This Longtime Patriots Captain On Verge Of Rare Accomplishment

FOXBORO, Mass. -- The New England Patriots have fielded eight different starting offensive line combinations this season. They've had three different starters at left tackle, right tackle and left guard, and two at right guard.

That inability to keep one steady, reliable blocking unit intact is a major reason for New England's offensive nosedive. Even after a recent uptick with Bailey Zappe behind center, the Patriots' 14.1 points-per-game average is dead last in the NFL.

But while little has gone right for the Patriots' O-line in 2023, the man in the middle of it quietly has enjoyed another strong campaign.

New England's offense ran 941 plays across the first 16 weeks, and David Andrews snapped the ball on every one of them. The veteran center is the only player on the Patriots' roster who's played 100% of offensive or defensive snaps this season.

The gap between Andrews and the next-most active offensive player isn't close. Right tackle Mike Ownenu has played 200 fewer snaps (741). Behind him is tight end Hunter Henry at 664.

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This iron man status isn't new to Andrews. He played 100% of offensive snaps during the Patriots' 2016 Super Bowl season, then was at 99% in 2018 and 2021. But he knows from experience how difficult it is to go wire to wire for a full NFL season.

In 2017, an illness sidelined Andrews for two games. Two years later, doctors found blood clots in his lungs, forcing him to sit out the entire 2019 season. Then there was a broken thumb in 2020 that required surgery and a concussion last October that knocked him out for multiple weeks.

Andrews reflected on those setbacks Wednesday when asked whether he takes pride in his durability.

“I’ve obviously had some things," said Andrews, who also played the final 362 snaps of last season. "In 2017, some type of health thing, and then ’19, a health thing. And then ’20, thumb surgery, and last year, the concussion and stuff. There’s years you’re beat up, and there’s years you just can’t. I know in ’20, I talked about not doing the thumb surgery, but it was on my snap hand, so I really had to do it. I can’t wear a club on my snap hand. Coach asked me to snap with my left hand, and that was abysmal, but we tried it.

"But there’s years you’re banged up with things you can’t control, and there’s years you’re able to fight through things. Not to say it’s been easy, but I think as a player, your availability is huge. They pay me to be out there, and I couldn’t look at myself not going out there and playing for the guys and the organization and the community and honestly all the people that sacrificed for me to do this.

"Because at the end of the day, you’re a representation of them and all the people that poured into you. I didn’t get here alone, so I always try to represent all the different reasons why you play the game. I’ve been very blessed this year to be able to be out there. Knock on any wood, but I have to keep that going."

Andrews has played well, too. The 31-year-old entered Week 17 as Pro Football Focus's 12th-highest-graded center and eighth-best run blocker at the position.

Head coach Bill Belichick raved about Andrews last week, lauding the co-captain's "fantastic" leadership and ability to play through minor injuries.

"Look, like everybody who plays a lot of football, you get banged up and deal with some stuff during the year," Belichick said. "He’s shown a lot of physical toughness to play through that, a lot of mental toughness.

"He would never come out of practice for a play. We have to take him out to kind of help manage some of the bumps and bruises that he has, but this guy is a warrior."

If Andrews gets through this Sunday's road game in Buffalo and next weekend's season finale against the New York Jets without missing a snap, he'd become the first New England player to do so since guard Joe Thuney in 2018.

The only other Patriots to accomplish that feat since 2012 (as far back as Pro-Football-Reference's snap count data goes) were quarterback Tom Brady and center Ryan Wendell in 2013.