The Patriots conducted a walkthrough Saturday afternoon, just beating a deluge that soaked the players and fans immediately upon the conclusion of the final public practice of the summer. Bill Belichick welcomed back some players who've missed a lot of time, most notably veteran Shaun Ellis, who was officially removed from the PUP list. In addition to the defensive end, Julian Edelman, Brandon Tate and James Sanders all returned to the practice field after prolonged absences.
Also, Albert Haynesworth made an appearance, wearing his No. 92 jersey but a blue baseball cap instead of his helmet. Belichick says the big defensive tackle is still "day to day."
There was some bad news on the injury front as there were several additions to the list. Stevan Ridley, Leigh Bodden, Bret Lockett, Darius Butler, Danny Woodhead and Dane Fletcher were not present. They joined a lengthy list of players who've been absent for several days including Taylor Price, Ras-I Dowling, Shane Vereen, Josh Barrett, Kevin Faulk, Malcolm Williams, Eric Kettani, Jeff Tarpinian, Brandon Spikes, Marcus Cannon, Brandon Deaderick, Jermaine Cunningham, Ron Brace and Mike Wright. Dowling, Faulk, Deaderick, Haynesworth and Brace were among those seen without their helmets.
There were also two newcomers on the field – former Jets safety/special teams player James Ihedigbo and veteran linebacker Ricky Brown.
"Both guys have experience in the league and we felt like they can come in to help our team," Belichick said of the additions.
Even though the hour-long workout, which was conducted in helmets with no other pads, featured no contact it was a chance for Belichick to shift modes at the midway point of preseason.
"What we're going to install, what we're going to work on, things we need to start," Belichick said of the walkthrough. "We have games coming up here pretty soon. In training camp you're really just trying to evaluate your team and figure out who you're going to be dealing with and where you're going to give everyone a chance to perform. Now we're going to have to start making decisions about who's going to do what, what we want to be, how we want to use different players and where our depth is. All of that is part of it."
