7/27/07
Scott carted off; afternoon notes
by Paul Perillo, Patriots Football Weekly
The Patriots were possibly dealt some bad news on Day 1 of training camp as veteran cornerback Chad Scott, one of the leading candidates to replace Asante Samuel if the franchised corner chooses to prolong his holdout, appeared to be seriously injured while working in coverage.
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Who’s hot
James Sanders – Not known as a coverage safety, Sanders stood out both in the drills and in the team period. Sanders aggressively hounded all the receivers he was assigned to, and when his man did catch the pass he worked on causing fumbles with a ballhawk technique.
Who’s not
Quarterbacks – It’s common for the quarterbacks to struggle early in camp and Day 1 was no exception. Tom Brady, Matt Cassel and even little-used Matt Gutierrez were off target quite often. Cassel in particular seemed to struggle in finding his rhythm during team drills.
Play of the day
During some team work, Cassel looked deep and found Jabar Gaffney down the left sideline. Gaffney was able to get his feet in bounds just before Tory James came over to knock him off stride, but the veteran corner couldn’t prevent the big completion.
Kicking around
Josh Miller worked on some situational punting while the gunners tried to down the kicks inside the 5. Things didn’t go well for the veteran during the drill as Miller struggled to keep his kicks out of the end zone.
Punting from the 35, several balls landed deep into the end zone and some even traveled out of the back. When Miller finally got the range down, the coverage people then had a hard time with their footwork and often downed the kicks while already standing in the end zone. Clearly, it’s very early in training camp.
Afternoon notes
There were various reports that indicated first-round pick Brandon Meriweather signed during the afternoon but the rookie safety was not present for the workout. … There was one addition to the list of players sitting out practice. Safety Rashad Baker appeared to injure his back early in the morning session and was not on the field for the second workout. The Patriots officially announced the group of players on the physically unable to perform list: Chad Jackson, Donte’ Stallworth, Richard Seymour, Eddie Jackson, Troy Brown, Mel Mitchell and David Thomas. The team also announced the release of rookie running back Justise Hairston. Hairston was on PUP but the sixth-round pick was let go before he had a chance to work his way off it. … Maroney, Eric Alexander and Junior Seau remained in red jerseys. … According to the Patriots media relations department, 9,570 fans watched the team take part in their first day of camp. The morning session drew 6,160 while the afternoon practice had 3,410. Tommorow’s practice is closed to the public because of the Country Music Festival that will take place at Gillette Stadium.
