{"id":25616,"date":"2019-10-17T07:58:36","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T11:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=25616"},"modified":"2019-10-17T07:58:36","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T11:58:36","slug":"adam-butler-has-stepped-up-his-game-for-the-patriots-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2019\/10\/17\/adam-butler-has-stepped-up-his-game-for-the-patriots-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Butler Has Stepped Up His Game For the Patriots Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New England Patriots<\/strong><\/a> defense is off to a tremendous start in 2019, thru the first six games, they\u2019re off to an unprecedented start and are playing some tremendous football. As Bill Belichick would say, \u201cthere is a long way to go\u201d, (there is), and the true meat of their schedule lies in front of them. However, regardless of the opponents, the way the defense is playing right now is awfully impressive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And speaking of an unprecedented start, third-year defensive lineman Adam Butler has been playing tremendous football. In his first two seasons, the UDFA from Vanderbilt was used mainly as a third-down pass rusher. In 2018, Butler played on 36 percent of the team\u2019s defensive snaps and garnered 3 sacks, 2 passes batted down and one forced fumble.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through the first six games this season, Butler\u2019s playing has increased to 50 percent of the defensive snaps. This off-season the Patriots 4-3 base defense has morphed into more of a 3-4 base but they are very multiple and switch fronts and looks constantly. And Butler\u2019s rise in the interior DL has given way to better production, he\u2019s already notched 2.5 sacks, a pair of passes knocked down and 3 quarterback hits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Butler\u2019s rise has been a major factor in the reason that Michael Bennett\u2019s snap counts have decreased so much. It isn\u2019t so much that Bennett has been playing poorly, but that Butler has played so well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Butler and defensive line coach Bret Bielema spoke in the spring about Butler having a bigger impact and becoming a more complete player. Bielema, it should be noted, that besides being a head coach at Wisconsin and Arkansas, he was a defensive coordinator prior to that at both Kansas State and Wisconsin. He comes from a defensive background. And he\u2019s liking what he\u2019s seeing from the 3rd-year lineman.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s long, he\u2019s athletic; he has a way to bend. He\u2019s one of those guys that really does very seldom ever get out of position. He has very good balance; understands leverage. He\u2019s a very intelligent player,\u201d Bielema said on a conference call to the media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe truly is a guy that really gets it, understands it, can process it and the thing this year working with him during the course of a game, he literally understands when things happen literally on the spot. He can come to the sideline, digest what just happened, what they\u2019re trying to do, how we can combat it. He gives a lot of really good information. As coaches, sometimes you don\u2019t get all the most accurate information sometimes, but I will say that AB really does take a lot of pride in his skill set on game day and that\u2019s what\u2019s really shown up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Butler still is playing his role as a designated interior pass rusher but has expanded his role into more of a base role and has earned his coaches\u2019 respect. Bill Belichick spoke about him after the Buffalo game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAdam’s a very intelligent player and he has very good football instincts,\u201d said Belichick. \u201cSo you can give him a lot of information and he kind of knows when to apply it and when not to apply it. So his ability to do the right thing at the right time based on a call, or based on the way that the line blocks, or kind of the protections they use, things like that in the pass rush, even in the running game; he does a good job of recognizing those things quickly and making good decisions, which is really hard to do when you’re in-line like that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Belichick added, \u201cAll players get better with coaching, all players get better with experience, but his growth in three years now has really been impressive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Butler\u2019s rise has been impressive in his third year. On a defense that has been firing on all cylinders, Butler doesn\u2019t do a lot of the flashy stuff that ends up on the highlight reels but he\u2019s been playing his role extremely well and for the 6\u20195, 300-pound lineman, his coaches have seen his value. And they\u2019re rewarding him with more playing time and responsibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at<\/span><\/i> stevebpatsfans@gmail.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to our<\/span><\/i> Patriots 4th and 2<\/span><\/i><\/a> podcasts on blog talk radio as the writers Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and myself from<\/span><\/i> PatsFans.com<\/span><\/i><\/a> discuss the latest Patriots news.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New England Patriots defense is off to a tremendous start in 2019, thru the first six games, they\u2019re off to an unprecedented start and are playing some tremendous football. As Bill Belichick would say, \u201cthere is a long way to go\u201d, (there is), and the true meat of their schedule lies in front of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":13143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10],"tags":[1467,34,1890,1227,44,47,70,8,2168,681],"class_list":["post-25616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots-commentary","category-patriots-news","tag-adam-butler","tag-bill-belichick","tag-bret-bielema","tag-michael-bennett","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-patriots","tag-patriots-base-defense","tag-patriots-defensive-line"],"yoast_head":"\nAdam Butler Has Stepped Up His Game For the Patriots Defense<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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