… The weather up here in the northeast today is a lot like it is forecast to be for the next several days: humid, cloudy, with intermittent showers and temps in the 70s. As a result, the Patriots decided to hold their practice outdoors again, presumably to get accustomed to the conditions they'll see up in Buffalo on Sunday. The team was in shorts, shells, and helmets down on the single practice field.

… Moments before practice, the team announced some more roster transactions. Linebacker A.J. Edds was released and fellow former Iowa Hawkeye linebacker Jeff Tarpinian was called up from the practice squad. New England also added defensive back Josh Victorian to fill the void on the practice squad. He's a rookie from Louisiana Tech who spent some time this year with the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots assigned him jersey number 28.

… Not a good sign for the Patriots – the list of absentees from practice continues to rise. Six players weren't on the field today: safety Patrick Chung (thumb), tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back), tight ends Aaron Hernandez (knee) and Dan Gronkowski (hamstring), and defensive linemen Albert Haynesworth and Mike Wright (concussion). It's unclear right now why Haynesworth wasn't out there, although he was seen leaving the Charger game briefly to have his legs stretched. Gronkowski, meanwhile, was listed yesterday on the injury report with a hamstring, which also limited him in practice last week.

… A couple of bits of good news, health-wise, came when cornerback Kyle Arrington (concussion), was seen back in uniform. With the strict new protocols that the NFL has in place for concussion testing, it's more difficult for players to return soon after a concussion. This could mean Arrington's concussion wasn't as severe as it could have been.

… In addition, punter Zoltan Mesko did some light jogging with the team during stretching, something he didn't do yesterday, but he was clearly favoring his left (kicking) knee that he hurt against the Chargers. He has still yet to be seen kicking a football, at least while the media was allowed to view practice.

… Cornerback and co-captain Devin McCourty had some interesting comments today about his confidence, after the Patriots passing defense has been torched the past couple of weeks. You'll see those in my full locker room interview period recap, which will be posted on patriots.com later this afternoon. UPDATE … 4:09 p.m.

Haynesworth has a back injury, according to the official injury/practice participation report. And Dan Gronk's hamstring kept him out of practice altogether today. He seems to have taken a turn for the worse. On the other hand, Arrington was able to practice in a limited capacity, so, that's encouraging news for him and his chances of suiting up Sunday. Otherwise, there were no changes to yesterday's injury report statuses.

The Bills, meanwhile, had just two changes to their Wednesday report, upgrading their two Johnsons — Stevie (groin) and Spencer (hip). Both missed Wednesday's practice, but took part fully in today's workout in Orchard Park, NY.