FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – As usual, the New England Patriots are focusing on their next game. That doesn’t mean they can’t take an early look at the opponent who comes after that.

Even if they don’t know who that opponent is.

So while coach Bill Belichick zeroes in on Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins, other staff members are planning for Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and Kansas City – all possible visitors to Foxborough in the opening round of the playoffs.

“We have to advance scout all three of them,” Belichick said Thursday. “There are other people in the organization that are taking care of that. It’s not really something that the coaches and the players are all that concerned about.”

The least likely of the three opponents is Kansas City, but Belichick doesn’t want less planning for them than the other two.

“I don’t think you’d want to be sitting there on Monday and say, “Oh, we’re playing somebody (and) we haven’t done anything on them. Let’s get started,’ ” he said.

That would be a bigger problem if the first playoff game is played on a Saturday, cutting out a day of preparation. The postseason schedule won’t be announced until either late Sunday or Monday.

The Patriots hope linebacker and defensive signal caller Tedy Bruschi will be ready for that. On Thursday, he was listed as questionable with a calf injury for the second straight day. Belichick did not say whether he would face Miami.

The AFC East champion Patriots would be seeded third in the AFC if they win Sunday and Cincinnati loses to Kansas City. Otherwise, they’d be fourth and Cincinnati third. Jacksonville has clinched the fifth spot.

Kansas City and Pittsburgh both have a shot at sixth. The Steelers would get the spot if they beat or tie Detroit, Kansas City loses to or ties Cincinnati or San Diego beats Denver on Saturday. If none of that happens, the Chiefs finish sixth.

So New England won’t know its first-round opponent until about 4:30 p.m. Sunday when the relevant games are expected to end.

“You’d always like to be seeded as high as possible,” quarterback Tom Brady said. “Whoever you play it’s going to be great competition. I don’t think you get to this point in the season and to make the playoffs without being a good football team.”

The Patriots already have faced two of their potential opponents, winning 23-20 at Pittsburgh in the third game of the season, and losing 26-16 at Kansas City in the 11th. They last faced Jacksonville in the 14th game of the 2003 season.

New England is most familiar with the Steelers, having faced them twice last season at Pittsburgh with a loss in the regular season and a win in the AFC championship game.

“We played them a bunch of times over the last few years so, in that sense, you just know the players and you know the scheme,” Brady said, “but the details of everything, (we’re) probably not too up on them at this point. We’ll see if we need to be here in a few days.”

The Steelers have beaten their last three opponents by a margin of 80-12. Miami, out of playoff contention, has won its last five games.

“Pittsburgh’s one of the hottest, most formidable teams in the league,” Belichick said. “Right now we’re up against one of the hottest teams in the league. Miami is playing as good as anybody is.”

So players and coaches are most concerned about the Dolphins.

“I’m going to address the playoffs next week,” linebacker Mike Vrabel said.

Brady, meanwhile, must figure out how to overcome Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas and the rest of Miami’s veteran defense so the Patriots can take the momentum of a five-game winning streak into the game against Jacksonville, Pittsburgh or Kansas City.

“I think the best preparation for next week is to play well this week,” Brady said. “So that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

AP-ES-12-29-05 1824EST