"You get the impression Laurence Maroney would love to share all of the details surrounding his shoulder injury, so the critics would lighten up. Only he’s not allowed because it would violate an unwritten team rule.

So last night, prior to signing autographs for fans at the Reebok store at Patriot Place, Maroney remained guarded about his health, except to say he was playing in pain after sustaining the injury in the team’s Sept. 14 win over the Jets, and he was about to start a nine-month program to “get stronger” and “get better.”

Did he require surgery? Or, did he have surgery?

Maroney wouldn’t say, because the Patriots hadn’t made any statements regarding any surgery. There were hints, however, the shoulder of the third-year running back was pretty bad. When asked if he was surprised to be on season-ending injured reserve, Maroney shot back: “I’m surprised I lasted as long as I did . . . when the details come out, you’ll be surprised that I went that long..”

How bad was the pain?

“I wouldn’t say a lot of pain, but it was pain,” he said. “But in this game, you’ve got to play through pain. You should be able to play through pain.”

Maroney agreed that going on injured reserve Oct. 20 was for the best.

“It was the smartest (course of action) when you think about longevity, and think about the outlook,” Maroney said. “Is he going to be stupid now, and have a short career after this? Or take care of it now and have a long career. Me and Bill (Belichick) talked about it a lot. We did the best thing we felt was right.”"