Patriot nation has two main questions right now: How is Tom Brady’s foot? And, Is that what this team has to look forward to if Matt Cassel is at the helm?

For those masochists out there, if you want a video recap of Sunday night’s game, here’s the NFLN broadcast squeezed into about 2 minutes of excruciating content with a couple of highlights for Pats fans.

Watch the Highlights Recap: LINK

Aside from the obvious interest in hearing what players had to say about Sunday night’s game was the high level of chatter in Foxboro was about the lack of objectivity by the broadcast crew on the NFLN coverage. The bias by two former players against New England was the main discussion, around the facility, on the airwaves, on the blogs and even in some of the print outlets.

When the talk is more about the broadcast crew than the game, you can tell there’s something wrong with the big picture, unless that was the main objective. One of the funny lines I heard on the way to the stadium was to put Shannon Sharpe in a room with his brother so they can talk all they want and no one has to listen to them (ouch).

I’ve got a good story to tell on Sharpe from his days in Bristol (actually around Bristol) and some of the impressions he left with the locals. But, that’s probably best left for another time.

The Patriots announced that the team has just signed rookie tight end Tyson DeVree. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Patriots released veteran tight end Marcus Pollard to make room on the roster for DeVree.

The release of Pollard was a bit of a surprise. He had a decent training camp, but was indistinguishable during the team’s preseason. With veterans Ben Watson and David Thomas, the experience of Pollard obviously wasn’t necessary. The strong play of the younger players could also factored into Pollard’s release.

More on DeVree from the team’s press release:

DeVree, 23, was originally signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent on May 5, 2008 and was released by the Patriots on June 11, 2008. He finished his college career at the University of Colorado (2006-07) after transferring from Western Michigan (2003-04) after his sophomore year. The 6-foot-6, 245-pound tight end played in 44 collegiate games, making 96 receptions for 987 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns.

More on Pollard from the press release:

Pollard, 36, is a veteran of 13 NFL seasons with the Indianapolis Colts (1995-2004), Detroit Lions (2005-06) and Seattle Seahawks (2007). He was signed by the Patriots as a free agent on April 23, 2008. The 6-foot-3-inch, 255-pound tight end has played in 191 career games with 133 starts and has caught 349 passes for 4,280 yards (12.3 avg.) and 40 touchdowns. He has recorded eight career 100-yard receiving games and has also recorded 57 career special teams tackles. Last season, Pollard played in 14 games with 10 starts for the Seahawks and led Seattle’s tight ends with 28 receptions for 273 yards and two touchdowns.

Patriots 10 — Buccaneers 27

What was that?

Was that supposed to be a football game?
Didn’t look like much of a game if you ask me.

The Patriots were dismantled on national television in week two by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it was really that bad.

I’m not trying to poo poo the effort of all those vying for roster spots, but if you take a snapshot of last night’s 27-10 debacle in Tampa Bay, there are very few sections of that game where — if you’re looking at the Patriots performance — you would come away with something good to say.

Before the game I was asked by a Florida media outlet to give Buccaneers fans three things to look for (or expect) on Sunday night.

Here’s what I said:

How does the Patriots offensive line handle pressure?
The Patriots are missing a pair of starters (Matt Light and Stephen Neal) and likely their top two backups (Ryan O’Callaghan and Russ Hochstein) as well. Although the team professes that the next guy can step up to perform when injuries occur, see if that holds true or the Pats quarterbacks resemble Tom Brady under a New York Giants rush.

Laurence Two-step or Morris/Jordan pounding the rock?
The talk in New England is if Maroney will get going this preseason to return to the 4.5 yards per carry avg. he had last season, or if his 6 carries for 6 yards is more typical of what we’ll see from him this year.

What to Watch Sunday Night

Quarterbacks:
By far the most visible camp battle on display for New England is the battle between the backup quarterbacks Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez. Also in the mix is rookie Kevin O’Connell, but make no mistake, this game is all about the two Matts.

For Cassel, a strong performance on Sunday night is imperative. The fourth-year QB out of USC has to show he’s grown since last season, and his performance last week against the Ravens did little to recruit believers to his cause. Cassel went 1-for-4 for 11 yards and an interception. He looked harried and out of rhythm the entire time he was in the game, and failed the lead the team on any meaningful possessions. The team gained 1, 11 and -7 yards on the first three possessions under Cassel.

Gutierrez had more success than Cassel against the Ravens, but considering he only faced backups, that is to be expected. Gutierrez drove the Patriots to scoring position on his second possession after looking horrible on the first. Although he led the team to three points, his night will be remembered for a bad interception and a fumble turnover. He has to do a better job of protecting the ball when in scoring position. As an undrafted free agent, it’s not a big step to the unemployment line if he can’t get it together.

John Lynch answered some questions for the media after his first practice with the Patriots. One interesting note is how close Lynch was to signing with the Patriots in 2004, before he ultimately decided to become a member of the Denver Broncos.

Q: Can you talk about how you ended up signing with the Patriots?

JL: I don’t know how exactly it went down but I was obviously flattered when there was an interest. This was a place where it nearly happened four years ago when I went to Denver [Broncos]. I was extremely impressed then and I have always admired this organization from afar. You come out here and you have star players all over with Randy Moss, Tom Brady, [Mike] Vrabel, [Tedy] Bruschi, Rodney [Harrison], you can go on and on with guys like [Richard] Seymour and [Vince] Wilfork. To me, the thing that has always impressed me the most is the way they play the game. I think they play it the right way. They embody the sense of a team as well as anyone. That has led to their success and I think everybody in the
league wants to be part of that. Never did I think…I thought Denver would be my last spot but things happen and I am happy to be here.

Q: Any big surprises on your first day at practice?

Randy Moss spoke to the media Friday for the first time since re-joining the team in March. In certain discussions among members of the press, the question of whether Moss would ever speak before the start of the regular season continued into the second week of the preseason before Moss opted to break his silence.

The last time Moss spoke was during the 2007 season. Since then he has become a free agent, re-signed with the team, started an autobiography book venture, purchased an interested in his own NASCAR team, launched a new apparel deal with Pony and attended a number of charitable events.

Yes, he’s busy, but he could have let us know about things before now, don’t you think?

Here are three quick questions with Randy from Friday:

Q: What made you decide to re-sign with the New England Patriots?

RM: First and foremost, we have some unfinished business. I like the camaraderie around here, especially in the locker room and on the field. They have a great group of guys in the locker room. I think that is all you can ask for. Coach [Bill] Belichick understands football and understands his players. He puts us together as one and we come together as a team. That is something you can respect playing in this profession and in this league.

Q: As much success as the offense had last year, how excited are you to get back on the field?

PATS LAND LYNCH

Believe it or not, veteran safety John Lynch has opted to join the New England Patriots. Lynch visited New England yesterday, underwent a team physical and apparently agreed to terms this evening according to multiple reports.

By adding Lynch, New England addressed the void left when the team placed safety Tank Williams on the reserve/injured list over the weekend. Williams suffered a traumatic knee injury against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Boston Globe and ESPN have reported that the former Bronco agreed to terms with New England this evening. Calls to Lynch’s agent were not immediately returned.

The soon-to-be 37-year old Lynch has made his reputation at being a hard-hitting run-stuffer in both Denver and Tampa Bay. Lynch offers the Patriots the same type of performance New England hoped to reap from Williams, until he as lost for the year.

The 6-foot, 2, 220-pound defender was originally selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft out of Stanford.

[Editors note: This article was written Thursday Aug 14]

UPDATE: 12:10pm Aug. 15

The Patriots made John Lynch’s signing official today. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In addition, the team announced that offensive lineman Barry Stokes was placed on reserve.injured list, ending his season. Stokes was signed to the Patriots roster Aug. 2.

Here is a bit more on Lynch from the team press release:

COLLECTING CORNERS

The Patriots added another corner to the unit when they announced the signing of Ade Jimoh. With the addition of Jimoh, the team now has 10 cornerbacks on the roster with an additional 6 safeties (though Tank Williams is on I/R).

Jimoh’s arrival is an indication that some of the players who have missed time in camp, may be sidelined for a while longer. Antwain Spann, Mike Richardson, Jason Webster, Jonathan Wilhite and Lewis Sanders have all missed varying amounts of practices.

Considering Jimoh has some experience, playing in 69 career games with the Washington Redskins (2003-06) and Chicago Bears (2007), his addition could be an indication one or more of the players missing time have a serious injury.

To make room for Jimoh, the Patriots parted ways with offensive lineman Pete McMahon. McMahon was signed as an unrestricted free agent on July 27th. He was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders.

Newly acquired Jeff Shoate has had a couple of good days. In his first practice, he nearly picked off a pass, and did that again Wednesday. Shoate, a fifth-round pick out of Denver, has been mostly a specials teams player.

WILFORK COMES UP BIG

Rather than just regurgitate the news that you probably caught on Sports Tonight, or one of those other news scrollers, it seems to make more sense to tell you what that news means. The latest updates from Patriots camp, including Monday’s closed sessions is full of good news and not-so good news.

First the Bad News
I like to start off this way that way we can end on a positive note. Actually I’m not a fan of bad news, it’s just easier to rip the band-aid off than to pull it off gently.

There was another long list of players missing from practice Monday, 17 in total. We’re talking about a group of players who are not practicing with the team with just over three weeks until the start of the regular season. To put it in perspective, some of these players have missed about 50% of camp, and – if they don’t practice this week – will have missed 50% of the preseason.

Roster cuts come after the third preseason game, giving an increased level of importance with every practice session. Though public access to training camp ends Thursday, the fate of some players has already been decided, taking away options for the annual guessing game known as ‘Who will make the cut?’

Bye Tank
One player almost certain to have made the final roster is Tank Williams, who saw his season come to an end this past weekend when the team placed him on the reserve/injured list with a serious knee injury.

Taking a spin around the web, and adding in a few colorful notes seems like the proper way to spend a Monday, especially with the rainstorms from last night and the gloomy forecast for today.

AFC EAST Moves
Top News has Brett Favre to the Jets and Chad Pennington to the Dolphins. I was involved in a number of conversations regarding the potential that these two players bring to their new teams. To put it bluntly, I don’t see it. Sorry fans, I’m just buying the Favre is the greatest hype coming out of New York, and I’m certainly about to anoint the Dolphins contenders now that they have a quarterback who can get the ball to the right guy (the ones in aqua).

If you’ve been sequestered on a small island and hadn’t heard, here’s the latest on the Favre move:

The Official Brett Favre Site has all of accolades being poured on Favre and the Jets

Yahoo Sports Thinks the Jets are making desperation moves – something I’m not disagreeing with. Michael Silver has his pulse on the Jets, and for what it’s worth, he seems to be right on.
More…

Peter King from Sports Illustrated wraps up some camp material from around the league and had some interesting quotes from Favre:

"I’ve always felt in any offense or defense throughout the NFL there’s way too much volume in a playbook. Coaches have way too much free time.”
–Favre, on the encyclopedic playbooks in the NFL today, including the one he has to learn with the Jets
More in King’s MMQB…