New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi (54) will address the San Jose State football team tomorrow night.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

SAN JOSE, Calif. –– Being at San Jose State University with the Patriots this week is something of a reunion for Tedy Bruschi. His head coach at the University of Arizona, Dick Tomey, is the head coach of the Spartans, and one of Bruschi’s college teammates, Joe Salave’a, is on Tomey’s staff.

After a successful career at Hawaii, Tomey became head coach at Arizona in 1987 and remained there for 13 more seasons. In 1991, Tomey brought Bruschi to Tuscon, and the then-defensive end left as a third-round draft pick five years later.

“It brings back fond memories for me,” Bruschi said yesterday of his visits with Tomey this week. “I feel like I sort of relate to this (San Jose State) program because I’ve been keeping up with it. Of course, I’m from the University of Arizona, but coach Tomey is my coach. He’s the one that helped me develop in my college years and taking me from an 18-year- old freshman to a 23-year-old, fifth-year senior, so I attribute a lot of my success to what coach Tomey taught me.”

Despite amassing a school-record 95 wins, Tomey was fired in 2000 after his team struggled the previous two seasons. He returned to coaching as a San Francisco 49ers assistant in 2003, and was assistant head coach at Texas when it won the Rose Bowl in 2004.

He was named head coach at San Jose State in December 2004.

Tomey has asked Bruschi to address his Spartans players tomorrow night, on the eve of their homecoming game against Utah State. Bruschi said he is looking forward to the opportunity; he feels a kinship with the SJSU players because of Tomey.

“Though it’s a different university and they’re wearing a different logo on the side of their helmets, I feel like we’re being brought up the same by Coach Tomey. I know there are certain things that are important to him that are still important to me. Now that he’s coaching them, I do feel a connection to this program.”

Tomey, in the royal blue of his Spartans, was on the field observing a portion of the Patriots’ practice yesterday.

Chargers’ stars face injuries

San Diego has some injury concerns heading into Sunday’s game. The team reported yesterday that star running back LaDainian Tomlinson, receiver Chris Chambers and linebacker Jyles Tucker did not participate in practice.

Tomlinson aggravated a toe injury in last week’s loss to the Dolphins, while Chambers sprained an ankle against Miami. Tucker, who has gotten more time at outside linebacker in Shawne Merriman’s absence and is the team co-leader in sacks with Shaun Phillips (three each), has a hamstring injury.

Brady undergoes surgery

Tom Brady underwent surgery on his left knee this week. The Boston Globe reported yesterday that the operation was performed Monday in Los Angeles. Patriots spokesman Stacey James declined comment. Coach Bill Belichick refused comment during his news conference yesterday.

“We’re not going to comment on anybody’s situation,” he said. “We’re not going to get into a daily update.”

Extra points

The Patriots held their first practice of the week yesterday, on the patchy practice fields at SJSU. Three players were not spotted during the full-pads session: LB Eric Alexander (hamstring), RB LaMont Jordan (calf) and WR Kelley Washington (ankle). The three were acknowledged to have no participation on the team’s practice report. … CB Lewis Sanders (hamstring) returned to the field but was limited, and RB Laurence Maroney (shoulder) was listed as full participation. … With New England getting back in the win column against San Francisco, that meant there were practice player of the week jerseys to hand out: this week, QB Matt Gutierrez, LB Shawn Crable and practice-squad RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis were awarded the black jerseys. … The line of the day came from Belichick, when he was told that Maroney and a couple of other Pats visited Alcatraz on their day off Tuesday, quipped: “Hopefully they were in civilian clothes.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

smanza@projo.com