It got lost a bit in the news that the team had cut starter Rosevelt Colvin, but the Patriots also released injured reserve linebacker Oscar Lua on Tuesday. Lua missed all of last season with a knee injury, reportedly a torn MCL the seventh-round pick out of USC suffered in preseason action. A report on NFLDraftScout.com says that Lua was cut yesterday becaues he’d failed a physical. That makes sense because regardless of his talents or future with the team, New England is very limited in numbers at linebacker at this point. Never mind starters and regular season contributors, the Patriots don’t have anywhere near the bodies the team needs at linebacker to just hold practices in training camp. Now we know that Lua’s health was the reason for his release.

If you caught the end of Tuesday’s “PFW in Progress,” you heard the conclusion of our Saturday-night-in-Indy-with-Brooke story (I thought I’d be able to post this the next morning, but Andy and I were too busy with the final day of Combine access).

Anyway, the young woman named Brooke was our frazzled waitress at Houlihan’s. She was clearly at the end of a double shift, running on fumes by the time we got there, and she didn’t care what she said or how she said it … in a funny way, though. She made fun of us (well, Brian Lowe, mostly) each time she came to the table, and she was relatively cute for a mid-30’s single mother (we learned a lot about this woman in the short time we knew her) … that and her chocolate-milk-induced energy (that’s what she said) made the whole evening more enjoyable considering we were at our sixth choice for restaurants.  

I know, I know, you were expecting something more prurient (sorry for the big word, Tom) or laced with double entendre (that’s a French word, Tom), but that’s what happened. If I had posted something the next morning, I may have had specific examples to cite, but hey, that’s what I get for paying more attention to the football side of my job.

Just want to finish by saying overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my first Combine experience (except for the food, of course) and look forward to next year’s, when Tom will hopefully be able to rejoin us.  

Today is the day my boy Antoine Cason will be running his ever-important 40-yard dash. I’ve been talking about Cason for two years now and I believe a strong 40-time will push him into the first-round, possibly to Dallas with one of its two selections in Round 1 unless they trade their entire draft for Darren McFadden. I think I may be more worried than Cason is today. Let’s face it, I have more to lose than he does.

I keep hearing people say the Raiders won’t draft Darren McFadden because they re-signed Justin Fargas. That’s like saying the Patriots won’t draft a corner if they re-sign Randall Gay. I know Fargas had some good games at the end of last season but not only is he extremely injury-prone, he’s also not a franchise back. Seriously the only organization stupid enough to pass on McFadden just because they have Fargas is…Oh wait. Never mind.

Well, I just talked to the human head Andy Hart and he and Erik are boarding a plane heading home. Andy said he wasn’t buying the 40-times at the Combine. According to Andy, the NFL Network is fudging the times to attract more viewers. Andy and Erik each have stories up at Patriots.com, detailing their final day in Indy, so be sure to check those out.

On a side note, I just want to give props to Andy and Erik for doing such a great job at the Combine. I’m usually there but not being able to go this time, I was even more appreciative of all the coverage provided by PFW. I know some think this is the second worst blog in Boston but check out our coverage compared to some other media outlets out there. I know I’m bias but I think those guys did one hell of a job, even Erik who kindly filled in for me, despite being a bit out of his element. A fantastic job all around.

Now, I just found out that you can watch old episodes of Party of Five On Demand, so I’ll be busy for the next six hours. We’ll be blogging some the next couple of days and make sure to check out PFW in Progress on Tuesday for Andy and Erik’s first-hand account of their experiences at the Combine, including the conclusion of The Leg’s fictional story about his run-in with “Brooke.”

They just said on NFL Network that the Cowboys previously offered both first-round picks and Marion Barber to Miami for the top pick so Dallas could draft Darren McFadden, to which Deion Sanders replied, “Would someone in the NFL please drug test Jerry Jones?” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Hey Jerry, just because the guy played at your alma mater doesn’t mean you have to give up half your team to get him. Moron.

Well, the top backs in this year’s draft won’t have to worry about falling because of their 40-times. Take a look at this impressive list:

Darren McFadden: 4.27

Rashard Mendenhall: 4.37

Jonathan Stewart: 4.44

Felix Jones: 4.44

Ray Rice: 4.44 (Great time for Rice)

Chris Johnson: 4.29 (Locked up an early second-round selection)

One thing is for sure, these backs my not be the biggest in stature, but they offer a lot of big-play ability and that’s something that teams crave. By the way, a player who has had an excellent Combine so far is Cal’s Justin Forsett. I’m a big fan of Forsett and I believe he can have a 10-year NFL career being a Maurice Jones-Drew/Kevin Faulk-kind of player at the pro level. I don’t have Forsett’s numbers in front of me but he’s done nothing but help himself at the Combine.

Are you kidding me Owen? Only 26 reps of 225? I’m sorry but when you are a beast like that you should be pumping out more reps than Tom Casale and Andy Hart can do. I’m not saying that Schmitt can’t play but as a fellow meathead and bench-presser, I’m extremely disappointed in Schmitt’s effort. I thought that monster would easily clear 35 reps. If the Patriots draft Schmitt, I’m going to challenge him to a bench-off and we’ll air it live on PFW in Progress and also make it available on Youtube.

Marshall Faulk is an embarrassment. Faulk and Mike Mayock were arguing whether or not you need a two-back system in the NFL these days to be successful. Faulk brought up LT and said he has Michael Turner to take pressure off of him. Mayock correctly fired back with, “How many carries does Turner get during the season?” Faulk then replied, “A lot.” Let’s go to the videotape. Here is how it broke down in 2007:

Tomlinson: 315 carries for 1,474 yards

Turner: 71 carries for 316 yards

That’s a lot, Marshall? Let me give you a tip my friend. In the future when you are talking about teams that employ a two-back system, you may not want to use the Chargers as your prime example. A lot. I died laughing when I heard that. What league are you watching Marshall?

According to Jeff Foster, President of National Football Scouting (a separate organization that runs the NFL Scouting Combine and works with 19 other pro clubs with their scouting needs), the next two Combines will be held inside Lukas Oil Stadium, the Colts new home that opens this season.

He said the RCA Dome is scheduled to be demolished, with a new Indiana Convention Center being built on that site. In all likelihood, the Combine will return to Indy in 2011, but at this point, it’s not official. However, Foster added that there are no discussions at this point to move the Combine to another city.

He said he’s “hopeful” the Combine will remain in Indy long-term because of the good history that this city has with hosting the annual event.

After three days, I finally heard something interesting on the NFL Network. Rich Eisen said the 40-yard dash came about because Paul Brown wanted fast guys on special teams to cover punts. So in order to test a player’s speed, Brown decided that 40 yards would be a good measuring stick and the 40-yard dash was born. It’s amazing that years later the 40-yard dash can now make or cost prospects millions of dollars, when Brown originally created it to find guys to cover punts.

 By the way, what ever happened to the conclusion of Erik’s “story?”