FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – Randy Moss left the New England Patriots practice Wednesday with an apparent upper leg injury.

During an 11-on-11 passing drill about halfway through the team’s afternoon practice, the only one of the day, Moss reached in the end zone for a ball thrown by Tom Brady. The pass was incomplete and Moss immediately went to the sidelines.

A trainer applied an ice pack and wrap to the wide receiver’s upper left leg. Moss did not return to the practice. The ice pack and wrapping were taken off before the team left the field at the end of practice and Moss walked off under his own power.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had a brief discussion with head trainer Jim Whelan. Belichick left the field without commenting to reporters. Patriots officials made no comments about Moss.

Moss hasn’t had any apparent physical problems and has played well during training camp, which began last Friday. The Patriots obtained him from Oakland in a draft day trade in April.

Moss caught several passes from Brady, including a spectacular one-handed grab that went for a long gain.

Earlier in the day, coach Bill Belichick said the first time he spoke to Moss was at 2:30 a.m. the morning on the second day of the draft, when New England obtained Moss from Oakland Raiders for a fourth-round draft choice.

Belichick said he didn’t discuss the Patriots’ philosophy at that point.

“We talked. We talked about a number of things, but like I said, it was the middle of the night and he traveled here and got here the next day,” Belichick said. “So we’ve had a lot of conversations since then, some football related, some not football related. Again, most of those conversations will remain player-coach conversations like all of the other ones I have with other players on the team.”

Belichick said Moss is “smart. He works hard. He’s very professional and very competitive.”

Despite adding Moss and other receivers in the offseason, Belichick said holdovers Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney have the advantage of having played in the Patriots offense.

“Sure, I definitely think that’s an advantage,” he said. “I think that Reche had a really good offseason. He had a better offseason this year than he had last year. He was able to do more and we’re starting at a much higher point. Gaff had a great offseason and he’s having a really good camp. He’s shown up and he’s made plays out there everyday. I think they’re both doing well. It’s a competitive position. We have a long way to go. We’ll see what happens.”

AP-ES-08-01-07 2155EDT