FOXBORO -- The old Ken Walter was back yesterday, the guy who was
pleasant, relaxed and willing to talk about the Patriots and his role on
the team.
Walter spoke for the first time since he was cut, then reinstated by the
team. The punter conceded he had trouble dealing with the slump that led
to his being released.
"I did let some things affect me, but that's only natural," he said.
"When there are huge pressure situations, a lot of things can happen. I
think I have a better mindset now than I did then.
"It's a learning experience. This whole game is," Walter continued.
"Coming in here every day you learn new things all the time. Things
don't surprise me anymore. They never surprise me, but you just take
then for what they are and try to stay as focused as you can and help
your team win."
Walter was last in the league in punting average, at 37 yards, when he
was cut. He averaged 40 yards in four punts Sunday, three of which were
downed inside the 20.
"I'm not doing anything different at all. I've been doing this for a
long time now. I've had a lot of snaps in this league," he said. "It's
just basically blocking out a lot of the other things. It's doing what
I've done all my life. That's the most important thing. Obviously,
beating the Jets this week is first and foremost."
"I take both my jobs (punting and holding for kicker Adam Vinatieri )
pretty seriously," he said. "I probably put too much pressure on myself
at times. I don't take my job lightly. I put everything I have into it.
I think the people around here realize that or else I wouldn't be here.
Those are the things I work hard on every day."
"What's tough is you're not always going to be 100 percent," he went on.
"If I punt six times there are going to be a few here and there (not
great). You have to know how, in certain situations, to come through.
That's the most important thing. It felt good to be back out there. I
just blocked a lot of things out . . . I tried to win the crowd back
over and get them back on my side. It was a good feeling. It was good to
be back there. It's hard to watch it from the outside when you have to
leave. I'm pretty happy to be here and help this team win."
Walter, who left after Sunday's game before the locker room was open to
the media, did not want to discuss what happened in the week he was away.
"At this time it really doesn't matter, so I really don't want to get
into what I did or anything like that," he said.
Third long snapper
Walter will take snaps for his punts from a new guy Sunday, although not
new to him.
Brian Kinchen , a 38-year-old who has not played in the NFL in three
years, was signed as the team's long snapper. He replaces Sean McDermott
, who was signed last week to replace the injured Lonie Paxton .
McDermott hurt his shoulder in the Jacksonville game and has been placed
on injured reserve.
Kinchen played 13 years in the NFL, including for Bill Belichick in
Cleveland from 1991-95. He was both a tight end and long snapper who
also played for Miami (1988-90), Baltimore (1996-98) and Carolina
(1999-2000). He and Walter worked together in Carolina.
Kinchen has played on the Celebrity Golf Tour and also has done some
coaching.
"Brian snapped for us in Cleveland," Belichick said. "He was dependable.
Based on the other people we brought in, we thought at this point in
time he'd be the best for us. . . . He expressed an interest earlier in
playing for us. We didn't really have a situation. Now that's changed."
Martin hitting stride
The Patriots will be seeing an old friend Sunday who is back at the top
of his game. After a slow start, Curtis Martin has become a big factor
for the Jets once again.
Last week, Martin tied the Jets record for most yards from scrimmage in
a game, with 228, in the victory over Pittsburgh (174 on 30 carries, 54
on four receptions). In the process, Martin went over the 1,000-yard
mark for the ninth straight season. Only Barry Sanders , who went over
1,000 in each of hs first 10 years, has equaled that.
Martin is now 11th on the all-time NFL rushing list with 11,488 yards.
He recently passed both O.J. Simpson and John Riggins . He is seventh in
the AFC this season. Martin had 3,799 yards rushing in his three years
with New England and has piled up 7,689 in his six seasons with the
Jets. Since 1998, he leads all running backs with 7,689 yards. Eddie
George is a distant second at 7,076.
"Week after week, year after year, we keep saying the same thing, but it
never stops. He's really looked good lately," Belichick said. "He's
breaking tackles, outrunning people, cutting back on them, catching the
ball, all the things Curtis does, and he does them well."
Extra points
Guard Damien Woody was listed as questionable on the injury report
because of the flu. Chris Akins also is questionable (leg), Deion Branch
(finger) and Ted Johnson (neck) are both probable. . . . The Jets have
won three in a row at home. . . . The Pats haven't swept a season series
with the Jets since 1996. . . . Over the past three seasons, New England
is 23-4 after Nov. 1.: 11-1 two years ago on the way to the Super Bowl,
6-3 last year and 6-0 this season. . . . New England is 12-3 in its last
15 games against AFC East opponents. . . . Several Patriots were asked
if they listen to sports talk radio, the theme being, were they upset
that the talk shows were spending more time talking about the Red Sox
than about the Pats and their 10-game winning streak? Belichick said he
doesn't listen. He did not know. Mike Vrabel said he could understand.
"It's exciting. They're going after the best player in baseball," he
said. Tom Brady said he has learned of New England's love of the Red Sox
so he was not surprised and besides, he added, "I guess they don't have
anything to complain about (with the Pats)."
