Melifonwu excited to join Pats’ safety corps

The Patriots need some help covering tight ends, and they might have found a solution. Obi Melifonwu is joining the team’s safeties club with Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung and Duron Harmon.

The former UConn product and Grafton native said yesterday that he couldn’t be more thrilled to be a Patriot.

“It feels like a blessing, honestly. I’m just glad to be back home with my friends and family. It’s a team that I’ve grown up watching,” Melifonwu, the former second-round pick of the Raiders, told the Herald. “They’re such a great organization. I’m just so proud to be a part of it.”

Melifonwu, who agreed to terms on a contract with the Patriots, according to his agent, Sean Stellato, could be a potential answer to coverage issues they’ve been having with tight ends. The 6-foot-3, 224-pounder is a freakish athlete.

Melifonwu, who was at the Pats-Packers game Sunday night, played in just five games with the Raiders thanks to knee and hip problems. He was waived off injured reserve earlier this year, making him a free agent. He had visits with a couple of other teams, the Cowboys being one, but in his heart, “being a Patriot was the best thing for me.”

The former UConn star indicated he was healthy now, and could jump right into practice, and play this weekend against the Titans if needed.

Defense delivers

After holding Aaron Rodgers to 24-of-43 passing for just 259 yards and the Packers to just seven points in the second half of the Pats’ Sunday night win, the defense’s performance speaks for itself.

“It’s hard against Rodgers no matter what you do, whether you blitz or don’t blitz, play zone or play man. He’s seen it all and he can certainly handle it all,” coach Bill Belichick said. “You just try to keep him off-balance and hope you can make a play somewhere along the line.”

Belichick credited Devin McCourty, Chung and Harmon for their roles in keeping Rodgers and Co. mostly out of sync.

“I think the safeties did a great job of it… The good thing is disguising, but the bad thing is being out of position, so you have to try to balance those,” Belichick said. “Again, that comes with experience from Devin and Duron and Pat knowing where they need to be, what they need to do, how much risk or how far away they can be from that responsibility and make it look like they’re doing something else that they would normally do.”

Develin paves way

Whether he’s been leading Cordarrelle Patterson or Sony Michel, fullback James Develin has been at the heart of New England’s success on the ground so far this season.

“Well, James always brings a positive element to our team, both offensively and in the kicking game. He’s a very intelligent player with quite a bit of experience in our system and he can do a lot of different things from pass protection to the running game,” Belichick said.

Develin earned a Pro Bowl nod last season for his bruising lead-blocking, but Belichick praised his capacity for the mental aspect of the game as well.

“As a fullback playing behind the line of scrimmage, that player is often, and almost always, called on to make adjustments based on what happens in front of him.” Belichick said. “The fullback in front of the running back has to recognize and make those adjustments... He has to make that decision and then make a solid block, and then the running back has to depend on that block and make his cut off of it.”