BB's press conf questions
 

http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal.../reiss_pieces/

Some questions really sounded odd..i could picture borges asking them
"
How big of an issue was the other backs' age (on the roster)?
"It wasn't a big issue. I'm saying I think you want to have young players at every position to work with. That's something you always want on your team. That wasn't what drove the pick. What drove the pick was the value of the player relative to the other players on the board and for our system. That's not to say they aren't other good players on the board that are going to play well in the league. There's plenty of them, but for what we need and what we ask our players to do, we felt like he had the best value on the board so that's why we selected him."

How is Corey Dillon doing? Is he training here?
"I talked to Corey. I've talked to him today and I think he understands and I explained to him what the situation was and all of that. We expect Corey to be ready to go. I'm sure that he will be. He's a professional. He's been a very productive player for us and we expect Corey to have major contributions for us this year as we do Kevin and Patrick. I think our backs are talented. I think they've been productive for us and I expect them to continue to be."

It's interesting that you called him today. Did you feel like he deserved to know what you guys were doing?
"I talked to most all of our players. Whatever our conversations are between a player and coach are player and coach conversations."

Is it standard to call players when you are drafting someone at their position?
"I talk to players all the time. Why would I not talk to them?"

Did you talk to [Russ] Hochstein and Steve Neal before you drafted Logan Mankins last year?
"They were actually here."
"

Corey has a big contract and he'd still count against the cap if released so why should Corey "give a rat's ass" about Maroney. Now if I were 'drop the ball" Faulk or "shot in the thigh" Pass, I might be concerned.

I loved the way BB said our RB's had "alot of experience" as opposed to being old. That's the way to spin it.

If they split carries for a couple years we'll have a devastating attack without grinding Corey into the ground.

We've got plenty of room to keep 4-6 rb, fb on the roster. Time to cut the deadwood and have fresh palyers on offense.

We could eliminate the Klecko position, whatever that is.

Hoodie: How about re-phrasing this to : "Most underated Pat's playoff performer for three Super Bowls" Faulk or "never fumbling the ball in returning kickoffs for six years" Pass. Have you only been watching the Patriots for the second half of the 2005 season?

Faulk has been a terrific contributor to the Championship runs and deserves a little more respect and appreciation - yeesh. He always makes good things happen on 3rd down. He runs screens and catches the ball out of the backfield as well or better than any Patriot ever.

Pass is a decent FB/HB and special teams player. He has done a lot of good things for the Pats as well.

For you to pick out a couple of isolated incidents and insult them is not funny at all.

Maroney is a great addition and will compliment Dillon nicely all year.

We need all 4 of these guys - it's called quality depth.

Agree. And if I were a LB and saw Maroney and Corey in the backfield on 4th and 1, I'd be calling a timeout.

I love Kevin but you have to admit he does have a way of putting the ball on the ground at inopportune momments. I'm always nervous when he's carrying the ball. And I think Pass is a good backup but don't you think the decision to go with Maroney had something to do with Faulk and Pass' (and Dillon's) failures last year?