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Comments clarified

Both Theo Epstein and Terry Francona felt that Jonathan Papelbon's comments this morning about being used only as a ninth-inning closer and only in save situations might have been a case of getting ahead of himself.

While Francona and Epstein both indicated that Papelbon will be put on a program that's designed to protect his right shoulder both said there had been no specific game plan outlined for Papelbon just yet.

Later this morning, after Epstein and Francona spoke to Papelbon, the righthander back-tracked on some of his comments, indicating, "I have to sit down with the trainers and Tito. If the plan calls for me to get one out in the eighth, then we'll stick to the plan. If it's three days in a row we'll stick to that. ... We're devising a shoulder-strengthening system that we haven't gone over yet."

He later interjected about how he'll be used, "We'll keep that in house."

It certainly won't take long into the season to find out what the plan is. The way Papelbon outlined it earlier in the day certainly made sense, and catcher Jason Varitek also said in a perfect world a ninth-inning save would be ideal.

On the subject of what appears to be Papelbon's lower arm slot, Farrell said the issue is more with the balance in his torso than his shoulder. Farrell reviewed video on Papelbon this morning and he feels Papelbon will return to his normal slot after they iron out the mechanics.

Farrell said, "It has nothing to do with his health."