Ruling on Chief's hit isn't fine with Wilfork

FOXBOROUGH - Nose tackle Vince Wilfork is peeved that the NFL decided not to fine Kansas City Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard for his low hit on the left knee of quarterback Tom Brady, a blow that has ended Brady's season.

Wilfork is protective of his quarterback, but he feels that the league has a double standard. On a similar play last season, a falling Wilfork struck Buffalo Bills quarterback J.P. Losman in the knee with his arm and was flagged for a 15-yard penalty and fined $12,500.

NFL rules state that "no defensive player who has an unrestricted path to the quarterback may hit him flagrantly in the area of the knee(s) or below when approaching in any direction." The league's officiating department reviewed the Pollard hit and deemed it within the rules because "the defensive player was coming off and affected by a block by the offense," according to a league spokesman.

"I was tripped up and falling, and I still got fined and flagged for the same exact thing," said Wilfork. "I was tripped up. I didn't dive at anybody's legs. I didn't cut a running back getting to a quarterback. And when I got fined last year, they said I got flagged because you're not allowed to hit a quarterback below the waist. So, you take it for what it's worth."

Pollard was extremely apologetic after Sunday's game, saying his play was not intentional.

"People can call me a dirty player. You can call me whatever you want to call me. It's not a dirty play," said Pollard. "Anybody who has 230 pounds on their back, and you're trying to go forward, you know things will happen.

"I saw the ball was still in his hand, and I tried to get to him - I tried to get up and get to him - but I couldn't get up, so I just tried to grab him. It was not an intentional play."

An emotional Wilfork said that, intentional or not, Pollard should have been flagged and fined.

"Fair should be fair. They got me, point-blank," said Wilfork, who did have the Losman fine reduced to $2,500 on appeal. "Like I said, I don't want to get singled out. Don't make me feel like I'm getting singled out. If you're going to do a job, be consistent at what you do.

"This falls into the same category as mine, no ifs, ands, or buts. He hit the quarterback below the waist. I hit a quarterback below the waist. I got fined. I got flagged. He didn't get flagged.

"It's a problem. The NFL can do what it wants to do, but it's a problem. If you're going to make that call, be consistent with that call.

"Hopefully, later on in the week something changes."

Patriots coach Bill Belichick intimated that he agreed with Wilfork's assessment.

"We have always taught our players that it is their responsibility to hit the quarterback above the knees and below the shoulders," said Belichick. "If you look at the Vince Wilfork play from last year against Buffalo, it is not the same but there are some similarities."

Hello and goodbye

The Patriots were scheduled to administer physicals and ostensibly work out free agent quarterbacks Chris Simms and Tim Rattay yesterday - but they didn't.

Belichick was adamant that the team didn't bring in any quarterbacks for physicals or workouts yesterday, vehemently denying published reports to that effect. Technically, Belichick was right.

The team did report to NFL headquarters that it visited with Simms and Rattay yesterday, and the same league source that told the Globe of the scheduled visits Sunday said that both Simms and Rattay flew into the area yesterday. Adam Schefter of the NFL Network and ESPN's Chris Mortensen both reported that Simms and Rattay were sent home by the team without physicals or workouts after being told upon arrival in Foxborough that the situation had changed, and the team was no longer interested.

Efforts to reach the agents for Simms and Rattay were unsuccessful.

Wired for sound

During Sunday's win over the Chiefs, Mike Vrabel was wearing a helmet with a green dot on the back, signifying it was outfitted with headphones for the new defensive coach-to-player communication. Teams are allowed to have two players with the helmets, but they cannot be on the field at the same time. It was not clear how much the Patriots used the system, and late in the game defensive coordinator Dean Pees could be seen signaling plays. Defensive end Richard Seymour said he didn't notice any difference in the way defenses were communicated to him. "It didn't change anything for me. It was business as usual," said Seymour. "Defensive linemen, we just get a call, just go out and execute the game plan. I couldn't tell the difference from last year to this year. I always get a call, and it was in on time. I'm sure it probably made it easier for those guys to communicate as far as a lot of signals are concerned."

Roster matters

Kevin Faulk returned from his one-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. However, his roster exemption does not expire until today, so as of yesterday the Patriots had 54 players on the active roster. The team did not officially put Brady on injured reserve yesterday. Doing so today would clear a roster spot for Faulk . . . The Patriots had seven players in for tryouts at Gillette Stadium: punter Tom Malone, guards Will Svitek and Jeb Terry, and wide receivers Patrick Carter, Joel Filani, Chris Francies, and Chandler Williams.

Mike Reiss of the Globe staff contributed to this report.