It's no time to take it easy

FOXBOROUGH -- When Patriots players arrived for work yesterday at Gillette Stadium, they were greeted by a demanding head coach.

"Coach [Bill] Belichick has been especially tough on the players, as he should be," quarterback Tom Brady said. "He never lets his foot off the gas pedal."

One point Belichick was likely driving home was that the Patriots needed to resist the urge to relax with the 2-9 Lions next on the schedule. Brady was spreading a similar message.

"I don't think there are any teams that you can just show up and roll the helmets out there and expect to beat. You have to bring it every week," Brady said. "You talk about a team like this, which has some All-Pro-caliber players, injuries have been a factor this year for them and they seem to be pretty healthy now, especially on defense. We have to approach this week like we approach every week. We have to prepare hard and we have to prepare like every team in unbeatable."

The Patriots practiced in full pads yesterday. Brady believes the Patriots are already benefiting from the new FieldTurf at Gillette.

"I think there are throws that we completed [Sunday] that we probably couldn't complete on grass, just because the footing [on FieldTurf] is so good," he said. "You can really push off and drive the ball and receivers can cut really well. I think everyone really likes the surface."

Brady, who is now 20-1 on artificial surfaces (including playoffs), cited a second-quarter, 15-yard pass to Reche Caldwell as one positive example. Caldwell ran an out route toward the Bears' sideline.

"I just planted and I was really able to step into the throw and Reche really got out of his break well and the ball got there in a hurry," he said. "Plays like that, not that you can't complete them on grass, but it is probably more difficult to move and step up."

Then, of course, there was Brady's 11-yard run -- in which he juked linebacker Brian Urlacher -- on the team's final scoring drive. He credited the field for that as well, noting that "on a terrible field, it's hard to move laterally."

Brady also dismissed talk during the Fox broadcast of the game that his back was sore.

"I think everything is a little sore at this point of the year," Brady said. "That is just the way football is. [It's] nothing that is going to keep me out of practice or keep me out of games or anything like that. There are days when your arm is sore, days when your back is sore, when your ankle is sore. Soreness is just part of playing football. I'm probably the least sore of anybody who is standing in that locker room."

Lions wideout Roy Williams, who is second in the NFL with 993 receiving yards, had an interesting take on how offensive coordinator Mike Martz -- the former Rams head coach -- has made him better.

"He uses his words wisely to make you play," said Williams, the former Texas star who was a first-round pick in 2004. "When I was growing up, my mom told me to take out the trash. I would just sit there. She would say, 'Take out the trash.' I would just sit there. She would say, 'Didn't I just tell your beep, beep, beep to get up and take out the trash?' I would get up and take out the trash. It is the same way that he coaches. His beep, beep, beeps are pretty good."

Williams grew up in Odessa, Texas, and played at Permian High, which was part of the book "Friday Night Lights." Williams returned home last weekend to see a playoff game.

"This week they have the No. 1 team in the state, and if they can get past them, there will probably be another 'Friday Night Lights' coming out because they have that exposure," he said. "They are selling merchandise. They have a TV series. I went back two years ago and there was no one in the stands, which is very hard in Odessa. I went back this past Saturday and the mojo was back, baby."

Offensive tackle Ryan O'Callaghan, who injured his neck in the second quarter of last Sunday's game, was the lone addition to the Patriots' injury report from last week. He's questionable, giving him a 50-50 chance of playing Sunday.

If O'Callaghan doesn't suit up, first-year player Wesley Britt would likely be active as the third tackle. Britt has appeared in seven games with one start, Oct. 1 against Cincinnati.

Cornerback Asante Samuel (knee), tight end David Thomas (groin), and running back Kevin Faulk (flu) were removed from the injury report.

Samuel was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after intercepting three passes against the Bears. He's the second Patriots defender to win the award this year, following Jarvis Green in Week 4 . . . Faulk, who became the Patriots' all-time leader for receptions by a running back, said he didn't keep the football because he was more focused on the team winning the game . . . Fullback Heath Evans said there were gray clouds hovering over the locker room in the wake of the team's five-turnover performance last Sunday. "I don't want to take anything away from the Bears, but we're feeling bad because it was an embarrassing win, if that's possible," he said.

Christopher L. Gasper contributed to this report. Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com.