Hands down it’s Pierre Woods. I’m not in the business of getting the fans all jacked up for no reason at all. However, I think the Patriots have a real player on their hands in Woods. He is showing great pass rushing skills in practice and really looks comfortable playing OLB in the Patriots defense. Woods is probably still one year away from being a major contributor but if he continues to develop and show potential, we could be looking at Woods as a starter down the road. I’m a huge believer that no coach on the planet can teach the initial burst great pass rushers possess. You either have it or you don’t. In my opinion, Woods has it. He may not be an All Pro but I think Woods is well on his way to being a productive starter for the Patriots in the near future.

Matt Cassel struggled late in practice with the second unit. The backup quarterback had at least four passes batted at the line of scrimmage including three in a two-minute drill at the end of practice. Not good. And Cassel showed some seroius frustration after the final batted pass as the second offense struggled a bit overall.

If you know what that means, it puts you a step up on Paul Perillo and Tom Casale. If now, look it up.  Anyway, practice was a bit slower after Moss left the practice fields for the locker room. Team action closed out the session and for the most part the offense continued to get the better of the D. The officials threw a number of flags during a team drill near the end of practice, including one that came at the strong urging of quarterback Tom Brady. Brady and the official agreed that Rodney Harrison was a little over zealous in his coverage of tight end Benjamin Watson.

On the whole the practice closed out with a bit less excitement with Moss out of action.

Randy Moss now has the ice off and just walked to the middle of the field during a break in practice to have a chat with Bill Belichick. After the talk Moss returned to the sideline, picked up his helmet and walked off the practice field and back to the Gillette Stadium locker room to miss the last half hour of practice.

Updating the previous post, Moss now has ice wrapped to his left hamstring. He’s standing ont he sideline and my guess is at the very least he’s done for the day’s workout.

Randy Moss just missed a deep connection on a flea-flicker and seems to have pulled up lame after the incompletion. Moss is now on the sideline with the team’s training staff, including trainer Jim Whalen. He seems to be grabbing at his left hamstring, just below his gluteus maximus.

The officials just threw a flag on the defense either pass interference or illegal contact in coverage of Benjamin Watson. Rodney Harrison argued the call with the official pretty actively. Yes, this is practice and Harrison is hot over a flag.

Randy Moss just took a ball away from Randall Gay, who had good coverage on the play. After tearing the ball away from Gay, Moss took a pop from Rodney Harrison and Mike Vrabel. Excitement is in the air on the practice field today at Gillette and much of it has to do with Moss.

Late reactions aren’t always a good thing in sports, but Randy Moss seems to be able to wait until the absolute last minute to put his hands up and catch the ball. The skill helps keep defensive backs off balance on all types of routes when the defender isn’t facing the ball. I still say that Moss catches the ball as effortlessly and naturally as any wideout I’ve ever seen. And those who know me know I’m not exactly Mr. Rah, Rah.

Tom Brady just hit Randy Moss for a bomb down the right side. Moss got wide open past Rodney Harrison, although it appeared that there was some communication issues on the play between Harrison and Randall Gay. Moss caught the ball a good seven yards past the closest defender, Harrison, on a well-thrown ball from Brady.