FOXBORO –– In the first few games of the season, there was a great deal of talk about the Patriots’ offensive imbalance –– too many passes and not enough running.

Want imbalance? Look at the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts.

Indy has the fourth-ranked offense in the NFL, but while it is first in the league in passing, averaging 315 yards per game, the Colts are just 29th, third from the bottom, in rushing, gaining a mere 85 yards per contest on the ground.

Former first-round pick Joseph Addai is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry (he’s getting the ball around 15 times a game), and rookie Donald Brown has been slowed by a shoulder injury.

When Pats defensive captain Vince Wilfork was asked about the Colts’ running game on Wednesday, he noted that a lack of a running game hasn’t hurt them.

“It’s been better, but it’s starting to get better,” Wilfork said. “That’s our main goal is stopping the run and making a team one-dimensional. But they’re pretty good one-dimensional.”

Former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison made sure to mention during a conference call that Indianapolis can still run the ball when they choose. However, they sometimes use four- and five-yard passes to tight end Dallas Clark, which is just the same as handing the ball off, particularly if Addai is struggling.

With New England and Indianapolis meeting for the seventh straight season, the joke around Foxboro is that the Colts have become a fourth division opponent for the Pats, or at least they have returned to the division. Until 2001, Indy was part of the AFC East.

Being frequent opponents means there aren’t a lot of secrets.

“One thing I can be sure of — it’s going to be exciting,” Wilfork said. “It’s going to be a great game with them. We know we have our work cut out for us.”

Wilfork, who lined up at defensive end instead of his usual nose tackle against the Dolphins, said it was "a little different" experience for him.

Didn’t miss a beat

Timing is an issue all along the offensive line, but perhaps no more so than at center. So when Dan Koppen, whose snaps Tom Brady has received for the majority of his games as a starter (they’ve flubbed only one), went out of the Miami game with a knee injury, it was easy to wonder how backup Dan Connolly would do.

A fourth-year player who spent all of last season on New England’s practice squad and made the 53-man roster out of training camp this season, Connolly played in just his fifth NFL game last Sunday, and Brady said he did well.

“He stepped in and did a great job. It’s not an easy thing to do, to step in at center and make all of the calls,” Brady said. “You go from being out of the game to being the guy that makes all of the line calls, 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."

Connolly was signed as a rookie free agent out of Southwest Missouri State by Jacksonville in 2005; he played in four games with the Jags that season, but missed the entire ’06 season on injured reserve.

His older brother, Patrick, is a chef who won a prestigious James Beard Award in 2008 while working as chef de cuisine at Radius in Boston.

Injury report

There were 11 players who did not participate in Wednesday’s practice, which was held in shells (light pads) and sweatpants behind Gillette Stadium.

Those missing were Eric Alexander (groin), Julian Edelman (forearm), Jarvis Green (knee), Koppen (knee), Matt Light (knee), Brandon Meriweather (foot), Sammy Morris (knee), Randy Moss (not injury-related), Brandon Tate (knee), Fred Taylor (ankle) and Ty Warren (ankle).

Tom Brady (right shoulder), Shawn Springs (knee) and Benjamin Watson (back) were reported as having fully participated.

Moss has been given at least two other Wednesdays off this season, likely just for him to rest. Jonathan Wilhite, who missed last week’s game after a bout with the flu, which kept him out of practice all week, returned to the field on Wednesday.

For Indianapolis, there were five players who did not practice: DE Dwight Freeney (not injury related), WR Anthony Gonzalez (knee), DB Kelvin Hayden (knee), QB Jim Sorgi (right shoulder) and K Adam Vinatieri (right knee).

Quick kicks

Stephen Gostkowski was named AFC special-teams player of the week for his four field-goal, two-touchback performance against the Dolphins on Sunday. It is the first weekly honor for Gostkowski, who made kicks of 30, 38, 34 and 40 yards. … Meriweather is starting to gain recognition for his play this season. Pro Football Weekly named him to its midseason All-Pro team at safety along with the Saints’ Darren Sharper. He was the only Patriot on the list. … With three straight 300-plus-yard games, Brady is ever closer to overtaking Drew Bledsoe as the franchise leader in passing yards. He is now just 848 yards shy of Bledsoe’s record of 29,657. At his current pace of 295.5 yards per game, he would claim the record during New England’s game in Miami on Dec. 6.