Quarterback Tom Brady led a quartet of Patriots who were named to the AFC Pro Bowl team on Tuesday evening.

Brady, left guard Logan Mankins, nose tackle Vince Wilfork and wide receiver Wes Welker will be joining Brady at the Pro Bowl. It is the fifth Pro Bowl selection for Brady, while the other three will all be headed there for the second time. Mankins and Wilfork were named starters, while Brady and Welker were named reserves. Overall, the Patriots are tied for the fourth-most players on the AFC team, behind the Colts (six), Ravens (five) and Chargers (five).

The game is scheduled for Miami’s Land Shark Stadium for Jan. 31, the week before the Super Bowl — no Super Bowl participants will play in the all-star exhibition.

The quarterback, in his first year back after a left knee injury in the 2008 season opener left him sidelined for most of last year, has had some impressive games — he’s had seven 300-yard plus outings and nine games where he’s had at a completion percentage rate of 65 percent or better. In addition, he enters the final week of the season with 4,212 yards passing and 28 touchdowns.

But the quarterback has been dogged by finger and rib injuries lately, and as a result, there have been some distinctly un-Bradylike performances over the last month — while he was excellent last week against Jacksonville, he struggled in successive weeks against Carolina and Buffalo.

Regardless, he has been selected as the backup for Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning and San Diego’s Philip Rivers. That left some, like Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson, wondering why Texans quarterback Matt Schaub didn’t make the cut. Schaub and Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger both best Brady in most major categories, but both were snubbed.

“Matt deserves it,” Johnson told Houston-area reporters after the news was announced.

One guy who there seems to be no doubt about is Mankins. The Fresno State product is going to his second Pro Bowl and first since 2007 when he became the first Patriots guard to earn a Pro Bowl selection since 1985 when Pro Football Hall of Famer John Hannah went to his ninth career Pro Bowl. (Mankins joins Hannah as the only Patriots guards to earn Pro Bowl bids since the 1970 merger.)

The 27-year-old Mankins has become known for his toughness and durability, having never missed an NFL game — starting all 79 of his career games. This season, he’s part of an offensive line that has allowed only 16 sacks through the first 15 games.

“It’s our fourth game in a row of no sacks — that’s pretty impressive for our offensive line,” Brady said after Sunday’s win over Jacksonville. “I mean, that’s a remarkable job by those guys up front and Dante [Scarnecchia], the way he coaches those guys.”

Wilfork has also dominated his position this season. The 28-year-old, who has played a couple of spots along the defensive line this season, earned his second Pro Bowl berth after helping the Patriots enter the final week of the season with the eighth ranked defense.

Since being selected in the first round (21st overall) of the 2004 draft out of Miami, Wilfork has helped the Patriots defense finish in the top 10 on four occasions (2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008). Wilfork enters the final week of the 2009 season leading the defensive line with 65 total tackles, and had a team-leading 10 total tackles in a key 31-14 AFC East victory over the Jets on Nov. 22. Wilfork was selected by his teammates as a defensive captain in 2009 for the second straight season.

Wilfork Tweeted the following message shortly after the announcement was made.

“WOW thanks guys i appreciate so much the support.. Getting selected as a starter for the ProBowl is huge.. I could not of done it without u. … congrats to my teammates brady welker and big logan…. need the rest of these guys next year moss, mayo, meriweather, warren…and others.”

He added: “Don’t get it twisted ….. I love the pro bowl win but hope I cant go because I will be at superbowl the next week.”

The news that the veteran lineman was leading the balloting at his position earlier this month hardly came as a surprise to his teammate Ty Warren.

“Rightfully so. Rightfully so,” Warren said of Wilfork. “He means a lot to this defense and obviously, the nose tackle position is a real important position to this defense. He’s done good playing that position all year. Rightfully so.”

The final member of the New England roster headed to the Pro Bowl is Welker, who ranks first in the NFL with 122 receptions in 2009, a Patriots single-season record that eclipses the 112 he had in 2007. Welker broke the 100-reception total for the third straight season after catching 112 passes in 2007 and 111 in 2008.

Welker also set a career-high with 1,336 yards receiving so far this season, and he and Randy Moss became the first Patriots players to have three straight 1,000-yard seasons.

“He’s got a lot of heart. He’s a heck of a football player,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said of the wide receiver earlier this month. “He shows up every day to work. I know he’s been banged up, but he fights through it, returns punts, catches the ball, blocks. He goes into the corner after the puck, too. He’s not just scoring goals; he’s going in there and digging it out in the corner. He’s a tough football player.”