Patriots notebook

Wilhite is feeling up to it

Corner returns after missing week

A warmly dressed Bill Belichick appears to have a bounce in his step as his Patriots prepare for the rival Colts. (Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
)

By Monique Walker

Globe Staff / November 12, 2009

Text size – +

FOXBOROUGH - The ability to stand up without feeling woozy felt like an accomplishment yesterday for Patriots cornerback Jonathan Wilhite.

Wilhite missed the last week of practice and last Sunday’s 27-17 win against Miami with an illness. His first concern was that he may have contracted the H1N1 virus while he was home during the bye week.

The concern was understandable, especially after the Bruins announced that center David Krejci was diagnosed with the virus last week. Krejci returned to practice Monday.

“I was [concerned],’’ Wilhite said. “But that was one of the first things they ruled out. That wasn’t it. It was some kind of stomach virus.’’

Yesterday, Wilhite said he was feeling “pretty good,’’ and he returned to practice.

“I was around some people back at home that were kind of sick, my sister I was taking care of, I guess I got a little taste of it, but I’m fine now,’’ he said. “I’m ready to go back to practice.

“I’m happy to be standing up here talking to y’all right now because I was throwing up and sick a lot, but everything is fine now, and I’m ready to get back.’’

The injury list

Patriots center Dan Koppen (knee), safety Brandon Meriweather (foot), and wide receiver Brandon Tate (knee) were among those listed on the practice/injury report yesterday. All three did not practice yesterday, along with linebacker Eric Alexander (groin), receiver Julian Edelman (forearm), defensive end Jarvis Green (knee), tackle Matt Light (knee), defensive end Ty Warren (ankle), and running backs Sammy Morris (knee) and Fred Taylor (ankle). Randy Moss also did not practice, but for non-injury-related reasons . . . Rookie safety Patrick Chung has been fined $7,500 for a roughing-the-passer penalty in Sunday’s victory. Chung hit Chad Henne’s chin with his helmet in the third quarter, and the 15-yard penalty moved the Dolphins to their 41. Miami was unable to score on the drive. Chung is the fourth Patriots player to be fined this season.

Center on the spot

If Koppen is unable to play Sunday night against the Colts, Tom Brady said, working with Dan Connolly wouldn’t be a problem. After Koppen hurt his knee against Miami, Connolly stepped in. “I’m very comfortable [with Connolly],’’ Brady said. “He’s been through most of training camp, he’s rotated in there at guard, he’s played at fullback, he returned a kickoff last week, so he can kind of do it all for us. He stepped in and did a great job. It’s not an easy thing to do to step in at center and make all of the calls. You go from being out of the game to being that guy that makes all the line calls, and all the adjustments and all of the Mike [linebacker] points with me. The communication is really important, and obviously getting the ball to the quarterback is the most important, whether that’s under center or in the shotgun. I thought he did a great job of that.’’

Next stop for LB

Linebacker Thomas Williams was watching college football last Saturday when his agent called to say the Patriots had signed him to the practice squad. Williams, who was selected by Jacksonville in the fifth round of the draft out of Southern Cal last year, played in six games with the Jaguars in his rookie season. He was waived before this season and has been on the Seattle and Houston practice squads. The spot was open after the Patriots signed cornerback Kyle Arrington from the practice squad to the 53-man roster before the Miami game. Williams is 6 feet 1 inch, 237 pounds, and said he played all three linebacker positions in college - outside, inside, and middle. “There’s 32 teams in the NFL,’’ said Williams. “I’m not going away until I hit every city, maybe once, maybe twice if I have to. This has been a dream ever since I been a kid, and God blessed me through tough times to stay levelheaded and continue to pursue this.’’

Albert Breer of the Globe staff contributed to this report; Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com