New England Patriots WR Randy Moss practiced in pads Monday with the team for the first time in more than a month. Moss missed all of the preseason with an apparent hamstring injury. He is hoping to play Sunday against the Jets but as of yet there is no official word on that.
Newly signed S Asante Samuel also appears on track to be on the field for Sunday in the Meadowlands.
With the sight of Moss practicing with his teammates word came out that the Patriots cut fellow WR Reche Caldwell. Caldwell was the Patriots leading receiver last season and was one of six receivers listed on the 53-man roster submitted to the league on Saturday.
Last season Caldwell caught 61 passes, including 4 TD’s. But it may have been what he didn’t catch in the AFC Championship game in Indianapolis that led head coach Bill Belichick and Player Personnel guru Scott Pioli to drastically overhaul the receiving corps.
In addition to Moss the Pats added Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth and Kelly Washington in the off season.
The move leaves the Patriots with a roster spot.
Besides Moss and Samuel practicing, DB Eugene Wilson, TE Kyle Brady and TE David Thomas all were on the practice field as well.
From the Pats Blog on the projo.com website via the Patriots media department here is the transcript of the Tom Brady interview with the media on Monday.
The Minnesota Vikings claimed former Patriot TE Garrett Mills off of waivers but it wasn’t until after Vikings head coach Brad Childress was called by Bill Belichick to try to persuade him to allow Mills to slide so they could put him on the practice squad. Belichick told Childress he would claim one of his guys he wanted for his practice squad if Childress claimed Mills.
Childress didn’t flinch and claimed Mills and placed him on the active roster. Belichick went and claimed LB David Herron from Minnesota and placed him on the roster.
According to Childress, Belichick said: “Is there any way that you don’t take our guy and we don’t take your guy?”
Childress said he replied: “Well, I’m really interested in your guy. We’ll have to let our guy slide.”
“He didn’t really care for that,” Childress said. “He was trying to leverage. You always find out who is honest and straightforward.”
Now profootballtalk.com weighs in on the situation:
“Regardless of his motivation for sharing with the media a conversation that he claims to have had with Pats coach Bill Belichick regarding maneuverings at the bottom of their respective rosters, the early reaction from league insiders regarding the harsh comments from Vikings coach Brad Childress regarding Belichick is that Childress made an enormous blunder. Said one source: “Why, in God’s name, is Brad Childress talking about Bill Belichick to the press? Is [Childress] a complete and senseless moron? He basically insults one of the most powerful coaches in the league by calling him out as dishonest. He’s an idiot coach.”
We tend to agree. As a reader astutely observed, the coaching industry at the NFL level is fueled by relationships. When a coach is fired and begins to look for other work, he relies on those relationships. So why would any head coach gratuitously alienate a current head coach who has plenty of friends?
Indeed, if Childress is accurate in his belief that Belichick was trying to leverage the Vikings into not claiming tight end Garrett Mills on waivers, who’s to say that Belichick won’t eventually try to leverage some other team into not giving a job to Childress when/if he’s fired by the Vikings?”
First this guys offense gets dismantled by the Pats in the Super Bowl XXXIX, then last season Belichick bitch slaps his new team on Monday Night Football, now this guy is calling out a hall of fame caliber coach. Most people inside the NFL agree Childress is a tool.
You know what they say, it’s hard to match wits when the opponent shows up with no ammunition.
“Who are you calling a cootie queen, you lint licker”.
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