Brace has been inactive for seven of the Pats’ 14 games this season — five times after not appearing on the injury report and twice due to an ankle injury — but he earned his first career start on Sunday against the Bills due to the injuries to Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren. Brace was up and down, recording four tackles (three solo) and one face-mask penalty.
Belichick met with the media on Monday after breaking down the game tape, and he sounded impressed with the job Brace did.
“I thought Ron did a pretty solid job in there,” Belichick said. “It wasn’t perfect. There were some things that I’m sure when he sees, he’ll be able to see how he could have handled those better. But I thought he did a pretty solid job. He was in on a few plays. I thought he moved laterally down the line of scrimmage several times and made some tackles. He’s a strong guy. He did a good job of pushing inside. He didn’t get knocked off the ball, so that’s important.”
Because the Patriots are stacked at the top of their depth chart along the defensive line, Brace has been forced to battle for playing time. Wilfork, Warren, Jarvis Green and Mike Wright are the team’s clear-cut four best defensive linemen, so Brace has been challenged by Myron Pryor and Titus Adams to get that fifth or sixth spot on game days.
Brace, who is always polite and carries a positive attitude, has faced the pluses and minuses of being the homegrown kid playing for the Patriots.
“It does make it a little bit tougher,” Brace told reporters after Sunday’s game. “Seeing as how I’m from the [Boston area], I know a lot more people than some others might know. A lot of people might recognize me because I went to college in the same state. I keep getting asked the same question: ‘Why aren’t you playing?’ I was like, ‘Whenever the team needs me, they’re going to call me.’ I just have to keep myself ready."
Brace was part of a dominant line at Boston College that also featured Green Bay Packers rookie B.J. Raji, who was the ninth overall pick in April’s draft.
“Coming from a year ago, playing almost every defensive snap to coming in and not playing one is kind of a hard situation for a football player,” Brace said. “Everybody told me to keep my head up and just do your job and be ready for whenever they call your number because you never know when it could happen. Football is a game you can’t really predict. I just try to keep my head up, and support from my teammates and family made it even easier.”
