Ty Warren can’t play this season and Logan Mankins, amid the posturing over a new contract, says he won’t. Hey, what’s a Patriots preseason without major, major issues?

You watch Coach Bill Belichick reshuffle the cards and with his sleight of hand, wait for the king of clubs to appear. Or an ace of diamonds. Or the joker.

Defensive linemen Damione Lewis and Gerard Warren aren’t in their first Patriots camp because they tweeted Happy Birthday, Bill. Belichick saw value when he picked them out of the NFL’s recycled bin.

But Ty Warren’s season-ending injury and surgery, coupled with Jarvis Green’s defection and Richard Seymour’s exile, is worrisome. Belichick’s systems aren’t the easiest to pick up quickly.

Mankins is paid to protect Tom Brady, push people aside and spring running backs free. He hasn’t felt the love or the weight of more dollars in his checkbook. He’s been a quiet mainstay on the offensive line, but players and their agents rarely win the money games in Foxborough. …

Anyone ever see Shaquille O’Neal in shoulder pads? He can’t be doing much before Celtics camp. …

Jason Bartlett, the pride of Windsor Fairgrounds and Erskine Academy, doesn’t have his own listing on Wikipedia, the Internet version of who’s who. That’s reserved for Jason Bartlett, the Tampa Bay Rays’ shortstop, and Jason Bartlett, a Connecticut politician.

This Jason Bartlett does have his own bobblehead, which was the giveaway Saturday night at Yonkers Raceway. Now living in Goshen, N.Y., Bartlett has established himself as one of the country’s top harness racing drivers. Two weeks ago at Batavia Downs in western New York, he drove Flipper J, a 2-year-old colt, to a track record of 1:54. …

Can someone measure Jacoby Ellsbury for one of those padded flak vests NFL quarterbacks wear? Belichick and Tito Francona are buddies. …

The bad news for Ron Aubrey was he was knocked down three times in his four-round heavyweight fight Friday night with a former Oklahoma State defensive lineman, Denshio Cook. The good news? Aubrey got back to his feet each time.

The better news? Fight judges in Oklahoma City awarded that town’s favorite bad boy a draw. The bout was a rumble of giants. Cook weighed 350 pounds, while Aubrey typically fights at 280 or 290 and is usually the bigger man.

Cook told his hometown newspaper in Stillwater, Okla., the decision was “home cooking.” The fight, on the undercard of a boxing night at the Cox Convention Center, was Cook’s debut. Aubrey, the former Cape Elizabeth High hockey star and called the “Iceman” in his adopted home, took a 9-2 record into the ring.

Aubrey started his second career at age 39, a couple of years after he retired from a lengthy career banging pucks and heads in hockey’s minor leagues. He perseveres. …

Steven Gamache made his pro debut last weekend, knocking out his opponent on a fight card in Somersworth, N.H. The son of the former lightweight champ, Joey Gamache, is fighting at 152 pounds, or about 12 pounds heavier than his father. At 26, Steven Gamache’s pro debut is coming a little late but after years of flirting with the idea, he’s made the commitment. The debut was to happen in his dad’s hometown of Lewiston two months ago before someone realized Maine no longer has a boxing commission to license pro bouts. …

Someday, Kevin Dineen will get the coaching offer that takes him away from Maine and the Portland Pirates. In the meantime, watching this master motivator at work is still fascinating. …

A gracious Jack Davis of Falmouth sent an e-mail pointing out I’m not the only one who can’t keep his twin sons straight. He’s right, at least as far as last Sunday’s column from the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K is concerned. I love talking with and quoting Blake Davis, but it was the equally affable and talented Kirby Davis who ran the race. Blake didn’t. My mistake.

Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:

ssolloway@pressherald.com

 

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