NEW YORK -- Earlier, according to this post from Peter Abraham, Patriots coach Bill Belichick groused about the field conditions at Reliant Stadium on Sunday during his weekly appearance on WEEI, saying that the field was in poor condition for a gameday (didn't actually hear it ... I'm stuck at JFK on a delayed layover).

Here's what the Texans told me: The Reliant Stadium field spent nearly three weeks outside, getting sunlight, before moving back inside for the Texas Bowl last Thursday. It's standard operating procedure for Houston to move the trays the sod is on outdoors after games, since the field doesn't get optimal sunlight inside the retractable roofed venue.

Houston played its last home game on Dec. 13, and that gave the Texans even more time than normal to treat the field and ready it for the Texas Bowl and Sunday's game. So the field the Patriots and Texans played on Sunday was in the parking lot for a quite a while.

The field operators at Reliant Park declined comment on the matter.

After the game Sunday, several Patriots players said the field felt wet and soft but had few complaints.

“There was a couple slick spots,” safety James Sanders said. “Our job is to show up and play on Sundays, no matter what the conditions are. The footing wasn’t that bad. It really wasn’t too, too bad.”

“It was a little soggy,” wide receiver Julian Edelman said. “The grass was a little soggy. But it wasn’t too bad. It was a little damp.”