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FOXBORO - Watching the play away from the play can often be just as interesting and entertaining as following the ball.

For instance, the on-field confrontations of Patriots' safety Rodney Harrison and Colts' tight end Dallas Clark have always been spirited, and the outcome of each trip down the field for the two combatants usually had some bearing upon the game's result.

That won't be the case Sunday night, however, when the 5-2 Patriots visit the Colts' new home, Lucas Oil Stadium, for a nationally-televised game (8:15 p.m.; Ch. 7, 10). Clark will still be there, and playing at the top of his game, but Harrison is on the injured reserve list with a torn quadriceps muscle, and James Sanders is the likely candidate to step in to provide the defensive attention that the Patriots absolutely have to pay to the talented sixth-year veteran out of Iowa.

"Rodney is a great player and he definitely gives a big lift for their defense," Clark said via conference call earlier this week. "They always say 'next guy in,' but I think just on this side of the fence, Rodney's a tough guy for them to replace. He brought so much to their defense, so much versatility and just that toughness that the defense always shows, so I think he allowed them to do a lot of different things. He can cover tight ends, he can come and pester a wide receiver and stuff like that, so when you don't have a guy like that, that's tough."

If that sounded like a player throwing a gauntlet, that wasn't really the case. Clark looked at his team's present record of 3-4, and the Patriots' 5-2 mark, and immediately acknowledged what has been in accomplished in New England with injuries altering the landscape on both sides of the ball. "They have great leadership on their defense," Clark said, "and they have guys that have been there and have been in situations like this before. They're just rallying around each other and helping the younger guys out and they're definitely not going to use that as an excuse for anything. They're still going to be able to do their thing and fly around and make plays as they do every game."

Clark knows he may get a little bit of a break without Harrison looming in front of him. He presently has 27 catches for 328 yards and two touchdowns, third best among the Colts in what has been, so far, an anemic year offensively.

The Colts rank 21st in the NFL in total offense and dead last in rushing yards with an average of 73.4 yards per game. Peyton Manning's slow recovery from a bursa sac infection in his knee and a sub-par year for his favorite receiver of the past, Marvin Harrison, has led to lower passing numbers of 241.7 yards per game, still good for ninth in the league.

But the fear is that any weakness down the middle and in the secondary shown by the Patriots could awaken a sleeping giant.

"They've got a number of ways they can challenge us," said Sanders, who is assuming more of Harrison's old duties. "They can run the ball with (Joseph) Addai and (Dominic) Rhodes, so we'll just have to play a sound fundamental football game."

Sanders said he expects to have to scrap with Clark for much of the game, but he doesn't expect to have to do it all by himself. He wouldn't reveal any trade secrets, of course, but indicated that some of that help could be coming to bump Clark around a bit and hopefully not let him release into the secondary.

"We've got a lot of great players on this team," Sanders said. "Adalius (Thomas), (Mike) Vrabel, we're got big linebackers. So we're going to go out there on the practice field and do what Coach (Bill Belichick) directs us to do, and whatever position he puts us in to be successful, we'll find that out on the practice field."

Even though the Colts lost a 31-21 decision to the unbeaten Tennessee Titans last week, Clark was effective with seven catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

The Patriots will enter the game with a lot of banged-up people in their secondary, which is forcing youngsters such as Terrence Wheatley, Jonathan Wilhite and Mike Richardson into increased roles out of necessity. Sanders said this is when the lessons of training camp come to bear.

"You just thank God that they played against Tom (Brady) in training camp," he said, "because (Brady and Manning) are arguably the 1 and 2 (quarterbacks) in this league. For them to experience Tom in training camp, I think that's going to help a great deal." Still, the Colts and Patriots generally meet every year at this time with a lot on the line, and the pressure will be on the Patriots' younger defensive backs to prevent Manning from finding his groove all at once.

"We've got a lot of young guys who haven't played in this type of game, so it's going to be interesting to see what happens," Sanders said. "But we're competitive. We've got young corners back there, but they're extremely competitive."

"It's always a great challenge between us," noted Clark, "and it's usually a close game fought to the end - definitely what people look for in football and we look forward to it as players."

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.