FRIDAY: Meriweather will have his introduction to the media, first taking the field for the ceremonial jersey-raising with Robert and Jonathan Kraft at 2 p.m., before holding a press conference with us.

SATURDAY: Media will have access to an hour of Saturday practice (10:15-11:15), with Bill Belichick taking the podium at 11:30 and the locker room opening at noon.

SUNDAY: Belichick will hold court with the media at 11:30, and the locker room will open at 11:45. Practice access is slated for a one-hour window, starting at 1 p.m.

I can see Belichick's conference now. "We have a lot of guys trying to win jobs, and we'll go with the best player at each position." Over/Under on times he says, "It is what it is," four.

-- Sixth-round pick Corey Hilliard, an offensive lineman from Oklahoma State, had to remove himself from drills due to conditioning.
-- Quarterback Matt Gutierrez, an undrafted free agent from Idaho State, looks like a nice prospect. He had nice zip on his ball on passes toward the sideline.
-- Linebacker Justin Warren, an undrafted free agent from Texas A&M, spent much of the morning on the exercise bike.

-- In the locker room, receiver Randy Moss has a locker to the right of quarterback Tom Brady. The locker to Moss's left is Vinny Testaverde's (he remains a free agent).
-- Corey Hilliard made no excuses for not being able to finish practice, saying that while he is feeling a bit ill, he should be in better shape.

First-round pick Brandon Meriweather showed signs of just what the team saw in him. His ability to stick his foot in the dirt (or in this case, FieldTurf) and change direction, and sink his hips into his breaks is very impressive. Corner-like even. The coaches had working primarily at safety, but moved him down to slot corner in some spots in the nickel. All that said, Meriweather dropped three balls in ball drills, and bobbled another.

Brandon Meriweather held court with the media again, and told us that he wouldn’t pick the No. 38 he was issued, given the choice. He’d rather have 27 or 29, he said, but added that “the number doesn’t make the player.” Meriweather also told the story of a 1992 Camry that he’s still tooling around in, a rusted gold car that has 270,000 miles on it. He plans to drive it up, and said that after an oil change, he’s gonna have no worries about the car making it all the way through the East Coast. “Not at all,” he laughed. “It’s a go-getter.” He said he keeps the car as way of keeping himself in touch with his roots.

Also, is Justin Warren related to Ty Warren?

-- In the locker room, receiver Randy Moss has a locker to the right of quarterback Tom Brady. The locker to Moss's left is Vinny Testaverde's (he remains a free agent).

What?

– OT Corey Hilliard did draw some praise from line coach Dante Scarnecchia for improvements, but also continued to struggle in spots. He comes out of his stance too high and, in pulling drills, tips off what he’s doing by dropping a leg in his stance in the direction he’s going. At one point, Scarnecchia took Hilliard through a bag drill step-by-step to emphasize staying low off the snap and engaging the defender at a lower point. From a technical standpoint, he needs a lot of work. And, no, he didn’t hurl again, but looked awfully gassed at the end.

– If there was one winner from the two practice sessions, we’ll go with C/G Mike Elgin. He again showed an outstanding understanding of leverage, coming out low and using his hands well. Hé also seems to have good feet and handle a 45-lbs. plate in a pass blocking drill — where the linemen push the weight straight out from their chest while shuffling side-to-side — better than anyone. He’s got a long way to go, but Elgin looks like he’ll have a good shot at making the team.

– First-round pick Brandon Meriweather flashed better hands than on Saturday, when he registered three drops in ball drills. Today, we didn’t see a single drop and he showed quick reaction to the ball in a position drill, and made an impressive one-handed catch at point-blank range during that time. Again, he worked at both safety and slot corner, and, like yesterday, look superior athletically to most around him.

They are never in a rush to clear these out... Roman Phifer had a locker for like a year... Seau still has one, ect.

OT Corey Hilliard did draw some praise from line coach Dante Scarnecchia for improvements, but also continued to struggle in spots. He comes out of his stance too high and, in pulling drills, tips off what he’s doing by dropping a leg in his stance in the direction he’s going. At one point, Scarnecchia took Hilliard through a bag drill step-by-step to emphasize staying low off the snap and engaging the defender at a lower point. From a technical standpoint, he needs a lot of work. And, no, he didn’t hurl again, but looked awfully gassed at the end.

Savvy NFL insiders know that Brady sits facing the locker, and Moss with his back toward his locker.

The Patriots have signed two players who were in for tryouts during the team's rookie minicamp: Georgia Tech wide receiver Chris Dunlap and Air Force defensive back Denny Poland.

Dunlap is 5-feet-11 inches, 200 pounds. Poland is 6-foot-1, 227 pounds.

Here is a bit more from the team-issued press release:

Dunlap, 21, caught 13 passes for 142 yards over four seasons from 2003-06. He also returned 13 kickoffs for 265 yards in his college career and participated on several special teams units. Last season with the Yellow Jackets, Dunlap caught nine passes for 101 yards.

Poland, 24, started 31 of 34 games and recorded 180 career tackles (83 solo), including five career sacks. The 6-foot-1-inch, 225-pound defensive back also totaled three career receptions while playing for the varsity team for three seasons (2003-05). Poland served as a second lieutenant in the Air Force in 2006.

Savvy NFL insiders know that Brady sits facing the locker, and Moss with his back toward his locker.

The Patriots must like Central Connecticut State product Justise Hairston, because running backs coach Ivan Fears unleashed the mother of all tirades on him Sunday afternoon. It was difficult to tell from the sidelines what error Hairston made, but Fears’ (unprintable) words were unmistakable.

The guess here is Pats coaches aren’t wasting their breath on players they don’t think have a chance of making the team. So in a strange way, the sixth-rounder should consider himself flattered.

Odd that they would sign a wide reciever who didn't play on his college team. What could they want with him?

1. I've read he is a smart player with good hands
2. Played and excelled on special teams
3. Reggie Ball threw to Calvin Johnson 75% of the time
4. Reggie Ball is a fucking pathetic QB

The Patriots announced the release of linebacker Justin Warren today.

The 22-year-old Warren, of Texas A&M, was initially signed May 8 as a rookie free agent. The 6-foot-3, 237-pound Warren was a two-time first-team All-Big XII selection and led the Aggies in tackles as a junior (2005) and as a senior (2006).

At the Patriots' rookie minicamp over the past weekend, Warren spent most of the time on exercise equipment.

The Patriots announced that defensive back Denny Poland has been waived.

Poland, of Air Force, was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent on May 14, following a tryout at the Patriots’ rookie minicamp on May 12-13. He was a longshot to make the club.

Here was the original quote to which the poster was responding: "-- In the locker room, receiver Randy Moss has a locker to the right of quarterback Tom Brady. The locker to Moss's left is Vinny Testaverde's (he remains a free agent)."

Not to speak for the poster, but only to point out that he may have been saying "What?" in response to the apparent absurdity of the statement. If Moss's locker is to the right of Brady's, then how isn't the locker to Moss's left Brady's?

Brady ---> Moss
Testaverde <--- Moss

Touche. I see now that the arrangement could go Brady --> Vinny --> Moss.

I'd feel like an idiot if this weren't such a trivial subject.

This one does.

Meriwether looks really fast in both videos.

The media will be present for the first day of the Patriots' passing camp today at Gillette Stadium. The passing camp is closed to the public. Here is what the schedule looks like:

# 10:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. -- Practice

# 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. -- Interviews with Richard Seymour, Ty Warren and Kevin Faulk, who have agreed to be available to reflect on the life of the late Marquise Hill.

We'll plan on passing along some observations from the passing camp later today.

1) Adalius Thomas on the move. The Patriots' big free-agent signing has been advertised as a versatile player who can line up at various positions. This was evident in one of the team's final sets of drills in 11 on 11 work, as Thomas moved from inside linebacker, to playing with his hand on the ground as a down lineman/rusher, to backpedaling in pass coverage. Thomas spent much of the practice lining up at inside linebacker.

3) Randy Moss in focus. It was interesting to watch Moss developing a rapport with Tom Brady and Co. in the passing game. Moss worked as an outside receiver, and showed a part of his competitive side when slipping on the wet field during drills in which there was no defense. He pounded the ground in frustration and shouted. In 11 on 11 drills, Moss caught one touchdown pass down the left sideline from Tom Brady (Tory James in one-on-one coverage) but shortly before that play, he couldn't corral a long pass down the right sideline from Matt Cassel (cornerback Mike Richardson in coverage, with help from safety Rashad Baker). On the latter play, Moss was knocked to the ground by accident as Baker closed in and couldn't pull up in time.

While not a huge thing, Stallworth's absence from this camp isn't great news. Maybe it's health related and he's just healing up, like Maroney. And maybe he's pouting because he didn't expect the the Pats to sign Moss, which I think is unlikely. But whatever the reason, it's too bad that he and Brady aren't getting the chance to develop their chemistry. Tom talked about that a lot last year vis-a-vis all the new receivers, and whatever time he can get this Spring and Summer will likely pay dividends during the season.

Has anyone seen or heard any reports as to why Stallworth was absent?

Between the giddiness over Moss (and Thomas) and the sadness over Hill, there hasn't been much focus on anything else, including the reasons for the absences. Then again, getting news out of the Pats is never easy.