When he was a star at Boston College, Matt Ryan used to watch Patriots QB Tom Brady with great interest. As an up-and-coming quarterback, Ryan would look for any tips that might help him down the road.

Meeting him for the first time last year when the Patriots and Falcons played in Foxboro — and chatting with Brady today during the joint practice — Ryan still couldn’t get the Pats quarterback to open up and pass along any trade secrets.

Huh?

”I don’t blame him,” Ryan said. ”I think everybody is protective. Everybody wants a bit of their competitive advantage. Whatever he’s been doing has worked. He’s been extremely productive over the course of his career. Even more than X’s and O’s and training tips, it’s good to get to know those guys.

(more…)

The Patriots and Falcons just finished their morning joint practice, and it was interesting to see the different styles. Even two days before a game, Atlanta wasn’t in full pads.

In fact, they were supposed to just be in helmets, but they put on shoulder pads for the Pats. Lots of various ways to get it done, ya know?

Because of the Falcons different rules regarding their media at practice, we were allowed to Tweet. It was great. If you follow @RapSheet, you’ve been treated to all sorts of random, interesting or stupid observations. So, instead of a practice report, let’s post those Tweets below as a snapshot of the work the Patriots did.

(more…)

Every team has different rules regarding the media and their practices. For instance, in the world of the Patriots, they ask that there is no live Tweeting. We obey those rules.

Yet today, the Patriots are in enemy territory, which benefits those who love Twitter and random updates. That’s right!

The Patriots will utilize the Falcons’ practice rules, which means there will be live Tweeting. There will be regular updates.

Want to know what’s going on as it happens?

Check out the @RapSheet Twitter account all morning and afternoon. We got you covered…

The Patriots are officially the visitors here in Flowery Branch, Ga., but at least the teams are sharing some home-field responsibilities. In fact, as we noted when the joint practice with the Falcons got set up, Belichick and old friend Thomas Dimitroff have compromised on musical selections.

Belichick and the Falcons GM each have three pre-practice songs of their own.

“We got a little Bon Jovi, a little Kenny Chesney,” Belichick said this morning. “So, we’re doing  little home-and-home with Thomas there with the music.”

Awesome. Anyway, the teams are beginning practice right now, and Belichick said not all players made the trip. Those who are injured, for instance, were left home. Wes Welker, however, is here, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll play Thursday.

“We brought the people that we thought it would be beneficial for them to come,” Belichick said. “And the other people we didn’t (bring), we felt like they’d get more done there in New England. It’s an individual thing.”

(more…)

The Patriots had some depth issues on their defensive line. They have a situation where they expected Ty Warren to be a stalwart, but he’s out for the season with an injury.

Who to they turn to?

As coach Bill Belichick’s team gets ready for two joint practices in Atlanta against the Falcons at 8:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m., Wright is the player they call on to fill the void. Since he came into the league as an undrafted rookie from Cincinnati, it seems it’s always been the case.

“It seems like every opportunity, as the years go on, they just get better and bigger,” Wright said yesterday. “You have to embrace it. If you’re not, what’s the point of being out here?”

It’s a good point, one you never have to worry about with the hard-nosed Wright. He’s not the most insanely talented DE, and he does struggle some against the run. But at the least, you will get more effort than you know what to do with.

(more…)

 At the end of every day, we’ll participate in a pasttime as old as training camp itself  — taking  an  observation and blowing it way out of proportion. Here’s today’s edition

Sometimes, you can take a player like Kevin Faulk and what he brings to the table for granted. Then you watch a practice like today, and see him make a pair of incredible one-handed catches coming out of backfield, and it all comes rushing back.

Faulk first coralled a deep floater, hauling in a Tom Brady bomb with just his right hand while motoring down the right sideline, on one play. Then, he made this ridiculous one-handed grab with his left hand while running a shorter pass route down the same sideline.

We’ve previously written how the 34-year-old Faulk shed a few pounds pre-camp to help with cope with the aftershocks of age. He does look a bit quicker.  And if those catches are any indication of what lies ahead, Faulk could once again be an important weapon for Brady coming out of the back field, especially on third down.

(more…)

Tom Brady is one of the most competitive guys you’ll ever meet. And then some. That’s why Brian Hoyer is driving him absolutely crazy.

Why?

He keeps beating Brady in the bucket drill.

What’s a bucket drill? Let’s explain.

That’s the little fun session in practice where the quarterbacks go off to the side field, and rear back and throw the ball, attempting to get it into a trash can at varying distances. Sometimes it’s 50 yards away, or 40, or 30 and so on. It’s one of the drills the fans have enjoyed watching the most.

Thus far, Hoyer has owned Brady. And it’s making No. 12 just a wee bit crazy.

(more…)

Ever wonder what life is like as the backup to quarterback Tom Brady? Wonder how much easier life is as a second-year player than it was as a rookie? Let’s check in with Brian Hoyer in my video:

The Patriots practiced today in front of a special visitor. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, aka Tom Brady’s wife, spent time watching the walk-through with the family. This is a gallery and here are some shots from Herald photog Ted Fitzgerald:

It’s no surprise that Vince Wilfork is a Pro Bowl nose tackle. The dude has some serious run-stopping skills.

But I am constantly amazed at how ridiculously athletic the 6-foot-2, 325-pounder is in other areas. Like, today, when he led the defense in abusing the offense in a drill that forced each unit to switch roles.

Wilfork was the QB for the defense, Patrick Chung was at WR, while Randy Moss was the safety, Brandon Tate was at corner, etc. And Wilfork (pictured from Herald photog Ted Fitzgerald) was such a stellar passer it left me shaking my head. Really? He’s 325?

Wilfork found Chung in the back of the end zone for one pass, then hit him again later. He saw an ill-advised fade pattern intended for Darius Butler get broken up, but Butler later scored and had a reverse dunk over the goal posts in celebration.

What did teammates think?

(more…)

The long-awaited results of the Aaron Schobel Derby are in! And, in unfortunate news, the Patriots didn’t win. And actually, neither did his hometown Texans.

Wait, so who won?

Turns out, there are two specific winners of Schobel’s services. One group is his wife, June,  and their three children. And other group is Houston-area restaurants.

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reported today that Schobel wants to retire instead of signing with another NFL team. McClain added that Schobel told him he’s “tired of dieting to weigh in the 240s when he’s playing and wants to eat and weigh 270.” Ha! Expect lots of all-you-can-eat buffets, I guess. Too bad he gave up $8 million that could’ve gone to an extra plate or two.

(more…)

Patriots NT Vince Wilfork has lost his sidekick. The Pro Bowler will be without Ty Warren at end for the entire 2010 season now that Warren has been placed on Injured Reserve.

Of course, it’s something that absolutely pains Wilfork.

“That’s a personal friend of mine on and off the field,” Wilfork told WEEI’s Dale & Holley Show today after practice.  “It’s just sad to hear something like that, sidelined for the season. I talked with him afterwards and everything and he’s in high spirits. It’s something he said he needs to take care of and I support him 100 percent. As far as the player, that’s a guy I will miss out there on the field with me but I think the guys that stepped in are doing a good job. I mean we’ve been working every day, everybody has been doing their thing and hopefully we can get better as a team.”

(more…)

 Will Wes Welker get into his first game action Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons as the wide receiver’s return from reconstructive knee surgery continues to progress?

Given the Georgia Dome has artificial turf, that might not be the best place for Welker’s first game, but we’ll see how that plays out.

Welker? He just wants to play - period.

”I’d like to be out there anytime,” Welker answered. ”Anytime I can be out there is going to be a positive. Of course I want to be out there. We’re going to take it slow and make sure we stay on track. It’s been good up to this point. ”

At this stage, he’s still progressing. But it’s not perfect every day.

”You have some good days, and some bad days,” he said. ”We’re just trying to work through them and keep on getting better each day. It’s good to get out here and get reps with the guys and not be stuck somewhere else rehabbing. So, it’s good to get out here.”

The Patriots hosted their final official workout of training camp, the last one that was to be open to fans. Except… rain moved it inside. So it was a lot more low-key and low-impact, considering the team is headed to Atlanta soon.

It was so interesting that Gisele stopped by with little Ben.

What happened in the workout?

– Some of the familiar faces were not present, including LB Gary Guyton and CB Leigh Bodden. Perhaps another day of rest before Atlanta. Devin McCourty and Brandon Spikes filled in for them, as they’ve done.

(more…)

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady made his first weekly appearance of the season on the Dennis & Callahan show early this morning. As always, a number of topics were posed by the WEEI hosts ranging from his contract to his long hairstyle.

 Here are some of the highlights:  

On finishing his career as a Patriot: ”I’d love to be here my whole career. I have goals and the team has goals and hopefully they’re down the same line. But you never know . . . Joe Montana got traded, and Jerry Rice did, guys I loved watching out there that really were the best players to ever play at their positions. It’s hard to think if those guys are not playing for a team, why should I ever be excluded from that?”

On the possibility of winding up like Montana did as a Chief: “I sure hope not, I’m gonna work my butt off to make I continue to add value to the team. Once you can’t add value, a team’s not gonna keep you around. So it’s my responsibility to be in shape, to play at a high level, to be on the field every day, to be the leader that I need to be, so that the team wants me. That’s what it comes down to.”

(more…)

On a dreary, rainy morning in a news conference that featured relatively few media members, Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio was amped. He was charged up to get out to the indoor practice, on that is the team’s final of training camp.

Of course, a trip to Atlanta that looms later today. And just like the workouts with New Orleans, Caserio believes it will be beneficial. Oh, and he gets to see his good buddy Thomas Dimitroff, too.

“We’ll deal with some different elements, the first time being on the road, some things that come into play,” Caserio said this morning. “The crowd noise, line of scrimmage operation, and it’s another good football team. A good offense, a good young quarterback, good receivers, they’ve got the bases covered offensively to present some problems for us. This’ll be another good test. I have a lot of respect for the organization. Mr. (Arthur) Blank, Mike Smith, and Thomas Dimitroff, who I have a personal relationship with. He and I spent a lot of time together cultivating that on the road my first year here. So I’m excited about that.”

(more…)

While the Patriots have been going through their training camp for several weeks, and the last official practice is today. That means the final workout open to the public in Foxboro is at 10 a.m., and then the doors close.

That’s been the reality for NFL scouts attempting to watch University of Alabama practices since coach Nick Saban’s camp started, too. No longer is Saban opening his practice field to pro scouts looking to evaluate his players.

Nope, not since one of his best defensive player began being investigated by the NCAA because of his apparent association with an agent. Saban wants the NFL to be more proactive in helping, and until it is (or until after the preseason), they’ll be staring at the fence outside. Florida coach Urban Meyer also has tight restrictions on who can watch practice.

Considering two of his good buddies are making a stand against agents and scouts, coach Bill Belichick was asked to weigh in on the issue. It could affect him, with his team now having one rookie from ‘Bama and three from UF… a trend that may continue.

(more…)

At the end of every day, we’ll participate in a pasttime as old as training camp itself — taking an observation and blowing it way out of proportion. Here’s today’s edition

Bill Belichick is not one to just arbitrarily throw out praise. He really has to be impacted before he gives a compliment. So who got the pat on the back today? Terrence Wheatley. He was on the receiving end of some especially kind words from Belichick today.

It’s significant in that Wheatley had sunk so low on the depth chart, but has now gotten up off the mat, and is threatening Jonathan Wilhite for one of the final roster spots at cornerback. In fact, he has probably jumped over Wilhite at this point.

Belichick talked about the confidence Wheatley is now playing with, and how he’s making plays, not just occassionally, but consistently from session to session. During today’s second session, he broke up a potential touchdown pass to Taylor Price, by knocking the ball away with his left hand. (more…)

Aaron Hernandez used to catch passes from Tim Tebow at Florida. Now he’s getting an idea of what it’s like to be in an offense with Tom Brady running the show and finding receivers.

The rookie tight end thinks he’s starting to have a good on-field connection and chemisty with Brady.

”I just come out here every day and try to get open,” Hernandez said. ”He’s such a great quarterback. If I’m open, he’ll find me.”

What has he learned from Brady?

”He just teaches me, along with the receivers like (Randy) Moss and T-Holt, teaches me little moves on routes, how to change stuff up,” said Hernandez, ”and it’s helped me a lot so far.”

Hernandez believes he’s been aided by having played in Florida’s system, which has similar concepts.

”It’s similar because it’s a spread offense,” he said. ”We have a lot of stuff that’s similar to Florida, but a lot of the stuff is also different, a lot of the language to it. If you study it, it all comes easy.”

We don’t know how many tries it took, but 18 days after the start of camp, Ron Brace finally passed the conditioning test, and he was out on the field today practicing with his teammates. His presence and return could be significant given the loss of defensive lineman Ty Warren, who is out for the season.

 So how did the it feel for Brace to finally get back out there?

”It feels really good. Words can’t describe it,” the defensive lineman said. ”I’m just happy to be back out here working. Trying to catch up with these guys, working forward, trying to get ready for Atlanta.”

What did he while he was away from the field in terms of film, playbook, etc.?

”Just taking the playbook. Gotta know what you gotta do. Basically just study up so when I got back out here, hopefully just try to catch back up with everybody else,” Brace said. ”They got the reps, and now I need to catch up with the reps. It was basically just focusing on trying to remember the plays and everything, just catching up. Everybody’s in a rhythm. I’m just trying to get back in that rhythm.”

How difficult was it to watch? 

(more…)