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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Welch Promoted From Practice Squad, Ventrone Released; 3 More Declared Out

As I said last week, you never know what you're going to get in terms of the bottom of the New England Patriots' roster once gameday rolls around.

Today, the Pats announced that offensive lineman Thomas Welch was promoted from the practice squad while safety Ross Ventrone was released (expect him to go back to the practice squad, where he spent the first two weeks of the 2011 season) after getting activated for one week of glory against the Bills.

Welch was a 2010 seventh-round draft pick of New England, who was active in Week 1 against Miami before being released and re-signed to the practice squad (get the picture?).

With Sebastian Vollmer out tomorrow against the Oakland Raiders, rookie Nate Solder is expected to start at right tackle and Welch will add some depth to the offensive linemen.

Ventrone's release likely signals that safety Patrick Chung is healthy enough to play after missing last weekend's game in Buffalo with a hand injury. This is a good thing, the Patriots desperately need his playmaking ability and hard hits. Hell if he can tackle, he'll be a huge improvement over Josh Barrett and Sergio Brown.

The other roster news that broke today is that cornerbacks Leigh Bodden (groin) and Ras-I Dowling (hip) have been declared out for tomorrow. Albert Haynesworth is also out, meaning that New England will need to designate one more inactive before kickoff against Oakland.

Devin McCourty will start opposite either Kyle Arrington (it's gotta be him) or Antwaun Molden. Phillip Adams will be coming off the bench as a substitute for the cornerbacks.

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The New England Patriots Never Sleep, But You Already Knew That

I know they're out there but if you're a hardcore New England Patriots fan, I don't know how ignore Twitter and blogs since it's the only way to keep up with all the moving parts during the week between games.

I can imagine there are many casual fans (aka pink hats) that just turn on Patriots games on Sundays and Mondays and say, "who is that?" Well that's one of the reasons why we're here, to help you keep track of the constant transactions for our favorite NFL team.

On the heels of tight end Dan Gronkowski's release yesterday and linebacker Jeff Tarpinian's promotion to the active roster from the practice squad, comes the news today: safety Ross Ventrone has been promoted from the practice squad and linebacker A.J. Edds (who was released on Friday) has been signed to the practice squad.

So what to make of all these minor moves? The Patriots are comfortable playing the Bills tomorrow with only one tight end (Rob Gronkowski) while Aaron Hernandez is expected to sit with a knee injury. It's time for Chad Ochocinco to step up since he figures to see many more passes coming his way against Buffalo.

Tarpinian and Ventrone are thought to be further help/depth on special teams one of the few spots where Buffalo usually excels. In addition, Ventrone could see some bigger playing time if Patrick Chung isn't ready to go (he supposedly had surgery on his thumb this week).

Finally, punter Zoltan Mesko is expected to play tomorrow so New England didn't bring in any other punters to take his place. Safety James Ihedigbo fell into Mesko's knee last week against San Diego during a punt. You can all breath a sigh of relief, looks like the Zoltan is healthy.

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