Hey all --

Knowing that he was going to get myriad questions about Adam Vintieri returning to New England, Bill Belichick came into his press conference on the defensive and tried to stem the tide by concluding his opening statement by saying: "We have two focuses -- one is to get ready for the Colts and the other is to keep improving as a football team. So if it isn't about that, there's really not that much else to talk about this week."

The first two questions were not about Vinatieri, but then several after that were. Asked about Vinatieri's legacy, Belichick said, "We all know what it is. He did a lot for this franchise, a lot for this team. He made a lot of good plays for this team."

There wasn't much more after that.

Asked if the team will open the window on injured back Patrick Pass, who is on the PUP list, Belichick said, "I don't know."

The marquee matchup has brought all the big names here to the stadium, including ESPN's Michael Smith, Sports Illustrated's Peter King and the Globe's Charlie Pierce, who recently released a book about Tom Brady.

Vinatieri was, of course, the opposing player chosen for the Wednesday conference call. He said he was looking forward to coming back.

"I'm looking forward to opportunity to get back out there; it should be fun game," he said. "It will be important and special for me. The fans are great fans out there. I might have a few people cheer me at the beginning but I'm expecting once the game starts they're going to try to get the edge and that's probably (by) yelling at us like every team does."

In the locker room, Ellis Hobbs, Richard Seymour, Mike Vrabel, Rosevelt Colvin, Rodney Harrison and Billy Yates all drew a lot of attention from the media.

There was also a new nameplate up in the locker room, James Patrick. Patrick, a corner who was most recently on Tampa's practice squad. Patrick, listed at 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, played at Stillman and was signed to the practice squad.

shalise