Bruschi jumps in -- Endures full workout in return

[stevo]

Bruschi jumps in -- Endures full workout in return
By Karen Guregian
Thursday, October 20, 2005 - Updated: 06:02 AM EST

FOXBORO – Ease him in. Bring him back slowly. Well, that's not the picture the playoff-sized media gallery at Gillette Stadium yesterday witnessed with respect to Tedy Bruschi.

During the short window of time the enormous crush of reporters and photographers were allowed to view practice, Bruschi was in the middle of everything, from kick coverage to playing with the first defensive unit.

Right before the media horde was ushered out, during the front seven drill, in fact, he was in his familiar spot at inside linebacker paired with Mike Vrabel and later with Monty Beisel.

In short, the Bruschi train keeps rolling. No. 54 continues to be on the fast track for a return. While the linebacker voiced some trepidation about getting back into the full swing of things, indicating he barely slept the night before in anticipation of his first practice since suffering a mild stroke eight months ago, he didn't let those nerves derail him or his goal. It's still full speed ahead for getting on the field in a real game.

While Patriots coach Bill Belichick was giving his familiar one-day-at-a-time refrain, it would almost seem like an upset at this point if Bruschi wasn't activated for the Oct. 30 Buffalo game following this week's bye.

``I'm going to try. I'm going to try,'' Bruschi said following the workout, when asked by a pool reporter if he saw himself being ready to play against the Bills.

``Today was the first step in my attempt. I felt good out there, like I was saying, but I'm not going to make any guarantees or promises (other than) that I'm going to give it my best shot.''

Bruschi indicated there wasn't much in the way of contact during yesterday's practice, so it wasn't the best test for how he's going to handle the physical and mental challenge of banging heads once again.

But nothing happened to discourage him in any way.

``I think the encouraging thing was that I'm still seeing things right. I'm still getting my reads on pretty much every snap I was in there and had the right read that I should have had for that offensive play,'' Bruschi said. ``There were maybe some false steps here and there, but I think that comes with the first day.''

The Pats now have three weeks to decide on whether or not to activate Bruschi from the physically unable to perform list. Belichick didn't want to get into any predictions or forecasts of how long it might take Bruschi, or how close the All-Pro linebacker had to be in terms of his old form, before hitting the next green light.

The Pats coach wasn't up for providing much depth or insight into any of his Bruschi-related answers, save for one. When asked if it was good to have No. 54 back on the field, Belichick opened up a bit.



``I love Tedy Bruschi. I love him,'' Belichick said, his voice softening. ``He's been a significant player for our team, but at this point, we'll put him out there, day-by-day, and we'll see how it goes. I don't think anybody has a crystal ball.''

Belichick's press conference was standing-room only, while practice drew more than two dozen cameras from media outlets. Bruschi, who had to move from his locker to another spot in the room to accommodate the mass of reporters, said he was overwhelmed by all the attention his story has drawn.

``The one thing I don't want to be, I don't want to be a distraction. That's why I want to stress to you, all I am is a linebacker,'' he said. ``We need to improve a lot to become a better football team. I think I can help us do that.

``But, all I can do is play one position out there, when there has to be 10 other guys out there at the same time, playing their position at a high level, doing the right thing.''

Bruschi reiterated he has not signed, nor has he yet been asked by the team to sign any kind of liability waiver. All in all, he was just happy to get past yesterday's hurdle.

``It's a relief that I got the first day under my belt,'' he said. ``I won't lie to you. I'll be honest with you. I've still got a long way to go. I've got a long way to go in which I've still got other steps to take in terms of games and physical contact, but I think I'll be ready for that.''

[JoeyrollNy]

I hope everything works out for him.

[rockingham]

I haven't been following the story too closely, but I would be curious to know what exactly was the cause of the stroke. Hopefully, it was a cause that is extremely unlikely to recur.

[mjh218]

Got to be rooting for this guy....

[count zero]

The cause is thought to have been a tiny hole in his heart that somehow enabled a clot to form, which then traveled to his brain. They have repaired the hole in his heart, so they think everything should be OK going forward.

[Don Eagleston]

Heckeva player. Was great as a smallish DT at Arizona too.

[Buck Swope]

Bruschi spent the whole summer in the weigh room and still went to practices/games/etc.

He has an equal shot of having another stroke picking his ass on the couch as drilling Eddie James on a draw up the middle

[vega007]

steroids.....