Rob Ninkovich News

The Patriots, it seems, are getting healthy this week. Only three players did not practice today, and there were other promising signs, too.

Welcome to SportsNation! On Thursday, ESPNBoston.com will host a chat to take your questions on the New England Patriots-New York Jets game this weekend.

Monique Walker passes along the list of players not present at this afternoon's practice: Fred Taylor, Rob Ninkovich, Steve Neal, Tully Banta-Cain, and Jarvis Green.

That was certainly an impressive statistic after eight games, but we all knew it wouldn't hold any substance until seeing how they stood up to Peyton Manning.

One of the side stories to come out of the tremendous game in Indianapolis last night was the idea that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick did not have faith in his defense, which led to his decision to go for it on fourth down in a situation where most other coaches would have punted.

UPDATE, 12:46 3rd quarter: Ninkovich's return is questionable. Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich went down at the 3:20 mark in the 2nd quarter.

With apologies to Southeast Missouri State fans, Dan Connolly didn't come from a collegiate powerhouse.

There was an ironic scene on late Wednesday morning in the New England Patriots locker room.

Last Sunday's game in Foxboro was littered with messages from Bill Belichick. They were neither hidden nor subtle.

The checklist seemed to grow longer by the minute. With less than an hour before a team meeting yesterday afternoon, Patriots players loaded their duffel bags with all the necessities for game day.

Sure, 59-0 is embarrassing. Beyond belief. So is the fact that the Tennessee Titans apparently didn't have the right cleats, quarterback or intestinal fortitude to contend with the elements or the New England Patriots.

And if that wasn't bad enough for the veteran linebacker, Bill Belichick piled on following the 59-0 blowout victory against Tennessee.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has always been a wheeler-dealer around draft time, eagerly seeking out trade partners willing to barter the commodities of picks and players.

We'll evaluate it this coming week against Tampa like we always do. "I said many times he's a good football player, he's versatile, and he's made some big plays for us and done a lot of different jobs," Belichick said.

This was the Tom Brady everyone expects to see. New England Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich hauls down Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young during the fourth quarter of New England's 59-0 win in a NFL game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday.

For two decades it was very much his football field. Now it'll be made official.

The Patriots suffered a downer of a defeat to Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos, blowing a 17-7 halftime lead to lose 20-17 in overtime.

Taking Jerod Mayo out of Bill Belichick's newly designed 4-3 defense is like pulling the pin on a football hand grenade.

Bill Belichick's Patriots aren't necessarily thin at linebacker. Adalius Thomas is the only linebacker on the roster with a Pro Bowl to his credit, but Gary Guyton, Pierre Woods, Derrick Burgess, Eric Alexander and Tully Banta-Cain all have varying levels of experience playing the position.

Jerod Mayo 's season is not over. The reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year suffered a right knee injury in the first quarter of the Pats season-opening 25-24 victory the Bills, but will be back this season.