Belichick Is Mum About Brady’s Ongoing Absence

Tom Brady missed practice for the third consecutive time, but New England Coach Bill Belichick didn’t say why his quarterback was absent from Patriots training camp Monday in Foxborough, Mass.

“Guys that aren’t out here, it’s either because of their practice routine or they are day to day,” he said.

He wouldn’t reveal which reason applied to Brady.

“We don’t do the individual report,” Belichick said. “That comes during the regular season when we do the injury reports.”

Brady was listed as probable on the injury report all last season and played every game. He participated in all four practices on Friday and Saturday, the first two days of camp, but missed Sunday’s single session and both of Monday’s practices. That left No. 2 quarterback Matt Cassel to play a bigger role. He is entering his second season after seeing little playing time at USC.

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The Atlanta Falcons got the bad news they expected: Receiver Brian Finneran is out for the season after tearing up his left knee in practice.

Finneran, one of quarterback Michael Vick’s favorite targets, was hurt during a workout Sunday night in Flowery Branch, Ga., as he practiced a one-on-one drill with rookie cornerback Jimmy Williams. The receiver shrieked in pain as he tried to cut left on a crossing route, and Coach Jim Mora said that it looked serious.

An MRI confirmed that Finneran tore the anterior cruciate ligament, in addition to sustaining cartilage damage and a slight displacement of the knee cap. He will undergo surgery on Wednesday or Thursday.

The loss of Finneran was a serious blow to the Falcons’ hopes of bolstering an offense that ranked 27th in passing yards last season.

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Quarterback Matt Leinart missed the Arizona Cardinals’ first day of workouts in Flagstaff, Ariz., as contract negotiations between the team and their first-round draft pick dragged on.

Leinart did not report to training camp with the rest of the team Sunday, and when players took the field Monday morning he still hadn’t appeared. There were no indications from the club that it was close to signing Leinart, the 10th overall pick in April.

“Whenever Matt gets here, we’ll be happy,” Coach Dennis Green said after the workout. *

With his contract done, Reggie Bush scrambled to get to the New Orleans Saints’ training camp. Bush’s deal, agreed to in principle Saturday night, is worth up to $62 million over six years, with a little more than $26.3 million guaranteed.

Bush’s flight from Atlanta landed in Jackson, Miss., Monday evening, and he was driven to training camp at Millsaps College to sign his contract.

The Heisman Trophy winner from USC was expected to undergo a conditioning test that consists of 300-yard shuttle sprints -- as has been required of other players -- and he will probably start practicing today.

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When the White House extended an invitation to dine with President Bush, Dan Marino accepted, but Miami Dolphins Coach Nick Saban said no.

Saban said his obligations at training camp took priority over the chance to spend an evening with the president. Politics weren’t a factor, he said.

Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor said he also turned down a chance to attend because the dinner Sunday night conflicted with team meetings on the second day of training camp.

The dinner took place at Joe’s Stone Crabs, a landmark Miami Beach restaurant. Among those attending were Marino, a former Dolphins quarterback and an NFL Hall of Famer, and Nick Buoniconti, Jim Mandich and Jim Kiick from the 1972 Dolphins team that has the only perfect season in league history.