Maroney's health at issue

Patriots RB insists the effort is there

Laurence Maroney has a history of shoulder problems, but the running back insists his latest issue is ''definitely a new one.'' (Barry Chin/File/The Boston Globe)

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The clock was ticking and Laurence Maroney had to be on the practice field in five minutes. So when a small group of reporters approached him yesterday, he went the stiff-arm route.

"I don't want to talk," he said.

But with some minor arm-twisting, the third-year Patriots running back, one of the more good-natured members of the team, soon relented.

What followed was a hurry-up version of question and answer, with much of the discussion centering on Maroney's disappointing 10-carry, 26-yard performance last Sunday in San Francisco, and one play on which he didn't lunge forward for a first down along the sideline.

While Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan moved piles and ran with authority, Maroney was at the opposite end of the spectrum. Why didn't he plow ahead on that third-quarter play around left end?

"Hey, I have my issues," he told reporters in remarks that lasted about 3 1/2 minutes. "There are reasons. I'd rather not speak about them, but there are reasons."

The 23-year-old Maroney has been nagged by a shoulder injury suffered in the second game of the season against the Jets. The injury led to him missing the next game against the Dolphins, and he showed up on the Patriots' injury report again this week, listed as questionable for tomorrow night's game against the Chargers.

Yet when asked if the issue to which he referred was his shoulder, the 5-foot-11-inch, 220-pound Maroney said he did not want to elaborate. Instead, he repeated that he's dealing with issues and "trying to work through them the best I can; trying to do the best I can with my problems."

Maroney had shoulder surgery after his rookie season of 2006, and missed three games last season with a rib injury. He explained that his present issue is "definitely a new one."

Maroney was later asked if he felt confident he could work through his issues.

"Well, all I can say is that I'm trying," he said. "That's all I can do at the end of the day, no matter what the media say, how they perceive me, how the fans perceive me. At the end of the day, that's all I can do.

"If I was out here not trying, that's one thing. But I'm actually out here trying to do what I can do," he continued. "So, I don't really care what everybody else says. The coaches know the issue. I know the issue. And we're trying to make the issue better, if we can."

At the same time, Maroney talked about the importance of blocking out the verbal shots fired in his direction.

"You're going to get criticism because, one, people really don't know what it is. They don't know what you're dealing with," he said. "All they're going to know is what you put out there on the TV. So, you're going to get criticism until they find out exactly what is going on, and what is the problem. I really don't pay it no attention. I just keep doing what I can do and try to make the best out of it."

Maroney expressed surprise that television cameras caught running backs coach Ivan Fears appearing to be exasperated at him on the sideline last Sunday. At one point, Fears spread his arms as if to say, "What's happening out there?"

Maroney appeared in 17 offensive snaps against the 49ers. He started in each of the first two series, before seeing the field sporadically the rest of the way as Morris (29 snaps) and Kevin Faulk (28) got the bulk of the work at running back.

Rating his confidence as "kind of good," Maroney doesn't believe it's a problem getting into a rhythm sharing carries.

"Not really. There are different backs, different styles. I like it," he said. "It keeps us fresh, keeps us going, and keeps the defense tired. You go out there and one back does something good, and you get [pumped] like you did it. Now he broke [one], now let me break [one]. It's fun out there."

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com.