The guys over at SBNation have asked me to participate in a series of running posts that they do, Around the AFC East. Each Friday, you’ll get a series of questions asked from each team’s blogger to another. If you are unfamiliar with SBNation’s AFC East sites, The Phinsider, Pats Pulpit and Buffalo Rumblings are all excellent intel for anyone who follows the AFC East Division.

TJB: Nick Kaczur has been in the papers this week, any thoughts on whether or not the Patriots added aging vet Oliver Ross to the team as someone to backup Kaczur for a few games should he face suspension?

Pats Pulpit: I think that’s EXACTLY why they added Oliver Ross. During the whole Matt Walsh interview with Goodell and Specter, it was rumored Dom Capers was hired away from Miami to fill Belichick’s role if he was suspended, so I wouldn’t put it pas the Pats to pick up Ross to step in for Kaczur if he gets suspended by the league, and that’s a very real possibility. What he did (illegally obtaining Oxycontin) is a violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy and could certainly land him a suspension.

This stuff drives me to distraction. Heck, I’m willing to bet most any NFL locker room could provide a player with prescription painkillers. Maybe the issue is if he asked for them, he’d be admitting he has a problem. He has experienced a foot and shoulder injury in the past few years, so who knows. I just wish these guys would live like monks for 10 or so years and keep their noses clean. The amount of damage he can do to his team is far worse than admitting he is hurt. Dumb.

See more answers after the jump.

TJB: Terrell Owens made a statement this week that Parcells was “out of touch” with today’s players. Do you think that’s the case with how the Jason Taylor proceedings have gone?

Phinsider: The Yeah, I do think that’s the case. Bill Parcells is indeed out of touch with today’s players. That’s why he’s not coaching anymore. And that’s why I went on record back during the ‘07 season that I did not want Bill Parcells to come to Miami as the head coach.

But I don’t think Parcells being out of touch with today’s players had any influence on this Jason Taylor soap opera that has been playing out down in South Florida for the past couple of months now. The bottom line is that we really don’t know what’s been said behind closed doors. The national media wants to try and make it out that Parcells dislikes Taylor and is angry with him for skipping the offseason workout program and missing OTAs and mini-camps. But that’s not exactly the truth.

Yesterday, Parcells finally came out and spoke with the media. And he said that he wants Jason Taylor back in Miami. And that earlier report of Parcells “blowing off” Taylor when Taylor tried to stop in and say hello was blown out of proportion as well. Parcells addressed that yesterday, saying that he usually wears hearing aids but didn’t have them in that day. The room was filled with a lot of people and he simply didn’t hear Taylor poke his head in. So this should really be a non-issue right now. Will the Dolphins shop Taylor? Sure. But if they don’t get the value they want in return for JT, then he’ll be in Miami in 2008.

TJB: How has Stroud’s recovery from an ankle sprain at the end of last year come along? For a guy his size at his age, do you have any concerns about his ability to play every down over the season?

Buffalo Rumblings: The only information we have about Stroud’s apparent ankle injury is that Buffalo’s (award winning) doctors gave his ankle a passing grade during his pre-trade physical, and Stroud has been moving like the Stroud of old during OTAs. He says his ankle is fine, and he’s playing like it, so that’s the assumption I’m working under.

His age and the injury are common concerns, and they definitely bring up doubts as to whether he can play every down this season. Fortunately, he won’t have to in Buffalo – the Bills have four legitimate defensive tackles (including John McCargo, Spencer Johnson and Kyle Williams) that they will rotate on a very frequent basis. Obviously, Stroud will play more than the rest of his fellow defensive tackles, but there’s plenty of depth to keep him healthy and fresh throughout the course of the season. I’m not worried about his age or his ankle injury in the least.

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