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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quick hits from Deion Branch's news conference with reporters today at Gillette Stadium:

Opening statement. “First of all, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank God for the opportunity to come back and be a part of a great organization, and also be a part of another great organization in Seattle. Unfortunately things didn’t work, but that’s part of the business. I’m very thankful to be back.”

Feel like never left? “Sort of, except for all the new stuff out here that Mr. Kraft has put up [at Patriot Place]. That stuff wasn’t here when I was here. Hotels. A mall. It’s a lot of stuff. There are a lot of great things going on around here that are new.”

Being reunited with Tom Brady. “It feels good. I’m still going through a lot of things. Today was pretty rough for me, a lot of travel. I’ve been on two, three flights for 72 hours. Coach has helped me feel through [it] and Tom is throwing a lot of stuff at me, as usual. I’m just taking as much as I can in.”

The Patriots’ offense. “It’s a little different. Some of the concepts and stuff are still the same, and I still remember some plays. The greatest part is that they didn’t call those plays today [laughter]. Coach had to fill me in before I ran in practice.”

Playing this Sunday. “I hope so. I hope I’m showing Coach Belichick enough today. I know there will be a little more tomorrow, and Thursday and Friday. He makes that decision.”

How different as a player from when he left. “A lot more knowledge. I understand the game of football. I truly understand the game and how to study guys, the opponent. I think my first four years here, I was playing off all athleticism and I was getting away with it for a little bit. I think now I can sit down and break down a film and watch my opponent.”

Being an influence on younger players. “I’m going to try my best. I’m just a piece of the puzzle. I’m not the answer, just a piece to the puzzle. I think these guys have already been etched in stone with the things they are doing. Coach Belichick has been running the ship the same way, steady forward. You get in, do your job, and that’s that. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Reaction upon arriving in locker room. “Seeing how a lot has changed in the locker room from the time I left to now, but still seeing guys like Kevin Faulk put a smile on my face. Matt Light. Dan Koppen. Always Tom [Brady]. Seeing veteran guys like [Ty] Warren, Fred Taylor, these guys want to win, and I’m just very thankful to be here.”

Walking up to practice with Tom Brady. “A lot of schooling, going over a lot of plays. He was pretty much throwing it at me. I’d say for about 10 minutes on the field, he came at me with the same plays, just to make sure he’s tooling me up right now. We are moving pretty fast. Hopefully we can just show it on the field in practice.”

On the feeling if he’s replacing Randy Moss. “No, that’s the first thing I want to let you know, I’m not here to replace Randy. I’m not Randy Moss. I wasn’t Randy Moss when I was here. I’m not here to replace him. My job is to go out and do what the offense asks me to do, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Hard feelings from the way he left N.E. “No regrets. I wish it never happened, but no regrets. When I left, there wasn’t any issue between me and Coach Belichick. None at all. We talked during the course of the year, not a lot, but I spoke to him and I truly thanked him. We didn’t leave on a bad note and I think that’s why it was so easy to return, because we both understood what was going on.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots receiver Deion Branch said he is willing to re-work his contract now that he's joined the team, which was likely a key consideration in New England striking the trade.

Branch is earning a base salary of $5.47 million this season and is due $5.95 million in 2011.

"There are a couple things that are probably going to be talked about," Branch said Tuesday after practice. "There will be dealings between my agent and the organization, but I'm willing to make things work."

This adds more context to the Patriots' decision to acquire Branch, and also increases the likelihood that Branch will be part of the team's plans in 2011 and perhaps beyond.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Receiver Deion Branch will wear No. 84 in his return to the team as his old jersey -- No. 83 -- is donned by Wes Welker.

Branch was all smiles at the team's Tuesday full-pads practice in his white No. 84 jersey.

Veteran receiver Torry Holt was one of the last players to wear the number for the Patriots. Some of the others in a list that will bring some memories back to Patriots fans:

TE Benjamin Watson (2004-2009)
TE Fred Baxter (2003)
WR Fred Coleman (2001-2002)
WR Torrance Small (2001)
WR Shockmain Davis (2000)
WR Shawn Jefferson (1996-99)
WR Ronnie Harris (1993-94)
WR Darryl Stingley (1973-77)
WR Hubie Bryant (1971-72)
WR Gayle Knief (1970)
WR Art Graham (1963-68)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Cornerback Terrence Wheatley, who has been sidelined all regular season with a foot injury, returned to practice for the first time Tuesday.

Wheatley joins the mix at right cornerback along with Darius Butler (starter in Weeks 1 and 2) and Kyle Arrington (starter in Weeks 3 and 4).

A 2008 second-round draft choice who was viewed to be on the roster bubble in training camp, Wheatley had made a late charge for a roster spot before injuring his foot in a preseason game.

Meanwhile, defensive lineman Mike Wright was also back at practice after being held out of workouts last Thursday and Friday.

Veteran running back Fred Taylor was the lone player not spotted at the start of the session.

Receiver Deion Branch wore No. 84 and was smiling as he spoke to Patriots coach Bill Belichick during stretching drills. Branch also spoke with receivers coach Chad O'Shea, and in the time media members were present, he went through agility drills and ran one pass pattern.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Veteran offensive lineman Nick Kaczur was placed on season-ending injured reserve Tuesday, opening up a roster spot for the Patriots' acquisition of receiver Deion Branch.

Kaczur, a starting right tackle who was moved to left guard in 2010, sustained a back injury early in training camp and had been sidelined since.

The Patriots had kept a roster spot open for Kaczur with the hope that he might return at some point. Either it became clear that Kaczur wouldn't return, or the Patriots felt they had other roster issues that trumped waiting for Kaczur.

In Kaczur's absence, five-year veteran Dan Connolly has stepped in at left guard and the line has held its ground. The top backup has been second-year player Ryan Wendell and the Patriots re-signed five-year veteran Quinn Ojinnaka last week.

It is also possible that two-time Pro Bowler Logan Mankins, who has stayed away from the team in a contract dispute, returns to the Patriots at some point. Mankins was the team's starting left guard from 2005-2009.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Center Dan Koppen is one of nine Patriots who played with receiver Deion Branch in Branch's first tenure with the team from 2002-2005, and he was happy to welcome him back to town Tuesday.

"He made a lot of plays for us in big-time games," Koppen said. "You want those type of players on your team."

Koppen added that Branch is "a good guy to have in the locker room", while noting that Branch should have a head start in acclimating to the team's playbook because of his background with the club.

“I think he has a better start than probably bringing in a guy that hasn't been here," Koppen said. "He’s been gone a few years and we’ve changed a few things, and it’s one those things where he has to get on the same page. It starts today.”

One player who could be affected by the arrival of Branch, who is expected to wear jersey No. 84, is second-year receiver Julian Edelman.

"I'm excited," Edelman said. "He's been here when they won Super Bowls. I'll be able to learn from another veteran, so I'm happy to have him."

Edelman watched film of quarterback Tom Brady throwing to Branch in the offseason as part of his attempt to learn more about the receiver position, and how a pass-catcher develops a chemistry with Brady. He viewed Branch as a "phenomenal playmaker and a guy that you strive to try to be like, having the same stature."

Edelman, whose locker was two spots away from Randy Moss's, said that he watched the start of "Monday Night Football" and was rooting for Moss.

"Randy taught me a bunch, I learned a lot from him," he said. "It was good to see him get that long touchdown."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Recever Deion Branch is undergoing his physical this morning and was not in the locker room for the media-access period (11:15 a.m.-noon).

An open locker next to quarterback Tom Brady was filled with apparel for Branch, with the jersey No. 84 inside.

Center Dan Koppen, receiver Julian Edelman and linebacker Jerod Mayo were a few of the players answering questions from reporters today, with Branch the hot topic.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- A look at Patriots players who played with Deion Branch during Branch's first tenure with the team (2002-2005):

QB Tom Brady (2000-2005)
OL Matt Light (2001-2005)
G Stephen Neal (2001-2005)
OLB Tully Banta-Cain (2003-2005)
C Dan Koppen (2003-2005)
DL Vince Wilfork (2004-2005)
OL Nick Kaczur (2005)
S James Sanders (2005)
DL Mike Wright (2005)

(List does not include Logan Mankins, who is not under contract, and Kevin Faulk and Ty Warren, who are on injured reserve.)

Every Tuesday on ESPNBoston.com, questions from Patriots fans are answered as part of a weekly mailbag. This week's mailbag is posted and includes some of the following topics:

1. Did the Patriots pay too high a price for Deion Branch?

2. Examining why Branch was the team's intended target in a trade.

3. Revisiting the Randy Moss trade from all angles.

4. Logan Mankins and the possibility of reporting in Week 10.

5. Looking at 2010 as a possible "bridge" year for the Patriots.

6. Should media members be picking against the Patriots more often?

The Patriots are a quarter through their 2010 season and as pointed out by quarterback Tom Brady, the offense is set to undergo a transformation of sorts without Randy Moss.

As the team's offensive playing time stats for receivers, tight ends and running backs show (small margin for error), Moss was a big part of the attack:

WR Randy Moss -- 204 of 249 (81.9 percent)
TE Aaron Hernandez -- 169 of 249 (67.9 percent)
WR Wes Welker -- 159 of 249 (63.9 percent)
TE Rob Gronkowski -- 151 of 249 (60.6 percent)
WR Brandon Tate -- 137 of 249 (55.0 percent)
TE Alge Crumpler -- 129 of 249 (51.8 percent)
RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis -- 73 of 249 (29.3 percent)
RB Kevin Faulk -- 51 of 249 (20.5 percent)
RB Fred Taylor -- 46 of 249 (18.5 percent)
WR Julian Edelman -- 37 of 249 (14.9 percent)
RB/FB Sammy Morris -- 35 of 249 (14.1 percent)
RB Danny Woodhead -- 35 of 249 (14.1 percent)
FB Dan Connolly -- 6 of 249 (2.4 percent)
WR Matthew Slater -- 3 of 249 (1.2 percent)
TE Mark LeVoir -- 1 of 249 (0.4 percent)

(Penalties included; kneel-downs not included.)

ANALYSIS: With Moss no longer part of the mix, there is no one receiver who figures to pick up that slack. A combination of Deion Branch, Brandon Tate and Julian Edelman is likely to see an uptick in playing time. ... Tight ends Aaron Hernandez (2nd-highest total) and Rob Gronkowski (4th-highest total) have come as advertised. Tight end is a challenging position to learn in the team's scheme and they've integrated themselves right into the mix. The playtime stats also show how the Patriots are running more multiple tight end sets this year. ... BenJarvus Green-Ellis is unlikely to become a Corey Dillon-type workhorse, but he's positioned himself as the No. 1 option at running back, as Sammy Morris has slipped into more of a specialist-type role (fullback/occassional ball-carrier). ... Meanwhile, Danny Woodhead looks like he's growing into the Kevin Faulk "passing back" role, which means he could end up playing the most snaps of any back by the end of the year.

In a light moment at the end of his interview Tuesday morning on Boston sports radio station WEEI, Tom Brady was asked whether his Bieber-esque long locks were at the "pony tail stage" yet.

“It’s there. I haven’t broken the pony tail out yet," Brady said. "I gotta really build up some self esteem before I do that because I’m sure I’ll take a lot of heat."

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady touched on the team’s re-acquisition of wide receiver Deion Branch during his weekly interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI on Tuesday morning. Here are a few of his comments:

* Did he lobby for the team to make a deal for Branch?

“I think between teammates you obviously, if you hear something maybe you’ll say something. But at the same time, I never had a conversation with coach Belichick about it. I think he is the kind of player that you want, that you’re looking for. He’s very much the same type of player that you’ve seen here over the years. The Bruschis, the Vrabels, the McGinests, the Ty Laws, those character guys that a guy like Deion is. Whenever those guys become available I’m sure that’s the kind of player coach Belichick jumps at.”

* Does he expect a quick assimilation for Branch?

“I’m not sure. I’m not sure how much Deion has retained over the years. Deion is a very smart player. He’s going to have his work cut out for him. There’s a lot to catch up on. I wouldn’t say things are exactly the way they were when he left. We’ve evolved quite a bit from that offense that we were running. Some of the things I’m sure are very familiar to him, but some of the things are very different as well. I’m sure there will be a pretty steep learning curve for him. Hopefully he gets up to speed as quickly as possible because we’ll need him this week.”

A look at where the Patriots rank in key NFL statistical categories after five weeks:

Points scored
1st
32.75 avg.

Points allowed
26th
24.0 avg.

Third-down offense
1st
26 of 47, 55.3 percent

Third-down defense
32nd
29 of 53, 54.7 percent

Turnover differential
Tied-6th
Plus-4 (8 take-aways, 4 give-aways)

Red-zone offense (TD percentage)
Tied-9th
9 TDs in 15 trips, 60 percent

Red-zone defense (opponents' TD percentage)
Tied-28th
7 TDs in 10 trips, 70 percent

During his Tuesday morning interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady discussed the evolution of the New England offense without Randy Moss.

“I still think we have a lot of confidence that we can move the football,” Brady said. “It just may be a little bit different than what you’ve seen. Who knows if it’s better or worse. That remains to be seen for all of us."

Asked specifically about how the Patriots’ offense can be just as effective without Moss as it was with him, Brady responded by saying “that’s a great question” and touched on his other weapons in the passing game.

“I don’t think there’s any one solution,” Brady said. “You just don’t replace a guy with Randy’s talent and ability down the field. You replace it with maybe using the strengths of other players. So Randy certainly has his strengths. Wes [Welker] has his strengths. The tight ends have their strengths. I think it’s up to the coaching staff when you game plan to determine what your players do the best, and those are the things that you ultimately do.”

Brady continued on that track after a question about whether fans might notice a difference in offensive philosophy and game plan without Moss:

“The truth is, I don’t know,” Brady said. “I’d love to have an offense that controls the tempo of the game and controls the clock by running it. You have these certainly high-percentage passes with the different players that we have. I think we still have some explosive players in the passing game. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.

“Whether it’s Brandon Tate, I mean, you’ve seen what he can do on kickoff returns. His ability to make that more of a threat on offense is something that, as a second-year player, of course he’s trying to do. Aaron Hernandez, he’s had the biggest pass plays all season for this team. Adding a guy like Deion [Branch], Deion has caught a lot of deep balls in his career. So, there’s a lot of guys that have that explosive ability in the passing game. Obviously, you’ve got to get Wes down the field. You’ve got to get [Rob] Gronkowski down the field. You see what kind of plays he can make.

"So, there’s obviously a lot of guys that can do different things: short, intermediate, deep in the passing game. And that’s what you need as a good offense. You need multiple threats. You need guys that can do multiple things. So, I think that’s the goal of our offense."

Brady stressed toward the end of the interview that the game plan won't be overhauled without Moss, probably the greatest deep threat in NFL history.

“The short passes complement the long passes and vice versa. If you throw the ball underneath all day long, the field is going to get compressed, there’s no doubt about that. I don’t think we’ve ever been gun-shy about taking shots downfield. The guys that are in the game, we have a lot of confidence they’ll be able to make the plays. It’s not like the game plan all of a sudden is ‘OK, we’re going to throw 3-yard passes all day.’ That’s not our offense. Our offense is our offense.

"Coaches spent a lot of time game-planning this week and I’m sure we’re going to have short passes, intermediate passes, long passes ... everything that we’ve always had. That’s just the way the offense is set up."

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was asked during his weekly interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI on Tuesday morning if a CBS report that he and Randy Moss had a confrontation in the week leading up to the receiver’s trade to Minnesota.

“No, certainly not,” Brady said. “I don’t know why these things come about, but they do. I think it's just a competitive media culture out there now. I love [Moss] as a person and a player. I don’t think I ever had an altercation with a teammate. You demand a certain level of respect in the locker room, that’s the culture of our team. I don’t think I’ve seen any players in our locker room fight, that’s just not the way it is.”

When asked specifically whether Moss was unhappy in New England because it appeared the offense was moving away from him and he was being used more as a decoy, Brady wouldn't speculate.

"Well, I have no idea. I really don’t," Brady said. "With all due respect with all the different questions I’m sure you guys have about Randy, he’s moved on. He played for another team last night. And we’ve moved on. We had two practices last week and we’re prepared to move on as we always have. And that doesn’t diminish anything that he’s done or has accomplished for our team, because he’s obviously an exceptional player. But we’ve got a season to play. Really, what happened last week in my mind has come and gone. We’ve got to prepare for our toughest test of the season coming up."

Brady also reiterated something Bill Belichick said last week after the trade, that he was not consulted when the team dealt Moss.

"Certainly not,” Brady said. “I'm a player on this team, just like all the other players. I talk a lot to the coaches and they talk to the players. They never come and say 'well what do you think about this?' We show up to work, and we do our job. I think that’s the best way to handle things as a player.

“I’ve become very emotional in the past about losing certain players and that’s affected me, which in turn has impacted the team. When you’re an older player on the team, and you've seen guys come and go ... to be level-headed and, not be unemotional, but to be maybe not surprised. You just go about your business and you try to put it behind you and move forward with the guys that you’ve got, because that’s what you really owe the team.”

At the end of the interview, Brady had one final comment on Moss to pass along: “He’s something special. He’ll certainly be missed, but we’ve got to move on.”