It’s guesswork even for Patriots

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005 | 9:17 a.m.

SUN WIRE SERVICES

Preparing for a season opener is especially difficult, even for the defending Super Bowl champions.

The New England Patriots have no recent regular-season game tapes of the Raiders to study. They don't know how newcomers Randy Moss and LaMont Jordan will change Oakland's offense. The Patriots themselves have important new players still adjusting to a complex system.

They'll see how well they got ready when they face the Raiders in the NFL's first game Thursday night.

"There's a little bit more guesswork and, no matter what you prepare for, you're probably going to see something new," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Monday.

The Raiders finished last in the AFC West with a 5-11 record last season. They allowed the second most points in the NFL and gained the fewest yards rushing. New England had the No. 6 defense against the run.

But that was before Moss became their top wide receiver, giving them a catching threat and taking some pressure off the rushing game, which now has Jordan.

"You look at some film from Minnesota with Moss and a little bit from the (New York) Jets with Jordan, although both of those players have played in preseason," Belichick said. "You try to focus on the things that you know (the Raiders) are going to do and prepare the best you can for other alternatives."

Then be prepared to adjust after the game starts.

That may not be as smooth as it was last season when Tedy Bruschi and Ted Johnson were the starting inside linebackers. But Bruschi is sitting out the season after suffering a stroke and Johnson retired. They were replaced as starters by offseason acquisitions Chad Brown and Monty Beisel.

Ward, 29, who held out for the first 15 days of the Steelers' training camp, would have made $1.66 million this season.

He led the Steelers with 1,004 receiving yards in 2004 and has averaged 95 receptions a year since 2001 and needs just over a third of that production this season to break Stallworth's team record of 537 catches.

Coach Steve Mariucci said any decisions on signing a more experienced QB would depend on additional examinations on Garcia. For now, wide receiver Kevin Johnson, who began his career at Syracuse as a quarterback, will be the emergency QB.

Coach Herman Edwards also said rookie Kerry Rhodes, a fourth-round draft pick, will join Law in the secondary.