The New England Patriots released
defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, the Boston Herald reported.

Haynesworth, 30, was acquired from Washington in July. He
had clashed with Redskins coach Mike Shanahan last year, and was
suspended for the final month of the National Football League
season.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jay Beberman at
jbeberman@bloomberg.net

By Gethin Coolbaugh

– Regional Editor

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Oct 4, 2011 – Whenever the New England Patriots and New York Jets get together, it’s generally a fun time. Not only is the game must-see TV, but the words coming out of Rex Ryan’s mouth are usually entertaining, too.

That’s what we’re in for this week as Tom Brady and the Pats prepare to take on Mark Sanchez and the Jets this Sunday at Gillette Stadium in the biggest game of the season for both teams so far.

New England (3-1) is coming off a solid win over a pesky Oakland Raiders team. Brady continued his dominance of opposing defenses, picking apart the Raider defense for 226 yards and two touchdowns as the Pats beat down the Raiders, 31-19, on Sunday. Wes Welker caught one touchdown pass from Brady and racked up 158 yards on nine catches. Through four games, Brady has 1,553 yards and 13 touchdowns and is averaging 388.2 yards per game.

The Jets (2-2) are coming off a disappointing loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football. Sanchez and the Jets fell behind 27-17 at halftime, and the Ravens scored one touchdown in the third quarter to seal the win. In the loss, Sanchez threw for 119 yards and tossed one interception on 11-of-35 passing.

Brady and company have a chance to catch the Jets off guard, with Sanchez struggling and the home field advantage. Yet the last time these two teams met, the circumstances were somewhat similar. With the Patriots receiving a first round bye in the AFC Playoffs, the Pats and Jets met in the divisional round at Gillette, and the Jets walked away with a surprising 28-21 win and advanced to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost.

Signs point to New England in this one, but as history has proven, anything can happen.

For more New England Patriots coverage, visit our team page and blog, Pats Pulpit.

Read More: Tom Brady (QB – NEP), Wes Welker (WR – NEP), Mark Sanchez (QB – NYJ), New York Jets, New England Patriots

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The official releases of the 2011 New England Patriots schedule is not until 7 p.m. Tuesday night, but little by little, parts of it continue to leak out.

We’e already learned that the Pats will be hosting AFC East Divisional rival New York Jets in Week 5, and now, via tweets from the Patriots’ official Twitter account, we know that not only will New England open the 2011 season on the road, but three of its first four games will be away from Gillette Stadium. 

Through the power of deduction and basic math, that means that the Patriots will have seven of their final 12 games at home, where they haven’t lost a regular season game since Nov. 30, 2008. And that one loss was with Matt Cassel at quarterback. With a healthy Tom Brady, the Pats have not lost in the regular season at Gillette since Nov. of 2006 (28 straight, counting the Chiefs game).

From 2006-10, the Patriots lead the league with a 34-6 mark at home. In fact, since 2000, New England is 61-19 (.763) at home, the best mark in the NFL during that time (the Colts are 60-20). 

Visit SB Nation for a complete look at the 2011 NFL schedule. 

Former quarterback Drew Bledsoe has become one of the most obvious choices to be a candidate for the New England Patriots Hall of Fame, as he played such a prominent role to get the franchise back on track during the 1990s.

The Patriots announced three finalists Friday for their Hall of Fame, and Bledsoe joined former head coach Bill Parcells and former defensive tackle Houston Antwine will enter the stretch run of their campaign for enshrinement. The winner of the fan vote will be announced May 15 and inducted prior to the Patriots’ preseason home opener.

“It’s a great honor to be considered for the Patriots Hall of Fame,” Bledsoe said. “Great company to be in. I appreciate the honor.”

Bledsoe, the first overall pick in the 1993 draft, led the Patriots to three consecutive playoff berths for the first time in team history, and he set the franchise record with 29,657 passing yards, 2,544 completions and 4,518 attempts.

While Bledsoe’s numbers always stuck out, he was more important for the way he revolutionized a battered franchise. The Patriots only had six playoff appearances during their first 34 seasons (1960-93), but they advanced to the postseason five times during his nine-year tenure, which included Tom Brady‘s run in 2001.

“I think we all probably recognized the state of the organization when I was drafted in ’93,” Bledsoe said. “It was not an organization that had a lot of success, but under the stewardship of Bill Parcells, and then moving on to obviously the ownership of the Kraft family, it’s become one of — if not the — marquee franchises in the NFL. I’m certainly very, very proud of whatever part I played in that, that rise to prominence of the organization.”

The Patriots strung together some good seasons in the late-1970s and mid-1980s, but they’ve fallen below .500 just three times since Bledsoe was drafted, including his rookie year, when they closed the season with four consecutive wins and knocked the Dolphins out of the playoffs during the final play of the season — a 36-yard touchdown pass from Bledsoe to Michael Timpson in overtime.

The Patriots won 75 games during Bledsoe’s nine-year run. In the four seasons before he joined New England, the franchise won 14 total games and had two last-place finishes and two fourth-place finishes in the AFC East.

Bledsoe played a major role in overhauling a beaten team, and he returned to Foxboro, Mass. last year to tour Gillette Stadium, Patriot Place and the new-look Hall. His contributions throughout the 1990s helped build the Hall at Patriot Place, and he might soon be its newest resident.

“During my time there, the organization went from one place to a much better place,” Bledsoe said. “From there, once I left, it’s continued to go onward and upward. I’m certainly very proud to have been a part of the resurgence of the Patriots, and I also take some degree of pride in seeing where they’ve gone since I’ve left.”