by Rich Garven, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF , TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

The sixth-year nose tackle is having a heck of a season. He's sixth on the team in tackles (33) and has basically been unmovable in the middle, with the exception of last weekend against Miami when he shifted to end due to an injury to Jarvis Green.

But Wilfork wouldn't budge yesterday when it was twice suggested to him he's playing the best ball of his career.

"I'll let all you guys (the media) decide that, but at the end of the day, I want to sit back and not have any regrets," Wilfork said. "I do want to keep it going. That's my main thing, just keep it going, because we're in a stretch now where we're going to have to play our best ball - everybody, not just myself.

"We understand that. We understand we're in November and into December where we need to play some good Football. If not, we're going to have a long offseason."

There's a handwritten message on a piece of notebook paper hanging in Wilfork's locker that went up right after that horrendous, 16-9 loss to the Jets in Week 2.

When it was posted is apparently of no significance; it's the simple message that matters most.

The words, all in caps, read: DO MY JOB!!!

"A lot of things going on early with me, with the contract and all that," said Wilfork, who is in the final year of his rookie deal and has yet to get the new, big-money contract he wants from the Patriots . "That's one thing I wanted to make clear to myself. So every time I come to my locker, I remind myself what I'm here for, and that's to do my job."

Wilfork thought about sticking the sign in his playbook, but figured it might get lost in the pages. So he opted for the locker, where he sees it every day.

"Sometimes I see it too much," Wilfork said. "And I'm pretty sure a lot of guys on the team see it, too. They say stuff about it, but it just reminds me what I'm here for, and I'm pretty sure it might be rubbing off on some of the other guys: Do your job. So it's going to stay there as long as I'm here."

Just for kicks

Kicker Stephen Gostkowski was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the first time in his career.

The fourth-year kicker was honored after booting a career-high-tying four field goals in a win over Miami on Sunday. He also put three of his six kickoffs in the end zone, two resulting in touchbacks.

"He gets all the credit," defensive back Kyle Arrington said. "We did our part as a coverage unit on kickoffs. We had four opportunities to cover, and we did fairly well, but he really was a catalyst, though."

Sidelined

A whopping 10 Patriots sat out practice due to injury.

Newcomers to the walking wounded included linebacker Eric Alexander (groin), center Dan Koppen (knee), safety Brandon Meriweather (foot) and receiver Brandon Tate (knee).

Julian Edelman, Matt Light, Sammy Morris, Fred Taylor, Ty Warren and Green were the holdovers. Only Warren played last week.

Light has missed three straight games with a knee injury and gave no indication yesterday when he might be back.

"You know how it is - taking it one day at a time, working hard, trying to get better," he joked before ducking into the weight room.

Light was in particularly good spirits for a guy who might have a difficult time regaining the starting left tackle position from rookie Sebastian Vollmer when he returns.

Attention to center

Koppen injured his right knee late in the first half against Miami and didn't return. He was replaced by Dan Connelly, who figures to get the call against the Colts if Koppen is a no-go Sunday.

"He stepped in and did a great job," quarterback Tom Brady said. "It's not an easy thing to do to step in at center and make all of the calls. You go from being out of the game to being that guy that makes all of the line calls, and all of the adjustments and all of the Mike (linebacker) points with me.

"The communication is really important and obviously getting the ball to the quarterback is most important, whether that's under center or in the shotgun. I thought he did a great job of that."

Koppen has missed one game since 2006. Connelly has appeared in six games since joining the Patriots as a practice squad player in '07.

Extra Points

The Patriots signed linebacker Pat Williams, a fifth-round draft choice of the Jaguars in 2008, to the practice squad. He was pleased to join the Patriots , calling them "the Yankees of Football." Oops. ... Exiled Chiefs running back Larry Johnson is free to sign with any team after clearing waivers, and there are reports the Patriots have some interest. Predictably, Belichick had no interest in confirming those rumors.

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