Before practice began this morning, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reported a new detail about Aaron Dobson's surgery from back in March. According to Howe, the surgery required the insertion of a permanent screw to aid the healing process. As a result, Dobson's recovery has been moving slower than originally expected.

"Dobson didn't even begin running until July, and that progression ultimately leads to aggressive planting and cutting," says Howe. "The Patriots medical staff is making sure Dobson is able to handle the rigors of the job before allowing him on the field."

In regards to Dominique Easley, Howe reports that there has been no setback in his recovery and he's still working to regain full strength of his knee.

Yesterday, the Patriots claimed rookie running back Tyler Gaffney off waivers from Carolina, but according to Adam Jones of 98.5 The Sports Hub, the team may have broken an unwritten rule. Gaffney suffered a knee injury last week and it's believed that Carolina was planning on putting him on injured reserve after he cleared waivers. However, the Patriots didn't let that happen and now some teams around the league are crying foul. The Boston Globe's Ben Volin joined the Sports Hub this morning to discuss the controvery. He doesn't think there's any issue with the acquisition.

"The Panthers have 90 offseason roster spots right now, so if they really wanted Tyler Gaffney they would have just kept him on the roster and they wouldn't have exposed him to waivers," said Volin on Toucher & Rich this morning. "Anybody complaining about Belichick violating a rule is kind of being a baby and not understanding how reality works."

Gaffney will likely end up on injured reserve and will not be available to the Patriots until next year. Luckily, the team has another rookie running back who may end up having a big role on the team. ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss says that James White has showed a lot of versatility thus far in camp and could see a number of early-down running plays this season.

According to CBS Sports' Pat Kirwan, the team's versatility in the running game could be a key factor for the Patriots offense in 2014. He believes that Shane Vereen and James White could give opposing defenses if New England chooses to isolate them in the passing game.

"If opponents put a sub defense on the field, the Patriots can hammer the run. If the defense goes with a base package, I could envision matchups in the passing game the offense will love to see," wrote Kirwan.

Ron Borges joined Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresch on Comcast SportsNet's "Early Edition" last night to talk

about the Patriots team-identity. Borges says he still doesn't know what to expect from the defense. Meanwhile on CSN's "Sports Tonight," Steve Buckley and Greg Dickerson debated whether they'd prefer Ty Law in his prime or Darrelle Revis right now.

"To me, Ty Law is a great player, I don't want to bash him when I say this," said Dickerson. "Ty Law is a borderline Hall of Famer, Darrelle Revis is a Hall of Famer if his career ended today."