Versatile linebacker playing beside New England's Bruschi

Saturday, January 20th 2007, 6:23 am

By: News On 6

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) _ Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi belong to a special group of players. They're two of the 10 who have been with the Patriots for all three Super Bowl wins in the past five seasons.

That core gets smaller every year and one day they, too, will be gone. So Vrabel wants to grab as many titles as he can before his playing days are over.

Coach Bill Belichick has reinforced that desire since the season started.

``That's a message that Bill has given us since the beginning of the year,'' Vrabel said. ``He has coached for 32 years, or however long it's been, and we've been lucky and these opportunities don't come along that often.''

Vrabel is in his 10th NFL season and sixth with the Patriots. Bruschi has spent all of his 11 pro seasons with New England. They'll play side-by-side at inside linebacker Sunday in the AFC championship game at Indianapolis.

``I think that whatever opportunity we can seize and whatever chance we can seize now, it's going to be good for us,'' the 31-year-old Vrabel said.

Not long ago, it appeared that Bruschi's chances might be ending. Ten days after the Patriots won the 2005 Super Bowl, Bruschi had a minor stroke.

At first, he said he wouldn't play in 2005. But after being cleared by doctors, he returned for the seventh game. A calf injury sidelined him for the last regular-season game and first playoff game, and he returned just in time to play in Denver's 27-13 win that ended New England's season.

That loss left him ``dissatisfied,'' Bruschi said last summer, ``because I think toward the end I really started to play good football again and I just wanted to win another Super Bowl.''

Vrabel, primarily an outside linebacker, moved inside last season because of injuries. He made the same move this season when Junior Seau went on injured reserve for the last five regular-season games.

Fortunately for Vrabel, he has Bruschi to figure out what the offense will do and call defensive signals.

``He is kind of the glue out there, just making the calls, getting the signals and getting the communication to the defense,'' Vrabel said. ``That's a lot. I did that when he wasn't in there last year, so it's something that's different.

``I know that it's not an easy job to do what he does. It's a lot better with him out there than with him not there.''

Bruschi led the Patriots with 124 tackles this regular season and had the most stops for the team in each of its first two playoff games. The 33-year-old didn't make the Pro Bowl as he did in the 2004 season, but his teammates know he provides all they could ask for: the strength to stop the run, the speed to keep up with receivers and the smarts to direct one of the NFL's best defenses.

He'll need all three, plus his usual intensity, on Sunday.

Running backs Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes will try to elude him, tight end Dallas Clark will try to outmaneuver him, and quarterback Peyton Manning, a master at calling plays at the line of scrimmage, will try to baffle him.

All may find they've met their match in Bruschi.

``I played against him once,'' with Seattle in 2004, Patriots fullback Heath Evans said. ``He was, on the offensive side of the ball, what we consider a complete linebacker. He could pass cover. He could rush the passer and he was a great run stopper. Now I know those things all that much better.''

Vrabel has known them for a long time. Part of Bruschi's success is based on playing hard on each play and not looking ahead to the rewards those efforts might bring.

The man lining up next to him shares that focus.

``We've prepared each week very similar to how we do in a regular season. We give everything. We put everything into it that we can. We don't hold anything back,'' Vrabel said.

``It's not Little League where you try to save the best pitcher for the championship game. We're trying to get there.''

At their advanced football ages, they may not have many more chances.