The Patriots have re-signed Vinny Testaverde to a 1-year contract.  This comes as no surprise as Testaverde worked out at most of the mini-camps in the off-season with the Patriots.  With Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez not looking too sharp it was a no-brainer to bring Testaverde back.

Testaverde has had a good NFL career after a rough start with the Tampa Bay Bucs.  He has played in 226 games (208 starts) in his career and he has completed 3,693 of 6,529 (56.6%) passes for 45,281 yards (#6 in NFL History) with 270 touchdown passes (#9 in NFL History) with 261 interceptions (75.2 QB Rating).  He also has carried the football 421 times for 1,639 yards (3.9 ypc) with 15 TD runs.

The Patriots looked pretty sharp in the first half as they built a 17-7 lead but the Titans roared back against the Patriots reserves in the 2nd half.  Tom Brady didn’t look especially sharp completing 10 of 19 passes for 145 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions (one of which was returned 51 yards for a TD by Titans’ CB Cortland Finnegan).  Matt Cassel wasn’t his usual pre-season superstar self last night as he completed 6 of 12 passes for 47 yards with 2 pick-offs.  Matt Gutierrez finished up the game completing 4 of 9 passes for 44 yards and he also scored a TD on a 2-yard run.  Sammy Morris got his work in last night carrying the ball 7 times for 23 yards (3.3 ypc).  Fullback Heath Evans also was busy with 6 carries for 23 yards (3.8 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 3 passes for 12 yards.  Kevin Faulk ran the ball 7 times for 15 yards (2.1 ypc) and he caught 6 passes for 89 yards (14.8 avg).  WR Wes Welker only caught one pass but it was a 28-yard TD from Tom Brady.  The offense as a whole didn’t look too good last night for the Patriots.  They ran the ball 26 times for 71 yards (2.7 ypc) and they completed 20 of 40 passes for 227 yards.

The defense looked good in the first half for the Patriots but the Titans stung them in the 2nd half.  The Titans ran the ball 31 times for 131 yards (4.2 ypc) and they completed 17 of 36 passes for 220 yards.  Lucky for the Patriots….this game doesn’t count.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270817017

The Patriots have released 37-year old punter Josh Miller.  Miller played in 10 games last season with the Patriots and he punted the football 43 times for 1,848 yards (43.0 avg) and he pinned the opposition inside the 20-yard line 12 times.  He also had a net average of 35.6 yards per punt.

Undrafted rookie Tom Malone and Danny Baugher will battle it out in the pre-season for the starting job.  Malone showed off a strong leg as he averaged 46.5 yards per punt but both of his punts wound up being touchbacks which made his net average only 26.5 yards.  Baugher punted the ball 3 times and averaged 44.3 yards per punt but he only netted 33.3 yards because they returned the punts 33 yards.

The Patriots like to move Ben Watson around to take advantage of mis-matches in the passing game so Tom Brady will be looking for him often even with all of his new toys on offense.   Watson played in 13 games (all starts) last season for the Patriots and he caught 49 passes for 643 yards (13.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He has now played in 29 games (23 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 80 passes for 1,100 yards (13.8 avg) with 7 TD grabs.

Kyle Brady was brought in to help in the running game as he is a very solid blocker.   He played in 16 games (14 starts) last season and he caught only 5 passes for 37 yards (7.4 avg).  Brady has now played in 183 games (166 starts) and he caught 334 passes for 3,449 yards (10.3 avg) with 3 TD grabs.

David Thomas will probably have his role expand in his 2nd season in the league.  He played in 15 games (3 starts) last season for the Patriots and he caught 11 passes for 159 yards (14.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.

Last season the Patriots had one of the weakest WR corps in the NFL but that didn’t stop them from getting to the AFC Championship Game in 2006.  The Patriots have taken a weakness and made it a strength through free agency and trades.  Look for Tom Brady to have a monster season and defensive co-ordinators getting little sleep during Patriots’ week.  The biggest move was made on Draft Day when the Patriots traded a 4th round pick to the Oakland Raiders for Randy Moss.  It seems almost as though Moss was bored with all of the losing in Oakland and it appeared that he wasn’t giving near 100%.  That won’t fly under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick so look for Moss to behave and be focused this season.  He played in 13 games (all starts) last season for the Raiders and he caught 42 passes for 553 yards (13.2 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Look for Moss to regain his swagger and pile up the yards this season in New England to add to his Hall of Fame career numbers.  He has now played in 138 games (132 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 676 passes for 10,700 yards (15.8 avg) with 101 TD grabs and he has also carried the football 23 times for 159 yards (6.9 ypc).  Moss also has completed 4 of 8 passes (50%) for 106 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception (95.8 QB Rating) so don’t be surprised if the Patriots run some gadget plays this season.

Donte’ Stallworth was signed in free agency to give the Patriots another WR that can get deep.  He has never been a #1 type WR but he’s always been a solid #2 when healthy.  He played in 12 games (11 starts) last season for the Eagles and he caught 38 passes for 725 yards (19.1 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  Look for him to test how far Tom Brady can throw the ball this season.  Stallworth has now played in 68 games (44 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 233 passes for 3,516 yards (15.1 avg) with 28 TD grabs and he has also carried the football 11 times for 44 yards (4.0 ypc).  Look for Brady to bring out the most in Stallworth this season.

It’s amazing to me that the Dolphins were dumb enough to trade Wes Welker to the Patriots.  Welker will bring his do-everything act to Foxboro and the fans will likely love this guy.  He played in 16 games (2 starts) last season for the Dolphins and he caught 67 passes for 687 yards (10.3 avg) with a TD grab.  Welker was also a special teams dynamo for the Fins last season as he returned 48 kickoffs for 1,064 yards (22.2 avg) and he also returned 41 punts for 378 yards (9.2 avg).  Look for Welker to handle all of the same roles for the Patriots this season.  Welker has now played in 47 games (3 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 96 passes for 1,121 yards (11.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Welker has also returned 170 kickoffs for 3,858 yards (22.7 avg) with 1 TD return and 127 punts for 1,232 yards (9.7 avg).  Welker also was the placekicker for 1 game for the Dolphins in 2004 after Olindo Mare left a game injured.  He nailed a 29 yard field goal and his three kickoffs travelled 158 yards!

Reche Caldwell came out of nowhere to be the #1 WR for the Patriots last season but he really made some big mistakes against the Colts in the AFC Championship Game and will now have to fight for a roster spot.  He played in 16 games last season (14 starts) and he caught 61 passes for 760 yards (12.5 avg) with 4 TD grabs and he also carried the football 1 time for 5 yards.  Caldwell’s career was almost over before he came to New England so look for him to put up a good fight to keep his job.  He has now played in 63 games (28 starts) and he has caught 137 passes for 1,710 yards (12.5 avg) with 11 TD grabs and he also has carried the football 14 times for 108 yards (7.7 ypc).

Jabar Gaffney will also face long odds making the Patriots final roster.  He played in 11 games (6 starts) for the Patriots last season and he caught 11 passes for 142 yards (12.9 avg) with a TD.  Gaffney has now played in 75 NFL games (56 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 182 passes for 2,151 yards (11.8 avg) with 8 TD grabs and he also has carried the ball 9 times for 56 yards (6.2 ypc).

Troy Brown is like the Energizer Bunny as he just keeps going and going and going.  The Patriots are bringing him back for another season and expect the guy to keep making big plays when the team really needs them just like he did against the Chargers in the playoffs last year.  He played in all 16 games (9 starts) last season for the Patriots and he caught 43 passes for 384 yards (8.9 avg) with 4 TD grabs and he also carried the ball 2 times for 18 yards (9.0 avg).  Brown is not a great receiver but he is a great football player as he’ll do whatever the Patriots need him to as evidenced by his move to cornerback a couple of seasons ago when the Pats were thin in the defensive backfield.  Brown not only played defense…..but he played it well.  Brown has now played in 191 games (70 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 557 passes for 6,366 yards (11.4 avg) with 31 TD grabs.  He also has carried the ball 29 times for 178 yards (6.1 ypc).

The Patriots also signed the talented Kelley Washington who was a bit of an underachiever in Cincinnati.  He played in 5 games (1 start) last season for the Bengals and he caught 9 passes for 115 yards (12.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Washington was buried on the depth chart in Cincy and he will be in New England unless he gets off to a fast start in the pre-season.  He has now played in 44 games (6 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 72 passes for 893 yards (12.4 avg) with 9 TD grabs and he has carried the ball 2 times for 4 yards (2.0 ypc).  Washington is a talented guy but he could be in for an uphill battle trying to make the Patriots final roster.

Chad Jackson was a rookie last season and he showed glimpses of what he can do.  But he hurt himself at the end of last season and he’s not quite right yet.  He played in 12 games (1 start) last season and he caught 13 passes for 152 yards (11.7 avg) with 3 TD grabs and he also carried the ball 4 times for 22 yards (5.5 ypc).  Jackson also helped out on special teams by returning 1 kickoff for 21 yards and 3 punts for 76 yards (25.3 avg).  Jackson has the skills to help the Patriots if he can get healthy.