According to an NBC spokesman, the purported Twitter account belonging to NBC Sports football analyst Rodney Harrison is a fake, and the former Patriots safety doesn’t tweet and doesn’t know how to tweet. The person who runs the page admitted Friday morning that he is not Harrison, but has since Tweeted that they were simply taking his comments from radio interviews and posting them. The phony Twitter feed sparked a battle with Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, who believed he had a serious trash-talking battle with Harrison last week via Twitter before the Patriots-New York game.

Falcons Injury Report
Did Not Practice
RB Jerious Norwood (head)

Full Participation
K Jason Elam (left hamstring)
TE Tony Gonzalez (back)
S William Moore (hamstring)
TE Justin Peelle (back)

Patriots Injury Report
Did Not Practice
LB Jerod Mayo (knee)

Limited Participation
TE Chris Baker (ankle)
C Dan Connolly  (back)
WR Julian Edelman (ankle)
S Brandon Meriweather (ankle)
DL Myron Pryor (calf)
WR Matthew Slater (elbow)
WR Wes Welker (knee)
CB Terrence Wheatley (knee)

Full Participation
QB Tom Brady (right shoulder)

Through two games, the Patriots have been flagged for 17 penalties, tied for the fourth-most in the NFL. (San Diego is tops with 21, while Arizona has been hit with 19 and the New York Jets are third with 18.) New England has been assessed the second-most penalty yardage in the league, losing 144 yards — only the Chargers have allowed more at 145 yards.

As for the most frequent calls, New England has been hit with four holding penalties and four delay-of-game penalties, as well as two false starts and a pair of roughing-the-passer calls. In addition, there have been single flags thrown for encroachment, tripping, illegal formation, illegal block above the waist and facemask.

No one has been flagged more than Tom Brady — the quarterback has been hit with three penalties this season, all of them for delay of game and all of them last Sunday against the Jets. Three players have been hit with two penalties each — center Dan Koppen (two false starts), wide receiver/special teams ace Sam Aiken (holding, facemask) and nose tackle Vince Wilfork (encroachment, roughing the passer).

Other players who have received single penalties this season are left tackle Matt Light (tripping), linebacker Adalius Thomas (roughing the passer), left guard Stephen Neal (holding), tight end Chris Baker (holding), wide receiver Joey Galloway (illegal formation), punter Chris Hanson (delay of game), tight end Benjamin Watson (holding) and running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis (illegal block above the waist).

FOXBORO — Just got back from the first few moments of Patriots practice today, and the only member of the 53-man roster who was not present for the start was linebacker Jerod Mayo. Wes Welker, who had missed at least the start of practice earlier this week (as well as Sunday’s game against the Jets) because of a knee injury, was back on the field, and it appeared as if he was moving around without any problems. In addition, kick returner Matthew Slater was wearing a red non-contact jersey. The practice was held in full pads on the lower field behind Gillette Stadium.

In other team news, the Patriots announced this afternoon that offensive lineman Ryan Wendell has been re-signed to the practice squad, and they have released Patrick Brown.

FOXBORO — Matt Ryan is all business. Whether it’s directing his team on the field or speaking for the Atlanta Falcons off of the gridiron, the Boston College product is all about winning.

That includes his return trip to New England this weekend as one of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL for a 2-0 Falcons squad that is tied with New Orleans atop the NFC South.

Ryan, of course, first gained national recognition in his senior year in 2007 at the Heights, where he was given the nickname “Matty Heisman.” Ryan’s name is all over the BC record books — he has the all-time mark for touchdown passes in a season (31 in 2007) and attempts (654 in 2007), and he is third behind Doug Flutie and Glenn Foley in career passing yards with 9,313.

Things have been all thumbs up for Ryan and the Falcons early in '09.

“It’ll be great to get back there,” Ryan said during his conference call on Wednesday. “It’s a part of the country that I love and a special spot in my heart up there from my days at BC. I’ll be excited to get back and I know there will be some people at the game that it’ll be good to see.

“But with that said, we’re going up there to play this football game and to try and win this football game. There will be chances during the off-season to get back and enjoy the Boston area. Right now, we’re going up there to try and take care of our business.”

The only player Ryan expects to be reunited with is defensive lineman Ron Brace, who left BC after last season.

“The only guy on the team that I’m really familiar with is Ron Brace,” Ryan said. “I played with him at BC. That’s pretty much it. I never really ran into any of those guys while I was up there.”

Ryan, the No 3 overall pick in the 2008 draft, was awarded the 2007 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given annually in the United States to the most outstanding college football senior quarterback. In addition, he was selected to play in the 2008 Senior Bowl. He also won the 2007 Manning Award awarded to the nation’s top quarterback, beating out eventual Heisman winner Tim Tebow and eight other finalists.

But Patriots coach Bill Belichick doesn’t need his biography to know how dangerous Ryan is. He has more than enough evidence on film.

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Falcons Injury Report
Did Not Practice
RB Jerious Norwood (head)

Limited Participation
K Jason Elam (hamstring)

Full Participation
TE Tony Gonzalez (back)
S William Moore (hamstring)
TE Justin Peelle (back)