Jabar Gaffney’s efforts are well-received Gotcha: Patriots wide receiver Jabbar Gaffney hangs onto this pass during a recent practice at Gillette Stadium. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>FOXBORO - Patriots [team stats] quarterback Tom Brady [stats] used the first week of training camp to get reacquainted with wide receiver Jabar Gaffney [stats]. “This is our third year working together, and we are definitely on the same page,” Gaffney said. “This time of the year is for us to get back into that groove and show the things we’ve improved upon. You work on things now to get ready for the preseason and into the regular season.” Gaffney joined the Patriots as a free agent on Oct. 9, 2006, after being released by the Philadelphia Eagles. He ended up catching 11 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown in 11 regular-season games that year before stepping it up in the playoffs, when he started all three games and caught 21 passes for 244 yards and two TDs. In 16 regular-season games last season, Gaffney caught 36 passes for 449 yards and five scores, but he still was Brady’s third or fourth option behind newcomers Randy Moss and Wes Welker. With Welker currently stewing on the physically unable to perform list, Gaffney has received a good second look from Brady and coach Bill Belichick in training camp. “I think he does everything pretty well, he doesn’t really have any weak points,” Belichick said. “He’s smart, he’s a technique receiver, he has good skills and quick feet. “He has good height, long arms and he catches the ball well. He knows how to play, knows how to get open and he knows how to work a defender in man or zone. The quarterbacks trust him a lot, they know where is going to be. “He’s a dependable player, and that dependability comes in his total makeup. He’s an even-keel guy, and you pretty much get the same performance every practice, every drill and every game. Nothing stands out, but everything is good.” Gaffney made be at his best along the sidelines, where he’s turned his tightrope skills into an art form. Yesterday, he drew high fives from Brady twice after coming down with both feet inbounds along the stripes. “I come out here and work on that every day,” Gaffney said. “We work on it when we are running routes and we work on it when we are doing seven-on-sevens. It’s something you have to work on, and the more drills we do, the more it helps out. When that situation comes up in a game we are ready.” Gaffney hopes to emerge with a starting spot in a battle with Chad Jackson and Kelley Washington for the split-end position opposite Moss. “I try to be the kind of receiver that can do it all,” Gaffney said. “I’m tall enough to go up against the big cornerback and I have good enough quickness to handle the shorter guys. “I try to work at it all in practice so I can improve overall. I want coach to have confidence he can put me in the game in any situation.”</div>
