Mike Reiss of ESPN reported on Monday that the Patriots have finally parted ways with linebacker Adalius Thomas, and have released the veteran linebacker.

A sixth-round pick out of Southern Miss in 2000, Thomas was signed by New England as a free agent following the 2006 season, but his relationship with head coach Bill Belichick seemed to deteriorate during the 2009 season after being late for an 8am meeting due to a snowstorm which lead to him being sent home along with several other teammates.

“That’s one thing about Mother Nature,” Thomas later told the media following the incident. ”You can’t control that. You can’t run people over getting to work. … I didn’t try to be late. That’s basically it. I don’t know anything else to say. Cars sitting in the road, you’re sitting there. What can you do? It’s not the Jetsons. I can’t jump up into the sky. What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Things were never the same after that with Thomas, and his lack of productivity didn’t help his situation.  Now it appears as a result they’re moving on without him, and more importantly there’s a malcontent that has been removed from the locker room.

Day three is in the books, and here’s the list of players who the Patriots acquired in rounds 4-7 of the 2010 NFL Draft:

4 #15 (113) Aaron Hernandez (TE) Florida
5 #19 (150) Zoltan Mesko (P) Michigan 
6 #36 (205) Ted Larsen (OL) N.C. State 
7 #1 (208) Thomas Welch (OL) Vanderbilt 
7 #40 (247) Brandon Deaderick (DL) Alabama 
7 #41 (248) Kade Weston (DL) Georgia 
7 #43 (250) Zac Robinson (QB) Oklahoma St

We’ll have more information on these players later tonight, and a full breakdown will be available Sunday morning.

Newly drafted Patriots cornerback Tweeted earlier about his excitement about being a new member of the Patriots.

“Still don’t feel real man but IM A PATRIOT!!!!! Cheaaaaaaaa”

McCourty, who took part in a conference call with the media late Thursday night, told reporters that he’s happy about the opportunity to play in New England. It was an emotional evening for him, but he’s looking forward to coming to Foxboro.

“I was just watching the draft and kind of just enjoying the moment of actually watching the draft with so much interest and excitement,” said McCourty. “I was just joking around on Twitter. I’m happy to be a Patriot right now. It’s an incredible feeling. Me and my mom, we cried for a little bit. We’re just so happy right now.”

Judging by what’s gone on with other teammates with Twitter, one would expect that his channel (@DMcCourty21) will either go silent, or become “protected” (which is what happened to Darius Butler’s channel) in the not too distant future once he arrives in Foxboro and Belichick has a chance to sit down and meet with him.

Although fellow DB Leigh Bodden remains one of the exceptions, and congratulated McCourty via Twitter:

“RT @cheekmeister: Pats have 3 CBs on twitter now @DariusButler28, @LeighBodden and @DMcCourty21->> yeaaaaaa congrats homie!”

Someone posted this video on YouTube.  It’s an interesting highlight video of McCourty during his time at Rutgers:

Here’s another one of McCourty going through DB drills at Pro Day:

Here’s another one of a 98-yard kickoff return for a TD:

The Patriots watched 13 defensive players come off the board, along with trading down twice before Bill Belichick finally grabbed New England’s first pick of 2010, with the team taking cornerback Devin McCourty with the 27th overall selection.

McCourty is a 5’11” 193-pounds out of Rutgers who during his college career definitely impressed.  According to CBS McCourty held receivers to only 42 receptions for 386 yards on 158 passes targeted into his area, meaning that quarterbacks completed just 26.58 percent of those tosses and their intended targets were limited to 9.19 yards per pass completion and 2.44 yards per attempt.  Some experts also say he was the best Special Teams player in the draft.

So a potential shut down corner who hopefully will flourish under Belichick, it seems like he should be a good fit.

For anyone interested here’s a good article on McCourty from December.

We’ll have more on this selection shortly.

Fans will get to spend their Thanksgiving this year watching the Patriots take on the Lions in Detroit.  One Patriot player has already sounded off on this one, with CB Leigh Bodden “tweeting” that he’s looking forward to it.

Said Bodden, “Facing the Lions Turkey Day… I actually knew we were. I had fun two years ago playing on that day and Im gonna have fun again!”

You can follow Bodden’s Twitter Channel here: @LeighBodden

The NFL released the 2010 regular season schedule for all 32 teams on Tuesday night, and here is how the schedule shaped up for the Patriots:

Sunday Sept. 12 vs. Bengals – 1 pm

Sunday Sept. 19 at N.Y. Jets 4:15 pm

Sunday Sept. 26 vs. Bills  1 pm

Monday Oct. 4 at Miami 8:30 pm

BYE

Sunday Oct. 17 vs. Baltimore 1 pm

Sunday Oct. 24 at San Diego 1:15 pm

Sunday Oct. 31 vs. Minnesota 4:15 pm

Sunday Nov. 7 at Cleveland 1 pm

Sunday Nov. 14 at Pittsburgh 8:20 pm

Sunday Nov. 21 vs. Indianapolis 4:15 pm

Thursday Nov. 25 at Detroit 12:30 pm

Monday. Dec. 6 vs. N.Y. Jets 8:30 pm

Sunday Dec. 12 at Chicago 1 pm

Sunday Dec. 19 vs. Green Bay 8:20 pm

Sunday Dec. 26 at Buffalo 1 pm

Sunday Jan. 2 vs. Miami 1 pm

The NFL Network just announced the Patriots will open up the 2010 season against the Cincinnati Bengals at Gillette Stadium at 1:00pm.

We’ll have the rest of the schedule as it becomes available.