Late-game hit will cost Vrabel

By Christopher L. Gasper, Globe Staff  |  October 13, 2007

FOXBOROUGH - Cleveland Browns left guard Eric Steinbach got his wish yesterday, as the league fined Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel $5,000 for driving an opponent toward the quarterback after the ball was dead.

On Monday, a day after the Patriots defeated the Browns, 34-17, Steinbach called Vrabel "classless" and practically pleaded for him to be fined, alleging that the linebacker intentionally dived at the knees of Cleveland left tackle Joe Thomas on a spike play with 11 seconds left in the game, toppling the first-round pick into quarterback Derek Anderson.

"You've got to get fined for that," Steinbach said Monday. "If he's going to keep going on like that, maybe he doesn't care about a $5,000 fine. But I wouldn't want that reputation."

Vrabel said on ESPN radio yesterday he plans to appeal the fine. When reached for further comment, he politely declined. On Wednesday, when asked about Steinbach's comments, Vrabel said: "I'm sorry that they feel that way. I don't play that way, and I'm sorry they feel that way. We're going to move on."

Vrabel's teammates came to his defense and disputed the notion that he is a dirty player.

"The game is over. If they feel like in that situation they want to call Mike bad or good, it's not going to change Mike," said linebacker Rosevelt Colvin. "I think he's going to be who he is. I think he's been playing long enough, and I'm glad to have him as my teammate."

Vrabel is the second Patriots player fined this season for what the league perceived as questionable on-field conduct involving an opposing quarterback. Nose tackle Vince Wilfork was fined $12,500 for a late hit that injured the left knee of Bills quarterback J.P. Losman Sept 23. An off-balance Wilfork struck Losman on the knee with an extended elbow. He has maintained the blow was not on purpose and he also appealed his fine.

Light under weather

Left tackle Matt Light was added to the Patriots' injury report after he missed yesterday's practice with flu-like symptoms. He is questionable for tomorrow's game against the Dallas Cowboys. Light was one of three players who did not participate in practice, joined by special teams standout Mel Mitchell (groin) and offensive tackle Wesley Britt (team decision).

Britt, who is probable, along with quarterback Tom Brady, is Light's backup on the unofficial depth chart distributed by the team's media relations department.

Besides Light and Mitchell, eight other Patriots are questionable. Among them are center Dan Koppen (left ankle), linebacker Adalius Thomas (left ankle), cornerback Asante Samuel (foot), and running back Laurence Maroney, who has missed two games with a groin injury. Coach Bill Belichick said Maroney is making progress.

"It will probably be a game-time decision," said Belichick. "He's definitely getting closer."

When approached at his locker, Maroney said, "If that's what Bill says, that's what it is."

The Cowboys are going to be shorthanded at cornerback after they downgraded starter Anthony Henry (high ankle sprain) and reserve Courtney Brown (biceps) to out.

Steadier in red zone

Patriots defensive coordinator Dean Pees said his unit took pride in its improved red zone defense last week. The Patriots held the Browns to one touchdown in three trips to the red zone, including three shots Cleveland had from the 10-yard line in the final 11 seconds.

Prior to the game, teams had reached the end zone in all six red zone chances against the Patriots.

"We had been playing well kind of overall, I thought," said Pees. "At times we had had some breakdowns, but overall I was pretty satisfied, but we had not been playing well in the red area and we kind of wanted to finish there and have a stop in the red area, which kind of helped us a little bit."

The Cowboys' high-powered offense trails only Indianapolis (26) and the Patriots (24) in red zone trips this season. Dallas has been inside the 20-yard line 21 times, scoring 12 touchdowns.

Coach's commentary

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips tried to steer clear of the Cameragate controversy yesterday, saying he didn't make the remarks attributed to him by Peter King on HBO's "Inside the NFL" this week. King quoted a conversation with Phillips in which he said the Dallas coach told him, "Hey, New England was caught cheating and it is a black mark on their success."

"The only thing he had right in there was that I had a conversation with him," Phillips told the Dallas Morning News yesterday. He told the paper, which posted his quotes online in its Cowboys blog, "I don't think that at all. I don't know why Peter would say that."

Phillips claimed King misconstrued what he said. "I think it's ludicrous to demean a team, an organization that has done a great job and won all those games, and deserved every bit of it," Phillips said. "They won all those championships. They deserve every bit of what they got."

Heavy heart for Romo

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo disclosed that his father, Ramiro, 50, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. "Obviously, you keep people in your prayers, and that's part of it," said Romo. "Hopefully, people will keep my pops in their prayers."

"It wouldn't surprise me at all if his dad at different points of the day isn't on his mind," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "Hopefully, he can, with that in perspective, go on to play like he wants to play and his dad wants him to play."

In other Cowboys news, safety Roy Williams was fined $15,000 by the league for a horse-collar tackle on the Bills' Marshawn Lynch Monday night. Cornerback Terence Newman drew a $5,000 fine for a helmet-to-helmet hit against Lynch on the same play.

Plays earn praise

Belichick lauded former Patriots coach Chuck Fairbanks, who addressed the team at practice Thursday, saying Fairbanks's scouting system and offensive scheme are the basis for the Patriots' current scouting and offensive protocols. "I'm sure Chuck could walk in and look at our playbook and probably 80 percent of the plays are the same terminology that he used - whether it be formations or coverages or pass protections," said Belichick. "All of the stuff that was really the fundamentals of his system are still in place here even, again, to the way we call formations and plays and coverages and some of our individual calls within a call." . . . Columbia University announced that Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a 1963 graduate, donated $5 million to the school in support of its athletics program. The football field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium will now be known as Robert K. Kraft Field. Kraft's gift is part of a $100 million athletic fund-raising initiative by the Ivy League institution.

Mike Reiss of the Globe staff and wire services contributed to this report.