01:13 PM EDT on Thursday, August 18, 2005

Frank the moderator: Are you ready for some football? Chat, that as. Providence Journal sportswriter Tom Curran returns to talk about training camp and the Super Bowl champs' upcoming 2005 season, today, Aug. 18 at noon.

Frank the moderator: Log in and submit your questions and comments now. Tom will be online at noon with lots to talk about.

go pats: Tom -- how do the other AFC teams look this preseason?
Tom Curran: Hi Pats, You know, I'm skeptical. In the AFC East alone you have the Bills with a raw quarterback, the Dolphins clearly in a rebuilding stage and the Jets with a sore-armed QB. It's hard to say any of those teams did a lot to counter New England's power. However, I think each of those AFC East teams -- the Bills and Miami especially -- will be the "nobody wants to play them" types.

Frank the moderator: From an email: Who appears to be the odd man out at quarterback? I'm assuming the Patriots will keep three.
Tom Curran: Hello, my e-mailing friend, I agree with your assumption that the Pats will take three but the water is a lot muddier than the team expected it to be at this point. Cassel's performed better than Davey and with more decisiveness. Unexpected. And Flutie has been scatter-armed and ineffective. Flutie is the swing guy in all of this. If he can't show an ability to run the team with any effectiveness through the air, the Pats are almost forced to keep Davey because they can't enter the season with the rawest of rookies -- Cassel -- and a guy who can't play anymore. Tonight will help clear things, I think.

go pats: Tom -- Each year Tom Brady becomes a bigger national sports figure, will he become the most popular figure in the NFL? P.S. I'm tired of Payton (both of them), Owens, etc...
Tom Curran: I imagine Brady will be like Derek Jeter most of his career. When the conversation about the league's best player begins, Brady - like Jeter -- won't be in it immediately because other guys throw up bigger numbers. But he will be more revered by passionate fans (or reviled) because of his ability to be the ultimate leader in the ultimate team sport. Also, Brady's popularity is tied to how much he embraces the limelight. And while people have seen him on SNL and in GQ, believe me, he's turned down things nobody turns down because he just isn't interested.

go pats: Tom -- great job. Talk about other players whose position on the team will be a little more clearer after tonight game.
Tom Curran: That's a really good question because that's what these games are for. You spend the offseason and training camp gearing up to take what you've learned onto the field. How well can you do that? That's what these games are for. Flutie for one. Antuan Edwards (did you forget about the former first-round safety?) for another. Where Monty Beisel plays and how he plays will be worth watching as well. From my vantage point, I don't think he's wowed the coaching staff so far at LB.

Mrs. B: I'm not sure if my last messages went through because of the sign-on but here goes again... Where do you think injured Bethel and PK stand with the emergence of Bam and Anderson at camp. Any chance of PS consideration for the two newbies?
Tom Curran: Hey, Mrs. B, Terrific job all through camp on your updates. I admire your diligence. I absolutely believe Bam Childress is working himself closer to a spot on the practice squad at least. He's been terrific. As for Anderson, you have to like his size/speed combo. As far as him bumping someone like Bethel or PK Sam, I don't know. I find it hard to think either would be cut but one or both could end up on IR because -- truth be told -- they haven't demonstrated huge value on a consistent basis in the passing game.

Mrs. B: I agree about Beisel. Aside from those back to back eyecatching plays in the first game, I barely noticed him at camp.
Tom Curran: And on those two plays, look who he was playing against. Raw guys. That's the perfect example of a misleading preseason performance -- a veteran who's decent playing against young guys. That's why I'm always skeptical of Patrick Pass' big preseason numbers. He should average 5 YPC against rookies and free agents.

normand: how much do you anticipate the "first" team will play tonite
Tom Curran: Normand, A lot. This is a "big" preseason game for a lot of reasons. The situation is almost identical to what they'll face against Oakland (night game at home on national TV) and Belichick loves to replicate situations so things aren't foreign to players. This is also the best game for the Pats to use their players extensively since the final preseason games are close to that Thursday opener.

Frank the moderator: From an email: Could Terrell Owens or Manny Ramirez play for Bill Belichick?
Tom Curran: I don't think so. Owens could never be just a cog in the machine. He's a GREAT receiver, but he seems so insecure that he needs the greatness of TO validated every 4 minutes. As for Manny, for as disciplined as he is as a hitter, he's lazy in doing the little things. He also doesn't seem to be tremendously smart and -- as we've seen over the past few years -- Belichick likes smart players who work hard at the little things. Good question.

normand: how healthy is Watson, and is he going to be able to contribute
Tom Curran: I don't know how healthy he is. He practiced and looked good this week but that's happened before and then he kind of vanishes into inactivity. I like him as a guy, as a subject to talk to and as a player but it's disconcerting that he's got a long history of injuries dating back to Georgia.

Mrs. B: I"m a bit surprised at your comment about the QBs. I would feel much more comfortable with an aging Flutie than the ever "consistent" erratic, overthrowing, panicking in the pocket Rohan!
Tom Curran: I see your point but Flutie hasn't thrown well AT ALL. Davey is at least getting the ball to people on the fly. That's why I feel Flutie has to show something - ANYTHING - tonight.

Mrs. B: I'm still surprised that Phifer isn't back, you? (Especially if Vrabel is dinged up.)
Tom Curran: His time really declined last season and he was quietly unhappy about it. I wonder if the staff saw a decline in his work.

Frank the moderator: Have you seen the GQ issue?
Tom Curran : No, their publicists sent me the quotes in an e-mail to bang the drum for the issue. Unfortunately, the fallout will make it harder for people who cover the football side of Brady to get close to him I fear. I mean, the Boston Herald made it sound like Brady spends his nights downloading porn and hypes that idiocy on its front page. But the basis for that assertion was an interruption by the GQ reporter in the middle of a Brady reply and Brady's failure to specifically confirm or deny that he checks out internet porn. That's not treating the subject fairly. It stinks when one segment of the media makes it harder for another segment to do its job because how can you expect players to differentiate between the "football" guys, "news" guys and "gossip" guys.

Susi: Tom, Cassel looked like he trusted himself more than his recievers. Is Belickick upset about that? You do need a whole team, right, a QB can't just run the ball down the field himself. btw, Davey looked awful.
Tom Curran: Susi, I see how you could come to that conclusion, but I think those decisions made in a thousandth of a second to throw or take off don't normally include looking at players and deciding they won't make a play. I think Cassel did the right thing by running often. Clearly, he wasn't reading things as quickly as a more experienced guy would and -- given the choice between hitting a seam in the rush or checking the next receiver, he ran. Belichick would prefer he run through the pass options deeper, I'm sure but he's an exceptional case at this point.

lostmysox: Tom - I'll give this one more try - will you be continuing your blog during the season? You seem to be struggling a little with the medium and the immediacy it demands. Most of us enjoy knowing what is actually happening when it's happening, with a little insight or opinion to boot of course. More extensive opinion and spin we can get the next day in the papers or other media.
Tom Curran: Hey, Sox, First, thanks for the patience. I'll absolutely be continuing the blog. And I appreciate your view -- Mike Reiss, who worked at MetroWest as I did and is now at the Globe -- broke ground on this beat by first doing a blog and then the volume of updates he did. He's one of my close friends and I'm very happy for him. He did his blog differently from mine. To be honest I have far more commitments in our daily paper than he did. The blog was his main thing. It's a component of my coverage. My philosophy on the blog follows that of RISD's own Talking Heads in Psychokiller. "You're talkin' a lot, but you're not sayin' anything. When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed. Say something once, why say it again?" Then I'll point to last Friday night's blog coverage of Tom Brady's availability. That's what I have in mind -- give you news as it happens when tomorrow will be too late. I'll be honest, the blog's evolving. Hang in there. I will too.

normand: this is my first time doing this, recently relocated, but a life lone New Englander, and loooong time pats fan, how ofter do you do this, and thank you for this
Tom Curran: N, Thanks for stopping by. I have another chat scheduled for the week of the opener. I look forward to talking to you then.

Frank the moderator: Thanks, Tom for another insightful chat. We'll post the exact time and date of your next chat soon. (Sometime before the first real game of the seaon.)
Thanks to everyone for stopping by.