Quite refreshing to have a Bruschi

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Linebacker Mike Vrabel shook his head in amazement when asked about the return of Tedy Bruschi in yesterday's 24-17 win over the Jets.

``Only Tedy comes back with a cast on his stinking arm and has an interception," Vrabel said. ``That's him, though. It was great to see him back."

Bruschi, who was playing for the first time since breaking his right wrist July 31, finished with six tackles, the game-sealing interception on a Hail Mary throw, and two pass deflections. He rotated with Junior Seau as the Patriots primarily played a 4-3 defense, and he wore a black cast to protect his wrist. He didn't start, making his first appearance at the beginning of the second quarter.

Bruschi said his interception was naturally ``more difficult than it would have been if I had both hands. But when you have an injury, you deal with what you have. I had to protect it a little bit, but I was still able to cradle the ball and finish the game, which was nice."

Bruschi said his black cast was a ``scaled-down version" that the team's medical staff ``tried to make as light as they could but still give support."

Players were happy to have Bruschi back on the field.

``You always get better with Tedy Bruschi," said safety Rodney Harrison. ``He's one of the best linebackers in the game and one of the best players on the team. He's definitely a leader."

Bruschi said the team yesterday relied on something the coaching staff always emphasizes -- coming through in specific situations.

``We've always been able to win close games," he said. ``I think we practice well in situational football and when the game gets close, we know what to do."

Two weeks into the season, and the Patriots' running back tandem is hitting its stride. Corey Dillon finished with 80 yards on 20 carries, while rookie Laurence Maroney added 65 yards on 16 rushes.

``It's a good changeup for us," said center Dan Koppen. ``Laurence comes in and he brings another dimension to the running game, and when Corey comes in, he's a downhill runner. He wants to take guys on, while Laurence is more elusive. When you have two running backs like that, it helps you out."

One benefit to the two-pronged approach was evident in the fourth quarter, when Dillon plowed ahead on a 10-yard gain and ran through safety Kerry Rhodes. It illustrated how Dillon was still fresh late in the game.

``You can definitely see it's taking a toll on them, that the defense gets tired," said Maroney. ``He punishes defenders and that fires me up. When I see that, I'm ready to get in there and try to do what he does."

In the season opener against the Bills, Maroney had 86 yards on 17 carries and Dillon totaled 73 yards on 16 rushes.

Quarterback Tom Brady finished 15 of 29 for 220 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. The team's passing game showed flashes of precision, but also had stretches in which it struggled.

The unit is still adjusting with new personnel at receiver, as rookie Chad Jackson (2 catches, 42 yards) and Doug Gabriel (no catches) played for the first time. Troy Brown led the team with four catches for 51 yards, while fellow receiver Reche Caldwell chipped in with two catches for 14 yards.

Brady was part of two turnovers -- an interception and a lost fumble. The interception came on a long pass down the middle to Gabriel, in which the quarterback said he ``tried to lay it up there for Doug and the guy made a nice play, jumped up and caught it in front of him."

The fumble, Brady said, was ``an all-out blitz and I tried to roll to the right and throw to Troy, and they got there before I got the ball out."

Coach Bill Belichick said of the passing game, ``I think we did some good things. But we need to be more consistent so we are going to work on that. There are some positive signs; we got the ball to some different receivers and we protected fairly well. But we had a couple of bad plays out there, too."

The Patriots, who usually play out of a base 3-4 defense, played primarily a 4-3 alignment yesterday. Jets coach Eric Mangini said he wasn't caught off guard as his team worked against both fronts in the days leading up to the game.

Richard Seymour played plenty of end in the Patriots' alignment and said he liked the change.

``I think we have some talented linemen who can push the pocket and put some pressure on the quarterback," he said. ``It's a good balance of keeping teams preparing for a lot of different things. They never know what we're going to do.

``That's something I think is an advantage for us, if we can move around and give them different looks."

Safety James Sanders was injured on the game's opening kickoff and didn't play the rest of the game . . . Safety Artrell Hawkins, offensive tackle Nick Kaczur, tight end Garrett Mills, center/guard Gene Mruczkowski, receiver Jonathan Smith, defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith, defensive lineman Johnathan Sullivan, and outside linebacker Pierre Woods were inactive for the game . . . Dillon's first-quarter touchdown run was his 27th in 29 career regular-season games with the Patriots. It was the 70th rushing score of his career . . . Maroney on his first career touchdown: ``It was a great feeling. I just tried to act like I've been there. Me and Corey have our own little thing, so I celebrate with him." . . . Second-year defensive lineman Mike Wright earned his first career start as the Patriots opened in a 4-3 alignment . . . Rookie tight end David Thomas registered his first NFL reception, a 29-yarder in the first quarter.