Patriots coach Bill Belichick held a conference call with reporters today (noon) and opened by saying: “Short night, but a good one, and I think everyone has a little bit of an energy burst here this morning and heading into this afternoon after last night’s game.”
A few items of note from Belichick:
1) Responding from adversity with energy. Belichick liked how the team bounced back. “To respond to everything – the trip, the San Diego loss and so forth – and play well, I thought we had some good energy out there and played aggressively.” Overall, Belichick said: “From game one to game six, there has been a lot of improvement with our football team.”
2) No injury updates. Belichick said he did not have any injury updates, although Boston Globe colleague Christopher Gasper confirmed that Rodney Harrison has a torn quad muscle and is out for the season. “It was difficult for all of us to watch Rodney to be carted off,” Belichick said. Asked later about the status of running back Sammy Morris, Belichick repeated that he had no information to pass along.
3) Eyeing the Rams. “They certainly have done well since their bye week, the last couple weeks,” Belichick said. “They played outstanding against Dallas and are probably playing as good as anybody in the league right now based on the last couple of weeks. They’re a very athletic team, and [Stephen] Jackson is a tremendous back. They have great skill players. They’re tough on defense and the kicking game, so we have a lot to get ready for on a team we don’t know very well. It’s a short week so we’ll have to hustle here to catch up.”
4) Green-Ellis made his mark in practice. Belichick talked about how rookie running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis performed well in practice on the scout team, emulating running backs like the Jets' Thomas Jones, the Dolphins' Ronnie Brown, and the Chargers' LaDainian Tomlinson. Of Green-Ellis’s performance against the Broncos, Belichick said, “I thought he ran with good vision, good balance, like he usually does in practice.”
5) Maroney follow-up. Asked about the decision to place Laurence Maroney on season-ending injured reserve, Belichick said it was based on a shoulder issue the team felt wouldn’t be resolved by the end of the season. He would not specify if Maroney would require surgery.
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What an enormous loss for the Pats again this season. Rodney has been a huge part of this Patriot team for years now-and he will be missed more than he could ever imagine. Thank You Rodney, for giving all of yourself, for all these years. The Pats would have not been the same team without you. I only hope that his presence stays alive in his absence-in the locker room and out on the field. Thank You Rodney...for everything!!!
When a player has been outstanding for many years, it is difficult to to see that that player's career come to an end. We saw this with Troy Brown, and alas, we have seeing this with Rodney. I do not see him rehabbging this latest injury and then returning for, perhabs, another and more devastating injury. Thank you and farewell, Rodney. Another player who has probably reached the end is Tedy. This season should probably be his last. He is ready for a well-earned retirement from palying football. I can see him entering the coaching field very nicely.
The curse of (name of a disgruntled ex-pats player here)
Amen . . . Rodney brought it every single damn game he played it. I know how he always seemed to wind up on the top ten 'dirtiest players' list, but it's hard to stay off it when you're playing 125% on EVERY single play. Watching the highlights of the 49'ers game a few weeks ago, it looked like number 37 was in on every downfield tackle and more than a few at the line as well. He played with heart, passion, fire, and grit and there's no way to replace the guy. He came within about 2 millimeters (or the ball did) of bringing us a fourth superbowl when he took down David Tyree. Watch that play at any speed you want as many times as you want, 999999999 times out of 1000000000 that ball hits the turf because Rodney was hanging all over Tyree's arm while taking him to the turf.
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