NFL Player Notes

2009 Pre-season player news

Tom Brady - According to the team web site, the Patriots QB said he is ready for the season after missing last year with a knee injury. "I'm feeling great and just excited to be out there on the field, training with my teammates," Brady said. "It's always fun being back in this competitive environment and working with these guys to try to make 2009 our best season. It's been fun to be back. I think everyone is excited to get back on the field and see what we're capable of." Brady, who has been throwing since January, did not participate in any of the three days of the OTA workouts, which ended Wednesday. Patriots coach Bill Belichick told the Boston Globe last month and repeated at his pre-draft press conference that Brady was working "in the offseason program without any limitations." Brady is expected to be present and participate at the team's next OTA next week.

Adrian Peterson - The Star-Tribune reports the Vikings RB appears to be more focused coming into the season this year. "Through the past two or three years, I've had the experience of doing too much and not really being able to dedicate the time I would like to working out and preparing myself," Peterson said Wednesday. "I've really cut back a lot this year. I have more time to study film and really just focus on the most important things that make those things possible off the field. Get my body prepared."

Kurt Warner - According to the team web site, the Cardinals QB looked good at Wednesday's OTA workout. Warner talked with the team last week to confirm he was cleared for all work this week. "The concern isn't that I can't do it, it was just team activities where there was a chance someone could step on you, fall on you, that was their biggest concern," Warner said. "They just wanted it to be secure." Warner said he still has some discomfort. That will eventually go away. He also said he didn't have the "typical" hip surgery so the likelihood he will eventually have to have more work done on the hip is slim, assuming he doesn't hurt it again. Warner also said, while he has been told he should be able to move better, he doesn't know "what that means, especially for a guy my age. I am not expecting to be able to get much faster than I have been. It won't make a big difference, other than not playing with pain."

Jay Cutler - The Denver Post reports new Bears QB Jay Cutler said he sees plenty of similarities to the offense he ran in Denver, but Cutler said he expects the Bears to remain a run-first team. "We're going to run the ball. I think I've learned the hard way that you've got to run the ball and you've got to stop the run to get anywhere in this league, to make the playoffs and make a push for the Super Bowl, so that's not going to change," Cutler said.

The Broncos were a pass-happy team in the AFC West, but the Bears want to pound the ball with Matt Forte. Don't expect Cutler's stats to take a nosedive, but he's not going to be as productive as he was in Denver. However, he remains a low-end No. 1 Fantasy QB worth a mid-round pick in all leagues.