Tom’s absence mystery
Belichick mum on missing quarterback
FOXBORO — The most notable absence at practice yesterday remains shrouded in uncertainty.
Quarterback Tom Brady was not seen during the 20-minute media window on the fields behind Gillette Stadium, and the Patriots were not exactly forthcoming as to why.
Coach Bill Belichick was asked during yesterday’s press conference to expound on whether Brady, who missed Thursday night’s game against Chicago because he reportedly cut himself with scissors before kickoff, had been excused for non-football reasons.
“No, I don’t comment on any personal situations,” Belichick said.
Earlier in the day during an appearance on WEEI,
Jimmy Garoppolo, who is in line to start in place of Brady during his four-game suspension at the beginning of the season, did not shed any more light on why Brady has missed practice.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Garoppolo said. “It’s kind of like the game day, I thought he was going to start. . . . It’s just kind of how we roll around here, though. You never know when your number is going to be called, you’ve always got to be ready, and it worked out pretty well.”
Chung, Shaq out
Safety Patrick Chung also was not seen at practice, which was a bit of a surprise given his full participation in preseason games and training camp.
Guard Shaq Mason, who broke his right hand, was not at practice but was spotted with a plastic cast. Tight end Rob Gronkowski, defensive end Jabaal Sheard and defensive tackle
Alan Branch were other notable absences. Sheard was seen in the locker room in street clothes earlier and was not wearing any brace or cast on his body.
Two players who have seen minimal work this camp, rookie running back
D.J. Foster and wide receiver Keshawn Martin, both participated in early drills.
Trio sent packing
Cornerback V’Angelo
Bentley, who was used mostly as a kick returner but was not making much noise during camp, was released along with tight end Bear Pascoe and safety Cedric Thompson.
Unique challenge
The Carolina Panthers will offer an array of weapons in Friday’s third preseason game, the likes of which don’t come around every week.
For one, last season’s MVP, quarterback Cam Newton, has the speed of a receiver in a tight end’s body when he scrambles or keeps the ball on designed runs to go with a strong arm.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder also has a nice arsenal of backs and receivers. Kelvin
Benjamin, who also is 6-5, is a sizable target at receiver, and fellow wideout
Ted Ginn presents problems with his speed. Jonathan
Stewart leads a solid running back unit.
“Really, we’re just trying to stop the main threats, obviously, which are Cam and the running backs,” cornerback Justin Coleman said. “(They have) speed guys like Ginn, and (they have) guys like Kelvin Benjamin. But the main thing we plan on doing is basically doing our job.”
But while the third preseason game is viewed as the one most closely resembling the regular season, Belichick cautioned against that line of thinking.
“We’re not talking about a regular-season game here,” the coach said. “We’re not talking about game-planning and all of those kind of things, which I can’t imagine would happen in this game, but they’re going to happen in a couple of weeks, so it’s a whole different ballgame. I don’t think you can compare this game to a regularseason game even though I’ve heard people try to do that. I’m not sure what game they’re looking at.”
Vollmer’s void felt
Left tackle Nate Solder is among those who will miss right tackle Sebastian
Vollmer, who likely will miss the rest of the season because of a hip injury.
“Oh, man, I love Sebastian,” Solder said, “And whatever he needs and whatever it is, I’ll always be there for him.”
The two share close quarters in the locker room, and Solder has had to come to grips with not having his other bookend around.
“Sebastian’s an awesome guy,” he added. “He’s one of my best friends. . . . But as a group, we just have to move forward.”
Vollmer is in the last year of his contract and is not being extended despite his request in November, so it’s possible he has played his last game in a Pats uniform.
Whatever you say
The league made a recent rule change to how practice reports should be administered, eliminating the designation of “probable.”
Belichick was nonchalant about the new rule.
“I haven’t read them yet, but whatever (the new rules) are, we’ll follow them, whatever that happens to be,” he said.