

Mayo injures knee; status unknown

FOXBOROUGH - There was no word from the Patriots on the status of injured middle linebacker Jerod Mayo, who left last night’s 25-24 win over the Bills in the first quarter with a knee injury and did not return.
The initial belief, however, is that the injury is not as serious as the season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear quarterback Tom Brady suffered in last year’s season opener. More definitive word on Mayo’s status may come today. In Mayo’s absence, Gary Guyton and Adalius Thomas manned the middle with mixed results.
Guyton had four tackles, but was victimized on screen passes and Buffalo ran 19 times for 90 yards. Thomas had five tackles and a sack. Mayo’s loss also meant the team lost its defensive play-caller.
“Everybody had to pick their game up when Jerod went out,’’ said Thomas. “We didn’t really know what was going on. Me and Gary went in there and just had to communicate with guys. Guys moving around everywhere. It was definitely an adjustment on the fly.’’
Guyton said his first thought when his friend and teammate went down was that he had to step up.
“I got to come up and take control and step up for him and take his place, that was the only thing that went through my mind,’’ said Guyton.
Thomas said in the end, the only thing that mattered when evaluating Guyton was that without Mayo, the Patriots still got the win.
“We won, so he did a great job,’’ said Thomas. “That’s the thing about it. Nobody played great tonight. We made a lot of mistakes.
“We have a lot of corrections to make and we have to do them fast. We have another division game coming up for first place. That right there is just how it goes. We’ll look at the play and make the corrections and move on.’’
Maroney, who is coming back from a broken bone in his shoulder that limited him to three games last season, said he felt good.
“The rotation does not matter to us,’’ Faulk said. “It’s whoever is in the game, we’re trying to win the football game. Whoever is in the game, we have the confidence he is going to get the job done.’’
According to Raiders owner Al Davis, Kraft had to sign off on the trade. Seymour played eight seasons with the Patriots.
“Richard is someone I have a strong affection for and someone who was a great contributor here and I think the Raiders are very lucky to have him,’’ Kraft said before the game. “He’ll always be one of my favorite Patriots. I’ll always consider him a Patriot.’’
Seymour was dealt to Oakland Sept. 6, but didn’t report until Saturday. That was two days after the team sent him a five-day letter notifying him if he didn’t report by today, he could be put on the reserve/left squad list and suspended for the season without pay.
Seymour said he was delayed because he had to decide where to relocate his family from their home in North Attleborough. Seymour sent his family to South Carolina.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, in attendance last night, said he was fine with how Seymour, who had a grievance filed on his behalf by the NFL Players Association that later was withdrawn, handled the situation.
Goodell called Seymour a “class act’’ and said the league understood he had to deal with personal issues before reporting.
Edelman’s absence left the Patriots with just four wide receivers - Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Joey Galloway, and Sam Aiken. With Edelman out, Welker, who was questionable with a knee injury, was the punt returner.
Pryor, a defensive tackle, is supposed to be part of the group of linemen that helped to replace Seymour.
The other inactives were running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, center Dan Connolly, guard Kendall Simmons, guard/center Rich Ohrnberger, safety/special teams ace Matthew Slater (left elbow), and cornerback Terrence Wheatley (knee).
