NFL Notebook | Patriots mum on Brady's injury

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — For once, not even the paparazzi could find Tom Brady.

Or his boot.

They staked out the locker of the Patriots quarterback for 45 minutes before the media access period ended Thursday. Then they focused for the 15 minutes they were allowed into practice and found two quarterbacks, Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez.

That was quite a change from early in the week when Brady walked through a bunch of videographers and photographers near the New York home of his girlfriend, supermodel Gisele Bündchen.

On Monday, they took pictures of him wearing a protective boot on his right foot. Later in the day, he walked without the boot into a nightspot with Bündchen. Video on Tuesday also captured him without the boot as he headed for and entered a cab.

"I'm going to put on a boot and see if you all follow me around," New England halfback Heath Evans joked.

Brady, the NFL MVP, reportedly has a minor ankle sprain that shouldn't keep him out of the Super Bowl on Feb. 3 against the New York Giants.

Coach Bill Belichick and several players treated the Brady-boot saga with a mixture of stonewalling and smiles.

"I don't have any comment on it," Belichick said before the Patriots' first practice for the Super Bowl. "The injury report will be out next Wednesday, and we're excited to give that to you. That form will be filled out completely."

While Patriots fans were concerned about the boot on Brady's foot, defensive end Richard Seymour was more taken with the bouquet in Brady's hand.

"Every channel I turned to, there it was, magnifying in on the boot," he said. "To me, the good part was the flowers. I wasn't in on the boot."

Other players commented, or declined to, in more typical Patriots fashion: Stay away from anything controversial and never discuss injuries.

None of the players expressed any concern that Brady wouldn't play in the Super Bowl.

Brady has started 126 consecutive games, the third-longest current streak among quarterbacks behind Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.

In the 2001 season, he was knocked out of the AFC Championship Game with an ankle injury in the second quarter, then returned to lead the underdog Patriots to the first of their three Super Bowl titles, 20-17 over St. Louis.

Notes

• The Patriots placed safety Mel Mitchell on injured reserve with a biceps injury, sidelining the special-teams player for the Super Bowl.

• The Giants started practicing for the Super Bowl, and coach Tom Coughlin said he hopes to have about 80 percent of the game plan in place this week before the team leaves for Glendale, Ariz., on Monday.

• Ethan Albright, the Washington Redskins long snapper best known for his bright red hair and the fact he hasn't messed up a snap in ages, was selected for the NFC team for the Pro Bowl on Feb. 10 in Honolulu.

• Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Trent Cole was added to the NFC Pro Bowl roster in place of injured Seahawks end Patrick Kerney.

• Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett was added to the NFC Pro Bowl roster, replacing Tommie Harris of the Chicago Bears.

• Buffalo Bills defensive end Aaron Schobel is going to the Pro Bowl for a second straight year after he was added to the AFC roster in place of injured Dolphins end Jason Taylor.

• Six-time Pro Bowl fullback Mike Alstott of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced his retirement after 12 seasons. The Bucs' all-time touchdown leader spent the 2007 season on injured reserve with a neck problem.

• Eric Price, who was on Herm Edwards' staff for two years with the New York Jets, is rejoining Edwards as wide-receivers coach in Kansas City. Price has spent the past four years as offensive coordinator at Texas-El Paso, which is coached by his father, Mike Price.

• Former UCLA coach Karl Dorrell was hired to coach the Miami Dolphins' wide receivers.

• Brian VanGorder left South Carolina as defensive coordinator to take the same job with the Atlanta Falcons.