The New England Patriots' offensive line has undergone change this season, between the retirement of Matt Light, Brian Walters failing to show for training camp, the release of Dan Hoppen and Logan Mankins coming off surgery on a torn ACL.

Tom Brady was sacked 12 times through the first five games, but only three times over their past six.

‘‘You try and do that as best as you can,’’ guard Donald Thomas said. ‘‘So, it’s always a bonus when you can try to keep him as clean as possible. Nothing’s ever going to be perfect. You try to do your job and that’s what our job is.’’

The New England Patriots have elevated fullback James Develin to the active roster.

Develin, signed to the practice squad on September 2, is a six-foot-three, 251-pound player out of Brown who began his NFL career on the Bengals practice squad in 2010. 

The Patriots have not had a fullback on the roster since early in the season.

The six teams with the best turnover differential in the NFL have a combined record of 43-23.

The New England Patriots are plus-24 in the category, followed by the Chicago Bears and New York Giants with a plus-13.

The bottom-six teams have a combined record of 27-38. 

The Kansas City Chiefs are minus-21 on the season.

Tim Tebow fractured two ribs during a play in the Seattle game two weeks ago, but he was dressed and available for the Jets in a embarrassing loss to the Patriots on Thursday night.

The backup quarterback was active but did not play in the game at quarterback or as punt protector as Mark Sanchez struggled. 

Head coach Rex Ryan said Tebow's condition worsened throughout the week, and his breathing was affected.

Rob Gronkowski broke his right forearm and is expected to miss four to six weeks, according to a soure.

Gronkowski had 137 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the Patriots' Week 11 win over the Colts.

The Patriots have already been without tight end Aaron Hernandez for long stretches of the season.

The New England Patriots have activated Aquib Talib and promoted Greg Salas from the practice squad while releasing Deion Branch and Malcolm Williams.

The Patriots had a roster exemption for Talib.

Branch played his best game of the season last week, catching four balls for 30 yards.

Aaron Hernandez is expected to sit again in the New England Patriots' game on Sunday against the Colts.

Hernandez injured his ankle in Week 2 against the Cardinals.

Hernandez returned in Week 6 against the Seahawks and was re-injured in Weke 7.

The New England Patriots defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-31 to improve to 6-3 in a game where the teams combined for 62 first downs.

The Patriots had a +3.6 advantage in The Trench Counter, despite being outgained by a 1.7 per play margin and recording eight fewer first downs due to recording a 3-0 win in turnovers. New England had a -3 deficit in Total Rushes/Completions.

Tom Brady went 23-for-38 for 237 yards and two touchdowns.

Stevan Ridley rushed 22 times for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Ryan Fitzpatrick went 27-for-40 for 337 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Fred Jackson rushed 16 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns, but he fumbled twice and lost one.

Aaron Hernandez has been ruled out by the New England Patriots for their Week 10 game against the Bills.

Hernandez suffered a setback with his ankle injury.

The Patriots activated veteran tight end Visanthe Shiancoe from injured reserve/designated to return, ahead of next Tuesday's deadline.

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have gone away from the deep ball since the first five games of the 2011 season.

During that stretch, Brady went 44-for-79 for an average of 13.1 yards per attempt on deep and intermediate passes. Over the final 14 games of 2011, including the Super Bowl, Brady went 77-for-152 for 11.4 yards per attempt. In 2012, Brady is 47-for-88 for 11.2 yards per attempt.

Brady also has significantly dropped his completion rate and yards per attempt outside the numbers.

The deep ball that Brady used so brilliantly during the 2007 season with Randy Moss may simply not be in his repertoire any longer as he ages.