San Jose, Calif. -- First of all, my apologies to those of you back in Rhode Island -- I hear it's cold. There is no such thing here today, as it is a gorgeous, sunny day in San Jose. Funny thing is, I generally grumble when my Florida-living parents tell me how nice it is when I'm freezing my butt off; but I guess I'm taking advantage of my opportunity to turn the tables...

New England is holding its first on-field practice of the week at San Jose State, and the team is in customary full pads. As an observer, the natural-grass field did not look like it was in very good shape, and the fields were not very level.

As to who was and was not on the field, CB Lewis Sanders (hamstring) returned, leaving three players not present for media access:

WR Kelley Washington
RB LaMont Jordan
LB Eric Alexander

And since the Patriots won last week, there were some players in black as the practice players of the week: QB Matt Gutierrez, RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, and LB Shawn Crable.