Dillon still hobbled by sore foot

FOXBOROUGH -- Corey Dillon didn't practice for the second straight day because of a sore right foot. His status is questionable for Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks. How questionable?

"I don't know, we'll just have to see how it goes," Dillon said yesterday.

Dillon, who turns 30 next week, is from Seattle, but the Patriots running back didn't seem to be in the mood to talk about his birthday or birthplace.

If Dillon can't play, the Patriots would likely go with a running back by committee, with Kevin Faulk, Rabih Abdullah, and Patrick Pass likely sharing the load. Dillon would be missed. He leads the team in rushing with 417 yards on 84 carries (a 5-yard average). The Patriots' defense, however, has to contend with Shaun Alexander.

Coach Bill Belichick was asked who the Seahawks running back reminds him of. Carolina's Stephen Davis came up, but Belichick said, "I think [Alexander's] faster. His production is second probably only to [Kansas City's] Priest Holmes in the last few years. [He has done] more scoring than [Jamal] Lewis. Alexander has a great playing style. He really can do it all. He makes a lot of long runs. He can take the ball inside, and then outrun the defense to the perimeter, which a lot of backs can't do. At the same time, he runs with a lot of power and can break tackles."

Belichick nodded when Alexander was compared with Dillon.

"That might be a good comparison," he said. "[Alexander is] effective in the passing game. When he gets the ball, every play is to go from sideline to sideline. He can take the ball on a draw play and end up down the sideline. He can stop, reverse his field, or he can take it and just hammer it right into the line of scrimmage and run through people."

Dillon was a Seahawks fan growing up.

"I grew up watching the Hawks when they had Steve Largent, Jim Zorn. They were good when I was growing up."

Dillon, who played at the University of Washington for a year, still has family in Washington.

"I'm pretty sure everyone's going to be tuned in," he said.

Poole hurting
Cornerback Tyrone Poole, who had been removed from the injury report Wednesday, was back on it. He didn't practice yesterday because of a knee injury. Poole missed last Sunday's game because of a knee injury, and might have reinjured himself in Wednesday's practice. Deion Branch missed practice again with a knee ailment and is listed as doubtful and Troy Brown (shoulder) is questionable. Last week, the Patriots used Asante Samuel and undrafted rookie Randall Gay at cornerback . . . Belichick seemed baffled by Bethel Johnson's remarks a day earlier when the wide receiver said he was in the dark about being inactive for the Miami game. "I have a hard time understanding how he could say that," Belichick said. "That is all I have to say." Johnson said his quotes were taken out of context and he did understand why he was benched. On the topic of a player's game-day status, Belichick said, "I think what affects a player's status is a couple of things. One is his performance. Another is what the overall strategy and game plan is. Those can vary. Again, for anybody, no matter what you are doing, if you can't recognize where there is a problem and address it, I don't know how it could possibly get improved."