Pats’ Brown Solders on
With Scar’s help, tackle fills big hole
FOXBORO — The Patriots took a giant gamble in the offseason when they let Nate Solder, a known commodity, walk in free agency and replaced him with the enigmatic Trent Brown. Brown assumed the starting left tackle role from the outset of training camp. At the beginning of the year, there were daily updates on Brown, in part because he occupied a critical position, and in part because he was gigantic, even by NFL standards. Nowadays? You haven’t heard much about Brown. That’s a plus for the Patriots. Working with legendary offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, the 6-foot-8, 380-pound Brown has worked out as well as anyone could have hoped. “Athletically and physically, I’m pretty gifted,” Brown admitted yesterday at his locker. “I can kind of make up for some stuff if I lack it in technique. But here, I appreciate Dante because he noticed what I had already and he’s putting that together with technique and it’s been working well for me.” Scarnecchia has spent decades maximizing the potential of talented offen- sive linemen. He’s 70 years old, and he’s already retired once, so it’s fair to assume he’s operating on a year-toyear schedule. It’s possible Brown is the last great project in Scarnecchia’s illustrious career. When the Pats acquired Brown in a draft weekend trade with the 49ers, Scarnecchia knew he’d be working with a top talent. “You could go back last year and watch him play, (and) there were a lot of ‘wow’ blocks, ‘Oh man, look at that,’ ” Scarnecchia said. “But he had been a right tackle and we said we’re going to try him at left. And he’s fine over there. He’s big and long and tough to get around.” Not perfect, though. “We just have to get more consistency in everything he does,” Scarnecchia said. “And he understands that. We’re hopefully trending upward. (He) took a little bit of a plane out last week. I think he could do better. I think he thinks he could do better, which is most important.” As Scarnecchia explained, last week’s win over the Bills was a “plane out” — a slight bump in what has otherwise been a steady uphill climb — for many of the offensive linemen. Brown’s missteps: He was beaten cleanly around the edge by Lorenzo Alexander for a sack and forced fumble at the Buffalo 4-yard line. The play put the Patriots in a third-and-goal from the Bills 7-yard line. On another drive that reached the Buffalo 7, Brown was flagged for a hold against Jerry Hughes. “Improvement is always the biggest room in the house,” Brown said, borrowing a line he once heard from a coach. From Brown’s perspective, the transition to New England has been largely positive. “(I) definitely quickly found out that it’s nothing like the outsiders say or people that came here and leave here on bad terms or whatever,” Brown said. “It’s definitely not like anything that they say. I’m just enjoying myself. I’m enjoying the people. I’m enjoying being coached. I’m enjoying the whole process.” And the tutelage from Scarnecchia? “That’s probably my favorite part, honestly,” Brown said. “I’m getting better. I’m prepared week in and week out. I’m not going into games with any question marks on anything. As far as mentally and physically, I’m prepared to go.” As a whole, the offensive line has been a bright spot. Tom Brady has been sacked 11 times through eight games. Compare that with last season, when Brady went down 21 times in Weeks 1-8. He’s rarely been under incessant pressure. As a result, the Patriots offense, despite an uneven performance in Buffalo, has emerged as one of the league’s best. Brown has been a key factor since the beginning. “I’m enjoying winning,” Brown said. “I’m enjoying being prepared. I’m enjoying everything about the place.”