Hey all --

We're just back from the locker room and are waiting to get on the field for practice. Not surprisingly, the team will be practicing inside the stadium today. They have yet to be on the new field (well, the middle part is new), and though New England's hand may have been forced in sprucing it up, no one can stop them from trying to rough it up a little before Indy gets here.

Tully Banta-Cain pulled a fast one on us. A few weeks ago, he said his son would be named after him, but then today he said he had a change of heart, and the baby is named Tavian. Tully said his change of heart came because the baby will have his last name but he wanted him to have his own identity. For the record, Tavian weighed a generous 8 pounds, 7 ounces at birth and was born at Women & Infants in Providence.

Banta-Cain's fiance, Bridget Hernandez, went into labor Monday morning, and he kept in contact as best he could during the day, in between meetings and preparation. He got word of Tavian's arrival via a photo text message, and said it caused him to lose focus for a minute, but then he decided to go out on the field and make the baby proud.

That was a good idea, noted Rodney Harrison: "As I told him, you have a mouth to feed for 18 years now, you have to go out and make sure you have money coming in."

Because of his situation, Banta-Cain flew home from Minnesota on Bob Kraft's private plane and he was impressed with the ride: "Mr. Kraft knows what he's doing, I'll say that," he joked.

There was a lot of talk in the locker room about Peyton Manning and his talents, but as Harrison said, he can't win and lose games all by himself no matter how good he is.

In Bill Belichick's press conference, things weren't quite as tense as they were yesterday, and he touched on the versatility of Dallas Clark in the Colts' offense, as he can line up as a tight end or as a slot receiver; the progress of Banta-Cain as he's gotten more opportunities to be on the field this year, both in practice and in games; Laurence Maroney's skills as a kick returner; the strengths of Indy rookie back Joseph Addai, whom Belichick said the Pats took a look at before the draft; and even the injury report.

Told that each team reported 17 players as questionable, Belichick smiled and said, "Really?" He further said that he is just trying to follow league guidelines with their report, and that the Pats will prepare for all 53 men on the Colts roster unless they know for sure someone is out.

shalise