Patriots quarterback Tom Brady restlessly accepted congratulations for the birth of his son on Tuesday, guarding his privacy better than his offensive line has guarded him this season.

"Let's talk Football," he asked.

The snowy morning kicked off with a Providence Journal report that wide receiver Randy Moss, and linebackers Derrick Burgess, Adalius Thomas and Gary Guyton were late for an 8 a.m. meeting. Patriots coach Bill Belichick reportedly sent the four players home. None practiced yesterday.

Belichick said, "Anything that happens with discipline on the team stays between me and the players on the team."

Such tardiness may be indicative of the 2009 Patriots not always fighting through adversity, something Brady alluded to after this past Sunday's second-half meltdown in Miami.

Or it may just have been that the roads were slippery yesterday.

"It's not about playing hard on Sundays," said Brady, clarifying his remarks that drew much attention and interpretation. "I mean, we do that. That's three hours a week that you have to show up and really commit yourself to. I don't think that's too much to ask of anybody, and guys do that. It's not like ... we're not fighting out there in the game."

Brady said he was referring to the "other six days of the week." He said if Belichick wants players to work on Monday or practice for 21/2 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, he wants no "bitching and complaining."

"I think at times we all feel a little bit sorry for ourselves," said Brady. "You're beat up, you're tired and you're sore, and it's the end of the year. You (say), 'Why is (Belichick) doing this?' But in the end, you're either gaining ground on a team, or you're losing ground. I always prefer to be gaining ground and getting ahead, and staying ahead ..."

Linebacker Tully Banta-Cain said Brady speaks for everyone.

"He's our leader. He's the voice of the team -- one of the voices of the team," said Banta-Cain. "We all feel the same."

Belichick was, for the most part, his usual we-have-to-play-better self yesterday. But he became curiously defensive about New England's offense when asked what must be done to get Moss the ball more (assuming that Moss shows up at meetings on time and is permitted to practice.)

"We threw him a 50-something-yard touchdown pass, right?" responded Belichick, referring to Moss' 58-yard catch in the opening five minutes this past Sunday.

Moss had only one other catch in the game for eight yards.

"There are only so many plays, there're only so many opportunities," said Belichick. "Everybody can't catch a pass and run the ball all in the same play. It's impossible."

Though they just lost back-to-back games for the first time in more than three years, the 7-5 Patriots remain atop the AFC East with four regular-season games remaining.

"It's not like we're in one of the worst situations in the National Football League," noted veteran running back Kevin Faulk.

Still, the players seem to sense what we sense: These are not the same old Patriots . There is no Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel or Rodney Harrison to demand everybody make it to meetings on time, even on snowy December days.

There seems only Brady, who, despite faltering uncharacteristically at a few crucial times in his first season back from reconstructive knee surgery, is on pace to throw for a career-high 4,851 yards.

"I hate to talk about myself, because it's not about what I do," said Brady. "It's about what we need to do. Obviously, I need to play better. When you're 7-5, you don't have a lot of good feelings about much, especially (considering) some of the teams that I've been on, and the kind of expectations that we have."