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http://news.bostonherald.com/blogs/patriots/
August 8th, 2007
From practice
Posted by Albert Breer at 8:20 pm
Even in full pads, the Patriots’ practice was decidedly light on contact this afternoon, which would likely be to gear down a bit with the preseason opener two days away. More here:
– With Randy Moss down, Reche Caldwell continues to take advantage of his chances. Early in camp, he didn’t see a ton of first-team reps, and that might be part of the reason why he failed to impress. But it’s clear now that Tom Brady looks to and trusts him. The two clearly have a rapport stronger than Brady does with the new receivers, and it’s evidenced by the way the quarterback doesn’t hesitate to throw to him in tight spots on timing routes. Another thing that stands out about Caldwell, especially when compared with some of the other tight ends and wideouts, is the way he’s catching everything with his hands. On one play, he combined the two edges he carries. Caldwell was running a comeback route to the offensive left, and just as he chopped his feet, Brady released the ball. It flew a bit over his head, but Caldwell was aware enough to quickly extend up and snatch the ball high out of the air for the catch. The last couple days, Caldwell’s looking likely he’d be harder and harder to cut.
– On the flip side, the strong starts of Florida Gators Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney spell trouble for one of the guys from the rival Tennessee Vols: Kelley Washington (couldn’t help myself at all with the college football reference.) Washington has a strange propensity to leave his feet for everything. There was one example in 11-on-11s, where Washington ran a dig right into the teeth of defense. Matt Cassel delivered a laser that cut right through the coverage, in between two defenders and came to Washington chest high. Instead of just positioning his hands up, Washington hopped slightly into the air and trapped the ball in his midsection. It’s a little thing here. But in the heat of the battle, that just might get your head knocked off.
– The coaches wasted little time getting Marcellus Rivers in on the offense — and with Benjamin Watson, David Thomas and Kyle Brady sideline, they had little choice. For a guy who seemed like he got out of a cab from the airport an hour ago, Rivers looked fairly comfortable in the offense. And he even had a catch in the back of the end zone where he climbed the ladder to full extension to pull in a touchdown catch.
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