Last modified: Saturday, June 7, 2008 1:27 AM EDT RB Morris gearing up to play again BY MARK FARINELLA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF FOXBORO - It's not real football yet, but it's a start. For Sammy Morris, anything is better than the frustration he felt after suffering a freakish chest injury in the Patriots' 48-27 win at Dallas last October. "Getting injured, especially so early in the season and going on injured reserve, it was disappointing," the ninth-year running back from Texas Tech said Friday at the Dana-Farber Field House. "I did so much in the offseason trying to get ready for the season, and it was kind of a freak deal and very upsetting." After having posted back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances in relief of injured starter Laurence Maroney, Morris suffered a rare sternum clavicle separation in the third quarter of the Dallas game. He never took the field for the rest of the season, and it took him a long time before he had the strength to lift his son into the air. Now, following a cautious and measured rehabilitation program, Morris was back on the field as the Patriots convened their full-squad minicamp Friday. He appeared to be moving with ease and performing the no-pads drills without any sign of hindrance from the injury, but as he said after the morning workout inside the Patriots' field house, it's far too early to tell if he's ready to see game action again. "I feel good," the former Miami Dolphin said. "I think everybody here is trying to balance the soreness and stuff that comes from not really being used to the movements. You can't really simulate game or practice speed now. It's hard to simulate the movements and stuff that, as a running back, you have to do. So I'm trying to get my body acclimated to all that soreness." Morris had proven himself a very valuable addition to the team in the first six games of the 2007 season. First, as an in-game substitution for Maroney, he picked up 54, 51 and 46 yards in his first three games. Then, after Maroney went out with a groin injury, Morris picked up 117 yards on 21 carries at Cincinnati and another 102 yards on 21 carries against Cleveland at Gillette on Oct. 7. "We had done some things where we were getting better as a unit, and it was just an unfortunate deal," Morris said. "It's kind of a cliche now, but I'm my worst critic. If there are 35 plays in a game and I missed my assignment on one play, that's too many and I'm going to focus on that one play. That's just my mindset. I'm always trying to get better and to do my part to help this team win." Morris had just 14 yards on 10 carries in the Dallas game when he suffered the injury. "A chiropractor down in Dallas told me that I couldn't hurt myself like that again if I tried," he said. "It was kind of a freak deal, and now I'm just moving forward. "I was out for quite a bit, but Mike Woicik (the Patriots' strength and conditioning coach) had a good program for me," he said. "We took it slow to see where I was at, and we've just been building on that foundation that we started in March." Obviously, Morris won't be able to give himself the acid test until late next month, when full-contact training camp begins. But he said he's not behind in his conditioning and he's looking forward to the day he can start testing himself as part of the natural progression of getting ready for a new season. "Training camp, I'll be able to strap on the pads and get into a little bit more of a contact mindset," he said. "That's what training camp and the preseason is for. "But it feels good," he continued. "We're still just getting instilled in the offseason mindset, but everything we're doing now, we're building and trying to get ready for the season opener, and I think we're progressing well. It's the start of a new season, and regardless of what happened last year, this team is ready to start '08, and that's where our focus is." MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com.