Just before addressing the media in the Dolphins locker room, star linebacker Joey Porter leaned over to special-teamer Erik Walden and delivered a short, strong message.

"Times have changed."

Just as Porter arrived at Land Shark Stadium in fatigues, he left in his military gear (nametag: Peezy) with four tackles -- one for a loss -- against the Patriots to brag on. And he delivered in a spot where, if he was putting on that get-up after a loss, he could have looked awfully silly.

"Certain games, you know it's gonna be a war, and today was one of those games for us, because, honestly, if we lost, we were out of it," Porter said. "We needed to win to even have a chance and we did that today. We came out, we played with a purpose, we played with a passion."

I did ask Porter as he was walking away what he meant by "Times have changed." Here's what he gave me: "Don't worry about it."