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The Boston Hearald's ** Kevin Mannix ** examines how the Patriots are filling the gap left in the middle by Ted Washington. Mannix notes that of the expected replacements for Washington so far in camp, veteran Keith Traylor spent yesterday working with the first unit while rookie Vince Wilfork was a part of the third unit defensive line.
The Patriots announced Tuesday that veteran defensive end Rodney Bailey has been placed on injured reserve after undergoing surgery on his torn Achilles tendon and will miss the 2004 season.
Michael Smith says in the Globe the dog days of August have begun, much to the delight of Bill Belichick.
On the national scene, the USA Today's **Tom Pedulla** reports that Ty Law is willing to overlook his offseason tiff with the Patriots and that his motivation was never financial. "Ty Law says his contract request wasn't about money," says Pedulla. "It was about his desire to stay with the Patriots."
Kevin McNamara has a feature on Traylor in The Projo. "Traylor played with [Ted] Washington in Chicago, but Belichick says he's not looking for a Washington clone," writes McNamara. "He wants Traylor to be himself." … McNamara's Patriots Notebook looks at the dog days of training camp.
Ken Powers of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (subscribers only) writes that the summer heat of training camp helps players prepare for the regular season. "The dog days of August coincide with the dog days of camp," says Powers. "It's a time and a place where teams build toughness and conditioning and resiliency. Where teams learn how to play when tired, and play under stress. For a player there's no way to get around this time of year, they just have to get through it." … Powers also has a feature on Zeron Flemister.
The Patriot Ledger's Eric McHugh (no online version) says that with two Super Bowl rings, Tom Brady is the toast of New England. "It's the whole Brady mystique - the All-American good looks, the aw-shucks humility, the fact that despite keeping a generally lower profile this offseason than he did following the first Super Bowl crown, Brady still shows up in darndest places," says McHugh.
Mike Reiss of the MetroWest Daily News writes that the Patriots defensive line took a hit with the loss of Bailey. "Second-year player Ty Warren and Pro Bowler Richard Seymour are the projected starters at end, but Bailey's loss creates a void behind them," writes Reiss.
The Republican's Chris Kennedy writes about Scott Farley. "Scott Farley wound up with little more than a tour of training camp last year, or so it must have seemed," says Kennedy. "This time around, he has been able to spend a bit of quality time around Gillette Stadium."
Michael Parente of the Woonsocket Call writes about Brandon Gorin in his notebook. "Gorin, a third-year tackle out of Purdue, is one of only a handful of healthy tackles on the field through the first week of training camp, giving him an edge in the race for a backup role on the offensive line," writes Parente. … He also has a feature on Mike Cloud.
Mark Farinella (no online version) has a short feature on Ted Johnson in the The Sun Chronicle. … Carmine Frongillo of The Sun says the Patriots are hoping Corey Dillon delivers.
