Hey all --

Nothing earth-shattering to share about the day's events so far. Coach Belichick touched on a number of topics, of course, from Junior Seau to Ellis Hobbs to Ben Watson and Doug Gabriel.

Belichick did divulge that Seau received one of the game's balls after Sunday's win over the Bills, though Seau wouldn't say whether it had any significance to him: "I'm not looking back; I'm looking ahead to the Jets," he said.

But Belichick credited Seau with setting up Ty Warren's game-winning safety. It was Seau's downfield coverage on the tight end, he said, that put JP Losman in position to be taken down in the end zone.

Belichick noted that Hobbs made a huge leap from week one of last year to week 16 of last year. "At the end of the year, he was 800 times better than at the beginning of the year, maybe more," he said.

Hobbs, as he can be, was engaging in the locker room as he talked about his development, his me-against-the-world attitude on and off the field, and his four tattoos, all of which serve as visual motivation.

The locker room was unusually quiet. There were guys milling around, but the rookies can't talk and there's only so much you can write about the offensive line, so Hobbs was the star of the show for a while.

Interestingly, Rodney Harrison has yet to be seen in the locker room this week. He is generally one of the media's favorites for his pull-no-punches style. And Troy Brown has been scarce for much of the season.

It seems like Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney have struck up quite a friendship. On the field at practice yesterday, as they waited their turn with the sled, they were joking and laughing, and today, as Dillon did his usual I-hope-you're-not-looking-for-a-quote-from-me routine with another media member, Maroney was right behind him, laughing all the while. When a photographer approached the pair to take a shot, Dillon ducked behind the curtain where we aren't allowed but Maroney posed like he was at the club with his boys.

Practice is indoors today; we'll post what we see (or don't see) in a bit.

shalise