New England Patriots might be forced to play Stevan Ridley
By Mike Dyce
After losing running back Shane Vereen to an injury the New England Patriots might be forced to play Stevan Ridley, who was benched for fumbling in the second quarter. That leaves, aside from Ridley, LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Bolden on the roster. Ridley however rushed for 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.
“We’re going to have to rally around each other and encourage each other that we’re going to have to pick it up,” Blount said. “We lost Shane, and we’re going to have to take an even bigger piece of what’s going on, in terms of the passing game, in terms of the running game. We’ll have to take a lot more responsibility.”
Stevan Ridley might not get playing time if he can’t hold onto the ball.
“I think you try to make decisions based on what you feel like is best for the team at each individual time,” said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. “Yesterday, we made the choice to go with Shane and LeGarrette. Stevan needs to do a better job of holding onto the ball, and he knows that.”
The team is willing to work with Ridley though.
“We will work hard with him on that, and he’ll work hard as well to make sure that we don’t do that anymore,” McDaniels said. “But I think any decision on the future or what is going to happen this week or next week, I don’t think those have been made yet.
“Our job as coaches is to work with our players to improve the things they might not be doing as well as we want them to do, and to try and get better. Ultimately, we will try to play the best guys that give us the best chances to win.”