O'Brien not with Patriots; Cannon praised

By Paul KenyonThe Patriots will hold practice Thursday afternoon without their offensive coordinator. Bill O'Brien apparently is in State College, Pa., interviewing for the Penn State job. There have been multiple reports that O'Brien has scheduled a meeting with Penn State officials. Pats' coach Bill Belichick all but confirmed those reports when he said at a pre-practice press conference that O'Brien will not be with the team today. Asked if he could comment any further on O'Brien's situation, Belichick simply shook his head no. O'Brien, who like outgoing Penn State coach Joe Paterno is a Brown grad and former player, also is mentioned as a candidate for the head coaching job with Jacksonville. Belichick was willing to comment on the announcement made earlier Thursday that rookie tackle Marcus Cannon has been voted the recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award. Cannon spent part of the year receiving cancer treatments. ``Marcus has gone through a lot...