Patterson roles with it
After a breakout rushing performance in Sunday night’s win against the Packers, wideout Cordarrelle Patterson is forever entrenched among the list of Patriots players who have filled unconventional roles under coach Bill Belichick.
Belichick yesterday emphasized that players contributing outside of their traditional positions is something that’s been a part of football for as long as he can remember.
“In all my years of coaching, and I guess unfortunately it’s been quite a few, but it would be very rare – there’s so few examples of it being any way but that,” he said. “Look, players want to play, players want to help their team, players want an opportunity to contribute, and we all know that you have to do some things maybe that are secondary or third or fourth on the list, at times, in order to do the things that you want to do.”
When the Patriots travel to Tennessee this week, they’ll face off against one of Belichick’s first and most successful examples of utilizing a player in an unusual way in New England. Former Pats linebacker Mike Vrabel is in his first year as Titans head coach, and in many ways he embodies the versatility Belichick asks of his players so often.
Vrabel, of course, was more than just a linebacker in New England. He caught 10 touchdown passes lining up as a tight end near the goal line in his Patriots career, including two in Super Bowls.
Playing at 6-foot-4 and around 260 pounds, Vrabel fit the physical mold of a modern tight end. His football knowledge was another factor in his success switching over to the other side of the line of scrimmage.
“I think the game comes fairly easily to him in terms of understanding concepts and situations and things like that,” Belichick said.
“He was a great player here, one that hopefully will be recognized into the Patriots Hall of Fame. I certainly think he deserves to be there,” he added.
Patterson, like Vrabel, is built for his secondary position. At 6-foot-2, 228 pounds, he’s slightly larger than your average back, but he has the speed and vision to hit the right holes and make tacklers miss.
“He’s a versatile guy that can play receiver. He can certainly carry the ball, return kicks and also play in other areas in the kicking game, as well. He’s big, he’s fast, he’s tough and he competes well,” Belichick said. “With the ball in his hands, he’s pretty good.”
Patterson is just the latest Patriot to be deployed at an alternate position.
Defensive linemen Richard Seymour and Dan Klecko both played goal-line fullback occasionally in the early to mid 2000s. When the Patriots depth in the defensive backfield has been wiped out, similar to how it currently is at running back, receivers Julian Edelman, Matthew Slater and Troy Brown have all taken snaps on defense.
“I’ve been very fortunate, I guess, to have players that they’re all kind of like that. They want to help the team, they want to do whatever they can do, whatever you ask them to do,” Belichick said. “So, I mean, it’s great, but I think it’s pretty common on the teams that I’ve been on, the world that I live in, that that’s the way it is. If you ask a guy to do something, he doesn’t come back and say, ‘Well, I don’t really feel like doing that.’ I mean, that just really doesn’t happen.”