Kevin O'Connellwas thrust into the backup QB role last year as a rookie. This year, he may find himself in the same spot, only this time, he'll be the understudy for former league MVP Tom Brady. O'Connell said in today's *Boston Globe *that he's looking forward to the opportunity.
"That's kind of what I want to do. I just want to be around Tom, work as hard as I can to learn from him and learn the ways that he does things, because if something were to happen, me and the other quarterbacks, we've got to be ready to go because we've got a lot of good players on our team and a lot of guys that you want to be good for."
O'Connell may have to wait till next week to see his teammate, Brady, on the field. The Pats are scheduled to conduct an organized team activity (OTA) practice today, but according to today's Boston Herald, Brady won't be among the participants.
But in a national story from The Sporting News, Brady is ready to go this season.
There's also a Herald story about New England's influence on the AFC West.
And there are new details about the Pats' interest in Raider **Derrick Burgess**, as spelled out in today's Globe.
