Colvin sighting is due

FOXBOROUGH -- Rosevelt Colvin is on the active physically-unable-to-perform list. Pretty soon, he'll just be active -- literally.

Coach Bill Belichick said yesterday he expected Colvin, recovering from a hip injury in his second game that ended his first season as a Patriot, to begin practicing soon.

"Oh, yeah," Belichick said after his team kicked off camp with a light afternoon workout. "I think all the players we have will be participating. I don't see anybody that's in a situation like, say, Steve Neal was last year where I thought it would be a long shot for him to really be able to make it back, and ultimately he didn't. I don't think we have anybody in that category now."

Asked if Colvin was on or ahead of schedule, Belichick said, "I don't really know what the schedule is. It's not a conventional injury. We haven't had that type of situation come up since I've been here. But I think he's doing well. He's running well, he's moving well, and I think he's pretty close to being out there."

By rule, a player who is taken off active/PUP or the non-football injury list and begins practicing cannot be placed on reserve/PUP for the first six weeks. If Colvin is on the active roster but can't play at the beginning of the year, the Patriots simply will list him among the game-day inactives.

Meanwhile, safety Eugene Wilson has been removed from the active/PUP list and practiced yesterday.

"It felt pretty good out there," said Wilson, who had offseason surgery to repair his left groin, which he tore in the Super Bowl. "It was the first time I've guarded somebody since the Super Bowl. I was running pretty good, I had good movement in my hips, and my footwork was all right. It was always my intention to be out there the first day of camp."

Unfinished business
Things don't appear to be going so well with regard to negotiations between the Patriots and their remaining unsigned picks. As of yesterday, New England still had not come to terms with first-round pick Benjamin Watson, third-round pick Guss Scott, and fourth-round pick Cedric Cobbs. With each passing day, the rookies fall further behind. "Some guys it affects more than others," Belichick said. "I don't think it helps anybody.". . . Jeff Burris won't be helping the Patriots' defense this year. The 32-year-old cornerback, signed April 28, did not report to camp for what Belichick termed "personal reasons" and was released. "He made a personal decision and I respect that," Belichick said. "It really doesn't matter beyond that. He's not here for personal reasons." Burris's agent, Peter Shaffer, did not return a call last night . . . Those who were able to take the conditioning test passed. Players recovering from injuries and newly signed right tackle James "Big Cat" Williams were excused from the run. "I thought overall the condition of the team was acceptable," Belichick said. "We'll see here as we get into more competitive practices how everybody holds up."

On second thought
Williams and the Patriots decided to get together the second time around. Last summer, New England auditioned Williams, who was coming off ankle surgery, but passed, and Williams ended up sitting out the season. The Patriots brought in the 36-year-old for another tryout last week. "We've been talking about that for quite a while, and it just sort of developed," Belichick said. "We didn't draft any offensive linemen and didn't sign any college free agents, so we kind of had pretty much the same group since February or March, and we felt that, I know James was out of football last year, but we had some experience with him in the past and he's had some familiarity with some coaches on our staff [assistant strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul, running backs coach Ivan Fears], but we felt like he might have some football left. We wanted to give him an opportunity and he was looking for an opportunity to continue playing. It just kind of came together." . . . More than 5,000 fans came to see the Patriots' first practice . . . Bethel Johnson stood out in passing drills, and afterward Belichick said the second-year receiver has made huge strides this offseason. "Bethel's had a real good offseason," the coach said. "He got slowed a little bit at the end of the spring [stomach surgery], but overall I think he's had a real good offseason and has improved in a lot of areas. He's worked really hard and made a lot of individual, personal improvements. He's one of our offseason award winners and he certainly deserved it.". . . Ty Law reported on time, practiced, and for it left $1 million richer. "I'm very comfortable with my situation," Law said. "I'm part of the team. I've been here for 10 years, so it's going to take a lot to make me uncomfortable. I've been blessed and I couldn't be happier right now. It's a clean slate for everybody."