Reserve QBs may step back up Thursday

With Tom Brady missing all three preseason losses, including Friday night's 27-17 setback against the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium, coach Bill Belichick was asked yesterday if he had any concern about getting his starter a few live snaps before hosting Kansas City in the Sept. 7 season opener.

The Patriots will wrap up exhibition play against the New York Giants Thursday night in East Rutherford, N.J. But from the sound of it, quarterbacks Matt Cassel, Matt Gutierrez, and especially rookie Kevin O'Connell, who didn't play against Eagles, all seemed to be in store for more playing time.

"Well, I don't think there's any question that if certain players don't play, then other players are going to get more of an opportunity to play, whatever spot that is," Belichick said during a teleconference.

"That includes Matt Cassel and Gute and Kevin. I think most will have an opportunity to perform and contribute and show what they can do.

"Last night, we saw a little over a half with Cassel and a little less than a half with Gute, and next week against the Giants I'm sure we'll see Kevin get a chance to play some."

And if Brady, who participated during the media-access portion of Wednesday's practice, is unable to go against the Giants?

"Tom, if we decide to play him, then that'll be an opportunity for him," Belichick said. "If it's not and he doesn't [play], or if we don't decide to play him, then it'll be an opportunity for somebody else.

"It's the same thing we talked about last year with [Randy ] Moss; you like to have everybody out there all the time. The players who are work hard to get better and the players who aren't work hard to get back out there as soon as they can so that they can work with their teammates.

"So everybody is in one of those two categories, and whichever one they're in, they're trying to make the most of it to improve."

Getting a line on it
The Patriots' patchwork offensive line allowed four sacks for 23 yards Friday night, and six hits of Cassel and Gutierrez.

With starters Matt Light and Stephen Neal and key reserves Russ Hochstein, Ryan O'Callaghan, and Billy Yates all on the shelf, was it a case of unfamiliarity among those in the trenches?

"I think there's probably a couple of plays where you could attribute [it] to that," Belichick said. "Overall, I'd say that Philadelphia has a good defense and they're well-coached and they have a good scheme and I think they created some situations for us that were less than optimum and we had a little trouble handling."

"It was a combination of things. I think our offensive line got a little bit better as the game went along, but we need to get off to a faster start and be more productive earlier than we've been in the last couple of weeks. So I don't want to minimize that.

"Time is running real short and we're just going to have to work our way through it and work and get better as a total offensive unit. Not just the linemen, but the backs and the tight ends, and all the people who are involved."

Grabbing praise
There was no update on the rib injury suffered by wideout Wes Welker, who was hurt while fielding a punt early in the first half, but Belichick was encouraged by what he saw from wideouts C.J. Jones (3 catches, 70 yards, 1 TD) and Chad Jackson (2 catches, 17 yards, 1 TD) in the second half.

Ray Ventrone had four catches for 49 yards, including a 21-yard catch-and-run, to give him a team-leading eight receptions through three exhibitions.

"I thought at the end of the game, offensively, we were able to string some positive plays together, more so than we were the first half, and some of that was the receivers making some catches," Belichick said. "Chad and C.J. Jones both went up and very aggressively got balls that were good catches. Ray Ventrone had some good catch-and-run plays and I thought he ran hard with the ball after he caught it. [Tight ends] Dave Thomas and Tyson DeVree and those guys showed up on a few plays as well.

"Overall, the receivers made some plays, whether it was going up aggressively to catch the ball or catch-and-run type of plays, a couple of red-area conversions, a couple of third-down conversions, a couple of long balls, so that was encouraging because you like to see receivers go up and get the ball regardless of what quarter it is or who's guarding them or who's throwing it or anything else.

"Those were positives probably a little better than we had in the two previous games."

Even Stephen
While the kickoff and punt coverage left much to be desired - especially at the end of the first half when the Patriots gave up a 101-yard kickoff return by Quentin Demps and a 76-yard punt return by rookie sensation DeSean Jackson - Belichick was pleased with one area of special teams: the kicking of Stephen Gostkowski, who converted a 35-yard field goal to improve to 5 for 5 in the preseason. "I think he's having a good camp and he's kicking the ball well," Belichick said. "He had a good offseason and he had a good spring and he's been pretty consistent all the way through this year going back to May." . . . The green dots you may have noticed on the back of Tedy Bruschi's and Mike Vrabel's helmets Friday night indicated that they were outfitted with headsets to receive defensive calls from the sideline. Belichick said the team used the headsets in the first half and in the third quarter. "I think it's a learning experience for everyone," Belichick said. "We know more about it now. We have a least a game under our belts to try and figure out what's the best way to utilize it, how to make it advantageous, and how to keep it from being a problem, or another log on the fire that we really don't need."