He’s feeling good

Seymour back after struggling through ’07

Richard Seymour feels good. And when he feels good, it’s usually bad for the rest of the league.

The defensive lineman really hasn’t felt good the last year or so. The 6-foot-6, 310-pound Seymour played in just nine regular-season games last year, and was hampered by the affects of offseason knee surgery that left him sidelined through the early stages of the season. He spent the first six weeks of the season on the physically unable to perform list, finally seeing his first action of the season on Oct. 28 against the Redskins.

While there were occasional flashes of the old Seymour last season — he knocked Jets’ quarterback Chad Pennington from an early December game in Foxborough with a savage hit — he still struggled to play catch-up to his teammates the rest of the way. In the end, the five-time Pro Bowler finished the 2007 regular-season with a career-low in tackles (30), sacks (1.5) and games played (nine).

But through the first two-plus weeks of training camp this summer, it’s been all good. So good, in fact, there was the distinct flash of the pre-2007 Seymour in the preseason opener against the Ravens when he caved in the Baltimore offensive line on multiple occasions. When Seymour was in there Thursday night, he created havoc, especially early on. On Baltimore’s second possession, he forced a holding call on Ravens’ offensive lineman Chad Slaughter. Later in the quarter, his rush created a first-quarter turnover, allowing linebacker Adalius Thomas to strip sack Baltimore quarterback Kyle Boller.

“He is way ahead of where he was last year with being able to participate in training camp,” said coach Bill Belichick of Seymour, who is entering his eighth year with the Patriots. “He has done well, and it is good to have him out here.”

“I feel good — ready to get the season rolling,” Seymour said yesterday. “There’s still a lot of work we have to do and a lot of fine-tuning, but we’re excited about the season that’s coming up. We’re looking forward to finishing.”

Seymour had the usual bumps and bruises after Thursday’s loss to the Ravens, but it was a good feeling for the 29-year-old.

“It wasn’t bad. I was fine,” Seymour said when asked about how he felt the next day. “Just being able to run around on the field and not having any concerns about limping or gimping.”

When it comes to the state of the defense, Seymour has always been a straight shooter. And even with some question marks in the secondary — the departures of Asante Samuel and Randall Gay at corner among them — he believes that if everyone takes care of their own business, this year’s defense will be OK.

“I think everyone has to do their job. Obviously, we have a talented front, and hopefully, we can get some pressure on the quarterback. But we’re a team — we can’t have any weak links,” Seymour said. “Just ’cause the front gets pressure, you still have to have guys back there who can cover. Everyone has to pull their own weight and take care of their own responsibilities, or the coaching staff and management will have to get somebody in here who can get the job done.

“But those guys look good. It’s still early at this point. I look forward to big things from the secondary.”