FOXBOROUGH - The rushing numbers generated by the Jaguars last Saturday - 80 yards total, 47 for Fred Taylor, 19 for Maurice Jones-Drew - suggest the Patriots' defense had an impressive performance. But there was a troubling aspect: long drives. Jacksonville had marches of 13 and 11 plays, and three of nine plays.
"We played a Jacksonville team last week that averaged 150 yards rushing a game," linebacker Mike Vrabel said. "I thought we played the run pretty well. But when you don't get off the field on third down, that is all negated. That means nothing. We've had games where we haven't played well against the run, played really well on third down, and nobody really cares how you play against the run because you get off the field.
"For us, it comes down to third down. It comes down to limiting the times that they're able to go out there and convert. Certainly if they have the ball for 12 or 14 plays, two things are happening: 1. Tom Brady doesn't have the ball, and 2. they have a chance to score."
The Jaguars converted 4 of 10 third downs.
He loves this game
On the brink of another AFC Championship game - and perhaps another Super Bowl - Brady reflected on his life on and off the field. "I remember sitting up 10 rows from the top of Candlestick Park watching down with binoculars at Joe Montana and Steve Young growing up and I was this kid with a dream, and now all of a sudden, I'm the one on the field," Brady said. "To think back at those days and how it's progressed to the point where it's at is extremely fulfilling, and I think the competitive nature of this business is what continues to drive you as an athlete. I look back on those things always with great memories and I think I always try to focus on the positive because life's too short for all of us and [you've] just got to enjoy every day and especially in whatever anyone does, just try to truly enjoy what you're doing, and there's no doubt that I do that." . . . He might not have as many interceptions as he did at inside linebacker, but that doesn't mean Vrabel has been unhappy sticking to the outside this season. After moving inside and outside in recent seasons, Vrabel turned in a Pro Bowl year with 77 tackles (55 solo) and 12 1/2 sacks. He called it doing "what you're expected." "I think personally it's helped, but I think that you just do what you have to do to get by," Vrabel said. "Sometimes that was moving inside and sometimes that was playing outside. To be able to play outside, it's just been - for the whole season - it's just been reflected in the rush and everything else."Mitchell out
Safety Mel Mitchell (biceps) was downgraded to out. He's been a regular on special teams. Only two other players were listed on the injury report, with Brady (right shoulder), as usual, probable and Rodney Harrison (thigh) also probable . . . The Patriots held practice at Gillette Stadium for the third straight day. Players wore sweat pants, light shoulder pads, and helmets. Harrison and Mitchell were the only players not seen at the media-access portion, in which the team stretched and performed one special teams drill . . . Left tackle Matt Light returned to practice after being out with flu-like symptoms Thursday . . . Former Patriots guard John Hannah and ex-linebacker Andre Tippett, a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, will serve as honorary captains for the AFC Championship game against the Chargers tomorrow.Mike Reiss of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
