Wearing Super Bowl rings on both hands, Patriots defensive end Ty Warren just arrived here at the media center. He's the first Patriots player we've spotted down here during Super Bowl week.

Warren, who is in town to do charity work, also has plans to "co-host" Jim Rome's television show on Friday. One part of his job will be to show viewers the scene at the Super Bowl, especially on "radio row."

Warren said the sting of the AFC Championship loss to the Colts hasn't gone away, and that it was different being at the Super Bowl without playing in the game.

"But if you're going to do it," he said, "there are worse places than Miami."

When longtime Patriots fans reflect on the 1991 and 1992 seasons –- a.k.a. the Dick MacPherson era –- names like receiver Irving Fryar, tight end Marv Cook, running back Leonard Russell, linebacker Andre Tippett and safety Fred Marion might come to mind.

Another player from those teams is present here at Super Bowl XLI. And despite the teams posting records of 6-10 in 1991 and 2-14 in 1992, he reflects fondly on that era of Patriots football.

“I had great memories,” said quarterback Hugh Millen, who works part-time as a football television and radio analyst and is here with Seattle-based radio station KJR.

“The New England people are very provincial and passionate. I was told when I came that Steve Grogan is beloved because he was a tough guy, and right or wrong, that Tony Eason wasn’t perceived as being as tough so people kind of got on Tony Eason. They said first things first in New England, you better be tough. I thought that was good advice.

"We didn’t have success the Patriots are obviously having now, and I wasn’t the quarterback that Tom Brady is, that’s stating the obvious. But I had great memories and that was the only time in my career that I got to be a starter. The team had been 1-15 the year before, and not that you’re a good team when you’re 6-10, but it was a unique period in Patriots history that the fans could really be excited about. My sense from the New England fans was that we had a level of appreciation that would belie our 6-10 record.”

Millen enjoyed the time he lived in the region.

"Sean McDonough was my neighbor and we became good friends," he said. "I had nothing but good experiences, I just wish the next season, in 1992, I separated my shoulder in the first quarter of the first game and that year was a lot more difficult. I was kind of in and out the lineup, and trying to play with a separated shoulder. If I had to do it again, I probably wouldn't have played with that injury."

Millen, who was a backup in Dallas and Denver after his two-year Patriots career, currently resides in Seattle.

Tony Corrente has been selected as the referee of Super Bowl XLI.

Patriots fans might remember Corrente from the AFC Divisional round victory over the Chargers. Corrente, now in his 12th season as a referee, officiated that game. This is Corrente's first Super Bowl. He was the backup referee last year.

Corrente's backup this year is Jeff Triplette.

The Patriots will allocate center/guard Brian Barthelmes to NFL Europe this year. Barthlemes, who played in college at Virginia, ended the 2006 season on the team's practice squad.

The Patriots have also allocated punters Tom Malone and Danny Baugher to NFL Europe. Both Malone and Baugher were on the team's practice squad at the end of the 2006 season.

Although the Super Bowl is a big event, it is also a reminder that the NFL is a small world with a lot of connections. Bears offensive line coach Harry Hiestand delivered that message when he spoke about Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia.

Hiestand and Scarnecchia were introduced by Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner, who broke into coaching as a graduate assistant with Scarnecchia at Pacific in 1977.

Hiestand first met Scarnecchia at the University of Illinois.

"One year, Dante was coming to Illinois to work out some of our offensive linemen who were draft eligible, and when he came I had a chance to meet with him. I've always admired his work," said Hiestand, who was Illinois' offensive line coach. "He's had tremendous success in what he does. He's a great coach, one of the great coaches in the offensive line to ever coach in the NFL. He's somebody who has influenced a lot of people in the way he's done it. More importantly, he's a great man too. You get to know him, he's something really special."

MIAMI -- Former Patriots defensive lineman Dan Klecko touched on last week's AFC Championship victory over the Patriots during today's Super Bowl XLI media day festivities.

Klecko caught a touchdown pass in the game.

“It was a team that didn’t think I could play for them anymore, but here I am in Miami," he said. "It’s really special for me.”

Klecko also reflected on his time in New England, and how it ended.

“I talked to Bill [Belichick] and Scott [Pioli] and they just decided it was time to move on," said Klecko, a fourth-round draft choice in 2003 who played several different positions. "We had enough with the experiments and all, and it was just time to move on. There is no bad blood there. I think it was kind of mutual.”

Klecko does feel he could have stuck in New England had he played only one position.

“I think if they would have did that, I could have really flourished into something," he said. "But the past is the past, and that’s over. I would have liked to have played 3-technique, stuck with the nose in pass rushing situations and all. But that’s water under the bridge now.”

For the Colts this year, Klecko said he has been playing about 10-15 snaps per game at defensive tackle, backing up Anthony McFarland. Asked if he put on some weight since his time in New England, he laughed.

“Honest to God, I’m the same exact weight. I think it’s the uniform," he said, which drew laughter from reporters. "I'm 280. I stepped on the scale Thursday. I think it is the white uniform and all. I don’t know what it is, because I see it too. I look and I’m like ‘Oh my God, what the heck.’ It’s not slim in this uniform. I think it’s the 61. It all just looks horrible."

Klecko said he has been reminded of his plump look by Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel.

“Vrabel calls me all the time and messes with me," he said. "I really don’t know how to explain it.”

MIAMI -- When Bears kicker Robbie Gould was entering the NFL in 2005, he had a choice of three teams with which to sign a free-agent contract -- the Patriots, Steelers or Lions.

He chose the Patriots.

"I thought 'who else better than the New England Patriots?'" Gould said today at Super Bowl XLI Media Day at Dolphin Stadium. "They were the best team in the league and I figured a lot of teams would be looking to take guys from their squad. They had the best kicker in the league and the best coach. I was looking for an opportunity to make myself better and I felt that was the best opportunity for me."

Gould, who attended Penn State, spent four months with the Patriots before he was waived. He was signed to the Ravens' practice squad for 20 days, before he was waived again. Gould signed with the Bears Oct. 8, 2005, essentially on a week-to-week basis.

Now, he's the Bears permanent kicker, having earned a Pro Bowl berth. Gould said part of his success can be attributed to the time he spent with the Patriots, learning from Adam Vinatieri.

"Adam says he hasn't helped me, that's the rumor, but as much as he says he hasn't he has," Gould said. "He's a guy who I asked a lot of questions, but not too many questions. So I just more looked at his preparation, saw what he did in the weight room, to what he does on the practice field and really in games. He's one of those guys I like to watch every weekend if I get a chance. You can just tell in his eyes and in his face that when the lights are on, it's time to go to work."

FORT LAUDERDALE -- Kicker Adam Vinatieri was front and center Monday night, one of six Colts players to meet with the media after the team's arrival. Vinatieri addressed his teammates last week, speaking to them about what the Super Bowl is all about. This is Vinatieri's fifth Super Bowl in his 11-year career.

Vinatieri was asked how Colts coach Tony Dungy and Patriots coach Bill Belichick are similar and different.

"The way they are similar is that they are both very, very intelligent and very good coaches as far as Xs and Os," he said. "I guess, pretty much everything beyond that, is different. It's hard to even compare. They are two completely different styles but both very successful. Coach Dungy approaches everyting more of as a friend type of thing where he wants you to play well because he wants to see you succeed. Coach Belichick is a little bit more of a figurehead, maybe that's the wrong terminology, but more of a scary figure."

Vinatieri was also asked about the styles of the first two coaches he played for in the NFL, Bill Parcells and Pete Carroll.

"We're getting into my whole career here," he said. "I think everybody knows how Coach Parcells coaches. He's that strong, tough-nosed guy and very successful obviously. And then Pete Carroll won national championships at USC. They are four completely different coaches, so it just goes to show that you have the right team, and the right players and the right leadership on the team, you can lead in your own way and still be successful. A lot of guys have rings, so I guess you can't complain one way or the other. Hopefully [Dungy] will get one, too."

TUESDAY LOOK-AHEAD: The Bears and Colts will take part in Media Day festivities on Tuesday, with the Bears at 10 a.m. and the Colts at noon.

Patriots fans hoping for a big free-agent signing such as linebacker Lance Briggs might consider seeking alternatives.

Briggs, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March, was one of six Bears players to speak with the press here at the Super Bowl.

Asked by a New England reporter if he could envision himself in a 3-4 defense -- which is what the Patriots play -- Briggs didn't sound enthused.

"The 3-4 is a whole different scheme," he said, noting that he played in the middle of a 3-4 at the University of Arizona.

Asked if he liked playing in that scheme, he said: "Not really."

Briggs believes he's a good fit in the Bears' scheme, which is a 4-3 that features smaller, athletic players.

"It allows me to play ball, the weakside position in this defensive scheme, you're kind of called on to make play after play after play," he said. "When Lovie [Smith] came here, he said 'I want you to play the weakside, I want you to be the Derrick Brooks of this defense.' In this defense, you are relied to make play after play."

Asked how that would transfer to a 3-4, playing inside linebacker, he said: "Not real well."

The 6-foot-1, 240-pound Briggs has been credited by Bears coaches with 176 tackles, ranking him second on the team. He does have one tie to the Patriots, with linebacker Tedy Bruschi.

"We went to the same college and we're also from the same area in [Sacramento] California," he said. "I heard a lot of great stories about Bruschi. When I see him, he always has nice words for me."

COLTS LOOK-AHEAD: The Colts will meet with the press at 8:30 p.m. EST after arriving in South Florida from Indianapolis. Head coach Tony Dungy will be joined by players Adam Vinatieri (kicker), Jeff Saturday (center), tight end Dallas Clark, linebacker Gary Brackett, defensive lineman Anthony McFarland and safety Bob Sanders.

A look at players on both Super Bowl teams who have connections to the Patriots:

Bears
Robbie Gould -- Pro Bowl kicker entered the NFL in 2005 as an undrafted free agent with the Patriots. Was waived Aug. 30, 2005 and signed to the Ravens' practice squad. Was waived by the Ravens Sept. 27, 2005 and signed by Chiacgo Oct. 8, 2005. Led all NFL kickers with 143 points in 2006, going 32 of 36 on field goals this season. Was 5 of 5 on field goals in two playoff games.

Colts
Dan Klecko -- Fourth-round draft choice of the Patriots in 2003. Waived on Sept. 2, 2005 and claimed by the Colts Sept. 3. Played in 10 regular-season games as a backup defensive tackle, as well as a short yardage fullback. Scored a touchdown in AFC Championship game against the Patriots.

Dexter Reid -- Fourth-round draft choice of the Patriots in 2004. Waived on Aug. 29, 2005 and claimed by the Colts on Aug. 30, 2005. Reserve safety who appeared in all 16 games for the Colts in 2005, he was waived at the start of the 2006 season and re-signed on Oct. 25. Played in 10 regular-season games this year, contributing mostly on special teams.

Adam Vinatieri -- After spending 10 years with the Patriots, kicker signed a free-agent contract with the Colts on March 22, 2006. Was 25 of 28 on field goals this season, and was 11 of 11 in three playoff games.

MIAMI -- It didn't take long for the Patriots to become a topic of discussion here at the Super Bowl.

When Bears Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz was asked about Rex Grossman being the "other" quarterback in this game, he said: "Unless you’re Tom Brady in a game with Peyton Manning, you’re probably the other quarterback."

Kreutz also touched on how the Bears' loss to the Patriots on Nov. 26 didn't affect the team's confidence. It was one of only three losses for the Bears on the season.

"Our mindset was that we lost the game and had to get back to work, that’s always our mindset,” Kreutz said. “New England did a great job beating us, we knew it would be a tough game for us, and it proved to be true. But we were 11-2, still leading the conference, and everything was right there for us.”

MIAMI -- Welcome to Miami, where the media coverage of the Super Bowl officially begins at 4 p.m. EST with the arrival of the Chicago Bears.

Six Bears players are scheduled to meet with the media at 6 p.m. EST. The players are linebacker Brian Urlacher, defensive end Alex Brown, receiver Muhsin Muhammad, cornerback/returner Devin Hester, cornerback Charles Tillman and center Olin Kreutz.

Bears head coach Lovie Smith is also scheduled to be available to the media.

We'll pass along updates of note after the access. The Colts aren't scheduled to arrive until Monday night.

As we transition from the 2006 season to the offseason, here is one look back, as we handed out some "awards" that cover the past season.

We'll be heading to Miami for Super Bowl XLI on Sunday and will plan on passing along updates from there.

One new twist to free agency this year is with restricted free agents.

In past years, there have been three options for teams with their restricted free agents.

If the Patriots can not reach contract extensions with cornerback Asante Samuel and tight end Daniel Graham before free agency begins March 2, they could retain one player by using the franchise tag.

The franchise tag figures have been finalized for 2007 and the numbers for the cornerback and tight end positions are as follows:

Cornerback: $7.79 million
Tight end: $4.31 million

ANALYSIS: The franchise figure for Samuel would give him the second highest cap hit on the team, behind quarterback Tom Brady ($11.3 million). It is possible the Patriots could use the tag the same way they did with Tebucky Jones in February of 2003, when the Patriots tagged Jones and then traded him. Otherwise, the tag is likely too rich for the Patriots, who would have almost $19 million of the $109 million cap tied up in two players, which runs counter to their philosophy of spreading more money to more players. As for Graham, the preference on both sides is to work out an extension, but if that fails, it's hard to imagine the Patriots letting him go given that the franchise tag is "only" $4.3 million.

Punters Tom Malone and Danny Baugher, who were signed to 2007 contracts after spending parts of the '06 season on the Patriots' practice squad, will be allocated to NFL Europe.

John Rickert, the agent for Malone, said that NFL teams must allocate a minimum of three players and a maximum of five players to NFL Europe. Allocated players are granted a roster exemption through the end of training camp.

For Malone (USC) and Baugher (Arizona), it's a chance to punt in live games and get themselves on videotape for NFL teams to see.

Malone and Baugher factor in to what could be an interesting situation at punter for the Patriots. Likely factoring into the team's decision-making at punter is that 2006 opening-day starter Josh Miller -- who was placed on season-ending injured reserve Nov. 26 due to his shoulder -- is due a $100,000 roster bonus on the 15th day of the 2007 league year.

Veteran punters Ken Walter and Todd Sauerbrun are among a group of 14 Patriots players who are scheduled for unrestricted free agency in March.

The Patriots announced the signing of seven players off their practice squad to contracts for the 2007 season:

Center Brian Barthelmes
Punter Danny Baugher
Offensive tackle Sean Bubin
Running back Quadtrine Hill
Tight end Matt Kranchick
Punter Tom Malone
Defensive lineman Santonio Thomas

The eighth player on the practice squad was defensive back James Patrick.

The AFC Championship game between the Patriots and Colts on Sunday night averaged 46.7 million viewers, up 20 percent from last season's title game, CBS announced.

The 46.7 million total was the highest number of average viewers for the AFC Championship game since the Patriots-Dolphins drew 47.5 million viewers Jan. 12, 1986.

In addition, the 46.7 million viewers made the AFC Championship the most-watched non-Super Bowl program since the series finale of “Friends” on NBC (52.5 million, May 6, 2004), according to CBS.

“Few things stand the test of time in today’s television environment like the NFL,” said Sean McManus, President CBS News & Sports, in a statement. “To reach viewership numbers that have not been reached in more than 20 years really builds great momentum for our team heading into the Super Bowl."

With the Patriots turning their attention to the offseason, here is a snapshot look at the 14 players scheduled for unrestricted free agency:

Closing the book on the Patriots' 38-34 loss to the Colts in the AFC Championship game by looking at the positional groupings used by the team:

3 WR/1 TE/1 RB -- 26 of 58 snaps
2 WR/2 TE/1 RB -- 19 of 58
3 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 6 of 58
2 WR/1 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 3 of 58
1 WR/2 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 3 of 58
3 WR/1 FB/1 RB -- 1 of 58

TUESDAY LOOK-AHEAD: There is no scheduled media access at Gillette Stadium. We'll plan on passing along a team-based update at some point during the day.

A snapshot look at offensive participation from the Patriots' 38-34 loss to the Colts in the AFC Championship game:

TE Benjamin Watson -- 50 of 58 snaps (86 percent)
WR Reche Caldwell -- 48 of 58 (82 percent)
WR Jabar Gaffney -- 47 of 58 (81 percent)
TE Daniel Graham -- 34 of 58 (58 percent)
WR Troy Brown -- 31 of 58 (53 percent)
FB Heath Evans -- 30 of 58 (51.7 percent)
RB Laurence Maroney -- 17 of 58 (29.3 percent)
RB Corey Dillon -- 14 of 58 (24.1 percent)
RB Kevin Faulk -- 10 of 58 (17.2 percent)
TE David Thomas -- 7 of 58 (12 percent)
WR Chad Jackson -- 2 of 58 (3.4 percent)

ANALYSIS: When it comes to how the Patriots used their personnel, the first thing that stands out is that Kevin Faulk wasn't on the field for the team's final 24 snaps. One week after playing the most snaps of all the running backs in San Diego (47), Faulk played in just 10, apparently because of a health-related issue. In his absence, Heath Evans played when the Patriots went to their three-wide set. Faulk's last snap was the third offensive play of the third quarter. At tight end, Benjamin Watson took a lead role, playing in the team's two-TE package and was also the primary tight end in the team's three-wide set. At receiver, Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney were 1-2 in the two-wide set, with Troy Brown coming on the field as a target in the slot.

MONDAY UPDATE: There is no media access at Gillette Stadium today. We'll plan on passing along our next update later tonight.

A look at who's up and who's down from the Patriots' 38-34 loss to the Colts in the AFC Championship game

Up
Stephen Gostkowski -- Rookie kicker did his part, with some booming kickoffs (2 touchbacks) and two field goals.

Ellis Hobbs -- Cornerback had an 80-yard kickoff return in the second half and was strong in coverage.

Offensive line -- Led by left tackle Matt Light, who had a solid effort against Dwight Freeney, this unit holds up in pass protection against an athletic Colts front.

Asante Samuel -- Interception return for a touchdown, as cornerback capped off a tremendous season.

Down
Reche Caldwell -- Two dropped passes, the second of which forced the Patriots to settle for a field goal to go up 34-31.

Linebacking unit -- Just not enough plays from the crew that consisted of Rosevelt Colvin, Tedy Bruschi, Eric Alexander and Mike Vrabel, especially in the second half.

Laurence Maroney -- Rookie running back was a disappointment, finishing with eight carries for 13 yards (1.6 avg.) and a fumble on the goal-line.

Jabar Gaffney/Jarvis Green/Heath Evans/Tully Banta-Cain -- With the game coming down to the wire in the fourth quarter, each player commits a costly penalty.

MONDAY LOOK-AHEAD: Monday will be a travel day back to Indianapolis. We'll be on and off the web and will pass along any updates along the way.

A few comments from the Colts' side after their victory in the AFC Championship game:

Coach Tony Dungy
"Obviously, there is a lot of emotion in that locker room. I could not be more proud of our guys. We had to do it the hard way. We had to through a great champion, and we got down 18 points to them and that's not easy, but at halftime I just felt an energy in our locker room. ... Our team went the hard way the whole year, but they hung tough, and I'm so proud of them. I'm excited for our whole city, our organization, taking our team to the Super Bowl. Couldn't for a better way to end this part of our year."

Dungy
(on Manning winning it with a Tom Brady-style drive)
"Tom Brady is a great quarterback. Peyton is a great quarterback. Peyton has brought us back a lot of times. We haven't had this opportunity and had a chance to do it on this stage before. There was no doubt in anybody's mind that we were going to take that football and score. I think we all felt good that Peyton was going to drive us, and I think it's great for him to get to the Super Bowl with a drive like that. It probable won't shut anybody up until we win one, still be 'Well, you can't win the Super Bowl.' Peyton Manning is a great player. Anybody who doesn't know that doesn't know much about football."

Quarterback Peyton Manning
"I really appreciated it, Tedy Bruschi came up, Kevin Faulk, and Tom [Brady] just wished me luck. I just apprecoated the class those guys demonstrated. They've beaten us and today we beat them."

On advancing to the Super Bowl
"I don't get into monkeys [off the back] and vindication. I know how hard I've worked this season. I know how hard I worked this week to get ready for these guys, and it's always nice when you come away with a win. I thought this game was about two really good football teams. I can remember the disappointment three years ago when we lost up there to New England in the AFC Championship."

Kicker Adam Vinatieri
"Playing against them has a little extra emotion. This is one of the happier wins I've ever had. The key to this game was the heart on this team -- offense, defense, special teams. We never gave up and just kept on grinding, kicking, scratching and finding a way to get it done."

Comments from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady and players after the game:

Belichick
"It was a very tough football game against a good team. You've got to give the Colts credit. They made more plays than we did and they deserved to win. It was about as competitive a game as you can get. They just made a couple more plays than we did."

Brady
"We just let too many opportunities get away. We had the ball in good field position at certain times. We should have got the ball in the end zone. We didn't execute very well."

Receiver Reche Caldwell
"That was tough. They played for four quarters and made more plays than we did. I dropped a few critical balls that I should've had."

Linebacker Tedy Bruschi
"It was a tale of two halves, really. We had some key defensive stops and a key defensive score by Asante [Samuel]. We had a little bit of momentum going into halftime. Give credit to them. They made some great adjustments and were able to do a lot of things on us in the second half. It seemed like both defenses were doing what they could to make a stop, especially in the fourth quarter, and they got their stop to win the game."

Bruschi
(On his comments to Peyton Manning)
"I told him congratulations and good luck. He's a great competitor. He's always fought out there. I'm out there playing against him every time we play and he's got his heart and soul out there on the field. So I just wanted to wish him congratulations and good luck in the Super Bowl."

Linebacker Mike Vrabel
"Everyone had their opportunity there, to put the game away. Defensively, we weren't able to get much done in the second half. It's frustrating."

Linebacker Rosevelt Colvin
"We have to give credit to them. They made the plays when they were supposed to. We didn't execute in the situations when we had opportunities. As a defense, I think we have to play better than that to give ourselves a better chance to win."

Nose tackle Vince Wilfork
"The second half, they came out and played some great football. They ran the ball. They threw the ball. They play-actioned us and moved it up and down the field. We played our hearts out. That's all you can ask."

Cornerback Ellis Hobbs
"Coming out of the half, we were very lazy on defense and they just kept driving and driving on us. In the first half, we just beat their heads in. Then we came out flat and just basically let them in the game again. It's kind of like a boxing match. You keep punching, keep punching at them, and we didn't punch hard enough."

Outside linebacker Tully Banta-Cain
"You don't want to get into a shootout with this type of team. They can play from ahead and behind. They can put points on the board before you know it. We had a comfortable lead but it wasn't really comfortable because they came right back."

INDIANAPOLIS -- Patriots quarterback Tom Brady promised a classic in tonight’s AFC Championship game against the Colts. The teams didn’t disappoint. This was an indeed an instant classic.

After a first half in which the Patriots controlled most of the action, the second half was simply sizzling. The Colts charged back from a 15-point halftime deficit, tying the game and setting up a toe-to-toe battle that added another epic chapter to this still-growing rivalry.

In the end, it came down to this: Holding a 3-point lead with 2:17 left, the Patriots couldn’t run out the clock, and faced the challenge of attempting to stop the Colts, who started at their own 20 yard-line.

It was too tall a task.

Quarterback Peyton Manning, who had been dogged by his inability to lead the Colts to the Super Bowl, directed a seven-play, 80-yard scoring drive, with rookie running back Joseph Addai bursting up the middle for a 3-yard score with one minute remaining, giving the Colts their first lead, 38-34.

The Patriots had one final chance, taking over at their 20 with two timeouts, but after advancing to the Colts’ 40, Brady was intercepted as the Colts recorded a thrilling victory before a super-charged crowd of 57,433 at the RCA Dome.

The Colts advance to Super Bowl XLI against the Bears on Feb. 4. The Patriots’ season ends, with the team suffering its first-ever loss in the AFC Championship game.

A few hours after the game, we'll plan on posting comments from coach Bill Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady and other players.

The Colts just announced that TE Ben Utecht has a right knee injury. His return is questionable.

Safety Artrell Hawkins has returned to action for the Patriots.

With Artrell Hawkins out with an injury, the Patriots have turned to Rashad Baker at safety alongside James Sanders.

Also, Colts tight end Ben Utecht was injured on a third-quarter play. We'll pass along any announcements from the press box.

The Patriots announced that safety Artrell Hawkins suffered a leg injury in the third quarter. His return is questionable.

OLB Rosevelt Colvin has returned to the game. He came back on when for the Colts' play at the 1, when Peyton Manning found Dan Klecko for a touchdown reception.

Patriots OLB Rosevelt Colvin has left the game, and is being tended to by the team's medical staff on the sideline. He appears to be having some problems with his right leg.

He was replaced by Tully Banta-Cain.

Notes from the Patriots' media relations staff:

SAMUEL SCORES AGAIN
Asante Samuel returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 21-3 lead. The interception return for a touchdown was the third of Samuel’s 11-game playoff career, tying Oakland’s Willie Brown for the highest career playoff total in NFL history. Brown acheived the total in 17 career games. Samuel has now returned three of his four career playoff interceptions for touchdowns and has recorded a total of five career interceptions returned for touchdowns (including two in the regular season). He has recorded an interception in four of his last five playoff games dating back to last season. Samuel also returned an interception 36 yards for a touchdown in the Patriots’ first-round playoff victory over the New York Jets on Jan. 7. He tied for the NFL regular season lead with 10 interceptions in 2006, a mark that ranks as the second highest single-season total in Patriots history and the highest total by a Patriot since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger (Ron Hall, 11, 1964).

QUICK-STRIKE SCORES
The Patriots scored two touchdowns in a 53-second span in the second quarter to turn a 7-3 lead into a 21-3 advantage with 9:25 left in the first half. The achievement marked the second time during this season’s playoffs that the Patriots have recorded quick-strike back-to-back touchdowns. The Patriots scored twice in a 22-second span in the fourth quarter of their 37-16 win over the New York Jets in a first-round playoff game on Jan. 7. Today, the Patriots took a 14-3 lead on a 7-yard run by Corey Dillon with 10:18 left in the second quarter. Just two offensive plays later, the Patriots were in the end zone again when Asante Samuel returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown with 9:25 left in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 21-3 lead.

TOUCHDOWN FOR MANKINS
Guard Logan Mankins recovered a Laurence Maroney fumble in the end zone in the first quarter to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The touchdown was the first of Mankins’ career and was the first touchdown scored by a Patriots offensive lineman since Dec. 17, 2005, when offensive tackle Tom Ashworth caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady after lining up as an eligible receiver in the Patriots’ 28-0 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to Mankins’ touchdown, the last time the Patriots scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone was on Nov. 28, 2004, when Jarvis Green pounced on a loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown in New England’s 28-3 win over Baltimore at Gillette Stadium.

DILLON SCORES
Corey Dillon scored his second touchdown of this year’s playoffs and the fourth touchdown of his playoff career when he ran into the end zone from seven yards out to give the Patriots a 14-3 second-quarter lead. Dillon’s total of four career playoff rushing touchdowns rank second on the Patriots’ all-time playoff list, trailing only Curtis Martin’s five career playoff scores. Dillon led the Patriots with 13 touchdowns in the regular season.

LONG RUN FOR DILLON
Corey Dillon recorded a 35-yard run in the first quarter as part of New England’s first touchdown drive of the game. Dillon’s 35-yard run was the second longest of his playoff career, trailing only a 42-yard run against Indianapolis in the 2004 divisional playoffs on Jan. 16, 2005. Including today’s 35-yarder, the three longest runs of Dillon’s eight-game playoff career have all come against the Colts – the 42-yarder on Jan. 16, 2005, today’s 35-yard run and a 27-yard run on Jan. 16, 2005.

FOURTH-DOWN CONVERSIONS
The Patriots converted key fourth downs on each of their first two touchdown drives of the game. First, the Patriots went for it on fourth-and-inches at Indianapolis’ 48-yard line and Corey Dillon gained 35 yards on the play, setting up Logan Mankins’ fumble recovery for a touchdown to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead. On the Patriots’ next drive, the Patriots went for it on fourth-and-six at the Colts’ 34-yard line and Troy Brown caught a 27-yard pass on the play, setting up Corey Dillon’s 7-yard touchdown run on the next play to give the Patriots a 14-3 lead. In the regular season, the Patriots led the NFL with an 80 percent conversion rate on fourth down attempts (16-for-20). New England also led the NFL in allowing its opponents to convert on fourth down just 27.3 percent of the time (3-for-11) during the regular season.

FIRST TO SCORE
The Patriots took a 7-0 lead on a fumble recovery in the end zone, marking the 10th time that they have scored first in their last 11 playoff games. The only playoff game in their last 11 in which the Patriots did not score first was Super Bowl XXXIX, when Philadelphia took a 7-0 lead in a game New England won, 24-21. The Patriots scored first in 10 of 16 regular-season games in 2006.

STARTING STRONG
The Patriots defense held the Colts to a punt on their opening drive of the game. Since Bill Belichick became head coach of the Patriots, New England has not allowed opponents to score on an opening drive in the playoffs. In 14 games (including today), Belichick’s Patriots have forced 12 punts and recorded two interceptions on opponents’ opening drives in the playoffs.

HALFTIME LEAD
The Patriots held a 21-6 halftime lead in today’s game. The Patriots entered today’s action with an all-time record of 15-0 when leading at halftime in the playoffs. Tom Brady entered today’s game with a 62-2 career record when leading at halftime, including a 9-0 mark in playoff games.

Analysis of the first half of tonight's AFC Championship game, with the Patriots leading 21-6:

Defensively, the Patriots made a strategic personnel change, inserting second-year player Eric Alexander at inside linebacker, shifting Mike Vrabel to the outside, and having outside linebacker Tully Banta-Cain start on the bench. That helped the unit get some more speed on the field, and put Vrabel into more of a pass-rushing role. It was an effective approach for much of the first half.

Also, cornerback Asante Samuel made a Ty Law-like play in the second quarter, picking off Peyton Manning and returning it 39 yards for a score. That play highlighted a theme throughout most of the first half: the Patriots' defensive backs have been marvelous, breaking up several pass plays by timing plays perfectly.

Offensively, fourth down has been the key. On both of the team's two touchdown drives, fourth-down plays were converted in the form of a 35-yard run by Corey Dillon (off the right side) and a 27-yard catch by Troy Brown (over the middle). The Patriots have protected generally well against the Colts' pass rush and have moved the ball well. One of the big negatives from the team's first-half performance on offense was a second-quarter drive that stalled on penalties, pushing the team out of field-goal range.

The Patriots are in command, maintaining momentum after being kicked back on their heels at the end of the second quarter, when the Colts strung together an impressive 15-play drive in the two-minute offense. But the drive ended with the Patriots holding the Colts to a field goal.

The Colts get the ball to start the second half.

Patriots CB Antwain Spann was injured on a Patriots punt in the second quarter. He was tended to briefly by the Patriots' medical staff before walking off the field under his own power.

We'll pass along any announcement from the press box regarding Spann's condition. He appears OK.

The Patriots are now 2 of 2 on fourth down tonight, after a Corey Dillon 35-yard run and a Troy Brown reception that set up the team's second touchdown.

The Patriots were the league's best team on fourth down during the regular season, converting 16 of 20 chances.

Colts DB Nick Harper suffered a sprained left ankle. The announcement in the press box indicated his return is questionable.

DE Richard Seymour has returned to action, entering the game on a third-down play with 5:05 left in the first quarter.

DE Jarvis Green has remained in the game, playing right defensive end. Richard Seymour is still on the sidelines in uniform.

The Patriots' media relations staff reports that DL Richard Seymour will be returning to the game.

Meanwhile, Colts MLB Gary Brackett returned to action.

Colts MLB Gary Brackett was injured on a first-quarter running play by Laurence Maroney. We'll pass along any announcements made in the press box.

DL Richard Seymour sustained an injury on the Colts' first offensive play. We'll pass along an update when an announcement is made in the press box. Seymour is currently on the sidelines, jogging along the Patriots' bench.

The play was a run by Joseph Addai and Seymour was in on the tackle along the sideline.

Jarvis Green took Seymour's spot.

Defensive starters for the Patriots:

DE: Ty Warren
NT: Vince Wilfork
DE: Richard Seymour
OLB: Rosevelt Colvin
ILB: Tedy Bruschi
ILB: Eric Alexander
OLB: Mike Vrabel
CB: Asante Samuel
CB: Ellis Hobbs
S: James Sanders
S: Artrell Hawkins

The big change is Alexander in the middle and Vrabel moving to the outside. That bumps OLB Tully Banta-Cain out of the lineup.

Offensive starters for the Patriots:

LT: Matt Light
LG: Logan Mankins
C: Dan Koppen
RG: Stephen Neal
RT: Nick Kaczur
TE: Daniel Graham, Benjamin Watson
QB: Tom Brady
RB: Corey Dillon
WR: Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney

OPENING KICKOFF: The Patriots elected for more bulk on their opening kickoff, using just one returner (Ellis Hobbs) and an extra player to set the wedge (Russ Hochstein).

The Patriots won the toss and elected to receive. The call was "heads". That marks the 13th time in 19 games that the team won the opening coin toss.

The Patriots were introduced as a team tonight, choosing not to have their offense or defense introduced individually. This is the same way the team was introduced to the nation before Super Bowl XXXVI in their victory over the Rams.

It is simply electric here in the RCA Dome. Both teams are stretching, but the home fans are roaring every time an on-field camera shoots the image of a Colts player or coach and it appears on the video screens high above each end zone.

When kicker Adam Vinatieri appeared on the scoreboard, he gave two thumbs-up and the place erupted.

Just when you thought you've seen it all, the fans in the RCA Dome are cheering during kicker warmups, as Adam Vinatieri (Colts) and Stephen Gostkowski (Patriots) go back and forth.

When one of Gostkowski's kicks from 53 yards hit the crossbar and bounced out, fans cheered. For each kick that Vinatieri made, the cheers were that much louder.

Analysis from the Patriots' inactive players and what that could mean for others:

Inactive players for the Colts:

WR Ricky Proehl
DB Tim Jennings
DB T.J. Rushing
LB Gilbert Gardner
OG Matt Ulrich
OT Dan Federkeil
WR John Standeford
DE Ryan LaCasse

LaCasse is from Stoughton, Mass.

Inactive players for the Patriots:

WR Bam Childress
WR Kelvin Kight
S Rodney Harrison
C/G Gene Mruczkowski
OT Wesley Britt
DL Le Kevin Smith
DL Marquise Hill
Vinny Testaverde -- 3rd quarterback

Wide receiver Troy Brown, who has been questionable on the team's injury report with flu-like symptoms this week, has taken the field to loosen up. He's wearing his game pants, which is an indication he's ready to play.

On the opposite side of the field, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is firing passes as he loosens up.

Quarterback Tom Brady has taken the field at the RCA Dome, and is loosening his arm with backup quarterback Matt Cassel. While kicker Stephen Gostkowski and punter Todd Sauerbrun are on the field in their game pants, Brady is in shorts and a T-shirt.

Several players have taken the field to loosen up.

Honorary captain Andre Tippett, who is one of 17 finalists for the Hall of Fame, is present on the sideline.

STAT TO REMEMBER: As game-time approaches, one stat to keep an eye on is the Patriots' third-down efficiency. In two playoff games, the Colts' defense has held opponents to a 3-of-22 success rate on third down.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has arrived at the RCA Dome, and took the field with his children. Wearing a suit and tie, he walked the length of the field, seemingly checking the surface, before engaging in a lengthy discussion with Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore.

Patriots vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli is also present on the field.

One line of thinking from the Patriots' perspective is that they'd like to win the opening coin toss and score a quick touchdown, quieting what is expected to be a loud Colts crowd.

As we await for kickoff, we examined the Patriots' success on opening drives this season when they win the coin toss.

Here is the breakdown from 18 games (16 regular season, 2 playoffs):

Winning toss (12)
Touchdowns -- 3
Field goals -- 0
Punts -- 7
Turnovers -- 2

The touchdowns came in games against the Bills, Vikings and Jets (playoffs). The turnovers came in the season opener against the Bills and the regular season meeting with the Colts.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Welcome to the RCA Dome, where the Patriots will visit the Colts in the AFC Championship game tonight (6:30 p.m. EST).

The seating capacity of the Dome is slightly more than 57,000.

Some of the names listed on the ring around the stadium provide reminders of the Colts' past, such as former Boston University receiver Bill Brooks (1986-92), quarterback Jim Harbaugh (1994-97), and coach Ted Marchibroda (1975-79, 92-95).

The media crowd is overflowing here in the press box, which will have some of the working press watching from tables behind the press box.

Outside, construction continues on a new Colts stadium, which will be called Lucas Oil Stadium. It is scheduled to open in 2008.

We'll plan on passing along updates along the way.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Today marks the 13th anniversary of Robert Kraft pruchasing the New England Patriots. Kraft reflected on the day for a piece in today's Boston Globe.

This marks the Patriots' fifth appearance in the AFC title game in Kraft's 13-year tenure.

INDY FEEL: There was some overnight snow here in Indianapolis, but of course, conditions won't be a factor as tonight's game will take place inside the RCA Dome. We'll be heading over to the stadium around the start of the NFC title game and will plan on checking back then.

With the Patriots sure to draw more national media coverage heading into the AFC championship game, we'll cap off each night with five links from around the country:

The Patriots announced that safety Rodney Harrison was downgraded to "out" for Sunday's AFC championship game.

Harrison was listed as doubtful on the team's injury report with a knee injury.

The Patriots did not downgrade any other players to out.

Bill Carollo is scheduled to referee Sunday's AFC championship game between the Patriots and Colts at the RCA Dome.

This means Carollo was rated as one of the top five referees this season.

Also, at this stage of the playoffs, crews that worked the entire season together are no longer intact. Instead, the league takes the highest rated officials at each spot, and pieces together "all-star" crews.

Each official on the field this weekend is rated in the top five at their respective position.

SATURDAY LOOK-AHEAD: Today is a travel day to Indianapolis. We won't have access to the web at times, and will plan on filing an update later tonight should any players be downgraded on the injury repotr.

Television color analyst Phil Simms and radio color analyst Boomer Esiason shared their thoughts on Patriots-Colts on a conference call earlier this week.

Some of their thoughts (transcript from CBS):

Esiason on Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady
"The compelling thing for me is watching Peyton and how he plays this game, and hoping he doesn’t make the key mistake for his sake. It’s that kind of external pressure that unfortunately he is faced with because he is Peyton Manning. On Tom Brady’s side, he’s almost coming in with ‘house money.’ I don’t see how he can lose in this situation. Even if he did lose and played badly, it doesn’t matter, the story will focus on Peyton Manning going to the Super Bowl. There might be a little blip here or there that he didn’t play well. I don’t expect that to happen, but I do think that there is this intense, competitive thing within Tom Brady that wants to beat Peyton Manning. That is a great thing to be motivated by and I would expect him to play well on Sunday as well."

Simms on Manning and Brady
"There is no question that it is a battle between the two and that they do take it personally, and rightfully so. I would. That’s what drives you. Bad for the Colts is the fact that Tom Brady is probably not happy this week. Yeah they won, but still he’s steaming because of what he did against the San Diego Chargers. That will make him more focused than ever. For Peyton, I don’t ever like to say things like this, but yes, there is -- the public is looking at him -- the pressure. He’s trying to overcome a huge hurdle. Who knows, if they overcome it and they win a Super Bowl, who knows, all of a sudden they could be the team that wins three in a row. But boy, getting over that hurdle -- that’s big stuff."

Esiason on Manning
"Here’s the deal for Peyton Manning, perception is reality. If he doesn’t win on Sunday and doesn’t get to the Super Bowl, he might as well buy a house next to A-Rod -- Alex Rodriguez -- because they’re going to be living in the same neighborhood. And that’s the neighborhood of the guys making the most money without the championships with the most stats in the regular season. I don’t feel that way because I think it’s horrific that these two great athletes have to be looked at in that vein. But that’s unfortunately the way it’s going to be perceived."

Simms on Bill Belichick
"Can he be viewed any higher than he is right now? After last week’s victory and this year, I think it’s elevated to a spot that we’ve seen very few coaches in any sport have."

With the Patriots sure to draw more national media coverage heading into the AFC championship game, we'll cap off each night with five links from around the country:

The Colts added linebacker Rob Morris to their injury report on Friday. He is questionable with a knee injury, and was reported to have missed portions of team drills.

The Boston Globe's Christopher L. Gasper reports from Indianapolis that Morris is expected to play Sunday (scroll to second section).

Morris was recently elevated to the starting lineup in place of Gilbert Gardner at strongside linebacker.

The Colts had no other changes. The Patriots had no changes on their Friday injury report.

FOXBOROUGH -- Quarterback Tom Brady held a press conference live on NFL Network (2:20 p.m.) and, like the players before him, wore a suit. At one point, Brady reached into his pocket and wasn't expecting to find a couple of $20 bills.

"My lucky day," he said, smiling.

As for a new target he's been finding of late, Brady praised receiver Jabar Gaffney (18 catches in two playoff games).

"Jabar has done a great job since he's been in the starting role. He's found a nice role for himself and he's catching a bunch of passes and making guys miss after he's catches it. He has a bunch of great qualities that a lot of receivers would love to have. He's very competitive. I'm glad he's on our team and I'm glad he's playing as well as he's playing. He's going to need to his play his best game this Sunday. I think that's what I expect and I know that's what he expects."

Asked if this has been his most rewarding season, Brady reflected on some bumps in the road early in the year.

"I think it's rewarding for a lot of reasons," he said. "Each season is entirely different. We did have some early-season struggles as an offense, centered around a lot of issues. The departure of other players, on every team, that ends up being a factor. The guys we have now, the guys that have been playing, have been in this offense the entire season, are doing great. We're excited about what we can accomplish. We're one game from the Super Bowl. A lot of teams would love to be in this position. I'm certainly glad we have this opportunity. They don't come around too often, so you have to take advantage of them when you get them."

Brady also lauded veteran receiver Troy Brown.

"When you look up the New England Patriots in the dictionary, there is a big picture of Troy's face," he said. "He's everything we stand for. I think when guys come in here and they're trying to figure out what it means to fit in, all you have to do is look at Troy. The preparation he puts in each week, the way he lays it on the line.

"That play, last week on the interception, was the best play I've ever seen. It saved our season. It's the only reason we're here today, working this week, because of his effort, his awareness, his sense of what it takes. We talked all week about playing 60 minutes, every single play. A lot of people would be let down by something like that, Troy's out there, he looks at the guy and he's holding the ball in one arm, and Troy reaches in and rips it out, and makes a play that hopefully -- if we take care of business this week -- sends us to the Super Bowl. He's a great player."

FOXBOROUGH -- Linebacker Mike Vrabel held a press conference live on NFL Network (2:10 p.m.) and was asked if facing a high-flying offense like the Colts is a challenge he really looks forward to. Not exactly, he said.

"I'll go back to what Peyton [Manning] said the other day, you have to be careful what you wish for, you might get it," he said. "We're going into this game preparing for their absolute best and for them to be hitting on all cylinders."

On attempting to disrupt the timing of the Colts' offense, Vrabel said: "You look at timing and timing could be getting [Peyton Manning] off the spot that he is 5 of 6 yards behind the center; getting your hands up and tipping a ball; making him hold it a second longer. There is a lot that goes into it. It's not just beating the guy and getting a good pass rush. You're not going to come free every play in this league, so you have to try to do other things as a player to try to help that ball disruption and that timing."

Vrabel also passed along his thoughts on the being part of the core of players who have been with the Patriots since 2001, when their Super Bowl run started. This is the group's fourth AFC championship game since that time.

"We put everything into we can, we don't hold anything back," he said. "It's not Little League, where you try to save the best pitcher for the championship game. We're trying to get there. We're trying to do everything we can to get to the next game."

FOXBOROUGH -- Defensive end Ty Warren held a press conference live on NFL Network (2 p.m.) and follow up on Richard Seymour's comments on the linemen not awarding a championship belt this week.

"It's pretty simple; we went into the season saying we didn't want any 100-yard rushers," he said. "But it is the NFL, and that was LT. They had some success against us, and we felt like we didn't play our best game. That's why nobody got the belt. The good thing is that we have another opportunity to put our best work out on the field, with a chance to advance."

In Sunday's win over the Chargers, running back LaDainian Tomlinson totaled 123 yards on 23 carries (5.3 avg.) against the Patriots.

Warren also touched on his absence from the team for all of Wednesday and the parts of Thursday.

"It was a situation where my mother got a little ill and she was hospitalized, but she's doing a lot better now and was actually released last night," he said.

FOXBOROUGH -- Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard Seymour held a press conference live on NFL Network (1:50 p.m.) and was asked which lineman was awarded the championship belt for their performance in the playoff win over the Chargers.

"It kind of switches back and forth, but we didn't even give out a belt last week, giving up a 100-yard rusher [LaDainian Tomlinson]," he said. "We're putting that on hold right now."

The Patriots' defensive linemen began awarding a championship belt after the team's 35-0 victory in Green Bay on Nov. 19. The linemen decide who has the best performance, and that player is the declared the reigning champion.

Seymour also talked about the importance of getting pressure on Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

"I think that's going to be one of the keys to the game," he said. "We definitely have to apply pressure on Peyton. He's a guy that if you let him stand in the pocket, he can pick you apart. I think defensively we put the pressure on ourselves. We don't always have to get sacks, but cause bad throws, or cause throws where our guy has a chance at the interception, or whatever the case may be. Up front, we're definitely going to have to do a good job. If we just allow to sit back there -- Peyton to [Marvin] Harrison, Peyton to [Reggie] Wayne, it will be that all day. To [Dallas] Clark. They have a lot of different guys that get the ball. Defensively, that's one of our bigger tasks."

Seymour said he believes the best two quarterbacks in the league will be on the field -- "however you want to rank them -- 1-2, 2-1 -- it doesn't matter. Both of them are elite quarterbacks and lead their teams to victories."

FOXBOROUGH -- Dressed in a suit and wearing a green tie, Patriots coach Bill Belichick held his Friday press conference (1:40 p.m.) live on NFL Network and was asked about the flu-like symptoms that have hit some of the team's players.

"At this time of year, those things can always pop up and we have a couple of them this week," he said. "We'll see where things are on Sunday. Normally, that can turn around quickly, one way or the other, in 24 hours or so. So we'll just have to see how it plays itself out."

Belichick was asked about Rodney Harrison's return to the practice field this week, and if he's noticed it having an impact on other players.

"It's great to have every player around, and Rodney is getting better," he said. "His presence is a positive influence on our entire organization, certainly our football team. He's getting closer, he's making progress, and we'll just have to see where that ends up."

Belichick opened with the following remarks:

"On behalf of the organization and football team, it's an honor for the New England Patriots to participate in this championship game against the Colts. We have all the respect in the world for the Indianapolis Colts and what they've done, their organization, Bill Polian, Tony Dungy, Jimmy Irsay, coaching staff, players. They've had an awesome year. We caught them right in the middle of one of their long winning streaks earlier in the season, and they played an excellent game against us here [Nov. 5] and certainly deserved to win that game. So we have a lot of respect for them in all three phases of the game -- offense, defense, special teams. They do everything well and they're playing their best football of the year in the last two games. They can score, they can defend, they can return, they can cover. They're just an outstanding football team and we know we're going to have to play our best game of the year to be competitive at the Dome on Sunday. I think the players are excited to play. As usual, it was a difficult week to prepare. They're a tough team to get ready for, they're very good at everything. It was a tough week of preparation, but nevertheless I think we've got the point we need to be at, and we'll get on the plane tomorrow, go up there, and be ready to go Sunday afternoon."

The media schedule has been slightly altered today, with Ty Warren subbing in for Tedy Bruschi at 2 p.m. Warren has missed the last two days, tending to a personal matter in Texas.

The Patriots just sent out the following press release:

Former Patriots linebacker Andre Tippett, one of 15 modern-era finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2007, will serve as the Patriots’ honorary captain at Sunday’s AFC Championship Game in Indianapolis. Tippett, a member of the Patriots’ 1985 AFC Championship team, will accompany Patriots captains to midfield for the pregame coin toss. Tippett is a five-time Pro Bowler and a member of the NFL’s 1980s All-Decade Team. He was named as a finalist for induction into the Hall of Fame on Jan. 10, marking the first time he has been chosen as a finalist. The Hall of Fame’s 40-member Selection Committee will meet in Miami on Saturday, Feb. 3 to choose between three and six players from the finalist pool for election to the Hall of Fame.

Tippett recorded 16.5 sacks in 1985 and played in New England’s 31-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game that season.

A few notes from today's media access to practice:

FOXBOROUGH -- Here is today's media-access schedule at Gillette Stadium, which is a bit different from the norm:

11:40 a.m. -- Media access to practice
1:40 p.m. -- Bill Belichick press conference
1:50 p.m. -- Richard Seymour press conference
2 p.m. -- Tedy Bruschi press conference
2:10 p.m. -- Mike Vrabel press conference
2:20 p.m. -- Tom Brady press conference

On Thursday, scheduled press conferences with Troy Brown, Ty Warren and Tedy Bruschi were postponed.

We'll plan on passing along some updates along the way.

With the Patriots sure to draw more national media coverage heading into the AFC championship game, we'll cap off each night with five links from around the country:

The Patriots had no changes on their Thursday injury report. The Colts also had no changes, although their practice has yet to conclude. If anything changes on the Colts' report after practice, we'll pass it along.

A few notes from today's practice, which was held inside the Dana Farber Field House:

Safety Rodney Harrison was present for the start of today’s Patriots practice. The team was in shorts/sweatpants, shells, and helmets. Harrison is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game.

We’ll have more in a bit.

BELICHICK BITS: Of all the questions directed at coach Bill Belichick, he seemed to embrace one in particular. It was about his thoughts on the Baltimore Colts when he was growing up in Annapolis, Maryland. “I remember the days as a kid, I had all their football cards,” he said, mentioning the name of running back Alan Ameche and later listing the names of several players. “I remember watching the ['58] championship game against the Giants [a 23-17 Colts win over the Giants]. That probably did as much for pro football as any game.” Belichick smiled as he reflected on watching a weekly Colts television show, and went into a long story about his time with the Colts. … Later in his press conference, Belichick was asked about the importance of experience in the playoffs in key situations. He shared one of his sayings: “In critical situations, think players, not plays.” … Belichick also touched on situational football, which is a buzzword at Gillette Stadium, and broke it down into two categories. “One as it relates to clock management or game management, and two as it relates to one play,” he said. “If you’re in there for one play, whether it’s third down, whether it’s a punt return, a goal-line play, last play of the half, where it’s a Hail Mary. Those one-play situations, knowing what you want to do in those situations, and getting everybody to recognize what the situation is, and getting everybody to do it, that’s where you want to be as a football team.”

LOCKER ROOM LOOK: Cornerback Ellis Hobbs, safety Artrell Hawkins, outside linebackers Rosevelt Colvin and Tully Branta-Cain, and quarterback Vinny Testaverde were a few players drawing larger media crowds. … Testaverde on being part of the Patriots: “I look at it that I’m fortunate to play this long and fortunate to be in this position again, where a lot of guys don’t have the opportunities that I have, especially this late in their careers. I appreciate that I’m here, having an opportunity to be in an AFC championship game again.”

We’ll have more after practice, which is being held inside the Dana Farber Field House.

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick held his Thursday press conference (10:30 a.m.) and noted this was a day for third-down work:

"We're plugging along here, just watching the Colts on third down. They're pretty impressive. Nobody does it better than they do. Offensively, they set the standard during the regular season this year and in the playoffs defensively, they've shut two teams down to almost nothing [3 of 22]. So that will be a big factor in the game, as it always is a very important part of the game. We'll try to put a little extra work in on that and hopefully we'll be able to be competitive."

Later, Belichick turned nostalgic when speaking about how he was a Baltimore Colts fan as a youngster. We'll pass along some more of his thoughts later in the day.

FOXBOROUGH -- Here is today's scheduled media access at Gillette Stadium:

10:30 a.m. -- Bill Belichick press conference
11:10 a.m. -- Media access to locker room
11:10 a.m. -- Troy Brown press conference
11:20 a.m. -- Tedy Bruschi press conference
11:30 a.m. -- Ty Warren press conference
12:35 p.m. -- Media access to practice
4 p.m. -- Injury report released

We'll plan on passing along a few updates along the way.

With the Patriots sure to draw more national media coverage heading into the AFC championship game, we'll cap off each night with five links from around the country:

FOXBOROUGH -- Bill Belichick opened his Wednesday press conference with a breakdown on the Colts:

"Obviously, we’re back to work here on the Colts. It’s an exciting opportunity for our football team. At the start of the season, and I’m going all the way back to January, February, March of the offseason program and so forth, it’s every team’s goal to be in this game. Right now, we’re down to four teams. It’s an honor for us to be one of them playing in the AFC Championship game against a team that we have the utmost respect for in the Indianapolis Colts. They were in our division for a while. We played them twice a year. It seems like they’re still in our division in the way we’re playing them twice a year and on a number of occasions since then. It’s a team that we know well. They know us well and we have the utmost respect for them from the top of the organization, Jimmy [Irsay] to Bill Polian, Tony Dungy and his staff and the team. We know them very well. They're a very good football team from top to bottom. They're well coached. They're well organized. They have a lot of great players.

"They play well in every phase of the game. They certainly have a very potent offense. They can run the ball. Can throw it. Their offensive line can pass protect. We all know about their skill players.

"Defensively, they're very quick and active on their front seven. They’re good in the secondary. They don't give up a lot of plays. They make you work for it. They can rush the passer. They can stop the run and they turn the ball over, which they certainly did a good job of against us.

"With Adam [Vinatieri] and [Terrence] Wilkins, they have good players on special teams. They're dangerous there. They’re a poised team, an experienced team, and a very talented team.

"Our goal is to play our best football this week, have a good week of preparation and do everything we possibly can and put our best effort out there Sunday afternoon. That's all we’re focused on. Nothing else. We know we've had a great history with this team, and it’s gone in different cycles as to who has had the upper hand and how the games have gone and so forth and so on, but to me, I don't think really any of that makes any difference. It doesn't matter what happened this year, last year in some other game or in some other situation. What it comes down to is what’s going to happen Sunday afternoon -- these two teams and this group of players and coaches and how it all matches up on Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis. I don't really care too much about what happened in the past -- good, bad or indifferent. I'm a lot more focused on what we can do this week and how it’s going to play itself out. That's kind of our outlook on the game.

"Like I said, we’re excited to be here. We are excited to be in this game. We know it's up against a great team. The Colts have been tremendous this year in the playoffs against Kansas City. That was a dominant performance and to go in to Baltimore and win in Baltimore, obviously it's a great performance by their football team. They certainly deserve to be there. We won our wild card game, we won our divisional game on the road like they did, so I think both teams have earned their spot here, earned it with some good football and we’re looking forward to playing in the championship game."

The Patriots just released their Wednesday injury report:

S Rodney Harrison (knee) -- doubtful
WR Troy Brown (flu) -- questionable
OT Ryan O'Callaghan (flu) -- questionable
DL Mike Wright (flu) -- questionable
QB Tom Brady (right shoulder) -- probable

Harrison is an upgrade, as he was listed as out last week. Doubtful is defined as at least a 75 percent chance he will not play.

Harrison, Brown, O'Callaghan and Wright were reported to have missed at least a portion of team drills.

Players no longer on the report include WR Bam Childress (ankle), FB Heath Evans (shin) and TE Benjamin Watson (knee), all of whom were questionable last week.

Also, CB Ellis Hobbs (wrist), DL Richard Seymour (elbow) and LB Mike Vrabel, all of whom were probable last week, are no longer on the injury report.

The Colts' report:
OT Ryan Diem (shoulder) -- questionable
CB Nicholas Harper (concussion) -- questionable
LB Cato June (concussion) -- questionable
OG Ryan Lilja (knee) -- questionable
WR Ricky Proehl (hamstring) -- questionable
S Bob Sanders (knee) -- questionable

A few notes from today's practice, which was held inside the Dana Farber Field House:

FOXBOROUGH -- Quarterback Tom Brady held his Wednesday press conference (11:45 a.m.) and touched on the Patriots-Colts rivalry.

"It's fun for the players, I think you develop very much of a rapport with those guys," he said. "We've played them every single year, and sometimes twice a year. This will be another one of those years. It feels like a division opponent, going back to the days when they were in our division. These games have counted for a lot, and this one is just as big as all the rest. It's quite a rivalry.

"We haven't played in that stadium in a few years, but we know how tough they are at home. It's exciting, because five and a half months of football games comes down to 60 minutes of football. The team that is most prepared and goes out and executes the best will be the team that moves on and represents the conference. I know there is mutual respect on both sides. I know their players have a lot of respect for us, and I know we have a lot of respect for their players and coaches. It should be one of those classic games."

Some more from Brady:

FOXBOROUGH -- Bill Belichick just held his Wednesday press conference (10:30 a.m.) and opened with a three-minute discussion on what makes the Colts a tough opponent. He praised the team, from top to bottom.

Belichick did not commit when asked if safety Rodney Harrison has a chance to play this week, indicating the injury report would be released later today.

Asked his thoughts on LaDainian Tomlinson's post-game remarks, Belichick said: "I have a lot of respect for LaDainian Tomlinson and the San Diego Chargers. They're an outstanding football team. Right now, our focus is on the Indianapolis Colts."

Asked if he was surprised at Tomlinson's remarks, Belichick said: "Our focus is on the Colts."

We'll have more in a bit.

Here is today's media access schedule at Gillette Stadium:

10:30 a.m. -- Bill Belichick press conference
11:10 a.m. -- Media access to locker room
11:10 a.m. -- Richard Seymour press conference
11:20 a.m. -- Mike Vrabel press conference
11:30 a.m. -- Daniel Graham press conference
11:30 a.m. -- Ty Warren national conference call
11:45 a.m. -- Tom Brady press conference
noon -- Colts safety Bob Sanders natonal conference call
12:20 p.m. -- Colts coach Tony Dungy conference call
12:45 p.m. -- Media access to practice
4 p.m. -- Injury report released

We'll plan on passing along a few updates over the course of the day.

With the Patriots sure to draw more national media coverage heading into the AFC championship game, we'll cap off each night with five links from around the country:

Closing the book on the Patriots' win over the Chargers by looking at the positional groupings used by the team's offense:

3 WR/1 TE/1 RB -- 44 of 74 snaps
2 WR/2 TE/1 RB -- 27 of 74 snaps
3 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 2 of 74 snaps
1 WR/2 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 1 of 74 snaps

(snaps include the successful two-point conversion in the fourth quarter, but don't include a Drayton Florence illegal contact penalty, and a Logan Mankins holding penalty, as those weren't official plays)

ANALYSIS: Nothing fancy or elaborate in the Patriots' attack, which again highlights how the team changes its approach from week to week. In many ways, this was the opposite of what we saw Dec. 24 in Jacksonville, when the Patriots used eight different positional groupings and were shuffling players on and off the field consistently. The Patriots primarily used two positional groupings in San Diego, starting by emphasizing the two-TE package (14 of the first 22 snaps), before drastically altering course and going to the three-WR package. The Patriots weren't having success moving the ball until going to the three-wide on their final first-half drive, and it appears that gave them confidence to stick with it in the second half. One interesting note is how tight end Daniel Graham (2 catches, 38 yards) has been playing more snaps when the team goes to its three-wide package, allowing him to showcase his abilities more as a pass-catcher when not called on to stay in and block. Of the team's 44 snaps with three-wides on the field, Graham was the tight end for 31 of them, with Benjamin Watson on the field for the other 13. Earlier in the year, that was a role primarily held by Watson. The team ran only 2-WR sets or 3-WR sets until the final three plays to set up the final field goal.

TUESDAY LOOK-AHEAD: There is no media access at Gillette Stadium today. We'll plan on passing along one more update later tonight, before gearing up for Wednesday's coverage at the stadium.

With the Seahawks losing to the Bears in the NFC divisional round of the playoffs, their draft position has been determined. This affects the Patriots, because they own Seattle's first-round pick from the Deion Branch trade.

The Seahawks earned the 24th pick in the first round of the draft, according to the NFL.

In a previous update, we had incorrectly stated the Seahawks' pick would be No. 22 unless they advanced to the Super Bowl.

A look at the last five picks at No. 24

A look at the offensive participation from Patriots skill position players in Sunday's win over the Chargers:

WR Reche Caldwell -- 71 of 74 snaps (95.9 percent)
WR Jabar Gaffney -- 70 of 74 (94.5 percent)
TE Daniel Graham -- 58 of 74 (78.3 percent)
RB Kevin Faulk -- 47 of 74 (63.5 percent)
WR Troy Brown -- 46 of 74 (62.1 percent)
TE Benjamin Watson -- 43 of 74 (58.1 percent)
RB Corey Dillon -- 14 of 74 (18.9 percent)
RB Laurence Maroney -- 13 of 74 (17.5 percent)
TE David Thomas -- 5 of 74 (6.7 percent)
FB Heath Evans -- 3 of 74 (4.0 percent)
WR Chad Jackson -- 0 of 74 (0 percent)
WR Kelvin Kight -- 0 of 74 (0 percent)

(snaps include the successful two-point conversion in the fourth quarter, but don't include a Drayton Florence illegal contact penalty, and a Logan Mankins holding penalty, as those weren't official plays)

ANALYSIS: These numbers shed further light on how impressive of a performance Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney put forth. They both really went wire to wire. The only three offensive snaps Caldwell wasn't on the field for came on the team's last three plays, when the offense went to a power package to set up the winning field goal and milk the clock. Ditto for Gaffney, who was on the sidelines for those three snaps and one first-half snap. The ability of Caldwell and Gaffney to play that many snaps, and never leave the field, is a reflection on their conditioning and toughness. It was interesting to note that the Patriots only played with three receivers in this one, as Chad Jackson and Kelvin Kight didn't take an offensive snap. At running back, this was a game for Kevin Faulk as the Patriots went to their three-wide package for the majority of the second half, and he's usually part of that group. His abilities in blitz pickup also play a part in the increased playing time, and he was solid in that area as well.

A look at who's up and who's down from the Patriots' 24-21 win over the Chargers:

Up
Troy Brown -- Veteran receiver strips the ball from Marlon McCree on an interception, keeping the Patriots' hopes alive in the fourth quarter.

Jabar Gaffney/Reche Caldwell -- Receivers combine for 17 catches for 183 yards.

Stephen Gostkowski -- Rookie is 3 of 3 on field goals, including a Patriots playoff record 50-yarder. His only blemish was a kickoff that went out of bounds.

Todd Sauerbrun -- Punter has a big day (44.1 avg; 39.3 net) and was a key factor in a field position game.

Down
Third-down offense -- Patriots finish just 4 of 17 on third down.

Tully Banta-Cain -- Outside linebacker seemed to be the target of the Chargers' attack, as they ran at him often.

Corey Dillon/Laurence Maroney -- Running backs combine for 13 carries for 23 yards, as there wasn't much running room to take advantage of.

MONDAY LOOK-AHEAD: We'll be flying overnight and will be back in town Monday morning. There is no media access at Gillette Stadium until Wednesday. We'll plan on posting our next update Monday afternoon.

Comments from Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer and Chargers players:

Marty Schottenheimer
“Our guys played their hearts out today. We’re obviously very, very disappointed in the outcome of this football game, but this group had a hell of a year. And not withstanding the disappointment and frustration of the events of this day, I’ll choose to look at this team in a very positive light, because the men that are in that locker room laid it down every single time they were asked to and at the end of this situation, we ran out of time, that’s what happened. We ran out of time. Now, from a practical standpoint, we turned the ball over four times and you can’t do that and expect to win.”

On penalties taken by his team
“The personal foul penalties were very disappointing , because what you end up doing there is put your own personal feelings about a matter ahead of the football team.”

Safety Marlon McCree
On his interception that he fumbled
“At first I was trying to score. I saw there was an o-lineman in front of me, and I knew if I could make him miss there was a lot of room in front of me. Before I had a chance to do that, Troy Brown stripped the ball from me. He made a great play, and I was trying to make a big play as well. I do not regret my interception. I will never try and just go down on the ball. I want to score.”

Outside linebacker Shawne Merriman
On the game
“It was big plays they made and obviously it probably would have been the turn of the game if we wouldn’t have turned the ball back over. But things like that happen and come up in the game and you can’t make mistakes in the game. That’s all the way around for 60 minutes. … We played them tough the entire game.”

Linebacker Randall Godfrey
On the game
“We were the best team in the league. It’s a tough feeling. I hope these guys remember this feeling. It’s hard in this league. You work so hard and go 14-2 and not finish what you’re supposed to do. We were supposed to win the Super Bowl this year and they just made the plays that we didn’t. It’s a terrible way to go out.”

Quarterback Philip Rivers
On the Patriots celebrating after the game
“It was disappointing in the way they handled winning. I mean, for as much as everybody said they expect them to win, they didn’t act like it, but that’s neither here or there. They’re playing next week and we’re not. I think what got L.T. and I right there was a little bit of taunting. It was a little finger-pointing and I don’t know where it came from. Pointing to the scoreboard, doing the “Lights Out” dance, stomping on the helmets, all that. I don’t want to blow it up, we’ve all been there. I don’t want to blow it out of proportion.”

Running back LaDainian Tomlinson
On the game plan
“We kind of wanted to stay balanced. They really didn’t stop anything we did. It wasn’t a factor I think in anything they did. They didn’t stop us. We moved the ball up and down the field. They did a good job in the red zone at times, and even when we got good field position, they buckled down in certain situations to stop us. I think their whole mindset was in certain situations to come up with a stop. They did that.”

Comments from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s post-game press conference:

How big was this win?
“This was a tougher game than I could ever remember playing. It was just a great team we played, so we knew it was going to be 60 minutes that we had to do it, and it was just great to come out of here with a win.”

You put together two great drives. It wasn’t your best game, but those were critical drives…
“It’s never easy, and it’s 24 points against that defense. Not a bad day. I wish there could be more. There were lost opportunities there.”

You were short-arming a couple guys starting that drive in the first half…
“We were trying to throw quick and that wasn’t working. We were trying to throw screens, and that wasn’t working. We were doing everything we could to try to move the ball positive and forward. I could never get into a rhythm. I was like ‘Gosh, try something else.’ It was just difficult. I think that’s what very good defenses are all about. We got a great defense.”

On Reche Caldwell in the fourth quarter…
“That was pretty special – when the game’s on the line and Reche runs a great route. I couldn’t see. I don’t know where he stepped out of bounds. It was pretty close.”

How do you explain how you won this game?
“We just kept fighting and clawing away. Obviously, that fourth-down play [by Troy Brown] was a big play. We stripped it, so it was very opportunistic.”

On beating the Chargers and Reche Caldwell playing a part in it…
“The team is 14-2, undefeated at home. I was walking off the field and I thought ‘Man, that was not easy.’ He said to me ‘They never are, buddy.’ This is the time of the year where there’s two teams left in the AFC.”

On the two-point conversion…
“Kevin started left and he saw the hole open and cut back inside. It was a great run. That was huge. That was a huge play. Down eight with however man, five minutes left. Two points, we get the ball back at our own 15, drive it to their 10. They just didn’t have enough time.”

The throw to Troy Brown…
“If it’s incomplete, it’s their ball anyway, so you’re trying to squeeze it in there. He [Marlon McCree] intercepted it and fortunately it was intercepted or we wouldn’t have got the ball back.”

On the play by McCree
“It was a very good play by him. He’s in the middle of the field. He made a nice play. He was doing that all day. Like I said, it’s probably the best defense we faced all year.”

On the Colts and Peyton Manning
“I watched that game yesterday. It was the type of game with two very good defenses slugging it out. It just comes down to a few plays here or there, and the Colts got those plays. We always enjoy playing Indy. I love watching Peyton play. It’s going to be a tough challenge for our defense, a tough offense.”

How about Stephen Gostkowski making those kicks?
“He’s doing great. He’s very poised for his age and he’s got a very strong leg. He’s just booting through. Cross your fingers, hope it lasts another week.”

Comments from Bill Belichick's post-game press conference:

Troy Brown came up with a big strip…
“Troy Brown is a terrific football player. He does it all. Hey, we just kept battling for 60 minutes. That was obviously a key play.”

Do you feel like you were on your heels for much of the game?
“No, I thought it was a very competitive game. It was a very competitive game. It was an ebb and flow. At times, they had a little bit of the upper hand. At times, we had a little bit of the upper hand. It was a dogfight. It was a physical, tough football game – two teams competing their tail off against each other. We just made one more play at the end than they did.”

The offensive line seemed to do a nice job…
“They’ve done a good job all year. Dan and the backs and the line, they did a good job. This is a good pass rushing team, but I thought they stood up to him and blocked them. It wasn’t perfect, but they blocked them pretty hard.”

What was the game-plan for Tomlinson, playing him straight up and not bringing a safety down in the box?
“We played what we thought was the best we had, all game long. That’s what we did. Whatever we thought was the best, that’s what we did.”

Was the idea that he would get some yards?
“We weren’t going to give them to him. We were going to make him work for them. He’s a great back. They’re a good offense, led the league in scoring. They can move the ball and they have a lot of great players. You just try to stand in there and go toe to toe with them. He certainly made some plays against us. I’m sure they wish they had made a couple more.”

What did you think when McCree made the interception and Brown helped get the ball back?
“I thought it was a great play by our guys to strip the ball out and come up with it. There were a couple of fumbles there where there was a big pileup, a lot of guys in there fighting for the ball, and we came away from it. Give our guys credit for coming up with the ball.”

Did you say anything to Gostkowski before the field goal?
“No.”

What prompted you to call the long shot to Reche at the end?
“They were giving us a lot of press coverage in the latter part of the game, and when they’re out there pressed, there are opportunities to get it deep and Tom made a nice throw and Reche was able to get a little separation, not much, on Jammer. It was a good throw and a good catch.”

The touchdown drive before the half was critical…
“It was really critical to get back within a four-point game. We were down 14-3. It was good to get those seven points, that was the big thing.”

What is your confidence in Tom to keep firing, even when he has those interceptions?
“I have a lot of confidence in this team. This team is a good team. They play hard, won a lot of games, I have a lot of confidence in them.”

When you came in here, you mentioned you were speechless. What was it about the game that made you feel that way?
“Just looking up there in the fourth quarter, we’re down by eight and we’re on a long field and backed up, and now we’re ahead by three. A lot of things had to go right, and a lot of them did.”

On the direct snap to Faulk on the two-point conversion, was that something you worked on specifically for that situation?
“Of course. Yeah, we had a two-point play and that was pretty well executed. We got a look and it was well blocked and Kevin made a good cut.”

Was that your only two-point play you were considering for this game?
“We’ve had other two-point plays this year. You go into a game-plan with one or two two-point plays. That was one we selected.”

Can you comment on Rosevelt Colvin’s interception?
“He made a nice play. I think just defensively, San Diego hasn’t had many turnovers all year. They only had 15 the entire season and we had four today, so I think that’s a real credit to our defense to be able to come up with those balls. They’re careful with it, there is not a lot of opportunities. We had one on special teams and one on defense there with the strip. Just to come up with those plays, however you get them, is big for us. Rosie has done a good job for us all year and made a good, athletic play on that scramble pass, and made a nice catch back over his shoulder. That was a tough one.”

You threw it more than 50 times. Was that the plan coming in?
“No. That’s just the way the game went. We did what we felt gave us the best chance to win.”

Can you comment on Indianapolis?
“We didn’t do very well against them last time we played them, so hopefully we can do better this time. They’re a great football team, playing great defense now. They haven’t given up much of anything on the defensive side of the ball. I think we all know what kind of offensive team they have. They’re tough at home, they have great players, they’re well coached. It will be a big challenge for us to go into Indy and be competitive with them.”

Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson was asked if he was angry about the Patriots' celebration after the game.

"I would never, ever react in that way," he said. "You guys know me, I'm a very classy person. I wouldn't have reacted like that, so yes, I was upset. Very upset. When you go to the middle of our field and you start doing the dance that Shawne Merriman is known for, that's disrespectful to me and I can't sit there and watch that. And so yeah, I was very upset. And just the fact the way they showed no class at all, absolutely no class, and maybe it comes from the head coach. There you have it."

Bill Belichick opened his post-game press conference with the following statement:

“Wow, what a game. I’m really speechless. I’m really proud of our football team. I thought the players showed a lot of mental toughness and physical toughness. San Diego is a great team. They have a lot of great players. They’re outstanding in every phase of the game and I was really proud of the way our guys stepped up and just battled for 60 minutes. San Diego has been a great fourth-quarter team, and we certainly got everything they had, which was quite a bit. But it was just every single phase. Stephen [Gostkowski] did a great job kicking, no question about that, made some key kicks. The whole operation, protection – [holder] Matt [Cassel], [long snapper] Lonie [Paxton]. Defensively, we had some key stops, a couple turnovers and offensively had a couple key drives. That drive at the end of the [first] half was a huge drive. At the end, picking up that third down, [Reche] Caldwell made a terrific play and [Tom] Brady made a great throw. There were a lot of great plays made on both sides of the ball. It wasn’t perfect, by any means. We had some trouble with them, as you would expect. I think they had a little bit of trouble with us, somewhere along the line. We’re happy to win. We’re looking forward to the next challenge, next week against the Colts. Each game gets bigger and each opponent gets tougher. And so that’s what we’re going to have to be ready for in Indy.”

More to come.

A quick recap of the game, from the Associated Press:

Tom Brady shook off a mediocre first half with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Reche Caldwell, and San Diego's Nate Keading missed a potential game-tying field goal as the New England Patriots advanced to the AFC championship game with a 24-21 win over the Chargers on Sunday.

The Patriots will head to Indianapolis to face the Colts in the AFC title game.

A few hours after the game, we'll plan on posting comments from coach Bill Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady and others.

Rookie Willie Andrews played a snap on defense in the team's nickel package. It came on the play in which Asante Samuel batted down a pass.

Andrews was bumped up the depth chart with Ellis Hobbs hurting. Andrews drew a tough assignment, lining up opposite of Antonio Gates.

CB Ellis Hobbs was shaken up for the second time in the game, this time defending a pass in the fourth quarter. He's been replaced by Chad Scott.

Quick recap on the two-point conversion for the Patriots.

The Patriots came out with their 3-wide set (Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney, Troy Brown), with tight end Benjamin Watson and running back Kevin Faulk.

Faulk lined up split wide to the left, before re-setting to Tom Brady's right. As the snap came to Brady out of the shotgun, he faked and Faulk grabbed it and ran up the middle.

The announced crowd of 68,810 is a new Qualcomm Stadium record for the Chargers.

The battle of the red zone was key to today's game, with the Chargers entering the game ranked first in the NFL in TD percentage in the red zone, and the Patriots' defense ranked second.

After LaDainian Tomlinson's fourth-quarter TD run, the Chargers are 3 of 3 in the red zone.

The Patriots are 1 of 2 offensively in the red zone.

CB Ellis Hobbs has returned to the game after being banged up on a LaDainian Tomlinson third-quarter run.

The Chargers updated the medical condition of their two starting outside linebackers.

Shawne Merriman left the game and had his knee evaluated in the locker room. He has returned to action.

Shaun Phillips has a groin injury. He returned to action, but has since returned to the sideline.

CB Ellis Hobbs was shaken up on a third-quarter run by LaDainian Tomlinson. He's been replaced by Chad Scott. We'll pass along any announcement from the press box on Hobbs' status.

In-game notes from the Patriots' media relations department:

TWO-MINUTE DRILL
The Patriots drove 72 yards on 11 plays in 1:56 of clock time to close the San Diego lead to 14-10 with eight seconds left in the first half. New England got the ball with 2:04 remaining in the half and scored on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Jabar Gaffney. Gaffney caught four passes for a total of 46 yards on the drive and scored his first career playoff touchdown. Last week against the New York Jets, Gaffney made his playoff debut and led the team with eight catches for 108 yards. Today’s game was the second straight playoff game in which the Patriots scored a touchdown in the final seconds of the first half. Last week against the New York Jets, Brady found Daniel Graham for a 1-yard touchdown with 11 seconds left in the first half.

VRABEL STRIP-SACK
Mike Vrabel came up with a strip-sack of Philip Rivers on fourth-and-11 at the Patriots’ 30-yard line in the first quarter. Vrabel sacked Rivers for a 5-yard loss on the play and forced him to fumble. The loose ball was recovered by Tully Banta-Cain at the Patriots’ own 35-yard line, setting up a drive that ended in a 50-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski and a 3-0 Patriots lead. In the 2006 regular season, Vrabel recorded three strip-sacks – at Buffalo (10/22), at Green Bay (11/12) and at Tennessee (12/31). Today’s strip-sack was the fourth of Vrabel’s 15-game playoff career. He also recorded strip-sacks of Peyton Manning in the 2004 AFC divisional playoffs (1/16/05), of Jake Delhomme in Super Bowl XXXVIII (2/1/04) and of Drew Bledsoe while playing for the Steelers against the Patriots in the 1997 AFC divisional playoffs (1/3/98).

LONGEST PLAYOFF FIELD GOAL
Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter to give the Patriots a 3-0 lead. The 50-yard field goal was the longest in New England’s 30-game playoff history, topping the previous mark of 48 yards, achieved by Adam Vinatieri in Super Bowl XXXVI (2/3/02) and also in the 2004 AFC Championship Game (1/23/05). Entering today, the Patriots had attempted two field goals of 50 yards or longer in their playoff history and had been unsuccessful on both tries. Gostkowski nailed his only field goal attempt of 50 yards or longer in the 2006 regular season, nailing a 52-yard field goal against Chicago (11/26/06) that was the franchise’s longest field goal in four years and was the longest field goal converted by the Patriots in the history of Gillette Stadium.

FIRST TO SCORE
The Patriots booted a first-quarter field goal to take a 3-0 lead, marking the ninth time that they have scored first in their last 10 playoff games. The only playoff game in their last 10 in which the Patriots did not score first was Super Bowl XXXIX, when Philadelphia took a 7-0 lead in a game New England won, 24-21. The Patriots scored first in 10 of 16 regular-season games in 2006.

STARTING STRONG
The Patriots defense held the Chargers to a punt on their opening drive of the game. Since Bill Belichick became head coach of the Patriots, New England has not allowed opponents to score on an opening drive in the playoffs. In 13 games (including today), Belichick’s Patriots have forced 11 punts and recorded two interceptions on opponents’ opening drives in the playoffs.

INTERCEPTION-FREE STREAK BROKEN
The second-quarter interception of Tom Brady by the Chargers’ Donnie Edwards ended Brady’s string of 169 attempts without an interception, a streak that dated back to a Dec. 3 game against Detroit. The Patriots’ team record (regular-season only) for consecutive attempts without an interception is 179, achieved by Drew Bledsoe from Oct. 23, 1995 to Nov. 26, 1995. Brady entered today’s game as the NFL’s all-time leader for the lowest playoff interception percentage, throwing five interceptions on 401 attempts (1.25 percent).

Analysis from the first half, with the Patriots trailing 14-10:

The Chargers controlled the first half, but the Patriots have hung in the game thanks to a terrific two-minute drive to close out the second quarter and coming through in a few key situations defensively.

Overall defensively, the Patriots haven’t had great fits in the running game, with LaDainian Tomlinson having open gaps in which to surge. The Chargers’ best success has come to outside linebacker Tully Banta-Cain’s side (defensive right). The Chargers’ plan seems to be designed toward attacking Banta-Cain. On third down, the team has tapped Chad Scott in its nickel package to primarily defend dangerous tight end Antonio Gates. Scott has been up to the task. The plan has been to stay in the 3-4 and the Chargers are winning the battle up front. Tomlinson has been remarkable, with his 58-yard, second-quarter screen play made possible by a super individual move on Artrell Hawkins in the open field.

What has kept the Patriots alive is coming through in key situations, especially a fourth down stop in the first quarter. Linebacker Mike Vrabel has been solid, with a strip sack on fourth down and a solid open-field tackle in the second quarter.

Offensively, the Patriots had poor field position for three of their first four drives. The unit has struggled to move the ball, with four three-and-outs in its first six drives, and one two-play drive that ended in Tom Brady’s interception. The offense is playing mostly out of its base two tight-end set, but the Chargers are winning the battle of the line of scrimmage and outside of their final drive, the Patriots haven’t been able to run, or pass consistently. The Chargers’ pressure-based approach has dictated that approach by the Patriots, who need more production out of their running game. The best overall production came at the end of the half, in the three-receiver set and two-minute offense. Whether the Patriots can stick with that in the second half – and hold up in pass protection – is one of the keys going forward.

Heath Evans has been a standout on special teams, with three tackles. Punter Todd Sauerbrun has also been solid in a field-position game. Rookie Stephen Gostkowski’s 50-yard field goal in the first quarter set a new Patriots playoff record.

The Patriots get the ball to start the second half.

LaDainian Tomlinson's 58-yard reception on a screen pass is the third longest completion allowed by the Patriots this season. The longest pass plays allowed by the Patriots were 83 yards by Denver's Javon Walker and 77 and 71 yards by the Jets' Jerricho Cotchery.

Tom Brady's interception is his sixth career playoff pick. He entered the game having the lowest playoff interception percentage ever, with five interceptions in 401 attempts.

Stephen Gostkowski's 50-yard field goal is the longest in Patriots playoff history. The previous long was 48 yards, by Adam Vinatieri, which happened twice (2004 AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XXXVI).

FB Heath Evans has made an early impact on special teams, registering two first-quarter tackles on coverage units.

Offensive starters for the Patriots:

LT: Matt Light
LG: Logan Mankins
C: Dan Koppen
RG: Stephen Neal
RT: Nick Kaczur
TE: Benjamin Watson, David Thomas
QB: Tom Brady
RB: Kevin Faulk
WR: Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney

NICKEL PACKAGE: When the Patriots went to their nickel defense on the Chargers' last third-down play, Jarvis Green and Chad Scott came onto the field. Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren left the field.

The Chargers won the toss and elected to receive.

Defensive starters for the Patriots:

DE: Ty Warren
NT: Vince Wilfork
DE: Richard Seymour
OLB: Rosevelt Colvin
ILB: Tedy Bruschi
ILB: Mike Vrabel
OLB: Tully Banta-Cain
CB: Asante Samuel
CB: Ellis Hobbs
S: Artrell Hawkins
S: James Sanders

Kickoff has been pushed back to 4:45 p.m. EST because the NFC divisional playoff round game went to overtime. The public address announcer in the stadium just announced that to the crowd.

Analysis from the Patriots’ inactive players and what that could mean for others on the roster:

Inactive players for the Chargers:

WR Az-Zahir Hakim
CB Cletis Gordon
FB Andrew Pinnock
OT Cory Lekkerkerker
DE Jacques Cesaire
TE Ryan Krause
LB Marques Harris
Charlie Whitehurst -- 3rd quarterback

Inactive players for the Patriots:

WR Bam Childress
S Rashad Baker
S Rodney Harrison
OL Gene Mruczkowski
OL Wesley Britt
DL Le Kevin Smith
DL Marquise Hill
Vinny Testaverde -- 3rd quarterback

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is in attendance for today's game. He is currently on the field, alongside Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

Goodell was at Saturday night's NFC divisional round playoff game between the Saints and Eagles.

Goodell spoke with espn.com on Saturday about the possibility of restricting honors -- such as the Pro Bowl -- for players who are suspended in a season. That piece can be found here.

As we wait for the inactive players for both teams, here is one final stat to pass along leading into today's game.

The Chargers led the NFL in point differential in 2006, scoring 492 points and allowing 303. That's a 189-point differential, which bested the Bears (172) for the top spot.

The Patriots were fourth in scoring differential, scoring 385 points and allowing 237, for a 148 point differential.

Patriots reserve offensive lineman Gene Mruczkowski is on the field, chatting with his brother, Scott, a reserve offensive lineman for the Chargers.

Gene Mruczkowski (Purdue) is in his fourth NFL season. Scott Mruczkowski (Bowling Green) is in his second season.

Both are interior linemen who add value in their ability to line up at center and guard.

SAN DIEGO -- Took a trip out to the parking lots to get a feel for the fan contingent, and it wasn't hard to spot Patriots fans. Seems like there were a significant amount of the team's fans. One group, the Orange County Patriots Fans, had a large contingent.

One group of New England fans, led by Newton native and current Los Angeles resident Doug Krintzman, declared this a food-chain game. Asked to explain what that meant, he said the Patriots will attempt to show the Chargers where they rank on the NFL's food chain. Since the Patriots have won three of the last five Super Bowls, they are at the top of the food chain, he explained.

Players have begun to loosen up on the field. As usual, long snapper Lonie Paxton and punter Todd Sauerbrun were two of the first players to take the field.

Quarterbacks Tom Brady and Matt Cassel, running back Kevin Faulk and tight end Benjamin Watson are also loosening up.

SAN DIEGO -- Welcome to Qualcomm Stadium, where the Patriots will visit the Chargers today (4:30 p.m. EST).

Temperatures are cool, currently in the mid-40s. It's sunny and the flags in the stadium are hardly rippling, so wind doesn't appear as if it will be much of a factor.

Reminders of the Chargers' past are easily spotted here, with a banner of Dan Fouts' No. 14 jersey hanging above one of the end zones. Names of players and coaches along a ring of the stadium include Lance Alworth (1962-70), Charlie Joiner (1976-86), Don Coryell (1976-86) and Kellen Winslow (1979-87).

Qualcomm Stadium seats 70,000 and it is expected to be filled to capacity today.

We'll plan on passing along updates throughout the day.

The Patriots will not downgrade any players to out on their Saturday injury report.

That means FB Heath Evans (shin), who had missed the media-access portion of practice on Wednesday and Thursday, has a chance to play on Sunday. Evans has been questionable on the team's injury report.

The only player out at this time for the Patriots is safety Rodney Harrison.

SAN DIEGO WEATHER: Touched down in San Diego in the early afternoon here, and the temperature is a cool 50 degrees.

PATRIOTS WALKTHROUGH: The Patriots held their regular Saturday walkthrough at the team hotel this morning, and didn't make it to Qualcomm Stadium. On Friday, coach Bill Belichick said the team might try to have the walkthrough at the stadium.

Tony Corrente is scheduled to referee Sunday's playoff game between the Patriots and Chargers. This will mark the first time this season that Corrente's crew has called a game in which the Patriots have played.

Corrente's crew had only 14 total replay challenges this season, which was tied for a league low. Of those 14 challenges, only two calls were reversed, also tied for a league low. That 14.3 percent reversal rate was well below the league average of 34.5 percent.

Corrente's crew has called an average of 13.1 assessed penalties per game. The league average was 11.9 assessed penalties per game.

SATURDAY PLAN: Today is a travel day and we won't have access to the web for much of the day. The plan will be to post our next update later tonight upon arrival in San Diego.

Linebacker Junior Seau, who was placed on injured reserve after breaking his arm Nov. 26 against the Bears, was a guest on the Patriots All-Access television program Friday night (on Boston's Channel 5).

Seau was interviewed from his restaurant in San Diego by host Mike Lynch.

The Q&A:

How is your arm?
“The arm is great. It’s ready to go. I have two plates in there, with 14 screws. I was lifting [weights with] it two and a half weeks ago. It’s definitely doing good.”

You must be going out of your mind…
“It’s bittersweet, to know the team is coming to my hometown and not to be able to play and partake in it, it’s definitely a bitter part of it. You know, I’m proud of my players. I’m proud of what they’ve been able to do. I know there is a bigger scope that they are looking forward to, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.”

What are the odds, your former team against your current team, probably the two best teams in the conference…
“I believe they are the two best teams in the conference, when you look at the special teams, offense and defense. They rank up there. When they were heading toward the end of the season, when I had my arm broken, I was watching both teams kind of develop. It’s amazing how they’re striving right on time, they’re starting to peak, jelling together, playing great football, and I knew there was going to be a point in time that their paths were going to cross. And here they are.”

Where does your heart lie?
“My heart lies with both of them, obviously, but I’m a Patriot. I’m a Patriot player. I want my team to win. San Diego doesn’t have any hard time with that, because they know what type of player or person I am. Whenever I jump on board, I’m with you all the way through it. I'm happy that the city of San Diego gets to kind of embrace something similar to what we had in the Super Bowl of '94. But at the same time, you want your team to win, and the Patriots are coming over here trying to derail the San Diego Chargers. When it comes down to a win-loss gig on Sunday, I definitely win on both parties."

Do you keep in touch with any Patriots?
“I call some of the players. I had a great time up there. The fan support was unbelievable. The stadium. Whenever you’re with the Kraft family, you have a touch of class.”

The Patriots had no changes on their Friday injury report. The Chargers upgraded defensive end Derreck Robinson (foot) from questionable to probable.

A few notes from today's practice, which was held inside the Dana Farber Field House:

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick held his Friday press conference (10:30 a.m.) and the media had access to the locker room after that. A few nuggets:

How have the Patriots' injuries ranked with other teams in the NFL this season?

The Dallas Morning News takes a look at each team and how many starters were lost to injury this season.

Predictably, the banged-up Patriots are in the lower half of the rankings. These rankings don't take into account backup players, which is an area the team has also been hit hard with injuries.

The Chargers led the NFL in fourth-quarter scoring during the regular season, with 176 points. Meanwhile, the Patriots led the NFL in fourth-quarter defense, surrendering just 51 points.

It's yet another matchup of force against force in Sunday's playoff game. A look at the fourth-quarter defensive rankings:

Patriots -- 51
Ravens -- 55
Falcons -- 68
Vikings -- 68
Jaguars -- 71
Bills -- 77
Chiefs -- 77
Redskins -- 80
Cowboys -- 81
Chargers -- 82
Buccaneers -- 84
Bears -- 89
Saints -- 90
Eagles -- 96
49ers -- 97
Texans -- 99
Steelers -- 100
Packers -- 103
Cardinals -- 105
Browns -- 107
Dolphins -- 107
Broncos -- 109
Panthers -- 110
Raiders -- 110
Bengals -- 114
Lions -- 115
Titans -- 115
Jets -- 116
Seahawks -- 116
Rams -- 120
Colts -- 130
Giants -- 132

Asked to confirm today's report that safety Rodney Harrison had suffered a slight tear to his right anterior cruciate ligament, the agent for Harrison said he could not.

"It's not true," said Steve Feldman, who represents Harrison.

Harrison injured his right MCL on Dec. 31 against the Titans. The severity of the injury is not known, although Harrison has been ruled out for Sunday's game in San Diego.

The Patriots had no changes on their Thursday injury report.

The Chargers had one change, as defensive end Jacques Cesaire was upgraded from doubtful to questionable with a knee injury. There were no other changes on San Diego's injury report.

A few notes from today's practice, which was held inside the Dana Farber Field House:

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick held his Thursday press conference (10:30 a.m.) and the media had access to the locker room after that.

Players drawing larger media crowds included outside linebackers Mike Vrabel and Rosevelt Colvin; receiver Jabar Gaffney; defensive linemen Jarvis Green and Mike Wright; cornerback Ellis Hobbs; and safety Artrell Hawkins.

Vrabel touched on the Chargers' fourth-quarter scoring, which has been a point of emphasis at Gillette Stadium this week. The Chargers have scored 176 points in the fourth, ranking first in the NFL.

"That's a telling mark," Vrabel said. "They finish games off. They're not just winning them, hanging on. They're beating them down and they're closing these things out and winning in pretty good fashion."

Earlier, Belichick was asked about the Chargers using running back LaDainian Tomlinson on halfback option plays. Tomlinson has thrown three passes on the season, completing two, both for touchdowns.

Belichick acknolwedged he was watching film of those plays this morning, and noted that the receiver on the back end was so open, it looked like a fair catch.

LOCKER ROOM NOTES: Nose tackle Vince Wilfork had two championship wrestling belts hanging in his locker, as the linemen continue to award belts to the player who is deemed to have the best performance in a game. ... Gaffney on his performance in Sunday's win over the Jets: "It was just getting on the same page, going out there every week and waiting on my number to be called. It got called a few times and I was able to make a couple plays. It's always good from a receiver's standpoint, and from a team standpoint, to get that first drive going and get involved early. It helps you out throughout the whole day."

We'll have a bit more after practice.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported in its Thursday's editions that safety Rodney Harrison has a slight tear of his right anterior cruciate ligament.

The report indicated that Harrison would miss the rest of the playoffs.

In detailing the excellence of the San Diego Chargers, Bill Belichick noted that the team scored 176 points in the fourth quarter during the regular season.

"That’s so far off the charts, it’s hard to even relate it to anything else," he said.

This is the chart to which Belichick was referring:

Points in 4th quarter:
Chargers -- 176
Cowboys -- 142
Bengals -- 118
Eagles -- 118
Steelers -- 116
Colts -- 115
Saints -- 113
Bears -- 110
Giants -- 110
Patriots -- 110
Vikings -- 110
Jaguars -- 107
Seahawks -- 107
Ravens -- 105
Dolphins -- 101
Texans -- 101
Rams -- 98
Titans -- 98
Chiefs -- 95
49ers -- 95
Browns -- 91
Jets -- 88
Broncos -- 87
Cardinals -- 83
Redskins -- 76
Bills -- 74
Packers -- 73
Lions -- 72
Buccaneers -- 70
Panthers -- 55
Falcons -- 36
Raiders -- 24

THURSDAY LOOK-AHEAD: Bill Belichick is scheduled to hold his Thursday press conference at 10:30 a.m., followed by media access to the locker room. We'll plan on posting our next update after that.

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick opened his Wednesday press conference with the following statement:

"I think, in just speaking for our football team and coaching staff, I think we all know what kind of challenge we have in front of us with the Chargers. There's no question that they're the best team in the league. They've had an outstanding year, 14-2, their only two losses were right at the end of the game, very close games. Just about everything you want to say about that football team complimentary is well deserved. They do everything very well. I think it starts right at the top with A.J. [Smith] and Marty [Schottenheimer]. They've put together an outstanding team. It's a very young team. I know they have a couple of experienced players on either side of the ball, [Randall] Godfrey and [Donnie] Edwards on defense and Keenan [McCardell] and Lorenzo [Neal] there on offense. It's a very young, talented group. They’ve drafted extremely well. They have great players at every position. Their team really is the All-Pro team. They have a ton of players. I have a lot of respect for Marty and what he's done. He's had a tremendous career. His 200th win, 15 winning seasons. He's pretty much there every single year. His teams always play well. I think the biggest thing about San Diego that impresses me is just how few mistakes they make. They don't turn the ball over. They don't have many bad plays against them. They're consistent. They're tough. They make you earn everything you get. It's hard to get anything on them. It's hard to stop them. It's hard to move the ball on them. Their front seven is outstanding. They're very good on special teams. Scoring -- we always talk every week about playing four quarters of football, but you look at the 176 points that they've scored in the fourth quarter, that’s so far off the charts, it’s hard to even relate it to anything else. Think about it, they've won 14 games, so it's not like they're coming from behind every week. They put up points from the beginning of the game to the end of the game and they do it in a lot of different ways. They have a lot of great weapons. An outstanding football team, and it's a huge challenge for us going out there, where they're undefeated at home. We’re going to have to play our best football game. That's what we're going to prepare to do this week. It's a big challenge ahead of us. It's going to be a tough fight out there."

The Chargers released their Wednesday injury report:

DE Jacques Cesaire (knee) -- doubtful
DE Derreck Robinson (foot) -- questionable
DE Luis Castillo (ankle) -- probable
S Bhawoh Jue (knee) -- probable

Cesaire and Jue missed portions of team drills.

The Patriots just released their Wednesday injury report and safety Rodney Harrison (knee) has been ruled out for Sunday's game.

The full report:

S Rodney Harrison (knee) -- out
WR Bam Childress (ankle) -- questionable
FB Heath Evans (shin) -- questionable
TE Benjamin Watson (knee) -- questionable
QB Tom Brady (right shoulder) -- probable
CB Ellis Hobbs (wrist) -- probable
DL Richard Seymour (elbow) -- probable
LB Mike Vrabel (back) -- probable

Evans is the lone new addition to this week's injury report.

Childress, Evans, Watson and Vrabel were the players reported to have missed at least a portion of team drills.

RB Kevin Faulk (knee), CB/S Chad Scott (back) and NT Vince Wilfork (ankle) were removed after appearing on last week's injury report, all as questionable.

We'll pass along the Chargers' injury report when it becomes available.

The Patriots just released their Wednesday injury report and safety Rodney Harrison (knee) has been ruled out for Sunday's game.

The full report to come.

Former Patriots linebacker Andre Tippett was named a finalist for the 2007 Pro Football Hall of Fame today, marking the deepest he's advanced in the process.

Tippett is one of 17 finalists. The complete list can be found here.

Some highlights from Tippett's football resume:

A few notes from today's practice, which was held inside the Dana Farber Field House:

FOXBOROUGH -- Quarterback Tom Brady held his Wednesday press conference and said the Chargers are “the best defense we’ve probably faced.”

“They present a lot of problems for you in pass protection,” he said. “They’re so big, so they cause a lot of problems running the ball. They’re one of the best teams on first down, and create more second- and third-and-long opportunities than any team in the NFL. They’re good on third down. It’s exactly what you want from a defense.”

Brady touched on the pressure-based approach of the Chargers.

“It’s all about preparation, and this is another big blitz team, they’re about a 50-percent blitz team, so they bring it,” he said. “They get to the quarterback. It’s going to be a challenging day for the guys up front to handle the blitz pick-up, and it’s going to be difficult on the road, with all the communication stuff, and for the receivers to get open against one-on-one coverage, it will be challenging.”

Brady pointed out that the Chargers have nine Pro Bowl players.

“They’re 14-2, they deserve it, they have great players, guys who are dominant players in the league -- LaDainian [Tomlinson], [Antonio] Gates and [Shawne] Merriman and [Jamal] Williams, and their kicker [Nate Kaeding]. … Everybody is playing well for them,” he said. “You try to find matchups that work in your favor, but when you have All-Pros on the other side of the ball you have to do your best to hang in there.”

Brady said that he's picked the brain of receiver Reche Caldwell, in hopes of learning more about the Chargers' defensive backs.

"Reche has a bunch of familiarity with those guys, I know he's friends with a lot of those guys, and they don't think too highly of us from what Reche says."

LOCKER ROOM LOOK: Safety Artrell Hawkins, cornerback Ray Mickens, tight end Daniel Graham, outside linebacker Tully Banta-Cain, cornerback Asante Samuel and outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin were a few players answering questions in the locker room. ... Players were preparing to practice in full pads today, presumably to work on their "fits" in the running game as they prepare for the Chargers, who are especially effective running the ball.

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick held his Wednesday press conference (10:30 a.m.) and was complimentary of the San Diego Chargers. We'll pass along some of his remarks a bit later.

Belichick did not commit when asked if safety Rodney Harrison has a chance to play on Sunday.

More after the media's access to the locker room.

FOXBOROUGH -- The following is the media access today at Gillette Stadium:

10:30 a.m. -- Bill Belichick press conference
11:10 a.m. -- Media access to locker room
11:40 a.m. -- Tom Brady press conference
12:45 p.m. -- Media access to practice inside Dana Farber Field House
2:25 p.m. -- Marty Schottenheimer conference call
2:45 p.m. -- Shawne Merriman conference call
4 p.m. -- Injury report released

We'll plan on posting a few updates along the way.

The Patriots just sent out the following press release:

Rodney Harrison has been selected by his Patriots teammates to receive the 2006 Ed Block Courage Award.

The honor is bestowed annually upon the player who, according to his teammates, best exemplifies the principles of courage and sportsmanship while also serving as a source of inspiration. Harrison and award winners from 31 other teams will be honored at the 28th Annual Ed Block Courage Awards Banquet in Baltimore in March.

The Patriots will leave for San Diego on Friday, giving them a full day in California before Sunday's AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Chargers.

This is a change from the team's regular routine, as the Patriots generally travel to an opposing city the day before the game. This is the team's longest road trip of the season.

The Patriots are scheduled to hold a late-morning practice at Gillette Stadium on Friday, and will likely depart after that.

A few links from the Chargers' perspective leading into a week of coverage of the Patriots-Chargers game:

Closing the book on the Patriots' win over the Jets by looking at the positional groupings the team used on offense:

2 WR/2 TE/1 RB -- 34 of 72 snaps
3 WR/1 TE/1 RB -- 16 of 72
3 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 12 of 72
1 WR/2 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 5 of 72
1 WR/3 TE/1 RB -- 3 of 72
2 WR/1 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 2 of 72

(stats don't include final kneel down, or a Hank Poteat pass interference call that doesn't count as an official play)

ANALYSIS: The Patriots came out in their 3-wide package on their first two drives, running 14 of their first 15 plays out of the set. As Bill Belichick explained after the game, running the no-huddle with the 3-wide package was to establish the tempo of the game. After hitting the Jets with that initial blow, the Patriots didn't go back to the 3-wide package until the fourth quarter, on one of the big plays of the game -- a 10-yard catch by Troy Brown on third and eight to extend a scoring drive that ultimately put the Patriots up 30-16. Instead, the team settled into its base offense, with two wide receivers, two tight ends, and one running back. That package helped the Patriots combat the pressure the Jets were bringing on the pass rush, as the tight ends were crucial in the pass protection phase of the game. The power package with three tight ends, one fullback and one running back had some struggles at the goal-line, which will probably be an area of focus this week in practice.

TUESDAY LOOK-AHEAD: There is no media access at Gillette Stadium today. We'll plan on passing along our next update either later tonight, or Wednesday morning as coverage kicks off at the stadium.

The Patriots released the following statement from Scott Pioli:

"I am very honored to be granted the opportunity to discuss a potential position with the New York Giants. I have tremendous respect for the Kraft family, the Mara family, the Tisch family and the Giants organization. After careful consideration, and for personal reasons, I am continuing in my current role with the New England Patriots."

Patriots Vice President of Player Personnel Scott Pioli has turned down an opportunity to interview for the general manager's job of the New York Giants, according to Arthur Staple's blog on Newsday's website.

The report cites that the Giants asked for permission to interview Pioli, and the permission was granted.

We'll be following this story and will pass along any updates as they develop.

FOXBOROUGH -- Here is an unofficial look at the participation from Patriots skill-position players (non quarterbacks) in Sunday's win over the Jets:

TE Daniel Graham -- 63 of 72 snaps (87.5 percent)
TE Benjamin Watson -- 54 of 72 (75 percent)
WR Reche Caldwell -- 52 of 72 (72.2 percent)
WR Jabar Gaffney -- 50 of 72 (69.4 percent)
RB Laurence Maroney -- 34 of 72 (47.2 percent)
TE David Thomas -- 24 of 72 (33.3 percent)
WR Troy Brown -- 23 of 72 (31.9 percent)
RB Corey Dillon -- 19 of 72 (26.3 percent)
RB Kevin Faulk -- 19 of 72 (26.3 percent)
FB Heath Evans -- 16 of 72 (22.2 percent)
WR Chad Jackson -- 3 of 72 (4.1 percent)
WR Kelvin Kight -- 0 of 72 (0 percent)

(snaps don't include Vinny Testaverde's final kneel-down or a second-quarter pass interference call on Jets CB Hank Poteat, which wasn't an official play)

ANALYSIS: Tight end Daniel Graham finished with one catch -- a 1-yard touchdown -- but his value to the team was evident in the high number of snaps he was on the field. His role in the blocking game, specifically in picking up the blitz, was a key to the team's success. This is one example of how a tight end like Graham is of great value despite what pass-catching statistics might indicate. The Patriots utilized their tight ends quite a bit in this game, as evidenced by the high number of snaps taken by Watson (75 percent) and third tight end David Thomas (33.3 percent). At receiver, the big change from weeks past was seeing Jabar Gaffney in more 2-wide sets. That role had been held by Troy Brown of late, with Gaffney playing mostly in 3-wide sets. Gaffney made the most of his time on the field with an impressive outing. At running back, rookie Laurence Maroney had an increased load, and it was interesting to note that he had 16 second-half snaps, while Dillon had five and Faulk five. That the Patriots were comfortable turning to Maroney in such crticial situations is a sign of how he is viewed by the coaching staff.

MONDAY LOOK-AHEAD: Bill Belichick has held his regular press conference (9 a.m.) and players are off today. Tuesday is also an off-day for the players in terms of media access. We'll plan on posting our next update either later Monday night or Tuesday morning.

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick held his Monday press conference a bit earlier than normal (9 a.m.) and opened with the following statement:

"It's time to get past yesterday and get on to San Diego, and obviously we have a lot of work to do. We put all our energy and time into the Jets and now we're obviously behind on San Diego. We'll try to put the full-court press on now. They're a great football team. Ten in a row. Undefeated at home. Outscored their opponents by 200 points. You can go right down the line. Sixty-something sacks, whatever it is. It looks like they can do it all. Score a lot of points. Run the ball. Stop the run. Rush the passer. Return kickoffs. It doesn't look like they have a lot of weaknesses in their game, which you wouldn't expect them to have because they're 14-2, the top seed in the AFC. It's a big challenge for us and we've already started getting ready for this one."

A look at who's up and who's down from the Patriots' 37-16 win over the Jets:

Up
Tom Brady -- Quarterback avoids two costly interceptions and finishes 22 of 34 for 212 yards and 2 TDs, masterfully running the offense. He's now 11-1 all-time in the playoffs.

Jabar Gaffney -- In his first career playoff game, wide receiver totals eight catches for 104 yards.

Vince Wilfork -- Heads up play by nose tackle in recovering a third-quarter fumble was a huge play in the game.

Pass protection -- Offensive line, tight ends and running backs all included in this group, as the blitzing Jets were kept at bay.

Kickoff coverage -- Terrific job by the group that includes Artrell Hawkins, Willie Andrews, Eric Alexander, Larry Izzo, Ellis Hobbs, Pierre Woods, Corey Mays, Chad Scott, Antwain Spann and Kelvin Kight. Pro Bowl Jets returner Justin Miller finishes with six returns for a 22.7 average.

Down
Corey Dillon -- Some good, some bad for the veteran running back, who averages 5.3 yards per carry, but whose lost fumble at the New England 15 gave the Jets early life.

Artrell Hawkins -- Veteran safety misses the tackle on Jerricho Cotchery's 77-yard TD reception.

Benjamin Watson -- Tight end returns and makes four catches, but also has a drop.

MONDAY PLAN: Patriots coach Bill Belichick will hold his Monday press conference at 9 a.m. EST. We'll plan on passing along our next update after that.

A few notes to wrap up the Patriots' 37-16 win over the Jets:

A few more comments from the Patriots' locker room:

TE Daniel Graham:
(On pass protection)
"We just sat back and were patient during their blitzes and just picked them up when they came up. Our coaches put together a great game plan to stop the blitz that they were throwing at us."

S Artrell Hawkins
(On success in the red zone defensively)
(On the red zone defense throughout the year)
"We have been fortunate and have executed and done the things we needed to do in the red zone. We were the number two red zone defense coming into the game and that just goes to show you the bend and don’t break mentality we have. When we are on the 1-yard line we feel like they don’t have to get it in and never concede anything and fight to the very end."

WR Reche Caldwell
(on the offensive attack)
"I think we ran the ball a lot better, threw a lot of short passes, and I think the offensive linemen did a great job of protecting so we could get the ball down the field. I think [coordinator Josh McDaniels] had a great game out there. They brought every kind of blitz and we had a great scheme of picking it up, so it really wasn’t big pressure for us. We did a great job of picking it up."

LB Tedy Bruschi
(on the recovery by Vince Wilfork)
"We were talking on the sidelines that it was about time we created a turnover to break the game open. That was a play that half of us knew what was going on and the other half didn’t. We didn’t know if it was a lateral or a forward pass and it was a heads up play by Vince Wilfork to pick up the ball and play till someone blew the whistle."

TE Benjamin Watson
(on Tom Brady)
"He’s the field general. He calls the protections. I can’t emphasize enough the job the line did to give him protection so he had time to hit his guys down field. He never sits down when we’re off the field and he’s always rallying the troops. He’s a fiery guy and a great competitor. He was locked in from the beginning. He lets us hear it when we don’t do stuff right but it’s constructive and we know he just wants to win. When I was in college, he was out here winning Super Bowls, so there’s no quarterback I’d rather have."

DE Richard Seymour
(on the Jets' offense)
"Going into this week I think it was a game about being patient. You look at the Jets and their offense is about ball control -- dink and dunk, control the clock, throw in some runs and some quick passes. Defensively, if you’re not patient you can get frustrated. It’s the type of offense that can frustrate you. For us it was about being patient and making the play when your number was called. We were fortunate enough to make more plays then them today. It was a big win."

Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma:

(On his emotions after the game)

Obviously right now I’m very disappointed. You know, hats off to New England. They did a good job today. They executed well today and we didn’t execute that well. We obviously came out, we played hard, gave a lot of effort but you have to execute especially in games like this with the caliber team that we’re playing against, so we’re just disappointed right now.

(On defensive performance by Jets)

It came down to execution again. There were times when we could’ve made the play or should’ve made the play but we didn’t make the play. We had a breakdown here or a breakdown there and on top of that with Tom Brady you can’t have breakdowns technically, mentally, physically or he’s going to capitalize. He’s going to excel on plays like that and capitalize on your mistakes. But defensively there were times we played well and times we didn’t play well.

(On trying to sack Tom Brady)

I was attempting a strip sack. He made a nice play by moving up instead of trying to spin back out like most quarterbacks do. He moved up and then moved out to the left instead of spinning, so it was a good play on his part. I thought I had the ball. Obviously I didn’t and he made a play on it.

(On Patriots’ touchdown right before the half)

They scored a touchdown, that’s really what went wrong. But what I saw on the defensive side was there was really just a breakdown in coverage. We had a couple of guys in place that could’ve made the play, but didn’t. It was a good run and good throw by Brady and Daniel Graham who made the touchdown catch. That’s just one of many plays where they capitalized on our mistakes.

(On the Patriots defense)

We hope to strive to the Patriots’ level. But as you said that’s been six years, seven years in the making and I know the first year they weren’t perfect at it and they’ve started to get better and get guys along the process. So for us being that it was our first year, we had our bumps and bruises in the process and hopefully we can look for bigger and better things next year.

(On the Jets’ season)

You look at the big picture and you say it was a good job on our part. We worked hard – mini camps, training camps, to get to 10-6 and earn our way into the playoffs. But if you’re a competitor, a player, you don’t play to just get to 10-6 and lose in the first round. You’re playing for the Super Bowl. It’s tough to look at the positive things, especially when you have a lot of guys on our team who are so competitive. All we strive for is the next best thing and that would’ve been San Diego, the AFC Championship and then on to the Super Bowl. For us, it’s tough that we didn’t get to where we wanted to get to and we’ll reflect on the season later on.

(On the Super Bowl being in Miami)

That would’ve been a nice story, but this is sports, this isn’t a fairy tale. Unfortunately it won’t happen this year but I’ll take the Super Bowl anywhere, it doesn’t matter.

(On what he’ll do during the off-season)

It’s difficult the first week or so because, as Eric Mangini said, you don’t know what to do with yourself, you have so much time on your hands. I want to heal up and rest up as quick as possible. It’s tough because you’re going to sit back and think about all the plays that we could’ve made in this game today and get us to San Diego and we didn’t make them. That’s going to bother me and bother a lot of other guys on the team for a while. Once we get over that, we’ll rest our bodies and move on for next year

New York Jets Quarterback Chad Pennington:

(On his feelings after the game)

(I’m feeling) numb. I think after a loss like this and when you’ve accomplished a lot of things as a team, when you overcome a lot of adversity and do some things that people didn’t expect you to do, and then it all comes crashing down in 60 minutes worth of football, it’s just, your numb because you don’t expect it to end this way. There’s not one teammate of mine in that locker room who didn’t expect to win. We didn’t come here just to get a ‘congratulations’ or a pat on the back and say ‘Good job Jets, we’ll see you next season.’ We came here to win, we came here to advance. I don’t think we have anything to hang our heads about, but it’s definitely tough when you lose and when your season ends.

(On taking a moral victory)

As an athlete and as a competitor it’s hard to take moral victories because moral victory is an out. I know I’m in this to win and that’s the only thing that’s gratifying. Never one time this year was the effort not there from us. Never one time this year did we not prepare hard or work hard in practice and do those things. Just like every NFL team does, and especially in the playoffs, it normally comes down to probably a handful of the plays and that’s what happened. They made a couple more plays than we did and they gained the edge.

(On what play was the turning point of the game)

I’m sure you want me to say the fumble, but that doesn’t really … our defense did a good job of holding them to a field goal. There’s not one [play]. I don’t think there’s ever one, not unless it comes down to the last series of the last drive and you’re tied. In this game, there’s probably four or five. If you look at the stats, the three things that stick out to me most, first of all is third down efficiency, they were better than us in that area. Secondly is the red zone efficiency, they were better than us in that area. And then time of possession, they had seven more minutes of possession than we did. So those three things, you win those three categories, normally you win the game.

(On scoring field goals instead of touchdowns)

There’s a reason why the Patriots set a franchise record for scoring in a season – they’ve given up maybe 15 points a game, I believe. There’s a reason for that. The reason is they have the ability to play defense in the red zone and still stop the run with their front seven. That’s why they’re so good. They don’t have to blitz. They don’t have to leave receivers one-on-one to get an extra rusher against the passer. They can take their front seven, stop the run and then play all their combo coverages and defend down there. It’s very hard to get it in there. Looking at it, it’s always hindsight, you may want to do a couple of different things, but I knew every time that we got down there that we had to come away with something. We couldn’t give an opportunity for a turnover or something like that.

(On rhythm of offense today)

The first half was a little bit spurty and we would’ve liked to be more consistent in the first half. The second half, up until the fumble play and then even past that, we moved the ball effectively and efficiently and moved the ball down the field. So it was kind of the tale of two halves and then that one play gave them a two score-lead and made it tougher.

(On the lateral play)

It’s tough, sometimes when you throw that ball it’s not a lateral, sometimes it is a lateral. It all depends on if you’re trying to throw around somebody, it depends on different things. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thrown that ball in college and that’s the first time that’s ever happened to me – for it to be tipped and ruled as a fumble. I have to learn from it and whether it’s a lateral or not you need to recover it and not give the refs the chance to make that decision. It’s a weird situation and you just have to learn from it. Roosevelt Colvin did a great job, he was just the defensive end on the line of scrimmage and he timed it up perfectly and it was a great play. I’m not so sure he even thought it was a lateral because he was celebrating. Vince Wilfork picked it up.

(On watching Tom Brady lead the Patriots down field)

You’re just concentrating on what you have to do when you get the ball back. We’re looking at the pictures and making our adjustments. We did a nice job of making adjustments throughout the game, trying to get our receivers the ball and get those guys in space. We did some nice things, we just didn’t put it together and that’s the difference.

(On having to sit out a play)

I just hyper-extended my elbow, I think. That’s what it felt like at least. I just spun out from the defensive end and put my hand on the ground to keep from falling. When I did that it just felt like it hyper-extended kind of like your knee does if you get hit that way.

(On any similarities with the Patriots)

We have our own identity and I think we’ve proven that this year. We may have some similar characteristics, I’m sure we do. I think we’d be remiss not to want some of the characteristics that they have because they’ve been so successful. I think every team is different because we’re all human beings and we’re all molded a little different and all teams are molded a little differently – in attitude, personality and character. This team has just been awesome. The guys in that locker room are such character guys, we’ve been through a lot and to be able to respond like we have, it says a lot about those guys and they keep fighting, no matter what adversity there is, they just keep fighting. They’re just a joy to play with. They’re a lot of fun to play with.

(On coming back from injury)

There’s one thing about me that I think everyone should know. As far as this game is concerned, the only thing I think about, the only thing I dream about is winning and winning the championship, period. There’s a lot of things to be proud of as a team, there’s a lot of things to be proud of as an individual. But why am I playing this game? To win.

(On next season)

I think what you have to do when you have a semi-successful season is to concentrate on your work ethic. Make sure you’re working even harder than you did the year before. For me right now, it seems almost impossible considering all the things I’ve been through. But that’s what I have to do. I have to work harder, find more ways to get better, find better ways to lead this team. Right now, me talking to you, it’s tough to talk about those things because you realize all the sweat and blood, for real, that you put into it, and tears. So it’s a tough situation. I’m excited that I can be normal. I hope to have a normal, successful off-season where I can finally concentrate on me as a player and really look at the things that I can do to get better. The last two years it was really all about trying to get this shoulder back to functioning properly, to doing normal things like brushing your teeth and combing your hair. After that hurdle it was being able to lift it above your head and after that it was picking up a ball and throwing it five yards and constantly knocking down hurdle after hurdle. I hope I am blessed and fortunate enough to come into this next season and get back with these guys and work hard and do what we did this year. We kept our heads down, we didn’t look too far ahead and we kept working.

(On the Patriots defense)

They respected us, they respected our passing game and they played a lot of zones, they didn’t pressure us a lot – the first two plays of the game and then maybe once in the second half is about all they pressured us. They really respected our passing game and our receivers. I think their mentality was to win time of possession and put points on the board and defensivily bend but don’t break. They did a really good job of it.

(On New York/Boston rivalry)

I think with all the things that have happened with our team and Coach Mangini being our head coach, it creates more excitement between the two teams and creates more excitement for the fans. When the Jets and Patriots get together, it seems to be an exciting game with a lot of hype around it. It’s a division game, a division rivalry. Any time two division teams get together it’s pretty intense and pretty exciting.

(On not winning today’s game)

Every year, every team is going to look to get better -- look to improve, look to make adjustments -- to make the organization and the team better. As far as getting to the Patriots level, we feel like we had the team to compete with them and beat them. It always comes down to a couple plays here and there. That’s the difference in this league, it’s not like college, where you just put the ball down and can automatically tell one team is better than the other. That’s why fans love our game. On opening day, there are 32 teams and fans of 32 teams that think their team has a chance. You look at all the great stories that happen every year in the NFL, it’s because of the parity and because of the great job that the NFL does with the teams to create this excitement.

(On his teammates being proud of him)

It means a lot. You can receive a lot of compliments from people, but when you receive a compliment from your teammate – to me, that’s the ultimate. There’s not an award, there’s not anything other than a Super Bowl ring that’s more satisfying and means as much as that does. Because your teammates, those are your brothers, those are the guys you experience things with, that you go to work every day with and so it means a lot.

(On his feelings right after the game)

You’re just shocked and you can’t believe it’s over.

The following is the transcript of Jets coach Eric Mangini's postgame press conference:

I talked to the team. An extremely tough loss—I thought that we made some good plays throughout the course of the game and they made some good plays as well, but in the end, they were able to execute more effectively than we were. They do a better job on third down, on both sides of the ball. Stopping the run defensively was going to be extremely important. Not turning the ball over—they got some points late off of turnovers that put us in a little bit tougher spot than it had been. They’re a good football team and I give them a lot of credit. They’ve won a lot of games here in the playoffs and they out-executed us. That’s what it was, that’s what it came down to. I told the team that I was proud of the way that they fought, proud of the way that they approached the preparation, their effort throughout the course of the week and in the game, but in the end it still just came down to execution. Really, I told them I was most proud in terms of the season, not at the 10-6 record, not at getting to the playoffs. I was most proud of the effort that they put in, the way that they worked, the way that they came together as a team, and the progress that we made collectively. That’s something that we need to continue to do as a team is to make progress and be able to move forward. That’s what we’re looking forward to doing in the seasons to come. With that, I’ll open up to questions.

(On New England adjustments to the blitz packages from last game)

They started out in the no-huddle—it was something that we’d worked on—but that initial drive. I think that was one answer. They did a little bit better job where they incorporated more quick outs to try to prevent the disguise, that type of thing. Then, [they] mixed in the screens, some wide receiver screens and things like that as well.

(On Chad Pennington’s backward pass/fumble)

It was really an extended handoff. I thought the angle that Chad released it wasn’t behind the line of scrimmage and it had been tipped there. It was such a big field position changing play, I thought that we should challenge it.

(On Patriots’ offense starting on long drive at end of first half)

They can do a lot of things extremely well: whether it’s run the football, run the football out of multiple personnel groups, it’s Kevin Faulk, it’s [Laurence] Maroney, it’s [Corey] Dillon, they’re all extremely dangerous; then you mix in the effectiveness of their tight ends and the way they’ve been incorporating the receivers, it’s difficult. If you can’t get Tom [Brady] out of a rhythm and he’s able to be Tom then he’s made it a hard day on a lot of people.

(On Patriots’ red zone defense)

They’re pretty good in the red zone and they’ve been good all year. We knew that it would be tough—it would be tough to score there. The way the game was going, points were at a premium so I thought it was best to get the field goal. They’ve been very effective all year; you saw that, we anticipated that coming in and I thought they played well in the red zone again today.

(On Jets’ red zone offense)

I felt very good about the red zone package coming into the game and looking at it and understanding the things that we were going to get. We were close on some of those throws—a couple feet here or there and it would have been a different story. I liked the approach that we had going in, it just didn’t work out as well as we’d expected.

(On Patriots’ touchdown before halftime)

Anytime you can hold a team to three points at the end of a half—instead of a touchdown—is extremely important…We had dealt with adversity, a significant amount through the course of the season, and you go into halftime, you make the adjustments and move forward.

(On coaching approach of Patriots)

I think that Bill [Belichick] and the staff do a great job every single week and you see it throughout the course of the season, where their approach when playing Minnesota is extremely different than Miami than Buffalo, than you, and their approach in game one to game two to game three is going to be different. There are problems and you’re going to work on fixing them. You’re constantly trying to jump back and forth and they’ve done an excellent job week in and week out.

(On words exchanged during postgame embrace with Bill Belichick)

He said, ‘good luck’ and I wished him luck and I do wish him luck. This was a hard fought game against a good football team. Just like I said about our relationship, nothing’s changed.

(On whether hug with Bill Belichick was expected)

I’ve got to tell you, I wasn’t focused on that moment. It was nice, I honestly wasn’t thinking about that.

(On overall season and what to expect next year)

Like I told the players, what I’m most pleased with is the way that they worked, the way that they made progress, the way that they committed to each other and to the team. I thought that was extremely important and that’s what we’ll always be looking to do is to work together as a team and continuing to make progress.

(On the Jets benefiting from playoff experience)

I think that every year is its own entity and what’s going to happen 12 months from now is going to be so different. Each year is its own distinct period in time and you just don’t know what’s going to happen over the course of the off-season. We need to move forward and approach next year as next year and learn from this year and try to get better.

(On personal emotions at the moment)

It’s difficult, I was very comfortable with our level of preparation and the plan that we had going in and I knew that the players were going to play extremely hard and how important it was to all of us collectively and you want to go out and play your best football at this point in the year. I think that we worked hard and it wasn’t any of those things, it’s just that they executed more effectively than we did and that’s disappointing. It’s a pretty big transition going from working every single day to suddenly not having to get ready for practice. I’m not even sure what I’m going to do.

(On Chad Pennington’s performance)

Yeah, there are a few throws that I think Chad would like to have back, but you saw, again, Chad’s toughness. He got hit a couple times there—maybe more than a couple times—pretty hard and he just bounced back up. He’s tough and he’s got great leadership and I thought that his approach and his leadership throughout the week was outstanding.

(On what happened when Chad Pennington took one play off)

It was more, I think, a little bit stinging, it didn’t appear to be serious at all. I think it was one of those plays where [he] needed a few minutes just to reorganize [his] thoughts and for us to check it out thoroughly and move forward.

(On Andre Dyson starting, but being pulled early)

We had really felt good about the amount that he practiced this week, the tempo that he practiced this week, and I think maybe he got tweaked again. I’m not sure what the progression was.

(On whether Andre Dyson pulled himself out)

There’s give and take there and Corwin [Brown] is talking to him and [a trainer] was talking to him and collectively trying to figure out what the best course of action was and at that point, we just thought it was the best way to go.

(On Andre Dyson signaling to sideline to be pulled out of game after slipping, but Patriots running no-huddle and Dyson staying in the game)

I didn’t actually see him signaling on that play, so I’m not sure whether or not that was the case, but I know there was discussion after the drive was over. We were trying to monitor it, trying to get him to participate as much as possible, but [he] just couldn’t finish.

(On emotional impact of the backward pass/fumble)

That’s a great example, we’ve talked a lot about plays like that where you’ve got to force the official to make a decision and everybody has got to rally to the football because you don’t know what’s going to happen. That was one of those situations where Vince [Wilfork] made a really nice play and was very aware and picked up the ball and put them in a very good position. I was pleased the way our defense went out and responded and held them to three points. That could have been an even bigger momentum swing. I thought that the give and take there was actually positive in terms of the way we responded to adversity.

(On the team’s reaction to the backward pass)

You always want—whenever you have a situation where there could be a potential lateral—for everybody to play it out and to see. You always want the official to make the decision and not leave it up to chance and we should have been more aware there and it’s something that we talk about and Vince [Wilfork] did make a very nice play.

(On whether coverage on Asante Samuels’ interception this game was same as his interception in last year’s playoff game against Jacksonville)

No, it was a little bit different and the down and distance was a little bit different.

(On Tom Brady’s performance)

I’ve become more exposed to him on this side now. He’s a great player. He puts a lot of pressure on the defense because of the way that he understands what you’re doing, what they’re doing, what the best decision is, what the best play is and he’s got outstanding poise and he can hurt you at all times.

Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel:

(On interception)

He throws the ball kind of soft. I was kind of timid a couple times to go after it. I knew if he kept throwing it out there, I was going to get it. When I caught it and I looked, I expected someone to be there in my face and once I kept running I saw that there was no one there and I just kept running.

(On Vince Wilfork’s fumble return)

That was a rumbling, stumbling, tumbling return. I love to see those guys get the ball in their hands. They have all those stories about how they used to play running back and all that, so it’s good.

(On playing the Jets)

We know them but they run a complex offense to try to confuse you, a lot of motion, a lot of shifting. Coach [Belichick] prepared us for that and we just went out and played. We executed better and we played a lot more physical.

(On San Diego)

We have to go play a whole lot better than we played today. We had a couple mental errors, and a couple big plays. They’re physical. They beat us up and down the field [the last time we played]. It was kind of like an NFL team versus a college team. We just have to go out and play physical.

(On LaDainian Tomlinson)

He’s a great guy, explosive. That’s one of those guys I’m sure we’ll be game-planning for because if you don’t and you sit back, he’ll gas you like he does everyone else.

(On the chance this is his last game at Gillette Stadium as a Patriot)

I’m not thinking about that. If it is, then it is. It is what it is. I’m just trying to go out and play football and make the best of my situation.

Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork:

(On when he realized the lateral was a fumble)

[Not] until I picked it up. Once I got it in my hands, I looked over to the sidelines and they were saying, ‘Go, go, go’ and I was like, ‘Okay.’ That’s when I started running, but I didn’t know that it was a fumble. I knew it had a good chance of being one, so that’s why I at least had it in my hands. If it was one, I would have got tackled right there, but we still would have had the ball.

(On the run after the fumble)

Yeah, I had to turn on the speed, a little speed. I didn’t show you guys all of that. If I had run when I was supposed to run I probably would have gotten into the end zone, but one of those little guys caught me. I still don’t know who caught me.

(On the coach telling you to jump on the ball and ask questions later)

Exactly. And it was funny, because [Richard] Seymour, it was hitting his leg, so I said, ‘Man, let me get this ball.’ He walked right over it, and I was like, ‘Thank you.’ I just saw the ball on the ground. Any time the ball is on the ground, pick it up, and that’s what I did. I don’t know if I heard a whistle or didn’t hear a whistle. At least I had the ball, that’s what I was most concerned about. Pick it up and let the referees decide whether it was a fumble or a forward pass or whatever. You obviously play to the whistle but sometimes I don’t even hear the whistle.

(On the TV cameras not showing his run)

I don’t care. I have that ball and I’m going to take that ball home, as a matter of fact, so it doesn’t matter.

The following is a transcript of Tom Brady's postgame press conference:

Q: How big was your scoring drive after the Jets pulled within 7 points?

TB: Well, we had a few good drives. That was one of the most important. I think the drive before halftime was very important. Making it at the end there, after the touchdown to Kevin [Faulk], making it a 14-point game with about five minutes left, I wish we had done that a little bit earlier in the game. We weren’t as effective in the red zone as we would have liked to have been. That is a very good red zone defense. That is a very good goal line defense. So, there were some critical drives in there. I think that one to Kevin was obviously the biggest of the game and then Asante [Samuel] got the interception return for the touchdown. That pretty much sealed it.

Q: What is the biggest reason for your greater comfort level this time versus November 12?

TB: Well, the weather was nice. You play on that crappy field before with a rain storm and you are throwing today with beautiful conditions. It was very un-Foxborough-like this time of year. I think we had a great plan. We had a great plan. This is a pressure defense and I think we were prepared much more for the pressure this time around. The guys really did a great job up front sorting out the pressures and allowing us to make a few plays down the field. It was just much better execution all the way around.

Q: What their a difference in protections?

TB: Yes, there were a few different things we did.

Q: Can you give an example?

TB: We just tried to protect a little more. The first time we played them, it was a lot of five guys out, a lot of four guys out. This was a little bit different. When you play Pittsburgh, you have to prepare for the blitz. I think when we played these guys today we were prepared for the blitz. And then if they decide to play coverage, then we adjust. But, for a team that blitzes 70 percent of the time, we really didn’t realize that was the way it was going to be the first time around. We ended up throwing a lot of quick routes last game. We ended up just not being able to handle a lot of the pressures they were bringing. I think we were much better prepared.

Q: Can you talk about the game Jabar Gaffney had?

TB: He had a great day. He had a great week of practice. It was probably our best week of practice all year. Reche [Caldwell] had a great week. Jabar made a bunch of plays in practice and it ultimately carried over to the game. He was in a good spot to be able to catch the ball. He was the guy who was singled a lot out there. He really played well in his first playoff game ever.

Q: Why do you think he wasn’t with a team in October? How did he adapt so quickly to this offense?

TB: Well, he has worked extremely hard. He fits in very well here because he is smart, he is tough, he loves playing football and he is very coachable. This isn’t an easy offense for a receiver. So, over the course of eight or nine weeks he has really picked things up. He is playing really well for us. He made some really nice catches and we are definitely trying to get him the ball. Our offense is built around guys doing the right thing, being in the right place and for me trying to sort it out and find the guy who is going to be the most open. For the most part, I think we all did a pretty good job of that today.

Q: What was the advantage to controlling the tempo of the game?

TB: It got to be one of those games. I have never been in a game where it was like that. We were rushing to the line of scrimmage and rushing to run plays. I think at one point we ran the same play four times, and in my earphones Josh [McDaniels] said, “Run it again”. So I get up there and I am going, “Okay, let’s get up to the line”.

Q: Were those the Kevin Faulk runs up the middle?

TB: Yes. And I think sometimes you get into a rhythm out there and you just try to make them stop it.

Q: Was this a mind game between the two coaching staffs?

TB: Probably. It was like they think we are going to do this, and we think they are going to react this way, so what do we think they are going to think when we think? It was just one of those days.

Q: As a quarterback, do you relish getting into these types of mind games?

TB: As a quarterback you always like when the defense is off balance. I think we were trying to do that and I think we were effective at times today doing that. I think we got into a situation where we were forcing them to get their stuff called and lined up the right way or else they were going to have a hard time stopping us. I think, at times, we really forced the issue on them. I don’t think we have ever done it to that type of tempo, especially starting the game in no-huddle, which was a huge first series for us to go down and get ahead on them. Then we got down 10-7 and we kicked a field goal to [make it] 10-10, and the drive before the half was pretty critical going into the half up seven.

Q: Their philosophy last time was to get you out of rhythm. How aware of that were you?

TB: I think we just prepared very differently. Over the course of 16 games, here at this point in the year, the teams have really identified what they are going to do. You know their strengths. You know their weaknesses. You see how it has evolved over the course of 16 weeks. When we played them in the second game of the year, it was nothing like when we played them in week 10. In week 10, that was really when they started to kind of be the team they are today. So, when they played Minnesota, when they played Houston, when they played the Raiders, you see kind of how it all evolves and what they are doing well. We go into this game and say sure they could change it, but they have been playing pretty good defense doing what they are doing, so we are going to prepare for the stuff that they have been doing well. I think it was a much better approach for us.

Q: How did Faulk get so open on that touchdown?

TB: They were trying to blitz us and I think they just—we weren’t really free releasing the halfback a whole lot. Kevin slipped out of there. It was probably miscommunication by them.

Q: Would Kerry Rhodes have been responsible for Faulk on that play?

TB: I don’t know. There are ways they can do it. They can peel the end on him [or] Kerry can take him. Once again, we were going pretty quick, and we just got them in a spot that they probably didn’t want to be in.

Q: It looked like both you and Daniel Graham had to be very patient on that touchdown play.

TB: Yes, they had him pretty well covered and I saw the linebacker had his head turned. He really couldn’t see the ball and I tried to put it in a place where only Daniel could get it and Daniel made a great catch. Third-and-one there with no timeouts and 14 seconds left on the clock, you can’t take a sack and you can’t really run it because we didn’t have timeouts. So, I think they probably were playing for the pass and they had it pretty well covered. They had Ben [Watson] covered in the flat. I just tried to put it up there and let the big guy make a big play for us.

Q: Why are the players in the locker room so confident in Stephen Gostkowski that he can handle the pressure of the playoffs?

TB: Well, you just have to trust that he is prepared and he wants to kick in this type of atmosphere. Nobody can do his job for him. We are all worried about doing our own job and executing what we need to. When a guy has to go out there and kick, you just hope that he does the best that he can do. He did great today.

Q: Is it too early for Shawne Merriman nightmares?

TB: Probably not. I have seen him play a bunch of other quarterbacks this year and he is one of the best in the league. We have our work cut out for us. I don’t think we know a whole lot about this team besides LaDainian [Tomlinson] and Merriman. They have a bunch of great players so we have our hands full.

Q: How much do you relish this time of year?

TB: You put a lot into it. You put a lot into it over the course of five months of playing and three and a half months of training. I think when you are born, you are put on this earth and you have a certain skill set that helps you be ready for situations like this. We have a bunch of players who have come up over the years and trained to prepare for moments like this. It is about being focused, about working hard to prepare and not being overwhelmed by the situation. There is something in you that you just figure you can handle it. I am glad that we have the Tedy Bruschis and the Mike Vrabels and the Rosevelt Colvins and Richard Seymours, and you incorporate new guys into the mix like Jabar and Reche that have been so excited to get to this moment. It is very rewarding when it pays off. It is very rewarding when you lose to a team at home, really get outplayed, and then you come back and beat them by 21 points.

Q: Do you think you are playing your best football right now?

TB: Yes. I think definitely, no question. The defense has been playing great all year. Offensively, I think we have kind of found a nice identity. We know what our guys do really well, guys we have incorporated. We are running the ball really well and spreading the ball around to a bunch of different guys. The kicking game has really come a long and the return game has been great. So, we just have to keep it going.

Q: Was this a day about being patient?

TB: Yes, being patient and being efficient. I think the positive thing today was we kept going forward. I don’t think there were too many times where we had a bunch of negative plays. The sack that I took in the red zone wasn’t very smart of me. But, there weren’t a whole lot of negative plays. When you can keep those third downs manageable-- I think we were pretty good on third down today, too. It was just good execution and really trying to keep the pressure on that defense.

The following is a transcript of Bill Belichick's postgame press conference:

Bill Belichick (BB): It was real good to go out there and win today. I’m real proud of our team. I thought they stepped up and played some of the best football that we’ve played all year as a team in all three phases – special teams, covering those kicks, and offensively, third down, picking up the blitz, running the ball, defensively, I thought those guys played well. The Jets are a good football team. I give them a lot of credit. They certainly gave us all that we wanted today. All three games were very hard-fought. They’re a physical team. They’re a good football team. Eric [Mangini] has done a good job with that team. We were fortunate to win today. I think our players stepped up and just made a few more plays, and that was obviously the difference in the game. I’m really proud of the way they played and their toughness and their competitiveness. Now we’re moving on to San Diego. We all know how good they are. We’re going to have to continue to bring our A game to be competitive this time of year. We all know that. A lot of guys played well today. It would be hard to single anybody out, but as a team, I thought they really played well as units and we executed things, probably, some of the best things we’ve done all year.

Q: Can you talk about the Vince Wilfork fumble?

BB: It looked like they were trying to throw the bubble pass out there to the slot. It was clearly a lateral. I was standing almost right on the line of scrimmage. I definitely thought the ball was lateraled. [Rosevelt] Colvin got his hand on it and Vince made the smart play, which we always talk about, is get on the ball and ask questions later. It was disappointing to see him get run down from behind there. Obviously, that was a big turnover. Unfortunately we were only able to get three points out of it, but still, that was a big field position swing. It did give us a few more points there. It was a big play.

Q: Can you talk about starting the game, offensively, no huddle? How important was that for momentum?

BB: I thought it was important. The whole game was a little bit of a tempo game, both ways, on the line of scrimmage and getting players in and out. Both teams used timeouts on substitutions, and getting the calls and the communication was an issue all the way around. Tom [Brady], as always, does a great job managing that. We were able to punch some runs out there in the second quarter, in some of their sub defenses. I thought that opening drive was a big drive for us, obviously, to get on top and try to play the game from ahead, even though we eventually gave it back to them. That’s certainly the way you want to start the game.

Q: Did playing no huddle early on force them to keep the same personnel on the field a little bit so you could create matchups there?

BB: Well, yeah, that’s inherent in that, if you don’t substitute, then they can’t substitute either. Again, there’s advantages and drawbacks to it. We wanted to go at a tempo where we could kind of control it and not get into as much of a matchup game, even though we wanted to play some of that, and we did play some of it, we were able to just control the tempo early in the game and that was something that we wanted to do.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about Jabar Gaffney and the day that he had?

BB: Jabar has done a good job for us all year. He came in here earlier in the season, about a quarter of the way through. He’s learned all of the positions. He’s played X. He’s played Z. He’s played in the slot and he’s a smart kid, a good route runner. He’s done a great job of picking up the system. He works as hard as anybody. He’s given us some quality plays this year. I was just happy for him and all of the receivers, the tight ends. Offensively we had a lot of production across the board, a lot of different guys. That’s what you always like to see, is that kind of balance and good team execution.

Q: Other than better execution, what would you consider Tom’s greater comfort level was this time than November 12th?

BB: Again, I just think we played better as a football team. We had better field position. We played better on defense. We had better protection. We ran the ball better. I think everybody played better. I think we did a better job in trying to play our game and do the things that we need to do. It wasn’t perfect. The Jets give you a lot of things to worry about and they give you a lot of problems. I thought our tight ends and backs did a great job today in blitz pickup. They ran a lot of pressures and crisscrossed guys, moving them around before the snap, and coming from different spots, just to be able to sort all of that out and get them blocked was…Dante [Scarnecchia], Josh [McDaniels], the offensive coaches, Pete [Mangurian], Ivan [Fears], those guys did a great job of sorting all of that stuff out and being able to pick it up. The receivers, they obviously stepped up and made some plays today.

Q: Can you talk about Kevin [Faulk’s] touchdown play? It seemed like the Jets blitzed up the middle and he was wide open.

BB: It looked like they missed the peel on it. I think somebody was probably supposed to peel with him on the blitz, kind of out of the backfield, and it looked like they must have missed it. I couldn’t really see it. I was standing on the opposite side of the field. My guess is that they had somebody assigned to peel with him and he must have missed him.

Q: What did you say to Mangini after the game?

BB: Do you want to talk about the game? I’m not going to get into a postgame analysis here. Really, I’ve had enough of that.

Q: The photographers thought it was a big show.

BB: There were 80 people between me and Eric. I’m just trying to coach the team, that’s all. I’m just trying to coach the team.

Q: Can you talk about Asante [Samuel’s] interception play?

BB: We were in a coverage that was a little bit of a combination coverage and Asante kind of dropped back like he was going to cover the outside receiver. He made a great move and trapped the inside receiver breaking out. Asante has a great feel for doing things like that. He made a nice play on the ball and [had] a good run. It was a big play, but it was well executed by [Ray] Mickens, and Asante, and the safety. It was just well timed. Once again, the pressure upfront makes it tough, hopefully, for the quarterback and the receivers, to execute those deeper down the field throws, and I thought, really good pressure, too, on the pass rush.

Q: Do you have the luxury of taking any time to enjoy this win or do you have to turn the page pretty quickly here?

BB: I think we have to turn it pretty quick. I think that San Diego has pretty much led from start to finish here. You look at all of the ratings that you guys do every week and they’re always right up there, one or two. They’ve been there all year. They’re the number one seed, so the best team in the AFC based on the regular season performance, and they deserve to be. They’re good on defense. They’re good on offense. They’re good on special teams. They can score. They can stop you. They had a week’s rest. I’m sure they’re going to be ready to do. I have all the respect in the world for Marty [Schottenheimer] as a football coach. We don’t have long, maybe a couple of hours here. We’re going to have to go on the road and get back to work here against San Diego. They’re tough.

More to come.

A few hours after the game, we'll plan on posting comments from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, Jets coach Eric Mangini, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and other players.

With just more than five minutes remaining in the game, WR Jabar Gaffney has totaled eight receptions for 104 yards, establishing new career highs with the Patriots. He entered today's game having totaled 11 catches for 142 yards on the season.

The official scoring on the play that set up the Patriots last field goal is as follows:

Chad Pennington rushes for minus 6 yards and then fumbles. The forced fumble is credited to outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, and Vince Wilfork gets credited with a 31-yard return.

WR Laveranues Coles, who left the game with a jaw injury, has returned to action.

Jets WR Laveranues Coles has left the game with a jaw injury. The Jets announced that his return is questionable.

A few notes from the Patriots' media relations staff:

Analysis from the first half of today’s game, with the Patriots leading 17-10:

The Patriots opened with a no-huddle offense, setting a tone for what has been an interesting half of give and take between the teams. Both offenses have challenged the defenses to be able to substitute, with each side looking to control the tempo of the game. The chess match has been intriguing to watch in the stadium, as sideline management has been a game within the game.

On the negative side for the Patriots, the defense was apparently caught in the wrong coverage on Jerricho Cotchery’s 77-yard touchdown catch. Patriots coach Bill Belichick had a few discussions with coordinator Dean Pees after the play, an indication that something broke down in the scheme department. In addition, the damage would have been less severe if safety Artrell Hawkins squared up and made the tackle on Cotchery after the catch. As the last line of defense, that was imperative.

Also, questionable play-calling in the red zone ultimately led to the Patriots settling for a second-quarter field goal. With three tight ends, a fullback and running back on the field at the 3, the Patriots ran a short pass to the left sideline to Corey Dillon, which didn’t yield positive yardage. A run for 1-yard was followed by an incomplete pass. The Patriots have been one of the NFL’s most efficient teams in the red zone, but that wasn’t close to their best work.

One area of concern for the Patriots entering the game was the Jets’ pressure, but New York hasn’t pressured as much in this game as it did Nov. 12. QB Tom Brady has generally had enough time to make plays, so protection has been good enough.

The Jets get the ball to start the second half. For the Patriots to win, they'll need to avoid defensive breakdowns that lead to big plays -- especially in the passing game -- and finish drives offensively.

QB Tom Brady has now thrown a TD pass in 10 straight playoff games, tying him with Joe Montana and Ken Stabler for the third longest streak in NFL history.

The Patriots were forced to call a timeout to get their nickel personnel on the field. CB Ray Mickens, DL Jarvis Green and DB Chad Scott came onto the field, with OLB Tully Banta-Cain, DE Ty Warren and NT Vince Wilfork coming off the field.

We're seeing an interesting chess match when it comes to the tempo of the game, as the Jets' attack is making it difficult for the Patriots to substitute.

QB Matt Cassel continued to serve as the team's holder on field-goal attempts. This marks the third straight game he's served in that role.

Punters Josh Miller and Ken Walter held for the team before being lost for the season due to injuries.

The Jets' 77-yard TD pass from Chad Pennington to Jerricho Cotchery is the longest playoff pass play in Jets history. The play is the fourth longest pass play given up by the Patriots in the playoffs.

The Patriots inserted Mike Wright at nose tackle and Jarvis Green at right defensive end for the Jets' fourth offensive drive. Wright spells Vince Wilfork, and Green gives Richard Seymour a breather.

Corey Dillon's first-quarter fumble is his third of the season. All three fumbles have been recovered by the opposition.

The Patriots had 27 total fumbles in the regular season, losing 15.

Jets QB Chad Pennington missed one first-quarter play after absorbing a hit from Richard Seymour. He was replaced by Patrick Ramsey.

Also, on the Jets' last defensive drive, they replaced CB Andre Dyson with Justin Miller.

Defensive starters for the Patriots:

DE: Richard Seymour
NT: Vince Wilfork
DE: Ty Warren
OLB: Rosevelt Colvin
ILB: Tedy Bruschi
ILB: Mike Vrabel
OLB: Tully Banta-Cain
CB: Asante Samuel
CB: Ellis Hobbs
S: James Sanders
S: Artrell Hawkins

The Patriots won the toss and elected to receive.

Offensive starters:

LT: Matt Light
LG: Logan Mankins
C: Dan Koppen
RG: Stephen Neal
RT: Nick Kaczur
TE: Daniel Graham
QB: Tom Brady
RB: Corey Dillon
WR: Reche Caldwell, Troy Brown, Jabar Gaffney

The Patriots carry an eight-game home playoff winning streak into today's game. The franchise is 8-1 at home in the playoffs, with its lone loss coming Dec. 31, 1978 to Houston (31-14).

Eight of the franchise's nine home playoff games have taken place since Robert Kraft purchased the team 13 years ago.

Nose tackle Vince Wilfork and tight end Benjamin Watson, who have been sidelined since suffering injuries Dec. 10 against the Dolphins, are active today.

Now a look at the Patriots’ inactive players and what that could mean for others:

Inactive players for the Jets:

RB Derrick Blaylock
RB Kevan Barlow
FB Stacy Tutt
LB Anthony Schlegel
OL Na'Shan Goddard
OT Ed Blanton
DE Dave Ball
Kellen Clemens -- 3rd quarterback

Inactive players for the Patriots today:

WR Bam Childress
S Rashad Baker
S Rodney Harrison
OL Gene Mruczkowski
OT Wesley Britt
DL Le Kevin Smith
DL Marquise Hill
Vinny Testaverde -- 3rd quarterback

Tight end Benjamin Watson, who hasn't played since injuring his knee Dec. 10 against the Dolphins, is jogging around the Gillette Stadium field.

In Watson's absence, the Patriots have turned to rookie David Thomas the past three weeks. The team generally likes to have three tight ends dressed on game-day, and it appears Watson is ready for a return.

FOXBOROUGH -- Welcome to Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots will host the Jets in an AFC wild-card round playoff game (1 p.m. EST).

The temperature is currently 46 degrees, it's sunny with clear skies, and a light wind has the flags in the stadium rippling.

For perspective on the weather, here are the game-time temperatures of the team's past home playoff games in January under coach Bill Belichick:

The winner of today's wild-card round playoff game between the Patriots and Jets will face the Chargers on Sunday, Jan. 14 at 4:30 p.m. EST.

The complete divisional-round playoff schedule can be found here.

The New York Times publishes a piece on the Patriots in their Jan. 6 editions with comments from team owner Robert Kraft.

The premise of the article is that the Patriots are a franchise others hope to duplicate. Kraft touches on Jets coach Eric Mangini in the piece, saying: "Eric had the advantage of training under the No. 1 person in the field. He was smart enough to learn from him. When I hear him, it’s a replication of a lot of things Bill did. This year has been a different year. Coach Belichick has done an outstanding job in managing our resources. Scott Pioli has done a great job in the personnel area.”

Kraft also touched on his feelings on first-round draft picks, saying: "The first five to eight picks are noneconomical. The sweet spot is mid to late first round, where you get players and the pay is market-friendly. We wanted to keep Adam [Vinatieri] and Deion [Branch]. But if you make bad decisions, you can’t bury your errors. You have to balance that with a sense of loyalty to your players and your emotions.”

Bill Vinovich is scheduled to referee Sunday's wild-card round playoff game between the Patriots and Jets.

Vinovich's crew called the Patriots' 38-13 win over the Bengals on Oct. 1. The Patriots were flagged for seven assessed penalties that day (for 61 yards) while the Bengals had nine (for 74 yards).

Vinovich hasn't reversed many calls on instant replay this year. His crew has had 17 challenges this year, with only four reversals (23.5 percent). The average reversal rate is 34.5 percent.

Vinovich's crew has called an average of 12.2 assessed penalties per game, which is slightly higher than the league average of 11.9.

FOXBOROUGH -- Wrapping up today's media coverage of the Patriots at Gillette Stadium:

The Jets also had no changes on their injury report today.

The Patriots had no changes to their injury report today. We'll pass along any changes on the Jets' report when that becomes available.

A few notes from today's practice, which was held inside the Dana Farber Field House:

FOXBOROUGH -- Nose tackle Vince Wilfork, who has missed the last three games with a right ankle injury, drew a large crowd in the locker room today.

Wilfork said he hopes to play on Sunday.

"You play with pain all the time, being an athlete," he said. "I'm feeling good, but I can only tell how I'll feel when I'm taking on double teams."

Wilfork added that the last three weeks have been hard on him, after a teammate rolled up on his ankle in a game against the Dolphins on Dec. 10.

"I love to play football," he said. "It's frustrating at times, sitting out. It's really tough. I never missed a game, these past [three] games are the only games I've missed and the other one is when my mother got sick. Playing football, that's my life. Being out for three weeks, I'm in a rush to get back."

EXTRA POINTS: WR Jabar Gaffney, RB Kevin Faulk and OLB Rosevelt Colvin were a few players drawing larger crowds in the locker room today. ... Coach Bill Belichick's press conference touched on a variety of topics, from defensive coordinator Dean Pees, to the stabilizing presence of veteran safety Artrell Hawkins, to his respect for Bill Cowher, who is reportedly resigning as Steelers coach. ... The Patriots are scheduled to practice inside the Dana Farber Field House today.

FOXBOROUGH -- A few notes to wrap up a day of coverage at Gillette Stadium:

The Patriots had no changes to their injury report today. The Jets had a slight change, as LB Matt Chatham remains probable, but participated in all team drills. On Wednesday, Chatham was probable and missed practice to tend to personal matters. Now, he is probable with a foot injury.

Jim Nantz and Phil Simms are scheduled to broadcast Sunday's playoff game between the Patriots and Jets on CBS.

Some thoughts from Simms (supplied by CBS):

"As the Jets prepare to face the Patriots this weekend in one of the AFC wild card games, the big talk of course is about how the Jets beat New England on the road on November 12. You can never overlook head-to-head matchups (these teams split the season series, with New England winning in New York in September), but you always have to keep in mind that the environment they played in the last time will not be the same in a playoff game. If you’re going to study head-to-head results when assessing the playoffs, you have to consider the situations. What was the sense of urgency for both teams? What was going on at the time they last met? Here’s what we know about the last time these teams played: The Jets were coming off a bye week, and with a 4-4 record they may have had a little more sense of urgency. The Patriots were 6-2, coming off a Sunday night loss to the Colts. It was probably a little tough for the Patriots to rebound emotionally from that game. The Jets, meanwhile, were mentally and physically fresh. The bye week didn’t result in major changes, but it did give them extra time to straighten out some things. Players had a chance to get more settled with the new coaching staff and new system. Especially for new staffs, there comes a time when players and coaches seem to get on the same page. I don’t want to say the players give in, but it’s more like they come to an agreement. It’s not just coming together -- it really is coming to agreement -- the players finally buy into what the coaches are saying and asking them to do. This can sometimes be especially tough for veteran players -- to indoctrinate themselves to a new system and new way of doing things. Subconsciously, they fight it. They think, 'It’s worked pretty well for me this other way. Why change?' Barriers have to be broken down in the player-coach relationship.

"So I don’t look at the Jets’ 17-14 win over New England on November 12 as the turning point for the Jets. I look at the bye week that preceded that game as their turning point. It was when the Jets got things corrected both physically and mentally. We didn’t only see the results in that win over the Pats. We saw it the rest of the season, as they went 6-2 the rest of the way. They were a different team from that bye week on. The defense had more of an identity, and the entire team became more consistent. In this case, the cliché is true: When players and coaches are on the same page, it shows on the field. That’s what we’ve seen with the Jets.

"I’m excited about broadcasting the Jets-Patriots game on CBS. We all know the issues -- division rivals, the Eric Mangini-Bill Belichick connection. Familiarity breeds contempt, and contempt is a wonderful thing in football. It brings an added dimension to the game -- a little more of that anger, sense of urgency. Whatever you want to call it, this game has it.

"One thing that will be different is that this game will be played on Field Turf -- not the muddy, slippery, nasty field it was played on last time.

"As for the Patriots, I’ll just say this: they have no glaring weaknesses. If you look at each team in the playoffs and try to pick out the most obvious strengths and weaknesses of each team, I think it’s pretty easy to find the weaknesses. OK, so quick -- what’s the glaring weakness for New England? I think many people would say it’s their secondary. OK, so here’s my question: Are the Patriots giving up huge chunks of passing yards to their opponents? No, they’re not. I look at the New England Patriots and I don’t see any glaring weaknesses. Of course, when a team loses in the playoffs, its true weakness is usually exposed. So we’ll learn a little something about these teams after this weekend. In terms of emotions and urgency, every team in the playoffs is on an even field."

A few notes from today's practice, which was held inside Gillette Stadium:

A few notes from today's media access to the locker room:

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick held his Thursday press conference (10:30 a.m.) and noted that the team is working on situational football today.

Although the intensity is elevated with the team entering the playoffs, there were a few light moments.

Belichick was asked how he keeps the team focused and avoiding outside distractions.

"Not let the media in the locker room," he said, smiling.

Belichick then answered the question, turning serious.

"This is what we've worked for all year," he said. "We've been at this since players started the offseason program at the end of March. Spring camps, training camp, two-a-day practices, preseason games, a demanding 16-game regular season schedule, all to get to this point. So that's what you do just to have the opoportunity to be one of the 12 playoff teams, which we are, one of the six in the AFC. You work that hard to get to this point, I'd like to think that's when you really want to put your foot on the gas and try to take advantage of the opportunity. There is no guarantee this opportunity will ever be here again, for any of us. Everything is year to year. And obviously it's a one-game season."

As his press conference ended, Belichick chatted with ESPN's Chris Berman, who is present today.

As the Patriots prepare for their playoff opener against the Jets, the team's front office is also looking ahead. Along those lines, the team signed receiver Jonathan Smith to a reserve/future contract this week.

That means Smith will be part of the Patriots' roster when the 2007 league year begins.

Smith, a 2004 seventh-round draft choice of the Buffalo Bills, was claimed off waivers by the Patriots prior to this year's season opener. He was then waived before the first game, before being re-signed. The Georgia Tech product suited up in two games for the Patriots (no catches) before being waived Oct. 2.

FOXBOROUGH -- One of the themes today at Gillette Stadium was how the atmosphere changes come playoff time.

A few comments along those lines:

LB MIKE VRABEL: “You’re not going to try to psyche yourself out for a playoff game, but obviously things are a lot more important, because it’s a one-game season, and if we don’t play our best football, our season will be over.”

COACH BILL BELICHICK: "It's probably different, but similar, to going from preseason to the regular season. It's just a higher level and everything is more focused. It's a one-game season, so therefore it could be a one-play season. Games come down to one play or one situation. Everything has to be as perfect as you can get it, as good of football as we can play, that's what we need to do."

QB TOM BRADY: "Ultimately the game is still the same, it’s probably more the preparation that goes into it and the week leading up to it, the distractions that you have in your life. Try to put everything off that can wait until the offseason, try to put it off until the end of the year. Right now you just put everything aside in your life and try to go out and put everything you can into each week."

TE DANIEL GRAHAM: "It's do or die. We don’t have any time to make any mistakes. There’s no coming back to correct mistakes from this game. We have to go out and play a full game."

THURSDAY LOOK-AHEAD: We'll plan on posting our next update Thursday after Bill Belichick's 10:30 a.m. press conference.

The Jets' injury report:

RB B.J. Askew (foot) -- questionable
RB Kevan Barlow (thigh) -- questionable
CB David Barrett (hip) -- questionable
WR Laveeranues Coles (jaw) -- questionable
CB Andre Dyson (knee) -- questionable
RB James Hodgins (knee) -- questionable
C Nick Mangold (thigh) -- questionable
G Brandon Moore (ankle) -- questionable
S Kerry Rhodes (knee) -- questionable
DT Dewayne Robertson (knee) -- questionable
LB Matt Chatham (personal) -- probable
RB Cedric Houston (calf) -- probable
QB Chad Pennington (calf) -- probable
S Eric Smith (foot) -- probable
DE Bryan Thomas (shoulder) -- probable

Every player but Houston, Pennington, Smith and Thomas were reported to have missed a portion of team drills.

The Patriots just released their Wednesday injury report:

S Rodney Harrison (knee) -- out
WR Bam Childress (ankle) -- questionable
RB Kevin Faulk (knee) -- questionable
CB/S Chad Scott (back) -- questionable
TE Benjamin Watson (knee) -- questionable
NT Vince Wilfork (ankle) -- questionable
QB Tom Brady (right shoulder) -- probable
CB Ellis Hobbs (wrist) -- probable
DL Richard Seymour (elbow) -- probable
LB Mike Vrabel (back) -- probable

Childress, Faulk, Scott, Watson, Wilfork and Vrabel were players reported to have missed portions of team drills.

S Rashad Baker, DL Marquise Hill, OT Ryan O'Callaghan and DT Mike Wright were removed from last week's injury report.

Harrison was downgraded from probable to out. And Vrabel is the lone addition from last week.

Questionable is a 50-50 chance, while probable is defined as a virtual certainty to play.

We'll pass along the Jets report when it is sent out.

The Patriots announced the signing of rookie running back Quadtrine Hill to their practice today. The practice squad is now filled, with eight players.

A bit from the team's press release:

The 24-year-old Hill was originally signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2006. The 6-foot-2-inch, 228-pound running back was released by Houston on June 15, 2006. Hill was signed by the Chicago Bears on Aug. 21, 2006 and was released on Aug. 24.

Hill attended the University of Miami, where he played in 48 games over four seasons from 2002-05, rushing 40 times for 253 yards and catching 56 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns.

A couple of notes from today's practice, which was held on one of the fields behind Gillette Stadium.

FOXBOROUGH -- Quarterback Tom Brady held his Wednesday press conference and was asked about the challenge of facing the Jets, who beat the Patriots on Nov. 12.

"Hopefully, we've grown a lot since that last game," he said. "I think this team has a great challenge this week. They're very difficult to prepare for because they present so many different scheme-type things. It's one of the toughest teams we prepare for all year. Our team has showed some resiliency this year and hopefully we're up for the challenge."

Brady called this his favorite time of year.

In the locker room, safety Artrell Hawkins, linebacker Mike Vrabel, defensive lineman Ty Warren, tight end Daniel Graham, cornerback Asante Samuel, running back Kevin Faulk and outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin were some of the players drawing larger crowds.

On his conference call with New England reporters, Jets coach Eric Mangini was asked about his relationship with Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

"My feeling with Bill and our relationship is the same as the first two games. It's not going to change whether we play 10 times or 100 times. I can't tell you how much I appreciate what he's done for me and my family and how kind he's been throughout our relationship, and the opportunities he's given me. I care about him deeply, and I respect him as a person and a coach."

Also, fullback Quadtrine Hill was present in the Patriots' locker room today. He has apparently been signed to fill the team's last spot on the practice squad.

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick just held his Wednesday press conference (10:30 a.m.) and confirmed that safety Rodney Harrison will be out for Sunday's game.

He opened with the following statement:

"This is an exciting time of year for all of us. You think back to January, February, and some of the team-building that went on at that point -- the preparation for the season, offseason program, and all the work and effort that has gone into the season, to get to the point to be in the playoffs, it's an honor to be one of the last teams in the playoff hunt here, after the regular season has culminated.

"Obviously, it's a big challenge for us this week with the Jets. It's one of the best teams in football. They're very hot right now, won six of the last eight, beat all the division teams on the road, and they're very good in all three phases of the game.

"I think Eric [Mangini] and his staff have done a great job down there this year, they have them playing very well. Obviously, they came up there and handled us, so we know what kind of test we're in for. I'm sure it will be a tough, division game, like they all are. This being the third time, it's about as well as you can know a team when you play them the second game of the year, right at the beginning, and then in the middle of the season, and now in the postseason. That's spread out, that's a pretty good body of work.

"We've seen all their plays this year, I'm sure they've seen all ours, so I think these two teams know each other well, have a lot of respect for each other. Certainly at this end. We know we're going to have to play our best football of the year to be competitive with the Jets. That's what we need to do, we need to have a good week, and play well on Sunday. We know it's going to be a dogfight, like it always is."

EXTRA POINTS: A larger than normal media crowd is present, with more than 15 television cameras. ... On his relationship with Mangini and how it's evolved, Belichick said: "I don't think this is really a game about relationships, I think it's about two football teams. We're trying to put our game out there, and I'm sure Eric and his staff and his team are going to do the same on Sunday. That's really our focus, on the game." Later, he said "we're way past all that, we're talking about a playoff game here, where the season is at stake for both teams, so that's where my focus is right now." ... Belichick smiled when asked if his friendship with Nick Saban would be revived now that he's no longer the Dolphins coach. "It will certainly put it on different footing," he said.

FOXBOROUGH -- Here is today's media access at Gillette Stadium:

10:30 a.m. -- Bill Belichick press conference
11:10 a.m. -- Media access to locker room
11:25 a.m. -- Jets OL Pete Kendall conference call
11:35 a.m. -- Jets coach Eric Mangini conference call
11:35 a.m. -- Tom Brady press conference
12:45 p.m. -- Media access to practice
4 p.m. -- Injury report released

We'll plan on passing along a few updates along the way.

A look at the positional groupings used by the Patriots' offense on Sunday:

3 WR/1 TE/1 RB -- 22 of 59 snaps
2 WR/2 TE/1 RB -- 13 of 59
1 WR/2 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 13 of 59
2 WR/1 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 4 of 59
4 WR/1 RB -- 3 of 59
4 WR/1 TE -- 2 of 59
3 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 2 of 59

(snaps don't include two kneel-downs and a pass interference call drawn by Reche Caldwell that doesn't count as an official snap)

ANALYSIS: Last week against the Jaguars, the Patriots ran 54 of 67 snaps with three or more receivers on the field. This week, it was 27 of 59, a significant drop. The big change was more usage of a fullback. Last week against the Jaguars, the team used a fullback as a lead blocker just seven times. Against the Titans, the fullback was used in a lead blocking role 19 times. Reche Caldwell's 62-yard TD pass came in the 3 WR/1 TE/1 RB set with Caldwell, Chad Jackson, Jabar Gaffney, Daniel Graham and Heath Evans on the field.

A look at some key statistical areas and where the Patriots ranked in the 2006 regular season:

Rushing
Yards per game -- 12th (123.1)
Yards allowed per game -- 5th (94.2)
12th in yards per game last week; 5th in yards allowed

Turnovers
Differential -- tied-4th (plus 8 -- 35 takeaways; 27 giveaways)
tied-9th last week at plus-5

Points
Scored -- 7th (24.06)
Allowed -- 2nd (14.81)
8th last week in points scored; 2nd in points allowed

Third down efficiency
Converted -- 7th (42.5 percent)
Allowed -- 8th (35.9 percent)
5th last week in 3rd down conversions; 12th in third down defense

Red zone efficiency
TDs scored -- 6th (60.0 percent -- 60 trips, 36 TDs)
TDs allowed -- 2nd (34.3 percent -- 35 trips, 12 TDs)
ranked 4th last week in TDs scored; 4th in TDs allowed

A few quick hits as a week of playoff intensity begins to pick up steam:

JETS LINKS: The Globe's Christopher L. Gasper checks in from Hempstead, NY with a report from the Jets' side. ... Here is the view from the New York Daily News, Newsday, and New York Post.

HARRISON'S INJURY: The right knee injury sustained by safety Rodney Harrison in Sunday's game is to his medial collateral ligament, according to league sources. The severity, and how long Harrison might miss, is not known. The Patriots and Jets will submit their first injury reports of the week on Wednesday, around 4 p.m. EST.

DRAFT ORDER: With the conclusion of the regular season, the NFL draft order is tentatively set. The Super Bowl winner always picks 32nd, and the Super Bowl runner-up 31st, so some slight adjustments can be made. The Patriots are slotted at No. 22 (from Seattle) and No. 28 in the first round.

PLAYOFF LOOK: Of this year's 12 playoff teams, seven are clubs that didn't make the playoffs last year -- Baltimore, San Diego, Kansas City, Jets, New Orleans, Dallas, Philadelphia.

NFL Director of Offiating Mike Pereira reviewed the block of Titans wide receiver Bobby Wade on Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, and deemed it to be legal.

The league's vice president of communications, Greg Aiello, confirmed Pereira's ruling today. Pereira ruled that Wade was blocking upfield and not back toward the ball. Because of that, it wasn't determined by the NFL to be an illegal crackback block.

The play in question occurred early in the second quarter on a Travis Henry 9-yard run. Wade lined up as a receiver to the right of the line of scrimmage, which was the direction in which the running play came. Wade threw a low block on Harrison, who was pursuing the play, and the Patriots felt it was of the crackback variety because Wade appeared to be blocking back toward the ball. The NFL ruled otherwise today.

Here is an unofficial look at the snaps taken by Patriots offensive skill position players in the team's win over the Titans:

TE Daniel Graham -- 50 of 59 (84.7 percent)
QB Tom Brady -- 43 of 59 (72.8 percent)
WR Troy Brown -- 36 of 59 (61.0 percent)
TE David Thomas -- 33 of 59 (55.9 percent)
RB/FB Heath Evans -- 30 of 59 (50.8 percent)
WR Reche Caldwell -- 29 of 59 (49.1 percent)
WR Jabar Gaffney -- 26 of 59 (44.0 percent)
RB Laurence Maroney -- 25 of 59 (42.3 percent)
WR Chad Jackson -- 22 of 59 (37.2 percent)
WR Kelvin Kight -- 18 of 59 (30.5 percent)
RB Corey Dillon -- 21 of 59 (35.5 percent)
QB Matt Cassel -- 8 of 59 (13.5 percent)
QB Vinny Testavderde -- 8 of 59 (13.5 percent)
TE Mike Vrabel -- 1 of 59 (1.6 percent)
TE Russ Hochstein -- 1 of 59 (1.6 percent)

(doesn't include 2 kneel downs, or a pass interference penalty drawn by Reche Caldwell early in the third quarter as that is not an official play)

ANALYSIS: One week after the Patriots had three receivers atop their snaps chart, this was an example of how the team's plan changes each week. For the number of snaps he was in the game, Corey Dillon had a very productive day. Also, it was interesting to note Heath Evans taking the most snaps of all the running backs, a reflection on his versatility to line up as a running back on third down (replacing Kevin Faulk), or a fullback in a lead blocking role. Rookie Chad Jackson saw his load increase, although of his 22 snaps, eight came on the final drive. As his statistics indicate (4 catches, 134 yards, TD), Reche Caldwell had an extremely productive day for the snaps he played. The Patriots put a bit more on the plate of Daniel Graham at tight end, as the team compensates for the loss of the injured Benjamin Watson.

MONDAY PLAN: Today is a travel day back to Boston. We'll be on and off the web throughout the day.