be limited in his movements.
Read that last sentence again - did not appear to be limited in his movements. Now it's not, as of yet, time to schedule the ticker tape parade in Foxboro center. More importantly, noone has said whether or not Brady will see reps against the Eagles this weekend. My opinion? Unless he absolutely needs the reps, let him watch from the sidelines or the comfort of his living room. He needs to be rested for the regular season and, more importantly, the long haul. If I were to be a homer, I'd say, "No problem. Tom's ok and we're all set." But, I'm not feeling that way right now. Given the pre-superbowl foot issues as well as this past week's escapade, I'd rather he let the darn thing heal. Oh, and there's that issue of the QB backups not fairing so well, especially #2.
The bottom line, however – and most likely the primary source of all the criticism he’s received – is he’s yet to lead the team to a touchdown, which will be a major point of emphasis in his next appearance, presumably Friday night if Brady isn’t ready to return.
He needs to come out against the Eagles and make some plays. Between 2 preseason games and countless hours in training camp and OTAs, Mr. Cassel has had enough time on the field and with these players to come up to speed. Brady was only doing 1 practice session for a long time which left the field to the backups, and Cassel was the main guy. Matty, for the sake of the team, I hope you do well. I'll be rooting for you to do well.
When it comes to safeties, I'm still depressed about Tank Williams. I was so looking forward to seeing him jump into nickelback or safety/linebacker hybrid roles when teams start fielding 3 or more wide outs. That's when things get exciting on a defense, in my opinion. But nooooooooo! He's on IR. Now I'm REALLY depressed. Until, in walks John Lynch. Rodney and John have become fast friends and have respected each other for many years:
"I’ve always had tremendous respect [for him]; our careers have kind of paralleled each other in that we’ve played the position of safety – he’s going into his 15th, I’m going into my 16th [year]," he responded.
In case you're wondering what kind of a hitter John Lynch is:
Ouch!! Oh, and there's more. Check out Youtube and you can get a plethora of "School's in session" hits from Mr. Lynch.
On to shoaring up the O line, the Patriots worked out Center and Guard, Mike Flynn. Mike has played his entire career, from 1997-2007, with the Baltimore Ravens. A hometown boy hailing from Springfield, MA, Mike is excited about the prospect of coming to New England. He will most likely see time as a backup to right guard Stephen Neal given that Neal and his backups Hochstein and Yates are banged up. JHR, thoughts?