Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker is inactive for the Patriots today against the New York Jets.

As part of my 15-team training camp tour, I was able to take in a day of practices from the New England Patriots camp. Here are my 10 oberservations on Vince Wilfork, Joey Galloway and the rest of Bill Belichick‘s training camp.

The bar has been set with the recent success of the Cowboys, Patriots, Ravens, Chargers and Steelers’ 3-4 defenses, and now it has become vogue to run the scheme. As many as 15 teams are either making the switch or infusing elements of the 3-4 defense, but can they be successful? Here are five key ingredients that will make or break the transition.

Much to the Patriots chagrin, the reports are accurate. Pro Bowl linebacker Adalius Thomas will have season-ending surgery tomorrow for his broken forearm, a league source confirmed Tuesday.

When Niners coach Mike Nolan was defensive coordinator in Baltimore, he worked with a young linebacker named Adalius Thomas. Now Thomas plays for the New England Patriots and he’ll face his old D-coordinator this week in San Francisco. As Nolan prepared his squad to take on the Patriots, he tried to hide his admiration for the two-time Pro Bowl linebacker, reports Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. “Only it didn’t take long before his cover was blown,” Guregian writes. “Nolan couldn’t keep the insults going. If anything, the 49ers coach proved a card-carrying member of the Adalius Thomas fan club.” Full story