Bill Belichick's NFL career coaching record, including post-season, stands at 142 - 85 (.626).  With the New England Patriots alone, his overall win-loss record is a not-too-shabby 105 - 40 (.724).  He needs only 8 more to reach 150 wins.

Coincidentally, the first opportunity for Coach Hoodie to hit that milestone will come in week 9 against the Colts, at their spanking new Lucas Oil Stadium, IF the Pats win all 7 games before them.  How sweet that would be!

Here's the Patriots Football Weekly Unofficial Depth Chart for the Defense:

Trying to keep track of the currently maxed-out 80-man roster, while figuring out who's probably going to play which position was making my head spin.  By August 30th, somehow this roster number will be slashed down to a trim 53, with the first 5-man roster cut being a mere 4 days earlier on the 26th.

To ease my aching, speculating brain and to keep the position battles straight, I've been relying on Patriots Football Weekly's Unofficial Depth Chart.  Here's their strictly unofficial take on how deep the depths really are for each position.

OFFENSE

Two more draft picks signed, two to go.

The New England Patriots signed third-round draft choice Shawn Crable and third-round draft choice Kevin O'Connell today. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. Crable, a linebacker from Michigan, was selected with the 78th overall pick in April's draft. O'Connell, a quarterback from San Diego State, was selected with the 94th overall pick in the draft.

On July 17th fourth-round draft choice Jonathan Wilhite, cornerback from Auburn (selected 129th overall),  was signed becoming the Patriot's third draft pick to sign following fifth-rounder Matthew Slater (receiver/safety/returner) and sixth-rounder Bo Ruud (linebacker).

First-round pick Jerod Mayo and second-round selection Terrence Wheatley are the last two picks left to be (or not to be) signed.

via cachemediasrv.patriots.com

Woooo Hoooo!  Finally!

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots will open their 49th annual training camp on Thursday, July 24 with practices scheduled for 8:45 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on the practice fields located behind Gillette Stadium. Training camp will run through Aug. 14, with practices open to the public on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium. Patriots fans of all ages are welcome to attend. Parking and admission are free.

The practice schedule throughout training camp is tentative and subject to change. Fans who plan to attend practices are encouraged to check the Patriots website, www.patriots.com  for daily updates. There is also a training camp hotline that fans can call, 508.549.0001

The Patriots website lists the tentative practice schedule through the opening weekend.

Can't wait!

The Patriots signed linebacker Bo Ruud, their sixth-round pick in the 2008 draft.  Terms of the signing haven't yet been made public.

Ruud, 23, was the 197th player selected in the 2008 NFL draft. The 6-foot-3-inch, 235-pound linebacker was a three-year starter at Nebraska. He started 33 of 46 games and finished his career with 216 total tackles, including 4.5 sacks. Ruud was a two-time, second-team All-Big 12 selection and a four-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, earning his bachelor’s degree in December of 2007. Last year, Ruud started each of the 10 games in which he appeared at strong-side linebacker and finished fifth on the team with 54 tackles.

Ruud was the sixth member of his family to play for the Huskers, a football lineage that began with his great-grandfather in 1918. Along with his brother, Barrett, and his father, Tom, the Ruud’s hold the rare distinction of each ranking in the top 30 among Husker defenders for career tackles. Barrett, who now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is the all-time leader with 432 tackles. Bo finished 22nd with 216 stops and their father, Tom, who played five seasons in the NFL, ranks 26th with 202 career tackles.

In this week's installment of Around the AFC East, Brian G. from Buffalo Bills blog, Buffalo Rumblings, discusses the Lee Evans-Trent Edwards connection.

Premier wide receiver Lee Evans had a bit of a disappointing year in 2007.  Considering his previous public support of J.P. Losman as the starter, do you think Evans and quarterback Trent Edwards will connect well enough for him to rebound this season?  How will Evans be affected by the addition of rookie wide receiver James Hardy?

Buffalo Rumblings:  First, to address the quarterback issue - there's been this belief among Bills fans that because Evans was supportive of the team starting Losman, there was bad blood between Evans and Edwards.  That's just not the case.  Evans and Losman came into the league together (both were first-round picks in 2004) and are friends, so why wouldn't Evans want the guy who had tossed him 82 balls the year before to start?  Evans and Edwards are fine - in fact, in the month before training camp starts, the two plan to meet to work out together and work on timing and chemistry.

Evans' statistics were disappointing in 2007, but the only chance he has at a "rebound" year is if Edwards makes strides as the team's starter and he's not facing double coverage every play.  Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish are very solid working out of the slot, but they did nothing to keep coverage off of Evans last season.  Often times, Edwards had nowhere to go, so he'd dump the ball off to one of the team's mediocre tight ends or RB Fred Jackson.  The man you mentioned - rookie WR James Hardy - holds the key to whether or not Evans puts up better numbers in '08.  Time will tell, but Edwards seems on the up and up and Hardy is impossible to defend in the red zone.  I'd place a bet on Evans having much better numbers, though I wouldn't go so far as to say he'd match his 2006 production.

My take:  If Trent Edwards has the arm strength to take advantage of Evans' speed and the confidence to stretch the field - and doesn't succumb to the comfort of dumping it off - they'll most definitely be a duo to contend with.  This is especially true if opposing teams begin to buy Hardy as a real threat and abandon the double-teaming of Evans.

Thanks to Brian G. and be sure to head over to Buffalo Rumblings to see my response to his PatsPulpit question.

Matty I over at the Dolphins blog, The Phinsider, discusses the tenuous state of the quarterback situation for 2008.

Bill Parcells called in to talk with Dennis and Callahan on WEEI this week, and was asked who Miami's starting quarterback will be this season.  Wouldn't we all like to know?  Coach Tony Sparano says he wants someone to emerge by the third preseason game, but he's not sure it'll happen.  With both Josh McCown and John Beck getting equal snaps, and rookie Chad Henne a distant third,  Have you seen anything so far in these players that screams "franchise quarterback"?  Only (game)time will tell, but who are you leaning towards to lead the team and why?

Phinsider:  Well I think we should start off by saying that we already know what Josh McCown is.  He's a serviceable quarterback, but he's very rarely going to win you the tough games by himself. 

As far as John Beck and Chad Henne go, I'll admit that I do like both of them and think they both have the potential to become good quarterbacks in this league.  Both have worked hard this offseason and both all have the physical tools needed to succeed.  The question will be, in the words of Bill Parcells, if these quarterbacks have "balls" – the mental toughness needed to play QB at this level.  How will they react after making a mistake?  Will they be able to step up in the pocket and make throws with defenders right in their face?  These questions need to be answered.

As far as this year goes, I believe it will be John Beck starting in week one against the Jets.  And I say this for two reasons.  One, it makes much more sense to start Beck.  Henne is a rookie who will just sit back and learn the ropes in year one; and McCown is a veteran who has shown already what he can do, which isn't anything particularly special.  So why not let John have this season (which isn't going to be a playoff season or anything) to show what he can do?  And two, I believe John is the best of the 3 QBs and that he will win the starting job in camp and in the preseason.

Let me close by saying this: I'm a known John Beck supporter.  And I've put my name on the line on both my site and on Buffalo Rumblings, so I might as well do the same thing on your site and say this: John Beck will open the season as the starter – and he'll play well, too.

As big a Belichick fan as I am, man did I love that special way Parcells had in expressing his opinions.  In this case, he and Matty I are dead on.  What good is awesome athletic ability if it comes with deer-in-the-headlights reaction time or an inability to correctly read the defense?  From the little I know of them so far, I liked Beck a little better too and was surprised to see McCown's name listed first on the Dolphins depth chart.  Someone will eventually be listed first come September, but that's what the pre-season will determine.

Thanks to Matty I, and feel free to head on over to The Phinsider to read my response to his PatsPulpit question.

All quiet on the Patriots front?  Not quite.

ROOKIES VISIT 'BRAND' UNIVERSITY: Former Patriots CB Mike Haynes, who now works as the NFL's Vice President of Player and Employee Development, has been hosting "Brand University" sessions for NFL rookies. Patriots' rookies "enrolled" on Tuesday, with Haynes explaining that the program “is designed to help players develop and execute a brand strategy that will help them maximize their NFL experience and enjoy a successful career within and beyond the game." Later this month, NFL rookies will take part in the annual rookie symposium in San Diego.

The Official New England Patriots News-Blitz reports that Tedy Bruschi was doing his thing for charity on Monday, playing some golf at TPC in Norton, MA in support  of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.  Bruschi talks about his involvement with this outstanding hospital and also about "how he never really wanted to play anywhere else but in New England."  Gotta love Bruschi!

Also at the event was QB Matt Cassel, who is in his 4th and final year of his contract with the Pats.  He had this, among other things, to say to Mike Reiss:

You try to approach every year the same. For me, I try not to worry about whether it’s a contract year, or my fourth year. The one thing I will say is that you start to learn things as you move on, and being my fourth year, I feel very comfortable in the system.

"I look forward to working with Tom [Brady] again and learning as much as I can and being ready to go. It’s just one of those things where you go out and compete, and you get going, just like you [media folks] do, competing against each other for the best stories. I have to go out and compete with the other guys and try to put my best efforts out there each and every day to come out and show the coaches and everybody else that I’m ready to go.

Reiss's column is a great stop for his "mailbag" responses.  This week covers Ty Law, the O-Line, defense, Junior Seau's possible return and the competition at linebacker, just to name a few topics worth mulling over before training camp.

Remember the old Saturday Night Live skit with John Belushi about the thing that wouldn't leave?  Sen. Arlen Spector, playing the part of Belushi, told the New York Times in a phone interview that his comments to the editorial board of The Philadelphia Daily News earlier this week “didn’t really come out with the proper flavor.”

“My view on the overall situation is that we may well see the other shoe drop somewhere,” Specter said. “We went about as far as we could go, given the public attitude today about the economy and gas prices and Iraq. We’re always very careful about initiating a Congressional investigation.

“But that isn’t to say, by any means, it’s over.”

Whew!  For a few days there, I thought the beloved Pennsylvania Senator had shown signs of lucidity by dropping this idiotic government waste of time and money, but it's good to know he's back to normal.