Laurence Maroney seems to be making progress.

When reporters caught up with him this week, he was filming a commercial in which he was lifting some heavy weights. But he chose to exercise his right not to talk about his injured shoulder.

Instead, the Pats second-year back talked about shouldering the running load for New England this season.

"We've got a lot of good players on this team and I still don't feel like with Corey [Dillon] being gone and me moving up to the starting running back that the pressure is going to be on me," Maroney observed, "because we still have 10 other people on this [offense] that are going to have to carry their load. I'm going to have to carry my part and we're all going to come together and put it together as a team effort."

Maroney was non-committal when asked if he'd be ready for training camp.

"Everything is looking on pace to me," he replied. "I don't have a projection. I'll be out there hopefully when I get out there, but until then, I'm going to work hard every day to get better."

On the other side of the football, linebacker Adalius Thomas is excited for the upcoming season, particularly after taking part in last week's mini camp here at Gillette Stadium.

With all the media attention focused on his versatility, Thomas told ESPN.com that he'll be happy no matter where he plays on the field.

"Given what [head coach Bill Belichick] has accomplished on defense, and what he's done with his linebackers, man, I'm not going to question anything," Thomas said in today's feature. "When he points, I go, that's it. No questions asked. None at all."

And finally today, if you like the Patriots Cheerleaders, you may find this story interesting.

A former Pats cheerleader has mixed feelings about this year's New England-Miami matchup in South Florida...because her daughter will be on the Dolphins sideline cheering for the home team!