This Week

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

The Patriots are 0-0 in the preseason.  The Jaguars are 0-0 in the preseason.

This is the first preseason game for each team.

Here are the rosters for the Jaguars and Patriots.

The Line/Prediction

As of Sunday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports: Patriots minus 4.  The over under is 35 1/2.

My Prediction is Patriots 24, Jaguars, 13 give the points (Patriots) and take the over.

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 the Jacksonville Jaguars @ 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 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 in Bangor ME
• WVNY-TV Channel 22 in Burlington VT
• Canadian Maritimes on Rogers Sports Net East

In the Jacksonville Market, you can watch the game on:

• WTEV-TV 47 in Jacksonville FL
• WRBW-TV 65 in Orlando FL
• WJHG-TV 7 in Panama City FL
• WSAV-TV 3 in Savannah GA

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.  The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 94.  The Jaguars Radio network has Brian Sexton calling play by play and Jeff Lageman provides the color via their flagship station WOKV AM & FM.  Their call is available on Sirius Channel 113.  XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games under a special additional package.  They usually only carry the home team feed and that is available on XM Channel 225.

Last Week

Both teams were idle.

Next Week

The Patriots visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday.  Kick off is at 7:30 p.m. on the Patriots Preseason Television Network.

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For the 2011 season, New England Patriots fans can listen to every play of every game on the “Safety Insurance, 98.5 The Sports Hub, Patriots Radio Network”. Each game, home and away, from preseason to post season is broadcast from the three-time Super Bowl Champions flagship station WBZ-FM in Boston.  The legendary Gil Santos is calling the Patriots play-by-play for his 35^th season (1966-79; 1991-present).  Santos has also called Boston College and Penn State football, Providence College basketball, Big East Basketball and the NFL for CBS Television and ABC Radio.

Patriots Hall of Fame member Gino Cappelletti provides the color commentary for his 30^th season (1972-78; 1988-present).  “The Duke” is the 2^nd leading scorer in Patriots franchise history, one of only 20 players to play in all 10 seasons of the AFL and the 1964 AFL MVP.

The 2011 season marks the 28th season that Santos and Cappelletti have worked together as the Patriots announcing team.

To get you ready for the game, make sure you tune in along the Patriots Radio Network three hours prior to game time for Patriots Preview and stay for three hours after the game with Patriots Postgame. Veteran TV and radio personality Gary Tanguay hosts both shows and is joined by former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak and sports radio personality Andy Gresh.

Patriots Preview is an information packed prelude to kickoff, and has the only game-day interviews with head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots president Jonathan Kraft.

Patriots Postgame wraps up the game with a breakdown of the game, live press conferences with the players who made a difference and reaction from you, the fans.

A full look at the stations in the 2011 Patriots Radio Network can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Below is a list of the stations in the Patriots Radio Network. If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass.  Field Pass allows you to listen to any NFL game live on your computer and you can select which broadcast you want to listen to. NFL game feeds are available with a subscription to Sirius Satellite Radio and you can also receive NFL games on XM Satellite Radio with a “XM Premier Package” subscription added to your regular XM account.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The Patriots Preseason Television Network is televising three of the Patriots four preseason games through out New England and parts of Canada. The lone game not covered by the Patriots Preseason Television Network will be carried nationally by CBS on Saturday August 27^th from Detroit.

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 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

Check your local listings for your station.

There is no DirecTV channel designation for preseason games.  DirecTV is not allowed to carry preseason games per the NFL Broadcast Rules.  Preseason television rights belong to the teams and not to the league, hence no DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket until Week 1 of the regular season.

The bombshell from Patriots camp today is that WR Chad Ochocinco wants to spend a few weeks living with a fan in Boston while he looks for a place to live.  The only requirements are that they have an Internet connection and an X-Box.  This could be interesting.

Already Boston Globe sports writer Peter Abraham has put in a request via his Twitter account, saying he has both, he is only 20 minutes from Foxboro and he is hardly ever home.

Ochocinco is also learning the city by driving around it.  For anyone who has spent anytime driving through downtown Boston or even in its neighborhoods you know what a challenge this can be.  From the traffic to the one way streets to multiple streets of the same name it can be frustrating and confusing.  I give him credit though he is doing all this with his GPS unit turned off.

The Patriots announced that they would wear a patch on their game jerseys this season to honor the late Myra Kraft.  It will bear her initials “MHK” in silver on a navy oval.

The team will be bringing 80 fans onto the field Thursday prior to the game against Jacksonville.  It’s all part of a thank you from the organization for staying with them through out the lockout.

Today’s session was run in shorts and shells and there was once again no Albert Haynesworth, Brandon Spikes, Dan Connolly or Rob Gronkowski who all got hurt the day before.  They are all listed as day-to-day.

DL Myron Pryor filled in nicely for Haynesworth, while rookie TE Lee Smith showed his soft hands with some nice catches.  Second string QB Brian Hoyer also has a good day as he was on point the entire session.

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

New DL Shaun Ellis is on the PUP list.  He was placed there as part of the whole arrangement in signing with the Patriots.  He has a past hip ailment and they want to work him at a bit slower pace.

After practice, the team claimed OL Mark Wetterer off of waivers from Cincinnati.  He is a 6’5”, 319-pound rookie out of Louisville.  The team waived S Ross Ventrone to make room on the 90-man roster for him.

When they were teammates with the Washington Redskins DL Andre Carter once called out Haynesworth.  When asked about it now he said, “That was then.  We’re Patriots now.”  One of the reports on Carter was that he was a good locker room guy and looks like he is showing it right off the bat.

DE Gerard Warren knew all along that the Patriots would be calling him.  Head coach Bill Belichick told him to sit tight and if he had a spot for him he wanted to bring him back.  Warren said Belichick “is a man of his word.”  So he sat and waited and he even told his agent “don’t tell me about other teams until you hear from New England.”

Warren said, “I’m glad to come back.  Last year was a great experience.”

Today was rookie slip and slide day at practice.  QB Tom Brady hosed the rookies down and the team watched them battle for waterlogged fumbles.

Belichick also broke out the hose at the end of the session wetting down the ball for the field goal drill.

Tomorrow’s training session will be at 10 am and will be open to the public.  The walk through will be conducted inside Gillette Stadium as the team prepares for the Thursday night game against Jacksonville.

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One of the fun things for outside observers, the media and us bloggers is the speculation on who makes the 53-man roster.  This does not include the practice squad that should include some of the draft picks and rookie free agents that do not appear on this list.

Here is my take on the 53-man by position:

Offense – 24

Quarterback – 3

• Tom Brady
• Brian Hoyer
• Ryan Mallett (R)

Running Backs – 5

• BenJarvus Green-Ellis
• Shane Vereen (R)
• Danny Woodhead
• Kevin Faulk
• Stevan Ridley  (R)

Tight Ends – 3

• Rob Gronkowski
• Aaron Hernandez
• Lee Smith (R)

Wide Receivers- 5

• Wes Welker
• Chad Ochocinco
• Deion Branch
• Taylor Price
• Brandon Tate

Offensive Linemen – 8

• Dan Connolly G
• Dan Koppen C
• Mark LeVoir T
• Matt Light T
• Logan Mankins G
• Sebastian Vollmer T
• Chris Morris C/G
• Nate Solder T (R)

For a look at the defensive projections, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Defense – 24

Defensive Linemen – 9

• Andre Carter DE
• Shaun Ellis DE/DT
• Albert Haynesworth DT
• Vince Wilfork DT/DE
• Gerard Warren DE
• Eric Moore DE
• Myron Pryor DT
• Kyle Love DT
• Mike Wright DE

Linebackers – 7

• Jerod Mayo OLB/ILB
• Rob Ninkovich OLB
• Brandon Spikes ILB
• Gary Guyton ILB
• Jermaine Cunningham OLB/DE
• Dane Fletcher ILB
• Tracy White OLB

Defensive Backs – 8

• Devin McCourty CB
• Leigh Bodden CB
• Brandon Meriweather S
• Patrick Chung S
• Ras-I Dowling CB
• Darius Butler CB
• James Sanders S
• Sergio Brown S

Special Teams – 5

Kicker – 1

• Stephen Gostkowski

Punter – 1

• Zoltan Mesko
  

Long Snapper – 1

• Matt Katula
  

Kick Returner – 1

• Matthew Slater (WR)
  

Punt Returner – 1

• Julian Edelman (WR)

The New England Patriots announced they had re-signed free agent DL Gerard Warren to a new contract.  Warren, 31, a 1^st round pick in the 2001 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns out of the University of Florida returns to New England after having played there last season.

Warren who came to the team on draft weekend in 2010 had 28 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 16 games, 10 of which were starts.

In addition to Cleveland, he has also played with the Denver Broncos to whom he was traded on draft weekend in 2005 by the Browns.  After two seasons in Denver he was dealt again to the Oakland Raiders in August of 2007.  He stayed in Oakland for 3 seasons before signing as a free agent prior to last season with the Patriots.

He is expected to once again contribute on the newly revamped defensive line in 2011.

The Patriots also announce that they released S Brandon McGowan.  McGowan, who came to the NFL out of the University of Maine as an undrafted free agent in 2005, spent the last two seasons with New England.  He missed all of last season with a chest injury after being placed on the IR in September.  He was projected to be a special teams player this season.

Prior to coming to New England he played with the Chicago Bears for four years.  He has 184 tackles, 2 INT’s, 4 forced fumbles and 10 pass deflections in his career.

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

New DE Shaun Ellis was at practice today, where he watched the full pads session in shorts.  Ellis signed this weekend after rebuking an offer of the veteran minimum of $910,000 and reduced playing time from the New York Jets.

After 11 seasons in the Meadowlands, Ellis says he feels disrespected by Jets.  He says he has a lot of respect for Jets coach Rex Ryan, “obviously it seems like it’s not mutual.”  When asked about the Jets-Patriots rivalry he added, “it’s the same. I’m just on the other side now.”

Ellis’ deal reportedly for $3 million plus $1 million in incentives.

A couple notes from the session today, newly acquired DL Andre Carter practiced, as did Warren.  An interesting note on Carter, as we told you yesterday his dad is former Bronco DL Rubin Carter.  Turns out Bill Belichick coached Rubin during his stint in Denver in 1978 when he coached under the legendary Red Miller.

TE Rob Gronkowski, G Dan Connolly and C/G Chris Morris were all dinged up during the session and did not finish practice. G Logan Mankins was also shaken up but did return.

The offensive line struggled today; the defensive line that seems to be gearing up for the season threw them around pretty good.  Folks, this offensive line is one of the best in the NFL and to be pretty much manhandled by the defense is saying a lot for that the side of the ball.

Patriots WR Chad Ochocinco and his fiancée, Evelyn Lozada were at Fenway Park for the Red Sox-Yankees game Sunday night.

The Patriots practice schedule for Tuesday is 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. with the Patriots Experience running from Noon to 5 p.m. Patriots’ practice on Wednesday, from 10-11:15 a.m., is in inside Gillette Stadium and open to the public.

For all the latest training camp information go to patriots.com/trainingcamp or call 508.549.0041.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The New England Patriots signed defensive end Andre Carter to a one-year contract.  Carter, a first round pick in the 2001 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers out of the University of California, has 442 tackles, 66 sacks and 1 safety in his career. Carter announced his own signing via Twitter.

He played with San Francisco from 2001 through 2005 where he started as a defensive end and was moved to outside linebacker when they shifted to a 3-4 defense.

In 2006, Carter signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Washington Redskins who moved him back to defensive end where he flourished until they changed last season to a 3-4 under new coach Mike Shanahan and he saw his playing time reduced.

Carter, whose real first name is Rubin, is the son of former Denver Broncos defensive lineman Rubin Carter who played in two Super Bowls.  His dad in honor of his Denver teammate and close friend, Andre Townsend, gave him his middle name.

The Patriots also announced Sunday night that they have released CB Thad Turner.  Turner an undrafted free agent out of Ohio University originally signed with Indianapolis before coming to New England as a practice squad member last November.

The team also placed OL Kyle Hix, a rookie free agent from the University of Texas, on the injured reserve list effectively ending his season.  Hix signed on July 27^th shortly after the lockout was lifted.  The team did not disclose what his injury is.

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Photo credit: AP Photo

According to NFL sources, the New England Patriots have signed former New York Jets DE Shaun Ellis to a one-year contract pending the passing of a physical.

Ellis, a 6’5” 290 lb. lineman, who worked out for New England late last week has spent his entire career with the Jets.  A former 1^st round pick out of Tennessee in the 2000 NFL Draft he was selected by New York with the pick they received from New England as compensation for the Patriots hiring Bill Belichick as head coach.  It now appears that Belichick will be able to coach the player he was once “traded” for.

Ellis is a two-time Pro Bowl selection and has 552 tackles, 72 sacks 13 forced fumbles and 1 INT in his 11-year NFL career.

Ellis is very familiar to the Patriots having hurt them with a big two-sack game in last year’s playoff game in Foxboro that the Jets won to advance to the AFC Championship game.

Ellis is a very versatile performer and can play end in either a 3-4 or a 4-3 defense.  With the Patriots looking more and more as if they will play a 4-3 or a 3-4 hybrid this move bodes well.  A potential front four could consist of 3 players with Pro Bowls on the their resumes with Vince Wilfork and Albert Haynesworth in the middle and Ellis and possibly second year player Jermaine Cunningham or Mark Anderson playing the other end.

Since becoming a starter in 2001, Ellis has missed just six games in his career.  The Jets were willing to bring Ellis back but head coach Rex Ryan said it would be at a reduction of playing time and the team was only offering the veteran’s minimum of $910,000.

Terms of the Patriots contract have not been disclosed.

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Photo credit: Getty Images

The New England Patriots held a public afternoon practice session on Saturday and 18 players including Albert Haynesworth and Brandon Spikes were not on the field. 

Also among those missing practice were T Matt Light and RB Kevin Faulk who are according to NFL officials on the “active/physically unable to perform” list.  Both had undergone surgeries Light for his shoulder and Faulk to repair his torn ACL.  DE Myron Pryor was on the field for the first time this season.

Some notes from the actual full pads practice DB Sergio Brown had the hit of the day according to observers when he plastered rookie RB Stevan Ridley on the 3 yard line during goal line drills.

It was a much better day for the receiving corps as TE Rob Gronkowski looked really good as did his fellow TE Aaron Hernandez who made three nice grabs in the end zone including one that was made one handed.  WR Chad Ochocinco also looked more in sync as he made a nice leaping catch over two defenders.

QB Tom Brady stayed after the workout and worked with WR Julian Edelman on routes and the like.  Brady even ran sprints when he was done.

It was noted by several observers that newly signed free agent DE Mark Anderson seems to be exceptionally quick getting into the backfield several times during the session.

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Place kicker Stephen Gostkowski says he has “no limitations” but that he isn’t doing the full load of kicking as of yet as he returns from a torn thigh muscle that ended his 2010 season.  He says, “I’m just trying to get healthy enough to get on the field everyday.  It’s just trying to be smart about it.”  Since replacing Adam Vinatieri, he has become the most accurate kicker in Patriots history and he and his booming kickoffs are important to the team when it comes to opponent’s field possession.

Say what you want about the defense but it surely appears that Bill Belichick is changing from a 3-4 to a 4-3 or 3-4 hybrid.  It appears he feels something had to be done after quick playoff exits the last two seasons.  He has seen both the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens chew up the Patriots with their post season running game.  The 4-3 is a much better run defense as you tend to clog the line and with big guys in the middle like Vince Wilfork and Haynesworth there will be a lot of clogging going on.

A 4-3 or some form of a 3-4 hybrid would allow players like Wilfork and Haynesworth to get into the backfield, get sacks and blow up run plays while avoiding the double teams that Wilfork constantly has run into the last few seasons without Richard Seymour on the end. It also allows LB Jerod Mayo to move from the inside to the weak side and use his athletic ability to play sideline to sideline and pursue like he did at Tennessee.  This also puts Spikes in the middle where he can shine as a very physical linebacker and puts Jermaine Cunningham on the end where he is more comfortable and he can blossom.

Remember if you take one part of someone’s game away, i.e. the run, they have to do something different.  When you know a team is going to pass because they can’t run you can get a better pass rush, which leads to better coverage.

Former Patriot WR Chad Jackson has signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Raiders.

Just a reminder that the first preseason game is this Thursday at Gillette Stadium against Jacksonville.  Sox & Dawgs will bring you a shortened game preview later in the week.  It will be televised but only in the New England and Jacksonville markets.  If you miss the game or can’t get it NFL Network will re-play it Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.

The Patriots will still hold some public practices as they prepare or the Jaguars.  Here is the upcoming schedule that is always subject to change.

Sunday

There is no practice the players are off.

Monday

Practice will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Patriots Experience will be open from Noon until 5 p.m.

Tuesday

Practice will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Patriots Experience will be open from Noon until 5 p.m.

Patriots fans are amazing they’ve had nearly 16,000 combined at the last two practices on Friday and Saturday.

For all the latest training camp information go to patriots.com/trainingcamp or call 508.549.0041.

Stay with Sox & Dawgs for all the latest Patriots news.  We will post larger signings and trades as soon as we can and will recap the minor moves near the end of the day.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Let’s start with the Friday roster moves made by the New England Patriots.  They announced that they signed DE Mark Anderson to a contract.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Anderson started his career with the Chicago Bears where as a rookie in 2006 he had 12.5 sacks. The Bears released the 6’4” 255 lb. Tulsa OK native during the season in 2010 and he finished the last 11 games with the Houston Texans where he started two games.

Anderson who played his college ball at Alabama was a 5^th round pick of Chicago in the 2006 NFL Draft.  In his career he has 119 tackles, 5 forced fumbles and 23.5 sacks.  He is expected to compete for time at defensive end with Eric Moore and Jermaine Cunningham.

In order to accommodate the move the Patriots released DL Marlon Favorite who was signed to the practice squad in January 2011.  Favorite, an undrafted free agent from LSU, has never appeared in a regular season or post season NFL game.  He has been on the practice squad for the Carolina Panthers, St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts in addition to the Patriots since 2009.

Favorite also saw time with the Hartford (CT) Colonials of the UFL.

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

The Friday practice session saw no DL Mike Wright, LB Brandon Spikes, OT Matt Light or DT Albert Haynesworth.  There was no word on why they missed the session, which was run in full pads.  Several others missed the sessions with various injuries.

A couple notations from practice, G Logan Mankins was reportedly throwing people all over the place which bodes very well for QB Tom Brady while DT Kyle Love was steadfast in the goal line stand drill not allowing any movement at all while clogging the middle with DT Vince Wilfork.

It was mentioned that the receivers, as a group, had a better day today after several bad drops the last few days.  They still have work to do.

Brady met with the media after practice and said that there’s a lot of work to do in a short period of time, especially in getting timing with the receivers and he also said that that was the first time they ran the goal line plays this year.  Last year the goal line plays were put in during spring OTA’s.

A couple of contract notes, the new deal RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis signed was a one-year $1.835 million RFA tender not an extension.  Chad Ochocinco didn’t redo his deal he has one-year left at $6 million then he is a free agent and Albert Haynesworth’s base salaries the next four-years are $5.4 million in 2011; $6.7 million in 2012; $8.5 million in 2013; and $10.3 million in 2014.  While according to the NFLPA Matt Light has a $1 million base in 2011 and a $3.4 million base in 2012.

I forgot to mention that Connecticut native Eric Mangini has joined ESPN as a football analyst.  This is kind of hysterical and really an odd job choice for the former Patriots defensive coordinator and head coach of the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns seeing as he has a natural disdain for the media.

Former Patriots QB Kevin O’Connell signed a one-year contract with the Miami Dolphins who appear unsure if they want Chad Henne calling the signals in 2011.  This could be good for O’Connell maybe he will get a chance to challenge for the starting spot.

The Patriots announced their practice schedule.

Saturday

Practice will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Patriots Experience will be open from Noon until 5 p.m.

Next Week

The team will hold public practices the schedule is TBA.

For all the latest training camp information go to patriots.com/trainingcamp or call 508.549.0041.

Stay with Sox & Dawgs for all the latest Patriots news.  We will post larger signings and trades as soon as we can and will recap the minor moves near the end of the day.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem