FOXBORO -- It came as quite a surprise when just four days after his "graduation" -- his preferred term for retirement -- Junior Seau was abruptly un-retired, signing on with the Patriots.

And even more abruptly, Seau's season, and possibly his career, was ended on Sunday night while making a tackle in the second quarter.

New England placed the 37-year-old likely Hall of Famer on injured reserve yesterday with a broken right arm, ending his comeback season.

Pats coach Bill Belichick had done little to hide his affection for Seau during the season, and talked about how hard the veteran had worked.

"Junior was real good," Belichick said. "Our system, even though he worked a little bit in it last year, it's a little bit different than anything else he's played in. He worked hard to kind of change his style of play a little bit to fit what we do.

"It was kind of ironic -- before the game, he gave a very emotional speech to the team before we went out onto the field. That's the kind of guy he is, very unselfish, team-oriented, really works hard at the game. He's here early, stays late, wants to take every snap in practice. He's a guy that I really enjoyed coaching. I have a lot of respect for him."

Slowed by injuries, Seau played in just 15 games over the 2004 and '05 seasons. But he played in all 11 games for New England this year, starting 10 of them, and finishes the year with 70 tackles (40 solo).

After an All-America career at USC, Seau was chosen in the first round (fifth overall) by his hometown San Diego Chargers. There, he was chosen to the Pro Bowl 12 times and was named All-Pro 10 times. Days after his emotional retirement ceremony in August, Seau signed with New England, recruited to the team by former Chargers teammate Rodney Harrison. All the right moves

Though he was quite matter-of-fact about the play after the game Sunday, Belichick did get in a little dig at Tom Brady yesterday for the quarterback's deke of Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher .

"He had a little space and was able to give Brian probably his best move -- maybe his only move," Belichick said with a smile.

The coach did reiterate, however, the importance of Brady's play -- he ran for 11 yards on a third-and-9 situation to keep the game-winning touchdown drive alive.

"That was a big play. It was a big third-down conversion, as was the third-and-2 on the quarterback sneak (three plays later)," Belichick said. "Those improvised plays can be critical plays in the game. It's a testament to the player's ability to take that unsettled situation and turn it into a positive play.

"I have a lot of confidence in Tom running the ball. Nobody is ever going to confuse him with Michael Vick or Gayle Sayers , but in terms of his judgement and when to run and when not to run, I think he makes good decisions in those situations. He makes good decisions in all situations."

That's more like it

Belichick was asked about the play of Richard Seymour this season, especially in light of a recent sportsillustrated.com article that said Seymour was the "biggest dog you've ever seen on the field" in the loss to the Jets.

Seymour has been hampered by an elbow injury in recent weeks, and he was hampered by a quadriceps injury in training camp. Belichick said Seymour would have to be asked how the elbow is affecting his play but added, "I doubt there's anyone in the league that feels fresh as a daisy here in November."

Though he did not speak on Seymour's play through the season, Belichick was pleased with the way the 27-year old defensive lineman performed on Sunday.

"I thought Richard played well last night," Belichick said. "I thought he got off on the ball well, showed some good quickness, made a significant number of plays in both the running game and the passing game, I thought he used his hands well. I thought he played a good football game."

Seymour had four tackles, a sack and a red-zone fumble recovery in the win over Chicago.

Harrison improving

Belichick said Harrison, recovering from a broken shoulder blade, is "getting better every day. He's doing more today than he did yesterday. Hopefully he'll continue to head in the right direction." Harrison was on the sideline with the Patriots Sunday for the first time since suffering the injury against the Colts and did not appear to be wearing a sling.

smanza@projo.com / (401) 277-7340