Sam Aiken News

Tom Brady says the Patriots are 'going to evolve' without Wes Welker. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady spoke Monday morning for the first time about receiver Wes Welker's knee injury, saying the team "can't replace him" and would have to "evolve a little bit" on offense without its leading receiver.

At 12:20 p.m. local time this afternoon, Wes Welker sat on the Patriots bench and dabbed at his eyes with a white towel.

Tom Brady provided the most revealing answer yet as to how the Patriots will approach Sunday's game against the Houston Texans, saying he assumes he will play the entire game in Houston.

The 2009 AFC East Champion New England Patriots will close out their regularseason schedule when they travel to Houston to face the Texans.

After that, the Jags knew who the ringmaster was and it wasn't Maurice Jones-Drew or Jack Del Rio or anybody else with three names.

Tedy Bruschi used to call games such as the one the Patriots will play Sunday "hat and T-shirt games.'' A victory will clinch the AFC East for the Patriots and prompt a celebration replete with fresh, logo-covered garb.

Both ugly depending on the perspective. Playoff bound - yes. Superbowl bound, I highly doubt it as much as it hurts me to say it out loud.

Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss doesn't talk to the media much. So when he chooses to take the microphone, people listen.

Catch the latest thoughts from the Pats as they push forward through week 15. Chris Hanson talks about punting in the winter elements, Sam Aiken discusses being a special teams player in Buffalo, plus Shawn Springs and Jeff Rowe on the death Thursday of Cincinnati's Chris Henry.

It has now been three games since the Patriots [ team stats ] scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and their second-half offensive struggles are becoming the talk of the radio.

The death of Bengals receiver Chris Henry hit home in every NFL locker room yesterday, including the one filled with Patriots [ team stats ] . One former teammate, practice squad quarterback Jeff Rowe, struggled to come to grips with Henry's passing.

Matt Light glanced up at the scoreboard hovering over Ralph Wilson Stadium Sunday, the most pivotal day of the Patriots' season, and peeked at the scores from out of town.

As Bill Belichick and staff are currently preparing for the Buffalo Bills, it falls to me to send you their annual Christmas wish list.

Remember last year's "tilt" in Buffalo in December? View full size photo>> The weather.

New England Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and defensive end Ty Warren missed practice for the third straight day on Friday and are listed as questionable for Sunday's game at Buffalo.

New England Patriots players comment on their upcoming game against the Buffalo Bills during media access on Thursday, December 1, 2009.

In a section titled "Fourteen things you need to know on the heels of Week 14," two of the first three are in regard to the Patriots .

New England Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas is inactive after being sent home Wednesday for reporting late to work.

So, despite his various injuries, Brady is playing. Who else? As we told you yesterday , Shawn Springs is playing.

RedZone...bleh. We continue to struggle in the RedZone with a 47.06% success rate.