Hardly cavalier about Cleveland

FOXBOROUGH -- For the Patriots this weekend, it's back to Cleveland, where Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli first got together years ago.

Pioli recalls being a player personnel assistant -- hired by Browns head coach Belichick in 1992 -- when his job was "picking up people at the airport and making copies in the copy room.

"I don't think we were dreaming about two Super Bowls in three years back then," said Pioli, the Patriots vice president of player personnel. "It was a great place to be early in my career with all of the great people we had around us, soaking up all that knowledge. There are people who have gone on to great things in the pro and college ranks. It was an amazing time.

"We had people like [Ravens general manager] Ozzie [Newsome] and [Ravens player personnel director] Phil [Savage] and [Ravens director of pro personnel] George [Kokinis] and [Jets assistant GM] Mike Tannenbaum, [Titans defensive coordinator] Jim Schwartz, [Steelers special teams coach] Kevin Spencer, [Iowa coach] Kirk Ferentz, [LSU coach] Nick Saban. There was a lot of talent there."

"They were doing brilliant things then," said Schwartz. "It's just that it took them a while to get going, and now you're seeing the fruition of all their work."

Pioli has been a hot name floating around the GM rumor mill this season, but he reiterated yesterday that he will fulfill his contract with New England at least through the 2006 draft, even though he can, under rules set by the Commissioner's Office, leave for a job that gives him decision-making power. In doing so, he may be forgoing as much as twice as much money in salary.

Belichick, who took a lot of criticism from media and fans during his tenure in Cleveland, spoke yesterday on the difficulty of playing there.

"Last time we were in Cleveland, [a 19-11 loss] in 2000, [the Browns] were feeding off of it quite a bit," he said. "They played well. They played better than we did. Everybody was into it. They played well defensively.

"The fans in Ohio, that is kind of where football started. The Hall of Fame is right down the road. I don't know how many high schools there are in Ohio to play football, but there are a lot of them and there are a million colleges, too. There is football everywhere at all different levels, from the Ohio States to the Mid-Americans to all of the Division 3 schools. High school football is big. They are very knowledgeable fans. They are into football. They love football. They follow it very passionately and they are emotional about it."

Hurting for details
Matt Light looked to be in tough shape late in Sunday's game, but he walked through the locker room yesterday without a limp. "I think he's a little sore," said Belichick. "But we'll see how he is on Wednesday when we start practicing again. Hopefully he'll be OK." While blocking early in the fourth quarter, Light seemed to lose his footing and hurt his ankle. He was helped off the field and had X-rays after the game. Yesterday, he didn't stop to chat. There may be other ailments to note when the injury report comes out tomorrow. Linebacker Mike Vrabel, safety Rodney Harrison, and running back Kevin Faulk were banged up a bit, though none of their problems appeared serious . . . Tyrone Poole may be closer to returning. The cornerback, who has missed the last six games, ran along the sideline before the game . . . After Faulk was run over on a punt return, Troy Brown wound up fielding punts as well as playing offense and defense. Asked if he thought Brown might be overworked, Belichick said, "It depends. If he was playing every play on offense, every play on defense, and returning all of the kicks, yes, I think that'd be stretching it too far. But that is not what he's doing. He's playing situational on defense and in the kicking game." . . . Punter Josh Miller made no excuses for his 32.1-yard average (25.6 net) on eight kicks. "For me personally, it was awful," Miller said. "I just couldn't hit the ball well. I was trying to angle punt and I didn't do it very well."