Just like last week, after he first suffered his concussion, left tackle Nate Solder missed Wednesday's practice, but suited up for Thursday and Friday sessions. He was been on the field twice this week just a few days aggravating his head injury late in the Dolphins game on Sunday.

It remains unclear, however, if Solder will be active again this coming Sunday in Baltimore, when the Patriots face the Ravens. Head coach Bill Belichick spoke in general terms this morning about the process of deciding which 46 players will be active on game days and which 7 will not.

"A lot of times," he explained before practice in a media briefing, "those decisions really go right down to Sunday morning or sometimes even Saturday afternoon. You just have to make a call at that point, you just have to decide what you're going to do: this is what we've got and we either go with it or wait until next week [to activate an injured player]."

One thing is almost always true in football: when a player doesn't practice at all during the week, he almost never suits up for the game that Sunday. Which means rookie wide receiver Josh Boyce (left ankle) will probably not be in uniform - or even travel - to Baltimore with the team this weekend. He hasn't been on the field since late in the Miami game.