Patriots Mum on Nick Kaczur's Fondness for 'Rush Limbaugh's Drug of Choice'

Shocking news out of New England: a Patriot official says that Nick Kaczur's arrest for illegally possessing OxyContin and taking part in a DEA sting operation to bust his supplier, is a team matter. Weird. I expected head coach Billy Belichick to fully address the matter following the first day of mandatory minicamp on Friday.

In the meantime, Kaczur, an offensive lineman, practiced with the team, although he wasn't made available to the media. Probably a good thing, since it'll save us all the trouble of reading, "Yeah, I can't comment on my love for prescription painkillers, or the fact that I set up a drug dealer. You understand."

It sounds like this could drag on for some time, which might prompt the Patriots to cut ties with Kaczur just to put it behind them. Two reasons why that may not happen: first, Kaczur's a starter, and for all that's seemingly perfect with New England's offense, the line isn't good enough to jettison players just because they get arrested.

Second, at this point, the Pats are used to off-field distractions, so it's not like they can't deal with it. As long as John Tomase doesn't write about it, anyway.

For now, Kaczur's still with the team, and he joins a distinguished group of New England players who have all had drug-related run-ins in the last year:

Defensive back Willie Andrews was arrested in February after Lowell police allegedly found a half-pound of marijuana and $6,808 in cash in his vehicle... Running back Kevin Faulk was also charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana in February in Louisiana. And safety Rodney Harrison apologized and was suspended four games last season by the NFL for purchasing human growth hormone.

If only Sen. Arlen Specter was interested in legalizing drugs...