It's an hour before kick-off, the crowd is slowly filtering in and both teams are coming out for warm-ups. Based on the flags atop the goal posts, the wind appears to be whipping around pretty good.

San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers, who injured his knee in last week's win over Indianapolis, is on the field throwing passes, but so is back-up Billy Volek, who isn't wearing any long sleeves under his jersey (Rivers is). Rivers is testing his injured right knee by jumping back and forth. Most of Rivers' passes are in the short-to-medium range.

The inactive players have been announced. The Patriots list includes wide receiver Troy Brown, one of two players on the team who were on the 1996 team that won the AFC championship.

We'll check in once in a while from the game.

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