Last modified: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 10:21 AM EST FARINELLA: Colt has foot-in-mouth disease It must be the playoffs, because the tempests are brewing away in the NFL's teapots. A fellow whom Peyton Manning once called ``that liquored-up idiot kicker'' in 2002 after some ill-chosen postseason comments opened his mouth again on an Indianapolis television station Sunday night, and it's sent the Boston-area print and electronic media into a frenzied whirlwind of activity. There has been no effort spared to turn a few off-hand and ill-chosen comments by Indianapolis Colts' kicker Mike Vanderjagt into a full-fledged trash-talking controversy as Sunday's AFC divisional playoff game between the Colts and Patriots approaches. And it probably would be one, except for one little problem -- few of the Patriots seem to care in the slightest what the Colts' kicker had to say. Perhaps the best comment about the so-called assault upon the Patriots' honor came from linebacker Tedy Bruschi on Monday, before the controversy had picked up much steam. ``You're asking me to comment on what a kicker said?'' he asked, a hint of an annoyed smirk on his face. ``It doesn't really concern me, OK?'' No doubt, the Patriots might have taken sharper notice of such commentary if someone with the stature of Manning had taken time out from his busy schedule of cheering on butchers and slapping high-fives with his favorite accountants to cast aspersions upon their honor. More likely, Manning is probably chanting, ``Cut that crap! Cut that crap!'' to his loose-lipped kicker today. To be honest, Vanderjagt's comments weren't all that damning. Appearing on one of the rah-rah post-game shows that are common in yahoo towns like Indianapolis, the veteran kicker was goaded along by a sycophantic host who, as Jets' quarterback Chad Pennington suggests, probably feels ``privileged'' to be near his blue-clad heroes. ``I think (the Patriots are) ripe for the picking,'' Vanderjagt said during the interview. ``I think they're not as good as the beginning of the year, not as good as last year. And I think they're beatable.'' Pressed on by the host, Vanderjagt apparently tried to extricate himself from the hole he was digging, but failed to make the clean getaway. ``We have to play well,'' he said. ``There's no question about that. But I think we're going to come back (to Indianapolis) Sunday night going to the AFC title game.'' Well, everyone's entitled to an opinion. After all, this is America. But there's a time and a place for such commentary. Just as it's not quite a First Amendment right to yell, ``Fire!'' in a crowded theater, Vanderjagt probably should have known that he was venturing into a minefield when he opened his mouth Sunday. The response from within the Patriots' locker room was tepid at best -- not unexpectedly so, given how skilled the Sons of Bill Belichick have become at delivering either the diplomatic answer to potentially inflammatory questions, or no answer at all. ``Honestly, I haven't read the newspaper and I don't know exactly what was said,'' said Vanderjagt's opposite number, Pro Bowl kicker Adam Vinatieri. ``I respect the guy. He's a good kicker ... but we'll see. We were a little bit better than them at the beginning of the year, we made a few more plays and we ended up winning that game, and it's going to come down to who makes more plays this week, too.'' Vinatieri is probably one of the most recognizable Patriots, given his Super Bowl-winning kicks and his Ford and Papa Gino's commercials, so he smiled when he was asked if kickers should be seen and not heard. Sometimes, he admitted, a lower profile is preferable. ``I tell you what, you won't catch me (talking trash),'' he said. ``I try to just do my job on the field, and I guess it's better to not be heard or seen, maybe, for the most part. ``I don't know what he said so I don't want to comment on that one way or another, but we're members of the team,'' he said. ``He's definitely helped his team win a lot of games, so he's just as much of a member of that team as anybody, and I guess it's his right to say what he feels and thinks.'' And that was pretty much it for this pre-playoff controversy -- until the horde of reporters got to Rodney Harrison, that is. ``He should focus on making his field goals and not be worried about what we're doing over here,'' the steely-eyed Harrison said. ``He has to be a jerk ... `Vander-jerk' ... if he can sit there and criticize Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy, one of the best quarterbacks in the game and one of the best coaches in the game. He put his foot in his mouth again and that shows the type of character he has.'' Given his fiery on-field temperament, Harrison might be the one Patriot who'd be likely to confront the ``idiot kicker'' man-to-man on Sunday. Fortunately for Vanderjagt, there are rules in the NFL than take a dim view of beheadings -- as Belichick is likely to remind Harrison before kickoff Sunday. ``People say whatever they want to say all the time,'' Vinatieri said, ``but they just have to stand by their words.'' In other words, Vanderjagt won't do much to help the Colts win if his foot remains in his mouth Sunday. MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com