Bryant bounces back quickly

FOXBOROUGH - When cornerback Fernando Bryant went down in a heap Wednesday following a Brandon Meriweather interception, it seemed as if the Patriots better get free agent Ty Law on speed dial.

Bryant, however, was able to return to practice after dinging his left knee, and participated again yesterday, showing no ill effects.

Bryant, who has looked like the leading candidate to replace Asante Samuel at left cornerback, admitted he was scared after he collided with a teammate and then banged the knee on the ground.

"It went numb for a quick second, but I got to the sideline and moved around and I was fine," said Bryant.

Bryant played in all 16 games for the Lions last season, but that was the first time since 2003, when he was a member of the Jaguars, that he didn't miss a game. He missed six games in 2004, four because of an ankle injury; played in just two games in 2005 after suffering a broken collarbone; and suffered a concussion against the Patriots in 2006 that cost him the final four games of that season.

But don't call the 5-foot-10-inch, 175-pound Bryant injury prone.

"The one thing I pride myself on, and I told them [this], unless something is broken, I'm going to be on the practice field," said Bryant.

With Ellis Hobbs still on the physically unable to perform list, Bryant has been the best cornerback in camp. Whether that's good enough to offset the loss of Samuel remains to be seen, but the 10-year veteran isn't worried about backpedaling in anybody else's shoes.

"I've been in the league a long time, so I have my own identity," Bryant said. "I don't really worry about what everybody else expects me to be. I just try to be the corner I am. That's all I can worry about. I can't be Asante. I can't be Ty Law. I can't be Champ [Bailey]. I can't be anybody other than Fernando. My biggest thing is I think we have a good defensive scheme here, and if I can fit in and do the things they want me to do, I think I'll be fine."

Down and dirty

The rookies, including first-round pick Jerod Mayo, got their hands - and everything else - dirty before the morning practice. As part of a hazing ritual, they were required to slide through a makeshift mud pit in full pads as their teammates looked on.

Mayo said the hazing was unexpected and made practice tougher with wet equipment, but he took it in stride, calling it a test of mental toughness.

Mayo, who saw some time with the first team at inside linebacker, said he was never concerned for his safety.

"This is a bunch of great guys out here. I'm sure they won't do anything to hurt us or anything like that," he said. "Whatever they have the rookies doing is no problem, and I'll do it."

Not so dirty

Memo to NFL players: Rodney Harrison isn't dirty. He's just misunderstood.

The hard-nosed Harrison admitted he takes offense to being voted among the league's dirtiest players year after year. When asked why his name always pops up on such lists, he was blunt.

"Because they're ignorant. They don't know me," said Harrison. "If you take the time to get to know Rodney Harrison the player, you'd know that that is not my makeup. That's not my personality. I play hard. It's unfortunate that you have a stigma like that, but what can you say . . . Even out on the field I'm not trying to hurt anyone. I'm just playing hard."

Tight end Marcus Pollard came to Harrison's defense, saying Harrison is much different than the perception of him around the league. Pollard admitted he thought Harrison would be a "jerk," but was way off base.

"I thought he would be the same off the field, but it's polar opposites," said Pollard. "To me, that's an epitome of a great organization: when you've got guys that work hard at all costs to win ballgames and can be great character people off the field."

Clean looks

With the Patriots not practicing today and a full week of training camp in the books, Bill Belichick said the coaching staff will take the opportunity to step back and reevaluate where the team is preparation-wise for the season and make adjustments to what the team emphasizes in practice, and player repetitions and groupings . . . Center Ryan Wendell was removed from the PUP list and practiced, leaving the Patriots with eight players on the PUP. In addition to the PUPers, cornerback Jason Webster, safety James Sanders, linebacker Vince Redd, tight end David Thomas, and offensive linemen Matt Light and Anthony Clement were not present at practice . . . The Patriots had a full-pads practice in the morning and a walkthrough in the afternoon. During the morning practice, the team worked on goal-line offense and defense . . . Mayo made a rookie mistake when he leveled punter Chris Hanson with a block during a kickoff drill. Hanson, the lone punter on the 80-man roster, was part of the coverage team. "I didn't even know who I was hitting," said Mayo. "I just turned and hit somebody and it happened to be him." . . . The Patriots' practice at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow is closed to the public.

Globe correspondent Baxter Holmes contributed to this report.