Tom Brady talked to the media on Tuesday and discussed one of his new weapons: Wes Welker. Brady came away as the early leader for quote of the year when he compared Welker to a Labrador retriever.

“Wes has killed us the last few years, with the Dolphins. It’s nice to have him in a Patriot uniform. He has great quickness. He’s very smart. He’s like a Labrador out there. You can throw the ball, he runs and fetches it, runs back, gets to the huddle and looks up and he’s panting with sweat coming down his face. He’s been great to have around. He works extremely hard. He sets a great example. The one thing is that we’ve brought in some veteran players who have some leadership ability and who are really willing to make sacrifices to win. It’s been nice over the years, so many of our guys have left for other teams via free agency, coaches have left, but it’s nice to be able to add some veteran players that are very professional at this point in your career – you show up to work, you know what is expected of you, you’re willing to put that work in, rather than a 22, 21-year-old rookie who you hope brings his playbook to the meeting at the right time. It’s a little bit different in that sense. It’s been fun in offseason workouts thus far. We have three weeks left and we have to finish up strong.”

We’ll be back on Wednesday with more updates from mini-camp. Thanks for checking out the blog and for the comments. Keep them coming.

Sorry for the delay but as often is the case at Gillette Stadium, we lost Internet connection. I’m actually sitting in the middle of the parking lot right now posting this. Here is some of what Donte’ Stallworth had to say on Tuesday:

 On not being present for passing camp last week:

“I had some personal issues. I got them cleared up with coach and that’s about it. I’m feeling good. I ran around out here with the guys and everything is going good right now.”

On Tom Brady:

“I’ve known Tom for a couple of years now and with me coming here it’s only made us closer. He’s a competitor and his past play proves that. He’s been a staple in this league for a long time. He’s a leader and his past proves what kind of player he is. He plays with passion and that’s what Coach Belichick expects out of all his players.”

On the receiving corps: 

“It’s just a matter of us taking it day-by-day because right now we’re just putting in the offense and guys are trying to learn it. We have a great quarterback in Tom and a great system here, so we’re just trying to put all the pieces together. This is only the beginning. We can be as good as we want to be but we have to work at it.”

On being excited about the upcoming season:

“I don’t want to say that there’s nothing to be excited about but at the same time, we’re just starting to work. We have a long ways to go before we can even start thinking about game preparation. We need to get better individually first. That’s the main thing I’m working on, trying to get myself better and doing the things I can do to help this team win. Right now, I’m excited to be blessed to play football another year. That’s the only situation I can be excited about right now.”

On Randy Moss: 

“Any time you can bring in an extra guy who can make plays that’s going to help the team, then I’m all for it. He’s a guy in his past who has made some plays. We’re all here trying to help the team. No one is here trying to do anything individually. We’re all here trying to help the team the best we can.”

On the first day of camp:

“It went good. You know, it’s a mandatory deal so all the guys are out here having a little fun and trying to get each other better. The offense is pushing the defense and vice versa, so were all working out here. We took a step towards that today but we still have a long way to go.”

On signing with the Patriots: 

“It’s a good opportunity to come here and play some good football. I’ve talked to a lot of coaches that I respect a lot and had a good talk with Coach Belichick. Things went really well and that’s why I’m here.”

On developing chemistry with Brady: 

“Any time you can play with a guy like Tom, it’s going to help. Right now we’re working on timing. We’ve done some coaching sessions and we’ve even done some things on our own since we’ve been here. It’s going to take time but we’re working at it right now. We still have a couple of months to get things right.”

On having a big-play offense: 

“That’s what they want to do. It’s just a matter of us putting everything together. We have a lot of different things in this offense, so it will be interesting to see how it all pans out.”

On his history of battling hamstring injuries: 

“There are some things I need to take care of during the offseason and into the regular season. It’s a little regiment I’ve got going and hopefully it can help me out this year and I’ll stay healthy.”

The play of the day on Tuesday came when Tom Brady hit Randy Moss in the back of the end zone. On the play, Brady fired the ball and Moss extended over Eugene Wilson to haul the pass in, while keeping both feet in bounds. Moss looks like he could be money working the back of the end zone with his height and wingspan.

The offense is doing passing drills inside the red zone. Kyle Brady is a beast and looks close to impossible to stop on the post fade route. Donte’ Stallworth has that quick inside break where he explodes into the middle of the field. Kelley Washington and Randy Moss use their big frames to their advantage. Washington is also a great leaper, something that should help him near the goal line. Meanwhile, Moss does a good job of working the back of the end zone. Wes Welker is lightning quick in the middle of the field and should be a handful for opponents when the Patriots spread defenses out in the red zone.

Hobbs has now put his jersey on and is slowly taking part in drills. He just took off his sweatpants and is in regular practice attire. For some reason, Hobbs started off the morning slowly, but he’s now with his teammates taking part in practice.

Hobbs is currently lining up with Chad Scott, Rodney Harrison and Eugene Wilson in the Patriots secondary.

Early on in practice, the Patriots receivers are slipping a lot. Particularly, Kelley Washington, who has slipped down three times while running routes. Meanwhile, Donte’ Stallworth is showing off his speed. Stallworth is blazing fast and comes flying out of his breaks. Wes Welker still hasn’t dropped a pass.

Ellis Hobbs is here today, however he’s not wearing a numbered jersey. He has his pullover on, along with sweatpants and a helmet. Currently, Hobbs is standing around watching drills and looks to be taking it easy today. Sorry for the earlier post but without Hobbs wearing a jersey, he snuck by us. So, Ellis Hobbs is in attendance but limited for today’s practice.

Wes Welker, Willie Andrews, Jonathan Smith, Sammy Morris, Bam Childress and Kevin Faulk all took turns returning kickoffs. Welker looked extremely quick in the open field, while Morris continues to wear a red non-contact jersey.

Adalius Thomas continues to line up at outside linebacker, inside linebacker and along the defensive line. It looks like Bill Belichick is going to have a lot of fun with his new toy this year, lining Thomas up all over the field to confuse opposing offenses.

When Kyle Brady was signed, most people believed it was to be almost like an extra tackle. Although, watching Brady in practice, it appears the Patriots expect to use him a lot in the passing game as well. In drills, Tom Brady routinely dumps the ball off to Kyle, while the outside receivers drive the defensive backs down the field. With David Thomas injured, Brady could see a lot of passes come his way as an underneath receiver early in the year. Also, with Brady’s imposing size (The guy is a monster) he should be very effective as a red zone receiver. Look for No. 88 to be on the receiving end of those Tom Brady’s 2-yard touchdown tosses this season.