Here's a tip: Be ready

Deflected passes pose challenges

FOXBOROUGH - Few plays cause mayhem like a tipped pass.

Players scramble like a mosh pit at a heavy metal concert, with the sides clobbering each other to grab the lofted pigskin. It can get pretty rough.

"You can grab, hold, do whatever you want," said Patriots rookie cornerback Terrence Wheatley. "If I have to body slam you, then whatever. I'm going to go get it."

Though it creates chaos, the play takes a high level of awareness, perhaps the highest on the field, considering the barbaric environment at the line of scrimmage.

The Patriots have had several tipped passes during training camp, along with a couple in their exhibition opener a week ago against the Ravens.

Coach Bill Belichick said it's a technique that can be taught, but it's not a defender's first objective.

"The most important thing is to rush the passer, not to try and stand in there and play volleyball at the net," Belichick said yesterday. "Nevertheless, when the quarterback is throwing the ball you try to be in the passing lane and either hit the ball or sometimes, just as importantly, make him pull it down and reload it."

The reloading of a pass can give a secondary another chance to jump a receiver's route, which could lead to an incompletion or interception.

But it's not as if defensive players can spend all day trying to maneuver into the quarterback's throwing lanes.

"If he's looking to the side, there's not much point to get into the throwing lane because the throwing lane is not where you are," Belichick said.

To cause a tipped pass, members of the defense who rush the quarterback must first try to escape the grasp of 300-plus-pound offensive linemen, and see which way the quarterback is looking. If the rush fails, there's always Plan B.

"You've always got to be ready if you can't get to the quarterback to get your hands up," said Vince Redd, a 6-foot-6 inch, 260-pound rookie linebacker.

Redd tipped a pass in the fourth quarter of the exhibition opener, with the Ravens on the Patriots' 9-yard line on fourth and 1.

Joe Flacco, the Ravens' first-round draft pick, tried to throw a short pass to running back Justin Green. Redd raced in off the left edge to end the drive with a swat of his hand.

"He threw the ball into my hand, really," Redd said. "I just put my hands up. I didn't have to do too much."

Redd tipped another ball in practice yesterday, and said he participated in drills during junior high and high school in which defenders tried to get their hands up at the last second.

"This is the NFL. We don't work on too much little stuff like that," he said, "but in junior high you work on things like that."

Belichick said the best player he has seen at tipping balls at the line of scrimmage is defensive end Richard Seymour.

"Year in and year out over the course of his career I think he's gotten his hands on more balls than anyone else around here and more balls than anyone else that I've coached. Probably as many as any player," Belichick said. "He's probably about as good as you're going to get at that."

Tipped passes are more likely to occur in practice because the offensive line may not be in game mode, Belichick said.

Still, he was pleased with how "some of that ball awareness and timing showed up in the [Ravens] game."

For a secondary, tipped passes are almost a luxury because a busted coverage is instantly negated. But that sigh of relief once the pass is tipped changes quickly.

"It's a free-for-all," Wheatley said. "If you're not bumping up, you'll probably get your helmet knocked off."