In their first meeting, the Wildcat ran wild. Miami's star running back and New England's head coach tackle the unorthodox formation. Plus, news and notes from Wednesday's practice.
The Patriots head into Sunday's game at Miami tied with the Dolphins for second place in a highly competitive AFC East. The winner of the contest will answer a few questions heading down the stretch toward the postseason. For all the other questions surrounding the Patriots we bring another wide-ranging edition of Ask PFW.
After seeing the Dolphins' Wildcat formation rip it to shreds in Week 3, New England is doing everything it can to prevent a repeat performance this weekend.
Joey Porter's running his mouth again. Read all about that and the other news and notes leading up to this weekend's Patriots-Dolphins game in today's Patriots.com News Blitz.
Laurence Maroney was born the son of Terri Terrell on February 5, 1985 in St. Louis, Mo. ... Attended Normandy (St. Louis, Mo.) High School, where he was a four-time All-Conference selection ... Named to the All-Metro and All-Area teams three times and was a twice an All-State pick ... Selected St. Louis Player of the Year in 2002 ... Totaled 4,808 yards on 608 carries with 56 touchdowns in his career ... Exploded for 1,948 yards on 210 attempts his senior season with 25 touchdowns, averaging 9.3 yards per carry in 2002 ... Lettered three times in track, twice in basketball and once in baseball ... Was a state champion in the 4x400 and finished third at the state finals in the 200 meters ... Named MVP of his basketball team twice ... Was a Pre-Intercollege Program major at Minnesota.
Career Highlights
Career GP/GS: 14/0 (3/0)
2006 Season
2006 (14/0/0/2): Finished second in the NFL with a 28.0-yard kickoff return avg. ... Led the team is rushing yards seven times in 2006 (vs. BUF, vs. DEN, at CIN, vs. IND, at GB, at JAX, at TEN) ... Recorded his first career NFL touchdown with a 1-yard run in the Patriots' 24-17 win over the N.Y. Jets (9/17/06) ... Named FedEx Ground Player of the Week and Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week after registering his first career 100-yard rushing game in the Patriots' victory over Cincinnati (10/01/06) ... Named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after returning two kickoffs for 100 yards, including a 74-yard return in the first quarter against Buffalo (10/22/06) ... Received the Patriots 12th Player Award.
Buffalo (9/10): Played in a reserve role at running back ... Led the team with 17 carries and 86 rushing yards in the Patriots' 19-17 victory over the Bills ... Sprinted for 27 yards on his first NFL carry in the first quarter ... Juked and jived for 22 yards on a third-and-five play during the Patriots' second drive. at N.Y. Jets (9/17): Played in a reserve role at running back and collected 65 rushing yards on 16 carries and a touchdown in the Patriots' 24-17 win over the N.Y. Jets ... Set up the Patriots' first touchdown with a 14-yard scamper down to the Jets' 4-yard line in the opening stanza ... Rumbled for 14 yards down to the Jets' 3- yard line in the third quarter ... Two plays later, collected his first career NFL touchdown on a 1-yard scoring plunge with 8:57 remaining in the third quarter ... Gave the Patriots great field position with a 39-yard kickoff return at the end of the third quarter. Denver (9/24): Saw action in a reserve role at running back ... Rushed for just 18 yards on 12 carries ... Caught five passes for 61 yards ... Collected his first career NFL reception on an 11-yard swing pass from Tom Brady in the first quarter ... Hauled in a short pass in the middle of the field and made a few defenders miss on his way to a 31-yard gain in the second quarter ... Set up the Patriots lone touchdown with a 14-yard reception down to the Denver 8-yard line in the fourth quarter. at Cincinnati (10/1): Played in a reserve role at running back ... Named FedEx Ground Player of the Week and Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week after carrying the ball 15 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns in the Patriots' commanding 38-13 victory over the Bengals ... Gave the Patriots a 7-6 lead with an 11-yard touchdown run with 8:38 remaining in the second quarter ... Extended the Patriots' second touchdown drive with a 5-yard run on third-and-three in the second quarter ... Collected his second touchdown of the afternoon on a 25-yard jaunt with 4:27 remaining in the third quarter ... Hauled in a 15-yard pass over the middle in the third quarter ... Flashed a few stiff arms and rumbled for 41 yards on a rush off right tackle in the third quarter. vs. Miami (10/8): Played in a reserve role at running back and collected 38 rushing yards on 18 carries in the Patriots' 20-10 win over the Dolphins ... Rumbled for 11 yards on third-and-seven late in the fourth quarter. at Buffalo (10/22): Played in a reserve role at running back ... Rushed eight times for 29 yards in the Patriots' 28-6 road victory over the Bills ... Named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after returning two kickoffs for 100 yards ... Returned a first quarter kickoff 74 yards to the Buffalo 21-yard line, setting up the Patriots second touchdown of the afternoon. at Minnesota (10/30): Saw action in a reserve role at running back and as a return specialist in the Patriots' commanding 31-7 road win against the Vikings ... Carried the ball eight times for 34 yards ... Returned two kickoffs for 91 yards in the victory ... Rumbled for 20 yards on a screen pass during the Patriots' second scoring drive in the second quarter ... Hit the hole hard and collected a 22-yard gain on a rush up the middle during the Patriots' second touchdown drive in the second quarter ... Answered Minnesota's punt return for touchdown with a momentum-changing 77-yard return on the ensuing kickoff in the third quarter ... Set up the Patriots' final touchdown with a 13-yard gain on a short pass down to the Vikings' 10-yard line in the third quarter. Indianapolis (11/5): Played in a reserve role at running back ... Led the team with 63 rushing yards on 13 carries ... Sprinted for a 17-yard run off left guard in the fourth quarter ... Returned five kickoffs for 139 yards. vs. N.Y. Jets (11/12): Saw action in a reserve role at running back and as a return specialist ... Gained 37 rushing yards on 12 carries ... Returned three kickoffs for 89 yards ... Registered a first down with a 4-yard run on third-and-three in the third quarter. at Green Bay (11/19): Led the team with 82 rushing yards on 19 carries in the Patriots' 35-0 road victory over the Packers ... Grabbed four passes for 34 yards and touchdown in the win ... Converted a third-and-three with a 5-yard catch in left flat during the second quarter ... Extended the Patriots' third touchdown drive with a 3-yard run on third-and-two in the second quarter ... Juked Nick Barnett and glided in for a touchdown on a 19-yard reception in the fourth quarter ... Sealed the victory with a 6-yard run on third-and-six just before the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. vs. Chicago (11/26): Played in a reserve role at running back and rushed the ball 13 times for 33 yards in the Patriots' 17-13 victory over the Bears ... Grabbed four receptions for 45 yards in the win ... Accounted for 36 total yards (24 rushing and 12 receiving) during the Patriots' opening scoring drive ... Gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead with a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 9:07 remaining in the second quarter ... Returned a second quarter kickoff 35 yards, despite bobbling the catch ... Extended the Patriots' second scoring drive with a 9-yard reception over the middle on third-and-three in the second quarter ... Grabbed a pass out of the backfield and darted for 20 yards in the third quarter. vs. Detroit (12/3): Played in a reserve role at running back in the Patriots' 28-21 comeback victory over the Lions ... Carried the ball four times for 14 yards before leaving the game in the first quarter with an injury ... Kept the Patriots' initial scoring drive alive with a 3-yard run on third-and-one in the first quarter. at Miami (12/10): Inactive. vs. Houston (12/17): Inactive. at Jacksonville (12/24): Saw action in a reserve role at running back ... Led the team with 48 rushing yards on just seven carries and a touchdown in the Patriots' 24-21 division-clinching win over the Jaguars ... Grabbed two receptions for 10 yards ... Gave the Patriots a 24-14 lead with a 27-yard touchdown jaunt off left end with 4:36 remaining in the fourth quarter. at Tennessee (12/31): Played in a reserve role at running back ... Led the team with 73 rushing yards on 13 carries and a touchdown in the Patriots' 40-23 victory over the Titans ... Snared two reception in the win ... Kept a Patriots' scoring drive alive with a 2-yard run on third-and-one on the final play of the first quarter ... Sprinted for a 31- yard gain on a rush off left end in the fourth quarter ... On the next play, gave the Patriots a 33-23 lead with a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 6:40 remaining in the fourth quarter.
2006 Postseason (3/0/0/0): vs. N.Y. Jets (1/7): Played in a reserve role at running back ... Led the team with 69 rushing yards on 18 carries in the Patriots' 37-16 AFC Wild Card victory over the N.Y. Jets. at San Diego (1/14): Saw action in a reserve role at running back ... Rushed the ball five times for five yards in the Patriots' 24-21 AFC Divisional playoff victory over the Chargers. at Indianapolis (1/21): Played in a reserve role at running back ... Rushed the ball eight times for 13 yards ... Grabbed one reception for six yards.
Honors and Awards
2006 Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week - Week 4
FedEx Ground Player of the Week - Week 4
Peter King's SI.com Offensive Player of the Week - Week 4
AFC Special Teams Player of the Week - Week 7
Patriots 12th Player Award
College
One of three players in Big Ten history to rush for over 1,000 yards in each of their first three seasons (Ron Dayne, Wisconsin and Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State) ... Finished his college career ranking second on Minnesota's all-time career list with 3,933 yards and 32 touchdowns on 660 rushing attempts (6.0 avg) ... Added 21 receptions for 198 yards and one touchdown and 28 kickoff returns for 667 yards and one touchdown ... His 4,797 all-purpose yards rank second in Minnesota annals ... Also ranks second in school history with 21 100-yard rushing performances and ranks fourth with 34 total touchdowns ... From 2003-04, Maroney and Marion Barber III became the first running back tandem in NCAA Division I-A history from the same team to each gain over 1,000 yards rushing in consecutive seasons ... Holds a school record with 16 consecutive games with at least one run for 20 yards or longer. 2005 (Junior): Ranked fifth in the nation in rushing, averaging 133.1 yards per game ... Led the team with a school-record 1,464 yards and 10 touchdowns on 281 carries (5.2 avg) ... Recorded 17 catches for 170 yards (10.0 avg) and one touchdown ... All- American second-team selection by the Walter Camp Foundation, adding third-team honors from The NFL Draft Report and Associated Press ... Unanimous All-Big Ten Conference first-team choice ... His 281 carries rank third on the school's all-time single-season list ... Tied his 2004 school seasonrecord with eight 100-yard rushing performances ... Ran for a career-high 258 yards on 43 carries against Wisconsin ... Broke the 200-yard mark a total of three times, also achieving the feat at Tulsa (203 yards) and against Purdue (217 yards). 2004 (Sophomore): Earned All-Big Ten first team honors and led the team with 217 carries for 1,348 yards (6.2 avg) and 12 touchdowns ... Set a school record (which he tied in 2005) by turning in eight 100-yard rushing performances ... Returned eight kickoffs for 158 yards and amassed 1,522 allpurpose yards during the season ... Shared team MVP and offensive MVP awards with fellow running back Marion Barber III ... Averaged 112.3 yards per game, good for third in the Big Ten and 16th in the nation ... His 12 rushing touchdowns ranked second in the Big Ten ... Caught three passes for 16 yards and returned eight kickoffs for 158 yards (19.8 avg) ... Began the season with six consecutive 100-yard rushing performances ... Notched a season-high 156 yards on 19 carries against Iowa, whose rush defense had been ranked fourth in the country ... Ran for 145 yards on two occasions - against Northwestern and also at Michigan ... Had two 80- yard touchdown runs - against Illinois State and at Michigan. 2003 (Freshman): Started two games as a true freshman in 2003... Selected Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year by the league's coaches and media ... Selected honorable mention All-Big Ten ... Selected to the Scripps/FWAA Freshman All-American Team ... Chosen ESPN.com Big Ten Newcomer of the Year ... Was a member of The Sporting News freshman All-American third-team and Big Ten All-Freshman squad, along with being selected as TSN's Big Ten Freshman of the Year ... ... Totaled 1,121 yards on 162 attempts (6.9 avg) with 10 rushing touchdowns ... Added 16 kickoff returns for 413 yards and a touchdown and gained 1,545 all-purpose yards ... His average of 6.92 yards per carry ranked second all-time in school history and was the best per-carry average in the nation among top-100 running backs with at least 150 carries ... His 1,121 rushing yards ranked second on the team, just 75 yards behind Marion Barber III (1,196 yards) ... His 1,121 yards were the most of any freshman in the nation and ranked fifth among all Big Ten rushers ... Became the 60th freshman in NCAA history to rush for more than 1,000 yards ... Joined Barber to become only the third running back tandem in Big Ten history to rush for over 1,000 yards each in the same season ... Ran for a season-high 179 yards on 22 carries at Illinois.
High School
High School: Graduate of Normandy High School (Mo.) ... was an all-conference selection all four years ... named to all-metro and all-area team three times and was a two-time all-state selection ... named to Tom Lemmings' All-America Team ... named the St. Louis Player of the Year in 2002 ... totaled 4,808 yards on 608 carries with 56 touchdowns in his career ... exploded for 1,948 yards on 210 attempts his senior season with 25 touchdowns ... averaged 9.3 yards per carry in 2002 ... had a career-long run of 95 yards ... made 187 tackles with 152 solos and registered 50 tackles for loss, 24 sacks and six forced fumbles in his career ... had 86 total tackles with 20 tackles-for-loss and 15 sacks in 2002 ... lettered three times in track, twice in basketball and once in baseball ... was state champ in the 4x400 and third at state in the 200 meters ... was MVP of his basketball team twice.
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