[Illusion]

FOXBORO, Mass. -- Tedy Bruschi is nursing a wrist injury that might be as serious as a fracture, and The Boston Herald reported Tuesday that the Patriots linebacker will miss at least a week of camp while New England determines the severity of the injury.

Bruschi was reportedly hurt Monday during practice. He did not participate in drills that afternoon and missed both sessions Tuesday.

A Patriots spokesman would not comment on the report when reached by ESPN.com late Tuesday.

If Bruschi were to be out for an extended period of time, it would add to New England's depth problems at middle linebacker. The Patriots have tried Monty Beisel at that position with Bruschi. This has allowed Mike Vrabel to spend time at his natural outside position, but he may end up back in the middle if Bruschi misses time.

Bruschi, though, is optimistic about the situation at linebacker.

"I really haven't gotten to play with Monty a lot," Bruschi, now in his 11th season, told The Boston Globe on Tuesday. "I'm looking forward to developing that chemistry with him this year, and we've had the minicamps and the offseason to try to do that. I think we're going to be a good team inside."

Bruschi, known as the Patriots' emotional leader, suffered a stroke in February 2005, days after playing in his first Pro Bowl and 10 days after helping the Patriots win their third Super Bowl in four years. He later had surgery to repair a small hole in his heart.

Though he was expected to miss all of last season, Bruschi returned to the Patriots in October and went on to share AP Comeback Player of the Year honors with Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith after recording 61 tackles in the last nine games of the season.

Prior to his injury-shortened 2005-06 season, Bruschi had enjoyed the best two years of his career while leading the Patriots to Super Bowl championships in 2004 and 2005. He totaled 128 tackles in 2003 and 120 in 2004 and intercepted three passes each year.