Pats rookie cornerback Terrence Wheatley, tackling the Eagles’ Shaheer McBride in a preseason game, feels he’s improving.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

FOXBORO –– Terrence Wheatley stood at his locker and thought back on his first seven weeks in the NFL.

High points, yes, like seeing the field in the first week, but low points, too. Week Five against the Chargers brings back bad memories every time he sees it on tape. Burned on two Philip Rivers passes, the 23-year-old cornerback was held out of the next week’s game against the Denver Broncos.

“It was hard watching the film out there, because no one wants to go out there and think, ‘I was horrible on this play.’ But in this business, you’ve got to be able to analyze every little thing that you do wrong, and I analyzed it. Now I know what I did wrong, and that’s it,” Wheatley said.

He worked his way back into the lineup, and last week against the Rams he was thrown into the game to fill in for injured starters. He performed solidly.

What’s been particularly jarring, especially for an accomplished athlete, is entering a world where his physical ability doesn’t make him stand out. To compensate, the 5-foot-9, 183-pound rookie from Colorado is beginning to pick up the importance of technique and of deception, he said.

“You’ve just got to be able to change up your technique,” he said. “Guys at this level are fast, they’re big, they’re smart, they know what they’re doing. Coming in as a rookie, you’ve got to be able to show them different things. For our offense, Tom [Brady] and Randy [Moss], I can’t show them the same thing every time — they’ll eat me alive. You’ve got to change it up.

“In college, you didn’t really have to do that. You could just line up and your physical ability would just take over. But at this level, against a team like the Colts, you just can’t do that.”

Now he figures to see some playing time defending against Peyton Manning and the Colts’ famously prolific offense. In college, he said, he never considered that he might be someday covering famous receivers like Marvin Harrison or Reggie Wayne, but the pair is suddenly in his mind a great deal.

“Never thought about that — but I’m definitely thinking about it now,” Wheatley said.

Colts laud Harrison

Bill Belichick and the Patriots staff may stick to the line that no player is irreplaceable, but Dallas Clark knows better. The Colts’ tight end has faced off against safety Rodney Harrison for the last six years, and is sure the injured Patriot will mean opportunities for the Colts.

“They always say, ‘Next guy in,’ but I think on this side of the fence, Rodney is a tough guy for them to replace. He brought so much versatility and that toughness that the defense always shows,” Clark said.

Second-year player Brandon Meriweather performed ably last week against the Rams, in the first game since Harrison’s season-ending quadriceps injury, but Clark said that few players could replace Harrison’s versatility.

“He allowed them to do a lot of different things. He can cover tight ends, he can come and pressure a wide receiver. When you don’t have a guy like that, that’s tough,” Clark said.

Belichick, of course, wasn’t as effusive about Harrison’s absence.

“[Harrison’s] not a part of it, so whatever we do, obviously other people are going to have to do it. We still have to play team defense,” Belichick said.

Taking it easy at practice

The Patriots were once again in light pads for practice yesterday; the team has not worn full pads since Oct. 17, a couple of days before their Monday Night game with Denver. With all of the injuries the team has been dealing with, both major and minor, there is a concern that the team can’t afford to have any more in a full-pads practice setting. One positive for New England was that running back LaMont Jordan returned to the field for the first time since suffering a calf injury against San Francisco on Oct. 5. He was listed as having limited participation. However, of concern is that Randy Moss showed up on the team’s practice report for the first time this season with a foot injury. Moss was also listed as limited. There were four players who did not participate: RB Sammy Morris (knee), CB Ellis Hobbs (shoulder), CB Lewis Sanders (hamstring) and LB Shawn Crable (shin). In addition to Moss and Jordan, DE Jarvis Green (ankle), T Nick Kaczur (ankle), LB Eric Alexander (hamstring) and WR Matthew Slater (ankle) were also limited.

Turning up the volume

The Pats practiced inside the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse, where they can turn up the volume to simulate the crowd noise inside Lucas Oil Stadium, where the roof will presumably be closed for Sunday night’s game. There were five players wearing black jerseys as practice players of the week: Wheatley, LB Pierre Woods, LB Vince Redd, WR/DB Ray Ventrone and T Mark LeVoir.

Colts practice shorthanded

The Colts listed 11 players as having not participated in their practice yesterday, though four of those players, DE Dwight Freeney, LB Gary Brackett, DB Tim Jennings, and DE Robert Mathis had their absence described as not injury-related. Key players WR Reggie Wayne (knee), RB Dominic Rhodes (ankle) and DB Marlin Jackson (knee) also did not practice. Indianapolis did see RB Joseph Addai (hamstring), S Bob Sanders (knee) and CB Kelvin Hayden (knee) return to practice. They were not listed on the team’s injury report.

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