Every once in a while, we here at NFL.com have a first-hand chance to see how important football and its players are to fans around the country. Tuesday, we experienced one of those times.

While the New England Patriots are in California preparing for Sunday’s game at Oakland, linebacker Tedy Bruschi is back in Massachusetts undergoing tests on his left knee. Bruschi is believed to have a torn medial collateral ligament that’s expected to sideline him for the rest of the regular season, a league source said Wednesday.

Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi and NT Vince Wilfork left Sunday’s game against the Seahawks with injuries.

Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi played college football in the early 1990s at the University of Arizona, where Dick Tomey was his coach. Christopher L. Gasper of The Boston Globe reports that the two shared a reunion this week as the Patriots spent the week practicing at San Jose State, where Tomey is now head coach.