Eight months after suffering a mild stroke, Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi took a significant step when he joined teammates on the practice field at Gillette Stadium. Bruschi saw action almost immediately with the first-unit defense when the Patriots practiced positional drills. Bruschi also lined up with the second-team kickoff return unit during special team drills. Bruschi hopes to be ready for the Bills game on Oct. 30th, but at this point still remains on the PUP list. ''I'm going to try," Bruschi said. "Today was the first step in my attempt. I felt good out there, but I'm not going to make any guarantees or promises, just that I'm going to give it my best shot." The Patriots have 21 days to move Bruschi to the active roster under league rules regarding players on PUP. Jerome Solomon of the Boston Globe, Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald, *Kevin McNamara of the *Providence Journal, Chris Kennedy of The Republican, Albert Breer of the MetroWest Daily News,

Richard Seymour was back practicing yesterday reports Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. Guregian writes that Seymour is confident he will be back in the starting lineup for the Bills game on Oct. 30 at Gillette Stadium. "I expect to be there. I definitely expect to be there," said Seymour, who has missed the past two games after injuring his left knee against San Diego while playing fullback on a goal-line play. Guregian cites sources as reporting that Seymour had suffered a sprained MCL(medial collateral ligament).

The Patriots placed safety Guss Scott on injured reserve with a knee injury reports Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. This is the second time in two years that Scott has been on IR. The Patriots also release linebacker and special teamer Wesly Mallard and filled the two open roster spots with WR Andre' Davis and CB Hank Poteat.

Jerome Solomon of the Boston Globe reports that rookie guard Logan Mankins commented on the situation that led to his ejection from the Denver game. "I was trying to get him off of me and my hand came from the ground and caught him in the crotch," Mankins said. "I just know he was on my hand and I wanted to get him off."

Duane Starks has been facing tough criticism on his play the past few weeks writes Michael Felger of the Boston Herald. Starks has been burnt repeatedly on big plays, but has been accountable for it and has not blammed anyone except himself. "Everyone is on the outside looking in,'' Straks said. "Not everyone knows exactly what's going on. On that play, yeah, I got beat going all the way across the field. Fine. I'm cool with that. The (Lelie) play, I sat down on a route I never should have sat down on. That's me. I'm always going to be a player. As for dealing with the critics, I'm like Antwone Fisher. I'm still here, I'm still standing. I'm still going to play. I'm going to do everything that I have to do to get better, in the weight room, on the field and studying the books." Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal also offers a similar report.

Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald writes that Tedy Bruschi wants to get the word out on strokes and hopes that in sharing his experiences on the road to recovery, he can become a beacon of hope for other stroke victims. "In the time we've been talking here, there's someone in America that's had a stroke. A stroke occurs every 45 seconds. It's the No. 1 disabler in America, the No. 3 killer . . . I realize it doesn't happen every day, coming back from something like this. I hope I'm giving all the stroke victims out there a lot of hope."

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Tom Curran of the Providence Journal offers his daily sports blog with Patriots notes and commentary.