Enjoy The Bye Week Ross Ventrone & Sterling Moore But Please Keep Your Phones On

The New England Patriots bye week has begun and with it, they have already made a few roster moves in anticipation of injured players returning before their next game Sunday, October 30 in Pittsburgh.

Now that six weeks have gone by in the 2011 NFL season, players that started on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list are eligible to start returning. For New England, that means defensive linemen Ron Brace and Brandon Deaderick along with rookie offensive lineman Marcus Cannon and iconic running back Kevin Faulk can start practicing and could even play against the Steelers if all goes well.

Safety Ross Ventrone and cornerback Sterling Moore were both released although they each are eligible for the practice squad (which has one empty spot since Moore was promoted this past weekend).

Apparently Moore played on special teams (punt return) vs. Dallas yesterday but I can't say I saw him. He might have been out there or not, who knows other than him and his relatives plus the Patriots special teams coach?

I am certain that Ventrone had been playing on all four special teams units (kickoff return, kickoff coverage, punt return, punt coverage) and I almost spit out my dinner last night when I realized he had subbed in when the Cowboys were near the goalline. Luckily Dallas and its quarterback Tony Romo were too dumb to notice that scary fact.

Enjoy the time off guys but remember that you'll more than likely be needed in some capacity next week when the team fully reconvenes at Gillette Stadium.

UPDATE: 10/18 The Pats re-signed cornerback Philip Adams while Faulk, Deaderick and Brace were taken off the PUP list.

UPDATE 2: 10/19 Ventrone was signed to the 53-man roster while Moore was signed to the practice squad. Their agents (assuming they have them) must be the busiest guys in the NFL, this is absurd.

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Marcus Harrison Joins The Patriots

So the New England Patriots signed some defensive tackle named Marcus Harrison today. He went to Arkansas and he was a third-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2008.

The Pats had interest because reportedly defensive lineman Kyle Love hurt his back in practice yesterday. Who knows?

I read that Harrison showed up too fat for training camp twice with the Bears so head coach Lovie Smith and Co. had enough of this tub of goo. Fantastic, hopefully Fat Albert can mentor him here on the finer points of being lazy and useless.

In 37 career games, including just nine starts, Harrison had 43 solo tackles and 12 assists, three sacks and three passes defensed.

To make room for him, cornerback Philip Adams-who was just re-signed yesterday-was released. If this goes how I expect it to, Harrison will be dumped in a week or two and Adams or some other similar no-name bum will take his place. Ah yes, the life at the bottom of an NFL roster.

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Mike Wright's Season Ends Prematurely For The Second Year In A Row

You have to feel awful to New England Patriots defensive lineman Mike Wright. For the second straight season (and fourth time in seven years), his season is coming to an early end with a trip to IR (injured reserve).

Wright missed the last seven games of the 2010 season with a concussion and he picked up another one in the 2011 season-opener at Miami. He tried to come back in practice last week but today the Pats put him on IR and re-signed cornerback Philip Adams to the 53-man roster.

You have to wonder if Wright will retire at this point. He's picked up a litany of injuries (ankle, foot, head) that have to be really breaking down his body. It's too bad because when he's healthy, the undrafted guy out of Cincinnati was productive and very easy to root for.

In 81 career games with the Pats (the only NFL team he's ever played for), he amassed 174 tackles and 15 sacks. His loss puts more pressure on New England's defensive line to produce since now they know officially that Wright is not coming back in 2011.

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