Today brings another compare and contrast exercise regarding the questionable character of new Patriot Albert Haynesworth (who’ll go on trial in Washington, D.C. later this month on a sexual abuse charge), and questionable judgment of the team in acquiring him.

Bob Ryan’s Boston Globe column recounts Haynesworth’s all-the-right-answers performance in front of the press yesterday. But the jury’s still out for Ryan:

It all sounded very nice, and it almost made us forget there was a reason the Redskins were so happy to rid themselves of such an immense talent and why he was available for a paltry fifth-round draft choice. It was entirely predictable that many would invoke the name “Myra Kraft,’’ as in, “Myra Kraft would never have stood for this.’’

And even if you choose not to go that far, the fact remains that when a man has such an extreme history of professional deviance within a team structure and utter lawlessness in his down time (his high-speed driving habits have led to a man being paralyzed), he becomes a very hard man to root for.

But this is an opportunity for Albert Haynesworth to reform himself. This man could lead them to a Super Bowl, or he could become a colossal embarrassment.

Check back in a year.

By contrast, Karen Guregian’s Boston Herald column pretty much gives Haynesworth a pass. And when she does add a critical word, it’s more about his on-field transgressions than his off-field ones:

Now, it should be noted this is the same man who lied down and took a powder when the Redskins asked him to switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4.

This is the same man who quit on his team when things didn’t go his way, and he didn’t get along with the coach. And we haven’t even discussed the off-field issues,which are troubling to say the least. But right here and right now, he’s willing to do whatever is asked.

“Troubling to say the least”? Geez, that’s kind of troubling.

To say the least.