Trent Brown Working ‘Extra’ With This Important Patriots Rookie

In the last several Patriots practices, Trent Brown could look to his right and see a pair of New England rookies.

There was fifth-round draft pick Atonio Mafi positioned next to Brown at left guard. Past center David Andrews and right guard Riley Reiff was fourth-rounder Sidy Sow, who’s repped exclusively at right tackle in his first Patriots training camp.

Mafi and Reiff are placeholders. Their spots will be filled by returning starters Cole Strange and Mike Onwenu, respectively, once both are healthy. Sow, though, could be a real candidate to enter the season as New England’s starting right tackle.

Reiff initially looked like the favorite to land that job before being leapfrogged early in camp by Conor McDermott, the best of the Patriots’ four starting right tackles last season. But in the wake of McDermott’s rough showing on the left side in last Thursday’s preseason opener, Sow was the preferred choice in each practice this week, including Wednesday’s joint session with the Packers.

Brown is helping tutor Sow, and he’s been encouraged by the results thus far.

“Sidy is an athletic guy,” Brown told reporters after Wednesday’s practice in Green Bay, via MassLive.com. “I think he’s made leaps and bounds these last couple weeks. I’ve been working with him extra, trying to make sure he’s on point. And you guys see: I think he’s doing a lot better. We’ll see again when we go check the film out.”

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Sow arrived in New England as an extremely experienced offensive line prospect, having started a school-record 55 games over his six seasons at Eastern Michigan. Forty-four of those starts came at guard, however. The 25-year-old hadn’t seen action at tackle since his redshirt freshman year in 2018.

Think about that: Sow, as an NFL rookie, is playing a position he hasn’t played since the Patriots’ most recent Super Bowl season.

The move has been far from seamless, and Sow has experienced some growing pains, both in practice and the Patriots’ first preseason game. He also showed promise in that exhibition, though, faring well in his pass-protection matchups against No. 3 overall pick Will Anderson of the Houston Texans.

A question about Sow’s transition elicited a humorous and profane response from Brown, who also played guard during his final season at Florida.

“I shouldn’t have been playing guard,” the veteran lineman told reporters. “Honestly, it was some (BS). I thought I was doing what’s best for the team, but I (expletive) myself. It’s OK.”

Brown, who fell to the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft, is locked in as the Patriots’ starting left tackle. Finding the proper bookend will be vital, as the Patriots need much more consistent play from the right tackle spot than they received last season.

Sow appeared to have a leg up on McDermott and Reiff as of Wednesday, but that easily could change over the final two weeks of the preseason. Calvin Anderson is another candidate to start if he ever returns from the non-football illness list, and Onwenu — the Patriots’ best all-around O-lineman — also performed well at right tackle in the past, though the coaching staff prefers to keep him at guard.