Patriots In the Middle of “Changing of the Guards” On Offense
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FOXBORO, MA — New England is experiencing a “changing of the guard” right now on their offensive line.
With veteran guard Todd Rucci having been released Tuesday, the Patriots now have two new players at the guard spots who have received little recognition despite the fact that Drew Bledsoe went without being sacked in their previous game against the Colts. Both Sale Isia and Joe Andruzzi are in their third year in the league, and Belichick says that they’ll continue playing at their current positions and hopefully continue to get even better.
“I think they’re still relatively young, and as long as they keep getting better then that’s encouraging,” said Belichick on Wednesday. “Once [their play] does level off in plateau, then you have to wonder whether or not that’s going to be the level it’s going to get at, is it temporary, or is it going to go higher. I think that the longer they play together as a unit, the better we’ll get.”
The Patriots are also beginning to have success running the football up the middle of the line. J.R. Redmond had a successful outing against the Colts rushing for 97 yards on 22 carries, many of them coming up the middle. Belichick says that if you can’t have success controlling the middle of the line on both sides of the ball, you’re not going to have much success.
“If you’re not strong up the middle it’s hard to do anything,” said Belichick. “It’s hard to pass protect, it’s hard to throw the ball because there’s arms and people in the way. It’s hard to run the ball because you’re not running north and south, you’re not running toward the goal line, you’re always running laterally. If you don’t have strength in the middle of your line on both sides of the ball it creates problems. There’s just no way to get around it.”
“I think that’s the strength of our center and our guards right now is their ability to anchor the line of scrimmage, to not get pushed back and power rushed. Sometimes there’s some pressure in a gap and that kind of thing, but I think we’ve done a much better job of staying firm on the line of scrimmage which then gives the quarterback an opportunity to step up and throw the ball. It keeps the runningback from having a guy getting knocked back into the running lane you’re attempting to go in right off the bat and then having to make a real quick cut one way or the other. What you’d like is some type of firmness on the line of scrimmage so the back can either get up into the hole, or the quarterback can step up and throw. I think that’s also made our tackles job easier because the quarterback can step up.”
Belichick said that center Damien Woody, along with Andruzzi, and Isia have been solid so far this season, and he’s very pleased with their performances. Considering how things looked early on when the guard position was very questionable during the early part of preseason, they’re a big improvement.
“That’s what those three guys have given us relative to what we’ve had going through training camp and the early part of the season,” said Belichick. “I’m not nominating anybody for the hall of fame, I don’t think we need to retire any jerseys or anything this week. But I’m just saying that it’s been a significant improvement in our team.”
Will Andruzzi and Isia be back next season?
“I think it’s a possibility,” said Belichick. “I think it’s fair. If they’re the best players then they’ll play. If somebody comes in and plays better than they do, then they won’t.”
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