Hart 7/31 AM notes

[pats1]

http://www.patriots.com/search/index.cfm?ac=searchdetail&pid=32973&pcid=44&special_section=tc2008

7/31/08
Meriweather settling in; Thursday morning notes
By Andy Hart, Patriots Football Weekly

Second-year safety Brandon Meriweather has learned a lot in his first year in New England and is looking more comfortable every day in the back end of the Patriots defense.

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Practice notes
The team activated rookie free agent center Ryan Wendell from PUP, leaving eight player on the PUP list at this point. … Before the start to practice the team continued what has become a training camp tradition with the rookies. The young players had to dive on a loose ball on a soggy, wet portion of the practice field on the furthest corner of facility away from fans and media members. While the rookies ran and dove on the ball they were squirted with a garden hose. The players then had to practice in some pretty wet cloths and pads. … Beyond the eight players still on PUP those not on the field for the morning workout included Jason Webster, James Sanders, Vince Redd, Matt Light and David Thomas. … Punter Chris Hanson literally took one on the chin when rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo knocked him off his feet during a kickoff return drill. Hanson, the team’s only punter in camp, was working as an outside coverage guy on the scout kick team. … Kevin O’Connell got his most significant reps of camp in team work, but the rookie continues to struggle with inconsistent throws. … Practice closed with a full-contact goal line drill that pitted the first teams on both sides of the ball against each other. Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan both had solid, second-effort touchdown runs in the action. Belichick joked of the double-edged nature of the drill afterwards, “We win and we lose.” … The Patriots return to the practice field at 4 p.m. for a one-hour, fifteen-minute workout that’s open to the public. New England does not have practice on Friday and will return to the field for a workout on Saturday at 2:30 that is closed to the public due to a concert at Gillette. The only public practice of the weekend is scheduled for Sunday at 2:30, but as always fans are urged to check patriots.com for camp updates before heading to Foxborough to watch workouts.