Tom Brady placed on injured reserve ending his season.

QB Tom Brady today was placed on injured reserve, ending his season with a knee injury.  Brady played in two drives in a season after he set the single season touchdown record.  Matt Cassel for now will be the starter, and chances are a quarterback could come in if Cassel is ineffective, because as of now, rookie Kevin O’Connell is the other quarterback on the roster.

Now what does this mean for the season?  Well, Matt Cassel will have to make his first start since high school in a high profile game against the Jets.  The offense now will see a lot more running the ball with Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris and even LaMont Jordan.  Also I expect there to be a game plan like the 2001 Pats had on their way to their first Super Bowl, using more of a controlled passing attack instead of the spread offense the Pats used last year.   The Pats should still win the division, but its no longer a lock as it was before yesterday.

Practice Report for Wed September 3rd

Today the first “Participation Report” was released.  The Participation Report is basically a preliminary injury report, it lists who miss all of practice and some of practice with the injury listed.  Here is the report

Did not practice

WR Sam Aiken, TE Ben Watson, OL Dan Connolly and CDL LeKevin Smith, all with knee injuries

Missed some or practice

OL Russ Hotchstein, with a groin

Missed no practice

QB Tom Brady, with a foot and a right shoulder injury.

The right shoulder is why Brady as been on this list forever, so that is nothing new.  The foot is a known issue from camp, some sources are saying its a cracked bone in the foot.  Brady is expected to play.  The only other starter listed is Ben Watson.  If Watson can’t play, look for David Thomas to get the start at Tight End.

Its the players not listed which make me very happy, no Wes Welker or Brandon Meriweather listed, so it looks like both guys are all set for Sunday’s season opener.

Pats announce signing of Deltha O’Neal

That Patriots today have come to terms on a one year contract with former Broncos and Bengals cornerback Deltha O’Neal.  O’Neal was a cap cut in Cincinnati and has 31 career interceptions in 8 seasons.  O’Neal is a two time Pro Bowler and is also a very good returner. O’Neal started 8 games last year and played in all 16 games.  There is a chance O’Neal could start this weekend against Kansas City, as this signing could show the Pats don’t think Wheatley is ready to start and would be a better fit in the nickel.  To clear a spot, the Pats released Stephen Spach.

Also in more roster news, the Pats added two more players to fill out the practice squad, Jacob Bender, an offensive guard, and Tyson DeVree, a tight end.  Matt Gutierrez not being signed to the practice squad when he is capable of being stashed on it is a surprise, and maybe shows that the coaching staff supports Matt Cassel more than the fans.

Patriots cut John Lynch, announce roster moves and practice squad

Fresh off the heels of cutting Chad Jackson, the Pats have now also released safety  John Lynch.  Lynch who was signed a couple of weeks into camp after Tank Williams went down for the season after the first preseason game.  With Brandon Meriweather still not on the practice field, the Pats depth at safety is low behind Harrison and Sanders.  Lynch could be resigned at a later time, as this could be a move as any veteran player who is on the week one roster has their salary guaranteed, so there is a chance Lynch could come back after next weekend.

The Pats did fill the two open roster spots with a couple of waiver claims.  They claimed TE Jason Pociask from the Jets, a third year player who has one reception, and also claimed tackle Mark LaVoir from the Rams, another third year player who has yet to see action in a NFL regular season game.  Ben Watson has been dinged up and the Pats offensive line depth has been the big story of camp so for, so that could be why these moves happened today with the Lynch and Jackson cuts.

The Patriots also announced their practice squad today.  Titus Adams, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Vince Redd, Mike Richardson and Antwain Spann were signed to the practice squad.  There are two more slots open

Chad Jackson released

Numerous sources are reporting that Chad Jackson was cut this morning.  Jackson, a second round pick three seasons ago, was never really healthy until this year, dealing with hamstring issues his rookie year and an ACL tear last year.  This move comes on the heels of yesterday being cut day and rosters being reduced from 75 to 53 players.  The Pats didn’t need to make another roster move until next week when Kevin Faulk would have been activated from his one game suspension, so making a move now makes me think that there is somebody out there either on the waiver wire or as a free agent who will help the Pats now, maybe at corner or offensive line, two areas the Pats look thin at after cuts yesterday.  This leaves the Pats with 7 players at the  WR position and chances are Wes Welker will be ready next weekend from his rib injury he suffered versus the Eagles last weekend.

Pats announce cuts

Today was cut down day in the NFL, here are the roster moves the Pats made today.

Placed on injured reserve were Bo Ruud and Kenny Smith.  Both players will miss the season.

Oliver Ross was placed on the reserve/non football injury list.

And the following players were cut

Titus Adams

Fernando Bryant

Tyson DeVree

Mark Dillard

Mike Flynn

BenJarvus Green-Ellis

Matt Gutierrez

Victor Hobson

Vince Redd

Mike Richardson

Stephen Sene

Antwain Spann

Santonio Thomas

John Welbourn

There were some surprises.  Matt Cassel outlasted Matt Gutierrez in the battle of the back-up quarterbacks.  A surprising move since the Cassel led offense stalled all preseason.  Also Fernando Bryant started all of the preseason games, and while he looked unimpressive, it looked like that was more of the Pats playing a vanilla defense.  Victor Hobson was a player I had high expectations for, but Jerod Mayo’s impressive play made Hobson expendable. Most of the other players cut were camp bodies who had little chance of making it past today on the roster.

Faulk suspended for season opener

The NFL today suspended Pats running back Kevin Faulk for violating the substance control rules.  Faulk was busted at a concert back in Feb. for having two joints in his pocket.  Faulk will miss the opener next week vs Kansas City, but will be back for game two.  Faulk will also forfeit two game checks.

Pats announce five roster moves

With today being the first cut day, a day in which rosters had to be trimmed from 80 to 75, the Pats have announced five roster moves.

Stephen Neal was placed on the reserve PUP.  This is the version of the PUP in which a player is not allowed to practice or play with the team for at least the first six weeks of the season.

Ryan O’Callaghan was placed on injured reserve, which will end his season, with a shoulder injury.  O’Callaghan was going to be looked upon this season to provide depth on the line.

Then there were three cuts announced, Jason Webster, Kyle Eckel and Ryan Wendell.  Webster was brought in to provide depth at corner, but he wasn’t able to stick on the roster after Terrance Wheatley was able to step into the nickel role with very little trouble.  Eckel figured to be cut after the Lamont Jordan signing.  Eckel was a solid special teams player and could fill in at fullback if needed, but was a victim of the numbers game at the position.  Wendell is camp fodder.  It is interesting to see a lineman cut with the issues the Pats have at the line.

An in-depth look at the quarterback situation

The biggest story of training camp has been the battle for the back-up quarterback position.  Tom Brady has not seen the field all preseason and chances are he won’t see the field Thursday night at Giants Stadium, as he is nursing a foot injury, but, this has allowed the three key back-ups to battle it out for a roster spot and the job as primary clipboard holder.  Here, after three game, is a summary on all three quarterbacks, and my prediction on who stays and who goes.

The first player I will look at is Matt Cassel.  Cassel is going into his fourth season, but he hasn’t started a football game that mattered since high school, as at USC he was a back-up to both Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.  Cassel was the primary back-up last season, and this pre-season he has been the #1 quarterback with the Brady injury.  His stats have been very pedestrian, 15/28, no touchdowns. 1 interception, but the stat that stands out, 4.8 yards per pass attempt.  This includes one game with Wes Welker and two games with Randy Moss, and while the offensive line has been less than stellar, Cassel at times looks like a statue under fire and seem unable to find his check downs, and even when he does get the ball off, he hasn’t been accurate down the field, throwing more passes at defenders than offensive players.  And on top of that, the teams has not scored an offensive touchdown with Cassel under center.  Using almost the same parts of one of the greatest offense in history, Cassel has neutered them better than almost any defense could.

The second player I am going to look at is Matt Gutierrez.  Gutierrez has played in two games, he missed the Tampa game after missing a couple of practices the during the week, and in two games he is 24/36 with two touchdowns and one interception.  He leads the team in yards per attempt with a very nice 8.1 yards.  Gutierrez showed some very good poise vs. the Eagles this past weekend and his two touchdown strikes were the only points put up by the offense that night.  Gutierrez also showed some very good pocket presence and the ability to hit his check downs, as he hit Ventrone and Evans multiple times to avoid taking negative plays and to move the chains and keep drives alive.

And finally, the third player of this triad is rookie third round pick Kevin O’Connell.  O’Connell has worse stats than Cassel, with 12/28, no touchdowns as well, along with two interceptions and 4.2 yards per attempt in two games, as O’Connell didn’t play vs. Philadelphia.  While O’Connell’s numbers are worse than Cassel’s, keep in mind that O’Connell is a rookie, in his first camp, seeing his first game action, while Cassel  is in his fourth year with more time spent in the system.  O’Connell has shown some good mobility in getting out of the pocket and has potential to make plays with his legs if needed.

So now after reviewing the games and looking at the stats, I think that the Matt Cassel experiment will be coming to an end next week.  Matt Gutierrez has out played Cassel and O’Connell and deserves a shot as the primary back up behind Tom Brady.  O’Connell is very raw, and being a third round pick I think gets O’Connell a shot as the quarterback, learning the offense behind Brady and Gutierrez and maybe overtaking Gutierrez next season after a year on the team, learning the offense and the pro game.

Marcus Pollard released

This morning the Patriots announced they have released Tight End Marcus Pollard.  Pollard was signed in the off season from the Detroit Lions, and was expected to play a decent role with the team, just because David Thomas and Ben Watson are very rarely healthy at the same time, as Thomas missed all of last season with a foot injury and Watson missed parts of last season with various injuries.  Coach Belichick said this move was done now to allow Pollard a chance to sign on with another team.  Now this means either Stephen Spach or Jonathan Stupar could make the team now unless the Pats only plan on having two tight ends on the roster, but with both Watson and Thomas injury questions, the Pats should keep a third played around at the position.