---

FOXBORO - James Sanders knew that when he arrived at Gillette Stadium on Monday, he'd find himself on the hot seat.

The third-year veteran safety from Fresno State got an unexpected bump up on the depth chart late Friday night when Rodney Harrison revealed that he was facing a four-game suspension for using human growth hormone, a banned substance.

It's not the first time Sanders has had to spell Harrison; he got five starts in the regular season and three more in the playoffs last year because of various injuries to Harrison and fellow safety Eugene Wilson. But this time, there will be a finite length to the opportunity as Harrison's suspension will end after the Patriots play in Cincinnati on Oct. 1.

Bring it on, Sanders said Monday.

"Last year I got a lot of playing time, so I'm really comfortable back there with the guys," he said. "I'm prepared. Coach is calling my number right now and I'm ready to go. Whenever they call my number, I'm always ready to play." Sanders finished last season with 45 regular-season tackles (30 solo), one sack and one interception. In the playoffs, he added another 17 tackles (12 solo) and a sack.

"I'm extremely confident," he said. "When you get playing time, you get more experience, so your confidence rises. I'm playing with confidence right now and I'm ready to go out there and play this week."

Much like everyone else in the sparsely-populated Patriots' locker room Monday, Sanders didn't want to speak specifically about the issues facing Harrison.

"All I can say about the Rodney situation is that we love him, we care about him and we hope everything goes well for him," he said. "Other than that, we'll let you talk to him or Bill (Belichick) about those situations."

Sanders preferred to speak about the example Harrison has set for him as a player, and the teachings he intends to put to good use as he replaces the 14th-year veteran over the next month.

"I'm going to take everything that he's taught me and I'm going to use it on the field whenever I get the opportunity," Sanders said. "He's taught me the ins and outs of being a safety in this league. I cherish all the things he's taught me and I'm looking forward to whenever he gets back to the team."

No room

With Randy Moss returning to the practice field Monday, Belichick took a look at his receiving corps Monday and found it overpopulated. So, he released last year's leading receiver, Reche Caldwell, and will enter the season with Moss, Jabar Gaffney, Wes Welker, Donté Stallworth and Kelley Washington on the roster and Troy Brown and Chad Jackson stashed away for six weeks on the physically-unable-to-perform reserve list.

Caldwell caught a career-best 61 passes for 760 yards and four touchdowns last year, but he'll be remembers for crucial drops in the AFC Championship Game loss in Indianapolis last year. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to see him hook up with the Jets or with San Diego, his former team, as a means of information gathering by their staffs about the Patriots' offense.

Also Monday, the Patriots announced they had added wide receivers Bam Childress and C.J. Jones, fullback Kyle Eckel, linebacker Corey Mays, tackle Clint Oldenburg, defensive lineman Santonio Thomas and tight end Jason Rader to their practice squad. Oh, baby

Tom Brady made his first in-season appearance before the media on Monday, and not unexpectedly, the first question asked was about his newborn son with actress and ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan, named John Edward Thomas Moynahan.

Also not unexpectedly, Brady was unfailingly polite as he declined to discuss fatherhood.

"I'd like to just say that there are a lot of those questions and I'm sure you want answers, but I'm really here to talk about football and that's why I'm here," he said. "That's why I come in here every week. I hope you guys respect that. I have a lot of great thoughts on it, but I'd really prefer to share those with my family and my loved ones. It's a wonderful thing as I'm sure all the parents out there know already. I'm ready to talk football."

Icy glares

It was 84 degrees outside the press room at Gillette Stadium, but Belichick and former Sun Chronicle correspondent John Tomase, a Mansfield native who's now the beat writer for the Boston Herald, engaged in an icy stare-down at the end of Monday's press conference.

Already annoyed by persistent questioning about Rodney Harrison's suspension, Belichick was further put off when Tomase asked about a published report from Minneapolis that said the coach had asked Vikings' coach Brad Childress over the phone not to claim tight end Garrett Mills on waivers because the Patriots wanted him for their practice squad, and Childress made the claim anyway.

According to the report in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Belichick told Childress that he was interested in one of the Vikings' young players but would not claim him off waivers if the Vikings passed on Mills.

"I said, 'Well, I'm really interested in your guy, so we'll have to let our guy slide,'" Childress told the newspaper. "He didn't really care for that. He was trying to leverage. You always find out who is honest and straightforward."

Belichick then claimed linebacker David Herron, who had signed with the Vikings as a rookie free agent and was among 22 players cut Saturday.

Belichick refused to get into specifics when asked Monday.

"I talked to a lot of people in the league over the course of the last few days," he said. "That's part of the whole process of player transactions and so forth. I'm sure that all of the coaches in the league are trying to get their team ready for opening day and the regular season and I'm trying to do the same thing. That's what I do and that's what all of the other coaches do too."

Tomase tried to ask a follow-up question, but Belichick walked away from the podium. As he was leaving the press room to enter an ante room between it and the Patriots' weight room, he stared at Tomase until he disappeared through the door - and the stare was returned in kind.