"After getting home from Indianapolis, his emotions at not being in uniform for Super Bowl XLVI and the reality of his team's loss still fresh, Kevin Faulk was talking with a friend when he looked at a picture of Troy Brown.

When Faulk was drafted by the Patriots out of Louisiana State in 1999, he immediately was drawn to Brown, the team's versatile and selfless receiver.

And looking at the picture of Brown this week, it hit Faulk: If Brown could survive not being in uniform for his last game with New England, he could as well.

"Why not? I look up to him. Everything he's done. And why couldn't I do it?'' Faulk said yesterday.

In an emotional interview at the NESN studios, Faulk sounded like a man whose playing days are done, but the 35-year-old running back and member of the Patriots' 50th anniversary team stopped short of declaring himself retired, leaving the door open for a 14th NFL season."