DE Green kept up

His family OK after hurricane

FOXBOROUGH - Jarvis Green reported for work yesterday at Gillette Stadium, a bit bleary-eyed from his round-the-clock vigil over the last 48 hours as he watched television reports of Hurricane Gustav.

Green, a defensive end from Louisiana State whose family lives in Baton Rouge, was kept up by the horrible memory of Hurricane Katrina.

So while Gustav loomed in the Gulf of Mexico, "I got a little restless last night," Green said. "I woke up periodically during the middle of the night. Two nights ago, I went to bed about 4, just watching the storm and its progress."

Yesterday, Green woke up at 5 a.m. to get the latest as Gustav was about to make landfall.

"It's not bad," Green reported. "It got a little weak, so once it hit land, it slowed down, which was a good thing."

While that brought Green some peace of mind, he repeatedly called home for news.

"I've been calling everybody's phone, but [the lines] are down now," he said. "I've just been texting everyone. I have a friend who's back home in my house right now and he says there were strong winds, but everything was OK."

So, too, was his family, Green was happy to report.

"Everybody lives in Baton Rouge, pretty much my whole family," he said. "My brothers and sisters and mom and dad, they live in Baton Rouge. But they did get 60- to 70-mile-per-hour winds, but not much damage."

And flooding? "Yeah, we got some flooding going on, that's going to happen," Green said.

But compared with Katrina?

"Oh, not even close," he said.

More moves

The signing of cornerback Deltha O'Neal wasn't the only move the Patriots made. They claimed tight end Jason Pociask (Jets) and offensive tackle Mark LeVoir (Rams) off waivers, and signed offensive lineman Jason Bender, who was cut by the Jets, and tight end Tyson DeVree, who had been cut by New England, to the practice squad, bringing it to a full complement of eight players. The team also released tight end Stephen Spach.

Coach Bill Belichick, in his weekly appearance on sports radio WEEI yesterday, indicated that the roster shuffling is not over.

"It seems like a few more moving parts than usual," he said. "We've been busy and it's probably not over yet. There are still a few more roster adjustments or tweaks here in the next week or two." One tweak could be the return of veteran safety John Lynch, who was released Saturday.

Glad to be here

Backup quarterback Matt Cassel, who struggled in the preseason, was asked if he breathed a sigh of relief when he learned he had made the roster. "I was just happy when the information came through and I knew I had made the team again," Cassel said. "Every year, it's like that. Every year, you want to come out and make the team, that's the No. 1 goal. For me to accomplish that, and all the hard work I'd put in through the offseason and the preseason and everything else, paid off and so I'm here and I'm excited about that." Though the productivity was lacking, Cassel thought he made significant strides during the preseason. "I thought it was a great preseason for me, to start those games," he said. "They're quality defenses and you can't simulate that or emulate that when you get in practice. It's one of those things where the game speed is completely different from how you do it in practice, and to get out there, week in and week out, I thought I made a lot of progress."

Words escape him

Wes Welker, who suffered a rib injury in the first preseason game against Tampa Bay, and Tom Brady practiced for the second straight day. Offensive lineman Russ Hochstein, who suffered an undisclosed injury in the first preseason game, also returned to practice. Brady was asked what percentage he would place on his health. "Coach hates percentages, so I usually don't give them," he said. "I have been yelled at more times with comments I make, so I am laying off that one. Write that, so he reads that, too." . . . The Patriots had guard Evan Mathis, a third-round draft choice of the Panthers in 2005, in for a tryout. The team also had in rookie punters Adam Crossett (Missouri) and Waylon Prather (San Jose State).

Mike Reiss of the Globe staff contributed to this report.