FOXBOROUGH — Deion Branch can recall his second game back with the New England Patriots last season following a four-year absence. It may be one he’d rather forget.

Despite pulling out a tight, 23-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers, the Patriots were held to 179 yards of total offense, the team’s worst offensive output in its previous 134 games.

A franchise-record 622 yards in a win over Miami on Monday night, though, has Branch dismissing the past and focusing on Sunday, when the Patriots (1-0) host the Chargers (1-0) in his first home opener since 2004.

“We didn’t execute as properly as we wanted to. Hopefully this year, this week will be a different outcome,” Branch said Friday. “We’ve got to go out and execute, got to convert on third down, we got to score in the red, the things that we didn’t do last year. Those are things that we got to improve on this year.

“Last week is behind us, hopefully we can go out and do the same thing.”

After earning MVP honors in the 2005 Super Bowl, Branch spent four-plus seasons in Seattle before returning to New England last October. He was limited to four receptions and 39 yards by San Diego’s top-ranked defense in that game. It was just part of the Patriots’ worst offensive performance since totaling 176 yards against Tennessee on Dec. 16, 2002.

Yet always unfazed by statistics, the Patriots were able to fend off a furious fourth-quarter charge from San Diego, narrowly escaping when Kris Brown’s 50-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright with 23 seconds left.

New England coach Bill Belichick expects a similar battle Sunday.

“The more you watch them, the more impressed you are,” he said. “It’s a good football team.”

New defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, filling the void after Ron Rivera was hired as coach of the Carolina Panthers, inherits a veteran defense defined for swarming to the ball. Much of the stout San Diego secondary remains in tact from last season, too, led by free safety Eric Weddle, now in his fifth season in San Diego.

“Weddle’s a real instinctive player,” Belichick said. “He’s got good quickness, but he’s really got a real good nose for the ball, he’s got a lot of savvy, does a nice job disguising coverages, reading the quarterback, he’s around the ball a lot.”

Weddle’s not the only hard-hitting safety who may pose potential problems for New England receivers. A two-time Pro Bowler and former Defensive Player of the Year who spent seven seasons wreaking havoc on Indianapolis’ defense before injuries curtailed his time there, Bob Sanders was signed to a one-year deal by the Chargers this offseason.

And despite missing virtually all of last season with a torn biceps tendon, and playing merely nine games over the past three years, Sanders doesn’t look like someone who’s been out of the game, according to Branch.

“He don’t look like he missed ‘X’ amount of games, I’ll promise you that,” Branch said. “It don’t seem like he missed all of last year.”

Belichick appeared to agree.

“Sanders is the player we saw in Indianapolis,” he said. “He’s very instinctive, too. Kind of like a (Troy) Polamalu type of guy — lot of big hits in a game, lot of speed, gets to a lot of plays and then brings the wood when he gets there.”

Receiver Wes Welker, fresh off a scintillating performance against the Dolphins when he hauled in a franchise-record 99-yard, catch-and-run touchdown, is cognizant of what Sanders brings to a defense.

“You see him flying around and out there making plays, running around and doing kind of what he does,” said Welker, who was held to four catches and 25 yards against San Diego last season. “We’ve got to make sure we stay aggressive with him and stay on top of him and try to take advantage of it in some ways.”

Chad Ochocinco could help in that department. The oft-criticized receiver, who was traded to the Patriots in the offseason, declined to speak to the media this week after being publicly scrutinized by former New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi for his tweet about being awestruck by his team’s offensive onslaught in the opener.

While Bruschi supported his comments on SportsCenter on Thursday, Branch backed his teammate a day later.

“The thing is when you’re in a different place, different things happen. You can’t focus on and worry about what others are saying,” Branch said. “We’re just going out, doing our jobs, executing our plays and he’s doing a great job doing that.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Deion Branch can recall his second game back with the New England Patriots last season following a four-year absence. It may be one he’d rather forget.

Despite pulling out a tight, 23-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers, the Patriots were held to 179 yards of total offense, the team’s worst offensive output in its previous 134 games.

A franchise-record 622 yards in a win over Miami on Monday night, though, has Branch dismissing the past and focusing on Sunday, when the Patriots (1-0) host the Chargers (1-0) in his first home opener since 2004.

“We didn’t execute as properly as we wanted to. Hopefully this year, this week will be a different outcome,” Branch said Friday. “We’ve got to go out and execute, got to convert on third down, we got to score in the red, the things that we didn’t do last year. Those are things that we got to improve on this year.

“Last week is behind us, hopefully we can go out and do the same thing.”

After earning MVP honors in the 2005 Super Bowl, Branch spent four-plus seasons in Seattle before returning to New England last October. He was limited to four receptions and 39 yards by San Diego’s top-ranked defense in that game. It was just part of the Patriots’ worst offensive performance since totaling 176 yards against Tennessee on Dec. 16, 2002.

Yet always unfazed by statistics, the Patriots were able to fend off a furious fourth-quarter charge from San Diego, narrowly escaping when Kris Brown’s 50-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright with 23 seconds left.

New England coach Bill Belichick expects a similar battle Sunday.

“The more you watch them, the more impressed you are,” he said. “It’s a good football team.”

New defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, filling the void after Ron Rivera was hired as coach of the Carolina Panthers, inherits a veteran defense defined for swarming to the ball. Much of the stout San Diego secondary remains in tact from last season, too, led by free safety Eric Weddle, now in his fifth season in San Diego.

“Weddle’s a real instinctive player,” Belichick said. “He’s got good quickness, but he’s really got a real good nose for the ball, he’s got a lot of savvy, does a nice job disguising coverages, reading the quarterback, he’s around the ball a lot.”

Weddle’s not the only hard-hitting safety who may pose potential problems for New England receivers. A two-time Pro Bowler and former Defensive Player of the Year who spent seven seasons wreaking havoc on Indianapolis’ defense before injuries curtailed his time there, Bob Sanders was signed to a one-year deal by the Chargers this offseason.

And despite missing virtually all of last season with a torn biceps tendon, and playing merely nine games over the past three years, Sanders doesn’t look like someone who’s been out of the game, according to Branch.

“He don’t look like he missed ‘X’ amount of games, I’ll promise you that,” Branch said. “It don’t seem like he missed all of last year.”

Belichick appeared to agree.

“Sanders is the player we saw in Indianapolis,” he said. “He’s very instinctive, too. Kind of like a (Troy) Polamalu type of guy — lot of big hits in a game, lot of speed, gets to a lot of plays and then brings the wood when he gets there.”

Receiver Wes Welker, fresh off a scintillating performance against the Dolphins when he hauled in a franchise-record 99-yard, catch-and-run touchdown, is cognizant of what Sanders brings to a defense.

“You see him flying around and out there making plays, running around and doing kind of what he does,” said Welker, who was held to four catches and 25 yards against San Diego last season. “We’ve got to make sure we stay aggressive with him and stay on top of him and try to take advantage of it in some ways.”

Chad Ochocinco could help in that department. The oft-criticized receiver, who was traded to the Patriots in the offseason, declined to speak to the media this week after being publicly scrutinized by former New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi for his tweet about being awestruck by his team’s offensive onslaught in the opener.

While Bruschi supported his comments on SportsCenter on Thursday, Branch backed his teammate a day later.

“The thing is when you’re in a different place, different things happen. You can’t focus on and worry about what others are saying,” Branch said. “We’re just going out, doing our jobs, executing our plays and he’s doing a great job doing that.”

BATAVIA — Rob Gronkowski has been busy this offseason.

In addition to visiting family in Amherst, the New England Patriots’ tight end has traveled from Arizona to New England. On Monday, he was at Terry Hills Golf Course participating in the 25th annual Jim Kelly Celebrity Golf Tournament.

However, there is always time for football in Gronkowski’s schedule. He hasn’t let the NFL lockout deter him from getting ready for next season. The strapping 6-foot-6, 265-pound tight end looks as if he’s already in game shape.

When he’s not in New England training with a small group of Patriots teammates, he is in Tuscon, Ariz., working with his former strength coach at the University of Arizona as well as current and former Wildcat players.

“It is what it is right now,” Gronkowski said of the lockout. “You’ve got to do your own thing in the offseason. You just have to keep working hard and motivating yourself and work with your teammates.”

Gronkowski joined about 40 Patriots players for three days of workouts last week at Boston College. The sessions were organized by quarterback Tom Brady and defensive captains Jerod Mayo and Vince Wilfork.

“We got those three days last week and that was huge,” said Gronkowski, who turned 22 in May. “Everyone got their minds refreshed. Everyone was looking sharp out there. No one was really looking out of shape. It’s huge to get together as a team whatever chance you have.”

Getting together with teammates is great, but it has made Gronkowski even more anxious to get back to playing football. At least he’s not an incoming rookie whose development will be affected by the league’s work stoppage.

Having a grasp of the offense, Gronkowski said, will allow him to hit the ground running once the lockout ends.

“Knowing the playbook is the No. 1 thing at first when you get there,” he said. “I’m glad I got that down now. Now you can just concentrate on getting better, working on techniques and the little things that make yourself better.”

Gronkowski will be hard-pressed to be better than he was last season. In 16 games (11 starts), he caught 42 passes for 546 yards. His 10 touchdowns were the most by an NFL rookie tight end since the 1970 merger and second-most all-time behind Mike Ditka’s 12 in 1961.

After demonstrating exceptional blocking skills, he emerged as a reliable target for Brady during the second half of the season. Gronkowski scored seven touchdowns in the last eight games, including three in a game against Pittsburgh. He also caught three TDs in two games against the Buffalo Bills.

“The young fella? I can’t say enough good things about him,” Patriots tight end Alge Crumpler, who mentored Gronkowski last season, said after a win over the Bills last season. “He can run block, he can catch, he can do it all. He’s a good tight end.”

Gronkowski turned out to be a real steal for the Patriots, who drafted him in the second round. He would have been a first-round selection if not for a back injury that sidelined him for the 2009 season at Arizona.

Coming off a season that conjured images of former Patriots tight end Ben Coates, Gronkowski has set the bar awfully high going into 2011. But he thinks he has the formula for meeting the lofty expectations.

“Work on your own job, make sure you’ve got all the plays down, make sure you get the blocking assignments down, all the [pass] routes,” he said. “You just got to do what you got to do. Keep working hard, keep studying, keep practicing hard and things will come, hopefully in a good way.”

awilson@buffnews.comnull

By Joel Thorman

– NFL Editor, SBNation.com

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Jun 1, 2011 – Tom Brady has been spending most of the offseason working out on his own in Los Angeles but he’s returning to the New England area this week and will round up his teammates for a few workout sessions, according to Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com.

Reiss reports Brady, who is in town for charitable events this weekend, is spearheading the workout sessions and has apparently seen his teammates respond. Some players, like TE Rob Gronkowski and WR Brandon Tate, have already been in the New England area so it’s not a big deal but others, like WR Julian Edelman, are flying across the country.

It’s not clear how much work actually gets done at these player-only workouts but I do think there’s value in quarterbacks and receivers throwing the ball and establishing a rhythm with each other. By this point in a normal offseason, OTAs would be about halfway over so Brady and Co. are missing out on work they would normally do.

What also makes Brady’s attendance noteworthy — other than the fact it’s THE Tom Brady — is that his name appears on the lawsuit between the players and owners. 

We’ll see if Brady’s attendance helps the Patriots in the 2011 season…well, if there is a 2011 season.

Read More: Tom Brady (QB – NEP), New England Patriots