Maroney set to make contact

FOXBOROUGH -- For the first time since the AFC Championship game, Laurence Maroney has been cleared for contact. The second-year running back had been off-limits since having offseason shoulder surgery, but he shed his red noncontact jersey yesterday.

Now the question is, will he take hits in a game setting during the preseason or is the team going to limit his contact to the controlled environment of practice? Coach Bill Belichick wasn't definitive in his stance, but based on his comments, it could be inferred that Maroney is going to see game action before the Sept. 9 season opener against the Jets. He could play as soon as Friday in the Patriots' third exhibition game, which is on the road against the Carolina Panthers.

"Yes, it certainly puts him closer," said Belichick.

It doesn't appear that the Patriots plan to give Maroney, who rushed 175 times for 745 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie, the LaDainian Tomlinson treatment. The San Diego Chargers are holding the reigning NFL MVP out of the preseason to keep him fresh and avoid injury.

"I think an individual player's situation varies from player to player, but I think in general, players need to practice and play to get ready to play," said Belichick.

"I think if we just want to save everybody, we would just be sitting around here for six weeks and not do anything, but I don't think we'd have a very good football team. But I think everybody would be safe.

"There has to be some middle ground between working and getting the team to be able to execute to a certain level and at the same time you don't want them worn down by the time you get to the season."

While his 33-yard miss in last Friday's preseason loss to the Titans might not have drawn much public scrutiny, kicker Stephen Gostkowski said Belichick reminded the team that it had lost by 3 points, and that all "points are crucial."

Gostkowski, who bounced back from his miss to make a 32-yarder, thinks he knows what led to him missing the second-quarter attempt wide to the left.

"I was kind of rushing myself, just trying to kick too hard," he said. "I have to believe more in my leg strength, especially on a short field goal like that."

Earlier in the game, Gostkowski also made a touchdown-saving tackle on Michael Griffin on a first-quarter kickoff return, which drew applause from the Gillette Stadium crowd and had Gostkowski smiling as he retreated to the bench. But he didn't earn any style points with his teammates.

"Certain tackles you just look at it, 'OK, that was a tackle, that was a tackle,' " said Tedy Bruschi. "When a kicker makes a tackle, you can sort of tell because their arms are everywhere, their legs are everywhere. I would say it was a good kicker tackle."

"I knew it felt funny, so I knew it looked funny," Gostkowski said. "If you can't laugh at yourself, you're not going to make it very far."

Halfway through the preseason, there has been little movement on the five Patriots on the physically unable to perform list, which include Pro Bowl defensive end Richard Seymour and wide receiver Troy Brown, both of whom are coming back from knee surgeries. (The other players on PUP are receiver Chad Jackson, torn ACL; tight end David Thomas, broken foot; and cornerback Eddie Jackson, torn ACL.)

None have practiced yet in camp. Starting the season without Seymour or Brown has to become a consideration the longer they are on PUP.

"When guys are hurt like that, you just hope they do whatever they can to get on the field as quickly as they can, and they are," said Bruschi.

"Each guy is kind of in a day-by-day situation," said Belichick. "I think they're all making progress and certainly the closer it gets the less time there is and you cut it closer and closer. When is the breaking point and when is the deadline? I don't know. We'll certainly have to decide something at the last cut, whether to carry them active or keep them on the reserve/PUP for October."

Right tackle Ryan O'Callaghan explained that he didn't properly execute his blocking assignment on Tom Brady's second interception in Friday's exhibition loss to the Titans, as defensive end Antwan Odom was given a free path to Brady and drove him to the turf. Odom stunted to the inside and O'Callaghan said he should have stayed with him. Instead, O'Callaghan passed Odom off to right guard Stephen Neal, who was blocking defensive lineman Tony Brown. O'Callaghan said he should have stayed with Brown because he and Neal were on different levels (O'Callaghan was deeper in the pocket) . . . Receiver Jabar Gaffney, who was limping after a second-quarter catch Friday night, was not present for the media portion of practice. Neither was offensive lineman Russ Hochstein, who was hurt acting as a fullback on Heath Evans's first-quarter touchdown run . . . Offensive lineman Billy Yates returned to practice for the first time since Aug. 6 . . . Although the Patriots have moved to more of a regular-season schedule starting this week, they still had double sessions yesterday in full pads . . . The locker of defensive lineman Marquise Hill, who died in a JetSki accident over Memorial Day weekend, remains intact. Hill's pants and practice jersey are hanging in his locker along with a photo.