01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, September 30, 2004

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- While Tom Brady's star has soared since September 2001, Drew Bledsoe's has crashed.

This week, the once and current kings of the Patriots meet for the fifth time since Brady unseated an injured Bledsoe in 2001 and Bledsoe was eventually catapulted to Buffalo.

The arcs of their careers are stunning. Bledsoe is 14-20 in Buffalo since being traded during the 2002 draft for a first-round pick. He's 21-41 in his last 62 starts. As for Brady? Including the playoffs, the Patriots have gone 42-12 with Brady as their starting quarterback and have won two Super Bowls. And Brady was twice named the game's MVP.

The two will be forever linked. Brady is Lou Gehrig to Bledsoe's Wally Pipp.

But Bledsoe, speaking yesterday on a conference call from Buffalo, where his 0-2 Bills prepare to host New England, doesn't begrudge Brady his success.

"I am 100 percent happy for Tom," said Bledsoe. "The guy is a great guy. We obviously don't talk much anymore, but he is a guy who I consider a friend. I am very, very happy for him, and, to a certain extent, I am proud of him. I watched the guy come in. He was this young kid that I really enjoyed being around. I wouldn't even qualify it. I am very, very happy for Tom and proud of what he has accomplished."

The 2001 season was desperately hard for Bledsoe to negotiate especially when he returned from his injury. A strain seeped into the quarterbacks' friendship but not to the point where there was dislike, just discomfort. Two of the more telling scenes about their relationship can be found in clips from Super Bowl XXXVI. Before the game, the two pounded on each other with excitement, smashing their helmets together before taking the Superdome field. After the win, Brady pounded on the front of Bledsoe's shoulder pads, screaming to a smiling Bledsoe, "We . . . won!"

"When he first came in, I remember him being a skinny scrawny kid who had a great attitude," recalled Bledsoe. "It is really a tribute to him that he has worked so hard to be where he is. He has put on a ton of weight. He is a much stronger, bigger guy now than he was. When he was a rookie, and early in that second year, he was a guy who was always paying attention whenever anything was happening. He was always right in there. I don't know that I could tell you that I honestly sensed that he would be as good as he has been, but he was a guy who, very early on, I sensed would be around for a long time just because of his attitude and his work ethic."

And even as Bledsoe struggles in Buffalo, Brady has an abiding respect for him.

"I think he is a very capable player," said Brady. "I think he has all the talent, ability and the mental attitude. He is as tough as anyone I have been around. He is extremely competitive. He works his butt off, and I think he is tremendous player. Anyone who says he can't do it, tell them to turn on the tape and watch how he plays. He can still play. Our defense is going to have a tough challenge this week because he can make any throw on the field. They have a running back that is one of the best in the league. Drew can still play."

Pass moves beyond past

Skewered in the just-released book Patriot Reign, fullback Patrick Pass said he's spoken to head coach Bill Belichick about passages where special teams coach Brad Seely questioned Pass' tolerance for pain, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis said he "couldn't stand" Pass and Belichick floated the idea of "running" Pass off the team.

"We discussed it," Pass said yesterday. "We're both on the same page. It was something that was said a long time ago and you can't move forward looking at the past."

Pass, a tremendous athlete who played in the Florida Marlins organization and was taken in the seventh round of the 2000 draft by the Patriots, admitted yesterday he came to the NFL unclear on how demanding it was to be a full-time football player.

"I'm more mature than I was two years ago," he said. "I'm a smarter and better player."

Pass said there are no lingering hard feelings about what was said either.

"It's nothing personal," he said. "That's one of the hardest things a head football coach does is make those kinds of personnel changes and evaluations. It's nothing personal against me or what type of person I am. Everything around here is business. The other 31 teams go through the same things. I know Brad and Brad and I joke like that all the time. You have to have fun sometimes. If you can't joke around or take a coach's evaluation . . . "

Branch, Faulk iffy

In addition to announcing that tight end Ben Watson is gone for the year with an injured knee, the team also listed wide receiver Deion Branch as being doubtful for Sunday's game with the Bills. Branch got hurt on an interception return against Arizona when teammate Stephen Neal rolled up on Branch's knee. Running back Kevin Faulk (knee) is also questionable. Faulk got hurt in the team's third preseason game against Carolina on Aug. 28. Brady and reserve quarterback Jim Miller were both listed as probable for the game with shoulder injuries. Both have been on the list each week it's been released.