Team well-versed in time management
(Globe Staff / John Bohn)
Philadelphia's Asante Samuel upends former teammate Randy Moss in the first quarter of Friday's game.
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FOXBOROUGH - The schedule makers did the Patriots no favors this preseason, giving them three games in an 11-day span.
After enjoying just five days between a road trip to Tampa to play the Buccaneers Aug. 17, then having to bounce back to face the Eagles at home Friday night, the Patriots now must travel to New Jersey to face the Giants Thursday night, just six days after the 27-17 loss to the Eagles.
With an 0-3 record, it would appear the last thing the Patriots need is another truncated week of preparations, as they'll have practice today and tomorrow and a walkthrough Wednesday before departing to play the Giants in the final tuneup before opening the season at home Sept. 7 against the Chiefs.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the game plan doesn't change in a short week; it just has to be implemented in a shorter amount of time.
He looks at it as a learning experience, especially since during the regular season they will have three Sunday night games on the road and a Monday night affair at home, as well as a stretch in which they'll play the Bills at home Nov. 9 and then have to turn around and host the New York Jets in a Thursday night contest.
"We will have plenty of those weeks during the season, so it is not like it's not going to come up again," said Belichick. "That is the way it is, so we just have to do what we would normally do in seven days in less time when that is the situation. That is the way it will be this week.
"And it's the same thing from a physical standpoint. Guys could always use an extra day and we have a couple of short weeks here [in the preseason], with Tampa to Philadelphia and Philadelphia to the Giants, but we will have a couple of extra days on the other end going into the Kansas City game.
"In the end it all evens out, with every long week there is a short week and with every short week there is a long week . . . There is nothing we can do about it and no point in making a big deal about it."
Gone, not forgotten
Lost in the all the hype surrounding the return to Gillette Stadium of Asante Samuel was the fact that another former Patriot was also returning to his old stomping grounds as a member of the Eagles, Bam Childress.
"It was kind of like, 'I'm on the other side,' " said Childress. "It was cool though. I still went out there. I still tried to make plays. That's not ever going to stop."
Childress, who was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State in 2005, spent most of his time in New England on the practice squad and was there for the entire 2007 season. However, he did appear in three games with the Patriots, making five catches for 39 yards and was a locker room favorite of many of his teammates.
Childress, who had two catches for 13 yards against his former team, said he talked to almost all the Patriots before Friday's game and spoke with Belichick afterward.
"He just wished me luck, and said I played good and 'Glad to see you.' I told him the same thing. I said, 'Thanks. I appreciate everything you did for me.' I know he's a busy man. We kept it short and sweet," said Childress.
Childress said Patriots fans shouldn't be concerned about the team's preseason play and that the team will be a championship contender, as it is every year, when it's all said and done.
"Bill will get them right. There ain't no reason that I wouldn't believe that he won't," said Childress. "They're a good team still. They still got old veterans that are just real good. They're going to pull it together."
Flag football
Among the many areas the Patriots need to show improvement in is penalties. They had 10 for 81 yards against the Eagles, seven on offense, with three holding calls (Wesley Britt, Logan Mankins, and Mike Flynn), a pair of offensive pass interference penalties (Jonathan Stupar and Ray Ventrone), a false start by Nick Kaczur, and an illegal motion penalty on Randy Moss. Britt's holding penalty in the second quarter negated a first-down-gaining pass to Benjamin Watson and Moss's illegal motion infraction wiped out a first down at the Philadelphia 7-yard line, ultimately forcing the Patriots to settle for a field goal . . . Tomorrow the Patriots will be required to make their first cuts. The team must trim its 80-man roster to 75 by 4 p.m. The final cuts, which will put the roster at 53, not including the eight-man practice squad, will be made Saturday . . . Take these stats for what they're worth, but the team's leading receiver in the exhibition season is Ventrone, who has eight catches for 97 yards, and its longest rush is the 22-yard scamper quarterback Matt Cassel had on the team's opening drive against Philadelphia.
