What about Bob?

(Getty Images)

Most Jets fans weren't upset back in Week 1 when hearing that Matt Cassel would quarterback the New England Patriots for the rest of the season.

Cassel has played very well this season. Extremely well if you consider the fact that prior to this season, he hadn't taken a meaningful snap in a game since high school in 1990.

And now he's going to be a free agent after this season, which has me thinking about another quarterback from the 1990s: Rob Johnson.

You remember him, right? He started one game in 1997 in place of injured Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell. Johnson went 20-for-24 for 294 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 31 yards and another score.

That was good enough to get Johnson a five-year, $25-million deal in Buffalo, where he promptly developed a habit of never saying no to a sack.

One game set up Johnson financially for the rest of his life. Crazy stuff. With each touchdown pass or 400-yard game, Cassel adds dollars to his bank account. Should he get the Patriots deep into the playoffs, he'll add a zero to the end of his final number for each win.

When Cassel hits the free agent market this offseason, there will be quite a few teams in the market for an upgrade at quarterback. Detroit, Miami, the Jets (who knows what Favre will do?, San Francisco, Kansas City, Minnesota and Tampa Bay just to name a few. Even the Patriots may show interest depending on how Brady's rehab goes.

Of course, Cassel has a much larger body of work to judge him on than did Johnson. But the parallel is there. A top-flight quarterback gets hurt and the unknown backup in a contract year takes his place and does well. Hey, forget Johnson. Cassel could be the next Willie Beamen!

That's how the Patriots quarterback described his rehab from knee surgery and a subsequent infection during a charity Thanksgiving event in Boston.

According to NBC Sports blogger Tom Curran:

Brady, who had the ACL and MCL blown out in the first quarter of the Patriots first game was serving Thanksgiving dinner along with girlfriend Gisele Bundchen and other Boston celebrities at a downtown event put on by the charity Goodwill.

Speaking in generalities as he signed autographs, Brady said, "I'm doing great. Good to be out here today and serving all these wonderful people. Just hanging out, resting and eating lots of turkey, Doing well, doing well."

(Thanks to Curran for the update. We're a long-time fan of his work, dating to his days at the Providence Journal. Curran always allows us to poke fun at his thick Bahston accent. We call him Tawm Carren and frequently ask him to say, "Pahk your cahr in Hahrvahrd Yahd." He always obliges.

According to Tawmmy's NBC Sports bio: "Drilling deeply into the mantle layer of America's Passion, NBCSports.com's Tom Curran offers up quick hits and insights on all things NFL.")

Anyone know what a "mantle layer" is?

Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter spouted off about being robbed of two would-be playoff victories against the Patriots during his days with the Steelers. He told ESPN's Keyshawn Johnson in an interview aired this morning that Belichick's illegal taping of opposing teams' defensive signals was what led to New England's postseason success against the Steelers.

Hmmm. Wonder what Porter is saying now that the Patriots put up 48 points on the Dolphins in today's huge win at Miami?

Here's a transcript of portions of the interview.

Keyshawn Johnson: “Let's switch to the New England Patriots game. Is there a big difference in that rivalry of the Miami Dolphins, New England, and Pittsburgh-New England?
Joey Porter: “Yeah, it's a big difference…but I still got hate from when I was at Pittsburgh.”

Keyshawn: Why?
Porter: Because I got cheated.

Keyshawn: Cheated in what?
Porter: In both of them AFC Championship games.

Keyshawn: What did they do?
Porter: Come on, man. They've been videotaping for years, man. You cannot sit up there and honestly tell me if it wasn't working, why was he doing it so much? You're not going to sit up there and tell me if I'm a quarterback in my headset I know where the blitz is coming. I know where my hots and stuff is at before it happens. I know what play you're running on defense. All you got to do is be in the right position … just catch the ball.

Keyshawn: So you feel they were cheating. You don't feel they were just the better team?
Porter: What? No, no, no, no. Two times we could have blown them people out easily. They say, oh, he's so smart. This is the best brainstorming coach. Yeah, because he's cheating. He got caught. … If it wasn't so bad, why did you destroy the tape so fast? … We want to see the tapes. When you get rid of evidence like that, there was something in it they didn't want everybody to see.

Keyshawn: So you take it personally?
Porter: Maaan… That's my dynasty. You know what I mean? I could be sitting up here with three rings. This is the way I look at it. I played three AFC Championships -- won one, lost two. … Yeah, to me just like they want to put an asterisk on everything else, yeah, I don't care what they say. They have an asterisk on them. … At the same time, people that played against them on the field, we know. Who they got on that team beside Tom Brady? It's not like they've got a gang of dogs over there. … They have a bunch of all right guys. You know what I mean? Not no just real dogs. They've got some beasts on the D line and stuff like that but ….

Keyshawn: You can't possibly think, three Super Bowls … You think they cheated in every single one of them games?
Porter: Man, I'm going to tell you, I'm taking that to the grave, man. I don't care what nobody say…

Keyshawn: What about last year? … All the glamour, glitz and glamour, 16-0. You think they were cheating then?
Porter: I don't know. You know, I don't know… maybe he found a new way to do it or not to tell you the truth. The boy cold, man. He showed us, he's cold. The boy cold, man. Hey, the boy cold, man. (laughs) He showed us man, he cold… I don't trust him…(laughs).

The Patriots' outside linebacker underwent surgery to repair a broken forearm, but he hasn't been place on injured reserve. That means the Patriots believe there is an outside chance he can return in time for the playoffs ... assuming New England gets that far.

An 18-year-old Patriots cheerleader was kicked off the squad yesterday after pictures from Facebook showed up with her posing over a passed-out acquaintance who has some bad, bad words and two swastikas on his body.

Uh, not quite the image the Patriots want to project to their fans.

She'll be working elsewhere in the future.

Ms. Davis' hometown paper wrote a story about her a while back, and indicated that she was one of only 24 of 300 applicants to make the cut for the squad.

He recently had a surgical procedure to address a potential infection in his reconstructed left knee. The Boston Herald reports that he has had to undergo two more procedures in connection with the problem.
An infection can potentially compromise the entire reconstructive surgery, which means Brady faces the possibility of having to do it again. In that case, his return to the field could be significantly delayed.

Repeat after us, Patriots fans: Oy.

... and now they're without their top running back.

The team has placed Laurence Maroney (shoulder) on injured reserve.

Tell you what. If the Patriots make the playoffs this year, it will have been one of Bill Belichick's best coaching jobs ever. Including his Super Bowl years.

Despite a poor performance in Sunday night's game against the Chargers, Patriots coach Bill Belichick has no intention of benching Matt Cassel.

Then again, what choice does Belichick have in this Tom Brady-less situation? Cassel's backup is third-round rookie Kevin O'Connell.

I'd been chided by a couple readers before the Chargers game for putting the Patriots so low in the Power Rankings - I had them 11th before the Chargers game and then dropped them to 17th after the loss

The Patriots are simply not the same team without Brady, and with a defense that has been all over the map as far as consistency is concerned.

He underwent reconstructive knee surgery on Monday in Los Angeles, and all indications are he'll be ready for the start of training camp next year. Knowing Brady, it might even be sooner.

I'm sorry I didn't get to this earlier, especially after the spirited discussion among Glauber Nation readers that ensued after Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, widely regarded by fellow players as one of the dirtiest in the NFL, complained about fans cheering when Tom Brady got hurt in Week 1.

But Harrison accused Ricky Williams of a cheap shot in Sunday's loss to the Dolphins. The play in question was on a downfield block for which Williams was not penalized.

In this case, Mr. Harrison should not have complained. What's that expression about the pot calling the kettle black?