By ROBERT LEE
JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER

FOXBORO -- Tom Brady won't be suiting up for the Patriots this season, but that doesn't mean he can't help in other ways.

His appearance at practice on Thursday gave the Patriots morale a big lift, defensive back Rodney Harrison said.

"He's still a part of this team," Harrison said. "He's still a captain of this team. He's still the leader of this team. I had a brief talk with Tom today just to express my appreciation of seeing him and seeing his smiling face. His presence alone makes a difference in this locker room.

"Coming to say hello to the guys, it was very encouraging to see Tom, and like I said yesterday, Tom can still have a lasting impact on this team because he has so much knowledge of the game so he can help in so many different areas of recognition -- watching film and helping [Matt] Cassel out on the offense."

Harrison missed nearly all of the 2005-06 season when he was hit in the knee by a falling Cedrick Wilson and tore the ACL, MCL, and PCL in his left knee, which required surgery to fix.

It has been reported that Brady also suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee. Harrison said that he gave Brady some advice about missing a season with a knee injury.

"Just be patient," Harrison said he told Brady. "You are going to learn how to do crossword puzzles and play video games because it's boring as heck being hurt, especially so early in the season."

Brady's streak of playing 128 consecutive games is going to come to an end on Sunday.

"This is going to test Tom as a person as well because you find out a lot about yourself because it's not during the good times when everyone is patting you on the back but in the tough times when you are all by yourself, you find out about your patience levels," Harrison said.

"You really find out, what type of person you are made of. I think as he's gotten hurt and he's facing adversity right now, he'll really grow and mature as a person. Within yourself, you start to appreciate all of the small things you're given - your family, your sisters, your brothers, just the small things in life. You understand that football is important, but not the No. 1 thing."

Harrison said that when he was hurt, Brady was one of the guys that he would send text messages to and "tell him what he did wrong and what he did right. I'm sure he's going to do the same thing with me...You get excited about watching your teammates when you're hurt but at the same time you miss the game because it's what you love to do."