FOXBORO, Mass. — Bill Belichick seems to really, really, really like the New England Patriots’ depth this summer.
The head coach already said the Patriots are deeper than ever at wide receiver and tight end, and he said safety is their strongest position. Now, he’s heaping similar praise on the team’s defensive line.
“It’s really competitive,” Belichick said Monday. “It’s as much depth as we’ve had at that position that I can remember. Good competition, we have some young guys, we have some guys with experience, and as you said, there’s some different playing styles in there so it’s not quite apples to apples with each comparison.
“They’ve all been productive. They can all do something pretty well to keep them in a competitive situation. There may be one guy that can do something better than another player or vice versa, but in the end, everybody’s been able to do enough to kind of keep it going in there, keep it competitive.”
Belichick will have some very difficult decisions to make when the Patriots cut down their roster to 75 players on Aug. 30 and to 53 on Sept. 3.
The Patriots traditionally keep just nine or 10 defensive linemen on their roster, and at least 12 have shown they’re worthy of a roster spot this summer.
Jabaal Sheard, Rob Ninkovich, Chris Long, Shea McClellin, Trey Flowers, Geneo Grissom and Rufus Johnson all have been solid at defensive end, and Malcom Brown, Alan Branch, Terrance Knighton, Markus Kuhn and Vincent Valentine have been competitive at defensive tackle. Two or three of those players could be off the team by Sept. 3.
Ninkovich and McClellin’s versatility could allow the Patriots to keep extra defensive linemen, however.
“I think there are some players in that group — like McClellin, like Ninkovich — that are closer to linebackers than some of the other players, and then you have some of the other players — Sheard or Flowers — that are maybe not really linebackers at all, but could go inside more than you would want to put a player like McClellin or Ninkovich inside,” Belichick said Friday. “I’m not saying they wouldn’t go in there from time to time, but in any case I would say Chris (Long) is the type of player that would fall somewhere in the middle.
“I wouldn’t put (Long) with McClellin, but I wouldn’t put him with Sheard, but he’s somewhere in the middle there of we could use him in more coverage situations than some other guys. Maybe not quite like I said at the linebacker level, could use him inside, maybe not quite as big or have quite as much length as some other players, but the fact that he can do a lot of different things and has a good motor and a lot of experience and really good instincts.”
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
