"Laurence Maroney revealed to a group of reporters covering Kevin Faulk's charity softball game Saturday night that he tried to play through a broken bone in his shoulder last season before being put on season-ending injured reserve.

Apparently fed up from hearing critics continually question his toughness, Maroney finally came clean with the true nature of his injury.

When you're a Patriot, when you play for Bill Belichick, stomaching criticism from fans or pundits unaware of the exact details of a situation comes with the territory. It comes with doing whatever it takes to win.

That doesn't always make it any easier.

Former Pats fullback Heath Evans, who considers Maroney to be like a little brother, certainly knew the extent of running back's injury. He also knew his friend was getting killed in the press and on fan Web sites for shying away from hits and not hitting the hole when he did play. But he also knew the bottom line.

"I think the idea is, the Bill Belichick way is, in everything you do, put the team first," Evans said. "That's what I'm going to try to do with my new team here (in New Orleans). It works, and that's what players need to do. I respect everything (Belichick) asks his players to do. When you buy in, you win. When you buy in, you're successful. And when you don't, most of the time, you're not."

For competitive reasons, the Pats don't disclose the complete nature of injuries. That goes for everyone, from Maroney, to Tom Brady, to Ray Ventrone. To this day, the club has never has acknowledged Brady suffering torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments to his left knee, even though it's widely known. According to the Pats, he has a "knee injury." There's no more detail than that.

They say Maroney has a shoulder injury. But that could run the gamut from a bruise to a dislocation to a broken bone. So you're left guessing, and in the running back's case, many of his critics wondered if he really was hurt."