Trip to London capital idea?

Kraft is thrilled, players less so

FOXBOROUGH - The Patriots will visit a city with a Big Ben next season, but it won't be Pittsburgh, and the Ben is an iconic clock, not a quarterback named Roethlisberger.

The NFL announced yesterday that the Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play their regular-season contest in London next season. The game, which will have a 1 p.m. Eastern kickoff, will be played Oct. 25, 2009, at Wembley Stadium.

It will mark the first time the Patriots have played a regular-season game outside of the US and the third straight year the NFL has played a regular-season game in London.

"We're really excited that the league chose us to play in London," said Patriots owner Robert Kraft. "We're interested in the globalization of our sport.

"I learned that our team - I guess you have to register when you go on the UK NFL website - that we've become the No. 1 team over there. Part of it is probably because of our name. We're the New England Patriots. We're going back to the mother country for some. It's pretty exciting."

Patriots players, who are preparing to play the Seahawks in Seattle Sunday, sounded less thrilled at the prospect of playing across the pond.

"I'm worried about going to Seattle," said linebacker Mike Vrabel. "I don't give a [expletive] about going to London."

Left guard Logan Mankins was more diplomatic, but still not enthused.

"I don't really want to go to London if I didn't have to, but I guess if we have to, we have to," said Mankins.

The Buccaneers are a natural choice to play in England because the Glazer family, which owns the team, also owns Manchester United, the New York Yankees of the English Premier League and one of the most celebrated soccer clubs in the world.

The Patriots were scheduled to play a preseason game in China in August 2007, but the league canceled it to focus on the inaugural game in London, which was played last season between the Giants and Dolphins. This season, the Saints and Chargers made the trip.

Vrabel, the Patriots' player representative and a member of the NFL Players Association's executive committee, said the league doesn't give the players a say when it comes to moving a game to London.

"They don't have to ask us to move anything or do anything," he said. "I really wasn't even aware of it, to be honest with you. If I'm on this team next year or anybody who is on this team next year, the Patriots are going to London and that's the story. But right now we've got to lick our wounds and head out to Seattle."

Talk is cheap

Nose tackle Vince Wilfork said on WEEI radio yesterday that leading up to Sunday's game against Pittsburgh, the Patriots saw on film Steelers safety Ryan Clark deliver blows like the one he used to level Wes Welker.

Clark blasted Welker over the middle, leaving his feet to deliver a shoulder to the head, after a Matt Cassel pass had been tipped well out of Welker's reach. Welker left the game with 2:03 left in the third quarter and did not return. Clark was penalized for unnecessary roughness.

"Of course it was a cheap one," Wilfork told the radio station during his contractually obligated appearance. "We've seen it on film all year. He's nothing special. He's nothing special. He deserved that penalty. There are a lot of times they take shots, unnecessary shots on guys.

"If you're going to sit me down and send me to the commissioner's office for me playing in between the whistles you need to sit this guy down. The same thing I got punished for is the same thing he did.

"I've been fined. I've talked to the commissioner about my play. That was unnecessary. We've seen it all the time, leading up to this game; this guy taking shots when nobody is looking, or when it's out of the play, he's taking shots."

Coach Bill Belichick said he'd leave any further comment on the hit to the league.

The good news was that Welker was well enough to be in Foxborough yesterday. Mankins said he spoke to Welker and that he seemed to be doing OK.

"He's a tough little guy," said Mankins. "He took a big hit, and I think he's all right. Hopefully, he's all right. You never want to see anything bad happen to someone, but he's a tough guy. He'll get through it."

Zone improvement

One positive for the Patriots against Pittsburgh was that they did show improvement in their red zone defense. After allowing four touchdowns in four red zone possessions to the Dolphins, the Patriots allowed three touchdowns in six tries to Pittsburgh, forcing three field goal attempts after stalling the Steelers inside the 10. "I think anything would be better than [Miami]," said safety Brandon Meriweather. "We did a little better. We focused on it a little more and guys did exactly what they were coached to do." Of the three red zone touchdowns, one came late in the fourth quarter after a Cassel interception was returned to the 1-yard line . . . With back-to-back road games against the Seahawks and Oakland Raiders, the Patriots will reprise the routine they used during their first set of back-to-back West Coast games this season against San Francisco and San Diego. They will practice in Foxborough this week before leaving for Seattle Friday. After playing the Seahawks, they'll stay out West, practicing in the Bay Area to prepare for Oakland. "We know what to expect," said Mankins. "We know the routine. We've been through it. I'm sure the guys will be a lot more comfortable with it this time." . . . Patriots players are off today.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com