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.
16 Matt Cassel QB
Height: 6-4 Weight: 225 Year: 3 Yrs/Pat: 3 Acquired: D7a-05 (230th overall) School: Southern California Born: May 17, 1982
Personal
Born on May 17, 1982 ... Played on the Northridge (Calif.) team that was a finalist at the 1994 Little League World Series ... Was featured in the HBO documentary "Freshman Year," filmed in 1999-2000 ... Likes to jet ski and play ping pong ... Sports hero is Joe Montana ... Older brother, Jack, is a pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization and younger brother, Justin, is on UC Irvine's baseball team ... Attended Chatsworth (Calif.) High ... Was a 1999 Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Tom Lemming Top 100, Super Prep All-Far West, Tom Lemming All-West, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Orange County Register Fab 15 third team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Las Vegas Sun Super 11 second team and All-L.A. City second team pick as a senior quarterback ... Completed 137-of-261 passes (52.5 pct) for 2,020 yards with 14 touchdowns and five interceptions as a senior, also running for 252 yards on 115 carries (2.2 avg) with 11 touchdowns ... Passed for 324 yards with 5 touchdowns in one game ... As a junior, completed 199-of-360 passes (55.3 pct) for 2,930 yards with 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions and rushed for 496 yards with six scores ... Helped Chatsworth to the L.A. City baseball title in 1999 while hitting .390 with three home runs and 29 RBI as a first baseman and third baseman ... Was a communication major at USC.
Career Transactions
Matt Cassel was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round (230th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft... Signed by the Patriots (06/28/05).
2006 (6/0/10/0): Buffalo (9/10): Did not see action as the backup quarterback in the Patriots' 19-17 victory over the Bills. at N.Y. Jets (9/17): Suited up but did not play in the Patriots' 24-17 win over the N.Y. Jets. Denver (9/24): Did not play as the backup quarterback. at Cincinnati (10/1): Did not see action as the backup quarterback in the Patriots' commanding 38-13 victory over the Bengals. vs. Miami (10/8): Served as the backup quarterback but did not play in the Patriots' 20-10 win over the Dolphins. at Buffalo (10/22): Did not see action as the backup quarterback in the Patriots' 28-6 road victory over the Bills. at Minnesota (10/30): Saw his first action of the season as a reserve in the fourth quarter ... Did not attempt a pass in the Patriots' commanding 31-7 road win against the Vikings. Indianapolis (11/5): Did not play as the backup quarterback. vs. N.Y. Jets (11/12): Did not see action as the backup signal caller. at Green Bay (11/19): Saw action in the final two series of the Patriots' 35-0 road victory over the Packers. vs. Chicago (11/26): Did not play in the Patriots' 17-13 victory over the Bears. vs. Detroit (12/3): Did not see action as the backup quarterback in the Patriots' 28-21 comeback victory over the Lions. at Miami (12/10): Saw action as the backup quarterback during the final series on the fourth quarter ... Completed two of three passes for 12 yards ... Found Daniel Graham for an 8-yard reception on third-and-six in the fourth quarter. vs. Houston (12/17): Saw action as the backup quarterback in the fourth quarter of the Patriots' commanding 40-7 victory over the Texans ... Completed three of four passes for 20 yards ... Found Corey Dillon for a 10-yard reception on a third-andseven play in the fourth quarter ... Connected with Reche Caldwell for a 6-yard gain on fourth-and-four late in the fourth quarter. at Jacksonville (12/24): Served as the placekicking holder in the Patriots' 24-21 division-clinching win over the Jaguars. at Tennessee (12/31): Saw action in a reserve role in the fourth quarter of the Patriots' 40-23 victory over the Titans ... Extended the Patriots' final touchdown drive with a 5-yard scamper on third-and-one late in the fourth quarter.
2006 Postseason (3/0/0/0): vs. N.Y. Jets (1/7): Served as the holder for the placekicker in the Patriots' 37-16 AFC Wild Card victory over the N.Y. Jets. at San Diego (1/14): Saw action as the placekicking holder in the Patriots' 24-21 AFC Divisional playoff victory over the Chargers. at Indianapolis (1/21): Served as the placekicking holder.
2005 Season
2005 (2/0/0/14): Played in two regular-season games and one playoff contest ... Participated in his first career NFL contest and recorded his first career NFL completion on a 3-yard pass to Patrick Pass in the fourth quarter against San Diego (10/2) ... Threw his first career touchdown pass to Tim Dwight against Miami (1/1/06).
Oakland (9/8): Inactive in his role as the third quarterback in the Patriots' 30-20 victory over the Raiders. at Carolina (9/18): Served as the third quarterback. at Pittsburgh (9/25): Inactive in his role as the third quarterback in the Patriots' 23-20 victory over the Steelers. San Diego (10/2): Played in his first career NFL contest ... Saw action at quarterback in the fourth quarter and completed two of four passes for 15 yards with an interception ... Recorded his first career NFL completion on a 3-yard pass to Patrick Pass in the fourth quarter. at Atlanta (10/9): Inactive in his role as the third quarterback in the Patriots' 31-28 win over the Falcons. at Denver (10/16): Inactive as the third quarterback. Buffalo (10/30): Inactive in his role as the third quarterback in the Patriots' 21-16 victory over the Bills on Sunday Night Football. Indianapolis (11/7): Inactive as the third quarterback. at Miami (11/13): Inactive in his role as the third quarterback in the Patriots' 23-16 road victory over the Dolphins. New Orleans (11/20): Inactive in his role as the third quarterback in the Patriots' 24-17 win over the Saints. at Kansas City (11/27): Inactive as the third quarterback. N.Y. Jets (12/4): Inactive as the third quarterback in the Patriots' 16-3 victory over the Jets. at Buffalo (12/11): Inactive as the third quarterback in the Patriots' commanding 35-7 road victory over the Bills. Tampa Bay (12/17): Inactive in his role as the third quarterback in the Patriots' 28-0 shutout victory over the Buccaneers. at N.Y. Jets (12/26): Inactive as the third quarterback in the Patriots' 31-21 victory over the Jets. Miami (1/1): Saw significant action at quarterback and completed 11 of 20 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns ... Registered a 116.2 quarterback rating ... Hooked up with Andre Davis for a 36-yard reception in the third quarter ... Connected with Benjamin Watson for a 30-yard pass play in the fourth quarter ... Extended the Patriots' second touchdown drive with a 1-yard sneak on third-and-1 in the fourth quarter ... Connected with Tim Dwight for his first career touchdown pass from nine yards out in the fourth quarter ... Converted a key third-and-nine with a 21- yard pass to Bam Childress in the fourth quarter ... Kept the Patriots' final touchdown drive alive with a 2-yard sneak on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter ... Found Benjamin Watson for a 9-yard touchdown strike on the final play of the game.
2005 Postseason (1/0/0/1):Jacksonville (1/7): Took the final two snaps in the Patriots’ 28-3 AFC Wild Card victory over the Jaguars. at Denver (1/14): Inactive in his role as the third quarterback.
College
Served as backup to quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart … Played in 25 games, completing 20 of 33 pass attempts (60.5 pct) for 192 yards. 2004 (Senior): Saw reserve action in nine games and completed 10 of 14 passes for 97 yards. 2003 (Junior): Won the Howard Jones/Football Alumni Club Academic Award as the USC upperclassman with the highest GPA … Played quarterback and tight end … Saw action in eight games … Completed 6 of 13 passes (46.3 pct) for 63 yards. 2002 (Sophomore): Saw late action in ten games as a backup to Carson Palmer, completing 3-of-4 passes for 27 yards. 2001 (Freshman): Won USC's Co-Lifter Award … Appeared in seven games as a wide receiver and on special teams … Played quarterback briefl y against California and was 1-of-2 for five yards … He also ran for 22 yards on three carries (7.3 avg), caught a 12-yard pass and made a tackle on the season. 2000 (Redshirt): Redshirted as a freshman quarterback.
Extra Points
Matt has two brothers who play minor league baseball. His older brother Jack is a pitcher in the San Diego Padres system and his younger brother Justin is a pitcher in the Chicago White Sox system. Matt was also selected in the Major League Baseball draft, picked in the 36th round in 2004 by the Oakland Athletics.
Matt backed up two Heisman Trophy winners at USC in Carson Palmer, now of the Cincinnati Bengals, and Matt Leinart, now of the Arizona Cardinals.
Matt played in the Little League World Series in 1994. His Northridge, Calif. team made it to the finals of the tournament.
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Born on May 17, 1982 ... Played on the Northridge (Calif.) team that was a finalist at the 1994 Little League World Series ... Was featured in the HBO documentary "Freshman Year," filmed in 1999-2000 ... Likes to jet ski and play ping pong ... Sports hero is Joe Montana ... Older brother, Jack, is a pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization and younger brother, Justin, is on UC Irvine's baseball team ... Attended Chatsworth (Calif.) High ... Was a 1999 Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Tom Lemming Top 100, Super Prep All-Far West, Tom Lemming All-West, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Orange County Register Fab 15 third team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Las Vegas Sun Super 11 second team and All-L.A. City second team pick as a senior quarterback ... Completed 137-of-261 passes (52.5 pct) for 2,020 yards with 14 touchdowns and five interceptions as a senior, also running for 252 yards on 115 carries (2.2 avg) with 11 touchdowns ... Passed for 324 yards with 5 touchdowns in one game ... As a junior, completed 199-of-360 passes (55.3 pct) for 2,930 yards with 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions and rushed for 496 yards with six scores ... Helped Chatsworth to the L.A. City baseball title in 1999 while hitting .390 with three home runs and 29 RBI as a first baseman and third baseman ... Was a communication major at USC.