According to reports aired on the NFL Network, Patriots' linebacker Adalius Thomas will be a healthy inactive for today's game at Gillette Stadium against the Carolina Panthers.
The scratch would appear to be punishment for Thomas' attitude (expressed in a lengthy interview with media members on Thursday) over his having been sent home for being late to Wednesday's 8 a.m. meeting.
No word on whether the other members of the Tardy Four (Gary Guyton, Randy Moss, Derrick Burgess) will be similarly punished, but as of now, it's extremely doubtful. This appears to be targeted specifically at Thomas for not keeping his mouth shut, and a reminder that there was more freedom of speech in the former Soviet Union than there is in Bill Belichick's locker room. As they might have said outside Lenin's Tomb, "Do svidaniya, Adalius."
This certainly signals the end of the relationship between Thomas and the Patriots. It could have deeper ramifications for the team if the other three participants in Tardygate play full games today. And, I'm wondering if the Players Association has the gumption to protest the punishment on the basis that it was uneven and excessive.
In a related story, the Patriots denied that they had brought in wide receiver Elroy Jetson of the Little Dipper School for a tryout. No, just kidding on that one. You may recall that Thomas claimed that one of the reasons why he couldn't get to work on time Wednesday because he was stuck in snow-clogged traffic and couldn't just point his car into the sky and fly over it as George Jetson might have in that classic 1960s animated sitcom.
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