Rob Ninkovich News

There was an ironic scene on late Wednesday morning in the New England Patriots locker room.

Last Sunday's game in Foxboro was littered with messages from Bill Belichick. They were neither hidden nor subtle.

The checklist seemed to grow longer by the minute. With less than an hour before a team meeting yesterday afternoon, Patriots players loaded their duffel bags with all the necessities for game day.

Sure, 59-0 is embarrassing. Beyond belief. So is the fact that the Tennessee Titans apparently didn't have the right cleats, quarterback or intestinal fortitude to contend with the elements or the New England Patriots.

And if that wasn't bad enough for the veteran linebacker, Bill Belichick piled on following the 59-0 blowout victory against Tennessee.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has always been a wheeler-dealer around draft time, eagerly seeking out trade partners willing to barter the commodities of picks and players.

We'll evaluate it this coming week against Tampa like we always do. "I said many times he's a good football player, he's versatile, and he's made some big plays for us and done a lot of different jobs," Belichick said.

This was the Tom Brady everyone expects to see. New England Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich hauls down Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young during the fourth quarter of New England's 59-0 win in a NFL game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday.

For two decades it was very much his football field. Now it'll be made official.

The Patriots suffered a downer of a defeat to Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos, blowing a 17-7 halftime lead to lose 20-17 in overtime.

Taking Jerod Mayo out of Bill Belichick's newly designed 4-3 defense is like pulling the pin on a football hand grenade.

Bill Belichick's Patriots aren't necessarily thin at linebacker. Adalius Thomas is the only linebacker on the roster with a Pro Bowl to his credit, but Gary Guyton, Pierre Woods, Derrick Burgess, Eric Alexander and Tully Banta-Cain all have varying levels of experience playing the position.

Jerod Mayo 's season is not over. The reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year suffered a right knee injury in the first quarter of the Pats season-opening 25-24 victory the Bills, but will be back this season.

Let's take a journey through the 2009 New England Patriots locker room, and show you a couple of key spots before tonight's season kickoff against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium.

With Friday's release of QB Andrew Walter, an updated projection of what the Patriots' initial 53-man roster might look like : Quarterback : Brady, Hoyer Quick hit: Hard to imagine they'll keep just two for the long-term, but for now, this allows more flexibility to keep a player elsewhere.

Continuing the position battles: . Ok, to be fair, these battles have already been won for the most part.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick held a Q&A with the media Wednesday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.

Around noon yesterday, Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio reiterated the confidence he had in the team's candidates to replace Mike Vrabel at outside linebacker.

The Patriots were in full pads for their season-ticket-holder practice inside Gillette Stadium tonight .

New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma had minor surgery in his abdomen area last month.