Neal is paying attention in class

Neal yesterday remembered instructions from coach Bill Belichick that when a player is running after an opponent who is going toward the end zone, he should knock the ball toward the end zone because it'll be a touchback if it goes through it.

Yesterday in the fourth quarter, Neal was pursuing Buffalo's London Fletcher down the right sideline after Fletcher had picked up a loose ball when New England's David Givens appeared to catch a pass and then have it stripped. When Neal got to Fletcher, he did what Belichick wanted, knocking the ball through the end zone for an apparent touchback. The play was eventually reviewed and called an incomplete pass, but Neal hustled to make a heads-up play.

"I had a good angle [on Fletcher] and I just went after him," Neal said. "I just kept running. I really didn't have a long way to go, and there's no way I'm going to get there before Bethel [Johnson], because he's got more speed than anyone. I don't know exactly what I did. I think Bethel hit him first and I just continued the play."

Neal played an increased number of snaps for Russ Hochstein, and he didn't know why he got more playing time. But he said, "I always try to stay ready. I was told to go in and I did, and I did the best I could out there. I'm sure we'll look at the film and see some of the things I did wrong. But I just know I'm going to go out there and do my best every time."

Brown down
Wide receiver Troy Brown suffered an undisclosed arm injury and never returned. Brown, who has had several injuries this season, left in the first quarter and at that time it was announced he had the wind knocked out of him. Johnson also injured himself, jamming his hand while chasing Fletcher, but the team did not issue a report on him. Willie McGinest also appeared to be shaken up early in the game, and Rosevelt Colvin got a considerable amount of playing time . . . The Bills had several injuries. Veteran cornerback Troy Vincent suffered a knee injury and left in the first quarter. Left tackle Jonas Jennings suffered a concussion after a collision with Vince Wilfork and never returned . . . There were no surprises on the inactive list. Wide receiver Deion Branch continues to sit with his knee injury. Rookie P.K. Sam was active for the first time and played special teams. Newly acquired veteran tight end Jed Weaver was not active, nor was running back Kevin Faulk, who appears to need another week to get his knee and conditioning better. Also inactive were third quarterback Jim Miller, Gene Mruczkowski, Adrian Klemm, Marquise Hill, and Ethan Kelley.

Another hit coming?
Rodney Harrison laid out tight end Ryan Neufeld with a hit to the back late in the game. Harrison was not flagged, and said, "It was a good, clean hit. A legal hit. I wanted a good clean hit, and that's what I got." Asked if he was worried about getting fined, he said, "I don't worry about that." . . . Belichick lauded the Bills' special teams. "They're good," he said. "[Terrence] McGee killed us. He's really a good player, a good player on defense and a really good player on kickoffs. They do it every week, these guys run one back every week. It's not like the first time they've done that. They've had a couple called back." After McGee's 98-yard return for a touchdown, Belichick didn't want Adam Vinatieri kicking to him. Vinatieri hooked one out of bounds and then squibbed one in the fourth quarter that put the Bills in business at the 42. The Patriots figured McGee would hurt them more than Drew Bledsoe, and they were right . . . Tyrone Poole had the Patriots' only interception (21 yards) of Bledsoe, who was sacked seven times for the second consecutive game. Tedy Bruschi was the only Patriot with multiple sacks (2) . . . Tom Brady recorded his 1,000th completion on a 13-yarder to Corey Dillon in the first quarter. He was the fourth Patriot to make the 1,000-completion club, joining Bledsoe (2,544), Steve Grogan (1,879), and Babe Parilli (1,140) . . . The Patriots wore their white jerseys and are 5-1 the last six times they've done that on the road.