FOXBORO - Chad Brown will watch tonight. The veteran linebacker who's played inside with Monty Beisel since the start of the season is inactive for tonight's game. Brown didn't appear on the injury report this week so the return of Tedy Bruschi clearly had a direct impact on the 13-year veteran. Brown chose to join the Patriots on May 10 choosing New England over Denver, Pittsburgh and New Orleans.

Brown's forte has always been as an edge linebacker and a pass rusher. The retirement of Ted Johnson forced Brown to be bumped inside and he has not taken well to the position. At 245 pounds with a game predicated on speed and quickness, the 35-year-old has been miscast and -- as a result -- run over with depressing frequency.

How now Brown? We'll see. Perhaps he wasn't quite ready to slip to the outside and backup Rosevelt Colvin, Willie McGinest and Mike Vrabel. But the fact that Brown wasn't kept in the lineup in the interest of depth -- especially with Bruschi coming back from a long layoff -- is somewhat eye-opening.