Bill Belichick: Patriots could use offensive line rotation vs. Miami
By Dan Zinski
Five might not be enough for the New England Patriots.
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When discussing the team’s offensive line situation ahead of this weekend’s opener against the Dolphins, Pats head coach Bill Belichick raised the possibility that instead of settling on five men to play the entire game on the offensive-line, he could employ a rotation (via ESPN):
"“I think we have a lot of good players at that position on the offensive line,” Belichick said during a news conference on Friday. “We will see how we end up playing it. But, we could end up playing more than five.”"
Of primary concern is the left guard position left up in the air when Logan Mankins was traded to Tampa Bay. On that Belichick would give no specifics:
"“Yeah, well, we know how we are going to play the game,” Belichick said. “Like anything else we do, we always have contingency plans for something that happens to somebody.”"
Pass blocking tends to be a big subject any time you discuss the Patriots, which is understandable considering who the guy is playing quarterback and how important that guy is to the team’s success.
Ideally you would like to have five good solid offensive linemen in there doing their level best to keep Tom Brady from being hit, but right now the Patriots can’t find five men they like.
Brady may be more vulnerable than usual this weekend as he deals with a calf injury. If Brady can’t move, and the rotating offensive line can’t block, we could have the makings of our first early season storyline in New England.
Of course, it’s also possible all this talk about rotating the offensive line is just stuff Belichick is throwing out there to mess with the Dolphins. You never can tell with that guy.