During the bye week the coaches have a chance to look at what’s working and what’s not, and who’s working and who’s not. With that in mind here are five personnel areas that I’ll be watching.
1. Darius Butler Back?
Mike Reiss mentioned on his weekly podcast that he saw Butler getting some time at the end of the Miami game as a sign that he could be back on track to start again after what has been, in essence, two games off. The return of Terrence Wheatley could be something to monitor as well as Wheatley is capable of manning the outside RCB spot. Not that I expect Wheatley to start over Kyle Arrington who has been decent.
2. Brace vs. Deaderick
Through the first three games it seems like Ron Brace was slowly becoming a fixture at LDE, the against Miami he barely saw the field as Brandon Deaderick got 20 snaps at RDE while Vince Wilfork slid over the LDE and Mike Wright manned the NT. Now after evaluating the film how will the Patriots coaches decide to try to stop the Ravens ground game? Does Brace get back in or did Deaderick show enough against Miami?
3. Meriweather at 34 FS?
With James Sanders nursing a sore hamstring we might not get a true answer on this one. It’s probably a good bet Meriweather sees a lot of snaps against the Ravens even if hadn’t been moved back into base defense FS position against Miami after being held to only subpackages in the first three games. Meriweather is one player who is vital to the Patriots young secondary coming together.
4. Hernan Expanded Role
I fully expect the Patriots coaches took a close look at what Aaron Hernandez can do and will expand his role even more now to help compensate for the loss o’ Moss. Just exactly what will they do to get him the ball in space? Look for creativity.
5. OLB Snaps?
When we last saw the Patriots base defense Ninkovich (LOLB) and Cunningham (ROLB) were the base starters. TBC subbed in, still playing a lot of snaps. But has Cunningham surpassed TBC as a run stopper? Are they just trying to keep TBC fresh? Sunday should provide some answers.