With the tragic events of the Patriots Day Bombings at the Boston Marathon, New England Patriots players, alumni and the team itself have stepped up.

Just moments after the explosions changed lives on Bolyston Street former Patriots lineman Joe Andruzzi was in amongst the injured helping out.  Andruzzi’s foundation sponsored several runners in the marathon on Monday and he and his wife were at the finish line greeting runners when the blasts occurred.

Andruzzi, who had once said if he weren’t a football player he’d have joined the FDNY like his brothers, got involved and was seen carrying an injured woman from the scene.

Andruzzi deflected his heroism and refused to comment about it but took time to praise all the first responders and other emergency personnel.

Andruzzi will forever be remembered for running on the field in Foxboro carrying two American flags in the first Patriots game post September 11.  He, like his brothers who survived the events of September 2001, is now a hero for his actions taken on Patriots Day 2013.

In other post Boston Marathon news the Kraft family has announced they will match $100,000 in donations made through the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation.

Current Patriots players are getting in the act as well.  Defensive lineman Vince Wilfork’s foundation will donate $10,000 to the cause as well.  And you can help out through the end of April by donating on your cell phone by texting VINCE to 50555.  You will then be prompted on how you can donate $10 to the Vince Wilfork Foundation.  As of this writing the foundations has received $22,000 in donations.

Newly acquired wide receiver Danny Amendola is going to donate some money as well.  Amendola announced he will donate $100 for each catch and $200 for each dropped pass this season.

It doesn’t matter how you donate.  Money, time volunteering or donate blood.  Donating blood is simple, easy and painless and takes about 30 minutes.  I was over due on my donation and went today and gave a pint.

And the team also announced there has been one player move as TE Mike Hoomanawanui has signed a new contract for next year.  Hoomanawanui was a restricted free agent and after receiving no offers elsewhere, he has signed his RFA tender.  He will make $1.323 million in 2013.

One final piece of news as their are multiple reports out there that TE Aaron Hernandez underwent shoulder surgery. The good news is that he should be ready for the start of training camp in July.

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photo credit: bill greene - boston globe

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On Sunday evening the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that they have decided to match the New England Patriots offer sheet to restricted free agent WR Emmanuel Sanders.

Last week the Patriots announced they signed Sanders to an offer sheet for 1-year for $2.5 million.  The Steelers had until Monday to match, reject or work out a trade with New England for Sanders. And after looking at what was possibly available with the pick they would have gotten for him, they decided the one-year contract was the way to go.

Sanders was taken in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft out of SMU by the Steelers and would have cost the Patriots a 3rd round pick in this years draft if Pittsburgh rejects the offer the sheet.

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New England Patriots CB Alfonzo Dennard was sentenced on Thursday after being found guilty of assaulting a police officer during an incident in April of 2012.

Judge Stephanie Stacy sentenced Dennard to 24 months of probation, 100 hours of community service that must be law enforcement related and 30 days in jail to be served starting March 1, 2014.

He is allowed to travel between Nebraska and Massachusetts, travel for work purposes (road games) while any other travel would require permission from the court.

Dennard’s defense attorney asked the judge if a motion could be filed later to either suspend or eliminate the jail term if all other terms have been followed prior to March and the judge said she would be open too considering the motion.

Dennard also apologized to the officer, the fans, coaches and his family for the incident. 

The Patriots took a chance in drafting him last season and it looks like it paid off.  He has not been in trouble before this incident or since and he became a valued member of the secondary and is expected to be the starter this season along side Aqib Talib.

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It was a busy day for the New England Patriots on Wednesday.  The team announced that they have finalized their preseason schedule with dates and times.

• Friday August 9 at Philadelphia, 730p
• Friday August 16 vs. Tampa Bay, 8p
• Thursday August 22 at Detroit, 730p
• Thursday August 29 vs. New York Giants, 730p

All the games except the Tampa Bay game will be seen on the Patriots Preseason Television Network while the game against the Buccaneers will be carried nationally on FOX.

Just a reminder there is NO NFL SUNDAY TICKET for preseason games.

In addition to the preseason schedule announcement the team came to terms with free agent wide receiver Julian Edelman on a one-year contract.  The deal is worth $765K with $250K in incentives.

Edelman was a 7th round pick of the Patriots in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Kent State. 

In 2012 he played in 9 games, starting 3, he had 21 catches for 235 yards and 3 TD’s.  He also added another 45 yards rushing on 4 attempts, three of which went for no gain or negative yards.

Edelman also returns punts and kickoffs and is expected to possibly replace the departed Wes Welker as a return man.  In 2012 he returned 17 punts for 263 yards and 1 TD and he had 3 kick returns for 38 yards.

The Patriots also announced they signed Pittsburgh restricted free agent WR Emmanuel Sanders to an offer sheet for 1-year for $2.5 million.  The Steelers have until Monday to match, reject or work out a trade with New England for Sanders.

Sanders was taken in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft out of SMU by the Steelers and would cost the Patriots a 3rd round pick in this years draft if Pittsburgh rejects the offer the sheet.

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According to several reports the New England Patriots will sign WR Michael Jenkins.  Jenkins has spent the last two seasons in Minnesota after having spent 7 seasons with Atlanta.

In 2012 he caught 40 balls for 449 yards and 2 TD’s for the Vikings. 

Jenkins is 6’4” and 214 lbs and was the Falcons first round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft out of Ohio State University.  His two best seasons were 2007 and 2008 when he combined for 103 catches for 1309 yards and 7 TD’s with Atlanta.

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The New England Patriots have reportedly agreed to terms with OT Sebastian Vollmer on a new four-year contract. Vollmer a native of Germany was a Patriots second round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft out of the University of Houston. Terms of the contract have not yet been released. Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII no comments

The New England Patriots have brought back another member of the secondary when they re-signed Marquice Cole to a new contract.  Terms have not yet been disclosed.

Cole came to New England last season on a one-year free agent deal after having spent 3 seasons with the Patriots AFC East rival New York Jets.

Cole, who is primarily a special teams player with some added time in the extra defensive back scenarios, has also played with Tennessee, New Orleans and Oakland.

He was undrafted in 2007 out of Northwestern and was signed and cut by the Raiders before training camp ended.  He then moved onto Tennessee for the end of the 2007 season.

In 2008 he signed with the Saints for the last month of the year only to be released before he found some success with the Jets.

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Plainville CT’s very own Niko Koutouvides has re-signed with the New England Patriots.  Koutouvides, 31, has played for New England since 2011 despite being released twice in that time period and brought back.

Koutouvides has proven to be a key player on special teams and invaluable to the teams depth at linebacker.

He attended Purdue University and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 4th round of the 2004 NFL Draft.  In addition to Seattle he has also played for Denver and Tampa Bay mostly as a special teams player.

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The New England Patriots have struck again this time they have inked former Atlanta Falcons OT Will Svitek for depth along the offensive line.  Svitek missed 2012 with an injury but he was very effective in 2011 for Atlanta.

Born in the Czech Republic, he is 31, 6’6”, 308 lbs and he would join Zoltan Mesko and possibly Sebastian Vollmer, should he re-sign, as Patriots players born outside of the United States.

In 2005 he was a 6th round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs out of Stanford.  After three seasons in Kansas City he was waived in 2008 during training camp.  He spent the 2008 season out of football and in 2009 was signed by Atlanta.

He has played 61 NFL games and has started 16 in his career.

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Late Saturday afternoon, the New England Patriots released WR Brandon Lloyd.  He was due a $3 million roster bonus this weekend and the team and Lloyd couldn’t agree to a restructuring of his contract.

It is expected that Lloyd will most likely return and probably fairly quickly with a new contract.

He signed with New England as a free agent last season and in his first season in Foxboro he had 74 catches for 911 yards and 4 TD’s while playing in 85% of the teams offensive plays.

Lloyd was a fourth round draft pick by San Francisco in the 2003 NFL Draft out of Illinois.  He has also played for Chicago, Washington, Denver and St. Louis and was a 2010 All-Pro and named to the Pro Bowl that same season.

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