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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -In his first three seasons, Ray Ventrone got into just four games for the New England Patriots.
Now the defensive back is also a wide receiver, and he's hoping that might help him get on the field more.
Ventrone is still far down on the depth chart at both positions, but his ability to handle them should help his bid to earn a spot on the roster that gets cut to 75 players on Tuesday before the final cut to 53 on Saturday.
"Where would I want to play? Wherever they ask me," Ventrone said Monday. "It doesn't matter to me. I enjoy doing everything and I think that they see that, too."
Villanova is not a major breeding ground for NFL players, but Ventrone played well enough in the Wildcats' secondary for New England to sign him as an undrafted free agent in April 2005. He spent the whole season on the Patriots' practice squad and the following season on injured reserve.
The New York Jets signed him in February 2007 but released him from their practice squad last September 12. So the Patriots signed him for their practice squad seven days later.
He finally was activated for the last two regular-season games and played in two postseason games. He even made a special teams tackle in the Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants, making a hard hit that held Domenik Hixon to a 14-yard kickoff return.
"The past is the past," Ventrone said. "I'm trying to make some plays on Thursday."
The Patriots and Giants meet Thursday night in their final exhibition game.
Ventrone has been practicing mostly at wide receiver and leads the Patriots with eight receptions in the exhibition season, although starters Randy Moss and Wes Welker have played sparingly.
Soon after last season, coaches discussed with him the possibility of playing receiver. He saw it as an opportunity to stick with the team and play more.
"The more you can do, the better," he said. "I love playing football and anytime I get a chance to get out and make any kind of play on either side of the ball, it's fun. I love what I do."
The last time he played wide receiver was as a sophomore in high school. He was a track star there but he's just 5-foot-10.
Beantown Boy 
