The New England Patriots like every other NFL team is busy this holiday weekend working trying to fine tune it’s roster with slight tweaks here and there.  Bill Belichick who is a master tweaker got started early on Sunday morning when he signed RG Brian Waters.

Waters, who was released by Kansas City in July, is a five-time Pro Bowl selection including last season when none other than the Patriots staff coached him in the Pro Bowl.  He has also been named twice as a NFL All-Pro.

With injuries to OL Dan Connolly and OL Ryan Wendell he can step immediately.  He is pretty familiar with the New England system as he played under former Patriots coordinator Charlie Weiss last season with the Chiefs.

The 34-year old Waters played 11 seasons in Kansas City after being undrafted in 2000 out of North Texas.  In 2009 he was the recipient of the “Walter Payton Man of the Year Award” for contributions on and off the field.

The Patriots also announced that they claimed LS Danny Aiken off of waivers from the Buffalo Bills.  NFLDraftScout.com rated Aiken, who is a rookie out of Virginia, as the Number 1 long snapper available in this year’s draft.  He was the only long snapper invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis in February.

He signed with the Bills after the lockout ended in July.

In order to make room on the 53-man roster the Patriots released OL Steve Maneri and LS James Dearth.  Dearth was just signed as a free agent about a week ago to replace Matt Katula, while Maneri spent the entire camp with the team in Foxboro.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Today was cutdown day today and Bill Belichick and his staff released 15 players, placed 3 on the PUP list, 1 on the non-football injury list and 1 on the Injured Reserve to get to the NFL limit of the 53-man roster.

Here are the players, that for now, are the 2011 New England Patriots:

Quarterbacks – 3

• Tom Brady
• Brian Hoyer
• Ryan Mallett

Running Backs – 4

• BenJarvus Green-Ellis
• Danny Woodhead
• Shane Vereen
• Stevan Ridley

Tight Ends – 2

• Aaron Hernandez
• Rob Gronkowski

Wide Receivers – 6

• Deion Branch
• Wes Welker
• Chad Ochocinco
• Taylor Price
• Julian Edelman
• Matthew Slater

Offensive Line – 8

• Matt Light
• Sebastian Vollmer
• Logan Mankins
• Dan Koppen
• Dan Connolly
• Ryan Wendell
• Nate Solder
• Steve Maneri

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Defensive End – 5

• Andre Carter
• Shaun Ellis
• Mike Wright
• Mark Anderson
• Jermaine Cunningham

Defensive Tackle – 5

• Vince Wilfork
• Albert Haynesworth
• Kyle Love
• Myron Pryor
• Gerard Warren

Linebackers – 7

• Jerod Mayo
• Brandon Spikes
• Rob Ninkovich
• Gary Guyton
• Dane Fletcher
• Jeff Tarpinian
• Tracy White

Cornerbacks – 6

• Devin McCourty
• Leigh Bodden
• Ras-I Dowling
• Kyle Arrington
• Darius Butler
• Antwaun Molden

Safety – 4

• Patrick Chung
• Sergio Brown
• Josh Barrett
• James Ihedigbo

Specialists – 3

• Stephen Gostkowski – PK
• Zoltan Mesko – P
• James Dearth – LS

The New England Patriots like the other 31 NFL teams are in cut down mode.  They have to have their roster paired to the 53-man regular season limit by today’s 6 p.m. deadline.

They started on Friday afternoon by letting 8 players go, they were:

• LB Ricky Brown
• OL Jonathan Compas
• DL Darryl Richard
• TE Carson Butler
• WR Buddy Farnham
• OL Mike Berry
• RB Richard Medlin
• OL Corey Woods

That brought the roster from 80 to 72, with 19 more to come today.   Players receiving the bad news today were:

• S Brandon Meriweather
• WR Brandon Tate
• RB Sammy Morris
• TE Lee Smith
• DE Markell Carter
• DE Aaron Lavarias
• DE Eric Moore
• WR Tiquan Underwood
• DE Alex Silvestro
• DL Landon Cohen
• LB Niko Koutouvides
• RB Eric Kettani
• OL Thomas Austin
• DB Ross Ventrone
• TE Will Yeatman

Three players were placed on the Reserve/PUP list.  They are ineligible for games until Week 7, which for the Patriots is their bye week.  They are:

• RB Kevin Faulk
• DL Brandon Deadrick
• DL Ron Brace

Place on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list was:

• OL Marcus Cannon

Placed on the season ending Injured Reserve was:

• OL Rich Ohrnberger

Remember these names because teams can establish their practice quads tomorrow and as many as 8 of these players could return as part of that squad.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Are you a Patriots fan looking for a little late summer quickie vacation?  Well I have a suggestion.  How about opening day in Miami?

Yup, that’s right why not kick off the 2011 NFL season on the road in Miami when our New England Patriots face the Dolphins on Monday Night Football on September 12.

According to ProFootballTalk.com the Miami Dolphins have about 3,000 tickets available for Week 1 AFC East match up with the Patriots.  And if you know any Tennessee Titans fans there’s 15,000 tickets left for the Week 2 match up at Sun Life Stadium.

If the Dolphins don’t sell out the game on Monday Night it will be there first non-sell out in 102 games which is almost 13 full seasons.  And more importantly to football fans in South Florida the game will be blacked out meaning no Monday Night Football.

If you’re interested in tickets you can get them through Ticketmaster’s website.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Even though the New England Patriots lost their preseason finale to the New York Giants 18-17 Thursday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, overall it wasn’t too bad an effort by a mix of players, some starters and some of the young guys looking to make the team. 

There are still things to work on but come this weekend once the roster is paired down to the official 53-man roster and the practice squad players are signed things will finally fall into place to for good.

The Patriots jumped out to an impressive start again the Giants in the final preseason game when LB Rob Ninkovich forced a fumble on the Giants first offensive play and Patrick Chung recovered it.  Shortly there after RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis punched it in from one yard out and it was quickly 7-0 New England.

Newly acquired DT Albert Haynesworth started and played in his first game as a Patriot as did DE Shaun Ellis.  Both made some impact as Haynesworth got involved with a nice tackle in the second series and just before the end of the half Ellis got a 7-yard sack of Giants QB David Carr.

QB Tom Brady showed he is in regular season form and looking to defend his MVP award when he connected with WR Matthew Slater on a 64-yard catch and run.  It set up a field goal by Stephen Gostkowski that gave New England a 10-0.

The Giants responded with a 55-yard field goal from Rhys Lloyd to cut the lead to 10-3 heading into the second quarter.

Brady wasn’t long for the game as back up Brian Hoyer replaced him with 7 minutes to play in the second quarter.  Brady played 18 snaps in his final tune up.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Hoyer led the team on another scoring drive capped by a second 1-yard TD run by “The Lawfirm” to give the Patriots a 17-3 lead at the half.

Rookie QB Ryan Mallett saw some game time entering for Hoyer with 4:25 left in the third quarter.  Hoyer played 14 snaps after replacing Brady including taking a big hot and fumbling but he did recover the ball and remained in the game.

Da’Rel Scott went on a 65-yard scoring romp for the Giants early in the 4^th as New York cut the New England lead to 17-10 with 14:50 left to play in the game.

Giants scored in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard fumble recovery by Derrick Martin to take an 18-17 lead with just over 9 minutes left in the game.  They got that lead when head coach Tom Coughlin decided to go for two after the defensive score.  Ryan Perrilloux threw the conversion pass to Jerrel Jernigan to give New York the lead.

Overall this was a good performance for the Patriots as they looked to build momentum for the regular season.  The top units got some time, stayed healthy and made some plays and all is well in Foxboro.

Game Notes

The spread (Patriots minus 7 ½) was not covered, as was the over/under (40).

WR Wes Welker was on the field in uniform for pregame warm ups r days after hurting his neck making a tackle in Detroit.

CB Antwaun Molden who was claimed on waiver yesterday is wearing #36 previously worn by James Sanders.

The starting front four on the defensive line for the Patriots was DE Shaun Ellis, DT Albert Haynesworth, DT Vince Wilfork and DE Andre Carter.

Rookie Ras-I Dowling started at RCB.

LB Niko Koutouvides was looked at on the sideline and was being given a concussion test after a shot to the head.

P Zoltan Mesko hurt his left hand making a tackle on a punt in the first quarter.  He returned.

LB Brandon Spikes among the players not dressed for the game.

Haynesworth played 16 snaps in the first half.

Rookie RB Shane Vereen saw his first game action as a Patriot.

Rookie OL Nate Solder saw every offensive snap through the first three-quarters.  After starting at right guard he flipped to the left side with the second unit.

S Brandon Meriweather saw his most playing time of the preseason.  All in the second half he saw time in the secondary mostly with the second team and guys who won’t be here come Sunday.

Patriots had three takeaways (1 INT, 2 fumbles) and 1 giveaways (0 INT, 1 fumble).

Next Game

The Patriots visit the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium on Monday September 12 in the 2011 Season Opener.  Kick off is at 7 p.m. on ESPN

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: AP Photo

With the New England Patriots facing at the mandatory cutdown of rosters to 53 players on Saturday, there are several players currently on the 80-man roster eligible for the practice squad. 

Teams are allowed to have up to 8 players on the practice squad.  At noon on Sunday teams can establish their practice squad rosters.

Players are eligible for the practice squad once they have been cut and cleared waivers.  They must have less than three seasons on the practice squad roster or a year of NFL experience, which is 6 or more games, on a teams 53-man roster or the official injured reserve.  Rookies are eligible by default. 

Practice squad players are not allowed to play in games unless they are transferred to the 53-man roster from the practice squad of their current team.  The other 31 teams can sign players from a teams practice squad but they must be assigned to the 53-man roster of the team signing them.  Practice squad players are considered to be free agents.

To see the full list of Patriots players who are eligible for the practice squad, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Here is the list of Patriots players who are practice squad eligible:

Offense:

R – Rookie

• QB Ryan Mallett – R
• RB Shane Vereen – R
• RB Stevan Ridley – R
• RB Richard Medlin – R
• RB Eric Kettani
• WR Taylor Price
• WR Buddy Farnham
• WR Jeremy Ross – R
• TE Carson Butler
• TE Will Yeatman – R
• TE Lee Smith – R
• OL Nate Solder – R
• OL Thomas Austin
• OL Rich Ohrnberger
• OL Marcus Cannon – R
• OL Steve Maneri
• OL Corey Woods – R
• OL Michael Berry – R

Defense:

• DT Darryl Richard
• DE Alex Silvestro – R
• DE Markell Carter – R
• LB Aaron Lavarias -R
• LB Jeff Tarpinian – R
• CB Ras-I Dowling – R
• S Ross Ventrone

In addition the following players who were released on Monday are also eligible:

• TE Garrett Mills
• WR Tyree Barnes
• DL Kade Weston
• DE Clay Nurse – R
• K Chris Koepplin – R
• OL Mark Wetterer – R
• CB Malcom Williams – R

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

This Week

The New England Patriots host the New York Giants at Gillette Stadium on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The Patriots are 2-1 in the preseason.  The Giants are 1-2 in the preseason.

Here are the rosters for the Patriots and the Giants.

This is the final preseason game for each team.

The Line/Prediction

As of Tuesday, the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots minus 7½.  The over under is 40.

My Prediction is Patriots 24, Giants, 10.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the under.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 183^rd consecutive sellout dating back to the 1994 season opener.  The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

Tickets to the game, if available, can be purchased through Ticketmaster.  You can check the availability here.

After market tickets are available through the Official Patriots Ticket Exchange where season ticket holders can sell their unused seats to fans on the season ticket waiting list.

Getting to the Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in Foxboro make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Foxboro MA.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking information and map and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

To continue reading the New York Giants @ New England Patriots preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

The Patriots Preseason Television Network is televising the game through out New England and parts of Canada.

Longtime national play by play announcer Don Criqui and former NFL Pro Bowl offensive lineman Randy Cross will call the game with help from WBZ sports anchor Steve Burton and former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak on the sidelines.

Stations in the Patriots Preseason TV Network include:

• WBZ-TV Channel 4 in Boston MA
• WNAC-TV Channel 64 in Providence RI
• WMUR-TV Channel 9 in Manchester NH
• WMTW-TV Channel 8 in Portland ME
• WCTX-TV Channel 9 in Hartford/New Haven CT
• WWLP-TV Channel 22 in Springfield MA
• WVII-TV Channel 7 or WFVX-TV Channel 22 in Bangor ME
• WVNY-TV Channel 22 in Burlington VT
• Canadian Maritimes on Rogers Sports Net

In the New York TV Market Bob Papa calls the play by play while Carl Banks provides color analysis in a radio simulcast.  You can see the game on:

• WNBC-TV 4 in New York NY
• WTIC-TV 61 in Hartford CT
• WNYT-TV 13 in Albany NY
• WICZ-TV 40 in Binghampton NY
• WSTM-TV 3 in Syracuse NY

Check your local listings for your station.

There is NO DirecTV designation.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network  broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston MA.  Gil Santos handles the play by play while former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color commentary.

All NFL Games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games under a special additional package.  They usually only carry the home team feed.  SiriusXM is also carrying the games online.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 149, XM Channel 229 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 863

The Giants Radio network has Bob Papa calling play by play and former Giant Carl Banks provides the color via their flagship station WFAN.  Their call is available on SiriusXM Internet Channel 877.

Last Week

The Patriots lost to the Lions on the road 34-10; while the Giants lost to the Jets, 17-3 at home.

Next Week

The Patriots open the regular season on Monday September 12 in Miami against the Dolphins.  Kick off is at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The New England Patriots worked out RB Kevin Smith today at Foxboro.  Smith, a former 2008 3^rd round pick of the Detroit Lions out of Central Florida is an unrestricted free agent.

Smith played three seasons for the Lions where as a rookie in 2008 he led the team in rushing attempts, yards, average and touchdowns.  In his career he has run for 1,723 yards and 12 rushing TD’s.  He has also caught 80 passes for 701 yards.

New England also cut two players today to get to the required 80-man roster by 4 p.m.  Released were LB Marques Murrell and WR Jeremy Ross.

Word is that the Patriots also have interest in DT Pat Williams formerly of the Minnesota Vikings.  He decided not to re-sign with the Vikings prior to the lockout.  Williams, if he plays in 2011, could be suspended by the NFL for a failed drug test from nearly 3 years ago.  Williams appeal on disciplinary action by the league was rejected by the Minnesota State Supreme Court in April clearing the way for a possible suspension for use of a banned diuretic that was in the weight loss supplement he was taking.

Well the New England Patriots didn’t look so hot on an August Saturday night in the Motor City, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to panic.  Looking back at the game, some things stand out.

• Poor offensive line play.
• An erratic offense while the first team was on the field.
• The officials were in “preseason” mode and they themselves were less than stellar.
• A majority of the defense either didn’t play or didn’t make the trip. 19 players were left in Foxboro.

One thing I do know about the team is that the coaching staff will not let the players soon forget the effort, or lack there of, anytime soon.  There will be no excuses for their play and lots of credit given to Detroit’’ staff and players who obviously came to play.

Bill Belichick will use this game to his advantage for as long as he can make it a motivational tool.  You can fully expect that once the season starts in Miami on September 12 this team will be ready to play.

Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene knocked out the power Sunday at Gillette Stadium canceling Belichick’s day after conference call. The team returned from Detroit around 4 a.m. Sunday morning and had the day off.  On Monday there was no practice and Gillette was still without power so the staff and players went elsewhere for meetings, film study and injury treatments on Monday.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Instead of having media availability with the players in the locker room, select players were made available via conference calls.

Here is New England head coach Bill Belichick’s conference call transcript with the local Boston media on Monday afternoon.

Patriots defensive lineman Andre Carter had a conference call with the Boston media and here’s what he had to say.

Tom Brady made his weekly appearance on the WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan morning show on “Patriots Monday” and this is what he had to say.

Linebacker Jerod Mayo spoke with the local media today via conference call.

Today is the day that NFL teams must cut their roster from 90 to 80 players with a final cutdown to the 53-man roster coming on Saturday September 3^rd.  There are a lot of players who are hoping to hold on for a few more days.

With cuts on the way expect the patriots to be active in the trade market looking to build more depth into their 2012 draft positions.  Among the players who could be moved are S Brandon Meriweather and former UConn Husky CB Darius Butler as well as DT’s Landon Cohen and Darryl Richard.

Among the players cut on Monday were:

• S James Sanders
• CB Jonathan Wilhite
• LS Matt Katula
• DE Clay Nurse
• K Chris Koepplin
• DT Kade Weston
• TE Garrett Mills
• WR Tyree Barnes
• WR Darnell Jenkins
• DB Malcom Williams
• OL Mark Wetterer

The team also made a few signings inking WR Tiquan Underwood, S Ross Ventrone and LS James Dearth.

Patriots rookie QB Ryan Mallett and Red Sox infield prospect Will Middlebrooks are best buds.

Wes Welker injured his neck on Saturday night and he said afterward that he was fine.  It was just one of several injuries Patriots players suffered against Detroit.

The coaches tried all sorts of rotations at safety on Saturday night looking for the right combination.  They paired Sanders and Meriweather; Patrick Chung and Sergio Brown; Chung and James Ihedigbo and Brown and Ihedigbo during the game.  Each pairing played at least 2 series together.

Did you know that the first preseason match up between the Patriots and Lions was on August 25, 1969 in Montreal, Canada?  The Patriots were still in the AFL as the merger was a year away.  The Lions won 22-9 in the exhibition game played at Jarry Park in front of 8,212 fans.  Patriots broadcaster Gino Cappelletti played in the game kicking three field goals for all of the Patriots points.

Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf were joined at halftime by New England owner Robert Kraft who talked CBA and about his late wife Myra.  Here’s the transcript of Robert Kraft’s halftime interview on CBS.

While we are on the subject of Kraft and the passing of his wife if you haven’t read it you need to read this wonderful and sad article written by Yahoo! Sports Michael Silver.

Among the many players, past and present, who have given contributions to the Myra Kraft Giving Back Fund are Tom Brady, Junior Seau, Matt Cassel and the Manning brothers – Peyton and Eli.

Like he has done in the past, last Wednesday, Belichick took the team to the movies where they saw “The Fighter” and met Micky Ward, who spoke to the team.

WR/KR Brandon Tate is on the bubble for making the team and he’s focusing on trying to get better.

NFL Films announced on Monday that in 2009 they had the unprecedented full season wiring of Belichick for a NFL Films series documentary “A Football Life”. Part 1 airs on September 15 and Part 2 is on September 22 on the NFL Network.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

After making several cuts to get the roster down to the 80-man limit for 4 p.m. on Tuesday the Patriots ended up signing three players in return.  The team announced that they have signed WR Tiquan Underwood, S Ross Ventrone and LS James Dearth.

Underwood was a 7^th round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Rutgers.  He played 10 games for the Jags in 2010 after spending the 2009 season on the practice squad.  He was released last week.

Ventrone, an undrafted free agent out of Villanova, was with the Patriots last season playing in the preseason before being cut and re-signed in October for the practice squad.

Dearth is a former New York Jets long snapper and tight end having played with the team from 2001-2009. Originally a 6^th round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 1999 out of Tarleton State, he spent two seasons in Cleveland before going to the Jets.  He was signed by Washington in 2010 but waived before the season started.  San Diego then signed Dearth as a long snapper and before playing in a game for the Chargers he ended up being placed on IR with a foot injury.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem