LONDON — Patriots owner Robert Kraft held a brief meeting with the press in London during the team’s practice at The Brit Oval cricket pitch on Friday and made an eye-opening statement about the future of football in the United Kingdom.

Kraft was asked about the possibility of the league having a London-based team, and he said, “I really think it would be the right thing to do, sometime in the next decade.”

Earlier Friday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said it is possible the league could first expand to play two regular-season games in London, but that a Super Bowl would not be held in the city without a British-based team in place.

Kraft noted that it is possible to expand the overseas schedule, but only if the NFL owners approve an expansion to an 18-game regular season.

“If we expand the season … I think it’s a real possibility,” he said. “But there’s only a chance of that if we expand the schedule.”

Kraft noted that the Pats-Bucs game is a home contest for Tampa Bay, and said he wouldn’t be happy giving up one of his team’s home dates, and the revenue that comes with it, for a London game.

Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer also owns soccer club Manchester United, one of the most famous teams in the world, so he is essentially cross-promoting his teams.

Kraft has been linked several times to English Premier League club Liverpool. He has said the lack of a salary cap in the EPL is part of the reason he hasn’t made a deal, but he did not rule it out, saying, “Maybe one day” it would become a reality.

The head coach of the soccer team Kraft owns, the Revolution’s Steve Nicol, was a star for Liverpool for 15 years.

This week’s game between New England and Tampa Bay at famed Wembley Stadium marks the third straight year the NFL has held a regular-season game in Great Britain. The league has hopes of expanding the sport to a new fan base. Of the “traditional” American sports — football, baseball and basketball — the NFL has the biggest following in large part because most of the games start at 1 p.m., which is 6 o’clock London time. And the 4:15 games begin at 9:15 p.m. here.

With baseball and basketball playing most of their games during the East Coast’s prime time, they air overseas at midnight or later.

Kraft declared himself an Anglophile, and discussed his frequent trips to the country, to watch Wimbledon play and to attend Ladies’ Day at Ascot, when he “was dressed up like a turkey” in a top hat and tails.

Injury report

The Patriots ruled four players out for Sunday’s game: receiver Julian Edelman (broken arm), tackle Matt Light (knee) and running backs Sammy Morris (knee) and Fred Taylor (ankle).

There was some good news, however, as Darius Butler (ankle) practiced for the first time this week and is listed as questionable. Defensive back Shawn Springs (knee) and reserve offensive lineman Dan Connolly (knee) are also listed as questionable.

Tom Brady (right shoulder), Brandon Meriweather (foot), Randy Moss (shoulder) and James Sanders (shoulder) are probable while Jarvis Green (knee), Nick Kaczur (ankle), Stephen Neal (not injury related), Jerod Mayo (knee), Wes Welker (knee) and Vince Wilfork (ankle) were removed from the injury report.

On the attack

The wife of current Pats senior advisor Floyd Reese called a Nashville radio station on Thursday and made some highly critical comments about Reese’s former team, the Titans.

After a Houston-based reporter (Tennessee began as the Houston Oilers) insinuated that there was friction between Reese and head coach Jeff Fisher, which may have led to Reese’s departure, Sally Reese called to defend her husband.

“He kept Jeff from getting fired two times. So if he’d let (Fisher) get fired, he’d still be there,” she said. “Hello? That’s hindsight.”

Sally said Floyd, who was let go when his contract expired in 2007, had no idea that he was going to be fired, and that it was another Titans official who wrote the resignation statement attributed to her husband, and that he did not have a chance to clean out his office.

Because of the way he was treated, Sally said she was hoping New England would score 100 points against the Titans last week. As it was, the Patriots tied the league record for the largest margin of victory in its 59-0 victory over Tennessee.

Floyd Reese was hired by the Pats earlier this year. His work focuses mainly on the financial side, such as structuring contracts.

A suitable occasion

Brady was the only New England player to wear a suit for the six-plus hour flight from Boston to London, prompting Wes Welker to jokingly wonder whether Brady was getting ready for the London Stock Exchange.

“Wes said that? I don’t take fashion advice from Wes,” Brady shot back when told of his teammate’s comment, drawing laughs from the media. “If you see Wes, believe me, he should have no concerns about what I’m wearing. But I figured I should approach it as a usual trip.”

Brady said that wearing a suit on a road trip is something of a superstition. Generally, the players are required to be suited up for trips, but head coach Bill Belichick may have relaxed the rule for the long overnight flight.

smanza@projo.com