FOXBORO - The schedule-makers were not kind to the Patriots this week.

Arriving back in Foxboro following an emotional and disappointing 18-15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday night, the Patriots are now starting a three-game run through the rest of the AFC East, with two of the games coming in short order.

The 5-3 Patriots meet the 5-3 Buffalo Bills Sunday (1 p.m.; Ch. 4, 12) at Gillette Stadium, and then will have a very quick turnaround to meet the other divisional team checking in with a 5-3 record at this point, the New York Jets, a Thursday-night production that will be seen across most of the country only on the NFL Network.

Following that, the Patriots will be off until Nov. 23 when they visit Miami (currently 4-4) for their second meeting with the Dolphins. The Patriots are 1-1 in divisional play so far, having beaten the Jets on the road and lost at home to Miami. The second game against the Bills won't be until the regular-season finale on Sunday, Dec. 28.

Needless to say, the tight scheduling of the Bills and Jets was of little concern (at least for public consumption) to Patriots' coach Bill Belichick. "Not really, no," he said Wednesday during his midweek press conference. "This is a big game and one that we are going to put everything into and we will worry about next week, next week."

Belichick said he would have his staff follow procedures that were established from past experience with short-week scheduling.

"At the end of the week, we have people on our staff that prepare things for the following week regardless of who it is and what the time frame is," he said. "They take the previous games, which we can go up until last week's game, and work on those.

"Everybody else is doing what they normally do, which is, we work on Buffalo," he said. "And when the Buffalo game is over, we put that behind us and move onto the next game. We know it's a short week, but right now, that's not really a big concern of ours. We will deal with next week, next week."

Participation report

The placement of linebacker Shawn Crable on injured reserve was the big injury news of the day, but a wary eye is being kept on the status of a fellow rookie, cornerback Terrence Wheatley, who suffered an injured left wrist against the Colts and could be facing a long-term absence.

He and fellow corner Lewis Sanders (hamstring) missed practice Wednesday along with running back Sammy Morris (knee). Listed under the "limited participation" category were linebacker Eric Alexander (hamstring), cornerback Ellis Hobbs (shoulder), running back LaMont Jordan (calf), wide receivers Randy Moss (foot) and Matthew Slater (ankle) and nose tackle Vince Wilfork (toe).