Well, it’s time to re-set the “Days Without A PFT Story Regarding The Patriots And Cheating” meter to “OO.”

But this latest topic is an oldie and not-so-goodie.  It deals with the team’s “massaging” of the injury report, a phenomenon about which we’ve all been aware for years.  A couple of years ago, quarterback Tom Brady played several games with a McNabb-style sports hernia, which was somehow kept under wraps until after the season.

In the days leading up to Super Bowl XLII, Brady again appeared on the injury report with his chronic shoulder injury, but no mention was made of the injury to his ankle that obviously limited him during the game.

Now (and as mentioned in a One-Liner earlier today by MDS), Pats cornerback Ellis Hobbs is speaking candidly about the team’s approach in this regard.

Hobbs has told the story of a very real injury to his groin, which became progressively worse over the course of the season.

“From camp, through the preseason, all the way to the regular season, it started aching a little more each day to where it got to the point where we definitely needed surgery,” Hobbs said.

But yet Hobbs showed up on the injury report only once after December 1. 

So what gives?

“We keep things under wraps for a reason,” Hobbs said.  “We never want things to leak out.  Teams can use it against us, and strategize for players that are going to potentially be there or potentially not be there.”

Um, Ellis?  Coach Belichick has scheduled you for another surgery.  He thinks you need to have your vocal cords removed.

In our view, the league has been reluctant to nail teams that violate the injury-reporting rules, even when they are caught with a smoking gun in one hand and a cookie jar over the other.  In the case of Brady’s sports hernia, we concluded that, as long as the truth doesn’t come out until after the season ends, there will be no repercussions.

And, clearly, other teams play games with the injury reports.  Our concerns has been, and still is, that allowing teams to give incomplete information creates an incentive for gamblers and those who are otherwise “mobbed up” to provide envelopes full of cash and other inducements to the guy who washes the jock straps at $7.55 an hour in exchange for access to information about who’s really hurt, and who really isn’t.

Perhaps the reality is that the league has yet to come up with a way to effectively ensure that teams comply with the rules regarding the reporting of injuries, and that the league is content with a system that merely creates a general perception that everyone who is inclined to place (or take) a bet has access to reliable information.